“Joyeux Noël”, I think, is one of the more underrated Christmas films in the oversaturated sea of Christmas specials and movies. A historical fiction film, based on actual events, “Joyeux Noël” tells how human kindness and spirit can happen in areas where even death and misery shroud the setting. Taking place during the Great War, in the awful front-line trenches, we follow German, Scottish, and French soldiers who slowly come to love and respect their enemies despite their prejudices and national identity.
I think one of the reasons why I like the film so much is the stellar production value behind it. The awful scenes of war, death, and sadness are well executed. Life in the trenches is brutal and unpleasant and everyone has a chance of an unglorified death. The stillness of the battlefield, of “No Man’s Land,” is more haunting when we see the very white snow disturbed by frozen bodies and gaping pits caused by artillery shells. The costumes, make up, and props look very realistic and the added bonus of everyone speaking their native language, further pushes the realism of the film despite its fictional narrative.
I think my favorite part of the film is the scene where the soldiers start singing Silent Night and the German tenor got so passionate about the song that he grabbed a small Christmas tree, climbed over the trenches and sang the song as passionately as he could while holding the tree as high as he could. Definitely a highlight of the film, that’s for sure.
My two favorite characters are Palmer, the Scottish priest, and Audebert, the French Lieutenant although the other leads of the film are likable as well. Horstmayer, the Germany Lieutenant, also grows on you, especially when its revealed he is Jewish. Unfortunately, the minor characters are painted somewhat one-dimensional. In this case, I’m mainly referring to the characters comrades who did not experience the magic of Christmas and still think of their enemies as the Devil’s sons.
The film also weighs a little heavy in melodrama and it’s hard not to get emotional near the end of the film. The song, I’m Dreaming of Home, is sung throughout the film by the Scots and is again sung at the end by the German soldiers as they are shipped to the Eastern Front, certain to face their sad death. Truth be told, I like the men’s choir version more than the children’s choir but either way, this song makes my heart feel heavy and I can’t help but shed a tear or two every time I watch the end.
Despite its heavy-handed nature, this is a great Christmas film that I think should be watched but definitely not in a “Miracle on 34th Street” or “A Christmas Story” mood. If you were in a mood to watch a historical film (or more specifically a Great War film) or you want to change of pace for your overused, annual Christmas films, give this a spin, I guarantee you that you won’t be disappointed. Merry Christmas!
The biggest disappointment about Digimon Tri: Reunion is that the next installment won’t be until March, 2016.
Other than that though this was a fantastic sequel and it really hit all the right notes well and hard. There are a few things I have some issue with but they’re kind of minor in all honesty. There’s so much I want to talk about so let’s dive right in.
First, the bad. I think the primary thing that annoyed me (and certainly Mary) was Tai’s constant flashbacks to the collateral damage in the Kuwagamon fight. It’s fine to have some arc development for our lead character and it’s also fine for Tai to finally realize how destructive Digimon can be but this was a bit too much. The flashbacks were overdone and Tai’s weariness seemed out of character. Fortunately, many of the other digidestined were trying to snap him out of his funk especially Matt. Reunion has taken a more mature look at Matt/Tai’s relationship and had them actually resolve their fights without throwing a single punch which was nice. The two struggled to understand the other’s position and this culminated nicely into the triumphant return of Omegamon/Omnimon.
Although the animation is many times over superior to the original season of Digimon, I still have a couple of issues with it. The first one is that some of the Digimon, particularly Agumon, look kind of weird in this style but thankfully, I’ve gotten somewhat over that. The second issue I had was the several longer-than-need-to-be shots of people that are just standing there doing nothing. There’s a great shot of a girl looking at her bike for several seconds like, “Yep! I have a nice bike!” and doing nothing else, haha. Hopefully, this will be toned down in the following sequel.
Finally, I’m kind of disturbed why none of the main cast has talked about the season 2 characters yet; Davis, Yolei, Ken, and Cody. In the beginning of Reunion we see them being…taken down I guess…by some unforeseen force. I was even super ecstatic when I saw them because this confirmed season 2 being canon. However, we don’t see them again (except for a brief screenshot with their names on a computer) for the rest of the episode and nobody mentions them at all which made me more and more uneasy. Like, geez guys, aren’t you wondering where the hell they are? Nobody even attempted to contact them when Digimon started to appear again. Hm, it’s probably not a big deal but I wish at least somebody mentioned them…
That’s really it for my complaints, let’s take a look at what made me happy!
Some of the backgrounds in the anime were very nice and not lazy like in season 1. I especially loved the backstage here at the music venue Matt was playing at. The graffiti was a nice touch.
First off, I like how it’s implied how the group was slowly drifting apart, like they’re still good friends but they don’t hang out as much as they used to. Podigious first pointed that out to me how season 2 made it seem like the original Digidestined weren’t as together as they were back in season 1. But now with the culminated events in Reunion, the gang has an excuse to come back together again. You also get the feeling that the Digigdestined, and in particular, Tai, seem somewhat lost without the influence of Digimon like they don’t really know what to do with their life after going on a great adventure seven years ago or so. But now that the Digimon threat is back they find new meaning in their life and jump right into it.
I think Joe needs a special mention for this as it’s becoming obvious he really doesn’t like his life. He’s struggling on his exams and he just seems depressed in general. Mary pointed out to me that Joe, as well as Mimi, had the most natural reaction to seeing their partners again as they were so happy to be reunited with them. I think Gomamon will have a very positive effect on Joe’s life and possibly force him to reevaluate his life’s decisions.
Character interactions are spot on and great. The characters are more fleshed out and are given a variety of opportunities to bounce off each other. A lot of them seem like a natural progression from what we saw back in season 1. I should also talk about Mimi cause god damn was she the best character in Reunion. I think one of the reasons why I like her so much is that she’s very different from her English-dub personality of a selfish ditz. Her annoying attitude is gone and it’s replaced by a confident and very funny attitude. I like how Mimi knows she loves girly things and is proud of it. Her and Palmon were really the highlight of Reunion.
One of the most hilarious scenes in Reunion was when the gang gets back together and Izzy lectures about the recent, weird events. After awhile, the kids get bored and start talking to each other while Izzy is still prattling on, oblivious that they are no longer listening to him. That was great. In fact, a lot of the humor on this show was well written and executed. Gabumon lighten the tenser moments when he made fun of Matt’s brooding nature.
And in no particular order, here’s a general list of the things I liked
-A lot of the animation was gorgeous despite my previous complaints. The fights were great, the facial expressions were lively and the digital distortion effects on Kuwagamon were well done.
-Mimi/Izzy supposed blossoming of a relationship? I approve
-Izzy’s wardrobe program
-The secret government agency
-Matt’s new band name, Knife of Day and Tai making fun of it
-Gatomon kicking ass! I love it! She got so nerfed after she became good in season 1 but after that fight with Kuwagamon I was like DAMN! Also, her voice actress is just perfect.
-KABUTERIMON’S SPIRIT BOMB/ELECTRO SHOCKER!!
-The characters had an actual wardrobe and changed their clothes every day. Also, Mimi’s outfit in episode 4 was adorable.
Now, I am really looking forward to the future of Digimon Tri. I have to wonder what will happen and if the show will actually address where the season 2 kids are at. On a different note, one theory that I have seen going around is that the other Digidestined will get their Mega evolutions which would be AMAZING and I would love the crap out of that. Some people have even gone as far as to suggest that Joe will come through in the end and realize that his friends really need him. Thus, his Crest of Reliability will activate once again and Gomamon will be the first to digivolve into Mega. If that was true then I would be all over that. It also begs the question if the other kids would also DNA Digivolve as well. Perhaps Kari and TK will DNA Digivolve as well as Izzy and Mimi. Or maybe, there’s a brand new evolution sequence that the show will introduce which I can also believe.
Regardless, Digimon Tri is off to a great start and I can’t wait to see the next five parts!
So I’ve already talked about two Harry Turtledove series before, Darkness and WorldWar, so now it’s time to talk about Turtledove’s other famous book series. The unofficially named “Timeline-191” (and sometimes Southern Victory) comprises of eleven books detailing the history of the two American countries after the South won the American Civil War. Told from multiple viewpoints from both countries (and one or two thrown in from Canada), we experience the tragic history of these two countries as they are drawn into conflict again and again up until 1945. Now, upfront, I honestly think this may be Turtledove’s weakest major series but before I divulge why, let’s dive into the series and see what makes it so special and one of the most famous alternate history stories of our modern day and age.
So the first Timeline-191 book is called How Few Remain. In this book we understand why the South won the American Civil War and what happened to the two countries shortly after. After a brief prologue dedicated to the defeat of the Union, the book picks up twenty years later where the two American countries pick up arms again and fight each other but this time it’s for the C.S.A. acquisition of two Mexican provinces. Fearing that the C.S.A. would become too strong, the U.S.A. declares war on the C.S.A. but is abysmally defeated thanks to the C.S.A.’s reliable generals and its alliance with France and Britain.
How Few Remain is probably the most interesting book in the series as it can stand by itself very easily. The book retains all of the Second Mexican War and its immediate consequences as well and as such, many of our stories have a clear beginning and a satisfying ending. What’s more, unlike the rest of the series, all of our viewpoint characters follow historical characters like Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain. The book also offers very reasonable ideas of what the world may be like in 1881 such as the C.S.A’s continual involvement with France and Britain and the dominance of Democrats in the U.S.A. up until the 1880s. Now, Turtledove could have just left How Few Remain as it is but he decided to take this story he created and make a mega book series out of it. What follows is the next logical step in our timeline, and a 30 year jump with it, the Great War.
This is my favorite part of the series and it’s awesome. Because the C.S.A. allied itself with France and Britain, the U.S.A., in return, allied itself with Germany and the Austria-Hungary Empire to acquire its own strong allies. Of course, everything went to Hell in a handbasket, thanks to a certain Archduke, and now, not only do you have the mess of Europe fighting each other, but now you got the U.S.A. fighting Canada and the C.S.A! It’s a literal world war at this point.
So the first reason why the Great War trilogy is my favorite part in Timeline-191 is how it’s not immediately clear who will win this war. It could honestly go either way. In How Few Remain, right from the start, the U.S.A. is kind of done for so there’s not as much incentive to read the book. But for the Great War, it’s so close and even that any small event can help push the war one way or another.
I also like how Turtledove just didn’t pull any punches with the harshness of trench warfare and the dire outlook for many of the soldier’s lives. The settings and characters are highly realistic and don’t offer that sweet storytelling guidelines many of us are familiar with. It’s very similar to the Song of Ice and Fire series, actually. I also like how diverse our viewpoint characters are ranging from regular soldiers, to spies, farmers, commanders, and politicians. We definitely get a full spectrum of viewpoints that cue us in what’s happening in this crazy world. Turtledove excels at this and has done this before in the Darkness and Worldwar series. This is a guilty pleasure but honestly one of my favorite POV characters is Gordon McSweeney who is a stupid, badass bigot. The things this guy says and does in this series is great.
Now, there is a third reason but let me get back to that in a moment…
So, spoilers, the U.S.A. along with the other Central Powers, won the Great War. The series doesn’t end there though as we are treated to our next trilogy in the series, American Empire. This trilogy is kind of weak as there are jumps of time within the books. The three books cover about twenty years altogether meaning there’s a lot of plot development crammed into characters whom we already don’t spend much time with.
However, the second, and primary reason, why the Timeline-191 series falters at this point is Turtledove’s over reliance in incorporating plot developments that mirror our real world. I’m serious. Turtledove oversaturates his story with parallel events that almost defeats the purpose of an alternate history genre. Long story short, the C.S.A. becomes Nazi Germany and fights the U.S.A. again in the 1940s. And guess what? The C.S.A. loses! Go figure!
Now, the next four books in the series, called Settling Accounts, is entertaining to read but by this point, all sense of disbelief is kind of thrown to the curb and we aren’t as engaged with the story as we kind of know what will happen in the end. I even stopped reading the series by this point due to the aforementioned reasons and it was getting depressing fast. You see, throwing in a little nod here or there in reference to our timeline is fun or all but this is just overkill.
This is why I liked the Great War part of the storyline the best. True, there are historical references in this trilogy but it doesn’t control the story as much as it does later on. The trilogy is fun, original, and not bogged down by its sheer alternate history glory. I’ve actually read online that supposedly, the U.S.A. was going to lose the Great War and actually become the next fascist power in North America. But then Turtledove decided later on that that wasn’t going to happen which explains several things. One, Jake Featherston, who becomes the C.S.A.’s Hitler, was a pretty nice, if awkward, guy early on before he almost suddenly develops this hatred against African Americans; and two, Gordon McSweeney was probably going to be the U.S.A.’s version of Hitler until Turtledove pulled the plug on that idea and killed him off, rather inexplicably, at the end of the trilogy. Very interesting fan theory for sure and I’m interested to see how that story could have turned out. Regardless, because of this switch, the Great War trilogy is not as tied down compared to the rest of the series and that’s what makes it so good. My advice is to read How Few Remain and the Great War trilogy and just stop there.
There’s a lot more to talk about this series so I’ll just leave that for another time. For now, I’m curious to see if you like this series and if you agree with me or not. If not, is there another alternate history story you like better involving the American Civil War? Let me know!
Saturday morning cartoons had been a staple for many people’s childhood. Their prominence from the 60s up until last year is something that many people growing up in America remember. And it’s easy to see why! It’s Saturday morning, you are one of the few people up in your household, there’s no school going on and your favorite cartoons are on. Just sit in front of the boob tube and boom, watch some awesome cartoons.
While doing research for this article (i.e., looking through Wikipedia), I read that Saturday morning cartoons began to decline in the 1990s and 2000s and finally ended in 2014. Could have fooled me! The cartoons I watched in the late 90s and early 2000s were great. True, this wasn’t the era of the late 80s and early 90s where you had classics like He-Man, Tiny Toons, Transformers, and so forth, but we had our fair share of cartoons that we can be proud to say we watched.
And these great Saturday morning cartoons were not limited to just one channel. They were spread out through the local channels and reaching those who did not have cable. Now, cable channels are credited for the disappearance of Saturday morning cartoons but the ironic part is that I never really watched cartoons on either Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network. Nickelodeon had cartoons on weekday nights while Cartoon Network went all in on Friday nights. They were relatively tame on Saturday mornings.
As such, I turned to channels that I would otherwise not visit. ABC, The WB, and Fox. These three channels battled to be the Saturday Morning Cartoon Supreme Leader Channel. They had a unique line up of cartoons that were enjoyable to watch. Whether it be old reruns or new cartoons, they had the ammo to satisfy your cartoony desires.
But who was the best one?? Who was the Saturday Morning Cartoon Supreme Leader Channel???? Let’s take a look!
Now before I go on, I have to say that I’m only looking at cartoons that I watched during that period. As such, this list is going to be very subjective. You have been warned…
First up, let’s go ABC with their One Saturday Morning Block! Ah yes, this block had the best opening (see below video). That intro just made you get SO PUMPED UP. I’M SUPER EXCITED. I loved the hell out of that song and its animation. One day, I got the bright idea to record the Saturday morning block and save it for a day when my parents wouldn’t intervene. Sure enough, they invited some friends over one night for bridge and that’s when I whipped it out and played it. Anyway, I would crank up the volume and listen to that song again and again and again (which probably irked my parents but whatever). Hell, you still can’t help but jam to the music. Even the snapshot above brings back nostalgia for me with its colorfully bouncy imagery.
So what do we have for our line up? Well, the cartoons that I watched were Pepper Ann, Recess, and Disney’s Doug. Other cartoons on the same channel that I watch if nothing else was on were Teacher’s Pet, Buzz Lightyear, and the Weekenders. Okay, so want to hear something ironic? I believe I read this on the Wikipedia page but many of the cartoons I just listed mainly take place in a school environment. This is funny because the intro song (the one I just talked about) boasted how One Saturday Morning was “five hours of summer” and this is pretty funny considering we’re watching cartoons that take place in school…
Irony beside the point, Pepper Ann, Recess, and Disney’s Doug were considered pretty good in my book. Even though these cartoons took place at school, the characters, humor, and animation made them unique enough that you didn’t really notice it. Plus, they still had fun adventures (especially, ESPECIALLY Recess) even if they were at school. They also kind of took on heavy issues, especially for Disney programs, ever noticed that?? Disney’s Doug had an episode of anorexia once and Pepper Ann had one on training bras. I don’t recall Recess having a heavy episode though it did have those typical children moral tropes that you see. Anyway, if you didn’t notice by now, Recess was my favorite so I’m calling that one as the best cartoon on ABC.
Next we have Fox which had Fox Kids. Okay, so truth be told, Fox Kids was kind of weak in cartoons early on and didn’t really have anything good until we got to the tail end of the 90s. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was the only major thing it had going for a while…
…then came Fall 1999.
With it came two cartoons that I watched which were Monster Rancher but more importantly Digimon. Digimon was what roped me into Fox Kids. I didn’t discover Digimon, and by proxy Fox Kids, until Christmas 1999 when I was waiting for my family to unwrap presents. As I waited patiently in the basement, I turned on the TV and discovered Digimon. The episode that was on was the one where the kids were fighting Andromon. That episode had me hooked and I watched every episode I could find from there on.
Power Rangers: Time Force later joined Fox Kids and it remains one of the few Power Rangers (much less live action) shows I watched. I don’t know why I watched that one but I guess this show evolved from a “I guess I’ll watch it” to a “hey this isn’t too bad.” Monster Rancher was nice but God help me if you ask me what it was about cause I don’t remember a damn thing (something with a boy and a wolf, a stone golem, and Mike from Monsters Inc??). Rusty and Big Guy was also an interesting cartoon if I remember correctly, I should check it out again to see if it still holds up. Beast Wars was also good but, surprisingly, I didn’t watch much of that show. A lot of shows, in general, didn’t last very long, sometimes just a season, if that, mainly because they were just not that good or interesting. Remember Angela Anaconda? That was a weird show…
Fox Kids was pretty nice and you have to love those promo commercials. Those commercials were so cheesily edited that you just have to adore it. You also have to give a nod to those commercial break jokes/facts. One fact started with “what food would never spoil?” after a few commercials the break would end and it answered “sugar never spoils unless you have water on it.” And of course after I heard that I put water in my family’s sugar container to see what would happen…my parents weren’t probably thrilled with that…
Ending this trio channel battle we have The WB via Kids WB. When you think of your typical Saturday morning cartoon lineup, Kids WB probably matches it the best. You have superhero cartoons, Looney Toons-esque cartoons, celebrity cartoons, and anime. These programs were also not subpar and had a nice level of quality to them (well…at least most of them did…).
Okay, so you have Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain going off of the Looney Toons-styled cartoons. You also have the New Adventures of Batman and Superman which was later followed by X-Men: Evolution, Static Shock, Batman Beyond, and the Xeta Project. Of course, you also had Pokemon and Yugioh (which the latter came on as my interest in Saturday morning cartoons began to wane). Perhaps the oddball of the bunch was Jackie Chan Adventures whose basis sounds so…weird…that you would think it was destined to fail but it defied our expectations and was actually good!
The Batman and Superman cartoons were so awesome. I was actually more of a Superman fan when I was a kid so I liked watching his show more than Batman’s. I remember Kids WB had a contest where you had to write in a letter saying which superhero “kicked more booty” and I recalled that my brother and I said Superman while my sister said Batman (fyi, I now think it’s Batman). The string of superhero cartoons that followed were good but I liked the Batman and Superman cartoons better.
Pokemon was a definite show to watch but since Pokemon was shown on morning and afternoon weekdays, the pull for it wasn’t as strong as it could have been. However, they would premiere special episodes (e.g., Indigo League Championship) only on Saturdays and that was a very good reason to watch them. Yugioh’s more mature (I guess that’s the right word for it) anime appealed to my preteen persona so I would stick around to watch that show before I finally stopped watching cartoons.
I already wrote an article on Jackie Chan Adventures but I should at least give it a mention. This show should have, by all rights, failed and I’m glad it didn’t. The premise of the show sounds almost like a direct parody of other celebrity cartoons similar to Mike Tyson Mysteries. But the show was great as it established a mystical world setting, humorous characters, and Jackie Chan-styled fights. After the Batman and Superman show ended, I would go to Kids WB mainly for this show. That’s how appealing it was.
Alright, so, in the end, which channel can claim to be the Saturday Morning Cartoon Supreme Leader Channel??? After carefully reviewing the three channels I’m giving it to Kids WB! Unlike FoxKids, which mainly had Digimon, and One Saturday Morning, which had a rather narrow focus of show settings, Kids WB had a diverse selection of shows that appealed to a wide range of audiences. These shows were great and the channel offered a variety of characters, settings, and animation styles that really made it hard to best. And, let’s be honest here, Kids WB arsenal was Batman, Superman, Animaniacs, and Pokémon. That’s entertainment gold.
So, what do you guys think? I know I didn’t hit all of the cartoons for each block but there’s just way too many to list! Which channel did you watch the most of while growing up and what were your favorite Saturday Morning cartoons? I would love to hear your opinions!
Several years ago, my friend and I watched a whole bunch of Creepypasta films and stories on Halloween and were delightfully creeped out by the majority of them. They ranged from the Russian Sleep Experiment to Ben Drowned. Ben Drowned certainly creeped me out and gave me constant shivers down my spine. However, the problem with tackling Creepypasta stories altogether is that you eliminate that doubt the hangs around in the back of your head. You know these tales aren’t true simply because people have gone out of their way to debunk them and you are reading them all on a Creepypasta page.
So one year later, while I was doing research at the library, one of my Facebook friends posted a link (see below) on his wall and commented on its weird and chilling nature. So I clicked on the link and sat back and watched it.
The video starts with a calm and stoic voice that introduces you to a story of a man who has hid quite a bit of money somewhere in Great Britain. The content of the video, as it divulges information, strikes a healthy balance between seriousness and dark comedy that does not outright seem farfetched or outlandish. I myself related to the video as I had by then hosted two riddle challenges for my friends where I hid a prize somewhere in my hometown.
The introduction of Fortress is another convincing piece of evidence for this video’s authenticity. Although Fortress may have been a bit over the top, the use of old Youtube footage from 2005 sparks this degree of believability as by the time the video was released, this was six years ago and Youtube had gone though many major overhauls to its structure (such as the “star rating” system). What’s more, our memories are untrustworthy so when we see old footage like this, we may lead towards video credibility if we are pushed justly in that direction.
Then we get the Pardoner’s Tale flash animation story. Not only is the story delightful and creepy, it is well made and delivered. This again lends credibility towards the video’s story on this riddle challenge. If someone wanted to properly showcase an almost forgotten story on the internet, they would make sure to deliver quality services to its inquisitive viewers.
As the video continues, we return back to Fortress’ attempts to solve the puzzles. The puzzles are hard but Fortress, along with his amateur video quality, takes us through his thinking process and finds the puzzles ones by one. However, the video quietly takes a dark tone and this creepy music, similar in style to the movie It Follows, slowly seeps into the video and I can’t help but get these chills along my spine as the narrator’s voice just suddenly turns me off even though he barely changed his disposition. And oh God that reveal at the end with the yellow letters just pushed it into uncomfortable territory. But what really seals it for me is that creepy photograph at the end with the article about the dead body and the mystery of the unidentified person. Fuck, no matter how many times I watch the video I still get these horrible chills from it.
So when the video ended, I had to check it out if it was real and, truth be told, it took me awhile to figure out that this was fake. But here, I have to say, the video’s believability combined with its intriguing storyline, makes this my favorite Creepypasta story. You see, I wasn’t watching this video during Halloween or actively looking for a video like it, it fell upon my lap most innocently and from there, I believed it, even if it was only for a few minutes. That’s what makes a great Creepypasta, the ability to deceive while at the same time make you as uncomfortable as possible.
So last year, I talked about the Seven Deadly Sins Riddle Challenge that I gave to my friends on my 21st birthday. I basically challenged my friends to solve seven riddles with each riddle based on one of the Seven Deadly Sins. If you solved all seven riddles then I rewarded you with a prize. When everyone wanted a sequel, I decided to rehost the challenge again on my 22nd birthday but this time, with a little extra flair. As you can guess from the title, that year’s Riddle Challenge theme was based on Pokémon and this one was really cool in my opinion.
In total, there were eight riddles, representing the eight gyms, and each riddle was based on a Pokémon type. So for instance, a riddle that took place in a nearby state park was the Forest Badge and it represented Grass Type.
Now, this Pokémon-themed challenge would have been fine with just the badges but I had to take it one step further and make this challenge different from the previous year. In this case, I printed out Pokémon cards that everyone would have. These Pokémon (Gallade for instance) knew two attacks (Ice Punch and Psycho Cut) which the competitor could use against the badges. If the competitor was stuck on a riddle and everyone else had already solved their riddle, they could use their Pokémon and bypass the badge to the next riddle. There are three catches to this though; one, you can only use moves that are super effective against the badge (Gallade uses Ice Punch on the Forest Badge for instance), two, your Pokémon is used up and can’t be used anymore, and three, the final cash prize is cut by half. I liked the cards so much I even made one for myself to join in the fun (mine was Porygon2). It was great because so many people got attached to their Pokémon and did not want to use it up even when they were stuck on their riddle (one of my friends was so excited when he got Garbodor while another was confused what the hell a Hippowdon was). I liked that. Once I passed out a Pokémon to everyone at my 22nd birthday party, I talked about the usual rules and the first riddle to the challenge.
Unfortunately, I do not remember all of the Pokémon riddles and the original file that had all of them I think I lost when my old computer crashed on me. Nonetheless, here are the ones I remembered along with a few in their original state (which you can try at home if you want!).
Badges
Metamorphous Badge-Bug Type. Here is the riddle in its original form.
“I am famous.
Or do you not know?
Do I have to take you on a wondrous, whimsical trip, in order for you to understand? I have given you all an invitation to this event and you came with no hesitation.
I am the son of four men!
Certainly, that idiot up there on that pile of dirt understands perfectly clear. People don’t particularly adore the idiot but he sees the celestial body setting on the horizon and even his own two pupils! He sees the Earth revolve around its axis. Revolve, revolve, revolve.
I contain many stories of all sorts, both good memories and bad ones as well.
It has always been my dream to be an author. But what should I write? When I figure out, can I give you a sample of it? It should be good! True, it is about as long as War and Peace but I think you would like it!
I know my dads’ lives quite well, from their innocent beginnings to their climatic end.
There’s a girl that I adore, how I love her, how I need her! But alas, she’s too fat.
My favorite numbers are five and six!
What’s that from afar? It looks like a whole bunch of single people! They haven’t been in a relationship in a while so they’re kind of sad. Emily was one of them, that’s why no one showed up to her funeral.
Don’t you know who I am?
I am Humpty Dumpty!
Where can you find me? Well, for starters, my neighbor is Earth! I’m at a place where the host is a crazy addict whose a bit of a dork. I hold your riddle! Come and find me!”
The answer to this riddle? The Beetles! The riddle was hid in the Magical Mystery Tour album in a record store.
Granite Badge-Rock Type. Pretty standard, this riddle was located in the geology building on campus. I used the student lounge room and hid it in one of the never-used drawers. The riddle was a series of codes and letters that filled out the location of the riddle (address, room number, drawer number, etc.)
Forest Badge-Grass Type. Mentioned this one before but this one was more of a challenge than a riddle as it depended on the first 8 out of 10 people to find the riddle. The riddle was a simple word game and the trainer had to guess what grass-type Pokémon the words spell out.
Spectre Badge-Ghost Type. One of my favorite, and most longwinded, of the riddles! The trainer is given five names, arranged in a pentagram, and that’s it. The five names are actually tombstones in a local cemetery and the five names surround a tombstone of a person whom a campus library was named after. I placed a flower basket on that tombstone and it had a code which took the trainer to a book in the said library, inside the book was the next riddle (the book btw, was Legend of the Sleepy Hollow).
Stratigraphic Badge-Ground Type. The last of the eight riddles, the trainer was simply given the phrase “TM28” along with six Pokémon. The Pokémon represented latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates based on their pokedex number and “TM28” is the Pokémon move, Dig. The trainer had to go to this spot and dig up the treasure.
Freedom Badge-Flying Type. I actually have the original riddle right here “Follow, from beginning to end, the flight of the Jayhawk and on its doorsteps you will find the next riddle.”
The University of Kansas has a lot of Jayhawks, but this riddle talks about our mascot’s evolution which can be seen on the Union Floor. If you follow their path, you are taken to the doorsteps of the Art Museum which is where I hid the next riddle.
This was the best image I could find on the internet that had the floor….so yeah…storm troopers! Anyway, you can see one of the jayhawks where they are standing. Image from http://www.kualumni.org/tag/kansas-union/
Antidote Badge-Poison Type. Finally, we get to the Antidote Badge, maybe my actual favorite riddle of the eight. In this challenge, instead of trainers trying to find a riddle, they are trying to solve a logic puzzle as seen below. I’ll set out the rules and guidelines, but basically there are nine potions but only one of them is the antidote. You have to drink the antidote (with some exceptions) to move on. Trainers have to tell me which potion they drink in person and I tell them if they drank the antidote or a poison. Take a look
“Explanation:
There are nine potions in total and they are laid out in the table in front of you as seen in the diagram above. 6 of the potions are poisonous and will kill you instantly (these potions are known as the “Regulars”). 1 is the Antidote which allows you to go on to the next riddle if you choose to drink it. 1 is the Slow Poison which allows you 15 seconds to live before you die. Finally, 1 is the Sacrifice Potion; the Sacrifice Potion gives you two options, either forfeit your Pokemon or choose another competitor to die in your place. Either option will allow you to move on to the next riddle.
The Slow Poison is special in that you’re given the chance to correct your mistake by either A. drink the Antidote/Sacrifice Potion or B. use your Pokemon to save you from your error. You are only given 15 seconds to decide though.
All nine potions have two statements that will help you determine which of them is the Antidote. However, one of their statements is false and the other is true. It is thus your duty to sort out the truths from the lies and narrow the selection down.
Some of the statements may seem confusing to this paragraph sorts out any inquires you may have.
For example, Green’s first statement is “The Slow Potion is not below me or to my right,” therefore, if this was true then the Slow Potion is not Blue, Purple or Brown. If this was false then the Slow Potion is either Blue, Purple or Brown.
“Rows” are the horizontal layers.
For other statements that mention several potions at once you will have to think carefully on. For example, Yellow’s second statement is “For Red, Blue, Green and Black. All but one is a ‘Regular’.” If this was true then one of the four potions would be a special potion (the Antidote, the Slow Poison or the Sacrifice Potion) and the rest would be “Regulars.” If this statement was false then it could be that more than one of them was a special potion or maybe none of them was a special potion.
Primary Colors are Red, Blue, Yellow. Secondary Colors are Green, Purple and Orange.”
I was later told by my friends that there are actually two solutions to this puzzle, whoops! But that’s okay, this was my first shot in making a puzzle like this and it was fuuuuuuun. I really liked this one because the trainer can be a dick if he or she wanted and kill someone else with the poison so they could eliminate competition. No one did that, of course, but I figured I would throw it in. I enjoy this riddle so see if you can figure it out!
In the end, this challenge was a lot of fun and my friends and I enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t do another Birthday Riddle Challenge after this as I was kind of burnt out on riddles but still, it was great and I had a splendid time.
Disclaimer: Podigious! briefly referenced my blog on one of their episodes which was awesome. In critically reviewing this podcast, I’ll try to be as unbiased as possible.
Review Summary: Podigious! is a Digimon podcast which critically reviews the entire animated series, arc by arc, and analyzes various aspects of the show. The hosts’ great chemistry and contrasting personalities liven a podcast that would otherwise be bogged down by its own geeky fandom. Unfortunately, the fan feedback and Digimon news update that accompanies the beginning of each episode can drag on but luckily, you can easily skip that section and jump into the episode’s stronger portions of engaging debate. If you cannot deal with people both positively and negatively critiquing Digimon then you should move on. But if you can realize that not everything in our childhood was perfect then you’ll have a pleasant time listening to this “interesting” podcast.
Full Summary: I’ve listened to Podigious! for more than a year now but it wasn’t until the past few months that I have been able to (mostly) catch up to its latest episode. I mainly listen to podcasts in the car and since I have done a lot of driving this summer and fall, I was able to burn through episodes rather quickly. In doing so, I have become rather familiar to the show as if the hosts, Jeff, Ashley, Asher, and Andrew, were right there in the car with me, talking about Digimon while I silently listen to them.
Podigious! is everything I wanted in a nerdy podcast. The hosts, particularly Jeff, the ringleader of the podcast, are very earnest in their love for Digimon and want to talk about Digimon simply because they can! I like that. What’s more, the episode-by-episode discussion of the Digimon anime series is great as you can jump into any podcast episode you want and listen to certain arcs without missing a beat. I personally did this when I skipped the Devimon Arc and jumped right into the Etemon Arc and it worked just fine.
Of course, a good podcast needs good hosts and luckily, Podigious has them.
Three of the four hosts are very close to my age and in fact, they went to high school the same year I did as well (and the only reason why I know this is that they talked about when Harry Potter 7 came out in one of their episodes). Because of their age, I highly, highly, identify them as they have the same Digimon nostalgia factor that affected me as well for these past 15 years. And that actually plays into a big part of their show as they are critically evaluating the show and trying their best not to have nostalgia cloud their reviewing senses. Sometimes, they’ll even mention how a particular scene has stuck with them for all these years and their reaction to that same scene may now be different due to a more adult perspective on it.
And it basically works. The hosts point out certain inconsistencies or problems with the show and offer suggestions on how they could have improved the scene and the plot. A few that stood out to me was the use of prophecies in season 1, how Yolei should have gotten the Digiegg of Knowledge and Cody should have gotten the Digiegg of Love (mind blown btw), and why in God’s name did Tai give Davis’ his goggles and not Kari or T.K.? These inconsistencies are great as they point out what could have been on a show that surprisingly stuck to certain tropes passionately.
Of the four hosts, Jeff is probably the one I identify with most and represents the hardcore nerd in a fandom. Jeff is the like the heart of the show as he edits the episodes, he’s in charge of the discussion topics, and he talks, a lot. Which is unfortunate as he dominates the conversations, especially in the podcast’s early episodes. Sometimes, he would go on and on for a particular topic, such as, and especially, real life geography, and the other hosts would only respond minimally. Luckily, the other hosts have found their voice and have been participating more and more in the episodes which is great. Jeff has certainly relaxed as the series progressed as he used to be a little more uptight but now he’s kind of taking it more easy for the discussion topics and the “Follow Up” portions of the show. Also, he should get a Word of the Day calendar.
Ashley represents the casual fan of a franchise and let me say, it’s nice to hear her be so verbally confused about certain aspects of Digimon as it sometimes takes a sane person to point out the rather weird and contrived world of Digimon. She’s definitely been more vocal as the series progressed and it’s nice as she points out the gender B.S. that Digimon portrays. It’s also funny how she can be just so fed up with Digimon at times, especially towards Kari. Her playful frustrations towards Jeff also add a light touch to a show that can be bogged down at times by its own geekery.
Asher represents the shipping fan of a franchise and he is just like Ashley in that he points out Digimon’s gender B.S. Asher also found his voice fairly early on and, again, like Ashley, talked more as the podcast progressed. It’s always nice to hear Asher tear down Jeff’s nostalgia-filled world and make Jeff verbally uncomfortable with the stark, and let’s face it, unfair, reality Digimon has towards boys vs. girls. From what I heard, Asher is the favorite host of the four and I believe it (he’s my favorite too). Asher’s grounded, and sometimes apathetic, nature, contrasts nicely with Jeff’s enthusiastic and almost intense personality. Jeff would have notes upon notes detailing certain aspects of an episode and then he would ask Asher what he thought about the episode/topic and Asher would respond that he didn’t write anything down (lol). His shipping knowledge is very humorous as he would gush over scenes involving Davis/Ken or Matt/Tai. I know appreciate Davis/Ken pairing more thanks to him.
Unfortunately, Andrew, Asher’s brother, is the weakest of the four hosts. Briefly mentioned in the podcast’s season 1, he became a part-time host in season 2 and unfortunately, he does not add a lot to the other hosts’ great chemistry. It seems to me that Andrew barely mentions anything, even when compared to Ashley and Asher’s initially reserved nature, and does not fully pay attention to the conversation at hand. I wouldn’t mind it as much if he had anything worthwhile to say but a lot of times he would just react awkwardly to the other hosts’ sometimes personal interactions or he would mildly insult Jeff and his nerdy nature. He is kind of…stiff I want to say? It doesn’t bode well with the more playful side of this show. I shouldn’t be too hard on him though as a lot of times, he can contribute to the conversation by incorporating his Japanese and anime knowledge. His status as a hardcore nerd can match Jeff’s knowledge which is nice that it’s not just Jeff talking in-depth about some esoteric thing about Digimon.
The weakest portion of the show is by far the aforementioned “Follow Up” which is Jeff and Ashely responding to reviewer feedback and questions, talking about Digimon news, and revealing who won the Ridiculous Dialogue Draft (RDD). This section is at the beginning of almost every episode and man does it drag ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon. This is the part of the episode that I usually let my mind wander. And, truth be told, the Digimon news update kind of hurts the “timelessness” of the show as the main portion of the podcast episodes focuses on things that happened 15 years ago while the news update tells us things that we already know by now. Sometimes, this scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail would play in my head during the Follow Up:
I shouldn’t be too hard on the Follow Up though as you can skip it easily. It kind of begs the question why I even listen to it in the first place. Good Question.
…
I have no reasonable answer. Maybe I just like hearing Ashley and Jeff talk (it does get lonely in the car at times when you’ve been driving 4+ hours by yourself). Although, I have to say that it’s nice to hear Jeff and Ashley go out of their way to respond to reviewer feedback and respond to questions viewers may have about the previous episode’s content.
If the Follow Up is the weakest portion then by far the strongest is the RDD that is at the end of every episode and I love it. God, listening to how…ridiculous…the DUB could be is amazing although I wish they threw in the occasional “touching” line since there can be a few in the show. Maybe they’ll throw some in when they get into the heart of season 3 cause man, that season is an emotional roller coaster. Anyway, I appreciate Jeff editing in the original lines of the show and give us the full (no) context it deserves.
The gender studies portion of the show is perhaps the most (in)famous section of the podcast. Here, emotions can run a little high as the hosts break down Digimon’s less appealing gender aspects. Ashley, and in particular Asher, go at the show strongly and tear it apart while at the same time offering constructive criticism on how the show could have made it better. Although the hosts dominantly talk about the role women have on the show, they do occasionally focus on the guys and the show’s conservative take on what it means to be a man. I admit, I was at first frustrated at listening to Asher and Ashley criticize one of my favorite childhood animated shows but I soon could not help admit that a lot of Digimon’s take on gender is indeed, Bullshit. It definitely makes the podcast not just a simple fan gushing and instead, treats it like an actual show that has its flaws. In general, I just love how Asher is so unapologetic about her opinions and it sharply contrasts Jeff’s desire to try and offend the least amount of people as possible.
Also, and on a side note, the hosts sometimes talk about the Legend of Korra and other cartoon shows during the gender segment which is nice as Korra is particularly strong when it comes to gender representation. One show that they have surprisingly left out of the conversation is Steven Universe and it got to the point that I finally tweeted them and asked if they had seen the show. I am relieved that they have (that show is great in all aspects of animation, plot, and, of course, gender representation).
This is actually a nice segue to my last point about the podcast in that the hosts are very responsive (well, Jeff is at least, Asher just doesn’t give a shit) to fan feedback. It actually makes up a large portion of the Follow Up. Jeff and Ashley respond to feedback whether it’s on twitter, reddit, or itunes. I like how they bring up critical feedback and admit when they are wrong. It’s nice for creators, of any kind, to respond to both negative and positive feedback and it shows they are not afraid to change things up and try to constantly improve the show.
As for the future of the show, I’ll definitely continue listen to them for their Tri and Tamers segments but after that, it’s hard to say as I really don’t like Digimon Season 4. Regardless, Tamers is, and will be, fun to listen to as it’s Jeff’s favorite season and it has a super crazy plot that is neatly combined with its more mature vibe. I’m hoping for more endless driving so I can become reacquainted with them once again.
Two shows. One is a live-action, cult hit, drama-oriented show starring three protagonists and their adventures into the slightly strange along with the occasional drug trip. The second is an ongoing, animated show starring a boy, his three alien mentors, and their adventures in the fantastical along with the occasional song. These two shows, Fringe and Steven Universe, are so different from each other that making parallels or comparisons between the two would be difficult if not nonsensical.
Yet both of them have a strong focus on parenting and in particular, Fringe deals with fatherhood while Steven Universe concentrations on motherhood. I want to dive in to how both of these shows deal with their respective parent and discuss if the now ended Fringe can tell us the future of the still ongoing Steven Universe.
Let’s start with Fringe. Fringe’s attitude and theme towards fatherhood is at first quite subtle. Our main source is Peter and his dad Walter who are two of the three main protagonists of the show. Season One focused greatly on Peter and Walter amending their very rocky relationship which culminated to Peter finding a newfound love and respect for Walter. As the series progressed, new fatherly relationships are expanded on such as Astrid Figglesworth’s uneasy relationship with her dad and Olivia being abused by her step-father when she was a child. The big kicker though comes in the reveal that Peter is from an alternate universe and Walter kidnapped him when he was a child when his Peter died. This catalyzed most of the series’ events including one of the show’s main antagonists, Walternate, or the Walter from the alternate universe, and his quest to get his son back. Super trippy and balls awesome, yes, but it does highlight the lengths both Walters had to go through in order to save their son. Fatherhood was ratcheted up a notch in the final season (and this was when my roommate and I noticed its prevalence) when Peter went to great lengths to avenge his daughter’s death and September was willing to sacrifice his life for his son Michael. It was also the season where Walter sacrificed his life for his son Peter in a very bittersweet ending. This article does a great job summarizing Peter and Water’s relationship and I highly suggest you read it if you are a Fringe fan.
Steven Universe’s themes of motherhood are starkly more apparent than Fringe’s initial dip into fatherhood. First off, Steven basically has three moms and a dad that we only see every four episodes or so. Steven’s own mom also gave up her existence to bare her child and to symbolize her love for Steven’s dad, Greg. Season 2 has also been giving us a lot of great mom episodes involving Connie’s mom, Sadie’s mom, and, of all people, Onion’s mom. Already, we have seen themes of nurturing (Onion’s mom), protection (Connie’s mom), and encouragement (Sadie’s mom) that make up a big part of motherhood. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get more mom episodes in the future from other supporting characters along with a more detailed look at Steven’s mom, Rose Quartz, and her love for Greg.
Okay, so is there a connection between these two, vastly different shows’ approach towards parenthood? Well, there is but both of them handle it differently. Boiling down plot elements to their purest form, we see a strong sense of sacrifice from both mothers and fathers. As mentioned before, the fathers in Fringe go to great lengths to avenge, protect, or preserve their offspring from harm no matter what the costs. In Steven Universe, Rose Quartz sacrificed her life to bare Steven while the Crystal Gems defend and protect Steven even if they are harmed during the process.
Now granted, Steven Universe is still an ongoing and continuously evolving show so we have yet to witness the full potential of it. This idea of sacrifice may play out more or there may be other themes of motherhood that would be touched on instead (like the aforementioned nurturing, encouragement, and protection). Nonetheless, Fringe could give us a clue into the future of Steven Universe, a future where things aren’t as rosy as they currently are.
As situations will likely become dire, we should expect the characters on Steven Universe to make tough decisions that would ultimately change the current standing of the show. This show is not afraid to challenge familiar tropes and the status quo. Other Cartoon Network shows, mainly Adventure Time and somewhat Regular Show, have done the same thing to their setting and characters and it’s not surprising that Steven Universe is already doing it despite its still young lifespan. Likewise, Fringe is similar in to Steven Universe due to its plot setup, its embracement of the untypical trope situations, and how every season is unique due to dire changes that happened at the end of the previous season. What I’m saying is that Steven Universe is changing and will continue to surprise us in ways we won’t expect, the days of status quo continuity, as seen in Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, and Ed, Edd, and Eddy, are long and forgotten.
First off, if we were to be directly inspired by Fringe, there might be a global invasion of Homeworld Gems. If the Cluster, whatever that is, does not work out. Yellow Diamond may take it upon herself to call a massive invasion onto Earth, and establish a matriarchy on the planet. Steven’s home could be destroyed, his city would be forced into curfew, and Homeworld Soldiers would patrol the streets looking for him and the Crystal Gems. This happened in the final season of Fringe when the Observers took over the protagonists’ universe and basically established a fascist patriarchy. This comparison between the Observers and the Homeworld Gems is not farfetched as they are characterized by their mysterious nature, their power, and their preference towards one particular gender. Both forces were hinted at since near the beginning of their respective shows and we’re only given teases and glimpses into their world as their series continued. And now, it will only be a matter of time before the Homeworld Gems make their true, and world-shattering entrance.
As fan theories go, this one is kind of out there so if you were looking for something easier to swallow I present you with this. Fringe’s final season was intense with emotion, action, and payoff. Steven Universe will likely emulate this on both the positive and negative notes. If sacrifice does come into play in the show’s final moments, we will likely see some of our favorite characters pass away (and not just reborn) for the protection and preservation of Steven.
While Fatherhood, both in Fringe and in general, may be categorized by bravery, morality, and wisdom and Motherhood may be categorized by the aforementioned nurturing, protection, and encouragement, both are ultimately link in self-sacrifice. What lengths would any good Father or Mother go to in order to preserve their child? Fringe knows this and embraces this. Steven Universe will likely go the same path. Pearl loves Rose Quartz and her child Steven. Pearl has sacrificed herself so many times in order to protect Rose. Whose to say that she won’t do it again but this time, end her life permanently by doing so? What effect will this have on Steven’s psyche when that time comes?
Perhaps Steven will become hardened by his loss and take on the role of both a father and a mother figure to the rest of his family and friends. We saw a glimpse of this in the premiere of season 2 when he tried to shut Connie away from his troubles. He wants to protect those he love. If a true tragic loss were to occur, he may go more extreme than this and take on a role similar to Peter when his daughter died in the final Fringe season. If that were to occur, he’ll need Connie, similar to Peter’s significant other Olivia, to pull him back and embrace his true humanity, once again.
Surprisingly, I played Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for the first time this year after some pressure from my friends and Mary. Despite a few buggy issues, the game was marvelous (even if I was spoiled). The characters are funny, complex, and memorable, and the combat system is neat with a diverse range of upgrade options. This game has convinced me to try out the Mass Effect games sometime in the future as not only does the same company make them but they also have been highly praised as well.
Now with that said, wouldn’t it be cool if there was a KotoR-style game in the One Piece universe? Imagine it, you are a captain of a pirate crew and you travel the world of One Piece while recruiting members, fighting the marines, and establishing yourself as King of the Pirates! Now, you could do a game following the Straw Hat Pirate crew but that can be limiting in terms of story and character development (plus the story is not even done yet). Instead, this game should follow KotoR’s path and establish itself far in the past, free from all the restrictions of Luffy and his crew’s main storyline.
Of course, the immediately clear benefit of this is that all the Devil Fruits are ripe for the eating! All the Paramecian, Zoan, and Logian fruits would be available for yourself, your crew, and the variety of enemies you can fight! Maybe at the beginning of the game, while you are designing your character, gender, and so forth, you can choose (or Hell just forego completely!) a certain selection of Devil Fruits for your captain-to-be. Afterwards, you can name your ship, your crew name, and the design of your flag.
After you pick your character and his fighting style, you can then recruit characters as you sail the four seas and the Grand Line. Maybe certain characters would want to be a great brawler, swordsman, or sniper. As they level up, put skill points on the variety of fighting styles to improve their profession.
Leveling up would also give you noncombat skill points for carpeting, navigation, cooking, music playing, and first-aid. Navigation I think would be especially important as every crew needs a good navigator to get through the seas with their wild and crazy storms. Certain islands would need a navigation skill level, and of course the required log post, in order to reach them. Especially high would be islands in the New World. Likewise, carpeting can improve your ship’s sailing and battling capabilities as well as needed repairs. Carpeting could also improve your ship’s accessibility to treacherous waters that would otherwise capsize or demolish it. Cooking would give you handy healing and morale-boosting items that would otherwise be unavailable during the game while first-aid training would serve as your standard “Healer” role in RPGs. As for musician training, you can do your standard morale-boosting spells but also incorporate music into your attacks, that would be great!
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Now your crew members, I think, should already be their own characters in the same vein as Mass Effect and KotoR. They were what made KotoR so great, all the great characters like HK-47 and Jolee really made the game fun to play. Likewise, having kooky characters with a variety of personalities or traits would bestow a real charm to your crew (plus the bickering would be quite amusing).
One important aspect of KotoR that would also be incorporated into this One Piece game would be the moral decision making. Do you choose to be honorable pirates or pirates that do whatever the hell they want or pirates who burn, pillage, and kill anyone and anything in its path? One Piece has certainly given us a variety of pirate crews that vary considerably on this sliding scale of morality. Key scenes such as whether or not to kill some captive marines, stealing a poor town’s treasure, or a simple good deed can reflect your popularity (and notoriety) with citizens, the marines, and other pirate crews. The same could be said with your actions whether it’s finding a little girl’s mom or toppling an island’s ruthless dictatorship. This would be very similar to Red Dead Redemption’s morality and popularity scales.
Speaking of which, bounties in the game can be interesting as depending on your actions, yours and your crew’s bounties could increase over time. The marines are very bias (and corrupt) though so certain actions, like sinking a marine ship, could raise your bounty faster than stealing a town’s gold. I can only imagine how that will affect your performance during the game as what would happen if you got caught or lost a battle? Maybe it will reset to your last save point but I haven’t come up a good way in handling bounties yet in this One Piece RPG.
Something that also could be incorporated into the game is having your own fleet. Once you achieve a certain amount of popularity, you could recruit other pirate crews to be your division commanders and that would be AWESOME. Having a fleet means you can storm guarded bases like Impel Down or Enies Lobby or even topple an entire country! You could have an army of ships, ready at your beck and call and take down any pirate crews who stand in your way!
There are still other potential ideas that I have untouched like bounty hunting, ship customization, and haki training. Aaaaaah. Just writing this article makes me so excited even though this game doesn’t exist. This game should be made, I would play the hell out of it!
Hello everyone, it’s been awhile since my last update but I figure I’ll show you what I’ve been up to. My assignment here at Fossil Butte National Monument was to write an article about this place for National Fossil Day. This year, every month, a Cenozoic park is featured on the National Park Service website. September is Fossil Butte’s month and I wrote the article for it! Check it out!
Consider this my usual Monday update. I’ve been busy in the meanwhile working at FOBU doing the standard stuff I mentioned before such as manning the front desk and preparing fossils. It’s still been fun here and I’ve been enjoying working with my colleagues. I’ve also been writing some articles for the blog in the future so stay tuned for that. Until next time!
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The Unapologetic Nerd 
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