#(but actually i need to make more combo icon bases anyway so)

[kindred-spirit-93]

Sup it's me Astron

So these are a few ideas of how I personally imagine the Greeks gods look like. Nothing concrete because I imagine their forms being very fluid.

The gods, despite now being in the modern age still like to incorporate Mycenaean and Minoan elements In their hair and fashion most of their godly design are based on Bronze Age archeology. It's fitting, since that's when most of Greek Mythology takes place, and it'll give the designs a unique look! This is only for their godly humanoid forms.

Aphrodite: her hair is styled and decorated with various pearls like the ladies depicted in Minoan frescos. I imagine her having no arms like the Venus de Milo statue.

Demeter: I personally imagine her to be more plump and round with strong blunt features, She has beautiful and eye catching hairstyles. I also like the idea of having the crown of the poppy goddess figurines

Poseidon: I imagine that he had one of those kickass haircuts usually seen in Minoan frescos of men

Hera: I imagine her being "cow eyed" her crown I think it'll be cool if it incorporates a peacocks plume/head crest. I imagine her having a lot of celestial starry motifs. But if there had to be any body horror with her it'll definitely focus on eyes a lot of eyes.

Zeus: he is a cloud

Artemis: silvery and celestial...yeah that's really it. Maybe she has an intricate head band and antler combo to heep her hair tied up but that's it. Although there has been times where I imagined her looking like those Amazon historical costume plates by Thomas Hope.

Persephone: I image that she has arm snakes be it jewelry or real based on the Minoan snake goddess figurines. A Mycenaean diadem with a narcissus/daffodil motif because it was the flower used by Hades to kidnap her.

Also I really love your Hera and Iris designs!

Also about synchrotism, I haven't given other pantheons much thought Im just scared that'll be too much of a big brain thing to think about. I personally think it'll be a fun and silly idea that at some point in time Zeus and the Olympians went through a rebrand and went by Latin names. The rebrand was highly successful but after the the Roman empire fell it became a sensitive topic. Was a strong but short era lol. Unless you have any ideas?

(PS the gods ichor is still gold in this story. Despite it having seemingly no basis in mythology it's still too iconic not to use)

ASTRON SAY LESS!!! >:D also thank you!! hehe i made another XD

rounded up a few references to make sure i got ur vision lol, ill get doodling the pantheon hopefully in this lifetime

aighty aphrodite:

plus pearls and maybe shells, venus de milo *nods*

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poseidon (currently playing get in the water on loop and i *need* to learn how to capture eldritch horror in drawings for him lol XD)

this is what i found, did i get it right?

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and for demeter did u mean she has a crown of the poppy goddess or a crown resembling the figurines? (both work i think but just wanted to triple check lol)

very clever snek symbolism with persephone btw! for all i know this might be super obvious to some lol but to me i love learning more and finding parallels and easter eggs in characterisations :D

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HERA!!! adore the 80s disco shes associated with but still love traditional clothing closer to their eras esp for her, kinda like how marriage and motherhood are seen as tradition that must be upheld.

dunno if this is a thing but iirc back in ye olden days a sign of wealth/ station was wearing luxurious robes (like on top of normal clothes) to seperate the nobility from the lower classes, which is kinda the vibe im getting here.

anyway this is what i found (mycenaean noblewoman) but make it cooler tones and feathers instead of flowers, maybe a veil too idk

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ooooh body horror!! need to experiment with that one day! actually make it cosmic body horror lol. kill two birbs with one stone >:)

i think u handled the syncretism perfectly. literally no notes no nothing XD although zeus dipping his feet in sales & marketing and it failing instantly is the funniest thing ever, having it be a wild success then flop is so much better. awesome work!

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bonus iris and hera bc they are my new blorbos and i will stay up thinking about the number of felonies iris gets away with till hera has to intervene lol. vanilla and pistachio are their favourite ice creams respectively (yay my first hc!)

drawn over og doodle so sorry if the colours arent the same lol i had to recolour it. enjoyeth :D

[victorluvsalice]

Another Smiler Outfit Post For You All

Because back on May 31st, I played around with putting one of my Smiler Sims in a few new outfit possibilities for their birthday, and, well, I like sharing my attempts to make my Sims into fashion icons with you. XD So here is the latest selection of Potential Smiler Outfits:

First up, we have what I believe is an all-Vampires formal look, featuring a lovely fancy tailed tux with a bright yellow patterned vest; a black top hat; and a pair black shoes with white spats. Plus some lovely dramatic purple eye makeup and yellow eyeliner. I genuinely didn’t realize this tux had this swatch – I will have to keep it in mind for future save files where I use Smiler and need a formal outfit for them!

Next, we have another formal look that, as you might imagine, was at least partially inspired by me seeing that sparkly yellow jacket and going “Felix E. Lated Vibes!” XD But yes, Smiler here is sporting a sparkly yellow jacket and off-white shirt combo from High School Years; a pair of black base game pants with a belt (I have decided I like Smiler in belts); a pair of yellow shoes from Luxury Party Stuff (which are maybe not QUITE the right shade of yellow, but they still felt them); and some dramatic yellow Get To Work eye makeup paired with some winged black Luxury Party Stuff eyeliner. I liked the combo and felt it suited the look!

Here we have a party-ready Smiler wearing one of the base game full-body party outfits – loving the sparkly dark yellow jacket and black pants, but I’m not a big fan of the red undershirt or, honestly, the tie. If I could get a version of this that ditched the tie and had like a black or yellow (or even purple) undershirt, this would be fantastic. *shrug* But you work with what you’re given. Anyway, the dark yellow Discover University shoes actually pair really well with this outfit (the texture goes well with the sparkly cloth), and I found some sparkly yellow eye makeup from Luxury Party Stuff to pull it all together! Which doesn’t show up well in the full-body shot, so here’s a close-up:

Yes, so I caught them at an awkward moment mid-blink, what can you do. XD Anyway, yeah, isn’t that a good match for the jacket? I love the glittery effect. Discovered this while working on their OTHER party outfit and realizing I got a LOT more makeup options when I took off the “masculine” filter! Speaking of which –

Almost forgot to get a picture of this particular outfit when I first played through this CAS makeover session! XD Anyway, this one was a result of me playing around with the color filters, looking for stuff in purple and yellow, which led to me stumbling across this High School Years top and going “YES.” I mean, I would have gone “YES” even harder if the overshirt was yellow instead of purple, but this is still VERY The Smiler-ish, I think. Plus I feel it’s good for Smiler to have some purple-themed outfits – breaks up all the yellow and black! But yes, here we have Smiler in a black-and-white-checked long-sleeved undershirt with purple short-sleeved overshirt (not QUITE a fan of the high collar on the undershirt, but still), black belted base game pants (of course), white and black Get Famous shoes (to go with the shirt), and some purple-with-the-brightness-adjusted-to-better-match-the-overshirt Luxury Party Stuff eye makeup! *nods* I mean, I think it looks good. :P

Here’s a quick “hot weather wear” fit I whipped up because, well, it was the Unofficial Start Of Summer when I originally did this. Featuring a Get Together hat that has a plant symbol on the front because that was the only design that had the right yellow brim (again, I need the help of modders to get me a plain version...or a version with The Smiler Logo on the front instead XD); a Perfect Patio Stuff light yellow overshirt/white undershirt combo; those base game yellow-and-black shorts I found and decided had to be Smiler’s from when I did the “SDX Swimwear” looks; a pair of yellow-and-black Get Famous sandals; and a yellow-and-black base game bracelet for their – guess it would be right arm, since they’re facing us – that I stumbled across looking at some of the bracelet options. I like the chevron one on their other wrist best, but this is still good!

And finally, Smiler in goofy heart-print boxers. Because they would. XD And because they were originally wearing flame-print boxers, and I was like “uh, way too Wickerman.” XD

[chaserainbows]

actually while i’m at it i’m gonna give Upgraded e4 teams to the kalos gang + olympia because the unova and kalos e4 trainers only having 4 pokemon each is a hate crime

malva:

this is basically her canon team but with mega houndoom at the end because there really isn’t much you can do with fire-types in kalos unless you give her mega charizard it does get a notable buff since torkoal has drought now

also it’s kinda funny that her ace is talonflame since it’s not actually a pokemon you associate with her that much i think mega houndoom would be more iconic

wikstrom:

the two changes here were that i added mega aggron at the end and replaced probopass with lucario like i get the idea of probopass it’s supposed to be his fire counter but it’s just not giving what needs to be given while lucario’s an interesting fit for his Knightly aesthetic and base form aggron is also a rock/steel type

i tend to see people giving him mega scizor but i don’t think it fits him at all other than being a strong steel mega while aggron is literally wearing armor

siebold:

yes you can call bullshit on this one because none of the water megas present in xy actually worked (gyarados is already taken and blastoise is literally just another clawitzer) you could also make a point for mega slowbro being camp but to be fair siebold is widely considered to be the hardest one anyway we can make an excuse

drasna:

we made some Choices here i replaced druddigon with the superior unova pure dragon type i turned altaria into her mega because it’s a fun combo with her dragalge being there to troll you for using fairies against her (it’s also the one dragon type in sinnoh other than garchomp and i wanted to reference that backstory bit without giving her a pseudolegendary that’s not goodra) and i added a tyrantrum to cover her ice weakness and to REMOVE THOSE STEEL WEAKNESSES FROM DIANTHA’S TEAM THANK YOU

she’s a bit of an awkward one because 75% of kalos’ dragon-types are pseudos and they’d easily overshine her actual ace

olympia:

and now we have Her the star of the show the reason for this post

i removed meowstic from her team because it’s kinda weird that the 7th gym leader’s ace pokemon is literally the same pokemon you’ve been seeing in rival battles the entire game so instead i changed her ace to delphox (because it’s an oracle) gave her a malamar honestly just because it’s a cool gen 6 psychic pokemon we need the representation and then added medicham as her mega because its dex entries talk about sensing people’s presences and predicting the future through meditation and the other options were alakazam (basic) and gardevoir (not viable)

[layingeggs]

Playing some of that Magenta Horizon, a game that bills itself as a character action. Really enjoying it.

However, unfortunately, I have pressed every button on my controller and I have not yet taunted. I played through the tutorial level and there wasn't a single taunt tutorial. Did I just miss it?

Devil May Cry 2 died for our sins you know. That was the DMC game where you couldn't taunt.

What are these young gamedevs doing these days that they're making games inspired by DMC and not including a taunt?

Just a little bit less facetiously, (because I was only being just a little bit facetious anyway, the comment about gamedevs as the youths of the day, that was facetious, everything else was sincere,) this does limit the options for S Rank play.

Like, expose me as a filthy casual if you like, but one of the things that appeals to me about Devil May Cry in the first place, say it with me now it's that old chestnut, it's hard but fair. Because yes the enemies swarm you, and yes some of the enemies can parry you, and yes the bosses are tough as nails, and it used to have the same reputation that Dark Souls itself does now,

but it was possible to raise your score through taunting. This had a wide range of subtle yet honestly profound effects on how you played the game.

In a number of DMCs, there are special passive changes to your moves and toolkit based on the Style Meter. Without taunts, you just have to play optimally in order to unlock those. But with taunts, you just need some basic critical thinking about timing your taunts with your combos and against the enemy attacks.

As well the end of level rank. Without taunts, if you want that S Rank, then you just have to play optimally. But again, with taunts, it leads you to intelligently thinking about when you should or shouldn't taunt.

These subtle little incentives for players to approach the game from a new perspective lead to greater insights into the rest of the game. It's a way to experience a tough as nails game and its meta without necessarily having to just sharpen your reaction times to perfection. But it does also train your reflexes with the game to try these alternate approaches!

Again, perhaps it belies the casual streak in me that I want a game with a tough as nails reputation that noneless allows me to get good scores without perfect play. However, and this is crucial, this is charactert action that we are talking about. Also known as stylish action.

The taunts give it that little flourish that makes it feel more like a scene from your favourite film or anime, and less like you're just following through the motions of whatever the game meta demands. Impressing the idea of the video game that is not only hard to play, but very pretty to look at when you actually master it. But emphatically with the control in the player's hands. None of that soft scripted gameplay sequence that we've seen in games since the PS3.

And you look at the cutscenes of these sorts of games also. You look at, for example, once again always coming back to the example, you look at the cutscenes in Devil May Cry.

Dante is always taking hits. There isn't a game where he doesn't. There's hardly a cutscene where he doesn't. Indeed, the fan favourite iconic series trope is of Dante getting impaled with a sword and then shrugging it off like it was nothing.

But then you have this stark contrast in the gameplay, don't you? Where you can't play well without just avoiding damage and never getting hit. That's not how Dante fights at all.

Except you can, can't you? You can take a hit, and then recover from them with taunts! Of course you're not recovering your health, so there's only so many times you can do that before you just lose, but it's doing exactly what Dante is doing in the cutscenes. Shrugging off a heavy attack like it was nothing. Daring on the enemy to do it again with a big dumb grin on your face like you haven't just shed your weight in blood all over the floor.

It's that harmonising between the gameplay and the cutscenes. Inviting the player to participate in the theatre of the action, of action storytelling tropes and conventions. That you can, in a way, use taunting as a way to 'no sell' or 'hard sell' your enemy's attacks!

So of course in a character action you need those attacks, you need abilities that let you damage and fight and defeat enemies. But you also need those non-combat moves! Those non-combat non-movement moves! Those abilities that disarm enemies in a different way. Those abilities that all the hyperviolence into a thing of play or dance or art. That's the real crux of it. That's the style in the stylish action.

Coming back to Magenta Horizon. I did the first two levels. I got pretty poor ranks since I'm only just starting. And then I tried them again and got better ranks.

A helpful thing that Magenta Horizon does when it ranks your performance on the level is actually tell you what you're being ranked on. Apparently, the level of your style meter during the KO of an enemy is important. (It was important in Devil May Cry as well, it's just that the game never said so!)

But how can I score more KOs against enemies during the time in which my Style Meter is filled to a high level? Sure I can do combos, and sure I'm avoiding repeats of stale moves, (though I sincerely don't know yet if this game has a stale mechanic LOL), but up to a certain point, you just have to avoid getting hit.

Can't raise my style with taunts. Just have to keep comboing and suffer as few interrutpions to my combos as possible. That's it.

That's why your taunts are important. They expand your toolkit. (Taunts are also a way of scoring a high style KO against a weaker enemy who would otherwise run out of health before any perfect combo could possibly raise the Style Meter high enough.)

Still, I'm only two levels in. Maybe this game does have taunting and I can still find the taunt ability later on! Maybe I'm just being a noob about.

On the other hand, this isn't the only game I've seen "inspired by Devil May Cry" that simply lacked taunts. I reiterate, only a little facetiously, what are our young gamedevs doing these days? Did they learn nothing from Devil May Cry 2? Alas.

[isobug]

Thank you !! Sometimes I get a little possessed when I have a flag idea in my head and I try to make it as quickly as possible just in case I forget.

Going to put my flag autism under the cut for my poor followers

The reason why I didn't pick purple was because there's already multiple shades of purple on the original Ciaspec / Ciagender flag stripes. It was too much of a hassle to try and find a shade that worked with the middle stripes + outline color + purple already on the flags that it became a hassle. It didn't " pop " well, especially when I tested them for icon / banner / stamp readability.

Generally in Intersex flags / combo flags which incorporate / parallel the Carpenter design's circle, you don't need to keep it purple ( especially if purple is already included in the overall design ) if it wouldn't mesh well, would make the flag visually inaccessible due to contrast, or if it would make it too visually similar to another flag.

( Some examples of this are the Ipsogender flag, my Interbigender flags, my Interenbian symbol, this Intergender flag, and numerous aesthetic edit / combo flags on @intersexflags. )

The purple is common because it's recognizable but it's definitely not a hard and fast "you MUST do this" rule and TBH. I've never seen another Intersex person care?? Personally I don't, because it usually makes sense from a style or color perspective. Especially if someone is using the Phox flag design ( the second flag there ) vs the Carpenter one.

As long as the flag is clearly telegraphing " this is an Intersex flag !! " you can do whatever in my opinion. I'd actually like to see more creativity with Intersex designs and I'm trying to push myself to not just fall back on " slap some yellow and purple and a circle and you're done ".

The green shades on the Ciaspec / Ciagender flags were pretty much eliminated with how I positioned the yellow stripes so I figured it would be best to add it back somehow. I took the green from your Cis flag because it had a higher contrast with each middle stripe than the Ciaspec / Ciagender greens did ( and I figured that was fine since the Ciaspec / Ciagender flags were based off that flag anyways !! )

I hope that makes sense, sorry for how rambly this is. I try to hold back on writing essays about my thought processes when making flags ( unless it's relevant to the coining post ) but it's just a lot of fun and I don't get asked questions like this super frequently. Tysm for asking !!

Interciaspec and Intercingender

Terms and flags for those who are Intersex and Ciaspec / Cingender, and / or are Ciaspec / Cingender in an Intergender ( or Ipsogender ) way / in a way which is caused by or inherently tied to being Intersex.

( If you don't want to use the combination terms you can just call them Intersex Ciaspec / Intersex Cingender. )

Combining the Intersex flag by Morgan Carpenter with the Ciaspec and Cingender flags by @ryanyflags. I thought the layout of those flags and the colors were incredibly pretty, so I tried to maintain that while still making them distinctly a combination / Intersex-focused.

The green in the circle comes from this Cis flag, which the Ciaspec / Cingender flags are based on.

Obviously these are intersex-exclusive but perisex folk are free to reblog or archive !! Free for anyone to use anywhere.

Taglist - @radiomogai, @revenant-coining, @interarchive, @cisqueer-archive, @varsex-pride

[koushirouizumi]

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[lunabonita]

Chloe Bourgeois Redesign, because I really hate her original one.

Before the actual design let me explain why I don't like her original one.

1. Her pants are just ugly, I genuinely do not believe that Chloe would wear white capris that look like they're from Walmart.

2. Her shirt is horizontally stripped, which makes you look wider. Chloe Bourgeois would not risk her chances by wearing stripped shirts to preserve her image of being 'model beautiful'

3. Her belt is bronze, while her cardigan is yellow, it clashes and the texture is tacky.

4. Her shoes are ok, but I think that Chloe would choose something fancier then plain flats.

5. Oh my god I hate the cardigan , the low rise, capri jeans do not compliment it at all, if the design were to keep them both either make the pants longer, or the cardigan longer. Also a different shade of yellow' would be better imo.

6. Her makeup is atrocious. The bright blue could work if it was a little darker but the pale lipstick needs to go. It looks like a toddler found their moms make up and decided to go all willy nilly.

My redesign

I gave her an actual outfit that I feel like fits her aesthetic, very veruca salt esq.

I wanted to give her an outfit kind of based off of a classy academia aesthetic. As you can see with the Mary Janes and top. I wanted to show that there's more to Chloe's character because she has to be very smart since she can pinpoint people's insecurities.

I think Chloe would dress girlier then her original design goes. I think Chloe's very in touch with her femininity, but would still dress modestly because she's the mayor's daughter. So i gave her a skirt-stocking combo to show that.

I kept the necklace since I know it's important to her, and also the glasses because I feel like they are an iconic piece of Chloe's wardrobe. Her makeup is more warmtoned since that complements her tan skin more than the make up she had on before.

Also I kept her hair down so she could show off the bee miraculous. Think of it how'd you like, but Id like to think that Chloe likes to show it off secretly even if no one knows she's queen bee (ik that's not canon, but i can dream 😭) just as a little reminder to her to be a hero. I also feel like it's more in character for her to have her hair down so she can do dramatic hair flips lol.

Anyways yeah just a reminder that this redesign is just my opinion and i ask that you respect that, just as I would respect yours.

what character should I redesign next? it doesn't have to just be from MLB btw! to let me know u can comment, leave an ask, or dm me!

[gentlemancrow]

jonmartin, pre-romance, #15/28??

I did manage to get BOTH of these in! So we have a combo of "You called me, remember?" and "It's too early for this". Much like the others, the MINUTE I read this prompt an idea popped into my head that I just HAD to go with! This is actually based off a real life incident I had with a friend (They know who they are...) but it fit both Jmart and the prompt PERFECTLY! The names have been changed to fictional characters to protect the innocent. (Hint I was the Martin in this situation) Anyway this was super fun and cute to write and I made myself all squishy a lot. HOPE YOU ENJOY! <3

There were precious few reasons why Martin’s mobile should be ringing at exactly 5:47 am on a Tuesday, and precisely none of them were good. Still, the anxiety inducing sound alerting him to something ominously, ambiguously amiss struggled to worm its way through a rather lovely dream of his acceptance speech after being awarded poet laureate. The poem he had prepared for the occasion was marrow-deep and hauntingly beautiful, or at least he remembered it that way until suddenly he was reciting the lyrics to Abba’s ‘Waterloo’ instead and sweating profusely as the audience began to murmur in disgust amongst themselves. Waterloo was indeed blaring, but from the ringtone of his phone, not from his lips, and his stomach performed a cold somersault with the force of the wave of anxiety that had begun in his dream and crested up to lap at the base of his barely functional brain. The few synapses he needed for basic motor function and reading comprehension crackled to life as he clumsily batted the buzzing device on his nightstand into his hand and squinted blearily at the name.

It was small. That was an immediate relief. If the care home had been calling about an incident with his mother, either her health or the staff’s as a result of her, it would have been the full moniker of ‘Sunrise Acres Care Home’ ticking across the caller ID. Yet small implied a name, a person, someone he had in his phone and not just a random spam call, and anxiety spiked again as Martin scrubbed at his eyes until ‘Jon’ appeared in white hot letters on the screen. Sleep dissolved from him in an instant and he sat bolt upright in a tangle of covers as he smashed the green answer icon with his thumb and threw the receiver to his ear.

“Hullo?! Jon? R’you okay? What’s happened?” he demanded, voice still slumbery thick and groggy.

“Martin!” Jon’s silky, prim voice, thinned out to a tin can vibrato over airwaves, answered, “Good, you’re awake. I need your help. Urgently.”

Martin was already out of bed by the time ‘need’ reached his ears, yanking on the first pair of jeans he spotted in the laundry heap on the floor and hopping on his free leg to the en suite with his phone pinched between his cheek and shoulder.

“I’m on it!” he assured him despite having no clue what ‘it’ was, exactly, “I’m coming to you as soon as I can. Where are you? Are you hurt? Should I bring a first aid kit? I don’t think I have a first aid kit… should I buy a first aid kit? There’s a Boots just down the block from my flat, I could-“

“Martin, stop! What the hell are you on about?” Jon’s annoyed tone cut through his panic like a scalpel.

Martin stopped in the doorframe of the bathroom, brows knitted, jeans puddling around the one leg he’d managed to get through and left once again in naught but his boxers as he gripped his phone back into his hand.

“Huh? What are you on about? You said you needed help!” he snapped.

“I do! But not like… not like THAT. What kind of mortal peril do you imagine I would find myself in at a quarter to six in the morning?”

The initial surge of adrenaline fizzling out uselessly in his veins the more Jon talked, Martin sagged against the doorway and pinched his temples as he strained his words through a colander of civility.

“I don’t know, Jon. You called me, remember?”

“Right, right…”

A terse, lowly hissing silence of dead satellite replaced Jon’s voice, twisting Martin’s nerves as acrobatically as he twisted to avoid the point. He kicked off his jeans and stalked grouchily back to bed where he threw himself face down and unmoving.

“So, what is it then? Wi-Fi gone tits up? Forgot how long to steep Darjeeling?” he hissed into his rumpled duvet, a little nastier than he would have liked given the deadly combination of interrupted slumber and primordial biological survival instinct.

“I uh…” Jon’s voice deflated over the speaker, “I have a… problem.”

“Yes, we’ve so very, very clearly established that. What kind of a problem, exactly…?”

“A problem of an upsettingly… Arachnid nature.”

“A spider…?”

“…Yes.”

Martin propped himself up on one elbow, eyes narrowed with genuine and curious concern.

“Wait like a… like a spooky spooky spider? Or just an ordinary kind of spooky spider?” he inquired with as much levity as he could muster, given one of the likely options.

“Stop saying spooky. And the ordinary kind. I think. No, I’m sure of it. It’s merely the sitting on my kitchen wall like it owns the place and staring at me rudely with all eight eyes, judging me for skipping breakfast again, kind,” Jon answered with clinical pointedness.

“O… kay…?” Martin drawled, suppressing a giggle, “So, what’s the problem then?”

“What do I do?”

Martin opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again as he doubted that he had actually heard Jonathan Sims, the irascible, pompous, only capable of truly looking at him down his nose Head Archivist Jonathan Sims, ask him, a lowly assistant, what to do. With a spider. It would have been almost adorable, had he not scared the life out of him initially, but even that knocked it only down a single peg to helplessly charming.

“I-I mean, the normal thing one does when encountering a spider in one’s home? You kind of only have the usual two options? Er well, three, if you count just leaving it be, but I doubt you’re amenable to that one.”

“No, absolutely not, out of the question,” Jon declared swiftly.

“Didn’t think so,” Martin chuckled, rolling onto his back and sagging in relief into the mattress.

“So?” came the impatient invitation to continue.

“So what?”

“So, then what do I do?” Jon repeated brusquely.

“Well, you either kill it or let it go, of course! What else is there to do? Invite it to brunch?”

“I know that! I’m not an idiot!” Jon erupted furiously, “Good lord, Martin! Do you really think I would have called you because I didn’t know the only two options for dealing with an eight-legged criminal invading my home were kill it or let it go? Really?! Did you suppose this was the very first spider I ever encountered in my life? Is that what you thought? Or perhaps I had my own personal valet to attend to all of my insectoid tribulations, hmm? Just call the bug butler, he’ll attend to it straightaway! Do you ever stop to think before you open your mouth? Or do you customarily just air out whatever inane notions blow through your ears, no matter how puerile? Christ!”

Martin let the phone drop onto the bed beside him, away from the verbal darts hurled directly into his eardrum and taxing the output matrix of the speaker, as Jon launched into an affronted, mortified tirade, smirking and shaking his head.

“It’s too early for this…” he mused to himself ruefully, rubbing both hands over his face and eyes.

Once the phone stopped humming and glowing white hot with remote rage, Martin scooped it back up and yawned into the receiver.

“You alright there, Jon?” he asked in a gentle tone.

A ragged sigh crackled into a blip of feedback from lips too close on the other end of the phone.

“…Not really?” came Jon’s tremulous reply, “Listen, I’m sorry I went off on you. That was unfair of me. I-I just… I really… really hate spiders.”

Something squeezed in Martin’s chest, something about the confident bass flayed neatly out of Jon’s usually assertively solid mannerisms, leaving it abnormally thin and rickety. He sat up on the bed, cradling the phone much more gently to his cheek.

“Hey hey, it’s okay,” he assured him, “If anybody sympathizes about being afraid, you definitely called the right person. Need me to stay on the line with you while you whack it? A good heavy book will probably do the trick, or if you need speed and agility a rolled-up newspaper or a magazine might be better?”

“No! I wasn’t calling because I needed advice on how to murder the damn thing! I’m quite capable of doing that on my own. Frankly, I’ve taken rather a vested interest in honing my spider termination methodology over the years. I called you because… well you were going on about how you thought they were…” Jon trailed off in a series of garbled sounds of disgust, “Cute… of all things.”

Martin grinned and had to put the phone on his bare chest a moment, as if Jon might somehow perceive his giddy glee through the receiver.

“To be fair I’m a little odd that way. Most people feel much the same as you do about them,” he commented as he picked it back up.

“True, but that’s not even the whole of it!” Jon went on exasperatedly, “I also overheard you talking… must have been to Tim or Sasha but… you were explaining about how helpful they are to the ecosystem and what a vital role they play in that natural order of things, and how we always see images of them eating butterflies and beautiful things that make them look sinister, but how really they mostly control pests and the like… how you thought they got kind of a bad rap?”

“Wow I uh… I can’t believe you remembered all that,” Martin muttered, freckled cheeks dusting a light pink, “But what does that have to do with your unwanted houseguest in particular?”

“It was the last part, mainly. That’s what got me. The part about fear. That they’re afraid, too… You said there had been studies that showed a clear fear response in spiders… to us. They’re afraid of us, demonstrably more so than we are of them…”

One word of all of those slipped between Martin’s ribs and into his heart. Too. They were afraid, too. His thumb stroked and consoled the edge of his phone unconsciously as Jon blustered on, unbothered by his own unconscious admission.

“And now I can’t do it! Now I have to set this bloody spider free because you think it’s cute and want to make friends with it, and I can’t make it an innocent victim of my fear and I have no idea how!”

Martin couldn’t help but smile, imagining how Jon must be in his flat on the other end, scrunched in a corner all hunched up shoulders and furrowed brow with hackles bristling, squaring off with a creature who was possessed of no knowledge of the fear she symbolized, or the grace to understand the iconographical divorce to her salvation. Only Jon, quivering and still bed-rumpled and frazzled, could understand the magnitude of cupping that fear in the palm of his hand while reaching out to him with the other. And now Martin understood it, too.

“Hey alright, I’ve got you. Steady on Jon, we’re gonna get through this together. I’ll talk you through the steps, you just follow what I say, okay?” he instructed in his best 999 operator performance.

A beat of silence ensued, followed by a much more robust and emboldened, “Okay.”

“So, what you want to do first is get a glass.”

“A glass?”

“Yeah, like a water glass. And a stiff piece of paper or cardboard or something. If you’ve got a bit of post lying about, flyers and coupons and the like, those usually work well.”

There was a period of distant shuffling, clattering, and indecipherable muttering as Jon gathered his weapons, then sucked in an audible breath through his teeth.

“Alright I’ve got them, now what?” he asked, sounding a bit winded.

“Now you very carefully put the glass over the spider, then slide the paper under the glass so you trap it inside. Then you can take it out without touching it or worrying about it scuttling off on you and set it free wherever you think it’ll be happy!” Martin answered sweetly.

“Okay, okay. I think I can do that,” Jon chanted for steadiness, “I’m putting the phone down so I don’t louse it up, but d-don’t hang up, stay on with me, okay?”

“I’m not going anywhere, Jon. I promise. You’re okay.”

“O-Okay… Okay… Okay…!”

Martin listened as Jon’s voice grew distant, but somehow stronger, more like a war cry, with the soft pad of socked feet on tile, then a short stretch of silence, and then a chorus of oaths and yelping, rising to the crescendo of a door being messily flung open, shut, then opened and shut again. A drumbeat of returning feet rolled mutely close and melded into the scratchy rustle of the phone being picked back up.

“I’m back,” Jon announced.

“Is it done?”

“The deed is done… your little friend is enjoying some lovely pink dahlias out front as we speak.”

“I’m pleased for her! And… for you, too,” Martin said, voice melting into lilting tenderness, “I’m honestly really proud of you, I know that wasn’t easy for you.”

“I… Ah… No, it wasn’t. Thank you, Martin,” came the sheepishly measured rejoinder.

“You’re very welcome.”

Martin smiled privately to himself, and ran a loving thumb down the edge of his phone once more.

“So then may I rightly assume I have permission to come in an hour or so late today so I can go back to sleep?” he continued, already knowing the answer as he flopped back down on his pillows and rolled up into the covers.

He was relieved to hear a husky chuckle rumble through the phone.

“Yes, yes. I think you’ve more than earned it.”

“Brilliant, see you in a bit then? And for lunch?” he added hopefully.

The brief silence as Jon calculated his response hung thick and palpable in the digital airwaves.

“Lunch sounds good,” he replied at length, “See you then.”

“G-Great! Great! See you!”

Their phones clicked mutually off without the awkward jumble of sign-offs, pleasantries, and accidentally stumbling over each other’s words. Martin thought glimmeringly of the spider hunting free in plush pink petals, none the wiser, and of Jon, with new and irrefutable proof that not everything ugly or quietly cunning in the world lurked behind to cast its shadow over him. A spider could be just a spider, and Martin back asleep with both hands still clutching his phone to his chest, dreaming of singing Waterloo again, but this time to a rapt audience and thunderous applause.

[oh-boy-me]

Casual Outfits Discussed

@themarchinghare Ok >:3c

These hot takes analyses and opinions are based entirely on the concept art of the demon brothers’ casual outfits.  So any in-game features not present in the concept art aren’t discussed.  We’re looking at the outfit as a whole, but occasionally we do talk about individual features.

Also please don’t take this seriously, we just had a lot of fun shitting on the Seven Power Avatars of Sin, Rulers of Hell Itself™’s questionable fashion sense.  I would still die for these boys, terrible taste in shoes or not.

Participants in the discussion were

Jo ( @jodaneko ), my roommate and an art major with storyboarding and character design experience

Justin ( @justinlester0629​ ), my go-to fashion expert for at least a decade and very possibly a future male model

Noodle (Me), untrained eye and resident fashion decade disregarder

With the exception of a few choice quotes, our thoughts and conclusions are all mixed in with each other.  Quotes are mildly paraphrased.

Lucifer:

The colors are good; the blacks and grays are all in the blue-gray family, and there’s a pop of color with the gold belt and red vest.

But he paired a black suit with brown shoes????  SIN

“You should always match your belt with your shoes and those shoes are not gold.” —Justin

Justin on the coat: “I love it, the pattern of the inner lining is throwing me off but it’s not bad, and the fur is perfect because it’s associated with power.”

Me on the coat: “I don’t know about you but I bet that coat looks dumb as shit if you put your sleeves through it.”

WITHOUT the coat though his cuffs scream “I am dealing for blackjack and rolling craps.”  Lucifer looks like he could walk into and out of a casino whenever he pleases and everyone would assume he works there.

“Dress shirts don’t work like that.  He got a size too big.” —Jo

The belt isn’t doing anything functionally, but it’s very important because it balances things out from being too top-heavy.

Out of the belt, shirt cuffs, and coat cuffs, two of them should have matched.

We’re nitpicking because in general it’s a good design.  Lucifer has no taste in shoes but that aside is capable of dressing himself.

Mammon:

“That’s western Danny Phantom if I’ve ever seen it.” —Justin

Very nice coat 10/10 would wear.

The colors are odd, he mixes black and brown too, but the other colors mixed in makes it work in a cute way.

“The only things that clash are the shirt and jeans, he could replace the gray shirt with either a black one or a lighter one to match the boots.” —Justin

He’s got a cat toy on his belt.  I admire his preparedness for feline encounters.

The cat toy also balances out his rings nicely, since the toy is on his left hip and the rings are on his right hand.

The yellows in the shades, belt, and cat toy are placed very nicely and are the best part of the outfit.

Honestly except for the shirt color and the fact that fur-lined boots are out of style we don’t have much bad to say about his design.  Mammon’s casual outfit lives up to his model career.

Leviathan:

“Ugh, god.” —Justin

The headphones don’t match with anything, and ever color he’s wearing is so bright they REALLY don’t match.

Headphones aside he chose ok colors to supersaturate, but also like, supersaturation is very very loud.

It kind of looks like he bought two different tracksuits and forgot they were two different outfits.

The pants don’t match themselves.

“He color coordinated his pant cuffs and his shirt and thinks it makes it ok.” —Jo

The jacket itself is nice, the pins are really good and I appreciate that they’re opposite the stripes in his shirt.

Justin hates the gray stripe though because it looks like either part of the jacket or a girl scout sash.

“That shirt should not be collared.” —Jo

“The shoes look like what Kanye West would design but if they were sold on Wish.” —Justin

It’s kind of just… he took the RGB color wheel and went with it.  It’s just loud.  If he just changed some colors he’d be fine.  Leviathan please I have hope for you.

Satan:

“He looks like a gay prep school person.” —Justin

Satan wore 100 shades of green and said “yes this is peak fashion.”  And you know what, it objectively sucks but I’m kind of living for it?

Rip off jeans that can’t actually be ripped off because of the VERY stylish belt?  Iconic.

Green deep v-neck sweater over a gradient t-shirt and a jacket with the sleeves too short, this man only shops at Goodwill.

The one-shoulder jacket look gives the outfit some personality and I’m really glad he isn’t wearing it properly because looking at it alone I wouldn’t be caught dead in that jacket.

“While good for the design, it’s a mix between business and athletic and I’m not sure how I feel about that.” —Jo

(Jo also said some jackets are designed with sleeves like that but with the color choices it’s just… not good.  Justin pointed out that the sweater and jacket do match though.)

The chocolate loafer-style shoes take away from the rest of the outfit.

“Any other shade of green besides Crayola green would have been better for his nails.” —Justin

Listen it’s so bad it’s good, Satan’s fashion sense is “blue-green.”  We basically ripped into it the whole time but I’m pretty sure it was the universal favorite.

Asmodeus:

“Just from the back he looks like a cool dude and then the front of him screams douche.” —Jo

Asmo’s outfit is actually ok, but he has one fatal flaw: If he takes off his jacket it’s way too plain, but with the jacket it’s kind of too much.

It’s also kind of confusing, because it looks both casual and formal from different angles.  “I’m not sure I like the cut in the front with the t-shirt showing underneath.” —Justin

The shirt is nice but a color that contrasted his skin more would have been nice.

The pants are killer, and the white stitching matches the jacket really well.

The gold accents on the jacket are also good and would match the belt really nicely if the belt wasn’t some ugly mustard color.

This boy is wearing mustard belt and ketchup pants.

Inoffensive shoes which is really the best I can ask for with these boys.

“The scarf.  I like it, but I’m not sure how I feel about it because there’s just so much going on with both it and the jacket.” —Justin

“That’s not a scarf, it’s too long.  It’s like.  A really long strip of cloth.” —Jo

Anyway all in all there’s a little much going on in the front but it’s one of the better looks, good job Asmo.

Beelzebub:

Justin looked at the picture and immediately put his phone down.

“First impression is he looks like Naruto if he got his head lodged in Doritos.” —Justin

“He looks like he’s the carpet of the arcade portion of a skating rink.” —Jo

“He shouldn’t be wearing orange tones.” —Justin

Legitimately we were at a loss for words for a considerable time.  We just kept staring at it.

To start he’s got a lot going on but it feels like he looked in the mirror before leaving his room.  Not saying he did the best job but at least he looked at himself.

The jacket alone is great, but why is it fur-lined?  It throws off the urban design.

But finally some good fucking shirt.  We have mixed opinions on the triangles (I like them, Justin doesn’t but appreciates that the pattern continues on the back) but all like the cut.

Living for the necklace-bracelet combo.

Jo says the biggest problem is that there’s color-matching but in weird places and not enough of it.

Jo hates the pink belt and Justin hates the green suspenders; we concluded that one of them should have been excluded.

His choice in sneakers is not as bad as Levi’s but still not very good.  The laces shouldn’t be green.

This sounds like a lot of complaining but if he cleaned up the belts and ditched the fur it’d be a fine look.

Belphegor:

“Oh shit oh god.” —Justin

“The top half is for sleeping and the bottom half is for riding.” —Jo

Absolutely disgusting, mustard yellow pants tucked into brown lace-up combat boots?  Disgusting.

The shoes alone are nice but the mustard pants don’t work at all.  There’s no cutoff between blue and mustard.

Also he has really broad shoulders, just noticed that looking at this.  That has nothing to do with this but it does affect how his cardigan sits on him.

I personally would wear that cardigan, a hooded cardigan?  Everything I’ve ever wanted.

Justin pointed out that the button lining is weird, and the inside is a weird contrast with the pocket.  He’s right, but I think it’s an endearing mess.

Why do I look at him and feel like he needs to do laundry?  I think it’s the t-shirt.  It would have been better as a collared shirt, taking the hood off the cardigan in return.

You can’t convince me the avatar of sloth laces those boots every day, he sleeps with his shoes on and that’s a worse sin than sloth.

“The pillow’s not part of the outfit?  Oh thank god.” —Justin

Jo said we were being too mean and that it’s not the worst outfit out there, and from the waist up they’re right.

But damn Belphegor the condiment war called and they want the bottom half of their uniform back.

[brw]

002 — ScarletVision (it’s ur brand I HAD to 💖)

When I started shipping them

Honestlyyy I cant remember </3 they just have given me brainworms for the past 5 or so years n I have to deal w/ it <3 I guess I just thot that Vision was cool n they're such an iconic pairing that you sort of have to come across them at some point

My thoughts

ONE of the premier comic book relationships. theyre iconic theyre groundbreaking theyre so special and dramatic and have my whole heart. i can't personally think of a single relationship that has the range they do. theyre ur embarrassing het parents theyre the friendship of a gay man and lesbian they are a t4t lesbian power couple they are having a fight in a car park they are star crossed lovers whos fates are entertwined and the fact that their romance happened goes against all odds. they r so special.

What makes me happy about them

the fact that they STILL love each other they still are very close friends they made a LIFE together and they remember and respect that and love each other for it and even though theyre much different now they still have so much respect for one another i love their constant growth. strangers to being so fragily in love with each other to becoming stronger + standing by one another as they become the best versions of themselves, building a life together away from the avengers, the tragedy that struck them and the fact that they managed to rebuild past that and remain good friends. they r SO. thinking about them daily. they were KIDS IN LOVE they didnt deserve this :(

What makes me sad about them

everything john byrne did </3 set the WORST prescent for them it makes me so enraged that ppl still use it as evidence they shouldn't have been together they were SO in love prior to that vision got violated against their will and thats not their fault!!! n the fact that people can't let them rest.... WEIRD WRITERS R NOT THESE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS RESPONSIBILITY PLEASE STOP ACTING LIKE IT IS! SOBBING.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me

definitely ppl who recontextualise their relationship to be manipulative or abusive on vision's part saw that kind of idea in the 616 SV tag n i was so :/ just. dont use the tag lol. anyway finding anything centered on them that isn't mcu based is ridiculously hard so. that ig. vision with binary pronouns. i struggle a lot if u couldn't tell.

Things I look for in fanfic

genderqueer vision at the TOP of that list but definitely like,,, stuff that has clear references i guess. like i like some continuity i like being able to tell which comic issue it happened during i like being Specific!! uhhhh wanda being explictly jewish in like holiday celebrations is always a plus :0000 and if the avengers r there definitely a non mcu lineup. where r jan and hank.

My wishlist

ngl not sure what this means but assuming it means like, wishes for them, i guess uhhh. polyamory. literally it is 2022 no more ship wars. they r dating everyone. my wish is that they get back together but have an open / poly relationship.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other

DEFINITELY scarletvoodoo & visionmantis. wanda & jericho r SO SO SO soft they are so important scarletvision endgame but i do actually need more content of them so badly. there is so much more to explore how does jericho vibe w/ tommy & billy!! they were moving in together what does their house look like!! what is their morning routine!!! please let me know!!and visionmantis bc they are just also so soft.... autistic nonbinary lesbian 4 autistic nonbinary lesbian. she is green they r red it is a perfect combo. they understand each other on a deeper level, like they understand each other's emotions & outlook more than other ppl n i really want that explored. they only broke up canonically bc vision could not get pregnant!! we can fix that its the future. bring them back to me.

My happily ever after for them

AGAIN polyamory. they have so many hands. getting back together getting remarried but like. explictly as their updated selves. we CANNOT regress we need to look forward it has to be brought out of respect for what their pasts r and what their futures would look like together has to be a writer that actually cares abt them please nothing to do w/ wendyshow i could not handle it. i know it will not happen in a way that i want but i can dream!!

ask game for fandoms, ships & characters.

[vannahfanfics]

Oooo, #7 please!

Yaaaas! I could scream about my OTPS until the end of time. Keep in mind that these are kinda normie, and more interesting ships of mine fall under the alternate question of rarepairs, so if you’re interested, someone ask ;)

Number Ten- Roxas and Xion

Kingdom Hearts is one of my all-time favorite game series. I actually began with Days, and Roxas has had my heart ever since then. Roxas and Xion’s relationship is just so pure and devoted, and it just has me some kind of way. 

Number Nine- Renzo Shima and Izumo Kamiki

(Ugh, there are no good GIFs of the two of them, so ignore Rin standing there like a moron and focus on my beautiful pink-haired boy and his purple-haired girlfriend). 

The manga could still go many ways at this point, but ever since their initial interactions, I just loved the idea of the two together. Kamiki is so serious and no-nonsense, while Renzo is just all-nonsense. Absolute perfection. Kamiki’s arc in particular had me feeling some kind of way about them, urgh, my heart! 

Number Eight- Gray Fullbuster and Juvia Lockser

Want to talk about made for each other? These fools. I could write a thesis just on the ways they’ve grown as characters just by interacting with each other. I mean, we’re just practically waiting for Gray to confess his love to her any chapter now! Juvia has matured a lot from “crazy stalker” and honestly, you go, sis. Their love is so deep and pure and it just makes me want to cry. I love them. 

Number Seven- Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia

Ugh, another match made in Heaven. I could go on for days. Any implications of romance aside, their relationship is still so deep and loving and meaningful that it just brings a tear to my eye. You want to talk about ultimate trust and devotion? These two, right here. They are the literal definition of ride or die. My heart. 

Number Six- Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga

Though the writing ultimately failed them, I still love this ship. Potential-wise, they are gorgeous. Two cute beans being cute together? Holy shit! Plus, I love that Naruto is an inspiration to Hinata and I love to think that he encourages her growth, and honestly, Hinata is the ultimate partner for him. He needs someone who can stand behind him and be a source of strength when he begins to doubt himself. They lift each other up in their own unique ways, and it’s just magical. Plus, they are so shy and domestic. Goals. 

Number Five- Gajeel Redfox and Levy McGarden

“You’re small, so stay beside me”? FUCKING ICONIC. To be honest, I always fancied the two based on the subtle hints Mashima gave us, but when that arc hit, man, I was on this ship for life. Then the kiss when he was drowning? The tearful confession when he thought he was going to die? Ugh, man, I’m in my feels. “The big, buff grumpy man is soft for his small wife” is the ultimate trope, confirmed. 

Number Four- Sanji and Nami

Honestly, most of the reason I like this ship is just pure aesthetic. I mean, look at them. Beautiful couple. Of course, at the heart of it all is how they treat one another. Sanji and Nami have such subtle, interwoven, masterful nuance that it’s hard not to envision some kind of connection between them. I love them!

Number Three- Tohru Honda and Kyo Sohma

Fruits Basket was the first anime I ever watched in entirety and the first manga I ever read. I was so excited to hear it was remastered for its anniversary, and that the anime would hopefully span the length of the manga! Honestly, this romance defined a generation. The way Kyo falling in love with her is just so masterfully written that it just makes me soft. God, my heart. 

Number Two- Denki Kaminari and Kyoka Jiro

This one snuck up on me. Before the infamous chapter, I fancied the two; their interactions were fun and aesthetically they’re an interesting combo, but that scene? Kaminari looking into the distance as he thought of the person most important to him, and it was her? Fucking blastoff, man, right up here. I love them so much it hurts. I want nothing but good things for them. I’m crying. 

Number One- Shikamaru Nara and Temari

Ultimate OTP. I will ship them in Hell. The most well-written and nuanced relationship in Naruto and I will die on this hill. They are just such a combo, two dorks who know nothing about love but somehow bungle into it anyway. The looks. The words. The subtlety of blossoming feelings all beginning with mutual respect. Perfection. 100,000,000/10. 

Honorable mentions: Roy Mustang x Riza (FullMetal Alchemist), Sora x Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Uryu Ishida x Orihime Inoue (Bleach), Ichigo Kurosaki x Orihime Inoue (Bleach), Erza Scarlet x Jellal Hernandez (Fairy Tail), Ban x Elaine (The Seven Deadly Sins), Katsuki Bakugo x Ochako Uraraka (My Hero Academia), Izuku Midoriya x Ochako Uraraka (My Hero Academia), Shoto Todoroki x Momo Yaoyaorozu (My Hero Academia) 

[thegamercollective]

7 Best Star Wars Video Game Ideas

Star Wars! You know it, I know it. It’s pretty great, right? Whether it’s the attacking clones or the returning Jedi there’s something for everyone in the vast Star Wars universe. But when it comes to video games the property seems largely underserved; as we pass the halfway point of EA’s ten year deal with Disney the opportunity for big, exciting AAA Star Wars experiences feels squandered, with only a few mobile titles and two tepidly received Battlefront’s to show for it.

True, before the deal there were a number of excellent games from various developers like Knights Of The Old Republic and The Force Unleashed. But it would be great to see new titles with the same level of creativity with the technology and principles of the industry today. Twitch streaming equipment for beginners.

So without further ado, I present to you7 Best Star Wars Video Game Ideas!

7. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Extraordinaire BEST STAR WARS GAME IDEAS

This is a bit of a safe one, but for good reason. Borrow the open-space jet-setting elements of No Man’s Sky, Star Citizen and Beyond Good and Evil 2 with an emphasis on tracking down and eliminating bounties like in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or Assassin’s Creed and you’re in for one hell of a time! The original concept for Prey 2 was similar to this, with the player running around a Blade Runner-esque future city hunting down criminal aliens.

Of course, the concept of a specifically Star Wars Bounty Hunter game has been in development for a long, LONG time, what with the cancelled Star Wars 1313 back in the LucasArts days and what is currently in development at Visceral Games. Even if it isn’t the most original idea it’s still an exciting one with a bantha tank-load of potential. Pink gaming chair under 100.

6. Rome Total Star War BEST STAR WARS GAME IDEAS

The age of Real-Time Strategy games may have past its prime, but a handful of titles carry the torch for this corner of the galaxy. The Starcraft and Halo Wars franchises have elevated the genre from the days of Age Of Empires and – what do you know – past Star Wars RTS titles. Now would be the perfect time to return to that galaxy far, far away with a platoon of clones and a squadron of starfighters at your command.

This game could easily take cues from The Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth RTS series, with the huge roster of hero characters swimming around the Star Wars canon. If this game lets me deploy Max Rebo to stun my enemies with the dolcet sounds of his red ball jett organ, it’s got my preorder. Corner gaming desk with lights.

5. Something something womp rats BEST STAR WARS GAME IDEAS

Imagine, if you will, a free roam survival game set on an iconic Star Wars planet, in which you must battle the elements and fierce creatures to provide for your community. That’s right, I’m talking about Meerkat Manor: Tatooine Edition.

Few games throw you in the body of a wild creature to do what wild creatures do. Star Wars is full of weird animals, so what better universe to pick from? I can already picture myself sneaking around profogg burrows as a lone womp rat hunting for unsuspecting prey, or migrating through a sandstorm with a family of babies clinging to my belly.

Not that it couldn’t be any other species; imagine hunting with a pack of ewoks or flying with a flock of porgs. You can’t tell me this isn’t something you’d play.

4. Knights Of The Old Republic, Again BEST STAR WARS GAME IDEAS

Okay, maybe not specifically The Old Republic era but I’d love to see another Force-focused RPG in the Star Wars galaxy. The KOTOR games are some of the best RPGs around offering you the chance to explore your inner Force user, be you a benevolent Jedi Master or a ruthless Sith Lord. This classic formula with updated visuals and mechanics would be a sight to behold, and, if done by OG KOTOR developers and RPG specialists Bioware, it could be a major upswing for the downtrodden studio.

Jedi abilities could also be expanded in a more modern way; instead of jogging down hallways traversal could easily take cues from the likes of Prototype or Infamous. Combat could also take some inspiration from the Batman: Arkham series and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with combo-based saberplay mixed in with Force abilities and weapon items.

3. Galactic Podracing Championship BEST STAR WARS GAME IDEAS

Now THIS is podracing!

It might sound like a dumb idea, but imagine a deadly, high speed action racing game set on race tracks from all across the galaxy!

White knuckle chicanes through the ice caves of Hoth, glorious drifts along the beaches of Scarif, high octane dragging through the volcanic death traps of Mustafar or death-defying traffic dodging through the busy underworld of Coruscant. Throw in dynamic vehicle combat, environmental hazards and opportunities, forked paths and split-screen multiplayer and Disney would have themselves a grand prix winner.

Think of the possibilities! Be it Mario Kart arcade racing or Forza Horizon realism, this concept is nothing but supercharged, Force-injected, illegally energized podracer fuel ready to be shot straight through your visual sensors and into your brain!

Actually this game was made back in the Nintendo 64 days, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be reconceptualized for the modern gaming scene!

2. Mandalorian Warfighter BEST STAR WARS GAME IDEAS

For those of you who don’t regularly scour Wookieepedia, The Mandalorian Wars took place around 4000 years before A New Hope between the Galactic Republic and the warriors of Mandalor. The conflict had a significant impact upon the galaxy and has been directly referenced in both Star Wars Legends and official canon, so for it to feature in a new piece of Star Wars media isn’t completely out of the question.

Okay, history lesson over.

I would love to see this period tackled in the style of Ryse: Son of Rome, Brothers In Arms or Star Wars: Republic Commando, with a small squad of soldiers (either Mandalorian, Republic or Jedi) at your command. The added need to look after your men, making sure they’re fully stocked on weapons, ammunition and survival supplies, while helping them cope with the mental trauma of war (ala Darkest Dungeon) would add a much needed layer of emotional attachment. With brutal violence and decisions to make similar to those of Spec Ops: The Line I think this could be an extremely exciting title that would shed some canonical light on an era of Star Wars currently left to speculation.

1. For Honor, but Star Wars BEST STAR WARS GAME IDEAS

I think this one speaks for itself, but allow me to elaborate anyway.

The one big problem that I have with lightsaber combat in Star Wars games is that it never feels like you’re in as much control of your blade as a real Jedi. You’re either smashing an attack button to trigger pre-designed strikes and combos or prescribing a series of attacks from a list of abilities, just to watch them execute automatically. There’s so much room to elaborate on the various forms and styles of lightsaber combat with intuitive, malleable controls like those in Ubisoft’s For Honor.

Of course, I don’t just mean battle scenarios. A deep and interesting story about the Jedi and Sith with the significance of the lightsaber itself a thematic focus and some light RPG elements (character customization, a morality system and ability/lightsaber upgrades) would help tie the whole package together.

Imagine charging down a hillside battlefield as a powerful Sith Lord, lightsaber at the ready, when a Jedi Knight appears before you. As the battle rages on around you you analyse and deconstruct the enemy’s stance and form and change yours for to optimize your strategy. You hold your blade out, moving it to block the oncoming attacks waiting for the perfect time to strike. With bursts of lightning and other force abilities you bring your opponent to their knees and execute a brutal, glorious victory. In the words of Anakin Skywalker, “this is where the fun begins.”

[pokemoneverlastingorchard]

More Pokemon!

I’ve been revamping the rest of the BETA Pokemon that were cut completely while waiting to see if I get paid for not. I’m not going to use all of them but I will be revamping all of them to sell in a pack. (The pack will be fairly cheap since I’ll be using a lot of the sprites anyway.

I’ll have a separate post for Pokemon I’m not planning on implementing at all and why. I actually made it a while ago when I needed a distraction from something but I’m glad I didn’t post it because I changed my mind on some of them.

Most of these names are basically a combination of Japanese words considering that these were going to be in the game that was going to be all of Japan. I basically just did what the English translators does to name a lot of (if not most) Pokemon. (Japan probably did a lot of this too.)

Big list so

Uzugo, Flying (Uzura/Tamago, or quail/egg) and Utakigo, Flying/Fairy (Uzura/Tamago/G - Otobe kigo. Quail/egg/G-Clef... Or what translation it gave me when I looked up “G-Clef” for a translation.)

Inodoro, Ground (Inoshishi/Doro, or boar/mud)

Shiryurei, Ghost/Fairy. I grabbed the name from a combination of yokai, but I can’t remember which ones.

Batunde (”Bat” meaning boat in Norwegian. The second part came from a museum in Norway that I think had the skeleton of a plesiosaur? I can’t remember the name of it now though.)

Kowakuru Flying/Ghost (Kowai/Kurusu, or um... scare/crow.)

Komuno, Rock. (Nomikomu/Nodo, or swallow/throat. The name “gargoyle” comes from “gargouille,” or the French word for “gullet.”)

Tatsukono, Flying. (Haitatsu/Konotori, or delivery/stork)

Ikadoru, Water/Steel (Ika/Doriru, or uh... squid/drill)

Rabbi, Fairy. It kind of reminds me of the Rabite from the Mana series (probably because of the lack of arms) and I wanted to have a reference to that for this. (”Rabi” is the Japanese name)

Shelidos, Rock. TCRF says that it’s probably an early Cranidos. I wasn’t going to have it as that but I realized that if somebody bought a sprite with this in it they’d probably want it to be related to Cranidos. So I decided to make this a baby Pokemon to Cranidos. The “shel” comes from the eggshell theme it has. You  can only get this if you breed a Cranidos while it’s holding a rock incense. (If I did it correctly anyway.)

I did NOT want to figure out how to make this come out of the skull fossil instead!

Yorumi, Water/Steel (Yoroi/umi, or armor/sea) TCRF says that it may have connections with what I’m calling Batunde but I don’t see it.

Sato, Flying/water. It was actually named this. It was found in the “trash folder.” (Trash bin? Or did they just have a folder for trashed Pokemon that they didn’t actually trash?)

Quiddlefish and Shibirefugu. So my husband looked at the naval mine Pokemon when I was revamping it a while ago and said “it’s a Quiddlefish!” and I was like “okay sure.” And then the first one showed up in a different version of the demo, but it didn’t have a name. So I gave it the “Quiddlefish” name and I decided to give the naval mine Pokemon it’s name back. (At least for now.)

I already had Shibirefugu implemented, but this time I recolored it to actually have the colors of a Qwilfish and touched it up a little... I can see where I missed a spot right now but it’s a pain in the ass to do so.

This is going to be a line of Qwilfish evolutions, by the way.

Magukiu, flying/grass (Magatta/Kiui, or crooked/kiwi)

Zhourus, Rock/Ghost. So I did some research and I think this is based on the Qianzhousaurus. (It seems to have the most resemblance to that dinosaur anyway.) I’m thinking about having a special event for this one... Or like, you have to find the bones or something to get this, but they’ll be hidden. (I have a different idea but I think that’d be a pain in the ass to sprite since it’d be mostly, if not exclusively custom.)

Kachiyama, Fire/Fairy. The name comes from the Kachi-Kachi Yama story that this thing is based on. I wasn’t planning on having this in the game at first because I didn’t like how unnatural the fire was but I liked the idea of having a fire/fairy type.

Yatu. It’d be a middle evo between Natu and Xatu. I might make Xatu a bit stronger or something eventually just as a motivation to actually get to it... I’ll decide after revamping the BETA Xatu sprite and deciding rather or not I wanna make it a “delta.” (Probably flying/dark)

Pikabot. I wasn’t going to have this one since I’m pretty sure it inspired Togedemaru way later on and it’d just be another Pikachu clone, but while I was revamping it I kept on thinking about an event that I could make to give you this thing so I decided on having it in the game after all. I decided to make it very gimmicky, only knowing four moves and having strange stats.

Pokemon that I think I’ll implement in the future but I’m not quite sure yet so I won’t show off the revamped versions yet. 

I’d like to have this if I can come up with an event for this. (Maybe a roaming Pokemon so I don’t have to come up with a following icon for it?) I think it was based on a Shisa so I revamped it with that in mind. I was going to make this rock/ghost type but that’s mostly because that doesn’t exist as of Gen 8, but the combo makes a lot more sense for the skeleton dinosaur. 

It will at least be part rock because in mythology the shisa summoned a boulder from the fucking heavens to defeat a dragon! (Seen under “legend” in the Wiki.) Maybe Rock/Fairy because fairy types are usually used for Pokemon based on creatures in mythology.

I am disappointed that this isn’t actually a Pokemon... Yet.

[radiantresplendence]

The Case for Blue Mage Naminé

So, I was talking with @acclerated-railgun​ the other day and the topic of Naminé as a playable character or party member in Kingdom Hearts games post-KH3 came up, specifically in the context of what role she would fill. A classic Black or White Mage, as well as a Red Mage role were quickly put out as possibilities, but I landed in a much more interesting place after some thought: The Blue Mage. 

Consider a typical Blue Mage (using the official art from FFXIV for reference)...

Nobodies in Kingdom Hearts are based off of Final Fantasy character classes; it would stand to reason that Naminé would be no different. However, I think that the role a Blue Mage could fill would fit her character as well as a role that the characters thus far in the series are missing. In other words, it would ensure that Naminé maintains her motif of of quirks that set her apart from the rest of the cast without alienating herself as well as providing unique boons useful to the player or players. 

At its simplest, a Blue Mage is a wizard who specializes in replicating the otherwise exclusive arts that bosses or monsters can use. Most often, it’s called the Blue Mage, but occasionally the Final Fantasy series calls it something different like the Gun Mage or the Bravely games’ Vampire or Catmancer jobs. Either way, even if less prevalent than its red cousin, it’s still a classically-recurring class in the series. 

This fits Naminé due to her status as a “Special Nobody” and a “witch with power over Sora's memories and those around him.” Essentially, she’s all but guaranteed to have potent spellcasting abilities and she’s a unique specimen of the monsters of nothingness that make up a significant portion of the series’ enemies and bosses. Naminé having the ability to utilize the moves of some of her Nobody kin as well as possibly those of some of the other monsters in the setting shouldn’t be out of the question, as fundamentally she is one of those monsters, and an exceptional specimen among exceptional specimens of those creatures at that. After all, she is the Nobody of a Princess of Heart, something which shouldn’t normally be possible on top of being limited in the number of original selves who can even fit that criteria, not to mention the fact that she is a greater Nobody, able to keep a human form while most of her kind just turn into monsters subservient to their greater kin. 

Keeping in line with her unique memory witchcraft, a Blue Mage Naminé would have normally unique spells like White Wind for healing instead of a more typical Cure and Flamethrower instead of Fire. She could also use the Blue Mage’s Learn ability to replicate special (but not ultimate or desperation) moves from bosses or some of the other characters in the game. For example, she could learn Meteorain from Cloud, but not Omnislash or Riku’s multi-Dark Firaga move that he uses in KH2 and KH3. A more standard enemy attack that she could possibly make frequent use of would be Xemnas’s thorns of nothingness that he fires as projectiles. Think of them operating as a ranged basic attack, kind of like a slower-rate, piercing variant of arrowguns with a combo finisher that spawns multiple lines of thorns around whatever she’s targeting which collapse onto the target in an attempt to juggle it into the air or something. Or you could give her a keyblade, but I personally find that a little less appealing. Protect smile, keep best witch unique. (Maybe instead of a weapon have her equip different art sets that changes her mood and thus the manifestation of her powers. It’s a good idea, if a bit of an afterthought that I had while writing this.)

From a more general gameplay perspective, give her spells that inflict some of the weirder status effects that the series uses inconsistently, like blind, sleep, stunned, burned, poisoned, etc. Damage over time effects could scale based on percent of a full health bar and her level instead of base stats to keep her competitive casually, and the damage over time would function well in level 1 higher difficulty runs. (For example, a flamethrower spell would deal fire damage based on her magic stat and then burn for 1+[her level divided by 10] percent of a health bar rounded up per tick for so many seconds. Obviously this could be further refined, but a level 99 Naminé’s damage over time from a spell could chunk pretty considerably while a level 1 Naminé would be incentivized to keep her effect up at all times, because each instance would be like a quarter of a health bar or more in exchange for 1 spell.) 

To make her healing distinct as well, maybe give her a spell that provides slow healing over time like cura did in 358 Days/2 that could also provide temporary immunity to status conditions, with a possible downside being that she lacks something like a curaga that can revive downed allies and restore everyone to full HP in one spell. Or limit her healing to a more standard White Wind for multi target healing and status condition removal and Angel Whisper that gives moderate single target healing plus a temporary protection against dying like a Kupo Coin or raises a downed target with half health. White Wind could require a channel to cast and Angel Whisper could require being very close to the target for balancing as well as appropriate flavor. 

Now for the important bit, the redesign. 

Naminé has had the same design since her introduction: largely plain white dress, patterned trim at the hem and sandals. I think, to a point, her look is iconic, but does need an update. To emphasize her status as Blue Mage and connection to water, I would give her dress some baby blue trim, possibly with a gradient from white to blue. I’ve noticed that there aren’t many girls in the series wearing stockings, despite being a clearly anime-inspired game, so I’d consider a pair that is light grey or off-white to show that she originated as a creature of nothingness rather than light or dark. I’d give her grey boots to coincide with most of the other girls in the series having boots or moving from shoes to boots as the series progresses. 

I would also give her a blue jacket with black lining that she wears open, giving her more going on in the torso of her design to balance out the additions that I made to the lower part of her outfit. The goal would be to have the contrast between the black lining of the coat and the white of her dress catch the attention of the player. The general gradient of the outfit would go from bold and dynamic contrast up top to a more subtle color transition at the bottom. Generally speaking I’d aim to transition her image color from “white” to “white and blue” while making her design pop a little more.

For design changes of her head, I’d give her slightly longer hair and a bit more mature facial structure. Its been a year between the end of KH3 and Limitcut Episode, and she’s a teenager growing up in a RPG, so she’s grown out her hair with the intention of distancing her look from that reminiscent of Kairi. She is a different person from her original self after all and her look should assert that. Where Kairi’s KH3 look is over-the-top cute with a hint of a tomboyish aftertaste, I’d like Naminé‘s to be more distinctly feminine and cool with a conventionally Square Enix flavor. If more Kingdom Hearts characters wore hats, I’d even top it off with a navy blue witch’s hat. I go back and forth on that though, so maybe just in certain worlds conducive to headwear like Pirates of the Caribbean and Halloween Town. The series designs since KH1 have always had a bit of an overdesigned flavor, so I hope I mostly channeled that. 

Anyways... Naminé should really be a Blue Mage. I think it’d work really well and I really think that after how much of an afterthought she was in KH3 that she gets a little more respect in future games. Also I’d really like her to be a party member. It’d be really nice to see her actually be a member of the group with her friends in more than just the game’s ending cutscene. 

[elrondsscribe]

My developing feelings on Kataang. (Again, please no drama.)

Time to come clean.

I know I said I shipped Kataang … but I don’t. Not really.

Spoilers and stuff, by the way, plus criticism of Kataang (though not really of Aang or Katara as characters). 

Reminder that, as far as this post is concerned, the only ‘canon’ is Avatar: The Last Airbender;” no comics or Korra factors in here. And my sincere apologies to anyone who ships Kataang and thought I did too. Really, I’m sorry.

So yeah, I don’t ship Kataang, and it’s mostly for the reasons I mentioned before: the context of A:TLA (which is the only context I really have for these characters, I have no way to access the comics and I have no interest in them) shows me, on the one hand, a boy who struggles with the tendency to avoid/run away from issues rather than deal with them, and for whom dark emotions like anger have catastrophic consequences; and on the other hand, a girl with underlying abandonment issues and the tendency to overstate her own maturity, overdo the caregiver/scolding mom act, and withhold things to spare Aang’s feelings. This is NOT a functional combo!

I mean, other Kataang critics have already pointed this stuff out a hundred times, so I hardly need to strain my memory to come up with examples of Katara babying Aang and/or being dishonest with/about him in unhelpful ways (the Southern Air Temple incident; “It’s not his fault he disappeared!”; “Don’t boo at him!”; “Maybe a gentle nudge in the right direction!”; etc.). And yes, she mothers everyone in the Gaang, but she doesn’t treat them like children to the extent that she does Aang. Aang is also the youngest boy of the main cast, the only one actually younger than Katara, so I don’t see much chance of Katara ever really getting past the urge to coddle Aang. I know I said that a coupling where one partner sees the other as the child they must raise is “workable,” but what I meant is that it’s only workable if and when they get over that.

[Which, by the way, is part of the reason I ship Taang. Toph loves Aang in a much more honest, equitable way.]

And on the other side of this dynamic: Katara steps up to provide emotional support and care for Aang several times, but I can’t think of a single occasion on which Aang does the same. In fact, I think we can all think of an occasion during which he spectacularly failed to do so: during “The Southern Raiders,” where Aang in all his certainty tries to make Katara deal with a trauma he doesn’t understand and wasn’t asked about in a way he’s comfortable with. Obviously people disagree on how right Katara is to want the life of her mother’s killer, but that’s not what’s at issue here; what’s at issue is a fundamental mismatch in values between Aang and Katara at a key moment that doesn’t bode well for long-term Kataang. Even at the end of the episode, they’re not in sync: “Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing.”/“But I didn’t forgive him - I’ll never forgive him!”

Also, the maturity gap is not a non-issue here. We can natter away about “nature vs. nurture” (which, frankly, I think is a misleading discussion anyway, because isn’t the point of evolution that “nature” is just more generations’ worth of “nurture” anyway?), but the point remains that, for whatever reason, young girls typically mature more quickly than do young boys. Puberty, growth spurts, estrogen/testosterone distribution, prefrontal cortex development, whole nine yards. The point being, at this (extremely) early age, a 2-year age gap is a bigger gap in maturity between a younger boy and older girl than it is between a younger girl and older boy. And I can feel it: Aang in some ways looks to Katara like a mother, and doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with the way she cossets him. Not once does he express a sentiment like “I can lace my own boots without help, Katara!”

Aang and Katara are both good people - great people, whom I love! - and I have no doubt that they care about each other, but I don’t think Kataang works, and it definitely doesn’t work as presented.

And here’s the thing: Kataang doesn’t have to be endgame for the guardian angel/hope icon dynamic to work, because I think that’s kind of the vibe they’re going for. In fact, the “courtly love” angle would be helped by Kataang not being endgame. See, a lot of people misunderstand the point of “courtly love” in the old Arthurian-type romances and epics - “courtly love” is not supposed to be erotic/romantic, but based in idealization and inspiration (this was the sin of Lancelot). The knight goes off to war, determined to uphold Virtue, or whatever, as represented by the icon of his Lady. I think that Aang and Katara are, on some level, supposed to have this dynamic toward each other: it’s Katara’s voice that opens each episode with “I believe that Aang can save the world” and he looks up to her like - well, like a guardian angel. They both idealize each other quite a bit (sometimes even when the other’s flaws are staring them in the face).

And as you can see, courtly love is a bad dynamic for an actual relationship, because a key part of what makes functional relationships work is the emotional honesty to see yourself and your partner(s) as the people you really are.

So, TLDR: I don’t ship Kataang because I’m uncomfortable with the dynamics of a ship wherein an older girl with abandonment issues mollycoddles a younger boy who tends to avoid his problems and isn’t good at giving her emotional support. I also think Kataang hurts the dynamic of reciprocal “courtly love” that the show seems to be going for.

[ratac1d]

AFK Arena Tips, Tricks, and Heroes for the Abyssal Expedition

The Abyssal campaign was pretty fun. It was an entirely different occasion, with various procedures, groups, and managers. There was a great deal to take in, and every little thing about it was new to the point that not many had a smart thought of how to beat it until two or three days.

Luckily, that was the first. Like they evidently state about nurturing, it's just terrifying the first run through on the grounds that you don't have the foggiest idea what you're doing. Thus, we have the experience, and luckily, we'll have a genuine responsibility from all players (on the off chance that you do the precious stone enlistment thing), so this time it will be incredible.

Anyway, for what reason am I making this post? All things considered, there's a great deal of ground to cover in this occasion. It's a misuse of endurance to utilize your full LB meta group in a powerless spot, and luckily, you don't need to! Here are a few hints, stunts, and saints I'd recommend executing into your techniques:

1. Use as hardly any saints as conceivable in a battle.

In deep, there's an endurance meter for each saint. They start off with 60 energy and gain 4 consistently. Most fights require 12 energy from each legend required to begin, and you get some back by beating the stage with certain conditions. One star on the off chance that you beat it, a star if no one kicks the bucket in the fight, and a star on the off chance that you win inside 30 seconds of the beginning. Each star you acquire gives both of you energy back, which means you can net a deficiency of just six energy.

Be that as it may, here's an interesting point: you could utilize four legends in a fight to get three stars on a fight, or utilize one saint to two-star it (in the event that you win a performance, the base is two stars since you'd lose on the off chance that somebody kicked the bucket). Without a doubt, the four saints lose less energy independently, however you'll generally lose 24 energy, rather than losing 8 by soloing it. Particularly if it's a saint you wouldn't regularly use in a group comp in any case, it's very justified, despite any trouble to solo it at whatever point you can. (Except if it requires 3 legends to one star when you realize you can three-star with five, at that point it's a deficiency of 30 energy in any case.)

2. (modified) Have a solid list from the beginning.

A significant piece of this occasion is the honored embodiment. It tends to be utilized to purchase relics, which buff legends in various branches. (More on branches in another tip.) Blessed quintessence is obtained from taking out towns, towns, and urban communities. Notwithstanding, the underlying buffs from the tree (regarding HP, atk, def) presumably won't sufficiently be to quickly begin running your Elite+ and Legendary saints.

Accordingly, my recommendation is utilize your acceptable saints at a high rising except if A, they as of now work at lower climbs (Mehira for instance) or B, they're a manager executioner (like Cecilia or Saurus). At that point, when the branches begin arriving at lv 2 or 3 when the detail buffs make climbs practically inconsequential, you can begin turning out with the E+ young men.

Fundamentally, attempt to plan what saints you put in your list so you can limit energy use and augment results (grimy deeds done bargain basement, I needed to). You just get 10-25 saints relying upon your position, so pick shrewdly!

3. Construct your branches, particularly the ones you use.

Much the same as in the ordinary game, the Abyssal campaign has a tree, with branches that buff the saints in them. In contrast to the customary game, be that as it may, each branch is great (if you don't mind buff mage branch). You won't turn out badly in building any of them, so attempt to organize the branch you have numerous legends in, and on the off chance that you have any saints in it, buff the officer branch too (likely the best one of the five). In any case, you'll most likely need to overhaul each branch for journeys, and it's simply a smart thought to do that in any case. That is to say, it isn't so costly, so what do you need to lose?

4. Facilitate with the civilian army and construct common trust.

This occasion is certainly not an independent occasion. You'll presumably be separated from everyone else for the main day or two, however attempt to associate with different players as fast as could be expected under the circumstances. Since players that are associated can assault anyplace associated with a common like, your gathering will advance route quicker than if there were 70 lines made a beeline for the last chief.

On a comparative note, you'll likely need to collaborate with another person to take out your first towns and urban communities since they're so troublesome. Simply know that the individual who murders the last adversary involves the region that was all in all battled for, so make certain to inquire as to whether they need it before you kill it after another gathering was at that point attempting to take it. That is simply mean. Have the activity to help other people before they help you, it will pay off over the long haul since you'll have the option to rapidly trust everyone around you. I realize that seems like some sort of kindergarten educator stuff to state (no offense to any kindergarten instructors out there), however it's actual, it caused me out so much the last time and made the occasion more fun.

So those were the principle tips and deceives I needed to discuss, presently for some saints I utilized that were great:

Orthros Icon

1. Orthros–obviously they're revamping the tank branch (presumably in light of the number of individuals griped about Orthros), however I figured that on the off chance that you can't beat em, join em! He was truly tanky last time; even at L+, he was killing it! Likely in light of the fact that risings don't make a difference that much yet whatever.

Fundamentally, Orthros has an aloof capacity where he gets more max HP until he's at 150% of his base, at that point mends 3% of his HP consistently. That doesn't seem as though a great deal, yet since he has 1.5 occasions his maximum HP, it's more similar to 4.5% of his HP every second. The tank branch at that point expanded HP regen by half, which means he was mending practically 7% of his HP every second. That, alongside his ult, which let him recuperate even in halted time, made him practically unkillable except if you had silly blasted harm or Ferael/Oden. Talking about…

Oden Icon

2. Oden–another instance of "in the event that you can't beat em, join em." When he was on the foe side, he truly screwed with your group. He moves legends into one another, takes their energy, and does gigantic AoE harm, particularly when he gets his eyes opened.

Clearly, that implies you can gain by it by utilizing him in your group! Consolidate him with another AoE unit (like perhaps Skriath or… no not going to make reference to him), and you have a wombo combo, dynamic couple, um… torment train, energy pick up, Bruce Wayne. (what am I sayn'?)

Warek Ascended

3. Warek–so you think about mission Warek? Better believe it, he kinda sucks to battle against, and you know why. However, imagine a scenario where I revealed to you that he could do that for you.

Warek on your side with overhauled may is a beast. Envision him in the mission, yet about twice as great and can solo an adversary group with no issue (so fundamentally envision him twice as great, he could as of now devastate me). This Madlad can be utilized at any climb in view of the base detail buff, yet clearly, he will improve a SI and stuff. That is to say, you're presumably previously utilizing him for supervisor battles, you should mess around with him somewhere else.

Estrilda Ascended

4. Estrilda–she's likely the legend that is polished the third-most by the powerful tree. Where Warek was a unit, Estrilda is a super unit, with all the AoE she bargains and the existence siphon she gains from the tree. Once more, you're presumably utilizing her as of now, yet she can without much of a stretch performance battles on the off chance that you need to rapidly move to certain urban communities or a chief.

Rigby Icon

5. Rigby–(Quick aside here, I will let you folks realize that Rigby is my #1 legend in the game. I use him a great deal, so I know a ton about what he can do.) If saints like Warek and Estrilda picked up great buffs from the might branch, Rigby turns into a beast with it. Envision a saint with 90% harm decrease, more than 150 scurry, and huge loads of life siphon when he's at low HP. As far as I might be concerned, that is the meaning of OP, and you'll certainly observe it on the off chance that you use him. He can likewise harm supervisors, not exactly Saurus level yet at the same time strong generally speaking.

That is pretty much all I need to state on this. I will likely refresh this post as I experience the occasion for the subsequent time, regardless of whether to add more tips and deceives or to share some offbeat legends that my gathering has had accomplishment with. I trust this is a decent first guide, I plan on adding more here!

Read more about Abyssal Expedition here.