#and don't get me started on Miracle

[fioras-resolve]

Hey. Hey hey hey. I need to rant about one specific Fire Emblem skill that's been bothering me for years.

So you know Vengeance, right? It was introduced in Awakening, and it's been around in some form in every FE game since. For those who don't know or don't remember, Vengeance deals damage proportional to HP lost, so the lower your current health, the more damage you deal.

To be clear, I think this is a really cool idea. It's a risk-reward skill, and it means you can intentionally lower your health to potentially deal massive damage. This is the main reason Bernadetta can be so potent in Three Houses. I think, if this skill is done right, it's a really cool piece of game design, and a really sick strategy.

The issue comes with how this effect is activated. To be clear, I think that Vengeance should be extremely consistent. You're already taking the risk of staying at low health. It should be paid off accordingly. If this were a random effect, same as Astra, it wouldn't be worth using.

Some FE games agree with me on this. Echoes and Three Houses both make it a combat art, meaning you choose to activate it at the cost of either HP or weapon durability. The game that introduced the skill, Awakening, makes the skill randomly activate with each attack, with a (Skill * 2)% chance each time. However, because you can get your Skill stat above 50 with a combination of grinding and in-battle stat boosts, you can make the skill activate 100% of the time. This fits right in with Awakening's core gameplay of building up ultra-powerful killing machines.

Some games, however, don't see eye-to-eye with me, and feel the need to nerf this skill in some way or another. Fates, for example, gives Vengeance a (Skill * 1.5)% activation rate, and also makes maximum stats a lot lower generally. It's weak enough that it makes me wonder why the skill is still there. Like, I get that it still pairs well with Nosferatu, because with a draining attack you're gonna be recovering that health anyway. But it feels like just one of many design changes that Fates makes because it wants to be "balanced" at the expense of letting you do cool shit. Like, remember what it did to Javelins? Fucked up.

Also Engage has no excuse, it's an even lower activation rate, on a character with a weakness to a very common weapon, in a game where you can only use Nosferatu under very specific circumstances. And like, Engage isn't afraid to let the player feel powerful. That's what the Engage system is for. Very weird skill all around.

[lady-corrine]

Thinking again about how Suzanne esentially subverted the "beloved famous man that is actually a horrible person in real life" with Finnick, who is the complete opposite of that.

Finnick has this whole image costructed around him by the people that abused him for years: the Capitol's darling, their golden boy, the sex symbol of Panem, the man that has countless lovers but leaves them constantly and doesn't look back etc. And you would expect, initially, to meet a man that retains at least a part of that persona in his day to day life. But Finnick doesn't, not even one bit.

You see instead a man that is deeply in love and completely devoted to the one woman he quite literally adores, a man that protects Mags, his old mentor and his mother figure, as much as he can, a man that wouldn't leave Johanna behind, a man that gathers whatever strenght he has left to speak publicly about the abuse inflicted upon him at the government's hands; the opposite of what the Capitol's media and reputation made him out to be.

[cosmicdreamgrl]

hyung line x mots on:e concept photobook shooting sketch for @epiphanytear ❤️

[ryllen]

by some extreme luck (which is, having a very competent co-worker) horrorboros & cohozuna managed to be taken down in a triumvirate session

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

every time i rewatch the miracle aligner music video i am just flabbergasted. FLABBERGASTED. like. they really chose to make it like THAT. and by 'like THAT' i am specifically referring to:

1) “an attempt to extract the truth... approximately" *cue rosepetals and intense eye contact*

2) THIS being the opening shot of the two of them

3) miles legitimately spending the first minute of the entire video blatantly checking alex out

4) literal rainbow lighting around them

5) endless hand holding and twirling

6) that moment where miles's hand reaches ever so reflexively for alex's neck

7) the fucking closing scene?????????

[oneroomjestershow]

Haii, how are u doing? :>

[2well2water]

i'm going to be alone forever oh my god. band of horses voice: NO ONE'S GONNA LOVE YOU.

[hannie-dul-set]

slams a fist on the desk.

[keeps-ache]

wink blink look !!

[hoardlikegoldenirises]

something a little silly

(he's not actually angry at the "drugs" thing, just busy trying not to die)

oh i almost forgot

transcript of my bad handwriting:

Page 1 Panel 1: 2013, 1:38 pm (sfx: DING DING DING)

Panel 2: 9th period, 1:40 pm

Peter's internal thought bubble: "Oh shit my meds"

Panel 3:

Student 1: Hi, Mr. Parker!

Peter: mm-hm

Panel 4:

Student 1: Mr. Parker? Hello?

(Student 2: Huh?)

Panel 5:

Peter: Hm?

Student 1: What are those, tic tacs?

Student 2: No, he's doing drugs!!! (In class!)

Text pointing to Peter's hand holding his pills says "PTSD medication"

Peter: HKFGH (choking noise)

Page 2:

Panel 1:

Student 1: Are you okay?!

(Student 2: oh fuck)

Peter: COUGH COUGH

Panel 2:

(sfx: WHEEZE)

Peter: It's not DRUGS!

Panel 3, Peter cont.: Well, I mean, it is drugs, but it's prescription—it's medication. OK?

[distort-opia]

You're braver than me for mentioning Khoa and Joker parallel in this hellsite that very much hate Joker lol. Im holding myself back from pointing out the same thing everytime i read Khoa story in fear someone gonna attack me. But anyway what do you think are the differences between their relationship (ghostbat & batjokes) since they're quite similar with each other. Cause tbh with you the way many describe ghostbat here feel just like they're describing batjokes instead

Ngl, this is one of the things that both depresses me and pisses me off about the current state of fandom. It sucks to hear you're too afraid of getting attacked over expressing a personal opinion on a literal blogging platform, built for this express purpose... regarding fictional characters and within a fandom, which is supposed to be fun. The block button and the filtering options exist for a reason though; I tag my stuff accurately so that people can blacklist, and I don't mind if people block me (I'm quite liberal with it myself). It's just part of curating your little niche, so I definitely encourage doing the same, Anon. Besides, despite the hellsite having its downsides, I've interacted with very reasonable and fun people as well, who dislike Joker or Batjokes but are fully capable of treating others with maturity and respect.

That being said, I agree that Batjokes and Ghostbat share a lot of similarities. I guess that for some it affords the fascinations of this type of dynamic for Bruce without the baggage Joker's character would unavoidably bring (both within Universe, and within fandom). However, there's definitely some essential differences between Ghostbat and Batjokes. Perhaps the most important consequence of them is that unlike Batjokes, Ghostbat has significantly higher chances of not ending in tragedy.

The thing about Joker is that, despite how seemingly desperate for attention and in love with Batman he canonically is, he also... hates Bruce's guts. And I'm making the distinction between 'Batman' and 'Bruce' because Joker himself makes it. Joker needs Batman on a fundamental level. He perceives his own current identity as having been shaped and defined by Batman, and he sees Bruce, the person underneath the mask, as the source of potential weakness and a threat to the Bat's existence. That's because Joker thinks of his own humanity as useless and weak, having decided to discard it and stomp it out. He then proceeds to try and do the same with Bruce's. This has literally been their main conflict since Death of the Family onwards.

Khoa also takes issue with Bruce being driven by emotion. He also considers it a weakness-- Bruce's need to save people, his vigilantism having revenge at its roots instead of a desire to perfect an art. However, Ghostmaker wasn't a direct result of Bruce's actions (accidental or not), like Joker is. Khoa's identity is much more stable and independent, not irrevocably intertwined with Bruce's Batman to the pathological degree Joker's is; and as a result, he's less extreme about it. Khoa can allow for disagreement without resorting to destroying Bruce's life, whereas Joker (at least of now) cannot allow any compromises, any pause from conflict-- because he needs it. Khoa, however, is able to stop and make peace. He challenges Bruce and his need for control just enough, right up to the point of fully enabling Bruce's darkness and self-destructiveness. Joker never stops. He keeps escalating the trauma, the horrors; a pit of knives Bruce keeps throwing himself into.

In a way, shipping Ghostbat is indulging in a dynamic similar to Batjokes, but one that can have a happier ending. Bruce can be a person with Khoa, whereas Joker would tear vulnerability to shreds. The parallels between Joker War and Ghostmaker's introduction arc are so interesting to me also because they showcase this from the start. The final confrontation with Joker, in Batman (2016) #100, has Joker stab Bruce in the back and then almost cut his face off, talking about how he'd then have "to start from scratch." Joker is tearing everything down to have Bruce rebuild it-- alone. The final confrontation with Khoa also includes him telling Bruce he's not enough, he's weak, he needs to become stronger; it also includes being stabbed in the back, but while in a fair fight that has rules. And then Bruce wakes up to Khoa sowing up the wounds he himself inflicted.

That's the crucial difference between the ships, I would say. Despite their disagreements, Bruce and Khoa are on the same side, and Bruce can expect to survive showing weakness to Khoa. Joker is, paradoxically, on the side of Batman alone and also against Bruce. That's not to say it couldn't be different, and that a happier ending is impossible to imagine for them too-- but it's a lot more complicated. Personally, I enjoy Batjokes so much because of how difficult a relationship would be. It inevitably has to involve Joker allowing himself to be human (since otherwise he would not allow Batman to be) and that's such a heavy and complex deconstruction of trauma that's fascinating to delve into.

Hope this was interesting to read through! There's a lot more stuff to say about the differences between Khoa and Joker as characters and their brand of psychopathy, and how that impacts the dynamic with Bruce, but I'm waiting for Batman Inc. and their interaction there to see where DC takes it. (Please let it be good.)

[evilkitten3]

first this game makes me face konan for jiraiya's sake, then that old fuck sends me to fight a guy with the rinnegan. at least nagato calls him out on that... what the hell, dude

[echthr0s]

weird mood of the day: having one (1) cup of coffee and experiencing what you suddenly realise is what it must be like to have a regulated nervous system

[moinsbienquekaworu]

Translated almost 4k words today 🎉🎉

[airs-headspace]

I want to ask my friends very deep and substantial questions because all of my friendships feel so superficial (on my end specifically) right now and I want them to be deeper.

[sortanonymous]

I know expecting Congress to get anything right these days is like expecting to see a triple rainbow in the Arctic, but if we could just get sticky, scratchy, awful cardboard sleeves for physical media discs illegalized, that would just be lovely!