#i like how the special attacks have some like. combo moves

[snickeringdragon]

so a little after christmas i decided to mod my 3ds. and i got the roms for like all the ds sonic games. including chronicles. this was such a good idea im so glad i get to play such a legendary game. legendary as in bad legend but legendary nonetheless

[felassan]

Shinobi602 comments on ResetEra:

"If Anthem was a runaway success, you'd be seeing a very different BioWare right now who'd be all in on the live service model. They're running uphill because they've got goodwill they need to earn back after the fact, but its failure (plus Fallen Order's success) is what allowed them to pivot right back to what they're good at: single player character driven RPGs. Silver lining but still." [source]

User: "I don't think its unreasonable to have hoped that a Dragon Age game would have similar gameplay to previous Dragon Age games." Shinobi: "Veilguard does have similar gameplay though, just not the exact same gameplay." [source]

"Open world doesn't automatically mean better. Inquisition's open world zones were basically Bioware's response to Skyrim and anticipating that's what players wanted. The big zones were cool but they were also bloated and full of uninteresting quests. Andromeda also took Mass Effect to huge open world zones and they had the same result. It was ass and the game benefited nothing from it. It's better for Bioware to stick to what they do best which is tighter, more structured play spaces." [source]

"they'll do what they think they're good at. Inquisition was highly rated, but the big open areas were also flawed. If they felt that's not what they'll excel at, that's fine. There ARE larger open areas in Veilguard though. If that's your very strict definition on what will make the game good apparently." [source]

"If you're sole definition of a Dragon Age game is that you can take direct control of companions and a tac-cam, it's understandable. But I think it's completely false that this is somehow unrecognizable as a Dragon Age game. There are tons of different aspects that define the series outside of that." [source]

"It's been evolving and changing for over a decade." [source]

"They did say there are some "killer cameos" they're keeping secret. My mind's going to several different possibilities..." [source]

User: "Yeah, they need to wrap up this story in this game. I'm already a little annoyed that we are getting another "the veil is torn and demons are wrecking havoc" story. They cannot stretch that to a third game." Shinobi: "It's a lot more than that. It's not a repeat of Inquisition or anything." [source]

"This might genuinely be the most in depth CC in a mainstream RPG that I've seen." [source]

"Yeah this is more like Inquisition, though you could still change out companion helmets in that one." [source]

"They did confirm tavern songs are back so that's good news, and The Swan (Minrathous tavern) has a bunch." [source]

"Yeah there's a good amount of veterans working on Veilguard. Though I always find that to be such a weird qualifier, and it seemingly always comes up with Bioware in particular. As if there aren't tons of talented non-Bioware devs from across the industry who could join the team and still write and design a great game. Like nah, it can't be a good game unless it's got people who've been there for 20 years! 😄" [source]

"There are also rune items you can equip that provide different effects and act as their own abilities basically, plus ultimate attacks for each class specialization (so 9 total), plus finisher moves and things like elemental combo detonations for extra damage." [source]

"there are definitely 'open areas' you can explore around in. It's not more linear than ME2." [source]

User: "Is my reading of "mission-based" it being like ME2/3 correct?" Shinobi: "Yeah, in that regard, it's more structured like Mass Effect, which I think is to its benefit. DAI just suffered way too much from open world bloat. I think the tighter, handcrafted structure works a lot better." [source]

User: "How big are the areas? Like the first game where you open the map and pick a location?" Shinobi: "Don't know exactly. But that's what I was told. There are several open ended areas that are explorable in the story. Plus a hub area." [source]

"I think if fans have been yearning for a quality Bioware game like they were used to before, this is that. Tight design, great character models, environments, animations have gone next level, combat fluidity, etc...it's all here. I compare it to the jump from ME1->ME2. [re: the jump in quality/fidelity/presentation.] This isn't a spoiler, as Game Informer said, it's a full on action RPG, and you can still pause and issue commands. But this is not DAO. Preferences put aside, Bioware's moved on from that ages ago. This isn't BG3 at all. But they've put a huge emphasis on making combat feel good to play. As in engaging the player, more real-time, more Mass Effect. It's a meaty, single player RPG with lots of systems going on inside. Also, like they said, this is the prologue, the beginning of the game. Keep that in mind if you don't see everyone's powers unlocked or intense pause and play. If you keep all that in mind, I think you'll really like this." [source]

"But it's a big jump for Bioware. [re: animations]" [source]

"[rogues are] flashy, jump around a lot, etc." [source]

"Party members can definitely get knocked out in battle" [source]

"It's important to note that what was shown was completely level 1 combat, and likely on easy mode for demo purposes. There is way more to it in more advanced battles. When it opens up with way more abilities, unique momentum attacks, ultimates, and other...things they haven't shared yet, on higher difficulties, it will look and feel way different." [source]

"It'll be rated M. It's got its share of nudity lol." [source]

User: "should we expect a comparable level of dialogue role playing as we had in Inquisition? I don't mind the changes to combat but there seemed to be more auto dialogue here than I remember from Inquisition or Tresspasser." Shinobi: "Yeah. That was just the intro. They just like to keep the pace going for a big start to the game." [source]

"This isn't accurate at all though, and it keeps getting perpetuated. Yes, there's been departures like Casey Hudson, Aaryn Flynn, Mike Laidlaw, etc, but I could easily list dozens of people at Bioware right now that have been there for 10-20+ years, some even longer. Do they just...not count for some reason? The entire core team building Mass Effect right now were OG leads on ME1-3, been there for over 20 years. And even outside of that, like, does this really matter? Do you know one of the game's premier VFX/lighting designers worked for ILM? Or one of the cinematic leads is an alum from Blizzard? Or one of the creature animators was a senior creature animator on Horizon Forbidden West? Talent is talent. And if we look at the industry through that lens too, sure, tons of studios are just "X, Y, Z studio in name", in many ways. There's no studio in the industry that holds on to their entire team for 30-40 years." [source]

"They do have that data. And I think even this thread would be shocked at how tiny of a % of players took direct control of other companions. Or went into tac-cam. Not just Inquisition but the whole series." [source]

[dr-spectre]

Splatoon Fighting Game Ideas.

Y'all, hear me out on this.... I've had this idea for a while now...

A Splatoon fighting game based on the gameplay style of Marvel vs Capcom and other team based fighting games.... You swap between three characters and the roster includes the Idols, Agents, some of the villains and other characters. And there's a special meter with 3 levels and cinematic hyper combos inspired by Final Smashes from Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Like if Nintendo wants to expand the Splatoon franchise, they need to make spin offs dude and a fighting game would be incredible, that's all I'm saying. And you know what? I'm gonna go over the roster and talk what i would do if i was in charge in making a Splatoon fighting game and you can't stop me!!!!!!! If you don't get the fighting game terms that will be in this post then look them up. I also won't go into SUPER DUPER detail and just go over general things i would do.

Also also, i haven't played every single fighting game in existence and I'm just basing it off of the games I've played (Street Fighter, Capcom vs series, Smash Bros for reference.) Without further ado, let's get into it.

Callie

I can imagine Callie's playstyle to be a powerhouse, someone who gets up close and just deals a ton of damage. but she has exploitable weaknesses like slow moves that have a lot of recovery time. She uses a themed Dynamo Roller based on her and can do air combos mixed in with Splat Bombs. Some of her moves also take inspiration from her dance moves found in her Amiibo performances and Bomb Rush Blush remix in Splatoon 2. Callie is a chaotic fighter who is unpredictable and moves pretty damn fast. Her max hyper combo could be her spamming every bomb from every game in the series at the opponent as Bomb Rush Blush plays. She then rushes to the opponent and swings her roller around at insane speeds, it then ends with her slamming the roller into the opponent like a baseball bat, sending them flying into the horizon and she does her "Stay Fresh!" pose to finish it off. Her main taunt is her facing the camera, doing her iconic pose and then giggling while her covering her mouth.

Marie

Marie could be a zoner that uses her Hero Charger and her parasol when doing close courters attack. Heck it could be her shield too. I would imagine her combos to be very hard to pull off as her shots are slow and you need to time the attacks just right so that you can keep your opponent in the air and deal as much damage as you can. Her max hyper combo could be running you over with the Sheldon truck that appears in Splatoon 2 to start the combo, then she gets onto the truck and snipes you with a barrage of shots until finally jumping off the truck with Sheldon. And then the truck collides with you and explodes in a giant green explosion. Her main taunt is her facing the screen, giving a thumbs down while blowing a raspberry. She then chuckles while doing her classic grin.

Pearl

Pearl could be a rushdown like character where she is incredibly fast with her themed dualies and is just a general pain to deal with. She can also turn into her drone form when in the air to slow down her descent and trick opponents up. Imagine how fun it would be to play as her and just dash around and be an annoying little shit. Her max hyper combo would be of course her Princess Cannon, she slams it down on the ground and if you get hit, you'll be trapped in the combo and Pearl will scream her lungs off like she did in Octo Expansion and Side Order. Her main taunt is her pulling out a megaphone and screaming at the screen.

Marina

Marina is a character who's all about machinery and hacking and i think she would fit the trapper archetype pretty well. While she wields a Splat Brella to deal close range damage, she mainly uses traps like ink mines, sprinklers, and machinery to get enemies and string together combos. She is a very hard character to master, but those who love the trapper archetype will LOVE playing her and find her incredibly fun. Maybe you can trap an opponent with Marina and then bring in Pearl to deal some quick damage. Her max hyper combo could be transforming into her Order outfit and floating in the air while holding her keytar. She locks onto you and then fires off a barrage of ink blobs, Super Chumps and her Hyperbombs while jamming out. The combo ends in a giant teal explosion and Marina returning to her normal self, awkwardly laughing off the chaos she just caused. Her main taunt is her giving an embarrassed smile and wave at the screen.

Shiver

Shiver would be a footsies/brawler type character and be good on the ground and moving around, however she doesn't have a good air game and crumbles in the air. She uses a modified version of her sensu fan that she uses in Splatfests to poke at enemies and slash at them like a blade. She also uses a Tri-Stringer to do anti air attacks to stop opponents from attempting an air attack on her. Shiver is all about reading opponents and punishing them for messing up. Her max hyper combo would be her doing a small performance like what she does in Splatfests which causes Fizzbangs to spawn around the opponent and do damage. Shiver then quickly becomes more wild eyed and summons Master Mega. She rides on him and collides with the enemy which causes a massive explosion. Shiver jumps away at the last possible second and stumbles into a backflip because she's both a girlboss and girlfailure. Her main taunt is her arching her back and laughing like a maniac before quickly snapping back and gaining back her composure.

Frye

Frye would 100% be a glass cannon, someone who's amazing at damage but crumbles when getting hit. She uses a themed Splatana Stamper to whack enemies and it has pretty decent range for a sword. However it has a mechanic where it deals less damage if you hit opponents with the base of the Splatana, so you must be precise and hit opponents with the tip to deal the most amount of damage. Her max hyper combo is her calling her eels with her flute. Frye starts spinning around which creates a huge tornado of eels. The tornado flies at the opponent and sucks them into a barrage of eels, the tornado subsides and Frye looks down at the fallen opponent and laughs while striking a pose. Her main taunt is her sitting on the ground cross legged and looking very annoyed. This taunt lasts forever until Frye gets hit or you press a button.

Big Man

Big Man would be the grappler archetype where he must get up close to his opponent and use command grabs and other moves to deal damage. He can also throw out Splat Bombs and bellyflop in the air. His max hyper combo is him covering himself in ink and spawning copies of himself, the copies surround the opponent in a circle and all charge towards them. It ends with Big Man jumping onto the clones until he reaches the top, and then he does a giant bellyflop onto the opponent which causes a huge wave of ink. His main taunt is him facing the screen and jumping up and down to get your attention.

DJ Octavio

DJ Octavio would be a heavyweight and have incredible damage and decent speed, but his hitbox would be massive and he's easy to combo. However his mech is shrunken down from it's Splatoon 1 size for balancing reasons of course. Octavio would use a mix of his retractable fists, Octorpedos and send out Octotroopers of different variety that run on the ground. If you have played Marvel vs Capcom and played as the characters Sentinel and Tron Bonne then he's pretty similar to them. His max hyper combo is him sucking up the Great Zapfish into his mech which engulfs it in a huge electric glow. Several more retractable arms made out of electricity appear from the back of his mech and charge up. They attack the opponent in the melody of the Onward! jingle, with the last punch creating a giant electric blast, causing Octavio to laugh manically. The opponent flies into the air and the fists all gather in front of the mech to charge up a giant killer wail, blasting the opponent away. His main taunt would be him dancing to his theme song. He does some DJ hand poses with his mech arms alongside this.

Mr. Grizz

Mr. Grizz is both a heavyweight and zoner, using his claws to send out waves of purple ink. He can also summon Fuzzy Octohoppers and Octocopters to throw out bombs and splashes of ink. His regular close courter attacks are slow but they deal a fair amount of damage too. He can even teleport away by sinking into the floor and reappearing on the other side of the enemy. His max hyper combo would be him standing above the opponent and laughing as he carries the rocket seen at the end of Splatoon 3 ROTM. He throws it down at the opponent and it explodes, causing a giant fluffy explosion that's seen from outer space. His main taunt is him playing around with some glass vials containing the fuzzy ooze.

Overlorder

Overlorder would be a glass cannon character but they would need to be obviously shrunken down because well... they are fucking massive. They would play sort of like Venom in the Marvel vs Capcom games where they use black ink and tentacles to send enemies into the air and do devastating damage. It can even send out Reefsliders as powerful air launchers. Their max hyper combo would be them Grayscaling and glitching out everything, Overlorder then grabs the enemy and drags them across on the floor. They are then trapped in a Jelleton portal and spiraled upwards. The portal then explodes with glitchy effects, Overlorder then says "grayscaling completed..." Their main taunt is them facing the screen and glitching it out for a brief period to scare players.

Captain 3

Captain 3 would be an all arounder and perfect for beginners, they don't have any real obvious strengths and weaknesses but they can get the job done in a lot of areas fairly decently. They would obviously wield their Hero Shot and pack some Autobombs for range. They also use a Hero Slosher, Roller and Blaster for specific moves and combos. Their max hyper combo would them standing on the UFO that appears in the Inner Agent 3 battle and they stare down at you. They dive down and do a Splashdown, launching the opponent into the air, they use the Bubble Blower special and causally chuck a Splat Bomb when the opponent lands on the ground. The opponent is sent crashing into a wall from the huge blast and is completely stunned, then Captain 3 stares them down and picks up the treasure they used in Splatoon 3 ROTM and cracks a small smile. They tear up the opponent and it cuts to white. Their main taunt is them facing the camera and doing the hand movements they do when posing with the Squid Sisters. A little booyah appears at the top of their head too.

Agent 4

Agent 4 is a clone of Captain 3, but focuses more on being aggressive and their moves have a Splatoon 2 theme to them. So instead of Splatoon 1 Hero Mode weapons, it's Splatoon 2's. Agent 4 is like Ken and Captain 3 is Ryu if you understand what I'm trying to say. Their max hyper combo would be them grabbing a Rainmaker and charging towards the opponent, they fire off 4 Rainmaker shots that send the opponent flying into the air. Agent 4 leaps up high and then SLAMS the rainmaker onto the enemy, smashing them to the ground which causes a huge explosion. Their main taunt is them pulling out a mini zapfish plush and snuggling it for a second and then putting it back.

Agent 8

Agent 8 is vastly different compared to Captain 3 and Agent 4 and focuses more on defense and mobility. They have a lot of tricks up their sleeve when it comes to weaponry and main the Octo Brush for most of their moves. They also wield an Octo Shot and E-Liter 4K for range. Agent 8 is a nimble fighter and highly technical which gives them a noticeable skill gap compared to the other agents. Their max hyper combo is them clasping their hands together and closing their eyes. Color chips circle them and Agent 8 floats into the air. The chips go inside them Super Sonic style and Agent 8 is engulfed in a rainbow aura. Agent 8 pulls out their Octo Shot, dash down to the opponent and uppercut them. They swarm the airborne opponent and do rapid fire shots with the Octo Shot. Just before the opponent reaches the ground, Agent 8 spins around and SMACKS them with the Octo Brush, sending them flying into the sky. A giant 8 firework appears in the sky and Agent 8 takes a selfie. Their main taunt is them taking a picture at the screen and giving a thumbs up.

Neo Agent 3

Neo Agent 3 would be the most interesting out of the agents as they would be the puppet archetype with Smallfry being the puppet. During certain combos or inputting a certain command, Smallfry will be sent out and will copy some of your moves. If Neo Agent 3 does a series of punches and kicks for example, Smallfry will move their body in the air like they are a flying blade. (Think of Rosalina and Luma in Smash Bros.) Heck in some moves Neo Agent 3 will chuck Smallfry at enemies and it'll latch onto them and deal damage over time for a little while. Their max hyper combo would them being in space and holding out Smallfry in their hands. They crack a smile and Smallfry floats into the air, they glow a bright blue and transform into Hugefry. It then shoots itself towards the opponent while dragging a tsunami, the opponent is sent flying into space from the force of the wave from Hugefry. Their main taunt is them pulling out an ink bag and drinking it. They wipe their face and pat their belly after they guzzle down the ink.

Harmony

Harmony is a trapper character just like Marina where she has different gadgets to trick up opponents, she's also sort of a joke character as her moves are more comedic and is a character to use if you wanna mess around and have some fun. She can use her Ultra Hand to grab enemies from afar and reel them in for a command grab. She uses a Wii Remote and Nunchuk for air attacks, a GameCube console as a weapon because it has a handle on it, an N64 controller as a boomerang attack and she even chucks Game Boys at opponents that go in an arc. Her max hyper combo is her getting the band Chirpy Chips, going on stage and jamming out to a random song made by them. Sound waves and notes collide with the opponent, dealing damage. The sound waves and energy form into a giant Game Boy and the giant console collapses onto the opponent (think of that one Donkey Kong Land commercial. You know the one.) Her main taunt would be her sitting on the floor and playing with an Ultra Hand like how she does in Hotlantis. There's even a rare chance for her to play with a Game Boy instead.

Acht

Figuring out a moveset for Acht was surprisingly difficult but i have thought of some ideas for them. Acht would be a martial artist and be the most standard character out of the roster. They don't wield any weapons but can do lots of different punches and rapid fire kicks that have ink effects to them to spice it up. They can also throw out vinyl records at opponents which act as air launchers. Their max hyper combo is them getting on stage and playing around with some turntables. They increase the volume and Acht gets covered in a blue and red aura. Acht leaps over the turntables and strikes through the opponent multiple times like a ricocheting bullet. Acht flies into the air and their right hand is covered in a blood red aura. They slam into the ground and punch the opponent with a ton of force. Their main taunt is them listening to music on their headphones and moving along with the music. Depending on the stage music, their head movements will match the speed of the song.

Stage Ideas

Inkopolis Plaza (day and night variants, if Callie or Marie aren't selected, they'll perform behind you on their trucks)

Inkopolis Square (day and nights variants, same thing with Pearl Marina)

Splatsville (day and night variants, Deep Cut will perform if they aren't picked)

Urchin Underpass

Moray Towers

Starfish Mainstage

Goby Arena

Marlin Airport

Undertow Spillway

Octo Valley

Enter the Octobot King!

Octo Canyon

The Crater

Alterna - Future Utopia Island

Ruins of Ark Polaris

Lost Outpost

Bonerattle Arena

Shifty Station (general Shifty Station area that combines different aspects of all of them)

MC. Princess Diaries (NILS Statue is in the background along with Commander Tartar as a cameo)

Floor 30 (Overlorder will be in the background watching the fight if not selected)

I also wanna quickly add that each fighter would have plenty of alt outfits too and some have different animations and effects.

Some examples are, Callie in her Octo outfit, Marie in her Alterna outfit, Pearl in her big ol' space jacket she has in Side Order, Marina in her Octo Expansion clothes, Shiver in her Splatoween attire, Frye wearing a school uniform, Big Man wearing his Ian BGM disguise, DJ Octavio in his Octobot King L3.Gs mech, Mr. Grizz with a wooden texture, Overlorder but a white color pallet that references Smollusk, Agent 4 with their Parallel Canon design, etc. Maybe some of the characters could also get looks from their concept art too.

So that is it for my Splatoon fighting game ideas! If you have any ideas of your own like a moveset for Commander Tartar because jesus christ how the HELL do you make a moveset for a literal telephone, then let me know!

I'm curious to see what you guys think and what some of your own ideas are!

[ejthenobody]

Random Thing I Feel Like Talking About: The Vandelay Soft Drinks in Hi-Fi Rush!

Warning: Hi-Fi Rush spoilers.

Forgive me if I format this a bit weirdly, I just feel like sharing about this very minor and random thing in my current absolute #1 favorite game, Hi-Fi Rush.

Anyway, in this game, you can find these various vending machines throughout pretty much every regular level, aside from the first as they're introduced in Track 2. The whole point of them is that you can smack the heck outta them to get a bunch of gears and batteries to recharge your Reverb gauge (your beeg special attack gauge if you don't know). Very helpful for the first playthrough when you need all the gears you can get in order to get all of your moves sooner rather than later, plus you can do some casual combo practice with 'em.

In the process of destroying these vending machines though, they spit out a ton of cans of the six drinks shown on them. All six drinks are branded and based on the six department heads at Vandelay, these being Korsi-Cola, Rekka Pure Energy (Get apple Juiced), Mimosa Sparkling Water, Carte Blanche, Kale-Ale Executive (I think?), and Roquefort Espresso.

Here's close ups of the vending machine's screen:

However, while messing around in Photo Mode today in Track 4, I realized something really, really cool: the drinks all actually have nutritional information on them!

But it's not just some basic scanned image grabbed from some random canned soft drink and slapped onto the textures, instead it's all stuff based on the personalities of the department head the drink is based on! Here are some pictures of each label:

I don't really know why but I just love each and every single one of these, not just for being funny and interesting, but also because they exist at all! It's such a minor detail that I feel like most people never notice, but it's just so charming to me that it's there!

Some details I wanna point out in specific about these cans are: 1) All of these labels say "Please Recycle!" at the bottom, except for Kale Ale which commandingly says "Recycle!"

2) Korsi-Cola is a caffeine-free cola which I both like the idea of as someone who loves soda but prefers non-caffeinated ones, but also I can't help but interpret this as the VAGUEST and MOST SUBTLE form of foreshadowing for at least the very end of the Decaf Firmware Update joke. And aside from just that running gag I like that it's caffeine-free and has a little label on it that says something along the lines of "a calm mind makes the right choice." It makes a lot of sense for Korsica's drink to be branded like that, namely due to what happens with her in the story and how she interacts with Chai directly before, during, and after her boss battle.

3) All of the info written on these labels and on the rest of the cans alludes to something about each character, some in more obvious ways than others. Roquefort Espresso says "Unleash Your Inner Beast" or something like that on it (along with Silver Extract as the other ingredient). Mimosa Sparkling Water has "Mimosa Flavor" as the second ingredient which is just the most vain way to put it. Carte Blanche (Zanzo's drink if you didn't put that together) as a noun literally means, "complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best."

I could keep talking for at least two more paragraphs but I think I'll stop here. Just wanted to share this because it's pretty funny and cool to me, and is just one of many, MANY things that shows much effort and polish went into Hi-Fi Rush.

[moontheoretist]

~ Shinobi602 on Twitter

Rook's blood interacted with the ritual so now they're tied to the Fade according to Solas (they can communicate with each other)

The two figures seen at the end of the demo are the Elven gods Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain

Solas is trapped in the Fade while the other two gods are now free

The Lighthouse (our base) is in the Fade, was Solas' home base and now becomes ours

We will use the Eluvians to traverse the world for missions similar to Inquisition's Crossroads

Bellara is next up to recruit after the opening events in Arlathan Forest

Bellara is specialized in electricity compared to Neve's Ice powers

Light and heavy attacks confirmed

Dash, parry, and charged moves

You can unlock additional jump attacks in the skill tree

You can set up different weapon loadouts to change mid combat

Can bookmark/pause combos by dashing and then resume them after which is apparently really cool

Rogue and Warrior can parry, but Rogue has longer window - no Mage parry but they can throw up magic shielda automatically as long as they have mana

Arlathan Forest's whimsy willy starkly contrasts to other areas. The promises some grim locations and even grimmer story moments

You rank up your relationship bonds with your companions by helping them on personal quests and taking them with you on main quests. How you help, what you say, choices you make, etc all determine your relationships

It's so ironic that Solas is now trapped. LOLZ. Anyway, I CAN LIVE IN THE FADE!? HOLY MOLY MACARONI I ALWAYS WANTED TO! A little sad at not Mage parry, but also relieved, because I suck at parrying.

I can already see Ghil Dirthalen being so happy their theory about who is Moonhead and Beetle being so correct. Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain enter the stage as the last Evanuris to be alive (?) as I suspect they were the souls of Archdemons Wardens kept butchering. Depending on your choices in DAO, Uthremiel, i.e. Falon'din may still be alive too, but they're trapped with Solas now, because Solas ate him when he ate Mythal at the end of Inquisition. I wonder if they'll get blighted considering that from what I remmeber Evanuris were sealed in the Golden City (Black City) and we know that this particular place is full of the goddamn Blight. Or maybe not, as Gameinformer claims that Solas was moving the Evanuris to a new prison during the ritual so he may have as well been sucked into that new space. Gameinformer is so juicy. I still didn't read it, but I will do so! *salivating here*

Also, Rook as the Veil whisperer was not on my bingo card. Or more like Rook being the Solas whisperer, as it's about Solas not the Veil.

[ashenlavellan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard - Personal Thoughts from a COMPLETED Playthrough. [MAJOR SPOILERS]

[Major spoilers ahead - all I will say to those of you that are on the fence with this game? Do it. This game is so worth it and I have just finished it. Like, literally an hour ago - while it's still fresh on my mind.]

Leave this post if you don't want to be spoiled - story-wise and specifically if you want to romance Lucanis. There will be MAJOR spoilers ahead.

So, I just finished DA: The Veilguard and I was utterly blown away. I will admit that I was amongst the crowd where I would play this game, but was very hesitant to and had my reservations. I had my expectations low.

A lot of reviewers and DA enthusiasts on other platforms had me discouraged to give this game a chance and I'm glad that I spoke of this with mutuals and decided to give this game a chance.

Now, my first concern that I will address - the combat.

I was a bit concerned about this when I initially heard some people describe it as a 'hack-and-slash' and while I have no issues with that (MAJOR Devil May Cry fan here - I love that shit so much!) - it's not what I would usually associate with Dragon Age.

My experience may be different that others, but I played as a Shadow Dragon Mage - mainly followed through with the Evoker specialization, too. I mainly played with orb/mage-knife and sometimes I switched to the staves if the fight was a bit too difficult to play closer. I'm glad that this was implemented because I disliked playing as a mage in Origins and enjoyed that it was faster pace in DA2/DA:I - this felt like I could choose if I wanted to continue with the faster pace (orb/mage-knife) or a little slower, but stronger attacks at a distance (staff).

It will certainly be different if you play as a rogue/warrior, but I loved the duality as a mage and I think I'd play as one again since I grew very comfortable/adept with the controls.

Now, the concern that most people had - tactical use?

There is an ability wheel, reminiscent to the one that Mass Effect has, but it offers suggestions for what moves can be used as a combo if you select them for your companions. It's best if you try to avoid having two rogue/two warrior companions because they will have the same affects that their abilities can do. If you have a mage/warrior or mage/rogue, then it's easier to combo their moves.

To be honest, I never truly used the tactical options in the earlier games and just played as is. I know others like the earlier games because of these things, but it wasn't the biggest concern for me when it came to that... It was mainly going from three companions down to two of them, and how the combat flow would feel like.

Combat? 9.5/10

My second concern that I will address - the cameos.

Now, because of the trailers and what-not, we already figured out that Morrigan, Varric, Harding, and our Inquisitor would show up. [I'm still so happy that I had the chance to customize my Inquisitor and luckily enough, I'll just try to match her appearance as close as I can when I officially play.]

I was NOT expecting my dear friend, Dorian Pavus, to show up when he did and the fact that he had a link to the faction that I picked! I was so excited to see him once more, but...

I was even MORE excited to see my favorite, sassy pirate-lady Isabela! But, she's now one of those in charge of the Lords of Fortune!

These were the only cameos that I had not expected, but there were mentions of other characters!

Like Merrill, when talking with Isabela after a fight in the Hall of Valor! Or, a note during a loyalty quest with Taash that shows that Sten [from Origins] had joined with the Antaam. Hell, even Aveline posted up as the acting-Viscount of Kirkwall!

As well as the fact that Harding mentions members of the Inquisition, and at some point, Solas reflects on the memories he had during his time with the organization as well.

I do wish that we had more cameos, but I'm actually pleased that there were mentions of characters from earlier games that hadn't been mentioned again beforehand.

Cameos? 8/10

Now, my third and final concern - the story.

So. Much. Story.

I had been concerned about this game before its release and how it would handle the story - especially after Trespasser and when Solas first revealed himself to be Fen'Harel. Which was groundbreaking when it happened!

Some of the fandom had concerns, myself included, when we realized that only three decisions that mattered when it involved earlier games and it was all from DA: Inquisition. Nothing from Origins or DA2 - even then, however, it was not much to really tip the scales in DA: The Veilguard.

The decisions being - who did your Inquisitor romance, did they disband the Inquisition, and were they wanting to save/stop Solas?

Now after finishing the game?

The amount of thought that went into side-quests that actually had an impact on the plot/major decisions? The faction quests? The loyalty quests?? The impact from past decisions affecting the last portion of the game???

There was so much writing that went into this game, obviously, but I hadn't realized how much thought each decision you make plays a part within this story - whether small or big!

I sincerely and whole-heartedly enjoyed the writing and the companions involved in our story - I was so excited each time a loyalty or mission specific to them popped up and we delved deeper into their backgrounds, their factions, and everything else involved!

There was so much newer lore to consume, especially with Minrathous/Tevinter since we've never been this far north in Thedas, but I absolutely devoured each little piece I could get and would sit there... reading the missives and codex! However, I can understand that some may be frustrated since it doesn't delve deeper into past lore with some cases.

As one final side-note for this - even if you do all of the side-quests and content, you will have an ending just like my own... At least one person on your team will die. I did everything I could and chose, basically all of what seemed like the right decisions, and I still lost one person on my team that resulted with me sobbing like a baby with how brutal the death was in the scene...

Story? 9/10

Now, the best part of this post - the romances.

Where do I begin with Lucanis' romance?

It's like, the second I found out that there was yet again, another assassin from Antiva who was aligned with the Crows - I was immediately sold.

Before I continue - everyone? Thank his writer, Mary Kirby, from the bottom of your heart for writing such a thoughtful, protective man - whether or not your Rook romances him.

Now, continuing -

His romance is so fucking good that I have over 100 saved clips on my console of shared moments between Lucretia/Lucanis to the point where my console was like - you need to make space if you want to be a fiend for the scenes.

You bet your fucking ass I made space.

I want to completely gush over his romance and spoil things, but I'm holding all of that back because I plan on writing those scenes and then some since I AM a fanfiction writer. I'll only share one thing with all of you...

When Lucretia and Lucanis slept together, you can bet your ass that he brought out those damned wings. [Also naked/semi-naked cuddling in the scene afterwards.]

So yeah, those are my final thoughts after playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard and after finishing the game... I'm so glad that I decided to give this game a chance and I certainly feel like it was worth the price, for the amount of content there was and story-telling.

I'm also glad that I listened to some of the reviews - there were reviews from a couple of the devs from BG3 and had plenty of praise for this game! I'm glad I gave this game a chance, especially since there's so many options to choose from and replay-ability like BG3!

[wickedsick]

UUUnite Analysis: Fuuko Izumo

(combining my love of undead Unluck, fighting games, and making shit up by pretending an undead Unluck fighting game already exists)

Normally, the main character of a fighting game has a pretty simple moveset. Easy to pick up, low skill floor, a consistent choice. The Ryus and Sol Badguys of the world.

Fuuko is not like that.

At first glance, she seems like a pretty weak character. No real standout options- her normals are just weak punches and kicks, and her gun is a mediocre ranged option at best. And yet, she's able to hold her own against some of the strongest members of the cast. How is that?

Unluck.

It's because of Unluck.

Unluck is Fuuko's signature gimmick, and the reason her normals are allowed to suck so much. Unluck gives her the single highest damage potential in all of UUUnite, and it's honestly not even close.

Unluck is a resource that builds as Fuuko hits the opponent with melee attacks or throws. Her ranged attacks won't scale Unluck, since those are all weapon attacks.

Anyway, what does Unluck actually do?

Unluck triggers if Fuuko either goes five seconds without building Unluck, or manually activates it with her 214U, "It's coming...". Depending on how much Unluck has been built up, some misfortune befalls the opponent, ranging from tripping and having pans fall on their head all the way to being hit with a meteor- the aforementioned 'highest damage potential'. However, it's not a linear scale- three blocks of Unluck is way more powerful than two.

This doesn't mean playing Fuuko is just limited to rushing in with 236P and hoping for a meteor, though. Your other specials and supers are integral parts of your gameplan, too.

214S and 214H are both connected to the gun, being Reload and Firing Stance, respectively. They're pretty self-explanatory. Her most complex special is her 236K, which lets her throw down a banana peel that opponents with Unluck will slip on, giving her an opening for a pretty easy grab- her fastest-scaling Unluck option.

As for her supers, they both have to do with her Unluck. 632146U, or Chain Reaction, turns all current Unluck into a bunch of quick combo-extenders, letting her use it to chain together enough melee hits for a bigger Unluck hit. By contrast, 236236U, "I want to know more about you", gives a temporary multiplier to how much Unluck each individual hit gives.

While Fuuko's gameplay does have a few weaknesses, they can be patched up with your choice of assist character.

Fuuko's one of a number of fighters with unique assists- in her case, it's Andy. While Latla and Move both provide her tools to get up close, Andy lets her keep her distance.

When summoned, Andy will come in and give Fuuko a smooch, at which point Fuuko will cut off his head. At this point, Andy basically becomes an Unluck-filled grenade, and replaces your weapon normals until you throw him or the Unluck triggers.

Carefully timing when to throw Andy is important- get it right, and you can hit your opponent with a bunch of stun, but get it wrong and you can completely whiff your assist, or worse, end up hitting yourself if you wait too long.

All in all, while certainly not as easy to pick up as most other 2d fighter protagonists, Fuuko can certainly hold her own- as long as you pay attention to her unique mechanics.

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

I would love to hear about any headcanons you have regarding the Wold, especially about the people/communities that exist there. What is their culture and livelihood like? What about the land/terrain itself?

I'm sure you've given it some thought since Widfara originates from there, so if you feel like writing about it some more, I'd love to pick your brain! :) Thank you in advance!

Aaah, thank you for asking about one of my favorite little corners of Rohan! As you say, Wídfara is from the Wold, and I love all things connected to Wíd! What follows is a mishmash of actual canon and my own canon-compliant additions…

The Wold has always been the most rural, least populated part of Rohan because: 1) The terrain is unforgiving – endless grasslands that offer little cover from frequent storms and winter winds; not many trees and no stone for building permanent shelter; and poor quality soil that can’t grow much other than the native grasses. 2) It’s in a dangerous neighborhood! It’s at the very edge of the kingdom, with the creepiness of Fangorn Forest next door and the Brown Lands just across the river. It was repeatedly invaded by Easterlings over the years, and, as Sauron rose to power again in the late 3rd Age, orc attacks became a huge problem and further drove people out of the plains and into the relative safety of the towns of the East-fold.

So there is (and always has been) a pretty small group of folks who can hack it out there. Most of them live the semi-nomadic lifestyle of herdsmen (for horses or cattle). They move with their herds as they graze, spending most of their nights sleeping in the open plains and only occasionally going back to the small encampments where they keep something akin to a permanent home. As a result, they’re renowned for their outdoorsmanship and (like Wíd!) are very in tune with the weather and the land. They also produce a disproportionate share of Rohan’s archers (like Wíd!), since wolves are a common problem around herds and arrows are a more effective weapon for that than the spears or swords most Rohirrim favor.

Folks in the Wold do have a reputation as the country bumpkins of Rohan. They don’t have any fine cities or big estates. They speak Rohirric with a heavy rural accent. They’re much more at ease in a tent or around an outdoor fire than they are in a fancy hall (see how it takes Wíd a year of living in Edoras before he can comfortably sleep in a bed!). Their food is simpler, and they don’t spend a ton of time on social niceties and etiquette. (For their part, they think the city folks are pretentious and couldn’t last a day in the plains.)

Despite their perceived lack of sophistication, there was a time when they were relatively prosperous, because it is widely agreed that the horses of the Wold are Rohan’s best, achieving a perfect combo of speed and endurance. There are ancient (by Rohan standards) horse breeding families who have been in the Wold for as long as Rohan has existed and maintain bloodlines in their herds that trace back to horses owned by Eorl himself. They fell on hard times starting in the reign of Théoden’s grandfather, who had the army begin supplying its own horses and, thus, deprived the herdsmen of a huge part of their normal income. But they refused to give up the vocation, and they persisted out in the plains, living in increasing poverty, until Éomer became king. His wife, looking through some of Théodred’s papers, found plans to revitalize the traditional breeders, and she put them into action. This eventually helped pull many of them (including Wíd’s family!) out of the direst straits.

Although folks in other parts of Rohan might look down on the residents of the Wold for being poor or unsophisticated, there is a lot of reverence for the land itself. It has a desolate beauty that’s admired, and it holds a special place in Rohirrim history. It borders the Field of Celebrant, where Eorl came to the aid of Gondor and was rewarded with Rohan itself, and the Wold was the scene of many historical battles, including the one where Eorl was killed. If you rode around in the Wold, you’d frequently come across little cairns meant to mark the site of these important events (though you’d have to be able to decipher the pictograms to know what they are marking), and, in some areas, you don’t have to dig very deep before you come across mass burials and other physical remnants of these old battles.

That’s probably more than anyone wanted. But, all in all, I think it’s a neat place, and it produced one of my all-time favorite Rohirrim. We are Wold-positive on this blog! 🙂 Thank you for asking about it! 🐎🗡️♥️

[greetings-inferiors]

I want Roxas is smash just because I know that everyone else would think he's just as cool as I do. Like I love how Sora plays, I think he's so damn cool, but the general consensus is that he's campy and boring. Roxas? He'd by a rush down god. A top tier for sure. His combos would be nutty. He'd definitely feel a lot more like kh2 combat, which is a lot more flashy and cool.

Anyway I'm going to make a Roxas moveset because why not (this is Roxas duelwielding, based off of his kh2 fights and when he's playable in kh3)

Normals: Roxas is a lot more of a combo character than his somebody, so a lot of his normals cancel into each other.

His jab has 3 moves: jabs 1 and 2 are cancelable into up and forwards tilt, and are overhead swings like at the end of the kh2 Roxas fight cutscene against Sora. Jab 3 he dashes forward and swings both keyblades out in a scissor motion (a motion that pops up a lot in his kit). The slash itself has a hit box but the sweet spot is the afterimage flash of light he leaves where he was originally standing.

His down tilt is a fast scissor sweep with both keyblades that pops up. It isn't cancelable but it combos into his other tilts at various percents.

His forward tilt has 3 moves: ftilt 1&2 are cancelable into the smashes and up tilt, and are those cool spinny slashy things he does, while ftilt3 has him spin oathkeeper in front of him for a bit before slashing forwards with oblivion.

His up tilt has two hits: up tilt 1 is jump cancelable and has him swipe oathkeeper above him marth style, and up tilt 2 in cancelable into up smash and side and neutral special and has him spin oblivion above him Sora style.

His dash attack has him do that cool move where he dashes forwards, spins his keyblades around as he moves to the side, picks them back up on the other side and spins back around to recover. He goes a bit into the z axis in the middle of it which lets him dodge some things but not much. It isn't cancelable but at low percents it launches directly above him allowing him to follow up.

So with his smashes I will have to warn you - he can do them in the air. Not always, he only can in a specific condition, but it means he can quite easily pick up kills at the end of his combos. Here goes:

His forward smash has him do that one move where he floats in the air and shoots his keyblades back and forth in front of him.

His up smash has him spin up and forward before coming down. If done in the air he'll stop after a while if he hasn't hit the floor.

His down smash has him brace for an attack, in which point he is invincible (a la Lucas up smash), then slashes out with a ring of light around him horizontally, hitting on both sides.

Aerials (aside from the smashes lol):

For his neutral air he spins once, hitting opponents with his keyblades. It is very quick and quite weak leading to easy combo ability.

His forward air has 3 hits: fair 1 and fair 2 are just slashes forward which pop him up if they hit Sora style, and fair 3 has him fully spin around and hit his opponent with both keyblades like they're a baseball bat.

His down air has him do a scissor slash downwards, which is a spike.

His up air has him slash overhead, it's closest in function to mario up air. Whichever keyblade he swings depends on which one he didn't swing last.

His back air has him swing oathkeeper around for a small slash, and then oblivion for a big slash.

Specials: here's the cool stuff.

His neutral special has him turn into a beam of light and dash forwards, automatically locking onto an enemy if one is close enough. He's vulnerable while doing it, but if he hits an opponent with it he gets some benefits. He gets his double jump back (can you tell I'm a clairen main) the first time he uses it in the air, his next aerial/normal becomes jump cancelable, and he can perform a smash attack, even in the air, which will shoot light pillars out at some point (in forward smash 5 light pillars close in on his opponent, in up smash 2 light pillars follow up and hit the opponent either once he hits the floor or the moves cancels, and in his down smash 5 light pillars shoot out in a spiral pattern). It's a very strong kill confirm tool, as a lot of his normals combo into neutral special, some even cancel into it, but if he damages his opponent past the threshold it connects he struggles to kill confirm. Also this means Kirby can do that. Actually while we're here: Kirby's copy ability has him have oathkeeper and oblivion behind him, just like when Sora steals them in the kh2 fight. If you want more than that, he gets Roxas' spiky hair, or a org hood for the alt where Roxas has his hood up.

Side special: he pauses, then dashes forward a large distance cutting everything down in his way and causing a large light blast at his destination. If you launch someone into the radius of where side special sweet spots it can be a devastating kill confirm.

Down special: Roxas uses reversal. He slides around, and ends up facing away. When near someone this puts him directly behind them, and has invincibility on start up (like frame 3 or so, basically an air dodge), so facing Roxas in the air is a guessing game: do you fair or bair him? Bear in mind that this puts him BEHIND the opponent, so the counterplay to reversal is to approach him with bairs, but that isn't always optimal. If you have a big enough Nair that might work lol.

Up special: funnily enough this is the one I had the most trouble with. I don't want it to be that good for recovery, since neutral, side, and down special are all good (from best to worst). My choice would be that helicopter slash Valor form gets, you know the one that's like one slash, a pause, and then lots of slashes, but in smash the one slash is the first input, but is basically just a shorthop, if you input up special twice in a row you get the full thing, which goes a fair bit further, but puts you in free fall.

Throws:

He has his keyblades float behind him as he grabs you.

His pummel has him punch you in the gut.

For his forward throw he throws you forward, then sends three pillars of light to follow up.

For his down through he basically does Sora's down throw.

For his back throw he throws you back with one hand, then in the blink of an eye dashes and scissor slashes.

For his up throw once again I'm blanking. Maybe he throws you up, spins, collecting energy, before shooting out light pillars in a spiral to hit you above him.

Final smash:

I don't think there's anything else it could be tbh. Pillars of light start spinning around him, as he rises into the air, then the stage background gets enveloped in twilight, as he spins then starts screaming as he shoots orbs of light at all of his opponents. Maybe once he finishes he teleports straight to his opponent (or the closest one) with one last scissor slash for the road.

Stage: Roxas' stage would be twilight town. But not just any twilight town. It would be the end of days, specifically the platform in the sky, which would fly around twilight town like hollow bastion, and if stage hazards are on every so often gundam Xion will come and be a boss fight a la metal face or yellow devil.

Cosmetics:

His first colour is how he looks in kh3, org cloak, hood down, oblivion and oathkeeper.

His second colour has him in his twilight town getup. Once again oblivion and oathkeeper.

The colours then alternate, idk you can have one where he has black hair for xion, one with red hair for axel, one with dark brown hair for Sora, one with blue hair for saix (the blue and dark brown also means terra ventus and aqua are represented lol). Maybe a white one for xemnas? Idk.

But the last cloaked alt (it would probably be seven) has him with his hood up. Because that's sick as hell and the alt that I'd play.

Oh also one of the alts uses two sticks. Because I said so.

For his victory animations:

First one: him, Axel and Xion are laughing on the clock tower eating ice cream. Axel hits his back while laughing, causing him to drop his winner ice cream stick. They all laugh it off, and the animation loops with them goofing off.

Second: the animation where he first uses oblivion and oathkeeper in kh2, just before axel says TWO?!. He brings them out, one by one, then poses.

Third: he blasts in, creating a cloud of dust, the either removes his hood (if an org cloak alt), or adjusts his neck, spins his keyblades around, and looks vaguely triumphant.

Now the juicy stuff:

IF SORA AND ROXAS ARE IN A MATCH:

Sora wins: he wakes up in his cocoon, walks out and yawns, before smiling. Maybe even Donald goofy and jiminy show up to congratulate him.

Roxas wins: looks like my summer vacation is... Over *looks at Sora in the cocoon*

Sora and Roxas are on the same team, and win:

Sora surfaces in destiny islands, sees Kairi, they smile at each other, then Sora becomes Roxas and Kairi becomes namine, just like in kh2's ending.

If the stage is hollow bastion, and dive to the heart occured:

Sora wins, Roxas loses: the "you're a good other" sequence plays, before Sora returns to the world that never was, and looks up at kingdom hearts.

Roxas wins, Sora loses: the scene where Roxas pounds his keyblades on Sora's keyblade, Sora loses his footing, Roxas hits the kingdom key aside, and Stabs it into the ground, looking at Sora angrily.

If the stage is twilight town:

Roxas wins, Xion was beaten (if stage hazards were turned on): Xion dies in Roxas' arms. Fuck you days gets spoilt MWAHAHAHAHA

Sora wins, Roxas loses: the scene where Sora gets on the Train and doesn't know why he's crying.

Also the song list would include songs outside of just kingdom hearts 1: the other promise, tension rising, vector to the heavens, the 13th struggle, lord of the castle, literally every xemnas theme, rage awakened, nachtflugle; just to name a few. Also one winged angel can play on kingdom hearts stages.

Anyway that's basically it Roxas is my favourite character and I want him in smash so badly.

[flowerwiththemachinegun]

Underground fight club AU HC's Turks First? I may not revisit this one to add more but i might cause i’ve thought of some for the Soldier boys, Wutai, Avalanche and Co.(especially taking away Barrett's gunarm?? and Don Corneo’s Fight Club. Idk, I want a fighting game with these guys. Ugh and that blonde guy with the white suit is here…I want these boys brawling.

Kind of picture these scenarios with more realistic hand to hand combat and weaker magic…if someone is that much of a sore loser to use it (cough cough)

I imagine these fights happening in Corneo Colosseum

Rules: No Weapons

No Magic

It’s legal as long as the ref doesn’t catch you

Reno and Rude: 

Both of these guys are a problem to fight. Together? Nearly unstoppable. They’ve got a few losses under their belt as a duo, not too many, this is no losing team by any means. Though Avalanche’s fight club has given them a run for their money several times. They’re both agile and can use their raw strength to benefit them, making them easily adapt to the fighting style of their opponents. 

Rude at times will distract the ref, allowing Reno to get in a cheap shot with his baton. Effectively stunning his opponent allowing Rude to follow up with a barrage of devastating kicks and punches. These two don’t mind playing a little dirty. With the help of one of their fellow club members occasionally interfering from ringside, usually in the form of Tseng providing Reno with his baton or Elena slipping Rude a pocket knife for a particularly nasty fight. From time to time they’ve sabotaged opponents before fights, resulting in fighting an already beaten down enemy or a default win by DQ since the fighter “never showed up”. 

Reno talks a lot of shit during fights, often showcasing his cocky nature. Something about this is contagious for Rude. While he won’t show his cockiness verbally, you can tell he’s getting an arrogant air about him in the way he fights. The more attacks Reno and Rude land, hype them up for a Turks Combo.

If ykyk, these guys are like the equivalent of the Uso brothers during their title reign. One is hardly seen without the other. If one starts a fight (usually Reno, the little shit starter) the other is following directly behind the other. On occasion they bicker about who’s the better of the two Rude, it’s all lighthearted though the stats show who is the better standalone fighter.

Elena (she's only 18?? Yea, I never fuckin knew Jesus christ she’s a baby. It makes sense now. So how old was she in BC? cause I can’t find shit.) 

This little lady has no problem taking down these big brawling men. Quick and agile, don’t let that tiny body mistake you. Equaling out to be a bit of a powerhouse due to adopting portions of Rude’s fighting style early on in training. Specializes in many forms of MMA, as all of the Turks do. 

The whole Turks team plays dirty, let’s face it. With that being said she too uses underhanded tactics. If the odds aren’t in her favor she’ll find a chance to pull out brass knuckles, a  move she’s dubbed “Elena Knuckle”. While she likes to prove she can do it without the assistance of others, her fighting becomes impeccably perfect when her other club members are ringside. Being the youngest out of the group means she’s got something to prove in her eyes, especially to the rest of her team. Elena has to show them that soon, she’ll be taking their place as the greatest fighter. 

Doesn’t have much of a losing streak, any losses stemming from Avalanche’s Tifa. Elena considers Tifa to be her rival due to the challenge she’s able to provide her. Often drawing out rounds at times as Elena loves a good fight with Tifa. Tifa’s ability to adapt to her fighting style and keep up a constant back and forth adds to the intoxicating euphoria that keeps Elena coming back for more. When Tifa is her opponent cheating is off of the table. She wants to beat her fair and square. 

Rufus and Tseng 

You really fucked up enough to get in a fight with these two? Have fun getting scrapped this fuckin bad. The very definition of winning by any means necessary. These matches end so fast they aren’t even fun to watch anymore. Cloud and Barret hold a pretty steady win streak against them, also sharing a losing streak against the duo of Angeal and Sephiroth. 

The fight won’t stop until their opponents aren’t moving. They like knockouts only cause as a duo they kick too much ass to accept anything less. They feed off of each other's energy pretty well, nearly resonating with each other that is making Tseng and Rufus stronger during fights. Interrupting combos for either one or dual attacks sets them back and can leave them vulnerable, allowing for a chance to counter attack. It’s a small window, so their opponents better move fast.

Don’t try these two while they’re out and about, seeing as how these clubs have deep rivalries they tend to clash outside of the ring. If Elena is with them it’s certainly an on sight kind of scenario. The amount of fights she’s started while accompanying Tseng and Rufus between themselves and Avalanche is steadily stacking. (usually due to seeing Tifa.)

Rufus (Obviously club leader)

Once again. Win by any means necessary. This man has had everyone but Tseng banned from ringside from constant interference. Often the other Turks provided him with weapons, the point is to fight each other. Not kill each other. Yet with the choice items Rufus would have his members bring out, the crowd certainly couldn’t tell the difference. 

Favorite go to is a pocket knife. (would be hot no?) Tseng makes for the perfect distraction during this time. Arguing with the ref over “unfair” scoring. Getting into the specific of the striking scores, but who really even gives a damn in an underground fight? Definitely likes to slice a person’s face. Genesis hates having to fight against him. It isn’t just because he’s taken a handful of ass whoopings from the spoiled boy of the underground world, but due to his gorgeous fucking face. He sliced Genesis’ face once and he almost burned down the entire warehouse district, resulting in “no magic” rule shortly after.

Nothing but wins because he be fuckin cheating on some roman reigns shit also doesn’t fight very often. Whenever he pops out for a fight it’s almost a paperview like event. Holds the current championship hostage, no he hasn’t lost it but he should have. If it wasn’t for Tseng that title would be getting kissed goodbye.

Tseng

Despite helping everyone else cheat, he’s the only one with a clean record. While he knows it would bother the rest to boast about it, Tseng has a lot of pride in his solo win streak. Another member who doesn’t fight as often as the others, as their trainer he needs to stay in top condition. 

At times he gives off the impression that he doesn’t move very fast. Don’t let that fool you, one minute it seems like he’s taking a breather but the very next second Tseng is practically on top of his opponent. Taking them down with heavy hitting attacks. The force he applies to these attacks gives him a powerhouse like technique along with being quick and graceful. Doesn’t get knocked off his feet easily, only powerful attacks will cause Tseng to fall. 

Tseng and Elena 

These two work well together, Tseng tends to let Elena take control of these fights to assist excelling in her fighting capabilities, still supporting her in any way that he can. Will regain control if he notices they’re starting to take some major hits and often takes heavier blows to protect his favorite fighter.

The way they feed off of each other's energy is more intense than Tseng and Rufus. Combining their aura together for their signature Tag Team move. Tseng gains a bit of cockiness watching how his star pupil fights so well. Sure, Elena could fight before joining the Turks but Tseng helped elevate her skills substantially and loves seeing it up close against others. 

Losing streak? What losing streak, the way Elena is determined to show off to Tseng losing is never an option. She’s a Turk goddamnit, losing isn’t acceptable. It already hurts her to have any losses on her solo record, so with the assistance of Tseng she can’t begin to imagine why they would lose in the first place. 

[cerastes]

So how is ex astris so far?

I'm still in the early game, so keep that in mind:

Fun so far! The combat system is nice and fun: You have limited AP for actions per turn, but attacks, called Skills, and characters tend to have a way to generate more AP so your other units can follow up, so for example, some attacks have the Starter property, which makes them generate AP if used as the first attack in a turn, other attacks have Downed Strike as a property, which makes them generate AP if they land on an enemy that has been Downed, and this is accomplished by attacks with the Downed property, or if you swat a Floating enemy out of the air (with an appropriate attack). There's also some attacks that are Low and High, meaning they hit ground(ed) enemies only or enemies that are either flying or have been knocked midair by a Lifting attack. You make movesets to accomplish all of these combo strings so that they land and make as much AP as possible in one turn.

Defending is very Paper Mario style: You have to time your button press with the enemy's attack in order to avoid taking damage. Yan, one of the main characters, avoids attacks as her Defense with Shadowshift; successful evasion gives you meter for your big super move. Vi, the other main character, parries instead; successful parries don't build meter, but they deal Balance Damage to enemies instead, because Vi is a big Sekiro fan. Evasion is red coded, Parries are blue coded, and some enemies have special moves that flash red or blue before coming out: You MUST match them to their respective defense in order to Defend against them, so you need to switch Defending character on the fly as well, it's fun and dynamic.

Balance is basically the enemy's posture. If you break the enemy's Balance by emptying their Balance Health, you go into Kill This Fool mode (may or may not be the official name) in which you can, for a limited amount of time, spam your attacks nonstop regardless of AP or turn order, dealing massive damage. Your super move is simple: You simply use the meter and do your super, and they have different effects depending on character. Meter is shared.

It's a straightforward and fun system, and as a big fan of Paper Mario and Sekiro, I like the mixture of both, basically having to time your Defense (and the enemy WILL fuck with your timing by using weird delays or multihits!) and empty the enemy's Balance to absolutely beat the crap out of them.

I can't speak much of the narrative just yet since I'm early, but I do feel the constraints of the mobile game: Some cutscenes really could've been better, but I feel like they tried to skim them so they could fit everything in. Maybe it gets better later when we hit the narrative highs. They've not been bad, though, just, I feel they could be better and tell more more about the characters through their body language and some extra dialogue per scene, truly capitalize on the fact that they are making a fully animated game.

But yeah! Been fun so far!

[felassan]

Cliff notes on the new info on Dragon Age: The Veilguard from the print issue of Game Informer (DA:TV spoiler warning for link) that came out the other day (magazine hub link) that contained story spoilers - spoiler free version. This post is a version of this post (DA:TV spoiler warning for link), only with story-related information of note removed.

In CC you can customize things like shoulder width, chest size, glute size, hip width, how bloodshot your eyes are, nose crookedness, and more

There are hundreds of sliders for body proportions

CC detail: “Features like skin hue, tone, melanin”

There is nudity in DA:TV, “which I learned firsthand while customizing my Rook” in CC

Rook’s backstory also affects “reputation standing”, along with the other previously-known things like in-game dialogue etc

Lords of Fortune are pirate-themed, “piratic”

Rook ascends because of competency, not because of a magical McGuffin, contrasting with the ‘destiny-has-chosen you’ angle DA:I has for the Inquisitor

Rook is here because they chose to be, “and that speaks to the kind of character that we’ve built. Someone needs to stop this, and Rook says, ‘I guess that’s me'”

The 4 voices we can choose for Rook each have a pitch shifter in CC

The game starts inside the bar (as previously detailed in other coverage)

In some dialogue wheels there is a “romantically inclined ‘emotional’ response” option. These are the replies that will build relationships with characters, romantic and platonic alike, but you can ignore them if you want to. Giving a companion the cold shoulder might nudge them into another companion’s embrace however

Bellara’s surname is Lutara

In the streets of Minrathous (in the opening segment of the game), there is a wide, winding pathway with a pub which has a dozen NPCs in it (is this The Swan tavern?)

The devs used the DA:TV CC to make each in-world NPC, except for specific characters like companions

There is smart use of verticality, scaling and wayfinding in the gameplay

If you play as e.g. a qunari Rook, the camera adjusts to ensure larger characters like them loom over those below. The camera also adjusts appropriately for dwarves to demonstrate their smaller stature

Neve Gallus is described as being capable

Demons are fully redesigned in this game, on their original premise as creatures of feeling that live and die off the emotions around them. “As such, they are just a floating nervous system, pushed into this world from the Fade, rapidly assembled into bodies out of whatever scraps they find”

Our base in this game is the place where the team bonds, grows, and prepares for its adventures

Clock symbols over dialogue icons signal optional dialogue options

If you are playing, e.g., a qunari, and you encounter elfy stuff, you might be missing unique dialogue options and an elf Rook would have more to say at that point

“There’s a heavy emphasis on storytelling and dialogue, and it feels deep and meaty, like a good fantasy novel. BioWare doesn’t shy away from minutes-long cutscenes”

For Rook, this story is about what does it mean to be a leader? We define their leadership style with our choices. “From the sound of it, my team will react to my chosen leadership style in how my relationships play out.” This is demonstrated within the game’s dialogue and a special relationship meter on each character’s companion screen

In gameplay/combat, players complete every swing in real time. Special care was taken in development for animation swing-through and cancelling. We can dash, parry, charge moves, and a completely revamped healing system that allows us to use potions at our discretion by hitting right on the d-pad. You can combo attacks and even ‘bookmark’ combos with a quick dash, which means that you can pause a combo’s status with a dash to safety and continue the rest of the combo afterward

Abilities can be used to customize your kit. They can be used on the fly as long as you account for cooldowns

When you pause and pull up the ability Wheel, it highlights you and your companions’ skills. There you can choose abilities, queue them, target specific enemies, and strategize with synergies and combos

Each character plays the same in that you execute light and heavy attacks with the same buttons, use abilities with the same buttons, and interact with the combo wheel in the same way, regardless of which class you select

Sword and shield warriors can hip-fire or aim their shield and throw it like Captain America

Warriors can parry incoming attacks which can stagger enemies. Rogues have a larger parry window. The mage the writer played couldn’t parry at all. Instead they throw up a shield that blocks incoming attacks automatically, so long as you have the mana to maintain it

On the start/pause screen: it has the map, journal, character sheets, skill tree, and a library for lore information. You can use it to cross-compare equipment and equip new gear for Rook and their companions, build weapon loadouts for quick change-ups mid-combat, and customize you and your party’s abilities and builds via an easy-to-understand skill tree. There aren’t in-depth minutiae, just "real numbers”. For example, an unlocked trait might increase damage by 25 percent against armor, but that’s as in-depth as the numbers get. Passive abilities unlock jump attacks and guarantee critical hit opportunities, while abilities add moves like a Wall of Fire to your arsenal if you’re a mage. As you spec out this skill tree, which is 100 percent bespoke to each class, you’ll work closer to unlocking a spec, complete with a unique ultimate ability

Combat is flashy and quick, with different types of health bars. Greenish-blue represents a barrier, which is taken down most effectively with ranged attacks

The game is gorgeous, with sprinkles, droplets, and splashes of magic in each attack a mage unleashes

The game looks amazing on consoles both in fidelity and performance modes

Bellara is bubbly, witty, and charming. She is spunky and effervescent, a sweetheart and a nerd for ancient elven artifacts, which is why she’s dressed more like an academic than a combatant

While Neve uses ice magic and can slow time with a special ability, Bellara specializes in electricity, and she can also use magic to heal you. electricity magic is effective against a certain mob type. “However, without Bellara, we could also equip a rune that converts my ice magic, for a brief duration, into electricity to counter the [enemies]”

If you don’t direct your companions in combat, they are fully independent and will attack on their own

The style of the game is more high fantasy than anything in the series thus far and almost reminiscent of the whimsy of Fable. Matt Rhodes says that this is the result of the game’s newfound dose of magic: “The use of magic has been an evolution as the series has gone on. In the past, you could hint at cooler magical things in the corner because you couldn’t actually go there, but now we actually can, and it’s fun to showcase that.” however, areas of whimsy will starkly contrast to the game’s other areas. The devs promise some grim locations and even grimmer story moments because, without that contrast, everything falls flat. Corinne says it’s like a “thread of optimism” pulled through otherworldly chaos ravaging Thedas.

We can advance our bonds with our companions on their own personal quests and by including them in our party on main quests. Every Relationship Level you rank up, shown on their character sheet, nets you a skill point to spend on them. “The choices you make, what you say to companions, how you help them, and more all matter to their development as characters and party members”. Each companion has access to 5 abilities.

Each companion has issues, problems, and personal quests to complete.

You can create Arcane Bombs on enemies. It does high damage after being hit by a heavy attack

It sounds like mage characters can charge heavy attacks on their magical staffs. “then switch to magical daggers in a second loadout accessed with a quick tap of down on the d-pad to unleash some quick attacks”

Some enemies are “Frenzied”, meaning that they hit harder, move faster, and have more health

re: an arena-like boss fight "[it] attacks, hitting hard with unblockable, red-coded attacks and a massive shield that you need to take down first. It is weak to fire"

The design of the game is not open world. The devs describe it as a “hub-and-spoke” design where the needs of the story are served by the level design. it is not a connected open world. locations include Minrathous, tropical beaches, Arlathan Forest, “to grim and gothic areas and elsewhere”. Some of these areas are large and full of secrets and treasures. Others are smaller and more focused on linear storytelling.

Each location has a minimap, though linear levels won’t have the 'fog of war’ that disappears as you explore like in some of the game’s bigger locations

The game has the largest number of diverse biomes in DA history

The Thedas of DA:TV “lives in the uncertainty”. “the mystery of its narrative”, “the implications of its lore”

The writer is surprised by BioWare’s command over the notoriously difficult Frostbite engine, and by how much narrative thought the dev team poured into these characters, even for BioWare.

—

[source: the Game Informer pages from Issue 367 - the cover story from June 18th (link), two] <- DA:TV spoiler warning for links

[atragicallycrispydude]

I'm so excited about Slayer in Strive I think I'm gonna fucking explode holy shit

I genuinely love him so much he's so fucking cool

Let's talk about why he's so awesome:

Probably the coolest part about Slayer (in Xrd at least) is the fact that he is playing a completely fucking different game mechanically from the rest of the cast. He is, I believe, the only character on the roster who has links between his moves. He has absolutely AWFUL gatlings, such as c.s only cancelling into two moves that are a guaranteed hit, and also being a move that you CANNOT gatling into, unlike most of the Xrd cast. However, because of the recovery and the frame data on Slayer's moves, you can link into them, where if you press a button with good timing (anywhere between 1-4ish frames,) you'll still get a true combo.

For example, you can do c.s>f.s>c.s>f.s, which is a true combo.

Additionally, his teleport dash is quite cool because it is completely intangible for several frames, allowing you to get out of frame traps or other positions that could be dangerous with good timing. You can also cancel the dash with a jump, and then cancel the jump with a special move to get the dash invulnerability on the move, which is fucking hard but super useful. It's also a cross-up. This sounds pretty busted, and while it is powerful, it is EXTREMELY committal, as Slayer can only cancel his dashes with a jump and not special moves or normals (you can YRC the dash, I think, but it's 25 meter and is seemingly only useful occasionally.)

Even beyond his mechanical differences, though, the way he plays feels fucking incredible. You might've heard that Slayer has insane damage, which he does absolutely have it's kind of insane. K Pilebunker (a followup from his rekka movement dash thing) does a whopping 80 damage. That's nearly 20% of a healthbar on a character with no guts and x1 defense, or an insane 104 (~25%) against Chipp's glass bones and paper skin. From one move.

This is balanced, however, by the fact that throwing it out in neutral is a pretty terrible idea, because it's -20 on block and puts you in range for a nice c.s from your opponent. This is why I think Pilebunker is so good at representing how Slayer is as a character: he's generally big risk, big reward. While, yes, he has a nasty mixup out of Under Pressure, going into Under Pressure can be difficult due to a vulnerability to 6Ps, lows, and sometimes even throws. Additionally, it's 0 on block, so some characters can mash out of a low.

This leads into my favorite thing about his mixup. While it's pretty standard 4-way guessing on a knockdown, in neutral it shifts to being a mental game. "Make the wrong guess and Slayer will have a feast," declares his entry on Xrd Dustloop, which is perfect for him. Using Dandy Step to go into Under Pressure and its numerous follow-ups can be very scary for an opponent, especially because mashing on a low can lead to a counter-hit It's Late, which is very bad to get hit by. However, in neutral, players might attempt to use a low against Under Pressure, or even attack during Dandy Step, which is where the mind games come in. If you condition an opponent to attack your Under Pressure starters, you can use Pilebunker. Which combos into itself on counter-hit. And does 80 damage. It becomes a game of "do I want to block the mixup, or should I risk a low?" For the Slayer player, it becomes a game of "do I want to risk Pilebunker being blocked for more damage, or do I want to risk being shut down with a low?" This is just. So much fucking fun.

Add onto that his short range, poor mobility, and steep requirements for his highest damage combos (not necessarily execution, but how you need to start it,) and you have a character that will shatter all of your bones if he gets the right hit off, but can struggle to actually get that hit.

Playing him is like injecting yourself with pure joy and happiness. It feels good to land a K Pile, good to take a chomp out of someone for the forced counter-hit, good to call someone out on a meaty with Burst Dead On Time for 175 damage (what the fuck were they thinking with that. That's genuinely fucking insane)

Is he for everyone? No. Is he undoubtedly one of the coolest fucking characters in the whole franchise? Yes. Absolutely.

I need him in his new form in Strive so bad. I'm gonna have a heart attack. He's too cool. Give me Ups And Downs NOW. ALSO LOOK AT NEW PILEBUNKER

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.224 thoughts

[FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS!]

(Contents: immediate reaction - excitement; narrative analysis - authorial intent; character analysis - Chikara/Luna; speculation - Luna/Ragnarok/UU)

WHAT'D I SAY?! WHAT'D I TELL YOU?!

FOUND OUT THE GOAL, BIG MOMENT FOR CHIKARA!!!

SET UP FOR ALL OF THE FIGHTS almost EXACTLY AS I PREDICTED!!!

Didn't see Yusai vs Justice coming and Julia/Tatiana aren't present for the fights yet, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS LINING UP!!!

If absolutely nothing else, this strongly indicates that we're at least making it to the anniversary, since Tozuka didn't specifically write in an excuse to skip everything like just breaking the Planets or something

In fact, the inclusion of the Planets not only draws things out on the basis that there's more to do, but explicitly removes available shortcuts

Authorial Intent

I said during the previous Ragnarok that the key to success this time around would be the addition of all of the members who were missing previously, such as Rip's ability to deal irreparable damage, and this chapter illustrated my point from back then perfectly

Not only is Latla's Untrust able to divert Sun's instakill attacks with ease, but Gina's Unchange and Void's Unavoidable create a combo that Sun needed to use Change to block

I'm not saying that Sun would have been defeated with that one attack, I'm sure he would have found another way to prevent it or retaliate afterwards, but the fact that he used Change at all is a tacit acknowledgment of the threat

Had Tozuka gone through with the final round of Quests, Change wouldn't be present here and Sun wouldn't have a way to neutralize Unchange, and consequently Sun would have taken serious damage. Instead, though, Sun now has a way to alter the properties of oncoming threats, retaliate with heavy weaponry, and presumably tap into the powers of all of the Master Rules in some way to counter anything the Union throws at him

In short, Sun is far stronger now than he was before. If the Union of today fought in L100's Ragnarok, it would be a short and anti-climactic battle, and that disparity was possible because Juiz took out all of the Master Rules previously. What many of us perceived as skipped content was, in actuality, a planned twist in the formula to raise the stakes and create a much more compelling conflict

Naturally, raising the stakes in turn also increases how impressive our cast can be as well

The GOAT

I tell ya, folks, when I saw Chikara stroll up with his hair pulled back into a ponytail, I nearly lost my damn mind. I've been saying for years that I wished he'd do that instead of the onion-cut, and boy do I feel stupid for not realizing Tozuka was saving it for a special occasion

Look at my boy. He's beautiful

And more importantly, like I said a few weeks ago, he's also the toughest son of a bitch on the team! He asked Billy to teach him superhearing, and our boy mastered it in a third of a year! Not only that, but he's standing up to God again, steady as a goddamn rock, no fear of what the literal sun is going to fire at him this time around

Sure, he doesn't remember getting his arm ripped clean off his shoulder, but that doesn't mean he's ignorant of what he's up against. Fuuko made it clear that every attack from Sun is a oneshot, but Chikara's ready, and not just because he's got fancy airpods in

No, the major difference between this time and their previous encounter isn't just that Chikara's expanded his interpretation of Unmove, but because this time he isn't alone

Andy and Juiz were getting ready to face off against Sun when Chikara waltzed up and said "I'll keep him from moving," and the other two (reasonably) figured they could focus on attack, turning their backs to Chikara. This left a perfect opening for Sun to fire off an attack from behind, a tactic that Creed had previously demonstrated to be available against Unmove, so they probably should have seen it coming

This time though, they were prepared. Chikara not only has Rip and Sean backing him up upon his arrival, but Andy and Fuuko themselves were ready to leap into action at a moment's notice to protect him from Luck and Death

In a manga all about teamwork and coordination, I don't think there's a single character who encapsulates the spirit of Friendship better than Chikara. Though he's never able to deal a finishing blow himself, he arguably carries the most important supporting role in the Union in basically every fight he's in. In turn, he's only able to provide that support thanks to the support he receives from everyone else, through training, equipment, protection, and faith. What he does for them, they do for him

Like I said, though, that's pretty much true for every member of the team, hence why everyone needed to be united in this Loop to have a chance at winning, Chikara is just a very good focal point for illustrating the concept because of how his ability works. No one member can shoulder everything alone, nor will anyone expect each other to. Everyone has a part to play, and everyone will do everything they can to see to it that they do. It's that interconnectedness that allows the Union to be as successful as they are

And that's the one thing that Luna just can't understand

Missing the Forest

Luna quite literally spends all of her time secluded from the world and the lives she helped create. She sits at her own Roundtable, clearly able to fit many people, with but a single chair and a cup of tea, only really interacting with anyone when they come to her

She's seen the power of humanity's bonds countless times, but she has no real concept of friendship or camaraderie because she's never personally experienced anything like it. Much like how it took Victor nearly 500 billion years to understand how much he loved Juiz because he didn't allow himself to feel attached to any of the lives he was constantly seeing end, Luna has never formed any attachment to the pawns on her side of the board, and thus can't conceptualize that they themselves have attachments to each other

This is what Fuuko means when she tells Luna that "[she doesn't] know a thing about us Negators];" in both instances, Luna takes what she sees at face value - Juiz died using Rebellion, and the man-made "Aegis" is really just a very big Unbreakable shield - and assumes that there's nothing more to it. Juiz's death supposedly took the strongest source of hatred out of the loop, and an Unbreakable shield can simply be pushed into the Earth like when Andy fought Sick

What she didn't know, though, was that Juiz's death stirred a change in Victor, and that the shield was just the setup for Chikara to stop Sun's attack without getting in harm's way. Luna couldn't foresee the ripple effects that any individual's actions or contributions would have for the rest of the team because she can only look at each of them as a single independent player rather than a cohesive whole

But strangely, I think she does know that she doesn't know how relationships work

The Missing Piece

Last week, when Luna started Ragnarok, she said something both cryptic and telling

I want you to show me the true value of the Rules, unknown to me

The Rules themselves are already a complex, interconnected system, wherein a change in any given Rule requires massive shifts from everything else to compensate, such as the loss of UMA Insect completely changing a forest landscape into a swamp to account for the ecological loss of important food sources, decomposers, pollinators, etc. The introduction of Negators, exceptions to the Rules, adds yet another layer of complexity to that web, as not only do those Negations interact with each Rule in a unique way, but each other as well

Luna obviously understands that basic idea, that the Negators are capable of working together, but she doesn't understand why, and that's what this is all about. I think she's trying to work out the exact mechanism of human interaction and relationship maintenance specifically because it's the one thing she knows she lacks

Her part of the wager with Sun was that humanity could reach the Gods, and I think what that means to her may be for humans to elevate themselves as a whole to literal divinity so that her empty little Roundtable won't be so empty anymore

This is likely why the three core Rules of the game are Soul, Death and Change; if humanity can change properly after death, then their souls can persist to achieve true immortality and godhood

And that's why Luna is willing to put Sun in the lead, to give him a power-up while the Union is unprepared. It's a gambit to force humanity into a position where they need to change and grow, whether it's to prevent their deaths or to survive their deaths. Either way, it was never really a wager with Sun; he was only ever a tool to create that circumstance

Rigged From the Start

Currently, Sun is trying to destroy the Earth's core (which may imply that the Earth itself is a UMA or a God, I think that'd be a fun little twist right at the end), presumably with the intention of creating one final Earth in the image that he wants, but given Luna's behavior, it seems likely that she always intended for this outcome to happen

Like I said last week, chances are very good that the Union will lose here so that we the audience can see what one or both of the ideal worlds of the Gods look like. This will allow for one final push from the Union to wrest that world from the Gods and create their own, showing how much better off humanity is in their own hands

Seeing Sun blasting through the surface of the Earth for hundreds of miles suggests that we'll first get to see him win, and all of the Negators will die in the process (likely excluding Andy, though it'd be wild if he somehow died too). However, because souls have already proven capable of exerting their will even without Rules like Ghost around, the Union and possibly all of humanity will come together to oust Sun's ideal world and take back control

The question is whether the world that results from this will be Luna's ideal or if they'll have to overcome and negate hers as well. Either way, I'm putting all of my bets on humanity doing what they do best and negating the rule that were only meant to be 101 rounds

Honestly, that would even make a perfect metaphor for the current real-life situation the story is in. So many of us thought the game was done last week, only for there to be a loophole and a second wind

After the End

Like I said last week, Tozuka's usual method of "one story beat per chapter" perfectly sets up the possibility that we're going to make it right up until the fifth anniversary, and this week's chapter fit perfectly with my prediction. However, it's entirely possible that that's exactly what he wants us to think

Even if every Master Rule fight goes exactly how I predicted, that doesn't mean that the final fights with Sun or Luna will, and the "climax" of the series that would be set on the anniversary might be the moment where Sun seems to win, only for it to turn out that there's still a few chapters left

It's common for Jump manga to get one or more special chapters in Jump GIGA or other magazines after their conclusions, either to wrap up the story or to give a little bonus, so I think it might be interesting if UU did a bait and switch by saving its real conclusion for that, though that would definitely kill the pacing

It might also be fun if it pulled a Bleach and ran normally but started numbering those chapters differently to highlight how things have changed, but again I'm not sure if Tozuka wants to be that extra with it

Assuming he wants to do things normally and has the blessing to go on a little longer, Tozuka is definitely capable of making UU last until at least May by breaking up each fight and event for three chapters each. In other words, whether Jump is rushing him out the door or letting him take his time, Tozuka is primed to end UU at a time when new blood is set to come in, so there doesn't seem to be any threat that it'll end abruptly between rounds

Considering that UU is getting a presentation at Jump Festa to discuss the Winter OVA and the dramatic boost in pre-order sales that the latest volume got thanks to this little scare, I doubt that Jump has given up on it just yet, and is likely to let Tozuka do what needs to be done to reach a satisfying conclusion

The main question is whether or not they'll continue to fund the anime, and I think the critical response to these coming months will be the deciding factor

It's easy for fans to come to the defense of a series they think is in trouble, but if they think it's just doing fine, then the suits may have something different to say on it. When future volumes, Blu-Rays, or whatever merch comes out, we can't just sit on our laurels and say we saved UU one time; we have to keep up the fight until the bell rings. If we're really lucky, the UU anime will keep going even after the manga ends and we'll get a complete adaptation like Demon Slayer, Hero Academy and likely Jujutsu Kaisen

Keep reading, keep watching, keep buying; whatever you can do to show Jump you love Undead Unluck, do it. I know I will

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[fferthe]

The Bravery SOUL. so normal about it Shotout to n4rval's Gaster who got me thinking about the two humans‼️ Stares

(Patience not included as it's just plain good ol 'Your Best Friend' throughout) Why does the theme sound so NERDY. All the other SOULs, even Kindness, sound serious. And it would be logical for Perseverance to sounds like that, but nope: it's Bravery's theme.

When I listen to Kindness' theme, it associates with defending oneself, Perseverance with calculating your next moves, while Justice focuses on the opponent's.

Integrity is hard, its creepiness strays me from my line of thought, but most fitting would be 'attacking'. The dustiness of the tutu doesn't play a role in my choice and it's likely that neither of the humans killed anyone, as it would instill at least some fear into monsters and, y'know', be mentioned at least somewhere. But self-defense is still an option, though! Doesn't have to go as far as murder. Nerdy, and many people have pointed out the presence of Gaster's leitmotif in there.

(The video it's taken from)

And, well, these. Just some silly things. Personally I think Gaster could've dealt with two humans after Chara, namely Patience and Bravery. The Patience and Bravery weren't used for the reason of being excessive (I feel like 4 SOUL modes is enough) and Toby not having ideas about how such a SOUL mode could be even executed (the OVERTIME one has a special place in hell). But if looking at it from an in-universe perspective, what if Gaster utilized the SOUL power for lasers? I think a monster's SOUL combines every human trait in it, making it white. Like RGB. So they can also use colored attacks, which have a unique effect. The Royal Guard uses blue attacks to hinder the movement of their target, or, more specifically, a human. Same goes for sentries like Sans and Papyrus. Woshua uses them so you could stand still and let it cleanse you. Hard to say why Gyftrot would, but hey! It's a personal choice, so why not? Orange attacks are very scarce and only one monster exclusively uses that type of attack, and not a combo. Tthat monster being Pyrope. When it comes to switching between these two, Mettaton uses both because of the lasers prominent in the CORE and Hotland, while also being a robot, which, I suppose, makes the utilization easier. Asgore, unlike Undyne, isn't adamant on his target being still to the point of rendering it immobile, so he uses blue attacks instead like the rest of the Royal Guard, while also mixing them with orange ones to disorient the human. So Sorry is a weird case. They attack you but are also sorry for that. (Asgore-style) ..They're quite the character. Green attacks are self-explanatory. Also got a silly idea: what if, since a monster's SOUL is all traits mixed together, white attacks damage you since that is also applicable to them? If you make an orange and a blue attack into one, then it turns into an attack that damages you upon contact either way. But strong monsters, like the main cast, can turn your SOUL a different color. Which, too, is connected to the fact that a monster SOUL consists of every trait, so it can be any color. I already talked about Undyne above. Sans rarely even fights, but in the one instance that he does, it's the sins weighing on our SOUL. Papyrus views the whole fighting thing differently, so for him it's about the challenge. The art of fighting. The purple and yellow modes are a bit weird, the latter one especially. But Muffet uses the former one over the green one due to her playfulness. The purpose of the yellow mode is hard pin down, because it doesn't inconvenience you in any way. But a SOUL is a SOUL, so naturally, SOUL magic would affect them as well. The yellow mode could be used to aid monsters and allow them to get more precise hits? My point is, monsters using either of these (colored attacks and SOUL modes) is natural. What Gaster did was to use that power a bit differently, fusing it with technology.

I feel like Bravery stayed with Gaster for a bit longer than Patience, hence the amount of connections. But if we're going off of Flowey's order of the six SOULs, Patience died first. Bravery dies shortly afterwards. Very reminiscent of the Dreemurrs, isn't it? Ouch. Imagine searching for them and finding out that you arrived a bit late to the scene. Gaster, probably: human...... i know your BRAVE.

[whumpsday]

Pin and Needle

Whump writing masterlist | G/t writing tag

g/t sideblog here! @smallsday

content: g/t, whump, tiny whump, borrowers, animal attack, caretaking, needles/stitches, hurt/comfort, fear, past child neglect, probable medical inaccuracies, found family

Whumpmas in July Day 3: Stitches & Bandages GT July Day 3: Impulsive Two Weeks of Whump Day 2: Needles

of my 10 Whumpmas in July entries, 3 of them will be combos with GT July! here's the first of those! i will never get tired of writing borrower whump. i should write a borrower whump series someday. for any non-g/t people unfamiliar, borrowers are a species of tiny people who secretly live in humans' houses, like fairies without wings. if you've ever seen anything labeled "tiny whump", this is that.

-

Pin had been a dad for five years now, and he liked to think he was getting pretty good at it.

The kid was already seven and self-sufficient enough to not die on her own for who knows how long when he found her, so he didn't have to deal with any of that baby crap. Now she was twelve, and she was better at some stuff than he was.

Pin decided to go borrowing while the kid slept in today, with the human off at school. It was perfect, because then he could take his time looking for a surprise. Today was the five-year anniversary, and he wanted to make it special. There was a lot he'd missed in Chime's life, and from what the kid had said about her old parents, they weren't exactly in the habit of celebrating her.

He had to make it special.

Pin had already gathered all the food and supplies he needed to grab, so all that was left was the present. He'd been looking around every time he went out, but he couldn't see anything. The human lived by himself- mostly, aside from that damn cat he'd brought home last month- and was a starkly healthy eater. Not a lot of little bits and bobs he could use to make toys for her, either.

It had been easier to get treats for the kid with the family who used to live in the apartment, who always kept sweets around, but food was food. It was better for the kid this way in the long run, anyway. But he really wished he could get her a treat, just this once.

He didn't really go into the human's room. He was of the opinion that a man needed his privacy, and food was supposed to be kept in the kitchen, so why would he need to? Most of all, the cat liked to hang out in there, and that was a risk he didn't need to take. Apparently the human was just watching it for a friend, which was the only reason he hadn't taken the kid and moved. But maybe the guy was hiding some snacks in there. From all the studying he seemed to do in there, it was likely, right?

Just this once.

Pin approached the bedroom. He could probably have squeezed himself through the gap under the door if he needed to, but the door was open a crack. He peeked in.

The cat snoozed happily on the chair left messily pulled out from the desk. Perfect, it was asleep. All he had to do was not make noise and-

It didn't take long for Pin to find his prize. There, right on the desk, a bag of marshmallows. Bingo. The bag even proclaimed them "mini", like they were made for borrowers. He could probably fit two or three in his rucksack to surprise the kid with when she wakes up.

Even with the chair pulled away, it was a little too close to the cat for comfort. He really should turn around and just try and make the kid another toy.

Ah, fuck it.

Pin could take a little risk. The cat was asleep. He readied his sticky hand- a human children's toy, a little less reliable than a grappling hook but much quieter- and climbed his way up the desk.

No issues. He was in the clear. He ripped a small hole in the bag and stuffed three marshmallows in his pack.

When he turned around, the cat was not asleep.

It stared straight at him with huge, yellow eyes, pupils constricted and tail flickering back and forth.

"Oh, shit. Hey, kitty," Pin whispered, backing away slowly.

The cat hunkered down, its hindquarters wiggling slightly, like-

Heart pounding, Pin dropped the pack and ran. But he was too slow, of course he was too slow, he was five inches tall. Borrowers weren't made to be fast, they were made to be sneaky, and he'd done the one thing a borrower was never supposed to do: he'd been found.

The cat was on the desk in an instant and its paws pinned him to its surface in another, their fuzzy exteriors giving way to claws stabbing through his clothes, through his skin. He screamed, trying to squirm away, but that only made the agony intensify, the claws dragging through flesh as blood stained his ruined clothes.

"No! Stop!" he cried uselessly, gasping with pain, but the cat didn't listen. Its head drew closer, mouth opening to reveal a maw full of sharp teeth that could easily crush bones.

Pin wailed in despair. He was going to die a violent, bloody death before he even hit forty. It wasn't supposed to end like this!

He kicked wildly, and by some stroke of luck, he managed to land a hit on the cat's snout, causing it to rear back a little.

That was all he needed. Pin tore away from the paws, letting out another shriek as they popped through his skin, and ran toward the front of the desk as fast as he could, dropping blood behind him.

The cat spun, tail flickering and ears forward with excitement.

"Fuck off!" Pin shouted. He shoved the desk drawer open just enough to slide in, landing on the bottom with a grunt.

The cat's paw dove in after, reaching for him. He scrambled to the back of the drawer, trembling in terror.

"Calm- calm down," he told himself, trying to get his quick breathing under control. The drawer was too small: even if the cat got it open, it wouldn't be able to fit all the way in the back. He wrapped his arms around himself, quickly becoming soaked in blood as his midsection throbbed with pain.

It was so dark, the only light coming from the sliver where the cat's paw batted around, searching for him. Pin grabbed at the piece of paper he found himself sitting on, tearing off a piece with shaking hands and wrapping it over himself like a bandage. He pressed it there tightly, even as it became soaked with blood, too.

Pin always tried to be strong for the kid. But Chime wasn't here right now, so he let himself cry. It was the worst pain he'd ever felt in his life, and he might still die. What would happen to him? How was he going to get back home? What if he didn't stop bleeding and he died here in the dark?

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there when the front door clicked open, making him startle in his frazzled state. The human wasn't supposed to be home yet, was he? Or had he just been sitting here that long?

"This is why I need to check my emails, Yarny!" the human called. Right, the beast that might have caused his slow, painful death was named Yarny.

The cat's paw retreated and it hopped off the desk, exiting the room with a loud, insistent meow.

"Yarny!" the human gasped. "Is that blood!? What happened? Are you hurt?"

Oh no. The human was going to find him if he didn't move. Pin stood up: now that the cat was gone, he needed to get out of here.

He took one step, stumbled, and sat right back down as his vision spun.

"Oh, thank god," the human said distantly. "What, then, did you catch a mouse? Please tell me it's not still running around my apartment."

The human was going to kill him.

He would die without even getting to say goodbye to Chime. She was going to be abandoned again, this time by him. No kid should have to go through that. He was supposed to be getting her a present. How had this all gone so wrong? He didn't want to die.

But the footsteps drew closer, and he didn't have a choice. He scooted back into the corner of the drawer, clutching the paper around himself like he would even have the time to bleed out. He sobbed, hoping it would at least be quick.

The door creaked as the human swung it open, pattering over to the desk. Pin's whole world rumbled around him as the human slid the drawer open, revealing him trembling in the corner.

"H-hi," Pin said weakly.

The human stared, eyes wide with disbelief. Pin had never been so close to a human before. He was even bigger up close. He looked like he might have been, well, a scrawny nerd, maybe a little more than half Pin's age if he had to guess, but things like that didn't matter at his size. A human baby could crush him, let alone a young man.

"What are you?" the human asked, incredulous.

The last thing Pin was going to do was put his species at risk. He shrugged. "Dying," he squeaked, unable to keep casual.

"Oh, oh no." The human seemed to snap out of his incredulous stupor, enormous hands reaching toward him. Pin cringed back, but the human scooped him up anyway.

Pin squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath, trying not to whimper, but no death came for him. The human's hands were gentle, carrying him out of the drawer.

"Yarny, no," the human chastised, closing the bedroom door behind him as he walked out to the kitchen. He turned his attention to Pin. "I'm so sorry, I don't even know what you are. Yarny hurt you?"

"Yeah." He slowly opened his eyes, staring up at the giant. His trembling started up again. "Are you gonna kill me?"

"What? No!" The human seemed to realize he was making Pin uncomfortable and set him down carefully on the counter. "I won't hurt you, I promise. I'm- well, I'm not a doctor yet, I'm just a med student- are you still bleeding?"

Pin let out a shaky sigh of relief. His heart still raced with terror, but if the human was able to help him- well, he'd already been found.

He pulled the paper away from his injuries, getting a good look for the first time. Several bloody marks raked down his left side where the cat had sunk its claws into him. Blood oozed from them, warm and red.

"Look, uh," Pin didn't know the human's name. He almost never had company over, and no one just says their own name to themself. "Human guy. I know you don't know me but, you gotta help me, okay? I have a kid waiting up for me." It was risky revealing Chime's existence, but he never said he lived here, and since the human knew nothing about him, he'd have no way of knowing. His voice shook a little as he pled his case. "Single dad. She's got no one else. I can't die here, alright? C'mon. It- it hurts."

"Of course I'll help you!" the human exclaimed. He wrung his hands nervously. "It's just- I'm really not qualified, yet, is the thing. I could drive you to the emergency room? Or maybe, um, given your size, a small animal vet?"

"I'm not an animal!" Pin insisted, offended. "No, no, kid, listen. You can do this, alright? I've seen those books you keep in the living room. You got all the diagrams and shit. I can't be going to an emergency room and showing myself off to everybody. Just fix me and I'll be out of your hair."

"I haven't even done residency yet!" the human protested. "I've done a suture practice kit, but that's for normal-sized wounds, and it's just for practice, and I can't even determine that you need stitches because I'm not a doctor!" After a moment, he added, "And my name's Kendry."

"Pin," he introduced himself. "Practice kit's better than nothing. Just do that." He couldn't have this human take him out to get prodded at by a bunch of other humans, it sounded like his worst nightmare. "And I'm rushing you, 'cause I'm getting dizzy here."

Kendry looked alarmed at that. "Oh- okay!" he agreed, obviously still anxious. "Can you take off your shirt so I can examine you?"

"You got it." Pin removed the tatters that were once his shirt, wincing as the movement ignited more pain in his side.

Kendry peered closer. "I- yeah, I'm going to give you stitches. I would really like to take longer, but you can't have that much blood in you... I'm not a vet..." he trailed off.

"Good, 'cause I'm not a mouse," Pin grumbled, but the repeated broaching of the topic made him nervous. If Kendry saw him as a fellow person, he would probably be okay. But if the human saw him as an animal... who knows what he would do to him? The fact that his life laid entirely in this giant stranger's hands was terrifying.

"I'll be right back." Kendry dashed out of the kitchen, returning with a black fabric case. He unzipped it to reveal a cut-up silicone pad with all the cuts neatly sewn closed, curved needles of various sizes, thread, a bunch of different tweezers, and a few sets of scissors as tall as Pin.

Oh, he didn't like that last part at all.

But Kendry reached for the smallest curved needle, which still looked pretty damn big. "This is the practice kit. I did pretty well with the suture pad, but you're so small..." he fretted. He threaded the needle, pulled a packet from a drawer, ripped it open, and wiped the needle, thread, and one tweezer down with the tissue inside. He opened another one and held it hesitantly in front of Pin.

"I need to sanitize you first. Cats' claws can carry germs, I don't want you to get infected. It's going to sting," he warned. "I'm sorry, I can't give you anything for the pain, I'm worried you might even overdose on ibuprofen at your size..."

Pin maneuvered himself onto his other side, letting his injury face up toward Kendry, way too vulnerable. "It already stings, and I don't know what ibuprofen is. Just do it."

"Okay. Here goes." Kendry swiped the wipe over Pin's side, and he had to bite his cheek to keep from shrieking. It hurt, the fluid inside seeping into his open wounds.

"Are you okay?" Kendry asked.

"I will be once this thing stops bleeding," Pin said, voice strained.

"Alright, I just need you to hold still. Is it okay if I...?" Kendry brought his other hand to hover around him.

Pin hated the idea of being held in place, unable to move, but he nodded anyway. Whatever the doc-in-training had to do. "Go for it."

Kendry rested a finger on his back and a thumb on his chest, holding him gently but firmly in place despite Pin's continued trembling. "Just try and stay still. I'm sorry if it hurts. I'll do my best," he promised.

The needle entered his skin, dipping in and out as Pin fought the urge to squirm away. He couldn't hold back this time, sobbing harder every time the needle re-entered him. There were no more check-ups from Kendry: Pin could see, through tear-blurred eyes, all his focus was on the wound.

After way too long, Kendry released his hold, allowing Pin freedom of movement again. He didn't take advantage of it, exhausted by blood loss and his ordeal.

"Don't move," Kendry told him anyway. He grabbed one of the scissors.

Pin put his hands up, adrenaline flooding him. "I won't! What are you doing with that!?"

"Easy." Kendry wiped that down with the stinging wipe, too. "You still have the thread attached. I won't hurt you." He glanced down at the scissors, then back at Pin. "I know it must seem frightening to someone your size, but I'm just going to cut the thread. Honest."

"Right. Right, yeah." Pin forced himself to relax, lowering his hands back down as Kendry snipped the thread, leaving several wounds in his side stitched up relatively neatly.

Kendry grabbed a band-aid, one of the few medical tools Pin liked to take to keep around under the floorboards, and peeled the plastic away. He dropped some clear-ish gel from a tube onto the center. "I'm going to add some Neosporin on it just to be safe. An infection would wreak havoc on you."

"Sounds good to me," Pin agreed, sitting up. Kendry wrapped the band-aid around his body, the stitches hidden underneath. Good. He didn't want the kid to freak out about it.

"There. That went... pretty well, I think," Kendry said, almost stunned. "Where can I... discharge you to?"

"Thanks. The floor," Pin instructed. He could just get back home when Kendry wasn't looking. He'd have to find a new place after that, now that the human knew. Even if he was friendly enough to help, there was no way he'd want them to stay. "I'll be out soon as I can move around right."

Kendry tilted his head, the situation finally clicking. "Were you... living here?"

"Uh, yeah," Pin admitted. "Since before you moved in, actually."

"Oh! Well, um, I'm not going to kick you out after you just got attacked. You're... my patient. That wouldn't do," Kendry decided. "Does your daughter live here, too?"

The jig was pretty much up at this point. If Kendry wanted to hurt him, he already would have. "Yeah. Which is why I'm not telling you exactly where. I'm thankful and all, but... you get it."

"Oh, of course," Kendry agreed quickly. "You're just being a good dad."

Pin smiled at that, despite the pain. He wiped the tears from his face. "Thanks. I try, you know? She's not even my kid by blood, she actually lived here before either of us. I was scouting for a new place when I found her here all on her own. Seven years old, could you believe that?"

"What!? That's crazy!" Kendry pulled up a chair and sat, transfixed. "Seven years old, four inches tall?"

"Three tall. She was little. Apparently her parents had too many kids, so they just started kicking 'em out as soon as they were old enough. I don't think seven's old enough, but hey, what do I know?" Pin shook his head. "Today's the five-year anniversary of when we met. Usually stay out of your room, you gotta have your privacy, but I wanted to get the kid something special. Could I still get a few of those marshmallows?"

"Oh! Yeah, of course!" Kendry ran off toward the room, returning with a handful of mini-marshmallows as well as Pin's rucksack and sticky hand. "I figure these are yours?"

"Yeah. Thanks for being cool about everything." This was going so much better than he'd expected. "We'll move out soon. Probably should have the day you brought the cat."

"Um, you could stay if you want." Kendry offered, hope flashing in his eyes. "You were here first, after all."

This guy was obviously ridiculously lonely. But he mentioned having a friend? "I mean, yeah, that'd be great, if it's really alright. You okay?"

"Yeah! It's just- I lost my parents a few years ago," Kendry admitted. "You seem like... a really good dad. I don't want to make things harder for you. I don't mind having roommates."

Ah, so that was it. Pin reached out and patted Kendry's hand. He wouldn't mind having another pseudo-kid. "Me neither."

-

here's some more borrower whump i wrote if you like this! and be on the lookout for a Tiny Kane AU on thursday :)

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