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flightless-rising · 3 years

Text

Made a new Flight Rising iceberg and also wrote an explanation.. man, this took way longer than it should have.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy :D

Iceberg explanation

( If there are any mistakes please let me know and I’ll edit this asap. Also, English isn't my first language so please forgive me for any grammatical errors)

EDIT 28/06: Added some new info! Thanks to everyone who tagged and responded with new stuff to add, I really appreciate it!

The Sky

Naomi

Back in the day, whenever you bought or sold something on the auction house a message would show up in your inbox confirming the transaction. These messages were sent by one of the dragon couriers: Pearl, Spitfire or Edgar.

On January 2016, a strange glitch occurred that replaced the images and names of couriers with the ones of a female fae named “Naomi”.

It goes deeper than that, though: if you looked up her name in the user search menu, a clan would pop up with over 15 million dragons.

It was quickly discovered that all exalted dragons had somehow become part of her clan. Naomi herself apparently didn’t exist, and clicking on her page redirected to an error page. This was later fixed and the original Naomi page can be now visited.

What exactly caused this glitch is still a mystery and today Naomi is still a well-known piece of Flight Rising history.

Missing Tidelord

In the official lore, the deity of the water flight disappeared in early 2018, as described in the short story “Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow”.

In the follow up story (Mixed Elements) posted in April of the next year it is confirmed that the Tidelord is still missing, but alive. This coincides with the fact that the Tidelord account hasn’t made any forum posts aside from festival announcements.

Emperors

Emperors are a type of unobtainable dragon that are formed when several Imperial corpses are left in close proximity to each other, which then fuse forming a multi-headed chimera.

Emperors are described in the lore as having an animal-like behavior and destroying everything in sight. They are extremely difficult to kill, which is the reason why in-universe Imperials have such strange burial rites.

An emperor named Luminax is first described in the Raising a Family short story, and their sprite can be seen walking around on the world map.

The Surface

Old color wheel

Originally, there were only 67 available colors for dragons. On June 8th 2016, 110 more colors were added, meaning that currently there are a total of 177 colors available.

When making a custom progenitor dragon, it is only possible to choose among the 67 original colors because it would be otherwise unfair for those who made their account before the new colors were added.

Imperial breed scrolls

Imperial breed change scrolls are one of, if not the most, rare type of item on the site. They were given only to those who pledged 30 dollars or more on the original Flight Rising kickstarter.

At the time, this was the only way of obtaining an Imperial dragon, which meant that the breed as a whole was pretty valuable. Now that Imperials are abundant this is no longer the case, but First generation Imperials are still extremely sought and probably the most expensive type of dragon on the site.

There were also other items that were only given to Kickstarted backers, namely Skycats, Bonefiend, Golden Idol and Cogfrog familiars, and those are also pretty much impossible to obtain.

Baldwin breed change

When Baldwin was introduced in 2015 he was originally a Pearlcatcher. On September 14th of 2016 however his site art started to gradually change, until his transformation was completed five days later.

In-universe, Baldwin started to change after a lightning strike hit his cauldron during an experiment, which made him slowly mutate into the breed we now know as Bogsneaks.

Trans Fiona

When Fiona was added as a trading post dragon people speculated that she was trans, because the female pose for Skydancers only displays two antennae, while the male one has four.

Since Fiona has four antennae in her site art, many wondered whether it was an oversight or actually intended. Aequorin later confirmed in a forum thread that Fiona is indeed trans.

Boolean

Speaking of rare items, the Boolean familiar was only given to a handful of Flight rising beta testers and as such is extremely rare and valuable.

Plaguebringer coli team

On the Plaguebringer’s page she is listed as being part of a coliseum team.

As of now we have no clue as to why this is, and even more strangely she is the only deity that does this.

Boston & Hope

This story is a bit complicated. I’ve scoured the forums in search of info but it seems like there are still some pieces missing. I’ll try my best to explain anyway.

So, for a long while the Lightweaver was the only deity that had other dragons aside from herself in her lair: these dragons were a Spiral named Boston and a Tundra named Hope. Strangely, they were both Earth dragons and apparently have been there since the beginning (?). When asked why (this happened back when deities would interact on the forums) the Lightweaver responded that they were having a dinner party together.

In August 2014 during a pretty heated dominance battle between Shadow and Light Boston and Hope disappeared from the Lightweaver’s lair.

The Shadowbinder now had them, and both their elements were alsochanged to Shadow. The two deities acknowledged this and changed their broadcast messages accordingly.

If I had to guess this was some kind of inside joke that the admins had, although some people got angry that the Shadowbinder now had both Hope and Boston. Some time later(?) Boston was returned to the Lightweaver and for some reason his element was changed to wind.

I don’t have any more info on the matter but if some of you do I would appreciate it if you tell me.

Shallow Waters

Eyepocalypse

On June 8th 2018 eye type variants were introduced. This update was pretty controversial for a bunch of reasons, and the topic is still discussed today. The majority of people(?) seemed to be upset by the fact the “best” eye types (primarily goat, primal and multi-gaze) could only be displayed on dragons that were born with them, and the fact that every dragon born prior to the update couldn’t have these eye types at all displeased a lot of users.

Another problem was the fact that most of the non-special eye types (i.e the only ones that could be applied to already existing dragons using a vial of Scattersight) were not clearly visible on the grand majority of adult dragons.

A smaller(?) complaint was that two of the primal eye types, Shadow and Plague, were seen as kind of disturbing by some people.

Three years later staff attempted to fix this issue by adding Eye type vials for every available eye type. This resulted in a market crash for special eye typed dragons, as now these eye types could be applied to any dragon. The value of Scattersights also tanked, and the people bought them and hadn’t used them yet lost money as now they were infinitely less useful.

EDIT 28/06: Goat isn’t actually obtainable via breeding, faceted is. Bad mistake on my part.

Also, Scattersights were given away freely by Galore on Flight Rising’s fifth anniversary in 2018 and could not be bought afterwards. I admit that I thought people could be able to buy Scattersights due to how upset people were that the value went down, but whatever.

Courier Breed

The courier dragons (Edgar, Spitfire, and Pearl) are part of an exclusive dragon breed that is currently unobtainable. Even though their eye color still reflects the flight they were born in, in-universe they are considered to be “neutral” and they are granted free access to all domains. This raises the question as to which deity created them, as every other dragon breed (Bogsneaks being the only exception) has been created by one of The Eleven.

Multiaccounting

According to the site’s terms of service, no one is allowed to have more than one account. This is pretty standard for pet sites, as having multiple accounts grants unfair advantages and can mess up the site economy. This doesn’t completely stop people for having more than one account, and the practice as a whole is called “Multiaccounting” or “having multis”.

Some people only do this to have multiple clans or reboot their account without deleting their old one. They mostly do no harm but it is reasonable that the site wouldn’t allow this because of how easy it is exploit.

The real harm of multis comes from a practice called “funneling” which is when someone creates multiple accounts only for the purpose of giving items to their main account. This practice violates the game’s rules and can result in a ban. Funneling is not limited to multiaccounting though, and having an account only to feed another is against the site’s rules whether or not the account in question belongs to another person or not.

Some people fear of being banned for multiaccounting even if they haven’t done so, especially if they share a computer with other people.

Purble

“he purble” is probably among the most famous Flight Rising memes.

In 2016(?) a rant was submitted to the original Dramarising blog by a very angry user that wanted to buy an XXX Purple Ridgeback back when triples were pretty expensive, but got beat by someone else.

I’m not going to copy paste it here because in my opinion it’s one of the funniest Flight Rising related posts ever and I don’t want to spoil the experience of reading it for the first time. You can find it pretty easily by searching it up.

Tert Picking

This is something that refaced recently, even though I’ve seen people talking about this for a while. Some people vividly remember being able to pick their custom progenitor’s tertiary color, even though the developers have made it clear that such thing would be impossible. This is without a doubt just one of those weird situations where a lot of people somehow remember the same thing wrong.

Still, it’s fascinating just how many people claim to remember doing picking their tert.

Swiftwings

Swiftwings were a dragon breed that was scrapped in development. The design was rejected because it didn’t fit the 2 arms 2 legs 2 wings format that every dragon design had to follow before the introduction of ancient breeds.

The reason for this rule is that otherwise it would mess up apparel placement. Although the concept was scrapped, echoes of the design were scattered throughout the site: for example, the empty dragon slots that were present prior to 2019 had the silhouette of a Swiftwings dragon. They are also mentioned in the April Fool’s update of 2018.

“Real” Lore dragons

Most people don’t know that some of the dragons featured on the lore stories are actually real, and you can visit their pages. This is the case for Tetra, Cracklinne, Velya, Liefa, Garote and Mirth, which are currently chilling in Aequorin’s lair.

All of the other dragons in the developers’ lairs are not canon and are used to test bugs and features on the site.

The Middle ground

True deity names

When the site first started the deities used to have actual names instead of titles. Some of these names were based off of the site founders’s usernames on other sites.

The names are the following:

Amogayvhi - Gladekeeper Xhaztol - Arcanist Rhenik - Tidelord Akiri - Flamecaller Thrage - Stormcatcher Undel - Shadowbinder Jhortanas - Plaguebringer Ghurab - Windsinger Artaios - Earthshaker Rhiow – Lightweaver

As you can tell, Xhaztol, Akiri, Thrage and Undel are the usernames of some of the admins of the site, and the flight they are a part of corresponds with the previous name of their deity.

No leg coatls

On January 16, 2015 an iconic thread was posted in the flight rising discussion forum, which displayed a photoshopped image of a coatl with its legs removed. Quickly the thread devolved into a general photoshop thread were people took official site art of dragons and modified it.

The thread was eventually locked due to spam and quote pyramids, but spiritual successors of the original “phoatlshop” thread still exist today.

Dress slot unlocking

A thing that a surprising amount of people don’t know is the fact that when buy an additional apparel slot, the slot opens for every dragon in your lair and not just the one you bought it on.

This is something I also discovered very recently and it’s kind of funny that so many people that have been on the site for very long don’t know this.

Clanbound scatterscrolls

I think the wiki explains it best, so I’ll just copy paste this here:

“Tri-Color Scatterscrolls suffered from an issue where they would only scatter a random range from colors 1-47 (white through sunshine) rather than 1-67 (white through rose). They have been fixed and are now functioning correctly with a random range within the 67 color set. The affected timeframe was from August 15th, 2013 until September 22nd, 2013. The admins allowed users who were unsatisfied with their bugged Tri-Color Scatterscrolls to receive the same amount of them back in the form of Clanbound Scatterscrolls to try scattering their own dragons again with the full color range.”

Beta Mirrors

Ever wondered why they’re called Mirrors?

According to Undel, the main artist of Flight Rising, mirrors originally were supposed to have every part of their body “mirrored”, meaning they had two sets of eyes, two pairs of wings, two tails, and so on.

This design ended up being too cluttered and looked weird shrunken down. The name was kept the same, even though the only mirrored part of the design are the eyes.

Dragons are evil

If you read the “Beastclans on the rise” lore bit, the dragons come across as… very evil, stealing territory from the beastclans when they have been living on Sornieth way longer than the dragons have and killing them for loot.

Furthermore, in the Bounty of the Elements lore bit the Beastclan rebellion guided by Talona is seen by the dragons as unreasonable and wrong even when in canon Beastclans are framed as the innocent party.

The Depths

Scroll of Divorce

In the alpha stage dragons were supposed to be monogamous and could only breed with the dragon they were “paired” with. To break their bond you had to use an item called “Scroll of Divorce” which even featured broken marriage rings in the art.

If I had to guess, this item and the concept as a whole were scrapped because the idea of dragons having “weddings” and needing to divorce before breeding with another dragon felt kind of weird, especially in a game targeted towards teens.

First Festival

The first Holiday festival in Flight rising history was the 2013 Brightshine Jubilee. The items that were available for this festival only are incredibly rare, particularily the Light Sprite which is one of the most valuable items on the site. Apart from that and the fact that the skincent contest only had 6 winners, not much is notable about it.

Offsite drama

Flight Rising has had its fair share of drama both on and off site, but due to the fact that it’s against the site’s rule to discuss user drama on the forums most of the notable drama happened off site (mainly tumblr).

Egg rot

Egg rot was a very early mechanic that was pretty quickly removed from the site. If you forgot to incubate your eggs, they would “rot” and no longer hatch.

It’s the reason why in the nesting grounds the text reads “Eggs healthy” and also the reason why on the stats section of the Account settings it says “Eggs discarded”. The mechanic was removed because it heavily punished casual players and the frequent downtimes of the site meant that even if someone logged in every day they could still have their eggs die.

Also, the images of egg rot look extremely cursed.

Pablo

From what I could gather, Pablo is a dragon which became somewhat popular after user “Desmondtiny” wrote a very long and detailed backstory of them being the Arcanist’s lost boyfriend.

I’m pretty sure it gues deeper than that but I couldn’t find any further information. As usual, if you know something more let me know.

Latest News

On November 12, 2014, a glitch(?) occurred that let anyone post in the Announcements thread. Anything that was posted went directly to the front page, which resulted in quite a bit of chaos.

This was fixed only half an hour later, but the screenshots people have from that time are extremely funny.

Lameforger

On the 2014 Flameforger’s festival announcement Undel accidentally misspelled “Flameforger” as “Lameforger”, which prompted the official account of the Flamecaller to respond aggressively. Lameforger is still jokingly used by users, even after the typo was fixed.

Festival of one (1)

On the first day of the 2014 Greenskeeper Gathering a glitch occurred which switched the site banner for the Starfall celebration banner instead of the Greenskeeper one.

It didn’t end there, in the coliseum Magical shards dropped instead of Bladed Flatleaves, even though skin chests dropped as normal(?).

The weirdest thing about it all was Joxar’s Space inventory, which didn’t display any items at all and had glitched dialogue.

The event was nicknamed by the fanbase “Festival of 1” and even the deity’s official accounts acknowledged the incident.

Vape Juice

As far as I know the original forum thread as been lost, but the vape juice fiasco will always remain cemented in Flight Rising History.

A company called Vape Daugz was making vape juice with Flight Rising dragons plastered on their packaging, completely violating the site’s policy.

The company’s site still exists, and browsing through their products I found that the products that previously had Flight Rising dragons on them still exist, but now feature completely different packaging.

I have no idea whether they changed the packaging spontaneously or staff did something about it.

I think there’s a potentially interesting story buried down there, but we’ll likely never the truth behind the Flight Rising vape juice.

The Abyss

Humans

There’s been some speculation over the years as to whether or not humans are canon in the Flight Rising universe. Some people believe that the “Mages” of the second age in the official lore are actually humans, but we can’t be sure because they are depicted with long robes that cover their whole bodies.

The idea of humans existing in canon has spawned a couple of memes, most infamously Thomas.

Plague healers

Again, I think the wiki explains this one better:

“According to Aequorin, Plague healers are an interesting bunch because rather than administer treatments that counter illness, they use a mixture of magic and contagion that stress the affected dragon further, allowing them to reach a stronger, healed, and resistant state faster than other elements. Plague healers will treat physical injuries with sutures, bandages, and braces, but they won't clean the wounds or apply ointments."

Akitla

As described in the original thread, Akitla was a dragon that user “qunii” saw on the front page, but noticed that she wasn’t accompanied by the username of the person owning them.

After clicking on her, an error page loaded. It was discovered that putting her color combination or ID in the search bar would result in an error page. This was later fixed, and both Akitla and her mate were now displayed as being exalted to the Arcanist. T

here are some theories as to what happened to the Akitla’s user, some think that she belonged to a deleted account, others that it was the result of an incomplete account creation.

As with a lot of things on this iceberg, it will likely remain a mystery forever.

Arcane sprite book

“what is the arcane sprite reading??” is probably one of the oldest still active threads on the forums.

On September 25, 2013 user “Kaadashi” started a joke thread were they wondered what exactly is the arcane sprite reading, and playfully suggested that it could be erotic fanfiction. People went crazy of course, and started to wonder what kind of juicy secrets were hidden within the pages of that book.

I don’t want to say too much because I really don’t want to spoil the experience of reading through this very cursed tread.

Sunshine

Sunshine is one of the most… interesting lairs on the site, and certainly one of the most well-known.

They(?) have a lair (almost) completely full of triple basic sunshine dragons, most of which are Tundras. So far they have collected about 320 triple hundred Sunshine dragons, almost all of which are also named “Sunshine”. They’re not all the same, some of them have apparel, some of them are gened and some have unique art and descriptions.

They’re dedicated and I respect that.

EDIT 28/06: Apparently some people seem to think that the sunshine-dedicated lair is based on a meme concerning the announcement of the color wheel expansion, which became so discussed that the itself site broke. The two things are unrelated however, as the Sunshine lair has been around for much longer.

The announcement of the color wheel expansion was cryptic, with only a few post showing off differently colored coatls and then 3 pages of reserved posts, with no explanation whatsoever.

Simple Farmer

Another very famous thread is the “I am but a simple farmer” thread started by user “someKindOfGenius”. It’s not really about anything specific, it’s just a rather silly thread were people photoshop flight rising dragons onto various crops.

Still, this thread is iconic so I had to include it.

Dragon Deaths

Way back in 2014 former flight rising programmer Thrage revealed on a forum thread that way back before the beta, dragons could actually starve to death if left unfed.

Yep.

Obviously they had to remove this mechanic because it would have been extremely harsh to casual players and make people frustrated with the game.

Zalvador

User “manojalpa” became fairly well-known for the extremely dark lore they(?) had written for their Clan, it was so dark in fact that every single one of their dragon’s bios had to moved to their tumblr where they couldn’t be easily seen by the site’s mainly underage usebase.

Their lore centered around their progen dragon, a tundra named Zalvador, which behaved and had the same powers as a flight rising user: buying dragons off of the action house, having “breeding projects”, exalting dragons, etc.

These things seem pretty normal when done by a player, but when taking them as actual real things that happen in universe… yeah, it was way too morbid for the site.

The Pit

Black linen neck wraps

For some weird reason, the apparel piece “Black linen neck wrap” when put on a male pose Coatl wraps around the dragon’s throat instead of it’s neck. It’s kind of subtle and hard to see, but if you compare it with the female pose the difference is clear. This is probably just an art error, although it’s weird that it hasn’t been fixed yet, since linen wraps are a very old piece of apparel.

Another weird thing about linen wraps in general is that the wing wraps just sort of… go through the membrane? This is not possible. These dragons are in pain.

Icewarden ears

Another very remarkably popular thread is the Icewarden ears thread.

In 2014 user “Llanai” simply makes note of the fact that the Icewarden has teeny tiny ears.

As we have come to expect from these threads, it quickly devolved into nonsense.

Forbidden Snapper lore

Snappers used to have a way different lore section that was changed because it deemed too similar to the lore of another petsite.

This is what the original section read:

"Snapper dragons do not sleep, but exist in a constant state of reverie. They receive and catalogue all experiences and stories told within their dreams. This persistent state of awakened dreaming awards them the longest memory of any dragon species. They are living encyclopedias, and any dragon who is seeking difficult-to-obtain information will have the most luck unearthing it from a Snapper clan - provided they have the patience for it. If you want two dozen quick answers, talk to a spiral. If you want a fully developed answer, camp out around a Snapper. These dreamers move at their own pace, which varies from dragon to dragon. For some, the awakened dream can prove to be more interesting than their surroundings. This leads to a focus upon the dream, and the waking world as filtered background noise. Interacting with these sleepwalkers can be a trying and repetitive task. Other Snappers may be fairly lucid, with a focus upon their surroundings and the constant hum of the dream pushed aside."

Bee movie script

I’ve seen this story around the forums a few times but I’ve never been able to learn the details.

From what I’ve heard someone copy pasted the entire bee movie script into their clan bio in a drop down text format, which completely broke the page for anyone who visited it. This was fixed, apparently, although I have no clue as to who this user is.

EDIT 28/06: Zeus

Zeus is an XXX gold g1 permababy imperial that used to belong to user "happywing".

Their account is now locked because Zeus was created with the use of a duplication glitch on an imperial breed change scroll, which is obviously not allowed (although I've heard some people say that the dragon was hacked in altogether). Before the account was locked, people speculated that Zeus was the most valuable dragon on the site, because an XXX g1 imperial is impossibly rare.

Wegg shaming

On July 2017 user “Dreamnorn” made a thread were they(?) claimed to have a dream where everything was the same except people used the term “wegged” when two dragons would lay only one egg in a nest.

Ex. Aw man! I’ve been wegged again! = Aw man! I bred two dragons and they only had one egg!

The dream ended up being prophetic, as the term catched on and people started to use it unironically.

The practice of “Wegg shaming” I think refers to the trend of people posting pictures of the dragons that “wegged” them in order to “shame” them.

Plague nest skull

The site art of the plague nest features an unique dragon skull that doesn’t match with any currently existing dragon breed or creature: It appears to have two sets of eyes, like a mirror, but also long and curled horns.

It’s probably just for decoration and it likely doesn’t have any significance whatsoever, but personally I believe it would be pretty cool if when they eventually release plague ancient it at least somewhat resembled this skull.

EDIT 28/06: On second thought, the skull doesn’t seem to have two pairs of eyes, It just has the generic shape of a carnivore.

Rock bottom

CAPTAINPLANET

…this is CAPTAINPLANET. Somehow, user “Decres”' managed to overlay a Fae skin on top of a Tundra, creating this horrifyingly fascinating abomination.

I have no idea how she did this, and she seems pretty adamant to tell.

EDIT 28/06: People have pointed out that this skin overlay glitch was actually somewhat common (although I still haven't found another dragon like CAPTAINPLANET). What you had to do was breed change a dragon while attaching a skin to them in another tab.

This glitch has been patched and such thing is no longer possible.

Lair 46264

A cursed lair.

Dreams

I’ve seen a lot of people, both on forums and on Tumblr, sharing dreams they had about Flight Rising.

A lot of people dream of just being on the site, while occasionally weird things happen.

I’ve read of people who dreamed the distribution of a new breed, buying an exclusive item, a new Fiona feat or Swipp trade, or just browsing the forums.

The most common type of Flight rising-associated dream I’ve seen however is being caught multiaccounting and having their account banned.

I’m no psychoanalyst, but I think it’s pretty clear that these nightmares stem from the paranoia of being banned from their beloved petsite instead of showing any actual intention of doing the “crime” in question.

Anyways, I think it’s fascinating how so many people dream about this site, and it reminds me of the dreams people claimed to have about Mario 64 where completely new levels were added or a scary monster appeared.

Dragon Slime

Dragon Slime was an infamous thread which was supposed to be start off point for an ARG.

It was deleted because it was considered too “spammy” and also because ARGs are banned from the forums. The thread has been lost, unfortunately.

EDIT 28/06: Thanks to @randompurple-fr for providing screenshots of the dragon slime tutorial! You can find them here

Cucumber

Cucumber is the only dragon ever to have been exalted with a skin, which is something that should not be possible. This raises some questions as to what exactly did the person that exalted them do to achieve this, but we have no way of knowing who Cucumber belonged to.

EDIT 28/06: Actually, we do know who used to Cucumber belonged to! Its owner was Osiem: an official flight rising artist. I couldn’t find the thread where they(?) acknowledged the glitch though, if someone has it please let me know!

#flight rising #fr #flight rising meme #iceberg meme

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gb-patch · 3 years

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Ask Answers: July 10th

I really let asks get away from me lately. I was super focused on working on that Patreon Moment. With that done I can finally think about doing other things, so here’s a new collection of answers!

Thank you for sending in questions everyone ^^.

For the new Patreon moment, will you be able to reference it in step 4? Or just like a tiny nod to it if you pick certain choices?

There won’t be. I’m sorry if you were hoping for that! The Patreon moment is meant to be entirely optional, it’s not something that gets you extra content in the main game.

Is the new CG artist the main one now? :0 I’ve noticed theres been a difference in the art style recently. Is the old CG artist still going to make art for the game? :0

The original artist still makes CGs for the game sometimes, but he mainly focuses on character sprites.

Are you going to put the NSFW our life moment on a website other than patreon? I would love to get it but I can't use patreon atm.

I don’t know. I'm afraid we can't release the Patreon Moment on a normal game storefront because we can't mix 18+ content with our family friendly game. If there's some other place similar to Patreon where it's not the normal type of full-scale public content releases we'd consider using that, but I’m not sure if there is another site that’s better than Patreon in that regard. I'm sorry.

Out of curiosity, in all of your games so far, which characters in each were the most fun to write? They obviously don't have to be your favorite characters!

Buffalo Seer in AFA, really everyone in XOD/XOBD is pretty equally entertaining to write, The Guide in LoV, and Cove in OL!

idk if you accept "personal" questions, but is there anything you've been watching/ listening to lately

Mostly, I’ve been watching/listening to Authortube videos as of late! It’s people who talk generally about the process of how books become traditionally published and/or share their own experience as they attempt to be published. I don’t have an interest in writing normal text based books, but it’s really interesting to hear about that world. I’m listening to a video about royalties right now as I answer these asks.

Will one of the desserts we get to pick be fudge? That'd be such a cute reference!

Haha, yeah, it should. Unless I completely blank on it and forget when trying to include the various referential food options.

I don't know if this has been asked previously but what would be the approximate heights for the presets MC can choose from Step 2 ~ 4? Are there any measurement you had in mind? Sorry if I didn't make myself clear kk I've been struggling with my English lately 💀

I don’t know, ahah. I didn’t have any numbers in mind for that. So it’s whatever you imagine it is!

I noticed a bug with the Patreon moment when it comes to what your character wears. When Jamie and Cove are kissing while my character only had dresses selected, I had both the option to remove the dress or to remove the shirt... Picking one of the options to interact with Cove, after he removed his shirt, it had Jamie remove their shirt followed by ther pants despite only having dresses picked.

Thank you for reporting ^^

I keep refreshing steam to see when the new doc for xobd will be released. I noticed you haven't posted anything about it in quite some time. Would it be possible to ask about a timeline/potential date? (If it's even this year—) I know you and your team are probably working super hard, I'm just super curious! ~Thank you!~

There are more stories done, I just haven’t gotten around to publicly releasing them. Hopefully I will have a chance to spend the time on that sooner rather than later!

hello!! i’m not sure if it’s an update but i’ve just replayed our life and at the end i can’t propose to cove anymore? :(( i’ve actually tried playing twice but the options are not there anymore, did you guys remove the options? i’m sorry if you’ve answered this before!! thank you and have a good one :)

I’m afraid things haven’t been changed or removed, so I think you might’ve accidentally picked the wrong things somewhere along the way and locked yourself out of being able to propose by mistake. Sometimes you meant to say you want to get married but instead you mis-click and have it so the MC isn’t thinking about marriage or something. All I can suggest is starting from the beginning of Step 3 and making sure to follow the steps listed in the FAQ. I’m sorry for that.

Did yall remove some of the options for when youre making out with Cove in the charity moment? I could've sworn you could grab his bonkadonk and its not there anymore

This is the same situation as the above. We didn’t remove things and you’re not wrong that there are sometimes those options. But there are various choices you have to make to get those options and it sounds like you accidentally missed something. If your relationship isn’t long-term, you can’t do it for example.

HI IM SO EXCITED I CAN FINALLY GET THE STEP 3 DLC

Thank you for getting it!

Is Shiloh super totally straight bc I’m very gay and a huge Shiloh fan, would my man make an exception?😩

Sadly, he is one of our super straight characters. I’m sorry.

Hi, I have a very dumb question. In Step 2 does Cove not wanna share his drink with us at the mall (or rather why he stops drinking it) because it's an indirect kiss? Or is it like ...weird to him to share? Because if I remember right he eats off our spoon in the birthday scene right?

Yeah, he’s awkward about it because he likes the MC and it feels very personal to share a straw with his crush.

Hi! If you don't mind me asking, who is the artist for OL2? Their style is so pretty!

Thank you for saying so! This is her Twitter- https://twitter.com/redridingheart

Do Beginnings & Always and Now & Forever exist in the same universe?

Yep! XOXO Droplets also exists in the same universe. It’s one big GB Patch world, haha.

Do Pran's parents regret the way they raised him? Do they feel ashamed of it?

No. They’re the type of people best cut out because they’re not gonna change. Which is why Pran does go very limited contact when he’s an adult.

Hi! I just wrapped up my second playthrough of Our Life, and I absolutely adore it, but I had a question. I went to the gallery and found I was missing 2 CGS (specifically Step 1-3 and 2-3) and I had no clue where they would've shown up. Which moments are those found in?

You get it by telling Cove about his dad offering you money to be his friend in Step 1 and Step 2. You can’t get both in one playthrough, since you can only tell Cove the truth once. I’m really glad you liked it!

Hi hi! Please, how tall is Baxter and Derek? Love the game so much and I can't wait to see more!

I don’t know, aha. I think Baxter was around 5′10 and Derek was like 5′8/5′9, maybe. I really am not one who has specific heights for things in mind.

is adult cove a bottom, top, or switch?

A switch, though would choose the top if he had to pick.

I was wondering if there is a way to transfer save data? Even if through the game files. I wanted to be able to transfer my save data from my desktop over to my laptop so that I could continue playing right where I left off from but I'm not entirely sure how to go about that.

If you save the save folder/persistent data of the game from your desktop and put it into the game folder on your other device, that could work.

Hi! Is it possible for us to know the date when our life: now and forever comes out on steam? Sorry if you've mentioned it before but I haven't seen it and I'm looking foward to that happening and just wanted to know :)

It’s gonna be a long time, I’m afraid. There’s no estimate right now.

I started playing Our Life with my sister a while ago, and I think you guys should know that we discovered your secret. >:)

L from death note and Cove are clearly the same person, and this whole game is just an origin story!!

I’ve never seen that show so I’m sorry to say I don’t understand the connection/reference you’re trying to make. I’m pretty out of the loop when it comes to media. I don’t watch movies or TV.

Will OL2 have options for disabled MCs?

I understand if it's too complicated, just curious

Unfortunately, it’s not really something we have a plan for. We couldn’t finish the game if we tried to include every disability and have it be meaningful. It’d just be too much content to create. But if we decide to only include a few, how would we choose which disabilities get to be represented and which are left out? I don’t know. It’ll probably have to be something we don’t include as an option again, sadly. I’m sorry.

playing our life > anything else

Haha, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.

Honestly, I would like to thank Our Life for helping me come to terms with my sexuality. Before, I never would've actually thought that it was possible to like boys romantically and still be asexual. Almost all of the BL visual novels I've read had unskippable sexual content in them and it honestly just didn't click with what I feel. I'm glad I found Our Life. I love the game, the developers, and this fandom so much. Now, I can safely come out as homoromantic AND asexual (at least anonymously here anyway; my parents are still huge homophobes 😂).

Aw, it’s great to hear you felt comfortable being yourself in the game! That’s wonderful. I’m really sorry about your parents, though.

Will the demo for OL2 be on android? Really not sure if I could wait any longer than I have to aha

Yeah, it’ll be available for Android once we eventually release a demo!

Do all these reveals perhaps mean development is progressing ahead of schedule? Please let that be the case I'm already obsessed with Qiu

No, sorry, aha. Art comes along much faster than script/programming-work for us. It’s gonna be a long time before the game is a finished thing you can actually play. But at least we can look at the beautiful images.

Hey! First of all I wanna say I reallllllyyyyy loooovvveeee Our Life and XOXO Droplets! I have over 300 hours of playtime on Our Life… Anyways, I was just wondering, are the Derek and Baxter DLCs going to come out at the same time? If not, which one do you plan to release first? :3

They will come out separately and Derek will be first! Glad you like the game.

I keep replaying Our Life to get every possible iteration and I am loving it <3 I was wondering if Cove gets locked out of his confession because MC was talking to Lee, would it be possible to confess to him in step 4?

Yeah, you can avoid the confession in Step 3 and then get it in Step 4.

Hi, my Cove wears bracelets through step 2 and 3 but I still don't get an option to give him a bracelet? I didn't even know that was possible until I seen someone else ask about it lol

Hm, did you use the Cove creator? Maybe there’s a bug where using the creator to add bracelets doesn’t fulfill the requirement to give Cove a bracelet in Step 3.

Wait, I'm dense, when does Baxter appear in step 2? Is it from big park firework? I feel so bad since i really love Baxter and waiting to buy his dlc.

It’s in the Soiree Moment. You have to be just friends with Cove, indifferent, or crushing but not ask Cove to the dance at all. Then while there you can find someone new to dance with. But if you bring Cove to the dance while crushing, the MC won’t wanna dance with anyone else so you can’t get the scene.

In step 2 when we go to the soiree I made my mc go alone and baxter chooses the mc to dance, i'm curious, why did he pick the mc? sorry if this has been asked before!

Because the MC looked to be around his age, seemed to also be searching for a partner, and had nice legs. A perfect option for him.

I read some of the FAQs, and I saw that we could tell Baxter about the condo that he rented there was previously the mean old grandparents. how do we get the mc to tell him that?

It happens in the DLC Moment “Late Shift”. If you don’t have a job you instead get a longer scene with Baxter.

I don’t know if you’ve addressed this or not, but are you planning on paying voice actors for our life: now and forever?

Yeah, we pay our VAs in all our projects.

hey can i ask how you did the moments thing in ol? im trying to get into making visual novels and while im VERY sure its out of my comfort zone and all that atm i kinda wanna know just for the future, bc im p sure it would work well for something i wanna do :O but its also fine if you cant say for other reasons :>

I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean. Are you asking how we programmed the screen or something script related? Adding Moments like that is pretty straightforward, though. You just have buttons that open to different labels and then the scripts are essentially individual short stories/vignettes. Good luck with your VN!

Since Autumn becomes gender fluid later in the game, will there be a character who remains as he/him to romance in game?

OL1 has the he/him LIs, OL2 is all about other genders.

I don't want to impose on your creative plans, but a parrot could possibly make a good pet in an OL-type game? They're pretty long-lived and likely to still be thriving by the end even if the MC got them back in step 1.

I do appreciate the suggestion, but I’m afraid it’s not likely going to happen. I understand there are technically some animals that could theoretically live long enough to last the whole game that or we could have the MC only get a pet after some years have already passed. But the many things that would have to be considered/accommodated for makes it just something we probably can’t manage adding. I’m sorry.

As time passes will we be able to see Qiu and Tamarack's other stage arts as well?

They are both so cute i can't wait to be friends with them!

Yeah, we’ll show content from other Steps in the future. It’ll be a little while from now, though.

Can you date Cove and still have your family comfort you in the car?

You can’t get Cove’s Step 3 confession scene if you have the family comfort you in the car. But that’s not the only way to date him. You can get together with him earlier in the game or later on in Step 4.

Is Mc always going to be the one walking down the aisle or could Cove do it? Also could you choose to have one of your moms walk you?

No. Cove wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle like that and the MC automatically respects that. And the MC also gets to have their preferences respected, so it’s up to you whether they want to do an aisle walk or not. You also can pick who, if anyone, walks with you.

Once step 4 is out, will you be able to go the whole game on crush/love without either of you confessing?

Yes, as long as you tell the game you don’t want to progress the relationship. Even in Step 4 it won’t force you to officially get together.

Howdy, so in Step 4, there will be any Romance with Derek that is not part of any dlc?

He’s only a friend unless you get his romance story.

Will the step 4 in OL2 be one big step or are you considering moments?

Step 4 is just an epilogue in both games.

hi kind of a weird question but!! we know tht cliff doesn't start dating again but. wht abt flings? like does he ever do 1 night stands or anything? thank u!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nope. Cliff has a very small interest in sex. If he’s not in a real relationship with a partner he’s crazy about it simply isn’t something he feels a need for, so one night stands wouldn’t even cross his mind.

sorry if you've already answered this, but i was wondering if there were plans for there to be bonus love interests in OL2 like how we have derek and baxter in OL1.

Maybe! There are side characters who could be given romance stories, but whether or not it will happen depends on funding and how long everything else takes to finish.

I don't know if i'm allowed to ask about ol2 here yet, if not u can ignore this or answer it later. My question is can you date one of them and be good friends with the other? I don't want to be strangers with the other bcs i love them both a lot :<

Yes you can!

what patreon level do i have to be to unlock the nsfw moment? im on the $5 one right now, will that give me access to the moment, or just access to the moment progress?

That’ll give you access! Tier 2 and anything higher allows the player to download it.

#our life #ask #gb patch #gb patch games #all projects #Our Life Beginnings & Always #Our Life: Now & Forever

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bnha-scenarios · 4 years

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Okay, so, first thing first. The second half of September and the whole October has been a wild ride.

Apparently this game blew up on TikTok (and probably some other platform or something?), and now I could see that there are tons of you who downloaded the game. That's just... so... unreal, at least to me. I didn't think this project would get so much attention. Even now, I’m still waiting to wake up from this dream 🙃

Anyway, if you’re new here: welcome! Sit back and relax, ‘cause this is gonna be a long ride!

I want to take this opportunity to say that due to the amount of comments, especially on itch.io page and my Tumblr, I won’t be always replying personally one by one to everyone anymore. I'll still try my best to answer questions and all, but I think by now everyone's common questions should already be answered in the FAQ page. So, moving forward, questions I have already answered inside that page will be ignored.

Still, I want you to know that I do read and treasure every single one of your comments. Thank you so much for your encouraging words, support, and suggestions! I'm sorry I can’t reply to those writing in languages other than English and Indonesian. While I can throw simple comments into Google Translate, every now and then the translator butchers long sentences and gives me garbled translation which I can't understand 😥

☕️ Special Thanks ☕️

I'd like to also take this chance to say, many, many thanks for the coffee, you all amazing, generous people:

M.L. | Dominique | Genki | Sara | 1 Anon

Even in this hard time, you’re all so kind. Again, I can’t really do much, but as my way of thanking you, your names will be put under Special Thanks in the game ♡

Alright, now, to the real essence of this post: progress update.

My work had been pretty demanding nearing the end of this month, and it made me get really sick of doing coding in general. Still, there is some progress on the game, and that’s good enough for me!

More details below ↓

Character Sheet: You / Player / Main Character

Before I get to anything else, let’s talk about ‘you’ first, shall we?

Although the main character's name is changeable, if you don’t wish to pick a name for them, ‘Suzuki Kaede’ is set as the default name.

Why Suzuki? I figured I would just take from one of the most common Japanese surnames.

Why Kaede? I chose it because I wanted a common Japanese unisex name, because the main character themselves is supposed to be gender neutral. So, the name came up as one of the results in Google, it has a somewhat nice and neutral meaning (maple), and I find that it sounds pretty nice, I decided to use it.

To reiterate, throughout the game, I try my best to not mention any physical characteristics and avoid elements which leans heavily to a specific gender in the story. All the characters in the game will also call you with your last name, and only neutral suffix (-san) is used at first. But you could get an event where you would be able to pick how the love interest will call the player, starting from that point in the story (on top of neutral options, there will be choices with gender-specific suffixes which you could pick if you want to). Other than that, all characters will always refer to the MC as ‘they/them’.

Now, moving on to the thing which people has asked about -- the player's Quirk. Here's a text version in case you couldn't see it in the image above for some reason:

What happens when a woman with Enhanced Learning quirk and a man with Camera Vision procreates? A child with exemplary learning ability and a pair of exceptionally observant eyes, apparently! The hereditary Vision you got from your father enables you to focus or scan an object or landscapes. With all the cues and information from your eyes, it seems that you're able to analyze and 'see' particular details of your object of interest in the form of numerical data. Due to the mainly passive nature of your quirk, you have to rely on the traditional weapons for offense, which might not be useful at all depending on your opponent's quirk. It's a plain and nonoffensive ability which isn’t so suited for a hero according to most people, but whatever - you’ll show those noobs the power of a gamer!

In other words, the information in 'Stats', ' Weapon Proficiency', 'Special Moves', and even the 'Affection' meter, are actually part of the MC's Quirk. This also means, the more you hone your Quirk, the more it could affect your gameplay. I'll talk about that on the Gameplay section below.

There is one thing that’s kind of related to the MC's Quirk and I wanted to clarify. Bakugou did call you this in the demo, and yep, you might have guessed it: “crosshair eyes”. Reticle, crosshair, whatever you want to call it -- it’s that symbol you usually see in the center of your screen whenever you play FPS games. This is the only physical feature of the player's character that I specified (and yes, canonically, Hatsume has a pair of similar looking eyes in the original work). In relation to this, the icon for ‘activating’ your Quirk matches the same symbol.

Gameplay

Introducing: Stats, Special Moves, and Video Games!

Stats

There are 5 basic Stats for all of the characters in the game (brownie points if you recognize where they're taken from!): Speed, Technique, Power, Intelligence, Cooperativeness.

Your own Stats start off low, but you will be able to increase it by doing various activities, such as studying, playing games, winning on Heroics lessons, going to certain places, etc. Different activities raises different Stat, and you're free to choose which particular Stat you want to develop.

What are Stats being used for?

Certain Stat will increase a certain character’s affection, though it won’t be as much as if you hang out with that character.

There are certain places which you can only unlock when a specific Stat reaches a certain point. I’ll talk about hang out places and characters’ schedules in another post.

Weekly one-on-one training matches in Heroics lessons will test a specific Stat or Special Moves each time. Depending on who you chose to become your opponent, that specific Stat will determine the outcome of that match. On one hand, winning these matches can increase your Stat, but on the other hand, there are also special events you could possibly unlock when you lose. Again, I’ll probably talk more in detail about this in another post, since I still don't have the coding part down, so things might change.

Special Moves

Every hero has a Special Move in this universe, and so does the player’s character! While they might not be as flashy as All Might’s iconic United States of Smash, some of your Special Moves will have a direct effect on the gameplay. For example, a certain Special Move could unlock more answer choices for certain scenarios. Another Special Move could be activated to give you hints on how many affection points will be added to a character for the available choices.

You have a total of 5 unlockable Special Moves, and it will be up to you to use this feature: do you spend your time trying to unlock all of it in hope to make your gameplay easier, or ignore them completely in favor of balancing your Stats while pursuing the affection of your chosen love interest? It’s your choice!

(More brownie points for you if you got the reference in that picture lol)

Another use for Special Moves would be in the Heroics lessons, seeing as it might test how your Special Move fares against the opponent you picked.

Video Games

I would say that this particular element plays quite a big role in this game, since the MC learns and develops themselves by playing games. While you do have a set of games which you’ve owned, you’re able to purchase new games from the Video Game store. I would recommend doing this, as there are some neat ones which will help you greatly in your playthrough. But if you're not interested to explore them, that's fine too!

Each video game has a different effect, and it’s up to you to discover them! Or, perhaps, you could unlock a Special Move that allows you to know what effect each of the game has? 😉

What are Video Games being used for?

Most games will only increase specific Stat(s), but there are also others that can unlock Special Moves.

There is one game which helps you to unlock Stats or Special Moves of your classmates, which you can use in the Heroics lesson to pick a suitable opponent based on your current Stats.

In addition to all that, there are 2P games which require more than one person to play, and you could play them with your romance target when they’re available. On top of building your Cooperativeness, choosing the right answers during the gaming session will increase that character's affection.

Others

The basic functions behind some activities like studying, buying video games, and playing video games are done. I will probably move on to code the functions handling the Heroics lesson’s battles and the behind-the-scenes of when the player chooses to go to certain places.

I've also finished the two main custom screens, which is the Quirk and Games page. If I have time and the motivation, I'm guessing I'll be adding the two other additional screens I had thought of doing. We'll see.

Assets

This part is my nightmare, because I’m a perfectionist who’s far too picky when gathering resources…

But no assets = no game, so I did find several assets which I did like. This includes backgrounds, audios, background musics, and some sprites I was planning to use for developing the phone call function. I’m not going to list down all the things I found here, because I don’t think any of you would be interested in a long-ass list, but here’s an amazing background picture which I stumbled upon searching the dark abyss that is the internet:

Full credits to the artist: https://arsenixc.artstation.com/

Writing

I would have to say there isn't too much progress on this side yet, but I did decide on some story elements I want to insert into the game and scripted in a few scenes for the first day. I also managed to code in the dialogs for some common activities / places, like the video game store and a small part of school lunch time.

Honestly, I should probably create a sheet to identify how many scenes I would have to write? So all of us know the progress for this part of the development? ..... Let's see how it goes when my OCD flares up...

Disclaimers

All assets included in the devlogs are not mine, and credits to the asset owners / websites will be included in the game! My Hero Academia / Boku no Hero Academia ⓒ Horikoshi Kouhei

#my hero academia #boku no hero academia #mha #bnha #heroaka #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #todoroki shouto #wnha #devlog

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wordsablaze · 4 years

Text

help, i lost myself again

It's over and they've won but is it really winning if Kai somehow feels more lost than ever?

A/N: aka angst™ bc i love hurting my faves... title from six feet under by bilie eilish :) oh and this has major s2 spoilers !!

When Kai wakes up, he doesn't react as calmly as the others.

He doesn't go and ask his parents if they're real or question the existence of his house.

But that's because his parents aren't there, they're never there, and his house feels just as empty as it always did.

The doughnuts taste great though.

And then he runs into another Hollow gamer who seems not to recognise him but he doesn't really question it because why would someone so talented and famous want to talk to him anyway?

But then Mira and Adam share their thoughts and he has to admit that what they think makes sense in a really nonsensical kind of way.

So he takes them to his house and tries not to pay attention to their judgemental staring, gazing, as Davis brings them something to drink, as they notice the giant statue of himself, as they see his neighbour Kevin.

The giant chicken from his nightmares helpfully distracts him from thinking about their reactions.

But Mabel is eventually defeated because as if he's going to allow his nightmares to hurt his best friends.

And then it turns out his best friends don't in fact like each other when he'd spent most of the first hollow game thinking that they do, that they choose each other over him.

He's not sure if it's worse that they liked each other or if it's worse that they didn't , because the latter means they just didn't like him.

Maybe they aren't his best friends after all.

He certainly isn't theirs anyway.

He pointedly ignores those thoughts once he realises he really isn't dreaming and they get caught up in figuring out how to find Weirdy.

But those thoughts come right back when he asks Adam why they'd chosen him over Reeve and apparently it's just because he was available.

Available.

Not because he was good at what he did or because they liked him or because they thought he could help, but just because he was there.

It stings to hear but he doesn't argue because they have more pressing matters, like making sure the other, more valuable member of their team is okay.

And anyway, Adam jokes around with him afterwards and it's not really that bad.

(But he does stop trying to convince Adam he's cool because clearly that's a futile quest.)

It's bittersweet to see Skeet because last time, he and Reeve had all but bullied him, but it's better this time because he's far nicer - he does try and leave the second they rescue him but that's only to be expected, really.

Fighting fire with fire is ridiculous but it works out in the end, mostly thanks to Adam and his clever ideas.

Speaking of clever ideas, Skeet's idea to try and reboot is not clever and it's endlessly frustrating to try and rescue someone who doesn't want to be rescued.

(It's kind of like how his parents keep trying to rescue a marriage that's better off not rescued)

But they do it anyway, and then they find Mira, and it turns out she and Skeet have something between them, which makes his old crush on Mira kind of embarrassing.

And he convinces himself that the others let him control the wheels that turn the puzzle floors because they know he can fly, not just because he'd be the lesser loss if something went wrong.

Sliding on mucus is surprisingly fun, and there's something he never thought he'd think.

But losing a friend is significantly less fun.

Although he's not entirely sure he can call Skeet a friend but they'd shared laughs and Skeet hadn't minded his presence all that much and that's what friends are like, right?

So it definitely hurts to lose him, and he imagines Mira is devastated. He just wishes he could help.

But he can't, as usual.

It's definitely unusual, though, that the weird evil scientist decides to dress Adam and Mira up to look fancy and formal and he gets given a sailor outfit, of all things.

(Come on, he has fire powers, why would he ever be a sailor?)

But the guy has good cutlery, Kai can give him that. Although said cutlery is not so good when Reeve is trying to kill him with it.

Saving the others from their weird possessed state ruins his hair but really, it doesn't matter when he's wearing what he is.

And then they finally, finally find Weirdy.

Though not before they meet another team in which one of them has fire power, his power.

And Nisha is really good at using it.

But it's meant to be his thing.

If another player can master his power better than he can, what does he have left?

It's unfair .

What's also unfair is Adam and Reeve yelling at each other like an old married couple, exactly like another married couple he knows.

It throws him back to Easter and how arguing had ruined his chance of finding any chocolate the Easter Bunny had left for him, and he abruptly forgets where he is and what they're doing.

(Thank heavens for Davis, who had always given him chocolate before bed to try and make up for things.)

He manages to push his memories aside as they focus on trying to get Weirdy's attention but all they get for their trouble is being thrown into yet another life or death situation.

It's disheartening to know that even Weirdy, who'd been specifically programmed to help them, has given up on them.

Not to mention that Vanessa won't stop acting strange and although he'd figured out that she was only pretending to like him before, which is a whole other world of hurt he doesn't even want to address, it's unnerving to see her so quiet.

But she mostly ignores him and they end up separated from Adam and Reeve.

They end up eaten, actually.

It's a bizarre experience and not one he'd like to experience ever again. Although he'd take it over Christmas dinners any day.

And then he manages to get Vanessa to tell him why she's been so sad, and they have what he feels like is a nice conversation.

(It's rare that he can discuss video games with someone who understands what he's talking about and poor Davis had tried but hadn't quite gotten the hang of it all.)

Of course he wants to blame her but he'd already done that and it hadn't helped in the slightest so he just assures her he isn't annoyed.

And then the others get back because apparently Mira is the only one who can help things along when they're underwater.

And he wants to tell Adam how happy he is to see him but he remembers that Adam had chosen him out of necessity and he holds back.

Plus, Adam and Reeve suddenly being friendly with each other again means he's probably no longer needed anyway.

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

The pixies or sprites or whatever they are make a nice break from people trying to kill them and figuring out how to make a goat is actually pretty enjoyable .

Until Weirdy ruins it by telling them they're not even real.

But they're not dead either, so he'd been slightly wrong about that.

And it turns out the other team have figured out their doomsday weapon, which is exactly what they don't need to make things better.

Stopping the other team is just as easy as his parents getting along, which is to say it's one of the most difficult things in the world.

Vanessa ends up disappearing, and that's just great because he'd thought they were getting close, becoming friends, and he'd just convinced the others to side with her.

(But it's fine because it's nothing new, it's not like he's used to retaining friends.)

And then because of course life can't be easy, they have to stall the other team, who seem to always be a step ahead of them.

He tries to be a good friend and joins Adam in attempting to force the weird pyramid open but it seems his efforts go unappreciated, surprise surprise.

Stupid motion sickness.

He can practically feel Mira's disapproval when he throws up but he can't help it, he really can't, and he'd take a dragon over a car chase anytime.

The boss battle feels wrong and they all just get thrown around for trying to confusingly help by not helping.

And he feels awful because he knows he wouldn't have been fast enough to save Iris, he'd almost cost everyone their lives.

But he's happy Vanessa is alive.

Although it seems he's too happy because by telling Vanessa what he'd figured out about the mechanical boss, the other team learns how to win.

All is almost lost, again .

Well, before Weirdy finally gets round to being amazing, helping them properly, and conjuring a portal that leads back to whatever their new life is.

It works.

It really works .

And they're still not dead.

And everything is as okay as it can be.

Except it's not, because the others have families to go back to but the game hadn't even thought to program his parents into this world so all he has is a mostly empty house.

(That's not to say he's not grateful for Davis, who is by far the best butler and friend in the world.)

But while the others are making a toast to old friends and new adventures, he can't help but feel a little lost .

Actually, make that very lost.

Because where does he fit into this new world?

Turns out you can take Kai out of the hollow but you can't take the hollow feeling out of Kai.

sorry for the big sad but the poor kid is traumatised enough to warrant this tbh... more of my thoughts at @kaidamplease if you’re interested :p

thanks for reading! masterlist

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ahtohallan-calling · 5 years

Text

chapter 4 of don’t read the last page is here!

[kristanna / m / multichap / modern au with actress!anna and vetstudent!kristoff]

“Of course I understand. You’ve gotten the chance of a lifetime, and I’m so proud of you I’m going to actually get a Netflix subscription so I can watch you and cheer you on. Even though by then the hard part will be done, I think.”

For once she was speechless; she just stepped forward, flinging her arms around his waist and burying her face in his shoulder. He hugged her back, already knowing he was going to miss the feel of her in his arms.

“Thank you, Kristoff.”

“For what?”

“For just– for being, like, the best friend anyone could ever ask for. Well, friend and then some, I guess.”

chapter 4

“Oh! Kristoff!”

“Elsa, hey. Is Anna here?”

She stepped back from the door, waving him in. “She just ran out to 7-Eleven for snacks, I think. She was talking kind of fast, you know how she is.”

“Yeah,” he said with a little laugh, shoving his hands in his pockets as he stepped into their apartment.

It was nice– much nicer than his, with a sofa that still resembled something worth sitting on and lots of deep green, leafy plants in the corners. Elsa led him to the kitchen and motioned for him to sit on one of the stools at the counter.

“Your place– it’s really nice,” he said for want of something better to say, and she smiled.

“Thanks, lived here for, oh– two years now? Since I started working at a new place a couple of blocks away. Not new anymore, of course.”

“Of course.”

She looked as awkward as he felt; she turned away and started filling two glasses of water. “So– you and Anna are…”

“Um. Yeah.”

She waved a hand. “She explained to you?”

“Um– yeah. I think?”

God, this was a conversation he really did not want to have with his friend-but-much-more-but-not-girlfriend’s older sister, even if he had known her for years. Elsa slid a glass to him across the counter and leaned against it, watching him closely.

“She’s too hard on herself,” she said quietly, drumming her fingers against her own cup. “Worse than she used to be since she moved out here. And so when a good thing comes along, she tends to– what’s the word? When you ruin things for yourself?”

“Self-sabotage?”

“Yeah, that. So– well. She told me what happened. And I’m glad she apologized and you’re, you know, working it out.”

He nodded, feeling relieved that he was getting this instead of the “don’t you dare hurt her” conversation. He’d always appreciated that about Elsa; they’d never really been close, but throughout the years whenever she’d felt the need to talk to him about something important, she’d given it to him straight.

“I, um, thanks. I’m glad, too.”

She smiled. “And just so we’re clear, I’m counting you as one of those good things. She’s missed you. I have too, actually, nice to know you’re around in case we break something around here. You do still remember how to fix a sink, right?”

Kristoff laughed. “I missed you guys, too. And yeah, unless there’s something different about the water in L.A.”

“There has to be, honestly, considering how much higher my utilities bill is every month.”

They both laughed at that, then sat in an only semi-awkward silence for a minute, sipping their water and looking at everything but each other. Suddenly the door slammed open, followed by Anna’s somewhat panicked voice saying, “Oh! Kris! You’re here already!”

He turned to see Anna standing in the doorway, her arms laden with plastic shopping bags. She was wearing an oversized college t-shirt over a pair of running shorts, her hair thrown up into another bun, and judging by her face she was somewhere between embarrassed, excited, and terrified.

“I, um, yeah, I am. I told you I’d come as soon as I could but– um, is this too soon?”

“Oh, fuck, no, that’s not what I meant, I just– I guess I lost track of time, I was like, definitely going to change out of this and then, like, actually, you know, clean my room and shit but–”

“It’s fine,” he said quickly, “you’re fine, you look great, and I’m sure your room does too.”

Elsa snorted into her glass of water. “Spoken too soon,” she muttered, making her way to a door on the far side of the living room. “Anyway, you two have fun. I’ve got some work to do, but just yell if you need me, yeah?”

Before they could respond, she was already in her room, the door closing behind her. Kristoff could have sworn he heard a sigh of relief.

Anna was still standing in the front door, the panic in her face slowly turning to a smile. “You really, like, just got up and came over?”

“I mean, yeah,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s my day off, and honestly I was just going to go to the gym and then veg out watching Parks and Rec or something, but given the choice between that and hearing about you getting this part– well. Not really a choice. Um– want help with the bags?”

She blinked and looked down as if she’d forgotten she was holding them. “Oh! Oh, yeah, that would be great.”

He took an armful from her; he would have taken them all, but she shook her head and said “No, you’re a guest! Anyway– come on, I’ve got to pack, but we can talk in my room, okay? And I have snacks for you– that’s what all this is. Well, most of it, anyway.”

She started walking to another door, turning back over her shoulder to look at him as she chattered away. “I remembered you liked Pringles, but not what flavor, so I got a few different ones, and then bottled Sprite since that’s your favorite, remember all the times we argued about it? And then candy for me because I’ve still got the worst sweet tooth, I’m going to have to cut back if I’m going to be in this movie but for now I can still go wild, and anyway– shit, I’m really sorry about the mess.”

It looked like a bomb had gone off in her room. Two suitcases were flung open on the floor, both of them completely empty, while piles of makeup and toiletries and clothing were scattered over every available surface. Kristoff tried and failed not to blush when he saw a row of lacy panties hung to dry on the back of a chair.

Anna looked up at him, biting her lower lip. “Sorry, um– I literally got the call at like, seven this morning, and I have to go to meetings this afternoon at like, two, to finalize everything, and then tomorrow there’s script readings all day, and then Thursday we fly out. Something about– about how this is the best time of year, and how the castle they’re filming in is always booked up, so this is. Um. Kind of the only chance I have to pack.”

Kristoff struggled to come up with something useful to say. “Wow. Kinda fast, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, apparently this movie wasn’t going to get made, and then someone did something and now it is again, and they’d fired the first actress who was going to do this part and picked me so I’m like, the last one cast. Even though I think I’m the main character.”

“Anna, that’s awesome.”

She looked up at him, surprise in her eyes. “I– you think so?”

“I mean, yeah! This is why you moved to L.A., right? To be a movie star, right? And now you’re going to be one!”

His excitement had only been growing since she had told him that morning; he felt such an overwhelming sense of pride he wanted to run up and down the streets of the city yelling at everyone that she’d done it, that Anna was going to be the next big thing. But for some reason, as he looked at her now, her eyebrows were pinching together in a little frown.

“But I’m going to have to leave,” she said softly, and Kristoff swallowed hard.

“Well– yeah,” he said, setting the bags he was holding into one of the suitcases and stepping closer to her. “But you’ll come back.”

Anna set her bags down, too, her expression unreadable. “And I meant, like, Romania the country. Not– not like some other city in California or something.”

“Anna, I’m not quite as stupid as I look,” he said dryly, and she forced a laugh.

“Just– making sure you understand.”

“Thank you, Kristoff.”

“For what?”

“For just– for being, like, the best friend anyone could ever ask for. Well, friend and then some, I guess.”

And then some might have been the most beautiful words he’d ever heard. “Of course, Anna, anytime. I seriously am so, so proud of you.”

She pulled back a little to peek up at him. “I would be more than happy to keep just hugging you all day, but I seriously do have to pack.”

He brushed a stray lock of hair off her cheek. “That’s fine. Let me help you, and you can tell me all about the auditions and the part and everything else, okay?”

“You don’t have to help, really, you can just eat your Pringles.”

“I want to help.”

“But–”

“So I’m helping,” he said firmly, and at last she smiled at him, so brightly it took his breath away.

She had him sit on the edge of her bed and put him to work folding piles of t-shirts and jeans, handing him new ones as she sorted through the piles. “It’s like, a private jet, I think, or maybe we’re doing first class or something– I know, yeah, insane. So I think I can take whatever I need but I don’t want to be, like, a huge diva or something, so I’m only trying to do two suitcases and then my backpack, but I’ve never really done something like this, so I don’t even know what I’ll need.”

“Wait,” he asked, carefully folding one of her Buchanan High shirts and feeling a little swoop in his chest at the memories that came with it, “have you left the country before? Have you got a passport or anything?”

“Oh, yeah, I went to Vancouver once on a dare.”

“Um, okay, let’s table that story for later,” he said, and she laughed and bumped her shoulder against his knee from where she was sitting on the floor sorting through lipstick. “Do you know what the weather will be like there?”

“Yeah, I looked at it on my phone. It gets pretty hot there, but I don’t think they really do AC, so fuck me, I guess.”

“Worth it, though. Do you think you’ll get a chance to go sightseeing or anything?”

“Ooh, I hadn’t thought of that! I hope so. Maybe I’ll see Dracula or something.”

“I hope not. What am I supposed to do if you come back here and start trying to suck my blood?”

“Let me do it, duh. Then we can be undead together forever.”

“Sure, that sounds fun now, but just wait til you get annoyed with me.”

“I’ve never gotten annoyed before with you, actually,” she said absentmindedly. “Take that purple shirt out of the pile, actually, will you? I don’t have any lipstick to match it.”

He did, trying to ignore another little swoop in his chest. For several minutes after that, he just watched her and waited for his next thing to fold, hoping she didn’t notice him staring. He just couldn’t bring himself to look away; it wasn’t that he’d been hung up on her for the last seven years, exactly, more that he found himself still thinking of her fairly often, wondering what she was up to, if there was a way to get in touch with her. In moments of weakness he’d looked up her social media profiles, or at least what he could see of them without having an account of his own, but he’d always talked himself down from trying to message her on there; she was clearly plenty busy, probably didn’t even remember him.

He was kicking himself now for not doing a better job of getting back in touch, especially now that he knew she definitely hadn’t forgotten him, either, but at the same time he was sort of glad for the time apart if it meant they were getting this second chance together now. Maybe it was all sort of– what had she called it? Something about how it was always going to happen this way, maybe–

“Holy shit!”

He jumped, startled out of his reverie. “What’s wrong?”

“Not wrong, just–”

Anna shoved her phone in his face; he squinted at the lines of text. “What am I looking at, exactly?”

“My contract my agent just negotiated for me. Look at the big bold numbers at the bottom.”

He did; then he blinked and looked again. “Is that like, the budget for the movie, or–”

“That’s how much they’re fucking paying me, Kris, holy shit.”

“That’s like– damn, Anna.”

“I know,” she said, but she looked more nauseated than excited. “Jesus Christ, they’re really expecting good shit from me, aren’t they?”

“And you’ll do good shit,” he said, trying his best to sound reassuring. “Otherwise they wouldn’t have cast you.”

She scooted back to lean against the bed, letting her head rest on his knee. “This is, like, so much bigger than a stupid commercial. Like, this is IMDb shit. There’s going to be people watching and reviews and– oh, fuck, what have I gotten myself into?”

“You’re going to be amazing, Anna, seriously.”

“How do you know that?”

“You’re always amazing.”

She huffed out a laugh and looked up at him. “You’re just saying that because you like me.”

“Do you want me to tell you you’ll ruin everything and singlehandedly bankrupt Netflix?”

Anna was quiet for a long moment. “I…honestly, actually, that just helped. Like…the world is going to go on even if I fuck this up.”

“Exactly.”

“Will you still like me if I do?”

“Anna, I’ll always like you.”

She got to her feet and turned to face him, cupping his face in her hands and letting her thumbs run over his cheekbones. “You mean it?” she asked, sounding suddenly vulnerable.

“Of course.”

She leaned down and kissed his cheek. “I’ll always like you, too.”

He fought the urge to turn and catch her lips with his own and instead patted her hip, trying to ignore the fact that she was still wearing very short shorts that revealed a glorious expanse of freckled thigh. “Come on, no more of this sappy stuff. You’re not done packing.”

She laughed and went back over to her piles, already tossing him more stuff. “Anyway, I feel like we’ve talked, like, way too much about me. We’re supposed to be getting to know each other more, right? So tell me what you’ve been up to.”

“Just, you know. School, more school. Working at Starbucks.”

“Tell me all the dirty details, Kris. Like…like what was college like? How did you meet Sven?”

“Are you sure you want to know the answer to that question? It involves beer pong and possible lawnchair theft. And a lot of running from campus police.”

“Now you have to tell me.”

He did, and by the end of it they were both doubled over with laughter. “He seriously– it was still in his hair?” Anna gasped.

“Yeah. And his shoes.”

“Oh my god, I’m going to ask him about that next time we hang out. Which we’re doing, by the way, like, as soon as I’m back. Well– after I’m done saying hello to you again, of course.”

“Of course,” Kristoff echoed, feeling a sudden stuttering in his chest. He looked around for something else to fold, but suddenly he realized that her room was nearly clean again, that both suitcases were full, and that Anna was looking up at him, having clearly just come to that realization herself.

“Guess that’s it,” she said, her voice suddenly tremulous. “All ready to go.”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks for– for helping me.”

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

Her lower lip started to wobble. “I’m sorry, Kris.”

“Hey, hey, you already apologized yesterday, no–”

“Not for that. For leaving when we just agreed we’d, you know, try to like, make this work. I– um–”

She ducked her head, and he frowned. “Anna–”

“I understand if you don’t want to do this anymore. Like, seriously. Don’t feel bad.”

“Anna, look at me.”

She did, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. He held out his arms wordlessly, and she came to him, straddling his lap and curling down to bury her face in his shoulder. He set his hands on her back, holding her carefully. “Anna, I’ve already spent the last seven years wishing I could get another chance with you. What’s another six weeks?”

She pulled back from him, her eyes hopeful as they met his. “You mean it?”

“Yeah. I mean, that’s what FaceTime and stuff is for, right?”

Her hands fluttered up, stroking his hair gently back from his temples. He smiled up at her, feeling his heart begin to pound. “It’s like, a really big time difference,” she said nervously. “Like ten hours or something.”

“Okay, so I’ll call you when I get off work at night and tell you good morning.”

“Will you call in the morning and tell me good night, too?”

“I’ll call you whenever you want. And text in between.”

“And Snapchat?”

“If you tell me what that is, sure.”

Anna laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

He waggled his eyebrows, and she gasped in mock horror. “You’re not? Oh, Jesus Christ, Kristoff, we’ve got so much work to do…”

—-

The production company had offered to send a private car over to take her to the airport Thursday morning, but Kristoff had volunteered to drive her anyway. “I don’t work until two, so there’s plenty of time,” he’d reassured her, and she’d felt an immense sense of relief at the fact that she’d at least be able to give him a real goodbye.

He was there right when he’d said he’d be, and came up and chatted to Elsa over coffee while Anna finished shoving a few last things in her carryon. He carried the suitcases downstairs for her, too, one in each hand as if it were nothing.

“You’re just showing off for me,” she’d teased– not that she’d minded, considering the way his biceps flexed under his t-shirt as he hefted them into the trunk of the car.

“So what if I am?” he’d teased back, and she’d felt a thrill of excitement run through her. God, she was really regretting suggesting the no-kissing thing.

She turned in her seat the moment she was buckled, determined to make the most of the next forty minutes. “So I know we’re going to talk on the phone, like, every day, but that’s not the same, so I have a list of questions to ask you.”

He huffed out a laugh as he turned the keys in the ignition. “Okay. Shoot.”

“Which of the Pringles flavors was your favorite?”

“Pizza, like always.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Still green.”

“How many girlfriends have you had?”

He raised an eyebrow, not looking away from the road. “Going for the heavy hitters right away, I see.”

“I’ve had six boyfriends and dated like…a bunch of others,” she said, trying not to blush. “Does that bother you?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“And that I’m not a virgin?”

“Neither am I. Three girlfriends, by the way.”

“Will you tell me the story of how that happened?”

“How I managed to get a girlfriend, or–”

“No,” she said, and she was definitely blushing now. “The other thing.”

“I was a freshman, and her name was Marie, and we’d been together for six months, so we did it because it seemed like the thing to do, and then we realized we didn’t actually like each other and broke it off while we were getting dressed.”

“Jesus, that’s cold!”

“Nah, it really wasn’t. Or, well, it was mutually cold. So it’s fine, really.”

“Want to know mine?”

“If you want to tell me.”

“Sophomore year. I went on like, five dates with this guy on the baseball team just because I liked the way his ass looked in the pants. But he was so boring I just couldn’t actually date him. The sex was okay, though, at least after the first time. That time was shitty. It was on his dorm bed, and they had those suite-style rooms with the bathroom in the middle, and we realized his roommate had been in there taking a shit the whole time.”

“You’re kidding.”

“God, I wish.”

Kristoff laughed as he pulled onto the highway. “Jesus. Not sure which of ours is worse.”

“Your ass is better than that guy’s, though, for sure.”

His cheeks flushed brilliantly scarlet. “I don’t know, I’ve heard baseball players have, you know, good ones.”

“Not as good as yours,” she said airily, and then suddenly her cheeks felt warm, too, and so did the rest of her as she thought about how good his ass had looked when he’d bent over to shove her suitcases in the car, and then she turned the radio on up as loud as it could go and started singing at the top of her lungs.

Kristoff just laughed, stealing glances at her at every chance he got. Once they were off the interstate again, he held out his hand, and she took it gladly, memorizing the warmth of it wrapped around her fingers. Six weeks– just six weeks. She could do this.

All too soon, he pulled up at the short term parking lot and got out to unload her suitcases. She followed close behind him, overwhelmed by the sudden roaring in her ears and blurring in her eyes. He started pulling both suitcases by himself, but she took one handle and pulled back. He raised an eyebrow, and she said softly, “Let me roll one. So– so then we can hold hands a little longer.”

He didn’t argue after that, just let go of the handle. She linked her fingers gratefully with his as they walked in together.

A production assistant was waiting just inside the doors. “Miss Arendelle, thanks for being so prompt. No need to go through security, just follow me right this way if you will.”

The woman started walking off right away. Panic seized Anna’s chest as she turned to look up at Kristoff, but he just smiled down at her, his eyes steady. “Text me when you land, okay?”

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. He let go of the suitcase and pulled her into a tight hug; she wrapped her arms around him just as tightly, memorizing the feel of his hands on her back and his shoulder against her cheek.

“Six weeks,” he whispered, and she nodded against him before pulling regretfully away.

She took a suitcase in each hand and followed after the woman, who had finally stopped and was now pretending not to be annoyed. They started down a long hallway; just as they were about to turn a corner, she glanced back and saw Kristoff still standing there, still watching, still with that sweet, encouraging smile on his face.

She dropped the handles of both suitcases and sprinted back towards him. His arms went out just in time to catch her as she launched herself towards him, wrapping her legs around his waist as he lifted her off the ground, and then she was kissing him, her mouth insistent against his as her hands tangled in his hair.

She pulled away with a gasp to catch her breath. “Sorry,” she said, panting, “I– I just–”

“Inevitable, right?” he breathed, and she leaned down with a grin to kiss him just one more time.

#ya welcome #drtlp #my fics

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randomnameless · 5 years

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Finshed VW!

It was... Honestly, I should have taken a break because I am kind of saturating with Fodlan.

Nevertheless, it was more interesting than CW and SS but not as character driven as AM.

I still... Don't understand Claude. I missed the point of the unification - why should the continent be more tolerant if it's united under a single leader - but apparently it's cool and everyone is okay so, uh... Why not?

Nemesis was focused on Seiros but didn't say a thing against cethleann or Cichol... Lorenz didn't say anything about Gloucester, it's the path to where Maurice paralogue was available so...

Meh point with Hubert though, as always he's complicated for deal with. Kuddos for him to prepare plans to deal with the Agarthians, but cucumber points for, uh, everything else?

Why are we supposed to agree with "wow Hubert is so intelligent he wasn't actually a bad guy the empire was being blackmailed by the aghartians :'(" when giving said letter explicitly confirms that they (the empire - Hubert and Elde at least) knew who they were alying with?? I swear everything and everyone is wearing effing blinders when it comes to the Empire' strike and unification of the world - expressing sympathy for a defeated foe is okayish, but when said defeated fore was using human turned into beasts, the very same thing that made everyone vomit back in the good ol' days at Remire?

Flamey said she didn't condone Thomas experiments, but in VW, she uses the results of his experimentations on her side, so again, what the fuck?

Lysithea is furious at the aghartians for what they did to her, she knows they're siding with the empire, and yet in her battle convo with Edel she expresses regret (maybe Edel suffered what i did?). Which is tlling because she (and everyone) acknowledges that the empire was used, but no hard feelings held against Edel for enrolling aghartians? (idk if lysithea knows that Edel knows (?) that her new friends were the ones who experimented on them - but elde knows what Lysithea went through - Lysithea knows that the aghartians experimented on her)

i maintain that lysithea in CF is in a Felix-tier of despair if she ever knows that she was actually helping the ones who made her life a limited shit - but it's highly suggested that no one save for Hubbie (and Emile??) take part in the aghartian extermination plan so...

I noted how Claude is furious at Rhea's refusal to spill the beans (@ultrakatua : you were right haha i never heard him so furious the jp VA really does his job which is a bit undermined by his sprite - he isn't shown to be Dimitri-tier of furious but he sounds like it!) but he notes himself that she didn't tell him everything about the children of the goddess.

Which made me laugh a little, Claude is used to get the things he wants (the diary incident) but when the nabateans avoid his questions he is pissed (in Rhea's case) or tries to jest around it but is still dead serious (in his flayn support) but in both cases he doesn't get everything he wants... idk if it was here in the US version, but she says she's happy he turned out to be reliable/a responsible guy... which made me think, was she actually aware he was spying on her? or he was supposed to be the lolcalised memelord during his student days?

Anyways, she face tanks an explosions and she's out for the rest of the month... Given how Nemesis fixates on her, it'd have been awesome if she could join us but sadly it was not meant to happen. So no "we settle this old grudge with the two of us dying Claude (and billy because gfdi) i leave fodlan to you it is up to you to build a new future etc" :'(

I noted how her expodump felt like... an exposition dump and it was meh. Rhea said she was one of the children, said that walked around foldna searching for the remaining children - but Claude never notes on said "remaining children" (even if there's a possibility where Billy could suggest FLayn is a child of the goddess, Claude continues saying it might have been why her blood was used but nothing beyond that).

I didn't caught it the first time, but the ten dudes (+ momo) had their weapons before going to zanado, meaning that nemesis did his thing with Sothis, then his dudes did their things with some random nabateans, and then they made a bro trip to Zanado?

Rhea explicitly states that she could never forgive the ten dudes, so maybe Edel was right on that account, Seiros killed them but didn't kill their descendants (if jeralt is any indication they might have had great grandchildren by the time of their deaths given how their lives were expanded due to ingestion of nabatean blood)? This might be the breaking point that made Birdie cut all of his ties with his sister?

Nemesis dead Claude, now King of Almyra, fell in lovve with Marianne, Lorezn and Hilda married and Billy married the voice in her head because those characters can just eff themselves (which is the point of that support?).

That's it for Verdant Wind.

And I still don't understand Claude haha.

His "the world must be united to end racism" felt very... WTF, as WTF as CF suddenly telling us that we are fighting to unify Fodlan and not to first and foremost end the mad (?) dragon lady that tried to blast us.

Maybe because I've always wanted to see how a merchant republic/an alliance works as opposed to a monarchy, but we stay in the usual tropes "fig the republics". It's sad but this game has an hard-on with hegemony so whatever.

The almyrians angle was interesting (gdi i got the "you're not from fodlan you can't undertand" convo... Claude's problem is that he is from fodlan when the almyrians try to belittle him but he's a dirty foreigner when he tries to research and undertand the mysteries of the land he inherited and lived in/ran when it was under agression for at least 5 years instead of figging away to Almyra...) expect that it felt... shoe-horned? Yes he drops hints here and there, but Nader being his second in house leicester and being best pals with Holst who has been fighting him for decades is glossed over (or relegated to Gilbert's wife tier that is only mentionned but never shown despite its importance)

And poor claude being the Prince of Almyra feels like Aerone, that is being a prince of a country you don't know a thing of - the Cyril issue is glaring, and it's not because i like Cyril, but because hey, you don't know children are being used as meat fodder and captured by fodlanese people? Or just, they are effing used as meat shields on the border for "lol feasts" reasons?

Ultimately (bias talking) i still don't understand why there is this visceral need for Rhea to be gone - when he came to the conclusion that the academy was the most cosmopolitan place in the continent and that the tenets of Seiros don't prone isolationism - opposing Lorezn's dad's pov.

Which actually makes me think about his Edel comment "we had the same goals, not the same means", Edel's goal (well one of...) is to unify the continent, Claude's seems to want the same thing (again, just like Edel, this goal appears out of nowhere in the game script, it's not the official goal we start with (discover secrets/end racism/get rid of the dragon lady because she is mad) but the one we end with. And apparently, Rhea would be opposed to the unification of the country... for some reason?

Maybe i'm not reading enough between the lines - Rhea was here when Fodlan was an unified nation, she was there when it split, maybe she really doesn't want Fodlan to be unified again? Because it would diminish the "power" she has over countries?

idk.

Anyways, I need to wait for the last DLC.

#FE16 #fire emblem three houses #Verdant Wind #Claude #as a unit he is stupidly broken #idk if i was blessed but damn #why unifying fodlan is the way to go solution??#in AM it sounded stupid #CF is well everyone knows what i think about this path #but VW leaves me a bit salty #i wanted to see more diplomacy à la Elincia #i checkedd but it isn't said Rhea was the one to have exterminated the agarthians #she didn't know about the Viskam or the titanus #if the agahrtians are the remaining humans of Fodlan then #what is Raphael???#is he supposed to be an aghartian?#they had their own mairist schism between people who wanted to live with nabateans and salty people living underground?#or Fodlan saw a huge wave of migrants coming from the other countries?#idk #where is my nabatean DLC damn it T-T #Apologies for the typos typing on mobile sucks

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totallyrhettro · 5 years

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Ravenvale, Chapter 6

Word Count: 2265 Rating: This chapter: general; overall story: explicit Warnings: None Summary: On their way home from another case, Agent Seaborne and Agent Roach find themselves in the strange, fog-covered town of Ravenvale. Notes: Seaborne and Roach AU where, years after the events seen in the YouTube series, they manage to become FBI agents.

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First Chapter Previous Chapter

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Roach was a bit dumbfounded at the news the librarian had just given him, to say the least. Not quite shocked, but more than a little confused as to why anyone would lie about having an uncle. Then again, this gentleman was behaving rather strangely. Maybe he was mistaken; perhaps he wasn’t all there, in a manner of speaking. After a second or two the stranger seemed to forget his own surprise and went back to looking over the FBI agent before him. Roach cleared his throat.

“Anyway, I was told that you knew something about, uh…. little people? In the fog?” Instead of answering, ‘uncle’ began investigating Roach’s suit, feeling the fabric and turning over what he could to get a better look. “Mr…?”

“Deneir,” the stranger filled in, not looking up from Roach’s seemingly interesting tie. He turned over a lapel, revealing the inner pocket, and before Roach could stop him, pulled out a wallet.

“Hey!” Roach tried to grab it back but Mr. Deneir was quick, stepping out of reach before opening up the wallet and looking inside. Roach’s badge was unmistakable and Mr. Denier's eyes widened at the sight.

“FBI?” he asked, actually looking at Roach this time. Roach nodded, stepping closer in the hopes that Mr. Deneir would now give back the wallet. “You’re investigating Ravenvale?”

“Uh, yes,” Roach lied. His hopes that now this strange man would finally answers some questions raised slightly. “My partner and I just arrived today. What can you tell me about what’s going on?” Deneir’s eyes shone with excitement and a grin appeared on his face as he placed the walled on the counter, ignoring Roach’s outstretched hand. He scurried back into the next room, leaving the FBI agent rather confused. Snatching up his wallet and tucking it away, Roach rushed to catch up.

The library was decently sized, with rows and rows of bookcases filling most of the main floor. A mezzanine level overlooked the open space with shorter shelves, tables and computers set up as well. The entire place was certainly set up to be a library, but as Roach stepped into the room he noticed that something was amiss. Dozens if not hundreds of books lie scattered across the floor, littering between the shelves and isles with no rhyme or reason for how they’d been toss about. Deneir moved about them, quickly but delicately, looking for something in particular. Finally he grabbed up the only open book and made his way back to the rather dumbfounded agent.

“I’ve been doing research-” he began with a strong tone of detachedness. Roach couldn’t hold back a soft chuckle.

“I can see that.” He did his best to avoid the piles and piles of books in order to reach over and take the offered one. The page was opened to two pages lined with very small text and an artistic rendering of a very familiar figure. “The tiny woman,” he whispered. It was obviously hand-drawn, and there was zero sense of scale, but the form was unmistakable. Deneir nodded enthusiastically, tapping the image a few times for emphasis.

“They live in the mist,” he explained. “You’ve seen them?” Roach nodded, not looking away from the drawing for a moment. “Everyone says I’m crazy, but I know… I know the truth. I’ve seen them, too.” His curiosity peaked, Roach couldn’t help but smile himself. He hoped that finally, at long last, he’d found something real. Something that couldn’t be explained by science or reason. Something… alien.

“What are they?” His hopes hadn’t been this high since the Navy reported unusual sightings off the coast of Florida back in 2015. Those hopes were a bit lowered when Deneir answered his question.

“Leirans,” he stated. “Fey, fairies, sprites,” he continued. Each word make Roach’s hope fade further. Fey? Fairies? As in, mythical creatures?

“So…” he began, still clinging to the last shred of hope in his heart. “N-not aliens?” Deneir shook his head vigorously before answering.

“Nope.” Roach’s face fell. “Leirans. Much worse.” Deneir stepped away, bending down to sift through his massive pile of books, obviously looking for something else. “They worship the Lady of the Mist.” He looked up, briefly, to add: “Get it?”

“Right,” Roach agreed, absentmindedly. He looked back to the drawing, trying to decide if this was indeed what he had seen in the fog. “Mist.” He had so hoped he had finally discovered proof of aliens. Still, it wasn’t a total loss. Fairies weren’t aliens, but they weren’t human either. They weren’t Bigfoot, or the Chupacabra, but they were mythical. Roach wanted to- needed to know more. “What do they want?”

Deneir didn’t seem to hear him as he scoured the massive inventory before him, trying to find some elusive book, so Roach repeated the question louder. Eventually Deneir looked up, his eyes slightly glazed over as he took in the sight of the tall man who was speaking to him.

“The book- the book!” he exclaimed. “Just read the book. I’m reading.” He was, in fact, not reading but still looking for whatever book he probably wanted to read, but Roach took his advice anyway.

“Fairy, also known as Fey, Fairfolk or sprites,” he read aloud. “Are mythical beings from Europeon folklore. They are a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural.” He paused, thinking about this. “Preternatural… like demons? Witches?” Deneir, of course, didn’t answer. Roach read on. “While their true form is unknown, they often appear as humanoid, small in stature, with magical powers, and a penchant for trickery.”

“Tricksters!” Deneir suddenly shouted from across the room. Roach looked up, expecting more, but Deneir wasn’t even looking up.

“A common feature of the fairies is the use of magic to disguise appearance,” the passage continued. “Fairy gold is notoriously unreliable, appearing as gold when paid but soon thereafter revealing itself to be leaves, gorse blossoms, gingerbread cakes, or a variety of other comparatively worthless things.”

“Fake gold, fake treasures, fake, fake, fake…” By now Roach had learned to ignore Deneir’s random bouts of input and moved on to the next paragraph.

“While they rarely interact with humans, more playful fey have been known to play tricks on people.” So far Roach didn’t see any proof that the woman he’d seen was playing a trick. Unless… “Do you think fairies are causing the fog?” At last Deneir paused a few moments before looking up, realization crossing his face.

“Yes!” he shouted, making Roach jump from the volume. Deneir pointed at him, his eyes wide and crazy. “Yes, that’s it!” Bending down he snatched up what had to be the first book he saw, opened it up to a random page and began to read. “Lady of the Mists, The Guardian of Liars, Maiden of the Mist…”

“A fairy queen?” Roach guessed, trying to carefully walk around the books to get to him.

“Leira!” Even though Roach was almost standing next to him, Denier’s shout was no more quiet than before. “Mother of Illusionists, The Mistshadow.” Finally, Roach reached him, but just as he was about to look at the book the man was holding, Deneir snap it shut and tossed it behind him in one fluid motion. “Not a queen,” he answered. “But she’s dead. She’s dead?” He repeated the words as if he had confused himself. “She’s dead, she died…” He continued to ramble as he went back to searching and Roach found that’d he’d had enough. Maybe he could come back when Deneir was more calm, or when Seaborne could come with him. Until then, he wanted to show Seaborne this book and tell him what he had seen.

Until then, he had a book to read.

~ ~ ~

Seaborne was alone at the diner, staring into a cup of fresh coffee, decaf this time, when his partner came in looking for him. He was deep in thought, thinking about the dream he’d just had, trying to decide if he wanted to have it again, and didn’t hear when Roach started speaking.

“You awake, Seaborne?” the taller man was asking.

“Hmm? Oh, I’m sorry.” Seaborne took a deep breath and stretched his back. “Guess I’m still a little groggy from my nap.”

“That good, huh?” Roach mused casually as he looked for the waitress. Seaborne hid a smile behind a sip of his coffee and gave a non-committal ‘Mmm’ noise. Not really interested in the answer, Roach moved on to something much more important than hearing about how his partner’s nap went. After ordering his own beverage, Roach placed the book that Deneir had given him, on the center of the table.

“What’s this?” Instead of answering Seaborne’s question, Roach opened to the bookmarked page showing the entry he’d read earlier. Seaborne read the headline out loud. “Fairy. Not your usual research.”

“Deneir- uh... the, um, librarian, gave it to me.” He pointed at the image that dominated the page. “This is the woman I saw. The uh, thing, I saw in the fog.”

“I see. Still convinced you saw a fairy?” Seaborne asked, trying to understand what Roach was telling him.

“No, I did see it.” Roach paused, concerned that he wasn’t explaining himself correctly. “I mean, I saw this. This is what I saw dancing in the fog.” He tapped the book for emphasis. With a sigh, Seaborne set his coffee aside and slide the book closer to him. He turned it around to read the text. Roach watched as his friend’s eyes scanned over the pages, reading the text that he himself had read not long ago.

“Fairy tricksters are often drawn to the unconscious desires of humans,” he read aloud. “What does that mean?”

“I’m not sure,” Roach admitted. “But this is definitely what I saw. Deneir also called them Leirans. I think they might have something to do with the fog-” Seaborne interrupted his partner’s thought by pushing the book back towards him.

“Are all the entries in that book this bizarre?” he asked with a grin. Roach glanced around before learning forward and shoving the book right back.

“That’s just it,” he whispered. “It’s the only entry in the book.” As he said this, he turned the page of the book revealing a completely blank page. Over and over he turned pages, each one just as blank, and Seaborne finally took notice. That was odd indeed, to say the least.

“Weird book,” he commented, taking it in his hands now to check the rest of the pages. It didn’t take long to find out that Roach was right: there was just the one entry. Except for the two pages on fairies, the entire book was blank. “You said the librarian gave you this?”

“Yeah… he was a bit odd, to be honest.” Sitting up straight he sent his partner a look to be quiet as the waitress came over with another coffee. Roach thanked her briefly, waiting until she left again before continuing. “He said he didn’t have a niece,” he stated firmly, raising his eyebrows as if he made a very important addition. Seaborne just looked at him, confused, before shaking his head.

“Well,” he sighed. “That is weird.” Sipping his coffee, Seaborne sat back in his chair and stared out the window at the damned fog that was still thick as ever. Roach waiting for his partner to say more but it quickly became obvious that Seaborne was done talking.

“I think we should inves-”

“Uh, uh.” Seaborne nearly spit out his coffee as he turned down Roach’s idea before he could even finish the thought. “No way. You’re not pulling me into another wild goose chase before I’ve had a break from the last one.”

“But you just said it yourself; it’s weird.” Giving his partner his bet puppy-dog eyes, Roach hoped it would work as it had many times before. This time however, Seaborne was far too sick of this town to fall for anything of the sort.

“Yes,” he admitted. “It’s weird. The people are weird, the town is weird, lots of things are weird BUT! I. Don’t. Care. I want to go home. I want to sleep in my own bed, use my own shower, and eat my cereal in my own house. After that you can tell me everything you think you’ve figured out about this horrible town to your heart’s content. Until then, I just want to go home. Okay?” Thoroughly downtrodden, Roach didn’t argue but slumped in his chair, defeated. He didn’t answer; he didn’t have to. Seaborne had won and that was that.

The two of them sat in silence as Seaborne finished his drink. Roach looked out the window at the fog, the small hope that the fairy lady might reappear, heavy on his heart. He placed his large hands flat on the table, slowly rubbing the tips of his thumbs together, mindlessly. Seaborne couldn’t help but stare at those hands… wondering…

“What is it?” Roach asked, upon catching Seaborne staring. Immediately the shorter man looked somewhere else.

“Nothing,” he lied. After a few more seconds of quiet, Roach couldn’t take it any longer. He grabbed up the book and got to his feet. “What are you going?”

“You may not want to investigate,” he explained. “But I do.” He was halfway to the door before Seaborne could respond.

“What’s the point?” he explained. “We’re leaving tomorrow.” Roach didn’t listen. “What about supper?” Seaborne added, yelling this time, but his partner was already gone. Grumbling to himself, he waved down the waitress. Maybe some food would cheer him up.

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#rhett #link #rhink #fic #fanfic #fanfiction #ravenvale #seaborne and roach

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aftermathdb · 5 years

Text

DEATH BATTLE Review: Aang vs. Ed

Two masters of the elements do battle in the arena of death!

Reportedly, this was supposed to happen last season, but Ben wanted to give the animators enough time to do everything correctly.

Aang′s Preview.

Water…

Earth…

Fire…

Air…

These four elements were the basis of the world, each with their own culture. Some could even bend the elements of their nation. The Avatar, however, could bend all four, and would be reincarnated.

The Avatar would be a beacon of hope and a peacekeeper for the entire world. Keeping balance between everything.

And considering that this story is so well-known, we all know that everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

However, before they could destroy the world, the Avatar would stand in their way. Enter, Aang:

Aang, was originally an Air Nomad, and at the young age of twelve, he was informed of the great weight that would be placed on his shoulders. So out of fear, he turned tail and ran.

Which, considering that the Fire Nation slaughtered his people, was probably a good move, as it saved his life. As an airbender, Aang can manipulate the very air around him as a tool for maneuverability and defense. From shields to great gales of wind, Aang can do basically whatever with air. He can even fly by manipulating the air around him.

But as the Avatar, Aang can master more than just his own element.

And after finding kinship with his old rival Zuko, Aang learned a really cool technique:

Lightning redirection. Lightning is normally an instant-kill move, but with the right training, a person can redirect it back at the user, turning their greatest weapon against them.

But when Aang needs a power boost, he goes Avatar State.

In the Avatar State, it’s a do-or-die situation. Aang gets a notable power boost and gives him all the experience of the previous Avatars before him. As for why it’s a “do-or-die” move, it’s because if Aang dies while in the Avatar State, it ends the cycle.

but Aang also has feats to his name as well.

There’s a few jokes involving the hosts, but they aren’t really that great. Also, there’s a notable lack of energy when it comes down to them as well.

Back to the feats, Aang once sent a section of a mountain towards Ozai.

Going into how big the piece of rock was in comparison to Aang, that mountain would come to a weight of…

Over 9000 tons!

And considering his size, Aang’s ability to walk on water means that he would have to be moving at about

67 Miles Per Hour.

Oh, and remember that lightning that Aang bent?- Well, it likely traveled at the same speed of natural lightning. Meaning that Aang would have had to have reacted to it at about…

53000 Meters Per second!

Aang might be a pacifist vegetarian, but he’s proven time and again that there’s a reason why he’s destined to save the world.

After all, you have to let go of fear to be a bender.

Ed′s Preview.

Alchemy. The predecessor to modern chemistry. And one of the best alchemists to live would be one Edward Elric.

Edward and his brother Alphonse were two young boys who wanted to bring back their dead mother, but on the day that they drew the transmutation circle, there were… Not so great results.

The two were lucky to escape with their lives, but Alphonse lost his body. So Edward transferred it to a suit of armor.

While the incident cost Edward his arm, it gave him the ability to transmute matter without an alchemy circle.

And with this, he became the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Edward can mold the elements to his will, and even mold them into different materials.

While there are some restrictions to this power, Ed’s arsenal is limited primarily to his imagination and materials at hand.

Now, Alchemy requires three main things.

Comprehension- Knowing what you’re working with.

Deconstruction- Breaking things apart.

And Recreation- Putting things back together.

Deconstruction can break apart other items, typically things that aren’t people.

With all these powers, Ed has pulled off some crazy stuff.

One time, his arm got bitten by a weird lion-chimera thing. Assuming that it still has the same bite power of a standard lion, Ed’s automail arm can withstand a force of a thousand psi.

He’s survived plenty of heavy explosions. Like one that was worth nearly 100 tons of TNT!

And with his elemental bending powers, he once created a stone fist that would be over 3000 metric tons.

Other Alchemists sometimes have a Philosopher’s stone. And those guys can output over 150 kilotons of TNT worth of explosions.

And at the end of the story, Edward found a way to restore his brother. By giving up his own power, they were finally able to return home.

The Battle Itself.

Zack, Luis, Jerky will be lead on animation and spritework. Aang will be voiced by Emily Fajardo and Edward will be voiced by Alejandro Saab. sprite artists, Elements of Alchemy by Therewolf, sprite artist (If there are any), and Chris Kokkinos lead on audio.

So the battle starts with Aang and Momo just kinda messing around in a marketplace. Because it’s not healthy to work all day.

Unfortunately, Aang says the wrong thing around the wrong person.

So, because Aang hit that one button, Ed decides to try to kill him.

Could be a worse story.

So, the two do battle and Aang ends up knocking Edward into a stand.

Aang continues his offense by bending some rocks at Edward.

Ed decides to fight fire with fire (or in this case, rock with rock), and counters.

Aang decides to go Pokémon logic and decides to use water to counter Ed’s counter.

Ed decides to use grass to counter water…

So Aang counters it with fire. Creating a steam cloud.

Since this is Aang, he tries to talk his way out of the fight. With… Less than spectacular results.

The guy who got two bickering neighbors to stop fighting by telling a lie, everyone!- Look at how well he can talk his way out of situations!

Incidentally, this is a decoy. So, Ed decides to ready the cannons.

Okay, I’ve been putting it off now, but look at the animation here! It’s gorgeous!

Anyways, Aang burns a hole through the cannonball providing a neat little idea for fanfic writers to work with.

The idea of worldbuilding by having two worlds that haven’t interacted questioning how the other does something similar to what they can do is honestly something I’d like to see more often in crossovers.

Anyways, Aang crushes the arm and the cannon blows up, sending shrapnel everywhere.

Gotta get that one in there, huh?

Anyways, Ed uses the distraction to use a transmutation circle to crush Aang in a pile of rocks.

(Please ignore the typo)

And since I didn’t give the prompt earlier, you know how this is going to end.

Finishing blow in

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Yeah, by like… two inches.

Verdict + Explanation.

So, right off the bat, Ed technically had the edge in combat experience and was definitely a very tricky opponent to deal with. But that’s about it.

Sure, Ed can dodge a point-blank bullet, but that’s nothing compared to Aang catching lightning.

As a direct comparison to how Ed’s durability compared to Aang’s there’s a calc for that

Now, this is impressive. But compared to one of Aang’s best attack feats, Ed’s durability doesn’t stand a chance.

Not to mention that Aang’s bending is a lot more straightforward and readily available to utilize than Ed’s alchemy.

Now a Philosopher’s stone would certainly give Ed an edge up, but those aren’t just easy to find. They require multiple souls to work with. So Ed’s own singular soul isn’t enough to work with.

Aang might be a pacifist, but when in the Avatar State, he’s a lot harder to control. And there’s certainly a lot of power to be reckoned with.

Overall impression.

7.1/10

Don’t get me wrong, the fight is gorgeous, but the energy between the hosts isn’t really all that present.

Not to mention the finishing blow. It would have been really easy to have Aang use everything to incapacitate Ed, only for a hunk of previously blown away metal to fall down and crush him. While the Avatar State can have a certain degree of leniency regarding Aang’s own pacifist outlook, it’s kinda hard to justify, as Aang’s pacifism is one of his most memorable traits.

But the music is awesome, and the animation is (again) gorgeous. So, it’s a good fight.

Next Time…

Interesting fact: One of these guys is banned from both Heaven and Hell.

Say… isn’t Lobo a bit of a fourth-wall breaker or something?- Someone’s going to have to get me a source on that.

Is there a fight that you want me to review? - Send an ask/request, and I’ll look into it!

Do you want to read my fanfic based around DEATH BATTLE itself? click here!

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next time for…

Badass Bikers of the chains.

#review #Death Battle #Deathbattle

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ghostmartyr · 5 years

Text

Pokémon FireRed Nuzlocke [Part 5]

Standard Nuzlocke rules apply. Non-standard grindlocke rules made up by me. No fighting outside of Trainer battles.

Four badges so far, we take our heroic journey Team Rocket’s way.

Telling someone that you’re guarding a poster is not the best way to keep their attention off that poster, for the record.

Dude’s got a level 20 Raticate. Heero, being absurdly overleveled despite the handicap, murders it. Zaft can try to tackle the Zubat. Zaft succeeds! And the lackluster fight is over.

A quick talk with an NPC later, our ten-year-old self has the means to start gambling. If we wanted to. We don’t. The pokemon you can get take too long to train, and more importantly, we already have Ribbons for this city.

I know Red is supposed to be the Serious protagonist.

But signs point to him being a hopeless ten-year-old like the rest of us.

Okay, now it’s time to think a little. Team Rocket has the Poison sets, Rattata line, and Zubat line, mainly. I would ideally like Ribbons to hit 30 before we head back to Lavender for the tower fun, but outside of Grimer, meh. Zaft could maybe use some switching down here, so it would make sense for Zaft to go in first position.

Let’s. Try that.

...Wanting an Electrode to contribute meaningfully to my team is going to be my downfall. I can feel it.

Let’s bash some mob heads.

Grunt #1 with a level 21 Raticate for Allenby to rescue Zaft from. Two, even.

Yay, random hidden PP Up for Giga Drain. (60 damage with 5 PP? I forgot how much later gens boost the power on everything to create real monsters.)

Grunt #2. Ick. Level 21 Drowzee. Heero can grab this one. And Drowzee uses Poison Gas to poison Heero. Sigh. Machop next and last, and that can be Allenby’s.

That’s sorted, so down the stairs we go.

Grunt #3. Level 17 Zubat. Zaft can totally handle that alone. And learn Spark! The Koffing is more Allenby’s speed, though. Grimer for Ribbons. Another Zubat for Zaft. Now with the power of an actual Electric move. And finally, Raticate. ...Which we will let Zaft take a stab at against our better judgment.

Hey, it works out! Awesome!

I hated these things as a child.

That was not a wrong opinion.

Grunt #4! Level 19 Rattata for Zaft. Level 19 Raticate for Zaft to have help with. Ribbons, how about you give it a shot? You need exp too. Another one and let’s throw out the same treatment. Back to Rattata for Zaft to solo.

Grunt #5 with three pokemon. First out is level 20 Grimer. Allenby nabs the Koffing. And stays in for the last one.

Downstairs for Grunt #6. It feels like a much higher number than that. Level 21 Machop for Allenby. And a second one.

The more fights there are, the more boring this playthrough gets to describe. There’s no drama. No tension. My team is going to clobber the mooks, and everything is going to be awesome.

Until it suddenly changes, and no one will know because all this boring as heck description is going to drain the horror of all power.

Lucky #7. Level 20 Rattata. These things with their horrifying Hyper Fangs. Raticate. That one will require Allenby’s help. With some hesitance, she’ll stay in against the Drowzee.

The one thing I will never love about Nuzlockes is the number of times I go back to Pokemon Centers. It’s a lot of walking I never do usually.

#8. A level 21 Koffing for Allenby. Back to Zaft for the Zubat.

Lift Key get. Yay.

You’re a mook, not a proper villain, #9. Act like it. Ooh, level 22 Grimer for Ribbons. Koffing for Allenby. Exploring which level the elevator takes me to for me.

#10, standing outside a door I hope opens automatically so I don’t have to go out to search for more keys. Level 23 Ekans goes to Allenby. ...And a Sandshrew. Nay, villains, that is not for you. Ribbons, correct this wrong. Arbok, and back to Allenby.

#11, what do you have for me? Another Sandshrew for Ribbons. Stop using Sandshrew. It’s too cute for you. Noin can have the Sandslash. In the spirit of letting her have something to do. Ekans goes to Allenby.

I don’t remember how this fight goes. I’m going to put Ribbons in front because I don’t think Zaft is useful against any of Giovanni’s anything in any world. Heero and Allenby might very well be jumping in to save everyone. Hopefully not, but whatever. Onward.

Meh.

Level 25 Onix out first, justifying all my choices. Rhyhorn next. Then Kangaskhan. A level 29 Kangaskhan. Allenby might need to step in, but Ribbons can take a hit.

It knows Mega Punch.

Can Allenby take a Mega Punch?

Heero has higher Defense and more HP.

STAB Mega Punch is terrifying. Heero... be brave, now.

Oh, that wasn’t so bad. 30 HP lost.

Yeah, in the future, Giovanni is not for switch training. Allenby gets first crack at the Kangaskhan.

Now it’s time for a ghostly adventure. Yay. Ultimate fetch quests of ultimate destiny.

Actually, before that, which TMs are available at Game Corner? I can’t get a pokemon here, but the moves might be worth something. Let’s see... Ice Beam, Iron Tail, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower.

That’s expensive.

I... might come back for Thunderbolt. I’m not sure. Depends how Zaft does. Or Ice Beam, depending on what my final team ends up looking like. There are a few things that could happen.

For now, Ghost tower.

Ribbons and Zaft’s playground.

This place is dark for Nuzlocke runs. It’s creepy regardless, but. Brr.

Oh, you’re first, not last. Uh. Hm.

I think his Pidgeot(to?) is up front. Zaft theoretically isn’t a bad pick for that, but the levels could be anything. Pokemon Tower is available right after Rock Tunnel, so I’m not too worried about this, but this place is also designed to be beaten all the way through after you get the Silph Scope.

Zaft, if you die, we’re in the right place.

SHUT UP.

Okay, so he has a level 25 Pidgeotto. Not something Zaft should be fighting, but. Fuck, I’m going to be stupid, aren’t I? I’m going to let it try to get a hit in. Sorry in advance, Zaft. Pidgeotto used Sand Attack. Zaft could faint it if it hits again.

Good job, Zaft! Now get out!

Allenby in for Growlithe. It’s level 23, but has Intimidate because of course it does. Exeggcute goes to Heero. Wartortle is Noin’s. Kadabra... Ribbons, you want a shot? You’re a higher level. Good boy.

Phew. Okay. That should be the worst of the Tower, I think.

With a level 22 Gastly. Zaft wins all by itself and makes it to level 24!

Channeler Carly also has a Gastly. This one’s level 24, so Ribbons will help.

Channeler Hope is next, with the unfortunate name for a possessed woman. Also a level 23 Gastly. Ribbons will help Zaft again.

Going back to the possessed part for a second... I don’t really pay attention to the plot of these games. I do not care. I am here for the pokemon and not much else. Sun and Moon letting you beat down the Professor is probably one of the few squees the plot of any of these games have given me.

But then there’s gen one and people randomly getting possessed and attacking you just because there needs to be some justification for Trainer battles in a graveyard. I guess. Also Ghosts exist, but ghosts are looked at with the standard superstitious thoughts of our world.

I love these dumb games.

Oh, hello. Right, I can catch a thing here.

Caught!

Your name will be... Epyon. I will never be able to use you because I have no idea how you would even go about trading on an emulator, but it’s nice that if something terrible goes wrong you will be around. I guess.

Channeler Laurel is our next victim. She has a level 23 Gastly. Then another. Ribbons will help with the second one. Night Shade packs a punch.

Channeler Jody. Jody is not the name of someone you would expect to end up here, but I guess the chaotic sprite is probably a symptom of possession. Anyway, level 22 Gastly.

Channeler Paula, who inspires the same joke I just made. Her Gastly is level 24.

I think the next floor up has a healing circle.

Yay, I don’t have to walk all the way outside for the third time.

Channeler Ruth’s Gastly is level 22. We are letting Ribbons and Zaft share to be nice.

Channeler Karina has a level 24 Gastly. Similar tactics employed.

Channeler Janae brings out her level 22 Gastly.

-gasp-

Channeler Tammy... has a Haunter. It’s level 23.

It’s amazing how so many different things from childhood are so much creepier when you reapproach them as an adult.

Channeler Angelica! Hee. Level 22 Gastly, followed by a level 22 Gastly, followed by a level 22 Gastly.

Channeler Jennifer is next. Level 24 Gastly.

Channeler Emilia has another level 24 Gastly.

I think we’ve reached the Marowak staircase, so Zaft is going to have to go second instead of first. Ribbons, you’re free to take on the Marowak all by yourself. Like a champ. I believe in you. And if that belief is faulty, Noin has your back.

Have you ever wanted to give a cloud of ominous mist a hug?

Ribbons wins the day, and all that’s left is Team Rocket.

The first grunt has a level 25 Zubat. Level jump. Yay. My favorite thing in the whole wide world. Another level 25 Zubat. Well at least they’re making this easy for Zaft. Then there’s a level 25 Golbat, threatening things less easy. Heero, step in and save Zaft from confusion.

Second grunt. Level 26 Koffing. Allenby time. Heero gets the Drowzee.

Grunt number three. Last one at the Tower. Kindly opening with a level 23 Zubat for Zaft. And following it with a level 23 Rattata. Then a level 23 Raticate. Allenby will help with that one. ...Actually Heero will, since I wasn’t in the mood to go back and heal after the last Grunt.

No, Zaft, you cannot learn Selfdestruct. Bad Zaft.

Level 23 Zubat for the last thing.

That’s my job. I’m the protagonist.

Poke Flute get!

So now for the least fun part of all this. Snorlax. I need to try to catch it, because it’s too ridiculously useful not to try for, but it’s also ridiculously hard to catch. And not Pokemon Go hard to catch. Actually hard. I need to hit Celadon for some Ultra Balls.

Everywhere only has Great Balls. Nice. Okay then.

I’m going to hate this.

Allenby’s up first.

For the sake of this run’s rules, if I give up on trying to catch it, I’m going to just run. If that’s not an option, then I’ll faint it. But intentionally fainting it if I have other options is out. If it’s going to kill me, run, run, run.

Oh fuck. The Snorlax does too much damage with Headbutt. Catching is a pipe dream.

HOLY SHIT.

IT IS CAUGHT.

WITH MINIMAL TRAUMA.

WHAT.

NAME.

PO.

AWESOME.

LET’S GET YOU OUT OF THE BOX.

JOLLY. LIKE A SANTA.

Heck I am psyched.

Look at this.

Unless something goes horribly wrong, this is our team.

Let’s get that other Snorlax out of our way. There are a lot of Flying trainers past it, and I’m more confident in dealing with that than our Biker friends we will be meeting shortly. Zaft’s still lowest on the totem pole, and correcting that sooner rather than later is my preference.

Other Snorlax successfully fled. Zaft back in front. Awesome. Awesome awesome awesome.

Rocker Luca is hanging about, and he’s got a level 29 Voltorb. Ugh. Allenby, help.

Er.

Oh good, only down to 58.

Then he has a level 29 Electrode. Noin pretty much has to go in just in case. Yikes. Yikes and more yikes. Noin poisons it. Ganbatte Noin.

Great, we lived through that. Nearest PokeCenter where.

Also, to get the Itemfinder and Leftovers, I need 30 pokemon in my Pokedex. I’ve got 24. Things to fix. I think I can fish in cities, Zaft will evolve, and... and I should just resign myself to not getting the stuff right away. Fine.

A Fisherman named Andrew. With a level 24 Magikarp. Yum. And another for good measure.

Next down the bridge, Picnicker Alma. With a level 28 Goldeen for Allenby. ...For Po, actually. Now Po is confused. Now Po is not confused. Now Po is confused. This time the confusion does not matter. Yay Po. Poliwag all for Zaft. Horsea too.

Bird Keeper Sebastian is next. So many things to process. Like the level 29 Pidgey. Ow. Or the Pidgeotto. More ow.

Still on the bridge (maybe our last one until running back for Quatre to Cut a few things?), Picnicker Susie would like to battle with a near-full roster. Starting with a level 24 Pidgey. I approve. Meowth next. Then Rattata. Then Pikachu. Allenby will finish that thanks to some unfortunate paralysis. Zaft back for a Meowth that Heero will nom.

Off the bridge!

She’s got a level 27 Rattata. Pikachu next. Noin food. Another Rattata for Zaft.

I’m running back to Vermilion after each of these fights. Partly because I’m too lazy to figure out what the key is for the bike I have.

Beauty Sheila. She has a level 29 Clefairy, which looks like prime Po food. Zaft goes back in for the Meowth. And Zaft the miracle child paralyzes it in a way that allows us to dodge a run back to the Pokemon Center.

Picnicker Valerie is next. She has a level 30 Poliwag because she wants Zaft to thrive on this team. And another, even! My thanks.

And.

Finally.

Look at that grin.

Picnicker Gwen time. Bringing the level 27 Pidgey. Meowth. Pidgey. Pidgeotto.

...Zaft being evolved is honestly so helpful.

Bird Keeper Perry! Hoping to fare better? Not with that level 25 Spearow asking for Po’s attention. Pidgey means Zaft is back. Same to the next Pidgey. Spearow for Po again. And one last one.

So the bike is the Backspace button. Fine. Better than holding the B button and running all the way.

Music to my ears, Robert. Pidgey, level 26 Pidgeotto, Spearow for Po, Fearow also for Po, and we’re good. Then we’ve got a Biker coming up, so Po gets to switch places with Zaft as first in line.

Though something which I remembered a little earlier has caught my attention. I think Snorlax is on the slower end of growth. Electrode doesn’t have that problem. Hopefully Po will be multipurpose enough to make up for it, but that could be something I need to watch out for. There’s a very limited supply to work with.

But Biker! Biker Jared with the level 28 Koffing. And this is where I learn Po’s ability is Immunity. Po can’t be poisoned. Oh happy day. I think Po’s going to be seeing a lot of use against Bikers. Another Koffing, and another Koffing.

Back to bird boys, so Zaft in front again.

Bird Keeper Carter has a level 28 Pidgey. Doduo for Po. Zaft goes back to clean up the Pidgeotto.

If anyone were reading these, I’m sure they’d be as sick as I am of me detailing every single fight with the absolute minimal detail I can stand. It is not good entertainment. Sadly, since I started this with the assumption that I could be doing a few tries... I want a record of what I’ll be up against. Just skim.

Mitch with the level 26 Pidgey. Spearow for Po. Pidgey for Zaft. Fearow for Po.

Back to Vermilion’s Pokemon Center. And screw it, I’m going to catch something in the water. Super Rod for variety.

Naisu. And of course it knows Dragon Rage. Damn it.

I fucked up.

Shit.

...Shit.

I got arrogant. Should have gone Old Rod.

I’m laughing.

I am in so much trouble now.

But I can’t help it.

Oh wow.

I really have to catch this.

Well.

Yay?

Actual fuck.

Your name is Altron.

Fuck you. Welcome to the team.

Ribbons. Noin. I would apologize if I didn’t find the situation so unspeakably hilarious. I chose this fight. It was completely optional. No one twisted my arm. Unlike the trainer fights. Yet. Here we are. One very angry Gyarados brought two of my favorite team members to their knees.

I spent TMs on both of you. And a PP Up on Giga Drain. I had high hopes. I was playing so carefully. If I had remembered that Po was my tank earlier, you might have made it through. Instead...

Instead, this gets interesting.

I am back down to five partners (yay, Quatre, you get to come back!), and a level 25 Gyarados is not the simplest thing to train.

I... Oh. Fuck.

There’s a Lapras coming up, isn’t there?

No, that’s a gen one thing. This is a gen three version of gen one, so cursed.

Fuck. I need to think.

What do I really have left in the world to catch?

There’s the long bike area, Safari Zone, a few routes I can touch better with Quatre back on the team... But in terms of level? A free level 25 thing (lol “free”) is not bad. Victory Road has wild level 40s, but nothing I could conceivably make solid use of.

Unless I get incredibly lucky, Gyarados is probably going to be the best thing I can get my hands on before the end of the game.

-hours later-

After some contemplation, I think this is going to mark a change in approach. People beat these games with only one pokemon battling. I don’t feel like splitting exp and training something again.

So I’ll have Altron in my team, and perhaps even make use of him, but the team focuses are going to be Zaft, Allenby, Heero, and Po. For the whole rest of the game. ...Decision subject to change. But I’m just really not feeling the desire to train anything else.

We shall see. We shall be concerned. We shall endure.

We shall be happy Quatre is back on the team.

Camper Justin has a level 29 male Nidoran. Go Po. Then a level 29 Nidorino. Don’t die, Po. Yay, Po.

According to my vague map I haven’t caught something on Route 12. Because Serebii says there’s a chance you can Super Rod up a level 35 Horsea, I will attempt to catch one.

Sadly mine is a level 20. Now named Max. Pokedex count: 27.

Route 13′s thing is Venonat. It poisons Zaft. Altron helps, because, as we all know, Altron knows Dragon Rage. Venonat is caught, and its new name shall be Well. Because no one reads these and I can do what I want.

We finally arrive at where we were before all that Gyarados nonsense. You can tell it was nonsense because I still say Gyarados half the time instead of using Altron’s name.

Anyway, Bird Keeper Marlon. He has a Spearow. Aka Po food. Po stays in for the Doduo. Level 28 btw. As my emotional pain rises my transcribing cares fall. Fearow next. Still Po.

Next up is Bird Keeper Beck. Flying high with a level 29 Pidgeotto. And a Fearow for Po. Considerate.

You mean those things I probably can’t catch?

Bird Keeper Donald. Quack. ...Complete with Farfetch’d. Amazing. Po, help nom it.

Can Gyarados learn Fly? I’m reluctant to throw that on Heero because I don’t know what’s coming next, but I’m also reluctant to keep on biking back to Vermilion to keep a limit on tragic accidents.

Why is Gyarados a Flying type if it can’t learn Fly. Boo.

Don’t let people peer pressure you into forcing your pets to fight, man. Bird Keeper Benny. Level 29 Spearow. Po kills it, as is right and just. Fearow up next. And Po learns Body Slam to replace Headbutt.

Then we have a row of Bikers before we can get to the grass. Po, you’re in front now.

Biker Gerald with the level 29 Koffing. Plus level 29 Muk. The tributes to Po continue.

Biker Malik. Another level 29 Koffing. Level 29 Grimer.

Biker Isaac has three pokemon. Level 28 Grimer first. Then a second one. Then a Koffing for last place.

One. more. Biker. ...here.

You can tell he’s cool because he has four pokemon and his sprite was allowed to ride his bike. One level 26 Koffing first. One more. Grimer. Final Koffing to round it all out.

Zaft goes out front to facilitate the capture of whatever our Route 14 thing chooses to be.

I see no way for this to go wrong.

Caught!

Your name’s Afranche now.

Pokedex count: 29.

Time for Po and Allenby to beat up Twins Jan and Kiri. With their fancy level 29 Charmander and Squirtle. It is a quick fight.

Made it to Route 15. Look at us go. Look at how I’ve caught everything here that I can, thanks to the species clause. Look at how far away that Itemfinder is.

Biker Ernest has a level 25 Koffing. And another. Then Weezing. Back to Koffing. Then, at long last, a Grimer to finish things.

Biker Alex introduces himself by threatening to mug us. But. That’s sort of what happens during every battle. Someone is going to fork over a bunch of cash. So his tough guy image is a lie hiding his willingness to conform to society’s standards.

Anyway, level 28 Koffing. Grimer. Weezing.

In the spirit of really not wanting to bike back to Vermilion even though Po needs healing. Zaft goes up front while we try to dodge around everyone on our way to Fuchsia.

I’m going to stop you right there.

Tfw you will never.

Fuchsia reached, and for future reference, this is where the Move Deleter is in this game. That might be handy to know.

Because Zaft is already in front, I wander down before I have Surf to play with the Swimmers. Swimmer Richard has a level 30 Tentacool. Then a Shellder. Swimmer Reece has a level 29 Goldeen Po can help with. Zaft goes back in for the Horsea. Stays in for Staryu.

Scrubbed the deck with the landlubbed Swimmers.

Good Rod get, and I’m going to fish up my Fuchsia City thing in the pond behind the Fisher guy’s house.

I can’t see this helping much.

I’m feeling really lazy. You can be Barton.

But! I have 30 now!

Time to hit the Trainers we missed and then bike back to Vermilion! ...Yay!

Bird Keeper Edwin first on the docket. With a level 26 Pidgeotto. Po in for Farfetch’d. And Doduo. Zaft comes back for Pidgey.

Bird Keeper Chester is next. With Dodrio wanting Po’s attention. Doduo next. Also another one.

Picnickers are next, and I think in the interest of fairness Allenby is going to be up front for them.

A level 29 Bellsprout opens the match. Allenby is beyond such things. Heero can eat the Oddish. Heero can also eat the Tangela.

Picnicker Kindra is next. Bringing the level 28 Gloom for Heero. Heero stays in for the Oddish. All two of them.

Beauty Olivia has a level 29 Bulbasaur. Heero clearly needed to be the one up front for all of this. Ivysaur next and last.

Beauty Grace has a level 29 Pidgeotto. Against my better judgment, Allenby will stay in to try and Rock Slide it. Gambit successful. Wigglytuff in next, so Allenby gets to stay in for a whole fight!

Picnicker Becky has a Pikachu. On a related note, Allenby now knows Cross Chop. Cross Chop murders Becky’s Raichu.

Picnicker Celia just has the one level 33 Clefairy.

Had.

Double Battle putting Allenby and Heero in the driver’s seat. Yes, at the same time. Against Ron and Mya. Level 29 Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee.

Aaaaaand that’s what we have down here.

Itemfinder time!

Yes!

Success.

Let’s call this part there, shall we? Before anything horrible can happen. It’s been something of a rough ride this time around. Entirely because of my own choices, but still.

High note end, get.

#Pokemon #Nuzlocke Challenge #Nuzlocke #playthrough

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plateauofmemories · 6 years

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buanyway as I obsessively play the talent development plan mode (+monokuma’s test) I can’t not think about an au that’s basically that but More because I have a problem. Thoughts so far:

-So like the Talent Development Plan everyone’s just students at HPA, and there’s no despair apocalypse. But everyone’s in the same year (I assume that’s the implication of being able to talk to any of them throughout the whole 3 years).

-HPA is still studying talent but like, they’re less bonkers about it. Like, still maybe a bit ethically questionable at times, but definitely not conducting illegal human experiments in the basement this time. But they will happily teach other people’s former human experiment subjects. Also, rules about ultimate talents are a little more lax - you can have multiple people with the same shsl title. And we’re gonna say there’s one shsl luck per homeroom instead of just per year.

-For our characters’ year there are 4 homerooms, 16 students per homeroom.

-Classroom A is the NDRV3 gang, with the shsl versions of themselves being the real versions of themselves. Some changes to backstories are in order - like Kirumi is still a super maid but she’s probably not the de-facto prime minister of Japan, and like i’m keeping in my order for the same changes to kork’s background that I ranted about before, etc - but they’re personalities are basically the same. Rantaro is the class’s shsl luck since survivor isn’t an applicable position, but he still does a shsl amount of traveling and adventuring. Maki is definitely listed as the shsl child caregiver. Miu is probably actually an augmented human but records on illegal experiments are sketchy at best.

-Classroom A is definitely barely contained chaos at all times, with Kaito and/or Kaede doing most of the containing. “Or” because neither of them are immune to being baited into the fray. Homeroom teacher is Koichi Kizakura, which is no help in controlling the situation.

-Classroom C is the SDR2 crew, -Hajime and +Sato (who is not in the goddamn reserve course goddamnit). Chiaki’s a real person a la DR3. I hated that and them being one homeroom class in DR3 but this plot isn’t going to DR1/SDR2 so it’s fine.

-Chisa is their homeroom teacher. Class C is a lively and dynamic bunch, and they most notably have most serious drama. When someone has a problem with someone else shit gets real really really fast.

-Classroom B is my B-sides, aka hpa students from other DR media that I want in here. Hajime and Izuru are not actually B-sides but they’re in this class. otherwise, current roster includes Yasuke Matsuda, the weird octuplets from dr0 but they only count as one student because they are pretending to be one student as the shsl bodyguard, the student council president from dr0, ryota mitarai, and natsumi kuzuryu (who is also definitely not in the reserve course!! Fuck you!). Also, I don’t actually know anything about what’s canon for santa shikiba, but unless something makes me decide otherwise I’m gonna stick him in here. Also, in naegi makoto’s worst day ever or whatever that was called, there was a female student originally selected to be shsl luck instead of him, and I don’t know if she actually had a name but in any case I’m gonna use that tiny bit of obscure trivia to build a character to be this class’s shsl luck. Which brings me to 9 people, so I’ve still gotta come up with some - probably gonna review the student council to pull some from there, and also see if I can think of anyone else.

-Hajime and Izuru are different people for the sake of having them both available like in the talent development plan. Though i haven’t actually played as either of them, so I don’t know if there’s any sort of explanation given/if they’re ever implied to exist at the same time. Current convoluted story I’ve come up with for my au is they’re identical twins, and they were born conjoined at the head. At some point they were surgically separated and Hajime was fine, but Izuru was not. At which point some sketchy (but incredibly skilled) neuroscientist on the surgery team was like, hey, this is the perfect opportunity. And so maybe he kidnaps Izuru after faking his death or maybe not but in any case he DOES step in to try save Izuru’s brain but also like, make him a superhuman genius talent machine at the same time, because why not. I’m thinking the kidnapping thing because maybe it’s a longer experiment that involves multiple surgeries and raising the kid in a specific way and also changing his name to izuru kamukura before he’s eventually stopped and izuru is returned to his birth family and it’s all very awkward. But anyway, the other point is that Hajime still doesn’t have a shsl talent, but he gets an exception to attend HPA’s main course because this is the more lax HPA and if there’s anything better for research than and augmented genius human, it’s an augmented genius human with a non-augmented identical twin. It’s still maybe a bit too convoluted though. Also I haven’t decided if they wear the normal HPA uniform or if Hajime has to wear the reserve course uniform and so Izuru wears it too, because fuck you (and then in the meta level I get 2 maintain that classic izuru aesthetic).

-Idk who the homeroom teacher is for Class B but former hpa student Miaya Gekkogahara is definitely employed as an assistant teacher for them. It is definitely on purpose that the ex-shsl therapist and the shsl neurologist are in the classroom with Izuru and Hajime. Anyway, other students sometimes find this class intimidating/scary, but that’s just because there are several intense aloof/arrogant assholes in the class and one snake person, or snerson, that seems capable of being in too many places at once.

-Classroom D is just the DR1 gang. I can’t decide if Junko is like herself but not obsessed with despair or if she’s like herself but not determined to cause the apocalypse, just invested in her personal despair. Also mukuro definitely gets to attend class as herself, not disguised as Junko like in the talent development plan that did not want to make her a new set of sprites just for their bonus game.

-Their homeroom teacher is the phys. ed teacher that makes a couple appearances in DR3. Class D notably becomes a very close friend group. The other students mostly don’t notice day-to-day, except if a) you go to talk to someone in their homeroom before class begins and you have this inexplicable feeling like you’re intruding or b) it’s the school festival or some other event that pits homeroom-based teams against each other. Class D gets reeeeaaaaallly intense at these competitions (and works together frighteningly smoothly).

#platextsofmemories #plateauofmemories plays new danganronpa v3: killing harmony #dangan ronpa #dangan ronpa spoilers #are like included in there #tdp plus au

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attract-mode-collective · 6 years

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Not An April Fools Gag; That’s A Game Boy Advance With A GameCube Stick Affixed For Reals

What you're seeing is a modded GBA that I spotted on eBay. It's a real thing! Though it doesn't magically grant analogue control to all the digital input only games on the system, which is all of them for the record (sorry). Then again, it could be argued that the controls in WarioWare Twisted is technically analogue...

That aside aside, welcome to yet another recap of stuff posted over at the Attract Mode Twitter! Though this time it's gonna be a bit on the short side, relatively speaking; even I know covering two entire whole weeks has led to hard to handle Tumblr posts, so I'm going to try concentrating on just one week at a time/attempt weekly updates.

Let's see how well that goes...

Hey, it's SF2 IRL thanks to ARKit (via prostheticknowledge)...

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At the time, when I first tweeted about it, there were only three left of Amanda Visell’s Player One Mario; no idea how many there are now...

When you can make a decision regarding lunch (via @Mechazawa)....

If you appreciate both the ease of slip-on sneakers and the taste of ghosts, then Games Glorious has something for you (via miki800.com)...

As a connoisseur of video games on the printed page, it is my goal to one day own a copy of Namco's newsletter that was distributed in game centers during the 80s & 90s, NG (via miki800)...

Remember that time Namco got someone from Yellow Magic Orchestra to hawk their wares (via namcomuseum)...

Both in print and on TV…

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The YMO member in question, Haruomi Hosono, also did a Xevious remix album, which longtime readers of the blog will hopefully recall.

Sticking with Namco CMs, there’s a pair of longtime faves that I could have sworn I’ve already posted as well, yet cannot find. Though as noted, many times already, the search functionality here is broken.

So here’s a boy playing with his Famicom in the middle of the woods...

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And here’s a girl playing with his Famicom in the middle of the woods...

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Back to the subject of print, can’t seem to find any info on the Futabasha Fantasy Novel Series, which (I think) was a line of video game novelizations; this one appears to be written by the creator of Xevious himself (via shmups)...

The focus here is supposed to be the Lawson’s reward card with Kirby on it, but I am all about that Space Invaders whatever the heck it is (via miki800)...

Spent MANY hours at Japanese bookstores during my college years, flipping through Sega Saturn Magazine; seeing these VF Kids ads again makes me feel all warm & fuzzy (via thesegasource)...

This (what I believe to be a) farewell image of the face of the Saturn from the very first issue of Dreamcast Magazine, also gives me the feels (via oldgamemags)...

BTW, everyone knows the identity of Saturn's pitchman (Segata Sanshiro), but what about the Mega Drive's? (via yokosuka87)...

Back to the Saturn; I love how Sega want from Segata Sanshiro to Hidekazu Yukawa for the Dreamcast. This launch edition of the console, btw, was spotted at VideoGamesNewYork...

It's also where they Kira Kira Star Night DX for twice the asking price, as @gamespite)...

Speaking of music, to fully enjoy this animated gif of Eggman running…

… you need to have this song playing (via lunaticobscurity).

And to fully enjoy this image of Eggman on the sax…

... you need to have this song playing (via very-territorial-oak).

@ondoruragitan sez: "whoever designed that clown lady in ace attorney is probably the most horny artist to ever exist" (it's funny cuz it's true)...

So the big news these past few weeks, especially among video game folk my age, has been the end of the Toys R Us. Many have been sharing artifacts from the glory days, with my fave example being these old flyers, with the obvious highlight seeing all the original MSRP prices (via retrogamerblog)...

Oh, and don’t forget the gifs (via nintendroid)...

The following are more appropriate for my way, way overdue batch of game culture snapshots, but since we're on the subject of retail anyway; I recently stumbled across Nintendo's collab with Bloomingdale's that I had no idea even existed...

Took a bunch of pics, but unfortunately, due to the harsh lighting at the SoHo store, it was impossible to capture the women’s section, hence the abundance of men’s wear...

These women's sweatshirts are the best example of the line's overall design sensibilities, or lack thereof; it’s just a bunch of random Nintendo sprites on attire that is available at Bloomingdale's, period. That's all it aspires to be, nothing more...

... And that's a real shame, cuz aside from the quality of the clothing itself being high, some of the ho-hum looking designs could be really engaging with a few minor tweaks, like this b&w women's jacket with a very random assortment of b&w Super Mario World sprites...

In addition to clothing, you had accessories, like iPhone cases...

Plus sunglasses, which revealed Super Mario World playing on what appears to the naked eye to be a blank, white screen....

Speaking of Super Mario World, here's a hamster enjoying the game (via @kousuke_teppei)...

The lil guy also owns an original Famicom, and here we is playing Solomon's Key (thanks to @Topherocious for helping me to identify the game)...

Being that friend who is REALLY into video games means I'm asked a wide variety of questions from folks who are not, like why @beesmygod is "freaking out" over a Sonic & Garfield two pack for the PC...

... I'll be honest, I don't really understand why either.

Here we have a mockup for an ad blocker that replaces banners with GBA screenshots, which I really want to see happen (via @tinycartridge)...

I also really want to see this happen too (via @truongasm)...

Back to Tiny Cart; that's where I found out that you no longer have to play emulated Tiger handheld games sans backgrounds...

Nothing beats a pic of a dimly lit arcade, especially when it's shot on ACTUAL film (via mendelpalace)...

As for this particular arcade show, @kappuru theorizes "it looks like cinestill film, or a filter designed to mimic it." (via parkerwoods)...

"WHO IS THIS NUN?! WHY DOES SHE LOOK SO SINISTER?" is a great KOF related question (via vice-s-assistant)...

And "BOWL BEFORE ME" is a great KOF related gag (via brondeef)...

"this is the best cosplay i’ve ever seen" is a a great costume play related observation made by lunaticobscurity...

"how to get away with playing super mario odyssey in class" is the caption given by retrogamerblog...

"Stardew Valley gave me 500 characters to use as my farm name, so I put down an entire 1-star amazon review for an Independence Day DVD" is the explanation given by @NoahHafford...

Hey, you never know, maybe one day a homebrew dev might make “Shinjuku-Nichome Gay District Serial Murders” a reality? (via mendelpalace)

When you’ve got one copy of Melee with two boxes, and one copy of Air Ride with zero boxes… just gotta improvise (via stellatuna)...

When you’ve got a killer Game Genie code but no paper to write it down on... and then you discover the code does something totally different (via theassortment)...

And when I asked what this 4koma featuring a Dreamcast VMU was all about, @JonahD was kind enough to explain: "VMUs are playing hide and seek, Black is seeking. One VMU thinks hiding in the controller would be good but it makes a bunch of noise and they’re found immediately" (via posthumanwanderings)...

Whereas I have yet to find out what all these Sonics are doing at a German airport (via sonicthehedgeblog)...

I normally don’t let the weather get to me, yet the constant cold weather in NYC over the past few weeks began taking its toll, to the point that I’m starting to resemble an upside down Super Famicom/European SNES (via sixteen-bit)...

I also really wish I could have checked out Sakura-Con, and not just cuz the weather is so much nicer in Seattle, but to pick up @alexisparade's Monster Factory zine...

I stared at gif illustrating the wacky perspective-related behavior of Super Mario 64’s trees for an entire day, no joke (via suppermariobroth)...

Here we have the rarely seen alternate angle of the internet famous "LAN party gamer duct-taped to the ceiling" photo (via reddit.com)...

Turning the clock back even further, here's yet another kind of party, one that doesn’t involve first person shooters but shoot ‘em ups; it’s the 1986 Hudson Caravan (via videogamesdensetsu)...

Recently, a modded NES Max controller showed up on Kotaku, in which the cycloid nub has been replaced with an analogue stick...

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... Which actually appeared the day after I spotted that modded GBA at the very top of this page. I am also willing to admit the disappointment over my tweet not catching on as expected/hoped it would, hence why I'm sharing another pic...

At any rate, I was also reminded of my buddy Nick Santaniello's modded Jaguar controller, which allows for arcade perfect Tempest 2000 controls...

... Which in turned led to me republishing the post from which it hails from originally, my recap of Nick's Shmup Appreciation Night, for Medium (and also sharing additional pics on Twitter)...

BTW, for those wondering, based upon the last round of tweets; the kitchen isn’t just for playing old Mega Drive & PC Engine shmups… you can also play old Naomi fighting games (via internetflexin)...

Guess that's it for now? Sorry, but it finally feels like spring in NYC, and I feel the need to step away from the computer & enjoy weather! Just like Mega Man (via arcadequartermaster)...

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gear-project · 7 years

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On DLC and Games...

Was watching a recent set of videos on DLC, and I have to ask this question:

"What is your definition of a COMPLETE fighting game?"

I think it's rather vague, actually.

It always has been as far as the Arcade scene goes.

How many characters does it take (or perhaps WHICH characters does it take) before you decide "this game is complete, it doesn't need to add any more to the experience".

By definition a fighting game consists of one person beating up on another person, in various ways, using various methods and tactics, but ultimately it is a 2-Player Versus game.

Our "definition" of a complete game isn't concrete or even set in stone.

And I think that's part of the problem of this debate over DLC.

One person's definition won't jive with other peoples' definition... and even if you say "whatever the Devs have in mind"... again, that doesn't work because the developers have both themselves AND US and the "game itself" in mind when they make the game, so there's a skewed sense of what is required.

I feel like I'm beating a Hornet's nest when I bring up this topic, but I think ultimately, so long as there are multiple people involved on a single game, there won't ever be a full concrete definition of what that game is supposed to be or supposed to ultimately become.

And even if you had a wunderkind genius developer single-handedly creating a game with his own blood, sweat, and tears, there's going to be feedback on the game he made, and that feedback will either be accepted or rejected... as Es might say "Noise in the Data".

There is no all-encapsulating definition for a fighting game. We've already deconstructed many aspects of what defines such a game down to its most basic elements... even comparing it to simple games like Pong, Tetris, and Dive Kick. We've also talked about how fighting game mechanics evolve as a game progress and both mistakes and discoveries are made.

While it's okay to have opposing opinions on games and their levels of completeness... (for example, I don't have a complete experience unless I play fighting games with swords in them... it's a personal preference, but it is something I lean towards), I think it's wrong to say that people are feeling entitled.

Someone made a valid point in saying that Entitlement isn't the guy buying the game, it's the guy waiting outside to steal the game from the other guy.

So what does that mean?

If people want to buy a game, it's their prerogative to buy that game... but does that make them "part of the problem"? Are they improperly "voting with their wallets"?

No. Because people WILL vote with their wallets, and their decisions are their own to make, and calling them out/insulting them on it doesn't do anything to truly change their decisions.

Not respecting those votes is like disrespecting the individual. But even so, the problem doesn't lie solely with people who oppose or offend your sensibilities or by your definition "make things expensive for everyone else". You can't say one or two people are the cause of such actions, nor can you say it's entirely a game company that puts such debatable actions in practice.

If something offends you (and only you), that doesn't make the offense less or more valid, so what makes the price of games and extra content offensive?

People might argue that it's the idea that the game didn't feel complete without the extra content, or that the extra content was technically "native" to the game originally as part of the code... but realistically neither of those reasons hold much weight:

1. Because game programming has to be compatible with itself at all times in order to function, so nothing is ever "not native" to the game's content in any way, shape, or form.

2. As said before, the definition of a game's "completeness" is inscrutable and in-concrete based on a number of factors.

The misconception we tend to have comes from the older days of videogames where content was all self-contained... but on the flip side, that content was never perfect and often flawed and ultimately much of the content developers WANTED to add, either got cut due to deadlines, or was cut due to limitations of other kinds.

So ultimately, no game is ever "complete" in the elusive "impression" we think it truly is, because of those reasons.

No game is ever perfect, thus no game is ever "complete".

But even if you disagree with that definition of a game, even accepting a flawed game and think it deserves more and/or cheaper content... you have to understand that's YOUR thoughts on the matter, not anyone else's, and you can't force people to agree with you.

Just like you can't tell people to like a certain character you play, just like you can't tell people to play the character in the so-called "optimal" way you do.

You can't even tell people HOW to appreciate said characters!

More to the point, a lot of people don't consider the notion that these games have gotten more and more expensive to make in recent years. There's so much that goes in to a Fighting game, and even if you think the sprite recycling is cheap, that has nothing to do with licensing costs, copyright, distribution contracts, promotions, voice acting, and other expenses.

Even if you THINK you know how much money is going in to development for a game, ultimately it is only the game developers who truly know... and only THEY decide how much money will be spent on the game they are making, and usually that's kept private and none of our business.

Game Devs control how much money they spend on games, but they CAN'T control how much money the consumer will or won't spend on the games they make, so even if a TON of work is put in to a game... if people decide to "vote with their wallets", that game will sit on the shelf and get ignored, despite all the effort and talent poured in to it.

But if you think Consumers are the sole reason a game exists, think again... Games exist for various reasons, sometimes precisely to MAKE money, sometimes precisely for OTHER REASONS (like learning how to make games and perfecting one’s craft.)

If someone said "why don't you just donate money to the game company"... why should I do that? Why can't I get at least SOME return for my investment?

Is that entitlement on my part?

As a consumer, I want to be reminded of WHY I invest in the games I enjoy, so if I'm going to spend money on a game that's expensive, it isn't necessarily SOLELY for that game ALONE.

Just like BlazBlue funded Guilty Gear in ages past, you have plenty of games that fund other games.

We can't really predict to what extent they DO fund certain games as that's up to ARC's CEO and President as well as their Accounting Department...

But, it is reassuring to know that the money I spend on an expensive game is going to give me a game that IS fun and HAS CONTENT that is not only worth spending money on, but worth spending extra on with the hopes that OTHER content in the form of "other games" will take the shape of the money I spent.

So why not get something for my money?

That might take a bit of “Faith” on my part, but is it wrong to approach investing in a game brand or company that way?

None of us are obligated to spend a cent on any games, nor are we obligated to spend money on DLC... But where does that motivation to "buy a game" come from?

It comes from prior positive experiences with games we enjoyed, for starters.

But expecting the games of the past to be the same as games of the future is unreasonable... especially in regards to the cost of the game, and the evolution of what is needed for our expectations for a game, especially a fighting game by today's standards.

And even if you think a game is cheap to make, unless you have an absolute concrete way of knowing the value, the only value you can set on the game is the one you're willing to spend.

So, I take back what I said about people being "entitled"; that's different from being opinionated.

That's vastly different, but the thing with opinions is, you better be informed when you set them out there for people to hear.

The price of the game is the price you're willing to pay for it. And even if many people disagree with a set price... I'm also obligated to disagree with their opinions too.

But, at the same time, I'm lenient enough to at least let people know when a game is available at a more "acceptable" price for them.

Won't change my thoughts on supporting games I want to support though. No price is too high for me in that regard.

That may sound crazy, but I've been a poor gamer for much of my life, and saving up money is a lot easier than you think... it's the spending of it that gets tricky.

So, in actuality, I take a strategic "sniper position" approach to spending money. I will charge my Wallet Buster Rifle as long as it takes... lock on to the target... and then FIRE!

You'd be surprised the things I've bought by saving up in this manner... and my life is so much happier when I approached money this way.

Some people think I invest in games when the “scene is dead”, but is it really? Retro Nostalgia is a rather persistent Zombie Necromancer if you ask me.

Anyway, how you spend money is UP TO YOU. But don't offend people with your opinions and thoughts just because they disagree with you.

And hey, ARCSys hasn't set a price for BBTag’s DLC yet... it might be cheaper than you'd expect.

#Heaven or Hell #DLC #Debate

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siennaposts · 4 years

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Molly Malware (Assignment 3) - Development

After our group was decided and we discussed our strengths and availabilities, We went through Jase’s prototype and discussed where we could potentially improve the content and add content. Jase had a well thought out concept and storyline already so we decided to stick firmly to that but clarify and refine what our goals were with the next iteration.

Fullerton said in chapter 13 that “a developer’s goal is to produce the highest quality game within the limits of its resources and budget.” When choosing what things we wanted to change/improve/add to the original prototype, we had to consider many things that may affect the final version. This was things such as time, skills, and the engine gdevelop. After making 3+ prototypes I felt pretty confident with making a solid prototype in a few days if I worked really hard. For the video and documenting and analysing part of the report, I was a little more hesitant, however I knew I could rely on my team to help out when I needed it.

The original prototype was entertaining and intriguing for players, however it lacked enough content to really show players what the game was about. This was a narrative styled game with very little narrative context for players. We knew this was something we wanted to achieve with our new version. In the original prototype, players weren’t given firm objectives which left the players unsure of what to do and where to go. This was to be worked into the in game script so that players felt like they had a purpose and a task to fulfil. One major flaw in the original prototype was that when you fell, nothing was there to catch you, you just fell until someone restarted the game. Though this is an easy fix, without it, it can be detrimental to a play-through. The art style was already good, however we wanted to incorporate a more animated feeling to the game, so we wanted to change/add some art designs. We also wanted to add music to further develop the immersion and entertainment for the player. After going over what we thought would be good changes/additions to the game, we asked Jase to write the vision of the game as he understood the most what he wanted to see from the game after the first prototype. We then began to construct our gannt chart, deciding who was to do what parts and a guesstimate of the appropriate amount of time to be spent on each task. When making this, we had to keep in mind the deadline given to us. We had to ensure that all time was allocated wisely and we were not going to be rushed at the end due to the lack of organisation.

Then we began.

The first thing we wanted to get sorted before actually implementing anything into the prototype, was writing a script. This script would help me understand the storyline Jase had in mind and would allow me to easily replicate statements written on the script into the game. This script took a number of days to be made, however once everything was settled we were then able to crack down on the prototype.

youtube

Initially it was planned that Jase, Sienna C and I would divide working on the prototype fairly evenly and same with the playtesting report. However, we realised that perhaps this wasn't the most strategic thing to do, so I decided that I would make the prototype on my own, playing at my strengths. This would work well for Sienna C and Jase anyways as Jase would work on art and music and Sienna C could do a fair amount of the report. The video would be made afterwards so we weren’t too worried about that for the time being. Jase quickly made up a few images of files using the new animated art style so I could begin. I started with the start up (Menu) screen which had a few different buttons that you could interact with, as it can be seen below.

In the settings scene, I made volume, brightness and difficulty options. The volume was reasonably easy to make with a pre-made function in gDevelop made ready to go, so it was only a matter of linking it up to the buttons and moving the slider along the bar. I added the difficulty option with a coming soon sticker over the top just to entice players with potential further iterations in future, however nothing has been planned at this stage. I did struggle with the brightness however as I was unsure how to create this. I found different effects that were interesting to play around with but none of these worked with the brightness filter I had in mind. I figured I would leave it until I finished working on other parts and I could come back. Unfortunately although I figured out a way I could create the brightness, I didn’t have time to implement this before playtesting. I was going to put a global pitch black layer over the game and depending on the percentage of brightness the players wanted, the opacity of the layer would change. This can be included in future iterations. I also created a basic back button taking the player back to the main menu scene. I added a little robot running off the page an aesthetic little touch to the game.

The next page I made was the load game scene, this was pretty straight forward also, with button sprites and text numbering each saved button. I had the buttons change animation when pressed to show the players which button is selected. The continue button when pressed would take you to the loading scene just for the sake of this prototype. In future iterations, a saved progress file would need to be selected in order to proceed. Although the little red cross in the corner would be the way you would exit a textbox like this in real life, for the game I decided to make it so that players could press anywhere outside of the box for it to close.

Next I made the new game scene, which required a little more coding than the others. This included hiding/showing text on a timer, the buttons that would change text depending on what is selected and what is written into the input, and the little animated sprites on the side. So, how this would work is that players would interact with the flashing text that would say ‘INSERT NAME’ and this would take you to the input name scene. I made this scene by duplicating the new game scene but changed the box in front so that players were entering a name into a new box on top of the new game box. When writing the input, this would save to a global variable so I can display it in the new game page. So once the player press continue after inputting the name would change to ‘NAME’ and the flashing would stop. Then when selecting what number save button they wanted, the button animation would change to the pressed down (like in load game) and the text would change to the global variable. This worked effectively in my opinion and I was more than happy with the results.

Next was the loading scene which was easier and just had a molly sprite running back and forth with the ‘loading...’ modifying on a timer. After 10 seconds the ‘loading...’ text would change to ‘Ready to play’ and a continue button would pop up. When specifically making this scene, I had to “keep in mind that you are not creating the design document for its own sake— your objective is communication, so do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal.” (Fullerton, 2018). Although nothing was actually loading in the scene I wanted to replicate and communicate to the player that this would be when the game would set up the gameplay before jumping in.

Then it would go onto the game play. Its worth mentioning that the text used was downloaded and I layered green and purple to match the glitchy/animated aesthetic. I also used the same colours as the main logo. With all of what I spoken about so far in the production in Gdevelop, I just had a bit of fun with it trying to simulate to a normal computer desktop but add small touches that made it unique to the game specifically.

At this stage I realised I was going to be making the whole prototype so I began the long haul. I got the background all set up with the art Jase sent and read through the script. After gaining an understand of what he wanted, I started making the game. I initially made it so that Larry was walking around talking and Molly was following him around the screen, but when I asked for feedback he knew I must’ve read the script wrong. So I had to start again :( which wasn’t fun but I just kept going.

Fullerton mentioned in chapter 14 that “the goal in this stage is to execute on the functional vision established during preproduction.” I was starting to worry that I would run out of time to make the whole prototype within the time frame allocated. I did have to decide which parts of the narrative I would cut out, keeping in mind that I only had to give insight to the player of what our vision was rather than creating the whole game. I had to also make sure that what I did cut wouldn’t affect the overall story to the point where players felt that part of the narrative was missing. After some time of reading through the script, I cut out one whole scene after the introduction and before the Wordcount level. I feel this was wise and wouldn't hinder the experience for the player.

Once I figured out how I wanted to display everyone on the screen, I started making the first level scene introduction with Larry. This wasn’t too tricky, I just had a timer for the whole scene where Larry’s text box would modify throughout the time. This whole introduction level actually had 4 duplicated then edited scenes throughout because I didn’t think about hiding/showing objects depending on the scene timer, but if i were to do it again, I would make the level one large scene.

Once the player was able to move and the instructions were apparent on screen, I also created an objective box at the top. The player was able to move around and and climb up ladders before entering the password files document.

The documents scene was split into only two scenes however I think I could've made it into one scene using the showing/hiding objects using a scene timer. So in this level, Larry and Molly meet Dr Menth, which means that a large narrative portion would occur. I decided to allow Molly’s character to move around in this level whilst the talking was happening so that players had the opportunity to explore. This meant that I had to create all of both Larry’s and Dr Menth’s textbox, text and sprite to be centred around molly’s character, staying in screen. This was a pain as I wanted to get the exact positions right and it took a lot of trial and error, but I got there in the end. Implementing the text with the timers didn’t take too long, but then I realised the script didn’t actually have any objective after the narrative portion. I knew players would want a taste of doing some sort of activity, after all, we were attempting to make a puzzle-solving narrative game, so I decided to create a new objective/challenge. A number of robots would spawn, swapping animations on a random range timer. Players would have to interact and press E to delete them, saving Dr Menth’s home and fitting in with the narrative. I created another box in the top right to show how many robots would be left using a scene variable for each time the robot was deleted, -1 from the variable. Once the variable went to 0, the end scene would come up thanking for playing the prototype.

In terms of the game music and sound fx, I downloaded royalty free lofi music to put in the beginning menu scenes. This took a little bit of time, finding a nicely fitting song and finding the setting that would allow it to play through multiple scenes but stop once gameplay would begin. All sound effects used were also free downloads. This also took a fair amount of time to find some fitting ones, however in future iterations I would try find less abrupt and repetitive sounds. I just used 2 for Larry and Dr Menth and rotated back and fourth between the sounds. The sound effects for deleting the robots was fitting and I think it worked well.

This was an exhausting but rewarding prototype as I learnt a lot about gDevelop and pushed its capabilities.

gdev mechanics for game:

youtube

Fullerton, Tracy. Game Design Workshop : A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, Fourth Edition, CRC Press LLC, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/qut/detail.action?docID=5477698.

#gdev

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beatcroc · 7 years

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on the pink stuff [which i’ve taken to calling “the wellspring” after that one paragraph of text] and how it relates to the immortal cell/judgement, anubis, and drifters: note: this is my beta-version spec; i’m working on a significant revision in light of stuff i didn’t know when first making this post, but i still wanted to finish most of this up and put it out there since i spent a lot of time thinking about it :Y

this sorta started when i finally found my way back to the tutorial area/archive room. to me, it seemed the reason judgement tries to prevent you from getting to that archive at the beginning is to obscure any information it can about the immortal cell and its relation to/interaction with that.

i’m not…exactly sure what i want to say the wellspring’s role in the creation of the immortal cell was. certainly, having that much energy available plays a huge part in just being able to build technology or do research to aid in making something like an immortal cell, but i’m starting to think that the cell is was actually crafted directly from the wellspring, through some kind of refinery process. like, the pink energy is obvious pretty volatile when not handled properly or in some of its forms and i don’t... think you’d want something that reactive in a cell “to be imbued within all sentient life”. failed experiments with beings given beta-version immortal cells is a whole other Thing that i’m not gonna bother getting into though, haha.

anyway, perhaps they found some way to separate out or process away the less stable elements of wellspring material, making it essentially pure, inexhaustible energy that wouldn’t burn itself out on intense reactions or just outright degrade whatever living thing came in contact with it.

HOWEVER, those reactive parts of the chemical still Exist; i believe at some point that concentrated leftover slurry gained a sentience of its own, becoming Judgement. maybe it was sparked by the huge explosion, who knows. but since judgement is now a sentient being it can freely seek out its counterpart and use that power as it wishes, corrupting it to be put to its own use and preventing mortals from getting to it. as a side note it really can’t just recombine into the raw wellspring material since both counterparts are fundamentally different substances now and have taken on properties of their own :b

tldr: the immortal cell is refined pink stuff and judgement is the volatile parts that were refined out of it.

so, drifters. i firmly believe they are more resilient to the wellspring’s reactivity-not IMMUNE obviously, but they can generally survive its effects way longer than most other species [or most other individuals? depends on how you define what a drifter is; whether they’re just the blue-skinned race, or beings that have a sprite and have taken to a drifter’s job. EITHER WAY.]; they’re the only ones we see affected by the illness ingame, but i think that’s simply because everyone else who had been affected by it already died-see: guardian’s family. their resilience may also be evidenced by that first needle in the eastern area with other corpses blown outward from it. that could be taken…several ways, but as our drifter proceeds to interact with it no problem, i’m going to chalk it up with a resistance to and/or expertise in handling the material.

from the way stuff on the kickstarter is worded, i don’t think our drifter had ever been to the places we explore ingame before? the events in the opening probably had worldwide effect of some kind [maybe that’s what afflicted him? i really honestly don’t know HOW he got his illness, but that doesn’t pa r ticul a lr y matter for the sake of this post; we just need to know that it’s pretty serious and had been affecting him for Awhile by the time anubis enlists him and the game takes place], and drifter has finally tracked down- or perhaps been led to-the epicenter of them; what we’re playing is the final steps in a long journey. guardian had been living in these parts for awhile though; he’s much older and father along in the sickness than our drifter, but he knows the land and looks to have had much the same quest as drifter’s. i’m not sure why he didn’t collect any of the modules before drifter got there, maybe he was just too far gone to bother trying? if that’s the case, he’s probably pretty glad that drifter came along as someone to pass his quest and findings to haha…

anubis is what I’m having the most trouble concretely connecting with everything else. i don’t think the wellspring is directly the source or output of her power or anything, but as a god [especially the only one we know to exist in hld’s world] she’s in-tune with all the energy in their world, and as it happens the greatest reserve of this resides in the wellspring. mind you, i’m not overlooking that her eyes are the same shade as that energy; color similarities usually mean SOMETHING, but i’m trying not to attribute too much to it. perhaps, as the four sectors began to figure out how to tap into that power, they caused an imbalance that made anubis come out of stasis and take a more active role in…whatever it is she actually does in that world aside from leading beings to the afterlife. probably an observation/moderation duty of some kind. on the other hand, I can see it as those 4 sectors collaborating to open a path to the world’s core, for whatever lies there. maybe that’s where anubis originally resided, maybe there was a particularly large reserve or a means of production of wellspring material there, who knows. but either way, opening a path to and tampering with the core and whatever was originally there seems to have played a role in anubis’ awakening. my best guess is that the rise of judgement, its taking over of the world’s core area, and corruption of the immortal cell [and tbh probably the creation of that in the first place] likely messed with her abilities and/or connections to the wellspring and its energy, prompting her to start recruiting other individuals [drifters] to give her a shot in restoring order.

i think the wellspring-related affliction plays a big part in why anubis works so closely with our drifter and guardian-it means they have firsthand contact with this stuff. i can even see it as a dual-sided thing, with her being the god of death and all, the sickness could bring them more in-tune with her “element”, while for them it means they’re more open to trusting and cooperating with her. even without that, perhaps their prolonged exposure to the wellspring just makes them more accessible to her [again, she could have more than a peripheral connection to it given the pink eyes] and more capable of accomplishing the goal of actually defeating judgement and doing Something about the immortal cell to prevent further imbalance [or bloodshed, going by the closing cinematic,] severing the the sectors’ connection to the core and whatever’s in it, and allowing her to return to stasis.

#hyper light drifter #ok here it is one of the only good posts im going to make in this tag cherish it before i return to shitty ones #also hey....Hey........come talk to me about hld....#share your views and theories....#give me all that cool spec

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homestuck-session-analysis · 8 years

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You could you analyze a session that has a Heir of Time, Mage of Space, Witch of Mind, Bard of Void, Prince of Blood, and a Knight of Light

Mod Nix basks in the sun like a cat.

Binary checklist: Master aspects: Present. Unrepeated classpects: Present.

Heir of Time: “One who inherits and is protected by timelines, progression, and Time itself.” The presence of an Heir of Time in your session is going to up your chances of winning per se by the tendency of Time to keep its Heirs in successful sessions, to whatever degree Time is autonomous. This player is used to everything working out for them; it’s not so much that their personal sense of timing is impeccable as that everyone around them is accidentally providing them opportunities, constantly. They don’t get caught sneaking out, and no matter how greatly they procrastinate, they’re never late. This gives them an edge to speaking that could be exploited as a comedian, a rhetorician, or a musician. Between an Heir of Time who’s never had to try and a Mage of Space whose aspect seems to hate them, I can envision some enmity, but it won’t last past the Heir’s realization, which’ll be pretty quick. They might become fed up, but they’ll never outright abandon the team.

Mage of Space: “One who guides themselves through inherent knowledge of and through creation, artwork, and physical space.” In a binary dynamic with the Heir, as touched upon earlier, the Mage fails (through no fault of their own) where the Heir succeeds (also through no fault of their own). The Mage of Space is almost certainly a lover of the fine arts, whether they focus on theatrical production, visual art, or literature (although visual art is more likely, due to the connection to physicality). They also excel at physical sciences, such as geology, physics, and engineering. As a Frog breeder, they’re very nearly the best player, but their class increases the chance that the Genesis Frog will be rendered infertile by conditions outside of their control, possibly before the session even begins. They’ll be too busy to lead the session, and don’t have a huge capacity for leadership anyway, but will certainly be there when needed.

Prince of Blood: “One who destroys through or destroys connections, teamwork, and platonic relationships.” Dirk Quintana. There’s a good chance that this player covers their own insecurity by attacking those around them in order to distract; as the destroyer of (their own) Blood they’re a burden to the team. (Thankfully, most of this team’s players are decently self-sufficient.) Once they realize, however, and make the transition to destroyer through Blood, they’ll be a massive boon. With the Witch the leader the realized Prince is the strategist and the general. They also excel at sowing chaos and mistrust among the opposing Dersite agents and royalty. With the two most active players present (except a Lord or realized Page), it’s possible that the Witch and Prince will each try to cause an event perpendicular to the other’s. Should it be directly related to destruction (a person refusing to work with someone else because the Prince has severed the relationship), the Prince will win out; otherwise (the Mage deciding to ascend before beginning their quest) the Witch will win out. This Prince could easily find themselves isolated; if apparently hurt by other players, I fully expect them to begin working directly against the team.

Knight of Light: “One who exploits fortune, knowledge, and wealth to the fullest and wields it as a weapon.” Hermione Granger comes to mind, off the top of my head. The Knight of Light uses their status as a know-it-all to deflect their own fear that they’re lacking; unrealized, this person probably appears mildly abrasive, correcting people harshly and determinedly. The deficit they bring reduces the knowledge available in the session (I’m imagining sprites prototyped with inanimate objects), so it’s a good thing your Bard is here. Light’s Knight is at least vaguely poor, but good at gambling; given the escapism that gambling provides, I can see a gambling addiction, though it’s nothing like an inevitability. This player will be the main gatherer or knowledge in the session, although your Bard will passively bring knowledge as well. Betrayal is possible if they’re too often rejected (especially if there’s a mountain troll around).

Witch of Mind: “One who manipulates the presence and breaks the rules of choice, dichotomy, and consequence.” This player represents the purest form of mind control. Manipulative, but without a huge amount of foresight or long-term strategy; straightforward, to the point of not seeing that one could Take a Third Option. Having said that, as a Witch, they may be the best person to Take a Third Option, so. Of their team, this is the most powerful player, as well as the leader (read: dictator, should they ever decide outright to overrule their teammates and over them rule. In fact, for a realized Witch, taking direct control isn’t necessary; they can manipulate their friends into making the decision the Witch wants, and then make them think it was their idea in the first place). Given that Witches have a tendency to break the rules, it’s possible that they’ll be able to use their skills to reduce the effect of Sburban trauma on fellow players, despite the probable loss of their entire families. I can see this player as a programmer, life coach, or politician. Given their capacity for leading (or, alternatively, taking control), it’s difficult to imagine they could be separated far enough from the rest of the team to be capable of betrayal.

Bard of Void: “One who invites the destruction of and passively destroys around them secrets, ignorance, and the influence of the Furthest Ring.” Naturally, the Bard of Void can’t keep a secret, be it others’ or their own. A particularly unskilled Bard of Void might isolate themselves, become a vessel of the Horrorterrors. However, a developing or matured Bard of Void can expand beyond that. Similar to the need for a Prince to destroy the massive waves of their aspect in their session, the Bard’s role is to cut away at the corners, to refine the blocks of their aspect into usable sculptures. This complements neatly your Knight, since the Bard will be able to reintroduce the Light that the Knight removes from the session. As the wildcard, their personality is difficult to pin, but most are pretty decently laid-back (one of the most passive classes). If there’s no other player guiding them (since you have no Seer or Sylph), be cautious of a Bard unrealized.

Overall: Frog Hunt: Although the Knight’s deficit of Light is a little threatening, the Mage should be able to make up for it, assuming the Mage’s Curse isn’t terribly harsh. 60%. Black King: Your Prince, Mage, and Knight could all function as offensive players, and the Prince can be a strategist in military capacities. The Witch will have the unique ability to force the enemy into making bad decisions, and your Bard is similarly unique in everyone’s ignorance of what they’ll be able to do, but your Heir has no obvious place and you have no healers. My guess is that you’ll succeed with at least two casualties (Bard and Knight, probably Mage). 25% (without deaths). Loyalty: Watch out for your Prince; as passive as the Bard is, meanwhile, they shouldn’t be a problem. 70%.

Winning: I’m worried about the possible evils your Witch could perpetrate and the passivity of an Heir in your time travel. Additionally, very little Light and leadership are present from the get-go, which might force the Witch, in their eyes, to embrace certain aspects of dictatorship. On the other hand, the flood of Blood the Prince brings could help salvage the session in unity. 25%.

~{o-o~} Nix {~o-o}~

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