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sakuraswordly · 1 year

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Syaoran: Tails. You really love adventure, don't you?

Tails: Of course! I love adventure!

Syaoran: Me too but go adventure was still not my favourite in the past. But when travelling for too long....

Syaoran & Tails: It was like an amazing mystery!

Syaoran & Tails:...........!!

Syaoran: I apologize....

Tails: I’m sorry....

Syaoran & Tails:...........(Smile at each other)

Tails: Thank you for taking care of Sonic when he was missing. Shadow went to another world to search for Sonic. But I wonder where he is now. Amy also went travelling with Shadow....I hope she'll be alright...

Syaoran: I heard from Amy if I had to guess. They're looking for clues about Fei Wang Reed and the curse of death. Shadow told me that he was afraid that Sonic was cursed by that person.

Tails: Because Artorius did connect to Fei Wang Reed. That dark super form...Shadow thought that was a curse...Syaoran...can I ask? Who's Fei Wang Reed?

Syaoran: Fei Wang is a mysterious man that watches and directs every movement of the party. His true origins are unknown. His true objective is not to obtain the feathers; rather, scattering Sakura's feathers was to force her to travel between dimensions so her body would contain a map of the dimensions. This is necessary, in combination with the feather that Clone Sakura left behind in Clow Country, and real Sakura, to grant Fei Wang's wish: that is, to bring the dead back to life.

Tails: Clone Sakura?

Syaoran: But after we defeat him, his main goal is not only to bring the dead back to life. His main goal was also after Vaten Hörmulegt. Dhaos told hint that Vaten Hörmulegt was a curse a death.

Tails:......! So that’s mean.....

Syaoran: If Sonic really was Vaten Hörmulegt, he's in danger....That's what both Shadow and Amy are afraid...

Tails:...........

Syaoran: I'm scared as well....I don't want him to get invade in to this...

Tails: I'm scared too...but even so...I want to help him...include you too, Syaoran...

Chester: You know? You guys are really alike.

Syaoran: Chester-san?

Mokona: I agree too. Your feeling very similar.

Chester: That mad scientist did mention that Syaoran-kun and Tails are alike. That's why he's okay in intrust Syaoran-kun to take care of Sonic. Even he doesn’t trust or even hate Velvet.

Tails: Eggman did once as my friend a long time ago, so knew me before meeting Sonic for the first time.

Mokona: I had a feeling that Mad scientist did care for Sonic even though he's not a good guy.

Tails: True....Sonic and Eggman are rivals but I knew that deep down he cared for Sonic. And because of that...he turned against me.

Chester: You don't blame Sonic for what happened, right? You're really a good kid.

Tails: Yes...because Sonic's our hope. If I never met him, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I would be a coward forever.

Syaoran: No Tails. You're braver than you think. You’re smart, you’re strong, and you can even fly with your two tails. I respect you because you can do things I can’t.

Chester: I agree with Syaoran-kun on this one. You're smarter than any of us. You're cool enough more than call yourself a coward.

Tails:.......!!

* Flashback *

Sonic: But it’s true. You're braver than you think. You’re smart, you’re strong with mechas, and you can even fly with your butt! I respect you because you can do things I can’t. Don’t make me say that, it’s embarrassing.

* End of Flashback *

Tails: Is that really what Sonic was thinking?

Skits: Conviction(Tsofph season7)

Amy: Argh!! So tired! I need a long bath! And a real bed for once!

Shadow: Complain and Complain

Amy: Yeah! I will complain! Shadow and Cosmo don’t even need to sleep or food!

Shadow: Besides, Amy. If it’s too late now to go back. Whose fault is that exaxtly?

Amy: Well. I mean...You can’t just leave the Metarex do whatever they want. The Metarex are also known to be very dangerous and vicious as they will do everything just to destroy all planets in the galaxy even if it means losing part of their army.

Tails: It’s true. They have traversed the galaxy, stealing the so-called "Planet Eggs" and objects of great power, leaving whole worlds dead or dying in their wake. Among their victims are Cosmo's home-world, along with every member of her species except her. They also implanted Cosmo with a hidden sensor in her brain, turning her into an unwilling spy.

Amy: Feel like it's been that way ever since Sonic clashed with Dark Oak there was a large explosion and Sonic was thrown back.

Cosmo: The bad news is Mr Sonic was Vaten Hörmulegt. It is a power that will change the world and that will power will bring troubles and disturbances. I hope Mr Sonic's doing all right....

Tails: Even without chaos emerald, Sonic still had unknown power inside him and was very dangerous even costing his own life.

Cosmo: Don't you think this is too much?

Shadow:.........

Amy: They're just about to finalize the peace treaty. Sonic's got too much to worry about without us adding to it. And don't forget...we did ask Syaoran for help so we don't have to worry about it.

Tails: Are we okay with this decision? Even meant we need to leave our home behind and won’t ablr to come back.

Shadow: I'm okay to leave but you're not planning on telling Sonic?

Amy: Some things are better left unknown.

Cosmo: Miss Amy.....

Amy: Ok! That’s enough! Let's go take a bath! Come on, Cosmo!

Cosmo: O...okay....

Shadow: Are you okay with this? I mean I did hurt your girlfriend.

Tails: You had already been burdening yourself or self-destructive behavior for too long. You worry about us, I appreciate it. If I won't forgive you and who will forgive?

Shadow: Tails.

Tails: Let’s follow Syaoran’s lead for now.

Source Character: (Translations: Link)

Name; Miles Tails Prower English Name; MILES “TAILS” PROWER Known as; Tails Species; Fox Gender; Male Height; 80cm Weight; 20kg Age; 8 years old Special Skills; Can spin his two tails to fly in the sky Hobbies; Toying with machinery, mechanical maneuvering

English Name; COSMO Known as; Cosmo Gender; Female Height; 90cm Weight; 15kg Characteristic; Very lightweight body Dislikes; Metarex Favourite thing to do; Basking in the sun.

Source Profile: Link

Also Known As Syaoran Age Manga: Mentally 21, physically 14 Birthday April 1st Relatives Clow Reed (distant relative) Syaoran Li (clone/father) Sakura Li (mother) Kimihiro Watanuki (other self) Residence: Clow Country Originally of Japan Powers: Highly skilled martial artist Expert archeologist Skilled Swordsman Excellent use of magic, spells, barriers, and detection

Explanation 4(Analysis) (Warning contain spoilers)

Source information: wiki Sonic X Personality

Basic you should know. Tails is Sonic's loyal sidekick. He is very intelligent and acts very kind and friendly to others, and as well humble and innocent. Tails has also been shown to be rather shy and he often had little confidence in the beginning of the series as he depended on the other characters, especially Sonic, to help him in times of need. Tails can also be shy and easily flustered around girls, as shown by some of his interactions with Cosmo and his reaction to Rouge kissing him on the cheek. Due to his timidness, Tails was often overshadowed by the other characters as he can be seen often keeping quiet as the far more outspoken characters got their ways in discussions. However, through the series Tails gained more courage and developed more leadership skills, which was especially seen in Season 3 where he was the captain of the group (being the owner of the Blue Typhoon) and his love for Cosmo furthered his courage.

Source information: wiki/Tsubasa_Li Personality

Syaoran is a kind-hearted and driven young man, with one of his greatest traits being staying true to his words. He will stop at nothing to protect "those dearest to him". Syaoran's dedication to collecting Sakura's feathers after the clone Syaoran never wavered; even when in a twisted situation, his strong heart and fierce determination assured he never looked back. Syaoran loves Sakura romantically, although just like his father, he tends to undermine his worthiness, leading him to avoid the thought of being in that sort of relationship with a princess when he is just a commoner. Unlike the clone Syaoran, who had a cruel start to his life until his adoption, the real Syaoran had a much more fruitful start to life which shows us the true character of Syaoran when he was younger. He is shown to smile more and shows a less uptight persona, although we eventually get to see some of these traits in the clone Syaoran as a result of Sakura's warm nature and friendship.

In Tsubasa of Phantasia, original Tails had a strong heart, kind-hearted and driven. But not innocent. He became shy and fearful after the old friendship or family was broken. Tails gained more courage and developed more leadership skills when he found "those dearest to him". Sonic was the first dearest to Tails. Because Sonic, relationship with Eggman improved, Tails grows braver and dares to challenge Eggman and protect Sonic. For Sonic, Tails taught him what is love as friendship and why we need to listen to the friends where we need them the most. Sonic also learned what humans were from Tails because they need to know information about Eggman as a rival. But because Tails was kind-hearted, Tails also taught Sonic that Human was not evil(Eggman was the only human remaining in Sonic's homeworld before went to Chris' world) The same goes for Syaoran too. He originally had the courage and developed leadership skills when he found "those dearest to him". Sonic was also dearest to Syaoran as the family that even make Syaoran want to protect him. Sonic and Tails are best friends, sharing a close brother-like relationship. At first for Syaoran too, Syaoran and Sonic were only thought of as friends but not best friends. But when go travelling together. They share a close brother-like relationship but more than that. Sonic could feel that he couldn't live without Syaoran. Syaoran was someone he couldn't live without. Based on Sonic, he can be alone, even if he has a lover and his best friend, which can be called inseparable. Tails saw that happen that Syaoran was very special to Sonic a lot. Chester also sees that the relationship was deep even Syaoran can feel heartbroken when seeing Sonic broken. Even Syaoran and Tails' relationship with Sonic was similar or you can say that “the same”. Kinda like human children can't go themself without parents rising them. Kinda like human children can't go for themself without their parents raising them, Syaoran and Sonic' relationship is kinda like that. Based on Syaoran, he can be alone, even if he has a lover and his best friend, which can be called inseparable. Syaoran and Tails are similar and even able can read each other's minds without using technology or communication devices, similar to Sonic and Tails' friendship. Perhaps the biggest strength of Tails and Sonic's friendship is the united bond their hearts share. Whenever the two are around each other, they both feel as if they can overcome any struggle they may be facing. Also, without even having to say anything to each other, they know inside of themselves what is needed of themselves to be a good partner to the other. Tails understand why the first time Sonic saw Syaoran as Tails. When he consoled Sonic, Sonic was calm because it's the same method that Tails used for Sonic when Sonic is upset and impulsive. Sonic accidentally treat Syaoran as a little brother too. Because Sonic knew that Tails was originally brave, smart and leadership. For Sonic view, Sonic legit thinks Tails is just the coolest person he’s ever met and it show’s when ever he talks about what Tails has accomplished and just when he talks about Tails in general. Sonic thinks his inventions are awesome, loves to adventure with him and just hang out with Tails.( When Tails first encountered Sonic, he exclaimed that the hedgehog was cool and followed him to tinker with his Tornado. ) The same goes for Syaoran too. That's why Sonic already see Syaoran as a good leader or the cool human he ever met.(Note: Great more than Chris) Sonic knows Tails has self-esteem issues and he does his best to encourage him and mitigate those thoughts when Tails tells him he’s having them. But Sonic is just so proud of Tails and just thinks Tails is literally the most amazing person he knows, so he legitimately just can’t fathom why Tails does not see what he sees. Sonic sees is this amazing kid he was lucky enough to meet and grow as close as a brother too. Syaoran make Tails to understand what Sonic see in Tails and make Tails to understand Sonic more.

There is one thing that makes Tails different from Syaoran. Both Syaoran and Sonic, even when in a twisted situation, their strong heart and fierce determination assured they never looked back.

Source some pictures: https://www.tumblr.com

Pictures Black White from Tsubasa chronicle manga

Both Tails and Syaoran had kind-hearted. Both Tails and Syaoran also sometimes think it was their fault and blame themself.

Both Tails and Syaoran had the same feeling heartbroken.

Both Tails and Syaoran were aware of the others as well.

Even Syaoran and Watanuki shared the same reaction face, similar but not the same.

Chester is more similar to Watanuki. Both Chester(Tales of Phantasia) and Watanuki(xxxHolic) are sly.

Both Tails and Syaoran were also good at mechanisms.

Both Tails and Syaoran would always be there for the people and encouraged them as well.(First picture below From Tailstube)

Both Tails and Syaoran had skills in cooking.(But Syaoran cooking is more delicious)

Both Tails and Syaoran were polite and sometimes quiet.

Both Tails and Syaoran are straightforward and not afraid of what's ahead. Both Tails and Syaoran had someone that wish to protect. Tails had Cosmo and Syaoran had Sakura.

Source video: https://www.tumblr.com/

Both Tails and Syaoran are interested in learning new things. They also love to read books too.(Bookworm)

Both Tails and Syaoran will always be by Sonic's side no matter what happens.

Both Tails and Syaoran cares extremely much for Sonic, having sacrificed themselves to save him on different occasions to ensure Sonic's safety when he is too careless or reckless. Even more so, when Tails thought Sonic was gone for good after his battle with Infinite at the beginning of the War to Take Back the Planet, he lost his way in the aftermath for six months until his spirit was lifted by the arrival of an alternate Sonic. Furthermore, he was overjoyed to learn that Sonic was alive shortly thereafter.

#sakuraswordly #tsofph season 7 #tsofph season6 #tsofph #tsubasa of phantasia #miles tails prower #cosmo the seedrian #syaoran tsubasa #sonic crowe #unbreakable bond #tsubasa li #tails and cosmo

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kibybun · 4 years

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Hi. Can I ask you to write about Aizawa or Hawks and their darling, who constantly joked about death and eventually she committed suicide, please? I love your writing💞 You are so awesome and talented and cool. Thank you so much for your work💕

Oh my gosh, thank you so much! I hope you like it!💞💞

Platonic Yandere Hawks x suicide joking reader

Tw: Yandere, suicide, self harm, angst

Enjoy!

💛Hawks first met you at the sports festival, showing off your quirk and demonstrating power. You caught his attention rather quickly.

💛Not only were you adorable but intriguing as well. You wore long sleeves, even though you looked uncomfortable in them, and you seemed oddly quiet compared to everyone else, shying away when they come up to talk to you.

💛Another thing that stood out to him was when you were doing the calvary battle. No one came to ask you to join their team, but you didn't go out and ask to join either. You just stood there until a purple hair guy came up to you, most likely getting you to join his group.

💛Though, you seemed to change. Your fighting style and the way you use your quirk changed.

💛It bothered Hawks the whole calvary battle but he was put at ease when some kid with a tail backed out due to the other guy brainwashing him.

💛You end up backing out too, much to Hawk's dismay.

💛Even though you weren't fighting anymore he still keeps his attention on you, not seeing your other classmates or students.

💛He watched you zone out and silently cheer for your classmates, finding it adorable as you watch in awe at some of the battles.

💛The sports festival ends and he follows you home, only to make surd your okay. Once he got home he quickly put in a request for you to come intern with him before going to bed.

💛When you went back to school you were excited to see if anyone wanted you to intern with them, knowing you wouldn't get as many requests like Todoroki or Deku.

💛... two. Only two requests.

💛It hurt to look at the board and see that you one of the most unwanted students in class 1-A. You thought you did really well and maybe impressed more than two people.

💛You get your list of hero agencies and sink deeper into your self pitty when you realize that one of the agencies werebt even specifically asking for you. All the students got requested by them.

💛That leaves Hawk's agency.

💛You didn't know much about him and his work so this was going to be awkward.

💛When the day came to board the subway and head off to your internship, no one wished you goodbye. All the groups and clicks were together, walking each other to their respective trains while you again, stood alone. You ere used to it though.

💛You board the train and zone out, nearly missing your stop.

💛Right as you get off the train your vision is filled with red feathers. Low and behold the pro hero who requested you.

💛His charisma hits you as you instantly feel welcome. He makes witty remarks about the train being too slow as he begins walking with you in tow.

💛Along the way you ask him why he wanted you to intern with him. He smirks and responds with a "Why wouldn't I?" That didn't answer your question.

💛He walks you to his agency and introduces you to all his other interns. After that he shoves you towards the bathroom, telling you to change into your hero costume.

💛He sure didn't waste time as the two of you begin patrolling the city. It seemed very rushed and eager but you prefered it over having to sit in class and do quizzes.

💛During patrol Hawks starts questioning you about school and life almkst like an uncle or brother would. It was very odd to you, considering you never get asked questions about yourself.

💛You felt so pitiful not being able to tell him your birthday, you had forgotten it, but somehow he was so understanding and kind about it.

💛It wasn't long before all of his fans flocked to the two of you, shouting questions and begging for autographs. You didn't like how all the people were surrounding you and Hawks could tell.

💛He uses his wing to shield you and hastily shoos the crowd off. After that he asks if you're okay and checks to make sure you didn't get hurt.

💛His intentions weren't to sleep with you, no. They were pure. He almost saw himself in you, alone and blocked off from the world. He just wanted to protect you and make sure you knew you weren't alone.

💛It was working too.

💛In the short week you were with him you had laughed the hardest you had in awhile and smiled more. You even considered him your bestfriend.

💛The one downside of your friendship was he couldn't see your cries for help.

💛While one roofs or flying with him you'd make jokes about how easy it would be to fall and die or how fun it'd feel to free fall.

💛He'd only laugh these off, thinking it was some kind of dark humor, because if something was wrong he'd trust you to tell him.

💛When the internship was over you had to hold back tears as he hugged you goodbye. Of course he gave you his number to keep in touch but it wouldn't be the same as sneaking away from work and eating fried chicken.

💛The second the train left you felt how alone you were. You didnt want to text him right away because that would feel too needy. Should you even text him? Was he doing it just to be nice or did he actually care?

💛You leave those thoughts behind as your phone buzzes. It was a text from Hawks. "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

💛Your mood brightens as the two of you continue sending dumb chicken jokes, memes, and puns, with the occasional "dark humored" joke from you.

💛You make it home and your texting slowed, mainly due to Hawks having to work. You didn't know he was actually flying outside your house, making sure you were okay before flying off to buy you a dumb looking teddy bear.

💛Slowly, your mood begins to brighten with the constant reassurance of Hawks being there. He knew the right things to say at all times. Self conscious about your outfit? Incomes a barrage of compliments and confidence boosters. Nervous about a test or presentation? Boom, paragraphs about how amazing you are and how you can do it.

💛It almost made the emptiness inside go away.

💛Problems don't just go away, and it really shows.

💛Whenever you couldn't text or call Hawks your loniness sinks in. You had no other friends besides him. Your parents weren't the beat either with their comments about what you're doing or what you're wearing.

💛It only reminded you of all the reasons for the scars on your arms.

💛But before you could act on those reasons he was there. It was always magicly when you were crying in bed or fumbling with a sharp object.

💛Over time Hawks picked up on your thoughts and feelings, causing him to watch over you every second he could. He loved you so much, he couldn't lose you.

💛The amount of cute gifts he gets you griw over time. More stuffed animals, more snacks, more little trinkets. Anything to make you happy.

💛And again, it worked. The nights you spent crying or staring numbly at the ceiling slowly decreased. You also threw away the razors you had hidden, determined to stay clean.

💛When the work studies came you were the happiest you've ever been. You got to be with Hawks again.

💛Upon seeing him you were greeted with the best hug you've ever gotten along with fried chicken for lunch.

💛But something was off this time. He seemed a little more paranoid walking around the city with you, more eager to be inside at night, and disappearing at night.

💛It worried you, making you overthink the hole situation tenfold.

💛What if he was trying to avoid you? Where you being that annoying? Maybe he was tired of you. You should just leave him alone.

💛He hugs you goodbye as you leave, still conflicted.

💛Sadly your thoughts only grow stronger as time goes on. His texts become shorter and less frequent, making you think he was tired of you. His constant gifts had stopped as well

💛Hawks couldn't control his lack of contact with you. He wanted to spam you with memes at two am like he normally did but he was given a mission that couldn't be compromised, even at the expense of your friendship.

💛You fall back into your dark place without him. You were reminded of how forgettable you were to everyone, how you had no friends beside him, how your parents were disappointed in you.

💛What's the point in living in pain?

💛You start cutting again, just wanting to feel something again. You stop sleeping and eating, not feeling the need for it anymore. You completely passed out during training due to this.

💛One weekend you ride a train away from your town and into the one where Hawk's agency was. You were looking for him, a sign, anything, to tell you to stop.

💛The streets were empty and he was no where in sight.

💛You fight yourself at the top of a business building, hands trembling as you sent a final text to your only friend. You told him how much he ment to you, how grateful you were to him, how sorry you were for being annoying and taking up so much of his time, how this was goodbye.

💛You got to feel the wind rush past you. You were right about it being fun to free fall.

💛Hawks was talking to Dabi when his phone buzzed. Thinking it was the commission he checked it.

💛Dabi watched as Hawk's smug demeanor turned to confused then broken. He watched the pro hero fall to his knees and clutch his phone, nearly cracking it.

💛Dabi didn't even have a chance to ask what was wrong as Hawks flew at super sonic speed away from him and up into the sky.

💛He first scanned the buildings looking for you, wiping the tears from his eyes to try and see better. When he couldn't find you he swoops down low to the streets to see if he could catch you before you hit the ground.

💛He stops when he sees the splatters of your body of the ground.

💛He collapses next to you, sobbing as he looked at your remains.

💛It was his fault. He should've been there so much more. He should've watched you more carefully than he did. He should've killed those fuckers who thought they were better than you.

💛You should've lived.

💛Hawks lays there crying, going over all the things he did wrong and how it should've been him to die.

💛The morning comes and police officers tape off the area, pulling a now broken man away from you. They clean the area and leave.

💛Hawks mindlessly sits in the spot you were in, hoping this was a nightmare.

💛Night falls and Dabi managed to find him. He tells Hawks that he saw the news. It was odd for him to feel sympathy for a hero but here he was.

💛Hawks stands and grabs Dabi's hand, placing it on his face before begging him to set him ablaze. He didn't want to live in a world without you.

💛Dabi backs up, retreating his hand and looking at him stunned. What exactly did you mean to him?

💛Hawks continues to beg and pleas but Dabi continues to refuse. Too bad Hawks would do anything to die at this point.

💛Hawks shouts out his plans to spy on the league, to manipulate and destroy them from the inside. How he would kill them all in secret if he could. How it would be the best feeling ever to watch them die in betrayal.

💛Dabi falls for his trap. Rage was the only thing he could feel as his fire engulfed Hawks, semding him to the grave in a firey blaze.

💛He ran from the scene, leaving another body in the same spot.

kiby~💚

#bnha hawks #hawks #hawks x reader #keigo tamaki #mha hawks #my hero academia keigo takami #bnha #my hero academia #yandere hawks #yandere Keigo #yandere #yandere x reader

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timeagainreviews · 3 years

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My Series 10 Rewatch: Knock Knock

Hello, my fantastic friends! I am sorry I have been so quiet. I got coronavirus in February and it really wiped out my energy. I am finally starting to bounce back and feel like leaving the house once more. This beautiful Scottish spring we’re having has definitely helped. I also lost my grandpa this week, so I've been all over the place, emotionally. Obviously, such a big pause in the middle of a series 10 rewatch is disruptive, so I would rather just dive back in if it's all the same. When last we were gathered, I was talking about "Thin Ice." Since then, the ice has thawed and I am now up to series 10 episode four- "Knock Knock," by one-time Doctor Who writer Mike Bartlett.

An aspect of Doctor Who which I love about Steven Moffat’s era is that the Doctor and his companions didn’t spend every waking moment of their lives together. Unlike companions of the past, who basically left behind their family lives to galavant across time and space, the companions of the Moffat era had home lives. Not only did this make for some humorous moments, such as the Doctor landing his TARDIS in Clara’s bedroom on date night, it also set up the characters for something of an actual life. "Knock Knock," uses this separation of worlds to establish one of its central themes- can you have a normal life with the Doctor?

Being a poor student in London, Bill is forced to look for a flat with a group of people she only sort of knows. This is your typical group of students, eclectic and young. The biggest commonality they have is they can’t afford a place on their own. One of the ways in which this makes the episode suffer is that none of them has much chemistry together. However, it does enable Bartlett to explore deeper concepts, such as the fear of meeting new people. Our characters are forced to deal with a deadly situation with people who are basically strangers.

The other commonality they have is Bill’s mate, Shireen. I got momentarily excited the first time I heard her name, but only because I thought it was going to be Rose’s best mate Shareen. Also, it would mean that Rose and Shareen had like a 10 year age difference, which would be weird. Shireen is a bubbly sort that seems gung-ho about everyone getting on. This doesn’t stop 90% of their interactions from being a total cringefest. Not one of these characters is particularly likeable. Pavel, the musician of the group, and the one character with maybe a bit of culture becomes a wall pretty early on, so it’s a bland time from there on out. But that’s getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

After a montage of disappointing flats ("Oh my god, the toilet is is what room?") the gang stands defeated. But like a beacon of light, comes a glimmer of hope in the form of John, a man who clearly prowls the streets for groups of youths. The gang is willing to overlook the obvious stranger danger about John because he has something they need- a giant house at a reasonable price. It’s another one of those deeper concepts being explored here that I think Doctor Who does so well. The show operates well when it preys upon basic fears. In this case, it’s the fear of the creepy landlord. The fear that your home life may be dictated by a creepy man who carries a tuning fork and forbids you to enter certain parts of the house like it’s Beauty and the Beast.

Arriving as if to say "No, Bill, you can’t have a normal life," is the Doctor. After using his TARDIS to move her belongings, Bill is quick to send him off. She even foregoes the traditional six-pack of beer and pizza, the universal payment for friends helping one move house. Of course, the moment the Doctor enters the derelict abode, his Time Lord senses are pinging. The Doctor isn't just an embarrassing "grandfather," type, but also a threat to any semblance of a normal life Bill can hope to have. As I said, this is familiar territory in the Moffat era. A funny side effect of the Doctor's attempts at allowing his companions to live normal lives is it only adds to the sharp contrast between both existences. Perhaps this is immersion therapy on the Doctor's behalf. Letting his friend remember what the world is actually like so as to not disassociate her from her own time and place. Or perhaps it is the Doctor softening the blow of eventually losing his friend.

The Doctor leaves long enough for two things to happen. Firstly, Pavel is listening to some music and suddenly is eaten by the house. Nobody seems to notice. Secondly, the new housemates have a bit of a games night for their first night at 11 Cardinal Road. There's no cellphone reception and the house is nowhere near up to code. I applaud them for trying to build up these characters, but it never really gels. Their merriment is cut short after hearing a noise in the kitchen. Scooby-Doo style, Bill leads them to the pantry where she finds the Doctor never actually left. They decide to head to bed, but the Doctor decides he's going to stay up with Felicity and Harry and listen to music. He also reminds Bill to maybe check on Pavel who has not been seen all day.

Now back in the sitting room, the gang is surprised to find John present. He addresses their problems with the amenities and waxes strange about having a daughter to look after. The Doctor asks John who the Prime Minister is, but he is unable to answer. Before they can ask more questions, John disappears down the hallway, but not before sounding his tuning fork against the wood. On her way to bed, Bill has the most cringe conversation with her new housemate, Paul. Paul fancies Bill. Bill fancies girls. I get that they may have wanted a scene where Bill flat out says to the audience that she's gay, but Paul comes off as super creepy. I wouldn't have an issue with this, but I feel like we're meant to find Paul endearing. It's hard for me to place what exactly they were going for in this scene. Paul, mate, you just met her. You just moved in together. Maybe let the paint dry first.

Luckily, like a shot from the dark, the plot saves us from having to stand in the hallway of awkwardness. Paul, having gone to his room, screams. Thinking he's having a laugh, Bill and Shireen go knocking on his door, only to find the return knock sounding across the hallway wall. The house begins to creak and shudder while doors slam shut. It's like something from a haunted house movie. In many ways, it follows a familiar trope from Doctor Who. The house haunted by aliens. We've seen it in "Ghost Light," "Hide," or even Edward Grove from "The Chimes of Midnight." Though I would argue that here, there is less grist for the mill. "Knock Knock," is a more stripped back, simple story. And in that way, I find it begins to lose me as the mystery unravels.

As the housemates run through the house, trying to escape whatever is happening, they find Pavel in a state of flux. Something about the music on his record player skipping has kept him from being completely absorbed by the house. I will say, this is a great bit of body horror on the makeup department's behalf. Everything about Pavel looks like a guy getting eaten by a wall. As it turns out, the tuning fork and the music have more to do with what's going on as the Doctor discovers the house infested with alien lice known as "Dryads." Using his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor is momentarily able to draw the bugs out from the grain of the wood. The Dryad is not your common woodlouse, as it appears to move through wood like water. Even in my second viewing, I found myself wondering if this is kind of cool or kind of dumb. I vacillate between the two.

In many ways, this is both Doctor Who's greatest strength and its greatest weakness. The surreal nature of a time-travelling police box affords us things like sentient planets, talking chair frogs, and killer mannequins. On the other hand, it gives us farting aliens, gamma radiation in the form of lightning, and the Doctor screaming until a window smashes. I remember reading an Eighth Doctor book where horse people read books on their planet by licking them and tasting the story. Sometimes, Doctor Who is bloody brilliant, and other times, it's bloody embarrassing. But that's partly why I love it. This kind of freedom gives it freshness. One week we get a priest buzzing like a wasp as he talks, the next we get River Song and the Vashta Nerada.

Now, I'm not saying "Knock Knock," is bad, but it is a little dumb. I've already complained about the dopey kids nobody cares about, and the silly aliens that aren't that scary, but the end of this episode is where it really kind of evens itself out. As I said, I vacillate between this being a good and a bad story. We learn that the reason John doesn't want anyone up inside the tower of the house has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with a dark secret. After discovering the unclaimed belongings of previous occupants over the span of decades, the housemates learn that they are just the latest in a long line of people being fed to the house.

I found the motivation of the Dryads a little hard to understand. It seems weird to me that a woodlouse would want to eat people, but here we are. As it turns out, John has found a way to keep his "daughter," Eliza, alive using the Dryads. After noticing they respond to sonic vibrations, John has been using the tuning fork the make them do his bidding. It's a simple arrangement- he feeds students to the Dryads, the Dryads keep Eliza alive as a wooden woman, hidden away in the tower like some forgotten ghost. Once again, the makeup department has done its job. You genuinely believe Eliza is a woman made from wood. I especially like how they used papery twine for her hair.

They do a good job giving reasons why the housemates can't call for help. No wifi, no reception. But it is hard to imagine that over the course of decades, nobody came looking at this giant house for clues of their missing loved ones. Maybe they did and the house ate them as well. All I know is that it's mighty convenient that not one prospective tenant said to their mum or dad "Hey, I'm moving into a giant house at 11 Cardinal Road." Hell, even the Doctor helped move Bill in. What was John's big plan for when the Doctor came around looking for his "granddaughter?"

By this point, several of the housemates have been eaten by the house. Honestly, I could care less about which ones. I think Paul got his, and of course poor wooden Pavel. Or would that be wooden panel? I can't stress how little I care about these characters. Am I cold? I don't think so. We never see them on the show again. They don't matter in the slightest. With the Dryads closing in, the Doctor and Bill have to think quick. Which is when they realise that the timelines don't match up. If John were Eliza's actual father, he would be long dead. Seeing as he is not also made of wood, they deduce that he is in fact not Eliza's father, but her son. Unable to say goodbye to his ailing mother, John has been preserving her. Eliza has been through so much trauma that she has completely forgotten this fact. It's all rather depressing if I'm honest.

Depressing is okay though. What's Doctor Who without the occasion trudge through misery? Of course, it's not all doom and gloom, as Eliza restores all of the young people, once again leaving me to question why they were eaten in the first place. Were they transmuted into energy and simply recombined? It's the best explanation we're going to get, which is fine. David Suchet gives a powerful performance as he begs his mother not to end their lives. His performance is, by far, one of the strongest elements of this episode. Eliza and John are both overtaken by the Dryads, who are off presumably forever. I suppose the threat of Dryads is no longer looming now that their puppet master is no longer pulling their strings.

All in all, I find myself without much to say about this episode. It's not bad, but it's not a banger either. Even writing this review has been a bit of a slog. I find myself hard-pressed to really have any strong feelings one way or the other, and sometimes, that's just how it is. I will say it is the brownest episode of Doctor Who I’ve seen since the ‘70s. The BBC really knew how to dull down colour back then. Sigh... The best I can say about "Knock Knock," is that it's fine, really. There's nothing really wrong with it other than being kind of dull. I think if they'd have tried harder to make the characters more relatable it could have helped. Not every villain needs to be the new Daleks or Weeping Angels. Unlike some of the other episodes in my series ten rewatch, my opinion on this episode has changed very little. I would be as equally surprised to hear someone say this episode was terrible as I would be to hear it's their favourite. This is the kind of Doctor Who you can have on in the background.

Much like we followed the lacklustre "The Unicorn and the Wasp," with the transcendent "Silence in the Library," I am very excited for the next episode in my rewatch- "Oxygen." Another anti-capitalist romp in the vein of "Smile," is just what I need right now. Now that I am back and feeling up to writing again, you should expect to see a bit more output. I wanted to cover the BBC's Youtube Dalek series, of which I have not watched a single frame. I've been putting it off because I wanted to talk about it on here. I have a few non-review articles in mind, but I don't like to promise too much. What I am saying is that you can expect more, soon! Take care!

#doctor who #series 10 #knock knock #David Suchet #bill potts #Pearl Mackie #Twelfth Doctor #Peter Capaldi #dryads #wood #bbc #tardis #rewatch #Time and Time Again

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tomaturtles · 3 years

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TAG GAMES GALORE bc i just got through my mentions on desktop and saw i missed some tag games i got tagged in </3 ty guys ily i’ll tag people in the end and anyone who gets tagged is free to pick which one(s) you wanna do if any :] starting with one @cinnamqn tagged me in!! Thank you Cinna :D 💖💖 List 10 different female faves from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people! 1. Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedgehog) 2. Gwen Tennyson (Ben 10) 3. Starfire (Teen Titans/DC) 4. Webby Vanderquack (Ducktales) 5. Stephanie Brown (Batman/DC) 6. Trainer Leaf (Pokémon) 7. Uraraka Ochaco (Boku no Hero Academia) 8. Amethyst (Steven Universe) 9. Luz Noceda (The Owl House) 10. Toph (Avatar The Last Airbender) Next up is two I got tagged in by @thinkfvst!! Ty Rae 😁 💖💛 10 songs on shuffle that come up on your Spotify

1. Turn it Off - Paramore 2. Build You Back - Dark Signal 3. Lucy - Skillet 4. My World - SR-71 5. The Climb - Miley Cyrus 6. Re:Re: - Asian Kung-Fu Generation 7. So Am I - Ava Max 8. Hero - Skillet 9. Yo Girl - Heathers the Musical 10. Two Birds - Regina Spektor --- Favourite colour: pink!!!!!!

Last song: Your Guardian Angel by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Last movie: i Think it was Son of Batman? It was probably a DC movie

Watching: been watching the ‘66 Batman show to fill the Funney DC Show-shaped hole in my heart after i ran out of DC Super Hero Girls and Teen Titans Go episodes to watch on Netflix and it’s been a blast <3 (also to clarify Batman ‘66 isn’t on netflix. but it should be)

Reading: I just got done reading Robin War + We Are Robin + Batman and the Signal yesterday while our power was out and it was great :]

Sweet, spicy, or savoury: mostly sweet or savoury but depends on my mood tbh. rn i could go for some chocolate

Tea or coffee: Coffee (as long as there’s sugar) -- And last but not least a few by @arataka-reigen, thanks Gi!! 🥰💛💖 5 Things That Make Me Happy 1. Engaging with my hyperfixations + Infodumping to friends about them + listening to them infodump about their interests 🥰🥰🥰🥰

2. I’ve been picking up felt sewing again and i really like it!! It’s cool having a plushie you made yourself :D

3. Doing stuff with my friends!! Both irl and online but missing my irl friend group + my fav cousins rn since we’d usually always meet at this time of year </3

4. Drawing my fav characters <3

5. Going to bookstores/comic stores and browsing the stuff in there (esp comics and manga!!) -- 3 ships: gwevin, robstar/dickkory,uuuuuuuuhh that’s a niche one but i can’t think of anything else rn so speedamy

Last song: Never Too Late by Three Days Grace

Last film: other than the one mentioned earlier i watched Mickey’s Christmas Carol with friends the other day :]

Currently reading: [vaguely gestures] dc comics bc i’ve started reading several comics and finished very little. debating on picking either 90s yj, new teen titans or super sons back up next

Currently consuming: i had some soda earlier

Currently craving: the willpower to finish a way overdue secret santa gift </3 i only have the bg left to finish

17 Questions 17 Answers

Nicknames: Toma, Duda, Dudinha (the last two from my irl name)

Zodiac: Libra

Height: 149cm (4'10?)

Hogwarts House: hufflepuff

Last thing googled: adam west fairly oddparents

Song(s) stuck in my head: Storybook by Heather Dale

# of followers: 1779

Amount of sleep: 6 to 7 hours,8 if i get to sleep in

Lucky number: 8

Dream job: despite having a whole psychology degree i have No idea </3 i think i’d like to work with kids though!!

Currently wearing: a nightgown (it’s pink with a bear plushies stamp :) )

Favourite:

Song: Face Down by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus made it to the top 5 im both my last spotify wrappeds so let’s go with that

Instrument: lowkey attached to the electric keyboard bc i took classes on it for quite a while even if it didn’t stick much

Author: i haven’t been reading consistently enough to answer this JKHJK

Animal noises: CATS

Random: i love plushies. my fav activities when going out include going to toystores and checking out the plushies. i have too many already but is that going to stop me from getting more? no

Recent picture: currently obsessed with this ttg screenshot

and now for TAGS (no pressure to do any, also feel free to do just one or all of them depending on what you feel like doing!!) @cinnamqn @thinkfvst @arataka-reigen (if you guys wanna do one of the ones you didn’t tag me in jkghjk) @clown-prince-of-lies @aliens-on-neptune @zinatina @ohnonotthemagain @your-nightmares-ex @biconkuroo @brucewaynegf @tilltherachis @cookiecabbage

#if you saw me accidentally post this before i was done no you didn't <3 #toma talks #ask games #i think that's all of them #i have a couple more mentions to get to but its late so i might leave those for tomorrow #kjhkjhjkjk idk if the mentions will work since im editing them in 😔#ty again for the tags :D this was fun

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shigarakis-fifth-hand · 4 years

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Class of 1-A Imagine

The entire 1-A class got hit by a quirk swapping villain! It’s all randomized and I spent a bunch of time on this! Please draw what they would look like and dm me!

Lida

- He was lucky enough to get Denki’s quirk

- Didn't even notice for a few seconds

- Only realized when he couldn’t run anymore

- His engines were simply gone ~ POOF!

- It was only when he looked at his hair and saw bright yellow

- Immediately runs away as fast as his weak, human legs can take him

- When they tell him what happens, he forces Kaminari to tell him how to use it

- “I don’t know, you just... do the thing.”

- “Well what thing because on page four of using your quirk, it says that...”

- When Iida gets the hang of it, he doesn’t like to use it

- He’s terrified of hurting someone, and since he isn’t experienced, he doesn’t want to go brain-dead either

Asui

- She got Deku’s quirk

- She doesn’t like how big her arms get

- All Might immediately helps her since he doesn’t want her to break any bones

- She doesn’t fully grasp the concept and chooses not to use the quirk

- She’s seen how bad Deku can get

- She is overjoyed at something else though

- “My tongue Mina! Look at my tongue!”

- Everyone finds out Asui has a beautiful singing voice

- She’s almost sad to get her own quirk back

- But it’s okay

- She can’t hurt herself with her own quirk ~ribbit

Aoyama

- He was able to get Sero’s quirk

- “Well you didn’t hear this from me but it’s truly unfashionable.”

- “Look at me, the human tape dispenser of 1-A.”

- “Ugh, I can’t even wear my fur jacket because my elbows are too thick.”

- “Sero, how do you wear long sleeves with this thing?!”

- Aoyama doesn’t want to use the quirk, it’s just not “flowing with his vibe”

- He wears his fancy jackets for the entire month after the quirk wears off

( a picture of Bakugo trying to help Kirishima learn about molecules ^^^^)

Kirishima

- He got Momo’s quirk

- At first he’s sad, his unmanly quirk is gone for an entire week!

- But then he realizes that he can walk around shirtless for an entire week

- “It’s for my quirk!”

- He likes being able to make food in an instant, he just doesn’t like it when Aizawa insists that he know the basic molecules of certain things

- “When am I going to use this? I will never have to make an umbrella in my life!”

- He likes to stick to food, especially liking that he can make any meal better than Bakugo

- “Dude! I could solve world hunger from my abs!”

- “Woah, imagine if I could make a car from my abs.”

- “Can I make wings like Hawks?!

- When the week ends, Kirishima is kinda disappointed

- But Bakugo is happy he got his cooking buddy back

Koda

- He got Uraraka’s quirk

- He’s super excited honestly, he likes being able to fly

- “I feel like a feather.”

- Ochako is happy to be able to teach him how

- “Let’s just stay indoors. We don’t need you floating off to space.”

- Koda almost wants to go to space

- Once he learns how to use it, he uses all his time zooming around the dorms

- Once Aizawa takes them outside to train, he just floats around in the air

- Aizawa lets him

- He knows this precious baby needs some relaxation with the clouds

- He also likes the birds

- He can’t speak to them though, which is frustrating for him

- “How do you not remember me? I fed you dinner last night!”

Ojiro

- He got Tokoyami’s quirk

- One second his tail was there, the next second it was a mean looking bird

- Ojiro likes taking his bird on walks, he doesn’t really know what to do with it

- He talks to the bird sometimes, and for some reason he can understand it

- “Dark Shadow seems too emo. Let’s try Gregory.”

- The bird agrees 100%

- When Ojiro is training, Gregory is too powerful sometimes

- “How do you control your own shadow?!”

- Training sessions with Aizawa is just one big mess for Ojiro

- Nothing gets accomplished accept Ojiro talking to Thompson and Thompson trying to attack anyone who gets close

- Ojiro is so excited to get his tail back, but it sad that Tokoyami won’t take the same request

- rip Gregory

( Sato’s reaction to getting Mineta’s quirk^^ )

Sato

- Sato has Mineta’s quirk

- Sato doesn’t come out of his room for the entire week

- Everyone understands

Hagakure

- She got Sato’s quirk

- She makes a bunch of sweets as an excuse to eat all of it

- But that’s not a big deal at all to her

- She’s not invisible anymore!

- The moment she realizes that she isn’t invisible, she goes crazy

- She’s actually kind of tan

- Not only that but she’s gorgeous!

- Thick brown hair, green eyes, and she’s so skinny

- Her face alone has everyone in 1-A dropping dead

- Some of the guys can’t believe it

- They’ve chatted with this girl for months and had no idea

- She wants to ask Ojiro on a date, but what happens when the quirk wears off

- It does wear off, but nobody cares

- They always knew she was pretty, and this just confirmed it for sure

Shoji

- He got Hagakure’s quirk

- What’s not to love about being invisible?

- The strange part to him is that he can still see himself

- All of his extra arms are gone!

- That’s sad, all of his shirts were custom for those arms

- He borrows clothes from his friends

- It’s funny to see a robe and bunny slippers walking around at midnight though

Deku

- He got Todoroki’s quirk

- It’s okay though! He’s got his creepy notebook!

- Todoroki gladly give him teaching on how to use it

- “Remember, flames do damage and ice can be used to capture things.”

- Deku knows all of this from his “research”

- But that doesn’t stop them from spending everyday training together

- It’s fun... and “helpful”

- Deku loves being his own microwave and freezer

- He accidently catches things on fire from time to time

- He got scared by a movie and froze half the couch

- Todoroki kissed him and he burned half his shirt off

- “How do you control this thing?!”

Ururaka

- She got Mina’s quirk

- “Yay! I got acid hands! I got acid hands!”

- Mina makes her wear oven mitts

- She accidently burns a hole through her bed while having nightmares

- “High five! Wait... never mind.”

- “Mina, teach me how to do the thing!”

- Also let’s not forget that Ochako has pink skin, horns, and alien eyes

- “Ooh, I look so cute!”

- Ochako spends most of her time posing in front of the mirror

- “Look at my horns Kirishima!”

- “Mina, look at my eyes!”

Denki

- He got Iida’s quirk

- Whenever he runs, he ends up going sonic on people

- “Denki, take a lap!”

- “I don't think you want that Mr. Aizawa.”

- Whenever Denki tries to use Iida’s quirk, it’s always a quick fail

- So far Denki has taken out a trash can, Present Mic, tripped on a basketball, run into a tree, faceplant into dirt, and accidently swallow a bug

- The worst part is that Denki sleep walks

- Running into stuff, tripping over a potted plant, falling down a flight of stairs

- “This is better than being brain dead I guess.”

- Denki spends most of his time making fun of Iida by waving his arms like a robot and trying on multiple pairs of glasses at once

- Iida demands that Kaminari trains

- “Kaminari, you will read all of these books on how to operate engine legs or else!”

- Kaminari must admit the engine legs are cool

- Except when Kirishima put hot dogs in them

- The entire class room smelled like burnt meat

Jiro

- “Cool! I look like a frog!”

- She got Asui’s quirk

- Her hair turned green, her tongue grew, and her pupils dialated

- “Asui, look at this!”

- She uses her tongue to swing off the dusty chandelier when Iida isn’t looking

- “Ew! They should make tongue condoms!”

- Jiro and Ochako have a blast teasing Mina and Asui

- “Ribbit bitch! Your frog queen has arrived!”

- Denki gets Jiro a crown to wear around the dorms

- Ochako buys the four girls frog onesies

- “So kawaii!”

- Jiro never was into swimming until now

- She likes that her fingers don’t get wrinkly

Sero

- He got Ojiro’s quirk

- “Dude, look at my tail!”

- Bakugo makes fun of his “backwards dick”

- It’s funny, but not that funny

- In return Sero whips him with it

- “I feel like a monkey!”

- Sero hangs from everything he can

- “This thing has more muscles than I do!”

- He goes to a playground nearby with Denki and swings off the monkey bars

Tokayami

- He got Koda’s quirk

- “I’ve never been much about nature. Too much light, not enough darkness.”

- Bakugo jokes that he can finally talk to his pigeon brothers

- “Dude! The birds love you!”

- And everyone is right

- As soon as Tokoyami walks outside, a pigeon lands on his head

- “Why did that pigeon just speak to me?!”

- Tokoyami is scared of the outside now

- “I can hear their voices still!”

- Tokoyami has a panic attack over being able to hear the animal voices

- “Why do ants sound so manly?”

Todoroki

- He got Bakugo’s quirk

- “I’m not asking that bastard for help.”

- Instead, he goes to Deku for training

- “Deku, you have that stalker notebook still?”

- Bakugo’s quirk is like his own quirk

- “Seriosuly? Just heat?”

- “Kind of basic if you ask me.”

- Once Bakugo hears that, he goes beserk

- “Icyhot!”

- “Oh no no, you can’t call me that anymore.”

- Todoroki likes propelling himself in the air with explosions

- Bakugo’s quirk is too loud, like his personality

- He doesn’t like using the quirk honestly

- “It's not very good, very violent, and I don’t like getting sweaty.”

Bakugo

- He got Kirishima’s quirk

- “Yea bro, you can get hard too now!”

- Mina tries to stop him from saying that

- Poor bby doesn't understand

- Kirishima tries to help, but Bakugo is having no part in that

- “How difficult can your quirk be Shitty Hair?”

- It isn’t easy though, especially when Bakugo is forced to be shirtless.

- He’s used to his hero outfit covering his chest

- Bby is a little self conscious

- The best part is that he doesn’t sweat that much

- “Fuck yea! I don’t smell like fucking cinnamon and caramel!”

- Bakugo does miss his explosions and hand grenades

- Your quirk is too boring Kirishima, and it’s not loud at all

Momo

- She got Aoyama’s quirk

- Her immediate reaction is to read a bunch

- “Aoyama! Wait up, I have so many questions!”

- Next though, she has fun with it

- “It’s so pretty!”

- Along the way her and Aoyama become friends

- He brings her pain releivers to help with the stomach pains

- “It sucks but at least it’s pretty.”

Mina

- She got Jiro’s quirk!

- Immediately her skin isn’t pink, her horns are gone, and her eyes turn bright blue

- She’s still as spunky as ever though

- “Dude! Imagine all the hot gossip I can listen to!”

- Mina tries the teacher’s lounge with Asui and Ochako, only to hear Aizawa and Present Mic planning a date night

- “We should totally go as well!” Mina offers

- They go on all sorts of “spy missions”

- Mina also likes being able to tan with Momo from time to time

- She does miss her horns though

- She realizes quickly that Jiro’s earphone jacks are also Bluetooth

- Jiro just never told anyone before

- When Mina gets her quirk back, she is so happy to look “normal” again

Omg this took all day! Please comment down below your favorite combo and if I should do another one! Love you all! Stay safe! <3333

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primatechnosynthpop · 4 years

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Ok so the idea is in my mind now thanks to what my classmates were posting about on the myinfo discussion boards earlier, and I know that nobody here cares about this, but I need to gather my thoughts here. So here's an outline for what I think would happen in a Da Vinci Code/ Black Echo crossover

It starts with Langdon being involved in a high-profile documentary about the grail and the priory that's being filmed in Hollywood. Then a bunch of people involved in the documentary start being murdered, and Bosch is assigned to the case

They meet at the crime scene for one of the murders; Langdon is shaken up because the people working on the documentary with him were people he'd worked with before and gotten along with, and he's trying not to show how shaken he is and play himself off as cool, but Bosch sees right through him and recognizes his distraught emotional state. He's sympathetic, but he does have a job to do here... it's time to ask this guy some questions

HB: Professor Langdon, right? I'm officer Bosch. I have a few questions for you.

RL: Bosch... that's an interesting name

HB: Like the painter, yes. You wouldn't be the first to point it out, believe me.

RL: I've done many lectures on the religious symbolism in that man's paintings. Tell me, officer, how familiar with his work are you?

HB: Not very. Now, Mr. Langdon--

RL: You can call me Robert if you want.

HB: ...Mr. Langdon, what kind of relationship did you have with the victim?

...You get the picture; they don't get along very well at first. Bosch thinks Langdon is too self-obsessed and show-offy, while Langdon thinks Bosch is too grim and doesn't approve of his smoking habit

But since Bosch is a devoted and hardworking detective, he puts aside his mild annoyance with Langdon and does his best to solve the case. Problem is, Langdon clearly knows something about the case that he's refusing to tell anyone. *sonic voice* That's no good!

Bosch confronts Langdon about this in private, very angry... maybe cue a wall slam except that Bosch is shorter than Langdon so it does maybe look just a little bit silly. But more importantly a little bit homoerotic in an angry and repressed kinda way

After a bit of arguing and a very thorough check of the room they're in to make sure nobody is watching or listening in, Langdon confides to Bosch about the Grail and his experiences with it

Bosch is skeptical, but he's no stranger to tangled webs of dark secrets, so his reaction to all this is less "wow!!" and more "shit. Really? Fuck. Okay... huh. I need a drink." So Langdon pours him a drink, they agree to team up to collaborate on solving the case, and this is bonding moment #1 in which their barriers start to crack just a little bit

But of course Bosch, a decent guy at heart who cares about people's lives, isn't gonna let some random symbologist get too wrapped up in what's clearly a dangerous case. So after he and Langdon figure out together where the killer might be hiding out, Bosch goes to the location alone--armed and ready, but alone nonetheless

It goes bad!

Meanwhile, Langdon figures out by talking to some of the other cops where Bosch has taken off to. He gets there just in time to see the cloud of dust as the killer gets away, leaving a badly injured Bosch lying on the ground. Probably in some dark alleyway or dingy apartment or something idk. Very dark and very dramatic

Shifting in and out of consciousness in the backseat as Langdon drives him to a hospital, Bosch starts having a PTSD flashback nightmare. There's nothing Langdon can really do to help him out there, and he feels bad about it

Flash forward a couple days. We get bonding moment #2 as Langdon scolds a recovering Bosch for being so reckless

RL: I mean, you could have been killed!

HB: That's part of my job. Always has been.

RL: But still--

HB: I'm not like you, remember? You may have gotten involved in some dangerous situations before, but at the end of the day, you're still a civilian. It's my job to protect you.

RL: How would you dying help us get to the bottom of this case? If you want to help me, then stay alive and work with me.

HB: Fine. So, did you just come here to yell at me?

RL: Actually, that's not the only reason. I figured something out about the case... something that I think can help us

(This probably wouldn't be the exact dialogue but you get the gist)

Also Langdon sees Bosch's tattoo and if he asks about it then Bosch definitely does not answer. But when he gets home Langdon researches rat imagery and symbolism and eventually figures out, if not the connection to the war, at least that this dude has probably been through some tough times

They also each individually make the realization that Bosch having a rat tattoo + Langdon having a mickey mouse wristwatch is kind of an interesting coincidence... but when Langdon brings it up Bosch gets kinda snappy with him because, believe me, it's really not even remotely close to the same thing

So they get back to work on the case, but as soon as Bosch is back on his feet he retreats back into his shell, which disheartens Langdon somewhat for reasons that he can't pinpoint. (Hint: it's that Langdon was beginning to recognize the soft heart buried beneath Bosch's rough exterior, and guess that he must have had a pretty rough life, and on some subconscious level he was beginning to drift toward the "I can fix him!" mentality)

Still, they've got a job to do. They spend a few days, maybe a week tracking down the killer, during which we get a couple more small bonding moments during which Bosch demonstrates his kind and caring side, and Langdon starts spending maybe a little longer than necessary staring at him when he's not looking. Bosch wonders when he stopped finding Langdon's tendency for sharing information annoying and started to like the sound of his voice. But neither of them are at a stage where they're gonna be like "so basically I have ptsd and claustrophobia because of my traumatic backstory" or anything

At some point, though (maybe when he's slightly drunk) Bosch makes a gruff remark in passing about having been betrayed before, and Langdon replies that he's been betrayed too, by a close friend. They kind of raise their eyebrows at each other, an unspoken realization that they're connected by more bonds than expected, and they clink their glasses together

So the killer's hideout involves crawling through a small enclosed space and they both know this in advance and the plan they come up with is "one of us goes in while the other waits outside and stands guard" (the way the killer's lair is set up would make this a good plan. I'm not gonna come up with all the details right now, because if I could do that, then I'd become a mystery novelist) but they haven't laid out who'll be going in the small enclosed space and they're both secretly counting on the other doing it

Then they get there and it's like. Hmm. Oops! Neither of them want to go in because they both have the same psychological issues

An argument ensues, but they're less trying to convince each other to go in the small enclosed space and more frustrated at the other for keeping secrets. Eventually Langdon agrees to be the one to go in because by now he's pieced together that Bosch is a vet and that his trauma is therefore probably a lot "worse" (not that those things are really quantifiable)

Bosch is super grateful but also feels terrible, like it's his fault for being too weak, and promises Langdon to make it up for him later--"So be sure to stay alive for me, okay, Robert?"

RL: Wait, did you just call me by my first name? I think that's the first time I've heard you say it.

HB: Hey, what can I say? You've grown on me.

RL: Heh. You... you've grown on me, too, Harry.

HB: Robert..... good luck in there.

They sort of smile and nod at each other, solemn and melancholy (and repressed). And then Langdon goes in and does the thing but of course it's some kind of a trap and he gets stuck in the small enclosed space and Bosch hears him getting attacked in there and hey, Bosch can't magically overcome his severe war trauma but in that moment his brain just kinda turns off and he's able to power through it long enough to go in and get Langdon out safely

They're both very shaken from all this but now they've got the killer out in the open so it's time for the final showdown. Working together, they elaborately lure the killer into confessing to the murders of the people working on the Grail documentary... those people knew too much, they couldn't be allowed to keep living. Naturally, Bosch is wearing a wire that's picking all this up and recording it

But then the killer finishes with "and you, the symbologist who knows the true location of the Grail... you can't be allowed to live either!" and before either of them can react he shoots Langdon! This makes Bosch extremely angry and he immediately shoots the killer like five consecutive times in the chest

Turns out Langdon's alive, the bullet just missed his heart or lungs or whatever, and he's lying on the ground in shock from getting shot staring up at Bosch and is like "...you killed him...?"

HB: Oh, right, I almost forgot... you've never killed someone before, have you?

RL: No, although I've been acquainted with more murders than I would like...

HB: Well, here's one more murderer you're acquainted with, then. Come on, let's go

Hospital time redux ft. congratulating each other on solving the case and a whole lot going unsaid between them. They both agree that they ended up making a decent team in the end...

In a quiet moment when he thinks Langdon is asleep, Bosch starts reminiscing out loud about his childhood, his time in the war, all the blood he's seen spilled and spilled himself both as a veteran and a detective. Of course Langdon was actually awake to hear all that, and after a long moment of silence he starts talking quietly about falling down a well as a child, as well as some of the scarier moments in his past adventures and how those have messed him up a little

RL: Of course, what I've been through is nothing compared to you... I mean, you, you're amazing. I can't believe I ever judged you for having a cold exterior.

HB: I wouldn't call myself amazing. More like, a poor bastard doing his best to keep his head afloat.

RL: No, no, that's... that's why you're amazing. The fact that you are where you are now.

HB: What, in a hospital at the bedside of a symbology professor who's lucky to be alive after solving an elaborate murder case?

RL: Hey, it's not my first rodeo.

HB: Mine neither. (Heh...) maybe we should start a club.

At the end they say goodbye to each other and they like shake hands or something but they're still repressed so they just go their separate ways and don't see each other again

But MAYBE a few months or years down the line Bosch eventually leaves the police force (either because he wisens up and realizes that acab, or because he acts up too much and gets fired) and can no longer afford to live in LA so he moves to a different part of the country and by pure coincidence it ends up being where Langdon lives. And he finds out when he sees an ad for one of Langdon's lectures, and he attends and Langdon spots him in the crowd and he sort of visibly stiffens and then softens. You can figure out where things go from there

(I actually don't know where exactly things would go from there but maybe, someday, eventually they kiss?)

#this is silly and about a topic nobody cares about i know but the idea is FIRMLY IN my head #and i will go more crazy if i don't post about it than if i do #also confession time i haven't read very far into the black echo yet and ive already forgotten several details of the da vinci code #after reading it like last month so idk if this is even very in character but i did my best.#point is i think this idea is fun and i might use it for my creative project if i can manage to adapt it into something 5-10 pages in lengt

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mastcrplanncr-a · 4 years

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issue #23 made me really heccin’ emo over eggman and sonic. i was prepared for it, but also ?? not prepared??? holy frick im just gonna ramble under the cut.

first of all, i’m just gonna’ idly ramble about some things i noticed.

Eggman, literally 11 issues ago:

he makes these off remarks and then changes his mind whenever it’s convenient for him smh. that or hes a freaking liar and. WELL THAT’S PRETTY TRUE HONESTLY.

i’ma be honest fam starline is a freaking mood rn. it’s ?? so dumb?? LIKE EGGMAN WHERE IS YOUR FUCKING FAILSAFE UR SOLUTION WAS “not touching the robots hurr durr” PL EASE.

In retrospect, though, this is an interesting parallel to Forces because he’d apparently learned from his mistakes. TBF, and it has been brought up elsewhere on tumblr, this is a man recovering from amnesia. He must’ve just not gotten to that part. OR HE’S JUST. DUMB AND ARROGANT. Like, yeah, sure, there’s no vaccine - lol the heroes can’t fix anything & it also means you’re valuable because you’re the one person who can. BUT COME ON EGGMAN.

my friend actually predicted this holy shit. i was rambling abt a discussion we had in the egg cult, where we were talking about the possibility of sonic infecting eggman to blackmail him into getting the cure because he’s reached the point?? hes so done with eggman’s shit??? all his friends are in danger and hes backed into a wall what else is he to do than do the one thing he doesn’t want to: use eggman’s tactics against him?

and my friend was like:

LIKE. IT IS A HUGE RISK, and Sonic went FOR IT. I’M SCREAMING TBH.

THIS CONFRONTATION WAS SO FUCKING RAW YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND. I thought I was ready for it but I really, REALLY wasn’t. I love the little details of Starline bein’ like: “oh fuck” - usually he’s pretty cocky around Sonic but uh. HE’S INFECTED NOW. And the zero remark - idk if that’s intentional on the writer’s part but ZERO TO HERO anyone?

anyway toxi broke down crying at this point. you have no idea how much i was sobbing over my blue son just. pouring out his heart to his nemesis. that’s top tier tearjerking material. also starline passive aggressively readjusting his outfit lmfao. BITCH IM FABULOUS. but man the usage of ‘ BE’ and ‘LIKE’ - Sonic knows who Eggman is; he’d never ask him to be something he’s not. but it’s also a reiteration of sonic’s want to see good in him; being LIKE tinker is a statement in that he wanted eggman to be who he was, but NOT to go back. to do good for the world. have it be his own decision, because deep deep down:

isn’t that what he really wants?

Also, although there are those sickly sweet descriptions, the usage of ellipses in this narrative really fucks me up because you can practially hear the gradual realization in eggman’s voice. his mockery starts out so !!! but it just eventually gets straight to the point, as a list. as a routine. because he was used to it. and because, some part of him misses it. notice the usage of ‘need’ and ‘use’. they needed him, and yet he used the people that appreciated him sm like puppets.

some nice guilt there, huh, doc?

ALSO I SPENT LIKE, HOURS TRYING TO FIND THIS EXACT DIALOGUE, but Eggman has a conversation in Dark Brotherhood with Sonic and makes this remark:

LIKE??? this isn’t new to his character, actually? Ignoring the ken penders thing bc smh. Going by this game he’s actually kind of okay with that set up. And he just works so well with the others too??? this isn’t even taking into account the other games he’s teamed up with them. I’m sorry but my head just goes back to this line so many times; it’s one of the ones that stick with me, along with ‘complicated guy’ from lost world. HE COULD!! legitimately do good. and he actually doesn’t find it too bad??? IM EMO MAN...

and IMAGINE making super cool things that people genuinely like... eggman has a HUGE ego, that much is very apparent; he’s super big on appreciation as comes with. and with tinker? he had that - he felt appreciated and loved. people LIKED what he made, and he didn’t have to bend over backwards to have that. his work felt included and he didn’t have to take that appreciation by force like he did with his lackeys (which half the time was fake anyway) .

first and foremost - WE SEE THAT OPEN YOUR HEART REFERENCE, IDW. also sonic’s frustration here, in comparison to the lil smile the panel before - he’s just!! “WHY CANT YOU WAKE THE FRICK UP OLD MAN”. the justification here seems a tad bit like DENIAL to me. and the justification seems... kind of odd from him? since when does EGGMAN justify anything he does? He does what he wants and when he wants, because he’s the E.G.G.M.A.N. he doesn’t care what anyone thinks... right?

it’s because - especially with the usage of better - he didn’t like where that train of thought was going. for once, he’s justifying himself - because the alternative is admitting sonic is right. that he did like that life. that he’d want to go back. throw it in a hierachy and it’s all so simple, right?

also the inclusion of open your heart lyrics here. the incident with chaos was just as catastrophic. and these lyrics in context of the previous panel, highlights how sonic and eggman both seek unity and peace but in their own ways; eggman’s is just evil. it seems a little bit of a diversion to me - to antagonise sonic and make him forget about it. what better way to do that than to relate to him? ‘own styles that we won’t change’ highlights a stubbornness in ways, too, especially with the current context of eggman denying his old life. ALSO IT IS LITERALLY TELLING EGGMAN TO OPEN HIS HEART.

and ngl this seems like idle banter to hide the fact he genuinely felt remorse for his actions for a second. because lbr he has a habit of being all talk when a plan goes wrong or suffering inside,

which starline does quite pointedly explain.

As I was saying above, Sonic has no choice in what to do now - he’s reaching his limit. OR ELSE. hes pondering doing the thing he doesnt want to do. and honestly, ‘you can’t stop me. no one can,’ is so hardhitting not just because of its looming threat, but because of how much it solidifies for sonic that he can’t take the chance anymore. if anyone is going to change eggman, it has to be himself.

also can i just cry over how much sonic trusts tails. im getting sa2 flashbacks.

also man i’d like to point out the specific use of ‘lock you away forever’. it coooould be a reference to sonic’s time imprisoned during the events of sonic forces. bitterness?

NOT SAYING I CALLED IT, BUT I CALLED IT. it still hurts though. and wow, it really is horrifying when eggman fears his own heccin’ creation, huh?

i live for sonic being passive aggressive with eggman. give me more please.

im immensely concerned the direction starline is going, honestly. but it does say a lot about eggman; how he’ll keep trying the same things expecting different results, but failing and never seeing that. because he’s EGGMAN; every plan is brilliant by default!

i love how sonic just !!! SHOT... THE MOMENT HE WAS REMINDED WHAT WAS AT STAKE. son i love you so much you’re doing great sweetie

also, man, can we talk about eggman avoiding his blatant faults, and shoving his failures onto someone else? because this little scene here - eggman ur literally the one who crashed the thing. it had absolutely nothing to do with sonic. i feel as though this is symbolism of his self-destructive nature, honestly. hes always gotta make things harder for himself. (also starline’s face is killing me)

Eggman does what he has to, but technology won’t work every time you kick it. he thinks he can get everything through force but we have several instances in idw where force did NOT work out; you’re not gonna get far, egghead.

MHM, and just who does that sound like, Eggman? honestly the mirrors between these two are seriously destroying me. although sonic is in a horrible position, so is eggman; he likes to think he’s won the war, but hes surpassed his own expectations, and that’s going to backfire on him eventually. hes stubborn to admit he has NO REIGN over this and they’re all doomed, so he’s pinning his failures / loss on Sonic.

is that the amnesia kicking ya in the shin, eggman? or sonic’s reality check? either way, the doc hates emotions. dammit man why you gotta make him emo

future eggman is going to kick past eggman in the kneecaps. it’s times like this ur reminded how much of a kid he is. eugh but that’s work i want my victory and senseless destruction now. honestly if the doc is after success, he is certainly not getting it this way and I AM FEARING FOR EVERYONE’S LIVES. he’ll probably have to work with what’s left of the resistance like the back end of most games at some point.

I’m getting a little burnt out but i can’t forget my son and how much he hurts me.

first of all that third panel terrifies me. the fact it GOT that far does me great concern. the RED EYES? that’s pushing it fam i dont like that. the expressions are also just freaking destroying me; they’ve been PERFECT this issue. and the fact sonic is at his weakest when he feels like he’s failed everyone hurts me deeply. he has SO much on his shoulders and its getting too overwhelming for him.

also man... the whole thing with eggman... just stuff me man. but it hurts all the more because it’s so glaringly clear that there is?? some good in eggman??? he just. doesn’t want to admit it. and unfortunately these aren’t good circumstances to debate on that.

ANYWAY, THAT ISSUE WAS AGONY AND IM STILL REELING AND HAVENT EVEN. TALKED ALL THAT MUCH ABOUT SONIC HERE (on account of this being eggman’s blog) but idk if i’ll write anything on that.

gonna go cry about an egg now brb

#▷ 𝙊𝙃 ; 𝙎𝙃𝙐𝙏 𝙐𝙋! ( .ooc )#sonic idw spoilers #idw spoilers #long post #tw: swearing

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lechevaliermalfet · 5 years

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Vae Victis! – A Look Back at Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

It was the mid-1990s. We were in the fifth generation of video game consoles, and gaming as a medium was eager to prove that it had grown up.

This had been going on before the fifth generation, of course. The Sega Genesis sold itself on its contrast to the status quo. “Sega does what Nintendon’t,” and all that. Sega’s whole image was bound up in being the cool kid, the one who’d outgrown all those pokey “kiddie” games like Super Mario Bros. or Kid Icarus or Mega Man. Sega fans played games like Mortal Kombat and Eternal Champions. Even a mascot game like Sonic the Hedgehog had a kind of snide adolescent streak to it; leaner, meaner, and less patient. Nintendo themselves had to butch up a little, even. When their bloodless version of the first Mortal Kombat got outsold by Sega’s, which kept all the gore – despite otherwise being technically superior in every measurable way – they relaxed their standards and left all the blood and fatalities intact for the second and third games, and saw a jump in sales accordingly.

The 90s were in part a decade of cynicism and ironic detachment. Sincerity tended to be frowned upon as being kind of silly and naive, or else a cover for motives less savory. Strong skepticism was the default mode, and in fiction, anti-heroes were all the rage.

Which brings us to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, described by its developers as a Legend of Zelda “for adults”.

Of course, any self-described adult who can’t bear to play a Legend of Zelda game because they feel it’s not grown-up enough needs to sit down and re-assess their idea of adulthood, and how secure they are in it. If a tolerance for violence (if not a craving) is all it takes, then I was an adult at about eleven, when I was single-handedly mowing down whole armies of Nazis in Wolfenstein 3D.

But those were the times, and that’s how Blood Omen got pushed. Which is unfortunate, because it misses the more thoughtful parts of the game’s story that actually did make it material mostly for adults.

“...the first act in my theatre of Grand Guignol!”

We begin in the world of Nosgoth, and if there’s a made-up fantasy word that screams “dark supernatural fantasy” more than that, I haven’t heard it. Our main character is Kain, a nobleman caught out at night in a town where he can’t find an inn or tavern to stay for the night. He is cornered by assassins and murdered, whereupon he goes to hell. Or at least, we can assume it’s hell; I don’t think even a death metal band’s idea of heaven involves being cuffed to twin posts overlooking a literal lake of fire with a sword stuck through you. Anyway, that’s where Kain is, cursing the fact that he can’t get revenge. Which seems a little warped, on the surface of things. You’d think if you were stuck in hell, then getting out, however impossible, might seem more important than getting back at the people who killed you. But if you’re the kind of person who winds up in hell after being murdered, I suppose it stands to reason that your priorities may not be in order.

While Kain is in hell, lamenting his impotent rage and generally ignoring all the fine mid-90s CG scenery, he is approached by a necromancer named Mortanius.

The necromancer offers him a way back to the world of the living, and thus a chance at revenge. Eager to oblige his overdeveloped sense of wrath, Kain takes him up on the offer, and fails to consider that there are only a few different ways, traditionally, that a dead person can cross back through the veil. And none of them really involve returning to life exactly as you were.

Kain rises from his grave as a vampire, stronger than he ever was in life, and only too happy to hack up his assassins when he encounters them not far from the site of his crypt. However, as he comes down from his vengeance-high, he hears a voice in the back of his mind – Mortanius’s voice, in fact – suggesting that his assassins were “the instruments of your murder, not the cause”. Mortanius then urges him to seek out the Pillars to find the real reason for his murder, and its true culprits.

We need to rewind a bit.

IN THE BEGINNING, there were the Pillars of Nosgoth (in fact, “Pillars of Nosgoth” was the game’s working title for a while). Rooted who knows how deep in the earth below, and reaching up to the clouds, the Pillars are a structure that should be physically impossible. They are somehow both integral to the natural order of the world, and also the embodiment of certain elemental principles. There are nine of them, embodying – in no particular order – conflict, energy, states (of being, not political), dimensions, death, nature, time, the mind, and balance. Each Pillar has its guardian, a human endowed with powers according to the Pillar’s defining principle, and tasked with overseeing that Pillar’s particular province.

A good while back in the past (how long is not detailed in this game, but probably centuries) there was a genocidal crusade of sorts against vampires, who were evidently a serious scourge of some kind. In fact, the game opens on a view of a field – practically a forest – of stakes, with a vampire impaled on each. Vlad Tepes would be proud. This crusade was ordered by the Circle of Nine (the collective group of Pillar guardians), and carried out by the fanatical religious order known as the Sarafan Brotherhood.

Monsters that they are, the vampires did not take this well. One of their number, an elder vampire named Vorador, decided to strike back. Vorador was by this point in his unlife no longer quite human looking, with mottled grey skin (later series installments would make this varying shades of green), odd three-clawed hands, and giant bat-like ears. Blood Omen never elaborates on the reason for this difference. At any rate, he singlehandedly stormed the citadel of the Pillar guardians while most of the Sarafan brotherhood were away (presumably looking for more vampires to stake), and wound up killing several of them (one of the sequels gives the number as six). In the process, he even managed to beat down Malek on his way out, perhaps the greatest warrior among the Sarafan, and the one specifically tasked with safeguarding the Circle.

For screwing up his one job, Malek was punished by being made to do that job for eternity. It might seem inadvisable to take the guy who failed to guard you and then make him your guard forever, but it helps if you rip his soul out of his body and bind it to his armor, thus making him a sleepless, tireless, unfeeling, and ever vigilant warrior fueled by pure wrath. Which is what they (or rather, Mortanius) ultimately did. At some point between this time and the present day of Blood Omen, Malek became the guardian of the Pillar of Conflict, so evidently he was fit for his role in the end.

Now we fast-forward a bit, to a point just moments before Kain’s birth. In fact, later games place this at the exact moment of that birth.

Somewhere around thirty years before Kain’s murder outside a nameless tavern in a random town, Ariel, the guardian of the Pillar of Balance, is murdered. This is bad news for all the usual reasons, and also one or two unusual ones. It turns out that her lover is the guardian of the Pillar of the Mind, the mentalist Nupraptor. Her murder drives him insane, and being a telepath (among other things), his insanity infects the guardians of the other Pillars as well. This turns them from their usual purpose of upholding the natural balance, and instead sets them to destroying it. This in turn corrupts the Pillars, symbiotically connected to their guardians, turning them from pristine white to a pitted and cracking grey. With both the Pillars and their guardians respectively corrupted and insane, the natural order of things begins to fall apart. Bad news all around.

Blood Omen is somewhat unusual in that it’s one of the few probably rare instances in fiction where a woman is stuffed into the fridge at the beginning of the story, and in order to drive the villain to extremes of behavior.

So.

Now we have Kain, in the present of our story, given to understand that his death was in some way connected with the Pillars and their corruption. He makes his way to the Pillars, where he meets Ariel’s restless spirit. She’s the one who lays out for him part of the business about her murder and Nupraptor’s madness, and the threat posed to the world by it all. Kain is only interested in a cure for his vampirism (now that he’s had his vengeance, he wants no part of this undeath business), but Ariel persuades him that his best bet is to deal with the corruption of the Pillars. So Kain storms off to go take care of Nupraptor, and ultimately to cleanse the Pillars by severing their connection to their now-insane guardians, solving the problem of their corruption by reference to his sword. Go with what you know.

It’s at this point that Kain’s personal arc begins to unfold, as he becomes increasingly alienated from humanity, both the species and the concept. While initially at odds with his vampirism, Kain spends the story coming to grips with the hypocrisy and corruption of human civilization, all the while becoming more and more comfortable with the seeming monstrosity of his new existence. This is a matter of some necessity. He has things he needs to do, he has to stay alive to do them, and so a certain amount of blood-drinking and slaughter seems inevitable.

In his travels, he comes across Vorador’s manor, situated deep in a swamp teeming with monsters. Kain seeks his help to destroy Malek. Vorador, for his part, spends the encounter being lordly and largely dismissive of Kain’s quest. He advises the fledgling vampire that meddling in mortal affairs is nothing but bad news. Better to sit back and sate one’s hunger – or thirst, in this case – and let the mortal world turn as it will. Humans are to be preyed on, not helped or manipulated or otherwise gotten involved with. Best to stay above such passing concerns. Nevertheless, he takes a liking to Kain, and gives him his ring to summon him at need.

Say a word often enough, and it starts to lose its sense of meaning. Actions likewise lose significance with repetition. They become rote. And as time wears on, Kain seems to begin making a turn. There’s a certain honesty in being a monster. You always know what you are, and you always know how other people see you. Kain may sneer at Vorador’s decadence when they meet, but at least the elder vampire is never less than one hundred percent honest about what he is.

And as Kain goes on, it begins to seem that Vorador was right. So much of Kain’s and the world’s difficulties seem to stem from the selfishness, greed, shortsightedness, self-absorption, and general malice of the people he runs up against. Eventually, he winds up accidentally sparking a second genocidal crusade against his own kind. This has mostly to do with him traveling back in time to kill a man in the past who would grow to become a tyrant in his current era. This mistake no doubt has its roots in his not having not grown up in a world with a whole sub-genre of fiction concerned with the merits or otherwise of traveling back in time to kill Hitler.

We will have such fun with time travel as the series goes on, let me tell you.

The game ends by offering the player a choice. Kain’s efforts to cleanse the Pillars and restore balance to the world have made him the new guardian of the Pillar of Balance. Yet, like all other Pillar Guardians slain at his hand, he himself is corrupt, and must die to complete the task. So the player is asked: Will Kain willingly sacrifice himself for the greater good of Nosgoth, or will he refuse the sacrifice and choose to live in an increasingly broken and corrupt world.

The sequels take the second ending as canon, and honestly, it’s hard to argue. This isn’t a story about hope springing eternal, after all. The few people in it who are unambiguously good are either killed (Ariel) or largely ineffectual (King Ottmar, who comes to prominence briefly toward the end of the story). The player may feel differently, but there’s little reason to believe that Kain would. Proud, haughty, vindictive, wrathful, and growing ever more cynical and mistrustful of the motives of those around him, tired of being used as a tool for other’s schemes... Why would he choose to sacrifice himself?

And so, canonically, we close on a shot of Kain sitting on a throne at the base of the Pillar of Balance, with it and all the other Pillars lying in a broken ruin around him. He drinks from a goblet, and muses that Vorador was right after all: “Vampires are gods – dark gods – and it is our duty to thin the herd.”

The End.

“Nothing is free. Not even revenge.”

So that’s Blood Omen as a story. What about as a game?

On the balance it’s kind of uneven.

On a technical level, it’s fairly impressive. In its time, it stood as a testament to the potential quality of two-dimensional graphics in gaming, even as the entire medium was leaping into the third dimension, ready to ditch and decry anything made in 2D as inferior. The result from a technical standpoint is that Blood Omen has in some ways aged better than a lot of other games of its vintage, including its first sequel.

But then you actually play the thing, and see where it sort of falls apart.

Let’s get the easy part over with, shall we? The load times in Blood Omen are godawful, just the worst possible combination of long and frequent. It seems almost like a joke at times: “Really? We’re loading again? It was one fucking room!” Were it not for the fact that it began development as a totally unrelated game, I would strongly suspect that the sequel, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, used its data-streaming technology to avoid loading times altogether purely as a response to this criticism. I still think that may be the case.

Once we dig past the issue of loading times, though, the game reveals other issues.

There are good ideas on display here. Let’s start with that. The game has a day-and-night cycle, and while you can walk around during the day, you deal less damage (and take more) while the sun is up. Water is like the touch of acid to a vampire, and any time you’re in it, you’ll take constant damage. Rain and snow will likewise damage you, and while there are power-ups that are supposed to eliminate this problem, I’m not sure they actually work. At least, not on the PC version of the game, which is what I’ve mostly played.

The game also requires that Kain drink blood periodically. His health naturally drains very slowly, but constantly, so you always have to be on the lookout for a way to top yourself off. There are some more abstract health restoration items, as well as a consumable item you can use, called the Heart of Darkness (this item will become obscenely important in later installments). However, the game is structured such that most of Kain’s health restoration will have to come from either enemies or, more often, helpless innocents. This ties nicely into the game’s theme of alienation from humanity, though the way the game often presents these situations –random strangers chained to walls all over the world, for no apparent reason – seems a little odd at times. And it has interesting ideas about different creatures having blood that might actually be harmful to Kain, or inflict him with a long-term poison.

In addition to the graphics looking nice (the CG cutscenes are definitely of their time, but the in-game sprite work and lighting effects are quite nice), the game has a great soundtrack, dark and moody and ominous. And the voice work is superb. All character interactions are handled with voiceover rather than on-screen text, and the cast knocks it out of the park. Not just “good for the mid-90s video game voice acting”, but great, period.

The puzzle-solving is a little lackluster, though. For something pitched as a “grown-up Legend of Zelda”, its puzzles largely consist of pulling levers and pushing buttons, and navigating mazes. Which is fine, but again, any game that’s going to self-consciously compare itself to The Legend of Zelda needs to bring its A game, especially with its puzzle-solving.

The game does offer you a lot of tools to use, in the form of different weapons, spells, and magical items. But a lot of these boil down to more inventive yet questionably practical ways to kill enemies. And considering that setting up a selection of these items for immediate access involves going back and forth to the inventory menu (requiring a load time both ways), it’s easier to just stick with your weapon and a handful of the most commonly used spells and items and call it a day.

Weapons themselves are another problem. You’ll find that your iron sword from the very beginning of the game is the most generally useful. The mace will let you stun human enemies to drink their blood after just two hits, but it lacks the crowd-control effect of the sword, and also lacks the stunning effect on the non-human enemies that make up the bulk of your later-game foes. It’s also useful for knocking down certain stone barriers, but these are few and far between, and necessary for progress only very rarely. The twin axes let Kain cut down trees barring his path, and also let him cut down enemies by spinning like a saw blade… but this means you’ll frequently kill enemies before you have a chance to drain them. The flaming sword burns enemies alive and leaves only ashes, preventing you from drinking blood that way. And then the final weapon, the Soul Reaver (also an item of incalculable importance later in the series), deals massive damage as long as you have magic power to fuel it. But while thus empowered, it detonates the enemies it kills, making them impossible to drain. And when not empowered, it’s only as damaging as the iron sword, but slower and more awkward.

Combat in general gets frustrating at times, thanks to the iffy hit detection. One enemy might walk right through your sword swing, while another you could swear was out of range will register a hit. It never becomes a total deal-breaker, but it’s a point of frequent irritation as you go.

Let’s have another positive: Kain also gains the ability to transform into various other states as the game goes by. In his wolf form, he can leap over certain obstacles, but his attack in this form has no combo ability and a long wind-up, making him vulnerable. He can use his bat form to fast-travel between beacons and certain landmark locations, while his mist form allows him to walk on water without taking damage, as well as cross certain barriers without opening the door. There are also two disguises he can use. One transforms him into a peasant, while the other turns him into a human-looking version of himself so that he can pass as a nobleman. The use of both of these is largely situational, required in a very small number of situations and then mostly pointless outside of them.

But perhaps the thing that stands out the most is its linearity.

This is to some extent mandated by the story. Unlike The Legend of Zelda, to which this game invites much comparison, Blood Omen’s story is very much at all times front and center. A Zelda game will leave you with bits of story here and there, and largely leave you to explore or puzzle your way forward or dick around in town or otherwise do your own thing for long stretches of time. The story in one of those games is the starting point of the experience, a backdrop against which you play out the adventure. Hyrule is to some extent defined by that openness, with its plains and deserts and vast forests and so on.

Blood Omen lacks this. Its story is the entire point and purpose of the game. The path forward is always clear and rarely has room for deviation or discovery. There may be things hidden off to the side, but these tend ultimately to be cul-de-sacs, connecting to nothing else. This is even subtly expressed in the game’s environments: lots of indoor areas, caves, narrow trails, canyons, and so on. There’s little opportunity to go off the beaten path. Blood Omen’s pathways not only discourage exploration, they often disable it. This is not your experience to own; it is Kain’s story for you to be told.

I feel like in story terms, that’s ultimately the difference. Legend of Zelda’s story always exists to serve the game that Nintendo crafts. Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain’s game exists to serve the story.

And just to be clear, none of this is bad at all. It’s every bit as valid in terms of game design and mechanics as any given Zelda. But if you’re going to compare your game to The Legend of Zelda and then fail to do the most essentially Zelda things in it – not just do them poorly, but not do them at all, missing the point entirely of what a Zelda game is about – then it’s worth commenting on. I like Blood Omen, but I had to get used to thinking of it on its own terms. The Zelda comparisons are easy to make. Even without the developers making them, the look and structure of the game seems to invite them.

Like a good book, Blood Omen is a (mostly) straight shot from start to finish. Its linearity is what allows it to control the story, to unfold its plot and explore its themes at a pace of its choosing. The game to some extent revels in its edginess, but to be honest, it was perfect for me at the time. I was sixteen when I first played the game. Sixteen, and a bit of a loner with an odd and private (but intense) interest in vampires. It was probably the perfect game for me at the time. And it’s still ultimately enjoyable today, if you take it as what it is. Not as a Legend of Zelda game for adults, but as a decent action-adventure game with a good story and top-notch presentation. If you don’t mind the linearity and the relentlessly dark and sometimes disturbing story, it’s just about perfect.

Post-script the First: Likelihood of Re-release, and Current Availability

Eeeehhhhhhhhhh...

Here’s the problem: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain was originally dreamed up and created by Silicon Knights and published by Crystal Dynamics (who also had a hand in the development, late in the process), with distribution to be handled by Activision. Crystal Dynamics eventually got full ownership of the Legacy of Kain brand, and used it to make the first sequel to Blood Omen, titled Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. Silicon Knights was against this, but had less deep pockets than Crystal Dynamics, so they were ultimately the losers of the resulting court battle over the affair. The lone bone thrown to them was that Crystal Dynamics had to acknowledge in the game that Soul Reaver was based on characters and ideas created by Silicon Knights.

By the time Soul Reaver rolled around, Crystal Dynamics belonged to Eidos. Then, in 2005 (not long after the last Legacy of Kain game was published), Eidos was completely bought out by Square Enix, and was mostly refocused on creating western-style games under the Square Enix umbrella. Crystal Dynamics still exists as a division within Square, where they’ve been making various Tomb Raider games almost exclusively ever since the acquisition.

The problem with any hypothetical remaster or re-release of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is that, for several years, it would have required some three-way legal wrangling to determine who really owned the thing, and what they could do with it (if anything), and under what conditions.

As of about 2014, Silicon Knights ceased to exist (about which more later, because it’s a fun story), but that still leaves the rights an open issue. Square Enix seems to own the larger Legacy of Kain intellectual property, but there’s the question of ownership regarding Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain specifically, and I’m not sure that question has ever been answered. Silicon Knights doesn’t exist, but many of its personnel are still around in some capacity, and would presumably have something to say about anything involving it.

Venues like Steam and Good Old Games have released the every other installment in the series digitally (even Blood Omen 2), but nobody’s touched the original game. Probably CD Projekt Red and Valve don’t have much desire to try unsnarling the ownership and licensing issues themselves, and none of the owners seem all that keen on it, either.

And it will probably stay that way. The Legacy of Kain series in general has always been pretty solidly in the B tier of video games, from back when there still even was much of a B tier in the first place. The fanbase for that kind of deliberately overwrought gothic supernatural fantasy was loyal, but never very big, and I’m not sure how much that’s changed. Moreover, I’m not sure either Square is willing to bank on it having grown in the interim enough to do anything about this first game in the series. The more time goes by, the less inclination any party has to make anything of the series, especially an early entry whose ownership may be contested. An indirect sequel, and also some kind of MMO, were both in the works at various points. The MMO vanished after not very long at all on the market, and the indirect sequel never made it out of development.

Legal options for playing Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain are limited. You can play the original PlayStation version on the PlayStation 1, 2, or 3. It’s also digitally available on the PS3, although not for the PSP or Vita. Infuriatingly, it’s one of a small handful of games that can’t even be side-loaded (a process that involves downloading a digital PS1 game onto your PS3, then copying it uninstalled to the Vita). The PC version, meanwhile, can still be played, though there’s a special program custom-made for it that you’ll have to get in order to install it and run it on modern systems. And this tends to run a little slow. Music and sound are fine, it’s just the game actually moves slower than normal. Or you could install a virtual desktop and play it that way.

Post-script the Second: The Death of Chivalry

So whatever happened with Silicon Knights?

Well, the story is… not complicated, exactly, but not entirely straightforward, either.

Development of Blood Omen was troubled. As we would later learn, this was not an especially novel situation for Silicon Knights to be in. Two of their other big projects later on underwent some turbulence in production. Blood Omen was originally to be created by Silicon Knights and published by Crystal Dynamics. Later on, after Crystal Dynamics became part of British publisher Eidos, they were able to somehow leverage this connection to strongarm their way into ownership of the overall Legacy of Kain intellectual property. They used it to make the first sequel to Blood Omen, titled Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. This had begun life as a brand-new IP (originally titled Shifter), which helps explain some of the tremendous thematic, aesthetic, and design differences between the two games.

Silicon Knights later maintained that they’d had their own ideas for a potential Blood Omen sequel, but never got around to it, and after Crystal Dynamics started making their own sequels, Silicon Knights lost interst. I’m not sure how much of that is real and how much is just so much sour grapes. Anyway, they went off and did their own thing for a while. They published the survival horror game Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem for the GameCube, after having signed an exclusivity deal with Nintendo around that time. It had originally been in development for the N64, but was ultimately moved up to the newer hardware after development delays. For anyone who’s wondering, Eternal Darkness an excellent game, on the shortlist of must-own GameCube titles, even if you’re not necessarily a fan of survival horror. It’s not perfect (among other things, you have to beat the game three times to see the true ending), but it does a lot of interesting things.

They also developed the GameCube remake of Metal Gear Solid (likely under heavy scrutiny and supervision form Konami), dubbed Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. Much as I tend to prefer the original version of the game for its restraint (Twin Snakes has a lot of ridiculous high-flying wire-fu maneuvering in its action cutscenes), the remake is worth any Metal Gear fan’s time. Among other things, series creator Hideo Kojima has apparently declared it the canon version of events. It also saw a re-dubbing of the entire script, since apparently when the original audio was played back at a higher sampling rate, you could hear the traffic in the background, which the ramshackle soundproofing used in the original hadn’t been able to entirely shut out. The re-dubbed script also has the benefit of having allowing Jennifer Hale and Kim Mai Guest to ditch their put-on accents – Guest’s being particularly irritating, and borderline racist (maybe actually racist; I’m a white dude, and not totally clear on these things).

After this, they moved on to the Xbox 360 with their passion project Too Human, which had been troubled from the beginning. Its on-again, off-again development cycle spanned a decade and three console generations. It began development for the original PlayStation, then shifted to the GameCube when the developer did in the early 2000s. It went quiet for a few years, then resurfaced as an Xbox 360 project that was ultimately delivered in 2008, two years after its projected release on that console.

Too Human was a notorious, news-making flop, and Silicon Knights responded to this failure not simply by pinning the blame on someone else, but by doing that and then actually suing them. Specifically, they sued Epic Games, from whom they had licensed the Unreal Engine 3 to make the final version of Too Human. The accusation was that Epic deliberately sabotaged developers who licensed their engine by providing an incomplete product, and that the difficulties stemming from this had caused development delays. These delays, and the compromises they brought about, were supposedly ultimately responsible for the failure and the financial losses of Too Human.

Epic responded by then counter-suing, which was the beginning of the end for Silicon Knights.

Epic’s counter-suit stated that Unreal Engine 3 was a work in progress, and that they were making it essentially on the fly as they developed the first Gears of War. The counter-suit further stated that it was readily and openly acknowledged that the engine was unfinished, and that when it was done, it might ultimately not turn out to be useful for the licensees. Epic’s suit further indicated that these facts were all known and laid out in the licensing contract, and so like all licensees, Silicon Knights knew this when they signed for it.

But it gets better (which is to say, worse, at least for Silicon Knights). Epic’s counter-suit also included the allegation that Silicon Knights had knowingly and wrongfully copied code wholesale from Unreal Engine 3 and incorporated it into their own engine without permission from Epic. They had then gone on to use this hybrid engine on other internal projects without the permission of the people they’d cannibalized it from.

Now, I’m not one to root for a big corporation, even (especially) a game developer. But Silicon Knights had the misfortune of being run by Denis Dyack, a known con-man, grifter, shady bullshitter, and general ambulatory phallus. He maybe wasn’t in the same category as a Randy Pitchford or a Bobby Kotick, but that’s less a matter of capacity and more a matter of opportunity. Given the chance to operate on their scale, I don’t doubt he’d have fit right in with that crowd.

As far as the court case went, the evidence was overwhelmingly in Epic’s favor. In addition to their own court costs and damages awarded to Epic, Silicon Knights was forced to recall all unsold copies of Too Human and X-Men: Destiny (another game they’d developed with their Unreal Engine 3 hybrid), as well as scrap all projects using the engine, which seems to have been literally everything they had in the works at that point.

So what happened, essentially, is that Silicon Knights sued Epic Games in an effort to offset their losses by making money out of the Too Human debacle somehow, and it backfired so comically that they broke themselves against their opponent.

But their end, one way or another, was probably inevitable in that console generation. Looking at their release history, there’s really nothing that stands out as a hit or an absolute classic. Eternal Darkness and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes were both fine games, this much is true. But Eternal Darkness was a GameCube exclusive, and the GameCube didn’t sell the way Nintendo hoped. Meanwhile, The Twin Snakes is certainly nice, but as a remake of a different developer’s game, it has little in the way of originality, and very little of the material can really be said to “belong” to Silicon Knights, since it was someone else’s brainchild right from the start.

They were never a hugely prolific publisher, with eight games published before they folded, and according to Wikipedia, seven known titles cancelled at various points during their existence. These cancelled projects included two sequels to Too Human (which had always been planned as a trilogy). Given the cold reception received by the original, both from critics and consumers alike, that seems questionable. In for a penny, in for a pound, I guess. But however you look at it, they didn’t have what you’d call a good ratio of finished to unfinished projects. And while it’s worth mentioning that many of those unfinished projects were upcoming games they were forced to cancel because they’d been made (or begun) with their illegal Unreal Engine 3 hybrid, the fact is that when your business plan hinges on stealing another developer’s game engine to make your own games, you’re already in a bad place.

Silicon Knights pretty firmly slotted into the middle tier of video games. For my money, the middle tier is in some ways the sweet spot. It’s more high-tech and technically involved than the indie set, yet not so high-budget that developers in it can’t feel free to experiment. But that middle tier has all but vanished these days. It’s questionable whether Silicon Knights would have hung on long enough to find a spot in it today, even if they hadn’t destroyed themselves going after Epic, just based on the iffy reception of their games. That’s without considering the general skullduggery it took to keep them going in the first place. And I also tend to think of X-Men: Destiny as a bad sign. There’s no shame in work-for-hire; it’s how a lot of major development studios (like Blizzard) started out. But that’s the key: you start out doing work-for-hire projects to make the money to strike out on your own. Silicon Knights was moving in the opposite direction, and that’s a bad sign.

Vae Victis, indeed.

#legacy of kain #blood omen #blood omen legacy of kain #kain #video games #video gaming #games #gaming #silicon knights #vae victis #halloween

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mxnyxxngx · 5 years

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some cool music things i noticed about say my name !!!!

ok right off the bat im gonna preface this with the fact that i am HEAVILY biased bc imo this song right here ?? already one of the bests of 2019 u can quote me on this i dont care but im saying it now ok (im not even gonna go into the choreo/mv/concept OOF)

overall i just think its so well produced and epic sounding and feel-good but still clean and its just. its just done so well but anyways !! lets get into it

immediately it starts off with just this guitar and flute-y thing (??) duo with super minimal percussion, but it sets off the tone of the song perfectly and the guitar does a rlly good job of establishing the groove

something about a high flute always feels rlly pastoral/pirate-y/bandit-y/wild wild west-y so its a smart choice of instrumentation definitely

(imo it was the perfect decision to have hongjoong start off the song, not only bc its symbolic of the group but also bc his voice starts off nice nd soft but then it transitions into a deeper and darker tone and wow he rlly did that)

the percussion starts to kick in a bit after ATEEZ PRESENT which is nice bc its like theyre introducing themselves as a group and then building up the energy of the song. idk i just think its nice nd it makes a lot of sense

having the vocals bounce back and forth between the rap parts after the intro is rlly smart to keep the ear interested

when seonghwa comes in with the “modu yeogiro” part theres a synth in the background that sounds like an emergency siren (?) almost and its super cool bc it builds up both the energy and the mood of the song woWOwooWow its a new element sonically that still fits and reinforces the whole “bandit” thing

jonghos vocals OOOOOF one of the biggest things im impressed with in this song is how well the vocals seem to pull off and also make the song stand out. its not an easy concept at all but theyre all crazy talented and each members vocal color and tone fits and gives it that nice extra oomph that it needs

for example, jonghos tone is bright and rich and full when he sings the “soneul deureora” part and it gives that extra humming push of tension to the song and its just gorgeous ugugughufhgu

the prechorus is ,, amazing. one of the best ive heard from ateez tbh. the vocal layering is gorgeous (one thing ateez does absolutely perfectly always is their harmonies. its just so *clenches fist* harmonic) the mild drone in the background rlly helps out with that too

during wooyoungs “yessir” part the percussion kind of drops out and it comes back in during the drop (say my name say my name) and its a small thing but it rlly helps to reinforce the epic, bombastic, theatrical nature of the chorus

the prechorus as a whole is sort of staccato, choppy sounding, broken up like, and it sets up this great textural difference with the chorus when the smooth and dark “say my name” part comes, and everythings all melodic and cool

another thing that helps the transition rlly well so that it doesnt sound disjointed or out of place is hongjoongs “yessir bureume eungdap” bc its touched with a small bit of autotune and it fits perfectly imo (@ ppl who dont think autotune is a valid effect to use in songs figHT ME) and then the almost morphed, molasses sounding chorus makes a lot of sense

THE CHORUS

the chorus is so deep and powerful and swaggering and dark and its rlly helped along by these random little synths mimicking brass (??) in the background picking out notes from a minor (modal ??? someone smarter than me fact check this pls) scale

whoevers doing most of the singing at that part (minus all the layering ofc) has just got the PERFECT tonal color and texture (i think its mingi or maybe seonghwa ??? not quite sure but its like ,, so deep its nearly demonic ??? but its so so so so good it feels like its pulling at something deep inside you dragging it up to the surface sjdksjdsk) im not sure if theres an effect on it that makes it sound so dark and satisfying

but it works rlly well bc its also not like constantly super dark and monstrous its interpersed with lighter lines and pieces (for example, hongjoongs line that starts w “nareul bulleojwo” bc his naturally higher and more nasally ? rapping tone sets off the contrast rllly well)

mingis tonal color is just perfect for this song esp during his rap verse. his voice is dark and well rounded but unique and stable oof can u tell i love him

same with hongjoongs style its light and quick and agile which is a nice contrast to both mingis rap style and the song as a whole zooM IN HERE CAUSE IM THE CAPTAIN

the bridge is where everything smooths out and theres rlly nothing left in the instrumental except a melodic tinkling piano and its soothing and pretty but it still moves and builds when the vocals start doubling and especially with all of them singing those “woahs” in the background until the last line w jonghos gorgeous vocals and this air horn ?? comes in you know like the ones used in memes except it fits rlly well here

a teensy thing i noticed is that at the start seonghwas vocals cut in a bit louder/more up close in the mix than others ??? and then after his part it goes back to normal which in all honesty i have no clue if that was on purpose but its definitely not something from my end (it plays like that on my phone, laptop, headphones, etc. and its in every single other video out there like reactions or stuff like that) idk if its important but its something that kind of jumped out at me and whatever it is it does a good job of establishing the softer and more intimate sound of the bridge

and then, oh my god

everything, all the instrumental, drops out and then this absolutely godly “say my name say my name say my name” just fills the entire space of the track and listen idk about you guys but this part feels nearly like a spiritual experience theres something about the harmony and the voices layering and ugh its just. its just so good

when the instrumental kicks back in its just grand and masterful and the chord progression is the kind that just feels so epic and satisfying to the soul

anyways thanks for coming to my ted talk i probably missed a bunch of other super cool things and im rlly sorry if there are any technical mistakes ya girls a dumb bitch™ but uh yeah

stan talent stan ateez :’)

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purplerose244 · 5 years

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MY THOUGHTS ON EPISODE 98!!!

SPOILERS ALERT!!!

And adding this to the pilot episodes, which are four in two episodes, we finally reached 100 episodes of Ninjagooooo!!! 🎊🎊🎊 YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! 🎉🎉🎉

I can't believe we really achieved this, like, I remember getting interested because of that elevator gag with Jay in season 1, now look at this!!! 😍😍 I love this show, I love how much I have grown during it, and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for it!

And after getting all hyped with this, let's get to the episode! 😎

I wanna start by saying that, back when I watched it, I really liked Day of the Departed, but I would've LOVED IT if it was a season. Like, it's clear that a lot could've been done, and it came out really freaking cool but not mindblowing (and I kinda expect that from my favorite show, not sorry 😙)

My opinion on March of the Oni is similar, I definitely enjoyed more than DotD because it was basically a season of four episodes, it's just that some parts went by a little fast.

But you're asking if I liked it, right?

OF COURSE I DID! ❤❤

And let me tell, with the amount of parts coming from pilots and first season, I can die happily 😆 That's what I love about Ninjago, even when I think it's not perfect, there are still moments that I fall in love with immediately!

LET'S GO THEN!

For the start, Faith's story. I'm so sorry for the poor dragon hunters, can't even have the time to fully redeem themselves that darkness arises 😅

To be honest, when the ninja arrived and Wu was smiling at them like waiting for good news, I was too worried for Cole and was grieving like all of the ninja 😢 Then it reminded me of that one scene in Kung fu Panda with Shifu being all "ah yeah, I really need good news" with his messanger and it turns out it's fricking Tai Lung coming for him 😂😂

But yeah, that was heavy. And Garmy was still merciless with his brother, as much as with his wife (weird that I kinda enjoyed that part? He never went all bad against her, not even as Lord Garmadon. He is full beast now)

And oh man. WU'S REACTION.

One of his first pupil, the first leader of the team; not only that, Cole was always there when Wu turned into a baby and grew up, he basically became a second father for him in a weird but cute way. Can you imagine the grief? It would be really sad if he got to remember him being to affectionate with his infant version, singing for him 😭😭 (woa, fanfiction idea!)

Well played, I must say, Ninjago crew. I'm already on feels mode 👏 But don't think you can fool me again writers, I'm not that easy to impress for y-

*throw away the pizza she had for dinner* NO PRIMARY NEEDS WILL COME BEFORE THIS, KAI FREAKING SMITH IS BACK OMG YAS YAS YAAAAAASSSS!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥❤❤❤

... I screamed at that part. A LOT.

It's been AGES! He wore it two pilot episodes, period, he looks so young 😍 From this point of few I appreciate that he changed design, it's like he really grew up from before. And he looked so worried, or disappointed? Maybe because he gave up on being blacksmith a long time ago for doing something he's actually good at, and going back again it's like saying he didn't improve at all...

... or maybe I just overthink Kai all day all night

MY FLAME BABE 😍

Well, forge happens, no Ray and Maya but it was kinda hopeless anyway 😅 I really want them to come back, come on Tommy!

And bam, golden weapons. BAM 👊

They made me feel way more excited than I thought, I really squeaked all over while they were fighting! ☺ Back then there was nothing more important and powerful, and now they are back. But I think the golden power in them is weak? I guess they forged in a different way the first time, or maybe they need to be charged by golden power user. I don't know but good job anyway, my hot blacksmith 😚

Meanwhile, in another dark place...

I screamed again 😅

I was just super happy to see Cole fully alive and not frozen and stuff. I thought it had a deeper meaning him moving, but then I guess he woke up in time? And wasn't in the middle of the toxic darkness, thank lord 😵😵

Or maybe they'll explain it better next season and it's important? You never know

Kirby did his best at talking to himself 😂 Rocky you gotta stop loving your best bud that much, you were panicking just like him 💙 Also the part when he was so close to despair, man if I wanted nothing more but broke my phone screen and give him a hug 😢

Luckily, cuteness came to my rescue

"WE THOUGHT WE LOST YOU, YOU... YOU... YOU JERK!!"

My bruise heart is beating faster? My bruise heart is beating faster 🖤💙🖤💙 Sorry, can't help it, moving on!

I missed some full team fighting action! I wanted more, especially with the new golden weapons and how amazing the landscape look now near the monastery ☺ But it was cool, and I love Nya and Lloyd fighting back to back since they don't have golden weapons! Also Wu is getting so active in season 9 and 10 😊 And Faith is a queen 🖤

While we're at it, my idea is that Garmadon's doubts about his evilness are meaningful, but not for now. I like that they didn't push him into full redemption, it would've been too early. He clearly wants to know more about himself and his family. I think that the next adventure will be important for him, even if I still don't know how, maybe a full life-changing field trip (if so, my warlord, I have a half burnt prince from the Fire Nation to recommend 🔥)

... I did enough serious stuff for him, right? Well then...

... OKAY I CAN'T 😂😂😂😂

Like, I get the point and everything about him being almost full oni and stuff, but I can't look at his face 😂 I think it's the only part I really don't think it fits, the rest is pretty cool. I like the staff, looks all sorcery. They even used the design of the oni masks, nice touch.

... still, the face is weird, happy it didn't last 😙

Back to the monastery, everyone's scared, it might be the end, I actually liked the situation very much for the yang proposal. Jay stopped overthinking and went for it, it's hard for someone like him 😂

And of course Nya was ecstatic, and when our goddess is happy I am 💙💙💙

THEY HAVE THE MEDALIONS ON THEIR CHEST IT'S SUCH A CUTE AND ROMANTIC SYMBOL!!! 😍😍😍

I'm a sucker for romance, I'm sorry 😅

I'm also a sucker for references from past seasons, so...

*inhale*

THE FREAKING TORNADO OF CREATION!!!! FINALLY, AFTER THE FERRISWHEEL IN THE UNDERGROUND, THE ULTRA SONIC RAIDER AND ALL THE GAMES THAT HAD IT FEATURED, IT'S BAAAAACK!!!! THANK YOU NINJAGO FOR THIS GLORIOUS DAY!!! NINJAAAAAAAA-GOOOOOOOO!!!

*exhale*

They played it as they didn't use it again because it was kinda a miracle... I guess I can buy that, even if the Hagemans explained that they didn't expect Ninjago to continue and put the ultimate power immediately in the pilots... regretting it 😅 So I'm not hard on the writers in general, I'm happy to see this old friend back 💛

They all used spinjitzu, and the new design is so good, I was so happy!!! 🤩🤩🤩 Well I was, but then... boy... 😳

Now... let me tell you... how FREAKING nervewrecking... the last minutes of the episode... have been for me

First of all, the transition in black and soundless was so sudden that it got me thinking "okay this is new, got a weird feeling about it". Lloyd wakes up into such a heavenly beautiful place with a paradisiac great view. And I was already on what the frisk mode, because the others are gone and there's a beautiful golden dragon right there. And I freaking love those (I WANT ONE), so I got distracted.

Then a voice. Good Garmadon? I guess it could be, but why now and here? The heck?

Then of course I recognized him...

Because he still gives his back to the camera 😂 Also he freaking called him Lloyd MONTGOMERY Garmadon, I can't even 👏👏 This compensate the fact that I kinda wanted green bean to just go and call him granpa 😘

And while I thought it was super cool and over the top and reminded me again of Kung fu Panda, the third movie this time, I was still thinking from time to time:

"This looks like afterlife."

"The first Spinjitzu Master is gone."

"This can't be happening."

"This can't... can't..."

And after making sure to remind us that yes, first Spinjitzu Master-san is indeed Wu's dad, with his wise words because...

... he said that. THAT. Come back to your friends, or come with me. Go back being the green ninja, or reach the light once and for all. And darn it. I could feel my heart pulsing in my head. It ached when Lloyd extended his hand, and suddenly everything went white.

Back to the monastery. Guys are fine, Jaya is still beatiful and my poor sweetie flame got under a colomn thanks Cole I bet lavashippers appreciated

Then the worry. All of then running to him, checking, my flame so scared, "come on buddy, wake up". Wu following, he's the only hope, he can manage...

He can... can...

"There is nothing to be done."

I sobbed. Like, I didn't even dare to look at the time, I was too scared. I just didn't want it to be real.

Gotta say, when it comes to grieving, Ninjago makes me feel the most. Jay stuttering, asking Wu to help him. Nya sobbing calling his name. Kai slowly shaking his head, so desperate, like it wasn't enough they lost Cole even if not for long, and then going to comfort Wu because Garmy is not his brother right now and he's not showing emotion at all (although he was backing off, I wonder if he was trying to keep the distance from such a strong scene)

... and then Lloyd came back

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! 💚💚💚💚💚

I CRIED FOR HAPPINESS, THE TOUGHEST SECONDS OF MY LIFE!!! MY GREEN BEAN, MY SUNSHINE BOY, MY SWEET ANGEL IS HERE AND HERE TO STAY!!! 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Also Kai and Cole hugging, it was really sweet 🖤❤🖤❤

Oh man, OH MAN 😵

They put everything into that last fragment, now did they? Very nice, loved every part of it and it's really cool how we now kinda know what could be waiting on the afterlife 🤩 I wonder if there is more of that world...

This is why I said I wanted a longer special/season, we had two beautiful moments of pure sadness, really impactful and intense, that could've been even stronger if we had more time to struggle. But you know what? I died inside twice, came back to life twice as well, and nobody died!! 😊 ... except the oni I guess. I think... they died, didn't they?

Well whatever, going for the end!

Okay can I call upon myself the frame meme of Gravity Falls without actually showing it? I can't put more pictures 😅

"Oh, this."

"This is beautiful."

It's both extremely funny for the claw lego thingy, and meaningful. Only they could do that. Only those that really follow Ninjago could recognize this. I just like it a lot, the Tornado of Creation in its on way ❤💚💙🖤💦💎

(give me white and gray hearts emoji you COWARDS)

And of course, reunion for the finale

Sky you have no idea how happy I am to see you, girl I missed you a lot 😘 Also dat wink, Kai you might be the next to the yang proposal 😙 Cyrus is okay, I'm happy, and random Ronin because why not? He has better things to do than being caught up with all this drama 🤣

AND THE POSTMAN IS THERE 😎 Of course, our greatest ruler appear! 💪💪💪

While at the end that little moment between Wu and Garmy, I wonder what's waiting for the two sons of mister too shy for facing the camera 😜

And of course our Ninjago alphabet, THE END, with mama dragon who seems to be okay, good 😊 Pretty cool

Well guys, this is it. I enjoyed, no matter how it could've gone as a full season or other formats, it's refreshing knowing that they still remember stuff from the very beginning (MONTGOMERY 🤣🤣🤣). I think we had a good ending for a good beginning to a new fragment of Ninjago, involving what, I have no idea 😅 Also I really appreciate what they did with my Kai, the hotheaded, cocky but selfless warrior that I love so much. Thanks a lot ❤❤

Guess we'll find out sooner or later what's in store for this show, for now I'm done! Thank you guys a lot for all the notes in the last post, you guys are amazing! 😁

Nothing else to say, see ya around! 💜

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sunniapplepie · 5 years

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Sunni's thoughts on the Tryforce album!

I do this everytime GG puts out a new album (i THINK I did one for Cool Patrol also but i gotta check- ANYWAY)

Here's my post of what I thought of the album and, this is my opinions so not everyone will agree. Take it with a grain of salt, I'm just sayin how I feel:)

RATING SYSTEM IS 10/10 process. 10 being best, 5 being average, 1 being buttfucking bad.

Intro:

It was cute, a nice way to start the album off with a bang. I will say tho, I noticed the theme of "its our last album" really hangs over the whole tracklist from this and that kinda throws off the good vibes. Like, yeah its the last one, but maybe not make it a huge deal that it is.

8/10

Hardest Game in the Fucking World:

I'm in the middle with this one. On the one hand, it's Dan and Arin lamenting on how hard Dark Souls is (and tbh same), but on the other hand...it's literally them lamenting about how hard the game is. Also it's from their perspective and not a game character which is weird but a cool change of pace. The lady in the intro got me confused tho, like WHO ARE YOU???

6/10

A Boy and his Boat:

My favorite of the songs of the ones they did as an MV. I love the beat so much, it has that smooth feel to it like I wanna just chill out by a pool. Dan sounds sooooo good in the bg vocals, and tbh the Zelda raps are always the best so- I'm glad this lived up to the hype. Side note the Disneyland line got me all happy inside XP

10/10

Filling in the Name Of:

So I guess this is a Tetris one? It was a little hard to figure out what it was till I listened a bit longer- and I guess Arin is the long piece that gets used all the time. A pretty funny concept xp I got all happy when Brian showed up- boy needs to be in more songs like when he was in Release the Kraken👍👍 the guitar and Arin excitement is damn good too omg

9/10

Welcome to the Mario Party

Okay this is the one I got all butthurt about before when the video came out- it's supposed to be a smooth jam and Arin is imitating Snoop Dogg, but ehhhh it's kinda just meh for me. The bridge is okay, the beat is nice, I kinda love/hate the inclusion of TWRP, like them being in it makes it sound like a real party slow jam, but also kinda cramps the style of the whole album since this is the only song that has this style to it. Also Dan does fuck all in this one and sounds super monotoned- I liked the line about him losing his invite in the mail tho- but overall, meh

5/10

Dream Daddy- A Dad Dating Skit

....the fuck was this crap?

@ GG, please don't make it like you're money hungry, because that whole skit, makes Arin and Dan seem like they're doing this for quick cash and that's REALLY not good. Couldn't we have gotten a dream daddy rap? No? ....k then. Still sucks tho.

3/10

Donkey Kong Joonyer:

It wasn't good. Like...at all. Its honestly the worst rap of the whole album. It's a one note joke, repeated for the whole run time. And it's not funny. Kinda offensive, and also really fucking dumb.

1/10

A Wild Guitar Solo Appears!:

HELL YEAH A POKEMON RAP!

Honestly this one brought back memories of me trying to learn the last pokemon rap and then listening to the first one at my grandmother's house YEARS ago. A lotta nostalgia in this one, plus the guitar solo was pretty sweet. I will say tho, I don't know if imma remember this one as much as the others. Still really liked it but I feel the other two were better? Also loved the interaction with Ash and Pikachu, it was honestly hella cute. But overall, a very good song!

7/10

The Simple Plot of Kingdom Hearts

...alright so....

This was the song I was dreading because, you guys know I'm a big kh fan and I was thinking I was gonna love it or hate it. Honestly, this one is pretty cute, and I really liked how much the announcer was actually trying to make sense of the plot this time instead of getting butthurt that it's going on for too long xp I did notice tho, they only cover the first game and not the entire storyplot which Id say is a missed opportunity but also a good choice since you don't wanna confuse everyone like crazy, even tho the firsy game KINDA does that anyway. They also made it a big deal that hey, it's the last album this is the last song last last LASTONE, and I'm not a fan of that but fine -_- it was still cute tho- gotta listen to it again to catch the points of the game they made.

8/10

Arin Checks the Mic:

ARIN WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO BE SO GOOD AT RAPPING?? LIKE, I WAS IN SHOCK THE WHOLE TIME, HE SOUNDS SO GOOD, HE WAS GOLDEN

10/10

Blowing the Payload:

Eh. It's the overwatch rap and I'm not 100% into the game anyway from the one time I played and failed miserably, but I mean- it's an okay concept. Reminds me a lot of Robots in Need of Disguise, with it being super mundane but shit happens that completely ridiculous. I did make a point before tho, Dan sounds completely unenthusiastic the whole time and yeah he's playing a guy who's playing other people so the voice shouldn't technically change, but I feel like it should have just to make it funnier (like the guy is trying so hard to get into a character to come off convincing) but then again, him not giving a shit is also kinda funny? So meh, in the middle with that. Not a fan of Arin yelling the whole time tho- it's just got KINDA annoying. Just a smidge.

6/10

Vegeta's Serenade:

Im confused as to why there's a Dragonball rpa in a video game album but sure- OKAY ARIN I STG YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME CRY, YOU SOUND SO BEAUTIFUL ACTUALLY SINGING THIS TIME AND IT'S SO NICE- WHY DIDN'T YOU AND DAN SING TOGETHER THO- MISSED OPPORTUNITY GODDAMMIT BUT IT WAS STILL SUPER GOOD

10/10

This Song Sucks:

Not gonna say this song sucks but- it's not....good either? Lol

It's also in the middle for me- its them poking fun at themselves for the album layout where again, they say it's the last one yada yada, guys don't hammer it in- we get it.

That aside, they were kinda just throwing out what I assume is scrapped ideas for songs they never did- sad but tbh I can see how this would be a good idea and I like it. The Sonic Boom slam tho, BEST PART AND I WAS SHOOKETH.

7/10

Outro:

A perfect sendoff to the whole album. Not my favorite outro but then again, the outtros and intros were never my favorite anyway? But it got me all sentimental- this is probably their last album (if jamming it down our throats that it was the last wasn't already obvious). But still, it's cute xp

9/10

FINAL THOUGHTS

The whole album itself, has this kinda unfocused feeling, like they don't exactly have a consistent flow of songs that go with the mood- its just a "throw to the wall and see what sticks" kinda feel, for me anyway.

I think in the long run, Player Select will still be my favorite along the albums, and Tryforce might be...number 2? Yeah the first Starbomb Album is not my favorite I'm sorry xp

Then again, Starbomb 1 had more songs I hated than actually liked, so this is an improvement.

As the last album goes, it could have been a lot better but for what we got? Pretty good! Had some stinkers tho, not gonna deny that.

Damn guys, this has been a long ass journey, and Starbomb-thought not as special to me as NSP, still holds a lot of nostalgia and sentimental value to me. Tryforce isn't the best of the albums, but its a really nice sendoff to all these years of Starbomb. Hope it isn't the LAST time tho...

#sunni talks #starbomb #the tryforce

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insanely-creative-things · 5 years

Text

Big Hero 7: The Series

www.fanfiction.net

Big Hero 7

Steamer’s Revenge and Oceanic secrets

*The action seven news starts playing as it shows Bluff Dunder giving his report.*

Dunder: Crime in San Fransokyo at an all-time low according to a new study released today by the Department of news studies.

*Behind him, the screen shot of Big Hero 7 appears.*

Dunder: Thank you Big Hero 7, since there's nothing else going on, today we begin the twelve part series on 'Foods I don't care for'. Part one: Yams.

*The screen shows itself at Hiro's garage with Baymax watching it. Hiro and Cora are currently studying over the connections of Obake.*

Baymax: The yam has a high amount of vitamin B5, C, and nutritional fiber.

*Cora studies over the pictures along with Hiro as Baymax turns around to face the two teens.*

Baymax: Hiro? Cora?

*On the bulletin board, Hiro and Cora have pinned various pictures of what they had connected to Obake, ranging from Lenore Shimamoto to Noodle Burger Boy and Globby's involvement. *

Baymax: Hiro, Cora.

*When Hiro and Cora didn't respond, Baymax raised his volume.*

Baymax: Hiro. Cora.

Hiro and Cora: Ahh!

Baymax: Has your hearing become impaired?

*Hiro rushes in while Cora covers her ears.*

Cora: It will be soon if you don't lower the volume!

*Hiro lowers the volume quickly and soon Baymax returns to his regular voice.*

Baymax: Can you two hear me now?

Hiro: Uh sorry Baymax, we were just distracted.

*Baymax waddles towards the bulletin board.*

Cora: This is what we've got so far...

Hiro: And we know this is all connected. *Points to a photo of the painting 'City Rising' that is on the bulletin board* Like this painting I-I bet Globby stole it for Obake but-but why?

Cora: Whatever it is, it must be for something big he's planning. But what it is, why he even needs the painting and how all of this fits together... That's the million-dollar mystery.

Hiro: A mystery that we've gotta figure out before it's too late. Nothing's more important.

*Hiro and Cora walk over to the screen computer where they are soon greeted by Fred.*

Fred: Hiro! Cora! There's nothing more important than what I'm about to tell you two! *Suddenly spots the bulletin board behind them*...Wait is that a conspiracy wall? Nice...

*Hiro and Cora sigh before they focus on him.*

Hiro: Fred, what is it?

Fred: Oh! Wasabi's birthday is in three days as you can see on my birthday wall*Shows them a bulletin board of his own with Wasabi's picture on it along with various birthday-themed pictures and ideas*.

Cora: Oh cool! A little much, but cool!

*The gang all arrive at Fred's mansion to discuss about Wasabi's upcoming birthday with Honey Lemon writing ideas on a dry-erase board.*

Honey Lemon: So what should we get Wasabi for his birthday?

Fred: I say we get him a custom-made dandy boy costume!

Gogo: Dandy boy?

Fred: Duh! Captain Fancy's number two, he's like my second favorite sidekick! *To Mini-Max* Don't worry Mini-Max, you'll always be my first favorite.

Mini-Max: I was not worried.

Fred: Sure you weren't.

Mini-Max: It is true! The defense of the principles of goodness consumes my thoughts at all times!

Fred: Mm-hmm yeah again, sure you weren't

*Honey Lemon goes back to the board.*

Honey Lemon: Ooh I got it! What if we got Wasabi a puppy!

*But Baymax shuts it down.*

Baymax: Wasabi is allergic to all species of canine.

Honey Lemon: Aww...

Cora: It's okay Honey Lemon. It was a good idea.

Honey Lemon: I guess Pablo the puppy could live with me and Gogo. Right Gogo?

Gogo: Oh boy... you named it..

Honey Lemon: Pablo!

Cora: *Whispers to Hiro* Do you think Honey Lemon and Gogo should just kiss and get it over with?

*Hiro simply shrugs and nods in response as he's busy looking up something on his phone.*

Gogo: We should just give Wasabi cash in a paper bag. He can do what he wants with it no questions asked.

*But Honey Lemon, being the bright bubbly sunshine that she is, isn't happy with giving Wasabi something so mundane.*

Gogo: Why aren't you writing that down?

Hiro: Guys!

*That's when Hiro speaks up and shows them a photo of himself, Tadashi, Cora, Baymax and the rest of the gang hanging around Wasabi's old car.*

Hiro: You know how Wasabi's car is still stuck in the bay? What if we got it out and fixed it up for him?

Honey Lemon: That's also a great idea!

Gogo: I'm in.

Cora: *Kisses Hiro on the cheek* Perfect gift idea babe! Wasabi's gonna love it!

Fred: Someone should distract Wasabi while you guys fix the car.

Hiro: Good call Fred.

*Just as Fred and Mini-Max are alone in the room, the news turns on.*

Dunder: We interrupt 'Foods I don't care for' for some actual news. Boss Awesome, beloved San Fransokyo superhero is now larger than life thanks to this beautiful brand-new Mega Monument in the bay. The Super Statue was a gift from...*Whispers to crewmen as he leaves for a moment* Who is it a gift from?

Fred: That's my dad! Boss Awesome! They're always making statues of him...usually not this big though..

Mini-Max: According to the Heropedia, Boss Awesome is considered the greatest superhero of all time!

Fred: Yeah, he's made the cover of Super People magazine like ten times.

Mini-Max: It would be extremely difficult for his offspring to measure up to such a remarkable legacy!

Fred: Yeah it would...

Dunder: *Coming back while still whispering to the crewman* Well find out! I look like a super idiot out here without a story!

Fred: *Now realizing what Mini-Max just said* Wait! I'M his offspring! Oh boy...never thought about that..

Dunder: *Suddenly getting another big story to report* Oh! This is also just in! Lately there have been a number of recent disappearances off the coast of San Fransokyo Bay! All citizens, fishermen or wealthy citizens that had left from the docks had soon vanished completely without a trace as soon as they headed out to open sea and there has been no word from any of them since! What's even more baffling is that no one, not even local authorities, seem to have any idea as to what is causing it! Just what has happened to our sailing sailors?! All citizens are advise to stay away from San Fransokyo Bay until this issue has been resolved and the missing citizens have been found. However, if anyone has any information on what might be causing these disappearances, you are advise to contact local authorities at once! But for now, all we can do is hope and pray that the missing citizens are all still alive and well.

*Fred turns around to see a list of people and their boats listed under missing..and all last seen around the same bay where they crashed Wasabi's car.*

Fred:...We gotta tell the others about this...

*Back at the garage, Hiro, Cora and Baymax arrive.*

Hiro: If we're gonna fish Wasabi's car out of the bay, we're gonna need some new underwater gear.

Cora: And since you have yours truly as your resident Marine Bio student, I'm more than happy to lend a hand.*Winks at them*

*Hiro fist-bumps Baymax and Cora and soon set to work on their underwater gear. Hiro designs the gear while Cora adds in features that would help them better navigate the bay. Soon after they are ready, all dressed in swimwear that's color-coded in black, red, and blue.*

Hiro: Suit warmer on.

*Hiro and Cora walk towards the end of the dock.*

Cora: Let's dive!

*Soon Hiro and Cora dive off the dock and into the water gracefully.*

Baymax: I cannot dive.

*Baymax simply walks off the dock and enters the water with a splash. Once they open their eyes, Cora playfully swims around Hiro, smiling at him warmly as she swiftly swims through the water, causing Hiro to smile back until Baymax soon joins them. Once Baymax arrives, Hiro and Cora set to work on finding Wasabi's car, using a tracker to find it. The glow that radiated from their suits was to light their way through the dark water, swimming past the coral and fish along the way. While Cora wanted nothing more than to swim around and study the fish, she reminds herself to focus on Wasabi's car first and than study them later. And it was already nice that Hiro is swimming with her as of now. Just then from out of now where, an eel circles around all three of them.*

Hiro: *Startled by the eel's sudden appearance and drops the tracker* Ah!

Baymax: *Holds out a hand to the eel as it swims around them* Hello.

Cora: *Giggles as the eel swims around them* Hi there!

*The eel then swims past them. Cora then grabs the tracker and places it back into Hiro's hands.*

Cora: Don't worry, she's non-electrical, and they're harmless.

Hiro: Thanks *Checks the tracker* I think I got it!

*The three swim forward to see Wasbi's car, overgrown with seaweed and barnacles. Hiro and Cora push aside the seaweed when they both catch a glimpse of a shark inside the car. Hiro's face goes pale with fear while Cora remains calm as the shark swims out and passed them.*

Cora: It's okay Hiro, great whites don't normally attack people unless they're provoked, and we don't look like seals.

*But then Cora hears something..a sort of..melody that's seems to be singing from the far distance

Cora: *Narrows her eyes as she mutters confusingly while listening to the strange, distant melody* What?...

Hiro: Cora watch out!

*Cora is then brought out of her musings as she's pushed down as the great white suddenly lunges towards her without warning. Hiro then grabs Cora's hand and swims fast towards Baymax.*

Hiro: Baymax! Sonic Blaster!

Cora: Wait! Don't-

*But Baymax obeys Hiro's command while reassuring Cora.*

Baymax: It is alright. This will not hurt the shark.

*When the sonic rays are fired, it sends the shark flying across the water and out of sight. Cora looks at Hiro and Baymax in confusion.*

Cora: I don't understand. Judging from the movement earlier, that great white wouldn't had seen us a threat...heck we're even glowing the pattern that shows the fish and such that we're completely harmless AND that we're not to eat!

Hiro: It's okay Cora. I don't know what ticked him off but we're safe now. *To Baymax* Thanks Baymax.

Baymax: You are welcome.

*Soon Hiro and Cora set to work on bringing up Wasabi's car and hooked it up to Baymax. Cora notices a small crab on the ocean floor to which Cora picks it up and gently boops its head.*

Cora: *Smile playfully at the crab* Boop.

*Cora than places the crab back down on the ocean floor before catching up to Hiro and Baymax. Soon the three of them swim up to the surface when Cora hears something strange in the distance again.*

Cora: Hey, do you hear that?

Hiro: Hear what?

*The three remain silent for a moment as the strange sound is revealed to be some sort of voice that seemed to be singing somewhere out in the distance.*

Hiro: Is someone...singing?

Cora: That's impossible, the water would mute any sound above the surface and it would have the tell..tale..sign... uhh...so.. sleepy...

*That's when Hiro notices Cora slowly drifting as her eyes start to close.*

Hiro: *Starts to shake Cora by her shoulders trying to wake her up before he also starts drifting off too* H-hey! Cora! What's going on with you?! Now's not the time to...sleep..we...ugh... get... home...

Baymax: Hiro, Cora. Is something the matter?

*Whatever happened next, happened almost in an instant and in flashes. Images of Baymax trying to push away something, Hiro and Cora seemingly fast asleep and sinking to the bottom of the Bay, a mechanical drill emerging from the sand, the crab Cora had picked up before was sent flying through the water, figures swimming gracefully as they grabs the sleeping teens and swim off with them, then darkness. The next thing that happened, was Baymax lying on the shore on a bright and sunny day(not remembering how he got there), dressed in his water suit, with Wasabi's car, but without Hiro and Cora anywhere in sight.*

Baymax: *Sitting up as he looks around and doesn't see or sense either Hiro or Cora anywhere and realizes that they're missing* Oh no.

*As of while, Fred is heading straight to his limo where Wasabi is waiting for him.*

Fred: Okay Birthday Boy! Where do you feel like going on your special day? The arcade? The zoo? The arcade?

Wasabi: Actually, I was thinking of going Buck Wild! Let's hit my favorite store, The Organized Gentlemen!

Fred: Oh... that sounds... fun..?

*Honey Lemon and Gogo are at the garage waiting for Hiro, Cora, and Baymax to show up with the car.*

Honey Lemon: I wonder what's taking them so long? They said they would have it at the garage already.

Gogo: Maybe they hit the traffic.

*As of while, Baymax is slowly walking towards the garage alone, carefully making his way back home with the barnacle-infected and seaweed-covered car tied behind him. Later on that night, Wasabi is with his friends, even though it was odd to see Hiro, Cora, and Baymax not here with them. But none-the-less, Honey Lemon, Gogo, Fred, Kaguya, Mizuchi, and Aunt Cass are there to celebrate Wasabi's birthday.*

Everyone else: Happy Birthday dear Wasabi! Happy Birthday to you!~

Fred: Haha! Alright!

Wasabi: It's my sock drawer! And it's a cake!

Cass: Oh and don't worry none of the frostings are touching!

Wasabi: It's perfect!..except you got the plaid and the argyle mixed up, but still it's good!

Gogo: Wasabi, just blow out your candles.

Baymax: *Just now arriving* Birthday cakes have a significant increase in bacteria on the surface after candles are extinguished.

*Just then, they all see the large figure of Baymax in his swim gear in front of the entrance way of the cafe.*

Honey Lemon: Baymax!

Gogo: There you are.

Wasabi: Baymax! Where were you all?!

*But when they walk towards the robotic nurse, they noticed something, or rather, 'two someones' were missing.*

Gogo: Hey, where're Hiro and Cora?

Fred: *Whispers* and where's the car?

*The gang then look behind Baymax to see the car...still covered in seawater and barnacles..to which Wasabi is stuck between shock and disgust at his car.*

Wasabi: Wait, is that my car? Wha- how? When did you get it?

Baymax: I can show you the data I have collected when we went out in the bay. But first I must remove the swim gear.

Honey Lemon: We'll help you Baymax.

*That's when the gang turn to Aunt Cass, Mizuchi, and Kaguya with raised eyebrows.*

Honey Lemon: *Tries to cover up what's going on with a smile and an excuse* It's okay! Hiro and Cora are just out getting a last minute birthday present for Wasabi!

Fred: *Playing along to try and be convincing* Yeah! And while they're doing that, we're just gonna go to the garage and remove the clown suit from Baymax!

Cass: *Raises an eyebrow in confusion* Never seen a clown suit like that before.

Fred: It's modern!

*Once the gang get to the garage and remove the swim gear from Baymax, he pulls up the screen on his belly where it shows Hiro and Cora swimming across the Bay...then just around where they hook up the car is where the next scenes are blurred and ultimately ends in static.*

Honey Lemon: *Covers her mouth with her hands in shock at what she saw**Gasp*!

Gogo: *Narrows her eyes at the footage* Baymax. What the heck happened last night?

Baymax: I am not sure. My memory bank of last night's events afterwards are sadly damaged. The last thing I do remember after that was finding myself on the beach. But I do not remember how I got there. When I saw that Hiro and Cora were not with me. I realized they were missing. So I made my way back here to inform you all of what has happened.

Honey Lemon: *Now getting very worried for the young teens* So does this mean that Hiro and Cora are lost somewhere out in the ocean now?! Oh no! We've gotta find them!

Wasabi: *Confused by the whole situation* Wait a minute... Baymax, why were you, Hiro and Cora out in the ocean in the middle of the night to begin with?

*Before Baymax can answer, Gogo facepalms before she answers for him.*

Gogo: Hiro, Cora, and Baymax went out last night to fish out your car and repair it for your birthday today.

Wasabi: *Surprised and touched* Really!? Oh you guys! That is so sweet!...*And than goes back to being confused* But then, why aren't they here now? Just what could have happened to them?

Fred: *Nervously rubs his neck as he remembers the news report he saw that he was suppose to tell them about earlier* Uh.. guys? There's something you should know...

*Fred pulls out his phone to show the recent news about the ocean.*

Gogo: *Reads the news report but does not understand nor is impressed* Okay... So a new statue of Boss Awesome is up in the Bay..what do that have to do with what happened to Hiro and Cora?

Fred: What?*Looks at his phone and sees that it's showing the wrong news story* Whoops! Sorry, wrong news story! Hold on a sec!

*Fred lowers the screen on his phone to show the news article about the recent disappearances of people who had gone out on the Bay.*

Fred: Aw! Here it is! This is what I meant to show you guys!

*The rest of the gang gather round to properly read the news report about the disappearances that have been happening around the Bay as of late and already they're starting to have suspicions as to what could have happened to the young teens*

Honey Lemon: What?

Wasabi: So, you think that whatever's been causing these mysterious disappearances might have something to do with Hiro and Cora going missing too?

Fred: Oh I don't think, I know! The news reports all say that everyone who has gone out from the bay have completely vanished without a trace and haven't been heard from since! And I think whatever is causing it, got Hiro and Cora last night too!

Gogo: Hmm. Well whatever it is, it's not gonna stop us from finding them... but first...

*The gang turn to Wasabi's car. Gogo let's out a dangerous smile as she pulls out her gear.*

Gogo: We're gonna have to upgrade your car Wasabi.

*Somewhere at the bottom of the bay, the little crab is walking along the ocean floor until it comes across an entrance nearby and is quickly sucked inside where it is soon revealed to be another lab where Obake is. As it turns out, the little crab is actually a robotic spy for the man as it scurries up his shoulder as he observes some of the liquid in a vial. The robotic crab soon lowers down onto the keyboard to show the data it has collected last night. When the crab finishes uploading the files, it shows the video where it first shows Cora booping the little robot, to which Obake chuckles, then to the three of them swimming up to the surface.*

Obake: They like to keep busy...Well so do I..

*But no sooner as he says that, the lab starts to shake with tremors. This causes Obake to put the vial he was observing back with the others and than push a few buttons to show on the computer screen what is going on outside via security cameras, which reveals a large drill tunneling up through the ocean floor. Obake touches the image of the drill of the cam footage which shows who is behind it along with a complete profile.

Obake: Baron Von Steamer?... *Swipes away the profile with distaste* Stupid name...

*Soon his attention returns to the data collected by his little robotic crab when he sees that the following footage shows static and cut pictures along with muffled voices. Obake frowns at this and searches through the corrupted video footage, where he did find one clue on what might have happened. Which just so happens to be Baron Von Steamer's drill.*

Obake: *Narrows his eyes at this* Hmm... So this old Steamer fool was around while those two were down here and when the data started malfunctioning... Somehow, I doubt he could be responsible for this. This requires more looking in to...

*Back at the garage, Gogo manages to fix up Wasabi's car in no time, along with some added features to improve the car and soon they are off to the San Fransokyo Dock Control. Though it is rather difficult due to the fact that there is traffic up ahead. While they drive there, they attempt to do small talk to pass the time as they look at the statue of Boss Awesome standing in the Bay in the distance.*

Gogo: Your Dad's statue looks cool.

Wasabi: Huh... It's a lot bigger in person.

Fred: Okay fine, I get it. I'll never measure up to my Dad, who is so awesome it's actually in his name!

Gogo: Whatever, you don't have to be him.

Honey Lemon: You be you Freddy!

*That's when Fred's phone rings.*

Fred: Heathcliff my man! What do you want?

Heathcliff: Master Frederick, an urgent message from Baron Von Steamer.

Fred: On the phone?

Heathcliff: No...

*Fred looks at the others before they decided.*

Gogo: *Taking charge* Okay, Here's what we're gonna do. First, we drop you, Baymax, and Honey Lemon off at your place, then Wasabi and I will head to the docks and talk to the patrol officers about the disappearances. Send us any info you get from Steamer's message, we'll let you know if we hear anything about Hiro and Cora. Got it?

Fred: Got it!

Honey Lemon: Agreed!

Wasabi: Sound's like a plan!

*Soon the car takes a sharp U turn towards Fred's mansion where Fred, Baymax and Honey are dropped off and they head on in. Once in Fred's room, Heathcliff rolls out a film reel to display Baron Von Steamer's message.*

Heathcliff: The Baron's message sir.

Fred: Oh. Hit the lights Mini-Max.

Mini-Max: I thrive on being useful!

*Once the lights turn off, Baymax looks down at his belly along with Fred and Honey Lemon as the image projects itself.*

Steamer: Greetings Boss Awesome, it is I! Baron Von Steamer, your arch nemesis.

Fred: He really could have just phoned...

Steamer: Meet me in Night Market Square by tomorrow at noon for an epic showdown! Otherwise I'll dramatic pause destroy the city!... W-w-wait I-I didn't mean to read 'dramatic pause' but in fact...pause dramatically well you get the gist! *Laughs evilly*

*The video ends and it leaves Honey Lemon, Fred, and Baymax confused until Baymax recollects something in his memory bank.*

Baymax: I have seen Baron Von Steamer last night.

Honey Lemon: What?! Are you sure?

*Baymax pulls up his own video file where the same images display until Honey Lemon sees a familiar drill emerge from the ocean floor.*

Honey Lemon: That's him! He was there!

Fred: Which also means he kidnapped Hiro and Cora! And is holding them hostage!

*Unbeknownst to them however, they are being spied on by Obake and Noodle Burger Boy.*

N.B.B: Gee mister, that old-timey guy sure is gonna mess with your plans.

Obake: Big Hero 7 lives for this sort of thing... Though I wonder how they'll do without Hiro and Cora by their side this time. It'd be rather disappointing if they were to fail miserably without their leader and second-in-command to guild them.

*Honey Lemon, Fred, and Baymax are now in Fred III's secret lair to contact him and ask him for help but he is currently busy, along with Wasabi and Gogo over on screen chat to catch up on the news.*

Frederickson the III: I wish I could help son but-

Fred: I know.. I know you're halfway across the world at the family rainforest preserve saving the sloths.

Frederickson the III: *Showing a baby sloth on his arm* She thinks I'm her Mommy.

Honey Lemon: You'd probably would't make it in time anyway.

Frederickson the III: Steamer has pulled this same stunt a dozen times.

Baymax: Which is to threaten to destroy an entire city unless he has an epic showdown with you.

Frederickson the III: Bingo!

Honey Lemon: But how did you beat him?

Mini-Max: Yes! I am confused. According to Heropedia, you we're repeatedly captured!

Frederickson the III: While he gloated about his plans, I bust out and save the day.

Fred: Of course! It's Villainy 101! The villains always monologue when they capture the hero, which allows said hero to escape and save the day!

Frederickson the III: Like clockwork.

Honey Lemon: Hmmm... Hiro and Cora don't know about this so...*Gets an idea* I think I got it! I think we should dress up Fred as Boss Awesome!

Wasabi: And wait for Steamer to reveal his plan so we can be ready to stop him!

Fred: What happened to me being me?!

Gogo: New plan: You be him.

Frederickson the III: what do you say son?

Fred: Classic!

Gogo: Alright, Wasabi and I are at the dock patrol station now. We'll let you know if we learn or hear anything about Hiro and Cora.

Honey Lemon: Good luck you guys!

*Gogo shuts off her phone as Wasabi and herself enter inside the patrol station.*

Gogo: Hey, we need to talk to the chief.

Sea dog: You're looking at him.

Gogo: I'll cut to the chase, what do you guys know about the disappearances?

Sea Dogs: I've already gone over it with the victims' families and they all said the said thing, they left the docks with nothing bad happening to them, and than as soon as they headed out to open sea, they just vanished. We even scoured through the weather patterns and found no storms that may have sunk any of the boats or ships.

Wasabi: *Whispers to Gogo* Do you think Steamer is the one responsible for all the disappearances and is just holding all the missing people hostage?

*Gogo grunts in irritation as she speaks to the man again.*

Gogo: Two of our friends have just gone out to sea and they haven't returned since last night-

*That's when they all heard the sound of a door opening to reveal the person opening the door as Kaguya. The old woman's face is riddled with fear as she overheard the conversation.*

Wasabi:...Oops...

*Soon the two college students are talking to Kaguya outside the station about (Closely as the truth) how Hiro and Cora were last seen with Baymax in the Bay.*

Kaguya: And where is Baymax? He must have had the memory files stored so he must've seen what had happened.

Wasabi: Uh M-Ma'am... I don't know how to tell you this, but we already tried looking through Baymax's memory files and there was nothing but static and some cut pictures. Who knows what happened to them?

*Kaguya shakes her head before she turns to face them sternly.*

Kaguya: If this is about how I should not be aware of Big Hero 7's work due to me only being a civilian you are sorely mistaken.

Wasabi: *Freaking out now* What?!

Gogo: *Eyes widen in surprise before narrowing at the older woman* You knew?!

Wasabi: *Still freaking out* Since when?!

Kaguya:.. *Sigh* Since the electric train incident months ago. I'm old but I'm not blind.. Now then, tell me why I should not go to Baymax to search for them.

Wasabi: *Starts to calm down from his freak out attack as he explain the whole situation to Kaguya* Well... I was telling the truth about Baymax's memory files of last night being all messed up... But the bigger reason is that there's this old guy named Steamer, he's an old enemy of Boss Awesome and we think he may be holding them and the other missing citizens hostage unless Boss Awesome agrees on battling him...

Kaguya: Hmm.. Still.. I want to see Baymax's footage. I am a grandmother and Cass and Mizuchi are already worried sick since Hiro and Cora are out there and haven't returned as of yet..which you all have clearly forgotten about. Now.. take me to Baymax.

*The next day, Fred is training at the koi fish pond trying to catch the koi with a video screen showing his father cheering him on.*

Frederickson the III: Classic!

Mini-Max: It is an honor to work with a world renowned champion of justice!

Fred: Stop man-crushing on my Dad Mini-Max, you're making it mini-maximum awkwardness for everyone. *Pushes Heathcliff who is holding Mini-Max away*

Frederickson the III: Okay son, the key to being Boss Awesome is

Fred: Say Classic a lot?

Frederikson the III: Absolutely. Hey but also, I've got signature moves!

*Fred pulls up a magazine featuring his father and starts exciting flipping through the pages.*

Fred: The Coffee Table!

*Onscreen, Fred's father pulls out his signature move exactly so. Which was a hard side kick to a tree that caused a small section of the tree to go flying while the top half of the tree miraculously fell into perfect place with the bottom half with falling over.*

Fred: The Dentist!

*The older man carves out a smile on a tree with his bare fist.*

Fred: The Twister!

*Once punch had lead the tree to have a hole going all the way in through its trunk.*

Fred: Okay okay! My turn!

*Soon cardboard cutouts of every villain they faced so far popped up for Fred to practice his father's skills on.*

Fred: The Inverted Arrow!

*But when Fred tried to perform the move, 'Globby' knocked him back down.*

Fred: Ouch..No.. that wasn't right... The Summer Wind!

*But each move he tries to perform only causes more failure on Fred's part. *

Fred: The Blender!

*But Fred knocks himself out after trying to knock out 'Yama' and 'Barb'.*

Fred: *Groaning* 90% there though!

*Then Heathcliff comes dressed in a poorly put together costume as Baron Von Steamer.*

Heathcliff: It is I... Baron Von Steamer.

Frederickson the III: Okay son, give the Five-Poke Polka Troy!

Fred: Is that the one where you do a double backflip, land on their shoulders, poke them in five pressure points causing temporarily paralysis?

Frederickson the III: That's the one!

Fred: *Deep breath* Here goes nothing...

*Fred back flips through the air and lands on Heathcliff's shoulders and pokes him in 5 places. Heathcliff drops down laughing.*

Heathcliff: *Giggles then clears throat* Oh I'm sorry sir. But I'm extremely ticklish.

Mini-Max: I see no paralysis, only delight!

*As of while, after explaining everything to the rest of the team, Fred makes a quick call to Alistair Krei to help out Kaguya and Baymax in searching for Hiro and Cora. Soon Krei, Kaguya, Baymax, and his assistant are out sailing towards the Bay.*

Krei: *Talking to Kaguya while also trying to understand in her already knowing about her granddaughter's secret of being a superhero* Okay okay, so let me get this straight. You knew about Big Hero 7 all this time, knew that two of them was your own granddaughter and her boyfriend, but didn't say anything about it? Why?

Kaguya: *Staring intently out at the open sea while answering Krei's question* I was waiting for when Cora would come clean about her superhero activities in her own time, but now that has change and I will let her know that I know once we find her and Hiro.

Krei: *Awkwardly* Aw..okay then... Second... Your son is a very helpful person... best security guard out there!...but I take it he still doesn't know about his daughter and her boyfriend being superheroes?...

Kaguya: *Looks at him sharply and replies just as sharp ans stern* Son-in-law, young man. Akemi is my daughter. And no he does not know anything about Cora and Hiro being part of Big Hero 7 *Gives him a hard and scary look as she continues* And it would do you well to not say a single word to him or anyone else about this. Understood?

Krei: *Now actually feeling scared towards the older woman* Very understood ma'am! Practically crystal clear! My lips are sealed! *Laughs nervously as Kaguya goes back to looking out at the open sea and tries to ease the uneasy awkwardness by going back to conversing with the older woman* So...you mentioned your daughter before, Cora's mother right?

*Baymax pulls up the photo of Akemi, Cora's mother for reference. Krei sees the picture and recollects when Cora coldly shot him down when he attempted to learn more about her mother.*

Krei: Ah yes...Lovely daughter you have..or rather 'had' there...I can see where Cora got her looks from. *Laughs awkwardly before clearing his throat and tries to be respectful* I am sorry for your loss though...

Kaguya: *Sighs but continues to keep looking at the sea* Cora is all Mizuchi and I have left... we have tried our hardest to keep her safe from them...

Krei:*Now a little confused*...Them? Whose' 'them'?

Baymax: *Interrupts them as he points forward* There is a large fog bank up ahead.

*Kaguya looks up in the direction Baymax is pointing and sees that the fog is thick enough to cover the ocean up ahead as they leave behind the San Fransokyo Bay. Meanwhile, Obake is still in his undersea lab conducting experiments on the salt water.*

N.B.B: What'cha doing mister?

Obake: Converting H2O into D2O.

N.B.B: What'cha doing that for?

Obake: Isolating the deuterium water into fuel.

N.B.B: What's deuterium mister?

*Bothered by N.B.B's constant questions, he pulls out a remote and points it to N.B.B.*

N.B.B: Nifty remote mister! What exactl-

*The remotes shuts down Noodle Burger Boy immediately.*

Obake:... Now...where was I?

*That's when he notices that his little crab bot's video file is recording Krei's yacht, heading out towards the open ocean with Baymax and an old woman along.*

Obake: Hmmm... *Orders the crab bot* follow that yacht. There may be something interesting that is bound to happen.

*The crab bot then scurries through the water and than jumps up to latch itself on a life preserver to join them on their search party for Hiro and Cora. Meanwhile, Fred enters his father's secret lair and dons on his father's old super suit to face off against Baron Von Steamer... complete with mustache.*

Frederickson the III: Classic!

Fred: Oh boy.. Dad. I don't know if I can fill your shoes... Seriously what size are these?

Frederickson the III: It's not how big your feet are, it's how big your heart is. And you are gonna be awesome.

Fred: Thanks Dad.

*Fred gives a hug to his father, even if he is a screen.. then the sloth tries to reach out.*

Fred: Private moment sloth!

Frederickson the III: Also, you also mentioned before about how people have been disappearing off the Bay recently? You're gonna check it out after the brawl?

Fred: Yeah!

Fredercikson the III: Steamer kidnapping Hiro and Cora is something he would do, but kidnapping a group of citizens? That's unlikely. Also... do you remember that film...The Mermaiden's Tale?

Fred: Yeah?

Frederickson the III: This might be a stretch, but that film was actually based off of an idea when the director found a mermaid statue on the beach of San Fransokyo. These statues are used to show people that their have been actual mermaid sightings.

Fred: *Eyes widen large at this* Wait...you mean... Actual Mermaids? For real?!

Frederickson the III: It's a possible theory. Anyway, good luck out there son. May Big Hero 7 win this battle.

*Wasabi is driving with Gogo and Honey Lemon to drop Fred off at Night Market Square.*

Gogo: *Fist bumps with Fred* Don't worry, we got you.

*Honey Lemon reaches out and hugs Fred.*

Honey Lemon: Be careful Freddy.

Wasabi: Good luck. The mustache is working!

Fred: Thanks Guys.

*And so the team drive off leaving Fred alone. Soon he taps in on his comm.*

Fred: *Whispers* Check check, one two.

Honey Lemon: *Responding on the comm* Loud and clear.

*As soon as he's sure he has clear communication, he starts practicing speaking like his father.*

Fred: Classic. Classic! Classic~!

*Soon the ground shakes violently until a giant drill comes up to the surface and soon reveals Baron Von Steamer.*

Steamer: Well, well, well. If it isn't my mortal enemy, Boss Awesome!

Fred: *(Poorly)Impersonating Boss Awesome* Yup that's me! Boss Awesome! Classic! ... *To himself* Nailed it.

*Soon a gust of steam pushes Fred to the ground.*

Fred: Ow! Oh no! You've captured me you fiend!

Steamer: Hmmm.. You look..different. **Gets a closer look at 'Boss Awesome'*

Fred: I-I do?... Is it my loose boots because I have an explanation for that.

Steamer: No no I..I like the boots. The boots works.. some-something else.

*The old man activates his eye to take a closer look at 'Boss Awesome', but Fred remains still as does Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Gogo.*

Steamer: You've been working out!

Everyone else: *Whew*

Fred: Oh ho ho You got me! Just joined a new gym! Yup! Gettin'-gettin' my swell on!

*Soon Steamer takes Fred hostage and takes him back to his drill and goes down the hole he made.*

Gogo: He's in.. and now we wait.

Honey Lemon: You can do this Freddy!

*Once 'Boss Awesome' is tied up and Steamer removes the bag from his head. Fred quickly looks left to right for any sign of Hiro and Cora, but sees it has minimal space...which means the teens are not here.*

Fred: *To himself* Oh no...

Steamer: I am going to make you watch the destruction of your beloved San Fransokyo before I destroy you! *Laughs evilly*

Fred: And...?

Steamer: And what?

Fred: Aren't you gonna tell me in great detail how you're going to destroy the city? Also if there's anyone else in here? Say maybe...other hostages?

Steamer: No. I'm just gonna destroy it. And you're the only person I've captured and taken hostage today.

Fred:...What?

Steamer: You see, I realized you always beat me cause I explained my plan right before I go through with it! But not this time! *Laughs evilly again*

Fred: But wouldn't it be fun to tell me?

*This does tempt the old man.*

Steamer: It would be delicious... But must resist oversharing!

Fred: Come on Steamer, no villain can resist the urge to revel in their brilliance.

Steamer: You're right! I can't resist.. a good revel! But that is why I'm taking precautions!

*Steamer pulls out duct tape and immediately tapes it over his mouth.*

Fred: Noooo!

*Steamer lets out his evil laugh, though it's muffled from the tape. And the three heard it all.*

Wasabi: Now what?

Honey Lemon: We have to figure out where the attack is going to come from.

Gogo: Yeah we do. But at least we know this much, he doesn't have Hiro and Cora.

Wasabi: Then where are they then? Oh I hope Baymax and Kaguya find them soon!

*Back at the ocean, the fog continues to grow as the captain steers the ship. Krei and his assistant are inside warming themselves while Baymax and Kaguya remain outside keeping a look out through the waters. Baymax brings a blanket and wraps it around Kaguya while also wrapping his arms around her in hug and activates his heating system to keep her warm.*

Baymax: The temperature is now 65.2 degrees Fahrenheit. It is advisable that you go inside for better chances of keeping warm.

*Kaguya does not respond and only keeps staring out at the fogged over-open sea with worry in her eyes. Baymax looks at Kaguya and scans her.*

Baymax: Your neuro transmitters are low, indicating you are scared.

Kaguya: *Sighs dejectedly as she looks down slightly* Yes Baymax, I am scared. I am a grandmother, and my grandchild and her loved one are all alone somewhere out at sea.

Baymax: Hiro is my primary patient along with Cora. Their health and well being are my responsibility. We will find them.

Kaguya:...What I worry most is that they may have found them...

Baymax: *Tilts his head* Who are 'they'?

*Kaguya takes a deep breath before she looks up to Baymax.*

Kaguya: They say family is built upon love, trust, and faith in each other. For a lot that is true... but for some not so much... My family...before I had my Akemi, do not respect others, they only serve themselves. They do not love, not even each other. All they ever do is take what they want, when they want and not care at all about who they hurt... And Mizuchi...Oh... That poor man has suffered enough..we can't loose Cora to any of them... Cora is the only family both of us have left.

*Baymax stays silent as he hears out the old woman's words, seeing her eyes grow melancholy in what is otherwise a strong and wise old woman. And the tone of voice when talking about her family is often connected to a negative home environment. Just then, Krei comes out with his assistant carrying tea.*

Krei: *Somewhat nervously* Okay, now I figured we bring you tea since it's so cold out here before we uh..talk.

Kaguya: *Takes a teacup.* What is it?

Krei: I think we should head back and go another day.

Kaguya: *Halts her actions as was about to take a sip of her tea before looking at Krei with a narrow-eyed glare*...What.

Krei: *Slightly intimidated by the older woman as he explains* Look Ma'am. I don't know if you know this, but there have been a lot of other disappearances that have taken place out here and I'm not risking us being the next 'missing' victims!

Kaguya: *Sternly raises her voice* My granddaughter and Hiro are out there somewhere in the ocean all alone!

Krei: They're smart kids, they can take care of themselves! They'll figure out how to survive!

Kaguya: But for how long?!

*That's when they hear it... a song..first going quietly... then growing louder... Soon the eyes of Krei, Lois, and the captain grow hazed in some sort of trance as they listened to the song. With Baymax being a robot he is not bothered by this. He turns to Kaguya who is not at all effected by the song like the others are, but is instead becoming pale with fear as it show in her eyes as the song continues.*

Krei: *Blissfully* Beautiful...follow the song...

Captain: *Also blissfully* Yes...Mr. Krei...

*The yacht then takes a turn, which confuses Baymax greatly but Kaguya merely holds onto her cane tightly. They both turn to look at each other as they sail into the fog, which then all of a sudden lifts up to reveal a rocky island in front of them.*

Baymax: There is an island up ahead.

*Kaguya's hands tighten on the cane even more as they approach the island. When they dock, Baymax and Kaguya look around and see a number of ships are also docked as well.*

Baymax: According to my scans, these ships are the same ships that have disappeared.

Kaguya: I know...

Krei: Must pay tribute...

*Soon Krei, Lois, and the captain grab what they could carry. Money and priceless pottery in their arms as they climb down, to which Baymax and Kaguya slowly and cautiously follow them. The walk around the rocky grounds of the island until they see a sink hole. The others slowly climb down into it as did Baymax and Kaguya, though the old woman had to push him down due to him wearing his water gear. Once they are safe on solid ground, they walk down the path going towards the center, where they soon see piles of money and priceless artifacts as the song continues. Kaguya hides behind Baymax as he observes the large amount of treasure in front of them. That's when Baymax finally notices the ones who are singing...and they were not what anyone could imagine. On the ledge are three elder woman, all fit with silver hair singing beautifully and with mermaid tails tinged with silver. Then Baymax turns his eyes to see all of the missing people that have disappeared, and all of them have the same hazy-eyed look as they rest on the treasure which is soon joined by Krei, Lois, and the captain. Baymax then looks up and connects what is happening.*

Baymax: *Addressing the three mermaids* According to my scans, your voices are emitting a form of hypnosis which causes the people to go into a deep trance, allowing you three to make them do your bidding.

Lula: ~One seems to resist...

Uma: ~Unaffected by our song...

Muya: ~Don't you love us? Adore us?

Baymax: *Tilts his head* Your singing is beautiful, but I am looking for Hiro and Cora. Have you seen them?

*Baymax's belly lights up to show a picture of Hiro and Cora.*

Lula: ~Ah yes...they were most troublesome...

Uma: ~Tried to escape and free our slaves... Until we sang a song that robbed them of their minds...

*Uma snaps her fingers and soon Hiro and Cora walk towards them, both have the hazed look in their eyes.*

Lula: ~The girl will be with us...

Uma: ~A connection to us we never thought we'd see...

*Muya then pulls out a vial with green liquid.*

Muya: ~Once the girl drinks this, she will loose all memory..

Lula: ~of the filthy land folk and her home..

Uma: ~And cast out the boy to wander the world as a fool...forever...~

*Baymax could only stand still and tilt his head as he processes what the woman are saying. They are going to wipe out Cora's memory of everyone? What do they want with her? And if they also mean to wipe of Hiro's memory, he will be lost and not remember his own family and his friends.*

Baymax: *Tilts his head again* Why do you want to have Cora and send away Hiro without his memory?

Muya: ~The boy will only cause trouble for the girl...and she is one of us...

Kaguya: *Having enough of this and makes herself known* Not if I can help it!

*The three mermaids turn to see Kaguya now in the open as she stepped out from behind Baymax and sees them.*

Uma: ~So you live...

Muya: ~Our baby sister...

Lula: ~Kaguya...

*Baymax looks back and forth between the four of them, scans them and soon enough, they all have similar DNA, making them siblings.*

Muya: It has been many years since you left us baby sister...

Kaguya: *Glares at them* So, this is what you've been doing? Hypnotizing all these people and keep them away from their families just to make them do your bidding as you please?!

Lula: It is fitting thought isn't it? After all.. This is around the same time when we learned about your little affair...with that merman... James was it?

*Kaguya's grip on her can tightens so much, her knuckles start to turn white.*

Muya: You knew very well that he was the captain of the royal guard and yet you continued seeing him.

Lula: Then we find you and James with your simpering infant! And that you had both sprouted legs like humans!

Uma: And now here we are... To think you have admired the land folk so much that you would allow your daughter to marry one and birth a half breed!

Kaguya: *Shakes her cane threateningly at them with rage in her eyes* Touch my granddaughter or her boyfriend and you will all pay!

Muya: Oh right, like you could possibly do anything to stop us? You will fail to save your granddaughter and her little boy toy... Just as you failed to save your husband!

*Soon the three diabolical mermaids began singing a war song which soon causes every human, sans Hiro and Cora, to stand up and ready to fight Baymax and Kaguya.*

Baymax: *Tilts his head once again* I do not understand. You are related to mermaids. Which means Cora is also related to mermaids. Yet you both have human legs.

Kaguya: It's a long story Baymax, one I will try to explain later, but right now we have to face an army of siren-induced hypnotized humans.

*No sooner had she said that, the people march forward to attack Kaguya and Baymax.*

Baymax: My healthcare protocol prevents me from harming a patient.

Kaguya: Then we dodge!

*And they did just that, running from the hypnotized people as they run towards Hiro and Cora, both still dazed as the three mermaids dive into the water.*

Kaguya: I was hoping it wouldn't come to this...*Sigh* Baymax, dive with me!

*Baymax watches as Kaguya throws away her cane and dives into the water, to which he soon joins via walking into the water with a splash. Once in the water, he sees something amazing...Kaguya's legs turn into a mermaid tail, an aqua green shade with tinges of silver to indicate her age, and her tied up hair now loosened as the mermaids look at her with contempt. He also notices something about all four mermaids. They have gills around their necks, explaining how they can breath underwater, fins on their forearms and on their tails. In the darkness of the water, their bodies soon glows, connecting it to bioluminescence.*

Muya: So you did keep your tail after all...

Uma: I guess that potion really did work...

Lula: Pity that you stole it from us!

*The three sisters lunge at Kaguya as she quickly swims down to avoid them along with Baymax.*

Uma: When we came to the Bay last night, we never thought we would find one of our own with the blood of a human mixed in their veins.

Lula: How could you allow your own daughter to conceive a half-breed?

Kaguya: My daughter and son-in-law loved each other very much! He proved to me that despite his family lineage, he was not what they all said he was! And she saw his worth and love him with all her heart! It was her wish to choose to start a family with him for the rest of her life!

Lula: Saw?

Muya: Was?... Oh... *Chuckles evilly* Did your precious daughter die in childbirth Little Sister?

*Kaguya's eyes narrowed in a death glare.*

Baymax: According to my scans, Cora was born prematurely, roughly around seven months.

*Kaguya's mind flashes to Akemi, at first happy and smiling as she rubbed her pregnant belly, then to her daughter's dying face as Cora's tiny frame cries.*

Lula: Ha! I'm not at all surprised that Akemi died birthing a half-human abomination.

*Kaguya angrily lunges at the sisters as she throws a punch to them, but the sisters then set their own electric shock generating from their finger tips as they stun Kaguya back. Baymax is quick to catch her.*

Muya: But even still.. She does have potential.. Have you even noticed that she has already entered puberty yet? Has her singing began putting people in a trance? How she has been eating more sea food?

Baymax: Cora has indeed been eating a lot of shell fish as of late, and is swimming much faster than she normally has.

Uma: Even if she does not have a mermaid tail, her mermaid blood is indeed strong within her..

Muya: I have to admit.. It was a bit harder than it should've been to put her little boy toy under our power.. That means he is starting to build up a resistance to the siren singing of others... Except the one who sings to his heart on a regular basis... So that must mean that your little granddaughter's siren voice has developed and is slowly making that boy immune to all other siren singing but hers.

Lula: Perhaps she will be one of us...as soon as we make her forget that is.

*Soon Muya starts to softly sing which is soon followed by a splash.. Showing Cora sinking into the deep without motion.*

Kaguya: Cora!

*Baymax swims forward to catch Cora but soon the other sisters join in and sing. The next thing that happened a large shark comes forward and lunges at Baymax, biting into his armor. While they were busy, Kaguya grabs Cora and brings her up and rests her on the rock floor where Hiro is still standing in his dazed state, sighing in relief as Cora coughs up the water before returning to her own dazed state. Baymax pushes the shark away and soon his memory file of last night starts to becomes clear... He had seen the same shark lunge towards them to attack so he push them out of the way to protect them, just then Steamer's drill comes up out of the sea floor and causes the shark to become more aggressive. Hiro and Cora tried swimming up despite loosing consciousness to try and escape so they could warn the others. Then how the drill pushes Baymax back into one of the legs of the dock and than sees the three mermaids show up out of nowhere and grab Hiro and Cora before swimming away with them, then how the force of the sonic blast he fired to try and stop Steamer was sop strong that it actually shot him on to the beach with the car. Kaguya swims back down and sees Baymax use his sonic blaster to push back the mermaids and the shark.*

Kaguya: Baymax! Make the sonic blaster louder!

*Kaguya swims back up as the humans turn around and are ready to attack the old mermaid. Taking a deep breath Kaguya begins to vocalize, the old woman's haunting yet beautiful voice soon snaps all the people out of their trance and fall into a deep sleep, including Hiro and Cora. After she does this, she goes back down and sees that he has risen the volume. As the mermaids and shark swim towards them, the sisters generating electricity from their finger tips Kaguya shouts.*

Kaguya: Now Baymax!

*Baymax uses his sonic blaster which creates a large echo in the water, snapping the shark out of its trance before he swims away, and pushes the mermaid sisters far and far away from them. Kaguya takes deep breathes as she point Baymax to the surface and both climb out.*

Kaguya: *Pants from slight exhaustion*...Do you.. happen to have a towel?

*Baymax sees a towel and hands it to her, to which she uses to dab her tail which soon results in Kaguya gaining back her human legs once she was dry. She then stands up as she grabs her cane and looks at Baymax.*

Kaguya: *Sighs* I guess I should tell you about what just happened and about me...

Baymax: That would be appreciated.

Kaguya: *Sighs again* The mermaids have lived alongside humanity since the beginning of time, guiding them through the oceans and helping them fish. But then the humans started to develope a superiority complex and began deeming us a threat to their survival. We went into hiding and made sure to never allow humans to expose us by creating a law that decreed that mermaids were never to go to the surface or show themselves to humans. And thus the stories about mermaids faded into nothing more than myths and legends. As for my family... my sisters, as you have seen, are thieves. At first, they were just stealing from every other merfolk in the sea just to please themselves... I on the other hand, did not like stealing and didn't share the views as my sisters. I preferred to studied about the ocean and the land above and I learned many things about both world, but I wanted to learn more about humanity due to the storybooks and items I had collected on the ocean floor. They humiliated me for this because I did not obey them or see things as they did and often teased me harshly about my interest in humans and the land they lived on. And at the time, I thought I was the only one..until I met James. He was the captain of the royal guard and he had the same interests about humans as I did. Over time we had connected, talking about how wonderful it must be to live on land, away from my sisters and away from the laws our ancestors had set to ensure our safety, but also forbade us from ever exploring the world above the sea... So I began my research to what could possibly make us merfolk finally be able walk on land like the humans could. Around that time though, I had given birth to my daughter. Just when I had completed the potion...my sisters found us. They were furious over my relationship with the guard captain and how I planned to run away with him and our child... James had given up his life... allowing me to escape with Akemi in my arms. I finally got to land and drank the potion along with Akemi.. we had finally grown legs. But it was not easy...not a lot of humans are like the humans in the stories I read. I built a house in Muirahara woods and lived their with my daughter, becoming an herbal doctor and experimenting the same potion that had given us legs and see if it could help others... Healing the sick and injured by just ingesting it..perhaps even making them immortal...*Sigh* However, we soon learned that when water touches us, we gain back our tails, and being dry means we keep our legs. Mizuchi does know about this.. about us being mermaids.

Baymax: *Tilts his head* Does Cora also know about this...

Kaguya: *Shakes her head sadly at this*...No.. she doesn't. And it is best for now that it is kept that way.. *Looks at Baymax as she addresses him* Baymax. You follow your healthcare protocol correct?

Baymax: Yes.

Kaguya: Then you must never tell her or anyone else about all this, not even Hiro. About anything that happened here today and of what just I told you, under confidentiality. Cora must never learn of this until she is ready. Promise me Baymax!

*Baymax blinks as he stares at Kaguya's eyes.*

Baymax: Under medical confidentiality.

Kaguya: Thank you Baymax.

*Soon afterwards Hiro and Cora wake up from their deep slumber, blinking as they see other people slowly start to wake up and mutter in confusion.*

Captain: *Groaning in grogginess and confusion* Whu?

Krei: *Also groaning in grogginess and confusion* What just...happened?

Hiro: Krei?

*Soon the rest of the missing people turn their attention to Hiro, Baymax and Cora, still dressed in their water gear.*

Sea Dog: Hey! It's Alpha, Omega Danger and Aqua Girl from Big Hero 7!

Passenger: They've come to save us!

*While Hiro and Cora are mildly confused since they have absolutely no idea as to what is going on, their attention is soon turned when they see Baymax and Kaguya standing right behind them. The teens smile at them before they turn their attention to the formally missing citizens.*

Cora: Alright everyone! Let's go home!

*The three supers are driving around town as they try to figure out where Steamer's attack will happen and where the two teens are.*

Honey Lemon: It's been hours since Baymax and Ms. Kaguya left with Krei!

Wasabi: They could be anywhere out at sea by now!

*Just then, the radio turns on to the news.*

Dunder: Breaking news! Breaking news! Alpha, Omega Danger and Aqua Girl from Big Hero 7 are returning to the Bay with all of the missing ships and citizens!

*From the distance, the families and friends of the formally missing citizens soon spot the familiar ships that contain their loved ones on board arriving back at the docks safe and sound. Hiro, Cora, and Baymax are already suited up with their regular armor as they fly up through the city. As soon as the three supers hear the radio update, they immediately activate their comm-links to contact the two teens.*

Honey Lemon: Hiro?! Cora?!

Hiro: Oh! Hey Honey Lemon.

Cora: What's been going on?

Wasabi: Oh you two are safe! Oh thank god! It's SOOO good to hear both of your voices again!

Gogo: You two nearly scared us to death!

Honey Lemon: What happened to you guys? Who took you two and how did you find the missing citizens.

Cora: Well... To be honest with you guys, we don't really know. The last thing either of us remembers was that we were hooking up Wasabi's car to Baymax when all of a sudden I started feeling drowsy…than nothing.

Hiro: Same here. And the next thing we know, we find ourselves on an island with all the missing citizens!

Gogo: *Narrows her eyes at this* So you two are seriously saying that neither of you have any memory of what happened between the time you guys went missing and when you found the missing citizens?

Hiro: Weird as it may sound, yeah. That's exactly what were saying.

Honey Lemon: Hiro, Cora. Are you both sure you're up for what's going on right now?

Wasabi: Yeah. I mean, you guys did just come back after disappearing without a trace and with what sound's like a serious case of memory loss.

Cora: Relax you guys, we're fine. Baymax even gave us a look-over on the way back and said we were a-okay.

Baymax: It is true. Both Hiro and Cora are in perfect health and have not sustained any injuries from the time they were missing.

Hiro: Okay, now we've got all of that out of the way, can you guys please explain to us what's been going on while we were gone?

Honey Lemon: Okay well first, we got a message from Baron Von Steamer saying he wanted a rematch with Fred's Dad.

Gogo: But he's halfway cross the world, but we did learned from him that Steamer has a habit of blabbing about his plans before he could actually do them.

Wasabi: So Fred dressed up as Boss Awesome and was captured, but this time Steamer just kept his mouth shut! Literally! With DUCT TAPE!

Gogo: And now we don't know where Steamer's going to attack or when.

Cora: That's not good.

Hiro: Steamer could show up anywhere! He has a drill car-!

*That's when their comms are hacked and soon, the same distorted voice of their most mysterious enemy speaks.*

Obake: Welcome back Aqua Girl and Alpha. I must say I am quite relived to see you both safe and well after your...disappearance. Though for two child prodigies you slightly disappoint me.

Hiro: Obake!

Cora: What do you want?!

Obake: No need to be so hostile my sweet Cora, and isn't it obvious Hiro?

*All of the teams' eyes widen as they hear the distorted voice say Cora's and Hiro's name.*

Obake: Steamer's end game? Think bigger...

*The communication between Obake and them is immediately cut off after that.*

Wasabi: Well that was creepy!..

Hiro: *Says to himself as he thinks on it* Think bigger...

*Hiro and Cora look around until they see the giant statue of Boss Awesome in the Bay. That's when they realize what's going to happen.*

Hiro: Guys! That Boss Awesome Statue! It's a weapon!

Cora: And there are still ships carrying the rest of the missing citizens on their way to the Bay with their friends and families waiting for them at the docks!

*The people on the ships turn their attention the statue of Boss Awesome when all of sudden it transforms into a bigger and mechanical robot of Baron Von Steamer himself. As of while, Steamer tries to monologue but all that came out is muffled speak due to the duct tape still covering his mouth.*

Fred: Okay, I think you're being evil but I can't really tell?

*Baron Von Steamer finally rips off the tape.*

Steamer: Sorry. Completely forgot I gagged myself. What I said was 'Say goodbye to San Fransokyo'!

*The curtains pull back to reveal the city of San Fransokyo.*

Fred: *Realizes now what's going to happen* The statue! Of course!

Steamer: *Laughs evilly* Yes! The Boss Awesome statue was a secret weapon the whole time! Ooh! Oh it feels so good to let it out!

*Soon a tube emerges from the statue to suck in the water as the ships carrying the formally missing citizens quickly head towards the docks while the people on the ships held each other tightly as the ocean shakes and tumbles them as its being sucked up.*

Wasabi: It's sucking up the water in the Bay! So it can-

Gogo: Blast the city with it!

Cora: Not on my watch!

Hiro: I have an idea!

*Soon Hiro calls back their swim gear as they prepare to head out into the Bay once more.*

Steamer: I hope you brought your wrinkly laundry because things are about to get steamy!

Fred: Uh why would I bring my laundry? That's a ridiculous thing to say right now.

Steamer: Boss Awesome never questions my banter. He just goes with it.

Fred: Uhm! I mean- I did bring my clothesline to hang you out to dry!

Steamer: Haha! That's the Boss Awesome I know!

*While Steamer begins his preparations, Baymax along with the two teens dive into the bay again to stop his plans. They swim towards the suction drive.*

Cora: Baymax, Overdrive-Mode, underwater style.

Honey Lemon: But, Overdrive-Mode will drain Baymax's battery you guys.

Baymax: My systems cannot fully function on low battery.

Hiro: We know Baymax, but we need as much speed as we can get!

Cora: Not to mention all those missing people are finally heading home to be reunited with their families after all this time! We can't let them be put in danger again after what they've been through!

Hiro: So let's go!

Baymax: Entering Overdrive-Mode.

*Soon Baymax enters into his Overdrive-Mode in his underwater suit*

Baymax: Oh no...

*Soon, with Hiro and Cora on his back, they shoot up towards the suction. Steamer raises his robot's mechanical arm and begins to shoot towards the city.*

Hiro: Baymax sonic blaster now!

*Soon Baymax spins fast to blast them up towards the source. Both teens scream loudly and hold on to each other tightly as they shoot up in the air and destroy Steamer's tank.*

Baymax: *Drunkenly as he starts to fall back down* IdID ThE ThINg!

Hiro and Cora: *Also falling back down* AAAaHHH!

*Soon all three of them land back into the Bay, and all the robot could shoot out now is a harmless puff of steam with only a little bit of water.*

Fred: *Cheering for his team* Big Hero 7 for the win! Say whaaaaat! *Than catches himself and reverts back to acting like Boss Awesome* I mean I mean I mean- Classic!

Steamer: I wouldn't drop that annoying catchphrase so fast if I were you! You see, it also occurred to me that you win every time because I never have a plan B! Behold!

*Steamer then pulls out a book labeled 'Plan B'!

Fred: I don't even know who you are anymore!

*Once Hiro, Cora and Baymax made it back up to the surface(floated up in Baymax's case), they see the statue from afar.*

Baymax: *Still drunkenly* HelLO! I'm BalALaLA!

*The teens swim over to Baymax to make sure he's alright when their attention is drawn away when they see that the tank isn't as connected to the statue as they thought it was as the whole statue starts to fall apart, leaving only the base which than transforms into a submarine and swims away.*

Hiro: Guys...

Gogo: Don't worry you guys. We're on it!

Wasabi: We are?

Gogo: You haven't tested the coolest new features we added. Just press that button.

Wasabi: How's a self-carwash button gonna help us Gogo?

Honey Lemon: That's not a self-carwash button.

Wasabi: What is it? A button that transforms my car into an underwater car?

*The smiling looks on both girls answers his question.*

Wasabi: *Fangirlishly excited now* It's a button that transforms my car into an underwater car!

*Wasabi gleefully presses the button as they drive off the docks as the car does indeed transform into an underwater car. Soon they are zooming through the water.*

Wasabi: Best birthday ever!

*With that, they speed off. Steamer on the other hand, was perfecting his aim towards his intended target. *

Steamer: Sayonara San Fransokyo!

*Steamer than launches three missiles towards city and the ships.*

Honey Lemon: Heat-seeking missiles!

Wasabi: We have to divert them fast before they hit the city and the ships!

Gogo: Button for that!

*Gogo presses another button and soon the car speeds faster towards the missiles.*

Honey Lemon: *Through the comm-link* Freddy! Time to get out of there!

*The missiles soon change their direction from the city and ships to the underwater car, displeasing Steamer.*

Steamer: No! That's the wrong target!

*Fred snaps off his handcuffs.*

Fred: And I'm guessing you don't have a plan C?

*With that, Fred rolls away to escape while Wasabi drives towards the missiles and then pulls up, making the missiles follow suit. It isn't long until Wasabi makes a sharp turn up as the missiles head straight towards the submarine, causing it to explode. Fred soon pops out of the ocean while pieces of the sub rain down around him and sees Steamer swim up to the docks and throw a random stranger on a segway into the ocean.*

Steamer: Out of my way millennial!

*Steamer is about to hop onto the stranger's segway to escape and rue for another day...only to be blocked by Big Hero 7.*

Steamer: You've won this time Big Hero 7! But mark my words! I will have my reven-

*Just than, Fred hops up in a back flip and lands on Steamers back, pokes him in five pressure points and tickles his foot, causing the old man to laugh uncontrollably.*

Fred: Will you surrender and turn yourself in to the police?

Steamer:*Still laughing like crazy from the tickling* Yes! Yes! I-I'll surrender and turn myself in to the police!

*Soon he is thrown into Wasabi's car where Fred removes the fake mustache and reveals his true self.*

Boss: Wait! You're not Boss Awesome! You're his baby child! Mark my words, I will have my reve-

*Gogo shuts the door.*

Cora: Thank you Gogo!

Gogo: I just can't with the revenge-vowing anymore.

*Soon Hiro and Cora find themselves wrapped up in a group hug.*

Honey Lemon: We are so happy your both back safe and sound!

Wasabi: You two had us worried sick!

Fred: You have NO idea how relived we are to have you both back with us! Big Hero 7 just isn't the same without you two! Without you we're just *Shudders in fear* Big Hero 5!...

Gogo: Yeah... We're just glad your both here and alright now.

Hiro: Hehe. Thanks you guys. *Turns to Fred* By the way, nice one Fred, was that one of your Dad's moves?

Fred: *Breaks free from the hug as he puts the fake mustache on his chest* Yup! But I put my own twist on it!

Wasabi: What do you call it?

Fred: I was thinking of... Goochi Goochi Gotcha!

Cora: *Giggles*

Wasabi: As Mr. Frederickson would say...

The Whole Team: Classic!

*That's when they hear the sound of a whale humming as it blasts Baymax off with his blowhole which causes Baymax to land on the dock a few feet away from the rest of the team.*

Cora: *Waves to the whale* Thank you random whale!

*The whale hums in return before swimming away. After all that, where Cass and Mizuchi squeeze the two teens to death over how worried they were, the gang are at the garage the next day to discuss about Obake.*

Wasabi: I don't know about you guys. But I'm still creeped out that Obake was able hack us.

Honey Lemon: And how weird was it that he helped us?

Wasabi; Yeah, why would he help us save the city?

Hiro: Maybe it wasn't about the city... Maybe it was about the water..

Cora: And with the water...who knows what he wants with it.. *Narrows her eyes* Or what he could do with it...

*Back at Obake's undersea lair, he has successfully converted the H2O into D2O.*

Obake: Thank you Big Hero 7...

*He than gestures to the crab as he lightly pets it, pleased as he had already seen the contents of the trip towards the island..and everything else that happened on it. He pulls up the footage and watches it once again as a sinister smile appears on his face.*

Obake: My my my, my dear Cora... I knew there was something special about you, but I had no idea that you were this special...and what makes all of this so ironic is that you yourself have absolutely no idea about any of this..or what you actually are. But never-the-less, this new revelation will no doubt make things much, much more interesting...*Starts laughing evilly*

A.N: So how is the updated chapter? Tell me in the comments! Love you all! Also, yes. Mermaids exists in this Fanfic.

#big hero 6 fanfic #big hero 7 #Hiro Hamada #Cora Mizichio #hiro hamada x oc #Baymax #Kaguya #Fred Frederickson IV #fred frederickson iii #Wasabi #Honey lemon #Gogo Tomago #alistair krei #Lois Carter #The Sirens #baron von steamer #Boss Awesome #minimax #Heathcliff

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sorio99 · 5 years

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Nintendo E3 Direct 2019: Reaction

I decided, for the second year in a row, to write my reactions to this years E3 Direct for all of y’all. Before the show starts, a couple predictions/guesses:

Obviously, we’re gonna get Smash Fighter Pack 2. I doubt it’s gonna be Banjo-Kazooie, just because that seems a bit too “Grinch-Leak”-esque to be realistic, if you know what I mean. That reveal will probably be either the first or last thing in the direct.

I imagine, like everyone else, we’re gonna be seeing a fair amount of Animal Crossing, just because there aren’t many other huge upcoming games we haven’t gotten exclusive directs about.

That said, we’ll probably learn a couple more things about Super Mario Maker 2, and maybe even Pokemon Sword and Shield. Nothing too huge, or game-changing, but a few additional details and maybe some later update stuff for SMM2.

We’ll probably hear more about the Link’s Awakening remake for Switch, just to tide over Zelda fans until Nintendo comes up with the next big 3D game (no disrespect to the 2D Zeldas, but the 3D titles are definitely big landmarks and game-changers).

Beyond that, some cool looking indie titles, even more ports, maybe a couple decent-sized 1st or 3rd party reveals, and that's about what I’m expecting. See y’all on the other side of the break.

So, before the show even starts, the YouTube live chat is memeing about tilt controls. Off to a fantastic start.

Ah, so mainly gonna be Switch. I’m down with that.

Like I said, starting with Smash. Though, this is definitely not framed how I expected.

Dragon Quest! Really? Okay! Wasn’t expecting it, but I’m sure this will make some people happy! Plus, as a sword myself, can’t say I’m too disappointed to have another.

Wait, are those three other skins? Like with the Koopalings? Cool.

And some magical abilities, looks cool to me, yeah! I imagine some will be disappointed, but I like it.

And, of course, they follow it up with the game the new guy’s from. So that's two characters who appeared in Smash before their game appeared on Switch. Odd.

Okay, starting with Mr. “Hired Just For His Name” himself. Gotta admit I found that entrance funny.

He’s...okay. Not the world’s most charismatic, but it’s fine. Koizumi is the hunk these days.

Ah, LM3. Should’ve figured.

Oh god, it’s Hotel Mario again.

Looks fun! I’m sure I’ll have fun with this.

Also, does this all mean Arlo was right?

Ah, so, Gooigi is an actually, like, thing? I guess that makes some sense.

And of course ScareScraper returns. It fits with the hotel theme.

Oh! It’s Tower of Terror! So, is this Rod Serling, or Jordan Peele?

Yeah, Doug Bowser is fine. He’s no Reggie, but then again, who is?

Ooh, Netflix? Whats this? Something from The Dark Crystal? Okay.

Ah, Link’s Awakening! This should be interesting.

I actually really like this chibi-esque art style. Seems like sort of an expansion on the style Link Between Worlds Used.

Wait, it’s Zelda Dungeon Maker too? Huh. That’s...unexpected. I dig it!

Alright, September! Sounds good.

Square Enix is doing a thing. What is this again?

Trials of Mana, huh? Fair enough.

...yeah, that’s about my feelings on the Mana series as a whole.

Okay, so Witcher? I guess. Why not? Seems weird to bring 3 over first, but I’ve heard good things.

Ah, more Fire Emblem stuff. Not much interest, and I feel like last FE direct did enough to advertise it, but I guess it makes sense. Odd we aren’t getting one of it’s characters in Smash soon, but I’m not complaining.

Yes, Mr. Koizumi, we all agree the Switch is an amazing piece of Hardware. No one is denying this.

So, play Resident Evil in an evil residence? Because it wasn’t scary enough to begin with? I guess?

Why does the guy sound surprised there are zombies in this game?

So they left went to a haunted house to play the haunted house game. Okay.

Why bother porting 5 and 6 over? 5 was generally regarded as average at best, and the less said about 6, the better.

I’m sorry, what?

No seriously, what the hell is this?

Wait, what? No More Heroes?

Didn’t we just get one of these?

Okay, so it’s officially 3. I guess that makes sense.

A Contra reboot?! Okay?! I mean, why the hell not?! Konami is officially insane.

Okay, seriously, what is up with Daemon X Machina? This is the third time I’ve seen this in a direct, and all I get is “Mechs blowing shit up.” Is that, like, just it? Whatever.

What the fuck, is this Joust or some shit?

Panzer Dragoon, huh? Looks like a Star Fox rip. Cool.

Ah, more Pokemon SW&SH. Pokeball Plus is always fun.

Okay, so there’s more than one Gym Leader. It looks like things are still good.

Okay, this is definitely a shift in gears.

So, there are just, like, two twins in this game? I think?

Looks like the Crash Titans games, but a sci-fi Hack & Slash ala other Platinum games.

Astral Chain. Forgot the name. Looks decent.

What the hell is Romero up to now?

What?

Ah. Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Still looks better than the new Avengers game.

Ooh, Ultimate Spider-Man AND Spider-Gwen AND Kamala Khan’s Miss Marvel? Looks cool!

Ah, Expansion Passes.

Ooh, Cadence of Hyrule. Nice to see Nintendo be friendlier with their IPs.

More Mario and Sonic Olympics? Was anyone asking for this? Wasn’t there a reason they didn’t make a 2018 one?

Holy shit! Already!?

So, there’s voice acting?

Deserted Island? This looks...interesting.

Okay, it looks like we can have at least eight players at once.

Ah, that Tom Nook. Always putting us in irreconcilable debt.

Damn, we have to wait until 2020? Ah well, as they say, a late game is eventually good, and an early game is always bad.

Woo! The quick montage! Yay

Spyro Seems fun.

Hollow knight sequel, natch.

Ni No Kuni, okay.

Can’t keep up, but wasn’t that the free-to-play Elder Scrolls game?

Alien Isolation anywhere, because we should be in mortal terror on buses.

Okay, was that a Stranger Things game?

The weird totally not Conker game, alright.

Just a few seconds of Mario Maker? Okay.

Wait, more DK? Smash?

Holy Shit, WHAT?!

No, seriously, what?!

Okay, I didn’t mention it, because it felt like that much of a long shot, but I figured they might reveal two fighter packs, since it’s been so long since Joker’s reveal, but...

BANJO-FUCKING-KAZOOIE?!

HOLY SHIT?!

Okay, so one last thing. Wonder what this’ll be.

Green squiggles?

Wait, is this...

Holy shit.

Holy Shit.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

WHAT.

NO.

NO FUCKING WAY.

DID THEY JUST.

ARE THEY REALLY.

OKAY.

NO.

I’M NOT RISKING SPOILING THIS BUT.

HOLY SHIT.

HOLY

FUCKING

SHIT.

...

So, yeah, I enjoyed that.

#nintendo #nintendo direct #e3 2019 #nintendo direct e3 2019 #sfw #tw: swearing

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c7thetumbler · 5 years

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Quick Game Reviews: What I played 2018

I’m gonna go ahead and do this for the whole year, which includes games that WEREN’T released this year, but I played this year. I also made this throughout the year, so most the opinions were right after I played it and if it’s been updated further might not include that in my blurb.

I needed to type and felt like I needed to make something. This might motivate me I suppose. Let’s get started

DOOM 2016 [PC]

I grew up on Pokemon, Mario, and Doom II. I couldn’t play it until I got my new computer this year so yeah way too late. This is a pretty solid game, though thanks to all of the bonuses and honestly nearly intrusive leveling up system kinda stepped in the way of the raw combat. It’s obviously my choice, but I felt encouraged to spend a lot of time exploring areas I’d already cleared rather than run and gun.

That being said, I still loved it. The secrets were, for the most part, really clever and fun anyway and the combat is delicious. I would strongly recommend this

A Hat in Time + Seal the Deal DLC [PC]

I love this game. A lot. It’s really cute and looks really good, it’s got a ton of charm, and it’s honestly a very good time overall. I 100% the base game last year when it first came out, and I would highly recommend to fans of 3D platformers, and still worth a try if you’re on the fence on them. The mod support is also great that it’s in there and I want to try that a lot. however the DLC...

So the new level is pretty short and while it’s fun, it’s not as good as the other levels. The characters (I think) are really cute and the charm is all there and that great, but it has all of 3 levels, and 2 of them are exploring the exact same places (the boat) and the 3rd is a nice twist on that, but other than that it’s pretty barren. The time rifts were fun as well, but alone... eh. The Death Wish portion, that is the super hard challenge mode...

... is not good. Obviously my opinion, and I might be missing the point, but after having been frustrated over and over and over again, the game itself is just not tight or clean enough to warrant it. My backing for this is that a large portion of the challenges rely on originally unintended level geometry or quirky mechanics in order to complete, and having challenges that require you to be in the know about these honestly inconsistent “quirks” is just not good. Specific examples: the ice hat giving you a small boost to avoid jumping in challenges is alright but fluctuates in how much height it gives you a lot, the challenges around the train chase still have the wonky hitboxes that do not line up with what’s still on screen, and the parade challenge has an invisible hitbox on the main platform that can kill runs. In short If you have found you love the main game and are a bit of a masochist, go for the DLC.

Pokémon Ultra Sun [3DS]

This is more or less just a revisit of the same generation with some very minor changes. The story changes take the focus away from Lillie and Lusamine (and as a result how interesting the former and evil the latter are) and places it on Necrozma and Ultra Beasts. I really like what they did with Necrozma, but overall it feels like a lot less. And while the Rainbow Rocket post game was nice and fun nostalgia, it’s still missing a solid post game like B2W2 or Gen II had.

Ultra Wormholes are cool though, and all the good mechanics from SM are still there, so honestly I would recommend this if you haven’t played gen 7 and like Pokémon.

Hey! Pikmin [3DS]

It’s awful. I can’t think of a reason to pick this up.

I can rant about this for years, but it basically got the Zip Lash/ Sticker Star treatment: it took a franchise known for something and made it something else that was bad. It’s an incredibly slow puzzle “platformer” where you have to collect a bunch of treasure using pikmin you find in the level, it’s laggy even on a n3DS, and even though the point of the game is to collect enough treasure to leave, if you do that they’re all like “by the way, you still have to beat the final boss” so the entire auto-collecting side game you put your pikmin into is entirely pointless. This is honestly the worst 3DS game I played this year.

Hollow Knight [PC]

So I’m normally not that great with the games-that-are-pretty-dang-hard, and this was no exception. That said however, I did get pretty far (probably) before I got to a boss fight I just couldn’t beat (It was an onslaught of rolling knights in the raining city or something, it’s been a while). And after that I tried finding more power-ups and stuff to help, but I had to set it down after getting bottlenecked there. That being said, I can very easily see why people like this hardcore metroid-vania platformer, and would still recommend it if you’re into the Dark Souls style of high difficulty and mechanical mastery in other genres.

Axiom Verge [PC]

This is another Metroid-style game. I really liked this one as well, especially how its power-ups weren’t the traditional “You jump higher now” traversal power-ups. It really has a nice atmosphere and theme that still feels alien and metroidy while also feeling like the glitchy world by giving you weapons and movement abilities that let you glitch and change the environment around you. I really liked it! My only real complaint is the bosses get really challenging through a result of eventually figuring out what weapon and strategy is was designed for, and there are some areas that I was completely lost trying to find where I was going next, but all in all it’s pretty solid.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch [PC]

I normally really hate games where the focus is “lol, you can barely control your character! hahaha.” I actually really liked this one; it isn’t hard to get the hang of it and it’s really funny and still enjoyable at the same time. I rarely actually felt annoyed at the controls. I had a ton of fun with it, even if it was a little short.

Kirby Star Allies [Switch]

My complaints are very much the same as everyone else’s here; it’s a pretty okay Kirby game, but it lacks real challenge and is pretty quick. the real “star” of the show is playing the game with different characters, but since you can’t do that until after you play through as Kirby, by that point it’s either grown on you or hasn’t. The best part is the unique levels they made for the DLC characters, Gooey, Marx, Dreamland buddies, etc. Those are a ton of fun. If you like Kirby games, this one’s no Super Star but you’ll likely love all the attention to the free DLC characters and it’s not bad by any stretch.

HOB [PC]

It’s a 3D, top-down Zelda style game with an emphasis on some platforming elements. The world is wonderful, definitely the Aesthetic with clockwork worlds that Spiral Knights wishes it could’ve had. I actually had a ton of fun with it. The secrets and exploration were great, combat is ehhhhhh but that’s not really the focus. It’s a good time, If you like Zelda but with some puzzle platforming and great atmosphere, check this one out!

Poi [PC]

This is a Unity 3D platformer that attempted to brush off the Unity, and does an alright job with being mechanically tighter than most, but still has the Unity feel. Controls are a bit loose, could’ve used a lot of polish, but honestly this scratched the 3D platformer collect-a-thon itch for a bit and I actually 100% it. You have to love 3D platformers like Sunshine or Banjo Tooie to be able to like this, but if you do it’s a pretty fun romp.

Princess Remedy In a Heap of Trouble [PC]

This is a fun, short bullet-hellish game with an old-school Atari aesthetic. It’s pretty fun, but honestly I like the mechanics in the free game better (though this has more content). It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s quirky (and kinda short), try out the free game and if you like that one give this a try! The main difference is the “date” mechanic, where people you heal can join you to give you a different special power from healing, to various kinda of bombs, time freezing, homing bullets, etc. Once you find one though, it’s hard to convince yourself to try something else.

Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion [Switch]

This is Splatoon 2′s expanded hard/challenge mode. I’m a big fan; a few of the challenges are eh, but overall the aesthetic and branching map structure are super fun. The expanding on the lore and bonuses are also great; even though earlier I don’t normally go for the extremely hard, I found myself 100%’ing this. There’s a really tough challenge at the very end of all that, and I would say If you liked Splatoon 2, pick this up. It’s the expansion of Single Player that it deserves, though prepare for a few frustrating challenges.

... But now you have to pay for a terrible service to play it online so keep that in mind...

Celeste [Switch]

This is a fucking great game and you should buy it. It’s a challenging (very hard) platformer in the line of super meat boy and maybe even I Wanna Be The Guy, but this does it extremely right. restarting is very quick, the controls are incredibly tight, and the levels are genuinely clever and fun.

The story is also really solid, and I can’t recommend the whole package as a solid game.

Grow Up [PC]

This is the sequel to Grow Home, a game I’ve quick-reviewed a long time back. I liked the whole explore a whole planet and find some neat stuff, however the challenges are reliant on some weird procedural animations which don’t necessarily cooperate. It kinda overstays it’s welcome as a result, though the open nature of it is really fun. I have a hard time recommending this one, but it’s still a pretty solid romp even if it fights you a bit.

Sonic Mania Plus [Switch]

Having 100% the base game which I highly recommend, I was expecting a lot more things to do with this. Encore mode is fun; I really like how you can change up your characters and have to adjust on the fly. The new special stages are tough but fun, but the pinball minigame is.. not good. Gets old pretty quick. additionally it doesn’t add much after encore mode. Might and Ray have abilities that meaningfully add some neat gameplay stuff, but after how great the base game was, I was expecting a little bit more. That being said, the DLC is a nice bonus for the base game and you can’t really go wrong with it.

Lovely Planet [PC]

So I made a point to only play this game when I was drunk. The first few times I happened to be when I played it, so I stuck with it. This is a quick-restarting FPS with a focus on perfect shots and maneuvering to destroy all the target and get to the end as soon as possible.It’s hard as balls but really silly, so if you’re into perfectionist gameplay it’s worth a go. Probably not drunk tho.

Ever Oasis [3DS]

IIRC, this came out at a time where there was a lull in Nintendo games, or at least 3DS games so this one was very much skimmed over. It’s a mix between a town management sim and Zelda-style dungeon crawling and resource gathering. On paper, and even somewhat in game, this is a cool idea; you get townsfolk who can go with you on missions, each with their own abilities, and what you get outside of the town is used to help expand you town, which will buff you/your townspeople's abilities to go further in dungeons.

In practice however... they don’t really mesh. The limitation of 1 item per party member and items being locked to specific people you need to find, going to dungeons is a chore as you need to find out which characters you need to actually play (often not your best). Meanwhile, time passes so quickly and your town’s shopkeepers run out of resources so quickly, it’s a full time job to keep up the town and then you run out. They mitigate this near the end game by have the ability to make parties out of townspeople who can’t own shops, which are very rare. The ending is good up until the last moment where they do a thing that doesn’t make sense to get some points for emotion but... It just doesn’t work to me.

All in all, it has a demo to show how a dungeon works, and if you like management AND what that dungeon has to offer, go for it. Otherwise, the setting and character design are great but not enough to really hold interest

Q.U.B.E. 2 [PC]

The First game was Portal-esque in that you navigated the first-person Cube puzzle maze without any dialogue while manipulating the chambers with a variety of cube-spawning and extending abilities. You had to piece out and interpret the story yourself. This is the opposite; there’s a lot of dialogue, story set-pieces, and it’s bizarrely paced. You’ll get through most the game in like an hour, but then the last 2-3 chapters are the bulk of the game. Those are pretty fun, but the game is still incredibly short and I liked the tone of the first better. It’s short, it’s not bad, but it doesn’t really stand out.

NES Classic

So I dunno if I love or hate this thing. It’s great because it’s an official NES with controller and emulator and gives me the opportunity to play a buncha games I hadn’t before, but the controller cable is too small, the damn thing has trouble getting enough power (EDIT: This was actually my aparement’s faulty wiring, though if you aren’t supplying it with enough power the sound won’t work either), and this things existence is probably part of the reason we’ve not seen a proper virtual console support on Switch. You can hack it to be able to upload other ROMs to it, which is neat (I haven’t done that), but ultimately it’s worth looking at the games and asking yourself: Do I really want to play most of these? Do I really want to buy this when I’ve already bought most of them?

SNES Classic

This is the same as above but more expensive with less games... But to me is a better value. It has a better selection of games (in my opinion), though they could’ve included some better ones. It still has the power issues (which are overcomable easily) but comes with 2 controllers with longer cables. Also StarFox 2 is a very nice game. I’d recommend this more than the NES Classic, but again, weigh what’s in it vs what you actually want to play if you can’t already

WarioWare Gold [3DS]

This is a compilation game done right. It has the WarioWare charm and the voice acting adds even more to it. The microgame selection and adaptations are wonderful, and honestly I don’t have any complaints. It has changed everything to fit in one of 3 (+2 smaller ones) categories: Mash, Twist, and Touch (+ blow and short). These are normally separate by category, but near the end they mix and match and even do some fun mix-up with it in the very last rounds and bonus game modes. Whether your first WarioWare or a veteran, this is in my opinion the best in the series, and I would suggest you give it a go.

Monster Hunter World [PC]

So this one is hard. I really wanted to like it, and after playing Dauntless I thought I would. I even promised friends I would play it with them frequently and keep up but... between friends being able to play when I couldn’t and the game’s wonky controls and online issues, I was falling behind and getting frustrated. That’s kinda side stuff; if I really liked it I could’ve caught up. The truth is, I liked Dauntless better because while it was also very buggy, the combat was just a lot more straightforward and responsive. Monster Hunter seemed like Dauntless with a bunch of annoyances added onto it. There are tons of collectibles and recipes, weapon sharpness is entirely pointless when the monsters run anyway to give you breaks, the weapons I played seemed sluggish to attack with, and monster attacks were unclear a lot of the time. Everything just felt like a pain in the ass or waste of time to deal with and put a lot of focus on inventory management or grinding, and to me the core game you would do that for just wasn’t there.

Like I enjoyed the free roaming and exploration, but the fighting is just not for me and that’s the whole point of the free roaming and all that. I feel bad about not liking this after enjoying Dauntless, but I just am not into Monster Hunter and will be skipping the series from now on.

Katamari Forever [PS3]

I got this one thinking it was a compilation game of all the Katamari games!

It was not. It’s actually the hardest Katamari game... Which kinda surprised me about how much of a dick they are when you start out since their controls are incredibly weird and unintuitive (you get used to them) and anything short of perfection will get the Kings to any where from passive aggressively imply you did poorly or just straight out call you awful and not to bother.

Here’s the part where randomly in the giant text post I just completely break whatever I was talking about because I’m 95% no one actually reads this so for shits and giggles the first person to reply to my tweet where I posted a link to the blogpost stating that they found this paragraph will get a free me replying back to that tweet saying “nice” back. An enticing gift amirite? Anyway continuing on.

That being said, it’s pretty fun after all that; there are one or two levels designed to be super annoying but the ones where you play the core game of quickly building your Katamari are for the most part very solid. This is for existing fans of the series, but i had a pretty good time with it after I got past the barrier to entry.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero: Ultimate Edition [PC]

I’ve talked about liking Shantae before on this blog; I mentioned that I liked Pirate’s Curse but the fact that side missions and collectibles were actually required for game completion. This Shantae looks great and all, but they completely tossed out the open-like nature and makes it a series of linear levels that you have to revisit at least 2-3 times to find the stuff that should’ve been off somewhere in a different series of areas and optional that’s really just slightly out of reach due to a power up you arbitrarily find after the level you needed to use it in ends. Dungeons are completely gone; the game literally is just “go right” and remember all the little things you couldn’t get to for when you have to backtrack over and over again.

That’s just the base game, and even with all that said it’s not a bad game, it just doesn’t really feel like a Shantae game anything other than aesthetically. I spent a few hours trying to 100% the base game, but after getting 99% and discovering I had to backtrack yet again to a snake merchant to trade for dances just to use them once and trade back, I just had 0 interest in getting the final percent. There are also a variety of different takes on the same campaign where you play as Shantae in different costumes with different abilities, Risky, or even Bolo + Skye + Rotty, and again those look fun but... I don’t really want to play the same game another 10 times.

Dragalia Lost [Android]

This is Nintendo’s first jump into mobile with a new IP, and while it’s definitely banking hard on more traditional gacha mechanics (you can get 5 star items instead of Hero characters only), it’s definitely not bad. It’s pretty generous with stamina and resources, at least when you start, and my only major complaint is how you seem to hit a wall in terms of how long it takes to really progress about a week or so of playing every day in. And it’s quite a wall; there’s quite a lot of grinding needed once you get to chapter 6 (the current final chapter that really feels like just the end of a prologue (Edit, they recently added chapter 7)), so you really need to like it. The levels are kinda simple as well, though there’s a maze-like area in the story that’s a bit more clever so it’s a start at least. All and all, it’s worth a try, but if you don’t like the top-down brawler after the first world, it’s not worth forcing through gacha mechanics for; especially since after you complete normal story mode, all you’re going to be doing is grinding to get through hard and the summoning currency gets scarce fast. For reference, getting enough to be able to challenge the High Dragon quests and not immediately die in them takes 2 months of grinding specifically for that purpose if you use your stamina optimally, which you won’t because events are more fun anyway

Overcooked 2 [Switch Download]

So this is actually really fun with a friend or 3; and that’s where it really shines. Sure, you can do it single player but it just doesn’t feel as fun. This is a sort of quick time-management game where you have to frantically run around cooking various recipes before they run out of time, to get a star rating at the end. There’s some bad levels, but the majority are really fun and it feels very fair even in single layer; I always think at the end regardless of the rank that I could’ve managed my dudes to do even better. The only real complaint is the loading times seem... unnecessarily long. Especially for restarting a level. It’s nothing too bad though.

Luckily this has online multiplayer, so I highly recommend picking this up on a platform that your friends have it on, ie Steam. I got it on Switch and in hindsight since I strongly dislike Nintendo’s online service I really wish I had gotten like a 2-pack on Steam. That’s not a complaint with the game though; I really liked it!

Super Mario Party [Switch]

Probably the best Mario Party in a very, VERY long time. This is going to be a longer review. I played this first with Keewy and his roommates and we had a great time in every single game mode (except online).

The Mario Party mode is really good; they’ve shrunk the map and reduced how much stars cost to 10 coins, but 10-15 turn games can still take an hour to an hour and a half. This makes it a much simpler, easier to get mode, but the real star here is them bringing back the Ally & character dice mechanic from Mario Party Star Rush (had it’s good moments, but was on 3DS so that’s it for that). Each character can roll a normal 1-6 dice, but they also each have a unique die that has different numbers on it. These are for the most part balanced; character with higher numbers on their dice also have downsides instead of a 1. 0′s, losing coins, and in some cases gaining coins (because you still don’t move), and it adds a level of strategy to it where otherwise it would be just “roll and hop for the best. That’s what it is still, but sometimes you can choose. You can also pick up other characters who will help you in minigames, give you the option to roll their die, and add 1-2 spaces to your roll. It’s super fun.

The River Rafting mode is 4-player co-op, and it’s pretty fun as well your first run through. Not single player though; this very much shines with 4 people. However, because there are only like 8? 4-player co-op minigames, you see every game on your first run so it doesn’t really hold up after your first couple runs.

The dance mode is great; it’s like Rhythm heaven but Mario Party themed. Again, these minigames are really fun, but once you play through all 3 difficulties, which takes about 10 minutes, there aren’t any you haven’t played.

2v2 is ripped straight out of Star Rush, which is a great thing. Again, don’t play this with a cpu on your team at least. As far as I can tell, even in Mario Party mode, CPU’s make the same brain-dead decisions on the boards regardless of their difficulty level. Anyway, this has the same 4 boards but opened up vastly; You now roll, combine it with your partner, then add any allies you may have picked up along the way’s 1-2 rolls and other bonuses. The point is to land on the starspace and buy it, and it’s just a good time to see the strategy involved with either going for the stars, allies, or secondary goals. By far the best alternative Mario Party gameplay style in a while (way better than Island Tour’s linear maps and 9-10′s Car mode), but again there’s only the 4 maps.

So I guess my only true complaint is that while there are a lot of minigames, they’re split so much over the different modes they don’t feel like a lot and you see repeats frequently. Additionally it would be nice to turn on/off the bonus stars at the end and other options involving maybe skipping some of the cutscenes (star moving, places changed, etc.). All in all, the best and most interesting Mario Party in a long, long time. I highly recommend it if you have a friend to pick it up with.

Just Shapes & Beats

Got this game for a bit of random multiplayer. It’s a pretty fun, music based bullet hell game all about staying alive through the song while crazy stuff happens on screen. The story mode doesn’t overstay its welcome, but there’s also plenty of content and challenges for those who are so inclined, and only one of the levels felt utterly, bullshitingly unfair (which is really good with bullet hells) so It’s a fun time if you’re into top down bullet hells, and better with a friend in challenge mode

Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee [Switch]

I could write a dissertation on this game and how it’s neither good or bad; it’s just kinda... there. Some aspects are incredibly disappointing; the capture mechanics are absolute garbage, forced motion controls are atrocious, player/npc animations and interactions are completely stilted and lazy, the world is very bland vs Sun and Moon, the performance in handheld mode drops frames sometimes which is unacceptable, there’s almost zero post game, and even more. It’s by all means an HD reskin of a Gameboy game running on their crappy 3DS engine.

But there’s a lot of good here as well; seeing pokemon in the overworld is amazing and should be the case in the series moving forward, partner pokemon (eevee) are fun and fucking adorable, riding pokemon is great, having fast captures makes chaining a really fun mechanic, Having some of the E4 and Gym leaders interact with you during your quest makes the world interesting, connectivity with go is very limited but still good, having only one pokemon be obtainable only once in the game is a welcome and frankly overdue change in the game, removing breeding/abilities/held items really streamlines the mechanics and makes the game more enjoyable in a lot of cases, and I could go on.

I’m not going to recommend it, but I mean if you liked any pokemon game you’re definitely not going to not have fun with this one, even if the randomness in the capture mechanics frustrates you to no end

Super Smash Bros Ultimate [Switch]

So I mean it’s smash bros. Not much really to say about that, it’s pretty good. I kinda like Smash Bros not just for the multiplayer but the single-player as well, which is why Brawl is still my Favorite so take that as my approach here. The normal gameplay is fine, though the input buffer feels wonky at times and some characters are much harder to play against than others, which in combination with the sheer amount of characters makes it very difficult to get the hang of and counter accordingly, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just the barrier between playing casually and playing a bit more seriously feels sudden when randomly coming across characters that have inherent advantages from being wonky. Cloud for example seems to have a move for evertyhing, can spit out attacks very quickly, and if you try anything silly they’ll just charge a better move, and then randomly fighting a Ganondorf is like “I hope they don’t know how to read you because you can die at like 35 from a single fuck up”

The Single Player content though was... Disappointing. Not nearly as bad as Sm4sh, but it seems like they spent so much time putting as many characters and stages in the game as possible that they realized they wouldn’t have time to do old game modes the same way, so they made a system which allowed them to make custom smash battles with weird attributes and built the entirety of the bonus content on that. There’s really only adventure mode which is just a progression of Event Matches which gets somewhat stale and repetitive quickly, Mob Smash is just not really that fun past your first run or two, All-Star Smash is actually near impossible and not even rewarding, Classic does one or two cool ideas with routes but they clearly got lazy with a lot of characters there too, and the only platforming challenge in the game is the bonus level which takes 30 seconds and never changes.

Their Online mode is unacceptably bad and lacks options for random fights as well, and given that they’re charging for it this is just flat-out unacceptable. Buy it if you like playing Smash for the Multiplayer (which is almost everyone), but this is a hard pass if you were expecting a large amount of interesting content like Brawl’s Adventure mode had. Or are incapable of learning past a certain point, like me.

Katamari Damacy Reroll [Switch]

So after having played Forever earlier in the year and hearing how much praise this got, I had very High expectations! Unfortunately the controls are still ehhhhh and the game is surprisingly short; I beat it over the course of a 4ish hour flight. It’s definitely a lot nicer to you than Forever is, but in terms of amount of content it’s not aged well. If you’ve not played it before, pick it up on sale, but as far as I can tell this outing doesn’t add anything new to the original and it’s just a straight up re-release

Mario Tennis Aces [Switch]

So does anyone actually look forward to Mario Tennis Games? The past two have been husks of content and this one’s not really much better. The charging mechanic is interesting, but doesn’t feel that consistent or fair in some scenarios, but like was anyone waiting for this to get announced? Or is this just a “safe” series that sells okay and pads out the library for quick cash?”

It’s weird that they knew the Adventure mode was something fans really, REALLY wanted and touted it as some huge deal, even advertising it with a cool pre-rendered cutscene, and the whole mode with all challenges turns out to be at most a couple hours long, repetitive, and only actually has the two cutscenes (the 2nd being like 10 seconds). They made some silly RPG level up mechanic which didn’t feel like it made any difference, you can’t change your character so you’re really only learning how Mario plays, and it does a really poor job of explaining the different kinds of shots to you so it’s not even good for learning the game. I wasn’t expecting an experience worth telling for generations with the plot either, but even that gives up on itself; Luigi is possessed but he doesn’t do anything the whole game until you fight him, not even with the 3/5 power stones you have, and these power stones you spent the game collecting don’t do anything or matter because Bowser comes out of no where and “takes” the racket and power stones and challenges you to an admittedly fun boss fight. Not in a cutscene mind you, you’re just told this happens. It’s just lazy.

The game has some visual issues too; it’s missing any sort of stylistic flair and honestly just looks like an up-res’d Wii game, though with smoother models. Shadows flicker and cut through textures, and something weird’s going on with anti-aliasing that makes everything look blurry as hell too. I will say props for going to the effort of making tennis costumes for every character though; so that’s more effort than what went into Ultra Smash.

If you’re a huge, HUGE fan of Mario Tennis, go nuts. But uh, yeah this isn’t really worth your time for the price otherwise

Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Starter Pack) [Switch]

Yeah so it’s rich coming from me, but honestly this game is only hindered by the physical toys. As far as I can tell you can only play as generic Mr. No Personality or Fox, and then you only have the two options for weapons. The game could get interesting combat-wsie with the combinations of ships and like I think 14ish different weapons? But with just the starter pack you run through what the game has to offer pretty quick.

It is interesting though how I very rarely play Ubisoft games and hadn’t played one since their open-world formula milking, but right away I could tell that it was a Ubisoft open world game. There’s a lot to do, a lot of planets to explore, movement is fun and surprisingly easy, combat is pretty straightforward and has potential, but the key thing is that there’s like 30-50 facilities on each planets with like 4 different types of objectives (3 of which are “kill the same bad guys immediately here”), and you can spend hours on one planets doing some minor variance on that same thing over and over and over.

It’s a pretty good start in terms of base mechanics for what would be a cool system for an open StarFox game (and I know it wasn’t trying for that) but the repetitiveness of exploring, frankly pathetic writing in terms of characters, and locking a lot of the interesting content behind toys detracts from the experience. It’s definitely not un-fun, but after clearing 4 planets and seeing that’s just what the game is doing I don’t have any interest in continuing.

At least other than to see StarFox, because Ubisoft did them better justice than Nintendo has in years.

Best Game I Played in 2018: Celeste

Easy choice here, Celeste has a wonderful story, looks gorgeous, plays like a dream and managed to be an incredibly challenging platformer that didn’t make me lose my patience ever, which is AMAZING considering how little patience I have whenever I fail at a game.

I was going to pick the best game that actually came out in 2018 but honestly it’d be between like 4 games that I had gripes with in some way or another, so i’m going to say Overcooked 2 is pretty fucking solid and leave this whole run on sentence in the heading font because why not it’s my dead blog I can do whatever the fuck I wan-

Anyway that’s it. Hope everyone had a good year

#Game Impressions

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codylabs · 6 years

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Chapter 19: The Worst of Times

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An honest-to-goodness alien spaceship came careening out of the sky, directly toward the town. At the last possible second, it pulled up and curved away, close enough that the people on the streets could feel the pull of its gravity drive. Then it swerved unstably side to side through the sky, as its pilot attempted to get bearings. Soon it seemed to pick a direction, and so tilted on one end and raced off toward the hills, slicing off a couple treetops as it went. When it passed over the Mystery Shack, it took a sudden drop in altitude, hovered into something resembling a standstill, bumped once into the side of the building, and settled to the ground upside-down.

Its engines wined tiredly as it rolled itself back right-side-up, and finally came to a rest right between Soos’ truck and the Stans’ RV, like just another car in the parking lot.

The airlock momentarily opened and two sore but triumphant teenagers blinked in the light.

“Ugh…” Dipper dropped the alien instruction manual and rubbed his arms with a groan. “Ow…”

“Bro…” Wendy staggered slightly and shook her head, her inner ear still spinning from the flight’s antics. She gripped her fingers around the upper rim of the airlock, and hoisted herself out before extending a hand down to Dipper. “That was… Bleh…”

“Yeah… Bleh…” Dipper took her hand, and let himself be lifted up.

“Let’s… Uh…” Wendy set him down beside her and gave him a friendly slap on the back. “Yeah… Let’s not… Not do that again.”

They both dropped down off the vehicle’s rim, limped over to the Mystery Shack porch, and plopped themselves down on the sofa, where they could massage and stretch their sore bodies in relative peace.

After about 5 minutes of sitting there groaning, Wendy reached an arm way over in the direction of the cooler, and came back with a pair of ice cream sandwiches. One she tossed to Dipper, the other she unwrapped herself. The cool milky goodness reminded them how hot they were, and they began to unbuckle and loosen their armor. Wendy took a moment to admire all the scratches and dents she’d accumulated on her shoulder pads, and Dipper took a moment to subtly readjust his pants for reasons we won’t go into. Finally he spoke up again. “Yeah… And if we do do that again… I’ll drive.”

“What? No…” She smirked sharply at him. “That was fun, man… I mean… I mean, that wasn’t bad, was it?”

A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “…You drive spaceships about as well as you drive cars.”

“Yeah, well…” She struggled for a retort. “Well… You read Alien-ese about as well as you read Spanish. ‘That’s the reactor ignition’ you said. ‘push that button’ you said. ‘try those switches over there’ you said… But was it any of those?”

“No… No, we made it out by dumb luck…”

“Yeah…”

“Ugh… Sorry.”

She blinked. “Yeah… Hey, you know what, I’m sorry too. I totally forgot all about the rotation controls there during takeoff. And I guess I am a pretty bad pilot all-in-all…”

“Ahh… It’s fine… It’s just barf. It washes out…”

“Ha ha… Ooooh.” She took another bite of ice cream. “That’s gross dude.”

“Breaking news! Dipper is gross!” A new voice suddenly joined the conversation, its owner leaping out of the door to land in a smug summersault before them. With a big metal smile and a voice like a TV announcer, she held her own ice cream sandwich like a microphone. She was talking again by the time the screen door banged shut behind her. “Stay tuned next time for these and other shocking revelations, such as: grass is green!”

“Ugh! Mabel!” Dipper frowned.

“What is UP, Dippingsauce?!? Say, when did you guys get back?”

“Like… Just now?” Wendy shrugged.

“Mabel!” Dipper hissed at a volume he thought was quiet. “Go. A. Way. You were ruining the… Ermmmph…?” He nodded toward Wendy in a way he thought was discreet.

“Oh, what?” Mabel laughed. “Did I ruin the moment? I thought you were talking about how gross you were! Well excuse ME for mussing up the moment, you adorable lovebirds!”

“I…! Guh! Mabel! Go away!”

“Maybe I will, but I'll never be faaaar... Ooooh-weeEEEEE-Oooooh...!” She made a mysterious alien noise.

“Say…” Wendy interrupted, eager as anyone to steer the girl toward alternative conversation topics. “What have you been doing all day, dude?”

“Oh, ME?” Mabel smiled. “Well, I… I! I have been thinking and braining and computing, and I think I’ve finally found a way for you guys to solve your little adventure. A big, grand, happy solution! A way that doesn’t involve killing all the alien robots. I way where people are still safe, but also nothing has to be extinct!”

“Oh yeah?” Dipper glanced at her, intrigued. “And what would this big, grand, happy solution be?”

“Nuh-UH! I can’t tell you! It’s a super secrety secret that only Soos and Robbie are allowed to—SWEET MOTER OF CINNAMON IS THAT A UFO?!?”

“Uh…” Dipper glanced over his shoulder. “That? No, of course not.” He shook his head and took another bite of ice cream. “’UFO’ stands for ‘Unidentified Flying Object.’ Whereas that machine is perfectly identified. It is a nuclear-powered sub-light cargo shuttle manufactured on Trilazzxx Beta, as exploratory equipment for Colonial Vessel 4.16’\. An extraterrestrial spacecraft. Not a UFO.”

“OH MY GEEEEEEEE…! Soos, get out here! Dipper and Wendy got us a UFO!”

Soos appeared at the door with a heaping mouthful of grass. “DUDE!” He gasped some down his windpipe, and spent the next several seconds coughing it back up as he ran after Mabel toward the vehicle. “Dude it’s a spaceship! Duuuuude!”

“Duuuuuuude!”

“Duuuuuuuuude!”

“DUUUUUUUUUUUDE!”

Mabel and Soos clambered up the side and disappeared down the airlock.

“…And we’re sure that thing is harmless, right?” Dipper blinked.

“At this point? Yes. And I also took the keys.” Wendy reached into her pocket and pulled out something like a cross between a sonic screwdriver and a feather duster. “I think these are the keys, at least…”

“Ha ha… Good move…”

“Yeah…”

They were silent for a few minutes more.

Dipper took a deep breath.

Wendy took a deep breath.

“So…” He began.

“So…” She began at the exact same time. This seemed to cause some form of mutual interruption, and caused them to both stop talking.

“Go ahead.”

“No, you go ahead.”

“Okay…” She continued. “So…” She let the word hang in the air for a minute, unsure of how to follow up on it. “So… We started a conversation earlier that we never got to finish.”

“Oh…” Dipper stammered. “Oh yeah. Uh… We did, huh? Yeah…”

“About how this adventure might very well be our last. About how if we’re not careful, we might never hang out again. About how I’ll miss you and you’ll miss me and neither of us really want that to happen and, like, what should we do about that…?”

“Uh… Uh… Yeah…”

“Hmm.” Wendy grunted.

And then they fell silent again.

Finally Dipper opened his mouth. Then he closed it, cleared his throat, and tried again. “Wendy, uh… I was wondering if tomorrow… Uh… If… Uh…”

“What?”

“Uh…” A spell of dizzy itchiness seized him about that time, and it got just a little too much to bear. “Uh…”

“What?” She repeated.

“Umm… Never mind.”

“No no no no!” She insisted. “You started a conversation earlier, and now you better finish it. And you just started a sentence just now, so you darn better finish that too. If you really do have something you want to say, you darn better man up and speak up, or who knows; one of us could die in the meantime. You never know when you'll never have another chance, so take it now.”

“UH!” He squirmed nervously. “No, it’s not… Never mind. I changed my mind.”

“Changed your mind…? Really?”

“Uh…” Dipper took a breath, set his jaw, and finally said. “Okay.” Then he looked her in the eye and, with a truly monumental effort of courage, said it. “Wendy… Do you want to go on a date with me tomorrow?”

Her mouth slowly spread into a little smile as she leaned back and took another bite of her ice cream sandwich. Then she said. “I do.”

Then…!

Then… That was…

That was it… Wasn’t it?

That night Wendy came home tired, happy, and strangely optimistic… Everything seemed pretty good. Pretty chill.

Everything wasn't pretty good.

When she crawled into bed, turned out the lights and drifted off to sleep, something was wrong… It wasn't a happy sleep. A darkness seemed to encroach upon her mind, and forced upon it a new vision; a new vision, filled with darkness.

Within this evil nightmare, the day seemed to run the same way that she remembered. Just the way it was supposed to… Yes, everything was exactly the same… Until…

Until everything went wrong.

The ship exploded. Little bits and pieces flew from its port-side wing, as it tumbled for the ground. The controls fought back against her, the ground came much too fast, she missed the yard entirely, and crashed in the forest.

The ship tumbled end over end, breaking into pieces, littering the landscape with debris. Fires started. Radiation cooked the area at the atomic level. Ford evacuated people for their own protection. When he found Wendy, he had her strip to her underwear before he blasted her with the hose, trying his best to decontaminate her scarred skin.

But Ford had been irradiated himself; an even higher dosage than she. He was sick within hours, and nobody had seen much of him since. They say he’d retreated to the solitude of his lab, where he spent the hours and days doing who-knows-what.

Soos had to move his family out of the Shack. And as they sat together in a lonely motel room, he realized that there was so much heartbreak and brokenness and chaos roaming about that he couldn’t fix it. Even the greatest handyman in the world couldn’t fix it. He knew it, and the knowledge tore him up inside.

Melody had her hands full enough just trying to keep the hotel room in shape.

Abuelita found herself without her recliner for the first time in decades. The futon was a pretty big step down.

Stan found himself as a caretaker of sorts. He kept them fed and sheltered, much as he was able, kept them together and stable to the greatest of his ability. The same man who had brought them all together as Mr. Mystery now brought them together as their Grunkle. And what a Grunkle he was; but even he couldn’t reach Mabel.

Mabel.

As for her, there were no words for what she felt. It seemed that something inside her had suddenly snapped, and she’d retreated into her shell. Nothing seemed to be able to pierce through.

And Dipper…

Dipper was dead!

Wendy awoke with a sudden gasp, and found herself sitting up in bed, the sheets hot and sticky against her skin, her eyes glued on the moon out the window, her breath coming ragged and heavy.

What a nightmare that had been! It was so vivid! Almost as vivid as reality! When she tried to remember it, it didn’t elusively fade like dreams usually do; she could recall it so clearly… The image of Dipper’s bloody, broken body still hovered before her eyes, the broken lives and dreams, the sickness, the pain. She could see it almost as clearly… As… Reality…

But… Wait… Reality…?

Reality was the happy landing… The ice cream… The smiles… The awkward little invitation…

Right?

What was…?

What…

Which was the dream?!?

Wendy’s eyes slowly strayed around her room, searching in dread for the clues which would tell her.

She saw the 4 journals lying open on her desk; three red with the symbol of a hand, and one blue with the symbol of the tree.

She saw the pitcher lying next to her bed, so she had a place to barf if she again felt sick in the night.

She felt the light cotton shirt across her chest, the only thing she could wear that didn’t hurt so bad when it rubbed on her radiation burns.

She saw the little container on her nightstand, with some long, cumbersome scientific label: the pills Ford had given her to flush the latent Uranium from her body.

She saw her calendar, with its extra marks telling her she’d been bedridden 4 days now.

She saw the ‘get well soon’ cards her friends had made, lying in a messy little stack.

She saw last night’s dinner sitting where dad had left it on the foot of her bed; stone cold and untouched…

And on the windowsill directly in front of her, she saw a shattered, oil-stained axe; the axe Dipper had used to defend her to his dying breath.

Wendy’s mind, now fully awake, began to put the grim picture together: the happy ending was the dream. Instead of the nightmare, it was the good day that faded quickly from her consciousness, leaving nothing to recall it by except a vague, groundlessly hopeful feeling. The nightmare had taken its place in her memory.

And now, Wendy was struck with a sudden and powerful feeling of Deja-Vu: she’d been having the same dream for the past 4 nights. Each time, she vaguely recalled the relief, the peace, the life and love… Everything always seemed pretty chill… Then each time, she fell asleep. And the dream within a dream was a nightmare, and when she woke from both she beheld that the nightmare was true. Somehow, inexplicably, it had always been true…

Reality was the nightmare…

Bill would have been tickled pink.

Wendy would suffer no more sleep tonight. Instead she eased herself out of bed, dragging the quilt behind her for warmth. Then she flipped on the lamp above her desk, and watched the weathered pages of the journals appear before her in the yellowish light. Her butt landed on the chair, and her eyes landed on the pages, and there both stayed as the small hours ticked by.

This wasn’t right. She told herself. It wasn’t this way, and it won’t be this way. I don’t know how it could ever be fixed, but there IS a way, and I WILL find it. As she turned another page, she repeated this promise to herself a second time, and she believed it. She knew it.

Wherever you are, Dipper… Listen to me, and don’t you give up hope. Things look bad right now but somehow, somewhere, sometime, I’m coming for you. I will save you.

You had honor and grit beyond your years, Dipper. You were the one who taught me determination. You were the one who taught me heroism. Whatever it is I need to do, I learned it from you. If it had been me dead out there, you would have done the same and more for me, with neither hesitation nor doubt. And you wouldn’t have let depression or despair or a little Acute Radiation Syndrome stand in your way.

Listen to me Dipper, and hold fast.

I won’t be long.

I promise you life.

“Learn to think dark thoughts, my girl.”

These were the words Robbie had given Mabel 4 days ago, when he’d scorned her spirit and left her. These words had been given to her 23 minutes before Dipper died.

She shouldn’t logically have known of his demise on such short notice. She’d been in the van at the time, on the way to the motel, complaining and talking and joking with Soos and Melody… Then… She’d suddenly and inexplicably felt a piece of her soul shatter to pieces. Maybe it was just the minutes ticking by when nobody spoke or called. Maybe she’d suddenly put it all together: how the only place a dirty UFO could have come from is on-planet. How the only people who were currently investigating aliens (and thus the only ones who would ever find such a craft and try to land it in their yard) were Dipper and Wendy. Maybe Robbie’s words had set off a chain reaction of unreasonable, escalating paranoia.

It was probably the work of some kind of latent twin ESP.

It didn’t matter how she’d known.

She just had.

And thus did the civil war begin.

It was the spark that set the two sides of Mabel’s soul afire in hatred against the other. They donned their armor, they took up weapons, and they charged headlong into war on the surface of her mind.

The light half of her brain cried foul at the claims of the darkness; it said that Dipper wasn’t dead at all. “It’s all right!” The light half said. “What do you mean he’s dead? Of course he’s all right! He’s always been all right! He’s always been there for you, you’ve always been there for him, and nothing in the universe can stand between! That’s the way it’s always been, and that’s the way it will always be! Your love for him conquers all! And even if he is dead; so what? Together, you’ve conquered things more powerful than death before, and you will conquer them again! You’ve battled across space and time, you’ve grappling-hooked your way through demons and robots! So long as the name ‘Pines’ still dances in the sunny fields of Gravity Falls, your hope and your love will endure! Stand up and laugh at cruel fate, Mabel! The others need your strength!”

“Of course he’s dead.” The dark side retorted. “He went off alone with Wendy; he spent more and more time with her, less and less time with you, because he wanted to leave you behind! He thought you were too sweet and young and foolish for his duty, and he was right… He left you because he knew you couldn’t handle the grown-up world! The real world… It is dark and twisted and dangerous, filled with evil men, just like Robbie told you! Dipper left you for this world, and his foray into its clutches destroyed him. He should have stayed with you, growing young and stupid by your side, but he didn’t… And now what will you do, you glittery, girly little fart? You will sit down and you will cry, because bringing him back means following him into that grim world, and you are too cowardly for the task!”

Yes, it was true: only half of the mind was occupied by Mabel’s old self… The other half was something terrible and ugly and foreign… Some part of herself she’d either never noticed or always tried to repress. Where did this other half come from? How did it get into my brain? Why are you here? Why won’t you leave me alone? Help, somebody help! It’s hurting me!

No matter how the fires raged on that battleground, the darkness would not be subdued.

But that whole evening, the light side would not be subdued either. It had been holding aloft that one and singular hope: the hope and that this was all just a weird onset of paranoia. But… But what kind of person was paranoid enough to instantly become certain of a dark truth she couldn’t have known? Even Dipper hadn’t been that bad. Nobody was that paranoid, certainly not sweet, optimistic little Mabel… Certainly not sweet, optimistic, innocent, supportive, carefree, cheery, bubbly, joyous, happy little Mabel… Certainly not I…

Dipper was dead; she knew it but she didn’t know it, and that was the misery she had lived until 7:28 that night. And that was when Melody, the most adult-like adult present, got a call from Ford. She’d listened to the news with a steely frown for some 10 minutes, whispering questions just outside Soos and Mabel’s hearing.

Then she nodded, said something to Soos, and handed the phone to Mabel.

Mabel turned away before she could see Soos’ reaction, then pressed the earpiece to her head, and, in a barely steady voice, demanded of the man on the other end. “He’s dead? He’s dead, isn’t he? Dipper’s dead?”

Ford hadn’t dared to hesitate; she’d waited long enough. “Yes.” He’d said.

She vaguely remembered dropping the phone, then curling up in someplace cold and dark, pulling her head and limbs into her sweater, and crying. Deep inside the impenetrable inner sanctum of Sweatertown, the darkness gained ground. “I was right.” It said. “You are foolish, you are stupid, you are weak, and I was right. Now you are all alone, and there is nobody to help you. Your brother is gone, your uncles are just uncles, your friends are just friends, your Soos is just a Soos, and none of them know you anymore. The Shooting Star burned so bright and beautiful in its time, but a shooting star is just a falling star, and its shine is merely its vaporization. The atmosphere has torn it apart, and now a cracked, rough, beaten, cold shell comes plummeting for the ground; an impact that will surely dash it to pieces… Poor, poor Shooting Star… At last… At long, long last, it’s time for you to become something new…”

Thusly did the sweet, optimistic, innocent, supportive, carefree, cheery, bubbly, joyous, happy little Mabel slowly rot.

Robbie’s words echoed over the blackened, besieged walls of Sweatertown.

“Learn to think dark thoughts, my girl…”

Such thoughts had begun to ooze.

Dan tucked in his shirt and buckled his suspenders, as he glanced tiredly at the clock. He had to leave for work in 15 minutes… He supposed that was long enough to try once more to talk.

So he scooped a couple eggs and some sausage off the stove and onto a plate, and carried them over to his daughter’s sealed door. With one massive fist he knocked once, and waited a minute for the response that never came.

She didn’t want to talk. She never wanted to talk.

So he opened it anyway, and took a timid step within.

She was sitting at her desk, wrapped tightly in a quilt and little else, as seemed to be habit these past few days. Before her, arranged on the table like some kind of ritual, were all those old confounded books… What was she doing?

Whatever it was, she didn’t think it warranted showing to him.

Her back was turned, and there it stayed. Her gaze was forward, and there it stayed, as she flipped page after page, slowly and methodically, scanning from book to book to book to book. Occasionally she scribbled a note or a question or an answer here or there. Sometimes she checked a little chart she’d scribbled on the wall, that seemed to be some kind of code. Sometimes she fact-checked the blue one with the red ones, or the red ones with each other.

Always she was looking. Looking for what? Dan couldn’t guess. Why the sudden interest in books, when she’d never liked them even a little? Dan hadn’t a clue. What strange books were these, that could promise answers among matters of life and death? Dan hesitated to speculate. What did she believe stood to gain by pouring over scribbles all through the late and early hours? It didn’t make much sense to him. But somehow, such folly seemed infinitely important to her. Indeed, by the intensity of her studies, it seems she believed in it… WHY? He wondered again. WHAT IS THERE TO BELIEVE? WHAT IS SHE THINKING? IS SHE HOPING? HOPING FOR WHAT? AND HOW? HOW DOES HOPE FOLLOW FROM A SITUATION LIKE THIS…?

Well… He figured she probably knew a lot more about this than he did. Whatever she was thinking, he hoped to God that she was right.

He set her breakfast down on her bed, to replace her untouched dinner.

But before he left, he decided to try once more.

“…WENDY?”

No response, although her shoulders may have tensed just slightly.

“LOOK, I… I KNOW YOU DON’T WANT TO TALK, BUT… BUT. HMM. YEAH… UH… YOU KNOW, WHEN YOUR MOM DIED--”

“Was it your fault?” Dan saw his own daughter spin on him, wild and aggressive, lashing out like a cornered animal. And for the first time, Dan clearly saw that terrible, ungodly look in her eye. It was a look that shocked Dan, even frightened him into taking a step back, because he recognized it well. He hadn’t seen that look in a long time, and he’d hoped to never see it again. That was the look he saw in the mirror, when he met times of true desperation with all he had left: his anger and his willpower. When her mom died. When her brother had hit his head on a hiking trip. When the sky was red and everyone was gone. This was a look of great import.

“I don’t talk.” Wendy growled. “Because I know what you’re going to say, and I’m not gonna listen. You’re gonna ask me why the dickens I was trying to fly an alien spaceship in the first place. Why I didn’t land it properly, or why I showed enough weakness to need protection from some wimpy kid. You’re gonna tell me none of this had happened if I’d have just gotten a job like a good little girl! If I’d have just forgotten the whole thing! You’re gonna tell me I shouldn’t have tried to do this, and now ‘HEY LOOK SOMEBODY’S DEAD! HEY LOOK, NOW YOU’VE GOT ARS AND YOU SHOULDN’T BE OUT OF BED TILL YOUR BONE MARROW HEALS!’ WELL I KNOW IT, DAD! I darn well know I messed up, but I’ll have you know that we had our own good reasons for going out there, for fighting the fight we did, for flying that ship… We believed—No—We knew that we had to! But this wasn’t the way it was supposed to be! We would have lived…! And… And I don’t need another lecture from you telling me how to live my life… Just… Please, just leave…”

Dan stood there for a minute, shocked to silence.

“And…” Wendy announced. “Frankly dad, today’s the day. I don’t think I’ll find any more answers in these books, so I ain’t gonna stay sitting on my butt for one hour longer. You’re gonna leave for work in… What, 11 minutes? Soon as you do, there’s nothing to stop me. I’m gonna get up and I’m gonna head to town. Firstly to collect some equipment I lost in the crash. Secondly to get some questions answered. Third to buy a new bike, because the robot ate my old one. Forthly to visit the Pines, and tell them the half of the story they haven’t heard yet. Fifthly to just clear my head… I know Ford said to stay in bed, stay in my room, until I’m stronger; well screw him. I’m going, because this is more important. And… And that’s the way it is, so there…”

Her gaze passed off of him, as she turned back to her books.

Dan frowned for a good long time, his brain working to process all of this. He started off angry. Then he got confused. Then he stopped being confused, and he knew what he needed to do.

He could be late for work just once.

“UH…” He finally said, as he turned for the door. “I WON’T HAVE YA WALKIN’ ALL THE WAY TA TOWN IN YER HEALTH. GET YER STUFF TOGETHER, EAT YER BREAKFAST, AND I’LL MEET YA IN THE TRUCK… AND FER THE LOVE OF ALL THAT’S HOLY, PUT ON SOME PANTS! YOU’LL CATCH YER DEATH OF COLD…”

10 minutes later, she locked the front door behind her, and turned for the truck. She’d dressed herself approximately as she usually did: jeans, boots, jacket. But this time, that faded cap with the pine tree seemed more prominent on her head. And she was carrying more than an axe today; the blue journal was tucked in her unbuttoned jacket.

She was dressed for this business. But she wasn’t feeling it. The eggs and meat tumbled in her empty stomach like they didn’t belong. The chill morning air bit harshly though the inside of her stuffy nose. And her knees, of all things, hurt from so many days of sitting. In every inch of her body there lurked these subtle hardships of sickness. They made her feel thin, weak, even small. As if everything in creation, right down to her very flesh, was conspiring to oppress her. As if, in so many subtle ways, fate had made her less than everybody else.

This must be how Dipper feels every day. She realized.

“READY?” Her dad nodded from the cab of his truck.

She took one more deep breath.

Grit.

“Yep.” She nodded.

“KAY.”

Then she looked over and met her dad’s eye.

Honor.

“…I’m sorry I yelled at you.” She told him. “That was outta turn.”

“’SOKAY.”

“…You’re really not mad at me?”

“…THERE’S A LOTTA THINGS I DON’T UNDERSTAND.” He grunted. “BUT AS FER WHAT YER FEELING… THAT I DO GET. AND EVEN I KNOW BETTER THAN TA STAND IN THE WAY OF A CORDUROY WEARIN’ THAT FACE. NOW… WHERE IS IT YA NEED TA GO?”

She stepped up into the passenger seat, and pulled the door shut behind her. “Uh… McGucket’s handling the salvage from the crash, right? Weren’t you driving the tow truck for the cleanup?”

“YEAH. EVERYTHING WE DIDN’T BURY I TOOK TO HIS PLACE.”

“McGucket Manor then.”

“Hey, make it fast up there, Pumpkin.” Grunkle Stan lowered her gently off his shoulders, and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. His rough, cranky old voice was the gentlest he could make it today. “Don’t wanna be around here longer than we have to… Ha ha… Radiation, and, uh… Heh heh… Y’know. All that… Just get your stuff and come right back down.”

In numb compliance, she walked slowly up the familiar creaking stairs, through the room lit red by the triangular window, and finally into the cramped attic space where all her stuff was…

And all his stuff too… She tried not to look at it.

She stopped by a small metal box that was sitting on her bed. And she stared at it for what felt like minutes, while the mighty battle of light vs. dark raged harder than ever in her soul.

Juan was in that box.

The adorable, innocent little robot that Wendy had found in the woods at the start of all this… Mabel had been the one to keep him fed and charged and happy; who had played with him, and kept him safe from the family who would have meant him harm… Somebody mysterious had even saved him from their hands, and then entrusted him to Mabel, knowing that she still loved and cared for the cub…

Hesitantly, Mabel popped the latches on the box, and looked inside.

Juan was still in there.

He’d been in there 4 days now. No electricity. No room to move. No light. No warmth. No mommy. No love.

Very slowly and weakly he looked up at her. His red eyes were glowing almost too dim to make out, and the most he could do with his legs was wiggle them side to side, as if lacking the power output to even stand up. She could tell that he was nearly dead.

“Oh…!” She choked dryly over her words, and her sight got blurry. “Oh, I’m so sorry Juan…” She reached down with her bare hands, and curled them around his tiny chest. He was even thinner and lighter than she remembered, and his legs were covered in what felt like metal shavings. (Robot poop? Gross…)

He didn’t activate his saws, even when her bare hand accidentally touched them. Maybe he didn’t fear her or hate her anymore; or maybe he was just that helpless.

She rushed over to the wall outlet, sat down next to it, and held his head right up to the socket. Soon as the creature recognized what was happening, it extended its hooks and worked them into the plug. Its entire body seemed to shudder for a moment and then relax. His legs wrapped themselves comfortably around her wrist, and the claws gently plucked at her sweater. His tail wiggled in the cutest way possible, and his entire body seemed relieved, even sleepy as he nursed.

Oh, Juan…

Such a sweet thing…

…

It’s all his fault.

If you hadn’t wandered into that bear trap… Your mom wouldn’t have left you for dead. And then Wendy wouldn’t have found you and taken you home. And then your mom wouldn’t have come back looking for you, and hurt Dan… And then Dipper and Wendy wouldn’t have gone on an adventure to find where you came from… And… And then Wendy wouldn’t have flown that spaceship, Dipper wouldn’t have dueled your mom… Your mom wouldn’t have died, and… AND… AND!

AND DIPPER WOULD STILL BE ALIVE!

Very slowly, Mabel watched her hand reach up to settle on the top of Juan’s head. I’m just going to pet him… It’s all right. I’m just petting you Juan… Don’t be afraid. You need to be… Petted…

But she didn’t pet him. As if it had a mind of its own, Mabel’s hand curled its fingers around the sides of Juan’s head. And her other hand reached around to hold his torso steady.

No…

No, I can’t do this. It’s not… It’s not really his fault. He’s just a baby… He… He… He doesn’t deserve it! What am I thinking?!? He’s innocent! I love him! He’s…

He’s guilty.

I hate him.

Mabel’s fingers tightened. In an instant, her wrists flexed, her arms straightened, and she grunted with effort.

With all her strength, she spun Juan’s head around on his body. And she held it at that terrible angle for a second, flexing with all her strength, waiting for some quiet ‘click’ which would indicate his tiny spine had cracked.

But his neck was made of titanium; it didn’t break.

Suddenly, Mabel froze, and realized what she’d just done.

She dropped Juan on the floor with a gasp, and stood up suddenly, staggering back about 5 steps. Juan shook his sore neck and glanced up at her in an accusing way.

Mabel kept retreating until her back touched the wall. That really happened. She realized. She’d just tried to murder an innocent creature. She, Mabel Pines, had really, truly, with all of her might, tried to end the life of an innocent, adorable baby animal, and all for no reason besides anger…

She broke down into uncontrollable tears, jerked the door open, and rushed headlong down the stairs. Stanley noticed her coming, and, guessing wrongly at the source of her distress, reached up a hand to try and stop her. “Hey, woah, woah, it’s okay, Sweety! C’mere, it’s—”

She blubbered something unintelligible that even she didn’t catch, barreled her way past her Grunkle’s embrace, and sprinted for the back door.

Gone, gone, gone…

Dipper was gone… And now Mabel must be gone too… Yes, something must have taken up residence in my brain, because I would surely never have done that… Surely not I…

The battle in her brain raged on, just as ferociously as ever.

And the light side was getting truly desperate. Has the darkness really won? It asked.

The dark side snickered at the protests of the light. I guess we’ll have to see… It taunted.

Beneath the battle in the brain, Mabel’s legs ran and kept running, while the tears streamed down her face. Grunkle Stan may have been running after her, or he may not… It didn’t really matter; she had faster legs than him anyway.

She ran and she ran.

I tried to kill him! The light side of her brain sobbed. Dipper was the only one I could ever trust, and now I can’t even trust myself!

Geez, this is getting sad! The dark side of her brain cringed. You weren’t even strong enough to break that kid’s neck! Dipper wouldhave couldhave done it better… Whatever you think you’re doing, you definitely need help.

Where are you, Dipper?!? Her light side cried out. What can I even do? Where are you to tease me when I’m silly? Where are you to pick me up when I’m stupid? Where are you to put a bandaid on my soul and give me an awkward sibling hug? Dipper… I need you so BAD…

She ran and she ran until she found herself standing all alone, in a small field of yellow grass. All around the field stooped a scraggly grove of Birch Trees, their trunks banded in sheaths of white bark as smooth as eyelids…

Mabel took a deep breath and wiped her tears, as she sank down into the grass.

Dipper… The light side of her brain pleaded. I would do anything in the universe to get you back…

Oh yeah? The dark side asked. …Did you just say ‘anything’, Shooting Star?

She opened her eyes.

And she saw a small stone statue.

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#The Forest Of Daggers #wendip #wendy x dipper #gravity falls #scifi #wendy corduroy #dipper pines #shapeshifter #see you next summer #fanfiction #fanart #alien #robot #ghost #wendipweek

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