...hmm...just thinkin' about an Avatar "no angst" AU, y'know, like an AU where the characters who died in the first movie just...didn't? For example...
• Tsu'tey and Sylwanin are both alive and well. They officially tied the knot not long after the point when Sylwanin would've died in canon, and already have a child together by the time Jake arrives on Pandora.
• Eytukan also lives and therefore he and Mo'at are still leading the clan, though of course Tsu'tey and Sylwanin are next in line.
• Because the schoolhouse incident never happened in this AU, Grace was never kicked out of the village; her school is still running and she is on good terms with the Omatikaya.
• The RDA is overall less psychotic than they are in canon, and the Avatar Program has been largely successful in establishing diplomacy with the local clans. There is still some level of tension between the humans and the Na'vi of course, because the humans are ultimately still there to mine unobtainium and the Na'vi would prefer there was no mining at all, but in this AU the RDA is at least principled enough to not do things like bulldoze the Tree of Voices or bomb Hometree etc. (so, Hometree is still standing). Jake was never asked to spy on the Na'vi.
• Grace is actually the one to introduce Jake to Neytiri when she brings Jake and Norm along to the school one day. Neytiri is intrigued by the goofy non-scientist "warrior" dreamwalker and Jake finds himself equally intrigued by her; they begin spending more and more time together, and when Jake expresses curiosity about her way of life Neytiri just naturally kinda takes it upon herself to teach him the ways of the clan.
• Because Neytiri is neither tsakarem nor engaged to Tsu'tey in this AU, her romance with Jake is not quite as ~forbidden~ as it was in canon (and honestly they make zero effort to hide their feelings; the whole clan knows lol). The only remaining barrier is the fact that he's a dreamwalker and how that may affect things.
• Jake and Neytiri fall head over heels for each other about as fast as they do in canon; after three months Jake is already fully convinced that he wants remain with Neytiri and the clan for the rest of his life rather than ever go back to Earth, where there is nothing left for him. Even getting the spinal surgery to fix his legs no longer holds any interest for him, since of course his avatar body can walk just fine.
• By that point Neytiri begs Mo'at and Eytukan to let Jake do the coming-of-age ceremonies and become part of the clan so they can become mates. Mo'at and especially Eytukan are hesitant, but Mo'at consults Eywa and Eywa sends a sign of approval, so they allow it. Jake spends about an extra month preparing more specifically for Iknimaya and Uniltaron, and soon after completing those he and Neytiri actually get to have a proper mating ceremony. Jake does go through the permanent consciousness transfer at some point, though I haven't yet come up with the exact circumstances there...
• The Sully kids get to have more extended family! Grandpa Eytukan, Uncle Tsu'tey, and Aunt Sylwanin are all still around, along with a handful of cousins (Tsu'tey's and Sylwanin's kids).
• Quaritch never shot Grace in this AU, which means she never had to undergo the attempted consciousness transfer, which means Kiri wasn't conceived the way she was in canon. Buuuuuut I still want Kiri as part of the Sully family, so in this AU she is Jake and Neytiri's biological daughter and Neteyam's twin. She doesn't have the special Eywa powers that she has in canon, but does still have a spiritually-minded personality, and is a strong candidate for next tsakarem after Sylwanin. Grace still adores and dotes on her, especially when she shows interest in botany.
• Norm and Trudy are happy in a long-term relationship.
• There was no Battle at the Hallelujah Mountains, therefore Paz didn't die and was still around to raise Spider (undecided on how involved Quaritch was though).
• I like to imagine that in this AU Paz and Trudy are good friends, both being pilots and all. It's through Trudy that Paz and Spider become involved with folks from the Avatar program and Spider meets the Sully kids.
• Because she doesn't have the RDA-related traumas she has in canon, Neytiri is totally chill with Spider in this AU. She is mostly just curiously amused by the strange little human boy running around with his Na'vi friends.
• Spider is semi-trilingual English/Spanish/Na'vi. English is his go-to since everyone he knows can speak it, but he can also do some Spanish (Paz and maybe Trudy's influence) and quite a lot of Na'vi (Omatikaya influence, though Norm was thrilled to help when he caught wind that Spider was interested in learning). Sometimes he (subconsciously) mixes up a combination of any two or even all three and spews out mishmash sentences no one else understands immediately and has to stop and re-word.
• Because Quaritch is not the Big Bad Evil Guy the way he is in canon, Spider isn't really bothered by being called Miles. However, the nickname "Spider" somehow just stuck when he was very young so most people still call him that; it's mostly just Paz (and Quaritch) who call him Miles.
• Jake is not Toruk Makto in this AU, because with the RDA being more cooperative/less aggressive, he never needed to be. He and Neytiri are just normal (albeit well-liked/respected) hunters in the clan. Perhaps eventually a day will come when Toruk Makto is needed and Jake will have some reason to step up...but not yet. He's perfectly content being just a regular clan member.
• This has the side-effect of lessening Neteyam and Lo'ak's dramatic stunts as teenagers, because the legacy they're trying to live up to is simply "strong respectable hunter" rather than "legendary olo'eyktan Toruk Makto"
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Now let's talk about that time Megaman decided to have a Power Rangers/Sailor Moon phase :P
Not even Megaman can escape from The Superpower of Teamwork™ :P
Megaman ZX is fun! And honestly after some of the last games I had to go through, I'm glad I can just say “yeah it’s fun”.
The tonal whiplash from its prequel series Zero also helps. I admit, I barely tried to follow the plot, because in my mind it all merged together in “YEAHHHH THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIPPPPPP MAGICAL GIRLS TRANSFORMATIONSSSSSSS YOU’RE THE CHOSEN ONE MY DUDE/GAL SURE YOU HAVE POTENTIAL FOR EVIL BUT YOU’RE THE PURE HEARTED HERO/INE WITH A TRAGIC PAST WE NEED TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM THE BAD GUY”. Which, well, that’s fine by me! Although that heavily clashes with the realization that Reploids, a minority that was sent to concentration camps a couple of centuries ago, now are forced to follow a “death date”, and even get triangles on them to distinguish them from normal humans... and nobody says a thing about this in game. Oops...
Well, anyway. The game is basically Z1 but much, much more fleshed out, and much more fair. They brought back the interconnected world, they brough back the mission system, and there’s even a bit of Metroidvania here - you can’t reach some Data Disks until you find the right Model, for example Model H that makes you dash upwards. Thankfully it also has a much more reasonable life system, if you lose all your lives you get to retry from the start (and keep everything you collected so far, yay!), from the last checkpoint, or abort the mission (which thankfully doesn't make the mission unplayable later :^) )
But speaking of Models! The Biometals are the main gimmick of the ZX series. And, lore wise... they feel a little cheap? Like, I cried when Zero died, I felt so bad when X didn’t reappear in Z4... and now they’re basically Macguffins? Along with the previously-mysteriously-disappeared Guardians? Did they just rip the souls of all these dead Reploids from the Cyberspace to stuff them in an object and forcing them to become costumes for the Chosen Ones? Please let them rest.
But who cares, I get to play as not-Leviathan best girl, I’m happy :D
I like the balancing of the Models. Model ZX is just Zero from the Zero series but with a chargeable boost, and it’s just as great as the guy’s always been, the Kuuenzan is just as OP as I like it <3 Model H is super fun, it’s mainly a close range Model but the Air Dash and the gliding give it great mobility, love to traverse areas with it. Model L is of course mainly useful in water, but boy is it useful, you can swim everywhere (with a goofy animation though) and the swirling halbert move is OP - Area J was a blast to go through only for this model. Model F, I didn’t get to use it much, but I like how not only it shoots upwards, but you can also edit the trajectory of the bullets yourself, it made the miniboss of Area K much easier lol. Model P... is alright, I like the super fast kunai, but the ability to see in the dark feels gimmicky and I didn’t find a use for the ability to hang from the ceiling.
However. The biggest criticism I have is that, while I still think the life system is fair, the backtracking you have to do if you get a game over (especially if you died at the boss) is rather annoying. The only zone that gives you a save point more or less before a boss is Area O, the second-to-last one (and even then you’re forced to fight the most boring miniboss ever before getting to the boss)! And you might say, well yeah it's been the case in every Megaman game, but this one wants to be a Metroidvania, and save points are much more plentiful in that genre for a reason. Your character is not as agile as Samus or Alucard, the areas are long stretches filled with enemies and Megaman obstacles, savepoints/teleporters feel rare, minibosses don’t stay dead for some reason, and sometimes it's even hard to remember which door leads where - there is a “map”, but it’s more of a suggestion.
This ain’t a real “map” chief.
At least with something like this I could tell which door leads where.
So it's not really fun to dash through the entirety of the very long and nearly barren Area A or Area C, the main “hubs”, to get again to one of the many doors that lead to your objective. It doesn’t help that some transervers don’t even act as teleporters, for some unexplainable reason. Area H and Area J force you to take the long way back rather than just... teleport back to where you want. Why.
(I admit I'm saying all of this because one time I got through an entire area, down to the boss room, and it wouldn't open. Turns out that I had selected the wrong mission. I won't blame the game for this dumb mistake, but it’s both annoying and hilarious that this can happen lmao)
The level design is alright, the levels do feel a little long but they were clearly determined to create a large world full of secrets, and the various zones are fairly memorable: some are submerged in water, some are on fire and you have to rescue people, some have a tense lava chase sequence, some have missiles raining on you, fun stuff. The bosses are just as complex as the ones in the Zero series, and not as horribly broken because elemental attacks cost you energy! Man did the boss rush kick my ass :^) Even some the minibosses are a fair challenge.
I like the inclusion of humans you can interact with. Not only it gives a purpose to the Human form (which otherwise is only used to crawl through tight spaces), it makes the world you live in feel more alive, instead of just a nebulous entity in the background like Neo Arcadia in the Zero series. There are even some sidequest, which mainly give you small bonuses and flesh out even more the cute world, which I appreciate. The idea of doing errands in a Megaman game is just funny to me. I appreciate a little less the fact that one of the Sub Tanks is locked behind a fairly long and boring quest, though :\
The graphics are gorgeous. Instead of going for a pseudo-3D look they stuck to the original Zero style but beefed it up, and the game looks colorful and detailed and a pleasure to the eyes - Area J is just <3 And the anime cutscenes are well done and I’m genuinely surprised that the DS could handle them! Maybe some of the backgrounds lack some parallaxes? I’m thinking mainly of the city area. But it’s a nitpick.
The music is... not very Megaman, but it fits the more happy-go-lucky tone of this game! Just beautiful, catchy compositions all around, perfect for areas you’re going to be stuck in for a while :D definitely high up in my top list. My favorites are:
Green Grass Gradation and its strong “a new adventure awaits!” vibes - and when it plays before the final boss? What a great moment <3;
the absolute futuristic earworm that is Brilliant Show Window;
the mysterious Wonder Panorama, oddly reminescent of Water City from Z3;
the rocking Ogre Claw, very in tune with all the guitar-heavy tracks of the Zero series;
the soothing Misty Rain, which gives big Rusty Ruin Saturn vibes - and the rearranged version with the woman wailing? *chef’s kiss*;
the serene Ultramarine Meditation;
Doomsday Device which seems to be a more serious remix of Final Count Down from Z3;
the somber but determined Black Burn, the beginning of which seems to recall Straight Ahead from Z4;
the dance-y Snake Eyes, continuing the Megaman tradition of having catchy bangers for the last level (and being a remix of the “sad/game over” theme lol);
the appropriately named boss theme, that I imagine being the Megaman answer to Metal Scratchin’;
the oddly named miniboss theme;
the super boppy Sky High - I love how the “resistance base” theme went from scrappy, to militaristic, to determined, to peaceful, to finally cheerful and feels-good, saying a lot about ZX as a whole;
the badass and jazzy Trap Factory;
the epic and threatening Pallida Mors.
(also love how Weil's creepy leitmotif lives on in Deep-Seated Grudge, really drives the point home that the old nightmare isn't over yet)
However, I have another nitpick: the soundfont sounds straight from the GBA, just less crunchy. It has its charm, but if the graphics have been updated so much, I kinda expected to music to follow suit.
So yeah, ZX was fun. Not mindblowingly awesome, probably a step back from the peak reached by the Zero series, and it certainly tried to do a lot which ultimately clogged the experience. But it was an enjoyable experience, very cheesy, very earnest, and with a lot of heart put into it :) I heard that Advent fixed some of the problems I had here, so we shall see.
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Team Pirate Bible
So I mentioned that the bible/art book for Jake and the Never Land Pirates (back when it was called Team Pirate) was very hard to download. I waited a few hours for Mega to get its shit together and it paid off. Here's the art book for the series that would eventually be known as Jake and the Never Land Pirates: This book pre-dates the pilot episode I linked earlier this morning and it shows.
Characters:
Yeah, right off the bat it's clear that our group of Neverland Pirates was much different.
For one, the leader wasn't Jake, it was Slighty. Whether it's Slighty from the movies, or, much like Cubby and Nibs, a different character with the same name. I'm leaning towards that. Disney Jr's version of Slighty had Jake's role as the leader, who helps and guides his team. Something to notice is that the Sword of Forever isn't really a concept. It wasn't in the pilot that included Jake either. Jake/Slighty's object was a Spyglass rather than a sword given to him by Peter Pan.
There's also some insight on the development of Bucky. According to the series bible, he is enchanted by Pixie Dust, but not in what you'd expect. Instead of flying, he is alive! A sentient pirate ship who is part of Team Pirate, and communicates through ringing.
This totally shoots down my "Tinker Bell invented Bucky" theory but this is just as cool. Though considering Tink sprays Pixie Dust on Bucky in one episode, I'm now wondering the logistics of Pixie Dust in this world, but that's another lore post for another day.
Also, I adore how Hook has his movie design here.
Locations, Curriculum, and Stories:
What-the, DINOSAURS??????????????? IN NEVERLAND???
The first episode, The Mystery of Turtle Rock, seems to be what would soon become the Season 2 episode "Mystery of Mysterious Island!" The second one, I think is Pirate Ghost Story's beta version. But you can see how different things were in production between the final version, especially the dynamic between the characters/
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