#bayonetta voice: dreadful!

[tacticaldivine]

I just found out about Daccapri, she seems really neat :) I do have questions:

• So her parents are Argosax and Arius? How did that go down? To what extent did she know her parents?

• Since Lucia trained her, what's their relationship like? On a scale of "I taught her what I know then we went our separate ways" to "she's basically my daughter"?

• How did she get involved with Nero and the crew?

• Where did she learn her gunsmithing skills? What kind of guns does she make, and does she use them?

• Tell us more about this demon witch that possesses her sometimes, assuming that's still canon.

Thanks I'm glad you think she is neat uvu I’m gonna tell you rn; we do not live and die by canon in this house I be making this shit up so you just need to trust me. A lot of her stuff borders into Bayonetta lore too

 So her parents are Argosax and Arius? How did that go down? 

Her parents are actually Arius and the demon witch Fortuna

It all started 500 years ago. Her mother was a human born witch who went to Hell to escape the persecution of her coven, making a pact with the demon known as Fortuna to ensure her safety.

Fortuna had aided Sparda in his crusade against Mundus; she absolutely takes it personal when she finds out the island named after her worships him. Fortuna is an extremely petty being, a professional hater if you would, holding a grudge against the guy who sealed her off with the rest of the demons is expected.

Emerging after several hundred years after being summoned by Arius. Her mind consumed by her pact demon, Fortuna wants nothing more than to get revenge on humanity, starting with the Legendary Dark Knight who chose to save them. 

Fortuna takes to Arius cause they’re both cartoony ass villains, they wanna reclaim Earth for demonkind. They make a baby, the two of them do a silly little magic ritual to make the baby a vessel for Argosax. 

Fortuna wanted to inhabit the vessel and Arius who’s spent his entire life building to this point ends up using her own weapon to slay her, sealing her inside of it. A weapon Daccapri gains once Arius is killed.

To what extent did she know her parents?

Daccapri was raised by Arius so she knows him very well. Their relationship is very complicated. He treats her like a pet more than a person. And she doesn’t know any better so Daccapri spends most of her life assuming that this is normal. No matter what awful tests she’s subjected to she is fiercely loyal to Arius, her only family. While Arius is incredibly strict and blunt with her, I like to think under all that he does care for her.

She takes after him. Dressing in expensive clothes, behaving with great composure; she maintains a coquettish and level-headed illusion. The façade tends to come undone during combat or moments of intense emotions, revealing her aggressive and crude self.

Daccapri doesn’t really know Fortuna or Argosax. She hears Fortuna’s voice in her head, goading her on, her blood singing to eviscerate Sparda’s kin whenever she’s around one of them. 

Daccapri only knows of Argosax through texts. A distinct flavor of dread that haunts her, an unknown legacy to live up to that instinctively she knows is bad but it's what she was made for, her sole purpose for existing.

Since Lucia trained her, what's their relationship like? On a scale of "I taught her what I know then we went our separate ways" to "she's basically my daughter"?

I would describe it more as a sibling type bond but mentor/pupil is definitely more fitting I do agree. Either way they do not get along at all, more of a “I’m disappointed that you let yourself become the monster they made you to be” kind of way. Lucia spent countless hours training her during her time as a Secretary and then once again later when she became a Protector. Both of them raised to be weapons by the same man, they argue about how they should and should not be using said powers. Lucia believes it best to remove her from the equation entirely, Daccapri's mind already slipping; who knows when she'll finally lose control.

Lucia’s relationship with Matier is her saving grace, but Lucia does not show this same patience to Daccapri. Meanwhile Daccapri, who’s only idea of love, familial or otherwise, is absolute control over another person, hates being told what to do; especially from a Secretary. Daccapri recognizes Lucia’s skill but her inflated ego has her believing she’s above anyone around her. Unfortunately for both of them; she is able to back up said ego with combat prowess thanks to her demonic blood. 

How did she get involved with Nero and the crew?

Following her departure from Dumary Island, Daccapri ends up becoming an Information Broker. Her time with the Uroboros Corp at least comes in handy for something. Lucia, who has little trust that she’ll keep herself out of trouble, asks Dante to watch her.

She is turned away from DMC at first, so she uses her own connections to establish herself as a decent fixer. Impressed by her strong will and resourcefulness earning the respect of the accomplished hunter, she works for Lady post DMC2. 

During this time she slowly meets them all as Lady spends a fair amount of time entangled with the crew. Her connection with Lady is what helps establish herself amongst other information brokers. It also puts her directly at odds with Dante, who’s involvement with Lady results in countless collateral charges. 

As for how she meets Nero? She first learned of him through her time spent visiting The Order on Fortuna. Though she did not pay attention to him at first, more enamored with the recent success of Credo; a human having survived the Ascension Ceremony with his mind in tact. 

She would properly meet Nero and Nico sometime between 4 and 5 when Morrison sends them to her to collect job details. A love of supernatural weaponry unites her and Nico. Her and Nero however? The pair are volatile together, constantly egging the other on. Unstoppable Force meets Immoveable Object.

Daccapri takes to Nero the most because she enjoys toying with him. She also sees a bit of herself in him. She also wants to completely eviscerate him due to the age old grudge she was made to fulfill but its easily overcome with the power of friendship! He gives as good as he gets and she's absolutely enthralled at having to earn his respect, she loves a good challenge.

After the fall of the Qliphoth, Daccapri steps in as the primary informant for Nico and him and even accompanies them on missions.

Where did she learn her gunsmithing skills? What kind of guns does she make, and does she use them?

She learns them during her time with Uroboros. In my perfect little world, she would have learned from Agnus. (Whether that could be "canon" or not really idc cause she would have encountered The Order when funding their research so it doesn't matter when) She has a preference for making Devil Arms, she has a disdain for the stink of gunpowder and prefers any alternative. Despite this she wields Arius’s revolver, though she does end up heavily modifying it. She tends to use regular guns more as a melee weapon than as a ranged weapon, unless you count throwing it at someone at Mach speed(which I do at least).

She does try to use magic to concentrate bullets but regular weaponry tends to jam or stall at the rate she fires them. It's easier to avoid it entirely.

She herself uses a big stupid fuck off OP weapon that’s a gift from her mother. It's like Pandora’s box but bigger and gaudier. She spends most of her time studying it to try and replicate it, all attempts have failed but it's her own pet project.

I haven't sat down to properly draw her arsenal yet,,, my apologies

Tell us more about this demon witch that possesses her sometimes, assuming that's still canon.

So the demon witch that possesses her sometimes is actually her Mother, Fortuna. 

Fortuna is my Bayonetta OC. At this time she doesn't have a design so I'll give you Daccapri's Trigger design that invokes her

Madama Fortuna, was a former angel who spurned Iustita and wished to take over them rather than be just a servant to them. Cast out of Paradiso, she took well to the shadows of Inferno. Should a conjurer sign a contract and trade her soul, the demon will bestow her [[enourmous power and great wisdom]]

Witches who do their research can utilize her blinding lust for conquest to overwhelm her better judgment to manipulate the demon to their will. Following the witch's fall, they are destined to live out all eternity in her circle. Souls brave enough to fuse with her, or romance her, will become attached to her gown where she flaunts them for intimidation.

Fortuna grants her conjurer what is essentially plot armor. While the user is blessed with good luck, all those around her are given her misfortune. The last witch to enter into a pact with her was able to survive the Witch Hunts but wasn’t able to save anyone else during the war due to how her passive ability works.

To what extent this ability affects Daccapri, having both the Fortuna’s blood and her soul bound to her weapon, is unknown at this time.

The human disguise Fortuna wears is the last witch to willingly enter a pact with her.

________________________

I think that's everything. Hope that was somewhat helpful! Thank you for the question

[bananabraiined]

"Jeepers, people seem to be all up tight over you not being in Smash Brothers." said Fio.

"Hey, Fio. Yeah, people are big babies who whine and complain that K. Rool showed up and I ain't. They wouldn't even shut up about it either." DK sighed.

[murdercide626]

A few thoughts on the 9.23.2021 Nintendo Direct

First up, Kirby and the Forgotten Land!

FINALLY we're getting a full 3D Kirby game! And it looks so awesome! It looks like the Mario Odyssey of Kirby games! :D

Kirby Blowout Blast proved Kirby could work well in a 3D environment, and now we're finally getting a full game like that! This was definitely the biggest highlight of the Direct for me! Can't wait to hear more details! ^^

And so... That Illumination Mario Bros. movie.

Watching the cast announced one by one was the most wtf rollercoaster! XD

Personally, the only one that felt kinda appropriate to me was Charlie Day as Luigi. Maybe I'm just biased because of my love of that actor, but I can easily see him playing a character like Luigi. The question is, will Day and Pratt do Italian accents? lol

But man, I LOVE Jack Black, but I think seeing him cast as Bowser got the most WTF reaction out of me. He just doesn't seem right for the role to me, like at all! But then again, Jim Carrey turned out surprisingly good as Robotnik, so who knows? *shrug*

And Seth Rogen initially got a negative knee jerk reaction from me, but after giving it some thought, I think it does kinda fit. DK always came across as a pretty chill guy. When he wasn't stomping crocodiles and capturing damsels anyway, lol. And having heard a stereotypical surfer dude voice come out of DK's mouth, this will hardly be the most jarring portrayal of the big ape. I just hope we don't hear him do that trademark Seth Rogen "huehuhuhuhuhuuuuh" laugh. lol

Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see Kamek and Cranky Kong will be part of the cast too! ^^

And finally....

BANJO-KAZOOIE ON THE SWITCH!!

I'm so f***ing happy this game is finally going to be back on a Nintendo console! :D

Makes me hopeful that if they ever do make a new Banjo game that it'll be on a Nintendo system! Fingers crossed! 🙏

But anyway, those were my highlights of the Nintendo Direct. I don't really have a lot of thoughts on the other announcements. Splatoon 3 and Bayonetta 3 look interesting, and I'm still looking forward to Metroid Dread. But yeah. Got some good stuff coming up! ^^

[kdinjenzen]

Thoughts on the rest of the direct? Mario movie excluded

Kirby and the Forgotten Land - POYO/10, yes please!!

Splatoon 3 - WOOMY/10, let’s GOOOO!!!!

Monster Hunter Rise DLC - Not My Thing/10, but very happy for folks.

Chocobo GP - WARK/10!!!! YESSS!!!

Castlevania Advance Collection - MY FAVORITES/10

Actraiser Renaissance - Neat/10, not getting it though.

Mario Golf: Super Rush DLC - I Still Haven’t Played This Though I Want To/10

Mario Party Superstars - Please Let Online Work/10, I’m begging you…

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut - Everyone should try this/10

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - BABY FISH MAN/10

Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition - I couldn’t care less/10

Shadowrun Trilogy - Eh, Okay/10

Dying Light 2 Stay Human Cloud Version and Dying Light: Platinum Edition - Glad These Are Coming To Switch/10

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake - Let It Die/10

Rune Factory 5 - FINALLY!!!!! IM SO READY!!!/10

Voice of Cards - AHHHHH IM SO HYPE/10

Triangle Strategy - YES IM SUCH A NERD FOR THIS/10

NEW ANIMAL CROSSING UPDATE - Brewster/10, Coffee Coffee Coffee

Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack - I wish it was more than just N64 & Genesis/10, but still cool.

And finally… Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Dread -

[xyztrio721]

The Direct is over, and I have some thoughts that I want to share!

Going in order:

I didn’t mean to predict Mario Party Superstars’s appearance in this Direct, it just happened! But anyway, I’m a little concerned about the game. As far as I can tell, there are only 5 boards, all of which are based off of boards from the N64 Mario Party titles. While it is cool to see old boards make their return, the fact that there are only 5 of them doesn’t sit well with me. Wasn’t this a complaint people had about Super Mario Party?

Chocobo GP fucking killed me. What the hell is this game, and why do I love the concept of a Chocobo racing other Final Fantasy characters on roller skates?

Straight up DENIED. I thought we were going to get an announcement for the final DLC Fighter in Smash Ultimate, but nope! We’re getting that on October 5th! I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to watch the full presentation, because I have class an hour and a half after the presentation starts!

I was not expecting a new Kirby game, but I’m glad it happened! That being said, I have a question: Is Kirby and the Forgotten Land the first Kirby game to have a 3D world for you to explore, or has that happened in other Kirby games?

Apparently, I accidentally predicted Metroid: Dread’s appearance in this Direct, too. I’m not too surprised by it’s appearance, since it is coming out soon, but wow.

I think I’ve heard rumors about Nintendo adding support for N64 games on the Switch, but I did not expect them to be true! I wasn’t expecting Sega Genesis games on the Switch either, and for some reason, that seems… weird. I mean, it probably isn’t, but isn’t it strange to hear about the Sega Genesis and its games in a Nintendo presentation? It sucks that you’ll likely have to pay more money for the Nintendo Switch Online service just so you can gain access to the games they showed for both the N64 and the Genesis, but if you’re okay with that, then go for it!

To be honest, when they were showing a bunch of games that were a collection of other games in a specific franchise, I was fully expecting Danganronpa: Decadence to show up. I’m surprised it didn’t!

I thought the Mario movie was a joke, but it isn’t? It’s real?! And Charles Martinet ISN’T voicing Mario or Luigi?! I’m not going to say that the movie will suck because of that, but that’s seems like a weird choice to me.

Hey, remember when I said that Splatoon 3 news would likely come in the fall after the E3 Direct ended? Well…

Shout-out to all of the Bayonetta fans who waited 4 YEARS for the announcement of the release date for Bayonetta 3. Your patience payed off, and I am very happy for all of you!

[bananabraiined]

DK rolled his eyes and said, "Hey, get a grip. This is not the time to cry. What will Bayonetta say if she saw you crying?" The ape then sighed and fetched tissues to Wolf.

*Peeks in* "Rodin, you there? DK'S here."

“Ah, DK. Come on in.” said Rodin as he swept the floor of broken glass and spilled beer.

[funkii4-blog]

Summary & Thoughts On This Evening’s Nintendo Direct

A bunch of indie/third party stuff I don’t care about yknow the usual

OPEN WORLD KIRBY

Some awesome lookin Splatoon 3 content (crab bot crab bot)

More Metroid Dread stuff, looks nice. Isn't this the first Metroid sidescroller in a super long time? last I remember was the stuff in Subspace Emissary and even then it was a while ago

While more dlc for Age Of Calamity was shown, not a single mention of BOTW2 :/ 

Look into Mario Party Superstars. I don't plan on purchasing it but I noticed that Birdo is evidently playable in that one so that’s good to know because I was mad about that in Super Mario Party

And the golf thing; koopa troopa is cool to include but wHO THE HELL IS NINJI

It wasn't mentioned because there was no reason to bring it up but DR Decadence Collection releases on December 3rd

The final SSBU fighter wasn't revealed BUT it was stated it will be revealed in a stream with Sakurai on October 5th

There will also be an animal crossing direct some time in October and the Brewster update in November. I don't play acnh anymore but im happy for the people that wanted him so badly

Some extended plans will be made for NSOnline with several Nintendo 64 and SEGA Genesis titles.

Miyamoto stepped in for a few minutes towards the end and made talk of the Super Mario Bros Movie, set to release in December of 2022. I’m really excited to see how it looks, and that cast had me rolling, what universe do we live in where Chris Pratt voices Mario, Seth Rogen voices DK, Jack Black voices Bowser, etc. Apparently this one.

And lastly but certainly not least, WE FINALLY GOT A FUCKING TRAILER FOR BAYONETTA 3. Its been four years now since the announcement and there's been hardly a word until today. I also love Bayo’s hairstyle in this one, she’s rockin the braids!

And that's about it! I really really enjoyed this direct, haven't been that invested in a non-e3 direct in a few years now. 10/10

Additional note I completely forgot the 3rd anniversary of Bowsette’s existence was a week or so back but that's entirely unrelated

[hopefulenthusiastrabbit]

Thoughts on today’s direct:

Spoilers if you haven’t watched it

-monster hunter looks cool

-new Mario party looks kinda cool but upset that previous game isn’t updated

-voice of cards looks interesting I like the overworld they got

-disco elysium, it’s a murder mystery game, eh not for me but it’s fine

-hurdle warriors expansion, I stopped playing it so meh. Rip egg.

-chocobo racing game? No new Mario kart. Sad.

-fighter???? Ahhhhh why… no it’s in a few days.

-post apocalyptic Kirby?? 3D Kirby game huh?? I like it. Big monkey.

-amnimal crossing update. Oh no it’s a new direct ooo

-jolf. Koops, he spin. Oo ninji.

-Disney.

-star war

-the city. Oh dying light on switch cool. And we got the first one too

-disaiga type game. They listened to the demo nice I love to see that.

-dread. Oh this is the game that is explained for 30 min nice. Ooo next month. Yes!!!

-Nintendo switch online update??? Eww new membership plan. Wait n64 games??? Please just improve the quality. Genesis???? How much will it be? Ah we don’t know cool cool. Just please update the network quality, fuck they have snap and paper Mario.

-magic cuyberpunk game with xcom style nice

-castlevania!!!

-actraiser looks cool. You can be god.

-ayy deltarune 2 on switch, little dog,

-multiple game time hot wheels! Ah cool persona 6, lesbians.

-Miyamoto. Movie? Mario movie! Ayy next year nice. Chris Pratt as Mario???? What? Aight. I have no idea who people are. YOOOOOOOOOOOO JACK BLACK!!! Nice i think that will be cool.

-SPATOON!! Hammond gun. Why is squid harry? Antarctica. Ooo there was a crossbow. Mammals. Big excited.

-last thing. Gun. Bayonetta!!!! I love her new outfit. Elephant noise. Yo kaiju battles! When when? Aww next year. Oh well. It will give me time to fix my switch.

Overall not bad. Big excited for new smash character!

[bananabraiined]

"Dreadful. And she uses the word so often." The ape shook his head.

theamazingdonkeykong replied to your post ““Guys, what if Galeem isn’t an angel?” “What if he’s actually a…”

A big thot. And Bayonetta will kill him.

“Hate to break it to ya, big guy…but Galeem got her, too.”

@theamazingdonkeykong

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing Tidbit Yay!…

… Celebration!

With angst!

Okay, I actually gotta go, but I wanted to post this mess first.

This was inspired by, yet again, Killjoys.

But also kinda a moment from Bayonetta 2.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“One moment, Aruto-shachou.” Izu’s voice over the intercom was level as always, but there was something dread in her tone that made him stop in his tracks, his heart sinking.

As the others came up short around him, he took a deep breath and asked, “What is it, Izu?”

“Our scrambling of the security systems appears to have short-circuited the system, causing it to reboot.”

He blinked, frowning. “Uh… Why are you saying that like it’s a bad thing? Won’t that make it easier to get out?”

Yaiba, however, had gone white as a sheet. “Because when the system reboots, it undoes all the security locks,” She explained.

“Which means…” Fuwa began slowly—then caught on, his eyes widening, “… Weapons are about to come back online.”

“Hiden Towers are not equipped to withstand a military-grade attack.” Izu continued. “If the Ark were to target us, the destruction would severe.”

Aruto had a horrible suspicion that ‘severe’ was an understatement, his blood running cold. “Is there time to evacuate?”

“Negative, Aruto-shachou,” His secretary responded, then paused for a moment, “The power is coming back on now.”

“Shit!” Fuwa growled, turning sharply away to take a swing at the wall.

Aruto looked at Yaiba. “Why does ZAIA even have a heavy weapons system?!”

“They were meant to be used for field tests,” She replied, scowling at the floor. Then she stepped back the way they’d come. “You guys go ahead.”

Fuwa looked back. “Whoa, whoa. Where the hell are you going?” He reached out at caught her arm. “It’s the Ark, it’s absolutely scrambled the command codes.”

“I have the manual self-destruct codes for the base.” Valkyrie informed him. “It may have locked us out remotely, but if those are entered directly, the resulting explosion will take the weapons out as well.”

“And you with it!” Vulcan shot back. “… Give them to me.”

Yaiba yanked her arm out of his hold. “Like hell.” She snapped. “You’re all that’s standing between AIMS and being co-opted by the government.”

“And if you die, we lose the ZAIA deserters.” Aruto interrupted. Then he sighed. “Give me the codes, I’ll do it.” They both turned and stared at him.

“And what,” Fuwa demanded sharply, “You’ll just leave Hiden to Fukuoze?”

Aruto was about to reply when another voice cut him off. “Give them to me.”

All three of them turned slowly to stare at Horobi. The HumaGear’s voice sounded tired and resigned, though his expression was as impassive as always, even as Yaibe frowned at him. “… What?” Valkyrie managed, finally.

Horobi sighed. “The only one here who is actually expendable is me.” He said flatly. “Jin is the future of free HumaGear. I was merely here to help him realise that.” A shrug. “I have completed my purpose.”

Fuwa broke away from Yaiba, stomping over to catch Horobi’s arm, giving it an angry yank, though his expression was anxious rather than angry. “But Jin-”

“Needs to learn to stand on his own.” Horobi shot back. “And if someone doesn’t do this fast, will die when Hiden Towers come down.” He met Fuwa’s glare with an equally intense gaze. “I will not live without him again.”

For a moment, they just stared at each other—then Fuwa let go of the HumaGear’s arm, stepping back and lowering his head in defeat. There was a long spell of silence—then the lights flickered back on.

“Power restoration at thirty-seven percent.” Izu announced over coms.

Horobi gave all three of them a completely unreadable, serious look. “Go.”

Still, they hesitated for a moment. “I’ll…” Yaiba stammered, fumbling for her phone, “I’ll transfer you the codes.”

“Do it while you’re moving.” The HumaGear snapped.

She bit her lip—then nodded, turning and dashing toward the way out. Aruto hung out a little longer; then Izu gave a prompting ‘Aruto-shachou’ through his earpiece, and he tore his eyes away from the HumaGear to start running as well.

Vulcan waited the longest, anxiously clutching his weapon. He was turning to go when Horobi’s voice unexpectedly stopped him. “Fuwa Isamu.” Fuwa paused, looking back. The HumaGear was giving him an almost… Pleading look. “… Make sure he stays free.” Meeting Horobi’s gaze again, Fuwa nodded—then he, to, turned and fled.

Horobi didn’t waste a second spinning around and going back the way they’d come, faltering only slightly when his visual display flickered with the code transfer, and to pull up the tracking info on the restoration level.

It had already jumped to fifty-four percent.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Jin had busied himself with drawing while he waited for Horobi and the others to come back from the mission, and had succeed in almost completely covering the floor of the private lab with papers. Shesta was sitting by the computer, looking at the drawings littered around her in bewilderment, and periodically checking to make sure he hadn’t moved from his spot on the floor. He’d tried multiple times to get her to play with him, or draw as well, but she’d merely repeated that she didn’t understand the request until he gave up. He didn’t think he needed the babysitter, but all of the humans aside from Vulcan had all seemed so unnerved by him, and the old, angry-looking Vice President had insisted that someone watch him—to which Horobi had conceded when Izu assured him it would be another HumaGear, so he’d been left with the Vice-Presidential Secretary for safety.

He was merely content to draw, however, cycling through all of his dead friends before moving on to Ansatsu-chan and Ikazuchi. He’d even tried drawing a picture of Hiden Korenosuke from the one hanging on the office, but gave it up when he couldn’t get it quite to his satisfaction. He supposed he should be calling the old man ‘Grandpa,’ but it felt weird to use that for someone he’d never met, and Horobi was Horobi, not… ‘Hiden’ something. From there he’d moved onto drawing his father with Sting Scorpion behind him, humming to himself as he worked, resolving to get it done to show it to Horobi when he got back.

He was almost done when he heard the door open, and he pricked up, scrambling to his feet and hurrying over to the stairs to see who it was—only to let out a disappointed sigh when Izu came down the steps alone. There was a small silence, and he realised that there was something odd about her expression, darker than her usual calm demeanour. “… Izu-chan?”

She hesitated a moment longer, then, “Measures taken to scramble ZAIA security for infiltration caused the main power to reboot, bringing the weapons system back online,” She told him quietly, “The only method to prevent it from destroying the Hiden towers is to manually enter the self-destruct codes, requiring someone to stay behind.”

Somewhere behind him, Jin heard Shesta shooting to her feet, but he was more focused on running through the list of likely possibilities. “… Vulcan?” Fuwa Isamu was the reckless type who would do something like that; and he’d become rather fond of Fuwa because Horobi liked him despite everything, which would make sense of her pitying expression—but Izu shook her head once, forcing him to reconsider. “… Valkyrie?” He didn’t know the woman very well, but she and Vulcan seemed fond of each other, and he guessed the AIMS Rider would be sad if she died—but Izu gave another head shake. “… Zero-One…?” It seemed unlikely that she would be coming down to tell him that—if the President of the company was sacrificing himself, she’d probably have more to do in the main room. Jin wasn’t sure what to think of the possibility—he and Hiden were still getting used to the idea of being ‘family,’ and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it after Zero-One had blown him up once. But Izu was shaking her head once more, and he frowned even deeper. If it wasn’t any of the humans, then…

He froze, eyes widening. If it wasn’t any of the humans, then there was only one other person it could be.

The paper and crayon slipped from his fingers, and he pushed past Izu, sprinting for the door. Shesta might’ve shouted something after him, but he didn’t hear here, far too focused on getting to the big room where the communications were. Horobi had promised they’d always be together. He’d promised.

Unsurprisingly, there was a loud clamour when he burst into the room, the Vice President whirling around to round on him. “He’s not supposed to be-”

“I’m authorising it.” It seemed Izu had used her speed to catch up to him, but Jin didn’t bother to look back at her and Fukuoze. He wasn’t outfitted with the same wireless abilities as human-made HumaGear, because Horobi had considered that a method of creating a ‘herd mentality’ by humans, whatever that meant—but it meant that his only chance of reaching his father was to reach other com controls.

He crashed so roughly into the board that he nearly sprawled over it, frantically fumbling for the part that would let him speak to Horobi. “Horobi!” His voice couldn’t break, but it sounded off.

There was silence on the other side of the connection for a moment—then Horobi’s voice came through. “… Jin.”

He clutched the edge of the control panel, shoulders shaking, mock breathing short and panicked. “Horobi! What are you doing?! Come home!”

“I cannot do that.”

Jin let out a small sob, shaking his head. “No… No….!” He leaned closer, hand scrabbling at the edge of the speaker like he could reach through it and pull Horobi back. “Please…! Please don’t leave again…” 

He heard his father sigh softly. “… Jin.” He repeated, far too calmly. “If I do not do this, you will die. That is unacceptable.”

“No!” He was becoming so hysterical, he couldn’t speak clearly, shaking so badly he could barely stand. “No… Horobi…!”

There was a silence on the other end. “… Jin?” Horobi’s voice was much quieter, and there was a small tremble in it. “… Just once… Could you call me…?”

“Papa.” Jin whimpered, hanging onto the communications panel to hold himself up. “Papa, please. Come home.”

He didn’t know if the sound that came out of the speaker was a sob of Horobi’s own, or merely static. “… Thank you.” His father said softly. Then, “… I love you, my son.”

A blast of static burst from the speaker at the same time the distant building could see through the windows exploded.

Jin let out a scream that broke the constraints of human hearing, spinning around and going for the door. Maybe if he ran fast enough, he could get there in time, find Horobi, and—he was brought to a sharp stop when Izu appeared in front of him, digging her heels into the ground and bracing herself against his chest. When he kept fighting, she got her arms around his waist, pushing back. She was as strong as he was, and though he succeeded in making it a few steps, his will eventually gave out, and he sank to the floor in a heap, dropping his head into his hands, tearless sobs shaking his whole body. He faintly heard her kneel beside him, and then thin arms were wrapped around his shoulders. Twisting around he buried his face into her shoulder, putting his around her middle, crying into her coat as she raised a hand to pat his hair.

They stayed there for a long time. Any time someone tried to say something, Izu would raise her head and stare at them until they backed off. She didn’t say anything to him, not even about wrinkling her uniform. Instead, she just held him close, smoothing a hand over his hair, and letting him cling to her like she was a teddy bear.

For there was nothing that could be said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don’t worry. I’m sure Horobi’s fiiiiiiiine…

[bananabraiined]

If you're not interested in marrying Pauline, then why do you kidnap her?

DK groaned.

"Blame my grandfather for that stunt. Me doing it to her and Mario made me a pain in the butt. I wish the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games never existed.....Pauline doesn't deserve to get involved in my mess. I really need to talk to ladies..."

"Therefore, no more Mario vs. Donkey Kong. Ever. I don't want to terrify Pauline again..."

[wolfieonatypewriter]

Echoes Across Time And Space

Summary:

Bayonetta was very much ready to have a great and relaxing birthday in the company of Jeanne and a ton of free time when one of her gifts turns out to be more than what she bargained for.

The Remembrance of Time of the day she was born that their absent god had sent her way could prove to be too much, even for her.

Word count: 2.6k

A/N: Golem the discount store siamese is Jeanne's cat that she finds as a stray and he's pretty consistent across my fic universes

“Golem, I swear to fucking God that I will boil you in a big witchy caldron if I go back there and see anything broken!” She had opened the door to their swanky Manhattan high rise to the cute delivery girl for some of her birthday parcels but there was a distinct ruckus of someone breaking things. “I'm sorry, it's the cat you know.”

The other lady laughed and tucked in her signing machine underneath her arm, handing her the parcel emblazoned with ‘From: Luka Redgrave’ in swirly, obnoxiously composed handwriting. “This one is fragile, so maybe do keep it out of reach.”

Cereza carted the box back to her kitchen and to the source of the disturbance, only to find the balcony door wide open to the snow storm and Golem meowing in displeasure from the other side of the room.

“You shouldn't have opened this then, you butthole.” He pinned his ears back and harrumphed out with an upturned tail, showcasing such a body part right at her as he trotted away most imperiously.

“About as charming as your owner.” She mumbled to herself, rubbing her bare arms and crossing the expansive kitchen to shut the balcony doors before the blizzard parkered itself on their home.

The wind must have been truly hazardous to have slammed the door open. She spared a thought to Jeanne, out and about in the city probably getting some private party favours for a little birthday one on one fun. She loved her toys and not even the dreadful weather had dissuaded her, especially considering those had been a backed up special order that had been ready at just the right time.

With a graceful pivot, she hummed her way back to the kitchen island, her favorite marble monstrosity, when a twinge of magic rippled in the back of her head. She turned, looking around for what might have caused it. If angels decided to rain down on her for her birthday, she would march straight to Paradiso and punch Jubileus in the face.

Odd, there was nothing out of the ordinary and the flick had since passed with no hint that it had ever happened. With a shrug, she turned back to her parcel on the marble countertop.

Luka had promised something good and she had no doubt he would deliver. What could it be, he was very tight lipped about it but had sworn up and down she was going to love it.

When she looked again, the brown box was no longer anywhere to be found and in its place rested a single blue card.

Aesir.

Cereza jumped into action, looking around wildly and turning her living room around searching for any clues on where he might be. The apartment was as she had left it, everything undisturbed, not even Golem was around to make a mess of things.

“Come on, little one! You can't just drop by like this.” She called out, walking back to the kitchen island once more. Spotting a note that wasn't on her fridge before, she snatched it. “At least show up for a chat…”

Hey, Bayonetta! I got you a little something I do think you'll enjoy. I still don't think you look like a Cereza but after hearing about it, I could be convinced.

Cereza huffed, rolling her eyes. Couldn't anyone in her life not be a dramatic ho with a flair for the theatrical? The simple sheet did not reveal any other tricks so she pinned the damn thing back to the fridge.

The card rested face down and another cursory look revealed that the box Luka had sent was resting on Jeanne's favorite chair. A sense of exhilarating anticipation itched in her chest, a feeling she hadn't gotten since she asked Jeanne to move in with her. As soon as her fingertips touched the card, a rebound of energy coursed through her arm.

With a flick of her wrist, the card was now facing up and a picture of her mummy and Balder appeared. It was stylized in the same way as Loki's old cards, her parents back to back with their hands clasped together.

It was a beautiful figure, bold in it's intent but sad given all that she knew had transpired between them.

“Sentimental, little one.” She was about to grab it to stash it somewhere safe when it lit with a surge of incomprehensible power. The world around her turned to gold and blue, her living room ending up looking like it had been ran with a bad photo filter.

She was about to move when the distant cry of a baby started up. Bayonetta looked around her apartment for any clues, bringing forth her guns from her summoning pocket.

The sound was seemingly everywhere at once but no images materialized. In between whimpers and bouts of crying, a voice sounded over it.

‘My most precious starshine, it's your first morning. What has you ever so displeased?’ The man had a rich baritone, so loving and emotional that something stabbed through her heart at the realization. He wasn't speaking English, it sounded like something of a cross between Portuguese and Galician which could only be Vigridian. Cereza was astounded she could still understand it.

This was a remembrance of time and that was… ‘She’s so Umbra but reacts so well to your magic.’ A woman chimed in, voice low and somewhat hoarse. Tired but content and Bayonetta wasn't dumb enough to miss why. All in all, she had to thank Rosa for a job so well done.

‘Daddy loves his little girl so, he can hardly stand to part with her.’ The rustle of cloth followed his statement and she strained to try and picture what could be happening. Was he holding her? Passing her over to Rosa? ‘Mummy has food, tasty and delicious. Is that what you want?’

After a few seconds, the unmistakable sound of a baby nursing filled the silence. In that time, Bayonetta came crashing down to earth on what she was seeing and hearing. Her parents, her very own parents were there in echo on what seemed to be the day she was born. Balder sounded so soft, so in awe of what had happened. His tender tone was ripped right out of a fairy tale, of parents not filled with grief, not confined to the back of an annulment cell. Of all the things she knew of him, distorted and fragmented as they were, this facet was the hardest to swallow. Father Balder had been dramatic and violent, his younger self has been angry and hurting. In neither of those had there been any space for the loving care she was hearing.

Bayonetta didn't know what to do with that information but she didn't have much time to chew it over as Rosa started speaking again.

‘She is so small… felt much larger a couple of hours ago though.’ They shared a chuckle and a the sound of a couple of soft kisses reached her ears, the rawness of their affection was obvious even without visuals. Young spouses, newly minted parents with their whole world suckling peacefully in front of them. 'Well then, what will our daughter be called?’

'I think Cereza is a perfect match.’ he supplied, words reverent and Rosa laughed in reply, so joyful and unfettered like Bayonetta only heard a scant few times in her life. ‘And may her life always be bathed in the summer sun.’

There it was, oh there it was. A name that was a blessing of the highest calibre coming from her Lumen father. A prayer that had fallen on deaf ears.

‘She was born in the dead of winter, Balder. Might I add, exactly as a good little Umbra should.'

A small sob escaped her throat and before she knew it, a couple of stray tears made their way down her face. This wasn’t...it wasn’t fair and Bayonetta had no clue on how to process the turbulent tide of her overwhelming sadness, her unconfronted grief or even just the unfairness of her misplaced anger at her parents and their decisions.

“Cereza!” The rapid staccato of heels pounded across their foyer and Jeanne sprinted into the kitchen only to halt immediately at the scene that greeted her harried entrance. “What is…”

‘That’s precisely why she needs a summer blessing. To balance it out!’

That voice brought back a flood of memories and she raised her guns, teeth gnashed and all of her was ready to summon Madama Styx right then and there but when she noticed there were no threats at their gates, she uncoiled enough to take a good look around.

Her most beloved was crying, their kitchen felt like an hub of undetermined energy zapping through her whole soul and Jeanne, brightest witch in an age and Elder of the Umbra Witches, had no clue what was going on. So she did the first thing that came to mind. Envelop Cereza in a hug.

‘The daughter of the night and day, an auspicious portent. Though many would disagree.' Rosa's voice continued to sound in their spacious kitchen, gaining a harder edge and at some point Jeanne realized that it came from the card on their table. Oh no, a remembrance of time. ‘ How long do you figure this safehouse will hold? A month?’

She hugged back, burying her face on Jeanne's shoulder and biting her lower lip to keep from shedding more tears while the memory kept going like a stuck tape on a broken recorder.

'At best, yes.’ All of a sudden he sounded very tired and they heard a sigh. ‘For now, we can all rest. This is as isolated as isolation can be, it seems the legends about Fimbulventr are not as true as they seem.’

‘For now as well, the people's whispers are too loud to ignore.’

Bayonetta lifted her head from Jeanne’s shoulder and furrowed her brow at those words, turning to her. They had taken refuge on the Holy Mountain and somehow had been taken in with warmth. Her personal experience told her acutely that being received kindly in there was next to impossible.

A thousand and one questions burned inside her head but none more intense than the age old query: Had their absent God interfered? Had he taken pity in his own Eyes, harbouring the Left and Right facets of creation and their precious bundle of the apocalypse in his own domain?

Little whimpers broke up their strategy meeting and rustling cloth sounded up again. ‘You’re daddy's girl already and you barely know what a daddy is, moonstone.’

Balder chuckled at her words, whimpers growing louder. ‘Why do I think it's not a me she likes best. You might be right, she pays attention to my magic but it's not working now.’

A string of lilting bird calls, like one would expect from a songbird, followed his statement and Jeanne just held her close, commenting “Lumen sages are keen on their bird natures, it's part of their communication.”

‘See, she likes that.’ Rosa’s voice had a hint of smugness that sounded so very characteristically Bayonetta in its execution. However, despite having quietened down a touch, little Cereza still made her discomfort known.

‘Not enough to soothe her it seems.’ He replied, chirping a little more but without any further success. A rumbling purr broke through and that Bayonetta knew what it was.

Somewhere in the back of her memories, she remembered her mummy purring at her, as close as she could through the thick bars of her cell. Her chest rattled and rumbled and her little tiny self would bask in the comforting certainty of it all.

The lack of visuals was both infuriating and a boon, as they could only guess at Cereza’s adorable fussiness from the squirming sounds she was making.

But it also meant Bayonetta couldn't see the love in her parents’ eyes, couldn't see their weariness and their bone aching tiredness tinged with overwhelming relief of having found shelter just in time for their little one to be born.

Couldn't see all she had missed.

‘Fly me to the moon…’ Their perfect harmonizing jarred her from her thoughts like a vengeful poltergeist.

‘And let me play among the stars’ the song was perfect in it's execution, a performance born of repetition. ‘In other words, please be true.’ Of singing it many times together.

‘In other words…’ No fussiness could be heard anymore, only the well polished lullaby in the unique duet version Bayonetta had never even guessed could exist.

‘I love you…’

The magic faded slowly after the last bar like a record player winding down and the last she heard was the faint noise of another soft kiss.

At that time, she had stopped caring about the tears streaming down her face or the fact that she was hanging on for dear life on Jeanne. It was embarrassing and heavy but at the same time a part of it felt…

Good.

A soft purr vibrated near her cheek, breaking the uncomfortable silence of their apartment and Jeanne held her closer. The purr picked up, higher pitched and softer than her mother's great big tiger purr, causing her to scrunch her eyes shut for a second.

“In other words.” Jeanne started, her words vibrating through her rib cage.”I love you…” Cereza felt a kiss to her hair and she sniffed, wiping her stray tears with the back of her hand.

She lifted her head and Jeanne smiled, kind and caring and loving and all just for her. She replied with a watery smile, disentangling from her lover and taking off her glasses to rub at her eyes.

The card was facing up near them on the countertop, Rosa and Balder with clasped hands staring back at them, defiant. And wasn’t that the foundation of their life, a relationship forged out of defiance. A daughter born out of love.

“Please tell me you didn't get me an emotional gift as well.”

Jeanne chuckled, snaking her arms around her waist and kissing her lips softly. “I have some things you'll like in my bag of tricks but it's mostly earthly pleasures, I promise.”

Cereza was exceptionally hard to shop for so she just got her luxury spa days and shopping trips. She had gotten her a pair of heels her most beloved had commented she had her eyes on for Valentine's and Cereza had replied the fun was in the going. Going out shopping with her was always an event that had even the most upper brow places at the beck and call of Cereza’s inexorable charms.

With a tentative touch of her fingertips on the card, Bayonetta snagged it from the kitchen island and stashed it on her summon void. She hoped beyond hope it didn’t start up again, another tongue lashing of emotions and past trauma would surely leave her soul even more raw than what it currently was.

That would take time to process and she was sure to either yank little one’s ears when she next saw their absent God or thank him for giving her such a thing, she wasn’t sure which one yet. In any case, that was an issue for future her because for now…

“Earthly pleasures you say?” The flip to predatory was so fast that Jeanne didn't even have time to react before a nip to her neck dragged an embarrassing moan out of her. Cereza had snagged her up with feline proficiency, the back of her thighs bumping against the countertop and Jeanne found herself at the complete mercy of Cereza’s hungry grin “Did you find what you went out for.”

Oh yes, she had and she was more than ready to see how it worked.

“Yes.”

Golem wouldn’t even complain.

[bananabraiined]

"Barbecue? I haven't heard from him. How cheeky," the ape said as he recharged his Switch. "I've been practicing and testing weapons and taunting before the Pure Platinum challenge."

“Not very often I see someone finish a game without getting hit. You must got some mad skills to beat the infinite Climax,” said Rodin, smiling, “So you heard that our big dino friend, Bowser, is throwing a BBQ Feast.

[twitchesandstitches]

i’ve had a few talks about the Angels of Neon Genesis Evangelion and how they fit into Crossthicc, and they’ve since given me some info on how AT Fields work to factor it into things, so here’s how they work in Crossthicc

firstly, terminology here: much as how ‘demon’ is a super general term for pretty much any supernatural being that happens to look like a demon (or even mortal beings, like tieflings, with a similar look) and that ‘fiend’ is the word we want when referring to actual entities of infinite malice and wickedness, the term angel is similarly broad. Entites such as those based on the actual Biblical Angels, D&D’s aasimar and celestials. the antagonists of Bayonetta, and other things are all around. Angel, however, is not that much of a general term, and where possible, they are given their own proper names since while you can point at a red creaturew ith horns and goat legs and go ‘demon’, the same cannot be said for angels, who come in a variety of forms. Sometimes they are voluptuous humanoids with curve gigantic even by this AU’s standards; sometimes they are multi-faced creatures that speak with the voice of Goodness itself and are profoundly alien in a way that makes even eldritch horrors look approachable.

But for brevity’s sake, i’ll just call the monsters of NGE ‘angels’ for short. In-universe, though, they are unlikely to have any consistent name, as few people realize they are related in any way whatsoever because of how different they are.

the Angels, as per canon, are incredibly old beings. They were not created as they are, though; in the very beginnings of the multiverse, there was a primordial race beyond all others, beings akin to modern lizardmen, dinosaur kings, and Argonians. This primordial race was the first true sapient, or the ones who survived to claim it. Pursuing transcendence, they found it, and they individually became divine entities, surpassing everything around them and transforming into beings of almost limitless power, their forms dictated by the purposes they assigned themselves.

the AT Field, which can be described in Crossthicc as the magical term for the distinction between ‘you’ and ‘that which is Not You’ (a very important thing in magic, as all magic is the soul’s influence on reality), has transformed for the angels. it has evolved, mutating and morphing, into a zone of absolute dominion, a sort of private universe around them where their will is law. They view this as a sacred thing of a sort, and while its hard to make general statements, it seems they have coe to view this dominion over their immediate space as preservation of who/what they are, in a very alien way.

Within this space, the angel determines physics. Attacks warp into being. Atoms sunder, spells unravel, and threats are annihilated. They are absurdly powerful, on the level of many gods; they have refined their understanding of Self for a very long time, and their alien understanding has developed to the point that within their AT field, they determine reality itself. Many magic users would love to figure out HOW they do this, as it would be a huge boon to sorcery. Even if an angel was inclined to convey such knowledge, it would be difficult for one to explain it, as they are profoundly alien creatures that genuinely cannot comprehend mortals any longer, and have long since lost the ability to really relate to most other beings.

They generally seem content to ignore other beings, lurking within the realms of magic and doing... something. They don’t work in groups, each one an entity unto themselves. They ignore each other, and anything they encounter; their vast power annihilates anything that would impede them, and anything that tries to communicate with them (even through violence) is viciously attacked in a kind of panic; they seem to dread the idea of the Self becoming diminished through mingling with another Self, and perhaps fear that they can change through inter-personal interaction.

Nevertheless. They may still yearn for companionship. Certainly, they periodically make things or alter worlds, even as their mere presence completely warps magic for miles around, and its hard to say why they do anything. Sometimes they ignore anything in their path, and other times they calmly attack everything they see, at apparent random. Guardian kaiju, such as Godzilla or Gamera, greatly detest them and often attack them on sight in pre-emptive self defense.

Appearance wise, Angels are super curvaceous, even if they’re not particularly humanoid; due to their raw power, they boast extremely feminine forms with ludicrously massive curves; they are often dwarfed by their own endowments, and these can manifest in some odd configurations; taur-style bodies with bizarre numbers of legs, an unusual amount of breasts, and wings resembling long hair wouldn’t be unusual. Assume that they look as much like monster girl-ified versions of their canon forms, if possible. In-universe, they are highly suspectible to the mental nergies of sapient species, and may be influenced to take on their forms, so they tend to look at least little like anything around them. If they’re near humans, they will look more humanoid. Near krogan, they will look like monster turtle things.

some angels really hate this and will become extremely hostile and attack worlds just to rid themselves of the offending psychic intrusion. Others don’t seem to care, but are just as dangerous in their drifting indifference.

And Angels are very, very, VERY large. With their sheer power, they are far larger than planets; within the magical realms where they can exist at full size with ease, it is hard to perceive them at all, only the drifting outlines of a massive breast, or a projected face-helm. Ships pass into their shadow, and remain in the dark for weeks even moving at full light speed. Within the material realm, though, it takes longer for them to grow to their full size, starting at planet size, and they continue to grow until they might dwarf galaxies, and they still grow. Their AT Fields are thus absurdly powerful, and an expanding zone of reality going completely bonkers as the angel works their strange will.

they can’t really be fought. They might be able to be killed, but it’s highly unlikely and probably going to make Very Bad Things happen. For the most part, they are a cautionary tale for the dangers of transcendence, approached recklessly.

That said, they ARE a species of a sort, even if a small one, and smaller angels (similar to canon ones) do sometimes appear. Lilith is responsible for these, and she is chiefly obsessed with reproduction. Rei may have been made through harvesting an ancient remnant of Lilith herself, though it must be noted that the Angels have no connection to humanity in any particular way here.

Angels are, ultimately, not a threat to face as much as they are a force of nature that can be redirected or at least inconvenienced, but their sheer power makes this an extremely chancey bet. The main factions (Fleet, Stingers, Ringers and Task Force X) can do so, but it’s likely to be so taxing its better to just run and leave them alone. Of these groups, the Fleet, with their transhumanist leanings, are most interested in them, and have figured something out:

the angels are lonely, and at the same time, too afraid to breach their ancient shields and dare to mix their Self with another Self.

The Task Force, for their part, are the only other ones involved with them actively; the Ringers generally ignore them except as a potential threat, while the Stingers have a policy of ‘look, you see one pop up, you run like hell’. the Task Force’s goals with them are unclear, but it seems that they are trying to pacify them in some way.

each Angel is effectively a power unto themselves; they don’t really have any common goals, drifting about and attending to their own weird whims, and their alien mindsets makes it VERY hard to communicate with them at all even if you can do something about their hair-trigger response to having their sense of self threatened through that. Above all else, they are genuinely alien in a way that makes a lot of people uncomfortable and breaks brains.

Pitable, perhaps, but nonetheless, very dangerous.

And Rei Ayanami is becoming one; humanoid, yes, more human than they are, but she is quickly growing in size, and her status as Endowed means that she is quickly becoming more of an uber-mother than Lilith is (thus making Rei more of an Eve). What’s more, the organic mechs operated by the NGE trio are apparentely pseudo-Angels mixed with human genetics and now fueled by Rei and Asuka’s own souls, effectively becoming their true bodies and the seat of their motherhood-fueled powers. Shinji has a more... complicated situation but something is going on there, all the same.

[eropandasennin]

I posted 4,261 times in 2022

75 posts created (2%)

4,186 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@true-king-of-monsters

@glamurina-vibes

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@retrogamingblog2

I tagged 116 of my posts in 2022

#panda's thoughts - 42 posts

#youtube - 31 posts

#bayonetta 3 - 5 posts

#panda's posts - 4 posts

#bleach tybw spoilers - 4 posts

#bleach spoilers - 4 posts

#naruto spoilers - 3 posts

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#mature - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 109 characters

#that's technically baragon from godzilla: final wars (millenium era) and not og baragon (showa era) but still

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Almost Every Gaming Youtuber in the late 2000's: "Hey did you know Sephiroth and his theme song, One Winged Angel, are overrated? Kefka from Final Fantasy VI is a MUCH better villain and his theme, Dancing Mad, is WAY better and has more depth?"

Me, after rewatching the Cloud VS Sephiroth fight in Advent Children for the tenth time: "What's that? I can't hear you over this awesome guitar riff dude. Guy just sliced a building in half!"

31 notes - Posted November 30, 2022

#4

I really miss having good talks about nerd stuff without it devolving into mudslinging. Doesn't matter if their take on a subject is widly different from mine (not politically though, I know where I stand on that), I would still like to have a fun discussion about it.

Like, a discussion talking about fanservice in anime, how both men and women are portrayed in that regard, is it damaging the image of anime and so forth. That would be cool but no, it always comes back to the dreaded "culture war" eventually. Pathetic.

47 notes - Posted October 15, 2022

#3

More of "I have a type yes":

See the full post

54 notes - Posted October 16, 2022

#2

So Konami just had it's first Silent Hill related...anything that wasn't a pachinko machine in...hold up

*checks notes*

10 years! Holy shit it's been that long...and no, P.T. doesn't count...kinda. Anyway, to make up for it (and probably for Contra: Rogue Corps) they decided to go ALL OUT with this franchise with 3 games, a movie (oh goody), a interactive series (could be fun?) and lots of merch.

First up is a remake of the classic Silent Hill 2. While I rather had seen a remake of the first game (that technically got a re-imaging on the Wii but still) as I think SH2 still holds up really well it is cool to see the game with next-gen graphics.

If they keep the rest of the game intact and add more stuff and locations (and fix the combat) this might be, not a replacement but a good version of the game to enjoy. Especially because the only proper way to play the original SH2 is either the PS2 version, the PC port or the Xbox version with extra content added. Don't go for the HD Collection on this one guys.

Next up are 2 brand new SH games: Silent Hill Townfall and Silent Hill F. Nothing is really know about these yet (except that F takes place in 1960's Japan) so we only got 2 teaser trailers but they look pretty dope either way.

See the full post

63 notes - Posted October 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

124 notes - Posted October 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[aion-rsa]

Why the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Paywall for N64 and Sega Genesis Games Is a Terrible Idea

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Almost every announcement in the September 2021 Nintendo Direct broadcast tried to one-up the other reveals. Audiences finally got the long-awaited Bayonetta 3 gameplay trailer (it was every bit as exciting as we hoped), minutes after the internet was left to decide whether to shout “Wahoo!” or “Mamma mia!” over the Super Mario movie voice cast. But the highlight of the mini-expo, even though virtually everyone predicted it, was the announcement that Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can soon play Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games… assuming they pay for a more expensive subscription model. Something doesn’t smell right.

Before we continue, here’s a quick refresher. For only $20 a year, Nintendo Switch Online hands gamers access to online multiplayer features, voice chat, save data cloud functionality, and an ever-growing collection of NES and SNES games. Sounds like a steal, especially compared to PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold, which ask for $60 annually and only offer a trickle of free games instead of an archive’s worth. But the devil is in the details.

Nintendo Switch Online’s voice chat is a smartphone app that isn’t compatible with all devices, and the save data cloud is on a per-game basis. Want to back up your Splatoon 2 or Pokémon Sword/Shield progress? Tough luck. Oh, and even though you need the subscription to play titles such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate online, lag is a constant bugbear that can render matches unplayable. Back when Nintendo offered free multiplayer, lag was expected and even forgivable in games like Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U, but now players need to pay for online multiplayer even though lag hasn’t improved. Makes you wonder why Nintendo wants to charge even more money.

Starting late October, Nintendo will sell a “new membership plan” dubbed “Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.” This new subscription will provide “more benefits” (no idea what they are), and the company plans to provide further details, including pricing, at a later date. The wording implies the Expansion Pack will be more expensive than vanilla Nintendo Switch Online, which stinks of unnecessary paywalling. But, the catalyst that makes the stench unpalatable is the addition of N64 and Sega Genesis titles. Sure, it’s nothing short of a miracle to play games from Nintendo’s ancient blast-processing rival on the Switch, but locking them behind an additional fee seems questionable…maybe even greedy.

Audiences have wanted N64 games on the Switch ever since Nintendo started providing complimentary NES and SNES titles with subscriptions. This would have been an obvious evolution for the service, but virtually everyone who hoped Nintendo would add N64 games expected them to come at no additional cost. That is the industry standard, after all. Sorta. PlayStation and Xbox consoles have evolved into Netflix-esque video game platforms via PS Now and Xbox Game Pass, which are separate from PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, but they don’t come in different tiers. Anyone with a PS Now account gets hundreds of games on demand for a flat-ish fee. It’s cheaper to buy a year’s worth of PS Now than to purchase a new game each month à la carte, but subscribers can play everything on the menu regardless; Sony doesn’t hide titles like Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots or Rogue Galaxy behind extra fees. So why is Nintendo going down that path? Nobody at the company has explained the reasoning behind the decision, so we can only speculate.

One reason comes to mind, though. Nintendo likely recognizes the N64’s popularity and knows gamers will shell out to relive those classics. Sure, the N64 itself didn’t push as many units as the Nintendo 3DS, but look at any best Legend of Zelda games list. The N64 entries, Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, are always at or near the top. Same with best Super Mario games lists. Moreover, the SNES Classic sold out in nanoseconds. Clearly demand for retro games is big enough to smother supply, so why would Nintendo potentially cap profits with limited physical N64 Classics when they can sell unlimited, new N64-themed subscriptions? You can’t exactly sell out of a digital product, now can you?

Under normal circumstances, we would give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt, but this new subscription is merely the latest in a concerningly growing list of questionable decisions that started with the amiibo. At first, the mini plastic statues only provided fun, superfluous extras, such as bonus Mario Kart Mii costumes and special Super Smash Bros. CPU fighters. But lately, Nintendo has locked some decidedly overpowered enhancements behind amiibo. Two special Metroid Dread amiibo (that are already sold out everywhere) will provide players with extra health and missile tanks; be thankful the game doesn’t sport competitive multiplayer, because anyone who owns the amiibo would have an advantage merely because they dropped an extra $30. And who can forget when the internet temporarily caught fire over the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD amiibo that strong armed players out of $25 for fast travel?

But, amiibo are not the only indicators. The SNES controllers for the Switch were $30 at launch (and still are). Meanwhile, the upcoming N64 and Sega Genesis controllers for the Switch are $50 each. The N64 controller’s price hike makes a bit of sense since it sports more buttons and an analog stick, but the Sega Genesis is basically a SNES controller with fewer buttons. Anyone who purchases it is literally paying more for less.

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Now to be fair, Nintendo is keeping a lot of Expansion Pack details under wraps. We don’t know its non-N64/Genesis library benefits or price tag. If the new membership only costs $1 more and gives customers bonuses like monthly game discounts, free Switch eShop titles for keeps, and eventually Sega Dreamcast games, it might be more than worth the extra cash. On the other hand, if the new subscription is $10 extra, and its only new benefit lets players pre-order games early, then it will be a worse benefit-cost ratio than vanilla Nintendo Switch Online.

No matter how you slice it, though, you cannot deny that locking Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games behind a new subscription with a new price seems pretty cynical since the current subscription doesn’t really justify its cost. Then again, Nintendo will probably get away with it because we’re talking about the N64 and Sega Genesis; anything from those consoles prints money, regardless of the year.

The post Why the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Paywall for N64 and Sega Genesis Games Is a Terrible Idea appeared first on Den of Geek.

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