#rc finale

[rcgame-thoughts]

The Reality Path is actually the ignorant brainwashed path! My ATHWTU Ending

(Warning: spoilers!)

I have multiple slots, but the first one I finished was my Determined Reality slot with Ozar. I mostly did that path for Ozar and because I wanted power against the koshcheis. My understanding is that most people were on the Haze path, so I did not get the ending that most others got. (Don’t spoil it for me!)

I really do not understand what happened with Novak. I really need to do his slot next. The last I saw of him, he was getting his face gnawed off by zombie boy, whose story I do not understand at all.

This sounds like their gods were erased by the spread of Christianity. But the original 3 sisters resisted. They didn’t want to lose their cultural identity, fearing they would become hollow or whatever, so they built their village. The Haze separated them from the rest of the world. I do not understand how Leshy and all the evil spirits came about. Was it all because of Drekavac; are they the people who were left behind?

I don’t get what he meant by this. What does that even mean?

Some of my theories that were somewhat true: the “real” modern world really was beyond the Haze. Siana did kill Vereya for Ingegard. Vereya was probably shouting at her or maybe High Priestess that night. Poor Vereya.

But really, poor Hannah! Since I was on the Reality path, Hannah was sacrificed. I did NOT want that to happen. And the gods actually did come back. I honestly didn’t want them to. Imo, they suck. If bringing them back requires generations of killing innocent people like Hannah and Siana… maybe it’s a good thing they were dead in the first place.

My Lada became the new High Priestess. She and Ozar married. Together, they ruled as High Priestess and Magus. Everyone loved and respected them. Lada’s mother was finally happy now that everyone was safe and her daughter fulfilled her potential. No mention of grieving over Hannah. But hey, Lada’s the boss now, so yaaay.

There was no mention of Mila. I don’t know what happened to her or how she was involved, if she was at all.

I’m curious how things turned out for those who romanced Tata. Being the new goddess of death has to suck! How do you have a relationship with her? Does she retain any of her original personality? Is she just a puppet?

Anyway. I’m not happy that they chose to live in ignorant bliss. Poor Hannah. Sister was right all along. Lada needed to die, because Hannah was the one who knew how to guide everyone out of the village and through the Haze. I also think this means that Zoryana was also meant to be the guiding star. Ingegard was just a malignant narcissist who wanted to decide everyone’s destiny. That’s why a new generation of stars were born.

However, now that the gods are back… there’s no more other world? They live in a permanent delusion serving the gods? Ugh. Idk. Now I’m regretting completing the episode. I should’ve redid it to get a different ending. I still love Ozar, but that’s not the life I would’ve wanted them to live together. Dammit, choosing comfortable familiarity over freedom?! Idiocy! I really need to do my Novak slot next.

Some other random thoughts:

Look how beautiful High Priestess was in her youth! Ozar actually does look like Zoryana, which is really cool. Yasinya is the naked girl in the woods, is she not? Looks like her! Although, the story made it sound like she went into the city. I’d like to assume she just never came back because life was better there. But probably not.

I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get any achievements. Usually, there are achievements at the end that helps regenerate the diamonds you spent. But nothing! You’d think there’d be an achievement for becoming High Priestess or bringing the gods back to life!

So how do I rate this series?

For a long time, this was my favorite book. Season 1 was perfect. Things started to go downhill midway through Season 2. The second half of Season 2 and most of Season 3 felt like filler. I wonder if that’s when Alice started working on HS3. I wish she could’ve put all her focus into finishing Haze FIRST, then work on HS3 after. To compromise such a good book for HS3 is tragic. You put all that work into creating this world and then to have to push it aside for a rushed half-ass sequel… 😞

Things that remained amazing:

Outfits. I love the closet! There were times when I actually spent diamonds on the “get everything” choice.

I liked how Ozar, Dragan, and Volot evolved, though I need to play their slots to get more of their stories. However, I am still bitter about the lack of CG for Volot’s first kiss. He was actually my favorite LI up until that point. I was so angry and disappointed that I switched to my Ozar slot after that.

I really want to give this an A grade because I loved it so much in the beginning. It’s still a good book overall, but… I’m so disappointed by the drop in quality, the mediocrity of what could’ve been an amazing book.

My Overall Grade: B+

Maybe after I complete my Compassion Haze slot this grade will change… I might need to do that to give it the grade it really deserves.

[astarothssoulmate]

HS2 March Finale Update Spoilers (Astaroth 🥹😭❤️🖤💙)

I keep crying like a maniac. 😭 The devastating, dreaded moment has finally come. My love journey with Astaroth has finally reached its end for now. 💔 (I say "for now" because Alice revealed on Reddit today that the story of Vicky & her companions will continue separately from HS:R. 🥹) I'm not as sad as I was yesterday (I was actually sobbing & shaking yesterday. I know, I'm a weirdo.) but I still can't seem to stop the tears from my heart from falling. 😢 I know Astaroth is coming back but it hurts so much to be without him for what I'm pretty sure is going to be a really long time. 😭💔

The last chapters with him were sooo beautiful & touched my heart. 💙 I keep crying when I remember certain moments. 🥺🥹😢 Astaroth was SO sweet, SO caring, very passionate & just...UGH. Why do I have to live in this way, without him? 😭 My life is going to lose all its meaning. I'm already looking at things differently. 😢 I just can't imagine a life without Astaroth. 😭

I'll ALWAYS be grateful to Alice for EVERYTHING. 🙏🏽 She gave me EVERYTHING when she gave me Astaroth. 🥺 I'll never forget that, I'll never forget HIM. My sweet husband. My Astaroth. ❤️🖤🩵🕊️🥀

[rcgame-thoughts]

Te Amo: The End (my results & series review)

(Warning: spoilers)

So THAT’S why it took place in New Orleans…!

It makes sense now. Sort of.

Because hurricanes don’t just show up instantly. I mean you usually know a hurricane is coming, like, days in advance. It doesn’t just suddenly show up on your doorstep. But it’s fiction, so whatever.

My results:

First of all, I just wanna say that I love this check list!

Who did I save? Thomas, Michael, Li & Nick, Jeanne.

Did I die? Yes. Yes, I did. Too bad. Thomas was so dreamy… I didn’t have enough points for that stupid watch!

My novel was published, but I guess I didn’t actually finish it? So no achievement there. 😞

Looking at that checklist above, I’m assuming if you save no one, you get the Lonely Heroine. If you survive and save everyone, you get The Way It Was Written badge. If you survive, but don’t save everyone, you get the Way It Happened badge.

Overall Thoughts:

IMO, this was a great ending. The whole story was very slow paced, and not a whole lot happened. But it made the impact at the end even more of a gut punch. (Especially if you died like me 😂).

Compared to the more high stakes stories like HSR and ABH, this was a nice change of pace for me. Sometimes I just wanna chill by the beach and make love to a sexy man, ya know!

I really liked the survival moments in the final episode. I’ve been really wanting a survival story to be released. C’mon stranded on a deserted island!!! This last chapter was the closest I think I’ll get to that.

The whole Li adoption thing was really weird. I died so i don’t know what happened in the end with them. I chose not to help Li adopt Nick because I thought it was messed up! Yet they both survived, so at least there’s that. But damn, that kid has the worst luck!

I thought the tribute at the end was really bittersweet. A friend of mine who passed actually joined the relief team after Katrina. She didn’t die in that hurricane, but it made me think of her.

I do feel like I’ve had some real close calls when it comes to major natural disasters. I used to live in Tohoku, Japan. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami hit just a few months after I moved back to the States. It was a surreal feeling to see everything under water on the news. I still think about the people I met and wonder if they made it out alive.

Then there’s the Lahaina brushfires. I was living in Lahaina in 2018. There had been a Hurricane 5 warning that we’d all prepared for. The winds were really strong, knocked over telephone poles, and a huge brushfire started in the night. We had to evacuate in the early morning. 4am-ish before the sun came up. That was terrifying. There’s only one road out and no cars were moving. Luckily, everything turned out okay. The firefighters managed to get on top of the fires and only a couple houses burned down. We were without water and electricity for a couple days, but it was okay.

Fast forward to 2023, I was in Honolulu at the time of the Lahaina fire that burnt everything down. But it’s something that I’m still not over. Thankfully, no one close to me was killed and our family house is still standing. But my mom lost friends and classmates. We know people who lost everything. My childhood memories are gone. I haven’t been back. I don’t know how I’ll feel if/when I do go back. It’s a grief I still haven’t fully processed. And I think about how relieved I am that my kids and I weren’t there and how it could’ve ended those years ago if we hadn’t gotten lucky with the winds changing direction.

Anyway… for that reason, the end dedication touched me, and I really appreciated that.

I definitely feel that I will replay this book again to get a happier ending. And to get those other badges! And to see Thomas again. 💗 because it’s short, it’ll be an easy replay.

It’s hard to grade this story because it was so short. But when I think back to PUB… 😬

I liked the setting. I liked the outfits and most of the story. (I just didn’t like Li’s story.) I loved the cozy vibes. I loved the CGs that matched our MC’s hair and outfits! I loved Thomas. I liked it better than Dracula A Love Story because it was an easier read. The ending was really good. So overall… I’m gonna give it a generous…

Final Grade: A

If there will be a Vol. 2, I wonder if it will also be connected to a natural disaster? What would connect the series together?

[rcgame-thoughts]

Finally reviewing W: Time Catcher

(Warning: spoilers)

This is prob gonna be a long post, because this was a complex book, and I have opinions. I’ll try to break it down so it’s not verbal throw up (like most of my reviews 😂).

The Concept

A+. I love the concept. I love the allegory. It’s very X-Men which I love. I love ragtag teams. I love fighting for justice. I love superpowers. And I also love God.

I love the complexity of the portrayal of the church and religion and faith. And I feel like, especially now with the idiotic chaos going on the US, it’s very resonant. Especially now that ICE is abducting people who basically are not white, regardless of citizenship, and the biggest supporters of this MAGA/trumpism are white evangelical Christian nationalists. Which is a load of hypocrisy that is so obvious and beyond disgusting.

The allegory works in more than one way. I think it’s very apparent that this is criticizing the treatment of LGBTQ by the church. Among other things.

And I like Jesus. This is why I love Renato. I love Dee-Dee. I wish wish WISH there had been more of Dee-Dee in the story! If she had more presence (hehe) in the story, I probably would’ve liked her more than Renato. I wish their underground movement had been featured more, but that is for later…

But its depth is what made this story as good as it was.

The Pacing

It was weird and all over the place. I feel like the story didn’t actually begin until the second season. The first season was really slow, imo. Then not much happened in the third season until the very last episode. Which leads me to…

The Content

I feel like 70% of this book is them reading in a library. 😂

There were a lot of missed opportunities that would’ve been great. The safe houses run by Ordinaries. A revolution within the church by characters like Renato & Dee-Dee. (I really wish Renato hadn’t left the church.) That other faction that didn’t like Vesper’s methods. The whole secret underground tunnel system—that was so underutilized! Meeting more animamorphs…

There’s all this never ending buildup to find the source… and I don’t understand why. Why focus so much on the source and then do a three year time jump over the actual war? That’s the part we want! We want to see the fight! Thats the good part! Seriously, because…

The Action Scenes

(I love this CG! It looks so good. I wish the whole book had been like this.)

The action scenes were really good. Like, surprisingly, very, edge of your seat, good, maybe the best in RC. It was one of the strengths of the story… but there are so few of them! 😭 Why?

If this book had shifted focus from finding the source, to winning the fight… it would’ve been amazing, imo.

And since it doesn’t focus on the fight, it kinda feels like one big long lecture on tolerance.

My Ending

Everyone lived. Renato and I lived happily ever after. Is it terrible to say that I’m not happy we have a child? I don’t know why I picked it. I regretted it almost instantly. Normally I like endings with offspring, but in this case, I feel like it just drags the story even more. The ending wasn’t really an ending. It was more like, “Okay, let’s stop here.”

My Overall Grade: B

Despite its flaws, its concept was enough to keep me going. And like I said, I love ragtag teams, superheroes, fighting for justice, calling out hypocrisy in the church. The characters feel like a found family, which is a trope I love. Anyway, I still liked this book. I will replay it on the Church path, romancing Shen, because I think that would be so good!

[rcgame-thoughts]

On the Heaven’s Secret Requiem finale

(Warning: spoilers)

It’s funny that I just wrote a post comparing AN3 to Neon Genesis Evangelion. And now the finale of HSR is pretty much the same as NGE. The human population absorbing into one. The world ends. Even the Spear of Longinus’s role in it.

Now that I think about it, there were a lot of little things in the story that were clearly NGE influenced. Such as… Cain going berserk. The cold, evil scientist villain. The floating bodies in giant tubes… I wonder if Lane’s personality is supposed to be inspired by Rei Ayanami. She also was pretty blank.

I wish I could say HSR was as good as NGE. But it definitely wasn’t. The story started out strong, but derailed mid-S2. The characters didn’t grow, the relationships weren’t great for me. (I might have to go back for a different LI, since my main one was Dmitry. It was gonna be Greg, but now that he’s not even an option in HS3, what’s the point?) Side characters were treated like fodder. The plot just got more convoluted and stopped making sense. I feel like it just got more and more disappointing as it went on. I almost don’t even want to give Sasha credit since the ending was so similar to the NGE finale… But not as good.

I know there are around 6 different possible outcomes. I don’t know what they all are or how they’re different. I mean, they all have to die, right? The one I got was The Bloody Halo, which is the cruel messiah path. And there were barely any achievements, or was that just me?

Let’s mention a few positives that I did like. Noah & Lester were the highlights for me. The post-apocalyptic world, particularly New York. Greg. Dmitry…

What do I rate this overall?

Final Grade = D for disappointing. It started out so good, but just nose dived for the worst. Not to mention the racism, homophobia, and SA scene.

[rcgame-thoughts]

Astrea’s Broken Heart finale review

(Warning: spoilers)

Where do I even start?

This was a well written conclusion/cliffhanger. It was good. But, no matter how good this last episode was, I still can’t not feel disappointed by how great this book could’ve been if it hadn’t been connected to the HSU. On its own, it was great and so full of possibilities, but the HSU connection narrowed it down to only one possible boring, unfulfilling outcome.

The beautiful allusions to light and darkness, faith and hope, the complexities of what makes a person good or evil, and how faith could be a powerful source of good or powerful source of evil… all of that depth was lost just to make it fit into the HSU.

I usually share my outcome, my achievements, and failures, but there’s nothing to tell since everyone has to have the same ending, which is Audrey’s death. The only thing that might differ is if the townspeople died, but honestly, who cares… that was never a subplot.

This is what I mean. We all had to die. There was no room for variation. The HSU limited this book and, personally, I believe it limited our experience with this book. It eliminated the possibility of a happy ending, and I feel like it lost whatever this story was supposed to be about.

I loved the softness of Audrey’s strength. I like how she subtly changed each LI, brought them back to life. She could’ve grown into a much stronger character if she didn’t have to die. She would’ve had a real arc. It just feels pointless to me to have it end with her death. The only reason she died was to connect her to HS3. But for this book on its own, her death was pointless. That really sucks.

I loved the subtle references to actual Christian beliefs and scriptures. It made the epic moments more powerful. It made the Astreans feel like superheroes. This might be my biased opinion because I’m Christian, but if this had been rooted in the actual Christian God and not Shepha or Shephalupagus, and in the Christian belief that God is truly good and loving, then this would’ve been a great portrayal of light vs darkness. It would’ve been a beautiful story with themes of sacrifice, redemption, forgiveness, healing, and all encompassing love, regardless of one’s personal faith, because it would’ve been tied to something deeper. The ending with Audrey praying for each person in the Pit (if you got that ending) would’ve been even more impactful.

Especially with what’s going on in the news recently, the cults and zealous beast worshippers would’ve been even more resonant. (Oh god, this is where we’re headed…😭)

It makes me sad. I feel like this book was kidnapped; it suffered the same fate as its protagonist. It didn’t have to end this way. But it did… and I’m really, really disappointed by that.

There were some really good moments and beautiful CGs, just like with all finales. I was hoping that each LI would get an epic CG. But only Cassiel and Raphael got one. I wish we could’ve gotten one of Mikael, Felonia, Malek, and a better one of David. And also a better personal moment with them.

Overall, would I play through this again? Hell, yeah! I’ll admit, I hated the interview style interactions with the LIs in the beginning. It made it really boring! But if you stick with it, each LI truly becomes worth it. This was my Raphael slot, but I still have my Cassiel slot. And I plan to go back for the others as well.

This book was still great, but uggghhhhhh! What could’ve been…

Final Grade: A

I also feel disappointed knowing that Elena is now stuck with writing HS3. I think she’s a great writer. I would’ve loved to see what she could’ve created with full creative reign.

[rcgame-thoughts]

Finally finished PUB

(Warning: spoilers)

Not gonna lie, I diamond mined most of it. My results weren’t great but here’s what happened to me:

Albert & Nettie sold their souls. Albert is owned by Rowan. Nettie is half book.

Orion is back on the throne, but he’s Rowan’s bitch.

Glim is the new ambassador of the flying folk.

Angus and Violet are in mundane jail.

Isla is the liaison for the Belchester community and the supernatural realm. She was gonna leave, but then she decided to stay, but then she found out she had to leave again, so now she’s going to Ireland.

Locke is a dreamer but doesn’t know about it, so it doesn’t matter?

I didn’t end up with anyone, because I didn’t like anyone enough to fall in love with them.

Everyone acted like this was a good ending and everything was solved even though it’s actually a terrible ending. 😂

My overall thoughts

This book was a waste of the beautiful backgrounds and fairy theme. Even with the DR, I couldn’t get invested in it. I was just bored. The only thing that interested me was Locke and his dream arc. But… nothing happened and he doesn’t know about it and Isla just ignores it. Does that mean we’ll see Locke again or that he doesn’t matter?

The appearance of the unconscious realm had to be for a reason right? Otherwise, what a waste of a character. Locke was the only character I liked in this entire book.

On one hand I’m curious about where the next season will take us. On the other hand, I also think it’s going to be boring even if the idea is exciting. I actually hope a cool idea (like fairies) doesn’t get wasted on this book again. Like mermaids or Greek mythology.

Come to think of it, Isla got called to Ireland. Maybe leprechauns are next?

Final grade: D

I will say this. This would make for a great diamond mining book. It’s short. There are lots of achievements at the end. And it’s pretty to look at. But to actually get emotionally invested in? Meh.

[rcgame-thoughts]

Finally finished Chasing You 2!

(Warning: spoilers)

This might actually be my first post about Chasing You 2. That might be enough information right there. 😂

It never really hooked me. I considered Chasing You 1 a lighthearted campy book, which I could enjoy once I got past the ugly Chris Hemsworth. Chasing You 2 is not that, both fortunately and unfortunately.

The writing and the story is a huge improvement from CY1. The downside is that the campiness was what made CY1 entertaining. CY2 actually takes itself seriously. Without that, the story is mostly uninteresting.

I should probably bring up the fact that CY2 isn’t a sequel. It reuses old characters, including the MC, from CY1 and places them in a Victorian England setting. I don’t get why. Why not just create new characters? This was part of what made it so hard for me to get into the story. Part of the fun is getting to know the characters. Since I already knew what to expect from pretty much everyone, that made it even less motivating for me to continue.

The story itself is weird. It starts out with a ghost. There are dead spirits, a seance, creepiness. Then… that sorta all goes away. Then it becomes more about a circus, which is a totally different vibe. Christopher has a twin, Edward, and they are disturbing clownish trapeze artists. I took their diamonds scenes mostly out of curiosity. If you’re into kinky stuff, they are for you. There was a swing scene that kinda took me out of the story just because I just found it absurd. But that’s just me.

Then by Season 3, there’s no circus, no ghosts… but there are geishas. 😂 Unfortunately, not the cool kitsune transforming ones like in Legend of the Willow.

The addition of Ezra into the story helped A LOT. I never liked Alexander and Sam’s kind of boring. I do like Ellia. Unfortunately, it’s like the writer forgot he was a character in the story and he only suddenly pops up as an afterthought. 😒

Look how cute they are! 😡🤬 Wronged, I tell you!

I chose Ezra as my LI. His devilishness gave the story some much needed oomph. He’s also a spicy one. Just like CY1, Agatha is horny AF! The smut continues. I definitely slept with every male character at least once. 😂 This book allows you to romance multiple LIs with zero consequences. So yeah, the fun has to come from somewhere, right? (I considered providing a collection of naughty snapshots of Agatha with each LI, but decided against it. Tumblr already telling me that Ellia pic is too adult! 🙄)

Anyway, I got a bunch of achievements in the end. The ending wasn’t exciting at all. I opened up my agency, then got spicy with Ezra again. That’s it. The end. 😂

Oh yeah, the twins died and so did Ella. Oh well.

My overall opinion of this book is;

My Overall Grade: C-

It’s not horrible. I didn’t hate it. But it’s not great either. It’s better than PUB Vol. 1, but not as good as Garden of Eden, which is why the minus.