#but this is the only wiki we’ve got for the game

[turtle-trash]

Honestly my biggest problem with the official Amber isle wiki is that it doesn’t actually tell you anything. "Here’s the resources you can get in the game!" Alright, where can you find them? What do they drop from and what tool (along with the specific upgrade needed) do you need to collect it?

Also why can you only filter by discipline for the craftable items? Shouldn’t you also be able to filter by size and material? (Also I’m pretty sure the table is bugged cause some names and items listed aren’t the full thing)

Did you know there’s a bank in the game? The wiki only mentions it as the job of one of the Paleofolk, there’s no place to go to find info on how exactly the bank works. When do you receive interest? How much interest do you get? Is the percentage dependent on how much you deposit?

There’s no listing of drop percentage for resources, which is really bad considering that your encouraged to dig for artifacts to donate to the museum AND there are rare gems you can find in stone that you can use to craft items. That second one is especially important because at least one of the decor you unlock from befriending a paleofolk (something your encouraged to do) uses said gems, and paleofolk ask for custom orders with any crafting recipe you unlock, MEANING there are unfulfillable orders if your unable to find the required materials

The wiki has dedicated pages for regions but, again, they don’t actually tell you anything

This is all it tells you about each region: a summary about what happens with it in the story, a map (which isn’t actually that helpful since it doesn’t show farming spots), and the paleofolk that can live there. Nothing else. Not even a word about what resources you can find there. Also raven doesn’t even live in the forest??? She lives in the tundra. So that’s just straight up false info on the official wiki

Honestly it barely counts as a wiki. If they plan to make it better then that’s good, but in its current state it’s not a very good resource if you want to play the game

[danrifics]

good morning i have slept a total of 2 hours here’s my spoiler breakdown for terrible influence antwerp

they start by playing a text to speech voice who welcomes us and the straight boyfriends and the dads (they’re a bit obsessed with the dads i’ll be real) the voice tells us if we film she’s gonna sue are asses. text to speech lady she is an icon

dnp come out and they’re like yo this is cool it’s the first show, you guys are gonna see what we’ve been up to and then they’re like it’s the first show so we can use you guys to decide if we change anything

they they’re like there’s probably people in the audience who don’t really know us so they do a 15 years of dan and phil lore breakdown with dolls of themselves in little set of iconic dnp locations (made by pj and sophie btw) they put these sets in a table in front of a camera and it shows on the big screen, (for 1 section of this the screen doesn’t work for the first part lol) also phil makes the dolls kiss and they also make the dolls hump the breakfast bar cos of course they do

i can’t remember what happens next or maybe it jumps right into the next thing i mention

they play a game show called role model or no-model which is a madlibs style game where you have to decide if the version of dan and phil the audience creates is a role model or not these are compared to real dnp. we had homophobic furry lawyer dan and linguistics dr phil wo has a thing for hamsters. just an fyi for this dan is really good at hearing what the audience is saying and phil is not at all and im pretty sure he made his up cos he couldn’t understand what we wanted

okay so after this iirc they start talking about the youtube landscape and what they’re gonna do after tour and how to keep people entertained and they go on a little adventure through different genres of youtube like minecraft lets plays, vtubers and then they pretend to be mr beast and pretend to give away a bunch of stuff that they don’t have, they cure us of any mental health issues and they cure us from being gay <3

then they decide to have a boxing match cos obvs that’s what youtubers do, they ask us to cheer for whoever they want to win and it has cool intro to it! i’ll be honest this boxing match goes on for entirely too long like it spans the end of the first half and the start of the second but they have like choreographed fighting and OMFG it’s very gay and like suggestive and they do many times look like they’re gonna have sex 😂 like one of phils moves is to hit dan with his ass while dan is holding him from behind so… yeah. anyway dan thought he won ours and then phil knocked him out with a tv, as he should!! also before they end the first half they’re having an insult match where phils tells dan hes gonna burn his house down only for dan to say they live in the same house and i was dying it was so funny, phil also calls dan a dickhead and this is where he also calls him a cunt and that’s how the first half ends. oh also phil has a fake 6 pack on and that’s the $300 dollar silicone btw

okay second half after dan is dead they have a sincere moment and then they’re like you guys keep telling us you want load of long unedited content and they ask us to tell them a topic to monologue about and someone shouts feet and they rant about feet lmao phil excitedly tells everyone he has a better wiki feet rating than dan

then dan goes on a rant about being discriminated against as a millennial (can’t remember how we got there) and phil gets bored and starts watching subway surfers and i’ll be real honest as a gen z i instantly got distracted by subway surfers and didn’t listen to what dan was saying (that was the point tho) and phil keeps turning up the volume and dan gets mad and he storms off

we have a nice sincere moment with phil but idk what tf it was cos neither did phil 😂

then suddenly a voice, oh here she comes, she asks if we’re ready to confess our sins and out comes sister daniel, everyone fucking loses it, if you heard me screaming so loud no you didn’t.

anyway they read some confessions (phil is father philip) and they read out a few including one from @dnphobe !!! phil has a water gun that he didn’t have when he was meant to and couldn’t find and then found and he was spraying it at people to cleanse them of their sins which is what they meant by people being in the splash zone btw also phil sprayed it at dan it was kinda cute

okay so they say they need to go and get changed and they head off stage and there’s a gag where they leave the microphone on and they’re purposely making it sound sexual and it’s so funny and then dan comes out and phil doesn’t cos he’s struggling with his leather fucking trousers that was a completely unscripted part for sure

then they talk about the hiatus a bit and how dan left us and they keep calling us their family and brb while i cry my eyes out

then they pull out a fucking banger of a song, like i can’t even explain to you how good it is, it has a fully like kpop style dance to it that im gonna fucking learn lmao and dan was so good at it like im not even kidding that man was pulling moves!! phil was doing great too btw but he definitely wasn’t as confident in it as dan was but damn it’s the best song yet imo!!

also i forgot to write the conspiracy bit because i forgot where in the show it is but on one of them they were trying so hard to make us say the opposite one but we were literally forcing tour bus on them and yes they confirmed they shared a bed on that tour bus!! and they played it off like its okay for friends to do that (cos it is) but they way they said it was that thing again where they blur the line a little so we know what they actually mean but still pretend they mean something else

okay some little things i remember that i didn’t write above

- “i can’t imagine my life without you”

- “it’ll be 15 years in december” (if you know you know)

- the absolute silence after they confirmed the bed thing cos none of us were actually expecting it

- dan had to prompt phil a little to remind him what to say next but it was very cute

- they kept looking at each other in *that* way

- phil lied to us about when norman died cos he had norman merch coming out

- sleepless night with phil 3 is fake!!

- they showed *that* video of phil asleep on the tour bus

- there were multiple times where i thought they’re gonna kiss right now???

-phil called dan kinda sexy

- ALL IS FORGIVEN, ANYTHING FROM THE LAST WE MIGHT HAVE DONE IS FORGIVEN THEY LOVE US WE ARE A FAMILY THEY ARE LITERALLY OUR DADS

[m-says-hi]

Hello!

I have more sampo thoughts! Surprisingly, not about the recent event but an old event. Or not even the event itself, but something from after it

The memory bubble you get after Aetherium Wars.

Couple of things about memory bubbles before I bring up Sampo or this particular bubble’s contents. After some (admittedly brief) research on bubbles, I’ve learned they’re created by Memokeepers to preserve memories and are usually stolen from the original memory holder. In the game there are 21 memory bubbles. 20 of them belong to Herta and can be found around the Space Station. The last one is the one from after Aetherium Wars and is found on Jarilo VI.

I haven’t interacted with any of the memory bubbles myself, but I have read through all the dialogue and descriptions on the wiki. The 20 belonging to Herta all seem to put you in the pov of the memory holder. It tells it more like a story, kinda similar to Simulated Universe?

But the Aetherium Wars Bubbles only gives dialogue (very similar to Sampo’s character stories) making us more like an observer and not part of the memory. Unless we’re watching the memory of someone who was watching the conversation, but I feel like there’d be more description of the setting if that were the case.

I could go on about the content of the conversation, but I think we’ve all read through it multiple times. What really caught my attention was the beginning and end dialogue of the bubble.

(taken from the wiki. I haven’t done aetherium wars yet ;-;)

Four things stick out to me right away:

The game/The trailblazer’s thoughts notes this feels different

As I mentioned before, there is no description of the scenery showing up before you, but just two figures. My guess as to why is that this bubble wasn’t created by a stolen memory, but was made by the memory holder (or at least the memory holder was involved in the process). The memory holder being Sampo

2. There’s an implication that this bubble was left on purpose

This only adds to the point above. There’s a strong implication that Sampo left this for the Trailblazer to find. You also get an achievement for finding this bubble called Confessions of the Mask which. That kinda says it all.

But now I have two questions, the first being how? It's not said explicitly, but in a conversation with Herta it's implied that Memory Bubbles are only made by Memokeepers. So, if this was left by Sampo, either he got a memokeeper to help him (extremely possible) or he has the power to do it himself (extremely interesting)

My second question is why? 

Why would he tell us? Why is he telling us in this indirect way? My guess is it has something to do with his mask. The conversation in the bubble mentions Penacony and Sparkle. So,this was probably around the time Sampo started planning to go to Penacony to get his mask. I discussed this with a friend, and she suggested it might even be some sort of warning, which is why it’s done with a memory bubble. 

That sort of reminds me of the recent event, where Sampo spills a lot about the Fools and the Tavern, information that you would only really know as a Fool, but said it in a way that implied he wasn’t a fool. That he heard it from somewhere else, someone else, not that he knew it first hand. I wonder if his mask is sort of.. Making him unstable? (He grew increasingly dark every day) And the 7 day event was another warning. Warning of who he might become when the mask fully takes hold and a warning to not become like him

3. The game/the Trailblazer’s thought recognizes that there are multiple mysterious things about Sampo

Maybe this isn’t as important as I’m making it out to be. After all, we all know something is very Off about Sampo. But the Trailblazer recognizing it feels significant to me. It feels like further confirmation that eventually we will unravel these mysteries. Eventually.

4. “When talking to one who wears a mask, always keep your wits about you.”

This. THIS. This statement has been driving me mad since I first saw it. When I read those words I immediately thought of the translated statement from Topaz’s trailer:

“One who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions”

(if you have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s one of my first posts)

The statements are not the same. But they feel so strongly similar, like they go hand in hand. Both are warnings. Both tell you to be careful about people who are not how they appear, people with masks and people who are falsely sincere. Both are talking about Sampo. Looking into this made me realize just how many times we've been warned about Sampo. Half of those times being Sampo himself

Something about it just makes my brain light up with possibilities and I feel like I keep pushing the statements together waiting for something to make sense and explain everything else, but I’ve yet to figure it out. So I’m left here just kind of going insane

But that’s all I have for now! Maybe someone else will have something

[amemoryofwot]

Introducing our beautiful Aes Sedai ….

Esnaem Tumblragoran :)

(For her first name say it out loud, and I’ll take an extreme liberty making “agoran” a Malkieri suffix much like “nhald” is Taraboner and “ghan” is Cairhien)

And thank you to the 750 (!) people who voted! Let’s break it down!

We’ve already voted her into Malkieri heritage from our previous poll. From the top of this poll she was solidly voted into the Grey Ajah. The Ajahs corresponding to a lesser vote percentage were at a disadvantage due to the meta game of trying to vote her evil, but I’m happy she settled into a slightly less represented Ajah. She was Black for a good chunk of the time which lead to some of my favourite tags:

Age was a little trickier to assign, keeping in mind her Malkieri heritage needs her to be at least say, 50 to 60. So that vote percentage of a total lifespan doesn’t really make sense, so I think easiest thing is just to move that decimal place and make her 96 years old.

Personality wise she’s haughty about half again as much as she is serene which, yknow, fits.

Strength in the Power was a bit challenging as you all know that RJ’s wack leveling system puts Lanfear at level 1 and the highest, so MORE votes would make her weaker in this regard. Helpfully, the Thirteenth Repository has a power level chart that fits better here. If we round her up to Level 8, it makes her powerful enough to travel and puts her on par with such channellers as Verin, Alviarin, Alanna, Annoura, Meidani, and Seonid.

We did it everyone, we voted her to be TWENTY FIVE percent tits. Leading again to another favourite tag.

We voted her into the 6.3 percentile for height, which correlates to about 4’11 and a quarter (the quarter is very important) for the average woman. I looked up general weight range for this height and went with 45kg, which means she’s about 11kg of boobs so uh. Yeah. I tried looking up weight of breast size which I don’t think is even really a thing but the chart I found capped out at 1.5kg per H cup breast. Idk like I said before short and stacked. Fun fact the last screenshot I have of the early poll results show it took over 75 votes before anybody started voting for height which to me was even funnier than the bosom sweep.

She’s got about 5% vote for angreal so let’s give her five angreal of her very own, perhaps even some Malkieri artifacts she is preserving.

She has 8.5% vote for Warders, which is a challenge considering she’s Grey. To keep with the Ajah rules perhaps she only has one officially bonded Warder, but is caretaking a gaggle of aging Malkieri soldiers that are joked to be her Warders.

Most importantly, she has been voted about 21 pillowfriends. Another fun fact this is a higher number than confirmed pillowfriends and lesbians in WoT (I counted something like 18 from the wiki) so girl gets around.

And there you have her, Esnaem Tumblragoran, gilf Malkieri Sister of the Grey Ajah

[bloodyquillink-blog]

Natural Disasters, CoD Ghosts HC’s

What natural disaster are the Ghosts?

A/N🪶: Please keep in mind that these are just my opinions! I’d love to hear(or I guess read?) your thoughts. These are for all the Ghosts, former, deceased and current within the Ghosts game. This means I will be including Rorke, Ajax and Elias Walker. Canon character information is taken from the CoD: Ghosts Wiki page. Please correct me if I’ve got anything canon wrong!

Elias T. “Scarecrow” Walker, Earthquake

Not because he’s a Californian at heart.

I imagine that Elias had a very large impact on many people's lives.

He can’t be solely defined as a “killer”, he still has so much humanity left, shown by the way he comforted his son even when he knew he wasn’t going to survive Rorke’s torturing.

There are some lines from wikipedia used to describe earthquakes that I think are fitting for him.

“Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those that are so weak that they cannot be felt, to those violent enough to propel objects and people into the air…” - Wikipedia, Earthquake, paragraph 1.

“Earthquakes by themselves rarely kill people or wildlife - it is usually the secondary events that they trigger…” - Wikipedia, Natural Disaster, Earthquakes

Elias is definitely a hardened person but not so much so that he’s emotionless or stone cold. However, keep in mind that he and Hesh said that Elias has put his sons through multiple “tests”.

I imagine these tests were done to teach his sons to survive and defend themselves, probably after the death of their mom/his wife.

Elias is strong but still emotional, loves his sons more than anything but also understands that the world needs someone to defend it.

“Listen, you boys… you’re the only thing I’ve got left in this world… But you’re also the only ones I can trust.” - Elias Walker to Hesh and Logan.

David “Hesh” Walker, Wildfire

I almost wanted to say flood but I think wildfire is fitting for David.

Like with Elias, this is not because he’s a California native(?). Mostly because I don’t see anything that exactly says he was born in California. Just that he was raised there.

I’ve seen multiple definitions of Hesh. Urban Dictionary says it comes from the word “hessian” and means “cool, courageous, reckless”. Wikipedia says that HESH(UK) or HEP(US) is a type of “explosive projectile… that conforms to the surface of a target before detonating”.

David is a very emotional person as we’ve seen. He gets angry and worried easily, as seen in the entire game.

The biggest examples that come to mind are when the brothers are picked up with Merrick and Keegan and David is arguing with them about getting their dad, and when Keegan, David and Logan are trying to get coordinates on Rorke and Rorke appears in the monitor, taunting them. David yelling at Rorke and calling the dude a piece of shit, as he should. Keegan attempting to calm him down.

David can be stealthy when he wants to be but that doesn’t mean he won’t get out of control or reckless. He’s ready to put himself on the line, especially for Logan.

You don’t see his rage at first but you’ll see it when it gets bigger.

I think David uses his emotions to help him get the job done, powered by spite as shown by him telling Merrick to hit the very train him and Logan were on so they could avenge their father.

His emotions aren’t a bad thing, of course. He cares a lot about those around him and wants to protect them. Maybe I just love him too much but I can’t help it!

Logan Walker, Drought

I had a hard time picking one for him but I settled on drought.

I wanted to pick something that wasn’t an exact opposite to Hesh, but still different.

“A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.”. - Wikipedia, Drought, Paragraph 1.

Logan is described as a “quiet-man, a cold-blooded killer and an excellent soldier…” - CoD Ghosts: Wiki Logan Walker, Personality

According to rescue.org, a drought happen gradually but are still deadly.

You don’t hear it happening but you can see the effects it has on the ecosystem around it.

Logan is described by Elias as being more like his mother, who we know nothing about aside from her status as deceased and Elias saying the tremors used to scare the shit out of her.

Let’s also mention how droughts can increase the likelihood of wildfires. David and Logan are always supporting each other and working together whenever possible. I think Logan(and Elias too) has given David a lot of inspiration to become the man he is and vice versa.

As different as the two are, they go hand in hand, different skill sets that can fit like a puzzle.

Thomas A. Merrick, Avalanche

Big scary man (he’s labelled as stocky on his wiki page)

But for real, Merrick is a very strong person. I wouldn’t call him emotional like Hesh, but he is loud and a very visible presence.

He’s unique and has a history that I imagine has influenced him a lot.

He’s respectful but I think he reserves his respect for very specific people.

Keep in mind, he went from yelling in David’s face at the beginning to just accepting his order to hit the train at the end of the game. Not to mention the way he was able to emotionally connect with the brothers after Elias’s death.

When Rorke was his Captain, we saw the amount of respect Merrick holds. “Permission to speak freely?.. No, Sir”. But we also see Merrick punching Rorke as soon as he has the opportunity and telling him to shut up.

Also, I feel like he prefers colder climates, which fits because avalanches are basically snow slides.

Please keep in mind that while Hesh being a loud, emotional person could be used to say that his loudness would cause a Merrick avalanche, avalanches actually can’t be caused by sound. The more ya know :)

Keegan P. Russ, Sinkhole

Sinkholes actually do have warning signs if you look closely.

But they might as well be sudden when you don’t pay attention.

Keegan, while not completely silent like Logan, is still a very quiet, controlled person.

We see him sneak around, leaving bodies in his wake.

He’s described in the wiki as “known to complete combat operations under extreme conditions”.

Sinkholes (or the conditions for them I guess?) can form over the course of hundreds of years. Keegan has a lot of experience and was part of the original 15 Ghosts.

Keegan knows how to hide himself, seen when Rorke is interrogating the Walkers and Merrick trying to get information on him.

He’s there when you least expect it, hiding under the surface.

Alex V. “Ajax” Johnson

Because we see so little of Ajax, it was difficult to find something fitting.

Ajax was also one of the original fifteen Ghosts.

He’s strong, stubborn and I’d say a powerful force, in his last moments, he was giving direction to Keegan, Logan, David and Merrick. “Rorke. It was Rorke. He’s targeting… look.. the wall…” - Ajax in Struck Down.

Because of this, I think a cyclone was the best fit.

A cyclone is basically like a storm of winds I guess?

“A large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure… the largest low-pressure systems are polar vortices and extratropical cyclones of the largest scale (the synoptic scale).” - Wikipedia, Cyclone, Paragraph 1.

He did everything he could in his last moments, staying strong as long as he could to protect the remaining Ghosts, giving them all the information he could as his last words.

Remember, the air itself can be just as dangerous as anything else.

Rest in Peace, Ajax, you deserved better my guy <3

Gabriel T. Rorke, Flood

Yes, I’m choosing this partially because this was a major part of his character arc within his lore.

But there are more reasons.

“Human changes to the environment often increase the intensity and frequency of flooding… ” - Wikipedia, Flood, Paragraph 1.

^ This can connect to the impact the Federation had on him, before and after Rorke being dropped.

The thing about floods is that they can sweep you off your feet, not in a good way, obviously.

The flood is going one way and it’s not afraid to take you with it.

It hits you where you’re actually the weakest, making you stumble and appearing when you least expect it.

The flood in the game occurred due to the dam breaking.

Rorke seems to be a “go with the flow” type of person. Something goes wrong, all he can do is keep trying to reach his goal (assuming he hasn’t already made a Plan B).

Floods can cause a lot of damage and take more lives than one may expect. He’s made his impact within the game, the way he killed Elias, making the Ghosts(especially David and Logan) want to avenge their former captain which led to even more shit happening.

Kick, Tornado

This one I can’t explain but it just feels right.

Maybe because he flies a helicopter?

Also when I was looking at wikipedia about cyclones I found something interesting.

“Mesocyclones, tornadoes, and dust devils lie within the smaller mesoscale.” - Wikipedia, Cyclone, Paragraph 1

If you recall from Ajax’s HC above, basically ajax is a big cyclone and Kick can be like a smaller scale cyclone I guess. I just like the idea of that (plus Kick is the shortest of the Ghosts)

Neptune, Storm

I’m just gonna leave this here for inclusion’s sake.

Neptune has next to nothing on his wiki page so I’m just gonna give him something more basic.

I almost gave him volcano but that felt like too much.

We appreciate all the Ghosts here <3

Riley… Riley

He’s a natural disaster of his own, special type.

Have you seen the way he rips peoples throats out?

We stan Riley, the sweet bloody boi <3

[jokerislandgirl32]

The Wild Kratts Fanon Wiki Is Funny

I looked at the Wild Kratts Fanon Wiki, and I must say it crushed my soul as a history major. I was nearly crying over it 😆. It has so many blatant inaccuracies, and I realized I must show my findings to you all because, to be honest, they are pretty hilarious.

Let’s use Zach’s page as the example, we’ll start with the quick facts:

Family First!

So he’s married to Donita, Gourmand is his adoptive brother, and he’s got a kid, wow, good to know…And I am assuming these are his supposed “parents?”

This is the only Parin I could find, she is a 12 year old child from a video game called Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure. And the only Kermit I know is this guy…so whoever wrote them as his parents, I have no words…except: gross!

Now let’s go to his moral alignment and enemies!

So unless you missed it he is now good! And his true enemy is Zeke Varmigeek! You know, his evil clone, like Toodles, we’ve seen him in the show right??? You haven’t? We’ll go back and watch it! He’s “there.”

Time for some Zach Trivia!

So he has cankles (misspelled in wiki) in the pilot..

Hmmm, maybe, come on Zach, show us some leg! *sexy song starts playing*

He loves them…yeah, I can see that love right here… 🎶 Can you feel the love tonight! 🎶

(It’s the power suits, but the man has similar reactions regardless of whether it’s the suit or bros activating the creature powers).

Now this I need to see, Zach driving a car, Zach eating tuna…he’d probably wreck the car, and he admits he’s more of a chicken guy.

Final his Physical Appearance!

Did I saved the best for last, or what?

See below cut (if you are comfortable) for a slightly suggestive comment (nothing too crude!)

BTW: Zach is highly offended, here he is showing how b- *gets bitch slapped by myself*

[samobservessonic]

New Knuckles story and I’m over the moon because Nigel Dobbyn has finally joined us in the main comic as an artist! Look at how pretty this looks! With Kitching on the writing that means we’ve got a double Nigel comic

Yeah, I’m going to count “I’m shattered!” as another coin the in British jar

Knuckles heads off to Megopolis to check out the disturbance, which he equally thinks could be dust in the system, but wants to be safe. Also, they bring up Knuckles’s people coming back more than I remember them doing. I always thought they just said that when Knuckles was introduced and then dropped it until the Sonic Adventure arc, but I guess not

Future robot friend! I really like the design of these robots. I know I’ve said before that a lot of the non-game robot designs were misses for me, but these ones really do look great

Still, for the moment they are not friends

“Masonry can’t speak!” really tickled me for some reason. But more importantly, from the look of that fist, we’ve got a bigger matter to focus on right now…

…It’s Dr. Zachary!

If you don’t know of him, then you probably will know of how the echoes of his character influenced the franchise. It’s speculated that he may have been the inspiration for the Archie Sonic character Dr. Finitevus, who in turn was possibly the inspiration for the Sonic Chronicles character Imperator Ix. And while he’s based on an entirely different egg-laying Australian mammal, it’s possible that IDW Sonic’s Dr. Starline was inspired by a soup of all of the above characters. So there you have it! A lot of stuff in different parts of the Sonic franchise have (admittedly unconfirmed) origins that could stem back to this one echidna guy There’s also something on the wiki about how he might be associated with the Wechnia glitch, which I don’t really know enough about to comment on. I always just thought he was coloured white to show he was an older echidna, along with that face scruff. And I’m not sure if Kitching knew about the Wechnia glitch? There’s probably a lot of folks out there more knowledgeable on that than me tho But who exactly is Dr. Zachary? He’s only just turned up, after all. Given that all those other characters I’ve mentioned who might’ve been inspired by him are villains, you can probably guess how this is going to go. Regardless, we’ll get back to these two next issue

[thebunniesgrim]

Helluva boss needs to slow down  

I know I know take of the century I'm so big brained  

What I mean is the show is too excited  

Its given us some good episodes sure but goodness  

(You just can’t top Ozzie's there will never be a better episode and I'm trying cope frankly)  

I understand that as a show grows older and is still in development things change visions shifts yeah, I got it.  

But Viv has said that that she plans for Helluva Boss to have multiple seasons like at least 3 or so she has time to work out all her ideas  

Why is she rushing?   

like slow down babes the show isn't going anywhere

This show is so excited to get to the fun stuff they don’t want to build it up. They want Stolas and Blizto’s slow burn and love story but don’t want to really build them up as people outside their relationship or even together in the relationship. anytime blitzo and Stolas hangout together its whenever some other 3rd party is around. In LooLoo Land its Octavia, in Ozzie's its moxxie and Millie, and in Seeing Stars its Octavia again I mean at this point she’s the catalyst for their relationship. When they don’t have someone else involved its sex for the book. Bltzo and Stolas haven't hanged out in a meaningful way. Without sex  

I saw in a tumbler post that in the Helluva boss poster the fact that Stolas is bigger on the poster than the main characters who are small and off to the side. It really tells you how the show is going so far.  

And it's true so?  

If you knew nothing about Helluva boss and saw that poster you’d think Stolas was a main character, the protagonist, or the villain.  

Stolas is in 90% of the episodes and is a side/supporting character, at least that’s what the wiki says.  

A supporting character is supposed to not be important to the main plot but still helpful to the protag  

The folks behind Helluva boss are picking favorites and you can tell in the eps  

How come we didn’t get to Moxxie’s family life till season 2? a main character! But we got to see Stolas family life? A supporting character? and we see his wife her reaction to the cheating, his daughter and her view on the situation. But we don’t know about Moxxies family till season 2 or Millies family where it’s dropped to focus on Moxxie and Striker and the pain games (Sally Mae wasn’t in the pain games).  

Helluva boss made it seem like from episode one it was going to be about a trio of imps and a hellhound going to the human world to kill people for sinners and how many times did they do that? Let's see 

Murder family   

C.H.E.R.U.B. 

Truth seekers off screen at the being (I'm assuming because why would they be on earth as a group? the only people I think who’d go on earth to fuck around is Blizto and Loona)  

And  

Ozzie's off screen at the beginning  

Imp has only done their job like what? A few times? On screen that we’ve seen  

The synopsis of the show says according to IMDb says: 

And then the wiki says:  

Like what is this show about? because we haven't got what we were promised like?  

Like I get that helluva Boss is a satirical show and we aren't supposed to really be reading into it but what is it satirizing? hell? Office shows? What?  

Even “edge” adult shows have some semblance of structure or plot you know? Like Rick and Morty or smiling friends (can't wait for more episodes tbh) 

Rick and Morty didn't have an episode about not physically going to alternate universe still what? Ep 8 season 1? I could be wrong  

And Smiling Friends didn’t have Pim and Charlie do their job (I.e., making someone smile) still the Halloween episode or if you don’t count holiday episodes. Episode 5 Who Violently Killed Simon S. Salty   

They stick to the structure of the show for a few episodes and then do other stuff you know?  

Helluva boss was like nah speed run! And did the other stuff in the second episode and didn’t return to it till ep 4. I don’t count Spring Broken because it doesn’t really feel like they're doing their job basically it's not the same set up of sinner comes to them, tell them back story, they go to earth shenanigans ensue, and they kill the target. They've only done their job twice on screen  

Even non adult shows like  

Wonder Over Yander (I'd love another season) they don’t have a story not about Wonder or Syliva till season 1 episode 7 about Westley  

Steven Universe didn’t have a townie episode till episode 5  

In the episodes about killing, we could have gotten more intel on how the characters feel about their job. How they feel about each other and stuff  

Also, this show can't take plot points seriously or do good foreshadowing or set up  

Ok so Ozzie’s my favorite episode I love it :) 

But  

So stolas and Bilzto have a falling out in the end of the episode.

gasp drama!  ikr?

But here’s the thing they messed up the flow with Seeing Stars let me explain (studios)  

It makes since to me that they wouldn’t talk the next episode sure give them time to stew in their misery. sure  

So, the next episode is Queen Bee, then The Circus all goes good gives us some backstory cool  

it's going well... Until  

Uh no

Oops

Fuck 

Seeing Starts where Stolas and Blizto are just talking to each other like normal like nothing is happening between them  

and  

Don’t say they're worried about Octivia because if that’s the problem they get sidetracked so much and Stolas just forgets about his daughter.  

Like instead of just killing the humans stopping them from getting to Octivia. you're telling me that Blizto couldn’t shoot the van door open? Or overtook the drivers and drove around LA?  

Press x to doubt bitch  

Also, the fact that Stolas “has his ways” to find blitzo without his book he couldn’t use that to find Octavia? Really?  

I'm starting to think they aren't royalty. More like upper middle class you know that family with a 2 story house and pool you feel me?  

Because you're telling me that you “need” security to a theme park but you're only child and heir is out here magically unsupervised? wow  

Also, Stolas hasn’t taught Octava how to use the book. You would think that with how many hits he has out for his head he’d teach Octavia to use the book by now. Stolas started when he was like 7? Just saying  

Anyways what I'm saying is they fucked up the flow for western energy.  

If they didn’t have Seeing Stars there it would have been fine frankly  

Also  Stolas getting hospitalized and being fine in Opps was much a slap in face  

Like homeboy was fucked up right?  

Like leg messed up  

arm broken  

he was stab! With a holy weapon!  

And 1 episode later he’s fine... what? You almost died dude! Are you not traumatized? Worried about your daughter? No? Ok.  

And then the conflict in Ozzie's gets resolved through text  

>laugh track<

Also set up for like villains is kinda screwy  

So, first 

Villains we haven't seen again  

The Cherubs and D.O.R.K.S. we haven’t seen then since episode 4 and 6 respectively we don’t know where they are or what they're up to at all.  

The cherubs are a direct conflict to they’re business and the dorks are literally a threat if they catch them all of hell is in trouble and Stolas, Blizto, Moxxie, Mille and Loona (possibly Octivia and Stella if they know about it) are like fucked and will most likely be killed by higher ups for putting everyone in danger. Idk seems more important than Blizto and Stolas sex life  

(Also, if heaven and hell exist for a fact does that mean in the Helluva and Hazbin verse does that mean there are people in hell who didn’t believe in the Christan God? Also, what if they were good people? no wonder hells overcrowded) 

It's fine if they did a villain of the week thing like the powderpuff girls but in PPG the villains came back! No matter how irrelevant or lame (unless it’s the cooties kid then sure also did that episode make anyone else uncomfortable as a kid?)  

Now Villains that did comeback 

Striker, Stella and Crimson or the S.S. Crim. as I call them  

heh you know like a boat :)

So stella was obviously a villain from the start but she didn’t openly threat stolas till Western energy as well as Striker that was his grand entrance. So stella and striker were a threat and stella didn’t show back up still and pose a threat till like 4 or 5 episodes later. Striker didn’t come back till like what 7 or 8 episodes later lol and Crimson only had to wait 2 episodes to come back. Quickest we have so far honestly.  

(also, we were rob of more robot Fizz I like the way they made his voice it was fun to listen to)  

And the reason they came back is because they're popular! And favorites of the fandom and the writers and the creator  

No one's making horny fan edits of the dork agents no one's putting the cherubs in their favorite characters list unless its Collon because Collon is cutest of the 3 so... they got that going for them  

But other than that  

They most likely aren't coming back and if they do color me surprised  

The show keeps setting up problems and setting up major events then just not doing anything with them  

Like?  

If Helluva Boss slowed down then Western energy could have been a perfect way to wrap up Ozzie's, made a call back to Blitzo’s trip in Truth Seekers, and foreshadowed Oops.  

Imagine  

The episodes are  

Ozzie's(the best episode) , Queen Bee, circus, (get rid of Seeing stars put it in season one or hold off) Exes and Oohs, then western energy 

Give Stolas and Blizto some room to brood over what happened at Ozzie's  

(throw unhappy campers somewhere in there if you have too)  

Stolas moxxie and Mille just got done fighting Striker to save Stolas (so many s’ in one place lol) or better yet Blizto by himself saving Stupid ass I mean Stolas. Oops sorry  

Because let's be honest the hospital scene was unneeded and Moxxie and Millie could have took Loona to the hospital. It wasn’t a bonding moment between Loona and Blizto it was a waste of animation and time.  

Blizto (and the M&M’S) are fighting Striker having some witty banter back and forth. Striker playing into Blizto’s insecurity about the relationship with Stolas to the point the background of the cave is becoming goopy before fixing itself and they win agent striker as he flees to spouts “I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too!” setting up his return in Oops before one more cheap shot at Stolas maybe dropping a stalactite on Stolas or shooting Stolas with Holy bullet in a place that’s not fully lethal.  

Have stolas think he’s actually going to die from his injuries to keep Stolas from passing out or to stay conscious or whatever have Blizto talk to him (if moxxie and Mille are there have them drive and Blizto is the back with stolas). Stolas is using what little life he has left to apologies to Blizto fully say he’s sorry for getting him in this situation, sorry he put in a situation he doesn’t want to be in for his business, sorry for being embarrassed at Ozzie’s, sorry for treating him like a play toy. Yada yada yada yada  

Have Blizto be covered in the goop from his trip and have some of it drip on Stolas. The person he views as untouchable and clean being corrupted and stained by his goop.  

Have Blizto try to reassure Stolas that he’s going to be ok and that he’s not going to lose him too. Have green flames subtly lick at the background and foreground as he stares at stolas slowly dying. He’s going to lose him but he’s not going to let what he has with Stolas slip from him like his mother, sister, Fizz, Verosika, etc. He’s going to save him like he couldn’t save his mom or Fizzarolli. maybe have the voices from truth seekers whisper failure, loser, and other demeaning things to bilzto.  

Have Blitzo declare he isn't going to let Octavia go through what he went through with the loss of his mom. When they get to the hospital and help is on the way have Blizto about to say something to him like “we’re at the hospital everything is going to be ok” before his sentence cuts off and Stolas is unconscious and unresponsive. Have Blizto yell his name a few times heart broken and worried as the nurses and doctors whisk him away. And a single feather from stolas falls infront of Blitzo as he whispers “please be ok” or a soft sorry  

But hey I’m not writer or showrunner so hey what do I know  

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[teecupangel]

We got to see Evor find a kind of peace or alliance with Havi. Do you ever think about how, after killing Juno, there is no way in hell Elijah will have that. That boy is going to be fighting Aita tooth and nail for the rest of his life and I don't see Aita making it easy for him. In fact, I see him as the kind of person willing to destroy everything as long as it takes his wife's killer down with him.

My personal headcanon it that Elijah’s genetic lineage served to amplify his resistance to losing his body to Aita’s memories.

Like, Valhalla, Mirage and Aita’s Sages showed the different fates a Sage can have.

They can buckle under pressure and go half mad like Valka’s mother.

Completely destroy their own psyche (although there were external forces who pushed that along) like Sigurd.

Or have their personality be rewritten like Basim.

Eivor had 2 versions of this.

The base game showed Eivor locking Odin out and this is something we’ve seen before with an Aita Sage Jacques de Molay who used his visions of Aita’s past to write his codex and suggest a more financial approach to world domination. He made no plans to find Juno or have any manic glee like Roberts or John Standish.

The final episode (or whatever that’s called) has the whole ‘inner peace’ thing and I headcanon that they grew to find peace (or atleast a truce) because Eivor left the only place they called home and was lonely. Whether Odin was truly trying to be kind or this was a ploy to get Eivor to lower their guard for him to take over is up in the air.

Going back to Elijah, my personal headcanon is that Aita wasn’t able to take a hold of Elijah’s mind because of both his genetic lineage and his willpower.

His will to remain human is further amplified by his hatred for Juno who, in many ways, caused the death of his mother to get him (it was Abstergo, sure, but many of the Templars were Juno’s pawns from the beginning).

Elijah never had an actual talk with Aita like Eivor. In some ways, he probably had a similar experience to Basim where Loki's memories appeared like a djinn BUT not have a similar experience to Basim where Loki took the form of Nehal.

To Elijah though, Aita has long been appearing like the boogeyman under his bed.

He said it so himself in the wiki

"What if your brain was already somehow different? What if you'd already learned to ignore and control voices, visions, in your head? Well then, maybe you could push him [Aita] down, just enough to access the things that he knows."

So we can say that Elijah is more of a case like Jacques de Molay who was able to keep Aita at bay, using his memories for his own benefit.

That doesn’t mean that Aita can’t try to take control after Juno’s death though.

Who knows, maybe the reason why we’ve never heard about Elijah since he faked his own death was because he’s off battling Aita internally.

It's gonna be a tough task though considering Elijah just showed that he's both stubborn and merciless.

(and not because Ubisoft is deliberately ignoring him when there have been many situations where Elijah could have been given a major role in the modern day story)

[averageartistamber]

So, my thoughts on Side Order

Okay, so Side Order’s been out for a few days, so I may as well give out my thoughts on it. Obviously, this post is going to contain spoilers below as I go into more detail about my opinions and observations.

I’ve completed four runs so far (almost got five but failed near the end).

Overall, Side Order’s pretty good. It’s a lot of fun, a little rough in some areas, but worth the wait.

 First, let’s talk about mechanics.

Splatoon’s gameplay works well with a rogue-lite gameplay loop, and it’ll easily keep you occupied for at least a couple of hours (Some folks have 100% completed it on release day, but for the average player I’d reckon maybe 15-20 hours?). The permanent upgrade system allows a degree of control over the difficulty (even if it can be a grind to unlock things).

The chip system is cool, especially later on when you’ve made some really goofy yet strong builds. The Pearl Drone is some of the most fun stuff we’ve seen in the series so far. Letting her be almost as overpowered in the gameplay as she is in the lore is just really funny.

One thing that I feel does bring it down though, is the lack of variety. After a few hours you do start to notice that there’s only about five different floor objectives, and there’s not that much in terms of enemy variety either (although later floors add a mechanic where Battering Lentos can carry other Jelletons around on their backs…Which is a thing. Definitely would have preferred a few new guys instead.)  

As for the Jelletons…they’re…eh. They don’t really have the charm of the Octarians or Salmonids, but the devs seem to have intentionally singled out some of the worst aspects of those enemy rosters to design these dudes. With such a small bestiary, about half of them are annoying “screw those guys” (the flying sprinkler assholes and the Stinger But Even Worse dudes come to mind)…Which I’m not sure if that’s bad game design or really good game design honestly. They do their job as obstacles and video game enemies, and the designs are solid.

At least it’s not reskinned Octarians again.

There only really being five different bosses, with three in “rotation” (and one you only fight once), which honestly feels like a huge wasted opportunity. Would have been cool to have maybe a handful more options. Maybe even have an exclusive boss for each palette on Floor 20 where Eight has to fight a screwed-up version of whoever the palette represents. In this case Parallel Canon would be exclusive to Agent 4, and Marina would have a slightly buffed version of her fight, maybe with a different barrier mechanic to differentiate her from Overlorder.

And as always, the soundtrack absolutely slaps.

Not sure if I’m personally going to bother with 100% completion, since apparently the reward is a few secret lore files that I’ll probably find and read from the wiki or something.

Story, Lore and Characters

The story is serviceable, it’s pretty much what you’d expect from Splatoon’s storytelling at this point. There’s interesting stuff there which either isn’t explored in detail or is relegated to background lore files you can unlock and read. That being said, the lore we got is cool. Like, we all guessed that the Spire of Order was some kind of VR thing Marina made, and finding out she made it in order to heal victims of KamaboCo and restore the sanitised is both in-character and a very nice tying of ends from Octo Expansion.

I will say that if you haven’t played or are otherwise aware of the plot of Octo Expansion, some things might not make the most sense (ie. you’ll probably scratching your head over who the hell Acht is and why they’re neon green.) so it’s best experienced after reading or watching a video on the previous DLC to have the full context.

Thank Cod they didn’t make Marina the villain or have her be locked away for most of the game waiting to be rescued. Although she did get put under mind control, which I kinda expected…Seems to be at least one the Story Writer’s favourite trope at this point. Or just an odd choice of running gag. This story feels more character-focused than events and plot-focused, so not much really “happens”, but we get some substantial character interactions that make up for it.

The limited cast of characters works very well in the story’s favour. Adds to the weird lonely and isolated vibe of the Memverse. Pearl and Marina are great as usual, and there’s a surprising amount of scenes and dialogue for Pearlina shippers to lose their minds over. Acht/Dedf1sh is an effective straight man to all this, providing a foil to the other characters. The vibe of “Can we please talk about literally anything else” after the aggressive Pearlina banter is entertaining. It’s just really cool that the background musician characters are starting to get more relevance.

Cipher doesn’t do very much, but might have one of the best character designs in the franchise so far. It’s alright (I think the character uses It/It’s pronouns).

On the other hand, I personally think Order/Smollusk might be the weakest of the Splatoon big bads. They don’t really have the charisma and backstory intrigue of Octavio, the presence and build-up of Mr.Grizz (who to be fair had two a whole game prior to his stint as a villain) or the menace/“creep factor” of Commander Tartar.

In fact, Order kinda feels like a toned-down or Bowdlerised Tartar, as in which Order’s goal is similar and similarly horrifying, but they haven’t been getting away with it for god knows how long and you don’t ever see the result of their plans, (No ghastly Bad Ending cutscene of everyone getting their minds destroyed by the Memverse or anything), unless you count the thing they turned Marina into. I guess the whole Virtual Reality setting makes them feel like less of a threat? Maybe it’s just me.

And I dunno if this is just localisation weirdness, but did they HAVE to make his weakened form converse in Uwu-speak?

Although this seemingly isn’t what happens, I do quite enjoy the idea of Order/Smollusk slowly getting rehabilitated and redeemed as the gang hangs out with him (and kicks his ass) several times. Unfortunately, dude seems to be really clinging hard to the “Evil Overlord” shtick, which ultimately turns the character into a one-note laugh when we could’ve had a fun little arc.

One more thing about characters….

WHERE IN THE FRESHLY FRIED AND FILLETED FLIPPER-FLOPPER IS AGENT FOUR!?

The fact that they have a sort-of presence (being the Splattershot is explicitly called Agent Four’s Palette and not, like, Squidbeak Splatoon Palette, as well as the Parallel Canon boss) really seemed to be hinting at Agent Four making a physical appearance. Maybe it’s cut content? Maybe they’ll find their way into the Memverse in an update (like with Callie in 2’s Hero Mode)?

Them being the only Agent not to appear in Splatoon 3 just kinda sucks. Like, even Nintendo themselves seem to in on the joke with them being the un-favourite (see the “supposed to be a [BIG SHOT]” line from Pearl). But I really hope that one day Agent Four gets to be something that’s a bit more than a joke, y’know?

…So this ended up being way longer than I thought it would be. Might come back and maybe discuss some of the new lore a bit more, but that’s my thoughts about Side Order. I ended up really enjoying it, and I’m pretty excited to see if this leads to more experimental stuff with Splatoon going forwards. I’d give it a 7/10.

[cocogum]

Gon was born in 1988.

One thing that always bothered me about the 2011 version, was how they made Gon and Killua say that they were exactly 12 instead of saying “almost 12”.

Now I know I shouldn’t be complaining about something so small and insignificant.

But I’m still going to.

When I saw these two saying they were 12 instead of saying that they were almost 12, it irked me because I knew the math wouldn’t be right. If they were actually 12, then they’d be born in 1987 making the timeline of the story incorrect and changing the whole story by taking off a year of it.

By changing one detail and making it look like another, you mess up something bigger than just a character’s age. When it comes to what year hxh takes place in, we have to rely on what we’ve got since the story doesn’t say it for us but simply gives us clues and hints.

But that’s not the point here. The point that I’m trying to make is that every time his year of birth pops up on his bio, it shows the year 1987 instead of 1988. At first, I didn’t think much about it, since I knew the wiki was talking about his anime counterpart. But when people started using the year 1987 for his official birthday, it just felt too messy and unorganized for me so that’s why I’m making this to not only help myself to remember but also if anyone has had the same problem I had.

So let’s begin.

Gon was born on May 5th, XXXX.

At the very beginning of the series, Gon, Leorio, Kurapika and Killua take the 287th hunter exam on January 7th and took exactly 8 days for them to finish it (so from January 7th to January 15th). Specifically in chapter 6, Killua asks Gon how old he is. The boy tells him he’s almost 12 to which Killua also says the same thing (like seriously dude u could’ve just said 11 instead of saying “almost 12” like why complicate yourself???)

So now we know the main character’s age during this time period which was 11.

Next, when the main four finally reunite on September 1st (Kurapika joins them just a bit later) in the Yorknew City arc, Gon and Killua are finally 12 since their birthdays (May 5th for Gon and July 7th for Killua) passed already.

Let’s fast forward a little.

In chapter 146, Bisky tells Gon and Killua that the new year is almost there, specifically stating that it is currently December 29th.

(This scene also helps us to know that the Hunter exam usually stops accepting participants on the 31st of December.)

Just a bit later during the same chapter, when Killua exits the game to apply for the hunter exam a second time, we see a sign hanging from a store building which conveniently just happens to show us the exact year of when this is all occurring as well as the month and the day. According to the sign, the date is said to be December 29th, 1999.

(Not only do we get the full date but we also get the time too which is 15:08 aka 3:08 pm.)

We know this scene takes place on December 29th since Bisky confirmed it on the panel just above this one so we can trust this building sign for giving us an exact answer on the year and time this is taking place in.

Since every hunter exam starts on January 7th (the application deadline ends on December 31st), Killua would have passed the 288th hunter exam on the seventh day of the new year (since he instantly beat everyone on the first phase).

Now we go even further into the timeline.

If we fully skip the full chimera ant arc and go right to the scene where Gon’s at the hospital, we get to see a doctor in chapter 316 explaining to Knuckle and Knov the situation that Gon is currently in. While explaining to them the severity of his condition, we can see the doctor privately commenting on how he’s shocked to see that a 12-year-old boy turned out like this in just one day.

(So apparently 4 months have passed during the chimera ant arc cuz why the hell would that doctor say he’s 12 if it took the hunter team more than four months to win against the ants??)

Fast forward again.

The 289th hunter exam occurs only this time, instead of starting on January 7th like usual, it got postponed to a later date so that the Hunter association could gather the necessary resources to help Beyond Netero and the Kakin Empire to properly accompany them to the Dark Continent. Even though we don’t know when this specific hunter exam eventually started, we know that it ended on July 3rd which makes Gon 13 years old (and eventually Killua as well since his birthday is only 4 days later).

So there we go.

Gon is 13 years old in 2001 (which is the current year that the story is taking place in) and his complete birthdate is May 5th, 1988.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix Recap: Port Royal (He's a Pirate)

First of all, credit to Mudarrow and KH Wiki.

Second of all, I forgot to mention this: To complete the Titan Cup in Jiminy’s Journal, you need to finish with a score of 5000 or more. All you have to do to unlock it is clear the Hades Cup.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled recap.

In order to reunlock the last three Disney Worlds, we’re gonna have to clear Port Royal first.

The game opens on the stone chest that holds the cursed Aztec gold.

X of Organization XIII appears to be very interested in the cursed medallions.

The cutscene ends as he approaches the chest.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive at the Rampart, and Goofy notices that something (I’m guessing sound, but this isn’t a voice acted cutscene) is coming from the port.

Sora suggests they check it out, and the player is given control of Sora.

Progressing to the Harbor reveals that Captain Jack Sparrow has gotten into a tussle with some Undead Pirates.

“Zola! Some assistance!” the Captain shouts over his shoulder.

“That’s SORA, Donald, and Goofy!” Sora corrects, even though Jack only got his name wrong (in the novelization, him getting SDG’s names wrong is a running gag).

“Will ye leave a mate to perish?” Jack asks as “He’s a Pirate” starts playing.

“Aye-aye,” Sora deadpans, before running into battle to help him.

Captain Jack Sparrow rejoins the party, and you just have to defeat all the pirates to progress.

After the last undead pirate falls, Sora notes that the pirates were cursed.

“I thought we’d seen the last of the curse of the Aztec gold…” Sora remarks as he, Donald, and Goofy turn to Jack Sparrow, “What gives?”

“Some scallywag must’ve got greedy,” Jack theorizes.

SDG give him a Look.

“Oh I see,” he remarks, “You don’t trust me, do you?”

Donald and Goofy nod.

“Likely a wise choice,” Jack praises, “I AM a pirate, mates.”

“Jack! Sora!”

Elizabeth runs up to Jack and our trio of heroes.

Sora greets her, while a thought bubble reveals that Jack is aware that she’s going to try and get him involved in “sticky business”.

Elizabeth stops him from leaving, and explains that the cursed pirates have returned.

“Will had to find out why…” she elaborates, “so he went to Isla de Muerta – to check on the Aztec treasure.”

She’s not seen him since then, and so asks the others to take her to him.

Jack tells her to do it herself, much to her unamused reaction.

She reminds him (in a dry tone you don’t need voice acting to hear) that it would require sailing to a faraway island and fighting off cursed pirates.

“Well, if any lass could…” Jack starts.

“Are you sure he’s in trouble?” Sora asks.

“No, not certain,” Elizabeth admits, “But he’s been gone far too long.

“I wanted to go with him, but he insisted I stay here.

“I can’t just sit and wait! I’ve got to know if he’s all right.”

Jack remarks that Will is a lucky man, but wants to know what’s in it for him if he helps Elizabeth.

Elizabeth responds by pointing out that Jack still owes Will for saving his life, and Jack finally agrees to help.

In order to progress, you need to head onto the dock, at which point Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jack Sparrow, and Elizabeth will automatically board the Black Pearl.

You can pick up a few Puzzle Pieces (since you can actually explore the Black Pearl for the first time), and then talk to Jack Sparrow to access the ocean map.

Select Isla de Meurta as your destination to continue.

After dealing with the enemy ambush, a cutscene plays.

Goofy looks off over the open ocean.

“Interceptor off the starboard bow!” he shouts.

Our heroes (and Jack) rush up to see the ship lazily drifting towards them, and Elizabeth notices Will’s unconscious body draped over the side of the ship.

She calls out his name, and Jack pays his respects.

“Stop that, Jack,” Elizabeth snaps, “We’ve got to rescue him!”

In the hold of the Black Pearl, Elizabeth wakes Will up.

“Elizabeth…”

“What happened?” she asks.

“The medallions… and… the stone chest – someone’s taken them…” Will explains, “Next thing I knew, we were attacked… but I couldn’t see who it was – his face was shrouded… in a black hood.”

“The Organization!” Sora remarks.

“We found a way out of the cave…” Will continues, “but the villain sent a horde of terrible creatures after us… I’ve never seen their likes before…

“I think I’m the only one who made it back to the ship…”

“Will…”

“Elizabeth… I feel rather…”

Will passes out again.

“Our turn, guys,” Sora remarks.

“You’d best go prepared,” Elizabeth replies, “We’ve no idea what’s out there.”

“Pardon me, lads and lass,” Jack intercepts, “but your captain will have no monsters today.

“Thank ye. We’re turning for home.”

“Just like that?” Elizabeth asks as Jack turns to walk towards the deck.

“Just like that!” Jack answers.

I suggest you save before going above deck.

Jack Sparrow is taken aback the second he steps onto the deck of the Black Pearl.

“Don’t remember invitin’ you,” he remarks.

The camera cuts to reveal the stone chest of Aztec gold on the deck, with X emerging from a Corridor of Darkness right next to it.

“So it was the Organization,” Sora states, “We’ll handle this!”

X briefly holds up a hand, then starts pacing and talking.

“The darkness of men’s hearts – drawn to these cursed medallions;” he opens, “and this Heartless – a veritable maelstrom of avarice:”

A large, skeletal, ghost-like Emblem Heartless, wielding a scythe-like pendulum, materializes behind him.

“I wonder, are they worthy to serve Organization XIII?”

“You want an answer now?” Jacka asks as “Sinister Shadows” starts playing.

“Precisely!” X answers as he vanishes through a Corridor of Darkness.

Cue boss battle with the Grim Reaper.

It can only attack by swinging its scythe around itself. It can also teleport to try and avoid damage.

Defeating it grants Sora Horizontal Slash (Unleashes a powerful attack that hits a target from left to right during a midair combo with [guard button]), Donald +4 Max HP, Goofy Draw (attract dropped items and prizes from a greater distance), and Jack Sparrow +15 Max HP.

The defeated Heartless falls into the ocean.

“Oh boy!” Donald cheers.

“Not over yet!” Sora reminds him, as X is standing behind the stone chest.

The Nobody pulls back his hood, revealing him to have blond hair and a beard, plus five earrings, two on his left ear, three on his right. All in all, probably the most normal-looking member of Organization XIII.

This is Luxord, and I promise you that you aren’t pronouncing that name correctly.

“Throw him overboard!” Captain Jack Sparrow orders.

“Aye-aye!” Sora agrees.

“Parley!“ Luxord declares.

“’Scuse me?” Jack replies.

“Barley?” Goofy questions.

“It’s a bit of a pirates’ code,” Jack explains, “Anyone who invokes ‘parley’ must not be harmed ‘til negotiations are complete.”

“This is no time for rules!” Sora protests.

“True,” Jack concedes, “But as we’re honorable pirates we should always stick to the Code.” He turns his attention to Luxord. “All right you, out with it!”

“I surrender the chest with my humblest apologies,” Luxord answers.

“Rather accommodating of you, mate,” Jack replies, “And for that you want…?”

“Just a few souvenirs…” Luxord answers as he reaches into the chest, “for the memories!”

“Huh?” Jack replies.

Luxord throws four cursed medallions into the air, letting four of his personalized Nobody subordinates grab one each and scatter over the edges of the ship.

“Oh no!” Goofy shouts, “We can’t stop the curse unless we have all the medallions!”

“Our friend’s about to learn what it means to cross a pirate,” Jack seethes.

“Oh?” Luxord questions as the ship rumbles.

The Grim Reaper bursts from the ocean, now rotten and surrounded by three ghostly skulls (each one alight with blue flames).

“Sora! Donald! Goofy!” Jack shouts, “He’s yours!”

The Grim Reaper swings its scythe, hitting Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack Sparrow with a powerful gust of wind that sends them flying onto the Interceptor.

Luxord raises a hand.

“Fire!”

The Black Pearl’s cannons fire.

Will and Elizabeth step up on deck, and are helpless to do anything but watch as the Interceptor is blown apart.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy wake up on the wreckage of the Interceptor to find Jack Sparrow is now undead.

“You stole a cured medallion again?!” Sora exclaims in disbelief.

“Were I only that fortunate…” Jack Sparrow remarks.

“Fortunate?” Donald questions.

“So, uh, how come you’re all skeleton-y?” Goofy asks.

“Perhaps I got a touch o’ somethin’ from that monster what attacked us,” Jack guesses, “Yet, why’s the skin restin’ right on you three?”

“’Cause we’re not greedy!” Donald declares, prompting Sora and Goofy to give him a funny look, “What’re you looking at?”

“That still doesn’t solve the mystery,” Sora points out.

Jack turns around and walks off, reverting back to normal when out of the moonlight.

“Gawrsh…” Goofy remarks, trying to speak quietly but failing, “Maybe the reason we’re all okay is because we’re not from this world.” Jack pauses in his step.

“There must be different laws,” Donald observes.

“Yeah… we’re always just passing through…” a dour Sora notes, “Wonder when we’ll see home again…”

“Sora…” a worried Donald speaks up.

“Heh!’ Sora forces himself to perk up, “Just kiddin’ you.

“Lucky we didn’t get cursed, huh?”

“Quit yammerin’, mates!” Jack chimes in, “We’ve got to find ourselves a ship that’ll float.”

Welcome to the Ship Graveyard. The Interceptor’s Hold has a Puzzle Piece, and a treasure chest that holds the Feather Charm.

The Feather Charm allows Sora to summon Peter Pan.

Peter flies alongside Sora and attacks enemies with his dagger. Sora’s command menu remains pretty much unchanged, outside of the “Summon” Command now kickstarting Peter’s limit.

Additionally, Tinkerbell flies around Sora, healing 5 HP every 5 seconds. Her face even appears in a tiny portrait next to Sora’s and Peter’s throughout the Summon. Just like in the first game, she can even revive Sora the first time his HP runs out while Peter Pan is summoned (although her portrait will disappear after this). It costs 3 Drive Gauges to summon him.

His Limit is “Never Land”.

Tinkerbell boops Sora on the nose as photographs of Neverland (as it was depicted in the first game) flash on screen, before he and Peter fly into the air. The “Attack” Command becomes “Tiny Fairy” (deals more damage and blows the enemies away) and the “The Flying Boy” Reaction Command becomes available (drags enemies into the air, dealing weaker-yet-constant damage).

Using them enough time produces the finisher: Journey’s End (Sora and Peter deal damage to surrounding enemies as a photograph of Sora sealing Neverland’s Keyhole appears on the screen).

Ahem, as for Port Royal itself, outside of the Ship Graveyard: Intercept’s Hull, you arrive at the Ship Graveyard: Seadrift Row. One of the items you can find here in a normal chest is the King’s Recipe, which allows you to synthesize Goofy’s strongest weapon, Save the King (+9 strength, +0 magic, Item Boost for the ability). Also, unrelated to the game itself, but KH Wiki incorrectly lists the “Queen Recipe” as necessary for synthesizing Save the King.

Once the party moves past Seadrift Row, they arrive at the Ship Graveyard: Seadrift Keep, where Donald spots one of the Nobodies Luxord sent out with the medallions.

Though the Nobody appears to be made of empty clothing in a shape vaguely reminiscent of a humanoid version of the Organization’s insignia, it is actually a Gambler one of Luxord’s servants. As this is a lone Gambler, it’s easy enough to defeat, but all Gambler’s actually have the following two Reaction Commands.

“Stop Dice” can be used when the Gambler prepares a dice attack. This starts a minigame. If Sora can activate the Reaction Command when it shows an “O”, he’ll win and be rewarded with Munny. If he activates it when it’s an “X” instead, or lets 3.5 seconds pass, he’ll temporarily be transformed into a living Dice (his own face displayed on the “one pip” face) and will be powerless to do anything but bounce around until the transformation wears off.

“Begin Game” can be used when the Gambler prepares a card attack. Sora’s Commands in the Command Menu will all be replaced with “X”-es. However, a single “O”, will rapidly move between the Command Menu’s options. Hit the “O” to win Munny and stun all nearby gamblers. Hit an “X” or let 3.3 seconds pass to transform Sora into a card instead.

With “Jackpot” they’ll drop even more Munny when you win their games, and with “Drive Converter” they’ll drop Drive Orbs instead, making them a good enemy for grinding out levels for Master Form.

When the Gambler is destroyed, it leaves behind one of the stolen medallions, with Jack revealing they only have three left to recover.

“A pirate must have a keen eye,” he explains, “Else he won’t be sailin’ free for very long. Savvy?”

Elizabeth and Will Turner sail up with the Black Pearl to pick up our heroes and Captain Jack Sparrow.

The party has recovered a Cursed Medallion and retrieved a Map of the Ship Graveyard.

In a text box cutscene, Sora explains how Organization XIII’s behind everything that’s gone wrong recently.

Goofy has no idea where they went, but Will reveals that the hooded man (Luxord, but he never said his name so only Jiminy knows that), took the pirates and his creatures with him when he left.

Thus, our party has a new objective: Track down the remaining three medallions and return them to the chest.

How do you do this?

Gamblers can be found in some of the normal enemy spawns at the Ship Graveyard or Isla de Muerta.

If the Gambler has a Medallion, you’ll have a time limit to defeat the Gambler before it automatically despawns. I don’t know if this is an automatic game over, or if it just means you have to track that specific Gambler down again, but the Gamblers aren’t particularly tough enemies either way, so the real threat will be the Undead Pirates who might protect them, as they’re COMPLETELY invincible unless you can lure them out into the moonlight.

Collecting all the medallions causes the party to automatically return to the Black Pearl, wherein they discuss what to do next.

Namely, return the medallions to the chest.

Will figures it’d be with the hooded man, and thus Sora suggests he’d take it and the Heartless to Port Royal. After all, Organization XIII is after people’s hearts.

Will is horrified at the idea of the Organization siccing the Heartless on the townspeople, and even Jack Sparrow doesn’t even BOTHER trying to contain his disgust as he notes that the Organization “makes we pirates look like proper gents!” as he’s still fed up over having somehow been cursed.

Jack doesn’t even need much convincing to go protect the people of Port Royal, as he’s just as eager as everyone else to stop whatever the Organization’s plan is.

Before you enter the boss fight, make sure Donald has Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder Magic equipped. Talk to Jack Sparrow when you’re ready, because the battle will begin as soon as you arrive in Port Royal.

Indeed, the Grim Reaper is waiting for the party as soon as they disembark from the Black Pearl, hovering above the stone chest.

“Go!” Jack Sparrow orders before running off, “He’s for me!”

The Grim Reaper chases after the captain, allowing Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Will to dump the Cursed Medallions into the stone chest.

As soon as Sora drops the medallions in, the Grim Reaper reverts back to its uncursed form.

But Jack Sparrow is still a skeleton.

It seems as if the Heartless was the source of the curse, rather than the cursed gold, and thus they’ll need to destroy it in order to lift the curse and solve the Undead Pirate Problem.

Unfortunately, right as they realize this, the Grim Reaper strikes the stone chest with its weapon, scattering several medallions and even sucking up a few in order to turn itself undead again.

Cue boss battle!

At the start of the battle, there are only 652 Medallions in the chest.  107 are held by the Grim Reaper, and the rest are scattered across the ground.

The Grim Reaper can spin its weapon above its head to create a cyclone that’ll let it suck up loose medallions. It can also direct the burning skulls orbiting its body to attack in its stead. If an attack hits Sora while he’s carrying medallions, he’ll drop his medallions, allowing the Heartless to collect them.

In order to make the Grim Reaper drop medallions, you have to use magic to make it drop them. Fire causes it to run around flailing, Thunder makes it bounce, and Blizzard freezes it in place, each attack causing it to “bleed” medallions.

Melee attacks make the Grim Reaper drop MP orbs when its in its undead form.

When Sora is near the chest, he can use the “Return” Reaction Command to put all of the Medallions he’s carrying back in the chest.

The Grim Reaper is only vulnerable when all 882 medallions are in the chest, as that reverts it back to its base form.

Once it’s vulnerable, it more or less fights exactly like it did back in its first battle, but it can ALSO strike the stone chest with a gust of wind to blow out and suck up a couple hundred medallions.

When depleted to 70% HP, it gets an extra trick while undead: It can plant itself by the chest and start sucking out even MORE medallions.

When it starts doing this, Sora needs to run up to its weapon and use the “Hinder” Reaction Command to spin around it, stopping the Medallion draining. This leads into “Loot Launch” which allows Sora to strike the heartless with its own weapon, scattering many of the medallions it had already consumed.

When the Grim Reaper is on its last legs, it will absorb ALL of the medallions and vanish into its burning skulls, supersizing the skulls so they can stomp all over the battlefield and send out fiery shockwaves. You just need to survive the onslaught.

Also, if you let it curse itself AGAIN at even lower HP, the Grim Reaper will counter the “Return” Reaction Command by planting itself near the chest to suck the returned medallions right back out, which can be used to bait it into an ideal position of using “Hinder” and “Loot Launch” to knock even MORE medallions out of it.

Defeating the Grim Reaper rewards Sora with a Magnet Element (upgrading “Magnet” to “Magnera”), Donald with Flare Force (Grants Sora access to Donald’s “Duck Flare” limit command. Donald rides on Sora’s shoulders, granting him the “Rocket Flare” Reaction Command. “Rocket Flare” sends a series of target-seeking rockets. Using Rocket Flare four times grants “Megaduck Flare” the finishing move. Donald conjures a barrage of firework rockets to home in on a single enemy and damage all the surrounding ones), Goofy gets +4 Max HP, and Jack Sparrow gets +15 Max HP.

Defeating the Heartless did indeed break the curse on Jack, but Luxord was still able to capture the Grim Reaper’s captive heart after it was defeated.

“Sora, bravo!” he praises, before vanishing into a Corridor of Darkness.

Jack Sparrow asks what his deal is, and Sora explains that he’s part of an Organization that’s collecting hearts.

“First, they release Heartless into different worlds,” Sora explains, “We defeat those Heartless. Then, they get the hearts.

“We’re never gonna stop them like this!”

“What’s the plan, then?” Jack Sparrow asks.

“We’ve got to find their stronghold and finish them off once and for all,” Sora declares.

Jack Sparrow answers, truthfully, that it’s probably the strangest tale he’s ever heard.

Will and Elizabeth ask what they can do to help, and Jack notes that there’s something they CAN do to make Sora’s job a little easier.

As the camera fades out, Secret Ansem’s Report 6 is unlocked:

My choice to befriend darkness here in the midst of nothingness was a sound one.

The moment I stared straight ahead with a calm heart, neither rejecting darkness nor fearing it, I gained a newfound power.

A superhuman power—the power of darkness.

It is likely Xehanort and the others were enraptured by this power, eventually becoming its prisoners.

I do not intend to allow my heart to be devoured by the darkness, as they did, of course.

With this new power, I uncovered a "corridor of darkness” that connects the realm of nothingness to the outside world. While it is still difficult to come and go as I please, my banishment is now a thing of the past.

To deceive Xehanort and my apprentices, I first used my power to change form before returning to the realm of light.

As I had suspected, Xehanort had become a Heartless.

Under my name, he commanded other Heartless in quests to snatch away the hearts of many different worlds.

At the center of the heart Xehanort has stolen was “Kingdom Hearts,” which attracts tremendous darkness itself and attempts to send any and all matter back into its depths.

The other five have disappeared. Have they become Heartless, like Xehanort?

Or did they vanish after Xehanort exploited them?

I became familiar with an unusual “entity” while pursuing the truth.

It is the soul and body that remain when a being loses its heart.

When a Heartless is born, these entities disappear from the realm of light, to be reborn as entirely new beings in a completely different realm.

Back on the high seas, Jack, Will, and Elizabeth dump the stone chest into the depths of the ocean, ensuring that it and its cursed gold will be forever lost to the abyss.

Organization XIII will never weaponize the curse again.

Jack Sparrow then claims that he only did this because he couldn’t have the Organization and the Heartless competing with pirates like him, with Elizabeth noting that they thought he was trying to help the townsfolk. Jack claims that a pirate always looks for profit first and foremost, and Sora jokingly notes that he thought he had turned over a new leaf.

“The question is, what’s beyond the leaf? Savvy?” Jack Sparrow replies.

Elizabeth realizes Jack wants a reward, and Jack confirms that he wants the Keyblade.

Sora acquiesces immediately, much to Jack’s confusion and suspicion, knowing immediately that there’s some kind of catch.

So, he’s not surprised at all when the Keyblade magically returns to Sora’s hand. While Sora implies that having the Black Pearl should be enough for Jack Sparrow, Jack just figures he can put together a pirate crew and take the Keyblade himself later on, figuring he’ll figure out a way to hold onto it for more than a fraction of a second by then. He notes that he’d like Will and Elizabeth to join his crew once he has the Keyblade, and Elizabeth agrees pretty much instantly, perhaps figuring that there’s no way Jack would ACTUALLY be able to take Sora’s Keyblade.

Goofy ponders that Jack might be able to wield a Keyblade himself someday, noting how similar he and Sora are (???).

“Are not!” Jack and Sora reply in perfect unison.

Cue everyone laughs ending!

Port Royal’s story closes on Jack Sparrow sailing the Black Pearl off into the distance as Will, Elizabeth, and Sora note that Jack’s the best pirate to ever sail the Spanish Main, “He’s a Pirate” playing in the background.

Back in Gummi Space, Chip and Dale pick up the same weird reading from before, noting that it gets stronger every time Sora helps somebody.

With that, Agrabah and Halloween Town have been reunlocked.

And with Magnera, we can continue Atlantica’s story. (Behind Atlantica, a massive city the size of five worlds is slowly becoming visible.) Next time, it’s back to Atlantica.

-

Honestly I like this boss battle.

Don’t get me wrong it sounds like absolute hell to playthrough but the mechanics, in theory, are neat!

Also Jack being sure that if anyone could go off on their own and save the day it’d be Elizabeth.

[cq-studios]

Haven’t posted in a hot sec and the brain rot never left, so how about some UX magic headcannons/theories (def leaning into HCs tho) with some evidence?

Before we get into the meat of this post, a quick disclaimer. I made this post with my own knowledge from playing the game (in 2020 and later) and the KHUX Wiki. I tried my best to check as much as I can but there’s just so much there’s no way every attack animation for every medal level was archived and watched by me. If I get something wrong let me know so I can make addendums.

And with that out of the way…

Have you ever noticed how flashy all the spells (and special attacks in general) in UX are? Like these kids are constantly throwing explosions and other big magical displays around. Almost all of them are akin to endgame spells in other games. Think Trinity Limit, or the BBS room clearer spells.

On top of that, from what it looks like on the KHUX Wiki, out of the levelled (-ra, -ga etc.) spells we see in other games, Cure is the only one that is stated to have different levels. The rest (Blizzard, Fire, Thunder, and Aero) are all in the “-ga” level, even on 1 star medals

^ Source ^

(Raging Blizzard isn’t actually magic, just a physical attack, still flashy tho)

So what point am I trying to make?

Well, all of this seems to point (to me at least) towards the fact that magic during this time was less controlled. And when you take into consideration the fact that it was very unlikely these kids were properly trained it kind of makes sense. It’s very likely that a lot of the magic here is figured out by the wielder themself or by another wielder who had figured it out and showed them how.

(Which is fun, since the longer the game was up the faster you got powerful spells, which in a way kinda makes it like you are learning the more impressive spells faster because other people had been wielders longer and had more time to figure things out)

The flashiness of everything can be explained by that too. I mean, they’re all kids after all. You mean to tell me that they’re not making everything as extra and explosive as possible to show off? Especially in the power centric place of Daybreak Town?

And if you’re thinking “well what about the other high level spells then? The ones in the other games”, I have an answer for you too. I was thrown a loop for a bit with that too because it doesn’t make much sense. Like even in Dark Road, in the same app, has the proper spell progression. But that got me thinking, what if the -ga versions of those 4 spells are the default and the “basic” versions of the spells are ones toned down for training.

Because when you think of it, we’ve never actually seen/played as a wielder who hasn’t had proper training, other than Player of course (and Roxas/Xion, who are exceptions, I’ll get to them). We’ve already touched on DR. The Wayfinder Trio are all trained by Eraqus, Vanitas by Xehanort. Sora is taught by Donald, Riku by Maleficent presumably (Dark Firaga is a tell for me). Roxas and Xion, while technically not being taught magic by anyone, already had some subconscious stuff from Sora.

So, you know, it’s possible.

Anyways that’s my thoughts. Probably not organized well because my brain’s not organized well today lol

I tried

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 9- Part 7

IT IS IT! WE’RE OUT! WE’VE FINISHED! FREEDOM AT LAST!!

…Wait…we’ve gotten through Obsidia Slums…I don’t think we missed anything or anywhere…AND THERE’S STILL NO AMARIA?? SHE WAS NEVER IN THERE!? Then where the heck is she!? Is she around this area!?

I think you’d better worry more about the fissures and trees blocking the way to any stores, I think that’s gonna be what’s stopping you more.

“Byxbysion”? What is that? I thought it was another gem/mineral reference, so I tried to look it up, but all I could find were pages from the Reborn Wiki and YouTube videos about the Wasteland itself (consequently, I nearly spoiled myself regarding this future area of interest, good thing I didn’t look at anything too closely).

Now, there’s bixbyite, however- is that what this is a reference to? It’s gotta be, I can’t imagine what other mineral this could be referencing (well, besides bixbite, but that’s just another name for red beryl and not really used anymore to avoid confusion with the aforementioned bixbyite). Still…definitely a choice to alter the name so much, though.

Huh? That must be the way to a different ward entirely- Coral Ward, it looks like. Is- Is Amaria down there?? If she’s not, after all of this, I think I’m going to become a Fire-type myself-

Hm- very…calm music. Sad, calm music.

Oh yeah, I remember someone from Grand Hall mentioning Coral Pier in that regard.

Too much to explain right now honey, Xera’s still on a mission!

Well, here we are- an entirely new area! Wasn’t expecting to go to a new ward any time soon, I really thought we’d find Amaria in the Slums…

Free Potions are the only things sparking joy right now, also wow this place is foggy-

Even better! Too good to use right now, but they’ll be useful way, way later! Speaking of useful- more street signs!

Fun name, but I don’t think anyone’s singing any sea shanties around these parts.

Ooh, but “Faeward” is an even neater name! But uh, more importantly- why is there just…a broken-down Gym lying around here?

Aw, but I wanted lore. :( Can the old lady standing there provide any information?

That’s…interesting, though vague. Ame did say at the start of the game something about this being the second attempt at setting up a Reborn League after…something happened several years ago. Maybe this Gym becoming all decrepit was another result of that incident? But what happened to its Gym Leader, I wonder?

There’s also this, though. And a new Pokémon Center! That’s good- means we can check up on that Egg in the PC. After speaking to…the only other NPC inside!

Riveting! Alright, let’s see what this Egg is all about, if we can even discern anything…

Oh, they gave the Egg a unique sprite! It’s not the default “cream-colored with green spots” that Eggs usually are, that’s great! That means we can try and guess what the Pokémon’ll be when it hatches!

Let’s see…it’s primarily a light blue, with a patch of darker blue to the side there, and a tiny yellow spot towards the top as well. 

Horsea can be one candidate, it’s mostly a light blue with yellowish fins, but no darker blue spots. Same with Chinchou- in fact, I think a Chinchou Egg would have more yellow on it than just that one speck. Then there’s Piplup, who’s got…kinda the opposite- mostly darker blue with lighter blue areas and a small yellow beak, but I feel like a Piplup Egg would have more to its design than just what that sprite shows. Ducklett fits the coloration a bit better, though its own yellow beak is much bigger.

So uh, I guess those are my (imperfect) predictions? Horsea, Chinchou, Piplup, or Ducklett? We’ll hatch it later and see whether I’m right or not. Let’s head back out and see what’s by the piers themselves.

…Is…Is that…Is that who I think it is…?

TEAL HAIR!! TEAL HAIR SPOTTED!! Oh and there’s a Popplio too that’s cool- TEAL HAIR WOMAN!! FINALLY!!!

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[hero-deserves-to-be-happy]

🖤👀 please?

(Also, can I just say that I love the "hot take" part of your blog image, it's so funny. Hero? Being happy?? Unprecedented!

Aww thank you so much for your ask and for playing our “Hearts for Hero” headcanons game! We really appreciate all of your support and are working on your other ask as well. We apologize for the delay on that one. It is taking a little bit because there are so many headcanons involved; however, we did want to go ahead and answer this one for you in the meantime and hope you will like it. 😊

Also we’re so glad that you enjoy our blog cover image and got a good laugh out of the “hot take” joke. We got a good laugh out of your joke about Hero being happy being unprecedented—it’s so true!! 😂 Even if it is unfortunately unprecedented, we like to think that poor Hero still deserves to be happy and will (hopefully) get to be happy again someday even if happiness is something he tends to deny himself.

As much as we want Hero to be happy around here, we both have such a deep love and appreciation for Hero angst. It was honestly a little difficult to narrow down to just one of our favorite Hero angst headcanons, especially under such broad parameters, (so please feel free to ask for more if you want).

Ultimately, we’ve decided on an angst headcanon inspired by the not-supposed-to-be-angsty art from December of the Calendar Project (official image below from the OMORI wiki):

🖤 — Hero Angst Headcanon (Warnings: OMORI spoilers)

For as long as Hero could remember, his mother had knitted him and Kel sweaters of various colors and patterns every year for the holidays. It was a family tradition, and the year before Mari passed away, Mari was invited into the tradition as well as Hero’s mom surprised both him and Mari by knitting them matching sweaters with their initials on them: H and M. They loved them—wore them off and on for most of the end of December and got lots of pictures.

When Mari passed away, one of her things that her parents gave to Hero was the sweater that matched his. Even looking at it made his heart ache so he threw it in a box with his own matching sweater and tried his best not to think about it.

Still, he missed Mari so terribly around the holidays that would sometimes get the matching sweaters out of the box he kept them in, hold them both, and cry. However, he could never bring himself to wear his ever again.

His family seemed to know the sweaters were a painful subject for Hero as well, even though they never really discussed it. The year that Mari had died was the only year that Hero’s mom didn’t give them any sweaters, even though Hero knew she had had most, if not all of them finished. Mari’s death in November was reason enough—no one really felt much like celebrating, Hero least of all, but he had never really been able to shake his suspicions that the reason his mother had skipped out on her sweater tradition that year was because she had knitted matching ones for him and Mari again, just like she had the year before, and she couldn’t bear to give Hero his without being able to give Mari hers too.

The following year, Hero had gotten a sweater from his mother with a snowflake pattern in blue, his favorite color, and he got sweaters every subsequent year after that. But his mother never gave him a sweater with his initials on it ever again. Hero honestly felt it was probably just as well. Even if she had, he probably would never have been able to bring himself to wear it.

[zaph1337]

Monster Hunter Rating 43: Ashen Lao-Shan Lung, the Rock Mountain Dragon

As promised, we’ve moved on to the Elder Dragons introduced in Monster Hunter G! There are only two of them, though, so it won’t be long before we move on to...well, Monster Hunter Freedom, actually, but there’s only one monster there, so after that we’ll be at MH2! For now, though, let’s see if slapping a new coat of paint on a monster I’m not too keen on helps its score any: say hello to Ashen Lao-Shan Lung!

(How it appears in Monster Hunter Freedom 1)

Okay, this is actually the only render of this monster on the wiki, so I’ll instead show you guys something special: the artwork of Ashen Lao-Shan Lung’s Hunting Card from the official MH trading card game!

Appearance: You’d think that something described as “ashen” would be black or gray, but Ashen Lao-Shan Lung is actually bluish, with the materials you get from it being called “azure.” If you’ve read these reviews before (or just looked at my blog theme), you know that making something blue is just about the best thing you can do to make me like it more. Granted, it’s not my preferred shade of the color, and ALSL looks more like a blue-gray, but I still like it. 8/10.

Behavior/Lore: Much like Black Diablos, ALSL are variants that get treated like subspecies, and therefore serve as further proof that the Guild needs to invest more time into education. As for what changed them, though...

They got sooty from living near volcanoes for so long.

Yes, that’s it. It’s not even a physiological change, it’s just a dragon in need of a bath. As you can probably tell, I’m not a fan of this. When I said that this monster had a coat of paint slapped onto it, I wasn’t that far off, and that’s disappointing. This very much feels like the devs wanted to add a variant/subspecies of Lao-Shan Lung, but couldn’t figure out how to truly differentiate them. so they just went with the most basic route possible.

For what its worth, the fact that ALSL spend enough time near volcanoes for their entire bodies to be covered in ash means that they give us a clue as to their habitat, something which is/was unknown for the normal kind. And it seems that they’re more aggressive than normal Lao-Shan Lungs, for some reason, ‘cause they’re described as actually attacking perches that hunters shoot them from, a detail which isn’t mentioned in LSL’s ecology on the wiki. For all I know, though, normal LSL’s could do this, too, and it just wasn’t mentioned for some reason.

Does it make sense that ALSL’s don’t behave differently from the normal kind? Yes, seeing as the difference between them is basically insignificant. Is it cool that they may reveal something about the Old Mountain Dragon’s lifestyle? Yes, because I’m a nerd who finds that sort of thing interesting. Does that excuse how little work seemed to be put into them. NO. Having the admittedly interesting qualities of Lao-Shan Lung doesn’t change the fact that they barely have their own identity in this regard. 5/10.

Abilities: The exact same as regular Lao-Shan Lung’s. Shocker. Okay, the volcanic ash coating their bodies is actually packed on pretty hard, so they’re harder to damage, and these guys do swat at hunters who annoy them, but that’s hardly a saving grace. 3/10.

Equipment: Now, THIS is where things pick up again! I liked the designs of the Lao-Shan Lung weapons, even though they didn’t always look like they fit the Elder Dragon itself, so making them blue can only be an improvement in my eyes! “But Zaph, I thought you weren’t a huge fan of the blue-gray color ALSL had. Are you sure that these’ll live up to your expectations?” To that, hypothetical reader, I say “remember when I said that this monster’s materials were ‘azure?’” To demonstrate my point, here’s the ALSL Sword and Shield, the Blue Ogre Sword!:

“Supreme Dragonsword. Causes even mountain[-]like wyverns to tremble with fear.” And it makes me very happy! The iridescent sheen complements the blue coloring perfectly, even though neither are actually present on ALSL. I’m guessing the smithies did something to the ash on the parts to make it look this way. I also like how the shield looks just like a scute from the monster’s back, albeit much smaller than normal. Next up is something that should look rather familiar, even though I never showed off this weapon type in the Lao-Shan Lung review--Dual Blades called the Demonic Flaming Pair:

The blades do look like they were plucked straight from the Long Sword, but they’re blue and I’m biased so it’s all good. Here’s some interesting lore, though: the weapon’s description calls it “[t]he master's last creation” and claims that it was “[s]o terrifying that it was sealed upon its completion.” Now, that raises some questions! Who was this master? What terrified the Guild so much that they locked the Flaming Pair up? That last question is especially intriguing to me, ‘cause nothing about ALSL's other weapons indicates any kind of lingering power that affects the user like Fatalis’ do. In fact, some of the ALSL weapons have positive-sounding descriptions, so if there’s any credence to the Flaming Pair’s description, that means that there’s something about the Dual Blades that stood out to the Guild. We’ll probably never know, though, so instead of obsessing over the matter, let’s finish the weapon discussion with a Lance called DragonSealer “Virtue”:

I love a good trident, and the shield’s cool, too. The eye patterns are intimidating, and I’d imagine that in-universe, some monsters would balk at them. As for what the description says about the weapon, “[i]t pays the highest respect, and is ideal for the proud.” I don’t know whether it pays respect to the wielder or the Ashen Lao-Shan Lung, but given the attitude the Guild tries to promote towards monsters, I’d wager it’s the latter.

So, the weapons were a smash hit, in my opinion, but what about the armor? When reviewing regular Lao-Shan Lung, I was deeply confused by how the armor seemed to have no connection to the monster itself, both in terms of color and design. Is that going to be a problem with these sets? Well, let’s find out with the Blademaster set, named Auroros/Borealis Ten:

So, the designs still don’t make a lot of sense to me (especially the women’s set; why add leggings that don’t cover the entire legs?), but by God, the colors are FANTASTIC. The blue flame pattern on the men’s set and the pink petals on the women’s pair beautifully with the armor’s blue hue, and since said hue is more thematically appropriate for ALSL than the normal LSL’s armor color was, I can look past the design discrepancy. As for the Gunner armor, it’s called Genesis/Glyph Ten, and it looks like this:

What’s really interesting about these sets is that they trade their flames and petals for entirely new accents: the men’s set has rising, churning waves, while the women’s set has trees and mountains. I don’t know why these were included on the armor, but they look so good that I honestly don’t care. Really, the only complaint I have that I didn’t voice when talking about the Blademaster set is that I think the helmet on the men’s set looks ridiculous. Hey, can’t win ‘em all.

Obviously, I think the Ashen Lao-Shan Lung equipment is phenomenal; the already impressive weapons became even cooler, and the armor sets got a huge glow-up. Sure, nothing here is perfect, but it stands head and shoulders above most of the gear I’ve talked about so far. 9/10.

Final Thoughts and Tally: While I definitely prefer Ashen Lao-Shan Lung over the normal variety, it’s not by much. It’s such a blatant copy-paste job that I dislike it for not bringing anything new to the table, but at the same time, I love the equipment and find the monster’s colors more appealing than LSL’s. I suppose with the unique way you fight these guys, they couldn’t really do much to make it massively different, but that just means it stays as mediocre as it did before. 6/10.