#since e3 is dead anyway

[the-fatal-impact]

Me watching Eurovision this year (after like 7 years break): Hey, it is actually fun and great!

Me when voting started: :(((((

[littlethingwithfeathers]

I'm grumpy about Silent Hill again...

TW for discussions of suicide, self harm, abuse (both parent to child and amongst peers) and general spookiness. Y'know... the usual Silent Hill rigmarole of trauma and despair. Also be warned that I'm going to spoil a lot of the Silent Hill series, in particular Silent Hill 2 and the Short Message game that just came out. ***

So... one of my most popular posts out there is this one. It's about Pyramid head and the loss of subtlety in media. And I couldn't help but feel like we hadn't moved an inch from when I posted that back in... *checks date on post* hrrk. my bones... 2017. I'm going to die soon. Anyway. Today I watched Second Wind do a run of the short, free-to-play Silent Hill: Short Message. I admittedly had a good bit of trepidation going in just because of the marketing. Which, for all of you marketing majors out there, that is called "Not a good sign." Marketing should make you want to play a game... especially if you're a fan of the series already. But this... it was a bit of a wet blanket, largely due to the fact that it spoiled a lot of the focus of the game. It basically said "this is a game about how bullying and being chronically online is real bad. We're gonna be spooky about it now." And... straining to push aside how incredibly reductive that is... why give it away? Why say it out loud? Why did you tell us what you are doing? Can you imagine Silent Hill 2 if we'd known it was about James killing his wife from the jump? We didn't. We hadn't the first clue. We knew nothing other than that he was looking for her and she was maybe dead? But we didn't know how... possibly lung cancer or TB given that she had the most pointed coughing sequence since the movie Tombstone. And hey... the last game had someone looking for a loved one too. Maybe that's the deal with Silent Hill. Who knows? No one did at that point. It was still a big old mystery for the most part. And then the E3 trailer... like there's the weird pretty lady in jail? But what's she talking about? Who the fuck is Mary? Is that... his wife? Well then who the hell is Ms. Miniskirt? No wait... is that his wife in the VHS tape? What the hell is going on? Oh look gameplay! And... a little girl? And a weird guy with a gun... This soundtrack slaps. I'm gonna go see if it's up on Napster yet. (this was 2001... again... my bones etc) I remember combing over low-res copies of that video for HOURS when it came out. Why are the nurses different? It's not snowing? Who are all these people... And why do they all sound like they put ketamine in their coffee. It was like a great big puzzle to work out and we had a ball theorizing and researching so when it came out we were HYPE. And that was largely because in short... we knew SOME things at release. Fog. Nurses. Big stick. Weird people. Banger soundtrack. Dead (but probably not) wife. And we presumed or supposed more... cult activity? New beasties? Radio maybe? But we effectively knew nothing about the plot. And the best part was, while they had a solid hook (Find dead lady who we love so huggy buggy much) and instant intrigue (Angela in the cemetery being weirder than a film by David Lynch), and a very familiar setting (we may have improved draw distance on the PS2, but we don't have to use it!), we still didn't really know what was going on. The plot was essentially unfolding out of a black box. Silent Hill 2 was quite content to be a slower burn than trying to boil the Lake Superior with a signal flare. You don't even see the main "villain" Pyramid Head until a few hours in and, as I pointed out in that other post, there's no flashy cut scene to introduce him and go WOOOOOO SCARYYYYY. He's just chillin' behind some prison bars (which that totes is normal in an apartment complex) and staring at you like I stare at the inside of my fridge when I really would like some cheese to materialize.

And then... like we're not even really sure what the hell is going on for the longest time. We meet our wife's hot twin with the key to a strip club and she keeps getting killed over and over... and things keep getting increasingly rapey and lewd in a way that's just uncomfortable more than anything... But even at the end. Even with the big reveal of "You killed your wife." they still don't ever explicitly state "And you killed her because you couldn't have sex with her anymore." It wasn't until you finished the game, and talked to someone else about it, or let your brain cook on it for a bit that you went... heyyyy... he's a horndog! (In fact... if I'm going to chide SH2 for anything it's that right at the very VERY end they tried to frame James's actions as understandable because the woman who was dying and frightened and in pain was mean to him. Yes, being a caretaker is hard. But Christ... pick a topic for discussion.) But contrast all that with Short Message. The marketing and such all said out loud "THIS IS ABOUT BULLYING" so even going in... I was already like "yep. The bully is probably us, but we had reasons because we have to be complicated and you aren't allowed to make the player feel bad" And lo was I correct. There was no... intrigue. I was never curious about the character or the people around her because I knew this story. They already told me what story they were telling so I could practically sing along, especially as a millennial that had to grow up watching little videos and skits in school about the evils of bullying. And when you are going to tell a trope-ish story, and you tell the audience what the trope is, it becomes "say the line" writ large. This isn't me advocating for super twisty unexpected plot arcs (looking at you, Supernatural). Far from it. You absolutely should tell a story in such a way that the audience understands how you got from point A to point Z, even if there are some surprises along the way (See Sixth Sense for that masterclass). Rather, what I'm missing from this (and frankly a lot of the Silent Hill games and honestly... media in general these days) is a sense of restraint. A sense of trust in their audience to "get it." They can't just plonk us in the fog with a radio and a stick and say "You're here to find your best friend/dog/cousin/wife/business partner. Good luck. Here's a weirdo to prattle cryptically at you in order to unsettle you immediately. Bye!" No! They have to tell us what kind of story they're telling and what themes are important. They can't just... give us a Silent Hill Game and trust that we know what to do with it. It's... insulting frankly. Especially as a longtime fan of the franchise who remembers when they did trust us and they did have faith in their work. I will say this in compliment to Short Message. The environment design was pretty cool. Especially the sticky-note hallways... they looked like leaves... and sometimes teeth... and like tightly packed bones in an ossuary. It didn't... say anything really. But it looked cool. And you can't go wrong with Akira Yamaoka's soundtrack. But... while I'm on the subject of design. Y'all. An animate sakura tree in an oversized hoodie is not scary. But bless you for at least having the restraint to not make her Pyramid Head.

[kitkatt0430]

Season 2 Flash AU where it's not Harry Wells who comes through from E2 to team up with Team Flash. It's E2 Hartley Rathaway.

Dr. Harrison Wells had already been killed by Zoom early on (sorry, Harry) - maybe after Zoom started taking Velocity and thought he didn't need Wells anymore since the side effects hadn't begun yet. Zoom can make time remnants but hasn't figured out how to travel in time more than a few hours (or a day at most) for his Jay vs Zoom stunts. So he can't just go back and undo Harry's death or go back further to dissuade himself from taking Velocity in the first place. So Zoom turns to Harry's successor, Dr. Hartley Rathaway.

If anyone can figure out how to steal speed for Zoom to heal himself with, surely Harrison Wells' handpicked prodigy could do it.

It's not Jesse who gets kidnapped; poor girl is grieving and has enough on her plate with her dad dead anyway. It's Jerrie Rathaway, Hartley's younger sister. Whom Hartley has custody of after a tragic accident had killed his parents a few years earlier. She's fourteen and terrified but so sure her brother is going to save her.

So Hartley knows Zoom is going to demand something from him eventually, but he heads to E2 to meet Team Flash there and ask for their help. Jay's gone missing, after all, so it's not like he can turn to his Earth's Flash. He brings with him a few projects from his own Earth, of course. His own version of the Piper gloves - unfinished - and a tricked out flute. Just a music project, nothing to worry about.

Of course Team Flash doesn't trust Hartley at the start, but they relent and let him help and when things go sideways in their attempt to trap Zoom using Linda, Hartley risks his life to try to save Barry. Doesn't work, but it endears him to the team after Cisco shoots Zoom like in canon.

He and Cisco get close - Hartley can't resist flirting with Cisco despite knowing what Cisco's counterpart on E2 is like - and it's definitely a mutual attraction. Helped on Cisco's side that this Hartley is friendlier and respects Cisco as an engineer.

And then Zoom dangles Jerrie in front of Hartley one night, demands Hartley figure out how to steal a speedster's speed, and makes his big damn mistake because Hartley was affected by the accelerator on his Earth.

Harry kept it quiet for his sake and the meta detector was never made commercially available. So Hartley's kept it secret all this time. He only ever told Cisco on Team Flash and Cisco kept it quiet for him too. It's just augmented hearing - a bit painful, but kept in check with hearing aids. But augmented hearing that lets him realize Zoom and Jay have the same voice.

So when Hartley puts Jay in the pipeline using his completed flute, no one sees it coming. And he's got a lot of explaining to do. Caitlin doesn't believe him, but Cisco does. And Barry is willing to make Jay think Barry believes he's Zoom to humor Hartley. Except Jay's all too willing to believe that Barry knows he's Zoom and, well... the truth does out.

Cue E2 shenanigans as Hartley, Cisco, and Barry go to rescue Jerrie. Zoom's missing - he hadn't planned on being caught so no time remnant wandering around in his absence at the moment. Reverb's in charge, however, and he's a menace with Killer Frost and Deathstorm's backup. They manage to rescue Jerrie anyway and the man in the iron mask, the real Jay Garrick of E2... the doppelganger of Henry Allen of E1. No E3 randomly muddying the waters concerning when Zoom found out about the multiverse.

It ends with Hartley returning to E2 with his sister, but promising to go back and forth across the breach - taking turns with Cisco - because they're dating now. Hartley can't move to E1 - he doesn't want to take over the life of his E1 counterpart when that Hartley is still alive and a wanted criminal. And Cisco can't exactly live on E2 for the same reasons concerning Reverb.

The real Jay's speed has been badly depleted by Zoom's repeated, failed attempts to steal that speed on his own. But Hartley and Caitlin think they can help him power back up eventually to be E2's Flash once more. In the mean time, Hartley thinks maybe the Pied Piper could be of use protecting the city... and he's starting to notice he might actually have something of a sonic scream going on too.

[darkfire359]

Thoughts on e2-e4 of The Terror

My friend and I finally got around to continuing my watch of The Terror. Some thoughts:

We clicked on the youtube link to e2 and it took us a whole ~5 minutes to realize that it was actually e3. We thought there might be some kind of flashback explanation to why this dead guy and his daughter were suddenly on the ship, but there kept not being one, and then we eventually realized the mistake.

I was sad to see a cat show up because the cat will probably die like everyone else. :( On the other hand, it did mean I actually believed Gibson's excuse to Irving for almost as long as Irving did. But as soon as he mentioned Hickey, I knew that it definitely wasn't pussy that he was interested in down there. ;)

Relatedly, I swear I've heard the phrase "Cornelius Hickey is a devious seducer" before, but I had NO idea it was canon. Amazing.

My friend, upon Irving suggesting that Hickey try watercoloring instead of gay sex: "Is he just ace and he thinks that's what it's like for everyone???"

Also, I'd heard people use rat motifs for Hickey before, and I'd just assumed it was for general vibes reasons, like him being villainous and sneaky maybe. But no, Hickey got a speech given to him about how the difference between men and rats is that rats fuck in the hold all the time and men "aren't supposed to". Wow.

My first reaction upon Gibson being such an asshole during his breakup with Hickey was to feel bad for Hickey and his inevitable turn to villainy. But then Hickey was such a bitch back to him! "I had dinner with the captain, he likes me, who knows what could happen there ;)" and all. Plus he just kept reminding Gibson that he was the one who topped (honestly unexpected).

Anyway I appreciated the bitchiness and how Hickey just takes that "devious seducer" descriptor and tries to roll with it by making eyes at every other guy in the show INCLUDING the megabear. My dude really felt that he needed to include that eye contact description in his report to Francis lmao.

Relatedly I really hope someone has written megabear/Hickey fanfiction. I don't even need to read it, just to know if it exists.

At some point my friend asked what it meant to be "punished like a boy" and I luckily knew the answer due to some OFMD fanfiction that I'd read. Though TBF I could have guessed anyway since "Hickey gets whipped on the ass" might have been literally the first thing I knew about The Terror going into it.

Surprised that Sir John got killed via megabear; I thought that for sure he'd be mutinied on.

It's kinda sweet that Francis went on the entire expedition because of Sophia's request to keep her uncle safe. But my friend and I agree that Sophia/Francis isn't actually a good ship because a. he seems to be way older than her, and b. it seems like she was legitimately turning him down, rather than just doing so due to pressure from her family (as it had looked like earlier).

Very curious to see what the show would look like from the perspective of the Lady of Silence. "Oops, I have a pet monster that shows affection by murdering things for me!" I'd watch the hell out of that!

Some lingering confusion:

How did Goodsir escape the megabear attack that killed Sir John? It seemed like he was with the group in the blind when the megabear struck, and then Sir John was the only one we saw running back. But then Goodsir is just back on the ship as usual in another scene?

Is it assumed that Francis just off-screen sent that group of 8 people south? It seems like Sir John dying mean that he wasn't going to lead it himself, but he seemed adamant about it even if he was willing to wait the one day for Fitzjames? There's a 5-month timeskip after that and they don't bring it up again.

What was Hickey looking for on the ship during the funeral? I'm guessing it was the thing we saw he had stashed in his hammock later? Drugs?

Why did Francis go out looking for the megabear with just a cabin boy? Earlier he was having groups of 6 people go. Seems surprisingly irresponsible for the guy who is usually the voice of reason.

[primalspice]

bruno: A1, A9, A13, B4, B11, C4, D4, E3, E4, F3, F9, G1, G4, H1, H8, I6, J6, L9

.

A1: What of the Meyers-Briggs personality types they most fit into? INFP, ENFT, et cetera…

ENTP apparently. Disgusting

A9: Does your OC make a lot of excuses? For themselves? Others? 

He wouldn't call it making excuses, he'd call it 'seeing things from a different perspective'. but yes LOL. He doesn't really give a fuck enough to go to bat very hard about a lot of things because he just does what he wants to anyway for the most part, but i think the not-giving-a-fuck also makes it easy for him to write a lot of things off as Not A Big Deal when they kinda are.

A13: Does your OC have any phobias? If so, where did they come from?

No, he's frankly a bit Too fearless. I think his gore-freak-ness is kinda fear-driven in a way though (but more primarily by other things). I mean it IS kinda freaky to not know whats going in inside your body every day.

B4: Do they tip well? How easily can they be moved to not leave a tip?

He tips pretty well, but also proportional to how much you let him small talk and lament about how tipping culture isn't such a thing in Europe and make stupid jokes while you're trying to do your job. He would only not leave any tip at all in extreme circumstances.

B11: Your OC is running late to meeting someone: Do they let the other person know? Do they lie about why they’re late?

C4: Do they consider themselves superior or more important than anyone else? Lesser?

I don't think it's a conscious belief that he holds but he Is very self-centered and he Does think that he's kinda ahead of the curve in terms of his philosophies and ideas. I don't think he realizes that the reason he's not often challenged by others is not because they think he's really smart and groundbreaking, but because they don't want to intrude on his weird fetish.

D4: Would they like to be immortal? Why, why not? If they are immortal, would they rather not be?

I think he'd find being immortal convenient terms of regenerating if gravely injured and being able to record what it was like, having endless time to discover things about the world, and generally not having to worry about what happens after you die, but I do think that his body rituals would lose some of their magic without the active defiance of death. So I guess the answer is Kinda. He thinks about it a lot.

E3: How many languages do they speak?

3 fluently; English, Spanish, German. I think he grew up speaking all three. He probably lies about speaking some other languages more conversationally than he actually can, as an avid traveler may do.

E4: Did they enjoy school if they went to it?

Not to make him sound like One Of Those but he enjoyed the learning, hated the structure. I think he attended several different schools since he kinda moved around a lot. He started going to college in the 70s so that was fun and enlightening for him 🍃🚬

F3: Could they ever live in a “tiny home”?

If trash being stacked to the ceiling doesn't disqualify him, yes. I don't think he'd enjoy it necessarily, but he really does not have many items that take up a ton of space. He'd do numbers on r/malelivingspace.

F9: Are they homebodies and enjoy being home?

He doesn't mind being home but he gets bored easily and stressed out by his own mess that he can't bring himself to clean. Needs to at least have access to a phone to annoy Caroline.

G1: Is your OC close to their family?

I think that his parents are both likely dead at this point + he strikes me as an only child, but I don't think their relationship was bad. I think most of his immediate family are also kinda eccentric and cultured so the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I think they probably conflicted more when he was young and defiant and annoying but they were glad to let him fuck off and do his own thing once he graduated school. He probably visited them overseas on occasion. Yea that's right, oc with normal family relations. #sorry

G4: What kind of childhood did your OC have?

Pretty good and upper-mid class and cultured (his mental break did not come until later <3). I think he was born in Mexico and his family moved to Germany when he was a preeteen-ish?? Not due to parents divorcing or anything, they just moved around a lot for work. I think he spent a lot of time alone as an only child + not having a lot of time to make friends with all the moving + parents not always home to give him attention, but he had a lot of hobbies to make up for it. I guess the results of that + his extroversion and natural personality = having the most self-centered and grating personality possible as an adult.

H1: What is your OC’s orientation, romantic and/or sexual? Has it ever been a source of stress for them? Have they always been pretty sure of their orientation?

I think he's heteroflexible mostly in that he wishes he was gayer than he actually is for the sake of eccentricity and being able to own the homophobes in 2006. I'm sure he has Experimented. Goes to gay bars because he prefers the company. It is not troubling to him he loves sexual liberation and being contrarian. And also he's straight anyway.

H8: What’s your OC’s idea of a perfect date?

You go to a nice restaurant with him on the Vegas Strip per his recommendation then take a walk while he talks at you about his latest Ideas. You go to A HOTEL OR YOUR OWN PLACE (NOT his) and perform minor surgery on him and/or have weird old man sex. You never meet him again in-person but he can still text you about his latest endeavors to which you reply wow Bruno that's so cool good luck.

I6: Could they eat the same thing they enjoy over and over and not get bored of it quickly?

I think he likes to change things up as much as possible, he gets bored of Most things easily even if its yummy food.

J6: How do they react to people whose political viewpoints are very opposite of theirs?

Engage in smug debate :/

L9: How did you come up with your OC?

Appeared to me in a vision. I always need more mad scientist ocs. His gore freak developments are much more recent and mostly born of my desire to see more stylized gore art and thinking about how that may fit in with the original Themes and Ideas i was going for by making him a geneticist and ideas about identity and such. IDK. Everyone's still kinda a work in progress development-wise.

[cringywhitedragon]

Reshi’s worst gaming moments of 2023

Warning: This does contain some curse words and some mild ranting but is generally just for me expressing some of the worst fails that I find personally in the gaming industry this year. Tread carefully if you don’t want to read.

It’s that time of the year again folks, and you know what that means….

It’s time that many of us begin wrapping up this year, and in some cases, discussing some of what I feel are some of the worst gaming related moments of this year.

And while this year did have some wonderful game releases, there was also a lot of chaos, dumpster fires, and quite a few RIPs this year.

Please note: for this “list”, I will not be discussing drama regarding YouTubers, streamers, and/or gaming critics/reviewers unless it has a direct tie to a game or the industry itself/and or the drama was large enough to be considered problematic (IE: The Hogwarts Legacy harassment from certain less than stellar members of the internet community on streamers from last year which I did cover and shame in my last Worst of Gaming in 2022) so no Zero Punctuation.

But anyways, let’s get this dumpster fire a rolling shall we?

Two big Oofs, So long E3 and Volition. You will be missed.

We all know reboots and or remakes. Almost every major franchise gets them at some point… Aaaaand many of those tend to be a hit or a miss.

For one, you may have one that is a massive success such as the FF7 remake and or perhaps a middle-ground like that of Maverick Hunter X that really doesn’t do anything and just gets ignored. Or on the other and most likely hand, you have a reboot that absolutely ruins everything about what we all loved about the original, disembowel everything we loved about the original, and spit it back at us to less than positive reception.

It happened with DMC which thankfully recovered. But what happens when executive meddling that ends up killing a studio.

Then you’ve got the Saints Row “Remake” from last year which sadly ended up killing the studio all because Deep Silver decided to force the dev team to change things away from the original idea.

And in other news, it turns out that after nearly 20 years that E3 is finally kicking the bucket. There’s a number of reasons from the pandemic to the whole gaming companies following Nintendo with the Direct format and while I’m sad to see it go, I had a feeling that it wasn’t likely going to last long after 2020

RIP E3 and Voltion, you will be missed. And f*** you Deep Silver for ruining a franchise.

Oh blizzard…. Blizzard… blizzard… (And Microsoft. Keep your hands to yourself, we’re not here to make Xbox exclusive here.)

We all know about this and thank fuck it seems to be dying down after the big M bought them out. It was a mess.

But don’t think Microsoft is off the hook. Some documents did reveal that the company did show an interest in possibly trying to buy out a certain group of game studios from Japan which I doubt would go well with by fans of some of these company’s franchises. Capcom told them to screw off, Nintendo I highly doubt would let them, and Sega?

….

*no comment*

MS, as much as I love your computers because MACSrPOO, leave the little guys in the market alone. We don’t need any more franchises going exclusive to your console. You had your cookie with Activison-Blizzard, now keep your hand out of the cookie jar.

Kong and Gollum exist…

Runners up for worst games of the year since this wouldn’t be a list without them. They fit the bill, they’re buggy, they’re glitchy, they were rushed and look like a low budget PS3 game (and one killed its studio after release and LoTR fans were not happy)

Also strangely Gollum released recently on Switch in Japan of all places and world-wide is still TBA (I thought that was kinda funny)

Starfield: “Dead” space filled with humans and pronoun dramas

Another we all saw coming. Starfield is a clusterfuck like a lot of Bethesda games but at least it’s playable unlike a certain fallout game a few years ago.

Most people find it boring and personally I’m only a tiny bit frustrated that I’m forced to play as a human and don’t have the option to play as another species as another space-sandbox allows you to do *cough cough* Starbound *cough cough*.

Also there was a whole drama over freaking pronouns and nexus removing a mod that got rid of them. Personally I don’t give a flip-flop and this whole drama since it was all stupid. I mean it’s fine if you don’t like pronouns or you do, and I'm fine with ppl modding a game and whatnot freely but please be civil about it.

Unity from unity’s redonculus fees

The indie scene is pissed and I understand why. Hey unity, spare the little guys and actually focus on the actual garbage *cough cough* asset flips using your engine

Insomniac got hacked: It was worse than the rockstar hack

Leaks happen all the time but hacks are a different thing which really sucks for companies as we saw only a few days of posting this.

Please do not go out looking for any content of this hack since this was done by a ransomeware group and out of respect for the devs.

Komani fracking up silent hill

Ah yes, the EA/Blizzard-Activison of the East and another fail. So we got a P2I (influence) television show and some more stuff I’m not sure off

EA officially bypasses Overwatch 2 (another disaster) with its annual sports release

Overwatch 2 is a big ripoff but it’s funny to see that it got bypassed by a buggy ass EA Sports game on Steam in terms of ratings

[eframschweigersskincells]

Fuck me I took my precious time to get back to this ranking series I do apologise, I've been busy and then e3 kicked off so I got distracted by that (by the way they announced strange brigade for switch so get on that if you've got one)

Anyway, at number three we have the elite sniper himself: Karl mother fucking Fairburne!

This man has been the main man of a series I've been playing since I was real young, I've loved the sniper elite series since the first and one of my favourite games of all time is V2.

Karl is a great character to start off with in za4, hes the perfect balance and a great way to get in to the game, he not too heavy on one side but not lacking either for those who are slower learners or just like taking things one step at a time karl is the man for you.

Of course as always karl is the snappy sniper as hes always been, stern, cool and calculated but entertaining and a lot of fun to listen to as well, I can never get bored of listening to him and his backstory is so secretive and mysterious yet what we know just gives him enough to make him a perfectly understandable character.

Karl's players are usually very laid back and a lot of fun to play with, if they arent new players they are usually amazing at what they do, they'll always kill off any zombies flanking you and always help you in a rough period I've never met a karl that wasn't a joy to play with so to anyone out their who plays him I salute you.

Oh and his outfits are top notch, the undercover outfit is amazing and the new afrika outfit is wonderful, why would you have bare skin out during a zombie apocalypse? no idea but when you're karl Fairburne you have nothing to fear, you could walk out bare butt naked and never fear falling to the dead.

I absolutely love Fairburne and cant wait to see what comes next with him, whether it be a new sniper elite or zombie army I dont care because I love him too much!

[zaptap]

ive made a few of these bingo sheets and theyre fun so i decided to make one not just for e3 but also JUST for splatoon 3 (not just for e3 but for like the whole lifetime of the game). also heres my updated list of characters id like to see in smash, ordered generally by which id like more and/or think are the most realistic

since min min got in i took out helix, and since i couldnt decide whether to add in waluigi or madeline i added another row (realistically i dont think any indies are getting in but i threw some in anyway). also i was like “oh yeah maybe theyd put in a gen viii pokemon” so i threw in hatterene since thats one of my favorites.

also as for waluigi (and shovel knight for that matter) i think it would be nice to see an assist trophy get in just to break that rule. also i remember being super surprised he wasnt in brawl (back then i thought he and wario were equally important) and even though that was based on a wrong impression ive still felt like he should be in there ever since

notes about the bingos under the cut

really is about time for those n64 games, especially now that mario is dead so theyre free to release sm64 on it. game boy games would be nice sometime too

would also make sense to include banjo-kazooie in that, nintendos had a good relationship with microsoft lately and the total absence of anything banjo-kazooie on the switch is odd since it’s a dlc character (every other one has a game on switch they can use for cross-marketing, even if joker’s took a while) and i think the best explanation for that would be that theyre holding off for the nso n64 app (this is easiest from a technical standpoint because all they have to do is make a deal to use the roms)

when are they putting octolings in mk8d

xenoblade chronicles x is one of the only wii u games left that they could port (aside from ones that wouldnt make much sense like splatoon and ssb4) so i guess that might as well happen sometime. also monolith soft might be doing something else besides helping with splatoon 3

im not ready for metroid prime 4 (im over halfway through mp2 and therefore the trilogy as a whole) but it’s been a while, they might show it and it could even come out this year

hal apparently recently hinted at a new kirby game or something

the upgraded switch is obviously going to be called the Nintendo Switch ͥ  since they already did the ds lite so theyre clearly naming everything in the family after the ds family, theres absolutely no flaw in this logic. idk if theyre showing it, but unlike 2019 they didnt say they werent showing new hardware (just that they were showing software, which could be taken as denying rumors, but they sometimes specify when certain things arent being shown)

metroid prime trilogy also might come this year. would make sense to release it before mp4 since not everyone is going to buy a wii u to get it (and at this point that doesnt get nintendo any money since they stopped making them)

where is detective pikachu 2. i hope it has the blue pikachu from that first tease they gave us in like 2014 (2013? that was a loooong time ago idk)

they said this was MOSTLY 2021 so i am absolutely getting my hopes up for splatoon 2

the two sinnoh games could likely be there

would be super cool if oddity came to switch. and almost as ironic as megalovania getting into smash

we havent seen the botw sequel for a couple years so we’re kind of due for an update on that

it’s ace attorney’s 20th anniversary this year so maybe theyre doing something. theyre already porting those games though so idk. maybe he’s getting in smash

whats with that watermelon mario render

i held off on watching a playthrough for ndrv3 on the off chance it came to switch and i could play a dangan ronpa game for real for once but it’s now been 4 years and we just passed the 10th anniversary of the series (albeit during a pandemic when i wouldnt expect them to have done anything) so it would be cool to see the series come to switch. i think if it still doesnt after this though i’ll just watch the playthrough, 4 years is long enough. amazed ive avoided spoilers this long, i still know next to nothing about the game

im about done with acnh but im still waiting on those splatoon items. and i ran out of storage in february so i need more of that too

nintendo did stuff for zelda’s 30th anniversary so i doubt theyre forgetting the 35th. maybe wwhd/tphd ports, idk

been a couple years since fire emblem, intelligent systems is probably up to something besides planning yet another paper mario spinoff

miyamoto forgot pikmin 4 in the oven 6 years ago and it got burnt to a crisp and thats why it hasnt come out yet because he had to start over

and splatoon

the inklings scared daft punk into quitting so now that theres no competition in the robot musician scene they should have a daft punk style group

i waited and waited and neither of my top two splatoon stages (flounder and d’alfonsino) came back in splatoon 2 so i hope just because splatoon 3 isnt in inkopolis doesnt mean they still wont return

would be sick as hell if there was a real hide and seek mode instead of just sticking to your own rules in private battles. havent played that since 2015 but it was super fun

show us the effects of the chaos world

i wanted mc craig to have a song in octo expansion and they didnt deliver. heres another chance

splatnet 3 baby

cant wait for nogami to do a funny 3 pose

abxy came back for splatoon 2.... am i gonna be that lucky again...?

salmon run doesnt make sense if youre friends with a smallfry but they could either change the story context (you just fight “evil” salmonids?) or replace it with an equally fun co-op mode

amiibo!!! i think i said this before but they should label them by weapons if these cephalopods dont have genders, would make more sense (the gendered ones had different weapons anyway)

returning characters!!!! would like to see everyone have a role of some kind

maybe #GearForAll wasnt successful in getting the emperor/spy/mecha gear, but perhaps theyll at least consider not making that stuff exclusive this time around

squid girl gear should be back. and they should call it a dress instead of a tunic because its a dress. and theres no gender now anyway

as ive said before... TRIPLIES!! you hold one in each hand and another in your mouth. and you can spin around like the tasmanian devil

remove splatfest tee annoyances: you should have a prompt at the end of a splatfest to pay to scrub your tee (to make sure you get the chunks) also it should be on a neutral brand so you dont end up with an overabundance of ink resistance up (or whatever else)

better online and cloud saves would certainly justify having a second splatoon game on the same console, as much as im loving that it exists

hopefully theres a global testfire again

sooner or later the workers will rise up and kill mr grizz

remember in splatoon 1 where if you had squid beatz (via the amiibo) you could “play” it in the lobby and change the music? then you were stuck listening to only bubble bath in splatoon 2? why did they take that option away they should bring it back

looking at those apartment buildings in the trailer i think it would be cool if you had your own room and could decorate it

an octavio redemption arc would be fun to see. in the manga he stole the zapfish because the octarians had an energy crisis, and in the end they worked out a deal to share the electricity

[my-sherlock221b]

Supernatural Rewatch Ramblings: Dead in the Water

This episode is the first one to be directed by Kim Manners. It was written by Raelle Tucker and Sera Gamble. It is still the MoTW format and once again the ‘monster’ is something that was created by human action. Ordinary seeming stories—of bullying, lies, cover up—with deadly consequences.

Read below the cut for more and also watch out for the add-ons by my partner in crime @soulmates-for-real​ who does the most amazing gifsets and image galleries 😎

It reminded me of this quote:

“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

It is a chilling experience—both the actual monster when we do finally see it and the backstory of what really happened. These monsters are all created by the flawed human beings. Here is another quote from the same source which could well be the underlying bedrock of the two very different approaches we see Sam and Dean take in later episodes to the whole saving people hunting things.

“Since then I have come to understand the truth of all the religions of the world: They struggle with the evil inside a human being (inside every human being). It is impossible to expel evil from the world in its entirety, but it is possible to constrict it within each person.” .

Philosophical overtones aside, we are also getting more glimpses into the heads and hearts of the two leads.

It is already obvious that Dean has put the whole ‘Dad- is- missing- and- hasn’t- been-home-in -a -few-days stuff’ on the back burner till …ummm  forever ? cos he has Sammy in front of his eyes who is sitting shotgun and being completely brotherly and sniping and bitching while also being boyfriend- level possessive.

As I said in the earlier review- I was just so swept away by the swashbuckling swagger of Dean that so obviously was an armour for his vulnerability that I almost didn’t notice Sam much. This is the episode where he became something more for me. Someone who was also finding out what Dean was all about at the same time as we were.

Someone who could pull him down to earth with a sharp: ‘People don’t just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them.’

But also reach out to him and remind him that they ‘can’t save everyone’.

In an early scene in the episode Sam scolds Dean for even starting to flirt with the waitress. 

He smirks when Andrea shoots Dean down. He mocks Dean’s pick- up line about kids are the best. He seems pleased in a very petty way that Dean’s attempt has failed and that he has no choice now but to hang out with Sam and to give him his full attention.

The episode does have plot holes –that house Lucas draws and the history of the friendship of the two men and the missing boy surely must be well known to everyone in that small town, including Lucas’s mother and how come no one joins the dots etc. etc.

But small quibbles aside, we get to see that the past casts long shadows—whether sins of the past or just events of the past. ( again a parallel to the lives of the Winchesters themselves. And in later seasons we find out just how far back into the past those shadows reach!)

We see that Dean connects with the mute boy, Lucas, but then we learn that he can do this because he had also shut down after he saw his mother die and he knows how scary the world can seem and how he needed to make himself brave to carry on.

Sam watches from the sidelines and we can see him have an ‘oh ok’ moment as he stores away this information because it has clearly never been discussed in the family earlier. Kudos to Jared for being amazing with the ‘active listening’ that Sheila O’Malley references so often.

So despite Sam challenging him to name 3 kids he even knows, we see that Dean actually focusses on the kid throughout. The shared sense of loss aside, maybe Dean also sees himself as the protector of all little kids especially after the Shtriga incident. (which we don’t know anything about yet) (and we do see him bond with kids in every episode that involves kids. It is adorable !!)

In this episode Dean is almost drowning in his dad’s leather jacket and the way the silver ring looks on his hand is just ridiculously sexy…sigh….and that amulet right where it belongs…..deeper sigh. Then the cocky grin, the unsubtle flirting, all macho/manly/me- so- hetero/me- see- me- conquer on the outside but the soft squidgy child- whispering caramel centre, the trauma of being a motherless kid—having become motherless in a brutal way, a missing and probably almost cruel dad, a brother he raised as his own who walked out on him to go seek his own dreams….all these layers are being put together slowly for us.

Dean is not what he seemed to be and that brash swashbuckling exterior hides a very complex and interesting person. The script and direction were excellent of course but Jensen brought to it just the perfect balance of bad-boy + I wuv hugs.

Sam is still finding his way into the story and we are still watching things from Dean’s perspective as narrator which is fascinating to realize during the re-watch. As I have mentioned earlier, I was so swept away by Dean that it took me a very long time to focus on Sam as a separate person.

Ok, now, all together shout--- --WHY do people DO the following things??!!!

Put hands elbow deep into a sink, give lifts to obvious deranged malevolent spirits in human form, ‘let’s split up so we can cover more ground’, go into a shower/bath in a scary scene—can’t they HEAR the dun-dun-dun music score in the background?!! Sheesh.

Anyway.     *eyeroll*

In a not- at- all- very- surprising turn of events Sam and Dean’s fake identity is called out and they are asked to leave town, which they do. But ….of course Dean does a very dramatic turn on the highway and takes them back to make sure the kid is ok!

Then Sam rescues the mother from the lethal bath- tub while Dean makes sure the kid is safe. Then they start to connect even more dots and eventually we see an incredible heroic rescue scene in the scary lake with Dean and the boy.

Jensen had described this shot in some interview as the most terrifying scene he had ever done apparently because he was responsible not only for doing the scene right but also for the young boy’s safety underwater.

What a fabulous visual we do get finally, with the boy in his embrace as they shoot out of the water!

That lake with its dark water is one super creepy place. That very first scene where we see the girl swimming from an underwater perspective had me yelling at the screen for her to GET OUT NOW.

So, finally, all is sorted and revenge has been had and bad folks die, good folks live and as they leave the town of course Lucas chats with Dean and they high five and just like the sister in the Wendigo episode, the young mother in this one also gives Dean a kiss on his cheek. Dean of course blushes and goes all gruff and drives off with Sam smirking in the shotgun seat.

The pattern is beginning to be established.

I am loving it!😍

.

The gag reel of this episode shows Jensen leaping into Jared’s arms.

This is the third episode only. So they have known each other only for a couple of months at this point?! Hmm…my J2 tinhat is also shining. And also wow. I mean Jensen is NOT a tiny guy.

  Here are some other possibly more erudite and informed reviews if you would like to go down that rabbit hole like I did.

This one is cool https://the-orbit.net/entequilaesverdad/2016/05/10/supernatural-s1-e3-dead-water-summary/ and gives a fun and interesting score at the end which goes like this

Episode 3 counts:

Woman in the Fridge: 1

For Sophie Carlton being the first to get murdered by the vengeful spirit. It’s obviously meant to hook us harder: I mean, nobody would care as much about obnoxious brother Will, right?

Revenge from Beyond the Grave: 4

Sophie Carlton, Will Carlton, Bill Carlton, and Jake Devins.

Brotherly Love: 2

I had to give one to Sam for cock-blocking his brother right at the start. Another point goes to Dean’s sick-of-your-attitude lecture to his little brother, throwing Sam’s decision to go to college while Dean stayed behind with their dad in his face.

Toxic Masculinity: 1

For Dean downplaying his grief when Sam draws him out about the aftermath of their mother’s death.

Swimming in Sexism: 2

For Will Carlton’s comment to his sister that “guys don’t like buff girls.” I added a point for all the times they had Dean hitting on any available woman. They do want us to be extra-very sure he’s hetero, don’t they?

Cumulative Counts: Dean’s Man Tears: 3

One point awarded for all Dean’s choking up about Mom. We’re now three for three, folks.

.

This review totally calls out Dean LOL. I love the reviews that were written as first watch because they are without the benefit of hindsight we have on a re-watch.

.

http://markwatches.net/reviews/2013/11/mark-watches-supernatural-s01e03-dead-in-the-water/

“It was fascinating to me, then, that through this, Sam was able to learn about Dean’s own emotional reasoning behind his hunting. Of course, Dean, being the most stereotypical dude of all dudes who ever duded, has to immediately act like feelings aren’t cool because BLEH. Okay, that is one aspect of Dean that I’m not terribly interested in, especially since he expresses feelings like every five seconds. The whole “I am a straight man and I’m very straight and look at that butt straight I’m straight” thing is already exhausting because I get it. You don’t need to tell me this every five seconds.” 

The comments to this review are also super entertaining with gems like this:

“So, if you knew that someone had drowned in the lake recently and their body was never found, WHY WOULD YOU STILL GO SWIMMING IN THE LAKE? Especially if two people had. It wouldn't make you think, "Hey, maybe there's something dangerous in that lake?" This show has some of the least genre savvy people EVER. Like, for example, once this mysterious death thing shows up in a sink, why would anyone want to take a bath or really ever fill any basin with water again? Seriously, is this the Bad Decision Olympics?”

.

Here is an awesome review from Fangasm also

https://fangasmthebook.com/2021/01/13/looking-back-on-dead-in-the-water-classic-supernatural/

[sir-silly]

TWDG S3 First Playthrough

So, here’s my main problem with season 3. I like the story and I like a lot of the characters, but what I don’t like is how it makes me feel. I’m not inclined to make the choices that I actually want to make. I want to defend Clementine to the death and shoot Conrad (i love his character, i just hate how he treated Clem there) and stay behind to fight with her, but as Javier, it just doesn’t make sense.

He just met this girl and has no idea who she is, rather than us who have known her for so much longer. And personally, I don’t ship him with Kate. But it feels so forced that I feel like I have to go along with it. It’s so ugh. So, this first playthrough, I’m going to be acting as Javier, not as me, and I’m going to hate it and be salty so be prepared for that.

wE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET A FLASHBACK WITH SANDRA??? AND WE DIDN'T??!?!?!!! WHAT THE FUCK??????? I'M LOOKING THROUGH THE CONCEPT GALLERY AND WHAT THE HELL?!??!?! I'M SO MADDDD!!!!

I'm already angry and we haven't even started yet. Kate was going to have a katana???? And Gabe was gonna get a fucking AXE??????? WHY DID WE NOT GET THESE THINGS??!?!?!?!! Also, JAVIER IS SO FUCKING SLOW. I also played all of season 3 in one day lmao.

E1 - I’ll never not find the opening amazing. It’s so well done and just that, “No, Yaya. Pipo’s awake.” with the cut is so damn good. They did a really good job with that. However, I do have to complain when we get to present day because Mariana looks just as old as Clem and Gabe. She’s supposed to be 10 while they’re 13 and 14, which I don’t buy just from looking at her. Like, I thought she and Gabe were twins the first time I saw them. ALSO Mariana has an eyebrow slit and cuffs her pants. Bisexual confirmed.

I love the reintroduction to Clementine. She’s such a badass and her, “How about I shoot you and take the van anyway?” is just YASS QUEEN. She’s such a baddie and I love it. I think it’s kind of dumb that you get locked up if you tell a believable lie, but you’re allowed to roam free if you tell the questionable truth. It just doesn’t make sense. As Tripp, I would have done it the other way around.

I’ll always be so mad about Mari’s death. I wish they would have kept her alive because it would have been totally doable. Have that moment of shock come from Kate getting shot in the stomach and make us question if she’s alive until we run over to her. That way, we still get the anger and the reason to go to Richmond, but this sweet little child gets to come along. I would have loved to see her reaction with seeing David again because she would see how bad he was immediately, unlike Gabe.

E2 - I didn't get into Kate and David's fight because I don't care and it has no impact. The only time we see Gabe with his axe is him just using it on an already dead walker, which is bull. Calling him pudding boy makes the game much more enjoyable, 10/10 would recommend (I’m literally Louis, I had to use spellcheck for that word). Thanks CallMeKevin.

Conrad annoys the hell out of me this episode just because of how pissy he is with Clem. I know he just lost his wife or girlfriend or something, but no one shall mess with Clemmy without feeling the full force of my anger. I hate giving her up to Richmond. This episode is pretty boring, tbh. I wish they would have just combined 1 and 2 (I know it was originally all one episode) and just given us 4 because not a whole lot interesting happened. Definitely ranked last out of my favorite episodes for season 3.

E3 - The flashbacks from Javi just annoy me after the first one. They just have no impact and don't add anything since we know how it ends up anyway. The blowing out the candle and closing the door transitions were beautiful though. Tripp is all like "I didn't even know you had a brother" like bruh you met Javi two days ago and you've hardly talked to each other about anything other than what's been going on.

I think episode 3 is one of my favorites because it has a lot of good moments and hard choices in it. I'm really surprised that only 56% of people chose to bring Max back to Richmond, like, I thought a lot of people would go for that. I really don't understand Clint still backing Joan after they all learn she was behind the raids. From the little bit we get from his character, he seems to prefer peace and negotiation rather than violence so I don't understand how he lets this all happen. Lingard makes sense because how else would his addiction get fed, but Clint siding with her, I just don't understand. However, the cliffhanger if you don't bring Max is like a million times better.

E4 - Clem getting her period is always such a thing for me. Like, this girl has never had a constant in her life, so here she is asking a total stranger what periods are because she doesn't understand. I always have Javi explain to her because he totally realizes that she has no parental figure and thus never learned anything or that menstrual cycles used to be a "taboo" subject for a lot of people.

David is so GRRRR. Like, bruh, I just took a good ass deal and you have the aUDACITY TO SHOOT THE MAN???!?!!? THEN YOU BLAME ME?!?!!?!?! WTF!?!!! Also, I love how Javi is literally like ��let me just hide behind these civilians” while he’s getting shot at lmao.

I did such a bad, y'all. When Kate was driving to the square, I was jokingly saying "what if I just let her hit me" because I thought it would be funny because I have such a hard time playing season 3 seriously just because it's my least favorite. But I was like "nah I don't wanna have to replay a section" so I pushed the dodge button bUT APPARENTLY I WASN'T FAST ENOUGH AND CONRAD PUSHED ME OUT OF THE WAY AND GOT HIT!!?!?!?!! I DIDN'T KNOW THAT COULD HAPPEN!!! I THOUGHT HE LIVED FOR GOOD IF YOU GOT HIM THROUGH EPISODE 3?!?!?!! I'M SO UPSET ASDFGHJKL

E5 - I’m so fuckingn mad about Conrad. I’d rather Kate have died than him lol. I’m so angry. I told her that she killed him because I’m still so damn salty about it. I’m never getting over that shit. Fucking BULL.

I have such mixed feelings about David during this episode. Like, he loses his shit a lot during episode 5 with the whole Fern/Rufus thing then again when Kate fuckin outs y’all at the worst possible time. But the reason I get so conflicted about him is because of that scene on the roof. I think he’s a shitty person for thinking a soldier can’t also be a husband or a father because that’s wrong on so many levels.

But I also really feel sympathy for him when he talks about if he hasn’t changed because he doesn’t know how or if it’s impossible to change who you really are. Because, in my opinion, people can change - but he brings up a really interesting point here. People can change, but to what extent? Are they happy about the change or do they miss the way things were? Did they change because it was something they wanted or was it for someone else? He just really makes me think here and the way he questions himself like that makes me feel very connected with him in a strange way, simply because I ask myself a lot of the same things.

I was so freaking worried when it came to everyone splitting up, you have no damn idea lmao. Even though I don’t like Kate, I still wanted to get the “happy ending” so I was so fucking thankful when Clem said she’d go with whoever I didn’t since that’s the only way to get both her and Gabe. Speaking of which, he’s fucking adorable. I know a lot of people find him annoying, and I did too at first, but he’s just a really sweet kid.

I’m excited to go back through the game and actually make the choices I want to make lol.

[rebuildingchilton]

some thoughts on Jack’s characterization

Jack goes through an interesting change of heart mid-S2. at first, he expresses regret and shame over his mistreatment of will; on trial (S2E3), he defies the FBI (!!!) and the overseer of the FBI, Kade Prurnell (!!!!!!!!!) just to defend his friend, at his own expense. the supposed revelation that Will is a serial killer who murdered Abigail Hobbs has made him feel guilty for pushing will despite his obvious mental health issues. he pushed, and now Abigail and many others are dead.

however, upon learning that Will is not responsible for the murders, he seems to change his tune a little. no longer is he indirectly responsible for murder - Will didn’t snap and start killing.

so when Jack arrives at BSHCI (S2E7) when Will is being released, he apologizes to Will. not for pushing him. not for using his mind as a means to an end. he doesn’t feel guilty about that - he never did. he had felt guilty for pushing Will into a murder spree. and now he’s learned that Will is innocent of murder, excluding Garret Jacob Hobbs.

instead, Jack apologizes for not standing by Will. he expresses his guilt over leaving Miriam Lass behind. he acknowledges that he left Will behind (this short speech of his always reminds me of his conversation with Kade Prurnell in e3 about cutting people loose!) and apologizes for that. Will brushes him off, clearly still upset that Jack didn’t believe him. fair enough, Jack’s face seems to say.

and what does Jack do next after his apology?

he drives Will directly to a crime scene.

the two of them travel to the cabin Miriam Lass was held in. Jack asks Will to use his mind, as usual. all is as it was. they don’t even make a pit stop at Will’s house. he hasn’t had a decent meal since before BSHCI. in Jack’s professional (but probably not personal) opinion, Will’s mind is once again ‘open for business’ as a tool for Jack to use.

someone who hasn’t been paying attention to Jack’s motivations up until now might accuse him of being a hypocrite. christ, he just went on the stand and took responsibility for Will’s mental state! and now he’s pushing him again??

but Jack doesn’t care about Wills mental state. or, rather, he tries not to. he can’t afford to. Jack felt guilt over pushing Will because it resulted in murder, not because it hurt will. after years (probably decades) at this career, ALL Jack cares about is justice. it’s all he can afford to care about. he doesn’t care about his career, his safety, he tries not to care about his team (and fails - see his emotional reactions to the fates of Miriam Lass, Beverly Katz, and Will Graham).

Regarding his career - he just tanked that by defending Will from the FBI. 

his own well-being - clearly his job is an enormous source of stress for him and he often physically risks himself, going to Hannibal’s alone in S2E13 and facing off against him again in S3E5 after he murders Pazzi.

the well-being of his employees - excluding Bella’s health, of course, Jack’s #1 priority is catching killers, not the mental and physical health of the other autonomous adults who made the choice to work for him. he doesn’t have time to prioritize them. it’s like he says in late S1 to Will in regards to past victims - you can’t hold everyone in your mind. you have to let everything go in order to survive this job and live to fight another day.

he cares about justice - as Will says (S2E13) to Hannibal, Jack cares about uncovering the truth and letting it be known in the light of day. it’s brave but far from idealistic. he disagrees with Kade Prurnell about letting people go - sacrificing them to save his own skin. but he does sacrifice people - just never for his own gain, but in the pursuit of justice. that includes himself. he would sacrifice his own life trying to capture Hannibal. he would sacrifice Will Graham’s mental health. he unintentionally sacrificed Miriam Lass. he would sacrifice someone again (maybe not like Miriam was, but certainly like how Will was) if it meant getting a killer like the Chesapeake Ripper off the street.

Alana is known for being idealistic and kind, but i think jack might be the purest of heart. he’s like a knight in a religious war.

anyway i think his character is one of the most interesting aspects of the show and i wish it was analyzed more by the fandom! he’s so interesting and such a good person at heart.

[dinnerkingdedede]

Okay, does ANY ONE OF YOU remember Ninjala besides me?

If not, too bad. I’m gonna give you a little refresher on this lost E3 banger for you anyways. Here we go!

E3 2018... The year where Smash and Cyberpunk pretty much dominated the headlines. Somewhere beneath all that ruckus, one game was eager to flaunt its dance moves on the show floor: Ninjala.

Made by the same guys who did Puzzle & Dragons, Ninjala features some fun looking bubblegum ninja action. The game’s colors and its art style popped, giving me some Splatoon/ARMS vibes when I first saw it in the sizzle reel from the E3 2018 Direct. (pictured below)

Heck, it even had its very own spot on the show floor! (pictured below, taken from the E3 website)

Ninjala was initially planned to launch last spring (as seen in the gif), but I hadn't heard anything from it since then. So a few weeks after GungHo's absence from last year's E3, I decided to check their website. There I found that the game's release date was (at the time) unchanged, even though spring 2019 had already passed.

On a personal note, a ray of hope shone down for the game as I discovered a hot-off-the-press Ninjala article on My Nintendo News near the very end of last year (pictured above). The column in question felt like a reminder that this game is a real thing and not just some fever dream I was having. Alternatively, since it was the very first time I've heard anything from the game in a year and a half, that article was a sign that read, "NINJALA IS NOT DEAD" in big shining letters. I may have myself to blame for being out of the loop for that long... While making this post, I checked the game’s official site again and the launch is now spring of this year (AKA closer than we think).

Oh, and one more thing...

GungHo was originally going to be at E3 this year before the show got binned (pictured above, using the Wayback Machine), so hopefully it won't be long before we hear from Ninjala again.

That being said, I'm low key pumped for this game. Anyone who sees this post is encouraged to reblog and spread the word. I don't want anyone who sees this post let Ninjala slip under their radar.

(P.S: I’ll reblog this post with links later since Tumblr doesn’t like them)

[neptunium134]

Death of the Small Coopers mini-analysis, part 4

Okay, reveal scene, let’s go-

These may be a little out of order cuz I took them on different days, but I’ll do my best to put them in order

Y E E T-

I love this look- John’s face is a mixture of concern and surprise

‘You kissed my son and now he might be in danger, damnit woman’

I think this just perfectly illustrates just how much John cares for Jamie, you can see he’s trying not to panic here, or give off the impression he’s panicking, but the audience can see it, and it shows just how much John and Jamie’s relationship has developed since The Village That Rose From The Dead (S19, E1).

It’s one of those nuggets that, as the audience who have seen this development, we can pick up on.

So these two shots are effectively mirror images of each other. The top one is a medium-close up on Jamie from a narrative perspective while the bottom one is an over-the-shoulder shot placed upside-down, in the way Jamie would be seeing. Both shots are there to establish a narrative so the audience knows what’s happening.

Also, they’re pretty cool shots.

That’s one way to get someone’s attention

Okay, let me geek out over this shot for a moment

It starts out upside-down, as we’re seeing it from Jamie’s POV after Leo slaps him, then the camera rotates 180 degrees to give us a mid-shot of Leo.

I’d say the rotating motion is meant to signify things coming into perspective as Jamie realises Leo’s the killer (no duh).

Obviously Jamie isn’t moving, he’s still upside-down, so the shot is meant to be for the audience.

Then this quite fast zoom from a mid-shot into a close-up onto Jamie’s face when Leo reveals the crossbow. The speed of the zoom could represent Jamie’s sudden realisation of just how much danger he’s in.

This riddle was actually one of the first ones I ever did, and I laughed as soon as Leo started reciting it cuz I already knew the answer.

It also links back to the scene in the bar when Eddie was about to tell Jamie the riddle. It’s the irony- if Jamie had listened to Eddie then, he would know the answer and wouldn’t be held at arrowpoint for 5 minutes.

But then there was the risk of Leo firing early and killing Jamie anyway cuz Jamie knew what Leo did.

It’s that sense of irony- Mahesh was “made a victim of his obsession”, Grady was made “a victim of his lofty intelligence” and Jamie was about to become a victim of irony, of not listening to Eddie recite the riddle that was in the Circulus paper, the paper Leo took.

Once again, we see John’s concern for Jamie. In the top picture, we can hear John’s concern, his worry. He’s scared for Jamie.

In the second picture, we get a close-up of his face, he’s trying to get the info out of Leo as a distraction, to lure him away from Jamie, give Jamie a chance to try and escape.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN KIDS ARE PUSHED

Okay, not literally, but every kid has a breaking point. Sure, kids don’t usually go around murdering people because they’ve been pushed to lengths, but it’s an allegory for kids being pushed way past their breaking point.

What makes this scenario even sadder is Leo was pushed to this point by a couple of factors; his mother died, one of his teachers was his mental support and who ended up being his dad’s mental support as well, his dad stopped his relationship with the woman who made him happy, his headteacher was going to sack the person who was there for Leo and his dad, the editor of the local newspaper for a town that thrives on gossip was going to publish a biased article about his dad and his teacher, and he thinks that this new guy is trying to steal the woman that made his dad happy from his dad.

There comes a tipping point for children. Like I said, kids don’t usually start murdering people, it’s usually something like drugs or some other kind of self-harming actions, but you can understand why Leo went as far as he did- he’d reached his tipping point and lashed out violently because he thought it was the only way to get his voice heard.

It’s a sad story, but the general understanding of it is something that a lot of kids face- a tipping point that gets ignored by adults until it’s too late. Hopefully this episode showed adults that.

Coming off from the above idea, this is another thing that kids are taught. ‘Rules are rules’, ‘stick to the rules’, ‘do as you’re told’- it accumulates, it builds up until the aforementioned tipping point.

This is another thing adults seem to forget that affects kids- stick to the rules, make sure you please the adults. Who cares if the kids grow up traumatised? Who cares if the kids grow up with this toxic mindset? They’re sticking to the rules.

Okay, enough about the issues with society-

John asks Leo what the question was so he could have a chance to save Jamie, while Jamie does what most kids do when they’re scared- they look to their parental figure for help. 

It’s just more evidence of the familial bond they have.

I find this interesting- John probably knows the answer to the riddle, or at least he could work it out quickly, yet he pleads with Leo to stop.

Why?

He’s panicking. He’s scared. He thinks Jamie is going to die and he is helpless to stop it.

It isn’t a terribly hard riddle, but it requires concentration, and what’s one thing you can’t do when you’re scared? 

Concentrate.

Neither John nor Jamie can concentrate in this situation, they’re too scared.

However, Birgitte can concentrate. She doesn’t have that bond with Jamie, she’s only known him for maybe 3 or 4 days, and she took the paper the riddles was on.

She is able to step in and give Jamie the answer, not because she has that strong bond with him, but because she knows how strong John and Jamie’s bond is.

Don’t get me wrong, she probably does care about Jamie and doesn’t want him to die, but that newer, weaker bond gives her the ability to step back and concentrate while everyone else is panicking.

John echoes Birgitte, yet his “Yes?” is slightly more panicked. Birgitte’s is calm, rational, leveled while John looks like he wants to run over to Jamie and protect him physically.

To me, it’s the bond thing again. Birgitte is more leveled because she knows she has to be in order to save Jamie. She knows there’s no use in both her and John panicking, so she keeps calm and gives the answer. The "Yes?” is the prompt to Leo to let Jamie go.

Even with Jamie reciting the right answer, Leo pushes the button and we get this moment.

Birgitte is the only one who appears shocked, she is turned to Jamie and for the first time, she looks scared. Even with her help, it’s possible Jamie could die, they could be about to witness the death of someone her friend holds dear.

Ignoring Colton and Penny, mostly because I don’t think the shot actually shows their reaction, we’re going to skip right onto John.

Leo pushes the button and John runs to Jamie. He calls him “Jamie” instead of “Winter”, like he usually does.

He panics, he rushes forward as if he’s hoping he can either put himself between Jamie and the arrow, or, even better, push Jamie out of the way and avoid anyone getting hurt.

But it’s the running compiled with the use of “Jamie” that really hits home- John cares a lot about Jamie, and this one wide shot with Jamie in slightly blurred focus and John more in-focus, really shows it. He calls Jamie by his first name, something I don’t think we’ve seen before, and rushes to get to him.

Like @tiger-moran​ said, we’ve gone from John not knowing Jamie’s name in Last Man Out (S19, E3) to this, to John wanting to protect Jamie, to save him. To calling his name in a panic the same way parents will to their child if their child is in danger.

Jamie attempted kill count: 3

And the importance of bonds come back; Jamie made a bond with Ginny after she almost shot him at her farm, and she created a bond with Birgitte when Birgitte went to see her. Without that bond Ginny created with these two, Jamie would have been hit with the arrow, not doubt about it. Ginny’s line confirms that. 

Then, once John knows Jamie’s safe, he runs to Leo, to pin him against the tree until the PCs arrive.

It’s similar to what he does in Til Death Do Us Part (S20, E5), when he finds Hazel holding a pair of gardening shears to Sarah’s neck- it’s that instinctive reaction to stop the cause of his loved one’s pain. It’s that closeness again, he has similar reactions to both Jamie and Sarah almost being killed.

He checks Jamie is safe, that Jamie is alive, then he apprehends Leo to stop Leo from potentially trying to hurt or kill Jamie again.

Gonna leave this part here cuz it’s long enough anyway. I’ll do a short Part 5 for the final scene, then this’ll be over, you’ll be happy to know

[macgyvertape]

Final Cyperpunk2077 playthrough thoughts

Finished the game finally, general thoughts above spoilers, then a log of actions/reactions below cut

overall the game was #fine  Not even discussing the bugs I had and CDPR’s issues as a studio, the game felt shallow as a puddle outside the main quest and a few side quests. Driving is bad, combat quickly became boring, there isn’t much divergence as promised with your origin, so why replay it from the beginning? But the larger flaws are not just technical issues like how poorly cars handle, but design choices that make a lot of side quests “go here kill enemies loot documents“ boring. Comparing the yellow ! quests, with Witcher 3 monster contracts: they had a deeper story sometime, and you had a to fight enemies with different combat styles. A lot of the skills and perks shown in E3 material that would have made for more interesting builds were either removed from the game, or don’t work. 

I took a week off from playing this game, because I got to the point Of no return, and was finishing up side quests and hit a bug. Then i was thinking: is this it? For a game that I took the release week Friday off work to play because I wanted to experience the story with no spoilers; its just indicative of how somehow along the way I became apathetic with both gameplay and story.

the bit where Saul says Panam was right he was wrong, then gives her a hug. Just omaze. Wasn't expecting to pass out, but i love how all the aldacados greet you when you wake up and ask if you are ok.

really enjoy how Takemura hates all the awful food that is present in the future in Night City, and yet will still get pizza for the stake out. Seeing the cat, hearing about his backstory, who am i to just him for his corporate soldier backstory. "there are no clean hands but it is important how they become dirty"

apparently for Pisces quest you get a different ending if you do nonlethal to take down Maiko, so I reloaded a save and did that. Judy is a lot happier. She gave me a KISS, versus being shaken and upset.  I don't see Clouds being independent going well, they probably should join with the Mox

(had to relaunch the game here, since there was a bug that didn't let me hack anything)

After that I made sure to do nonlethal taking down Oda. Quickhacks and jumping away from attacks ftw.

I like how one of the reporters is there and you can repeatedly walk into her shot, and ruin it.

Of course I went back for Takemura in the apartment. I've played Deus Ex, and didn't save Paul the first time, so of course I had to go back for the rescue.

Johnny gave me his dog tags, and said that when the time comes it's his life for mine. I wonder if this dialogue would change any depending on the choice.

the scene where Johnny takes control drives home just how much an asshole he is. I just muted my headphones, and skipped through it b/c it wasn't exactly fun to sit through. I really like Rouge, her line of "I could never confuses the two of you", like I want her to like V for V

I drove out to the dump, because I knew you could find Dexter Deshawn's corpse. Also found the corpse of Bartmoss the guy who destroyed the net in a cooler nearby. It's neat that there are these things you can stumble upon in the world, but like the world is so big I needed to look up a guide to find where in the dump was Dexter's corpse. (update the bartmoss quest was kind of a let down, I just got some quickhacks not much story)

The dump through is good worldbuilding, is massive, and when i was there a dust storm blew in obscuring everything. Absolutely horrifying for their world, it's environmentally fucked.

I had decided to go with the Judy romance a while ago, and finally did that 3rd quest. It's sweet the build up to the date in the phone call and the different convo choices you have leading to sex; even though the 1st person sex cutscenes are still awkward af. Compared to the River one where there's a mood, here they just flash a lot of tit and vaguely suggest oral. Judy then invites you to move in with her, which you can then acknowledge it's literally playing the "lesbians move in with eachother quickly" trope, completely straight (pun intended). But I really like Judy's arc over the game as she gets to know V better, and you asking her to be with you is what stops her from leaving night city (I'm guessing friendship might stop it too, or just have a different ending).

The diving mechanic was cool, though I think this is literally the ONLY swimming mission in the game, so kind of a waste of a mechanic. I kept thinking, wow it sure would be bad if V passed out inside a building deep underwater: then "suprise pickachu face" guess what happens. Also not shocked to learn the tiger claws struck back at Clouds, without support from another gang it was bound to happen.

I like quests with Rogue, she's kind of a snarky ass just like V. I went ahead an executed Greyson I didn't trust him. Nice of Rogue to get me a jacket, but at the same time feels weird, accumulating more of a dead person's outfit piece by piece. Rogue is attractive, female silver fox way, but also i can't tell if its just to give gamers fanservice.

Wow after a few quests going "never again give Johnny control", he sounded so down talking at his non existent grave, and regretting that he was an asshole to everyone he knew, that I agreed to help him finish things with Rogue. (wonder if any choices you make change that dialogue)

Rogue: "is johnny asking me on a date or you" SURE WISH IT WAS BOTH ROGUE. I chose the kiss option but I get why Rogue says it wouldn't have been fair to her. AS V THOUGH, I TOTALLY WOULD HAVE BEEN DOWN.  Though Johnny did behave himself, glad to see trust wasn't betrayed.

Visiting Kerry, sure why not the visit with Rogue went well. It’s weird how friendly johnny is to you zig zags between side quests.

Going to find Nancy, I'm glad Dum Dum and Maelstrom showed up again. Was worried they would never follow up on that plot. Then i of course chose Denny, she had her house wrecked. But I do think its funny, I have all this Silverhand gear and no one but Rogue comments on it.

Here’s hoping male V’s get more from Kerry, you get the questline of reuniting the band, and then after talking at the bar you get repeatable dialogue prompts, and thats it for content.

Nice that you can go talk to Rogue and Judy and they will comment on the parade going poorly.

  NOTE:  I went to do a side quest Fortunate Son, and got a persistent bug where I thought quickhack was broken (turns out you just can't quickhack police) and the game wouldn't let me skip time. At this point I put down the game for a week and went to play something else, because it was the final straw. Also, that quest is poorly designed, it makes you fight a bunch of cops you can't just run away. So much for freedom of play.

Apparently I don't get the secret ending because my approval with Johnny is just 60%, and i didn't pick the specific dialogue choices required; so I went with the Rogue ending because feels like it completes her narrative more than attacking with the Aldacados

I looked up the Arasaka ending before I made changes, and wow that ending is depressing af (as to be expected)

Rogue is the best, but i was more tired of playing the game than sad she died, anyway thats what fix-it fanfic is for.

But for fucks sake, the first fight with Adam Smasher, he jumped to the upper platform, and the game bugged out so i couldn't even decide his fate. It's bugs all the way to the end. I think the ending choices were also bugged, V was attacking Johnny talking about the well, no matter what choice was prompted for bridge/well.

Then the ending. I chose for Johnny to go on with Alt.  I get why people have said they were disappointed with the endings. The Johnny ending has everyone wondering why V is now ghosting them, makes sense because this ending proves Johnny is an asshole.

Wow for saving Takemura in the hotel, he calls me and tells me “rot in hell kuso ama“ (rot in hell fucking bitch). So thats great /s. Can see that he’s obviously upset I didn’t take the arasaka offer and now the company is in turmoil. So much for thinking we were friends and guess saving Oda literally doesn’t matter for anything

But the return the body to V: V has presumably very short time left to live, the calls you from friends and acquaintances talk about how she doesn't call or visit them any more, your love interest talks about how you've been distant with them. I guess the delemain dialogue differs based on attack choice and how you resolved the Delemain quest, since it's different in a similar playthroughs on YT. As for endings for other characters it seems people are better off the more you help them, which makes sense.

But I still had this feeling not just that the ending was bittersweet, but that this didn’t in character for the V I had been playing. That Heck the Judy ending with attacking Arasaka alone/with Rogue, has her leaving Night City without you. Which fair, you knew that as you got into a relationship with her. But still feels like a downer. She's a lot happier in the Panam attack ending. I appreciate that you get different options, and options within those options, but I’m just like what narrative arc did V undergo? What personal journey was actually resolved?

[syfygirl1998]

Listen, I’m not saying episode four is full of holes and bullshit, but yes, it is, that’s exactly what I’m saying.

I have come to a conclusion that I think is true. The events of episodes 3 and 4 are weeks, if not months apart. And, after I show my thought process as I came to this conclusion, I think it will change the way we all think about the events that came from episodes 4-6.

Warning, there will be math. I give you said warning because I know I’m not a fan of math of any kind but I did this whole blog in equal parts of bitterness and dedication.

~ ~ ~ >>Review of the Battle<< ~ ~ ~

Lets start by looking at the armies- both the offensive and defensive forces. The total of both being over 138,000+ moving bodies including a dragon, whether or not they were living or dead. After the Night King is unceremoniously killed, all of his army is destroyed, over 100,000 bodies, just laying there. In episode 4 we’re told that half the army of the living has been killed, leaving an estimate of 19,130 living men. (Which brings a lot of questions to mind about where all those Unsullied and Dothraki from episode 5 and 6 came from but that’s not the issue for now.)

Just to give you all a reminder, ^that^ is what the army of the living looked like. The smaller army, might I say again. There’s also the wall of fire they made around Winterfell with the buried wooden stakes and ripped apart trebuchet over the battlefield.

I don’t think I’m overreacting when I say that that’s a whole LOT of dead bodies just laying about, rotting away, not doing much at all but getting in the way when the battle was finished. Bodies that need to be cleaned away and burned.

When The Long Night ends, we see several shots that shows how the remaining living are literally SWIMMING in corpses, the ground flooded with dead bodies. From Gendry and Tormund standing on an actual mountain of bodies, Jaime and Brienne being pressed against the wall surrounded by an ocean of bodies, the fields around Dany and Jorah being covered by dead (and chunks of burning trebuchet pieces), to Arya and Bran being in the Godswood surrounded by the Greyjoy’s and icicle remains of the Walkers. Basically, the showrunners make it a point to show how much carnage is left from the battle.

The damage done to Winterfell was also extensive. Firstly, undead Viserion destroys the wall between one of the high towers and the main gate. But then, the Night King simply walks through the giant hole but this time it’s between two towers instead. Ignoring that mess, we also see Viserion burn and crash through one of the inner courtyards of Winterfell. (Reminder: this is the Jon yelling at dragon scene). And finally, during the funeral scene in episode four, we see that the whole wall is repaired with no visible damage.

Episode 4 starts with a funeral. We see dozens of pires. Dozens, but definitely not enough for over one hundred thousand bodies and a dragon. Especially since the first row seems to have around 8-10 people per pire and then maybe 12-20 in the rest of the rows. Absolutely not enough for all the dead bodies we know are piling up. In the time it would take them to build those pires and wait for them to burn up a couple hundred bodies, only to rebuild them again, it would be at least two weeks.

Let’s be positive, say they built 12 rows x 12 pires per row = 144 in total and let’s say 15 bodies per pire (minus the first row of 8 in the front). 132 x 15 = 1,980 + 96 (front row). 2,076 bodies were burned at the funeral out of over 119,00. Including a dragon. Can you imagine how long it would take them to burn all the dead at the rate they’re going?

How are they supposed to have cleaned up thousands of dead (and a bigass dead dragon) so quickly? We’re led to believe the next episode happens right after the battle, all the characters have their injuries and Sansa’s comment about letting the troops rest after the battle and Gendry acting like he hasn’t seen Arya at all since the store room shag before the wights attacked.

How did they move Viserion anyways? That would take the most amount of time, not to mention rebuilding the damage Viserion did. Did they use those magically appearing chains the wights had in season 7 or did Drogon and Rhaegal tag-team carry him wherever Dany ended up after the final?

~ ~ ~ >>Sense<< ~ ~ ~

Now, working under the assumption that I’m right (and looking above, I’m pretty certain that I am) and it’s been months between episode 3 and 4 there are several (more) inconsistencies that appear the longer you think about it.

~ ~ ~ >>Gendry’s Proposal<< ~ ~ ~

Thinking about it now, it doesn’t seem that shocking that he would propose. Weeks of cleaning up and repairing Winterfell by her side, being thankful that they’re both alive, impressed with her killing the Night King, having time to think about his future (now that he knows he has one) and his feelings, and (I’m assuming) more store room shags since they both looked comfortable kissing in E4. And with the addition of having a sudden Lordhood and time to realize he’s in love with Arya, it’s not surprising at all that he would propose. Which honestly makes Arya’s refusal and then permanent disappearance west, that much more of a terrible writing decision.

~ ~ ~ >>Dany’s Depression<< ~ ~ ~

Dany being lonely and grief stricken for Jorah and Viserion for months presumably since no one looked like they were interested in speaking to her at the feast, it probably wasn’t much different in the months following the battle. Her begging Jon not to tell anyone makes sense too, she probably spent the time between E3 and E4 thinking that she was unloved, losing everything she loves, Jon only pushing her away and the North/Sansa continuing to be cold with her despite everything she gave to fight for the living.

Sansa saying ‘the troops need rest’ during the war meeting is kind of bullshit because the army have had months of just hauling around bodies, building pires and repairing Winterfell in the day and sleeping and resting when they weren’t doing that. Manual labour followed by at least a month (depending on snowfall) of travel towards King’s Landing is what armies have been doing in war times for centuries and during the show. The only logical reason I can think of as to why Sansa spoke out was because she was undermining Dany.

~ ~ ~ >>Bran<< ~ ~ ~

It also means Bran definitely knew what was coming and he had time to tell people what to do to avoid it. And he didn’t.

~ ~ ~

Bottom line, there should have definitely been an episode between E3 and E4 because we missed months of the characters lives.

[mistressmedia]

Skyward Sword Switch Port Leaked (Again)?

It’s been almost two years since, Eiji Aonuma “jokingly” suggested Skyward Sword might recieve a port during a LOZ concert.The internet went wild, with most fans opposed to the idea since the game wasn’t exactly what you’d call well recieved. Nintendo was quick to shut these rumors down, the Link’s Awakening remake was announced several months later, and most people seemed to move on.

For awhile, we all believed that Skyward Sword would be consigned to live out it’s days on a dead console, condemned by Nintendo’s insistance on incorporating motion controls into basically every game. Just because technology exists, doesn’t mean it’s worth using. Anyways, it’s a shame the game flopped since it’s the first one listed on the official Zelda timeline. Such an important story deserves better treatment than a 2011 Wii game. However, Skyward Sword is currently trending on Twitter. So what happened?

Amazon UK recently posted a listing for Skyward Sword on their site with a release date of Janurary 2030. This isn’t much evidence to go on, but combined with a Legend of Zelda producer mentioning it not too long ago, it’s definitely not impossible. Games take years to develop so it’s possible Nintendo was working on it or making plans to work on it back then. Additionally, the pandemic has obviously had an impact on the company’s ability to develop games. It’s possible some projects might be easier to work on remotely, and maybe Skyward Sword is one of them. 

Until Nintendo responds, no one will really know for sure but it’s fun to speculate. It didn’t take too long for them to comment last time so hopefully we’ll hear more soon. In the meantime, there’s still plenty of hype for Breath of the Wild 2, which was announced at E3 2019.

Screenshot in Case Amazon Takes it Down: