#Rockman World Plus

[jolikmc-stuff]

Rockman World Plus (Fan Game, v3.0) - Full Playthrough by Jo Li KMC on YouTube (Linked video to be embedded later.)

It's not the worst fan game I've ever played. But, that's not saying much since the game is 99% built-in assets. No, it's just lazy. Very… very… lazy.

More of my thoughts on the game can be found here.

Like, seriously, what's up with the locked screens all over the place…?

[jolikmc-thoughts]

Rockman World Plus - Fangame Playthrough by Neo Cutman on YouTube

I played through this fan game. It's riddled with bugs and has a lot of questionable decisions. Also, I'm pretty sure 99% of it just uses the base assets of the Megamix Engine Plus that it's running on. I haven't been this disappointed with a fan game since Mega Man 2.5D, honestly.

It's also worth mentioning that the creator isn't interested in fixing his project, nor interested in genuine feedback. If you're not patting his head and saying "good boy, good boy", then he's not havin' it. It's like Mega Man Eternal all over again… Except no, wait. That guy was actually nice enough to explain his stance on why he didn't wanna fix up his game and he made the game entirely from scratch instead of using an existing engine. So, there's that. |:

[smashbrosodyssey64]

FIGHTING GAME TIMELINE 2024

Fighting game timeline

(Note: This runs concurrently with the Assassin's Creed timeline)

https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline

November 30 1524, Ezio Auditore passes away

1583- Events of Soul Blade, Sophitia and Taki def Cervantes

1586- Events of Soul Calibur 1 Kilik/Xiangua def Seigfried 

1590: Soul Calibur II,  Raphael destroys Soul Edge’s Core, Siegfried finishes the job

1590-1591: Events of Soul Calibur III/IV: Mitsurugi’s endings are canon

1608- Soul Calibur V. Ezio Auditore escapes Brawlhalla to participate, is apprehended by Valkieries

Here is the official timeline taken from the official Samurai Shodown V website. All the series' chronology takes place during the Edo period and considering the seasons of Northern Hemisphere:

Year/Period

Japanese Era

Game

1786 (January through late summer)

Tenmei Era (6th Year)

Samurai Shodown V

1787

Tenmei Era (7th Year)

Samurai Shodown (2019)

1788 (early spring through early summer)

Tenmei Era (8th Year)

Samurai Shodown I

1788 (summer through early autumn)

Tenmei Era (8th Year)

Samurai Shodown III

1788 (autumn through early winter)

Tenmei Era (8th Year)

Samurai Shodown IV

1789 (spring through summer)

Tenmei Era (9th Year)

Samurai Shodown II

1789 (autumn) through 1790 (summer)

Tenmei Era (9th Year) and Kansei Era (1st Year)

Samurai Shodown 64

1789 (mid-autumn)

Tenmei Era (9th Year)

Samurai Shodown V Special & Samurai Shodown V Perfect (non-canon entries)

1790 (late autumn through winter)

Kansei Era (1st Year)

Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage

1791

Kansei Era (2nd Year)

Samurai Shodown Sen

1799 (new century start)

Kansei Era (10th Year)

Samurai Shodown VI (non-canon entry)

1811

Bunka Era (7th Year)

Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage

1863- Events of The Last Blade

1864: Events of The Last Blade II

1957-Kazuya Mishima is born

1957-1961- Kazumi asks Akuma to kill Kazuya and Heihachi

1962- Hehachi kills Kazumi, imprison Jinpachi, throws Kazuya off cliff

1983: First King of Iron Fist Tournament happens: Kazuya def Heihachi

December 1984: King of Iron Fist Tournament II happens: Heihachi def Kazuya

August 5, 1985- Jin Kazama is born

1987- Ryu and Ken witness murder of Gouken by Akuma

1987: First Street Fighter Tournament happens, Ryu def Sagat

1987: Doctor Brown Sugar uses his time machine to host the World Heroes series over the course of the year. Shadaloo uses the machine as a basis for the Psycho Drive. Unknowingly, this cracks the space time continum

1988- Street Fighter Alpha tournaments occur, death of Charlie Nash, Destruction of Psycho Drive fractures space time continuum . Marvel universe bleeds into universe, Marvel fracture is repaired, the events of Taisen Net Gimmick occur. Ken Masters becomes champion of Darkstalkers rights, is unsuccessful

1991: Street Fighter II tournaments occur. The following video games are created

Pocket Fighter

Capcom vs SNK pocket fighter

Puzzle Fighter

1991-  Ryu is sent to the following  universes

Family Guy vs. American Dad

Fortnite

Capcom Fighting Evolution

IDARB

Varth

Battle Cats

Summoners War

Rockman x Dive

1992: Street Fighter EX tournaments occur

Summer 1992: The events of Ninja Gaiden Black/Sigma/Sigma Plus take Place

Winter 1992: The events of Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword take place

1993: Terry Bogard successfully defeats Geese, knocking him off his tower and presumably killing him

Summer 1993: The events of the Ninja Gaiden Dragon War Manga take place

1993: Ryo Sakazaki is successful in stopping Mr. Big, rescuing Yuri, and Takumi 

1993: SIN tournament occurs  Marvel and Capcom universes are merged once again due to portals, angering Galactus. An unknown trio defeat galactus

January 1993:

Q3 1993- Virtua Fighter/DOA 1 tournaments begin concurrently. Lau and Kasumi win respectively (Tina is the official winner of DOA won)

 1994: Ryu is sent to the following worlds

Asura’s Wrath: Yokozuna vs Street Fighter

Street Fighter Duel

Teppen:

Granblue Fantasy

Street Fighter the mouse generation 

3D Dot Game Heroes

Tatsunoko vs Capcom

Winter 1993: The events of Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite take place

1994: Ryu is drafted into Super Smash Brothers, interconnecting Capcom, SNK,Virtua Fighter, Ninja Gaiden/DOA,  Namco, and Akira characters with the Nintendo verse

August 1994: First KoF tournament takes place,  Team Japan defeats Rugal

1994: Ken Chun-Li, and Terry are plucked from the dimension to Join super Smash Brothers

Q3 1994: Virtua Fighter and DOA tournaments happen concurrently, Ryu Hayabusa/Akira Yuki win respectively

1995:

July 1995- KoF 1995 occurs Team Japan defeats Rugal

Q3 1995: Virtua Fighter 3  and Dead or Alive 3 happen concurrently, Kage and Ayane win respectively

Q4: 1995- Xtreme Beach Volleyball takes place on Zack Island

December 1995- Black Moons incident occurs, death of M.Bison, Shadaloo dissolves

Ryu is sent to the following universes

Shadowverse

Blood Brothers II

Fist of the Northstar

KoF Ultra

MTG

Minecraft

Power Rangers Battle for the Grid

7 Nights

1996:

“World Warrior Tournament: A New Generation” begins

July-August 1996: King of Fighters 1996 begins: Team Japan defeats Chizuru and Goenitz. Chizuru attempts to form Team Sacred Treasures, is unsuccessful

Q3 1996: Virtua Fighter 4 and Dead or Alive 4 tournaments happen concurrently, Kage and Zack win, although Zack’s title was given to him by Helena

Q4 1996: DOATech absorbs J6 Corp bringing an end to the Virtua Fighter tournament. The second Xtreme Beach Volleyball Tournament takes place on the second Zack Isand

1997: “World Warrior Tournament: Second Impact” begins

July 1997 King of Fighters 1997 begins: Team Sacred Treasures seals Orochi, Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami are  presumed dead

1998: “World Warrior Tournament: 3rd Strike begins, Gil is defeated, Secret Society is dissolved

King of Fighters 1998 is cancelled

1998: Wolf Hawkfield and Jeffery McWild join All Japan Pro Wrestling for the year as guests, participating in that year’s championship Carnival as singles competitors and Real World Tag League as a team

1998: The events of Ninja Gaiden III Razor’s Edge take place

1999: King of Fighters 1999 tournament begins Team K’ wins tournament

July 2000: King of Fighters 2000 tournament begins  Team Hero wins SouthTown is destroyed by Zero Laser

Q3 2000- Dead or Alive 5 tournament takes place: Jahn Lee wins but disappears before being crowned

Q4 2000: The third Xtreme Beach Volleyball Tournament takes place

2001: King of Fighters 2001 begins, Team Hero wins

Capcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 begins: Ryu wins, defeating Terry

Q3 2001: Dead of Alive 6 Tournament takes place, Jahn Lee wins

Q4 2001: The fourth Xtreme Beach Volleyball Tournament begins

2002: King of Fighters 2002 Ultimate Match begins Team Japan wins, defeating team K’

2003: King of Fighters 2003 tournament: Team Ash wins

2003: SvC Chaos occurs: Ryu wins

2004: King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 begins: Jin Kazama wins

2005: King of Fighters 11 takes place: Team Ash wins

January 2006: King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 completes: Jin wins

April 2006: King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 begins: Jin wins

December 2006:Pandora releases Pandora’s Box onto the world, reviving M.Bison and setting into motion the events of Street Fighter x Tekken. Asuka and Lili find the box first, falling into the deepest recesses of th  North Pole as result

December 2006  World War 3 breaks out, interrupting King of Fighters 12. January 2007: Jin Kazama is deposed by Lars Alexanderson and Eliza Boschonovich ending the world war

June 2007: Jin Kazama is located the events of Tekken 7 story mode play out. Jin is pulled into Super Smash Brothers dimension from here

December 2007: King of Fighters 13 begins Team Ash wins Ash defeats Saiki

December 2007: Events of Tekken 8 take place

2009: Doctor Light spearheads rebuilding efforts, causing Barack Obama to put him on the currency. The events of Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite take place, the infinity gems are used to finally right the timeline 

December 2008: The events of KOF 14 take place, Samurai Showdown characters are transported to this time via Doctor Brown Sugar

December 2009: The events of KOF 15 take place. Samurai Showdown characters are transported to this time via Doctor Brown Sugar

2024: the events of Street Fighter 6 take place

20XX: The events of Mega Man take place. At some point, Ryu teaches Doctor Light Hadoken and Shoryuken techniques

2048: The events of Strider take place

2099: The events of Cyberbots Full Metal Madness take place

2XXX: The events of the  Megaman X series takes place

2348: The events of Star Gladiator takes place

56XX: The events of the Megaman Legends series take place

XXXX: The events of Megaman X Zero take place

[archoneddzs15]

Sega Mega Drive - Rockman Mega World (Mega Man: The Wily Wars)

Title: Rockman Mega World / ロックマンメガワールド

Developer/Publisher: Capcom / Minakuchi Engineering

Release date: 21 October 1994

Catalogue No.: T-12053

Genre: Compilation / Action

A remixed version of the first three Rockman/Mega Man games originally from the Famicom that has shaped an entire generation of gamers, now ported to the Mega Drive with enhanced graphics and sound, plus a new Wily Tower mode. The weird thing is that it was released in North America as well in 1994, but only via the Sega Channel broadband download service. The PAL version of this only runs at 50hz. My Japanese copy runs at full 60hz thankfully.

The overall look of the game is not a straight-up splash of paint but carefully reworked graphics that improve the presentation of the screens and menus, add mugshots of the first six robot masters, and add parallax scrolling backgrounds to the levels. Pairing with the new look are stunning recomposed music tracks and new exclusive tracks, both very faithful to the mood of the game.

The controls are comfortable to use and can be configured. It's nice to be able to open the weapon selection window with the press of one of the three buttons instead of the Start button. And speaking of configuration, you can also use the options menu as your own personal Mega Man jukebox. The ability to save the game after completing a level is a plus compared to writing down and entering passwords.

The great reward for finishing all three Mega Man games is the Wily Tower (which could be coined as Mega Man 3.5). Since you can choose any combination of eight weapons and two utilities, this means there are multiple methods and paths to take for that glorious replay value. Since then, there has been a re-release of this game via Retro-bit, the Sega Genesis Mini has it as well, and there is a fan-made continuation of this called Mega Man Sequel Wars.

My copy also came with this little photo-copy of the Retro-Bit Collectors' Edition front. I'm sure you'll like it.

[tocontinue]

Start the new year off creative! Take this as a chance to ramble off some headcanons about your muse and their world!

//-Was honestly wondering how to do this, cause honestly? I'm not a super headcanon-y writer. I really like working with established canon, and only really tend to deviate from it if I think it's, like, poorly written, which I don't think applies much to the Classic series, imho. Buuuuuut, lore is also super inconsistent, so... I'm taking this opportunity to ramble about where I pull specific ideas and concepts. Which I suppose is technically a headcanon. I'm rambling and I haven't even started yet AKJBCJKASX

//-There's a lot of noncanon Mega Man stuff. I haven't played most of them (I'm not playing Mega Man DOS, I'm sorry), but I've been on my wiki deep dives and read enough. While mostly inspired by what Flynn pulled from for Archie, there's a few games I consider canon to the Rock here, namely:

-Super Adventure Rockman -BOTH Mega Man & Bass titles (there's a surprisingly non-zero amount of references to MM&B2 in MMZXA, plus it was briefly alluded to in Archie, so I'm counting it. It's also a fun story) -MMV on the gameboy

//-That said, a lot of stuff like, say, Rockman Strategy isn't canon. Not yet, at least. The first 4 GB games (though Quint is. Don't ask, I still haven't figured out the specifics KASJBCJKSX). Both DOS games (the second of which is named Mega Man 3 for some reason). Not everything fits or is something I'm eager to work with. Strategy was weird, the GB games were kinda redundant until V, and DOS.

//-Powered Up isn't canon at all, Archie's take on that is the canon to this blog. I despise Powered Up's story AKSJBCKASX

//-I use Archie a lot to fill in the gaps; I think the Classic series has much richer lore than most give it credit for, but the games themselves are usually still pretty light on any fluff. Even the more story-driven ones, like 7, 8, and 11. THAT SAID, I tend to prioritize game canon over Archie canon, and they can conflict a lot more than you'd think.

//-The most glaring one is the backstory of Light and Wily (though that one wasn't Flynn's fault; the games didn't even touch on that until 11, well after Archie was cancelled "placed on indefinite hiatus"). I consider 11's backstory to be canon; the one where Wily walked out WELL before the construction of even Blues, much less Rock and Roll. Wily's involvement in (or overseeing of, since he'd lost his license by then) their construction didn't play much into anything that happened in Archie anyways, so it's not a huge loss.

//-And this one's petty, but it always bothered me that Rock has the charged shot from stage 1 in Archie. I maintain the canon that he didn't get that until MM4 on this blog, if that were to literally ever show up for whatever reason.

//-Flynn's weird obsession with having the Robot Masters date and have crushes on each other is largely disregarded to me as well. This one's a point of contention among the community at large, but I operate under the opinion that RMs under the same creator are related in some way. So does Archie, but only sometimes. It's confusing and genuinely the only real black mark on the comics.

//-That's all I can really think about at the moment, at least. I used to have a HC that Rock could only hold a certain amount of weapon data normally? But I've kinda disregarded that. I dunno.

//-I love talking Mega Man lore, so if there's any more questions, hit me up? Eyes emoji?

[sentient-rift]

Eliise, if it makes you feel better, dark rockman.exe was bad, but lead to rockman gaining the chaos unisons. So hypothetically your other personalities could make you stronger if used the right way (Plus, you might seem cuter and more endearing to slashman.exe).

"I don't know... I don't really want to use those personalities to get stronger. I want to be stronger without having to rely on them.

"And if Slashman found me enduring because of my cruel personality, I wouldn't like that. One, he'd like something I'm disgusted with, and two, it would be like he's in love with the evil me and not the real me. I know I need to be stronger if I ever want to stand a chance with someone like Slashman, but I want him to like me for me..."

"If you want to be stronger and tougher, then maybe you need someone to teach you how. Let me help you!"

"Can you... Really help me become a stronger person?"

"Are you kidding?! You're looking at one of the toughest woman in the world! Elise, was it? Become my Link Wizard, and let me whip you into shape! With my help, those nasty alternate personalities will be the weaker ones while you'll be the stronger one!"

(More new muses coming soon!)

[chibifoxwrites]

Since someone showed interest

During my rewrite for Cyber Heroine, it was originally going to be 100% based on the manga for Megaman NT Warrior with some occasional details from the anime and games thrown in. Some of the stuff stayed for the current, other stuff did not. Here were some ideas I had drafted:

The main cast were high school age, not elementary school.

Netto and her friends had drifted away come middle school but would get back together as friends during high school.

Netto was a loner and would spend her free time coding food, clothes, and toys for Net Navi’s, which is how she got income on the side. She is an unofficial intern at Sci-Labs since they double check her work.

The link was already in place thanks to X. Netto and Rockman have a betting pool as to when Yuuichiro was going to tell Netto that she used to have a twin.

70% of the twins using the mental link is just to share bud puns, jokes, and memes.

 Many of Netto’s classmates thought that her parents were divorced since Yuuichiro was never seen at home for more than a day or so.

It was known amongst Netto’s friends and peers that Rockman was modeled after Saito.

Netto and Rockman operated under the aliases of Aile and Vent, a famous hacker duo who operated like the Leverage team. Most of their crimes were giving back data stolen by major corporations to their rightful developers.

Multiple civilian Net Battlers actually fought against WWW if they were registered as B-rank or above, but only if they were near the attack site.

Many of the WWW attacks were actually targeting Netto, with those specifically being arranged by the Professor. Wily did not want anyone killed but hurt was fine.

To keep her cover, Netto had a wardrobe for her regular outfits and one for her Aile outfits.

Enzan and “Aile” had a Batman/Catwoman kind of relationship, where Enzan’s nickname was Mr. Official.

Rockman already had Style Change but had to undergo a trial for Saito Style.

Enzan was not their heir to a major corporation but the heir to a very old family involved in law enforcement, hence his involvement in police work at such a young age.

Enzan was jealous that another teenager, one that had better scores than him, was brought onto the force.

Netto and Enzan’s relationship was like that of Sakura and Syaoran.

When Rockman was first deleted, Blues would come over and watch Studio Ghibli and Disney films with Netto to just be there for her.

Mamoru was still the same age as when he first appeared in canon and raised by his aunt Tamako. He lived with her in the countryside when he wasn’t in the hospital. Netto would bring him books and games to keep him occupied. When Netto wasn’t around, he played with Serenade.

Serenade was VERY protective of Mamoru and would do anything to help Netto since she could make their NetOp laugh even when he was having a bad day.

Much of Rockman and Forte’s drama/rivalry was due to Netto. Forte wanted Netto to forsake humanity and be his friend/partner like when she was a kid, but Netto wanted to stay with Rockman and wouldn't turn against humanity.

Despite rejecting his offer, Forte would still come to Netto’s defense if she and Rockman were attacked.

Arcadia existed as a civilization of programs before it was attacked by a splinter cell in Sci-Labs led by Regal. Neo Arcadia was built by the remnants of the first attack.

The Four Guardians (Harpuia, Fefnir, Leviathan, Phantom) were condensed into small files and turned into the Element Programs, which Netto and Rockman stole back.

While operating as Aile in real life, Netto would use the Guardians.

Blues was made from data stolen from Arcadia and was created to be a prototype independent Net Navi that was the perfect soldier aka a Forte that only followed orders.

Laika and Netto were penpals as Laika stayed with the Hikari family when he was younger due to Sharro’s economy and his mother’s declining health. Yuuichiro and Laika’s mother were colleagues, so Laika stayed in Electopia until the economy got better and a permanent home could be found for him.

When the Cyber World and Real Worlds temporarily merged, Alia and Haruka had a girl’s day out.

Saito Style going out of control was due to repressed anger form both Netto and Rockman.

Netto has access to pop culture that didn't come about as planned because of the universe reboot so every once in a while, she makes a reference that nobody understands.

The cover for the illegal Net Battles was movie night, using movie from before the timeline reboot, hence Code 80s Dance Party.

When Double Soul activated, Netto got to keep chips of it like in the anime and people volunteered to try it with Rockman.

Dark Rockman was one of the multiple attempts of Yuuichiro trying to bring back Saito but deemed it a failure when it would not activate. He became a Darkloid due to the anger of being thrown away and abandoned.

Dark Rockman tried to force Netto to go Perfect Synchro with him. When she refused, he tried to kill Netto himself instead of having Shademan do it.

Netto was revealed as Aile during the Netopia Arc but was never formally arrested due to X being involved plus many people lobbying for her release.

Netto also had an identity crisis as to if she was really Hikari Netto or Aile Light due to past life memories.

The Netopia Arc had some real repercussions since the military technically abducted a citizen of another country under false pretenses, which is how X got properly introduced in person.

X, Zero, and Axl were merely mentioned until the Netopia Arc, where they actually showed up. Up until then, the only action they took was smiting opponents they knew ordinary Net Navis could not defeat.

Data Ghosts of the original Classic Robot Masters appeared to stop Nebula Grey.

There were only 3 Cyber Elves and they were larger than most Net Navis.

Cyber Elves had their own language and Netto would slip into it at times of high stress.

Forte was caught because he came to movie night and many were put under arrest for not reporting Forte’s whereabouts, including Blues, Searchman, and Tomohawkman.

X fist fought Duo to save the planet when it was found out that Slur rigged the entire trial.

Rockman got both of Gregar and Falzar’s data, not just Gregar.

Cache found a way to absorb the world like in the anime, not the Cybeasts like in the manga.

Trill was a prototype Net Navi for a Sci-Labs program that would allow Net Navis to have children of their own. He was created during the one year that Rockman was missing.

In the workshopped Ryuusei no Rockman spin-off of the series, Trill grew up to be the King of the Net Navis that fled Earth with the help of Duo when they became completely obsolete outside of basic functions and even helped Subaru return to Earth because it was what his older brother Rockman would want.

Subaru and Misora were main characters who came to the past to help stop Cache and were able to travel back in time thanks to Trill.

By the time Ryuusei no Rockman comes about, there is entire semester dedicated to the ‘Cyber Wars’ aka Netto and friends fighting crime. Subaru is an expert, has all the documentaries, and even fought Gonta for a replica of her headband.

Each college has at least one history degree path that covers history from before the universe reboot and is dedicated to finding the data and traces of it. Sharro has the leading university in the world concerning this subject and a statue of General Laika is in the lobby of the main building.

Cities, buildings, and other landmarks are named after Netto and her friends.

[sokkathebluewolf]

First of all I love your story. I'm a little lost, what are the points where arcs 2 and 3 begin? And what kind of aunt will Azula be? and Sokka?

Thank you! Glad you’ve enjoyed the story, though I can’t blame you for being confused by my terminology when I talk about it.

Gladiator is a single story, obviously, but as far as arcs and parts are concerned, I’ve always separated story elements this way to make them easier to manage, as the writer, and for you guys to compartmentalize the story too, as readers.

I think I explained, in one Author’s Note, that I had been splitting the story, in my mind, into three, overarching parts. Each part is composed by a number of story arcs, and story arcs are specific, contained narrative units that can span several chapters (or just a single one, occasionally), centered around a specific plot point or development.

The arc’s names are available, these days, in the titles of each chapter, on either FF.net or AO3. The story’s structure is also available in the Gladiator Navigator, a feature of this blog meant to help everyone find their way in the story. Still, in hopes to clear up as much as I could for you, I figured I’d answer thoroughly. 

So far, our arcs, as belonging to each part, are:

PART 1

Introduction arc

Kyoshi’s Heir/Savage Hook arc

Rough Rhinos arc

The Emerald Rockman arc

Attack of the White Lotus arc

Gladiator Scavenger Hunt arc

Ember Island arc

The Notorious Stingray arc

Azula’s Birthday arc

Pairs Tournament in Ba Sing Se arc

Tour through the Fire Nation arc

The Slate arc/Fire Nation Festivals arc

Giving in arc

PART 2

Northern Air Temple arc

New day by day arc

Zuko and Suki reach the South Pole arc

Kinslayer arc

The Slate, reprise, arc

Toph finds out arc

The chase of Jeong Jeong arc

Appeasing Azula arc

Sokka gets a student arc

The Slate, one more time, arc

Fire Nation Festivals #2 arc

Sokka and Azula’s anniversary arc

Haru’s Family arc

The Fire Lord’s Shadow arc

Gladiator Brawl arc

Hahn’s Gambit arc

The Mad Alchemist arc

Slave Riot arc

Whaletail Island arc

Return to Shu Jing arc (currently being published)

Iroh’s suspicions arc (to be published)

The Gladiator & Sponsor Race arc (to be published)

The Spirit Library arc (to be published)

Fire Lord for a Week arc (to be published)

The Ultimate Gladiator: The Final Stretch of the Ranking arc (to be published)

... looking at it this way, Part 2 sure looks long x’D And I’m not listing Part 3′s arcs yet because... it’s too spoilery :’D

So, what exactly drives to me split the story into these three large parts? It makes things more manageable for me, more than anything. But the thing is, each of the three parts have a very specific and unique identity within the story itself.

Part 1′s identity is, of course, the initial struggles between Sokka and Azula: it’s the push-and-pull, will-they-won’t-they stage of their relationship. Paired with this, it’s also the stage where they’re both mostly starting to come to grips with a world and a reality that may not be as simple as they always thought it was. It’s, in many ways, the introduction stage for Gladiator, the laywork for everything that comes next.

Part 2′s identity is the fulfillment of the relationship between Sokka and Azula, plus the shifting of the point of tension, as it’s no longer “when will they finally act on their feelings?!”, but rather “will they get caught now?!”, and it results in an onslaught of different problems for them. Back in Part 1, nothing too damning had happened between them, nothing that couldn’t be taken back. By Part 2, there’s no going back, and that means their relationship is ride-or-die, basically, for the two of them. Outside of their relationship, in Part 2, Sokka and Azula have been growing into making use of their power to fix the world around them, little by little. Now that they’re both developed enough to understand why the world needs balance, they’re determined to change things for the better. The inner growth they underwent in Part 1 prepares them for the action they start taking in Part 2, in regards of these subjects.

Part 3, then, will begin with a very important and drastic change, just as Part 2 begins after Sokka and Azula enter a fully physical relationship, with all the consequences it entails. I’ve basically already spoiled what the change will be, since we already know what’s the contention point in Part 2: “will they get caught?” Weeeell... it kind of speaks for itself, right?

Of course, Part 3 will have an identity of its own, and the difference between it and everything that came before will be waaaaaaaaaay bigger than the differences between Parts 1 and 2. Honestly, I fear it’ll feel like a whole different story for some people, because the entire spine of the story, if I can call it that, is going to shift MASSIVELY. I reckon you could, easily, blend Parts 1 and 2 into a single thing... but Part 3 is starkly different, and I think the change will be so palpable that by the time we get there no one will likely have to ask why I consider it a different thing from everything else xD

In short, the story is divided into parts, and each part is comprised by story arcs! If you need further explanation, feel free to ask again :) I hope this wasn’t too confusing!

As for your second question... what kind of aunt will Azula be? And what kind of uncle Sokka would be, too?

Well, while this won’t be witnessed in Part 2, the truth is no one can even begin to imagine how much her aunt will mean to Mari in the future. This is going to sound soooo confusing, but without even knowing Azula, Mari is going to admire her to the point of even playing at BEING her. It will warm Azula’s heart to discover as much once she hears of this, it’s quite a surprising thing that her niece would think so highly of her despite they’ll go a very long time without meeting face to face. By the time they do meet, Azula will do her best to be a good aunt to Mari, who will most definitely be blown away by the reality of having such a regal and fancy aunt (the poor thing will spend quite some time not even knowing she’s of royal blood, so Azula will basically blow her away :’D).

As for Sokka... heh. He’s actually a little trickier? He will mess with Mari, a lot. Kind of like a typical annoying uncle you love but want to strangle too? xD granted, it’s not a universal experience, but that’s more or less what their relationship will be like. At first he will be a bit strange and scary for Mari, but eventually she’ll realize he’s not that terrifying and she’ll be happy to bicker with him whenever they cross paths. Kind of taking after her father and her aunt, in a sense xD but their relationship will have interesting developments too, once Sokka gets a certain brilliant idea that enraptures Mari, an idea that basically changes her life for the better. So, in the end, Mari will grow to like Sokka a lot, though she’s still very young so she’s not going to be all that keen on showing it xD but Sokka won’t mind too much that she tries to be mean to him, he’s definitely faced worse things than a 3-year-old’s mischief xD

Anyways, both her aunt and uncle will be pretty important to Mari eventually, though for now they’re just random names her parents mention on occasion (or her parents’ friends). Meeting them will be quite the experience for this little girl, and their relationship and dynamics with her will be, I hope, lots of fun to write once the time comes to do so :D

[avatar-index]

Statement 3171027

Lumine is an Avatar of the Extinction, marked by the Stranger and the Web.

Before the days of Kokichi Ouma, long before Gamzee Makara, this, right here, was the OG “trash child”. A bastard. A no good, lying, stinky man. The entire fandom has collectively agreed that we would trade in whatever circuits that’s still on him just for a flake of a cornchip when given the chance.

Alright, alright; rant over. Let’s go over this being and get on with it: the mark of Sigma’s end, owner of kickass final boss music, this purple-haired menace.

For most of Rockman X8, Lumine was more or less left within the shows. He was kidnapped right after the intro sequence, before we even got a hint of his own personality or even heard his voice. Throughout the game, we are tasked with saving him from the clucthes of Sigma, and we finally meet him at the mercy of several other Sigmas-

No, not really. They were actually New Gen Reploids tasked with protecting him; looking like Sigma thanks to their copy chips. He reveals to us in the very first dialogue we finally hear from him that he was the one behind the operation tasked with saving the remaining humans, the Jakob Project. So, I guess he was a good guy? Like, why else would Sigma land his eyes on him in the first place if he wasn’t on the side of the heroes? Plus, saving humanity was a nice thing from ho-

“Used..? I don’t think so. You see, he merely helped my plan along...”

Oh. Oh you bitch.

While I was in the process of writing this all, I was under the assumption that he was 100% with the Web- I mean, not only did he play Sigma like an oaf and actually led him to his undeniable demise, but he was orchestrating the game’s entire string of events from the shadows, and our three protagonists just waltzed into his scripted play as he expected. But then I thought, hey, Elias Bouchard was a complete douche who judged the worth of others by whether or not they could be used for his grand scheme of plans, and he’s with the Eye; so you can’t moonwalk yourself into the embrace of the Mother of Puppets just by being a manipulative ass. It all lies in the goals and motivations you have in mind, as well as showing everyone around you exactly what you have gone through to make things “even”.

After his initial boss fight, he drops the bombshell on us that the copy chip he, Axl, and the rest of the New Gen reploids are made up of those of the older models’- including Sigma’s, hence why they are able to shapeshift at will (and said Stranger marking). The only difference here is that reploids like him - and unlike Axl - can go Maverick at will. His dialogue further emphasizes his beliefs on how the new will eventually take over the old, and that the world is always changing. The trio cannot fight the evolution that is going to commence, whether they liked it or not.

This gets amped up even further with his final form; an angelic behemoth. Now, while this entire sequence may be a reference to the tale “Paradise Lost”, I want to highlight a key theme that the Extinction and religion as a whole may share- the Apocalypse. Most religions, especially the Abrahmic trio, had vivid depictions of how the end of mankind shall fall upon them, whether it was brought about by their own actions, a heavenly war, or a weird mix of both. We might be diving into hc territory, but I see that the Extinction is more ancient than we might have theorized, with colonization, fall of empires, and religious Armageddon being some of its themes back then; we were so chill with it being caused by heavenly beings or Mother Nature finally striking back, but when nuclear powers come into play, nooooooo, that’s too far. With Lumine’s second form being that of an angel, it pushes the idea that, one day, all of mankind (or reploids, in that case) will be taken away in one big swoop; either leaving the husk of an empty planet behind or a pavement for the new generation to make way through.

Hell, even X’s/Zero’s dialogue near the end of the game goes along with the entity in question on fleek;

X: “Awakening...that’s how Lumine described it. He said this was Evolution.”

X: “If he’s right, then what are we doing?”

..

Zero: “Even if we Reploids are destined to join the scrap heap when that evolutionary step does come about...”

Zero: “We still have to fight, not only against Mavericks, but our own destiny as well.”

[kauladoeswriting]

MMBN/Code Lyoko Fusion

It’s an idea that struck me not too long ago, and I realized how similar the stories of Aelita and Rockman were. And then I got stuck on the idea of Rockman taking Aelita’s place in a similar story and... yeah. This happened. 

Words:  2504

The idea of computers having their own world had always fascinated him. When he was little he’d take apart the family computer just to stare at the golden traces on the motherboard, using it as a map for his action figures. He learned very quickly that he shouldn’t have his toys touching the actual machine parts.

But he still kept using it as inspiration for the made up games he and his friends played, imagining little people running about the inside of the computer, using those traces to get around. He wanted to live like that, live like those movies, where there was a whole world inside of a device to explore.

He could probably do without villains though.

His mother watched his games, and in between making sure he didn’t actually destroy the family computer with his ‘creativity’, she told  him he reminded her of his father. His father, or so he was told, was a computer scientist specializing in the development of artificial intelligence, and he was very well respected in his field. But he went missing years ago, when his son was still little, and she had never found out where he had gone to.

He found he really liked hearing about this little piece of the past, and quickly stories of his father became the boy’s favorite things to hear. And it solidified the boys goals. He wanted to be a computer scientist, just like the father he was so happy to hear about. Sure, his teachers didn’t really believe him when he said that’s what he wanted to do, and it was probably because he was more interested in running around and playing than studying. And what attention he did have for academic work was zeroed in on books about technology.

But that was okay. He could like running around and computers too, right?  He wondered if he should ask his mama to go somewhere more… computery. And then almost threw the idea away, wondering why he was silly enough to think about it; why would he leave where his friends and family were for something as boring as school? He held onto that thought until he was exploring the attic one day and found a certificate of graduation for computer engineering with his father’s name on it. So… he knew where his father graduated from. And so maybe he should make it his goal to end up there. There was even a boarding school nearby! One with similar programs that delighted the boy.

The call of adventure beckoned. The more and more he looked, the school seemed so very interesting. There were large parks, a beautiful woods, a city to explore, and even some abandoned local buildings. If he went there, he’d totally have a lot more fun with school, right? He’d have to leave his friends and family though. And he knew his mama would visit him, but would it really be the same? He couldn’t just see the people who he loved whenever he wanted. 

That caused him to put the thought off for a while.

Maybe it was just his luck that at the end of middle school, most of them went their separate ways. One moved to England, and another to Hawaii. One was considering moving to Europe as well. And quickly the boy was finding himself alone, and it was at 14 years old that he decided to ask his mother about the boarding school. If his friends were leaving and seeing the world, then he very well couldn’t be the only one of them to not go do that, right? It would be criminal!

He begged his mom to try and let him enroll, but his mama, always his biggest advocate said no. That was... fine. It was fine. He would enroll himself and if he got a scholarship, his mama would have to let him go! He didn’t know why Mama wasn’t supporting him, when she was happy to help with almost everything else, but he wouldn’t let it get him down!

What followed the boy considered to be the worst school year he had ever had. In his quest to convince his mother to let him go to the school, he had forced himself to give up most of his hobbies, trying his best to get the best grades he possibly could. 

The truth was he couldn't actually last more than about half a year before it took a toll on his mental health, but it appears to have done its job. His mama saw how serious he was about attending this school, and would be willing to help him to go to a private school.

And so it was decided, therefore his first year of high school, he would be allowed to attend this private school. She only agreed to one year, but that was all right. He could convince her. He just needed to do well.

And get some of that adventure in too. Because all that effort would have been for nothing. Just maybe, if he was near his father's school, he could figure out what happened to him.

---

As excited as he was, moving day still came far too soon, leaving him a little apprehensive. But he was going to be okay. He boarded the bus that would be taking him to his new home for the next year, saw off by the one friend who hadn’t moved yet and his mother. Then, he tried to settle in for the ride. He ended up sleeping most of the way, hugging his backpack filled with his important goodies to his chest.

Perhaps his head was filled with unrealistic expectations due to what he had read online. But he was disappointed with the school. On the outside, it looked ordinary and boring. Like any other academic school place he had ever seen. But it looked like it was the kind of places the father he had heard stories of would have loved.

He wasn't supposed to leave campus the first day he was there. He was supposed to be settling into his room, setting up his computer, maybe getting to know the building. His attention was on the factory he knew was nearby. It was like a set up of every great action movie here ever watched. Could one really blame him for being excited? 

The teachers were a lot more observant than he thought. He didn't escape that first night, and he was one do that just because he was able to prove his worth for getting in, did not mean he could not be thrown out for misbehavior. The boy regarded the teacher with barely a thought. Lots of teachers just blew hot air. But he had worked so hard to get here, he didn’t want to just throw it all away on a stupid bought of rebellion. He had a goal and a Purpose for being here!

It took almost a full week before he could sneak away for any meaningful length of time. He had to admit; having classes that actually interested him did wonders for actually paying attention. He cared more about programming that stupid old books.

The weekend was when most students took trips to the town, and he slipped out among the other students. There was so much to do! But first things first, he wanted to see that factory! The town could wait.

Getting to the factory through town was a longer walk than he would have liked, but he made it. And plus, he got to make a note of all the neat looking stores! Game stores, restaurants, arcades, those were all something he was totally gonna have to come look at at some point! That was an adventure for another day. His heart was set on this goal.

He quickly ran into his first roadblock; the stairs was destroyed long ago, and for a moment he wondered why the factory hadn't been destroyed. Clearly that meant he'd find goodies, right? They would have destroyed this place if nothing of importance was left right?

There was a ladder to climb down, and he took it, just this once. As he got to the bottom he saw some wires hanging down to the ground. Maybe next time, those would be fun… He would bet he could totally swing down from there! 

Ahead of him was an elevator, and he made a beeline for it. That elevator had to take him to the lower floors, and the lower floors were going to be what had all the goodies! Or so he thought anyways, but he needed to know. It worked, much to his pleasure. Though… the controls seemed faulty. He pressed the button for the second floor, and it didn’t take him there, instead causing the button for the third floor. What if he couldn’t get back up, if the elevator was being dumb and faulty?

...It was a worry for later, because the elevator was moving and it had brought him to a dark room with a strange glowing symbol on the floor. And as he stepped out of the elevator, the strange symbol began to glow, enveloping the whole floor as something began to rise from the floor.

And that thing had a switch. It had a switch, and it would take a miracle to make this boy not flip it. It was attached to a fantastical looking machine, with glowing traces running down the sides into the floor. This was exactly the kind of machine that he once imagined inhabited the towns his toys played in.

What kind of adventure would it be if he didn’t see what this great big old machine did?

The switch filled the whole room with light, blinding him. For a moment the boy could not move.

Behind him, the elevator came back to life, as if it had wanted him to flip this switch in the first place. And he was never the one to deny the call of interesting technology. He scrambled back to the elevator, in excitement. He waited to see if it would move on its own, but he wasn’t that lucky this time. He would have to choose the floors himself.

Eh, how long could it take? There were only two more floors this old elevator led too.

He jammed his finger into the second floor button, that he had originally wanted to go to. He’d start there and work his way down again! As the creaky old machine raised up to the requested floor, it took all that he had not to vibrate into another dimension. What was he going to find, what cool changes was that weird machine going to make?

Seeing this floor made him glad he went to the third floor first after all. This floor had a super cool and elaborate computer on it. And he couldn't help himself, he ran over to the operator's chair and hopped into it, tapping the keyboard with all the force of a child, hoping to wake it up.

The computer booted slowly, as it must have been off a while. But boot it did, screens popping up across the four monitors that made up this fantastical looking computer. He tried to make sense of them, but little of it made sense.

He had never seen this operating system either; he thought he knew a lot of them! It must be custom programming, and that made him all the more excited. If he got even more excited he was probably going to explode and be a little puddle of goo, and then this exploration would never get finished.

A screen opened in the center of the screen, a 3D model of a boy with dark blue hair in a blue jumpsuit thing taking up most of the screen. He seemed to be sleeping.

The boy at the computer tapped the enter key, hoping to wake the boy up. Was this a game?

It worked; the computer boy startled awake! His eyes were green. His lips moved, but nothing came out.

"Just a minute," the boy said, searching for a mic of some kind, aha'ing when he found an ear piece. "Let's try this! Hello?" What were the odds that it would respond to him? Still, it felt right. Even if he didn’t have voice commands, an earpiece would allow him to hear what was going on.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

He didn't know that voice! The computer was talking to him! And also, seemed to be waiting for a response.

"I can! What are you? You look cool!" While the program probably had some voice recognition, it probably wasn’t too complicated, considering how old the computer looked. But it didn’t occur to the boy in that moment.

The computer boy blushed a little, shrugging. "I'm not sure really. I just woke up, like I was being poked or something!"

The boy laughed, pressing the enter key again.

"Hey!" The program yelped. "Why'd you do it again?"

"Sorry, I wanted to see if it worked." The boys finger drifted to the enter key again, to see if he could coax another reaction out of the neat program.

The program clapped his hands to get his attention. "Hey! I don't like that. Please stop pressing the button. I'm awake!"

"Sorry." Was it responding to what he was actually doing? It really was like a game!

"You know, it's polite to introduce yourself if you're gonna keep poking me."

The boy smiled. What a weird program, what a cool find! It was a good thing he came down here, wasn’t it? "Netto Hikari! What about you, Mr. Program?"

The program faltered a little. "Uh... you know? I'm not sure."

The boy, Netto, blinked. “You don’t know?” Nod, nod. “I don’t. I don’t know where I am, either. I look around and all I can see are data panels in the walls.” Data panels in the walls? “Well you’re in a computer right? So maybe the guy who made you made like a little house for you in the computer.”

“That makes sense…” The boy in the computer mused. Green eyes examining the space around him. “You look a little young to be the person who made me.” Netto laughed, scratching the back of his head. “Of course I didn’t. I mean-” He’d have loved to make something like this, but he wasn’t that good yet. “I wanna, but I haven’t yet.” The computer boy nodded. “But you are here. More than I can say for my creator I guess.” The boy in the computer was silent for a moment, and Netto was trying to think of how to break the silence while he poked through the computer. “Hey, Netto? Since I dunno my name, think you could give me one?” “Huh?” Netto looked up. “I don’t have a name, and it feels strange. Can you give me one?” “Oh!” Netto clapped his hands, in gleeful thought. “What about… hm…. Rock?”

[quinquinis]

I really love your fic of Saito with his Navi X! Can you do a blurb/fic of Saito and X meeting Netto and Mega?

I smiled when I saw this message because guess what I was planning to post today? The second part of the What if: Saito was the Operator and Netto was the Navi? I wrote the first part ages ago and have been slowly writing and editing the second part where Netto and Saito meet (because I love stuff like that). 

Here’s a link to AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18944065/chapters/47124802

And a link to fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13294159/2/What-if-Saito-was-the-Operator-and-Netto-the-navi

And the chapter underneath a ‘read more’ which I hope works (plus the link break took seems to be missing? so enjoy having little dashes thrown in to break up the scenes):

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Have you boys ever heard of 'Beyondard?'"

The brown haired navi and the brown-haired operator looked at each other. Even with a screen between them, they knew each other's answer was the same before they spoke.

"No?" they said questioningly.

"What is it?" Saito asked, curiously. The navi, X, stared out at them with curious purple eyes.

"It's another world, beyond ours. Your grandfather was researching it."

X's eyes lit up. "Wow! Do you think there'll be strong navis in this Beyondard?"

"Why are you telling us this?" Saito asked.

Dr Hikari sighed. "While looking for an explanation for the quakes we've been seeing in the net, I found the research. And it seems to be pointing to Beyondard being the cause. Something on the other side is reaching out to here."

"And you want us to go there?" Saito questioned.

"You and your brother have taken down WWW and Nebula. Commissioner Kifune has put you two forward as investigators. However, you can back out if you don't want to do it."

"Why wouldn't we want to?" X questioned in shock. He was eager to explore this new world, rolling back and forth on his rollerblades.

"It'll be dangerous, won't it?" Saito said. "Is there anyone else?"

Dr Hikari hesitated. While his son was sensible, that sense was thrown out the window when other people were in danger. "We'll be looking at the other Netsaviours. Enzan and Laika are next in line."

"Won't they be coming anyway?" X pouted. It was difficult to tell if he wanted them there or not.

"We'll go with them," Saito said. He stared at Dr Hikari the way he always did in situations like this, with determined eyes.

"Yes!" X cheered, becoming a blur of orange and blue light as he rushed around the net. "I'll contact them now!"

"X-" And he was gone. Saito closed his mouth mid-call, staring at where his navi had been standing a moment before.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Laika stared at the large gateway. It was going to be their portal to Beyondard.

"This seems dangerous," he said.

The speaker crackled and Dr Hikari's voice rang out, "I assure you, it's perfectly safe."

'Perfectly safe,' Saito mouthed to his navi, causing them both to giggle. Enzan glared at them but Saito didn't see.

"The gateway will hold a dimensional area which we will use to connect Beyondard to us. The new program installed in your PETs will allow you to contact us."

"So that's what it does," X said in wonder. Blues turned to stare at his rival.

"You should listen to this quietly," he said.

X shook his head and shrugged. "Nah. That doesn't work either. Besides, Saito will remember it."

"Remembering things is your role," Blues pointed out, eyes unreadable behind his dark visor.

"Are you going to start fighting?" Searchman questioned, coming up between them. It was surprising that his camo design somehow allowed him to hide his presence on the net, which was devoid of bushes and trees. "Blues, you do remember how the last battle went?"

Blues turned away, long hair swishing around. "No." He didn't look at them as he spoke.

X smirked. Blues totally remembered! He and Saito had wiped the floor with the red samurai navi. X had been fast enough to get behind Blues to hit him and even vaulted over Blue's ready sword with his rollerblades at one point. His rollerblades were made to take a beating.

"Are we ready?" Dr Hikari asked the group.

Saito looked to Laika and then Enzan, who both nodded. Only then did he answer, "we're ready."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The portal came to life with a crackle and a hum.

"We're going through that?" X questioned in amazement. "Awesome!"

Saito would not have called it that. He thought the portal looked terrifying. They were going to walk through it with no idea about what was on the other side.

"Let's go," Enzan said, giving Saito a nudge. Saito stumbled forward, took a deep breath and jumped through the portal.

The hair on his skin stood up, charged by the air around him. The first step felt slowed down but also too quick. As he stepped onto solid ground on the other side, he was almost pulled to the ground by an invisible force.

X gave a little cry. Not even looking around, Saito pulled out his PET.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Fine," X said. Although he was wincing a little. "Just got a shock to the system. Literally."

"Ha ha," Enzan grumbled. "Have you noticed what we walked into yet?"

Saito had not. He looked up to see a group of scientists looking very shocked.

"Um, hi?" he said. "Sorry about interrupting your experiment."

When he didn't continue, Laika stepped forward. He was the best at dealing with other people.

"Is there a Dr Hikari here that we could speak to?"

A man with his hair sleeked up and back gave them a look up and down. His glasses looked a little more like goggles and somehow stopped them from seeing his eyes.

"That could be arranged," he said, rubbing his chin. One of the other scientists run off, presumably to do that.

"Are you Mr. Meijin?" Saito asked.

Meijin flinched. "It's not 'Mr'!"

"But it is Meijin right?" X said, appearing as a little hologram on Saito's shoulder.

"That's right." Meijin did a double take as he took in X's form. "You're an interesting navi." He leaned in closer. "What's your name?"

"X! And that's Saito!"

Meijin nodded a greeting to Saito before going back to his navi. "Would you mind if I took a look at you?"

"I would mind," X said. "Papa's the only one allowed to look at me. And Saito but he's not skilled enough yet."

Saito hung his head in shame. Not being able to look after the programming of his own navi was a sore point. He was the son of Dr Hikari and yet he didn't understand programming. Meijin smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. You'll get there."

"Don't touch him," Enzan said. "And you," he said to Saito, "stop trusting everyone we come across. We don't know what he's like."

"But, there's a Meijin on our side," Saito mused. "And they seem similar enough."

"It's the little differences we have to watch out for," Laika reminded them.

"I heard we had guests?" Dr Hikari said, walking in.

The room froze as the kids followed him behind him. There was Laika and Enzan and another kid they had never seen before. He looked a little like Saito, if Saito didn't keep his hair parted neatly and instead just tied a bandanna around it.

"Wow," Saito commented under his breath. "I'm guessing that's you two."

"They look exactly like us," this world's Laika commented.

"We can see that," this world's Enzan said. He stared his double. "What are you doing here?"

"Heh. Enzan is Enzan, even in Beyondard."

Both Enzans glared at Saito. Dr Hikari nodded, as if this made perfect sense. Saito's comment allowed him to figure out that the three boys where from another world.

"If you could join me in my office. Netto and both versions of Laika and Enzan can join us."

Saito fell into line, following beside Netto.

"Who are you?" he asked. Netto answered and Saito was so thrown off that he stumbled and almost hit the ground. "What did you say?"

"How?" X demanded to know.

"I'm assuming by the lack of Netto that there's some differences between this world and your own?" this world's Laika said to Saito and Netto.

Saito nodded furiously. Even Netto was a little disturbed but he hid it with his mischievous grin.

"It's not our first time dealing with a Beyondard," this world's Enzan said. "But, your world does seem to be closer to ours than the other Beyondard was."

"The other Beyondard had an experiment go wrong that merged the virtual and physical worlds together."

"That's crazy," Saito mused. "You mean I would get to be in the same world as X?"

"Yep! Rockman and I have shared the same world before! It's awesome!" Netto said happily.

"Rockman, huh?" X mused, looking over at the blue helmeted navi. He waved and Rockman waved back. "Pretty nifty. Saito and I shared a world once, when Regal set off a machine that turned the physical world into the net. But we spent most of the time in Full Synchro so we couldn't really enjoy it."

"Yeah. It always seems like something big is going on when I can hug Netto," Rockman agreed with a sigh.

"So Dr Regal is also a bad guy in your world?"

Saito nodded. "Does your world have a Dr Wily?"

Netto laughed. "Of course! You're not asking because he's a good guy in your world, right? Because he's a wanted criminal here."

"And yet he still hasn't been caught," both Enzans complained in unison. Netto and Saito shared a look before laughing silently together.

"This is so weird," Saito's Laika commented as Dr Hikari closed the door to his office. "Please tell me we can go home soon?"

Dr Hikari's eyes widened in surprise. "I assumed you had a way to return."

"X does. But he'll need to charge first," Saito explained.

Dr Hikari nodded in understanding. "That's good. We don't have the technology here to send you back safely."

"You know what? Before we go back, I want to know where this world's Saito is," Enzan commented. "Is he anything like our version?"

"What about your version of Netto?" Enzan asked himself. "Why didn't he come with you?"

Dr Hikari tensed. He hadn't wanted to explain this and had hoped that the kids wouldn't notice. However, a glance at Saito and Netto told him that the two had realised. Saito was looking everywhere but at them and Netto was scratching the lower back of his head. A glance at the computer showed their navis reacting in a similar way. Rockman wasn't meeting anyone's eyes while X was rubbing the back of his neck.

"Come to think of it, you mentioned another Beyondard," X said, suddenly perking up. "What was Netto or Saito like in that world?"

The group was silent as they thought back.

"No clue," Netto shrugged.

"If Netto existed in that world, then we didn't meet him."

"Considering that the only Hikari we knew about was Dr Tadashi Hikari, who knows if you even existed."

"No Papa?" X questioned with a shudder.

"It's certainly strange to think of," Saito said with his voice shaking a little.

"Good thing you came here then!" Netto said brightly.

"That's for sure," Netto's Enzan muttered, recalling having to raid abandoned supermarkets for food and trekking across virus infested deserts.

"Does this mean that there's no Saito in this world, like how there's no Netto in ours?" Laika asked everyone.

"Exactly!" Netto interrupted before anyone else could comment.

"Netto!" Rockman scolded. X snickered and Saito breathed a sigh of relief.

"How long until X is ready to take us back?" Enzan asked Saito.

Saito looked to X whose gaze went unfocused as he accessed the program. His expression dropped.

"Uh... do you really want to know?"

Enzan clicked his tongue in annoyance. He wouldn't have asked if he didn't want to know.

"It'll be at least 7 hours."

"That's almost midnight here," Dr Hikari informed them. "It'd be better to stay the night."

"Stay the night where?" Saito asked suspiciously.

"Saito," X sighed. His brother could be a little more trusting. Saito tended to question everyone's motives. If it wasn't for X, he would let his worries and doubts get the best of him and not do anything for those he didn't fully trust.

"We should stay here," Saito's Laika said. "There's no need to make any special arrangements."

"But where will you sleep?" Netto asked. Dr Hikari quietened the kids and informed them that he could have sleeping bags brought in.

"A camp," X's Searchman commented approvingly.

Saito seemed nervous about the idea, looking around like he wanted to bolt for an exit. And he would make it too, having been on the track team at school for a number of years. Laika placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from enacting his fantasy.

"Cool! We can all stay together!" Netto and X said in unison. Saito quickly covered his PET speakers, hoping that no one caught the unified moment between this otherworldly version of his brother and his navi.

"You have a house to return to," Netto's Enzan pointed out.

"I don't know, keeping watch over these... people seems like a good idea," Laika commented.

Netto grinned at Enzan. "See, Laika agrees with my plan."

"You can make it mission 'get to know Beyondard duplicates;', if that makes you feel better about it," Saito commented with a smug smile. He knew that if this Enzan was like his own, he would find the joke naming of this event annoying.

"Not everything needs a name, Saito," Saito's Enzan said for what felt like the 100th time. "Especially not 'mission' when it's not an assigned mission."

"Ah, Enzan is Enzan in any world," Netto said calmly with Saito nodding serenely in agreement.

"What's that supposed to mean!" both versions of Enzan demanded to know.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

X looked at up at the small smile Saito was sporting. It was good that his operator had found a way to enjoy this little trip but, at the same time, it was a little sad that part of the smile could be attributed to Netto.

What was so great about being in the physical world anyway? He tapped his fingers on his arm, waiting out the discussion.

"It kind of hurts to see them getting along," Rockman commented with a wistful and sad tone to his voice.

"Don't I know it?" X huffed. "But Saito doesn't really get comfortable around strangers easily so I guess this isn't too bad." Or so he'd keep telling himself.

"Really?" Rockman questioned in surprise. "Netto gets too friendly around strangers. I keep having to warn him not to blindly trust people."

X barked a laugh. "And I have to keep reminding Saito that not every person has an ulterior motive." X glanced up to see Saito looking at him with a smug expression. "What?"

"You're getting along. Actually, I'm surprise that neither of you have brought up netbattling yet. It was the first thing out of X's mouth when he met Gutsman."

Everyone else was looking at the two similar looking kids and their navis with curious eyes.

"Is anyone else thinking they're seeing double?" Netto's Enzan commented.

"We're all doubled. It's just that they're different enough to be unnerving," Saito's Laika commented.

"Why are they the only ones different?" Saito's Enzan mused.

"Maybe there's some kind of butterfly effect going on? Something small is different between our worlds, something that affects Netto but not us?" Netto's Enzan theorised.

"It's the best theory we've got," Netto's Laika commented before walking over to Saito and Netto. "Are we staying the night here as well?"

"If you wish," Dr Hikari said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning came and Netto was sprawled out on the sleeping bag. Or was it Saito? Saito's hair was messed up from sleeping and Netto hadn't worn his iconic bandanna to bed so the two looked even more identical than they had the previous day.

"If they were from the same world, I'd say they were twins," Saito's Laika commented while Netto's Enzan took a photo.

"Not a bad idea," Saito's Enzan said, also taking a photo.

"Do you think they're the same person, just with a different name?" Netto's Enzan added a new theory.

"Do you guys have anything better to do than gossiping about others?" Saito questioned, waking up. He rubbed at his eyes, yawning tiredly as he stumbled to his feet. "I need to go get dressed."

X appeared on the PET screen. "Ah, Saito!" he tried to stop his operator. With a bang, Saito walked right into the doorframe instead of the doorway. At the sound, Netto woke in surprise.

"Ow," Saito stated blandly. He was fine, just embarrassed and now very awake. X just sighed and went back to sleep.

Netto snickered from the sleeping bags before dropping back down into them, as if to go back to sleep.

Netto's Enzan wasn't having any of it. "Get up," he said, literally dragging the sleeping bag out from under Netto.

"Netto!" Rockman called out. "You should wake up!"

"Ugh, fine," Netto huffed, climbing out of the sleeping bag. Saito walked back in as Netto walked out to get dressed.

"Saito, where did X go?" Rockman asked, curious.

"Back to sleep. He usually doesn't wake up until later," Saito responded kindly as he picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Rockman nodded his understanding as he knew who X had probably been based off. However, both Enzans looked confused about this. They shared a look and Netto's Enzan motioned for Saito's to speak to him.

"You let your navi... sleep in?" Saito's Enzan questioned.

"Sleep is not a requirement," Blues pointed out.

"I know that," Saito responded. Really, did they forget that it was research from his father and grandfather made navis possible? "X is special."

"And awake," X complained, appearing in his PET. His eyes had tired circles underneath. "The speed I use means I require more time to charge."

"Or you just like to sleep in," Rockman commented in an amused voice. X glared at the other navi before stalking off. "Did I say something wrong?"

"He's just grumpy in the morning," Saito said as he put his PET away. He refrained from adding that Rockman had just said something that Saito himself had also teased Rockman about. Who knew the orange and blue navi was so sensitive?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr Hikari greeted the children as they all gathered in the same room Saito and the others from his world had appeared the previous day.

"I'm sorry but X isn't fully awake yet," Saito said. He knew that Dr Hikari would know the reason why X wasn't the same as other navis and why it was important for them to wait until X was awake.

Or maybe not. "Do you mind if I look at your navi?"

"A little," Saito answered honestly. "X is special and I protect him."

Dr HIkari smiled and held out his hand. "I promise to look after him. I just want to check his programming against Rockman's."

The other netsaviours were confused, except Netto and Rockman. Rockman seemed a little worried but Netto looked excited.

"Do you think it'll be the same?" he asked his father and Saito.

Saito shrugged. There was a good chance. They were supposed to be twins after all.

"I suspect the programming on these two will be almost the same. There will be small differences, like fingerprints for humans, but I suspect their core programming to be the same."

"Cool!" Netto was glowing as he handed Rockman over.

"This is a pointless test," Laika commented. "We should be getting home."

"Have you thought about what it might mean if two navis share core programming but seem to be different in personality and appearance?" Saito asked.

Netto couldn't tell if their silence was a yes or a no. If navis could be affected by the environment they interacted with, it would generate new discussions on just how independent navis had become.

The kids had breakfast while Dr Hikari fiddled with the two PETs in his lab. When they returned he smiled as he handed the PETs back to their owners.

The result of his experiment? "There are subtle differences."

X glared at the scientist. "And you used me to contact Papa."

"Papa?" Netto questioned.

"Our Papa?"

X nodded and Saito was upset that he forgot about that feature. "Papa explained the whole thing about how something in this world was pulling at ours."

"We believe it may have been the result of the kids' exploration into a different Beyondard. There may have been waves out into other universes."

"This is giving me a headache," Netto whined.

"So your universe accidentally called ours?" Enzan huffed.

Dr Hikari nodded. "Although it did allow for some interesting research for me and my counterpart."

"I still don't get what comparing Rockman's to X's programming does," Netto's Enzan said.

"In all honest, as the person who programmed Rockman in our world and my counterpart having programmed X in the other world, I can account for the differences between Rockman's and X's core programming. It's circumstances unique to them but proposes and interesting direction for debates around navi autonomy."

"I can account for it as well and I didn't have to look at their programming," Netto said.

"That's just a guess without any evidence though," Saito pointed out.

"Okay, you two. Stop talking and let's just go," X said.

"I thought you weren't awake enough?" Netto's Enzan questioned suspiciously.

"I'm awake enough now."

Netto's Enzan felt a shiver down his back as X gave him a cocky smirk. There was something unnervingly familiar about it. The same as Saito's determination as he shuffled his team into a space where they could head back. Maybe Saito was someone else in this world and the same for Netto on their side. Saito wasn't Netto, that much felt obvious, but maybe someone else was.

"Okay, thanks for having us!" he said, right before X activated the program to send them back. For a moment, Netto's Enzan felt he had it. But whatever the familiar feeling was, it was gone with the three familiar strangers from Beyondard.

So much for explaining some of the odd behaviour between Netto and Rockman.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

So much for explaining some of the odd behaviour between Saito and X. Saito's Enzan felt he had been onto something without consciously having an idea of what that something might be.

Their Dr Hikari looked excited and relieved as they returned. "You were gone for almost a day. How was it?"

"Let's never do that again," X said, his energy depleted.

"I don't know. I think it was interesting." To Dr Hikari, he explained, "we met other versions of ourselves on the other side. The other Papa was still Papa."

"I did notice that during the quick conversation with my Beyondard counterpart."

"Except Saito was replaced by some kid called Netto," Laika pointed out. Dr Hikari visibly stiffened before he agreed with X that this experiment was one that they probably didn't need to repeat.

Saito smiled at little at how quickly their father changed his mind, although he understood it. The whole ideal opened up the thoughts of 'what if'. What if he had been the twin born with HBD and died from it? Saito hadn't ever imagined it but he now had the image of Rockman in his head, alongside the image of a living Netto.

"AH! We forgot to have a netbattle!" X whined from inside the PET.

"Ah." Saito had forgotten about that. They really should have battled Netto and Rockman. X would have finally had an opponent he could go full power with. "Oops."

"Saito!" X whined.

"There's nothing we can do. Let's get you charged and then we can go onto the net at home."

X sighed but reluctantly agreed that sounded like a plan.

[miloscat]

[Review] Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (3DS)

Continuing on WayForward spinoffs, we have Shovel Knight, which recently got its final content update. Good value!

Yacht Club Games, composed of former WayForward employees, Kickstarted this game back in 2013. Ever since, they’ve been slowly updating it with features promised as part of the crowdfunding campaign. The initial release in mid-2014 was so successful that the eponymous knight has popped up in many, many other games since.

Said game is a very intentional homage to NES action platformers like Rockman and Castlevania. Development was focused on recreating an authentic 8-bit experience, even limiting the audio and visuals to NES capabilities... with some cheating. The result is gorgeous, impeccable pixel art with tons of parallax background work, plus banging chiptunes from WayForward veteran Jake Kaufman. I’ve been tired of 8-bit nostalgia for a long time, but this does it so well it’s nigh-impossible not to be impressed.

In gameplay terms, you have a world map à la Mario 3, and selectable stages with Rockman-like bosses. Shovel Knight’s primary attack vector is swinging a shovel, but even better is the Zelda 2-style downthrust, which can also bounce you back up like Scrooge’s Ducktales cane. The stage design wonderfully tests these skills, with hidden secrets everywhere and lots of shiny gems to grab. These are used between levels to buy upgrades back at town: improving health and mana, and gaining new active and passive abilities.

The game has had a complicated history of updates and platform exclusive bonuses, but suffice it to say that at this point the “Treasure Trove” edition contains three complete new stories in the same world, playing as boss characters from the base game with fun new abilities for combat and movement. Plague Knight is more technical, with air-stalling bomb-throwing and boost jumps. Specter Knight uses a contextual slash attack for angled dashes. And King Knight has a combination shoulder barge-spin jump. Plague’s campaign uses the same stages more or less, Specter has new levels with the same theme, and King breaks it up into many smaller levels plus adds a mostly-optional card game mechanic between action stages (your enjoyment of this may vary).

In terms of exclusives on 3DS, they’re locked behind amiibo but if you can access the features there’s a cool “custom knight” mode that auto-unlocks upgrades as you collect gold, including some of Plague and Specter’s powers and even all-new subweapons. There’s also a handful of extra tasks in the “challenge” mode, a fun diversion with specific rules to test a particular skill (I didn’t do any of the “beat boss with one health” challenges, though).

Despite a tremendous sense of fun and silliness in the writing and character design (which extends to all campaigns), the world and story are also taken seriously, giving weight to the occasional emotional moment such as the brief interludes after levels.

I must mention that one of the Kickstarter promises which was latterly fulfilled was the “body swap” mode, a menu feature that swaps the gender (and separately, pronouns) of the main characters. Two of the twelve are female by default, but you can make it an all-lady game, or any combination you like! I found this a really cool thing to include, but the intense frustration quickly set in when I realised this change only applied to the original “Shovel of Hope” campaign, and was not supported in the other three character’s stories. What a rug-pull!

Regardless, Shovel Knight is an excellently put-together game. You couldn’t ask for a better fulfillment of 8-bit sensibilities combined with modern conveniences. Special mention again to the aerial mobility of all four characters, which is augmented by their various subweapon powers!

[ultrace]

Soundtrack Update

Tomorrow will bring another batch of soundtracks going onto eBay, for which I will make a post when they go up. For those of you looking to keep convenient track of these, here is a link to my seller page so you can see all of whatever I have up at any given time. The first batch of CDs still has a little over 4 days to go!

Some of you have asked questions. Questions are good! They show that I’m more interesting than annoying, mostly.

Do these soundtracks contain spinecards (obi)? Most of them do. Some may have been acquired without them or I may have misplaced them in the very early days of my collecting. If this is a deal-breaker, ask about any CD you need to.

Can you combine shipping? You sure can. I’ll be more than happy to send multiple CDs and charge only the total amount of shipping.

Is there a full list of all the soundtracks that will be auctioned? There is now. I have painstakingly written down the names of each of the soundtracks to be auctioned, 238 in total. It was a little less than I thought; some of them took up large space on the shelves and skewed my calculations. For the sake of your dashboard, the full list is under the cut.

These soundtracks have been photographed and tested:

Akumajo Dracula / Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow & Dawn of Sorrow OST

Akumajo Dracula Apocalypse OST

Akumajo Dracula Best  (Otakara printing)

Akumajo Dracula Best 2  (Otakara printing)

Akumajo Dracula Nocturne in the Moonlight (Castlevania: SOTN) OST

Akumajo Dracula X

Akumajo Dracula: Gallery of Labyrinth (Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin) OST

Castlevania Chronicle Akumajo Dracula

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon / Concerto of the Midnight Sun OST

Anamanaguchi: Dawn Metropolis

Atelier Iris Bonus Soundtrack CD

Bangai-O Spirits Sound Collection Plus

Banjo-Kazooie The Soundtrack

Bastion OST (signed by composer Darren Korb), x2

Baten Kaitos OST

Biohazard 2 (Resident Evil 2) Complete Track

Borderlands 2 OST

Borderlands OST

Breath of Fire III OST

Broken Thunder: Thunder Force VI Doujinshi Soundtrack

C64: 64 Reasons to Live

C64: Best of David Whittaker

C64: Best of Fred Gray

C64: Best of Matt Gray

C64: Best of the Maniacs of Noise

C64: Best of Tim Follin

C64: Creatures the Soundtracks

C64: Thalamusic

C64: Way of the Exploding SID

Capcom Trilogy Box - Capcom Game Music Vols. 1, 2, 3

Chrono Trigger OST

Dance Dance Resolution Ultramix 2 Limited Music Sampler

Dance Dance Revolution Extreme Limited Music Sampler

Dead Rising OST

Devil Crash / Alien Crush

Devil May Cry Limited Soundtrack Box - OSTs for Devil May Cry 1, 2, 3

Diablo 15th Year Anniversary

Disgaea Custom Soundtrack

DK Jamz: Donkey Kong Country OST

Dodonpachi & Dodonpachi II OST

Donkey Kong Country 3 Dixie Kong's Double Trouble OST

Dragon Force Complete Album

Ecco: Songs of Time

Einhander OST

Electronic Arts Music Sampler, "Signature Sounds"

ESPGaluda OST

All Sounds of Final Fantasy I & II

Final Fantasy III OST

Final Fantasy IV OST   (gone missing)

Final Fantasy V OST

Final Fantasy VI OST

Final Fantasy VII OST

Final Fantasy VII Dirge of Cerberus OST Limited Edition

Final Fantasy VIII OST Limited Edition Limited Edition

Final Fantasy IX OST Limited Edition

Final Fantasy X OST

Final Fantasy X-2 OST Limited Edition  (Rikku Keychain

Final Fantasy XI OST Limited Edition

Final Fantasy XII OST Limited Edition

Final Fantasy XIII OST Limited Edition

Final Fantasy Tactics OST

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles OST

Front Mission 3 OST

G.S.M. Capcom 3: Final Fight (Missing booklet and obi)

G.S.M. Captom 4: Street Fighter II (Missing obi)

Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~ - Full set of 20 CDs

Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~ - Vol. 1: Super Mario Bros.

Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~ - Vol. 11: Nazo no Murasame Jiyo

Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~ - Vol. 3: Donkey Kong Jr.

Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~ - Vol. 7: Light Gun Games

Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~ - Nintendo Dream Special Disc: Super Mario Bros. 3

Gears of War OST

Ghost in the Shell Megatech Body Cd. (European Printing)

Golden Axe: The Music

Gradius Arcade Soundtrack

Gradius III

Gradius V Soundtracks

Grand Theft Auto Vice City Official Soundtrack Box Set

Grandia II ~Deus~

Grandia II ~Povo~

Guiity Gear X Heavy Rock Tracks

Guilty Gear Original Sound Collection

Konami Music Masterpiece Collection (Complete 15-CD set)

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Soundtrack (Black/Gray Cover)

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Soundtrack (Gold Cover)

Makaimura (Ghosts n' Goblins) Ongakutaizen Box Set

Metal Gear Solid 4 OST

Suite Dragon Quest II

That's Atari Games Limited Edition Box - Vols. 1 & 2 in special case

The Last Blade OST

The Music of Command & Conquer

The Music of Command & Conquer: Red Alert

X-Men: Children of the Atom OST

Ys: The Oath in Felghana (Wanderers from Ys) Premium Music Box

Yuzo Koshiro Best Collection Vol. 1

Yuzo Koshiro Best Collection Vol. 2

Z.O.E. Zone of the Enders OST

Zwei!! OST

These soundtracks have not been photographed and tested. If for any reason the discs have failed, they will not be auctioned.

C64: Last Ninja 2 Music Collection   (disc failure, discarded)

C64: Last Ninja 3 Music Collection   (disc failure, discarded)

C64: Last Ninja Music Collection   (disc failure, discarded)

Capcom Music Generation Limited Edition ~Legendary Wings~

Capcom Music Generation: Rockman 1-6 (1st printing with cardboard sleeve)

Capcom Music Generation: Rockman X1-6 (1st printing with special box)

Fatal Fury / Last Resort OST

Genso Suikoden OST

Gokumakaimura (Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins) OST

Gunstar Heroes Sound Collection

Halo 2 OST Vol. 1

Halo 2 OST Vol. 2

Halo 3 ODST OST

Halo 3 OST

Hudson's CD Game Music Collection '93

Hundred Swords OST

Justice High School (Rival Schools United By Fate) OST

Katamari Damacy OST

Killer Cuts Killer Instinct (cardboard sleeve has been sliced in half and put in jewel case)

Konami Game Music Vol. 1

Legend of Mana Music Selection

Legend of Mana OST

Lost Technology: Thunder Force V OST

Lumines Remixes

Mario Kart 64 Greatest Hits Soundtrack

Mars Matrix / Giga Wing

Marvel vs. Capcom OST

Mass Effect OST

Maximo OST

Metal Gear / Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake Music Collection (from the MGS Premium Pack)

Metal Gear >> Solid Snake Music Compilation Red Disc

Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty OST

Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater OST

Metal Gear Solid Music CD (1 open, 1 sealed)

Metal Slug 3 OST

Metroid Metal: Varia Suite (signed by the band)

Mortal Kombat II: Music from the Arcade Game Soundtrack (also Mortal Kombat)

Music From Ys II

Music From Ys III: Wanderers from Ys

Musik: Mortal Kombat 3 & 4 Arcade Soundtrack

N3 Ninety-Nine Nights OST

Namco Game Sound Express Vol. 18 Air Combat 22

NiGHTS into Dreams Perfect Album

Ninja Blade OST

Ninja Gaiden (XBox) Original Sound Trax

Panzer Dragoon Azel RPG Memorial Album

Parasite Eve OST

Phantasy Star 1st Series Complete Album

Planet Harriers OST

Pocket Fighter OST

Pretty Soldier Sailormoon Another Story Music Collection

Quest For Glory V: Dragon Fire OST

Radiant Silvergun Soundtrack+

Ridge Racer V OST

Rockman 2 The Power Fighters

Rockman Dash OST

R-Type Delta OST

R-Type Final OST

Salamander ~Again~ (Otakara printing)

Salamander 2 OST

Salamander Remixes

Samurai Spirits

Samurai Spirits (Scitron 1500 series)

Samurai Spirits the Best 10th Anniversary Special

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game OST (Arcade Block exclusive)

Sega Ages Soundtrack The Best Plus

Sega Game Music Vol. 1

Sega Game Music Vol. 2

Sega Game Music Vol. 3

Sega Power Cuts 1 (cardboard sleeve version, has been sliced in half and put in a jewel case)

Sega Power Cuts 1 (Jewel Case promotional copy)

Sega Virtual Sonic 5-CD Set with Box Case

Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana) Original Sound Version

Seiken Densetsu 3 OST

Sengoku Musou (Samurai Warriors) OST

Shadow Hearts OST

Shin Contra (Contra: Shattered Soldier) OST

Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne OST

Shin Samurai Spirits

Shin Sangokumusou 3 (Dynasty Warriors 4) OST

Shin Sangokumusou 4 (Dynasty Warriors 3) OST

Shin Sangokumusou 4 (Dynasty Warriors 5) OST

Shin Sangokumusou Kyuukyoku Onban

Shinobi (PS2 version) OST

Silent Hill 3 Official Soundtrack

Silhouette Mirage OST

Snatcher Zoom Tracks

SNK Game Music

Soul Calibur OST

Sounds of Onimusha

Star Ocean Till the End of Time Sound Complete Box (Empty box only! Someone gave it to me.)

Star Ocean: The Second Story OST

Starfox 64: Original Cuts (cardboard sleeve has been sliced in half and put in a jewel case)

Storm of Progear OST

Street Fighter EX2 Arrange Album

Street Fighter Zero / Street Fighter Alpha OST

Street Fighter Zero 3 / Street Fighter Alpha 3 OST

Strider Hiryu 2 OST

Suite Wizardry II Legacy of LLylgamyn

Super Mario 64 Original Soundtracks

Super Mario 64/Waverace 64: Original Cuts from the Hottest N64 Games

Super Metroid Sound in Action

Tales of Eternia OST

Tales of Symphonia OST

Technosoft Game Music Collection Vol. 10: Technology - Thunder Force V

Technosoft Game Music Collection Vol. 2: Excursion - Herzog Zwei

Technosoft Game Music Collection Vol. 9: Voyage - Neorude

Tekken 3 Arcade Soundtrack 001 ex

Tempest 2000 The Soundtrack

Tenchu OST

The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim OST

The King of Fighters '95

The Minibosses: Brass

The Music of Suikoden Konami Sampler Disc

The Protomen

The Protomen Present: A Night of Queen (signed)

Threads of Fate Music Selection

Tobal 2 OST

Treasure Quest the Soundtrack

Turrican OST

Vagrant Story OST

Valkyrie Profile OST

Valkyrie Profile Arrange Album

Valkyrie Profile Covenant of the Plume OST

Valkyrie Profile Silmeria OST Vol. 1 Alicia Side (with limited edition "Sound Complete Box")

Valkyrie Profile Silmeria OST Vol. 2 Silmeria Side

Vampire: The New Warriors OST

Vandal Hearts OST

Very Best of Ys

Video Game Orchestra (signed by some members)

Video Games Live Volume One

Viewtiful Joe & Viewtiful Joe 2 OST

Virtua Cop Soundtracks

Virtua Fighter 4 OST

World Heroes 2 Jet OST

World Heroes Perfect OST

World of Tanks OST

Xenosaga OST

Xexex OST

Ys V OST

Yu Suzuki: Hang-On/Space Harrier

The following soundtracks are bootlegs (usually SonMay) and therefore of little actual value. They will probably be auctioned as a single lot:

Grandia OST

Dance Maniax OST

Dance Maniax 2nd Mix OST

Arc the Lad OST

Arc the Lad III OST

G-Darius OST

Chaos Legion OST

Breath of Fire II OST

Music From Ys

Virtua Fighter Maximum Mania

Pretty Soldier Sailormoon S Game Music

SaGa Frontier OST

Rock Man (unidentified CD, GAME-089)

Rockman X Alph-Lyra Arranged

Panzer Dragoon OST

The King of Fighters 96

[wolfenwingsshop]

WHOOOOOOF

SO BIG POST Y’ALL.

My Rockman X Anniversary Collection Soundtrack made it in today! Many thanks to my beloved husband Zeekun for getting this for me while I finished my shift up at work. (It was registered air-mail, so I had to send someone to sign for it for me!) Ok, so right into it- there is SO much going on here and I may have to make double-posts to fit it all in.

So since I ordered the ‘First Press’ I got a special sleeve that had that AMAZING ARTWORK of the four hunters all doing their little gig (I still swear that image of X on the special sleeve alone was worth the 40 dollars I paid to get this thing. I love seeing him happy, damnit.) Inside the sleeve is the CD in it’s standard packaging.

The tambourine wielding Met is still present too! Considering I once cosplayed as a giant Met at a few Otakons, and when I was in WAS we had a ‘pet’ Metool we named ‘Tooley’, it’s kinda like my past was coming back to greet me. Can I be considered the Met? I will gladly shake a little tambourine around if I get to jam with X. C’mon now.

So there’s no way they didn’t know some of us were going to import the CD. Why would you include the forward from singer/writer of the English version of Re;Future IN ENGLISH if you didn’t expect non-Japanese people to import it?! THE FACT THAT SHE’S AN X FANGIRL MAKES ME GIDDY AS SHIT.

The art in the booklet is basically CD-sized versions of the art for MMXLC 1 and 2 and then some of the Mavericks behind the CD... The CD itself though... Hoooo nelly..

Ok, easily, this is the most gawddamned beautiful CD I now own. It’s got metallic blue circuitry accents and X in full without that text over him and-- NNNNHhhhggg... I can’t. This was so worth it. And the crazy thing was, when I first found out about the CD and saw the original image of them all playing and performing, I was like “God, fuggin’ a. What if they did a Miku/Squid-Sisters like concert and literally had hologram versions of them play at a real venue?” For whatever reason, I could imagine X staring at the crowd with his guitar with a happy, slightly cocky grin-- and then later when I got into that MM Media Creators discord and found THIS IMAGE it was literally what I saw in my head just days before and admittedly I LOST MY SHIT. This happens to me wayyyy too frequently but that is another time. @_@;; Anyhow-- what I was hoping for- aside X being.. well, X, and making wolfens nosebleed everywhere-- were the english lyrics for Re;Future.

SO AGAIN IN TYPICAL CAPCOM FASHION- They had their Localization director write/translate Re;Future from Japanese to English and then later sing it as well. From what I understand, they also had some issues with recording and it lost some audio quality, some of which they had t manually restore- but from what I understand, Miss Hsu is not a native English speaker so there’s some mispronunciations here and there. Zero and I were trying to get lyrics down for DAYS but we kept mis-guessing what was being said- so since my CD was in the states on Sunday night, we decided to wait till we had official lyrics. SO glad we did, cause I think our ‘hints’ at X9 lie in this song and it’s lyrics.

At first, with the ‘blasting through anything’, especially given you have to use X to blast through the credits to get this song to unlock and play, I was like “OK, THIS IS X SINGING. Well not literally BUT IT’S HIS PERSPECTIVE.” This has happened before, RockmanHolic’s Re:Loaded was sung from X’s perspective even though it was a girl singing. So there’s that.

Then as I was listening, I was mis-hearing lyrics, I was thinking she was saying ‘purple crystal’ and ‘purple heart’ which made me think of Iris- especially if you play X Challenge mode volume 1 and get to the final fight- I was like “OMFG, what if we’re getting Iris back for X9?!” That may still happen based on X Challenge mode, but still. Everything else just coincided with X so strongly, so I was still torn. Plus, the achievement you get for unlocking Re;Future is called “Identity Erased”... And given we have new Giga Armor toys where X has a Rush of his own and in MvCI he slides just like Classic’s Rock does, Iiii.. I’m starting to wonder if we’re looking at the starts of a Retcon and they’re going to confirm X and Rock are one and the same. I’ve got other stuff that points at that, I’m working on a video explaining it all, so when I’m done I’ll explain more. Anyhow...

I figure if anyone wants a crack, here’s the Japanese lyrics. I can’t read a lick of ‘em (legit, only things I can read in Japanese are “Rockman”, “X”, and “Zero”. That. Is. It.) so if like, Sky or anybody else who has knowledge wants to see if they match up to the English lyrics, be my guest! My friend Alkaid of over-ti.me already has these, so I’m sure she’s probably gonna be getting her buddies in to take a crack at these sometime soon. For now, I wrote-out the English lyrics if you guys wanna copy-paste them, etc. Fragments of me lie in the darkness waiting to be found All I see around me are shadows, No matter how I may try, and so I keep on looking to find a light that will guide me, I won't give up the fight Why am I here? What is my purpose?

Running for all I'm worth, I shout Reaching ahead I throw my arms to the wind Even if it takes all I have, With the last of my voice I'll cry...... I'll call with all of my soul

This sparkling uncontainable light Spilling over a brand new world Its brightness dazzles, dizzying and blinding But I don't wanna close my eyes or look away All these boundless feelings Cascading over a brand new world I'll keep them with me for just a little bit longer I'll keep them safe here until the next world arrives

At long last I found my answers waiting in the darkness I know why I'm here and my purpose I won't return to that loneliness, and so I'll keep pushing onwards Blasting through anything that tries to stand in my way I will fight, I will! Even by myself or for a barren world

Two lights shine brightly showing me the way, and I take courage the they have given me to fight for what I truly believe Nothing can stop me!

Running for all I'm worth, I shout Reaching ahead, I throw my arms to the wind Even if it takes all I have, With the last of my voice I'll cry...... I'll call with all of my soul

This strongly beating hopeful heart Filled to the brim by a brand new world Through people's kindness it learned of warmth and yet It wasn't whole until it learned what peace was at last This utopic brand new world Filled to the brim with hopeful light There's no going back -- not for me, there's only forwards Until that day when the world of our dreams arrives

Whew. Huuuge post! Thanks guys! Wolfie out! ^_^ Now, remember, we plan on streaming more MMXLC tonight and tomorrow, over at my Twitch Channel (twitch.tv/wolfshadow6) so feel free to drop over tonight or tomorrow! Zero and I plan on going through all the games and getting ALL the achievements!

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

2019 Megaman Valentine’s Day (Humor) Contest Results!

Apologize for the delay on this once again. Didn’t expect to be posting these results nearly a month after Valentine’s Day, but the extended deadline did help make sure we got a healthy competition this year. Thank you to all for your patience!

I’m going to start out this year’s results thread with a totally appropriate callout 4-Koma that is not technically an official humor entry from SubzeroIceSkater, even though it fit the rules. But it’s worth posting, to publicly humiliate myself anyways:

I'll take my token Akane-in-an-entry bribery any way I can get it, since nobody felt inclined to draw Mrs. Stelar’s fresh, piping hot, iced cinnabuns for their talent entry this year...Did I just type that? I mean, um...

Play me off, Johnny!

I kid, I kid! After all, these contests aren’t about me, it’s about the characters you love and want to draw. And that’s what makes everyone’s entries unique and helps motivate you to create time after time. And I am grateful for it, whether you are a long-time participant, or the yearly new contestant.

I’ll be doing things a little different this year, because the post would be way too long if I kept everything in one. So this first post will just contain the Humor category, and I will have a second, separate post for the Talent category. Raffle prize winners will be contained in both posts, so keep an eye out after my commentary on your art, for some possible winners here. The rest will follow soon. I’ll be contacting all winners soon enough, so sit tight!

Here are your humor winners and full gallery of entries, after the break!

Category 2 (Humor) -  Princess Sigmia Returns

A much smaller group of entries for this category, but the zany mergers were great, all the same. I thank you all for getting as creative as you could with this concept, as it was a little more than just a mere gender swap you had to consider, when designing your combined character. Whether you won or not, know I truly enjoyed seeing all of these pics. 

I know imgbox gallery gave people some issues before, so as always, let me know if images or links appear broken. Crossing my fingers this works smoothly this year! XD

After each entrant’s name, there will be a link in the character description to the entry, too, just in case the inserted external images don’t load for you. 

[Full humor gallery]

1.) SubzeroIceSkater - Arc Weldy Falls In Love (featuring Tundroll.EXE the Arc Weldy, plus ‘Master Albert’)

[Page 1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

Comics with length and substance always seem to steal the show, and this year was no different. Joining the ranks of fenril-huayra, wintesm and so many others in recent years, I believe SubzeroIceSkater’s wonderful tale will stick with many of you, as much as it did me. As a humor piece, sure there are great sight gags and comedic lines all around, but it also has a lot of heart. You feel really bad for Arc Weldy to start out, but also feel so many emotions of compassion, friendship and love throughout. Wonderful work, and thank you for all the effort you put into this massive entry!

Also, are 21 pages not enough for you all? Well, SubzeroIceSkater also had ANOTHER 15 pages worth of ideas, alternates, and outtakes to go with this comic. And, while I won’t upload each link or image here, because this one entry is long enough, you can see them in THIS GALLERY LINK. They are also really great.

*For coming in 1st, SubzeroIceSkater has won $100 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value.*

2.) @drewblossom​ - Geminette 

Nearly equally deserving in length, Drew’s comic more closely followed the Bowsette-style transformation gimmick to give Snake Man his comeuppance. The classic bait-and-switch kiss, turned on it’s head with a ‘lil Search Snake rather than a gross Toad Man, was a funny end. 

Design-wise, I really liked what you did to create Geminette’s look. Splitting his helmet crystals to the side as like dual hair broaches, and keeping the motif with the choker, armband, garter straps and chestplate, worked out nice. I can see why Snake was so easily charmed. 

*For coming in 2nd, Drew has won $50 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value.*

3.) @wimzik​ - Rollbble.EXE

If dominatrix Devil Roll wasn’t enough of a pain in Rockman’s side, I shudder to think how bad a Bubble Roll would be, puku! Or, would her devotion to him be as great (or clingy) as Bubs was with Shademan-sama? 

Taking Bubbleman’s yellow flipper feet motif, and turning it into a fish fin design, both on her feet, legs, and hair ribbon, turned out pretty neat. If anything, I’m sure this transformation gives her very kissable lips, though! XD I have to wonder what her plan is with that Roll Navi Data chip, now that the chocolate is all gone, and what it will do to Rockman?

*For coming in 3rd, wimzik has won $25 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value.*

And the remaining wonderful entries, in alphabetical order by alias:

@3-oclock-blues​ - Dr. Willis 

What you talkin’ ‘bout, Wil-lis? Or Dr. WHY?!-ris, if you prefer. With that absolutely awesome wide-eyed grin, she’s hellbent on living together with Zero in a world where only Reploids exist. Being that they both have spent time piloting flying machine bodies, and have sorta possessed some form of an evil energy, it’s a rather fitting combo. Unless you are Zero, and it’s your dad and girlfriend merged into one being. Awk~waaaarrrd. 

The skull motif and spikes are subtle on Iris’ design, but fit in really well. Her bangs are just wild enough on both sides now, that it gives that Wily hair vibe, without having to give her a horrible, bushy mustache. XD

*3-OClock-Blues is the winner of Raffle Prize #2 - The X OCW artbook and Zero keychain*

@bracedshark​ - Mettayer

This might be a terrible concept, but I’m going to type it. When a Met pops out from under it’s helmet, especially in sprite form, usually all you can see is the whites of it’s dark, beady eyes under that helmet, on it’s dark grey/black blobby round body form. With Layer, you don’t get to see her eyes under her bangs, hardly ever. So staring at Mettayer’s underboob for too long, due to her chest armor mimicking a Met helmet, all I see is a Met’s pair of closed bottom eyelids, and I’m seriously waiting for those eyes to open up and start staring back at me. Would that not be the most wrong way for Mettayer’s eyes to work?! But I can’t unsee it! Her belly button even feels like a snoring, sleeping Met’s mouth. I’ll spare everyone of me editing this art to make my point. But it’s in your head now, isn’t it?

OK, despite that awful paragraph, this is one hot Metall Mommy. Sorry, I’m starting this paragraph off pretty badly, too, I guess. ^^; Despite my interpretation of the combination, the design elements do stand out in a unique way. The fiery reddish-pink hair seems like a different choice considering the characters merged, but it plays off the red of a Met’s mouth and earpiece, and, well, fitting for Valentine’s, too! And instead, you get the Layer color scheme in the pickaxe, so it still connects visually.

@drewblossom​’s 2nd entry - Roll n’ Rock

This bonus entry from Drew flips the genders of both DLN-001 and 002. I liked Roll’s hair bow converting into more of a bow tie, and Rock getting her version of Roll’s hoodie, in a Blue Bomber color scheme. The V-Day card concept, complete with crayon-ish name writing, made for a cute entry. Hearts all around!

@supernovabee​ - Bayer

No, there won’t be any paragraph about underboob eyes for this version of a Layer transformation, as supernovabee has merged her with Bass. Bayer loves belting out her hard and heavy siren song to woo prospective love interests during karaoke night. 

Keeping Layer’s purple hair here actually kinda still keeps a Treble Boost feel, that the color scheme fits seamlessly, to go along with the more obvious Layer armor design pieces.

[ick25]

Rockman.EXE Episode 38 Review.

And yet you always say bad things about Netto, you hypocrite!

What’s strange is that Cutman has brothers.

We start the episode with... An old japanese film about samurais?

Oh boy, we’re in for a good old dose of Japanese culture in this episode, aren’t we?

An old man talks for the two characters with Rockman portrayed as a Tsujigiri, which is a Japanese term for a practice that involves a samurai killing an inocent passer-by in a crossroad in order to try out a new sword. An evil samurai, I guess?

Rockman plays the part of the tsujigiri, strangely well.

This was obviously cutted from the dub because only God knows if kids are stupid enough to try this at home.

The tsujigiri Rockman challenges the passerby who is non other than Cutman, they stare down at eachother until Rockman does the cowardly thing of throwing sand at Cutman’s face.

Tsujigiri Rockman uses Sand Attack! Cutman’s accuracy fell.

This gives Rockman the opportunity to slash Cutman, but turns out it was all just a little play with paper cut outs, staged by an old looking Cutman for an audience of young Cutman looking Navis.

Liar! That’s not how it went down!

It was the Elec Brother Styled Rockman, in the Okuden dam computer with a Thunder Woody Tower! Where did you even get the Aqua Sword idea? Plus, Cutman wasn’t deleted, he clearly logged out.

Apperantly these are all Cutman’s relatives, the old cutman tells the young Cutmen that Rockman mercilessly deleted their older brother and they come to the conclusion that Rockman is evil and that he is gonna take over the world or something, I guess no one told them the Cutman was with Gospel for starters.

The Cutman brothers are all fired up and ready to avenge their brother, leaving their old Japanese styled home in pieces.

We soon discover that the elder Cutman was working for Shadowman who is hoping to use Cutman’s little brothers to weaken Rockman.

Right after this we see that the Cutman brothers infiltraded Netto’s alarm clock, (because of couse it has internet conection) where they cut off the alarm. Netto is panicking over this because he was suppoused to get up early to meet up with his friends.

Why does Meiru have three horns and Yaito only has one?

Netto is afraid that his friends will get mad at him for arriving late, and it seems his imagination isn’t far off because we then see Meiru and the others wearing yugioh eye liner.

Yeah, this is another thing that was cutted from the dub, Dekao and Tohru do this little play where they put on a Netto mask quoting everything he said.

I guess it is an old form of Japanese theatre, but there are so many that I can’t tell which exactly. Through this they explain that they were all planning to go eat some special steamed meatbuns. What even is that?

Oh, THOSE things. Aren’t they called dumplings?

These things are actually chinese, and that’s why they’re going to Densan city’s Chinatown district to get them, however, there is a reason why they had to wake up early.

Meiru is talking about a little brown monster that is the mascot of japanese broadcasting service? O.O WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO HERE SUB?!

Netto stops at a public phone to plug-in Rockman so he can go ahead and tell them why he is late before he gets on the subway.

You mean it would be 200 hours of tickling instead of 100?

Rockman is traveling though the network to Internet city’s Chinatown when the Cutman brothers do something that transports him to an old Japanese setting.

“Unless Japan took over China at some point, I dont believe this is Internet City’s version of Chinatown.”

I’m no expert on Japanese history, but based on my research for this episode, I deduced that this setting is based off Japan during the Edo period since it was the period where the paper cutting art knowen as Kamikiri was born. Why am I saying this? Because Rockman is about to be attacked by a traditional paper cut out of a samurai.

I like how the samurai cut out shifts as it runs, that’s a cool effect. Rockman takes out the samurai with his Rock Buster, but then is attacked by four ninja cut outs (I only took screenshots of three btw).

Ahh, paper shurikens! They are worse than normal shurikens because they are made out of paper! Paper cuts!

Rockman manages to defeat the ninjas and finds out that they were all made of paper.

They still believe that they are in Internet city’s chinatown so Rockman runs to find his friends thinking that they are in trouble.

Speaking of their friends, they are all at Chinatown where they discover that all the dumplings are sold out, so that means that the store is closed too. Since they are all starving, a creepy looking man appears and offers to take them to another restaurant.

STRANGER DANGER!

We cut to the old Japan setting where a paper villager is hitting a paper bell and the other paper villagers begin to chase Rockman with paper lanterns. Paper!

This scene reminds me of Inuyasha for some reason.

The villagers attack Rockman with explosive lanterns before we see the Cutman brothers at a japanese palace where they are making more paper cut outs.

Why were these shots of them making the paper figures cutted out from the dub? This is pretty interesting, we even see fatty Cutman finish the giant paper fish that will attack Rockman in the next scene. 

The moon hides behind the clouds as Rockman crosses a bridge, when the giant paper fish leaps out of the not paper water to attack him.

Paper doesn’t dissolve in water in the cyberworld, but then again, Rockman’s buster sets it on fire .-.- Cyber physics!

I like the idea of Rockman having an ability to lock on to objects for shooting, no wonder his aim is perfect.

Soon after, the villagers attack Rockman with hooks, binding him with rope.

Okay, NOW I’m reminded of Inuyasha.

Rockman is inmobilized, and just then, the palace gates in front of him open up to show what looks like his friends only for the moon to reappear and reveal that they are actually paper cut outs.

Looks like the Cutman brothers did their homework on Rockman because they know the Navis he hangs out with AND their attacks.

Netto, aren’t you paying attention?! He can’t move!

After comercials, Rockman pulls the villagers holding him to block the incoming attack.

Nice aim, Rockman, you shot fake Iceman right in the mouth. XD

That was Rockman’s pissed face.

 Netto keeps him from seeking revenge by telling him that he can’t win with just his buster, so he decides to runaway from the palace. 

The Cutman brothers don’t like this, so bangs cutman literally cuts the comunication between Rockman and Netto.

How did he know which one to cut? What are those other cables for? How can he even do that? Why do I have so many questions for this episode?!

With Netto out of the way, the Cutman brothers proceed to attack Rockman on a giant paper dragon.

I couldn’t help noticing that the Cutmen look flat as paper in these shots since they are riding the paper dragon. Can’t have 3D looking characters riding a 2D looking object in this 2D animated series.

We cut to Netto’s friends eating at the creepy stranger’s own ramen place that is actually named “The Worst Noodles”, where they complain about how bad the ramen is, yet they keep eating it with their Yugioh eyeliner on since they are still mad at Netto for being late.

Yaito is rich, why haven’t she used her stupidly rich status to eat at the fancy chinese restaurant next door?! Because this is followed by Enzan leaving said chinese restaurant. 

After critizicing the food he just ate, Enzan spots Netto’s friends eating at the ramen place and decides to casually walk in front of it.

What were you planning to do? Insult Netto from behind just to say hi?

Netto finally arrives at the Chinatown district where he plugs into a public phone only to discover that Rockman is not in Internet city’s chinatown. With Rockman still under attack, Netto desperately runs around until he crashes into Enzan.

Cutest miserable look I’ve ever seen. X)

Netto explained to Enzan what happend, they wonder where Rockman might be until super plot convinience kicks in.

Say no more! Rockman is inside that computer, isn’t he?

They just so happend to hear these guys yell about their problem, so naturally, they decide to plug-in.

Blues appears from above to destroy the paper dragon with a Fire Sword.

How can you mess up Blues’s hand color in the last panel?!

The Cutmen confront Blues, but Blues asks for an introduction before he reveals he was talking to a hidden Shadowman.

Blues chases Shadowman away while Rockman reconnects with Netto to activate the Style Change.

Rockman’s power overwhelms the Cutman brothers, meanwhile, Blues and Shadowman are having a chinese movie showdown on the rooftops that ends with Blues craking part of Shadowman’s helmet.

Ouch! This forces Shadowman to retreat.

The Cutmen decide to use their ultimate attack against Rockman, but the Heat Guts style sends it back to them with full power.

No, Netto, Rock-man breaks scissors. XD

Rockman then power ups his fist to destroy the entire Japanese setting, revealing the real Chinatown version of Internet City. I have no idea how that worked.

Enzan and Netto leave the store where they encounter Netto’s friends who he then begs for mercy.

And the episode ends with everyone laughing at Netto’s misfortune... In the dub.

 THIS is how the episode really ends.

The episode ends with the cut out puppet show announcing Rockman’s victory over the Cutman brothers, where after the curtains are pulled, eyebrows Cutman promises they will return, with the little cutman ending the episode.

I have no idea why was this skipped in the dub.

What do I think?

Just like the title, this episode was strange. They never explained why or how can Cutman have relatives. My theory is that they are all special navis that work at a specific area of the net, with one of the Cutmen going rogue and joining Gospel.

Cutman’s younger brothers all have names, eyebrows cutman is called Jiiro, bangs Cutman, who I first thought was a girl, is Saburo, the tall Cutman is Shiro, the fat one is Goro and the little one is Rokuro. The dub changed their names to Vinny, Sunny, Jerry, Joey and Nicky. XP

This episode was interesting since it presented old japanese culture references, starting off with the old samurai movie at the begining, and the whole paper puppet show that I’m sure has a name, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. The closest thing I found was called Kamikiri.

Kamikiri is an old form of entertainment that involves a person cutting a figure on paper in front of a live audience. This requires skills to create a figure anytime of anything that the audience can request, the paper figures can also be used as puppets to tell stories like in a shadow puppet show. Because the Cutmen are all about scissors, it’s no wonder  that they are masters in the art of kamikiri, making them “strangely strong” in this episode. By trapping Rockman inside their very own cyberworld where they can create living paper figures they had an advantage over him.

I also have to point out that the creepy ramen guy returns a couple of time in later seasons of the anime. And unfortunately, this isn’t the last time we see the Cutman brothers.