#because base game doesn’t have a depression buff

[motley-cunt]

[shouta-aizawow]

[for the ask game]

T!

HI HI :D idk if you’re ok with me saying your name so I won’t, but thanks for the ask!! 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending, about anything at all (gender identity, sexual or romantic orientation, extended family, sexual preferences like top/bottom/switch, relationship with poetry, seriously anything)

Bakugou/Bakugou-Related

Bakugou is Not CisHet has to be the biggest one. That boy is queer I tell you!!!!

Uhhhh I don’t see him being romantically attracted to women at all as well. Like, maybe sexually ig but not romantically. He’s not into the girls in his class at all. I accept MomoBaku hesitantly, but I think his “crushes” on women are largely just celebrity crushes (like on pro heroes)

Also I refuse to believe he will grow up to be some sort of tank like endeavor. Absolutely not. He will be lithe. There’s no way he’d be able to do all those arial maneuvers otherwise

He’ll be the number one hero idc idc (unless he decides he doesn’t want to be. If he wants to be he will be one)

He’s good at stealth. Not even a headcanon, but he is quiet when people aren’t provoking him, and he’s extremely level headed in a fight even when he’s pissed off.

He’s not gonna be super tall as an adult. Look at his parents, that boy is not growing more than 6’ (tbh I can accept it but only if his partner(s) are taller than him) He gives “I got my growth spurt in middle/high school school” energy. If he has a growth spurt, I think he’d be really awkward in his body for a while until he grows more confident and has a high self esteem.

Mitsuki and Masaru are bad parents. It’s not “””confirmed””” but based on canon it’s clear that they aren’t, even if they love Katsuki.

He has PTSD, he’s neurodivergent, he’s insecure, has a superiority/inferiority complex, he has depression and anxiety

Bakugou pushes everyone to be better. His friends stick with him because they like him, not just bc he cooks for and tutors them, and he pushes them to improve and expect the best of themselves

Although Deku was Shouto’s first friend, he considers Bakugou his closest or best friend. The Remedial Squad is a healthier friendship for Shouto than the Deku Squad (I’d argue that they’re also healthier for Bakugou than Sero and Mina)

Disclaimer: Bakugou is not a toxic friend to Shouto. I think now Bakugou considers Shouto his friend and respects him based on his words in the manga, but before that, Bakugou has stated numerous times that they were not friends. He can’t be a “bad friend” if he doesn’t even consider them friends, and Shouto can believe they’re close friends (I think they’re close) even if Bakugou doesn’t think they’re friends. That doesn’t make Bakugou a bad person

If he‘d okay with sex, he is not a top or at least not a top-leaning switch IDC WHAT YOU SAY HIS NAME COMES LAST IN A SHIP

Kaminari

Kaminari isn’t some twig I will not stand for it. (Also the way he’s portrayed in fanon a lot of the time is a squick of mine) He may not be as muscular as some of others, but he has muscle and I think when he gets older, he’d either have the body type of Hawks or more buff

He’s an awesome friend to Bakugou idc idc idc he knows boundaries and doesn’t do things he knows Bakugou won’t like. At the beginning he may not have liked him, but he likes him now

Kirishima

Kirishima will be tall. Very tall. Tbh I think all the boys in 1-A would be pretty tall (mineta doesn’t exist)

He’s definitely mixed

He’s emotionally mature and would speak up if he has a problem. He wouldn’t just let if fester

He’s occasionally insecure like the average person, but he’s not depressed (he’d probably have PTSD based on this year alone, but at least beforehand I don’t think he was depressed) and definitely not suicidal

He doesn’t want to “fix” Bakugou at all. He became friends with Bakugou because he knew that that was how he was. Of course he wants to push Bakugou to be better, but he doesn’t think he needs to be fixed. Speaking of Bakugou, Bakugou doesn’t make him feel insecure in the slightest. He makes him feel stronger

Deku

He’s gonna be a tall tank like All Might (maybe not as tall but yknow what I mean). I guess I could accept if he’s short, but he will be buff

If he didn’t have OFA, then I think he’d be shorter and definitely have no muscle like his middle school days. Probably more on the lanky side, maybe awkwardly so, but maybe he grows into it

Deku isn’t a good friend to Todoroki

He’s lowkey but not lowkey an abuse apologist (Endeavor, Overhaul, I’d even argue with Kota’s parents although I don’t think they were abusive. He handled Kota’s grieving in an absolutely awful way.) I think this is Hori’s mentality being portrayed through Deku, but

He’s an unreliable narrator

He doesn’t respect boundaries, least of all the boundaries of Bakugou (again, not really a headcanon just based off of all the times Bakugou as verbally and no verbally expressed discomfort with Deku’s knowledge of him and actions yet Deku keeps pushing)

Teachers

Aizawa is not straight

Present Mic is not straight

All Might is an awful awful awful mentor and teacher

Midnight shouldn’t be a teacher of kids. She’s,,, ick

Nedzu is 0/10 and shouldn’t be a principal when he hates humans (if he’s a good… person… in fics that’s fine, but I definitely don’t think he is in canon)

Others

Mina is black

Miruko is black

Rock Lock speaks only facts. He’s always right

Inko is not a bad parent in the slightest. She’s may not be absolutely perfect, but she’s a good mom

I probably have more, but this is all I have at the moment. If I have more, I’d probably reblog this post with them 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

I like how I managed to squeeze in Bakugou in nearly every category. Go me!!! 🕺🕺🕺🕺💃💃💃💃💃💃

[akiisame]

Genshin impact guide - how to into artifacts

How to into artifacts and team set.

A guide by me for my kawaii @stupidneko and whoever is in need.

Okay, so, as a word of introduction before well start with this long ass post, I’ve never wrote anything like this so be patient with me.

ALSO ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE SO SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR ANY MISTAKES

In my personal opinion artifacts are more important than the characters themselves, they can turn every 4* into a main dps (yes, even amber). 50% of your DMG will come from items, then the other 50% will come from weapon, talents and the character itself, but this is a story for another post.

First let’s take a look at what kind of artifacts do we have. Each and every character have 5 slots for artifacts:

Flower of life - or just flower, for short

Plume of death - feather

Sand of eon - time watch piece

Goblet of Eonothem - goblet

Circlet of Logos - head piece

Each of the pieces have two types of stats: main stats and sub stats. The first two pieces, flower and feather, always have the same main stat.

For flower it's HP

And for feather it's ATK

Then for the rest of them it can be anything, from good main stats like this:

(The following items have high stats because most of them are on max lvl)

... to less of a good stats, like this:

Goblets also are the only artifacts that has the possibility to have element DMG bonus as the main stats:

While head piece are the only artifacts that can have CRIT DMG and CRIT rate as a main stats:

... but they too can have less of a good stats like healing bonus or DEF.

Now, to the sub stats. They can vary from less appealing stats like HP, DEF and Elemental Mastery:

To a great stats like CRIT DMG, CRIT rate and ATK:

Unfortunately that's where the tricky part comes in. You cannot chose which substats the item will have. They will randomly appear. All that's left is to cry and pray.

But how do you get more stats on your item? That's simple, you need to level it up! We call it 'enhancing'. Depending on the rarity of your item( they vary from 1* (one start) to 5*(five stars) ) there are different max lvl cap. I'll mostly focus here on the 4* and 5* items. Max lvl cap for 4* is lv16 and for 5* is lv20.

Every artifact you'll get is always lv1. To enhance an artifact you'll need mora and another artifacts. The main stats will grow with each level, but the substats will update every 4th level (so for 5* item new substats will appear on 4th, 8th,12th, 16th and 20th level). Let's take this 5* feather: Bard's Arrow Feather

As all feathers it has ATK as a main stats and quite decent substats. You can enhance it by giving it other artifacts. You can also auto add artifacts of given level (1*, 2* or below, 3* or below and 4* or below)

Or you can chose items manually if you click on the gray '+' icon. Once you do it, there will be a list of artifacts you can use for enhancing. Only items that are not given to any characters will appear here.

Let’s enhance it up by one lvl (there’s limit of pic so I can’t show it ksmosjnwk). As I said, the main stats got better, but the substats didn't change because that was only the 1st level. So now let's enhance it to lv4. Once we choose enough artifacts to enhance it to lv4 we’ll see an information that one new substat will appear. (It doesn’t always have to be new substats. Sometimes the substats that the piece already have can get a boost).

Let's see what I'll get:

... Yea, I'm going to cry.

But for real now, that's how the artifacts work. Depending on your luck you can get a great items or a depression.

Usually people always aim for artifacts with ATK and CRIT as a both main and substats, but that all depend on you team composition.

But Akii, how do I chose good artifacts for my characters? How do I build my team?

I'm happy you asked. We can have up to 4 character in the team. Usually people aim for a team consisted of one main DPS, one healer and two supports, but ofc that all depends on your style of the game and your needs.

What is the most important in building your team and deciding on artifacts is the characters talents themselves. You absolutely have to check their talents and passives before giving them any artifacts, cause for some of them items with HP as a main stat could be actually good (like Barbara, since her role is only healing she doesn’t make more than 100 dmg on her normal attack but she heals a TONS).

Let's take my team for example, I’ll explain what their talents do and choose artifacts accordingly:

Razor as my main DPS

Qiqi as my healer

Xingqiu as my support

And Xiao that is none of the above but I just got him so I really wanna use him lmao

Usually I'd have Bennett in my team that would work as both healer and support, but yea, Xiao happen. Anyway, back to the topic

Since Razor is my main DPS I am focusing mostly on the DMG he can do. That's why when choosing artifacts for him I was aiming for the one with ATK/CRIT.

I do believe right now is a good moment to introduce artifacts sets. Each artifact has its own sets. There are plenty of sets to chose from. Now, the question is, does it matter from which set the item comes? Yes, it does.

Every set has all 5 types of artifacts to offer (a flower, feather, time watch piece, goblet and head piece). Depending on how many of the pieces from the same set you'll have you can get different stats. Let's take everyone's favorite Gladiator's Finale set. If you equip 2 pieces of Gladiator your get additional 18% of your base attack. IT'S A LOT!

But if you equip 4 pieces of Gladiator your normal attack (the single mouse tap, not the skills or the hold tap) will be increased by 35% IF your character has a sword, polearm or claymore (so it doesn't work on characters with books and bows, sorry Amber).

As I was saying, since my Razor is my main DPS and his role is to hit, not deal Electro DMG, I gave him 4 pieces of Gladiator's Finale just so he can have these additional 35%. But his head piece belongs to Wandener's Troupe. Why? Since every character can have 5 different artifacts, and the set's bonuses are only up to 4 pieces, the last one can belong to any other set. I chose Wandener's because it have CRIT rate as a main stats, so it's perfect for main DPS character. (The last piece doesn’t have to be the head piece, it can be any of the other 4 pieces).

You can check the character stats and the difference in the artifacts by going to your character menu and then clicking on the ‘details’.

For example here are my Xiao stats calculated with all the artifacts he has right now on him:

And here I have my Xiao without any artifacts and with 1* weapon:

DO YOU SEE THE HUUUGE DIFFERENCE?

Next we have Qiqi, my healer. One would think that, if she's a healer, then it would be good to have a set that is designed for healers on her, right? Wrong.

Let's take a look on Qiqi elemental skill (You can check your character skills by clicking on ‘talents’ in the character menu):

(APPARENTLY TUMBLR WONT ALLOW ME TO POST MORE THAN 10 PICS IN ONE POST SO ILL HAVE TO PASTE THE INFO FROM WIKI, THANKS)

When Qiqi hits a target with her Normal or Charged Attacks, she regenerates HP for all party members and all nearby allied characters. Healing scales based on Qiqi's ATK. Regenerates HP for current character at regular intervals. Follows the character around, dealing Cryo DMG to enemies in its path.

It's says that the heals she gives is based on her overall ATK. Which means the more ATK she has the better her heals are. That's why, in my personal opinion, it's better to focus on raising her ATK and energy recharge. Ofc, there's nothing wrong in having for example 2 pieces of Maiden Beloved (set's name designed for healers, 2-Piece Bonus: Character Healing Effectiveness +15%) on her. If those pieces main stats will be ATK then this will work amazing, but unfortunately I don't have any artifacts like this.

Next are supports, Bennett and Xingqiu. Since their role is not dealing DMG, but more of a supporting you can give them sets of a 2 pieces. Let's take a look at their elemental burst:

Bennett:

if the health of a character in the circle is equal to or falls below 70%, their health will continuously regenerate. Regeneration scales based on Bennett's Max HP. If the health of a character in the circle is higher than 70%, they gain an ATK Bonus that is based on Bennett's Base ATK. Applies the Pyro element to characters within the Field.

Basically you just ult and switch to your DPS (or whoever you want honestly). If the character you switched to (or Bennett himself, his ult works on him too) HP is below 70%, they will receive heals. If their HP is above 70%, the incoming healing with cease and they will get attack bonus based on Bennet BASE ATK (only when you have him c0, so with no constellations. On c1 (his first constellation is unlocked) there is no HP restriction, so his ult buffs the attack no matter of your character current health). So it’s not the same case as Qiqis. Base attack is the base amount the character have with weapon equipped but without any artifacts on, so the only way to rise base ATK is to maximize character level and to give them weapon with high amount of attack. Then we should focus on giving him as much of an energy recharge as we can so he can load his ult faster. Then it’s up to you whether you wanna make is a healer or side DPS. In healer case you should focus on rising his HP amount by giving him artifacts with that stats and substats cause, on the contrary to Qiqi, the heals he gives are based on his own max HP, not his ATK. In side DPS case you can focus on the overall dmg he makes.

Now let's take a look on my Xiao. His role is a dps, just like Razor. So one would think that it would be the best to max physical DMG on Xiao too, right? Wrong.

Let's take a look on Xiao's elemental skill and Elemental burts:

Skill:

Xiao lunges forward, dealing Anemo DMG to opponents in his path.

Burst:

Greatly increases Xiao's jumping ability. Increases his attack AoE and attack DMG. Converts attack DMG into Anemo DMG, which cannot be overriden by any other elemental infusion. In this state, Xiao will continuously lose HP. The effects of this skill end when Xiao leaves the field.

Both of them covert the DMG into Anemo DMG. Which mean that no matter the physical DMG bonus, if he doesn't have any Anemo DMG he won't be as useful as he could be. That why my Xiao has 2 pieces of Gladiator and 2 pieces of Viridescent Venerer that gives him +15% of Anemo DMG bonus. (y’all have no idea how long it took me to write this thing correctly lmao)

As the last piece i used Wandener's head piece again to give him that additional CRIT rate. (yes, his Anemo DMG can be scaled with CRIT rate, too). Ofc my Xiao still lacks a lot of power we can see on some videos on yt.

Okay Akii, I understand how does the artifacts works and what to which to chose when thinking about the character role, but how do I actually get the artifacts?

That's actually the hardest part. You can get them from domains. Each domain have two sets of artifacts at the same time, which means depending on your luck you'll get the artifacts from the set you want or the artifacts you don't want BUT can use for enhancing later on! Gladiator's and Wandener's don't have its own domain, but can be achieved by fighting bosses like cubes or regisvines and from weekly bosses like Dvalin, Andrius and Childe.

Now that you know everything you need to know about artifacts you can go and start doing the domains...

only to waste all of your resins and get tons of shit artifacts with DEF as a main stats and then start crying after your one good artifact with ATK as a main stat and CRIT as a substat gets shits like HP, DEF and more HP after enhancing. Have fun <3

[twstgameplay]

GraSSS Test Accomplishment!

I never expected to nab an SSS during this round of tests, so imagine my surprise when I was approaching the 20K score! I worked hard this past two weeks to get this, and I’m so happy to say I did it, and I’ll admit, I do want to share it with the world after all the frustrating battles I’ve done. 😆

What I’m even happier about is the fact I won with a team that is at lv85 maximum!

If you’re curious on how I got SSS exactly, I have an explanation under the cut~

Team Composition

To start off my explanation, all of my cards have magic levels at 10/10 except for dorm Cater, whose magic levels are at 5/10. So this is a team that will drain your madol, but it is a team worth investing on.

Now for the buddies, I have 7 buddies in total, all of them maxed out:

Dorm Riddle is pretty obvious: with his typing being double fire, and M1 dealing 20-21k overall dmg and his DUO dealing at least 27k dmg in total, he is essential in attaining SSS.

A lot of basic grass teams you’ll find online may utilize lab Azul instead of robe Azul. This is due to his fire typing, which provides an elemental advantage and resistance to this test. But I used robe Azul mainly because right now, he deals much more damage than lab Azul, especially with his ATK buddy with Floyd.

Dorm Cater is placed in there mainly to boost Riddle’s ATK stat. I won’t lie when I say that usually, that’s really his only purpose, but maxing out his M2 turned out to be essential in attaining SSS, so I quickly scrambled up all my resources during the item drop boost to max him out.

Dorm Floyd is here due to his fire/grass typing. He boosts robe Azul’s ATK stat, and he has a DUO with Jade, which adds an additional DUO on the team.

You might ask why dorm Jade is in this test with his water/fire typing. This is because his DUO is fire, which will deal a lot of damage, perfect for this test. Having more DUOs increases your score, so adding him in along with Floyd contributed to a high score. His magic 1 boosts his duo too, which makes him even more powerful, but you have to deal with being knocked down a peg with the elemental disadvantage. However, in this particular round, I didn’t make use of his magic at all!

Enemies

Now, what made this journey to SSS long and arduous was the gimmicks the opponent had this round.

Deuce has a medium ATK down lasting for 2 turns, which takes out 35% of the damage that both of the cards you send out normally deal. This prevents you from dealing the ideal amount of damage that will get you to SSS. You do not want this to appear at all.

Lilia has a continuous heal (2890 HP) for 3 turns. The only way I could have gotten SSS was for him to heal starting the first turn so that I can use all my strongest attacks without killing too early. If I killed too early, this would have resulted in a lower score. I’ll explain this more in-depth later.

Jack has a small damage down that lasts for 1 turn, which frankly isn’t too concerning. If your team is barely clutching on for the next rank, it can be very inconvenient, but my team had the capability of hitting SSS even with the small debuff (probably unless a DUO was the one hit, but even so, this debuff doesn’t appear as often).

Strategies

I actually had two strategies for this test, in case the game decided to give me a list of skills that I might not have wanted.

First strategy makes use of Jade’s M1. This means Jade’s ATK stat gets buffed up by 35% for three turns. This means that his DUO can get buffed up too. Normally, at Lv80, Jade’s duo deals 15k dmg in total. With the buff, Jade’s duo deals around 20k dmg.

This is how the ideal attack order would have gone:

T1: Jade M1 [water] (around 2.7k-2.9k dmg) / Floyd M1 [fire] (around 7.5k-8k dmg)

T2: Riddle M1 (around 20-21k dmg) [fire] / Cater M2 [fire] (around 12.5-12.7k dmg)

T3: Jade DUO [fire] (around 20k dmg due to ATK buff) / Floyd DUO [grass] (around 12k dmg)

T4: Azul M2 [grass] (around 11.2k-12k dmg) / Riddle DUO [fire] (around 27k-28k dmg)

All in all, this would have netted me at least 113,400 dmg dealt, give or take a few numbers.

You can actually switch around the attack order for turns 1 and 2, depending on what the game gives you, but turns 3 and 4 must have the duos, no switching around (you can interchange Jade and Floyd, though, but not Azul and Riddle).

Now, this is only attainable if a) Deuce does not debuff, b) the attack order isn’t messed up, and c) if Lilia’s heal comes up on the first turn.

I already explained why Deuce debuff isn’t ideal.

As for attack order, it’s possible that you won’t get both tweel duo in T3, which is annoying and you may have to resort with using only one of them or even none at all. Damage loss aside, the loss of one or two duos will affect your score as well, so this isn’t an ideal scenario either. Sometimes, you might not even get Cater’s M2 at all, but his M1, and you may be forced to resort to using that.

Now to explain Lilia heal. The overall enemy HP is 82000. You want to be able to knock down that health bar to around 2k leftover or less even so that Riddle DUO can finish it off and deal an additional 27k dmg (yes, the game still counts that amount of damage even when the opponent is already at 0 HP!). The problem, however, is that, excluding Riddle DUO, the amount of damage you may deal with everyone else is around, let’s say, at least 86400 dmg more or less. This will force you to use Riddle’s DUO before Azul’s M2, which will take out at least 11.2k-12k dmg, leaving you with at least 102k-104k dmg overall. Pretty depressing, right?

But if Lilia heals on the first turn, he will be able to recover 2890 HP per turn for 3 turns, recovering 8670 HP in total! Adding to the base total HP of the opponent, they will have overall 88670 HP. Since that number is bigger than 86400, then there will be leftover HP of around 2270 by the time all your attacks up till Azul M2 are used and Riddle DUO can deal the finishing blow.

Second strategy does not make use of Jade’s M1. In lieu of his M1, he will be replaced by Azul’s M1, which deals around 6.8k-7.4k dmg. This was the strategy that I used in this test.

This is how the ideal attack order would have gone:

T1: Azul M1 [null] (around 6.8k-7.4k dmg) / Floyd M1 [fire] (around 7.5k-8k dmg)

T2: Riddle M1 [fire] (around 20k-21k dmg) / Cater M2 [fire] (around 12.5k-12.7k dmg)

T3: Jade DUO [fire] (around 15k dmg due to no buff) / Floyd DUO [grass] (around 12k dmg)

T4: Azul M2 [grass] (around 11.2k-12k dmg) / Riddle DUO [fire] (around 27k-28k dmg)

All in all, this would have dealt at least 112,000 dmg, more or less. In the screenshot of my score, however, I dealt around 114,937 dmg.

Like the first strategy, turns 1 and 2 attacks can be switched around. Jade and Floyd duo can be swapped, but not Azul and Riddle.

Really, the main reason why I came up with this strategy was to accommodate the randomness of the skills I get for each turn. I’m not going to be so lucky that I’ll get Jade’s M1 on turns 1 or 2 sometimes, so instead, I may have to resort to Azul’s M1. This strategy can also help in leaving with more HP leftover on your side, which is actually a factor in attaining a high score, though the amount of damage you deal still takes priority.

Like the first strategy, this ideal amount of damage is only attainable if a) Deuce debuff does not appear, b) attack order is not messed up, and c) Lilia heals on T1.

I hope this isn’t too confusing. 😅 If this helps you in any way in attaining a higher score, I’m happy to help~!

~ 🐙

[xenetala]

Piofiore: Fated Memories Review

I’ll keep this as spoiler free as possible, but with this game that may be a bit difficult. This is just my thoughts on the game and its quality. This game overall is really well done and if you are familiar with Amnesia Memories, you’ll really enjoy this one.

There are a few things I’d like to give people a heads up on in this one. First, this is a game about the Mafia. While it should be obvious, many people who play otome games may not realize this isn’t like the sweet games such as Kissed by the Baddest Bidder. Please do not play this game if you are sensitive to blood, gore, death, rape, drug abuse, psychological abuse, torture, violence, general crime, and other such themes. While you can play the best routes and avoid too much of this, you will be exposed to some pretty gruesome and brutal things in this game.

The second thing I’d like to give a heads up on is you have to play the routes in a semi set order to unlock things. By this I mean you don’t get to completely choose who you play at first. While this by no means makes the game bad, it’s something to think about before playing. You may not get to choose your favorite boy right off.

If you do play this, I have a recommended play route. I recommend this based on the lore of the world. That’s not to say you have to play this order, but I think it’ll give a better feel for the world.

While you can start with either Dante or Nicola, I’d recommend playing through Dante’s route first and follow his route with Orlock. While Yang is my absolute favorite boy by far, I recommend playing Nicola before Yang. Gilbert’s route you can’t play until you’ve played the other 4 so Dante > Orlock > Nicola > Yang is my recommended order, but Dante > Nicola > Orlock > Yang isn’t a bad order either.

Overall Story

This is a really good story. There’s a lot of absolutely lovable characters in it and I wish there were more routes. I also wish the stories were longer just because of how good the characters are. Even the supporting characters are great. The setting is in Italy during the 1920′s. There are a few references to world events around that time such as World War I, the depression, American prohibition, and several other things that happened around the world.

The game takes a lot of the terms and historical things and puts them in a nice handy dictionary in case the audience isn’t familiar with them. Personally I find all of the references common knowledge, but then I’m also a history buff so that may not be the case.

As far as the plot goes, the basis is you play an MC who grew up in a church in a small mafia run city. Depending on the route, the MC gets captured or rescued by one of the three mafia groups and ends up in their care as a guest. The three groups are the Italian based Falzone, the mixed heritage Visconti, and the Chinese based Lao-Shu.

Each route has a different part of the story and history of the world and the town as well as a different perspective. Some of the routes are more peaceful while others not so much. In all of them, the MC is one I consistently like. Despite being brought up in a quasi Roman Catholic based belief system, she’s quite down to Earth and many times stands up to the mafia so that earns her many points in my book.

The one thing in this game that I feel is a big missed opportunity is the character Roberto De Feo. I would have loved to see him as an option in this game. Especially after playing all of the routes including the hidden one, I feel like he would have made a nice addition to the story.

Characters

This game has a really good set of characters and even the supporting characters are good so I’m going to go over quite a few people in this. I’ll break these down by factions to help keep things orderly. Each character does have a best, good, and tragic ending. Some of them are really good, but the tragic ones to be pretty brutal to play.

Also, a fun note in the CGs you can press a button to hear the character’s comments on the scene.

Falzone Family

Dante Falzone - This is the first route I recommend playing. He’s kind of the ‘canon’ route in this and goes over a lot of the lore of the world. It can get a bit overwhelming to keep up with all of the mythology of the game, but you will need that information for later routes.

He’s introduced as the cold and cruel boss of the Falzone, but in reality he’s more of the slightly cold gentleman. While he can be cruel as evidenced in a torture scene, he’s really very sweet and you see much more of his caring side as the story progresses. I’m not a fan of his route as it is way sweeter than I’d like for a mafia boss, but it is the most romantic one.

In this route the MC spends most of her time confined with Dante and is more of a prisoner than a guest in my opinion. She’s not allowed to roam free much and is quite dependent on Dante. There is a lot of violence in this route and is one of the more gruesome ones in a few places. I actually like his good ending better than the best ending. His tragic end is really sad so beware. It’s not as brutal as others, but it’ll tug your heartstrings. Death can bring more peace than life. 

Leo Cavagnis - While not a love interest, Leo is an adorable character. He’s assigned as the MC’s body guard in anything related to the Falzone family. I would like to have seen him as a romance option just because it’d be nice to have a choice other than only higher ranking mafia members, but even without him being an option he’s a fun character in all of the routes.

Nicola Francesca - He is the underboss for the Falzone family and is Dante’s cousin. I liked his route much more than I thought I would and he is more what you’d expect for a mafia themed game. It is mentioned in all routes a few times that Nicola is more suited to being the boss than the underboss, and I agree with this.

Nicola is presented as a playboy, but though he’s flirty he’s not really a playboy. He has a lot of charisma and appears nice, but there is a cruel side to him. This is showcased in how he treats his men and in a torture scene. His route has almost none of the lore and is refreshing in that fact.

The MC is still more of prisoner in this one, but she’s not as dependent on Nicola. Even though I’d say Nicola is more ruthless than Dante, this route is actually one of the less violent ones. I will warn that his route is predictable and not quite as exciting to play as far as plot twists and such. Despite that, this is a fun route and the MC gets to showcase a bit more strength than in some of the others.

He is really tied to his idea of trying to free Dante from the curse of his blood and duties so Nicola often acts brashly and without really trying to understand others. This makes him quite focused on his own goals. His best ending is a great ending and for sure deserves to be called the best ending. I don’t really care for his good ending as much. While not sad, he’s too much of a mafia boss for the good ending to really fit him. His tragic ending is a work of art.

Giulia Ceste - She is the motherly housekeeper of the Falzone and takes care of the MC a lot when in the company of the Falzone family. While not a big character, she does help create some humor in the routes and is always a welcome addition when things get really serious.

The Church

Just a few notes on this ‘faction’. This group plays different roles in each route and doesn’t really follow a branch of the Christian religions. Even though the set up is implied to be the Roman Catholic branch, the lore behind this church isn’t really clear on things. There’s a relic mentioned and that relic is given all sorts of explanations as to what it is, but in reality very little of this game really follows any specific branch. So, if you find yourself confused on this group that’s normal.

Josef von Rosburg - Josef is a bishop for the church and has varying roles depending on the route you play. For the most part he’s reasonably pious and does things on behalf of what he believes to be the best for the church. Although, as the saying goes the road to hell is paved with the best of intentions.

Orlock - This boy is all cinnamon roll and I did not like his route until I played all endings. Part of the problem I have with his route is he’s so naïve and innocent that he comes off as childlike. After seeing him in some of the other routes I’d had the expectation that he’d be more of a cold hearted assassin than he is.

That I think colored my perceptions too much to fully enjoy this route and is partly why I recommend him as the second one you play. He is a disciple which basically just means he’s an assassin for the church.

He is absolutely devoted to the MC to the point of basically worshiping her and can see no fault in anything she does. This route is one of the more violent ones and uncovers more of the lore of the world. Orlock feels much younger than the MC because of his innocence despite being able to kill just about anyone.

The good route I liked a lot more than the best route in this one and that’s partly because he didn’t feel as much like a child in that end. The tragic route though changed my mind about his story a bit though. I love his tragic route. It is brutal and merciless, but you see him as an adult and not like a child. Plus, I’m a sucker for a good gut wrenching tragedy that just makes you question why you’d put yourself through the torture of reading it.

Elena Croce - This girl is the MCs best friend and someone she grew up with in the church. Her role varies depending on the route, but she’s generally a quite girl and is good at cooking.

Sister Sofia - She is one of the sisters in the church and is the mother figure of the story. She knows MC’s history and why she’s so important, but keeps things secret from her to prevent her from carrying a heavy burden.

Oliver Haas - Sadly this is another one that doesn’t have a romance option. Oliver is the Visconti family lawyer and helps smooth things over when members of the family get arrested. He is very strict and is often reprimanding Gilbert for things. It would be interesting to see the story from his perspective for sure.

Visconti Family

Gilbert Redford - He is the leader of the Visconti family and was born in Chicago. Gilbert has ties to the US and the mafia in Chicago. Unlike the Falzone family, he had to earn his way to the boss of the faction and wasn’t passed to him through blood ties.

This route is the most peaceful route. Though Gilbert is mafia, he is a businessman first and foremost. In his story the MC has a lot more freedom as she leaves the manor and tours sections of the city with Gilbert. Much of the MC’s time with him is more like being on dates.

Even though this route is far less violent than the others and softer in many respects, this one has more intrigue. Gilbert is the type that fights with strategy more than with violence so there’s a lot of intelligence gathering and plotting.

Basically the premise is that Gilbert is being framed for a crime and everyone is trying to clear his name. Due to the nature of the crime, it affects all of the families and even Yang is willing to help out Gilbert through this ordeal. The whole story is really a build up to the big finale of the case and you get to see aspects of all the characters in a very different light.

I really like his endings. All of them fit the story and are beautifully done. One of the things I like most about Gilbert’s story is everyone sticks together and helps out.

Lan - She is one of the twins that is assigned as the MC’s guard when in company with the Laou-Shu. This girl is absolutely adorable and creates a lot of fun moments. As cute and sweet as she is, she is also very strong and will kill someone without a second thought.

Laou-Shu

Yang - He is by far my favorite of all the characters. Yang is highly intelligent and very skilled in combat. This is show cased by the fact that he is bored without intrigue or other shenanigans to provide him amusement. The MC in this route is one of the more interesting ones in my opinion. Her intelligence really shines through in this one because in order to survive Yang she has to think on her feet a lot.

One of the things I really liked about this route is there were more fun scenes in it. While Yang’s route is by far the most brutal and violent, there are points that are just good fun and provide some of that cute romantic mishap stuff we all kind of want in these games.

The Laou-Shu is a different type of mafia group from the others and this story is in opposition to the lore of the world. Pretty much everyone gets killed and there’s a lot of misfortune in Yang’s route. He is a violent person who grew up under less than ideal circumstances. The MC is gets involved in the goings on with the Laou-Shu and is brought to some pretty grisly things.

I’ve seen quite a few people compare Yang’s personality to that of Hisoka from the anime Hunter x Hunter and I agree that they have similarities. Both live for the moment and share the bloodlust from a good battle with a strong opponent. He is also a master manipulator and very good at twisting words to get exactly what he wants. His best and tragic endings are simply gorgeous, but his good ending isn’t as fun. It’s not a badly done ending, but I would have liked them both to die in it.

Fei - He is the other of the twins that guard the MC when in the company of the Laou-Shu. He’s very protective of his sister and is the calming force for her. Just like Lan, as adorable as he is he can and will kill someone without a second thought.

Marco Caldroni - He is the other detective that comes into the game and is more often than not trying to keep Roberto in check. Marco is more okay with letting the mafia deal with things than his partner is and tends to either stay out of the way or help in cases where civilians are in danger.

Police

Roberto De Feo - This guy grows on you as you play the game. At first I really didn’t like him and especially so after playing Nicola’s route, but they really should have given him an option. I’d rather have been able to play Roberto than Orlock. Roberto is a newer detective with the police force and has a very strong idea of what justice is. He does not like that the town is overrun with mafia and that the mafia controls everything. This guy tends to pop up and pick fights with some of the mafia members.

Others

??? - This is a hidden route that is only unlocked after you’ve played through all of the others. You learn a lot more about the lore of the world and the MC is pretty much on her own in this route. I found this route very boring and the person you romance in this is too haunted by the past for me to really enjoy them.

As much as I love a good redemption story or even a good tragedy, this route is so boring. I would much rather have this be a totally different character’s route. While I get this person’s story helps fill in the gaps from Gilbert’s route, this gentleman is one of those revenge is everything types and I’m just not onboard with him. The endings are a peaceful kind of harem ending for the best ending and I don’t mind that one too much. There is a romance ending and I just don’t care for this character enough.

I get wanting revenge, but I find the all consuming revenge to the point of self-destruction and destruction of everything you hold dear just stupid. That’s how this romance goes. Reminds me a lot of the Sasuke and Sakura stuff from the anime Naruto.

[zenmastercharles]

I’ve discovered something in the young zen master chronicles.

k, so i found this...

Ep. 1: Pyrosabre

Alexis gets her first crush on this dude named Jake Abielle and doesn’t know how to handle it at all. Robin helps her out by showing her some tricks like rubbing an ice-cold blue rag on her face to keep from blushing and focusing on books and school to keep from staring and drooling. Meanwhile, Ryder is revealed to have Japanese heritage and the katana he was given by his grandfather was stolen, so he, Blake, and Eren (uh oh) go on a mission to get it back, going through things like mean old grannies and big scary dogs, but when they do get it back, Ryder sees it broken. He is then villainized into Pyrosabre, a villain with a fire sword. HE is also backed up by the Stone Samurai (I’m bringing Syndromena to the Enchanton world). 

Ep. 2: Rouge Hunter

While Robin, Alexis, and Penelope are doing homework, a man knocks on the door frantically and asks to hide because “bad people” were hunting him. Robin and Penelope welcome him to hide, but Alexis has a gut feeling that something is up with this guy. He soon confesses that the “bad people” are the police and he was being chased for stealing, but he never knew that candy bar slipped into his back pocket. Meanwhile, Blake befriends this guy named Matheo Frexia, who is obsessed with the comic series, Rogue Hunter. After Blake leaves him for some friends for a moment, he is beaten up and teased. He is then villainized into Rouge Hunter, armed with a laser staff and gravitational manipulation.

Ep. 3: General Renegade

Nathan Baker, a student suffering from depression, is shocked when his super strict army dad subs for his teacher. His dad does everything he did to him to the other students. He was furious. Meanwhile, Robin, Blake, Oliver, and Alexis are locked in a surprisingly big storage closet. Alexis just sits there and plays Hyrule Warriors, Oliver and Blake tried to get out the normal way, while Robin tried to convince them to let her use a crowbar. Back to Nathan, he snaps and yells at his dad, who is unaffected, but Nathan is villainized into General Renegade, a shirtless buff military fighter with the ability to summon any firearm.

Ep. 4: Hardlight

In class, Emerald finds out a dark secret about Alexis that would ruin her if it got out. This was too good to pass up, so Emerald forced Alexis to be her assistant for weeks until Alexis gets tired of it and outbursts in the middle of prom, “I don’t care anymore! Tell everyone! I’m done with this!” and runs out. She is then villainized into Hardlight, a villain who can copy powers from any video games she has on her switch.

Ep. 5: Prince Action

Oliver tries out for the Gallery of Evil, ran by Jackie Sullivan, who is nice to him, but not his son, which Oliver doesn’t like. He tries to help Jackie’s son impress his dad. Meanwhile, Blake gets a new adopted sister, Adrianna and they get into some shenanigans with some of Adrianna’s friends, but it is eventually resolved. Back to Oliver, he tries to help impress Jackie, which just explodes in all of their faces. Jackie yells at his son, but Oliver takes the blame and is promptly fired. Oliver is then villainized into Prince Action, a villain who can make people copy his exact movements with a pink zap of energy.

Ep. 6: The Cerberus of Pain

Ambre gets a new life goal, to discover the identities of Firefly and King Claw. Her parents try to warn her to stop and that she’ll get hurt, but she doesn’t listen. Meanwhile, Robin, Penelope, Blake, Oliver, and Ryder get stuck in a weird argument between Nathan’s parents while stuck at his house. If you could describe awkwardly, this was it. Soon, Ambre gets hurt and ends up breaking her wrist. Ambre’s parents feel guilty and are villainized into the Cerberus of Pain, a two-headed wolf set on destroying the two heroes and protecting Ambre. 

Ep. 7: Homerun 

Dr. Syndromena is thinking of ending his deal with Phorah, but before he does, Phorah thinks of a master plan. Meanwhile, Robin is watching her little brother Zachiriah play for the baseball team because he needs support. But Robin has to leave when she notices a villain on the loose. She leaves her younger brother and without her, Zachiriah flops. He is villainized into Homerun, but they also have to deal with a villainized scientific creation named M09\erekin. This is too much, so they must call on a new hero to help them save the day.

Ep. 8: Clover

Robin and Blake get trapped in the school for the weekend, so they get into all types of shenanigans. Meanwhile, Penelope and Paige get imprisoned by pirates (don’t ask), while Penelope is missing her little sister’s birthday party. Penelope loses enough hope to get villainized into Clover, a villain who has extremely good luck and all she uses is a freaking fishing pole with whip-like properties. Robin and Blake are out of commission, so can Queen Dove handle this herself? 

Ep. 9: IceHeart

It’s been 2 years since Darius came out, and it didn’t affect the school until Emerald got ahold of his diary. He managed to get it back, only to realize it was a fake. Meanwhile, Eren asks Robin to date him, right in front of Oliver, causing him to get, really, really mad. He walks out before Robin answers Eren, and now Phorah is having a hard time choosing to villainize Darius or Oliver. He ends up choosing Darius and turning him into IceHeart, a villain who can Ice Manipulation abilities.  

Ep. 10: Enchanton Origins I

This is the first look back at how the Enchantons were made. The first master, Kino, visits the realm of Syria and is on a hunt for the Lion, Elephant, and Raven Kings and Queens to empower the crystals to make them Enchantons. He has to prove himself worthy to The Lion King (Hakuna Matata) by beating his lackeys, but the Elephant King has the balls to fight Kino himself. The Raven King runs away the entire time and Kino has to catch him to get his power.

Ep. 11: Tidal Brave

Liam comes to the sudden realization that he was gay, after crushing on Darius for a few weeks. He learns to play guitar and when Darius and Liam are together in private, Liam sings a love song to Darius, confessing his love. Meanwhile, Matheo, Robin, Paige, and Penelope create their own country for a social studies project, but it was so good, people encouraged them to expand on it and they even create a restaurant in the cafeteria based on their fake country. Back to Liarius, Darius blushes, but due to him being equivalent to a fragile disaster time 3, he runs out because he’s so shocked. He takes this as rejection and is villainized into Tidal Brave, a villain with the ability to manipulate water with his guitar.

Ep. 12: Rapture Rider

While Landon was driving on her motorcycle, she causes a few thugs to crash, so they jump her and take her bike. She sighs in defeat and cries on the school step until Oliver, Blake, and Eren find her and when she tells them, they all go on a mission to get it back, kind of like Pyrosabre, but instead of booby traps, they have to convince the gang leader to let them get it back. Landon loses all hope and is villainized into Rapture Rider, a villain who has an epic flying missile shooting motorcycle with a pistol that shoots lightning, backed up by Stone Samurai on Motorcycles!

Ep. 13: Enchanton Origins II 

Kino goes on a journey to get power for the Firefly, Dragon, and Griffin Enchanton, but this goes super wrong. The Firefly Queen is obsessed with love and tasks Kino to find her true love to get the power, but in the end, Kino turns out to be her true love. The Dragon King tasks Kino in finding him a great home to raise his kids, but since most of the realm is taken, he has a tough journey. The Griffin King hates other realms because they are selfish, so Kino has to prove that they are not. 

Ep. 14: Queen Sugar

Adrianna, Blake’s new adoptive sister, decides to help out with Konnos Kametra (Robin & Friends’ New Restaurant), by making sweets and such. Meanwhile, Liam, Darius, and Hannah get roped into a dog racing contest and spend, like, half the episode prepping their dogs with the best gadgets and motivations they could. Back to Konnos Kametra, Ambre decides to eat some of Adrianna’s pastries, and it didn’t really get her approval, and by that, she spit it out at Adrianna and insulted her, and walked away. Adrianna drops a tear and is villainized into Queen Sugar, a villain with pastry and candy-based weapons, and is backed up by the new Ground Snakes. Her pastry bombs pack too much of a punch, so they need a new heavy-duty hero!  

Ep. 15: Queen Venom

A superfan of Firefly, Hannah, starts following them around on patrols or even to fight superheroes. They have to find a way to get her off their backs. Meanwhile, Mr. Arbo is having some trouble with his wife, and in the middle of class, he has to step out, but his yells can be heard through the classroom door. Back to the heroes, Hannah almost gets hurt by a villain, and this causes Firefly to lose it on her for like 2 minutes, then leave with King Claw. Hannah is then villainized into Queen Venom, a villain who takes on the abilities of a spider.

Ep. 16: Powerfist

A girl named Maybelle is bullying Eren, not verbal bullying, hitting him, and throwing him bullying, so Eren has to do something about this. Meanwhile, Oliver finally asks Robin out, and to which Robin happily says yes. Yay, Robiver! But on their first date, the restaurant they go to is invaded by robbers, so the two have to team up and stall while the police are on their way. Meanwhile, the principal catches Maybelle in the middle of beating up Eren, and she is straight up expelled. She is then villainized into Powerfist, a villain who can release shockwaves when she punches. 

Ep. 17: Moonstrike

While on a school field trip, Blake meets a young female sculptor named Cami and she gets hooked immediately. Meanwhile, Oliver accidentally cracks a sculptor and spends a lot of the episode to try and fix it. Back to Blami, Cami confesses her love, but Blake promptly turned her down because he liked someone else, but this caused Cami to be villainized into Moonstrike, a villain with a moon-based weapon and the ability to give statues life and powers.  

Ep. 18: Castor De Rouge 

On Halloween, while trick or treating, Robin, Blake, Alexis, and Oliver are kidnapped by some Halloween-dressed thugs. Meanwhile, One of Zechariah's friends is very disappointed that there is no candy on any street. They decide to split up, but when that friend comes back with more candy, they decide to steal her candy and run away. She is then villainized into Castor De Rouge, a pre-teen vampire with all vampire abilities. 

Ep. 19: Bridezilla 

Robin's mom fell in love with a man a few years ago after her dad died. They are about to get married, but something goes wrong. Meanwhile, Blake and Adrianna end up accidentally convincing a couple of bike thugs to rob a store, and now have to convince them not to. Back to the wedding, Robin's mom's (Jess) jealous aunt comes wearing a white dress. They don't think much of it, but her kids ruin everything and even throw a red drink on Jess's dress. Jess is then villainized into Bridezilla, a villain who can throw explosive flowers and encase anyone jealous of anyone in brass.  

Ep. 20: The Living Time Capsule 

Right after defeating a villain, Firefly and King Claw go for a break, but then they are attacked by another villain. This one was different, it was from the future. This villain proves to be too strong for all 4 of the heroes, so they retreat, and that is where they run into Paige, who says she got a message in her dreams. She leads them to a closet, and when they open it, they see something/someone amazing.

Ep. 21: Spectre

Eren is still getting beat up by Maybelle, before and after school, unfortunately, there is no one with the balls to take on Maybelle. She takes it too far when she decides to start beating up Eren's little sister (only by 2 years). Eren is then villainized into Spectre, a villain with intense speed and phasing abilities. We need a new hero who is fast and smart enough to combat Spectre. But we don't get that. 

Ep. 22: Dark Horse

Ambre gets a little too carried away by being a superhero and she reveals her identity to a few people including Oliver, to get him impressed, Robin, to show that she's better than her, and her parents, to show that she can take care of herself. Firefly has enough, then attempts to use a special Enchanton Magnet to take Ambre's Enchanton away. Ambre then runs away and is so hurt that Firefly lectured her and tried to take her Enchanton. She is villainized into Dark Horse, a villain who can summon horses at will and has the powers of the Horse Enchanton, but multiplied times 20. 

in Grammarly, and it’s from about 3 years ago I think. I was trying to write an original story heavily based off of Miraculous Ladybug. But I was very bad at writing back then. So, I just wrote these episode prompts. I decided to let the 2 and a half people who follow me read it because there really isn’t anything else to do with it. Actually, nevermind, I might find a way to make something out of this.

[aeondeug]

BLEACH for the ask meme!

Apologies for getting to this so late! Just kind of got hit by life. Anyway...

My favorite parent-child relationship - Ichigo and Isshin. This is like. It’s one of my favorite parent-child relationships in fiction in general? Because like. It’s a sincerely good one. Like Isshin is just Actually A Good Dad. He and Ichigo clash at times, but like the relationship isn’t like toxic or anything. Isshin’s just actually a good dad and I don’t hate him. 10/10, Kurosaki Isshin is the only valid dad.

My favorite sibling relationship - Yoruichi and Yushiro. We don’t get to see very much of this one sadly but what we do get to see of it is very sweet. He’s just so fond and admiring of her and is so hype to try out new things. ...but he is bad at sarcasm. ...and also he flies off the handle and worries her. But at the same time it’s like...He’s your little brother, Yoruichi. What the hell did you think he was going to do? Really. You can tell they’re related.

My favorite family relationship (other) - Chad and his abuelo. We don’t get very much of this relationship. It’s basically just a few things mentioned by Chad at times. But you can feel the love and respect Chad has for him. And even if we never meet the man himself, we can get a sense of what kind of man his abuelo was through the kind of man Chad is. Also like. As someone who lives in America and is Mexican...I am used to like Mexican men being presented as nothing but like these overly violent and abusive machismo obsessed monsters. So seeing a gentle, loving Mexican man teach his grandson be gentle and loving but still able to defend those in need...That means a lot to me.

My favorite friendship between two people - Urahara and Yoruichi. Though I suppose they also could be like A Ship but like. They’re good friends. And while I have fucking THOUGHTS on how Yoruichi’s arc concludes. I do like like the kind of friendship they’ve got going. He doesn’t treat her like some sort of immortal god emperor. She’s just Yoruichi-san. He is kind of a bastard and teases her even! But he doesn’t hold her down in one spot and he treats her like a person. Which, given the kind of life Yoruichi was born into, is what she needs. That, I think, is a big part of why I am so pissed at how her arc concludes. As it feels like a violation of what makes their friendship meaningful.

My favorite friendship between a group - The Mean Girls Squad. I was not expecting to like Bambi and co as much as I did but like. They’re just a fun bunch? They have a very nice dynamic. Each of them is distinct enough and they have a very distinct sort of dynamic with one another. Also it feels fittingly like a group of girls who are friends, honestly. With things like calling one another stupid bitches and sluts.

My favorite mentorship - Yoruichi and Soifon. Which is not surprising. In the slightest. It’s like your classic S story but it’s murder ninjas. One of them is a cranky bee themed horror, the other is a princess that turns into a cat... But like I’ve talked about that a lot so we’ll give a runner up in Urahara and Ichigo. This one I like in part because of how different it is a mentor-student relationship. Enough so that I didn’t entirely ping onto it being the case for a bit because I’m kind of dumb that way. But like...It is one. It’s just an odd one. One that’s not based around specific formalities. It’s one based around breaking rules. Finding ways to break those rules. Existing outside but understanding the inside. Urahara is like...A Zen master. His teaching style is odd. It stands against the norm and some may even say it is in contempt of said norm! But that is part of why Ichigo is able to reach the heights he is. It’s part of why he is able to understand the core of what being a Soul Reaper is. Because Urahara created weird ass unorthodox teaching methods that pointed directly at the problem.

My favorite rivalry - Ichigo and Grimmjow. This I think is like...the first I’ve ever talked about Grimmjow, really? He is not like my favorite, favorite but like. I do like the sort of just raw, brutal “I want to beat you into the fucking ground and kill you” thing going on between him and Ichigo. It’s not sophisticated. It’s not complicated. It’s just two buff sword boys being like “Oh I wanna kick your ass. You’re strong.” And there’s just something appealing about that purity.

My favorite hatred/antipathy - Soifon’s 100 hate boner for Yoruichi. Because it’s just...Part of what is great about it is that it is a hatred born out of love. She never really stopped loving and adoring Yoruichi. But she’s hurt and she didn’t have a chance to get over that so she’s just resentful for years. Resentful enough that she does put a sincere effort into killing Yoruichi. Had she not tried to pull out shunko and then get dunked on she may well have done it. And that probably would have broken her. At the least she could not survive the narrative having succeeded in her vengeance. She’d end up like Komamura or Gin. In the dirt. Gin’s hatred for Aizen is a very close runner up though because like... Gin was playing the long game there and he kept up the act super well. And part of what I love about said long game is like what role this played narratively for the readers. Gin is so obviously sketchy that you are drawn to him immediately. It distracts you from Aizen and then his obviously sketchiness distracts you from the fact that he is not actually fond of Aizen. It distracts you from the fact that he means to kill this bitch and has meant to for ages. He is such a clever sneak. Such a spiteful one. In a better world Gin would live.

My favorite potential relationship between characters who never talk in canon - I have constructed an entire goofy ass dynamic between Orihime and Soifon as friends. Which initially started as like a knowing that I needed Soifon to get friends SOMEWHERE and also needing to have like someone who could help her with her weird Yoruichi issues. And the question was. Who. Who out of the cast could possibly provide Soifon with advice. Who on earth could handle a pissed off and depressed Soifon? There is only one option and it is the woman who is so very much sunshine incarnate that the personification of nihilism couldn’t stand against her. Soifon can be bitchy all she wants but she cannot beat Orihime. She will fall to her as all do. And because Soifon respects strength, she will respect Orihime for that. Also I just like imagining Ichigo only learning about this when Soifon stops by their home one day unannounced and he just opens the door to a very angry wasp woman.

[mystrangeaddiction-petra-venj]

Well I now your fav character is probs Petra just based on your banner and pfp, but why do you like her so much? And do you have any other favs?

Hmm, I didn’t think I was that obvious that she’s my favorite

(Haha jk, she’s been my favorite since HoW)

These are my top favorite characters that are allowed to live in my head rent free.

The reason I chooses her as my favorite character is because I loved her personality and her dedication to her work. (Also, She has a really cool knife and eyepatch) Her personality stood out to me because no matter what or how bleak the road ahead looked, she always seems to forge ahead. She’s suffered through the loss of her Coven and her (most likely) sister, Pinar Venj, the loss of the Prince and the Queen to Oryx, the weight of being Regent, and the Dreaming City Curse yet she still presses on. She doesn’t let her depression win and continues to fight so no one has to go what she went through. The Curse hasn’t even killed off her spirit completely and she still continues to fight for her people so that they one day might be safe. Her fighting through her adversities and overcoming them just shows how strong she is. She is truly versatile and I have major respect for her for not just lying down and taking a beating and choosing to rise up instead.

As for my other favorite characters, there is actually a character that sits at the top of my favorites alongside Petra and that is the ABSOLUTE QUEEN WEI NING!!!! I consider it a federal crime that we never got her in game because I think it would’ve been amazing if she was apart of the The Dark Below and Shadowkeep dlcs. Her ‘no gun, only fists’ philosophy made me laugh and the fact that she could beat people without a gun just goes to show how skilled of a fighter she was (I also sort of think that she might not have been the best shot, but that’s another post). Also, her relationship with Eriana was the cutest and it’s also a crime that they weren’t allowed to be together and we weren’t allowed to see that relationship in-game. (Crota sucks because of this) Overall, I think she was a missed opportunity for a cool in-game character because I feel that they could have done so much with her instead of killing her off, but that’s just my personal opinion. 

My next and third absolute favorite is the original buff woman of D2 and that is Deputy Commander Sloane. I adore Sloane because she’s very similar to Zavala and Ikora in the fact that she deeply cares for the people of the universe and the Guardians and wants to keep them safe. But, she’s also willing to act and do what it takes in order to keep the universe safe. She’s a good character that I feel needs some expansion on because there is a lot of untapped potential with a character like Sloane. My hope is that Bungie will expand on her character and her lore instead of either killing her off or just shoving her to the side. In summary, Sloane is cool and if Bungie does something bad to her, I will personally fight them.

My fourth favorite characters are Commander Zavala and Ikora Rey for many reasons. I went into detail as to why I love these two characters in this post. But, in summary they balance each other out and keep each other from going to far down one path. They care deeply for the City and the Guardians and don’t want to see us die, so they do their best to protect us and guide us. Their dedication is inspiring to me and I’m very happy that these characters have been portrayed. They have been the mom and dad of Destiny since D1 release and I would be heartbroken and lost if either died. 

My final highly favorited character is Lord Saladin for many of the same reasons I like Petra. He’s chosen to rise above all that’s happened to him and continue to strive and make the world a better place. He didn’t run when the Iron Lords fell, instead he stayed and picked up the pieces and began to rebuild. He didn’t stop because it’s not what the other Iron Lords would have wanted, and I personally don’t think the man would stop until every last evil in the Solar System was gone and people could once again walk the Earth without fear of dying or being attacked. He also wants Guardians to be best versions of ourselves because he sees our full potential and wants to see us do good and be the good in the world. He trains us to be better than himself because he wants us to succeed as protectors of the World. He’s a good character who doesn’t let his failings stop him from trying to do good. 

Also, he has wolves and wolves are cool. :)

[imma-lil-teapot]

Which Turtle I’d Get Along Best With :)

This is actually in response to @aurora-the-kunoichi ‘s  post = 

Ignoring the facts on why they are your favorite turtle based on looks and character traits. Based on your personality alone who do you think you would get alone with the best and give me reasons.

I was going to respond to it in the comments, but found the more I thought about it, the more indepth I wanted to actually go into the subject, and it’s been a while since I posted something of my own (sorta) so here we go~

Also, please beware the typos and errors. They bite.

A few things before we start... (Feel free to skip if you’re really not interested, it’s cool) ;)

-- Since a Bay!verse gif was used in the original post (points up), those are the Turts I’m going with in response to the post. :)

-- I have a handful of personal issues that I’m going to take into account when considering which guy I’d get along with best, namely: social anxiety and awkwardness, depression, panic attacks and low self esteem.

-- The general comfort setting I assume is during after the initial reaction of meeting them. So the friendship is still in its early stages but past the ‘OMGOSH, GIANT, TALKING, EXTREMELY BUFF, TURTLES WITH WEAPONS’ phase.

-- I really wanted to talk a bit about each one and how I’d feel around them, so how this is gonna work is basically least comfortable (first) to most comfortable (last) and of course as to why. :)

-- Please don’t think for a second that I dislike any of them based on this! I ADORE all of these boys (even though I do have a fav) and I fully believe that just about anyone (with good intentions) can get along with all of them and vice versa, even if it were to take a while (I’m looking at you, Raph ;P). I don’t see these boys being especially hostile to anyone without good reasoning, but like with all friendships, it takes time. 

And with that outta the way~ (Drum roll)

(4) LEAST COMFORTABLE~

RAPHAEL~

Aww, Mr. Big Cuddly Teddy Bear himself? Why would I be the least comfortable around ol’ Red? Perhaps because, first of all, his SIZE!! :O Yeah, technically, Donnie’s slightly taller, and granted, they’re all pretty gigantic, but Raph’s on a whole other level! Skip shoulder day? I think not! And here I am, 5′1′’ and have to look to the sky to see this hulking mass staring down at me with such a piercing gaze and a toothpick poking out of his lips... Yeah, that social anxiety and shyness I spoke of earlier would be busy wetting itself whenever I’d be in the general vicinity of Raphie-Boy. Now let’s get real for a sec, it’s not like Raph’s gonna have a Leatherhead moment and turn savage at the sight of me, but in my irrational mindset, from his displayed temper and the way he goes at that punching bag, he could at any time... Not to mention how he often butts heads with Leo. It would take quite a while to completely dispel the tension and discomfort I’d be in whenever I’m around him. Maybe even a few years since I get really nervous around others that show a lot of anger and physical irritation. I’d definitely feel like he’d find me a bother, irritating or in the way a lot, even though he probably wouldn’t really since he tolerates a lot from others, but that’s just how I’d interpret his actions from my own point of view and I’d always try to stay a little clear of him for the most part. Seriously, I adore you, Raph, but you’d scare the cr@p outta me. :O

On a brighter note, I would admire his dedication to his family, his heroic actions and just the way he works out all the time. But you know, just from... afar. :) At least for a while until I got use to him more, then we might even hit it off after that!

(3) SECOND TO LEAST COMFORTABLE~

LEONARDO~

Sorry Boi Blue. :’( You may be my fav, but I’d be an awkward mess around you. Now I dunno if the favoritism would hold true if I were to meet them in reality (there’s still a good chance it would), but like with Raph, Leo’s someone I’d admire from afar, though the nervousness wouldn’t be as hectic as with his younger brother in red since Leo doesn’t tend to display it as much and not in the same fashion. I tend to have a good amount of respect for authoritative figures (or at least I try to) and he’d be no exception to that rule, but because of this, I’d both enjoy and dread our little interactions for the fear of saying something stupid or to annoy him in anyway, even though I’d probably enjoy his presence since he’s someone to look up to (and no, that wasn’t a short joke ;P ) and to feel protected by. Again, I’d feel like a burden and an annoyance to him but unlike with Raph, I would have to at least open my mouth first to get that same amount of discomfort with him as opposed to Raph... That last sentence wasn’t meant to sound NSFW, just FYI. ;P But with Leo, I think I’d actually try and work around that amount of nerves to get into his good books since he’s proven he can be a bit more on the gentlemanly side so I feel I’d stand a better chance with him... But still pretty nervy and that is why he’s in the no.3 spot. Sorry, Leader Boy. :’(

Up side, the admiration is strong. Leaders have a lot upon their shoulders to bear so that alone puts him in high respects in my eyes. Not mention I’d be in complete awe whenever watching him practicing with his katanas and performing katas... I promised myself I wouldn’t fangirl, but DAYUM, BOI! It’s getting awful warm in the sewer~ Expect applause and compliments after practice! ;P

(2) SECOND MOST COMFORTABLE~

DONATELLO~

Despite us talking about the smartest Turtle, this one’s a no-brainer, really. :) Don’s a sweetheart so I think someone would really have to try their best to get this pacifist to at least not tolerate them. That’s not to say he doesn’t have enemies - like Shredder and Krang of course - but as long you’re not posing a threat to his family, friends, the innocent or the earth, I think you’re pretty much A-okay to him. He’d without a doubt be the brother I’d feel most comfortable around after the first as he seems to take into consideration the feelings and reactions of others and is just pretty laid back in general, not really loud and ranty and for that, I’d definitely feel more at ease around. Plus, he has a bit of a fun and quirky side that comes out every now and then. Heck, even a little bit of a potty mouth. X’D Don is definitely the one I’d go to for advice on just about anything, or just to share random information and trivia with. I feel he’d be a great listener, share his own opinions in a gentle fashion, provide heartfelt solutions and just genuinely be ready to help where he’s needed. Heck, he may even try to engage me in some simple tasks like helping him with a gadget he’s busy whipping up... This is however where the comfort will start to wobble: Don-Bon’s a genius, and I’m intimidated by brilliance of the mind. :( I’d start to feel compelled to stop talking to him after a while for the sheer sake of seeming too dense to be in his presence, especially if he were to start explaining equations and science related topics. His brilliant mindset would be too much for me to bear so I think I’d probably not spend too much time around him. That’s not to say the others aren’t smart, heck, but Don’s on a whole other playing field!

Other than that, I definitely would feel comfortable around this sweetie nerd. He’s adorable! Even though the brilliance is what scares me, I would in turn be in awe of it. :) He’s a regular Einstein and then some with a lovely personality to boot! 

When there’s something strange, 

with your home wi-fi,

Who ya gonna call?

DONATELLO~

*Is boo’d off the stage* X’D

And finally~

~(1)~ MOST COMFORTABLE~

~MICHELANGELO~

*Lets off balloons and streamers* Well, what a surprise, am I right? ;P Raise your hand if you saw it coming! :)

But seriously though, there wasn’t much to question; Mikey’s easily the one I’d gravitate towards first and feel most at ease around. :) He’s so laid back, fun, non-judgmental, accommodating, sweet, hilarious and charming, just to name a few things! What can I say, the youngest brother of the Turts is adorable and I genuinely feel I’d get along quite well with him. <3 With all my own personal baggage, he seems like the one that would be most patient and understanding with me if anything was to surface, and he’d be so chilled about it or even joke around in a non-offensive manner to help ease the tension. That’s something I’d really appreciate with him, especially in certain situations. His goofiness could quell any nerves, that’s for sure. Even though I’m no prankster of any note whatsoever, if he were to rope me into a very harmless and innocent one here and there, I’d probably be game for it, so the two of us would probably have quite a bit of fun together. Watching movies together too, with pizza, of course! Even laughing at him showing/goofing-off during training. 

So yeah, Mikey’s hands down my go-to Turtle boy in terms of comfort level, emotional support and just about everything in that relation. I see no reason as to why I’d not get along with him. He’s just a really great guy whom I feel would really go out of his way to make any human with good intentions feel welcome in his family. Someone who’s really in tune with others’ feelings and emotions and would try to help them when needed in the best way he could think of. A real cutie-pie with a heart of gold who just wants to fit in with the rest of the world. Someone who wouldn’t really care what the person looked like as long as they meant well. That’s Mikey for you, and the one I’d probably be most comfortable around! :D 

And there we have it! :) Definitely a fun and enjoyable post to type up! Although the ‘winner’ was a clear cut choice, it really got me thinking how I’d feel around the other three so am really glad I got around to doing this. :) Also, I’m sure @aurora-the-kunoichi​ would love to see more people respond to the question so if you’re interested, feel free to respond to it. ;) 

Thanks for reading~

[assassinwolf189]

30 and B for the character asks!

Hey there! I’m always happy to see you in my ask box, I hope you’ve been well and that everything is good where you are. :) (Sorry this took so long for me to answer, it’s been a wee bit chaotic. :))

I hope this is the right ask meme. 

Uncommon Questions for OCs and their Creators  #30: Who do they most regret meeting?  (I have so many OC children so I will be answering this for my top 4) Shailen: She regrets meeting David; her ex boyfriend from the beginning of the book, who is continuously abusive and condescending towards her,  Sam and the American crew, who after she met them has brought nothing but pain to her and her family such as causing the death of her sister.  However I think the person that she regrets meeting most is probably her childhood best friend that she remet in high school, who has been nothing but emotionally abusive and a weight on her shoulders. 

K9: Not a person would regret meeting anyone but the closest to regret would probably be historical figure Laffayette whom she had a temporary romantic relationship that ended in ruin, and the birth of the french werewolf Tale of Labet becoming a twisted reality; and then her ex allies Portman, Andrew, Chris and Monti; all of which were close friends however the path they chose led them in different directions and a schism within their friendships, never to be trusted or healed again.  Micheal: He would probably regret meeting Grace, a highschool student that asked him out to her prom, (and the first person he ever dated before coming out of the closet as Gay) he regrets meeting her because of the way she used him for the comforts he could provide, his influence and kindness, she then proceeded to cheat on him when he said no to providing her with more than he was comfortable with at the time. 

George: George has probably got the longest list of people he regrets meeting, but the one on top of his list would probably be his Biological father that he meets at a point of which he is proud of who he is, but after their meeting feels that his mother lied to him about who his father was and wishes to return to the days in which he thought that his father was an idol and a hero, and not the monster that he truly is.

Questions for the creators  B) What inspired you to create them?  (This is a lovely question, thank you.) (This will include some of my other characters not mentioned above aswell, all from my main project, and not my fanfictions.) 

Shailen was inspired by Scott and Stiles from Teenwolf , Alice and Thom from the Spook chronicles, Nikki from Dork Diaries, Clawdeen and Venus from monster high, Kate Becket from Castle and eventually Wonderwoman (What a mix am I right?)(Most of these were and still are nostalgic favourites of mine that I carry along with me from my childhood.)  She was meant to be a representative and hug to all those in need, a beacon of light that I used a lot as a coping mechanism as a kid, and as a way of deciding what the best action would be in that situation; a bit of a self insert, but based on the person I could be and not the one that I am.  It takes all sorts to be a hero right?  She’s was also used as a crutch when I needed someone lighter in my life, and a reflection of whatever happens you can still be you, in trauma you can still be kind and in darkness there is light and so on. She is also a hug and representative of what its like to lose apart of yourself and grow accustom to it, and my way of learning that its ok to let go, and grow further. 

K9; inspired by the lady from Underworld, Derek from Teenwolf; Disturbed, Rammestein, Breaking Benjamin other degrees of rock ,my sheer need as a child to feel badass, and on my thoughts as a kid, of but what if I don’t want to wear pink or be a princess, what if I want to be a werewolf on a motorcyle with my scars and long black hair flapping in the wind? (Yeah Also my sheer love for werewolves)  However she’s evolved to be so much more, more a soldier, a person who has been wounded for so long that they no longer feel any pain.  She also became a crutch to me, and a way to get anger off of my shoulders; a way to express my sheer love for writing tragic hero’s; she isn’t misunderstood or brooding she’s just damaged and doesn’t fit into any boxes, she just wants to sleep and be left alone.  She’s probably the person I fall to the most when I’m dealing with negative emotions, and I’ve given her so much of my baggage. But she just continues, and moves regardless of circumstance, she remains her and does the best that she can; she over comes her struggles her own ways and learns healthier coping mechanisms. (She’s the one that I constantly used as a coping mechanism during my times of really bad depression; and I used her a lot before I managed to come clean and start attending therapy, that gave me the notion that if she can survive the shit I put her through and come out on top, I can survive too.) There is more to here than just this but to boil it down, she’s my comfort character, as are many of the rest of the people on this list. I also used her often as a way to cope when I received hate as a kid for being different, and yeah shes just a crutch; my buff queen that just carries me away to safety

Micheal; was inspired by my continuous love for video games, and intelligent and handsome and everything I was told a man should be (Obviously men like everyone else can and should be who ever they want to be but yeah.)  The scientist of the bunch, and a more charismatic version of both Sheldon from the big Bang theory (Who Quite frankly I severely dislike now) and Velma from Scooby doo. Smart, Handsome and a gymnast. He’s also inspired by the dark academia aesthetic; and my dark twisted love of necromancy and dark magic, the showing that he might not be physically intimidating but his mind is as much of weapon as his sister is. (He’s basically the Guy exe song by Superfruit is based on, and the caricature of he’s so dark and handsome *Swoon*)

Over all they are all my comfort characters and are supposed to be traditional tropes turn upside down on their head; which I find quite enjoyable and amusing; I hope that one day when I do publish that people find as much comfort in these characters I have.  Thanks for the asks, these have been wonderful, and I hope you have a fabulous day! :)

[jcmorrigan]

Just popping by and asking because I'm curious about your self ship with Giovanni. How did you both meet? :3

Ooh, I love this story! Though I had it only bare-bones before...this ask inspired me to sit on it and think through more of the details! So now I have a little more of that.

First of all, it doesn’t exactly follow the storyline of this song, but I just discovered it last night and I was STRUCK by how fitting it was for this whole ship, so give it a listen while reading this. Also, this got LONGER THAN I EXPECTED I’M SO SORRY

So. Here’s me: Rachel Scribere. Absolute mundie. Wants to be Inscribed, but that’s just not my life. Also wants to move up in the publishing industry, since she loves writing (mostly fanfiction, but let’s not tell the world that). And good news! A suburb outside Sweet Jazz City is hiring for a small local paper! Better than nothing, right? So I move from my small town into the heart of the city, scraping up for a cheap apartment so I can get started at work.

And it’s Hell.

My boss? Racist, homophobic, Lexist, and thinks I’m annoying. This job is slowly killing me, but I think it’s my only shot. If I lose it, I lose the apartment, I have to move back in with my parents, I have to let everyone down. Not to mention I haven’t made any friends yet in this city...surely my co-workers can’t be as bad as I think, right? They’ll be my pals eventually, right?

In the throes of depression, feeling absolutely no worth, I’m left to watch the office one day while the others are out. At a “business lunch” without me. Because I’m not in their inner circle yet, and probably will never be. I’m just trying to do some menial task they haven’t trained me how to do properly, nearly crying because it’s just not working and I know they’re gonna come back and be mad with how little I got done.

When the wall blows open.

“THERE’S NOWHERE LEFT TO RUN, [SUBURB] HERITAGE MUSEUM! FOR YOU HAVE BECOME THE NEXT TARGET OF THE BANZAI BLASTERS, AND THEIR PEERLESS LEADER, GIOVANNI POTAGE!”

When the dust clears, we’re trying to work out what, exactly, just happened.

He tried to rob a heritage museum in this suburb...and showed up at the wrong fucking building.

So he’s just all “Oh. So that’s why I’m the only one who showed up. Caaaan we just forget this ever happened? OKAYTHANKSBYE” and peaces out.

Well, I’m just about done, because our office got blown up and I still haven’t done my job and this is gonna be on my head and I just kinda fall on the floor and start crying. (Look, I know this isn’t the most headstrong start, but it’s my fantasy and I wanna be rescued from despair!)

When Giovanni WALKS RIGHT BACK IN to ASK ME FOR DIRECTIONS TO THE ACTUAL MUSEUM -

And witnesses me having a breakdown. “Hey...you, uh...you okay there?”

Well, now I’m mad at him for fucking up my life, because I am SO fired, so I get up and start sobbing and screaming at him how this is gonna be seen as my fault, and how this was already so horrible and it’s just so much worse now, but I launch into how little I was valued and Giovanni interrupts to express disbelief that my bosses didn’t take the time to help me catch up and feel welcome. After all, aren’t bosses supposed to treat their minions with love and respect?

Well, that’s when said bosses come back to the office. And they let me HAVE it.

Giovanni is miffed for two reasons. One, that they’re ragging on their precious minion (me) when that’s not something anyone should ever do, not ever! Two, that by going all “SCRIBERE. WHAT...DID...YOU...DO?”, they are totally stripping him of the cred of having made that bombastic entrance. He’s supposed to be the villain here, okay? Know his name! Fear it!

A great big argument ensues, with Giovanni defending this poor “newspaper minion” he just met and me not knowing what to say and my bosses trying to chase this crazy supervillain wannabe out of their office. And as Giovanni starts rattling off how much I deserve better and I’d be better off just quitting and being a villain...I get the impulsive idea. Hey, why not? At least I might feel alive.

So I stand up and make the decision for myself. I’m quitting. Effective now. And becoming an actual villain because I’m tired of adulting. SEE YA!

And I walk out.

Only to realize, a couple blocks away, that I have just thrown out my only financial lifeline.

Cue breakdown #2.

Now, Giovanni, he hasn’t gone love-at-first-sight for me or anything. But he does know a sad minion when he sees one, and he sort of has it in his head this is kiiiiiinda his fault, so he tails me to make sure I’m okay (which I’m not). And, I mean, a professional villain isn’t who I expected to be venting to, but he’s all I’ve got, so when he says he’ll listen, I just let it all out.

Giovanni has a great idea: I could join the Banzai Blasters with him! To which I utterly refuse. I mean, everyone knows it’s a pyramid scheme at this point, right? No one would join without being fully aware of that. (Gio: ”Heheh...yeah...I mean, I definitely knew that when I signed on, but that just means they’re legit bad guys...”)

But then he gets a BETTER idea! What if I’m an independent contractor villain? I keep the spoils of my own heists! He even thinks he remembers the name of some appraiser in the Blaster handbook that could help me get a foothold in the black market! I just need to steal some stuff to get startup capital, and hey, no one said I couldn’t tag along with the Blaster squad and take some of the spoils, like the awesome cursed swords we’re gonna find at the museum! (Me: “...What do you think the heritage museum is actually for?”) After all, the Blasters’ success is more based on clout and rank than the actual things they walk away with. No one will notice if one or two nice things goes missing! Not to mention, if I’m not an official Blaster, I get to pick my OWN uniform!

I’m desperate. And you know what? This...sounds like fun. What if I just said “fuck it”? So I agree. (And mentally plan out a potential blue-and-black aesthetic for my villain career.)

I also agree to give Giovanni a ride over there, since he is seriously NOWHERE NEAR THE MUSEUM.

En route, since it’s my car, he gets to hear one of my car mixes (IRL I make killer car mixes that make riding in my car like playing Russian Roulette - you could get rock, you could get emo, you could get trashy pop, you could get video game music, or you could just get a meme). And so he learns about my music taste. He also starts grilling me on my life - what do I do for fun? Well, I...write. They’re not really publishable stories, but...

Giovanni: “It’s fanfiction, isn’t it?” Me: “GOD DAMMIT”

He also asks my name. Which he hates, because he graduated with seven Rachels, and I can’t blame him, because I graduated with four others.

We finally get to the museum and the rest of the squad has been waiting for like an hour. They know he got lost but aren’t about to bring it up. Giovanni announces that he’s bringing a friend today and I get to help out.

Now, it’s worth noting at this point that I noticed he was QUITE A HANDSOME FELLA from the moment he walked into the room through the hole he blew in the wall, and his quirks are exactly My Type. So I’m already starting to crush on him. But I am well aware that should NOT be ANY sort of priority right now. As for me? He just sees me as a new villain buddy! (He develops feelings for me later, at which point he’s horrified because “I WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAVE A FAVORITE MINION!”.)

The other Blasters are just like “Okay, cool” because it’s really not strange at this point for Giovanni to pick up a stray (”How do you think we got Flamethrower?”). Ben is excited because now he’s not the only one who doesn’t have a cool minion name, but now Giovanni wants to give me one to spite Ben. “Hmm...let’s see...you’re a writer, so...Storyteller? Chronicler? No...oh, wait! You also like all that weird music! What about COMPOSER? See, it’s a double meaning, because it’s a music thing, but also, you COMPOSE stories...you...you get it? It’s wordplay.”

Composer. I like it. In return, even though Giovanni’s technically not my boss, I agree to call him Boss. (”And really, I may not be your boss legally, but I want you to think of me as a boss in your heart.”)

And we have FUN clearing out the museum. It’s a Sunday, so it’s closed and no one’s actually there, so we just have the run of the place. I get to take back a couple artifacts that Sweet Jazz history buffs on the black market will love.

At the end of the day, Giovanni is all excited for this new partnership, and he’s talking up how he’s going to meet up with me tomorrow to get my stuff appraised - can he have my number? Just to keep in touch? - and I have to discreetly drop him back off at the newspaper office so he can collect his Vespa and drive home. (Look. I know he does not, in canon, drive a Vespa. But he gives me the exact energy of someone who drives a Vespa, so in this ‘verse, he has one. Just rollin’ down the road like he’s on a motorcycle when it’s a fuckin’ scooter that just goes very fast)

Before I drop him off, though, he asks me if they’re gonna kick me out of my place due to me not having a paycheck that day. See, he doesn’t exactly understand how rent works. I assure him I have a due date. He tells me that I can totally crash at his and his mom’s place if I want; he’ll bug his mom into making up the guest room. Apparently she’ll be happy that he’s made more actual friends.

I joke that she would probably be fazed that he brought a girl home. He says that’s never been a concern. “Oh. Not into girls?” “No, I am. And guys. And a couple who weren’t either. The thing is, if my mom was gonna ban everyone I COULD end up being attracted to, she’d have to ban...EVERYONE. And then I wouldn’t be allowed to have ANY friends over.”

I drop him off, go back home...and hit breakdown #3.

What was I fucking thinking? I can’t be a supervillain. Especially not an independent contractor. I’m on the wrong side of the law for a living. This isn’t going to turn a profit...and that’s not even taking into account the trouble I’ll get in with the heat. I’m having anxiety, shakes, nausea, the whole works. Starting to think this isn’t worth it. Maybe starting to feel a little suicidal.

Crawl into bed. Barely sleep. Drag myself out of bed the next day to rendez-vous with Giovanni.

Just seeing him makes me feel...slightly better. He and I head off to a hidden locale to briefly confer with Ramsey Murdoch over my finds. (”Just don’t look him directly in the gross rat face.”)

Ramsey informs me I actually have some valuable stuff on my hands, recommends some buyers, makes an offhand joke about us being a “cute couple” that goes right over Giovanni’s head.

This doesn’t do much to reassure me. I still feel empty. Hollow. Afraid. But Giovanni, he SENSES this on the drive home. He can also tell I put in one of my most upbeat dance mixes to cover the sadness. So he pesters me until I tell him how I really feel...

And he refuses to leave me alone all day because a good boss doesn’t leave a minion who’s feeling that down on herself.

We end up back at his place. Start out by watching movies. I have to put up with him and his mom yelling at each other, but Ms. P. switches on a dime around me - “So glad you’re here, Sweetie. Giovanni could use more good friends like you. Good influences who will tell him NOT TO PUT HIS FEET ON THE LIVING ROOM TABLE GOD DAMMIT HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO GO OVER THIS WITH YOU GIOVANNI anyway, Rachel, can I get you anything? A drink? Some popcorn? Since MY RUDE SON DIDN’T ASK WHAT HIS GUEST WANTED WHEN SHE CAME OVER but you name it and I’ll get it for you.”

I’m still depressed. I cuddle up in a blanket. It’s hand-knitted. I mention that it’s super comfy. Giovanni takes it as a compliment, revealing that he made it himself. This leads to him parading a bunch of things he’s knitted in front of me - scarves, hats, etc. And I love every one of them. Oh, no, I am falling for this man and am also still depressed.

We end the day by plotting out my new villain attire. He’s good at sketching out patterns for clothes, so I give him an aesthetic to go for - blue, corset lacing, asymmetrical skirt, off-the-shoulder, is this too Disney villain?, you know what I don’t care, hey, that looks great! (Eventually he actually helps me put that monstrosity together)

He sticks around. I gradually become more confident in my element, making sales, stealing more things, getting comfortable with THE VILLAIN LIFE, actually turning up a profit because Ramsey knows where the market is and is glad to show me, and hanging out with the Blasters on a regular basis in an abandoned library we’ve taken over as our lair (Giovanni says the word “Lair-brary” once and immediately regrets it and asks us all to forget he ever combined those syllables).

And I’m happy. Finally.

Then one day, in the library lair that is not a Lair-brary, there’s some shenanigan and a bookshelf almost falls on me and crushes me and Giovanni tackles me out of the way because THAT’S WHAT ANY DECENT VILLAIN BOSS WOULD DO FOR HIS PRECIOUS MINIONS and oh. Oh my God. If I didn’t have a crush on this man before, I LOVE him now. Oh, no. Oh, no... ;-)

That’s pretty much the origin story. I’m still kind of nursing the idea of doing an AU version of this in TBTC, and I would probably still wanna use “busts into WRONG PLACE, sees Rachel being mistreated, takes her to rob a place to feel better,” and I hope it’s not tacky to copy the same device. But yeah, I hope that wasn’t the 15 minutes of your life you’ll never get back

[monstersdownthepath]

Spiritual Spotlight: Imot, the Symbol of Doom

True Neutral Psychopomp Usher of Inevitability, Mathematics, and Portents

Domains: Luck, Repose, Rune, Weather Subdomains*: Curse, Psychopomp, Legislation, Storms

Concordance of Rivals, pg. 9

Obedience: Spend an hour in a dark space barely large enough for you to fit and cast your thoughts out from your body. Benefit: Gain a +4 insight bonus on Perception checks to spot portents and traps; this expanded insight also allows you to disable magic traps as if you had the Rogue’s Trapfinding ability.

(*IMPORTANT NOTE: The Subdomains are my best guess; Subdomains are not listed in Concordance of Rivals. Anywhere!)

Pity you ended up in a desert for this adventure, eh? No, but finding a space ‘barely large enough for you to fit’ is likely going to be difficult if you’re not an urban environment. Most DMs will just wave their hand and say that there’s an outcropping of rocks or a hollowed out tree here or there that will allow you to complete your Obedience, but if you’re in hostile territory it may become more and more difficult to find a safe space for you to squeeze down into. I suppose you could technically carry or create your own by toting around a sack just barely you-sized, but then comes the awkwardness of getting into and out of the thing each day. Do you ask for help? Or do you trust that you’ll eventually escape? Many Obediences have an unspoken ‘eject button’ that lets you leap from the ritual and defend yourself if necessary and begin again later, but Imot’s Obedience leaves you terribly, terribly vulnerable.

Also, “cast your thoughts from your body” is a strange sentence to me. Is that just a fancy way of saying ‘meditate?’ Do you legitimately have to try and astral project? Is it ‘cast them out’ in a ‘wander elsewhere with your mind’ way, or an ‘empty your mind’ way? Hrm.

Well, anyway, that’s a REAL nice benefit, a whole head and shoulders above the usual fare of ‘on par with a feat.’ Perception checks are the most-rolled checks in the game, and keeping an eye out for traps is one of its most important functions. As for what ‘spotting portents’ entails, it’s annoying to have to detail this out, but portents are basically omens or warnings. The tide suddenly receding heralds a tidal wave, the skies above darkening signaling a terrible storm, a depressed wall plate signals a trap is set, claw marks in the door suggests its occupant is terrible and sharp... Things like that. It’s basically an excuse to have you spot tiny details that foretell incoming disasters, with is a delightful ability to have if the DM can play around with it. Why yes, you notice that merchants hands are backwards right away...

Oh, also, disabling magic traps is nice... But uh, best to leave that to the experts, unless you are the expert, since this ability doesn’t actually make you any better at dispelling or disarming them.

Boons are gained slowly, gained at levels 12, 16, and 20. Servants of the Monitors, though, can enter the Proctor Prestige Class as early as level 8. If entered as early as possible, you can earn your Boons at levels 10, 14, and 16. You MUST take the Monitor Obedience feat, NOT Deific Obedience. Monitors grant only a single set of Boons. 

Boon 1: The Coming Storm. Gain Doom 3/day, Scare 2/day, or Rain of Frogs 1/day.

Doom, despite having such an ominous name, is only level 1 and causes the target to become shaken. Powerful at low levels, but it falls off quickly and its nature as an emotion/mind-affecting effect make a painful number of monsters immune to it.

Scare is, perhaps, even more painfully outclassed than Doom, because it only affects creatures who have less than 6 HD. I find it amusing that Doom and Cause Fear are the same level, but Doom is infinitely better. Scare is a step up from Cause Fear, but not a HUGE step. It’s useful for cowing a legion of smaller foes into submission, but once you start hitting the mid/upper levels, you won’t really find many creatures worth using this power on that you couldn’t just deal with using a different spell.

And thus, we get to Rain of Frogs, one of the best spells in the entire game if only because causing a flood of amphibians to fall upon your foes is one of the best possible uses for magic in existence. Also, I linked to the spell’s page because I enjoyed how much and how little patience the authors of the website had and just conglomerated all the information you need to use the spell in one simple page. Nice of them! Anyway, with a range of Close comes the power to drop your poisonous frog storm directly into an enemy’s square, which is endlessly useful when dealing with casters or fleeing foes. I’d pick Rain of Frogs every single time, as the other two don’t even come close to comparing to its power or utility.

Followers of Imot always know that the Coming Storm is composed entirely of frogs.

Boon 2: Insight Into Disaster. You add your Wisdom modifier to Initiative checks and Reflex saves.

Alright YEAH! Initiative checks GO!!! I really hope you didn’t dump Wisdom, because people who didn’t get rewarded HARD. Moving first is perhaps the most important thing you can do in combat, letting you strike first, buff first, retreat first, etc etc etc. And you not only get that, but the added benefit of adding Wis to your Reflex saves as well. Casters typically have poor Reflex saves AND poor-to-middling Dexterity, and this solves both of those issues in one fell swoop.

Also, this is an untyped bonus, allowing it to stack with pretty much every other buff in the game. ...

... Alright, I think that covers it. Flat stat boosts are always boring to discuss, no matter HOW excited I am to see that you can potentially double your Initiative and Ref.

Boon 3: Call Down the Wrath. 1/day you can cast Extended Control Weather.

That’s altered weather patterns for 4d12x2 hours, by the by. Realistically, about 1 to 2 days of weather control (the average roll is 26, which doubles to 52), but if you’re especially lucky you can muck with up to four days of weather. Even a low roll sees 8 hours of climate change, a full adventuring day! With an area of 2 miles centered on you and the potential to have the spell last 2, 3, or 4 days, you can have the effect overlap itself and just have an eternal 2-mile bubble of whatever you want it to be. Become the very avatar of tumultuous climates as you stroll from place to place with dark clouds both heralding your arrival and shadowing your departure, or go in the opposite route and just give yourself a perpetual spring day!

It takes 10 minutes to cast this spell and 10 minutes to alter the weather in a meaningful way, so if you want to be DRAMATIC with it you need to time it exactly. Queue up a thunderstorm BEFORE strolling into the enemy evil leader’s base and demanding their cooperation and snapping your fingers to cause it should they fail to comply... Or, y’know, to celebrate the occasion should they actually comply. It’s a warning! A display!

It’s really easy to abuse this spell thanks to even the lowest possible roll still meaning you have 8 hours to muck about with an enormous patch of weather. Need to sneak somewhere? Create thick fog, torrential rain, or snowstorms to hide your movement. Need to clear out an enemy camp? Terrible heat or cold could make them move. Need to halt an enemy army? Bring down catastrophic hail or a tornado to rip through them. You can’t directly control where the tornado will travel or how the hail will fall, so make sure you’re protected from your own actions! And know that your allies and friends aren’t spared from you Calling Down the Wrath, but luckily being a Proctor demands skill in Abjuration anyway, so assure everyone possesses shields and wards!

Or, you know, march your lonesome self into enemy territory. That’s an option, too!

I really, really love this reward because Control Weather is one of my lower-key favorite spells. It’s one of the few that actually makes you feel like a God, which everyone knows is what magic is all about! Too bad Imot is one of the Ushers that leans more towards the Evil side of the Neutral spectrum.

Side note: Since using a spell-like ability isn’t technically ‘casting’ a spell, Druids don’t get the bonus of doubling the already-doubled duration or the 3-mile radius.

You can read more about it here.

[solarianradiance]

I played some Rimworld with Homestuck characters, here is what happened

Just a heads up, it gets to be really fucked up down the line, so you were warned. I also had pretty much nothing to do with how the fucked up shit happens, its just a random occurrence of the game. I can only respond to it when it happens.

I made the Alpha and Beta Kids, John, Jane, Jade, Jake, Dave, Dirk, Rose and Roxy.

I set them up to do specific jobs and have certain traits that were fitting of their personalities

Rose being our top researcher and negotiator.

Jade is good at Hunting and Farming and animal training

Jane is our Cook and Doctor, pretty much the house wife

Dirk is set to be our good at everything guy but slow to learn

Dave is bad at everything, but fast to learn

John is our miner and handyman, he build stuff and such

Roxy is moderate at everything and learn at a moderate pace

Jake is our main Hunter and fighter (gave him the masochist trait)

I also made them all related like they are in canon, Roxy and Rose are Mother and Daughter for example. Otherwise, everything is more or less normal, no other relationships were set

I chose a mountainous Redwood Biome and a brutal start tribal tech line and only basic supplies and a single gun. Rest were bows. Meaning that we had no technology of any kind and everything had to be researched at a slower pace.

I added a “Shelter wall and door” mod to grant myself a tiny bit of mercy.

We land and got a good position of geysers (useful for power later) and an an even better layout of the map, the entire southern mountain had an enclosure that created a perfect defensive location for a base.

Things are going well for the first couple of months, then Dirk starts getting depressed because of shit Jake said to him and he didn’t like John for some reason

He starts a fight with Jake, but is taken out. Jake is injured, crippled even, but alive. Dirk is dead because I gave Jake a knife due to him hunting animals for food and we could not save him from bleed out in time.

Dave goes berserk and tries to kill Jake

He succeeds, but at the cost of his own life.

In one day, Jake kills Dave and Dirk as they tried to kill him

Everyone else gets upset over this, but they get over it

By having an incestuous orgy

More or less, that is what happened No I did not try to make this happen, it occurred on its own

Rose and Roxy, out of the blue, a couple days after their boys died, they start banging and move in together, had to build a double bed or else they would get mad from their lack of Mother/Daughter special time.

Couple months after that, Jade gets the same idea to bang John

Which she does.

Then Jane joins in, because polyamory.

So John is banging both Jade and Jane, his Sister and Mother

While Rose and Roxy are banging each other.

This goes on for over a year in game

Then somebody new joins us, a 70+ year old man named Richard, which ironic and you’ll know why.

Apparently he doesn't mind the incest loving cave-dwellers, but he was kind of useless, and could only use him for dumb labor and cleaning.

Then we get news his daughter/best friend died, so he gets super depressed, to the point he has a mental break down and strips down naked to wander around in the snow until he collapses from hypothermia after a while.

This goes on for a while, cant do much for him unless I get him a ton of beer and stuff to keep him from breaking.

Got addicted to some drugs, and I have to use resources to cure him.

One day Richard has another break down, and wanders into Jades line of sight while hunting reindeer.

She accidentally shoots Richard

...

In the dick

Obviously, it was an accident, but that name is painful

Because Richard is often nicked-named to “Dick”

Anyways, we save Richard, but now he is perpetually depressed due to losing his daughter/best friend AND losing his dick, which was shot clean off.

So even with Catharsis (a buff after his mental break downs wore off) he was perpetually in the red.

Here is where things get weird.

You can perform surgery on your colonists, removing or adding bodyparts like that.

Including genitals, both male and female

I had Jane fashion Richard a wooden cock and implant it

It worked

At least, to the point of him not being upset over not having a dick anymore. Meaning he isn’t so depressed now.

Things are pretty quiet and we settle into a routine.

We grow crops, fend off raiders, trade with merchants, engage in diplomacy, I even learned how to Caravan, as in, send people out into the world to do stuff like trade and retieve items and complete jobs we were given (like as in quests)

John would mine and build things, have his incestuous threesomes with his Mother and Sister wives

Roxy and Rose broke up

Richard would still have his tantrums until we cured him of his depression (yes you can do that)

Then, one day, Randy Random (our storyteller) decides its time to end the story by causing a massive sapper raid attack (meaning they DIG through our defenses), land some evil robots inside our permeter, cause ANOTHER faction of raiders to lay siege to our base (deploying artillery and shelling us) AND THEN Bugs infest the place

Like giant bugs that attack everything

Needless to say, everyone died

Oh and he dropped us some wool and made a herd of guinea pigs join us after the fact before it game overed

GG

[gaming-rabbot]

Salmon Run and Presentation

A (not so) brief dissertation on narrative framing in video games, featuring Splatoon 2

With the holidays in full swing, I took advantage of a deal one day when I went into town, and finally got my hands on Splatoon 2. Having loved the prior game as much as I did, waiting this long to get the sequel felt almost wrong. But like many another fellow meandering corpus of conscious flesh, I am made neither of time nor money.

Finally diving in, I figured I might take this excuse to remember that I write game reviews, sometimes. You know, when the tide is high, the moon blue, and the writer slightly less depressed. I ended up scrapping my first couple drafts, however. You see, a funny thing was happening; I kept veering back into talking about Salmon Run, the new optional game mode the sequel introduces.

Also I might look at the Octo Expansion later, on its own. After I get around to it…

Look, the base game already has a lot of content to explore, and as previously stated, I am sadly corporeal, and not strung together with the metaphysical concept of time itself.

My overall thoughts, however, proved brief, so I’ll try to keep this short.

(Mild spoilers coming along.)

Gameplay wise, I think the story mode is much improved upon by handing you different weapons for certain levels which were specifically built with them in mind. Whereas the prior game left you stuck with a variant of the starter splattershot all the way through. This keeps things interesting, pushes me outside of my comfort zone, and it’s a good way to make sure players will come from a well-informed place when deciding what weapon they want for multiplayer; which, let’s face it, is the real meat of these games and where most players are going to log the most time.

I also love the way bosses are introduced with the heavy drums and rhythmic chants and the dramatic light show. It endows the moment with a fantastic sense of gravitas, and manages to hype me up every time. Then the boss will have an aspect of their design which feels a bit silly or some how rather off, keeping the overall tone heavily grounded in the toony aesthetics the series already established for itself.

Narratively, I felt rather okay about the story aspect of Story Mode. The collectible pages in the levels still have a certain amount of world building, though this time it seems more skewed toward explaining what pop culture looks like in this world, such as, an allusion to this world’s equivalent to Instagram.

Cynical as it is…

That’s definitely still interesting in its own right, though perhaps it’s less of a revelatory gut-punch as slowly piecing it together that the game takes place in the post-apocalypse of Earth itself, and the inklings copied ancient human culture.

We still got some backstory for this game’s idol duo, though. And that, I appreciate. It means Pearl and Marina still feel like a part of this world, rather than seeming obligatory for the sake of familiarity, given the first game had an idol duo as well.

Meanwhile, perhaps it is a bit obvious that Marie’s cousin, Callie, has gone rogue, and that she is the mysterious entity cracking into the radio transmissions between her and Agent 4. If I recall correctly, that was a working theory that came about with the first trailer or two. That, or she had died.

As soon as Marie says aloud she wonders where Callie has gone, I knew right away. And that’s just in the introduction.

That said, on some level, after stomaching through certain other games and such that actively lie or withhold information to force an arbitrary plot twist for plot twist sake, it feels almost nice to go back to a narrative that actually bothers to foreshadow these things. Plus, having gotten already invested in Callie as a character from the first game, I still felt motivated to see the story through to find out why she went rogue. And, loving the Squid Sisters already, there was a hope in me that she could be redeemed, or at least understood. In terms of building off the prior game’s story, Splatoon 2 is moderately decent.

Also, I mean, c’mon. The big narrative drive might be a tad predictable, but hey, this game is for kids. It’s fine.

That, I think, is something I love the most about Splatoon. Despite feeling like you’re playing in a Saturday morning cartoon, and being aimed primarily at children, it doesn’t shy away from fairly heavy subjects. Such as the aforementioned fact that the humans are all long dead and you’re basically playing paintball in the ruins of their consumerist culture.

Which brings me to what fascinates me so much about Splatoon 2: the way in which Salmon Run is framed.

You see, on the surface, Salmon Run appears to be your typical horde mode; a cooperative team (typically comprised of randoms) fights off gaggles of foes as they take turns approaching their base in waves. Pretty standard for online shooters these days, as was modernly popularized by Gears of War 2, and Halo ODST.

I say “modernly,” as the notion of fighting enemies as they approach in waves is not exactly a new concept for mechanical goals within video games. Rather, the term itself, as applied to multiplayer shooters, “horde mode,” became a point of game discussion when Gears of War 2 introduced the new game mode by that same name back in… 2008?

No, no that can’t be right. I played Gears 2 back in high school (I had worse taste back then, okay?). Which, from my perspective, was basically yesterday. That game being ten years old would mean I myself am old now, and that just can’t be. I’m hip. I’m young.

I am, to stay on theme here, fresh.

But okay, existential crises and game talk terms aside, the writing team behind Splatoon 2 probably decided to absolutely flex when it came to the narrative surrounding Salmon Run. It is one of the most gleaming examples of the nontraditional things you can do with writing in video games, to really elevate the experience.

Let me explain.

You see, narrative in video games typically falls into one of two categories: either the story sits comfortably inside of the game, utilizing it like a vehicle to arrive at the destination that is its audience’s waiting eyes and ears. Or the narrative, on some level, exists rather nebulously, primarily to provide something resembling context for why the pixels look the way they do, and why the goals are what they are.

Not to say this is a binary state of existence for game writing; narrative will of course always provide context for characters, should there be any. It’s primarily older, or retro games that give you a pamphlet or brief intro with little in the way of worrying over character motivation, and the deeper philosophical implications of the plot, etc (though not for lack of trying). These would be your classic Mario Bros. and what have you, where the actual game part of the video game is nearly all there is to explore in the overall experience.

Then you have games like Hotline Miami that purposely sets up shop right in the middle to make a meta commentary about the state of game narrative, using the ideological endpoint of violent 80’s era action and revenge-fantasy genre film as inspiration and the starting point to draw comparison between the two. It’s bizarre, and I could drone on about this topic.

But I digress.

Despite falling into that latter category, that is to say having mainly just an introduction to the narrative context so you can get on with playing the game, Salmon Run is a stellar example of how you can make every bit of that context count (even if it does require the added context of the rest of the game, sort of, which I’ll explain, trust me).

First, a (very) brief explanation of how the game itself works, for the maybe three of you who haven’t played it yet.

A team of up to four inklings (and/or octolings) have a small island out in open waters. Salmonid enemies storm the beaches from various angles in waves. Each wave also comes with (at least) one of eight unique boss variants, who all drop three golden eggs upon defeat. Players are tasked with gathering a number of said golden eggs each round, for three rounds, after which their failure or success in doing so shows slow or fast progress towards in-game rewards.

And it’s all an allegory for the poor treatment of labor/workers, utilizing the fishing industry as both an example and a thematically appropriate analogue. Yes, I’m serious.

First, Salmon Run is not available through the main doors like the other multiplayer modes. Rather, it is off to the side, down a dingy looking alley. And when you’re shown its location, either because you finally entered the Inkopolis plaza for the first time, or because the mode has entered rotation again, Marina very expressly describes it as a job.

A job you should only do if you are absolutely, desperately hard strapped for cash. You know, the sort of job you turn to if, for one reason or another, you can’t find a better one.

An aside: technically, playing Salmon Run does not automatically net you in-game currency, with which to buy things, as regular multiplayer modes do. Rather, your “pay” is a gauge you fill by playing, which comes with reward drops at certain thresholds; some randomized gacha style capsules, and one specific piece of gear which gets advertised, to incentivize playing.

The capsules themselves drop actual paychecks in the form of aforementioned currency, or meal tickets to get temporary buffs that help you progress in the multiplayer faster via one way or another. Which, hey, you know, that helps you earn more money also. Working to get “paid,” so you can get things you want, though, still works perfectly for the metaphor it creates.

When I first saw it open up for rotation, I found out you had to be at least a level four to participate. Pretty par for the course, considering it’s the same deal with the gear shops. But, again, it’s all in the presentation; Mr. Grizz does not simply say something akin to the usual “you must be this tall to ride.” He says he cannot hire inexperienced inklings such as yourself, because it’s a legal liability.

After returning with three extra levels, I was handed off to basic, on-the-job training. Which is only offered after Mr. Grizz (not ever physically present, mind you, but communicating with you via radio), the head of Grizzco, uses fairly typical hard sell rhetoric when it comes to dangerous, or otherwise undesirable work: calls you kid, talks about shaping the future and making the world a better place, refers to new hires as “fresh young talent,” says you’ll be “a part of something bigger than yourself.” You know, the usual balancing act of flattery, with just the right amount of belittlement.

Whoa, hang on, sorry; just had a bad case of deja vu from when the recruiter that worked with the ROTC back in high school tried to get me to enlist… several times… Guess he saw the hippie glasses and long hair and figured I'd be a gratifying challenge.

The fisher imagery really kicks in when you play. Which, I figure a dev team working out of Japan might have a pretty decent frame of reference for that. A boat whisks you out to sea with your team, and everyone’s given a matching uniform involving a bright orange jumper, and rubber boots and gloves. If you've ever seen the viral video of the fisherman up to his waist in water telling you not to give up, you have a rough idea. Oh, and don't forget your official Grizzco trademark hats.

It’s on the job itself where a lot of what I'm talking about comes up the most; that is to say, despite buttering you up initially, Mr. Grizz shows his true colors pretty quickly. While playing, he seems to only be concerned with egg collecting, even when his employees are actively hurting. This is established and compounded by his dialogue prior to the intermediate training level, in which informs you about the various boss fish.

Before you can do anything remotely risky, even boss salmonid training, Mr. Grizz tells you he has to go over this 338 page workplace health and safety manual with you. But, oops, the new hire boat sounds the horn as you flip to page 1, so he sends you off unprepared. “Let’s just say you’ve read it,” he tells you, insisting that learning by doing is best.

This flagrant disregard employee safety, in the name of met quotas; the fact we never see Mr. Grizz face to face, making him this vague presence that presides over you, evaluating your stressed performance with condescension; that we are not simply given the rewards as we pass thresholds to earn them, having to instead speak with another, unknown npc for our pay… It all drives toward the point so well.

The icing on the cake for me is when a match ends. You, the player, are not asked if you’d like to go back into matchmaking for another fun round of playtime. Rather, you are asked if you would like to “work another shift.”

The pieces all fit so well together. I shouldn’t be surprised that, once a theme is chosen, Splatoon can stick to it like my hand to rubber cement that one time. It has already proven it can do that much for sure. But it’s just so… funny? It’s bitterly, cynically hilarious.

Bless the individual(s) who sat in front of their keyboard, staring at the early script drafts, and asked aloud if they were really about to turn Mr. Grizz into a projection of all the worst aspects of the awful bosses they’ve had to deal with in life. The answer to that question being “yes” has led to some of my favorite writing in a video game.

All of these thoughts, as they started forming in my skull, really began to bubble when I noticed Salmon Run shifts become available during my first Splatfest.

Splatfest is, to try and put it in realistic terms, basically a huge, celebratory sporting event. Participation nets you a free commemorative t-shirt and access to a pumping concert featuring some of the hottest artists currently gracing the Inkopolis charts.

The idea, the notion, that a hip young inkling (or octoling) might miss out on one of the biggest parties of the year because they need money more than they need fun? It’s downright depressing.

It got me thinking. I looked at my fellow egg collectors. In-universe, we were a bunch of teen-to-young-adult aged denizens missing out on all the fun because we desperately needed the cash. We became stressed together, overworked together, yelled at by our boss together. But in those sweetest victories, where we’d far surpassed our quota? We celebrated together.

Spam-crouching, and mashing the taunt, something changed. I felt a greater sense of comradery with these squids and octos than I did in nearly any other coop game. And it’s all thanks to the rhetorical framing of the game mode.

It accomplishes so many things. It’s world building which wholistically immerses you in the setting. But mainly, its dedication to highly specific word choice does exactly what I mentioned earlier: it elevates the experience to one I could really sit down and think about, rather than use to while away the hours, then move on to something else. So many games make horde modes that feel inconsequential like that; it’s just for fun.

There’s nothing wrong with fun being the only mission statement for a game, or an optional mode of play. But this is exactly what I mean when I say this is the nontraditional writing games can do so much more with. And Splatoon 2 saw that opportunity, and took it. And what a fantastic example of bittersweet, cold reality, in this, a bright, colorful game meant mainly for children…

Happy Holidays, everyone!

[nightcoremoon]

Top 10 Badass Female Characters in Fire Emblem Fates (in my opinion)

10- Reina/Peri

Okay so the reason why there's two people in this slot is because they're literally the same archetype. They love blood and killing and violence and blah blah blah, BUT ALSO they have at least some levels of depth and complexity to their character to keep them from being boring one note death machines. Problem is Reina doesn't have any supports with anyone so you don't get to know much more about her, but she protected your mom. Peri protects your older brother. Anyone who keeps your family safe is definitely badass.

9- Kagero

Ah Kagero. You get captured all the freakin time but that's not your fault. You're still the best dread fighter hands down, and definitely my favorite ninja (Kaze is too fragile and Saizo is too slow and Soleil is unavailable to a path). Plus she's an artist and while she may not be the best painter she still loves it and enjoys her hobby. She's a loyal servant and an even more loyal friend, and would put her own life on the line to protect your brother.

8- Anna

Can't fault a girl for war profiteering. Strong independent woman don't need no man, been around the block for centuries and across kingdoms, crack shot with a bow, gold farmer, feisty redhead, runs circles around the L crew, I could go on. She's always on my team and is supported by MC for dem stats and the unity ability in pretty sure procs make a killing but idk. Regardless she's still gr9.

7- Arete

She gets killed like four times before finally going down, and that first time was fairly heroic honestly. Definitely one of the most important people in regards to lore.

6- Camilla

What list would be complete without the best sister??? No not because of her giant tiddies (awesome to look at they may be) or the giant ass window (also awesome to look at) or even the weird incest thing going on (I guess from a Japanese lens that's awesome too but eeehhh) but because she's actually a great combat unit especially if she spends a couple levels as a hero getting those skills. Axes AND magic AND an attack buff means she should always be out on the field. She may be insane and has a lust for blood rivaling Peri, but she's a good sister, a good ruler, and a good unit.

5- Soleil

Oh yes. FUCKING SUPERB YOU FUNKY LITTLE LESBIAN! She's a big glass cannon so I always make her a master ninja and god is she a good ninja. She never gives up even in the face of innumerable odds, she's got great stats all depending on who her mom is, she's SUPER FUCKING GAY FOR GIRLS, oh yeah and she's a teenager leading a band of mercenaries; how fucking cool is that?

4- Rinkah

Stomp on me like you stomp on enemies. Oni savages are like fighters with better stats and both blacksmiths and chieftains have some top notch skills and she's the only one in the game who can do that naturally. She's an adamantly staunch advocate for her people, and makes leaps and bounds of character development through her supports. She's also clearly the most visibly sculpted lady sans for maybe Effie and anyone packing that much solid muscle has got to be pretty fucking awesome.

3- Hinoka

Real talk tho Hinoka is the actual best sister slash mom. Proof? Setsuna and Azama are both still alive somehow. The providence that protects them from traps and getting choked to death has got to be the pegasus knight. She's the second best female offensive lance user in the game (excluding knight/cavalier/merchant/basara/etc who have different roles than pure adjacent physical lance-based dps), especially if she A+'s either Camilla or Setsuna and S's either Xander or Silas. She's got enough variety to her that I feel the Lucina seal would simply be wasted on her. My only complaint is that without reclassify she kinda sucks but hey, just buy a freakin heart seal.

2- Scarlet

VIVA LA REVOLUCION! Tragic you can only use her in one path. I romanced her in my very first playthrough to give stats to my Kana (and also because I knew it would be my only chance to really use her). She deserves so much better than to just be fridge stuffing to give Ryoma that manpain. Dammit Japan. At least she's got the coolest armor design.

HONORABLE MENTIONS TIME!

Azura: the fucking queen of Valla who carries the plot on her shoulders. literally the most important person in canon. deserves better.

Felicia: accidental badassery still counts, right? slap on a flame shuriken and watch heads roll.

Hana: best samurai. like lon'qu but actually with personality. rough and abrasive but has a heart of gold.

Beruka: cold blooded contract killer trying to learn how to feel. similar to Reina/Peri but she doesn't kill for fun, she kills to survive. she's just really good at it.

Lilith: f

Cassita: she bakes you cookies. SHE. BAKES. YOU. COOKIES. okay. when will your fave ever? except for camilla, she baked you cookies too, but camilla has crippling depression, mommy issues, a whole lotta weird borderline incest stuff going on (even though you're adopted so it's okay according to japan... oh, who am I kidding, I fucked leo to have dragon forrest and because FOLGERS COFFEE COMMERCIAL). anyway. cassita only knows that you're armed, dangerous, here to kill the king, and once knew her darling elise, but she shelters your entire fucking army and then BAKES. YOU. NICE HOT FRESH CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. bless her big beautiful heart. you can be badass without kicking someone's ass.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

1- Oboro

fuck, man, she is just the best. best outfit, best stats, best combat ability, best class, and has a personality and hobbies and interests and likes and dislikes and flaws... I literally cried a little bit when I had to kill her in conquest. she is my favorite character in the whole game and she just kicks so much ass. I can't adequately put it into words, it's just... agh, she's great. 10/10

[isroselalondebisexual]

What do you think the following kidswaps would be like: Rose Strider, Dave Lalonde, John Harley, and Jade Egbert

So I don’t actually engage with kidswaps a bunch because I don’t really get where most people are coming from with them, but my understanding of kidswaps is:

You take the canon kid but raise them in their surname’s household.

One of the cool things Hussie did with the guardians was that they fit fairly well into the four parenting styles Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive, and Neglectful. Quick psychology overview, there are two categories parents usually get defined by, Involvement (also known as support or warmth) and discipline (or demand). Authoritative parents give high support/involvement/warmth, and moderate discipline, which is sort of the ideal parenting, and that fits Dad Egbert pretty well. Authoritarian is low warmth/support/involvement but high discipline/demand, which Bro Strider fits. Permissive is high warmth, but low discipline, which goes well with Mom Lalonde. Neglectful parents are low warmth low discipline, and are often absent entirely, which our unfortunately dead Grandpa Harley was (and from evidence in Hiveswap, probably would have been even if he was alive). Lucky for us Jade had a radioactive dog to raise her in his stead.

So we’ve got a girl like Rose, raised in an authoritarian household, I’m just gonna go ahead and say Bro Strider because I don’t know how guardians usually work in kidswaps. So Bro “I got possessed by a demonic puppet at age 0 and have lived with that thing in my head all my life” Strider is aggressive, unreliable, attacks his kid on a dime, emotionally distant, and emotionally detached. Rose, who is already pretty embittered by her mother in canon, would become someone utterly infuriated with the world. She’d forgo her passive-aggression games in favor of being outright nasty and rude most of the time I’m talking full 90′s cliche delinquent here. Serious behavioral issues, “who’s going to make me” attitude, seizing control by force wherever she can because control is something that’s stripped from her in her home life. Distrustful of other people’s intentions, probably always sees the worst in others, the kind of person who’s just waiting for the other person to prove her right so she can point at them and say “Ha. I knew you weren’t that nice.” without full awareness that she was the one to push them to snapping at her in the first place. REALLY nasty downward spirals of aggression and more aggression and a paranoid survival-based hair-trigger set of reflexes. Probably useful as a Seer of Time, but not good for her well being by any stretch of the imagination.

Then we’ve got Dave, raised in a permissive household by Mom “I drink to forget that the world is about to end and also because I’m lonely and life is hard” Lalonde. On the upside, he’s got a parent who cares about him now, on the other, he’s still a kid who’s gotta grow up too fast, bc his mom isn’t really a mom. She adores him, of course she does, but she’s drunk off her ass eight days a week so Dave’s sorta gotta be his own adult, which doesn’t end well. He probably gets along with her though, thinks he’s got a cool mom when really she’s just an enabler to pretty much anything he wants to do. I’d imagine a Dave Lalonde would end up sorta spoiled, used to not being told no, raised a rich kid, he’s used to being able to get whatever he wants after a little whining and would likely have a bad reaction to being told “no” when he starts out. A well intentioned dude who wants to be soft, but believes he has to be the “mature” one of the group, just listen to him he’s the smart one here. Probably thinks photographing plants and collecting roadkill in jars makes him “cultured” and “refined” and tries to use that as an excuse for why everyone should listen to him. Part of that is just him being used to having to act the adult in his home life though, so it’s natural for him to think that he’s the mature one, the put together one, the one who’s too old for that sort of childish nonsense. Also likely knows he’s pan/bi before the Game even starts tbeh. His quest as Knight of Light would probably involve him mostly just figuring out how to be a kid again, something he’d initially resent, like Rose resents the girlishness of LOLAR in canon, but would warm to eventually as he comes to terms with the fact that he’s not an adult, he’s allowed to be a kid.

Then John, raised in a “neglectful” household as much as having a dead guardian can really raise him, left with First Guardian Bec and the carapacians of Prospit. He’d probably be really starved for attention. Even more of a class clown than he is in canon, but this time only on a deserted island. Just a boy with his dog, and his dream scape to make friends with strange white chess people, whose customs are very much not human customs but ah well. Depression likely sets in a lot sooner for him without a parent around, and it’s easier for him to lock himself away from the world when no one’s even in his world on that lonely little island. Laying in bed all day watching movies and texting his friends and playing online games are less “interests” as much as they are “the only hobbies he has access to AND energy for”, than in his canon timeline. He’s still a boy overflowing with love for his friends, and would probably maintain his goofy disposition, but he’d be lonely and tired and depressed and it would likely be hard for him to work up the energy for his childhood nonsense that we all love and adore so much from canon. Bec, at least, would get him up, because dogs are high-energy pets and need daily exercise, and John would never ever let his dear sweet Bec get affected negatively by his depressed moods. He’s a boy who wants to be in love with life but it’s really, really hard. His quest as the Heir of Space would be something of a spiritual journey, I think. Becoming one with the universe, coming to terms with the good and the bad, the highs and lows the desirable and the ugly, and, by extension, learn to balance his own inner joy and despair. Once he reaches an understanding with that which is whole, he is better able to handle his own cycle of depression, which never really truly leaves him but he is able to handle it, engage with his loved ones while maintaining his own illness.

Jade, raised in an authoritative household by Dad “I love my child more than my own life” Egbert. Probably gonna be the most well adjusted out of all of them, surprising literally no one. Might be a little less punchy than we see in canon, having had a parent to appropriately model reactions to things like annoyance and anger, and probably has less access to rifles than our girl in canon. Still buff as shit tho, that much hasn’t changed. A witty problem solver, someone who’s had the support needed to really help her flourish, added to her own genius self. Has less need for the dreambot, but is still interested in science and furry/wolfkin stuff and her dad is, of course, only supportive (even if he doesn’t really understand the wolfkin/furry stuff, he supports his child and her interests). Wins ever science fair ever held and Dadbert is just standing with a camera beaming in the background. A go-getter and a high-achiever, sharp-tongued and able to use wit and snark and humor in order to win her battles instead of just out-screaming Karkat, regional winner of the Screamer Award (to be fair, that moment in canon was ICONIC). Isn’t necessarily GOOD at rolling with the punches, but is capable of it when she feels inclined. Her quest as a Witch of Breath would probably be something of a spiritual healer for the rest of her group? Someone who can manipulate the Aspect of freedom and in turn give that to her friends and loved ones. Someone for Dave to joke around with and just be a kid with, someone John can look to for support and help him when life is just too heavy, someone Rose can rail against and see that there is indeed still kindness in this world and yeah Jade isn’t perfect, she’s tempermental and a compulsive liar but she’s good and she’s loving and she wants nothing more than for Rose to feel okay again and Rose does indeed want that and wow JadeRose would actually be exceptionally good in this kind of kidswap wow. And in helping her friends, that would be an act of liberation for Jade too, because sometimes “we” is easier than “me” and sometimes “let’s” is more doable than “I’ll” and “I’ll do this for you” is easier than “I’ll do this for myself.”

Anyway I got super long winded there but here are my Thoughts tell me what you think.