#i used inspiration from said kirby boss

[yumenotambourin]

do all 3 mouses for the character ask or im shaving elfilis 🪒🪒🪒

I'M SORRY I WAS TRAVELING YESTERDAY AM I STILL IN TIME TO SAVE THEM???

🩷First impression🩵

Elfilin

Very cute! I thought he was quite bland before release already, but I was like 100% sure that it was because the twist was gonna be that he was mass produced.

And then after finishing the game I had a little phase in which I hated him because he was super fucking plot important, yet he didn't do anything and this made me angry, lol

Forgo

As soon as my eyes landed on it, I thought it was Elfilin after some horrific experimentations. But then they showed the actual Elfilin lmao. I thought it was really cute and I didn't want to fight it, thank god it transformed before we fought it. Then I was just awestruck.

Also my mom randomly asked me what it was and I didn't know what to say so I just said something like "a mental parasite species"

Elfilis

The first thought that crossed my mind after seeing them was "oh god they have my exact favorite color scheme I'm gonna be obsessed with them, aren't I?". Breathtakingly beautiful, of an angelicity(?) never seen before from Kirby. Throughout April 2022, I occasionally woke up in the morning wondering wether they were just a dream. The fact that something like them existed in the Kirby universe was astonishing to me.

🩷Impression now🩵

Elfilin

I still think he's severely underdeveloped, but I'm more cool with that now. He's cute and silly and fun, he's a nice contrast to Forgo, and generally an adorable sidekick. Tho I wish there was more of him.

Forgo

Baby. It's very cute, strikes pretty well the balance between creepy and goober, and the superior gemini in my opinion. I like putting it in situations :3

Elfilis

A MOUS!!! As magnificent as the first time I saw them. Except they're now my muse, my guardian angel. My view of them has kinda shifted from "stereotypical perfect lifeform" to "the embodiment of life itself", which kinda recontextualizes them, especially given how hard each mous fought to stay alive, and I find that very inspirational.

I love Elfilis.

🩷Favorite moment🩵

They don't have that many moments so uuuuh

Elfilin

Finding the Light! Perfect way to end the mouces' arc, and goes to show how much of a sweetheart he is.

Forgo

The iconic "everything shall be consumed" is iconic

Elfilis

The only thing that they do, their boss fight 😭 it's stunning and I find myself replaying it more often than normal

🩷Idea for a story🩵

Elfilin

Definitely a plotline where they tackle that he can learn something from Elfilis and/or Forgo as well. I don't like how y'all treat him like he's perfect.

Forgo

I'd like to see it getting used to living a normal happy life :3 the baby has suffered enough

Elfilis

ELFILIS PROLOGUE PLEASE!!! About how they attacked earth and stuff and their capture and maybe even Neichel cameo!!!

(I will not let you forget about Neichel)

🩷Unpopular opinion🩵

Elfilin

As I said before, I hate when people make him out to be this little goody-two-shoes without a single flaw who's juts the embodiment of niceness and kindness and will always do the right thing. Like no??? It's not all black and white! Let him be a proper multilayered character! Let him make mistakes and learn from others! Let him learn from his literal other half!!!

Forgo

Whenever someone says that Forgo is Elfilis an angel loses their wings. Starting from the fact that the game heavily implies if not downright states (I'm on plane I can't check I forgor) that Elfilis = Forgo + Elfilin, why would anyone choose to take two different characters in different situations with likely two different outlooks (ELFILIS WAS SPLIT INTO TWO FOR THE ENTIRE FUCKING PLOT!!! ELFILIS HAS THE HERO OF THE STORY INSIDE THEM!!!) and reduce them to a single, more limited being? Plus, most people with this headcanon are also the "Elfilis/Forgo is pure evil and an irredeemable monster!!!!" people who also really piss me off. Like yeah okay YOU chose to headcanon the traumatized baby and the insane mous as the same character. YOU are the one taking away all the nuance they could possibly have. Also as I said before THATS A TRAUMATIZED BABY!!!

Elfilis

I strongly dislike the headcanon that Elfilis absorbs other creatures into their dna. I feel like it ruins a lot of the charm they have, at least for me, by making their ethereal presentation be stolen from other creatures rather than it just being who they are. Also, while I am a Good Elfilis defender, I love the idea of them destroying planets for fun. It just goes to cement how otherworldy and above it all this creature is. So yeah, I feel like this headcanon takes away a lot of their appeal for me personally.

I also don't like when people make them always angry and grumpy, like do you realize half of them is Elfilin?

🩷Favorite relationship🩵

This is entirely headcanon-based as the mouces don't really interact with anyone besides Elfilin with Kirby

Elfilis and Elfilin and Elfilis and Forgo. More than the three of them together, I prefer each baby mous with Elfilis on their own.

I'm gonna briefly summarize my hc dynamics for them cause I love mice.

Elfilis and Elfilin - Elfilin

As I said before, Elfilin's feelings on his big sibling are very conflicted. On one hand, he feels safe with them, and looks up to them. On the other hand, he fears them. The fact that they just wipe out planets without second thought disturbs him. Although he'd never admit it to himself because he loves them so much. Elfilis, however, is very much aware of Elfilin's feelings. And as much as they're devastated by the guilt of having hurt their little ones so much, they dismss Elfilin's compassion as naivete due to his young age and time spent with the beasts. They're sure he will outgrow it one day and see his superiority, ans in the meantime they remind him that he's their little one and that they'll always love him.

Elfilis and Forgo - Forgo

Forgo sees itself as nothing but a temporary form of Elfilis, unworthy of being seen as anything but. And it's not taking this whole "coexisting with the actual Elfilis" all that well. If the actual Elfilis exists, what purpose does Forgo have? This sends them down an existential crisis. Elfilis doesn't like that. And they're desperate to help it break free from these beliefs. Also, Forgo always saw Elfilis in a very idolized way, as a ruthless monstrous destroyer. But that's not all there is to Elfilis, they can be a little silly sometimes. And Forgo is SEVERELY disappointed. It often calls them an idiot and then feels bad about it because nobody should be reproaching the almighty Fecto Elfilis. Also it exclusively refers to them as "Great One".

🩷Favorite headcanon🩵

Elfilin

Can I be honest? No fucking clue. Maybe that Elfilis teaches him how to fight?

Forgo

I'll make it quick so as not to repeat myself, that it sees itself as nothing more than a temporary form of Elfilis.

Elfilis

The idea that they have no motivation is very important to me. Specifically that they do things purely out of enjoyment. That they're just a force beyond our comprehension who sees everything as insignificant and is just trying to have fun.

ALSO THAT THEY LOVE EACHOTHER VERY MUCH!!!

[song-writer-melo-wrath]

Silly Game Time: Who are some of your favorite mechanical characters, be they robots, androids, cyborgs, or something else? And what do like about them?

OOOOH...

Well, first, gotta mention my man Data.

A lot of people has said that he is autism-coded in the way that he is presented, and in how other people react to him. And I kind of agree tbh. He's also just a sweetheart, and his bonds with the crew (especially Laforge), his cat Spot, and sometimes with people who are briefly onboard are so lovely.

I also feel I should mention Connor,

Because his arc has probably inspired so many OCs at this point. Bryan Dechart did such an excellent job playing him, and his growing bond with Hank is very well-written. I think it's honestly touching how it's often emotional bonds that show humanity.

Another I feel would be a crime not to mention,

Because between the iconic lines and the dynamic he has with John Connor, and the way it shapes his various decisions, how could I not? And yes I'm specifically talking Terminator 2 here. Though I will say he makes an EXCELLENT force of nature and presence of absolute horror in the first movie.

Then, of course, the sapphic community's favourite,

Because "Want You Gone" hurts me on a personal level, and I don't just mean because it's how GLaDOS says farewell. I relate to that song so much (and did a cover of it :D) and, in general, relate with much of her story. Of course, she's a sassy motherfucker who you can't help but love. But for how much Portal 2 is considered the inferior game, it really does make her story into one of self-discovery and complicated morality. I guess it just gets overshadowed by Oh hi. How are you holding up.

Next,

I MEAN. COME ON. This guy used to be, and honestly still is, one of my biggest fictional crushes. His charisma is magnetic, of course. His STORY being wrapped up by the connections he used to have being rekindled, resulting in him choosing to be a star for those who need one most, rather than a star for the most people possible???? Ugh, poetic cinema.

Speaking of stars,

[vibrating] I have so many headcanons when it comes to this one But more to the point, Star Dream is an absolute force of nature. Its boss fight is incredible, an absolute marvel of multiple types of play styles coming together. The themes? Slap.

Star Dream's draw, for me, is that its sentience is so…debatable. I'm on the side of “had sentience the whole time”, and more to the point, “based on how much Haltmann copied homework, it's possible he brought something back from the dead” but I dunno, I don't like arguing my case when it comes to the second. The point is, for many of things that it does, it's uncertain whether that's just part of its program, or if it's a sentient decision. Was Susie sent away because of something accidental, or was it Star Dream's intention? The fact that Haltmann became so focused on its creation after her disappearance, in my eyes, kind of implies the latter…

… It's also interesting that even without Haltmann giving it a voice via him-being-possessed, it only chooses to speak to Meta Knight.

Can you tell I have The Kirby Autism, is it noticeable, is it obvious—

Also I'm gonna put two of my OCs here, because self-indulgence is alive and well.

This is Palharine and Mayday! They're my favourites out of a group of robot/android characters I created about three years ago, and have finally taken the time to draw recently:

From left to right, you got Eodel Remidoros, Palharine, Mayday, and Ziah Hyperion. All very different interpretations of robotic.

Palharine and Mayday stand out to me due to their emotional states. They're kind of opposites, in that regard. Mayday is a very sensitive gal, who has been through a lot of pain, and is trying to become stronger so she can confidently say she has no doubt in who she is. Palharine, as far as they're aware, has no emotions. Which is interesting, since the other three all seem to, to some degree. Among the four, Palharine is also unique in that they're programmed to dream. Both of these things shape them a lot.

But these two have a very sweet bond, where they're both passionate about biology, especially botany. Mayday, in a training exercise, also nearly wipes the floor with Palharine. It's more touching than it sounds.

Also, Palharine's genderfluid and Maydays a trans woman, so those things just inherently spark joy for me, haha!

This has been, real robotic character hours.

[whatyourusherthinks]

My Adventures With Superman Season Two Review

AND WE'RE BACK! If you don't know what we're doing here, than go read my Season One MAWS review, but I'm just gonna keep trucking along!

Season 2 Episode 1 'More Things in Heaven and Earth'

Interesting dream opening, and I like that Clark and Lois are still being cute. But hold the fuck up a second. Jimmy is in charge now? Him selling his YouTube channel to the Daily Planet made him one of the bosses there? Is this implying he's like a partial owner or something? ...Actually I'm okay with this. But why is everyone giving Clark shit for a "lame" date idea? Why do they care? This is why no one likes you Cat! And Jimmy, you were there in the first season and saw Clark way over plan his first date with Lois. And you gave him shit about it. So why are you doing the opposite now? Not only is this entire Valentine's Day plot just their for some no really funny jokes, but I'm more annoyed about that than the entirety of the Daily Planet staff being super investing in Clark and Lois's love life honestly. Jimmy was such a good wingman before! YOU CAN'T DISTRACT ME WITH A REFERENCE TO THE ORGINAL SUPERMAN MOVIE SHOW!

Oh hey the guy who becomes Cyborg Superman is in this episode. That will totally distract me from this weird opening. I do like that Jimmy tries to cheer Lex Luthor up, which he takes as inspiration to become evil. I'm gonna get more into it later, but they do a very interesting dichotomy. I like their version of Kryton in the show, it's another thing I'll get into later as the show reveals more about it. I'm bummed they aren't going to give Superman a Fortress of Solitude, it seems like something they were setting up in this episode, but I get why and I can't blame them for making this choice. I just think it would have been cool. Especially since Jor-El is super cool in this episode. Also, any guesses about who the "enemy" the could not defeat is? Given that those Kryptonian soldiers are killed by a laser that seemed to change directions, the Kirby-dot accents on said laser, and what the planet looks like from space, I think it's Darkseid/the New Gods. That would be hella dope. All the villains in this episode are kinda dumb. Slade has officially fallen into "goon" territory, and Damage... I'm pissed at what they did to Damage. Maybe if the show goes into his backstory in a later episode it could still make him work, but right now they took a antihero with an interesting and complicated relationship with both Superman and the US government and made him Big Punchy Bad Man.

Season 2 Episode 2 'Adventures With My Girlfriend'

Hey this opening is kinda cute, with Waller hyping herself up and bring General Lane cof- Hold the fuck up again, how does Ivo have the Parasite suit? Superman tore him out of the suit and they left the remains in the park, did Task Force X capture him again and stick give him the Parasite tech again? Even though last time he destroyed their base and Waller herself admitted he was going insane? Why would you not keep him out of the suit until you need him to be Parasite? He's not even restrained that well they just leave him in a cell! Ivo aside, this episode is the beginning of something that bothered me throughout the entire season. Lois and Clark spend the entire season needing to talk about various things, and the show just doesn't let them have a moment. It just makes for the most annoying kind of cheap drama. So do you hate the show now? What? No! I still love the characters and the writers know what they are doing with Superman himself. Case in point, this episode is basically Superman versus the Prison Industrial Complex. And it's great. There was more subtle social commentary in the last season, but they make it more in your face this season. Which I have absolutely no problem with. Break my nose with your ACAB propaganda Supes! Plus Lois and Clark are super cute while they are investigating together. I also had a little freak out when Atomic Skull showed up. Yes, he a random Task Force X goon with no set-up, but a) his backstory in the comics is sorta dumb so skipping it works for this character, and b) he just looks so damn cool! A creepy looking destructive force is all you kinda need from AS, so he's good. Also, I like Jimmy's subplot. The laugh Perry White give when Jimmy says the interns aren't aren't listening to him cleansed my soul, and I like that the Newskid Legion and Steve are trying to kill each other in the background. And is this first episode where Superman uses his super-breath? Cool. Also, FUCKING CALLED IT! EVERYONE DID! I DON'T CARE BUGGNUTZ I'M STILL SMART!

Season 2 Episode 3 'Fullmetal Scientist'

Oh HELL the fuck yes! This episode introduces STEEEEEEL~ And Cyborg's dad? That's a cool easter egg. But for real though, Steel is a super dope character and I am so glad they included him in the show, even if he looks dumb. This is what I mean when I say I don't mixing CGI and traditional 2D animation. That CGI mech body with the cartoon head sticking out looks completely ridiculous and makes all of Steel's motions look really weird too. I wish they gave him a mech suit like what Deathstroke has just with a more comic accurate look, or at least a helmet for this new one so he doesn't looks like an egg on a Gundam. I like John Henry Iron's design outside of the suit, I love that he's even bigger and broader than Clark is. I also love how Clark is a huge nerd about him too. And he's Flip's uncle? Okay, sure. I also like what they did with Metallo. It's vastly different to the comics, which is great. In my opinion, the only thing that Metallo has over, say, Cyborg Superman is the kryptonite heart thing, and even then it's not super interesting. Metallo instead being a bunch of drones which Lex improves their power cores with synthetic Kryptonite is a cooler idea. I wish they looked more different than the Task Force X or Kryptonian robots, but I like that they have laser-railguns. Railguns are awesome. I think the forcefield power Clark gets in this episode is cool. It's kinda in the comics, he has a bioelectric aura that just for hand-wavium for dinguses who are like "How can Superman lift a plane by it's nosecone without destroying the plane?" or "How can Superman's clothes stay intact when he's in an explosion?". But as far as I'm aware it's just something that's always on, he doesn't control it. But it's a power that makes sense for Superman to have. Way more than something like "Super Muscular Control".

Now for my problem with the episode: This episode that really made me mad about General Lane not realizing Clark is Superman. THEY'VE BEEN LIVING TOGETHER BETWEEN AND DURING THIS EPISODE AND THE LAST ONE HOW DID JIMMY FIGURE IT OUT AS SOON AS HE MET CLARK BUT A HEAD OF A BLACK OPS TEAM TRYING TO HUNT DOWN SUPERMAN DOESN'T. I wouldn't get so mad if the rest of his identity wasn't so reasonable. The only people who Clark interreacts with as both Superman and himself are Lois, Jimmy, his Parents, and General Lane. (Also I guess Ivo too, but a) they don't establish that he does know Superman's identity or not, and b) even if he doesn't know he's insane because of the Parasite suit so it's explained away that way.) And only the general doesn't know. HOW? I get that he sees Clark as a screw-up who doesn't deserve to date his daughter, but he's shown to be very smart, tactical, and always making plans. And you're telling me he would never even consider that Clark and Superman are the same person? HE VISITED THE KENT FARM AND A SPACESHIP RAISED UP FROM BENEATH THEIR CORNFIELD. Also, don't be surprised if a there is an episode next season where Clark is forced to interview/be in proximity to Lex Luthor and has to not give away his secret identity, only for either Lex to figure it out anyway or for Lex to completely dismiss Clark because he's too "wimpy". Given how the show has handled Clark's secret identity so far, I could see it going either way. But I think it would be way more interesting if Lex actually knows and plots to expose Clark as well as take him out.

Season 2 Episode 4 'Two Lanes Diverged'

THIS EPISODE MAKES ME WANT TO CRY! Not just because the first half of the episode is the sweetest friendship with Clark and Jimmy, not just because the darkest hour and the ending of this episode are gut wrenching, but also because we get Lois's backstory and it's so sad watching her try to connect to a guy who's such a dick AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH Alright, calm down Hayden Christensen. *Sniff sniff* You can't make me. Oh dude Toyman is in this episode! I mean barely and it's pretty much just an easter egg but his teddy bear exploded so I'm gonna count it. Why do you even like a guy called Toyman so much? He sounds lame. Gee, I don't know why'd I like a guy who's whole gimmick is Dr. Jekyll except he makes armies of killer robots- Wait. Wait. He's working on a tiny robot model of the Brain. Was he a member of Cadmus? Did he design the Brain's mechanical body!? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE CONTINUITY?! Oh hey, this is the episode where they really establish Lex and Jimmy's relationship. Lex Luthor in this universe is like an evil opposite to Jimmy Olsen, and that's brilliant. I mean it totally make sense, right? Jimmy's Superman's Best Pal, and what's the opposite of a best friend? A worst enemy. I'm probably way over explaining this, but I like it a lot. I don't think these two characters have had a lot of crossover in the comics WRONG Read the 2019 run of Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olsen. Oh, uh... Sure, this seems right up my alley! (And I do remember one issue where it's revealed that Lex's biggest fear is being Jimmy Olsen, so there's that.) ANYWAY My point is that it's a cool angle to take these two characters and I hope they deepen it in future seasons. Also haha the show does another plot thread that sucked in BvS and works so much better here. Zack. I don't know if this is going to revealed as a lie, but Lex's motivation is really interesting. It's by no means unique to the show, but other stories usually spice it up with "he's jealous of Superman" or "he's cRaZy" and I don't really think he needs that. Paranoia is enough of a motive to plot murder. Also the fight at the end is dope as hell, I love that all the Star Labs gadgets they showed off earlier in the episode come into play and that metal backing track was awesome. I don't even have any nitpick for this episode. This is one's really good.

Season 2 Episode 5 'Most Eligible Superman'

On from the best episode of the season so far to the worst... But let's be positive first. This episode introduces Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl. And her and Jimmy are in love and have the cutest frickin' date and they are OTP! They better hook up for realsies next season I swear to Rao! Calm down, you're hyperventilating. Also, didn't know Wonder Woman has an enby villain. That's cool. So is the fight at the end. But the main plot of this episode is Clark having to pretend he's single so he doesn't accidently reveal his secret identity and also because Cat Grant is an idiot and Lois gets jealous because I guess Clark was supposed to violently reject this hot billionaire flirting with him while also pretending to be single and also because Cat Grant is an idiot. There's some funny moments I guess, but all this dumbassery is just to facilitate Clark and Lois breaking up at the end of the episode FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON. Roan Lois breaks up with Clark because she felt overwhelmed and her insecurities took over after her Father left in the previous episode and she felt not good enough for him. Not saying it was aa good reason, but that's why it happened. ...Okay fine, but the next time they see each other they pretty much hook back up, so what is even the point? It's just annoying because most of the time the characters act reasonably and this just feels so contrived and without purpose. Look at Perry's face in the opening after Cat bursts into his office. That is my reaction to this entire episode. Also, there is a bizarre continuity error. Hank Henshaw (the guy who becomes Cyborg Superman) said he had a wife in the first episode of the season so why is he one of Metropolis's most eligible bachelors? Bleh, I'm just gonna kick this one aside and move on.

Season 2 Episode 6 'The Machine Who Would Be Empire'

Okay okay, shake it off. Let's start with saying this is my favorite version of Supergirl I've seen in anything ever. Admittedly, I'm not a huge Supergirl fan to begin with. She's fine, but I've never read or seen anything that makes me go nuts for her. (Although I've heard the Tom King's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is really fucking good and I love his Miracle Man limited series. It's on my reading list.) But this Supergirl is amazing. Probably the smartest thing the show does is have the first episode with her super cute date with Jimmy, because it let's me overlook some of the mean stuff she does to Clark in this episode. But even then, you see her softer side. I like that she's really into exploring and seeing other planets, and I like that Clark immediately starts making fun of her when he finds out she has a crush on Jimmy. It's okay, she get him back. Their sibling dynamic is something we never get in the comics, and I love it. They're cousins. Whatever, get my meaning. I also like how Kara's a massive dumbass. Like it's not really her fault, she's been manipulated by Brainiac since she was born and part of that is he stunted her education, clearly. But the rest of the gang are pretty smart, both academically and emotionally, so it's a good a character who has no idea what she's doing. Ever. (And before anyone jumps up my ass, yes she obviously knows more about Krypton stuff than anyone else still alive, so she's not an idiot technically. But for like 90% of the plots this show has she'd be completely out of her depth.) And hey, speaking of Brainiac, I like what they did with him too. While it would have been cool if he did the bottling cities from the comics, but I still like his motivations. And him being Kryptonian is cool. I like the way he looks, his personality ("With ambitions so small they could fit inside a cradle"), and I like that he can possess Kryptonians. There's a cool symbiosis between Kryptonians and their technology as a whole, it's very transhumanist, I dig it. Also, I noticed Krytonians always have their powers, even on Krypton, for the first time in this episode. I kinda like that change actually. It makes sense with the ultra-conquering empire that they changed Krypton into, and it gives Kara an interesting argument for her perspective in the episode. Also, IS THAT A FUCKING GREEN LANTERN? A THANAGARIAN? A PARADEMON!? THEY LOOK FUCKING AWESOME!

Season 2 Episode 7 'Olsen's Eleven'

Oh hell yeah heist episode! And the Brain and Monsieur Mallah are back?! AND MALLAH HAS HIS BERET!?! This has gotta be the best episode of the season! Also, Livewire has a butch girlfriend now?

All seriousness, I love this episode. I love heist movies, my favorite characters are back, I thought the twist of the episode was great, the final fight was awesome too. This show makes the power of love cool. I feel like half the time "the Power of Love" just like brings someone's partner back from the dead or is a healing power, but I love it when a) the story shows that powerful love can be between anyone, not just romantic partners, and b) the power gives a character a strength boost or drives them to perform an insane feat of endurance. They do it a couple times this season, and they are usually the best moments of their episodes. I also like that Lois admits she was dumb in 'Most Eligible Superman', and I like Jimmy trying to prove he can solve most situations just by talking to someone. The backstory/explaining stuff montages are a cute extra animation style, but I don't care for the big-eyed expressions Livewire gets in some parts. You've already bitched about this in previous episodes. Yeah true, but if the show keeps doing it... Wait that nursing home has the name "Silver Age" that's hilarious. What was I talking about? How it makes no sense that Lois has the Kryptonite shard from the data ball. Oh yeah, how does she have that? It was in Clark's ship and I thought it got destroyed at the end of 'More Things in Heaven and Earth'. Didn't Task Force X get it? That's why they could make Kryptonite weapons and change the Metallos' power core. Okay, I had to go back and check, but Jimmy picked it up the shard and put it back in the ball at the end of the episode, but Slade still had some remnants on his sword that they must use to synthesize more. So not a plot hole.

Season 2 Episode 8 'The Death of Clark Kent'

Flash Bulletin! We got a name drop of the Black Mercy in this episode, which guarantees that Alan Moore absolutely has to hate this show. I, on the other hand, like this episode. Even though like the a quarter of the episode is basically clip show, and the way Kara says Kal-El was starting to grate on my nerves. But forget all that, 'cause JIMMY AND KARA ARE SITTING IN A TREE, WELL KARA'S PROBABLY FLO-OA-TING! Ow my ears, calm the fuck down dude. Shut up you don't have ears, you're a manifestation of my DID. Also, it's another kinda heist-y episode except instead of stealing something, they are rebooting Brainiac or something. Also Brainiac is really sassy in this episode and I like it. ("Now let's find your weakness. So I can kill you.") I don't think I've mentioned it yet, but I really like Brainiac's voice. The voice acting in the show as whole is alright, but the soft, lilting voice Michael Emerson gives him is perfect for the character. I like that Brainiac's plan is to mental break Clark so he can possess him, it's a perfect encapsulation of Clark's emotional journey and also there's an awesome Torquasm Rao refences with how he fends off Brainiac. (At least I think it's a Torquasm Rao reference. It could just be a "Power of Love" thing but it should be a easter egg.) I feel like he could have used memories of Ma and Pa to fight off Brainiac more easily. Eh... Could he have? He tried that with Kara and she easily shook his faith with them. Plus he's in his early twenties and is obsessed with Lois, she's probably the only thing on his mind like 65% of the time. And I super love the dark ending. Everyone on this website has already lost it over Possessed Superman, and yes his moob window is funny. But I actually like way Brainiac poses and moves while possessing Clark more than that. He's very regal, and every action seems calculated. Both Clark and Kara aren't uncoordinated at all, but Brainiac makes them both look like bumbling children. It's really creepy. And his speech at the end. Ugh his speech at the end. Not only is it the best worldbuilding information we get about Kryptonians, but that moment where he tells Kara he loves her right before smashing her into the floor is the best low point in the series.

Season 2 Episode 9 'Pierce the Heavens, Superman!'

Okay... So far the episodes with Superman's name in the titles have been the least good of all the episodes. Does 'Piece the Heavens, Superman!" keep the track record? Well it has a reference to Superman's pet Sun Eater from All Star superman in the first scene of the episode, so obviously it's the best episode so far, duh. I feel like your enjoyment of the show is too reliant on easter eggs and references to the source material. Didn't you knock Deadpool & Wolverine for the same thing? First off, use that title sparingly, I don't want to attract any unwanted guests. Secondly, both MAWS and D&W's use of easter eggs I think is symptomatic of the same thing, which is the writers understanding of the characters and the source material. Clearly both the writers of this show and that movie have done their research and understand what people like about both characters. The difference for me is that one is an pop culture icon representing the ideals of heroism and is a character everyone can and should look up to, and the other is a purposefully obnoxious meme that people like because they are stupid. Superman's the second one right? ...Yeah, now fuck off. But seriously, this episode is dope. I like time loops concepts, I like that Clark and Lois fall for each other all over again when they lose their memories of each other temporarily, and I absolutely love that when Lois realizes she can't be removed from the Black Mercy, she just becomes a pain in the ass for Brainiac. The B-Plot is awesome too. I love that the Daily Planet immediately formulates a plan to rescue Jimmy and Lois after they get arrested, and I love Steve's pep talk for Kara. Y'know, I take back what I said in the last post. I like this Steve Lombard. (Cat still sucks though.) And the end of this episode is probably the coolest "Power of Love" moment, not even just from this show but for anything I've ever seen. Sure, it's a little cheesy, but I am not gonna hate a couple in love working together to overpower a seemingly impossible challenge set to pop-rock.

Season 2 Episode 10 'My Adventures With Supergirl'

And this season's finale is DOPE! First, spoiler warning. Second, I like that all the villains are helping fight off Brainiac with Superman (which is something that happens in the comics from time to time but is much more cool here since it feels like they all want to help rather than have to). Third, the animation in Superman and Supergirl's fight is amazing, might be the best animated fight in the show. Even Brainiac postulating looks extra. And the music that plays when Clark says "Let's bring you home Kara." is so fucking good I can't even. And holy shit, I was so convinced that they were gonna kill Kara in this episode. I'm so happy she's gonna be back for the next season, seriously, she's my favorite character in the show, especially after this this episode. The episode ending with Kara and Clark playing catch in Smallville was perfect. Just like last season, I cannot wait for the next one! It's gonna have Superboy!

[dokidokitsuna]

I would like Miracle Matter and Dark Matter Swordsman headcanons! *<*

Miracle Matter: ...I gotta be honest with you, I really don't think much about this character. ^^; I do USE him a lot, because he's the only one of the DMC who fills the 'silly comic relief' role, but I've never really put much work into him outside of "he exists". Even my gijinka designs for MM usually aren't that great; many many artists have done far, far better.

I think the most consideration I've ever given him was in the Knights Errant AU, where he's actually the 'main' antagonist (see below). And he's cool and weird and owns an accordion for some reason, but he's still very silly and there's not a lot of depth to him.

He does plunge the world into darkness and helps create an all-powerful god-zombie who threatens to destroy the universe...but 90% of that is just 'acceptable side effects', not things he particularly wanted to happen. And true to his in-game behavior, he's not even the real final boss...all the threats he inadvertently brings into the story end up becoming bigger problems than he ever was, even if it's only during the last act.

I dunno how to explain it...I think it's just because, out of all the major bosses in Kirby, MM feels the most undercooked to me. The fact that it can use some of Kirby's abilities (which all the bosses do these days...), the fact that it slightly resembles Zero, and the fact that an icosahedron is a cool shape are really the only interesting things about it, and that's just not a lot to work with. :/ Someday inspiration will probably strike and I will invent a reason to be truly invested in him, but so far it hasn't happened yet.

Dark Matter Swordsman: I've already talked about him a lot, like here, and here...but there's still plenty of stuff I haven't said, so why don't I share something that the non-DeviantArt refugees may not know: I started out writing him as Meta Knight's biggest fan~

I'm not 100% sure why I came up with this idea (he really doesn't look that much like MK...) and as he grew into his own character it became less important over time. But it's still a cornerstone of his backstory, enough that I included it in the DMC comic:

MK is basically the one who inspires him to take on a different form and seek out a different lifestyle from the usual Dark Matter, AND (now that I'm re-reading the comic I just noticed this) he is the first one to call him 'Dark Matter Swordsman', like just as a one-time nickname. ^^ So cute~

This brief meeting is the only time they spend together as characters (present-day MK probably wouldn't even remember him) but now that I think about it, it has this weirdly huge butterfly effect over the DMC as a whole. MK influences Swordsman, who influences Zero, who (secretly) designs the rest of his "sons" with Swordsman's newfound potential in mind. An entire alien family forever altered by the appearance of One Cool Guy (TM).

[veinsfullofstars]

So, I got to experience Kirby & the Amazing Mirror recently, and, while I wouldn't call it an absolute favorite, there's a lot about it that I find fascinating - the non-linear Metroidvania-eqsue design of the levels (unique for the series), the subtle hints of worldbuilding in the background art (gorgeous, btw), the introduction of one of my current favorite characters in the series (*meme-points at DMK in the distance*), the music (but that’s a given), etc. In many ways, it feels quite standout from other games in the series up to that point… though, in many others, it feels like it could've used something more, y'know? There’s a sense of underutilization in places, a repetitiveness in all the backtracking and boss encounters, even an emptiness to this strange new world we’re exploring. I'm wondering what might've been done to make the game feel more full and vibrant, to give the player more of a sense of curiosity as they explore and run around.

Now, I’m not a game designer by any means, and I have no idea if any of what I’m about to propose would be practical in either execution or the time frame the original dev team had to work with, but… it’s just fun to conceptualize sometimes, y’know? We’re playing in the space, flexing those “what if” muscles. Besides, you never know what it might spark in someone who could make something like this a reality. And, there’s little I love more than inspiring creativity.

So, hear me out (and warning for full game spoilers for KatAM and minor spoilers for the Kirby series as a whole).

Progressive Copy Abilities: So, like I said, the world is very Metroidvania-inspired in structure, right? Lots of winding corridors, interconnected paths, and secret areas, with an emphasis on backtracking to reach new places. What if the game also had a kind of progressive upgrade system used in conjunction with that structure, where you search for and acquire “keys” that open up new areas and grant access to even more abilities? It could take the place of the Spray Paint collectable, giving it more purpose beyond just cosmetics and more incentive for the player to actually seek them out and use them in the overworld. We’ve already seen something like this before in the form of Deluxe Copy Abilities from KSS, where Kirby cannot gain abilities from enemies but must instead find them hidden throughout the levels, able to switch between them at will once acquired. In KatAM, this could make backtracking feel more interesting by giving the player something they’d want to return to, wondering what secrets might lie behind ability-locked zones (similar to K64, though without the worry of losing a certain ability and having to leave the level to get it back thanks to permanent upgrades). It could also get the player to utilize the four Kirbys in more creative ways throughout the world, giving each one a specific ability and using different combinations of them to solve puzzles, bypass barriers, or defeat bosses. You could even tie the reason for this change in mechanics into the worldbuilding. For example, maybe the magical properties of the Mirror World differ to those of Popstar, affecting or even nullifying Kirby’s own inherent abilities as a result (think KatFL’s Mouthful Mode, KCC’s Kirby Ball mode, or even the scrapped Kagero Mansion concept from KSS), or maybe it could be a more significant way to show how DMK separating Kirby into four has diminished his powers, effectively “Metroiding” him as it were.

Amateur Cartography: The maps in KatAM are very big and very simplistic. It can be hard to find one’s way around all those convoluted branches and segments to get to the next area or secret. The ability to take notes in some way would be a great help. Due to hardware limitations, it might not be as intuitive as, say, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass where you can actually write on the maps, but just the option to add things like colored pins or symbol stamps as little reminders to return to points of interest would be of great help (not to mention reduce time spent needlessly running around in circles trying to find one specific room).

Counterpart Characterization: I personally like the limited cutscenes and lack of dialogue in KatAM, as it allows story to be conveyed more though what the player observes and intuits rather than what they are told is occurring. That said, I wish we got to see more of that in character moments. Despite their prominence in the opening and ending narrations, both Shadow Kirby and Dark Meta Knight appear very rarely throughout the main bulk of the game outside of brief glimpses in the overworld or in late-game boss battles respectively, giving us very little to go on as to their personalities and their roles in the world they reside in. (Not to say there’s nothing there; we’ve seen SK’s timid nature in how he hides and runs from the Kirbys, and that - though mischievous - he still seems to want to help by the food items he drops; we’ve also seen DMK’s penchant for dishonor and subterfuge in disguising himself as Meta Knight. Just a little bit of animation flourish to convey so much about them, even if it’s only implied.) Now imagine if the player could stumble upon them more throughout their travels, perhaps glimpsing them between screen transitions or wandering about in inaccessible places (think the Batamon from KDL3 or the SA-X from Metroid Fusion). What if we observe them attending to their own tasks alongside our heroes - idling, searching, spying on the Kirbys, or even interacting with enemies or each other? What if DMK makes more attempts to hinder the Kirbys in the overworld, blocking pathways with Copy Ability locks or mini-bosses? What if SK does more to help the Kirbys the further into their journey they go (his own skepticism of the newcomers softening as he sees them actually trying to help)?

Worldbuilding: Like most worlds portrayed in Kirby games, the Mirror World is vast and diverse, not unlike the lighter world it reflects. There’s already a lot of very good subtle worldbuilding in the background art and level design of KatAM - like the strange labs under Moonlight Mansion, the sunken ship at the bottom of Olive Ocean, the decrepit basement under Carrot Castle, etc. -  but it all feels a bit… underdeveloped. Not very indicative of either what this world was like before Dark Mind’s invasion (claimed to be “peaceful” in the opening cutscene but not much else) or how his corruption is actually affecting it. Maybe I’m spoiled by newer games like KatFL going out of their way to flesh out their lore, but I just wish there were more thematic elements shared between locations for players to pick up on, especially given how connected everything is vis-à-vis the Mirror Doors. I want to know more about this place, how it differs from Popstar, how its denizens thrive and survive within it, even how SK and DMK - supposedly created by the Dimension Mirror itself not long after its corruption - view it in their roles as possibly opposing guardians.

Boss/Mini-Boss Battles: This is more of a personal gripe, but I’ve never been a huge fan of repeat boss encounters. I understand the reasons for them existing - work smarter, not harder being one of them, I imagine - but it’s hard to miss the way it diminishes the impact of the fight when it’s the same Mr. Frosty or Batafire in different locations. In my onion, a boss fight (even a mini one) should feel special, the build-up to reach them tense and exciting, the actual battle unique from others the player has faced before. It could be as simple as removing extra mini-bosses and condensing the area rather than padding the game out with too many. Or you could give the extra ones palette swaps designed to fit the areas they’re found in (possibly even changing their typing as well). Or you could even include an additional element or mechanic to the battle itself to keep things interesting (like how Master Hand becomes Master Hand & Crazy Hand in the second encounter). And, to add with the previous paragraph about worldbuilding, perhaps bosses could be made even more unique by having the mirror shards they guard corrupt them in some fashion, their sprite work visibly altered (a dark aura? a reflective sheen? pieces of mirror floating around them?), their attacks and expressions more aggressive until you defeat them.

Meta Knightmare Reflected: Now, this might be a bit of a stretch, but - having played through the Magolor Epilogue - I can’t help but wonder what a KatAM side-mode featuring Meta Knight might be like. Perhaps it could take place inside the shattered Dimension Mirror parallel to events of the main game (think Meta Knightmare from KNiDL or Meta Knightmare Returns from KPR, except this could feasibly occur within canon). It could feature shorter runs through similar/remixed levels from the main game (like in the final chase sequence where the Kirbys run through single rooms from different parts of the Mirror World to get to Dark Mind) with a higher difficulty and a more chaotic structure due to Dark Mind’s corruption and the Mirror’s broken state. Not only would this give him a little more agency and characterization while he’s in “fridged” mode, but this could also be a good way to explain how MK acquired Master when he was supposedly trapped, adding a goal alongside simply trying to find a way out of the Mirror. He could even encounter DMK while he’s in there for even more drama and characterization, the knight and his dark doppelgänger locked in a tense battle for his freedom and the safety of the Mirror World.

Phew, okay, I think that’s about all I’ve got. Did that all make sense? It came from a very stream-of-consciousness-y place, so I hope I managed to sort it into something at least a little coherent. Again, this might all be impractical or slapdash or against the point of the original game, but I haven’t really been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it and needed to get the thoughts out somewhere. I dunno, what do you guys think? Anything you would add to this list? Or anything you would change? Or do you like KatAM just fine as is? Feel free to discuss, I’d love to hear what you all have to say on the matter.

[amuelasg]

"Ｖａｒｉａｂｌｅ "ＭＡＤＣＥＬＩ ＯＳ" ｓｅｔ ｔｏ Ｔｒｕｅ．"

Is the quote above a sneak peek? Yes. What for? Nothing...

...for now. please don't look at the tags! I BEG YOU GUYS!! DON'T!!!

[guynamedultimax]

What if Kirby had a traditional fighting game?

Listen, I know I should’ve done more “FNF fighting game characters” but i doubt anyone cared for that, and even then I lost a bit of interest, so if you actually cared sorry about that, you can still come up with whatever you want for the characters I didn’t talk about!

That being said, I think all Kirby fans here know Kirby Fighters 2. Personally speaking most of it was just the same as Kirby Fighters Deluxe BUT there were five playable Dream Friends. FIVE. Priority to the Copy Abilities a bit too high, isn’t it HAL? Sometimes it feels a bit barebones if you ask me. So I’m here to discuss what would a non-platform Kirby fighting game be.

THE GAMEPLAY

It’s the same as any basic fighting game, there isn’t really that much that the Kirby franchise can offer to make the genre a bit more varied, and that’s mostly due to the fact that Kirby makes friends wherever he goes and combat is pretty much straightforward in these platforming games, the crazy stuff comes from learning specific moves with each copy ability/character in the games and that’s also true for this game.

THE PLOT

I have quite a few ideas for how this can go:

-It’s a “what if” re-telling of Kirby Star Allies where Hyness’ ritual (somehow) also causes space-time rifts across the entire universe to be generated, pulling in Kirby villains from previous games but also allies, which would ALSO explain Dream Friends in the game’s canon a bit more properly.

-It happens in an AU. Plot would basically be Kirby Battle Royale’s but instead of shooting a loadshit of Kirbies onto Kirby, Dedede would just call upon all of their friends to fight for that cake before things escalate and Dedede loses control of the tournament to greater evils, forcing him to work with Kirby to stop the threat, be it old or new.

-Another AU idea but this time it’s original/based on Milky Way Wishes. Galactic NOVA appears every thousand years above Pop Star’s skies, and everyone tries to fight for the right to get the wish. Villain wouldn’t necessarily be ONLY Marx though, most of the Kirby villains could easily win against him if they get to NOVA and get their wish granted. Which means yes, all plots happen at once and Kirby has to deal with everyone at once.

-The least interesting idea: it’s Kirby Fighters 2′s plot but without tag team duos and with all Kirbies replaced with the roster.

THE ROSTER

Now we’re about to have some fun.

RETURNING CHARACTERS: The Dream Friends (and Kirby, of course)

-First up, all Dream Friends are coming back. You don’t even need to change their movesets that much, just add/tweak things, but just for funsies (and for a specific reason too) we’ll also give them specific copy abilities or more than one to categorize them.

-Kirby is the specific reason. He has the same moveset as his Smash Bros incarnation, although he incorporates more copy abilities (and also super powerful stuff like the Star Rod that he usually uses in endgame fights) in it now due to being a traditional fighting game. And yes, he still has his inhale. Using it will have the inhale be replaced by another move in-game, the closest one to a “neutral special” in the opponent’s arsenal. His copy ability is therefore, Smash Bros. And since the game has multiple super moves, we can make his gimmicks from the Kumazaki games the super moves: his level 1 would be a random Super Copy Ability from Return to Dreamland (cutscene is random everytime but damage is always the same), his level 2 would be using the Robobot Armor to stomp foes around, ending with a giant ground pound/fist to the ground and his level 3 is Hypernova Kirby due to the inhale being one of his most unique properties.

-Meta Knight and Dedede will also have heavy Smash influences but they’ll also use techniques from most of their boss fights, such as Meta Knight splitting himself in four clones temporarily for an attack or Dedede actually pulling out an axe instead of his hammer for some attacks based on his Triple Deluxe incarnation. Their copy abilities would formally be Sword and Hammer but with heavy Smash Bros inspiration. Meta can also call in for the Meta Knights to help him in one of his unique super moves. They’d all be there except for Sailor Dee and Captain Vul (one’s an alternate costume and the other is never seen outside of dialogue text).

-Bandana Waddle Dee’s moveset incorporates both Spear and Parasol, but due to the Spear being his most used tool he’ll be categorized with that.

-Marx is the first character with Unique as its own copy ability due to his arsenal being entirely based on his boss fight. Inhaling Unique characters doesn’t always allow Kirby to get copy abilities but when it happens he usually has their most basic move replacing the inhale. Gooey is in the same situation, but i have no idea what would Kirby get from him as an ability since he’s technically player 2 in the Dark Matter trilogy’s first 2 games. Rick, Kine and Coo would technically be categorized as Unique only because they have Fire, Water and Wind in their moveset. You could say they’d be stance characters while Marx is a zoner and Gooey a rushdown character.

-Dark Meta Knight is categorized as Mirror, and Adeleine (with Ribbon as an assist of course) is Artist. Daroach would be Animal, which is missing since its debut in Squeak Squad, as far as I can remember, but he naturally still retains his moveset of calling the Squeaks to help him.

-It’s pretty easy to categorize Magolor as ESP, and Taranza as Spider, while I have no idea what would Susie’s ability be even. Spark? She is mostly around in the Robobot Armor to be fair. The Three Mage-Sisters would be treated equally to the Animal Friends

THE NEWCOMERS

-NAGO, CHUCHU & PITCH: The other set of Animal Friends. I theorize a moveset revolving around the Cleaning ability like in Star Allies would be easy to make, although it can also incorporate moves from other abilities that have been in Dream Land 3.

-CHEF KAWASAKI: I think it’s safe to say this one is pretty easy to do just like the returning Dream Friends. He has a unique moveset in comparison to Chef Kirby that also has him use Kirby’s Final Smash from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

-LOLOLO & LALALA: Aside from pushing boxes and Gordos they can be the Ice Climbers of the game, and most importantly one of their super moves could have them fuse into their original form in the anime to reference that further.

-SHADOW KIRBY: A clone (in terms of moveset) for Kirby that lacks the inhale ability and has more attacks based on his appearances in Amazing Mirror (and also on Kirby’s unique ability to split in four in these games) and the Kirby Fighters spinoffs. Simple as it is.

-THE MIDBOSSES: They all play the same as their fights too, so doing a paragraph for each of them would be a bit redundant. I chose to add minibosses in because most of them are pretty iconic among Kirby enemies and some of them are also technically friends of Kirby’s. I picked Bonkers (whose coconut throwing and some special moves could make him different enough from Dedede if you ask me), Mr. Frosty (also because we don’t have an Ice-based character in the game), Buggzy (which I can see being the ultimate grappler), King Doo (because we don’t actually have a Waddle Doo in the roster and he’s technically not only their king but also the most unique of them) and Grand Wheelie (look, I like Wheel as an ability ok? it’s like playing as Sonic in a Kirby game)

-KNUCKLE JOE: Taking stuff from both his Star Allies moveset and his Assist Trophy from Ultimate PLUS a few references to the anime and you have the ultimate Shoto character in the Kirby franchise. Ryu mains, this is the character for you.

-GIM: Look, my three favorite abilities are Yo-Yo, Wheel and ESP, in no particular order, so I HAD to include him and the Grand Wheelie. Magolor covers for ESP enough. This lil fella looks more unique than most of the generic Kirby enemies and even among the copy ability ones he’s always been a bit of an oddball due to being a robot. The trickshots you can do with this copy ability make Gim perfect to camp, so he’d be a pretty good zoner as well.

-TAC: He’s been a Helper in Super Star where he also has an unique moveset. Expanding on it and on Tac being generally a copy ability thief could mean more copy abilities can be implemented in a moveset, probably even more than what Kirby can do. Also his design just screams potential to me.

DLC FIGHTERS

WAVE 1: Spinoff Dream Friends

Cuz these guys have been done dirty by Star Allies’ devs. Elline would be the other Artist character in the game and call for Claycia’s assistance in specific attacks. Prince Fluff would play mostly just like Kirby himself did in Kirby’s Epic Yarn and implement specific transformations in some attacks, ending with the tank one from the end of that game. Then we have Gryll. If you know how to make a Tetris/Puyo Puyo based character in a fighting game then good for you, I absolutely don’t know how. What I KNOW however is that she has a float like Peach’s in Smash Bros and I-No’s in Guilty Gear.

WAVE 2: Dream Villains

These guys would all play exactly like their boss fights. Hyness and Sectonia would remain mostly unchanged while Haltmann in terms of moveset is the same as Susie, just without every non-Robobot move that she has.

WAVE 3: Clash of Blades

THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S ALL ANIME SWORDFIGHTERS. They all pull from their boss fights, but Morpho Knight is gonna be a bit more unique compared to Galacta, Dark Meta and Meta Knight, having in the swordfighter equivalent of Akuma’s Raging Demon. Meanwhile, Dark Matter Swordsman and Galacta Knight are completely faithful to the source material, but they’d probably be a bit nerfed due to Galacta’s universe-breaking powers. (you can bet that if we get the remaining legendary heroes who sealed Void Termina in future games they’d be their own separate Wave 5 DLC pack)

WAVE 4: Revival of Old Faces

Nightmare and Drawcia are back and they’re here to stay! Their movesets don’t really need that much changes. Void however is an entirely different beast. He’d be a mix of Kirby, both Zero incarnations and Dark Matter. His design wouldn’t just be giant orb that switches between Kirby and Dark Matter faces, he’d be Kirby-sized and with legs and stubby lil arms like the pink puffball. And you can bet your ass he’d be broken as fuck.

SKINS

If a character’s appearance changed across the series’ history (like Marx Soul, Girl Blob Gooey, Shoppe Magolor, Mecha Knight, Dark Taranza/Taranza in the Super Kirby Clash games, Masked/Shadow Dedede, Anime!Knuckle Joe, Parallel/Pres. Parallel Susie, EX versions and so on) they’d just be an alternate skin/palette swap for the specific character. Multiple characters of the same species with little changes (like a normal Waddle Dee or Sailor Dee, or literally all Kirby colors including Keeby) are the same. I’m also debating on how Dark Mind would be a skin for Nightmare or if there’d be a skin inspired by him for the Dark Matter Swordsman. Zero and Zero Two would probably be turned into palette swaps/outfits for Void (imagine a white Kirby cosplaying as Zero Two that’d be so cute lol).

ATTACKING ASSIST CHARACTERS

Characters who appear in other characters’ attacks. Like the aforementioned Squeaks, Meta Knights and Claycia. Normal Dark Matter would appear in DM Swordsman’s attacks in some capacity outside of the eye laser and the Gordo Throw would return from Dedede’s previous Smash incarnations alongside the Waddle Dee Throw from Brawl. And naturally Magolor can call in the Lor Starcutter for one of his super moves. I am actually considering giving Tac the ability to throw random items/enemies at opponents, with the Bomber being one of these. It’d be a very RNG attack with the Bomber being the best outcome, blowing on the opponent’s face.

HELPERS

All characters in the game can be called on for an Helper attack, that can help you in some form against the opponent by either damaging or tampering with the opponent or by having you get healed or with some buff. Outside from the playable roster enemies that give you copy abilities would also be Helpers, but the specific ones I’m not so sure on.

BOSSES

Characters you can fight in Arcade mode, in Story mode or in a specific Boss mode. There’d also be a Ganon’s Fury (Hyrule Warriors) inspired mode where you’d play as the bosses pitting them against each other. I specifically picked Dyna Blade, Whispy Woods, Landia, Star Dream, Kracko, Great Edge, Pyribbit, Ice Dragon, Fire Lion, Masher, Grand Mam, Metal General, Kibble Blade and Pon & Con.

STAGES

There’d be quite a lot of stages, but I haven’t thought out specific ones except for Green Greens, Butter Building, a Ripple Star stage, one for Dedede’s castle with stage cameos by Tiff, Tuff and Escargoon from the anime and every final boss’s fighting arena.

THE MUSIC

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is gonna be nothing compared to this one. We’re getting all the important music from all pre-Kumazaki games, all music from Kumazaki games and spinoffs, and online arrangements with focus on orchestral (Desolo Zantas), metal (GaMetal, of course) and EDM (Acid Notation, Qumu and various others), including stuff like Itoki Hana’s vocal arrangements. We’re going all out on this one.

Aaaaand that’s it. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Stay hydrated.

[rockingcockatiel]

Game Portfolio

Introduction

This was the concept of a game I came up with wish I was unable to finish due to being unable to run the software for developing the game

This was the portfolio I made for the game to explain the idea I had for it and other games I took inspiration from

Basic concepts  

Game Identity  

2D pixel art platformer about a young adventurer trying to find treasure  

Genre  

The main genre of my game is a platformer and metroidvania combination the sub genres of it are puzzle, exploration, hack and slash, adventure and 2D.  

Audience  

The target audience of my game is teens and young children as it has a cute pixel art style along with simple mechanics that allow anyone to learn and play.  

Similar games already in the market  

Game that are like the one I'm planning on making are Celeste, The momodora series, Cave story and Katana Zero.  

Concept Explained  

Visual Style

The visual style of my game will be pixel art similar to how cave story + and momodora 3 are designed the reason for this is due to it being a simple style create and make a design for and as a solo developer; both of the developers of cave story and momodroa 3 worked independently on the game developer's, Another thing to note is that sprite based art is easier to animate as all you need to do is make a character sheet of all the characters and enemies and their different animations while this may look daunting at first as you working with the same characters and the graphics won't be overly detailed it allows for you to make all the animations just by changing a few minor aspects of the art; this also has the advantage of making the levels layout design be easier as you can reuse the same base art for it. An example of this would be if you're making a small valley for one area of the game but wanted to add a little add a hill you could take one of the other tiles use rotate it and edit it a bit so that it can appear as a hill. Another to note is the style appeals more to children than some sort of gritty gears of war style game while these games don’t have a bright colour palette when compared to other sprite-based platformers it still appeals to children by having cute characters and art style.  

Gameplay Elements  

The main element of the game would be its jumping and combat mechanics while the combat portion of the game is easy to understand as you get better weapons and higher levels you can learn combos for weapons which can allow you to deal more damage or even activate special attacks with unique animations; Another thing to note is that they can be combined together for example one of weapons allows for a combo that makes you tiny and can be activated in mid-air so if you were to turn tiny while jumping the player could jump off a wall into a tiny gap that allows them to get hidden treasure; The game will even encouraging doing this by having areas you can't have access to without certain items or weapons. Other games have done this while the games that inspire this one doesn’t use these mechanic as they mainly encourage the play to push forward and only come back to areas if they wish to buy items from shop keepers. One core platforming element of the game will be the double jump and wall jump features as it can allow the player to get to different areas if they know how to use it correctly while this feature isn't unique to the game I'm creating celeste does have its own feature in which the player is able to dash which can allow them to reach areas they couldn’t without dashing this is a core mechanic of the game as most areas can't even be beaten without dashing; A smaller mechanic of the dash feature is that the characters hair will turn blue after dashing.  

Genre  

The games genre is a combination of mainly platformer and metroidvania elements a metroidvania type game is encourages the play to backtrack, has map in which a majority of its areas are connected in one way or another with ways to teleport back to previous areas the reason I'm making my game like this is to encourage the player to invest more time into instead of completing it in one run, The game will also encourage the player to back track by having certain items or treasures being locked behind areas which require items you acquire later on in the game. The other main genre is platforming as the main aspect of the game is for the player to hunt for treasure and gear hidden throughout the games map; the reason I choose its sub genres, are because it will have certain features of those genres but it, they wouldn’t be the focus of the game an example would be the puzzle mechanic certain dungeons would require the player to activate certain buttons in specific places to unlock the vault door that leads to treasure. Momodora 3 and Cave Story+ are both games of the same main genre being Metroidvania and Platformer.  

Game Design  

Music  

The games music is going to vary between areas for example a desert like area would mainly use Arabic or Egyptian instruments, an area based of a castle or kingdom would use an orchestra, mountainous or snowy areas would have slow calm music with certain areas of the music being focused on like a drum solo. Some examples of this are Crosscode’s Bergen Village which has wind instruments being the main orchestra of the song to match the location being a mountain, Super Smash Bros (fire emblem castle siege) which is a remix of the original fire emblem theme made to match the more faster paced action of a super smash bros match , Kirby Air Ride - Sky Sands or Kirby Air Ride – Sand which uses fastest paced drumming and string instruments to make an arabic sounding beat for a racing game; Bosses in the game would also have unique themes exclusive to them. I would save my best designed music for each of the bosses. Some examples of hard video game bosses with well-designed music are Jevil from Deltarune which sounds like music that you would hear in a circus it conveys a feeling that you're going against a madman and should be prepared to expect him to throw anything at you, Cynthia in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl which instantlys goes into action instead of being a slow build up  it features a mixture of drum and bass along with pianos it tells the player that this fight will be over fight if you don’t try your hardest; and Godcat's theme from Epic Battle Fantasy 4 which is an has church orchestras along with a choir singing mixed with electro synthwave giving off the feel that you are fighting an entity that you have no chance against; These are some of my favourite video game boss theme and one of the main reason I would choose to replay a game myself is to hear the themes certain bosses or areas have a game with good or amazing music will be much more appealing than a game with bland or boring music.  

Design Pillars  

The main emotions or feelings I want the player to experience when playing my game are joy, excitement and calmness from the the simplicity of the game and it not being overly difficult.  

Miscellaneous  

Target Audience  

The reason I chose the target audience as children and teens is that my game will feature and mechanics, story and gameplay elements that appeal to them; for children it will feature bright colours and a cute or more child friendly design style; for teens the story will be one that appeals to them from having the hero’s journey so that they feel like they made the character grow along with having the main protagonists of the game being the same age as them, It will also have gameplay elements that will challenge them to get better at the game so they can show off their friends or even play it with a younger sibling so they can bound over it.  

Target Platform  

The platform I plan to release this game on is pc as to release it on a console would require a devkit for said console which would be out of budget as well as me not knowing how to develop any games. Another thing to note that there a multiple retailers' platforms on pc when compared to console which only has three being Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, while pc has multiple which are looking to host smaller developer's games on their platform  

We were also tasked with making a pitch for the game which we presented to other students

In the end I had to change a lot about the game due to the time constraints and the lack of resources I had from being a 16-bit metroidvania into a generic 2d platformer While I'm stilling working on art for the game due to being able to run unity properly I'm not fully able to develop that much of the game so it’s currently on hiatus; In the meantime I'm learning to use a simpler engine known as RPG maker Mv which I'm making a short game in I currently have no plans for what it's about other than the characters in it are based off of my friends personalities and how they act which I find easier to use to make a characters on.

Game Pitch

We were also tasked with making a pitch for a game in which we presented to other students to save on image space I'll give a rundown of what was on each slide

Details Of the game

Platform: PC 

Engine: Unity  

Genre: 2D Platformer, Metroidvania  

Classification: Casual Game  

Single player  

Dimensions: 2D

The target audience of my game

Gender: Male  

Secondary: Female  

Age: Young Teenagers 

Psychographics: Is a fan of 2d pixel art games, likes platformers or hack n slash games, Likes cute or pixel art style

The synopsis of the game

A young adventurer is sent on a quest after receiving a letter  

They go out exploring legendary treasure 

There's an evil organisation planning on dominating the solar system  

The adventurer is being deceived  

A superweapon is revealed  

Adventurer must destroy it

The genre of the game

Main Genres  

Metroidvania

2D Platformer

Sub – Genres  

Hack n Slash  

Puzzle 

Adventure

The sound design of the game

16- Bit  

Variety of Instruments  

Foley sound effects 

Main Style: Nintendocore  

Secondary Styles: Chiptune, Synthwave

Visual Style of the game

Anime- Styled  

Pastel-Neon hybrid Colour Palette 

Futuristic/Medival Era  

Cute Styled Art  

Minimalistic character and level design

How to meet the audience’s needs

Appeal to them with content they like 

Have the advertised content appear in the game  

Focus on appealing to main target audience  

Know what my target audience likes and wants in games

Similar Games in the market

Momodora 3 

Kirby Super Star Ultra  

Cave Story+  

Orange Island  

Celeste

[chemicalmagecraft]

The Gamer Hero, Deku Chapter 24

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in so long but first there were finals and then I kinda just needed to get back into the mindset to write this... My writing needs a bit of momentum sometimes.

By the way, I've decided to stop putting those accent things in Shoto and other people's names. I still haven't figured out how to do them using the keyboard so I have to find it somewhere every time I want to use it, which can get annoying... That, plus the fact that Shoto is probably going to be referred to by his first name a lot in the story soon? Yeah I hope you guys don't mind.

MattKennedy: Yeah, totally! The OFA Quirks that Izuku has unlocked so far are Fear, Skeletal, and Magnetize. Fear is an emitter Quirk that allows the user to raise or lower the level of a person's fear by making eye contact, Skeletal is a transformation Quirk that allows the user to turn any part of their body into a hardened, bone-like substance, and Magnetize is an emitter Quirk that allows the user to magnetize any object (though it explicitly does not work on living things or any body part attached to a living being). There are only three OFA Quirks that have yet to be shown, which are (SPOILER ALERT) Mending, Blackwhip, and Float. The only two of those that I didn't make up are Blackwhip and Float. Oh, and a fun fact: originally I thought of a Quirk that would let Izuku flatten people and things into any flat surface to kinda-sorta turn them into graffiti (actually I think it was the first original OFA user Quirk I thought of...) but decided against that because it would probably be a little overpowered if Izuku could just take out anyone he could push into a flat surface, even if there was a limitation on just slapping someone on the head so hard they become part of the ground, so I replaced it with Mending. Another fun fact, Fear causes Izuku's eyes to become slitted like a snake's.

xoxoxo

"This tournament has been so exciting so far!" Mic-sensei shouted.

"It's almost over, but I doubt there won't be some more... excitement," Aizawa-sensei added.

"That's right! This next battle will be Aoyama versus Bakugou! Who will win, folks? Will it be the radiant paladin, or will the red-hot warmage!"

"Start!" Midnight-sensei said.

"Let us have a glorious battle, mon ami!" Aoyama glittered.

Kacchan laughed. "Like it'd be anything else! Hit me with your best shot!"

"As you wish!" As with Tokoyami's fight, Aoyama opened by turning his sparkles into lasers. But while Kacchan dodged them his navel started to glow again. Aoyama struck a pose, and ribbons of light erupted from his stomach and enveloped him. The armor looked slightly thicker than what he had last time, but was unmistakably the spell he'd used last time.

"Let's see what you can do!" Kacchan shouted. He blasted himself at Aoyama, fists blazing. He slapped Aoyama in the armored chest and shot himself back with a small explosion. The hits caused Aoyama's armor to fluctuate and knocked him back, but aside from looking a little less vibrant the armor held. Kacchan grinned.

Aoyama smiled back at him and shot another wave of lasers. Kacchan tried to phase through the lasers with Fire Embodiment but was still blown back anyway. "Shall we get this battle started for real?" Aoyama asked as he struck a pose and used the distraction to fire up his Quirk again. His armor thickened and formed a stylish helmet, then the excess light flowed down his arms and formed into a rapier and buckler. Aoyama flourished his sword and shouted, "Taste the sting of my Silver Chariot! En garde!"

Kacchan's grin widened. "If that's how you're gonna play this..." he muttered. He struck an equally dramatic pose, almost literal fire in his eyes. A glow similar to Fire Aura engulfed his body, but it looked deeper somehow. I honed my senses on it and heard a ping.

A new skill has been created through special action! From extensive use of skills to understand magical effects, the skill 'Analyze' has been created!

"That'll be useful," I muttered. It created a text box with information that I already knew some of from using Eye for Magic. Which meant it would probably be made passive by Tactician, unlike Eye for Magic or Open Mind. Score. Now if only I could get an Open Mind version... I filed that away for later and looked at the Analyze text box.

Fire Ignition

An infusion of the fire element into one's body stronger than Fire Aura. Grants greater enhancement than Fire Aura, but damages the user.

Increases attack damage by 90%, increases movement speed by 45%, increases STR by 30%, user generates extreme heat.

150 MP used per minute.

User takes 150 HP of fire damage per minute.

Locks user into using exclusively the fire element.

Maybe he tried to brute force Fire Embodiment and got something somewhere in between? It looked like I'd be healing him after this fight...

The ground crackled and glowed from the sheer heat pouring out of Kacchan. "If that armor of yours is Silver Chariot... how 'bout we call what I'm doing Magician's Red?" Even I could barely follow it when he ran at Aoyama, leaving only a few burning footprints behind him. He was behind Aoyama before he could even react, and slammed his leg into him. Aoyama was sent flying, sparkles erupting from where Kacchan kicked him. Aoyama almost flew out of the arena from that one attack, but managed to force himself to slam into the ground using light magic, leaving a rainbowy afterimage of himself for a second. The ground cracked from the hit and Aoyama's armor looked a little worse for wear, but Aoyama just looked a little dazed. He used that new spell, Starlight Dash, to get up immediately.

"DIE!" Just in time, too. Aoyama just barely managed to Starlight Dash out of the way of Kacchan dashing at him. Kacchan stopped on a dime when he passed through Aoyama's afterimage, shattering the ground from his stomp, and shot himself at Aoyama again. It almost looked like he was hitting the ground so hard that he was being launched around by the recoil... Aoyama flinched and raised his shield. Kacchan slammed shoulder-first into the shield. The buckler flashed in an explosion of light, knocking Kacchan back. He almost landed outside of the arena but Fire Dashed back in just in time. "Not bad," Kacchan said. Then he lunged back at Aoyama. He let loose a flurry of almost-blows, just barely stopping himself from triggering Aoyama's shield trap whenever he maneuvered it in place with an explosion. Even though Kacchan never landed a hit on Aoyama, though, each explosion pushed him back a bit.

Kacchan yelled and slammed the ground in front of Aoyama. The ground exploded, knocking him into the air. Then Kacchan wiped his forehead and flicked his hand at Aoyama. A few small beads of fiery light flew off of his hand, landing on Aoyama's armor and shield. The mana-charged sweat droplets exploded, launching Aoyama back. Before he could touch the ground, Kacchan tackled him again. This time Aoyama didn't manage to save himself in time. He dropped outside of the arena and let his armor dissipate. Meanwhile, Kacchan collapsed to the ground. His skin was red, and he had steam rolling off of him. Luckily his pants were mostly fine, but his shirt was more ash than shirt...

"The match is over!" Midnight announced. "Aoyama is out of bounds! Bakugou is the winner! Now go to the nurse before your next match, Bakugou."

xoxoxo

I waited in the waiting room while Kacchan got chewed out by Shuzenji-sensei. Sonia flinched at something and sat down next to me.

"Hey, Izuku," she muttered out loud, even though she was still incorporeal. She liked doing that sometimes, probably because she was a sound elemental.

"What's up, Sonia?" I asked.

"You... might wanna be extra nice to Iida for a while..."

"Did you eavesdrop on a conversation?"

She frowned. "It's not... I hear everything within my range. That's just what it's like as a sound elemental. I used to not... process it, I guess, but now that I'm contracted I know what everything I hear means..."

"Oh." That was... interesting. I'd heard the elementals say things that implied they existed somehow outside of being summoned, but that was... interesting. "Do you... want to talk about it?"

Sonia shook her head. "Nah. It's actually a lot nicer than not really knowing anything that's going on. Besides, Granny's almost done yelling at Kacchan."

I got up. "Alright, then. Let's go."

xoxoxo

Kacchan grinned toothily at me. "So. It's you against me, huh?" He said over the roar of the crowd. "I figured it would be." He did his signature fist-punch. "Let's have a great fight, Deku!"

I smiled at him. "I'll make sure of it."

"IT'S THE FINAL FIGHT, FOLKS!" Mic-sensei shouted. "MIDORIYA VERSUS BAKUGOU! WON'T THIS BE A SHOW!?"

"Midoriya and Bakugou have shown themselves several times in the sports festival to be very talented and very powerful," Aizawa-sensei added. "Honestly, even I've been inspired by the crazy things the students have been doing..."

"Start!"

Kacchan jumped at me with a proto-Flash Step, boosting with his explosions. I reacted just in time to activate Elemental Embodiment, and Kacchan swung at air. It still hurt because he used fire magic, but I rematerialized behind him and Bass Blasted him. Naturally Kacchan didn't go anywhere near the edge from the sound blast, but he went a bit further than I thought he would. "LIMIT BREAK!" I shouted right off the bat. I swung my arm like I was throwing a bowling ball, outputting a lot of ice magic. "GLACIER PRISON!" Kacchan was encased in a giant wall of ice. Just as I thought, that was only a temporary stop. I could see him melting through the ice already. I Flash Stepped in front of the Glacier Prison and activated Ice Aura. I kicked the base of the ice, cleanly breaking it from the ground, and pushed it with a small use of OFA combined with ice magic. The entire Glacier Prison started sliding like in Kirby when you move into an enemy you used Ice Kirby on, if you were able to freeze boss-sized enemies with Ice Kirby.

Kacchan exploded out of the ice in a wave of steam and water before he went out, spraying half the arena in water as he hurtled straight towards me. I planted my feet and swung back to hit him. He threw a few strands of his hair at me for some reason, then cocked his own fist back. When I went to swing, my arm was stopped by something, letting Kacchan get a free hit on me. Whatever blocked my arm didn't stop me at all from getting knocked back. I had Dune raise a few rock walls for me to crash into. I got back up and... tried to Flash Step. Something around my chest this time stopped me. Luckily Damage Reduction meant that it didn't hurt me too much... I looked down at what was blocking me and saw several strands of long fibers. As I watched, a few more threads of silk wrapped around my body.

"You've probably noticed by now, huh?" Kacchan said. And then I thought to check his affinities again. Sonic 40 and Bio 30. "You can come out now, Leaf!"

The silk anchored to the rock wall I threw up grew and morphed into a green-haired boy in a green blanket cocoon that may or may not have been a giant leaf. He grumbled a bit and said, "Hey."

"The surprise is over, get him," Kacchan ordered. Thousands of strands of silk erupted from the bio elemental and wrapped around me and the surroundings. I was quickly wrapped up tight in a silk cocoon. I tried to use Lightning Embodiment to escape, but the webbing was resistant enough that that was a waste of time and MP. I struggled, trying to get some leeway, and took stock of the situation. I couldn't really move, the silk blocked my lightning, I could hear, or rather not hear, that there was enough material that it was soundproof, Halitus told me that it was airtight... I tried water and then bio. Water just left the cocoon wet, but I was able to merge into the web with bio. Leaf tried to keep me in the center, but I was, with a little difficulty, still able to phase through the silk. My hand got free of the web, so I slammed it into the ground and turned it into roots. I pulled the rest of my body out of the cocoon by turning into a small oak tree.

"OH WHAT THE HELL!" Kacchan shouted. "Alright, let's do a pincer attack on the tree!" Kacchan Fire Dashed at me from one side while Leaf lashed out with silk from the other. I burst into cactus needles, evading the webs and stabbing Kacchan a few times. I gathered my body back together, except for a few needles that Kacchan manage to incinerate, and reformed behind him. Kacchan turned around, murder in his eyes. "Leaf," he growled.

Leaf sighed and shot more silk at me, while Kacchan threw fireballs where Leaf wasn't covering. I smiled at Kacchan before turning into water. Leaf's string shots stabbed right through me, splashing even more water around. It didn't help that all of Kacchan's fireballs hit into what remained of the ice prison, nor that I had Rayne subtly spread all the water around. I "fell" into the puddles, then popped up behind Kacchan. I slapped him with a wave of water, soaking him, then switched to Lightning Embodiment.

"Ah, shi-" Kacchan started to say before getting punched by my lightning fist. He coped a lot better than the last time I used that combo, though, because after only a few hits my hand hit his wooden face with a lot less impact. Kacchan smirked and transformed his arm into a bunch of vines, which he wrapped around me. I changed back to normal and almost immediately turned to air to get away. Kacchan cursed as I rematerialized on the far side of the arena from him. He pointed at me, a fire lit on the tip of his finger. I grinned, activated Eye For Magic, and mirrored Kacchan perfectly, copying the magic he was putting into it almost perfectly. He shot the fire bullet at me, which I copied. Then he blinked and summoned more fireballs. I summoned more fireballs almost immediately. With my INT it was hopefully quick enough to look simultaneous. We threw a few more fireballs at each other before Kacchan realized that that was getting him nowhere.

"You're not finishing me off with a stupid copycat game, Deku!" Kacchan dashed at me using Fire Ignition. I managed to mimic it with One For All, but fumbled with the explosion to the face that followed it. My head shattered. Conveniently it happened to be made out of stone and I was able to piece it back together. "Damn Elemental Embodiment..." Kacchan blasted me a few more times. This time, however, I blocked the explosions with a Mana Shield, then hit back with a Steam Blast. Kacchan recovered with Fire Dash, then started flying upward. "Come and get me, Deku!"

I grinned, forming Halcyon Wing to fly after him. Really, it was bound to happen at some point. I flew after him, just barely lagging behind him. I flapped my wings, shooting a few feathers at him. Thanks to Halcyon Wing's secondary effect his flight spell also faltered for a moment, letting me catch up and kick him toward the boundary. He blasted himself back up and threw two blades of heat at my wings. I scattered my wings into feathers long enough for the blades to miss most of the feathers, then reconstituted my wings with most of the rest of the feathers. I threw the few that I left out at him and followed up with a small lightning bolt. Kacchan dodged the feathers, but I curved my lightning to strike him in the shoulder. It wasn't enough to do any major harm, but he growled and clutched his arm from the shock. I grinned and fired an Ice Beam at his hand, which was clutching his arm. I also iced that lightning wound for him while I was at it.

"DEKU YOU FUCKER!" Kacchan shouted as he plummeted. He caught himself with Fire Dash, supplemented with Fire Ignition, and rammed straight at me. The fire melted the ice as well. I flapped my wings, which was now no longer enough to screw up Kacchan's Fire Dash, and ascended fast enough that I hoped I would dodge him. It didn't work. "DIE!" Kacchan screamed as he punched me in the face. I shot all my feathers at Kacchan while I was still ascending, then turned to air. I floated down while Kacchan dodged all the feathers, then turned back when I was under him. Ping. I stopped falling before I even used a flight spell.

"Really?" I muttered to myself. "I get a flying Quirk now?" I shrugged it off and reached for the source of my new Quirk, Float. "Hey Kacchan!" I shouted. He pivoted in midair to face me. "Limit Break: Flurry of Blades!" A spear appeared in my left hand and a kunai in my right, both glowing brighter than my normal level 98 Bound Blades. I gave the spear Electric Aura and the kunai Wind Aura, then threw both of them at Kacchan. He dodged them both and shot an explosion off at the spear, but I'd already created my next two weapons, a flaming flamberge and a steam rapier. Bound Blade's interaction with One For All was interesting. Trying to supercharge a single weapon would either make it explode or cause it to become gigantic. Both of those could be useful in the right circumstances, especially as a surprise, but it was a lot better to just generally enhance the skill itself. This made the weapons slightly stronger and gave me a sort of connection to them, but there was an even bigger advantage to it.

Namely the fact that I could make a theoretically infinite amount of weapons, and give them their own individual Elemental Weaponry. Within a few seconds, I'd thrown a little over a hundred weapons at Kacchan. He managed to dodge most of them, though. "What, are you just gonna keep throwing weapons at me, Deku?" he asked. "That's not gonna work!"

I grinned and looked at the mass of floating weapons above Kacchan that I managed to keep him from noticing just by keeping him focused on dodging. "You'd think that..." I sent all the weapons at him at once. Kacchan noticed before any of them actually hit him, thankfully, and started dodging and exploding them again with more than a few curses. While he was preoccupied, I started charging up a large ball of ice magic. When he was most of the way done with my storm of weapons, I threw the swirling ball of frigid energy at him. "Arctic Storm!" I shouted when it hit him, engulfing him in a miniature blizzard. He was tossed out the side, steaming and covered in frost, and I had Halitus make an air cushion to keep him from hitting the ground too hard.

"Bakugou is out of bounds! Midoriya wins!"

I floated down next to Kacchan, landing lightly. "You suck," he told me with a grin wide enough that I had the strangest feeling he wasn't being sincere. I offered him my hand, which he grabbed. "Still, that was a damn good fight," he said as I helped him up.

"C'mon, let's get you patched up so you can accept your silver medal," I said.

He snorted and lightly hit me. "Fuck you, asshole."

"Love you too."

xoxoxo

Elemental list:

Midoriya: Halitus, Dune, Rayne, Blaise, Juniper, Mifuyu, Raimon, Iggy, Sonia, and Claude

Bakugou: Pyra and Leaf

Tokoyami: Corvo

Uraraka: Nebula and Ion

Hagakure: Lucy

Tsu: Bubbles

Aizawa: Charlie and Cassiopeia

[tgialyxander]

Dauntless is fine. I have been a founder of the game before it had even been picked up by Epic. The "Epic BAD" circlejerk is getting rather old now, considering Epic only publishes the game on its launcher. The devs have clearly stated that the game is inspired by the MH franchise. Back in the day, the MH community was nothing more than a niche. Dauntless is a great project that has been only getting better. If anything, you should be happy; competition drives innovation.

I’ve got no problems with Epic as a company. Hell, before it became a glitchy mess, I used to actually like Fortnite quite a bit. Assuming my negative opinion of the game came from me being a part of the “Epic BAD circlejerk” only goes to show you didn’t pay much attention to what I said. Secondly, while it was developed by Phoenix Labs, Dauntless was still promoted by Epic, with special codes being bestowed upon countless YouTubers, much akin to their Fortnite creator codes. And the amount of promotion the game has received rivals that of the infamous CubeWorld Alpha way back when. If you like Dauntless, I won’t tell you otherwise. I’m certain you have your reasons for why you like it. Perhaps its shorter mission times, its simple and easy to grasp gameplay, and its much more vibrant pallet and pleasant tone appeal to you more. And who am I to judge? I’m a guy who thinks a free-to-start game about 4 colored puffballs fighting some mini-bosses is a game worth investing time in (Super Kirby Clash). I’m a guy who doesn’t mind paying a few bucks for a watered down mobile version of a popular handheld and console series (Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp). I’m a guy who thinks Mario Kart Tour is still relatively fun despite it being designed from the ground up to eat your money. I’m not here to turn people away from these game. I’m not spitting hard facts or hot takes. I’m just expressing my opinion on games I think are either fun or not, and giving reasons I feel are valid to justify them.

[lord-dusk]

Jurassic Emblem-Chapter 10

Scales are quite tricky to draw. Anyhow, there’s the second boss of the game!

 Nifl was a cold, desolate land of snow,bones,ice,and blood. Frozen blood. It wasn’t quite the Kirby-esque happy place you’d thought it would be, after the Nifl-Muspell incident where Askran forces killed off warped versions of video-game protagonists and The elder Nifl princess Guunthra being roasted alive like some yummy Barbie-Cute pork. And the situation got particularly better when the sun-dragon Helios was frozen solid, condemning the whole area into everlasting night.

At least the stars and moon looked very charming and exquisite, white stellar bodies illuminating the aqua-blue sky.

Blue and Lucina were marching through the snow, huddling each other for thermal radiation. Blue, having grown up on a tropical island for much of her life, had borrowed Lucina’s scarf and cape for extra warmth(don’t get into that frappucino debate on feathers please). Lucina, having grown up in a desert country with enough rainfall to sustain a 15m-tall scythe-wielding flesh golem, found it rather uncomfortable trekking through the snow. Ryukami the mosasaurus had stayed behind at the ice-floes to catch up on some Nisioisin novels.

The raptors were marching onwards to the north of Nifl, sometimes passing by some shrubs and frost-covered rocks. Just when Lucina thought things were getting rather monotonous, she saw something rustle out of the bushes. Blue took notice as well and saw what appeared to be a penguin-like bird with white spots on its face waddling in a panicked manner before a fox-squirrel thing pounced on it and tore apart its head from its socket, crimson blood and pieces of esophagus and vocal cord spilling out unto the snow and dying it red. Blue and Lucina were eyeing the fox-squirrel as it dug heavy mitten-like foreclaws into the bird’s torso and stringy pink intestines splooged out. Lucina decided to look away and went on her way. Blue paid no attention to the carnage after that as well.

“That was a Repenomamus devouring a Great Auk,” Blue explained. “The world where I from, InGen didn’t simply revived dinosaurs, they brought back Paleozoic and Cenozoic fauna as well. Although if I were you, I wouldn’t dare pet a reppy.”

“Why? Are they dangerous?” Lucina asked. Blue can easily tell right off the bat that humans like Lucina had a profound desire to prod and hold small,furry mammals.

“Oh yes. Reppies are one mammal you do NOT want to pet; despite looking like a Pomeranian with mole-claws, they WILL try to eviscerate you; for a mammal from the Mesozoic they are quite big enough to eat small dinosaurs.”

“Hmm? I assumed mammals evolved after the demise of the giant lizards.”

“Actually, they co-existed with the dinosaurs, though they were bit characters in a world dominated by reptiles bursting with presence and charisma. Repenomamus was the biggest furry during its time, but most of its kin were barely any bigger than an Amiibo figure.”

“And that penguin-looking bird?”

“Uh-huh. That great auk was NOT a penguin-it’s actually more closely related to puffins than to the famous diving birds south of the Equator. Although, it was the the only auk that converted its flight power to swimming power completely, and those damn humans wiped its existence off the face of the Earth.”

“You know quite a lot about animals before the dawn of man, don’t you?” Lucina commented.

“I’m a creature from before man myself, though I wouldn’t be too surprised if InGen resurrected species routed by humanity, like the dodo and the gastric mouth-brooding frog.” Blue replied.

“Come to think of it, isn’t it harder to clone a mammal than say, a reptile or a fish?”

“Yes, Henry Wu of InGen has cloned mammals occasionally, but found it quite tedious because mammalian red cells do not have nuclei, where the DNA are located. You would need to find white cells, which are much less common than their red counterparts in a ratio of 2 to 12.”

“Reptiles and birds, on the other hand, have nuclei within their red blood cells, and Henry Wu is a genius when it comes to manipulating DNA.” Blue explained, frowning.

“Who is this Henry Wu that you speak of ?”

“Why, as a human being, Dr.Henry Wu is a tacky SOB who creates red-eyed, mangled-toothed fatherfuckers and is considered a most dangerous man with the most dangerous technology in the sad history of humanity. He attempted to use my blood to create a line of Indoraptors to sell off for military purposes.”

Seems Wu sounds a LOT like that sperm-slurper Validar, Lucina grimly thought.

 The two of them chatted like this for the entirely of their walk until they reached Nifl Castle.

                                              *********

 Blue and Lucina had arrived at the castle of Nifl, but they were no guards to greet them. Well they were guards present-but they were frozen solid, and clusters of repenomamuses were busily gnawing away at the frozen body cavities.

 I guess a species changes its behavior accordingly to the environment, Blue though as she and her partner pushed the gates open. They went inside the interior and up the stairs.

“Something tells me the weather outside isn’t the reason those soldiers were icicles,” Lucina said, walking behind Blue.”Would it be a bad idea to go into the kitchen wing and grab some potions for the upcoming boss fight?”

The charcoal velociraptor sniffed the solid,icy air. It stinged her nose. “I don’t see why not,” she answered. “though if you see some ANY creature, reppy or not, attacking you, don’t hesitate to knock their heads off.”

Blue waited at the second floor while Lucina brisky walked to the the kitchen downstairs. A few minutes later, she was back.

“Are you ready for certain? During the boss-fight there will be no pee-pee breaks, and no daddy in white shining armor with a shotgun and a motorbike crashing through the windows to save either of us. Understood?” Blue interviewed.

“No need for any of that,” Lucina replied. “Let’s get this over with. I feel as though my body is becoming a gelato cone.”

 “Good. If my nose knows, she is just around the corner. Follow me.” the raptors headed to the corridor on the right and came across a door that read “Hrid’s Room: Out for Lunch”. They entered.

“Ugh. That was the fifth time someone has stepped in without my consent,” an icy voice hissed. “Do any of you thin-telligent organisms register the concept of knocking?”

 A woman was lounging on an oblong bed spotted with various books. But not a regular woman. Her lower half was that of a boa’s, turquoise-green with purple stripes, and covered with icicles.Her hair-piece were icicles as well, and her Victorian-style corset colored electric blue and black made the entire “cool” effect perfect,considering her expressions suggested otherwise.

“What do you bipeds want?” The snake woman demanded. “Did you interrupt my inspirational reading just so you can become like those popsicles outside?”

“We just want to talk,” Lucina answered.

The snake snorted. “Don’t be honest with me, be honest with you. What you really came here for is my bloody limp body that you can use to nail onto this country’s gates like a crooked Christmas decoration. Is that it, O Exalted Princess?

“Why did you freeze the sun-god? Do you recognize the biblical effects the entire world will face?” Blue questioned, her face contorting in defense for her friend.

“Let me tell you this,” the Victorian boa began. “I am the future best-selling novelist Basilice, and I sincerely have no desire to kill you. But my mistress Sha’Rad Yuwi denied my request and forced to to sacrifice my writing skills for combative means. My writing may be on hold, but my mind is certainly not. Exalted Princess, have you ever actually considered the misery of your foes that killed them because you desired to make “everyone happy”?”

“.....You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs,” Lucina replied.

“ ‘I want everyone to be happy,’ ‘let’s end all suffering in the world,’ those are lines that make me want to vomit out the Niflites I ate yesterday. Those are the shallow,one-dimensional philosophies of idiotic eukaryotes who do not face reality.” Basilice sputtered out. “The light is full of lies, lies! People willingly bask in the glory of light so they never again have to experience the truth of the darkness below! Light is harmful, harmful! And not just the fact that overdosing on UV light promotes cancer on light skin. Do any of you bipeds know anything at all about plants other than the vascular system in high-school?”

“When plants grow, they break down soil to suit their roots for sufficient nutrient intake,” Blue raised her hand in reply.

“Precisely! Around 400 million years ago, during the Devonian period, mosses and ferns were starting to grow onto rocks near the coastlines, and inevitably, these early pioneers of the new world crumbled the rock into fine soil which washed out into the sea over thousand of years, and do you know what happened? Vertebrates started choking! Fishes here and there had no idea how to cope with this influx of mud particles from the land, their gills clogged with minerals. This, combined with volcanic eruptions, consumed all the available oxygen in the water and there were massive, massive, casualties everywhere! Because fishes and run-off from terrestrial photosynthesis do not go well together! This catastrophe makes your petty carnage across Jurassic Park and Fire Emblem look like a squabble between toddlers in comparison. And you little humans use the opportunity to view more serious issues as a excuse to lounge in your chairs eating chicken nuggets.”

“So I killed him! I killed that sick son of a bitch Helios because he’s a major liar, and I’m going to teach everyone that people deserve bad endings, everyone!” Basilice took out her Dragonstone. “And if you girls are truly good character down to the nRNA sequence, you might be spared and see everyone in the world smothered in the darkness that is free of any lies! No more pain, no more sadness!”

Blue and Lucina prepared their weapons. “Let’s fight!” 

[mariposalass]

A Typical Crazy Weekend Morning

Summary: Weekend breakfast on a Sunday morning would’ve been all fine and dandy, if you’re not in Mari’s fam bunch in a chaotic morning rush.

Notes: This is inspired from a prompt request I sent to @husband-of-lucoa for the domestic fluff prompts with a dysfunctional coffee pot. Also, the story is basically what a typical weekend morning is like for me and the fam bunch; spoilers: it is always messy and crazy! The breakfast featured here is called a cornsilog (corned beef, sinangag (garlic fried rice), and itlog (eggs sunny side up)), which is one of many silog breakfast dishes in the Philippines and in Filipino overseas communities all over the world. Words in Italics are meant to represent Marina’s sign language since she can’t talk and is a mute (thanks to that deal with the evil Sea Witch in the past…).

Setting: Mari and co.’s house in Daly City, California; Sunday morning

Tags: breakfast, weekend mornings, chaos ensues, crossovers, self shipping, mild freak outs over little things and non-functional coffee makers

Rays of sunlight hit Mari’s sleepy face one spring morning inside her bedroom. She grouchily tried to get up, but a part of her was too lazy that it had knocked her back to the bed. Nevertheless, she managed to get up after 2 more tries. Her attention then turned to the alarm clock on her bedside as it read 8:45 am. Saturdays and Sundays are the days she doesn’t need to go work, so she has time to relax before Monday calls in for another round of 5 work days. The assistant librarian yawned and stretched as she got out of the bed, after which she took a shower, and got dressed up in the usual outfit of floral camis, cardigans, jeans, and ankle booties. Today was supposed to be a nice day to go out with the weather being bright and with little clouds that could warrant rainfalls, and it is jam-packed with a ton of errands to do in San Francisco with her brother Harry and friend Issa’s wedding drawing closer each week.

As soon as she finished getting makeup and drying up her hair, she then went down the stairs, and headed straight for the kitchen and dining area. But as she was about to make a turn, a knock was heard from the front door, so it took her eyes towards the door and she opened it up to see that a familiar face smiling back at her.

“Oh Marina, hello,” Mari greeted the blond teenager, “I didn’t expect a visit from you today. So what has brought you to come over today?”

Papa has asked me if you might need some help for Harry and Issa’s wedding in July, the otherwise muse but bubbly girl signed to her, So I came over here to help you guys in any way possible.

“Why of course, we do need more help,” she smiled back as she escorted Marina to the house, “We’re heading to San Francisco in a little bit after breakfast. Perhaps you can join us with that.”

I would love to go with you guys, she couldn’t agreed more as she signed the reply.

“Well, I hope you have an empty stomach on hand, because we’re just going to...” Mari’s sentence was cut off abruptly when both girls heard loud noises coming from the kitchen, “make breakfast...”

Perhaps we should check out the kitchen to see what has happened, since the noises came from there, Marina’s face grew more concerned as she signed to her and both continued to hear the kitchen noises.

After an affirmative nod, Mari and Marina rushed to the kitchen where they were greeted by what would have been a war zone to many, but is actually and unfortunately a normal thing to Mari every weekend: Many of Mari’s family and friends were scrambling either to trying to cook or feed the pets, getting something quick to eat, or making a mess of the kitchen, and apparently some weird noises coming from a… kitchen appliance?

Anyway, the pets (Scooby Doo, Marie Torchic, Piplup, Rowlet, & Scorbunny) were fighting for attention and huge shares of food as Ahkmenrah tried to carefully measure the allowable amount of pet food they can eat, Harry & Issa were nearing completion of cooking most of the food (eggs sunny side up, garlic fried rice, and corned beef with onions and potatoes) with Uncle Gru’s Minions causing havoc everywhere, Philip and Kairi ducked away from plates, bowls, and drinking glasses thrown about at random intervals as the Minions kept going crazy and they were trying to get orange juice, water, toasted bread & its accompaniments, and hot chocolate, and Kirby started to moan in hunger while Margo was doing her best to keep him calm down as her sisters Edith and Agnes watched on.

“Poyo...” the sad starving Star Warrior moaned, his little arm holding onto his grumbling stomach.

“Just hang in there, Kirby,” the oldest of the Gru sisters reassured him, “They’re almost done with the food soon.”

“I still don’t get why Kirby is always sad when he’s hungry,” Agnes sighed as she told Edith.

“Beats me, those puffballs must have big appetites for sure,” she remarked, “Have you seen that masked knight friend of his trying to eat that many sweets before?”

“Uh, Harry, Issa. What is going on in here?” Mari asked both brother and future sister-in-law of the chaos engulfing the area before ducking herself and Marina to the floor as some plates crashed onto the wall unannounced.

“What else but the usual, sis: Uncle Gru’s Minions are at it again: throwing plates and bowls, grabbing and dropping random items onto the floor & walls, and hoarding bananas,” the Boy Who Lived began to list down the things of madness verbally to her and Marina as the latter two got up again, “The pets are craving for more food than needed, Kirby suddenly goes hungry and is moaning in pain...”

“And there are some problems with the coffee maker for some reason right now,” Issa added in to what he has said.

“Wait, the coffee maker is having PROBLEMS!!!” Mari gasped in horror when she overheard arguments to where the aforementioned object were located and with her (not biological) uncle Gru, aunt Lucy, and grandfather figure the Doctor all tangled up in there.

“Alright, who’s going to repair that blasted coffee maker right now?” The Doctor groaned in dismay after multiple attempts to start it up properly as normal.

“Not me, Sir Grumps-a-lot!” Gru refuted it, clearly not in a mood to fix anything in a grumpy hungry state, “I’m not going to fix that thing while not having something to eat.”

“Look, gentlemen, please,” Lucy tried to calm the storm brewing, “Right now is not a good time to fight over just a dysfunctional coffee maker on a Sunday morning.”

“You’re going to fix it!” the Doctor told Gru.

“No, you’re going to use that weird technological stick of yours to fix that coffee maker!” the former super villain argued back.

“Okay, okay, what is the situation happening here?” Mari asked the trio as she walked towards them with Marina following behind, uneasy and confused.

Mari, what is going on over there? Marina signed to her out of concern.

“Oh, Mari, hello!” Gru soon noticed her presence, waving back at her and trying to hide the previous emotions he had earlier, “It appears that this coffee maker over here doesn’t want to open to any one of us today. Quite a baffling experience we’re having today”

“In short, you’re suffering from a caffeine withdrawal right now,” the Doctor scuffed a bit, not hiding his annoyed expression, “Sometimes, you pudding brains are really that weird over your obsession with coffee.”

“Oh dear, this is getting nowhere,” Lucy worried as the situation hang on a thread.

“Okay, okay. Let me get this straight: the coffee machine is not able to open and work properly, and now you two are caffeine-deprived and fighting over who’s going to repair it?” Mari quickly recapped the situation for the three, but mostly to the Doctor and Gru.

“Uh...” both men now began to look nervous, staring at each other out of fear, before facing Mari again and meekly squeaked a ‘Yes’ for an answer.

So that could explain that argument earlier? Marina signed in to the two out of concern.

“About that silent girl next to you? Why is she doing here?” Gru asked Mari.

“Marina here is one of many adopted kids of some friends of mine and she decided to drop by today,” she clarified to them, “She is unfortunately mute and can only communicate via sign language and body language.”

“Hmm… I see,” the Doctor mused on the guest, before realizing something, “But then what to do without coffee with the broken coffee pot?”

“I highly doubt Harry can magically fix that thing,” Lucy sighed.

Marina noticed that there are sparks flying from the coffee maker, it looked like it may have to deal with the Minions Mari has told her and her adopted siblings a lot. She nudged Mari to check on the thing with her, and what the assistant librarian saw had her jaws dropped in shock: water was splashed onto the machine and was dripping down towards the sink hole, causing a short circuit in it. Mari recalled that at one point, one of the Minions, Bob had nearly dropped a vase of water onto Harry’s laptop when he tripped on a rug while trying to water the flowers in the backyard and it too would have suffered the same fate as the coffee maker had Harry not cast a time freeze spell to save both the little Minion and the laptop and grabbed the vase immediately before the first drop landed on said laptop.

“Uncle Gru, I think that the Minions didn’t watch where they were throwing water at, and were responsible for the short circuit in this coffee maker,” she brought the damages to her forever relatives and was annoyed that her uncle Gru wasn’t paying attention to the Minions again.

“WHAT?!? They short circuited the coffee maker!?!” he freaked out in horror, before slowly regaining his nerves and began to glare at his Minions in disappointment, “Minions! How are you going to explain yourselves over a coffee maker and a short circuit?”

The Minions were understandably upset at the fact that their boss was mad at them for destroying a kitchen appliance with water splashing from the sink, they were scared that he’ll throw a fit about it if they don’t apologize and admit the truth. They eventually, as a group, mustered the courage and said ‘Sorry, Boss’ in Minonese.

This act warmed Uncle Gru’s usually grump bear heart, and hugged them tightly, he know that he couldn’t stay mad at them for long if they acknowledged their sink water meets coffee maker mishaps and owe them up. Although he did warned them never to play with water near all appliances and forms of technology ever again, and they were more than happy to respect that rule.

“So… Now that is settled, how we are going to do without some coffee?” the Doctor groaned in dismay, now that the coffee maker is down.

“Doctor, you can still fix broken machinery with your Sonic Screwdriver, right?” Mari informed him, “Perhaps, you can do it, but try not to be grouchy about it like earlier so much that got Marina worried.”

“Anything for you and your siblings, Mari,” he happily smirked back as he pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver while Mari and Marina helped in cleaning out the excess and ripping water on the coffee maker and the area it occupies before he began to program the Screwdriver to repair the coffee machine in very little time as possible.

The coffee maker began to roar back to life as it light up again to work as it normally did, everyone’s eyes looking at it in amazement like seeing Santa for the first time. Harry was putting down the dishes of food he and Issa cooked earlier on the dining table when he saw the coffee maker being revived back to working order and asked if it could still work properly again.

The Doctor brought out a mug, filled the machine with ground coffee, and had it to make a regular brew. And just as the fam bunch were expecting the thing to die on them big time, it was working relatively fine again: it did what the Doctor had pressed on and coffee was pouring onto the mug like there was nothing to worry about. He then drank some of the coffee without second thoughts and released a sigh of satisfaction, proving that the coffee maker is restored to its original state.

“Doctor, you’re a mad genius!” Kairi gasped, “Your Screwdriver managed to fix the coffee maker without breaking a sweat.”

“Pardon me?” Philip was still getting used to 21st Century lingo and colloquialisms while he too was stunned by the miraculous repair.

“Yes, yes, I see that you all took notice of it, and that I can appreciate it,” the Doctor slyly bragged a bit as he was about to make some more coffee for the coffee drinkers in the bunch, starting with Gru, “So: What kind of coffee preparation you people would like to have?”

“I’ll go for a cappuccino, Doctor,” Lucy asked him, relieved that the problem has been resolved.

“Espresso please!” Gru chimed in.

“Doctor, you know that I often go for a mocha drink,” Harry informed the Time Lord ahead of time.

“Yes, I know that very well,” he happily noted before he turned to Mari, “So, are you going to get some coffee?”

“Nah, you know well that I’m more of a tea drinker than anything, but today, I’m gunning for some OJ right now,” she replied.

Marina also declined the coffee offer and opted for some hot chocolate instead. As the fam bunch settled in for breakfast, eating and sharing their thoughts & stories, along with sorting out plans for the upcoming July wedding, Mari could take a sigh of relief, knowing that things in her crazy bunch will end well regardless of the messes they get themselves into. Surely, she won’t see everyone trying to be normal and stop the chaos entirely (because every single one of them have different personalities and quirks) any time soon, but one thing is for certain: sometimes, a little bit of chaos on the weekends isn’t that bad at all.

The End

[zeldauniverse]

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a game that you might have missed. Even if you didn’t skip over the Wii U console generation, it could have easily fallen to the wayside amongst more popular entries such as Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U before it or Splatoon or Super Mario Maker after it. In fact, Captain Toad’s whole existence owes itself to its “predecessor” Super Mario 3D World, which included the very concept of this game as miniature levels or sidequests within it. As a result, if you’ve played the Mario title, you already have a rough idea of what to expect from Captain Toad.

FULL DISCLOSURE Nintendo Australia has graciously provided us with a review copy of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

Thankfully, Captain Toad offers a little bit more than the experience from the Mario game before it, though admittedly not a great deal more. It naturally had to include boss battles because now there’s a Mario-esque “story” behind it as Captain Toad and co-star Toadette collect Power Stars. It expanded upon its original mini-levels by having a shooter-on-rails mechanic as well as coin-collection levels. And it’s borrowed somewhat heavily from Super Mario 3D World by pulling in the Double Cherries, Dash Panels, Beep Blocks, and more. It’s as much an extension of Super Mario Galaxy as Super Mario Galaxy 2 was… except without the actual Mario jumping and fast platforming.

Captain Toad borrows heavily from Super Mario 3D World with the inclusion of power-ups and items.

Cute and charming puzzle-solving

Captain Toad is a perfect game for the Nintendo Switch. (Though really, what game isn’t?) Captain Toad is all about bite-sized content in tiny stages, and the portable nature of the Switch means you can jump in, play a few levels, and then get back to whatever you were doing.

And the game is a lot cuter than I originally expected. I admit I chuckle a bit whenever I see Captain Toad appear in the various Mario games, from Super Mario Galaxy and onward. Seeing the little cutscenes with the captain is actually cute and endearing, even though his high-pitched squeaks can get a bit old by the game’s end.

The nature of Captain Toad tends to be more pause-and-think rather than hurry-up-and-go.

Where Captain Toad veers distinctively from its Mario origins is the fact that this is more of a puzzle game than a platformer. The game does have platforming involved within it, but the nature of the game tends to be more pause-and-think rather than hurry-up-and-go. That’s par for the course because the level’s objective is usually in plain sight — similar to the one-screen levels found in Super Mario Maker. However, another part of this originates from the fact that you can’t see the entire level in a single glance. You need to rotate your view around as parts of the level will obscure other parts, especially the underground bits. Even then, there are a few secret areas that won’t even be revealed until you actually encounter them, leaving the huge potential for hidden treasures and coins everywhere.

The world will start off seeming so very simple…

…but a simple twist of the stage opens up so many more possibilities.

Despite the general pause-and-think strategy omnipresent in the game, Captain Toad does force you into quick thinking quite often. Enemies such as Goombas and Shy Guys, once they detect you, will give quick chase. And given the captain’s inability to jump, your standard mechanism for clearing out enemies is gone. To replace that, Captain Toad — in a throwback to the American Super Mario Bros. 2 — can hoist turnips out of the ground and chuck them at enemies. However, turnips are far and few between and generally only spawn once, so you either have to be accurate or fast on your feet! The mine cart levels also require quick thinking; while you never have to worry about enemies in these levels, the levels become coin ruins, and you have to shoot targets quickly to maximize your coin count and/or complete your secret missions.

The game itself is divided into multiple episodes — three in total with a set of post-game bonus levels beyond it. It’s important to remember this after you defeat the first 18 levels and arrive at the end credits; the game isn’t over yet! It’s in episodes two and three where you play as Toadette (and later as both characters) as you chase down Wingo, the game’s avian nemesis.

It’s not just about waddling around enemies. There’s also rail-shooter segments.

Is Captain Toad really worth the investment?

So it merits saying that Captain Toad isn’t your Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey. Unless you’re a hardcore completionist, it’s not going to offer you the hundreds of hours of gameplay that the other titles on Nintendo Switch have to offer. Thankfully it doesn’t have to be either of the two games thanks to its price point. In North America, the game is being sold at $40 as opposed to $60, while in Australia it’s being sold at A$60 instead of A$90. And given that the Switch is full of like-minded titles such as Shovel Knight, Golf Story, and countless more, it’s in good company.

Overall, Captain Toad is relatively easy, but 100%ing the game takes much more effort.

It’s reasonable to ask whether or not this game is for you. Captain Toad is like the Kirby series when it comes to difficulty: If you consider yourself decent at playing modern video games, then you should find navigating the 60-odd levels of the main quest a relative breeze. Some levels are more involved than others, and some of the later levels involve a few more timing challenges or tricky spots that require a little more finesse, but you won’t see too many Game Over screens despite the game not inundating you with 1-Up Mushrooms at every chance.

That said, the challenge of the game starts to rapidly increase once you consider all of the optional challenges the game throws at you in order to 100-percent the game. Each of the stages in the main quest has three diamonds in it that need collecting, and failing to collect a sufficient number of these will start locking you out of the game’s bonus content after the main story. Furthermore, each stage has two additional challenges. The first is a simple hide-and-seek game with a pixelated Toad hiding on one of the level’s walls; in the Wii U version of this game, this only could be accessed as amiibo-activated content, but now it’s built into the game itself. Secondly, and more deviously, each level has a bonus mission, and achieving these can actually be quite difficult. It’ll take solid persistence to crack each auxiliary mission in the game.

That said, if you already owned and played Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on the Wii U, it’s not worth getting the Switch version. With the exception of the hide-and-seek games no longer being locked behind amiibo, the only Switch-exclusive content is four additional bonus levels that are generally inspired by Super Mario Odyssey. These levels actually replace the Super Mario 3D World-themed bonus levels from the Wii U version, and as before you can’t play these levels until you go through the game’s storyline. Each of the four new levels is based upon one of the various kingdoms of Odyssey — namely the Cascade, Sand, Metro, and Luncheon Kingdoms. They’re cute fun, but it’s not much to merit a second purchase.

The adaptation from the Wii U to Switch is actually quite ingenious.

Boss battles are still fun and progressively more challenging.

An underappreciated but solid game

I didn’t play Captain Toad on the Wii U, and I had originally made the conscious choice to skip it for Nintendo Switch as well. Before playing it, I had a pretty good idea of what the game was, and, to a large extent, I was correct. I thoroughly enjoyed playing it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s been a long time since I’ve made the effort to fully 100% any game I’ve owned. (I’ve got too much of a gaming backlog to spend time on that!) While I do appreciate the challenges in the game — and some of them were things to which I immediately said, “Challenge accepted!” — those challenges aren’t something that will drive me back to playing it over and over. But that’s just me; depending upon how you game, your mileage may vary.

But Captain Toad is still cute fun, and I think it’s actually a very good thing that Nintendo came and remade the game for the Nintendo Switch. It’s definitely a game I think didn’t get enough acclaim the first time around, so maybe its presence on Switch will give it a bit more luster.

Score Similarity to other Marios 8.5/10 Mario Vs. Donkey Kong – ★★★★☆ Super Mario 3D World – ★★★☆☆ Super Mario Bros. 2 – ★★☆☆☆ Super Mario Odyssey – ★☆☆☆☆

Review: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is worth playing if you like puzzles Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a game that you might have missed. Even if you didn't skip over the Wii U console generation, it could have easily fallen to the wayside amongst more popular entries such as…

[aion-rsa]

Ed Asner: The Most Memorable Animated Roles From the TV Legend

https://ift.tt/3mIPwHm

We lost a great one this weekend with Ed Asner. The lovably gruff actor died at 91. Asner was a prolific actor, not only having well over 400 credits to his name, but also still performing roles to the end. Sure, every obituary is going to talk up how well known he was for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and all that, but for many of us, he was a huge part of our childhoods.

Ed Asner did plenty of voice work. More than I can talk about here, but his deep, growly, and at times friendly voice lent itself well to a lot of cartoon characters. Not just the old man from Up, but lots of villains and supporting characters in superhero shows. He was also in FoodFight, but we don’t need to talk about FoodFight.

Here are our favorite animated characters that Ed Asner gave voice to…

Roland Daggett (Batman: The Animated Series)

It really says a lot about how high-quality Batman: The Animated Series was when they had Ed Asner doing a bang up job playing Roland Daggett and he was probably considered the least interesting recurring villain. Giving Batman his own Lex Luthor wasn’t as strong a dynamic as it should have been and other than being a side villain in the Clayface origin episodes, Daggett’s episodes don’t really stand out among the rest.

When you do watch one of those episodes and remember that Daggett exists, Asner’s charm definitely does some heavy lifting. He absolutely pulled whatever blood he could out of that stone.

Hoggish Greedly (Captain Planet and the Planeteers)

Ah, Captain Planet. Incredibly cheesy, but honestly way better than it really had any right to be. Asner played Hoggish Greedly, one of the various go-to villains on the show and one of the villains who was so on the nose that he’s made to look like a literal gross animal to drive the point home how evil he is. Greedly was half-pig/half-Trump, which led to Asner doing oink-based laughter that went on way too long. I’m sure that saved on the animation budget.

Asner’s Greedly also did a lot of yelling at his sidekick Rigger and that guy was voiced by John Ratzenberger. Forget all the pollution and trying to murder children and eco-Jesus. Being mean to Cliff Clavin is going too far!

Hudson (Gargoyles)

Third season excluded, Gargoyles was one of those shows that was so good that you can’t help but look back in wonder at how fortunate we were to have something so good. Asner was the team’s resident grizzled mentor character Hudson (who named himself that after thinking that naming a river is stupid as hell). He brought his A-game, plus a Scottish accent, but was a bit overshadowed by the team’s leader Goliath. Asner may have had a gravely voice, but he was a silver medalist to Keith David’s gold in that regard.

Despite being a battle-weary soul, Hudson always brought a weird sense of optimism to the show whenever he was around. He acted like living as long as he had was something to be celebrated and that he was lucky for it.

Mike Cosgrove (Freakazoid)

As the story goes, Asner was prepared to voice Sgt. Cosgrove with more pep and emotion, but when he blandly read through the lines to get them down first, others told him to just go with that. Cosgrove’s complete lack of enthusiasm in contrast to Freakazoid’s over-the-top behavior is what makes him so memorable and likeable. He was like the anti-straight man.

There’s a real Dadaist charm to Cosgrove, who is entirely competent (he once caused a Cthulhu-like being to back off via a threat to bust his lip), but really outlines the utter weirdness of Freakazoid’s world with his mild banter. It doesn’t matter how dire the situation is, if Cosgrove invites Freakazoid to some random distraction, it will almost always work. Then he’ll tell him something odd like how pigs are smarter than bears, but they can’t ride bikes. Then he’ll convince Freakazoid to get back to the plot and move on.

Read more

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By Michael Mammano

This did lead to the biggest BS moment of the show, though. One time Freakazoid couldn’t go get a yogurt with Cosgrove, so Cosgrove asked the viewer if they wanted to join him, followed by reacting as if we said no. Don’t you put that evil on me, Steven Spielberg! I don’t appreciate the gaslighting and I know I’m not the only one.

Asner did get to reprise the role one last time in a recent episode of Teen Titans Go! that guest starred Freakazoid. Once again, he got distracted from a life-or-death situation because Cosgrove wanted to buy him a donut and then discuss the different types of donuts.

J. Jonah Jameson (Spider-Man: The Animated Series)

When it comes to Jameson, it’s all but unanimous that JK Simmons is THE portrayal. Even in terms of animation, people tend to think of Paul Kligman for nailing the character back in the 1960s. That said, Asner played him a different way and it worked. Asner’s Jameson wasn’t a motormouth with an inflated sense of importance. He was a gruff and, for lack of a better term, menacing boss who was a thorn in the side of Peter Parker’s two identities.

While he did come off as a jerk, they made sure to emphasize that he wasn’t a bad guy, just a grouch with an axe to grind. That made it all the better in the aftermath of Peter’s wedding when he revealed in secret that he paid for the whole thing, but didn’t want Peter to know he actually liked him.

Even though Asner was able to play Peter’s cantankerous quasi-father figure, he did get a brief shot at Peter’s more loving one in Spectacular Spider-Man. As Uncle Ben, Asner showed some real grizzled warmth that really stood out despite being a very short role.

Granny Goodness (Superman: The Animated Series)

I already mentioned Daggett earlier, but Asner has done his lion’s share of DC characters. The animated adaptation of All-Star Superman had him as Perry White, which is so obvious in retrospect that I can’t believe it took that long to do (Asner had also been considered for the role as far back as Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie). He was also Hephaestus in an episode of Justice League Unlimited, which was overshadowed by the extremely inspired casting of the brothers from Wonder Years as Hawk and Dove.

Just as inspired was Asner as Granny Goodness. A cosmic evil in the form of a “loving” grandmother type is one of the most Jack Kirby of Jack Kirby ideas. Having Asner trying to use his menacing gravel voice for a female character is just so fun to check out, especially once you figure out it’s him. Granny didn’t get too much use, but I would love to see the footage of Asner in the booth trying to make it work.

Carl Fredricksen (Up)

While I can talk about Cosgrove and Jameson for days, Asner’s most famous role is that of Carl, the crotchety old man from Up. It helps that by the time we first hear Asner’s voice in the movie, we’ve already seen Carl through his whole life, including the heartbreaking tragedy that comes with it. It lets us know that underneath the harsh growling, there’s a sensitive man underneath and Asner’s performance opens up throughout.

Though again, he’s mean to John Ratzenberger and I can’t abide by that!

Read more

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Movies

Spider-Man: No Way Home Trailer Gets an Incredible ’90s Cartoon Remix

By David Crow

Up is a great companion piece to A Goofy Movie, in how it hits differently for each generation. Much like how kids identify with Max while adults identify with Goofy, Up has Russell the scout and Carl. When Kevin the bird gets kidnapped, Russell can only scold Carl in disbelief for letting it happen. Carl, whose house and belongings were literally just on fire a moment ago, responds with the emotional and fed-up, “I DIDN’T ASK FOR ANY OF THIS!” which is probably my favorite Asner line read.

I’m really not looking forward to rewatching that movie. I love it, but it’s going to break me. Let’s see what else Disney+ has to offer… Oh, Dug has his own series of shorts! …Oh man.

Santa Claus (Various)

One of roles people these days remember Asner for is Santa Claus in Elf. That was neither the first time nor the last time Asner portrayed Jolly Old Saint Nick. He’s played the character various times in various projects. For some reason, Ed Asner just made for a fantastic Santa. It’s not like he was playing him the same way every time.

His performance in The Story of Santa Claus was your regular vanilla take. The version in Elf (which had an animated spinoff short, so it’s on-topic!) felt like a well-meaning but flawed take on the legend. Olive, the Other Reindeer added some real cynicism to Santa while Regular Show went even further to the point of absurdity. But yet no matter the version, Asner added warmth and wisdom to his portrayal of the seasonal gift-giver.

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Honestly, an Ed Asner Santa marathon isn’t the worst idea for this December. It’s a good way to remember such a beloved talent that I’m certainly going to miss.

The post Ed Asner: The Most Memorable Animated Roles From the TV Legend appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[desultory-novice]

I don't think I've seen you do this one yet. So what are your thoughts on a personal favorite Villain of mine; Queen Sectonia?

Okay, so I have a bit of a childhood phobia about bugs. 

Spiders I'm relatively okay with, but let me tell you, when Queen Sectonia first appeared I felt a shiver run up my spine. That said, it didn't last long outside of that initial "Why did the last boss have to be a GIANT BUG?!" and I now think she's got a completely killer design! (Although, lol, that waist...) I'm personally a little partial toward the red rose-theming in her DX form...

<Behind the cut, I talk a surprising amount about Sectonia!>

So, speaking of her boss fight! The team at HAL had the unenviable task of outdoing Magolor (not easy) as a last boss and they...did it, quite honestly! 

Oh, Magolor's got some amazing thematic stuff going on (bias bias) and Robobot has sheer spectacle, but Queen Sectonia is perhaps the best pure multi-stage boss fight among the three. Honestly, it's hard to think of any other last boss in Kirby that gets you more bang for your buck than Sectonia. Including the ones to follow her.

And heck yes, we stan a Warrior Queen!! God, she is SUCH a badass! I love her pulling out the swords so much, ahhh, I love it. She's one of the few combat mages in the franchise, and the only (?) one until the Mage-Sisters came about. (Given the discarded settei where they were originally going to be weapons Hyness imbued with life, I'd say Sectonia probably was a major inspiration behind their development too.) And all that is just for her first form! Jumping ahead here, but the look she gives Kirby at the end, right when he's about to end the fight, is an amazing moment of wordless characterization.

Which I guess brings us to “Moonstruck Blossom,” huh? It’s amazing. Really gorgeous. Utterly listenable. It loses only to “C.R.O.W.N.E.D.” in my mind because a) I'm an unrepentant Magolor fan and b) there's more notes of obvious story/plot/characterization woven into the second, even if they are both beautifully characterful pieces! But speaking of characterization...

...For me, I feel if we had gotten a slightly better look at how Sectonia went from a carefree child princess (?) to a heartless conquering queen, maybe heard a little more of her struggles - did she ever fight the mirror? Was the corruption slow? Fast? - there would be more to pull out of the song and it would have a greater emotional impact for me. Anyway, they're still VERY close with each other. 

I sometimes think that Clone Sectonia and the "1,000 years worth of species" drop was there because Kumazaki-shi maybe realized he had written up a lot more about Sectonia and Taranza than he'd actually had room to tell in game. Ahh, the flaws of taking too light a hand with storytelling! (Now, I enjoy a light-ish hand with things, where we get enough to theorize but not so much that there’s no room for different interpretations, but I do feel there’s just a little missing from Secty for her to be a fixation - in spite of this essay, lol.)

But maybe Triple Deluxe will get a novelization after Return to Dream Land and we'll get some Spider POV? I'll keep an eye out for announcements, regardless.

Err, we were talking about “Moonstruck Blossom,” right? Ahaha, needless to say, her majesty's (poisoned) wish for beauty lives in on this beautiful song!

Back to Sectonia herself. I think there IS (potentially) some really interesting stuff going on with her. (And Taranza too.) The story seems to suggest that Sectonia and Taranza are actually from a different kingdom altogether and have simply chosen Floralia as their most RECENT conquest... So then, how long has this stream of invasions been going on?! Sectonia's army has a strong steel & jewel theme and that makes me think of fantasy Dwarves for some reason. (Something something, Final Fantasy Dwarves, something something, Japanese "tsuchigumo" - maybe I’m onto something...?) 

Err, anyway the idea of Dream World's insect-dwarves invading the sky-elves is really cool and if this were the kind of franchise for it (it's not) I would probably really enjoy a lengthy military epic about Sectonia, Taranza, and their 1,000 year long conquest through the lesser-known Kingdoms surrounding Dream Land. I mean, corrupted Sectonia obviously cared about beauty, but there's beauty in strength too, and seeing her run through a chain of bodies looking to be both more beautiful and MORE POWERFUL...

...Triple Deluxe's backstory could be the plot of an entirely different game, tbh.

What else? I mentioned before I'm a Sectaranza (?? I am so bad with English ship names in this fandom) shipper. That hasn't changed. I like them. I like the way they've been subtly developed outside their game too.

...Hmm hmm... I think her color palette is just a little too strong in her Dreamstalk form (although it WORKS with that lovely shift from night to day mid-battle) and I prefer the ragged and paler petals of her Soul form, specially when combined with her golden wings. 

One thing I DON'T like is when she detaches from the stalk and becomes just a flying head. It's a weird instance of G-rated Gore (Thanks, Kumazaki!) that throws me off and brings back my phobia of insects. Or maybe it's just a phobia of flying heads?! I haven't run into quite enough to be sure!

...Err, um, ahaha, I also love that it's implied, based on the start of the Soul fight, that, much like Marx, she is just too tough and too bitter about losing to die! Dess happens to believe the Soul bosses are canon, at least in MY own inner Kirby-verse. I know, I know. They're "what-ifs" (although wasn't that said more about Meta Knightmare mode, more than anything else?) but the world of Kirby is soooo much richer when you include them!

Winding down some, Sectonia is a character who is lots of fun to talk about...for what a sadly limited appearance she has.... Her treatment as "canonically super mega dead" ends up cutting, well, almost all of her future potential short, and it's a shame. 

But there's... not much to do about it. Write fanfic where she is resurrected by the Dreamstalk? Make that Sectonia war epic...? I've got my own long-term project that’s going to keep me busy for a long time (:coughs in Marxolor:) so that kind of undertaking is not for me, but I'll raise a toast to the Queen and her future (?) anyway!

But hey, speaking of "Dess thinks the Soul bosses are canon" maybe there's a reason they've all been linked in some way till now? (Attack patterns and visual motifs.) If Kumazaki is playing the longest game, we may yet see them ALL return in some form. Once we are finally let in on what it MEANS to fight with your very soul! (...And it will probably be utterly horrific if it does happen.)

What else have I left out...? Oh, it's awesome that she's voiced by Kirby's VA! Ohmoto-san has such range! Speaking of, that very brief conversation she and Susie (same VA again) have in the 25th Anniversary Concert is a fun little treat! (Has that been subtitled...?) 

You know, the first time I watched it, I assumed Susie was talking to Clone Sectonia, but Sectonia does say she was "...sleeping" so, who knows? Maybe she isn’t -quite- dead after all, just out of reach of Taranza and the rest... (Also, my heart wibbles like crazy that, despite casting him aside, the FIRST thing she does upon waking is ask for Taranza. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh....)

Oh, yes! We're finally back to a character I can link a good video too, because HOMG Itoki Hana's vocal cover of "Moonstruck Blossom" is a treasure! 

(I mean, okay, all of Itoki Hana-san's Kirby songs and remixes are treasures. I don't know what she's up to lately, or if we will see more Kirby from her, but what wonderful gifts she's given us so far!)

Anyway, everyone who has managed to avoid this song over the past 8 years, correct that flaw now!

[culturecomp]

Megabyte Punch available on Steam and Nintendo Switch (Review)

This video may be the Zapruder of what inspirations including Super Smash Bros. Melee’s adventure mode, Battlebots, Beyblade, Kirby’s Dreamland and more mecha make up Megabyte Punch. Basically you’re trying to bust up robots and maybe even friends, but if you don’t you’ll never upgrade your own bot, unlock varied special moves, or come to grips with the origin of the Megacs in Megabyte Punch.

I mean, to be honest I can’t stand the story or lore. That said, Megabyte Punch features responsive controls, clear animations and characters, fair and balanced level design, and scores of combinations for your fighting robot without becoming overwhelming.

I suppose this good-with-the-bad comes from how satisfying it is to smash-attack small bots and big bots alike. Getting locked into a Mega Man-Mini Boss battle room with a few heavily-equipped opponents goes a long way to driving high-energy gameplay and propelling my bot forward. It doesn’t hurt that the post-assembly style of the game features a few touches that really lend to feedback for the player. Particularly notable parts or abilities come from a Smash Bros. Challenger’s Approach style boss battle.

Those smash attacks and special moves that knockback the opponent can send them flying to their doom too. They’ll explode and leave bits of the scenery in rubble. A divot could only feel badass if created by one robot smashing another robot into its surroundings.

As for the depth of combat and your character’s customized abilities and aesthetic, enemies frequently drop items and new parts and you can upgrade or change your bot’s components in real-time on the fly. I first unlocked an ability which allowed for a third jump and greater mobility. It was easily assigned to the directional slot that made the most sense, the up-special slot. A hadouken-like attack got the forward-special slot and I was off to the races. A roundhouse kick replaced this and energy projectile was moved to the standing-special slot. It even takes an Akuma-inspired arc when fired in mid-air.

You could say that Megabyte Punch doesn’t near the point where the player must discover how to use a special ability to overcome a platforming challenge often enough, but with all the combat in the game more of these truly brilliant design moments could have been saved for another project.

There’s just not a lot keeping the player from actual gameplay, whether you’re loading adventure mode or battle mode. Skip the bots standing around willing to talk. There’s a tutorial for customizing your bot in adventure mode, but after a dozen parts have been collected these menus don’t take long to navigate at all. Multiplayer could be a big thing for you on Nintendo Switch or with your Steam friends’ list. Megabyte Punch supports that “out of the box” (it’s digital-only as far as I know) and the gameplay is close enough to Super Smash Bros. that little to no explanation should do.

What a fresh breath of air given the multiple high-profile releases in the first half of the year sporting long loading times or too many buttons to be “safe” for a newer gamer. The violence present in Megabyte Punch doesn’t spurt any blood oil or feature dismemberment aside from the robotic item “drops” described above.

Perhaps more to the title’s benefit, the art style and progression from setting to setting recalls Limbo, mostly credit to the “2.5D” style. It doesn’t take long to find something new to look at. The levels I’ve explored thus far feature branching pathways and hidden exits that don’t actually lead to backtracking. I exited a stage early and then rushed right upon reentering and felt like it wasted no time. I guess loot mechanics are like, so in right now.

Megabyte Punch proves itself one of the more feature-complete independant games you can find on Steam or on Nintendo eShop. While there are plenty of genres blended together here, it’s not as though Team Reptile went throughout development to release with no objective in mind. It’s a cohesive package even if I want to throw Metroid-Vania in at the end of this review.

Code provided by publisher for review. Review based on Nintendo Switch eShop release.