#With a bit of help from the chozo ghosts

[maburito]

HELL YEAH I DID IT!!!!

TAKE THAT RIDLEY!

[coldgoldlazarus]

Do you have a favorite of the metroid games (including pinball)

Despite the temptation to answer with Pinball for the meme, tragically I must admit that I have not played Pinball. I am sure that if I did so, it would take top rank, but alas. For now, my loyalty is to Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Which isn't really an unpopular opinion anymore lol, I understand it used to be the least favorite, but now has been reconsidered and has plenty of defenders; for better or worse I came to the party late and uninformed and just like it based off my own experience with it.

I honestly think it's tied with Metroid Prime in terms of overall quality, though it has different strengths and weaknesses, and is kinda a more uneven experience overall. Soundtrack and aesthetic isn't as great and memorable, but they're more consistent in selling the atmosphere while still managing to achieve a few good wow moments here and there. World layout/progression/narrative delivery is more linear and direct compared to Prime, in both good and bad ways. (Though still less so than Corruption at least, lol) Story branches out from Metroid's usual subject matter and recurring motifs, but also feels kinda disconnected as a result. Bosses are bigger and better, and the Spider Ball gets its dues here, but there are also plentiful frustrating QoL-related decisions scattered throughout the game as a whole, one of which turns a potentially great boss into the absolute worst. (Spider Guardian Phase 3 my beloathed) Chozo Ghosts vs. Dark Pirate Commandos. Beam Ammo. (Which I had no problem with personally, but I've heard even other defenders of the game apparently tend to dislike.) From an objective standpoint, I think Echoes is on par with Prime, building off of its foundations well, but also liable to be a more frustrating experience in a bunch of little ways.

But from a subjective standpoint? I just love it a bit more despite its flaws, all thanks to Dark Aether. The creepiness of the dark world and overall moodier atmosphere, and how the game handled difficulty in a way that I really appreciated, make me able to look past its shortcomings in other areas and choose it even over Prime's overall smoother experience.

---

The vibes throughout are simply impeccable, and I love how little touches like Samus slumping exhaustedly in the save station animation, and the frequency of Luminoth corpses littered throughout the world, really help to sell the severity of the situation. Not to mention the opening investigation of the missing Federation troopers, and how their eventual fate (and the sobering realization that they never even met the Ing proper) really sets the tone powerfully right off the bat.

And it's not all gloom and doom, either, I have just as much love for the bright and sunny Temple Grounds and the associated banger of a theme as for the darker stuff. The environmental design is gorgeous throughout, and I love how bits of Luminoth decoration and artwork are visually echoed (heh) later on in the Light Suit. But even then, it doesn't feel like a complete break in tone, light to offset the shadow and make it darker by contrast.

On that note, I just adore Dark Aether, with its swirling purple skies, the twisted versions of parallel rooms, and eerie distortions of the light world area music; just mwah, chef's kiss from me. Plus the fact of constantly taking damage while outside the light bubbles, further underlining the grim atmosphere and adding an extra layer of anxiety to both exploration and combat.

---

Which brings me to my second point; I really enjoy how the whole concept of Dark Aether's toxic atmosphere provided a compelling challenge that is like, the kind of approach to difficulty that I actually like. AM2R, much as I love 99% of it, I wound up giving up on at the finish line, because the last two Shinespark puzzles demanded a level of pixel-perfect timing and precise execution of several consecutive, individually tricky actions within the space of a second at most that I simply could not pull off, which kinda killed my motivation to continue despite being right on the Metroid Queen's doorstep.

With Dark Aether, there isn't that same demand for perfect execution, but instead an ever-present source of danger; that emphasized, (for me at least) a fine mixture of thinking ahead by using knowlege of the light world's layout to navigate the dark, and a need to be willing to take risks and go into areas without the light-bubbles. Sometimes that risk would pay off, and sometimes it wouldn't and I'd die; but either way I'd be getting something out of it, whether the reward of success or the reward of learning.

Similarly, I think I died once or twice during the Chykka fight, to the atmosphere instead of the boss itself, and it felt like an entirely fair outcome for playing very haphazardly on that attempt. So to get back to the point, I like how it didn't demand flawless timing and execution, but still forced me to play well, and employ a fine mixture of cautious planning and calculated gambles to make my way through both exploration and the boss fights. Even if not done through the same means as Dark Aether, this is the kind of approach to difficulty I would like to see more of from the series in general; fingers crossed for Prime 4.

---

Like I said, I think Echoes isn't as smooth or polished an experience as Prime, and replaying it is as much a reminder of all those little frustrations as a reinforcement of my love for it, but I still think that the fantastic execution of the tone and tough-but-fair approach to difficulty keep it my personal favorite despite the flaws.

[terriedirewolf]

Ight, lets get a post in here

So metroid dread came out not too long ago. I'm very pleased with it. Samus returns was a little shaky imho, and i was only slightly concerned that it was the same people. But I think they surpassed expectations. Issues from the 3DS game didn't make it in, the art design is phenomenal, and the world and story are very cool and fitting for the universe. I'm a particular fan of this sort of rebuilt power suit that totally still has fusion suit elements all over it still. And the chozo boss who's face rips open is quite pretty. Good game. 10.

But anyhow, it's definitely not supermetroid levels of non linear. And this is the tie breaker. Metroid 1 was about as open as possible. Kind of a rough expereince even by the standards of the era honestly, I'm kind of amazed the series didn't die then and there. But the sequel did wonders for the series. It is also however, much more linear. Now, you can backtrack if you want, and honestly, the map is small enough where it's not that much of a pain in the ass. But it's not open design really.

Supermetroid was a mix of the two. Metroid 1 with the sensabilities of metroid 2, and like five times the tech to make it all work. And it did work. But it's also not nearly as open as people think it is. It just does a real good job at hiding it, and it is kind of nonlinear as it has four distinct paths to travel down once you get through the intro exploration. The hidden movement tech also did wonders for it. People suck this games cock all the time though, so I won't dwell on it's acomplishments.

Fusion is way more linear. It does open up in places, but for the most part, you're stuck following orders and being a shadow of your former self, and fighting your own ghosts. Ibreally like the game though, and it feels and plays just like how I want metroid to feel and play.

I guess what I'm trying to get across is that dread not being a hand free "wander this vast cavern and good luck" kind of game isn't really that weird, and metroid hasn't been about open ended exploration for most of it's lifespan. Much like many games, it's a puzzle room. The keys are just very fun to play with, and it likes to hide secrets. I think metroid has always been about the lonly atmosphere, as well as the idea that something sinister is watching at the same time.

Now it's worth noting that I never played the prime games, but the only 2d game I haven't beaten is samus returns, and that's cause my 2DS has been lost. But I think that this is that thing about the series that no one ever mentions cause of how the genre the series helped create has formed over the years. Metroid has never been interested in being a metroidvenia. Which is kind of weird to think about.

Anyhow, visually, it's always bugged me that samus is supposed to be this powerful woman who takes no shit, got bird hrt, and can brave situations that few others can get out of alive, but is built like a barbie doll. People have pointed out the shoulders before. It's weird, and never has been addressed in canon. It's always obscured too when she changes in and out of her power suit, so, if her arms are even in there is a bit of a debate.

My solution is buff samus. Niklas Arne Jansson did the concept a bit better, and I think there's a handfull of other people who drew her stacked like a truck, but not enough imho. I also wish she'd wear anything but the zero suit once in a while. Cause it's cool and all, but pockets are dope as shit.

The arm canon is another issue. Seeing as she has like, an arm in there. Anyone even slightly savy with ballistics can tell you that a snub nosed thing like that is gonna be aweful. The crazy bit is that the barrel opens up instead of the rockets just using folding fins or something. How 250 rockets fit in that thing is another question entirely, but I guess, there's like, borderlands digitalization or something, so it's workable I guess. Recoil will be harder to handle without a wrist, and aiming is kind of impossible without a heads up display I expect. The fusion arm canon has more issues, and I seriouy doubt you could get a forearm in it and still have room for any of the cool foldy stuffs.

I really do not have a lot of solutions here, but there are two ways I figure. The easiest is to just remove the arm. Which is always cool. Robot arms that transform into guns is like, peak design. The other way is to extend the cannon, or make it offset from the actual arm. Maybe even a combination. That way there's room forbthe big arm gun to be like, actually big and gun, and still let samus have all the thumbs to fly a spaceship. Also, I feel like she should be able to drop the thing. Like take it off and set it down, piloting the ship with a partially armored forearm and hand, with exposed internals and hardpoints to mount the blaster.

But yeah.

Rough sketches

[mystech-master]

Death Battle Heroes Team Up

I and my friend have been talking about this idea for a while.

Imagine all of the heroes/anti-heroes that have shown up in Death Battle

The candidates for this team are anyone who can be considered a full-on hero (fight bad guys and save the world), or even an anti-hero (same but maybe with darker/more brutal methods/motivations, Red Hood, Venom became bros with Spidey later on IIRC, etc.), and they must have appeared on Death Battle, but I am willing to extend it to characters who have appeared in the animation but aren't the advertised combatants (Trish and Jeanne) or are basically confirmed (Ruby Rose and Maka Albarn + Soul Eater), just to add some variety to their franchise reps b/c DB has a shit load of Marvel and DC and many franchises have like 1-2 reps with many of them not even having their main character yet.

I imagine this crossover taking place in some weird nexus outside of space-time so we don't have to deal with the complete consequences of their settings crossing over as well as to explain how canonically dead characters are here too.

All Pokemon who appear in DB will just be a part of Red's collection. Charizard has the Mega Stone and we've seen that Mewtwo can Mega Evolve under his own power.

Imagine the chaos of having Tatsumaki, the Reds and Blues (Xeno Trunks would have an aneurysm after hearing about their time travel BS), 3 My Little Ponies, A couple of Shonen Dumbass protagonists, and more all working together.

Ben has pretty good samples of badass new DNA to scan for cool new transformations: Goku, Superman, Optimus Prime, and Glacius for example. I wonder if he would get Chozo DNA from scanning Samus?

Imagine all of the technology/science-based heroes all bringing their heads together to make something badass (Give Genos a freaking Upgrade so he isn't reduced to scraps in most of his fights).

Goku and Zoro now have plenty of new martial artists/swordsmen to learn and grow from. Yes, Goku is like 50 billion times Universal now and could wipe out all of them in one move, but he can still hold back against a weaker opponent if he thinks he can learn something new from them. Or at the very least he'd be happy to help other martial artists grow, like Ryu (Street Fighter, not Hayabusa), Po, Guy, and Lee.

We recently talked about the possibility that The Seven from The Boys, specifically Homelander, would try to muscle in and lead this team, saying that they are totally awesome heroes, but with Op people like Goku and Superman or the 4 super wizards (Fate, Zatanna, Strange, and Scarlet Witch) they are gonna be put in their place eventually.

The main problem with some of the options for heroes is that they are a bit too dark/brutal. Like we have Guts as a possible hero, but the world of Berserk is super hardcore compared to a lot of these franchises. It feels like if you have the setting or something from Berserk, someone would basically need to have all sorts of horrible shit happen to them (Killed, Eaten, that third thing that Boomstick mentioned in Guts vs Nightmare, or all 3 at once). The tonal clash really messes with this.

This is just a fun idea my friend and I have been talking about that I thought I'd share. It'd be interesting to see if anyone else has any interesting possible interactions between the heroes.

I'll try to list who I have as options (see after read more)

Starwars: Luke, Obi-Wan, Yoda

Metroid: Samus Aran

Street Fighter/Final Fight: Mike Haggar, Zangief, Chun-Li, Blanka, Ryu, Dan Hibiki, Cammy, Ken Masters

Mortal Kombat: Raiden, Scorpion, Sonya Blade, Sub-Zero, Johnny Cage

Marvel: Rogue, Thor, Spider-Man, Captain America, Deadpool, Iron Man, Beast, Wolverine, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Hulk, Venom, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man 2099, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Namor, Black Widow, Ghost Rider, Miles Morales, War Machine, Cable, Winter Soldier, Spider-Gwen, Iron Fist, Storm, Scarlet Witch, Magneto

DC: Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Green Arrow, Barry Alan, Batman Beyond, Raven, Doctor Fate, Nightwing, Aquaman, Shazam, Green Lantern, Static, Black Canary, Booster Gold, Wally West, Red Hood, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, Zatanna

Mario Bros: Yoshi, Mario, Peach, Luigi, Donkey Kong

TMNT (either the 2003 4Kids version or Rise): Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo

Battletoads: Zitz

Killer Instinct: Black Orchid, Fulgore (the version who is starting to gain Eagle's mind), Glacius, TJ Combo, Sabrewulf (if they can get him help w his Lycanthropy)

Darkstalkers: Felicia, Jon Talbain

Blazblue: Taokaka, Ragna the Bloodedge

God of War: Kratos

Spawn

Dragon Ball: Vegeta, Son Goku, Majin Buu, Hercule Satan, Android 18, Master Roshi, Beerus, Broly, Trunks (not Xeno version so he'll match and Xenoverse is its own complicated BS). Since Gogeta and Vegito are the same guys they'll just have a pair of Potara so other characters can fuse even though they lack DBZ powers

Sonic the Hedgehog: Shadow, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Silver (similar deal to Trunks)

Harry Potter

Fatal Fury: Mai Shiranui, Terry Bogard

Transformers: Optimus Prime

MLP: Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle

Halo/Red vs Blue (It's implied that they share a universe right?): Master Chief, Carolina, Sarge, Simmons, Griff, Donut, Lopez, Church, Tucker, Caboose, Tex (this one is subject to change with how they reference a lot of other media but it would mostly involve ignoring a joke or 3)

DOOM: Doomguy

Mega Man: Mega Man, Zero, Megaman X, Mega Man Trigger/Volnutt, Lan Hikari & MegaMan.EXE, Geo Stellar and Omega-Xis

Final Fantasy VII: Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart

Pokemon: Red (all pokemon are in his arsenal): Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, Pikachu, Mewtwo, Lucario, Machamp

He-Man and She-Ra

Thundercats: Lion-O

Ninja Gaiden: Ryu Hayabusa

Strider: Strider Hiryu

Fox MCloud, Bucky O'hare, Terminator, RoboCop, Godzilla (iteration where he is more of an ally), MechaGodzilla (with or without Akane), Gamera

Power Rangers: Tommy Oliver (Tigerzord and Dragonzord), Jason, Billy, Trini, Tack, Kimberly

Gundam: Zechs in the Epyon, Amuro in the RX-78-2

Kirby: Kirby, King Dedede

Guilty Gear: Sol Badguy

Naruto: Gaara, Naruto Uzumaki, Jiraiya, Sasuke Uchiha, Might Guy, Kakashi Hatake, Rock Lee

Avatar: Toph, Aang, Zuko, Korra

Guts, Goliath

Metal Gear, Solid Snake, Otacon (remember if they show up in the animation they count), Raiden

Splinter Cell: Sam Fisher, Grimm

RWBY: Yang, Weiss, Blake, you could possibly count Ruby since Ben Singer did say that that matchup WILL happen as it was Monty's Request

Astro Boy

Tai and Agumon, Renamon

Devil May Cry: Dante, Trish, Vergil

Bayonetta, Jeanne

Ratchet & Clank

Jak and Daxter

Tracer

One Piece: Zoro, Ace, Sanji

Fairy Tail: Erza, Natsu, Gray

Lara Croft, Nathan Drake, Scrooge McDuck (reboot version), Shovel Knight

Voltron: Keith, Lance, Hunk, Alura, Pidge

Ichigo Kurosaki

JJBA: Jotaro Kujo, Jonathan Joestar

Kenshiro, Crash Bandicoot + Aku Aku, Spyro the Dragon + Sparx

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey

Pit, Leon Kennedy, Frank West (the last 2 were almost ignored but Marvel vs Capcom made me rethink it), Jin Kazama, Samurai Jack, Afro Samurai

MAYBE Lucy from Elfen Lied if some of the more paragon heroes manage to help get through to her, but she'd be a challenge

Ben Tennyson, Mitsuru Kirijo, Captain Falcon, Edward Elric, Hiei, Mob

One-Punch Man: Tatsumaki, Genos, Saitama

My Hero Academia: All Might, Shoto Todoroki, Deku

Danny Phantom, Jake Long

Like I said the Seven would try to join and take over but the super powerful characters can put them in their place: Homelander, Black Noir, Queen Maeve, A-Train, The Deep, and Starlight. Butcher might be brought in as well.

Soul Eater: Crona, and Maka + Soul Eater (similar logic to Ruby Rose up in the RWBy section)

Kill la Kill: Ryuko and Senketsu

Mikasa Ackerman, Po, Steven Universe, Star Butterfly, Alucard (the 4 super wizards putting a leash on him, some of the heroes' honorable nature, and DIO + Dracula being evil vampires might allow him to play nice for a time), Tanjiro and Nezuko Kamado, Omni-Man, Excalibur

Bond and Wick are a bit too down to Earth to fit among all this fiction so either they'd be cut or they'd have to be handled very carefully

Spongebob and Asta

That is the total list of heroes that we've considered for this crossover.

[sparkylurkdragon]

(This is for my creative works sideblog but posted to main whoops)

I posted 88 times in 2021

83 posts created (94%)

5 posts reblogged (6%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.1 posts.

I added 240 tags in 2021

#art - 43 posts

#legend of zelda - 39 posts

#fanart - 35 posts

#linktober 2021 - 32 posts

#linktober - 32 posts

#metroid - 17 posts

#sparky vs - 13 posts

#metroid dread - 12 posts

#link - 9 posts

#ocarina of time - 8 posts

Longest Tag: 64 characters

#neither strikes me as tonally inconsistent with the zelda series

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

So, how about how Metroid Dread handled Adam Malkovich, huh? (Spoiler thoughts and Other M negativity under the cut)

The thing about Adam is that I genuinely really like him in Metroid Fusion. He’s an interesting character who has a fun dynamic with Samus that you can read in several ways, as well as being the source of a lot of background worldbuilding for the Federation at large.

So, I absolutely hated him in Other M. Not just because he was a dickhead to Samus, but because, fundamentally, he was not the Adam I knew from Fusion. Adam’s character assassination in Other M pissed me off almost as much as Samus’ character assassination.

Since Dread is a post-Fusion game, out of universe it had to deal with two completely different characters sharing the same name, and that’s a tall order. This was one aspect I was really worried about, and I intentionally looked up how the game handled both Samus and Adam before I played it. I didn’t want to be burned again, you know?

So, I knew going in what the deal with Adam and Raven Beak was, and I think that helped me enjoy the game more than if I hadn’t. As “Adam” started getting more dickish, I probably would’ve just sighed and had grumbly Other M memories: “Well, at least they got Samus right this time.” 

On the other hand, I think it was a hilarious and even brilliant move, at least for Dread itself. I think the pop cultural osmosis image of Adam - the basic idea that players who are coming to Dread as their first Metroid are going to have - is based more than anything on his horrible Other M incarnation, so “Adam” being kind of a jerk wouldn’t set off any alarms for new players.

And for series veterans like me who didn’t like how he was portrayed in Other M? Going in, we’re in a kind of limbo where we’re not sure what the heck Nintendo is even doing with this series anymore, so him being written as a jerk would have been somewhere along the spectrum of annoying to infuriating, but because of the cynical expectation that he was going to be written out of character, his out of character behaviour also wouldn’t have been suspicious.

I’m sure Samus knew much, much earlier than even the savviest player did.

I do hope Adam can get a chance to redeem himself in another Metroid game, if we get one, but as is him being impersonated by the villain was probably the best thing the game could have done given everything out of universe surrounding him. What little we saw of the real Adam encourages me; him snarking that the Federation isn’t paying Samus enough was great, as was him staying completely calm when Samus barged into the ship all Metroided up after several hours of no contact and with a Chozo X copy onboard.

27 notes • Posted 2021-11-08 08:55:00 GMT

#4

Ganondorf: Ah, you mean the technique of volleying a magic spell back and forth?

Bowser: No! I mean we play actual tennis!

30 notes • Posted 2021-10-09 01:22:57 GMT

#3

Linktober Day 7: Spirit Place!

The bit in Hyrule Castle where the ghosts of the guards point the way is one of my absolute favourite parts of Twilight Princess. It's a very powerful moment, I think.

34 notes • Posted 2021-10-07 07:13:52 GMT

#2

Linktober Day 23: Hylian Place!

The Hero of the Wild's house! Again, very interesting challenge since I don't draw architecture much.

The sign says "Link's House" "And Zelda's" in Twilight Princess' Hylian script.

36 notes • Posted 2021-10-23 07:06:52 GMT

#1

I don’t think I’m done talking about Other M!Adam and Raven Beak.

The more I think about it, the more encouraged I am by Dread’s story. I have a few nitpicks, perhaps, but on the broad strokes level Dread seems to prove to me that the reaction to Other M was really and truly taken to heart, and that they understand enough of why people were so angry to not do it again. The way Samus overcomes Raven Beak feels, in a way, like a heartfelt apology.

One of the central failures of Other M for me was that it asked us to buy its version of Adam as a good father figure for Samus. He isn’t. In so, so many ways, he really, really isn’t. But the game doesn’t seem to know that, and Samus outright thanks him right after the scene where he shot her in the back because he didn’t think she’d listen if he talked to her as an adult, which this version of Samus actually might not have.

Raven Beak, on the other hand? The game, and Samus, is completely and fully aware he’s a terrible father/father figure. Samus doesn’t even give him the time of day: her reaction to him trying to pull rank as one of her sources of Chozo DNA is, basically, “eat a missile, asshole”. And when he lords himself over her at the end of his boss fight, belittling her efforts and rubbing in that he has already won, her reaction to that is to get a second wind and completely demolish him while belting out a roar of righteous fury.

Imagine that horrible Sector Zero scene from Other M if Samus had reacted to OM!Adam the way she reacted to Raven Beak.

51 notes • Posted 2021-11-11 03:05:32 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[prokopetz]

And the third expanded and revised Opposing Forces playsheet for the game formerly known as Doomguy. This one was formerly THOSE ALIEN ASSHOLES; I’m not super happy with the alternative title, but nothing better spring to mind. I’m open to suggestions!

You’ll note that I’ve added a fourth, more freeform fill-in-the-blanks bit to this one: that’s intended to offer more customisability for games where two different versions of the same Opposing Force are in play. THE ESTABLISHMENT will probably get one called “Your Mission Statement”, and THE RIVAL’s will likely be “Your Damage” (short version: “why are you such a jerkass?”), but I’m not sure about THE HORDE yet.

As always, comments and criticisms welcome!

***

PLAYSHEET: THE CIPHER

Media Inspirations: The Maykrs (Doom); The First Kingdom (Darksiders); The Chozo (Metroid)

You've been planning for the apocalypse since before the people facing it were born. All this has happened before.

Your Nature (choose one or more): Immortal precursors; alien ghosts; an ancient conspiracy; a huge brain in a jar; actual, no-shit angels

Your Aesthetic (choose one or more): Crystals and holograms; rust-streaked metal; crowns and wings; expressionless masks; rune-scrawled stone

Your Mood (choose one or more): Cryptic; ethereal; grandiose; contemptuous; creepy

Your Laws: You're bound by the laws of your nature -- things your agents always do, never do, or are driven to do. Describe them here:  -  -  -

Your Agendas

Uphold your traditions

Manipulate from the shadows

Self-sabotage through dogmatism

Bring forth revelations

Judge

Taking Reactions

Each time the Slayer takes an action, each Opposing Forces player may react. Some reactions may be taken once in total per Slayer action, not once per Opposing Forces player; if this is the case, the Opposing Forces players should work out amongst themselves who gets to take it. After each reaction, the last Opposing Forces player to react asks the Slayer "what do you do?"

Also, you may always ask questions or offer suggestions to help another player out. This does not count as your reaction.

Heavy Reactions

When the Slayer takes a Light Action, you may:

Introduce a new greater threat -- an instrument of your judgement, a break from reality, a dangerous artifact in careless hands

Force the Slayer to prove their worth

Reveal plans long since set in motion

Pontificate about the futility of the Slayer's struggle

If the Slayer has taken at least three Light Actions this scene, describe how things get catastrophically worse, and end the scene

The Opposing Forces may collectively take at most one Heavy Reaction per Slayer action.

Routine Reactions

In response to any Slayer action, you may:

Introduce new lesser threats -- weird energies, hidden agents revealed, servitors armed with bullshit space magic

Obstruct the Slayer's path with puzzles and illusions

Describe the otherworldliness of the apocalypse

Interject details into another player's narration according to your mood and aesthetic

Ask the Slayer a leading question. They can either answer in character, or expand on their most recent action to illustrate their answer. Either way, responding doesn't count as an action.  - "Why do you persist?"  - "What gives you the right?"  - "Was it worth it?"  - Something else, based on whatever the Slayer just did

You may also take a Routine Reaction without waiting for the Slayer to act if the game's pace flags or the Slayer seems to be stalling for time.

Light Reactions

When the Slayer takes a Heavy Action, you may:

Pronounce judgement on the Slayer

Warn of what the Slayer's victory will unleash

Frame a callback to the Slayer's needlessly complicated backstory

Offer backhanded praise

If the Slayer has taken at least three Heavy Actions this scene, describe how the Opposing Forces are pushed back or thrown into disarray, and end the scene

The Opposing Forces may collectively take at most one Light Reaction per Slayer action.