#Ending on a cliffhanger to tease for the main story

[charmfamily]

THE HYPNAGOGIC:HOUR PODCAST. EPISODE 58, JULY 10, 2023. (PART II - FINAL)

Transcript Below. Listen to the Intro Music & Backing Soundtrack if you like HERE

ERWIN: Right. So I didn’t want to mention this until now when we’re doing the teaser episode for next week’s episode, but the field investigation in Moonwood Mill is going to be kind of like a cross-genre sort of thing– 

DYLAN: [interrupting] Explain? Cross genre between us and what because if it has anything to do with a secret cabal of warlocks –? 

ERWIN: No, that’s another assignment for later possibly, and it hinges on whether or not I can get my informant to start talking again; this one is a crossover into a little bit of True Crime. 

DYLAN: [Dylan’s brow furrows as he poorly attempts to conceal a rather concerned expression.] True Crime? Does that mean there’s more than theories from the anonymous tips coming in? Is there actual evidence? 

ERWIN: As far as evidence goes, yeah, there’s some, but unfortunately not a lot. The Hall of Sages are keeping all of this really quiet and sending out task forces to make sure that it stays hush-hush, which is what got my attention in the first place – From what little I could extract from my insider in The Vale, the anonymous tips that corroborated what I’ve already heard are really onto something that’s tangible and provable as we speak: the fact that there’s been a huge uptick in bodies found in the Moonwood Tunnels. 

#Sims 4 Story #TS4 #The Sims 4 #TS4 Story #TS4 Edit #Erwin Pries #Dylan Sigworth #The Hypnagogic:Hour #dun Dun DUNNNNN #Ending on a cliffhanger to tease for the main story #I hope you guys really enjoyed this I had a lot of fun making it and look forward to doing more with this idea!

[di-42]

Why are we obsessed with Good Omens?

Why are we obsessed with Good Omens? And, more specifically,why are we so obsessed with Good Omens season 2? And why is this such an intense obsession? I've been obsessed with other TV series in the past: Sherlock, Doctor Who and Gilmore Girls are just a few examples. But my obsession with Good Omens is stronger. I loved Good Omens, the book. I was delighted when not only did Good Omens season 1 not disappoint compared to the book but was excellent in its own right. But after watching season 2 I was a different person. And I know I'm not alone in this.

Why is this? Why is this show affecting us so deeply? To the point that sometimes it feels destabilising?

Like I said above, I loved the book and I loved season 1. I loved the complexity of the plot, the many layers of the story, the humour of course, all the characters and in the TV show the way these characters were portrayed, especially of course our two main heroes. I loved the way the story unapologetically approached religion and teased it and played with it and made fun of parts of it, especially the bureaucratic/hierarchic part without being disrespectful to believers (I think and hope, but since I'm not a believer myself I'm happy to be corrected). I loved how much was in it and the many lenses we could read the story.

Now I'll be honest. When I started watching season 2 I... loved it. Of course I did. The way you love things you know. The way you love things that make you feel safe. The way a toddler loves mum and dad and the way we love going for a coffee with our lifelong friends. Something risk-free, something we know, something we don't need to worry about. Something beautiful but... Shall I say it? Something beautiful, truly beautiful and safe and cosy but not something extremely exciting. The plot is Crowley and Aziraphale have to hide Gabriel who, for some reason, has left heaven. OK. Nice. We get to know Crowley and Aziraphale better, we have more glimpses of their history. Truly, truly beautiful. But safe. A lovely rom com. We fall in love with 1941 all over again. Beautifully emotional. But where's the danger? Is the world really not ending this time round? It was difficult to take the threats from heaven and hell very seriously when we saw our heroes visiting the coffee shop, driving to Edinburgh and miracling rain to make two humans fall in love.

I was enjoying it, I was... yeah. Loving it, sure. We were all happily watching it but, let's face it, we all knew how it was going to end, didn't we?

And that there. That's why we are so obsessed with Good Omens. Well, that's definitely why I'm so obsessed with Good Omens. At first I thought it was just the lack of closure. But it's not. It's because after alluring you in with cosy safe tartan blankets and cocoa winged mugs it smites you mercilessly. It's because it subverts all the expectations it created in the first place. This is what is so destabilising. We've all read and watched lovely, moving, heart breaking love stories before. We've all lost it a bit over maddening cliffhangers. All the beautiful stories in our lives. But the ending of Good Omens season 2? It does change you as a person. The impact of changing the narrative so suddenly and forcefully. We were watching a comedy and now we are witnessing the unfolding of a tragedy. That's what did it, I think. That's why it stays with us and occupies a good part of our thoughts while we go about our daily activities. That's also what makes many of us want to write, draw, analyse and create. As obsessed as I was with other series and books before, it was only after Good Omens season 2 that I felt I needed to write about it and find a community where I could talk about and share my thoughts and read other people's thoughts. I know many of you are writers or artists but I also know many of us aren't and it's only thanks to Good Omens that we overcome our fears and self doubts and put our thoughts out there. Thanks to Neil Gaiman. Thanks to Neil Gaiman promising one thing and delivering another. Thanks to Neil Gaiman deceiving us. I can't wait to see how it all pans out and we do know everything will be OK. But in the meantime I'm so happy to have had my expectations taken and thrown in the bin.

#good omens #good omens season2 #Good omens 2 #subverting expectations #the beauty of stories

[ihavemanyhusbands]

Ettie omg I'm that nonnie who sent the jealous!Richie request and omg! That cliffhanger??? I too would drop everything for him 🫡 Rushing running flying my ass to the bear rn! Thank you for doing my request 🥹❤️❤️❤️

I’m so glad you liked it anon!! ❤️❤️ here, I wanted to do a small part 2 hehe

———

The inside of the Beef was mostly dark, but the office’s light was on. You took a quick glance around to try and find whatever issue there was, but you saw nothing out of place.

You made your way to the office, finding Richie sitting on Carmy’s chair. He was resting his head on his hands, seemingly pondering something.

You knocked on the open door. “Hey, I’m here. What’s going on?”

He startled a little, looking up at you. You were still wearing your date night outfit, and for a moment he internally seethed about it being wasted on someone else.

“Hey, thanks for coming. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, did I ruin your night?”

You glanced down at yourself. “Not particularly, it’s okay. What’s the issue?”

He sighed heavily, leaning back against the chair.

“Okay…. Funny story, um…” he started, gesturing around to try and find the words. “I… shit this is hard. I have to come clean about something.”

You frowned, confused, but your heart still began racing in your chest.

“You’re gonna think I’m some freak psycho stalker… but I was walking past Main earlier and I saw you. I-I called you here because… I couldn’t stop myself from calling you. There’s no emergency at all.”

You blinked at him, processing his words. He was looking down at his anxiously wringing hands, a slight red tint on his cheeks. That confused you even further, but there was that traitorous hope persisting after all.

“Wait, so you wanted to… get me out of my date?” You asked tentatively. “Why?”

“Well,” he chuckled nervously, reddening further. “I was jealous, okay? That what you want to hear?”

“I mean, yeah,” you said almost instantly.

He looked up at you finally, shocked. “Hold on, really?”

You rolled your eyes playfully, giddier by the second. “Yes, Richie.”

“Why didn’t you say something!?”

“Why didn’t you!?”

“Because I’ve been a fucking pussy to be honest with you,” he said. “I didn’t want to seem like a creep… but look how that ended.”

“Actually, this is better than what I imagined,” you said, your tone teasing. “I never thought you’d pull something like this.”

He shrugged, still looking ashamed but starting to find the humor in it.

“You did save me from a pretty shitty date, so thank you for that,” you continued. “And I guess you also brought me to a hopefully better one?”

His back straightened. “This is a date now?”

You gestured at yourself. “Well, I’m here, aren’t I? And I like this dress too much to let it go to waste.”

He let out a huff that was both amused and disbelieving. He got up from the chair, his mind already scrambling to put things together.

“Okay, yeah, we should have something to drink around here and, uh… I can cook something, too!” He said, frowning pensively. “I got this, okay. Well you just sit there and look pretty and I’ll take care of stuff!”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m gonna set up a table for us, how about that?”

He nodded, taking one more long look at you before dashing off to get everything ready.

———-

#richie jerimovich x reader #richie jerimovich fanfiction #the bear x reader #the bear fanfiction

[favesgrave]

wanted to redo this because in the og poll i felt like it wasn't really distributed properly

reasoning:

pilots-s2: i feel like they all have a pretty connected story with garmadon as one of the main villains and then ofc the green ninja prophecy

s3-s5: the seasons kept building off each other!!! s3 ending had the cliffhanger of zane rebuilding himself, s4 ending teased morro, and then the s5 ending felt like a place they could have ended the series if they wanted to

skybound + hands of time: i separated these two since i know the fandom is pretty split on loving these seasons or hating them

oni trilogy: well it's a trilogy so obviously i gotta group it together

and the wildbrain seasons and dragons rising r pretty self explanatory i think

#ninjago #lego ninjago #dragons rising #ninjago dragons rising #ninjago dr #poll #ninjago poll

[snapscube]

i think i remember you played through the assassins creed series right? would you recommend it? is there a certain order?

I would recommend SOME of them if you are previously inclined to try. Do not play all of them unless you are a crazy person like I am or you were already planning to and there’s nothing I can ACTUALLY do to deter you. It’s really not worth it. The overarching stories of the games get thrown out like 4 times throughout the course of the series, there is basically no reason to try to get context for the story by playing the games because it’s just not even all there. For example, one of the games ends with a narrative cliffhanger of sorts teasing a conclusion to a story that’s been going on for 4 or so games, and then the VERY next game after that cliffhanger starts a completely new story arc. You know why? They finished the arc in a comic. The conclusion to a 4 game story arc doesn’t even happen in the games. Just thinking about it makes me want to commit arson.

If, like me, you have no shame, here are the AC games that I genuinely believe have enough value to justify their play time or are at the very least fun to play through most if not all of that time:

- Assassins Creed (the original. it’s not the best, but it has a fun novelty value nowadays being the launching point of the series. it also has a great atmosphere.)

- The Ezio Trilogy (AC2, Brotherhood, and Revelations. they’re mostly very good, though greatly similar to each other, and Revelations is a shockingly mature and heartfelt sendoff to both AC protagonists up to this point)

- Black Flag (this game fucks. it’s so good. literally the only big criticism i have for it is that a LOT of the missions ended up being tailing missions for some reason, so i would recommend breaking up the main story with as much side content as you can)

- Syndicate (this game fucks. the twin protagonists are so charming and fun to watch. it has a really tight gameplay loop that refines a lot of what came before. the music is SO GOOD)

- Origins (best protagonist in the games since Ezio, with the best voice performance out of any of the games. incredible campaign ending. gorgeous egyptian setting. too much grinding necessary though imo)

[denimbex1986]

'Amazon Prime’s hit adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s bestselling novel Good Omens will return for season three, starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen.

The TV series follows the unlikely celestial bond between grouchy demon Crowley (Tennant) and fussy rare-book seller and earthbound Angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) as they are faced with world-ending threats and rogue angelic beings rocking up at their doorstep.

The first season, written by co-creator Gaiman, arrived on Prime Video in 2019 and quickly cultivated a devoted queer fanbase invested in the heavenly chemistry between Crowley and Aziraphale as they raced to save the earth from an all-consuming apocalypse.

After a four-year wait, the second season arrived in July this year and did not disappoint as the unconventional pair teamed up once again to restore order in the cosmos after taking the lost, confused and amnesia-ridden archangel Gabriel under their wing.

The season ended on a major cliffhanger, with tensions between Aziraphale and Crowley higher than ever leaving fans waiting with bated breath for the show to be renewed for a final season.

And their dreams have come true after Prime announced on Thursday (14 December) that a third and final season would be arriving on the streaming platform. Read on to find out everything we know so far.

What is the plot of Good Omens season 3?

The end of season two saw Gabriel runaway with Beelzebub, leaving his post as heaven’s head honcho wide open, which is then offered to Aziraphale. In the dramatic finale, Crowley admits his undying love for Aziraphale before planting a passionate kiss on his lips – much to the delight of fans.

However, in a heartbreaking twist Aziraphale leaves Crowley devastated after telling him he has accepted the job offer and will be returning to heaven, with little hope of seeing Crowley ever again.

In a statement announcing the season renewal, Gaiman teased about what audiences can expect from the upcoming season.

“I’m so happy finally to be able to finish the story Terry [Pratchett] and I plotted in 1989 and in 2006,” Gaiman said in a statement.

“Terry was determined that if we made Good Omens for television, we could take the story all the way to the end. Season One was all about averting Armageddon, dangerous prophecies, and the End of the World.

“Season Two was sweet and gentle, although it may have ended less joyfully than a certain Angel and Demon might have hoped.

“Now in Season Three, we will deal once more with the end of the world. The plans for Armageddon are going wrong. Only Crowley and Aziraphale working together can hope to put it right. And they aren’t talking.”

Much like the previous seasons it looks like divine intervention will force our spurned lovers together once again as a brand new threat to civilisation emerges. But will this be enough to make them realise their deep affections for one another and finally get their happy ending?

Amazon MGM Studios head of television Vernon Sanders described the show as “clever, witty, and funny”.

“The final season is sure to be packed with the same dynamic energy that our global customers have come to enjoy,” he said.

Fan theories and reaction to Good Omens season 3

Naturally, fans are raring to watch the new season and are offering their best theories about what to expect alongside their most joyous reactions.

There are several potential avenues the show could go down for the third season, although most are hopeful of a happy ending for our main duo. Gaiman has previously hinted that Aziraphale and Crowley end up living together in a cottage after the events of the TV series, known as South Downs Cottage.

As for what the major existential threat will be, according to receipts collated by Good Omens fan and X/Twitter user @swirlingthings, the plot is likely to converge around the Second Coming of Christ.

According to Gaiman, himself and Pratchett previously discussed this plot in which Jesus would descend on a silver plane with angelic secret agents sporting dark glasses, only to get lost in New York’s Time Square.

Meanwhile, fans are sharing their jubilation at the renewal news.

Who is in the cast of Good Omens season 3?

There is currently little information on the cast of the third and final season of Good Omens aside from the guaranteed return of David Tennant and Michael Sheen.

There is the possibility that character from previous seasons make a returning such as Gabriel (Jon Hamm) and Beelzebub, portrayed by Shelley Conn in the second season.

Nina Sosanya may also make a reappearance after starring in various roles across the first two seasons.

Is there a trailer?

There is currently no trailer for Good Omens season three.

What is the release date?

There is currently no release date for the third season but Gaiman has offered a potential timeline on his tumblr, after revealing he has made strong headway on writing the scripts after the WGA strikes lifted.

“If we shot it in 2024 it would probably be released in early ’26. (We started shooting S2 in October 2021. It’s about a year in post-production from wrap to release),” he told fans. Adding that he has long had the “final fifteen pages” of season three episode six ready “in case he got hit by a bus”.

So if all goes well, we may be seeing Aziraphale and Crowley’s happy ending by 2026.

Good Omens season one and two are now streaming on Prime Video.'

#Good Omens #Prime Video #Neil Gaiman #Terry Pratchett #Twitter #Michael Sheen #David Tennant #Crowley #Aziraphale #Gabriel #Jon Hamm #Beelzebub #Shelley Conn #Nina Sosanya

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC Review: Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha

4.25/5. Releases 11/28/2023.

Vibes: a complex love triangle, handmaiden/princess, arranged marriage, dragon heroes that fuck, and enemies to lovers with actual stakes.

Princess Sachielle is betrothed to the Dragon, a god feared for killing his previous consort a century prior. What the Dragon doesn't know is that she's been charged with killing him--and her own life is forfeit if she fails. He also doesn't know that Sachi's handmaiden and lover, Zanya, is much more than she seems. And neither Sachi nor Zanya expected their very different connections with the Dragon--or his determination to win both of them.

It's not easy to find FFM menage romances, and of course, it's therefore even harder to find good ones that don't treat the women as side dishes next to a hero entree. But this? This is really fucking good. And it's really good fantasy romance, at that. If the other dragon romance book (which I personally liked as well) was too light or tame for you--this uh... will not be that. This one is wild, and it is the beginning of a series--while this isn't exactly a cliffhanger, it doesn't end in a fully resolved manner, and I'm excited to see what comes next.

Quick Takes:

--Menage romances often favor one bond over the other; while I love them in general, I find many that do not... work. Here, it's pitched perfectly--and I suspect some of that has to do with the fact that we still have some story to tell, and development to watch unfold. Zanya and Sachi have a very established, loving, and passionate long-term relationship, and that is never in question in this book (despite the necessity of them keeping it a secret, initially). Sachi and Ash (of course the Dragon goes by Ash) have an immediate chemistry and physical attraction, which puts a real wrench in the "I'm here to kill him" thing. It only deepens into something more as they spend time together, with Zanya looking on--not quite un-jealous, but not really threatened either.

Zanya and Ash's interplay might have been my favorite, though. She is determined to keep Sachi safe no matter what, and she is vicious. Ash? Loves and relates to both of those things. The very literal sparring scenes between these two? So hot. And while I feel very sure about the dynamic between Sachi and Zanya and Sachi and Ash, these two still have a ways to go. Zanya is a hard character, with many emotional walls (and her reasons are super valid). Ash, on the other hand, is all heat--and while he's initially determined to make nice with Zanya because of his feelings for Sachi, over the course of the book you feel him become more interested in her, and excited to get to know her better and be with her for the long term. Zanya? Still needs some convincing. I am pumped to see how he wins her over.

--The way sexuality is handled in this book is so casual, and I fucking love that. Really, the main obstacle to Sachi and Zanya being together in public is related to class and Sachi's duty to marry Ash. The gods they meet are pretty much universally bisexual, and Ash's previous consort was a prince, not a princess, which doesn't seem unusual or remarked upon.

--I think it would be very easy for Ash to come off as a "just happy to be there" guy, because Zanya and Sachi have such a strong love, and such an established relationship. But he's really so lovable, so patient with both of them (well, Sachi has to be more patient in their case--he's very worried about hurting her) and so charmingly teasing. Like, he's a protective dangerous dragon guy (and to be clear: for most of the book, Ash is totally this big hot man dude, he shifts separately into a dragon form) but he's also just? A good guy?

--I loved the world of the gods and their mythology. It's fun, it's hedonistic, I identified several cool characters I'd love to see find love in their own books, and it feels like they're both... above humanity and sweetly emotional. It's a hard balance to strike, but I think they got it in this one. (Fun fact: Kit Rocha is a pen name for two friends.)

--In terms of "how fantasy is this and how romance is this" it's a romance novel, despite the fact that it doesn't end on a totally resolved note (I trust that will come in the future). But the fantasy is strong without being too hard to follow. I feel like fantasy purists who are Very Vocal On Twitter may complain about the level of fantasy in this but like. The world was very much solid enough for me. I got it. It was the right balance for me, as a romance reader, and I refuse to accept romantasy as a thing unless it defines itself better, because it feels like fantasy romance is all I really need to know about.

The Sex:

Um, one of the hottest books I've read in a while. It takes a bit before you get to the first sex scene, but once it gets going it's going. Most of the sex scenes involve all three parties in one way or the other. Sachi is absolutely a brat with both of her partners, and frankly, we love to see it.

One thing I really loved was the evolution of Zanya's role in the sexual aspect of the relationship. We see that she and Sachi have very defined roles in bed, they know each others' bodies so well. Ash is respectful of that, as he is respectful in general--and he's willing to learn from both Sachi and Zanya (and I get the impression that while both of them are clearly bi, neither has much or any experience with men due to their longstanding, presumably monogamous involvement with each other). He's such a great example of writing a romance hero who's like... an animal where it counts, but so respectful of consent and so willing to be taught. So, as time passes, you see Zanya's more dominant side come out with Ash as well, and the way in which she begins to shift her focus from just Sachi to Sachi and Ash. Which of course, very much aligns with the fact that she's catching feelings. Oops!

I can't give away too much, but--there is one sex scene towards the end of the book that is just. Beyond.

Like I said, it's kind of hard to find FFM, and I jumped on this book because I was so excited to see that--and of course, I want to read more fantasy romance. I'm really happy with where it's going, and I look forward to the next book.

Thanks to Montlake and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#romance novel blogging #book recs #arc reviews #netgalley #romance novels #book reviews #books

[dooptown]

my disorganized thoughts about the main reason i don't like 343 halo stories

i feel like one of the biggest failures of 343 Halo's stories is lack of character, literally. Pretty much every major player from the original trilogy is dead by the end of it (thanks marty) so they were left in quite a pickle. It had to be hard creating a new cast of characters, especially with 4's tone shift. It worked for some people, but this post is specifically about one character from the original trilogy that's been pretty much shafted by 343 and i cannot understand for the life of me why they don't utilize him

and of course i'm talking about Thel "The Arbiter" Vadam

sure he was controversial in 2004 but he's easily a fan favorite now. he's like the only major relationship chief has with someone who isn't cortana (or johnson but y'know...) They're former enemies who are forced to work together, with chief literally being the reason for Thel's entire character arc

i also think it's really interesting how cordially Chief talks to him when they're grabbed by gravemind (who i think was done the dirtiest in halo 3 irt to writing but this post isn't about that)

guy pretty much just says "hey, chill bro" when he sees him struggling. Like, Chief is THE guy who kills these guys. He's the one human that's probably killed the most of them. And he's just so quick to just casually quip like that. He sees him as a person. I just think it's such an insight into his character, and seems like the start of a fun dynamic relationship

Unfortunately that's the only time he ever says more than one word to Arby. Of course Chief's silence in 3 is due to Cortana not being with him, as she's the only one who can bring out his more talkative, sarcastic and quippy side. Him not saying a word to Arby is just an unfortunate side effect

343 could have changed this with their games. They could have brought Thel in and had him as a major player in the stories. I understand shelving him for 4 since that story was for chief and cortana, but having him appear in 5 and having their only interaction be teased in a cliffhanger and only talked about in a fucking BOOK is one of the most insulting things a game franchise could do. His further absence in infinite is also bizarre to me. Like i get that the stories they're telling don't really need to involve him but also they're not great stories anyway. They keep bringing cortana back (even though she should have stayed dead in 4) while ignoring the only other major relationship Chief has that he could develop to properly replace her friendship. Halo 4 and Infinite's story about grief and moving on rings a bit hollow when you're replacing the one important relationship you had with a near carbon copy of it

i could understand 343 writers being intimidated about using the arbiter (although i think most people's favorite part of 5 was his inclusion so idk i think it'd be a safe bet to keep bringing him back) since the vacuum in Chief/Arby interactions has mostly been filled in by fanwork and fan discussion. Maybe they're afraid of backlash if they don't depict it in a way fans would accept? I really don't know but i think anything would be appreciated instead of literally nothing

this all ties into a previous post i made about how 343 is afraid to tell stories that aren't human centric. I have no more expectations for modern halo, but it would be nice to see the deuteragonist of the original trilogy return to the series

also he's hot

thanks for your time

#halo #i've had these thoughts for a while so mind the braindump

[circlemidnight]

hey, so... do you (by any chance) know if the '"open ending/multiple endings" ship' is just about who ARCHIE decides to be with, or if it will included more couples as well? like, i could have never predicted JV would have an actual chance, and less that they'd have the same chance as the (arguably) main/long-lasting ships of the show!? it's nothing short of amazing. how powerful they are.

Ah, I think some of those rumors/leaks turned out to be false. I think it's better to just rely on the bts and statements made from people on the show. Rumors tend to snowball into unrealistic statements the more they are spread. Unless they are giving a specific detail of a scene then I wouldn't put much faith in them being true. And keep in mind the style of the season, it's been very simplistic, low stakes, with quick resolutions to things. I don't think they are setting up some big complex ending or a cliffhanger that's gonna enrage everyone. It's gonna be something bitter sweet, lighthearted but not crammed with possible what-ifs to every ship that came before. But I'm sure there will be many winks and nudges of nostalgia in the last episode. Right now if I could guess I would say it's probably just left unclear if Betty and Archie figure things out, but to me it seems like they are wrapping up Jeronica as an endgame pairing. There is a lot of mirroring of their first episodes this season together, she's helping him create Archie Comics, and they have written them more like a secondary romantic plot and not really this big will-they-won't-they dramatic conclusion to be reached in the final episode. They're also the only "random pairing" that actually got back together. From the bts, we know they are riding in the backseat of the jalopy together, which I doubt they would be doing if they have another breakup. also just my opinion but it makes a lot of sense to me that the two people hurt the most by the cheating would find happiness and move on together? If they are talking about changing the future, Veronica and Jughead never being hurt has a really big impact on the story. In comparison, the two who cheated are figuring themselves out and not committing to anything or anyone because they are still working on themselves. Plus, if the last episode is from Betty's POV it will likely focus on whether or not she finally gets with Archie this season, because her story is kind of meandering but rolls back to her feelings for him the same way that they showed hints that Veronica never got over Jughead. The multiple endings thing came from what Madchen said: No, we don’t get out of the 1950s. So I guess that is a big spoiler. I will say you do experience the characters in three different… dimensions, that you get to see a lot of closures that are outside of the 1950s. I can tease it that way. I think that’s safe enough. So, make of that what you will. I'd say it's either you get to see what would happen if they went back to their own time, their future in the next few decades if they stay in the 50s, or maybe the afterlife and some kind of cycle beginning again once they all die and time resets for them. The word closure implies that it's not really open ended though. It's possible if they go back to the future the ships reconfigure, but they choose to stay in the 50s, so does that count as canon? But like, I think in one dimension or another Jeronica is endgame. It's very close to the end of the season to be stirring them up with more drama again. At the very least I believe they will graduate as a couple, which is a win for me. It's been very out of the blue that we got so much content, but I'm glad they left it till the end so they have more of a chance of being happy together!

#jeronica #jughead x veronica #like I don't want to give false hope but at the same time are we not clowns til the end? #ask cm

[ryukang1995]

Mortal Kombat: The Series - a rough outline

Since recent Mortal Kombat stories (both the adaptations and the actual story modes within the games themselves) have been mixed at best, I figure why not detail how I would do a more modern adaptation of the franchise.

I practically have been adapting the franchise for my AU, but this post will be for a more faithful adaptation that adapts the original canon as best as it can.

First and foremost, I would indeed make this a series. MK can still work as a film franchise, but I do feel a series, whether animated or live-action, can explore the world-building and character development far better than a movie could.

The series would run for at least 6-7 seasons with the major games being adapted in some kind of capacity.

Without further ado, here's a rough outline of each season...

Season 1 - The tournament (Old MK1)

The series begins with five episodes detailing the origins of certain groups of characters leading up to the tournament, similar to MK Legacy.

These groups of characters are...

- Liu Kang and Kung Lao

- Johnny Cage

- Sonya Blade, Jax and Kano

- Kitana and Mileena

- Scorpion and Sub-Zero

Episode 6 is the arrival on the island, the proper introduction of Shang Tsung, hints of Goro and Reptile, a showcase of what the characters can do before the big tournament, and the seeds of certain relationships being planted, like Liu Kang x Kitana and Johnny x Sonya.

The tournament begins in episode 7 and takes up about half of the season (6 episodes). It culminates with Liu Kang killing Goro and besting Shang Tsung. The season ends on a cliffhanger with a tease of Shao Kahn.

I honestly feel that 12 episodes is the right amount to establish the main characters without things dragging on too much. With that being said, each of the following seasons are longer due to the constantly growing number of characters.

Season 2 - Into Outworld (MK2)

After Liu Kang's victory in the first tournament, the forces of Outworld, led by Baraka, massacre the Temple of Light, which motivates Liu Kang and his allies into agreeing to fight in another tournament. This time, in Outworld.

This is where we start to see the previously established relationships grow with Johnny and Sonya starting to have feelings for each other, and Liu Kang learning about why Kitana has such an interest in him.

We don't do dedicated episodes for certain characters anymore. They still get told, but in flashbacks. Why? Because much like what The4thSnake said when approaching how he would adapt MK, setting up your main cast is integral enough for the first season that it can work that way, but further characters and follow-ups can't hold the plot advancement back too much once the series has already gotten going.

Kitana ends up killing Mileena, finally allowing herself to align with the Earthrealm heroes. The climax is Liu Kang and Kung Lao vs. Shao Kahn. Why both Liu Kang and Kung Lao? As a way to show just how strong Shao is to the point where the two monks have to combine their strength to take him down.

Shao is left wounded, and the heroes return to Earthrealm with Kitana joining their side. Again, the season ends on a cliffhanger with Shang Tsung and Quan Chi healing Shao as they begin to enact their plan to resurrect Sindel on Earthrealm.

Season 3 - The invasion (MK3)

Shao Kahn resurrects Sindel on Earthrealm, which allows it to merge with Outworld. With Raiden losing his powers as a result of the merger, it's up to Liu Kang to lead the rebellion against Shao and his forces to save Earthrealm one more time.

While all of this is going on, we also have Sub-Zero rebelling against the Cyber Lin Kuei, who set out to capture him alive.

Eventually, the season culminates with Liu Kang facing Shao Kahn on his own after Kung Lao gets injured by the emperor. Liu Kang defeats Shao, who is then killed by the Elder Gods when they arrive shortly after. Sindel is restored to good, and Kitana says goodbye to Liu Kang as she wishes to get back what she lost all of those years.

The season also ends with Johnny and Sonya getting engaged.

Season 4 - Netherrealm war (MK4)

This season potentially opens with a multi-parter based on Mythologies: Sub-Zero where we see the history that Scorpion and Sub-Zero have with Quan Chi and Shinnok. In fact, this season is likely going to be mostly centered around them.

Liu Kang kinda steps down from the focus, but he still gets a huge role in the season with him trying to save Kitana and Edenia. Johnny and Sonya tie the knot sometime between seasons, and Cassie is born by then. The three main heroes lead the forces of Earthrealm against Shinnok during the Netherrealm war.

Eventually, Shinnok is defeated and Quan Chi escapes into a lost tomb where he discovers the ancient undead army of the Dragon King, which no doubt leads to the next season.

Season 5 - Next generation (MKX + Deadly Alliance)

The season takes place about 20 years after the previous one. Raiden has become an Elder God with Fujin replacing him as Earthrealm's protector. Johnny and Sonya as well as other characters like Jax, Kung Lao and Kenshi are much older. However, Liu Kang is still youthful due to his role as champion of Mortal Kombat. He still longs for the day he can get with Kitana, which no doubt will have a great payoff.

The heroes have been training the new generation of fighters like Cassie, Takeda and Kung Jin so that they can defend Earthrealm through Mortal Kombat sometime in the future. While all of this is going on, Quan Chi forms an alliance with Shang Tsung as they plan on resurrecting the Dragon King's army so that they can conquer the realms.

Throughout the season, we also follow side plots with Nitara, Kotal Kahn and his rise to power, Orderrealm vs. Chaosrealm, etc.

The season ends with the Kombat Kids losing to both Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, and being taken prisoners as Onaga makes his return to reclaim his army.

Season 6 - The Dragon King (Deception)

Liu Kang, Sonya and Johnny learn of the Kombat Kids being captured, so they decide to come out of retirement to save them. Liu Kang also reunites with Kitana, who agrees to help the Earthrealm heroes face Onaga and the Deadly Alliance, who are hellbent on reviving The One Being.

At some point, the old heroes face the Kombat Kids, who are being controlled by Onaga. Eventually, they are restored. We also wrap up the rivalry that Liu Kang has with Shang Tsung as well as the one that Scorpion and Sub-Zero have with Quan Chi, which result in the sorcerers getting killed.

The climax is Liu Kang vs. Onaga. Liu Kang finally becomes the Fire God after he and Kitana are mortally wounded, and manages to destroy The Dragon King. Kitana becomes a goddess and finally gets to be with Liu Kang as they become the protectors of the realms (not just Earthrealm, but also Outworld and Edenia).

Bonus season - Timelines kollide (MK11 + Armageddon)

The series officially wraps in Season 6, but there can indeed be a bonus season.

Instead of time travel, it's a multiverse season that brings in different versions of the characters from prior incarnations of the franchise (such as the films) and even the AU I was working on as they team up to thwart a new threat. I thought of having said threat be Titan Shang Tsung, or at least a version of Shang Tsung that is all-powerful (especially since I'm not a fan of Titans in MK).

And...that's very much it. We'd get as faithful of an adaptation as it's possible while still improving on certain shortcomings from the source material. MK gets to be told properly, for once. Plus, we'd get a genuinely good Martial Arts show that delivers on what makes MK so great and iconic.

That's all for now.

#mortal kombat #series #tv pitch #rough outline

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1109 review

Ten minutes? Boo. BOOOOOOO! What a tease. That's, what, 4 chapters of Dressrosa time? 18 chapters of Namek time? Fine. It's fine.

But to get more serious, this is Egghead going full circle. First we were set up to expect a defensive siege of the main lab, then it evolved into an escape sequence, and now for the final leg, we're being set up to defend again. And with this being the ninth chapter of volume 109, the time for a climactic end-of-book cliffhanger is coming up, as early as the next chapter (but realistically on the eleventh or twelfth because there have been a few shorter chapters in this run) maybe we see this wrap up, or at least get ready to wrap up relatively soon.

This is a very transitional chapter. Transitioning into a new cover story (I think Momo moved Onigashima; outside of another Oars having shown up there, nothing else realistic), transitioning through the setup phase for receiving Vegapunk's info, transitioning to the real final set piece. Seeing new characters return in great numbers like this is always good fanservice, but cameos alone aren't a lot to analyse. The acknowledgement of time zones in the Water Seven bit is cool. I know Oda isn't super invested in this kind of thing for his worldbuilding, so I'm not going to waste my time trying to work out if this is an accurate depiction or not.

Haha yeah okay of course I am.

A thoroughly pointless analysis of One Piece timezones

First, we need to all get on the same page about the orientation of the globe. It's a myth with a frustrating amount of staying power that the Grand Line runs along the equator, but this is not actually the case. All evidence in the manga points to the Grand Line and the Red Line forming an X shape across the globe. The first explanation of the Grand Line in chapter 22 comes with a handy compass rose for orientation, and the image of the globe on the following page depicts them as diagonals. The special recap at the end of volume 81 reiterates this image of the globe, and puts Reverse Mountain on the "front" of the planet. Finally, the compass directions offered when the Supernova captains are planning how to leave Wano also place the Grand Line on an angle. This is our canon orientation.

Yes, this means that if you were standing on Marie Geoise, the seat of the rulers of the world, you would have to look west to see the East Blue and look east to survey West Blue. That's kinda silly. Maybe the names of the seas predate the World Government making that their perch.

In the latest chapter, we're shown broadly the time at a few key, identifiable locations. It is, of course, daytime on Egghead. It is explicitly nighttime at Water Seven. Windmill Village, in the East Blue, and Dressrosa have light skies, suggesting day; meanwhile Kamabakka, Marie Geoise and an unnnamed West Blue location all have shaded skies, suggesting nighttime. North and South Blue are both shown with light skies, but their locations on the planet make it almost impossible for it not to be day somewhere in them, so without more data like proximity to the Red Line, the Grand Line or the poles, they can't add anything to this analysis.

First, we have to work out where these locations are on the map. While it's tempting to place Egghead on the globe's front face, in the second half of the New World, for Law's statement in chapter 1056 about northeast being the furthest forward move to be true, this means that Wano, and by extension Egghead (directly southeast of it) have to be on the rear side, in the first half of the New World.

Dressrosa is before Egghead in the New World, easy win.

Water Seven doesn't offer anything as explicit as that for its placement, but for it to be the island that connects to Fishman Island, under Marie Geoise, via Log Pose, you have to assume it's in the second half of Paradise, also on the rear side of the globe.

Kamabakka is only a few days' sail from Lulusia, which was selected by Imu to test the Mother Flame because it was "close" to his location, so the easiest extrapolation is that it too is in the second half of Paradise.

For both Windmill Village and the unnamed West Blue location, it's impossible to tell if they're on the front or rear hemispheres of the world, but I've placed them both on the front because the map was going to get crowded otherwise.

For the sake of simplicity, we're going to assume that daylight moves east to west over the planet, just like the real world. We're also going to ignore things like curvature and axial tilt because they get complicated, harder to work into the graphics, and probably wouldn't have that much of an impact on the result anyway. The proportions of my day/night/dawn/dusk segments are not exact; I just eyeballed them. Excuse the roughness of the graphics.

So, can we make the day and night times shown in the latest chapter's panels work?

Unfortunately, no, we cannot. If it's morning on Egghead it can be dawn on Dressrosa, just before dawn at Marie Geoise and late at night in the second half of Paradise for Water Seven and Kamabakka, there's no way it makes sense for it to be day in the East Blue and night in the West Blue. Oof, we were so close. But Oda's time zones are busted.

The conclusion here is that this stuff doesn't really matter that much. Like travel times, the phases of the moon and the exact day and date the story is taking place, Oda may occasionally make a throwaway reference to these things, but he's also known to forget them and totally happy to fudge them for the sake of the story. I enjoy the mental puzzle of working out details like these and running through the implications, but I don't think they offer any genuine insight into how One Piece has been plotted or where it's going.

Ahem…

Getting back to the chapter at hand though, the bit of action with Luffy is very fun. I enjoyed Borsalino's laser eyes and the big clap attack. Saturn being able to fly around like a frizbee with all his legs out has a familiar vibe to the ancient dinosaur hunting techniques from Onigashima. And on Saturn's abilities, the telepathy between him and the other Elders is very interesting and definitely builds the case that whatever they have going on is beyond just Devil Fruits. As, of course, does the summoning. I'd be curious to see what kind of limits are placed on this to keep them from just showing up at Revolutionary HQ or something. Saturn rode with the Marine fleet until he was close, so maybe there's a proximity limit on unfamiliar areas, but once one is there, he can summon the others to his location from anywhere in the world.

The summoning spread is an awesome page for sure, but in the vein of last week's complaints about characters disappearing and inconsistent staging, it feels like a huge empty space has manifested to fit it in. Egghead's buildings felt a lot closer together than this in previous backgrounds, even accounting for how destroyed they are.

This was something the Onigashima anime (the bits of it I saw anyway) was really bad about. One minute the roof area is an enclosed arena, the next there's an expasive k or two of the pillars around the outside because it's a cool shot for a character sent flying to bust through them one after the other. Establishing shot puts Zoro and King on the crumbling, shrinking outer edge. But in the sakuga cut it grows a mile of extra turf for Zoro to sprint and leap through while flaming dragons tear up everything around him. Cool moments are cool, but I don't like seeing the established setting being compromised to make space for them.

I feel like I've been harsher on paper than I actually feel for this one. Transitions can be a let down, and are definitely hard to write about, but they don't mean the stuff I'm excited for isn't coming. I can wait a week or two for the payoff, after all the years of following this story, that much more isn't a huge deal.

Wordpress!

#one piece #one piece spoilers #manga review #one piece manga #op spoilers #monkey d luffy #One Piece analysis

[analogwriting]

Hii.. I'm new here. I really love your ficss. Just curious, do you ever see yourself writing about Doflamingo? Hehe I just like the twisted love story kind of thing lol. I've read one multi chapter fic about it but it was never finished by the author, sadly... and I really love your slowburns and cliffhangers even tho it's quite a tease .. I think it would be great with Doflamingo, your slowburns. Something where y/n is his only exception thingy but still not much fluffy because it's doffyyy he's just not like that lmao. Hehe you might consider me weird tho. Sorry for asking.. Just curious and all..

hello and welcome!! thank you! im glad you're enjoying them!! 🥰 first off, don't apologize for asking, I don't mind and it never hurts to ask! ❤️ I don't think you're a weirdo, everyone has their tastes 💅

as for doflamingo im not too sure. the general feral rage i have to end that man's life is too severe. and i can only see any romances of his being kind of super toxic and idk if i wanna write all that. (I'm still recovering from my own toxic relationship lmao) maybe he'd end up being a shitty ex, but idk if id ever write him as a main love interest. (but one never knows)

and I think I'd end up butchering his character fr. I'd make him too nice in the end 💀✋ he'd end up being ooc. I can see where you're going tho. a general ass to everyone except his one person. I just have too much rage against him to properly write for him. he killed the loml and ill never forgive him for that 😭😭 (and he also almost killed my other love)

but who knows maybe ill surprise myself one day and write one lmao

tldr; I don't have the confidence in writing his character and I also wanna kill him a little too much 💀 sorry don't hate me 😭🙏

#who knows tho maybe ill get super fucked up and write a hate fuck fic #but doffy is just too insanely toxic to me hes TOO bad yk #i mean hes an expertly written villain dont get me wrong love to hate the guy #but idk im just writing for my comfort characters for now #maybe one day #am answers #who knows if i get enough people wanting a doffy fic then maybe ill be more tempted

[kierreras]

The show actually ends on a cliffhanger and I feel like something has to happen in order to bring Conrad back into the picture as a main love interest for audiences to root for again. There has been photos of them outside finch University so maybe the cheating will be dropped in the finale or something and then the last scene of book 2 . I know part of the second book is building up jeremiah but they can’t build him up too much. Conrad has to still feel like a super real option and him moving away won’t feel like that.

hm, i don't personally think that this season would end the same way as book two ended. i think this season conrad may actually fight to get belly back, he wasn't fighting for her in the second book, but in the show he's more open about his feelings, you know. so i think that conrad is not getting out of the picture at all. maybe i'm wrong, but that's what i see after those three episodes. i think that this season is going to end with conrad finally seeing belly and jere kissing like in the end of the second book. and maybe he sees them after passing his exam and going to his dorm to pick the infinity necklace (cause there's no way that belly left it there for nothing), so he just assumes that belly wants to be with jere and his ship has sailed? maybe him having this infinity necklace at the end is going to be that major hint that the story is far from over? what's interesting for me, i can't figure out when conrad is going to say "i want to be with her and i think she wants to be with me too" from the teaser trailer. is he talking to steven or taylor? is he saying that to jeremiah? cause i think him saying this in the season finale really teases that his story with belly is not resolved. as for building jeremiah too much, for me it's inevitable. i think those first three episodes were for us, bellyconrad girlies, but starting from the next one we're going to get more bellyjere moments cause they actually need to give them decent development in order for the plot to move forward. i just hope that conrad is not going to be villainized along the way.

#ask #bellyconrad #bonrad #tsitp #tsitp spoilers #the summer i turned pretty #belly x conrad

[your-fave-jewish-magical-girl]

EPISODE 61 SPOILERS BSD Anti-Delulu theory post: Why [REDACTED CHARACTER] dying from [REDACTED EVENT] would probably be a good thing.

This is reposted from Reddit. So Episode 61 just came out which luckily ties up a lot of the cliffhangers from the manga and serves as an ending point to the vampire infection arc--which is making me party on the inside because holy shit has that been going on for awhile. But now we have more cliffhangers. The last two minutes teasing a new arc, Sigma's fate, whether or not the armed detective agency are still criminals and ambiguous character fates. Oh yeah, and one of the main villains for the past 3 seasons might be dead.

I've seen people saying that he's not dead, and if he is, he shouldn't be dead. But I would like to propose a second opinion.

I feel like it is likely that Fyodor is dead from the helicopter crash. And that seems like a pretty good way to end this arc. It puts an end to the 'I outsmarted your outsmarting' stuff that's been going on for over a year at this point in the prison and it proves to Fyodor from his insulting of Dazai and Chuuya's relationship previously that their bond was NOT superficial. The thing that he ultimately doubted was what killed him and It's such wonderful irony. It also ties back to his biggest flaw, how he didn't trust the people he couldn't use and how just being a super smart 100000 iq guy doesn't matter in the face of sheer arrogance, which Mori commented on all the way back in season one. His overconfidence and lack of regard for other people stabbed him in the back, which serves as a great contrast to Dazai even brought up by Sigma. Dazai does not use the armed detective agency, he is a part of it, and his trust in the agency and in his friends was what kept him alive. But Fyodor can't do that, we don't know much about him, but from what we've seen, he doesn't really value the people in his life, he didn't value Chuuya, not Nikolai, Sigma, not his subordinates in the Rats in the House of the Dead. And that being the thing that kills him is great.

**Please do not take this to mean I don't want to see more of Fyodor or that we SHOULDN'T have more**

I do genuinely think that we need to know his power and his motivations as a character, not to mention. This episode they teased a certain man that Dazai lives up to that we don't know about. So how can you develop on that if he's dead?

Well from a story perspective, I hope he doesn't survive the helicopter crash. That would be such a cheap ending to something that was built up so well, pretty much nulling any impact for the finale, twin darkness, and Nikolai's character. But what I think will happen is that Fyodor is going to live on. Someone smarter than me mentioned this, but the words he says when he dies were the last words Jesus said before he came back three days later. That is obvious foreshadowing if I've ever seen that.

But keep in mind, Jesus died on the cross. There was no fake out.

So while I do believe Fyodor died in that crash, he is coming back in some way. There are theories that he might live on through Sigma which I find to be an interesting concept, helping us understand his backstory. And I think that him serving as an antagonist beyond the grave through memories, mind games, and manipulation would be such a Fyodor thing to do. If he does get revived, I wouldn't want it to be a respawn basically. Living on through the book, his orders, subordinates would honestly be a great way of preserving him and moving the story forward passed the whole "Dazai and Fyodor do mind game death note stuff" thing that he's been basically reduced to, liberating his character and moving forward in the story to this next arc. I don't know exactly how it would be done, but there are ways to kill him in that helicopter that don't involve throwing out his entire character, past and ability. From what we’ve seen, Asagiri seems very capable of writing a workaround to that. And knowing him, he probably has at least something figured out.

As for the body, Fyodor making a fake arm in theory sounds smart, but there is just too much bullshit involved. He wasn't injured when he came in right? how could he predict all the damage done to his arm with the bandages wrapped exactly as they were when they got on? How would he survive the copter in the first place, didn't look like he was escaping when the entire screen consumed his being? How would there be enough TIME to make a fake arm. I don't care how smart you think this guy is, that stuff takes time to make, and there was like what, 30 minutes overall inside that prison? No matter what way you slice it, you need to make at least someone in that scenario Mary Sue levels of big brained to pull that off and that's not really the kind of writing Asagiri does. Not to mention, it's a total copout.

As for the lack of body, yeah we didn't see it, but he also got blown up in a dang explosion, for all we know, the arm was the only thing that was left after he got blown to smithereens. And it didn't seem like Nikolai teleported to save him since he didn't really move, so what would that be? He has Kenji's powers now?? And even if somehow he DID survive all of that, also, even if he did survive, Fyodor doesn’t have the antidote, Dazai does. And we only have one antidote. So even in the best case scenario, Dazai would be thrown under the bus and there’s no way in hell dazai is dying yet, even more than Fyodor. All of those theories are even bigger plot holes and oversights than if he actually died.

So what does all of this mean, well Fyodor is almost probably dead (check his wiki). But that doesn't mean that his character and arc are over. He'll get immortalized somehow in a way that serves the oncoming arc without cheapening the finale for the prison arc, Dazai and Chuuya's relationship, and the absolute horror Nikolai was experiencing at the death of his friend. Yes it was painful, but if it turned out Fyodor was actually alive the entire time, that moment will have gone to waste.

Basically, anything can happen, but if I see Fyodor crawling out of that broken helicopter, I'm throwing hands.

#bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bsd #fyodor dostoevsky #fyodor bsd #bsd season 5 #bsd season 5 episode 11 #bsd theory #bungo stray dogs theory #anti-delulu #I could totally make a follow up to this #keep in mind that Fyodor does not have the same plot immunity as Dazai #anyways I love this season finale #sigma please be ok

[quaddmgd]

The future of Legacy of Kain - a manifesto of sorts

Recently I had a conversation with my girlfriend regarding what would the best possible future for the Legacy of Kain franchise. From a simple annoyance about how the franchise is perceived, even by its fans, it escalated to almost an hour's discussion, after which we came up with a way that could possibly make everyone happy.

I will try to answer some of the most common ideas from around the web and then finally share my opinion on how I perceive the future of Legacy of Kain.

Why starting with a Soul Reaver remake is a bad idea?

The most frequently requested way for reviving the franchise is probably the remake of Soul Reaver. At first glance, this makes a perfect sense. It's the most critically-acclaimed game in the franchise and no title after could replicate its success. Many fans, me included, started with this game and it's the one people probably remember the most. Its narrative does not necessarily require familiarity with Blood Omen and the game is infamously unfinished, though most of its cut content is still in the game files. That begs for a remake with all cut content restored.

The main gripe I have with a remake is a probability of it rebooting the franchise. At the time of writing, Legacy of Kain came to an abrupt end nearly 20 years ago with an open, hopeful ending that heralds at least one more game. The sequel was cancelled for reasons officially unknown, leaving the plot at a cliffhanger.

Now, sequels to Soul Reaver as we know them, exist only because of its unfinished state. Soul Reaver originally had an ending that teased another game, but it was a complete story and most of its plot points were resolved by the end. After a release in 1999, some of those plot points - chronoplast visions - were implemented in their reworked forms in future installments; the difference lies not only in contexts, but sometimes outcomes too.

If a remake was to happen, releasing the story as it ultimately was would not be optimal. It would possibly require a lot of changes on the story-side and that could doom sequels from ever being remade. Even if Crystal Dynamics - or whoever would work on it - somehow pulled it off without changing the story, would you really want to wait over a decade for an eventual continuation to Defiance, because every next game would need to be remade at this point?

Why starting with a Soul Reaver remaster is not the best idea?

To be honest, I think that remastering the entire franchise for a new generation of gamers is a great idea. Embracer Group, that now owns the entire Crystal Dynamics/Eidos portfolio, even expressed an interest in remakes and remasters. Porting the franchise to newer platforms and releasing better PC ports would be great. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I would buy a copy of Legacy of Kain HD Collection for every platform I own. A $40-60 collection of Nightdive-style ports is a dream. My problem is with solely focusing on Soul Reaver.

What caught my attention is an article by gamesradar, where one of the most devoted Soul Reaver fans I know - thank you for work ❤ - voiced his opinion on a feasible director's cut version of Soul Reaver. It would let you play an extended version of Soul Reaver, that includes all cut content - basically the original vision. It's a great idea, but requires a lot of programming and asset creation beyond basic upscaling. That would probably rule out a remaster collection for a singular price tag, which would encourage newcomers to spend that maximum $60 on five games and dive into the franchise. I want to be proven wrong about it and I hope I will be, honestly.

Another small gripe I have with this kind of remaster is advertising it with with the original vision of the game and then locking that content behind playing the release version, which, if everything goes well with restoring cut content, would be then inferior. I'm opposed to locking stuff like difficulty options, good endings etc. behind playthroughs. I'm all for letting a consumer educate themselves to make a smart purchase and choose how they want to use the product.

Why starting with a reboot is possibly an awful idea?

This should be a short one, as most of reasoning towards it was explained above by me. There was a reboot by Climax in works; after a significant development time, it was cancelled. While from what we've seen it didn't seem like the best course of action for the franchise, the thing I didn't like about it the most was that it was a reboot, not a continuation.

It's not like a good reboot couldn't be developed, but its release would possibly doom earlier games to oblivion. I don't really see a corporation thinking that after a reboot it'd be a great idea to release remasters or a sequel to the original plotline. No one will buy a continuation to mostly story-driven abandonware, and unfortunately I know people that won't play remasters of games so old, when a good reboot is there.

It would seem unlikely for an ending to Defiance to emerge if we got a reboot first; and it's possible we wouldn't see old games ported for current platforms.

What's the best course of action to me?

In my opinion, the first thing that should be released is a HD remaster collection of the entire franchise. Unless you are Valve and your games work on newer operating systems out of the box, modern ports are essential for bringing new people to a well established franchise.

The only viable way to enjoy Legacy of Kain today is original hardware and emulation. PC ports are plagued by many issues, deeming them unplayable, even if you are like me and you like fixing your old school PC games. Unfortunately no console offers backwards compatibility options for these five games and it would be a dream to see them not only on PS4/PS5/XONE/XS, but also on the Switch. Sounds like a great way to give fans long-awaited remasters and invite a new generations of gamers to join in on the fun.

A good re-release is also a great way for a publisher to test the waters and see if the interest is there. It costs much less than a new game and can be outsourced much easier, so it doesn't collide with development schedules.

So if the interest is there and remasters sold well enough, what's next? Ideally, a sequel that would serve as an ending to remastered games.

To me, Legacy of Kain has one of the most memorable stories in gaming, defined not only by events in games, but in efforts of storytellers in tying everything up in such a beautiful way, that I could write another blog post solely about it. It's a tale about defying fate and fighting against all odds, told not only by characters, but also developers. It's a legacy, and a story that deserves a conclusion.

Let's assume the continuation is critically-acclaimed. What now? Now the fun part begins. The franchise can go in any way desired by publishers/developers, maybe even transmedia in a form of movie/tv series.

But many people ask for a remake and I might have a solution for that. Why not release a game just called Soul Reaver - a remake that also reboots the entire franchise. Not only it could use all the cut content, but give developers a new start and space for creativity. Ideally, that would please both fans and people that haven't heard about Legacy of Kain before.

To me that's the best course of action. Remind people about Legacy of Kain with a great HD collection, finish the fight with a sequel, start anew with a highly-demanded Soul Reaver remake.

I hope I didn't omit any details in my reasoning during this long blog post, though I'm certain there are some flaws in my thinking. My desperation for a sequel is what sparked the initial conversation with my girlfriend and a need to write all of this. Despite my selfish reasons, I really tried to find a way that satisfies all possible parties.

#legacy of kain #soul reaver #text.qd

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (07/05/23)

jump is finally back baby let's go!!! next week marks the last week of this serialization round but very much looking forward to the tall girl

ended up not watching more anime like I said I would last week, there were still 4 more I wanted to check out, but currently watching 5 airing which I think is pretty good considering I hadn't watched anything in almost 4 years, plus all those other shows I wanted to check out are all manga adaptations so I'm putting no hope in them being fully adapted so I don't feel as bad putting them aside

I want to catch up on another manga next but, after that, I want to go through my "watching" list and clean it up of stuff that's been left hanging there for these years, and then make my way through stuff I wanted to see from seasons I missed in that time ANYWAY

blue - finale/completed green - new series/new to me

Anime

Uma Musume - Road to the Top Ep4 (Finale)

what can I say that I haven't already. I love it obviously. I rate things on my mal for personal enjoyment but I usually have a "real" rating for it (like I did for jigokuraku not that long ago), but I can't do it in this case, horses just got too much power over me. I think I teared up in all 4 episodes (maybe not 1 but). it's good, period. the art is good, the animation isn't that special most of the time, but it has a lot of little character acting moments that hit really good, and let's not forget that maenami cut I was gushing about. the music isn't memorable but it served it's purpose, and the voice acting was really good ofc, I especially loved tokui sora's performance as opera, it's nice to see her getting to flex her range instead of always being yazawa nico, but ofc ayabe and topro were really good too. anyway really good, left me really hungry for S3 coming later this year tho I still have to go and watch S2 and even finish S1 tehe

Megumin Ep5

honestly this ep felt a lot like a finale, tho there's still 7 more left anyway the explosion scene was pretty cool also megumin x yunyun is quite good, good to see they'll keep feeding me since they'll be goofing around together for a bit longer

Imas CG: U149 Ep5

good episode (ofc), was wondering where they'd take it with risa being such a daddy's girl but she surprised me also the insert song was beyond the starlight (deresute's 1st anni song) so I was losing my gourd as soond as I heard the first couple notes god bless

Mashle Ep5

decent episode, dot's explosion magic looked decent enough, tho speaking of him I didn't expect him to sound like this at ALL, I thought it was gonna be something more high pitched like bakugou. also they teased the lang baddies, which is when this starts shifting more into an action series with a sprinkle of comedy instead of the opposite, which is nice, even if they're all over the op lol

Pokemon Horizons Ep5

nice little ep, the roy scene before this pic was cute. next ep should be more exciting, including the appearance of a brand new mon, like riko's pendant turtle from before

Jigokuraku Ep6

good episode, was really nice to finally see sagiri's first time to shine, and now they're finally at the village, I forgot about the rokurouta fight so I thought they were getting here earlier tehe. it also ended on the gay sex scene so that was very nice I figured the village was gonna be the cliffhanger but that's a really good one too, they really went IN on animating the tongue-fu, anyway curious to see who'll voice mei, she's very cute

Manga

Do Retry Ch1

that line in the pic below is the title of the one shot for this btw anyway. nice first chapter, the art is really striking with it's thick outlines which makes sense since the author was an assistant to matsui too. it's also a period piece which would be funny if it was cause of matsui too. good solid first chap, no complaints for me, did it's job of setting up the story, the main character and his motivations without getting too distracted with other things. we haven't had a sports manga in a while (I don't count blue box as one) so we'll see how long it'll stay around, or how sportsy it'll be in the first place lol

Dandadan Ch104

the vamola backstory continues, I thought this was gonna be the last ch but I guess not. it's been decent tho it could've been shorter imo

Show-ha Shoten! Ch18

VERY good chap, one of the best so far tbh, it's nice to see azemichi making a stand for himself, even if he's stumbling a bit. next chap should be pretty exciting but waiting a whole month is painful

One Punch Man Ch181

just an aftermath chap of the saitama tatsu fight, not really much going on. however I did read the jp raws for the next chap and it has a buncha cute tatsumakis so that's very good

Pension Life Vampire Ch4 - 5

apparently I completely missed ch4 OOPS. anyway, cute chaps like usual, going even more in on the yuri cause of this new girl here. it's nice that eri's moving in, opens the door for a lot more Situations

Tokyo Underworld Ch39

ok chap tho not much happened, the action was p dece but that's about it. the ending cliffhanger is something tho

The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins Ch23

another eh... chap, they show him waking up but considering the previous pages it's gotta be not real right? anyway it needs to hurry up and end already, feels like it's just dragging on on purpose now

Fabricant 100 Ch20

the final battle is finally here, not much more left now, prob just enough to finish filling a vol

Witch Watch Ch107

GREAT chap, I didn't expect them to continue straight from the last one, much less to go this far right away, very excited to see what happens next week with that ending

Kill Blue Ch3

nice chap overall, not much to say, good to see we'll have some more action next week too

Blue Box Ch99

TAIKI MY BOY they grow up so fast 😢, I was already hyped for ch100 but with them dropping this right at the end I'm even more pogged up now holy

Cipher Academy Ch22

as much as I like cipher this felt a lot like a final chap, and it's been doing badly in ratings lately, so there's probably no hope of it making a comeback like medaka did back in the day it's sad that jump readers can't appreciate nisio's work and we get things like roboco running for a billion years instead sigh

Mashle Ch154

good chap, had that good balance of action and comedy that mashle is really good at, still gonna be a handful more chaps of the final boss

Tenmaku Cinema Ch4

nice chap, it's always nice to see someone's passion for something be apparent in their work like it has been in tenmaku

Undead Unluck Ch157

nice chap, like I said last time it's good that not everything is going according to fuuko's plan and seeing her struggle and overcome these unexpected situations is good. looking forward to the (possible) addition of a milf to the cast

Sakamoto Days Ch117

good to see them learning from sakamoto's example tho this being a flashback arc is annoying cause we know rion dies so every time something happens I'm just expecting it to be now argh

The Elusive Samurai Ch108

very good chap, good to see tokiyuki make up with yorishige after that argument a couple chaps ago and in such a meaningful way too also the colour page is beautiful but I'll put it on it's own post

Akane-banashi Ch60

good chap as usual, I've been waiting a long time for the dad to come back into the fray since he's such a big deal for akane's whole character, excited to see where this goes and her growth from it

Ayakashi Triangle Ch129

good chap, especially with those plot complications at the end making things not as simple as they seemed at first

#silver talks animanga