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deaku · 18 days ago

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Phantastic Memories

While working on dinner I was watching/listening to some videos on Youtube about the Phantasy Star series (specifically the classic games) and I remembered back to when I first played the games. Now I have an urge to write about those memories. Anyway… please pardon my ramblings as this will probably be very rambly. Also there will be spoilers.

Phantasy Star was one of those series I was aware of for a long time because I'd see ads and articles in various gaming magazines but never played because I didn't have access to a Sega system; I didn't own one and nearly everyone I knew were Nintendo people. From what I had seen in magazines and a few short times seeing a friend's older sibling playing PSII & PSIII I thought the Phantasy Star series looked pretty cool; although this was a bit before I got into RPGs so I wasn't rushing to play such games. The first Phantasy Star game I actually ever played was Phantasy Star IV. I didn't own a Sega of my own at this point I had a SNES then; though I had a friend with a Genesis and when there were games on the other system we wanted to play we'd swap systems for a while. And one of those time we exchanged systems was when I found PSIV at a local rental place and thought it was time I checked the series out firsthand. I thought it was an awesome game; nice graphics, great music, good battle system, and a story that pulled me in right away. It had a unique presentation with many cut-scenes being depicted with comic-like panels; giving it a more cinematic feel than many other rpgs of the time that depicted their cut-scenes with their usual in-game sprites. But something that really grabbed about the game, and the series in general, was the setting. The setting was a lot more sci-fi than many other similar games and that made it stand out to me. Sure it has the usual fantasy stuff like swords, magic and monsters, but it also has things like robots, lasers, spaceships and interplanetary travel. In PSIV specifically it's actually a bit post-apocalyptic due to events in one of the previous games, civilization is slowly recovering but it's obvious things were pretty bad because of what happened. I completed the game, but unfortunately I had no way to check out the rest of the series at the time because none of the local rental places had any of the other games nor did any of my friends. It'd actually be several years before I was able to check out and play the rest of the classic Phantasy Star series when I gained much greater access to the internet and I discovered emulation. Now I've played all four of the classic PS games; as well as reading about the history of the games, character backstories, as well as a good bit of fan fiction.

Now here's some thoughts and memories about the specific games.

Phantasy Star: The original way back on the Sega Master System, back in the starting days of console rpgs. Not only was the setting even more unique back then but it also had a heroine as the main character, an even greater rarity at the time. While Alis would fit right in the usual fantasy setting with her look and being a sword user some of the first things you see are some stormtrooper-like robotcops and you're near a spaceport, establishing that it's not going to be a typical fantasy world. I thought the game had a unique hook into the story. Alis wasn't out to save the world; sure she did end up saving the whole Algol system but she started her quest for revenge, to kill the man she considered responsible for the death of her brother. Even though I first played it so long after it came out I thought PS1 was still quite a good game and that it must have been outstanding when it first came out. You get interesting characters, including an animal companion that's a full party member instead of being basically an extension of another character or simply a mode of transport. Three planets to explore, both on foot and in vehicles. I think it has a great story for a game of its time and once you beat the evil king Lassic whose rule is responsible so much of the bad in the story you find that it's not over yet; you gotta face the ancient evil behind Lassic that appears to terrorize the Algol system every thousand years.

Phantasy Star II: Firstly I must admit that this is the only game of the classic series that I've never actually finished. I've actually started multiple times, but every time I'm only part way through when something comes up that eats up my free time for awhile or I get busy with something else. By the time I get back to the game I figure it's been so long that I'd better restart. However I've read about and watched enough videos to know the rest of the story. Anyway… PSII goes even further into the sci-fi side of things with tech-y looking cities, clone labs, bio-tech, more robots and not to mention a master computer running everything. I really liked the general aesthetic of PSII, it really caught my eye even when I just knew it from the ads and articles from game magazines. The game starts out with Rolf the government agent being sent out to investigate some odd happenings and things generally go wrong from there. By the end you've permanently lost a character, end up with one of the three planets of the Algol system destroyed, had to destroy the master computer Mother Brain since all the stuff that went down was under her direction, then you find out what's really behind everything. It's quite a ride through the whole game. Though something I always found odd was the way you gain new characters for your party. Rather than when you get to a new town and you have a story bit about meeting someone new, when you get to a new town you need to pop back to Rolf's place in the first town and then you find the new character waiting for you at home.

Phantasy Star III: Ah the black sheep of the classic Phantasy Star series. Upon a quick initial look much seems to have changed. The game starts with Prince Rhys getting ready to marry the mysterious Maia who washed up on the kingdom's shores one day with no memory. Everything seems to be a pretty standard fantasy kingdom with no signs of all the tech stuff from previous games. The wedding begins and then a dragon swoops down grabs Maia and flies off, so Rhys sets out to save her. Petty standard fantasy stuff really. But once you set off on the quest things start popping up that show things maybe aren't so far removed from previous games. At one point Rhys needs to take a boat but the captain doesn't ever set sail without a cyborg aboard, which leads you to tracking down the red-headed cyber Mieu. Then when you have to travel to a different land you need to go through a cave; entrance to the cave looks normal enough but when you get inside suddenly everything is metal and tech-looking. Turns out the game takes place on a generational spaceship, one of a fleet that blasted off before the planet that was lost in the last game went boom. While a lot is different from the other games in the series I did actually enjoy PSIII, and I gotta respect the ambition of making a multi-generational story in a console rpg back then. And not in a single storyline either; in the first and second generations once you complete the main quest you choose from two potential brides and proceed as the resulting child in the next generation, while the third generation is the last that's still four potential protagonists there for that generation. And depending on what path you take through the game you experience different events and meet different characters. Well except for your cyber friends Mieu & Wren, once you pick them up in the first generation they're with you always through all the generations. It would have been nice to have had more characterization and character interactions than what was there, but I can understand the tech limitations of the time put a limit on what they could do. Anyway, for those wondering I've been through and finished the whole game twice so far and gotten Sean's and Adan's endings.

Phantasy Star IV: I suppose I kinda already went over many of my thoughts on PSIV earlier in this. Like I said it's an awesome game, definitely one of the best of the 16-bit era. And an excellent finale for the classic series. PSIV is very story heavy when compared to previous installments; not only is the main story is a lost more detailed there are lots of character moments and interactions as well. It even has lots of links and shout-outs to the previous games in the series from talking about previous events to characters having links to those from the other games; though there good amount I missed the first play-through due to me having played PSIV first. But even not knowing much about the lore of the series at the time didn't prevent me from enjoying the game.

So to sum things up I think classic Phantasy Star games are quite an enjoyable series for games of the time. While certainly not perfect if you like old school rpgs they're definitely games to check out. Some stand out things about the games (at least to me)... The Setting: The sci-fi setting rather than just being a more standard fantasy; sure you can plenty of rpgs like this now but Phantasy Star was one of the progenitors. Plus the sci-fi stuff is right there in the setting from the start of the story as a current part of the civilization; rather then being something like tech from an ancient fallen civilization, used by invaders from somewhere else, or even just random techy things with no explanation. The Music: These games have some good music and there's some memorable tunes all throughout the games, I particularly enjoy the intro tunes. They do some clever stuff in PSIII too. Like the battle music changes depending on the situation; like an uplifting tune for when you're powerful enough that'll be an easy fight or something darker when there's a good chance the enemy might get you. Or like with the overworld tune it gets additions as you gain characters that builds up the music, and if anyone is knocked out the bit that goes with their party slot vanishes until they're revived. The Characters: The series has some interesting characters, though to get all the details you need to read some backstories since not everything gets revealed in the games themselves. The designs are good too, especially if you like an anime aesthetic. Very good enemy designs as well; ranging from cute to creepy to monstrous and threatening.

Okay I think I'd better stop my rambling here and maybe think about playing around with the series again. I actually have all the classic series in various forms now as parts of different collections. I even have Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe too, but those are perhaps discussions for another time.

Also if you would like to see some art I've done of some of the characters you here's a link over to my deviantart which has all the pics in one folder over here

#phantasy star #phantasy star ii #phantasy star iii #phantasy star iv #my ramblings #video games #sega games

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fisherpon · 2 years ago

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Tumblrpon Retrospective: 1-16/16 “The Shared History”

First and foremost, let me get this out of the way: I’m not leaving. This is not a goodbye message, this is marking the end of the Great Draft Dump with a look back upon my time in Tumblrpon. This will be a very long post, hence the pagebreak.

Comic sprites commissioned from @darkfiretaimatsu Final art commissioned from @askmovieslate Background vectors by BonesWolbach Editing by me

Credits for each drawblog are after the page cut.

A long time ago, I had a saying. “Ten days online is like a year IRL.” What I meant by that is that so much stuff happens online and so quickly that if you go away for a couple weeks and come back, things may look completely different. Just think of the addition of ‘blorbo’ to Tumblr vocabulary, for instance. My point is, on that measure, I’ve been a part of Tumblrpon for 408 Fyears (Fandom years). Considering the oldest trace of Tumblrpon we could find is 415 Fyears old and the show itself is 438 Fyears old, it’s safe to say I’ve been around for a while. And, like any old dragon, I've lived through a lot and got some stories to tell.

The Beginning

When I started, Tumblrpon was small, but vibrant. There were drawblogs, indeed; the First, Applebloom; the Drunkard, Berry Pnuch; the Musician; Octavia, and surely others I have forgotten. In these very early days, Tumblrpon was mostly roleplayers. Among them, the Second Queens, the Lawlicorn Diarchy. This was the age of magic anons, of KA-THINGY spells and the invention of the word ‘ponification’. Aside from the drawblogs, here I have remembered some of the more prominent roleplayers of the era, many of whom were, and are, my dear friends. Many of them are still roleplaying in the depths of Tumblrpon, long since overshadowed by drawblogs. I still think they’re the core of Tumblrpon, though; more on that later.

Eventually, however, one drawblog would appear that would change everything. Easily the most influential Tumblrpon drawblog of all time, and perhaps the most deserving of the title Queen of Tumblrpon. The Third Queen, Pinkamena. Before her entry, grimdark elements like Cupcakes and Scootabuse were frowned upon, even hated. Pinkamena rose up and destroyed that barrier. She was by far the best-drawn drawblog up to that point, and pulled no punches when it came to blood and gore. And in doing this, she became famous outside of Tumblrpon. Her art spread to Ponibooru and other pony outlets online, and seeing what she was doing here brought many, many, many other artists to Tumblrpon. She arrived 3 days before me, and within a year of her arrival there would be hundreds of drawblogs. Her presence was brief, but her influence ever-lasting. This was the beginning of our finest era.

The Golden Age

Over the next few years, Tumblrpon thrived. This was also the golden era of the fandom as a whole, the period from Season 2 to roughly 6 or 7. With every new episode, drawblogs would pop up out of the woodwork. With each new character, multiple drawblogs would appear, often with variants. Tumblrpon-wide memes happened; Misty’s Hoodie, Rainbow Chubbie, Yellow vs Blue Pegasi, Ghost Trixie’s Memorial and the Somboom were but a few of them. Collab drawblogs appeared that were simply ‘put all the drawblogs of this one character in the same house’. I went to my first Bronycon (thanks to a charity drive by my Tumblrpon artist friends) and was part of the first of many Tumblrpon panels, through which we brought even more artists into our community. In the midst of all this, I jokingly called Raikissu the Queen of Tumblrpon, and it ended up turning into a massive injoke among our group of friends (which, because it included a lot of influential drawblogs, turned it into a Tumblrpon-wide injoke). They're the only one who really got to experience that title, making them the Fourth Queen. They were also the last, since eventually people didn’t realize it was a joke and started getting uptight at them about it.

As for me, running Fisherpon was a lot of work. I had separate categories of tags that I would search through, some daily, some weekly, some monthly and some yearly, and I would fully tag and put everything into the queue. I had to make a second Tumblr account and move Fisherpon to a secondary blog so I could bypass the 300/day post limit to handle all the content! But it was too much, and eventually I burnt out. I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but I think it was sometime in 2016. After that point, I stopped trawling the tags as much. I was following most of Tumblrpon (often running into the following limit of 5000 blogs), and through them I often saw new drawblogs (which I reblogged) and good pony art (which I tossed into the drafts, for when I’d eventually get around to processing it). Most of my blog’s activity turned into liveblogging new episodes, and Tumblrpon itself left its growth phase and plateaued.

Bit of a side note: In early 2017, a very dear member of the community passed away. He’d been there since the beginning, had one of the most unique ‘draw’ blogs, and was a close friend to a lot of us. Despite not liking alcohol myself, I still raise a toast in his honor on every anniversary of his passing. I still miss you, Rusty. You wise old bastard.

Anyhow, on to the most prominent event in Tumblr’s history:

The Purge

When the news dropped, I was travelling abroad in Korea so I wasn’t watching Tumblrpon closely. However, when all my Discord groups exploded, it was pretty hard to ignore. I feared that it would be the end of Tumblrpon as a whole, and wrote a dissertation about Tumblrpon’s history and my memories from the site. That goes into more detail on my origin story, if you’re interested in that.

And, as I expected, it did a lot of damage. Many drawblogs that were already on hiatus used it to justify finally ending their blogs, and a lot of ones that were active found themselves struck out of the sky by a stupid bot that couldn’t recognize boobs if it motorboated them. Tumblr gained a reputation as being unfriendly to artists, especially for those grimdark and risque artists Pinkamena had attracted to Tumblrpon in the first place. I’ve heard that roughly 30% of the site’s users left entirely, and in no place was it more obvious than my dashboard. Despite following thousands of accounts, there were and are days where I catch up on my dashboard to where I was the previous day and have to wait for new posts to appear. That would never have happened back in the Golden Age. Tumblrpon had already been slowly declining, but watching Tumblr shoot its foot off and strangle Tumblrpon (among other fandoms) was very depressing and radicalizing.

However, despite the purge, Tumblrpon lived on. There was talk of migrating to Pillowfort, NewTumbl or Mastodon, but they never caught on well enough to seriously shift the userbase. Despite everything, some new drawblogs popped up, and some of the old drawblogs that survived the purge kept on ticking and gained new prominence (or were simply no longer overshadowed) among the ruins. Things clearly would never be the same, and yet not everything had been lost. It was reassuring, in a way.

Meanwhile, outside of Tumblr, another great star was nearing the end of its life. The show itself, our source of fuel. It whose whims had given birth to thousands of drawblogs during the Golden Age, and whose fancies had caused no end of trouble for drawblogs whose canon counterparts went through big changes (cough Twilicorn cough). Nothing can last forever, and Season 9 would be the last season. Generation 5 was still at least a couple years away, so I decided to finally lower my standards and bring myself to post pony art without proper tags. I know, it sounds silly now, but I took great pride in my post organization and it took a lot of willpower to override that. I made a post telling people about my plans for the Great Draft Dump and started posting again, dripfeeding Tumblrpon with a post (almost) every hour from my reserves.

The Present

And now, here we are. A year past my original ending estimation and a couple weeks short of 3 years since it began. I could have pushed it to 3 years, but today is also the 12th anniversary of the very first episode that started it all so I figured this would be a better ending point.

Tumblrpon is still recovering from the Purge. They’ve dialed back the bot, and that combined with Twitter imploding (or something?) has helped bring artists back to some degree (or perhaps it’s due to COVID stuffing everyone inside), but there’s still a long way to go. We have new horse content again, and while it doesn’t seem to have the same spark G4 had it has breathed some new life into the fandom which is nice to see. There’s even been a handful of G5 drawblogs that have appeared, even though we still don’t seem to have any for Zipp or Hitch which is weird (especially in comparison to the dozens of drawblogs each Mane 6 member had back in the day). And yet, I’m still reminded of times long past. With most of the drawblogs gone, a lot of the activity on my dash is made of roleplayers once again. They’re not the same roleplayers as back in Oldest Tumblrpon, of course, but I feel as long as they continue roleplaying and interacting with each other Tumblrpon will never truly die.

And that is my history lesson. They may not be aware of it, but the new generation of drawblogs and roleplayers carry on a 415-Fyear-old legacy, part of which I’ve included in this comic. Just as we were Tumblrpon, so are you. To every blogger who ever drew a pony answering a question, and to every roleplayer who by interacting with others helped knit Tumblrpon together, I am deeply grateful. Undoubtedly, in the making of this comic I’ve forgotten ponies who should have been included, and to those I deeply apologize as well.

As for me? I’ll still be here. Ever-watching, ever-promoting, though perhaps not as much as I used to. The tanks are dry now, and everything I post will be from the present rather than the past. I’ll probably just toss it all into the queue and have it post whatever it gets a few times a day. Thanks to Tumblrpon, I gained a lot of horse friends, and it’s always great fun meeting up with them at conventions or hanging out with them in my personal Discord server (the Tumblrpon Block Party). If you made it all the way to the end of my tale and you want an invite to it, or if you have a new drawblog you want me to promote, or if you just want to chat, feel free to message me. After all, like I said at the beginning:

I’m not leaving.

Blogs featured in the comic (Queens bolded): Again, if I forgot you, my apologies. My memory’s far from perfect and there’s only so much space on the billboard.

Beginning (Panel 2): @askapplebloom-blog (archive of the original one) @vindicarthehippogriff @faithful-student @rainbowdash-answers @askberrypnuch @askrustynail (RIP. Survived by @techmomma) @askoctavia @ask-reginald-dragon @asklyra @queenfrau @draggity @ask-nightmaremoon @mythic-swirl @trollestiaanswers-blog-blog @stilllunaanswers

Early Golden Age (Panel 3): @askpinkaminadianepie @askmlcblobs @ask-doctorcolgate @ask-sadistic-rarity @ask-dr-adorable @thetalesofwildcard @askterry @asklittlepip @askhotbloodedpinkie @ask-misty-wonderbolt-blog-blog @raindropsanswers @ask-sapphire-eye-rarity @askprincessmolestia @askcharliefoxtrot @junes-pony @askfluttershyandpinkiepie @spittfire @asksirlintalot @ask-glittershell @ponyhawkesho @askdeadrainbowdash @askpiratedash @askvelvet @askstonedtrixie @asksurprisearchive (archive of the original one) @ask-jappleack @askspirit @sweetiebotreplies @askthenightguards @ask-grimdark-bigmac @askpalette-swap @just-flutterguy-replies @susie-queen-of-the-vampireponies @seaponyluna @askbadbloom @askmeaniebelle @ask-scootabot (sequel to the original)

Late Golden Age (Panel 5-7): @raikissu @vocationaldeathcruise (Somehow, this is still up) @askstalkerloo @asklaura-and-naki @outofworkderpy @ask-dinky-dawberry-doo @ask-doctor-dimension @ask-cyberpunkspitfire @ask-thaumaturge-pony @luna-afterdark @ask-dolly @askmovieslate @cmcnext @thehorsewife @askflufflepuff @questionpinkamena @lilmissrarity @fiddlesticks-archives-blog @darkfiretaimatsu @askfirestarterspitfire @fristart @under-renewal (Ask the CMC) @ask-acepony @pinkiepiesolutions @askshinytheslime @reversal-mushroom @askpun @askloona @ask-de-writer @askresearchertwilight @ask-king-sombra (Somboom reflected in window) @ask-fillytwilight (has since been taken over by a russian pornbot) @ask-ikea-pony @askbananapie @askseriousrainbow @motherlyscootaloo @butters-the-alicorn @thecoopontlc (the first collab drawblog) @ask-canterlot-musicians

Post-Purge (Panel 11): @rainbowdashsmailbagthings @thelunararmy @aerialaim @whirlwindflux @ask-louvely @unlocktheaskblog @adorkabletwilightandfriends @askburningstream @glimglamandpals

Now (Panel 13): @askalbinopie (Fellow Keeper of the Past, except that they also have the art skills to do it justice. If Rai hadn’t abdicated and killed off the Queen system, I’d prolly make Alby the 5th for their art skills and their understanding of our history.) @askjetstream @questionthedoctor @twila-bloggin @ask-izzy-moonbow @askquartzandcord @askdrunktwilight @darkreplies @sunny-and-sparkle @ask-narratordoe @ask-pippamena (What did I say earlier? Pinkamena’s legacy lives on.) @asklostcelestia @a-spoonful-o-generosity @askcharmingshadow @ask-shutter-ghost Here’s a funky fact for those of you who came alllllll the way down here. In late 2011/early 2012, right when Tumblrpon started expanding, there was a lot of Homestuck on my dash as it was still updating at the time. Because of that, I have approximate knowledge of many parts of the mid-to-late part of Homestuck, and also because of it I considered opening up a second Fisher blog for Homestuck material. Fisherstuck. Who knows how things would be today had I done that? Who knows....

#fisher #fisherpon #tumblrpon #my little pony #mlp #drawblog #detailed #very detailed #epic #beautiful #wallpaper #magnificent #masterpiece #ngl james drew me kinda swole #not that I'm complaining #tumblrpon retrospective

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spectacledraws · 2 years ago

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i like to think that if the college gang ever went in the dark world near the end before the fountain the chapters secret boss would kidnap Gaster (because ut gaster did something to ruin their life like in deltarune) and then they either save him and fight a secreat boss or just close the fountain and he wakes up with injury's and go "welp bye" and then goes scold ut gaster for a few minutes for messing with people

(also weird route will be ut gaster seeing if its possible to puppeteer Chara like we do to kris and then decides to do some mess up shit but in the end, he just resets ( i think he can do that based on the everyman comic) also it gets progressively worse like chapter 1 pranks taken to far (mortaly inguring people then say its just a prank) probably breaks Asriel's arms then asks him "you need a hand" and does something to Gaster so he falls apart like humpty dumpy then just sings humpty dumpy wearing a knight suit to in chapter 7 undertale genocide with chara and gaster as the final boss also charas remember so things like this happen

asriel: "hey Chara my saber got an upgrade it can shoot out stars now"

chara: (remembering dying to the saber so many times in weird route)

chara: traumatic war flashback

also, for darworld locations

chapter 1: physic class (there tired of people hating the subject and are now fighting back) also probably some dictatorship of the teacher desk being on top with students' belongings being the low class,some gravity mechanics,puzzles being physic equations,secreat boss being some art picture that asriel or frisk drew and forgot about which was hated on by everyone in the physic darkworld who was told that with a soul you can go to a place where you will be appreciated, probably when Gaster actually started to bond with kris/asriel,ends with deltarune gaster telling them about ut gaster

(not going in depth for the rest of these)

chapter 2: art class probably the opposite of the art boss which this one being physic homework who was hated,probally very abstruce,so sorry as another perso who entered it

chapter 3: film class: hollywood,burger pants was video calling someone in there and now the phone became sentient and burgpant can controlly it (with some stuff about becoming an lackey actor)

chapter 4: history class: literly all of history together like cowboys and dinosaurs talking,gerson whos darkworld costumes a corpes for some reason,asriel keep getting headache talking to him

chapter 5: "papryus giant fun house to keep people happy at colloge": proud dadster,snowdin puzzle,papryus there,alot of things in it are alive,the puzzle revolution is coming,they think papryus is a dictator (hes not),ends with him going to hometown to "watch out for things for gaster"

chapter 6: computer lab; its just undertale but with them,toby fox as extre party member,secreat boss is flowey "asriels oc"

chapter 7: gasters secret lab things: extre party member ut gaster?, yeah darkworld can bring people back from the dead,also undertale charas here to,everyones confuse,almagmets because gaster was expirementing with ai art (asriels ashamed of him),scrapped undertale contents here to because gaster not the only thing that came from this,ferdors papryus is there,ends with them learning there an au and then fighting you then ends with them crashing the game and gaining free will,and the credits are asriel and chara going to hometown and meeting kris who did whetvers happening in deltarune and you can't do anything anymore unless you edit the code

and thats it hope you enjoyed it (oh also lots of character devolment happens between chara's hate for humanity,asriel need to be perfect,and gasters lonelyness)

(also can people use the sprites for fanfic like the storyshift fic Storyshift Reboot: The Write Up - Chapter 1 - VoltraTheLively - Undertale (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own])

WOW thank you for writing the whole plot for me!! /j!!! but seriously I really love this omg. VERY COOL how you’ve thought this out and tbh some of it is pretty in line with some of my own ideas hehe!! this is hilarious and rly creative

#ask #college au #DANG this is so interesting haha I’m so glad you like it enough to think this stuff up!!#lmaooo really makes me want a fangame now

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thatdarnblogagain · 3 years ago

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The Eternals - An honest and Unbiased Review

Let me preface this by saying a few things. I am a huge comic book fan but despite that can not say The Eternals was ever a series that was on my radar. So my knowledge of the characters is minimal. I however saw the trailers and was immediately excited, telling a close friend, “I have to watch this!” to which he replied, “We have not even watched Shang Chi yet!”.

Finally before I get to my thoughts on the film, I have seen the mixed reviews of the film which has prompted me to not just create this post but return to blogging. You will see why in future posts.

Let’s get to the review!

Simply put, I enjoyed this movie but that is not enough to validate you watching it or forming an opinion on it from this article. So let me break it down.

The Characters:

(Everyone does a decent to good job in their roles.)

The movie has a sprawling cast of characters who are all rather unique in their appearances, personalities and powers. So pretty much like a super team! But what makes the Eternals stand out is that unlike most origin movies, this team starts out like just that, a team. They have spent centuries together and for the most part are such a family that when a possible tragedy befalls them, they come back together like any family would.

All the actors for the Eternals do good to great jobs with my favorites being the speedster Makkari, the Bulwark that is Gilgamesh and the goddess of war, Thena. The latter two had an amazing subplot that makes you question just what will happen with Thena especially. The film does not show a team coming together for the first time, but a team coming together and seeing if they can overcome their personal issues with themselves or each other. Phastos and Sprite had their own smaller stories that were tragic, showing why they did certain things for the people they loved.

Did all the characters get totally fleshed out? No! Did you get to see a side of them that tells you something about them and that you can understand their motivations? Yes! Every Eternal is given a reason for why they do what they do.

The Powers:

(Makkari races away with how many scenes she steals in the movie.)

This movie had a more muted approach to certain character types. We are accustomed to the big brute of the group running rampant and having bombastic displays of his or her power but that was not the case in the film. The standouts for power displays were Makkari and Sersi for me. We have all seen the badass warrior woman archetype that is Thena and she does it well in the film. We have seen the superman type that is Ikaris who, while I enjoyed, did not break the mold with anything new but he did it better than you would think. Gilgamesh perhaps was the weakest for me in terms of his powers on display because he as the powerhouse of the group did not really get a chance to truly show it in a grand ‘THIS IS MY MOMENT’ scene.

Makkari however, stole the show. Everytime she used her power was just fantastic. In the final battle she was easily the MVP for just how she used her speed which was not another slow time down moment. No, she went in the other direction of, “I’m fast as ****boy!”. Sersi on the other hand was different. Her powers were akin to Thanos (in Infinity War), Dr.Strange or Scarlet Witch but there are moments where you just have to pause and realize what she just did on screen such as literally transmuting something living into a tree. Sure it is not EXPLOSIONS! but that was fine for me.

The Story:

(This scene above has so much depth to it, brief as it was.)

“Oh no a museum!” My friend said when we are brought to the present day of the first act. I laughed at that because he was calling back to our time watching Wonder Woman 1984 which was to put nicely, not a great time. I have seen several reviews saying the story is slow paced and boring or they did not like the flashbacks or the history lessons. I can not understand this.

The movie indeed jumps through time, showing you the Eternals’ Influence on the world and how it was shaped by them through the ages. Just look at the names and you will see the influences, such as Ikaris being the inspiration for the story of Icarus and Thena being the inspiration for Athena. It is a nice pseudo history lesson, that does not beat you over the head but does a good job of informing you of what these characters were up to as they spend centuries on the planet.

However! The film is not a straight laced, predictable romp. For me at least. No it has twists and some are gut wrenching. It gets quite dark in spots and while there is humor it is quite restrained and does not detract from those serious moments. You can say the entire last act is void of comedy save for a great moment between Druig, Sprite and a rock. There is more I want to say but I will leave that for other articles. The story is a great origin story in my opinion and while it has plot holes in certain spots it is by far an easy to understand tale.

The Cinematography and CG:

(Gorgeous cinematography is abundant in this film)

Apparently this movie is being lambasted for its CG and it is odd because the CG in this film are some of the better offerings from the MCU. The powers, outfits and sets all look very real. The Celestials are shown in such grand scale you can only sit in silence as they speak. Makkari’s display of her powers is downright some of the best CG I have seen but it is Phastos and his constructs that are a feast for the eyes.

(You wanna hold these planet sized hands? Square up!)

The film visits numerous settings which I will not spoil but they are all gorgeous to behold with CG locations looking quite realistic. The one scene that may be jarring is when Sersi has the truth revealed to her. But seriously, there is a scene where Ikaris and Sersi embrace that is breathtaking thanks to the backdrop! One spoiler here to drive the point across. They show the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and all I could think was, this is is amazing!

The Villains:

(The villain is there somewhere...squint!)

It’s sort of like the Kree and the Skrulls in Captain Marvel! But here there are really no clear cut villains in the movie because as it carries on to the third act you see a revenge story, that can be totally understood. Seriously once things are revealed you understand that much like the Eternals and Jon Snow, that you know nothing. That said the Deviants are perhaps the weakest part of the film for me. The main one, Kro does not have much speaking scenes and even when he shows up for the final battle, he does not have that aura too him like you expect of a villain out for revenge. Is he a threat? Oh most definitely as the film demonstrates quite a bit. You even get scared when he gets his hand on several of the Eternals in the final act but even so he joins the list of ‘meh’ marvel villains. The villains in this movie are simply there to pose a threat and get in the way of the Eternals, nothing more.

The bottom line:

Director Chloe Zhao and her crew need to take a bow despite what the ‘critics’ and others are saying, this movie was a well done movie and something I will gladly watch again or add to my movie library. It has flaws but it has strengths. If you come into this film wanting high octane action like say Endgame’s final battle or even the Avengers first outing’s final action piece you will be disappointed. But that is not what the movie is going for. It feels like Zhao held her cards close to her chest and did not want to reveal just how powerful these characters could be just yet. This makes me hope and pray that this movie not only gets a sequel but that the characters get a chance to interact with the larger MCU as they all deserve it. This movie is an easy recommendation for those looking for a more thoughtful and controlled superhero experience, focusing on the story instead of spectacle.

PROS:

.Great cast.

.Good story.

.Great cinematography.

.Decent to good fight scenes.

CONS:

.Some characters do not get enough screen time.

.Weak ‘villain’ presence.

#the eternals #Marvel Comics #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #mcu #chloe zhao #review #honest #honest review #ikaris #makkari #gilgamesh #thenativeshour #kingo #druig oneshot #sprite #the celestials

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gthreepio · 4 years ago

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i’ve been thinking about the future of the mcu and realized there’s a LOT that i didn’t know/didn’t remember in terms of where things are going so i figured i’d sum it up incase anyone else was in the same boat!!

quick recap of (unresolved) mid-credit scenes:

doctor strange: mordo (a sorcerer that is one of strange’s mentors, who by the end of the movie becomes disillusioned with magic/the ancient one and quits) confronts pangborn (the paraplegic who healed himself with the mystic arts, who tells strange about mystic arts in the first place) and steals his magic because according to mordo, there are “too many sorcerers." of note, this guy is typically a villain in the comics but hasn’t been thus far...

gotg2: ayesha (leader of the sovereign, a golden skinned alien race obsessed with genetic purity), after spending most of the movie chasing the guardians for stealing some stuff, is revealed to have created an artificial being named “adam” which is presumably, adam warlock. (other stuff that is less relevant: kraglin appears to take up yondu’s mantle; the ravagers regroup and several old and obscure comic book characters are introduced [charlie-27, aleta, martinex, mainframe]; the watchers are watching things.)

far from home: j jonah jameson basically tells the whole world spider-man’s secret identity, and frames him for what happened with mysterio....making him public enemy #1. ALSO, turns out nick fury and maria hill in the movie were ACTUALLY the two skrulls from captain marvel (talos and soren) attempting to do their job, while the real fury (and presumably hill) is ... up in space on some spaceship!!!

wandavision: monica (who we can assume is photon) is called by “an old friend of [her] mother’s,” up in space, which presumably means fury, talos, or carol. ALSO, wanda sits in the middle of nowhere reading the darkhold and hears the voices of her children who.. by all accounts, should not exist.

aaaaand what we know about future movies (i’m not even going into the tv series.....):

black widow:

takes place after civil war

nat confronts a “dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past,” likely has to do with taskmaster who has apparently taken over the red room where nat was trained as an assassin

prominent new characters: yelena belova, who will take over the mantle of black widow after this; alexei shostakov aka red guardian, an ollllld marvel hero analogous to captain america except for the soviet union.

tony stark will make an appearance... SOBS

shang-chi and the legend of the ten rings:

shang-chi has never been seen in the mcu before, but he is, essentially, a superhero that is a master martial artist, and in some adaptations can also create duplicate (fake) versions of himself to confuse opponents

main villain will be the the mandarin who we have *sort of* seen before... he is the leader of a terrorist organization called “ten rings” whose main goal is to destroy world peace. brief history -- in iron man 1: one ten rings cell kidnaps tony stark and tries to force him to make weapons (he of course, makes his suit instead). stark and ten rings become enemies and fight a bunch. nat and nick fury fight them too. in iron man 3, the villain aldrich killian hires a dude to pretend to be the mandarin and claim responsibility for a bunch of stuff, but its not the ten rings or the mandarin at all. this makes the mandarin v mad and he has a dude kidnap the faker to punish him. they also briefly show up in ant-man, when a ten rings agent tries to buy the yellowjacket suit that darren cross is selling. BUT IN SHANG-CHI....... looks like we are FINALLY going to see the real mandarin after over a decade!!

the villain razor fist will also show up, he is lesser known... he has no superhuman powers but he has surgically replaced his hands (1 or 2, depending on the version) with a steel blade, and is highly skilled at hand to hand combat.

besides the presence of these characters, the only bit of plot we know is “shang-chi is drawn into the ten rings organization and forced to confront his past.” so... yeah. we don’t know much at all.

eternals:

quick explanation: the eternals are an immortal alien race who have been secretly living on earth for thousands of years. they were created by the celestials, who are most prominently in gotg2.

more entirely new characters!!! their names are: thena, who can form any weapon out of cosmic energy; gilgamesh, who can make a super strong exoskeleton out of cosmic energy; ikaris, who has superhuman strength, flies, and can project cosmic energy out his eyes; kingo, who can shoot cosmic energy projectiles from his hands; makkari, who creates sonic booms, has super speed, and is deaf; phastos, who has enhanced intelligence, and is also gay (and married with a kid!); ajak, who has healing powers; sprite, who can project illusions; sersi, who can manipulate matter; druig, who can mind control; and dane whitman (black knight), a human with a mystical sword.

regarding the plot... it seems the eternals have kind of dispersed, but have to come together again to fight the deviants, who are their “evil counterparts” (also created by the celestials, though i’m unclear on why). thena and gilgamesh have apparently been in exile, unclear why; sersi, who is posing as a museum curator, has apparently been in love with ikaris for centuries and it seems as if their love story may be central to the film; and kingo is a bollywood film star in his spare time. aaaaand that’s pretty much all we know.

directed by chloé zhao of nomadland fame!

spider-man no way home:

based on the post-credits scene in far from home, peter parker will now be known as spider-man to everyone. unclear if he’s going to be seen as a bad guy due to mysterio framing him, but i guess we’ll see!

jamie foxx is electro, and alfred molina is doctor octopus; which is VERY interesting considering they played these roles in other spider-man franchises, once again stirring up excitement for possible multiverse.

there have been *multiple* reports that andrew garfield, kirsten dunst, tobey maguire, and emma stone will be in the movie but tom holland has repeatedly denied this... so... who knows.

there are also rumors that matt murdock / daredevil (from netflix) will be in several scenes! not confirmed though.

MJ is still his girlfriend and i hope it stays that way!!

doctor strange will be featured in the movie, taking on the mentor role now that tony stark is gone :( this will be interesting as i.. haven’t really seen them interact much before. because of this inclusion some people speculate that the film may draw inspo from some comic storylines where peter’s secret identity is restored with magic.

doctor strange in the multiverse of madness:

scarlet witch is essentially co-starring!!! it’s going to be really interesting to see if they bring vision or the twins into this at all, though i’m not counting on it.

seems like mordo will be the main villain -- recall the ds1 post credits scene where he is apparently running around trying to steal people’s magic.

america chavez will make her debut!!!!!! i have no idea how this plays into anything but i am so excited!!

regarding the plot, all we really know is that strange has been researching the time stone, mordo messes with him, and this results in him accidentally unleashing “unspeakable evil.” presumably there will also be heavy involvement of the multiverse, and who knows what kind of craziness that will bring!!

initially was going to be directed by scott derrickson who did ds1; however he stepped down to being just EP due to “creative differences.” i am presuming this is because derrickson really wanted to make this more gothic and horror than disney was comfortable with. i REALLY hope they keep some of those elements though and don’t erase the idea entirely! anyway, it will be directed by sam raimi now (of evil dead and spiderman 2002 fame).

the film also reportedly ties in with the loki series (will loki show up!?) and spiderman 3 (which is obvious enough, given that strange is in that movie and those curious electro and doctor octopus castings...)

thor: love and thunder

directed by taika waititi again, hell yeah!!! and he has stated, the film will be “so over the top now in the very best way" and would make ragnarok look like a "run of the mill, very safe film" .... so.... oh god

so many great returning players!!! including.... valkyrie (now the king of new asgard), jane foster, lady sif, korg, star-lord, mantis, drax, nebula, and kraglin (takes up yondu’s mantle after he dies in gotg2)

in this movie, thor isn’t thor anymore.... it’s JANE!!! she gets cancer :( and is undergoing treatment while simultaneously being thor. i’m a little nervous how this will be handled, but i’m excited. (it’s based off an amazing comic series by jason aaron)

the big bad: gorr the god butcher, played by christian bale! the gist of it is, this dude HATES gods because nobody helped when his family was dying and in need. his weapon is “all-black the necrosword,” forged from the head of a celestial, and allows the user to create wings and fly at extreme speeds. honestly, he sounds cool as fuck.

valkyrie is going to be made canonically bisexual!!!

it will explore more of korg’s backstory, and also include... space sharks!?!?! an alien race from the comics.

taika has called the script “very romantic” so take that as you will

black panther 2

will again be directed by ryan coogler

not much is known at this point, does not have an official name

t’challa will NOT be recast (which i’m happy about) so..... honestly no idea what to expect for this one. i think we can probably expect shuri to have an expanded role. all we know so far is they will be “exploring the world of wakanda.” not clear to me how this is different from the upcoming wakanda D+ series.

tenoch huerta has reportedly been cast as a villain, but no one has any idea who. there’s also rumors that donald glover is in “informal talks” to play a role. note all of this is unconfirmed.

captain marvel 2

will be directed by nia da costa (candyman!) and written by megan mcdonnell, who is one of wandavision’s best writers!

will take place in the present day

will feature kamala khan / ms. marvel, monica rambeau / photon!!! this will be so interesting.... kamala is a huge fan of carol’s in the comics, she is her mentor/idol. the ms. marvel series will also resportedly lead into cm2. and monica, well, monica knew her when she was a little kid. wandavision implies that there’s some bad blood between carol and monica though, not sure why. maybe because carol left and never came back? (until endgame)

post-credits scene of wandavision appears to tie into this, having monica go up into space at the reqeust of her “mom’s old friend.” again, not clear who that is. this could also be a tie in to secret invasion though, so we’ll see. or both.

zawe ashton has been cast as an unknown villain... a lot of people are actually speculating that she may play rogue? which would be fascinating, as there’s a comic arc where rogue steals her powers and memories. BUT there’s still no confirmation that X-men exist in the MCU so for now i remain skeptical.

they are looking to cast a ‘john boyega’ or ‘michael b jordan’ type which makes me wonder if they are going to create a new character, a “younger” war machine to be her love interest? (note: carol and rhodey are a huge thing in comics!) carol obviously does not look her age but her and don cheadle.... that just doesn’t work. which is why i wonder.

ant-man and the wasp: quantumania

in addition to scott and hope, pretty much all the major players are returning including: luis, hank pym, janet van dyne

cassie lang has been recast with an actress 5 years older, which is really making me wonder if they are going to make her stinger in this movie! (aka one of the main young avengers)

the villain: kang the conqueror! this dude time travels. original name nate richards. in the comics, kang travels back in time to rescue his younger self (nate) from an attack that would help shape him towards a life of villainy. kang also gives him some fancy armor. his younger self actually is like, what the fuck dude? and renounces his destiny, becoming a hero. and he makes his armor look like iron man, calling himself iron lad. who is a young avenger. which also makes me wonder about cassie lang.

otherwise not much is known!

guardians of the galaxy vol. 3

james gunn is returning, i’m mixed about this...he really does *get* the guardians though.

based on the gotg2 post credits scene, i think we can assume adam warlock will be a HUGE part of this. there are multiple versions of him, some villainous and some heroic, but no idea how this is gonna turn out.

no word yet on whether thor will be involved, or if those ravagers they introduced will be involved.

fantastic four

will be directed by the spiderman guy, john watts.

otherwise we know literally nothing.

aaaaand that’s the roundup!

#mcu #marvel #black widow #shang chi and the legend of the ten rings #eternals #smnwh #spiderman: no way home #doctor strange in the multiverse of madness #dsitmom #thor: love and thunder #tlat #black panther 2 #captain marvel 2 #ant man and the wasp: quantumania #amatwq #guardians of the galaxy vol. 3 #gotg3 #fantastic four #mcu thoughts

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scottymcgeesterwrites · 4 years ago

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Final Fantasy V Review

Year: 1992

Original Platform: Super Nintendo

Also available on: PlayStation One (Final Fantasy Anthology), Game Boy Advance, Steam (updated graphics)

Version I Played: Game Boy Advance

Synopsis:

Bartz is a drifter, riding across the world with his chocobo – Boko. One day, the wind seems to fall. Lenna’s father, the king of Tycoon, goes off to make sure the Wind Crystal is all right, but doesn’t return. Meanwhile, a meteorite falls. Lenna and Bartz check it out separately, where they find each other and a man named Galuf with amnesia. Together they figure out that the world is falling apart – the crystals that drive wind, fire, earth and water are dying out. They stumble upon a pirate hideout led by Faris, and together they seek to restore the world and uncover the mysterious forces behind the destruction of the crystals.

Background:

Once again, this Final Fantasy game was originally unreleased outside of Japan. Unlike II and III, the developers thought that the game was a different tone than the others and the vast job system would be too complicated for Western audiences. The West didn’t experience Final Fantasy V until 1999 with Playstation One’s Final Fantasy Anthology; a compilation of both V and VI. One notable change from the Japanese version is the name Bartz. The original name for Bartz in the Japanese release was translated as Butz, but because Americans are immature and laugh at such a name, they changed it in the localization to Bartz.

Gameplay:

Holy capitalism, Batman – so many jobs!

Not only that, but each job has abilities that you can mix and match! Every time you level up a job, you earn a new ability for that job. You can switch those abilities across jobs.

The possibilities are seemingly endless!

The gameplay is the most fun I had with customization in a while in any video game RPG. The best part is that the Job System is so rewarding by the time you reach the third act of the game. It gives you such a variety that it allows you to approach battles from many different angles. There’s no one way to be a badass and deal destructive damage.

It’s so much fun that once a year, Final Fantasy V gamers join in “Final Fantasy Five Four Job Fiesta”. It’s a challenge where you are randomly assigned four jobs in the game and have to finish the game ONLY with those four jobs. I’ve joined in the challenge myself and it’s a great way to come together with Final Fantasy players.

I had fun unlocking the legendary weapons and hunting down the most powerful summons - this time naturally without looking anything up. I find it interesting to say that I had legit fun hunting down all the extras. Sometimes in other Final Fantasy games I get weary over hunting for some extra, higher powered spells and summons. I sometimes even wonder if I should bother going after them. The vast Job System in Final Fantasy V keeps you occupied for the entire game and more. I finished the game and there are still some jobs that I haven't even touched. Luckily, the Game Boy Advance version adds some extra dungeons after you complete the game.

Graphics:

The sprites in this game look a bit rough around the edges. They also come off as too small in my opinion. The same is said of the Game Boy Advance version. Regardless, it now looks like an actual SNES game. Unlike Final Fantasy IV, it has more color, structure, and doesn’t look faded.

Something irked me though about the sounds. I never have anything bad to say about the sound effects, but for some reason, in this game, the battle sound effects were meek. Even when someone had a sword, the attack sounded puny.

The PlayStation One version has an FMV sequence that look awkward and ugly as fuck, just like the FMV sequence for the PlayStation One version of Final Fantasy IV. As much as I love Yoshitaka Amano, trying to transplant his style into 3D is not a good idea.

Story:

The story transcends that of Final Fantasy IV. Where Final Fantasy IV can feel weak or simple at times, Final Fantasy V delivers a strong, emotionally charged storyline.

It starts simple. Once again, the world is in danger because the crystals are in danger – but this time because humans are misusing their power and breaking them. So this is a rare Final Fantasy game without any evil empires or rebellions.

Out of all the Final Fantasy games, I had heard the least about what happens in V. Heck – I knew more about II before going into it, mostly because of what people said about the Star Wars parallels. It’s been a long time since I went into a Final Fantasy game completely blind. I kept it that way and was very pleasantly surprised.

I can see what the developers meant by a “change in tone.” Final Fantasy V is probably the funniest of them all. It’s not campy – just humorous. Galuf loves to share puns. Bartz can be a klutz. The characters bicker a lot during their journey. One part actually made me genuinely laugh out loud when you are in a certain underground place searching for clues:

Despite the lighter tone, each character has a pretty sensitive, delicate backstory. I cared for Bartz’s personal history with his parents. I worried about whether Lenna’s father would die or not. I wondered what Galuf forgot and who Faris really was. There are dashes of tropes here but none of them stand out too much. You have to remember that tropes themselves are not inherently bad – what matters is how you utilize them. There’s no hokey romantic subplot thrown in either, which is extremely rare in a JRPG.

It was so rewarding to go into it blind because there was even a shocking death. I thought maybe they would be all right in the end through some Disney cop out.

No. That person is dead. Dead as a door nail. Never coming back. I also enjoyed the bit where they tried to revive said dead person with spells and phoenix downs. They finally imply that there can be a point where someone can go beyond and it’s too late to bring them back.

The henchman Gilgamesh is very memorable and lovable, probably the most memorable character of the entire game. He serves as great comic relief while not being at all annoying. I kept hoping he would show up.

My only real complaint, if I’m ever forced to say anything bad, is that Boko wasn’t really an asset in the story, at least not as much as I assumed he would be.

The story is unfortunately very overlooked. I can understand that maybe at the time American and other Western gamers may have found the third act strange – especially after learning about the villain Exdeath’s true nature. Compared to the other Final Fantasy backstories, it’s a little out there, and something tells me it relates to Japanese mythology. But today? You’d be sorry to miss out on it.

Music:

Final Fantasy V’s main theme is somewhat reminiscent of Final Fantasy IV’s main theme. They have this melodic soaring feel with a continuous beat. “The Four Warriors of Dawn” in Final Fantasy V is reminiscent of “Red Wings” in IV. Meanwhile, the biggest and most interesting display is “Battle with Gilgamesh”. (sometimes titled “Clash/Battle on the Big Bridge”). The piece opens up with some intense drumming. While the later orchestrations and adaptations of “Battle with Gilgamesh” are pretty good, nothing seems to capture the tempo and umph of the original.

“Dear Friends” is probably the most endearing tune in the soundtrack. It’s played at the end and gives a really bittersweet feel. The Distant Worlds concert version is extremely bittersweet. It has a sweet, gentle guitar, and it reminds me of how Uematsu said one of his inspirations was Simon and Garfunkel. “Dear Friends” definitely has that folk tune.

Exdeath’s theme song gives a heavy rock vibe. That heavy rock vibe was last heard in the opening segment of the final boss fight in Final Fantasy IV. The rest of the score has a lot of drumming incorporated, partially due to the fact that pirates are involved in most of the plot. Ultimately, this Final Fantasy score broke out all of Uematsu’s classic and hard rock inspirations – and it’s fucking awesome.

Notable Theme:

“Battle with Gilgamesh”

I have replayed this song over a thousand times by now.

youtube

Verdict:

Definite must-play. It’s the most underrated Final Fantasy game. The Kob System can be overwhelming, especially if you have never played a Final Fantasy game before. I wouldn’t suggest playing this for beginners – more after you get your hands wet.

Direct Sequel?

Yes. And No.

While not a video game, Final Fantasy V did receive an anime sequel titled Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals. It’s technically the first sequel to a Final Fantasy game. The anime is set 200 years in the future, with the heroes of the original game having become legend. Critical reception of the miniseries was mixed.

#final fantasy #final fantasy v #square enix #super nintendo #nintendo #underrated video games #video games #onvideogames #fantasy #rpg #jrpg #rpg game #video game rpg #chocobo #four job fiesta #final fantasy five four job fiesta

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stevetonygames · 4 years ago

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Spotlight Post: Canon Soulmate Bonds

Yooo, this is a blog takeover, Mizzy here, ready to champion one of my favourite fictional causes: canonical soulbonds in the Marvel universe.

We all love a good soulbond fic. Words on your body, names on your wrist, red string of fate...so many glorious versions, and all of them *completely awesome*. The problem sometimes with starting a soulbond fic, though, can be all the worldbuilding required to make it work. But what if I was to tell you that no worldbuilding was necessary? That you could technically write a soulbond fic without having to set it in an Alternate Universe? What if you could set your soulbond fic *directly in main canon?*

Marvel 616 delivers you a canonical soulbond mechanic… not once… but at least *twice*. There could be more. There’s a lot of comics to go through and I’m only smol. But here’s the two I know about and I’m here to introduce you to today. :)

The was a ripple of mild confusion around fandom when Kevin Feige announced that the Eternals were getting a title movie in the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Created by Jack Kirby in the 1970s, in a wild combination of mythological fascination and spite at DC comics for not letting him finish his New Gods saga, the Eternals were an offshoot of humanity, created by the Celestials for humanity’s protection; this reason for their existence would lead them into their ongoing conflict against the deadly Deviants. There have been a few Eternals runs (notably one run by Neil Gaiman, which did not serve to bring the Eternals the commercial success Marvel was searching for with the title, that nevertheless remains the most fun and accessible Eternals volume), but they’ve not yet really reached wide-reaching traction among even the most die-hard comic fans. The MCU might change that, and here’s hoping, because I love these nearly-immortal idiots, and I’m hoping not to be alone in that for much longer. :D

But even my Eternals-happy soul has to admit, Eternals canon for the most part is dense and can be convoluted, and the spellings—both of their character names and one of the main fun parts of their existence, the Mahd W’yry—are enough to give one a headache. The idea of the Eternals is that they’re long-lived and have interacted with human history over the years in various impactful ways. You might think at first glance that you’ve never heard of the Eternals Sersi, Ikaris, Makkari, but I think you wouldn’t find Circe, Icarus, or Mercury unfamiliar names.

The Mahd W’yry is a symptom of the Eternals being so long-living. In order to stop them going insane, the Eternals have to bond into something known as the Uni-Mind, which basically squishes all their consciousnesses together into one, where they can share memories and blend temporarily into one mind. Regularly bonding into the Uni-Mind allows them to stave off the Mahd W’yry. (Yep, that’s just a headache-inducing spelling of ‘mad worry’, we know.)

Anyway, did you need to know all this? Eh, maybe, a little bit of canned backstory is always handy for you to briefly glance over and promptly forget. Because along with some dense mythological adventures, some glorious angsting across beautiful landscapes, and that ability to turn into a big massive floating brain, the Eternals also gave us a beautiful gift:

The Gann Josin.

In Avengers #361, Ikaris comes down to Earth and decides that Sersi needs to be bonded to Dane Whitman, an Avenger who canonically didn’t have any powers, he was just a *really good guy*, destined for tragedy. Honestly. That’s his bio. Really good guy. Destined for tragedy. The character creation in the 90s was peak talent. Dane, sadly, was in love with another woman, but did this matter to Ikaris? No. Apparently the Eternals don’t know about the dangers of letting himbos like Ikaris have life-changing powers, like the ability to create the Uni-Mind.

Because the power to control the Uni-Mind also gives an Eternal the power to form a Gann Josin bond. And that’s what Ikaris does in Avengers #361—he forces a Gann Josin bond on Eternal Sersi and tragic human Avenger Dane Whitman.

Gann Josin (sometimes Gan-Josin because what is spelling continuity in Marvel comics) is both the name of the bond, and the title given to an Eternal and their chosen life-mate. It has a bunch of cool side effects. Both Gann Josins get glowing full-red eyes. It’s a really intimate tiny form of the Uni-Mind (without the part where you become a big floating brain), and creates a small scale mental union. The Gann Josin bond makes the Eternal and their partner lifelong soulmates. As the bond progresses, it creates a telepathic/empathic bond that strengthens in time. According to the Eternal Sprite, humans are rarely chosen by Eternals for the Gann Josin.

Now, Dane Whitman does manage to break the Gann Josin several issues later. But… it’s not easy. It’s rare. When Dane manages it, it is called an “astounding act.” It’s pretty dang hard, in other words. There’s every chance your chosen Gann Josins won’t have the mental fortitude of Dane Whitman to break it. (Although, we’re talking about Steve and Tony, and are there any bigger stubborn idiots in the universe? Probably not.)

But Mizzy, I hear you saying. I don’t want to write about Ikaris, even if he is a party king and that sounds pretty nifty. I don’t know anything about the Eternals and I don’t want to go down that gnarly rabbit hole.

That’s totes fine, my friend. I am here to save you. Because in very recent canon, during Jason Aaron’s turn at the helm, the Eternals are all dead. Very dead. That whole Mahd W’yry thing got ‘em, it got ‘em good. But before Ikaris died, he granted his Uni-Mind power to someone we all know and love.

Yep. Tony Stark. Tony Stark currently has the power of the Uni-Mind.

Which means that Tony Stark can now Gann Josin people.

In Avengers #361, Ikaris performs the Gann Josin by basically just pointing his hands at Sersi and Dane and some light goes WHEEEEEEE!! in their direction, and bam, this rare and special bond is done. And Tony Stark can do that now. To anyone! Unfortunately Ikaris is dead and didn’t leave Tony with an instruction manual. But the point is, he *can*. You can make up all sorts of fun things with this canonical fact (or write your own version because lbr Canon Is Dead; Long Live Canon.)

There are so many possibilities. Does Tony deliberately learn how to use it so he can bond himself to Steve? Does Tony *need* to be able to hear Steve’s thoughts (to thwart some bad guys) and thus end up soulbonded forever to Steve in result? Is Tony’s power activating at random because he can’t control it, and he ends up soulbonding everyone around him? Does he just subconsciously bond himself to Steve without consciously meaning to? Do Tony or Steve want to try it for science?

Gosh, I love comics.

But WAIT. There’s MORE.

It’s not just 1990s comics going ham on the soulbond idea. No, we got some *this year*. Canonical soulbonding? TWICE? In one universe? Two different kinds??

And this time, it’s not in a D-list Marvel title. We’re up the ranks to the big leagues this time, folx, with a brief trek to the world of the Fantastic Four.

In Fantastic Four (Vol. 6) #15, we’re introduced to a Spyre citizen called Sky, a winged team member of the Unparalleled (more cosmic-powered superheroes), who work under The Overseer. (The Overseer, in a burst of beautiful retcon in the way Marvel comics keeps doing to us, is apparently the entity who is responsible for giving the F4 their powers. Huh. The more you know.)

On the planet Spyre, all children are brought before something called The Great Eye. This measures them against the radiation signature of everyone on the planet, divining who their perfect match is.

Sky looked into The Great Eye, only to find out her match was Johnny Storm, who was 44 light-years away at the time. Long-distance relationships can be tough. Anyway, plot happens, the F4 get stuck on Spyre, get told they can’t leave, and Sky tells Johnny Storm that she is his soulmate. Oh, and she attached a soul binding onto him while he slept. Neat, huh, all the bodily autonomy people get in this universe before being force soulbond to people? So neat, much consent, wow.

Johnny feels a connection to Sky, which is supposed to let us know this lack of choice is a good thing I guess. The Overseer wants Sky to renounce Johnny and crush the F4 which obv doesn’t happen, so of course she leaves The Unparalleled and skips off to Earth to be with Johnny.

Who knows how this relationship is gonna last. I mean, you can look at the rest of Johnny’s relationship history and have a good guess. Who knows. Anyway, Reed and Sue are each other's soulmate, and also share a “Soul Binding”, so there’s some canonical proof right there that maybe this system has some validity going for it.

The soulbond for this form takes the form of a golden bracelet worn on the upper arm, that Sky explains her people call a “Soul Binding”; it represents them as being soul-mates. This bracelet can only be removed by your soulmate. This soulbond doesn’t seem to come with any extra powers, it’s just to show that The Great Eye has measured their radiation signature and declared them a match that is supposed to mean they’re perfectly compatible in every way: spiritually, mentally, and physically.

I don’t know about you, but I have a pretty good feeling that Steve and Tony might just have matching radiation signatures… Or what if Steve and Tony have perfect matching signatures….with other people? (Someone else on Spyre believes Sky is *their* perfect match, after all!) What if Steve has feelings for Iron Man, but he’s a perfect match with Tony Stark? I feel faint already just thinking about it.

So here you go. Two canonical types of soulbonds for your fannish consideration. Feel free to ask me questions! You can find me on tumblr (@mizzy2k) or on discord (addy#0908).

#stevetonygames #mod post #spotlight post #soulmates

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thebibliomancer · 4 years ago

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #228: TRIAL and ERROR!

February, 1983

AT LAST! The trial of Yellowjacket!

Its been over a month in-universe and about a year out of universe but here we are. The Trial of Hank Pym.

Although the time getting here was mostly farting around with other stuff while Hank sat in prison. Can you believe Scott Lang is the only person we see visit him?

The Avengers found time to experiment on an immortal child who thought jumping into the sun was a good idea but not to visit Hank?

I’m not saying that Jan should have had to put herself through that and Tony is clearly feeling too guilty over the whole thing. But Cap didn’t visit? Hawkeye didn’t? Mr. Lets Bust Hank Out?

Possibly they did off-screen. The Hank arc has been kind of suffering from Shooter’s inability to balance writing and EICing. I feel that if redone, there would be more to the arc.

Anyway, the trial!

We skipped the first two days. Its the third day of the trial now.

The graphic guy went above and beyond for that Sad Composited Hank graphic.

I like the AN AVENGER’S DARKEST HOUR thing.

I also like the setup for recapping the necessary details.

Ex-Avenger attempts to heist the government would be big news so all the information is conveyed as this news report.

INCLUDING COURTROOM SKETCHES

God, that’s good.

That’s good comicing. Amazing.

Look at Thor in a courtroom sketch. Superb.

Look at that cheesy graphic for the coverage. Does anybody in Marvel even use a domino mask?? Everything about this is amazing.

People may say that Frank Miller revolutionized using media talking heads for social commentary in his comics. Maybe. Maybe so. But how many courtroom sketches did he include? Huh?

So apparently the reason why we’re on day three of the trial is that days one and two were entirely debates over whether Hank was even fit to stand trial.

I’d’ve thought they would get that out of the way ahead of time.

And Hank wants his day in court. So who was arguing he wasn’t fit to stand trial? The prosecution?

Apparently, the prosecution tried to argue that Hank’s history as a hero made his crimes more heinous, as a legal argument.

Which, uh? Um? Uh?

The defense objected that this was prejudicial but they were overruled.

The news recap ends when She-Hulk turns off the television angrily for reminding her of her legal career.

She-Hulk: “Leeches! I haven’t met Henry Pym, but he can’t be the creep they’re making him out to be! And that prosecutor -- ! I know it’s his job, but do they all have to be sanctimonious?! I hated that when I was a practicing attorney, and I don’t hate it any less since I’ve become She-Hulk!”

Reminds me that her nemesis in her original Savage She-Hulk book was an Assistant DA called Buck Bukowski who was a real sexist douche.

He mellowed out over the course of the book, mostly by learning that a death he blamed She-Hulk for was sorta his fault, but I wonder if she left LA so she wouldn’t be tempted to throw him out to sea.

She-Hulk is also still super bored (in New York??) and wanders downstairs to see if anyone is up to anything interesting.

Downstairs in the gym, she finds that the Caps are training.

The Captains America and Marvel.

Cap(tain America) is doing some combat training with Captain Monica Marvel.

This will not be at all confusing to have them on the same team.

Anyway, this training sequence is amazing so lets just have it all:

Cool stuff, Caps.

The training has to be cut short because Cap(tain America) has a prior commitment but still good stuff.

She-Hulk applauds Captain Marvel’s showing but Marvel waves it off as thanks to Cap(tain America)’s training. Which Cap(tain America) waves off as thanks to her being a quick study.

Its like a self-perpetuating modesty loop in here.

Cap excuses himself to go to his prior engagement.

Captain Marvel: “It’s easy to see why he’s called a living legend! He’s very good! And his grasp of strategy is second to none!”

She-Hulk: “Yeah, he does pretty well for a guy with no powers, but I could take him!”

What a this era of She-Hulk thing to say, She-Hulk.

Captain Marvel tells She-Hulk hey maybe not! Cap has stood up to some pretty tough customers, including Jen’s cousin the Hulk.

Which She-Hulk didn’t know!

Y’know, after Bruce (or recently implied to be Joe Fixit Actually??) started Jen’s origin story, the Hulk has not much further relevance in the Savage She-Hulk book. Jen doesn’t even give any indication that she’s keeping up with his exploits.

Not surprising, since the book was trying to be its own thing. And Jen’s life just starts to implode not very far into her solo so she doesn’t have time to also worry about Bruce.

Captain Marvel mentions that all of Cap(tain America)’s run-ins with the Hulk are recorded in the Avengers computer archives and She-Hulk concedes she should give that a look.

Hey, she finally has something to do in New York!

Captain Marvel also tells She-Hulk that she’s going to head home.

She-Hulk: “You have a place in the city?”

Captain Marvel: “Not this city... New Orleans.”

She-Hulk: “NEW ORLEANS?!?”

Captain Marvel: “Sure! It’s a snap to commute -- when you can travel at the speed of light! Take care!”

And then she nyooms off!

NYOOM!

It’s a good point! I hadn’t considered it but yeah, Monica can just commute. No need to uproot her life to become an Avenger.

I guess that’s why the decision was so easy for her to make.

She-Hulk is still at the window, wishing she could lightspeed to Malibu, when Thor and Janet arrive from court.

Janet thanks Thor for coming to court with her. Which he says no big to because “Time given to one’s friends is well spent. Would that I had given more time to poor Henry before this.”

You’re a cool guy, Thor.

The mention of Hank has Jan break down a little.

Jan: “Oh, Thor! Why has this happened to us... to all of us? We’re Avengers!”

Thor: “But still we are human -- aye, even a ‘god’ such as I! None of us are immune to wounds of the spirit. We err... we misunderstand. Janet? Is there anything more I can do?”

Jan: “No! No... I’m all right! We mustn’t dwell on the past. The future’s all that matters!”

Thor: “But...”

Jan: “I don’t want to talk about it anymore!”

Geez.

We’ve seen how affected the Avengers have been by what Hank has done and what they think he has done. We’ve seen Jan is more messed up by it than the smile she puts on lets on.

But the plaintive questioning of how this could be happening to the Avengers still hits hard.

Thor respects Jan’s wish to end the discussion to the frustration of She-Hulk who has been watching this conversation from the upstairs window.

She’s frustrated that Jan won’t just let it out, that Thor just let the subject drop.

She-Hulk: “It’s that blasted Avengers’ tradition of ‘respecting the privacy of members’ personal affairs.’ The founding members carry it too far! Can’t they see how it hurts them? And Jan -- ? Why does she hold in all that grief and heartache? Why doesn’t she cry and scream and shout and get it out of her system?!”

Jen and Jan are two very different people!

But She-Hulk, and Hulks generally, are about letting your feelings out. And Jan van Wasp has long been about playing the flighty sprite.

I’d crack joke about She-Hulk being this invested in the drama of the Avengers already but Jan is her friend. They presumably went car shopping together.

And She-Hulk has very few friends and almost zero female friends. Her one female friend died in a convoluted car accident and then She-Hulk mostly had a male supporting cast. Thank goodness she’s here on the Avengers with its two whole other women.

Meanwhile, at Stark International, Cap(tain America) has come to pay a visit.

He hasn’t been able to reach Tony in days. And Tony’s secretary told him that Tony has locked himself away in his private lab and that he doesn’t want to see anyone.

But if he didn’t want to see anyone, he should have thought twice about making it so that the security system will let in any Cap that flashes an Avengers ID.

Cap is particularly worried because of that nasty argument they had about Tony dating Jan. Tony has been pretty down since they broke up and Cap doesn’t want to see him fall apart like Hank did.

And.

Tony is. Doing. Maybe not okay.

He’s sweating a lot and unshaven and monomaniacally focused on a project.

Cap finds him holding up an enormous piece of machinery and doing SCIENCE.

This is the final evolution of Tony’s guilty conscience regarding Hank Pym.

Iron Man: “Remember how Moondragon used her mental powers to mess with our heads? Well, it’s my theory that she’s responsible for Hank’s recent troubles! I aim to prove that with this cerebral scanner! This baby should tell us whether or not Hank did the crazy things he did because of some outside mental influence! I hope I’m right!”

I mean, he raises a fair point! I don’t think its the case because what would it have benefited Moondragon to make Hank do what he did? And if its an inadvertent thing, she mind controlled a lot of people when the roster change-up was happening back in #211 so why did only Hank get affected? Plus, it doesn’t really match up with what both Hank and Jan have been saying about his behavior deteriorating before then.

But, Tony is going to Tony. And he, like many fans and writers and editors, just want a simple nonsense explanation that can make a distressing thing go away.

Cap points out that the ginormous machine can’t exactly be dragged down to the courthouse but this is just the prototype. Tony is going to have a miniaturized version ready by Monday.

Cap: “I see. Tony, how long have you been up?”

Iron Man: “I don’t know... 30... 40 hours, maybe. What difference does it make?”

Cap: “It makes plenty! You’ve had some rough sledding lately... You can’t keep on driving yourself this way!”

Iron Man: “But I have to do something for Hank. I feel that I let him down... In so many ways.”

Cap: “You can’t help him if you kill yourself in the process!”

Tony is going to Tony. I think that in some ways he might have a more overdeveloped guilt complex than Peter Parker or Matt Murdock.

For Reasons, I’ve taken a look at how things are going in the Iron Man book around this time and oof. Poor Tony.

Over in Leonia, New Jersey, Vision and Scarlet Witch are watching the trial coverage on the news and-

Okay.

1.) How do you make watching the network news so moody and dramatic, Vision? Do you ever actually relax?

2.) Do you two just wear your costumes around the house? Surely you must have other clothes? Vision? Do you have other clothes?

Some other stuff is that Wanda has been holding up Jan and Hank as the ideal marriage so this whole thing has been weirding her out. Although Vision has had a less rosy opinion of it, having been there for it with all of the marrying the split personality nonsense involved.

Although I don’t know why issue #68 is referenced. I don’t think that had anything to do with anything. Issue #60 is where the wedding happened.

Bet whoever put that caption wishes they had access to the internet.

I kind of wish we got more stuff like earlier, got to see Avengers not currently on the team and other heroes that worked with Hank Pym reacting to his disgrace exit from the team and then arrest. Wish we could have had Vision and Wanda try to visit him in jail.

Meanwhile, Long Island Sound.

A LOCATION OF EVIL

A suited man arrives and knocks on 13308 McKinley.

He is Dr. Chen Lu and he is expected.

Moonstone/Dr. Karla Sofen meets Dr. Chen Lu at the door and shows him in to the secret science basement where Egghead is running an experiment with the latest scientific equipment that can be begged, borrowed, or stolen.

I’m figuring... mostly stolen? Right? Like Egghead’s plan was to steal all the resources he needed? Because, ugh Effort?

Moonstone interrupts Egghead to let him know Dr. Chen Lu has arrived and Egghead is thrilled! He rushes from his seat to shake his hand.

And the sentiment is returned by Dr. Chen Lu who is eager to join Egghead’s project.

Y’know, Egghead is a jerk and is stealing all of his resources but his project will hugely improve medical science and he’s getting criminal scientists off the street and into some actual science jobs they can be excited about.

Dr. Chen asks how Egghead isn’t dead because he was pretty sure he was told Egghead was dead. And Egghead sure has a tale to tell!

In Defender #43, Egghead set up Cobalt Man to reach critical mass and explode to distract the Defenders so he could steal a magical star. When Cobalt Man found out, he was pretty pissed and decided to blow up Egghead.

Egghead: “We had a bit of a falling out, you might say... and he ended the situation most dramatically. Witnesses actually assumed we’d both perished. In actuality, I had been teleported by an experimental mechanism to relative safety in the New Jersey swamps... and unlike death, one can usually return from the state of New Jersey!”

Damn, Egghead! Criminal genius that you are, you’ve found the only New Jersey joke I’ve ever laughed at! Fiend!

I think its the glasses adjusting what does it.

Anyway, Egghead’s and Dr. Chen’s cool conversation gets interrupted by Tiger Shark and Shocker bursting through the ceiling fighting.

Beetle flies in after them and apologizes for the mess but says ‘really Shocker had it coming, man, fuck Shocker.’

Beetle and Moonstone jump in to separate the two.

Hey, you might be wondering how the Masters of Evil are out of jail when last time we saw them was getting arrested after attacking the Avengers like dumbasses?

Check that panel where Iron Man is lifting a really heavy thing. There’s a news broadcast about a bunch of prison escapes. Good job on the same issue setup, Stern!

Shocker complains that Tiger Shark called him a two-bit hood but Tiger Shark says in his defense that Shocker IS a two-bit hood (Not inaccurate...) who nearly screwed up the isotope heist. But Egghead says that Shocker is an important part of the operation.

Then Tiger Shark notices Dr. Chen Lu and says a slur.

C’mon, guy. Don’t be like that.

Dr. Chen Lu: “Speaking without thinking seems to be second nature to you, Tiger Shark. In the interest of our future partnership, I shall excuse the insult to my race... this time! But I warn you, do not use that word in my presence again, or you shall answer to -- THE RADIOACTIVE MAN!”

Tiger Shark hurriedly says that obviously he didn’t mean to offend. Because Dr. Chen Lu Radioactive Man fwooshed into his green skin (dammit comics whats with you and Asian people and green skin?) radioactive form and costume.

But with Radioactive Man on the team, the Masters of Evil are finally complete and ready for the next step of EGGHEAD’S BOLD PLAN.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye returns to his apartment from his day job, kind of looking a steady paycheck in the mouth. Sure the big wad of bucks is nice but its sooo boring. Thank goodness he has Avengersing to keep things exciting.

He then sings a short bit about “Best of both worlds -- !” because Hawkeye.

Hawkeye sees the news broadcast about the Hank Pym trial and even though he hasn’t been called to testify (because he wasn’t part of the team when Hank was caught with his hands in the government’s cookie jar) he figures what the heck, he’ll go to the trial anyway to show moral support.

And he does! In full costume!

In fairness, so are Thor and Captain America.

I guess Captain America and Hawkeye don’t have publicly revealed identities. But they couldn’t have thrown a suit on Thor?

Please put Thor in a suit. For reasons.

She-Hulk and Wasp are wearing nice court clothes.

Although She-Hulk seems uncomfortable in her nice court clothes.

(By the by, She-Hulk showing up at all makes Hawkeye warm up to her a little, since he figures that in her own way she cares about being an Avenger as much as he does.)

By the way, notice who wasn’t in that picture? Hawkeye leans over to whisper to Cap where is Iron Man? Annnnd Cap thinks maybe he just got wrapped up in his cerebral scanner project.

At this point in the trial (day 4), Hank has finally been called up to the stand to testify on his own behalf.

So, of course, given Hank Pym’s luck, the courtroom explodes.

What a dynamite conclusion to this arc!

The Masters of Evil (Moonstone, Radioactive Man, Tiger Shark, Shocker, and Beetle) jump into the court through the exploded ceiling, grab Hank Pym, have Shocker blow up the load bearing wall, and then run out while the Avengers are distracted holding up the entire ceiling!

An action scene fast enough that I can believe, yes, the Avengers didn’t have time to react to it before it happened.

But Thor is strong enough to hold up the ceiling, so Wasp orders Cap to get the crowd to safety and has She-Hulk and Hawkeye follow her to go after the Masters.

Cap: “Jan’s really coming into her own as group leader! Even Hawkeye’s snapping to at her orders!”

Good. I’m glad that people keep telling me that Wasp is doing a good job as Avengers leader.

Seriously. Given the way that the Avengers book handles teamwork and the idea that the Avengers even have a leader sometimes, I’m glad that the book is explicitly conveying that Wasp is doing good.

Hawkeye net-arrows Tiger Shark, She-Hulk tackles Radioactive Man, Wasp confronts Beetle, and nobody confronts Shocker because its just Shocker.

Beetle scoffs at Wasp trying to stop him but has to eat his words pretty soon. Her Wasp stings being souped up in this recent stretch of comics hasn’t stopped being a thing.

Beetle: “Ow! Maybe I was the one who spoke too soon! Even with my armor, I can feel a little of the Wasp’s bio-stings! If I can’t shake her, she might blow my micro-circuits!”

Very glad that Wasp continues to be an effective fighter in her own right and not just the distraction ‘fly around and pester people.’

She-Hulk just throws Radioactive Man out of the panel, mocking him for being green as her without any of her sweet moves.

Tiger Shark wants another go at She-Hulk after the way she stomped him in #222 but.

Oops guess I shouldn’t have mocked Shocker. Since he was ignored, he can sneak up behind She-Hulk and use HIGH INTENSITY VIBRO-SHOCKS to rattle her bones to dust.

Except, no. I should have mocked Shocker, a little.

Because even though the HIGH INTENSITY VIBRO-SHOCK rattles She-Hulk so that she chatters out “T-t-think a-a-again, y-y-you w-w-walking q-q-quilt!”, she grabs Shocker’s hands and holds him up in the air for Hawkeye to short out Shocker’s gauntlets with a couple of magno-volt arrows.

Shocker crumples, confused because one of the other Masters was supposed to be covering Hawkeye.

Radioactive Man tackles She-Hulk so She-Hulk just belts him away.

So Radioactive Man concedes, well, okay, She-Hulk is stronger than him. But brute force and being green aren’t the extent of his powers. He’s also radioactive, radioactive.

He hits She-Hulk with a controlled burst of gamma rays, which shifts her back into Jennifer Walters.

Hey, Jen! First time you’ve appeared in this book in this form.

She’s less than pleased. In fact, she starts screaming “No! Not this!!” and begging someone to help her.

Thankfully, the Masters put her out of mind as not a problem anymore.

And the dominoes fall.

Tiger Shark smacks Wasp out of the air, freeing Beetle to blast Hawkeye. And nobody can stop Moonstone from nerve pinching Hank Pym and pulling him into a truck.

Thor and Cap run out of the courthouse, presumably having gotten everyone to safety.

Thor: “Ho, villains! You’ve not won the day yet! Not as long as a single Avenger stands!”

Thor do what Thor do and what Thor do is throw Mjolnir.

Exceppppt its at Radioactive Man and Radioactive Man can still deflect Mjolnir with energy fields. Radiation can do that. Mjolnir doesn’t exist in real life so we can’t prove that radiation can’t do that.

Radioactive Man deflects Mjolnir right at Captain America. He gets his shield up in time but it still knocks him on his ass.

The Masters all book it into the truck while the Avengers get to their feet.

Wasp orders Hawkeye to shoot out the tires to the truck. But before he can and before it can be fruitless, a getaway truck explodes out of the truck and flies off more quickly than the Avengers can chase.

And by “the Masters all book it into the truck” I mean, “except Shocker” because they ditched him.

With the Masters escaped, Wasp turns on the shocked Shocker and rips off his mask and demands he tell them where the Masters are going.

But the shocked Shocker is too shocked to answer. He seems out of it, really.

So Wasp changes the question. Who is behind this? Why did they want to kidnap Hank Pym?

Shocker: “Why? It... it was his idea! Dr. Pym’s idea... He arranged for us to free him!”

DUN DUN DUUUUU- no wait we know thats not it

whats your game shocker

Sometime later, Hank Pym wakes up in Egghead’s lab. And, of course, immediately leaps up to kick the shit out of Egghead as soon as he sees him.

Alas, Tiger Shark holds him back.

Egghead: “Don’t restrain him too tightly, Tiger Shark! He’s of no use to us injured!”

Hank Pym: “I’ll ‘use’ you, Egghead! You’re responsible for ruining my life! You manipulated me into stealing that government adamantium... and set me up, when your scheme failed! You’re mad if you think you can make me help you now!”

Egghead: “Pish-tosh!”

Good rejoinder, Egghead.

God, this also cracks me up.

Egghead says that he’s in the middle of a great experiment and that he needs the world’s greatest biochemist, Hank Pym.

Hank is still on the ‘why the hell do you think I’ll help you, I hate you so much.’

So Egghead has the tv turned on.

Anchorman, Non Burgundy: “... Authorities were stunned by the news that Dr. Pym had planned his own abduction! The Avengers refused to comment on the Shocker’s confession, but polygraph experts confirmed --”

Egghead explains that Shocker was a patsy. His gauntlets were secretly rewired with special circuits that brainwashed him into believing what Egghead wanted him to. So thoroughly that it fooled a lie detector.

Egghead: “As far as the world is concerned, Henry, you are now most assuredly a criminal. No one will believe otherwise. Not the police... not even your former friends. You have no one to turn to in this world... except us! Join the Masters of Evil, Henry! We will give you a new life!”

Hank Pym: “All right... I’ll do it!”

DUN DUN DUN!!

Wow, so I guess Egghead wasn’t just being petty. He was also systematically destroying what little was left of Hank’s life to force him to work on SCIENCE project with him.

Proving his innocence and ‘getting his dignity back’ was all Hank had left to him.

Geez, sucks to be Hank Pym!

Psst, follow @essential-avengers? Like and reblog?

#Avengers #Egghead #Masters of Evil #Hank Pym #the Wasp #She Hulk #Hawkeye #Thor #Captain America #Captain Marvel #monica rambeau #Iron Man #not doing so well #essential avengers #essential marvel liveblogging #SUPERHERO LEGAL DRAMhaha just kidding it gets interrupted #lot of interesting trajectories the avengers are going on in this issue #so far so good on the Stern run

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ut-metal-and-magic · 4 years ago

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Metal And Magic Jan 2021 Progress Update

Wow! A new year. Amazing. May it bring forward a lot better things than the last. Well, anyway, let’s talk MnM, right under the cut.

QnA

So, didn’t really get too many Questions, but I can still answer the ones I got here. “Are you from spain?” I’ve gotten this question a bit ever since confirming that Valor is from there. The short answer is no, I’m not. I just thought that Spain would be a nice place for Valor to be from, considering the headcanons on where Mt. Ebott is in the real world, as well as the history Spain has with Football. I’m sorry if anyone got excited about me potentially being from Spain. “I've noticed a recurring musical motif in your Waterfall tracks on Soundcloud, is that for a specific character or just a story theme in general? (Sorry if this is a spoiler)” Nice ear! Yes, there is an original motif in the Waterfall tracks that reference an unrevealed song. However, it’s not a song about a character, rather, it’s for a place that I’d rather not reveal yet. One of the songs already uploaded for Waterfall is for an unrevealed character, however. ”What is that thing in the background?” This was in reference to this post. You would have met whatever that is in the very next part. And speaking of the comic- ”Not want to bother you, but dude, the comic will continue someday?” “when is the next part going to come out” ”etc.” The story of Metal and Magic will continue! Relatively soon, even. But maybe not in the way you’re expecting.

Progress?

In terms of story planning, that’s pretty much done for the rest of this area, and I have a good idea of key scenes moving forward. Assets for the next part have been in progress, and I’m good on songs for quite a while. So, you may then ask, why hasn’t the comic updated? Well, that’s because I have a bigger thing to announce, which may or may not excite people:

Metal and Magic is being (semi) rebooted!

In terms of actual content, most of it will remain the same. At least, in terms of the most recent parts. However, the Ruins will recieve a complete overhaul, and hopefully make them much more interesting for new viewers. Sprites will overall be nicer, some slight edits to the script in later parts will occur as well. But the biggest change will be in terms of the medium that it’ll be in. Instead...

It’ll be in video format! (the above gif is just a test of the engine)

Thanks to a few good friends of mine, I’ll be able to tell the story of Metal and Magic through episodic videos on YouTube, similar to a let’s play, just without the person commentating over it, and the fact that this isn’t a real game. The videos will be a lot longer than the parts shown off in the comic (the Ruins will likely be two episodes instead of the Comic’s four parts) Now, I plan on releasing the episodes monthy, with each one being uploaded on the last friday of the month. With this schedule in place, I’d expect the videos to be caught up to the comic before summer. (At least, here’s to hoping.) So, that’s about it for this! I hope this makes up for the less than stellar wait. I’ll be sure to post small updates between big releases to tide people over. Just be sure to follow my Youtube, as that’s where the content will be uploaded. Thanks for sticking around! - PineWSun

#undertale #UT Metal and Magic #update #valor #gif

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autumnblogs · 4 years ago

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Day 10: I think the true purpose of this game is to see how many qualifiers we can get to precede the word "self" and still understand what we're talking about

https://homestuck.com/story/1642

I don’t think anyone has said much about Calsprite. There’s not much to be said. I’m pretty sure, based on the Juju rules, that this Lil Cal probably doesn’t count as the real one - supposedly, any version of a Juju from a Doomed Timeline doesn’t count as the real thing? In any case, it’s a very mild comfort that this being isn’t a source of even more power for the already arbitrarily powerful Lord English.

Another thing that I think is interesting to note is that Dave’s use of iPhone technology marks him, in my opinion, as a poseur. While I am by no means advocating against buying from Microsoft’s competitors, but Mac vs. PC is one of those parts of my childhood, and as an actual IT Professional I’ve learned more than a little about the way that they brand themselves and the history of Apple’s struggle for market share - Apple doesn’t advertise its products as computing alternatives, or as productivity software, or whatever - Apple sells a lifestyle. Apple products are styled as the sexier, more cerebral, more artistic, more individualistic alternative to Microsoft’s products, a computer not for the Office Drone but for... well, the Hipster. Hipsters have stopped really being a thing, or at least, nobody calls themselves that any more.

Like the vast majority of subcultures, I suspect the hipster subculture has kind of been swallowed by time, its symbols expropriated by Capitalism, its center hollowed out and its aesthetics packaged for mass production, as the cynical and jaded approach to popular culture of the hipster, along with its more enthusiastic counterpart “the geek” (actually pretty well personified by John!) became more mainstream - both stereotypes are probably a part of Homestuck’s general commentary on fandom. Fandom is something I think Homestuck talks about, but I don’t think it’s something Homestuck is about in quite the same way that it’s about, say, Narratives, or Reproduction.

More after the break.

https://homestuck.com/story/1643

While Homestuck has been a story that involves some time loops, Act 4 is where it really gets off the ground as an actual Time Travel story. The thing about Time Travel stories, like the thing about Cosmic Horror Stories, is that once a story starts having Time Travel, or Cosmic Horrors in it, it’s that genre forever. This is why DND, for example, is part of a cosmic horror story, because something like 20 years ago, an adventure writer decided that there should be the Far Realm, and now it casts its sticky pall over the rest of the game’s setting.

Homestuck sidesteps this issue largely by involving all of the genres that do this to a story, and just kind of blending them all together into a genre-busting stew. Homestuck is a superhero story. Homestuck is a creation story. Homestuck is a theogony. Homestuck is a cosmic horror story. Homestuck is a time travel story. And so on and so on.

https://homestuck.com/story/1657

And so began one of the greatest partnerships in the history of Paradox Space.

Also of note is that Terezi compares Dave to fire here, not the first or the last bit of symbolism linking him to that element. It’s pretty strongly linked, in general, with The Hero, in kind of the same way that the color Red, and the Sword is in these sorts of things.

Dave fits the Classic Hero Archetype a lot better in a lot of ways than John does, and Bro has been training him for that role since birth. On a much larger scale, Lord English has decreed from his position as the overlord of Paradox Space that Dave is the Hero who should defeat him.

https://homestuck.com/story/1663

Friendship proves once again to be one of the most powerful forces in the universe, changing John’s direction, and steering him away from disaster.

https://homestuck.com/story/1667

Not much to say about this conversation, but the transition between Karkat’s explanation of the Veil and the beginning of [S]Jack: Ascend is smooth as fuck.

https://homestuck.com/story/1670

Our very first self-indulgent author self-insert; the Fourth Wall is explicitly identified as a Fenestrated Plane. 1 Point for the Narrative Contrivance hypothesis.

https://homestuck.com/story/1692

Dave actually does care immensely. Not only does he spend a ton of his time being overshadowed by cooler more powerful men like Bro, and John, now Dave even has to spend his time being overshadowed by cooler versions of himself - and that goes in both directions - both Davesprite and Dave seem to think that the other is the more real, more cool Dave!

https://homestuck.com/story/1710

As a Light Player, Rose is preoccupied with Meaning. She sees it everywhere, and she certainly sees where it is not (at least when she is not Miserable with a capital M). Meaning and Value - Fortune - is not intrinsic to this item, but it is instead bestowed upon it by the fact that Rose loves it, and by the work that Rose put into it. The Rabbit is a labor of love and a treasured belonging, and the Love in the Rabbit is the Light that the Seer Sees.

https://homestuck.com/story/1714

I’m pretty sure that John and Kanaya only talk to each other about twice in all of Homestuck, which is a bit of a shame! John and Karkat are really a lot more alike each other than either of them is comfortable admitting (which I think is probably why Dave is attracted to Karkat). By the transitive law of friendship, it seems to me that John and Kanaya would probably be pretty good friends. On the subject of the other diagonal line in the quadrangle of friendship, I wonder if Rose and Karkat talk to each other pretty much ever?

https://homestuck.com/story/1715

The clear indication here is a parallel between Dave and Sollux, but like a lot of things that probably didn’t go as intended with the Trolls, nothing much ends up materializing from it. I suppose that by fucking off to do nothing for the rest of the adventure, Sollux gets to live Dave’s dream for him, so there’s that.

https://homestuck.com/story/1720

Adorable. This is one of the happiest little moments in the comic.

So often, characters are cut off from one another by moments. They just miss each other, or literally can’t understand each other because of supernatural shenanigans, or can’t communicate with each other on screen because of the way that communication can’t happen unmediated in Homestuck.

And even when they can talk to each other, often the awkwardness and pain of communicating with other people, of trying to get them to understand you the way you actually are, instead of only seeing you one certain way, is too great, and communication proves impossible.

But here, Rose and Dave don’t need words to hang out.

They shut up and jam.

(It’s also incredibly sweet that Rose‘s actual in-person esteem of Dave is so great that she cannot restrain her own thought process. For all her joshing, she really does think Dave is cool.)

https://homestuck.com/story/1722

Also incredibly sweet that Rose’s first order of business as soon as they’re done playing around is to destroy that goddamn puppet.

https://homestuck.com/story/1754

Just missed him.

https://homestuck.com/story/1775

I wish not to contemplate the implication that Homestuck Sprite Mode Legs are actually wafer thin.

https://homestuck.com/story/1812

Nearly as soon as Rose has awoken and absorbed herself from the Doomed Timeline, she gets down to business alchemizing a lot of dangerous and powerful artifacts in preparation to fuck shit up. I’ve never thought about it much before, but I think it’s not hard to say that the memories she absorbed from the other timeline cause Rose to embrace her more reckless and less charitable side. She comments on her own dangerous pursuit of power, and then immediately ignores that train of thought.

https://homestuck.com/story/1836

Dave sure is fixated on bottoms.

https://homestuck.com/story/1852

Note to self. Come back to this.

So far, the only thing of note is the number 12, a portent related to the victors of Homestuck, if only coincidentally.

https://homestuck.com/story/1857

Dave’s sincerity senses are tingling. Maybe it’s an instinct since he and Roxy are pretty similar people, maybe it’s just because Dave himself is not nearly as insincere as he wants to be.

Dave’s anxiety about being watched is also probably best exemplified by his insistence on hiding his eyes behind glasses.

https://homestuck.com/story/1887

Adorable!

I wonder if Andrew already had the sprite designs for these squirts, and their names picked out at this time.

The hair and accessories are certainly correct.

https://homestuck.com/story/1895

Before I get too much further into this sequence, I’d like to pause and take a second to just appreciate this prose. The style is captivating.

The shipping pun is also pretty good.

https://homestuck.com/story/1903

BladeKindEyeWear has already done a pretty good job explaining what the Ultimate Riddle is, so I won’t belabor it too much more than he has here. The Ultimate Riddle itself is, “What Will You Do?” And the answer to it is, “Do What You Will.”

Do What You Will isn’t just the inscription on AURYN, it’s also an extremely old phrase intended for spiritual enlightenment, historically first formulated by Saint Augustine in his Sermon On Love, where he puts it thusly, “Love, and Do What You Will.” The Love that Augustine is talking about is not Romantic Love or even familial love, but Universal Unconditional Love - goodwill toward everyone and everything, to have one’s Heart’s Desire be that everyone should flourish and be happy.

Another formulation, the Wiccan Rede is, “An It Harm None, Do What Ye Will,” perhaps a more detached, declaration. In either case, the Will here is not talking about merely chasing simple wants, but an invitation to follow one’s true will, not to respond to simple passions, but to take voluntary action in accordance with who one is as a person.

https://homestuck.com/story/1905

threatening.............

https://homestuck.com/story/1922

Jake Harley begins a life of serial abandonment.

https://homestuck.com/story/1930

I really should have brought this up first when Rose and Davesprite went back into time, but this is about the time Homestuck starts to get lousy with all kinds of alternate selves, Dream Selves, Doomed Selves, and so on and so on, and from a narrative frame of reference, they’re actually all literally the same guy - the actions of one version of a character inform us about all versions of that character.

More on that later.

https://homestuck.com/story/1931

More Roleplaying. John has a wild imagine spot.

https://homestuck.com/story/1934

Dave stares at the blood on his hands, and contemplates his death for a long time.

https://homestuck.com/story/1936

Some immediate foreshadowing in here. Jade, I’m pretty sure, is one of the few people in Tavros’ life who shows him some genuine unconditional friendliness, so it’s no wonder that he latches onto her.

The way he does is still pretty creepy though.

https://homestuck.com/story/1940

As long as I’m mostly focusing on the emotional dimension of Homestuck, the two major emotional beats in this Flash are the Sovereign Slayer slaughtering WV’s army, revealing the source of his self-loathing and trauma, and the death of Jade’s Dream Self.

The death of her Dream Self is not nearly the beginning of Jade’s Trauma Conga Line, but it’s definitely the first in the chain of events that leads her to finally snap out of her learned helplessness and blind optimism, and to start taking her fate into her own hands. She’s been so sure of her destiny up to this point, and now things are finally starting to get out of hand.

Also, I choose to believe that the bizarre Squiddles interlude is the first moment that the Dark Gods make contact with Jade’s psyche. They know she’s about to die, and they’re starting to communicate with her.

Anyway, that’s all for today.

Yesterday’s cough turned out to be post-viral infection, since I had Covid the week of the 11th, so for now this is Cam signing off, Medicated, and Not Alone.

#liveblogging #commentary #the ultimate riddle #hipsters

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typinggently · 5 years ago

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So what do you think Feral™ Bruce’s relationship with his kids would be like? Somewhere in my bones I feel that he’d have a better relationship with all of them than in canon, but I wonder what you think! Love your blog, btw!!!

Hello Love!!! Thank you so much for your message! 🥰🧡🧡

I took some time to reflect on this and really think it through, since there are two problems: 1) I only really know about the “fandom favourites”, as in Dick (who I know most about since I used to read the 50s comics as a kid), Jason, Tim, Damian. And thus I felt a little unqualified since I know so little about the girls etc.

2) Rob is 33, which means the Robins would all have to be VERY young. Realistically, I guess, we could assume timeline-wise Jason would’ve died not too long ago? But I’m just going to ignore realism. So, without further ado

Feral Bruce and his Robins

Dick: Bruce adopting Dick makes sense to me, since the grief over his own lost family is so fresh in his mind. He’d lay eyes on this heartbroken child and immediately jump into action. However, due to his age and personality, this wouldn’t have a TRACE of a father/son relationship. Not even close. They’re chaos siblings, with Bruce as the messy rat and Dick as the adoring golden boy. He’s super proud of his older bro and tells others about how cool he is, which everyone 100% buys because it’s Bruce Wayne, of course he’s super cool. They don’t know that Dick’s definition of cool is “he slipped on his own 3 hour old puddle of sprite and did a funny backflip”. Now - as they grow older: I say they’re rather close due to their shared history(&shared grief), and they’re in a way rather similar. Similar fighting styles (both acrobats and very graceful, while Dick is more of a show-off while Bruce is more erratic), similar sense of humour and taste in films etc. I also think they don’t have a dramatic falling out, Dick just fucks off. Bruce is definitely sad about it, but I think he respects Dick’s need for personal growth since he himself isn’t exactly an overbearing cuddly person and most likely shut himself away for a few days at a time in the past. Idk. I think they get each other really well. So yeah, their relationship is def better!!

Jason: Bruce sees a kid trying to hotwire the batmobile and recognises a kindred spirit. Jason pros - he has a lot of that chaotic energy Bruce has. Jason cons - he lacks the grace and self-control. In general, I feel like pre-Joker Jason and Bruce had a rather good relationship as well. Once again not really that father figure thing, though. But Bruce moved up from”chaotic older brother” to “cool older brother” - since he now has a bit of a grip on how to treat teenagers, even though Jason doesn’t take to his rules as well as Dick did (I see many a person interpret Bruce as kind of lenient and clueless, letting the kids run wild and free, and while I agree with the base levels of that, I’m p sure that Bruce in any version is so built on self-control, that he’d impose that on others as well. Strict meal plans, exercises, etc). Jason’s death is a thing I really don’t know how to handle, because Bruce has such a thin skin. Frankly, I don’t know how he’d survive something like that. Grief is terrible and heart-breaking, and I’m not sure how well-equipped Bruce would be. It’s a very, very dark time. Red Hood is another thing. Bruce can barely fight Harvey, so I don’t see how he’d manage to interact with Jason. I honestly think he’d completely pull back from him. I don’t know how they’d heal from that and I’m not sure how Bruce would deal with the core of Jason’s anger. Fighting him is one thing (which he absolutely cannot do), but understanding him and trying to mend what’s broken is another. Very difficult. Very heartbreaking.

Tim: that would just be a mess. There aren’t any real descriptions of Batman, because his contact with civilians/the GPD is minimal and can you trust villains? They say his fighting style is erratic, but can you trust them? Can you believe Riddler, madly gnawing on his hat, when he tells you Batman threw a comically large plush bat at him and then bonked him over the head with a “bat-knocker”?! What I’m saying: Tim figures the “I love the Ritz. I just wish they had soda-fountains. They have the room and people would love it. A fountain of sparkling-cool orange soda in the hall, catching the light and making those nice ambient sounds. That would be glam. What was the question?” - act is an act, but he’s not at all prepared for the actual Feral Bruce Experience™️. He drops himself off on Bruce’s doorstep and holds his whole “I know who you are” speech until Bruce opens the door and the guy is wearing a kilt and a “world’s #1 Bat” shirt, drinking hot beetroot juice and greets him by saying “how the fuck did you get past the sprinklers?” In short - Tim didn’t expect to be the responsible one here. In general, I feel like they’d get along well, still, considering Bruce is so enthusiastic about learning and bettering himself. However, I do feel like his erratic rat-nature would clash with Tim now and then.

Damian: Bruce’s first instinct after hearing he’s a father is to learn how to raise a baby, so he panically throws together a huge pile of Infant Care books from the library, Damian (10+) standing right next to him. That said, he’s very concerned about being a good father figure and raising Damian right. He loves the other boys, of course, but he never really saw himself as their father. This is a new situation for him and he doesn’t feel like he’s up for it. So now he tries to be a good influence, which results in him knocking on their doors at 1:30am all “remember not to drink coffee past midnight!” while holding a pitcher with Earl Grey.

Which brings me to the end note: Bruce is actually a great influence, he’s just not aware of it. He enforces healthy eating habits and a strict exercise routine. He’s got great posture and reminds his boys to sit/walk straight and stretch. He’s very cultured and studious in a very un-pretentious way, setting a great example for the boys.

But most importantly - he’s so true to himself in such an unapologetic way that everyone else feels free and encouraged to be themselves, too. While his eccentric behaviour could be interpreted as self-centred narcissism, he makes it extremely clear that he cares greatly about each and every one of them. He’s incredibly compassionate and they all know that he loves them dearly.

They all learn a lot from him when he’s not looking, and whenever he notices some little piece of evidence for just how much he’s influencing them, he turns into a mess, eating carrot sticks in the kitchen at 2am with big teary eyes while Alfred makes him tea. (Alfred is the real father figure, of course, but he’s insanely proud of Bruce for handling his responsibilities so well and doing so good with his flock of Robins)

I’m very, very soft. Bruce deserves the world. He loves his family a lot, even though he seems to take them for granted or forget about them at times. And they love him, too, although he’s a bit strange.

(So, to make it short: they DO have a great relationship. Just a tiny bit rocky at times, but I feel like this Bruce is less emotionally repressed and thus a lot of issues would fall flat? They know he cares)

#feral bruce hours #DC #im soft soft SOFT

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat: The Many Ways the Crossover Almost Happened

https://ift.tt/38sRB2j

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, the game that really kickstarted the fighting game genre, has turned 30 this year. To celebrate, Ryu and Chun-Li are appearing in Fortnite. It’s par for the course for Ryu, who has been in so many crossovers to fight everyone from everywhere. Ryu has crossed over with the cast of Tekken, the guys from King of Fighters, the Marvel superheroes, just about everyone under the Nintendo banner, GI Joe, Power Rangers, and even Family Guy for some odd reason. Ryu and Street Fighter have crossed over with nearly everyone.

Yet for some reason, the number one dream fighting game match-up has never happened. Yes, we’re talking about Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat. These two giants of the fighting game industry have never exchanged blows despite being household names from the very beginning of the fighting game boom of the early 1990s.

That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some close calls or that they haven’t brushed shoulders in the past…

The Beginning of the Rivalry

The first iteration of Street Fighter II came out in February 1991. This was the sequel that made good on the promise of the 1987 original, which had great ideas that it couldn’t really execute. It would be bold to say that Street Fighter II perfected the formula, but it was such an improvement that it’s still incredibly playable to this day. It was a lucky break for Capcom, who would go on to milk the game’s success with several new editions of the title, from 1992’s Champion Edition all the way to 2017’s Ultra Street Fighter II: Final Challengers for the Nintendo Switch.

If you’re a fighting game aficionado, you know the history. The success of Street Fighter II sparked a boom for the fighting game genre. In Japan, SNK released Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting right on the heels of Capcom’s hit, while Alpha Denshi gave us World Heroes in ’92. Meanwhile, in America, Midway Games was planning its own Street Fighter II competitor, which was originally meant to be a tie-in game for the movie Universal Soldier starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. When that project fell through, Midway turned to the much gorier Mortal Kombat, a fighting game that digitized actors instead of sprites, an innovative approach to animation at the time.

Released on October 1992, Mortal Kombat was a major hit, and Midway quickly put out a sequel, Mortal Kombat II, six months later in April 1993. The third game would be out two years later. Mortal Kombat was speeding through its early days with cabinet after cabinet, while Capcom was focused on re-releasing newer versions of Street Fighter II. After making bosses playable, adding new characters, and tossing in other bells and whistles over the course of various upgrades, the studio concluded the game’s original run with 1994’s Super Street Fighter II: Turbo.

That meant that at a time when the internet was in its infancy, these two popular franchises were mainstays of print gaming magazines. Announcements, previews, reviews, secrets, tips, and so on. If your early ’90s magazine didn’t have at least a page dedicated to Street Fighter and/or Mortal Kombat, then get your eyes checked because you weren’t looking hard enough.

In 1992, Electronic Gaming Monthly famously pulled an April Fool’s Day gag on readers where they took the Street Fighter II mistranslation, “You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance,” and insisted it was a reference to a secret boss fight that involved working your ass off in the game in a way that was outright impossible, making your way through the game as Ryu without taking a single hit until your battle with M. Bison (and that was the “easy” part). The joke led to many stressful nights for gamers, who were finally told the truth about the hoax the following December.

But Midway took the idea of a secret boss more literally. Using the Sub-Zero/Scorpion ninja sprites, Midway introduced a green-clad fighter named Reptile, a seriously difficult opponent that you could only fight in arcade mode under some seriously ridiculous circumstances. Reptile was added in the 3.0 version of Mortal Kombat, making him the first secret boss in the genre’s history.

Capcom would eventually catch up with Akuma, a character extremely similar EGM‘s design for Sheng Long, in Super Street Fighter II: Turbo. By then, Midway had thrown in three more secret boss fights for Mortal Kombat II, and even SNK had already introduced Ryo Sakazaki as a secret final boss in Fatal Fury Special.

Brushing Shoulders

The Mortal Kombat series really thrived as a gorier and campier alternative to Street Fighter II‘s more fundamental approach to the genre, but that didn’t stop Midway from taking a couple of jabs at Capcom. In-game, secret characters would occasionally pop up before rounds and say something cryptic for the sake of helping the players figure out how to unlock their fight, a nod to the Sheng Long joke. But there were more direct pokes at the competition. For instance, Jade would occasionally appear for the sake of asking, “CHUN WHO?” and vanishing. Midway also included “RYU” as default initials on Mortal Kombat II‘s high score board. Cute.

Meanwhile, Capcom stoked the fire with a commercial for Street Fighter II: Champion Edition for Sega Genesis. It featured a security guard at a toy store coming across a box for the game. Blanka’s arm would thenreach out and grab the nearby box for Mortal Kombat and crush it into smoldering trash.

But it wasn’t all jabs. The two companies crossed paths in other interesting ways. In 1993, Malibu Comics published a Street Fighter II series for only three issues before having to drop it because Capcom was unhappy with Ken Masters’ grisly fate in the story. Around the same time, Malibu also launched a Mortal Kombat series, and the publisher would actually batch issues of both series together and send them to vendors.

Games

The Strange History of Street Fighter Comics

By Gavin Jasper

Games

The History of Mortal Kombat Comics

By Gavin Jasper

Hasbro double-dipped when it came to action figures too, releasing sets for both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, complete with weapons and special vehicles. But while Street Fighter characters were treated like part of the GI Joe line, and were even featured in commercials where they all hang out and beat the crap out of Duke, Mortal Kombat was kept separate from Hasbro’s most popular figures.

Nintendo also used both franchises as major selling points for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The SNES ports for Super Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat II both played big parts in Nintendo’s Play It Loud ad campaign. One such commercial even had a guy getting a massive Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat tattoo on his torso.

But the closest thing we’ve ever gotten to a real crossover between the two games was through their Saturday morning cartoons. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm were both released as animated follow-ups to their live-action movies, although they were directly inspired by the games themselves. On Nov. 16, 1996, both series, as well as Savage Dragon and Wing Commander Academy, took part in a long-forgotten crossover event based around a hero named the Warrior King and his search through the multiverse for a special orb that controls the weather.

The Warrior King played a major role in his Street Fighter episode as the romantic interest of Chun-Li, while in Mortal Kombat, he merely made a quick cameo as a shadowy figure running through a portal. Regardless, both stories involved the villains (M. Bison and Shang Tsung) wielding the same mystical orb.

No, the crossover ain’t much, but that’s still more than what we got in Wreck-It Ralph. Although the Disney movie featured M. Bison, Zangief, Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Cammy, it didn’t bring in any official Mortal Kombat characters to face them. Instead, the movie included “Cyborg,” a blatant Kano knockoff with the same cybernetic eye, goatee, and zest for heart-ripping. Why didn’t Disney just use Kano? Probably because he’s a Warner Bros. property. Still, missed opportunity.

Copying Test Answers

The video game adaptation of Street Fighter: The Movie will always be a fascinating novelty. Released in 1995 in arcades, the game not only copied Mortal Kombat’s digitized actors but it actually featured Jean-Claude Van Damme, the actor Midway had been unable to secure for its own Universal Soldier tie-in years earlier.

Interestingly, whenever Capcom sets out to make a totally new Street Fighter game, the studio usually chooses to go in a new art direction. Street Fighter V is the exception, although Capcom did initially start with a more photorealistic art style before nixing it and going with “Street Fighter IV but extra.” So, when Capcom tapped Incredible Technologies to put together the video game version of Street Fighter: The Movie in 1995, it was at a time when the publisher was also considering using the digitized Mortal Kombat style for Street Fighter III. Thankfully, Capcom decided not to go in this direction.

Midway hilariously dipped its toe in Capcom’s waters a bit more blatantly in 2004. Mortal Kombat: Deception introduced a fighter named Kobra who was supposed to be the latest human POV character, only evil. But Midway initially named him “Ken Masters” due to his physical similarities to the Street Fighter character. The studio included “Ken” in a beta version of the game provided to the press, with the express direction NOT to mention the character.

Guess what happened next. A German publication posted the images of “Ken Masters” anyway, suggesting Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter was finally happening. Sadly, no, this was not a teaser for the long-awaited video game crossover. It seemes Midway just hadn’t come up with a proper name for “Ken Masters” yet.

Capcom did throw in a cute reference to Mortal Kombat in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The game featured Nathan Spencer, the Bionic Commando, whose cybernetic arm could shoot out like a grappling hook and grab opponents from far away. When doing that to yoink an enemy towards him for a haymaker to the face, he’d quote Scorpion’s famous “GET OVER HERE!” Nice.

Not the Right Fit

Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon admitted in 2008 that he’d tried to make Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter happen at one point but Capcom wasn’t interested.

“I’ve always wanted to cross MK over since about MK4, or something like that. I’m a big fan of all of the other fighting games, Street Fighter, Tekken. I always thought, wouldn’t it be cool to have MK vs. SF and MK vs. Tekken? We pursued some of those ideas to the extent we could but we always ran into some kind of road block and couldn’t do it.”

A full-on roster vs. roster situation was out back in the ’90s, but these days, guest characters are a normal part of fighting games. Tekken 7 alone includes representatives from Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, Final Fantasy, and The Walking Dead. Mortal Kombat and Injustice have gone all over the map with their DLC choices, including slasher villains, ’80s action heroes, Spawn, Hellboy, and even the Ninja Turtles. When a fighting game announces a new season of DLC, you usually know to expect at least one crossover character to be included in the package.

For 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11, Boon reached out to Capcom once again. Wouldn’t it be neat if a Street Fighter character got in on all the gritty time-traveling action? While we don’t know which character Boon was interested in using, many fans theorize Akuma would have been the perfect fit. But Capcom said no.

Here’s what former Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono had to say about it:

“It’s true that a proposal for a Street Fighter character in Mortal Kombat was rejected by Capcom, but it wasn’t me personally! There were many people at the company that felt that it wasn’t a good fit for our characters. I actually met Ed at the Brazil game show and spoke to him personally about it. So it’s true – but I didn’t make the decision!”

So why didn’t it happen? Probably because Mortal Kombat 11 is banned in Japan due to all the gore and extreme violence.

“I understand why people want it,” Ono said at the time, “but it’s easier said than done. Having Chun-Li getting her spine ripped out, or Ryu’s head bouncing off the floor…it doesn’t necessarily match.”

Maybe one day. For now, we’re left waiting for Ryu to finally get over here.

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Special thanks to tabmok99 for helping with this article. You can check out his Mortal Kombat know-it-all YouTube channel here.

The post Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat: The Many Ways the Crossover Almost Happened appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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chucklestheechidona · 4 years ago

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Freedom Fighters - An Unceremonious Death

For the love of god let them die

Look, I like the Freedom Fighters. More the reboot than the preboot, they have less baggage, but still, I respect what they did. But if you’ve read my other dumb things you also know I think Red Dwarf USA had a real chance of working, so maybe I’m just insane.

Either way, this whole Rally For Sally business has been going around and disturbing the usual culprits from their dens and I feel I should say something.

“The American Canon“

This is a stupid sentence and yet thrown around as you like. There is no American canon, there is just “The Canon” and “Non-canon.” Believe it or not, the people who make the product get to decide what’s done with it and what is canon.

If you made something and then in France they made an entirely different story with concepts and themes you didn’t want to explore, you’d be hesitant about including or acknowledging it. Same with Sega of Japan.

But then why did Sega allow this to be made?

Well, I think this needs a tad bit of history behind it.

We’re going to the 90′s

Denim was in, the future was here, everything in 2000′s would be chrome and the Y2k bug was on the horizon.

Ohno

But Sega of Japan had an issue. Their arcade machines were selling like nobody’s business but they wanted that sweet console piece of the pie, but had no winning mascot. Alex Kidd, unfortunately, wasn’t moving as many consoles as they had hoped, god knows not enough to rival Mario.

They needed something cool, something different, somethi- It’s Sonic. You know it is, I know it is, I ain’t dragging this on.

It did well enough in Japan, but Sega was focusing on international markets with this game. It had a somewhat universal design, helped by the basis being Felix and Mickey Mouse which were popular around the world, with catchy songs based on both Japanese and American releases from the past.

It was going to be a hit.

Or... was it?

Did they need to do more?

Well, Sega doesn’t just have Sega of Japan. It had SOE and SOA as well. Europe and America respectively. Others too I’m sure but my memory’s off.

SoA and SoJ had a somewhat shaky relationship with each other, but then again, so did other companies back then. It was a new foray into public relations. Japan built the consoles that actually sold, America had to sell them, but there was a big gap between the countries, how things were interpreted, different values, and let’s not forget, American pride and greed.

AMERICA in the 90′s

SOJ needed this thing to sell big. Sonic was going to be a global success if they could help it. And let’s be honest, it was.

America had it’s own plans on what Sonic should be, and SOJ actually listened to some of them. Madeline Schroeder, product manager at the time for Sega in the US, actually went to Japan to say what she thought Sonic would be. As of this, they removed Madonna and Sonic’s tie-in with a band, as well as changing certain design traits in the US because “Sonic looked too Japanese.“

And then had the gall to call herself the “Mother Of Sonic”

Again, in a world where shitting on other people’s culture is a big no-no, and for good reason, how that managed to be fine is insane.

It’s a Japanese fucking product, Madeline.

Alongside this, as SOA hadn’t had much access to the Japanese backstories (although, the manuals should have been fine enough), when it came to marketing the games as an ongoing story (and ready in time for the cartoons they wanted to push) SOA made their own Sonic Bible, for use outside of non-Japanese territories.

This would have the seeds of what most people know, Freedom Fighters, Eggman once being good, Sonic being part of the good fight, etc.

[Astoundingly, when they made the cartoons and everything, Fleetway would be the one to actually stick closer to this than Archie/Satam/Underground/Aosth ever did so who’s talking about canon now huh]

Japan didn’t really notice nor take heed. One could make a good case for their complete obliviousness to what SOA was doing. You can tell because absolutely nothing from the bible/comics/magazine ever appeared in a Japanese Sonic game. Spinball was Sega Technical Institute, an American Division. Not Sega of Japan.

On top of this, as I see a bunch of people who go “Sega is disrespecting the American canon”, interesting fact. In Europe and Japan, the manual for Sonic CD clearly states Amy Rose is in the game. Sega of America actually edited this to say Sally, despite not going through and changing the sprites. If that’s not disrespect towards the creators of the games I don’t know what is.

The Canon

The problem I find with this is that, let’s be honest, if we had to look at this from an objective viewpoint:

Japan released a game.

America sought to profit off it, but didn’t like it was very much Japanese, not American.

They changed the story to be more American themed, changed the art design to look more American drawn, and ignored the Japanese additions to the games by editing out the Japanese characters in the manuals.

Because they wanted to profit off a different culture’s work by changing it wholesale so it didn’t resemble the culture it came from.

Nothing about SatAm’s premise or creation says anything about the original material it came from, just heavily adapted without any input from it’s creators to resemble a more American product.

You know how Japan saw Sonic?

This cute lad who acted more like a cartoon Felix the Cat type figure.

Now I get it, especially in the 90′s, everyone was localising. The markets weren’t as much the same, god knows they gave Ratchet attack eyebrows to be appealing etc.

But this was so anti-Japanese that the fact they were profiting at all from a Japanese product is insane.

Adventure

Back in Japan in the 90′s, they didn’t really have much of an idea what they were doing with the canon. They had plans but they seemed to be not as stable as they would have liked. The amount of games they were pumping out with different Eggman attacks and characters and if the GG games fit in with the MD games-

They needed something a bit more stable.

So when it was their time for their biggest game yet, they started to reign things in. In Japan. In Europe.

In America.

Sonic Adventure would be the basis for the stories for the next decade or so, with some revisions on what came before, what was mainline, what have you.

At this point, SOA’s cartoons had all died and the only thing remaining in the Sonic canon from that time was the Archie comic, still ongoing. But yet America still pulled this stuff off.

In the original script, Eggman is still Eggman. None of this “I AM DOCTOR ROBOTNIK, GENIUS OF THE WORLD” schtick.

No changing the manuals this time at least, so they’re getting better.

Over time, the only surviving things to come out of the canon, which Sega was nice enough to do considering, was

- Chilli-dogs - I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG - Robotnik being Maria’s surname

Didn’t you have something to say about the Freedom Fighters?

Why yes I do.

So, the Freedom Fighters for me, as much as I like them as , represent an American centrism. Not only was America not a Sega dominated market, for Nintendo did better and Europe was buying Sega consoles like candy, but the characters and show weren’t that popular outside the country anyway.

Ask someone in Europe in the 90′s who Sally Acorn was and unless they had access to a specific channel they wouldn’t have the first idea. Amy Rose, for sure, she was in the games.

I didn’t know who Sally was until Mega Collection Plus came out, and the UK STILL manages to get Sonic games in the top of the charts when they come out.

Aosth was shown more abroad with more appeal, the comics weren’t sold internationally, let alone in Japan.

To be all “But these characters cemented the Western fanbase” is mental.

The comics sold somewhere in the tens of thousands in their hey-day. At the same time, Sonic games were selling millions. The comic and show are so old that unless you were part of the 20,000 buying the comics recently or pirated them, you don’t even know who they are.

Fleetway was the only Sonic comic we got in the UK, and there’s more fans that have grown up with Sonic Adventure being the basis which had absolutely no inspiration from the Western products.

These characters are relics of America taking the mick out of a Japanese product in order to make more money and produce shows.

To say they’ve made a big impact on Sonic in the world is really stretching it.

F.A.Q

But you said you liked the FF’s!

I do, but in the same way I like AU’s. It was interesting, of it’s time and it said a lot about the culture it was made in. Like, comparable to Tails gets Trolled or Fleetway

B-but I really like the FF’s!

Good for you, don’t let me stop you. Again, I like a bunch of the stories.

Are you a Japanese purist?

Fleetway is cool and I liked the Boom show, and I liked Robotnik better than Eggman as a name.

I heard that some Japanese fans actually liked the FF’s though...

And more power to them. Again, Red Dwarf USA does a lot to shit on what made the UK version so good but I respect what it tried to do. Again, even I like the FF’s to an extent.

Why did you write this all out?

Seeing all this Rally for Sally has brought out all the insane people who shout at SOJ for being gits for not respecting the American canon despite the American canon being born from a disrespect to the Japanese creators.

What about IDW?

Ironically I actually liked Reboot more but also I was younger when I read them.

What do you think of Tangle and Whisper getting in?

I need to read more of IDW but they’re good enough. As for getting in the games, these designs were vetted and passed through SOJ first and the comic is overseen by them. On top of this, T+W don’t come from a place of SOA taking the mick.

But Sega has used these characters before and ESTABLISHED this as canon why are they changing it now-

I see this a lot, usually with certain people. Dobson’s a good example of why this is stupid. When the Japanese revert changes made to characters like Mario/Zelda/Samus by the West, they didn’t radically change their personalities, they just reset them to what Japan intended.

Japan never intended for the FF’s, the three heavily contrasting cartoons and Knuckles is Jesus Christ Superstar.

They just reverted him back to the sole guy on Angel Island.

Do you think Sally should get in to Sonic Dash?

No more than I think Tekno or Sonia does. They’re old, irrelevant, gone. If they do get brought in for a cameo I’d be happy enough, I like dumb nods to non-canon things.

However, there are crazy people out there and you give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. Best to leave it.

Hotel?

#Sonic the hedgehog #Freedom Fighters #Sally Acorn #Rally4Sally #America #Japan #Hotel?#Trivago

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dragonkeeper19600 · 5 years ago

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Super Mario Bros.: Fallen Star AU (Part 1)

This is an AU I’ve been developing for a while. It’s basically my take on the stock “Bowser defeats Mario and conquers the Mushroom Kingdom” scenario. I haven’t decided if I want to do this as a fan fic, a series of fan fics, a comic series, whatever, so I decided I might as well lay out the basics here.

The name “Fallen Star” is a double entendre. The first meaning refers to the weapon Bowser uses to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom: a star that fell from the sky. The course of history in the Mario world is often determined by the presence of stars and other celestial bodies on Earth, the Power Stars, the Beanstar, the Dark Star, the Shine Sprites, the Cobalt Star, etc. All of these entities contain great power and great capacity to be used for either good or evil, but one star proved itself more devastating, more uncontrollable than all the others. This was the Havoc Star, which fell to Earth in a fiery blaze.

The Havoc Star crashed into the ocean, and the force of its impact was so great that it caused flooding in coastal cities around the world. Bowser’s forces found it smoldering in the sea depths, the water around it broiling to a white heat. They managed to contain it with Kamek’s magic and unleashed it as a weapon on the Mushroom Kingdom.

All stars are living beings, but this star seemed heedless of any attempts to communicate with it. It couldn’t be controlled or reasoned with, the only voice it had seemed to be a scream. Bowser didn’t see it as a sentient being and instead as an infinite energy source to be pointed in the general direction of a target.

The devastation this thing wreaked on the Mushroom Kingdom was total, and there was a lot of collateral damage even among Bowser’s own forces, as Kamek’s attempts to wrangle it relied a lot on trial and error. Even Bowser grew uneasy at the extent of its power, but he was far too prideful to admit to his fear and carried on laying waste to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario and Luigi had no way to fight this thing. They decided to focus their efforts on evacuating as many of the Toads out of the Kingdom as possible, hoping to buy time for the Star Sprites to find a solution. But, they are only two men, and the star was more powerful than both of them. Luigi is captured, and Mario and Peach are forced to go into hiding. Bowser takes the opportunity to install himself in the now vacant Peach Castle.

Alone together, Mario decides to make one final bid to stop Bowser. Peach will run for the border while Mario takes one last stand against Bowser.

And this is the second meaning of “Fallen Star” because Mario never returns from this encounter.

Mario throws down with Bowser inside of Peach’s Castle, but when Mario gains the upper hand, Bowser orders Kamek to unleash the Havoc Star on the castle with the two of them still inside.

Kamek is alarmed and refuses at first, but Bowser is seeing red.

He’s basically razed the Mushroom Kingdom to the ground and still Peach eludes his grasp?

The only thing left for it is to burn everything.

So, the Havoc Star is set loose upon Peach’s Castle, where it proceeds to tear it apart.

Bowser manages to escape by the skin of his teeth.

But, Mario is pinned under falling rubble and unable to get away,

So the castle collapses with him inside it.

When the smoke clears, and there’s nothing left of the castle but blackened stone,

Bowser is in a state of shock.

Somehow, he didn’t expect Mario to actually die.

The reality of it is only now sinking in.

And, he doesn’t know what he feels.

Meanwhile, Luigi is being held prisoner in the dungeon of Bowser’s castle

Because he’s too dangerous to let loose.

Bowser actually gives him the news in person.

He’s halting and awkward with it. He doesn’t attempt to console Luigi, but there’s something almost regretful in his words.

Luigi’s brain is a blank.

He can’t comprehend what’s being said to him.

All he knows is that Bowser must be lying.

He sits in that dungeon for months, waiting for Mario to rescue him.

And as each day goes by without any sign of his brother,

A horrible, all-consuming terror takes hold of Luigi’s soul.

What if it’s actually true?

Three months go by of Luigi trying, with increasing desperation, to stamp down the awful possibility.

But then, finally, one day, there’s chaos up above.

Someone is storming the Bowser’s Castle.

Luigi hears crashing, blasting, all kinds of foundation-rocking noise

Before a masked person drops into his cell.

The person with the mask blasts a hole open in the wall,

And pulls Luigi out into a waiting airship.

Only when the airship is flying away does his rescuer remove their mask.

It’s Daisy.

Daisy is overjoyed to see Luigi, but Luigi only has one question:

“Is Mario with you?”

The look on Daisy’s face says it all.

For the first time in three months, Luigi breaks down completely.

Everything, everything is gone.

Everything has lost its color.

Daisy just holds him as he cries.

When they arrive back in Sarasaland, they are greeted by an anxious Peach.

She made it out.

She, and the other Toads that managed to escape, are hiding out in Sarasaland.

Daisy and the rest of the Sarasaland nobility have been spreading rumors of Peach taking refuge elsewhere.

They have most of Bowser’s forces convinced that Peach has run to the Lunar Kingdom with plans to head deeper into the galaxy.

Only Daisy, her father, and the other four kings know that Peach is actually in Sarasaland.

For the first few weeks of his own exile in Sarasaland, Luigi doesn’t see much of Peach.

He seems to be numb to the world. He sleep walks through his day.

At night, he’s wracked with sobs and can’t catch a single wink.

Daisy, to her credit, doesn’t leave his side during all this time.

She spends all day with him, she encourages him to eat, she lies next to him at night.

She feels overwhelmed.

She’s grieving for Mario, too, but she knows Luigi is feeling an anguish beyond her comprehension.

She feels inadequate.

But, Luigi clings to her desperately each night.

After a month, Daisy tells Luigi she has to tell him something important.

It’s a struggle for Luigi to hear what anyone else is telling him.

But Daisy has such a serious look on her face that Luigi summons the effort to pay attention.

“Maybe we should’ve told you sooner, but we didn’t want to overwhelm you with so many things at once.

“Peach is pregnant.

“You’re going to be an uncle.”

Shock. Even greater than the moment in the cell.

When? How?

Daisy admits she doesn't know all the details.

“After all. I wasn’t there.”

But, apparently, that last night before Mario left to fight Bowser,

Peach and Mario knew there was a decent chance they might both die.

They didn’t want to leave anything unsaid or undone.

Daisy wonders if perhaps a baby was the outcome Peach was hoping for.

To carry on his legacy, you know?

Luigi is distraught.

It’s Mario’s baby. He should be here.

Daisy agrees. Mario should be here.

But, Luigi is here.

Peach needs him.

Daisy takes Luigi to see Peach immediately after.

Her smile is apologetic.

She asks Luigi how he feels.

He says he doesn’t know.

Which is fair.

It’s a lot to process.

Peach says the baby is doing well.

Toadsworth was evacuated too, and he never leaves her side.

Luigi doesn’t need to worry.

She tells Luigi the baby will probably have a lot of questions about its legacy.

Luigi will be able to answer questions that she doesn’t know the answer to.

Also, she wants the baby to know Italian.

Mario taught her some things, but she isn't fluent.

She doesn’t want the baby to lose that part of its heritage.

She’s gushing, saying too many things at once.

She’s wrought with emotion, too. She hardly knows what she’s saying.

But, the last thing she says is,

“I’m so glad you’re here, Luigi.

“I give thanks everyday that you’re here.”

It’s strange, but the news of the baby seems to rally Luigi.

While obviously still grieving, the darkness that had weighed him down seems to lighten somewhat.

He seems more awake, more alive.

Whenever Peach asks for something, its practically a race between him and Toadsworth who can get it to her first.

Luigi, as the younger, has the advantage.

He holds her hair back when she needs to puke, he gets up in the dead of night to make her food.

Though she knows it isn’t fair, Daisy grows jealous.

Luigi is spending so much time with Peach, and the baby seems to unite them in a way that leaves Daisy feeling left out.

Besides, she knows that Luigi never really stopped being attracted to Peach.

But, Daisy is enough of an adult not to go to Peach with these feelings.

Instead, she communicates them to Luigi in a very apologetic, mature way.

She admits she feels like a failure. She wasn’t able to help Luigi like Peach was.

Luigi is surprised that she thinks of herself that way.

He tells her he’s immensely grateful for how kind and patient she has been with him.

How patient she’s still being with him.

Daisy saved his life. He’s never forgotten that.

Daisy presses her hand to her mouth to hide her smile.

But, she can’t hide her tears.

She though she hadn’t been able to help Luigi with his grief.

But all this time, Luigi thought of her as his hero.

The months pass, and the time comes.

In a cottage hidden away from the world, Peach goes into labor.

Luigi and Daisy wait outside while Peach is attended to by a doctor.

After a while, Daisy is called into the room.

Peach has asked for her.

Daisy is taken aback.

“Why me!?”

The nurse says she doesn’t know. Peach asked for her specifically.

Daisy heads inside nervously.

She don't know nothing about birthing no babies.

Luckily, Peach just wants Daisy to hold her hand.

She tells Daisy she didn't ask for Luigi because she didn’t want him to panic.

Daisy laughs nervously.

Joking around like this, it almost feels like old times.

Eventually, Luigi hears the baby cry.

Daisy comes outside and gives the thumbs up.

It’s all good.

In the months leading up to this moment, when Peach and Luigi were discussing names, Peach admitted she didn’t want to name the baby after Mario.

Mario’s name would already be a huge part of the baby's life.

Peach wants the baby to have its own identity.

Luigi is touched that Peach understands.

Anyway, it’s a moot point, since the baby is a girl.

The doctor tells Luigi he can go in and see them.

He goes.

Peach looks exhausted, but happy.

The baby is sleeping.

Luigi can’t believe how beautiful the baby is.

Peach agrees.

“We did good, huh?

“Would you like to hold her?”

Luigi is nervous.

He’s afraid he’ll drop her.

Peach says she trusts him.

Luigi takes the baby.

She’s so light.

She doesn’t wake up, only stirs under the blanket.

They’re a banished princess and a disgraced hero, both living in exile,

But home is right here in his arms.

The Italian word for star is stella.

It seemed like a perfect name.

“Hello, Stella.

“I’m your uncle.”

#super mario bros #fallen star au #mario #luigi #princess peach #princess daisy #bowser #angst #character death #havoc star #stella #depression #grief #fan fic #au

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