#mega man soul core

[monsterboyblood]

I think it’s really a missed opportunity that Rock, Bass and Proto all use a buster instead of having different fighting styles like X and Zero

Plus some solo things with their pets >:)

[esamastation]

Shizuroth, part sixteen

Previous parts: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen

-

Though Shen Yuan had played Final Fantasy VII and Crisis Core way back when, mostly because emulation was easily available and everyone praised them a lot, he'd never really gotten that into it. He'd sort of missed the hype train, and all the hot takes had already been taken, and Advent Children was kinda weird and overall it just didn't grab him.

But he has to admit that Midgar is a really cool setting.

It's dumb, of course, like, on every logistical level. Oh, look, there's thousands of kilometres of free real estate in every direction to build on, but you know what we should do? A massive fuck off blast plate of million billion tons of metal fifty metres of the ground, that's what we'll do, and we'll build a city in top of it too!

Like, why?! In what realm even remotely attached to sanity does that make sense?! Is there something wrong with the ground, is there an issue of sudden mega floods, or something? No, it's just. A thing they did! 

Logic and sanity aside, though, it's cool, as a videogame setting, it's very cool. With the rule of cool there's no reason for, you know, reason. It's iconic. 

And it's the closest thing to a modern city he's seen in - in a while! And, damn, but the scale of everything in real life is so much bigger than any of the games conveyed.

It's a real city! With real city traffic and bustle and dystopian advertisements everywhere! There's also an ever present haze of pollution that gives all the neon signs a dreamy glow. It's almost pretty.

And it's only powered by the lifeblood of the planet, too. Technically the souls of the dead! Wonderful.

"Please stop gaping at everything like a damned tourist and get in. People are starting to stare."

Sephiroth looks down to the car that had just stopped in front him on the sidewalk. Genesis had told him to get to the front, that he'd meet him there, but…

Genesis has a car. It shouldn't be a surprise, the guy is rich and the city is big, but it is. It's a really nice car too. A fucking oldtimey wine red convertible. It matches Genesis' outfit. How extra can you get?

"... Do I have a car?" Sephiroth asks slowly, rather than point out how ridiculous and in character it is.

"You have a motorcycle you never use," Genesis says, sounding tired. "Get in."

Sephiroth has a motorcycle. Of course he does.

He opens the convertible's side door and is immediately smacked in the face with a mix of nostalgia and incredulity at the old familiar feeling of something so simple as a car door mechanism at his fingertips. The seat is too much in the front for Sephiroth's long legs, but the seat goes back, and that's a familiar feeling too. Kind of.

He always had to pull his seat forward, rather than back.

Swallowing the sudden, long suppressed homesickness for a world he's two transmigrations away from, Sephiroth looks for a seatbelt. There isn't one. Hooray for corporate dystopia.

Genesis joins the four lane traffic in front of the Shinra building with the reckless expertise of a man who drives a lot in the city, and hates it almost as much as he loves his car.

"How far is it?" Sephiroth asks, trying to figure out where to put his hands. It's a really nice car, and it looks polished, inside and out.

He can't believe he's in a car. He can't believe he's in a world with cars again. He also can't believe how badly the games conveyed the scale of Midgar.

"Sector six," Genesis says and glances at him. "You're looking a little green there, are you feeling alright? Don't throw up in my car."

"I'm fine," he's really starting to get sick of saying it. "Stop fussing."

"Who's fussing! I just don't want you to make a mess," Genesis scoffs. "Also you aren't fine. You have amnesia."

Sephiroth snorts and leans his arm on the door, looking away and at the Shinra building.

It's huge, and weird. It sorta bulges out, this lumpy mass of a building with enormous pipes running up to it with a big barrel shape in the middle. It's the biggest building in the city, though - it's the only real skyscraper, towering over all the smaller buildings around it.

After all the metal in the Shinra building, it's weird to see brick and mortar again. Why brick and mortar? What did they run out of steel and concrete building the plate? None of the other buildings go higher than eight levels, too.

"We've covered one thing you remember perfectly. Anything else? You recognized Angeal and me, but how about anything else?" Genesis prods at him. "Hey, are you listening to me?"

Oh, he hates this. At least in Cang Qiong Mountain people were too polite to really pick on him or point out how badly he acted as Shen Qingqiu. They were nice enough to take his bullshit at face value and let it slide. Plus there was propriety to think about - none of his disciples had the standing to really call him out.

Genesis doesn't give a shit about his thin face and actually smacks him on the shoulder, "Hey!"

"What's there to say?" Sephiroth answers, because he has no answers to give. "I wouldn't know what I don't know, would I?"

Genesis sighs, irritated and stalls at the traffic lights. "And I can't tell you what to look up if you don't tell me. You must've figured out something by now."

"I figured I really could've used the day to myself," Sephiroth mutters and watches as a delivery truck advertising pastries runs a red light. "I don't know what you want me to say. I don't know, Genesis."

"Shit," the other SOLDIER says, running a hand through his hair while steering one-handed. 

There's a break in the discussion as they go through a checkpoint, where the guards in infantry uniforms just wave Genesis through. The people on the sidewalk stare at Genesis' convertible, and whisper.

Sephiroth looks away, and then blinks at the dump truck not far away from them, also going through the checkpoint.

Weird - somehow he didn't expect Midgar to have public services. Where do they go to empty them? Do they just dump their trash down the plate?"

"So you remember… nothing?" Genesis asks as they leave the checkpoint behind

"I know - some things," Sephiroth says defensively. "But - the details escape me."

"Things like what?"

"I don't know. You, Angeal. This city. The war. Don't ask me for the president's name, but I know there is one," he sighs and leans back, watching an enormous advertisement for LOVELESS pass them by. 

He also knows that sometime soon Genesis will get hurt and the wound will never heal, kick-starting the plot of Crisis Core. He has no idea when, though. He isn't even sure how to figure it out - the timeline in these games wasn't exactly clear.

"Does Angeal have a student?" he asks.

"What, like a personal student? Not that I know of," Genesis says and glances at him. "Why?"

"Ah, nothing, never mind. Must've been someone else," Sephiroth says smoothly.

So, Zack Fair, the protagonist of Crisis Core, hasn't appeared yet? Or Angeal hasn't met him. Hopefully that means there's still some time.

Genesis is quiet for a moment and then sighs. "I'll get you some intel. Personnel files for people you should know, reports from missions you've been on. The information packages handed to Thirds should help at least a little too. But Sephiroth, there's a lot about your past you've never shared, if someone asks about it…"

"I'll just say I don't want to talk about it," Sephiroth says, watching another neon lit advertisement fly by. "Thanks, Genesis."

"I expect to be compensated in full for my efforts," Genesis says firmly.

Sephiroth leans his cheek on his knuckles and wonders what Cultivation might do for the deterioration Genesis - and Angeal too - have ahead of them. "I'll do my utmost to pay back my debts."

"You better," Genesis says and turns the car from the main highway to a side road, full of expensive looking store fronts and equally expensive looking cars.   "That's it over there. Let me find a place to park and then we can get you a coat that fits."

"Much obliged, Genesis."

[gingerylangylang1979]

The Timeliness of Carmy’s Appeal

I think it’s really interesting that this character has transfixed so many of us. The television landscape is so saturated. There are tons of hot men doing hot things streaming across America but this man broke through as a unique sex symbol at a distinct time. We have been through three years of a pandemic, social justice movements, January 6th, hyper politicization, and hyperpolarization. We are in a new age of audacious grift (think Anna Delvey, Elizabeth Holmes, George Santos, Sam Bankman-Fried), Chat GPT, the faux-reality of social media and reality tv, unidentified flying objects, and the potential for WWIII with high nuclear probability.  

While shows focused on the rich and infamous will always attract mega attention (think The White Lotus and Succession) I think The Bear stood out because it’s about normal people trying to survive, trying to thrive, trying to keep their sanity, trying to have pride in what they do. After everything most of us have been through, many just find a hollowness in caring about the one percent. I personally am not as into shows and movies about insanely wealthy people, or even super comfortable middle class people, navel gazing and being wretched anymore. I used to love the escapism of watching the magnificent splendor of indulgence but now I just want gritty and raw realism from characters I can relate to, from characters I could be, from characters I could meet in real life, from characters I could mundanely order a sandwich from. 

And along with that is the idea that what I find most attractive in a man right now is not prim and polished. I’m tired of gazing at men that fit the model type, I’m tired of men from the pajama class. I want someone who came from the bottom and worked their way up but didn’t land behind a computer. I’m tired of men who hide and are terrified of danger. I’m tired of men who look untouched and unbothered. I want someone I can tell my fucked up life story to and he gets it because he has the same. But he’s not the typical bad boy roughneck boy next door. He’s not a bully, he’s not a sadist. He doesn’t get into trouble just to get into it. There’s something in his core that just wants to be good. He isn’t the “sexually competent dirt bag”. He’s a gentle soul caught up in epic drama and fighting to get to “normal”.

I think many of us are tired of too soft and too hard. Carmy is just right. Yes, there is the physical hotness, the way he moves, the fluctuations of his voice, his craftsmanship, his style… but I think at the heart of it is that he hits a deeply emotional pitch that is genuine and not precious. He just feels right in our present moment for anybody not wanting a fake fantasy of a perfect man. Most of us are broken. So expecting some prince charming is not where it’s at. 

Edited to add: This man will scrub a floor on his knees. Not because he has to, because he wants to and isn’t afraid to get dirty. A toilet explodes on him and he’s like, OK, NEXT, gotta pay the bills, keep it movin. That’s it. 

[luckyladylily]

So the release of Erdtree was a bit of a fiasco for FromSoft and for a very fascinating reason. The game got tons of negative reviews for being unfairly difficult driving the rating all the way down to "mixed " on steam for a good amount of time, a disastrous rating for a game like this.

It's now become apparent that the single biggest contributor to the perception of unfair difficulty was that Erdtree has a new central progression mechanic that people do not know how to interact with, or even that the mechanic exists depending on the player.

We have to remember that anyone who plays Erdtree has to have completed some of the greatest challenges of the base game. These are not inexperienced players jumping into a genre that is too deep for them. So what happened?

For our answer, I would like everyone to think back to the tutorial of the first Dark Souls. That game has an excellent tutorial. It's engaging, it's fun, it plays exactly like the rest of the game, and critically, it forces the player to interact with every vital mechanic. You must demonstrate basic competency in all core Dark Souls mechanics before you can move past the tutorial.

This is not uncommon with very good games. Super Mario Bros 1-1 is effectively a tutorial level. It is constructed such that it leads the player to experimentation. It has demonstration checks for every core mechanic under minimal stress, then combining mechanics. The Mega Man X intro level is similar, Super Metroid has tutorial bits scattered so seamlessly through the game world that most people wont ever realize that a particular hall is designed to teach you the properties of your new plasma beam.

Now what happened with Erdtree is that FromSoft didn't bother to do this with this new progression mechanic. I don't know why they thought it was a good idea to introduce an entirely new 100% required mechanic without onboarding the players, but for whatever reason they didn't. The results were predictable, that being many players did not discover this new mechanic organically and the game was unplayable for these players, they got mad, and rated the game low.

It's gotten so bad that FromSoft is effectively begging players to please try again, and they posted a map giving exact instructions on what to do, basically trying, after the fact, to create an out of game tutorial that better onboards players and doesn't leave it up to chance - a clunky, bad version of what should have been in the game in the first place. It's going ok. Right now, Erdtree's steam rating is sitting at 71% "Mostly Positive", Which is much better than it was. Best I can tell it was down in "Mixed" and just over a 50% positive rating. All because, for whatever reason, they didn't bother with a tutorial for their new mechanic.

This is objectively bad game design. They did this to themselves. The fascinating part is FromSoft does *great* tutorials. They know why a tutorial exists and how to execute them. They've always been good at judging what mechanics are necessary to cover explicitly. It's fascinating to me, a baffling rookie mistake from one of the best developers in the world. And I can't figure out why it happened.

The only thing I can come up with is they got a bit too high on their own supply and thought "we don't need tutorials! Our games are supposed to be hard!" forgetting there is a difference between a game being challenging and a game being obtuse.

[revacholianpizzaagenda]

Lungs and heart

Metaphorical use of lungs and heart to signify love, devotion, joy, spirit etc in Disco Elysium: a copypasted list

tl;dr heart beats lungs 5 to 1 and that's rounding up and with some very generous skipping of heart-related lines that were pretty similar. Lungs only come up when literally talking about or to Dolores Dei/Dora, one moralist-flavoured mention by Empathy, one likely symbolic use by Lilienne, one use by Shivers which may or may not be related. In common parlance, everyone from the skills to the crab man to Dora herself would appear to use "heart" same as we do.

Heart:

You - (Bow down.) Yes. My heart forever beats for Revachol, I am all she has left. The constant kingsman.

Endurance - Your heart can belong to Revachol or it can belong to darkness. As long as it's torn between them it's broken and useless.

Inland Empire - Alcohol and heartbreak.

The Hanged Man - The blue heart? Oh, that's good shit, you'll love it. Just press down and *fuck* it open like you always do.

Washerwoman - "I've seen it all before. You think they've got *our* interests at heart? Rich men are always selling poor men promises they never plan to keep..." She pulls a dark red rag out of the bucket and puts it back.

Authority - The virtue you exhibit in even the most difficult of moral dilemmas, speaks of the purest of heart and soul. Soon it will be time for another Arch.

Inland Empire - Heartfelt gratitude -- but does it feel like closure? What *really* happened?

Suggestion - You're dealing with a subject near and dear to their hearts. It might behove you to tread *lightly*.

Jean Vicquemare - "Good bye, Harry. And -- I know it won't happen, but..." He looks at you, heart steeled and eyes cold.

Inland Empire - Heartbreak Welkin.

You - "I blacked out -- from sheer heartbreak -- and lost all memory of the world."

You - "At ease, patrol officer Pigs, your heart is in the right place." (Bow.)

Egg Head - "Here we go, hyper-soul, inside -- into the MEGA-heart!"

You - "... each of you tearing at the other's innards, leaving a gaping emptiness, a vacuum heart that still hurts ceaselessly!"

Shivers - THERE IS A HOLE IN MY HEART.

Church Doors - ... in the heart of the city.

Egg Head - "But how could it *become* harder-core? I know the answer in my heart, but cannot think it in my head. If this is not hyper, how could anything be..."

Volition - His pleaful smile is disarming, but you can withstand it's glorious assault, if you just put your heart into it.

Rhetoric - This must be it. Beyond this door lies the beating heart of radical communism in Martinaise.

Coalition Warship Archer - "The heart of the city, the old town, is a district composed of weathered marble, comprising thousands of columns and arcades arranged around a series of grand plazas. During the day it's a beautiful sight, equal to any of the great cities of Perikarnassis."

Empathy - Her wishes are sincere. You can take heart from that, at least.

Coalition Warship Archer - "That's why the old town is sometimes called 'The Ceremonial Heart of Humanity'..."

Savoir Faire - You will. I'm here to make your life better. They call me the Man-About-Town. Gilded Heart-Throb. Master of Money.

Call Me Mañana - "Yet it calls back to an older era, where this was commonplace. You have a true boiadeiro heart."

Noid - "Many non-Occidental cultures share a beat at their heart.

Noid - "No need to fake it, we know you're still a cop at heart..."

René Arnoux - "I was 22 when I returned from King Guillaume's Ikeira Operation in the south and found my sweetheart in the arms of this wretch..."

Gaston Martin - "But it wasn't the revolutionaries that *sullied* the idea for you, was it?" He looks at the old soldier almost gently. "She gave them to me too and your jealous little heart just couldn't accept it."

Plaisance - "My precious! Her dedication brings joy to my heart."

You - (A hand on your heart.) "On my honour."

Empathy - Tugging at his heart strings like that... doesn't it feel a bit manipulative?

Conceptualization - This is how a sea monster sees the world. You've become a sea monster -- giant, hidden and... strangely tender at heart. All is blue.

Empathy - Push Tommy and it will break his heart -- and his spirit. Don't expect you to be pals.

Drama - It's true. We would have caught a lie. But... a *kind* heart is tricky.

Composure - Yeah. You know, beneath it is just heartbreak, a pulmonary tract infection, atherosclerotic disease.

You - Who broke my heart?

Beautiful Necktie - Your heart is broken, *bratushka*. And it cannot be mended. Believe me, I've tried.

Hand/Eye Coordination - Your hand shakes so hard you can't even muster up the courage to *try*. Maybe you're just too *wild* at heart?

Authority - You acted with great compassion and dignity, not taking advantage of this man. Praise thine honourable heart!

Tiago - "If you could submit to the mother -- sing her praises with your burning heart -- you could be free from selfish desire."

Tiago - "Look, man. I'm at liberty to talk about the sacred blaze of the Mother's glorious heart. But not about the coffee."

Soona, the Programmer - "Hold on." She's behind the keyboard now, typing in some numbers that only she understands. The terminal beeps, and the light inside starts pulsing like a glowing heart.

Evrart Claire - "Harry..." He sighs. "You wound me, Harry. In the heart.

Hand/Eye Coordination - It's me. I'm keeping his hand from moving. We're not doing that anymore. We're not reading those words. People have died. He needs to work, not ache his heart for something that will never return.

Inland Empire - Have you stirred the ghost of the Doomed Commercial Area from its rest? Could this be its dismembered heart, beginning to flutter?

Joyce Messier - "I'm over-exposed, baby. My travels take me through the pale dozens of times a year. I've got the longing -- and I've got it *bad*." She points to her heart.

Inland Empire - There was a sting in your heart at the mention... before.

Shivers - THERE IS PEACE IN THE HEART.

Empathy - No, not an idiot. You're just more of a *sensitive* type. Thinks with his *heart*. This woman's *pain* draws you in.

Cuno - "That's cold, Pig. Sub-zero. Cuno ain't like that. Cuno's got heart."

(had to split the heart list in two because it was too long for tumblr)

You - "I just said what was in my heart. I can't apologize for passion."

You - "I know what's going on here. I've been *wronged* too. I got this fucking dark shadow over my heart."

Inland Empire - And a hole in his heart. That first.

Logic - You have cold hard facts to protect you from heartbreak -- and that is enough.

Measurehead - "YOUR AGREEMENT MEANS NOTHING TO ME. YOU'RE A MAN *DEFEATED* BY LOVE. IT IS PLAIN TO SEE. IT IS IN YOUR FACE, IN YOUR VOICE, IN YOUR HEART. LOVE TAKES COURAGE -- YOU DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH."

Cindy the SKULL - "They'll never be SKULLS. But..." She softens. "But their hearts are in the right place."

Ruby, the Instigator - "So, heart-of-gold Tommy fucked me over too..."

Pissf****t - "Cold-hearted cop..."

Empathy - At least she still has her heart intact, unlike some people here.

Inland Empire - Your heart knows. But it does not want to say, not yet. Let these things be unknown for now.

Shivers - MY HEART IS THE WIND CORRIDOR. THE BOTTOM OF MY AIR IS RED. I HAVE A HUNDRED THOUSAND LUMINOUS ARMS.

Idiot Doom Spiral - "Beside your gun and your badge? You said something about your hope, or heart, or something. To be honest the details are a little hazy..."

Inland Empire - All of this, accompanied by a musical composition telling of the heroism of old, when men were bigger in both body and heart. You feel strange kinship to this old soldier. You and him are the same now.

The Deserter - "Everyone is a blobber in this world. Everyone betrays everyone. They're all already locked up -- for betrayal. The best ones, the ones with heart, were slaughtered, trampled..." He looks to the city.

Limbic System - Coz only love can break your heart...

Evrart Claire - "Harry, Harry, Harry!" He flicks his fingers. "Do not fixate on this little matter. Maybe it was a rabbit stew... or a hair dryer, or an iron. The point is, her heart wasn't in it. Mine *was*."

Dolores Dei - "Oh, yes. This is real darkness. It's not death, or war, or child molestation. Real darkness has love for a face. The first death is in the heart, Harry."

Lungs:

You - "Bourgeois love from a bourgeois god-queen towards a world getting rapidly more bourgeois, that's lungs for you."

Conceptualization - Why wouldn't they be? Are the lungs not the place where you hold the breath of your soul?

Egg Head - "LOVE!" he suddenly yells and the world seems to stop. "In a woman's lungs! Lonely as I am, I'm not afraid! This strange, damaged feeling grows on and on, 'cause I've never loved someone like you before!"

Egg Head - "Lungs are for love!"

Egg Head - "When Dolores Dei was anointed innocence, her lungs started glowing through her body, for the world loved her and she loved it back! YEAGH!"

Empathy - Come on. You know in your lungs that true authority flows from institutions, not individuals. That's the single principle that separates civilisation from barbarism.

Lilienne, the Net Picker - "Aye. Brains, generally, aren't very good, are they? I prefer backs, arms, shoulders -- lungs, too." She smiles. "You know..."

Damaged Ledger - You jam the compartment shut, it's hard to breathe. The air in your lungs feels sour somehow. The drawer is locked, blue ink drips from the white pages in your hand.

Inland Empire - Then it's you. *You* will make her lungs glow. Your pain is NOT meaningless.

Dolores Dei - Her chest rising like a pillow, warm exhalations against the side of your mouth -- her tender soul moving through her lungs. (+ related lines in the same scene about Harry wanting to make her lungs glow again)

Conceptualization - That is why the lungs are the symbol of love for the cultures of the Reál Belt.

Shivers - I ALSO RESIDE IN YOUR LUNGS AND VESTIGIAL ORGANS. EVERYWHERE THERE IS SPACE.

[d-f-phantom]

So I just thought of something.

Iris was the original Mega Man.

Not like in the sense that she was Mega Man, obviously Rock was the first Mega Man in that sense, I mean in the way the ZX series uses it.

Like, think about it. Iris fights Zero by bonding with Colonel's "battle core", which likely would have had some remnants of Colonel's DNA Soul attached to it. She uses it and it powers her up, generates armour, and gives her completely new combat abilities. That's exactly how Biometals work. They're physical vessels that contain the DNA souls (or Weil's literal soul in the case of Model W) of powerful individuals that certain people have the capacity to bond to and merge with, generating armour and weapons and making them vastly more powerful.

Iris was a Mega Man 300 years before Master Albert made it cool.

[cyberpunkonline]

Poetry in the Pulse of Neon: The Role of Verse in Cyberpunk Media

Racing through the realm of digital entertainment, poetry might seem like an unanticipated passenger aboard the high-speed, neon-lit trains of cyberpunk. Yet, in this clashing world, the true allure comes alive. While Raz has already delved into the connection between poetry and video games, this piece dives into the sprawling, electrified streets of cyberpunk media.

Poetry Amidst the Techno-Chaos Cyberpunk, known for its grungy cityscapes, bleeding-edge tech, and rebellious undercurrents, surprisingly, pulses with a human beat. This genre, teeming with futuristic anomalies, brings poetry into its fold, presenting an emotional counterpoint to the mechanical heartbeats. Think of William Gibson's "Neuromancer", where the prose itself often takes on a poetic rhythm, illustrating the dance between man, machine, and soul.

The Resonance of Rhyme in Rebellion Rebellion is a core theme in cyberpunk—whether it's battling authoritarian overlords, defying mega-corporations, or challenging one's own augmented reality. Poetry, a time-honored voice of dissent, naturally finds its niche here. Recall the cryptic poems in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner," derived from William Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience", they set the tone for the film's exploration of humanity and artificial life.

Emotional Catharsis in the Digital Age Digging deep into the psyche of cyberpunk reveals a contemplation on identity, morality, and the essence of humanity. Amidst the techno-jargon and virtual vistas, it's the emotional crux that anchors the tales. The poetic soliloquies of the protagonist in Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash" offer moments of introspection, bringing to light the character's internal battles amidst external chaos.

An Unlikely Pair The merging of poetry and cyberpunk seems incongruous at first glance. While poetry evokes a sense of timeless emotion, cyberpunk thrusts us into a potentially dystopian tech-fueled reality. However, their combined power is undeniable. For instance, in Richard K. Morgan's "Altered Carbon", poetic reflections interspersed within the narrative amplify the story's exploration of life, death, and what it truly means to be human.

Conclusion As cyberpunk's digital universe flickers with neon and buzzes with electric life, the soft echoes of poetic verse offer a grounding touch. Far from mere ornamentation, poetry in cyberpunk serves as a bridge, connecting the vast digital expanse with the enduring human soul. In a world increasingly interfaced with tech, perhaps it's the poetic word that keeps our human essence alive and pulsating.

- REV1

[milliemuus]

I think that during the fight between Ogerpon and Pecharunt, it was a tough fight, since Pecharunt had a type advantage and set up 3 nasty plots earlier, however, it ended leaving when the humans arrived. Moveset wise I think it would be (Nasty Plot, Recover, Shadow Ball and Malignant Chain).

Now, remember the whole soul absorption? Well, I believe that it can also release these souls with a chain attached to them like a hive-mind. The souls would look like the ghost sprites in the gen 1 games. Their main purpose is to manipulate their victims into killing themselves. However, if the victim was able to stand against it, it would change into the person it was before but ghostly, and would kill the victim by force instead.

Also, I feel that when a person is under Pecharunt’s control, all their Pokémon’s Tera type are poison. This is sort of confirmed when I went to Carmine and Kieran’s grandfather’s Bulbapedia page where his Pokémon all have the poison Tera type.

And if we’re still going by the fusion idea, I would say Pecharunt would just be the base form while Dokuwāro is the fusion between Pecharunt, Mega Rayquaza, Original Dragon Kyurem, Zygarde Complete Forme, Hoopa Unbound, Ultra Necrozma, Eternamax Eternatus and Stellar Form Terapogas. I may need to think how it absorbs them, but the idea sounds badass and legitimately makes Pecharunt look intimidating as hell.

Now, I would say Dokuwāro’s size is slightly bigger than Regidrago. Since it’s a fusion, I’d like to think its shell can split into 6 pieces referencing Hoopa, one arm is out of each segment which looks like Necrozma’s but textually like Eternatus. The tiny hands that Pecharunt has are now arms with claws at the end resembling Zygarde but Tera and Dynamax energy texturally around it and a knuckle claw in the middle that resembles Mega Rayquaza’s jaw or something. However, this fusion would be cohesive and not just a series of random mutations.

Now, since Pecharunt has a busted defense stat of 160, I think Dokuwāro’s defenses are through the roof. Its shell is impervious to any attack and the core is difficult to damage. Not to mention, now that is literally 8 legendaries fused, it can now block attacks by punching them.

Did I make it overpowered? Yes. Is it necessary? Yes. Is it possible for the protagonists to beat it? Maybe not.

Now, these abilities and Pecharunt in the PV Au actually have several inspirations:

The whole soul absorption is because of the third signboard, while the two signboards were answered, this one wasn’t. So, I believe that Pecharunt is behind if you were to look into what the signboard says.

The whole manipulating people to kill themselves, is inspired by the Mandela Catalogue, the Alternates specifically. These entities are shapeshifters who can take the form of their victim’s close members. They whisper things to their victims which cause them to have Metaphysical Awareness Disorder, which drives them insane and they kill themselves. Whereas, the soul killing the victim by force is a reference to the Corruption in a Friday Night Funkin mod. Basically, if the corrupted person fails to corrupt their victim, it mutates and resorts to killing them instead.

The whole absorbing legendaries is a direct reference to Aggregor in Ben 10, in the show, he absorbs 5 Andromeda Aliens to have enough energy to access a certain place and there he can become god. Pecharunt is sort of doing the same thing. Also, how the fusion is designed is inspired by how O.R.Ash (from The Ink Tank) designs his fusions, he’s not called ‘The Fusion Man’ for nothing.

Pecharunt wanting nothing but revenge is a loose reference to Aspheera from Lego Ninjago. In the show, it’s shown that Aspheera wants nothing but revenge on the person that betrayed her, that’s loosing summarizing what she did, but Pecharunt did something similar.

For the shell and punch blocking, it’s a direct reference to Bowser in ‘Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story’ where in order for him to block attacks, he can either hide under his shell, or punch the attack away.

Finally, for the taking over god part, it’s also inspired by the Mandela Catalogue, where an alternate (most likely Satan) replaced Gabriel and made humanity pray to it. It used religion is a weapon. Sounds awfully like how the story of Ogerpon and the Loyal Three is misinterpreted right? Each story was not the same as their originals and what really happened was a second party influenced the events. Specaking of god, Arceus and Pecharunt are the only two mythical pokemon to be trio masters, this sort of indirectly makes a reference to a phrase in the Mandela Catalogue called ‘There’s not enough room for the two of us’. Indirectly referencing Pecharunt thinking that there can only be one mythical trio master and one god of this timeline. Loose reference, but it’s there.

I’ve rambled on A LOT. But I just wanna express my thoughts, and I felt three need to include what Pecharunt’s inspired by and references I this Au so you get a better understanding. Next time, I’ll think of some quotes that it might say. But anyways, thanks for reading this! It really appreciate it.

I thought I'd never see someone else get inspired by Bowser's Inside Story like,,, ik for you it was different but I love these ideas! I never idealized the idea Dokutaro or Dokuwāro as you say possess the OTHER MYTHICALS AND LEGENDARIES!!! Maybe I could implement these ideas

Idk if I wanna take from like, concepts like Mandela catalogue but it is SO MUCH TO THINK ABT /POS

Also, I still know NOTHING abt Mochi Mayhem or nothin and hope to keep it that way since I want to be as accurate or as imaginative as can be but you mention Dokutaro would have Malignant Chain..that a move? NO SPOILS I BEG I BEG

Anyhoo, with bowsers inside story for inspiration, Idk why but that one feller that can stack on top of itself and is a boss and is just yellow eyes,,,its giving Pecharunt

Ive been listening to the BIS soubdtrack admittedly, mainly for nostalgia purposes but I also was inspired to make an au of "What if Project Venus Kieran got zip-zapped by Terapagos and sent to the canon story, or maybe Project Venus itself sent him" idk I have to be kinda vague WHICH SUCKS BUT

But Project Venus!Kieran is kinda cocky like Bowser, and possessed by Dokutaro it makes him moreso. Of he was ever isekai'd into the canon story it would most def be after Indigo Disk, and he'd deffo be looking for Ogerpon or go back to Blueberry Academy and try to regain control since he also lost it in his canon, I'm sure.

AHGWDHJDUX NOW IM RAMBLING AND MY WORDS ARE EVERYWHERE BUT YOURE GIVING ME A LOT OF INSPIRATION

Also I NEVER WATCHED THAT FAR INTO NINJAGO BUT BASED NINJAGO FAN!! THERES SO MUCH CHARACTER-BUILDING I COULD DO FOR DOKUTARO/PECHARUNT AND AUUUUGHHH I WISH I WAS AT THAT PART ALREADY HRRRGHHG

[fallen-savior-mmz]

Fallen Savior Chapter 2;

Burning Bridges-

X huffed, his body aching as he twisted and stretched. His armor pulled and pinched at his sore muscles, never fitting quite like it was supposed to. He wished that his synthetic muscles and bones wouldn’t hurt like they did, but he supposed it was another sacrifice he had to make. 

The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few, and he was only one tired, old reploid.

The concept of age never really had bothered X before. He knew he was old, he had been old since the day he awoke. He had never felt old, and he certainly never looked it. Even now, nearing 300 years of age, X still retained his ever youthful face, as if he had just turned 20. His systems were ever evolving, always two steps ahead of current technology.

That didn’t change the weariness he felt all the way down into his soul. It didn’t change the sheer centuries worth of emotions and physical trauma he had endured. Mega Man X was exhausted, deep down into his core. 

X was old.

His head pulsed in pain when he heard a knock at the door. He groaned lightly, stretching one last time as he got up to make another sacrifice. 

X opened the door, greeted by two young, Neo-Arcadian soldiers. Reploids from the looks of them, and still new to the world. Their eyes hadn’t seen the Elf Wars, they must have been created after.

The tired angel sighed, what would prompt such young souls into a life of danger and violence? He had seen it so many times before, far too many bright young souls lost.

He remembered a reploid not unlike himself in his younger days, his auburn hair flying wildly out the back of his helmet, his X-shaped scar across the bridge of his nose adding to the mischievous air about him.

Oh how X dearly missed his friends! That particular stab of nostalgia and grief left him as quickly as it struck him. He had work to do.

“Greetings Master X, Dr. Weil ordered us to escort you to the docks for today’s patrol.” one of the young men spoke, a slight waver to his voice. It wasn’t often one got to meet the Legendary Mega Man X in person. 

X nodded, his armor glinting in the dim light of the inner sanctum as he stepped out of his quarters and into the hallway.

“Very well, I thank you for this. Let’s be on our way.” X didn’t wait for the two young men, stepping away and down a path he hadn’t taken since the Dark Elf was sealed. Even now, he felt her tugging deep in his core as he walked further and further away from Yggdrasil.

This is a mistake. Please don’t let anything happen, please…

X pleaded in silence. Was he pleading to Zero, or perhaps Dr. Light? Maybe he was pleading to some foreign higher power. He wasn’t sure. All he knew was the feeling of dread filling his entire being had only increased tenfold since the previous night.

He was vaguely aware of the two reploids behind him, whispering excitedly to one another as they walked.

"It's amazing, he's amazing!"

"I know, I never thought we'd ever meet him, he's shorter than I expected but he's still so cool!"

X almost smiled at that, reminded of his own days as a Maverick Hunter. Long ago, he had been that starry eyed hunter, gushing about meeting someone with so much perceived power.

Power...what power, as if it could stop Omega and the Dark Elf. Power is a false god that too many spend their lives praying to….

Ah, Zero, when did I get so philosophical? Wallowing in my own sorrow…

With X’s mood now soured beyond repair, he ignored the reploids behind him as they continued their journey.

On and on, the hallways of Neo Arcadia’s inner and outer sanctums stretched, making X wonder if he had forgotten his way to the outside world.

He had helped design the city, been one of the ones there from its initial concept to its construction after Omega had been defeated. He should know these hallways, shouldn’t he? Was that how out of touch he had been with everything?

Grief and sheer exhaustion had muddied many of his memories of those days, only able to glide through each waking hour with the help of his Council, even Dr. Weil. He really should thank the man more for guiding him through that tumultuous time. Even now, the managing of his schedule kept him from slipping too deep into depression. 

He really ought to thank his council, even when they frustrated him like this.

Just when X was beginning to wonder if he’d need to ask the young men behind him for reassurance that he was in fact, heading to the loading docks, the hallway turned, and opened up into a large, cavernous room. Trucks of varying sizes were parked all around the room, tanks and other war machines from the Elf Wars lined the walls. The wall farthest from X had been opened, leading out into the desolate air and empty highways. Early morning light streamed through, causing X to wince and have to squeeze his eyes shut for a moment.

A kind of hush fell over the reploids and soldiers in the room, everyone watching their leader step forward and walk towards the open door. X felt the Dark Elf’s connection to him thrum, the pain seemingly magnifying with every step, as if she could sense how close X was to leaving Neo Arcadia.

He ignored her, his mind solely set on the clear blue sky and warm sunlight in front of him. It had been years since he had last stepped outside of the sanctum, years since he had truly felt the sun’s golden rays on his body.

Mega Man X gasped when he fully stepped outside of the city, the seal on the Dark Elf and himself straining under the force of her attempting to escape, the term “dormant” being used incredibly loosely for her containment.

X again ignored her as he sighed happily, the sunlight muting the pain he felt through their shared connection. He hadn’t realized just how much he missed being outdoors, feeling the sun on his face and warming his body. Even with the stress of the Dark Elf, he hadn’t felt so content in years…

“Master X, I’m sorry to disturb you, but the convoy must leave on time. If you’re ready…?” one of the convoy captains stepped forward, calling X back from his basking. The android reluctantly returned to the trucks, leaving that tranquility and blissful feeling at the entrance to the garage.

The convoy captain that had approached him led him to his vehicle, introducing him to the reploids that would be accompanying him on their patrol, including the two young soldiers who had escorted him here. 

X offered them a small smile, a distant echo of the commander he used to be, before turning back to the captain. It was the least he could give them for being kind to him.

“So, our route will take us around the wastelands to the edges out the Forest of Dysis, and then back through the Old Residential District before we return to Neo Arcadia. The patrol shouldn’t last for more than eight hours.” the captain finished his report of the route to X, looking up at him to ensure that the android was listening.

X nodded, mentally tracking what kind of route that would be and how close to the forest they would get. A little flicker of hope sparked in X’s chest that maybe they could scan for Zero, just to see if maybe, in some one in a million chance that he was still alive, that they could find him.

He stamped that hope out as quickly as it appeared, not letting himself believe even for a moment that his husband was still alive.

“This all looks excellent Captain…?” he glanced up at the reploid again, asking for the Captain’s name.

“Captain Tria, Master X. Dr. Weil assigned me as leading Captain today.” Tria answered, holding his hands behind his back. Pride seemed to radiate off of the reploid, being Weil’s chosen clearly doing a lot for the young man’s ego.

“Ah, thank you Captain Tria. I assume we’re in safe hands then. What kind of opposition will we be facing?” X wished they could stop discussing the mission and just leave already, his entire being wishing it could be back out in the sun, ignoring the Dark Elf’s prying connection.

“Rogue pantheons and mechaniloids, mostly reported here, around the edges of the Forest. We’ll check as thoroughly as we can there before we send any salvage teams.” Tria held a data pad out for X to take, a holographic map showing little red dots where higher activity had been reported.

X sighed, rolling his shoulders to help alleviate the stiffness in his joints and chase away the dull pain. He handed the data pad back to Tria, walking over to his assigned truck. He was pleased to find that his buster had already been placed in the truck.

X’s iconic Mega Buster had been lost long ago in the wars, his entire arm having been smashed beyond repair by Omega during one of their later conflicts, the reploid’s mad obsession with violence finally taking full hold as he had attempted to shred X apart piece by bloody piece. 

X supposed he had been lucky to make it out of that one. His arm hadn’t been so lucky.  He found, however, that he actually preferred the buster he had now to the old one, instead of it being an actual weapon attached to his body, being a hand held pistol. He liked that his weapon was no longer part of him, something he could separate himself from whenever he wanted.

It was freeing, in a grim, morbid kind of way. Something capable of so much destruction being ripped from his very being.

X ran his hand over the weapon, hesitant to use it again after so long of leaving it. His “gut” twisted as he realized it had been years since he put the weapon down, and here he was, picking it back up again.

“Master X...are we ready to proceed?” Captain Tria spoke from behind him, clearly anxious to get going.

“Yes, lead us out. And let us hope for an easy mission.” X spoke, not turning to face Tria, drowning in his memories once more. He mindlessly boarded the truck, taking the passenger seat so he could help watch for any potential threats.

The convoy set out onto the highway, X’s truck taking the middle spot. As it drove out onto the open sea, the android’s eyes were drawn to the ever turning blue expanse, watching as they crashed against the pillars holding the highway up.

Melancholy filled him as he watched the water, just as it always did when he looked at the ocean. The deep blues and greens reminded him of his younger days, days spent with Zero and his friends in between wars. Precious memories that he held close to his heart. He visited them more often than he cared to admit, allowing himself to experience what little joy was still to be had in those days.

Sure, they weren’t perfect, X knew that. He was a hunter, a unit commander, and carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

But they were there to help me. Alia, Signas, Douglas, Axl, Palette, Layer…

Zero…

X didn’t pay attention the rest of the ride, the Neo Arcadians in the back of the truck conversing and laughing, living their own lives as X lived out his memories in silent torture. Hours passed, the ocean fell far behind them, and the great leader of Neo Arcadia existed only in his mind, even the Dark Elf’s incessant beating against his systems falling into the back of his consciousness.

Captain Tria’s voice brought him back to reality, along with the sheer strain his body felt as the connection between him and the city stretched so far. X almost gasped as he was suddenly made aware of his current existence, the pain from the seal taking his breath away for a moment. It had never felt this intense before, not even the initial sealing itself had felt this painful.

X pushed it aside as he answered the Captain’s call.

“Master X, we’re approaching the Forest of Dysis. We will be slowing the convoy down and scanning the length of the highway. Please be prepared to alert us and make contact with any mechaniloids or pantheons you may find.” Tria instructed, the convoy slowing as it approached the raggedy sea of half dead trees. X pinged back a quick confirmation before grabbing his buster and climbing out of the truck.

The driver spluttered, attempting to call him back in as the vehicle was still moving, but X ignored him, the pain making him act somewhat rashly.

He positioned himself on top of the truck, buster in one hand, and his other hand placed gently on his helmet. Dr. Light’s armors and upgrades from all those years ago paid off, as his scanner was more advanced than most around, even without the Second Armor.

Meticulously, X began scanning the surrounding area, taking time to ensure he swept every possible crevice around, the Neo Arcadians below waiting and ready for Mega Man X to call out the signal of an attack.

But none ever came.

As they continued down the length of the highway, X became increasingly confused. Nothing was coming up at all, no stray pantheons, no mechaniloids, nothing. 

Captain Tria called for the convoy to stop as they neared the end of their route. X leaped from the top of his truck, wincing as the landing shook his already aching body, the pain still heavy enough to cause him to hesitate before making his way to Tria’s truck.

The captain himself sat in his own truck, puzzling over the data pad he had shown X earlier. The android rapped his knuckles against the side of the man’s door before opening it.

“Greetings Master X, I’m just ensuring that we have the correct route here. This doesn’t make any sense…” the man muttered, his eyes still glued to the data pad in front of him.

“Maybe we got lucky this time. I scanned every inch of this highway and there's nothing out here. Is there any chance the data is wrong?” X scanned their immediate area again, unsurprised to find everything coming up as empty.

“No, no...This was the latest report we got from the last scouting mission. This is supposed to be the most updated data we have. They couldn’t have all just...vanished, right?” Tria looked up at X, clearly attempting to appeal to X’s experience and wisdom.

“You’re right they wouldn’t. So either your data is wrong, or something went wrong with the equipment. One thing is for certain though, there’s nothing here. We might as well head back.” X glanced in the direction of the city, its shining gold and white pire completely lost in the distance now.

Tria nodded, tossing the data pad to the side. “Yeah, you’re right. There’s nothing around so we might as well go home. Thank you for coming with us on this mission Master X.” the man gave a slight smile, his eyes tired and almost regretful.

What would Tria have to regret about an uneventful mission? X decided not to think about it, as the only answer was that he WANTED the violence.

“Of course, I’m only grateful for a quiet expedition. I hope we have the same peace on the way home.” X responded, patting Tria’s door twice before slamming it shut and returning to his truck.

In a few moments, the convoy started again, the scanners still active but not being as closely monitored. X turned his off, instead focusing on blocking out the pain from the Dark Elf and relishing his remaining time outside.

As dangerous as the escapade out of Neo Arcadia had been, it felt so relaxing to be out and in the open air again. Much of the planet had been destroyed and polluted by centuries of war, so “fresh air” was a stretch, but the sentiment was there.

The convoy set off for the Old Residential District, still scanning the area as it went. Many of the Neo Arcadians in the back of the truck took to napping or sitting silently as they made the journey home. X found himself slumped against the window, his eyes threatening to close. He couldn’t remember the last time he had had a proper nap. 

Probably not since before the Elf Wars. Maybe his last nap had been wrapped in Zero’s arms, safe and sound before the world descended into chaos.

X imagined Zero was here now, holding him and telling him to rest, he had earned it…

“INCOMING!”

If the panicked shout over everyone’s comms hadn’t scared X out of his sleepiness, the resulting explosion of one of the trucks would have.

There was a moment of silent affirmation as everyone looked out of their respective windows to see the last truck in the convoy go up in flames, X’s own core going still for a moment as he watched the vehicle turn into a pile of blackened metal, any of the poor souls trapped inside being lost in the initial explosion.

What happened next could only be described as absolute chaos. All of the Neo Arcadians began shouting, calling for orders, formations, confirmation on where the attack was coming from. X grabbed his buster, leaping out of the door and hitting the ground running as his scanner picked up dozens of enemies.

“They’re surrounding us, don’t let them cut us off from the city!” X called over the comms, shooting a pantheon as he ran by, the creature raising its weapon to begin firing at the convoy.

Plasma shots and missiles flew out of every corner of their path, the trucks being peppered with fire as they slid to a stop. 

X didn’t have time to let himself grieve as he heard the cries of the Neo Arcadians being shot down by their enemies, only able to concern himself with eliminating as many of them as he could. The faster he destroyed the mechaniloids, the more of the Neo Arcadians would survive.

Mega Man X tore through droves of enemies, the Dark Elf’s presence completely muted to him as he fought to ensure their survival. Decades of fighting experience came back to him, every movement he made feeling as natural as it ever had.

He had almost forgotten he had been built for combat by his hypocritical father, all those years ago. A being that strove for peace but had been built for war.

“Master X, help! Please!” 

One lone cry that rang out above all else gave X pause, snapping his attention around back towards the caravan. 

It was a massacre, the sheer amount of pantheons and mechaniloids easily overwhelming the Neo Arcadian forces. The same people X had shared the day with now lay in varying piles of burnt, destroyed parts and synthetic flesh.

The voice that had called out to him was one of the young men who had escorted him that morning, his eyes wide in terror as a pantheon warrior gripped his body in its massive, mechanical arm.

The man reached out for X, his eyes pleading as he gasped one last time before the pantheon crushed his body, tossing him aside as it turned its horrible gaze to X.

X could only stare, rooted to the spot in agony as he had watched the reploid’s death. It was happening again, his supposed “power” not enough to save the very reploids who looked up to him. They needed him, and he could only stand by and watch as they died.

“X, move! Now!”

Tria’s shout didn’t register to him, but the explosion at X’s feet did. His entire body was thrown backwards, shrapnel decimating his pristine white and gold armor. He could feel the molten pieces of metal ripping through his body, shredding everything they came in contact with. The little wings on his helmet were ripped off, his legs barely holding on from his thighs down. The pain was so great that X actually didn’t feel it, laying instead gasping in a pool of his own blood.

He didn’t hear Tria’s voice in his ear, telling him he was okay, and that they’d make it out of this. He didn’t see the few remaining Neo Arcadians grab what they could of his armor, his buster and their fallen comrades. He didn’t feel them dragging him towards the last remaining truck and piling what they could in the back.

X could only stare at the ceiling of the truck, feeling it rumble as it sped away from the horror scene. Tria’s face entered his vision, wiping his hair from his eyes and speaking to him to keep him calm. The poor reploid couldn’t have known that X could barely understand him, his processor dedicated to keeping him from experiencing the full effect of what could only have been a grenade detonating against his legs.

X didn’t know how long he sat there, his eyes flickering from Tria’s face to the roof of the truck. He wanted to go home, he wanted to be back in his bed, his body hurting from the seal and having boring meetings all day. 

He wanted Zero back. He must have spoken Zero’s name accidentally, simply because of Tria’s reaction. The man reached around and grabbed X’s buster, holding it out in front of him and saying something along the lines of “I don’t know who Zero is, but here, maybe this will help? Just stay calm Master X, we’re almost home…”

X wanted to reach up, grab the buster and throw it away. His arms, however, stubbornly refused his call to move. Tria couldn’t have known that X was talking about his long lost partner, and not him not having a weapon.

Maybe, Zero wouldn’t be so long lost anymore...X could feel his life draining around him, death closing in on him like the gentle embrace of night.

The truck stopped, X could feel it by how the inertia moved his body. It felt like too much was open to the air and sliding around, unstable and free. 

That wasn’t right, in fact it was quite rude of his body to be so open like that.

How dare it.

X turned his head to the back of the truck, watching as Tria jumped out to meet Dr. Weil and the rest of the council. He was speaking quite animatedly, panic clearly written on his face. 

Weil nodded, taking X’s buster from Tria’s hand as he listened. X wondered why no one was rushing to help him, or panic over his broken body. 

Perhaps they’d come after they helped Tria, X knew he needed it.

Weil nodded again, still holding X’s buster in his hands.

With one hand, he charged the pistol and leveled it at Tria’s head.

The resounding shot shocked X, but the sound of the Captain’s body hitting the floor shocked him more. What the hell just happened?

Something bitter filled X, overcoming the encroaching blackness of death. That simple act of merciless violence snapped something in the android. Was it rage he felt? Indignation?

Or was it a realization of sorts?

X wouldn’t have time to think it over, the veil of night finally covering his eyes as Weil turned to him. For the first time in X’s long, long life, he felt genuine fear as he gazed into those dark eyes.

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

“Magnificent...his entire body is magnificent...I never had the chance to work so closely on him.”

X’s consciousness danced at the edges of awareness, catching a man's voice as he felt hands all over his body.

He decided he didn’t like that before disappearing again.

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

“Damnit, I needed him dead, why can’t anyone do one fucking job correctly…”

X was more aware this time, and he really wished he hadn’t been. Something was being taken from him, he could feel it, something deep inside his code being ripped from him.

He wanted to scream, but had no way to do so.

X faded again.

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

“If I can’t break the seal...I will weaken it until this bastard machine dies.”

X’s eyes flew open, the pain hitting him so quickly it caused his processor to short out for a moment. Everything inside him felt like it was on fire, the Dark Elf’s code wreaking havoc on his own stripped body.

He knew Weil was in the room, he could sense him. He also knew in that moment what Weil had been doing.

The system errors he was getting were too deliberate, too perfect. Bits of code taken here, pieces of his systems missing there. 

X was being stripped for parts while he was still alive. The thought alone made him violently ill, that he was being taken apart from the inside by the people he trusted.

He knew Weil, the man had been there to help him create Neo Arcadia, he had helped X with everything since the day Zero left.

How could he do this? Why?

X paused his morbid ministrations, noting that Weil had left the room. This was his chance. Like hell he would stay here and let the man he had once called trusted root around his insides like he was some experiment.

The android heaved himself to the side, gasping as he felt the remnants of his torn body collapsing off of the table and onto the floor. The pain made him cry out, his whole being shaking violently from the stress of movement. 

X hazarded a look down, trying to assess the damage. Things were not where they were supposed to be. His entire torso had been opened up, mechanical parts and reploid “blood” barely staying inside of his body. His armor had been peeled off of him, his legs barely held together. He looked like a mechanical skeleton.

He whimpered, trying not to make himself sick at the imagery, his own body horror driving his need to escape even higher.

His helmet was still seated on his head, and his scanner still worked. Perfect.

With a great deal of effort, the skeletal remains of Mega Man X stood, one arm wrapped around his midsection while the other kept him steady, helping him regain his balance.

Escape. Run, X!

The voice in his head prompted him to move, whether it was his own or maybe his father’s, he didn’t know. He simply began moving, the lab that had contained him scattered with pieces of his armor and body.

With shaking hands, X grabbed and replaced what he could, pain clouding his thoughts. The only thing he could make out was escape.

Once sufficiently repaired enough to move faster, X stepped out from the lab, noting it was one very close to Yggdrasil. The Dark Elf’s seal felt so much more active than ever before, fire racing through his code as the virus rewrote him and attempted to corrupt him. 

X grimaced, turning away from the direction of Yggdrasil, and focusing instead on making it down the hallway. Every step sent pain lancing through his body, but he grit his teeth and kept moving. 

If I can make it back to the garage...I can take a truck and escape…

God but where will I go? What will I do? Fuck, this is bad. This is really bad....

X tried not to whine, despair flooding him as he realized he had no plan other than escape. Maybe he could go and die somewhere in the desert, somewhere Weil couldn’t touch him. Maybe he would find Zero…

“Hey! There he is, he’s over there!” 

A shout, followed by footsteps rang out of the hallway. X turned as fast as his shaking body would let him. Reploid guards stood further down the hall, calling to one another before running towards him.

“Shit...shit shit shit…” X hissed under his teeth, forcing his body to pick up the pace. His knees wobbled and threatened to give out under him, a hobbled trot the only thing he was capable of. The hallway turned, leading into a straight corridor with windows on either side. 

They were gaining on him, and X knew he wouldn’t outrun them here. He eyed the windows further down, panic building in his throat.

If that was his only means of escape, then so be it.

With a cry, X ripped the remnant of his charred white and gold armor from his chest, the last piece of the armor he had been forced to wear. He turned and threw it towards the curve of the hallway, not watching as he heard the satisfying thunk as it hit the closest pursuer as they turned the corner.

X hobbled as quickly as he could, his eyes glued to the one open window. Other reploids and his own council appeared at the other end of the hallway, Dr. Weil leading them as they all attempted to catch him.

Weil looked furious, his hands reaching out for X as they all sped closer.

X wondered for a brief moment who would reach what first. Would he reach the window first, or would Weil catch him before then? The panic and pseudo-adrenaline coursing through him told him that he needed to reach the window first.

Everything else disappeared as X’s vision narrowed onto the open window sill, his hands reaching out for the frame. 

He couldn’t have known that Weil had almost grabbed him by his hair as he launched himself out of it, into the crashing ocean below.

As X twisted and turned in the air, free falling into the roaring sea, he realized that Weil had planned all of this. Weil meant for him to die on that patrol.

Weil had betrayed him, and all of Neo Arcadia. No, he had betrayed all of the life on earth, jeopardized everything that X had sacrificed so much for. Everything that Zero had sacrificed himself for.

As X’s body hit the water, he decided that was truly unforgivable.

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

“You are all FUCKING IDIOTS!” Weil roared in rage as X leaped out of the window, taking everything Weil had been working on with him.

TK-31 shrank deeper into the shadows, he wasn’t having a very good day. How unfortunate could one get to find themselves in the middle of an attempted assassination/coup?

“You should have killed him while he was in your lab Weil, what are we going to do if he comes back?” one of the council members, a shorter man with a balding head spoke up, gesturing to the open window.

“I couldn’t have killed him, anyone who looked into how he died would have seen that it was deliberate! The reploid boy ruined it by throwing a grenade at his damn feet, X was supposed to die to a fucking saber.” Weil turned to the man, shaking in wrath.

Why would anyone try to kill Master X? Wasn’t he the only thing keeping the Dark Elf asleep?

“If he had died this morning on the patrol like I had planned, none of this would be happening. It would have been clean, with no damage to his hardware so I could take his parts to repair Omega and bring back the Dark Elf! That stupid boy I sent to escort him this morning KNEW that when we set the trap!” Weil collided his fist with the shorter man's face, sending him reeling.

“If he had died this morning to pantheons, we could have framed it to the humans that it was the reploids’ fault, getting them on our side and finally destroying the rest of these idiot reploids. We wouldn’t have had to cover our tracks because these stupid humans would have believed any lie we spoon fed them about their glorious leader’s death.”

“Instead, we now have no X, no Dark Elf, and only pieces of X’s data.” Weil finished, his hands still held in fists at his sides.

Frame reploids? For Master X’s death? But why? That would cause war, reploid kind would be falsely persecuted, X would become a martyr for nothing.

Something about the whole situation made TK-31 angry, indignant that someone was attempting to use Master X’s name to cause suffering.

He couldn’t do much about it though...

Best to stay hidden for now, his message for Master X clearly wasn’t going to get delivered.

“Doctor, do you really think he would have survived that fall?” one of the other council members, a thin, tall woman spoke up. Her face was gaunt as she watched the scene unfold around her.

“Let’s hope that he didn’t. In the meantime, we need a solution for X’s disappearance. He still makes his rounds and meetings. No one can know that he’s gone.” Weil grumbled, making his way towards the hallway X had run from.

Dr. Weil turned his back to TK-31, this was his chance! The messenger reploid began creeping away, sticking to the shadows and hoping that his blonde hair wouldn’t give him away.

Wait…

Weil stopped in front of what looked like a piece of scrap metal. Stooping down, he picked it up, smiling devilishly as he did.

“I think I have a plan for our missing leader. I don’t think anyone would notice if he had been replaced with a Copy…” Weil chuckled darkly, turning to face the remaining humans and reploids in the hall. “No one is to speak of what happened here tonight. If you do, there will be consequences.”

Weil turned from the council, the armor in hand, and began walking back to his lab.

The man couldn’t have known about the little messenger reploid staring in horror as he hid around the corner.

He had seen the whole thing! TK-31 trembled, he couldn’t tell anyone about this, he had to keep quiet.

The reploid slipped away, going down the opposite hallway as Weil had, desperately wishing he hadn’t been seen.

[citytrialost]

random game superlatives for 2023

I just wanted a space to talk about the games that were special to me. I'll be updating it now and then, and even when finished will not be removing my Geocities Under Construction gifs.

game of the year - Pizza Tower, and it's not even close. I can't believe we got just a blisteringly fast platformer with this level of animation and such an incredible soundtrack. It is one of the best handling platformers I've ever played and it just lends itself to wanting to master the gameplay like nothing else.

mod of the year - Archipelago! Archipelago hosts cross-game randomizers for you and your friends. Want to play Pokemon Emerald while your friend plays Kingdom Hearts 2? Great! Instead of a gym badge, Norman gives Donald the ability to shoot lightning out of his ass (I don't play KH2) while your Surf HM is in some random treasure chest in their game. It really is incredible being able to play your favorite single player games with the goal of helping your friends progress. The game list is still growing, too, so definitely worth keeping tabs on.

weird game that heals my soul in the way that only something like Katamari could manage of the year - HUMANITY. Not a surprise coming from the devs of Tetris Effect, HUMANITY is just a fun, surreal experience where you play a shiba that tries to guide a crowd of people that at best behave like liquid and have a propensity for running off cliffs. I haven't finished the game yet, but it's been a beautiful experience that I've been saving for whenever life gets too stressful.

genre twist of the year - Your Only Move is Hustle (FKA YOMI Hustle). A turn-based fighting game experience that emulates fighting games so well I still panic at the exact same spots in the neutral whether it is YOMI or a traditional fighter. It's a time consuming and stressful experience, but still very rewarding when you have a good friend to play with. Also a decent Discord scene from what I hear. Also fuck it, YOMI gets fighting game of the year.

Spiritfall gets honorable mention here as a platform fighter roguelike. Honestly feels like a decent blend of floaty platform fighting and Hades. A lot of fun, and the dev team have been both openly communicating and updating the game frequently.

best character of the year - AKI (Street Fighter 6). Fighting games have such little room to add personality, but Capcom stepped their game up with SF6. AKI is just as weird and quirky as FANG (SFV), but a lot more sadistic. The added quirk of idolizing FANG goes a long way to giving her some fun flavor. I'm already biased towards characters with a poison archetype, but AKI is just fun in a "this character is delusional beyond saving" sort of way.

best game released from early access of the year - 30XX. It is a great roguelike that builds on 20XX in just about every way possible. It's improved graphically, in terms of gameplay, challenge, overall design. If 20XX asks "what if Mega Man was a roguelike?" then 30XX confidently tells you "Mega Man works as a roguelike." Fun solo, way better with co-op.

best 7/10 of the year - Exoprimal. Saw this concept trending and I think it's a great way to highlight an overlooked title this year. Among huge Capcom news like SF6 and a newly announced Monster Hunter, "what if Dino Crisis but it's a co-op hero shooter with muddled PvPvE and PvP modes" really doesn't stand out. Maybe it would have as a budget title, given how much it popped off on Game Pass. Regardless, the game was a lot of fun. I finished it's campaign, did a few of the challenge maps, found characters and archetypes I liked, and even had the familiar/classic TF2 "our team has four snipers, would somebody like to play a different class" conundrum. I'm glad I spent as much time on it as I did, and I hope I feel motivated to give it another run while it's still active.

best return to form - Armored Core VI. I honestly never thought we'd get another one of these. Waited a decade, and after the runaway success of the Souls series I never thought I'd get a new one. Some things have changed, but from the first mission I felt like I was a kid with a PS2 playing Silent Line all over again. Honestly got emotional from the nostalgia. Still need to finish the game, but I waited eleven years to play it so the game can wait a few months for me to get through it.

game that refuses to die award - Grim Dawn. Normally this game has a fixed statue of Terraria in its place, but after a huge community patch and the reveal of an entire expansion one or two years after claiming the game was dead, Crate Entertainment have given a seven year old game something new to look forward to.

Runner up goes to Killer Instinct. So happy for the sickos in the community that wouldn't let it stay dead, and even a balance patch is more than I expected. Had so much fun getting to see it at Evo. Fuck Rash lmao

[monsterboyblood]

Light fam version!

Again some eye closeups and relationship charts under the cut

I think I’ll make some more extensive relationship charts at some point cause I’m worried these ones are hard to read.

[satoshi-mochida]

Some games on the PSN Black Friday sale. Full list here, ends November 27th.

AI: The Somnium Files

Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus The Awakening of Golden Jazz

A Way Out

Azure Striker Gunvolt 3

Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack

Back 4 Blood

Batman: Arkham Knight

Batman: Return to Arkham

Blaster Master Zero

Blaster Master Zero 2

Blaster Master Zero 3

Blazblue Cross Tag Battle

Bloodborne

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Chaos Code

Crash Bandicoot 4

Crash + Spyro Triple Play Bundle

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reuinion

Cuphead

Danganronpa 1-2 Reload

Danganronpa V3

Dark Souls Remastered

Dark Souls 3

Devil May Cry HD Collection + 4 Special Edition Bundle

Disgaea 6 Complete

Disgaea 7

Dragon Ball FighterZ

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

Dragon Marked for Death

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Earth Defense Force 4.1

Earth Defense Force 5

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain

Earth Defense Force: World Brothers

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising

Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force

Fallout 4

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Fire Pro Wrestlng World

Forspoken

Ghostrunner

Ghostwire: Tokyo

Gleamlight

God of War(PS4)

God of War: Ragnarok

GrimGrimoire OnceMore

Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX

Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2

Hades

Horizon: Zero Dawn

Horizon Forbidden West

Immortals Fenyx Rising

Jak and Daxter Bundle

KATANA KAMI: A Way of the Samurai Story

Kowloon Highschool Chronicles

Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society

Lies of P

Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness

Mafia: Definitive Edition

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

Marvel's Midnight Suns

Marvel's Spider-Man

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Megadimension Neptunia VII

Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection

Melty Blood: Type Lumina

Metal Slug 3

Metal Slug Anthology

Metal Slug XX

Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation Code Fairy Vol. 1

Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker

Nier Rplicant

Nier Autimata

Nitroplus Blasterz

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4

One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows

Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight

Persona 5 Strikers

Persona 5: Dancingin Starlight

Puyo Puyo Tetris

Rayman Legends

Resident Evil 4 remake

Resident Evil 7

Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles

River City Girls 2

River City Melee Mach

River City Saga: Three Kingdoms

RWBY: Arrowfell

Sifu

Sol Cresta

Sonic Origins

Spyro: Reignited Trilogy

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Steins; Gate Elite

STEINS;GATE: My Darling's Embrace

Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse

Super Bomberman 2

SUPERHOT

Super Neptunia RPG

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection

The Evil Within

The Evil Within 2

The Last Campfire

The Legend Nayuta: Boundless Trails

The Outer Worlds

The Quarry

The Wonderful 101: Remastered

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2

Valkyria Chronicles 4 Complete Edition

Voice of Cards 1-3

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

Warm Snow

Wild Hearts

World End Syndrome

Yakuza: Kiwami

Yakuza: Kiwami 2

Zanki Zero

[eurovision-revisited]

Eurovision 2006 - Number 12 - Andreas Johnson - "Sing for Me"

Andreas Johnson was already famous when he first entered Melodifestivalen in 2006. He's had a Europe wide mega-hit with Glorious in 1999 that achieved a top ten placing in many European charts. For a two year period, it was even the theme tune for the Premier League football shows on Sky Sports in the UK.

In the intervening years, he'd released two albums and many singles and was in the promotional phase of re-releasing his album, Mr. Johnson, Your Room Is on Fire. Entering Melfest he was a big name, still in the collective Swedish conscience even if he hadn't had any big hits since Glorious.

He was hoping that Sing for Me would change that. It was the lead song on the re-released version of the album and it harkens back to a completely different era of Eurovision. If Glorious was up to the minute EDM, audience friendly enough to be reused in many different contexts, Sing for Me was the 1970s mainstream sing-along pop song with refined sugar sweetness at its core. It feels like a song that had huge success three decades prior to 2006, with its echoes of the Beatles mingling with glam. It's the sort of song that Abba would have been singing against in Brighton in 1974 - but better. The sort of pop-schlager Sweden has always loved right in its collective soul.

What Sweden got in Sing for Me was Andreas in a neatly tailored double-breasted, long blue suit and a red neckerchief singing an inclusive song with a rousing chorus that almost entreated the nation to get up and join in. Being a man of the people, Andreas leaves the stage and goes out into the crowd to bring everyone into his world. He's the parade leader at the front of the marching band leading the crowd to follow them wherever they might go.

The song itself is totally self-referential. It's a sing-along song about singing along. Is there anything more uniting that having a huge national singalong - which is what Melfest kind of is anyway. Perhaps the ultimate encapsulation of Melfest and Swedish music culture from the previous decades distilled to almost unimaginable degrees of refinement for the ultimate three-minute hit of concentrated pop. It was the first song presented at Melodifestivalen 2006 grand final having closed its heat.

No wonder they chose it to open the competition this year.

I think they might have thought it would win. It certainly won its heat - easily qualifying. In the final, it had stronger competition, but its charms were still working on with the judges. It won the jury vote and only the public's love of two other entries pushed it into third place in what was a closely fought battle.

Andreas seems to have taken this on the chin as he's been back to Melfest fives times since including the very next year in 2007 and, the year after that, a collaboration with the winner of Melfest 2006, Carola Häggkvist.

[milkcolle]

ngl sometimes i rlly have 2 tone down how i type cuz im mega ultra paranoid that some1 is gonna be leik "clearly ur a sys little" nd its like nooooooo im just kinda like this v much grown man adulty thing ages w the body alter 25 years old!!!!! also theres the fear of Ew Cringe! comments which is superrr sucky but w/ever! oh + also the fear of "well he must be stupid" comments idkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk hard 2 not be a lil self conscious lolllll trying 2!!!!!!!!!! fite the shame srry 4 using XD in 2024 maybe get a lil bit of whimsy in ur hearts!!!!!!!!!1 at my core i am am "XD random wafflez not a phase mom!"

anywayyyyz will never 4get this moment my soul elft my body

[icyfiretraveler]

TITLE: "Lunarlux"

RELEASE DATE: September 25th, 2023

GENRE: Turn Based RPG, Hopepunk, End-Resistance.

LunarLux is a story of life on Luna during the comet Coda crisis. 255 days until the antimatter comet destroys all life on luna, Just as it did on Terra. Bella and Tetra are members of the Lunex Force, together they defeat anti-matter life-forms known as murks that emerge from the phantom realm to attack humans. But where did the murks come from, and why is the masked-murk-slayer collecting the anti-cores left behind when they die?

Together resist the end and fight for truth, to protect all human souls!

The gameplay is 🔥 with lots of build variety, great action-input abilities, and strong comboes. Anyone who liked grid based systems like "mega man battle network" or "one step from eden" will love the play, and this weaves in the soul- dodging bullet ocean mechanics people love from undertale with recharging shields for extra breathing room.

This is a genre hit, a must play!

[evilminji]

And? Given the clear Time Powers? DOES he? How can you test that? How do you test someone who can SEE all possible answers and incorrect choices? It doesn't take much intelligence to read off a list they can see over your shoulder. Is this HIS answer or the answer he knows is CORRECT?

It's awesome. The BEST and most FASCINATING series of tests ever done. I bet world class scientists literally FIGHT for the chance to be there for when Clockwork is feeling agreeable.

Because? He is, no joke, THE 5th dimensional being. (All ghosts being 4th dimensional, since they exsist as Self and Soul and Core and-) (they see them soul shrimp colors, man. Bodies kinda limit you.) He exsists BEYOND, through, and IS Time.

IMAGINE WHAT WE CAN LEARN!!! :D

But also? Dear God the STRESS Danny and the supervisors must feel? Because obviously, Danny and the Fentons DID give them the run down on -> "not EVERY citizen on this reality is Human friendly or even remotely safe. Think human intelligent piranhas and mega-fauna sized parasites. It's not PERSONAL, just INHERENT for some of them. They are dangerous by nature, to survive, etc.

But also, yes. There are also criminals out there. And assholes. Tread carefully."

Because?

Itty bitty Interns racing off to try and talk to Undergrowth and Nocturn for their ecological or sleep studies. 😬😨😱 Babies, NO!!! You will DIE!

Actually? You know what would be darkly hilarious?

If, when the GIW can't get ghosts declared both malicious AND non-sapient/sentient? They push for "dumb animals" instead.

Which is accepted. Ghosts are animals. Checks out, says scientists everywhere.

HOW "dumb"?

What? Says the GIW, mid-victory high fives. They did not expect a follow up question. They SHOULD have, as this is the SCIENTIFIC community and that is literally their job, but here we are.

How. "Dumb"? The scientists repeate slower. What methodology did you use? What is your sample size? Are their different sub-species? Is this dimension like ours? Is Ghost the equivalent to Mammal? It says here their are humanoid ones.

What IQ are we talking about here and HOW DID YOU TEST??

A goldfish, parrot, and dolphin are all animals. WILDLY different levels of intelligence. You can't treat them the same. Technically speaking, WE are animals.

The GIW does not like where this conversation is going. Tries to shut it down.

.......well NOW the scientists are both offended AND invested. How DARE you try to push faulty science and hide the Truth from them! They're gonna do their OWN studies! *picks up the phone and dials that one embarrassing spiritualist friend they had in college* Hey! You still think you can summon ghosts? I'll pay you to try it for Science!

And like? As a Ghost? It's degrading as hell. But ALSO these fuckos just Whoopsie'd you into having both protections under the law, since animal abuse IS illegal, AND just put the ENTIRE planets scientific community on their asses.... by accident.

So you take a deeeeeeep breath you don't even need. Remember you're doing this for the little ghost babies and fluffy ghost animals. And show up at a research facility like "yes, hello, I am Ghost. Here for you to poke and prod at. Please ask me to name the object on the flash card or whatever IQ tests do these days."

Should you HAVE to prove your own fucking sentience? No. But? You do it. You're even polite about it. Ask for a copy of the study they plan to publish so you can BEAT some mother fuckers with it. The scientists nod in understanding and use the BIG font for your copy so it'll hurt more.

They've been there.

And just? Shitty people getting what they wanted only to have it blow up in their faces?? I see all these angst "but what if they were declared ANIMALS" prompts and I just?? Are we talking PARROT or goldfish!? One has the average intelligence of about a human 4yr old and the other is a FISH! People get RIGHTFULLY furious when you treat INTELLIGENT animals badly.

And would, in fact, adapt pretty easy to discovering one of said animal has become HUMAN lvl intelligent. It's easy to grasp the idea of human intelligence lvl dolphin or monkeys. Maybe there was some mutated strain, maybe in uetro tampering. Who knows. But if I tried to sell you a human intelligent housefly? Gold fish? Lizard?

You wouldn't believe me. There is some kind of trick at play.

So if GHOSTS are seen as animals? Everyone nods and then later? Someone comes in TV and very excitedly informs you "we found INTELLIGENT LIFE amongst the ghosts!" You'd believe it. Probably be really excited by your conversation starter for the day. Get a taco and move on with your life.

But? Having to willing sit for a barrage of testing? Is going to suuuuuuck so bad. Poor Danny. SATs all over again. For HOURS. At multiple facilities, just to be CERTAIN it's not a one off. All because he not certain he can insure good behavior from other ghosts and This Is IMPORTANT. He ALSO can't be certain it's even SAFE.

Might be a trap.

But if he has to do it again and again and again? Mexico to Bavaria to China to the Maldives? If this is what it takes for the scientific community to bitchslap the GIW into ORBIT before the UN? Hand him that pencil.

He has no where more important to be.

@hdgnj @nerdpoe @mutable-manifestation @ailithnight @the-witchhunter