#in the 2nd dead rising game

[w0rld0flight]

Useless Project X Zone fact of the day: Frank West, Bruno Delinger, and Segata Sanshiro are the only characters in the series who are modeled after real life people. Those people being Ben Affleck, Bruce Willis, and Hiroshi Fujioka, respectively.

[kevin-winfield]

Kevin Day and Riko Moriyama - Sons of Exy "Let dead dogs lie" Silas denver melvin// "Selene Thrown Down by Argus", Ferdinand Keller// "All for the Game", Nora Sakavic // "Will She Rise Again?", Francisco Goya // "Boy Frightened by a Man" Francisco Goya // Extra Content, Nora Sakavic // House of The Dragon // "Prey of Ravens", Marceli Harasimowicz// "The Two Crowns", Frank Dicksee //"Brutus", The Buttress// 'Cain and Abel', Orazio Riminaldi

2nd Version of my old post

[cavegirlpoems]

Okay, let's roll up a PC for Black Death Rising

it will be a fun demo of how the system works.

Step one is to roll for Attributes - Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Perception and Charisma - in order, and note down each score's attribute modifier. We get 10 Strength (+0), 11 Dexterity (+0), 5 Constitution (-2), 13 Intelligence (+1), 11 Perception (+0) and 13 Charisma (+1). So, our character is smart and charming, but notably delicate.

Next up, we pick a Nature for the character - what other games might call a 'race' - that determines what sort of being they are. Are they a normal mortal human? Some odd variation on humanity? Undead? Some spiritual being? The available options are Mortal Human, Ghoul, Lycanthrope, Purified One, Petty Demon, Mimic, Homonculus, Grotesque, Revenant, Ghost, Waif and Vampire. Each nature determines how many Flesh Points (your first dice of HP) we'll begin with, and grants particular perks and drawbacks. Going through the list, let's pick a Vampire - an undead creature tainted by Plague, with a hunger for blood. A vampire gives us d6 Flesh Points, modified by our unfortunate Constitution of -2. We roll a 4, for 2 Flesh total. We're not getting any less fragile. A vampire comes with all the regular effects of being undead; they heal less effectively and are vulnerable to certain magic, but are immune to things that might hurt specifically living people. Lastly, a vampire gets a bite attack, and can heal themselves by drinking blood, which somewhat makes up for our otherwise fragile health.

After this, we need to pick a class, from the options of Cleric, Doctor, Knight, Libertine, Outlaw, Professional, Witch and Zealot. Our fragile health lets us rule out the ones the more directly combat-focussed classes (the Knight and Zealot, and probably the Libertine and Outlaw too). Meanwhile, our good intelligence and charisma lend themselves to classes that benefit from them, like the Cleric, Doctor and Witch. After a little deliberation, let's pick the Witch, and go for a Ressurectionist variant. A Witch only begins with d4 Grit Points (the rest of our HP), which we roll and add our Constitution modifier to, and end up with only a single Grit Point. Our Constitution also makes our Saving throw worse, going from 15+ to 17+. We're certainly delicate. However, a Ressurectionist Witch also begins with improved Translation and Medicine skills (2-in-6 rather than 1-in-6), which we can add our Intelligence bonus to, for 3-in-6 total. Likewise, our high Intelligence and Charisma give us an improved 2-in-6 chance at the Tinkering, Charm, Status and Rituals skills. Lastly, the big perk of being a Witch is the ability to cast spells. We begin with a spellbook containing an entire school of magic, and being a ressurectionist, we pick Necromancy, meaning we start with Revive Flesh (rank 1), Preserve Corpse (rank 2), Speak With Dead (rank 3), Putrefy (rank 4), Animate Dead (rank 5) and Zombie Plague (rank 6) in our notes. As a first-level witch, we can have up to two ranks of spells prepared and ready to go at once. Lastly, we can note that we'll need 2,500 XP to reach 2nd level.

With our class and its various details taken into account, we can look at equipment. We get ten items, up to two of which can be Rare. If we take on a Flaw - a disability, curse, vice or similar drawback - we can take a third Rare item, at the cost of a disadvantage to rolls when our flaw applies. As a Witch, the first thing we'll be doing is using our Rare items to have a pair of spell scrolls, adding another two spells to our notes; going over the list, we'll pick up Fleshcrafting (rank 6) and Sleep (rank 1). Then, there's the matter of combat. Frankly, if we get hit, we're probably going down, so our priority is not getting hit. Chain armour is the best armour we can get (since plate is rare), so we'll take Chain armour and a shield, setting our armour class to a respectable 16. For weapons, we mostly want to hide behind somebody else and poke at the enemy, so a basic spear (doing d8 damage) will do the trick. Five items down, and five to go. It makes sense to have writing materials - we are after all an accademic sort - and a surgeon's kit. It also makes sense to have a light source, so we'll go with some candles and a tinderbox. This leaves us with one item left. We also have the option to take various advantages - such as social backgrounds, physical adaptations, animal companions, etc - in place of equipment, but many of these are Rare items. Let's say fuck it, and give our character a Flaw - vulnerability to sunlight - that gives us a disadvantage to rolls in direct sunlight. This lets us make our last item a Rare item, and we'll pick a Familiar; a little magical companion that we can talk with, probably one of our undead creations.

There's a few final details. We can note down our Armour Class of 16 (from armour and a shield), our starting Damnation of 0, our starting Bounty of 0, and our basic Bleeding Time of 2 rounds. Now, all that's left to do is sort out the fictional details; who this person is and how they fit into the world. There's a handy table of character quirks to roll on. Let's give it a few rolls until something interesting emerges: 11: Weeps blood. 75: Crawled out of a shallow grave with no memory. And, bingo, that's a character hook right there. All that's left is a name: lets call her Jane Grey, and we're ready to start play.

and with that, we're good to go!

[hannahhook7744]

If you're in the mood for depressing story, how about the BDA filling Carlos's death report

Threw in a bonus:

------------------------------------------------------------

Badun Detective Agency: Death Report.

Name of Detective: Harold 'Harry' Badun.

Age of Detective: 18 years old. 

Date of Report: August 13th, Year 23.

Name of the deceased: Carlos Oscar de Vil.

Age of the deceased: 17 years old.

File number: 0499.

Report: The Deceased (17, Male. Child of Estella ‘Cruella’ de Vil and Jean-Pierre Le Pelt) has been 100% confirmed to have died from injuries obtained in an accidental explosion.

The Deceased was last seen tinkering with one of his inventions nearby his chemistry set by his older cousin, Diego de Vil, age 21 half an hour before the explosion occurred at 12:22 PM (or 14:22 Military Time).

The Deceased was quickly rushed to Charmington General Hospital and treated by Dr. Dottie McStuffins but passed away because his injuries were too severe and he’d lost too much blood. 

His time of death was recorded at 1:01 PM (or 13:01 Military Time) on August 13th, Year 23.

His next of kin, crew, and partner were all informed as soon as the agency was and his funeral is scheduled for August 27, Year 23. 

For further information, reach out to Dr. Dottie McStuffins and the Badun Detective Agency.

Harry signing out.

Note: In honor of Carlos de Vil’s memory, a section featuring him has been added to the Badun Detective Agency Museum by those behind the program at the agency’s request.  A plaque honoring Carlos de Vil has been added to ‘ISLE OF THE LOST, CARLOS’ HOUSE: A SAFE PLACE FOR LOST BOYS AND LOST GIRLS. DEPARTMENT OF DISORDER.’ Several extensions funded by Benjamin 'Ben' Florian Léandre, Malanie 'Mal' Bertha Fae-Athanasiou-Léandre, and Evie’s 4 Hearts have been approved and construction should start sometime next year. Plans for an advanced Tech School and Veterinarian's Office with his name attached have also been constructed.  A section featuring Carlos de Vil has been added to the Badun Detective Agency Museum. A new song by the Bad Apples has also been made by his cousin, Diego Ethan Ramirez-de Vil, in his honor.  Listen Here.

------------------------------------------------------------

Badun Detective Agency: Getting To Know The Dead.

Name Of The Dead: Carlos Oscar de Vil.

Age Of The Dead: 17 years old.

Father: Jean-Pierre Le Pelt

Mother: Estella ‘Cruella’ de Vil.

Sibling(s):  

Carlisle de Vil (Older Brother),

Carlotta de Vil the 1st (Older Sister),

Conway de Vil (Older Brother),

Codias de Vil (Older Brother),

And Carlotta de Vil the 2nd (Younger Sister).

Favorite Food: Chocolate, Chocolate Yogurt Pups, Chip’s Grilled Cheese, Pizza, and Dwarf Gems.

Favorite Color: Black, White, and Red. 

Favorite Toy/Object: His copy of the video game ‘Hero Rising’, his laptop, his headphones, and his tool belt.

Dream Job/Job Had: Founder of CARLOS’ HOUSE: A SAFE PLACE FOR LOST BOYS AND LOST GIRLS, creator of Canine Appreciation Day, app designer, dog walker, and veterinarian.

Hobbies: Fencing, Tourney, fog Walking, playing Frisbee, gaming, playing with dude and Beelzebub, inventing/tinkering, listening to music, going to Gadgets and Gizmos club, programming, dressing to impress, etc. 

Pet(s): A dog named ‘Dude’ and a cat named ‘Beezlebub’. 

Cause Of Death: Accidental explosion. 

Signature Of Person Who Filled Out The Report:

Detective Jason ‘Jace’ Badun.

------------------------------------------------------------

This isn't canon to the rest of the series.

[hypaalicious]

IS4 thoughts

I��ve completed everything in this thus far and I remember I usually do a “review no one asked for” about Integrated Strategy iterations, so leggo

General improvements: the ability to choose which ending to go for rather than relying on RNG, fun Fordartal shenanigans, added perks to relics on higher Braving Nature levels

General annoyances: unable to stop the Collapse level from rising (unless you pick the Eternal Hunting Squad), being locked into Braving Nature 0 in the beginning, both the 2nd & 3rd end bosses being a DPS and/or ASPD check

Aiight so… best and worst categories GO

Best starting squad: Special Training Squad

The worst part about higher ascension runs is the +1 Hope cost for recruitment and this squad mitigates that. Made my BN 10+ runs a lot less painful LOL

Worst starting squad: Scientific Thinking Squad

Yeah, you end up with max Anti-Interference by like floor 3 but being blind up until then is annoying lol.

Best Fordartal: Sing

Listen. Hardly anything beats the endorphin rush of ASPD boosts anyway, but also I have not managed to beat the 2nd or 3rd end bosses without help from it.

Worst Fordartal: Hunt

I’m truly not tryna ASK to get my ass whooped outchea, y’all can keep this 😭

Least harmful Collapsal Paradigm: Convergence Consumption

For the most part I can just avoid getting screwed by this at all by skipping Bosky Passage nodes

Most harmful Collapsal Paradigm: Barometric Anamoly

Fuck this one to the pits of hell 😭 Have me mad as fuck watching my DP like

Easiest Emergency Node: Hands of Moss

Yeah, it’s a 1st floor stage anyway but like any of the others can steamroll you immediately if you have a poor starting lineup, this one is the safest bet cause nothing really changes about it from regular to emergency mode.

Worst Emergency Node: tie between March of the Dead & Stay Away From Strangers

If we being real? NO 5th floor combat stage is safe at high ascension 🤧 it will always be a fight for your life, but these two can be run-enders. MotD throws in two mudrock Colossi for funsies and SAWF will end in tears if you don’t have the ranged units to get all them drones gone and the swiftness to pick off all the Rot Eaters before they get too beefy to hold off.

Best Bosky Passage effect: Concentration Disorder from IS3 on steroids

I love set and forget shenanigans because I assure you, I will be setting and forgetting anyway! *grins in ADHD*

Worst Bosky Passage effect: too much Dominion

Don’t fuck around and get this while also having the Substantial Collapse paradigm. Whole map gonna have fart clouds on it. Pain.

Best new Relic: ‘Devotion’

Is it game breaking? No. But chip damage on enemies for healing racks up!

Worst new Relic: Frozen Whetstone

Way to make Bladedance absolutely useless LMFAO like honestly if there’s one thing is4 is good at is giving really good relics some disappointing handicaps.

Okay. Now onto the bosses!

Samivilinn aka that bigass ice mountain with an attitude

Very straightforward. Typhon will trivialize this boss and Reedalter will trivialize the stage itself by clearing it of all the ice in one s3 activation. The enemies on the right hand side tend to be more annoying to corral but if you have Eyjalter with her s3 it’ll keep the whole squad across the map healthy enough to push through.

Eikthynir aka the Snowpriest who really wants to be Usain Bolt

Full disclosure; most of my wins against him required creative stacking of Sing fordartals and proper timing/abuse of Goldenglow’s s3 to get him down most of the way before he speedruns the exit. But so many battles have ended up with him blowing past all my blockers with 1% health and me not being able to do shit but watch 😭

Crazelyseon, aka the teleporting Flying Spaghetti Monster

A menace 😭 Invulnerable 90% of the time, warping around the stage, dropping cancer squares of doom, and worst of all the time limit. If you don’t kill this thing soon after it starts warping three times in a row then you’re finished cause it’ll explode. I haven’t felt such a time crunch on an IS boss since BSL.

Best practice is to set up your heaviest hitters at two of its stopping points and only activate the device when it’s overcharged to get the most bang for your buck. You have GOT to time it right tho cause if you get impatient or your DPS gets wiped then the whole stage goes to shit really fast. Once again, I have never beat this boss without an ASPD boost of some kind.

Great Operators for IS4:

Ines - her invisibility reveal is goated

Typhon - really good for general carry on all floors but outside of the ice mountain boss her meta-ness falls off esp at higher ascension levels

Reedalter - her s2 will melt anybody including those Shattered Champions

Eyjaberry - frankly indispensable, her s1 holds it down and her s3 reaches everywhere

FedExecutor - his s2 allows him to dodge most bullshit and he holds his own despite not being able to be directly healed

Virtuosa - def a luxury pick and fairly new but a way better source of Necrosis damage than Valarqvin and just overall very fun to play

Ling - I usually do not play SummonKnights because I don’t have the brain cells but honestly the runs I’ve done with her were solid and fun especially with the Empty Fowlbeast relic

Ho’olheyak - rather mid as a Core Caster but with the relics that boost levitation effects she can actually hold her own

Jessica Wick - her deployable shield can buy you some time against these sprinting mobs

Yato alter: she’s a key FastRedeploynights operator for a reason!

Mlynar - full disclosure; I don’t really use him in IS unless I get him as a temp recruit because while his damage output is unrivaled, I hate how he can’t block shit unless his skill is up

Ethan - a low cost GOAT at crowd control. That Prisoner’s Night stage is trivialized with him

Other random tips:

Avoid the Nameless Hero stage. Please. 😭 If you come across the Always on Alert encounter, just dip. Expeditiously.

When going for the 3rd ending, don’t go in a Scout node until like floor 4. Why? Cause that Routeweave Net will make additional enemies appear in all your stages and it’s best to just put that off till the last moment. By floor 5 if you take the bottom most route the Prophecy node that’s supposed to be the fork to get to Eik’s stage will turn into the one you need to get the Boundless Gift to open up floor 6.

GG’s s3 is garbage for the ice mountain stage. She’ll target every individual ice square before she decides to hit any enemies.

If you pick up the Scarred Amber relic, maximize your slay by stacking hella Plunder or Migrate Fordartals

Always save your best Fordartal combos for end stage bosses! There’s no limit of how many buffs you can stack on a node so take advantage of that.

After a certain Collapse level is reached you won’t get any more Fordartals outside of what you can buy from Cannot or get from a unique Encounter

There are two secret Collapsal Paradigms to unlock. One obscures your operators and the other obscures the enemy health bars and how many life points you have left. Both are fairly annoying. BUT STILL BETTER THAN BAROMETRIC ANAMOLY

[black-quartz-sphinx-judge-my-vow]

Iolanthe, Queen of the Golden Beryl Palace

Pinch me I’m in love.

Third in characters, who I decided I would love based solely on their art, the others being 1st Place Gleaming Genisis, and The Lunar who's name escapes me. No one ever remembers 2nd place :(. Well if you judge enough books by their covers, eventually the writer will do service to their artist.

Is it a coincidence that I'm in love with both of the big bad fae characters? I dunno, but I'm happy we're here.

So first things first. Apparently when The Scarlet Empress activated the swordofcreation.net it covered the land in iron needles, to burn and kill all of the fae. Um.... freaking baller! That's so cool! I was always told she just nuked the world, which was always highly disappointing, and inconsistent with the setting. I much prefer the idea that the swordofcreation.net can just produce whatever world ending weapon you need for that particular instant. Iron needles to cover the earth? You got it. Nuclear Armageddon? No problem! A media ecosystem specifically designed to radicalize it's viewers, and turn them into facists? We're on it.

Iolanthe is a Fae Prince who managed to hide her people under ground in the southwest of The Enchanted Isle, and there she has ruled for three hundred years. Now that the Empress is gone, she looks to build and army, and finish the crusade she started centuries ago.

And sure it's upsetting that one of her intimacies is pretty much "The South Will Rise Again.", and yes she's probably not vaccinated, and maybe I let her borrow $500 dollars to pay for her ex's bail money, but I love her!

Her gown is sewn from the vows of her subjects, um very cool. Especially since it gives her 16 Soak and 7 Hardness. She's covered in gold and jewels, and has a hearthstone the size of an egg. She carries no weapons because her words alone, can kill a man. Yes please.

I'm a real sucker for the vain queen archetype, and I think Iolanthe fulfills her role perfectly. Her defining Intimacy is "No one will contest my beauty and power." which has got to be a rough way to live your life. If no one can contest your power... you're just going to keep fighting until you're dead, basically. Sad. Her more interesting intimacy is that she views The Golden Beryl Palace as her pet... so like... is it alive? I personally think her having a huge crystal elemental that she uses as a palace, is awesome.

Furthermore she's got a whole host of minions and secrets she's collected during her years of exile. It's interesting to note that she knows the locations of ancient exalted burial sites, not just solar! Soooo that's really interesting right? Entire complexes dedicated to the exalted built during their war with the primordial? I'd do it. Arlington Cemetary for legions of Dragonblooded soilers. She's also made deals with the mountainfolk, stupid sexy house Iselsi, and proto-humans. So you can take this to mean things like neanderthals/ troglodytes typical underdark stuff. Or you could go the way of Adam Kadmon, which is basically Adam of The Bible before he was put into a physical and earthly vessel, essentially perfect humans. We imagine these proto-humans were found in caves, but what if Iolanthe just found vaults created by the primordial for some of their experiments? These humans were a little too powerful for what they had planned for Creation, so they hid them away and worked on teaching humans how to fart and be racist. They give you lots of chances to make her a big bad in your game, including an excuse for giving her a big bloated army.

During Earthquakes her people will rise out of the ground, and drag people down into their crystal lair, either turning them into food, or she'll just step on them until they're so in love they'll fight for her. Which includes equipping them with flawless fae weapons and armor.

Her stats are superhuman, some of the best/the best in the book. I don't know nothing about previous editions. But I did hear that when Fae was a player choice, their whole thing is that their stats could go beyond 5, so it's cool that her own stats reflect that. With a 7 in Apperance and charisma, and a 6 in Stamina.

One of her charms let's her use your own intimacies against you, when she uses her voice to kill you, she can talk about your intimacies and reduces your soak, hardness, and cover bonus by and amount equal to your intimacy, Sick! An attack wich already, by itself does 15 dice of damage. Her ultimate attack is that she does an attack against your character's resolve, and for every extra success, she reduces your willpower by 1, if it goes to zero, you either get a defining derangement, or are polymorphed... FOREVER!

For defense she has a charm that just let's her ignore, any defense negating abilities you have. (I.e she effortlessly grabs the attack, that literally says unblockable between her fingers like it's nothing. But the even cooler/ way dumber charm, makes it so if an attack kills her, you discover that you've been fighting an illusion. A nearby combatant throws off their disguise revealing that they were Iolthane the entire time! Then she resets to base Initiative, hilarious.

She has Intimacy overriding charm, but her really interesting charm, allows her to grant a character supernatural dedication on a quest she's given then. This not only gives them a number of bonus dice to all of their actions equal to the intimacy she used to manipulate them, it also gives them Intimacyx2 Mutations to help with the question. Perferct PERfect PERFECT! for those character's who your team has eclipsed, coming back for their miniboss fight at the end of the campaign!

She also makes it harder to resist her, playing with your intimacies, making it cost up to THREE willpower to resist her temptations.

Okay, a little extra reading did in fact reveal that The Golden Beryl Palace, is an elemental. A Gemlord, who was once a prince among the earth elementals. It's a mile wild elemental that the fae live in. It's memory has been erased, and all the remains is it's loyalty to Iolanthe, kind of sad actually. He can sense the nature of anything inside of him, and also has instant telecommunication with Iolanthe, so good luck getting away with anything while inside the palace. Oh, wait, you're solars.

Rating: 10/10 long-ass nails, drumming bordely on her fainting couch. Absolutely marvelous, great work, very pushed. I have no idea why she was paired with Siluris, both writeups were so good, and had so much content. Definitely one of the better packages of the group. Love her! I'm already thinking about introducing her in my Dragonblooded campaign.

Misc. Golden Beryls are basically just Yellow Saphires/ Emeralds. They're found in Namibia, Madagascar, and Brazil. You can see them in her Jewlery, anklet, necklace, and big ass ring.

If you squint her name looks like Lolth, and her people are basically the Drow. I dunno, I thought that was funny.

Iolanthe, is also a Gilbert and Sulivan Opera, about the fairy Iolanthe who arranged all the fairies' music and dance, but was banished for the crime of loving a mortal.

Hooks:

1. The name Iolanthe has been scrubbed from the records of man. All but forgotten, to the realm. Only the people of the south, the lands she scoured before coming to the blessed isle remember her name. When they speak of it, they talk as if referring to some primordial terror, abomination, or even natural disaster. They only know that whole valleys of civilization were wiped away by the Iolanthe, and now on The Blessed Isles, those who claim to see the future, shudder and convulse, the only thing to escape their lips is madness, and a single name: Iolanthe.

2. When the civil war breaks out, the relatively empty Southwest is neglected and forgotten, it's the backyard, of a Great House, and not very contested. Until practically overnight, that house falls into ruin as Iolanthe rises from The Southwest to claim their lands. With monsters, and hordes of fanatical follower, the great houses must now contend with yet another hopeful for the throne. Iolanthe only ever feared one woman, and now that's she's gone, she'll bring ruin to The Scarlet Empresses' legacy. Revenge for the humiliation she's endured for three centuries.

3. Iolanthe has had enough of hiding beneath the earth. She now seeks to park her home on the tallest point in creation. Like King Kong The Golden Beryl Palace emerges from the earth, and begins to climb to the top of The Imperial Mountain. From her perch upon the word, she will speak and all of creation will hear her. First she will make them all love her, and shout their praise in a single voice. Then she will drive them mad, and then once nothing is left of civilization, culture, or meaning, she will simply ask creation to stop.

4.Iolanthe is nearly unstopable, her powers are too immense, too deadly, too dangerous. However, no matter how many victories she scores against he players, it's never enough. She must always live with the fact that she wasn't able to beat The Scarlet Empress. The players can use this to distract her from her mission of world domination, or maybe this thought occurs to Iolanthe if she's already won, for some sort of post-loss campaign, but nothing she's done has any meaning if she did it without besting The Scarlet Empress. She must find her, and beat her to prove that Iolanthe's beauty and power is uncontested. Once the players have convinced her of this, she drops everything, world domination, her armies, and schemes and pours everything she has into finding her rival. Buying the players enough time to figure out a way to destroy her. Maybe Iolanthe actually helps the players goals, if they're truly set on finding The Scarlet Empress.

5. Iolanthe either as herself or as maybe a kindly witch, or other friendly lass asks the players for help, in completing a quest. A quest that happens to fit perfectly into their intimacies. Unforunately for them as soon as they accept Iolanthe rips off her disguise and reveals her true form, but her bewitching charms make it so they can't help but zealously pursue the quest they agreed to go on. Furthermore Iolanthe grants them mutations based to help with their quest, and bonus die on all their actions. The quest is in their interest, destorying a Dragonblooded army or something like that. The players find their mutations quite useful, and they're more powerful than ever serving her... They may be tempted to stay on her side, and even if they're not, she'll provide that temptation for them.

[kousaka-ayumu]

Hokori Shroud/Cure Skull

Nicknames: Shroud-san(2nd years, 3rd years(Floyd, Rook and Idia)), Hokori-chan(Yuri, Mizuko, Sonomi, Fuyumi, Seiza), Hokori(1st years, Farah, Hoseki, Kiko, Idia), Nee-chan(Ortho), Child of Afterlife(Malleus), Princesse de la Résurrection(Rook), Clownfish(Floyd)

Age: 16

Height: 153cm

DOB: 6/13

Twisted from: Hercules/Heracles(Disney's Hercules), Maho(D4DJ), Airi(Project Sekai)

Species: Human

Homeland: Island of Woe

Family:

Unnamed parents

Idia Shroud(Older brother)

Ortho Shroud(Younger brother)

Class: 1-B(No.7)

Dorm: Ignihyde

Club: Gaming Club

Hobby: Gaming and DJ

Likes: Composing music, playing rhythm games, video games in general.

Dislikes: Losing full combo, Idia staying up all night.

Favorite food: Candy and anything sweet.

Least favorite food: Vegetables

Favorite drink: Chocolate milk

Pet peeve: getting competitive

"A first year of Ignihyde, Moonlight Bloom's residential DJ and Idia's younger sister, if you are planning a party and ended up having her as the DJ, she's here to light up the party!"

Appearance:

Unlike her brothers Hokori doesn't have fire hair, instead she has short blue hair that ties up in twintails with a strand of white streak and yellow eyes.

As Cure Skull her hair became white and is ties to a side ponytail and her eyes became pastel yellow.

Background:

She was raised on the Island of Woe alongside her older brother Idia and younger brother Ortho. From a young age she was considered a prodigy in gaming, rhythm games in general.

And out of all the Shrouds she's the only one who wasn't cursed meaning she doesn't have to close proximity to blot in order to survive.

She usually spent the whole time with her brothers. Influenced by the video games they would play, the 3 of them dreamed of becoming heroes and going on adventures together in the outside world.

One day an accident happened when the 3 of them attempted to escape the island by shutting down the security system, an unknown person launched an attack, causing a overblot phantom to attack the siblings with only Idia and Hokori surviving.

For the next 2 years she heard him working tirelessly to recreate Ortho in the form of a AI robot, but only that but she watches him shutting himself away from others.

Personality:

Hokori is a strong and opened-minded girl who is competitive with rhythm games, if you want to compete with her then you are asking for a death wish.

In general she is very worrying about her brother Idia, she usually brushing off her own problems by playing rhythm games and hanging out with the now AI robot Ortho.

Unique Magic: Rising The Dead!

It allows her to summons the people who died, the limit is that she can only summon it one time.

Trivia:

She had a stash of magical girl mangas, light novels and CDs in her room.

She started to learn to DJ after watching a music anime.

She never have a confront character before, but now she has one through a romance anime.

She has a staff with skull details as her signature weapon.

What do you guys think about her?

@zexal-club @yukii0nna @liviavanrouge @queen-of-twisted @yumeko2sevilla @writing-heiress @marrondrawsalot @childofwitches @achy-boo

[shinigami-striker]

Top 40 Games from [Capcom] | Thursday, 12.28.2023

As of 2023, these are the top 40 best-selling Capcom games of all time:

any Capcom game that shipped or sold at least 1 million copies worldwide will appear on this list

the list down below won't count any compilations, any ports nor remakes/remasters such as Resident Evil 2 (2019) or Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011) as primary examples

1st - Monster Hunter: World (2018 / 19.10 million copies) | PC, PS4, Xbox One

2nd - Monster Hunter: Rise (2019 / 13.60 million copies) | PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S

3rd - Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017 / 12.70 million copies) | PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S

4th - Resident Evil 6 (2012 / 8.90 million copies) | PS3, Xbox 360

5th - Resident Evil Village (2021 / 8.70 million copies) | PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S

6th - Devil May Cry 5 (2019 / 7.40 million copies) | PC, PS4, Xbox One

7th - Street Fighter 5 (2016 / 7.40 million copies) | PC, PS4

8th - Street Fighter II (1992 / 6.30 million copies) | SNES

9th - Resident Evil 2 (1998 / 4.96 million copies) | PS1

10th - Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (Japan only) (2010 / 4.90 million copies) | PSP

11th - Monster Hunter Generations (Japan only) (2015 / 4.30 million copies) | 3DS

12th - Monster Hunter 4 (Japan only) (2013 / 4.10 million copies) | 3DS

13th - Street Fighter IV (2009 / 3.50 million copies) | PS3, Xbox 360

14th - Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999 / 3.50 million copies) | PS1

15th - Dead Rising 3 (2013 / 3.40 million copies) | Xbox One

16th - Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (2015 / 3.30 million copies) | PC, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One

17th - Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (2013 / 3.20 million copies) | PS3, Xbox 360

18th - Dead Rising 2 (2010 / 3.20 million copies) | PC, PS3, Xbox 360

19th - Devil May Cry 4 (2008 / 3.00 million copies) | PS3, Xbox 360

20th - Dmc: Devil May Cry (2013 / 3.00 million copies) | PS3, Xbox 360

21st - Resident Evil (1996 / 2.75 million copies) | PS1

22nd - Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (2012 / 2.70 million copies) | PS3, Xbox 360

23rd - Resident Evil: Revelations (2013 / 2.50 million copies) | PS3, Xbox 360

24th - Street Fighter 6 (2023 / 2.40 million copies) | PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X | S

25th - Dino Crisis (1999 / 2.40 million copies) | PS1

26th - Resident Evil 4 (2005 / 2.30 million copies) | PS2

27th - Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011 / 2.20 million copies) | PS3, Xbox 360

28th - Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (2017 / 2.20 million copies) | PC, PS4, Xbox One

29th - Devil May Cry (2001 / 2.16 million copies) | PS2

30th - Lost Planet 2 (2010 / 2.10 million copies) | Blackberry, PC, PS3, Xbox 360

31st - Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny (2002 / 2.10 million copies) | PS2

32nd - Onimusha: Warlords (2001 / 2.02 million copies) | PS2

33rd - Monster Hunter Tri (2009 / 1.90 million copies) | Wii

34th - Street Fighter X Tekken (2012 / 1.90 million copies) | PS3, Xbox 360

35th - Dead Rising (2006 / 1.80 million copies) | Xbox 360

36th - Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin (2021 / 1.80 million copies) | PC, Switch

37th - Mega Man 11 (2018 / 1.80 million copies) | PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One

38th - Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (2006 / 1.70 million copies) | Xbox 360

39th - Devil May Cry 2 (2003 / 1.70 million copies) | PS2

40th - Onimusha 3: Demon Siege (2004 / 1.52 million copies) | PS2

That's pretty much it. In case I missed a few things, I'll update the list whenever I can.

Happy 40th anniversary, @official-capcom (Capcom)!

[vilecrocodile]

mouthwashing 2nd pt thoughts...

ok so i liked the last third of the game a lot more this time i think i was getting kind of Tilted the first pt by some of the mechanics (the graveyard esp was giving me a lot of grief lol) but i had an easier time this go. tho i do still think it feels a little like padding, the graveyard and the snakehorse sequence couldve been a bit just shorter and less annoying to get through, and the vent baby part is just nothing to me. puzzles like curlys valves feel a lot more appropriate to the tone and tension of the game and i wish we'd had a few of those instead..

anywayyyyy thats kind of a minor quibble. my real main Issue with the game is i hate how anya is like entirely absent from the labyrinth sequence. i guess you could argue that its cause jimmys perspective and he doesnt care about or acknowledge her as a person but how much of a fuck does he rly give about swansea and daisuke either and they featured pretty prominently. but anya doesnt even get to....appear, unless you count the big disembodied womb or jimmys manifestation of his unborn child as polle. which is really just, erasing her further by making her just incidental to Jimmy's Problem, collateral damage not even worth mentioning. it really just bugs me given how central she is to the game and its themes. i feel like a callback to the 'window' screen and the dead pixel wouldve worked rly well..............

otherwise all the rest of the game is truly 10/10 no notes. noticed a detail i missed the first time around, which is that in the labyrinth the polle posters change slightly to show rise and shine polle sloshed off the mouthwash, accident polle with the axe, lend a hand polle with blood on its hands.. tho there wasnt one with the delivery polle (my friend says cause they never made the delivery!)

[dailycharacteroption]

Ghost (Pathfinder Second Edition Archetype)

(art by Denny Ibnu on Artstation)

I’ve had mixed feelings about the universal archetype system of Starfinder and Pathfinder Second Edition since it’s inception. On the one hand, having archetypes be available to usually all classes makes for some interesting creativity when it comes to characters. On the other hand, it does mean the death of archetypes that are integrated with the class they are attached to. No more blood elementalist, no more mad scientist alchemist, et cetera. Sure, Starfinder gave us alternate class feature options which preserved some of the old archetype feel, but it’s definitely an end of an era.

Today’s subject, however, I have no mixed feelings about at all. I LOVE this idea, and it makes perfect sense for it to be available to all classes because every character runs the risk of becoming this in the right circumstances. I present to you, the ghost archetype!

The ghost name is not metaphorical here. This archetype is meant specifically for playing a bona fide undead ghost, an unquiet spirit, a tormented soul bound by their desires and unfinished business.

This archetype is one of a series from Second Edition’s Book of the Dead supplement, which in addition to the skeleton ancestry, provide ways to play a balanced undead character by having various abilities associated with that particular type of undead replace class feats as you level up!

Having the powers of a monstrous transformation be part of your class power set is such a good idea, and honestly reminds me a bit of the old savage species book (and also the playable undead monster classes that followed in libris mortis) from 3.5, and it’s kinda shocking that it hasn’t been implemented in more modern games before then. Certainly First Edition had the corruptions, which were fine for portraying a character struggling with their transformation, but this is a whole other beast.

Having the monstrous abilities be tied to level progression also thematically makes sense as the character grows and learns to better understand what they have become and reliably implement those powers.

Additionally, like certain spellcasting archetypes, it is possible to start at level 1 with this archetype, but of course like those you are required to officially take the dedication at 2nd level.

But we’ve gone a long time just describing this particular class of archetype and how neat it is, but we haven’t actually talked about playing as a ghost!

Stuck on the edge of the material and ethereal planes, ghost are disquiet souls that are burdened with desires and emotions, being unable and unwilling to move on, but not tangled up in the darker emotions and traumas that would give rise to other forms of incorporeal undead. Ghosts can tend to have a variety of powers (a selection of which are available in this archetype) related to what it is they want.

Most ghosts are bound to a location, unable to travel too far without losing substance, and many may struggle to be fully cognizant and realize that they are dead. Not so with these ghostly adventurers. Whether by some fluke or the nature of their determination, these spectral beings are not content to wait for the opportunity to be freed to reveal itself, and venture out into the world, albeit barely able to interact with it, and seek to free themselves from that which pains them… or perhaps refuse to move on at all, depending on the person and the nature of what holds them back.

The dedication to the ghost archetype, if you can call it that, reflects the character’s transformation into and undead being. Much like other undead archetypes, they gain the various benefits of being undead, but also are incorporeal, which has it’s advantages and disadvantages, however they also do not immediately gain the ability to pass through objects, fly, or supernatural resistances to damage from being incorporeal. Instead, those abilities are locked behind other feats, similar to how fly speed is limited for certain ancestries that by rights should already be flying. Your GM can choose to allow you to have a fly speed and phasing early, replacing those feats with ones that make them better, though you should probably keep the ghost damage resistance locked behind a feat. Additionally, when you take this archetype, you must choose a location that you are bound to (for the purposes of rejuvenation if you take that feat) and the nature of the business that binds you to the material world. It is possible to fulfill that business and pass on, but you can also choose to resist the pull of the afterlife, finding something new that needs doing or another bit of unresolved business. It’s also worth noting that these ghosts can spend 10 minutes pulling objects into the ethereal plane to make them effectively enchanted with ghost touch, able to interact with both corporeal and incorporeal friends and foes.

Many ghosts can unleash a frightful moan which chills their foes to the bone, weaponizing their anguish against foes.

Many also develop the resistances being bodiless would normally bring as well. However, doing so truly pushes them into an incorporeal state, which brings with it a somewhat more frail spirit.

Plenty further develop their powers to gain greater undead resistances, as well as gain the ability to sometimes move objects by focusing their will into their incorporeal forms, however, doing so always requires focus.

Those ghosts anchored to the ground can also learn to fly for a few moments at a time.

Others learn to properly phase through solid matter, though they must successfully approach them to do so.

Particularly powerful ghosts truly bind themselves to the location they are bound to, becoming able to rejuvenate their if destroyed as a true ghost would. In this way, only passing on or having their soul destroyed can bring a true end to these beings.

The most powerful among them are fully unrestricted by gravity and may fly wherever they wish, and do so faster than before as well.

Perhaps the most dramatic of the undead transformation archetypes, utterly lacking a body, ghost offers lots of defensive and utility abilities, as well as unique challenges. You might be a terrifying all-too-physical warrior, a spectral thief able to get in almost anywhere, or a ghostly mage bringing torment to their foes. You may not get some of the more nasty ghost abilities like possession, but this is still a fun playable option.

The fun part about this particular undead archetype is that it has a built-in personal plot hook. Resolving your final business, or rejecting that pursuit are integral parts of the character. Whether you start the campaign as a ghost or die and the gm gives you the option to use the next level up you would have had to come back, your character has business to attend to which drives them forward. Also, as a final aside, the art for this archetype is that of a ghostly dwarven warrior arising from their old clan dagger, which lays imbedded in the ground, which I think is a quite evocative image.

Despite being dead, Mikos is on borrowed time, the ghostly man must find his murderer and bring him to justice before the duskwalker that is hunting him catches up, for the spirit-hunter has no concern for justice, only that the cycle of life and death be preserved.

Ripped apart far from home by monstrous quoppopaks, beasts that glide over water on jets of pressurized water, Vokus just wants to see his remains returned home. However, he no longer has the body to see even his skull returned home. As such, he secured them as best he could on an island and made the long quest to the shore to ask someone, anyone to help him find rest.

Bound to her favorite music box, which she now carries with her, Lady Alixia of Vennesburg now wanders the world, though she will not say why, only that she is searching for someone. In truth, she seeks her elvish lover who left for unknown lands and never returned, so that she can say one last proclamation of love… to her grave if necessary.

[desertsongpdf]

VIDEO ESSAYS (part ??? 1/2) [parts: 1 / 2 / 3 / 3.5 / 4 / 5 / 6], *=personal fav

ronald reagan & the biggest failure in physics (1) / george bush vomited & set physics back by a decade (2) / bill clinton & the day physics died (3)

the man who almost faked his way to a nobel prize (1) / suspicions are swirling and bell labs is burning (2)

the man who tried to fake an element

air: an honest review

what if you put your head in a particle accelerator

the most successful scientific theory ever: the standard model

the five kinds of paradox

disney channel's theme: a history mystery*

music theory and white supremacy*

the power of nostalgic music

we tracked what happens after tiktok songs go viral

why spotify playlists never truly shuffle

will toledo and the rise of car seat headrest

kid a: the greatest left turn in music history

how trailer music tricks you

why steve lacy is annoyed.

the postmodern horror of tiktok's encanto discourse*

the queer history of weimar germany

queerbaiting celebrities: an over analysis*

why queer relationship dynamics are harder: the stable marrige problem

queer rage & the christian right

overanalyzing the barbie movies with a queer marxist theory

the gay appeal of toxic love

queering cinema (by any means necessary)

the tragedy of being rich

what the internet did to garfield*

your college essay didn't get you accepted, you're just rich

why are you so angry? part 1: a short history of anita sarkeesian / part 2: angry jack / part 3: perception is everything / part 4: an autopsy on gamergate / part 5: 'the good guy' / part 6: talking to angry jack

the modern diogenes: a guide to slavoj zizek

stimulating alternate voting systems

men are miserable: tiktok's depression pipeline

the broken mythology of great men

so you're having an existential crisis

why is gen z humor so weird?

how to be correct about everything all the time

useful idiots and the groomer panic

why extinction loves the ugly - the 'cute' defence

paris saint-germain: a legacy of failure

why did sebastian vettel get called out on national tv?

an introduction to match fixing in football

the debacle of blue clay: used once and never again

atticus is everything wrong with modern poetry*

how the publishing industry failed 'lolita' (as told by terrible book covers)

the death of the teen fantasy era

recreating the fashion of my immortal

hijacking the dead? terry prachett & the trans 'debate'

this best-selling novel was a total hoax

the little book of cosmic horrors

the absurd 2nd century space opera you'll never read

fantasy is very pro-monarchy (and that's weird)

anti-smoking campaigns on tiktok

why did our brains shrink

the origins of the anti-christ

world war one performance tier list

the psychology behind conspiracy theories

why are there two a's?

i fixed the alphabet / i fixed the alphabet more

hangman is a weird game

the curious history of ignorant tattoos

the arguments for god's existance tier list

projecting 'boris is a wet wipe' on houses of parliment

buddhism is kinda out there, man

mortis - internet mysteries

the universe iceberg explained

reviewing every mental illness

[moviebracket]

One group of polls will go up each day and polls will be a week long! Submissions will remain open through the end of the first round, and I'll add some more first round groups depending on submission numbers! Apologies for the brief absence, I had some personal stuff going on.

Movies that lose by smaller margins may have a chance to return to the bracket at the end of Round 1.

Round 1 Group A

Lilo & Stitch (78%) vs Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (22%)

Pan's Labyrinth (53%) vs Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (47%)

Legally Blonde (96%) vs The Last Temptation of Christ (4%)

Brother Bear (59%) vs Kubo and the Two Strings (41%)

Round 1 Group B

Stardust (47%) vs Heathers (53%)

The Batman (2022) (47%) vs Moulin Rouge! (53%)

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (58%) vs Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (42%)

Now You See Me (78%) vs Morbius (22%)

Round 1 Group C

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (29%) vs The Prince of Egypt (71%)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (32%) vs The Princess Bride (68%)

Rogue One (33%) vs Spirited Away (67%)

Goncharov (90%) vs Love Actually (10%)

Round 1 Group D

A Silent Voice (38%) vs Princess Mononoke (62%)

How to Train Your Dragon (65%) vs The Sound of Music (35%)

Knives Out (43%) vs Howl's Moving Castle (57%)

Little Miss Sunshine (42%) vs The Little Mermaid (1989) (58%)

Round 1 Group E

A Quiet Place (45%) vs Zombieland (55%)

10 Things I Hate About You (72%) vs Lemonade Mouth (28%)

Juno (21%) vs The Addams Family (1991) (79%)

The Parent Trap (1998) (54%) vs Bend It Like Beckham (46%)

Round 1 Goup F

Rent (48%) vs West Side Story (2021) (52%)

Elf (39%) vs The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (61%)

Hairspray (2007) (43%) vs Mamma Mia! (57%)

Clueless (51%) vs Miss Congeniality (49%)

Round 1 Group G

Forrest Gump (50%) vs Kingsman: The Secret Service (50%)

Enchanted (69%) vs Ferris Bueller's Day Off (31%)

Battle Royale (45%) vs High School Musical (55%)

Matilda (1996) (60%) vs Chicago (40%)

Round 1 Group H

Mean Girls (54%) vs School of Rock (46%)

The Hitman's Bodyguard (25%) vs Grease (75%)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (51%) vs Parasite (49%)

The Wizard of Oz (46%) vs Star Wars: A New Hope (54%)

Round 1 Group I

Populaire (13%) vs Labyrinth (87%)

Matilda (2022) (17%) vs Kung Fu Panda (83%)

Superman (1978) (44%) vs The Sixth Sense (56%)

The Martian (65%) vs Trainspotting (35%)

Round 1 Group J

Dune (37%) vs Back to the Future (63%)

Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (44%) vs The Return of the King (56%)

Home Alone (63%) vs Frozen (37%)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (59%) vs Meet the Robinsons (41%)

Round 1 Group K

Crazy Rich Asians (68%) vs The Phantom of the Opera (2004) (32%)

Alien (75%) vs Mulholland Drive (25%)

The Imitation Game (39%) vs The Simpsons Movie (61%)

Castle of Cagliostro (59%) vs Once Upon a Time in the West (41%)

Round 1 Group L

North by Northwest (22%) vs Arrietty (78%)

Scream (53%) vs War and Peace (1966/1967) (47%)

Arrival (18%) vs The Rocky Horror Picture Show (82%)

Little Shop of Horrors (1986) (55%) vs Night at the Museum (45%)

Round 1 Group M

Steven Universe: The Movie vs Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Everything Everywhere All at Once vs Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Rise of the Guardians vs She's the Man

Pacific Rim vs Treasure Planet (2002)

Round 1 Group N

Deadpool vs Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse

Pitch Perfect vs Get Out

The Perks of Being a Wallflower vs Mad Max: Fury Road

Inception vs The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Round 1 Group O

The Princess Diaries vs Paddington

Pride vs Velvet Goldmine

Shrek 2 vs The Devil Wears Prada

Saw vs But I'm a Cheerleader

Round 1 Group P

Evil Dead 2 vs Nope

Whip It vs I Love You Phillip Morris

Jennifer's Body vs Ginger Snaps

Bodies Bodies Bodies vs The Social Network

Round 1 Group Q

The Mummy (1999) vs The Silence of the Lambs

Fight Club vs The History of Future Folk

Cyrano vs Beetlejuice

Die Hard vs While You Were Sleeping

Round 1 Group R

Cocaine Bear vs Boy Meets Girl

Clue vs Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves

Coco vs Wendell & Wild

The Lost Boys vs Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

[anarchic-miscellany]

I said it before the second game even came out, and maintained it when the mediocre 3rd game popped along, and the 4th game killing the series gave me no pleasure even if to say "I Told you So". I'll add it here for posterity: The 2nd "Dead Rising" game should have taken part on a cruise ship. The 3rd in a theme park

[ros13pos13]

So I just watch the FNAF movie (no spoilers) I thought it was both good and meh. I really can't complain that much since I've been in love with the FNAF franchise since the day it first dropped in 2014. I'm just so overwhelmed with joy that it actually got made in the first place

Things I loved about the movie

• the animatronics themselves! Having them be actual, PRACTICAL props was such an amazing call on Blumhouse and Scott as a collective especially with the rise of cgi.

• the mc

Having mike have the trauma that he does really makes it grounded and real for me at least. I've got two little boys. I know damn well that if someone did what happened to them with what happened in the movie I'd do what Mike did.

•Abby

I really like her addition to the FNAF universe. I understand that the movie isn't one to one with the games nor the books but more like a sliver in its own timeline. That's just fine. Abby is adorable and the way she acts is so reminiscent to those akin to possession. It's so good.

• Vanessa

Even tho at first I was a little sceptical with her addition at first. I really liked how she was in the movie. I think her and Mike work well together. I love her chemistry with Abby and all together seem like a cute gang.

Now things I didn't quite like. I will go into spoilers for the end of the movie so if you don't want to be spoiled SKIP THE REST OF THIS!

• LAST CHANCE SPOILERS AHEAD

⚠️ NOT KIDDING SPOILERS AHEAD!

•so....the bit twist at the end....

Ehhh....I didn't care for it all that much. I mean it deffo got an audible gasp out of me but....now that I'm not in movie mode. It was kinda...idk dumb? Remember these are MY OPTIONS on the movie. But idk I feel like how are they gonna go about explaining what happeneds or how it happenes later on

Like okay so In the established lore willy has 3kids

Mike

Elizabeth

Crying child

So his (Afton's) died bc of Henry. So that kicks off the events of FNAF. So with the twist that happens. Hooww are they gonna do this? Like I have faith in them. Especially bc it's going to be a trilogy. But I am confused.

•henry Emily

There was NO MENTION of him. Vanessa said that there was a co-owner but that was it. No name dropping no nothing. Are they gonna go back to Fred bears family diner in the 2nd movie a la FNAF 1 and 2? Or what.

• the spring lock failure. I LOVED how Vanessa demoed it with the broom handle. But then in practice. It went so slow. It's supposed to be a rubber band snapping. Quick. Boom. Dead. (Well not for willy) but like. It was SO SLOW and ugh no screaming just some light grunting? My dude you're not having sexy fun time you're literally getting impaled by multiple metal, sharp, rusty locks. Wheres the screaming. Ugh.

• Another thing I LOVED (jumping around here I know) is the bodies that where stuffed Into the suits. Loved that scene.

But that's pretty much all my options on the movie. Again done get pissed at me if you get spoiled I gave fair warning.

[ellas-journey]

Into the Pure Land 🪷

Buddhism was introduced during the 6th century in Japan. It was an Indian religion based on the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama. The teachings soon spread into other parts on the land, and particularly in China had a great adherence that resulted in an evolution in the research and practiced of the religion. “The study of buddhism over the past century or so has resemble the encounter of the blind men and the elephant in many ways. Students of Buddhism have tended to fasten onto a small part of the tradition and assume their conclusions held true about the whole”- Keown, 2000 When the Japanese looked at the continent, they saw a civilisation that had a centralised government, and they wanted the same, but for that the introduction of a new religion was needed since politics was still extremely related with the government. But they had a problem: the power basis in which the imperial family laid was based in a religion itself, and so introducing a new religion could be dangerous to their power. Taking things with a grain of salt, the imperial household would allow religious liberty so that Buddhism would naturally spread in the territory and even more naturally they could use the Buddhist rules without destroying the whole narrative that they had built where the imperial family were the living descendants of Amaterasu. But conflicts would arise (like they always do when religion is the topic let’s be honest) between the Shintoism forces and Buddhist forces. While the Shintoism forces gain momentarily, the Buddhist will counterattack and in 587 the Chinese administrative model is implemented. The learning of the Chinese ways was not with in intent of transform Japan into a new China, but to utilize this new knowledge knowing what would make the country better - it’s the filtering of knowledge [and as we now know this will happen a lot throughout the history of Japan]. It's also the time where the name of the country changes from Yamato to Nihon - the country of the rising sun.

When we talk about Japanese Buddhism one figure comes to mind: Prince Shotoko, a figure that studied the Buddhism, Korean culture, and Confucianism [a reminder that most of the times, Chinese culture arrived in Japan through Korea] Prince Shotoko would end being the one in charge of the introduction of buddhism, meaning the introduction of religious sects or the law and court changes, and, thanks to that he would end up becoming venerable person himself. But Buddhism would soon turn out to start to have a social function. Noble families would start to build temples, and to alleviate family tensions while the heir would go on to inherit the household, the 2nd son, most of the times, would be send to temples (sounds familiar? Yes that was what happen to the Tsugikuni twins). And soon the ones that led the temples would also lead the political power. Buddhism would soon turn out to be a means to and end and the political power would be the wanted end. An as we talked about in the timeline, the Heian period would cut ties with the religious sects, and more simple Buddhists ways that were open to all became predominant. In beginning the Pure Land Buddhism was not seem as a religious cult, more like an association with the ancestor’s cult that are so important to the Japanese as we have seen in the ideas of afterlife. "Although Buddhist scholastic discourse held that the Pure Land was a realm existing beyond the world of transmigration, at this early stage was simply understood as a pleasant abode of the dead." - Rhodes, 2006 The Pure Land Buddhism would preach that by being mindful of Amida Buddha the chance of rebirth on the pure land would increase. There was 2 important texts Ojoyoshu written by Genshin (again, the monk not the game) and Gokuraku-ki written by Yoshishige no Yasutane. Genshin like many in his time thought that the age of the Last Dharma was arriving [for context the Buddhist timeline said that after Buddha's nirvana the times would be divided in 3 times: the true dharma - the golden age of Buddhism teachings - semblance dharma - the world would increasingly become corrupt - and the latter dharma - the world's condition was so poor that only buddha's teachings would remained but no enlightenment would be possible], he would argue that since the world was deteriorating it was extremely difficult to gain liberation from the cycle of transmigration by practicing the traditional Tendai way, so one could seek salvation into Amida Buddha's Pure Land. Genshin goes on to say that the Six paths of rebirth [Hell, starving ghosts, beasts, Ashuras [Titans], Humans, and Heavenly beings] are always a troubled way the only way one could seek peace is attaining rebirth in the Pure Land. And how could one obtain the rebirth into the Pure Land? By practicing the Nembutsu. He describes the Nembutsu as a practise of visualizing the figure of Amida Buddha. This would be divided into the Mental Nembutsu and Vocal Nembutsu. Mental Nembutsu would refer to meditation and the visualization of Buddha. Those incapable of visualizing his marks can try his tuft of hair between the eyebrows. (yes the dot) But for those that cannot visualize anything it was recommended the Vocal Nembutsu that would refer to the practice of recitation of the formula "Namu Amida Butsu" (Yes the sentence that the rock hashira Gyomei Himejima choose to say to focus, which again, makes sense since he was a Buddhist priest) where gradually one would focus one mind on Amidah and eventually embark on the practice of the meditative nembutsu. "Both types of nembutsu, meditative and vocal, result in three kinds of benefits: (1) the eradication of evil karma created over the course of countless past lifetimes which keeps one bound to the cycle of transmigration, (2) the attainment of good karmic roots leading to awakening, and (3) the ability to remain mindful of Amida Buddha at the moment of death (..)" - Rhodes, 2006

According to one of the main texts even a person that had committed the Five Heinous Crimes [01 - Killing one's mother; 02- Killing one's father; 03 - Killing a saint; 04 - to wound the body of a Buddha; 05 - to destroy the harmony of the sangha] could be born in the Pure Land by calling the Namu Amida Butsu, and this would obviously cause problems for the rules cause people would start to cause trouble. Gokuraku-ki is compilation of bibliographic narratives of various people that are believed to have obtained the rebirth in the Pure Land. Things varied but in common have the rightmost behaviour of oneself. What was trying to be said was that everyone could achieve que pure land, the things that were needed were a righteous personality, and be mindful of Amida Buddha in the end. And in Demon Slayer the influences of the teachings of the Pure Land Buddhism are quite obvious ether from the fact that Gyomei Himejima was a monk or Genya also chanting the Nembutsu, the rebirth teories (already explain in more detail in other post) or the over all philophy of doing what is right.

KEOWN, Damien, 2000 – Buddhism: a very short intrudution. Oxford. Oxford University Press. [Ebook]; Linfamy. 2022 - The Revolutionary Origins of Pure Land Buddhism in Japan | History of Japan 80. [Consulted on the 17 of June 2023] Availatble on <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUG4ifeWzTk>; RHODES, Robert F. 2006 - The Biginning of Pure Land Buddhism in Japan: From its introdution through the Nara Period. Japanese Religions, Vol.31 (1): 1-22. Nanzan University; RHODES, Rober F. 2007 - Ojoyoshu, Nihon Ojo Gokuraku-ki nad the Construction of Pure Land Discourse in Heian Japan. Japanese Journal of Religious studies 34/2: 249-270. Nanzan Institute for Religions and culture;

[magz]

November to December 2022 Humble Bundle Deals

On Humble Bundle's 2022 Black Friday sale:

Celeste is $5, a 75% discount

Slime Rancher is $5, a 75% discount

RPG Maker MV is $12, a 80% discount

Monster Hunter Rise is $20, a 50% discount

Persona 5 Royal is $42, a 30% discount

Persona 5 Strikers Digital Deluxe Edition is $26.59, a 62% discount

Hitman 3 Steam Deluxe edition is $31.49, a 65% discount

Red Dead Redemption 2: Ultimate Edition is $30, a 70% discount

Asesprite (pixel art and animation tool) is $14, at a 20% discount

Cuphead is $14, at a 30% discount

Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition is $20, at a 60% discount

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is $7.49, at a 75% discount

Yakuza: Like A Dragon - Legendary Hero Edition is $27, at a 70% discount

Yakuza 4 Remastered, Yakuza 5 Remastered, Yakuza 6 song of life are $7 each, at a 65% discount

Bayonetta 1 is $5, at a 75% discount

Guilty Gear -Strive- is $30, a 25% discount

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Mega Mix+ is $23.63, a 40% discount

Night In The Woods is $10, a 50% discount

Code Vein Digital Deluxe Edition is $12, an 85% discount

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (Remastered) is $7.59, an 85% discount

Sonic Generations is $5, a $75% discount

Noita is $10, at a 50% discount

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout is $36, a 50% discount

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Game of The Year Edition) is $10, an 80% discount

…and more. Check the details.

Humble Bundle's Current Bundle Packs as of November 26, 2022

Black Friday VR Voyager's pack (game bundle). Pay at least $12 for all 11 games ($274 value) as minimum. Featuring Cook-out, Until You Fall, SuperHot VR, The Wizards - Dark Times, etc.

Unreal Engine, Ultimate Game Dev Assets (software bundle). Average cost of $25 for all 28 items (value of $1162). $1 minimum gives 2 items. Featuring different UI icons and 3D environment assets.

Image Comics, the '10s (book bundle). Pay at least $25 for all 28 items ($1290 value). $1 minimum gives 3 comic books. Featuring Saga volumes 1-9, Motor Crush volumes 1-2, Curse Worlds volumes 1-5, Nail Biter volumes 1-8, and more.

Unf*ck the Holidays by Microcosm Publishing (book bundle). Pay at least $18 for all 31 books ($300 value). $1 minimum gives 3 books. Books to get a better handle on life on a variety of topics. Featuring Unf*ck your anxiety - 2nd edition, Unf*ck your grief, The practical witch's 2023 almanac, How to resist Amazon & why, Radical Sewing, The transmasculine guide to physical transition, Un*fck your blowjobs, The Autism Relationships workbook, etc.

Mega Music Maker - Black Friday Special (software bundle). Pay at least $25 for all 54 items ($1701 value). $1 minimum gives 3 sample/loop types. Samples, Loops, and more for music production.

Anything But Ordinary Painter Bundle - Encore (software bundle). Average cost of $32 for 26 items ($1402 value). $1 minimum gives 1 item (1 year winzip subscription). Features PaintShop Pro 2022, Brush packs, paper texture packs, Corel Painter 2022, AfterShop Pro 3, etc.

Design and Develop For Web Apps by O'Reilly (book bundle). Pay at least $18 for all 14 books ($606 value). $1 minimum gives 5 books. Features books on Angular, HTML5, Data visualization, Flask, Typescript, etc.

The NaNoWriMo Writing Bundle (book bundle). Pay at least $18 for 20 books ($225 value). $1 minimum gives 2 books. Creative inspiration and advice for writing. Featuring Writing dialogue, Outlining your novel, Wonderbook (revised and expanded): The Illustrative Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction, etc.

Working With Audio - From Taylor & Francis (book bundle). Pay at least $18 for 18 books ($960 value). $1 minimum gives 4 books. Featuring Music in video games, How to make great music mashups: The start-to-finis guide to making mashups with Ableton live, Music Production: Learn how to record, mix, and master music, etc.

Learn IT Ops (Information Technology Operations) with PluralSight (Software bundle). Pay at least $25 for 20 items. $1 minimum gives 4 items. A selection of courses from PluralSight including topics of cloud computing, security, virtualization, and more. Featuring Kubernets for developers, Terraform Deep Dive, Securing AWS Infrastructure, etc.

IOS, Android, and Flutter: Mobile Development by <packt> (book bundle). Pay at least $18 for all 19 items ($1000 value). $1 minimum gives 3 books. A collection of books and videos on building mobile apps and games.

Learn to Create Game Art in Blender 2022 by GameDev.tv. Pay at least $25 for 12 items ($1525 value). $1 minimum gives 2 tutorials. Tutorials on 3D modelling and animation and texture painting, and game assets.

...and more, check the details.