#and function as a star map as well

[cats-of-eden-valley]

what are some scenes from warriors you're excited to adapt into coev?

this ask have been staring at me for two days and the reason why i cant seem to think of any is because ive only been thinking about the mundane shit

like

imagining Asphodel touring Lotus through the different animals as he trains them, telling them about the stories he knows ("Heavensmite come from the distant islands of land seen far, far above"), about how they are to be approached ("Though corloons look like prey, they are affiliated with the Moons, seeing what her eyes cannot, and must never be hunted"), the laws and rituals of each ("The hopchomp must be flicked ten times, or its flesh will taste too bitter"), and Lotus putting such tender passion into learning it all

or thinking about the living root bridges, and Aspen (p. raven) teaches Lotus how to weave new twigs (Don't be to harsh, even the most tender of roots can be snapped), guiding the vines into place whenever you pass by, a collective effort of many to create something over the span of generation

when Lotus goes to their first Trading and sees EVEN MORE cats than they've ever seen in their life (Delphini (p. grey) doesn't care, he just wants to start a game of play, mates, or vanquish with all the pretty mollies), passing through the wide array of goods, things they never would have seen otherwise

or like Goldspring all spending a chilly, rainy day in the springs and just fucking vibing (Fuchsia (new) and Larkspur (p. spot) cuddling in the hammock (you can hear them giggling about something)) (Amaranth (p. oneeye) has a hard time in the water so she settles for a couple paws dipped in)(the kittens keep splashing and getting scolded)

[archeo-starwars]

You wouldn't happen to have an extensive layout dissection of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant? Or even a list of all notable and obscure sections of the Jedi Temple? OR or even labelled areas that are public and reserved for only temple residents. Both from canon and legends, please and thank you!!!

The best I managed to find comes from Star Wars Complete Locations - you may check out the whole archived version here. The “zoom in” option is pretty good for reading details. Below the pages (I suppose the best is to open them in new tab for better reading):

As for the list of locations, I recommend wookiepedia's list. Plenty of data, both for Legends and New Canon.

Additional sources worth to check out:

Jedi Temple Locations & Jedi Temple History - both published as official material on star wars.com in regard to prequels and New Canon sources. Pictures and references to various places inside Temple.

Star Wars.com's The Clone Wars episode guide + videoclips from the series, like

A) Jedi Archives Tour (the entrance to one of the most restricted areas of the temple: The Holocron Vault).

B) Layout of Jedi Temple Library (source)

C) Jedi Temple funeral room + environment illustration by Tara Rueping (source)

Old Data Bank for Jedi Temple

HoloNews mentioning "a mob of 20 university students attempted to infiltrate the Jedi Temple" and "managing to get as far as the Second Atrium Lobby"

Star Wars Battlefront (2) game wiki provides some map and location description

and if you have time (and patience) you can watch gameplay from 501st Legion's mission in Jedi Temple for reference, like this one

The wookiepedia's articles should give enough good idea of the rooms, their location and functions, but I'm adding a few source pages:

STAR WARS: FACT FILES #36 provides a lot informations what and where was inside the Temple and some general data about visitors, security, Grand Balcony, Grand Corridor & Towers. Not all is super specific, but worth checking out for sure.

The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia mentions this:

and for Jedi Temple entry:

As for the named locations that are public or reserved for only temple residents, there is definitely a division like that, however I'm not sure if this issue was very well explained. The source gives us some ideas, like for example, Jedi Archives have data accessible only for Jedi with rank of Master or higher (thus most likely separated areas to study). At the same time, Fact Files #25 says that Jedi Archives offers an "excellent resources to researchers, including star-map hologram consoles", but also an access to entire scientific and historical knowledge of the Republic

so non-Jedi were allowed to use Jedi Library/Archives for their own research and work-related needs. We also must remember that the Jedi Order had various scientific branches, including archaeology, exploring unknown regions, and medicine, so logically thinking Jedi worked with other, non-Jedi specialists of many fields.

We also know from various sources, that politicians and important guests were invited for various occasions. We could see in Republic comics series that Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and senator Ask Aak were allowed to listen to Jedi reporting before High Council about his last battle

or attending Jedi Funeral like Duchess Satine and Padme Amidala did for the (fake) Obi-Wan's one or just visiting as a friend/comrade-in-arm

I would need to make more research about this issue as there is plenty tie-in material to Jedi Temple on Coruscant that would take a lot time to study, but at this moment, I think the best is assume how far a non-Jedi may walk into Temple will depend greatly who is that person and what is nature of their business with Jedi.

At the same time, Purge: Seconds to Die has this line "Clone Troopers? This deep in the Temple? Not permitted."

The Jedi was in Archives herself, so it is worth to take into account that clones could have more limited access to Temple than the average guest before war did. At the same time, clone troopers could make a report before Yoda and Mace Windu/High Council, as was presented by Star Wars Tales (Honor Bound):

so it is not like they were outright forbidden to enter the temple either.

Hope it will help!

[serpentface]

i really like how this setting has a very well defined history to it, the past, the way it has been described so far, genuinely feels like another place and still one that would logically lead to the present, so i wanted to ask, have you thought at all about this in the other direction? what will the setting look like in 10, 50, a 100 years? just where is this world going exactly?

10 years absolutely. 50 years not so much. 100 years barely. Far future not at all. Here's a summary of the localized 10-15 year outcome (posting the (incomplete, already outdated) map again because it is extremely necessary for the paragraphs to come)

(Titenegal is the star just to the west of Godsmouth, the Mouth is the stretch of sea between Bur and the Wardi empire, the Viper trails off a little off-map to the east, the seas west of the Viper form the Inner Seaway)

I have a pretty solid idea of the next 10-15 years for Imperial Wardin. The former king (technically emperor but the word for 'king' is used for this title) Stavis Amanti honorably and nobly and TOTALLY willingly replaces the destined white calf in sacrifice, and the Odomache takes his dynasty's place as the emperor. As God Itself incarnated, the state is now functionally a theocracy with a god-emperor. The Imperial Wardi faith has always been the greatest unifying factor in an otherwise fragmented imperial entity, and this change results in a greater centralization of power than what's seen in Whitecalf (in which it is essentially composed of allied city-states conditionally loyal to a king, it's integrity is very tenuous in general and actively falling apart in the famine). The city-state of Lobera and Godsmouth both disavow the Amanti dynasty during the famine and the former wholly secedes and declares itself an independent state near the end of the story (the latter re-avows its loyalty to the new god-emperor). Lobera pulls some nearby imperial tributary territories under its protection and and the territorial size of Imperial Wardin is diminished (basically the entire northeast is lost).

The drought DOES end in the same year as the pilgrimage (yayyyy it worked) but actual recovery from a 6.75 year drought and famine, especially in the context of a shift in political power, takes time. The famine cannot be considered to have fully ended for another 4-5 years (conditions just gradually improve until normalization) and this time is spent in with focus being inward and on recovery and reunification. The city-state of Erub in particular fully collapsed by the end of the famine (the Yellowtail river ran Completely dry and tens of thousands of people in that region alone died from starvation and disease) and is never reformed in this 15 year period, though some refugees (and opportunists grabbing lands from dead or fled farmers) start to trickle back in as the land recovers.

The shift in power from a dynastic imperial monarchy to an imperial oligarchy is actually wildly popular among much of the public (the notion existed long before it actually happened, the public opinion on the imperial family is EXTREMELY low during the famine and the pilgrimage is largely a desperate attempt to save face). The social perception that God Itself incarnated and made head of state is what ended the drought and famine is massively beneficial to the new power structure. Imperial Wardin emerges from famine recovery at the most united and centralized in power it's ever been.

A full scale war between Imperial Wardin and Lobera+Allies finally occurs about 6 years out, and lasts a little over a year before Lobera is utterly crushed and re-absorbed. Control over tributary states is reaffirmed, and efforts start to be made to make Imperial Wardi territory fully contiguous (in the map, only the red sections are Fully controlled territories)

Meanwhile Titenegal is more aggressively courted into full alliance with Godsmouth, and the majority of elected officials vote for a merger, which in practice absorbs it into the Wardi empire (while retaining elected officials for local affairs, though these must defer to the emperor). This basically splits the united Burri nations in half (both in public opinion and in a literal territorial capacity) and is extremely contentious. Imperial Wardin is clearly in the process of pulling the old switcheroo and conquering Bur, through diplomacy for the time being.

And with the full cross-Mouth unification having occurred, attention is turned back north to Finnerich (which has been fully independent of its tributary status for over a decade now, and has been a major pain in the ass for both Wardi and Burri interests). A much stronger, much more unified, and much more militarized Imperial Wardin starts preparing for another round of invasions, while the self-declared king of Finnerich has been courting historical enemies into allegiance against it. At this point the Wardi Empire is entering a strong expansionist era and trying to conquer the entire Viper Seaway and Mouth, with hopes of finally digging that canal at the end of the Viper (a seaway that peters out about 40 miles from the ocean, many have tried to dig a canal and all have failed) to completely monopolize the eastern tradeways. It has a long way to go to actually get there though.

All this stuff is the political backdrop for Blightseed (the story).

In the LONG and broader term, the only really imminent world-altering scenario would be the greater spread of firearms. At the moment the most complex and powerful firearm being produced is types of flintlocks/matchlocks most comparable to the arquebus (also there's some smaller pistols with similar mechanisms) (I'm also going back and forth on whether I should downgrade the gun tech), but the majority of firearms that exist are more basal fire lances and handcannons (and the VAST majority of peoples have no firearms at all). In the 'contemporary' these matchlocks are only just starting to spread through very powerful states in the Inner Seas tradeway and are generally rare and elite weapons, which are slowly being disseminated through capture and illegal trade and reverse engineered by other people. The spread of relatively efficient and powerful handguns would have profound implications for warfare and the power structures involved in trade networks and will probably be a major contributing force to mass societal changes in the next 100-300 years.

I also haven't provided a good sense of scale via not posting world maps but most of the imperial entities described are relatively tiny on a global scale. There has never been anything in the setting on the scale of the Roman empire or the Mongolian empire at their peaks. Imperial Wardin's total mass of occupied territories (not including claimed but unoccupied land, blue on the map) is a little under the size of the full extent of the Aztec empire (and they have some similarities in being largely composed of a tributary states). It's a world that has heavy interconnection via trade along coasts and seaways, but its societies are mostly (relatively) small in scale. This is a long way of saying I think the mass spread of firearms could result in something closer to that scale of territorial landgrabbing forming.

[friend-crow]

Transcript:

Peter Apian (1495-1552) Michael Ostendorfer (ca. 1490-1549) Artist

Astronomicum Caesareum

Ingolstadt 1540

Rare Book Division

This work is considered to be one of the most beautiful and spectacular contributions to the art of I6th-century book making. Astronomicum Caesareum was published by Petrus Apianus (Peter Apian), one of the foremost mathematicians, astronomers, and cartographers of the ith century. The book's title translates to "Imperial Astronomy" and is a direct reference to its two dedicatees, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and King Ferdinand I of Spain.

This is a particularly vibrant, pristine copy of Astronomicum Caesareum, which is perhaps Apian's most notable published work. The book features more than 20 elaborately decorated rotating disks, called volvelles, which, when manipulated, represent the functions of the astrolabe and other astronomical instruments used to calculate the positions of stars and planets. As one might imagine, over time and with use, these moving paper elements do not often survive intact.

This book was extremely cool. You can’t really tell from the photo how thick that stack of discs is, but it is… uh…. thick.

Transcript:

Andreas Cellarius (ca. 1596-1665)

Harmonia Macrocosmica

Amsterdam: Johannes Janssonius 1661

Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division

The only celestial atlas published in the Netherlands during the golden age of Dutch cartography, Harmonia Macrocosmica completes the multivolume history of all creation first conceived by Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It consists of 29 charts depicting the competing worldviews of Claudius Ptolemy, Martianus Capella, Nicolaus Copernicus, and Tycho Brahe. Engraved plates in the Baroque style illustrate more than 400 pages of text and depict the motions of the sun, moon, and planets, as well as delineations of classical and biblical constellations. In the preface, Cellarius notes his intention to create a second volume to address the new astronomical observations made available by the invention of the telescope. Unfortunately, this was never realized, due to his death in 1665.

[delta-orionis]

I made a region map for Three Stars Above Clouds’ interior! It's loosely based on both Five Pebbles and Looks to the Moon's region maps. (Note: I’m not a level designer, I have no idea if this would actually play well as a region, but I tried to connect the rooms in ways that made logical sense.)

Explanations/Notes about the different Subregions under the cut.

Subregions:

Memory Conflux: Self explanatory. Equivalent to the Memory Conflux rooms in Five Pebbles and Looks to the Moon. I made a mockup of what TSAC’s Memory Conflux rooms look like here.

Cognitive Nexus: TSAC’s equivalent of the General Systems Bus/Neural Terminus. I posted TSAC’s Cognitive Nexus and puppet chamber in a video here. (The music that plays in this subregion would sound similar to Energy as Matter by Software.)

Sequential Processing Syzygy: TSAC’s equivalent to the Recursive Transform Array/Abstract Convergence Manifold. (Syzygy: the linear alignment of three or more celestial bodies.)

Data Archives: Technically part of TSAC’s Memory Conflux, but this is where they store their pearls. The rooms feature boxes that have inaccessible pearls floating inside. The rooms are also very dark, and bolts of green electricity arc across the walls. (My logic here is that, in order to keep the pearls from fading, they need to be kept out of the light and continuously electrically stimulated.) The player would have to pay attention to the rhythm of the bolts and time their jumps right.

The Data Archives are in roughly the same position as Unfortunate Development in Five Pebbles, and serves a similar gameplay purpose: a high-risk-high-reward shortcut that gets you to the Cognitive Nexus much faster than going through the Sequential Processing Syzygy. There's an accessible colored pearl in one of the rooms that can be brought to TSAC's chamber to be read.

Intake Ducts: A one-way entrance connected directly to the Pump Station located in one of TSAC’s reservoirs. This is one of the pipes running through TSAC’s legs that supplies TSAC with water- the player is pushed upward by a very strong current into TSAC’s can (similar to Facility Roots - Western Intake in Outer Expanse and the connecting pipe in Outskirts).

This is another shortcut that lets the player bypass TSAC’s equivalent of The Leg and Underhang entirely. The path to the preceding karma gate is treacherous and requires very precise swimming, similar to the way Submerged Superstructure functions for all slugcats except Rivulet.

Connecting Regions:

Pump Station: Connected to one of TSAC’s reservoirs. This is a network of partially submerged pipes and tunnels, similar to Drainage System and Pipeyard’s Sump Tunnel. The player can enter one of the pumps to be pushed directly into TSAC’s can, provided they don’t drown.

Zenith: TSAC’s city, equivalent to Metropolis or Luna. Home to several tall observatory spires. (Zenith: the highest point on the celestial sphere.)

The Roost: TSAC’s equivalent of The Wall. Features a high volume of vultures and vulture grubs. TSAC’s roof is a mess of sticks and shrapnel, which the vultures use to make their nests.

Nadir: TSAC’s equivalent of Underhang. Connects to one of TSAC’s legs, which is attached to the nearby cliffside by a series of bridges and supports. (Nadir: the lowest point on the celestial sphere.)

[mj-102009]

The Marionette (Alastor x oc Part One)

Masterlist

-----------

-Some time ago-

“This is disgusting,” Vox growled, destroying the radio in a twitch of his fingers. The screams instantly fell silent.

“I think it's clever,” One of the forgettable overlords chipped in.

Velvette snarled at them, effectively shutting them up. “It’s clever to shits like you who think anything bloody is amazing because it gets your dick hard.”

Before she could go any further, Carmilla stood at the end of the table and held a list. We all winced as fellow overlords were listed off. “–were all lost to this so-called Radio Demon.”

This meeting was one of the only recorded ones that had every living overlord accounted for– excluding the Radio Demon.

On Carmilla’s right, I studied a map that she had laid out. “He’s going after the biggest ones.”

Val snickered and opened his mouth to make a dick joke, but Zestial cut him off early. “Anyone in his path of destruction should be on guard.”

“So we fight,” Vox shrugged. “He can’t take all of us.”

I exchanged looks with Carmilla. “You can try and fight,” all eyes turned to me as I spoke in my soft tone. “But if we’ve noticed anything these past few days…this demon is anything but a fool. And he won’t fall for your traps.”

Alliances were formed that day, the Vee’s made plenty of deals with others for protection. While I refused to accept any bribe or offer.

“This fucker thinks he can kill us,” Vox boasted. “Someone needs to put this cocky piece of shit in his place.”

“I’d be careful,” I purred with a teasing grin. “Doesn’t seem like this demon is taking his time, and after all only one of you relies on a wifi router to function.”

Val barked a laugh and Vox glitched. “Watch it, Barbie, video killed the radio star.”

I raised a single perfect brow and stood from my place at the table. “Get some new material, T-Mobile. And it’s Marionette to you.”

“I’m taking that as a compliment,” He called down the hall as I walked off. “That’s 5G!”

I would never recommend walking the streets of hell anywhere except sloth. The demons in sloth tend to know better than to jump someone like me.

A dull buzzing in my pocket broke me out of my thoughts. “Yes?”

“The radio dick got Vox,” Valentino growled, getting straight to the point. 

I inhaled sharply. “Dead? Or just wounded,” I bring my hand to the bridge of my nose and sigh through the growing stress headache.

“Just his ego,” Velvette snorted from across the line.

“I told the fool to be on guard,” I sigh, dropping my hand and opening my eyes. “Tell Carmilla and update me on how the Spark Plug is fairing.”

They hung up with a grunt of agreement. I looked over my shoulder and squinted at the shadows, every corner of the street seemed to be pulling towards me.

To scare me.

To intimidate me.

I ran a hand through my iron curled hair and chuckled. “I’m not sure whether to thank you for Vox’s condition or avenge his pride,” I told the wind slowly.

A whoosh of air then a hum of static filled the street, pricking at my skin and making my hair rise.

“Ah yes!” A voice cheered in front of me as the shadows condensed into a solid figure. “The moving picture fellow.”

I studied him with a hum. “Radio Demon,” I nodded in greeting. 

“The Marionette,” His smile was far too plastered for my taste. “Your ethereal beauty was undersold to me.”

“Charmed,” I smile warmly. “How may I be of assistance.”

It wasn’t a genuine question.

I knew full well what he wanted.

“To take your position of power of course!” His smile turned sinister.

With a click of my tongue I tilted my head at him. “I appreciate your drive, I really do,” His eyes flickered. “But I must advise…”

 With a flick of his fingers a hole opened in the ground and three massive tentacles erupted from within. I snapped my fingers and the world came to a pause, I lifted my skirts and stepped around the tentacles. I moved to stand behind him.

Again I lifted my hand and snapped my fingers. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”

He whirled around and swung down with the staff. I grabbed his wrist causing him to drop it and snapped with my right hand.

Instantly as the world froze his tentacle monsters disappeared. “What did you do?” He asked without his filter, panicked as he realized he was stuck.

“I’ve brought you to the in-between,” I tell him . “A place frozen in time,” I walked forward and tilted my head. “The only drawback is that we have no power here.”

He hissed. “They didn’t tell me you could do this.”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow and my lips curled in amusement. “Who’s they?”

“They said you could move people,” This tantrum reminded me of a child. “What is this?”

I picked up his discarded staff and flicked it from hand to hand. “Oh anyone can do this with enough power,” He watched me warily. “I just know an overzealous demon with fresh power, and guessed you wouldn’t know much.”

“I killed the rest,” He told me. “I’ll slaughter you and use you for dinner.”

“So dramatic,” I sighed, shaking my head. “I’ve been here for centuries, learning– do you really think you’re the first demon to come after my land?” I looked up at him and grinned. “And you weren’t miss informed,” I snapped my fingers again and instantly he thrust out his hand and his staff flew to his hands. His back stretched with his limbs and he prowled towards me. I flicked my fingers and an invisible string yanked him all the way back into a building. “Just under prepared.”

I walked up to his crumpled form and studied him. “You won’t last long here,” I sigh, shaking my head. “Shame as well, you have the Vee’s shaking.”

-30 years later-

“Are you coming to the meeting?” Velvette snapped into the phone.

“Can’t say I planned on it,” I hum into the phone. “Why?”

She huffed in frustration. “Carmilla invited the Radio dick.”

My lips curled into a grin. “And?”

She sputtered. “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN ‘AND’? HE NEARLY KILLED VOX!”

“So,” I shrug. “Not my circus, not my monkeys, I remember telling all of you to watch out,” I remind her plainly.

“You’re the Marionette,” She complained. “You’re one of the oldest overlords in hell. You have to go.”

“Good bye, Velvette,” I deadpanned, hanging up and dropping my phone on my desk.

A knock made me look up with a hum. 

“Milady,” A meek voice greeted me. “Ms. Rosie is here to visit you.”

I lift my head and stand with a smile. “Rosie!” I beam walking to meet her in a hug. “Love, hello, what are you doing here?”

“Libby!” She greets me, returning my embrace and sitting on the loveseat across from me. “I can’t visit an old friend on my way to the meeting.”

I signal for the other demon to bring tea. “Of course you can,” I smile. “How’ve you been?”

She cupped her hands in her lap. “Well I’ve been getting to know the other overlords in the area as you suggested.”

“Oh how lovely,” I nod, taking the platter of tea and setting it down on the coffee table. “May I ask who?”

“Alastor,” She told me while taking a sip of her tea. “Do you have any pinky fingers?”

I furrow my brows as I tell my assistant to get her the fingers. “Forgive me– age might just be catching up with me– but who is Alastor?” I frown. I haven’t been to a meeting in a while but I don’t recall seeing anyone new on the news…

“The Radio Demon,” She says casually.

“Goodness,” I laugh slightly. “Velvette told me he was attending meetings but I didn’t believe it.”

She hums. “You’ve met?”

I smile awkwardly. “Briefly, some time ago.”

“Ah,” She nods understandingly. “He’s calmed down some.”

“Oh I hope so,” I chuckle. “I almost feel guilty for how I treated him.”

Rosie gave me a look and I cracked a grin.

She looked at the clock and stood with a sigh. “Did you plan on going?”

“I didn’t,” I muse. “I can if you wish me too.”

“If it’s not too much trouble,” She told me.

I hum and stand. “Allow me to change.”

When I come back out of my quarters, I have on a deep red off the shoulder dress that pools along the floor. Rosie smiles and clasps her hands together.

“Gorgeous as always, Libby,” She teases.

I wave away the compliment. “Nothing compares to you, Love,” I offer my hand.

She takes it and we swirl into the shadows before reappearing in the building. I break away from her to see Carmilla.

“Marionette,” She greets. “Long time no see.”

“Apologies,” I smile. “I’ve been busy.”

Zestial greets me and I do the same. “I hear you sent a direct invitation to Alastor,” he says to her.

She raises an eyebrow. “No one said he can’t come to these meetings.”

I nod. “He is an overlord, and as such has the same duties as us.”

Carmilla sets down a clipboard and turns to the table. “All right!”

I settle beside her and look at the filled seats that were all turned to three empty seats. I raise an eyebrow in amusement and exchange looks with Carmilla who clears her throat and begins the rather short list of deaths.

“Overall I think not much has changed since last year,” She shrugs. “No one has anything to add?”

When no one does, she drops her gavel and I pout. “I thought Vox would be here.”

“I told him not to come,” Carmilla says offhandedly, when she catches my disappointment. “What? You and him have been beefing for years.”

“Yes but I was looking for some drama with him and the Radio Demon,” I sigh. “Only reason I come to these things anymore.”

She gives me an odd look. “You don’t come to these things.”

I shrug and look around for Rosie. When I do, I beam and walk over to her. “This was disappointing,” I sigh.

“Oh Libby!” She clutched my arm and spun me around. “Alastor, this is Liviana.”

Alastor’s trademark smile stretches slightly. “We’ve met.”

I hum and hold out my hand. “I do hope I didn’t do too much damage.”

“Not at all,” he takes my hand and we both smile.

Mine was so practiced and sickly sweet, and his was threatening and intimidating. Rosie watched us warily, realizing what may have happened.

“Vee’s were a no show,” She commented.

I took my hand back and crossed my arms. “Of course not, Vox will say they had meetings but I know he just doesn’t want to get beat again.”

She sighed and shook her head. “You warned him.”

I laughed and patted her shoulder while turning away. “That I did, see you around, Love. And you Alastor,” I gave him a polite half wave before whirling into a tornado of shadows and reappearing in my office.

“Indara,” I call out the door. “Can I have you order a box of fried dough from New Orleans to be sent to the radio tower? Sign my name on it as well.”

I felt his presence before I got the call.

“Milady, the-”

“Have someone bring him up here,” I said into the speaker on the wall. “And have someone bring tea as well, thank you.”

I stood from my desk and walked to a closet I had in my office, I went through a filing cabinet and whistled an aimless tune.

“Ma’am,” One of my staff greeted me, setting down my tea, I smiled and thanked him.

Static filled the air and I patted my hair down with a frown.

“I didn’t take you as the kind to send threats!” 

I chuckle and toss a file on my desk. “That’s because I’m not,” I gave him a curious look. “Did I guess right? Your accent is warped slightly so I took a gamble.”

Alastor watched me as I moved around my office, doing work as if he wasn’t there. “You were correct, my dear..”

“These are new floors so I would refrain from any tentacle monsters in here please,” I tease lightly as I walk around my desk and over to the two loveseats. “Tea?”

He nodded and sat across from me. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Oh?” I raise an eyebrow. “How so?”

“This,” He taps his cup and sips his drink. “Hospitality that I see from this side of hell.”

I set down my cup and cross my legs. “You mean Rosie and I.”

“Indeed,” His claws dig into the black upholstery. “It was my understanding that you were the most…intimidating of all the overlords.”

“All of us hope we’re the most intimidating,” I tell him. “I’ve just been around longer so there’s more rumors about me floating around.”

A studio audience laugh echoes through his microphone. “My dear you don’t look a day over 25!”

I scrunch my nose and sip my drink. “Thank you, I suppose.”

“You truly must tell me where you purchased those baked goods,” He told me, wistfully. “They tasted fresh baked from home.”

“I had an imp order from the surface then take it down here,” I say. “I can ask which bakery if you’d like.”

He beamed. “That would be helpful, thank you.”

I smile genuinely. “I’m glad you came, however I do have a meeting with a certain TV demon that neither of us are fond of.”

Alastor’s static made a screeching sound and stood up. “Ah yes, Vox was his name?” When I nod he continues. “He has made it some sort of mission to get me in his merry band.”

“Bloody hell,” I sigh, rubbing my nose. “He’s a fool, I keep him around for his influence.”

“I’m off to meet Rosie for lunch,” He cheers. 

I beam and turn to him. “Give her my warmest wishes.”

“That I will.”

When he leaves, my assistant walks in and sets down a file I had asked for earlier. “Ma’am?” I hum and look up at them. “If I may– why did you forgive him so easily?”

I tap my nails to the table. “I suppose I’m a believer in second chances.”

This is so self indulgent lmfao, I'm really just testing out a few different things and this is what came of it. Tell me if you like this or want me to continue it, ik I tend to leave fics hanging but I do try I swear.

Tell me if you want to be tagged as well!

[wolf-among-mechs]

MW5: Clans

Having messed around with Mechwarrior 5 Clans for a bit I think I can throw out a pretty strong recommendation for it for anyone still uncertain. The TLDR: I enjoy it plenty, lore and gameplay. The cutscenes and characters are pretty good.

I apparently made a review of it because I felt like talking about it into the void. With largely positive things to say about it. Bunch of stuff I honestly want to hear other people's opinions on too.

It is quite back to the old days in Mechwarrior 4 with characters and opinions and how it flows with the fights. While I enjoyed MW5 Mercs, it is kindof lacking in that department though as the DLCs pile on you get a lot more of it or at least attempts that aren't halfbad. Good effort has gone into making the people sound right, with accents and affects. Like yes, the clanners talk as they're supposed to. When one of your team uses a contraction every clanner outside your star immediatly lose their shit. Not in the meme sense but it they might as well have said c*nt next to a bunch of americans in terms of foulness spoken out loud.

The story following the smoke jaguars during Operation Revival is interesting considering they commit the worst war crime during the invasion and also kindof continually fumble the ball against the Combine. Your star, five lone mechs against the inner sphere, are part of the proceedings and the different characters in the star interact, sometimes disagree or just give each other shit. Got a nice team atmosphere. It introduces stuff and concepts among the clans quite nicely so even if you're not familiar with them you'll pick up what they're on about.

I think it does a pretty nice job of showing things from the Clans perspective of Operation Revival and how they are completely unprepared for the Inner Sphere and continually frustrated with it and things just going increasingly awry. There's a few beats that I think could've been done better certainly but I think it's good drama and a fun time in that regard. I could go more into what I think of the depictions of the clans in the game but that's basically some nerding out about the larger battletech universe and stuff. After turtle bay I kinda had that feeling that I've had in the past when a game makes you a culprit of a war crime or something terrible. A special kind of disgust made all the more visceral as you see the people, the resistance, in Turtle bay reacting to the bombing. Then everything blowing up.

Another thing that I quite like of this depiction is that the inner sphere does put up some serious resistance. Stuff doesn't roll over. They put up some serious fights. More often than not this is called dishonourable because the inner sphere descends into trickery and lies even though aforementioned trickery and lies are often extremely basic ambushes or "send more mechs to the fight." It is funny to contrast with Mercs where this just is how the Inner sphere fights. That said the clanners do eventually learn that they will set traps and ambush and attempt to fight unfair. Very often sending tons of mechs and people into the meat grinder in so doing. Some of the fights do get pretty intense and hard. You also get to see Comstar be Comstar. Wearing their space wizard garbs and being a manipulative force that will never tell you the truth.

The maps while feeling a bit more lived in than most of what Mercs managed to do, are kindof cramped and not great half the time for the kindof long range shooting matches more than half your equipment is good for, not helped that even with the added control to your lance or star mates you still have to be the one to step into the breach. Luckily there's many things you can do to fit that problem. I kindof wish that the star command screen had a pause function so that you could assign targets or at least go into bullet time. Because by the time the enemies show up. They're usually ontop of you so that's not really time to get your map out and play mechcommander. The fact it doesn't pause or slow down so you can set attacks or even give things preferences such as "maybe don't waste all your ammo on the fricking Locust when it will fall over from a stiff breeze" is honestly kindof baffling. Especialy how exciting it otherwise looks and how much detailing you can do with the Star mates XP and omnipods for their mechs. Which is not quite like tabletop omnipod but makes more sense than those omnipods.

Because of the tight maps the AI will more often than not walk in front of you when you're trying to hose something down way more often than they did in mercs. And they will complain about it when you invariably remove all thier back armor by mistake. You get used to it.

The fights feel pretty good honestly. Good challenging combat maps. They got a lot more field repair bays around compared to MW5:mercs. Which... I think I only remember 2? And were introduced like they were going to be more common in the campaign. Which holy shit, you're going to need those repair bays. You get to visit some really varied battlefields, a Star League depot, a cave system, cities and country side. Lots of mountain passes. Deserts and even do battle on a space port.

There's boss battles now. With various levels of canonicity. I don't know if we needed those but I see the point of them. They are usually there to give some variety to shooting stuff after waves of mechs and vehicles and vtols. You can also shoot down shilones now. I'd say aerospace fighters but it's all shilones.

All in all. If you enjoy mechwarrior, if you enjoy battletech. Chances are Mechwarrior 5 clans will have you eating well.

[zeravmeta]

An oft unaccounted for factor when it comes to discussing Arknights balance in regards to busted 6*'s is that in the base game and most side modes, there isn't really a "cost" per se to just fielding a whole bunch of 6* units compared to needing to use lower rarity units. Part of what makes some of these 6*s super busted is that you can easily supplement downsides with Other busted 6*s to cover specific team weaknesses, which may sound obvious on paper but Arknights is a game revolving around unit niches, so when you have a strong generalist with only a specific single weakness that can be covered by 2-3 other units, thats a non-issue, especially when you have 12 whole team slots. I consider Thorns and Ling to be the single most busted units in the game specifically because they can cover all bases, so to speak, and can genuinely solo a majority of the maps in the game because of how they can functionally interact with all enemy types in Arknights. Flying units exist as a counterbalance to just fielding a strong melee unit to block and kill everything, so the reason why Lord Guard stonks have never dropped is because of this one interaction.

Most other gachas do have costs associated with using a bunch of high rarity units, FGO for example has its cost system per team that's raised with level but never truly maximized so you Can't run full team of 5* units + CE's. Alchemy Stars gets around this in a semi-unique way imo, where you Can use all 6*s but the teams are only 5 units and all content revolves around cycling through these teams of 5, as well as having a good chunk of key units be 4*/5*, so you're encouraged to make a blend of these rarities instead of just dumping all 6*s into a single team

of course this is all resolved anyways with Integrated Strategies, im just rambling about balance changes in the funny slots machine phone games

[whumpy-writings]

Of Vampires and Men Map!

So back when I started OVAM I drew a very basic map to help me figure out where things were. I'm talking blobs and stars on important places. It was functional, but not pretty. Well, my sister agreed to turn my chicken scratch into an actual masterpiece! Behold, the world of Pyrne!

I literally almost cried when she showed me the finished map. It's so cool to see the world I've been playing around in for years finally take shape. This is of course only one part of the entire planet. The story thus far has taken place mostly in Torin and Lucia, but I have plans. Big plans. Book 2 is going to take place partly in Enrone, which is going to be super fun. There will also be vampire pirates.

And now for some shameless self promotion:

Cry of Fangs is coming out next Tuesday, March 26! If you purchase the paperback or ebook and fill out the form below, I'll send you a postcard of this beautiful map as a thank you gift. https://forms.gle/x7GNB9Lh1LY9r5Bg8

Preorder Cry of Fangs here!

Grab a signed paperback!

Thank you so much for showing my angsty vampire boys so much love. Even if you can't purchase a copy of the book, know that I appreciate every single like, reblog, and comment. I hope to have some more free chapters up on tumblr soon.

Tagging the OVAM squad: @thecitythatdoesntsleep @whump-cravings @thecyrulik @neverthelass @michelleswhumpyreblogs @whumpsy-daisy @the-monarch-whumperfly @aswallowimprisoned @secretwhumplair @whumpzone @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @nicolepascaline @susiequaz12 @pumpkin-spice-whump @wiwinia @sunflower1000 @whump-blog @melancholy-in-the-morning @suspicious-whumping-egg @whumpsday @ceph-the-ghost-writer @inkkswhumpandstuff @whumpycries @quietly-by-myself @darlingwhump @whumpshaped @dragonqueenslayer6

[starrulet]

My Experience with P5R

So, I went into this game with Zero Knowledge™ of what it held. I only bought it, because I knew you got to play as a phantom thief, everyone loves Joker and everyone had at one point called it the Perfect Game™ (oh, and it was on sale).

First Playthrough

Start up game. Absolute banger of a first hour. Everything is on point, this truly is the Perfect Game™ when it comes to graphical interface. Also, hands down best intro segment I have ever played. Immediately 100% invested in the game.

I write my name. I'm too lazy to look up something authentically Japanese online, so I name him KURO KNIGHT. I do not realize that small caps were available and this does haunt me for the next 100+ hours.

I discover the ability to "befriend" shadows. I attempt to befriend every shadow I meet.

Igor tells me to kill two of my personas. I am heartbroken and horrified by their execution. I absolutely hate the function and vow to never use it.

(Arsène is never sacrificed. At the time, I did not know this is uncommon for the first playthrough).

I max out the amount of personas I can currently have. I am heartbroken. I want to befriend all the shadows, but the game won't let me.

I am introduced to social stats. I make the wild assumption that these will passively effect the story for good/bad endings, as well as chances of success in Palaces (e.g. charm will increase likelihood of befriending a shadow, knowledge improves Third Eye, etc.), instead of being a "you must have stat 4 to pass to the next story segment" role. I immediately start investing hard on maxing my stats.

I do not know how to check Confidant Availability on the map. I only go to meet confidants if they've texted me.

(As you can imagine, this will royally screw me over later)

A teacher smacks me in the head with a piece of chalk. I'm told if I improve my proficiency, I can dodge it. Guess which social stat I start heavily investing in.

I am introduced to Maruki. I am told I have until November to max my relationship with him. He is immediately given priority over all other Confidants. Keep in mind, I only meet confidants if they text me.

I meet Kasumi. I'm not that interested in her, until I realize she only has a 5-star confidant bond. I decide to max her out, because that will be easy to reach.

I reluctantly start executing personas. Arsène is never executed, even though he's becoming so weak, I can no longer use him in fights.

While on the main menu, I notice Joker's shoes for the first time. And then I check and yes. Joker has the worst shoes in existence. I hate them. Everything about his phantom thief outfit is on point, except for those monstrosities.

I go ballistic over no one asking why "Pleasant Boy" heard their conversation about pancakes. I am angry. Enraged. I want answers, but the characters don't seem to catch onto the pancakes. I am deeply upset.

This is when I start questioning the intelligence and competence of the Phantom Thieves. It will effect how I perceive them later on.

I officially meet Akechi. I instantly take a strong liking to him, because he is the absolute WORST person to befriend as a phantom thief. The pancake thing makes me also super suspicious of him, further adding to him being a BAD person to befriend.

Akechi gives me the Sleuthing Instinct Skill. Akechi is instantly my favourite Confidant and I am determined to unlock the rest of the skills on his Confidant route.

A teacher throws chalk at me. I dodge. The whole class is amazed. I'm smug about it.

I meet "Becky". I die of second-hand embarrassment.

Why can I not gift Morgana sushi when I want to? Let me feed my cat sushi.

Every new palace, the Phantom Thieves are like "No! They don't have a persona, they can't help!" and "Leave it to us experienced pro phantom thieves B) ", only to end up relying on the formally non-persona user. I really don't feel like they're competent, since they suck at protecting civilians so much, that the civilian has to awaken a persona to save everyone or they'll all die.

I finally have enough guts to call up "Becky". When she arrives, the second-hand embarrassment is so strong, I exit the game without saving and have to replay the last two in-game weeks.

I realize that Yusuke, Makoto and Futaba are not listed as my Confidants. I panic and despair. I have failed my friends.

(I am unaware that minimal confidant bond does not mean we are not in-game friends and that not maxing out a Confidant Bond does not have too much impact on the story...)

The first time I ram into a shadow with the van, I burst into laughter. It was entirely unexpected.

I befriend Chihaya. I can't help but notice how much of a Meet-Cute this is and decide that I will pursue a relationship with her.

In Hawaii, I spend the day with Mishima and Ryuji. I am unaware that this is because I failed to develop higher bonds with other Confidants.

I get my first part-time jobs to complete Mementos quests. I wonder why anyone would bother with jobs, since you can get more money in Mementos than at work.

It starts occurring to me, that maybe I'm not supposed to blast through palaces in one run. There are benefits to multiple visits. I continue to complete palaces in one run.

I get stuck on my second boss - Haru's dad. Even grinding in Mementos does not save the day. I look up advice online.

I go out of my way to meet Hifumi. I cry. I want to max out her bond, she's instantly proven herself so useful.

I defeat the boss by the skin of my teeth. I never want to face that boss again.

Akechi officially joins the team. I am ecstatic, but I am dreading it. I love him, but I still have that pancake thing in my head and I am fully aware that the rest of the Phantom Thieves do not like him. AT ALL. Which can only mean the narrative has labelled him a bad guy (otherwise they would have quickly warmed up to him, like they did with Haru), which means he is only temporarily on the team, which means he will do something nefarious because the narrative said he must. Also, he is conspicuously the only one wearing white as a main colour. So. Further fuel for the "not part of the group!!!" fire. I am deeply upset by this. I still love him, even though I know I will have to soon accept his role in the narrative, whatever that may be.

A teacher throws chalk at me. I'm one step away from maxing out proficiency. It smacks into my face. The cold war wasn't over after all. The teacher has improved his aim.

I try to start a Confidant bond with Haru. She snaps at me and I'm so terrified by the reaction from the otherwise sweet and polite girl, I never attempt to talk to her again.

"I hate you." Akechi, as your only friend, please go see a therapist.

It's November and I haven't maxed out my relationship with Maruki. I am not getting opportunities to do so via text. I despair, because Maruki has grown to be a favourite of mine.

Maruki wants to bid me personally farewell. My Confidant Bond with him maxes out during our tearful goodbyes. I whoop and cheer that I got to the end of his Confidant route, oblivious to what this means.

Akechi says we should leave stealing the treasure to the last second. The team instantly agrees. I get mad, because when I try to do that, the team nags at me and complains that we should really do this ASAP, but when Akechi suggests it, it's fine-

The police raid Sae's palace and I assume they're cognitions from the nearby cognitive police station, not real police. From that, I deduce that the interrogation scene is taking place in the Metaverse and not the real world.

Yeah. I wasn't wrong, but I wasn't right either.

Endgame spoilers under the cut.

Endgame

The game keeps telling me to think carefully about my choices. I become paranoid. I am in interrogation and I become confused.

I am so confused by the game, I start thinking that maybe my instincts are wrong, and I end up ratting out my friends while being interrogated.

Sensing this was the Wrong Option, I exit the game and reload the last save file without finding out if it really was the wrong option.

I was right. It was the Wrong Option, since I am now watching the Right Option unfold. I am frustrated, because if the game hadn't been so insistent I "think carefully" and "consider my actions seriously", I would have instinctively not named my allies. BUT because it was nagging me, I thought if I went with the obvious option, I'd end up with the bad ending.

I'm an overthinker, ok.

Akechi comes to kill me. He looks utterly unhinged, to the point it crosses over into hilarity.

(Akechi gets one(1) plus point for looking incredible while killing the policeman. Like, that was insanely slick. Several thousand minus points for killing Joker though. And then nudging his head to check if he's dead, like Akechi, you shot him through the head what do you expect-)

It turns out, the Phantom Thieves did know about the pancake thing. But I'm 60+ hours into the game at this point and I do not have the mental capacity to retcon that much time to fit this reveal into a cohesive story. As such, despite making sense and the game setting up for this, my brain does not completely accept this plot reveal.

In other words, I would have strongly preferred it if we continued having 100% of the protagonists' perspective, instead of the 90% we ended up having, to keep the 10% (knowledge that Akechi will betray them, and the plan to fool Akechi) secret.

Like, no. We didn't need that to be a "plot twist". It was obvious from the start. Just admit it upfront next time.

I also don't buy into the Phantom Thieves being smart enough to concoct such a plan, because they've been making things up as they go along since Day 1 and have been heavily reliant on picking up new team members to survive Palaces and defeat Bosses. As said. By not addressing the pancake thing, my opinion of them being competent phantom thieves was shattered. I can't unsee their shortcomings, even if the pancake thing wasn't a shortcoming after all.

A part of me feels icky, because I know my first choice had been the bad ending. It now feels like the bad ending was the true ending, and I've cheated my way out of it, so the good ending that I'm approaching does not feel earned. The feeling hangs over me for a while.

Even though KURO is not dead, his absence in day-to-day life is shocking. It leaves a really big impact and a sense of dread.

I like KURO's incognito civilian clothes until I realize he's got nothing on under the grey hoodie. Child. Put some layers on. It's winter. What the heck, are you trying to die of hypothermia or something.

I miss Akechi. Not because I actually miss him, I miss what he contributed to the group: Getting the others to get all the way off my back about leaving the heist to the last minute.

"No guys, we can't go to Shido's palace until I've made enough coffee and curry! Yes, I'm serious!!!"

The Phantom Thieves are turned into mice. This is one of the best things to happen in-game.

Akechi has a psychotic breakdown in the engine room. I repeat to myself that this really could have been avoided if Akechi had just gone to a therapist.

Imagine my shock when I defeat Shido, but the game doesn't end. Staggering.

Igor orders Caroline and Justine to kill me. I panic, wondering if this was because I failed to max out my bonds with the Phantom Thieves and I am approaching a bad ending after all. Then I wonder if maybe this could be avoided if Caroline and Justine had a higher Confidant bond with me and I regret that it's still at an abysmal level 1.

It turns out that having level 1 doesn't stop the girls from apparently liking me. They cannot of their own free will kill me. I'm glad that it doesn't matter that I only have a level 1 bond with them, but this still feels jarring. My mind still equates bonds to levels of friendship, meaning we're still barely acquaintances at best. Plot armour for Joker has kicked in hard.

I make the wrong assumption that maxing out bonds has no impact on the overall story.

I am surprised that Morgana is not - in fact - human. At some point I had convinced myself he was a teen persona user, stuck in a coma. Or that he is the persona of a persona user, sent loose to help his persona user wake up again. I don't know when I developed that theory, but it's so strong that the truth throws me.

Unlike the pancake twist, I accept this "twist" without issue.

Over the course of the game, I have been strengthening Arsène like crazy. He is my strongest persona and has inherited many powerful abilities from the persona sacrificed for him.

I head into the final battle with Arsène equipped. It's satisfying to kinda defeat the final boss with him.

There's something kinda depressing about the cutscenes in the final boss battle. Almost like my confidants are... absent...

I am overjoyed when Akechi is confirmed to have survived, as he turns himself over to the police. I assume this is the result of maxing out my bond with him.

I love Morgana's cat portrait. No, I am not biased because he's a cat.

I assume the game will end. Then KURO wakes up in the counselling room. The game is not over yet.

Third Semester

Because I happened to max out my bonds with Akechi, Kasumi and Maruki, I get the third semester story part.

I am unaware of how lucky I am, considering I didn't max out any other bonds by December (outside of the automated bonds of Igor, Sae and Morgana).

I make use of the extra costumes the game has given me for the first time. I pretend there's an in-story reason: The alteration in the universe has also affected how they appear as phantom thieves. KURO is now running around in his starlight clothes, Akechi in the dance costume and Kasumi I'm never quite able to settle on. Why those particular clothes? I am unable to come up with a theory, beyond reality alteration.

I am thrilled that the game addressed Akechi's unhinged nature by having Kasumi question it, and didn't just act like nothing had happened.

I am delighted that, in Morgana and Futaba's absence, Akechi is my navigator. I have not enjoyed myself that much in a long time. He's terrible and that's what makes him perfect.

To be honest, it's in the third semester where Akechi is elevated to absolute favourite character in Persona 5. Prior to that, he was liked, but not favoured.

I am horrified that Maruki is the new bad guy. I am even more horrified by what they did to his hair.

I am glad that "Please see a therapist" is not something I can tell Akechi during the first and second semester, because - after what has happened to Maruki - Akechi would never let me live this down.

To be fair, Akechi would also accuse me of being a kleptomaniac, considering how I've picked every palace clean so far.

Genuinely shocked by the Sumire reveal.

Sumire apologizes for trying to kill KURO. I wish KURO had told her it's fine, because Akechi, his currently only other friend, also tried to kill him.

I spend third semester trying to max out my bonds with the Phantom Thieves and any other Confidants I haven't maxed yet.

I befriend Haru, but I never get passed level one with her.

I manage to get to level 9 with Chihaya. We become a couple. I assume.

I succeed in maxing out Takemi and Mishima's confidant bonds, but no one else.

I max out the Baton Pass with all Phantom Thieves (including Akechi and Sumire). I do this just because it's cool to have. I'm not thinking strategically.

During this semester I go to play billiards for the first time.

Because I'm playing billiards for the first time, KURO asks "What's a cue stick?" Meanwhile, Akechi - with whom KURO has played billiards several times, who KURO has even beaten at billiards - is just standing in the background. I pretend Akechi is exasperated.

I had already suspected it when it's revealed that Akechi is a cognition-human of the new reality. I am not surprised, since despite my love for Akechi, it feels like some of his nuance is gone as of the third semester. Him being a cognition built from people's perception of him (with heaviest influences being directly from KURO and the Phantom Thieves) explains that.

"This isn't trivial!" Mmh. Some grade-A angst right there, I love it.

Of course I choose to defeat Maruki. I may love Akechi, but not so much that I'd let everyone on the planet be brainwashed into someone's perception of true happiness. There's a difference between living and being alive. And also, Akechi doesn't want to live in this reality either, so....

I really, really hate Maruki's metaverse look. Like, at first, you think, well, a bit weird, but tolerable. Then you get glimpses of what's underneath the poncho and oh... oh no...

I am glad to have maxed out the Baton Pass with everyone, because this is the only reason I am able to beat Maruki.

Much like with all bosses from Okumura onwards, I win by the skin of my teeth. Unlike other bosses though, I get max HP and SP after completing a phase. I appreciate this, because otherwise I would have lost (most Phantom Thieves are in the low 80s, high 70s range).

I can't believe I end up in a fistfight with Maruki. They're not even attempting to dodge each other. It's like I'm watching an 18th century boxing match.

The Ending

It's Valentine's day. Chihaya doesn't give me anything. I am disgusted.

I'm told to say goodbye to all my friends. I exit and can only bid farewell to Sae, Takemi and Mishima. I am distraught.

Even though the cutscene has all the Phantom Thieves bidding me goodbye, I don't buy it. I couldn't bid them farewell on my last day, so this doesn't feel earned or real.

I realize I couldn't bid farewell because I didn't max out their bonds. So maxing out the bonds does have an affect on the story, just not one I could have predicted. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Maruki is a taxi driver. Dude. You have a university degree. You have a doctor title. Is this really all you could come up with?!

The game ends, I get the extra cutscene with Akechi and KURO seeing himself as Joker in the reflection. I interpret this as 1: Akechi is alive in some shape or form (with how and why being up in the air), and 2: the Metaverse cannot be destroyed, but the Phantom Thieves actions have lead to it being purged and cleaned. Hopefully, it will be healthier this time.

First Playthrough took me 110 hours.

NewGame+

I start the game so I can say goodbye to my friends. Yes. I am so mad that I couldn't say goodbye to Ryuji (and tbh, specifically Ryuji), I am replaying the entire game.

For real, if I'd been able to bid farewell to Ryuji in the first playthrough, I wouldn't have bothered with NewGame+.

And yes I've only mentioned Ryuji like a handful of times, but that's because I didn't really need to. Everyone loves him. It's a given.

I set the game to safety mode, because I just want the story.

This time I put a bit more effort into Joker's civilian name. I've grown attached to Kuro, even though I'm fairly certain that's not a name in Japan. In NewGame+ his name is Kuro Kichihei.

I enter my first battle in the Kamoshida's palace. I am frustrated that my stats are so low.

I realize I can equip end-game gear.

I'm crying, the shadows stand no chance.

I am too powerful. I fail to befriend shadows. I am forced to execute Arsène. This hurts.

I see the cutscene for executing Arsène for the first time. The Best Boy was with me to the very end in the first playthrough. It hurts to see him leave so soon in another timeline.

"It's no use! They're too powerful!!" Morgana cries. We have taken 2 HP damage.

I kinda wish I had set the game to easy mode, because I have a strong desire to know if this would be just as easy in normal mode.

I am determined to max out all bonds I form. While reading an online guide, I learn about checking Confidants Availability on the map. I feel like an idiot. I knew the blue rectangles meant a confidant was there, I didn't know they may offer up more information.

I discover there is a Confidant I have never even met in the First Playthrough. I go out of my way to befriend him. It's Yoshida.

Befriending him is... kinda stalker-y. Because I first find out where he frequents, get a job there to talk to him, and then I'm able to open up the confidant route. Like. I- I stalked him. So I could befriend him. No matter how you slice it, it's creepy.

I am in Madarame's boss battle. I am using personas at levels way higher than me, than the palace. I throw fire at all Madarames, the fire Madarames reflect it back at me. I am insta-killed. It's the only time I've died in the second playthrough.

I'm befriending and levelling up all previous Confidants, even though I know some of their skills carried over to NewGame+. I plan on befriending Chihaya again too, even though I'm going to pursue Makoto this time.

I do not open up the route with Chihaya.

I do open up Kawakami's route. I emotionally distance myself from the game to do so.

I discover I really love Kawakami and relate to her. It's unfortunate that the guy helping her is a minor and her student.

I spend a day hanging out with Ryuji. He mentions that his favourite characters are the rival characters. Um. Ryuji. Are you sure about that. Are you sure about that-

I open up Haru's route. She doesn't snap at me when I talk with her. I'm relieved.

As I finish Makoto's route, I suddenly wish I hadn't started a relationship with her. Because as she's pouring her heart out, this feels like she needed a friend, not a boyfriend. It's too late now though.

Meanwhile, I'm in Haru's early stages and I am displeased by the fact that she's still with her fiancé. My sympathy is not very high.

I finally understand why the Phantom Thieves kept asking me how I felt about the plan for Sae's palace. They weren't worried about the palace, or working with Akechi, they were worried about Akechi freaking murdering me.

Why is it an option to date Futaba if Sojiro is against it? Don't go against your dad's wishes, man.

Because I am weak, when Akechi sends me a text, asking me to hang out two days before he will murder me, I agree. Even though there are other Confidants whose bonds are ready to level up. Even though I've already maxed out my relationship with him. Even though it only unlocks a bless skill he will not have in the third semester. Akechi is still the favourite and does, in fact, get special treatment as a result.

As the Phantom Thieves re-explain how they suspected and tricked Akechi, I am able to better accept it and see how it fits into the story, partly because it's taken me 30 hours to get to this point, instead of 60.

I may accept the twist better, but the distaste remains and so I'm still not wholly happy with it. Maybe it's favouritism though. No. Who am I kidding. At this point, it's definitely favouritism. It's rarely strong enough to break the narrative though, so. Idk what you did Akechi, but you did it right.

I learn that if you have high bonds with non-PT Confidants prior to having to pretend to be dead, they will all reach out to you, to know that you're still alive. This made me very happy. And I did think it was strange in the first playthrough that no one outside the Phantom Thieves seemed all that bothered that I was dead.

There is substantial fear that I won't max out all my bonds before the end of the game.

I am particularly terrified that I will fail to max-out Haru and Shinya.

NewGame+ : Endgame

I enter Shido's palace. For the first time, I am no longer killing enemies with guns and attacks alone. Still wiping the floor with them though.

Haru seems to laugh at all my jokes. I wonder why Haru, Kuro and Akechi are not a more common trio in the fandom. You just know Kuro will tell a terrible joke, which Akechi will reasonably not find funny, but Haru finds hilarious, bursting into laughter, further exasperating him. I mean, tell me you don't see it. Tell me.

I max out the technical skill in billiards. I wish I could switch to normal, to see what the difference is (considering I never even touched it in the first playthrough).

Turns out I didn't need to worry about Haru. She maxed out within ten days.

At level 9, I'm thinking "Wow. Joker and Haru are such good friends :) " Then I reject her and she runs away. I suddenly feel bad that I'm already dating Makoto. So far, the only other confidant that got sad about rejection was Takemi. And she swallowed it like a champ.

I finally start exploring Shido's palace. I skip dialogue and cutscenes, so when Ann asks me if I remembered the plan, I answered "I forgot, actually...", making her exasperated. I have discovered being dumb is way more fun than being a know-it-all.

I rewatch Akechi's confrontation and once again feel second-hand embarrassment for the boy. This really could have been avoided if you went to therapy like a normal person.

I didn't notice how cool Akechi choosing to side with the Phantom Thieves was during first playthrough. I'm able to appreciate it this time.

Shido demands that Akechi be brought to him. Sorry Shido, unless Akechi somehow managed to drag himself out of the metaverse, you're not finding the body. Assuming he died. If he didn't die, well. Brace yourself, you're in for a shock either way.

Actually, that opens up a can of worms. What does happen to a being of the real world, if they were to die in the metaverse? They're a physical being, surely they can't just stay there? ? ?

I attempt to open up Chihaya's route, even though we're days away from the final boss battle. I forgot that there was a lot of running back and forth to unlock her confidant bond.

In other words, I do not achieve what I set out to do.

I've maxed out all my bonds, prior to the final boss fight. Except with Futuba and Kawakami. I accept my losses and wonder if I have time to max out three confidant bonds in the third semester.

I get a lot of new cutscenes in the boss battle, because I maxed out most of my bonds. Too bad I am not as invested in the story this time and so it's more of an annoyance than an "oh cool, so happy my friends back me :) " moment.

I'm in the boss battle. I defeat the god of control very quickly, it's laughably easy.

It's why I call BS when the plot demands the Phantom Thieves are exhausted and low energy, so that the crowd can overwhelmingly cheer them on.

My Phantom Thieves were still on max health and their SP was still fairly high. We didn't need popularity to mop the floor with the god of control.

From what I gather, Akechi is the absolute first sign of reality manipulation. Everything else follows after Akechi appears. That's weird. I wonder if there may have been other hints I missed, but I don't think so. Wait. Does Kasumi count?

It's the first time I get to spend christmas eve with a gf, instead of Sojiro and Futaba. It's surprisingly sweet and I stop regretting dating Makoto. Idk, I feel Joker and Makoto work well together.

"My sis told me last night [about Akechi]!" Yeah, right Makoto. I know you spent last night with Joker, you totally heard it from your sister and not him.

Tbh, with the way the story works, it seems that Joker and Makoto are in a secret relationship. Which I'm fine with, secret relationships are like. One of my favourite shipping dynamics.

NewGame+ : 3rd Semester

It seems I'm very heavily invested in the third semester, because I don't skip nearly as many cutscenes.

I wonder what it would be like to play P5 and go out of my way to be as hostile as possible to Akechi. Like, avoid him at all costs and always shoot him down. I doubt it makes a difference to the story.

Can you even unlock third semester if you don't max out Akechi?

I change their uniforms again, because I like pretending that third semester also affects how their metaverse selves appear. And the explanation for a more casual look? Maruki wants them to be ordinary teenagers, without the pressure of having to save the world. So their phantom thief clothes are partially affected by that (which does work, since Kuro's starlight clothes look like a more casual version of his phantom thief clothes, etc.)

Akechi: "I think we handled that rather well!" Akechi killed the shadow in one attack. Kasumi and I did nothing, just stood by and watched. Let me repeat that, we didn't do anything. There was no we, Akechi.

Akechi really does just straight-up peace out and let Joker fight Kasumi by himself. And then appears in the background after the battle, like he'd been helping in some shape, way or form.

It's still very funny to see Akechi go full-on villain in his showtime with Joker, while wearing a hat with HERO written on it in big, golden letters.

It stings to lose Akechi as navigator so soon, but because we're all way higher levels than we were in the first playthough (we're steadily approaching 90), the segment where he's navigator is much shorter.

Kinda weird how Akechi is open and even pushes for teamwork this time, when he strongly rejected it in December. :/ Almost like... This might not be the real Akechi...

I finish Kawakami's route. It's sweet. I'm really glad I swallowed my second-hand embarrassment, because this was worth it.

The NewGame+ was worth it, because lemme tell you, those third persona awakenings are hitting me right in the heart. Ryuji almost made me cry.

Yusuke's third awakening is so great, it's easily tied with Ryuji for best third awakening.

Really wish I could tell my friends that considering how I've forgiven Akechi, who not only betrayed me, but actually tried to murder me, I'm pretty sure I can get over them ignoring me for a few days.

I mean, the bar to upset Kuro is pretty freaking high. Akechi can potentially have failed to reach it, depending on how snarky and hostile the player wants to be towards him, but in both of my playthroughs he hasn't.

Hey, has anyone decided to keep Maruki's reality, purely to spite Akechi? Asking for a friend.

I now have a new fear: Failing to max out Futaba in time. I consider it a minor loss though.

I ask Haru to grow moonlight carrots. It's the first time I've asked her to grow anything. I promptly forget about them and never collect them.

Akechi and Ryuji argue while at Maruki's palace. And I have to decide whose side I want to take. As much as I favour Akechi, when we get down to it, I will always side with Ryuji. Also, Akechi getting flummoxed by my behaviour will never not be funny.

I finally befriend Chihaya. With 14 days left before the ultimate final boss battle. But I have nothing else to do in the evenings now, so I might as well try. As exepected, it doesn't get far.

There are nine days left and I have not yet maxed out Sumire or Futaba. The fear of failing is becoming increasingly real and intense.

It's kinda funny. In the First Playthrough, Joker had a supporting role in battle, reviving, healing and using support skills. He also specialized in Bless and Lightning attacks, and switched between personas frequently. In NewGame+ he's become a tank, specialized in Almighty and Curse attacks, and only uses, like, two personas really. It's such a stark contrast, almost like they're different people.

I'm ranking up Futaba and. Oh. Oh no. She has a crush.

What is it with men head-patting women as romantic gestures in Japanese media, that's always been so creepy to me.

Sumire confesses to Joker, which good on her, she's the only one to have done so. But I still wouldn't date her. Feels like a saviour crush, and I'm not into that jazz.

I fail to max out Futaba, but I'm ok with that. Sorry Futaba (and technically Chihaya).

Hey, if Maruki could bring back Okumura and Futaba's mum (and maybe Akechi), why couldn't he bring back the real Kasumi? Pretty sure that would relieve Sumire more than imposing a fake Kasumi personality onto Sumire. Or even switching out Kasumi for Sumire. Like, what's up with that.

Also, do dead people get their desires fulfilled? I imagine not. Which might be why Akechi is dead set on rejecting the reality. He's real enough to behave similar or identically to the real Akechi, and therefore aware enough to see that everyone has their "desires" fulfilled, except his. Unless his wish was to not go to prison, but he could have avoided that by just. Not taking Joker's place.

Or maybe it was that his crimes had never happened? Which kinda does work, seeing as he was released by the police and his crimes "swept under the rug". He doesn't act like someone that wishes he hadn't committed his crimes...

I just assume Akechi's deepest desire is not having a dead mum. Or a dad that actually loves him. So. You know. Sorry Akechi, even in the dream reality, you don't get a living mum or loving dad. Be grateful to be alive.

The fistfight at the end is just as stupid as it was the first time around. Don't get me wrong - I love that it's there. It's glorious. But still stupid.

Ok, the "Free Kuro from Juvie" is way more positive and uplifting when it isn't just Mishima alone in the street, trying to get Joker out of prison and Takemi giving one(1) interview. I am so glad I decided for NewGame+.

Ohya's freaking awesome. Love her.

Valentine's Day is too cute when you're spending it with someone.

It's February the 15th and I am being A M B U S H E D.

White Day is also very cute and very different when you've got someone to spend it with.

I do miss being able to give Sijiro something on White Day though. He deserves chocolate.

Kinda weird that the game keeps asking me who I want to romance, when. I've only romanced Makoto. Because I am loyal.

I can bid my friends farewell! Yay!!!! I'm finally happy.

Based on online advice, I go to the jazz club. And Kuro. Kuro. What do you mean you weren't Akechi's friend. You were the closest thing he had to a friend. That makes you his friend by virtue of being closer to him than anyone else.

I am so glad I chased up Kawakami. Her story was one of the best in-game. No, I'm not biased because I'm a teacher too. I'm not.

Move over Akechi, I have a new favourite and her name is Ohya. You go, you beautiful, independent, alcohol-loving lady!

When talking to confidants, I love that there's implication that the adventure won't actually stop for Kuro. At least, that's my interpretation, since it nicely builds into my head canon that Akechi is alive and that Mementos is purged, not erased (again, Akechi couldn't have died, or it'd be in the news...)

The game ends. I can start another NewGame+, this time with all stats already maxed out and over 6 million yen in my pocket. I don't, because I basically got the satisfying end what I wanted.

Idk, maybe in a year or something. Might replay it then, on higher difficulty.

Second playthrough took me 50 hours.

Man, that was wild.

[abhainnwhump]

IMYM Chapter 23: No More Denial: Nightmare

<- Previous Chapter || Masterlist || Next Chapter ->

“-so, we break through this portal and take out the Asgore first. Then when we take down New Home, you- boss? Hey, are you listening? You’re zoning out for the fourth time this week!” Killer shook Nightmare’s arm.

Nightmare snapped back to attention. He groaned and held his skull in his hand, replaying the conversation in his mind. The rest of the Murder Time Trio stared at him with disinterest. “Yes, yes go ahead. Be sure to stay out of sight, the usual.”

Horror raised a browbone, his single eye looking at him critically. “You’ve been . . . zoning a lot.”

“I know I have.” Nightmare’s tendrils swayed behind him as he stared at the battle map lying on the table. He looked at the empty seat by his side. He was used to having Ribbon looked at him with wonder and hold his hand as he talked. “And I apologize. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

Dust chuckled without humor, following his gaze. “You only have one thing on your mind. It’s him, isn’t it? It’s only been a week and you already can’t function without him.”

Nightmare scowled, straightening himself out. “I can function fine and I do not miss Ribbon. That’s ludicrous. I’m only worried about the plan going south. He’s so dumb he’ll believe anything they tell him. it’s why he needs me.”

“Sure. The plan, keep telling yourself that.” Killer snickered to himself. Nightmare rolled his eye light. Their laughing irritated him.

“Well, if you three are ready to go, there.” Nightmare opened a portal to the minor AU they planned to attack. “I have work to do here. Dust has the vial, Horror has our banner. Contact me once you’ve finished.”

Horror and Dust went through the portal, but Killer lingered for a moment. He hummed a mocking tune of a romantic song and summoned a knife. He dashed through the portal just as Nightmare closed it. He sighed. They didn’t understand him. Nightmare stood up.

He stood in the middle of the castle hallway, unsure of where to go. He wasn’t in the mindset to read, nor did paperwork and planning sound interesting.

He ended up opening the door to Ribbon’s room. His room smelled of vanilla and sugar cookies. It hasn’t been opened since the day he left. Nightmare walked inside. He touched the bunny plush Ribbon found on the mission. He brought it back when he gave it away. He thought he would like it. It could be a nice surprise when he returns home.

Nightmare stepped on a piece of fabric and it slid from the bed. He picked it up with his tendril out of curiosity. It was a suit jacket, but unlike the ones he had, this was a dark blue with embroidery. The sleeve cuffs were stitched with yellow and white stars. The sleeves had patches of glittering blue fabric, framed like the galaxy. Two star charms dangled from under the high collar. A limp needle hung loose with lavender thread to make what he believed was the Milky Way. It reminded Nightmare of an old myth about a weaver who could create tapestries so realistic, they seemed to move. The patterns seemed to move like the constellations they were based on.

He could only imagine how many hours this must have taken to sew. Especially since Ribbon did it by hand. He had talent, though that wasn’t surprising given he was the Guardian of Creativity. Partially, with Fresh holding most of the power. Nightmare planned to buy him a sewing machine.

The inner flap had the words Love you, Nighty! stitched in shimmery pink thread. Nightmare’s soul tugged and he put a hand over his chest. It almost hurt. The gesture was sweet like a high-quality mead. That, along with Ribbon jumping in front of an attack to keep him safe. It made him realize something. He . . . missed Ribbon. Deeply. He missed having him at his side. It wasn’t the same without him.

Nightmare scowled to snap himself out of it. He shoved the unfinished suit back under the bed. Ribbon was a doll, a doll for him to play with and nothing more. He was a replaceable object. If something happened to him, he could simply kidnap someone else and break them. He had more important things to worry about than if his toy was being cared for.

But what if they were mistreating him or telling him lies? The thought of Ribbon crying his name, crying for help, it hurt him.

Nightmare groaned and opened a portal. It was in the corner of Ribbon’s hospital room. He rested his skull on his hand and stared at him. He was so adorable when he slept. All he wanted was to bundle him in his arms and keep him warm. He wondered if Dream and his friends knew how sensitive Ribbon was to cold. They put him in a t-shirt for cripes sake, they weren't taking care of him correctly. He at least needed warmer blankets than that thin sheet over him.

The words finally passed his mind, the ones he had been ignoring and denying for weeks. He fell in love with his own prisoner.

He covered his face to hide his blush, even though no one else was in the castle. This was supposed to be a fake relationship. He had been torturing him for months and he enjoyed it. He couldn’t want to protect him now. That would make him truly twisted.

Nightmare dug his fingertips into his skull. It had been a week, but Nightmare planned to get Ribbon back at nightfall. The intrusion would prevent the Star Sanses from interrupting. And it would have more impact when they find out in the morning. It was only two in the afternoon, Nightmare couldn’t wait another eight hours to get his dollie back.

He lowered the portal and made it large enough for him to walk through. He reached his hand out and it stung and fizzled. Dream’s shield blocked his way so he could do nothing but watch. Nightmare sharpened his tendrils and slammed them into it. He threw a punch of fury. “Let. Me. IN.”

The barrier shattered sooner than he expected. Hm, Dream must have done a poor job guarding it. Or he was asleep and couldn’t focus. Nightmare sensed how weak his aura was and assumed to be the latter.

Nightmare dropped through the portal by Ribbon’s bedside. His eye sockets were closed, but not sleeping. Daydreaming. Dried tears stained his perfect face. Nightmare approached him slowly before pressing several kisses on his neck.

Ribbon gasped, hissed, and then fought until he saw him. His eyes lit up with life and he made a weak squeak, trying to reach his pullstring.

Nightmare covered his mouth with a single finger. “Shh, give me one moment. I’ll let you speak, but you need to whisper. You don’t want to alert anyone, do you?” He removed his hand and pulled his string. “I apologize for being late, my little lamb. I had to choose the perfect moment so we wouldn’t be caught. I also apologize for failing to save you from kidnapping. They tricked me and ripped you away. It will never happen again, you have my word.”

Of course he believed the lie. Ribbon lowered his voice to a whisper, but it held the same energy. “I knew you would come back! Everyone kept saying you gave me to them, but I didn’t believe any of their lies! I forgive you!” Ribbon tried to sit up, but the fuzzy white straps restrained him. “Can you please untie me? I’ve tried getting them off but I can’t.”

“Polite as always.” He undid the knots on his wrists and legs and tossed them on the floor. Once he was freed, he hugged Nightmare close, burying his face in his jacket. Ribbon trembled as Nightmare rubbed his back. Poor thing.

“Can you kiss me? Please? Please?” Ribbon lifted his head up for the request. Nightmare slipped two of his fingers under his chin and brought them together. Ribbon’s frame relaxed as he deepened the kiss; melting into the touch of the only person he loved. Nightmare adored his clinging.

Nightmare drew back, keeping their foreheads pressed together. “How much information did you give them?”

Ribbon’s aura turned guilty. “I tried not to say anything. Really, I did! I ignored all their questions until today, and even then I only said a few things. I told them how much I loved you and why I wear my dresses. Please don’t be mad!”

Nightmare held him in his tendrils. His look of fear was precious. “I’m not mad. Well, I am, but not at you. You didn’t do anything wrong. Dream did. He took you from me, locked you in this room, and forced you to say terrible things about your dear, dear beloved. You’re innocent in this.” He rubbed Ribbon’s cool porcelain arms, holding him in a tight embrace. He closed his eye for a moment, simply enjoying his company. But it was too dangerous and a waste of time to linger in the hospital. Dream must have sensed his entrance by now.

Nightmare let go of Ribbon and offered his hand. “Come on. We must return bef-” He moved Ribbon slightly and he collapsed into his arms. Nightmare peered behind him at the untouched food tray, then back to the doll struggling to stand. Since he lacked a soul, Nightmare couldn’t check his magic stability, but he didn’t need to. He knew what was wrong. “Ribbon, have you been eating?”

Ribbon wrapped an arm around his torso. “Not since they took me here. I knew they were trying to poison me, so I didn’t eat or drink anything. Thank you for training me not to eat. The hunger barely hurts!”

Nightmare kept his expression neutral, but inside, he was elated. Ribbonchoseto go weak instead of relying on his old friends. That level of paranoia . . . oh he was so proud of him. He kissed his nose. “No, no. You were smart by rebelling. They would have slipped something in to turn you against me. I’ll feed you when we go home but don’t mention your antics to Horror. You know how he gets about skipping meals.”

“He’s going to shove it down my throat, literally!” Ribbon’s fragile giggle made him smile. Nightmare loved the sound of his laugh. It was easier to listen to than Ink’s voice and was so cute, so helpless. The dark king picked him up and held him in a bridal carry, careful to keep from touching his bandages.

Ribbon nuzzled his head into his neck. “I kinda feel like a princess. And you’re my knight in shining armor!”

Nightmare turned his head so he wouldn’t see his eye roll. But it wasn’t a hateful one. “You’ve spent too much time with your head in the clouds.”

“I didn’t have anything else to do,” Ribbon giggled again, keeping his aura from being too positive. Nightmare spun a tendril, forming a portal so they could leave this drab place.

A knock stopped him in his tracks. Nightmare muttered a curse that was common centuries ago and planned to make a quick escape. But then he saw who came through the door.

“Ink! Are you okay? I wanted to check on you!” Blue stepped in with a nervous grin. “Are you talking to someone? I thought I heard-”

He went pale. “Oh no.”

“Well hello, Blueberry,” Nightmare taunted. He ran a hand down Ribbon’s skull, earning himself a satisfied purr and nuzzle. The knight recoiled. “You decided to visit him at the worst time. Or are you here on purpose? Pathetic. I expected the ‘Heroes of the Doodlesphere’ to have a better prisoner security system.”

Blue scoffed at the nickname but kept the overconfident look. He summoned his hammer. Nightmare looked around the room. They couldn’t fight without destroying the place. Blue spoke. “Prisoners? We don’t have- ooh. Good try, but the Magnificent Blue will never fall for your mind games! Let Ink go!”

“Fine, I’ll be fair. Ribbon, who would you like to go with? Me or Blue?”

“You! You! I don’t wanna be left here!” Ribbon clung tighter to Nightmare. He knew his little toy wouldn’t leave him, but it was still satisfying to hear.

Nightmare shrugged. “Very well.” He spun his tendril in a circle and a portal formed. With a kiss, he dropped Ribbon through it and immediately closed the entrance. Nightmare held up his hands in mock surrender, with a matching smug smile. “Aw, is that not the answer you wanted?”

“Wha- how- why-” Blue stammered. “That’s not fair! You brainwashed him! He doesn’t know what he’s doing!”

“So you’re saying he doesn’t get a say in what happens to his own life? My, how rude. I assumed you were better than this, being a Star Sans with all that positivity in your heart. Though I can sense it’s less than usual . . .” Nightmare waved his hand. Blue’s aura was certainly less joyful than when he last encountered him. He felt bitterness, respectlessness, and unfulfillment.

Nightmare chuckled. “You know . . . if you’re getting tired of being Dream’s side piece, I’d give you a chance to join me. You would have more respect, fear-”

“No, I would never join you! That’s not what I was talking about! I- Ink’s confused. I’m confused. Look, we’re both confused!” The Star felt behind himself for the door knob. A tendril shot out and secured his hand to the metal, forcing him to lock it. Blue pulled to get free and took a sharp inhale, preparing to fight. Nightmare wrapped another tendril around his mouth. His energy hammer disappeared.

“Ah, ah, ah.” He shook a finger. “None of that now. You arrived alone and you will faceme alone. No help from your little friends.”

He sent a third tendril under his victim’s shirt. Blue gagged at the cold wet limb. Nightmare broke two of his ribs clean off. His screams sounded muffled against his tendril, but then he retaliated. He summoned a bone and jammed it into Nightmare’s tendril, clutching his ribs as he did.

Nightmare pulled his tendrils back. Blue stumbled forward, but he also fired bones at Nightmare. The Lord of Negativity sunk into the ground and teleported behind Blue. He grabbed him by the neck and shoved him into the wall, cracking his skull. He threw him onto the ground.

Nightmare increased his negative aura to make Blue feel hopeless and weak. Crimson blood dripped from his mouth. He coughed in the little ball he curled in. A few more hits and his body would crumble to dust. But Nightmare wouldn’t let that happen.

He crouched before him and summoned his soul. Blue struggled at the sudden removal. Almost gently, the dark king covered his mouth with a tendril. Nightmare hummed as he thought over what curse to cast. Should he taint his eye lights make him only see the negative in life? That would be fun with his supposed optimistic attitude. Or paralyze him? Blind him?

Nightmare decided to do something special for the third member of the Star Sanses. He waved his fingers and muttered an incarnation. Blue’s white soul turned gray around the edges, as did his hands and feet. The stone curse he used on Dream so many years ago crawled up his hands and boots. Blue moaned. He shouldn’t have been able to feel his hands now. His arms and legs were soon consumed with rock. Only a little farther before-

“Blue? Is that you in there? The nurse said you were visiting Ink before me. Dream said he sensed Nightmare, but I'm sure he's sick. Tell me he's just sick. Is everything alright?”

Nightmare groaned at the familiar sound of a certain monochromatic traitor. He paused the curse. The handle shook again as Cross tried to unlock it. “Why did you lock the door? Blue, open up."

“Oh, no reason.” Nightmare said in a squeaky impression of Blue’s voice. The stone covered his arms and legs.

Silence. Then several loud slams hit the wood. “Damn it Nightmare, what did you do to Blue and Ink? Open the fucking door!” The sound of metal being removed from a holster made Nightmare’s smile grow.

The doorknob fell and clattered to the ground. Cross pushed it open with his daggers in a fighting position. His white eye lights darted from Nightmare to Blue and back to Nightmare. "Where the hell is Ink?"

Nightmare snapped his fingers and a portal formed behind himself. Ribbon cuddled up in a ball. Nightmare sent him to his bedroom where he hid under the blankets and squeezed his stuffed toys. Cross stepped back, a look between confusion and anger on his face. Yet, there was also a vengeful satisfaction. "Ink . . . you . . . he really is your toy. You destroyed him."

"You're correct, I made him into a doll. And it's Ribbon, not Ink. Aw, are you concerned for him? I thought you hated Ink. I know you still do." Nightmare chuckled at his own mocking tone. Cross stopped gaping and didn't hesitate to throw his left blade at the dark king. Waving, Nightmare engulfed himself in liquid negativity and vanished. The portal disappeared with him. The blade struck the wall and broke into plaster. The last thing he caught was the Cross using healing magic and yelling for the others.

He reformed in Ribbon’s room. Sitting on the bed and swinging his legs, the doll looked up and jumped into his arms. He checked him over for injuries. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt? I’m sorry you had to go through so much trouble because I’m not worth that much-”

Nightmare shushed him by putting a finger to his mouth. “Now, now, little one, I’m fine. Let’s clean you up.” He paused, sensing a disturbance in the AU, someone entered. “Let me rephrase that. I need an update from the Murder Time Trio, and then I will give you a cleanser wash and some food. That t-shirt looks horrendous on you."

==============================================================================

After eating a hot meal and changing into his proper pink dress, Ribbon wanted to walk through the garden. Nightmare understood his feelings as the doll wasn’t allowed to stretch his legs for a week. He also wanted Nightmare to come along. So he did. The dark king held his hand the entire time; not daring to let go and lose him.

Ribbon was distracted by everything. Every falling leaf, butterfly, and the warmth of the sun. Nightmare still kept it cloudy, but he let a flicker of sunshine in for his sunshine.

Nightmare watched him with a close eye. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and could hurt himself. Ribbon had been through enough, and he didn't want him to damage his pretty dress.

They made it to the end of the garden, where a large grassy hill lay. Ribbon ran up it and twirled, almost tripping. His layered skirt blew around him in a circle. His positivity didn’t bother Nightmare for an unknown reason. In fact, he enjoyed seeing him happy. Perhaps he was coming down with an illness. Nightmare patted his cheekbones and foreskull. His cheekbones were warmer than usual, but his foreskull was cold. He’d need to take some fever medicine.

Ribbon spun around a few more times before lying down on the grass with the grace of a dancer. Nightmare lay beside him. The doll soaked in the sunlight, eyes closed. He looked so peaceful and serene. The light reflected off his porcelain body.

Ribbon rolled over to look at him, nuzzling up by his chest. “Thank you for rescuing me.”

“You said that fifty times by now.”

“I know, but I am! If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be trapped in that hospital, and . . . they would’ve done something to me—like poison me or take me a- apart. You’re the best boyfriend ever!” Ribbon tightly hugged him and had a bright smile.

The last sentence sent a surge down Nightmare’s spine. It felt like he had a feather duster tickling it and his chest. He didn't have a chance to do as much research on the feeling of love. He was too busy taking care of Ribbon to go to the library. He didn't count Killer's dream journal as a good source to learn about love.

Nightmare lay a hand over his chest, close to where his soul would be. That’s where the sensation was strongest. This warm feeling . . . he couldn’t describe it. It was even stronger now than it was in Ribbon's bedroom, by at least tenfold. In his five hundred and seven years of existence, he’s never experienced such an emotion. It was the most positive he’s ever felt. It must have been what Dream felt daily. No, this was better than that. The feeling increased the more he thought about him. His laugh, his loyalty, his power, his beauty, the dazed look in his eyes from confusion and ignorance. It’s precious. Even some of his non-trained quirks were growing on him. Like how he bounced and clapped his hands when excited.

He glanced over at Ribbon. He felt a strange protectiveness over him. His urges told him to hide him away, to make sure no one else would ever take him for themselves. Perhaps in a glass display case only he could see. He was the only one who could touch him. He was the only one he should listen to and turn to. He was the one who perfectly conditioned him. If anyone were to hurt him, it would be no one but him. As Nightmare’s cheekbones grew warmer and more teal, he couldn't hold himself back anymore.

He pulled himself on top of Ribbon and kissed him, pinning him against the tree. Nightmare wrapped his arms around his back. Ribbon was shocked by the sudden intimate moment but immediately returned it. His tendrils moved to make him more comfortable.

“I love you,” Nightmare whispered.

Nightmare avoided saying those exact words to Ribbon since they started 'dating'. He looked around and picked a rose from a nearby flower patch and tucked it into Ribbon's beret, under the bow. Nightmare wanted to spend the rest of eternity with his beautiful queen at his side. The King of Negativity and the Queen of Creativity. Yes, he liked the sound of that.

“I love you too, my king." Ribbon kissed Nightmare's cheek. Nightmare's soul fluttered again. Ribbon paused and thought. “Do you mean it? You love me?”

The dark king traced a finger down his cheekbone, gazing into his glittering glass eyes. They were hypnotic. “I don’t lie. Why shouldn’t I love you? You’re finally perfect. You’re everything I desire and more. I promise I will protect you from everything. I’ll keep that little mind of yours pure, make sure no one can ever harm or touch you.” Nightmare nuzzled close to where his ear would be.

“No one will take what's mine from me ever again.”

[the-briny-bulletin]

(warning: long rambling about the bathysphere and cryptid fish ahead)

Map of Bermuda showing the areas of the Bathysphere dives as shown in William Beebe's 1934 book "Half a Mile Down". you can find the PDF of the book for free here. I've only read a few pages (20 i think) as of yet but what I've read so far is really interesting!

William Beebe was one of the two men aboard the Bathysphere, an unpowered deep sea submersible used between 1930-34 (we will get to that later). He was a naturalist mainly known for ornithology but was also an early pioneer of deep sea exploration. During the late 20s he started formulating a way to explore the deep sea, something that was unimaginable as even military submarines with no windows could only go about 117 Metres (383 ft) deep at the time. He was also pretty progressive as he often hired women to do scientific work (pretty scandalous for the 1930s).

The other man, Otis Barton, was an engineer who actually designed the Bathysphere itself! William Beebe was originally planning on using a cylindrical shape for the submersible, which he then published to the New York Times. Otis saw this and sent William a few letters explaining that this was a shit ass design and how a spherical shape would be better. (William ignored this because he was getting a lot of letters from folks asking to join his efforts. but eventually a mutual friend introduced them). He then went on to design the Benthoscope, another deep sea submersible, and write his own book "The World Beneath the Sea" which I have also yet to read (mainly bc i cant find a free PDF).

Now, the Bathysphere itself:

I would try to describe how it functions but unfortunately i am not smart enough to do so, and i feel too weirdly guilty to copy and pasting from Wikipedia. If you are an engineer nerd, please feel free to nerd about the design in the reblogs! But what I do understand is that this fucking thing was STUPIDLY DANGEROUS.

It is a literal ball of steel that they lowered into the ocean using a cable connected to a boat. a hollow one, sure. But when they first cast this thing it was too heavy to be lifted so they had to recast it. even in its lighter form, it was clunky and difficult. When it was submerged it would violently swing like a pendulum which would cause Barton and Beebe to hit their heads on the steel walls. they would often leave the Bathysphere bruised and bleeding. Once, Otis Barton threw up due to sea sickness while in it and they just shrugged and kept descending anyway.

Also, due to the high amount of pressure exerted on the sphere (deepest dive being 923 metres/3,028 ft which would be around 90 ish atmospheres which is 90 times more than on the surface(i think idk maths someone fact check me)) they probably most very likely would have experienced some form of nitrogen narcosis, which is basically when some people who reach below a certain depth in the sea start to experience temporary mental impairments kinda like if you were on anesthesia. That, as well as the fact that - despite their best efforts - the air circulation in the sphere was bad, meaning there was probably a high amount of Co2 in the air.

This ^ may be an explanation for the 5 cryptids described by Barton and Beebe during the "Untouchable Bathysphere" Incident and I'm vaguely aware these things probably have been spoken about before on this site (probably with better dictation and analysis) but i wish to speak about them again because they HAUNT ME I think about them OFTEN and I wanna TALK ABOUT IT!!

Fish themselves as Illustrated by Else Bostalmann:

The Five-Lined Constellation Fish

(Bathysidus pentagrammus)

The Pallid Sailfin

(Bathyembryx istiophasma)

The Giant Dragonfish

(Bathysphaera intacta)

The Abyssal Rainbow Gar

(No scientific name given lmao)

The Three-Starred Anglerfish

(Bathyceratias trilynchus)

I really suggest reading up about the untouchable bathysphere incident because there's something so haunting about how they describe these fish that have never been seen since. Imagine being the first person in the world to see such sights, only to be the last. An elusive ghost story.

There's a bunch of theories about what these fish are, if they are real and if so are still alive. The general consensus I've seen is that "they definitely saw something but their perception of reality was fucked up" and I whole heartedly agree.

For example: this "Five-lined constellation fish" has very similar patterns to a comb jelly

And the pallid sailfin's large dorsal and anal fins look an awful lot like cephalopod fins (?)

And when I was rambling about this with someone, they point out that the lures of the three-starred angler fish could potentially be caused by double vision and like

Yeah

Another post on tumblr I saw a while ago (which i cannot find please lmk if you know what I'm talking about) talked about how its very difficult to tell the size of things underwater if you don't have another object for a frame of reference, and also that objects tends to seem bigger underwater (23% i think?). Considering the pitch blackness of the deep sea, its very likely that they could've miscalculated the size of the giant dragon fish.

I dont know how to end this. this has been in my drafts for months. if you wanna add something please feel free to do so!!

[isagrimorie]

You know what I've wanted but I never thought they'd address in Star Wars Ahsoka?

Ahsoka's tendency to be just as lethal as Anakin. Obi-Wan could never kill Anakin but I believe with all my heart despite loving Anakin and maybe even because she loves Anakin, Ahsoka would have killed Anakin if she were in Mustafar too.

It would have broken Ahsoka but she would have gone through with it -- I believe she'd have done it too in Malachor, she'd die trying at least.

(source: @padawan-tano from this gifset)

But also at 16 years old, she beheaded 4 Death Watch members SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Even if Obi-Wan can do this move, he wouldn't choose to do this move because he wasn't a Wartime Jedi. I don't remember if this is before or after the Citadel arc. Looking it up, yeah, the Citadel arc happened in season 3, the Citadel mission was one of the hardest missions she's been on in her young life.

There was a reason neither Obi-Wan and Anakin wanted her there, so Plo-Koon, what the hell!? (I love you Plo-Koon but you spoil Ahsoka).

As this meta points out the Citadel arc is when the war gets real for Ahsoka in a way she can't just push away.

It's subtle and it's not called out but Ahsoka basically does something that Anakin did where Anakin stabs a bad guy in the back and the first notes of the imperial march begin to sound.

And ironically it's to save Tarkin.

Ahsoka had to stab an enemy in the back to save Tarkin (of all people, I bet Ahsoka regrets saving Tarkin years later).

The way Ahsoka stares dazedly at the man she killed by stabbing him in the back... The Citadel arc was rough on Ahsoka.

And then Tarkin tells Anakin: "You've trained her well."

No wonder Ahsoka's afraid she was a little too much like Anakin.

It doesn't help that a ghost of a potential future tells her:

(source by @mlmanakin)

“There is a wildness to you, young one. Seeds of the dark side planted by your master. Do you feel it?”

and then later: "There are many contradictions in you... and in him."

And I am so, so excited that we might be delving into Ahsoka's contradictions. She can be the warmest person in the room but god, can she also make the coldest, most pragmatic decisions for war.

Easily one of the coldest was her decision to set Maul free and use him as a distraction during the Siege of Mandalore - Shattered.

(source by @manny-jacinto)

Ahsoka doesn't want to directly kill or maim the Clone Troopers herself, but it doesn't mean she won't use someone else to do it.

If Maul dies in this, it would be one more thing off her hands.

And I don't think people really get what function Ahsoka served in the fledgling rebellion-- she was basically in Luthen's role in Andor. She's not as quick to go to the most expedient solution, but it doesn't mean she won't.

In season 1 of Star Wars Rebels Ahsoka, as Fulcrum, told Hera to leave Kanaan in the hands of the inquisitor, knowing full well what would be done to Kanaan. She was in the Citadel arc where Jedi were imprisoned, tortured, and killed. Ahsoka knew. But she did the cold math in her head -- but if it weren't for Ezra's message that reminded Ahsoka who she was fighting for and why....)

Ahsoka basically did the cold math in her head at the start of 1x04, Fallen Jedi, when she told Sabine they might have to destroy the map and strand Ezra in another universe in order to keep Thrawn from entering their galaxy and restarting another war.

This is why Baylan's condemnations:

Really, really got to Ahsoka.

When Ahsoka told Sabine in 1x03, that anger unbalances her -- it's extra true of Ahsoka.

But I also don't want to discount what Ahsoka's mother taught her about death, how one must respect death but not fear it, and how that might have influenced Ahsoka's understanding of death as a warrior.

Still, I feel Ahsoka has the same fear as Buffy did -- that all this killing has made her cold with a bonus fear that she might be too like her old Master and fall into the dark side.

I'm so excited for 1x05 and see how this will all tie together now that she's seeing Anakin again. Snips and Skyguy have a lot to talk about and resolve.

[cer-rata]

"The Kids Are Alright" AU Navigation

These are the fics organized by order of events, anything not marked "Completed" is still subject to change, the list will be updated as new fics are posted and added to the schedule.

Prologue:

"Unknown Brother" Kon-El, Jon Kent, Cassie Sandsmark, Tim Drake, Bart Allen, Lois Lane.

Kon struggles to integrate himself in a new Earth after getting home from Gemworld, and has to deal with the new feelings and relationships that come with it. (Rated T | 18k| Completed)

"Hymn to Zagreus" Diana of Themyscira, Jack Kole, Cassie Sandsmark, Donna Troy, Jon Kent, Lois Lane, Clark Kent

Diana's mostly functional life is interrupted by a summons from the king of the Underworld himself, Lord Hades. He has an offer tailored to be something she can't refuse, and Diana has to for the first time in her long life consider what it means to be a different type of guardian: A parent. (Rated T | Updating 2/3)

"Unnatural History:" Jon Kent, Darla Dudley

Jon gets to go on a 7th Grade field trip to the Fawcett City Museum of natural history. He meets a girl his age who seems to be just as into dinosaurs as he is, and a dinosaur who seems to be waaay too into killing the both of them. (WIP)

"Bury a Friend:" Lor-Zod, Korg|Sinson, Thaal Sinestro, Ursa, Dru-Zod (WIP)

"Lunch:" Maya Ducard, Nika (Flatline), Barbara Gordan

Maya is on an assignment with the Birds of Prey to look into the sudden rise of Lord Death Man's operation in Japan. She manages to score a lunch date with what she thinks is a an informant. Unfortunately for her, there may be more than sushi on the menu. (WIP)

Like a Star:

"Lean on Me" Maya Ducard, Suren Darga

Maya gets summoned by the enigmatic Madam Xanadu to check on a friend of hers that seems to be in a bit of a funk. What use is it to be a super-spy if you're a lousy friend? (Rated T| 5k | Completed)

(Takes place at the same time of the first chapter of "Heart of Gotham")

"Heart of Gotham" Damian Wayne, Conrad Bishop...a lot of other people. Info Post

One particularly terrible valentines day sets Damian and Conrad on the path to friendship and that friendship may end up being the greatest and most terrible thing to have ever happened to either of them. (Rated M | 109k | Completed)

"My Evil Mother Sold Me To The Waynes" A bonus scene for HoG! (Rated M | 4k | Completed)

"The Cat and the Colossus" Selina Kyle, Colin Wilkes

Selina picks up a stray during a trafficking bust, and despite his insistence, refuses to let him stay feral. (WIP)

The Cruel Summer:

"No Return" Jason Todd, Devastation, Talia al Ghul, Selina Kyle, Solomon Grundy +Others (Rated M | Updating 1/3)

Jason is finally starting to feel like he'd gotten control over his life again. Then the Antichrist shows up. Or Devastation, or whatever her name is.

A Trinity, a Triptych:

"Boys Will Be Bugs" Jon Kent, Lor-Zod, Kon-El, Lois Lane, Kara Zor-El + Others (WIP) "Youth Without Youth" Damian Wayne, Maps Mizoguchi, Colin Wilkes, Jason Todd +Others (WIP) "Training Season" Conrad Bishop, Carol Ferris, Yrra Cynril, Miri Riam, + Others (WIP)

"World's Finest" Kara Zor-El, Barbara Gordon

Two old friends with worlds on their shoulders take some time to catch up...on a number of things. (WIP)

"Back in Town" Conrad Bishop, Duke Thomas, Cassandra Cain, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne

Conrad is back home finally. But something is...different. (WIP)

"Beware my power" Tai Pham, Conrad Bishop, John Stewart, Yrra Cynril, Korg|Sinson, Alexander Griffin

Tai and John are assigned to participate in a diplomatic meeting with a pair of Star Sapphires, hoping to help smooth over relations. Things get...intense. (WIP)

Gods and Monsters:

"...And Meanwhile A Man Was Falling From Space..." Damian Wayne, Conrad Bishop

Damian is pretty sure the fall is going to kill him. Well, at least he has some time to think. (Rated T | 2k | Completed)

[delta-orionis]

It's a bit messy, but here's a map of Three Stars Above Clouds' facility grounds. Their can is in the middle, in between the peaks of several mountains.

TSAC's water is trapped in a closed system: TSAC's rain freezes and falls as snow on to the nearby mountains, which collects in glaciers. Meltwater from the glaciers flows down the mountain and collects in reservoirs held in place by twelve dams arranged in a circle. Pump stations at the reservoirs cycle the water through underground pipes back up into TSAC's can, and the cycle repeats.

Beyond the dams are six different sectors dedicated to different functions of TSAC's facility:

Comms. Sector: Contains communications nodes and the closest long-range communications spire. (an analogue to Sky Islands)

Farm Sector: Houses strip farms and automated harvesters that produce food and organic material used by the citizens of Zenith, TSAC's city. (an analogue of Farm Arrays)

Temple Sector: Home to the large temples TSAC's citizens use to conduct religious activities, as well as store their memories. (analogue to Shaded Citadel) This sector is also home to several large radio telescopes, located on the opposite side of the mountain range from the comms. towers in order to reduce radio interference.

Mining Sector: Contains many mine shafts and void fluid drills, to collect valuable minerals and void fluid. Because TSAC's facility is located at such a high altitude, these mine shafts reach deep, deep underground. (analogue to Pipeyard and parts of Subterranean)

Refinery Sector: Contains refineries to extract ore and useful minerals from material collected in the mines, and transports them to the nearby Industrial Sector. Also home to a large waste-processing plant, which breaks down and recycles waste from the nearby mines and factories. (analogue to Garbage Wastes and parts of Chimney Canopy)

Industrial Sector: Center for engineering, production, and manufacturing. The factories use material from the nearby Refinery Sector. The Industrial Sector is also home to a large Data Pearl factory, used to produce the cast amounts of pearls that TSAC needs for their research. (analogue to Industrial Complex)

The second map is TSAC's current facility, long after the mass ascension of the Ancients. Most of the biggest buildings remain intact, albeit with some structural damage. Key differences:

The pumps at TSAC's easternmost dam suffered a critical failure, causing the dam to burst. This flooded the nearby strip farms and caused that reservoir's water to flow down the mountainside where the pumps don't reach, effectively cutting off TSAC's access to it.

The pearl factory has been overtaken by a large group of scavengers, who have stripped the factory for scrap metal and data pearls.

These maps aren't exactly to scale (the mountain peaks should be bigger), don't show elevation, and don't account for things underground.

The different sectors are connected by a subterranean transit system, used to transport material and workers. A vast system of pipes also snakes underneath the mountain and up into TSAC's can to supply them with water and void fluid.

Also, directly beneath TSAC's can is a large frozen glacial lake, bathed in darkness from the can overhead.

I'll probably make a cross-section map at some point to show the landmarks at different elevations.

[bluescreen-menchii]

Some interesting things I found in the code of Secrets of Legendaria (for the 3 fans of the actual game and not the TCG that still exist here)

I got a bit curious and started going through the game’s files, partially to see what went wrong and partially because I can’t stop thinking about how much wasted potential this game was (and a lot of Lionel Snill’s other games, for that matter)

Here’s a list of the most interesting stuff I found:

Moji doesn’t have an actual death animation for some reason, even though his death was kind of a defining moment in the plot as a massive change in tone. Either this was an oversight by the devs (unsurprising) or it was a really weird design choice.

Remember that disturbing, random secret you can find where you can buy the key to the smithy’s house only to find him dead? There’s actually some unused dialogue where he upgrades Lazarus’ sword. I have no idea why this could have been removed, since the sword upgrade as it is makes no sense as there’s no dialogue to explain it. This is also apparently where you were meant to get some of the correct answers for the Sphinx bossfight.

On a related note, that upgraded sword is referred to in the files as “Endervale Blade.” Could this be related to the Entervale bug where entering it as Chandrelle’s name freezes the game on a purple mist screen?

On yet another related note, there’s an unused map also titled Endervale, which also freezes the game on the purple mist when loaded.

The talking slime that refuses to fight you as you approach the dragon’s mountain actually does have code for a battle, but it’s not anything more interesting than the other slime fights earlier on.

Remember that theory that Jay from Vicious Galaxy is also the janitor in the temple in SoL because they look the same and he happens to have some silly meta dialogue about it? The janitor is referred to in the files as Jay, meaning that they might actually be the same character. Now, seeing as Lazarus and Moji Jr. also star in VG, it may very well be the case that SoL and VG take place in the same timeline. In this essay I will-

The Missingno enemy is not a bug, but a completely intentional easter egg. The weird game crash with it and the doppelgänger charm item was not intended, however.

Lazarus has a separate inventory, but we can’t access it normally within the game. The only time we get to interact with it is when Chandrelle gives him the locket half. It’s empty, save for the sword, though, so not much else to say about it.

The locket, on the other hand, is interesting. It has a description written in binary, but when translated it’s just nonsense letters. There is no second half of the locket.

The guard for the Sphinx’s boss room is named Jack, and he has an unused battle sprite for some reason. It’s really silly, actually; they just rip his door out and put it on the battlefield.

This one’s really weird: Chandrelle and Rebecha still have leftover code from when they were in Combat Arena X (I still can’t get over how SoL is technically a CA:X spinoff, it haunts me every day). This makes sense, they were probably just copy pasted over—but for some reason, in the buggy, unfinished, fog-hidden Kraken bossfight, Chandrelle’s fighting game functions get activated. This might be why you stop being able to use her moves in the middle of that fight.

Unfortunately, you can’t remove the fog from the Kraken bossfight, because it’s basically just a cutscene with buttons you can press that have no effect on the gameplay, as far as I can tell.

I would have loved to solve the mystery of the tiny hooded character who steers Chandrelle and Lazarus out of the fog, but they don’t actually appear in the files at all for some reason? If I had to guess, it’s probably Captain Barnay, recovered and wrapped in a cloak. He’s short because he’s hunched over and hurt, I would guess.

Finally, the matter of the ending, and perhaps the most annoying discovery of all: There’s an unused good ending in the game’s files, but no way to ever trigger it because it requires the old man to be in the temple before Vallamir. This can never happen in game, meaning there’s no way to actually seal Vallamir away at the end.

Now, that’s all that I, an amateur when it comes to this sort of thing, could find. If I missed anything or got something wrong, please be sure to let me know!