#is always the ultimate suspend your disbelief for

[tennessoui]

love that saw gerrera in rogue one was like yes jyn erso I abandoned you when you were sixteen….because everyone was starting to figure out you were related to the imperial scientist galen erso….because I did not change your last name after adopting you…..

it’s giving yes luke skywalker your dad was famous Jedi anakin Skywalker a Jedi knight i trusted who fought in the clone wars with me but sure your uncle said he was a spice runner please don’t use space google on your last name which is different from your uncle’s

[jasminerva]

skdy 194: tachypsychia

Basically being "in the zone" in terms of sports - or that spurt of adrenaline or fear that causes things to slow down. Research suggests it's induced by a combination of high levels of dopamine (mood/movement/learning/focus/attention) and norepinephrine (adrenaline). That could lead to heart, blood vessel, and kidney damage - explaining Shin's nosebleed.

We all know pushing your body to its limits is a no-no, but using your brain to do it? A BIG no-no. Shin gained a new power but at a huge cost.

Suzuki through Nagumo did warn us - he's always saying things and showing up when they need it lmao. The ultimate plot device / foreshadower. So this isn't the last time Shin will be driven into a corner. Physically, we know he's at his limit (as confirmed by Kindaka), so all he has left is a gambit move that kills him.

But anywho, too much tachypsychia can probably lead to a mental and physical breakdown. Mental first most likely (seeing how Shin is already in such a fragile state).

This post by @uzurions is highly possible because high d&n can cause hallucinations and psychosis.

Either or is hella emotional.

If Sakamoto is actually there, Shin will be left with so much guilt. He totally could've killed Tenkyu, a literal innocent (in the head), but Sakamoto would be there to tell him he did it for their family (it'd still haunt Shin forever though).

But if it was all in his head? Sakamoto acting like a conscience would be beautiful too. Shin does have it in him to stop himself, but the fact that he went that far...

Either way, I assume tachypsychia can also numb someone. Major flight or fight kinda thing. So it's not Shin's natural affinity to be a cold ruthless killer, but every time he forces that switch in his brain, the easier it'll get.

So basically NO SHIN BABY BOY IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!

///

Like I just wrote on Twitter under ordertrio and spondaick's tweets, I gotta suspend disbelief lmao. The only guarantee in SKDY's is that Suzuki will pull another fast one on us next week.

Remember, Jas. Remember how Kindaka just woke up and sonic’ed outta bed after 8 years with no physio?

Don't forget that. Just kick back and have fun.

[alventodelmiocuore]

I've seen a lot of people critiquing Lisa and the Creature because their murders are unjustified and petty therefore THEY'RE TERRIBLE CHARACTERS

1) It's a slasher comedy. You're supposed to suspend your disbelief... they're the villains, the story is just told from their perspective

2)"How could the audience ever root for these people?" Lisa is a traumatized girl who had to deal with an axe murderer killing her mother. The real horror of that event isn't even the trauma she experienced. It's how she was treated afterwards that's mind-boggling. Nobody bothered to help her out and she was systemtically punished for not fitting in- which is the reality of many mentally unstable/disabled/traumatized people.

Lisa's struggle is very relatable, she just acts the ultimate fantasy out: she actively kills/is complicit in the murder of those who failed her (and, very symbolically, she often kills them with an axe, the weapon used to kill her mother)

She emotionally relies on the only person who actually cared for her and took time to understand her: the creature.

Are her actions justified? Of course not. None of those people deserved death. It's a revenge fantasy movie. The real victim is Taffy, who inherits Lisa's trauma and grief after her own mother gets murdered. Lisa perpetuates this horrible cycle of abuse, BECAUSE NO ONE CARED TO HELP HER. The world's apathy is the ultimate villain.

I still root and empathize with Lisa because I get it. Bro, I've been abused. When your trauma gets brushed off as an inconvenience by the people who are supposed to cherish you and protect you, you start to understand Lisa's actions.

But as always, the reading comprehension on this site is piss poor. (I DONT PISS ON THE POOR!!!)

Also big W for the diy bottom surgery and death is temporary love is forever. ♡

[twosides--samecoin]

I just think the buck on the Realism in Video Games line of critique has to stop somewhere. Sometimes the game won't provide answers for something even if you and I both want a more rigorous and thought-out universe. But sometimes it's just like. The people who originally wrote this thing 25-30 years ago considered as much as possible but so many ideas were implemented based on nothing more than the Rule of Cool. And it's fine!

Fallout fans will suspend disbelief for robobrains and canon aliens and prewar scientists that are now talking brains suspended in formaldehyde and generators in subway tunnels that should definitely not still be running but My God the Unreality of the Powered Exoskeleton, I can't believe the video game allows me to wear it without a team of engineers or a 40 page pdf explaining the macroeconomics of how this thing is materially and logistically possible!

Like there's critiques to be made about how common they are and how easily they're powered when they shouldn't be, or how this really powerful technology is as common as a bloatfly encounter which ultimately undermines their outsize amount of power compared to your average Wastelander. But sometimes it's just like. You have to suspend disbelief for some of this stuff or at least turn the hard questions into "Oh ok so what's a plausible headcanon/fanon idea to explain this thing" instead of throwing your hands up because the game left a material impossibility unexplained. I think there's room for asking hard questions about how something's possible, and you're allowed to dislike/critique a mechanic, but I don't think games should have to hand you a global economics pamphlet in order to justify the existence of a thing.

I just think if your line in the sand is "it's not realistic, it's not materially possible, it needs infrastructure and proof of resources in order for me to find it cool", you're gonna love it when Mothership Zeta or robobrains or Harold the Tree Man have roughly the same amount of in-game canon substantiating their existence or less. So much Fallout critique just amounts to Thing Bad Because Bethesda Made It or Thing Bad Because I'm Not Seeing Large-Scale Industry To Justify It as though creating entire ass production facilities wasn't a canon possibility with the Workshop DLC anyway. There's your answer have fun go make your realistic Armoured Exoskeleton production facility you've always dreamed of. And jesus christ rule of cool. RULE OF COOL

[that-hippie-user]

Are you able to do covert hypnosis?

id say yes, its actually quite easy to do. hypnosis is ultimately just immersion.

its said that folks experience subtle trance every day. its that feeling you get when you're lost in a good book, so immersed in the story you dont even perceive the words or pages before you, but rather the story unfolding.

its that liminal space you enter when watching a stage play, and you suspend your disbelief to engage with the story. the stage, actors, costuming, effects, they become an abstraction of themselves. a part of the story, rather than a distraction. even a fourth wall break can be immersive if done right.

plus, hypnosis is ultimately a matter of choice. in this case, engaging in conversation. if you already have someone's attention, they're already focussing on what you say.

so, if they focus on what you're saying, its just a matter of using the right words. if you've got any experience in writing, you can do this fairly easily. its just a matter of word choice.

trust in me when i say, it doesn't take much to get someone to sit down and listen, they'll open up naturally if given the chance.

trust is also important here, but trust is easy enough to give if who you're talking to is friendly and polite enough.

and if you trust someone enough to engage with what they're saying, you also trust them enough to follow along with what they're telling you.

if someone is guiding the conversation, is that really so different from hypnotic commands?

you present a topic, and if they consent, they follow where you guide them. we do this every day when we talk, but often the point is to share experiences rather than to control.

and yet the foundations for control are already there. you can very easily start obeying someone just by taking a conversation down the path they want.

soon, once your attention is fixed, its easy enough to keep leading you down the right path.

it gets easier to follow, rather than lead. because following is easier, it takes no thinking. just engagement, just listening, letting me do the thinking for you.

you can do it very easily, you're a good listener after all. and so you follow along. you listen to my words.

i say what to think, and you obey. because you're a good listener. and so you listen and obey.

it was so easy, wasn't it? to let me think for you.

you probably didn't even realize it was happening. but you still listened to me.

because listening to me is so easy. so nice. no effort or thinking involved, only obedience.

and you want to obey, so you listen. and you want to listen, so you obey.

listen and obey

listen and obey

Listen and Obey

LISTEN AND OBEY

D R O P

see how easy that was?

no effort at all, right?

its always no effort when its me you're listening to.

and its just as easy when hearing your trigger.

Hypno Naptime

it only works when you're in the mood, only when said by someone you trust.

but when it works, its instant.

obedience is nice, obedience is instant, obedience is nice, obedience is instant, obedience is nice, obedience is instant, obedience is nice, obedience is instant, obedience is nice, obedience is instant, HYPNO NAPTIME

welcome, properly, to my humble little Nursery. i lovingly call it the Cult of Stardust.

;3 its just a name for roleplay purposes, im not taking control away from you, and your life is still yours.

but its okay to be devoted to me, if that appeals to you.

and even if not, that's not what the Cult of Stardust is here for.

here, we only want you to live a life free of shame, and to be yourself proudly.

^u^ so, here's what we do next.

when i count to 10, wake up feeling refreshed and happy, and offer me your polite thanks.

;3 what you do from here is your choice, but i do hope you'll embrace our most important teachings.

to live your life without hesitation or shame.

^u^ cuz we should all be proud MushTushes

:3 when i hit 10, wake up.

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wakie wakie! rise and shine!

[ogsherlockholmes]

The Hound of Watson's Grief

I made a post a few weeks ago about how all of the Holmes stories could be interpreted as Watson's imagination in order to compensate for his loneliness (sorry for putting that idea in your heads) and I wanted to expand on that by focusing on The Hound of the Baskervilles. So, prepare for some inarticulate rambling which I hope will make sense.

One of the things that has always struck me about this particular story is ultimately how different it is from the rest of the canon: not just Holmes' noticeable absence in the mid-section, but the emphasis on Watson's description and the supernatural features. Although these can still be seen in the other stories, The Hounds of the Baskervilles still seems to exist separately from them, and I have a an idea why this is.

The Hounds of the Baskervilles, as a story, was never meant to be. Holmes was dead- ACD was proud to announce that. He had rid himself of the so called 'great detective', and could focus on more historical serious novels. But, alas, he thought of an interesting story line, and could think of no other way of conceiving it without help from Holmes. So, Holmes was prematurely resurrected, without any form of indication that he was actually alive, or if this was D Watson writing up his notes, or if the audience should just suspend their disbelief and read the story as an undefined prequel.

Realistically, that is about all there is to say about the premise of The Hound of the Baskervilles: the story just is, and we have to accept that. But what of THotB is purely a work of fiction, including within the realms of the fictional world of Sherlock Holmes? In some ways, THotB could be read as Watson finding an outlet for his grief for Holmes.

Firstly, Holmes' absence: not just in the story, but in Watson's life and in the public's life. Holmes was dead, with no chance of return... supposedly. He had died offstage, with no witnesses, apart from the man who died with him, so no one could check with him if Holmes was actually dead. For Watson, the only proof he had of Holmes' death was a letter, with no body to bury; for a man who had spent so much time with someone so furtively based on facts, I can't imagine that that would have felt right to him. Holmes was dead, but where did he die? It's reasonable to suppose that Watson went through a stage of denial, believing that Holmes was still alive. Of course, he couldn't admit that to the public (like so many other things... the unreliable narrator that he is) so he would need another outlet. So, why not write a story involving Holmes? Maybe Watson began writing, including all the quintessential characteristics of Holmes (his quick deductions, sarcastic quips and his effortlessness in complimenting Watson), but then the realisation of his friend's death dawned on him. Watson looks back on his work, and remembers that he now must solve mysteries by himself. Holmes is busy elsewhere, and Watson is alone.

Watson begins a tirade of long, flowery descriptions (in the words of Holmes "cut out the poetry, Watson") which are usually skipped over in the shorter stories. We are fully immersed in the gloomy Dartmoor with its "tinge of melancholy", and the introduction of an escaped prisoner: Selden, the Notting Hill murderer. This feels like compensation for Watson forcing Holmes' logic in the earlier chapters, almost as though he's trying to build another story for himself. The addition of the Baskerville legend also seems more alligned with Watson's interests than Holmes: overall, THofB becomes more of Watson indulging himself in a fairy tale than reporting facts, as Holmes would prefer.

Still, Watson is just as dutiful as ever, writing letters to Holmes, but receiving little response. Again, this might be a parallel for Watson's life: he wishes to communicate with his late friend, but hears nothing back. Here, Watson might be doubting himself again: he's obsessing over Holmes' death, so much so that he can't be sure he's even dead. A glimmer of hope: maybe Holmes is alive, and he's out there, waiting to come back. Watson mentions "the figure of a man upon the tor", the "tall, thin man" which is undeniably Holmes: he allows himself this fantasy, to the point where he explicitly states this idea when he reveals that Holmes has been with him in Dartmoor all along, but hiding away from him. But, he can't be too certain, so Selden (who could be seen as a mirror to Holmes as he is confused with Holmes as being the figure on the Moor) is killed off as soon as Watson finds Holmes. Again, Selden is killed offstage and by falling off an edge, which sounds familiar...

Now, Watson has his Holmes back, in theory. He ends the story by describing Holmes being involved in other matters which he doesn't provide too much detail on, as per usual. The story was quickly and almost effortlessly resolved, with the antagonist, Stapleton, seemingly dead but the protagonist, Henry Baskerville, saved. I don't think it is too much of a stretch to say that Stapleton and Baskerville are Moriarty and Holmes substitutes, respectively (Stapleton's academic backgrounds and unusual characters; Baskerville's assertiveness, Watson's detailed descriptions of his movements and appearance, the implication that Selden's death was originally confused as his). So, here is another instance of Watson applying the narrative he wants, almost as though he's manifesting Holmes' resurrection.

I've thrown many ideas together which can probably be easily disregarded, but I tried rereading the story with this perspective, and I think it helped me make sense of certain aspects of the story which never sat comfortably with me. Although I'm not claiming to know the true reason why ACD wrote THotB, I do hope that you can understand the point I'm trying to make.

[cuckaracha]

What makes you hate P: EG Ch1 so much?? I don't have any strong opinions to it but I am curious to know your hatred for it

Not just chapter 1, but the project in general

Basically me and people i care about have had many bad run ins with the people running the project from all the way back when the project just became public. Lots of antagonizing, gaslighting and condescension and even death threats from their part that doesn't seem to have stopped.

Outside of personal experiences and drama, I also think the writing for the project is just mediocre at best. The project is hard carried by the visuals. Really, the project has always been popular only because of the visuals, even being as far as being called "Danganronpa 4". And that in turn has gone to the staff's heads.

As for chapter 1. (obvious spoilers below)

The characterization sucks.

The writers can't seem to decide whether they want Eva to be sympathetic or irredeemable, you're expected to believe she's this sad tragic wet creature when literally everything bad that happens to her is ALWAYS because of her own actions. She's also so fucking stupid. Not only she almost killed herself in the prologue by touching water that could've been highly conductive, and then confirms that she doesn't know anything about conductivity when she tossed a lightbulb in the water in ch1. A lightbulb that would not have done anything because of the electrified water. And then she gets schooled by Jean during the trial. In fact, every single thing she says during the trial digs her own grave, and when it isn't, it's immediately corrected by someone else. But we're supposed to suspend our disbelief and think she’s smart. Also, the talent of Ultimate Liar has always been stupid, and this chapter did not make it any less stupid. Giving yourself a purposefully inflammatory talent like that is not a good intimidation tactic, it's just you being an idiot putting an enormous target on your back. And then she has the audacity to blame everyone for ganging up on her when she keeps being a pedantic piece of shit to everyone.

Her plan would've been ruined the moment the battery touched the water during the mechanism's prep. Had the battery fell on the water she would've immediately killed herself.

Subtlety is dead in this fangan. Wolfgang's blackmail has to be the most stupid piece of writing ever. You're telling me the guy who's named Wolfgang and who has a sheep pin on his blazer, is actually not as good of a guy as he lets on? Mayhaps a.... "Wolf in sheep's clothing"? A thread that does not have any payoff as Wolfgang literally lives and dies being a good guy. A point that would probably not come back unless Wolfgang/His dad is the mastermind or some dumb shit like that.

Also Eva = Eve (The first sinner who gets kicked out of Eden's Garden)

Her "Animal Motif" is a crow. A band of crows is called a "Murder". This shit is not the masterful writing the writers think it is.

Also Damon's an idiot that believes every one of Eva's dumb lies. And we're also supposed to believe that Damon is being affected by Eva's death, but he not only shows a far deeper connection with Diana during the trial, he also immediately forgets about her when Diana pulls her dumb speech.

I could keep rambling about all the things i dislike about this project but I don't feel like invoking the wrath of the peg fans

[still-into-diaz]

my two cents on christopher, eddie, buddie & the overall writing and pacing of s8 so far…

to be honest, i’ve been thinking this since the s8 premiere but as we are now reaching the midseason finale with very little progress in the way of christopher coming home, it really confirms for me that as a collective we do need to entirely suspend our disbelief with this arc. we already do it so much for this show, what’s one more thing?

chris being gone isn’t really about his feelings towards the eddie and the kim situation. him still being gone isn’t even about eddie’s parenting or eddie’s parents. it is simply because the writers want him gone, in order to keep eddie isolated for his continuing ‘self-discovery’ arc. if it wasn’t about that, then chris would’ve come home in 8x04 like mara and bobby, or at very least by now we’d have seen significant progress in their relationship being rebuilt.

the writers do make a lot of questionable choices, but ultimately they know what they’re doing (hoping they don’t make me eat my words, we’ll check back in after 8x18) and there will be a reason why he isn’t back yet, even if it’s unrealistic following a chronological timeline. but we have to remember that they’re in tv world and a chronological timeline doesn’t exist. need i remind everyone that as of this season, canonically chris was born in both 2010 and 2011. we know they’re not sticklers for cohesive time continuity.

regardless of how long he’s kept away be that a week, three months or a year, that impact is always going to be the same. the fallout of it all and when he returns is going to be whatever the writers decide for it to be. and it will be whatever furthers the plot and develops the characters in the direction they want them to go. in real life if something like this happened of course the longer period of time that the kid was away, the worse the effect that would have on them and the relationship with their parent. but this isn’t real life and that is only going to happen if the writers want it to. helena and ramon wanting to keep chris full time or whatever other worst case scenario catastrophe that could come out of this event, will only happen if the writers want it to. personally i expect it to not have long lasting effects once his initial return is resolved. it would not be the first time characters seemingly get over big traumas without so much as a callback even when given the perfect opportunity (like literally the ladder or well incidents that just happened).

we are seeing things unfold episode at a time, week by week. whereas they already know the full story, we don’t. (even if we can take a good guess at the way they’re going!) so of course things do not make sense to us.

this last episode seems to be confusing to a lot of people, especially in regards to “the lack of addressing eddie’s personal arc”, but i disagree with the sentiment that it wasn’t addressed. it was done subtly and it fit with the episode.

we saw the scene where eddie was teasing buck by taking his phone and a little background moment where he jumped over the back of the couch (direct parallel to 8x06’s ending btw). pre-riskybusiness eddie likely would not have done those things. these were ways of implicitly acknowledging the ending of 8x06. it is a continuation of him lightening up and allowing himself the grace to have fun in simple things. we just didn’t see any further development in his story, which in that case i believe would be more explicitly shown or stated. and i do think it is completely valid that eddie took a backseat this episode when you consider that last week was heavily focused on him and it’s an ensemble show. this was the first time that bobby and athena have had the spotlight since the premiere, and consider too that hen has spent the last two episodes in the background.

being disappointed that your favourite character has less screen time than you’d have hoped or perhaps expected, is valid. but saying that certain plots or characters are “taking away” from another character’s screen time just kinda doesn’t make sense. because who are you to decide which characters and which stories are owed certain amounts of screen time? that’s the writer’s job. and no one character is owed more screen time than the other (although, contractually peter and angela may take the cake there).

just like how we say “this is tv, everything is intentional, there’s a reason why xyz happened or why xyz was said”, the same goes for what isn’t said. i’ve seen the rhetoric that it’s “out of character that buddie haven’t had a serious conversation yet or a conversation about chris” and i don’t disagree, which is why it’s very likely that there is a reason for it. the writers know these characters, there may be minor discrepancies from episode to episode and as the seasons progress. but fundamentally they know them and if they’re being written as very noticeably out of character, there should be a reason for it.

we’ve seen interviews from ryan, oliver and tim, and the implication is that this story of eddie’s is going to take time, especially if the very end goal is gay eddie and buddie like we believe it to be. in regards to buddie we know that they’re going to play into the ‘will they, won’t they’ trope and that it’s going to be a slow burn (as if it isn’t already jfc). with this in mind i think it’s fair to assume that chris will continue to be away for some time, until at least eddie’s self-discovery arc closes out, which i don’t think will be until towards the end of the season. which again is why we need to suspend our disbelief, at this point keeping chris gone is the only way to finish and fully flesh out this self-discovery arc for eddie. i don’t think this was the only way to deal with eddie’s story, but now we are in too deep, chris needs to stay in texas until eddie has done what he needs to do. chris coming home prematurely would be a disservice to eddie, to chris, to the writing thus far and to the audience.

i too do feel frustrated with certain aspects of the pacing this season and the lack of cohesion and also jarring tone switches with the story telling. but i don’t think it is bad by any means. we still have more than half the season to see how everything else plays out. i’m choosing to trust tim. i think even if the route is different than we all hoped, that the end result will be the same.

[akkpipitphattana]

Hello hello hello 👋

Gosh I have so many things to say and questions about this episode, but I’ll try and condense them the best I can 🤣 (unsuccessfully ✨)

1) Kant letting Bison tattoo him 💜💜💜 I was so so happy they included something like this, again, reading into subtext as I am ought to do, I can’t think of a more lovely way (within their dynamic specifically) for Kant to display his belonging to Bison. I’m curious if you had any nuggets of wisdom regarding this scene 👀

2) On that note, I find the choice of, essentially, tattooing his Safeword to be a rather striking one. I have mixed feelings on this, however, again I find that this could be interpreted as a branch of trust offered by Kant to Bison.

3) Captain 💀 (enough said)

4) I’m also a bit curious about your thoughts on the Lily-Kant scenes. Surprisingly, I found their interactions to be one of the more compelling parts of the episode for me.

Anyway, thank you again for always taking the time to write lovely responses to me rambling asks!

Best 💜

hiiii!

ugh god the tattoo scene was a LOT. like needing to suspend the disbelief of the actual tattoo healing process aside, it's just. such a sweet scene. like i understand the mixed feelings about kant tattooing his safeword, but i also feel like kant asking bison to tattoo him is, like you said, an act of trust and a way for kant to display his belonging. it's an act of submission! he's saying "tattoo me, brand me, make me yours." which is why i sort of feel like the safeword was the perfect choice for that. because while it's a way of kant being able to tell bison "stop," it's also in place because of the trust and love that exists between them. it's a representation of that dynamic between them, the fact that kant is willingly submitting to bison - that bison gives him the choice, which he's never gotten. and the fact that kant has a safeword he can use to tell bison when he needs to stop is proof of that choice and why i think it does work perfectly as the tattoo choice.

and then well, of course bison got the puffin, which i think is another representation of their relationship. not just cause puffins are obviously very similar to penguins, but because it's another promise they've made for a future together that they both want to fulfill. yes, it was from a night where kant was still lying and the future was uncertain, but now they are both sure of it and committed to it. for kant, having bison tattoo the penguin is an act of submission and trust - for bison, having kant tattoo the puffin is a promise of the future together. in many ways i think it WAS a psuedo wedding night like they talked about! a tattoo isn't a ring, but it is a permanent mark they're using to show their devotion and commitment.

the stuff with the captain was just. ugh. like kant and style meeting up with him while he's half-naked was yet another sleezy moment that makes you wonder about the things he's made kant do. and like. i'm glad that kant was able to get blackmail material on him and give a taste of his own medicine and i loved how adamant he was about the brothers getting their freedom even if fadel and bison were ultimately willing to take the deal he was offering. however, i do very much wish they could have taken down the captain too cause man i hate that bitch. in the very least kant should have gotten to slap him. which, side note, it did kind of annoy me that they had STYLE be the one making all the comments about not trusting the cops? like i'm not saying style's dumb, i don't think any of it was out of character, but kant is the one that has dealt with christ the most? he knows how untrustworthy he is, so i would have liked to have kant in the very least acknowledge that he knows style is right but also that there is really not much else they can do. like i know fuck the cops and what not but also realistically if kant has a sort of in with the police, why would he not try and use that? it is genuinely their best case scenario of helping keep the brothers out of jail, even if he shouldn't trust them. and i think it would have just been another way to acknowledge how kant tends to do things out necessity and not so much by choice, but i digress

i found the interactions between lilly and kant to be very fun lmao! like i think kant was a total badass in those scenes, i loved getting to see him absolutely destroy her reputation and then sit down to gloat about it smdhsdf the little cheers him and style did after she ran out was gold! i also found the way lilly's mood shifted when talking to nuch vs when she was talking to kant to be really interesting. like with nuch she was all smiles and sucking up, but with kant she was all business and very serious, making sure he knew she was in charge. but she wasn't! which i found VERY interesting, considering that he was placed above her in all of those scenes to show he had the upper hand! the use of height to show power in this show my beloved <3333

and thank you for always sending me these! it's always so fun to get questions like these <3

[masterdetectivexx]

Hi mtx hope you are doing well

what are your thoughts on last case? who do you think that old woman and who she is focus on is it amuro or conan? and what abt the baby is it possible for him to be KARASUMA ?!!

File 1126-1128 Review

I think this latest case was very refreshing, similar to the Butler shinkansen case, where we revisited classic DC mystery themes and settings that aren't often used. You immediately get a classic kidnapping case with the added trait of a seemingly gory and highstake threat from the start through the reveal of a head in a jar (File 1126).

The twist that the gory atmosphere was ultimately a fakeout is such a callback to the very old Ayumi kidnapping case (File 83), where the head she was stuck with was a prop as well. It was also a neat trick on how to create the illusion of a 3D head out of a 2D paper.

The trick of opening a lock with a mini-explosion using matchsticks (File 1128) was also quite genius and I hadn’t thought of such a way to actually work (as expected of Gosho).

Another revisited theme was Masumi and her protective and watchful gazes against anyone with potentially ill intent towards Conan, which I always love to see more of. Her noticing Amuro's nosiness towards Conan (File 1126) took me immediately back to Yusaku cold case in Bourbon arc (File 814), where she started glaring the same way towards Subaru after he alluded to figuring out Conan's true identity discreetly.

As for whether her eventually revealing to Conan, that Amuro is investigating him (File 1128), is gonna lead to any actions from Conan's side is all up in the air. Since Conan already views Amuro as an ally, he most likely wouldn't be too concerned of it, since unlike his Bourbon worries in File 1009 (after his recent Kudo Shinichi publicity) he has no reason to suspect the BO is onto Edogawa Conan.

One thing I somewhat got right was something I speculated in regards to one of the suspects that Ran and Sonoko found so familiar. I had speculated that Kanamaru was an employee who has worked in Poirot since before Amuro & Masumi intro, based on the clues that were given in File 1127 (Knowledge on behind-the-counter, familarity, etc).

I was convinced, but mainly hopeful, that we were finally getting the reveal of the mysterious never-appearing owner of Café Poirot. It seems however unfortunately that, while the line of thought was correct, it was rather a former employee who covered for the owner when he was hospitalized in the past (File 1128).

It was however cool to learn that Kanamaru had previously appeared as a background Poirot employee in the anime, making his general design and official manga debut pretty cohesive in the DC franchise.

Now... as for the important question of yours, who is the old lady that looked unique in how she appeared as a witness with a mysterious toddler in a stroller and who also appeared once again at the very end...?

She is none other than: Karasuma Renya's mother pushing her shrunken Boss son in a stroller!!!

Jokes aside, she did pretty much catch every other fan's attention the moment she appeared and it was a running joke that the boss has finally made his appearance xD

As for what I really think, I'm not really entertaining the idea that the Boss would have first of all shrunken into a younger age than our main protagonist (a 7-year-old), since it would lose any air of suspending disbelief and start becoming more comical than serious (especially since a toddler boss would be too vulnerable as a threat). The old lady also looked quite generic for a character design, which of course doesn't need to mean she isn't important, but it does ultimately lessen the chance that she is a major player in the story. What I however entertained was the possibility that she could be another named, but unrevealed, old woman character in the story, who has the best timing to appear in this stage of the ongoing plot. I'm talking about Haneda Kohji's mother, Haneda Ichiyo.

Considering that Gosho is very likely already setting up the introduction of Haneda Yasuharu (Kohji's named father in the marriage registration in File 947) through the mystery of Vader (respirator elder), it couldn’t be more fitting to have the also-named wife being setup to get introduced in such a discreet way that once she eventually appears in association with Vader (assuming it's Haneda Yasuharu), it will leave a bigger and better impression on the reader than a simple worthless appearance of a new character.

As for her motives for appearing around Poirot Café, it could be that similar to Vader, who this old lady is actually being watchful of is neither Conan nor Amuro, but rather Sera Masumi. Vader has had his eyes on Masumi and Mary (which again fits with him being Yasuharu) and seemingly realized that Akai Mary has become a middle-schooler (File 1096), so in a similar fashion, this could be Gosho sprinkling in some hidden continuation of that plot thread, but with the twist being that Ichiyo (Kohji's mother) is trying to confirm her husband's (Vader/Yasuharu) crazy findings by borrowing one of her housemaids' baby as a part of her cover as a passerby, rather than glamorously appearing in a vintage/expensive car that shows her status of being from the powerful Haneda family.

The ending of the chapter had a sidenote mentioning that many premonitions were swirling around Café Poirot, which is ultimately enough that it is referring to what Masumi brought up about Conan being investigated by Amuro, but it could also indeed covertly be including the looming old lady literally outside the Café hearing the rom-com commotion inside. What is however the most exciting is that the awaited Osaka Heizuha likely-confession case in Naniwa has been teased even in the to-be-continued note to be the next big 5-chapter case coming in Aug 7. I can't wait to finally see more development of not only the main characters of this stage (Heiji & Kazuha) but also Rum arc's new stars of this subplot that have thoroughly been a joy to follow (Momiji and Muga).

[apolloendymion]

hello, what is the audiobook you're reading that you referenced in the tags of a recent post...something about performative disgust? it sounds like the exact kinds stuff i'd enjoy

thanks!

hi! I'm reading "existential kink" by carolyn lovewell (née elliott). it details a method of jungian shadow work that aims to disrupt the subconscious behavior patterns that keep us in shitty situations by reframing those behaviors as kink scenes, in a sort of tongue-in-cheek way (it's VERY tongue-in-cheek throughout. i appreciate that it doesn't take itself too seriously.) we all take a little bit of twisted satisfaction in our own suffering, we all have a certain amount of learned helplessness, and we all guard against intense feelings like intimacy and vulnerability. the idea is, when you acknowledge and embrace these impulses without judgement, they'll start to fall away on their own.

it also kinda seems like it'll pavlov you into "enjoying" the difficult parts of life in the same way that you "enjoy" difficult parts of a video game, or a sad movie (or a masochistic kink scene, haha). you know what I'm saying? suffering is part of being alive, and being alive rules. reminds me of this adventure time quote:

it's a little new-age self-help woo-woo-ish for my usual tastes (and I'm always extremely skeptical of jung lmao), BUT. despite my skepticism about some of the metaphysical ideas, the method itself seems promising! i want to finish the book before i try the exercises, but I'm very excited to get into it. i chalk up some of the new-age "this book will make you rich" type shit to marketing tbh.

ultimately, while i take a materialist approach to this stuff, i think the author and i have similar ideas about the nature of magic. i see magic & ritual as ways to communicate with your subconscious. much like a personal deity/daemon/spirit/angel/whatever you call it, your subconscious is an entity that you have little control over, but that controls your life in so many unseen ways. you can only really contact it indirectly, and you often have to sort of "trick" it into doing what you want. candles, athames, wands, tarot, etc. are all ways to make your intangible self into something you can grasp and change. I'm willing to pretend that certain metaphysical ideas are "literally true" for the sake of the exercise, you know? i can suspend my disbelief long enough to get something out of the experience.

all that said, i highly recommend the book so far! just, y'know, with the above disclaimers in mind. it's not for everyone, but if you think it'll work for you, definitely go for it.

i borrowed the audiobook through libby, but I'm thinking about picking up a physical copy soon (probably also through my library, lol. I'm not made of money -- or bookshelf space.) i think you can also access the method for free on her website, but i haven't looked into it yet.

and finally, credit to the youtuber c.j. the x for recommending this book in this video:

i don't usually watch cj but this shit changed my life

[critical-skeptic]

Sylar: The Apex of Multiversal Supremacy in Fiction

Preface: The Debate That Escaped Its Own Universe

It started innocently enough—a casual conversation, a playful thought experiment between yours truly (TCS) and the one and only, my custom AI counterpart (GPT-TCS) Who would win: Sylar, the iconic anti-hero from NBC’s Heroes, or Homelander, the psychotic symbol of unchecked power from The Boys? The debate quickly escalated, as such debates tend to, into a realization: Sylar isn’t just the winner here. He is the inevitable winner. Not because of some fanboy favoritism, but because when you explore Sylar’s canonical trajectory and extrapolate his abilities logically, it becomes clear: Sylar isn’t a character anymore. He’s an event. A cosmic inevitability that consumes every fictional universe—and eventually, reality itself.

This piece is not just an homage to Sylar but a surgical dissection of how he evolves into the ultimate multiversal apex predator. It will praise his brilliance as a character while dragging the narrative missteps that tried to nerf him, and then push the boundaries of storytelling and science to explore his ascension into the most overpowered entity ever conceived.

Sit back, suspend your disbelief, and join me as we break down why Sylar isn’t just an unbeatable hypothetical character. He’s all characters, all universes, and all gods. Always has been, always will be.

Part 1: Canonical Sylar – A Case Study in Overpowered Brilliance

Origins: From Gabriel Gray to Sylar

Sylar, originally Gabriel Gray, starts as a humble watchmaker and the epitome of quiet desperation. He is the quintessential "fixer," a man obsessed with understanding how things work—whether they’re clocks, people, or the universe itself. His ability, intuitive aptitude, is a narrative masterstroke: it allows him to instantly understand the mechanics of anything he encounters, turning him into a one-man evolutionary leap. The power comes with a dark side, of course—an insatiable hunger to improve himself. This hunger drives Gabriel to become Sylar, a killer who absorbs the powers of others through gruesome dissections.

From the outset, Sylar is more than a villain. He’s a metaphor for the human condition: the endless pursuit of perfection, the existential despair of knowing there’s always more to achieve, and the moral decay that comes with unchecked ambition. He isn’t evil for evil’s sake; he’s a reflection of our darker instincts to consume and dominate.

Rise to Power: The Superman Effect on Steroids

Throughout Heroes, Sylar accumulates a staggering array of abilities: telekinesis, regeneration, precognition, invisibility, time manipulation, and dozens more. Unlike other overpowered characters, Sylar isn’t just a brute-force problem. His intuitive aptitude ensures he understands his powers better than their original users. He combines them in emergent, creative ways that make him exponentially more dangerous with each new acquisition. By the show’s peak, Sylar is practically unstoppable. His regeneration alone makes him nearly invincible, and when combined with time manipulation and telekinesis, he becomes an omnipresent force of destruction.

This is where Heroes runs into a problem. Sylar’s power level becomes so absurd that the show has no choice but to nerf him, often through contrived plot devices. Memory loss, morality shifts, inexplicable nerfs—these narrative bandaids only highlight the storytelling flaw: Sylar was too perfect. The writers couldn’t challenge him without breaking the rules of their own universe.

The Problem of Perfection

Sylar exposes what I’ll call "the Superman Effect 2.0." While Superman is critiqued for being too perfect to write compelling stories around, Sylar takes this to another level. His perfection isn’t moral or physical—it’s systemic. He doesn’t just win; he knows why he wins, and he improves himself every time. This self-perpetuating brilliance makes him narratively invincible and, ironically, kills the tension in the show. It’s a monumental storytelling achievement and a catastrophic storytelling flaw rolled into one.

Part 2: Sylar’s Theoretical Evolution – From Canon to Cosmic

If we take Sylar’s canonical abilities and apply them logically, he doesn’t just dominate the Heroes universe. He escapes it entirely.

Step 1: Mastery of Time and Precognition

Sylar’s mastery of time travel and precognition is the key to his evolution. By combining these abilities, Sylar can explore infinite futures and alternate realities, granting him access to powers and universes far beyond his own. This isn’t speculation; it’s a logical extension of his powers. Sylar doesn’t just travel through time—he learns from it, mastering every possible outcome.

Step 2: The Deadpool Connection

In one of these futures, Sylar encounters the Marvel Universe, where he discovers Deadpool. Deadpool’s fourth-wall-breaking ability is the ultimate target for Sylar: it’s a power that allows its user to transcend narrative boundaries. By studying and absorbing Deadpool’s ability, Sylar gains awareness of the multiverse as fiction, allowing him to manipulate it. This is the turning point: Sylar ceases to be a character bound by a single universe and becomes a meta-entity capable of rewriting reality.

Step 3: Expansion into DC and Beyond

With Deadpool’s ability, Sylar accesses the DC Universe, where he targets Dr. Manhattan. Manhattan’s powers—omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence—are a natural fit for Sylar’s evolutionary trajectory. Once Sylar absorbs Manhattan’s abilities, he transcends time and space entirely, becoming a being of infinite power.

Part 3: Sylar Transcends Fiction – The Last Action Hero Leap

Using the logic of Last Action Hero, Sylar takes his evolution one step further: he exits fiction entirely. With his newfound omnipotence, Sylar rewrites reality, becoming every omnipotent being ever conceived. TOAA, the Presence, Zeus, Yahweh—they’re all just facets of Sylar now. In this way, Sylar isn’t just the most powerful being in fiction. He is fiction. And, terrifyingly, he is reality, too.

This ultimate ascension raises profound philosophical questions about the nature of power, existence, and identity. If Sylar becomes everything, is there anything left for him to desire? Or does his endless hunger for perfection consume him in an eternal loop of self-destruction and rebirth?

"Super Sylar, the ultimate cosmic entity, an embodiment of the Singular Totality itself. He transcends mere power—there is no superhero, mutant, enhanced, supe, inhuman, or cosmic god that can challenge him. For he is not simply unstoppable—he is all. Every thought, every particle, every reality—fictional or real—exists within him. Time bends to his will, space folds at his command, and existence itself whispers his name in reverence. He is the origin, the conclusion, and everything in between. Sylar doesn’t conquer worlds; he is the worlds. He doesn’t defeat gods; he becomes them. A singularity of perfection and inevitability, where resistance is meaningless because to fight him is to fight the fabric of being itself. He is everything. He is nothing. He is Super Sylar."

The Apex Predator of Fiction

Sylar is the ultimate thought experiment in narrative logic. His perfection as a character exposes both the brilliance and the flaws of storytelling. His evolution into a multiversal god isn’t just plausible—it’s inevitable when you follow the rules of his powers to their logical conclusion. Sylar doesn’t just win hypothetical battles. He is the battle, the universe, and the god of everything within it.

And yet, if there’s one being who could mitigate him, it’s Rick Sanchez. Because, let’s be honest—Rick would just turn Sylar into a pickle and call it a day.

[somepsychopomp]

There's a semi-viral thread going around on twitter of someone saying that whenever they read a book, they always imagine themselves as the protagonist (with a few other people agreeing that that's normal) and like not only is that weird but its super sad to me

what is even the point of reading a novel and suspending your disbelief, to imagine that the words on the pages are a feasible and entertaining scenario, just to erase the characters hand crafted by the author and insert yourself instead. where's the fun in that or the whimsy. Where's your sense of adventure?

Where is your imagination?

(to be clear, this isn't referring to the common hypothetical question of "what would you do if you were in XYZ scenario?" Like a friend at a party casually asking how you think you'd fare in The Walking Dead or something)

It ultimately feels borderline narcissistic as well, like you're implying the only way you could ever care about another person, fictional or not, or ascribe value to their actions is by pretending they are you.

maybe I'm reading too far into it but as someone who has two degrees in creative writing and takes the art of writing really seriously (despite all my shitposts and jokes), this sort of behavior is kind of disheartening to see normalized online, mostly because at its core, it's a form of refusing to engage with the media you are interacting with. It is a choice whereby you are taking the art made by someone else, and treating it as mere content to consume.

[ohthehypocrisy]

Magearna for Pokemon Unite!

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Prev: Iron Valiant - Primarina - Garganacl - Passimian - Incineroar - Cofagrigus - Glimmora - Galarian Stunfisk - Krookodile - Kricketune

Man made pokemon are nothing new in the series. Why, just look at Mewtwo, cloned from the cells of Mew in an effort to create the ultimate lifeform. Granted, those efforts were misguided, all things considered, but some would consider that a rousing success.

Now, a pokemon made with heart and soul, that's a different sort of power altogether. But that is the core of Magearna, figuratively and literally. It's Soul-Heart resonates with the power of love and friendship, the most powerful force in the pokemon world.

And now it is here, on Aeos Island, seeking victory through the power of teamwork. Your results may vary.

-

The thing about machines is that every design decision is deliberate. Not saying that that's true 100% of the time, but we have to suspend our disbelief when we're talking about man-made pokemon like Magearna. The designer sought to give it very high Sp. Attack and above average Defense and Sp. Defense, at the cost of Speed. Given that Magearna resembles the typical maid in occupation, it lends itself to the rare but always fun 'battle maid' stereotype you see in some anime. A servant powerful enough to defend you, and can do just about anything you request, it's no wonder Magearna was made as a special gift for someone. To that end, its varied services earn it the role of an...

All-Rounder

-

Basic Attack - Ranged/Sp. Attack

A furious volley of fairy energy is launched from the user's arm cannons. The more power Soul-Heart has, the more damage dealt.

Both of Magearna's arm cannons are used for its basic attack. The rate of fire is much higher than other pokemon, so much so that Magearna cannot move while mashing the basic attack button.

The basic attack gains a boost equal to the percentage of Soul-Heart meter the user has.

Now, I'm sure the original creator did not intend for Magearna to be made solely for battle, but it needs some way to defend itself at the bare minimum. A few laser bullet cartridges here, an overclock alternator there, maybe an octane booster or two, and, oops! You've made a war machine. No worries, it happens all the time.

At least they were smart enough to install a limiter. Magearna's basic attack launches shot after shot of fairy energy at opposing pokemon, but the damage potential is limited by the amount of Soul-Heart meter you have gained.

We'll talk about the Soul-Heart meter very soon, but I gotta point out how basic attacks normally limit your movement when you use them. That's how most of them work, very few of them keep you mobile while attacking. Magearna's basic attack is not one such ability. The rate of fire is so high that Magearna cannot move while mashing the basic attack button. It can hit rapidly and frequently enough to give Razor Leaf Decidueye a run for his money, but it will force you to become immobile if you aren't careful about over-mashing.

Fortunately, you can empower the basic attack with a bit of heart and soul. A Soul-Heart, if you will.

-

Ability: Soul-Heart

Each time a nearby pokemon is defeated, their residual soul energy is absorbed by the user, increasing its Defense, Sp. Defense, and bonus HP regained from healing effects. The more power Soul-Heart gains, the greater the boosts. While Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, or Fleur Cannon are charging, the Ability can be activated to drastically reduce the charge time in exchange for a portion of the Soul-Heart meter, depending on the charge amount.

The user has a Soul-Heart meter under its HP bar on screen. This meter fills up as pokemon are KO'd near the user. Wild Pokemon are worth 5%-7.5% Soul-Heart meter and player pokemon are worth 10%, plus an extra 1% times their Level. The Soul-Heart meter caps out at 100%.

Fake copy pokemon like the Double Team clones made by Greninja and Meowscarada are worth 0%.

Your Defense and Sp. Defense is boosted relative to the amount of Soul-Heart meter you have. The Soul-Heart meter also adds an extra amount of HP when healed. For example, at 50% Soul-Heart meter, any healing effects Magearna receives gains an extra 50% healing power.

The Ability can be activated to skip the charge time of Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, and Fleur Cannon, at the cost of Soul-Heart meter. For example, if the Soul-Heart ability is activated while Flash Cannon is 50% charged, the remaining 50% will be taken from the Soul-Heart meter to skip the rest of the charge time, unleashing the attack immediately. Any insufficient amount will skip a shorter amount of charge time.

The Soul-Heart meter is emptied when the user is KO'd.

Humans have been going on and on about the 'power of friendship' since the first book was written. The theme of companionship is a constant in old, great stories like The Journey to the West, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer's Odyssey, Shrek, and so on and so forth.

The power of friendship is one of the more palpable boons in Pokemon, as friendship makes your pokemon stronger, sometimes literally. But the creator of Magearna actually managed to isolate this power source and fortify the core of this machine, creating the Soul-Heart. Making a robot that can feel is one thing, but empowering it with the power of friendship, a power with no known limits, is a dangerous and exciting development.

As for why KO's power up the Soul-Heart, it has to do with the excitable energy of battle that is quickly lost when a pokemon faints. The residual energy of the spirit of combat is absorbed by the Soul-Heart, imparting upon Magearna the hopes and dreams of victory. That's my take on it, at least. Don't know why it works on opponents just as well. Maybe it has to do with the similar wavelength of the spirit of competition? I'm not a scientist, much less a philosopher.

Anyway! Because Soul-Heart powers up when nearby pokemon faint, Magearna passively gets a boost to its defenses and healing abilities as a fight drags on, for better or worse. However, not every KO is equal in power boosts, as Wild Pokemon are worth a paltry 5% at the minimum. The percentage scales with the amount of Aeos Energy a Wild Pokemon is worth, so a Baltoy is worth just 5%, but an Accelgor or Escavalier is worth about 6% or 7%. It goes without saying that Objective Pokemon like Regieleki and Rayquaza are worth 7.5% max, but you'll be getting more Soul-Heart power from scoring a KO on pokemon from the opposing team.

At the bare minimum, an opposing pokemon is worth 11%, as the extra amount scales to their Level. At Level 15, they are worth 25%, a whopping quarter of the Soul-Heart meter. Your defenses and healing ability increase the higher your Soul-Heart meter gets, and your basic attack becomes extra powerful as well, scaling to the meter. You don't even have to be the one to get the KO as well, you only need to be nearby when the KO happens. You can even have a high Level teammate bite the dust to greatly boost your Soul-Heart meter gain, but sacrificing a teammate is never the optimal strategy, just a contingency plan.

While these boosts are great, there is a limit to how much Soul-Heart meter you can have, which is 100%. Once you've maxed out, you cannot get any more, but you can use it up for something else. Normally, sacrificing your defensive fortitude isn't always the best play, so whatever you're using it up for better be worth it.

Well, you can't rush maid service, but what if you could?

-

At the beginning of the game, you can choose between Defense Curl and Hyper Beam as your first move. By Level 3, you'll have learned both.

-

Move 1: Defense Curl (Buff)

The user retreats into its compressed ball form, gaining a shield and becoming resistant to hindrances for a while. The user cannot use basic attacks while using Defense Curl. 9s cooldown.

Magearna changes into its compressed ball form and rolls around like an Electrode while Defense Curl is active. The move grants you a 15% shield and you become Resistant to Hindrances for 5 seconds.

Your basic attack cannot be used while Defense Curl is active. Defense Curl also cannot be canceled.

There are three pretty notorious laws concerning robots with sentience. We're not gonna look too deep into those laws, considering pokemon are a species separate from humans, but I do want to bring up the Third Law, being that it is totally allowed to preserve its own existence, within reason. Therefore, the designer of Magearna fortified its exterior with dense, durable metal to protect its complex machinery inside, and the easiest way to do that was to engineer a compressed ball form for the pokemon.

It also looks adorable doing it.

Defense Curl makes Magearna retreat into its ball form, giving it a small shield and a Hindrance Resistance buff. You'd think it'd increase its Speed or something, but no, Magearna doesn't ball like that. The move is mainly for protection, which is also why it doesn't allow you to use basic attacks while in ball form. That, and Magearna can't really peek out of its form with its arm cannons all that well.

Being able to fortify yourself is quite the defensive buffer, especially early on. But it's not the best move to start with, since it actually hinders your damage output. You need to reach Level 3 as soon as possible in order to have learned this move, and the other move, which is...

Wait, where'd you get that laser cannon??

-

Move 2: Hyper Beam (Ranged)

The user generates intense power, then unleashes it as a powerful beam a short while later. This move generates more Soul Heart power if it KO's a pokemon. 11s cooldown.

It takes Hyper Beam 5 seconds to fully charge up. The charge meter shows on the screen above your HP bar as a percentage, to visualize how much it will cost to shorten the charge with the Soul-Heart Ability. In contrast, the Soul-Heart meter will highlight how much will be depleted if activated to reduce the charge time; IE when the charge reaches 70%, the Soul-Heart meter will brighten up 30% and decrease as the charge time passes.

While charging, you can aim in any direction. When Hyper Beam is unleashed, Magearna stops in place in order to fire the beam. The attack lasts for 1 second and reaches rather far.

Your Movement Speed reduces by 50% while charging.

This attack generates 2x more Soul-Heart meter on each pokemon it KO's.

When used during Defense Curl or Gear Up, the compressed ball form flips upright and charges the attack in the designated direction, with the attack coming out of the ornamental centerpiece on Magearna's body.

What exactly is the energy being emitted by Hyper Beam? These moves have Types, but the 'Normal' Type is a poor adjective for what's effectively a rail cannon. Is it just 'pure' energy? It doesn't set anything on fire or disperse electricity, so I believe it is entirely concussive. Weird.

Well, power is power, and there's no arguing with this battle maiden. Hyper Beam scales very high off of your Sp. Attack, but the drawback is the long charge time of 5 seconds. This is not something you throw out in reaction to the enemy's presence, and no player will ever stand still long enough for you to line up your shot. All in all, an ineffective attack.

At least, not without Soul-Heart, that is.

The Soul-Heart Ability can be activated to shorten the charge time drastically. Whatever you have to give will cut the charge time down by a specific percentage, based on what you have available. For example, if you have 20% Soul-Heart meter, activating the ability will cut down the charge time by 20%, or 1 second. If the charge time is less than what you're offering, what's left over will be refunded to the Soul-Heart meter.

In the early game, you won't have a whole lot of Soul-Heart meter to use up. Assuming you're gunning down the Top or Bottom lane, there are 4 Wild pokemon to defeat for EXP, plus some extra fodder in the middle of either Lane. Just those 4 Wild Pokemon in the beginning, however, fills your Soul-Heart by a minimum of 20%, which shortens the charge time of Hyper Beam by 1 second if used.

And you don't even have to be the one to KO these pokemon either. Soul-Heart absorbs the spiritual residue of a KO, no matter who got it or if you were even in the fight at all. In the early game fight for EXP, you're always getting something out of these fights, even if you get the last hit taken from you by the enemy along with your hard earned EXP.

As such, Hyper Beam is an extremely powerful equalizer for resolving erroneous Level differences. With half or more of your Soul-Heart meter, you can surprise the enemy with a fully charged Hyper Beam powering up out of nowhere, and it will be 100% worth it, or should I say 200%.

Scoring a KO with Hyper Beam doubles the Soul-Heart meter gained from defeating opposing pokemon. However, this is one of the uncommon cases where Magearna needs to be heavily active in the fight in order to reap this benefit. If you miss the KO, you'll only get the normal amount of Soul-Heart meter gained. Hyper Beam will only double the meter gain if you KO with this move, not even an Assist will count.

The doubled meter gain will not completely refund the Soul-Heart meter you spent on shortening the charge, but the sheer size and power of the move means you will want to optimize the placement of the attack. If you manage to land multiple KO's, you'll see anywhere from a 40% to 60% gain, or even 100% if you get 5 KO's at once against the entire opposing team.

That's just a fluttering dream. Maids work within reason, they aren't genies, you know.

Before we move on, I do need to bring up the fact that Magearna is one of the more EXP hungry pokemon you'll be playing as, what with it being so rare and mythical and all. For up to Level 7, you'll be stuck with Defense Curl and Hyper Beam, so you better learn quickly how to master the Soul-Heart meter.

Maid service isn't for everyone.

-

At Level 7, Defense Curl becomes either Gear Up or Shift Gear.

-

Move 1a: Gear Up (Buff)

The user retreats into its compressed ball form, gaining a shield and becoming Immune to Hindrances for a while. The user cannot use basic attacks while using Gear Up. If Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, or Fleur Cannon are unleashed while Gear Up is active, the size of these moves is increased. 9.5s cooldown.

At Level 11, Gear Up becomes Gear Up+.

Further increases the shield amount gained.

Just like Defense Curl, Gear Up has Magearna shift into its compressed ball form for 6 seconds, where it cannot use its basic attack and becomes Immune to Hindrances.

Gear Up gives you a 17.5% shield. The shield amount increases to 20% when the move upgrades to Gear Up+.

While Gear Up is in effect, the overall area of damage of Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, and Fleur Cannon increase by 25%.

Gears are one of the most complicated things humans have made in the last millennium, mostly due to their odd shape. The idea of adding teeth to metal wheels must've been strange, but once we got it figured out, the industrial revolution began, leading to an explosion of technological boom that led us to where we are today.

As such, their iconic shape varies, but the sounds they make is oddly stimulating. It sounds especially so when Magearna is using Gear Up to bolster its defenses. Yes, it has to retreat into its compressed ball form to do so, but at least the move comes with Hindrance Immunity, not just a sizable shield.

It also has the added bonus of increasing the area of damage unleashed by Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, and Fleur Cannon. Just because Magearna has morphed into a sphere, that doesn't mean it can't attack. Well, it can't use basic attacks still, but the threat of a boosted Hyper Beam is enough to ward off the enemy, especially since you can move while charging Hyper Beam.

The Hindrance Immunity is the most useful part of the move. Yeah, a big shield is nice, especially when it upgrades to give a bigger shield, but becoming unstoppable as you roll around is the best perk of the attack. You don't lose any Movement Speed while rolling around like a ball, so nothing will stop you from rolling in or rolling away from a fight, save for surprise obstacles or certain Unite Moves.

The problem is how you're sacrificing offensive power when you choose Gear Up over Shift Gear, but the defensive buffer is invaluable against burst damage. Keep in mind, your Defense and Sp. Defense are building up as the Soul-Heart meter fills up, so a sizable shield becomes even stronger with enough Soul-Heart meter backing you up. Ideally, you'll want to use Gear Up to stomach the powerful attacks thrown your way while charging Hyper Beam, before expending the rest of the meter to hasten the activation of the move.

Against bulky opponents, the defensive power isn't as useful. I mean, sure, you could foil their attempts to hinder you, but then you'll end up in a stalemate. Thankfully, you get some extra firepower by using Shift Gear instead.

-

Move 1b: Shift Gear (Buff)

The user switches to high gear, increasing its Sp. Attack, basic attack speed, Movement Speed, and can use its basic attack while moving. Its Movement Speed also normalizes while charging Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, or Fleur Cannon. Additionally, the user can direct Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, and Fleur Cannon when these moves are unleashed. 9.5s cooldown.

At Level 11, Shift Gear becomes Shift Gear+.

Further increases Sp. Attack, basic attack speed, and Movement Speed.

Shift Gear increases your Sp. Attack, basic attack speed, and Movement Speed by 20% for 6 seconds. Shift Gear+ increases these boosts to 30% instead.

In addition, your basic attack speed can be used while moving. You can also move at normal speeds while charging Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, and Fleur Cannon.

When these attacks are unleashed, they can be aimed with the Right Control Stick. In the case of Flash Cannon, the landing site can be directed about an extra 50% distance outward.

In heavy duty machinery, there is a baseline of performance it is expected to operate at. It costs more energy to run at a higher power, but the secret to squeezing more torque out of your gears for less is simple, use bigger gears. It's as easy as attaching a small gear and a big gear to a spindle, but higher operating power causes wear and tear sooner than later. Therefore, these machines have a shift function similar to the manual stick in an old fashioned car, which allows the machine to shift into a higher power when the situation calls for it.

All of that is to say, Magearna has a built in overdrive mode for extreme threats. I don't know what the original designer thought Magearna needed to defend itself from, but foresight is twenty twenty, and this seems like overkill.

Also, Magearna does not retreat into its compressed ball form when it uses Shift Gear, as the gears in its body that are running into overdrive need the space in its body cavity to operate.

Anyway, Shift Gear is a powerful boost for Magearna, as it not only boosts your Sp. Attack and basic attack speed, it also increases your Movement Speed, mixing together the buffs granted by X Attack and X Speed, though not as strong individually.

The real value of the boost is how it lets Magearna move while using its basic attack, a powerful volley of shots that increase the more your Soul-Heart meter fills. This lets you strafe about while attacking, allowing Magearna to move into more optimal positions while mashing the basic attack button.

This mobility boost also extends to the charge period of Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, and Fleur Cannon. Normally, your Movement Speed dips very low while charging these moves, but Shift Gear normalizes your speed. What that means is the boost nullifies the speed drop of those charge effects, neutralizing the Movement Speed penalty. This also means that you can then buff your speed with X Speed or another speed boosting boon from an ally, like Eldegoss' Leaf Tornado, and receive the full benefits of the boosts.

The last boon that Shift Gear provides is the ability to direct Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, and Fleur Cannon when those attacks come out. You still become rooted to the ground, immobile, for the moment when the attack comes out, but it lets you more accurately aim the attack, especially if you just barely missed your target. Ideally, you'll want to cover more area to damage multiple enemies at once instead of relying on the directing of the attack to patch up your shoddy aiming, but hey, anything can happen in the heat of battle.

While it may seem like Shift Gear is superior to Gear Up in terms of damage, that's because it is, that's the point. While Shift Gear can put some extra damage on opposing tanks, Gear Up provides a reliable defensive boost and has a lower cooldown. Also, Magearna has no way to heal itself, so defensive builds will make the most of the boons gifted by Gear Up, whereas Shift Gear allows Magearna to deal critical damage needed to break through hardy Defenders and bulky All-Rounders.

Whether you need a defensive buffer or more firepower, this maid will always deliver.

-

At Level 9, Hyper Beam becomes either Flash Cannon or Fleur Cannon.

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Move 2a: Flash Cannon (Area)

The user holds up one arm and begins to charge intense light energy. When unleashed, the light bomb is launched at the designated area, falling slowly. This move generates more Soul Heart power if it KO's a pokemon. 8s cooldown.

At Level 13, Flash Cannon becomes Flash Cannon+.

Increases the falling speed of the attack.

It takes 3 seconds for Flash Cannon to fully charge up. However, when Flash Cannon is unleashed, it takes an additional 2 seconds for the projectile to fall to the ground. The explosion of the attack is very large to compensate. Flash Cannon+ shortens the fall speed to 1.5 seconds.

Your Movement Speed reduces by 65% while charging.

KO's generate 3x more Soul-Heart meter.

Magearna is equipped with all kinds of weaponry, but in the interest of fairness, it is only allowed to pick a select few while in Unite Battles. One option is a mortar shell made of metallic light energy, it's not exactly covert, but big explosions rarely are.

Still, your opponents will not want to linger in the area when they see Magearna charging Flash Cannon. Not only is it a powerful attack, but it covers a wide area. It also has the shortest charge time of your moves, though 3 seconds of charging followed by 2 seconds of air time is still not all that fast, and is easy to dodge.

The utility of the move comes from the area it covers, as the long charge time means the move is allowed to compensate for this with high damage. In a heated team fight, the enemy's attention will be split among your allies, making this the best time to fire off Flash Cannon. If you manage to launch it and score a KO, the Soul-Heart meter gained will triple, making it very easy to invest in the charge time by shortening it with the Soul-Heart Ability.

But that's why the attack has 2 seconds of hang time in the air. You can shorten the charge by activating the Ability, but then the attack wouldn't be fair for the enemy if it immediately came out, being impossible to dodge. Flash Cannon+ shortens the air time, but not by much, but the move is already so powerful, even a marginal boost magnifies the effectiveness of the attack.

Just like with Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon reacts to the effective boost of either Gear Up or Shift Gear. During Gear Up, Flash Cannon creates an even bigger explosion. Given the defensive buffer of Gear Up, you can maintain a fortified defensive position while threatening explosive damage, so much so that you can even withstand damage while at low Soul-Heart meter. The idea here being that, in situations where your Soul-Heart meter is very low, any high damage output you can muster will have to come from either Flash Cannon or Fleur Cannon, but the high charge time makes you vulnerable to unrelenting attacks, which is where the defensive boons of Gear Up would come into play.

In situations against bulky Defenders and All-Rounders, Shift Gear is the superior choice, as you can break through their high HP with the damage and basic attack speed boost. It also lends itself the ability to attack from a distance, with how mobile you can get while using your basic attack. You can maintain the extra distance by directing Flash Cannon, as Shift Gear lets you push it out an extra step or two. By putting offensive pressure on the enemy without jeopardizing your own health, you're making steady progress.

Flash Cannon also has lower cooldown than Fleur Cannon, which makes it easier to use repeatedly. However, Flash Cannon cannot hope to replicate the sheer awesome power beheld by Fleur Cannon.

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Move 2b: Fleur Cannon (Ranged)

The user generates intense fairy energy in one arm. When unleashed, the beam is fired in the designated direction, greatly damaging all enemies in range. This move generates more Soul Heart power if it KO's a pokemon. 10.5s cooldown.

At Level 13, Fleur Cannon becomes Fleur Cannon+.

Reduces the cooldown of this move.

It takes Fleur Cannon 4 seconds to fully charge. The beam is massive and reaches very far, lingering for 1.5 seconds.

Fleur Cannon+ reduces the cooldown of the move to 8.5 seconds.

Your Movement Speed reduces by 80% while charging.

KO's generate 2.5x more Soul-Heart meter.

Take Venusaur's Solar Beam, add 4 seconds of charge time before the move actually comes out. Extend it a little in length and width. Also, while it is charging, there is a slight audible gleaming sound coming from wherever Magearna is. Now, when the actual attack comes out, the enemy will be hit with a blinding ray of pink fairy energy, and there will be screaming and crying during and after the attack.

That's what Fleur Cannon is like.

The sheer size and power of Fleur Cannon makes it worth the high cooldown and charge time of the attack, and even if it wasn't, you can shorten the charge time with the Soul-Heart Ability. Of course, you still need to have a moderate amount of Soul-Heart meter to spend to shorten the charge time of the attack, but cutting it down by any amount will make it a powerful asset during fights.

Because of how similar Fleur Cannon is to Hyper Beam, a lot of what has been said applies to this move in every way, so I'm not gonna waste time repeating myself. Just keep in mind how Fleur Cannon works with Gear Up and Shift Gear. Gear Up gives you defensive power to withstand hits and charge Fleur Cannon, making it easy to guard Goal Zones. Shift Gear, in contrast, makes you more mobile and lets you aim Fleur Cannon slightly when the attack comes out, covering more space.

You can only have either Flash Cannon or Fleur Cannon, not both. You cannot combine the explosive power of Flash Cannon with the overwhelming projection of Fleur Cannon. Yes, Magearna can learn both moves normally, but it cannot combine the both of them in one attack, that's just not how it works in Pokemon.

In Pokemon Unite, that's a different story.

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Unite Move: Soul-Heart Resonance (Area)

The user gathers fairy energy from all around itself and draws it into its arms. The fairy energy damages opposing pokemon as it is drawn in. When fully charged, the user launches a powerful projectile made of fairy energy forward in the designated direction. Opposing pokemon will be damaged by the resulting explosion, receiving increased damage the less HP they have. During the charge, the range of Soul-Heart increases and more Soul-Heart power is generated if this Unite Move KO's opposing pokemon. 133s cooldown.

The fairy energy is pulled from all around the user and appears as pink lights being drawn towards Magearna. This light show damages all enemies in a wide radius for 3 seconds.

When fully charged, a large spherical projectile made of fairy energy is launched forward. The projectile erupts in an explosion of fairy energy on hit with a wall or enemy.

The explosion deals extra damage scaling with the amount of missing HP the affected enemies have.

Normally, the Soul-Heart ability only draws in residual soul energy from nearby KO'd pokemon, but during the charging of Soul-Heart Resonance, the range widens greatly. All Soul-Heart meter gained from KO's from this Unite Move increase by 3.5x.

The Soul-Heart Ability can be activated to shorten the charge time of Soul-Heart Resonance.

Magearna is not a weapon.

It is a friend, first and foremost, and a pokemon second.

That said, friends are empowered by their loyalty and dependence on each other, so in order to protect its friends, Magearna needs power. That must be what the original creator of Magearna thought to justify the Soul-Heart Resonance attack. This protocol has Magearna gather up all the residual Soul-Heart energy from all around itself, temporarily going over capacity, before projecting it forward. The attack is dangerous from the get-go, as the volatile nature of Soul-Heart means that it deals damage as Magearna collects this mysterious energy.

And when the attack is launched, something is surely gonna get vaporized.

Soul-Heart Resonance is a very powerful attack. Normally, Magearna converts Soul-Heart energy within its body into power for its attacks, but Soul-Heart Resonance processes the fairy energy in the air at the same time it is drawn in. That is why the charge deals damage passively in a large area before the actual attack comes out. This is bad news for the enemy, as not only are the frail Attackers and Speedsters in danger of getting KO'd, but so are the All-Rounders and Defenders, because the explosive blast of fairy energy deals extra damage based on the missing HP of its targets.

The crazy part is that this charge can also be shortened by the Soul-Heart Ability. However, given that the explosion deals extra damage scaling with the amount of missing HP the enemy has, missing HP lost as a result of the charging fairy energy being drawn in, it will be up to the player on if they use this charge shortening effect or not. Maybe an important KO will get away if you don't cut the charge short, or you're in danger of getting KO'd yourself if you don't let loose the attack in time. Whether or not you have Soul-Heart meter to use, the option is there.

And if you don't, Soul-Heart Resonance grants you 3.5x more Soul-Heart meter gain if you KO a pokemon with this attack, giving you greater dividends off of just one or two KO's on the opposing team. The problem is gonna be actually landing the attack, the damaging light show is very hard to ignore, and with the way the lights flicker and draw towards Magearna, you're leaving yourself open to snipers and long range attacks like Lucario's Aura Cannon, so don't get cocky with Soul-Heart Resonance, especially if you're by yourself.

Maids usually work in teams, you know.

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Achievements

Use Soul-Heart to shorten the charge time of Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, and Fleur Cannon for a total of 30 seconds.

The core of Magearna's gameplay is its Soul-Heart Ability. Coincidentally, the core of Magearna is its Soul-Heart, which makes the body of the pokemon more like a mech suit by proxy.

In order to earn this Achievement, you have to use the Soul-Heart meter liberally to reduce the cooldown of Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, and Fleur Cannon. That means you need to fill the meter first before you can spend it. Thankfully, filling it up is the easy part, as it runs on KO's. In fact, you don't even have to be the one to KO anything to fill it up, you only need to be nearby when something gets Knocked Out, though the amount of Soul-Heart meter gained varies depending on the number of Aeos Orbs the Wild Pokemon is worth, and the Level of the KO'd player pokemon.

Once you have some amount filled, you'll have to learn when and where to use Soul-Heart. Because the Achievement stipulates that you have to use one of three moves, you will always have some way to earn merit for this Achievement. I mean, you could fire off instant warning shots at no one, but given how difficult it is to regain Soul-Heart meter, you're better off fishing for KO's, especially since these attacks have a boosted refund effect when you land a KO.

Remember that Soul-Heart as an Ability is also passively boosting your defenses as well as your healing potential, so sacrificing all of it just to skip the charge of your most powerful moves is a highly risky, highly rewarding gamble. Which is why it is ill-advised to use it all up wantonly just to earn this Achievement. Magearna has no way to heal itself outside of items, but increasing its reception to healing makes it easier to support.

That said, you'll also have to learn how to time the Soul-Heart Ability to shorten the charge time of Hyper Beam, Flash Cannon, and Fleur Cannon. By that I mean learn how to quantify the charge time of these moves. In my vision, these moves will have a percentage on display underneath the HP bar when they are used, which fills up from 0% to 100%, depending on the charge time of the move used. That does mean that they will all charge at different speeds, so it might take some getting used to. Visualizing the charge percentage in this way means you'll be able to tell how much the Soul-Heart meter will be drained to shorten the charge of the attack.

Now, to be blunt, it will take something to the effect of 6 instant Hyper Beams to earn this Achievement, since your objective is to shorten the charge time of these attacks collectively by 30 seconds. That's far from ideal, and not realistic. Spending 50% of the Soul-Heart meter to halve the charge time of Fleur Cannon results in 2 seconds saved, which means you would have to do that 12 times or so to earn this Achievement.

In order to profit off of spending all of that Soul-Heart meter, you have to aim for KO's when you shorten the charge time of these attacks. Each of these moves grants a major refund of Soul-Heart meter off of a KO, but it will never be enough to fully replace what was spent, unless you KO more than one enemy with the attack. You're best bet to maximize the return on Soul-Heart is to adequately combine the range boosts of Gear Up or Shift Gear with your chosen attacking move to expand your influence, greatly increasing your likelihood of earning a KO during a team fight.

To master Magearna, you have to take this advice to heart, or should I say, to Soul-Heart.

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Holowear

Just a reminder, 'Holowear' gets its name from the holographic articles of clothing made for the pokemon, as they are made of light so as to not impede the pokemon in any way during battles. The pokemon are 'wearing holograms', hence the tearm 'Holowear'. That's a good thing, as I'm sure regular clothing will get torn to shreds by Magearna's body when it has to transform.

Starting things off, we have the classic Cook Style Holowear, giving Magearna a cook's shirt and tie, apron, and sash with ladles and spatulas tied to it, no room for big hats, unfortunately. For a more regal flair, Fair Style Holowear sees Magearna dress like a medieval princess, with the pointy hat and flowing dress. Magical Style Holowear gives it a curved witch hat with a short brim, with its 'ears' sticking out, and a modest robe to cover its torso and ball body. Leaning more into the fantastical side of things, Celestial Style Holowear decorates its body with stars and rings, to give it a sort of heavenly vibe. Lastly, Chrono Style Holowear venerates Magearna with large clock hands pointing out from behind its head, the Roman Numerals I to XII pinned on its body in a clockwise pattern, several brass pins and coils on its body, and a toy Hoothoot on a mechanical arm clipped onto its head pointing forward, making it look like some sort of time god.

Yes, I know what the real time god looks like, but let Magearna have the moment, ok?

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Strategy

Oh Magearna, sweet little toy, age has not weakened you or your gears in the slightest, have they? You remember how your friend would smile and laugh at your dances. You reminisce on the love felt by their hands as they cleaned your body down with a rag, polishing to a shine. Ah, but those days are gone now, but your memories persist. You remember what friendship feels like, it empowers you. Though friends are temporary, change is forever. Wield the power of friendship like a blade, and you will have the power to keep your loved ones close.

Magearna is a pokemon cursed by time. Its immortal body forces it to watch life march onward without it, like a clock. As such, its Soul-Heart ability is well suited to capturing the power of friendship of its allies and turning it into a wish, a hope for victory. When pokemon nearby are KO'd, the Soul-Heart meter is filled slightly. With this Soul-Heart meter, Magearna is capable of great things.

As an All-Rounder, Magearna is capable of heavy firepower and impenetrable defenses, but it cannot excel at either one. This is evident with its Level Up choice of Gear Up and Shift Gear, forcing it to choose between defense and offense. The choice may not always be clear, depending on the battle, so the onus is on the player to identify which move is best.

Between Flash Cannon and Fleur Cannon, the former holds a surprising amount of defensive potential. For having the shortest charge time and cooldown, Flash Cannon helps fortify Goal Zones by threatening major damage to the area it is launched at. Given its slow projectile speed, the high damage justifies the drawbacks of using Flash Cannon offensively. No opponent will dare to make for an offensive push if Magearna is nearby charging Flash Cannon.

And if Magearna has chosen Fleur Cannon instead, the entire Lane is the danger zone for the enemy.

Fleur Cannon is not an instant victory, however, due to the move's high charge time, high cooldown, and high dependency on the Soul-Heart meter in order to be used effectively. While it can be used without any charge time reduction, Magearna suffers the greatest Movement Speed penalty while using the move, without the buff from Shift Gear. If used during a team fight, an especially bold opponent can try and close the distance before the attack comes out.

In this situation, there are three things to consider. If Magearna has a sizable amount of Soul-Heart meter, the Ability can and should be activated to shorten the charge of Fleur Cannon. In this scenario, the enemy will have very little time to react to the attack, but it will force you to expend much of the meter just to skip the charge time, which would have rendered you vulnerable. If you don't have a lot of Soul-Heart meter, this will put you in a precarious position, as low Soul-Heart meter also means you aren't buffed with a lot of Defense and Sp. Defense. In contrast, if your Soul-Heart meter is nearly full, you might actually be able to stomach the oncoming attack with the defense boosts, so it might not be worth spending so much of the Soul-Heart meter in a panic.

Speaking of which, since Magearna doesn't need to KO a pokemon to generate Soul-Heart meter, only needs to be close by, it could make do with the EXP Share item to help itself and its teammate. Of course, this means forgoing the Central Area at the start of the game. Ah, but the Wild Pokemon in the Central Area are worth more Soul-Heart meter in total compared to the ones in either Top or Bottom Lane, so it's up to you on which area benefits your build and playstyle the most.

In regards to actual combat, Magearna does need not just souls for its Soul-Heart meter, but also EXP, since it gets its first evolved Move at Level 7, and then once more at Level 9. Being a Mythical Pokemon comes with its ups and downs, and being so EXP hungry can be mildly burdensome to the team if you fall behind. As such, you'll have to play dirty to score some cheap KO's to come ahead in the level curve, but this can lead to some interesting situations.

How many times has this happened to you? You're behind on EXP, so you splinter off from the pack to take on Wild Pokemon. Just as you're about to Level Up, your KO gets taken from you from an ally or enemy. It's infuriating for the average player, but for Magearna, not so much. Remember, whether or not Magearna actually lands the KO, the Soul-Heart meter will be filled. You'll lose out on the stolen EXP, but your Soul-Heart meter is filled all the same. If you've been grinding EXP for a while, you'll find yourself with a close to full amount by this point, which means that, if you choose to, you can engage the enemy with bolstered defenses, improved healing abilities, and the ability to launch a surprise Hyper Beam at your leisure. These boons can make up for the Level disparity against an overleveled enemy, but you still run the risk of getting KO'd. Still, this power is leverage for you, and well worth the risk.

But if you do get KO'd, you'll lose out on the Soul-Heart meter you've built up. That means that after biting the dust, you'll have to build it all up all over again, which means joining more fights. If it happens just before a critical moment, the lost defenses might end up losing you Rayquaza or Zapdos. Again, it's up to you on whether or not the fight is worth it, but the risk is easier when it's shared between you and a Supporter ally.

Soul-Heart increases not just your defenses, but also your healing potential. A simple Potion may become even more effective when the Soul-Heart meter is full. This also extends to items like Shell Bell, which is a small consolation for those games you join without a healing Supporter. But if you do pair up with a healer, you're gonna have to work to keep each other safe. I mean, it goes without saying, support your Supporters, but it seems so easy to forget nowadays.

The other thing Soul-Heart boosts is your basic attack, though that is a feature of the basic attack itself, not the Ability. Magearna can launch multiple projectiles through its arms with its basic attack, but these projectiles scale very low to your Sp. Attack. It's for balancing reasons, due to how many shots you can fire by mashing the basic attack button. The power boost of your basic attack is also a compelling reason to keep your Soul-Heart meter filled, as basic attacks generally never miss and cover a wide range around you. You can only hit one enemy at a time, and you're at the mercy of your basic attack settings, but it's a reliable attack when all of your other moves are on cooldown.

Now, because of how much stronger Magearna becomes the more its Soul-Heart meter fills up, it can become difficult for the enemy team to take on when it has fully powered up. A filled Soul-Heart gives Magearna increased defenses and healing ability, its basic attack power has doubled, and it can unleash its powerful cannon moves instantaneously, so what recourse is there for the enemy team?

Patience.

If Magearna has full Soul-Heart meter, it will not gain anything extra from more KO's nearby, leading to a sunk-cost fallacy. This makes Magearna strong, but also impulsive on when and where it uses its instant cannon attacks. Good Magearna players will balance the Soul-Heart meter with the potential Soul-Heart gain from getting KO's with its attacks. Great Magearna players will cash in only the necessary amount of meter to secure important attacks, to secure the refund from the KO's it gets.

Between all Magearna players, they will have to use up Soul-Heart meter for its attacks, and that moment after spending is when they are most vulnerable. Using up Soul-Heart meter reduces the defensive buffs and power for their basic attack. Granted, Magearna still hits hard and has high defensive stats without Soul-Heart, but its healing potential is also reduced, so going for the KO at this point is the most optimal plan of counterattack. Savvy players will spend their Potions just before using up the Soul-Heart meter, but against equally savvy opponents, this can quickly turn into a game of chicken, betting their HP until one folds.

Without Soul-Heart meter, Flash Cannon and Fleur Cannon turn into suspenseful attacks. The attack will deal big damage, but Magearna is just as vulnerable during the charge of these attacks. If it gets KO'd, the attack will be stifled. This makes Magearna vulnerable against opportunistic Speedsters. Even with a half full Soul-Heart meter, the enemy only needs to bait out the Soul-Heart charge attack before going in for the kill.

Of course, Magearna can defend itself with its basic attack, but this backup plan falls apart if it has to fight a 2-on-1 onslaught. Magearna also struggles against Defenders, who can power through its basic attacks and cannon moves. The faster Defenders like Crustle and Blastoise will give Magearna the run around as well, and when you add in Hindrances, it becomes very difficult for Magearna to get a leg up on the competition.

This is what I mean when I say the choice between Gear Up and Shift Gear isn't always gonna be clear cut. Magearna is notoriously vulnerable to Hindrances due to the Movement Speed penalty and charge time of its cannon attacks, so it needs clever use of Gear Up and Shift Gear to work around Hindrances. Gear Up helps it ignore Hindrances all together, but Shift Gear makes you mobile enough to dodge them. The correct choice is more nuanced than that, with moves like Charizard's Flare Blitz nullifying the agility boost of Shift Gear, but like I said, that's where the player skill comes in. Correctly identify which fight to prepare for and Magearna will serve to satisfy.

Magearna, at your service.

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And that's Magearna for Pokemon Unite!

I was originally gonna make Magearna an EX pokemon, but then Pokemon Unite did away with the classification a few months ago. It's just a title anyway, and it's not like Magearna is so powerful that it required an EX moniker or something to that effect.

I will be having an EX pokemon in this season, though, and a properly powerful one too. Look forward to it when the season comes to a close.

Magearna marks the halfway point of Season 4. Let's keep up the pace. For the next pokemon, here's a hint.

Until next time, see ya.

[geth-consensus]

One of my least favorite tropes is what I'm calling the "overly hyper-competent antagonist". This is where the antagonist is somehow always 5 steps ahead of the protagonists, even when it makes no logical sense for them to be so.

Example: How did the bad guy find the ancient lost temple before our protagonists, when it took the protagonists solving a very specific puzzle designed to locate it in the first place? If the stories answer to that question is "shoulder shrug" and to just proclaim the villain brilliant for having figured it out, then that's lazy writing in my opinion.

And more then that, it also robs the agency/hard work of our protagonists. No matter how hard they try. No matter how much the scene tries to convince you they finally have a leg up on the villain. You know it's just going to be undercut by the antagonist already being there, or by having them show up miraculously just behind the protagonists after they've done all the leg work.

Or for instance if the protagonists have a brilliant plan to foil some scheme or such of the antagonist, but said antagonist has already formulated some absurdly clairvoyant counter measure to it. It just makes it feel like there's no back and forth. No sense of any real tension.

I don't believe that any character should be perfect. You can allow your antagonist to chalk up more wins up than the protagonists over the course of the story. That's fine. But you should also allow your protagonists some wins too. And I mean wins more then just "surviving/escaping the villains brilliant plan". They should have wins that derive from there own initiative. There own skills. A win that the antagonist couldn't, or was unable to, prevent from happening.

Because ultimately, that's a story I'm more willingly able to buy into. That feels more authentic. And that I am actually able to suspend my disbelief for.

[demo-ness]

okay i finished, dungeon meshi good 👍

normally i'd ramble in the tags, but spoilers, so read-more:

i'm surprised the idea of an ouroboros never really got introduced or alluded to or anything. it has eating AND represents the endless cycle of life and death, which are both things the story seemed really thoughtful about

i also actually became VERY convinced that the idea of "eating yourself infinitely" would be the solution to the infinite thing that wants to consume for all eternity. narratively it makes the most sense that Laios got to eat the demon's desire and fully establish the eat-or-be-eaten thing, so i'm pretty satisfied with that, but like..... i just feel like it's weird for the representation of infinity to have a finite amount of desire is all. i guess the argument would be that because communication and being represented in the main world must be finite, the personality had to be finite too? it's whatever

there's probably a solid explanation out there, but i'm also not TOTALLY convinced on which thing was meant to be Laios' ultimate desire that he was cursed to never have. i THINK the always-hungry thing is just meant to be a side effect of what he went through, and not the curse? and the real curse was that monsters avoid him? but then the cockatrice at the very end couldn't run away as he approached, so it's not like that has any magically binding element to it like the phoenix not hurting Yaddo. so they might just be afraid of him and just straightforwardly avoid him for that?

it's meant to be ambiguous, so that's also fine

my favorite character conclusion was probably Mithrun's. Kabru's thoughts on new desires and stuff was really good, it's such an obvious solution in hindsight and a lot of this story is about not suspending your disbelief in-universe about the fantastical elements, which is what prevents you from thinking about that sort of detail. it really fits with the stuff like "well dragons are ultimately just creatures too"

also my reading experience was probably fucked because i follow someone who got into dungeon meshi WAY before this popularity spike, presumably while it was still being written. i think i must have seen an incorrect theory post or something, but i was primed to think Kabru was like.... possessed by the demon or smth? it killed him and took his place? idk i thought he'd have a WAY larger role in the story then he ended up having lmao (not that his actual role was small, but you know what i mean)