#knight rook meta

[profoundlyfaded]

I’ve been reading your DA fics, and I wondered, why have you made Rook a Warrior-Mage? I’ll be honest, it feels a little forced. Sorry.

Hey, if it’s not something that works for you don’t be sorry but I’m also glad you asked because Dragon Age doesn’t really have a Warrior-Mage class so why would I do it? This is gonna be a long one.

Well, firstly this isn’t entirely true - Origins had the Arcane Warrior specialisation for Mages. The specialisation allowed a mage to equip armour and weapons, allowing you to use weapons and magic in combat but it came with higher mana and stamina costs. To be honest, it was a nightmare for me to manage.

Inquisition also has the epically OP Knight-Enchanter specialisation. Which could pretty much render you invulnerable in once you had Fade Shield combined with the use of Spirit Blade. If you’ve never played as a KE in Inquisition, you are missing out.

So, to me these two classes are very much in-line with the idea of the Warrior-Mage. And the Warrior classes have also also dipped into the magic side of things as well.

Awakenings gave us Spirit Warriors who were not mages but they were able to ‘flirt with inhabitants of the Fade who agree to augment mortal abilities in exchange for a glimpse of the physical world’. Initially this was the angle I was going to use for with my Rook, and were she not a Mourn Watcher, I probably would have stuck to a HC closer to the Awakening Spirit Warriors.

So taking us back to Rook. The major factor that made me decide my HC for her would be a Warrior-Mage is regardless of whether you are a Mage or not a Mourn Watcher talks about doing resurrections and spirit manipulations (although I’ve not played as a dwarf so it might be different for them). These feel like things that would need a degree of magical inclination. Also, combined with the actual mechanics in the skill tree of the associated talents - Bloody Advance, for example is a fan of crystals that are summoned and thrown. Very magey. Spirit Storm, summoning a whirlwind of spirits that siphons health back to you. Again, pretty magey. You look at these abilities in context to the overall genre and you’re going to find this stuff in battlemage classes.

Additional reason also included the actual mechanics of how the shield works as well. In my fics, Rook actually throws her shield a la Captain America rather than the spirit representation used in game, so to create that, her shield contains enchantments that allow her to do that and have it return to her otherwise it would be a really heavy frisbee.

Combine that with the fact that historically, the Mortalitasi are a collective of mages, it felt right that they would train their warriors from the mage ranks. My Rook is actually an expert in hexspells and wardweaves in my fanfics, which are used to battle the dead (and living), seal away things you want sealing away forever, etc, something that can’t be represented in game. She’s also older than the game implies in some places but I believe that came about as the devs changing their minds about Rook age being more malleable but I’ve worked out how I’m crossing that bridge when I get there.

Fanfic wise, she’ll be using skills from the mage tree as well. Spirit Bomb and Soulburn from the Death Caller tree are also spells she knows along with Wall of Fire.

And expanding skill sets for fanfic is going to happen to other characters, I was going to make Harding a bit more of an artificer because the team would use traps and stuff. Taash is probably going to have similar additional skills (not least to give them a chance to work together to build that romance in the fic). But the devs decided to take out throwables, which I’m fine with because I tend to forget about them but Harding is described as a potion slinging scout, so I’m going to incorporate that in, particularly with her magic garden.

So the game gives us a lot of mechanical limitations but we stretch that in fic because what makes a video game work doesn’t work in written narratives and vice versa.

[pastorfutureletthembe]

Checkmate ♚

Apparently a temporary AR (Otome) game is coming soon and the artwork for it is just breathtaking! It is also full of details I want to explore OF COURSE. My brain is doing tetris things again, oops.

Looking for a senseless meta about chess pieces? You're in the right place, come on in~

>> Chess Theme

White vs Black

The first topic is obviously the chess theme. Of course, this part is to be taken with a grain of salt since the pieces aren't correctly disposed on the board. However, the characters themselves are walking on their respective squares except for Vein (because he's all powerful and he's above your stupid rules. Probably). Notably, Liu Xiao himself seems to be leaving a white square. And if there is any meaning to it, I'd like to believe it makes a gray character out of him.

Now, what can we say about the chess pieces themselves?

White: rook, pawn, knight

Black: rook, mystery piece, king

Each character is paired with a chess piece.

The most reassuring clue to me is that a white piece has been given to Xia Fei. Which, there is a fat chance this makes an ally out of him. He might be only a Pawn ♙ for now. For those who are not familiar with chess, a Pawn can only move ahead, never back, one square at a time. It has some cool moves too but it depends on the game you want to play. If the path is open, a Pawn can reach the other side of the board, turning it into a Queen ♕. If a Pawn can only move ahead in small range, a Queen literally rules over the whole board. She's quick, vicious and dangerous once she has enough space to move as she pleases. Of course, he can also be a mere Pawn, a tool to manipulate Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi.

[Edit: since I always turn mine into Queens because I like to inspire fear and admiration from my brother, a Pawn can also turn into a Rook, a Bishop, or a Knight. I like to think of Xia Fei as a Queen but it's very interesting that he could turn into either Vein/CXS, Liu Xiao or Lu Guang by the end of Yingdu Chapter. ]

Cheng Xiaoshi and Vein both getting paired with a ♖ Rook ♜ could mean they use the same kind of power or are equivalent in some ways. Rooks have a large range, can move horizontally and vertically, ahead or back. They are better used when paired with other pieces, though, cause a lonely Rook ♖ is an easy pray. I think the main focus here is the similarity more than the piece itself. Lu Guang seems to be the one being punished and haunted, but Vein probably offered his power to Cheng Xiaoshi (or Lu Guang, according to the last Yingdu Chapter PV). My personal theory is that Vein mirrors or shadows Cheng Xiaoshi's shape because he is the source of his power. Vein's position, if there is any relevance to it, keeps Lu Guang's Knight ♘ from moving at the center, his natural and most efficient position.

Toppled King

Liu Xiao has two pieces by his side, a King ♔ and a mystery piece. The merch revealed the later to be a Bishop ♝.

Note that only amateurs tend to topple the King. It is regarded as some kind of pop culture-only approach to chess. Because of this, let's take a look a what an actual checkmate is (where we don't get to step on the vainquished).

Checkmate is any game position in chess in which a player's king is threatened with capture and there is no possible escape. In chess, the king is never actually captured. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. The player loses as soon as their king is checkmated. In formal games, it is usually considered good etiquette to resign an inevitably lost game before being checkmated. (cf. wikipedia)

If Vein, the current character we might recognize as the ultimate villain of the season, is only a Rook ♜, equivalent to Cheng Xiaoshi, who does the King ♔ represent? My personal opinion is Time, Fate itself. The song "Mastermind" supports this theory, and Lu Guang himself really is defying the natural order to save Cheng Xiaoshi, after all. It would make perfect sense. Stopping the clocks at a tournament is the sign of surrender. So basically, the game is over when one gives up and stops when the King has nowhere to go.

The character of Liu Xiao is given a lot of care in this specific artwork. He actually always stood out, since his very first appearance in the season 2 artworks, walking past Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi's portrait, looking away from us. Here, again, he's not interested in the audience, focuses on the photograph of what fans reckon as Lu Guang from "Dive Back in Time".

The truth is, he's playing the long game, he has no time to spare, and he regards people as puppets. There has been theories about him having a hidden agenda, independently of Vein, using/working with Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi for his plan. His intervention in "Trial Train" speaks volume of his strategic mind, "they wanted to escape but didn't realize I blocked the exit a long time ago". Also, one hundred years wouldn't be enough to escape.

This merciless sharpness makes the Bishop perfect for Liu Xiao. Funny story, the Bishop ♝ is not actually a priest, but it represents a war elephant. Historically, the war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks, and instill terror and fear. That's fitting.

Another possibility regarding the toppled King could be that it refers to Liu Xiao's background. The fallen piece could be a resolved situation but the motivation behind Liu Xiao's intent to manipulate the timelines. Perhaps he played this game before and lost. Does Lu Guang know him or is Liu Xiao a mere stalker? Did they play this same game together or against each other?

There's a lot that can be speculated but it is hard to say what these pieces represent for now. As I said before, this read is based on popular imagery of what chess is, not on the actual strategy on the board itself. Secondly, these three new characters we have yet to meet, they don't have a defined role in the canon, not until Yingdu Chapter finally aires.

>> Tokens

Each character is giving a object. I guess it might be relevant to the type of gameplay the AR game will offer but for the sake of this meta, we're still gonna try to understand why those in particular.

Cheng Xiaoshi has a camera. I don't think it deserve further analysis, his powers exist through the lens after all.

Xia Fei has a clock. Guess the time? 10:10. For those unaware, it is a very recurrent time. Put the promotional poster aside, I recommend you pay attention to the time on the clock in the Studio, above Lu Guang's head, right before the gang gets a ominous call from Xu Shanshan's phone at the end of 1x09. If it should mean anything about Xia Fei himself: I won't say it enough but, really: DO NOT TRUST HIM. Or, you know, perhaps he's doomed: it is worth mentioning that except for Xia Fei's Pawn ♙, each character is affiliated to a piece which can move forward and backward on the board.

Liu Xiao has a gear. I find this one intriguing because, so far, this object has belonged to Cheng Xiaoshi's imagery (cf. "BREAK!"). For someone on an ambitious project such as controlling timelines, he is giving a small tool that cannot be used on its own, is part of a machine. Could be relevant to the way he does things, never getting his own hands dirty, working through others. Or it could be that he's himself just another player, played by Fate. Or perhaps, he has the missing piece that Lu Guang needs to save Cheng Xiaoshi, who knows?

Vein is already using his own item: the pipe. He's the only one owning his object and aware of it.

>> The Case Study of Lu Guang

Because of course, our favorite character is actually the shadiest of all, I will dedicate a whole section about him specifically. Why do I insist on calling Lu Guang shady? We know and we see his chess piece is white. But you have to take a closer look to make out the White Knight ♘. The value of a Knight ♘ is equivalent to the Bishop's ♝. But ultimately, its worth less than Cheng Xiaoshi's Rook ♖.

L shaped path

Moving only in an 'L' shaped path, Knights ♘ are the most effective from the center of the board. This is because they get a broader reach in all directions from the central part.

Now, this is very important. Why should it be a mystery that Lu Guang's piece is a knight? What is a Knight ♘? The answer resides in the mechanism of his maneuver.

Part of the idea of the knight maneuver is to flank. And since the Knight is not a horse but a man on a horse, the odd maneuver reflects the knight's ability to guide the horse he's riding (to an extent). In other words, since the Knight comprises two entities (the man riding the horse), the move should sensibly consist of two parts as well, to reflect the added agility of the athletic horse. Conversely, the Knight has access to a maximum of 8 squares (as opposed to the "equal" Bishop's maximum of 13) because the horse is still an animal with a mind of its own.

Note that if you place a Knight ♘ somewhere on the margins, its efficacy will diminish exponentially. Additionally, if he only moved two squares, straight or diagonally, the Knight ♘ would always be restricted to the color squares that he started the game on.

Lu Guang being the Knight ♘ doesn't only means that he moves unconventionally. It is reflective of his duality. Perhaps, the fact he's using his power and Cheng Xiaoshi's. There is another aspect of him we could address here:

Burning Palace

For one thing, "BURNING PALACE" brings back the theme of strategy board game with the checkers this time (you see black pieces falling). It also introduce the Four Heads from playing cards. The fact they bothered to mention it implies a Fourth character.

Xia Fei: ♠

Liu Xiao: ♣

Vein: ♦

The fourth color ♥ is missing and I'm secretly convinced that it's Lu Guang's color.

Enygmatic Tokens

The portrait behind Lu Guang is Lu Guang himself, from "Overthink". This image appears in the first bridge, when the lyrics goes "how did my sight got stolen once more?", superposing Lu Guang's face with mysterious shapes, erasing his eyes/power. This particular line comes to confirm what we already know: Yingdu Chapter isn't a resolution, let alone a happy ending, but a repeat of a tragic event in an unchangeable node. The end is the same, once again. Lu Guang's hope and happy ending has been stolen once more. And STOLEN also implies that there is an intent behind this failure.

A portray is still a photograph though, and it can be used to dive back in time.

What is the most curious to me is the familiar eagle on Lu Guang's chest. Eagles belongs to Cheng Xiaoshi's imagery so why does Lu Guang is wearing them here?

An interesting take would be that Yingdu Chapter isn't actually from Lu Guang's perspective, but from Cheng Xiaoshi's, diving in a picture taken by Lu Guang. This would be some kind of plot twist and would definetely makes the big reveal easier but not less painful.

I'll probably make a whole meta about this symbol at some point but in the meantime, I'll let you know the eagle is associated with strength, power, wisdom, and freedom. The eagle's ability to soar high in the sky was believed to be a symbol of divine protection and spiritual guidance. Additionally, eagles are tied to the sun. Some people see them as signs of a bright future on the horizon. As a symbol of light, they embody both the intensity and heat of the sun as a fearsome force of nature, as well as the warmth and benevolence of the heavens.

This positive symbolisms are deeply rooted in Cheng Xiaoshi's nature, but if Yingdu Chapter actually brings us back to one earlier repeat, we can assume that Lu Guang had initially a brighter outlook on his mission.

The glasses are back and I'll say it again: once is weird, twice is a coincidence and thrice it's a pattern. The portrait shows Lu Guang without eyes but his item is a pair of glasses. Might be a subtile hint of denial there. As far as glasses go, pink is a peculiar color. It helps to 'voir la vie en rose', as the french says: "look at the world through rose-coloured glasses." Meaning, being delusional.

Might it be the eagle or the glasses, I'd say they're both representative of Lu Guang's state of mind at the time: hopeful.

~

[Edit: I recommend you take a look to these threads regarding this very same artwork: | X | X | X | I don't agree with everything but it's always cool to have other perspectives.]

[hoshinokaabi-secretsanta]

From: @deafeninggardenerpanda

To: @artxeevee

Message from Santa: "'And the Clouds Part for Us!'

ROOK! WHAT A PLEASURE TO DRAW FOR YOU! The second I saw Moxie I knew I HAD to draw her, what a gorgeous design!! And a GSA girlie no less 🤝 :'D!!! While her and Meta Knight wasn't explicitly on your wishlist, I read her background (really cool btw!) and didn't want to potentially ruin any surprise by asking if this was okay 💦 so I hope it is! Them together inspired me to do a sky and sea setting and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Happy holidays! 💝"

[tailsdollr]

bad ending au where magolor wins after he gets the crown

Each is named after a piece in chess. They go in order of strength and which they fell victim to Magolor.

Pawn is the weakest, being Bandana Dee. He was killed first by Magolor reflecting his spear back at him.

Dedede was next. Upon seeing how Magolor was targeting Meta Knight, he tried to protect him. Dying to protect his partner in battle.

Meta Knight soon succumbed to his injuries after one more fatal blow.

Kirby stood the longest. And almost succeeded in destroying Magolor and therefore the crown. But he was ultimately defeated.

King stands guard, being quick and on his feet. His battle partner is the Knight. The Knight does fatal attacks such as lasers and just large explosions like crash. It is slow, and cannot do much. So the King covers for it as it charges.

Pawn is the most conscious. Being able to talk and aware of his situation. Pawn knows you have to defeat it and awaits you to destroy it. Even so he has no choice but to fight you.

King can talk enough to send remarks and call out to Knight. But the Knight is absolutely just a tool.

King and Knight can use the abilities Grand Hammer and Ultra Sword respectively. Their other attacks include King splitting himself to reveal a gaping mouth in his stomach, and the Knight creating bursts of beams. More so like Void Termina's when it summons the crown. (It is why Knights design takes the general shape of the crowns design)

Rook is the strongest. Right before the Queen. The crown brutalized the puff ball into a hollow shell of itself, while the remainder of Magolor seems to favor it.

The Rook cannot talk at all. It has no memories of what it is and who anyone is.

The Rook can pull any form of copy ability out from it's mouth. It won't be exact how Kirby used it, being in a twisted unprecedented manner. But it is reminiscent of the ability. It has a few extras, where they take on the shape of the crystal shard gun.

The Rook hovers usually like a puppet strung up.

Magolor isn't.. Happy with himself. But that's okay since he isn't exactly in control anymore, is he.

[raayllum]

i'm gonna break down the poster later but for now I wanna talk about the poem

As others have noticed the first letter of each line, read bottom to top, spell out "The Red Wedding" which is likely the episode title, so I'm not going to speculate too much on that.

Like we know at this point hardly anything is accidental in TDP especially when there's blatant opportunities to hide clues, so with that in mind, I want to look at stanza by stanza to the best of my ability.

Gnash your teeth, O Dragon Fierce! Night’s not far away

"Gnash" is an aggressive reference to teeth, which makes me think of "ivory draconic" for the Nova Blade, but also of scenes yet explained (the arc 1 intro of human warriors gathered on one side of the border, and Thunder's display of power). However, I think it's likely that what the poem is referring to is even farther back in history, given that "night" might refer to a time period (i.e. the stars leaving) happening soon.

In the sky that watchful eye Does weep and stare and pierce

"White as the star's heart it pierced" and we see eyes in reference to dragons' ire against Elarion. That said, this "watchful eye" could belong to a long ago Startouch elf (Aaravos, Laurelion, Leola?) who cared about what was happening, hence being 'watchful.' Pierce has a less peaceful connotation, but this section of the poem definitely reads as "in the past to me" (I say, preparing to eat my words in the future)

Dance away, O Golden Queen! Eternal fiery flame While shadows jeer into your ear Don’t forge a blade from shame

This, meanwhile, feels like a pretty straightforward reference to Janai in present day. She is both queen and the Golden Knight of Lux Aurea. Dancing is a part of Sunfire proposals, she has fire powers, and she's planning a wedding. "Shadows" could be references to her nightmares from Aaravos and the shadow monster creatures Karim's army is probably going to accidentally turn into thanks to Pharos' lingering corruption. She wields a Sunforge blade, of course, and has doubt/shame surrounding her choices and status as queen as it moves back and forth... so maybe "don't make a harsh choice out of shame/fear of unworthiness?" But we shall have to see.

Now onto what's probably my favourite stanza:

Eight in a line, O Chosen Mine! Ready for a war Endlessly burning Hopefully yearning That love will triumph once more!

"Eight in a line" makes me lose my mind because there's 8 pieces across the board in chess (2 rooks, 2 knights, 2 bishops make 6, + 1 king and queen make 8; as well as 8 pawns, of course). "O Chosen Mine" also makes it sound like Aaravos is the speaker of the poem, which given that he's someone poetry has been written about up until now, is deliciously meta.

"Ready for a war" might apply most straightforwardly to the Sunfire elves, but I don't think we even have eight named Sunfire characters in show, so it must encompass more main players. Perhaps unrest in the Pentarchy, and of course, the Dragang taking steps to try to go to war against and defeat Aaravos.

"Endlessly burning" has a couple different meanings, given that 1) fire cannot burn forever, 2) it seems humans were gifted sun magic first way back when, and 3) fire/burning has a more positive association with light. "Hopefully yearning" has a positive connotation, even if people on both sides can have hope for various reasons ("There is one weird hope" from Claudia in 4x01 vs Ezran's "There is a hope" in 3x03, etc). To yearn for something is to have "a strong feeling of wishing for something, especially something that you cannot have or get easily" and we know that wishes and wants are something that can go from good to bad in TDP's world, especially when it comes to Aaravos.

The characters are hoping/working/wishing that "Love will triumph once more," the way it did for them in 3x09. This reflects back into love > control, narrative of love > narrative of power, etc. It also caps off this stanza of "eight in the line" having the game motif, and then triumphing also indicates winning the game.

But, of course, they can't. Not in S6, anyway.  😈

[rangarlamamicado]

Deltarune CH3 & 4 (+5) Predictions (UPDATED)

Ch3:

* Two Rooks (Mike and Tenna, a duo who run the station/dark world)

* Bonus: Mike is the voice of the two, but Tenna is the brains behind the operation.

* Secret Boss: A cowboy from a canceled show. Potentially elements of missing green crayon?

* Bonus: Uses a pan (green soul weapon, in tradition w/ jevilKNIFE (red) and Big SHOT (yellow)) and maybe pans for gold? To make money and strike it rich since his cancelation likely ruined his life.

* Inverse of green's kindness, anger and hatred. (Jevil was hopeless ('undetermined') to continue and gave up. Spamton experienced and doles out injustice, scamming people for no good reason.)

* Somewhat hotland-esque? (If Ch1's DW was New Home (castles and traditional layout) and Ch2's was Core (Cybernetic/electric) it could be going in reverse order)

* Undyne is wrapped up in it (a la Berdly) with Toriel as the party member. Weird route could expand on brief part in UT where Undyne needs water due to metal armor in hotland.

Ch4:

* Dark world in Holiday House. Thus, two Bishops (can involve Alvin in some way as antagonistic?). As for main villain this chapter... unsure! Likely two new original ones.

* Power outage, whether by weather or by Kris, leads Kris & Susie to the dark world with Noelle.

* Despite wintry theme, will have elements of Waterfall. Likely due to an official or sombre atmosphere of the house thanks to Mayor Holiday (and absence of Dess?).

* Secret Boss: Ice-E, maybe related to the pizza box Dess burned in the sweepstakes?

* Bonus: Cyan soul, inverse of patience (anticipation/longing), as if waiting for this moment and obsessing over it with insanity. Incorporates toy knife as weapon, like an ice-pick?

* Bonus: Weird route likely involves Alvin or Mayor Holiday in some way? Details unclear.

Ch5:

* Dragon-Blazers Dark World. A 'dark world within a dark world,' even. Hence, rudimentary, simplistic art style paralleling classic JRPGs (reality becomes more avante-garde the further down you go until complete darkness).

* Skies Forever Blue was actually Dragon Blazers all along! Reveals two 'knights,' the MC from Dragon Blazers likely being the antagonist for the chapter (sees party as 'enemies/invaders of the kingdom'), and Kris (though maybe not said deliberately or at the start).

* Bonus: Revelation of existence of multiple knights/beings who can create dark worlds? Two light knights maybe being Alvis and Dess, and two dark knights being Dragon Blazers MC and Kris' Soul. (Dragon Blazers MC is the other dark knight because they too are a player surrogate character, albeit for their own game. Can add some interesting meta-commentary?).

* Wintery elements paralleling Snowdin, likely leading to the Glacial Palace mentioned in the Spamton Sweepstakes.

* Secret Boss: Dess/Dragon Blazers Princess. Represents inverse integrity - deception, deceit. Likely regarding their true identity? Due to being princess and blue soul, incorporates dancing?

* Bonus: Likely sealed within Glacial Palace, being the chapters' final area (as with all secret bosses). Thus, glitch usage and potential deep-darkness delving?

* Weird route may expose Kris as the Knight, and represent a turning point for the story as a whole with Susie and Kris.

Complete Chess Theory:

Light world -

* King: Asgore

* Queen: Toriel

* Rook: Undyne, Alphys

* Bishop: Mayor Holiday, Rudy?

* Knight: Alvin, Dess

* Pawn: Susie, Berdly, Noelle, Monster Kid, Jockington, Temmie, Snowy, Catti

* Player: Chara (Us, the player, the puppet master of those from the realm of the 'real')

Dark world -

* King: Spade King

* Queen: Q5U4EX7YY2E9N (Queen)

* Rook: Mike n' Tenna

* Bishop: Two new characters, most likely

* Knight: DB Protag, Kris' Soul

* Pawn: Ralsei, The 7 Vessels

* Player: W.D.Gaster (The puppet master of the origin of the dark world and its denizens)

[twstgameplay]

This might have been asked before and if it has, feel free to ignore this or just link your old answer 😭 But I'm convinced that Colorless/Void Attack tests are almost IMPOSSIBLE to get a good grade on. I'd like to know, do the mods have personal favorite builds they use/recommend foe these tests? Or just any card/buddy combos you all think should be the meta for this particular test? Cheers, btw! Your blog is one of the best in the twst community still and I so appreciate ya'll keeping it running as long as you have been 🤘

Hello! I do have my go-to teams for Cosmic. As a note, these are all the teams I use for Extra difficulty, and so these are teams that have gotten me SSS/S3. S4 is still something I've yet to reach.

As a note, I am F2P and been playing for a while, so any cards that I have that are at MLB, that's because I got lucky with duplicates and/or saved up perfumes through the years to level them up.

Cosmic Basic

Surprisingly, this is the one that is closest to S4 among the three tests, but this is because I have one of the most used team compositions for Cosmic Basic.

Basically, Boa Epel is my overkill due to his 3-turn ATK UP M that would boost his duo. Dorm Kalim boosts Epel's (and Idia's) ATK stat. I have 5 duos, and this team kills on turn 4-2. I don't think I can hit S4 if I only max out Boa Epel to Lv.110, but I will see an increase in score at least.

Ideally, this team would work best if the 5th duo is a card that duos with Epel to use his M1 and allow for a 3-turn kill especially once my cards are stronger. The easiest card for that is Dorm Rook being a permanent SSR, but other options include Birthday Deuce and Platinum Lilia.

Cosmic Attack

I believe my score here can be made much better, so I hope to see slight improvements when Cosmic Attack returns. But I find this to be already good considering my limited deck. The most successful teams use a maxed out General Lilia and Knight Sebek, cards that I don't have. So I made do by using the Attack cards with buffs that would boost my score.

Dorm Jack and Boa Epel are my two most powerful cards by virtue of being MLB and Jack having a ATK UP L and Epel having a 3-turn ATK UP M. I add Dorm Leona and Kalim to boost their ATK stats. Kalim has the additional buff of having an ally DMG UP on Water attacks, which I use on Boa Epel. I add Dorm Vil for Dorm Leona, and he also gets his ATK stat boosted by Epel. However, in the future, I aim to replace him with Tsum Vil, who is far stronger than Dorm while still having his ATK buddy (Kalim) in the team.

In Attack tests, it's very important to take note of buffs and ATK buddies because those contribute a lot to your score. The biggest thing you want to achieve is killing as fast as possible. If I recall correctly, this team let me kill within turn 6-2, but I want to aim for a 6-1 kill to see a higher boost in score, like around 24k score. However, even if I can't kill within that amount of turns, adding buffs and ATK buddies would help in boosting my score.

Another note: S5 in any Attack exam so far is impossible, so S4 is as good as you can get, but that may be the equivalent of Hard difficulty Cosmic Basic SSS.

Cosmic Defense

In Hard difficulty, this is the one test where I successfully achieved SSS in prior to Extra. I'd get around 21-22k scores regularly.

In Extra, I still get the same score mainly because I struggle to kill. Due to the lack of advantage spells and the increase in the opponent's HP, killing by turn 5-1 is harder to do.

I have 2 teams, one using Beans Jade and one using Cerberus Ortho.

Both teams have 3 heals and 2 debuffs. I have to activate all duos for a chance to kill by 5-1. The differences in HP between both teams is not that large, as in the first team, Idia and Jade are mutual HP buddies while in the second team, Ortho has HP M buddy with Idia. However, Ortho has much more heal.

I use the Beans Jade team in Omni Defense, which has nabbed S5. However, once the rest of the team is at higher levels, Cerberus Ortho is better both because he has more HP, bigger heal, and mutually duos with Dorm Idia. However, I lose Azul's ATK buddy, and Azul with his ATK buddy is the only way right now that I succeed in killing on time, so at the moment I lean towards Beans Jade.

I hope this helps! Good luck in your future Cosmic tests!

~ 🐙

[naturallyteal]

A new dream fanfic by NaturallyTeal ~ Fourth Day

Summary:

A Secret Dream Diary of a Good Omens fan (anonymous, he) who contracted a severe case of the fandom-typical brain rot from watching S1 & S2 too often, reading too much fanfic on AO3, and spending altogether too much time engaging on tumblr, digesting gifs, fanart and meta.

He dreams about Good Omens every night.

Short dreams, daily.

~~~

Fourth Day: Kintsugi

I dreamed that Crowley stood tall on a broad and checkered board, Fallen chess pieces all around him. He was a black knight, and he was wrecked, but he had glued his cracks, his fissures, his splits, his breaks, his ruptures, with gold. He was better than before. There was one other piece still standing, behind him, having his back.

A white rook, of course.

[previous day] [next day]

I’m planning to post one _short_ dream daily, for 20 days. If you like, subscribe on AO3!

There’s also a “mailing list” (tagging in the replies) here on tumblr, let me know if you want on it! 😇😎

[aoral]

[og poll here]

c!tubbo and q!tubbo…er Idk

hmm considering c!tubbo was a soldier...but q!tubbo fought in purgatory twice. I'm not sure.

-- a good ol' sword vs killjoy trigger happy chainsaw!

Okay new point maybe c!tubbo? considering q!tubbo fought more with. enchanted weapons, having a much different 'environment' due to the server being modded (meta aspect) it would be less common for him to fight without any weapons. c!tubbo otherwise being in a earlier era of Minecraft it would make sense with a bit less...advanced weapons.

-- it really depends on when did the string of sensibility snap

do you think c!tubbo fought back by instincts when every weapon he owned and every amour he had was confiscated? do you think q!tubbo knawed on flesh and wood and snapped at everyone and everything in his line of sight? Do you think they go feral once in a while, a break from the calm skies and rainbows, to the plummeting rainstorms and bolting lightnings? Do you think they sometimes stare at the escape exit and say "shit, this is escalating" in their mind?

-- I just realized that the poll is asking hand-to-hand I forgot and I only realized after I wrote the following chunk of words lol

c!tubbo counts his steps on taking the queen, he makes the most use of the pawns, the knights, the bishops and the rooks, he counts on how to check, how to queen, to restrain the opponent from winning. He counts on checkmate, on how many blocks he needs to promote the pawn, on taking steps back and forth. What makes him a good fighter is not his strength but his mind of winning.

q!tubbo fights like there is no tomorrow, he sinks into the bloodlust and fights like desperation itself, like being hanged forward by the primal urges to kill. He snaps because if he doesn't, if he doesn't give his all with no reservations he knows he will not win, he needs everything to win the fight so he does not forfeit to enemies, his bravery shines among other traits.

-- but just hand-to-hand fights? I'd say they will be evenly matched.

[turquoisetuber]

Blind Faith

i did some writing!!!!!!

Characters: Jade Starstrider, King Dedede, Meta Knight (mention)

as promised, @george228732 !! here it is!!

"...and that is why I think that's something only I can do!" Jade moved her knight ahead, placing the king's bishop in danger. "I already talked to dad. He said if I could get funding

Dedede had listened as Jade explained what he thought was her most insane idea yet. He didn't want to shoot her down, though. She believed with all her heart that she could do a great thing with this... and she could. He knew she was a really, really smart girl. and he knew that with her heart in it like this, she might be able to stop this energy that had been plagueing Dreamland since before his reign began. But…

"Jade, ya know first-hand how dangerous Dark Matter is. Ya lived it before. So to stay that close in proximity..." He used his rook to catch her knight. "...I'm just worried ya could get hurt. Or killed. Or worse."

"Damn it..." Jade moved a pawn forward before returning to the topic at hand. "But I'm resistant, remember? It can't affect my mind at all."

"Maybe not yer mind, but... Jade, 'resistant', in yer case, doesn't mean immune."

"I know that." She restrained a smile as she took his rook with her newly unblocked queen. C'mon, Jade, serious conversation.

"So then why are ya so determined to research Dark Matter?"

"I want to research the effects of possession. I know that upon defeat most of the time, the Dark Matter leaves a person's soul. We've seen it happen a thousand times, with you, with Daroach, with Mags… kinda, and with countless other folks affected."

"Right, so that's all ya need to know! Give the affected a good butt-whoopin', and they'll be okay!" Dedede took her last bishop, placing her queen in danger thanks to his knight.

"But what if," she said, snatching his knight with her pawn, "that isn't the whole case? Think about it—Magolor was possessed by Dark Matter, but when we beat him, the Dark Matter took over his unconscious body and transfigured it. From what Mags tells me, NOVAs run on restrained Dark Matter, and when Marx was granted that power, it was likely a side effect—that he still has control over. Similarly, when those Jamba Hearts were coming around, Meta Knight retained the abilities it gave him."

Dedede listened intently, accidentally making a dumb move which sacrificed his queen.

Jade took it and continued. "Then, when I was possessed by the Mock Matter—which supposedly has the same properties, just intensified, more fast-acting—I had to go through two weeks of recovery while actual symptoms cleared up." She backed his king into a corner. "Check, by the way."

He moved his king out of the way. Dedede didn't know about any recovery process. Jade didn't like talking about anything from those two, three months. Rightfully so. But if she was willing to dig that up…

"And then, the real kicker here—Bandee told me about what happened with the crystal shards and all that. He said he was possessed then, and it turned him into a Waddle Doo. If that was due to a possession, then, what about the thousands of Doos in Dreamland? If one Doo originated from darkness, the others either had to be born like that, or Dark Matter possessions, when gone untreated, can have permanent effects." Jade grinned before taking her final move. "What I'm saying is that, if we take it as what we've seen, there's nothing new to learn. But if someone studies it, then we can learn of the effects in their entirety, and maybe even put a full stop to the danger!" She moved her queen to where his king could no longer escape. "And that, dad, is a checkmate."

Dedede raised his hands in defeat. "I taught ya too well, huh?"

"In chess? Yeah, probably."

"In arguin', too. You argue like both yer dads combined. Ya got my stubbornness, and ya got Meta Knight's reason." He stood up and approached the railing of the balcony. Jade got up and stood next to him.

"I dunno how I feel about this, princess. You're a great, great kid. Really smart, really sweet. I trust ya with my whole heart. But it's a dirty job yer askin' to do. But..."

"I know. I know that even trying, I risk… Well, everything. But… If I try this, and if I learn anything… We can maybe even put a stop to this. Forever."

Dedede looked at his daughter. She saw her determined gaze out towards the sunset. Her determination reminded him of his husband, years ago, determined to 'ensure Dreamland's security'. Back then, he had meant that. He was willing to give his life to do what he saw best for Dreamland. He saw that in Jade. She was ready to give all she had—her time, her effort, her energy, her life—for this kingdom. Looking at this girl who he and his husband raised, he was filled with pride. She was so strong… He wrapped an arm around Jade.

"I'll tell ya what. I'll give ya the funding. You can lead research. As long as—!" He paused. "Ya keep yerself safe. And stay unpossessed, and healthy. And ya still gotta take care of yerself."

Jade's eyes lit up with hope as she hugged him tightly. "Oh, thank you! Thank you so so so much! I won't let you down, I promise!"

"You could never let me down, kid. You're one of our brave knights, after all." He ruffled her hair. "I'll get ya a small team. I know a couple brave Dees who would be real willing to help ya out."

"You're sure?"

"Hah, under your guidance? There's a few Dees who'd do anything. They trust ya, kid."

Jade broke away with a grin. "Thank you."

"Of course. Now, I reckon you left your little brothers alone too long. They're probably missin' ya!"

"I'm sure. Well… I'll be off, dad! Bye!"

Jade briskly walked away, as Dedede watched on with a smile. He was so proud of her… She could do a great thing here. All he needed to give her was his support and his blind faith… and with both of them, there surely wasn't anything she couldn't pull off.

He sighed, still grinning, and took to the castle. He had work to do.

[thisisevenharderthannamingablog]

The Chess Game

Throwing my immediate post-watch thoughts onto paper. I'm sure the fandom has thoroughly chewed all of this over long ago, but I enjoy the thinking-and-writing process. It's been a while since I watched something that made those bits purr. (I haven't gone looking for meta on the show yet because I wanted to sort out my own thoughts when I had just watched it - like I said, I'm sure lots of people have covered this territory!)

Having been pretty well spoiled for the show ahead of time, I spent the first half of the season trying to guess what Korn could actually be after by bringing in Porsche. His stated reasoning early on makes no sense, especially when you know about Namphueng, and nothing happens in the plot to support it. The only character who ever tries to buy Porsche off is Vegas, and that's only because he's obsessed with one-upping Kinn. Were the writers just making it up as they went? Would not be the first time I've seen that, I used to watch Once Upon a Time ffs.

However. Assume a method to the storytelling. What motivates Korn? Bearing in mind that the purpose of a system is seen by what it does, not what it claims to do, at mid-season the nature of the two houses, the buildings and the systems, started to make me think.

Korn is a controller type. His goal is stasis, to maintain the closed nightmare that is his family -- which includes the minor branch -- under his control in perpetuity. Gun isn't his opponent; he's a part of the system working the way Korn wants it. So why invite the chaos incarnate that is Porsche into a place where "we don't like chaos here"? Why bring fire -- the element that changes things! -- into your water-drenched world?

Because competition makes you stronger.

Korn lives for the exercise of soft control, for knowing that he's pushed someone to do as he likes without any visible effort, just a metaphor and an emotional knife, but how do you know you've actually got that unless you test it? The game doesn't start when all the pieces are on the board; the game starts when your opponent sits down.

That's Porsche. To make things more interesting, Porsche only has one piece when play begins - Chay, his king, who must be protected at all costs. After that, all he has are the pieces he can take from Korn, which he starts doing in episode 2 if you want to count Kinn's attraction to him, or episode 3 at the latest.

The characters and their roles as I see them:

Porsche makes friends among the bodyguards. Definitely pawns.

He gets Khun away from his TV pacifier, out to where real human things happen. I have assigned him a bishop role. For one, he moves slantwise to everyone else. For two, in the Austen-esque social milieu from which we get a lot of our romance tropes, in a family with three sons one inherited, one joined the military, and one joined the church.

Kinn falls in love with him. I went back and forth on his spot because I really liked the idea of him and Vegas as matched rooks, but I'm going with queen. In theory he should be the most powerful of Korn's pieces, if Korn wasn't a dumbass and Porsche wasn't so damn attractive. (Kinn loves people so damn hard, can you even imagine if Korn had let his son love him instead of whatever the hell this is?)

Chay takes Kim, a knight both on account of his relative freedom of movement and his position defending Chay, whose thematic role is to incarnate innocence. In both of the big fights, he fucks off and lets the rest of his family fend for themselves, and I love that for him.

Big literally dies for Porsche, earning himself the other knight role, that is some straight-up medieval romance.

Tawan by elimination is the queen's bishop. I'm not entirely happy with that position, although like Khun he is ummm diagonal to conventional sanity? His failure is due to Porsche's influence at a bit of a remove, since (if I followed this correctly) it was jealousy over Porsche having Kinn that led Tawan to messing up Vegas' plan? Whew.

In a move Korn definitely does not predict, Pete (now one of Porsche's pieces) gets promoted and takes Vegas out of play. Previously the most predictable character on the board lol. I'm leaving Vegas as a rook. An angry, angry rook.

That leaves Gun to take the other rook position, the piece Korn holds in reserve until the last possible moment because it enables him to try for a last-ditch castle maneuver when it looks like he's about to lose. Whether or not he succeeds is arguable.

Nampheung is Korn's king, the protected piece who makes no moves through the entire game.

And Porsche doesn't even know he's playing. I think the only character who has any clue what kind of game Korn is actually at might be Kim, and he doesn't know the whole thing.

Now, about the endgame.

Writing TV season finales is hard. You seldom know whether or not you'll have room for more story, so you have to tie up enough open threads to be satisfying while leaving yourself room to maneuver if you get another season. You can read this finale in at least three different ways, and I admire the freedom the writers left themselves while still providing something that stands as an ending.

When he fakes his own death, Korn is already almost out of pieces. He's got a pawn or two (Chan deserved a better boss), his king and his second rook. Everybody else is either dead or on Team Porsche. Korn's doing something he proves to be good at throughout the season, stalling for time. He repeatedly gives out a taste of truth seasoned with lies and sits back to see if it works. In this case, he uses the time (I'm fairly certain) to set up the attack on Chay, which if it had succeeded would have won him the game. It fails, so all Korn has left as a strategy is to keep on playing for time.

In the final confrontation, all Porsche has to do to win is take his mom and leave, but he doesn't know that. Whatever Gun was about to say would have changed the nature of the stand-off -- would have been something that could finally be objectively confirmed? -- so Korn makes the sacrifice play and kills him, continues to make him the scapegoat.

In terms of the pieces, Korn is now in the position Porsche was at the start of the game. Gotta love it. But where does that leave us, the viewers?

You can read the finale as Porsche having been checkmated. He and more importantly Chay have been subsumed into Korn's system and will henceforward be susceptible to his power. Note that I don't think that projection is particularly in character. Since Kinn and Porsche are together, the two-house system is effectively dead. Porsche twice affirms that his loyalties are not with any branch of the family but with Kinn personally. Show Kinn an option that doesn't mean his family gets killed, and he is out of there. The whole setup that Korn constructed is a shambles. But that's a lot of inference, so if you like the tragic aspect, I think the reading can be found.

You can read it as Porsche being in check. He and Chay are in a staggering amount of danger now if you think about it, but he hasn't necessarily lost the game. He has not lost Chay, who if anything seems to have solidified his other defender (and the one character who, like I said, might actually have been able to give Porsche some advice in S2 -- I'm so sad.) He still has a lot of his captured pieces. What's more, he knows where Nampheung is, and it will be difficult for Korn to disappear her again. Given that she never speaks, her expression does a lot of work in their last scene together; you can read it as there being more happening underneath than she lets on. This one is my preferred reading; they didn't give Porsche the phoenix motif just because it looks cool.

You can also read the ending as a stalemate or indeterminate in that neither player can do much right now, and it's one of those stupidly long endgames that drag on turn after turn. Porsche still has Chay etc., but right now there is no way for them to get Nampheung free. Korn is out of other pieces, but he still has her. Korn might be thinking at this point that as long as he has her, he can resume his manipulations, get back a few of his lost pieces (or recruit new ones). He keeps the game going by giving Porsche the minor ring, knows from Porsche's own example that it is possible to play right up to the point of a win from this position. He might be absolutely loving this?

So there are my thoughts on the chess metaphor.

[chucktaylorupset]

9 People to Get to Know Better (Tag Game)

tagged by @immortaljailor thanks for tossing me a free one, badumtss

3 ships you like:

Kabru x Laius Touden (Dungeon Meshi) Autistic narrative foils who fuck. One is a blond bombshell of a knight and the other is a short king (well, not literally, but). I love ships where one is like, internally tearing apart their mental furniture about their dick getting them into this situation, and the other one is like hee hoo i love you!

Keeley Jones x Roy Kent x Jamie Tartt (Ted Lasso) Everyone here is hot and prone to hilarious stupidity. Roy is almost definitely internally screeching about willingly sticking his dick in Jamie.

Louis de Pointe du Lac x Daniel Molloy (Interview With the Vampire (TV)) Listen. Listen I know the entire point of this show is that Louis does not get better with every old man he hooks up with. I know that. But hear me out: third try's the charm

First ship ever:

This memory could not be retrieved. If you go in my blog archive, Cassian Andor x Bodhi Rook (Rogue One) is there pretty early tho

Last song you heard:

all eyes on me - bo burnham transposed to his original voice the way this hits different than the original haunts me

Favorite childhood book:

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson I don't know which volume, we owned a lot when I was growing up, but my dad would read them to me and my sister, and he would do voices. It made reading the hamster huey and the gooey kablooey comic very meta. The irony is I was very much a Susie growing up, and now I am nearly ideologically identical to Calvin. I did like the jokes, but also I just really liked Hobbes because he was a tiger.

Currently reading:

TCGF book 1 recommended by @sidecharactersdomatter, just want to be able to hang out in the same fandom/narrative spaces Babel by R.F. Kuang, given to me by a friend

Currently consuming:

Dungeon meshi anime, the magnus protocol kinda? I'm behind on both. I have a bunch of series I have ADHD wandered away from like the Bear s2, despite it being very good. I have entered the workforce and the things I do has decreased to focus on facillitating that. It is very sad.

Currently craving:

More Labru. More blonde bombshell knight bottoming. I know the labru fandom has mercifully universally agreed that the tall one gets to be the bottom this time, but I need more! (i have more, i just lack the mood and the willpower to write. i should probably post the concepts as bullet fics)

we're going to my extended family's soon for a belated lunar new year and i wanna eat my ba ngoais curry and the family egg rolls. let's GOOO

my mood's been in a gully lately but i wanna get back to the part where i'm ENERGIZED and DOING THINGS and it's not SO FUCKING COLD OUTSIDE

Tagging:

@sidecharactersdomatter, @fratgrl, @unbenchthekench @captainjonnitkessler @liesmyth @belovedblabber @professorsparklepants @twyrrinren @dabidagoose and anyone else who wants to join in!

[multiverse-unlocked]

@hoshinomulti sent: Pencil!

Hello!! So, one of my more active muses on a discord server I'm in that isn't a cookie related character is actually a Pokemon trainer that I called 'Rook' and she basically got to suffer through the Pokemon Scarlet timeline! ....and by suffer I mean 'oh boy, this girl be traumatized from the DLC and the endgame stuff'

......brain also just remembered that I have a Meta Knight and King Dedede tupper on there but they are not super active! I should...probably try to fix that or at the very least try playing more Kirby so I can feel a bit more confident in trying to rp as them.

[crossovernonshipstournament]

Okay, think I've got the list. With apologies to anyone who get cut. I'll start working on grouping everyone tomorrow. In the meantime, if you want to send in infodumps/propaganda about these nonships, by all means do! That will give me something to work with when I build the graphics

James Ironwood and Boyd Drake (RWBY and Ducktales/DTLS)

Isaac "Felix" Gates, David Gates, and Jaune Arc (RvB, Camp Camp, RWBY/Luna Brothers)

Louie Duck and Oscar Pine (Ducktales and RWBY/DTLS)

Knight and Survivor Slugcat (Hollow Knight and Rainworld)

Brett Hand and Susie (Inside Job and Deltarune)

Pizzazz and Roxanne Wolf (Gem and the Holograms and FNAF)

Trunks Briefs and Chibiusa (Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon)

Halloween and Nightcore (Castles of the Calendar and Holiday Spirits)

Mamoru Amami and Steven Universe (GaoGaiGear and Steven Universe)

Penny Polendina and Uran (RWBY and Astro Boy)

Wahuu Matsuri and Adam Ainosuke (Tokyo Ghoul and Sk8 the Infinity)

Jon Sims and Jonny D'ville (TMA and The Mechanisms)

Eddie Munson and Jason Scott (Stranger Things and Power Rangers 2o17)

The Aurora and BEE (The Mechanisms and Archivistbot)

Wakko Warner and Babs Bunny (Animaniacs and Tiny Toons)

Zuko and Todoroki Shouto (A:tLA and BNHA)

Diamonds Droog and Kaz Brekker (Homestuck and Six of Crows)

Tucker Foley and Clawdeen Wolf (Danny Phantom and Monster High)

Team Lit (from White Boy Bracket)

Stanley and Cesare (from White Boy Bracket)

Cody Burns and Penny Proud (Transformers Rescue Bots and The Proud Family)

Leo Walker and Iris (Egyxos and Lolirock)

Tim Stoker, Lup and Taako (TMA and TAZ)

Globine and Webby (Globi and Ducktales)

Rouge the Bat and Meta-Knight (Sonic and Kirby)

Jevil, Marx, and Dimentio (Deltarune, Kirby, and Super Paper Mario)

Ruby and Rarity (Pokespe and MLP:FiM)

Madoka and Sakura (Madoka Magica and Cardcaptor Sakura)

Cody Burns, Marinette, and Mirabel (Rescue Bots, MLB, and Encanto)

Bill Cipher and Ouma (Gravity Falls and Danganronpa)

Church and Kris Dreemur (RvB and Deltarune)

Gregory, Crying Child, and Omori (FNAF and OMORI)

Sonia Nevermind and L (Danganronpa and L)

Cassandra Cain and Soundwave (DC and Transformers)

Dick Grayson and Drift (DC and Transformers)

Tim Drake and Red Alert (DC and Transformers)

Rook Blonko and Prowl (Ben 1o and TFA)

Bruce-Damian Wayne and Tony-Morgan Stark (DC and MCU)

Pit and Sora (Kid Icarus and Kingdom Hearts)

Rosaline and Lucas (Super Mario Galaxy and Mother 3)

Roy and Roy Koopa (Fire Emblem and Super Mario Bros)

Meg Griffin, Bert, and Ernie (Family Guy and Sesame Street)

Riley Freeman and Jack Horner (Boondocks and Puss in Boots)

Stanley Parable and Arthur Dent (Stanley Parable and Hitchhiker's Guide)

Chidaruma and Lord English (Dorohedoro and Homestuck)

Ruby Rose and Fukase (RWBY and Vocaloid)

Yang, Gumi, and IA (RWBY, Vocaloid, and Cevio)

Leonardo, Dewey Duck, and Sonic (Rise:TMNT, Ducktales, and Sonic movies)

Nightcrawler and Nightwing (DC and X-Men)

Alfred, Bucky, and Steve (DC and Marvel)

Yelena Belova and Damian Wayne (Marvel and DC)

Ventus and Hunter (Kingdom Hearts and The Owl House)

Mark Beaks and Tyrian Callows (Ducktales and RWBY/DTLS)

Lancer and Bowser Jr (Deltarune and Super Mario)

Shigeo and Molly McGee (MP1oo and The Ghost and Molly McGee)

Isabelle and Doomslayer (Animal Crossing and Doom)

Mystery Kids (?)

Gentle Heart Lamp and Chris Walker (CareBears and Outlast)

Grumpy Bear and Billy Hope (CareBears and Outlast)

Boyd Drake and Penny Polendina (Ducktales and RWBY/DTLS)

Maya Fey and Doctor- 12 (Ace Attorney and Doctor Who)

Mario and Sonic (Super Mario Bros and Sonic franchise)

Han Solo and Peter Quill (Star Wars and MCU)

Commander Fox and Commissioner Gordon (Star Wars and DC)

[cats-mayhem]

Who would the Twisted Wonderland Characters main in Super Smash Bros Ultimate pt 2.

Part 1.

This goes from Scrabia - Diasomnia

Kalim - He’d have no mains but I feel like he’d go with the cute looking characters liek Kirby and Isabelle most of the time. He’s 100% a casual player and plays for fun. Random stages, items turned on, maybe if he feels like it he’ll play with spirits or stamina mode.

Jamil - Needs to let Kalim win most of the time so he goes with gannadorf because it’s easier that way. He does genuinely enjoy playing sometimes though, and if he plays with other people I can see him going Meta Knight for the ladder combo.

Vil - Bayonetta. Do I really need to explain? He’s actually pretty good.

Rook - Duck Hunt. Sorry but Rook 100% plays the most obscure character in the game. No one knows if it’s because it’s a matchup check or if he’s decent.

Epel - JAB JAB P O W E R D U N K (Terry).

Idia - Man probably has the most expirence playing this game. he 100% bullies kids on wifi with Steve or whatever but I feel like his go-to main is Pyra/Mythra because he’s very competitive online.

Ortho - R.O.B. You may think it’s robot kinship but it’s not. He wants to gyro combo you to oblivion. Perish at his hand. 

Malleus - Corrin. Dragon kinship. Sucks at the game.

Lilia - Sonic. Like Idia, he probably bullies kids online but with Sonic. He will wait out the match every time you play him and it’s really annoying because it’s sonic. 

Silver - Jigglypuff. He played her because Lilia made a joke that Silver would fall asleep every time he’d use Up B but when he actually played her, she felt nice. He’s got the rest combos but never plays against Lilia that often. Sonic is too much. 

Sebek - Chrom. He wants to get that Up B spike sooo badly it’s insane. He’s bad at the game and is hella predictable at times but if he wins a single match you might’ve well just never play him again because he’ll only bring that match up from now on. 

[the-night-gods-moon]

(Sorry for replying like this, my tags ramble just got. ridiculously long)

The cast of svsss as chess characters would be interesting! I think it would have to be split into humans vs demons with humans as white and demons as black (the cliche exists for a reason and it doesn’t really affect the game mechanics much so it should be fine.) As far as the pieces go, it would make more sense to assign roles based on the movement of the pieces and the characters own actions and the roles they fulfill within the plot, so that’s what I’m going to try to do!

The kings - Yue Qingyuan (white) and Mobei-jun (black). Both of them are authorities within their own spheres of influence, giving them the authority required for the position of king, and both are extreme powerhouses that influence the plot without much direct action. The appearance of either of these two on the battlefield is guaranteed to be an “oh shit” moment, a signal that the situation has become much more dire than before. Despite this, both Yuq Qingyuan and Mobei-jun are actually quite limited in their “movesets”, YQY because of the handicap from his sword and MBJ because if you think about what happened during the conference, he really just crawled out of the Abyss, knocked some heads, and peaced out. The equivalent of moving one space at a time if there ever was one lol

The queens - This is where it gets kind of tricky. Because I think the best casting for the queens would be Shen Qingqiu (white) and Shang Qinghua (black). Casting the two transmigrators as the most mobile pieces makes sense to me because from the get go they are the ones with meta knowledge, and they do most of the moving and shaking of the plot. Even Shang Qinghua, who insists that he really didn’t do much, induced wild deviations from the original plot. They both move in every direction, and every time SQQ sacrificed himself the game became much more difficult for the cultivators

The bishops - Qi Qingqi and the Old Palace Master (white), and Tianlang-jun and Linguang-jun (black). These pieces move obliquely, cutting through cracks in defensive lines that other pieces would have no hope of breaching. They stand the closest to the royal pairs, and you know what they say about your friends and your enemies… (not implying that Qi Qingqi is an enemy btw, although I think she could have made SQQ’s life much more aggravating if she had been given more screen time, in a sort of ‘mean older sister who sees straight into your soul’ type way)

The knights - Liu Qingge and Gongyi Xiao (white), and Zhuzhi-lang and Sha Hualing (black). All of these characters have strong senses of loyalty and duty, as befitting of knights (Sha Hualing pledges her life to Luo Binghe in exchange for power and control over her own territory, but in both PIDW and SVSSS canon that is an oath she upholds up until the very end. The other three are gimmes lol). In addition to this, while all four of these characters could be considered very rigid archetypes, all of them are known to progress the plot in sudden climactic confrontations, which more often than not come as a surprise. While not usually the central focus of any scene, their presence (or the threat of it) puts pressure on their opponents.

The rooks - this is where I may need some help 😅 other than Madam Meyin I can’t think of who to cast as the rooks on either side.

The pawns - I think it would fit best if the disciples and minor demons were given the roles of pawns. Here’s the kicker though: Luo Binghe would also start off as a pawn. He would begin on the white side of the board as the white lotus disciple, and he would be the very first game piece to move once the game began. At a turning point, though, he would cross the board to the enemy side - and become a queen as well. Bada bing bada boom, he is suddenly a huge threat on the board, and the entire game strategy has to change. Plus, if you’re playing cheater’s chess like my brother and I sometimes do, both sides can barter pieces to change the loyalty of a pawn-turned-queen. Bloodshed.

So yeah, that would be the SVSSS characters as chess pieces! It would be cool to play some games with this layout and maybe write something based on what kind of drama occurs but idk

The last character you drew/wrote about is now stuck in the last game you played. How screwed are they?