#also the arena has him as a character bonus so might as well

[witchofanguish]

I think this is worth digging into because... yes. In the arguments which feed the roots of Vs Debates this is easier to ignore - if you're ultimately arguing about metal cans shooting each other in space then you can pretend they could exist in the same world, that what they are is comparable. However, this is a pretense. We can see it shatter obviously in cases like, say, Mage the Ascension, where the entire debate hinges on which cosmology you're accepting, because mages are only limited to relatively (by Vs Debates standards) limited feats due to an actively hostile environment, or TypeMoon. Is the Death Star an A-rank mystery? Would a Space Marine landing in MtAsc Manhattan explode from paradox? The answer is asking there questions marks you as deeply deranged. Okay, but Batman is a human, right? Supposedly made out of atoms and whatever? Why can't we compare him to humans? Well, no. To sound utterly pedantic, he's a fictional character, not a human. If a human kicks a tree and it bursts apart, we can conclude 'holy shit I do not want to be kicked by them, they've got TNT thighs'. We live in a world ultimately dictated by the standard model and general relativity. It has rules. The force it takes to blow apart a tree and to cave in a man's chest are relatable. If Batman kicks a tree and it flies apart, and you flip the page thinking 'oh man, oh man batman is going to cave in a man's chest in his next fight' you'd be wrong, you fool, he's going to get held up by a bunch of untrained dudes in sweaters holding pipes. The tree is for aesthetic, for looks and metaphor and style. It's an RPG character getting an unopposed roll against a piece of scenery and the GM saying 'yeah, go for it, break apart that tree in your rage, i'm not giving you a bonus to your attack rolls in the next fight'. Now, granted, if you saw Batman get held up by a couple dudes with lead pipes and figured a squad of ten ninjas or Darkseid, evil alien god, would destroy him you'd also be wrong. This is why 'feats' and 'calcs' for Batman don't matter. They aren't predictive. The aesthetic is. Some stories have calcs which meet their aesthetic decently well - the Culture, for example - and so we can use the calcs as a lesser substitute, sometimes. Other stories, like Mage the Ascension, have feats so contextual that a Vs Debate always starts and is mostly decided by which aesthetic you're letting predominate. So what's the aesthetic of Batman against 160,000 nerds? Well, it's... nonsense. That's not a number even the most ambitious comic book writer would throw at him, just use a decently big crowd of a couple hundred, and it's such a bizarre set-up that being 'in-character' is actively confusing things. But if Batman did have to fight a big crowd, how would he do it? Probably not with his fists. If he was in an enclosed area and it wasn't 100,000+ he might punch them out, one or two at a time, ending with a panel of the bloody, bruised Caped Crusader limping out of the basement of some seedy nightclub only to collapse into the Batmobile, which drives him back to Wayne Manor. If it was a bit more open - like a theatre, huh wonder if we've seen that - he'd fight for a bit and find some trick to escape and possibly trap/disable them. If it was really open he'd grapple out or call in his Batmobile's Tesla Autopilot Mode for pickup. If it was maze-like he'd use stealth. But in a big open arena, against 100,000, it's not in Batman's aesthetic to fight them at all. Edit: If the question that comes to you after reading this is 'why are you in Vs Debates, then?' And the answer is I'm looking for a good story about who would win. Or a good joke about how. The problem is a six megajoule kick, in this thread, is a joke being treated like a story.

[eclissy]

I stress wrote about the time a 5* Donnel in the 8th stratum almost wiped my team (Chrom 5*, Hinoka 5*, Jeorg 4*, Narcian 4*) to break from exam studying. 

Chrom sneezed at the enemy troubadour and they exploded.

Not literally but they did break a few ribs on their way down to the ground. The rest of their team was faring no better.

Farther down river, Chrom’s three other allies were getting rid of the last of the hapless foes.

“Milady, Hai-knocka,” Narcian ran his garishly gloved hand through his hair, his voice making all of the blood in the Princess’ head drain down to her knees. “As the power behind the group, I’ve come to realize that you must be growing bored of watching me mow down the vermin.”

Next to Hinoka, Jeorg picked off two lancers with his bow and arrows, leaving a young boy with a pot on his head shivering all alone.

“I’ll let you handle the brat,” Narcian chuckled, tossing his bangs back. “Don’t hesitate to ask for help, your highness. My dashing beauty and strength—“He made a sweeping bow. “–is all yours.”

Hinoka couldn’t believe it. The gaudy wyvern rider was making her hate the color red. As for Jeorge, he was beginning to feel sorry for the poor nobility that Narcian served. Unfortunately, both knew that they had to clench their teeth and cooperate with this mess of a man for the greater good.

Narcian had his wyvern land on the bridge, trapping the little pot-head boy between him and dense forest. The Hoshidan Princess shared a forced stoic look with Jeorge before having her Pegasus fly across the river, hearing Chrom and the Summoner return as she did.

“Donnel?” Chrom spotted one of his shepherds trying his best to hide behind his thin-as-paper lance. “Did the Emblians get you too?”

Distracted, Hinoka glanced over her shoulder at Chrom and seeing his chance, Donnel yelled and jumped at her. His brave lance struck twice, the second thrust bolstered by Draconic Aura. Hinoka was winded and in the water before anyone had time to blink.

And Narcian started screaming before anyone had time to react.

“No!” Chrom jumped to the bridge, grabbing the wyvern’s tail and pinning it to the ground as it was about to lift off. “Stay! You! Stay!” The Prince glanced at the Summoner for help but they were busy fishing Hinoka out of the river.

“Did you see that?” Narcian’s words were barely understandable with how loud he was shrieking. He was so shrill that Jeorg was sure his eyes were going to shatter from the noise. “He killed her! That hog farmer killed her!”

“Hey, I may not be a hog farmer but darn tootin’, don’t be usin’em as an insult.” Donnel said, struck by an arrow to the pot helmet in the next second. His ears rang and the farm boy panicked, stabbing erratically at Narcian.

“Why did you aim for his head?” Chrom chastised Jeorge as Narcian’s Wyvern leaned out of the way, allowing the lance to repeatedly strike their rider directly in his stomach.

The tip bounced off of its target like Donnel had just tried to kill a wet rock.

“Mother of tarnation!” Donnel resorted to batting at Narcian and for all it was doing to the trash pile, the weapon might as well have been a wet noodle. “What are you?”

“Too beautiful to die!” Narcian needlessly shielded himself, stomping on his Wyvern for them to move.

Seeing what happened to Hinoka, they were in huge trouble. If Narcian, the only one of the three who wouldn’t keel over from a lance nick, escaped, Donnel was going to kill everyone on the other side of the river.

Chrom had two plans, both of which needed Narcian to stay put.

He hopped on to Narcian’s Wyvern, grabbing the back of the rider’s collar and crouched behind him, effectively using the General as a loud meat shield.

“Unhand me, you dunce! You’re getting your sweat all over me.” Narcian shouted, arms flailing wildly to reach Chrom. The wyvern general forgot all about the deadly edge of Donnel’s lance jabbing at his stomach for that. “Fly, you damn lizard, fly!” Narcian stomped on his wyvern harder.

“I’ll give you some belly rubs later if you don’t,” Chrom offered gently. Of course, the wyvern was happy to curl up and disobey their life-long handler. “Donnel? It’s me, Chrom!”

“Prince Chrom, I don’t understand what’s happenin’ exactly but those fine Emblians told me you were in some deep trouble!” Donnel was sweating buckets trying to gouge through Narcian with all of his might, kind of tickling him and that succeeded in getting Narcian to kick him in the chin. “ACCKKK, MA TAnGe!”

“Sorry, this is the best I can do,” Chrom struggled to hold Narcian still. “The last time Narcian was this upset, it took three hours of the Summoner touching his face to calm him down,” The Prince grunted as Narcian knocked his head back and it slammed against Chrom eye. “Gods! Ughh…just—Look! Let’s talk! The Kingdom of Askr is rescuing us and many more worlds. They’re here to help.”

“Your highness, who told you that?”

“Donnel, you must have seen them around,” Chrom sighed, relieved that Donnel had stopped attacking. Not that Narcian was going to stop thrashing or insinuating that Chrom was ‘too poor to afford a second sleeve.’ “A Prince and a Princess came to our aid. The Prince has blue hair, his younger sister is a blond. Their tactician came to our aid too. They’re with us here actually. Over there, the one with the hood.”

Donnel took one glance at the Summoner in the middle of pulling Hinoka up on the grass and promptly went back to stabbing at Narcian.

“Clones!” Donnel exclaimed. “They’re using clones to trick you!”

“Huh,” Chrom paused. “Now that you mentioned it—OW!” Donnel’s lance had slipped under Narcian’s arm and cut him. “Hhsss oh, that right in the nail bed.” He hissed in pain.

Obviously, the first plan was dead in the water.

“Alright, I’ll listen to your reasoning, Donnel.” Chrom said, regaining Donnel’s attention. He inched closer to the Shepherd, still holding Narcian between them.

“You believe me, don’t ya, Prince Chrom?” Donnel came closer too.

“Of course I do, let’s all take a breather, we’ll calm down and—ANYTHING CAN CHANGE!”

The Falchion jabbed at Donnel from over Narcian’s shoulder, missing by an inch when Donnel staggered back.

“Swords! The strategy was to keep me away from swords!” Somehow Narcian’s vocal cords hadn’t snapped and he hit impossibly high notes with that yelp. “That is a sword!”

“I know. Shut up,” Chrom grimaced, trying to inch closer to Donnel again. “Apologies, Donnel!” He said in chipper tone. “I got a little surprised back there. Let’s actually talk.”

“Fool me once, shame on you! I might not know that second part to that ol sayin’ but darn tootin, it ain’t happening twice!” Donnel swung his lance, slapping the side of Narcian’s face, sending his spittle through the air.

“Ah! Not the face!” Narcian groaned. “The gods put it on the earth to be admired, not scarred!”

“Stop moving. You’re fine!” Chrom ducked away from the lance. He had dropped to a squat, with Narcian draped over him like a table cloth. “I heard people like scars anyways.”

Narcian coughed something along the lines of “But I hate pain.” Only, it was inaudible thanks to Chrom pulling his collar so tight that he had gone as blue as the Prince’s hair.

Without any warning, Chrom leaped to strike at Donnel. Narcian’s legs flew up with the motion, giving Donnel a clear opening he didn’t know was coming.

The Shepherd’s lance slipped between Narcian’s legs and nailed Chrom, crushing his Nagas so hard that Lucina and Morgan flickered in and out of existence.

Chrom froze, midair, and fell on his knees. His mouth was open in a dry, silent scream.

“Finally!” Narcian shook Chrom off and slipped, doing a backwards summersault off of his wyvern. Fate was kind enough to give a final grace to this embarrassing tragedy by making sure the back of Narcian’s skull hit the bridge as he fell into the water.

“Yahoo!” Donnel raised his lance in victory, earning an arrow between his ribs. The realization hit after Donnel blinked twice, lowered his arms, and flicked the arrow stuck in his chest as the contract binding him faded. “Aw, I guess them Askrs were nice after all.” He collapsed, meaning to sleep off the hole in his lungs.

By the wyvern’s swishing tail, Jeorge pretended he had been waiting for an opportunity all along. That whole farce hadn’t mesmerized him with its sheer stupidity, not at all.

Once the Summoner made it to Jeorg’s side some time later along with a revived Hinoka, Donnel slowly recovered. Meanwhile, Chrom knelt there, eyes to the sky, jaw wide open, killed in action.

“So it all went well?” The Summoner asked, noticing how quiet it had gotten. A bush of freshwater kelp was flung at Jeorge and caught in his hair, meaning that Narcian had burst out of the river just then. The Wyvern General, in a crazy turn of events, stayed quiet and glared daggers at all of them.

A short beat of silence swept over the team, amounting to a second for a clock but was a humiliating hour for all of them.

Clearing her throat, Hinoka simply said “It’s done.”

“What?” Narcian sputtered. “You sniveling cowards almost killed me and say nothing?” He dragged himself to his feet. “I’m more important than all of you combined and I was practically dead!” Narcian said despite nearly everyone except him being of noble blood. “All of you dogs should be drying me with your tongues!” Though glowing red with anger, there wasn’t a scratch on him that wasn’t his own fault. Jeorge, rolling his eyes into the next dimension, was still nice enough to approach him and Narcian harshly shoved him off. “I don’t need your help.” He spat.

The Summoner’s shoulders sank, having gone to Narcian’s side as well. “Ok, then.” They began to walk off with Hinoka.

Suddenly, Narcian was flat on the ground, moaning pitifully.

“P-please…” He faked a stutter, reaching out to the non-present Summoner. “A hand?”

Now, Jeorge never felt the need to shoot someone while they were down but Narcian was so pathetic, he had to. Narcian managed to see him aim in the peripheral of his vision.

“No no no, that’s one of my best parts! Not the aAAAAAAAAA—“The arrow flew and Jeorge didn’t bother to make sure it landed as he stepped over Narcian to join the other two.

Going unnoticed, Donnel had gone to check on the silent as stone Chrom.

“Uh, y’all?” Donnel tried to get attention. “Y’all? I think Prince Chrom stopped breathing. Y’all!”

[warabidakihime]

Rules and Roses (Prologue)

characters: human!kibutsuji muzan x reader, angst, fluff, nsfw, modern au, lowkey a political fiction but not really.

plot summary: Kibutsuji Muzan has finally decided to expand his empire, and the way he intends to do so is by running for the highest political position. With you, his darling wife, at his side, he believes he can achieve and have everything the world has to offer. He is, after all, the Phoenix of Phario.

content warning: nsfw, can be psychologically triggering *you have been warned, this is muzan so- you know what you're getting into. as always, MINORS DNI!

writer's notes: so! this is one of the fics i'd like to share with you all. i decided to share the prologue now, but i won't likely update till i finish invisible strings. Rules and Roses will take place in a modern setting and in a modern civilization. I've always wanted to write a fanfic dedicated to Muzan because I always find his character intriguing and I want to see my take on his character. Bear in mind that I will stray slightly away from his usual demeanor from the canon story, but don't worry, his main points will still be there. I have a specific route in mind for this story, so kindly bear with me. Do share your comments and feedback too. I would love to see your inputs. They will surely motivate me to write more. Enjoy reading! <3

Classical, soothing music continued to play in the room as you sat prettily in your high chair and your stylist continued to style you up for today's grand occasion. After dodging the million dollar question so many times, Kibutsuji Muzan has finally decided to formally announce his presidential candidacy for the upcoming presidential elections. 

Hoards of people with big cameras, as well as ordinary citizens of Phario, have continued to flock to the main entrance of the Obelisk Kibutsuji as they wait for the CEO of the most prestigious corporation in Areswood to take his place at the podium.

People generally dislike people who have no expertise or any semblance of political history but dare to run for any office because they believe such people are usually up to no good.

Muzan, on the other hand, was able to win the hearts of his compatriots. Everyone was in awe of the man's ability to rise from the ashes since he came from scraps and eventually made his way to the top. 

They sincerely believe that a man like Muzan would be an excellent leader because he knows the heart and wishes of the people better than anyone else. Having you as his wife, Phario's most renowned ice skater and ballerina, who has made her nation proud by bringing gold after gold every time you compete in the Olympics, is just a bonus. 

One that is extremely valuable. 

You are, without a doubt, one of your country's greatest treasures. 

Then again, you're the daughter of two legendary athletes, so it's only natural that you're good at what you do.

The fruit truly doesn't fall far from the tree, no?

*

Regardless of the fact that today is a special day for you two, Muzan is currently meeting with some of his overseas investors. He arrived at the arena much earlier than you, allowing him to get his hair and makeup done. He insisted on you taking your time because you were exhausted from yesterday's schedule. You've just returned from a charity expedition in the countryside.

Another quality that everyone in Phario reveres about you is that you are not just an exceptional athlete but also a philanthropist. Because of your parents, you have been exposed to social work since you were a child, and as you have grown older, you have developed an interest in helping others. It's in your nature to be so compassionate and caring.

Despite his desire to concentrate entirely on today's event, he had already promised to give them the time of day and speak with them. 

That's exactly the type of man Muzan is. He is headstrong, incredibly intelligent, unfailingly truthful, and always honors his commitments. He might be impatient and hot-headed at times, but he's a wonderful person overall.

Unbeknownst to the general public, you two have known each other since high school. When you first met, he was a year older than you, so he was a senior and you were a junior. 

You met him during a school event wherein you performed in front of the whole student body. Muzan fell in love with you the moment he saw you dance so gracefully on stage, but it took him a while to approach you. Because you come from a renowned family, he assumed you wouldn't dare to give a commoner like him the time of day.

He was adamant about that until you approached him. 

It didn't happen on a special day or anything; it just happened on a rainy Thursday. It was after school hours and he was about to go home when you sheepishly asked him if you could share umbrellas because you'd forgotten your own.

That was the beginning of your friendship. 

Muzan was pleasantly delighted to learn that, despite your illustrious background, you were really modest and so lovely. He was smitten every time you looked at him, and luckily for him, the feeling was mutual. You admire his enthusiasm and tenacity.

Every time he would share his dreams with you, his ruby eyes would twinkle, and you found yourself falling deeper and faster for him. It doesn't help that every time you two meet at the school grounds, he looks dashingly handsome. 

As you were making a name for yourselves, it didn't take long for the public to fall in love with you two.

Everyone adored you to the point that you two have been branded as the embodiment of regality. Adults would wish their children to grow up like you two, while youngsters would desire to meet somebody like you or Muzan.

Admiring someone to the point of idolatry isn't exactly your thing, but you can't help but feel flattered from time to time. Who wouldn't want to be seen as a role model for young girls? In today's society, you're like a contemporary queen who is adorned by her subjects.

*

A few moments passed, and the stylist was finally done with your hair and make up, and you looked absolutely gorgeous. 

You thanked her and motioned for her to have lunch as she had been working for three hours straight, and while you were admiring your stylist's work, an arm wrapped around your waist, making you jump a little.

When you looked at Muzan with wide eyes, he chuckled lovingly.

"You scared me!"

"I'm sorry, my love. You look beautiful though."

"Really?" you said, your face flushed.

He was about to agree when he abruptly stopped mid sentence and said, "Wait," then went for your earrings and took them off, leaving you perplexed.

"Dear, what are you doing?"

He didn't say anything and instead grabbed for the pearl earrings, which he neatly placed in your ear, saying, "There. Much better."

“You didn't like the diamond earrings? That's the one you gave me on our fifth wedding anniversary."

"I do, but pearl earrings befit a president's first lady more, don't you think?" Muzan said as he shook his head. He then smiled at you and kissed you sweetly on your forehead.

You smiled cheekily at him, "Already confident you'll win?"

"Of course. I have you as my lucky charm."

"Well, aren't you sweet? Come here..." You were about to pull him down for a kiss on the lips when Kokushibo entered the room and tapped on the door.

"It's time, Sir Muzan," he remarked curtly.

"We'll be there in a minute," Muzan said, turning to face him.

Before leaving the room, Kokushibo bowed graciously. 

You saw your spouse take a big breath before turning to you and asking, "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," you said warmly.

Muzan held your hand in his and you two proceeded towards the door, and when you were finally visible to the audience, the screaming became even louder. 

Everyone was evidently delighted to see you.

You gently squeezed Muzan's hand before escorting him to the platform.

You and Akaza, your personal bodyguard, listened to Muzan's speech from the rear, while Kokushibo stood by your spouse as he addressed the people.

Akaza took a step closer to you, but not enough to raise suspicions. He stealthily hooked his pinky with yours, making you blush, and then you felt your insides churn when he spoke to you in that sultry voice of his.

"You should have worn the earrings I got you, Madam."

Next Chapter: Chapter 1

TAGLIST: @babygirl-panda19 @hypnocountrymusicfunnyfan @exodarkwolf16 @qdreamueen @vesta-ro

[allykakamatsu]

Hypothetical P5A

Okay, gonna make this clear right up front, I wanted to make this post for a while but the main reason I decided to do it now is because the Atlus announcement thing is almost here, and also cause I saw a video on this topic by Thorgi’s Arcade (go watch it btw it’s good) and while I agree with a lot of what he said, there’s also some things I’d change, not just cause I disagree, but also cause I think it would be fun. Anyway enough beating around the bush, let’s do this

Gameplay

I’m a firm believer in the phrase, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and the Arena games are already really good so not much to change. That being said, I still wanna change some things. First off though, we are keeping this 1 vs 1, no tag team matches. The arena games already have a lot of Mechanics going on and trying to keep everything as well as some new stuff WHILE adding a tag team button, yeah no let’s not outside of maybe a bonus mode.

This means I can’t add Batton Pass in as a new mechanic to represent P5, but I have a solution, that being Technicals. Status ailments already exist in this game, so how about when you inflict one and do a specific combo you do more damage, also providing risk vs reward as the player with the status will have a better idea of what the opponent will do making them more predictable. Also as for Persona’s, mostly everyone’s will be fully evolved, minus Yu cause him getting a final boss persona normally is a tad to OP, meanwhile the P5 characters will have their starting Persona’s, but they will evolve for big moves, like awakened mode supers and instant kills

I’m also borrowing Thorgi’s Arcade idea of having supports giving a slight buff in battle, like if you pick Fuuka your meter can build faster for a bit, meanwhile if you pick Futaba you’ll get an attack and defence buff. It’s the fairest way to include them without having to make them playable. I know Rise is already playable but this roster is going to have to be small as it is, and being a support doesn’t mean you can’t be DLC later.

Also, we’re not bringing back the Shadow Characters, just, we are not dealing with the likes of Shadow Naoto again.

:readmore:

Story

I am about to cop out a bit here, but Thorgi’s Arcade video had a really good idea for the story so I’ll just link it here https://youtu.be/yyB5rEM9UVU

To summarise for people who don’t want to watch, Nyarlathotep, the main villain from the Persona 2 games, has been gaining strength from all the suffering humanity has gone through due to 3, 4 and 5, and has gained enough strength to create a new Joker to try finish what he started and destroy the world. Mitsuru might think the Phantom Thieves are behind it cause this is clearly persona related and the fact that the leader of the PT’s is also named Joker is public knowledge, Naoto gets largely the same idea, Katsuya and Maya decide to have their own investigation, meanwhile the Phantom Thieves are trying to prove their innocence and help save the world. Nice excuse to bring everyone together, but who will the everyone be?

Base Roster

Okay, I know the dream is getting everyone from Ultimax back plus the new P5 characters, but given Arc System’s standard for small base rosters, I’m not holding my breath. The ideal would be everyone plus who I’m about to say for P2 and P5, but I’m keeping it… somewhat realistic. Anyway onto the actual size, 16 seems fair enough. One more than the most recent Guilty Gear game for a series that had pretty big success so that sound fair enough. Let’s get the obvious out of the way though, all the base 8 Phantom Thieves besides Futaba are making the cut

Okay so that’s obvious but how will they play? Starting off with Ren/Joker, Smash Bros already laid a great foundation with him being very fast on the ground and in the air plus being great at combos, so I see no reason to change that. Also no need for him to be a Jack of all trades either cause spoilers, Yu is coming back and he already fills that role.

As for the others, Ryuji I can see being a slugger charge hybrid. Basically starting out he hits pretty hard but is a bit on the slow side to compensate, but just like any good athlete, give him a chance to warm up, ie do a charge input, and he becomes a lot faster and has better combo potential. Or we could make him a toned down version of Little Mac where he’s great on the ground but he’s in trouble the second aerial combat is involved. Then there’s Morgana who with his ability to turn into cars and the fact he introduces thief tools like smoke bombs, I can see him being a faster but frailer successor to Teddie.

Then there’s Ann who, no doubt, she’s a Zoner, and with her fire she’ll be Yukiko’s sort of successor. However instead of healing, I’d implement the fact that she learns concentrate and have it so the more she charges it up, the stronger her attacks get, but the Meter will gradually go down over the match. Yusuke, as tempting as it is to cop out and say ‘have him play like Vergil in Marvel vs Capcom’, I have a different idea. Namely, take advantage of the fact that Yusuke can learn counter by having him be the defensive specialist, set up ice traps to freeze the opponent, and if they get close, he can either counter or go for some combos.

Then there’s Makoto who would definitely be a grappler. I mean, she practices Aikido and is really strong, she can 100% pull it off. Finally Haru…… TANK! I mean come on, Haru wields an axe, has a grenade launcher, and Melady is literally a dancing tank in a pink dress, it just makes too much sense. I’d also give her a bit of armor cause if she’s slow she at least needs a chance to get her attacks in.

Okay so that’s 7 out of our 16 slots down, and given that one slot will have to be saved for the Evil Joker who would be the villain, we’re halfway done with 3 games to go, lord help me.

Okay, starting this off with P4, I’m gonna give them more than the others purely because they were the focus of the originals and there’s less realistic cuts I can make compared to 2 and 3. To make things simple, every returning character would play the same, and as for the ones I’d bring back for the base roster, we’ve got Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Naoto. Why them specifically? Well Yu is the main character, Naoto being a detective would basically mean she’d be the one getting everyone involved in the first place, Chie is currently training to be a cop as confirmed in P5 so her getting called in makes sense, and Yosuke is the best investigator after Yu and Naoto, he’s always up for a mystery and the second he learns Yu is involved he’s joining in. I just couldn’t cut him.

Now before the really painful cuts, Persona 2 is really easy. Out of Innocent Sin party members, by the end of the series Maya is the only one left with a Persona, and Katsuya is not only older brother of Innocent Sin’s protag Tatsuya, but he’s also pretty important and a detective so he’s definetly the one Maya’s dragging into this. As for how they play, they both use guns like Naoto, but how I’d mix them up is with Katsuya, I’d let him attack while moving (unlike Naoto who has so stay still to fire) at the cost of less combo potential, meanwhile Maya dual wields her guns so she’ll probably play like Noel Vermillion from BlazBlue where she’d more or less just use the guns to get longer reach melee attacks instead of shooting.

Now, for the hard part. There’s only 2 slots left, one of them basically has to go to Mitsuru (not that I’m complaining I’d probably add her anyway) meaning now I have to choose between the rest of the Shadow Operatives/SEES for the last slot. I narrowed it down to the 3 that were in the original Arena cause they’re the most plot relevant, but that still meant I had to choose between Akihiko and Aigis. I ended up deciding on Aigis though cause A, with Labrys not making the base roster someone has to represent the robots of the series, and B, with Akihiko currently pulling a Ryu by travelling to get stronger, it makes more sense that Aigis would be closer and easier for Mitsuru to call up. Honestly I was tempted to bump the roster up to 17 so I could have both of them on the base roster, but this is ArcSystems, 16 is already kinda pushing it.

DLC

Given that this is a modern fighting game, DLC is inevitable. However since this DLC will likely be like Ultimax where the story acts to wrap up loose ends and have a new story, it’s going yo be big, especially since there’s going to be a fight with Nyaraloptep, so go big or go home in this case. Okay so first order of business, anyone who was in the previous arena games who wasn’t in the base roster is getting added back in, it’s only fair. That out of the way, the new faces I’d add are Futaba actually being playable now and the big 4 P5 characters I skipped, Akechi, Yoshizawa, and Sophie. Before anyone asks though, Sophie was added into a Dragalia Lost collab with Koei Techmo not being credited so she’s likely Atlus’s copyright so she's safe to add.

With that out of the way, how would they play? Starting with Futaba, I’d think she’d be the resident puppet fighter, sitting on top of Necinomicon and only occasionally adding in some of her own attacks like a projectile. Also she'd also probably act as a bit of a grappler cause her Persona has tentacles (no hentai jokes please) which have long reach so that'll be perfect for it. Next up is Akechi who I can see as semi being two characters in one. My basic idea is that at first Akechi will be fighting with Robin Hood and he'll be a solid jack of all trades with a slight focus on rush down. However once he goes into his awakened mode he'll gain Loki, which will increase his speed and attack strength, at the cost of his defence, turning him into a glass cannon.

Next is Yoshizawa, or 'Sumi as I like to call her, and her thing will be she's the mobility focused fighter, namely constantly moving around the stage and poking at her opponent while doing it, at the cost of being frail. Finally there’s Sophie who would be a combo focused zoner, as in her standard projectiles (the yo-yo’s) wouldn’t hurt that much on their own, but she can string them together into the fancy yo-yo tricks to potentially do big damage. As for how much this DLC would cost, it’s going to be very big, so €25 to €30 sounds fair

I think that more or less covers my thoughts. I could keep going on about this for a while, but I think this is a good place to stop. Hope you like my idea!

[iturbide]

If you are still up for character asks, how about Sumia. I was sad no one asked about her yet.

And your latest fan art got me interested in also hearing your thoughts on Takumi. If you feel ok answering since I know you haven't played Fates.

I’ve been sad about that too so thank you for rectifying that situation ❤

How do I feel about this character?

My girl.  I love Sumia so much, she is one of my absolute favorite characters in Awakening and one I will never pass up an opportunity to write.  I love her and how passionate she is about books, how deeply invested she gets in the stories and characters and how she uses them both as an escape from her own life (where she can’t help but dwell on her own shortcomings) and as a source of inspiration and courage.  There’s something intensely relatable about wanting an escape like that, feeling outclassed or useless and getting lost in a book as a way to cope -- and yet she’s so capable, even if she doesn’t recognize it herself.  She seems so used to people looking down on her or criticizing what she does or making fun of her slip-ups that she’s started to really believe all of it, when the reality is that her mistakes have never been her defining trait: seeing her learn to embrace her own skills and talents is so heartwarming and I find myself constantly rooting for her to succeed in everything.

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

Sully!!  Sully and Sumia is one of my favorite ships in all of Awakening, honestly: I love these two ladies who are so gung-ho about horses and bond over that mutual interest and I love the idea of them getting together and learning more about each other, bolstering one another’s confidence (Sully reassuring Sumia that she’s more capable than she thinks and offering to train her if it would make her feel more assured, Sumia insisting that Sully doesn’t need to be girly to be a woman and gushing about how she admires the cavalier) and falling for one another in the process.  It’s just really warm and I love it a lot, and given how encouraging they are in their supports, I really think they’d be a fantastic match for each other.

Also, I do love her with Chrom, and I feel like she’d be an encouraging influence for him, doing what she can to give him confidence and help him keep moving forward in spite of the obstacles; she’s such a bright and refreshing character and I think they could end up working really well together, leveraging their individual strengths to make the halidom a better place.  And I really enjoy her with Robin, too, considering how they bond over their mutual love of books, and I think Robin would be one of those people who really can see her for who she is, rather than the klutz she sees herself as.  It’s especially good when it’s both of them together with her though (yes I love my OT3).

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Robin and Sully, when I’m not shipping them!  Their relationships are so strong and they’re founded on such deep rooted friendship that even when I have them in other relationships, those bonds remain.  Also, even though she doesn’t have any supports with him in the game (which is criminal), I love the idea of a Sumia and Kellam friendship.  Kellam is someone who struggles to be noticed, Sumia’s someone who often seems to wish she could disappear.  The idea of them coming together and overcoming their obstacles together is really heartwarming to me.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

She’s so much more capable than fandom wants to give her credit for.  Most people seem to write her off as stupid, passing over her as a brainless klutz in favor of the “genius” Cordelia -- but this is such a disservice to Sumia and her character.  She’s a fantastic fighter if given the chance, outrunning and outmaneuvering enemies, and while the game loves to play her off as comic relief, she’s a character with interesting, thoughtful support conversations whose life clearly doesn’t revolve around getting a man’s attention.  She’s her own person with hopes and dreams, hobbies and interests, unique skills and charming quirks, and bothering to get to know her really allows her to shine.

And personally, I don’t think she’s actually that clumsy.  Sure, she can be a little scatterbrained sometimes, but even the smartest and most capable people can be; when she has too many things to juggle she slips up in comic ways, but when push comes to shove she’s incredibly capable; if she weren’t, she never would have been able to rescue Chrom at the Longfort (sometimes I think people forget that she’s the one who swept in and got him clear of the javelins).

(And for a bonus unpopular opinion: I hate Cordelia and Sumia as a ship.  Cordelia is so mean to Sumia in their supports, banning Sumia from telling her flower fortunes because she personally doesn’t see value in them -- she doesn’t even bother trying to understand what Sumia’s doing or why, she just decides that her own way is the only right way, which is not how friends should act; putting them in a relationship is out of the question for me.)

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

Why does she have so few supports?  It’s not fair that she can so easily end up alone because the game limits her options so much; aside from Chrom, she has the fewest marriage options, but unlike him she doesn’t have an auto-marriage after a certain point.  It’s not fair that the game treated her that way, and I wish canon had given her more supports, platonic and romantic both.  Again, seeing her with Kellam would have been incredible, and I really wish they’d bothered to give her a support chain with Maribelle, too, considering how Maribelle treats her early on; it would have been amazing to see them work things out.

and you know I was wondering if people forgot my favorite Fates character

How do I feel about this character?

I have never played Fates.  I know about these games purely through fandom osmosis.  And yet I will say, in no uncertain terms, that Takumi is my absolute favorite Fates character. Fallen Takumi is still one of my very few units at +10 merges in Heroes because I love him that much.  And it’s kind of hilarious how it came to this because it’s kind of Heroes’ fault that I’m in this situation. 

I remember when the game first launched how much of a pain he was in the early Arena before Skill Inheritance was a thing, and how the only reliable counter I had for him was Hector because I’d never gotten Takumi myself.  And then one day he randomly showed up in a summon, and I was so excited I ran off to train him immediately...and realized as I did that this guy has some massive self-esteem problems.  It’s what got me interested in him in the first place, enough to do some digging in the wikis, and I kind of fell in love with his character: he’s smart, he’s capable, but he has a massive inferiority complex since he’s grown up in the shadow of his older brother -- something Corrin’s return manages to make worse, since everyone kind of loses their minds over it and pushes him down and away despite the fact that he’s the only one being sensible and questioning whether they can really trust Corrin after they were brought up in Nohr.  While he has an attitude problem that needs to be addressed (though it’s nowhere near as bad as Felix’s), he can get better and gain confidence in himself and his abilities...but in Conquest, his fate is an absolutely tragic one, where his self-doubt and anger allow Anankos a foothold, something to prey upon, and ultimately lead to his loss of control, loss of self, and loss of life.  His story just really hits me in the heart, kind of like Lyon, and I just want to see him grow and overcome his doubts. 

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

Okay so this is probably where my not having played the game is going to bite me but I have no idea. There are so many characters in Fates and I don’t even know half of them.  I know Leo is a popular partner for him but I’ve never really seen the chemistry there so I can’t say that’s for me; I could always cheat and say I ship him with happiness because honestly that is true, I really do want him to be happy first and foremost, but I don’t have an actual character answer whoops.

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Azura.  I love the idea of the two of them coming together as friends, both haunted and hounded by nightmares and terrible thoughts they can’t seem to shake, and finding ways to support one another through it.  I get the feeling that Takumi might have treated Azura with some distrust early on, but despite the fact that she came from Nohr, I honestly think they could have ended up having a close bond in Hoshido growing up as they struggle with their own problems, and it would have been amazing to see them come together to overcome them.  Also, I love the idea of him and Sakura being close as siblings, with Takumi protecting Sakura and helping draw attention off her when she’s feeling especially shy while she tries to encourage him and give him a place where he can relax with and get away from all his issues for a little while, someone he can enjoy himself with and not have to think about his problems.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

I actually don’t know what kind of popular opinions there are about Takumi so I have no idea what kind of unpopular opinion I could have.  Honestly I don’t see anywhere near enough to Takumi in general since he seems to be eclipsed by not only his older brother but the Nohrian royals in fandom-wide popularity; is it an unpopular opinion to want more people to give him a chance, rather than writing him off as just an angry nay-sayer?  Because honestly, he is the only one with any sense, since he’s the only one who thinks to distrust Corrin when they return.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

Okay so this is really really niche but I really wish they’d made Takumi Corrin’s half-brother rather than just a step-brother.  It honestly would have made so much sense?  Takumi’s the only other character who has the same kind of pale hair that Corrin canonically does, even if it’s not the exact same shade, so if that came from Mikoto it would fit perfectly with not only Corrin’s and Takumi’s hair color, but Sakura’s hair being that super pale pink compared to Hinoka’s vibrant red, which is what you’d probably expect from Ikona and Sumeragi after Ryoma inherited his father’s very dark hair.  I get the feeling they didn’t do it because they wanted to make all the royals available as romance options, which is both cheap and gross (and after what they did with Azura in Revelations it’s worse), but I think it would have been a really interesting plot element if they’d taken the time.

Give Me a Character  

[kokichi-and-co-imagine-blog]

SEES, the Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves as SHSLs/Ultimates Part 3:

Up next is everyone’s favorite protein guzzling boxer, the white-haired lightning bruiser, the guy who I still haven’t forgiven Atlas for bastardizing in their spinoffs (particularly the arena series), Akihiko Sanada.

Seriously, the poor guy did not deserve the simplistic treatment of his character in Arena. ...Though than again, the sad truth is that seemed to happen to most of the cast, huh?

ANYWAY, enough about that, you’re not here to hear me gripe, you’re here to hear about how he’d fit into the DR-verse!

Akihiko Sanada:

SHSL Boxer/Ultimate Boxer: As we know from DRV3, Ultimate titles can be used more than once. It’s why I honestly like the SHSL moniker more, it doesn’t imply the same level of insuperable expertise as Ultimate does. Regardless, we know Akihiko is an amazing fighter with his fists; frankly if you’re able to punch out Eldritch Abominations from the human psyche with nothing but boxing gloves you probably deserve Ultimate Boxer. Plus, he is the boxing club’s leader.

Akihiko has probably the absolute WORST reputation out of all the students for breaking things in the dojo. Mitsuru and Shinjiro hold far more shame over this than he does of course.

Just like in Persona canon, Akihiko has a LOT of female admirers in Hope’s Peak. Even plenty of girl’s from the reserve course are probably head over heels. He reacts just as he does in canon. (I would almost want to see someone write up interactions between him and Miu because seeing him getting flustered from how explicitly thirsty she would be over him would be hilarious.)

Not a relationship thing because I really don’t know enough about her to do a full one, but I do think the dynamic between Akihiko and Tenko Chabashira could be extremely interesting. Anyone who knows more about her, feel free to write up how you think their interactions and views of each other would be and do let me know.

Major Relationships within the DR cast: -Sakura Ogami: Akhiko and Sakura are sparring partners and have an immense mutual respect. I imagine their first meeting was somewhat comical in a way, Akihiko striding right up to Sakura despite his issues speaking with girls, and asking for a fight with her, having heard of her abilities. I can’t honestly see him beating her outright without using his Persona powers (considering how she actually defeated Mukuro in DR: IF and how Kodaka said she could defeat Juzo, though admittedly Akihiko isn’t just a normal human) but I do think he’d give her a good match and the two would hit it off immediately. Expect a lot of talk about about training and protein. However, I think Sakura would be a major driving force for Akihiko to re-examine himself and how he views strength. After all, Sakura isn’t just strong, she is very wise and I have no doubt she’d challenge Akihiko to try and help him figure out what strength really is and why he desires it. She may become a sort of ‘sensei’ for him. (I also find the idea of Sakura eventually asking why Akihiko doesn’t seem to have issues interacting with her despite his very clear issues interacting with girls hilarious because there is no way Akihiko could answer that without saying SOMETHING wrong. Shinjiro would mock him remorselessly.) If I’m being honest, this is even a sort of crack-ship for me, the only thing keeping it from a full ship the fact that Sakura is in a relationship with Kenshiro and the fact that I’m too invested in Akihiko/Mitsuru. -Akane Owari: I’m sure absolutely no one is suprised by this. Just like Sakura, Akihiko and Akane are sparring partners, though their relationship is far more a rivalry than Akihiko’s with Sakura’s. Not that the two aren’t friends, they are, but Akane’s personality lends itself more towards the two being intense rivals. However, I happen to think that how they formed their rivalry is VERY different to how Akihiko and Sakura first engaged each other. Akane had to challenge Akihiko, not the other way around. I see this happening for two reasons. First, Akane is known as the Ultimate Gymnest. Akihiko likely would not have immidiately thought of her as a fighter the same way he did Sakura. Second, Akihiko’s own issues with dealing with woman would have been a roadblock at first because Akane is far more obviously feminine than Sakura is. I think this would have caused an initial roadblock for Akihiko, one that was easily overcome though after Akane challenged him to a fight. And this time, Akihiko would have absolutely won. The two actually have an inverse relationship to the one Akihiko has with Sakura, as Akihiko would honestly be the one teaching Akane, both about fighting and about the nature of strength. I have no doubt Akihiko would challenge Akane’s own beliefs on what strength means, just like Sakura would do for him. I can also see a repeat of how in his social link with Hamuko he sees her like he used to see his younger sister and could have a very similar case of trying to protect Akane, particuarly due to her somewhat oblivious nature. As you could imagine, that would go about as well as you’d expect. However that mess would resolve itself, Akihiko would have once again taken another step to moving forward and being at ease with his past, while I believe Akane would learn to be okay with showing vulnerability and being helped. Also, you can’t convince me that Akihiko would TRY (emphasis on that word there) to help Akane with school work. He is a good student after all.  -Nekomaru Nidai: Yet another ‘I’m sure you all saw this coming’ case. Nidai and Akihiko are yet again sparring partners, though in Nidai’s case it’s less for him and more for Akihiko’s own development. In all likelyhood, he’s probably why Akane even got interested in Akihiko as she probably heard about the boxer from him. For his part, Akihiko has a decent bit of respect for Nidai, even if he finds his... openess about some topics a bit much. He also is, just like everyone else, a major fan of Nidai’s deep tissue massage. (I can also see Akihiko bothering Shinjiro to try and help Nidai with his Dyspepsia in the form of some cooking help though I have no doubt that would piss off Teruteru. Of course, Shinjiro might even see that as a bonus... but more on that later.) -Byakuya Togami: Not really a major relationship, but it is worth a mention. Togami is one of the few people Akihiko is outright disdainful of (and perhaps even despises, but that might be a bit much for him). This is of course due to Togami’s insistence on asking Mitsuru to help produce Togami’s heirs which infuriates and disgusts Akihiko. (Whether this is simply due to how good of friends the two are, the amount of respect Akihiko has for Mitsuru or perhaps is something more is entirely up to interpretation. Again, MAJOR Akihiko/Mitsuru shipper here.) For his part, Togami doesn’t view Akihiko as anyone of import or as being worth his time. Funnily enough, that specificaly wouldn’t bother Akihiko too much on his own, he wouldn’t really give a damn what someone like Byakuya thinks of him. It’s just his attitude towards everyone and the stuff with Mitsuru that caused the immense disdain. - Juzo Sakakura: Juzo is a difficult case. While he may not have any issues with someone else getting the Boxer moniker as well, his entire general attitude clashes with Akihiko’s immensely. Juzo is used to throwing his weight around and near bullying others to get what he wants, as opposed to Akihiko who is an upstanding guy and, while competitive, would never go about acting like Juzo does. Juzo is also a VERY prideful man, so getting called out on his s*** may not go well, and Akihiko may very well call him out on his s***. Doesn’t helpt that I’m certain Akihiko could beat Juzo in a fair fight.  All this being said though, Juzo would honestly admire several of Akihiko’s qualities, for example how Akihiko protects others without thought of his own safety. Ultimately, I think Juzo would have some respect for Akihiko but would never admit it and Akihiko ould respect the man’s skills but recognize that he’s very much flawed and that there isn’t much he could do about it.

Now, that’s it for Akihiko. But before I go, there’s two things that needed to be covered.  The first is that I need to quickly circle back to Mitsuru because there is a MAJOR relationship that I forgot to discuss when I was writing her profile up.

You can probably guess who I’m talking about:

Kyosuke Munakata: How I missed this the first time shocks me. Seriously, Kyosuke is so similar to Mitsuru I’m embaressed this slipped by me. Let’s start with the obvious: His own talent reflects what Mitsuru spends a lot of her time dealing with as a student. She is the Student Council President at Gekkokan in canon and I said in her profile that she would get involved in student goverment here. It’s only a matter of time before she runs into Kyosuke, particuarly if they ever went to school at the same time. In such a case I could see Kyosuke taking on a sort of mentor roll for Mitsuru and even a sort of big brother one where Mitsuru would likely confide in him if she felt overburderned and stressed with her own numerous responsibilities. Afterall, we do know that pre-tradgedy he is described as being kinder than his post tragdey self so I could see him taking on Mitsuru as a kohai/younger-sister. Plus, he would also be a great sword fighting partner for her. (Note, this fobviously would happen only if they attended Hope’s Peak at the same time, which would make it near impossible for her to also have relationships with the 78th class. The only way this could really theoretically work was, assuming the typical 3 year high school system used in Japan, Mitsuru and her year were all the 76th class, meaning that she’d be a first year when Kyosuke was a senior and would then be a senior when the 78th class came along. Which could work and liekly wouldn’t change much of her already established relationships).

Now for the second bit. You probably all notice that I’m dealing with Pre-Tragedy stuff for everyone so far and haven’t touched Post-Tragedy. The first and most honest reason is that I kinda forgot to touch that bit when I was writing everyone. The second bit though is that it’s honestly VERY hard for me to see the tragedy happening if the Persona cast were in the DR world and the Persona-verse rules were still in affect. With the way the Collective Unconciousness works I can’t see Junko winning without eliminating SEES, the IT and the PT and well... she’s good, but she’d be fighting ALL of them on their turf. The same group we know are capable of taking down gods. And hey, worse comes to worse, Door-kun can door-kun or something. Besides the fact that someone like Akechi would have absouletly no qualms about just murdering her. And once again, not a whole lot she can do about the way he goes about killing people. 

This being said, I may make an addenendum post later which details what would be going on with everyone post-tragedy. Spoiler though: everyone pretty much becomes shadow operatives full-time for a long while and they sort of are their own third-party group, seperate from the Future Foundation. I’d go more in depth though if I do make a follow-up.

Anyway, you all can probably guess who’s up next. We did two of the the original three members, up next will be the third. Shinjiro Aragaki will be coming soon... hopefully. My next semester is starting later today and it is a doozy. I am going to do everything I can to make sure this continues, but it will be slightly slower.

[oosteven-universe]

Ghost Rider: Return of Vengeance #1

Ghost Rider: Return of Vengeance #1 Marvel Comics 2020 Written by Howard Mackie Illustrated by Javier Saltares Ink Assists by Marc Deering Coloured by Aric Prianto Lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino    THE ONE YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR – THE RETURN OF VENGEANCE!     MICHAEL BADILINO was a bad dude in life - and that landed him in hell.  But not just any old rung of hell, a layer so deep it’s reserved for those special enemies of hell – one where a former SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE may suffer for all eternity! As LILITH’s gambit against JOHNNY BLAZE and MEPHISTO for the throne of hell heats up, you can bet other players will enter the arena - and Badilino will find a way to ride again as VENGEANCE!    I am a fan of Ghost Rider and always have been though I am not really all that sure why heh.  He has this convoluted history with multiple folks having taken up the mantle at various points in time.  Which actually may be what I like about it because each version of the character brought and brings something different to the table.  That Badlino isn’t your typical Rider is definitely a bonus in my book and while Lilith and the others who are involved in this fight for hell Badlino is a wild card of the best kind.  The dynamic that is presented here is phenomenal and this makes me want to see more!    I like the way that this is being told.  The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well.  How we see this being structured is fantastic and how the story is introduced and developed really keeps pulling the reader in and doesn’t let up for a moment.  The character development here is phenomenal and seeing the characters act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter flesh them out really well.  The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story and the twists & turns along the way is fantastic.  How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow is pretty amazing to see.  I am really, really enjoying how the events of this book are presented to us and the potential for what is to come is thrilling.      The interiors here are fantastic.  I love the linework that we see and the varying weights and techniques that are being utilised to bring out the detail work is stellar.  This is some really strong comic book style artwork and it works with everything we see here.  This is Hell so I’d like to see more creativity and imagination in the utilisation of backgrounds, while the sweeping lines for action are nice but i wanna see Hell.  The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a stupendous eye for storytelling.  The colour work is beautifully rendered.  How we see the various hues and tones being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is sensational.  I also like how we see various colours in places you might not expect them but because of a light source it’s completely as it should be.  This understanding of how colour works is super impressive. ​    This is book and character that I would totally read on a monthly basis.  It has the drama and the complexity that makes things so much more complicated than you go into this expecting it to be.  There is this unexpected depth to the storytelling and it draws the reader in and engages their minds and imaginations in all the right ways.  Marvel has some stellar books and none of them involve the Avengers or X-Men and it’s time that these books get to shine.

[rainplaysswtor]

Rain Plays SWTOR: Vaylin Fight

I have seen a number of posts here and there from people who have trouble with the climactic fight in KOTET where you face Vaylin. I’m not going there with serious criticisms I have of the story - this post will strictly be about addressing Vaylin as a boss you have to defeat within the game. First thing to remember: You have two practice rounds. The game actually gives you two dress rehearsals to hone your skills for KOTET chapter 9. You do also face Vaylin in KOTFE, but her skills there are vastly different from what you find in KOTET so we won’t address that. Round One: In KOTET chapter 3, your character faces Vaylin on the Gravestone. This is nowhere near as tough a fight as you will face later - in line with the story, Vaylin has not yet unlocked her true power and potential - but you will notice the purple circle on the floor around her.

This is a really, really good time to practice staying in that circle, especially if your character is ranged. You will take damage if your attack is made outside the circle. So now, while the stakes aren’t as high, concentrate on keeping a constant awareness of the circle.

  Round Two: In KOTET chapter 8, you fight Vaylin outside the Alliance base. She will have her full complement of skills, which we'll talk about in a moment. However, this fight is still easier because you will have two companions you may have been able to raise to a high level of influence (Lana and Theron OR Senya and Arcaan), whatever extra abilities you have picked up from the Alliance bonus mission and the luxury of being able to pull Vaylin into a corner so you aren't yeeted off the edge of the platform.   This is a good time to continue practicing to stay in the purple circle, as well as become familiar with Vaylin's new skills. You'll be seeing them again soon.

Second point: Vaylin’s most damaging skills are very easy to spot. The one you need to be most concerned about is Force Overload. Vaylin curls up into a ball and channels for nine seconds. There's a large red circle around her. If you are within that red circle, you will face a hell of a knockback when she’s done channeling.

Strategy: Get against a wall. Stay there. In KOTET 9, you can plant yourself against the side or back of the staircase.

Get your back against that wall. Vaylin will follow you. You can micromanage your companions by putting them on passive so they join you and then letting them fight as soon as Vaylin is close. That way, even if you're thrown and take some damage, you won't fall to your death. You’ll just crash into the wall. Plan B: If you are not against a wall, you have nine seconds to get yourself and your companion (who may continue to attack Vaylin) out of the red circle. Go. Run. Put your companion on passive to get them to follow if needed. Another tactic, quoted from @verbose-vespertine​ (thank you!): “If you are *extremely* careful/lucky, you can position yourself with your back against one of the pillars at the arena entrance in the ch9 fight and Vaylin will not be able to yeet you into the abyss *and* the memory of healing will regularly come around and heal you/wreck her day. But if you are even a hair off the right spot, you’re gonna fall to your death, so take with a grain of salt.” Third point: the anatomy of the final fight depends on you. KOTET Chapter 9. Here we go.

There are four distinct possibilities for the final fight with Vaylin. They depend on the choices you have made in KOTET chapters 1, 6, and 7. Specifically, if you killed Senya and Arcann, Arcann will appear as an enemy in this fight. If you chose to keep Dramath, he will appear as a healing companion to assist you. The alignments of these choices are below:   Vaylin & Arcann vs. Player (Kill Arcann; free Dramath) (DS; LS) Vaylin & Arcann vs. Player & Dramath (Kill Arcann; keep Dramath) (DS; DS) Vaylin vs. Player (Save Arcann; free Dramath) (LS; LS) Vaylin vs. Player & Dramath (Save Arcann; keep Dramath) (LS; DS)   Obviously, #1 is the worst scenario for your character, since they have to face two enemies with no healer. #2 and #3 are balanced, and #4 might give you a slight edge over Vaylin.   A lot of specific tips have been passed around for this fight, and they're all good.

If you have to face Vaylin and Arcann: 1. Arcann is far weaker than Vaylin. Kill him first. 2. Dramath will automatically follow Arcann and fight him. You need to stick close so he can heal you and you can help with the fight. After Arcann is dead, he will follow you to fight Vaylin, and he's melee so he will stay in the  purple circle with you.   More, if you have Dramath: 1. Remember you have access to Heroic Moment and Unity, since you have a companion. Now's the time to pull out all the stops. 2. Keep close to Dramath. He tends to die otherwise. 3. Really consider keeping Dramath. Yeah, yeah, DS choice, but he makes this fight much easier.   How do I heal? 1. If you have Dramath, he will be set to heals. He's only a level one companion so help him out by sticking close. 2. See above about Heroic Moment and Unity, if you have those available. If you do not have Unity, you can either earn it by getting one character to Light V, or buying it as a Legacy perk. It cuts damage to yourself and your companion significantly for a short period of time, which can buy you a few seconds for your HP to tick back up. 3. There are green "Memory of Healing" circles floating about. Standing in one will heal you. You can also use these to damage Vaylin if you can get her to follow you into the circle, but you will need to be careful because it will require you to leave the wall. 4. Invest in some Kyprax Supplied Med Units from the medical droid. They restore health to you and your companion, which can be helpful if Dramath is getting trashed. 5. Make sure you have bought the field repair droid perk from your Legacy screen. If you die during the fight you will take a lot of damage and will need to repair before going again. And there are no medical droids in your subconscious so if you don’t bring your own, you’re out of luck during this chapter. 

[fnlrndcllctv]

REVIEW: Mortal Kombat (1992)

Developed by Midway in 1992 as a response to the wildly popular Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat took a slightly different direction thematically than the cartoonish sprites of other fighting games. Opting for digitized photos of actors as the game’s fighters, Mortal Kombat looked stood out as looking more realistic and placed a much higher emphasis on strong, bloody violence in its gameplay.

It’s this violence that made the game incredibly controversial and, alongside games such as Night Trap and Lethal Enforcers, is partly responsible for the formation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a governing body that requires all games to be rated.

The game was also originally intended to be called “Van Damme” and based on the muscles from brussels himself Jean Claude Van Damme, but a deal was never made, so it didn’t come to fruition. The inclusion of Johnny Cage, a diva-esque Hollywood movie star that could do the splits, in the game was a clear reference to the game’s origins (and an indication that the development team had a pretty snarky sense of humour!).

Gameplay

In comparison to its peers such as Street Fighter II and Fatal Fury, Mortal Kombat is definitely much trickier to control. With special moves that require longer, more precise inputs and blocking now being triggered by its own separate button (as opposed to simply holding back on the joystick/d-pad), getting good at the game was more challenging, but arguably more rewarding as a result.

The game also introduced the concept of “Juggling” to fighting games. Juggling takes advantage of the fact that when a character is knocked into the air, the player is unable to control their character until he or she lands and gets up again. It’s so satisfying to watch an opponent helplessly rage as you bounce them into the air to inflict more damage.

Then there’s the most infamous aspect of the Mortal Kombat games - FATALITIES. Each character has their own specific fatality, and requires a particular set of inputs to trigger them in the short gap of time between when game commands players to “FINISH HIM/HER!” and the opponent collapsing. Ranging from the still-beating heart being ripped from an opponent’s chest, heads being viciously removed with the spinal cord still attached to Scorpion removing his mask to breath fire and Liu Kang transforming into a dragon, these finishers are hilariously grim, and are one of the greatest parts of the game.

These gruesome finishing moves have become firm fan favourites across the series, and inspired many future fighting games to implement the same vicious elements in an attempt to “outdo” Mortal Kombat.

Story

The game’s main storyline centers around a tournament being held by the powerful Shang Tsung on an island in Earthrealm. For 500 years in a row, the dragon prince Goro has been undefeated in the tournament, and initially helped Shang Tsung take over the tournament in an attempt to doom the realm. This, the 10th tournament, sees a new generation of fighters enter in an attempt to become the new Grand Champion.

Mortal Kombat’s lore has grown massively since the first entry in the franchise, but here, things are kept relativelysimple. Each character has their own backstory and specific reasons for entering the tournament (instead of, ya know, just wanting to win a tournament?), and the introduction of the “earth is doomed” multiple realms and magic abilities make the whole thing feel like a martial arts movie mixed with the fantasy genre, while keeping things gritty and grindhouse-ish with its strong violent content.

Roster

Mortal Kombat features seven unique playable characters, each with their own backstory that ties in to the game’s general lore.

Johnny Cage - A martial arts superstar trained by several great masters from around the world. Utilising his fighting talents on the big screen, Cage is the star of such movies as “Dragon Fist”, “Dragon Fist II” and the award-winning “Sudden Violence”.

Kano - a thug who lives a life of crime and injustice as part of the Black Dragon gang, a dangerous group of cut-throat madmen. An expert mercenary and thief, Kano is feared and respected throughout all of crime’s inner circles.

Raiden - A deity known as the “Thunder God”, Raiden was rumoured to have received a personal invitation by Shang Tsung himself to take form of a human to compete in the tournament.

Liu Kang - A former member of the secret White Lotus Society, Liu Kang represents Shaolin temples in the tournament, and has a burning hatred of Shang Tsung.

Sub-Zero - At this point, Sub-Zero’s real name and identity is unknown, but due to the markings on his uniform, it is believed that he belongs to a legendary clan of Chinese assassins known as the Lin Kuei.

Scorpion - Much like his blue-colored counterpart, Scorpion‘s identity in this game is a mystery. From time to time, Scorpion has been known to show distrust and hatred towards Sub-Zero, which suggests that he belongs to an opposing clan.

Soya Blade - A member of a top U.S. Special Forces unit that was hot on the trail of the Black Dragon organisation. After tracking Kano and his men to an uncharted island, Blade‘s team was ambushed by Shang Tsung‘s personal army

Each fighter is equipped with various different fighting styles, the most recognisable being Scorpion’s ability to hurl a roped blade at his opponent to bridge any gaps between them (along with the iconic “GET OVER HERE” yell), Sub-Zero’s ability to literally freeze an opponent where they stand (living up to his namesake), and Raiden’s ability to teleport around a stage (thanks to being a god and everything).

Even the game’s non-playable characters are incredibly recognisable, especially the quad-armed Goro, who is an absolute nightmare to fight against.

Graphics

Mortal Kombat’s graphics have aged surprisingly well considering that it is now almost 29 years since its original release.

Vividly coloured backgrounds, large digitised character sprites and a very kung-fu/martial arts movie vibe that’s carried across almost every aspect of the game all work together to create an experience that isn;t just fun to play, but good to look at.

It wasn’t the first fighting game to make use of the graphics style (games like Pit Fighter beat them to the punch a couple of years prior), but it was one of the first to do it well.

The following 2D sequels improved on almost every aspect of the game’s look and feel, but having a more realistic approach to the game’s graphics in this first game certainly made a lasting impression in the genre.

Stages

There are a total of seven stages to fight on in Mortal Kombat;

Courtyard – Shang Tsung sits on his throne and looks on as fights take place in front of a crowd of monks in this Enter The Dragon-esque stage.

Palace Gates – Located at Shang Tsung‘s old island fortress, with a large statue of Buddha looming in the background.

Warrior Shrine – A shrine dedicated to honour the contestants of the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament.

Throne Room – Where Shang Tsung sits on his throne in his island domain and watches as the combatants fight each other for his amusement.

Goro’s Lair – Home to the tournament’s Grand Champion Goro, this level with stone walls and several dark passageways; human bones are scattered on the floor and a skeleton hangs from a few shackles at the center of the arena. Many pairs of glowing yellow eyes appear and occasionally blink in the dark portions of the back area.

The Pit – a bridge suspended over a sea of steel spikes, which is the source of death for anyone unlucky enough to be knocked off. When an opponent is defeated on this stage, they can be uppercut off the bridge where they will land on the bed of spikes. This is the game’s only stage fatality. There are many severed heads at the bottom of the pit, including those of the game’s creators Ed Boon and John Tobias.

Pit Bottom – This stage is only accessible when the player is fighting Reptile.

The stages show a wide variety of interesting locations around Shang Tsung’s island, and even though some of the background characters look a bit weak graphically (those monks in the audience of the Courtyard ALWAYS looked rough), there’s enough charm and impressive architecture here to make each stage feel incredibly unique and memorable.

Replayability

There’s not much in the way of unlockables in Mortal Kombat, but there are some cool bits in terms of bonus stages and hdden secrets.

Mortal Kombat‘s bonus stage is called “Test Your Might”. The minigame consists of the player’s character standing above one of five blocks of increasing hardness, depending on how far the player has progressed in Test Your Might. The player would have to hammer multiple buttons until the gauge next to their character passed a certain point, and then would have to press the Block button to strike. If they were above this point, their character would break the block in front of them. Otherwise, their hand would bounce off the object sitting in front of them.

Not the most original of minigames, as several other earlier titles had similar levels, but this one would return in later Mortal Kombat games, and become quite popular in the meantime.

Then there’s the main hidden secret in the game - Reptile. Although we would see the green-clad Reptile appear in future Mortal Kombat titles as a playable character, he remains a secret non-playable fighter in the first game. In order to face him, players had to execute a Fatality finish after fighting on The Pit stage, assuming a shadow flew over the moon in the background, without taking any damage or pressing the block button in the winning round.

It’s an incredibly specific process, but being “in the know” about it (and successfully pulling it off) during the pre-internet era felt bloody fantastic.

Final thoughts & overall score

Mortal Kombat is a nice start to an iconic franchise.

While the sequels were way more sophisticated in terms of graphics and moves, the first game holds a special place in fighting game history for its innovative gameplay tweaks and its hilariously bloody violence.

Do you agree with our review of the original Mortal Kombat?

Let us know in the comments section below!

[rctribvtns]

 ok  so,  i’ve  never  done  one  of  these  before  so  bear  with  me.  under  the  cut  are  a  few  wanted  connections  i’ve  come  up  with,  as  well  as  the  connections  that  nova’s  already  filled  for  other  muses  so  i  can  keep  track  of  them.

  PSA.   they’re  first  come  first  serve  (  and  i’ll  try  to  keep  it  updated  )  so  if  you  like  it  then  you  shoulda  put  a  ring  on  it  !!   also  if  none  of  these  tickle  your  fancy,  i’m  100%  on  board  to  brainstorm  a  few  different  ideas.  

PLATONIC.

(  the  “ twin  sister ”  )  :  see  wanted  connection  on  the  main.  [0/1]

(  the  ‘  bad  dads  club ’  connection  )  :  this  character  is  also  a  resident  of  hades  cabin.   they  both  have  some  abandonment  issues  when  it  comes  to  dads  and  over  time  they  became  confidantes.  they’re  not  the  kind  of  people  who’d  come  right  and  say  hey  i’ve  got  your  back,  but  if  someone  was  messing  with  the  other  they’d  step  up  and  square  up.  [  1/1  taken  by  tam. ]

(  the  '  best  friends ’  )  :   inspiration:  the  golden  trio.    muse  a  is  someone  nova  clicked  with  almost  instantly  upon  arriving  at  camp  half-blood.  preferably  this  person  would  have  been  in  hermes  cabin  approx.  5  years  ago.  whether  they  were  the  claimed  child  of  a  god  with  no  cabin,  or  an  unclaimed  half-blood,  they  bonded  over  shared  interests  and  compatible  personalities.   when  nova  wants  to  get  into  a  little  trouble,  or  do  something  stupid,  this  person  isn’t  far  behind.   muse  b  is  someone  they  initially  clashed  with  —  maybe  over  their  differences,  or  something  petty  like  cutting  their  favorite  shirt  with  a  blade  during  weapons  training.   whatever  the  reason,  it  was  petty,  and  they  remained  at  odds  with  each  other  until  they  all  went  on  a  quest  together.   this  bonded  them  all  instantly  and  they’ve  been  near-inseparable  ever  since.   this  person  also   tries  to  be  the  logical  one  and  keep  muse  a  and  nova  from  running  their  lives  into  the  ground.  [ 1/2  muse  b  taken  by  zach. ]

(  the  ‘  tentative  friends ’  )  :  when  they  first  met,  they  did  not  get  along.  he  was  very  angry,  finding  it  unfair  that  he  was  shoved  into  hermes  cabin  without  a  place  he  really  belonged,  and  they  argued  about  this.   in  fact,  they  argued  a  lot.   so  much  so  that  it  eventually  culminated  in  a  big  fight  where  he  got  his  ass  handed  to  him.  ever  since,  he’s  pulled  his  head  out  of  his  ass  a  little  and  they’ve  become  tentative  friends.   there’s  mutual  respect  there,  though  it’s  unclear  what  else,  and  their  friendship  is  probably  best  described  as  friends  adjacent.   that  all  might  change  though  if  she  goes  through  with  their  dare  from  her  cabin  mates  to  make  him  fall  for  her.   [  filling  lily’s  wanted  connection.  ]

(  the  ‘  tour  guide ’  )  :   when  he  arrived  at  camp  half-blood,  he  had  quite  the  chip  on  his  shoulder.  he  was  on  the  outs  with  his  family,  recently  claimed,  and  feeling  the  sting  of  rejection  to  find  out  that  hades  kids  were  lumped  into  the  other  cabin.   he  was  probably  a  brat  at  first,  kind  of  impossible  to  be  around,  but  this  person  somehow  looked  past  it  and  helped  him  adjust  to  life  at  camp  which  he  did  appreciate  —  even  if  he  sucked  at  showing  it.  [0/1]

(  the  ‘  competitive  friends ’  )  :  nova  has  filled  this  connection  for  jesse. competitive  friends .   they’re  rivals ,  in  every  sense  of  the  word .  equal  in  fighting  prowess  and  in  shit - talking  abilities ,  the  only  place  they  can  seem  to  get  some  really  good  competition  is  in  the  other .  as  a  result ,  they  spend  a  lot  of  time  going  head  to  head  in  the  arena  or  debating  over  something  stupid  in  the  mess  hall  at  dinner .  neither  of  them  hate  each  other ,  though  it  might  look  like  that  sometimes .

(  the  ‘  sparring  partner  ’  )  :   nova  has  filled  this  connection  for  finn.   finn   isn’t   the   best   at   fighting   hand - to - hand   combat   ,   but   they’re   partners   during   practices   !   maybe   they   teach   him   a  bit   of    what   they   know   and   he   returns   the   favor   somehow   . 

(  the  '  salt  bae ’  )  :   these  two  gravitate  towards  each  other  when  they  want  to  be  shady,  or  pessimistic,  and  aren’t  looking  to  hear  empty  platitudes  to  try  and  make  them  feel  better.  they’re  both  a  little  emo,  jaded  about  the  world  around  them,  and  there’s  a  quiet  kind  of  kinship  shared  between  them  as  a  result.  [  1/1  taken  by  autumn.  ]

(  the  ‘  slow  burn  friend ’  )  :   this  character  was  also  in  hermes  cabin.  they  bonded  over  mutual  annoyances  at  being  grouped  in  with  the  others,  among  other  things.  stargazing  on  the  roof  of  their  cabin  was  something  they  shared  together,  and  continued  to  even  after  they  were  claimed  and  nova  remained  in  the  hermes  cabin.  over  time  they  became  friends,  though  nova  couldn’t  point  to  one  specific  moment  to  identify  when  it  actually  happened.   [ 1/1  taken  by  min. ]

ROMANTIC.

(  the  ‘  will  they  /  won’t  they ’  )  :   for  two  years,  nova  and  this  person  danced  around  each  other.  maybe  they  went  out  once  or  twice,  or  maybe  they  just  talked  about  doing  it  and  it  never  happened,  but  it  was  probably  well  known  that  these  two  had  a  thing  for  each  other  and  it  just  never  panned  out.  [0/1]

(  the  ‘  unlikely  crush ’  )  :   on  paper,  these  two  people  have  nothing  in  common.   this  other  muse  is  a  kind  person,  the  kind  of  person  who  you’d  think  would  get  under  nova’s  skin  and  irritate  him  with  their  goodness,  but  instead  he  started  to  crush  on  them.   in  turn,  it  probably  made  him  more  of  a  jerk  towards  them.   whether  they’re  on  good  terms  or  not  now  is  undetermined.  [  2/2  taken  by  avalon  and  fernanda.  ]

(  the  ‘  first  kiss ’  )  :    they  meet  at  a  carnival.  his  mother’s  working  her  stand  and  he  decides  to  play  hooky  for  the  day.   he  meets  this  other  muse,  they  spend  the  day  together,  and  sparks  fly.   on  the  ferris  wheel,  at  the  end  of  a  day  well-spent,  they  kiss.   it’s  his  very  first  and  it’s  kind  of  a  perfect  one.  they  exchange  numbers  but  he  accidentally  washes  it  off  his  hand.   he  hopes  to  see  her  again,  to  make  contact,  but  the  carnival  picks  up  and  moves  the  next  day  and  they  never  see  each  other  again.   until  now.   [ 1/1  taken  by  harper. ]

(  the  ‘  exploited  crush ’  )  :   this  muse  is  someone  that  nova  realized,  pretty  early  on,  had  a  crush  on  him.  they  weren’t  very  subtle  but  they  sure  thought  they  were.  the  other  muse  never  made  a  move  —  and  nova,  admittedly,  wasn’t  really  interested  —  but  he  never  said  anything  because  he  liked  the  attention.   maybe  your  muse  has  finally  worked  up  the  courage  to  say  something,  or  has  started  to  pick  up  on  signs  that  he  knows.   [0/1]

(  the  ‘  hook-ups  ’  )  :  this  one  goes  without  explanation.  brief  flings,  no  real  commitments,  just  teen  hearts  beating  faster,  faster.  we  can  flesh  out  whether  it  was  a  one-time  thing,  or  a  friends  with  benefits  situation,  but  real  feelings  were  never  factored  into  the  equation.  [ 1/5  taken  by  delia.  ]

(  the  ‘  unrequited  crushee  ’  )  :  nova  has  filled  this  connection  for  abel. unrequited  crush  a .   abel  is  absolutely  obsessed  with  them ,  but  they  barely  know  he  exists .  he  isn’t  even  a  blip  on  their  radar ,  despite  the  fact  that  he  goes  out  of  his  way  to  be  where  they  are  most  of  the  time . 

ADVERSARIAL

(  the  ‘  mess  of  an  ex  ’  )  :  this  muse  isn’t  necessarily  a  mess,  but  their  relationship  definitely  was.  it  was  nova’s  first  and  only  serious  relationship  and  it  didn’t  go  well.  he  was  allergic  to  commitment,  constantly  throwing  himself  in  quickly  and  then  getting  cold  feet  and  being  wishy  washy  about  where  they  stood,  which  led  to  the  inevitable  dissolution  of  the  relationship.   this  muse  wasn’t  very  patient  with  him,  irritated  by  his  behavior,  and  when  they  split  it  was  very  ugly.   we’re  talking  screaming  at  each  other  out  by  the  lake,  a  capsized  canoe,  and  probably  people  taking  bets  on  which  one  of  them  was  going  to  make  it  back  alive.  there’s  love  there,  there  always  was,  but  their  problems  outweighed  any  of  the  good  times.  [ 1/1  taken  by  dromeda. ]

(  the  ‘  anything  you  can  do,  i  can  do  better ’  )  :   these  two  muses  have  been  at  each  other’s  throats  for  years.  instead  of  just  being  competitive,  challenging  each  other  to  be  better,  they’ve  made  it  their  personal  goals  to  best  the  other  person.   possibly  to  their  own  detriment,  or  sanity.   why  they  hate  each  other  doesn’t  even  matter  at  this  point,  bonus  points  if  they  can’t  even  remember,  but  the  petty  rivalry  runs  rampant  and  they  argue  and  compete  over  everything.   literally  everything,  big  or  small.  [ 1/1 taken  by  brooklyn. ]

[hunnybadgerv]

mShenko - Do they finish each other’s sentences? Pick up any phrases or habits from each other? Know when the other is hiding something?

Ship Questions

mShenko 

Eep. So this is a tough one. I actually don’t have an mShenko pairing, yet. To be honest, I only really had Nyx and some just blank Sheps to write particular fills until I got sucked into a few other ships like Shoker and Shega for special events. I mean I do love mShenko, just not one I’ve tried my hand at writing, probably because I’m still neck deep in Nyx and Kaidan.

I figured in lieu of that, I’d give you two pairings for these two questions. Hopefully, that might work instead maybe. So, sticking with the ME verse I went with Bain Massani and Reyes Vidal. (Yes! Bain Massani and just about anyone is one of my crack ships. I just love that character more than I really have any reason to given his what ... 2 minutes of game time.) Nyx Shepard and Kaidan Alenko to keep the Shenko vibe happening. And I was forced to include Rhys Trevelyan and Dorian Pavus because they saw this and they elbowed everyone else in the ribs and ran to the front of the brain to answer questions once I started writing the replies. So, there is a bonus. 

Do they finish each other’s sentences?  Bain Massani/Reyes Vidal: Bain will because it drives Reyes up a tree. Reyes has tried to, but he’s always just a step off anytime he attempts it. But honestly, this is kind of on par for them. Bain and Reyes know how to tweak one another’s buttons and do it so well, but they also know where the line is. Reyes is more of a brat in the bedroom, while Bain’s bratty everywhere. (I wish I could think of a better word, but at this moment, that’s all my brain has got. I blame the sleep deprivation.)

Nyx Shepard/Kaidan Alenko: Yes. They really can and both of them do it interchangeably. But it is a gradual skill that they develop. By the time they go to Ilos, it is pretty much ingrained in both of them. They never really lose it either, though there are times when Kaidan bites his tongue when he might otherwise finish her sentence later because he’s not sure about the whole thing. 

Rhys Trevelyan/Dorian Pavus: I think they could. Rhys does it only when he’s the reason Dorian’s tongue tied in the first place. Dorian will do it whenever Rhys finds himself at a loss, but he’s very conscious not to do it in public outside of those times. In private time/areas, they do it to one another all the time. But both of them have that very ingrained ability to code switch--Rhys because of his family and his own choices, and Dorian for kind of the same reasons, but not quite. 

Pick up any phrases or habits from each other?  Bain Massani/Reyes Vidal: This is a hard one to answer. I’m wracking my brain, but not finding anything. The main way I’ve written Bain and Reyes is more of a Friends With Benefits thing. Bain’s not big on commitment, though that changes later in their relationship. But I don’t see them trading habits. They are both very much their own people and they don’t spend enough lingering time around one another for that to occur. 

Nyx Shepard/Kaidan Alenko: Yes, but in this case it is mainly Kaidan’s habits rubbing off on Nyx. He’s really one of the few biotics she’s worked with for an extended period of time. In her specialty, there was at max 1 biotic in a given company, so she didn’t work with a lot of others. And she didn’t have the same kind of training as other biotics. Then there’s the fact that up until working with Kaidan, Liara, and Wrex, she never really wove her biotics into her combat. She was a soldier first and she used her biotics like she would a grenade--mainly as an “oh shit” button that might give her enough of an edge to get around it. I think that there is some transfer from Shepard to Alenko as well, but I think that is more the cannon things that pop up ... like that whole ... “The major is very capable” bit. I like to give Shepard and the rest of the ME1 squad some credit for that influence on him. 

Rhys Trevelyan/Dorian Pavus: They do, but in this case it is more tiny little things. Rhys knows Dorian wrinkles his nose at certain scents so he becomes more aware of the soaps, oils, and tinctures he uses. Rather than picking up phrases, they more so learn to read one another’s linguistic clues better. Those innnocent sounding words that mean something more. Though Rhys doe pick up some Tevene from Dorian, and tries to get him to teach him more of the language properly. Dorian claims that teaching Rhys Tevene is useless because they only get partway through the lesson before one of them is trying to taste the words out of the other’s mouth. He insists he would need to find a far less attractive language tutor. 

Know when the other is hiding something?  Bain Massani/Reyes Vidal: No, actually. They are both excellent at misleading and misdirection, they know how to keep their own counsel. But they both always assume that on some subjects the other is probably holding something back. Like asking where Bain gathered his “salvage” or the weapons he’s stockpiled. Or asking how things are on Kadara. They both know that they have their own secrets and if it is important enough or something the other needs to know they will share. But they don’t push, because they wouldn’t want the other pushing into their business either. 

Nyx Shepard/Kaidan Alenko: This one is incredibly hard to answer. Nyx hides somethings, just because it is her nature, like how stressed she is and how things are affecting her. In the ME1 timeline, getting her to admit a problem in some arenas is like pulling teeth with a pipe wrench. It really does become an observation game on Kaidan’s part. He gradually discovers the moods and the signals of those. Just like Nyx does with him. Sometimes she knows a migraine is imminent before he does, because she notices the external changes before he’s really feeling it. 

Rhys Trevelyan/Dorian Pavus: Dorian is a very astute man—he assumes that Rhys is probably always hiding something, especially when the conversation is about how this injury occured or where that bruise came from. Rhys tends to play these kinds of things off lightly, in part because they do not concern him, he is confident in his abilities, and he also does not want Dorian worrying unduly. Rhys also knows that there are some things that Dorian hides; he can see it, but he doesn’t push. Dorian’s experience at least in terms of relationships has been very different from Rhys’ and Rhys knows exactly how lucky he is that the people closest to him, mainly accept him (except that brother with the dagger and all). He knows enough to know how rare that is, and how rare it is to be in his position of privilege in terms of people not treating him poorly for his lifestyle choices. 

[murasaki-murasame]

I honestly wasn’t planning to summon for Gala Thor at first, since I want to focus on saving for stuff like the end of year holiday banners, but he ended up looking really strong and also I want to make Tartarus less of a miserable slog to get through with my light units in any way possible, without resorting to ‘haha dark characters go brr :)’, so here we are, lol.

Results under the cut [plus some of my thoughts about the new Tartarus fight]

I started with about 260 summons saved up [which is part of why I wanted to skip it, since I prefer to have at least 300 summons before pulling on a banner], but in just 60 summons I got:

-Ramona dupe [one day I’ll get Gala Elly . . . ]

-Dupe Liger [now at either 1UB or 2UB, I can’t remember which]

-Dupe Pazuzu and Simurgh [they’re both now MUB so that’s nice, even though I don’t use them, lol]

-Ramiel x2 [I don’t really care much about him one way or another since I have other good shadow dragons but it’s nice to have him]

-Gala Thor

At first I was a bit disappointed by Gala Thor, since he gives a base 50% strength and an additional 45% bonus strength based on your energy stacks, which seemed kinda lame compared to Mars, but it turns out that having just one energy stack gives you a bonus 25% strength, with the other stacks giving an extra 5% each, so basically you almost always have 75% strength, which is really nice, and I think at least puts him at par with Daikokuten.

Also apparently his damage mods when shapeshifted, including his dragon skill, are super high, so he works really nicely with someone like Gala Euden, who I’ve basically ended up maining against Tartarus. 

It’ll be a while before the DPS sim updates, but I think Thor’s probably gonna have a pretty big impact on how strong the light roster is, so that’s neat.

Though tbh I think a lot of people are still gonna end up just using shadow units against Tartarus, even if Thor helps bridge the gap between light and shadow units a bit. Which is it’s own whole problem with the game’s balance, lol. I think if they just gave Tartarus poison immunity, that’d probably be enough to actually make everyone use light units in the fight, but I still feel like they need to give endgame bosses way higher off-element damage resistance.

I haven’t managed to get many clears of Tartarus yet, but I have a lot of mixed feelings about the fight. I’m happy to finally have a relevant piece of content to use my light units in, and I like most of the mechanics in the fight, but a lot of it doesn’t really work well in practice, and there’s some really annoying parts of the fight too. Mainly the fact that they decided to keep the enervation mechanic from Void Nidhogg, lol. I quit doing that fight as soon as the shadow Chimera came out specifically because it makes that fight such a goddamn slog, and it continues to be just as awful in Tartarus. And they somehow made it even worse by deciding to give it to you unavoidably at least once in the fight. At least in Void Nidhogg you could dodge everything and never get enervated, but you have to deal with it at least once in this fight.

Also, the whole portal mechanic is extremely cool, and I hope they experiment with more stuff like this in the future, but I feel like every time I go back to the main arena, I have like I have to immediately try and figure out which part of the fight I walked back in on, and usually I have like two seconds to react before one of the screen-wide attacks happens and kills me. It’s really disorienting, lol.

The prison mechanic in general is also kinda hard to wrap my head around, and I feel like it requires maybe a bit more team coordination than is reasonable to expect from a game like this, but really I think it’s just my punishment for never doing High Zodiark, since I think it’s one of the many parts of this fight that are really similar to that fight, and I have absolutely no experience with any of them.

Anyway, now that Tartarus is out it’s making me think back on the Agito bosses as a whole, before we move into the 2nd anniversary where we’ll probably at least get a hint at the next phase of endgame content, and in spite of the various issues I have with them, I think the Agito fights are a huge improvement over the High Dragon fights. You can really tell how Cygames [for better or worse] was trying to shake things up and figure out how to make engaging endgame fights, and for the most part I think it worked out.

The difficulty balance between all the fights [especially counting the Master fights] is kinda all of the place, like how eKai is extremely easy while eAO and eTart are kinda obnoxiously long and difficult if you do them in the intended ways, but I think that at least shows how they kept trying new things. mKai’s also apparently a lot harder than eKai [though I haven’t tried it], so they clearly learnt from the feedback they got from that.

I think Volk and Ciella are probably my favourite of the Agito fights at the moment, for different reasons. Volk feels really well-balanced for the current state of the flame roster, and has mechanics that require a degree of cooperation and coordination without being overly punishing like Tartarus kinda feels at the moment. And on the other hand, I really like Ciella’s fight because it feels like it’s just at the right level of difficulty for me to be able to reliably do by myself. At least on manual. I’ve never really managed to get auto solo to work, but I enjoy doing it manually. Either way, it’s nice to have endgame fights like this that can be comfortably soloed if you have a strong enough team, and I really like how for Ciella you have to build a really tanky, defense-oriented team in order to be able to solo it. I feel like 90% of the game basically punishes you for trying to do anything other than raw damage-dealing, so I really appreciate that Ciella is designed in a way that rewards you for making tanky team comps. It also lets Sylas be genuinely meta for something, which I’m grateful for, and it gave Templar Hope some redemption after he was initially deemed as being kinda worthless after he came out.

I also like how status effects are integrated into the fight mechanics, and [for the most part] both status resistances for each element feel like they have a purpose in their Agito fight. Compared to HDTs where it feels like every element roster is split between ‘units that are good for the fight’ and ‘units that are immediately handicapped’. This is actually one part where I think Tartarus works really well as a boss fight, since unless you can kill him before the poison portals happen, you really need a poison-res character to deal with them.

We still have three more of the Master fights to come out, but either way I really like the Agito fights, and I’m optimistic for whatever the next set of endgame content will be. Personally, I’m still hoping for them to build upon the Imperial Onslaught mode, since that feels like an almost obsolete part of the game, but that sort of wave-based content would be nice to have for endgame co-op.

Also, I still really hope that the Agito bosses end up being DL’s version of the Eternals/Evokers from GBF, where we can eventually get the ability to recruit them as playable characters by doing lots of grinding. They might just get released as gala units instead, but I’d prefer it if they were obtainable through grinding.

On the one hand they’re basically all villains, but on the other hand the recent story chapter made it pretty obvious that they’re probably all being warped and twisted by the masks Nedrick gave them, so it’d be pretty easy to explain how they could eventually be recruited. Also GBF has it’s own share of characters who probably shouldn’t be recruitable for moral reasons but they still are, lol.

Also when you fight them in-game it already looks like they have the same sorts of character model rigs as normal adventurers, and their attack animations all seem at least roughly based on regular weapon types [Volk being a lance unit, Kai Yan being an axe unit, Ciella being a bow unit, Ayaha/Otoha being dagger units, and Tartarus being a blade unit], so I feel like it wouldn’t be hard to make them playable. Ayaha/Otoha would probably be the hardest one to make work unless they get released as two separate characters, but it’s possible that they’d be a unique case where you use them both in combat at the same time, and switch between which one you’re actively controlling. 

It’s probably a bit too early for any of this to happen since the Agito have basically only just gotten introduced in the main story, so it probably won’t be touched upon for the 2nd anniversary, but I still think it’ll happen eventually.

Anyway, all that aside, at the moment I’m basically just gonna keep saving my summons for either a rerun of Gala Elly/Alex, or the holiday banners. In particular I really want to do lots of summons on the New Years banner. I know we’re gonna have Gala Zena or something next month for the anniversary, but if it’s anything like last year we’ll get lots of free summons during her banner, so I’ll at least wait and see how that works out before I spend any resources chasing her.

I also don’t really care much for Nevin and Pinon so even though I didn’t get them, I’m just gonna quit on this banner while I’m ahead, lol

[kali-tmblr]

What's Happening in the Finale?

What's happening in 0713? First of all, kick-ass fighting, usually the best of the season. Last of all, an end credits scene. In between we've got three confrontations. One is centered around Cinder in Fria's room, another between JNPR and Neo (although I think that's likely to end up at the first location), and a third between Qrow and Ironwood. Extra Grimm may or may not show up for the climax. (Personally I think not. Salem would like them to do the maximum amount of damage to themselves before she shows up with her reverse paratrooper brigade, and that could mean letting them tear themselves apart over Ironwood's drastic plan without a worthwhile enemy in sight. "Never underestimate the usefulness of others.")

But what happens in between? There's a lot of ways we can approach that question, but I'm going to start with things CRWBY mentioned but hasn't shown yet. Then I'll move on to things I want to see.

First, the ending. There's a rumour going around that a member of CTWBY said that one of the last two episodes would be a cliffhanger. Well, it wasn't last episode, so if true they're going to pull a Josh Whedon and give us a season cliffhanger. Which is cool, if CW can do it I don't see why RT can't as well. But it means there's going to be substantial plot points left dangling.

CRWBY dropped a lot of hints before the volume started, and three sets haven't paid off yet, regarding Maria, Nora, and Oscar.

Melissa Sternberg, Maria's voice actress, told us to expect "sassy granny shenanigans". Aside from the first episode we haven't seen her involved in anything that could remotely qualify as shenanigans, so I hope we get more from her.

Samantha Ireland, Nora's voice actress, told us we would be getting some of Nora's backstory. It hasn't happened yet, and we're at the last episode. That limits the possible information sources to already named characters who Nora hasn't met, which on a practical level limits it to Neo or Fria. I was hesitant to jump on the "Fria is Nora's granny" bandwagon, but we're running out of other possibilities.

We were given three strong hints that Oscar would do something impressive this volume. Kerry said he was excited about the "small farm boy" this volume, and while Oscar has been a significant presence even I would hesitate to call him exciting. Then in Chapter 6, we got a mention that Oscar hasn't unlocked his Semblance, which was the same clue we got back in Volume 5 that Jaune would unlock his Semblance before the Volume's end. Finally, there is this note from Amity Arena about their current lack of Oscar in the game, "We are waiting on Volume 7 for him to show off something iconic that we can base his card off of!" (They also implied it was different from whatever Ozpin does, which is far too OP for the game's current levels.). So it looks like Oscar will unlock his Semblance as part of the final episode.

That's all the remaining hints, now let's move on to the plot.

Qrow wants to set Jimmy Ironwood down and give him a talk on "The Inherent Problems With Blind Obedience, Complete With a Visual Aid". It's a hard sell for a paranoid dictator, but given RWBY's optimistic nature it might actually work. Ironwood is basically going down the same path as the Director in Red vs. Blue, and Rooster Teeth has already followed that path to it's bitter end with him. It's possible the intervention Qrow is planning may stick. I can't really call it at this point.

There's the Neo vs. JNPR confrontation, which may turn into a fight but may not. Neo allowed them to get close to her, even hit her, while seeming uncharacteristically hesitant to fight. She does withdraw from fights where she is overpowered (a common trait among professional criminals such as herself), however she should wipe the floor with JNPR. But does Neo want to fight JNPR? In Volume 6 her target was Cinder. Cinder tried to convince Neo to assassinate Ruby instead, and it appeared as if she might have succeeded. But did she really, or is Neo just playing along to stay close to Cinder and strike the Fall Maiden down when she is vulnerable? Looks like we may get an answer to that question. If she is, she may well just play JNPR a recording of Cinder announcing her plan to go after the Winter Maiden and send them on their way.

The big fight looks like it's going to be Round 4 of Cinder vs. the World complete with the Winter Maiden Power as the prize, and with all the young Huntresses converging on her location it could be anybody's game. Previously Cinder had always arranged for her foes to have multiple targets to concentrate on besides her, but that doesn't look like it will be the case this time.

There's multiple things to consider about this fight. First, the location. A cramped hospital room is hardly a suitable arena for a Maiden fight. You know it's going to get trashed in order to create more space. Then there's her three opponents, Fria, Penny, and Winter. I include Fria because I honestly expect her to get in at least one lick in this fight. We've already had Cinder kill one Maiden who was lying helpless in one of those transfer tubes, a repeat would be boring. Besides, Fria has held the power for around 50 years. You don't last that long in that job without being a badass. At the same time she is old and feeble, so I don't expect her to get in many licks.

Cinder's main opponents, Penny and Winter, both have crippling weaknesses. Penny is metal, and Cinder's favorite tactic involves superheating substances. To quote Mercury, "That could be bad." Winter's weakness is tactical. She focuses too much attention on what is going on in front of her and too little on what is behind her. Qrow used it to win against her in Volume 3, and Weiss used it to win against her in this Volume. It shouldn't take Cinder long to find and exploit Winter's weakness. On the bright side, with Cinder's tendency to gloat she will probably tell Winter exactly what the other woman is doing wrong, especially considering that Vernal used it against Cinder. If Winter survives this fight she might even listen.

Will Cinder win, lose, or die? Honestly I'm expecting another power split, like with Amber, only this time the Maiden remains conscious. I don't see Cinder completely winning or losing, and I don't see us getting another fully powered Maiden in the cast at this time. (But that raises the question of who can open the Vault. It would be ironic if neither woman could.) So I'm expecting whichever woman Cinder tries to steal the power from to be rescued by the others, ending in a tactical retreat on Cinder's part.

That leaves the current Grimm invasion, possibly with bonus flying Beringals, to wrap up. This may involve Ruby's silver eyes. It may involve Oscar's Semblance. Or it may just be a bunch of nameless Atlesian military forces. It's anyone's guess at this point.

That brings us to the remaining nonviolent resolutions. There's Ren's newfound fondness for Ironwood, which I don't see surviving Ironwood's decision to abandon Mantle, although it might. Hopefully this will lead to a resolution of Ren and Nora's romantic tension as well. There's Robyn and the Happy Huntresses, whom we may or may not see again this Volume but probably won't. There's the Schnees, at least one of whom we probably will see again in this Volume. And last but not least there's the political problems, which is heavily intertwined with the fates of Qrow and Salem. If Qrow does turn Ironwood around and/or Salem does bring the flying Beringals to give them a strong enemy to unite behind, they may survive the political storm. But if Qrow does not get through to Ironwood and/or Salem does NOT bring the flying Beringals to unify the populace in terror, Ironwood's political career is over. Even if he's still in power at the end he will have sustained too much damage to keep it for long.

So that's my take on things. What's yours?

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

“So Happy Together” Analysis

i don’t sleep

tl;dr: tbh not much to go off on about. i think we see a new skin for Iron Bear, one with some stripes. amara smiles, i do talk a little bit about little sisters in bioshock but tbh i think this was all just a stylistic choice lol. oh and handsome jack’s masks- probably Mount Jackmore. i don’t want to get to freaked out over jack returning, but damn gearbox lol u had me there for a second. im pretty sure it’s just a reused cut quest from bl2 that they never got to implement. 

EDIT: here’s all the cut content in bl2 (plus all the non-cut content as well for funsies). you can go to the cut quests and see the audio files for claptrap’s jackmore quest

holy shit can i just vomit all my emotions rn, they’re all good so imma do that so im rational when i start analyzing stuff okay? okay! 

holy shit that was fucking great and im really glad i tempered my expectations to something smaller than i thought because i feel bad for people expecting something huge, i was under the assumption we’d be getting a new mechanic that was like ‘choose ur +1 and they’ll be able to play the game with you if you’re both online even if they don’t have the game’ which was what someone said on reddit. altho im sure the poor company is gonna get spammed now with hate like ‘WTF YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE BUILT THIS UP AAAA’. not to lie, i was slightly disappointed it wasn’t a longer stream, but i mean if they’ve got nothing to announce, they’ve got nothing to announce and HEY! new trailer!!! gonna be combing thru on the assumption this has some easter eggs like the MoM trailer did, just in case. i thought it was a cute trailer, gearbox never explicitly said what it was gonna be, a lot people all just assumed what was gonna happen was a demo/beta which sucks so i hope this doesn’t negatively impact people’s perspective of the game. im staying off reddit for now bc when i first checked it people were pretty pissed and i dun need that negativity lmao

okay! emotions are LOCKED behind closed doors. i am shifting into study mode. here we go boys/girls/those of us who know better. haven’t done one of these in a while, let’s see if im rusty at all.

claptrap! and the skull on the chair which reminds me of tyreen’s “favorite skull”. 

tv says “we are under attack, please stand by”

and afaik claptrap is near the beginning of the game, you can see part of the recruitment center behind him when the camera pans.

im thinking there might be something in the roses, specifically the hand-drawn roses later on in the trailer. will be keeping an eye open for that.

this is specifically a jakobs brand chest. i really like the see-through aesthetic of it

intro area of the game again. possible hint to the opening cutscene? tbh i was worried that’s what we were about to get because i haven’t finished the roughs of my mock up lol

so what i didn’t notice my first time through is that you can then see claptrap, also being shown in the chest

waving up at the camera. that’s not trippy at all or anything lol

this car in the foreground (with no one driving it, mind you)

randomly combusts, looking quite like elpis in that one shot of the claptrap presents pandora trailer. wonder if that means it’s gonna ‘splode.

ohhh it spins. please no spin imma get motion sick blech

shot of some cultists. one appears to have a jetpack near the bottom right there

another explosion to the beat

the shock wave!!!! that’s awesome

shock nomads cultists are back. f in chat for our shields

another cultist seconds before he gets blown to bits

it cuts to black for a secco as it moves thru said explosion

another cultist, i assume a psycho

finally some good fucking angles

heh.

idk what i expected from someone who’s first action skill line i ever heard was them shouting MAGIC WALL!!! TAAAADAAAAAAAAH

as a side note

who is shooting those lasers

we see them coming from behind the VHs, but

there’s nothing there

SPOOKY~

they’re coming from... the wall???

tfw u shot urself in the foot on accident

amara is not amused

`is this some human custom i don’t understand yet`

also i hate that i’ve done this exact dance before when i took dance classes as a kid

with less style of course, i was like 7

moze is into it, hell yeah

this reminds me a lot of Kingsman. where all the blood is like fireworks and stuff. i wonder if that has anything to do with the psycho brainwashing. like little sisters in bioshock. they see roses instead of blood, right? maybe there’s something like that going on with the psychos

i’d certainly hope our vault hunters aren’t brainwashed, anyway.

this dude looking SHOCKED to see that tho, lmfao

i relate to this man on a spiritual level i stg

man he looks pissed

omfg lol

“um”

“i guess this is okay”

the body language in this is gold i am just having the time of my life

adsfdgfhgjhgfk

this is so cute

also in retrospect, i think this is one of the turrets we see on promethea. i wonder what it’s doing here!

moze u ok?

oh nvm she’s into it, look at her! she’s dancing! She’s Dancin’!

oooo one of the robots from the we are mayhem trailer! okay you can totally see why i think they’re jakobs, RIGHT???

iirc this is a maliwan soldier

man this is a crossover event, isn’t it?

i get it now. togetherness. i gotchu gearbox.

some maliwan ships in the sky. possibly sanc-iii on the right? or a ship of the same model as sanc-iii!

this is a magitek dropship, change my mind

eh, they both start with M, fuck it.

no idea what fl4k is doing here

mayyyybe shielding themselves from the ‘firework’/confetti shower

i like that the confetti explosions are backed up by purple, you know like eridium/slag/siren powers. seriously, maybe this is just how to cultists see us Vault Hunters and the mass murder.

at the very least, the psychos.

fl4k’s into it. i wish we knew the name of their skag, if it has one. i hope it does.

well now the lasers are coming from the other side! what the hell

moving on

i think this is the HBC from the speakers, plus im pretty sure that skull and the stained glass are the entrance to mouthpiece’s arena

we also get a different colored explosion. im paranoid jack is somehow making a return (please god no), so i’ll just note it’s the same color as his eyes.

AND the chests are vomiting out gold guns, which i think, gold-plated gear, is the cult’s way of signifying standing. which im sure is a tongue-in-cheek commentary as gearbox gives out a gold weapon pack as a pre-order bonus. no, like, it even shows up as an ad on the video

smh gearbox lmao

oh, also, the cultists are doing fuckin flying impressions

im not saying its a reference to the cultist with rakk wings on the cover, buuuut

bitch it might be lol

it’s an upside-down vault symbol! ive been trying to figure out what that is in those screens for the longest time!

back on promethea and we get to see fl4k’s spiderant in action

their skag, too, of course

the jabbermon in the back there, too! i wonder if they’re going to be shock or cryo. i would imagine shock given how they’re glowing

also i love the way the flowers look in contrast to the character models

moze is so happy aw

i love the way fl4k’s skag comes flying in and slides to a stop. such a good doggo ;-;

this is beautiful, i want it as a wallpaper

moze skipping? holy shit

100% verified the best thing i’ve ever seen

i lied. this is.

is this the fast travel station effect?

also! IB is looking a bit different

i wonder if this is a redesign or if IB is wearing a new skin moze picked out

pan over to zane who clearly doesn’t notice the being of darkness and horror in the doorway

oh also, we’re on eden-6 now. which would explain the fast travel effect

psychos dancing on the rooftops lol

oh god my eyes

nothing to really say here, i just like this screenshot

pink shields booyah

this is so fucking cute

we also get a better look at that one facility on eden-6

is that... red i see? >w> i won’t say it i won’t i won’t say it i swear i just- ATLAS

fuck

i like that zane’s clone spawns with his melee attachment

not AS excited as the real life version though

GB pls let this be a zane emote

is that a varkid? on eden-6?

wtf is a varkid doing on eden-6???

more shots of the facility btw. reminds me a lot of sanc-iii so maybe this actually is the supamax mfg construction facility like i originally thought. hmmmmmmm

ah yes, of course

holy shit what is this a reference to?

im told it’s the sex pistols

the back of the bullet turns into Athenas

pans in

amara!

enemy with a top hat on. some variation of/upgraded gravedigger? it’s like a psycho but recolored with blue pants and a top hat. you can see it fall off when amara shoots him

y’know, these guys

some rakk in the background

i am hoping bc this is a celebration of togetherness we’re seeing all enemies everywhere, not that the planets don’t have their own unique fauna.

she’s so happy omfg

oh, you want some?

Uhhh then there’s THIS sequence

they’re doing the flying thing again lmao

there’s also whatever that black blob is on the left. a spaceship maybe?

car wheel

all their eyes started glowing red. uh oh gamers

also another fast travel effect

hmmmm... zarpedon is that you??

back on pandora.

“super 87 racetrack”, maybe this is near that motorcade fast travel we saw?

huzzah! rainbows!

i do believe that’s sanctuary-iii

another ship. drop ship?

elpis is looking nice this time of year. definitely not explode-y. yet.

pret-ty sure that’s iron bear. moze is standing atop the tower lmao

also! back to it’s old paint scheme. looks like moze was using a skin or smth

we also have this. are my eyes failing me or is that a big cross on the left? could be where jack was buried. 

also i know there was cut content in bl2 about Mount Jackmore! and this looks like a Mount Jackmore to me. it’s a cut quest where claptrap asks you to basically ruin the thing. but since the quest was cut, it’s still here in bl3. maybe they’ll reintegrate the quest lol

i can’t imagine it being roland’s gravesite. because it looks like the below.

i do know we’re going to roland’s grave in bl3, but the statues don’t really match up. maybe it is and the statues were broken, or ruined or something and replaced by a cross. could be then that the gravesite was defaced with, well, the guy that killed him. 

im really hoping jack doesn’t make a return. im fine with dealing with what he set in motion, and his influence, and probably even some ECHO logs and movie trailers, but please, for the love of god, don’t actually bring him back, AI or otherwise. im really excited for the calypso twins, i’d really hate to see the focus shift back to that guy. he’s had his fingers in every borderlands game. it’s time to let him go.

idk what this is exactly. it looks like maybe that weird eye bot troy stands next to in the intro for the behind closed doors panel?

goodbye mr magical jakobs chest, it’s been real

the RC now has red drapes going down it. have those always been there? i don’t remember those

hmmmmmmmmm maybe we’re looking at it from the back 🤔

anyway, that’s all she wrote. i haven’t see any hidden morse code messages or anything yet, but if something surfaces, i’ll be sure to add it here.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Kasumi’s PT Outfit Analysis

Tell me what do these two have in common?

If you said “Cat theme” you are correct! If not, well then buckle up my dudes cause this is gonna be fun~! :D (I also want to take the time to point out, while this isn’t want I’m talking about, I do like this fan artist’s perspective on her gloves :D)

I know what you’re thinking, and no I’m not smoking anything I don’t do that, but Kasumi really does have cat thief themed origins (and no not because of the fan art, didja click on it? it’s cute!). I realized it after realizing she was a gymnast and was like “Why? Why does she get a gymnast theme? How does this fit with the outlaw theme? Has there been a thief who had gymnast outfit?....wait....could it be.....omg it IS!” AND THE ANSWER IS YES! 4 thieves actually, 3 are sisters in one series, and 1 is an expy of those sisters by the same author in his other work. If you know who I’m talking about I’m talking about.....CAT’S EYE! (and Phantom Thief 305 from City Hunter, I dunno the meaning of the name tho)

Let’s start with Cat’s Eye (not a 100% expert in it, but I know more than City Hunter tbh). Cat’s Eye is about a trio of sisters (Hitomi the middle who is the main character, Rui the oldest sister, and Ai the youngest) stealing things using their multiple skill sets (such as gymnastics), partially because they want to contact their missing dad who is also a thief (and their attempts to contact him are through the calling cards and stealing the items in hopes he comes as well). And....that’s basically it I think (been awhile since I read the manga and I’m in the process of re-reading it now). Movie wise, it seems they are in the process of trying to rescue him (hard to find info, no eng subtitles for me to watch so efsljdfl;aj).

Anne and Kasumi are the biggest shout outs to Cat’s Eye than anyone else (tho you could argue Cat’s eye is probs the reason Makoto drives a Motorcycle and Futaba is an semi-orange themed tech genius, and Haru who is “Noir” tho I don’t feel like looking up who came first, her or the Cat’s Eye Pachinko machine cause it’s not important). Anne’s outfit is more a shout-out to the Cat’s Eye Movie version while Kasumi’s is more a shout-out to the original manga/anime. Let’s focus on the Cat’s Eye movie for a second tho.

This isn’t the first time Cat’s Eye movie was used as inspiration for Persona. Back in P2 Tamaki Uchida dressed as Ai (the youngest sister of Cat’s Eye, but is the lead role in the movie), as the actress she is based off of (Yuki Uchida) played Ai in the movie.

Anne, however, seems to be based on Hitomi outfit with some Rui flare to it (they differ slightly)

(btw the movie opens up with an anime sequence before going full live action, Hitomi Left, Rui Right I think for both pics, Ai is in the middle for the bottom pic, and recolored Anne for better comparison and also because I can 8U)

I know what you are thinking, “But what about Catwoman????” I think she’s still related to Cat’s Eye tho. Catwoman came first in creation, and Catwoman was the first to use the leather outfits (tbh, mask wise, Tamaki’s mask/ears seem to draw from the Catwoman 60s tv show outfit), and it seems she/Batman were the inspiration for the movie costumes. Also considering how Persona likes to use Batman, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the cat theme stuff was also Batman/Catwoman related as well as Cat’s Eye. So there’s still a connection to Catwoman esp with the movie! 

Another possible connection to the movie is Anne’s name, specifically “Anne,” as the person who went by the stage name “Anri/杏里” (I mean Anne is just the  杏 kanji but still) who sings the theme song “Cat’s Eye 2000″ for the movie. Fun fact.

Now let’s look at the manga/anime, where it’s Kasumi’s time to shine (tho Anne will come back up).

As you can see they’ve been redesigned a few times (btw Hitomi’s colors in the first vol of Cat’s eye is actually blue with an orange ribbon, it was changed to yellow later it seems, also the top right is a spinoff manga of Cat’s Eye called Cat’s Eye: Ai where Ai is the MC)

As you can see, the girl who is mostly in the blue is Hitomi, and she has a tendency to wear a chocker with her leotard. Kinda like.......Kasumi! 

Recolored with blue to highlight the comparison (also because I NEED COLOR IN HER DESIGN ATLUS LORD GIVE ME STRENGTH DX) 

Fun fact, Hitomi I believe is a gymnast and she utilizes her skills as a thief (and thus where we get the gymnast as a thief outlaw theme and why it only works for Kasumi/gymnasts and not runners like Ryuji). 

But Kasumi also has similarities between her and Ai, both have red in their theme, both I think are first years. Also, while Ai isn’t as strong or skilled as her older sisters in fighting, she is the most agile (which we don’t know if Kasumi is in the same boat but it’s worth noting just in case). Another thing about Ai, is her connection to Tamaki up above, Tamaki who is based off the actress who played Ai was in the fencing club (which Yuki Uchida was also a fencer), and what weapon does Kasumi wield? A one handed sword similar to other fencers in Persona (like Mitsuru), so woot we’ve come full circle on that! (also if Kasumi is Hamuko reincarnated, or Hamuko’s younger sister, it should be noted that one of Hamuko’s theme colors is orange along with pink and red so fklsdjfsajf; bonus points if that comes true!)

Kasumi’s mask is also probably based on the Cat’s Eye calling card (or at least it follows a similar pattern):

Same point pattern, same eye shape and design (it’d also explain why it’s so thick, cause the emblem is thick looking too 8U)

So I mentioned we’d come back to Anne, and here we are! There is one last thing that is similar to Anne and the Kisugi sisters, and it’s that they are all hafus! The sisters are all half german, and Hitomi looks just like her western grandmother if Hitomi had blonde hair, and later dyes her hair blonde for her thieving:

Also *cough* a pink/red outfit I wonder who that reminds us of? 8U

Now onto City Hunter, which....I think is the biggest evidence that Kasumi was based off these people. And it’s this girl:

The girl with the glasses is the same one as the girl in the same girl in the green leotard (the one in the red isn’t a thief, but was wearing one to match the other girl while they stole a flower). 

This is the first episode this girl shows up (only one I’ve seen too tbh), she’s actually 17/a 2nd year iirc.... And guess what her name is? Kasumi Aso. Kasumi is spelled the same way too (aka only in hirigana)! From my research she only steals what is commissioned of her (I think she steals back what is stolen from other people). She has connection to flowers like Kasumi Yoshizawa (Aso is connected to the [black] tulip, Yoshizawa has flowers on her belt). Both are pretty unassuming in their civilian outfits too tbh. (tho slightly off topic, fun fact, there was a Japanese hafu rhythmic gymnast named Kasumi, I’ve been wanting to post about that for awhile but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s who IRL Yoshizawa was based off of)

Sadly I don’t know much else about Aso, I need to read more of City Hunter to find out (even tho she’s not a super main character), and tbh this is where I kinda end with the Kasumi/Anne and Cat’s Eye/PT 305/Catwoman analysis. But I’ll use this time to talk about a few misc stuff and maybe a few theories related to cat themed thief ladies:

P5 probably got the “Thief who works at a cafe during the day (and the Cafe name also is a reference to their thieving as well as possibly housing a cat)” from Cat’s Eye and City hunter (which take place in Tokyo/Shinjuku, tho in different locations), as the Kisugi Sisters work at their cafe called “Cat’s Eye,” and Aso being their expy, also works at a cafe by the same name (tho it’s run by different people cause it’s in a different/parallel universe). 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Tamaki’s tendency to house a Nekomata in her workplace to be similar to the kitty (Tiger I think it’s name is) that Ai has at the cafe (esp considering, again, Yuki Uchida played Ai). 

According to the Japanese fan wiki of Cat’s Eye, in the sequel “Cat’s Eye: Ai,” the Cafe is moved to a new location, which is Kichijoji, which is the new area that has been unlocked in P5R (maybe a certain cafe will be available for us to wander into? :0 Or maybe Kasumi works at a cafe XP or maybe is connected to the billiards place, tho that DARTSLIVE3 screenshot seems to have a “cafe” poster in the background so maaaaaaaybe that’s a cafe XP)

Part of me wonders if Mitsuru’s Arena outfit is related more to Black Cat, due to the signature “white fur” both characters wear. 

Kasumi Y’s hairstyle (aka if her hair was down, so basically we are going off her bangs) is similar to Hitomi (at least the Pachinko machine ver)

Anne’s circle zipper designs might be more of a shout-out to Marvel’s Black Cat, not that Catwoman hasn’t had that as well, but I don’t feel like figuring out who did the circle zipper first 8U 

Satomi Tadashi dressed up as Zorro and was romantically involved with Takami. Anne who is a Cat’s Eye expy is crushed on by Mona (who wields Zorro). And Kasumi, another Cat’s Eye expy, looks like a Hamuko Expy, while Mona’s human form looks like a Minato Expy. 

Kasumi has a similar black mask with silver line design (not the mask shape itself, the line design) as a woman named “Noir”(?) who appears in the Cat’s Eye Pachinko Machine (yes I did come across interesting things, no I don’t know what her deal is or really who she is tbh cause I think she’s a pachinko original 8U ;w;)

So yeah just gonna kinda end it here awkwardly. FYI this doesn’t mean you HAVE to like her outfit (you have every right to dislike or like it tbh), it’s just a history lesson, and explaining how it fits the outlaw/PT theme, where’s Ryuji’s track or Haru’s ballet doesn’t.

Oh! Edit cause I forgot, if you push her mask up over head, it might look like cat’s ears, just a theory tho (of course it might look like devil horns but so does Anne’s so fklsjdfk;aj;faj;f take this for what you will):

[banduckoot]

Crash Bandicoot Game Idea

In the planning stages of the original Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog had the idea to implement an unlockable bonus game inspired by one of their earlier titles: a fighting game! Sadly, this was not to be.

And seeing how Crash didn’t get to be in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale either, it got me thinking about what a Crash Bandicoot fighting game would be like. So here’s what I’ve written down so far for my idea, Crash Clash!

Ever since the birth of his video game career, Crash Bandicoot has secretly dreamed of being in a fighting game. After getting snubbed by one tournament too many, however, Crash has decided to take matters into his own furry hands and start one of his own! No holds barred, anything and everything goes, and the champion wins the title of “World's Best Fighter”! Soon, word gets out about Crash's tournament, and now everyone in the world is invested in what has become much bigger than what Crash was anticipating. Even Dr. Cortex and his minions show interest in the goings on, and they may even take advantage of all the media attention Crash's tournament is getting...!

THE ROSTER

Crash Bandicoot Our hero, he's in charge of the tournament as well as a competitor! Crash has good stats all around and has medium weight... your most basic fighter with no outstanding strengths or weaknesses. Crash utilizes punches, kicks, belly flops, and of course spin attacks to put the smackdown on his opponents.

Coco Bandicoot Crash's little sister is a martial arts master, particularly fearsome for her kicks and chops. And just like non-mutant bandicoots, she can flip her opponents over and slam them into the ground! Coco isn't quite as strong as her brother, but she does move faster, and is a bit lighter as well. She wants to bring a whole new definition to “fight like a girl”!

Crunch Bandicoot Our favorite musclebound marsupial with a prosthetic arm that hits like a freight train! Crunch doesn't like hurting people, but he's glad for the opportunity to show off his strength. He utilizes wrestling moves to take down his opponents, as well as punches and kicks.

Dr. Neo Cortex Wherever Crash is, Cortex is sadly not too far behind. The bad doctor knows he's quite physically weak compared to everyone else in the tournament, which is why he's packing multiple weapons, including his trusty ray gun! He's also equipped with special armor to increase his defense, including a helmet for his massive noggin.

Nitrus Brio Cortex's former colleague wants to prove himself worthy for a change, so thanks to his trusty mutagen formula, N. Brio changes into his monster form to kick butt and take names! Monster Brio is pure brute strength, clobbering opponents with his fists and crushing them in his bulky arms. It'll take more than jumping on his head to stop him this time...

N. Gin Guess who built a mech suit for himself just to participate in this tournament? Yup, N. Gin did! It's not as big or explosive as his previous ones; it's just big and durable enough to give him the strength and protection he needs to take out even the biggest opponents. It's even outfitted with lasers and small missiles!

Nefarious Tropy N. Tropy relies heavily on his giant tuning fork to best his opponents, whether zapping them with energy blasts or smacking them hard with its hefty weight. He also uses his time warping powers to teleport and avoid getting hit back. The armor he always wears provides him with plenty of defense as well.

N. Trance This egg-like being from the 5th Dimension can stun his opponents with hypnotic blasts, as well as temporarily grow in size to crush them, or float to avoid them. However, being egg-like, his defenses are kind of pitiful.

Nina Cortex Not willing to let Coco have a chance to be the World's Best Fighter, Nina has entered the ring just to spite her blonde rival. Like Crash, Nina uses spin attacks as one of her offensive techniques, but she also has long-reaching, hard-hitting punches thanks to her bionic metal hands.

Ripper Roo Hopping, biting, kicking, and scratching with his razor-sharp toenails are Ripper Roo's secrets to success in the ring. He also somehow carries explosives with him, which he plants as he pleases around the arena or on his opponent.

Koala Kong Aside from punching and crushing his opponents, Koala Kong seems to have a never-ending supply of heavy objects to throw at them as well! Where does it all come from? Who knows!? Does everything have to make sense in the world of Crash Bandicoot!?

Pinstripe Potoroo Pinstripe was forced to put away his tommy gun for Crash's tournament, as actual bullets are kind of a no-no in family-friendly fighting games. Thankfully, Pinstripe is perfectly fine with good-old-fashioned beatdowns! Doffing his jacket and tailored shirt to reveal a white undershirt, Pinstripe primarily uses boxing techniques to make his opponents eat dirt.

The Komodo Brothers Komodo Joe and Komodo Moe fight as a team, swords a-swinging!  Knock one of the brothers out, and the other one is left almost defenseless. Joe is lighter than Moe, the latter of whom is a heavyweight. Try targeting one brother at a time if you want to get past them!

Tiny Tiger Crushing, clawing, and biting his opponents makes Tiny a happy Tasmanian Tiger. He's especially eager to put the hurt on the bandicoots.

Dingodile Slow-moving and heavy, but pretty dangerous nonetheless. Dingodile will blast you with his flamethrower, smack you with his tail, and bite you with his sharp teeth if you manage to get too close. He may not have a lot of muscle, but his bulk and firepower are not to be underestimated.

Fake Crash As always, Fake Crash wants to prove his might against the real Crash. His fighting style is similar to that of the real Crash, but with a twist that makes it seem “drunken” and unpredictable in style. Fake Crash's moves are just a little bit stronger than the real deal's, but he moves somewhat slower, too.

Papu Papu Our favorite native chief can bonk the daylights out of you with his club, bounce you backwards with his massive stomach, or use magic to summon small clones of his opponent to do his dirty work. Papu Papu is as strong as he is heavy, so watch out!

Penta Penguin Small, fast, and light, Penta can easily dodge many a blow from an opponent. However, this also means he can be easily knocked out... assuming you can get past his spin attacks, flips, and belly slides.

Baby T Baby T is finally putting his sharp teeth to good use, as well as his powerful legs and foot claws. He can also headbutt his opponents, often charging the attack first before sprinting forward. Be careful that he doesn't fling himself out of the ring when he does this!

Tawna Bandicoot How can Tawna possibly say no to the opportunity to kick some booty in a fighting tournament? She uses kickboxing to beat down her opponents, and is all too eager to use everything she knows against a certain evil scientist...

Yaya Panda Formerly a kart racer in two different mobile circuits, Yaya has decided to return to her first true love: kung fu! She's sort of a shadow of Coco, but has far superior stats to the bandicoot, moving faster and hitting harder. So... maybe Coco is really a shadow of Yaya?

NEW CHARACTER: Porkbelly This huge mutant warthog is highly disciplined in the art of sumo wrestling, and has a fearsome and oftentimes reckless personality. It is unknown which scientist mutated Porkbelly, but he doesn't seem to have any loyalties towards anyone, anyhow. He's just a very big pig with a very big belly, and an even bigger competitive streak.

... And that’s all I’ve written so far. I want to add more characters and come up with different modes and mechanics, but I’m not sure if I can focus long enough to do that. If anyone has any ideas of their own to add, let me know!