#I have a lot of thoughts on the augment situation though

[psychhound]

im musing on bleed & the types of character-player relationships between my pcs and npcs

for a quick primer, bleed is the exchange of thoughts and emotions between player and character (great article about bleed here). for a lot of people, bleed leads to more immersion in the character, which can mean a more emotionally resonant and rewarding experience. some people try to play for bleed and some try to avoid it, but a lot of the time its not controllable. and some people tend to experience high bleed generally while others rarely have bleed with their characters

i was pondering why i, broadly speaking, tend to have higher bleed with my npcs than i do with my pcs, because i assume that is the opposite of a lot of people. especially coming off of a changeling the lost arc with @theresattrpgforthat that was intended to be high bleed (& succeeded!!) which is not an experience i get with pcs a ton, especially so quickly

and i think what i landed on is that i almost always create pcs and npcs with different relationships to myself according to bowman's 9 types of character-player relationships

for my npcs, i have to put pieces of myself into them intentionally from the get go because im inhabiting a lot of different people and have to have some sort of connection point to jump into these different minds in unpredictable situations as quickly and smoothly as i can. sometimes an augmented self, sometimes a regressed self, sometimes an idealized self. i take all the Me and then i hit it with a pickaxe and put the fragmented pieces into all these guys so i have tethers to the whole cast

and then of course i have to take all these fragments of myself and figure out their role in an overall story and figure out what their personas are going to be ... then they get a character sheet, if they get one at all, if the game calls for them to have one

whereas almost all of my pcs start as experimental selves. depending on the game, theyre either mechanics-forward because i want to try a funky build, or i have one Concept i want to play with that i build a whole character around. a recently divorced wolf dad guardian in wanderhome. an former-hivemind-member insectoid cult leader in starfinder. a bard/paladin who works at medieval knights orlando in 5e. sometimes i end up finding a new relationship with these characters that invites some bleed and sometimes i dont. sometimes they just stay me doing mad science with the game mechanics

which is really interesting to me as someone who really enjoys bleed and immersion, when it goes well. i didnt realize this pattern at all until i was like okay. mint asked me to make a high bleed character, why did it actually work

i definitely think there are ttrpgs that invite bleed more than others. when done intentionally, these are called 'bleed designs'. im aiming for a bleed design with spiritkeep since thats kind of the whole point. of the ttrpgs ive played (i need to count, but maybe around 17 now? multiplayer games at least), i think the two that come to mind are apocalypse keys and changeling the lost, especially in character creation. maybe thats too telling about me, though! theyre both games that very intentionally play with themes of trauma and thats a big bleed factor for me

idk ... curious to hear what yall think!! adding a poll cause why not :)

[bringthekaos]

I'm excited for your thoughts on the new season if/when you share them

It has legit taken me 3 days to come to terms with Act 1. Enough to be able to speak about it. Gunna apologize in advance for the wall of text, and I’m hiding it under a break for spoiler reasons. Also prefacing with these are all just my opinions. All are free to disagree with me and RB with discussions/theories etc. just don’t be a dick about it, I’m not engaging in any discourse.

Ok. So. I have mixed feelings, and I’m aware that this is because I don’t have the whole story yet. So this is all contingent on how the rest of the season plays out.

First and foremost, I’m… wildly swinging back and forth between love and disappointment for Viktor’s arc. So first the negative, and I’ll try to keep it brief because a lot of people have already expressed this and I don’t need to be beating that particular dead horse.

Viktor has had his agency, his bodily autonomy, his original ideas and nearly everything that made him Viktor stripped away. Nothing so far has been his choice. And while this could have worked just fine for an original character, he wasn’t. So there is a massive disconnect between what this character was/should have been. In League, it was all his choice (albeit with a healthy dose of mental illness thrown in, but still). AND it was very heavily suggested that many of the augmentations he performed weren’t as extensive as he lead everyone to believe (namely the controlling/dousing of his emotions). But it appears that whatever the Hexcore did to him, it’s real. He is clearly having a difficult time accessing his emotions, and if he can feel anything, it is limited to the point of him being completely stoic. And the thing with stoic characters is that you obliterate any emotional payoff for the audience. It’s very hard to make an audience feel an emotional connection to a character’s story arc when they themselves don’t feel anything (I have a theory about this though, but I’ll address it a little later in this post). And then there is the issue of Blitzcrank. Blitz was Viktor’s whole world, after his exile. How are they going to swing that? Like, I’m not even asking for Blitz to be in Arcane (that would be great, but I really don’t think they have time). But I stg if they take Blitz away from Viktor, make them someone else’s invention (my suspicion is Heimer or he finds the idea in Sky’s journal)… I’m sorry but no. This was Viktor’s idea, Viktor’s genius. I will genuinely be extremely upset if they take that from him too.

Then there is the whole situation with Sky. First, this girl was fridged. She was nothing but a plot device and continues to be just that. It feels hollow and forced, especially now that he’s hallucinating her as some sort of penance for what he did. (I have seen the prevalent theory that it’s the Hexcore using her image and his guilt to manipulate him, given that it “ate” her, and we have seen it “manipulate” him before when it punished him for trying to destroy it). But back to Sky—he barely acknowledged that poor girl. The reason for that can be argued, whether it’s because he’s gay or because he was just so wrapped up in his one-track minded research. But regardless, there just wasn’t enough setup between those two for this whole thing to have as much weight and meaning as I think it’s supposed to. Honestly to me (TO ME) it reeks of comphet. It feels like that random woman they threw at Poe Dameron to No Homo him. I’m not even asking for Jayvik canon. But the creators were well aware of this ship, after all it’s the second most popular ship in this show and it’s been around since 2012 when Jayce was literally created for Viktor. I’m asking for the bare minimum here—that it’s left open-ended as it was in League, open for interpretation.

Last negative I have is the whole Viktor Jesus thing. The first problem is I am pretty violently agnostic, and messiah narratives have never spoken to me. I don’t enjoy them, they feel weak. The whole “ordained by a higher power” thing is just… stale. Especially when this character originally had no higher power, he gave it to himself through his own hard work and ingenuity. Honestly, Viktor’s original arc is about as far from a Jesus allegory as you can possibly get. And I am absolutely terrified that they’re going to end said Jesus arc the way you’d expect—with him dying for it. Which leaves the moral of his story “disabled man should have just accepted that he was going to die despite the fact that it was the oppression and xenophobia of Piltover that left him out to dry, without proper health care, accessibility, equality, or equity that lead to his terminal diagnosis to begin with.” Which is a very oppressor-centric narrative and we do not need another one of those.

Sorry, I know I said I’d keep the negatives brief, and that was… not. My bad. But moving on!

I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it, I did. I am working to embrace this new Viktor narrative and work it into my brain in a way that doesn’t ruin the ship for me. So without further ado, the positives.

Jayce.

Jayce.

Jayce.

I’d have to go back and time it, but it feels like he got more screen time in this first act than the entirety of the first season combined, and his character shined for it. It humanized him in ways season one never did. He’s caring, he’s devoted, and he loved Viktor! No matter what kind of love you think it is, it proves he loved Viktor without a doubt. He carried Viktor several city blocks to the lab to save him, and then YES, he broke his promise about the Hexcore because he couldn’t stand the thought of losing him!

And he’s funny! (The scene where he picks up the regular sized hammer in the fight against Renni and made that “this is ironic” face?? And then basically the entire interaction with Ekko? The hand me a tome thing, and then when he basically pulled this when Ekko suggested “so this is all your fault cuz you pissed off the Arcane”:

GOD that shit was great. Jayce’s personality just shined, and maybe it’s too much to hope, but maybe this will douse a little of the hate. Because instead of being a subtle hint at all of those things being true about him, it’s now overt. And when people lack media literacy, the hints have to be overt.

And th-the. The h. The HUG SCENE. I don’t think I will ever emotionally recover from that scene. Starting with Viktor who, despite being clearly emotionally—I dunno, vacant I guess—sounded so lost and scared when he said “what am I?” For me, it was whispers of that scene from The Last Unicorn: “what have you done to me?” And my poor sweet Jayce, who clearly hasn’t left this damn lab except to go to Cassandra’s memorial. Sleeping on the desk and bleeding through his bandages because he doesn’t want to spend a moment away from Viktor while he “recovers.” And his euphoric response when he finds Viktor alive, when he realizes he hasn’t lost him. And I OWE HIM AN APOLOGY, goddamn. I said in a post that “Jayce will not understand.” I thought that was how Arcane was gunna start the divorce. But Jayce genuinely did not care, as long as his lover friend was alive. And just… Jayce being so affectionate through this entire scene. The hug obviously, but also blurting things he thought he’d never get to say to Viktor—“I’m resigning from the council, my place was always here in the lab with you.”

And… the hug itself. I know we’re all analyzing it frame by goddamn frame, but I see exactly what everyone else sees—there is a moment where Viktor very subtly smiles. But it’s gone in an instant, and it turns bittersweet. LOOK AT HIM.

There is something there, it’s just buried. Deep beneath the surface. It seems to say “I want this, I have wanted this for so long.” But then he realizes something, something I don’t think we’re meant to understand yet. Maybe that he doesn’t feel anything about it anymore, and he recognizes that this should upset him and it doesn’t. Or perhaps it’s something more along the lines of “it’s too late.” Whatever it is, I think this is the exact moment he knows he has to walk away. Because he knows he’ll cave to the affection, he said it himself. (Which is another thing entirely. His voice changes when he says that. Something in him is reacting to that word. Maybe he’s fighting against it, or maybe he’s fighting to get it back. But something made him almost growl that word.)

Which leads me to my final thought (for this post anyway, cuz it’s turning into a novel); Viktor is still in there. He can still feel things, I just think they’re extremely muted by whatever the Hexcore did/continues to do to him, or he has to fight to express them. Because he also smiled at the hallucination of Sky after he “cured” Huck. And if he feels nothing, he wouldn’t have been “joyous” at the thought of her being proud of him, approving of the good things he’s trying to do in her memory. He wouldn’t crave that validation, that vindication from her. So I’m hopeful that we start to see this shell crack a little, especially if those visions of Sky are the Hexcore manipulating him through guilt. It will start to erode him, no matter how stoic he has become. And literally the only thing I’m clinging to is that Jayce will see this and try to pull him out. “He’s still in there and I have to save him.” And that maybe it’ll start to work.

[i-want-the-rock-i-need-the-rock]

OKAY I have squinted at the Murderbot tv show and here are my thoughts

-Apple really did blow their entire tv budget on Severance, huh. It really looks like they're trying to keep costs down. Like, in the book the planet they're on is described as having forests and beaches but here it's just Sand. I mean for me it kind of reminds me of old Star Trek eps where they'd just drive out to like Palm Springs and pretent this patch of desert was a COMPLETELY ALIEN PLANET so I found it kind of charming.

-The presumed cost-cutting shows in other changes, too, most notably cutting down the Presaux crew. Which, like, I get. Volescu is only in book 1 and never shows up again, so you don't lose much by cutting him. And I can see the thought behind just combining Arada and Overse into one character and tagging in Pin Lee to be Arada's wife instead. It was a little surprising at first but I got over it quickly.

-Another thing things from the books that got left out that I am more upset about was Murderbot's more robotic-y parts. It mentions that it has to pretend to be an augmented human because there's no way it could pass for a regular one. The impression I got was that it only really looks human from the shoulders up and elbows down, and even then you can see its gun ports. It says that its legs and feet are completely nonhuman and it has to keep them covered, too. This contributed to it struggling to integrate into human society, since if it's not careful to cover these parts up it's immediately obvious that it's not human. And then in the show it just. Looks like a regular-ass person out of armor. This was most likely a budget problem out of the creative team's control but I wanted my robo-legs. We do see that MB has no anatomy down there, though.

-Loved the Sanctuary Moon clips. Loved that MB is explicitly quoting it whenever it doesn't know what to say. Perfect, no notes.

-Not sure how I feel about them immediatly figuring out it's alien remnants. It's a small change, but there's already a lot of small changes and they're starting to add up. In the book they probably wouldn't have realized it if GreyCris hadn't jumped to conclusions and tried to kill them, emphasizing their greed and paranoia. IDK it's the little things.

-Was going to be miffed that MB didn't go along to check out the map spot but having it and Gurathin perform autism on autism violence on each other while Pin Lee Ratthi and Arada have a threesome in the next room was Sending Me so I'm letting it slide.

-I saw some folks talking about Arada trying to use he/him for MB while Gurathin agressively uses it/its but for me at least it...kind of worked. The kicker is that nobody actually asked MB how it wants to be addressed, they just started making assumptions. This goes with the running theme in the book that, while the Presaux gang is nice and well-meaning, they can still fall into the same pitfalls all humans can when dealing with bots/constructs/AIs. MB mentions that bots are either treated as tools that can go haywire any second or are infantalized like pets. The Presaux gang's main arch is learning to stop assuming they know what MB wants and start listening to it as its own person. It's the reason MB runs away at then end of the first book, and this just felt like planting that seed early on.

-That said they are making some choices wirh Arada that are setting of some little alarm bells so will continue to monitor the situation going forward.

-I hate to admit it but Skarsgard genuinely does a great job as MB. It's so weird because he looks nothing like how I pictured MB but acts exactly how I pictured MB. Honestly the performances overall were solid everybody did a good job.

-Yeah I agree with someone else's post that they would've liked it better if they hadn't read the books. It's honestly not bad and I do like it on its own, but it's not the books.

-So yeah. Bit of a mixed bag, but leaning towrd posative feelings. For now. We'll see how the rest of season pans out.

[larrythefloridaman]

Okay a real one this time: Recon Riley and/or Squid Jenny

trans gendered ringside report duo, legends of 'its not that deep, unfortunately, but the soil is soft and we're ready to dig and even make our own treasure to dig up'

Theres so much you could explore with these two, and what fanon's done for riley is great, but its sad how little they're actually explored or get to do in the grand scheme of things. Like. Riley was arguably one of order's most trusted employees, they were a normal person augmented like j0hn and larry were and apparently willingly stayed after, they were the first line of defense at the raid, but then just. unceremoniously joined kerfuffle camera crew. We know nothing concrete about their motives their background or how that happened. Its a rich vein and we havent tapped it basically at all. What we know about them is that theyre unscrupulous, dedicated to their work but NOT loyal, stealth modified, have more ego than they can back up in a fight, and are frustrated by the more baffling details of cpuk's world (how the fuck does Sans EAT-) and not much else, iirc!

And JENNY, baby, you had one of the first character arcs in the show but you've been kind of an accessory to the plot ever since! How does SHE feel about all this shit? In her first tournament a kid only three years younger than her DIED, in season 2 p. rool lashed out and injured her as a result of Iggy's being a dick to him, she wasn't let in on the time loop until some time during season 2 but then fell in line with keeping THAT secret, shes been involved with so much but how does she FEEL about it? Someone else's situation or thoughts are always centered over hers when shes involved. Shes got a lot of fun traits- she's witty, she's got that Intrepid Reporter's Spirit, she's interested in science and became a scientist in folk's time, possibly a chemist judging from the antacids, shes the baby of her friend group and on kerfuffle staff with j0hn and larry making jokes about not doing inappropriate things in front of her even though shes only a few years younger than them, she used to be really into stan twitter before she transitioned and got a life and was kind of adopted by her idol as a personal assistant, shes got so much going on and criminally little expansion on all of it, i love her

[animeomegas]

hmmm i dont know how much youve interacted with him but any thoughts on rex? i adore him and marz a lot

I'm going to start with Marz because I know a lot more about her character! Okay, let me first establish how I view the Stratospheric ship, because I think it will help frame a lot of what I'm going to say. My interpretation is that they are:

A cult.

Failing completely at their attempt to remove class, gender roles, cultural differences etc. and their interest in trying shows ignorance to an absurd degree.

Selfish and creepy. Bringing people so young paired up like that as if they're breeding pairs of cattle, and having children aboard the ship even though they could have easily predicted the untold hardships that would have befallen them.

That's the overview to my opinion on the adults of the colony. Obviously those born on the ship or who were too young to consent, like Utopia, don't inherently fall under those critiques. I should also make it clear that this isn't a criticism of the game, as I believe this is a supported interpretation, and it's super interesting!

The way I view the children is inherently based in this backdrop. They are, mostly, tragic tales. They are victims of the circumstances forced upon them. Each of them is a tragic tale in a different way.

Marz is the tragic tale of someone who loves the Earth and who was denied the opportunity to experience it against her will. She loves the arts, fashion, the ideas of concerts and people and cities... And she gets none of that. She gets a society where survival takes so much energy, there isn't always space for the things she loves. In one of my playthroughs, she only remained Governor for a short while, because she prioritised art, but it simply wasn't feasible when base line survival needed all the attention.

And the adults decided to take a risk on colony life. She never did. And she has to live with the consequences.

(also, wtf is her augment??? Who thought that would be a good idea??? Shame is an important emotion for humans navigating social situations, developing their moral compass, and making friends???)

I really feel for Marz, because she yearns for something more. And the chance of it happening in her lifetime (if at all) just feels so slim.

...

Rex... I don't know as much about him tbh. I think the Heliopause are a group of... absolute nutters, para military dictatorship vibes all over the place. Although it's much more overt in the narrative than the negatives of the Stratos' way of life.

But I haven't found out Rex's backstory really. I think his bar idea is cool, and I love giving him hugs haha. His character design is probably my favourite haha. I'll have to update more specific thoughts when I actually befriend him properly!

[allykatsart]

pls i’m so feral about your deer boi oc tell me more i wanna know how the whole everyone notices he’s terrified of alastor thing goes

Who is Peccantum?

HO BOY YOU ASKED FOR IT-

Husk, of course, is the first to notice.

He's a gambler, bartender, and is far more attentive than other sinners give him credit for. Of course he notices Peccantum is treading on eggshells everywhere, and not just for comedic effect. The young buck is genuinely terrified of Alastor.

However, Husk isn't one to act on that information. Not only is it none of his business, Husk is also kind of in the same boat as Peccantum. Honestly, the bartender thinks Peccantum's fear is warranted. He does soften over time, but what can he do, really?

Angel Dust is the first to help.

It would be post episode 4, when Angel really starts to connect with others at the hotel. Angel just kinda always assumed Peccantum was a panicky, on edge weirdo. As they get to know each other a little more, Angel realizes that's not actually the case. Peccantum is usually a sarcastic, passionate, clever guy! So the way the bellhop acts around Alastor... It reminds Angel a touch too much of his situation with Val

(Not in romance or assault, but in the 'Im going to fuck with you for my own amusement' way)

So, Angel starts doing little things. He doesn't want to piss off the strawberry pimp, so no direct confrontation, but he can still help Peccantum not get jump scared. Angel greets Alastor out loud when Alastor enters a room quietly. He lingers in rooms where Peccantum would be alone otherwise. Small things that prepare Peccantum beforehand.

In return, Peccantum makes Angel warm drinks when Angel comes back from a long day. He learns recipes that Angel likes and cooks dinner. He gives Angel a book called "A hundred and one dirty jokes for the wickedly perverted." Small things.

They don't talk about it, and it's not a foolproof strategy, but it helps.

Sir Pentious, the best friend, takes it very seriously.

Sir Pentious doesn't pick up on it like Husk and Angel do, so it takes an actual conversation with Peccantum about it for him to realize it's serious. Pentious and Peccantum are Science Buddies™️ so it doesn't take long before Pentious starts coming up with inventions that might help! Magic seeking goggles, ocular augmentations, even a scanner to help identify Alastor before he appears! They have a little fun with it.

In the end, though, Pentious keeps it simple. He and Peccantum develop a secret hand signal for if Peccantum needs someone to distract Alastor. That way Peccantum can slip away and calm himself down if he's spiraling!

They also develop a secret handshake but that's beside the point.

Charlie....

Despite what everyone thinks, Charlie isn't stupid. She's observant and empathetic, and quickly picks up that Peccantum is nervous around Alastor. She can understand that, Hell, sometimes the Radio Demon makes her nervous! She's also a fixer, so would try to resolve the issue with diplomacy and setting boundaries. Sure, Alastor probably doesn't care about Peccantum, but Alastor does listen to her!

But she doesn't have the context.

I don't think Peccantum would tell her anything, and may actively try to keep his thoughts about Alastor private from her. I also think Alastor has made it clear that if Peccantum tries to hide behind Charlie, he's in for a lot worse than just some scares. Alastor defers to Charlie out of obligation and opportunity, but he refuses to have others use her to manipulate himself. Especially not a soul he owns.

Peccantum, of course, complies. He has to convincingly lie to Charlie, which makes his stomach squirm with guilt, but it's fine. He's overreacting anyways. It's fine. It's the price he chose to pay for power.

As long as he has magic, he shouldn't care what Alastor decides to do with him.

It's fine.

(No, it's not)

[msfbgraves]

The more I think about it, Terry really was rather a gentleman on not bringing up Daniel’s Heat that one time they met before the wedding. No “You smelled so good, little one. For me? ;D)

Though I do think the Don wouldn’t have quite liked that…hehe. Terry is risky but he ain’t stupid! I bet he thought about it a lot though. Hahaha. What Daniel looked like, sounded like. Poor guy, he was so whipped already bwhahah.

A Silverusso in which Terry is not whipped for Danny boy is not fun, Nonnie. There would have been no story!

And no, that's what I love about Terry: even whipped he is not stupid! He doesn't want to hurt Danny for the sake of it, ever. He has Reasons. They may be terrifying (ha!) and incomprehensible but they're His Reasons all the same.

He's thought about it non stop. But anticipation makes things sweeter, Nonnie. A little pain with the pleasure augments the experience,like the way adding a little coffee deepens the delight of chocolate. And why would he antagonise that little fawn? He knows what he has in him. A gorgeous challenge. He doesn't need to embarrass him to feel powerful. Him meeting Danny at all is the confirmation of his power in the situation. But the deal hasn't been struck yet and now he wants that omega. Great Mary, mother of God, how he wants that omega. The kitties he's bedded, with their hollow cheeks and frightened eyes, cannot compare. This smart cookie hasn't lost his innocence yet. And he never will, not to anyone but Terry. But he must not scare him off. He'll fight the Don when it won't work out but that would mean that the kitty would get singed and he doesn't want that. There's so little purity in this world. And this one here is smart enough to hold his own in Terry's world, but not so broken he's forgotten how to love. Not something often granted to the likes of him.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

And We're Live!

Bruh a Miss Kaya update? Sweet! As we've said with Academy, this blog fully stans certified good girl Miss Kaya. I love her outfit here, she was really one of this series's first more classy, modest girlies and say what you will about how Oda draws women but I'm noticing she's not one of the ones who got a Timeskip breast augmentation. Usopp's former crew look like they're growing up fast too. This is a good group, still hope we get more Kaya in Academy because I really like her as the sickly girl who doesn't make it to school all the time. Clever use of a character on Sohei Koji's part.

We can talk about Academy over Golden Week though, because Vegapunk's message is going live! Which means sadly we're done with the fun of dicking around for ten minutes. The Vega Coffee bit was so, so good though. We'll get to the ramifications as we go but first there is a reason for Miss Kaya. Take note of all these people we see, how places like Torino highlight that darker side. VP will even own up to some of his own "sins" in his message. It's a very diffuse reaction to the man. Someone who inspires a lot of different reactions. It's important to pay attention when a story does that, but let's move on:

Hahaha lol eat a dick Mars. Classic decoy maneuver. We did get the brain in a jar! In a chapter where Vegapunk "confirms" his own death and an arc where we've played this game with Kuma. Remember Mars doesn't actually know the deal, he himself is pondering a little over what counts as the real Vegapunk. So I'm inclined to ponder if it is just what we see; part of his brain serving as more or less a hard drive. As much the real him as that paw bubble of memories was the real Kuma. Shout-out to Bonney and her Giant-ish future by the way. It was cool, but pretty much reinforces the same themes. You're acting like Luffy and the crew has fully shifted to treating you (appropriately) as a little kid to watch out for.

The decoy snail though...I like it. Could it have been a long game by Vegapunk? Of course, and keeping York out of the loop is believable. But being on the floor randomly is still weird and putting it right in front of the big brain tank seems rather risky for Vegapunk. Why would he want to nudge at that connection. Get what I'm saying? This is a weirder beat than it seems, but it would make perfect sense through the lens of someone else reacting. Great way to cover one's tracks by just letting the natural assumption take course. There's one part of Vegapunk's speech that bolsters this to me:

Please do not assume that the ones who strike me down are evil. That plus what he says here? Do...not track with thinking the Gorosei would be the ones who came after him. Sounds a little more like he expected Luffy, Bonney, someone like that to take him out. Or even Lucci. It's subtle, but actually a great remind that this all has nothing to do with the Straw Hats. Remember that old theme? The extra effort from the World Government is because of an emperor drifting into the situation. You can't act so casually when the world rocks in your wake. That still seems to be the core lesson for Luffy.

Speaking of, we get another nudge at one of last night's big mysteries. How did Robin get in such rough shape? The scenes before we skip the night set it up okay, she was headed right into a confrontation with York. But it's still a lingering question. And speaking of "lingering," you have the Gorosei hammering that Bakura Town/Ryokugyu theme hard. Reminds me of someone who knows no one called Vermin. The message though, it's what we're all here for. Well, I'm here for Nami Protect Mode.

I have some thoughts about this. Not the reveal itself. Sorta what we saw with Lulusia at the start, the fallout I mean. Excellent through line with Wano and it's own history. Makes Iceberg look so cool in hindsight because he at least was a good enough leader to see it happening locally. Type of thing a shipwright-turned-politician would notice your typical noble wouldn't. Very classic looming threat, makes me think of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou which was our world after massive sea level rise.

Let me just say one thing. This is fucking hilarious from a certain perspective. Imagine you're chilling. Doing your thing. Every PC and Windows product in the world fires up. Bill Gates is streaming live. He takes ten minutes to dick around with coffee then promptly announces his death before telling everyone their own death is imminent because [government conspiracy]. The reaction is going to be wild. Makes me think of David Bowie's "Five Years." If you're a fan, see if you can find the live version from the Dinah Shore show. You won't regret it. That Man Who Fell to Earth look was iconic and you gotta love managing a 4th wall break in a rock opera.

We've talked about this with Robonosuke, who's hanging around in the background still. This is an even better detail someone who learned a lot from Toki would know. Even if it's indirect relevance, it's the exact type of knowledge a modern scholar would find as a big surprise but a friend of the lady from the Void Century could just casually know. Maybe not a fancy sea chart, but say to the degree of a rough map?

Just saying, type of thing there's scenes to support it. The map is right there with some of the first ones that really show Kiku acting like a nanny with Momonosuke. The Act plot with Olin had a lot of subtle bait the girl's a little distinct from the group we'd build on in Act 3. Aside from all that though, just this basic setup of the chapter? We start on a few vignettes around the world showing different reactions to Vegapunk. Then we set up everyone in dire straits as Luffy's run out of gas. Injected a little new mystery through Stussy/York. Now we end on a big reveal that doesn't affect the matter at hand as we pull away from the island?

It's easy to say at a lot of points but if there's a third cutaway...we may be going into it after Golden Week.

[skysometric]

my 3rd favorite game that i played in 2023 is...

Freedom Planet 2

i was originally planning to wait on this one until the console version came out in "summer 2023." after it was delayed to the end of the year, i decided to grab the game on pc so i didn't have to wait… and i'm glad i did, because the console versions have been delayed a second time??

(i do not envy their situation and i hope the console versions are better for taking their time. honestly, i'll probably double dip anyway!)

the original Freedom Planet was a formative game experience for me during college. there was something inspiring about the way it shot for the moon – full voice acting, a fun cast of characters, a lived-in world with political intrigue, a focus on adding fast-paced combat – all trying to prove that it's more than just a Sonic fangame in new clothes.

and it worked. it gripped me and never let go! i must've replayed the story half a dozen times, speedran the levels dozens of times each. that's the reason i decided not to wait on the sequel any longer after the first console delay; i grabbed the game on pc and hit the ground running.

one aspect of what makes Freedom Planet special is its level design, and the sequel delivers – every single level is massive, open-ended, and absolutely GORGEOUS. the unique gimmicks, secret collectibles, and speedrun strats are what encouraged me to endlessly replay the first game, and each of those categories has been expanded here into some of the beefiest and most explorable levels i've ever seen in a 2D platformer, hands down. i'm so glad the sequel took its time in the oven, the levels alone were worth the wait!

to me, though, what really makes Freedom Planet stand out from other Sonic-inspired games is its fast and fluid brawling. enemies in each stage take a few hits to defeat, and every stage ends with a grand, bombastic boss fight – you get a handful of moves to tackle these fights with, and each character has very different fighting playstyles! crucially, though, there is no contact damage, meaning you can run circles around enemies while whacking away at their health bars with momentum-based attacks.

it's an incredibly fun and well-thought-out combat system, and its complexity is right at that sweet spot where it feels deep but not overwhelming. honestly it reminds me a lot of kirby's combat, which is one of my favorite combat systems in any video game! (that RtDL remake very nearly made my Top 5 this year…)

Freedom Planet 2 augments the combat system of the original in two ways. one is the addition of a spot-dodge, which feels so perfectly at home that i'm shocked it wasn't in the first game to begin with?? every game with combat benefits from the addition of a dodge, of course, but in this game especially it allows you to keep your momentum while attacking in a way that just feels so natural. there's nothing else quite like learning a boss's attack pattern enough to spot-dodge directly into a powerful counterattack!

but there's also nothing quite so discouraging as getting the boss's health down to a sliver… and biting the dust. here, too, is a place where the sequel shines: if you lose a life, you can choose to restart from a checkpoint with all your health recovered, or you can get back up on the spot with just 1 HP. the push and pull on this system is incredible – you risk getting a game over and having to redo the whole stage… but you could clutch out a victory at the last second! it has the capacity to turn near misses into huge successes, and it saved my ass countless times over the course of the adventure.

tying this all together is a great story that isn't quite as Big and Grand as the first game, but instead serves to deepen the connection between this loveable cast of characters by exploring their history and personalities in more detail. i'm still floored by the fact that these games have full voice acting – it truly makes the characters feel more alive, their personalities shine! the style of VA isn't everyone's cup of tea, i'm well aware… but as someone with fond memories of saturday morning cartoons, i find that it's very genuine and full of heart in a way that most films and AAA games don't really hit me. it's obvious that everyone involved had a ton of fun!

my one regret is that i haven't returned to the game since my first playthrough – i'd really like to replay those levels and see how fast i can clear them! and try out the other characters, and see what the arcade mode is like, and go for the achievements, and…

[sanvirtheobserver]

Taking Flight, Chapter 52: First Shift

Back on the bottom floor of the building, SMG3 is seen giving the lowdown to his newest employees.

SMG3: Alright, listen up! We run a tight ship here in Three's Lustrous Lair, so I expect each and every one of you to be at your absolute best while on the job. That means no slacking, no goofing around, no stupid mistakes, and if the situation demands it, no witnesses.

Julia: Last one shouldn't be a problem.

SMG3: Now, let's get you all stationed. Noah. You're in charge of the Café. Make sure you know how the machine works before you serve anything.

Noah: I won't let you down, boss!

He hops behind the barista's table and gets to work figuring out how the brewing machine works.

SMG3: Vale. You'll be the bartender for the Graveyard Shift. You have any trouble finding orders, there's a list of recipes under the counter.

Vale just shrugs as she heads for the bar. She couldn't seem to care less if she tried.

SMG3: That leaves you in charge of the Devious Diner, Julia. Just write down orders and pass them over to our chefs in the kitchen.

Julia: Consider it done.

As Julia marches towards her station, SMG3 notices someone is missing. He could've sworn there was one more but can't seem to- OH. Nevermind, there's Cyn standing right behind him much to his surprise.

SMG3: Oh yeah. You. Um......... you can set the tables, I guess.

Tari and Meggy are hanging out at their table, making smalltalk as Mario is preoccupied with the new menu.

Mario: I'm torn between the Seafood Spaghetti and the Jalapeño Sausage Spaghetti.

Tari: Mario, you literally have Spaghetti every day at home. Why not try something else while you're here?

Mario: Hm....... OOOOO they have Spaghetti Pizza!

Tari: *sigh* What about you, Meggy?........... Meggy?

Meggy is currently starting at Cyn as she prances around the tables. A knock on the table gets her attention.

Tari: You alright?

Meggy: Yeah. I was just curious, is all.

Tari: Is it about the new guys?

They both turn to see Noah fidgeting with the machine to see how it works. His first cup seems okay enough as he gives it a test sip....... and it immediately explodes. As it turns out, he had just produced something akin to Omolon's signature fluid munitions, only much more volatile.

Noah: Alright, I guess that button is a no-go.

Meggy: You could say that. It isn't every day you see someone with such extensive augments.......... especially if one of them is a kid.

Tari: I wouldn't really look into that too much. Stuff like that is usually a personal thing. Maybe if we give them some time they- GAH!

There's Cyn again, right next to the table. She innocently tilts her head as she unblinkingly stares at Tari.

Tari: Um........ hi.

A ring of the bell signals a new arrival as a familiar looking Australian takes a look around.

Rufus: Hm. A lot bigger than I thought.

Noah: Oh, hello sir! Welcome to Three's Lustrous Lair. Can I get you something?

Rufus: Just taking a gander at the moment.

Noah: Oh by all means, take your time. I'll um...... I'll be here if you need anything.

He gives a big smile as he goes back to figuring out how the machine works. He turns to leave when he notices some familiar faces at a nearby table.

Rufus: Well, fancy seeing you lads again.

Meggy: Hey, Rufus! Long time no see.

Tari scooches aside to let Rufus take a seat.

Rufus: So, what have you been up to?

Meggy: Just the usual. Fighting undead nightmares in search of old secrets and all that.

Rufus: Is that so. Find any good loot?

Tari: There were some things of value, but most of it went to SMG3's collection. Though I've also learned a new truck.

She snaps her fingers and a small ball of flame appears in her palm. Rufus was taken aback a bit before she extingwished it with a clench of her fist.

Mario: Mario even made a new friend in the sewer! His name is Jonsey, and he loves tacos. There was also this crab guy with these big swords.

Tari: He's talking about that Fallen Captain who helped us. He was actually pretty nice.

Rufus: Wait........ a Fallen?

Tari: Yeah. We ran across him at Bricktown.

Rufus: Hm.............

Meggy: Don't worry, he's not like the other Fallen we've come across. He's actually really good with kids.

Rufus: I'll take you for it, but........

He took a brief look around them. His voice was almost a whisper.

Rufus: Have you heard the rumors, by any chance?

Over at the Devious Diner kitchen, Melony is busy kneading some dough while Kaizo is dicing up a tenderloin into a fine mincemeat. With some diced veggies here, some crushed garlic there, and a few cracks of black pepper, the meat filling is ready just in time for Melony to stuff it in the dough and pop it in the oven. Melony wipes the sweat from her brow and goes to wash her hands when she notices Julia watching from the window.

Julia: I must say, your friend over there sure knows his way around a blade.

Melony: You think that's neat, you should see him with some drumsticks. Or a scythe. Depends on his mood.

Kaizo just gives a quick wave before he goes back to carving up the large pig he has on the table. Julia could sense something in the way Melony looks at him, the way her face always seemed to lighten up whenever they locked eyes. Telltale signs of a strong bond.

Julia: So....... are you two-?

Her inquiry is interrupted by a ring of the bell at the counter. She wasn't expecting to turn around and see a tall purple rabbit eyeing her with a wide s*** eating grin.

Jax: So you must be the new girl. I gotta say you look FABULOUS in that blouse. Really compliments that glare of someone contemplating murder you got going on.

Ten seconds in and he's already getting under her skin. That's gotta be a new record.

Julia: Hello, sir. May I take your order?

Jax: Straight to the point, huh? I like that. I'll take a double triple bossy deluxe on a raft. Four by four animal style. Extra shingles with a shimmy and a squeeze. Light axle grease. Make it cry, burn it, and let it swim. Got it memorized, sweetie?

If that murderous glare wasn't apparent before, it's most DEFINITELY apparent now. Not that Jax minds, though. Over at the Graveyard Shift, Vale is reading up on various cocktail recipes when she sees the new manager takes a seat at the counter.

Martha: How you doing, sweetie?

Vale just gives another shrug. It's been her default answer all day. Martha can't really blame her, considering how she and her siblings are usually a lot more "active." A a calm little gig like this feels almost paradoxical to her nature.

Martha: I know you're more used to the city life, but I think spending some time out here will do you some good. Plenty of fresh and open air to stretch your legs, and it's a welcome respite from having to deal with the authorities.

There's still no real response from Vale apart from a somber look.

Martha: You also seem to be doing much better than the others.

Martha looks over to the others. Noah has finally figured out how to produce a proper expresso after making more of those liquid munitions and what appears to be a cup of multicolored florescent light. Meanwhile, Jax is still bombarding Julia with pet names and cheesy jokes. It's a miracle she hasn't killed him yet. All of this is while Cyn is still standing by Tari's group as they begin speaking in hushed whispers. She remains fixated despite not having a clue about what's going on. That's when Vale feels a gentle hand cover her own.

Martha: Just give it some time. I'm sure you'll find at least something to like about this place.

The impact of a colossal SMACK can be heard across the building as Jax is sent flying straight out the window. He should count himself lucky for his rubbery composure. Julia retracts a smoking fist before dusting off her blouse. Martha just chuckles.

Martha: Just be sure to behave yourself, okay?

Martha gives Vale a comforting smile. Vale begins to loosen up a bit for the first time since she got here.

Vale: I'll do my best, ma'am.

Martha gives her a soft pinch on the cheek with a warm smile.

Martha: That's my girl.

[vossn]

Ooof, lots has been asked. Go with 9, do some angst.

And 25.

Indeed, I am very happy about all the people sending asks <3 Rogue Trader fandom you are my fave fr fr.

9. What was their Darkest Hour? How does it affect them today?

His Dark Hour and Triumph are actually from the same incident, mentioned here. During the mutiny, he got caught up in the crossfire trying to get to his superior - unknowing that she was involved - and ran into the arms of some rogue guardsmen. Not all involved had noble intentions, and who is a better symbol to let out your frustrations with the Imperium than a commissar? Torture ensued, you imagine the rest.

It took a while for him to come out of the field hospital, and in that time, the mutineers had taken a whole fort by force. It was a pretty shit situation to come back to work to.

Physically, it fucked up his leg and gave him some new scars. It is the source of the slight limp he has up to Commorragh. Most of the damage was done to the augments though, which saved him from a lot of consequences.

Mentally, it kind of blurred into the whole, terrible thing that was that particular deployment. It hardened him, driving home that if he survived this, he can survive anything. It could always be so much worse..

25. Wildcard: Share a fun fact, random thought, or headcanon about them!

I always headcanon that you have to dance at your Magnae Accessio, because come on, it's nobility. Zlatko knows higher social etiquette, because the Commissariat expected it both for infiltrating and the occasional ball, but up to that point doesn't know how to dance.

Pasqal has to download schematics and painstakingly teach him hoe to open the floor together with Jae so he doesn't make an ass out of himself. Schola training was less humiliating than this.

[cordycepsfem]

Pageboy Readthrough, Part Fifteen

What time is it? Self-hatred time!

I mean, it's time for more Pageboy.

I have to get through this book for a number of reasons, the least of which being that at some point in the near future I will be hate-watching the final season of the Umbrella Academy and sharing my thoughts with all of you.

So let's ride.

If you've missed any parts of this readthrough, they're all here.

Previously

we learn about the tallest granite spire in North America; take a drink for a Canadian Fact

just kidding, we learn about a girl EP was into and kissed

EP wants to use that girl's "queer" identity to validate her own

I get mad at EP using "queer" to describe literally anyone, as I do once per chapter or so; take a drink

there is a very very long digression about a skirt

EP mentions her "queer walk" yet again so I have a digression about that

I got maudlin and quit

Now

Chapter Twenty-Three

so we start off with this

which is a lot off the bat

was she made fun of for being gay and she wasn't gay? because the whole dating-women and marrying-a-woman thing seems to suggest she was gay

and I hate to drop truths when we're 23 chapters into this pit, but EP, you were a girl, you are a woman, and that's not changing because of what you do or say or wear or have surgically augmented

asking your friend "Do you think I'm trans?" is such a loaded question, holy fuck

what was the friend supposed to do, if confronted with a sad and confused EP - or even just able to see patterns in society that all call for instant confirmation -, but to offer support?

also "I could see that" has to me the ring of "I don't want to upset you" rather than anything identity-validating

wow, this all sounds like it's a very difficult mental state that shouldn't be treated with off-sex hormones and surgery!

but what do I know? it's not as though I also have this issue and chose to treat it through therapy rather than transition

EP talks with her friend Star, a trans woman

Star directly asks EP "Do you think you're trans?"

which sounds like a leading question to me

note: I am not a lawyer, but I have watched a lot of procedurals

a whole paragraph of red flags here:

Let's go one-by-one:

I'm too ashamed to be a lesbian: you were, to the point where you hid and gave women the run-around rather than being open with them

that I will always be a woman: you will, even if you don't identify that way

and in a paragraph of writing by Jen Richards, My being trans almost never comes up... this might be true for Jen but is the exact opposite of how EP has chosen to live her life

side note about Jen: her being trans may almost never come up, and she's a great actress, but I clocked her immediately upon seeing her on a show I used to watch, so... it might come up more than she thinks it does

this is about EP's ex-wife

she used her wife to set herself free from all of her negative feelings and gender dysphoria

basically using her wife as a Band-Aid

and that's all we get about Emma (at least thus far)

gross

Chapter Twenty-Four

this one's called "Your Heavenly Daddy" which... is a thing

EP watches a documentary called "God Loves Uganda"

the documentary about American evangelicals spreading both the gospel and anti-LGBT propaganda to Uganda, which has led to severe laws against and punishments for LGBT behaviors and people

EP does that thing where she tries to compare two situations that are nothing alike - just because she is afraid to come out doesn't mean that her coming out will change anything in Uganda; similarly, her feelings about coming out are valid and she shouldn't push them down due to what's happening in Uganda

EP mentions "trying not to shit blood" again as a reference for being terrified and again I am worried about her digestive system and her mind

EP goes to a bar and meets up with a woman who will be her first one-night stand

first, thanks for the architecture notes there, EP

second, I had to read "I always forget about cocaine" with my own two eyes and now you have to too

EP also describes "teeth clanging" which... as a word nerd, is not how "clanging" works

teeth are not metal

clanging means metal

it's in the definition

teeth "clack" or "crack" or, even as a last resort, "smash"

but they don't clang

thank you for indulging me

EP lets this woman choke her, and once again please do not ever let a partner do that to you

EP's next time out with a woman goes better

she describes the woman as looking like Jean Seberg

I had to go look up who that is

she was an American actress, very beautiful, who died from suicide and had the FBI using Cointelpro on her

there's a recent movie about her; Kristen Stewart plays the title role

a weird choice for comparison to, but whatever, EP, go on

EP gets excited about being on a date while out as a lesbian and yells at some frat bros (something tells me she has a continued pattern of impulse control issues, and by "something" I mean "this whole book")

her date, an actual black belt, teaches her some self-defense points

the thing goes well, they go to brunch and a bookstore and it rains and it's lovely

then EP dumps us directly into her love for Kate Mara

they flirt at a party

at the same party EP's ex-partner's new partner comes over and talks to her

okay, EP, you're asking "Who the fuck asks that?" but if you scroll up you'll see that you yourself have doubts about if you've ever experienced true love, so clearly you've asked that at one point

EP tells us she immediately went to the bathroom and started shitting

and like, you do you, EP, but no one's going to believe you're more a dude because you talk about shitting all the time

it just makes me think less of your intelligence and less of the intelligence of the people who let this book get published

sounds as good as any reason, EP; usually it's self-punishment for me

EP gets a weird note from a priest on an airplane; the priest signs it "Your Heavenly Daddy"

she continues chasing Kate Mara

she goes on dates with Kate Mara

she experiences an earthquake and, I shit you not, takes time out of the chapter to tell us this:

I was waiting for a Canadian Fact but I'll drink for a Non-Essential Unrelated Fact

(I am both glad and sad that I don't drink, a Pageboy drinking game would knock me the fuck out)

someone tells EP that she reminds them of "her friends who only date married men" while she dates Kate Mara

eventually it gets too tumultuous and they end things

EP says Kate Mara is a treasured friend now

we crawl to the end of the chapter and it actually ends with a sweet passage from EP that I agree with:

This is extremely beautiful to read on a week when I'm missing someone I really loved. I had one of those so-real dreams where it was like she was with me, and when I woke up it hurt to know she's still dead. But like EP, I'd rather remember, I'd rather she visit me in my dreams, I'd rather hurt because it means I was loved and I loved her.

EP, you are a hot fucking mess, but sometimes you get to the truth of things.

[questionablepastries]

Wahoo I beat armored core (just now now!) thoughts below (and spoilers of course)

I can’t believe they made me fight an upgraded balteus lmao but what balteus wasn’t ready for was an upgraded ME 😈

Good game! Visually very very pretty to look at, mentally I’m clapping a lot at the credits rn lol

And the choices the game made me do lol aaaaaghhh. I almost considered putting the game down for the day when it asked me to betray carla. Same thing with eliminating G1 Michigan, only because I thought VIII Pater was my friend (turns out he’s sick in da head!! Scary guy. Really lives up to his AC name “dual nature” whew) less messed up arquebus members the better. In the end I went with ayre all the way but not because I like ayre but because of 2 things

1) carla she did try to kill me once (she made up for it by saving my ass out of prison tho)

2) (the more important reason why I sided with Ayres idea) — who knows what the ecosystem of the planet would be like with the complete removal of coral, not to mention coral is semi sentient so it’d be like super massacre if I went with Carla (and Walters) idea of destroying it all. ALSO, the destruction of the giant space ship crashing into that coral harvesting place, like what would life be like for the rubiconians? Even worse? Nobody has their interests in minds bc as far as they’re concerned they’re always caught in the middle of some corporation war, so if I sided with Carla it’d be adding fuel to that corporation war fire :(

Like ayre says at the end though, I’m sure we can avoid a fires of ibis situation 2.0 if we work really hard together. 621 is a human that didn’t lose their mind completely after contact with coral voices and maybe it has to do with the fact that they’re a fourth generation human (since the later generations worked out the kinks of not having to hear coral anymore)

Also. During the very sad heartbreaking (for me) killing carla mission, do u know how excited I was to beat the shit out of snail lmao

After reading that his augmentations were only perfected thanks to who knows how many innocent deaths, and his mind re-education shenanigans I’ve hated his ass since DAY ONE. Even IF he’s a sassy funny guy

Ok the ps just told me the trophy for this ending is called liberator of rubricon. Whatever ending that is lol idk what ppl are calling it

God I already miss Walter why’d they make me kill him too lol

ON THAT NOTE I MISS RUSTY I THINK WALTER MAY HAVE KILLED HIM. I’m gonna stick to anime rules for this one and that’s “no body seen no death” yup rusty is still out there (<- copium)

Oh wow ok I guess NG+ just starts like that huh, that’s ok w me I’ll do a NG+ run just to see the other endings, they better not make me actually kill rusty tho that’d break my heart more than it did to take out carla and chatty : (

Also pvp is fun but I’m ok at it lol I keep losing a ton but I’ve had a couple of close matches and won like 4 matches so far

Oh right about snail tho, back in the Carla mission? I was talking mad shit while fighting him like “I ALREADY BEAT YOUR DATA IN THE ARENA YOU THINK YOURE HOT SHIT??” that sorta thing. And u know how dissapointed I was that I didn’t kill him right then and there? His ass escaped that ass beating. Don’t matter tho I terminated his ass for good when he was riding that toddler ass upgraded baby chair balteus 2.0

Idk how from soft does it but they keep making these super super climatic boss fights and super fucking awesome attack patterns that are both visually appealing and difficult to evade/survive but when you do it’s like you’re really in the fight in that moment it’s awesome :) this happened with balteus, balteus 2 purple laser moment, and the fuckinnggggg icewormmmm, malenia elden ring comes to mind (alongside demon souls king of storm)

And I can’t believe they got me with the sekiro monkey “it’s not dead! It’s getting up again!” Moment too god damn that flying boss whew, sad the game wouldn’t let me use that boss’ sweet ass wings as a part to equip :(

Rusty really warmed up to me, initially I was a hater because his ass was always setting me up with these missions that always had an extra lil spice in them meant to kill me or set me up in some way (probably arquebus’ fault) but he…. Waghhhggg………”the first to join” ok cool….ty for being so eager to reunite with me rusty…I honestly thought he was dead after the ice worm mission….and the fucking line he says “there’s only one person who can keep up with me” with 621 in on the comm to listen in on….what are we…….(we’re buddies…)

Great game. And amazing cast of characters, like maybe it’s the voice acting that really nailed it but for me to care about a bunch of people (g1 Michigan…..) that you never actually see in game and only hear is wild lol

I do not care for ayre tho. I’m sorry I’m a hater, she always said some common sense stuff like “remember to dodge” baby we been on how many missions together now please. If she was a deep voiced lady I would’ve been on my hands and knees tho, and if she had a male voice I’d be even worse lol

Cortana ass!!!! Anyways cutest ayre moment was 621 and her watching these giant nuke missles hit a massive structure and she’s like (cutely) “they’re really like fireworks” & I had to laugh and be like we gotta get u some real fireworks ayre they don’t look like this gsvdvdvd

Right and do u know how much I was pogging when the fake raven or Rather the Real Raven showed up??? Damn what was that guys situation about and their handler too? Hmmmmm (dlc potential?)

Fun ass game! Slow start but momentum wise it keeps speeding up and then the end is like WHAM did ya like it and I gotta be like YEAH. I DID. Now I have the urge to play the other endings in ng+ since my AC is geared the fuck up to handle anything I feel like. Kinda wish the pacing at the start stayed the whole way as in slow pacing the entire game with the game letting me kill more shounen protagonist types lol (although that would mean killing ppl like Rusty hmmm my sadism for wanting more murder of naive protagonist types and love for rusty is like oil and water when it comes to that idea lol)

One complaint tho just one, the ost can be somewhat lacking. It has its moments tho!! There’s like 3 tracks that really kill it, and they’re at important moments too. Iceworm, balteus 2.0/snail showdown, and Carla fight are good. The rest went over my head tho sowwy

Now that I’ve achieved credits in this game im a certified armored core fan (even tho this is my first one) and I’m glad this game is getting attention! I really hope they release more AC games bc this kicked ass, maybe they can take a break before taking that on though, because every single mission is pretty breath taking visually, and MASSIVE in terms of sheer size sometimes like damn. Lots of love!

[nkn0va]

You know what? You've been getting a lot of uh... interesting ask lately,so let me give you something more wholesome. Can I just have a nice piece of your writing involving Aigis(P3) and Noel(Blazblue) being friends or something? Everyone wants them to battle to the death,yet no one wants to imagine them just hanging out as these created weapons that grow into their own people and soon develop their own heart honestly. I believe you're skills can definitely handle this challenge,my man.

I'm seriously flattered you think so, chief. Kinda hard to be confident in your writing skills when you have an older friend who's literally a professional published author but it's nice to know someone thinks mine is at least worth a damn. I'll try my best.

Post-writing note: This is a long ass post lmao, I really enjoyed doing this ask

-Some really weird shit needs to happen for these two to cross worlds and meet, at least assuming you don't wanna take the lazy way out and just say bbtag happened.

-Something alone the lines of Aigis being sent to investigate an anomaly in the TV world. Said anomaly happens to be a distortion in it made by Phenomenon Intervention and warps her somewhere she's never seen before.

-She finds herself in a forest...somewhere. The biggest problem right now is that there's some sort of airborne material all around her that immediately sets off alarm bells in her head from how radioactive it's making the place, however looking over the horizon she sees some buildings set around a mountain in the distance. Hopefully there she can get some answers as to what's going on.

-She flies her way over to the city, which she quickly finds out is nowhere in her database, she's never seen anything like this before. After some exploring she's confronted by what looks like nothing short of a demon, several times her size, weirdly enough with cybernetic augments.

-Aigis prepares herself for a fight, yet much to her surprise the demon explains calmly that he's not here to fight, but he wants her to come with him to meet someone. Aigis, not seeing anything else to do, agrees to follow him after thinking about it. Maybe she can get some answers.

-It's here that she's introduced to the rebel group of Kagura, Kokonoe, and their suboordinates. It's a long talk but everyone gets the gist of the situation. Aigis is from another world that used another world to get here, the people who found Aigis are attempting to overthrow a corrupt government in this world called the NOL. Aigis agrees to lend her power to their cause as long as they help her find a way home.

-She soon meets someone whose, according to Kokonoe, a defective Lieutenant from this "NOL" organization. She's curious about how and why she left the NOL after supposedly being so loyal to them and tries to pick at her brain about it.

-This Lieutenant, Noel, turns out to be...way more similar to Aigis than she thought. They were both made as weapons to hunt and eliminate something very specific, and much like Aigis did, Noel's currently having doubts on whether she's "real" or not.

-Aigis knows about what that feels like better than anyone, and the two establish a rather fast friendship. She shares stories with Noel about her world, gladly telling her about her time with her friends in S.E.E.S and how they helped her come to terms with her humanity, as shown physically made manifest in her Persona, though the whole Persona business is a story for another time.

-She really helps Noel out a lot in this department. Noel's much more quickly able to accept that she's real. As Ragna says, as long as she sees herself as real, then she is real.

-Aigis is more than ready to support Noel in her own endeavors however she can, particularly in saving Tsubaki from the Mind Eater curse and learning how to control the power of the Eye. She's also the first to jump to her defense when Jin decides to act like a bastard and talk down to her like trash. She is more than ready to throw hands right then and there for Noel.

-Noel herself in all honesty doesn't really feel like she deserves such a good friend. She didn't expect a full on android to be so good to her, but that doesn't mean she isn't ready to return the favor, far from it. While she can't cook for Aigis since she can't nor needs to eat (Thank God), she's always on guard when Kokonoe is around, learning to put her foot down in case the mad scientist gets any funny ideas when it comes to upgrading or tinkering with Aigis.

-Meeting Noel's other friends is quite the interesting experience. Makoto doesn't really understand what the hell Aigis is but still finds her pretty freaking cool regardless. Meeting Tsubaki when she's finally free of the Mind Eater is...awkward. The two had traded blows when Aigis had been sent out by Kokonoe to do some scouting and Tsubaki had attacked her after deducing that she was up to something. They finally have a chance to start off on the right foot and Tsubaki thanks her for taking good care of Noel in her absence.

-When they eventually find a way to get Aigis back to her world, it's a tearful goodbye, at least on Noel's part. The two reassure to see each other again someday, Noel using her power to keep the portal to the TV world open so that Aigis can come back through it and see her again someday.

[stormwept]

If you thought that Drake in his Misfits verse was Hypervigilant... holllly smokes is Test Subject verse on a WHOLE another level when it comes to being paranoid and distrusting everything and everyone. Literally, Drake like in his orphanage verse had been taken advantage of by other adults, but to go more into depth about Drake's test subject verse (TW for graphic violence, blood and experimentation)

Basically here's the gist: Drake at only 8 years old in this verse as this does take some canon-divergence from his main story to give Drake backstory as far as how long he's had to suffer under the hands of the Angelic Icebirds who were a criminal family and black-market trade. So, when they got their hands on Drake, they INSTANTLY went to work. Drake had his first week in the stay of the 'bad facility' getting his first mark. His first reminder he wasn't a human being anymore. He wasn't anything but a weapon or a means to an end. Drake got his first TATTOO on his left wrist, which children aren't meant to handle that kind of pain (since I got my first tattoo and it was already Hell, I can imagine how it was for Drake.)

Basically, they had to hold down Drake and strap him to a table and make his arm being held out. No matter how much crying, screaming and pain he was in, they did not stop at all. No anesthetic, no numbing cream. Nothing. Pure, raw pain that they inflicted onto an EIGHT-YEAR-OLD THEY JUST KIDNAPPED. So that was his first taste of distrusting adults.

Secondly, they did a LOT of drugging on him. I'm talking about needles upon needles filled with mysterious liquids and 'medicine' as they called it. Most of the time, they didn't let the skin heal from the needles. They kept puncturing him and jabbing him with needles and syringes. They basically did it every few days to a week for a MONTH straight until they realized Drake actually was the first to be able to conjure shit from nothing.

So, he had his biology and genetic rewritten to become the very first mutant to humanity. Once they realized he could do things no other human could went onto the next step: forcing him to basically do tests and 'practicing'. They expected a LOT from Drake being overeager to see what he could do. These people were cruel monsters, mind you. If they didn't get the result they wanted, he was punished just as easily. It started with no food for the day... then another day... until he could 'better' himself and have the 'determination' to have food.

Then the next started with screaming and scolding. They wanted results, not excuses. They wanted perfection, not a crying and sniveling child. Then came the PHYSICAL punishments. It started off by doing the Dark Room treatment onto him. Locking him in a dark cell with nothing to see or do. Just endure it. They wanted to 'toughen him' and make him 'emotionless' so he could do what they wanted regardless of choice or moral standpoint. They wanted a 'loyal machine' essentially.

Drake began to have 'augmentations' added into his muscles and arms since he could only do things with his arms at the time. Water balls, bubble shields, spraying scalding water, and freezing the air. That's as much as he could do at this point. They added tubes, and small 'vents' inside of his fingers that allowed him to conduct the temperature of what he wanted to do. So, along with the drugs they added to him, they surgically added things inside of him near his bones and muscles where they could be situated and easily called upon. Though, he didn't know how to access these for a while.

Drake did get beat every so often if they didn't get results again. From being slapped across the face, gripped by the wrist so hard that bruises would form, or even to being actually hit across the face / stomach. Drake was MISERABLE and slowly starting to break by this point as this is a year or so later now. The physical attacks didn't come until MUCH later. So, Drake basically became FEARFUL of failing and being punished that he began trying to practice in his cell. Which actually turned out for the better for him in the long run.

Because he started to become more naturally attuned to his powers and his ability to give them results as they wanted. By this point, there had been about 4 other kids / teenagers they had kidnapped and doing the same thing with. Other subjects. Other abilities. Some broke more easily. Some were still stubborn which were mainly the older ones. So, they all slowly became 'friends' and cellmates basically. Suffering together until the very day they agreed to several months later, almost two years later when Drake became ten years old that they'd all see the sunlight again. That they'd all be free. So, they did just that. Acquiring a jailers card key, they all fought tooth and nail to live.

Blood on themselves and blood on their hands from killing their criminal capturers. Drake should've been angry. He should've been bloodthirsty to get revenge on the people who tortured and made his life hell... but all he wanted was freedom and safety. He didn't WANT to kill them, but he knew if he didn't, they'd put him back in the cell or outright kill him like they had tried to do upon the escape which is where most muses will meet Drake after the rebellion and after the bloodshed that occurred. Out of 8 subjects, only 3 made it out.

[merbear25]

I just want to start by saying I agree with this analysis and just thought it would be fun to add on to it. Hope nothing comes across as me arguing or not acknowledging what you’ve already mentioned.

Judge is incredibly intriguing. One of the questions I’ve pondered the most often about him is his choice not to augmentate his own capability of emotions from the get go and instead only imposing that burden, in a lot of ways, on his children. He didn’t even entertain the idea, which really makes the situation that much more fascinating for me. “Rules for three but not for me” is a great way to summarize it. Perhaps this is because he convinced himself he was strong enough not to show them in the first place, but even still… If emotions equal weakness, why choose not to rid yourself of them? This has crossed my mind so many times mostly because nothing was ever stopping him from altering his own emotional reach; I’m sure he was more than capable of making such a thing successful but he chose not to.

I don’t think the reason for this is necessarily because he understands emotions can hold some value - even with Sanji’s compassion being the reason they all survived the wedding - and possibly not even as a form of masochistic punishment for being born “weak”, but rather him having fabricated this idea that he was always above being human and projecting that onto his unborn children through immoral practices. The easiest tie to this could be his upbringing. Even though we don’t have details, this type of speculation isn’t based off of nothing. But it could very well be to prove to himself that his ideology is superior and this would be shown through the successes of his children.

I agree that Sanji reminded Judge of himself—that he was still human and was not in fact above others for attempting to lock away his emotions. Even after all the biases he spewed about Sanji and everything he stood for, he still had the nerve to call Sanji weak and a good for nothing, completely reluctant to acknowledge how valuable humans in their entirety are. I believe one could even make the argument that this reaction from Judge at the end of WCI was some kind of way to cope with the fact he was wrong, not just about Sanji but his whole ideology.

There’s so much to unpack when it comes to Judge’s relationship with Sora and her untimely death. I definitely agree that his displaced resentment towards Sanji’s “involvement” in Sora’s death is a mixed bag of losing something he owned and a regrettable love he had for her. It’s not a stretch for us to think that he was capable of love, seeing as he clearly still has a full range of emotions and simply chooses to suppress them. With that, I could see his attempt at erasing her and pinning it on Sanji unfairly as also being a coping mechanism, shifting the blame even if it was on himself. I thought it was curious why Sora was in a completely different section of the castle away from her entire family. Okay, yeah sure, she’s there because it’s the medical wing, but besides that she could’ve been set up in their marital bed or at the very least in the main sector. I wonder whose decision this was…Perhaps it was mutual or it was a condition for her actions, or it could’ve been because she couldn’t bear to see Judge’s influence on the boys she couldn’t save. Seeing how Sora behaves and her undying love for her children, I don’t think she loved the other boys any less, especially to the extent of willingly distancing herself from them. I’m sure Judge gave her strong limitations in this sense. But it could’ve also been about him unable to deal with the fact his wife was dying and the tears he was hellbent on not shedding.

Even more curious is him permitting Sanji and Reiju to see her at all. If Judge had ill feelings towards her, he could’ve very easily banned Reiju and Sanji from seeing her and paint her in a bad light. He had to have known she was “poisoning” their minds by encouraging them to appreciate life and be kind (how dare she), but he chose to allow the children to visit their dying mother. To me, Reiju and Sanji being the only ones in the family to visit her goes beyond them being the ones in tune with their emotions. Whether it was Judge’s idea of mercy for his wife or his tiniest shred of sympathy toward his children who were emotionally intelligent enough to understand the loss they were going to suffer, I believe the former is the most likely. I do believe he loves in his own twisted, abusive version of it, but his love seems strictly conditional in my opinion. I see those two children visiting their mother as Judge’s decision more so than anyone else's.

Villain Analysis: The Garuda Himself

AKA What turns men into monsters; Is it ideology and propaganda? Projection and insecurity? Class and upbringing? Or perhaps, it is all of these combined.

A not-so-quick analysis of Vinsmoke Judge, what makes him so despicable and hate-able, why he works as a villain, what does this mean for Sanji as a character and WCI as an arc, and how the brains of awful men like his work.

Warning: this is very very long (around 2k words) and talks about topics of abuse and imperialism, obviously. Also, a lot of this hinges on personal subjective interpretation of the narrative and speculation, so please be patient.

For starters, let’s get a quick comparison between Judge as a villain and other antagonists throughout One Piece. There’s, in my opinion, something that quickly separates him from the rest.

While most villains in One Piece are often motivated to do horrible things because of personal pathos and experiences, wants, needs, desires and traumatic memories, Judge –at first glance at least, seems to be motivated by something very different: Ideology. He is an imperialist, a fascist, a eugenicist, a classist, a warmonger, and so on and so on.

He is most similar to a villain like Hody Jones in this regard. There’s no personal big event in their lives (that we know of, at least) leading this type of character to their horrible actions, but rather a worldview. Most other antagonists in One Piece are in my opinion written as “person first, ideology second”. They’re often motivated by their own specific experiences, even if they can be assigned an ideology on top of that. But Judge and Hody seem to be more symbolic of broader ideas at their core, so they’re in a sense the odd ones out. They’re the reverse; “ideology first, person second”, almost feeling like they’re representatives of broader harmful structures, rather than being their own individuals.

I think also it’s worth mentioning why the ideology is here, and what it offers in terms of the narrative of Sanji’s abuse. Some might think it was an unnecessary element that isn’t that thematically connected to Sanji’s struggles. Couldn’t his family simply have been abusive, without all that Germa nonsense? Well for starters, it’s mostly here for the pop-cultural Kamen Rider references, yeah. But getting that out of the way, I think Sanji’s suffering is connected to his father’s terrible worldview pretty directly.

For starters, fascism is all about control. It preaches scapegoatism, demonization of “weakness” and fetishization of strength. Judge is a man that runs his family the same way he runs his state; with an iron fist. Sanji’s abuse IS a direct result of him being unable to meet these horrific standards. It also helps that we know Sanji as a kind person, so juxtaposing him to his comically evil literal-supervillain family, makes it simply easier for us to root for Sanji and hate his relatives, from a narrative building perspective. Ideas around masculinity and what an “able body” is in Judge’s eyes, are both part of Sanji’s backstory of abuse. It is also important that the Vinsmokes are royalty, because the first thing we learn about Sanji in One Piece, is that he suffered through great hunger. These people are wealth itself; they have never experienced that hardship.

However, while I think it’s true to an extent that Judge at first is simply “walking ideology” without being much of an actual individual, the way WCI is written, he starts showing interesting cracks behind the mask that reveal hints of specific personal motivations. In other words, the awful person behind the just as awful ideology starts to subtly show, and can be pieced together by looking intently.

As we experience the arc through Sanji’s eyes, Judge is a man who initially seems like an intimidating “strongman”, an impossible-to-read stoic threat, with no thoughts of his own outside cruelty. He’s a walking stereotype without much depth to be found. But slowly, the faults of his character begin to show; he is hasty, he has emotional outbursts, he is pathetic and hypocritical, he is careless and thoughtless, falling easily into Big Mom’s trap. In other words the imperfection and insecurity that Sanji was never able to spot in his father as a scared kid, starts to reveal itself, as Sanji slowly overcomes his fear of this man. He is not terrifying anymore; he is pathetic. And he is human, the worst kind of evil. The image of a man who is as perfectly mechanical as his genetically augmented sons, is shattered. They have no choice in their cruelty (to an extent, at least, due to Judge’s actions no less), but Judge is perfectly capable of compassion. He simply chooses to disregard it. His evil, unlike his sons, is his own choice.

Judge often laments his own humanity, doing so multiple times throughout the arc. He complains about how he can’t bring himself to take “his own son’s life as a father” to Sanji’s face, or often shows his twisted love for the rest of his children. This is a man who wishes nothing more than to be like his so-called “perfect” cruel sons, these unfeeling warriors, soldiers with no fear or sorrow. He fashions himself after them, in a way. But that is not the truth of who he is, and he very very clearly hates that.

This is where his hypocrisy comes in; he punishes Sanji for the very same things he himself is very capable of. To me, that’s kind of the point of the scene of him crying during the assassination, a highlight of his “rules for thee but not for me” behavior. This might sound absurd at first, but don’t misunderstand what I’m about to say. I think out of the three parental figures Sanji has had in his life (Sora, Judge, Zeff) he is the least like his birth father. He is in every sense, much more like the other two. However, no matter how absurd it feels, out of all his sons, Judge is most similar to Sanji. And he hates every second he is reminded of it. Not in the kindness, of course, but in his emotional nature. This is a man who, I think is not a stretch to say, projected on his eight-year-old son.

But here comes the problem, of course. As I said earlier, I think this is a man whose ideology came first. He doesn’t latch onto it to cover up for his insecurities, but rather, they are comorbid, it’s the reverse. The elements he sees in himself as “weakness” are elements that he hates, precisely because they clash with his worldview, not the other way around. The ideology is a result of upbringing, similar to the Celestial Dragons; taught from birth that as royalty he is superior to others, that he deserves everything by existing, that his kingdom’s horrific nationalism is excused due to whatever scapegoatism the Vinsmokes have been propagandizing for centuries. So when he is reminded that these ideas might be false, when he looks at his own “weak” son and realizes he is more like him than he is like his other “perfect” sons, he lashes out in ways the escalate in cruelty. I think he is at his core, a disastrous mix of entitlement and insecurity. After all, secure and happy men don’t fall for such ideas.

There’s an interesting moment right before he gives his last horrid speech where he lists all of the things he hates about Sanji (that scene where Luffy lovingly responds with “Why did he list all the good things about you?”). Before he starts angrily and pointlessly rambling, there’s a panel where he looks down at Sanji, their faces juxtaposed, with his bandages covering one eye; just like Sanji and his hairstyle, and while making a similar facial expression to him. There’s a pause in that moment. I think the narrative is telling us in a way, and if you want to interpret it as such, about the insecurity and projection hiding behind this man’s “strongman” mask. Literally a mask- Big Mom broke his helmet. He is here without it. And of course, he cannot change. He will not change. He will keep acting out his cruelty; it’s too late for horrible old men like him. But not for someone like Sanji. This is the last moment where we see the two reject each other for good. And it’s a reminder of how that man’s shadow no longer looms over Sanji. Sanji can see through him, he sees the real, pathetic, sad man behind the intimidating persona. Maybe he does see himself a little bit too, but he rejects that. He rejects a future where he grows to be like this man.

The last element I want to talk about however, one that I didn’t touch on so far, probably has to do with Sora. There’s two things that stood out to me in regards to Judge’s relationship to Sora that I never see anyone talk about.

The first is the fact that Judge calls Sanji “his greatest failure”. Think about it for a few seconds. Why would a man so self-absorbed not simply blame Sora for what happened? He could have easily gone “Oh, there’s no failure on my part here, my science was perfect! I didn’t make any mistakes; I was simply sabotaged. Sabotaged by a third party.” But he doesn’t. He doesn’t use Sora as a scapegoat. I mean- it wouldn’t have been inaccurate either. The reason Sanji was born human IS because of Sora’s interference, not because of any mistake in the science.  So why? Why does he not do it? Why is Sanji “his mistake”. I simply couldn’t figure it out at first, but then it dawned on me.

If Sanji is “Judge’s mistake”, than it can’t be “Sora’s success”. He is erasing her. He’d rather present himself as someone who messed up, than include her and acknowledge her actions. It’s about taking agency away from her. If HE is the one that failed when it comes to Sanji, he can make it about himself, and take her out of the picture. He can strip her of her power and decision. This is at his a core a man who is obsessed with control. Everyone else exists to serve him, in his eyes.

We see this even further in one of the most interesting and under-analyzed parts of Reiju’s speech to Sanji in WCI. While trying to figure out her father’s behavior, she makes the suggestion to Sanji that right after Sora died “he blamed you for everything that happened, and started to mistreat you accordingly.”

While Reiju is an unreliable in-universe narrator, she is one of the few people close enough to her father to be able to figure out his behavior. And here, she is suggesting that a big part of Sanji’s mistreatment is because, in his twisted mind, Judge blames Sanji for Sora’s death. This to me reads in a couple of ways. For starters, it’s once again taking agency away from her. It couldn’t have been her own decision; it had to be the fault of something or someone else. In this case… their unborn son…? Wild choice on who to blame. But it works in his head; Sora didn’t CHOOSE to disobey him, it was all that child’s fault. But also, it does beg that question again of what happens when you mix that complex villainous humanity with wretched ideology. Did he love Sora? Or is him mourning her just a feeling of loss of something he owned, a loss of ownership and control? Well, if I had to guess, it’s probably a bit of both. And that’s what makes Oda’s villains much, much more interesting to me, compared to simple walking stereotypes. Twisted abusive love expresses itself this way very often. To people like this, genuine feelings of love and horrific desire to control and hurt are the very same. And I think the same can be said for his “successful” children. I do think he loves them, genuinely, but a man like this experiences that emotion through a sense of ownership, control, and an extension of his own ego. It's not that is isn't love, or that it's performative. It is simply twisted, selfish, abusive, but it is there. But Sanji? He doesn't even get that.

God I hope this man suffers a terrible punishment for everything he’s done. An excellent villain, I need him dead and rotting in hell. Whole Peak Island. Thank you Mr. Oda.