Binge-Watching

The Lake Lilac Summer Social felt like it should've been the season 3 finale of Camp Camp. I thought that would be something involving Campbell trying to take David down with him, but that turned out to be the next episode, and Max shut it down. I liked the character development for Erin, but the Midsummer Night's Dream plot was never going to end well since none of them really belonged together (I felt bad for the boys, though). It also made me wonder who would've won if Max and Nikki didn't stuff the ballot box to punish Gwen. Real life can't live up to slash fiction, or even friend fiction. Now I wonder what the actual finale will be (unless Campbell tries again but I doubt it). I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about the Shape of Water episode coming up, but I've read good things.

Volume 4 of the Clear Card manga seems to have some translation issues. Akiho's last name was changed from Shinomoto to Shinohara for some weird reason (probably a new translator who wasn't paying attention), and at one point Sakura's speech balloon seems to be a curse word as it is made up of symbols. She is probably screaming her signature "HOEEEE!" as the Flight Card flies off with her, but apparently somebody decided it needed to be censored.

Equestria Girls Rollercoaster of Friendship had been partially leaked before, and it seems like it aired without much announcement leading up to it. I'm glad I was able to see the whole thing. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. I'm more excited about the other Equestria Girls shorts that were leaked, particularly Game Stream. I want them to be released in their finished form so I can favorite that one officially.

If Blue and Yellow Diamond's ships are arms, and Pink Diamond's ship is legs, then White Diamond's ship must be a head and a torso for them to fit into to form a Megazord-type robot (though that doesn't take into account things like the hand ship). I have binge-watched seasons 2 though 5, but season 1 is going to take a while to get through since it's so long and I had no interest in it when it was originally airing. One thing I don't understand is that gems can't hold shapeshifting very long, but Pink was able to change into Rose permanently (unless that's just a diamond thing). Also, if Lars is a pink zombie, then so is Lion, which means one of Rose's lions died and her tears brought him back to life (I don't know, I haven't seen the episode he was introduced in yet).

So far, Lin-Manuel Miranda has been in two episodes of DuckTales as Gizmo Duck. While they haven't made any direct references to Hamilton or Moana, you can probably apply some lyrics to the situation: "What's your name, man?" "I'm not throwing away my shot," "Immigrants: we get the job done," and so on.

Monumental

I decided to actually watch the Heart of the Crystal Gems run of episodes, and it was great. I like Ruby and Sapphire better than Garnet, but I appreciate Garnet more now. "Why would Ruby be a cowboy?!" made me laugh, but then that was actually what happened for an episode. I think Bismuth is cool now too. At first I thought it was dark that she stuck her head into the lava to scream, but I quickly realized that gems can survive that. All I knew about Patti Lupone was from that episode of Will and Grace she was on (where Jack was trying to get a lock of her hair for his collection), but she's perfect as Yellow Diamond. I was impressed with how Lapis came back and dropped the barn on Blue Diamond, then no-sold her emotional attack. "I've felt worse." Damn. I haven't written anything about Raven and Ienzo lately, but the relationship between Ruby and Sapphire has inspired me. I even had this weird dream where Ienzo used his illusion power to pretend to be Raven so she could escape, but she wasn't having it.

The return of RWBY Chibi was hilarious. J Michael Tatum and Vic Mignogna really stole the show (or episode in this case). The first skit was Tatum as Klein the butler cycling through his multiple personalities, including telling off Winter for yelling at Weiss. The second skit was a day with Uncle Qrow, in which everything turns into chaos around them but Ruby still loves spending time with her uncle. Unfortunately, Yang didn't feature much in either story, entering the scene too late in the first one and actively avoiding her uncle in the second.

DuckTales did an episode crossing over with Gummi Bears (not the actual characters but the mcguffin from that show). I never really liked that show, but if they do an episode about Rescue Rangers that would be awesome. I like the character development and relationship between Scrooge and Webby, though.

It turns out that Tales of Berseria is loosely based on Berserk (or at least a core theme found within it), so whatever goodwill and benefit of the doubt I had is gone. It was on sale this month so my husband and his friends bought it and started playing it. It's fun enough for a Tales game, but I still don't like it very much.

I don't know why it took me this long to try Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles. That stuff's delicious. And they have added peanut butter and chocolate to the roster. Oreo did the same, but I'm more excited for finally getting the strawberry shortcake flavor (which is amazing).

More KH News and Drama

It has come to my attention that in the Japanese trailers, Marluxia does in fact have yellow eyes. I doubt Sora encounters him twice in the same world, both before and after getting 'Norted, so this was probably a mistake. Some people are complaining that the trailers gave too much away, but I don't think that's true since we're all talking about what's going to happen in such uncertain terms. It's certainly been hyped up much more than I was expecting. It's almost too good to be true. Can we really be getting everything that we wanted in the end, no matter the outcome? If we can save Aqua (Aquanort, omg) if we try hard enough, what does that mean for everyone else? Do we get to pick and choose which of the new Organization lives and who dies? Then there's the recap video that's said to be potentially several hours long to get new players (and especially Xbox players) up to speed on the lore. Unfortunately, the videos we've gotten so far in Japanese don't summarize the individual games but certain aspects to the plot, so it's not really a completely comprehensive series as of yet. They don't cover all of the characters, most notably leaving out Ansem the Wise (they show him but don't talk about him). I am interested to see how they handle the story of Pirates 3 since Sora has missed a lot in between adventures and is now okay with being a pirate. Furthermore, there seems to be some confusion as to how Aqua became tainted by the darkness and whether or not Ansem the Wise is also a seeker of darkness. At first Nomura was surprised that we were shocked that Aqua appeared thusly and didn't see it as a big deal, saying that that's just what happens when you're in the Realm of Darkness too long unprotected. Then later he was published in Famitsu describing the scene as Aqua being under the influence of Xehanort. Which is it, man?! Until we learn more, I'm staying out of this drama. Speaking of...

As far as I can tell, too many people asked Yandere Dev "Where's Osana?" and that caused him to lash out a little. However, people are still blaming him for his attitude based on past issues he's had on forums and such. People are acting like a person can't change who they are and should be harassed with their past mistakes and not allowed to move forward. I'm not taking sides as I have not read any of these forum posts, but this sounds no different to me than the commenters who asked Team Four Star "Wen Broly?" and the ones who harassed LittleKuriboh with "Where's the new episode?"

Pistachio Oreos are really great. Brad tried the pickle slush at Sonic despite him hating pickles, but he said he really enjoyed it. I've drunk pickle juice before because one of my classmates did it in high school, and I love pickles, but that's not what I'm looking for in a slush drink. I'd much rather have a nice lemon lime.

Kingdom Hearts E3 Analysis - Thoughts and Implications

Everyone got what they wanted at E3. Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition is definitely something I wanted. As for Kingdom Hearts, I want Ansem the Wise to come back (either in an actual cutscene or end credits sequence) and for Ienzo and Aeleus to bow to him. Then I want him to hug Ienzo and Aeleus to hug both of them. Dilan and Even can hobble in as well if it's the end credits. I don't know if Braig (or anyone who got 'Norted) will make it back; I'm starting to lose hope. Luxord's still a pirate - they're doing Pirates 3. Still no word on where Demyx will be dropped. Some people think it might be Big Hero 6 since they're still working on those cutscenes. He might be a hold-out and help the heroes, or he may just make a water clone and cower in the bathroom. Upon closer inspection, Larxene's and Luxord's eyes are yellow (and they're both blonde so it's harder to tell if their hair has white in it). However, Marluxia's are most definitely still blue. What does this mean? So far the Seekers of Darkness consist of Master Xehanort, Young Xehanort, Ansem (Heartless), Xemnas, Braig, Isa, Larxene, Luxord, Marluxia (though why has he not been 'Norted?), and Vanitas. That leaves three. Demyx is probably one, Aqua might be one if Xehanort knows about her situation and takes advantage of it (since Nomura says her condition has nothing to do with him), and the last one was supposed to be Sora as of Dream Drop Distance. We see Riku sitting with Replica Riku ("the other him") like they're friends in one of the trailers, so it's probably not him. I'm going to be sad once we see a 'Norted Demyx. To be clear, he's my favorite Organization member, and the apprentices are my favorite people - Ienzo, Aeleus, and Even especially. I don't look at Ienzo now and see Zexion - I see a grown-up version of the boy from Birth By Sleep.

We also haven't checked in with Maleficent and Pete since we saw them talking to Hades about a black box. We know Ienzo is going to be working with the datascape to help get Roxas back. If she's still interested in the datascape, he's going to be a target like I originally feared. We know that the group from Radiant Garden don't like Maleficent, as she invaded their home when they weren't around after they'd lost their hearts. Even if it's not her, I just know something bad is going to happen or there's going to be a fight outside of where they're working on it (and it would be cool if Ansem swooped in to help in the midst of an attack on his castle if he managed to escape the Realm of Darkness). Aeleus said he had a bad feeling about something. What will that turn out to be? At least Sora won't be antagonistic toward Ienzo and Aeleus; on top of not remembering Marluxia (and by extension Larxene, and Even who is Sir Not Appearing), he's never met the two of them. He'll know they were in the Organization because they're Ansem's apprentices, but the last time he talked about that group, he was asking Braig how he could lie to his friends like that. Maybe Sora will get the full story of what happened from their perspective, and wouldn't that be awesome?

The Hype Train Cometh

The orchestra trailer features Sora talking to Ienzo about building a new body for Roxas out of data using Ansem's computer and the data he left within Sora from Dream Drop Distance. Several questions come to mind. First of all, where do they draw the line? If they succeed, who else can they build a body for? Who would need it? It certainly can't be done to bring just anyone back, so how will it work with Roxas? Does that mean they can use it on the Lingering Will to bring Terra back? We know they aren't talking about replicas necessarily since Even doesn't have a speaking role and he would be all about that plan ("I'm all over it! You can't stop me!"). If it does involve replicas and Even's just out of commission, he's going to be pissed that the kid did this without him. In addition, we don't know the context of Aeleus saying that something doesn't feel right. Since Sora's asking Ienzo to do this, and Aqua has been turned by Xehanort, does that mean something happened to Ansem as well? While I'm glad Ienzo's going to be useful, I feel like Ansem should be around for this too, and if he isn't, something has gone horribly wrong (although that might already be apparent in Aqua's case depending on how that went down). Does helping Sora redeem them for what they've done? Because Sora has never met Ienzo, he would've had to have been referred to him by either Lea or Leon: Lea because he would be all about getting Roxas a new body and knows that Ienzo could help, and Leon because that's who Sora would go see in Radiant Garden as any sort of authority figure or primary contact. I'm also a little worried about Braig. He's still openly defying Xehanort by talking to Sora, which is what got Vexen killed. I'm afraid that Xehanort will have had enough of his shit and have Isa take him out (unless Lea can get to him first). The only thing that would make this better is to find out which side Demyx and Luxord have ended up on.

By now more people have figured out that "Escapism" is a Pink Diamond song. She grew to hate the diamonds and being a diamond herself. Her fake shattering, while also a ruse to get the Diamond Authority off her back, was symbolic of destroying her old self and embracing her new path in life. I'm enjoying the relationship between [Pink] Diamond and Pearl and especially Ruby and Sapphire, as I'm sure they are in reference to the Pokemon gens of the same names. Pink/Rose is still selfish and doesn't consider the feelings of others (like Pearl and the other diamonds), but I think Greg's a cool guy. I saw a clip of Peridot saying that Pearl was a servant, and coming off of playing Detroit: Become Human in a group, that made me uncomfortable. That seemed to insinuate that pearls are like the androids from that game.

FNAF just got more confusing. The Crying Child is Michael Afton, and he was rebuilt after his death to continue in the other games. Golden Freddy was possessed by a girl named Cassidy, and she and all the rest were Michael's friends. This seems even more messed up than I thought and raises a lot more questions (although Fritz and Jeremy were two fake names he used in honor of his friends - that makes sense).

Underwhelming and Unresolved

The finale of Clear Card was crap. Nothing was resolved, and Kaito just decided not to go through with his plans and rewound time so the fight never happened. It was really disappointing because just when there were stakes and it was interesting, he gave up (granted, Sakura and Akiho were about to fall to their deaths, but still). It really could've used a couple more episodes. I'm still looking forward to reading the manga to see it unfold that way.

The Mean Six was a lot like the comics in which the group gets split up with their doppelgangers, except that story was epic. The episode was just a mid-season finale with the mane six being none the wiser (seriously, did none of them notice that AppleJack's cutie mark was a different color?). They didn't know why they were fighting, but they wanted to stop, so they did. I didn't find it that compelling, and I'm actually sick of seeing the discordant six.  Better luck next time, Chrysalis. You're lucky that good is dumb because that's all you had going for you.

The release date for Kingdom Hearts 3 has been revealed to be January 29, 2019. What happened to 2018? It's only a month off, but that's not the same thing. Did they need more time? The fans at E3 say it's because of the feedback they gave of the playable demo before. At E3, they got the trailer with the new release date and the Frozen world (featuring Larxene!). There is also a clip of Riku and Mickey in the Realm of Darkness with a yellow-eyed Aqua telling them they're too late. If this isn't an illusion or trick of some kind, this may be part of what will be hard to accept. Maybe in the end, not everyone can be saved. Maybe no one will be saved, but they'll probably manage to save at least one person. Speaking of which, we last saw Aqua and Ansem the Wise together, so what happened to him?

Not Quite Cool

I didn't like the first episode of this season of Camp Camp. David and Gwen did a stupid thing, but I didn't like seeing them get beaten up either. Why wouldn't they have talked to the QM about it in the first place, since he's the only other adult around? This show always seems to reset whatever goodwill there was between them and Max every time. They could've just told at least him what was going on. Sad Nikki covered in dirt and oil was adorable, though. At least the second episode was a lot better. I also didn't really like the episode of Robot Chicken with Bitch Pudding as Maria in The Sound of Music, but it ended with them killing Nazis, so yay? The recent one with the Sailor Scouts was gross but funny. Still waiting for that Yu-Gi-Oh! sketch, but that was probably scrapped or a lie.

Sakura's been the one creating the Clear Cards, including a new mirror card (which is great since Touya was wondering why she hadn't used it when she sneaked out). She didn't want or mean for any of it to happen, but apparently her powers exist to make her unhappy. It's weird since in season two (of the manga at least) Eriol said that Sakura wouldn't awaken to stronger powers if she didn't want to (such as visions of the future, which Tomoyo was convinced would make Sakura unhappy). And now she's in possession of a key-shaped pendant that's probably related the relic Kaito "lost."

I received and read the standard version of Vox Machina Origins. You're better off just downloading it. Downloading it is far cheaper, and this is just the standard version (with shipping, it was just over fifty dollars). The deluxe version is a hundred dollars before shipping, and I don't even care about the extra content (with standard you get a couple character sheets and early artwork). Everything in the Geek and Sundry store is expensive, but it's also high-quality. One thing that bothered me is that Orion wasn't credited in the beginning with the rest of them even though Tiberius is his character. Taliesin and Ashley were credited and their characters don't even appear. As for the story, it was okay, but the first couple pages was like "WTF did I just read?"

All we know about the release date of Kingdom Hearts 3 is that it's in the fourth quarter. I think that's what we were all expecting anyway. It will probably be in November because a) there was a placeholder date given a while ago; b) the 358/2 Days light novel was pushed back until then; and c) Wreck-It Ralph 2 also comes out in November. Speaking if which, I hope the clip we've been shown with the princesses isn't the only time we see them (but I have a feeling it might be).