AP 2, DRAFT 5: CHAPTERS 28-35 COMPLETE!
Yes, eight chapters! I made up for my slacking last month. To be fair, some of these final chapters are a bit short in order to highlight the intensity of the events. But still! Just one more chapter plus epilogue and this draft is DONE!
Most of the changes here are due to everything I’ve altered in the rest of the book up until now. One of those changes is a character death. You see, I changed the state of this character from either alive to dead, or dead to alive. See what I did? No spoilers!
This character will not be in the finale either way, but whether they’re dead or alive affects everyone else and some of their dialog.
And, honestly, I might change my mind about it again. Wouldn’t be hard, but I’m kind of wanting to keep it the way it is now. But which is it? Alive? Or dead? And WHO!?
I can’t wait for the book to be released so you can find out!
Now let’s talk about the shows and games I’ve been watching/playing. Spoilers for Final Fantasy Tactics the Ivalice Chronicles, Wednesday season two, and Supernatural season 10.
Final Fantasy Tactics the Ivalice Chronicles –
A remastered version of a Playstation CLASSIC. At least… I always heard it was. I never beat it. I bought it for PS1 decades ago, and I still had it, so I loaded up my old save file. I couldn’t tell how far along I was; my party was parked at an execution platform.
It turns out I had just gotten started. Now I see that the story deceives you. It starts off as the standard ‘tactics’ fare with this Lord over here vying for power with Mr. Duke over there.
Then it turns into frickin’ Berserk with humans making devil deals on the brink of death in order to gain unholy powers.
I was seriously blown away by this. I had no idea; I thought the whole game was dull political drama. Now suddenly I’m fighting against a corrupted cardinal that transforms into a Binding of Isaac boss:
He even barfs toxic goo everywhere. After this boss is defeated the whole tone of the game changes—the political war for supremacy takes a backseat to finding the Zodiac Stones and their demonic bearers.
I did beat it, and I do recommend it. Just one problem: the end of act 3. It’s a ridiculous series of battles that I had to cheese to win. Seriously, I thought it was a fight I was SUPPOSED to lose. I was open-mouthed, staring at the screen in disbelief thinking “No way I’m supposed to beat this on my own.” 😨
So besides THAT, it’s a great game. You just might want to look up some strats for that part first so you don’t get bamboozled. 😅
Wednesday Season Two –
I wasn’t too excited for this. I had watched the first season because I love the Addams Family as characters, but I wasn’t sure how a solo adventure with just Wednesday would work. And also, I hate ‘school’ as a setting. And I hate child characters. Fortunately, Wednesday hates all those things too and more. It makes for pure entertainment.
And in that first season the rest of the Addams actually SHOWED UP! Not every episode, but I enjoyed when they were on-screen. And the Addams’ antics were not toned down from the previous films at all.
But still. That first season had some problems. I can’t remember them all, since I watched it three years ago, but I remember one: Wednesday was terrible at solving mysteries. Here’s how it would go:
Wednesday finds circumstantial evidence. “IT WAS YOU!”
“No it’s not. You’re dumb.”
Then Wednesday goes to find some other tidbit and accuse someone else until she EVENTUALLY finds the culprit. It wasn’t fun.
THIS season, however, improves almost everything: Pugsly attends the school now. The parents are more involved with the season. And the problem-solving is much more logical. But, in true Wednesday style, I will try to moan and complain as much as possible. 😐
1 Here We Woe Again – Ugh, I forgot that every episode has ‘woe’ in the title. Kill me now. And I also totally forgot about all these brainless school characters. I do remember Enid, but the fact she’s a werewolf somehow slipped my mind. And I’m pretty sure Steve Buscemi is new as the principal. Ha,ha, ol’ Garland Greene from Con Air will surely liven up this party.
And what is this book Wednesday needs? Goodie’s book? I forgot that she had psychic powers and also that she lost them. But Pugsly revives a clockwork zombie, so it’s a cool episode.
2 The Devil You Woe – And here we go! Wednesday versus a crazed kidnapper that puts her friends inside deathtraps! You’ve got a falling ceiling of knives; clues that Wednesday has to solve or Enid gets skewered; and some more characters I forgot about!
I sort of remember the ‘Hyde’ guy. He turns into a monster for some reason. Wasn’t he Wednesday’s boyfriend? I guess he’s in some kind of asylum now.
But the foe behind the deathtraps was no enemy—it was an invisible friend that’s obsessed with Wednesday! And she had to show that she was worthy of her love. 😍
3 Call of the Woe – Wednesday needs to find a cabin out in the woods to get murder clues, and the school just so happens to be taking a camping trip nearby. But the trip is threatened! Some Boy Scouts are claiming the camp site for the week! Looks like it’s up to Wednesday to propose a contest to see who wins camping rights!
I was a bit worried about this one. Wednesday was turning into an unstoppable heroine. Not only did the school HAPPEN to go where she needed to be, but she also wins the contest after all her friends mess up.
Then comes the duel for Goodie’s book. (I still have no idea who that is.) Morticia agrees to duel Wednesday for it, and this isn’t a children’s card game: It’s some kinda sword battle straight from one of the films. To my surprise, Morticia defeats her daughter. Wow, didn’t think they’d allow Wednesday to lose.
The end of the episode reveals some woman that I guess I’m supposed to know? It’s been three years, Netflix! I have no idea who HALF these characters are! 😒
4 If These Woes Could Talk – This one is nuts. Uncle Fester comes back at last to infiltrate the asylum where the murderer is suspected to be, and everything goes bonkers. It must be seen to be believed—there are like four separate plot threads all colliding in this place.
At at the end Wednesday gets punched through a window by a monster. Dang.
5 Hyde and Woe Seek – Wednesday wakes up, having been in a coma after her fall. She has a spirit guide now, who is a character I don’t remember that died in the first season. I think.
Meanwhile, the zombie that Pugsly revived is actually a person named Isaac Night that went to school with Gomez and Morticia. He is now almost completely regenerated back into a normal person.
And the Hyde monster has a mom that’s also a Hyde.
6 Woe Thyself – Wednesday swaps bodies with Enid, and the actresses do a fantastic job imitating each other.
And what in the world!? Christopher Lloyd’s character is killed!? That ticks me off. It’s the Isaac Night dude that did the deed; he needed a piece of his robot body to power the machine that will cure his Hyde sister.
Oh yeah, he’s the the new Hyde lady’s brother. It all ends with a spectacular fight between reversed Wednesday in Enid’s body as it’s transformed into a werewolf, two transformed Hydes, Thing, and Isaac. Wild stuff. Keep it coming!
7 Woe Me the Money – More wild stuff happens indeed. Principal Garland Greene (I forgot his characters name in this.) is finally exposed as a fraud, and every character teams up to expose him. There’s even a cool dance.
But Pugsley is kidnapped! 😮
8 This Means Woe – Crazy reveals. It’s list time, in honor of Mark Oshiro.
- Gomez had electrical powers like Fester, but they were drained when Isaac betrayed him decades ago.
- The ‘Hyde-curing machine’ is powered by electricity. Now Pugsly and his new electric powers are the only thing that can power it. Pugsly will not survive the process.
- Thing was originally Isaac’s hand. Morticia cut it off to save her future husband from the machine, but the resulting electrical discharge animated the hand to become the Thing we all know today.
- Thing is captured by Isaac and re-attached to his body.
It was a little silly when Isaac Night’s name was spelled out on-screen and the letters swapped around to spell Isaac Thing. I mean, what do you want, writers? Applause?
My eye-rolling was soon quieted by the fun finale. The Addams work together to save Pugsly, Thing gets his revenge, and another mystery is solved! See you in three more years, Addams! Maybe live action One Piece Season Two will be done in the meantime. 😅
Supernatural Season 10 –
This season is strange so far. Dean, having been corrupted by the Mark of Cain, is now a demon. The first three episodes deal with this, eh, problem. Eventually they remember that you can cure demons now. Zounds! But then EVERY episode afterwards (so far) is a ‘monster-of-the-week’ show.
There doesn’t even seem to be a threat set up for the bros to fight at the end of the season. So what’s going on? When I told my own brother this he just smiled. “You know what this means, right?”
I was like, “They ran out of ideas?”
“No, Brad. We’ve seen this on Buffy. It means that the villain is hiding in plain sight.”
😱
But who could it be? Crowley’s mother, who as somehow survived hundreds of years? Dean, who still HAS the Mark of Cain, but is learning to deal with the killing urges? Or is it Metatron again, who is in angel jail and itching for revenge? Let’s see some of the episodes.
Fan Fiction – This is a ‘meta’ episode. This time there’s a high school musical based on Supernatural. (Which is a series of graphic novels in the show’s universe.)
I love musicals like Phantom of the Opera, so this one was an amazing surprise. There were even complete songs that are performed throughout the finale.
It was a nice departure from the usual ‘musical’ episodes that some shows do. Like in Buffy and Flash, some outside force just causes the characters to sing.
But in this episode, the songs are sung on stage as the bros. battle the evil entity, Calliope. (Backstage and on-stage later.) It makes sense because Calliope will only appear when the musical is complete to devour the author.
And the prophet/god who wrote the graphic novels also shows up at the end. Not sure why they got the actor back just for one line, but whatever. Neato. 😅
Ask Jeeves – A murder mystery set in a wealthy family’s home. There are lots of Clue references and as usual, the easy ‘ghost’ solution is fake.
I mean, it’s NEVER the ghost murdering people anymore. I know it, you know it, Zorak know it. I was even able to guess that it was shapeshifters this time. C’mon, guys!
Girls, Girls, Girls – Crowley’s mom is revealed in this episode. She’s kind of a lame witch, and the head coven is after her for being too extreme.
Oh! I almost forgot about this Cole guy. He’s after Dean for killing his liver-eating father years ago. Dean talks him down in this episode, and then he leaves forever. OR. He could be the secret seasonal villain? He’s kind of a wuss though. 🤔
Hibbing 911 – OH BOY two characters that I nearly forgot about TEAM UP to stop a pack of werewolves. Or was it vampires? The bros. get bamboozled again and it’s up to the strong, female guest stars to chop off some heads to save the day! 🙄
The Things We Left Behind – Wow, a Castiel episode. He’s been around this season, but he’s usually away from the bros. and off on his own. This time he’s trying to find the daughter of his host body.
And oh goodie, she’s an annoying teen character. It’s a pretty tame episode. That is, until Dean flips out and starts a slaughter-fest on the evil ordinary humans that are using the teen for personal gain.
No, Dean! Resist the darkness! Yet again!
The Hunter Games – The teen girl sure doesn’t want anything to do with Castiel and the bros. now! Sure, they saved her from the goons, but not everyone is comfortable with slaughter-fests.
A lot happens this time. The bros. torture Metatron for info on how to remove the Mark of Cain. Turns out you need the First Blade again.
Crowley has it, and he decides to help out for some reason. At the same time Crowley’s MOM is spying on him and gets the blade before he does. She’s found out, but manages to salvage the situation by pinning the theft on some other demon she killed.
Dean, meanwhile, tries to KILL Metatron. Castiel is horrified and takes the ol’ nerd back to Heaven.
All this and Castiel’s host’s daughter tries to murder Dean. He resists the urge to cause another slaughter-fest, and I guess he just leaves the teen alone? Hey, fine. Let her start a new life away from this show.
But what were the Hunter Games?
There’s No Place Like Home – Now THIS is the fan fiction episode. Charlie’s back, and she’s been split into ‘evil’ and ‘good’ individuals. I’d usually be bored but then the frickin’ WIZARD OF OZ shows up and reveals that he’s been separated too.
All wizards are killed and Charlie stays in the real world. Great.
About a Boy – Dean has been turned into an old man! Oh, wait. That’s been done. What I MEANT to say is that Dean has been turned into a 14-year-old child. 🤣
He is then kidnapped along with two other de-aged victims. I had no idea who would do this or why, but I should have guessed: it was the witch from Hansel and Gretel. You see, she wants to eat children, but those darn Amber alerts always spoil her meals.
So she takes adults that one one likes, then changes them into kids! Brilliant!
This episode isn’t completely stand-alone, however. Before they shove the witch into her own oven, she lets slip that she’s in the states on business. It seems Crowley’s mom has angered the Supreme Coven or whatever, and needs to be eliminated. 😯
Halt and Catch Fire – I’m really starting to hope for an end to this monster-of-the-week run. I don’t even know what the title of this episodes means; the monster this time is a wi-fi ghost. Yes, some poor sap was killed by an electrical power line and his spirit bound to a nearby wi-fi tower. Now he seeks revenge on the four teens that ran him off the road. 🙄
The episode even has the usual fake-out with the salting of the truck that they thought was haunted instead of the wi-fi tower that was the true culprit. Sheesh.
There’s a cool effect with someone getting strangled with an animated power cord, though. 😄
The Executioner’s Song – Cain finally appears again. Seems he’s murdering everyone that’s ever been related to him, and that counts up to one tenth of the planet. Time to put him down! But can Dean use the First Blade without succumbing to darkness?
Yes he can. Not only is this a great episode, but it was one of the only times I’ve noticed the music. It felt like a feature-length film soundtrack at the end, during the final brawl with Cain and the talk with Crowley afterward. (They just lied to his face again about giving back the blade, ha,ha.)
The Things They Carried – Cole, the dude that wanted to kill Dean at the start of the season, runs into the bros. again. It seems his war buddy has gone mad. And since I was eating lunch as I watched this, of course the cause was a disgusting parasitic worm that wiggles its way out of the guy’s mouth and into Cole. 🤢
Some cool effects, though. But man, I’m ready to be done with this Mark of Cain crap. So tired of hearing about Sam STILL searching for a cure even though Dean says ‘no.’ And this episode has Cole saved from the parasite, but his buddy dies. Sam HAD to shoot him. “Sorry, he was too far gone. Had to kill ‘im.”
And it always relates to Dean’s situation. Yes. Goodness. I get it; Dean might be too far gone to save. Oh what a monster he will become.
Speaking of long-winded nonsense, this has gone on too long. Happy Halloween everyone! 👻