#on main this is a moment of weakness !!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The Quest Continues...

(part 1- part 2)

[turtleblogatlast]

Man “Battle Nexus: New York” was a great episode but I do have one major gripe with it.

Like. Raph being paired up with Ghostbear? Makes sense. Works great. Works amazing, even.

Mikey being paired up with Meatsweats? Yeah that checks out!!

Donnie getting…Hypno…? I mean. I guess Donnie doesn’t like magic so it kindaaa works but Kendra would have been a much better choice to me personally. Maybe Big Mama didn’t wanna include a human or something…

And Leo getting…uh…one of the Sando Brothers???? Of all villains? Nah let’s be real, his main villain is more Big Mama herself (or Leo could be considered his own worst enemy lmao-). Hell Hypno would have probably worked better here considering their shared love for magic tricks and stuff, but Carl Sando????

[sanzodaily]

day 10 | don't listen to anything this man says after one beer.

[supercutszns]

first draft of next fic….coming in the next few days🫣🫣 be prepared

[shalomniscient]

natlan 5.1 was batshit insane but i won't deny cookery when i see it. last 1/3 of the archon quest is just brilliantly done in my opinion, from writing to level design to soundtrack. just genuine excellence

[loregoddess]

some general observations as I put together notes for analyzing the Octo1 characters weaknesses from the extra battle update to Octo2. Some minor spoilers for late-game stuff.

weaknesses are definitely mechanics-driven, every character has 3 weaknesses, except Primrose and Ophilia, who each only have 2 weaknesses, which is interesting since they're each the main "support" character for their respective teams, so it's apparently harder to hit and take out the support (and from what I've heard so far about Ophilia's battle kit, she is the one you wanna take out first which is SO funny considering that like, story-wise Ophilia is just the sweetest, even if she doesn't take shit from anyone)

the rest of the travelers being balanced at 3 weaknesses each (and having access to the secret jobs), makes me think the extra battle takes place in Octo1's post-game as well, as they'd be more experienced (less weaknesses) and also work together more cohesively as a team (hence why this extra battle is so hard, ignoring the fact that it's a special post-game bonus superboss-esque fight)

like what we see with the Octo2 characters' weaknesses, every character who uses long-ranged weapons has a weakness to a short-ranged weapon and vice versa. Daggers seem to be treated exclusively as long-ranged weapons, which makes for an even balance of 3 long- (polearms, bows, daggers) and 3 short-ranged (staffs, axes, swords) weapons. The fire-ice, lightning-wind, and light-dark weakness patterns are also consistent.

there's some fancy balancing with the weapon weaknesses again, every weapon is strong against at least 2 characters, with the exception of polearms which are only strong against 1 character (Therion), and daggers which are strong against 3 characters (Ophilia, Cyrus, and Alfyn)

likewise we have some interesting numbers for elemental weaknesses, as each element is strong against at least two characters except lightning and light, which are only strong against one character each

I'm assuming the balance of weaknesses is for battle mechanics balancing purposes, since it fairly equally spreads out the potential weaknesses (and the player is expected to be using secondary jobs and secret jobs at this point, and should theoretically be able to hit any weakness), but it is interesting that polearms, lightning, and light are unpopular choices for weaknesses

for character specific observations:

Ophilia is weak to daggers (ranged counter against her melee staff), and dark (counter to her light), which makes sense overall (her main antagonist was working in the shadows along assassins, so the dagger specifically makes sense as a weakness). Nothing too surprising about her except her lack of weaknesses (despite her kindness, she is incredibly capable and aware).

Cyrus has no elemental weaknesses (makes sense given his general mastery of elements, even if he's not a magic scholar specifically), and instead is weak to swords, daggers, and axes. The daggers make sense as the ranged counter to his melee staff, but swords and axes fill out the rest of the melee-ranged weapons for his weaknesses which is very interesting (and entirely opposite from Osvald's "ranged-weapons only" weakness set). But if we consider the fact that all of Cyrus's story's major beats occur with people close to him betraying him in some way (Therese telling a lie about him, Yvon kidnapping him, etc.), it does make sense that he would have a weakness to weapons a person would need to get close to him to use.

Tressa is weak to staffs to counter her ranged polearm and bow, as well as fire and lightning. The lightning makes sense, given that Tressa's main element is wind, but the fire is interesting. Tressa does live in a coastal village, so this could be the idea of fire being the natural opposite to water, the same way we see how Ochette (who lives on an island) is weak to fire.

Olberic's a fun enigma, because he's weak to axes, ice, and wind. As a warrior (master of arms), I'd expect him to have nothing but elemental weaknesses, similar to Hikari, but we don't see that here. Axes counter Olberic's ranged polearm, and wind is Erhardt's main element in CotC (Olberc also notably has access to lightning skills in CotC to allow the player a way to break an elemental weakness w/ Olberic, and as a tie-in to the fact that Olberic is Brand god of battle thunder's chosen traveler), so the wind weakness makes sense, albeit in a somewhat tragic way. The ice weakness is surprising though, especially given that both the Highlands and Hornburg are mountainous regions (high elevations tend to be chillier), but if I had to hazard a guess I'd say it has something to do with Olberic's burning passion to protect others (ice being the counter to fire).

[It should be noted that, in-game Erhardt is weak to swords, axes, ice, and dark, so Olberic and Erhardt share the axe and ice weaknesses (Erhardt is the "Blazing Blade" so the ice weakness isn't as surprising); swords probably exist as a weakness for mechanical purposes to ensure the player can break him during the forced fight in Olberic's Ch3, although dark is surprising--perhaps it hints at Erhardt's eventual heel-face turn?]

Primrose is weak to swords (to counter her ranged dagger) and light (to counter her dark), which more or less checks out with her narratively as well. Her quest for revenge requires her to live and operate in the shadows, and shining light on it would only show the truth of the violence of her quest. I was under the impression that Simeon stabs Primrose with a dagger at the end of her Ch3, but for all I know it was a sword, and even if it wasn't, some daggers are long enough to be considered short swords.

Alfyn is weak to daggers and bows (ranged counters to his melee axe), and fire (counter to his ice). It was interesting that polearms weren't amongst his weaknesses, given the whole situation with Miguel, but if we assume the extra battles take place in a hypothetical "post-game", maybe Alfyn's lack of weaknesses to polearms is testament to his character growth over the course of his story.

Therion is weak to polearms and bows (ranged counters to his melee sword, although it is interesting to note that this may be the only case when dagger is treated as a potential close-ranged weapon). The fact that he has only weaknesses to ranged weapons is consistent with his characterization--Therion won't let anyone get close enough to hurt him (emotionally) again, so the only way to hurt him is from afar. He's also weak to ice as a counter to his fire affinity, although this makes the fact that his final chapter takes place in a cold and bitter place rather symbolic (he must go into his weakness--the cold, and also trusting Heathcote--to fulfill his quest).

H'aanit is weak to staffs (melee counter to her ranged bow), and more interestingly to wind and dark. Wind makes sense, given that H'aanit's main element is lightning, but the dark is surprising, since unlike Castti (who also had a weakness to dark because of story events), we don't see H'aanit struggle against anything "dark" except Redeye, who she's entirely triumphant against. However it's interesting to note that in CotC, Z'aanta has access to light attacks, and given that he raised H'aanit, it's possible she has an affinity to light despite not having access to it as an elemental attack. Additionally, H'aanit works alongside Eliza closely during the events of her story, and Eliza also has access to light as her main element in CotC, making most of the characters H'aanit works closely with light-aligned.

[In addition to Z'aanta and Eliza, Alaic has a weakness to dark as well, either in connection to his backstory and/or because he too has an affinity for light--potentially. I don't have a good guide to all NPC's weaknesses for either of the games, so I can't go and double-check all of H'aanit's NPC weaknesses, but it is interesting that at least 3 of the major NPCs in her story either share her weakness to dark or are definitely linked with light.]

Again, no specific direction or point I'm trying to make with these notes, just jotting them down for the sake of thinking about game mechanics and characterization ties.

[chocottang]

the more i think abt goldica the more i like it

[maine-isnt-canadian]

I hate sobriety. The moment I turn 19, best believe I will be hightailing it to the nearest LCBO and getting myself 7 bottles of vodka. And I WILL be drinking behind the wheel.

[dekupalace]

everyone out here making their favorite pokemon teams meanwhile I'm putting in my takes on teams for the isat party

you can probably guess who is who lol. all of these are based on insertdisc's post here

bonus team for family bonds sif:

[hubblespacemission]

MADE MY GIRLFRIEND LAUGH. SCORE

[idk-i-want-mcl-content]

GUYS GUYS please tell me this is a cute edit please tell me i did not not just see this big of a spoiler

[jackass-jones]

Honestly though I think it’s really a bad sign when I look at Shin Tsukimi and literally feel like he’s a self insert 😩

[lyn-ne]

you KNOW my taste in men is bad when this is my type

[enden-k]

i forgot there was smth, just logged in and literally was there like

[cervinae-canine]

bro if i end up having a crush on one of the characters from gta5, i swear to god-

[unproduciblesmackdown]

my eyes to your eyes

iphigenia & achilles, at the end of part two (iphigenia in between) of theatre incognita and teatrotaller's 2012 ithaca production of iphigenia crash land falls on the neon shell that was once her heart (a rave fable)