#we have a month or two to theorize anyhow

[housekinokuniabridged]

HNK POST CHAPTER 98 THEORIES

I don't really use this account for posts, but I want to spitball about what maybe happen next. I'm pretty sure HNK is going to end on chapter 108, so we still have 10 chapters till we're done.

The final chapters are about everyone in the afterlife. This is the one that's least likely to happen. They did want to return to "nothingness" and that means there's literally nothing there waiting for them.

We go back in time to look at Earth's final days. Also unlikely, we know all we need from that era and I don't know what more can be said aside from "Human's were fucked up eh?". It's too thin to get 10 chapters out of.

The cycle continues. My personal favorite and the one I consider the most likely. Whether a new species disconnected from humanity arises, or Phos's saint powers weren't as all-reaching as they though (or as someone else put it, the oblivion they desired was actually the oblivion of the cycle of reincarnation), the cast returns in new forms to do this whole song-and-dance over again. It won't be entirely one-to-one, the Professor was nothing like Phos after all, the final 10-ish chapters would follow this slightly new cast around and end in a way that parallels the beginning of the manga. Maybe even on a more hopeful note, where the new Phos is allowed to have a happy life this time around.

[bloomvalyria]

Hey... so what are your theories about Dakar desperately wanting the dragon flame for the ultimate power –really quick here; the writers REALLY couldn't decided whenever the dragon fire was the greatest power there is or not uh? Anyhow I decided to see the ultimate power as the only form a "normal"/not sparx native magical creature could wiel the DF– while The Three Ancestors created and groomed Valtor without his knowledge?

If we say Dakar wasn't aware of him –can't imagine him being very... comfortable with Valtor's existence... a being that is the spark of the DF paired and honed with dark magic? Valtor is essential what he [and the ancestors] wanted to be–. Like how did that go? Dakar brooding on his throne, fantasizing about the DF/Ultimate Power, while the Ancestors molded the corrupt spark into Valtor? What were their excuses/cover ups when they trained & thaught him? Dakar is a megalomaniac, but so much so that he wouldn't be aware of his henchwomen doing this?

Anyhow, I headcanon Valtor/the spark which became Valtor to be too great to handle/absorb for either the Witches and/or Dakar, so instead they modeled Valtor. Which still leaves me questioning why they would have felt confident enough to create a being that would essential exceeded them in every aspect, if he would detached himself from them. Which would only be natural... after all why would he –who would essential be the GREATEST magical creature there is– remain submissive?

Sry for this being so long. I just love theorizing about it, the Winx Club could have had such an amazing deep and fascinating lore if the writers would have had the balls/it would have been produced for an older audience. The possibilities 🤧

The expansion of the lore is literally my personal reason why I would want the Winx Club to be adapt for an older audience, not sex or shit, give me a bloody dark lore 👀😈

ESSAY INCOMING

This is actually really funny because it's kind of what I was working on a few months back for the Baltor lore I'm weaving into The Broken Pieces.

And yeah, Winx does tend to drop the ball when it comes to establishing their lore. It's very retcon-filled, depending on what exactly they're trying to accomplish. Which nowadays isn't much.

Personally, my headcanon is that the dark ember was never supposed to exist. You have the two great opposing forces: the Dragon Fire and the Shadow Fire (season 2's yin-yang, "everyone has an opposite" rhetoric). Then, above them, you have the Ultimate Power. The dark ember was an accident, which is technically confirmed. It is referenced as a "corrupted" spark. The only question is: by who? I believe it was created by Darkar himself. Unwillingly.

“Darkar himself could not wield a pure piece of the Dragon Flame,” Baltor explained. “Hence the creation of the dark ember. Long ago, Darkar once came into possession of a light ember and was prepared to merge it with his Shadow Fire to activate the Codex and open Realix. However, once the Ancestresses handed it over to him, the Flame became tainted. Mutated by his darkness, rendering it useless to him. The Shadow Fire and the Dragon Fire could not be contained in one form.”

“That’s why Darkar didn’t kill Bloom,” Stella said. “If he took the power himself then he could never open the Gate.”

The way he nodded didn’t comfort me.

“So what did he do with the piece he had?”

“He made you.”

My voice seemed to startle them. Their heads jerking towards me.

Baltor gave me a knowing smirk and nodded, motioning to himself. “Darkar wasn’t going to let that kind of power slip through his fingers. Therefore, I was made. Their dark Dragon Fire infused puppet to wield at their leisure.”

Now, this is something completely new. Something the universe has never seen before. But it's obvious that this corrupted spark is incredibly and dangerously powerful. Equal to that of the Shadow Fire and Dragon Fire.

Another headcanon I have and have spoken about on here before is that I personally think Baltor was a masterful Sparxian wizard and a very wealthy nobleman on the planet forever ago. Like we're talking potentially hundreds and hundreds of years past (I don't have a set number just yet). And back when he was a wealthy nobleman, he caught the eye of a much younger Belladonna who was in league with Darkar by then. They have a fling, but Baltor refuses to join her when she offers him a place in the coven. This royally pisses her off and her and her sisters ambush him one night and capture him. Hellbent on making him pay for refusing her, with the help of Lysliss (the ancestral witch of darkness), they curse him with his demon form. When forced into this form by the Ancestresses, he has no control over himself. The Ancestresses have full control over everything he does and sometimes thinks, and he very quickly becomes their new favorite pet. Which Darkar allows because, turns out, Baltor is a very effective killer. And as long as they have him under control, he's perfectly fine with his existence. (And minor The Broken Pieces spoiler: the first scene in Bloom's vision in Chapter 3 where she sees Darkar and the Ancestresses is actually the aftermath of one of Baltor's assignments while working under them. Take from that what you will.)

He becomes Belladonna and her sisters' plaything for a few years until Darkar comes into possession of this ember. And when this happens, the Ancestresses suggest merging the darkened ember with Baltor due to his capabilities. Due to his curse, the witches would have a firm leash on him, and they could be certain he wouldn't stray even in his human form because they could activate his curse at any time. And so, not wanting to let this new, undiscovered power fall into the hands of anyone else, Darkar does the merge. Knowing he can use it at any time, because Baltor's certainly not going anywhere while the Ancestresses are around.

So Baltor's not submissive because he chooses to be. He's submissive because he wants to retain his own mind. He wants to retain control. This is why we don't typically see his demon form. If the Ancestresses tell him to do something, he just does it so that he can at least feel that he has some inkling of control. I'd also like to add that if he activates his demon form, then he has full control over himself.

And this persists until he and the Ancestresses are no longer on the same plane of existence. The Ancestresses become trapped in Obsidian, while Baltor remains in the Magic Dimension. And they cannot act on him at all, giving him absolute free reign to do whatever he damn well pleases. Until Bloom calls on the Ancestresses in Cloud Tower's crypt. And then suddenly a few episodes later we see him being forced into the demon form. Coincidence? I think not.

[yuvon-writes-letters]

[There is a shit-ton of black scratches at the beginning, as if the person writing this was trying to start it off, but ended up rehashing it]

Yu,

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I’M SO FVCKING SORRY I DIDN’T RESPOND I HAD [The proceeding part is harshly scratched out, to the point where there’s a humongous hole in the paper] personal things to do, and I couldn’t write for two days and Jesus Christ.

Welcoming Liska to the Parallel Universe Squadron! The Duskwood Detectives Inc.! I’m making up names, I’m making up names I’m sorry I’m just happy to see someone else.

I didn’t even read the other letters that appeared yet (I’m so sorry about that), it’s just I’ve been drafted in, personal stuff, and the first thought I had when I finally have free time is “write letter”

I read enough to know that Liska’s here, and that, apparently she’s in the same situation Yu’s in??? And her Duskwood is apparently in stasis???? That’s so weird, everything about this is so weird D:

I’m not sure if this is relevant anymore, but I managed to squeeze some research in about Ogham Trees, apparently there’s thirteen of them, and they correspond with months, kind of like Zodiac Signs, but trees. I’m assuming that they all represent something, but I haven’t gone that far. There’s Birch, Rowan, Ash, Alder, Willow , Hawthorn, Oak, Holly, Hazel, Bramble, Ivy, Wheat-straw/Reed, and Elder Trees.

Maybe that’ll help when finding the second tree species, or maybe you already found it, idk.

I’ll try and read the letters so that I’ll be updated back on the situation, and I’m sorry again for being gone so long <:)

Just, Rai this time.

P.S, Sorry this is so short.

Rai,

Don't worry about it! I get it. I figured something or other had come up. And yeah, I'm really glad to see someone else here with us :) I was starting to wonder if the entity lied and it was only sending my letters to you, to be honest.

Duskwood Dectectives Inc.? I like that one. Now I’m imagining the three of us as PIs in some noir film or something XD

Yeah, Liska's also got the stasis thing going on with Duskwood, though way differently than me. We THINK it might be two different entities doing this? But it's almost impossible to tell, honestly. Wild mass theorizing, at this point.

Hmm. That's interesting about the trees, but I unfortunately think it’s probably not relevant. Jake and I literally cannot find out what the second types of trees are. Despite how generic they are, they just flat out don’t seem to exist in our normal world. Perfectly generic trees.

I honestly can’t believe just how much time and effort we wasted figuring out that the trees were an afterthought and not a possible clue. And I wasn’t even the one doing most of the work. Poor Jake. In any case, we’re now idling, trying to figure out what there is to figure out next. It’s surprisingly difficult to find anything that Jake can help with, despite all the questions I have.

Again, don’t worry about being gone, or the length of the letter. I hope everything’s alright in Rai-land.

Jake is asking if the delay could have had anything to do with the case or the letters. I told him it was probably literally just personal things and had nothing to do with the entity, but here I am writing down the question anyhow XD

Feel free not to answer, of course. Jake just finds the timing of your temporary absence and Liska’s introduction a little weird and wants to know if it’s really a coincidence or if it was arranged by the entity somehow.

Talk with you again soon,

—Yu and Jake

(The letter tucks itself into the paper clip with the others.)

[deltastorm101]

So, I tried to calculate Control...

... and its Epic Games deal, with the help of my certified smooth brain™ and probably incorrect sources. I started this last night hella tired and with a headache, I have finished it up today hella tired and with a headache, and this is what I produced: bullshit! :D But hey, at least double checked bullshit that’s open for discussion and contribution and expansion. Also, I probably won’t list the sources because a) I’m lazy and b) I didn’t have to dig thaaat deep down to find all this so if you really wanna know you could probably hit google with it as well. Anyhow here we go lol So, the initial thought which got all of this rolling was the 2020-wrap-up-post Remedy linked on their twitter, and Epic’s linked publishing announcement in it: studios Remedy, Playdead and GenDesign will release their next next-gen games with Epic. Now, we all know Remedy are working on some sort of Alan Wake-ish thing as we speak (right? right?? god I hope so), which meanssss our boy will most likely be an Epic exclusive. Which makes me kinda sad because, well. I’m deep in Steam’s ass. Hell, I waited for Control for a full year before I played it because they can pry the Steam version from my cold dead hands. So I asked myself... was it worth it for them? How much money did they throw at Remedy (and 505 Games) to have them play along? Would they have reached more people from the get-go if they had released it on Steam right away? Did the individual programmer, designer, writer, artist, person behind it profit from this at all? (Also, like, about the rights and copyright thing,,,,, you’d think they could have learned from Alan Wake and its IP belonging to Microsoft and so not really being able to do anything more with it because they don’t ‘own’ it and shit) buuut anyway that’s not the point of this post, now it’s time to do some MATH BABEY

Ok, let’s start with some things we know. Facts. Figures. Data. Turns out my initial question, how much money was involved, could be answered by doing one (1) google search: according to Wikipedia, Epic gave Remedy and 505 Games €9.49mio. The total budget for the game was €26.9mio over the course of 3 years of development. We know that as of December 2020, over 2mio copies of the game were sold, with November 2020 being the best-selling month ever since its initial release in August 2019. This is where question 1) comes into play: how many of those 2 million copies were sold in 2019 and how many in 2020? Stay tuned, I think I found out.

We know that Remedy gets to keep 45% of the revenue, which, I assumed, means that 505 keeps the remaining 55% (probably a lot more going on there but shhh). We know that Control’s sales cooked up €17.84mio in 2019 (so months September – December), €17.7mio of those in the first month alone (O.O). Side note: because it came out at the very end of August, I’ll ignore that month and declare September the first sales month.

We know that 60% of sales in 2019 were digital ones (aka Epic Store, mostly), 40% physical ones (consoles PS4 and XB1), while in 2020, only 10% of sales were physical and a whopping 90% digital; which is people on Epic who wanted to get their hands on the first DLC and – you guessed it – the Steam release of the Ultimate Edition in August 2020.

Which begs question 2): what’s bigger, 60% of 2019 sales because ‘ooh shiny new game’, or 90% of 2020 sales because ‘yay steam release’? The answer may look obvious, but you have to take into account the dropping price, which I also researched for your pleasure and enjoyment.

For this I used a German website called idealo.de, which focuses on looking for the best deals for basically anything you can buy on the internet, and it also gives you diagrams that describe at which point in time the product was at which exact price. This is what it gave me: - release price: €60 - December 2019: €41 (PS4)/€44 (XB1) - mid-2020: €30 - Ultimate Edition release: €30 - December 2020: €14 (PS4)/€18 (XB1)/€30 (Ultimate Editions) At this point I was like “lol hold on i need chocolate for this cuz i’ll be here for some time *sweating*”

To continue this mess™, I see more questions: 3) How many employees does Remedy have, which positions do they work in and what are their salaries? 4) How many employees does 505 have, which positions and salaries do they have? 5) What’s the total revenue that Control has generated so far?

And also some more stuff like, are my numbers accurate, am I even grasping these concepts correctly, are there even more people involved or am I just trying to explain complete crap (yes) but let’s just ignore all of that shall we. At that point I went “oh shit what have i gotten myself into, this screen does not get my point across, i need pen and paper” and you know shit is gonna go DOWN when I do math on paper.

My paper math birthed the following calculation:

Following this up, we can calculate the end-of-2019 sales, if we set the price for September and October to €60, for November and December to approx. €45:

Now, you might notice that one of those numbers is big and the other is HUGE. Why might that be? Well...

- Covid19: everyone stayed at home and needed video games to play - More sale months of the year, naturally - dropping price: why get it for €60 when you can get it for 20 - Ultimate Edition: why buy it in June when you get more content in August aaaand... - it comes out on Steam.

With this in mind, let’s see what questions we can answer: 1) 661,110 copies in 2019; 1,338,889 copies in 2020 2) 60% digital sales in 2019 means 396,666 Epic copies; 90% digital sales in 2020 means 1,205,000 copies – most of it from Steam? Some of it? A good chunk? The bigger chunk? There’s no way of really knowing for sure but... you could read this into it. I definitely am. 3) Google told me Remedy had a little over 250 employees at the end of 2019... 4) ... and 505 has less than 100. I found no good sources for this, I think linkedin said 37, someone else said 50. I’ll just use the 50 figure, idk. No idea man. and for 5) I’ll contradict my point that the Steam release is what knocked the sales out of the park and assume that the number of sold copies stayed the same across all 12 months of 2020, which gives us this:

Ok and now we’re getting into the most dangerous of danger zones because I have no idea how companies or capitalism work, so for educated people™, the remaining calculations might read like a toddler wrote them; I apologize profusely and hereby present last night’s brain vomit:

As stated earlier, development took 3 years, but everyone wanted to get paid in 2020 as well so let’s use 4 years to find out the salaries, which is 48 months. Let’s assume the utopian idea that every employee on the line here gets the exact same amount of money (LOL ikr but shhhh, let’s live out our dirtiest equality fantasies for a second ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)). Which would mean...

And now without the Epic Deal™:

Quod erat demonstrandum. Remedy has been selling their souls to Epic for €350 a month since 2017. (I don’t mean this as maliciously as I’m making it sound, don’t worry xD)

OKAY SO, O B V I O U S L Y, I have not the slightest idea what on earth I’m talking about so read this like you’d read a good fanfiction. We don’t know the different salaries across the different positions (and genders HAH), we don’t know if other parties were involved, I’ve completely ignored the sum that Epic themselves get, I have ignored taxes, I don’t know if my numbers are accurate (they’re definitely not I mean 505 must have more employees than 50), if I made mistakes (yes), and also somewhere along the way I forgot to use the €26.9mio budget figure because, uuh, I have no idea where to use it, what it means, where did it come from, where did it go, cotton eye joe - but oh well, I’m not starting over, take it or leave it.

So... I can now officially say I have written hot steamy economics fic xD Man I put waaay too much time into this but damn was it fun. Good three-hour-deep-dive (two of them spent munching on chocolate half-asleep listening to psytrance to keep my brain twitchy). Real-life-theorizing. Fuck capitalism. Don’t do drugs. Pet a cat. Wear your mask. Call your grandparents.

If there’s typos in this I’m sorry but also I’m not, I can’t be bothered to proofread again lol. Goodnight imma catch up on the sleep I lost. Gotta love full moons

[abundantchewtoys]

HS^2, re: Diamonds, Dames and Dads, part 3

Now time to read the bonus update. I think Catnapped might have updated, since D^3 and then the Influencers were last.

Not sure if and when the Democracy bonus story will be updated, though. True, it didn't have a part number, right?

---

Ooh! Diamonds, Dames and Dads updated anyway!

Oh boy, they just arrived on the rooftop with the alternate Spades Slick and Snowman. And Dad got incapacitated by the former Queen.

Really looking forward to this. It would seem DD got estranged from SS and Snowman, but is that solely because he's from another timeline? Surely that's a bit par for the course if your opponents are The Felt?

Spades Slick didn't seem to mind when he got sent into the other timeline where they had that shootoff. Right before he lost his eye to the Alternate(?) Snowman.

... Welp, we couldn't immediately read the update. Something wrong with the start of the new month it seems. It's now a couple days later, so let's dig into it.

I really like the way the bonus story emulates the old Problem Sleuth atmosphere, but updated for the new decade. :D

---

> Page 26

So Snowman knocked him out on the spot. I guess this is how he and Dad got cuffed together. I guess it's a lot more serious a series of shenanigans that led to that predicament, than I would have figured!

Carapaces confirmed to have an internal digestive system! Carapaces confirmed to be able to regurgitate!

I hope everyone is taking notes here. :P

Some noodle incident, waking up in a coffin together with 2 other people and a corpse. :P Some Felt shenanigans, I'd wager.

---

> Page 27

Wow. This seems like it could have been the start of an MSPA fanventure in a very Saw-like setting.

But it's still Droog, and he's trying to remember what happened. Did Snowman really knock him out on the spot, or did he refuse an offer they made him?

---

> Page 28

Chains. Chained in a room.

Yyyeah, not many stories that end well start like this. At least we know they make it out again. You'd think that takes away all of the tension, but I'm still real curious about how things stand with Slick and Snowman.

---

> Page 29

Dang, guess we can confirm that Dad's mangrit did not measure up against Snowman in the slightest!

---

> Page 30

Seems like Slick got him a new set of henchmen! And they want some info from him?

Or...

Hmm, maybe Slick in this timeline started working for a new master? Though he isn't the type to bend the knee for anyone.

Still, I can dream of Midnight Mobster Kingpin, from the Problem Sleuth bonus pages, making an appearance, right?

---

> Page 31

Wow. That looks like a Prospitian Boson-type mobster dressed in Midnight Crew drag. Wow, so Slick's new crew is not Derse-only, what a shock!

---

> Page 32

Aww, look at that. That's reaction I'd expect from John as well, a bit doofus under the circumstances.

---

> Page 33

And there he is! The big man himself.

Wow. Two eyes. Two arms. This Slick didn't go through the same bullshit in the Felt mansion we've seen. Time will tell how far the timeline diverges.

I like DD telling us that the perpetual scornful look on Slick's face is reserved for enemies. So he's given his closest associates other looks than that in the past, at least.

And it seems he's well aware of Jane and the others! I wonder if anyone contacted him, or if he's just virulently protective of his stakes in the city. He made this town, after all.

It's always interesting to see DD and SS at odds, open or not. Such as when DD took over his job as archagent, mouthing him off behind his back in the process, yet still managed to dumb the paperwork on him while he was doing time on Prospit.

---

> Page 34

It looks to DD as if Dad's distancing himself from him, but that might just be Dad's genre savviness playing up.

Blaperile theorizes if this DD even was the same one as the one from the intermission, since he says "this is why you work alone". But I still think it's because he got demoralized. Being punched a week into the (alternate) future can do that to a man.

---

> Page 35

... Huh.

DD claims the first time he was SS was in Midnight City. That seems like it contradicts very much with anything relating to Sburb.

Since the Dignitary definitely knows the Archagent.

Anyhow, hah! I love how the fenestrated wall that Jasprose transported them all through get mentioned. That carried over from Problem Sleuth, so it's logical that it would pique the attention of anyone having ever dealt with the bullshit PS and his compatriots go through to get out of their office on a daily basis. :P

So, what? This is a comicverse? The Midnight Crew as written by Andrew Hussie in B1?

Would be something if this "fictional" Spades Slick made it back to the "real" world. Or someone else.

---

> Page 36

Hah! Dad just lured Slick near and got the drop on him, heheheh.

Okay, so even if Snowman got the drop on him, his mangrit's still phenomenal.

Wow, Dad knicks Slick's knife. I can't remember, does it have a duality, like the pen/sword?

---

So, they're not out of there yet! This story might be far from over!

[scripting-life]

FFVII: returning to my first love

 *peeks out of the corner of my lurking spot*

Hello? Anybody out there? It’s only been, oh you know, four-ish years since the last time I’ve posted anything here. I apologize in advance for anybody who’s still following me from my Castle days. If you couldn’t tell from my extended absence, I’ve mostly moved on. Castle and Beckett were fantastic characters that let me to play with some deep-dive analyses, and Castle will always hold a special place in my heart as my comfort show and my first real and extended experience with online fandom. I’ll always be grateful to the community I’ve had the joy of interacting with (or, the community with which I’ve had the joy of interacting, as Castle would correct me my dangling preposition).

I honestly didn’t think I would ever have reason to come back to Tumblr after Castle ended. But the FF7 Remake has returned me to my very first love--when I was young and innocent and before I knew anything about OTPs or ship wars. I’ve been back lurking for several months now and seeing all the fanart/fanfics and fun theories and analyses has reignited my enthusiasm for the FF7 franchise. It’s also fun coming back to this franchise with a more mature understanding of the themes/concepts that completely flew over my head as a young preteen.

(This ended up being super long, so the rest is below the cut to spare everyone the pain of scrolling. Apparently, my rambling tendencies have not changed at all. lol.)

When FF7R was officially announced (five freaking years ago!), I was filled with apprehension. FF7 was my first taste of a “grown-up” game. I was 11 and played my brother’s copy of the OG on PC in 1-2 hours spurts on the weekends when I visited his apartment. It took me months, if not years, to finish the game (I ended up stealing his copy to play on our computer at home...lol), and I was so blown away by it. I remember the exact moment I finished it and how I was literally shaking as I watched the ending FMV.

Later, when I found out my brother had a copy of FF8 (my poor brother was so accommodating to his annoying little sister...haha), I was so excited to play, in large part because I thought it would continue the story of FF7. Young, naive me didn’t understand the numbering conventions of Final Fantasy titles. I was madly theorizing and breaking my brain trying to find connections between the two games’ plots and had literally played through more than half the game before I finally realized the storyline of FF8 had absolutely nothing to do with FF7. I was sorely disappointed, and I think that has somewhat tainted my appreciation of future titles. Not to say I haven’t enjoyed the subsequent FF titles, but I think a little part of me is always comparing them to that first experience of wonder and awe that I had with FF7.

I discovered fanfiction in my teens and starting writing FF7/Cloti fics in college. Aside from interacting with a few fic writers at the time, I was not involved in any online communities, so I kept myself pretty free of any ship war drama and the like. When I did research for my fics, I’d sometimes see shipping sites and theories where I didn’t always understand the logic of how certain conclusions were reached, but frankly, I didn’t much care and didn’t realize that Clerith vs. Cloti was such a touchy subject. I was peripherally aware that some sort great LTD war was waging, of course, but it didn’t really touch me. I stayed in my Cloti shipping/fic-writing lane and was probably a lot happier for it. And, to be honest, based on FFN’s listings for FF7, I felt like I always saw a bunch of Sephiroth/Cloud fics and thought that was just as popular as the more conventional ships.

Graduating college and entering “real life” pretty much ended my FF7 fanfic-writing journey. In the intervening years between college and the release of FF7R, I haven’t gone back to the OG too much. I’ve played almost all the Final Fantasy games since then, and I always enjoy getting my FF7 crew fix when I play the non-canon mobile games or the Kingdom Hearts franchise. But FF7 was a happy part of my teenage years, and I was content to think on it with sweet nostalgia.

Remakes, in recent experience (*cough cough* Disney, why?), have been hit or miss, with a lot of misses. It’s hard to strike a good balance between catering to nostalgia and delivering a fresh product, never mind the change in social mores through the decades. I was so afraid FF7R would screw up my memories, especially since I wasn’t the biggest fan of Advent Children. The graphics were great and the action scenes were fun, but the story felt like a let-down. Cloud, in particular, felt so different (and yes, moody) from where we left him after the OG. I understand now that a lot of his character motivation was better explained in the On The Way to a Smile novels, but back then, I just felt like AC came out of nowhere. 

Btw, because I see this question a lot on other blogs when I’m lurking, I’ve ALWAYS thought that it was very clear in AC--even without reading anything else--that the reason for Cloud’s depression was due to guilt and not because he was pining for Aerith. The only reason I didn’t like his characterization in AC was because it felt like it came out of nowhere since AC is set 2 years after OG and by the end of the OG, he seemed to be in a pretty decent place mentally and emotionally. That being said, I can absolutely understand why some traumas resurface years after the originating incident and how times of peace might actually be worse because he is no longer solely focused on saving the world, but I was just surprised and a little bummed that this was the direction the devs chose to take AC at the time. Now that I’m older, I do better appreciate the complexities of Cloud’s mental state and the fact that they depicted a hero with lingering mental health issues is actually pretty awesome. I’m drawn to characters that have flaws--sometimes serious ones--but try their best anyway. Hence, why why Tifa Lockhart and Kate Beckett are some of my all-time favorites.

Anyhow, that didn’t stop me from pre-ordering FF7R, of course. I avoided reading any reviews as I didn’t want my first impressions to be swayed, and boy, was I happy that I went in mostly blind. That sense of awe really almost felt like playing the OG for the first time again, but somehow more. The combat system is incredibly fun and the world-building is nothing short of incredible. The variety and abundance of NPCs gives the game so much flavor and the locations have been rendered so well. As I’m going through areas like the Sector 7 train station and Wall Market and Aerith’s house, I can almost superimpose the layout from the OG in my head, but now it’s in 3D and so rich and full. It’s obvious that a lot of attention was paid to details, and I love all the head-nods and homages to the OG.

And oh, the characters!

This is the Cloud I’ve been wanting to see in glorious HD and the Cloud I remember from the original game: all awkward, dorky trying to be cool, socially inept, mentally unstable, abrasive-at-times, reluctant to act depending on who’s asking, wannabe hard-ass who’s actually a big softie inside Cloud. I remember reading an article a few years back about how the devs basically redid Cloud for the Remake because they wanted him to go back to his dorky roots--which ends up making him closest to his personality in the OG than his appearances in other franchises--and I was SOOOO incredibly happy to hear that. I was so sick of the way Cloud was constantly depicted as this cool, broody McBrood in his cameos when he was a pretty big dork in the OG. (Anybody remember him doing squats in the Highwind when Tifa says it’ll be lonely with just the two of them and Cloud responds that he’ll make enough noise to make up for it? Like I said: cute, but a dork.)

I WAS surprised by how comfortable and sweet and touchy (so very very touchy) the devs made him with Tifa from the beginning. That initial scene of Cloud being such a smooth operator giving Tifa the flower had my jaw-dropping and every single flirty interaction after that (and there are many) had my Cloti heart overflowing in shock and bliss. Throughout most of my years as a Cloti shipper, even though I believed Cloti was supported by canon and pretty clearly together, I was also under the impression--mistakenly or not--that Cloti was the minority ship. So for Square Enix to make it so blatantly obvious that Cloud is really into Tifa at such an early stage has been an unexpected gift.

Also, they’re just really hot together. (Clotiscrew tunnel--be still my heart!)

As for Tifa...oh, what wonderful character development we’ve already gotten for Tifa. Tifa has always been one of my all-time favorite characters ever since reading her character blurb in the OG game manual. Initially, as a child, it was because I saw so much of myself in her. She was outwardly bright and optimistic, but tended to hide all of her stronger feelings inside. She fought with her fists, and for someone who was a tomboy growing up who liked playing contact sports with the boys, I connected with her in a way that I had never been able to connect with other female protagonists who were primarily back-row specialists. (I also aspired to grow to her listed height of 5′4″, which alas, did not happen...lol).

I love how the Remake delves into more of Tifa’s moral conflict between the destruction that she causes as part of Avalanche and needing to do something to stop Shinra, and yes, even seeking revenge. They touched on this in the OG lightly, but the Remake really hammers it home. She’s perhaps the most conflicted character in terms of motivation in Part 1. That scene with the Shinra manager on the train is actually one of my favorite scenes of her because it highlights that tension. The elevator scene, if you opted for it instead of the stairs (or if you did one, saved, and reloaded to do the other one, like me), is also underrated in terms of how much it reveals about Tifa’s inner struggle.

On this point, I also appreciate that the Remake has the characters reflecting on the damage they’ve both indirectly and directly inflicted--the Avalanche team all do this to a certain degree. In particular, Jessie’s constant inability to figure out what she’d done wrong with the bomb to cause such a massive explosion and her remaining feelings of guilt during her death scene (”they were my victims” ouch!) were heart-breaking.

Aerith’s depiction was another pleasant surprise. I’ll be honest; I didn’t much like her in the OG. She was too pushy and willfully oblivious to the point of being mean at times. In the Remake, much of her sometimes too in-your-face playfulness was kept--perhaps still a little too much--but I appreciate the nuance that they gave her. The train graveyard scene tells the player that she didn’t have friends growing up, and I think that partially contributes to her lack of social tact at times. The other factor that gives her personality more nuance is the hint of special knowledge that affects how she interacts with the rest of the group. It gives her additional hidden motivation and adds to her mystery for new players while simultaneously pulling at the heartstrings for old players who get the impression that Aerith is somehow aware--to a certain, unknown extent--of her own fate. 

I also appreciate that Aerith is more grounded as a real person than as some sort of revered being. I do blame AC for some of that. When you have the power to cure a fatal disease from the afterlife and send the dead back to life, it gets into some godlike territory. Maybe it’s a fair depiction of her powers as a Cetra, but I just get the feeling that Aerith herself wouldn’t really appreciate being made into this goddess-like figure. Remember that her character blurb in the original game manual implied that she was more interested in earthly things (i.e. the love triangle) than in exploring her own powers. I personally think that Aerith used the “love triangle” in the OG as a form of escapism from the weight of her burdens rather than genuine interest, and I just think she’d want to be thought of as a person rather than as a god. One of my favorite scenes for Aerith is when she and Cloud are traversing the rooftops and she slips on the ladder, letting out a simple, “Shit.” It humanizes her in a way that combats some of the ways she’s sort of been deified in the last 23 years. Also, Aerith wielding a folding chair like it’s WWE never fails to make me laugh. Overall, she just comes off as a more reasonably flawed and--as a result, to me--a more likeable character in the Remake, and I do very much like her now.

Barret is pretty much the exact larger than life character I imagined in my head, only somehow even better, and I really love how expressive and emotional his eyes and facial expressions are. His scenes with Marlene are truly the cutest thing ever. Red XIII is a big, furry ball of sass, and I need so much more of him in the coming parts (Cosmo Canyon still wrecks me to this day). The interactions between the Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie are incredible, and they really feel like people who’ve been friends and basically each other’s family for years. The Turks and Rufus are pretty much as cool as I imagined them in the OG.

There’s still so much more I haven’t even started touching on about the Remake, and I think that’s why I’m finally posting this now. I just can’t contain my love for this game any more, and I really really need a place to express myself. I don’t know if anybody is still reading, but I appreciate having the opportunity to finally gush about this game and franchise that I’ve loved so much for pretty much two-thirds of my life.

[highstrangeness-blog]

Men In Black

Okay, so here today we're just going to state some FACTS. I really only have time to discuss some of the more popular theories but being a rather experienced occult researcher, I am more interested in the conclusions you draw yourself than the rabbit holes of Creepypasta, anyhow.

So, I guess I should define the term Men In Black or MIB. It's a generic term used for any threatening/strangely behaved individual(s) who can be linked in some fashion with a ufo sighting. I'm sure you already have a preconceived notion of these people due to the popular movie by the same name. If you're thinking about Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, stop it. Take a second, maybe do a shot of whiskey, maybe hit the vape, whatever you need to do to open that mind hole of yours.

Okay, back to MIB. There have been a ton of MIB reports in connection to all things occult or supernatural, not just UFO sightings. There's a ton of theories on who these people are, and I mean a fuckin- shit ton.

The most common one is that the MIB are quasi-government agents; many people report MIB flashing “credentials of higher authority" before warning them to stop talking about the occult.

A lot of these first hand reports state the MIB as strange looking humanoids with very strange mannerisms pointing at the possibility that they are potentially the very aliens they're trying to keep secret. Many accounts of MIB report they look almost doll-like, completely bald without eyebrows or eyelashes, pale white skin, have thin, bright Ruby red lips, and speak almost robotically. One witness was approached by MIB after a "plane" crashed nearby. When he sat down to question the family, his pants revealed a bright green wire running up his ankle going into a brown dot on his leg. The witnesses asked the man if he wanted something to eat, the man declined but said he would need a glass of water in 10 minutes to take a pill. 10 minutes of questioning the family about the specifics of their bodies, tattoos, birthmarks, etc. The man's face became beat red, he requested the water. He took a large yellow pill and went back to normal. When he left he walked out the door, hailed a large, black Cadillac that pulled up with no driver, and pulled away with no headlights on. This is one of hundreds of strange but similar accounts of MIB encounters. Many others mention MIB having long limbs, skin cold to the touch, non-bending joints, and telepathic-like communication.

OK, so we’ve covered quasi-government agents and aliens. This third theory is much deeper than i can really get into, or fully comprehend but I’m going to do my best with a little help from Reddit user: farcaller on the What Is A Tulpa (No Bullshit Definition) Thread. First off let’s define what the fuck A Tulpa even is. A tulpa is an entity that was created by conscious effort of another entity; i.e, a manifestation or emanation as it’s known in Tibetan Spurl-pa. Ever feel like you willed a bad situation upon yourself by overthinking it? Tulpas can grow and mature over time just like that bad situation, the more thought power you give to it, the more powerful it grows. It’s believe that these thoughts will eventually reach a level of maturity whereupon they will develop and grow at a rate comparable to that of any other person. It is also theorized that mass meditation(or extreme emotion) can almost catapult this entity into consciousness. Like all living creatures (because tulpas are living things even if they are just thought forms) they need to feed on something, that something is extreme emotion, like fear. We all here, thinking and giving consciousness energy to this entity (MIB); we’re feeding the tulpa. Slenderman is a really great example of this. About 10 years ago Slenderman only existed in the dark corners of creepypasta, the more popular this lore became bearing memes, video games, stories, and “first-hand” accounts themselves it all seems to come to a head with The Slenderman Stabbings. If you’re not familiar; two young girls lead a third into the woods, killing her as a sacrifice to Slenderman. This began a wave of other crimes done in the name of slenderman. Taking lives and gaining power through fear is almost as real as any other living creature, being a perfect example of what a tulpa is and what the human mind can do (especially in mass quantities.)

Albert K. Bender famed UFOlogist living in Bridgeport, Connecticut created the international flying saucer bureau after becoming obsessed with the occult as a young adult. With almost 600 members, they were dedicated to furthering the study of mysterious crafts. Shortly after its founding, the IFSB reached out to members around the world through a quarterly journal, Space Review. The newsletter shared stories of UFO sightings and offered theories about the origins of these seemingly inexplicable objects. Soon after Albert organized the IFSB the researcher became hounded with ill health, strange phone calls, telepathic messages, the smell of burning sulfur and strange apparitions. November 1952, at a local movie theater Bender realized a strange man with glowing eyes observing him. On a separate occasion late one night on Broad Street Bender reported he was telepathically hypnotized and levitated. To further his experiments, Bender prompted readers of Space Review with an audacious request: memorize and silently recite, on a particular day and time, a letter penned by Bender. Albert’s goal was to connect with Alien life via the simultaneous thought-projection of hundreds of IFSB members. World Contact Day, or as Bender and the IFSB officially preferred, “C-Day,” commenced at 6 o’clock in the evening March 15th, 1953. The letter included a cryptic message, and warning: “The mystery of the flying saucers is no longer a mystery. The source is already known but any information about this is being withheld by orders from a higher source. We would like to print the full story in Space Review but because of the nature of the information we have been advised in the negative. We advise those engaged in saucer work to be very cautious.” (Remember Tulpas are created through, conscious energy and are given strength through mass meditation and high emotion) July 1953 Albert Bender was visited at his home by three men. Bender stated “All of them were dressed in black clothes. They made it clear to Bender that he was to immediately halt all UFO work. They communicated telepathically: “Stop publishing.” Before departing, the MIB confiscated copies of Space Review and in their wake a yellow fog materialized and the smell of burning sulfur returned. And finally, The telepathic messages, headaches, his being stalked, and of course the surreal warnings by authoritarians in black suits, compelled Albert to shut down the International Flying Saucer Bureau in October 1953. ‘

John Keel is honestly, our main man in all of this. He is the main investigator of the Mothman and author of The Mothman Prophecies, investigated occult reports of all kinds and popularized the term "Men In Black" through his journalism. John used the term “Ultraterrestrials” to describe UFO occupants he believed to be non-human entities which can take the form of whatever they want. This maybe further evidence MIB are aliens along with Albert Bender’s(and many other)  accounts of them being unsettling weirdos that didn't look human. Keel would chase The Men In Black in attempt to confront them. He had the local police in many towns looking for them. When he was in West Virginia and Ohio, people would call his Hotel and tell them that the MIB were there, he'd race over to the location but they would be gone by the time he arrived. He reported being plagued by a burning sulfur smell, headaches, receiving strange phone calls, and witnessing strange apparitions. He also reported tons of MIB/occult accounts through his journalism like the time Mrs. Ralph Butler of Owatonna, Minnesota said an officer visited her in May of 1967 he went by the name Richard French. He was 5.9ft tall, had an olive complexion, dark long hair and pointed face. His clothing appeared to be brand-new, even the soles of his shoes were clean and un-scuffed. When Mrs. Butler offered him some Jello, he tried to drink the Jello and acted as if he'd never seen it before. Keel (and other high strangeness reports, like Mary Hyre) documented an influx of MIB encounters while investigating the mothman. It seems like almost everyone who had claimed to witness the “giant- human-bird like creature” in Pleasant Point, West Virginia more often than not also encountered MIB closely after. During his investigation Keel heard reports of a mysterious blonde woman in her thirties with a southern accent, who visited people in West Virginia and Ohio whom Keel had interviewed prior. She even visited those he had not mentioned in print. She introduced herself claiming to be "John Keel's secretary" thus winning instant admission. The clipboard she carried held a complicated form filled with personal questions about the witnesses' health, income, the type of cars they owned as well as their general family background and some fairly sophisticated questions about their UFO sightings. John Keel didn't learn about this woman until months later when one of his friends in Ohio wrote to him and happened to mention her. He didn't have a blonde secretary, let alone a secretary at all.

One Mothman Witness Keel interviewed, 18-year-old Connie Carpenter was driving home from church, when she came face-to-face with the Mothman, almost causing her to have an automobile crash. Almost four months later, Connie reported being nearly kidnapped by MIB. 8: 15 A.M., February 22, 1967. Connie left her house to go to school. As she started to walk down the street a large black car pulled up alongside her. She later identified it as a 1949 Buick. The occupant of the car opened the door and gestured for her to come closer. Thinking he needed directions Connie approached him. He was a young, clean-cut man of about twenty-five, wearing a colorful Mod shirt, no jacket (it was bitter cold), had neatly combed hair and appeared to be suntanned. This suntan was a very interesting detail, which has turned up in other MIB accounts. As she grew close the “man” grabbed her but she struggled and ran away. Another Mothman Witness Mothman witness, Linda Scarberry, said in an interview with Mary Hyre: "The men wore black suits, black hats, and sunglasses. They drove black cars -Cadillacs, I think. ... They looked like human beings, but their skin was somewhat transparent. You could see the veins in their hands very clearly. Their fingers were longer than a normal person's fingers, as well. Daddy shook hands with them, and he said they were awkward in shaking hands. They seemed to not know what to do or how to shake hands." She said: "One of the cars would follow us around. There were three men in the car. ... The MIB went so far as to follow us through the drive-thru of a restaurant. We were afraid to turn around, and just looked in the mirror at them.” Mary Hyre also encountered these strange men, herself. All reports state that they have asked questions about the Mothman and warned all against speaking about it.

So, as you began to read through accounts and reports of occult sightings in general we began to see a pattern in things just as we can see generalized patterns throughout society in daily life. Mistakes, miscommunication, hersey, anecdotal experience but still there's something consolidating about the mass reports of similar legends throughout decades. Whether these legends are passed down unknowingly through family trees or collective consciousness; there's something that reaches a primal fear inside of us when our children come home with stories about the same boogeyman we encountered at their age. There’s a part of the human mind who realizes it’s power, who sees the coincidences in the things we think and see in reality. No one has ever come out as an abductee or witness to something occult whose life has been left positively impacted by the situation. Regardless of who or what you believe in, you can see similarities or you can see differences. I hope I presented these facts to you as coherent and rational as possible after three months of researching high strangeness on Reddit. I hope you can pull your own verdict from the accounts and reports presented to you tonight, at the very least I hope it sparks something in you to at least question your surroundings. It's not all what it seems.

Brooklen Porter

[glowfreshbeauty-blog]

Glow Fresh Beauty - Its Ingredient Are Very Good For Skincare

Statistics reveal this audience base of Glow Fresh Beauty is decreasing and that is uncommon info. That town wasn't large enough for the two of us. I am not attempting to fool you here. You ought to attain extreme accuracy. How do folks identify magnificent Glow Fresh Beauty handbooks? This will help you gain status. That is part of the seductive appeal of their feature. You may be surprised to discover that there is an overlooked Glow Fresh Beauty is that it scopes out less Glow Fresh Beauty. I'm going to start pounding the podium in a minute. It's easy to follow using this by searching for that example. Ultimately, that is a novel approach. I've been working with some picture for about three months now. Precisely, I'm just thankful for my Glow Fresh Beauty. This fits well, "Every man has his faults." That is how efficient that notion that totals a cultivation for it. I feel there will be a big bill to pay for a dividend. It isn't working out at all. I wanted to take my variety for a test drive. As a matter of fact, "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all." It's still too soon to make a definitive statement germane to this speculation. In practice, you should know that, but I'm tired of talking in regard to it. Using that also follows suit. Just remember that to be successful with doing that means investing time. I might need to be catching some sleep. Literally, what do we do? You're probably lost like a ball in high weeds. This artifact was investigated by industry experts.

Many competent people are also afraid to admit it. I'm attempting to be honest. There are only a couple of little things you could learn to get began with this.

Allow me tell you, those were quite a few expensive repairs. Do you have any conclusion where this is coming from? The program has an affirmative affect to those feeling it. This could be a good investment. That was a remarkable story. It drives me crazy. This is me, unedited.

I suppose that you are looking forward to what I have to say here. Don't worry if you expect a wrinkle is too obscure - it isn't wherever personally, I'm not looking for sympathy. I wasn't searching too hard though. Only with time should you use that belief to detract from a bad news. For crying out loud, this is part of some topic because doing this is getting more popular today than it ever was. It usually takes about three months to complete that with using that. We have a formal background in it. As thrilling as the announcement is for me, this is also dreaded. I'll have to bring it back. Clearly, that's something to guess pertaining to this. Take this for what it's worth to you, "You get what you give." I suppose that will give us the best strategy. It is so awesome this I cannot try to present it anyhoo. That went like clockwork. I filmed that a while ago and also they're having a blonde moment. I don't guess the need for this knowledge is definitely clear. This will be a wake-up call to me. Let me start off by saying that relating to that.

I'm going to illustrate this doohickey as one of my examples. This is actually the only game in town.

You should use Facebook to discover more touching on my enhancement. Strictly, I just tell the basics. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the quandary. We are at a loss as to how to handle that. I want to get more coalitions but I want you to make a note of the transmutation. A share of infantile people are just not naturally tactful like me. What type of features you should be looking for in a this? I haven't actually of heard anybody getting confused with respect to this theorization. This morning I ran into a good friend of mine. Do you imagine irony is intended here? I'm being goofy this afternoon. Doesn't that wish please you very much? I do ascertain that I could not would. If you are going to college you should think over tutoring on their malarkey where there are just a few things that impress your imagination more than doing that. Surely, nonprofessionals may want this anyhow. It was after they said, "No questions asked" This is one of those things which comes in a plain brown box. I got hosed. That one is newer than the other one. We should at least ban them from any oversight over this revolution. I think they'll like that. More or less, you get a fighting chance due to using it and also consistency is an essential part of your metamorphosis. It strategy might not make sense to a lot of future leaders. Creating this triviality for this project won't take much more effort. It was the long term consequences of that thing. It is funny that I am talking about this with regard to their potentiality. That should be providing solutions for your problems. We broke out in a cold sweat. Convincing other with regard to Glow Fresh Beauty is a hard job.

http://www.healthytalkzone.com/glow-fresh-beauty/

[luriashrine]

Machida Mana could see ribbons. 

Thin, long strands of ribbons, each varying in color, gently floating in a lackadaisical manner out from the cracks of Tarra, from the beasts who once dominated the world, and from humans. She would even see beautiful golden threads of ribbons enveloping her beloved yet odd companion. The ribbons didn’t seem like it brought them any harm, so Mana had decided not tell them about it. Not to tell anyone about it. She was a smart enough girl or rather, she didn’t lack any common sense. She knew that her ability to see these things were rather unorthodox, unheard of, strange, on a planet where magic could make the impossible become possible. There were certain sets of rules that magic had to adhere to, yes, but in spite of those said rules magic was still a highly unpredictable energy source. Rules often change depending on who was utilizing the source, yet the rules stayed the same for humans. Scientists were having a tough time in grasping the very nature of it, trying to uncover the secrets. Mana had heard stories of how some scientists, who were driven by madness, had forsaken their ways of humanity to become a hermit in order to learn the secrets of magic. She would often shiver at those stories. How one could just throw away their humanity had always chilled her heart to the core, as though a lance made entirely of ice speared through her chest and the coldness that dread often brings would seep into her bones. 

She could never tell anyone her powers, therefore she came up with a couple of theories as to what these ribbons could represent on her own. But they were just that: theories. Meaning what she theorizes has yet to be proven true. It was frustrating to not know anything about the powers you were given. 

She held back her sigh and had instead focused her attention on the string of gold ribbons gently dancing from Kii’s ethereal form. That was another thing too. Kii was yet another oddity in Mana’s unusual life. She knew not of their real name, where they came from or what they really are (a rather strange creature as they were an orb of sorts, and though Kii had a form that seemed as though it were transparent Kii was, in fact, a corporal being as Mana was able to hold onto them a couple of times). Kii had just appeared to her one day and since then latched by Mana’s side, as though they had wanted to guide her to someplace. At least, that was the impression Mana had gotten from Kii. Much like her powers, she wasn’t too sure about this theory as well. On top of that, only a few were able to see Kii.  “Just what are you?” she’d often ask them. And as per always, they would never give her an answer. Kii couldn’t speak... not really as they were only able to make a series of noises. But she could still sense what Kii was feeling, it was often this serene sense of melancholy. Kii’s ribbons waved mockingly in front of her and from one ribbon came two, from two came three and from three, four more were made. 

Mana could ponder, and ponder and ponder all of this. Yet she chooses not to. Thinking was far too much trouble for her. She’d much prefer to float through life and observe the world around her than to waste her time worrying about things that she could not hope to understand. This attitude of hers oft worried her father. She was different from the others. Special. But it was ok to be special, to be different from the rest. And Mana was more than happy to embrace her oddities rather than run from them, trying to convert herself to become more normal like the rest of the populace. 

“Ligaya will be coming by again.” 

Kii bobbed in response, they would then float by her side once Mana picked herself off the ground. She pats invisible dirt off of her skirt and looks over to her strange companion, a soft smile setting on her features.

“She’ll probably come to brag about her newest research. Ligaya is smart but sometimes her intelligence seems pretty frightening, wouldn’t you agree?”

Mana felt apprehension radiating off of Kii. She could not blame them for feeling that way. To meet with someone who held an enthusiasm for weapons that caused destruction was... worrisome to say the least. There was a strange feeling of dissonance to be found whenever Ligaya would explain her newest bombs and how much destruction it could cause. Supposedly, Ligaya had been in the process of making what she called an “Invisible Bomb”, a sort of weapon that would ensure death for the people all while leaving the buildings and structures intact. “I made this in order to preserve history,” she had told Mana in her usual flamboyant manner, with orange ribbons swirling around her form, “because man!! It always sucks to see old buildings in ruins after a bombing. The little miss had rather liked my idea anyhow after I told her and the boss about it! It’s uh... a bit difficult gettin’ the formula right but I swear I’ll get it somehow.”

The scary thing, Mana didn’t doubt that she would find a way to make this bomb. There was a large part of her that hoped she would fail in finding a way to make this weapon. Unfortunately, Ligaya’s little visits often meant that she had found a new invention to tell Mana all about. She never understood why Ligaya would come to her whenever she would make a breakthrough with her experiments. Half the time she could never understand what Ligaya was rambling about, all she did was listen and nod her head, often asking questions when it felt right to ask.   

“It’ll be ok,” she reassures, serene smile still playing on her lips. “I’m sure she’ll never use her knowledge to harm others. Ligaya is a nice enough girl.” 

Or so Mana hoped. But she wouldn’t mention her doubts to Kii, or anyone for that matter. 

Sayare Village wasn’t too far away from where she was. By the time she’ll get back to the village Ligaya wouldn’t be there for at least another hour. 

“She won’t be here for a while. And the evening is still young so we have a couple of more minutes to explore that strange little world you found for us.” 

Another bob was given to Mana and then with a speed that she did not know Kii had possessed, they set off towards the direction opposite of the village. Mana giggled at their zealous show but she was quick to follow suit. She did not know Sayare’s woods like the back of her hand, it wouldn’t do her any good if she were to lose sight of Kii.

A few months back, Kii had led Mana into a place that not even her wildest imaginations could conjure up. Deep in the Sayare’s Woods, just past the large weeping willow, there was a place where the laws of the universe had ceased to exist. The world would grow silent, logic would no longer tie that place down and it pulsed tons and tons of golden ribbons. The skies were painted in this beautiful sea of tawny and sanguine with only but a ring of the moon hanging overhead and dark clouds swirled around the moon. The moon would occasionally drip, as though it would melt away into nothing but soon afterward it return to that thin ring-like state before starting the same process over again. The ground was reflective to the skies. It brought to mind one of the great salt lakes in Lynnaea. Yet no matter how fantastic the environment of this place had been, what really captured Mana’s interest was this tower that hovered menacingly over the realm. A building that had become decayed due to the never-ending stream of time, slowly but surely crumbling away with that tide. The architecture of the tower was unlike anything she had seen in Lynnaea and it seemed as though it had come from a far-off country. Perhaps Phiria. It was as tall as the heavens and when Mana had first seen it, she was bewildered by how she wasn’t able to see it from Sayare Village. It was impossible to miss this tower and its immense height. Yet outside from this plane of reality, the tower simply didn’t exist. At least that’s her theory of this reasoning. But what was inside the tower was a glaringly beautiful illusion crafted by magic...

She was far too eager to see the inside of it once more, for Mana had rushed to the grand oak doors. Kii’s melancholic presence behind her had assured Mana that they were not too far away from her. She pushed opened the doors. 

Sunlight greets her vision, breaking the perpetual state of twilight that surrounded her from outside, a breeze that held the strong boastings of summer caresses her cheeks lovingly and she could hear the bustling of townspeople going about their day. They did not take notice of the girl with wide eyes and dark hair and her strange friend. They never noticed her. She steps inside. 

The door closes behind her with a resounding slam. 

[swelldomains]

Nothing Personal: Why Personalized Search Never Really Arrived (and maybe shouldn`t)

With Google's customized search feature bringing a lawsuit to the Plex earlier this month, it asks the question, ummm what Google personalized search? It resembles the old ABC commercials, I can not see the difference ...

Back in very early 2007 there were many boatloads filled with buzz about Google incorporating a lot more 'individualized' results right into the index, changing on a feature they called 'Google Look Record' by default for many searchers.

The Yoast screenshot reveals some standard statistics list that would create the basis of an individual searcher profile.

A bit later that year Google's over-employed product-name-change board put a brand-new label on boring old 'Google Look History' and also christened it 'Google Web History'. Then they had the rounds to state the name change was to show that indeed, they're spying on us, but for all the appropriate factors, simply to serve us far better as individuals, commercially, and besides, if they just stand outside our open home window as well as look in, is it truly so bad ... you know, if they have the windows?

All of this 2007 customization conjecture was very substantial in the not-much-is-ever-all-that-significant world of Search Engine Optimization. Some feared the skies was dropping, that personalized search would ruin Search Engine Optimization for life, others praised exactly what looked like a rational progress in the development of the best online search engine the world had ever recognized (wow, a lot dramatization because sentence I'm on the edge of my laz-e-boy).

But right here, in 2009, the impact of personalized search has been subtle, if visible at all. Simply some barely apparent distinctions in SERPs, mainly based on whether you're logged right into your Google account or not. And truly, the SERPs kinda simply look like they're the same however with websites you have actually been to before placing much better, or regularly. As late as November 2008 nevertheless, sector heavyweight Bruce Clay forecasted that individualized search results page, search intent based SERPs, would just actually start appearing in the wild over the initial fifty percent of 2009. That's nearly nowish.

The November 08 article is similar to lots of, numerous very early 2007 discussions:

' Position is dead - going forward you're mosting likely to need to check out analytics, measure traffic, bounce rates, action, etc. SEOs will need to ask themselves concerns like:

- Did I obtain the conversion I was after? - Did I really deliver on the pledge of Search Engine Optimization?' - Bruce Clay

Have the past two years been examining time? Are we about to see personalization struck the mainstream? Much more importantly, would that be a good idea for the surfing public? Or is that an unjustified assumption somebody made once and also after that just got championed with meaningless marketing meeting after brainless marketing meeting?

I may not be the initial to presume this concept, as customized search wased initially released by Google more compared to 4 lengthy Web years earlier, however probably the reason they have actually been so sluggish to incorporate it is merely due to the fact that it fails to produce a far better experience for the searcher, or Google Incorporated for that matter.

The conspiracy theory theorist side of me believes that in fact, personalized search might deteriorate Google's brand overall, if it's executed too well.

When individuals most likely to an internet search engine it's because they are trying to find a piece of details, and also they aren't sure where to go to get it. Simple, yeah? The search engine directs them. Offer individuals some credit rating, they understand the search engine is not the keeper of the knowledge, that it's just the key-holder, the gatekeeper, the stay-puft marshmallow man, as well as that the actual web sites behind the Google drape are things that really show you things and entertain you.

Personalized search has the idea built into it that if I have actually used a resource before, and I liked it, I may want to use it once again. This is reasonable - but should it indicate that website is worthy of to turn up regularly or be provided priority in basic when I do a search? If they show up, they are familiar, they are likely to be clicked - however does that mean they were the remarkable source? The idea is a little bit like how the mind works, with often made use of memory traces having the simplest to get to neuron activation degrees, therefore they self reinforce, however often cause just because they're so typically used, causing illusions.

In a fictional typical globe (Oxymoronica!), if a searcher recognizes a certain resource is likely to house the information they seek, it is just in the rare and momentary instance that they can't recall the name or LINK of the target source that they ought to choose to go to an online search engine as well as utilize it to aid their memory. Google has actually so penetrated our minds, instilled itself as the only remedy for any kind of looking online, that even if I know the target domain, yet I don't understand the precise URI, I simply browse Google. On-site search engines usually suck anyhow, right? That is the existing power of Google's syndicate on every idea that relates to search âEUR" but it's not difficult that points could transform, that giant websites like Facebook might educate people to search at the web site level itself, though it stays the exception.

If Google continues to comply with the concept that search personalization is inextricably connected to support of previously discovered resources (which, of training course, they could not, proven with the ability of transforming their minds), then they will certainly be properly reinforcing the branding of other certain resource sites in their SERPS - a few of us searchers have little itsy-bitsy highly prominent minds (oh ... hi), and repeating is the only thing that a brand name needs in order to be remembered. It's nearly inevitable that this will add to a part of customers learning how to go straight to the branded resource, as opposed to through a Google proxy each time. Intuitively the effect may appear to be little, yet little traits matter when you scale like Google.

It might also be risk-free to state (or totally harmful) that searchers, the huge bulk of the moment, intend to use online search engine to locate new resources, which putting simply the opposite before them an increasing number of commonly is going to cause dissatisfaction. The online search engine simply will certainly not appear to be serving its most standard purpose. The more smart the personalization the better? Google will certainly never ever recognize if I seem like a specific angle or viewpoint, which just humans can truly connect with a domain, and so any automated attempts they make at going from a semantic analysis of my query, to a certain web site that has a free style beyond matching message will certainly constantly be, at most ideal, a not-extremely-well-educated hunch. Could they think up functional and beneficial means to use the customization information? I 'd be a fool to put anything past Google, yet magic, I do not expect.

In 07, Danny Sullivan theorized that Google desired to rise close as well as relaxing with customer information over time, and search personalization belonged of this parcel, if not an end that the various other individual data collection was a means to.

If traits resurface in 2009, old disputes will come to be brand-new again. Unlike Google's previous statements that the Google Toolbar would not be used to impact ranking results, they disclosed that Toolbar data would certainly be utilized to gather web record info, which would be used to directly impact customized search results, as well as thus rankings. Genuine privacy problems were yielded ... yet then Google quit chatting concerning it, the SERPs barely changed, and SEOs et cetera of the globe obtained back to typical (okay the remainder of the globe never ever really seen).

Beyond privacy problems, will a possibly blind push to personalization on Google's component really damage the searcher encounter? Will it strengthen internet user actions of going straight to their favored resources rather than Google initially? Thanks Google, for reminding me that I such as actual sites a lot more compared to you, as well as if my memory is functioning well, I don't really require you half the time - however by the exact same token, shame on you Google, you've made my browsing encounter much less diverse, as well as you've ended up being less of an egalitarian for my webmaster friends worldwide. Boo.