#its a helmet swap but with only one helmet lol

[landonor]

lando and esteban omg

[coldgoldlazarus]

Okay, mostly done screeching in excitement, now it's analysis time.

First point: That purple blast of the turret getting taken out looks great.

Looks like we're opening hot, a lot like Corruption's beginning. Hopefully won't be quite as protracted as the Norion battle, though, lol.

Also, I've seen some jokes already about how this section will end with Samus getting depowered like the openings of Prime and Echoes, but given how barebones her arsenal seems to be here, (missiles and morph ball, which sometimes she just starts with and keeps, maybe bombs too) I don't expect that to happen.

The HUD and helmet edges are a lot more dialed back this time, pushed as far into the corners as they can go. Probably better for visibility this way, but I am gonna miss the more wraparound feel of the previous setup, with the missile count and hazard meter along the sides. But this isn't a bad look by any means, and we still have a fair few items here.

A & B: My bet is this is the replacement for the old hazard meter. In addition to keeping it out of the way, putting it right next to the motion tracker is a good move. I may actually remember to use that more this way.

C: Health bar is obvious, of course, but I really like the move of tucking it away into the notch on the top of the Echoes/Corruption/Beyond(!) helmet visor. The lines around it suggest an empty row above, undoubtedly for the energy tank pips once those are picked up.

D & E: Minimap is present as usual, not really much to say there, but I love the addition of a compass direction scroll beneath it, which should be helpful for putting places in context of the broader map. (Tallon IV's elevator label system, anyone?)

F: Missile count has been shunted down from the side to the bottom corner. I'm interested to see if it will grow upward, or just stay in its present spot and scale accordingly, as you collect more expansions.

G: This is the one everyone's already pointed out, but it seems that we won't have a visor OR beam swap readout.

Scan Visor is still an option as shown in the next bit, but based on the lack of an indicator in the hud, it's probably just going to be a toggle between that and combat, without anything else like X-Ray or Thermal or Echo or what have you. (Or it could be that that would only get added to the HUD after picking up a third visor, but I won't hold my breath for it.) Kinda disappointing to deemphasize one of the cool new mechanics the Prime subseries brought to the table, on one hand, but I'm still grateful to have the Scanner, and the extra ones always did struggle a bit to see much use.

Similarly, a bit disappointed this means we're probably looking at a stacking beam like in Corruption and the 2D games, (unless of course beam swapping is still there and just being left off the HUD until relevant for the sake of cleanliness #copium) but not entirely surprising; I'll live.

But what is interesting is what's there instead. The D-Pad seems to be tied to non-Beam weapons or tools instead, with the missile launcher as the only one available at present. I'm really curious to see what the other items will be; I imagine this is going to be Prime 4's unique spin on things. I saw someone suggest affinity weapons like in Hunters, but given those all function like Beams, it feels weird to me to set them against Missiles instead, ammunition requirements notwithstanding. I'm not going to rule those out, of course, but I could see this being something completely different entirely.

Again, I am very glad to see the Scan Visor is still here at least. Even better is that it uses the full-body highlighting of objects like Echoes and Corruption instead of Prime 1's icons. Pretty minimalistic layout, all told; I like that the scanning bar is a ring now. And it doesn't reflect Samus's face by default like in Corruption, which makes sense since we're not liable to have the same kind of mutation shenaniganry happening here.

I forgot to snag a screencap of this bit on my computer, so forgive the lower quality, but this scene is interesting for a few reasons.

The Pirates' breaching charges letting them into this room just as Samus passes through a gap in the wall overhead is a nice touch, and also remniscent of some sequences from early on in Corruption.

The Federation guys in here seem to be wheeling away someone or something on a stretcher in a hurry. That could be important.

Energy tank up in the rail section, but blocked by a box. Are we just going to bomb through to get it right away, or will we drop down into the room, and have to come back from the other direction to pick it up? (Please be the other direction)

Samus looking spiffy here, even at a distance. And as some have pointed out, looks like she's walking out of a portal instead of a door, pointing to either more dimension-hopping shenanigans like in Echoes, or possibly the time travel elements I recall hearing Tanabe wanted to play with at some point. (This plus the black hole look of the logo makes me think this could be more likely.)

Whatever the nature of the portal, though, the interesting thing to me is the sort of circular structure in the rock around it, suggesting a doorframe almost. A lot of the portals on Aether seemed to actively cut into the environment at random, the rock carved out in perfect spheres with fucked-up edges, and interrupting the pre-existing architecture or geology. In contrast, this looks like it was put here on purpose, implying a more controlled creation. Potentially really fascinating implications in that.

I also kinda wonder if these portals will be replacing elevators as a way to get between regions.

Ignoring the big numbers in the middle, (though they do kinda mess with my prediction that Prime 4 was going to be a 2024 holiday title to avoid getting eaten by Switch 2's inevitable 3D Mario launch title,) a couple things stand out to me here.

Giant tree in the background is giant, and I love it for that. Also looks like it's not the only giant tree here, even if still probably the biggest. I hope we get to go there later.

But in addition, we have a bridge in the middle distance, and a tunnel opening in the foreground. I will eat my hat if we don't get to cross that bridge, and my bet is that they're going to pull a similar trick here as with Skytown, letting low-poly versions of other "rooms" be visible from the current one, but dividing them with interior sections for optimization reasons, allowing for amazing landscapes of all traversible terrain. I loved that there, it looks great here, I can't wait to go explore all this myself next year.

[kat-the-meme-dealer]

i made a smash bros moveset for the lethal company boi. might post more if yall like it

Name: employee

Series: lethal company

Trailer Tagline: the employee makes the quota

Icon: im not sure if theres a proper symbol. but i feel like the employees mask would be a good one

Color swap palettes: we can use the existing suits wich are green, hazard, pajama, purple, bee, bunny, and since were one short lets have the masked as one (bonus note: maybe half the swaps can use the stop sign, and the other half can use the yeild sign lol)

Intro: appears in a beam of light as if teleported in then picks up a conveinetly placed stop sign

Alternate movement options: no

Attacks: (How will your fighter attack?)

A: swings sign like a bat

AA: again

AAA: overhead bash

A Side: jabs the sign striaght forward

A Dash: leaps forward with a kitchen knife

A Down: swings it along the ground

A Up: swings it overhead

Air Neutral: spins the sign like a baton

Air Forward: hjonk a squeeze horn

Air Back: jabs back with the signs post/handle

Air Up: swipes overhead with a kitchen knife

Air Down: slaps down the flat front of the sign. (yes it spikes)

Charge Smash Side: plant the sign in the ground and pull it back before letting it go SMACKing anyone in the way

Charge Smash Up: dig a shovel into the ground and use it to fling up dirt

Charge Smash Down: pick up some metal scrap and get struck by lightning

Grab: one handed collar grab

Grab A: a quick stab with the kitchen knife

Throw Forward: light a diy flashbang in the foes face blasting them away

Throw Back: scoop the foe up with a shovel throwing them back

Throw Up: place an extending ladder on the ground and toss the foe onto it causing the ladder to shoot up knocking em away

Throw Down: give the foe a facefull of airhorn before shoving them to the ground

Up Taunt: looks around as a blue light blinks on the helmets visor, as if using the scanner

Side Taunt: pulls out and reads a clipboard

Down Taunt: point at something random, might be a foe, might be an item on the ground...

B Moves: (What will your fighters B special moves and customs moves be?)

Normal B: inventory use (use the currently equipped item. ill list them in the down b)

Side B: shotgun (pull out and fire the shotgun. its a very poweful move against sheilds and also knocks you back a bit due to recoil, has a bit of a cooldown)

Down B: inventory (pull a chosen item from the inventory simaller to heros spells. heres your options: theres a pack of shotgun shells tat let you fire twice before cooldown, a can of spray paint that acts like pirahna plants poison cloud but smaller, the sun grenade wich is like a deku nut but with a bigger blast area, a TZP inhaler that gives you a buff to your speed and lag, the zap gun wich can be shot at a foe to hold them in place for a second, a circut beehive wich acts the same as the item and finally... random scrap. its just an item you can throw... note that all this is random of course youll only get 4 at a time to choose from and they CAN repeat.)

Up B: jetpack (lets you rocket in a chosen direction with little control. you can use it twice in a row before it runs out of feul sending you into freefall. if you run into someone with it the jetpack will explode dealing big damage to both the enemy and you! youll also go into freefall-)

Final Smash: bird barrage (pull a pirahna plant and summon an old bird to the stage that slowly lumbers around shooting at everything. YOU INCLUDED IF YOU DONT GET OUTTA THE WAY-)

Victory Poses: (How will your fighter celebrate they're victory?)

Option 1: is seen walking alongside a lootbug before just handing over some scrap to it. the little guy then scurries off happily while the employee just seems annoyed

Option 2: walks up holding a boom box in one hand and a gold bar in the other holding the latter up in the air

Option 3: the dropship lands infront of the camera and opens up revealing a group of employees doing the company jig

[maybe-boys-do-love]

The Trainee, episode 4:

1. The genres of it all!!! So fun, not only because they’re so fun and cheesy with the over-the-top romance and spy and body-swap, but because they were used for the purpose of deepening characters! Like, of course Pie lives inside of a narrative that involves super high stakes and strategizing with little trust in others. Ba-Mhee’s was obvious, but I’ll get back to it in a moment. And Pah’s body-swap is simply hilarious but it also shows how a) he connects so easily with others and b) these interns really are super fresh faces in this office that the employees don’t necessarily have strong relationships with yet, which gives us the question of whether that means these interns are going to be treated as dispensable or with respect and potential even though people don’t fully know who they are yet or what they’re capable of.

2. The production on this episode was incredible!!! Watch how many cuts, pans, and zooms happen as Ba-Mhee races to seduce Jane! It was all so clean and paced so well for the comedic beats. Also the color coordination during the split-screens in the calls was gorgeous (the colors in general on this show are so vivid, giving a comedic feel without ever feeling campy, which I find impressive)

3. And then the music!!! There’s a reason they cue us in to the idea of listening to multiple parts through the headphones and split screens! (You even get a moment of audio feedback when Tae talks while riding the motorbike, to remind you how important sound and sound quality is! It’s also the reason Ba-Mhee realizes he’s not wearing a helmet) They set up the genre’s so obviously, but the scoring that they use for them is what carries it through the rest of the episode. First, they bring the scoring of those genre scenes back-up as comedic sound cues when Pah insults them later. Then, the drums and upright bass followed by the strings and electric guitar from the spy theme start scoring immediately as the plan gets underway, letting us know how, despite being dismissed, Pie’s planning and genre are still a part of this team effort. Then vocals strike up when Ba-Mhee needs to play her role with Jane. Vocals were only a part of the music from her romance scene. But I lost it when instead of bringing in a sitar like the music she imagined, they throw in a kazoo as she’s forced to go down the slide to make it in time, altering her genre from straight romance into romantic comedy at best 🤣

4. I also just wanna give some kudos to Ba-Mhee and Piploy for finally getting to start to blossom in this episode. I was cackling so hard at her facial expressions.

And her timing was so spot on for the comedy. Excited to see her character get to develop, and I think that’s the point that we’re supposed to see in her romantic fantasy—how helpless she sees herself as, when in actuality she’s the active one always trying to help her man. It will be interesting to see how she gets to grow and recognize her strengths and put them into her career world. Already we saw her actually do a job because there were emergencies that she felt responsible for and Tae wasn’t in the editing room for her to fawn over instead! Also just excited for her to get to do more comedic stuff like this that’s less about her being clingy lol

5. And that feminist empowerment brings us to the sexual harassment stuff, which was cool to see the show attempting to discuss its occurrence in the industry even if I’m not sure that I feel it was a totally successful way to depict it in terms of the show maybe replicating some of that sexual harassment with the visuals. However, I think they probably showed something more close to reality than an ideal situation. It was stark but meaningful. It also gives room for them to develop this issue further in the series towards something more positive and gives room for the Pie and Ba-Mhee to develop in how they understand and deal with the problem itself and the feelings that living in a world saturated by misogyny in media, workplaces, and everyday life have harbored in them. The fact that these two were the ones whose fantasies we got to see into is especially meaningful with this in mind.

6. It must’ve been nice for Gun to have time off lololol. But actually, loving this as a workplace comedy first and foremost and a QL second, just because they’re doing the first part soooo well. But bring on the workplace romances, and I can’t wait for the episode when we get to see how HR at a production company works because everyone has to disclose their new relationships so HR has to reassign chains of command 🤣🤣🤣

[retphienix]

I am once again promoting the arc thrower (and requesting you learn how to actually use the arc thrower) because I love it so much and it's such an invaluable asset in a team setting.

Infinite ammo so you're less of a drain on resources- allowing more spammy weapons to be more useful for other players and for resupplies to be used more often for stim/grenade refills over "I ran out of ammo" situation.

Insane crowd clearing potential against both enemy factions, just aim towards them and fire- you only need to charge about 60% of the way after the first shot (full charge if it seems to stop firing properly to "reset" it), watch as your team alerts like 2 patrols the entire mission but you still ended up with 3-400 kills compared to them (not a brag, it's The Arc Throwers ROLE!!!)

This weapon is one of the absolute best swarm control weapons in the entire game, vastly outperforming all primaries (breaker be damned) and support weapons in regards to this role.

It also has a consolation prize of being "Okay" at handling heavies, but it's super not its role. You can spray lightning at a charger and kill it in like 20 shots which is "fine" and has the benefit of not caring about the armor at all, but that's still like 2 full charges and you dodging before it falls. Serviceable on normal difficulties, a death sentence of "Let's just send 4 chargers and a bile titan at them" difficulties. So if you're playing solo you're either going to be bringing exclusively strategems to handle heavies, avoiding all heavies, cursing under your breath at all heavies, or just swapping to the railgun's heavy reliability lol

The arc is like the best swarm tool for both bots and bugs, ignoring armor across the board and just puncturing them for free collaterals. Love this thing.

If you heed my call to throw lightning at the enemies of managed democracy, then keep in mind that as an arc main you're really trying to hone 2 skills.

POSITIONING. Because you want to make the 'arcs' of your thrower take out multiple ENEMIES every shot, not arc to teammates. It targets the nearest enemy to your (effective) crosshair with a preference to targeting whatever is closest to you between you and the crosshair, meaning you can't shoot over the shoulder of a teammate too effectively- please don't try (unless necessary), and it arcs AWAY from "you" if applicable or to DIRECTLY ADJACENT targets, so try aiming at the heart of packs of enemies or, if a teammate is "near" target the enemy furthest your teammate in a horizontal sense (furtherest left of them etc) to sort of "trim" the horde's edge and avoid melting your teammates helmet into their skin.

Part of what this means is you're not "really" going to be flanking too extremely with the arc because you don't want to end up opposite your teammates as you'll arc THROUGH the enemies and to your squad. 90 degree flanks are good, 180 are BAD (generally).

This also means elevation is god tier, in all scenarios you'll find that swinging the camera up as you fire to shoot ABOVE enemies does a good job of tricking the arcs into clearing terrain and hitting your target- elevation can alleviate the need to aim "above".

Situational awareness is half of the purpose of emphasizing positioning. This ALSO is in regards to the Arc's weakness. Nearby enemies. If an enemy gets within melee range then the arc really struggles to hit them resulting in you needing to either swap weapon, melee, or dive/run backwards to get proper "mid-close+ range" to properly use the weapon.

The arc is effective from roughly 52~ meters to roughly 3~.

Timing! Because the arc thrower does not need to charge to full to fire at full efficacy. Charging to full is more to "cement" that it will fire properly- useful for if it decides to stop firing properly and you need to shake it into acting properly. Timing to fire as fast as possible results in the thing shooting at nearly double the fire rate of someone charging to full each time- with no downside outside of the skill check of "if you let go too early then you don't fire at all!" so practice and get that rhythm!

[rewiredthethirdblog]

Kona cinder one i believe got the bike gg. Only had to pay $300 including installation of different saddle and tires parts thanks to the manager and of course the lady who helped put it all together! Excellent value. Didnt check for derailer hanger which is good in case you crash the bike derailer hanger is designed to pop off and brake so the frame isnt binned in case of a crash. The hybrid used tyres i selected are perfect for the bike. I knew by the handling and comfort and directness that the bike was good for me but man so glad i swapped out the old mtb tires (which had small annoying vibrations) to new ones. Holy fuck it makes the frame come alive and so fkn comfy now the bike literally i had no clue would feel this comfy with hybrid tyres on it. The quick release front end got the bike in the car fr but i had to mess with it quite a bit at home to make sure i wasnt damsging the disc brakes when i out it back together.

Gonna look at rj bike guys vids for some things for tommorrow. What i figured out is you leave both ends unscrewed so clamping force isnt too hard and also then spin the wheel with bike upside down and listen make sure disc brake sound is continuously scraping the pad smoothly not every other spin. This is how you know its straight in line correctly. Also dothis with 3/4 clamp for ease you dont have to have full clamp. Now allthats left before riding is a clean round the seatpost etc and saddle screwing in more since it wasnt perfectly tight etc. The girl didnt perfectly tighten it just enough to work but the seat was squiggly left right a bit so ill have to figure out how to edit that tomoz. Or take out seatpost snd do it todsy lol cbf. Also found my head light thingy does it stack with bike helmet? Lol.

[redrobbingabank]

Prison Break

Tw: lots of violence, blood

The white pastry box in her hands was heavy with the weight of the pie. Niki walked down the prime path the way she always did, smiling softly, sweater sleeves covering her hands. It had been a long time since she truly felt the way. She wasn’t sure when it had become a disguise, but it had, and everyone believed it without batting an eye. Beneath it, rage burned, hot but controlled. Always controlled. Her best weapon, she knew, was how she was perceived. Patience would pay off. Nothing but pain was coming for the people who’d locked her friend away.

She found Sam outside the museum. He leaned against the pillar, turning an unlit cigarette over and over in his fingers. He glanced up at her footsteps, then pushed himself off the pillar and pocketed the cigarette.

Niki smiled brightly. “Sam! I was just looking for you.” She hurried up the steps and under the awning outside the museum. The light rain a few feet away droned on. 

“Hey, Niki.” Sam sounded tired. He looked it, too. Purple bags under his eyes were made starker by the unhealthy pallor of his face. “How are you?”

“I’m good. Are you okay?” she asked, arranging her features into a concerned look. “You look exhausted.”

Sam blinked a few times. “Yeah, I’m good. Just all the stuff that’s happened around the prison. Tommy, you know?”

No mention of Techno. Nothing about the lies, about how he and Quackity had pulled him away from his damn birthday party to lure him in. Niki nodded understandingly. “I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end,” she said. Then she held out the box. “I made you a pie. Felt like you might need a pick me up on guard duty so often.”

A small smile appeared on Sam’s face. “Thanks, Niki. I really appreciate that.” He took the box, opening it to find a pumpkin pie and cutlery taped to the side. “Pumpkin! My favorite.”

“I was hoping I remembered right.” Niki smiled again. There was a chance it wouldn’t work, she knew. That Sam would set it aside for later. But he had a parentlike streak. Niki had seen it in his interactions with Tommy. So she tweaked her gaze, made it subtly more hopeful and excited. Sam noticed, and freed the fork from the side of the box. He relaxed a little at the first bite of the comfort food and immediately ate more. “It’s good?” Niki asked sweetly.

Sam nodded. “It’s amazing. Thank you, Niki, really. I needed this.” He swallowed another bite, and two things that would oppose each other happened. First, his eyes widened with panic. Then they began turning glassy. “What…” his knees buckled, and he slowly slid down the pillar before falling sideways. 

It had worked. Niki and Jack had been playing around for a while. Mixing potions together, testing the effects. They’d found a combination Jack had named Aurora’s Poison. Weakness, slowness, the scantest drop of harming, and a ground up petal from a wither rose. Death without stillness.

Sam’s face had taken on a bluish tinge, but his chest still moved up and down. His eyes were half open. “Niki… ” he mumbled, “help.”

Finally, the facade could fall. Niki’s smile turned into a cold smirk. She squatted beside him, strands of pink hair falling into her face. “Oh, Sam.” His lighter had fallen from his pocket. She picked it up and sparked it, studying the flame before looking back at him. “You don’t deserve my help.”

There was the faintest glimmer of realization in his eyes before they closed for good. “Sweet dreams, Warden. The Syndicate sends its regards,” Niki murmured. She stood. Let Quackity try to wake him. He was a living corpse.

She stepped back into the rain, her boots the only sound on the prime path as she returned to the underground bunker Techno had left in his instructions. Phil and Ranboo were already inside and suited up. There were two more pairs of netherite armor on stands against the back wall. One was for her. The second was for Techno.

“How’d it go?” Phil asked. 

“Perfectly,” she replied, tying the straps of the chestplate. Phil’s armor had two bumps on the back, designed specifically to accommodate his wings. He had his sword in hand, shield leaning against his wall. A crossbow and quiver were slung across his back, and Techno’s sword hung from his belt. “Didn’t know what hit him.”

Ranboo looked the calmest Niki had ever seen him. Normally, he fidgeted constantly. Now, his hands were still, aside from the way they drifted to his axe handle. His face was set determinedly, and his crown hung from his armor stand, swapped out for a helmet. He’d been the one to get them the armor. It shone with the best enchantment the server could offer. Niki had known he was rich, but she hadn’t realized exactly how much he’d been sitting on. Her jaw had nearly dropped when, before they set out, he passed a totem to each of them.

“Need help?” he asked, taking half a step towards her when she started struggling with her gauntlets.

“I’ve got it.” Ranboo returned to the wall. He began tracing the blade of his axe lightly with his finger.

When she’d finally gotten all her armor in place, Niki crossed to the rack of weapons. She seized her bow and a quiver of harming arrows, slinging them across her back. She and Phil were the contingency plans if they were somehow pursued. Finally, she picked up her own axe. Its enchantments hummed, sending thrills up her arm. “Ready.”

“Ranboo?” Phil asked. The teenager nodded. “Alright, then.” He flicked the lever by the door. The sound of breaking glass filled the air as potion bottles broke. Niki felt the difference immediately, her bones strengthening with the magic. “Let’s go.”

-

Phil had known anger before. His life had been too long not to. There had been a time, before Techno, before Wilbur, that he let it consume him. Then Techno had arrived, and it was like impulse control had been installed. They were still formidable, of course, but Phil didn’t seek war anymore. 

He knew grief, too. He knew the way it moved, the way it played with you until you wanted to sink beneath its waves and drown. It had consumed him after Wil’s death. He could hardly bring himself to clean his sword before he fell into a stupor in front of the fireplace. It had been Techno, again, who pulled him out of it. Who’d given him a new sword and convinced him to play war games until the sight of blood didn’t send him vomiting to the bathroom. There would be no Techno to pull him out if this went wrong. Phil might as well be dead too. 

Ranboo and Niki followed him out of the bunker. The streets were empty as they silently made their way to the prison. 

They didn’t bother to ring the bell. The three of them stood in the portal until reality straightened itself out. Phil had Techno’s will clutched in his hand. The bundle of papers had been empty, at first, until a few days ago. Writing had begun appearing, in Dream’s messy, spiked scrawl. Sam was a fool, Phil thought. He couldn’t take away Techno’s knowledge of spells.

He strode to the corner of the little room they were in. A loose tile was there, easily unnoticeable if you weren’t looking for it. Phil lifted it and threw it to the side. There was a loud crack when it hit the wall. He flipped the lever beneath it. “Thirty seconds before it resets,” he said, returning to the portal. Niki and Ranboo followed suit, and the prison constructed itself around them.

It was all so darkly decorated. Alright, edgelord, Phil thought sarcastically. They bypassed the waver on its lectern and the lockers to the side. Phil flicked the levers according to the code Techno had written. A door opened, and they took the tunnel  Sam used into the next room. 

Their way through the prison was marked by similar proceedings, and Phil’s mind was left to go on autopilot. 

Techno knew it was a trap. He’d told him so a week ago, standing in the snow outside their houses. The moment he was out of sight, Phil had opened the will. He’d thought the message of the empty papers was clear: do what you want, lol. 

So he’d gone to the stasis chambers and waited by the levers. Three days, he gave himself. Then he’d hit the lever, and Techno would be home safe. 

Then it was four days, and Phil wasn’t sure why he’d waited longer. The pearls were a safety blanket. Using them would make things better. Unless what they revealed made it worse.

Then, on the fifth day, he’d woken up to a scratchy, crinkly noise from the will. Scrambling out of bed, he’d turned the pages over, and found the ink still wet. And what had Techno written, first thing? 

PHIL, DON’T USE THE PEARLS. I NEED THE VIEWS FROM A COOL ESCAPE.

 The dramatic little shit. But Techno had lain out his plan, and like always, it was smart. Phil had gathered the Syndicate, and they’d been ready. 

A hint of nerves appeared in Ranboo’s eyes when they passed the iron door into the main cell area. Phil understood it. When they’d hung out, Ranboo told him how it was the point of no return, in a way. They all remembered what happened to Tommy. But Ranboo had three lives, Phil assured himself, and hoped the teen remembered too. He’d be fine. So would Niki. And Techno.

They travelled through the respawn checkpoints and extra rooms until they were in front of the lava wall. Ranboo glanced at the bed. “Should we set our spawn here?”

Phil shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to be spawn-trapped in here, but if you want to, go ahead.” Ranboo looked at the ground. Remorse tugged at Phil. “Sorry. Just a joke,” he said. Ranboo nodded.

Waiting for the lava to come down would take too long. Phil threw a few potions of fire resistance down on them and flipped the lever so the bridge would be safe when they returned. Then, with Ranboo and Niki standing on the bridge, he flipped the lever. He ran and leapt onto the bridge with the help of the jump boost pots from earlier. 

The flames surrounded them in orange light. They couldn’t see each other. The lava tickled, almost, drying them off from the rain outside.

They came out the other side with a few blocks between them and the cell. Phil blinked a few times, readjusting to the low light, and froze. He hadn’t expected to be greeted by what was there.

-

Ranboo worried. It was in his nature. So of course, when he’d heard the plan, he took precautions for failure. 

Tubbo was back in Snowchester with Jack by his request. They were in the control room, with a nuke armed and ready to hit the prison. Michael would be there too. Ranboo had made Tubbo promise not to let him out of his sight. Ranboo had never been more grateful for his husband’s habit of not asking questions.

His comms had been burning a hole in his pocket the whole way here. One message and it would all go up. 

Now, though, he forgot all about the nukes as the bridge came to a stop at the cell block. Anger took its place. “Quackity,” he said in a near growl, “what are you doing.” 

The scene before them looked like a horror movie. Blood, dry and fresh, coated the floor of the cell. Dream –– Dream –– was curled in the corner, shaking. Quackity stood in the middle of the room with a sword in his hand, grinning. And Techno. 

Ranboo’s friend was standing by the back wall. His cape was torn. He was bleeding, too, but Ranboo couldn’t tell from where. He did, however, see the way Techno was just barely leaning against the wall behind him. His heart clenched.

“Oh, hey guys,” Techno said. Despite everything, his voice still came out strong and unbothered. “Nice timing.”

“Hey, guys.” Quackity flipped the sword in his grip so the point was against the ground, then leaned on the hilt. “Surprise seeing you here.” His easy grin didn’t reach his eye. 

Ranboo vaguely remembered a day in old L’Manburg. He and Quackity had shared a pot of coffee and talked about Ranboo’s thoughts on people versus sides. He’d felt like Quackity understood. He’d thought he’d befriended someone who wouldn’t betray him. “Quackity,” he repeated, lifting his axe, “what are you doing.” 

Behind him, Niki and Phil were moving. He didn’t pay attention to their movements, just trusting them to be ready.

“Ranboo,” Quackity said. “I get you’re probably mad. I saw you at Techno’s party, you two are friends. So first, I’m sorry you had to see this.” I bet you are, Ranboo thought. “Second, I’m only doing it because Techno’s a threat. I can’t let him be out in the world, causing problems.” 

“You. Are. Torturing. Him,” Ranboo said. “Both of them!” 

“Eh, Dream’s had it worse,” Techno shrugged.

“Shut up,” Quackity snapped. Ranboo’s temper snapped.

Of all the people in the room, Quackity probably hadn’t expected Ranboo to make the first move. It took him two steps to reach him, three more to shove him back against the wall. He held his axe to Quackity’s throat. “Who’s next on your list, huh?” he snarled. “Who’s the next ‘threat’ you’re gonna take out?”

Quackity’s eyes flashed. “Well, I hadn’t been thinking on it much,” he grinned, “but Tubbo and that outpost aren’t exactly making me feel comfortable.”

A furious scream built in Ranboo’s throat. He drew back his axe, to do what he didn’t know ––

“Ranboo?” It was Dream, looking up at him. For a moment, Ranboo was thrown into chaos. He couldn’t tell if it was really Dream, or all in his head. A small blade pierced the chink in his armor. He stumbled back, blinking, and the time it took for him to rip the cork from a Regen pot and pour it over the spot was all Quackity needed to ruin his advantage. 

He launched himself at Ranboo. Phil intercepted him, netherite screaming as their swords collided. Niki was by Techno, offering him Healing and Regen while he leaned more heavily on the wall.

The moment the prickling in his gut subsided, Ranboo threw himself into the fight. Phil was quickly left out, which he seemed alright with. From the corner of his eye Ranboo saw him kneeling by Techno as well. 

He hadn’t expected the fight to be so short, for his part. Anger fueled him, and something else. The Enderwalk, rising up in his unsteady mental state and giving him strength he didn’t know he had.

Cuts opened on Quackity’s limbs. His laughter turned to panting in the confined space. “This all you’ve got?” he yelled, out of breath. He tripped, stumbled, and fell against the wall near the lava. 

Ranboo stood over him, axe in hand and red with blood. The natural course from here was to end it, right? Kill Quackity, kick him into lava? But the day in L’Manberg wouldn’t leave his head.

“You can’t do it, can you?” Quackity said. Somehow he managed to look relaxed, leaning against the obsidian as blood soaked his clothes. “I remember being that weak. It was awful. Really, Ranboo, don’t mess with me. The house always wins. You don’t want to start this.”

“Oh, shut up.” Ranboo swung his axe, and the handle collided with Quackity’s head. He slumped against the wall, eyes closed. Blood trickled from beneath his hair, but his chest still rose and fell. Ranboo left him there and returned to his friends.

Niki and Phil had taken care of most of Techno’s injuries, though he had his arms around their shoulders. “I can walk by myself, guys, seriously,” he said, but was immediately cut off by the two of them saying “bullshit” in unison. “Well, one of you needs to get Dream,” he said.

They paused. “Dream?” Niki asked incredulously. 

“Yeah. Look at him, Quackity’s been giving him hell.” He glanced at Ranboo. “But hey, Syndicate rules, remember? You guys don’t have to do anything you don’t wanna. You can go ahead on the bridge and send it back to us.”

Ranboo and Niki shared a glance. They had both been citizens of L’Manberg. They had both been victims of Dream in some way. Ranboo knew Phil had helped destroy L’Manberg like it was a business deal, but he would agree with Techno. They wouldn’t follow Dream, but they’d help him. And as pathetic as the man looked in the corner of the cell, Ranboo couldn’t bring himself to do the same.

He looked Techno in the eye. “This doesn’t change my loyalty to the Syndicate. I just can’t justify helping Dream. I’ll still stand with you in other matters.”

“Got it.” Techno grinned. “Just don’t trap us in here again.”

Ranboo returned the smile, stepping onto the bridge. Niki followed him. “Sorry, Techno,” she said. “But I agree with Ranboo. He’s done too much to hurt me.”

Techno nodded. Niki knocked an arrow and shot it across the now empty pit. It hit the button on the other side, and the bridge began moving. When they reached the other side, Niki removed it from the button before hitting it once more.

“You can go ahead,” Ranboo said. “I’ll bring them back.”

Niki smiled at him. “Thanks. You fought well, Ranboo. See you at the next meeting.” She disappeared back into Sam’s tunnels, which Phil had left open.

Ranboo waited until Phil and Techno were safely on the bridge, Dream draped between them, to press the button one final time. Before it had reached full speed, he was traversing the tunnels himself, moving back towards Snowchester and his family. Quackity would find a way out of the prison, he knew. Tubbo and he would need to be ready.

[di-kut]

Baar Bal Runi Chapter Ten

Series Masterlist

Pairing: The Mandalorian x Force Sensitive!Reader

Words: 4.1K

Summary: (Body Swap AU) You leave Garel spend a month in hyperspace. When you arrive on Oseon you have run out of fuel, food and money and Din must finally go out again to work.

Rating: T

A/N: Did anyone think the tensions were going down? Lol. They were not. This is sort of a strange in the middle chapter but you know what? It has lots a quality bonding and we love that. 

The next morning you wake, and Din asks you to braid his hair again. So you do, you sit on the edge of your bed and he moves easily to settle himself between your knees so that you can reach him. You talk him through the motions again and pass him the ends of the braid to practice as you had before. He still fumbles with the unfamiliar movements, but you recognise the determination in the hard set of his mouth and shoulders when he tells you he won’t need your help soon. That he will be able to braid it himself. You believe him. When you finish he asks you if you dreamt of the cave again. Neither of you had. The child is up as well, as energetic as ever and trying to throw himself from the edge of your bed into Din’s lap. Din catches him with a playful growl before he can, a growl which makes the child squeal and giggle, and Din tickles the bottoms of his feet as he squirms.

The storm makes the sky almost black instead of purple. Had rolled in through the night, filled the air with static and pops of lightening. Half the streets had gone dark and empty under the torrent of heavy rain, so intense the sheets of water blur the world beyond the window into a haze of flashes. But it is not quiet, although there is no life in the streets outside for the first time since your arrival. There is no thunder like there had been in storms on Coruscant and in its place the planets itself groans beneath the weight of the storm. Makes the air creak and groan and there is the sound like the planet is trying to break apart beneath you. The current of the storm, crackling through the air and the rain and the buildings and the ground all around you. You can’t leave your lodgings at all, but Garel has systems prepared, underground tunnels and chutes run the width and breadth of the city and there is hot food and fresh water pumped in through the main grid below your feet. The large open spaces downstairs are filled with throngs of people, humans and aliens and droids, mingling and laughing and drinking through the four days and nights that the storm lasts.

The kid is restless, won’t sleep in his crib. You wake the first night to the sound of gentle murmuring from Din’s bed and you twist to see them in the dark, curled together beneath the covers. You fall asleep again to the creaking of the earthen walls and the sounds of soft spoken Mando’a. But the storm seems to make the world move strangely, like time and reason are suspended, and the sounds of people wondering the hallways through the nights never stops, neither does the distant chatter of the sleepless crowd in the common rooms below. On the third night, when the storm is almost over, something else wakes you from sleep, not Din and the child – the child is curled to your chest that night and Din is quiet. You think you have heard knocking, but you know any sound would have woken the Mandalorian before you. But you can’t sleep again, a heavy knot of dread in your stomach, filling your throat. You push yourself carefully up away from the child and edge towards the door, strain your ears to hear anything over the storm and the chatter. Realise you can see the shadow of someone in the crack of the light showing beneath the door at your feet. You turn back for your blaster before you are brave enough to yank the door open, ready to shoot.

The hallway is empty.

When Din asks if you dreamt of the cave the next morning while you braid his hair you think you should tell him about the shadow at the door, but you don’t know what you would say. So you say nothing and think maybe you had dreamt the whole thing. The knowledge of it sits heavy in the base of your stomach.

When the storm finally ends it brings news with it – New Republic ships are chartered to stop on Garel. It is a quick task to pack your things away and load the Crest of supplies. Din leaves you to check the ship while he makes the last arrangements for your leaving, and you chart your course, first to near the planet Chiron and then to the hyperlane to Oseon. And then it will be more than a month before you reach Barab. You plot every stop you will make for fuel, to restock on food. And while you are alone and scared you pull up the coordinates for the Green Planet in the unknown regions. Further and further from you every day. You look down at the Mandalorian’s hands – your hands now – until he arrives with enough food to last you at least three weeks. He stares at you with a heavy look when he finds you motionless in the cockpit, the Green Planet still flashing on the screen before you. You shut it off, grateful when he asks you nothing, slides into the pilot’s chair and begins readying the Crest.

Din flies most of the first day and you keep him company, sit in the co-pilot’s chair and play with the kid when he doesn’t sit in his father’s lap. Listen to the words Din says to him in Mando’a and try to pick out the ones you are familiar with, often find yourself lulled instead by the soothing melody of the language. Have to look away when Din glances at you and finds you watching. Excuse yourself to try and finish an upgrade you’d started installing in the spare fuel tank, more than a month ago now. You work on it, feel better up to your elbows in grease and at home and distracted by the job, until Din appears in the hull to eat.

“Don’t,” he says when you reach to turn out the light. “It’s fine.”

You hesitate, hand hovering over the control. And then you nod slowly and join him on the crates. Lift the helmet away and feel somehow more exposed without it in the light of the Crest than you had on Garel. And Din seems to sense it as well. He offers you food, fresh still because you are still so close to Garel, with a small smile.

After you eat Din covers the small mirror in the ‘fresher of the Crest with the same dark cloth he’d covered the mirror in the hotel with and you both shower. It isn’t easy, but it doesn’t fill you with the same dread it had, and you are getting to know him well enough that you are quicker to wash now. You don’t sleep well the first night, alone in the hull. Stare up at the blinking light above you with only a small amount of resentment and know it isn’t the buzzing of silence or the light which keeps you up. Both are quieter and dimmer than your hotel room had been. You miss the gentle sounds of the child’s cooing, and his father’s breathing in the bunk across from you. Miss the comfort of being close to them. It’s cold and dark on the Crest, and you wrap yourself deep into your covers.

Once you reach the hyperlane time starts to slip quickly through the fabric of space all around you. Din leaves the ship on autopilot most of the time, so different to how stubbornly he’d stayed in his vigil after the change, sits with you in the hull of the ship while you work on the spare fuel tank. At first he is mostly quiet company, except for when he speaks softly to the child, sometimes in Mando’a, sometimes in basic. Asks if it is okay if he allows the child to play with some of your tools or spare parts. You all eat together with the lights on, and the child laughs when you pull faces at him, slaps his tiny hands down in his lap and shuffles across the floor. Sometimes comes close enough to grab onto your hand and share a feeling with you. Din watches with undisguised trepidation at first, his eyes shifting between you and the child, until you begin to narrate the feelings to him. To describe the brightness of the child’s happiness, or the greedy impatience of when he wants more food. The skipping, jumping in your chest when he wants to play. Try to explain that you don’t always know the name for the emotion being shared with you – that sometimes it is a blend, or so different from the way you feel things yourself that all you can do is guess. That you are learning to understand him just as Din would have to understand his facial expressions, or cries.

You find yourself narrating everything you feel to him, finding the words to translate the way the child feels. And Din begins to question you, to ask what makes happiness different to contentment, what he feels like when he is tired instead of hungry. You spend hours with the child in your lap, Din sitting across from you and listening intently while you grapple with the infinite complexity of turning the heart into the spoken word. Sometimes the Mandalorian will reach across and poke at the child to make him giggle or distract him from mischief.

“He loves you, you know.” You say to him, when Din is letting the child play tug-of-war with his finger. You try to think of some way to explain the feeling like your heart is singing, but there are no words to contain it. “It’s very beautiful.”

Din allows his finger to be caught, and the child squeals in delight. Scrambles over one of your legs where you sit on the floor of the hull to try and draw the Mandalorian’s hand closer into himself. You chuckle and rub the child’s head, tap his little nose. Nothing distracts him from his victory and the child jumps and slips, leans himself up against your crossed legs, his little fingers clutched hard around his father’s hand.

“How long did it take you to figure out that was what it was?” Din asks eventually.

“His love?” The child kicks out, rolls side to side, still holding Din’s hand. His ears tickling your pant leg. “When he wants to play was the hardest. It’s such a specific feeling. But his love is so… so pure. It takes up everything when he feels it.”

You glance up just in time to see Din swallow, a harsh, thick swallow, and duck his head against his chest. His next breath shakes a little through his lips.

“There’s nothing similar to the love a child feels for their parent.” You tickle the back of the child’s ear. “And that is what he feels for you, Din.”

You look away from him, allow him a moment, and for the briefest moment you feel Din where he is sitting across from you, feel such a surge of powerful emotion your eyes fill with tears. Feel like you are going to break apart and be whole all at once. You do your best to concentrate on counting the even grating in the flooring, try to break from the intensity of the connection until it finally fades. Still leaves you with your hands shaking. And you see Din’s are as well, one still clutched against the child’s chest. The infant’s toothy smile makes you think once again that he knows – knows so much more than you give him credit for.

“You – ” Din his voice catches and he stops. Swallows again and clears his throat. “Not all love feels the same? You can feel the difference?”

You hum. “It doesn’t feel the same to you, does it? It’s the same. Some love is easier to understand than others. Some is… it’s more complicated. I don’t think everyone feels love the same way, sometimes it is very bright and warm, like with the child. Sometimes it is a much softer feeling. Or intense.” You shrug. “It’s not always obvious.”

Din looks up at you and in the low lights of the hull you can see the way his eyes are wet. He opens his mouth, starts to say something, but the child lets out a low cry and tugs at Din’s hand. He sighs softly, nudges the child with his hand. And when the child makes more impatient noises, tugs again, Din says something to him quietly in Mando’a. His voice sounds like he wants to be stern but is falling somewhere short of it.

“You call the child ad’ika.” You are feeling brave enough to ask him. Din looks up at you, his face coloured with surprise. “What does that mean?”

He blinks at you, stares blankly. “It – It means little one. Little son, or daughter.”

You smile and nod slowly. Mouth the word and repeat it mentally with all the other phrases you have learned. “And you call me Gotabor.”

“Yes.”

“And it means engineer? That’s what you said.” He nods. “Sometimes you say Gotabor’ika. Like ad’ika?”

Din shifts on the floor and doesn’t look up from the child. Rocks him back and forth with the hand on the child’s little belly. Catches the plasma screwdriver the child had been about to snatch from the ground beside him and hands it to you without thought or hesitation. The tips of the Mandalorian’s ears are a soft pink and spreading over the tops of his cheeks.

“Yes.” He watches the child astutely. “It… you add it to words to show familiarity.”

“Like friends?”

He glances at you and you see words almost formed. And then he looks away. “I would consider us friends.”

You laugh quietly, the sound is deep and rumbling, echoing around the Crest without the helmet on. Haven’t been wearing it while you eat or while you work. “I think so. I’ve thought we were friends for – for a while now.”

“I – ” He can’t seem to form the right way to say what he means. “You are one of my closest friends.”

You nod slowly. You are still holding the plasma screwdriver so you set it to the side carefully, far out of the child’s reach with your other powered tools. And then you turn back to the Mandalorian. Wait until he looks up at you, away from the child. You reach for his hand like you have wanted to, catch it and he turns his palm up to hold you back. Your smile broadens when you feel his fingers press firmly against your skin of your wrist. He seems to do it without thinking.

“I’m glad you found me on Batuu.”

He scoffs. “Even though we’re like this?”

You shrug and reach your other hand out to rub the soft hairs at the top of the child’s head. “I wouldn’t trade knowing you and the child for anything, Din.”

He says nothing, just stares at your face, his eyes flickering between the scar you know is on your nose and your eyes, down to your hands. He starts to say something more than once, but the words never form, never leave his lips. You wait for him patiently, even the child goes quiet against your leg, has stopped trying to get his father to play with him and stares up at you both with huge, dark eyes.

“Vor entye,” he says. “It means thank you.”

“Vor entye,” you repeat.

He nods and then leans across the small gap between you, his hand with the child, his other rests on top of yours. “Vor entye, Gotabor’ika.”

You know he means more than for calling him a friend. For more than the truth you had just given him. You hold his hand tighter, careful not to press him too roughly with your larger hands. There is another moment when you feel him, burning right through where your skin is against his, and the feeling lasts longer and lingers even after it has faded. You don’t try to decipher it, don’t try to think about what his heart has shown you and instead you repeat the phrase he has taught you again and again in your mind. Repeat all the others you have learned. You suspect, as with all the Mando’a you have come to know, that the phrase means something deeper than you can understand in Basic. The words turn over and over in your mind.

You move only when the child finally rolls out from beneath Din’s hand. You both shift back from each other, only slightly, hands still held. The child crawls up over your lap to slap both of his chubby three fingered hands down against the back of your bare hand and giggles. Turns clambering up onto where your arms are clasped together with Din’s into something of a game until Din finally growls playfully at him and lifts the child up under his armpits, makes him squeal in delight. Tickles his kicking feet until the kid is laughing so much his huge eyes squeeze shut.

.

Oseon is a crowded planet, has the strange feeling of lawlessness that comes with the Outer Rims, and yet it is more urban even than Garel had been. Nicer. There are no crammed market streets or dirty alleys. The Imperial Credits amassed between you are running low already, after restocking on Garel and paying for a week of lodgings. Once you pay for the three nights of docking at Oseon you have nothing left. The ship needs refuelling again after two weeks of light speed, and it will be longer than a month again before you arrive at Barab I. Food is beginning to run low. You feel out of place in the clean, wide streets of the planet, filled with richly dressed travellers and manned by shining droids. In the amour of the Mandalorian you feel at least some sense of power, feel untouchable when the crowds of people all around you clear to make way. Din stays close on your heels, tense and angry.

You spend your first day picking your way through every dock in the city, every mech shop and spare part stall asking for work. But Oseon has no need for mechanics, and not for anyone who doesn’t intend to stay. You manage to trade some spare parts which you had picked apart from the Crest’s spare fuel tank, now fixed. But the parts don’t sell for much. You buy lunch with the credits, enough for the child as well, and afterwards Din leaves you to seek work of his own. You continue your search – but there is nothing – Oseon has more droids than you can count, and plenty of skilled hands, drawn already from the steady flow of money from the tourists and the gamblers. But there is work for a bounty hunter. Not Guild work. There is no Guild presence on Oseon, and Din had not rejoined the Guild officially he tells you that night. Is edgy when he tells you about the job. But you have only paid for three nights accommodation and you have nothing to pay for more, or to get fuel or food. And it’s a simple job, he assures you. They don’t want the bounty alive.

“Who is he?” You ask over dinner. Push your food around your plate.

Din watches you carefully. “You don’t ask about the bounty.”

“Right.” You nod jerkily. “So we – we just go out and kill this man?”

“No. I go out and kill this man. You stay here with the kid.”

You stare down at your hands, clasped between your knees. “Din, you can’t go out on your own like this. Like that!” You gesture down to your body, the body he inhabits. “You don’t have any Beskar – ”

“I can bring in a bounty without my Beskar.”

You sigh. “That’s not what I meant. What if they were wrong? What if this man has someone watching his back, what if there are more of them and you’re alone out there?”

“Then I’ll deal with it.”

“Din – ”

He stands abruptly. “Do you remember what you said to me on Garel? We can’t both go. If something happens to me, I need to know the kid has you.”

Your retort dies on your tongue. You have to drop your eyes from the intensity of his gaze. Stare down at your half-finished food. It feels wrong and selfish to not be able to finish it when you are debating Din putting himself in danger just to earn enough to feed you. But you can’t make yourself eat more – aren’t sure you’ll be able to keep it down if you do. Your stomach churns. He rests a hand light against your pauldron and takes the plate gently from you and sets it to the side. Crouches down in front of your crate and ducks so he can catch your eye again.

“What if something happens?”

“We’ve done this before,” he reminds you. “I can handle a simple shoot and fetch.”

“Not – not like this.” You sigh heavily and lean against where Din’s hand is still on the armour. “You know the kid will always have me. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“I know. I’m not.”

You think of a hundred arguments, of a hundred ways to tell him you are scared for him to leave, and you open your mouth again to tell them to him. But no sound comes out. You just deflate slowly and wish that there was some other way. If there is one you do not know it. You have just enough credits for Din to hire a speeder bike, the fastest way for him to traverse beyond the edges of the city, and the best way for him to bring back the body. Has two more nights to complete the task because then your docking runs out and the ship would be impounded. You hate it. You hate the world for having to agree to this. Din is more than capable of handling it – you know it. Even without his Beskar and his strength he is just as smart and resourceful as he had always been. And you know he will be careful. But you think of the functions of the helmet which would let him see other enemies approaching, think of the protection of the Beskar against laser fire. Think of every possible way the coming job could go wrong. But saying them aloud won’t help.

So you agree.

Din sets off before the sun rises the next morning. He moves quietly, and tries not to wake you, but you had barely slept the night before and you sit up before he leaves. Have the strongest urge to wrap your arms around him and hold him in the Crest so he cannot go. But you don’t, only move from the bed when he lowers the ramp. Slip the helmet on as you stand as protection against the empty dock beyond. Din reassures you he will be back before your docking time is up and you only nod. He hesitates on the ramp, turns back towards you. He has his rifle strapped to his back, two blasters at his sides. He looks at ease, loaded with the familiar weight of weaponry, despite how much larger they all look against your body.

He says your name, not Gotabor. And it makes the nerves in your stomach tighten to a painful knot. You try to remind yourself you do not need to worry about him. That Din is perfectly capable. That he will be fine.

“Din.” His name sounds harsh through the vodocor of the helmet. Echoes off the metallic walls of the ship and bounces back to you. “Be careful.”

He steps back up the ramp, a thought crossing clearly over his face, and opens his mouth. You pad out towards him and the floor is cold under your bare feet. The early morning air is fresh and crisp without the rest of the armour on. You wonder if he is thinking that this will be the first time you have properly separated in two months, the longest time you will have spent apart since the change. You wonder if he is nervous that he will misjudge something, used to his own body and not to yours, and make some error which will end his life. If he is thinking about you being stuck in his body forever if he dies. If these thoughts had kept him awake the night before as they had you. But you do not know because he says nothing, turns back down the ramp and is gone.

. 

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[jarmes]

Blind Shield Nuzlocke Notes 10 (Finale)

-Starting off the tenth and possibly final session

-Current Team: Freight the Coalossal, High Voltage the Toxtricity, Nosferatu the Dreadnaw, Riot the Falinks, Snowball the Frosmoth, Warrior the Grapploct

-I updated Warrior’s moves in preparation for Raihan, he now knows Drain Punch Waterfall Superpower and Ice Punch

-Even though Raihan is a dragon specialist, I’m not using Snowball. Last time he led with a Gigalith so I’m leading with Nosferatu and Warrior

Raihan

-Oh god he reworked his team for one on one battles there goes my plan

-Why the FUCK does he have a torkal

-Like, from a story perspective, why would he try to take out Charizard boi with a drought Pokémon?

-Whatever I’ll just use rock side

-OH FUCK IT MISSED AND NOW NOS HAS NO HEALTH SWITCHING TO FREIGHT

-Okay, it tanked a solar beam and it tanked a rock slide

-Second rock slide killed

-Raihan switched to Flygon, I switched to Snowball. Flygon Used sandstorm

-I’d use quicker dance, but I can’t risk a stone edge so I’m using Aurora beam

-Well, it used dragon claw so I messed up

-Turtonator? Time to switch back to freight and take no damage from that fire blast

-Rock slide, sunny day, miss, dragon pulse, rock slide, dead

-He sent out Goodra, dynamaxing and using Max rockfall

-Raihan Used rain dance? This team has a lot less synergy than the last one. Whatever, canceled it out with max rockfall

-Raihan made it rain, AGAIN, and died to a third max rockfall. Which made it sandstorm

-Unfortunely, dynamax wire off and he switched to GM Duraldon. Switching to Tiot cause freight is low

-Tanked a Max rockfall and Max knuckle, took half with a Brick Break

-OH GID MAX DEPLETION PUT ME AT 8 HP AND THERES A SANDSTORM

-Thank god, Close Combat killed and the battle ended

-Now for champion Leon and/or Tesla CEO Rose

Leon

-Dont know what he’ll use except Charizard and possibly Sobble. Putting Snowball up front because I know Charizard will be last and I may be able to sweep with quiver dance

-The cheering of the crowd fills you with determination

-“Wait, hold on!” Goddamn it rose

-“It’s time I brought about the darkest day, for Galars future of course” it’s called the darkest day you can’t be an antivillain and still call your plan the darkest day

-I knew dragonville tower was evil plan place

-“But you’re terrible at directions, what if you get lost along the way?”

-Hop acknowledges the fact that he sucks good

-Hell yeah! Going back to the slumbering weald to catch god!

-Oh sweet a life orb giving it to Warrior

-I’m glad they brought back the evil team interrupts the elite four thing from black and white

-Shield dog is in front because it is important

-Sonia can’t see god dogs because Sonia isn’t a stand user

-Getting Zelda vibes

-Honestly, the Shield is more fitting for a Nuzlocke than the sword. You aren’t trying to destroy, you’re trying to survive, to protect the team members you care about

-The dogs are dead, aren’t they

-I’m actually surprised I’m not just fighting Shield dog, this is different

-The leaders evacuated Hammerlocke, making themselves useful

-How did hop get past Oleana?

-Hey! It’s good mook! I forgot to mention her earlier but she’s cool

-Rampaging dynamax pokemon in the power plant hell yeah

-Eternatus! The least kept secret in the game! I’ve seen this thing and it’s cool and I’m glad I get to fight it instead of waiting for ultra Shield

-Leon’s fighting on the roof like a badass

-Is that an egg

-Ooh summoning Satan to use as green energy what could go wrong

-THAT CHOIR

Rose

-I still have Snowball out front

-And he’s using escavalier. Time for freight to continue carrying this team

-Uh oh swords dance

-Nevermind, outsped it ant took it out with heat crash

-“You’re go tough that’s not fair” life isn’t fair bitch

-Ferrothorn, really?

-It survived a heat crash. Operative word being A, because the second one killed it

-Rose, I know why Leon beat you as a kid. It’s because you exclusively use steel types and he has a goddamn Charizard

-Klingklang got off two wild charges but it’s dead now

-Freight’s at half health and can take out purrserker, but I don’t want to switch into Rose’s GM anchor so I’m going to Riot

-Took a lot of damage in the switch, but took it out with a Max knuckle

-“I’ll show you a move that hits so hard you’ll be speechless” I doubt it

-OH GOD FAIRY MOVE

-Whatever it’s dead now

-That chuckle and clap, gg mate

-“Leon is just like a knight in shining armor coming to rescue the princess from a dragon!” Glad pokemon is finally giving lgbt representation

-Leon caught eternatus doggie doggie what now

-Side note, I just realized I haven’t used any of my dynamax candy yet. Used them all of Nosferatu for obvious reasons

-And Leon hasn’t defeated eternatus yet great

-A fucking pokeball, Leon? Really?

-Okay were fighting this thing now I guess

Eternatus

-Snowball dodged a flamethrower out of love and took away half of eternatus’s health with aurora beam!

-Switching to Freight, tanked a dragon pulse. Almost died to a crit dragon pulse, but got it into red with a rock slide

-Switched to Nos, took slightly less than half damage from a dragon pulse

-Killed it with ice fang

-OH GOD IT DYNAMAXED

-Time for round 2?

-ITS A RAID BATTLE WIRH HOP!

-Oh god Snowball can’t attack and Eternatus is storing power

-Time for sword and shield

-The gods dogs jesused and teleported to us! They saved Snowball!

-And now we’re in box art form!

-Now it’s a real max raid battle! We got four fighters, three of which exist solely to take hits for Snowball

-It’s potswick! Wait, no, it’s everywhere!

-God dogs have abilities that buff each other that’s cool

-Shield dog uses light screen and sword dog used howl!

-Good job Snowball, tank that G-Move

-Eat Ice, dragon fuckboy

-Quiver dance time!

-Behemoth blade and bash!

-Snowball, put this mother fucker on ice

-Okay it would have been cooler if that killed but sure that’s fine

-And sword dog steals the kill!

-Oh, I have to catch it? I’d prefer to kill it but this is fine I guess

-I used an Ultra ball, Leon. Take notes

-Welcome to the box, Eternatus. Or should I say, “XD lol haha”

-Yeah I gave it a lame name because it’s evil

-Bye bye doggies

-Time to take on Leon, for real this time. I could swap someone for XD lol haha, but that isn’t my style. I’m winning this with the team that got me here. And also Warrior

-No major changes for the final battle. Swapped Freight’s Rocky Helmet and Nos’s Assault Vest, replaced Tar Shot with Giga Impact, and evened the team out to level 61 with rare candies

-I’ve loved this game and it’s climax, but the end is here. Let’s look over who we have with us. Also the only girl which is weird

-Freight, the longest lasting member of the team who’s carried me through countless battles

-HV, who I raised from a baby and is our greatest offensive powerhouse

-Nosferatu, who was brought on after the deaths of his brother Dracula and JORSTIN. He quickly proved himself a vital member of the team

-Riot, who fought his way on by killing Mondo and proved to useful to hate

-Snowball, a late member who I spent hours bonding with the evolve

-And Warrior, who I have literally never used in battle

-It’s time to take on Leon

Champion Leon

-He’s starting with an Aegislash, so I’m swapping Snowball for Freight

-Side note, the champion wielding aegislash is so fitting

-I love this theme

-Ha! It used King’s Shield!

-Sacred sword hurt, but Heat Crash took it out

-Swapped to Haxorus, I’m swapping to Snowball

-Good thing I did, cause he used earthquake

-Risking a quiver dance

-And he killed Snowball with iron tail fuck

-Time for Warrior to justify his existence!

-Almost died to outrage and only did half hp with ice punch good job buddy

-Now, this may seem mean, but I’m not going to switch. Letting Warrior die gives me a free switch to HV, who can take out Haxorus and sweep most of Leon’s team

-With Choice Scarf HV boombursted Haxorus to death

-Inteleon! Yes! He kept it!

-Critical hit! It’s dead now

-Mr Rhine tanked a boomburst and killed HV with psychic

-FUCK I THOUGHT IT WAS ICE NOW

-Going to Nos and Dming. Max rockfall crushed it

-Okay, Dragapukt is definetly a dragon flying. It paralyzed Nos with thunderbolt, but he’s still in the green

-Enter The Charizard

-You know, I mentioned my feelings about GM Charizard earlier and I’d like to reiterate it. I hate Charizard spam, but it is a cool design and I like the idea of the champion having a Charizard as a starter and having won at ten

-OH GOD MAX OVERGROWTH NOS IS DEAD

-Switching to Freight, it used Max Rockfall but I survived and got off a rock slide. I won’t survive another one so I’m switching to Riot

-Okay, Riot is in the green and Charizard isn’t giga anymore. Now what?

-And it killed Riot with Fire Blast

-Leon Used a full restore because he’s a cunt

-Okay, this is it. I’m ending this with a rock slide. For Apollo and Dracula and Bob Murray and Idol and JORSTIN and Ophelia and Mondo and Chaos and Pluck and Echo and Snowball and Warrior and High Voltage and Nosferatu and Riot and every Pokémon in the box and Freight and for me, I’m taking you down!

-It survives with a sliver of health

-And it died to the sandstorm I created

-It’s over. It’s finally over

-I mean, I know there will be a post credits battle because every game in the past six years has had one, but it’s over

-Ten days, ten posts, fifteen fallen friends, and it is finally over

-And what a final battle it was

-“Thank you for the greatest battle I’ve ever had” same brah

-To think that I, Blinkin, a young blind British boy with a dream could defeat every powerful trainer in the country in less than a fortnight

-Okay, while the credits roll I’d like to talk about this game. This isn’t a formal review, just some thoughts. This has been the most contentious pokemon game in a while and I’d like to say that I...absolutely loved it. The new Pokémon were creative and fun, the wild area was a great idea I’d love to see expanded in future games, dynamaxing was surprisingly tactical, the characters were surprisingly engrossing. This game was amazing. It wasn’t perfect (linearity, exp share always on, lack of turning animations), but most problems I can think of are nitpicks. But, of course, there is the Cufant in the room: Dexit. Dexit was horrible for collectors and some competitive battlers, I’m not denying that, and there are deeper conversations about game freak as a company that I’d like to have on a later date, but honestly? Dexit didn’t affect my enjoyment of the game at all. I almost exclusively do challenge runs, so I rarely care about the national dex or post game. And, as a game for challenge runs, this game is amazing. X and Y are actually some of my favorite Pokémon games to play just because there are so many different Pokémon and team combinations to try. I think those games had ~450 Pokémon in their regional dex and this game had about the same, and that really goes a long way. Take Black and White, for instance. How many Pokémon were in that game. You might say 500ish, but I don’t see it that way. There are 150 Pokémon you can catch. Less than that, counting version exclusives. So yeah, there were more Pokémon programmed into that game, but you don’t see most of them without importing them from another game. Even with Dexit, this game felt like it had more Pokémon than any I’ve ever played. And again, I feel for the collectors, but I’m not going to not enjoy a great game because of an aspect that doesn’t effect me at all. Let’s get off Dexit. There are two aspects of this game that stand out as especially good. The first is the Galar region. This region was filled with so much charm and care that I could barely put it down. I love Galar, this beautiful country filled with so much goddamn British culture that I can barely breathe. The second reason I love this game is the League. This game breathed new life into the series and featured hands down the best league in any game. I felt, more than in any game, like pursuing the title of Champion was my goal. The stadiums of cheering crowds, the tournament at the end, that brutal champion battle, I loved this league.

-Anyway, lets make fun of the credits

-Oh right, the art director was the Englishman

-Legit, the other guys at Gamfreak call him the Englishman in interviews. Anyway, that explains a lot about this game

-Rock band!

-Okay, these Pokémon are all based on the idea of hardcore British rock and the credits theme is very much not that

-Hey, gym banners.

-They have the fighting banner even though she is sword exclusive

-Side note, when the mentioned minor league leaders I hoped that they would be fightable. Maybe in the post game

-Oh right, in sword the ice towns leader uses rock types. Maybe a Coalossal for the steam theme?

-Oh hey Leon banner

-Yeah I don’t have a lot to say about credits

-WOLLOO

-Huh, no post credits battle

-Okay, Full disclosure, I was spoiled that you fight Hop in the forest and assumed that that would be the post credits scene. When I booted the game up again it showed the forest so I’m going to go check it out

-Thank you for the master ball old lady foster

-Okay Hop, lets go. You vs my remaining team

Hop

-Dubwool did jack shit and went down to two Heat Crashes

-Snorlax killed Freight with a High Horsepower

-You know what? Good job, kid. You earned this

-Now to send out XD lol haha end exterminate Hops fucking bloodline

-Oh, you used a full restore, Hoppy boy? Well, I don’t see why I shouldn’t use the thirty full restore in my bag to destroy everything you love

-Eat shit Hop

-“Congrats on Beating Leon” “It was nothing”

-Oh Sonia’s the Professor now okay

-Thank you for the book, it is going on eBay

-These men have sword and shield hair what the fuck

-You gave Sonia’s book one star? I’ll fucking kill you

-Who the fuck named their sons Sordbord and Shielbert

-I hate these men and want them dead

-Oh, you’re princes? A shame I don’t have any Pokémon who know guillotine

-Okay, Nofumi but somehow even more insufferable, I’ll take you out with my god

-So were doing the aftergame now extra long post I guess

-Of course he has a sirfetched

-What is a king to a god fuckboi?

-The god is me, by the way. Not Eternatus

-Goddamn it Hop

-Okay, fuck it. I can’t beat this losers with only Eternatus. Time to sacrifice XD lol haha to Ghiratina to bring my whole team back yes this is in the Nuzlocke rules

-Are they not going to give Sonia’s girlfriend a name?

-Dynamax In trufield better be something new and cool

-Ugh, it’s just leggy onion. Whatever, lets raid it

-That sounded better in my head

-RARE CARDS I WANT THEM

-God I hate these guys

-I can exaggerate? Hell yeah!

-Piers is an ex leader? So Marnie’s a leader now cool

-So am I just going to visit all of the leaders again? Well that part can be skipped in the notes unless something cool happens

-Okay, it was only the first trio

-Good time my team are immortal zombies because Sword jackass oneshoted freight with his golispod and shield bro one shotted Echo with his Falinks

-Nameless assistant! How dare you betray us!

-Okay, I’m out of battery. Delaying this post til tomorrow so I can finish the aftergame

-What’s up It tomorrow I killed a frosslass and Haxorus and dusknoir. Saved Bede for last because he’s a prick.

-Okay, Bede beat the dynamax pokemon on his own and wants a fight cool

-Side note, Rapidash and Hatterene are both psychic fairy and it’s a miracle I didn’t loose Echo to Bede in session 9

-Burn up is such a cool move

-It was fun beating you again Bede eat shit and die

-Yamper is a good boy

-Oh, douchebags are evil because we revealed historically accuracy that makes them look bad

-Stop being mad to god dogs

-Kill him sword dog! Do it!

-Side note, it’s interesting that this game features both legendaries pretty equally

-Okay sword dog is dead now where’s the real dog god

-Shield Dog! I’m glad you’re hear, but you don’t have to waste your time saving Hop. A little stabbing could help the boy

-Also both god dogs have messed up ears that’s interesting

-Eat the bad man, Shield Dog!

-Okay, I can catch Zamazenta now

-You know what’s bullshit? If I hadn’t messed up the the naming convention Zamazenta would have a Z name. I mean, I could skip to Z, but then there’d be no Y

-The shields fixed his ear cool

-Okay, I know I caught XD lol haha here, but I’ve already dropped Nuzlocke rules so I’m catching this good boy with the master ball

-Welcome to the team, Yorrick

-Okay, lets go kick Hops ass for a final time

-Legit I would not be able to beat Hops final team if I was still Nuzlocking

-You want to be a professor, Hop? Isn’t that sweet, you think you can get a doctorate

-YES! I AM THE KING NOW. AS FIRST DECREE I ABOLISH THE MONARCHY PLEASE DONT GUILLOTINE ME

-I know that the Battle Tower and League Rematches are in this game but I’m going to end this here. Thank you so much for reading and following me on this journey

[hail-the-supreme-leader-kylo-ren]

Dualism and Left/Right of Kylo and Rey in TLJ

I started to notice with all of the Kylo hand GIFs on Tumblr, that he seemed to use his right hand in moments with Rey but his left when killing Snoke. So I decided to investigate further, I watched TLJ and recorded every time Kylo, Rey or another character would use their left or right hand.

A bit of backstory on left and right hands

It is quite universal across many cultures and faiths to find that the right hand has a superiority and is favourability over the left. I mean firstly look at the meanings of the English words we label our hands with:

Right – morally good, justified, correct, restore to normal state, honourable.

Left – opposite of right, on or to the left side. (The etymology is: Old English lyft ‘weak’.)

Here's a general overview of some of the other broad associated duality meanings of left and right hands/sides throughout the world:

Right – side of gods/angels, good, life, inside/the finite, peace, masculine.

Left – side of devil/demons, bad, death, outside/the infinite, evil, feminine.

(This is a good source if you want to read more about it: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.14318/hau3.2.024 )

SW history of right side damage

Let's not forget the history of the Skywalker's and their damaged right sides. Anakin: looses his right arm in AOTC.

Luke: looses his right hand in ESB.

Rey: gets a small-ish cut on her right arm in TLJ praetorian fight. (I'm NOT implying she's a Skywalker [lol], just pointing out the common thread of right arm injuries and how they keep getting smaller).

Anakin: has the mysterious small right eye scar in ROTS.

Kylo: massive right face/chest saber cut in TFA. 

(Side note with Kylo, I always found it interesting how Han in his final dying moments lovingly strokes the right side of Kylo's face that is lit up — which I've always thought represented that there's still 'light/good' in Kylo. Annnnd then that same right side is cut up by Rey. See image below.)

What do you think the symbolism is here? I feel like loosing something from the right side is almost like a hurdle thrown at the character, to test their 'morally good' strength/side. With Kylo's right side scar — I see this more as his 'goodness/light-side' being tainted after killing his father. Do you agree?

Left hand findings in TLJ

First I should point out that the SW universe is right hand dominate, typically the RH is used for light-sabers, blasters and the force. Here I have only chronologically listed the LH moments and any significant RH ones (to list all the RH would be too long and pointless).

Kylo

R: smashes/destroys his helmet in elevator.

L: fires at the resistance hanger, blowing it up.

R: cannot press the toggle button to fire at his mother (INTERESTING).

R: Force Bond #2; wipes face, water drips onto his hand, clenches into fist.

L: uses the force to pull hut down in Luke's flashback. In second flashback, its revealed Kylo used his left because his right is wielding a light-saber holding off Luke's 'attack'.

R: Force Bond #4; takes off glove, touches Rey's RH.

L: uses the force on the sly to kill Snoke via activating Luke's saber. His own saber is in his RH.

L: (Rey throw's Luke's saber with her LH) Kylo kills the last praetorian guard.

R: offers Rey his RH during his 'proposal'.

L: uses the force to try to get Luke's saber in the tug-a-war with Rey, (this scene is perfect symmetry with Rey using her RH).

L: on Crait, he points to shoot down the Falcon.

L: force slaps Hux across screen/ship, (I think this happens on the left b/c Hux is not Kylo's 'right-hand man').

L: picks up and holds his father's dice, they fade, clenches LH into fist. (I ALWAYS thought he held them in his RH, nupe).

Rey

L: offers Luke his saber.

L: carry's her staff while following Luke on his daily routine, (typically she carry's it in her RH).

L: holds the Cloaked Binary Beacon, (Leia also wears it on her left — is it a feminine thing? Poe and Finn also wear it on their left wrists).

R: touches mirror inside the cave, {facing screen right} BUT THEN—

L: Once Rey is "inside" the *mirror dimension*, her LH is out touching the mirror wall {facing screen left}. IT'S MIRRORED. She then turns to face screen right, clicks, then makes a fist with her RH.

L: reaches out, touches the mirror wall wanting to see her parents {facing screen right}.

R: Force Bond #4; touches Kylo's ungloved RH.

R: unsuccessfully attempts to force grab Luke's light-saber from Snoke.

L: successfully force grabs Kylo's light-saber.

L: reaches up/grabs Luke's saber that Kylo is directing to her after slicing Snoke in half.

L: she like Kylo, also kills her last praetorian guard with her LH, after she cleverly switches hands. She then LH throws Kylo Luke's saber into his LH.

L: she points to the vulnerable Resistance fleet, asking Kylo for help.

R: uses the force to try to get Luke's saber in the tug-a-war with Kylo, (I mentioned the symmetry of this scene: Kylo is on the left, Rey the right).

R: closes the Flacon's door on Kylo.

So what do you guys think?? It's interesting that Kylo starts the film smashing his helmet with his RH, then finishes the film with his LH empty and clenched. While Rey starts the film with her LH offering the saber, she finishes with her RH closing the door (also Leia holds Rey's RH in the last Falcon scene). KYLO & REY SWAPPED.

Also, my initial observation was correct with Kylo, he uses his LH more-so for destruction/death. It's suuuper interesting that Rey is using her LH inside the *mirror dimension*, whether this is because it is meant to be visually mirrored, or because it's the 'dark-side', I don't know. And whYyYy is there so much LH action happening with both Rey and Kylo during the throne room fight scene? Once again, is it because they're using the dark-side/anger power more predominantly?

I think it's important to note that there is no consistency to when they are using their LH or RH and are facing on screen left or right (I recorded these too), so it's not purely done for cinematic purposes — though sometimes this may be the reason.

Also here's some other character LH observations:

Paige/Rose: Paige clasps her pendant half in her LH, and also uses her LH to detonate the bombs. Rose touches her pendant half with her RH, while on Crait heading for the canon. (The symmetry of this is beautiful).

Luke: Flings his light-saber over his shoulder with his LH. He also uses his LH to attempt to burn down the Jedi Temple. He hands Leia Han's dice with his LH to her RH (I think he uses this hand b/c it's skin to skin/his human hand), he also pulls himself up on the rock with his human LH after his force projection battle.

Poe: dramatically places his LH on the window once he's conscious again on the escape shuttle and thinks the Resistance is doooomed.

There are so many beautiful hand close-up shots in the TLJ. Here's some to enjoy:

[proteusspade]

On the debacle with Fallout 76

 I feel like the debacle with Fallout 76 has become a testing grounds for a lot of the dominating theories and myths about video games and video game consumers in general, as well as more specifically about Bethesda studios and Bethesda gamers. I apologize for the LONG post ahead, but there’s a lot to unpack here and I want to make sure everyone’s on the same page before I try and make any big points. For those not in the know, I will attempt to summarize: - Bethesda released Fallout 76, a multiplayer installment in the Fallout franchise, with a set release date of November 14, 2018.  - The game was announced with the marketing that it would be playable and enjoyable as singleplayer, that every person you ran into would be a real person, that it was a new Fallout experience, that its graphics would improve upon Fallout 4′s graphics by 16 times, and notably, one collector’s edition which cost $200 was marketed as coming with a wearable helmet and a canvas bag.

The beta was shaky and riddled with bugs, and upon release, the game itself was still pretty much broken -- far moreso than other Bethesda titles, and this coming from a company where the running joke since Oblivion has been that the bugs are so prevalent that they are a feature, not a flaw. An enormous patch was released shortly after launch, which was larger in size than the game itself, and which not only didn’t fix almost any of the bugs, but created hundreds *more* bugs, as if they didn’t playtest the patch at all.  For players like me who can go a surprisingly long time in a Bethesda game without seeing any bugs at all, I will note that these bugs include: - T-posing enemies which either spontaneously assume their correct animations only when you get close, or never do, or which teleport suddenly into you to try and display their attack animations - Horrendous enemy A.I. where a lot of them will just stand in one place looping an animation - Enemies spawning out of thin air directly in front of you due to slow loading - A bug where enemies spontaneously heal the exact amount of damage you deal to them, making them invincible - Falling through the ground out of nowhere - Clipping through and getting caught in the world - Frequent server crashes, often due to in-game happenings (the game eventually gives you access to nuclear bombs, but the same bombs can crash the server if you drop them) - Frequent disconnects - Frequent game crashes (with no ‘save game’ function) - Body horror bugs like the Wendigo Bug which have been present since Fallout 4 and haven’t been fixed by Bethesda yet, even though modders were able to fix them weeks after Fallout 4 came out. Three years ago.  Moreover, the game directly ported over most of its visual assets from Fallout 4. Most of the landscape elements come from Fallout 4, almost all of the weapons come from Fallout 4, almost all of the outfits and armors come from Fallout 4, most of the monsters come from Fallout 4, the physics and gunplay is directly ported over (minus the ability to pause the game to open your inventory, of course, and minus the time-slowing aspect of V.A.T.S, which makes V.A.T.S almost completely useless), the character creation is ported over, the loot is ported over, the base-building system and all of its assets (walls, floors, anything you’d use to build a base) are ported over. Basically, other than trees and certain monsters unique to West Virginia, you’ll have a hard time spotting content which isn’t directly ported over from Fallout 4, often without palette swaps. Is the promise of better graphics fulfilled?  Well, the lighting is significantly improved, and even very pretty and atmospheric -- though occasionally light will shine through solid far-away objects, like mountains. Modders had done this almost immediately with Fallout 4, too, though, so it’s not really a huge achievement. And the landscape is much more colourful than in any other Fallout game, which is admittedly a nice change of pace, even though it makes no goddamn sense why the trees would survive while everything else dies around them. But other than those two elements... yeah, it just looks like Fallout 4, but usually doesn’t render as well due to being on a multiplayer server and due to the graphical glitches. How about the promise that every person you run into is a real person? Well, that was true all right, but how anyone thought that was a good idea is beyond me. It’s one of those things that sounds really cool and innovative until you think about it for literally any length of time at all. Why would that be a good thing? Unless you have quite a lot of friends who you’ve somehow got onto the same server (which, by the way, I don’t think has much functionality in Fallout 76), you’re not going to be very interested in those people, and you have no reason to be. They’re just big lumps of immersion-breaking, as I seriously doubt many people are going onto the game to vocally roleplay their way through the game experience.  Moreover, this means no NPCs besides monsters and robots. No quests from anyone but robots and holotapes. Now, I like holotapes. I’m one of those unbearable players who listens to every holotape and reads every computer terminal. My favourite part of Fallout games is usually finding out the big stories behind Vaults or unusual locations. But when you are doing this quest for someone you will never meet, and have complete certainty of this fact, the reason to do quests in the first place starts to ebb away. You just get holotapes or robots telling you to go to a place, kill something there, rinse, repeat. That’s the entire game. Nothing is achieved; everyone who recorded those holotapes is dead, or a monster now. You’re not doing anyone any favours. There’s no one to help, there’s no one to hate, there’s just you (and whatever people you’re playing with, who, again, aren’t really part of the story as multiplayer gamers don’t typically roleplay). The main quest of the game revolves around trying to find the previous Overseer of the vault. There’s zero suspense, interest or urgency, because as a player, you know with complete certainty going in that if you find her, she’ll be dead or a monster. When you remove the NPCs, you remove all our reasons to care about quests. You also remove all interactions in the game besides “kill thing, loot thing, make stuff with loot”. And killing monsters with such laughable AI and glitches, AI designed for Fallout 4 where V.A.T.S could pause the game and dropped into a game where it doesn’t, isn’t nearly enjoyable enough to make that game loop anything but ghastly. How ANYONE thought this was a good idea is beyond me, and I’m pretty sure at this point that they didn’t do it because they thought it was a good idea, they did it because having NPCs function like they would in a singleplayer game, while in a multiplayer server, is an incredibly daunting task. When literally no one asked for the game to be multiplayer in the first place, but hey. Is the game fun to play alone? Not from literally anyone I know who has, no, and this is due to the above factors. Is the game, as the marketing said, more fun to play with your friends? Well, yes, but the same could be said of cleaning out a moldy garage alone versus with friends. Being with friends makes anything more enjoyable. The game does not cease to have all its serious underlying problems when you play with friends, you just have someone to commiserate with and witness this bullshit with you. Is this a new Fallout experience? Not really. It’s Fallout 4 with a prettier landscape, story constrained to holotapes and therefore constrained to the past (and not the present the player is actually playing in!), and it’s arguably not even a Fallout experience at all. It wears a Fallout skin but the core roleplaying, choice, and narrative features of the game are gone, and all that’s left is a world that’s much bigger, but where all the new space is pretty much empty anyhow.  Oh, and the canvas bags for the collector’s edition were cheap vinyl when people got them, Bethesda just went “yeah canvas was too expensive lol, u can have five dollars’ worth of the game’s microtransaction money for free tho if you want, just file a complaint”. The amount of the microtransaction digital money wouldn’t even buy a virtual canvas bag, mind. Then someone threatened a lawsuit, and it looks like people are going to get their actual canvas bags. But they still need to file a complaint, and WHOOPS! They accidentally doxxed everyone who filed a complaint, to some other people who filed a complaint! The absolute cherry on top. (Yes, it really was an accident, it’s even stupider than it sounds.) So what can we take away from all this? Well, I wouldn’t take away much hope for Fallout 76 as a game, for one. It’s a dumpster fire, and they keep pouring gasoline onto it. But the game has scored abysmally low basically everywhere. People have noticed, and they’re not pleased. The game’s price has dropped 30%, and that’s in the first couple weeks after launching, which is completely unheard of for a AAA game. Returns are going wild. Youtube is FULL of videos taking Fallout 76 to town. So clearly, gamers won’t lap up whatever you give them just because it’s a sequel to something they love. The sunk cost fallacy hasn’t run that deep, and people are suddenly extremely skeptical of whatever Bethesda releases next -- which at this rate, is going to be either The Elder Scrolls: Blades, or their new sci-fi game, followed by The Elder Scrolls VII (title as yet unannounced).  I would also suggest that studios may finally have been given a good indication that clumsily slapping multiplayer on something that had success as single-player isn’t the greatest idea. This is a lesson that probably should have been learned years ago, but better late than never.  I would also hope that game studios, Bethesda especially, develop a touch more respect for their fanbase and realize that player bases can be lost. Bethesda has relied upon their fanbase to mod away their bugs, laziness, and incomplete content hampered by release dates for many years now, but faced with a multiplayer game with no mod support, they are put in a position where they have to realize how heavily they’ve been leaning on those mods. But there’s another part of the story that isn’t being covered so much -- one which challenges the assumptions which has led Bethesda and the players to such a disaster in the first place. Red Dead Redemption 2 has been in the makings for a long time now, but was released something like a year late in comparison to its originally announced release date. The new Kingdom Hearts has been repeatedly delayed. I’d expect the fans would have reacted with nothing but outrage! But they ... haven’t, for the most part. There’s been some frustration and groaning, especially with people who have pre-ordered the games, but for the most part, the fans have been pretty understanding. It turns out they’d rather have a game come out finished than come out on time.  That seems simple, and even obvious, but for close to twenty years, it has been the prevailing logic that for a game to sell well, it has to come out at a pre-defined and specific date, and if it isn’t done, that’s just how the process of making games work, and we’ll fix it in bug patches, or wait for mods to fix it. This is such an assumed phenomenon that it shows up repeatedly in Extra Credits, a show which talks in great detail about the production of video games, and I’d be hard-pressed to name a game that I own or play which doesn’t have unfinished content, even if it’s fairly bug-free. But here we are, Red Dead 2 is out, and it’s a roaring success, despite considerable delays. The conventional wisdom is simply wrong. And it gets even better. This is the trailer for The Outer Worlds, a game made by Obsidian. I urge you to watch it. First of all, the game looks good. The graphics are good, the human characters are expressive and dynamic while still looking realistic. The backgrounds are great. The humour is great. The world-building, what we see of it, looks very promising. And oh my god, the shade they throw at Bethesda is gorgeous. Not only does Obsidian highlight themselves as the creators of Fallout and Fallout: New Vegas -- that is, the two most-loved Fallout games -- they play with the concept of a cryogenically frozen player character (possibly lampshading the use of the same concept in Fallout 4), and they point out that player choice isn’t just about a binary “who do you shoot” moment -- another moment from Fallout 4, and one of the few real choices you get to make in that game -- and implies that variety of choice, including non-combat choice, is going to be a Thing in this game. Look at the comments section for that video. You will see hundreds, nay, THOUSANDS of comments praising the trailer, talking about the shade it casts on Bethesda, making New Vegas meme jokes, praising the music, lauding the humour, wondering about the characters it shows us. You know what I didn’t see? Even one single, solitary comment complaining that there’s no definite release date shown anywhere in that trailer. Seriously, watch it again. It doesn’t say exactly when it’s coming out. Just 2019. No month. No date. Just sometime next year. You know... when it’s done. What you might not have known was that The Outer Worlds was originally estimated to come out this year. You didn’t know that because they didn’t release the trailer until just recently -- when they were far enough in production to produce such a great trailer, for one, but also once they were far enough to be certain they would be finished with production within a year.  No one cares when it’s coming. They care that it looks like a good game with so much original effort put into it. That’s what matters. And maybe if the game studios can realize this, we’ll finally see an end to the exploitative bullshit that happens -- exploitative of not just the gamers, but of the thousands of overworked employees it takes to make a AAA video game -- in the service of an absolute deadline above the game itself. God, now that’s a thought. So don’t be discouraged by the failure of Fallout 76. There’s way better on the horizon. The myths that studios need a firm deadline to put out a good game, the myths that players in some way demand a firm deadline, the myth that players will sit there and take any level of bullshit, they’re all being thoroughly, publicly debunked. Feels good, man. Feels good.

[bangtan-ballum]

what i remember from the interactive introverts show in belfast (28.5.2018) SPOILERS

 this is all from memory so quotes and the order may not be completely accurate but close enough.. *pretty detailed spoilers*

- before the show began and the playlist was on, 'dans siri' kept interrupting saying "this is dans siri he left me to go look at some memes i hope you’re enjoying the playlist" and it telling us there’s no recording allowed and to turn our phones off or "ill beat you up only i cant because i’m just an ipad"

- the playlist had bts mic drop and red velvet peek-a-boo and everyone started singing and dancing to it and i was shook so many were fans of kpop omg i was liVING. 

- explaining his tweet "the weirdest thing happened, sorry if you’re here but omg that would be weird, we were sat on a bench and then this little boy wearing a fedora walked by, stopped, looked back and did this *tipped his hat* like was that directed at me?? there was no hello, nothing! and then he waited and did it again?!" he asked phil if he seen him and he said he did. dan said "phew if you didn’t i thought, i’ve just seen god, god just came to me in this form to judge me. and if he did id be going down (to hell). i am not prepared for that" 

- talking about the stage and the amazing graphic design and the two big i's at the side of the stage and dan said "look at those long boys" then called them phallic 

- a photo of dan inspired by my horse prince with the caption "ride me senpai" and phil said it was from his own personal files so he doesn’t know how that got there.. 

- phil saying they want to get to know us better but bc theres not enough time for them to take us all out for a coffee and a chat (how cute, and then everyone became soft for them and said aww) so they decided to try to get to know use all at the same time

- the audiences collective name was karen

- "you’re just not there yet. you need to get inside karen" *dan looks at phil in disgust* "phil...join karen, connect with karen" dan later goes onto say "get inside karen" and phil says "see you’re as bad as me" 

things dan and phil will not be doing tonight: 

- 'erotic role playing': *phil wearing a police helmet and carrying a baton* "officer(maybe captain) phil(maybe philly) here, danny’s been a bad boy" then dan appears holding handcuffs "please be careful with the handcuffs i have sensitive skin" 

- the show will also not be a live viewing of dan and phil in their apartment. they then showed videos of them doing things round the house and phil was eating cereal out of the box and dan was on the toilet. 

- the show will not be a giant party with all their friends and they put party hats on and then the voice said “no because none of the people replied to their messages bc they have no friends. none.” lmao 

- the show will not be them stripping and they ripped their shirts off to reveal they had the same shirt on underneath

- "unleash the bees" then "sting me daddy" by dan ofc 

- they tested themselves and had to say the same thing under the topic of "kitchen objects" and they both said whisk and said that they never say the same thing and that was only the second time they’ve done that and they were so happy about it omg

- when doing the simulation part dan was in his fur suit and had to go to the toilets but the men’s was locked and the options we had to choose from was to "ask someone for the passcode" or "use the lady door" (i know) and dan went on to say that this is why we need to diminish the concept of gender and everyone clapped and cheered omg i love him

- during the how many think we know the real dan and phil bit, dan said something about how we know certain thing (that i dont remember) and how we know some of their kinks 

- dan being v concerned about how we kept cheering for satan and judged the people of belfast for seeming happy to be making a deal with the devil lol. 

- during the sacrifice of dan (what context?) phil came out in a leather apron with gloves and said he is wearing his best serial killer outfit. 

- phil getting ready to shoot a spinning dan with an arrow and says "forget katniss everdeen, this is philniss philerdeen" 

-phil misses the board and hits dans hip and dan said “if that was 5 inch to the left then we would not have been friends anymore”

- dan trying to get off the wheel and phil asked if he needs to unstrap him and dan said "i’ve had enough of you unstrapping me" idk if he actually said that but i s2g that’s what i heard at the time and how i will remember it LMAO 

- dan had to untie phils apron and the audience died and dan was done with all of us. 

- phil saying it was distracting watching dan get out of his padded suit and then dan tried to sexily get out of it whilst phil was talking and phil stopped and stared at dan and said "im just gonna let him do it" and so in the end we all just watched as dan struggled to step out of it and then literally also tripped. then a few minutes later he realised he still had one of the shoe protectors on his foot (he called it a shower cap lol) and then took it off and awkwardly walked to the side to set it down then awkwardly walked by and laughed under his breath.

- according to the audience dan has a stress mushroom, apple and a girls motivation locked in the box under his bed. dan was extremely concerned as to why she thinks he has locked an apple in the box. and everyone laughed when the other girl said her motivation and dan said "i too have my motivation locked in a box and i’ve lost the key" 

- phil saying the key to dans box was v 50 shades of grey bc of the red ribbon

- at some point they both said a word wrong and both times they did The Thing™ they do when they mock each other when they make a mistake.

- 'phantastic phacts' as a title on screen. phil says "like what we did there?" 

- dan saying his phil trash #1 

- phil saying “put your nipples away” (when a photo of a topless man appeared on screen) and said it in some type of accent LMAO i died

- dan saying they are super best friends and soulmates -im dead- 

- wholesome howell and x-rated lester made an appearance (they swapped roles and were given topics and phil had to make good things sound bad and dan had to make bad things sound good) also when dans photo of him as an angel with a halo and a rainbow behind him, he looked at the audience, smirked and said "its very fitting" i would like the think he meant the gay ass rainbow behind him but y’know. 

- dan saying to god "implode me daddy" when he had to make the topic of the world imploding seem appealing. phil laughed under his breath and said “never say implode me daddy again” 

- *phil having to make meeting beyonce sound bad and he said bc hes so clumsy that he'd trip and kill her and was really dramatic whilst saying it and dan was stunned and just looked in shock at phil then us and said "are you as traumatised as i am right now" 

- dan having to make stepping in a puddle while wearing socks seem good and screamed and said "NO that is literally the worst thing in the world..ok you dont appreciate dry feet until suddenly they’re not. once a day we should all put on a fresh sock and go to the kitchen and step in something moist just to remember-" phil interrupts shouting no and dan continues saying "do you ever feel like you need a drink. well, with a wet sock you can just- *lifts his foot to his mouth and everyone dies on the spot* 

- dan and phil struggling to pronounce all the irish names and everyone was screaming how to pronounce it and dan made everyone be quiet and squealed "wAIT. just one person" LMAO and then the one time phil said a name right and everyone cheered for him 

- dan would happily become an amazing dancer even if it meant phil would wake up with 2 left hands and 2 left feet because he says it wouldn’t make a difference in phils life bc hes that clumsy now it’d probably be the same with 2 left feet. 

- phil would save dan from being bitten by a vampire even though it would mean that buffy the vampire slayer never existed. they talked about how the vampire could bite him and he could live forever as a vampire and phil said he would bring him bloody treats (then dan referenced to before when phil was x-rated lester*) and said "what kind of bloody treats?? omg it would be beyonce he killed beyonce and will feed me her corpse" then said "no what if they just want me dead" and then phil decided to save him. 

- dan thinks this phil without the fringe is an impostor and he killed the real phil. he screamed a couple of times throughout the show to ask where the real phils body was and said will get him to confess eventually. 

- "are you really just a lizard in a phil suit..because that would explain a lot" phil is a scalie confirmed. 

- phil constantly squatting/slut dropping to the buzzer sound effect 

- i cant remember the context but phil said something about him having layers and dan stopped and said “layers?? are you shrek? what do you think this is, shrek the musical?”

- phil had to say dans biggest fear and he said moths, and it was wrong so he got an electric shock and dan said "wHAT NO! ok right i have this thing where i hate anything underwater. like imagine you’re in the sea, what are you scared of? sharks? woop no, whales? no. but there’s a boat and beside the boat there’s a buoy and attached to that is sLIMEY CHAIN. EW NO. i’ve got submechanophobia. (i googled it i think that’s what he said idk) so its not moths, phil you know that!!" 

in the deep chat bit: 

-they talked about phobias. someone submitted saying she had a phobia of balloons and asked if she was weird and asked what they’re scared off. phil said "no you’re not weird. everyone has their fears. whats yours dan" and dan said "as we discussed before, things underwater, slimey things! uHH. but yeah i get that, its the anticipation of when its gonna pop and that’s stressful" and asked phil what his was and said "i’ve always had a thing where i was scared of the deep sea ever since i was a kid. also, not that its really a phobia but, horses. i don’t like them i don’t trust their intentions. like imagine waking up one day to a horse in your bedroom" lol 

- they talked about procrastination. talked about how changing your environment, like "doing a very not dan and phil thing" and going for a walk (dan squealed at the thought) could help distract your mind, getting some fresh air and then going back to your work with a different mindset. then talked about how phil has the need to reward himself when he does something and said that he always says to himself that if he finishes a certain task that he will reward himself with a marshmallow. and then said that if you reward yourself with something that it could motivate you to finishing whatever you’re putting off. dan said phil is using the example of a marshmallow but that he really does this and that he tells dan not to let him have the marshmallows until he finishes whatever he needs to do. dan then said that even if your procrastinating school work or whatever to just write the first word, or try writing a few sentences bc atleast you’ve started it and if you start writing that you could get into the mindset and keep writing until you finish. 

- they talked about making a youtube channel. someone submitted that he has started a youtube channel about reptiles and if they had any tips. and dan said "omg stephen. phil is probably already subscribed" lmao. phil praised him for starting a channel about something he is interested in and how its bad to start a channel just for the views and the subscribers. then said that instead of talking about what hes going to do, he should "just do it, show us that lizard" and dan said "yeah dont start off like "hi, so my name is [stephen], nice to meet you. ive always wanted to make videos about reptiles but i never rea-" lmao 

- phil saying bitch in his disstrack oh my god 

- the song at the end: "hey buddy can you give me some editing tips" 

- when dan was playing the piano and phil was singing and said that even though they’ve been friends for so long they’ve never fallen out and then starting listing things they could fall out over eg. phils dying houseplants, how dan never goes outside, phils vision is blurry and dans a furry. 

- for the most inaccurate prediction of interactive introverts someone submitted "2 hours of dan and phil twerking to the teletubbies theme tune" and then dan proceeded to twerk whilst singing it and saying the teletubbies names.. 

- d: "its basically two oscars tied together" p: "oh and they’re naked, look at those butts" d: "wow statues of two naked men tied together may not be the best thing to have when its meant to represent us"

there were some really soft things they said at the start and the end, and how we were there bc were happy(?) (i dont remember the exact context or quote but it was something like that, all i mind is that it was v sweet) and idk i just love them omg it was the best night!! 

[akatokuro]

The Inevitable Saint Seiya Rewatch, Episodes 16-19

i am legitimately unsure how to respond to seiya fucking murdering a lady

- Hyouga, why the fuck would you leave your invincible rosary at Ikki's grave. TAKE THAT SHIT TO MU AND HAVE HIM RESEARCH IT HADES WILL NOT STAND A CHANCE

- ah yes, time for delicious toei filler

- In all seriousness, this filler is goofy and ridiculous as fuck, (OH NO THE BUGS ARE STEALING MY COSMO!!!) but I actually do like some of the character moments a lot, and I like the idea of the core group + Saori having time to bond and really become a team before shit starts really going down, and before Saori realizes she's a goddess.

- I have to wonder, though, if you're going to make filler to try to buy time while Kurumada smokes weed and makes shit up, why would you go with a really obvious "evil Pope" plotline? Seriously, it should be super obvious that eventually the manga is going to have its own plans for the Pope and Sanctuary, since he was a big figure in the first chapter/episode. Like, if the anime went to do completely its own thing, that'd be fine, but the halfway measure where it tries to weave weirdly back into the manga is just, uh, strange.

- Not that projecting Saga onto Toei's Evil Pope (complete with Evil Harem!) isn't the funniest fucking thing, don't get me wrong. Wait until they find out how much he loves being an owl!

- I mean, yeah, the montage of trainees dying horrifically by the hundreds is brutal and disturbing, but... is it really that much harsher than the picture we get of regular Saint training, considering LOL NINETY DEAD KIDS WHOOPS? I dunno...

- Marin and Shaina are both legitimately really cool characters. Saint Seiya ladies in general are cool as hell, you just wish that they got more focus, Saori included.

- The way Toei tries to inject RACISM!!! as another reason why Sanctuary evil feels a little weird, considering that, like, half of their Gold Saints aren't from Greece either...

- A wild Aiolia appears! The early stealth appearances of the Golds are a lot of fun. (Imagine how much more fun they could be if they were actually seeded in with, like, intent!) At this stage if you're watching blind you probably have no idea to make of this guy, who is also the narrator for the episodes...? It doesn't feel like he's obviously been set up as a "future opponent", but he's also not going out of his way to oppose the bad guys, either... but he does seem to be Marin's friend, so hmm...

-  It just seems like the kind of thing that'd be fun to play with, expectations-wise, if you're going to revise the series with hindsight in mind. In a way that, you know, gender-swapping Shun is not. What? Did I say something?

- Man, though, a Silver Saint like Shaina who is willing to shit-talk a Gold like Lia to his face... yikes. That's sort of nuts. You really do get no respect around here, do you, Aiolia...?

- have i mentioned lately that i'm in love with saori

- "Why are they after the Gold Cloth?" UH, BECAUSE IT'S A GOLD CLOTH, GUYS? HYOUGA, SHIRYUU, YOU TWO WERE TRAINED BY FUCKING GOLDS. SEIYA YOU'VE LIVED HALF YOUR LIFE IN SANCTUARY. YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THIS IS KIND OF A BIG DEAL?

- "Our magic warriors were secretly behind every major historical event ever" was cringe in Madoka Magica and, uh, it's cringe here too, sorry!

- I'd loooove to see a more elaborate process of Saori slowly realizing and coming to terms with being Athena. More Saori content in general, pls.

- AH YES, THE SHUN SHOWER SCENE

- AH YES, THE SHIRYUU WAKING UP WITH KIKI SCENE

- I really like seeing the Bronzies do stuff like run around town doing "normal" activities, like Shun jogging, though! Shun is cute! CUTE! I even like seeing Seiya hanging around with the orphanage kids and setting up Miho for extreme disappointment.

- SAORI STANDING UP TO AND SASSING A SAINT WHO JUST BLEW HER HOUSE UP BY HERSELF I CAN'T IMAGINE BEING THIS BADASS GOD

- her expression change when seiya shows up though hnnnnng

- The setup is dumb filler, but I like the underscoring that Saori is HARDCORE (ignore me, protect the Cloth!), the Bronzies meeting up to discuss what they should do, and Seiya's not-super-personal rationale at this point for going to rescue Saori. I actually do think their relationship has nice progression, the fact that ideally there would have been more focus on Saori realizing her Foundation is pretty fucking evil aside.

- wait, you guys are going with hyouga's plan? seriously? oh shit..........

- AND THE CRYSTAL SAINT APPEARS. MY NEMESIS

- oh my god i want to see camus demonstrating this hilarious ass leg freezing technique. 'donk' sound effect and all. why would you deprive me of this

- i like how even the crystal saint, someone who is obviously defined as very much a 'nice/good saint', will cheerfully watch his student get mauled by a polar bear as part of his training though

- I'm not sure if it's more plausible that CRYSTAL SAINT failed to warn Hyouga that "hey, even if you freeze their legs, they can still punch you" or if Hyouga heard and just forgot...

- Shiryuu and Kiki are too late to reach the cave, watching them fly away in a helicopter because this is a filler arc. Wait, Sanctuary uses helicopters? Is there a helipad in Saga's house? Is it equipped with a personal bath? I need to know these things, dammit!

- I would seriously watch an entire fucking episode of just the Bronzies and Saori sitting in a room together discussing battle plans and other serious business, punctuated by Seiya and Saori occasionally flirting, and Hyouga occasionally invading Shun's personal space. A+++ quality episode right there.

- GHOOOOOOST SAAAAAAAAAAAAINTS

- poor shaina, getting filler villain-ized. but on the other hand, i kind of like her more in the role of 'ruthless and threatening villain/supporting character' as opposed to having a crush on seiya, ngl.

- Saori shitting on Tatsumi is always the greatest thing. But even that aside, even with the GHOOOST SAAAAINTS, I... like the idea of more elements of the Graude Foundation and their interactions with the actual world getting involved in this conflict?

- ghost saints tho...........

- I also really like Saori already showing she's growing up and changing the way she thinks. She has this perpetually troubled air about her even in the Ikki arc, so even though there's not as much focus on what's going on in her head as there SHOULD be, it's plausible she's really mulling things over, re-evaluating them, and internally struggling so she can be up to this task she doesn't fully understand. Rather than being smug about Graude's capabilities like Tatsumi and like she was in the early episodes, she's already thinking about the impact of their actions on the world at large. Because she rules.

- Really wish we had some aspect of her more directly confronting the fact that her grandfather was an evil fuck, but it's one of those things I feel like I can probably headcanon too, I suppose.

- shun and the nebula chains mvp all day every day

- i like how seiya is sitting there playing sad guitar and hyouga and shiryuu huddle together and are just like "man seiya's guitar sucks" “i know right”

- Saori's growth is great because she really feels like an actual character to me? There's an awkwardness about how she's trying to approach the Bronzies and bond with them that feels really organic and endearing, but she's trying very hard. I really like touches like Saori trying to say the reason she came was because she was worried about them, and Hyouga and Shiryuu sort of exchanging this skeptical glance. It's what makes things on Saori's end sort of easy to 'headcanon', so to speak.

- I love this whole idea of Saori randomly chucking her jewelry into the ocean to 'show her appreciation'. Because it's so fucking weird and awkward. This is a gesture that doesn't actually mean anything to the Bronzies - they're totally like "huh? uh, okay" - and objectively it's a dumb useless thing to do, but you can tell she, as a young girl, has really been wracking her brain over how to SHOW that she's growing to care about them, and... and came up with this? Uh, it seemed like a good idea maybe? And her self-consciousness continues to come through, the way she can't even look at the Bronzies as she explains what she's trying to say is that their lives are more important than any Cloth.

- In growing this way, Saori is already vastly different from her grandfather and even Sanctuary, who obviously didn't value life at all - but Saori is trying to figure out and navigate this new way of thinking and caring on her own. Of course it'll be clumsy as hell, but there's also a real earnestness to it. Saori is so great...

- THE HYOSHUN IS VERY REAL. even in the midst of dumb filler, i love the way hyouga is so consistently attentive to shun. why is hyouga the only one who reacts to shun getting pulled underwater and then tries to save him? shiryuu was right there too... i mean...

- (the answer: hyouga is crushing on him hard, but)

- shun catching hyouga on the cliff against THE EVIL BUGS too ffffffffff

- NEBULA CHAIN! PULL IT UP!

- "Shiryuu, what happened!?" "I DON'T KNOW." and then we never speak of this again. sounds legit tbh

- holy shit did seiya just fucking murder a lady

- seiya just totally cold-bloodedly murdered a lady

- AIOLOS DID YOU JUST FUCKING WINK AT SEIYA AFTER HE MURDERED A LADY THROUGH YOUR HELMET I..................

- no, but seriously, she's fucking lying helpless face down on the ground and seiya fucking punches her to death what the fuck. even the way the shot is framed. and then you get to hear her scream in pain as she's being fucking punched to death. like seiya could have seen an opening and punched her as she was falling from aiolos's sucker punch, but while she's literally lying on the ground is really... uh...

- WELL, UM, MOVING ON I GUESS... SAINT SEIYA!

[texanredrose]

Oh, My Mistake

“we’re texting for the first time in forever and i told you about some stupid thing i did and sent a sarcastic ‘you must really miss me, huh’ and you just replied ‘yes’ and i think my heart just broke” au- for Xerxes, thank you for your kindness!

Yang cursed under her breath, setting her hands on her hips and casting her lilac gaze around, a pinch to her brow. Now, sure, she’d never been the absolute biggest neat freak in Remnant, but she kept her belongings more or less organized- enough that, when she wanted to watch one of her favorite movies, she could find it with ease. It could only be in one of three places, all of which she’d checked.

No dice.

“Oh, come on,” she said, running a hand over her face. “Where is it?”

Closing her eyes, she tried to piece together the last time she’d watched it or moved the case. Months ago, at least, but maybe even more.

Wait... now she remembered the last time she’d seen it- almost a year ago. Back before... her ex moved her stuff out.

“Shit...” Her lips pulled into a tight, thin line, gaze casting about for her scroll. 

They hadn’t spoken since the relationship ended but... well, they hadn’t parted on bad terms. Winter had an exciting career in the military and a promising new assignment elsewhere; Yang had her own shop and family to consider. When the woman suggested that they probably wouldn’t be able to continue the relationship long distance, they’d ended it amicably... but that didn’t make it hurt any less. 

Yang had tried going out on a few dates since then. None of them led anywhere but, hell, she had tried.

Still, the idea of reaching out to her ex to see if the woman had accidentally packed up her favorite movie didn’t magically become any more appealing. It’d likely just hurt like hell and lead nowhere but she really did love that movie.

She should just buy a new copy, honestly. It’d probably be pretty cheap; older movie, none of the flashy special effects like modern ones, and it’d be quicker and relatively painless.

Then again, she kinda had a special attachment to her copy; she’d had it nearly ten years. And, even if it hurt, just having the chance to talk with Winter again... it’d be worth it.

With a sigh, Yang located her scroll and shot off a quick text.

‘Hey, I know this is out of the blue, but you wouldn’t happen to have my Monty Python and the Holy Grail dvd by mistake, did you?’

Setting her scroll down, the blonde went over to her movie collection to start putting it back in some semblance of order, expecting the response would take at least an hour, probably more.

But then her scroll dinged before she’d made it halfway across her room.

‘I do, actually. I apologize. I can have it to your apartment by tomorrow morning.’

Her brows rose, surprised both by the prompt response and the urgency with which the woman seemed to want to return the movie.

‘You don’t have to go through all that trouble; I just was wondering where it went.’

‘Nonsense. I’ll have it delivered as soon as possible.’

She couldn’t help the way her lips curled up, just a little. That sounded like the Winter she knew.

‘Well, if you insist.’ Lightly, she bit her lip, thumbs hesitating for a moment before setting her scroll aside. And focusing on finding another movie to pass her time.

They’d gone this long without any contact. Probably for the best.

Yang groaned as she pulled herself out of bed, having slept for shit the night before. Hours had passed with her just wondering if, perhaps, she should’ve tried extending an olive branch to Winter. The woman typically didn’t remain in contact with her exes, though, so Yang had assumed that would apply to her as well.

But... she had the chance. She could’ve at least tried.

The thought remained in the back of her mind throughout her morning ritual, all the way until she tried leaving her apartment and found a man in a delivery uniform coming up the steps.

“Yang Xiao Long?”

“Uh, yeah?”

Then he held out a little brown box. “Here you go, delivery.”

She raised a brow but signed for the package anyway, taking the moment to open it up once he’d left.

Sure enough, Winter had done exactly as she said, as the DVD case slid out into her palm. However... it looked a bit more worn than she remembered and the bottom snap didn’t seem to be working, the edge worn too smooth to catch and close properly.

A frown touched her lips. Had the woman been watching it? Winter had made it clear that she didn’t really have the same appreciation for comedy the way Yang did. Whenever they watched it together, she seemed a touch more interested in her scroll than the movie, but usually spent her time watching Yang’s enjoyment- that, apparently, appealed to her a great deal more.

Setting it aside for the moment, she went out to her motorcycle, so she could get on with her day.

But this wasn’t over.

Taking off her helmet, Yang shook her hair out as she entered her apartment, setting everything in its place as quickly as she could and pulling out her scroll. She’d told Ruby about texting Winter and her sister seemed to be on the same page, encouraging her to follow her gut.

Extending an olive branch couldn’t hurt worse than never knowing.

‘Hey, they delivered the movie this morning. I’m impressed!’

‘I’m glad you got it in a timely manner.’

‘Thanks, really. I’ve been missing it.’ Her tongue peaked out as she hesitated for a moment before just plowing ahead with what seemed to be the easiest option available. ‘So, how have you been? That assignment seems to be work outing for you.’

‘It’s been an enriching opportunity. I got promoted a few months ago. It’s been good. How’s the shop?’

‘Hey, congrats on the promotion! And, ya know how it goes. Ruby’s still the best mechanic in Vytal, so our business is doing pretty well. Never a dull moment!’

‘I’m glad to hear that. I’ve heard a whisper or two about Red Dragon over here in Atlas- all good, I assure you. You and Ruby should look into branding.’

‘Eh, you know it’s not about the fame or money for her.’ Yang chuckled. ‘There might be millions of red roses out there, but there’s only one Ruby Rose!’ 

Almost immediately, she slapped a hand to her face. As much as she loved puns- as much as Winter said she loved puns while they were dating- that didn’t mean she should just start busting them out all willy nilly. Especially when half her flirting depended on them. She wouldn’t want to give the woman the wrong idea.

Or, rather, she wouldn’t want Winter guessing the truth behind her desire to reconnect. Even if they couldn’t be together, losing her girlfriend had also robbed her of a dear friend, and if she couldn’t get the former back, she’d try like hell for the latter.

‘You’re most certainly correct. She certainly rises above expectations.’

A little chuckle burst from her lips. ‘Okay, that one was pretty good.’

‘I practice in my spare time. I’ve got a Xiao Long way to go, though.’

This time, she laughed. ‘And Xiao Long have you waited to use that?’

‘Almost a year, truthfully, and you didn’t have to one up me immediately after. I’ve always kicked myself that I didn’t realize it before we broke up.’

Her lips quirked into a sad little smile. ‘Hindsight’s a bitch, huh? lol’

‘I’m learning to live with it.’

‘If only your sister could find her sense of humor. She’s still a little sore about my last prank.’

‘In her defense, you know how much she enjoys Blake’s cooking, so swapping their salt and sugar did toe the line. I’m surprised she just yelled at you; I’d half expect her to tamper with your hair care products for such a transgression.’

She ducked her head, scratching behind her ear as a blush came to her cheeks. Yeah, it did kinda go a step too far, but how was she supposed to know she’d made the swap immediately before a romantic date night they’d planned months ahead of time?

‘Okay, fair point, and I honestly expected the same. I threw out all my bottles the next day just to be safe.’ She shook her head, remembering fondly all the times she’d gotten one over on either her best friend or her girlfriend’s sister, and the lectures that followed. Sometimes, Winter would agree with Weiss while hiding a smile behind her hand and, other times, she’d be too busy laughing. ‘One of these days, someone’s going to slip past my defenses, and there’ll be hell to pay.’ 

‘Are you vaguely threatening a hypothetical prankster for giving you a taste of your own medicine?’

‘Well... yeah.’ She cringed at the blatant hypocrisy implied. ‘It’s my hair we’re talking about, here.’

‘Duly noted.’

A shake of her head. She could just picture the wry grin on the woman’s face when she typed that, the expression that said ‘you know how ridiculous you sound, right?’ in not so many words. ‘You must REALLY miss me, huh?’

‘Yes, I do. A little more with each passing day.’

That sent a shock through her system- her shoulders dropped, a frown touching her lips. She’d always thought Winter had moved on without giving her a second thought; it would explain the radio silence from that end. To find out that the woman still thought about her... or maybe she misunderstood.

‘Really? You never said anything.’

‘It was my idea to break up. I heard you were dating again and I thought it would be best to become a memory and fade away.’

A little stinging came to her eyes. ‘I could never forget you, Winter.’

‘Nor I you.’ Before she could formulate a response, another text came through. ‘I have something of a confession. I realized I’d packed up your movie a month after I left. I apologize for the delay in returning it to you.’

Yang’s brows furrowed. ‘I thought you didn’t even like that movie, though. Why keep it?’

Silence. She stared at her scroll but nothing happened. After five minutes, she began to worry; Winter had always been the sort to favor a clear beginning and ending to a conversation. She didn’t just... trail off like that. Following her gut, Yang tapped on the information at the top and hit the icon to dial, pressing the scroll to her ear.

“Yang,” Winter said, a strange edge to her voice. Not the razor sharp bite of her wit but rather something very... soft, almost morose.

“Hey, is everything okay?” She sat down on her couch, having completely forgotten about finding another movie. “Or- you busy? I can call back.”

“No, no, s’fine.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Winter. Are you drunk?”

“... yeah...” The reply came softly, almost as if she was ashamed to admit it. “I mean, I’m drinking. Not... exactly drunk yet, but... pretty much.”

“What’s going on? This... isn’t like you.” Yang shook her head. “I mean, you might have a glass of wine but you always hated the idea of getting drunk.”

“Well, I do, that, but, I made a discovery.” A sigh. “A pathetic one but a discovery nonetheless.”

“And what discovery was that?”

“Well...” A few moments passed, as if she struggled to find the words. “If I put on that movie, and I get just the right amount of drunk, and I close my eyes... I can hear you laughing along to the jokes.” 

The stinging came back to her eyes as a tear slipped down her cheek. “... Winter...”

“I know. I know I have no right, I know it was my idea, and I know I’m an idiot for ever suggesting it in the first place.” A quick inhale- almost like she was sniffling. “I thought it was the best for both of us but I was so wrong... at least... for me... I’ve missed you so much, Yang.” A pause. “I still love you.”

“You sure kept silent about it.” She didn’t mean to make it sound so accusatory but her heart was starting to hurt in her chest, her mind racing.

A year- a year- without the woman, and she’d held this back. All this time they’d lost...

“You were dating.” The shifting of fabric. “I shouldn’t have said that. Any of that. You... you deserve better than someone dumb enough to walk away in the first place.”

“That’s the alcohol talking,” she said. “What’s the real reason?”

Winter remained silent for a moment. “Why do Schnees always remain silent when merely speaking up might save someone pain?”

Oh, she remembered the answer to that question; it came from one of their first fights. What the actual argument entailed eluded her- something about improving their communication- but she remembered the answer clear as a bell. “Because you fear emotional vulnerability.” She sighed. “You thought I’d reject you.”

“And I couldn’t blame you for it.” Another sigh. “I shouldn’t have walked away. My career... it’s fulfilling, somewhat, but I’m so lonely without you. Every accomplishment just feels... hollow. Saying goodbye... is the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.”

“Winter.” She got to her feet, scrubbing at her face and heading towards her closet. “You need to stop drinking.”

“You’re right. I just thought, maybe-”

“I mean it.” Yang pinned her scroll to her ear with her shoulder while opening the door, eyes roving over her wardrobe. “Pour it out. Now.”

“Right.” Faintly, she could hear some shuffling, and eventually the setting of a glass in a sink. “Done.”

“Great! See you soon.”

“I’m so- uh. What?”

But she ended the call without explaining further. They’d talk again soon enough.

Yang pulled her coat a little tighter around her, digging her chin into the warm scarf around her neck. Atlas’ colder climate grated on her nerves, truth to tell, but she could really care less about the cold night air winding through her hair as she marched her way up the path, stopping in front of the door she wanted. Winter’s new promotion had allotted her a full house to herself tucked away in a nice, well kept part of the base- something the soldiers manning the gate were all too happy to reveal once they were told she was the Colonel’s ex. Apparently, word traveled around the barracks quickly that Winter’s mood had taken a sharp down turn once her assignment in Vale ended. She hadn’t become unbearable, quite, but the rank and file were more than willing to help her out if there existed even a chance it might improve the Officer’s disposition.

They weren’t the only ones.

Raising her hand, she knocked on the door- heavy thuds that couldn’t be ignored, in the event her advice hadn’t been heeded.

A few moments later, it opened to reveal Winter, halfway out of her uniform and hair freshly released from its bun, cascading over her shoulders with bends still intact from being up all day. Blue eyes opened wide, her mouth opening but no words making it out as a very light flush came to her cheeks, and Yang couldn’t help but smile.

“Not quite next morning delivery but I caught a red eye over.” She shrugged. “You sober?”

“Yes,” she replied, her voice sounding crisp and clean.

“Good.” Reaching into the big pocket on the bag slung over her shoulder, she fished out the DVD case. “How about we order some pizza and watch a movie? Sound good?”

“Yang...” It seemed like the gears in Winter’s head had finally started turning again. “I- I don’t understand. Why are you here?”

“Oh, right.” With her other hand, she reached forward, grabbed hold of the woman’s lapel, and gave a sharp tug- enough to pull her down within easy kissing distance, a fact Yang wasted no time capitalizing on as her eyes slipped closed.

Damnit; she’d missed this.

When they parted, both a little breathless, a smirk curled her lips. “That clear things up?”

Winter blinked. “No.” Hands slipped to her hips, pulling her forward and flush against the woman, a bit of mischief sparkling in blue eyes. “Explain it again?”

“I think I can do that,” she said, laughing before diving back in, the two slowly making their way inside amid the embrace.

After all, they lost a year together. 

They had to start making it up.

[tumblunni]

Digimon frontier ocs?

Randomly started rewatching CactusCasual's great Digimon Frontier critique series. He's leaving youtube soon and making the weird decision to delete his whole account and everything he's ever done. But he's uploaded a bunch of his best stuff to google drive so if people wanna keep.it they can. Still i think its a lil dumb to not just leave the account open even if you're not using it? I dont know anything about why he's quitting the site though so maybe he has his reasons.

ANYWAY this got me thinking again about how Frontier is so goddamn boring and weirdly cliche and badly paced, and like everyone just focuses on "but they changed how digivolution works" and ignores all the actual reasons its bad. Like, kids have fused with digimon in previous seasons too! And haven't we all wished we could be the awesome characters like angemon and etc? A digimonny power rangers henshin thing isnt an inherantly bad idea, it was just executed badly. I dislike it cos it meant we completely lost any sort of digimon and human bonding experience plotline. They gave us two recurring digimon characters but they were just basically a pokedex and the world's least funny comic relief. Gimme a version of the show where the kids actually talk to their "spirit evolutions"! Like maybe they have a digimon partner but its forever stuck in baby form or spirit egg form and cant fight without fusing with a human host? Or just give us a better non-combat digimon pal like bokomon and neemon but like.. Fully developed with their own character arc and relationships with everyone else. Maybe ophanimon could have been around the whole time and been a mentor and parental figure? And we could actually explore her moral ambiguity, cos seriously the show makes her kind of a "ends justify the means" asshole and just NEVER AKNOWLEDGES IT. Wtf was up with that scene where she illusions Cherubimon with a fake dream of him being purified and getting to just go back home and be friends? And then she just backstabs him and we never mention it again. Like seriously even if she couldnt actually cure him that scene at least revealed that he WANTED to be cured and it made him so much more sympathetic! If he can be reasoned with, maybe they could have talked him down and then gone on an adventure together to find an actual cure for him? Also seriously what is up with his entire plot! Cos he just gets 'infected with darkness' cos he 'had darkness in his soul' but its just cos he thought the humanoid digimon were being racist against the beast digimon? And like.. The council was 2/3rds humanoid with him as the only beast representative and since he got infected by evilness they never remotely tried to recruit a new one or listen to what beast digimon have to say. So he was kinda right, yo! Also wtf with the reveal that actually no everything we just said is pointless because his REAL motivation was just blindly obeying ANOTHER humanoid digimon that comes out of nowhere to be the final boss. Also what is up with all the increased sexism in this series!! Its so weirdly worse than even adventure which had the excuse of being "a product of the times" yet still had way better variety of female characters and less bigoted stuff! And frontier came right after tamers which was one of the best series for gender equality and even used the medium of the setting as an opportunity to talk about the subject. Shame they censored that in the dub tho, Renamon talking about how digimon have no biological sex and how she only came to think of herself as a girl when she came to the human world. And rika's family accepting her and inviting her to family girls's night and stuff! Like as a metaphor for transgender issues it really worked to try and explain it to a younger audience in a natural way. And then one season later in frontier we have ONLY ONE GIRL IN THE CAST and wah wah whining about fashion and oh no she cant ever win a fight and her goddamn spirit form is in skimpy lingerie despite her being 12, and the show is always perving on her! And then she loses her powers halfway through the first season without winning a single fight, and has to be the damsel in distress to motivate the dudes in a stupid love triangle. And even when she does get to fight she's only allowed to fight the ONE SINGLE GIRL ON THE VILLAIN TEAM and they have stupid slap fights and "who's the most pretty" and BEACH EPISODE and GAHHHHH

...anyway as you can see i have a lot of reasons why i didnt really like the series. But what i meant to make this post about (BEFORE I GOT DISTRACTED) is that the fundemental concept itself isnt bad, they just wasted all its potential. And its a really good concept for ocs! Make your own digi superhero person and explore the fragmented world doing stuff offscreen during the series! Like they left so much open?? We know that other kids also got on other trains to the digiworld and they all just failed or gave up or got captured by the bad guys. And we know there's a bunch of spirits that the heroes never use because the villains got them again, so its cool to imagine an alt universe where the roles were swapped. What if different kids became the chosen heroes? What if different spirits were corrupted by the villains? What would a good guy Grumblemon be like? What would the kid be like who got that spirit? Would their evolution form be wildly different from grumblemon? Do the villain forms and purified forms look as different as Duskmon and Lowemon did?

SO MUCH POTENTIAL!!!

So yeah i wasted so much space here blabbering, so i'll probably make a separate post about my oc ideas lol. But i'd love to see other people's ideas for ocs/reinterpretations/other ways to fix that wasted potential!

So! Digimon frontier oc ideas!

To start off,have an undeveloped idea of someone on the team having Angemon as their spirit evolution. Cos it would have made the transition to such a new series a lot easier if they had some sort of "hey this is for you" to the fans of the previous ones. And angemon is the Adventure digimon that already looks the most like a regular human in a weird mask.

SPEAKING OF WHICH! less regular humans in weird masks! Whats the point of "you turn into a digimon" if you dont turn into a digimon? Like i know the whole gimmick is "humanoid mode and beast mode" but even the beast modes often look like humans in a costume! And there's been so many humanoid digimon before who actually looked like HUMANOID MONSTERS rather than just normal dudes cosplaying! There's literally nothing "monster" about agunimon, he's just a guy in some knight armour. Like the most you can do is charitably assume maybe the horns are his own and not just attatched to the helmet. And its annoying cos the villains have way cooler evolutions! And also double annoying that they always bend the humanoid/beast rule in such transparently self serving ways. Tommy gets two beast forms cos he's meant to be the cute mascot-looking character. Zoey gets two human forms cos she's meant to be grossly sexualized all the time. When kouichi turns from bad to good he loses his interesting looking actually monsterous evolutions and just becomes another dude in an armour. A friggin palette swap of his brother!

Anyway anyway LOL IM RAMBLING AGAIN yo...

Ideas for ocs!

I was thinking of a main girl character who's basically just a "fuk u" to all the stereotypes they did with Zoey. Actually gets a monster lookin beast form and a warrior lookin human form and actually gets to goddamn fight! Maybe her name is Hilda or Hildegarde? And i'm imagining her as a chubby nerdy kid with glasses and curly hair and a super cute oversized sweater kind of fashion sense. And her main spirit form would be this super badass lady knight giant orc thing who can Protec All The Peoples! Maybe earth element or the irony of being light element but she's this big ol monster goblin with just a tiny pair of angel wings on the back, lol! And then her personality is normally super shy and socially anxious, but she actually finds the digimon world kind of freeing? She's a total badass in battle and acts like a big ol powerful protector of all her friends! And she's always super excited aboyt adventuring and gets carried away comparing stuff to her favourite books. And now we must learn everything about this new place!! TO THE DIGI LIBRARY!!! So she's able to be confident and bubbly when it comes to actual adventure stuff, but she's still shy about regular life and anything social. Maybe its her weakness? Like she's scared about going home because she thinks she'll be "just a nobody" again, and lose all the great friends she made here. And also maybe a backstory of her heroic side still existing even before she got magic powers, but in the most tragic way? She managed to fend off a burglar once all on her own, she just snapped and did everything possible to defend her family, even though this was a man three times her size! But instead of being seen as a hero it just made all the neighbours and kids at school spread rumours about her being dangerous. Oh she must be in *a gang* if she knew how to fight like that! Oh its so *dangerous* for a kid that age to have such anger inside! Maybe she's a *scary mentally ill person*! So the whole situation ruined her social status even more and made her retreat even more inside her shell. And this is why the circumstances of the digital world are such a wish fullfillment for her and she's so scared of just waking up and it all being a dream. I think the villains could manipulate her fears, and it could maybe lead to her Skullgreymon Moment?

And then another idea i had was for a trans boy? I just thought this would be a good framework to explore LGBT stuff. He'd maybe be the wind element? And his personality would be very "classic shonen hero" but without the "dumbass" part, instead he's the cynical planner type dude while Hilda is the "i didnt even think, i just wanted to save everyone" type. But he's still super peppy and tries to be the class clown all the time so people will like him, and loves to climb trees and stuff. I think maybe his fighting style would be all about trickery and random chance? If there was such a thing as an element of surprise then he'd have that one! And then his story is that he doesn't have anyone supporting him for who he truly is at home, and he's afraid that his new friends will call him a freak too if they find out. He took the opportunity and cut his hair short as soon as this adventure started, and just introduced himself to everyone as a boy. But he's scared that people will find out he "lied" even though he didnt, he's just been so beaten down with the idea that he's not allowed to be himself and he has to pretend to be everyone else's idea of an ideal cis man or else they'll reject him. So maybe he starts off a bit obsessed with cliche masculinity and has low confidence about himself? And this could reflect in his digivolutions actually changing! He starts off with a really over the top buff warrior dude form, even though his fighting style is entirely about speed and trickery. So he tends to get into trouble with this fake form getting in the way of his ability to fight. And then when everyone accepts him he gets all powered up and changes into a new form! A way less "cliche macho" dude who looks like a stage magician instead and actually synchronizes with his element to become super powerful! And he's all like "oh no i became less manly" but everyone is like "wtf dont let yourself believe you're any less of a man because of dumb stereotypes!" And Also Big Friendship Hugs.

And then maybe this provides a resolution to both him and Hilda's plots? Like when the story is over they still stay friends in the real world, and having a friend who supports them gives them enough power to withstand all the haters and stay confident in themselves. But itd be kind of a coincidence for all the digidestined to live in the same city lol! So maybe in real life they live at least a few towns away, and they become long distance pals who send letters/emails. Because I LOVE ALL MY LONG DISTANCE PALS!! Also itd make sense to have a Internet Good message in a digimon show, lol.

And then i dunno about the rest of the team yet but i thought itd be good to have a sort of moral divide? Like these are the two who have a shitty home life and dont want to leave the digital world. But then the other half of the group has big reasons to wanna go home. So the villains could play on this difference in goals and make them fight amoungst each other. Just generally make the villains more actually competant, yknow? Oh also if there's a Dark Agunimon on the villains he needs to be EVEN MORE of a boring human in a costume! Cos it sucks that all the villains have better character designs and the show seems to think theyre worse ones. Give me one case of more boring not meaning more heroic!

[felassan]

Assorted Andromeda info 7

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [part 6] [part 8] [part 9] [additional scraps]

This one is cut for sheer length (sry in advance for that and the scrappy nature of the notes). Note that these “assorted info” posts are 95% summaries of information that mostly comes from developer tweets. As such they’re mostly about gameplay/mechanics/Q&A on those sorts of things as opposed to characters and story. There was a looot of new information given on characters and story in today’s press previews, but only things developers tweeted about or responded to in tweet format are covered here. You can therefore expect a few spoilers for that sort of stuff, but only things that devs tweeted/responded to in tweets.

Q. “Where did you, the developers & writers get your Andromeda Galaxy info from? Did you use real life resources or sc-fi? Any response on how much is fiction & nonfiction in terms of the Galaxy & planets used?” -> A. “there’s always been a lot of science worked into the franchise, but @macwalterslives or @tibermoon may have more specifics” & “Largely fictional, since there’s very little we actually know about Andromeda. But it’s been interesting to see some very recent new discoveries and how well they fit.” [x, x, x]

Q. “Hi there. On PC, can you map 4 favorites to different buttons, mouse buttons for example? Switching them without using pause.” -> A. “yep” [x]

Q. “Can you upgrade "perk" skills like Sentinel's Tech Armor?” -> A. “Not directly--you rank up the profile itself by investing more in the right skill groups. Invest in tech & biotic skills to unlock higher ranks of Sentinel, for instance. Each rank has a unique name and better stats.” [x, x]

Q. “the favorites is going to have any quick button to change with no pause (f1/f2 or something) or just in that menu shown?” -> A. “On console: radial only (need dpad for squad commands & scanner) On pc: radial or (mappable) hotkeys for quick access” [x]

The galaxy map music make’s Ian’s inner fanboy (of the trilogy) very happy [x]

You can no longer use squad powers, but you can still combo with them. It’s just more organic now [x]

Q. “What is the logic behind the loadout system and not allowing PC to have 8 hotkeyed abilities/powers like the original trilogy?” -> A. “Very different combat design, designed around fluid use of 3-power builds you can switch between. It opened doors to more responsive controls, more visibly present squadmates, more frequent powers, more varied power input (tap vs hold), and easier use of self-combos” [x, x, x]

Helmet toggle returns [x]

Some of the zones in the game were designed around driving the Nomad through them [x], but they’re not big for the sake of being big (DA:I drew some criticism for this) [x]

We already knew that it was possible to respec Ryder and squad, but it’s now confirmed that this option “lives” in the medbay as in previous games [x]

If I’m interpreting it right, we’ll have 8 ability slots on PC like in previous games [x]

Ian re-emphasized that there are no profiles in multiplayer as those are unique to Ryder [x]. MP = set classes as in ME3

As in previous games, carrying more weapons makes power cooldown times last longer, but it works a bit differently in this game [x]

While we can customize the colors of our casual outfit and armor, we cannot customize the colors of our guns, without modding that is [x]

There’s aim-assist on PS4 on easy difficulty (specific I know lol!) [x]

This character is confirmed to not be one Gil Brodie [x]

Gil Brodie is confirmed to be a human character [x]

We only explore sections of planets not whole planets. Exploring whole planets would have required the devs to make everything procedural instead of hand-crafted [x]

Flynn re-emphasized that Reyes is not a quarian [x]

Q. “Aaryn, please don't go breaking my heart like that. Let there be hope of Quarians” -> A. “Maybe just wait and play the game and see what happens” [x] -> Q. “But Reyes was our last Quarian hope” -> A. “Maybe you're the last hope for quarians. Did you ever think of that?” [x]

The face-sharing feature can be used for your sibling too [x]

Tech armor returns as a feature of the Sentinel profile [x]

The animators are reportedly still working hard on improved facial animations and lip-sync [x]. Also, A LOT more fixes and polish have gone in since the press build [x]

Q. “How responsive that skill favorites menu is? Can I just hold hotkey for it down for second and flick selection with mouse?” -> A. “It's pretty fast, but on pc you don't need the menu at all--you can hotkey the faves directly” [x]

Q. “Hey, with ME:A is it right to assume on PC (M+KB) will also have the 'Favourite' Mechanic and can we keybind them?” -> A. “yes and yes” [x]

The Explorer profile has its own perks [x]

There’s controller support on PC (in case anyone was worried) [x]

We already knew that there is no level cap; now we know that the highest rank you can reach in each profile is 6 [x]

In case it wasn’t clear from the second deep-dive gameplay vid, you can use skills from other “profiles” while using a different one [x]

I think the woman in this new screenshot is a multiplayer infiltrator kit [x]

6 confirmed as the number of squadmates [x]

You can stick to one skill type and be fine, though on the hardest difficulty modes some diversity can definitely help you out [x]

Q. “On PC, can you map 4 favorites to different buttons, mouse buttons for example? Switching them without using pause” -> A. “Yep” [x]

Each power has an individual cooldown time (unlike ME3), so you can do some pretty crazy combos [x]

Combat drones return as a skill [x]

Q. “I see a lot of Biotic goodness from everything we've seen, but I feel as though weapons have a secondary feel. Is that the case?” -> A.  “Depends on your playstyle. If you play as a soldier/combat oriented build, then weapons are very front and center.” [x]

Q. “any specific reason for the switch to auto-cover instead of snap to cover?” -> A. “Primarily because we wanted more fluid gameplay, and to solve the "I accidentally got stuck on cover and died, dammit!" problem.” [x]

On the Tempest squadmates all have favorite spots but they do move around, like real people [x]

As we saw in the second gameplay vid, there are 3 power slots at once, and you can use the Favorites system to swap between them (for up to 12 powers total) [x]. You can bind the weapon wheel, which contains the faves. And you can bind each of the 4 faves individually [x]

All squadmates have their own skill points, it is not collective [x]

The Andromeda Initiative hoodie that Ryder can wear in the game as one of their casual outfit options is available to purchase as one of the hoodies from the AI hoodie range in the BioWare store [x]

Q. “Can you assign the same profile to more than one favorite? I.E. 2 favorites, 2 sets of powers, both with the Adept profile?” -> A. “Yup. If you want to have four separate Adept favorites, that works just fine” [x]

There is banter in the Nomad [x]

If you aren’t able to reach platforms using the jump-jet, you can pull yourself up [x]

You get “something special” for sticking to one skill type [x]

EDIT: FIXED. Suvi was written by Sheryl Chee [x]

Courtney Woods wrote Dr. Lexi [x]