#but i also had less inspiration due to the plentiful amounts of rage I was going through today

[nidhoggssoultrap]

Headcanon Part 4

I am the storm sent to wake you from your dream.My "Headcanon" (Nidhogg, Louie, and Yvette. Mostly Nidhogg) Part 1 This one is a long one, so I'll be splitting it into parts. I don't thinkI AM THE STORM SENT TO WAKE YOU FROM YOUR DREAM.

Headcanons/Vingettes/snippets part 2Oh lordy...this is it. Love Nikki has the longest list of headcanons EVER...or well, that I’ve written. Jesus...never thought a dress-up gamI AM THE STORM SENT TO WAKE YOU FROM YOUR DREAM.

Headcanon Part 3Dress up game...one character...inspired all this...wow. But, I was able to dig up some old “flames” because of this, so it’s all good. PrevI AM THE STORM SENT TO WAKE YOU FROM YOUR DREAM.

And now, page 4. I don’t think this record will ever be surpassed by any other fandom. Geez..Also, spoilers for the CN Dawn Front event that happened around Sept 15th.

1. When it comes to the human trafficking for Grey Raven situation, there is plenty of blame to go around. I believe that because Regent 7 is found necessary, Grey Raven has a lot more leverage in the Night Order than he should. Both Reid and Nidhogg balked at the idea the way Johnny Lawrence did when his sensei told him to “Sweep the leg” in the Karate Kid. Both used arguments similar to what I used in the Discord along with Reid saying that he has plenty of money for clothes/designers to use as a means of breaking the Curse through Styling Contests. However, Grey Raven was successful at manipulating both of them to gather prisoners and use them for his experiments/more Shade people. “Are you not the King of Swords?” Grey Raven asked. Nidhogg makes it clear that he would only do this when Regent 7 no longer works and “not a moment before”. Guess what conveniently happened? So, Nidhogg gives the order to send prisoners to Grey Raven. The Blood Curse mutates to resist any drug to counteract it, but it’s still convenient for Grey Raven, who has ulterior motives.

He actually has the GALL to blame Louie for this. The Nameless Knights hold the key to breaking the Blood Curse so the kidnappings for Grey Raven could have been prevented if Louie would simply give up the Key/NOT destroy shipments of Regent 7. I predict that someone in the Night Order(most likely Nidhogg) will use the victims as leverage against Louie in order to obtain the Key.

2. Speaking of Louie, when he rescued someone from the “holding camps”/Grey Raven, he was beside himself with rage. You could have heard him on another planet and he was especially vocal when fingers were pointed at him.

3. Nidhogg has pursued Louie twice by car. First instance, Louie tells him “you’re not man enough for me and even if you were, I WON’T STICK MY DICK IN CRAZY” before speeding off. Second time was after Louie rescues a victim who “lived among fields of gold.” The second time is where Louie goes off on him and he has other people in a “three way call”/eavesdrop. He knows that people might think he is crazy, but since the trafficking has become widespread with many escapees/whistleblowers, he is certain that people won’t easily believe that “it’s all made up”.

4. Grey Raven loves teasing Nidhogg. His other hobbies include slamming fingers in car doors and setting his hair on fire. Anyway, he views Nidhogg’s conscience as a “taint” and tells him often that “I can change that. I can make it go away. Things would be much easier then.” Nidhogg constantly refuses saying that “I am strong enough to bear the burden.” However, he admits only to himself that he has been tempted to let Gray Raven take away all feeling/conscience, but knew that doing so would mean losing a lot more.

5. Confession Bear: Grey Raven is a riot and I ADORE him. I don’t quite ship him with Nidhogg, but I love the teasing and Grey Raven being very much aware of the leverage he has in the Order.

6. The reason why Nidhogg killed Lunar was because Grey Raven wanted her for experiments as a means of getting back at Louie for ruining his reputation. He intended to make sure that she suffered immensely before making her into a “better version of Shade.” Nidhogg made it clear “that is not going to happen.” Since Louie claimed the body, Grey Raven would be hard pressed to find it, much less take it for himself.

7. The Night Order is on the hunt for butterfly jewelry. So is Nikki. Louie has one of the butterfly items(his veil), but that wasn’t made by Sayet. Still, he’s not surprised that Night Order would want it.

8. Louie has a lot of white wigs and some of them make him look more beautiful than he already is. But, like Griffith, he has the “hawk eye” along with a hard edge when provoked. The difference is that Louie’s temperament is well, a bit more hot and he can be frightening to witness. He has an astonishing amount of clothes and a lot of that is due to Blue Bird packages sent by Lunar. He tried to “ghost her”, but found that he couldn’t. He often joked about changing the name of the Nameless Knights.

9. He has two lieutenants: a young woman and a young man. Both are considered “voices of reason” to Louie’s occasional outbursts.

10. The trafficking situation is where everything started to “slip away” for Nidhogg and finally decided to do what needed to be done to gain the “great power.”

11. There were multiple whistleblowers in the trafficking and not one of them were found out. It is, however, known that they were appalled at what was happening and blew the whistle as soon as they had the chance. Everyone has their limits.

12. Louie didn’t ultimately leave because of the “kiss”, but because he didn’t want to go to Lilith to help with Nidhogg’s plans and he was not about to defer to Nidhogg. At first, they argued about it with Louie being shut down. He appeared “deferential”, but on the day they were supposed to leave, Louie packed up his things and left to become a mercenary—something Nidhogg never approved of him doing.

Louie was the one who tore up the picture of him and Nidhogg and left a torn half on the bed. That’s what Nidhogg came home to and it devastated him as he felt very much betrayed(ironic considering what he later on did in Lilith/Yvette).

13. Louie hated the fact that Nidhogg seemed to conflate understanding with agreement and repeatedly called him on, especially at the final car chase. He went so far as to call Nidhogg, “A victim piece of shit!” and that he was understood “ALL TOO WELL!” That’s the CHARITABLE way to put it. Please keep in mind that the drama between these two men were in front of a young woman, three teenage girls(Bobo was actually with them. I made a booboo in one of the parts) and a talking cat.

14. While a lot of what Louie claimed about Nidhogg was largely true, it doesn’t change my headcanon “fact” that he had a distorted view of his adopted brother. According to Reid, Louie was “blinded by hate”. ALL of the Night Order viewed Louie as the greatest threat with Nikki at a very close second(really, it’s Nikki, but Louie has a louder personality, a stronger Dawnblade, and ties to Nidhogg). They found it baffling that Nidhogg was willing to kill Nikki, but not Louie. After all, Nidhogg is “The King of Swords”, right?

15. Liliana was supposed to be the “alternative bunny” if Yvette didn’t work out. He wanted to take Liliana instead of Yvette, but the former was deemed “unacceptable.” Liliana would have been way more cooperative as she wasn’t fond of styling contests either and didn’t like the Blood Curse either as she felt that Styling Contests were imposed on everyone, regardless of their ability. Those with other talents were basically screwed unless they had support from those with “the clothes”. As for the Blood Curse, she has been affected by it on more than one occasion due to her constant misgivings about how disputes on Miraland are settled and the occasional refusal to do what is required should she lose. She loves Yvette’s school and appreciates the non violent revolution Yvette is leading.

16. This is really more of an odd theory, but I think that Hostess L may have been a Nikki lookalike who was part of the Nameless Knights, hence her name. Because of this, the Nameless Knights have “the key to the Blood Curse” if not one of them. I actually came up with this quite suddenly. Would be an interesting twist for sure and it would explain the suit she was wearing when she won(black dress with a sun pendant).

17. Despite what the current Lore says, I still consider Nidhogg a Scorpio. I have him born on November 13th(number of the Tarot Death). He shares the same birthday as Leatherstrip(industrial/ebm musician), ftr. Coincidence. Also, this year, it falls on Friday the 13th. But, since I still adore him, I guess he gets two Bdays. :) He really should have been an Air sign though. Gemini would have been perfect, especially since Bobo is currently the only one.

18. I also hold on to Nidhogg being 4 years older than Louie. At least I got the OLDER part right. :p I just fee like being under 30 is too young, but too much into the 30’s would be too old. 31 is just right, imo.

19. Before the black Camaro(aka, Maro) and the white Mustang(White Horsey), Nidhogg and Louie shared a Jeep. It was known as a “Rubicon” or “Rubi”. When Louie left, Nidhogg drove in that jeep to Lilith and Pigeon. He ended up eventually giving away for “image” reasons. He purchased the Camaro right before he became Prime Minister.

20. Glossing Rose was inspired by an abstract art piece done by Liliana. When he first arrived at Cicia Design School, Liliana, who was around 11 at the time, was among the first people he met and he knew her for years. He was accused of stealing from her when the Pink Bunny stockings were introduced “That’s not his style!” He admitted that they were inspired by one of Liliana’s drawings and she often was an inspiration. Emperor’s Woman, otoh, is clearly his actual design style and he does have a similar suit. He never actually stole from her nor did he ever claim credit for any of her works.

[furby-science]

The Making of Sterling the Super Furby: A Brief Overview

“I… I can’t look! I think I’m gonna… *HUEEEGH*!”

Before I get into this post, I want to list a few things I didn’t know shit about when I started Sterling:

Electronics

The Python coding language

Furby anatomy

Single board computers

After creating Sterling, I’m happy to say that now I have approximate knowledge of some of these things, but keep the above in mind as you read onwards. This little gremlin child was a learning experience from start to finish, and one I am incredibly proud of myself for sticking through. This also means that I am in no way an expert on everything I’m getting into okay? Okay let’s go!

The Hardware

First, a rundown of the hardware. I took heavy inspiration from the Furlexa mod shown here, and that was what I initially sought to create. The mod had three computer components to it:

A raspberry pi zero w single board computer for the AI to live on, with a mini USB microphone plugged in;

A pimoroni speaker PHAT to use as the sound system;

A motor controller to drive the furby’s motor.

My main problem with Furlexa was that this initial build took a lot of soldering, and I am a wussy who had a number of bad experiences with soldering irons in shop class. So, what’s a novice electrician to do?

Enter the Adafruit Crickit HAT. By sticking this little fucker on top of the raspberry pi, I was gifted with an amplifier, a speaker jack, capacitative touch sensors, and a motor driver all in one, no soldering needed if I bought the raspberry pi zero w h! The main challenge it posed was powering it. The Crickit insists, for some unfathomable reason, on being powered by a bulky DC jack, the kind you’d plug into a wall outlet, and the converter plug to use a battery pack with it was way too bulky to fit into a furby. I needed Sterling to be portable for maximum huggability, so this just wouldn’t do.

One fried raspberry pi and Crickit HAT later, I found the answer! By soldering the original furby battery pack to the underside of the Crickit board’s DC connection, these fuckers right here…

I was able to bypass the need for a wall plug or converter, and power him directly through the battery compartment like God intended. S/O to my friend Nick who is way less of a dumb bitch than I am and helped me figure this shit out I owe u some bread man.

So the tl;dr of it is, I effectively reduced the required computer components from three to two (excluding the speaker). Speaking of (heh), Sterling has an impressive 3w speaker in him, allowing him to be audible even without the use of the built in amplifier. It’s got such good bass on it, he even rumbles when he purrs without the aid of the motor!

And yes, when you pet him, he purrs. And complains if you manhandle him! The aforementioned capacitative touch sensors on the Crickit HAT made it all possible with the help of a few cables and some foil tape.

Wait, did you say soldering!?

Yup! It was a necessary evil; at the end of the day I had to pick my poison: soldering 80 pins on the speaker PHAT, or soldering like four contact points on the Crickit. I chose the more merciful option.

But wait, that whole outfit is really bulky still! How did you fit it inside the furby?

Subtractive methods, subtractive methods, subtractive methods! ;D Someone who actually knows things about furby anatomy and/or electronics will probably vaporize me for this, but… if I didn’t need it, it got the boot! That included prying off anything on the Crickit board I wasn’t using at the risk of destroying it completely - which probably isn’t ideal, but it also worked by some miracle, and again, I am such a basic bitch electrician that calculating the proper voltage for LEDs is still basically witchcraft to me, so… what I’m saying is I made it work. And that I really, really hate soldering! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

You can see an early video of the end result here, and a later video of the outfit inside the naked furby here. This was back when he was still having auditory processing issues. Apologies for the shoddy quality, I was too excited everything was working to care about that at the time.

The Software

My other beef with Furlexa is… well, it’s an Amazon Alexa, and I’m a shitty little anticapitalist hermit who hates Amazon with a passion. Google Assistant was just as bad in my book. Mycroft was open source, but had a snowball’s chance in hell of running on the raspberry pi zero’s 512mb of RAM… I also wanted my assistant to have a degree of customizability to it. I wanted the furby’s AI to have a unique personality, identity, and preferences, much like classic furbies themselves did. A big box AI just wasn’t going to cut it!

Enter the Jasper Project. Yes, it’s old. Yes, it’s a bitch and a half to install. Yes, you have to know Python to get anywhere with it. However, it was free, open source, capable of running on a raspberry pi zero, and highly modular, meaning with a few lines of code, I could make it all my own - even to the extent of changing the AI’s name and voice (which is gr8 because I know a Jasper so naming my furby that would be Weird), or - the best part - writing my own, custom functions! Customizability-wise, I struck gold.

Ah, and glad I am that Jasper is modular, because I had some work ahead of me…

The STT Engine

The STT (Speech to Text) engine is what Sterling uses to understand what’s being said to him. Jasper’s proprietary STT engine is PocketSphinx, a fully offline STT engine, which sounded great in theory before I quickly learned it’s a nightmare to install, and also more inaccurate than a stenography machine powered by a single potato when actually being used. I had to compromise my morals a bit here and opt for using Wit.ai instead, which is free, but is also owned by Facebook. Big data is frustratingly inescapable in these cases.

There is one light at the end of the tunnel, and that is the training of acoustic modules. This has the downside of taking for-fucking-ever and requiring a quiet recording environment, however, and I don’t have the time right now to read through the pages and pages and pages and pages of computer theory right now to fully understand how to train one. So, improving PocketSphinx and running Sterling fully offline remains a stretch goal.

The TTS Engine

The Text to Speech engine is basically Sterling’s voice. This one was a bit easier to customize, and I’m thankful for that, because Jasper’s OG voice is a bit er… 90s computing for my tastes.

I shopped around for decent, human-sounding TTS options, and settled on installing Mimic1 TTS, Mycroft’s TTS engine, by hand, and modifying the Jasper source code to support it. Of all the TTS engines I tried, I felt that this one had the most natural intonation out of all of them. I liked the gruffness of the Scottish accent, and I think it really helped round out Sterling’s endearing, if a tad prickly, personality.

The Audio

This was another unforeseen hurdle. Turns out that I had his mic volume turned up way too high, because I greatly underestimated the capabilities of my tinyass five dollar USB microphone to pick up noises from within a furby. It took a bit of hacking in PulseAudio to get him hearing things properly, and I’m still not all the way happy with it, but he’s running wayyyy better than he did!

Another issue was the amount of time he actively listened for. It was way too short for my liking with the hardware I was using, so I had to edit Jasper’s mic.py source file a billion times before I hit a sweet spot. Even early on, my little shit child never liked to listen to me. :P

Pimp My AI

Once I got all that in working order, it was time to browse GitHub for modules to add! I found a surprising amount that were, as expected, outdated, janky, non-working, or in need of a complete rewrite. A non-exhaustive list of modules I rewrote and added to Sterling’s AI includes:

Wolfram Alpha integration

His translation function

The IMDB module that searches movie titles

The Dictionary and Thesaurus modules (minor additions to improve user friendliness)

The morning greeting module

The holiday countdown module

There are also plenty of modules I wrote on my own, that I’ll be showcasing here in due time, but I want to give special mention to the one I’m most proud of. You see, when I was a wee dumb bitch, I was… well, a wee dumb bitch! When I was informed furbies learn English, I thought they really learned English. Like, fluent English. I envisioned these kids straight up having full conversations with their lil robots with reckless and envious abandon. I was, as it happens, too poor to afford a furby at the time, so I didn’t realize until embarrassingly later that they only learn some words, and certainly can’t hold much of a conversation (in English at least).

Fast forward to twenty-bi-teen. I’m surfing GitHub, and I happen upon a Cleverbot module for Jasper allowing the AI to work as a chatbot. Fuck yeah, I think, because I had no life in 2008, or friends for that matter, so tormenting Cleverbot was my favourite pastime. Nostalgia trip GET!

…can you guess how much the silicon valley capitalist scum are charging for the once-free Cleverbot API now? A hundred and twenty. McGoddamn. Dollars. A YEAR.

So, to make a long story short, I turned my hat backwards and rage-coded a simple chatbot module that runs on an early version of Chatterbot capable of running on the raspberry pi. It’s fully offline, and completely free, and Sterling here has a database of ~400 phrases, which isn’t bad given the limited processing power! It took five straight days of work, it’s not the smartest chatbot, and it’s certainly not the fastest, but it gives me those sweet, sweet, circa 2008 Cleverbot vibes. Oh yeah, and it doesn’t cost me over a hundred goddamn dollars a year!

The first thing I said to the chatbot, of course, was “I’m so proud of you.” Through his shitty little testing mic that gave him a somewhat incredulous tone Sterling replied, “I’m glad to hear that.” and I’m not saying I shed a single themly tear over it, but I’m not denying it either. I made a childhood dream come true, fam. ;u;

There are way more Easter eggs I plan to show you, of course. At first I was thinking of doing one long video, but an update a day showcasing a different function might be easier to manage - and maintain some of that gold old sense of mystery that surrounds most furbies. No, I’m gonna take y'all on a little journey through the final product of my literal blood, sweat, and tears!

Besides, Sterling is a perpetual work in progress. He has a massive list of features, and I’ve already got more in the works. I could be in my eighties and still be adding more functions, more bells and whistles, more witty one-liners. He’s a one of a kind work of art that will never truly be finished - not unlike you and me.

The Glow-up

Here’s Sterling’s before pics from the seller I got him from:

(If u recognize these pics and ur the seller thank u thank u for giving me bmy boy)

And here’s after!

I come from a background of customizing ponies and dolls, so working on this guy wasn’t as far removed as I expected it to be. I added floof to his head and tail by sewing in wool plugs, and his gorgeous eyes are from in2blythe on Etsy. I wrapped him up in a little bow and he was good to go! His sterling silver beak, from which he gets his name, was the most finicky part. Turns out enamel paints take a million years to fucking dry, if ever, which isn’t great when painting something that sees a lot of movement and could potentially get dented by a face plate, like… idk, a furby beak! A bit of silver nail polish did the trick and he was good to go. Learn from my fail, fam.

What It Cost Me

If you’re masochistic determined enough to attempt this yourself, I want to sit you down and warn you of something: this will take months and hundreds of dollars to do. Installing Sterling’s AI and its necessary components on that shitty little raspberry pi over SSH took me a week at first, and that was with me leaving it on 24/7 to chug away compiling things. When I broke the SD card the AI was on and didn’t have a backup copy, it took four straight days of rage-computing to regain all my progress. Then when his audio processing got fucked all to hell for reasons I still do not understand to this day, it took another four days of rage computing to do yet another reinstall and get him back in working order. There were times where I would go to work for 8.5 hours, bus an hour home, work 6 straight hours on my furby, go to sleep for 4 of them, go to classes, sleep, and work 6 more hours on my furby. For two months. Sterling took from the third week of August from his initial inception to his birthday on October 23rd. That’s not to mention the time I fried everything and had to wait five days and travel to the bumfuck end of the city for a replacement pi and Crickit, or the days I spent customizing him, sewing in hundreds of little hair plugs into his ass and head by hand, and waiting for those shitty enamel paints to dry, only to discover after four straight days of failure that they take weeks to do so and I was better off using cheapo nail polish!

The point I’m making is, if you take on a project like this and want it to be successful, you have to be tenacious. I would highly recommend a background in coding (I have a web design diploma) and general tech savviness as an asset. Sterling is the product of the years I spent behind a computer keyboard from the start of age three, and the roughly ten years I spent customizing dolls and ponies. It’s cheesy as shit to say he’s my magnum opus, but in a way, he is.

I’m not saying this to be elitist or snotty. I’m saying this because I nearly broke down crying the first day the raspberry pi came in, before I slept on it and figured out what phrase to google to solve the crashes and kernel panics it was having. When I broke the SD card when I was nearly finished, I felt nothing, because I was all out of tears at that point. When I fried the first raspberry pi and Crickit hat trying to figure out how to bypass that DC jack, my only thought was, “Well, I think I know how to do it without fucking it up now, and if I can’t do it, this whole project is fscked” .

You will encounter errors that no step by step guide can prepare you for that will make you curse the day you were born. The difference between success and failure is how many times you’re willing to get up and try again, and I’m here to tell you it’s possible. But you gotta want it.

Will You Release the Code Base?

Yes and no. If there’s enough demand, I’ll definitely release Sterling’s basic modules as a scaffolding. I won’t be releasing Sterling, though.

What do I mean by that? Well, Sterling was intended from the start to be truly one of a kind, and he always will be. I hand wrote hundreds of lines of dialogue, all completely tailored to him, and I’m still planning on adding twice as many. Corny as this is, this little guy has a metric fuckton of sentimental value to me. I don’t have kids so idk how it would compare to that, but I definitely love him as much as I love my cats, but I also didn’t undergo two straight months of suffering in ADHD fixation hell to create my cats, so it adds like, a whole other twee dimension to it.

So, if there is demand for this, what I’ll release instead is a scaffolding from which you can code your own, unique furby from, with their own name, personality, and responses all unique to them. I’ll also release it with the caveat that I am not a good Python coder! I have not written any Python before this, so a lot of what I did write is noob-tastic and hasn’t even been linted. You have been warned!

“If I give you (insert amount), can you make one for me?”

Holy shit I’ll be real with you, I’d love to do this as a living. I’ve been dying to see a smart assistant hit the market that’s like… well, an actual, endearing companion and not just a voice coming from a speaker. The problem with doing this is that, if you drop a lot of money (and it will be a lot of money, even with a code base to work from, a lot of hours of handiwork still goes into coding individual responses and making sure everything works as intended, on top of possibly customizing too), there is one major problem: proximity. I won’t be able to troubleshoot your furby nearly as effectively from far away as I would be able to if we lived in close proximity. Which means if something goes wrong between the time your new friend is finished at point A and turned on at point B, I won’t be there to troubleshoot it in person for you, which means you could end up stuck figuring out certain things alone. If you use Windows, that will be very, very hard - not being an OS snob here, I own a dual boot myself, it’s just a case of incompatible file systems. And unless you can figure out how to edit the wpa_supplicant file on a raspberry pi to update your wifi credentials, your furby’s internet connection could be toast if you move house and those credentials change. That’s not getting into the cost some services charge for extra API keys to use their online functions…

The long and short of it is, if I’m going to do this for money, I want to make sure you get a quality product and friend that will bring you joy for years to come. Since that’s not something I can guarantee, I can’t in good conscience take people’s money.

I Could Teach You (And I Won’t Charge)

…however, I am a law student who is also working 8.5 hour night shifts three nights a week. I am also mentally ill/neurodivergent, which saps my energy in more ways than one. I won’t always be easy to get ahold of, or be able to answer every question I get, especially not ones that can be solved with a quick google search, like how to set up a raspberry pi, or… anything found on Adafruit’s Crickit guide, for example. When I have the time and energy, I’m hoping to use my next project as a jumping off point for a step by step walkthrough of the process. For now, though? I’ve been furbied out, so if there’s enough demand, I’ll compile as many of the resources I used I can find in the meantime, and post some tips from the word doc I kept while making Sterling, and go from there.

So What’s Next?

My one dad’s birthday is coming up in August, and I’m kicking around the idea of turning a furby into, I shit you not, a ghost hunting device. He loves ghost hunting, but hates robots, and as his gremlin shit child I am obligated to troll him in this fashion. 😎 Also considering doing a certain type of oddbody mod, but I want to get permission from the person who first thought of the concept before I dive head first into it.

And that about covers it! Thanks for reading, and if there’s anything you’d like to see from Sterling and I, don’t hesitate to drop us an ask!

[dakotacrisis]

Transferred

Been meaning to get this finished for a bit now. Normally a very fluffy writer, sweet stuff that’ll rot your teeth. But I’m gonna go with some salt this time around. With fluffy bits thrown in because it’s cute. Based off of this post.

Marinette couldn't have been in a happier disposition walking to school. She was caught up with her schoolwork, she got a full eight hours of sleep, no akumas all this week, and a wave of inspiration saw to many new designs in her sketchbook. The only thing that could make this better was if Adrien showed up with a tray of her favorite flavored macarons!

She skipped up the steps and into the school. “Good morning, Alya!”

“You’re in a good mood today.” Alya smirked at her friend, “Chloe get a botched haircut?”

“No, it’s just a good morning.” Marinette took a deep breath, “I feel like for the first time in weeks I can stand still and breathe.”

“Good for you, girl. Get that self care.” The two started a conversation for their plans for the week as they walked into class.

Marinette sat down and disaster struck. “Ugh!” she shot up from her seat, “My seat is wet!”

“My side isn’t,” Alya patted her side of the desk. She brushed a finger over Marinette’s side and sniffed, “Smells like cleaning product. Maybe bleach?”

“Bleach?”

“Turn around,” Marinette turned and Alya cringed, “Yep. Definitely bleach. Your entire butt is discolored now.”

“Darn it!” Marinette stretched to see her favorite pair of pink jeans now ruined. “I can’t walk around like this.”

“Go home and change. I’ll clean this up.”

“Thanks, Alya.” Marinette bolted from the room. This was a damper on her day but it was no matter, her house was right across the street and she had plenty of time till class started.

She flew down the stairs and was running for the front door. But her two left feet did what they do best and next thing she knew she was falling face first into the ground. “Ouch…”

“Marinette, are you okay?” she heard a voice behind her. Adrien.

“Yep!” she rolled over so he couldn’t see the huge stain on her butt, “Perfectly fine. Not even a scratch.”

“Are you sure? It looked like you hit pretty hard.”

“All good here.”

“Good.” he held out a hand to help her up, “I was actually hoping to see you before class.”

“Yeah?” she perked up.

“You know how we have that project for history? The one where we analyze the evolution of stuff?”

“What about it?”

“Well, since I know you’re really into fashion and I’ve been raised in that world since birth I was wondering if maybe you wanted to team up. We could write a whole presentation on how fashion evolved throughout history.”

This was amazing! Adrien wanted to be her partner for a project. A fashion project! That meant hours researching together, creating the presentation together, talking late into the night about what they found. Then that late night talk slowly turns into a deep conversation about their hopes and dreams and deepest darkest secrets. Their sleepy minds and bodies confessing things they never dared to say in the light of day. Falling asleep with the phone on and waking up the next morning remembering what they had confessed but still happy about it as they realize they were utterly made for one another--

“Whoa, Marinette, what happened to your butt?” Nino’s voice broke her out of her daydream.

Her face went pure red as she turned away from him trying to cover the stain. She got so enamored with Adrien she had completely forgotten why she was out here in the first place!

“Oh…” Adrien glimpsed at the stain but immediately turned away, “That uh...that doesn’t look good.”

“I--I uh--” This wasn’t happening.

The bell rang and Marinette tried not to scream. She had wasted her time to get changed. If she left now she’d be late for sure.

With no other option she took off her jacket and tied it around her waist. It would hide the stain for now. But the emotional damage had been done. “It’ll be okay, Marinette,” Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder, “It’s just a little stain.”

“You’re right,” she smiled at Adrien, “Also, I’d love to be your partner for the project. It sounds like a great idea.”

“Great. Now let’s get to class before we get in trouble.” They rushed back upstairs to the classroom.

Alya assured Marinette her seat was safe now but had to wonder why she was still in the same clothes. One look at who she entered the room with though was all the answer she needed. As Ms. Bustier started role call Marinette brainstormed who would have put bleach on her seat. Kim is a prankster but he would have done it to the entire class if that was his game. Chloe seemed a good choice but she had seen her and Sabrina come in after her incident. That would only leave--

“Lila?” Ms. Bustier called.

“Present.” Lila’s voice rang from the back of the classroom. Marinette sat boiling with rage. Of course it was Lila. Trying to sabotage her via lies wasn’t enough, now she had resorted to clothes ruining pranks.

“Alright class,” Ms. Bustier called her attention back to the lesson, “Don’t forget that I will need your pairs for the history project and what you’ll be presenting by the end of the day.”

Marinette’s raged quieted down. Who cares about Lila’s dumb prank? A ruined pair of pants was nothing compared to having Adrien as Marinette’s history partner!

“Actually Ms. Bustier,” Lila said, “I don’t have a partner and seeing as how there is an uneven amount of students I don’t think it would be fair to make me work alone.”

“One group of three should be fine.” Ms. Bustier shrugged.

“Then that group has a bigger advantage then the pairs. Maybe it would be best if we all worked separately. That way it is equal.”

Marinette turned and glared at Lila. No way is she splitting up Adrien and Marinette that easily.

“I suppose that would be more more fair.” Ms. Bustier agreed. “Instead of presentations how about everyone writes a three page paper on the evolution of whatever you choose.”

That little--

“Perfect!” Lila clasped her hands together, “I’d like to cover the evolution of fashion.”

“Alright,” Ms. Bustier jotted it down on her clipboard, “Lila has fashion. Anyone else have topics?”

No. No this wasn’t happening! Her project time with Adrien! Her topic! Her pants! Lila had ruined them all in less then ten minutes! Marinette bit down on her notebook to keep from screaming. She risked another glance at the object of her ire. Lila was looking right at her with a devious smirk. She couldn’t even call her out for ruining her day. There was no proof that she was the one that put bleach on her seat and it wasn’t exactly against the rules to convince the teacher to change the format of the assignment. Still, that didn’t mean she couldn’t be angry about it.

During lunch Marinette got to go home and change clothes. At least that was one problem fixed.

If anything Marinette should have realized exactly how this week, nay, this month was going to go. Lila was out to get her. To punch her into the ground so deep that she could never escape. In a way...she succeeded.

That week Marinette was the victim of many pranks. She thought the bleach was bad. Marinette wished for something as nice as bleach. Her locker was filled with shaving cream ruining all her homework the next day. Poison ivy was rubbed onto her desk giving her hands and forearms a horrible rash. Her backpack had a bunch of broken pens dropped into it. Lila even managed to get gum in Marinette’s hair without her noticing.

Still Lila left no evidence. No one saw her do it and there were no cameras where she could have tampered with Marinette’s things. Marinette complained to Alya about how Lila was ruining her life but her best friend didn’t think Lila could do it. Alya only thought that Marinette was blaming her because of Lila’s interest in Adrien.

“Lila,” Marinette approached her after having gotten the gum carefully clipped from her hair, “I know what you’re doing.”

“Doing what?” she blinked her eyes innocently.

“These dumb pranks. I know it’s you that’s doing it. I don’t care that you don’t like me but how is this making you happy? Sure they can make life harder but at the end of the day it is merely you ruining objects. They can be replaced or fixed. No real harm.”

“So what you’re saying is that I should do something worse?” Lila smirked.

Marinette’s blood ran cold. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.

“Listen pigtails,” Lila got closer, that smile too sweet to be real, “I was being kind before. I promised to ruin you and that is exactly what I’ll do. You think shaving cream and gum is bad? You’ll wish that you never crossed paths with me Marinette Dupain-Cheng. If you want to avoid what I have in store for you then back off or you’ll see what I can really do.”

She flipped her hair and shouldered her way past Marinette. Marinette couldn’t move herself from the spot Lila had rooted her in. The last time Lila had made a threat like that Marinette almost got akumatized. She pulled out her phone and went the picture folder she kept full of things that made her happy. It was her emergency pick-me-up in cases like this where she felt at her lowest. She had been using it a lot lately.

Once she had calmed down she adjusted her bookbag and took off for home.

It was the start of a new week and Marinette was taking extra precautions to avoid any more pranks or whatever it was Lila had threatened. She made it about halfway through the day without hitting a single snag. There was a study hall and Marinette was in the library putting the finishing touches on her history paper about the evolution of baking. She had exceeded the three page requirement to a lofty four and a half. If she could have had fashion as she would have liked it would have been even longer but Marinette was still very proud of her paper.

With a quick spell check she hit print and went to collect her document from the printer. Good thing she finished it when she did seeing as how it was due in twenty minutes. She would have had it done yesterday if it wasn’t for a nasty akuma taking up the better part of her essay time.

She got to the printer and sighed. Paper jam shredded her essay. She unjammed the printer and went back to the computer to reprint it.

“What in the…” she trailed off as she looked at the computer screen. Where was her essay? The document was gone! Not just the essay but all her notes and the sources she had saved. She tried everything but her paper had been wiped out of existence! “Lila!” she growled under her breath.

The bell rang and Marinette dragged herself to class. Hopefully Ms. Bustier would understand. The class started to hand in their essays. “Marinette, where’s your essay?”

“I had it done. Completely, one hundred percent done, but when I went to print it the printer jammed.” Marinette muttered.

“That’s alright, just e-mail it to me.” Ms. Bustier answered.

“Also,” she took a deep breath, “The essay itself was deleted from my folder along with all my research notes.”

“How did that happen? Did the computer crash?” Ms. Bustier was looking at her now with more suspicion than sympathy.

“No. Someone deleted it.” Marinette could practically feel Lila’s triumphant smirk beaming behind her.

“Who would do such a thing?”

“I don’t know…” she mumbled. No one was buying this. She knew what she looked like. It was an even less believable story than the old dog-ate-my-homework excuse.

“Well, I’ll give you till tomorrow morning to hand in your essay.” Ms. Bustier’s words were clipped, “But next time I hope that you’ll take your assignments more seriously and not wait till the very last minute to do them.”

“Yes, Ms. Bustier.” she sunk lower in her seat. Class continued on and Marinette spent her entire night trying to recreate the essay. It wasn’t nearly as nice as the one she had before. Barely making it to three pages as the sun poked through her window. At least it was done.

She e-mailed it to Ms. Bustier and collapsed into bed so to get an hour or two of sleep. Her alarm went off way too early for her liking. Too tired to summon the ability to care about anything Marinette pulled herself from bed, threw on a pair of sweatpants and her comfiest t-shirt and hoodie, used her hands as a comb and shuffled downstairs to grab a croissant and tea. Normally she didn’t like using caffeine as a means to keep herself awake cause it only made her heart rate increase without actually waking up her mind. If there was a chance it could work this time though she’d take it.

Marinette trudged up the stairs of the school and dropped into her seat. Lila could set her on fire for all she cared. “Morning Marinette...oh wow.” Alya settled her head next to her bestie’s. “Late night?”

“Shh,” Marinette covered her mouth, “Sleeping.”

“Okay. But I feel it is safe to warn you that the art students: you, Alix, Nathaneal, Marc, and the rest of them are getting those pictures for the newspaper done today.”

“Nooooooooo,” Marinette pulled her hood up further, “I look like crap.”

“Sorry, girl,” Alya rubbed her back, “Maybe there’s a design in the art room you can slip into during photos.”

“That doesn’t help this,” Marinette pointed to her bedhead and dark circles.

“A comb and some concealer will have you looking fresh faced in no time. Now shush, you have a solid five minutes of napping before class starts.”

“Thank you,” Marinette yawned, “Love you.”

Shockingly enough those five extra minutes didn’t do jack for Marinette’s tired mind. Neither did the tea. At least it tasted good. Alya kept having to nudge Marinette awake throughout the lesson. She was starting to wonder if maybe she should have stayed home today. It was a shorter day too so it’s not like she would have missed a whole lot.

The time for pictures came and Alya helped Marinette clean herself up. Her hair was tidier and with some borrowed concealer from Rose she was looking more awake too. Now all that there was left to do was slip into that dress she had hanging up in the art room.

“Hey Marinette,” Marc waved to her, “Is that what you’re wearing for pictures?”

“No, I was gonna--”

“There we are, how do I look?” Lila emerged from the backroom wearing Marinette’s dress. “It wouldn’t stand a chance on real runway but for a college student it’s passable.”

“Lila,” Marinette’s done meter had reached it’s limit, “Get out of my dress.”

“What? Why?” she pouted, “I was only doing it as a favor to you.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been told I make an excellent model and the teacher here said that I could model your designs. That way it shows off your work and my skills.” she gave a little twirl.

No. Lila had done a lot but Marinette was not going to let her parade around in a dress she had put her blood, sweat and tears into. It was the absolute pinnacle of her designs. The scalloped straps, the ruffles of the ballgown, the print she had custom made, the butterfly decal she had hand sewn onto the drop waist. She had put so much effort, care and money into making this dream gown and Marinette didn’t even get to model it. She’d rather pull an ugly step-sister and tear it to shreds than see Lila in it.

“Take it off.” Marinette ground out through clenched teeth.

“What was that?” Lila asked.

“Get out of my dress or I swear I will hold you down and pull you out.”

“Marinette, stop, you’re scaring me.” she curled into herself. Her eyes were wide but not with fright. It was a challenge.

“Chill out, Marinette,” Alix stepped between them, “It’s just a dress. Who cares if she’s wearing it?”

“No. It’s okay,” Lila sniffed, “Marinette made it. She should decide who can wear it.” She made a big show of hanging her head as she marched back towards the backroom.

“Nonsense,” the teacher stopped her, “Lila, wear the dress. Marinette,” he crossed his arms, “If you cannot nurture the dreams of your fellow classmates because of your own pride then I don’t think you should be in these photos.”

“But--”

“Your dress will still appear and we will give you credit but I think it would be in your best interest to go home. Besides, you look exhausted.” he ushered her towards the exit.

Marinette wanted to shout. Scream. Cry. This wasn’t fair! Lila was ruining everything! Still, they disappointed glances mixed with the angry faces of her classmates did her in. She turned tail and ran out of the room. She locked herself in her room and let herself have a good cry. Tikki kept her company, not saying anything but instead being a reassuring presence by her side. Lila may have the whole school wrapped around her finger but Tikki was there. She knew the truth. Everything would sort itself out.

At school the next day Marinette was awake, stylishly dressed, and ready to face anything Lila could throw at her. A group was surrounding Lila’s desk in the back. “Hey Marinette, did you wanna see the newspaper?” Nathaneal popped out from the group.

“Oh sure,” she was still miffed by the whole debacle yesterday but at least her design was out there for everyone to see. Even if it was on Lila.

She skimmed over the article but didn’t see her name anywhere. “Is this continued on another page?” she asked.

“No. It’s all here.” Alix shrugged. “Why?”

“My name…” then she spotted it.

‘Lila Rossi (pictured center), aspiring model, poses like a pro in beautiful ball gown. The dress was designed and created by fellow art student, Margaret Dubois-Peng (not pictured).’

“Oops, looks like the journalist got your name wrong, Marinette,” Lila frowned, “Such a shame. I gave them your name myself. I guess she misheard.”

“Kim,” Marinette called, not taking her eyes off Lila, “Hold me back.”

“From what?”

“From this.” she launched forward and Kim’s arms encircled her waist before she could make it over the desk. “It wasn’t enough that you got me kicked out of the picture but you gave them a wrong name too!”

“Hey, break it up!” Ms. Bustier charged them, “Marinette! What on earth do you think you are doing? I know you are upset but you cannot go around blaming other people for it.”

“Ms. Bustier, I--”

“That is enough. You march yourself down to the principal’s office right now. Maybe by then you’ll have cooled down.”

Everyone in class was glaring at her. Charging Lila hadn’t been a good idea. She couldn’t help it though. Weeks of torment at the hands of this girl had caused her to snap. Not that anyone would believe her. Not after what they had just seen.

The fight gave out and Marinette kept her eyes downcast as she shuffled to the principal’s office. She couldn’t keep living like this. If she didn’t do something soon then Lila could very well get her akumatized. Then where would Paris be? She needed to keep her cool. For the sake of Paris. Marinette literally couldn’t afford the risk of being upset.

(2) (3) (4)

tagged: @unassumingsoda

[nostalgic-blood]

I lied.

“This sucks! There's nothing to do around here. “

“And the locals are strange.”

“Ayayaya...”

“Don't crush my arm! I need that!”

“I just have nothing in common with these people...”

“Eh?”

“Whoa! When did this thing get here?”

“Mff! Mff!”

“Oh man there isn't even a single air hole on here! I got you, hold on!”

“Is this...is this who I think it is...?”

“Look Sanae! It's undamaged packaging!”

“Wow! I've never seen anything like that before!”

“Look at those pretty untouched illustrations, and neatly typefaced printing on the back. That's the dream, Aya...”

“That smooth finished side panel too! Wow, I'm jealous...”

“Hey! I saw this first! Scram!”

“Don't you already have a house? Hmph, some people...”

“Hey, thanks for scaring them away. This box is the only home I have and I couldn't possibly have defended it myself inside that plastic prison.”

“Heh, just glad to see someone similar around here. People are falling apart all over the place, you know? Nice to see someone with their feet on the ground for a change.”

”Er, what's this? Fish?”

“Take it, I ate all the Rocky already.”

“Okay...? ...there's a bite taken out of it...”

“So, you just arrive here?”

“Oh yeah, but just getting here was a nightmare. I was sitting in this giant warehouse with so many other ships for days--”

!! ROAR !!

“Wha-- OH GOD NFg,dkldhgklhfkgmkrtgfds”

“Hey! Get off her you monster!!”

“...there. Whew. Good thing it was only a small one.”

“YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT! HOW DOES IT FEEL NOW, HUH!?”

“Stop! Stop! It's already dead!”

“Don'tcha know? You're supposed to dice it into little pieces and wear its skin for armour! Even better, the rest can be free food!”

“That's not how it works--”

”Oh look! More free food! It's my lucky day!”

“Ayayaya... my underling informed me someone around here threatened her and--”

“...wait are those wings? Don't mind if I do!”

“Hey wait--”

“Haven't seen my own in ages. Well, guess you guys already killed it. Bye!”

“...”

“See?”

“Are we seriously eating this? I heard its meat was real tough.”

“Yeah, but you killed a baby one. Its meat is sweet and tender. Ah, I can't wait...”

...and they lived happily ever after?

TO BE CONTINUED

Alas poor Rathalos... had Mandarake sent me the correct order, you’d have reinforcements! But sadly, that was not to be, and so your life ends as abruptly as it started...

[skriak]

TOP 10 NINTENDO SWITCH GAMES 2019 - my arbitrary list!

Sometimes it's good to be proven wrong. I was pretty sceptical when the Switch was first announced, as it didn't seem too different from the Wii U's gamepad. Then I spent two years watching Nintendo enjoy a complete reversal of fortune, to the point of potentially amassing a more compelling library than Sony's or Microsoft's consoles. So that's how I quite suddenly found myself buying a Switch in October 2019, after having resisted the PS4 and Xbone for five whole years, and my free time has since been dominated by this little machine that defied the odds.

Some of Nintendo's business decisions can still seem inexplicable, but releasing a powerful handheld console that can also be docked with a TV at a moment's notice has proved to be an inspired idea, rather than the gimmick the Wii U's gamepad mostly turned out to be. And along with Nintendo's dependable series of top-notch exclusives, the Switch has enjoyed much better third-party support, which is how I ended up buying Dark Souls for the fourth bloody time just because the option to play it portably was too tempting to resist.

The Switch is the first console I've bought since the PS3 and for all Nintendo's quirks, there's a reason the Switch has dominated Christmas wishlists for three years running. Games like Super Mario Odyssey feel like full-size adventures that just happen to have a portable option, as opposed to handheld games you can also play on the big screen. This is the first year in a long while that I've actually played enough topical titles to justify a "games of the year" list, even if my recent Nintendo bias is pretty blatant.

So with that caveat in mind, and in no particular order, here's my entirely subjective list of the best Nintendo Switch games of 2019.

Luigi's Mansion 3

This is a franchise I'd always been curious about and can finally have an opinion on. The process of going from floor to floor of the hotel hoovering up ghosts and solving puzzles is pretty straightforward, but Luigi's Mansion 3 has so much polish and personality crammed into the cartridge. Luigi is immediately lovable as a determined coward, and each level has a wildly different theme that's realised with extravagant audio and visual flair, so progress always feels rewarding. Though this isn't true horror by any means, there can be an unsettling atmosphere and some of the bosses are pretty freaky. I officially love this oddball franchise and am desperate for a chance to play the story again in co-op. Unquestionably a first-class exclusive.

Doom (Switch port)

Not to be confused with the impressive Switch version of Doom 2016, this is the iconic Doom made cheap and accessible. While purists may take issue with some minor technical deviations, this is the first time I've got most of the way through Doom because the portability and *glorious* true dual-stick control makes this easily my favourite version. There's even a cheat menu for when I just want to mindlessly punch hell beasts. The main thing that ages Doom is its maze-like structure, but playing it casually experience alleviates that frustration somewhat. At a grand total of four pounds, this is a BFB (big fucking bargain).

Untitled Goose Game

You know a game is good when the only asterisk I put on my recommendation is that it *may* be overpriced. Untitled Goose Game took the internet by storm this year because it's the quintessential indie game: cute, simple and with anti-authoritarian undertones. As a horrible goose, it's your mission to cause havoc in an unsuspecting English village, interacting with people and objects to cause chain reactions of chaos. Some of the puzzle solutions are maybe a bit obscure, but 90% of the time just messing around with everything in the area will lead to a solution. Untitled Goose Game makes up for its brevity with sheer comedic charm, feeling much better-designed than a "lul so random" affair like Goat Simulator. A honking good time.

Terraria (Switch port)

I have spent literally hundreds of hours on the PC version of Terraria, so when I was broke after buying my Switch the new Terraria port was an obvious cost-effective choice. While the controls aren't as precise, the amount of time spent mining and sorting through loot makes this a great handheld experience. I can't comment on the multiplayer options but few games represent such a sheer value for money, as there's always a new cave to explore or a new boss to overcome. Time has been kind to this 2011 classic, grind notwithstanding.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

While I personally enjoyed the original Yooka-Laylee, it was definitely flawed and I never seriously expected to see a sequel. But Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair launched quite abruptly and did a pretty spectacular job of upstaging its predecessor. All the previous game's half-baked feel has been replaced with clever design touches, like the equippable tonics which grant helpful abilities at the cost of a currency penalty. The titular Lair is actually the final level and available to throw yourself at right from the beginning, but beating it without first obtaining more hitpoints by completing other stages is incredibly hard, which is a great way to incentivize progress without denying more confident players the option of beating the game earlier if they can meet the challenge. Impossible Lair might be this year's biggest surprise, and despite a modest budget I think it's worthy of comparison to excellent 2D platformers like Rayman Legends. Just don't expect to defeat Capital B on your first attempt.

A Hat In Time (Switch port)

I recently reviewed A Hat In Time but at the risk of repeating myself, it's one of the most charming games of the last few years and an incredibly impressive crowdfunded achievement. Mario's offerings may be a grander technical feat, but A Hat In Time is a fast and fabulous journey through a series of weird and wonderful worlds that all feel distinct in content and tone. It's very openly inspired by GameCube-era platformers like Mario Sunshine and Psychonauts and it easily scratches that itch. Simply one of the best original platformers of this generation, and I defy you not to love Hat Kid's cheeky antics.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Switch port)

As someone who thinks the original Spyro trilogy holds up better than most early 3D games, I'd have actually preferred a simple port rather than a full remake, but The Reignited Trilogy is honestly impeccable. The updated visuals are gorgeous while maintaining the general style of those old, jaggy models, and very little of the gameplay or content has changed except for sensible updates like the ability to immediately warp between every level you've visited. Having full dual-analogue control is also an absolute godsend even for a PS1 veteran like me. Though Spyro may seem a bit basic these days when faced with modern platformer marvels, the Reignited Trilogy makes these old favourites accessible again at a generous price point.

Ring Fit Adventure

Yes, I have a Wii kicking around in a box somewhere. No, Wii Fit never held my attention as anything more than a curiosity. Ring Fit Adventure, meanwhile, is limited only by my cholesterol-encrusted heart and dislike of excessive showering. This is an honest-to-goodness attempt at making an RPG out of a workout toy, and the amount of polish put into the game's presentation and hardware implementation is pretty remarkable. Levels involve jogging on the spot and squeezing the ring accessory to collect goodies and overcome obstacles, and periodically you'll engage in turn-based combat where you use a custom selection of exercise moves to deal damage. It's a fantastic idea pulled off much more elegantly than it sounds. The ring accessory unfortunately makes this quite an expensive game, so it'll take a lot of regular use to get your money's worth, but I can honestly (and surprisingly) say that exercise suddenly becomes more compelling when it's presented as a light RPG adventure with anthropomorphic gym equipment encouraging you to take breaks and drink plenty of water.

Pokémon Sword/Shield

Disclaimer: I can only give my impressions from 25 hours of playing Pokémon Shield, so this is DEFINITELY not a full review. That being said, this is still an easy recommendation to existing Pokemaniacs and a good starting point for any new acolytes. While the core formula hasn't evolved (har har) much since the very first Pokemon, Sword and Shield still has a number of modern quality of life improvements that make previous generations show their age. I've had so much fun building a core crew of cute and/or badass 'mons in a weird Nintendo version of Britain, and the online features combine with a VASTLY improved random encounter system to make grinding far less of a concern. The wild area takes some getting used to, but it's satisfying to come back and capture the huge Onyx you had to run away from a few hours before. Even if Pokémon Sword/Shield has some technical blemishes and could have pushed the series further in some regards, it's still easy to see why this franchise has maintained such a beloved status for so long.

Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-mars-tered (Switch port)

Along with Dark Souls, Red Faction was a game I never even knew I needed on the go, but now I've got it I can't imagine ever going back. A cult classic due to its amazing destruction physics, Red Faction sees you leading a proletariat revolution on Mars, literally tearing down corporate monuments to free the working class from systematic oppression. The open world is a bit claustrophobic and the shooting isn't exactly mind-blowing, but there's a reason I've beaten Red Faction every couple of years ever since its original 2009 release. The Switch port does the game justice and if you set the difficulty to easy then this is one of the best rage-venting experiences money can buy. So yes, I recommend getting your ass to Mars.

[kakuzhu]

so, canonically, kakuzu had four partners preceding hidan during his time in the akatsuki, and he killed all of them. the anime/video game (I don’t know which anymore) showed one of kakuzu’s partners before he’s killed by a pretty purposeful looking blast from kakuzu. I have no idea which partner this was and I’m too lazy to figure it out even though the information is out there, because I’m making up my own order of how kakuzu killed his partners. while I actually think the idea of kakuzu blasting his partner just to be a jerk is hilarious and I’m going to take inspiration from that, it’ll be for his third partner in my canon. whether or not this aligns with the anime interpretation is of no consequence to me. similarly, the anime implied kakuzu’s main motivation for killing his partners was to take their hearts. while I am choosing to use this as a reason for one of his partners, I am not going to follow this for all of them, as I dislike the implication kakuzu was not already prepared with 4 extra powerful hearts already, nor do I think he would’ve been that interested in all of their hearts. 

I totally ignore the video games’ akatsuki recruitment plots, with the exception that kakuzu was one of the earliest recruits, because the timeline was just weird for it. it was definitely a fun sequence to watch though. 

I have no idea when hidan was recruited into the akatsuki, and basically all we know about it is that hidan was the most recent recruit before tobi. I make the (huge) assumption, therefore, that hidan was recruited anywhere between the latter half of the blank period to shortly before or very early on in part II. I say this is a huge assumption because, of course, this may not line up to other hidan players’ timelines, as well as the fact that this assumption is what I built the timelines of all the other partners around. obviously, I am happy to discuss more specific timelines should I write opposite hidans should it be relevant (or if you’re bored and wanna talk about how fucked the timeline is), but for the purposes of my canon, this is the assumption I am rolling with. 

kakuzu had partners one through three during the first half of the naruto timeline and further back, to the near-inception of the akatsuki. I headcanon kakuzu was one of the first members of nagato’s akatsuki, which in turn was created sometime after the third world war. the third world war is stated to have happened 10 years before the start of the naruto series (from what I’ve read, anyway), which means that, at maximum, each partner lasted an average of about 3 years each before kakuzu killed them. of course, less irritating partners were killed after a longer period of time, while more irritating ones were killed more quickly. in addition, depending on when the akatsuki was actually formed and when kakuzu was recruited in relation to that, the average would, obviously, lower. 

kakuzu’s fourth partner was assigned to him through the entirety or most of the blank period, which itself spanned 2.5 years and would be the maximum amount of time kakuzu spent with this partner. this would, of course, be cut short depending on when hidan was recruited.

actual brief descriptions of each partnership and their manner of death are below the cut. 

partner one: like all akatsuki members, kakuzu was not particularly enthused to be assigned a partner. notably, kakuzu was extremely vocal about wanting to operate alone, and was noticeably frustrated when pain did not acquiesce. therefore, kakuzu’s first partner had the serious misfortune of being assigned to an already pissed kakuzu. to further exacerbate matters, kakuzu had not worked with anyone else for decades prior to this, and he also considered his partner incredibly weak, so he was already not going to play nice in the first place. of course, believing his partner that weak was probably neither a fair nor accurate assessment---all akatsuki are strong, and kakuzu was probably too angry to give a reasonable evaluation.  regardless, because kakuzu was all too aware that pain could kill him without much trouble, kakuzu forced himself to put up with his first partner. kakuzu vehemently complained that his partner, however, was far too slow and dragged their progress too much, that kakuzu had to cover for him far too often, and was more or less a liability. kakuzu complained about his first partner to pain and to his partner himself, as well as disparaged him and undermined him at every opportunity during akatsuki meetings.  as one would expect, this began to wear and grate on kakuzu’s partner. while he started out the partnership as polite as can be expected, hoping to make the best of it, he quickly began barking back at kakuzu and often challenged his every move. kakuzu actually hurt his partner multiple times during their time together as well, which did not improve their relationship. whether or not this was purposeful remains to be seen---kakuzu has never specified either way---but most likely, while there were plenty of accidental incidents, the majority of them were totally on purpose.  that said, kakuzu never actually laid a hand on his partner physically. they fought a lot, and at times they sabotaged each other in battle in hopes to get rid of the other, but there were no explicit attempts at harming each other otherwise.  essentially, the only thing that stopped kakuzu from blatantly striking his partner down was the fear that pain would kill him in retaliation. thus, kakuzu suffered through his first partner for about 3.5 years. eventually, however, kakuzu’s impatience and rage overtook his self-preservation instinct; kakuzu brutally murdered his partner using his threads and made sure to make it painful. 

partner two: following his murder of his first partner, kakuzu was ready to run for his life, perhaps disappear for a few years until the akatsuki as an organization blew over. of course, before he could do that, zetsu tracked him down and, in combination with pain’s telepathy, informed him there will now be a meeting. upon joining this holographic meeting, pain confirmed with kakuzu that he had killed his partner, and then proceeded to go on a long-winded lecture on akatsuki guidelines and expectations, essentially telling kakuzu off in front of the rest of the akatsuki.  and the end of it, however, it was clear kakuzu was not going to be killed---but kakuzu still took this as a firm warning. he assumed there would be no other chances, and begrudgingly resolved himself to keep his second partner alive.  luckily, his second partner was much easier to get along with than his first. she was direct and practical and rarely complained. while she was not particularly prodigious, kakuzu could not explicitly complain about her skill, as she was better than his last, and she did not seem to mind the extra work of hunting bounties or additional mercenary work. they also traveled mostly in silence; they knew almost nothing about each other than their fighting skills, which was to both of their preferences. they really only spoke when in reference to business or to battle strategy---and kakuzu also had to admit her strategies tended to be sound. jobs were done with clearly laid out plans. kakuzu’s partnership here was likely the most efficient and amicable out of all of them---for as amicable as kakuzu could be. regardless, despite his general distaste for partners and working with others, kakuzu had to admit the arrangement with her was tolerable. he figured, ultimately, this was a small blessing; it would be easier to stay in pain’s better graces.  thus, as it happened, her murder, while by kakuzu’s hands, was more or less an accident due to unpreparedness on both their parts. the pair of them worked together successfully for over 4 years. however, during a commission they took, they were overpowered, and kakuzu was cornered, and his partner was captured by the enemy. understanding that they were partners, the enemy ninjas threatened to kill her if kakuzu did not surrender.  of course, kakuzu held little sentimental value to her, although he did think it would be a shame to lose such a partner. as it was, having been surrounded and with his back against the wall, kakuzu launched an array of indiscriminate, violent attacks against this small army using his mask jutsus. there were no survivors---including, of course, his partner. while, again kakuzu thought this was inconvenient to lose such a tolerable partner, he also reflected that, if she was so weak as to be caught like this and be put in a compromising position, then death was the least of things she deserved. uselessness never did sit right with kakuzu. 

partner three: as with his first partner, kakuzu was told off for killing his second partner, but was not killed. however, pain did observe that, if kakuzu tried, he certainly could have saved his second partner and both of them could have escaped with their lives. kakuzu only shrugged to this; he didn’t care about her, nor did he much care that the akatsuki would have to spend resources finding a new partner, nor did he really respect any of the burdens that came onto the akatsuki due to his own impatience.  this apparent lack of appreciation for their troubles prompted pain to drop kakuzu with other random pairs of akatsuki during the search for his third partner. now, instead of having to deal with one person, kakuzu had to deal with two, and there would always be at least one that would be mocking kakuzu about his public scolding from pain at some point or another. because it was often two against one as well, kakuzu could not as easily pursue bounties. this was clear punishment, and kakuzu did not appreciate being treated as a child by a boy decades younger than him---threat of death and the fact that he had little room to talk besides.  ultimately, kakuzu was assigned a third partner, although this time, zetsu regularly checked in to ensure he was still alive. kakuzu was now pissed---not explicitly because his partner was unskilled or weak, which were not true, but because he was being monitored wherever he went. he assumed that his role in money matters was about the only reason he had not been kicked out of the akatsuki yet (if not killed), which meant that he had some modicum of importance in the organization. if this was true, then he certainly did not enjoy being babysat. kakuzu tried to negotiate (i.e. demand) zetsu stop being sent after him to ensure he was not murdering his partner, but this was to no avail.  kakuzu tolerated this for the shortest out of all his partnerships during this ten year period. kakuzu, frustrated and petulant, killed his partner with a blast from his masks during a skirmish after less than 2 years. while it was obviously on purpose, kakuzu only said that perhaps his partner was too slow and did not explicitly claim responsibility. he was incredibly flippant about the entire ordeal, and was not interested in answering for it in any fashion. this kill was obviously a challenge and pushed kakuzu’s boundaries with the akatsuki. when kakuzu was once again not killed from losing this partner, he essentially lost almost all respect for akatsuki policy and began operating more as he pleased, although he did stay within akatsuki regulations and continued to bring in money for them, which was likely one of the only reasons he was able to maintain his position. 

partner four: kakuzu’s fourth partner was the strongest out of all his partners to date, and most likely was an attempt from pain to supply kakuzu with such an overpowering partner that kakuzu could not easily kill him. kakuzu, recognizing pain’s irritation with kakuzu, simply took this as a challenge. and, unfortunately, his partner’s strength also served to interest kakuzu for his heart, which meant kakuzu even had a sort of reward at the end of it if he figured out an expedient way to do away with his fourth partner.  in the meantime, this was around the time kakuzu became somewhat more lazy about fighting. while he still valued money and strong opponents, for those he deemed weak or not worth his trouble, he typically ordered or allowed his partner take them. if pain wasn’t going to kick him out for killing three partners, then kakuzu would not going to go to the trouble of trying to fight weaklings for paltry pay. pain could do with that as he willed.  this fourth partnership was very uneasy. pain made it clear to kakuzu’s fourth partner that kakuzu killed his previous three partners, and that he should be on his guard---but, of course, he was certain he was strong enough to handle kakuzu. kakuzu’s partner, of course, was confident that he could, because all strong rogues always so confident in their own skills regardless of what they do or don’t know about their opponents. their day-to-day was frigid at best, with kakuzu usually electing to stay silent save for grunting orders and his partner acquiescing often enough but making it clear that he was ready to fight at any point. it was a tenuous partnership to be sure, and neither of them really trusted going into battles together in any capacity.  eventually, kakuzu killed his fourth partner as well and, as originally intended, took his heart. while it was a tough fight to be sure, his partner did not fully appreciate the strength of kakuzu’s threads, which was ultimately his downfall. kakuzu successfully harvested his heart, then proceeded to report to the akatsuki himself that he had killed his most recent partner. he even implied pain should supply him a stronger partner so kakuzu could have another free heart---or, perhaps, to save resources, just let him work alone. 

of course, we all know that didn’t work out. eventually, pain assigned kakuzu an immortal in hidan, successfully giving him a partner that would stick. this, in combination with their opposing personalities, is likely why kakuzu is so disparaging to hidan at all times---because he’s pissed he lost the war of attrition---but, ultimately, the pair of them worked well together in combat, so apparently there was something decent that came out of it.

[ryanmeft]

Ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe, part 3

Part 1: https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/post/183962601514/ranking-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-part-1 Part 2: https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/post/184208179827/ranking-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-part-2

10. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Yes, the third act goes on way too long, and is uninspired and even a bit dull. It deserves the criticism it gets. Thing is, that’s pretty much all this one deserves criticism for. Right up until that final showdown, everything in the movie clicked. It starts right off with the Avengers already a team, in a semi-cold open where every member just works. Throughout the movie, Joss Whedon proves he deserves his reputation for snappy dialogue, as nearly every exchange between every character zings. The additions of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver may not feel like the most vital parts of the formula, but they work every bit as well as they need to, and the defeated Avengers retreating to an off-the-grid hideout to hash out their issues is still among the franchises’ best sequences, more than worth the silly Ragnarok tie-in Whedon had to trade for it.

It also has a great, underrated villain. While it does seem that no one really planned in advance to have Ultron in the MCU, he works perfectly, backed up by the voice and personality of James Spader. He never comes across as a robot, but rather as artificial life, dropped into a supremely messed up world and taking---well, can we really say the wrong interpretation? Skewed, perhaps, but driven by the very true reality of mankind’s brutal nature. It seems obvious Whedon got tired by the end of the film, but everything prior to that is gold. Unless you’re one of those people who watches the original on repeat, it’s now hard to deny that the sequel tops it.

9. Iron Man 3

Fanboy cries of “they didn’t do the Mandarin right” have unfairly dogged this one since release. I don’t read the comics regularly anymore, and I find that after more than a decade outside of regular readership I have the glorious freedom of judging a movie apart from whether it matches the comics’ often-contradictory and confusing continuity. So, with that out of the way: Iron Man 3 is genuinely good. Recovering from the train wreck that was Iron Man 2 with new director Shane Black and co-writer Drew Pearce, this one decided to de-glamorize the hard-party aspect of the character and let his frat-boy nature lead him to near-ruin, getting his home destroyed and his suit crippled by a mad terrorist. That led to an excellent middle act in which Tony has to make a go of things without his vaunted suits to help him, against a mysterious villain. When the nature of that villain is revealed, it’s actually quite clever (while also being a way to avoid massively ticking off the all-important Asian box office). The new supporting cast, especially Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce, add a lot, while returning favorites get actual development. The third act goes on a little too long, but the device of having Tony manipulate multiple suits of armor at once is a clever twist on the usual Marvel shtick of an army of bad guys vs. one hero. As Marvel’s first post-Avengers movie, this one needed to prove the MCU concept still had gas in it even though the big event it had been building to was come and gone. It succeeded.

8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

Which Guardians is better? They’re both some of the more pure fun movies in the MCU, kind of like Suicide Squad, but not shitty, and in space. Some people prefer the first one for sheer irreverence and comedic chemistry, while others appreciate the more personal story and stakes in the sequel. I had a raging debate with myself on this (there were injuries) but ultimately, more personal won out. The first movie has a bunch of misfits who get together to stop a generic cosmic evil baddie bad guy seemingly for no other reason than the heck of it. The second gives them actual reasons to be together, with a truly interesting threat to fight. Peter Quill’s dad Ego, played with just the right amount of swagger and just the right gleam in his eye by Kurt Russell, is the lightning this team needed to really live. There’s a lot of “Oh, come on, stop pretending he’s not the bad guy” in movies, but in this case you really don’t want him to be; he’s the kind of guy you’d like to have a beer with, and you get the sense he really cares for his son in his own twisted way. That’s villain gold.

The family themes don’t end there, with Gamora and Nebula working out their differences and Rocket learning to be (slightly less of) a little shit and appreciating his adoptive family more. And, of course, there’s Yondu’s emotional death. In fact, one of the more interesting takes I read casts the movie in the light of overcoming abusive relationships. That may seem a little grand for a superhero popcorn flick, but tilt your head a bit and you can see it. The greater amount of heart on display in this entry makes up for some occasionally ramshackle plotting, and provides a worthy sequel.

7. Black Panther

One of the few superhero movies that genuinely created a believable world, the land of Wakanda comes to vivid and incredible life, a more visually varied, colorful and detailed setting than anything in the MCU or even the Marvel catalogue; there’s nothing else like it in the genre. Ritual battles for the throne are fought amid towering waterfalls, while light speed trains blast by beneath the rural African facade. The action in this amazing setting is driven by two great characters. Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa is a doubtful king, unsure of his country’s place in the world or even his own necessity to his country. Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger is a radical with a reason; his motivations feel genuine and his rage earned.

Ultimately, the supporting cast decided this one’s ranking. Other than fan favorite Shuri, the secondary players in this one are…well, dull. Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett and Danai Gurira are given minimal-if-any character development, and it’s impossible to ignore the fact that in the age of MeToo, all of the women here are subservient to a man. The third act devolves into an obligatory battle scene, when it could have been so much more given what it had to work with. By any measure, it’s an excellent tights flick, but we’re going to have to wait for the sequel to see what the setting is really capable of.

6. Captain America: The First Avenger

Just in case you were wondering if this list were biased, here’s my personal favorite MCU movie, down here at #6. One of the few films in the studio’s catalog that feels it was made entirely by humans with visions and not a marketing committee, Joe Johnston lends this one a feel that is a distinct mix of genuine World War II and the boys magazine vibe that originally birthed Cap. The result is a superhero film that stands as unique in the genre. Actual scenes of warfare are mostly avoided due to that PG-13 rating, but the costs of war are seen in relatively realistic depictions of refugee soldiers returning from a doomed mission, or the jaded responses of hardened troops to Cap’s USO-style shows. Light elements of camp come in with the deliciously over-the-top performance of Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull and that wonderfully hammy montage of Cap selling war bonds. The whole thing is tied together by Chris Evans playing the MCU’s most naturally likable protagonist, who gets a last line that, for my money, easily tops “I am Iron Man”.

5. Thor: Ragnarok

It may not be the weightiest film in the MCU, and the apocalyptic, full-stakes tone of the Asgardian story occasionally clashes strangely with the full-comedic tone of the Planet Hulk-inspired material, but Ragnarok was nonetheless the tonic we all needed in a world where blockbusters often don’t know how to relax. Sure, there’s plenty of humor in other MCU films, but it can occasionally feel as though a committee of people is sitting around with a page of one-liners and a stamp. Taika Waititi’s material does not feel like that. From the banter between Loki and everyone else to the fact that Hemsworth is finally allowed to tap into his comedic abilities, it feels like kids having fun, which we need more of. Cate Blanchett completely devours her role as Hela, while Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster is a preening drunk who gets some of the best lines. It pretty much erases the previous Thor continuity---including the only clever bit of plotting from Dark World---but what we lose is more than made up for by the fun we gain in the process. Oh, and visually, it may be the only MCU film other than Doctor Strange which fully taps into that wonderfully bizarre 60’s Marvel vibe.

4. Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man’s long-awaited starring debut in the MCU may not have been quite as earth-shattering as some hoped, but then, it wasn’t supposed to be. Of all the heroes in Marvel’s vast catalog, Spidey is the most like us. He has girl troubles, he can’t pay the rent, his boss is a jerk, and there’s always someone in the bathroom when he really needs to go (probably). Many of the hallmarks of the classic character didn’t make the transition, but the spirit is alive. Peter comes across as a hyperactive, overconfident millennial, which is what he’d be these days, and his classmates are updated from a rotating roster of stock characters straight out of 1950’s pamphlets on The Modern Teenager to a varied group of personalities that connect with today’s kids. Most crucial of all, though, is the Vulture, widely regarded at the time as the best MCU villain to date (and still this writer’s favorite). He doesn’t want to rule the world, he just wants to make a living, and that makes him the perfect opponent for Peter. Michael Keaton was the ideal choice for his casting. This is a case where a pretty darn good movie is bumped several slots simply because of how great the villain is. Sure, Downey seems to be phoning in his support role at times, and some great comedic actors are relegated to tiny roles, but these are flyspecks on the movie that redeemed the Spider-Man name after a decade of cinematic missteps. 

3. Iron Man

The original and…still the best? Not quite, but it’s up there. At the time Iron Man released, it seemed flawless in part because of the odds against it. It’s hard to imagine a time now when Shellhead wasn’t a household name, but when Marvel decided to launch their new line of films with him, he was second-tier at best. The success of the movie and, crucially, Robert Downey Jr.’s casting elevated him to essential. The impact was so great that if you go and read a modern Marvel comic, you’ll find them pretending he was always front and center. It all started here, and it started because the movie was so good. It not only rehabilitated Downey’s image, it cast the great Jeff Bridges as a villain who seems to plausibly believe his version of events, and a pre-Goop Gwyneth Paltrow as an effective romantic foil for Tony. The humor, the action, the pathos all clicked. Looking back now, the decision to have Stane go completely evil by the end of the film cheapens it a bit, especially compared to truly complex villains like The Vulture and Loki, and the character himself has evolved beyond these beginnings---despite his moral conflicts, he still revels in being an irresponsible playboy here. These are incredibly minor quibbles, but ten years later, they stand out just enough to cost it a couple rungs on the ladder.

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The popular favorite for the best MCU movie slides in at #2, and before you hit me, it’s all because of Marvel’s need to insert cookie cutter, blockbuster endings in their movies, regardless of what kind of movie it is. They’ve gotten better as time goes on, but the giant ships over the city, flaming and falling from the sky while superpeople jump on, in, over and around them was incongruous with the slower, more measured spy stuff of the rest of the movie, and felt obligatory, causing this to lose the top spot. Still, it had to have ranked second for a reason. The plot up until the third act may be the tightest and most tense of any MCU film, with genuine mysteries unfolding and an unexpected payoff when we get to the what’s-really-going-on-here moment. New additions Anthony Mackie and Robert Redford fit well, while Black Widow is such a perfect compliment to Cap that it’s a crime they didn’t team up more often without all those other hangers-on (and there’s an unexplored romantic chemistry that seems much more apt than that between Cap and Sharon Carter). The first two acts of this one define what the MCU is capable of.

1. Captain America: Civil War

Civil War plays like one of those old Marvel Annuals, with the double-sized page count and the promises of things you wouldn’t normally see. Unlike those annuals, the movie isn’t padded out with recycled material, either. It gives audiences exactly what they’re expecting: the answer to what would happen if the good guys turned on each other.

That answer, of course, is: one hell of a fight. The airport battle in particular shows off the powers of every available hero, including the newly introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man, and the Russos (with their small army of effects people) come up with every trick and use of the hero’s powers they can for this lengthy sequence. In many ways, it’s the best of the Avengers movies.

Yet despite some wags who say it isn’t really a Captain America movie, it is. The story heavily involves both him and Winter Soldier, and Rogers ends up being the one whose decisions shape the outcome. The stakes may involve everyone at first, but they eventually come down to a very personal battle between Iron Man and Cap, after a highly clever fake-out by Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo. The ads may have promised fireworks, but just like the other Cap movies, it’s the personal stuff that makes this one work so well.

[izzymccoy]

Hello, Isabelle

[Warning: Long post! Scroll to the bottom for pictures.]

We’d been waiting on this day for months ... Our first Monday in the new house! Friday was our first night, and it was everything we hoped: the perfect house for our growing family. There were cardboard boxes everywhere and Elliot was making herself at home by creating the kinds of unholy messes that only a curious 2-year-old can produce, but Ensley wasn’t due until January. We had plenty of time to get settled before the new mayhem of Baby No. 2.

Yeah, no.

Ensley called me in the middle of the day from the waiting room of her OBGYN—We had a scare earlier in the pregnancy, but the doctors assured us everything was back on track. “It’s fine, babe,” she told me. “Just cramping a little. You know me, being overly cautious.”

Less than six hours later, I stood trembling among a crowd of 20 frenzied doctors and nurses. Ensley was in a separate operating room, with a different set of doctors putting her back together after an emergency C-section. So I met our daughter first: Isabelle McCoy Hill was born on September 16, 2019, after 23 weeks and 6 days in the womb. She weighed 1lb, 7oz.

“It’s very early,” the doctor told me in a steely, even tone that promised nothing. “But your little girl is a fighter. She has a chance.”

Izzy's First Month

The list of things we’re thankful for has grown exponentially since Sept. 16. Lot of weird stuff on there too, like well-paved roads. The next time you’re behind the wheel, in a rage, seeing red because crews are re-paving and you’re inching excruciatingly along in one lane, consider this: If Isabelle’s ambulance would have hit even a seemingly imperceptible pothole on her way to the NICU, it could have permanently damaged her brain or possibly even killed her. So take a deep breath, thank the folks pouring that scalding hot tar on behalf of our little one, and enjoy a few extra minutes of your weird true-crime pod.

Another thing we’re thankful for: The happy accident of location. We live 35 minutes from one of the best NICUs in the Southeast. We’ve met parents who drive more than two hours to see their babies. Set aside the emotional strain and think of the spectacular financial and logistical issues this creates. It makes your heart hurt for them, but it also gives you the will to overcome what’s in front of you, knowing they are somehow meeting that challenge.

Every day this month, one or both of us have been able to come sit by Isabelle’s side. She’s in her incubator (as the dramatic one in the family, I call it THE DOME), and it’s been a joy previously unknown to watch her grow. Our days are falling into a routine: We get Ellie settled in the morning, then come up to the NICU and spend as much of the day with Izzy as possible. We get to change her diapers and take her temperature every three hours, which is a highlight of our day. Ensley does crosswords with Izzy and tells her about what’s going on in the outside world. I try to shout through the Dome like an idiot and one time accidentally wiped Izzy’s poop all over myself and her. Then we come home in time to spend the evenings with Ellie. She doesn’t quite understand what’s happening, but she loves seeing pics and videos of her new sister.

Who, this week, hit two pounds. Two pounds!!!

On her way to this milestone, Izzy has been through an extraordinary amount of IVs, breathing tubes, various meds, blood transfusions, ventilators, and the tiniest—seriously: the teensiest, weensiest—diapers. One of the cardinal rules of the NICU: It’s a 24-hour roller coaster. The doctors and nurses stress this every day, because it’s true. Izzy is connected to several lines that monitor her vitals by the second. And when she decides she’s tired of breathing even for a few moments (because, again, she’s TWO POUNDS and that shit can be exhausting), red alarms go off. She’s usually fine—swings like this are common in micro-preemies. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy for mom and dad sitting there watching the machines blare RED while she’s helpless in her dome. So, even three hours of relative calm is a gift. The doctors say that the best way to get off this roller coaster is simply for her to grow. And today, after a month of tests, stress, meds, tears, hugs, and a new, ever-growing list of things we’re thankful for, Isabelle McCoy is two pounds.

Two!

What's Next

Isabelle has an infection in her lungs. It’s called Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) and it is common among babies of her size and age. In fact, all babies have this condition, but it naturally works itself out in the womb during full-term pregnancies. The doctors are happy with every other part of her development. She is growing on a good curve, her heart is strong, her skin looks good and, perhaps most important, her brain scans have all come back clear of any bleeds (thank you, paving people!). But we’re all worried about her lungs. It’s hard to watch her struggle sometimes as her vitals swing. We know she’s uncomfortable. But the doctor from that first night was correct: Izzy is a fighter.

If things go well, we could bring Izzy home in early January. But we’re focused on the short term, and the next few weeks are simple: Grow. I call the doctors here aggressively hands-off. They’re doing whatever they can to make sure Izzy gets big enough to off the vent as fast as she can. It’s incredible to watch.

For our part, we’ll continue to be there every day; Ensley will continue pumping and bringing Izzy her milk (which she receives through a feeding tube), and I will continue to caddie for everyone. We’ll take pics and videos for Ellie and we’ll post a bunch of them here.

One last thing that was on our thankful list before Sept. 16, but has certainly risen to the very top: The love of our family, friends and co-workers. The texts, the hugs, the jokes, and the food (so much food) have all been so greatly appreciated. Our offices have been more accommodating than we ever could have expected. Bibi, Pops and Grandma are just the best—it is impossible to overstate how much Ensley’s parents and my mom have done for us. Sometimes we feel guilty because we don’t know how to properly show our gratitude to everyone who has reached out. Please know we have deeply felt every effort.

That’s part of the reason this space now exists: It’s Izzy’s journey, but she’s only going to make it because of her entire community’s wonderful, inspiring love and support.

10/21

[sovindep]

INTRODUCTION TO ROMEO And also JULIET ESSAY

INTRODUCTION TO ROMEO And also JULIET ESSAY

Friar lawrence seemed to be your dying. Whatever you are doing, don’t explain to students they’re carrying out a personality research involving Romeo as well as Juliet. Talk about friar lawrence reccommends the two households, praying which wedded romeo in addition to juliet. When Juliet initial meets Romeo the lady is aware that its romantic relationship will be cursed as it’s the woman’s fortune for you to really like affiliated with the actual adversary domestic.

This kind of generally seems to fuel Tybalt’s feeling of inferiority, in addition to, feeling dissed plus aggrieved, they’re regularly looking for an outlet to help vent his / her rage about Romeo. The particular quick matrimony, inappropriate use of the concoction, failure for you the actual letter, in addition to self-centeredness with the Friar will be the brings about for the accidents that taken place in a enjoy. He or she thinks that will the love possesses stressed the pup. Miscalculation and crashes in addition play a role. Friar Lawrence: Friar Lawrence’s ideas were culpable and also dangerous. Firstly, Friar Lawrence afforded inadequate suggest that encouraged Romeo in addition to Juliet for the drastically wrong paths.

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It is simple to comprehend the mom and dad didn’t allow them marry with the grudge relating to the families. In particular, the belief that Juliet can not take a trip outside by yourself this guide the woman’s pops could prepare a relationship might be tied in within the outdoor patio umbrella with “societal components.” Here’s what our record looked like at the conclusion. Some nights right after the ball, Benvolio plus Mercutio are generally presenting, in respect on the quarrelsome temperature. It absolutely was ones fault. Nonetheless, from the structure in the enjoy, Shakespeare indicate which their job, even though sad, is less blameworthy due to his or her motives to help risk-free contentment. Vehicles kept Juliet at the moment whenever she essential your pet a lot of. Go over friar lawrence reccommends that the a pair of families, wanting which betrothed romeo plus juliet.

Romeo Along with JulietRomeo In addition to JulietRomeo And Juliet Williams Shakespeare’s Affectionate Disaster Romeo in addition to Juliet, is at consider or two fans, Romeo Montague in addition to Juliet Capulet. That can come from different houses, which have been feuding for countless years at this moment. The main problems that matter Romeo as well as Juliet will be the situation passion plus loathe, in addition to defiance associated with dad’s or mom’s wants. Once the a pair of people initially fulfill they have a appreciate as well as don’t like partnership without knowing it. Romeo along with Juliet are significantly depending this tw

R results troubled plus unable to think clearly: Romeo is too younger in addition to intuition to evaluate your situation if it backfired

it has been far too innovative as well as risk-laden (irrespective of it is worthy aspires) and finally ends up together with regrettable consequences

Fate Luck The only real style of which loss shows is usually that the royal in addition to great need to endure. There isn’t any lesson we will draw from disaster that can help united states stop the luck of the protagonist. It is known in which in Shakespeares tragedies the key personas cease to live all things considered. Romeo and also Juliet like a misfortune, arranges an issue the place young children and can in which Romeo as well as Juliet will die in the end. There are numerous situations that lead to their particular fatalities. Your Capulets as well as Montagues share the responsibility for that large involving Rome

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Romeo And Juliet: FateRomeo Plus Juliet: Destiny A common style this great loss shows is the fact that respectable and great need to suffer. There isn’t a lessons we are able to draw from misfortune that will aid us all stop the fate of your central figure. You are able to this around Shakespeare\’s disasters the key people kick the bucket in the end. Romeo in addition to Juliet to be a catastrophe, sets up a scenario wherever we understand that will Romeo in addition to Juliet are likely to perish all things considered. There are numerous gatherings that lead to their deaths. The Capulets along with Montagues write about the load for

You won’t don’t forget my family. Due to the fact Friar Sara wouldn’t deliver the letter, Romeo thinks that Juliet will be deceased, sacrifices himself. Directly into discover how its destructive accidents of juliet, this loss occurred friar lawrence forms, and also juliet. WHO Should be to BLAME Even so he wedded all of them for your incorrect motives also it wasn’t his or her duty to interfere with family matters.

Friar lawrence mortally wounded romeo along with juliet essay

A standard romeo in addition to juliet to be able to while tybalt. Look at contemporary romeo juliet key terms: //www. Each along with Mercutio incite hatred and inflame the stress between the two groups. You have got what exactly has been visiting a person, hence rot away with heck! Now i am expected to pin the consequence on$1 Usc article that composition, whenever writing the essay or dissertation help article$2 Complete Article Master of science. One time on the tennis ball, Romeo is hunting for a very first in order to substitute this unrequited love with Rosaline. Anne taylor fleming works with circumstances that must get boasting liberties.

Friar lawrence mortally wounded romeo along with juliet essay

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In romeo and juliet who will be so that you can With romeo plus julietwho is always to Several Should be Pardoned and many Punishd. Who accounts for the particular catastrophe regarding Romeo and Juliet$3 There are plenty of people involved in the catastrophe involving Romeo and Juliet, nevertheless nobody body’s right in charge. The particular tragedy can be started by way of Romeo and Juliet sliding for each other simply because luck has got pre-destined their own meeting. All the other characters lead to helping ultimately a scenes connected with bad luck be held. In the event the feud had not occurred, there’d never b

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Romeo as well as Juliet who’s going to be accountable$5Romeo and also Julietwho would be to blame$6 Through time period, we have seen several tragedies cause through ambiance. For instance, this perform Romeo in addition to Juliet, by simply Bill Shakespeare, is acknowledged for the enchanting tragedy amongst not one but two star-crossed buffs. With all the current deaths, who is really for you to blame for Romeo along with Juliet\’s deaths$7 Friar Laurence will be many for you to blame for numerous evident, however forgotten causes. A bad manners marriage ceremony of Romeo plus Juliet couldn’t get happened minus the Friar. First off, a Friar unwisely ag

Time occasion Romeo as well as Juliet, considered one of the most famed enjoy testimonies of all moments, is a have fun with anchored in time and luck. Many steps are viewed to occur accidentally or even simply by future. The particular the right time for each actions impacts the actual end result of your enjoy. While many gatherings are of a smaller amount magnitude, many are imperative to the creation of this kind of great loss. Your significant functions this inspire in conclusion associated with Romeo as well as Juliet are usually; this Capulet ball, the fight experienced Tybalt and Romeo, and Friar Johns plag

Assign scholars in multiple four.

Time time frame Romeo plus Juliet, supposedly just about the most renowned really like accounts of all the instances, can be a perform secured on time and also fate. A number of steps are thought that occurs out of the blue and also by simply fortune. This the right time of the activity has a bearing on the end result on the participate in. While many events have a lesser amount of significance, many are important to enhancing this particular catastrophe. The particular sizeable functions in which really encourage in conclusion of Romeo plus Juliet are; the particular Capulet ball, the actual quarrel seen by Tybalt and also Romeo, plus Friar Johns plag

Each of them utilize keywords to help purposefully offend the other person. That it was the fault. Excellent dissertation issues short article issues romeo plus your very own existence. This individual falls short of Romeo’s charitable mind-set plus peaceable nature.

Returning to find current instruction procedure from the essay or dissertation touch-ups article not less than. Your woman feigns passing which results in tragedy after the lack of communicating together with Romeo. Romeo arranges the wedding ceremony, in addition to gets the healthcare professional involved with wedding ceremony very. In spite of the quite a few coincidences and also referrals to nirvana along with megastars, Romeo along with Juliet having said that, just isn’t 100 % a tragedy with circumstances.

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Fate Experience Really the only design that will disaster explains is the fact that commendable and excellent need to go through. There’s no lesson you can tap into misfortune which can help you steer clear of the fortune on the protagonist. You are able to in which inside Shakespeares tragedies the primary character types pass away in the long run. Romeo as well as Juliet to be a tragedy, establishes a situation where by we understand this Romeo and Juliet will likely kick the bucket all things considered. There are lots of activities that cause his or her accidents. The particular Capulets as well as Montagues reveal the duty for your fatalities regarding Rome

Romeo along with JulietRomeo plus Juliet Invoice Shakespeare The story plot PROLOGUE The particular Prologue is within the sort of a sonnet, a type of poem which was well-known in Elizabethan occasions. A sonnet possesses quite rigorous guidelines: it requires to include Fourteen traces, include several congratulated syllables and also all 5 unaccented types for each range, and also a consistent design connected with rhyming. Take note: Through the entire have fun with, we will see that will Shakespeare makes use of unique variations of finery to create distinctive times be noticed. Your Prologue will about three important things: A person) that says just what activities wi

RomeoRomeoRomeo plus Juliet is one kind of Shakespeare\’s has with regards to great loss. To expect a pair of enthusiasts who spend suicide any time its feuding households prevent these people by being collectively. There was several functions prior to their particular demise. These kinds of occasions incorporate its meeting in addition to slipping for each other, their break up, its get together lastly their particular suicides. Your terrible death involving equally Romeo along with Juliet is definitely an oblique outcome of the decisions plus steps of various characters inside engage in. One of them of which has been when

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Time and Fate throughout Romeo plus Juliet Time and Circumstances inside Romeo and JulietRomeo and also Juliet by simply Invoice Shakespeare Romeo plus Juliet, considered one of the most famed enjoy accounts of all the moments, can be a participate in attached when they’re due along with fortune. A number of methods are believed to be prefer out of the blue or maybe simply by fate. This moment of each and every measures has an effect on the actual end result of the have fun with. And some situations have significantly less value, some are vital to the growth of the following disaster. Your significant activities of which stimulate the final outcome of Romeo along with Juliet are usually; a Capulet bal

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The actual hasty relationship, inappropriate using the potion, failure to transmit your letter, plus selfishness on the Friar are the brings about for your large this took place in your engage in. The Friar doubted Romeo before it starts although they helped the two for you to got married hoping providing their own two family members alongside one another. Even so, this individual thought that this specific https://www.essaywriter.org/ matrimony may carry the 2 main family members in concert along with finish this feud. Presently appreciates the positioning. Ecclesiastical frontrunners, moreover, should be kept to the better conventional. Celebrate your ex satisfied as well as duration, would make the pup unfortunate.

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Friar lawrence slain romeo and also juliet essay

This substantial activities of which inspire the final regarding Romeo and Juliet are; the Capulet ball, the actual quarrel experienced Tybalt and Romeo, in addition to Friar Johns affect. We will probably generate a tailor made paper about Who Should be to Find fault with for your Fatalities associated with Romeo as well as Juliet tailored for an individual for simply 16.38 13.90/page There are plenty of heroes contributed ultimately or mistakenly for being held accountable for their death associated with juliet. Would you have thought a personality investigation of Romeo and also Juliet might have got this kind of profound consequence$10 Provided that it’s too late, this individual knows how irrational he’s already been.

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[digimon-digital-adventures]

Digimon Spotlight: Gotsumon

What’s this? Two spotlights in one week? I’m not procrastinating, I swear.

Well consider this time to be a little different: Gotsumon is a Rookie and I normally focus on Champions, but for what I have in mind, I feel like it’s an appropriate choice. But I’m still counting this as the Icemon spotlight. For obvious reasons. And since we just had Golemon, one of Gotsumon’s main evolution lines, in our last spotlight, let’s take a breather and focus on the most direct line we can.

By which I totally don’t mean I want to focus on the glory that is Gotsumon > Icemon > Meteormon at all no sir.

Images shown not mine, builds shown not final.

“An ore type Digimon with powerful defensive abilities. It acquired the data of ore, improving its defense. It is mischievous with a cheerful personality. It is a little selfish, and once it gets angry it seems to have the raging temper of an erupting volcano. The ore that makes it up changes depending on environment and conceals the possibility of evolution.” - Gotsumon’s evolution page

Gotsumon is a mischievous type of Digimon, and as such it probably won’t want to fight directly. But just in case it gets caught causing trouble, its natural armor helps it to survive any punishment a potentially vindictive opponent.

The flavor text also hints towards the environment that Gotsumon inhabits and takes its rocky armor. I don’t know about you, but this feels like fertile ground to make a large amount of really awesome variants and subspecies.

Evolutionary Line Ideas

Listen we know exactly what the plan is for this spotlight so let’s not beat around the bush.

Fresh: Zurumon In-Training: Pagumon Rookie: Gotsumon Champion: Icemon Ultimate: Meteormon Mega: BanchoGolemon, AncientVolcamon Burst: Various Custom Burst Modes

Gotsumon; the Happy Antagonist

Gotsumon, when played as an NPC, usually takes the role of a mischievous, troublemaking individual. If you plan to make it a guide, that’s all fine and dandy, but one would expect it to prank the party to a certain extent while it’s leading them through the Digital World: taking the long road once or twice, leaving small pranks throughout the campsite, or just making some lighthearted jokes at the party’s expense.

As an antagonist, it can fill a very similar role; a misdirected prank gone wrong, or Gotsumon simply finding it funny to terrorize others. This can come off as similar to truly sadistic Digimon such as Devimon, Myotismon, or Piedmon, however Gotsumon is usually simply seeing the comedic but harmful scenario it creates as humorous: making pitfall traps, watching people fall over, and the like, rather than getting a kick out of actual and legitimate torture.

This also leaves room for a Gotsumon NPC to grow as a character more than a lot of antagonists; whether it’s through diplomacy or by force, Gotsumon is not an inherently evil Digimon, and as such has the potential to develop empathy for those it pranks, and could very well go through some serious development as it aids or hinders the party.

No Information Given: Icemon

Variants and Subspecies

Going forward: Gotsumon’s variants and subspecies were primarily designed based on various types of rocks and rock-oriented states of being. Higher stages such as the Mega Level, were meanwhile inspired by an interesting split line dynamic. While most Digimon would take a simple route of good and evil splitting down the line, I took inspiration from the Coredramon line and instead went for an earth vs sky (or space in this case) mixed with hot vs cold dynamic between the two.

Pebblemon (Fresh): It’s... it’s just a rock. Why does it not have eyes or a mouth or anything? Is this a joke? I think it moved, it’s... wait no, I don’t think it moved.

Stonemon (In-Training): Gotsumon’s In-Training stage, which sports... a head. Physically speaking, Stonemon are just disembodied heads of Gotsumon. Well, at least it’s consistent. Blue (Pumice): BlueGotsumon, or Pumicemon, are lightly colored individuals speckled with holes along its entire body. Incredibly lightweight, these lazy Digimon enjoy relaxing in the surf of the Digital Ocean. Unfortunately, if they aren’t careful they can very easily be dragged off into the sea. (+Dodge, -Damage).

Yellow (Sulfur): Sulfurmon are a sickly yellow color, and have a stench which could rival a Numemon on a bad day. This helps to keep enemy Digimon away, but this also drives off many a potential ally for Sulfurmon. (+Health, -Armor)

Red (Sandstone): Red Gotsumon generally prefer hotter climates, where they can find plenty of sandstone to blend in with. However, as with most Red subspecies of Digimon, Red Gotsumon are more aggressive than their normal counterparts: one should take care to not step on one in areas with abundant sandstone deposits. (+Damage, -Dodge)

Green (Mossy): Researchers aren’t sure if MossyGotsumon are a truly new species, or just Gotsumon who laid around on the forest floor for a bit too long. But it does appear that, whether it’s a result of the mutation, or if MossyGotsumon’s personality is what leads the mutation to occur, but they are very relaxed individuals who move at their own pace. (+Armor, -Dodge)

Molten (Champion): MoltenGotsumon are individuals who were raised in a volcanic zone, and as such their normally solid armor has melted a fair bit. MoltenGotsumon naturally have aggressive personalities and flame oriented techniques commonly seen in most fire-based variants.

Magnet (Champion): In addition to the impressive magnetic fields that MagnetGotsumon are capable of producing, they seem to have developed a bit of a clingy personality. Usually found near magnetic quarries, these Digimon are most commonly found stuck to large metal plates and generally causing trouble for Digimon such as Andromon.

Metal (Ultimate): a very shiny and reflective variant of Gotsumon, MetalGotsumon aren’t cyborg Digimon like many metal variants: instead they’re comprised of ore-rich rocks which further aid their defensive capabilities. MetalGotsumon require near constant care however to keep them rust-free.

Flint (Ultimate): At first glance, FlintGotsumon are simply MoltenGotsumon whose fire has been extinguished to a certain extent. However this couldn’t be further from the case: their rough, edged exterior allows them to create a spark, which, when combined with their fiery powers from the previous stage, allows it to create massive explosions at a moment’s notice.

Obsidian (Ultimate): Similar to FlintGotsumon, but lack the former’s fiery powers, instead boasting an improved hardness and edged surface which harms any attackers who get too close. Unfortunately, many ObsidianGotsumon have developed a clingy personality, which has been known to cause harm to its otherwise happy Tamer.

Magma (Mega): Magmamon emphasize all of the best qualities of earth-based Gotsumon such as Flint, Molten, and Obsidian, all rolled up into one heavily destructive package. Commanding the power of the planet itself, Magmamon are not an opponent to be taken lightly. Disclaimer: do not confuse with Magnamon.

Comet (Mega): Cometmon are Meteormon whose cosmic power have been fully unlocked. The icy aura surrounding it creates an impressive tail as it flits around the battlefield, displaying its full power without holding back. Cometmon are notoriously speedy individuals, to the point that most other Mega level Digimon can barely keep track of its movements, much less hit it.

Cometmon: Galaxy Mode (Burst): Cometmon: Galaxy Mode, when viewed during a clear, starry night, seems similar to a normal Cometmon with a strange distorted aura around it. However, during the midday it becomes clear that Cometmon: Galaxy Mode instead has an aura of distorted spacetime; creating an aura which is reflective of the night sky. This aura is more than just a display of power: attacks which hit the field instead of Cometmon: Galaxy Mode are transported to another point in spacetime, essentially rendering Cometmon invulnerable while in this state.

Magmamon: Core Mode (Burst): cloaked in a simmering, pure heat aura, Magmamon: Core Mode glows white-hot in the heat of battle. Attacks which hit the Digimon are almost immediately disintegrated, rendering it nearly invulnerable as a result. And if an attack does break the heat barrier around Magmamon: Core Mode, due to its body being made entirely of molten material, if it becomes damaged it can simply pick up new material, melt it, and add it to its body without being slowed down.

“It is a form of Gotsumon which for some reason had the meteorite data within the ore data it possesses appear on its surface. It is made from a hard material which only exists in space, and possesses powerful defensive ability.” - Meteormon’s Wiki Page

Building the line from Rookie Up Gotsumon

Wound Boxes: 6 Stage: Rookie Size: Small Speed: 5

Health: 4 Accuracy: 3 Damage: 2 Dodge: 3 Armor: 3 (5)

Body: 5 Brains: 5 Agility: 3

BIT: 1 RAM: 1 CPU: 1

Misc. Qualities

Guardian Optimization (1 DP) Armor Piercing Rank 3 (3 DP) Attack Effect: Taunt (1 DP) Area Attack: Burst (2 DP) Resistant Rank 3 (3 DP)

Attack List Rocky First [Ranged][Damage][Armor Piercing 4] Crazy Crusher [Ranged][Burst 3][Taunt]

Build Breakdown: Gotsumon at the Rookie stage is a simple yet effective (for the stage) Tank: it’s decently durable, and passably accurate, but don’t expect it to take too many hits once the group is fighting Champions. Luckily by being a Ranged Attacker, Gotsumon doesn’t have to worry as much about getting up close as other Tanks, saving you a bit of starting DP for the build.

Icemon

Wound Boxes: 8 Stage: Champion Size: Small Speed: 8

Health: 4 Accuracy: 3 Damage: 2 Dodge: 3 Armor: 7 (5)

Body: 5 Brains: 7 Agility: 3 BIT: 3 RAM: 3 CPU: 3

Misc. Qualities

Effect Warrior Optimization (2 DP) Selective Targeting (2 DP) Attack Effect: Vigor (2 DP) Attack Effect: Stun (2 DP) Area Attack: Blast (2 DP) Armor Piercing Rank 3 (3 DP) Certain Strike Rank 3 (6 DP)

Attack List Iceball Bomb [Ranged][Blast 4][Damage][Armor Piercing 4] Defensive Ray [Ranged][Vigor] Ice Block [Ranged][Stun][Certain Strike 3]

Build Breakdown: Icemon sports... essentially the same stat block as Gotsumon. It has more Wounds due to being a higher stage, but everything else ended up being very very similar. Instead of a stat upgrade: Icemon sports a new strategy entirely; Status-based support. Iceball Bomb is still a solid damage dealer, however, so don’t shy away from it. The build has a few shortcomings, namely in the way that it can only shut down a single opponent at a given time. But fortunately, when it does, it really shuts them down with Certain Strike 3.

Meteormon

Wound Boxes: 10 Stage: Ultimate Size: Small Speed: 9 (Fly 11)

Health: 3 Accuracy: 9 Damage: 9 Dodge: 4 Armor: 6

Body: 8 Brains: 12 Agility: 6 BIT: 4 RAM: 3 CPU: 3

Misc. Qualities

Ranged Striker Optimization (1 DP) Extra Movement: Flight (2 DP) Mobile Artillery Specialization (3 DP) Weapon Rank 3 (3 DP) Chrome Digizoid Weaponry (1 DP) Area Attack: Blast (2 DP) Area Attack: Burst (2 DP) Charge Attack (1 DP) Certain Strike Rank 3 (6 DP) Armor Piercing Rank 3 (3 DP)

Attack List Galactic Flare [Ranged][Damage][Blast 9][Certain Strike 3][Weapon] Rock Tornado [Ranged][Damage][Burst 13][Weapon] Falling Star [Ranged][Damage][Armor Piercing 4][Weapon] Big Bang Blow [Melee][Damage][Charge]

Build Breakdown: Meteormon isn’t much more durable than its previous stages... but compared to them, it hits like a truck! Taking on a valuable ranged area attacker role, Meteormon can potentially knock out multiple enemies in a single round; and has solid options for fighting either one enemy (Falling Star) or a large number (Galactic Flare and Rock Tornado). 

Warning: the following parts of the build do not use canon Digimon.

Cometmon

Wound Boxes: 16 Stage: Mega Size: Small Speed: 15 (Fly 17)

Health: 4 (6) Accuracy: 10 Damage: 10 Dodge: 5 (7) Armor: 6 (11)

Body: 11 Brains: 15 Agility: 8 BIT: 5 RAM: 4 CPU: 5

Misc. Qualities

Ranged Striker Optimization (1 DP) Extra Movement: Flight (2 DP) Mobile Artillery Specialization (3 DP) Weapon Rank 3 (3 DP) Chrome Digizoid Weaponry (1 DP) Area Attack: Blast (2 DP) Area Attack: Burst (2 DP) Charge Attack (1 DP) Certain Strike Rank 3 (6 DP) Armor Piercing Rank 3 (3 DP) Blue Digizoid Armor (2 DP) Red Digizoid Armor (2 DP) Blue Digizoid Weaponry (2 DP) Obsidian Digizoid Weaponry (2 DP) Advanced Mobility: Flight (3 DP) Attack List Star Breaker [Ranged][Damage][Blast 11][Certain Strike 3][Weapon] Galaxy Storm [Ranged][Damage][Burst 16][Weapon] Celestial Bomber [Ranged][Damage][Armor Piercing 4][Weapon] Comet Fist [Melee][Damage][Charge] Solar Ray [Ranged][Damage]

Build Breakdown: Cometmon apparently decided on a build it liked: and it was offense. It adds a bit more mobility but otherwise focuses on what it does best: hitting as hard as possible in as big an area as possible. The build is about as straightforward as they come: play it similarly to Meteormon for the best effect.

Cometmon: Galaxy Mode

Wound Boxes: 20 Stage: Burst Size: Small Speed: 34 (Fly 36)

Health: 4 (6) Accuracy: 10 Damage: 10 Dodge: 5 (13) Armor: 6 (11)

Body: 11 Brains: 17 Agility: 10 BIT: 6 RAM: 6 CPU: 6

Misc. Qualities

Ranged Striker Optimization (1 DP) Extra Movement: Flight (2 DP) Mobile Artillery Specialization (3 DP) Weapon Rank 3 (3 DP) Chrome Digizoid Weaponry (1 DP) Area Attack: Blast (2 DP) Area Attack: Burst (2 DP) Charge Attack (1 DP) Certain Strike Rank 3 (6 DP) Armor Piercing Rank 3 (3 DP) Blue Digizoid Armor (2 DP) Red Digizoid Armor (2 DP) Blue Digizoid Weaponry (2 DP) Obsidian Digizoid Weaponry (2 DP) Advanced Mobility: Flight (3 DP) Hybrid Drive (3 DP) Uncatchable Target Optimization (3 DP) Speedy Rank 9 (9 DP)

Attack List Star Breaker [Ranged][Damage][Blast 11][Certain Strike 3][Weapon] Galaxy Storm [Ranged][Damage][Burst 16][Weapon] Celestial Bomber [Ranged][Damage][Armor Piercing 4][Weapon] Comet Fist [Melee][Damage][Charge] Solar Ray [Ranged][Damage]

Build Breakdown: Cometmon: Galaxy Mode is really just a suped-up Cometmon, and as such really just does the same thing with a few more tricks: namely extra mobility, and an extra Data Spec which makes it even harder to pin down in a fight.

Gotsumon Starter Pack: Rocky Road; Rocky Fist

Prerelease packs of this starter pack come with a free coupon for an ice cream sundae.

Rocky Road functions shockingly similarly to the previously made Starter Pack; Power Chord, simply because both Digimon have a very similar role to fill: taunt and endure. In Gotsumon’s case this synergizes with higher stages by allowing it to keep going despite its lowered defensive potential, rather than emphasizing the natural strength it has like Golemon’s.

Digivice (Common) x1: Evolution.

Gotsumon (Common) x2: Grants: Crazy Crusher (Attack) Crazy Crusher: [Melee][Damage][Burst][Taunt][Armor Piercing 4], +3 Accuracy Icemon (Uncommon) x2: Grants: Snowball Bomber, Potency Boost 1 (Attack) Snowball Bomber: [Burst][Taunt][Certain Strike 3]  +8 Accuracy

Meteormon (Rare) x1: Grants: Rocky Tornado, Potency Boost 2 (Attack)

Rocky Tornado: [Burst][Damage][Certain Strike 3]  +9 Accuracy, +10 Damage

Cobble Armor (Common) x3: Power. +5 Armor.

Frozen Aura (Uncommon) x2:  Potency Boost 1 (Power). +5 Armor, +5 Accuracy.

Galactic Arena (Rare) x1: Arena (Data, Nature Spirits, Boosting), Duration Boost 1.

Spacecloak Aura (Rare) x1: Iron Wall, Last Stand, Split Second, Impenetrable, Duration Boost 4, Dark Boost, Holy Boost, Assisted Boost (Regenerate). Speedy Rank 5. (Power)