#more balanced variety

[nyxqueenofshadows]

finished rgg gaiden so play diary time! took me 44 hours and i didn't even nearly do everything.

overall, hm, mixed feelings? i had a lot of fun with the new fighting style, and the plot's good, but there's pacing issues and some of the side content is grindy in a not fun kind of way.

anyway, notes below the cut. 5k words of 'em. yup. i've started dating them now so it should be easier to follow (for me, if no one else)

04/12/24

(chapter one)

I’ve missed kiryu more than I thought, the first time he opened his mouth I had a full body reaction, what the fuck have these games done to me asdfghjkl

ogikubo as in the guy from 7? that guy? huh.

the agent style is really fun ngl, the combos are slick and webshotting people is so satisfying

the lead into and out of the title sequence/op song was so smooth!! more of this please!!

there’s…no chat log. I’m only now realising just how much I relied on that while playing LJ, I think I might have to rewatch some cutscene or read plot summaries to make sure i’m getting everything I need here. hanawa especially, he’s like kuwana from LJ, for some reason his language choices are giving me some trouble. plus lots of Kansai-ben! normally I’m pretty good (lots of practice) but I wonder if it’ll cause any problems here

hanawa: don’t let anyone know your true identity. everyone within a hundred mile radius: knows kiryu’s true identity (edit: I love how this only gets more true as the game goes on asdfghjkl)

wait where did shishido go in that cutscene, did he get in a van and I missed it? oops

I can grab missing objects with the spider web that’s so funny asdfghjkl mister, how’d you get my ball down from that tree? *taps nose* it’s a secret

kiryu bro that’s a lot more than two guys 結構オーライの問題じゃねえよ

oh the ultimate attacks (motor reversal?) are in this game too! neat, I liked them in LJ and it’s nice to see more of them. fun to pull off too, tho they seem a bit less forgiving in this one? maybe it’s a timing thing (edit: yeah, it’s a lock-on thing. actually very forgiving, especially when you unlock the second part of them)

it’s so weird having an actual menu again and not just like, a phone. even the settings menus and shit are all laid out differently. (edit: did they do this to account for how you’re not supposed to have your phone in the castle? even tho you can take photos there *on your phone*??)

shishido is cool, I like this man already. his outfit fucks, and he’s got good energy in scenes. same with tsuruno actually but in different directions. they’re the two that have their own thing together, uh, 日本統一? or smth? so that might be why

they’re watase-gumi???? huh. OH WAIT YEAH watase wants kiryu’s help with all the shit going on behind the scenes in the 7 plot, got it, got it. …it’s not even been that long since I played 7, like 4 months at most? help.

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05/12/24

it made me walk four blocks to not buy a cigarette? thanks guys

Yoshimura I Do Not like you. actually daidouji in general, I know they’re supposed to be like this and it makes them convincing antagonists but man. no wonder kiryu’s fucking miserable (aside from, y’know, every other reason).

is old ‘totally not a monk’ man gonna be the mvp of this game

the long battle through daidouji hq was really fun! good excuse to play around with the two styles (dragon seems to be better for bosses cos you can power through their guard) and the area itself is lovely

ofc we go to survive and Kashiwagi isn’t there!!! I know this is a thing for IW but come on!!! good scene tho, I’m liking tsuruno a lot

(chapter two)

the sotenbori intro was nice, it looks really good in the new lighting. plus the red eyes thing, a bit on the nose but neat little transition

akame!!! oh I like this woman already. she’s got great energy.

kiryu Does Not want to be here dealing with anyone’s bullshit and it’s very funny to me asdfghjkl tho he’s not changed, has he. like when helping the homeless guy out from the omi guys who were harassing him, he didn’t need to tell him about akame, but he did. very kiryu of him.

let it be known that as soon as I had free rein I immediately went to do all the karaoke songs. zero regrets. the fact that tonight has (upscaled?) moving footage from the game rather than still images now makes it even more emotional (to me anyway, a chronic nishiki simp)

ALSO the park is back???? the missing park that was in the pre-dragon age games???? what sorcery is this (…is it cos they needed somewhere to put the homeless people….)

the akame network has SOOO many things on the map at once, it’s kind of overwhelming. oh and speaking of the map why have they changed the colour of the icons AGAIN?? I swear they’re doing it every game now and it’s driving me nuts

wait, where did my bump into things noises go. you know, where you walk into a wall and kiryu’s like otto, or whatever. you give him dialogue for picking up and using keys but he’s silent when you run him full pelt into a glass door??? tho having said that yagami was the same, wasn’t he, and ichiban didn’t have any(?) even if the companions did in all three of those games…. but they’ve reused other audio, and they have audio for those moments, so just put them in rgg :sob: :sob: (am I the only person who cares about this, probably)

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09/12/24

sotenbori is tiny but it still took me ages to get from one side of the map to the other, partly cos of being distracted by akame network stuff (why does everyone want lunch. nothing else, just lunch) but also cos of the encounters! the grace period is brutal, especially if you want to go past one of the spawn points

arms dealer guy is fun, looking forward to seeing more of him and his gadgets! him and the cigarette shop lady (I cackled when she tossed the firefly at the guy), I love when rgg takes otherwise normal people and gives them underworld connections

to the castle!!!!! all this going back and forth, kiryu’s never gonna hit net zero on his carbon emissions

it looks so good in there tho. the water looks a liiiittle bit jank, but all the lights and scrolling text on the walls, the people scattered around, the castle and arena looming in the distance, it all reeks of excess and I love it

ngl I totally forgot shishidou hadn’t had a title card yet asdfghjkl my bad. he got back at us for the mask (is the pink one always the first one, and then you can pick a cooler one if you ask the concierge? if so that’s very funny)

oh so that’s what the arena’s like. they’re reenacting battles from yakuza history and having people take roles depending on whether they win or lose. huh. they’re clearly having fun with it, why not. (first nishiki mention by name since at least kiwami 2, this was Not where I expected it to be)

is…is fake kiryu using a modified version of hajime’s gun moveset ASDFGHJKL I do like that they had fake kiryu say the line (死にてえやつらetc.) and whoever they got did a genuinely solid attempt at an impression!

the famed ryuji impersonator!!!! he doesn’t have a facial scar, but they really went and gave him the tattoo and everything. his moveset isn’t quite the same as ryuji’s either, it’s simpler, isn’t it. neat! (if they weren’t cowards they would’ve given us REAL ryuji but whatever. I’m not bitter, who’s bitter?)

nishitani III is gonna be a real piece of shit, isn’t he. oh boy. I liked the bit of shishidou’s backstory we got, even if it did feel like it needed to go here cos they had nowhere else to put it. it feels like a lot to say to someone you don’t know very well, even if you’re trying to make a point

why is there a locker key on the helipad asdfghjkl

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10/12/24

(honestly I’m very sleep deprived and it’s fucking with my memory but I’m trying my best)

was gonna immediately go and do the tsuruno boss fight but then ETSUKOOOOOOO looking as sprightly as ever. bless her. haven’t finished her little plotline thing (I got distracted) but she’s always fun

I’ve seen people mention that gaiden feels more difficult than other yakuza games and I’m kind of inclined to agree, that boss rush/long battle was kind of hard! obviously it’s early days so there’s a learning curve to do alongside the difficulty one, but yeah, those guys hit hard! at least kiryu gets up a lot faster than yagami did

the little motion kiryu does to pick up a weapon now, kicking it up into his hand, that’s cool, big fan

tsuruno fight very fun! loved the intro and uh mid-fight cutscene? I was gonna say QTE but there wasn’t one

shishidou isn’t gonna be pleased with this outcome, is he

i…don’t think I understood all of the convo after the tsuruno fight. i got most of it, I think, especially the second half, but not having a chat log (and also aforementioned sleep deprivation) is not doing me any favours here. that said, good! same for the one afterwards with (surprisingly but not unreasonably bloodthirsty) hanawa, where kiryu gives his motivation.

I was wondering why the akame network was missing from the map and then I saw pocket circuit(!!!!) and realised. nice approach! including the side content with the main, and this one felt less contrived than the cabaret club one. (I did a cup, because ofc I did)

finished my first akame network substory, the one with the streamer and the ghost. it got a little tedious but I liked how it ended

time to go to the arena again? cool, but first to get shoeeeeees

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11/12/24

shoes acquired (after doing a couple of akame network things on the way there and back, including finishing all-seeing etsuko’s substory) so it’s back to the castle! cos akame wants money money money (good for her tbh, she’s seen her opportunity and she’s not letting go)

(why can you gift her cigarettes???)

oh I’ve unlocked dress up, it’s so joever BUT WAIT I spent all my money on combat upgrades for kiryu nooooooo just you wait painted nails, I’ll be back for you

hammerhead was surprisingly easy, but having an open space like that was very useful for testing out the boots. flying up to an enemy to do a heavy attack is good fun ngl. I assume I’ve unlocked all the gadgets now? I have no more buttons to long press, soooo

the lounge is so pleasant to walk around, the coloured lighting is gorgeous and the pool! can’t wait to fill this place with allies. tho if everyone has friend bars to level up…..

サラリーマン太郎 is good tho, made me laugh

I usually complain about there being too many help menus in rgg games (looking at you LJ) but honestly I would’ve preferred one for zigoku rumble? just cos there’s the ‘order’ mechanic that it doesn’t explain at all. and this was a while ago but same for the cabaret club, it’s fairly intuitive but some sort of ‘hey do this to do this’ wouldn’t have gone amiss imo

did I spend all my arena earnings on more outfits for kiryu? you bet I fucking did. man’s gotta serve cunt in these cutscenes

I am actually looking forward to doing all the arena stuff, it looks fun, but! lots of akame network things to do, so I’ll poke away at those on my way to the next plot thing.

sunflower???? and he knows Kazama???? intriguing. akame says this guy isn’t being completely honest, but I can tell kiryu doesn’t want to believe that (he looked up to Kazama, he says, and if true that he’s a swindler then that’s different to kiryu’s version of what 憧れ looks like). hm.

CHOT DDT FUCK this substory has me hollering ngl. I literally did a spit take when the name first came up. I sometimes forget this game came out when it did and then they put in stuff like this and I get smacked with the reminder that I’m not playing a game from 2015 anymore (I think this is probably the game I’ve played closest to its release date ever tbh so that might have smth to do with it)

I got very distracted, I’m still in chapter two asdfghjkl

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12/12/24

finished the chat gpt substory and yeah, saw that coming, that the prospective girlfriend was using it too. remarkably positive outcome, considering how things are looking now, almost a year after release…. (funny tho, good substory)

finally went back to the main plot and fuck dude…. even tho you know that kiryu’s gonna be fine (we’re not even up to date on the 7 timeline yet) they do really great job of building tension in those scenes up to when tsuruno comes in to save the day with a fuck load of money. kiryu’s value has exponentially grown since 1989 (or, well, maybe not. inflation, y’know). hanawa…. he’s really growing on me. (saved by kiryu twice? hm.)

also really well shot and animated, especially the bits just before hanawa refuses to shoot kiryu. his hands shaking, the way his face screws up, kiryu’s everything he has going on, all excellent.

MONK MAN coming through once again.

I also find it immensely funny that the game master system is in the daidouji hideout. like, the idea of kiryu going back there – where he was nearly forced to shoot tsuruno, and he and hanawa nearly killed each other – just to play like, sonic fighters is such an rgg thing to do I can’t even hate it

oh akame. I can’t tell if she’s genuinely that unaware or she’s just lightening the mood.

plot mandated arena? sweet, back to the castle to get more clothes babeyyyyyy

actually first I finished off that Kazama/sunflower substory and woof, I think I need to sit and ruminate on that for a while. really interesting take.

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16/12/24

mostly more akame network stuff today, where am I gonna find a kappa in sotenbori??? (edit: WAIT I NEVER COMMENTED ON THIS AGAIN I was fuming, it’s directly across the river from the guy who asks. he’s LOOKING AT IT. grrrr)

the ryuji plotline thingy was okay? it felt kind of lacking in a way I’m struggling to articulate, tho kiryu being proactive to clear ryuji’s name from petty shit he believes ryuji wouldn’t do is neat. I also appreciate how fake ryuji 1 was in rggo ryuji’s 1999 outfit. nice little easter egg

also did some pocket circuit and yeah, it’s still really satisfying when you get a good build and lap your opponents. dangerous minigame, that

the arena is fun, but definitely doesn’t suit itself to being done all in one go (or at least not if you don’t mix up the kinds of fights you’re doing.) hangman continues to be difficult but fun to fight (he can just lift kiryu off his feet…) but I’ve not seen anyone else very memorable yet. also unclear to me if the pay to recruit mechanic works like the cabaret club and majima’s construction did in k2, where that’s the only way you can get those characters. ah well, future me problem

I love that the item available from the men in speedos on the pleasure boats that go across the sotenbori occasionally is 金玉 (balls) asdfghjkl perfect

oh there’s bond talks with akame!!! these are good, enjoy these a lot.

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17/12/24

so I was originally gonna do a bunch of akame stuff before going to the castle and meeting tsuruno, but ended up not doing that and didn’t realise I was going into a fight with nishitani III so uhhhhhh yeah. lucky I ate smth at the fighter’s lounge first asdfghjkl

I was wondering how nishitani 3 fit in, and that makes sense. he *would* be a pretty big obstacle in shutting down the omi (and by extension the tojo). but it seems awful bold to have a conversation about what is essentially a coup d’état RIGHT IN FRONT OF NISHITANI 3 like of COURSE he wants in on what the castle newbie (who he knows shishidou knows) and the captain are up to. tsuruno, buddy, what was the plan here

fight through the castle is good fun, going into the belly and back out again. I like the little details of staff clearly on break (mainly hostesses but other evidence too, of people having to live and work there). the masks some of the guys wear are really weird tho, are they a reference to smth? probs not (edit: turns out the castle has a mascot. would love to know the in-game explanation for that one)

nishitani 3 continuing the nishitani tradition of being horny as fuck to fight (tho I would say it felt shoehorned in? but he sells it so it’s fine). my question is when kiryu is like 今やるのは喧嘩だろうな or whatever it was he said, what the fuck would he have done if nishitani 3 was like nah, I’m here to fuck asdfghjkl

fun fight! nice QTE! yeah!!!

Idk if it was intended that way, but when tsuruno keeps kiryu from beating up nishitani 3 more and also stops nishitani 3’s guys from attacking kiryu, it makes me get why he’s captain. he makes it look so easy and gets everything under control pretty quickly

akame takes all of this so calmly for someone who is essentially a civilian asdfghjkl

the little arms dealer rescue diversion thing directly after you get back from the castle was okay? I assume the bad guy there (I can’t read his name I’m so sorry) will come up again later. at least his drones are easy enough to block

poked around some other akame network stuff and KAITO I FOUND HIM AHHHHHH I wasn’t expecting this substory to be as involved as it is, I’m having a great time. the two have a really good back and forth and wait why is higashi damsel in distress again, rgg why do you keep doing this to him

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19/12/24

finished the kaito substory! good fun overall, they mesh well. tho I maintain that higashi wouldn’t have been taken down by chinpira that easily! at least I unlocked them for the arena (isn’t sugiura there too? where’d he go)

I basically did mostly plot today, but ‘plot’, so running around with shishidou and tsuruno and painting the town red asdfghjkl tsuruno’s initial reaction is so funny, but he really commits to the bit after that. good on him.

it’s such an enjoyable sequence, silly and simple as it is, because the characters are clearly letting loose and there’s a lot of playful dialogue. there were multiple points I laughed, I kept stopping to get photos with the gang (shishidou’s subordinates are the real mvp of this bit, fight me) and it’s the kind of silly fun I love rgg for. they tease a karaoke night out with watase, I know this is never gonna happen but I NEED that so badly omg (edit: interesting to think about shishidou and this in retrospect)

I also like that you can do an approximation of some of the minigames with the watase gang, i.e. golf, karaoke, and billiards. and there’s new 合いの手for the karaoke purely for this one bit! delightful! HOWEVER the billiards game with tsuruno was an absolute shitshow. I’m not especially good at it to begin with, yet somehow tsuruno is worse??? there was a point where we were trying to pot the three (early days, I know) and I think we went at least four goes each without potting it At All. the only reason we got anywhere is cos I fouled and tsuruno literally put the ball in the perfect position. there was a point later on where he was gonna pot the 7? I think and he was RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE POCKET and yet still missed. I was embarrassed on their behalf. abysmal playing from all involved. I despair. AND I ended up potting most of the balls AND YET tsuruno comes in and pots the 9 in his first attempt. if I was a rage quitter that would’ve been my moment

oh also the fact that he’s labelled kiryu kazuma in the billiards minigame menu itself is very funny to me, it’s not like that anywhere else, only billiards. billiards, the all-seeing eye

i…should go and do some akame network stuff but I wanna reunlock the castle again so I can split my time more evenly? so time to finish chapter 4 ig (aren’t there only five chapters…..)

tsuruno’s はい？ when kiryu says they’re gonna recapture the castle while the nishitani 3 the king is away was excellent asdfghjkl between this and the going out on the town the previous night he’s probably wondering what the fuck he got himself into. or what oyaji got him into, to be more precise

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20/12/24

I thought this the other day when they went out on the town, but if the plan is to make it that the kijin and the watase aren’t having a big public fight, then surely tsuruno and shishidou turning up to help out (the latter in a known shishidou outfit) messes with this whole plan??? nishitani 3 knows anyway, we find that out in the phone call later, so what’s it for? to keep the rank and file guys from fighting?

kiryu looks real good in that chair at the top of the castle. js.

so we own a boat now. neat! I’m sure this will have no consequences at all- oh great, killer clown came to say hello. figures the four kings are all クセが強い kinds of guys, we have killer clown, robot man, gunslinger, and a big BIG dude. with a dyed undercut (lots of half dyed hair in this game). gotta do the rest of the arena first tho, I’ve mostly got the team rumble stuff left now)

(I kind of suspected tom was going to be one of the four kings? but ig not. would’ve been one hell of a twist tho)

so there’s the sponsorship matches, right? where you talk to the ceos (or, well, 社長) and they say fight with my weapon! and so you do. first guy, relatively normal. pretty sure one of the hospital security guards had smth similar way back in judgment. second lady, HAS A WAVY LIGHTSABRE. what the fuck kind of progression is this asdfghjkl

quest for golden balls is at 5/7, I’m assuming at least one of those in the gambling halls somewhere, idk where the last one is. please don’t be mahjong.

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25/12/24

this was like 30% finishing some akame quests I’d started and then 70% pocket circuit. those point restrictions are *brutal*. I could just look up this on a guide (and probably will at some point) but I wanna see how far I can get on skill and trial and error alone. it’s not like the matches cost anything, so :shrug:

there is no way this bar would stay open tho, not with their only(?) source of income being food and drink. that would not cover all the costs here, not even close. pocket circuit fighter could barely keep his place open and he was charging for both parts AND matches. tho ig the economy is doing better(?) now than it was.

(If you ever want to know what my brain is like all the time, ^^^ that’s it.)

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02/01/25

god what the fuck was I doing. taking a week off has completely broken my stride asdfghjkl

alright let’s go do some plot, off to (not) kill nishitani 3.

shishidou my man!!! there’s no way he won’t be found out in his very distinctive get-up but whatever, I think everyone knows that going in, so. he’s also really helpful in fights but, wait, is friendly fire on? *fights some more* yeah, kinda! so we can’t do damage to each other, but AOE attacks that send you flying *do* work on each other, and if you strike at shishidou (and others, I assume) he’ll block you. huh.

(related but after the plot stuff I went back to the castle to do some zigoku stuff and kamiyama has amon’s cannon from 0 and my god does that ruin any attempts to get close to an enemy he’s fighting asdfghjkl spent half that match on my arse)

weird spot to bring up nishitani 3’s past but ig there was nowhere else to put it? also them using カミングアウトto describe nishitani’s reveal of his jingweonha heritage to the omi took me right out, I have no idea whether that’s a legit usage for it and I’ve just never seen it in a non-queer context but oh my god. need to check some jp streamers for that one I think

the interior of this hideout looks an awful lot like where the end of LJ happened. I know it’s not and it’s just reused assets or whatever but it’s kind of jarring

I kind of like how nishitani 3 still doesn’t have all the pieces put together. it’s nice to be on the side of knowledge for once, normally it’s kiryu (and ichiban) who have no idea what’s happening and are being given the run around by the bad guys. it’s still kind of that but we’re not the least informed in the room for once

also told you that shishidou would be revealed immediately. バレた～

good fight, good fun. his theme is great and tho I’m struggling with his attacks the way I kind of did with soma in LJ (that flashbang attack is brutal if it hits) it’s a nice challenge. first thing I did in this fight was pick up one of the gold women statues and was treated to kiryu beating nishitani 3 up with a full view of fake cunt, figures that’d be smth nishitani would be into.

shishidou just stabbed him???? a lot??? holy shit??? kiryu’s pissed, and fair enough. tsuruno and co are kind of treating him the same way that the daidouji (and everyone else?) do, as a weapon to be pointed at their problems and not his own individual person. (edit: wait, if none of shishidou’s stabbing was real, why does nishitani 3 have an eyepatch? he was taken out of the fire pretty quickly and kiryu didn’t do it. huh.)

he looks tired. well, no rest for the weary, there’s side content to do! *immediately goes and gets 100 on hands and then perfect on the golf bingo on my first try* hey maybe kiryu should be tired more often asdfghjkl

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03/01/25

did the last of the plot before the finale (you know, the really long finale) and poked around some akame network stuff and that’s about it!

the like, powerpoint presentation of y7 plot points was a little eh but I get it, they have to speed run that or we’ll be here forever and it’s not that kind of game. so the time skip for kiryu comes just before uh *checks wiki* chapter 9 in y7, and it speeds up through to when ichi arrives in sotenbori which is chapter 12. the meeting between kiryu and ichi is after that, so are we gonna play that? the one where ichi gets all upset and beats the thug up. might be out of the scope of the game. either way that’s in y7 chap 14, quite a bit later.

really liked the convo on the engawa with hanawa, about what kiryu wants/doesn’t want. Hawaii gets a mention too! good scene all round. I kinda wish there was more of the two of them interacting like this. then again I did take a week break, my view might be a bit skewed.

had some time to kill after that so I finished a good chunk of the akame network stuff that’s not the arena. I’ve got like ten(?) missions left on the map, and that’s it? going pretty well. I’ve barely touched pocket circuit tho, I really need to get on that asdfghjkl

oh and I finished one of the cabaret girls. awkward. it’s similar to the photography minigame from k2 but with no mechanics to distract from all the y’know, fan service of it all. I just stared at my keyboard and waited for it to be over asdfghjkl

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04/01/25

…why did I think the finale was four hours long??? it was less than two! ah well

it was good!!! the fights were all so good!! the bit in the courtyard where kiryu kicks majima’s blade into his hand and he stabs the guy with it MWAH incredible. was bouncing in my chair. more of that please rgg!!!!! (not kazumaji, necessarily, but combo moves). actually that whole fight. everyone strips (except watase) and it’s stupid and cool and god I love these games

especially liked the final one against shishidou (shades of the Aizawa fight in 5? ish?)! what happens to him after that is super fucked up though, I was kind of expecting it to come up again somewhere in the aftermath but no???? like I thought nishitani 3 would come back a third time (leaving akame alone with him is a WILD choice even if he has just been hit by a car) but ig not? him and nishitani 3 are just like that now, leashed to the daidouji, and kiryu is okay with it?? does he even know???

the last bit tho where kiryu sees the video of the kids :sob: for honesty’s sake I didn’t actually cry, but I was nearly there. the bit where kiryu’s showing haruto’s drawing to hanawa (who’s already seen it) like ‘look! look how good my grandchild is at drawing already! is he old enough to be writing yet?’ cos he’s proud but doesn’t know and GAHHHHH thinking about it makes me want to cry again. (also he can write, it says おじちゃん on the drawing which is another gut punch)

oh and kiryu continuing to stick to his ‘I don’t know you people’ line is both funny and also kind of sad. one, he believes that people believed he was dead (even tho categorically no one else has that we’ve seen) and two, if he explicitly says that he’s kiryu kazuma he breaks his deal with the daidouji and his kids are in trouble again. when he says saejima and majima(-no-nii-san)’s names, he sounds like he’s genuinely missed them too (as he should). 

I know this is just me being super cynical, but the daidouji kind of feels like an excuse/leaving room for them to bring back supposedly dead characters in the future? not that they need that excuse (they all open bars, clearly) but it’s there now for all those characters who didn’t die or go to prison on screen. maybe this’ll come up in infinite wealth, idk.

alright! well, that done, time to finish all the side content!

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07/01/25

making an executive decision to not do the rest of the hostesses cos they’re not fun and I don’t get anything out of it

pocket circuit is okay? ig? there’s just kind of a lot and my brain doesn’t like a lot. the arena stuff is much easier for me to do so I’m kind of latching on to that. both kind of involve grinding tho, and the unfun kind of grinding.

went round and did all the locker keys (those contact lenses are a godsend) and it actually wouldn’t let me open one cos I had a full inventory of the item, which was interesting.

also think I unlocked all of the fighters in the arena? and figures it’s sugiura I unlock last asdfghjkl at least I have him now!

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08/01/25

why is everything so grindyyyyy

literally that’s it, that’s all my notes for today.

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09/01/25

yeah I’m giving up on pocket circuit, the builds online don’t work and I can’t figure out one that does and I’m not having fun. I’m gonna finish the arena shit (maybe tomorrow, who knows) and then call it there for the game I think. there’s more I could do, but that feels like trying to artificially inflate my game time and I’d rather not, not when it’s not fun.

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11/01/25

done! honestly laughable how much easier ukagami(?) is than mr robot man, tho ig with a well-levelled team robot man wasn’t so bad. was it worth getting there? eh.

[wire-bunch]

i think there should be more robots that arent good at programming and dont know a lot about related subjects honestly. i mean humans dont have an in depth understanding of biology and anatomy just because theyre human, sure they know what kind of stuff is supposed to be inside of them but not very specific biological processes, names of proteins and all that stuff - so why should a robot know what each little part of it does? if its purpose isnt to be a self-repairing mechanic, whats the point of knowing where all the individual little wires connect to and what each of them is responsible for? let robots be a bit dumber is what im saying

[sydmarch]

it was so stupidly difficult to find any nutritionist who has experience with arfid & takes insurance so after having to go through all these referrals my therapist sent me & jumping through hoops I lowkey hate the lady lmao feels like such a waste of time & energy

[darkwood-sleddog]

Can the balanced dog trainers please stop fucking talking about positive reinforcement as if those dogs are not “obedience trained”? A majority of competition obedience dogs I know were trained with R+. Letting your dog wander on the end of a line because you want to do so does not = untrained. It is simply…a choice.

[jovial-gender-jester]

if there's anything i care about more than magical girls, it's magical women

[unproduciblesmackdown]

impromptu form of '24 retrospective where i was like i wonder if i did a vivacious cerulean / blue drawing each month? only noticed [none] for october when i got to the point i would've copy/pasted it lol

[dodgebolt]

i'm a big fan of non-dsmp-viewing qsmp artists depictions of tubbo. most dsmp players have some similarities to their qsmp counterparts but i've seen so many different tubbos - even moreso than usual, since tubbo has always had a variety of designs - that don't have many design aspects that i associate with tubbo due to the dsmp. i think that's neat.

[affluent-havoc]

3d Kyoko in different outfits I put her in. Cus why not.

[arcadianico]

i don’t want any of the english speakers to become president, solely because there’s already too much english on the server and we do not need them to add another english speaker. like i get that it’s a common language so sometimes defaulting to english really is the easiest solution, especially when the translator doesn’t correctly convey what you’re trying to say but we do not need more english

[orrianreaper]

Thinking more about all the patch notes stuff, and seen a bunch of people on the wavelength of how the perma-alac+quick meta is a pain in the ass and it's got me wondering: What would things look like if alac+quick couldn't be maintained At All Times, and instead was something you would need to/ideally pop at specific times. You drop stability when you need it, same with aegis? I wonder how it'd feel, and work, if for Alacrity & Quickness they were instead the button you press when you hit a big burn phase in a fight, like after breaks bars etc? I know I really enjoy getting to learn to use my stab etc based on knowledge of the fight, and timing and practise, it's really satisfying and rewarding to get right - I don't know if realistically it would ever work for a similar thing for those two big important boons. Hell you could even make them stronger to compensate if you want, short bursts saved for critical moments. 🤔

[bigeloo]

Escape From Paradise by Jesus Loves Junkies is one of the best if not the best opening tracks for any album argue with the fucking wall

[llycaons]

point and laugh I guess but a lot of posts on here recently are way too concerned with what adults are putting into their bodies. 'oh you don't eat vegetables? like a baby?' you don't know everything. you literally do not know everything about every single person in the world. some people do have very very restricted diets for a whole host of reasons. yes, really, and it might not be any of your business why and it IS shitty to mock them online for it when chances are they already KNOW it's not the best choice. and healithier people aren't morally superior anyway. calm down.

[grapecaseschoices]

@dropout-if

From the Beginning to The End: An Uma x Travis x Lloyd wip board

Faves being: here, here, and here

Travis x Lloyd

Faves being: here and here

Uma x Lloyd

Faves being: here, here, and ofc the Jenny quote :-D

[slav-every-day]

[avataroftheswarm]

Zazie is tired. They didn't think they could be, not like this, not like humans can get. All heavy and weighed down and dragging even after the swarm was able to rest. It's not a physical kind of tired or they'd be able to let the Worms of their swarm sleep and be fine afterward.

It's a mental fatigue, an emotional heaviness that makes their feet drag as they walk.

Getting everyone out of July had been easy, the work of a moment's coordination with the Hive. Everyone who'd followed the Worms was swallowed by the sandworms and rushed away away away. It hadn't all gone smoothly, too many people with too much baggage between them and too much stress humming between them all. But they'd gotten out, saved people they cared about.

Vash was still missing. Their Vash, the one who'd been the target and catalyst. None of the other Vashes seemed surprised or as concerned as they would be if he'd died in the explosion so... He must be alright.

They don't go looking. Not yet. They don't know if they can stand the sight of a red coat again so soon.

Everyone else they keep an eye on, flitting between loved ones and friends to make sure no one got into more trouble in the immediate aftermath.

Gato is distant and cold and that hurts. Punk is terrifying and that hurts too. Audrey is out cold and has been for long enough to scare them but Rook says she's okay, just recovering. That's their fault, in a manner of speaking, but there was no choice but to grab her and run, despite the damage. Rook and Rayen are safe for now.

They did nearly nothing but watch, the whole time things were happening. They hid and watched Punk be torn apart, Legato hurt himself while they couldn't help him, they contributed nothing but bearing witness to the horrors. The one person who might understand the helplessness of simply watching is in a coma and everyone else is off licking their wounds.

Zazie flies their swarm away, to hidden places underneath the desert, through the Worm tunnels, to their original hatching grounds. They won't be small and helpless next time. They'll build themself a new form to shift into, a new configuration that won't just be a child's body to be protected. The Hive settles around the planet in a watchful doze as Zazie lets go of their humanoid form, focused on growth and change of their own. Bigger, denser, more capable.

They'll keep the small form, at least for now. They like it, after all. But they clearly need to be more if they won't always have the immediate support of the Hive.

It's time for a metamorphosis.

[viviraptor]

one of my weirdly specific pet peeves is when someone makes a compilation of their artwork for something like a commission sheet and all the characters drawn are facing the same direction