#MY ONLY WISH IS THIS GAME IS NOT REGION LOCKED-

[n41r]

Ore'n, Battle Meme Chronicle The sucessor of Oreca Battle as a 3D TCG that will be available on android????

This morning, I just woke up from a weird dream- After that, I checked fb and saw a fellow community group member posted this on the group, and my gosh-

Konami is planning on making a new game with the same battle system as Oreca Battle, but they're going to make it into mobile game!!!

Honestly, I'm pretty ecstatic- Not sure why they're naming the game as "Meme" game tho, but I am excited-

Here's the official link for the game info!

Now, let's gush about the previews that are available at the website~

This UI is very reminiscent of the iOS app version of Oreca Battle, huh?

Also gosh, even tho the preview is very smol, but look at that recolored version of Demera- shshhshshs-

Oh man, they adapted the class change system as well, I'm so stocked-

Also, isn't the artstyle for Warrior Misanga look very familiar~? Hmm? Hmm~????

But this is what makes me the most excited about the preview of Ore'n,

3D GRAPHICS???!!!

wajkefhejhfg, we will got dem 3D graphics for the battle, aah maaannnn;;;; Also there will be cutscene aspect of the game as well, kdruhsrjdhgjrg;;;

And of course, Posuka-sensei is going to participate on the development of this game as well!

Posuka-sensei works hella hard, huh- You can see her name on so many media nowadays, and honestly, great for her-

Gosh, I hope this game is not going to be JP exclusive only- I'm absolutely OK if the team are not planning on making EN localization for the game, I just hope players from outside JP can install the game as well in the future;;;

Also, wondering if the OG characters from Oreca Battle will ever make an appearance in this game? That would be absolutely great tho, I really hope they could make an appearance like how Dante and Demon King Azul make an appearance in Solomon Program-

I hope the game will be released without any problem in the future~

[grayeet]

sigh I'm thinking about the minecraft creeper 2ds xl

[catboybiologist]

Y'all ready for a certified neurodivergent moment?

I had to sit through a thing I absolutely did not need any info from, and typed up a massive outline of the soulsborne pokemon game I just talked about. Massively cringe, yes, but hey it's not just living in my head anymore.

I've had this idea brewing in my head for a while now, pretty much ever since PLA came out (and I found it kinda disappointing tbh). Even though Hoenn has lots of love, it still feels like the most "grand" region in terms of the scale and themes of its lore, so I liked the idea of using it for a legends game that focused on the initial clash of Kyogre and Groudon. I had so many ideas brew in my head, and I guess now I sloppily typed them out.

Obviously this isn't actual game design. This is just me being cringey and detailing my dream pokemon game. At 26 years old. Anyways.

Pokemon Legends: Jirachi

In the times when Hoenn was young, the earth and seas shook. Titans roam the land- powerful individual pokemon that shape their environment to their liking. Humans and pokemon work together to keep them under control, but the earth and sea themselves shake, and Titans only grow more numerous. One day, a human wishes on a shooting star to become a hero and save their land, and something from up there answered.

In this game, Jirachi would be a kind of invisible "questmaster", giving an in-game reason for path markers, quest markers, and points of interest marked in stardust and sparkles. Once the main plot is completed, Jirachi would be able to join your party.

Core combat

The gameplay would be souls-like or Monster Hunter like, but with direct parallels to mainline pokemon mechanics. The six stats would be the same, and the four moves your pokemon can learn would be equivalent to the attack interface of a soulslike game- four trigger buttons. You would take direct control of one "primary" pokemon at a time, and use it as a souls-like character.

HP, Def, and SpDef would be largely the same, with the added benefit that less damage taken means more resistance to trips and staggers.

Atk and SpAtk are also pretty clear cut, scales your damage output per move.

Speed would be analogous to stamina or endurance. Dodging would work as in soulsborne games, and consume stamina. Most pokemon walking, running, attack speed, and dodging speed would be largely equivalent, but high speed pokemon would be able to sustain rapidfire attacking, frequent dodging, and continuous sprinting for longer.

Accuracy would be reworked into lock-on or charge up time- eg, a low accuracy move requires you to stay in one place for a longer amount of time before releasing, to charge up or lock on (imagine how swag ass this would look with focus blast).

PP would correspond to cooldown time. Each move would be infinite use, but have a cool-down after its used. So a move with high accuracy, but low PP, could be used instantly, but not spammed. High PP, weaker moves would then see an increased niche as a "default" light attack that can be spammed.

Attacks could also be ranged, up close, AoE, and have other features that would need to be tweaked and balanced in implementation. They wouldn't one to one map onto their in game counterparts, but this would at least provide a vague guide for how these moves work that builds on players assumed existing knowledge of pokemon games.

Special attributes, like never-miss moves and priority moves, would have features that play into this- eg, priority moves could be spammed with no cooldown, and never-miss moves would be immune to inhibiting effects.

Stat changes could be temporary effects applied to yourself when using the move, like a buffing spell in soulsborne games.

Nonvolatile status effects (paralysis, burn, sleep, etc) would work similar to monster hunter- invisibly accumulating triggers that occur as a side effect to to moves, or in the case of moves that directly trigger status like Spore or Thunder Wave, they would not do direct damage, but instead add massive amounts to the accumulated status trigger.

Field effects (weather, terrain, and special effects like wind, gravity, etc) could be set by regular pokemon moves in small areas, but would also be frequently encountered in the overworld.

Examples: the vibes of potential starter pokemon.

This is all just for the purpose of giving examples of how I envision some of this stuff working. Assume each pokemon would have regional variants that scaled their stats appropriately. This is just to show how different playstyles from the mainline games would translate to this format.

Lucario: example mixed offensive pokemon

Moves like aura sphere could be used with no lock on time, and little to no cooldown, forming the basis of a normal, light, ranged attack.

Moves like Close Combat would have no lock on, but give a temporary debuff and have a long cooldown time before they could be initiated again, making for a quick to use but infrequent heavy attack.

Swords dance and/or nasty plot could be used to provide a temporary buff for a period of time.

Focus blast would take a long time to charge and lock on, making you a sitting duck.

Reuniclus: example tanky pokemon

Light Screen and Barrier could lay down static areas on the ground. When an ally pokemon is located within them, they provide their corresponding defensive buffs. Cooldown for reusing them starts when these floor areas disappear.

Recover could be used to heal, but would have a long cooldown.

Liepard: example technical pokemon

Yawn would inflict direct sleep "buildup", but over time as opposed to instantly.

Fake out would instantly proc a stagger from the enemy, but could only be used in a certain time range upon being sent out.

Moves like taunt and torment function as usual.

The trainer and overworld traversal

Even though the player has direct control over pokemon, the MC is still a trainer, and pokemon are still capture in balls.

The trainer would be on the sidelines, with idle animations ordering the pokemon to do stuff.

Only one "controllable" pokemon could be outside of a pokeball at a time, or all of them could be stowed in pokeballs to directly control the trainer. The trainer can interact with NPCs, gather items, etc.

The trainer would also order "helper" pokemon. One or two "helpers" could be added independent of the party that would follow the trainer around constantly. Each pokemon has a list of field "helper" abilities they're capable of doing, independent of what moves they know. By targeting something that a helper pokemon can interact with in the world, the trainer would order that pokemon to zip out and interact with it. Think Republic commando. This takes the role of HMs and other field moves. For areas that require things like Surf of dive, the helper pokemon would exert a field of influence that essentially allowed the primary pokemon to act normally- eg, a surf helper would cause an area of surging upwards surface chop that lets the primary pokemon walk on water, or a dive helper would create small air bubbles centered around wherever the primary pokemon breathes from.

The trainer can also provide small support in the form of items, but this would be limited to encourage sensible use of stat boosting moves.

Pokemon would still be captured in pokeballs, but after they are fainted by the primary pokemon. Fainted pokemon could either be captured in a pokeball, or "relieved" of unique held items and resources before releasing them.

Pokemon would not gain experience by defeating opponents. Instead, each one would have material requirements to both level up and "customize" them. Like upgrading a weapon in Monster Hunter, every pokemon would have unique material requirements to level up, change nature, upgrade IVs, allocate EVs, or learn and relearn certain moves. This incentivizes a postgame loop, but could be curved to make the main game give you adequate materials to avoid excessive grinding.

The gameplay and story structure

The gameplay loop is basically monster hunter.

There would be a large number of normal-sized pokemon out in the world, that could be easily defeated and either captured and looted. But, frequently, a "Titan" would appear- a large, boss variant of a particular pokemon. Some pokemon can only be captured from their defeated titan forms, even if they appear in their regular forms.

These titan forms would appear semi-randomly, and requests to "quiet" them by defeating them would take the form of quests posted in the hub regions. These quests would then essentially be a monster hunter hunt- going out and fighting a particular titan.

Titan forms could be unique, or vaguely modeled after existing megas.

The world is divided into 8 main regions, and at least one "bonus" region. There would be 4 ocean regions, and 4 land regions. Each region would be seperate, but open to explore within that region (damn you can really see how much I've played MH:W)

Each region would have a drop table of pokemon that could potentially appear as titans.

Each region would also have one, single titan pokemon that gives the region its character. These 9 titans would be new, unique regional variants.

Each region, and by extension, each boss titan, would be directly associated with a different regional effect. So essentially, the boss titan and the field effect of a region would be reflective of its character.

The plot, like monster hunter, would be a gameplay loop of increasingly powerful titans within a region, building to the boss titans of each region. Once the 8 primary titans are defeated, it triggers the endgame main plotline.

The world

As mentioned previously, the bulk of the gameplay loop and storyline would be defeating increasingly more powerful "titan" pokemon, until you encounter a particular individual pokemon that is actively shaping that region and has ultimately caused the other titans along the way to be empowered.

Each region would have a dominant type, several field effects that come and go within certain parts of the area, and a unique boss titan. Each boss titan is about equivalent difficulty, and the player is encouraged to spread their efforts around to proceed through the "tiers" of titans evenly across the world before making it to the boss.

Hubs: Slateport, Lilycove.

Self explanatory, these would be the hub towns. Like in PLA, no other cities would be founded yet. Mt. Pyre would be integrated as part of Lilycove, and important characters and exposition could happen there. It would be an active cathedral. Kyogre and Groudon wouldn't be "known", but vague, amorphous titans of earth, sea, and sky would be referenced.

Land Regions

Meteor Cliffs and the Tranquil Plain

A gentle, grassy plain south of Mt. Chimney gives way to its southern slope. The slope, pockmarked with craters, has not been extensively explored, but is thought to hold deep caverns.

Regional effect: Pyschic Terrain

Regional Titan boss: Metagross (Steel/Pyschic)

Main game route equivalents: Meteor Falls, Rustboro City, Petalburg Woods, Petalburg City, Oldale Town, Littleroot town, 101, 102, 103, 104, 116, 115

Towering Forest

A deep, lush forest, sometimes so dense that you can't see the sky, fed by the crystal clear river cutting through it. The tangle of the canopy shudders under the weight of unseen pokemon above.

Regional effect: Grassy Terrain

Regional Titan boss: Tropius (Grass/Steel)

Main game route equivalents: Fortree city, Safari Zone, 119, 120, 121, 123

Jagged Stones

Deep, rugged canyons hide a basin-like desert, where a raging sandstorm elicits mirage-like visions.

Regional effect: sandstorm

Regional Titan boss: Tyranitar (Rock/Dragon)

Main game route equivalents: Verdanturf town, 117, 111, 112, all desert subregions

Volcanic Slopes

The peaks, caverns, and North slope of Mt. Chimney know no peace from the continuous onslaught of lava.

Regional effect: harsh sunlight

Regional Titan boss: Camerupt (Fire/Ground)

Main game route equivalents: Mt. Chimney, Jagged Pass, Fiery Path, Lavaridge, Fallarbor, 113, 114

Oceanic regions

Thunder Bay

An unrelenting, static haze hovers over the inlets of of Thunder Bay, impeding exploration of its deep subterranean caverns.

Regional effect: electric terrain

Regional Titan boss: Manectric (Electric/Dark)

Main game route equivalents: Mauville, New Mauville (replaced by a cave entrance), Cycling Road, 118, 110, 134, 133

Shifting Floes

A chill falls over the NorthEast seas of Hoenn, a climatic anomaly. Scattered islands and shifting ice platforms are continually coated with a snowstorm.

Regional effect: snowstorm

Regional Titan boss: Froslass (ice/ghost)

Main game region equivalents: Mossdeep, Shoal cave, 124, 125, parts of 126 and 127

Misted islands

A mysterious area of the ocean in which islands seem to shift locations as they phase in and out of sight.

Primary Area effect: Misty Terrain

Regional Titan Boss: Altaria (Dragon/fairy)

Main game route equivalents: Dewford Town, Granite Cave, Southern Island, Mirage Island (location changed), 105, 106, 107, 108, 109

Deep Blue

The open expanse of the ocean, and the islands within it, hold secrets beyond comprehension in their depths and constant storms. It is said that there is as much below as there is above.

Primary Area effect: rain/underwater (same effects as rain)

Regional Titan Boss: Wailord (water)

Main game route equivalents: Sootopolis city, Cave of Origin, Sky Pillar, Ever Grande City, Pacifidlog, Seafloor cavern, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, parts of 126 and 127

Special Area: the Delta Stream

Ripping across Hoenn's skies is an air current known as the Delta Stream, which powerful pokemon use as a causeway between regions and across the world.

Only accessible in the postgame, and with a "helper" pokemon that can fly. This entire region is above the clouds, and the only points that poke up are the peak of Mt. Chimney, Sky Pillar, and an updraft over Mt. Pyre.

Primary area effect: tailwind

Regional Titan Boss: Salamence (Flying/Dragon)

The Endgame Plot: after the titans are quieted

Once every boss has been defeated, the endgame storyline starts. Despite every titan being quieted, the land still quakes, and the seas still swell. The elders of Mt. Pyre urge you to investigate these at their source: the inner lava chamber of Mt. Chimney (subregion of Volcanic Slopes), and the depths of the seafloor (subregion of Deep Blue).

As you can probably guess, this is the introduction to Kyogre and Groudon.

The first fight with each of them uses your own pokemon, and gives you a "false" win- after you "faint" them in a suspiciously easy battle, they each revive into their primal forms, and head to the mountain island that would become Sootopolis. Hear, they battle on a kaiju-like scale. The MC watches the destruction from Mt. Pyre.

For the second time in the game's story, the MC makes a wish: this is beyond me. I wish a savior would come. Jirachi directly unveils itself for the first time to answer the call, touches the MC, and speeds off into the distance. A cutscene follows Jirachi to Sky Pillar (only a raw, uncarved spike of rock at this point), where Rayquaza is seen coiled around the top. Jirachi leads Rayquaza into the upper atmosphere, where it undergoes a primal/mega evolution. It pivots, shooting down towards earth, building speed.

The player takes control of M-Rayquaza as it slams down to earth, staggering Kyogre and Groudon away from each other, and engages in a special fight where they have to defeat both of them.

After this, Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza may each be found at Seafloor cavern, Mt. Chimney, and sky pillar respectively, and may be defeated and captured. But its highly implied that they only go along with this willingly, and will freely resume their duties as the lords of the land once the MC passes on.

After the plot is completed, steps and murals start being carved into Sky Pillar, allowing access to the Delta Stream.

The post game would allow for infinitely generating Titans, rematches with previously captured Boss Titans as "enrichment" for them, and general gameplay loop grinding for items to train pokemon.

Yay, okay, no ones gonna read this far but uh. Yeah. That's the general idea I had. Hope it made at least some sense LOL

[floatingcloudss]

ROMAA ❤️ I'm so glad you like it 🥹 i wish i could do moreeeeee i just wanna buy you loads of cakes and anime merch why do you have to live so farrrrr 😭 ilysm~ I hope you had a wonderful time 💖

❤️ happy birthday @raimyy ❤️🍓 (aka the best person in the entire universe ~ )

thank you for being so kind and wonderful 🥰 i hope you have the best day ever! ilysm 😍❤️‍🩹

[suzuran777]

Review: Lamento stageplay

I've been waiting for a Lamento stageplay since the DRAMAtical Murder stageplay in 2019, so I'm really happy that it's finally real and that I got to watch this one! Since I also wrote a blog post about the sweet pool stageplay, I wanted to write one about the Lamento one too. I really enjoyed it! As usual the pictures I used in this blog are pictures posted by the staff and the official Twitter account! Please check it out if you want to see more.

First of all, this stageplay is pretty long! It's almost three hours long, an hour longer than Nitro+Chiral's previous stageplays. As usual, the first 45 minutes were a bit of a common route in which all the characters appeared. This was mostly the same in every route, but it did change a bit near the ending. After a short 10 minute break, it split into three different routes, so I had to watch three different shows to see all of the endings. It's technically a "musical drama (音楽劇)" which means it combines elements of a stageplay and a musical. I was kind of expecting only the Sanga to sing, but the main characters (Rai, Asato and Bardo) also sing together with Konoe sometimes! My favorite song was probably the opening song, when all of them sung a new version of Itou Kanako's "Lamento" with different lyrics! They also sang a slightly different version at the end of the stageplay. The common route also has two duet songs sung by Rai and Konoe, as Konoe learns about his power as a Sanga.

The new music was really nice, especially the background music. I love how they brought back the composers who made the game's OST to create new songs! I lowkey wish the devils had more songs because whenever they did sing during the opening and ending song of the stageplay, they sounded amazing together! I think it would also be great if they released studio recordings of the songs, as they are always a bit better than the live versions. So far they did already release an album of the instrumental songs which you can buy here, Ototoy shouldn't be region locked, so I think anyone can buy it!

The stage This time the venue was the same as the DRAMAtical Murder stageplay (Shinagawa Stellar Ball), which I've actually been to before, however it looked completely different this time! I liked how they turned the stage into one big forest. Whenever Leaks used his power on Konoe, they used this effect which made the stage look strange and trippy, it was really cool! I also really liked the green light effects they used whenever Konoe would use his Sanga abilities. The screenwriter Uchida Hiroki posted this picture on his Twitter account which kind of gives you an idea what it looked like!

Plot I was curious how they would turn a rather long game into a stageplay, but I think it worked surprisingly well. They kind of skipped over some of the stuff that happens early in the game when Konoe is still in Karou, but they do explain the general story, like the problems caused by the Void and the Sickness. Shui's character also kind of functions as a narrator in the stageplay, similar to Kamiya in the sweet pool stageplay and Virus and Trip in the DRAMAtical Murder stageplay, which is always a nice addition. It's not unusual for fans of the actors to watch stageplays without knowing the original source material, so I think this makes it possible for everyone to enjoy the show, no matter if they're familiar with the game or not.

Now for the different routes, I think all of them were great and the actors definitely put a lot of effort into their roles. Bardo's actor was really funny, especially in the scenes in which he teased Konoe (when he wanted a kiss lol), but I think he also did a great job during the serious scenes! I think Bardo's and Rai's actors had a lot of fun messing around with each other, like jokingly pushing each other, or fighting each other with their tails, which happened during one of the curtain calls people were allowed to record. Asato's actor definitely was a lot more calm compared to these two, but he did a great job at showing Asato's gentle personality! His actor mentioned listening to the drama CDs too including Lamento Love Love Gakuen, doing some extra research! (And for some reason he suddenly got into Togainu no Chi if I look at his Twitter account now...). They ended the stageplay performances on Sunday with Rai's route. Rai's actor, Katou Shou, did an incredible job as Rai during the more emotional scenes, like when Rai insists Konoe finds another Touga because he's afraid he will hurt Konoe. That scene in which Konoe realizes Karou (his hometown) had been completely consumed by the Void was also incredible.

I should probably mention that they showed the good ends only, so no devil endings in this one sadly. Razel's actor agreed that Razel should have his own route because every devil gets quite some scenes depending on the route, but Razel is always kind of left out! Also, can I just say that I absolutely love Froud's stageplay actor, he did such a great job at making the character look intimidating (he's also very tall...) even his voice sounds similar to Froud in the game. I also really liked Leaks' actor, he has a nice deep voice, and Shui's actor liked teasing him sometimes!!

I'm just happy that Lamento has been getting new content again lately, first the webtoon and now the stageplay. You can find lots of pictures and recordings that were taken with permission if you look for the ラメステ hashtag on Twitter! I saw that both Froud's and Konoe's original voice actors (Sasanuma Akira and Hatano Kazutoshi) actually went to watch the stageplay in person. Slow Damage's artist Yamada Uiro, who's also in charge of lots of other official Nitro+Chiral illustrations, also watched the stageplay and drew some new art of it! Always happy to see new Lamento art in the year 2024, I've been enjoying all of the new fanart posted on Twitter as well.

I wonder what stageplay they're planning on doing next, only Slow Damage and Togainu no Chi remain (unless they're planning on bringing Itsuwari no Alkanet or World End's Nightmare back). Next year is Togainu no Chi's 20th anniversary, so I am curious if they are going to release anything new! The director of Nitroplus (Digitaro) also mentioned that N+C is currently working on a new project, though it's currently unknown if it's a new game, Slow Damage fandisc or something else. I guess I will be patient!

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Watchlist Tag Game!

Thank you @waitmyturtles for tagging me!

Currently watching

A Boss and a Babe - cute, easy to watch

Bed Friend - cute, easy to watch HA! who am I kidding. Despite the icky trauma I love this one. Let's hope it sticks the landing.

Chains of Heart - I was going to wait to watch this one (like Big Dragon) but I got SO DRAWN IN and now I'm obsessed.

The Eighth Sense - I knew a kbl would be gorgeously made but this one is knocking all other kbls out of the park. It's also stabbing me in the heart. But I love it.

Future - a little cringeworthy, a little slow, but it's light and easy.

The Promise - I have to watch this a week behind since I don't have a subscription hence I miss the analysis and discourse, which is needed because the characters' motivations can be frustrating. Plus colours!

UMG - I wish this could have had a midnight museum level of depth, even a 10 years ticket, but it's slapstick crack. Which doesn't make it bad per se but it's a little too light and throwaway whilst also trying to be sort of a character study. I also wish they had given the aliens a blurred focus because they're much less menacing when you can see it's just prosthetics and make-up.

3 Will Be Free - I started this a while ago but stalled mid-way through ep 3. I'll get back to it soon but I find Joss a bit wooden.

Looking forward to watching soon

New shows: 

Our Skyy 2 - I might end up having to watch each ep later than everyone else (and thus hiding the tag for the whole series sadly) because Wed and Thurs evenings are the WORST time for me. But SO EXCITED!

Double Savage - I might also have to wait and binge this one later because it might be difficult to squeeze this in with all the above.

Older shows:

The Director who buys me Dinner - the eps are only short, so I could binge it at some point.

HIStory 5: Love in the Future - the ep lengths daunt me, so maybe I'll binge it during my next long break from work?

Big Dragon - not sure when I'll get round to this but it's been on my list since before Christmas.

Ai Long Nhai - this has also been on my list for a while, maybe too long now...

Remember Me - ditto (I can't even remember what this one is about).

To Sir With Love - starting to think I won't watch this though...

Would like to watch but can't for region locked/subscription reasons

Our Dining Table - it looks so soft and domestic!

Destiny Seeker - the colours!

Also - any gl recs gladly taken! It's harder to keep track of what's airing and when with gls...

Tagging some peeps whom I haven't interacted with much recently (it's me not you) and some who have popped up in my notifications recently: @seeking-moonscapes @jemmo @markpakin @elnotwoods @youdontloveme-yet @airenyah @ablazenqueen @wen-kexing-apologist @vegasandhishedgehog @colourme-feral @kyr-kun-chan @lurkingshan

[sunbloomdew]

I played the "Fields of Mistria" Demo! Here's my thoughts:

(that title sounds like something a youtuber would say auuughhhhhhhh)

I found out about this game completely randomly and decided to give the demo a try. And surprisingly, or maybe not at all, I am completely taken with it and i can't wait to see how the game will develop! :D

So for now, until the 5th of August arrives, here's what i liked, disliked and what i wish to see in "Fields of Mistria" in the future <3

strap in yall it's a bit long. but there are photos! like. three of them skfjdkhfksj

Things I liked:

You don’t choose your character model’s sex. Also because all of the models being roughly the same size, there’s freedom to imagine your characters’ body type however you want. Surprisingly I also don't recall any of the characters assuming your gender based on your pronouns, which is nice.

Multiple pronouns options! My one suggestion would be to add a She/He option as well ^_^

Wide range of skin tones available. There’s currently 36 in the demo. (to compare, Stardew Valley has 24 and 10 of them are unusual colours like blue or green)

The fact that you can set your birthday on the calendar, although it doesn’t seem to do anything for now. In one of my playthroughs I set my birthday on the 3rd day of Spring, and the only thing that appeared was a pop up saying “It’s your birthday!”. Understandable, this is only the demo after all. I wonder if the early access will have characters react to your birthday and maybe even give you some gifts!

The few available hairstyles are really nice. My absolute favourite thing about hair in the demo was that it has a moving animation! Small detail but it really delighted me.

Same goes for clothes, they are cute!

The customization isn't locked and you can create a couple of outfits you can swap any time! You can also change everything about your character's looks at any time, including their pronouns.

The predetermined palette of colours you can choose your hair colour from is pretty good. There’s 40 colours so far.

I have a small problem with the opening cutscene but the rest of the beginning cutscenes are good! I like the one when you arrive at the bridge and meet Balor and the camera slides to him. And the Juniper cutscene haha

Now that I mentioned NPCs, I really like the cute, personalized animations they have, like Adeline snapping her fingers, Balor flicking his hair before walking away, Celine working in her garden, Josephine and Hemlock singing.

I absolutely love all of the character designs in this game. The 90s anime artstyle, colours, their poses and expressions. I really feel like this is the thing that really drew me to try this game as I wasn’t interested in a new farming simulator. But here I am! All with the power of anime. For example, here are the designs of the romanceable characters! The photo is from the Fields of Mistria website:

Another huge NPC win for me is that the characters interact with each other a lot! I noticed that a lot of them meet during the day and talk with little dialogue bubbles. It feels like the townspeople know each other quite well, I hope we get to learn even more about them and their dynamics!

One of the best things about interacting with characters is that you can talk to them multiple times during the day, getting a bunch of different dialogues. Once you talk to someone you have to wait either for them to change their location or for one of the other characters to approach them, to talk. I really like it since it means you get to interact with everyone couple times a day and it honestly makes the game more enjoyable.

From the little crumbs of lore we got, I am really intrigued about the setting. Prior to the player’s arrival to Mistria, the region has been hit by an earthquake. The disaster caused the main trading route bridge to collapse, the area getting destroyed and a lot of residents leaving the town. The town leader Adeline (daughter of a Baroness and Baron of Mistria) with her brother, Eiland's, help comes up with the idea to seek out an adventurer who could help to revitalize the town. We learn that Mistria is part of the Kingdom of Aldaria (so we have a monarchy), it has its own guardian deities and rich ancient history with the Sleeping Dragon Inn being a historical landmark and that magic is not hidden from people who can’t use it (Juniper freely uses magic in front of the kids in her cutscene after completing her request). Some characters offer some little hits to what their story might be about: Balor says that compared to Elsie he didn’t have a good time in the Capital, and other characters note how he is mysterious and obtains his wares in unknown ways. Elsie is a retired socialite from the Capital with many past romance stories to share, she probably knows a lot of interesting titbits about the Capital and people there. Juniper says that there’s something suspicious about Celine and Juniper herself is stuck in a town she doesn’t really seem to like but seemingly has something she needs to achieve here. When you meet March he slips for a second and says “I- We have everything under control” so it seems he views the player’s arrival as a threat to him in some way (emotionally i presume, not literally). Errol used to be a miner, Hayden can possibly talk to animals? And so much more. And of course, there’s the statue of dragon Caldarus who appears to be a marriageable character…? Anyways, I can’t wait to learn more about this setting!

I loved that you can talk with animals like Dozy and Henrietta, give them gifts and pet them. I really hope we can do the same with our pet.

The interior designs of all the buildings is extremely cute! I really like all of them, my favourite must be the Sleeping Dragon Inn, Celine’s cottage and the Carpenter’s Shop. Plus Elsie’s room at the manor and Hayden’s house.

I also like the beach a lot. It just feels nice and there’s a light house and I sure do love a light house /reference plus there's good ambience there

If you go to the manor there’s a portrait of the Baroness, the Baron and little Adeline and Eiland over the fireplace in the dining room :3

I really like Holt’s dad jokes. Pierre could never-

Guys I need Valen I need her

You are able to swim! It’s really cool and the animation is cute. Plus you can dive in certain spots to find stuff.

You can hold down the button to eat a bunch of food if you have multiple of something.

Saving your game having a form of a diary is very cute and I love that. Same with the crystal orb serving as a weather channel.

Fighting monsters feels dynamic! You actually have to put some thought into learning each individual monster’s behaviour and attack patterns. It’s challenging but not too hard. But they do quite a bit of damage at the start. Fighting that red mushroom felt like playing “Baba Jaga patrzy” again haha.

And speaking of fighting, i like our own character's fighting moves! But it took a bit to get used to them since they make the character move and it's not just. clicking with the mouse repeatedly skdhfjsf

I like the sound design!

Soundtrack is very nice. Not all of it is very memorable but it’s nice while you listen to it and it fits the game. There are some tracks that already got stuck in my head :] I like the one that plays at the Blacksmith, it’s intense for no reason, just like March lol

I cannot stop gushing about the characters, so far even just from the designs they all feel like they have distinct personalities and each one of them has their own thing going on. They all feel so warm and welcoming even if their actions aren’t (looking at you March). I don’t know, something about the artstyle, the pixels, design and colour palette just has me very enamoured with them. I really hope their character arcs or stories will deliver.

I like Caldarus. And the music that plays when he first speaks to us in our dream.

The museum is so nice. Also I love that Errol is an actual character we can talk to… Unlike another museum curator I know /j

You can buy stuff from shops even if no one is around!

Level tenth of the Mines… I’m SO intrigued

I like that there’s magic and can’t wait to see what other spells we can learn!

You can craft at the crafting station in town even if you don’t have the necessary materials on your person, but they are in chests at the farmhouse. As long as the stuff you need is in your chests you can craft stuff which is pretty cool.

Lastly, what I really loved about playing the demo is that not once did I feel rushed to do anything. Farming simulators often make you feel like you have to maximize your time in the day *cough* SDV *cough* and I do enjoy that sometimes, but other times I just want to chill. Somehow Fields of Mistria demo achieves this feeling of not having to rush and playing at your own pace and it feels great.

Things I disliked:

Not a lot of things mentioned here are going to be stuff I actively disliked, more like felt annoyed or confused by. And before any of my little complaints gets the “this is only a demo!” response, let me assure you: I am aware. If things change before or after the early release that’s great! This is specifically what I find ‘meh’ about the demo so far.

When the opening cutscene in Adeline’s office starts playing the room is positioned oddly on the screen. I think it’s so later the camera can follow the characters’ movements but when the cutscene starts and you only see the bottom half of the room at an angle, it feels really weird, like the room wasn’t centred by accident.

I’d love for the character creator to have the option to rotate the model of your character. I think it would be good to see what the options you picked look like from different angles before you jump into the game. Although the customization isn’t locked and you can change how you look whenever. Still, this could be a nice option

So I just said that the colour palette for hair is pretty good. Can’t say the same about the other ones, for eyes and clothes. The colours we get aren’t bad but I feel like there’s too little of them. Speaking of eye colours…

Choosing the eye colour is annoying. Once you pick an eye shape (cool feature btw) a window pops up in the middle of the screen with eye colours. The icons are too small to see the eye colour properly, especially when you want to compare the darker colours. I had to move my face closer to the screen to see what was I picking. And after you pick something the window disappears and you can see the colour you chose on the model. Okay, cool but now if I want to try out different options it I have to open the window again. Constantly opening the colours window to check other options is tedious and a bit frustrating. What I think would be good instead is once you click to choose the colours, next to the options appears a close up of your character model, and the window doesn’t close until you click an “X” button. To sum up my main problems are colour options visibility and the colour picking mechanic. Hair colour and colours for clothes and other stuff is picked in the same way BUT all of those elements are bigger than the four pixels the eyes are made out of.

The controls are not obvious. The game shows you to progress dialogues with “E” key but nothing aside from that. I didn’t realise until the last day of my first playthrough that you can jump, because in my previous experiences, 2D RPG, and especially farming simulator games don’t usually have that option, and the only instance of jumping happened in a cutscene, so I thought it was just an animation for the cutscene. I think it would be a good opportunity to use that moment in the cutscene for brief player interaction so they can learn how to jump, however silly that sounds. I think the player’s experience would benefit from a controls tutorial, in form of a window popping up or them showing up on the side of the screen like in Stardew Valley on the first day.

While interior designs are really cool I feel like the outside is kinda empty. Not so much the building but the areas around them. It is felt the most in the empty stretches of land outside the town but running through the paved roads in it can also feel a bit odd. Like the area is too empty. It’s definitely not a problem on the farm due to all the overgrown grass but everywhere else you really feel like it’s just a flat stretch of nothing. I think adding some more details could be nice, maybe some streetlights, plants, a bit more texture on surfaces.

I had a really odd moment that took me out entirely. While playing the demo you can get Juniper’s request on the board to bring her a Lilac. Once you complete it, a cutscene set at the bathhouse will start playing right away, regardless of where were you when you completed the request. This felt incredibly jarring to me. The first time I did this request I gave the Lilac at the bathhouse, but the second time it was late evening at Valen’s house. So it was pretty surprising to be essentially teleported to a completely different place. I don’t think it’s a great mechanic. It would be better if a cutscene set at a specific place on the map started when you arrive there, to help it feel more coherent.

As much as I like the warm and cozy feel of the characters, it felt like there wasn’t a lot of variety in reactions to the player’s arrival. Everyone except I think literally one person is all cheery. I don’t mind this that much, cause the community being excited for your arrival feels sweet. It makes sense with the story too, the player is there to help out around the town, and who living there wouldn’t be happy about that? I just really hope the character’s don’t end up with poorly defined personalities, that’s my main concern for now about the story. It would be tragic if the game only ended up having cute designs but nothing else. Needless to say I have pretty high hopes for the final version! I really hope it works out and I’m 100% rooting for the team.

The inventory system had me kinda confused at the start. The spaces are all in one line in game but once you open your journal they’re stacked on top of each other? Yeah took me a bit to get used to that, and I’m not sure how I feel about it still.

The user interface is very cute, I have one problem though. It’s hard to tell what a lot of the little icons mean, for example, when you open the chest there’s a chest icon next to the two arrows that sort stuff. I have no clue what it does and when you’re hovering over it, it doesn’t have a name or an explanation either.

You can’t hold down mouse button to use tools continuously. This is because when you upgrade your tools, for example a pickaxe, when you hold it down you get to mine more spaces at the same time. I’m not sure if that exchange is worth it.

You have to click one by one if you want to throw multiple items out in the inventory trashcan.

It’s a shame you can’t land on rocks/big water lily leaves on the water. And you can’t walk into the sea, you have to specifically jump into it. This isn’t really a complaint, I just think I’d be cool if you could just slowly walk into the sea. Like slowly getting submerged.

I feel like the scroll wheel directions are odd… Scrolling upwards will move you to the right of the inventory but I feel like it should be the other way… Maybe it can be changed later in settings.

The buildings on the map are not named. It would be nice if, when you hover over an area you see its name.

Credits get blurry when moving. It hurt my eyes :(

Things I hope to see in the Early Access (and in the game in general):

Interactivity within interiors. So like looking at bookshelves to see what books a character has, reading letters or notebooks that were left out, finding some stuff in their drawers… Basically snooping haha. Oh and more interactivity with objects placed outside too. Right now there are some signs and items you can't interact with, like that tent by the dig site.

More settings for in-game scale! It would be cool if there was one between 3x and 2x, like a 2.5x.

The ability to sell stuff directly at shops. Sometimes you need money but waiting until the next day would ruin your plans.

Sitting! I wanna sit in spots next to the characters and vibe :]

While I do like available colours, I think adding a colour wheel or sliders would be neat.

I wonder what are gender identities and sexual orientations of the characters :]

More clothes and hair options obviously! And furniture as well

What gets implemented for the player’s birthday

How the museum exhibition will look like :D

Lastly, I might be way out of my depth with this one but it would be cool if the romanceable characters could also move in with you platonically… Or if there was a character like Krobus, a little friend you can invite to live with you <3

And that's it :] sorry for the stardew comparison, it's like the only farming sim i'm very familiar with

I've been enjoying playing the demo a lot and i definitely will play more before it closes. And i will for sure be following the development and waiting for the early access in august!

it was a really fun experience over all and if ur interested i reccomend you try it out :D

cya

[misakicchi]

Thoughts and Experiences in CBT2

Before we start-

I would like to talk about the recently concluded Closed Beta Test of Wuthering Waves-

All are from my own interpretation and criticism over the state of the for this beta test.

1. 3 days before the end of CBT2 on March 17, they had given a LOT of energy, that would have been better to be given while the testing was far from the final day, it would have helped testers build more characters (40 energy per run on EXP farming and 60 energy for bosses). It would have been nice to be able to test the game to a much further potential.

2. ECHOES- literally echoes… While I was farming for intimacy and dropping a LOT of energy on bosses, there was 0 gold drops on bosses, like 0, nada. How can you expect players to build characters when the STATS they need on better rarity echoes are locked due to the low drop rate of golden echoes.

3. I don’t know if it is just me or a lot of people in the test experiences red ping even though they are on the correct server from their own regions (for me it is Asia-SEA region in-game). I am used to having red pings from other games, but that is because I have my account on other regions, however in my own region, I get a red ping. It is weird because my laptop is literally connected to as fast wifi setup.

4. ECHOES AGAIN- the limit of echoes in a character that I have achieved is 12- a stinking 12 limit, not my fault most better rates are on boss echoes that uses 4 SLOTS out of the 12. It wouldn’t be bad if the limit was just not there so that any good echoes can be slotted onto the character of choice than be limited to how much I can equip to a character. 5. The exp drop rate is bad- could be better. I mean it is easy to farm the node itself… but 40 energy per run is just horrific.

6. Intimacy- man I disliked how much it takes to level a character’s intimacy, in cbt2 it would be easy since we were given extra help by the devs. But anyone who just wants to read a profile or hear voice lines would be locked with quite a while. Intimacy drop from bosses (60 energy) yields 180 Intimacy Points, meanwhile 40 energy farming nodes yield only 120 Intimacy Points, this is only for CBT, I really do not mind farming this on the actual game... just that the time constraint to farm more character's intimacy in such a short amount of time is hard with limited energy (until the last 3 days) in the CBT.

7. The length between Lingyan and Jiyan story quest are light and day. We literally took more time helping an NPC on Lingyan story quest than actually spending more time with our temporary team (and actually trying to win the race with them) I felt more connected with the temporary team, maybe because I actually liked the whole Jiyan quest in general than running around with an NPC who wants to find her brother. Albeit I did enjoy both chapters, I wish we did get to continue the race... The cutscene was also not enough on Jiyans chapter compared to that of Lingyans.... like??? Give us more Jiyan cutscene pls.

I wish they would improve more on the coming months before release and that all criticism and suggestions will be taken into account. If I remember more of my comments in the forms I have sent to the devs, I will update this.

I did manage to get the characters I want, Jiyan and Mortefi to be exact. But man I started enjoying using Calcharo and Aalto.

I also post some videos while I was still in CBT2, if you are interested- here is my Youtube channel.

[coreysconcepts]

about my game....

so I did say that I wanted to make a moba game in the future after I graduate and after I've had some experience with game developing //WHICH IS VERY AMBITIOUS I KNOW THAT AJKSDFNJKSD// and, at this point in my life, I've only stories and art of my world and characters that I hope will come into fruition soon. I even made a 60 or so paged Canva where I just designed the ui for the main menu and in game screen so like... anyway, I will talk about the gameplay I wish to make! buckle up cause this is gonna be a long one and, if you want to look at the Canva, feel free to do so! <3

players: 4+1 v 4+1 so, I was researching one time on how I could make my moba "different" from the other popular titles today (which also serve as my biggest inspirations), such as league, dota 2, and mobile legends. the article I read (I've long lost it but if I find it I'll definitely link it here!) talked about how a unique gameplay for a new moba would be for it to return to its RTS roots and introduce RTS aspects again in the form of a "commander." the commander won't be actively moving around and doing usual moba stuff on the map, but instead will stay at their base and overlook the game. each team will have 1 commander, replacing the "support" role since it has a tendency to take a passive role in the game (yes, I know tanks and engage supports exist but THIS IDEA IS COOLER >:(((( ). moreover, the commander will control aspects of the map such as creep waves, special interactive walls, wall fortification, etc. each playable character can be played as a commander and will all share the basic map-manipulating skills, but they have each have a unique "commander skill" that enhances the gameplay even more. the commander skill varies from simple combat-focused skills to tactical planning skills, and only characters from the in-lore region's map can be played as a commander for that map (I will b talking about maps after this). moreover, to promote teamwork, I wanted only the commander to be able to access the minimal. I know it's kinda bad for the players that they don't know where everyone else is, but yk teamwork...? also, the commander role will be picked out in the lobby-making. the rightmost slot in the party will be the commander slot, and anyone in the party can switch to that slot to become the commander in their next game. this also would work in solo queue. picture below is how I envision the commander's screen to look like.

different maps for each in-lore region I also noticed how most moba games take place in the same map, except for when its a different game mode (aram/ brawl for lol/ mobile legends and the special arcade/ seasonal game modes) or map skins (dota 2). I wanted my game to be more than that, and also to incorporate the lore in the game itself as much as I can, so I came up with the idea of different maps for each in-lore region where the players can play in. my general idea is that before the players lock in their champions, they can pick a map in which they want to play in. the general gameplay for all these maps will be the same, with the 3 lanes and commanders and everything, but there are different unique mechanics per map, such as smog and reducing vision for foglemore and snowy blizzards to hasten fights in whalefall (its called whitestorm in the pic below; the image used here is also outdated, I made a new map recently). there's also different terrain mechanics, like the two-layered map of altamar and helix canyon, the snowy slides in whalefall (again), and the low and high tide mechanics in hardinapulo. lastly, there's also unique battle spells (like summoner spells from league) for each region, like the 5-second flash/blink in elessia. im still debating whether or not the map selection should be before champ select (meaning the players have to queue up and vote for a map) or make it a choice before queueing so they can play in which map they want to play in without the possibility of getting to play in a different map. on the topic of maps and in-lore regions, this would b the perfect time to talk about the in-lore regions for my world, aicarro! ill delve deeper into their stories in another post. for now ill just describe the aesthetic/ vibe they're going for. - elessia: sci-fi Ancient Greece. biggest and main exporter of technology in the world - glimmerwing: post-apocalyptic wasteland, mixing nature and machinery - foglemore: polarization of steampunk Europe, separation of older generation & their steampunk tech and the newer generation & their elessian tech. - roselight: medieval England whose natives spawn stained glass out of thin air when experiencing a core memory, called "memory shards" - Thalassa: technically the entire ocean, but when talking about "Thalassa" it usually means the densest underwater area in terms of population to the south of roselight - the deserts of bosam: a large desert that was once a tropical continent. its gods were banished because of their ambitiousness and everything was turned into sand in their absence. now, its the sandbox of many different tribes with different end goals. - santastella: a unique city in the west of bosam's deserts where a native tribe mingled with roselightian settlers and created a new culture and society focused on elegant use of magic. - altamar: a pirate city in the middle-north part of bosam's desert. it was founded when an explorer from roselight shipwrecked here and started a new city and culture. - hardinapulo: an archipelago that retains old bosam's glory. after the bosam gods were exiled, a titanic snake-like goddess claimed the region as her own. - helix canyon: a canyon housing the strongest prison in the world, meant to hold aicarro's worst of the worst criminals. one of the first group of reformed criminals established a town just above the canyon to accommodate the visitors and other former prisoners. - whalefall: a snowy island found at the equator that was also once a tropical island. it formed its own identity separate from bosam proper when bosam's goddess of storms claimed this as her own. - the Tri-states: a continent predominantly made up of 3 civilizations, those from shenmen, changhu, and kamigami. shenmen is known for their aspiration to become the next elessia, changhu for their breathtaking cherry blossom trees found everywhere, and kamigami for their thirst of blood and war.

item system overhaul! so, I noticed how unintuitive the normal itemization system is in the other mobas, especially in league where there are four different items for different champion roles that all do the same thing [im looking at you morellonomicon, chempunk chainsword, mortal reminder, and thornmail! >:(] I thought, "why not have an item system where everyone can build the same item without worrying about the stats?" so I did! my game will have a unique itemization system, where: - a completed item will have 1 permanent stat and 2 empty stat slots which can be used up by buying and applying enchantments for the item - items in the 2nd to the highest item tier (under completed items; epic item tier in league) will have the passive/active effect of its completed item counterpart, but can only be activated after using up the 2 item slots that it has. moreover, the players will start with enough gold to buy 1 of these items and a few potions, so they can focus on buying the enchantments when they go back to the base. I have a very extensive docs here, for those who want to read the ideas I have about the items.

anyway, I think that's about all the gameplay aspects that I have to share about. from now on I think its going to be mostly lore and if i will still talk about the gameplay then I think its just gonna be updates. hope it was a good read for whoever is reading this. always open to comments n suggestions! xoxo corey

[goldensunset]

Play Game updatez:

•autumn time yippee!!!! (there’s actually Less to do in this season unfortunately. shame. things only really start to get interesting in winter)

•undella town is so calm and deserted now… makes me very sad but it’s comforting as well

•i found terrakion while only moderately prepared and i can’t believe i caught it before either running out of pokéballs or it running out moves and struggling to death. i really thought it was a lost cause. anyway i dislike terrakion

•i cannot seem to find the last sage of team plasma… i guess i gotta be more clever and thorough with my search. unless he’s locked behind the championship somehow

•genuine question is it possible to get kyurem in the first game outside of an event? like can i do that or not? i know it’s in the giant chasm allegedly but i can’t find a way into that area

•i think it’s very based how this region has multiple npcs here and there who just straight up don’t speak english. like we’ve got people who just go up to you and start going off in french italian german etc… also one of the tv programs is like a japanese language course… super cool and i choose to believe it’s meant to represent the idea of america as a melting pot of cultures. but i do wish i understood what the heck people were saying to me

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Vetinari for the character ask game? :)

ahhhh everyone's favourite dictator.

First impression

I read Hogfather first, and so I didn't think much of him at all. Downey left way more of an impression on me, obviously. Then I read Guards! Guards! and I thought him mildly entertaining, though perhaps a bit boring and predictable.

Overall, I think my takeaway was: What a stupid nerd, love that for him, but he should be more of a weird freak.

(Do I have Downey's approach to Vetinari? Possibly.)

Impression now

I'm not sure my impression has changed too much. While Vetinari does change a bit as a character over the series (though in the last few books he's pretty OOC, in my opinion), it's not distinct enough of an arc for me to really alter my opinions on him.

(tbf I do stop accepting canon at a certain point, because there are some books of Pratchett's that shouldn't have been published because they weren't up to standards due to the whole mental decline. Let him write all he wants, just don't publish them. Jesus.)

Like, Pratchett doesn't write deep characters for the most part. Vimes and Granny have depth to them - but they're POV characters so I would hope they have depth. But side characters, not so much. Which is reasonable, you know. Pratchett was writing satire and pretty basic political commentary, he wasn't doing character studies or deep literary explorations.

So, I think Vetinari is a fun spoofing of the stereotypical villainous dictator wherein he's still a dictator but he's not terrible. He's sort-of benevolent. (He still has a scorpion pit and has Problem People assassinated and locks away others who he likes but doesn't want out in the open for various reasons i.e., Leonard. Still very much a tyrant - don't get on his bad side or you'll disappear. But he's nicer than Snapcase and Winder. Low bar but he crosses it.)

I like that he's very weird and has an idiosyncratic sense of humour. That delights me. Also his fastidiousness and clear foibles and ticks are charming. That he refuses to leave treats on Wuffles' grave that Wuffles didn't like in real life is a nice detail on some of the innter softness that is in him.

That said, he can be a hard one to get into the interiority of his head because he's so...untouchable, in a certain way? He always has a trick, he always has an answer, he is always able to turn a situation to his advantage no matter what to an implausible degree, etc.

Like, Vimes I understand. I can get into his head. Same for Angua or Carrot or Downey or Sybil. But Vetinari is on the harder side. I can do it, but it's not as easy as it is for others.

It's the perfection, I think, because TP needed Vetinari to never not be in power therefore he has to be impenetrable and able to always maintain control, or reclaim control in a Cool Fashion should it have been wrested from him in some manner.

We also just don't spend much time with him, compared to others. (Barring Downey, but Downey is disastrously human so I get him.)

Favorite moment

Probably most of his vacationing with Colon and Nobby during Jingo. That was all rather entertaining.

Idea for a story

I feel like I've written all the stuff I want to with Vetinari? I'm not sure I have something off hand that I can think of.

Unpopular opinion

He ain't the woke leader fandom sometimes weirdly projects him as. He is High Tory who does progressive changes only when he thinks it will best suit him to maintain stability within the city, overt control of Ankh-Morpork as a whole, and/or to ensure the city's broader hegemony within the region.

In Night Watch he isn't written like a sixteen/seventeen-year-old and I wish he had been.

Favorite relationship

Downey lol. I mean, come on - those two have history and it's going to be Stupid and Ridiculous.

I also like him and Madam and wish we saw more of that, especially in present day as an adult.

Favorite headcanon

Other than Madam being his mother? His leg wound is an actual disability and will steadily get worse with age and Vetinari's seeming lack of a lot of physical activity.

Pratchett sort of writes it off as a whatever/funny point/something that isn't an actual problem for Vetinari (because Vetinari can't have real problems due to the need for him to be perfect so he never has to write political changeover in the city in the present day) - and I always found this annoying.

So yeah, the leg wound is a real problem and his cane is an actual mobility device and not some "aha, you thought I was weak but I'm actually not!" gimmick.

----

Thank you! <3

[gold-rhine]

Would you recommend Playing Star Rail to anyone? Why or why not?

no, i wouldn't. my own dislike of turn based games aside, here are the reasons:

1.Way too little content. Right now there are basically two regions and a starter area. Each has like 6-8 maps, every map is just corridors with like 10-11 chests and couple of puzzles on some maps. You go through basically all of it during main quests. They just released second half of the second archon quest. There are like some side quests, but they play pretty quickly. You can go through all of this in like a week max if you play slowly and bc some quests\puzzles are time-locked to make them feel longer.

There is simulated universe, which is fun at the start, but once you build your characters and figure out best buffs, it also becomes boring, because it's the same enemies in the same corridors. I enjoyed it for like a week, and now I play it once a week for rewards and thats it, which takes like 40 min.

There is also like hsr's equivalent of abyss. Idk, you can theoretically replay same fights over and over there until you get 3 stars, but like. I mean, if that's your cup of tea, I'm not kinkshaming, but personally I play through it once and that's it. so like. another hour in a week mb.

2.So, once you burn through available content, there is literally nothing to do but grind resources. I explain to you my daily routine:

1.log in. Do daily rewards missions for primos.

2.use autoplay to grind resources. mb upgrade characters if you can

3.log off.

because there is no exploration in hsr, there is literally nothing to do but replay abyss and simulated universe over and over

3.Again, because there is no exploration and limited number of quests, it's literally impossible to get primos if you want them without spending. You can only get them from daily rewards (like 60 I think?) and events. Like, if you already did quests and abyss, that's it, you can't get even one wish per day. say what u want about genshin, but if you actually play the game, you can get 2-5 wishes daily just from exploration and quests. And there are roughly bazillion more quests in genshin, bc it's a huge game that was out for years. I have 100% exploration on my main account in every region and I still have like 20 quests and hangouts not done there despite playing for like 1,5 years.

so in genshin, if you want a character and you spent your free event wishes etc, you can grind the primos for free. I know, bc I do on my new f2p acc, like you can get like 100 wishes per banner which guarantees at least one 5 star. I started Kazuha's banner with 0 savings. spent 30 whishes on kazuha and then 70 on alhaitham and then stopped pulling bc i didn't want to main alhaitham again lol, so probably could get another 5 star on hard pity.

In hsr, you can do nothing, but spend money. Like, I started Luocha banner with 15 wishes saved and at the end of his banner I was at 70 pity. I couldn't even get to 5 star pity. I happened to get him on the last day on 73 pity and win 50-50. But if I didn't, I couldn't go grind like in genshin, I could just spend.

So I think gatcha monetization feels much more predatory in hsr bc once you're through very limited content, you're out of options.

TLDR: play this game if you, like me, need to waste time and only have your phone on you. Like I'm often bored at work, this is why I make shitposts on tumblr and have several other time-wasting apps. Also make sure you're won't be tempted to spend money on gacha. Please don't spend money on this game guys. Its turn based, its easier than genshin, you literally DO NOT NEED strong characters to play, and like. Paying money so game can auto-play itself is just insane to me. Please don't. You can find cool looking anime art on the internet for free.

Don't play otherwise.

[thegamingcatmom]

Hey friend, I've been thinking about something about Maggot Mommy for a long time and just makes me - 🤯

Where the (female) reader is in his menstrual period and usually she gets away from Ellie's apartment, but they had something important to do that day

So, the reader has to go, the moment he enters the door of the apartment, soon Maggot Mommy is dominated by the smell of blood 🩸

That simply, in my head, would she take advantage of this ... A Hematolagnia vibe?

What do you think? 🙈

F-Friends? 🥹

Lemme just-

HEY FRIEND! 🤗🫶

And thank you for that very interesting ask indeed. Seeing yall come up with your own little ideas and headcanons and basically continuing our Drama Queen´s adventures for yourselves and then wanting to fangirl about it with me is just so-

Okay so, first of all: yes.

Second of all: feral yes.

But here´s the thing: Our girl won´t be leaving that apartment anytime soon. Maggot Momma´s more than capable of providing her darling with anything she might ever want or need. Besides, you have her, what more is there to want or need?

Which means our girl will be in for quite the surprise when it´s that time of month. It´s not so much a kink for Momma as it is an instinct, though - telling her that her mate is ready and willing.

(It might very well turn into a kink at some point though, because that good red stuff just gets Momma going, lemme tell ya.)

Oh, there´s something else I should mention before we delve deeper: Momma´s sense of smell is out of this world, literally. She´s gonna notice any changes in your body before they´ve even happened - something to do with a change of temperature and pheromones and stuff. 🫠

With that said, she´s gonna be a bit puzzled at first, trying to figure out what´s off. Her precious mate smells as delicious as she usually does...but then she doesn´t. There´s more to it, today. She didn´t think that scent could be even more mouthwatering, but here we are-

She´s gonna be all over you then, which isn´t exactly new, but, on this day, she´s gonna be even more all over you than usual - arms coming to pin you down because you would just not.stop.squirming, you slippery little thing-

And a nose that´s going even crazier than usual, sniffing loudly like a hound that´s picked up on a scent, wandering over every inch of your body, trying to find the source of whatever it is that´s really starting to get to her, making her dizzy almost-

And continuing her way down your body, completely oblivious to your protests (she really just doesn´t give a f*ck actually), so strong is her desire, her urge, to find that smell, my god-

Eventually, she´s made it to that region, nose pressed tightly against you, taking a rather long whiff and then-

She freezes.

...And then takes yet another long whiff, only to come to the conclusion-

You´re fucked.

You wish.

Now...seeing as this is pretty much pre-bleeding, can you imagine how absolutely feral she´s gonna get once you´re actually there?

And, in case you were thinking about locking yourself up and away from her and just sit it out (as per usual), lemme tell you this:

Maggot Momma can be very patient for the right cause.

She´s gonna guard that door with her undead life, 24/7. You´re bound to come out at some point - a human body can only take so much before starting to show first signs of neglect, forcing you to surrender right into her waiting arms, in the end.

Not that your Deadite!mate would let it get that far - she´d kick the door down and snatch you right up, before your stubbornness could get the better of you (as per usual). However-

She does enjoy a good hunt.

Needless to say: It might be a kink after all.

I hope the feral nature of it all was able to make up for the lack of actual blood here. I do so enjoy their game of cat and mouse. 🥰

Fun fact: Female dogs actually do bleed when they´re "ready and willing". It means they are fertile and able to reproduce. 😏

Thanks again for that ask! 🫶❤️🫶

[agender-witchery]

I'm putting this one under a cut just so people read the first damn paragraph.

I am playing through Outer Wilds for the first time, I've beaten the base game and I'm now going through the DLC. I do not want ANY information whatsoever, spoiler or not. I want to learn everything by myself. The questions and observations I make are for me to think about and answer, not you. If you post a reply or reblog with tags that go against these wishes, you will be blocked immediately.

If you saw my last post, you know that I sum up what I know and what I want to learn after each play session and send that to my friend who's watching me play through the game. If you didn't see my last post, well now you know. I've actually had two sessions since my last post - I just never got a chance to do a full write up of the former of the two. I'll do my best to put some of it here though.

Alright so. The Strangers came from their star system to ours, presumably in search of the Eye after seeing its echo. I think that they showed up prior to the Nomai, given that they only activated the Stranger's cloaking mechanism after reaching our star system, they appear to have been killed by ghost matter, and the Nomai have no writings about the Stranger. It doesn't seem like they can return, given the fact that they seemed grief stricken when looking at slides of their home world and the fact that they're still here. I initially thought that the way their eyes go empty and their mouths split in an... unsettling manner was something the Eye caused somehow, but it turns out that empty eyes and slit mouths are just... things they do, though it's often portrayed in a sinister way. I... don't think their motives are sinister though. I think that's just how I interpret those expressions. After receiving the vision of the Eye destroying everything, they turned on it. They seemed to hold it in reverence similar to the Nomai at first, but now they seem to despise it. They're upset, they're angry, and I think that's worth respecting. Once they turned against the Eye, they went into hiding, and... I don't think they want to be found, given their reactions when I do run into them. I feel like I'm intruding, like I'm doing something wrong for reasons I don't even understand yet. I have a path to unlocking the vault, but... it almost feels irresponsible not to have an idea of why it was locked in the first place. They made it, they want it closed, and I'm not welcome. Of course, they never truly hurt me, but maybe they can't hurt me, not in a dream. I can test it, by hurting myself, so I'll do that.

I am... almost convinced that there's a living Stranger still around due to the empty bed in the Cinder Isle dream chamber. And if they're alive... they'd be underwater, to avoid the ghost matter. Perhaps a living Stranger might have a way to communicate, and perhaps they'd be more amenable to my presence than the dreaming Strangers. They might have information, and as always, I have all the time in the world to search for them.

Of course... there is the matter that there's more info to be found for me in two of the dream regions. I could blindly dive around to try and find a living Stranger, but I think searching the dream world will be more productive.

In the base game, I felt a connection to the Nomai. I could understand them and their motives entirely, and I knew I wanted to find the Eye very early on. I was working with and alongside the Nomai, carrying on their legacy, and considered a friend by Solanum. With the Strangers, I feel disconnected and adversarial. Currently, I feel like I am working against them, and the intentionally eerie atmosphere definitely enhances this feeling. I feel at unease when I'm viewing their history, more so when I'm experiencing their dream, and especially so when I've disturbed them. The information I gather is via their slides, many of which are heavily damaged, and even their visions provide little insight into why they act the way they do. There's a lot I don't understand. And I think I need to understand before I try and violate their wishes.

Questions:

Why do the Strangers act the way they do?

What is in the vault?

If there is a living Stranger, where are they?

I still don't know why the sun doesn't activate their devices, or why their fires burn green. Notably, the candles in the dream world DON'T burn green, so green is special in some way.

[dweemeister]

Suzume (2022, Japan)

How dramatic Makoto Shinkai’s rise has been. The Japanese animator and filmmaker, with his background in video game animation, is far away from the narrative and editing incoherence that plagued his early works, such as The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004) and 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007). At first, neither film made viewers outside Japan take much notice. A decade later, Your Name (2016) commercially rocketed past all Shinkai films before it and, before one knew it, would go on to surpass Spirited Away (2001) as the highest-grossing anime of all time. The body-switching romantic comedy remains Shinkai’s best film, although Suzume comes much closer than I expected.

In my write-up to Your Name after its North American release, I speculated that the film’s success in Japan might be due to its allusions to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the coast of northern Honshu, the Tôhoku region – potentially some sort of cinematic catharsis. Though the imagery that Shinkai employed in Your Name would be unmistakable to any Japanese person who witnessed the destruction of that day, he invoked those images seemingly for the sake of aesthetic appeal. So too was this the case for Weathering with You (2019) – a film that drowned Tokyo in constant rain in service of an epochally selfish decision in pursuit of teenage romance. As such, Shinkai’s insistence to this day that Weathering with You is a film about climate change collapses entirely in the film’s finale. Suzume doubles down on Shinkai’s shtick for teen romance and obsession for how light reflects off water, but now he has made a film where the repercussions of the Tôhoku earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster are front and center. This is his most honest film.

17-year-old Suzume Iwato (Nanoka Hara; Akari Miura as a young girl) lives with her aunt (Eri Fukatsu) on Kyūshū, the southernmost of the major Japanese islands. On the way to school one day, she passes by an attractive, long-haired fellow named Sôta Munataka (Hokuto Matsumura) who asks about local ruins. She points the way to an abandoned onsen, and – following her romantic longings rather than common sense – follows him. At the onsen, she finds a door, standing alone without supports. After she removes a totem that transforms into a cat (Ann Yamane) that scurries away, the door leads to a grassy field, with picturesque blues and reds streaking across a starlit sky. Arriving at school later, she later notices that something resembling a gigantic red worm is emanating from the door’s location. She rushes back, noticing Sôta struggling to close the door, and lends a hand to shut and lock the door – but not without the worm (which no one except these two can see) crashing to the ground and causing a sizable earthquake. Sôta explains he is a “closer” – part of a line of individuals who search for these doors and ensures that they remain shut. Failure to do so results in cataclysmic earthquakes. Against her aunt’s wishes, Suzume will follow Sôta northwards, towards Honshu. The cat, Daijin, must revert to a keystone in order to prevent further disaster.

A few decades into his film career, Shinkai’s undisciplined writing of his character’s emotions remains. Complicating everything is the fact that Daijin turns Sôta into something that should be inanimate. In interviews, Shinkai has defended this decision as the only way to have any sort of comic relief amid the film’s themes – a curious statement to make, as half of Suzume’s comedy has little to do with Sôta’s transformation, instead centering on our characters’ habits and flaws. The original plan was for Suzume to fall for another young woman, but producers nixed the idea, believing such a development too controversial for Japanese audiences*. Shinkai’s decision to make Sôta non-human puts Suzume on the brink of slapstick absurdity. Even though it remarkably allows some of the best character animation from a filmmaker not regarded for that (yes, character animation for an otherwise inanimate object), this absurdity can occasionally deprive Suzume of some much-needed pathos. Only in the Suzume’s final third does that pathos become apparent, and it arrives less powerfully than it should because of Shinkai’s decision to transform Sôta.

Combined with Suzume’s tendency to make hormone-influenced decisions during both the quieter and most perilous moments of her journey with Sôta – I am all for female characters having romantic agency, but there are times and places for when expressing or acting upon romantic feelings is appropriate – Shinkai’s teenage romantic writing can feel tactless at worst, tacky at best. Yet, because Shinkai is upfront about Suzume’s desires from the beginning (unlike the does-he-love-her-or-doesn’t-he-love-her waffling in Your Name and Weathering with You), it makes Suzume’s finale less baffling than his previous two works. Concerningly, in Your Name and Weathering with You, a natural disaster is an inconvenience to two teenagers barely realizing their love for each other. Not this time, thankfully, because of Suzume’s forwardness.

Suzume’s success comes from the tradition of live-action Japanese cinema to reflect – whether directly or otherwise – on national tragedy. When the United States ended its postwar occupation of Japan in April 1952, it also halted the censorship of topics such as the occupation itself, World War II, and other topics that the censors might object to. One could read the previous sentence and draw rash conclusions: namely, that American censorship shackled Japanese artistry. Perhaps it did, but plenty of exceptions exist, such as Yasujirô Ozu’s entire post-War filmography (even during the occupation). In Ozu’s post-War films, the families in those works quietly observe or accept the gradual Westernization of their culture, most evident in changes in nuptial and familial norms, and articulated with subtle, but great artistry. Censors have a way in sometimes making art’s politics less didactic – no less powerful, much more palatable. Now without American censors, films like Gojira (or Godzilla; 1954), Twenty-Four Eyes (1954), and The Burmese Harp (1956) wrestled with the morality of WWII, the apocalyptic consequences of nuclear weapons, and Japan’s war crimes inflicted upon its Asian neighbors (over the last few decades, Japanese filmmakers have become increasingly hesitant to engage in the last topic).

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 or 9.1 earthquake struck off the east coast of Tôhoku. The resulting tsunami killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands, as well as triggering a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. On 3/11 and the days after, images of the ocean swallowing buildings whole, boats now perched atop half-ruined rooftops, and clocks frozen at 3:25 PM made their way around a now-interconnected world. No sense can ever be made of nature’s randomness, and the loss of life in its wake. Suzume is a film that understands this, long before Shinkai truly shows what his film is about (accepting past tragedy and trauma) and what it champions (living life completely). Before we fully learn about Suzume’s loss on 3/11, Shinkai is content to introduce us to partake in some narrative detours. Those detours introduce the audience to side characters living their lives humbly, with little fanfare, and a joie de vivre. Notice the joy of the motorcycle-riding produce seller, content with the verdant beauty of her home and the rural simple living. The laid-back and unfussy Tomoya Serizawa (Ryūnosuke Kamiki; whose character is Sôta’s best friend) takes each day as is as he attempts to earn a teaching credential. Until then (and I suspect even after he becomes a teacher), he enjoys cruising along in his convertible, blasting a Spotify playlist with playful oldies such as Yumi Arai’s “Rūju no Dengon” (a familiar tune to fans of 1989’s Kiki’s Delivery Service), Yuki Saito’s “Sotsugyô”, among others.

These detours contrast with a device (that Shinkai also uses) more characteristic of Japanese cinema, or at least most Japanese cinema that has been exported to the West. That device is mono no aware (“the impermanence of things”) – with practitioners including some of the greatest Japanese filmmakers of all time such as Ozu and Isao Takahata (1988’s Grave of the Fireflies, 2014’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya). This refers to character behaviors or individual shots that emphasize how life is fleeting and precious. In that contrast of Suzume’s loss and the joyfulness of her companions, there is an implicit understanding that Japanese culture, as our characters know it, is disappearing (one might say “transforming”). It is there in the beautifully-drawn abandoned buildings – the onsens, the schoolhouses – alluding to Japan’s demographic changes, as well as the implication that there are fewer “closers” in Japan than there used to be. For an economy once pegged to lead the future in Asia, Japan’s stagnant financial reality is reflected in the supporting cast, all of whom are hardscrabble folks neither struggling nor prospering. Sometimes that change happens suddenly, as what happened to Suzume on 3/11, leaving behind a towering sea wall and imprints of former homes as nature reclaims these once-devastated places.

The trick, Shinkai says, is to acknowledge the tragedies of the past, for all its effects on the present. At the same time, one must press forward, to live as completely as possible in the days we have afforded to us. As simple as that may be to articulate verbally or cinematically, it is a much different proposition in practice, on both counts. If Suzume presented this message inelegantly, the film would be a maudlin exercise. Touch too lightly on these themes, and the film drowns in its heavily expository dialogue. Shinkai may too fervently focus on the romantic and the comedic in spurts, but Suzume eventually upholds the film’s ultimate thesis, so that Suzume can find true happiness today and in the future while in full acceptance of her past.

With any Makoto Shinkai film post-Your Name, one expects the band RADWIMPS to score the film and provide a wealth of original songs. This time, the lone notable song is the title number, “Suzume”, and it only appears in full during the end credits, rather than the characteristic Shinkai-esque montage. Performed by RADWIMPS and featuring the TikTok singer Toaka on vocals, the sixteen-note motif in “Suzume” (even when Toaka is on vocals and not vocalizing the motif, the motif is played as the harmonic line) is a hypnotically memorable idea that serves as Suzume’s motif for the film’s entirety. Together, RADWIMPS and co-composer Kazuma Jinnouchi (Halo 5: Guardians and “The Ninth Jedi” from Star Wars: Visions; like Shinkai, Jinnouchi got his start in the video game industry) craft a gorgeous score unafraid to mix styles and instrumentations.

The action scoring as heard in “Abandoned Resort” makes full use of Japanese instruments and an ominous choir on top of orchestra – lending the scene that it accompanies an immediate tension that bolsters the sense of danger in closing the door. Similar orchestrations in the other door-closing scenes are likewise as effective as this. In other moments, a wildly jazzy “Cat Chase” sets the pace for a chaotic pursuit early in the film, all while adding to the scene’s hilarity. A simple conversation between piano and strings such as in “Time for Two” introduces secondary romantic motifs for those moments when the action slows down and Suzume has Sôta on her mind. But perhaps the most effective musical moment occurs while our two leads are in Tokyo, and Suzume makes the decision to return home in “Suzume’s Departure”. It might not be the most musically interesting cue, but RADWIMPS and Jinnouchi’s restraint to delay Suzume’s motif until absolutely necessary pays off in emotional dividends that only film music can accomplish. By some distance, this is the most beautifully scored and fascinatingly orchestrated film in Shinkai’s filmography, and a stunning achievement for RADWIMPS and Jinnouchi.

There is no doubting that Makoto Shinkai is one of the most important filmmakers in Japan at this moment. He is the figurehead for a generation of directors for whom anime has always been their foremost cultural influence – with all the strengths and substantial limitations that entails. And like those he succeeds but does not quite emulate (Ozu and his contemporaries, but more closely the likes of Hayao Miyazaki and the late Takahata), Shinkai has made a film grounded upon the aftermath of a national disaster. For the first time, those intentions and allusions are clear. The directness of feeling in Suzume is a refreshing change for him, granting the film an emotive sincerity that none of his previous works can match. Indeed, some of his expository, romantic, and comedic writing threatens to render his work as tasteless. Yet with utter conviction in his writing and filmmaking, Shinkai presents that the goodwill and kindness of others is essential following tragedy. I might take issue with Shinkai’s approach, but I have no arguments there. Following the footsteps of great directors and their films in the years after another national calamity, Suzume, though imperfect, is Shinkai at his most humanistic.

My rating: 7.5/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL). Half-points are always rounded down.

* Broadly, Japanese society is not hostile towards LGBTQ+ persons. However, the nation’s politics – which have long been defined by remarkably low participation rates for an industrialized democracy, especially from younger generations – is conservative on queer rights. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in power almost continuously since its founding in 1955, and the party has always been against same-sex marriage.

[itznarcotic]

Translation of Nitrocris Alter's in-game profile below the cut, courtesy of Petrikow on the Beast's Lair Forums. Everything was translated except for one section, which is locked behind LB7 completion.

Nitocris Alter (5* Avenger)

Parameters:

STR: D

CON: D

AGI: B

MGI: EX

LCK: EX

NP: A

Profile:

The Embodiment of Judgment

Even in her regular Saint Graph, Heroic Spirit Nitocris holds the facet of the "Fearsome Arbitrator of Divine Punishment" within herself, and when this manifests exceptionally strongly in her, she takes the form of this Alter Saint Graph.

Namely, the one akin to the freezing winds of the desert night: Nitocris Alter.

Rather than the Pharaoh who rules the netherworld despite being the incarnation of Sky God Horus, she is now the Pharaoh who inhabits the sky despite being the Queen of the Underworld, and the manifestation of Netherworld God Anubis.

She is impossible to summon in ordinary human history.

Profile B1:

Height/Weight: 162 cm / 51 kg

Source: Historical fact

Region: Egypt

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Gender: Female

Her LCK stat is self-reported.

Profile B2:

On top of her Alteration, Nitocris has also become half Divine Spirit, and her heart is now calm as ice.

The intensity of Nitocris' hellfire-like fury has made her lose most of her emotions, and thus she acquired this calmness akin to ice.

No doubt can be observed in the Pharaoh who wears the name of judgment.

Her dignified form, which wavers not even in front of the other Egyptian Heroic Spirits, brings to mind a Pharaoh Nitocris who faced her tomorrow as a ruler instead of taking her own life.

With the formation of her Alter Saint Graph, Divine Spirit Anubis granted Nitocris vast divine protection.

While she hasn't formed a Divine Core, Nitocris Alter's anomalously high Divine Spirit Aptitude means she possesses magical energy on par with that of Divine Spirit Servants.

The reason her Saint Graph hasn't become an Aspect of Anubis with a Divine Core is possibly because the Pharaohs from the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt wished her not to...

Profile B3:

Mad Enhancement: E

Nitocris Alter does hold madness within her, but possesses more than enough reason to carry through with the same kind of premeditated crimes as the ones from her legend.

This Skill causes no defect in her ability to reason or communicate, and the effect it has on her stats is extremely minimal.

Ordinarily this is the Class Skill of Berserkers.

Heroic Spirit Nitocris is an avenger without vengefulness, and would ordinarily never be summoned as a genuine Avenger. However, if for some peculiar reason there was a situation in which she was established with an Alter Saint Graph, Nitocris would be able to be summoned as a unique Avenger possessing the Class Skills of a Berserker, but only then.

Profile B4:

Arbitration of the Netherworld God: A

A portion of Netherworld God Anubis' Authority made into a Skill.

According to the Book of the Dead, Anubis would measure the hearts of the dead, and arbitrate them depending on their deeds in life.

(Due to it being ranked down compared to Anubis' regular Authority, using it will not destroy her Spiritual Core)

Wind of the Desert Night: A

A variant on the Imperial Privilege Skill.

As the one akin to the fiercely blowing and freezing winds of the desert night, Nitocris rules the domain of the night.

Profile B5:

"My Beautiful Netherworld, Open your Passage"

Rank: A

Type: Anti-Personnel/Anti-Army Noble Phantasm

Range: 1-60

Maximum Targets: 1/200

Nefer Suen Anubis

The full might unleashed by Nitocris in her capacity as the earthly manifestation of the Netherworld God.

Nitocris manifests as a gigantic Aspect of Anubis, the God of the Netherworld and the Dead himself, bringing merciless arbitration and judgment upon the world (This Aspect is far more powerful than the Anubis statue that appears as the guardian of Anpu Neb Ta Djeser when Nitocris unleashes her true name in her regular Saint Graph).

When unleashing her true name, the same sacred letters as the ones from when she uses her Wind of the Desert Night Skill emerges.

These are perhaps the protection of the long line of Pharaohs from the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt who wish for the entirety of Nitocris' soul to not be consumed by the might of Anubis and his netherworld.

Bond Craft Essence:

Ammut

A Divine Beast of Ancient Egypt.

Nitocris summons and commands it during combat.

Rather than something alive, it is closer to a law or phenomenon which resides in the underworld. Its head likens a crocodile's.

When it reaches its maximum size, it's said to be far larger than even a sphinx.

"Contractor, contractor.

Would you convey the following to Pharaoh Ozymandias?

My Ammut is different from the gigantic unit he has stored within Ramesseum Tentyris.

Goodness, it would be such a bother if anyone were to get the wrong idea.

What?

I should go tell him directly... myself?

Listen to me here, my contractor.

I'm... you know... I'm a little busy.

Just a litte, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm busy.

I do not have the time to be dealing with such paltry matters.

There, now do make sure you convey my message.

I'm counting on you.

I really am, okay?"

Petrikow's Notes:

1: some may be familiar with what's been rendered here as "Aspect" as sometimes being "bunrei" (分霊). I don't like not translating things, so this is what I'm calling it.

2: there are two terms being used for the underworld here (冥府 and 冥界). I've translated the first as "Netherworld" and the second as "Underworld".

3: thanks for Atlas for being so fast at uploading all the DEETS