If you take the setting, boss/employee relationship and comedy from “Chief Kim/Good Manager” and the murder, obsession and psychological torture from “Strangers from hell”

…. you get “Psychopath Diary”

Oh and also the other guys has the Surname “Seo”

I love this job more than I imagined I could. The day I stop giving it my all is the day I walk away.”

–John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), 2×14 “Casualties”

The quote above really encapsulates the draw of ABC’s police dramedy (that’s drama-comedy) The Rookie. The Nathan Fillion led series was ordered back in spring 2018, and aired its first season from 2018-2019. It’s currently in its second season, with a new episode airing this Sunday, April 26. In light of that – and because I’ve since managed to get 2 of my friends hooked on it – I decided I’d write up a few reasons as to why you should definitely check out this show…if you haven’t already!

Reason #1: The cast

(ABC/Andrew Eccles)

Yes, Nathan Fillion of ABC’s Castle headlines the series, but there’s a whole slew of cast members that carry the show just the same. Not to mention, you’ve probably seen them on other TV shows or films prior to their appearance on The Rookie.

CURRENT CAST (as of season 2–onward):

Nathan Fillion portrays John Nolan, the 45-year-old “rookie” who decided to pack up and move to LA to join the LAPD after a robbery at his local bank in Pennsylvania made him question his life decisions. You’ve probably seen him on: Castle, Firefly, Two Guys & a Girl, and/or Con Man.

Alyssa Diaz portrays Angela Lopez, one of three TOs (training officers) at the Mid-Wilshire Police Department in Los Angeles, California. You’ve probably seen her in: As the World Turns, Army Wives, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, and/or Ray Donovan.

Richard T. Jones portrays Sergeant Wade Grey, who is the immediate boss of the TOs, and is also responsible for their rookies, as well as the remainder of the police under his command at the station. You’ve probably seen him in: Judging Amy, Why Did I Get Married?/Why Did I Get Married Too?, and/or Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Titus Makin Jr. portrays Jackson West, the second in the trio of rookies. His father is the head of LAPD’s Internal Affairs, so he’s struggled some with having to prove himself outside of his father’s shadow. You’ve probably seen him in: Glee, Starcrossed, Pretty Little Liars, and/or The Path.

Melissa O’Neil portrays Lucy Chen, the 28-year-old hotshot who completes the trio of rookies in the LAPD. She decided to become a cop on a whim, but she loves it so much now, even though it’s the opposite of what her psychologist parents want her to do career-wise. You’ve probably seen her in/on: Canadian Idol, Dark Matter, and/or as a part of the Broadway musical Les Miserables.

Eric Winter portrays Tim Bradford, the second training officer under Sgt. Grey. He’s first seen as the no-nonsense type, but has since softened some during season 2. You’ve probably seen him in: The Mentalist, Witches of East End, The Ugly Truth, and/or Days of Our Lives.

Mekia Cox portrays Nyla Harper, a former undercover detective turned training officer. She’s quite a badass, and does whatever she can to excel at work, as it’ll earn points in her favor, because she’s fighting for custody of her daughter with her ex-husband. You’ve probably seen her in: 90210, Chicago Med, Secrets & Lies, and/or Once Upon a Time.

CURRENT RECURRING CAST (as of season 2–onward):

Image Credits: (ABC/Christopher Willard); (ABC/Richard Cartwright); and (ABC/Eric McCandless)

Ali Larter as Dr. Grace Sawyer, a former flame of John’s from his college days. She now works at Shaw Memorial Hospital, and while she and John reconnect as just friends first, they eventually ramp it up to dating.

Harold Perrineau as Detective Nick Armstrong, a new night detective that assists the LAPD with their case load after their regular shifts. He becomes involved more so when notorious serial killer Rosalind Dyer is brought to Grey’s station per a deal with the DA.

Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers, a lawyer that is currently dating Angela Lopez. The two have been living together since the start of season 2, and are now engaged as of episode 16.

Jasmine Matthews as Rachel Hall, a social worker who is one of Lucy’s best friends, and currently the girlfriend of Tim Bradford.

Daniel Lissing as Sterling Freeman, Jackson’s boyfriend who’s (ironically? meta-ly?) the star of a cop show, Hot Suspect.

Sarah Shahi as Jessica Russo, who is an FBI agent that was brought in to work a biological terror attack. She and John have a brief relationship, but break it off by episode 6 of season 2.

FORMER CAST (season 1): 

Mercedes Mason portrayed Captain Zoe Andersen, who was the tough but fair captain of the LAPD. She believed Nolan’s life experience would be good for the department. She was killed in episode 16 by a gang member who made an attempt on Nolan’s life.

Afton Williamson portrayed Talia Bishop, Nolan’s former training officer. She came off as brash at first, but she did help John a lot during his first six months on the job. She left the LAPD for a job with ATF; Afton exited the series after season 1 ended.

FORMER RECURRING CAST (season 1): 

Mircea Monroe as Isabel Bradford, Tim’s ex-wife. She was an undercover officer, but got hooked onto drugs which made her lose her job, and consequently, her husband. Tim tried to help her numerous times, but they’d been estranged for a year. She did finally get clean; but they decided it’d be best to separate, as Tim did not want to remind her of her old life.

Michael Beach as Commander Percy West, Jackson’s father who runs Internal Affairs for the LAPD. He and his son had their tough moments, but the two seemed to have reconciled in the season 1 finale after Jackson’s heroic efforts to stop a viral criminal.

*random fun fact: Mekia’s not the only one with a One Chicago tie-in. Alyssa Diaz actually worked with Chicago PD actor Jesse Lee Soffer on As the World Turns, and Michael Beach actually just finished a recurring role on Chicago PD as Darius Walker. Joelle Carter, who portrayed Shawn Christian’s character’s wife in the “Hawke” episode, has been on not one, but 3 One Chicago shows. Two of which portraying Laura Nagel (Chicago PD for 1 episode, and the spinoff Chicago Justice); she guested on Chicago Med this year.

Just wanted to toss that tidbit in there since quite a few fans of The Rookie have also been fans of the One Chicago franchise – at least that I’ve interacted with on social media! 

Reason #2: The balance of dramatic cases with humorous banter between the officers

(ABC/Ron Batzdorff)

(ABC/Ron Batzdorff)

While The Rookie is no means a straight comedy, it’s also not technically a classic police procedural either. That’s a good thing, as the balance of the lighter comedic moments interspersed with the dramatic or sometimes gruesome cases is what makes the show so damn entertaining. Oh, and did I mention there are bloopers? Because there are bloopers, and they are hilarious. Click here & here to see those!!

Reason #3: The pairs (TOs & Rookies)

(ABC/Ron Batzdorff)

Ah yes, another reason why The Rookie works so well. The pairings of the training officers with their respective rookie is spot-on. In season 1 you had the new, upbeat, John Nolan paired with spunky Talia Bishop; and the two bounced off each other quite nicely. John’s new TO, Nyla Harper, is just as sassy, if not sassier than Talia, but in a way, she’s a little more grounded, as she has a young daughter to consider. That’s something they have in common, as John has a 20 year old son, Henry.

(ABC/Christopher Willard)

Another pair is Angela Lopez and Jackson West. Sure, you would think: oh, here are two ambitious, young, intelligent people, so they should feed off each other, right? Wrong…at least not at first. And that’s what was so refreshing about it. Was that you had the push-and-pull between them that made you wonder if West could really stick it out with Lopez. He eventually did get over his “stage fright” when gunfire was occurring, but it took time; and it was realistic to see Angela be tough, yet understanding with him when it came to things like that. Not to mention, Jackson’s helped her out on the relationship front a few times, as he’s listened to her issues with dating, and Wesley. He even was the one who put the idea of a proposal in her head when they were at a stakeout! The two are really jiving, and it’s fun to see!

(ABC/Christopher Willard)

Last but not least is the duo of Bradford and Chen. They couldn’t be more opposite from each other at first glance: you’ve got tough-as-nails Tim, who’s got to train positive, spirited Lucy. Sounds like a little bit of a clash, right? It seemed like it at first, as Tim was very tough on Lucy; but he’s since let down his guard a little, which has been cool to see. He’s balanced out Lucy’s energy, and the two have since been so in-sync, it’s a little crazy at times (but in the best way possible)!

Reason #4: The “ships” (couples) of the show

(ABC/Christopher Willard)

Image Credit: Twitter/TheRookie

Image Credit: IG @TheRookieABC.

(ABC/Christopher Willard)

Image Credit: IG @TheRookieABC

Ah yes, the part that a lot of fans (myself included!) love about our favorite TV shows: the couples that pair off in it! It’s also worth mentioning that fans usually get excited about “should be” couples aka: people that they think should be together/dating/a couple/etc.

As far as The Rookie goes, there are actually quite a few well-established couples on the show, especially in season 2! If you need or want a quick season 1 refresher: Tim was technically still married to his now ex-wife, Isabel; Jackson had a brief relationship with Gino; Angela and Wesley had begun dating; and yes, John & Lucy had a brief thing early on!

Now, for season 2, you’ve got: Jackson & Sterling; Tim & Rachel; Wesley & Angela; John & Grace (John was previously dating Jessica); aaaaaaand the fan-favorite should-be couple: Tim & Lucy. The final “couple” is actually how I got hooked onto The Rookie – thank you social media for all the #Chenford/#Tucy hashtags!!

Most everyone loves these relationships because they’re fun, endearing, dramatic, and sometimes even a little bit funny. It’s quite a nice counterbalance to all the death and destruction the LAPD encounters on the streets everyday, you know? Plus, who hasn’t found a couple on a show that they like a lot, right? It’s fun to interact with other fans about it too – which is part of the reason why “ships” are really effective.

Jackson and Sterling have that lovely push-and-pull dynamic, where, since Sterling’s a celebrity, and Jackson’s a cop, they had to keep it low-key at first. But now, since they’re technically out of the spotlight, they’re free to do as they please.

Tim and Rachel originally began as a bet, but, it turned into something more afterwards. Even though the two have had their little disagreements here and there, it’s been really interesting to see Tim open himself up to a new relationship after his wife in season 1. The fact that Rachel’s one of Lucy’s best friends is…beside the point. Although, for fans of Chenford/Tucy, it’s kind of comical, or ironic. I’m not quite sure which.

Speaking of Chenford, Tim & Lucy are the ones that fans have been clamoring to get together – even though technically, nothing can happen between the two until Lucy’s no longer a rookie (Tim’s her TO!). I’ll admit, I was originally intrigued by them because of their similarities to another “should-be” cop couple I ship: Upstead from Chicago PD; but, seeing how in-sync the partners are on The Rookie, I understand why everyone wants them to be more than that. I sure do!

Wesley and Angela have been steady since season 1, and his heartbreaking PTSD storyline in season 2 only brought them closer together, and showed just how strong of a relationship they have. Angela’s been super supportive, and Wesley’s always been confident in her abilities. They’re even the couple to beat in terms of major milestones: they’ve moved in together, and they’re engaged! YAY!

John and Grace were a little bit of a wildcard at the start, since they had a little bit of a history there. But, ever since they blossomed into friends, their transition into a relationship was relatively easy. It’s been nice to see John happy, and Grace seems to be really good for him right now.

Reason #5: The vibe behind the scenes

(ABC/Troy Harvey)

Last, but not least is the “vibe” behind the scenes of The Rookie. That includes the off-set antics the cast gets up to! It’s been really fun to scour social media and see their comments on not only The Rookie account, but on fan things too! The cast is also great about liking comments and posts that fans make, which is super-nice!

Not to mention, they’re just genuinely fun people – at least judging from their behind the scenes posts and on-set videos! From car sing-a-longs to random dance parties, there’s never a dull moment on The Rookie set! They’re such good sports. Not only does that camaraderie come through onscreen, but it helps the chemistry to translate nicely as well. Believability is part of what sells TV, and The Rookie has that skill down pat!

Bonus: Favorite Episodes So Far / Ones To Watch

Image Credits: (ABC/Richard Cartwright) and (ABC/Christopher Willard)

Note: this is just my own personal list, but if you have any more to add, feel free to comment! 🙂 PS: Season 2 is available for streaming on ABC.com or Hulu; season 1 is not, but there are a bevy of clips online (YouTube) which can help catch you up! 

The Pilot, of course! 1×01, and then the kind-of-sort-of subsequent follow-up 1×02 “Crash Course”

1×04 “The Switch”

1×07 “The Ride Along” & 1×08 “Time of Death”

1×14 “Plain Clothes Day” and 1×15 “Manhunt”

1×19 “The Checklist” and 1×20 “Free Fall” (the season 1 finale)

2×01 “Impact” (picks up right after season 1 leaves off!)

2×03 “The Bet” and 2×04 “Warriors and Guardians” (which is Mekia’s debut!)

2×06 “Fallout” and 2×08 “Clean Cut”

2×10 “The Dark Side” and 2×11 “Day of Death” *you should definitely watch these back-to-back, as 2×10 serves as the midseason finale; 2×11 is the midseason premiere*

2×12 “Now and Then”; 2×16 “The Overnight”; and 2×17 “Control”

That’s all for me for now! 5 (or 6, if you count the dramatic episodes!) reasons to watch The Rookie! You can catch all-new episodes on ABC, Sunday nights at 10/9 c! Be sure you’re following the show on Twitter and/or Instagram so you can see fun behind the scenes content, not to mention live-tweet during tomorrow’s all-new episode! Hope ya’ll liked this post!

Credit: GIPHY/Google

Why You Should Be Watching #TheRookie (if you're not already!) I love this job more than I imagined I could. The day I stop giving it my all is the day I walk away."

Some other BBTAG scenarios that’d be cool

(I will now try and limit myself to the o.g. 4, b/c I barely know jack about Arcana Heart, Senran Kagura, Akatsuki Blitzkampf)

I might’ve mentioned some of these before, but I’m including them here for completionists sake

1. Ragna hanging out with Gordeau. I like his interactions with Ragna in BBTAG’s story okay, he treated Ragna with respect. Maybe Ragna meets Gordeau in Kanzakai and he goes to Gordeau’s bar and they chat. Ragna learns about how the Hollow Night works, they could chat about how annoyed that are by their usual aquaintances (Goedeau about Hilda and Chaos, and Ragna about.....well almost everyone in his life). Maybe Gordeau and Ragna get on the topic of revenge, since Ragna wants revenge on Terumi and Gordeau has a vendetta against Wagner. Ragna talks about how he had Terumi at his mercy once (CS’ climax) and Gordeau asks if it was worth it. Ragna notes that it was unsatisfying due to Terumi laughing during it when Ragna wanted him to suffer, AND recalls how Lambda died for him, and says it wasn’t worth it. (I see this as between CS and before CP).

If you want to go even further, maybe Gordeau introduces him to the rest of Amnesia (or Hilda and Chaos show up at the bar as Ragna and Gordeau are talking), and they offer Ragna to join Amnesia, sensing the power he has and saying that they share similar goals of taking down their world’s organizations of Order (Amnesia vs Licht Kreis and Ragna vs the N.O.L.). Of course Ragna tells them to fuck off b/c “When I did it it was for revenge, you’re doing it for shits and giggles” (TFS reference). I mean Hilda says that Amnesia’s purpose is just a bunch of people who want to be powerful and have fun. But they don’t kill, that rule was made clear by Chaos in Ekidu’s Chronicle Mode (following the death of Roger and Ogre in Gordeau’s Chronicle Mode).

2. Ragna in Remnant, like his first visit there. Of course Ruby might want to talk to him more, Yang gives him the benefit of the doubt for saving Ruby, Blake is in the middle considering I think she’d understand the situation they were in but also be wary of his Soul Eater ability (I think Blake would notice that), while Weiss would be against him due to her seeing his wanted poster for 90,000,000,000 PD. Ozpin could have Qrow tail Ragna since he is Oz’ informant and Ragna does seem to be a more active/immediate threat to those who don’t know him (if you want comedy maybe Qrow’s Misfortune semblance causes more grief for Ragna. Assuming that RWBY still have their System Crystal from RWBY’s ending, they could tell Ozpin about this and Oz will be up to speed.

So when Ragna shows up at Beacon he gets called to the Headmaster’s Office where the Ozluminati is waiting for him to just get the run down on things. Ragna’s bad attitude would attract Grimm, and also his Soul Eater makes him quite dangerous in a world where the powers are based on the Soul. Oz doesn’t want to start shit and Qrow probably has enough info to see he isn’t AS bad as people say, and that the situation is far more complicated. But Ragna is still a criminal with a dangerous power. The only reason he’s only being given a warning is due to Ruby’s good word, and if he tries anything, no matter the cost he WILL doe everything in his power to stop him from harming his students or the world he has sworn to protect as a Huntsman. Plus the fact that they can’t exactly enforce the las of a whole other Dimension.

Glynda is a bit wary of Ragna but respects Ozpin’s decissions, but Ironwood is in the camp of “This guy is a danger to us, so we should either contain him or kill him”.

If you want to go a bit more into the adult interactions, maybe after Qrow hears of Ragna’s shit lif ehe tries to take Ragna out to drink, but I think Ragna isn’t one to drink b/c he’d see it as a bitch’s way of dealing with probelms. But if Qrow annoy him to a point they have a drink off, butRagna out drinks him b/c his Azure Grimoire has a healing factor against toxins too (as shown how he shook off poison in one of the mangas) so he can’t get drunk.

Or you could have Taiyang seeing Ragna fight (Grimm, sparring with Qrow, who knows) and he picks up on how Ragna’s fighting is like Yang’s: prefering to go trhough everything and rely on your power when you get in a jam. But it can’t always save you. Maybe even have Tai give Ragna a thanks for saving his daughters, or this could be the only way you imagine Burnie Burns as Tai channel his inner Church and have him sass Ragna.

3. Referencing back to the post about the scene in CS where Ragna is with the Kaka Clan, you know the one I constantly reference. I'd imagine that after a week or so of everyone just chilling with each other Ragna is WAY more chill with everyone. So what I thought was maybe Yang and Akihiko, along with a few others maybe, are at a boxing gym and then Ragna shows up being......oddly more friendly/chill than usual, and just have them all have a friendly spar and just have Ragna be chill and friendl with people who don’t insult him or treat him like ass. I wish there was another cool brawler in UNI that Ragna could get along with to even it out.

4. Something smaller, just put anyone in the Kaka Village and watch cuteness overload. You guys saw how Weiss was with Zwei and Adrien, and Kanji wanted to pet Jubei so imagine how he’d react to the Kaka kittens.

5. Just something simple and cool for fighting shit: The I.T. go through the Emerald Forest in the style of Beacon’s Initiation Exam. With the 4 o.g. members of the I.T./current 3rd years (Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko) for one team, with the later members/2nd years form the other team (Naoto, Kanji, Teddie and Rise).

6. Adam Taurus and some other W.F. members are raiding a Sector Seven outpost/storage facility only to be intercepted by Makoto and Blake. After some fighting maybe Kokonoe talks over intercom or through a video screen so we can have some philosophical discussion between her and Adam,. Adam saying she’s kissed up to humans, while Kokonoe calls Adam and the WF bitches for letting the humans’ insults get to them this far. Makoto and Blake are a but uncomfortable, b/c while Adam is too heated about the animal people racism resulting in him going to murder people, Kokonoe has become a cold hearted bitch who, while not evil, has some issues.

7. How does Raven react to all this Cross-Dimensional bullshit? One idea I had was Yu talking with her to try and get her to see the Power of Friendship! He notes how her power also works through bonds, being able to make portals to those she has an emotional connection to (her former husband, brother, and daughter). Maybe then he unleashes his Wild Card aura to show how powerful Friendship can be (you know, the same aura that makes Elizabeth, the one who oneshots Erebus every other month, step back). Raven could still call Yu a naive idiot for thinking he can stop the horrors of Salem, although even she finds it hard to beleive that when Yu most likely just showed off Izanagi-no-Okami aura which was said by Izanami to possibly be near godlike power.

8. Sho Minazuki and Carmine Prime meeting. Both are vulgar fight happy assholes who have a blood moon motif going on. Sho goes to Kanzakai b/c the Hollow Night is full of assholes he can fight for fun. He and Carmine can fight and mayeb vibe off each other a bit, but Sho at leats has a tragic past while Carmine is just a loser who doesn’t care if he dies in a gutter. Mabe Labrys could say something like “I’m glad that Sho-kun finally has a friend he can relate to.....but.....I don’t think he’s a good influence.” As Sho and Carmine are laughing manicaly as they fight.

9. Ozpin learning about the Insulator and just....needing to sit down. Because as we all know from Vol 6, he had No plan to defeat Salem and was playing the long game defense. But now thanks to this cross-dimensional bullshit, here is the perfect weapon to FINALLY end it! Oz tries to talk to Linne about convincing Hyde to let him use it. But Linne has told Hyde to guard the Insulator with his life, and Linne doesn’t trust anyone else with it. Eventually Ozpin’s desperation leaks through and Linne connects the dots about Salem’s Immortality and Ozpin hiding her immortality. She then holds it over Oz’s head that if he tries to force the Insulator from Hyde she’ll spill his secret.

DRAMA

10. The main heroes (Ragna, Yu, Hyde, and Ruby) all talking with System just wondering what it would’ve been like if they all lived in a merged world. How would their lives be different, imagine them all going to school together? The possibilities are endless.

11. Doctor Oobleck beign fascinated by these other worlds and wanting to learn about their histories. Espeically the Persona and Under Night worlds (as thye are “Earth” worlds where things are very normal, no Grimm to limit humanity to 4 kingdoms and some small villages that get razed to the ground on a weekly to monthly basis. That sounds like it would be FASCINATING for a historian like Oobleck. Unfortunately since Earth doesn’t have dark monsters to unite against, we have a shit load of wars against each other. Which could lead to a lot of philosophical discussions about how people can only band together if they have a mutual enemy.

Just imagine Oobleck talking with Jubei or Bang about the Ikaruga Civil War, just Oobleck and Bang talking would be fun.

12. The robot girls: Noel, Aigis, Labrys, Vatista, and Penny all hanging out. Vatista is the most Robotic, Aigis has the most “life” expereince, Noel is the most “human”, Labrys and Penny are both very human like but naive and lack life experience. So they could all talk about shit.

13. Weiss wanting to spend time with Mitsuru, b/c Mitsuru is basically everything Weiss wants to be: she is an exceptional leader (commanding both SEES in her school years and current leader of the Shadow Operatives), a skilled fighter (Mitsuru flawlessly summons her Persona and Weiss struggles with summons at Beacon, AND her 1 v 1 Win-Loss record is kind of iffy), and she is on her way to redeeming her family name and company (after Mitsuru’s grandad caused the Dark Hour Incident 10 years before P3, and Weiss wants to redeem the SDC from her father) although IDK if it is still going on because A. people are still against Kirijo for the explosion accident 10 years before P3, or B. people are just against a woman being in power. Like Mitsuru is liek a perfect role model for Weiss.

I might add more later, lemme know what you guys think and if you guys want to take these to use them for fics.

Originally posted on the TGC forums here. A big thank you to raisin for organizing the 5th anniversary Journey event, and also for meeting me out on the sands! This was my 12th Journey, and the first time that I had done in quite some time!  I've shown a handful of people through the game, letting them play on my account, but I hadn't taken to the sands myself in a long while.  The event was in the middle of the work day for me, but I worked remotely and took a few hours of time out from working for the occasion.  No save reset for me (never done such a thing yet!), but I did cast off my white robe and went as a fully-embroidered red cloak. As a personal aside, I've been having some interesting times lately -- nothing too crazy happening as far as life goes, but I have definitely been feeling a bit "lost" and ungrounded.  The best way I can describe it is that it felt as if the universe was swirling around and moving about all around me, and I felt as though I did not "have" anything, did not have a foothold or a heading.  At the risk of delving a bit too deep into personal matters, I will say that I care very intensely about the past and often struggle with moving on or letting go.  These feelings were at the forefront of my mind as I set out for my Journey and I knew beforehand that my playthrough would be a good chance to reflect upon my life's Journey as well. I leaped off the BB right on the dot at the start of the event and it wasn't long before I found a fellow red-clothed companion!  After some happy greetings and faceplanting it was clear that we were both excited to see each other and go play.  It wasn't until after my playthrough that I discovered that the reddie I had encountered was none other than raisin!  I had actually taken my 10th Journey through the sands together with raisin -- a wonderful and fun-filled experience that I recounted here, though we failed to walk through the light together, losing each other in the darkness as we ventured into the snow glitch and lost our way in the midst of the death march.  Reading that account again now really makes me smile -- you showed me so many wonderful things...playing with WMs, a breathtaking meditation plummet, new CB spots, and my first time coasting and doing a dry tower run.  I consider myself lucky to have been blessed with the opportunity to Journey with you again. It was here in the BB area that I started to realize just how long it had been since I had last taken to the sands -- it took me a bit to remember the exact position of the glyph on the left side in the cave area.  How embarrasing! xP  This was also the first time in a very long while that I had gone out in red.  My, what a different experience!  No longer could I speed across the ground easily, yet at the same time, it made it such a compelling reason to stay close by your side.  Nostalgic indeed. We went off to collect some glyphs, release some flyers, etc. and I decided to try my hand at the usual CB spot near the glyph on the right.  As I mentioned, I haven't done this in *forever* so I couldn't even remember whether I was supposed to continue to flap or not, and whether or not being too close to one another would throw us off.  Nonetheless I still managed to get a decent CB out of it somehow, though not nearly high enough to ascend to the end of the level.  It was after that that you chirped at me and motioned to try and get through the rock headbonk entrance to the glitch area.  My -- another spot where being in red really made things much more difficult!  You made it in first and I knew where you were trying to lead me, just had trouble pinpointing the exact spot.  Thank you for coming back out and assisting me some more -- eventually we both made it in, hooray!  Unfortunately we didn't have much luck climbing out of the sandfall, as I forget how that area behaves and being in red certainly didn't help.  Funnily enough last time that we tried to play around in that glitch it also led to, as you put it, "a comedy of misunderstandings" xD We had an unfortunate disconnect in the PD as your game decided to crash -- you were there with me one moment, then gone the next.  I wandered the desert on my own a bit, realizing that again, I had forgotten the relative locations of the landmarks that I knew were there somehow. ^^;  I had some nice times playing with the little scarf carpets, actually, as I bumbled about trying to find my way.  Eventually you managed to find me again!  Rejoice!  We went around collecting more glyphs and at one point took a brief break to practice our faceplant-jumping.  A skill that I have yet to fully master, but I was able to get one!  *chirp*  I also really enjoyed the little nook on the side edge of the structure that we walked along, pushing our heads down into the sand ^^  I've never seen anything like that!  Such fun to be shown these hidden corners of the game by another such as yourself :) We had some nice coasting in the PD as well...funny -- did you know that you are the only person I've ever coasted with?  We flew together above to the top of the structure and I was able to do my first beamdown, together with you!  What a magical feeling, floating down with such grace! We did not play for too long in the SC, or the rest stop area -- and I knew that I should not, either, having to eventually get back to work at some point.  We did try to get another beamdown at the dramatic drop area at the end of the level, but my attempts to sync up together with you were proving laughably difficult. xD In the UG you took me up in the jellyfish room to the glitch and I followed with some small amount of trepidation, not wanting to go too far into glitch-land.  Thankfully, you were an excellent and considerate leader and I felt secure the whole way through!  I'm really grateful for that :)  You showed me scaredy-cat WM like you did during our previous journey, and then we proceeded to the final slide down to the end of the level.  I know there are some interesting things that you can do for that slidedown but am not sure of any of them off the top of my head.  I decided to just fly as quickly as I could toward the bottom, beating the WMs by a mile, but when I looked back you were no longer there, and alas there was only one WM chasing me, not two.  I chirped in the darkness but alas, we had DCed and you were nowhere to be found.  I sat through the history lesson and said a brief hello to the two scarf ribbons on the right before moving onward alone to the tower. I met another reddie in the tower, one who may or may not have been on their first playthrough, and was acting rather aloof.  I did interact with them a bit, going through a majority of the tower together, but I realized during this that I did not really want another companion at this point.  My hopes of reuniting with raisin were slim at this point and I decided that I was in the mood for finishing my Journey alone and having some time to reflect on things, as well as appreciate the landscape itself. In the snow level I started to take my time, going along at my own pace, spending a little more time with the fallen carpet flyers than usual.  It was here that I met some more reddies -- one who made an unfortunate fall back down to the beginning of the level, and later on another one whom I crossed the WM field with, only to have him get caught by a WM and get hit.  They dusted on me immediately afterward, leaving me alone in the snow again. As always, I spent a while lingering at the warm lantern room, it being my favorite spot in the game.  This may seem silly to you, but I actually always thought that the lantern doesn't stay lit for very long, and always just deactivates itself after a set amount of time -- I think because I've always been through that area together with a companion and we deactivated it soon after.  To my surprise that wasn't the case, and I sat there in the lantern room for quite some time meditating in the warm orange glow, with the gentle lantern music cue playing against the rush of the wind outside.  It was actually a very very meaningful experience for me, knowing that I could hold this moment for as long as I wished, especially given the things I had been struggling with in life recently.  Having a comfortable, safe spot that I can stay in and preserve is very important to me as a person, and it is exactly for that reason that I feel so strongly about that room in the game.  As I do with life, I half considered just ending my Journey there, not wanting to move on from my restful place.  But the aforementioned reddie came by and I decided to follow them. After being dusted on, I was left to tackle the windy corridor and the final death march alone.  As always, the DM is an interesting experience -- I feel like it can conjure such wildly different feelings each time.  This time was unique in that I felt little will to continue onward to the mountain itself.  Of course, I continued to push onward, fulfilling the role I was meant to play, but I later realized that it was not the mountain ahead of me that I truly desired, but rather, the fun times spent together with raisin in the PD that I wanted to return to.  Having lost my connection to the past as well as my pull forward to the future, I found myself lost in an endless sea of white.  I already knew this in my own life, but having the elements depicted as concrete metaphors really brought it all together for me. I went through Paradise alone as well, but actually enjoyed it quite much.  It's been a while since playing in Paradise alone, and I think it really brings a new feel to the place, being able to spend more time alone with the gorgeous water, the little islands off to the sides of the main path, and hanging out with the whales as well.  Oh, how I loved playing with those whales!  I feel like I am usually too distracted by keeping up with and playing around with my companion to really say hi to them. I have been considering some concepts of Buddhism lately and trying to come to terms with the idea that we don't really "have anything" so to speak, that life is fleeting and it is not really possible to truly "preserve" anything, despite my strong ideals of hanging onto things.  "The cup is already broken", as they say.  As I crossed the threshold into the light, I watched my figure walk further and further into the distance, surrounded by the blank white nothingness, and for the first time I really, truly watched all the way, focusing on that tiny figure in the center of the screen as it faded until finally there was nothingness again.  I think I'll be reflecting on that image for a while. Thank you so much again, raisin, for organizing this event and for a wonderful time together (that unfortunately met a premature end).  It was really nice getting to know you in the sands for a time again and I found my Journey to be very theraputic as well.  Perhaps someday we'll actually get to walk into the light together ^^;