#but it's the continuation of the third game...........but that game's protagonist was not allowed to really be involved.....

[forthegamesmyguy]

yeeeeeaaaahhhhh.......... :/

the more time and space I have from actually finishing, and just like ruminating on it all over and over..... My impressions are just growing colder and less forgiving. I'm gonna have to write them all out sometime here, it's just how I process things. But it'll be hard. Saying goodbye to my favourite little guy maybe of all time, is very hard. My shorthand thoughts are basically: as an action fantasy game, it's fantastic... it's cinematic and gorgeous and the narrative is powerfully emotionally motivated, and I'm certain someone that has no DA knowledge can leave it feeling like it was a great piece of art; as an RPG, it's quite middling....it's got a decent character creator with 6 technically different bgs but it really isn't much more than flavour imo, and ultimately everything is either a binary choice or no real choice at all (companion quests have two paths, the ending itself is one flavour, though I will give credit for the suicide mission elements that do actually add a bit of variability, but dialogue options are often three ways of saying the same thing slightly different)...it's not bad, it's serviceable...it can be called a role playing game, in a very specific way.....but it is not an rpg robust and full of choice; as a dragon age game, it's not very good....the amount of auto dialogue was giving me ME3 flashbacks in a very bad way, bc at least Shepard was always a less dimensional (on OUR part, the player) character.....but as predicted, rook is even less your own than Inquisitor, and even more basic...you find your character very often just...saying shit, and it's like "oh no, the bad guy is bad! But don't give up team we are the good guys and we can persevere. *Beat* also I can't cook ha ha ha" 😬 and the lore was ....odd.... some things are like, glaringly bad (blight effects...) and others, most actually, are cases of just....deciding that it didn't matter...and for me personally the Big Lore Reveals (that I assume any longtime solas enjoyer like myself already all knew lol) were very Telling Me The Story you know? I found the writing this time to be rather..."accessible" is the word I am thinking of but when I say it in this case I mean it as like, commercially accessible. like....marvel/Disney, ya know... we are all On the Hero Spectrum and we basically only talk about Pulling through!!! Because heroes don't give up! We have each other!!! We'll never turn into those EVIL people! ...idk. idk. antagonists from main and side missions often felt flat, Pure Evil redshirt mobs....and the obvious, the lack of respect for the world so far....we see/hear nothing of any dao/daa companions or major players besides Morrigan, who isn't there bc shes morrigan :/ theres one DA2 cameo, one dai cameo....that is it....DA to me means 1 meaningfully expressively different ways to roleplay the PC 2 a growing world state of different flavours that continues to reference itself as it expands 3 a fantasy setting where we get a new crew of companions to wander around with per title .... we get the last one sure, but I didn't really feel the first two so like I said I don't see it as a particularly successful dragon age game; and for ME most importantly, as a Solas game, game about Solas, marketed to me as a game of choice that still somehow resolves the tale meaningfully and satisfactorily no matter the path................ sorry. it's a fail for me. I'm sure I can go on and on and on about it but I need to just let it simmer for now.

Someone who isn't me can absolutely have a blast and come away thinking wow what a game. But she ain't me 😔 I didn't especially enjoy the combat, like I guessed, but it's fine, I can endure combat that I don't super think is fun....I think the slimming down on the RPG elements that are collecting and selling and min maxing and shit, potions loot etc, was nice and convenient. They COULD keep resource intensive stuff around but I personally don't care 🤷🏼‍♀️ and I really liked the simplicity and ease of just, look for a green pot to break lol. Played a rogue though and that fuckin arrow regen mechanic....not for me. Will have to see what ranged combat is for the rest. The music was the weakest of the series by far for me, characterless, very general (not always unique location/character specific pieces....), why is there synth to begin with but definitely why is there so much of it lmao... Biggest compliments I can give are the cinematics and environmentals and lighting, looked even more beautiful than inquisition. Though I've been experiencing a textural bug with white dots all over mostly hair and sometimes floors.... driving me insane. It changes person to person but there are a few VAs that were particularly Cartoon voicing and I don't really enjoy that, so I can't just wholesale compliment the voice talent.... But in general the main cast is very well played. And GDL, for me, is literally carrying this title on his Welsh shoulders. The ghil moments we get are also actually pretty fire

But yeah. Idk. I knew there was basically no way for this game to satisfy me, but I was so hopeful bc the Solas enjoyers in the dev team have been hyping it so much as such a great conclusion to his tale........... Makes it feel worse in a way. In a couple cases I at least genuinely believe the person just likes stories that end this way. And that's fine. But man. Man..... I really just. Wanted something else...I finished 11am, starting the climax and final point of no return at 5am already exhausted but so eager to finish, after waking up at like 2pm on election day and just playing through the evening. Woke up 6pm later on, of course my first thoughts are of this new game, the new ending I'm left with, time has passed I slept and I'm thinking more about what happened, and then I hear the news get turned on and then there's election results playing. So that was my experience ending this. I suffered in the fake world, went to sleep, then woke up to suffer in the real world and I can't use the fake world to escape for fun... It unfortunately colours the whole thing in an even worse light for me 😔 I'm just feeling emotionally drained. And I really wish. I really fuckin wish, this thing that's meant so much to me, could offer a bit of relief :/

all right. before I get my hands on this lemme get thoughts out

I don't care for the textural look. The blurred yassification of it all... Hoping for mods 😭

Solas better not die or I'm quitting

Inquisitor....Imma be real idrc 😔🤷🏼‍♀️ like I'm sorry but they're literally all gonna be the same character? That's a joke.

Sorry I'm not being Fair. I bet it ends up like this: you are kind of sad and kind of nice when you "redeem" and you are kind of mad and kind of mean when you "stop". If you romance him your Lavellan will make that stupid ass frowny face from DAI but otherwise be basically the same as "redeem"

I'm expecting to not like the combat unfortunately....it looked like everything just jumps you and you exclusively and the difficulty is just gonna be even more mobs literally mobbing you while ur companions looked like they were kinda doing fuck all ........ Plus the only 2 😭 my banter 😭😭 but yeah idk. I get they're rly relying on the detonation thing but tbh w u I didn't rly do that shit in DAI....dao yes bc combat is slower. When it's faster like this I honestly just turn my brain off lol

I'm guessing I'm gonna go for davrin, emmerich or bellara first. I also see them as possible Culprits but idk if we're getting yet another betrayal arc tbh

Would love one of the romances that happens outside ur own to b with that old man

Taash got something Mythal related going on ? Suspicious

I'm expecting this to be my least favourite of the four but that's rly bc it wasn't allowed to be what it should have been for most of its development..... The live service skeleton is all over the look of this and it seems to be anchoring the story, but Make it relevant to the sequel hook from DAI....it seems like it's just kind of set up to fail as the weakest narratively. Which sucks bc it's the big climax. Hoping I'm pleasantly surprised

I was gonna read the supplemental stuff but didn't. I've read summaries tho, so my take from the dread wolf was seemed to be that the lyrium idol=the lyrium dagger....

very curious to know if we can interact with Solas at will in the lighthouse or like. How does it work. Anyway can I ask him about his fish

Really hoping the soundtrack references Morris when it comes to Inquisitor and Solas :/ and any other returning notes I just don't know who else gonna be there lol

I honestly haven't given it too much thought beyond uhhhh my guy better be okay

[eloise175]

VADTD cover analysis!

This stems from an analysis I did on the vadtd server (everyone is welcome to come and join us). Since there seem to be a few people who are confused about the order of covers or the seasons they represent, I decided to make a little analysis, (this is coming from someone who has almost all english physical copies of the manhwa). I shall fulfill my duty as self-proclaimed season speculator and covers analyst (•̀ᴗ•́)و

As of now we have 7 known covers, after Suol-nim made an announcement on twitter about how the 4th season will begin on the 30th of September, and with it came a picture of what might be the new season’s cover.

(To make the placement easier to understand, just look at it this way: the odd numbers are the main covers, whereas the even numbers are the filler covers, which was pointed out by @seirclys as well).

1. Let’s start from the very beginning with the first cover.

The first cover ever that we know of, where Penelope is by herself. We've seen this cover plenty of times. It’s the first season's start, and I'd also like to think that the fact that she is by herself is not only showing that she is the protagonist, but also her distance with everyone else.

We can see that there are various crystal hearts around Penelope and each represents one of the male leads.

Penelope is laying in a coffin, (most likely symbolizing the many in-game deaths), and surrounded by flowers, more specifically white lilies that we see in the novel illustration of Penelope.

She is wearing the dress which is said to be her favorite. It appears each time a panel of the actual game is shown. It seems to be her trademark dress.

Penelope is holding onto a dark red rose, which could represent how she chose Eckles as her escape out since his affection score rises easily; alternatively it could represent her.

2. The second one is not a season start cover, nor a main cover, it’s a physical copy cover because the first season was broken in multiple parts when published as physical.

On the cover we see Penelope and Emily; I think this shows how now Emily is firmly on Penelope's side and will continue to serve her from then on. The duchy in the background and Emily's presence could also be symbolizing how other servants as well are now recognizing Penelope as their superior, like the head butler Pennel did.

Penelope’s dress is a stark contrast to the one seen on the first season cover. Her dress is very bright and shorter, looking to be made for a more leisurely time. There is also a book in her hand and her expression is calm, while Emily brings a cheerful air.

3. The third in line is a main cover, and consequentially, the second season's cover.

On the cover we see Penelope and Reynold standing back to back, and the place is the attic where they had a verbal altercation, however Reynold understood where he went wrong. Their position shows how they are close but yet so far; Reynold from now on will try to mend his relationship with Penelope (in his own way), while Penelope for the time being doesn't want to have much to do with him. They will grow closer as time goes by.

Reynold has a remorseful expression while Penelope is almost indifferent, neutral even.

Some of her hair is resting on his shoulder, and she is holding a pink rose, which from my understanding is a nod towards Reynold since now we know that his affection score is pink.

I think that it all means that, despite the two of them having clashed the most, Penelope is still welcome to allow Reynold to be close to her.

Thorny vines are present at the top, together with pink roses and blue roses that look to be yet again hinting at Reynold’s affection score, and possibly how his relationship with her will be meant to be: lighthearted feelings, with brotherly love.

4. Like the second one, the fourth cover is mostly a physical copy cover, since season 2 was broken in parts for serialization reasons.

On the cover we see Penelope and Callisto, who is very present in the hunting arc. He stands far from Penelope, signaling that the two of them are not that 'close' during this time in the story. Callisto could also be considered as being more in the background since he is the farthest away from Penelope, unlike Emily and Reynold so far.

Callisto is looking at Penelope with an observant expression, whereas Penelope is looking at us. I’d like to point out that Penelope is always looking at the viewer, while if there are other characters in the cover, they are always looking at her.

Both of them are wearing their garments from the hunting tournament. Their weapons are also in sight, which are quite important in this particular arc.

Penelope’s crossbow and her use of it is what got her banned the previous year, and this time around it will be used to save both her and Callisto from the assassins chasing them. Callisto’s sword will slay the bear that attacked Penelope, and it was also used by him to aid Penelope in their fight against the assassins.

The missing thorns and roses signify Penelope’s views on Callisto at the time. She still does not consider him a love interest in full despite him being one.

It is highly likely that Callisto will get another cover, which will no doubt be a main season’s cover. I believe he will get more covers after that one too *cough* side stories and special chapters *cough*

5. The fifth cover is a main cover, and season’s 3 main cover.

It features Penelope and Derrick standing with their backs to each other, separated by prison bars, symbolizing Penelope's wrongful incarceration, as well as her cutting ties with Derrick after the trial.

The broken blue string is a call back to how Penelope was seen 'stepping’ on a blue ribbon, which is a figuration and meant to represent her relationship with Derrick, to show how she is once and for all cutting every connection to him, writing him out of her options.

Both of them are dressed in the same attire we see on them during the trial arc, showing exactly when their affiliation became strained.

Although they are standing back to back, it is very different from how Reynold did it, (Reynold was basically sitting next to her with her hair even falling on his shoulder, basically very close); Derrick on the other hand has no physical contact with Penelope whatsoever and we can only see half of his face, his figure is also fading towards the bottom.

In her hand Penelope is holding the dagger that was used as evidence to prove her innocence during the trial. The snapped string and the way she holds the dagger makes it appear as though she cut the string, which would be pretty ironic given how the dagger was the evidence of Penelope’s innocence, which Derrick doubted from the beginning, and because of his skepticism he did not get the chance to even know about the dagger before Penelope herself presented it during the trial.

Like with Reynold’s cover, there are thorny vines around the cover, however the roses here are darker in color and obviously meant to represent Derrick.

6. This is not a main cover, and is the filler cover for the continuation of season 3.

This cover represents the island arc where Winter is a prominent figure.

Like Reynold he is very close yet far at the same time, and like with Callisto, their distance shows a lack of complete trust from Penelope towards them. However whereas Callisto still didn't have Penelope's faith, Winter lost it in this arc.

Penelope's back is facing Winter, while he is reaching for her with a purple rose in his hand (the exact same color as his affection score), but there is no physical contact between the two.

Penelope is also adorning an almost indifferent expression. With his 'test’ to see if Penelope was a follower of the Leila, he endangered both the children and Penelope herself, which made her lose all of her hope in him.

At the season's end we see how Penelope cuts off ties with him as well and tells him to not look for her unless she looks for him first. It is pretty much the same situation that happened with Derrick; Penelope is giving her back to both of them with a serious and determinate expression on her face signaling how she ‘writes them off' her list of potential escape routes.

There is yet another pattern at the edges of the cover, consisting of thorny vines and roses in a coloring that represents the male lead featured on the cover.

The cover where Callisto is featured seems to be the only one so far (featuring a male lead) that does not have these thorny vines and roses, despite him very much being a male lead. I previously attributed that to his cover not being a main one, however after further inspecting Winter’s cover which is also a filler one like Callisto’s, I can say that it’s not the case. Perhaps the vines full of thorns are there to symbolize how each of the male leads did something that made Penelope reluctant to place trust in them and consequentially less prone to consider them successful escape routes.

7. The seventh cover was shared yesterday on twitter by Suol herself, and will most likely be the main cover for season 4.

This signals that the season will begin with Eckles coming back from his training, (I could explain the cover further, but it contains major spoilers so I won't include this segment, and I will be vague with the discernment of the cover's symbolism).

Eckles is shown to have a desperate expression on his face, and there is also a little distance between him and Penelope.

Due to the previous pattern of the last two covers, as well as Penelope's almost doubtful/ incredulous and somewhat 'angry’ expression, one could assume that Eckles did something that made him fall from Penelope's graces, so she'll most likely take a distance from him too.

Let’s talk about hand placement. His right hand is still the one that's holding the magical sword Penelope gifted to him when they went out and she bought him all the training equipment, together with the amulets for the Duke, Emily and Callisto.

His left hand looks to be holding Penelope’s quite tightly and she is not reciprocating the gesture, her hand is limp in his. There’s also a crumpled dark red rose in his grip that he is trying to make Penelope hold. Yet again, I believe that this detail too is showing how Penelope completely gave up on Eckles: he symbolizes the crumpled rose, and it’s almost as if someone let it fall to the ground in an uncaring fashion; while Eckles is trying desperately to make her change her mind.

Penelope is positioned physically higher than Eckles. Perhaps it’s a hint towards their difference of ranks and how Eckles views this in a bad light.

The background consists of the thorny vines that were present in the previous two covers and Reynold’s as well (which backs up further the theory that Penelope will distance herself from Eckles), with roses of pale and darker colors, which make them seem as if they're withering; the two of them look to be inside of the greenhouse, where they did appear once before.

Their attire is the same as when they went together shopping, which is a little unusual since it’s an ‘old’ reoccurrence, and it breaks the sequence of the characters wearing the same clothes from the beginning of the season/arc they’re meant to represent.

[obscurecharactershowdown]

Semi-Finals

[image ID: the first image is of Stag Malinay, a young man with auburn hair and yellow-orange eyes. he's wearing a black shirt, black pants, and black, lace up knee high boots with belt straps. he's sitting on a red and gold throne. beside him is written his name, "Stag Malinay." the second image is of Granger, a girl with green eyes and short, wavy or curly black hair. in her hair is a red hat or ribbon. she's wearing a black turtleneck sweater, blue overalls, and a green coat. end ID]

Stag Malinay

Very self confident, bisexual manwhore with a troubled background he doesn't like to talk about. Said past is the cause of all his anger issues which he regularly takes out on the MC, initially. They become friends later, so it's okay. Also, he has a Tumblr account! @stagmalinay, run by me, the author. Can't really get more obscure than only selling a few copies of my entire book so far. [additional propaganda 1] [additional propaganda 2] [additional propaganda 3] [additional propaganda 4] [additional propaganda 5] [additional propaganda 6] [additional propaganda 7] [additional propaganda 8] [additional propaganda 9][additional propaganda 10] [additional propaganda 11] [additional propaganda 12]

Granger

so granger is the main character of the indie game "NeverHome" Chapter one, which is only $1 on Steam, is called NeverHome: Hall of Apathy. if ur a fan of young protags being put in RPG maker horror games, then this is the game for you!! so granger is just that… she wakes up to find herself in a strange, hostile world. she, along with the friends she makes, must solve the various puzzles before them while creatures are out to kill them… and along the way they can uncover the secrets of these never ending halls… her dynamics with the cast is also super fun… each character gets their moment or moments with granger. and what's so cute is that there's unique art for each pair that highlights the fact you cant get through these halls alone!! she also has her own theme song!! here!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_vwtmIj5cw it's called cyclical tragedy AND HERE IS AN ANALYSIS OF THE THEME!! MUSIC THEORY!!! written by my good friend @HIEMIOLA "cyclical tragedy" embodies the protagonist, granger, through the music theory behind the track and ties itself back into the main track as well. to begin with an overview of the track, the key is D minor and hte time signature is 3/4. the piece begins with a broken minor third starting from the tonic. that is, it begins on the main note and moves along the main chord, D to F. the next set of notes are C to E, which is shifted down a step. the phrase repeats again, this time D to F, then G to E, which is an inverse movement from the original sequence. even in this first part, we could tell that the protagonist begins from square 1 with a simple pattern, then tries it again when it works. however, the inverse breaks that expectation of repetition, thus showing the diverse variations of solutions she comes up with using just the tools she has (the two notes moving in thirds). just like the game, she is given a handful of objects as well as a knife to defend herself and solve the mysteries of the world she exists in. with her creative uses of the items given to her, she continues on her way through the plot. we will keep moving. the melody begins. true to the title of the track, the melody cycles around the same beginning note, D, that she always returns to at her square 1. this is a nod to the save states she is allowed to keep to make sure that we the players don't lose the game, but it also references the health bar that appears as a circle around her avatar. the melody, mapped out, is also moving in an up-down wave movement across the sheet music. granger is creative with the knife she has and the quest items she obtains throughout the story, but she is not entirely reckless. rather, she knows when it is time to return to the safe rooms to rest. to time her returns requires skill because she must run to cover without being caught by varying her path so the enemies don't corner her as she tries to return to the room. most of the time, she is successful, shown through the consistent return to the beginning note. let's keep going. i would like to turn your attention to the main theme briefly. in the bass notes, you can hear arpeggios and outlined chords. this makes up the bulk of the accompaniment in the main game theme. [mod note: the rest of the essay, and some more propaganda, is continued under a cut because tumblr will not process more text than this in an indent. sorry to split it up, please continue below for the rest of the essay and additional propaganda!]

the third variation of granger's theme also has arpeggiated chords in the accompaniment while the melody features broken chords. at this stage, the pattern switches to eigth notes instead of the quarter notes at first. with greater movement and heightened senses, she runs throughout world and befriends other people, thus interacting further with the environment. while she isn't exactly someone we would call open, she is respectful to the people she first meets and has no problems with asking them for help when she needs it. because of her openness to working together, she speeds up her progress by asking for aid at obstacles that would be too difficult for her to overcome on her own, such as asking a teammate to break things, move things, or reach into smaller holes. fusing the main theme elements with her own theme marks this step as the inciting incident that sets her on the path to escape from this world. we'll continue.

continuing the same part, we hear some secondary fifths. i'm not entirely sure if this is what you call it, but it is a nod to the parallel key, D major. depending on what theory class you take, this could also be considered the other half of the key. i dont know how else to describe it, but i digress. these are glimpses to different dialogue options she could take, glimpses to a different key or a different ending. because this game only has one chapter ending so far, we are unsure of what other paths granger will end up in; we only know that there are certainly other endings she will experience, only to begin the cycle again when the save state is loaded for players to reach another ending. both A major and G major are chords that signify different choices that may lead her elsewhere only for her to return back to the tonic or main note, D. despite this, she keeps going, as will we.

at the midpoint of the track, we see a quick shift in patterns. instead of upward leaps in the notes, the melody falls in stepwise motion. true to the plot, this is another turning point of the game when she is forced to make a choice: continue or stop. after facing the spoiler event, her once determined personality is challenged as she struggles to keep herself and her team together. despite being the headstrong protagonist who spearheaded solutions, even now she finds herself doubting and taking smaller steps, smaller risks.

even after all of this, she rises to the challenge as the melody returns to its beginning sequence. true to a protagonist she gets up again despite the events that transpired and keeps her team moving in their lowest points. the thirds return as she finds more objects to solve more puzzles to open more rooms to save more friends. this repeating part of the track only solidifies her resolve as the piece ends with a broken chord in the main key, her key, of D minor. despite everything that transpired, she stayed true to herself."

the game is also so, so charming with the art, music, and story made by the same person… its so clearly loved and full of passion!! i love listening to the game's ost on occassion!! since it's all on youtube!

ok one last thing thing!! on may 8th, the game hit 100 downloads (on both steam and itch.io). you can see the creator of the game celebrate that with this lovely drawing of granger: https://twitter.com/NeverHome_Game/status/1655761270694633472

so at most, only a bit over 100 people have played the game… id like to say that makes it obscure!!

anyways granger and neverhome!! we love to see our protagonists put in horrific situations and isn't she super cute with a lil bow on her head? she is my daughter…

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[gavisuntiedboot]

Gavi in love with an author or astrophysicist?

A/N: Welcome back to another installment of boot on the bus!! Because of the F1 kick I’ve been on, it took everything in me not to change this to an engineer :,) so we went with author

~~

“Thank you so much for joining us! We at Blaugrana Publishing are delighted to welcome y/n, author of the NYT best-selling series “Instinctual”, to unveil her newest work.”

A loud, thunderous applause filled the hall, as 200 people cheered while you waved back, placing your hands on your chest to express the immense gratitude you felt for everyone that had supported your book.

You had started your debut novel “Instinctual” when you were in college, eager to turn all of your experiences into inspiration for a doomed love between a headstrong physics girl and and an idiotic business boy, who didn’t realize what he had until she had slipped between his fingers. Your publisher has taken a huge risk on you, but had backed you regardless to support ‘budding local talent’. The booktokers instantly fell in love with toxic, spicy romance that you weaved in your pages, which gave the publishers enough confidence for you to continue writing your series.

You had decided that your protagonists next love interest was going to be a footballer, prompting you to start researching footballers, watching interviews, and just learning their general mannerisms. Your publishing group had gotten you a media pass to La Masía, allowing your to interview players and watch games to get a full character study. You had every intention of making this footballer an ass - someone who would use your protagonist when convenient and abandon her for the “love of the game” when the time came.

Sitting in the stands of a La Masía match against the Sevilla football academy, you were hurriedly scribbling notes into the pages of your journal, taking in the sights, sounds, and interview responses from the players to get a full picture. You registered when someone had sat down next to you, but made no motion to look up or acknowledge their presence. About 15 minutes into the game, the person beside you tapped your shoulder. Looking up at him, your eyes met his honey ones, bright in the afternoon sun. He looked familiar, but you couldn’t place where you had seen him before.

“Sorry, if you’re going to spend the game doing homework, do you mind switching with my friend sitting behind you? We want to watch the match.”

The question had thrown you off guard. You looked the teenage boy up and down, unimpressed by his laid back demeanor. He and his friend beside him had spent the entire game muttering in hushed, angry tones. You didn’t see why they needed to add a third commentator.

“Sorry, but I’m taking notes of the game for my book. If your friend wanted my seat, he should have bought this ticket.”

“We never buy tickets for La Masía games.” He responded, sounding genuinely surprised by your suggestion. His friend beside him nodded.

“Then how did you three get in? Did you hop the fence?”

“No, we used to train here.And even if we didn’t- they always let the first team players in for free. ” The boy responded, eyes flicking between you and the game on the field.

Your eyes widened - you had struck gold. Actual first team, professional footballers to help you with your book. The excitement flooded your brain, and you spoke faster than you could think.

“Could I get your number?”

The three boys all turned to you, the one beside you confused, the other two holding back giggles.

“Usually don’t give my number to fans. Sorry.”

“I literally have no idea who you are.”

This statement made the two observers burst out laughing, unable to contain their mirth at what had just transpired between you two. The boys introduced themselves as Gavi, Ansu, and Alenjandro. Gavi begrudgingly accepted handing over his number, taunts from his friends heard for the remainder of the match about how was “still unknown” and living in someone named Pedri’s shadow.

Over the next several weeks, you messaged Gavi almost daily while writing, asking him about football, his personal life, the team dynamics - everything.

“Do fans give you their numbers often?” You asked, phone held up to your ear with your shoulder as you typed vigorously.

“Yeah, more often than not. Sometimes they’ll throw it into Pedri’s car as we drive home. Actually, there was this one time I was doing a signing at the team store and this girl slipped me her number. I didn’t want to embarrass her so I just took it and held onto it. There’s a video everywhere of it happening. Apparently I have amazing rizz?”

You laughed into the phone, taking a break from typing just to imagine Gavi, awkwardly accepting a paper slip, being turned into the master of getting girls. It had become a routine for you to call Gavi in the evenings, usually to ask about the character. But at some point it just morphed into calls about your days, your lives, your frustrations. It went on like this for two months. One evening, as you sat jotting down title ideas, you asked Gavi:

“Can I ask you something kinda personal?”

A pause.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“Where would you take a girl out on a date?”

There was silence on the other side of the line for so long you had to make sure the call didn’t drop. After this long pause, he cleared his throat and said, “Well, how much do I like her?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well like if it’s a girl I found on instagram and I just think she’s pretty, then she’s meeting me at whatever club I’m going to with the boys. But if I’ve known her for a while and I like her, then it’s different. There’s this one kind of whole in the wall place near the stadium, it’s just- actually wait. What are you doing tonight?”

“Huh?”

“What’re you doing tonight? If you’re free, I can just show you rather than try and describe.”

You froze momentarily. You had noticed the dynamic shifting between you and Gavi, but that was just phone banter- nothing serious, nothing real. What he was proposing (a date) would shift the paradigm of the two of you more than you were ready for. But still, something within you was intrigued. Gavi was handsome - no questioning that - and there was something about him that drew you in, like a warm fire on a cold day.

“I’m… not doing anything. I’d love to go see it.”

“Perfect. I’ll text you the address and we can meet there at 8?”

Yes you had initially wanted to make your footballer dark and sinister like all the men you’ve known in your life. But sitting across that table, looking at Gavi, listening to him speak about his love, his passion, the future he wanted - you couldn’t do it. This man was softened butter on the inside, shy and courteous, like the boys in 50s movies. He walked you back to your place like a true gentleman, holding your hand at your door, and professing, confidently with some slight stuttering, that he thought you were beautiful, and wanted to be more than just your friend.

That was the night that changed your writing (and life) forever, for the better. Your second book, “Enticement”, was even better than the first, this time awarding you critical acclaim for your ability to “provide humanity to a callous character, creating compelling and layered people”. Your final book in the trilogy, “Enraptured”, won you a YA book of the year award, as it told a compelling love story where two young lovers could break down each others walls and love them at their cores. Your protagonist and her footballer lover were praised for how “real, honest, raw, and romantic” their relationship was. That was all thanks to Gavi. He taught you so many new forms of love and ways to express it - like someone seeing color for the first time. He showed you how to weather storms together, build each other up, and ground one another when everything seemed to crumble.

“Before we get onto talking about your upcoming work, we have a few questions from the audience.”

You answered questions about your thought process and your world building, encouraging all the young writers in the room to give it their best shot. The last question arrived, and a young girl in round glasses approached the microphone.

“Hi I’m Valeria. First of all I really love your book. I just wanted to ask about the final couple, Maria and Xavier. A lot of your book seems so realistic, except for the way Xavier acts. He’s almost too perfect, like he’s not like any man I’ve ever seen in real life before. So I just wanted to ask: do you know any men in real life that are like Xavier?”

The crowd erupted in cheers at the question, and you laughed to yourself. You looked off to the side of the stage, where Gavi stood leaning against the wall. He smiled widely, winking at you.

“You know, I used to think men like that didn’t exist either. But then I found him, doing something I’ve never done in my life - watching a football game. So don’t lose hope that your Xavier is out there. He might be climbing a mountain or buried under booms in a library or by the side of the road with a busted car. You might find him in the oddest of places, but he’s out there. And when you find him, he’s going to turn your world upside down, and bring you joy you didn’t know was possible. Because mine has.”

~~~

I always wanna say more but that’s the end of the bus ride and the end of the Drabble. Almost iftar time!!

[sadfransisko]

Something has been bugging me for a while now and I want to get it off my chest and ask what other folks, particularly Black women and femmes, think of this thing the Horizon series is doing.

So we have a few Black women in the series so far with significant roles: Sona, Regalla, Asera, and Zo. The first three are dark-skinned women and Zo is lighter skinned. Zo is noticeably portrayed as a more sympathetic character than the others. All four characters have suffered the loss of loved ones and experience arcs of grief and vengeance as a result. Zo and Sona get to exact their revenge, Regalla and Asera do not and are both killed directly or indirectly by the protagonist Aloy, a white woman. Regalla and Asera, narratively speaking, are killed because they are lost to their grief and anger. Zo and Sona are allowed to express anger but in a more subdued/productive way.

I've learned a little about how Black women and especially dark-skinned Black women are not allowed by society to express negative emotions, especially anger. That they are mocked, belittled, and even harmed every time they do so. The fact that two of the villains in FW are Black women who are justifiably angry and yet not given the chance to grow beyond their rage, and instead they both are killed for it? Seems kind of gross.

Also both of Sona's children are murdered, Vala in the first game and Varl in the second. I heard that at least Varl was killed by the writers for shock value, and the scene where Vala dies has an obvious shock factor as well. And at the end of the day, they did not have to kill either of them but they chose to anyway.

With both of her children gone, Sona is bound to appear in the third game (if she doesn't or is only a minor presence, then like?? wtf??). She has gained an unofficial daughter-in-law and grandchild, but she doesn't know that yet (or that Varl is dead). I really hope Guerrilla doesn't do to Sona what they did to Regalla and Asera. They didn't in the first game at least, but the first game seemed to have more care put into it in some ways (while not so much in others). The writing quality could continue to go down, especially with the Sony layoffs.

As mentioned before, Zo is the most sympathetic character of the four. She is also framed as the "mom friend" both in canon and fandom, which is another problem obviously.

Does Horizon have an issue with Black women? Does it have a colorism problem? Basically all characters in the games suffer a lot, so I'm not sure it's a tragedy porn issue. But it's worrying and I think attention should be called to it. I feel like Guerilla is deliberately skirting the boundaries to try and get away with things without getting called out for it, which seems like the norm in the entertainment industry these days.

What do you guys think? Is there anything important I missed/misinterpreted?

Also here are the characters in question (a bit more info about each in the alt texts):

[bracketsoffear]

The Poppy War (Rebecca F. Kuang) "When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies(…) That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.(…) Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (Harlan Ellison) "For the past 109 years, sadistic supercomputer AM has been torturing the last five humans on Earth in the depths of his complex. It is brilliantly intelligent and wields unimaginable power, but because from its very core it was designed as a tool for war and destruction, it is unable to use its enormous potential for anything constructive. AM is painfully aware of this, and it is an endless source of frustration, self-loathing and hatred towards humans for making him this way; he outright states that his utterly ballistic hatred for all human life is what allowed him to thrive in tormenting the protagonists for over a century, and the only thing he seems to enjoy is torture. All of AM's games are unwinnable by design, either because he's ensured that the scenario is tailored to the player's fatal flaw, or because he's given them almost nothing to work with. It lets them travel for thousands of miles to get to the ice caverns to obtain cans of food because AM keeps them at starvation point and only feeds them disgusting food…and it turns out there really are cans, but nothing to open them with, and the whole thing was just to fuck with them. After Ted kills the other humans, he becomes the sole target of AM’s torture; he is turned into an amorphous creature unable to harm itself, without a mouth, and has his perception of time continuously accelerated and decelerated, with his only hope for escape being when AM finally stops functioning, potentially thousands of years later."

"SPOILERS: In this book, the main character uses the powers of Phoenix which are activated by hate( a very Desolation emotion imo) to genocide the enemy nation. Phoenix who grants the Rin and another character (who is fueled by hate in his daily life) is a Desolation entity both capable of great destruction, which he loves, as well as fire-related."

[tiny-cloud-of-flowers]

hii ari !! abt the second timeline where adriana was the protagonist .. i remember ur carrd saying that she was in a relationship w luna in that timeline too — would u imagine it being different in any way , compared to the third timeline ? would there be a case where one of them may remember parts of their relationship from the second, or have a 'gut feeling' / 'intuition' that was rly memories from the timeline before ? i hope this all makes sense LOL

Oh!!! This absolutely does make sense; thank you so much for such an intriguing question!

Hmm.. I think that it would be at least a little bit different, by virtue of the fact that in the second timeline, Adriana fully took the role of the player as seen in-game, with no-one else surviving Grandview Station. So, as a result, while I do think that she and Luna would fall in love in the same way - Luna’s feelings appearing quite suddenly after Adri saves Gardevoir and later herself from the sanctum, which was midway through Adri’s own attraction rising slowly over time since meeting her - I also think that Adriana wouldn’t have been able to spend quite as much time with Luna as she had wanted, because she had more responsibilities as the spearhead of the movement to take down Team Meteor. As a result, it’s plausible to say that while we were definitely still close, it was not to as much of an extent (or at least had not developed to that extent yet).

Conversely, in the third/current timeline, Adri doesn’t have to be there for every single event, because there is now someone else travelling the region (in the form of the player), whom she is now mirroring by continuing to collect badges but doesn’t have to constantly be glued to. So, for example, she can spend more time with Luna after returning to Reborn City by not having to go through the Devon Corp raid. By the time the player has done that + defeated Adrienn + explored potentially the entirety of Tourmaline Desert (which is massive) + gone all the way through Titania’s gym, all that Adriana has to do in the same timeframe is just defeat Adrienn, fly from Beryl Ward to the top of Mirage Tower (to pick up Corybantia), then continue north to Never After - because she catches up with the player right before they battle Titania, at least if they’re on Reshiram Route. This (and other examples throughout the story, which I’ll admit I haven’t fully come up with yet) gives her much more downtime compared to the player.

What I haven’t considered as much as I could have is the last part of what you were saying, about feelings and memories of the previous timeline poking through. And I think that is a VERY fun concept to play with - the game sort of touches on it right at the end, but not really to much of an extent. In fact, something that I was considering was saying that Adriana’s experience - so, the second timeline - was closer to Episode 18 than it was to Episode 19, because the game itself was still only on Episode 18 when I myself first played it. This allows for some fun moments in terms of things like Adriana being surprised to hear the name Borealis so early, or being apprehensive to enter Agate until Cain and the player arrive, or suddenly feeling a lot less sure of things after defeating Hardy (because E18 only went up to his Gym battle even though Adri herself did actually get all the way to the end of maingame), or - to bring it back to an F/O-focused perspective - being even more shocked than everyone else that Elias tries to shave off Luna’s hair.

I think that Adriana would be the only one to really have these moments of.. I suppose you could call them anamnesis, but she isn’t necessarily remembering the previous timeline, just getting vague intuitions of things. This is because she’s the only one to have more explicitly been brought back in from the previous timeline - and brought back from her fate in that timeline - because of Anna’s feelings of guilt causing her to intervene more. If she hadn’t intervened beyond the point of a simple reset, it wouldn’t have been guaranteed that Adri still travelled out to Reborn (because she wasn’t the chosen hero for this timeline), defeating the main point of bringing her back - which was to make sure enough people would be present to power Anna’s wish if the new chosen hero, the player, had to be saved like that as she was. I do think there is potential for her to eventually become more anamnestic, certainly moreso than Fern, but that may not actually occur until.. maybe the Giratina quest. Which is late into postgame.

..I think it’s safe to say that I could ramble on about this for ages considering how much I’ve already written here in one go. So, thank you very much for such a question, friend - I am very grateful to have been asked it and it’s given me a LOT to think about!!

[thisisnotacampaign]

Some basic backstory notes because if I try to write anything with a plot I will actually die very much to death so-

- The campaign is basically Baldur’s Gate 3 without being bg3. I don’t know enough about bg as a series to make it take place there, and I haven’t finished the game yet either, so most of the story elements are just very vague and made up.

- The gist of it is that Lyra starts as the main protagonist, a half elf warlock who has been captured and experimented on by a group of mindflayers. Lyra recalls very little of the capture and experimentation and wakes in a forest feeling incredibly weak. Over the next several days she encounters many other victims. Larkspur, a half elf bard, child of a nobleman in the royal city of Hawk’s Rest. Enoch, a tiefling warlock and scholar from the mage city of Civitae. Sparrow, a human paladin and former soldier dedicated to light and the preservation of life itself. And Wren, a drow fighter who, before this, had never left the Underdark.

- They learn of a dark sorcerer, a Lolth-sworn drow, named Cael who is rumored to be working with the mindflayers in a bid to take over the royal city and insert himself as Emperor.

- Convinced that Cael is the one behind their abductions and dark magic controlling the illithid parasites waiting in their heads, the group finds and attempts to kill him.

- Spoiler alert! Cael did originally intend for this to be the case, but apparently mindflayers don’t really take kindly to being told what to do by egotistical and narcissistic drow, so they’d taken him and stuffed his head with a parasite too.

- First, actually. He’d been the first one taken. And he’d used his magic to bind the tadpole to stop the ceremorphosis. And he’d kind of managed to do that to all the tadpoles. Oops?

- Now the mindflayers had a bunch of cursed tadpoles and they can’t resist an experiment, so… sorry everyone else, it’s eye worm time!

- Cael escapes the group. Wren is severely injured during the attack. They break off to regroup. Sparrow takes all of Cael’s journals for a bit of “light reading” and learns all this plot stuff.

- They find Cael again, this time after the drow had been captured (again) and tortured (again) and learn that if he dies then the magic binding their tadpoles will release and then they’ll all become mindflayers (oops).

- And that’s most of the plot, really. There’s probably some deus ex machina in the third act where they find a cleric or other healer that tells them they can remove the tadpole if the spell is broken so Cael has to decide to either sacrifice himself to save the other five, or just allow the spell to continue for the remainder of his natural life and damn the others into not knowing if or when they might be turned into mindflayers, and because character development he lets himself die and it’s all very sad and satisfying. (Can’t there be another way? Shhh. No. It’s about the character arc. Cael has been killing others for centuries to prolong his life, and has the chance to do something good to save the people who he himself had damned okay let me have this.)

- And that’s that. Heroes saved. Probably some mindflayers get killed. Everyone goes off and lives happily ever after (and I get to write the vignettes 🥰)

[jcmarchi]

Funko Fusion Preview - Get Your Head In The Game - Game Informer

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/funko-fusion-preview-get-your-head-in-the-game-game-informer/

Funko Fusion Preview - Get Your Head In The Game - Game Informer

If you’re a fan of a popular movie or TV show from any time in the last several decades, chances are, they’ve made a Funko Pop figurine of the main characters. The brand is ubiquitous in pop culture, so it was only a matter of time before it got a big video game adaptation. This sort of game could easily be a cheap cash grab, but after watching a preview demo and listening to one of the head developers speak about it, I’m confident that Funko Fusion is much more than that.

You’ve never played a game by developer 10:10 Games, but you probably know the work of its staff – the founders of the studio are some of the former architects of the Lego games developed by Traveler’s Tales, including CEO Jon Burton, COO Paul Flanagan, and design director Arthur Parsons, who leads the demo. He boots up a level based on John Carpenter’s 1982 horror classic The Thing, which signifies one of the main elements that separates this title from the kid-friendly Lego titles; this game is rated T for Teen and references loads of media properties that are decidedly not for children. Still, the world is charming and lighthearted, so when a Funko Pop is impaled through the side of the head, it’s more goofy than ghastly.

[embedded content]

Parsons, playing as Kurt Russel’s MacReady, fights off some Norwegians using the game’s third-person shooting mechanics. According to Parsons, all characters have melee and ranged options, though they had to get creative for some characters. While He-Man uses his signature sword, OJ (the protagonist from Jordan Peele’s Nope) swings around a miniature version of one of the inflatable tube men from his movie. Parsons dispatches enemies easily, which I imagine is due to the game’s relatively low difficulty, his experience working on it as a developer, and the fact that every enemy has an outrageously large head, ideal for headshots.

Funko Fusion will ultimately feature over 20 IPs in the game, mostly from NBCUniversal properties, though they’ve also made licensing deals with other companies.

Here’s a list of some that we know so far:

Back to the Future

Battlestar Galactica

Child’s Play

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Hot Fuzz

Invincible

Jaws

Jurassic World

Knight Rider

Masters of the Universe

Megan

The Mummy

Nope

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Shaun of the Dead

The Thing

The Umbrella Academy

Voltron

The Walking Dead

Xena: Warrior Princess

Each IP will include playable characters, and many will include levels, though the scope of each level will vary by the franchise. Some, like The Thing, will get a proper, full-sized level, while others exist as secret cameo levels players can unlock in other worlds. Poking around the frozen outpost in the demo, Parsons travels through a portal to reach a world based on Shaun of the Dead, where he has to escort a car of civilians to the safety of the Winchester. While there, he transforms into He-Man and shows off the zombie enemies, which turn the hero into a zombified version of himself. Even though it’s just a cameo level, it’s much larger than I initially expected, likely packing plenty of easter eggs in for fans of the movie.

Players can move through these levels in whatever order they want to progress through the game’s main story. Parsons explains that this modular approach allows them to continue to support the game after launch by easily adding new characters and levels into the mix. The first instance of this is with the game’s pre-order bonus, which includes Rick Grimes and Michonne from The Walking Dead, complete with alternate outfits.

It’s been years since the last Lego game, and with this team of developers, I’m excited to watch them attempt to fill that gap. Luckily, I won’t have to wait long. Funko Fusion is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC on September 13. 

[dualcastimpact]

dawntrail impressions pt. i

Back when I first started playing FFXIV, I kept up a livetweet thread of my impressions of the game all the way from A Realm Reborn to Shadowbringers, and it remains one of my favourite things online. I didn't continue the thread with Endwalker since Twitter no longer supports updating a thread with multiple tweets (and that's a serious pain in the ass, thanks Elon), so for Dawntrail I thought I'd try doing it on tumblr instead.

So here it is: my journey through Dawntrail!

Spoilers under the cut, obviously.

Fun fact: everything here so far is non-canon to Raginmar. He's already in Tuliyollal by this point, having sailed there with his father's husband's crew, so this is more me reacting to the story in general.

Ojika Tsunjika: "It seems he's managed to secure passage to Tural aboard a guildship vessel."

Erenville: "It took some persuasion, but the gleaners' guildship has granted us places aboard a vessel bound for Tural."

I've already mentioned this in another post, but this tidbit got me excited because it allowed me to explain how Raginmar got to Tural before Wuk Lamat and co. did — getting themselves on that ship probably took some time and no small amount of bureaucracy and scheduling, so it's perfectly feasible that Raginmar could have gone back home to the South Sea Isles and then sailed to Tuliyollal before they did.

———

Krile: "That's fine, Erenville. I doubt anyone expected we'd have a ship all to ourselves."

I'm being a little nitpicky here but why even feel the need to mention that in the first place? Any traveller wouldn't expect that, so why did Erenville have to apologetically mention that they'd have to be travelling with other people as if that isn't how everyone travels? I'm not dissing the writing, mind — more that I think it speaks volumes about Sharlayan society in general, probably, that they maybe subconsciously expect to travel privately because they're the elite or what have you.

———

Wuk Lamat: "I'm sure there'll be a chance to speak with Papa. You can get your answers right from the source!"

This is an interesting localisation choice because in Japanese, she doesn't say パパ. She says おやじ, which you can probably roughly localise into "old man" and showcases a very different charm than "papa". Wuk Lamat is a very genki character, she's pretty much the closest thing this game's got to a shōnen manga protagonist, so I feel her saying "papa" feels a bit off for her character. Maybe it's more in line with the Latin American-inspired setting and localisation?

———

Erenville: "The golden city is a children's bedtime story. I am part of this expedition only because the Third Promise has commanded that I serve as guide."

You tsundere, you. But also who the Third Promise is became clearer as you go through the game, but I have to admit it threw me for a loop because I don't remember Wuk Lamat ever being mentioned with that title in 6.55?

———

This is non-canon, as previously mentioned, but the incongruity of Raginmar standing there in his summer vacation clothes while everyone else is in their travelling and/or battle garbs with weapons had me laughing for a good while.

———

Alisaie: "Well, for once the fate of the world doesn't rest on our shoulders. We might even get a chance to enjoy ourselves!"

Don't jinx it, Alisaie.

———

Erenville: "Though Tural may seem but a short sail away on a map, the vast seas between brim with peril. The treacherous waters of Shades' Triangle alone have claimed countless vessels."

Wuk Lamat: "Perhaps, but my voyage here was uneventful enough. Disappointingly so!"

WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT NOT JINXING IT, WUK LAMAT?

———

Hello, person garbed in custom clothing who's suspiciously focused on in this frame. I'm sure you'll be important to the plot sooner or later.

———

Alisaie: "I can feel my edge start to dull on these long sea voyages. How about some light sparring later?"

Good thing this isn't canon — and even if it was, Raginmar wouldn't have indulged her because Raginmar? He doesn't know how to spar. He takes combat too seriously to hold back, so if he ever fights in a duel you know it's going to be at least until someone has to yield from heavy injuries, if not to the death.

Also I like how they repeatedly mention this is a long voyage, which again supports my headcanon from before! It's such a mundane thing but I really like it.

———

Retired Mercenary: "...Gah, I've had enough of playing the simpleton. There was a time when we took great pains to maintain the deception, but with more of you Eorzeans coming to Tural, it's become impractical."

Wait, what do you mean deception? What even did you need to pretend to be simpletons for?? I'm halfway through the main story quest by the time of writing this and I still don't know why they thought they needed to pretend to be simpletons while they're in Eorzea.

Retired Mercenary: "I look forward to a long soak in the hot springs of Urqopacha. And no complaints when I dance the bathing dance."

WAIT, are you the Mamool Ja from that one fate in Upper La Noscea?? Outside the Warmwine Sanitorium????

———

Swarthy Sailor: "Wait, I recognize you—you're the champion of Eorzea! If the Third Promise has you on her side, then that shifts the odds a fair bit! I might have to change my bet..."

Man's a literal gamechanger at this point, that's incredible.

———

Self-assured Trader: "I'm a merchant myself, based in Ul'dah. Specially imports and exports, Eorzean and Turali both."

More confirmation that it is indeed possible for merchants and traders to sail to and from Tural! Raginmar's father's husband is the captain of a trading vessel primarily sailing between the South Sea Isles, but they do occasionally make the voyage to other continents.

———

Erenville's narration: "What an extraordinary life he must lead to be able to operate such a device with practiced ease."

There was a storm and all manner of shenanigans including the Warrior of Light rushing to operate the elemental shielding devices on the ship to protect them from lightning strikes, and this comment just absolutely had me in stitches because yeah! Yeah, you sure do get used to it when you have to keep battling the likes of Leviathan and Bismarck! It sure is an extraordinary life, yes sirree!

———

Erenville's narration: "In retrospect, of course, that battle against the storm would prove a fitting prelude to the coming contest for the throne."

Ooooh, how predictably ominous.

———

Wuk Lamat: "You'll find much here you never knew existed! There may be a sea route now, but visitors to Tuliyollal are still few and far between."

Wuk Lamat: "And as we don't build seafaring ships, only a handful of Turali ever venture abroad."

This was interesting to me because it highlights how isolated Tural is from the rest of the world, but when you really think about it — so was the Far East from Eorzea. Most Eorzeans had never seen an Au Ri person until Yugiri, and even Ilsabardians would rarely be found in Eorzea despite the continent being relatively nearby and I think connected by land? Travelling extensively between continents like the Warrior of Light is capable of just wasn't done.

More importantly, this reinforced my headcanon that Wuk Lamat has never met an Arkasodara so as open-minded as she'd be about it, she'd still be pretty surprised when she meets them in Thavnair.

———

Erenville: "Mamool Ja sellswords, mostly. Those willing to play the fool sail with Lominsan merchants to secure employment in Eorzea."

Why do they have to be willing to play the fool in the first place? This isn't explained anywhere! I think it might be explained in a sidequest somewhere but I haven't gotten round to them yet — I really hope there's an explanation for this somewhere because it's driving me nuts.

———

Mamool Ja Landsguard: "We will not abide interference from foreign agents seeking to foment trouble. What brings you to Tuliyollal?"

This made me laugh because we're not exactly seeking to forment trouble, but we sure are foreign agents, yeah!

———

Mamool Ja Landsguard: "The Third Promise! If you vouch for them, then all is well, of course!"

Sure is nice to have someone influential on our side for once, instead of having to prove ourselves at every turn!

———

Wuk Lamat: "N-No, not at all! Couldn't be better! The Third Promise does not get sick, no sir!"

That's a suspiciously specific denial there, Wuk Lamat.

———

And that's it for this round of impressions! Next up: Tuliyollal and meeting the Dawnservant.

[elendsessor]

god i fucking hate that mastema was brought back only to have a major story presence considering how badly he got butchered in even his own origin game and in 4 but. god. his va kills it i love whoever does his voice.

kinda do want to talk about him, though, because man he shouldn’t have been a major character in vengeance. he literally had no fucking place. you could get any other angel to just not mastema. after playing strange journey for the first time last year, i have come to really like him, but it does piss me off knowing he never ends up being truly unique because of the writing.

the thing about mastema that keeps being ruined is the entire point was his somewhat hands off approach and general unconventional means of serving the lord. not only was he incredibly human compared to god and the other angels, he was meant to test man. he wasn’t in the old or new testament (at least not in the most common versions of the bible), but the part he was theorized to play was that of the one who started many of the giant disasters within it, such as the great flood. he’s also often compared to satan due to the similar role they play, but he ultimately sets up humans to fail in order to prove to god who is and isn’t worthy of his wrath. this also means giving them the tools to overcome ordeals for this purpose, but never direct power. basically, he never truly took matters into his own hands, rather prompted certain events. of course, information on who mastema is does get contradictory due to the normally considered non canonical nature of the works he showed up in.

for strange journey, that was the purpose he did fulfill for the most part. he did occasionally assist zelenin and the protagonist, but for the most part, he was an observer. he clearly took a liking to zelenin, but didn’t give her absolute power… until the alignment shit. it’s really obvious based on how the writing is pre-sector e and post-sector e. pre-sector e was pretty much a completely original concept. during sector e, it continued to follow that concept. while the final third does still have a lot of original aspects, luci and the whole angels vs demons shit didn’t fit at all. the conflict was humanity kept fucking up, thus creating the schwarzwelt, which is an inevitable event once a dominant species abuses the earth for too long. the demons within serve the manifestations of humanity’s sins and mem aleph, basically mother earth herself. the neutral and chaos endings make perfect sense on a thematic standpoint, as neutral is destroying the schwarzwelt and hoping humanity learns to do better, while chaos is let the demons take over and recreate the earth to have them be the dominant species as to make sure humanity never gains too much power, instead of them just having the schwarzwelt swallow the earth thus letting the cycle inevitably continue. what should’ve been the law option given the pacifism zelenin shows is to remove individuality since conflicting ideals lead to conflict. while religion is often a set of morals to guide people with, law is not mutually exclusive to abrahamic religions. god may be a more oppressive ruler because he doesn’t allow worship of other gods, but that’s the difference between abrahamic religions and most modern religions.

but this is megami tensei, and because of the anti-abrahamic bias (which has plenty of historical context), this means all angels are bad by default because god bad abrahamic religion bad, so if it’s mainline, it means we gotta have the bashing. to be fair, it’s only truly gotten extreme in recent years, but think about it. making a story about humanity fucking up again and again and having the ending conflict be “do you like god more or lucifer more” is insanely unfitting, and so is granting zelenin absolute power.

mastema’s reactions in both law and neutral make sense, since one has humanity submit to god and the other still means the angels can potentially try again at getting everyone to submit. for chaos? it would make sense he would be mad about letting demons take over, but it never said there’s no place for any kind of law. remember, law aligned demons in the series don’t just consist of angels, which means angels can still make their home in the ranks and give birth to something abrahamic. however, his breakdown during that route isn’t because of how barbaric things could be, nor is it exactly because not everyone would submit to god (though why should he care), but because they won’t submit to him. he wants power despite being and acting as god’s humble servant. he wants everyone to blindly submit when he himself doesn’t blindly submit. it’s out of character, disregards many of the major themes, and ultimately butchers what made him interesting compared to the rest of the angels.

he cameos as a drug manufacturer/dealer in 4 what do i need to say.

for vengeance, i was so fucking worried about this, and i hate that i was proven right all within his introductory sequence. ignore what he does do later on, he just straight up gets directly involved the whole time. he doesn’t incite what would get people to turn to salt, he does that shit himself. he doesn’t present the idea of trusting in the lord, he brainwashes dazai. this isn’t mastema. this is just another angel. he does the same thing every other archangel does. it’s boring. it’s tiring. it’s wasted potential.

that’s why i genuinely hate what was done with him and why i genuinely don’t want him having anymore story presence because the entire point of his existence always gets sacrificed for bashing the good book and all who believe in it. law has been done right! devil survivor still has the best depiction of the morality behind god and the angels! can we please stop fucking doing this!!!!

[goatandwatch]

Hey, its me Again.

I’m back here to deliver another actual post, here not Twitter because here it can be longer.

Thinking more on the GameDev thoughts today, I’ve been thinking of making my dream game for years so most of this stuff has already been planned for a while but I figure I’ll give a brief restatement of the general idea of the game.

The Game Concept & Idea's I've Previously Thought Up:

So I love PokéPark so I want to make a game that's like PokéPark but the protagonist is a cute kind friendly character who communicates with the player, akin to OneShot, you meet the protag and become general friends, but you help out the protagonist so much over the span of the game that by the end the protag character cherishes you so much they’d be willing to take a bullet for you. I dunno maybe like a Yandere trope sorta(??) but that's too far, no "romanticness" to it or not as mentally unstable, just that the sweet adorable angel protag gets so dedicated to you that he’d be willing to do anything for you by the end of the game, mainly just that he’s innocent to the extent that the protagonist and player dynamic go beyond just like best friend as to “I would die for you” from the protags perspective of the player.

Its like PokéPark, so its a 3d segmented open world game that progressively unlocks more areas as you continue through the plot, helping more NPC's and doing good deeds, having fun controlling and cooperating with the protagonist.

I previously thought it’d be cool to add some kinda mouse control in a 3d space, like you can press a button and it’ll remove your control over the protagonist, like he’d go into a sitting animation until you retake control, the camera view wouldn’t change though as you’re still in the third person camera behind him. From there if you’re not controlling him, you can press the button again to retoggle control over him again, or (the reason the feature exists) you can hover your mouse over the screen and click and drag items with special indicators or colors on them.

As an example of this:

If February (yes I’m just calling the protagonist February now after my OC) is under a ledge, but you see a several boxes with a sparkle design on them on-top of the ledge above him, you can position him where you can see the boxes but he’s out of the way, so then you can pause control over February, hover your mouse over the boxes, and move it in four cardinal directions, likely off the ledge, in order to build a staircase for February to walk up after you resume control of him, thus allowing him to get on-top of the ledge. And that's the concept, its a tool used for puzzles, and also possibly to interact with the characters or February. Think like the pointer from Wii games with Super Mario Galaxy for pushing and pulling or shooting Starbits, or the on-screen gyro sensor in captain toad treasure tracker on the switch. I guess a glorified Wii U touch-screen but in-game with a pointer, and if the game gets ported to consoles then a button that does the thing and then your control just gets placed in the center of the screen for you to use the sticks in order to move and press a to interact with the mouse, I hope you get the idea.

That's all past ideas that I’ve already thought up.

But today I thought of maybe 2 more aspects I’d like to throw into this hypothetical PokéPark successor dream game:

First off, I really enjoyed playing through “SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE”, a sequel or DLC to Superhot, it did something really interesting where it kept the level format with different maps every level, but the interesting part is that most if not all levels had no invisible walls. That's the idea here. In PokéPark there are many invisible walls that keep you from falling off the beating path, but the idea is I design a normal playground area/level like in PokéPark, with loading zones so you can go to each area if you interact with the loading zones, but otherwise if you try to run out past the bushes or trees in the distance that you’d think would have invisible walls to keep the player on the path, there are no invisible walls.

The protagonist, February (again it’ll probably not be February but a new protag I’ll design, I’m just using him as a reference) will downright acknowledge either at the beginning of the game or through later text that he and the other NPC’s know that they’re in a game, but try to play it off as if they’re sentient creatures, not that they have predetermined text boxes and stuff, so February knows. Anyway back to the invisible wall idea, there will be a invisible wall on the outskirts of every map but it’ll have no collision, and will purely be a check to show if the player is going outside the map, if the player does, it’ll trigger some flavor text from February, where for the first time you realize you can go out of bounds February will talk a little about something along the lines of “Oh yea. The game developers designed the Park to have boundaries so we couldn’t walk out of bounds, but never actually eventually put thous boundaries in place. So you’re fine to roam outside the level as far as you’d like until you eventually hit the Skybox Floor. I know it might seem odd that there's nothing underneath, but it’s okay when the Park is designed to be a paradise. Also, don’t worry about falling and hitting that Skybox Floor, if you do stray too far it’ll just put you right back up on the ground.”

I figure this first explanation can be more of a “Pause the game and February comes up from the bottom of the screen to give you the dialogue looking directly at you.” thing since its more long-winded, but every subsequent time you pass through the no collision invisible wall check (flavor text check) it’ll be a "Hat in Time"-esque dialogue box that’ll just play as you continue to move, Hat in Time has dialogue boxes that as you continue to platform around display dialogue, with flavor text from February like “Going off the beating path again huh?” and “Nice to always explore outside the intended area, its interesting.” and such, just to recognize that the player is doing so. Though it’ll have a cool-down of every 3 minutes or so, so that going in and out of the check doesn’t just spam the screen.

Other than that, with the idea of no invisible walls, maybe the first area will have invisible walls or something just to give the player the illusion that there usually are invisible walls, but eventually in the next areas they might accidentally walk back into the trees where the visual design is trying to tell them they can’t be, and realize “Oh wow I can actually just run out as far as I’d like.” for the rest of the game. That and I don’t want it to be so they accidentally stumble close to the flavor text check, get the info dump cut-scene about it from February (as explained above), and don’t have the player make the realization that “Oh I just walked outside the boundaries, I can really do that?”, that’d be bad, the point is that they have to consciously be trying to do so. That's the point.

Also this should be obvious by this point, but if I’m going to allow them to go out of bounds then (nearly) every surface should have collision. So:

The far off grass behind the trees in the forest.

Likely the low poly or flat trees off in the distance.

Any hills or landscape in general in the background that the player can see on the main path from a distance, it has to be walk-able.

The player will be able to run onto or into them like they’re floors or walls, not fall through the ground, like no-clipping out of a valve game past the chain fence in TF2 on 2Fort, where the ground has collision despite it's out of bounds. Or! you can go to the PokéPark VRChat maps I found previously and go see if there isn’t invisible walls on that, if I recall correctly. That should be a good demonstration.

So, that's one, the invisible walls thing stated above.

Other than that I thought playing on the idea of the game developers and out of bounds stuff knowing the game is self-aware that its a game, my second thought today was: “What if I put a character in the game who was a real person in the real world but loved the game so much they uploaded their consciousness to it, and its not just like a random person or a fan but a developer of the game that was so passionate and caring that they willingly uploaded themselves into the game before release”. So every NPC in the game is a fictional character who pretend they have sentience and enjoy living inside the game, but one NPC is an actual developer, in his model and text name and all, he uploaded himself into the game. This developer NPC I figure could be just a self-insert for myself or something if I wanted to do that, or I could make it an actual character in the game’s lore, regardless they’d have to show up in the list of names in the credits of the game at the end of the game.

Anyway, this developer NPC would maybe first be found directly on the main linear story path where he interacts with the protagonist, and all the other NPC’s and protagonist include him in the dialogue as well. I could do a route where they don’t acknowledge him as he’s not directly written into the code, but the idea is is that the NPC’s in the game are sentient and have feelings as well, like February, the protagonist. After you first interact with this developer NPC (who I’ll just refer to as myself from now on), he’ll show up exclusively on out of bounds areas of the map.

He’s the only NPC to actually walk out of bounds, and that gives more incentive to explore out of bounds to find secrets or just to see the level slowly fade in less detail as you get further out.

But also, there’ll be a check for how many times each you load into an area, so if you load into the area for the first time, first time ever seeing that area, it’ll track that, as that number goes up to 5 or 10, you’ll see changes that specifically myself as the developer NPC will make, as because he’s uploaded his consciousness into the game, he also likes to tinker around and maybe build himself a little hut out of bounds, as that counter I previously mentioned goes up, you’ll see him slowly build stuff each time the level is reloaded. He’ll take apart pieces of the environment, like twigs or plank board’s lying around and use them to build a little shelter, and it’ll look out of place since it’s out of bounds, the ground it sits on will be a low quality texture meanwhile the individual pieces that make up the shelter will have higher quality textures because hypothetically the storytelling is that he took a tarp or board from the main area and carried it out of bounds to build his little shelter, and that's often where you’ll find him out of bounds, making cool stuff for you and himself to enjoy.

He’ll also offer more in-depth game-play tips besides the tutorial stuff you’ll be taught on the linear path, this is where if, for example, I were to implement a racing mini-game, there’s be a controls screen that’d tell you how to drive forward in the race, but my developer character would give you the tip that you can hold a button to activate a boost, and that button prompt doesn’t show up on the controls in the tutorial for the minigame, you only find it out by reading the text of this NPC, or experimenting and finding it out for yourself. Its like if the combo’s in fighting games at the arcade were exclusive moves people had to figure out themselves and pass by word of mouth, instead of those combo’s being listed out on a menu if you paused the game.

The developer NPC would tell you these as flavor text, tips about the game that you’d only know either from learning it from him, or by experimenting and getting lucky. Almost like the developers left in some cheaty button combinations or whatever to give them a way to easily destroy the competition in harder mini-games later in the game for example, Dev routes in a Mario Maker Level or something. It’d be fun for him to tell the player tips like that, stuff only the developer would know.

To wrap up this long post and end my thoughts.

The previous stuff I said regarding the developer I don’t think I emphasized the best, but hopefully you get the picture.

I like the idea of the player being able to just naturally walk out of the intended design path of the level, going past walls to the out of bounds areas, and then also finding the developer NPC back there just hanging around enjoying his time spent in the paradise he helped create, giving some exclusive tips to you if you talk to him.

That sums it up really with those new thoughts that inspired me to write this all down, so hopefully I might be able to develop a game like this someday, but that's a lot of work and free-time I don’t have.

I don’t want people reading this and stealing and using my idea, I hope that doesn’t happen, but I figured these were fun concepts regardless that if I don’t ever get to develop the game I want that at least I got those ideas out there for people to enjoy some way or another. I hope this hasn’t been completely rambling and you can imagine and visualize my vision in your head and think “wow that does sound interesting and fun to interact with!”

If you managed to read this all, I guess even if you skimmed it, then I genuinely thank you a lot, I know it probably could’ve been shortened, but oh well.

Have a great day regardless, I thank you a lot for reading.

And to the person who just scrolled from the top immediately to the bottom without reading, darn it, come on guy, give a chance to hear me out...

[mr-buisson-bosquet]

Speaking about YW AU’s, I also made my own story when I was 13-14 years old (so like 4-5 years ago) and its name is « Yo-Kai Watch V ».

It takes place 5 years after the main story’s events. We follow Keita, Inaho (keep in mind that they are 15-16 years old in it) and their friends in their supernatural shenanigans and with their agency. Other watchers will join their adventures, such as Hibiki Ryusei, a girl who owns a « Astra Model » Yo-Kai Watch, and our protagonists will also their own.

There is also a new mechanic I thought of, and it was the « Wish Forms », which needs a « Meteor Medal » to be added on certain Yo-Kais to ascend to this mode.

The story is structured into a prologue (which happens 2 years before YWV and counts as a YW music note rewrite), and epilogue and four main arcs between them.

YWV first arc : As the shooting stars falls

YWV first main arc : Dedtime Arc

YWV second main arc : Ghoulfather Arc

YWV final main arc : Kraken Arc

I just thought that it would be nice to see YW leaning into the Shonen-like genre and a hint of emotions within it, when Nate was still the protagonist.

And if you’re wandering, YWV isn’t a bridge to Shadowside, more like it’s own thing, filled with my self-indulgences.

This is extremely interesting to read ! This AU seems to be very thorough and complete.

I really like the fact that you aged up Keita and Inaho, it will lead to more mature themes and morals, like what it means to grow up, the new perspectives maturity can bring to their role of Watcher, and the view and opinion they have on the different antagonists they will encounter could change, as they start to better understand them.

This new character, Hibiki Ryusei, could bring a lot to the table too. Her Yokai Watch is intriguing as well, how did she obtain it ? Did Steve Jaws release this new model in continuity to the Model U ? Or maybe she inherited it from a family member or a yokai ?

How are the "Wish forms" and "Meteor Medals" working, exactly ? The concept of "Wish form" reminds me a lot of the Dream Link of Nate's Yokai Watch U and the "Dream Link" introduced in the third movie, could it be centered around the same mechanic ? "Meteor medals" are very interesting too, meteors can be associated with a lot of things in the Yokai Watch universe. One of them being the meteors falling during Enma's summoning, could there be a link between these two ? The Meteor medals could be powered by the energy of Enma, allowing yokai to transform ?

I can just imagine a gorgeous summoning and transformation similar to the Godsides in Forever Friends, but maybe I am looking too far- '^^

I also love to see every antagonists of the three games have their own arc. I am very curious about their placement in the story and how you are going to portray each of them. I am sure it is extremely well done, they have a lot of potential and all get a chance to shine !

Perhaps each antagonist will reveal a usefull lore element that will all connect at the end for the final battle, and reveal a plot-twist ? Could The Ghoulfather, McKracken and Dedtime all be working together to dominate the human world ?

I agree that a more Shonen-oriented Yokai Watch series could be very refreshing, with a more mature Nate, a new Watcher to bring some new content, and Inaho as the funny sidekick to balance the whole show. There could be a lot more variety of themes discussed in it, as well as more risks to be taken in terms of content.

But anyway, I can't say it enough, this AU is amazing ! Honestly if is was to become official, I would definitely watch it on TV everyday ! XD I just hope this long post with dozens of questions didn't annoy you too much, I apologize in advance '^^

Thank you very much for sending me this beautiful AU !

[obscurecharactershowdown]

Round 6

[image ID: the first image is a gif of Gary, a man outlined in simple, animated red lines against a black background. the only other color is the white of his eyes. he has a short beard and he's wearing a hooded robe. the second image is of Granger, a girl with green eyes and short, wavy or curly black hair. in her hair is a red hat or ribbon. she's wearing a black turtleneck sweater, blue overalls, and a green coat. end ID]

Gary

I've seen John in ONE poll but I haven't seen Gary at all. Gary is the main antagonist in the games and is a normal human being just like you and me. Actually he's a demon, and trying to summon the antichrist. He can also summon spiders! Over and over again. And remember, Gary loves you! [additional propaganda 1] [additional propaganda 2]

Granger

so granger is the main character of the indie game "NeverHome" Chapter one, which is only $1 on Steam, is called NeverHome: Hall of Apathy. if ur a fan of young protags being put in RPG maker horror games, then this is the game for you!! so granger is just that… she wakes up to find herself in a strange, hostile world. she, along with the friends she makes, must solve the various puzzles before them while creatures are out to kill them… and along the way they can uncover the secrets of these never ending halls… her dynamics with the cast is also super fun… each character gets their moment or moments with granger. and what's so cute is that there's unique art for each pair that highlights the fact you cant get through these halls alone!! she also has her own theme song!! here!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_vwtmIj5cw it's called cyclical tragedy AND HERE IS AN ANALYSIS OF THE THEME!! MUSIC THEORY!!! written by my good friend @HIEMIOLA "cyclical tragedy" embodies the protagonist, granger, through the music theory behind the track and ties itself back into the main track as well. to begin with an overview of the track, the key is D minor and hte time signature is 3/4. the piece begins with a broken minor third starting from the tonic. that is, it begins on the main note and moves along the main chord, D to F. the next set of notes are C to E, which is shifted down a step. the phrase repeats again, this time D to F, then G to E, which is an inverse movement from the original sequence. even in this first part, we could tell that the protagonist begins from square 1 with a simple pattern, then tries it again when it works. however, the inverse breaks that expectation of repetition, thus showing the diverse variations of solutions she comes up with using just the tools she has (the two notes moving in thirds). just like the game, she is given a handful of objects as well as a knife to defend herself and solve the mysteries of the world she exists in. with her creative uses of the items given to her, she continues on her way through the plot. we will keep moving. the melody begins. true to the title of the track, the melody cycles around the same beginning note, D, that she always returns to at her square 1. this is a nod to the save states she is allowed to keep to make sure that we the players don't lose the game, but it also references the health bar that appears as a circle around her avatar. the melody, mapped out, is also moving in an up-down wave movement across the sheet music. granger is creative with the knife she has and the quest items she obtains throughout the story, but she is not entirely reckless. rather, she knows when it is time to return to the safe rooms to rest. to time her returns requires skill because she must run to cover without being caught by varying her path so the enemies don't corner her as she tries to return to the room. most of the time, she is successful, shown through the consistent return to the beginning note. let's keep going. i would like to turn your attention to the main theme briefly. in the bass notes, you can hear arpeggios and outlined chords. this makes up the bulk of the accompaniment in the main game theme. [mod note: the rest of the essay, and some more propaganda, is continued under a cut because tumblr will not process more text than this in an indent. sorry to split it up, please continue below for the rest of the essay and additional propaganda!]

the third variation of granger's theme also has arpeggiated chords in the accompaniment while the melody features broken chords. at this stage, the pattern switches to eigth notes instead of the quarter notes at first. with greater movement and heightened senses, she runs throughout world and befriends other people, thus interacting further with the environment. while she isn't exactly someone we would call open, she is respectful to the people she first meets and has no problems with asking them for help when she needs it. because of her openness to working together, she speeds up her progress by asking for aid at obstacles that would be too difficult for her to overcome on her own, such as asking a teammate to break things, move things, or reach into smaller holes. fusing the main theme elements with her own theme marks this step as the inciting incident that sets her on the path to escape from this world. we'll continue.

continuing the same part, we hear some secondary fifths. i'm not entirely sure if this is what you call it, but it is a nod to the parallel key, D major. depending on what theory class you take, this could also be considered the other half of the key. i dont know how else to describe it, but i digress. these are glimpses to different dialogue options she could take, glimpses to a different key or a different ending. because this game only has one chapter ending so far, we are unsure of what other paths granger will end up in; we only know that there are certainly other endings she will experience, only to begin the cycle again when the save state is loaded for players to reach another ending. both A major and G major are chords that signify different choices that may lead her elsewhere only for her to return back to the tonic or main note, D. despite this, she keeps going, as will we.

at the midpoint of the track, we see a quick shift in patterns. instead of upward leaps in the notes, the melody falls in stepwise motion. true to the plot, this is another turning point of the game when she is forced to make a choice: continue or stop. after facing the spoiler event, her once determined personality is challenged as she struggles to keep herself and her team together. despite being the headstrong protagonist who spearheaded solutions, even now she finds herself doubting and taking smaller steps, smaller risks.

even after all of this, she rises to the challenge as the melody returns to its beginning sequence. true to a protagonist she gets up again despite the events that transpired and keeps her team moving in their lowest points. the thirds return as she finds more objects to solve more puzzles to open more rooms to save more friends. this repeating part of the track only solidifies her resolve as the piece ends with a broken chord in the main key, her key, of D minor. despite everything that transpired, she stayed true to herself."

the game is also so, so charming with the art, music, and story made by the same person… its so clearly loved and full of passion!! i love listening to the game's ost on occassion!! since it's all on youtube!

ok one last thing thing!! on may 8th, the game hit 100 downloads (on both steam and itch.io). you can see the creator of the game celebrate that with this lovely drawing of granger: https://twitter.com/NeverHome_Game/status/1655761270694633472

so at most, only a bit over 100 people have played the game… id like to say that makes it obscure!!

anyways granger and neverhome!! we love to see our protagonists put in horrific situations and isn't she super cute with a lil bow on her head? she is my daughter…

[additional propaganda 1]

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[mahounomanga]

Chikyuu Bouei Shoujo Iko-chan

One of the interesting side effects of defining this blog's scope in the way that I have is that, for better or for worse, only focusing on magical girl manga that don't have anime adaptations automatically filters out almost every multimedia franchise. Sure we've talked about a couple manga adaptations of big live action productions, but there's a difference between that and a series that spreads itself across a handful of mediums simultaneously. Most magical girl multimedia projects from Japan will throw an anime of some form into the mix. Which is to say most, but not all. Today we'll be taking a look at a series which, throughout the late 80s and early 90s, released manga, a video game, a live action series, and more, but has no anime.

Chikyuu Bouei Shoujo Iko-chan (Terrestrial Defense Girl Iko) started as a live action direct-to-video series in 1987. The protagonist is Iko Kawai, a middle schooler who one day helps a member of the intergalactic police she sees lying unconscious on the pavement, and as a reward she is gifted a high tech headset called the Super Incom. The Super Incom allows her to use ESP to do what she believes is right, giving her abilities including but not limited to instant outfit changes, teleportation, leaping tall buildings in a single bound, shrinking, and communicating with beasts. In using her newfound powers, she catches the attention of an Earth defense squad known as the Light Terrestrial Defense Team, LTDT for short. They recruit Iko as a new member, and now armed with her Super Incom and gadgets from the LTDT, it is her duty to protect Earth from extraterrestrial threats.

The first entry in the series, an approximately 47 minute movie, was released on February 28, 1987. The monster designs were done by Toru Narita, who had done special effects work for Godzilla, and co-created Ultraman; so his involvement helped draw attention to the project. The series even has an Ultraman parody character in the form of Miracleman, who can grow to enormous size, but passes out when he does so.

A second movie was released on July 14, 1988, at the start of which Iko bequeaths her Super Incom to a new girl, coincidentally named Iko Sugekawa, who also goes on to work for the LTDT. While the original Iko was played by Akiko Isozaki, a relatively obscure child actress, the new Iko was played by Mia Masuda, a popular idol who was just getting her start around this time. This meant many Iko-chan fans were also Mia Masuda fans, and vice versa. Even now many people seem to know of the series predominantly through her involvement. This movie gives Iko a new (and more iconic) outfit, plus a spectacularly intelligent and accomplished rival named Runna Hakuba. Mia Masuda would stay on as Iko for the third movie, released on June 22, 1990, but each subsequent production would cast a different actress in the role. As for the series director, Minoru Kawasaki is known for producing tokusatsu parodies on the cheap, with Terrestrial Defense Girl Iko being one such example.

Due to the success of the original movie trilogy, a video game based on the series was released for the PC98 engine on December 4, 1992. Titled Chikyuu Bouei Shoujo Iko-chan ~UFO Daisakusen~ (Terrestrial Defense Girl Iko ~The Great UFO Strategy~, this is a turn-based battle game with visual novel elements, in which the LTDT face off against various aliens. Unfortunately, the game didn't sell well. It's speculated that the gameplay style didn't capture the appeal of the title's tokusatsu origins. The in-game art is very pretty though, for whatever that's worth.

Iko would continue starring in live action sequels and spinoffs after that, and a number of companion books were released for the series as well, but the release most relevant to this blog is the Iko-Chan manga.

Running in monthly Comic Comp from the May 1988 issue to the May 1991 issue, this manga was created by Yoshito Asari, with writing input from Minoru Kawasaki, the original director. Asari is best known for his involvement in the production of the original Evangelion anime, for which he was an assistant character designer, and he penned a 4koma spinoff titled Evangelion Yonkoma Zenshuu. However, he is an accomplished mangaka in his own right, creating works such as Wahhaman, Manga Science, and Space Family Carlvinson, the lattermost of which would get an OVA adaptation in 1988.

Over the course of its' run, the Iko-chan manga would amass a total of 32 chapters. The first tankobon volume, containing chapters 1 through 18, was published by Kadokawa on September 13, 1990, but the remainder of the series would not be compiled until a new edition of both volumes was released by Hakusensha under their Jets Comics label on December 25, 1999. A digital rerelease, also by Hakusensha, was made available on December 26, 2014.

This manga makes some changes to the original plot, particularly in Iko's backstory. In this version, Iko already works for the LTDT part-time at the start of the series, and she gets the Super Incom after helping Miracleman while he's drunk. It's less momentous, but I actually prefer it given how poorly the original Iko's buddying up to cops has aged. The way the Super Incom works is slightly different too: it activates when she says please, enunciating each syllable (o-ne-ga-i). This makes whatever she thinks will help happen, but if she attempts to use this power for selfish reasons, the device will malfunction.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to read very much of the manga, and the language barrier made it difficult to get into any version of this series. Huge shout-out to the surprisingly detailed Japanese Wikipedia page, which was a tremendous help in researching for this overview. They also have quite a bit of information on later installments in this series I glossed over. There is a lot more I could get into, but I wanted to mainly focus on the meat of the franchise, and this post is long enough as is.

I really hope fan translations of the series become available one day, because Terrestrial Defense Girl Iko seems like a lot of fun, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of older tokusatsu. There are elements of it I don't vibe with, but still, it has an interesting premise, some decently entertaining humor, a super catchy theme song, and a killer aesthetic.

[lyrical-lovely]

Anime Review - Kakegurui (S1 + S2)

I watched all of Kakegurui within a few days- it kept me on the edge of my seat and was overall a thrilling watch.

Watch Kakegurui if: - You enjoy math, gambling, statistics or numbers - You enjoy harem anime with lots of lovely women - You enjoy dark, thriller anime - You have a dark sense of humor - You are able to suspend your disbelief

Do NOT watch Kakegurui if: - You are easily triggered (discussions of self-h***, su*****, se**** a******) - You dislike over-sexualization of high school characters - You prefer a slice-of-life high school anime

NO SPOILERS below the cut - continue safely!

Though I very much disliked the extreme points of this anime, which included self mutilation and pushing the limits of gambling, I enjoyed the numbers behind it and getting to learn about each game, along with the complex social structures held up by Japan's elite. The second season was especially good - it felt like they really found themselves.

The main character is supposed to be the guy- I don't even remember his name, he's so boring- but Yumeko steals the spotlight away immediately. He's a pretty generic harem protagonist who doesn't do much other than narrate the series and help put the gambling into perspective as a "normal person." Yumeko, though a compelling character, is a bit oversexualized and over-the-top. I think, though, in order for a gambling anime like this one to be enjoyable, it almost has tot be completely over-the-top. The bets are on insane stakes, such as one's life or one's future or absurd amounts of money, and the characters are all almost caricatures.

One of the things I think this anime does quite well is the introduction of cheating. Of course, cheating is no fun in regular gambling, but it makes a lot of sense in this scenario. After all, these are uber-wealthy kids who are clawing their way to the top, of course they're going to cheat! Not only does Yumeko always find a way around the cheat, but she's quite the cunning player herself. I found this aspect kept the games from getting flat and repetitive.

One of the high points of this anime was Terano, pictured above. Her disability is NEVER mentioned, not even once. I'm not sure if this is the case in the manga as well, but she is allowed to just peacefully exist as a disabled character without her disability being a main plot point or even part of her backstory. She's clever and cunning, and a great contender to win the election (no spoilers, just season 2 plot). An excellent character overall.

A lot of the games were really cool, too. Most of them were original. "Life or Death" was a good game, and so was "Nim Type Zero." I didn't fully understand the point of the idol game show being a part of the anime- it seemed like a desperate attempt to tap into the idol fan market and to sell more merchandise, but those scenes were enjoyable nonetheless.

Overall, I'd give this anime a solid 7/10. While there were lots of parts I didn't like, I think it has great rewatch value and was amazing the first time through. I'm really hoping it gets renewed for a third season as it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Thanks for listening!