#q2 on its way to kill me personally | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

frauleinandry · 1 year ago

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finally finished my persona q playthrough! ultimately, i thought it did some things well and some things not so well, but it was definitely more of a positive experience than a negative one. i'd rate it 3/5 in general. detailed thoughts under the cut!

for a bit of context, i like persona 3 a lot, dislike 4, and have minimal experience with etrian odessey (played a demo, enjoyed it, but knew the lack of plot/characters would mean I wouldn't have fun playing 40+ hours of it). i wanted to get through this game and q2 before persona 5 tactica came out so i knew what to expect story-wise (though the chances of me finished q2 before november are pretty much non-existent now lmao).

starting with the plot, i thought most of it was good, but there were a couple of weaker aspects. the gradually escalating creepiness of the labyrinths up until the rei reveal was really well done, and i absolutely loved the twist with her character. the way the themes from personas 3 and 4 were combined was sublime - her rage and sadness was so poignant, and it definitely managed to tug at my heartstrings. zen's whole deal is interesting too - i find persona doesn't tend to implement its god characters very well, so he and chronos were a refreshing take on it.

on the flipside, i didn't particular enjoy the plotline related to the actual persona characters. i chose to play the p3 route to avoid as many teddie/yosuke shenanigans as i could, and the whole senpai vs kohei thing felt like a child had written it. it's basically what happen in p3 canon but shittier. it reeeeeeeally didn't help that they use the investigation team as an example of a 'good' team, since their dynamics are rancid. i also think persona q really could have done a lot more with the 'ps: you're gonna forget this once you leave' thing, as opposed to it being a one-note revelation in the epilogue.

moving on to the characters... hm. very mixed bag here. on the positive side, it gave shinjiro in particular some much needed screen time - he actually felt like a genuine member of SEES here, as opposed to the guy who shows up and is then killed off almost instantly. it also toned down yosuke's creepiness a lot, which. well, i ain't complaining. also, i'm very happy yu/minato actually get to have a personality here. tbh persona MCs would really benefit from being upgrade from silent protags into something more similar to fire emblem three hopes shez (though probably with a little bit less character than them).

at the same time, akihiko (and to a lesser degree chie) are utterly butchered, and the portrayal of numerous other characters feels very surface level. sure, the cast is too large to really flesh everyone out, but... nobody should be feeling blatantly OOC. zen and rei also didn't really feel like people until the end of the 4th labyrinth, which makes sense from a plot perspective, but is bad from an actually-getting-attached-to-them one. as good as i found their storyline, as individuals, they're both pretty forgettable. ultimately, i think the character writing is fine in the strolls/during the sillier moments, but falls apart during the serious ones.

gameplay, yet again, was another mixed bag. the dungeon crawling is a lot better than in persona 3/4, especially in the later labyrinths where FOE movement is a lot more complex. i enjoyed most of the puzzles, and the little character moments scattered around the levels were fun too. mapping was cute, even if it was a bit of a novelty - i can't see it working on the switch or anything, but the 3DS is a good console from things like that.

of course, here's where the '.... but' comes in. in persona q case, i comes in the form of the combat sucking ass. the boost system is irritating to wrangle, but a necessary evil if you want good personas/not to chew through tons of items. in the end, i used impure reach naoto to basically skip 90% of the fights. also, what the fuck was that chronos gimmick? like, don't get me wrong, the death timer was cool in theory, but when i first fought him i only had 3 revival items on me because i simply wasn't using them!! suffice to say, i had to fight him and the spider again, and was pretty unimpressed with that.

the game is also really hampered by not sharing party exp. there's no way to use every unit unless you do tons and tons of grinding (and who has the time for that in the year 2023), but you also get penalised for not training certain units too. i didn't unlock ultimate personas in my run-through since i benched yu after the second labyrinth and didn't want to spend ages levelling him up asdfghjkl.

there was one gameplay thing i thought persona q did really well though... and that was sub-personas! god, i fucking loved that idea. like, i love it to the degree that i'd legitimately prefer it in the mainline games over the current wildcard system - let's just say i made an excited post when i saw this feature was returning in tactica. it adds a level of customisation which means any character can shine with the right investment, and i just think that's neat.

#there is probably typos and grammar mistakes in this but eh #i'm too tired to care about that #persona q #review tag

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interact-if · 3 years ago

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Day 3 of the Game Jam Winners Months Featured Author Interviews, continuing with Albie!

Albie author of Mousetrap.

You’re one of the many overworked interns working at Whimsey World. When it was announced that Imogen, a category three hurricane, would soon hit Orlando, Florida, your employers asked for volunteers to remain in the parks during the storm, promising triple pay for at least 24 hours. You and your friend seized the opportunity. After all, Whimsey wouldn’t ask its cast members to stay behind if it was potentially dangerous.

That’s what you assumed before you were knocked unconscious. Before you woke up in a costume chained to your friend and three strangers. Before Dickey the Rat informed you and your “team” that you get $250,000 for each person you kill. Before the neurotoxins pumping through the park’s air system began to loosen your grip on reality. Before nightmares and the real world bled into a horrifying, broken fantasy you can’t wake up from.

If you survive the storm (and the things lurking within it), you’ll win riches beyond your wildest dreams. But how far are you willing to go? How committed are you to pleasing your guests and satisfying your spectators? The Show will go on. It will always go on. But what role will you play in it?

Read more about Mousetrap [here] Mousetrap Demo | Dev Blog | Albie's Blog Tags: Horror, Thriller. Survival. [INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!]

Q1 . Tell us about the story you made for the Jam!

Mousetrap is a surreal survival horror story about theme park employees forced to participate in a deadly game where teams win money for each death they cause. As players fight to survive, neurotoxins pumping through the air system begin to wreak havoc on their minds. Fantasy bleeds into reality and the characters’ worst nightmares come to life.

Q2. What was the biggest challenge in creating a game in such a short time span? How did you manage it?

The biggest challenge for me was just getting the writing done - trying to stay focused without hyperfixating on things. Distractions were my biggest hurdle. When I noticed myself getting wrapped up in proofreading, testing code, playing with the UI, etc. I’d take whatever I was working on in Twine or Scrivener and transfer it to a plain .txt file. That would remove or quiet most of those distractions and help me focus on getting the story out of my head and onto my computer. I also set a goal for myself of writing 1,000+ words a day but didn’t beat myself up for failing to reach that. Having the goal encouraged me to write but not really caring about it made the process more enjoyable and less stressful.

Q3. What was your inspiration for your entry?

Honestly, personal experience was my main source of inspiration. Almost everything in this story is directly based on my time working at “Whimsey World” and is symbolic of the things I went through/witnessed there. If it’s not, then it’s a nightmarish representation of other traumas which haunt me or things which generally terrify me.

I also didn’t set out to make a game that was like Saw, but it ended up being a big source of inspiration for me as well as other classic horror stories. Dimension 20’s Fantasy High: Sophomore Year also influenced me with its Nightmare King storyline – which D20 fans will surely be able to tell after the next update. Finally, old RPG Maker horror games like Ib, The Witch’s House, Misao, and The Forest of Drizzling Rain were really inspirational especially when I was doing the audio.

Q4. Is this your first time working on a game like this? What do you like (or not like) about working in this format?

I’d been working with Twine for about three months when I started Mousetrap, but this is the first jam I’ve participated in, the first sprint project I’ve done, and really the first game I’ve published (in truth, it’s only the second creative project I’ve shared with others). I love this medium and using Twine to make IF is perfect for my interests/skills and the way my brain works. I honestly can’t think of anything I dislike about the format. Non-linear storytelling is my passion, and my goal is to eventually work in the video game industry, but for now Twine allows me to easily make games on my own and that’s been really fun.

Q5. What is your favorite part about your entry? What have you enjoyed most doing during the Jam?

I was really happy with the atmosphere and variability of the game, but my favorite part might be the audio. I’m really proud of that since it was completely new to me and I wasn’t sure how players would react to it. It’s something I’m considering adding to all my projects now.

I really enjoyed coming up with the horror stuff – taking conceptual things and trying to abstract them into something terrifying and tangible. Figuring out what I wanted to say or depict and then finding an indirect way to represent those feelings. I don’t know why, but that was even more fun than normal. Maybe because the subject matter was so personal.

Q6. What is your advice for sprint projects like this one?

I’d suggest starting with a small idea, then making it even smaller. Adding to a short story is far easier than whittling a big one down. For me, it’s hard to abandon aspects of a project without feeling like I’m betraying my original idea in some way or compromising the integrity of the story. So, starting smaller than you think you need to will set you up for success, make the process less stressful, and save you grief down the line. Also, work off of a template. Experiment with and customize the UI all you want but starting from a template is very helpful. Shoutout to Ash (@innerdemons-if) for her amazing one <3

Q7. Do you have any other works you’d like to promote?

Sure! My other big projects are Hades’ Kitchen (@hadeskitchen) and Zorlok (@zorlok-if).

Hades’ Kitchen centers around a cooking competition show set in the Greek Underworld. Players take on the role of a recently deceased chef presented with the opportunity of an (after)lifetime – a chance to become one of Hades’ personal chefs. It’s a character-driven story about rivalry, redemption, and (optionally) romance, in a postcyberpunk setting that combines mythology and science-fiction. Hades’ Kitchen is also the precursor to another mythpunk series called Neo Olympus. The demo for Hades’ Kitchen hasn’t been released yet but there is a lore bible called Hades’ Guide available on Itch.io.

Zorlok follows the bizarre misadventures of a demon with no memories and the nerdy high schooler they’re bound to serve. Players can uncover mysteries and cause mayhem in this dark comedy about monsters, found family, personal identity, and the nature of good and evil. Zorlok is inspired by cheesy horror films and campy murder mysteries (+ it was originally a MotW campaign). The demo will be released on May 13th, 2022.

You can find updates on these and any other projects I’m working on at my blog @gamesbyalbie :)

#if: events #if: game jam 22 #if: game jam

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chibivesicle · 4 years ago

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On the 7th division. After the latest development, where do you think Tsukishima's final loyalties will lie? Also is Koito's family already screwed either way? Considering they have willingly performed treason. And no doubt by now central knows. And Ogata, are you a central agent or not??? Where did your grandparents go? A cat's motives are mysterious indeed.

Hello there,

Thanks for the ask - well asks really. I’ll try to give you my two cents on each question. Q1.) After the latest development, where do you think Tsukishima's final loyalties will lie? A1.) I think Tsukishima’s loyalties will end up with Koito. The two men have grow closer since Karafuto. He revealed his involvement in Koito’s kidnapping, part of Ogata’s background and for a while seemed stuck in his ‘fate’. I think he started to defy that fate when he stayed behind with Koito after Sugimoto stabbed him versus following Tsurumi. Tsurumi saw him hang back, technically against orders. His last major attachment to Tsurumi was when he went full on terminator/tsukinator trying to stop Tanigaki and Inkarmat. Koito is the one who told him to stand down and we know they’ve talked a great deal about what would happen when they’d meet Tsurumi again.

Both Koito and Tsukishima were involved with Kiro’s death, and Sofia knows who they are. They are going to be linked due to the tiger curse, so I see them working together even if they get cursed. Maybe the curse was the fact that they’d realize they can’t side with Tsurumi making their lives more difficult. Who knows - but I can’t help but hope they have a decent resolution to things but also that they balance out their actions.

Q2.) Also is Koito's family already screwed either way? Considering they have willingly performed treason.

A2.) We lack clear information about Koito’s family and their exact role in things. Tsurumi first used Koito’s kidnapping to get in his father’s good graces. Yet, we know that he was close with Hanazawa. Koito Sr. told Sugimoto that he read the letter that Hanazawa wrote before his ‘suicide’. I see this going two ways i.) Koito Sr. thinks the letter is real and Hanazawa did kill himself ii.) Koito Sr. knows the letter was forged, but because the official story is that he committed suicide, he has to publicly state it as such. Hanazawa was clearly a part of the more conservative/cautious members of the military/government opposed to expansion. Where Koito Sr. stands on this issue, we really lack information. If he had the same views at Hanazawa, he may be acting on behalf of Central, just like Kikuta. Right now, Koito Sr. doesn’t really seem to gain anything by assisting Tsurumi, unless he was explicitly told to do so by Central. I could also see Tsurmumi blackmailing him if necessary but, we haven’t had any current evidence that suggests that. If Koito Sr. doesn’t give a damn about Central, he might be acting out of a similar sense of Tsurumi, to expand Japanese territory since he lost his older son in the first Sino-Japanese war. Central’s resources are limited - they did not receive reparations from Russia and the Russo-Japanese War didn’t really do anything in the short term other than allow Japan to take the initiative to be the assertive East Asian power. I really wish we knew more about Koito Sr.’s relationship with Tsurumi, I could see him also telling him that he’d hand over the gold to Central or part of it . . . he is the master of sweet lies. There is also the idea that members of the 27th, such as Koito, could just state they were following orders, even though we know Tsurumi did have his speech at the beginning where he tells his men what their ‘real’ plans are. I think this is a more complicated topic in a societal context where following orders is the norm and being a whistle blower would really be difficult. This is really complicated since all of the groups are acting in defiance of the Japanese government and its rule of law in the relative isolation of Hokkaido.

Q3&4.) And Ogata, are you a central agent or not??? Where did your grandparents go?

A3.) I don’t think Ogata is an agent for Central. To be someone that deep into things would imply a sort of deeply nationalistic/patriotic loyalty to the state. Tsukishima calls him one back in Yuubari, but it makes me wonder why he doesn’t suspect Kikuta later. I never got the feeling that Ogata confirmed Tsukishima’s statement, he calls Ogata an agent for Central - and instead of denying it, verbally he just points out that Tsurumi is a rebel group. That is such an odd response. Is Ogata stating he simply observes that Tsurumi is a rebel group so therefore, his own act of rebellion is in line with the letter of the law, or that he has precedent to stand on. Kikuta works hard to get closer to Tsurumi and into the hunt for the gold which is more practical for Central. Ogata meanwhile teamed up with Kiro, went to Russia and has been bouncing between all the different factions. I wonder if there was a conversation with Central where they were like: Central person - Hey Ogata we want you to be a spy in the 27th. Ogata - [shrugs] Central person - Great! You are on board. Ogata - [shrugs]

Central updates Ogata and Kikuta later, hey you guys are on the same side. Ogata [shrugs], Kikuta - okay cool. Let Ogata be.

A4.) Ogata’s missing grandparents. The fact that they disappeared mid-meal makes me suspect that someone made them disappear. And not Ogata. We know that Tsurumi has no issue with kidnapping. I’ve wondered if Tsurumi kidnapped them and has them hostage. Or worse, Tsurumi killed them and then made it look they disappeared. We know that Tsurumi has worked hard to mold his loyal men to love him. If Tsurumi uncovered Ogata in the quest to find dirt on Hanazawa, he finds Ogata and his grandparents. He sees Ogata’s mother is dead, and the grandparents are the only people who are keeping him in Ibaraki. If they suddenly disappeared, Ogata has nothing to return to. Just like Tsukishima, who lost his fiance and therefore had no family to return to. Tsurumi needs his inner circle to be unwavering in their love of him. If Ogata figured out that Tsurumi made his grandparents disappear, this could be his motivation to hamper his quest for the gold and is willing to bounce between factions to thwart Tsurumi at any cost. Many people think that Ogata poisoned his grandparents, but that doesn’t make sense, he doesn’t believe in unnecessary death and violence. What is clear is that Tsurumi did something to Ogata that hurt him so deeply that he’s dedicated to blocking his end goal.

I’ve wondered if he chose to kill Hanazawa because he knew Tsurumi was going to kill him, but he wanted to talk to him alone. He didn’t get the answer he needed from his father. I think that Tsurumi saw Ogata killing Hanazawa was his acceptance of Tsurumi as his ‘father figure’ as he’s liberated himself from both of his parents. But that didn’t happen since Ogata wanted to have a philosophical discussion with his father about his existence and if he is an incomplete human due to his background. Tsurumi pretty much egged him into shooting Yuusaku and it is clear that he was seen as a future problem once the war was over. Did Ogata want him to have a clean death? Did he want his father’s attention (which isn’t Tsurumi’s) and counter to his use by Tsurumi? It is clear that Ogata feels guilty about Yuusaku’s death, but it isn’t because he was his half brother. It was because he was a sort of innocent/idol who was trying to uphold these unrealistic and impossible ideals. I love Ogata’s character since he’s this individual who goes through things questioning everything about his life and how he fits into it. Is he a moral person? Is he good? Does growing up a bastard child and bullied make him less of a human? What does it mean to feel pain and guilt? What is innocence? Why to parents wield so much power over their children and how they can mold them into icons for their causes? He’s searching for something in addition to the hunt for the gold. He’s slowly learning things about himself in his crazy circumstance.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I don’t want to ramble on.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #ask #ogata hyakunosuke #koito otonoshin #koito heiji #tsurumi tokushirou #warrant officer kikuta #tsukishima hajime

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thecorpulentbeagle · 5 years ago

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Okujima Week 2020: Metaverse

This part is going to take place in the Persona Q2 universe. If you don’t know the plot of this game, don’t worry! I will be giving background in the descriptions of this story so that you have a relative idea of what is going on. Essentially, the casts of P3, P4 and P5 are all together in a cinema labyrinth, trying to figure out how to escape. Of course, they fight some enemies here and there!

If you are playing this game and do not want to be spoiled, I will let you know that this story will require knowledge past beating the fourth labyrinth, as there will be mention of an F.O.E. from this labyrinth.

If you haven’t played this game, I highly recommend it! I had a blast playing it, and the first game (Persona Q) is fun as well. Both games are standalone, though, so you don’t have to play the first to understand the second.

But enough rambling out of me!

Here is the fanfiction.net link.

Please enjoy this fourth part of the Okujima Week 2020 Challenge!

As always: THIS STORY WILL NOT CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 5 ROYAL, BUT WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 5.

Okujima Week 2020 Challenge:

Showing Strength:

Metaverse

-Makoto-

“Everyone ready?”

The four Persona-users nodded their heads at their current leader, signaling their agreement.

Akira, clad in his Joker outfit, nodded back. “Then let’s take him down!” He stepped forward, the rest of the group following behind him.

“It’s gonna be a one-hit KO!” Akihiko shouted, slamming a fist into his gloved hand.

“One good kick will send it flying!” Chie cheered back, kicking the air in front of herself a few times.

Makoto shook her head in amusement as she watched the two. The special screening mission that had been assigned to them had involved finding a strong enemy to defeat for the battle-enthusiasts of the group. It had been called “Let Your Fists Do the Talking”, and Chie and Akihiko had taken this to heart (even though Chie would be using her legs and feet).

Makoto had decided to join in as well, hoping to devise a training regimen for them, seeing as they had asked her for just that earlier. The mission so far had gone relatively smoothly, even though this labyrinth in particular was extremely creepy and disorienting.

Everything in it was cute… at least on the surface. There was an underlying… disturbing quality to everything, and this enemy that they were about to engage was no exception.

According to Futaba, it was called Mr. Bear, and it certainly looked like one. It was a tiny stuffed teddy bear, and it would skip around the labyrinth.

However, once it skipped for a few moments, it would transform into a grotesque form, tripling in size and turning into more of a buff grizzly bear. It was certainly nothing like the Buchimaru-kun stuffed animals that Makoto had collected in her room.

Futaba also let them know that its power readings were off the charts (she had originally screamed something about it being “over 9,000”, and it had sounded like the young girl was quoting something, though Makoto had no idea what).

Luckily, Akira had decided to pack the team with powerhouses that were relatively agile as well. Seeing as the screening was tailor-made for Akihiko, Makoto, and Chie, the three were obviously in. Since Akira had been leading the group for this journey, he decided to come along as well.

After several minutes of debate, Akira decided to bring Haru along. Though she was slow with her axe, when her strikes did connect, the damage was a sight to behold. The girl also had the most health out of anyone, so she could take hits if necessary.

Makoto was glad that Haru would be coming along, as the two had great chemistry when it came to battle. They also had great chemistry off of the battlefield, but that fact wasn’t as important now.

Though the brawler was happy that her girlfriend would be accompanying them, she was also slightly nervous. She didn’t want Haru to get hurt, as Akira had warned them all that it was very likely for everyone in the group to sustain potentially life-threatening injuries in this particular battle. Everyone had signed on willingly, but Makoto couldn’t help but worry.

As the group approached the transformed bear, Makoto lifted up a hand and squeezed Haru’s shoulder. “Be careful, alright?”

Haru turned to look at her. Makoto saw that, while Haru had been quiet for most of this mission, her expression was now alight with a sadistic gleam, her eyes sparkling and her smile in an upturned grin. This wasn’t entirely unusual, as Haru delighted in slaying Shadows. However, it was a little worrisome to see after telling her to not be reckless.

When she noticed Makoto looking at her strangely, her features returned to something more normal.

“Of course, Queen. You be careful too,” she murmured.

Makoto nodded. She knew Haru had a tendency to attack with reckless abandon, which usually worked in their favor. However, Makoto had a particularly bad feeling about this enemy, so she wanted to make sure that Haru was brutal, but still careful.

She let go of the girl’s shoulder as Akira threw a dagger at the bear, causing him to roar and charge at them.

“Everyone, get in position!” Akira yelled.

Makoto and Akihiko readied their fists, while Chie began to jump back and forth between both legs, warming them up. Haru lifted up her axe, and Akira brandished his dagger.

Mr. Bear roared, appearing to charge up energy.

“Watch out, guys! It looks like the enemy’s gonna hit you really hard soon,” Futaba warned, her voice crackling with static as she projected back from their base.

“Got it, Oracle.” Akira stood to guard and instructed everyone else to do so.

It seemed that this was a solid plan, as Mr. Bear flailed and struck everyone in the party. Makoto grunted as she sustained damage, and heard everyone else do the same.

“Damn it,” Akihiko growled. “The thing’s got a heck of a punch.”

Makoto didn’t want the group to be reckless. It wasn’t worth getting killed over just to complete a mission that had been devised for entertainment. “Oracle! What are our chances with this?”

Meanwhile, Haru had swung her axe and connected with her target. Blood gushed out of the bear’s arm as he roared in pain. Makoto’s stomach dropped when she saw that his glare focused on the axe-wielder.

Luckily, Chie sent a kick its way, which disoriented the creature and caused his focus to be split between the two.

“I’d say you have a 60% chance with how it’s going right now,” Futaba answered.

“What?” In her panic, Makoto had nearly forgotten that she had asked Futaba a question. That was dangerous. She couldn’t afford to get distracted – it could literally be the difference between life and death. Shaking her head, she responded, “Thanks, Oracle.” She called out Johanna to increase the defense of the party, seeing as Mr. Bear’s hits were dealing an alarming amount of damage.

60%. Those weren’t good odds. Even so, Makoto had a duty to listen to Akira and support her allies.

The battle raged on for a few more turns. Mr. Bear had finally started to show signs of damage, but everyone on the team was a mess. Futaba was frantically healing what she could, but her support had its limits.

Makoto was sure that if this were a battle in the real world, they would all probably have broken bones, if not worse. The damage was so great, that she could easily see some of them being dead.

She struck a quick uppercut with her right fist, grunting with exertion. It was like punching a brick wall.

As if hearing her inner thoughts, Mr. Bear proceeded to plow into the team, the force feeling like a ton of bricks falling on them.

“This isn’t good,” Akira muttered. Chie and Akihiko were barely able to stand upright, and Akira didn’t look much better. Haru seemed to be faring the best, though even she looked utterly exhausted. Makoto herself knew that the group couldn’t sustain another attack like that.

“Guys, I’m not gonna have enough energy to heal you again.” Futaba appeared to be panicking. “It’s not worth it. You need to run. Now!”

“No! It’s almost down. We’ve gotta finish this.” Akihiko blindly swung a fist, missing the beast. He stumbled and fell.

“Crap, I don’t have enough health to strike him hard!” Chie shouted. She put her hands to her knees, breathing heavily.

“Queen, can you heal any of us? Or do we have any items?” Akira turned to look at her, his eyes pleading.

Makoto nodded. “No more items, but I think I have enough energy to heal one person.”

“Got it, heal –”

A devastating roar cut off what Akira was about to say. Makoto looked back at the enemy to see that it was preparing to strike.

“Shit!”

Mr. Bear swung with its arms, hitting the ground in front of him. Makoto saw that Akira had blocked, but that Chie and Akihiko were not going to react in time.

Makoto raised her arms to defend herself, but she knew that this hit would end her. She closed her eyes.

But they opened in shock when she heard a cry of pain directly in front of her. She saw with horror that Haru had leaped in front of her, shielding her with her body.

Unfortunately, Haru had not had any time to defend herself, so she took the full force of the attack. She flew back into Makoto, knocking her off of her feet and sending both of them to the ground.

Luckily, Haru seemed to have dropped her axe when she jumped in front of Makoto, otherwise the blade would have impaled them both.

But Makoto didn’t care about that now.

“Noir! Noir! Haru!” Makoto cried, sitting up with the girl in her arms. She didn’t move.

“Queen! We need to finish this fight now!” Makoto vaguely heard Akira in the background, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Haru.

She couldn’t believe it. The two had talked about defending the other with their lives, but Makoto had always assumed that she would be protecting Haru, as she had done so several times in the past. Not that the other girl couldn’t take care of herself, because anyone with eyes could see that she could do that in spades. It was because Makoto never wanted to be in a situation where Haru would have to risk her life for her.

“Useless!” she thought to herself.

“Queen!” She felt her shoulder being grabbed roughly. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Akira, who was looking at her with an expression of forced calm. “Noir, Akihiko, and Chie are all down. We need to destroy this enemy, or we’ll be next.”

Makoto nodded. She took one last glance at Haru before setting her gently down on the ground. “Thank you…” she murmured.

“I’ve boosted your attack. Give ‘em hell, you two!” Futaba cheered.

Makoto cracked her knuckles as she felt power swell within. “With pleasure,” she growled.

She launched herself at the creature, punching it twice with all of her might. Mr. Bear roared in pain as it reared back, dazed.

“Ha!” Akira jumped at the beast, taking advantage of its distraction as he slashed at his eyes, blinding it.

“Queen, now!” Akira commanded.

Makoto roared just like the beast before throwing a haymaker at Mr. Bear’s head, slamming it down. The ground shook as it collided, and it gave one last deafening cry before it was silent.

Makoto and Akira looked at each other, both breathing heavily. “Nice work, Queen,” Akira murmured, smiling gently at her.

Makoto nodded. “You as well.” Her eyes widened as her adrenaline returned to normal and she remembered why she had become so enraged in the first place. “Noir!”

She ran over to the girl, who appeared to still be unconscious. She knelt down, dropped her weapons to the ground, and gently lifted Haru’s upper body onto her lap, her previous violent rage replaced with a gentle and worried touch. “Haru…” Makoto whispered.

“Ngh…” Haru’s eyes were still closed, but it seemed like she wasn’t entirely unconscious anymore. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and Makoto could see a sheen of sweat on her forehead. Not that that was particularly unusual, given how hard they had all been fighting. Makoto herself was practically drenched.

“Queen.” Makoto looked up to see Akira standing a few feet away, looking down at her with a concerned expression. “How is she?”

She looked back down at her girlfriend, who was continuing to make sounds of pain. “Not good,” she said simply.

Akira gave a deep sigh. “Akihiko and Chie aren’t doing much better.”

Makoto quickly glanced over at the other two members of their party. They were both unconscious, but the rise and fall of their chests proved that they were still alive.

“You guys! That was awesome!” Makoto jumped a little at Futaba’s sudden exclamation. “Mr. Bear is no more!”

“Thanks, Oracle.” Akira rubbed the back of his neck.

Makoto simply nodded in acknowledgement before looking back down at Haru, whose teeth were gritted. She couldn’t stand to see her in so much pain.

“We’re gonna need to head back –”

Makoto interrupted Akira’s instructions as she stood up, cradling Haru in her arms. As soon as she was up, she realized that this might have been a mistake. Her own muscles were burning from exertion, and she could feel the wobbliness in her knees from having to support the weight of two people.

“I’ll get Noir. Can you handle the others?” Makoto indicated the two other members of their party with a quick jerk of her head.

“Queen. We can just have Oracle teleport us back you know.” Despite the situation, Akira gave Makoto a slight smirk.

“O-Oh. Right. Of course.” She could feel the heat building up behind her mask.

“But by all means, continue carrying your girlfriend bridal style. I don’t mind.” Akira snickered. “By the way, here’s her hat.” He plopped it down onto Haru’s head. Makoto hadn’t even realized that it had gone flying off when they had collided.

“Th-That’s not –”

“You’re such a sappy romantic, Queen! Who would’ve thought?” Futaba teased.

“Noir must have quite the effect on her.”

“Can we please leave now?” Makoto didn’t think she could take much more of this. Both the teasing and carrying Haru. It didn’t help matters that the rest of their large group was watching this scene unfold as a literal movie on screen.

“Got it!”

There was a flash of light.

The party of five arrived back at the lobby, with Akira’s, Makoto’s, and Haru’s Phantom Thieves disguises disappearing and turning back into their school uniforms.

With the little bit of energy Makoto had remaining, she dashed over to a free couch to deposit Haru onto it. She felt terrible as she essentially dropped the other girl, but it was all she could do before collapsing to the ground on her knees.

“Whoa! Take it easy, Makoto-san!” Rise was by her side in an instant. “Haru-san’s safe. We’ll make sure that we take care of her now.”

“We’ll need to take care of Akihiko-senpai and Chie-chan too!” Yukari appeared by her other side. She turned her head to look behind herself. “Can we get them on some couches?”

“On it!” Junpei picked up Akihiko and took him to another available couch, dropping him unceremoniously.

“Would you mind getting Chie, Kanji-kun?” Yukiko asked. She was kneeling by her best friend’s side.

“Leave it to me, Yukiko-senpai!” Kanji flexed his bicep before diving in to retrieve the girl.

Makoto watched the events unfold in a haze. She was mostly checking on the status of her teammates by instinct, and once she confirmed that they would all be okay, she turned her attention back to Haru.

“We’ll need to heal you up as well, Makoto-san.” Fuuka popped up behind her, resting a hand on Makoto’s shoulder.

Makoto shook her head. She didn’t need help right now.

“Hey, Fuuka.” Yukari stepped back. “Why don’t we get some healing stuff for them and bring it over?”

Rise jumped back as well. “Yeah! Let’s go!”

The three girls walked over to the concession stand, most likely to secure popcorn and hot dogs. No one really understood why these foods healed so well, but they decided a while ago not to question it.

Makoto turned back to Haru, who seemed to be waking up.

“Haru.” Makoto’s hand went to her cheek, slowly stroking it with her thumb.

“M-Mako-chan?” Haru murmured. Her eyes were still closed.

“Yes. I’m here, Haru.”

“We won?”

“Yes. Yes we did.”

Haru opened her eyes slowly. They were glassy, and it seemed like she was having trouble processing everything around her. Once she made eye contact with Makoto, however, she smiled tiredly.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Haru…” Makoto teared up. She had known that Haru was going to make it as soon as the battle was over, but seeing her take such a devastating hit made her think… even for the briefest moment… that she might not ever see Haru open her eyes again.

“Hey now. It’s going to be o-ah!” Haru winced in pain as she leaned up. She had probably been trying to reach Makoto to comfort her, but instead had aggravated her wounds.

“Haru!” Makoto lunged forward. “Don’t try and move. That hit…”

Haru sighed and moved back down, resting her head on a pillow. “Right… that attack was…”

Makoto leaned down to place her forehead against Haru’s. “Haru. Don’t ever do that again.” She moved back to look into her eyes, hoping to convey how serious she was.

Makoto twitched in surprise when she felt Haru jerk her head forward to hit her own in a weak headbutt. “Mako-chan. We agreed that we’d always look out for each other.”

Makoto sighed. “I know.”

“I knew that I’d be okay. Well, relatively speaking.” She chuckled. “But if that had hit you…” Haru brought up a hand to comb it through Makoto’s hair.

Makoto closed her eyes at the calming sensation. “If it had, then it wouldn’t have hit you.” She could feel the tears welling up behind her closed eyes. The fact that Haru would risk her life to protect someone like her… who couldn’t even protect Haru in the first place, made Makoto truly feel useless. “I’m so sorry. I was…”

“Stop being so stubborn, Mako-chan!” The moment Haru’s hands stilled in Makoto’s hair, the girl opened her eyes. Haru seemed adamant, as she was now slightly tugging the strands, pulling the other girl closer. “I’m glad that I could protect you.” She leaned up to give Makoto a quick kiss on the lips. As she settled back down, her expression changed to a pained one. “You’re so important to me…” she murmured.

Makoto leaned down, missing their contact. She wrapped her arms around Haru’s shoulders, squeezing her as tightly as she dared, not wanting to hurt the other girl further. “You are too…”

The two stayed in this position for a few moments, with Haru resuming the petting of Makoto’s hair. Makoto was determined to show her girlfriend just how much she cared for her. If she couldn’t protect her in battle, at the very least, she should be able to shower her with affection.

Makoto knew that she herself was not a touchy-feely type of person. But now that she saw how quickly she could lose someone she loved, she resolved to be more upfront with her feelings, as she never knew when the opportunity for them could come to an end.

“Hey girls!” Makoto released her hold on Haru and jumped back up to her original kneeling position. Even though she’d just promised herself to be more affectionate, it was still hard to show these feelings when others were watching.

She looked up to see Yukari, Fuuka, and Rise standing there with some food. “Uh… we’ll just leave this here with Makoto-san. Eat up!” Yukari bent down to place the items next to the girl before awkwardly turning around and darting away with the others. To her embarrassment, Makoto saw the three of them whisper something to each other and giggle, glancing over at the two third-years.

“Looks like everyone was worried about us.” Haru giggled. Makoto saw that she was amused at their antics, a grin on her face.

“I suppose…” Makoto shook her head in exasperation. She grabbed one of the popcorn containers and picked out a piece, offering it to Haru. To her surprise, instead of delightfully eating it as she normally did when the two fed each other, she shook her head and pushed her hand away.

“Look, Mako-chan. I can tell that you’re still feeling remorse over what happened. I want you to know that I truly don’t regret doing what I did.” She took Makoto’s hand and gripped it tightly, causing her to drop the food onto the floor. “I love you, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that you’re safe.”

Makoto looked into Haru’s eyes and saw that she truly meant what she said. She felt her heart flutter slightly at Haru’s sincerity. “Look at me. I should be the one comforting you. Why does it always seem like it’s the other way around?” She chuckled sadly.

“Because you support me with your actions, Mako-chan, both on and off the battlefield.” Haru squeezed her hand. “I know that putting feelings into words is hard for you.” Her grip loosened. “You know… I feel that I struggle in the opposite way.”

Makoto titled her head, not understanding what she was getting at. “What do you mean?”

“Sometimes… I feel as though I’m… what’s the phrase? All talk and no action. I can soothe you with words, but you always seem to be the one to protect me when we fight. That’s why –”

Suddenly it clicked. “That’s why you jumped in to shield me,” Makoto finished for her. So Haru really thought that she didn’t support her enough in battle? That she only ever comforted Makoto with her words? That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Makoto knew that she herself could be insecure when it came to many things, but it was strange to see Haru be so worried about something that Makoto did not even see as an issue.

Haru blustered on. “I-I want you to know that I would’ve done so regardless! But yes, as embarrassing as that is to admit, I wanted to be the one to protect you with actions rather than words for once. I wanted to show you rather than tell you how much I care for you.”

Makoto chuckled, a happier tone this time. “I… I really am flattered, Haru. But you don’t have to overcompensate. You show me how much you care for me every day without needing to put yourself in danger.” She tightened her grip on Haru’s hand, whose own grip had been so loose that she was about to let go. “We just each have our own ways of showing affection.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Haru smiled. “Thank you for saying so.”

“Of course. And by the way, anyone who uses an axe and a grenade launcher to fight is always someone that I would want to have my beck. How could I possibly be in danger with an ally like that protecting me?” Makoto laughed.

“I suppose when you put it that way, it does sound rather silly for me to have been concerned.” Haru giggled.

Makoto smiled, happy to be able to get through to Haru to have her understand just how amazing she was. “Also, I love you too. Just wanted to make sure that I responded to what you said earlier.”

Haru grinned back. “Well now, it looks like we’re both feeling better.” She looked down at the popcorn. “I wouldn’t be opposed to that offer of food now.”

Makoto nodded. Picking up another piece, she placed one into Haru’s mouth before taking a piece of her own.

And there we go! I figured since Makoto was the one who was injured last year, it should be Haru’s turn this year.

This situation was somewhat similar to what happened in my playthrough. Haru didn’t defend anyone (I don’t think that is an automatic mechanic in this game, or if it is, all my characters just hate each other!), but when Mr. Bear used his devastating attack, it literally one-shot everyone except Haru. I had support teleport us away, but it was pretty frightening to see my entire team except for one go down. Clearly, I wasn’t ready for that particular enemy!

The mission is a little different in my one-shot compared to what happens in the game, but I needed to change it slightly to make it more ‘Okujima-centric’. Hope it was still a good read, regardless!

Also, party members technically instantly heal once they reach the lobby in Q2, but I wanted Makoto to be able to tend to Haru, so I decided that they would still be injured. In fact, this is how it worked in Q, so it technically fits within this Q universe. I was so glad when they changed this mechanic for Q2 though, because I used up so many resources healing people in Q!

See you tomorrow!

#okujima #okujima week #okujima week 2020 #makoto niijima #haru okumura #makoto x haru #haru x makoto #p5 #persona 5

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pixxyofice · 5 years ago

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you know, I should just... write down my thoughts about the timeline of events for the "akira is from inaba" hc/au. Why not? It could help me write it!

.... Warning for long post. I am on Mobile. My thoughts tend to draw on. Apologies!

4-5 years of knowing a group of people is definitely enough to have them considered close friends! So if Akira met one of the Investigation Team, and then was suddenly pulled into their little group (+Nanako), becoming a part of it for 4-5 years? Yeah, Akira would be close to them.

Akira was, at first, a little bit starstruck by Risette and the First Detective Prince being his friends... and then the 4-5 years went by and now its like a side note. "Oh yeah, Rise's Risette. Forgot that through her spicy-ass meals and doting tendencies." "Oh yeah, Naoto's basically like my strict parents who bends the rules sometimes. Forget they're the first Detective Prince."

Nanako is like the little sister Akira never had. So, naturally, Akira is now Souji's little brother in the friend group.

When Akira is put in Tokyo for probation, Akira is supposed to not interact with anyone from his hometown, because they might've been bad influences... but! Souji isn't from Inaba, is he? Hmmm? (Naoto scolds Akira for this... but doesn't tell him to stop contacting them, because everyone knows the trial against Akira was Bogus)

Akira will share cat pictures of Morgana. Souji saves them. "Cat people," sighs the persona groups

"Haha where's the Junes Mascot" "Junes doesn't have a mascot???" "????? what"

When Ann finds out he knows Rise (via him texting her one day about fashion and her looking over his shoulder and seeing a selfie of Rise Herself in some casual gear), she freaks out a bit and also freaks out Ryuji by proxy. Akira has to think for a few moments before going "oh... riiight, duh, friend is also an idol."

Akira, interacting with Akechi: i think the OG Detective Prince not only is smarter, but also cooler in general and is a great friend

Akira, in an act of wanting to share what he does to the people he trusts most and fueled by being Tired As Fuck, asks if anybody knows about Persona. Instead of the reactions he expected ("is that a game?" "Like the psychology theory?" "huh?"), he gets very, very worried messages sent his way and his older friends correctly guessing that he is a phantom thief and their methods are Persona Related. And gets confused by references of TVs from some of them.

Yep, his older friends are Persona users. Explains a lot, he thinks, as he brings up incidents in his head of burning himself on Yukiko's skin (like he has Ann's), of hanging around Chie and Yosuke to cool down (like he has seen Futaba do with Yusuke), and just goes "oh how did i not connect those dots sooner"

He keeps it a secret from his team because they don't need to know there are more persona users other than them (and Akechi).

Naoto does offer to have Rise, Souji, and themself to help out, but Akira insists on doing this journey alone. Souji agrees tentatively, but says "hey, Akira, if you ever feel like you're in over your head, tell us, we can help"

(Akira doesn't take him up on the offer.)

As Futaba joins the team, he recognizes the method in which she got her Persona was actually similar to how his older friends described how they got their Personas. So he guesses that the palace treasure was her shadow right away when the tomb is empty, and bolts as soon as they discover this fact.

Akira now has two younger sisters: Nanako and Futaba. He wants to introduce them when everything is over, they'd get along over Feathermen and other shows of that nature.

"How the hell do you have a signed copy of a pink argus poster?? Most of the signed copies are cities away from here!" "... y'know, good question. I got it from my older... friends... okay gimme a sec I suddenly have to ask them something" And thus Akira found out his older Persona friends were friends with Yukari Takeba personally.

"How... Is it related to Persona stuff?" "yes." "what the fuck?"

Akira doesn't tell them about the velvet room, because surely they havent experienced that. He is wrong, but he's thinking in terms of how he's interacting with it, not in terms of wild card shit doing with the velvet room.

Things go on pretty much normally, except Akira is contacting his older friends every now and then and getting Persona Advice and telling them about how his Persona Adventures are going.

He doesn't tell them about Akechi. That's a Thief Thing, and he doesn't want Akechi to catch onto those other persona users he's interacting with... Just only that they're his friends. (Like with Hifumi and other confidants.)

Persona Q2 is when Akira's knowledge of the other groups of Persona Users gets forced to the front. Luckily, nobody remembers PQ2. Yay!

When Akira hears the name of the second movie, he's like "wait". And then he puts his fake gun to Souji's sword, recognizes Souji, and goes "HEY WAIT" and the phantom thieves are confused as Akira leaps into explaining stuff to his older friends' younger self and also goes "oh yeah we are definitely time traveling in some form"

Shame nobody remembers, Akira and Souji would laugh about wielding a gun as a sword.

After PQ2, Worrying Plan Time. When news gets out that the PThieves leader died, the IT have to actively restrain themselves from going to Tokyo and finding the person who killed him. In the end, Kanji is very close to just deciding "to hell with it, imma run to tokyo," when the group chat pings and it's Akira, saying he's fine but also laying low because his plan worked. Cue 8 worried persona users asking why he didn't ask for their help. Oops.

"Igor doesn't have a deep voice??" "... I should've guessed you were the wild card. Wait. Of course Igor doesn't- what happened to Igor??"

the IT, looking at the sky one xmas eve: hey what the fuck?

After That...

"did you fight a god" "How the hell did you know?" "persona user journey tradition we guess??"

Blah blah getting Akira out of juvie blah blah Akira's back in Inaba now

When the IT are told that, yeah, the cat was a Persona User, they just sigh and go "figures." They then tell him about a dog Persona User, which... Yeah, makes Akira question how that happened. They say they'll explain it later. "When is later?" "When our Persona Friends visit" "h...huh?" "We'll bring you, and if your friends are okay with it, we'll bring them. We're secretive about our meetings."

His friends come over to Inaba to see him, and they get roped into being introduced to Akira's older friends- and, yes, told about them being Persona Users. Chaos and questions ensue.

When someone (probably Rise or Yosuke) mention Mitsuru Kirijo as a really notable (and scary) persona user, things get more crazy. The IT promises to bring the PT to the meeting.

... That's it, I would think!

#persona 4 #persona 5 #akira from inaba #p5 protag from inaba #long post

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ember-arrow · 5 years ago

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Never-Ending Survey || Hilven Morrow

RULES: Repost, do not reblog. Tag 10 blogs!

tagged by: @blood-of-the-dragons, @lavender-hemlock and @afreesworn (Thank you so much, the peer pressure was stroooonk)

tagging: @finishing-touch (THAT’S 5, BISH), @asraha, @whitherwanderer, @s-udarshana, @ahlis-xiv, @kazexvoss, @cfs-melkire, @gvnbreaker, @the-hawkeyes, @ephemeralrequital

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Hilven Morrow

NICKNAME: That bitch

AGE: 28

BIRTHDAY: 14th Sun of the 6th Astral Moon

ETHNIC GROUP: Highlander Hyur

NATIONALITY: Ala Mhigan by birth

LANGUAGE/S: Common, laughably poor Huntspeak

SEXUAL ORIENTATION : Heterosexual

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION : Aromantic.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single

HOME TOWN / AREA: Ala Ghanna, Gyr Abania

CURRENT HOME: The deserts of Thanalan, though she may languish in Forgotten Springs for as long as she remains in good standing with the locals.

PROFESSION: Hunter, Tracker, Racketeer, Extortionist

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: Light blonde, falls to her shoulder blades

EYES: Sharp, pale blue

FACE: Oval, high cheekbones, somewhat severe-looking features

LIPS: Full, dusky, often curled in a smirk.

COMPLEXION: Tan

BLEMISHES: A small mole just below the right corner of her mouth

SCARS: Dark, discolored skin over both knees; the ghost of a gash from right elbow to wrist. There will soon be a fresh one in her left side, below her ribs.

TATTOOS: A faded yet striking black tattoo on the left side of her face, done in the fashion of an ancient Ala Mhigan sigil. She may or may not recall its meaning.

HEIGHT: 5′9″

WEIGHT: Constantly waffling between healthy and underweight for her height

BUILD: Athletic gradually transitioning to lean

FEATURES: Arched brows, a smokey layer of kohl smeared over her eyes

ALLERGIES: None

USUAL HAIR STYLE: Half-up in a loose plait

USUAL FACE LOOK : Keen-eyed, alert, and either smirking, or scowling

USUAL CLOTHING: Well-worn leather, thigh-high boots, belts and bandoleers, torn flounces, a tan turban and silver goggles, a trio of pilfered necklaces and medallions

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR/S: Deep water, open water, drowning, capture

ASPIRATION/S: To live free without compromise; to escape the consequences of her choices; to accrue enough gil to purchase the freedom she desires

POSITIVE TRAITS: Clever, hardy, inconspicuous, silver-tongued

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Stubborn, shrewd, apathetic, paranoid

TEMPERAMENT: Sanguine

SOUL TYPE/S: The Sage

ANIMALS: Jackal

VICE HABIT/S: Drinking, swindling, amassing loans she will never repay

FAITH: Agnostic at best, often only beseeching Nald or Thal in times of need, as her most desperate moments typically pertain to death and money.

GHOSTS?: Maybe

AFTERLIFE?: Also a maybe

REINCARNATION?: No

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: Once a firebrand for Ala Mhigan liberation, now mostly disinterested in politics

EDUCATION LEVEL: Self-educated, with gaps; Well-read and spoken, but lacking any mathematical prowess

FAMILY.

FATHER : Deceased

MOTHER : Deceased

SIBLINGS : None

EXTENDED FAMILY: None to her knowledge

NAME MEANING/S: I thought I made this name up, but after some light googling, it’s a form of “Hilve,” which in a Finnish form of the Swedish “Hilvi,” which means “Strong Warrior.” Go figure.

HISTORICAL CONNECTION?: No.

FAVORITES.

BOOK: Textbooks

DEITY: Nald’thal

HOLIDAY: All Saint’s Wake

MONTH: What month is it right now? That one.

SEASON: Winter

PLACE: At the desert’s edges, under the shade of an awning.

WEATHER: Rain

SOUND / S: Silence

SCENT / S: Woodsmoke and lavender

TASTE / S: Wine, fresh melon, rosemary, cool water

FEEL / S: Worn leather, the weight of a knife, the bite of coarse rope

ANIMAL / S: Ducks, dogs, rodents

NUMBER: 8

COLORS: Sky blue, gold, rust

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Silver-tongued, persuasive, hard to kill, deception, sleight of hand, archery, fletching, tracking, making enemies

BAD AT: Staying out of trouble, swordplay, making friends, talking to children

TURN ONS: Uhhhh power struggles, ropes, height differences, gags, domineering personalities, being on-eupped

TURN OFFS: Weakness, blood, foul odors, poor taste in music

HOBBIES: Who has time for hobbies? Target practice, hunting for sport (and snacks), botany

TROPES: Dark action girl, The Woobie because I said so, look I don’t actually know very many tropes

QUOTES : No?

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 : If you could write your character your way in their own movie, what would it be called, what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about?

A1 : It’d be a Scorsese movie shot in the style of the Departed, and would follow Hilven’s journey into the Ala Mhigan resistance, the beginning of the long con, her timely exit, and the subsequent fallout.

Q2 : What would their soundtrack/score sound like?

A2 : Moody, melodic, with occasionally discordant and unsettling tracks. Some lyrical songs, but nothing in English.

Q3 : Why did you start writing this character?

A3 : I have no clue, really. I wanted to roleplay, and I wanted to roleplay a character paying the price for a life of lies and hubris.

Q4 : What first attracted you to this character?

A4 : Her spooky blue eyes. I’m a simple mun, ok.

Q5 : Describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse.

A5 : She just isn’t nice, even when I want her to be. It doesn’t make sense. And I love soft things. She is not soft. It’s better this way. This is what alts are for.

Q6 : What do you have in common with your muse?

A6 : I too have long hair and did an archery once. We’re also the same height.

Q7 : How does your muse feel about you?

A7 : I refuse to acknowledge that my muse knows I exist because that is weird to me.

Q8 : What characters does your muse have interesting interactions with ?

A8 : The Drake tribe of Forgotten Springs. They’re the closest thing she has to allies, and even then, their favor is fickle.

Q9 : What gives you inspiration to write your muse ?

A9 : Music, always music.

Q10 : How long did this take you to complete ?

A10 : Days and days and days because I procrastinated well.

#prompts #memes #oh my god this was a long one #please skip if this isn't your cup of tea but I am also super curious #except finishing-touch you're not allowed to skip we talked about this

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lyllyan-weiss · 5 years ago

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LONG Character Survey: Lyllyan Weiss

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Lyllyan Aster Weiss

NICKNAME: Lyl, Lily, Lil' Lily.

AGE: 21

BIRTHDAY: 11th Sun of the 6th Astral Moon (November 10th)

ETHNIC GROUP: Auri|Xaela (In Eorzea)/ Human (Out of World)

NATIONALITY: Eorzean (In Eorzea)/American (Out of World)

LANGUAGES: Eorzean, Draconic, basically anything due to the echo.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: She is Bi. Swings both ways. She loves all.

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Biromantic

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Depending on the different routes on the story, she will be either single or taken.

CLASS: Jack-of-all-trades

•Knows everything and knows how to play everything.

• Favors caster classes above everything else.

HOMETOWN / AREA: N/A

CURRENT HOMETOWN / AREA: Shirogane is where her apartment is, but she sees Ishgard as her home that she spends her time in, and then the Crystarium had became home to her as well.

PROFESSION: Scion, Adventurer, Full time hero in both her world and Eorzea. In her world she is a waitress and an artist/animator.

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: Right now it is Brown with Light brown Highlights

EYES: Purple (Right), Green (Left)

NOSE: Small and Sharp

LIPS: Small and full

COMPLEXION: Pale but fair.

BLEMISHES: None.

SCARS: In Eorzea, her scars are battle scars that is more aligned on her back. They do not show up when she is in her world.

TATOOS: The Scion Tatoo on the part where the neck and back meet.

HEIGHT: 5'0

WEIGHT: 130lb (Eorzea)/ 150lb (Her World)

BUILD: Short, Thin and fit.

FEATURES: None really.

ALLERGIES: Rolanberries in Eorzea, Strawberries in her world.

USUAL HAIRSTYLE: Long hair with a half braid in the back in Eorzea. In her world she has short hair that stops in the middle of her neck.

USUAL FACE LOOK: Warm color Eye shadow applied lightly to the eyes and a very nude color for lipstick in Eorzea. In her world, she hardly puts make up on, but usually has dark circles due to being tired all the time.

USUAL CLOTHING: Depending on her mood, she'll go very modest, or wearing a bikini with thigh boots. In her world, she is always modest with usually a t-shirt and sweats.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEARS: Bugs (Mainly Arachnids, spiders are the worst.) Antilions that hide in the sands. Losing her love ones. Becoming Sin Eater. Being alone. Falling.

ASPIRATIONS: Explore all of the worlds she could go to, but also to make animations that can change the world.

POSITIVE TRAITS: Stubborn, happy go lucky, Compassionate, tries to take care of everyone, protective, loving, friendly, trusting.

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Stubborn enough to push past her limits, usually getting her hurt. She so selfless that she tends to forget about taking care of herself. She can be too trusting of others that she often gets hurt in the end. She usually bottles her problems with the worry of being a burden to others. Very emotional driven (Just ask Ser Zephirin).

ZODIAC: Scorpio.

TEMPERAMENT: Artistic and Motherly

SOUL TYPE(S): The Priest, The Artisan, The Server.

ANIMALS: Cat

VICE HABIT(S): From the definition that I read, her faults are that she feels like anything bad that happens to her or her friends are her fault, and that she sometimes Envy others. But her hobbies that she enjoys are reading, triple triad, drawing, and writing.

FAITH: The Twelve. Even in her world she believes in the Twelve.

GHOSTS?: Definitely

AFTERLIFE?: I hope there is one.

REINCARNATION?: Well so far that we know, reincarnation is a thing, right?

ALIENS?: I doubt the world was made for one type of civilization, plus multiple worlds. Yes.

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: Uh...Alphinaud does politics for me.

ECONOMIC PREFERENCE: Just trying to survive, man. Stable, I guess.

SOCIO POLITICAL POSITION: Uh... Alphinaud???

EDUCATION LEVEL: Lyllyan herself has had up to some college in her own world. In Eorzea, she has an understanding of Aether and well has learned all the classes, so being able to pick up something new, she can learn fairly quick.

FAMILY.

FATHER: Captain Carebear (Mykel Weiss)

MOTHER: She doesn't have the ability to go to Eorzea so her name is Lynn Weiss.

Siblings: Lucas Weiss(Rafien Dalarain(Deactivated)), Nathaniel Weiss(Random Guy (deactivated)), Olivia Weiss (Never been to Eorzea).

EXTENDED FAMILY: Grandmother(Nana)(Deceased), Granfather(Poppy), Fortemps Family (Rest in Peace Haucherfaunt).

NAME MEANING(S): Lyllyan is based off of the Lily flower. Aster is based off of the Aster flower, and then Weiss is a name given to those with white hair or pale complexion.

HISTORICAL CONNECTION: Um...Ascian? Amourotine?

FAVORITES.

BOOK: If its Manga, It's Rurouni Kenshin. Books would be the 'Septimus Heap' series by Angie Sage.

MOVIE/PLAY: Movie would be 'Wizard of Oz'. Favorite Play would be 'Hamilton'.

5 SONGS:

•'Seasonal Feathers' by Len and Rin Kagamine

•'Drakkar' by Distrion and Electro-Light

•'Light it Up' by Robin Hustin and TobiMorrow (feat. Jex)

•'Stitches' by Shawn Mendes

•'Perfect' by Ed Sheeran

DEITY: Thaliak

HOLIDAY: Valentione

MONTH: November/ 6th Astral Moon

SEASON: Spring

PLACE: Rak'Tika Greatwoods

WEATHER: Rain

SOUND: Ocean waves.

SCENT(S): Cherry Blossom, sweet.

TASTE(S): Favorite food is Bacon so....also likes sweet things.

FEEL(S): Fuzzy blankets, warm cloth, soft.

ANIMALS: She loves all animals! If she had to narrow it down, it would be Cats, Pandas, and Chocobos. Does Pokemon count?

NUMBER: 8 but screw Construct 8

COLORS: Purple, light green, light blue.

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Drawing.

BAD AT: Math. She used to bring her homework to Eorzea to have Alphinaud and Urianger help her.

TURN ONS: Oooo. Funny, kind, calm, generous, but also romantic.

TURN OFFS: Selfish, rude ass hoe, and killing my friends.

HOBBIES: Singing, Drawing, Reading, Exploring, Triple Triad.

TROPES: Mother Hen.

AESTHETIC TAGS: Chocolate and Caramel. Honey. Lavender and Leaves. I think that's how this works???

FC INFO.

MAIN FC(S): Scions of the Dawn. It consist of Dad and myself.

ALT FC(S): None.

OLDER FC(S): We did have an FC on Gilgamesh called Lionheart with the Tag FF8. It was one that we had started the game when we got out of beta, but moved to different server/data center.

YOUNGER FC(S): *Confused Au Ra noises*

VOICE CLAIM(S): ??????

GENDERBENT FC(S): *Even more confused Au Ra noises*

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1: IF YOU COULD WRITE YOUR CHARACTER YOUR WAY IN THEIR OWN MOVIE, WHAT WOULD IT BE CALLED, WHAT STYLE WOULD IT BE FILMED IN, AND WHAT WOULD IT BE ABOUT?

•So, I'm already making a comic that I want to make as an animation for the story of FFXIV with my character and her friends. This character was specifically built for FFXIV, but it has a twist. Kinda like a Sword Art Online ordeal, but instead of Millions of people playing are stuck in the world, it's just like 100, but they aren't stuck, in fact they are just chosen to go between their world and Eorzea. If they die, they don't actually die, but respawn, even in their own world, but they feel how they die and the only way for them to die in any shape or form is by natural cause like old age or sickness. This would be a 2D animation in the anime style and be a multi episode series with multiple seasons. I even though about branching out to go certain routes so that Lyllyan can end up with all my favorite characters. I would call it Final Fantasy XIV: A World Reborn.

Q2: WHAT WOULD THEIR SOUNDTRACK/SCORE SOUND LIKE?

•With it being a Final Fantasy story, it would have Final Fantasy Music.

Q3: WHY DID YOU START WRITING THIS CHARACTER?

•Lyllyan Weiss was made to represent me and she still does, but also inspires me to be more like my courageous heroic self. Because of this, I have been able to do things like crossing a bridge that's in bad shape to get to the other side without the fear of falling, just to get back to my mom who went to the other side on a trip we had.

Q4: WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS CHARACTER?

•She is literally me.

Q5: DESCRIBE THE BIGGEST THING YOU DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

•Just like me, she is stubborn and hard working, but there are times she pushes herself way too much. She hesitates to ask for help, not because she doesn't trust the people around her, but more of trying to not burden them. Others wish she would open up to them and also rest when she can. Raha has to literally force her to rest, and she nearly gets herself killed against the first battle with Rahjit because she kept getting back up to fight even when the others beg her to stop.

Q6: WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN COMMON WITH YOUR MUSE?

•Almost everything. Major thing is that she doesn't look like me, but also I know when to quit.

Q7: HOW DOES YOUR MUSE FEEL ABOUT YOU?

• I feel like if Lyllyan and I were to meet in person, we'd get along just fine. We would play video games all day long if we could.

Q8: WHAT CHARACTERS DOES YOUR MUSE HAVE INTERESTING INTERACTIONS WITH?

•OH BOI HERE WE GOOO

- Leveilleur Twins: Alphinaud and Alisaie are very close to Lyllyan. Alphinaud used to pull Lyllyan out of class to have her hurry up and go through the story, now its chill and play ace attorney. Alphinaud, depending on what route is taken, is definitely in love with Lyllyan and is constantly teased about it by everyone. Alisaie is like a sister to Lyllyan. They have had many nights where the pulled 24 hours playing Sims. Alisaie is who Lyllyan tries to protect the most between the two. She's also the reason why Lyllyan is now Bi. Lyllyan absolutely adores her and if the route is taken, they end up being the cutest couple.

-Leon D'hart: An Alt character that I made that depending on the story and route, he is also Lyllyan's Lover. He is a character made by Square Enix to be the Warrior of Light replacement if Lyllyan did not succeed in preventing herself becoming a light warden. His story with her is a bunch of trial and tribulations, but in the end they do end up married.

-G'raha Tia/Crystal Exarch: The main story Lyllyan's Lover. Great friend to start out and tears were shed when he sealed himself into the tower. He really kept Lyllyan guessing when he was Exarch. When Emet-Selch kidnapped him, Lyllyan was hellbent on getting him back. Now she visits him at the first everyday bring stuff from Eorzea for him, and even occasionally stuff from her world. He is her world as she is to him.

-The Scions: Thancred and Lyllyan are like Big brother, Little sister. He protects her, and scolds her as such. They may act like they hate each other, but the moment either gets hurt, the other is at their sides. Though rumor has it that Thancred had feelings for Lyllyan. Y'shtola is close to Lyllyan, but is usually not around often. Shtola usually is often around to keep an eye on Lyllyan's aether since her amount is quite high compared to the others and her fellow Warriors of Light. Urianger is someone who used to hardly talk to Lyllyan, but started opening up more after the years. He had watched her grow from 15 moons to now 21 as the others, but they seem to be more special to him. Lyllyan swore to protect him if anything ever happened especially after he asked her her thoughts on his new attire. Tataru is a precious angel and if anyone was to hurt her, Lyllyan would kill everyone and then herself. Ryne, even though she is not a scion, she is a scion. Ryne worries about Lyllyan, but is often in awe of her. Lyllyan and Thancred adopted her, and she's ended up calling Lyllyan mom on many occasions.

-Ser Aymeric: Depending on the route, he would be Lyllyan's Lover and he tries to protect her when he can, be it politics or in war. He has a dream to journey with her, and though he can't do so with Lylyan Weiss the Au Ra, there is nothing saying he can't make a character and become a Warrior of Light himself and travel with Sakura Yue(Lyllyan's Alt).

-Zenos Yae Galvus: So this guy commits Seppuku and then shows up at Lyllyan's job as her new Bartender. They end up becoming friends through the job, and the fact that Zenos is bored out of his mind that he can't go kill people,but finding out later that he is back makes Square Enix themselves worried about this guy.

-Estinien: Lyllyan had adopted him as her Edgy Son. He hates it. He reminds her that he is older than him, and she retorts about beating him as a Lalafel. He usually starts brooding after that on a high building that usually takes Alphinaud and Ser Aymeric to get him down.

•I'm only stopping this cause there are so many more characters!!!

Q9:WHAT GIVES YOU INSPIRATION TO WRITE YOUR MUSE?

•Music and Playing Final Fantasy. Mainly XIV, but others do count too, but also reading all the other fanfiction and comics about final fantasy XIV.

Q10: HOW LONG DID THIS TAKE YOU TO COMPLETE?

About...4 hours? Maybe more? My hands definitely hurt from all the typing! XD

============

Tagged by @amandafullmetal

Tagging @ladyramora @ranier-layarte @scholarlostintime @fabledtactician

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thebigpapilio · 6 years ago

Text

An Eminent Dethroning: A Persona 5/Persona Q2 Fic!

SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 5 & PERSONA Q2: NEW CINEMA LABYRINTH!

My inspiration was a post from @write-it-motherfuckers. Give me a bit to find it!

AO3 Link

Featured Ships: Ann x Shiho, later Ann x Shiho x Ryuji,

Minor Ships: Makoto x Haru, Yusuke x Futaba

"The greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel. " -Florence Nightingale

________________________________________________________________

The trouble had started when Ann’s best friend had been caught up in a battle between Kamoshidaman, his sidekick Inazuma, and the villain Akuyaku. She was an innocent bystander, and a blow from the “hero” sent the criminal flying right into Shiho from outside the building. Ann’s best friend was sent through the window with the criminal, and while both of them landed on a nearby building, the far less durable girl barely survived.

Weeks passed, and Ann did not learn of any sign of Kamoshidaman apologizing. It seemed like life went on as usual, as if Shiho’s hospitalization didn’t matter anymore.

Sure, Shiho had eventually returned to consciousness about half a month ago, but the scars of the event would stay for the rest of her life.

Ann felt powerless every time she stared at Shiho or the so-called hero of Kamo City. She wanted to confront Kamoshidaman, but what was anyone supposed to do against the superhuman superstar?

She knew that if she worked upfront against Kamoshidaman he would shut her down easily; all he had to do was frame her as a villain and in less than a week, she would be driven out of the city at best.

That was when Carmen came to her. Her fury had been sensed by the powerful spirit, and she had been henceforth blessed with the ability to turn into a superpowered form of her own - not in the same way that Kamoshida did.

With the dancer spirit on her side, she now had the power to do something.

________________________________________________________________

Kamoshida had heard about a bank robbery ongoing a while away from where he was. Transforming into his alter ego, he flew off into the night in preparation for a brawl.

When he got there, though, he found the police taking the already defeated criminals into custody.

Flying down, he asked the officers how they had stopped the criminal scum before he even got there. Nobody could give him a good answer, but they all agreed that it had started with a lean red figure bursting into the bank in the middle of a stand-down between the officers and the offenders. Like a firecracker whizzing through the air, all the would-be robbers suddenly had their guns knocked out of their hands, followed by attacks that knocked them unconscious. Other than that, no one could give him good enough details, and the security feeds had been taken out by the robbers earlier, making them obsolete.

After ensuring everything was settled, a disgruntled Kamoshidaman left back for his house. A few days later, he and his sidekick Inazuma were battling a villainess called Lilen, a woman with the power to grow plants anywhere. It had culminated when after Inazuma had been swatted away from the battle and knocked unconscious, Kamoshida had been snatched and held by all four limbs by her monstrous “Plutonian Death Trap,” most likely with intentions of ripping him apart limb by limb. Lilen’s command to do so, however, was interrupted by the giant plant releasing an ear-shattering squeal in pain as some of its other leafy appendages had suddenly been caught ablaze. Confused as he was, Kamoshidaman took the opportunity and knocked out Lilen while she tried to put out the flames. This time, though, Kamoshidaman noticed something left at the remains of the fallen plant.

Upon further inspection, it appeared to be a card. It stated:

“To Kamoshidaman, the so-called protector of Kamo City,

I know the evils you have committed. You hold this place under your thumb, and if anyone so much as slightly displeases you , they are branded evil by you, and the rest of Kamo City follows suit like lemmings off a cliff.

I will not fight you, you monster. Instead, I will steal all that you truly desire from your heroic actions – your glory and your power.

Yours truly,

Panther & Carmen”

Kamoshidaman took it to the police, in the hopes they might track the writer down. Oddly enough, the police saw no problem with it, for when it was returned to Kamoshidaman, not only was the signature missing but also the text had changed entirely into words of adoration and gratitude from a fan called Tomo P.

Infuriated, Kamoshidaman took his frustration out on “Inazuma” that night. That punk was the only one who knew his identity, and after being beaten down despite the electrokinetic powers he’d mysteriously acquired, the little hooligan had been given an option; join him against evil at his beck and call, or have him and his family driven out of the city… if not worse .

Storming off, Kamoshida did not think that the abuse would be the last straw for Ryuji. He had heard about the card from the perverted powerhouse, so he decided that the mysterious saviors and this Tomo P. from the last two moments of crime needed to be looked into.

________________________________________________________________

Time passed, as it always does, but now, results were slowly starting to show up. As soon as the story of Panther and Carmen had reached the public, Kamoshidaman began to fade into obscurity.

The older and more experienced superhero always seemed to be too slow to get to minor battles, and for major villains and villainesses it was presumed that if Panther showed up, it was only to save Kamoshidaman at the last moment. The protector of Kamo City would have been spending more time looking for the mysterious person, but Inazuma had offered to do all the research in exchange for less actual fighting.

Other than that, he was considering something to himself. Once I’ve found and beaten Panther and her ally senseless, he would ponder, should I give them a second chance like I’ve graciously done for that brat or just brand them villains and kick them out of my place ? After all, this was his city - he and only he was supposed to have true power and authority, and no one was going to challenge that!

Ryuji Sakamoto, despite his intense hatred of the leverage-holding loser, really was doing some looking for the elusive figure. However, he had been keeping info from his barbaric boss; the giant-jawed jerk thought he was a lot further away from the truth then he actually was.

In fact, he was pretty sure he at least had a theory to the answer. Soon, he was going to go and find out for himself.

By now, Ann had long graduated high school, and would soon be a freshman in college. Shiho had fully healed from the incident, and knew about her acts as Panther. Her best friend kept it secret, but the civilian had asked her to ensure that she would kill none of the bad guys during her “extracurricular activities.”

Shiho had not needed to ask Ann the question - such was the plan, anyway - but she assured Shiho that would happen. Sadly, there were those public executions that Kamoshidaman held, but those were only for the people he managed to catch, and considering that crime rates dropped like a blimp filled with iron since Panther showed up, the executions almost never happened. Things were slowly looking up.

But because the world takes a pleasure sicker and more twisted than Kamoshidaman himself in hurting others, it was about then when Inazuma showed up at her apartment.

She had been sitting on the rooftops as Panther when he arrived. It was clear he had been looking for something, but she didn’t know if the villain’s sidekick was looking for her . Honestly, he always looked uncomfortable when no one else was looking, he would always leave the scene as quickly as he could, and she was quite sure that not all the marks she saw him with were from superpowered evildoers. With all the famous superheroes in Kamo City, attackers didn’t show up often enough for Inazuma to get as many scars and whatnot as he had.

If someone were to fashion the energy from such a staredown into a blade, chances are it could cleave Kamoshidaman in two.

“... I’m guessing you’re Panther?” Kamoshidaman’s electrokinetic colleague asked her.

She didn’t respond, but that was all Inazuma needed to know.

“Listen,” he asked, “I’ll keep this secret-”

“But what?” Panther spoke, breaking her silence and releasing the pent-up fury she had held for… what now, five years? “I have to stop taking that jerk’s spotlight? I have to idolize him no matter what he does?”

Raising his arms in mock surrender, the sidekick nervously replied, “Cool it, Catgirl! I don’t have any blackmail-based intentions!”

At Panther’s shocked silence, Inazuma continued. “If anything, I want your help in something instead.”

________________________________________________________________

After Inazuma explained the abuse and blackmail Kamoshidaman held over him, and Ann explained the story of Shiho’s hospitalization and forward, the two had jokingly reintroduced themselves. As it turned out, Ann and Inazuma - whom she now knew as Ryuji Sakamoto - went to the same university. Sure, Ryuji was on the path to being a physical therapist - where was this guy about five years ago, Ann would lament - and she was looking towards the path of acting, but they were still close enough to see each other often.

One of the first things Ann did was introduce Ryuji to Shiho and explain everything. It was better now than for the more “normal” one of the three to discover this suddenly close relationship and grow suspicious on her own. Thankfully, Shiho agreed to keep his secret too - but for whatever reason, there was teasing about her liking him.

The whole world seemed to think the same thing about their heroic forms. One of the first things Ryuji did upon settling into his work with Ann was to get the one who gave him his power - a pirate spirit called Captain Kidd - to give him a new look when he fought with Panther so Kamoshidaman couldn't figure out he was betraying him.

He had renamed himself Skull in this form, and anyone who asked him why would hear that he and his feline-themed counterpart planned to “get this city to stop running around like headless idiots.”

Skull was the one who made public appearances, but Panther still kept herself hidden. There was still plenty of clamor about the two, and what was even more awkward for them was that many people for whatever reason shipped them.

Some people had written fanfics about the duo. Most of them featured something called a “Love Square,” featuring made-up versions of their civilian identities. Ryuji was usually portrayed as either a try-hard kid trying to be a thug or a wealthy and debonair yet unhappily restrained young man, while Ann was either portrayed as the type who was completely “normal” outwardly but incredibly odd as Panther or the class clown who turned into an incredibly aloof superheroine in secret. No fanfic was even close to the truth. Shiho had written a fic once that was quite inaccurate but still closer than anything she had read. She didn’t post it on any websites, of course, but she did safely send it to Ryuji and Ann in the hopes of teasing them.

Kamoshidaman, through all of the popularity given to the supposed trio of upstarts, was practically old news, and he was livid about it. As the amount of attention the public paid to Panther slowly grew, his fury did the same, and while it took a boost with the appearance of Skull, it was only on the day that in a passing discussion he overheard someone forget who Kamoshidaman was - even though they remembered a second later - that he lost the last of his patience for the hidden heroine.

________________________________________________________________

The tension between the heroes and the “hero” peaked almost 6.5 years after Panther beat Kamoshidaman to that bank, and at some point, she had obtained a nasty crush on her filter-less friend and partner Skull. She and Shiho had been dating for about 3-4 months after Shiho’s release from the hospital, and many a time they had talked about adding the “boneheaded” boy to their relationship. The agreement that they would both be okay with it was unanimous, but they both had yet to ask him as of then.

It seemed as if the universe itself was waiting on them to start dating, and to push them along, it sent them other spirit-powered heroes that would also aid them in battle on occasion.

They had made a group from all the heroes in their team, although the others were seldom brought in unless needed for backup and/or against specific villains. Consisting of the artistic yet socially awkward Fox, the antihero-turned-villain-turned-fully-hero Crow, the slowly less antisocial tech expert Oracle (who was most commonly asked for due to her ability with both technology and battle), and the deadly duo of the brutal yet kind Queen & the cordial yet intimidating Noir (the two of which had started dating after meeting up one battle), the heroes nicknamed the Spirit Guardians were feared and loved by Kamo City depending on who you would be to them.

One fateful day, it was both Kamoshidaman and not Kamoshidaman who took action. He knew that he no longer had the power to brand the Spirit Guardians as villains and let the city do the work for him, so he decided to take more dramatic measures.

Dākumasuku K immediately threw Kamo City into panic, the reportedly-possessed superhero demanding a battle between both him and the duo of Panther and Carmen, claiming only those two could save him by breaking the dark mask he wore. A date was set, and if they would not show up and fight him in person, he would destroy something or someone every day they didn’t appear.

Inazuma had overheard this plan from him, and Skull sent it to the woman in charge. Sadly, it was only Panther and Skull in town, as the other Spirit Guardians either lived in other areas and had been nearby during their appearances or would not be able to make it without arousing suspicion as to their identities. They had been planning this final attack on not only Kamoshidaman but also his reputation almost since their partnership began, and now they could use it!

Kamoshidaman had hurt many people, and there were many who had plenty of negative things to say about him but did not on fear of ostracism, banishment, execution, or some combination of the three. Silently, they went around and collected those people’s stories, stating that when the information was broadcasted it would be unclear who each story was from.

________________________________________________________________

Panther really hated Kamoshidaman, but she hated the idea of people getting hurt even more, so for the first time known to Kamo City, she showed up in broad daylight on her lonesome. Dākumasuku K had been waiting for her, and when asked where the person known as Carmen was, she claimed that Carmen was nonexistent, having merely been a red herring of sorts. Dākumasuku K growled, and the battle began.

When the smoke cleared, things darkened as a well-weakened Dākumasuku K stood over the beaten superheroine, with his mask broken but still on.

“You’re supposed to be freed!” Panther barely cried out, gasping and gaping at the supervillain.

Leaning in, Kamoshidaman whispered to her, “I was free to do as I pleased, you *****. You, however, are about to lose your freedom for attempting to shackle my justice.”

At her angered scowl, Kamoshidaman laughed to himself. Turning away from the platinum blonde, he snarked, “Never meet your heroes, kid. Now stay there while I-”

“It’s funny how you talked about meeting heroes…”

Kamoshidaman whipped around to stare at the superheroine, who was slowly getting up from the ground.

“All the superpowered people in this city that I know of are either me, the Spirit Guardians, or supervillains. You aren’t me, and you sure as **** aren’t joining the team, so by process of elimination…”

“Bold words for someone not entirely off the ground, you stupid girl.” Kamoshidaman grated, his voice like a rubber band stretched to its limits, as if Panther pushing him any further would send him rocketing away.

Knowing she had him angry, the feline-themed superheroine smirked. “Bolder words for someone who’s about to be floored .”

Now that she was standing - albeit barely - she suddenly let out a shrill whistle, and almost right after, every big screen and TV in the city shut off for a few seconds. When they returned, a singular video played on all of them.

It was an elegant reading by a robotic voice, detailing each and every one of the offenses that all of the interviewees had given to the true heroes. As promised, not one of the victims were named or recorded - their words had been written down instead, so Kamoshidaman wouldn’t know who to track down, as all the victims picked out were all innocent bystanders that the anti-villain had ignored while trampling on his climb to fame and power. Kamoshidaman simultaneously turned white as an albino cat and red as a ladybug as he watched his cruel actions be exposed to the entirety of Kamo City.

Even if people were unsure of whom to trust then, the last reading and only named victim would still have set Kamo City into an outrage.

Inazuma , who had been unseen since the last fight against Crow during his villainous days as The Prince, was shown at the end, looking like a husk of what the world had seen the brash but quiet sidekick to be. He revealed all the pain Kamoshida had brought upon him, and at the end of his statements, he began with some information that closed the casket on not only any possible remains of Kamoshidaman’s respect but those of his civilian identity.

“You’re a special kind of ******, you know? Most evildoers have the decency to appear as good people outside of the mask. You were abusive to me as a ‘hero’ and as my former sports teacher. People of Kamo City, if you want to take your anger out on this guy, you’ll find him at…”

Inazuma proceeded to blab the information of the high school where the one named Kamoshida (who other than Inazuma had never been figured out despite both of his names being horrifyingly similar) worked and any other way to reach him, Inazuma ended the video with the nastiest scowl anyone had seen and a goodbye. You could tell he wanted to give Kamoshida the middle finger and say certain words following that goodbye, but Panther had decided that it would not be a good idea to show that stuff on live TV broadcasted to the whole city.

As it turned out, Kamoshidaman was literally empowered by the people. The more that trusted him, the more that bowed to his power and authority, the more powerful he would be. Even as Kamoshida, he’d been abusing some of his students and offering rewards for others in exchange for… favors . Ugh.

That was in the past, thankfully; as of the aftermath, the vexing villain was barely stronger than his normal self, and although he tried to escape after the video ended, it turned out Skull and the other heroes had been waiting for him, all of them but Oracle (who had no weapon) complete with painful surprises. Despite many of the public’s opinion that Kamoshida should be publicly executed like he had done to some decent people, Kamo City and its true heroes refused, pointing out that doing that was stooping to the worst of Kamoshida’s levels. Instead, they decided to give him a choice on his fate based on his “nicer punishments.”

Option 1 was simple – he could stay in the city, but he would be rotting in their prisons for the rest of his days, forced to move prisons every few years in order to keep him from plotting with others. Option 2 was more complicated – he would leave the city and never come back, and if he tried to begin superhero work once more somewhere else, no matter how well he meant, he would be tracked, struck down, dragged back to Kamo City (who despite the surprising lack of link to its former “protector” was in dire need of a new name) and would be forced into taking Option 1 from there.

He chose Option 2 – he still believed he had done no wrong, but he was smart enough to not go against those who were once his power source. Kamoshida was kicked out of the city, and other than his worst fans - who either left as well or became quickly evicted supervillains - that was the last anyone wanted to see of him. Every other city they could access was warned about him, and those cities forwarded the information until the rest of the world knew not to trust Kamoshidaman.

________________________________________________________________

A few nights after Kamoshida’s banishment, Ann and Shiho confessed to Ryuji, and the morning after the three woke up as a happy triad.

Soon after, they and the other Spirit Guardians - who revealed themselves to each other soon after the initial victory – pooled their money with the cash reward for their work and bought a big house for their leisure.

Queen and Noir, who were revealed as two girls named Makoto and Haru (and the only ones who knew another Spirit Guardian’s identity other than Ann & Ryuji, who had however intentionally initiated the awakening of the others’ powers and therefore knew everyone’s identities from the start) married about 1.75 years later, and not too long after that they were finalizing adoption papers. The twin brothers named Akira & Ren were so similar in both personality and looks you could easily get which was which wrong all day if they were clothed the same.

Fox and Oracle – who were revealed to be named Yusuke and Futaba - started dating after even more dancing than Ann and Shiho had done with Ryuji, and the only ones who did not know both of them planned to propose soon were each other.

Crow, who they learned had the name of Goro, was aro ace, but unless he trusted you with the truth, it was believed he had a fake relationship with two girls called Caroline & Justine. In the meantime, he spent his days rehabilitating ex-criminals with an old friend who apparently responded to the name Morgana.

After the Spirit Guardians’ hiatus grew long enough, Kamoshidaman eventually grew stupid enough to try pretending to be a hero again. By then, however, he was also much too old and far weaker than he was to have much success; coupled with the fact that everyone knew better than to trust him, the now-rabbit themed “superhero” King Hare was taken down as soon as folks figured out it was him. With the help of some of the Spirit Guardians, three new heroes calling themselves the Phantom Hearts – two near-lookalike young gents called Joker & Wildcard and their sneaky scout Mona – ensured that Kamoshidaman finally made #1.

Sadly for him, that #1 was the number of the path he now takes. At last, Kamoshida finally achieved absolute justice.

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monsieur-de-paris · 6 years ago

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REALLY LONG CHARACTER SURVEY. RULES. repost , don’t reblog ! good luck !

TAGGED. @kigakurutta thanks ^-^ TAGGING. @bourreau-de-roi @princely-alucard @thesarcasticviclet @devilsmark @xxsacrificiumxx @farnese-ojousama

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Charles-Henri Sanson de Longval

NICKNAME: Charles or Charlot (lolol)

AGE: Verse-dependent, between 14 and 54

BIRTHDAY: February 15th

ETHNIC GROUP: White

NATIONALITY: French

LANGUAGE(S): French, a word or two in English and German

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Biromantic

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Verse-dependent, gets married at the age of 27

CLASS: As in social class - 3rd estate (commoner)

HOMETOWN / AREA: Paris

CURRENT HOME: Paris

PROFESSION: Executioner & doctor

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: Black, very long, straight or later wavy, thick, silky

EYES: Doe-eyed, gray/black of colour

NOSE: Straight, long, narrow

FACE: Diamond-shaped and long, not so defined cheekbones

LIPS: Plump and soft, red

COMPLEXION: Pale

BLEMISHES: None

SCARS: None

TATTOOS: None

HEIGHT: 195 cm ( 6'5'' )

WEIGHT: unknown

BUILD: Tall and skinny, well-trained

FEATURES: Soft enough to be able to dress like a lady and not attract attention

ALLERGIES: None

USUAL HAIRSTYLE: The parting changes over time (it’s either parted on the right side or combed back), but always open

USUAL FACE LOOK: Distressed lmao

USUAL CLOTHING: 18th century clothes

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR(S): People’s cruelty, having to execute the ones he cares for, generally having to kill people, he hates his occupation a lot ;O;

ASPIRATION(S) : To abolish executions, later: to make executions more humane

POSITIVE TRAITS: Kind, polite, open-minded, accepting, loving, caring, a strong sense of responsibility

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Naive, anxious, unassertive, easily led, manipulable

ZODIAC: Aquarius

TEMPERAMENT: Emotionally volatile, cries a lot

SOUL TYPE(S): Helper

ANIMALS: Dogs, horses

VICE HABIT(S): None (crying?)

FAITH: He is religious, yes

GHOSTS?: I bet he believes in them

AFTERLIFE?: Yes

REINCARNATION?: No

ALIENS?: No

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: Lawful Good

ECONOMIC PREFERENCE: No idea (what is economic preference?)

SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION: He supports His Majesty wholeheartedly

EDUCATION LEVEL: Mostly home-schooled, very good medical skills

FAMILY.

FATHER: Charles-Jean-Baptiste Sanson

MOTHER: Madeleine Sanson

SIBLINGS: (Oh gosh, here we go with the list) Marie-Joseph Sanson, Louis-Charles-Martin Sanson, Nicholas-Charles-Gabriel Sanson, Louis-Cyr-Charlemagne Sanson, Madeleine-Claude-Gabrielle Sanson, there was later a baby too, called Pierre-Shanks Sanson, but I think it vanished (?)

EXTENDED FAMILY: His grandmother Anne-Marthe Sanson, his stepmother Jeanne-Gabrielle Sanson, his wife Marie-Anne Sanson, his two sons Henri Sanson and Gabriel Sanson, his uncle Nicholas-Gabriel Sanson, his cousin AND brother-in-law Jean-Louis Sanson, like 500+ other cousins, I think the Sanson family is rather large (and I need a drink after listing so many)

NAME MEANING(S): Apparently,Charles means “man” and Henri means “home ruler” lmao

HISTORICAL CONNECTION?: He was actually the royal executioner of France? He is based on a real person

FAVORITES.

BOOK: The bible prolly, also the memoirs of the first Sanson. He used to be very interested in science and philosophy, but I think his occupation sorta sucked the life, and the hunger for knowledge, out of him

MOVIE: None

5 SONGS: He enjoys Bach

DEITY: The Christian God

HOLIDAY: Christmas and Easter, like the good boy he is

MONTH: April

SEASON: Spring

PLACE: Anywhere he can be left alone by his grandmother and father (lmao), I think generally among nature

WEATHER: Sunny

SOUND: His violin <3

SCENT(S): Roses

TASTE(S): Wine, fruit, mild tastes

FEEL(S): Satin on the skin, but also pain

ANIMAL(S): I already answered this

NUMBER: 3

COLORS: Black, red, blue

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Riding, very good with a blade, very good medical skills, I guess singing too since he does it a lot

BAD AT: Killing, asserting his will

TURN ONS: Pain (he won’t admit though, but because of the torture he had to undergo, his body got accustomed to pain a lot)

TURN OFFS: Irrationality, cruelty, chaos

HOBBIES: Playing his violin

TROPES: Fragile Flower xD

AESTHETIC TAGS: Roses, Skulls, Black Hair, Edgy, Goth, Death, BDSM, Emo Quotes, Sad, Depressing, Velvet, Thorns, Blood

GPOY QUOTES: I can’t think of any rn

FC INFO.

MAIN FC(S): None, unfortunately

ALT FC(S): None

OLDER FC(S): None

YOUNGER FC(S): None

VOICE CLAIM(S): None

GENDERBENT FC(S): None

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1: if you could write your character your way in their own movie, what would it be called, what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about?: I wouldn’t. I can’t picture Innocent as a movie, I can’t even picture it as an anime, because its beauty and style would just get lost, I feel.

Q2: what would their soundtrack / score sound like?: Something sad and gloomy

Q3: why did you start writing this character?: Well, I really love him ;_; I loved him from the moment I picked Innocent, but his development was nothing I expected - it actually made sense, unlike with many other characters, whose developments only make sense in a fictional, trope-driven setting. But Charles-Henri “matured” in a way a real person would, and even his character traits, which I would possibly hate on every other character aside from him, like his kindness and his gullibility, were somehow lovable to me, because they felt real and genuine, and not like the traits you give a character only to make them likeable. And then a good friend of mine picked him as a muse, we wrote together for sometime, and he just stole my heart completely.

Q4: what first attracted you to this character?: His hair. Also his face, I had seen pictures of him before and I always thought his face looked very unique, because I’ve never seen anyone with a similar drawing style.

Q5: describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse: I dislike, that he changed so much, even if it made sense. I just miss the old Charles a lot ;_;

Q6: what do you have in common with your muse?: I think I have a lot in common with him...except for his kindness and his patience with people. I do share many of his negative traits though, I also act on impulse a lot.

Q7: how does your muse feel about you?: He is angry, because I contribute to his torment lolol

Q8: what characters does your muse have interesting interactions with?: All his interactions are interesting, those which aren’t usually get dropped :o

Q9: what gives you inspiration to write your muse?: Books. Oh, and my love for him and for writing in general, I don’t think I could just stop writing. And also, he is very easy for interactions. He is very timid and not the most extroverted person in the world, but he would give everyone a chance, so having him meet other characters and actually show interest in them isn’t difficult (*cough* unlike Griffith *cough*)

Q10: how long did this take you to complete?: Tbh, I think ca. 2-3 hours.

#�� ⁽ 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 ⁾ ❧ : 𝑇𝑎𝑔 𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑒

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dreamer1084 · 6 years ago

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I have just finished PQ2. With 91% Persona collection and only one (or five) secret bosses left. I may complete them later.

Major Persona Q2 spoilers under cut.

1. Difficulty

I finish the whole game with Hard without changing the difficulty. It is kind of difficult even for an Etrian Odyssey series player like me. As the enemies get super high HP, the main strategy is to hit all the enemies with their weak point and try to go for an all-out attack. And the boost system in PQ2 is more important than PQ.

The instant kill from Neoto become a lot weaker than what she had in PQ(now she has Bless and Curse attack instead of Light and Dark). And the bosses hit us HARD (Like, full health Yusuke can be killed in one hit Fire Attack from the first boss)

If you get the free DLC Persona, the difficulty will get a lot lower even when you play it in Hard or Risky.

But when your team become stronger and stronger, the bosses kind of become easier and easier... It would be better if you try to make some sub-Persona for normal enemies and some for the bosses.

And there are some bugs with the fighting system....but they’re kind of convenient to me so I won’t complain.

2. Characters

Actually, since we have SO many characters in the game, some characters may not even talk much in the main story....but some of the others are out right get a lot of spot-light. (Most people talk about how Hamuko a.k.a P3P FemMC acts like the heroine in PQ2, when most of the P5 characters and other MCs somehow just not being in the center till the end.) And there is nearly no character development for most of the characters, The crossover element is not as important as in PQ. It’s more like since they want to leave, they choose to work together, and become super friendly once they join the team.

(Just like when you play a mobile game. You draw some characters, choose the characters you like to use them in the battle. They are teammate in your game ID but they may or may not know each other in their own story.) But the problems is solved in the special screening(特別上映), most of the character interactions are interesting. I especially like the one with Teddie joins Haru to cheer up people, shares his secret junk foods to people who feel down. And the interactions between Yukiko and Yusuke are just super funny.

Though the script writer got some setting wrong here and there.(Like, Nanako is P4MC’s cousin not niece. And Hamuko should know Theo has a sister, sometime someone calls a character by their surname sometime call the same characher by their given name etc) I think those mistakes will be fixed in US Version if there is one.

3. Main Story Line

Beware of all the spoilers...maybe not so much because I have some problem with communicating in English... But still enough to spoil some of the main parts especially near the end.

I won’t say the story is bad like most of the long comments in Amazon JP said. I think it’s quite interesting even with the first 3 labyrinths seem getting the same main idea. And the forth labyrinth summarizes them well. Most of the story focus on charging the movie endings and the character development for Hikari. When she finds her answer and decides to leave the theater which she used to evade her problems in society, I am happy with her.

But after that, the true boss shows herself. She states that she also ‘helps’ other people like Hikari to find a safe place for them to flee from their problems. And she agrees to let Hikari and all the character go because Hikari doesn’t need her shelter anymore. However, Hikari starts talking about friendship and courage and wants to help others leave their own theaters to face their problems, just like what she has been through, seems to ignore the fact that every person deals with different problems and they may not have friends to support themselves. It’s where the story becomes too “moralization” for some players. (Well, the first three labyrinths also mean to teach you something but they’re only Hikari’s problems so I happily accept them.) Hikari and the others use the ‘changed movies’ (with good endings not the hopeless endings other people keep watching) hoping others will understand. In the last minute of the boss fight, our characters are vanished and leave Hikari by herself. She keeps calling for help for some time, the MCs return and give one last attack to the boss......... So the NPCs in their theaters watch the whole thing and both decide they can do things like that too! So they start to leave. This is also a part of the story I feel very awkward.

Well, to conclude if the story line is good or bad, it depends on how do you take the moralization part of the story. If there was not any ‘Hikari please mind your own business’ thing, I think I would enjoy the story much better than now.

But overall I still think it’s not that bad... maybe just because I don’t have high standard towards everything.

Though it’s kind of sad that they leave so fast and just saying goodbye after the finally boss fight.....

4. Maps and Music

Maps become easier than in PQ, but the design still interesting. I like the scenery of last labyrinth very much. And each labyrinth has its own features.

There are lots of icons for each labyrinth. But new icons only appear when necessary. We won’t get confuse.

And the music. They’re good to match the atmosphere. Like the two BGM for the ‘out door part’ and the ‘laboratory part” of the Third Labyrinth. The loud and happily crooked sound in the 4th (the BGM become even crookeder for the last couple of floors). And the whisper sound in the 5th is just...super great.

We can also change the normal battle theme into some battle themes used in the previews main games. (Like P3, P3P, P3FES P4, P4G, P5, and the DLC PQ battle themes. By the way, they also make 4 new music for PQ2 original normal bottle theme.)

I just want to complain about the 4th floor on the 5th Labyrinth... Only an one way road provided near the downstairs. We can’t return once we got there...

Overall, the main story may not as good as PQ, but the fighting system is improved and I still enjoy the game very much.

I don’t think there will be a PQ3...at least not until P6 comes out and it’s definitely not in 3DS any more. Maybe at that time we will get PS14 or something like that LOL

I just hope if they want to do more crossover apart from something like P5U , they could keep the battling system and improve the crossover element at least to PQ standard (I know they don’t want to do similar things in PQ one more time but I think it’s necessary.)

Well...all of the characters forget what happened once they return home just like in PQ. But they still get to watch movies together. I am happy when Hamuko meet her own team...

And Ryuji had promised Hikari (at least twice if I remember right) they would watch her movie once they returned. So when the team finds the poster of high-school movie making competition, he becomes quiet for a moment, and suggests that they should go to watch it because it seems interesting. I love this little detail about him. (Well, at least we know that Hikari comes from a timeline similar to P5.)

(And I really like the fact the P4 characters love to pick on Akechi so much)

#Persona Q2 #Persona #P3 #P4 #P5 #PQ2

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techdo · 7 years ago

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Long Live TrackPoint!

Today the ThinkPad is a brand synonymous with business grade, reliable, solid looking black laptops which could be used as a shield in times of crisis. When the design was first developed, the great industrial designer Richard Sapper drove ideas and produced concepts for IBM on which the ThinkPad is still based today. One of his original concepts can be seen here in a post by David Hill: http://blog.lenovo.com/en/blog/richard-sapper-the-origins-of-the-thinkpad-keyboard

The red in the ThinkPad logo today is representative of the TrackPoint, the pointing device which sits boldly in the centre of ThinkPad keyboards. The TrackPoint is intrinsic to the overall iconic look of ThinkPad and it is a source of pride for a lot of ThinkPad users. On the occasions where a tech journalist or blogger might cast negativity towards the TrackPoint they often find it is a bit like poking a bear when the fans assertively respond.

Occasionally being an angry TrackPoint defender myself I wondered how much I could find out about the TrackPoint and its history. That is what lead me to the honor of communicating with David Hill (http://www.dwhilldesign.com/biography.php) and Ted Selker (http://www.ted.selker.com/index.htm) both of whom have had a great deal of involvement in the ThinkPad history.

I had the pleasure of chatting with David Hill over the phone early one morning and was able to ask him a few questions around the ThinkPad and I have paraphrased his answers below:

Q1) Might I please ask, when the original ThinkPad design was being outlined was their much debate over how mouse control would be integrated?

Richard Sapper had a great input on the ThinkPad design and he discovered a pointing device that Ted Selker and Joe Rutledge were working on, they it had located in a desktop keyboard.

Q2) Could I please ask why Red was chosen as the colour of the TrackPoint

Richard Sapper wanted to call attention to the TrackPoint. However red was somewhat of a challenge to get approved by IBM. At the time of the time of the design work, Red was the colour reserved for server and mainframe room Emergency Power Off switches and only EPO switches. With a little persistence and some clever creative thinking by Mr Sapper the colour IBM Magenta was created.

(Authors note: having looked at original ThinkPad 700 Series machines, IBM Magenta is as red as its possible to be without actually being red, confirming for me Richard Sapper was indeed a genius!)

Q3) From time to time reviewers and social media commentators are dismissive of the TrackPoint considering it dated or unnecessary.

David gave a great analogy of the Trackpoint, he likened it to a manual car transmission, it takes a little more getting used to than an automatic transmission but once you have the feel for it you have a greater degree of control of the driving experience. Similarly, the TrackPoint offers a much more accurate control of the mouse pointer than other devices. Those who comment negatively are unlikely to have given it a try.

Q4) Could I please ask if you recall any major changes and possible engineering challenges since the original implementation?

The original TrackPoint cap was smooth, Ted Selker worked to improve traction and developed the Cat Tongue cap. This cap improved precision but could cause a finger callus from prolonged use. This lead me to start the initiative to produce different designs such as, Soft Dome and Soft Rim. For a time ThinkPads were shipped with a selection of caps allowing customers to choose.

In addition to this from the original pointing device and two buttons a third button was added to give much improved scroll experience. The third button, which enables scrolling, was first placed below the two other buttons. I felt this was problematic since it took up valuable internal real estate and it was nearly impossible to reach with your thumb conveniently. I moved it between the other two buttons using a keystone shape. This shape allowed for effective button sizes and mapped to the different direction of movement. I first had the idea when I was working on a Butterfly 2 concept, with the late Dr. Karidis, that had no palm rest and thus no space for a third button. Necessity is often the mother of invention.

I was also able to reach out to Ted Selker who is still very enthusiastic about the TrackPoint and he was kind enough to answer some questions I had via email.

Q1) I believe you had the idea of a pointing stick or navigation device in a keyboard before you joined IBM or the ThinkPad was on the drawing board. Do you recall what triggered the idea?

I was reading the JUST published HCI book by Card and Moran in 1983... I saw on one page where it seemed that the time to reach for a mouse was like a second.

I had looked at data in English and Engebarts 1967 paper about the fact that a kneebar was better than a mouse for the first 15 minutes... i thought well, though a kneebar is bad because there is now detailed representation of the knee in the motor or sensor homunculus,,, till a person gets good at using the mouse, but the kneebar doesn't take your hands off the keyboard.

Q2) During development or implementation what do you feel were the largest obstacles to overcome?

OMG...so many things…

making a joystick make selections as fast as a mouse against theory that said this was impossible!

making a good way to touch it without slipping

making a good way of selecting with buttons

finding a place that it didn't get struck by fingers

Q3) How does the TrackPoint we know now, compare for look and feel with the device you first envisaged?

I started with an erasure under the space bar on a joystick (1984)

Then a joystick under a key (1984 at Stanford and again in 1989 at IBM)

Then a rod shaped metal thing (1989)

Then a cup shaped piece of plastic (1990)

Then a special 55 Durometer bending part with an air suspension and a latex grippy top (1992)

(and 50 worse idea versions it contended with for a top)

Then a Santoprene version that was mas produced but not delivered to customers

(because they would have had to kill me first)

Then a 55 Durometer Buytl rubber top (product announce)

Then a fish scale skin top 1994 prototype (and many other cool tops)

Then a nylon pieces sticking out of the top

Then using the cup shaped grip idea in that we first used in a handle controller for airtrafic control

And an alternative large surface convex top that also reduces pressure on the finger

The buttons started as small making them bigger and requiring less pressure imprpoved user pointing performance!

A generation of ThinkPads included locking buttons that I designed for people with special needs, press to select eliminated the need for these.

Then a press to select , press to magnify, press to scroll gesture language built in.

Then a middle button for treating the stick as a second device

The algorithms changed and improved substantially from Trackpoint II in 1993 to Trackpoint III in 1995

The newer Trackpoint III ( has negative inertia which makes it 15% faster at selection than Trackpoint II... this feature models starting and stopping and enhances them (kind a like ABS brakes do for stopping a car)

Q4) Are you aware of the staunch following of die hard fans the Trackpoint has today?

I am deeply proud of that and only wait for the day that I might improve it some more

Q5) Many fans debate and argue with others the accuracy and efficiency of the TrackPoint over other input devices. How would you best summarize how accurate and efficient the TrackPoint is?

Careful experiments were done in labs in NY, Florida, TX, NC, Japan and later CA…that all showed that people could learn to use the TrackPoint better than a trackpad in less than a minute if they tried :

Trackpoint is 20% faster for pointing than a trackpad

Trackpoint is at least 20% faster than a mouse for point and type (text editing like things)

Trackpoint could be made much better for drawing and for new displays and so on... i want to do it still.

Q6) I have used the TrackPoint for everything up to and including photo editing. Are you aware of any implementation or uses of the TrackPoint which might seem out of the ordinary?

We used it for lapersocopy at Johns Hopkins (this reduced dexterity problems caused by tremor in surgeons hands controlling a camera inside a patient)

We used it for selecting ground traffic control of airplanes (saved a 30 million dollar contract)

Blind people said they loved it because it didn’t require them to put their finger in a place determined by the cursor or mouse.

People with prosthetics said they liked it because it reduces tremor too

Old people liked it because it reduced the effects of tremor on cursor control

I used it for its 16 bit a/d (Analog to Digital) converter to teach science ...we have to talk about the science wand

I have to say thank you to David Hill and Ted Selker for being so forthcoming with details. I gained so much more information form them both but had to trim this down for post length. Also a big Thank you to Gavin O’Hara for his assistance with this post.

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interact-if · 4 years ago

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Day 10, 2/2 of the A/PI Heritage Month featured authors interview! For our final entry, we have the amazing Shai!

Shai, author of Hollowed Minds

A/PI Heritage Month Feature Author

“You will play as a disgraced detective, entangled in webs of conspiracies and betrayal as your character engages in a suspicious probation - with a whole lot of enigmatic hallucinations and explosions to deal with. It will be up to you to shape your detective’s (or Ripper’s, if you prefer to call them that) perception and motivations. After all, Gaile City is a place full of secrets - some of them belonging to your own character’s family - and you’ll have the freedom how to act accordingly.”

Author's Kofi

(INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!)

To put it simply, Hollowed Minds is a long quest on morality and relationships. You'll start as a disgraced detective, once a favored hero of the city until this one unfortunate mistake, and now you're forced into a suspicious probation that you shouldn't even be in. There would be a lot of challenges and suffering along the way, and you can either help your character maintain their heroic ideals or succumb to the darkness that the future brings.

Q1: First of all, introduce us to your project! What is it about?

There are a lot of things to uncover in the story, but the main issues in the first book would be the mysterious hallucinations that people are suffering from and the explosions that would shake the fundamentals of the society. There would be several approaches to choose from as you go forward, some of which may be quite outside the law, and you could opt to use a certain ‘talent’—one with accompanying repercussions—to learn more secrets. You would also have the choice to cultivate your relationships with the people you trust the most and have your interactions with them matter in the long run.

As it is, you'd have a large target on your back, owing to a sinister group with a very sinister plan—something that might be worse than death.

Q2: If it’s not too spoilery, what are you most excited about your project?

First of all, the reputation system. You can manipulate how the general public would see you, either as the hero they once saw you as, or a corrupted personality that everyone would loathe. Best thing about it? You can hide your real intentions. This would have a lot of interesting consequences, especially if your character's actions tend to be the opposite of what they're perceived as.

Second, the most awaited reunion. People who have read the available demo would know what this refers to, and well, it's about to happen soon, so I'm very excited about the idea of writing the whole scene!

Then there's this one big chapter that I know would be torturous to write and code. Basically, you'll be choosing how to 'infiltrate' this certain location, the person whom you'd be with most of the time, a decision between accomplishing what you came there for or sacrificing it for something else, how you'd get out, and where you'd go to after the whole thing. It will be a wild ride of twists and emotions, and it's not even the endgame. A lot may change with this chapter alone, and it's one of those things I think about a lot before going to sleep.

Lastly, the customization of the main character. The motivations, blame mechanic, alcoholic/non-alcoholic option, and relationships (romantic or not). Those little details would change a lot of content in the narrative and maybe in the plot itself. Whether you want to build a character who's kind to a fault or an anti-hero who wouldn't hesitate to make questionable decisions, the journey would be entirely yours.

Q3: What inspired the current project you’re working on?

It was based from a short story of mine that won a small competition back in 2018. They share similar themes, but the short story was a lot darker than I could ever put in a game that I plan to get published.

I initially thought of starting my IF writing attempts with the supernatural genre—it does seem to be a successful area—but that short story was probably the first piece of mine that I've come to appreciate, and I wanted to at least honor that. The writing style that I adopted, the evocative tone I learned to use, and the plot pieces that I've managed to be good at crafting—they all started with that story.

Looking back, there aren't much similarities anymore between the two, maybe aside from the appearance of certain characters, but the themes are still the same.

It will definitely be a huge challenge to implement what I have on mind, but I do hope people would love what's to come.

Q4: Do you pull from your own identity for inspiration? How has that been reflected in your work?

I grew up in a troublesome neighborhood, along with people who continue to fight against the struggles. That's both good and bad, I suppose. Philippines has a lot of corruption deep in its roots, I won't deny that, but there are also people working hard for the changes they want. That's one of the biggest influences I've got in this story.

As we delve into the plot, the readers would discover more questionable decisions that some characters may have made or would make. It's parallel to how I witnessed people having differing reactions to injustice and the way they make changes in their lives as a response. Adding to that, I personally know the feeling of grief, and I’ve seen how the people around me deal with it themselves.

There are also moral choices to be had in the game, and when I speak of that, it's not going to be just around choosing between saving/killing people. It's about the main character's intentions and emotions, and how the revelations might slowly change their views. It would be a story that will steadily define your character’s perceptions amid the threats.

Q5: What’s been your experience so far? With writing, with the if community...

It's been great. I appreciate the people who have reached out in various ways to share their love for my work and to give meaningful feedback that are continuously helping me shape the story in a better way. And honestly, I'm so overwhelmed with excitement for all the support I'm getting. I didn't even expect a lot of people to like the story this early. That's why I'm so thankful!

There's also a great IF author whom I've been occasionally getting advice from, and they've been a huge reason as to why I even managed to make the first steps. Interacting with other writers is something that I never really expected myself to do, but I’m quite glad I did it.

Q6: Do you have any future projects in the works?

There are three more interactive fiction stories I've already thought of, though I won't be actively working on them until I finish the Hollowed Minds series, which would take a long while. Their temporary titles are respectively "Corrupted Legacies" (fantasy), "The Remnant's Keeper" (supernatural horror), and "A Hero's Touch" (superhero story with a twist).

Aside from that, I'm also looking forward to finishing my fantasy novel, one that I've been delaying for years, literally, as soon as I finish the first book of Hollowed Minds.

Q7: Finally, what piece of advice would you give to fellow authors?

Write what you want to write. I know that you're all probably tired of hearing this, but it is still very important. During the planning stages, you'd most likely be excited to show the readers what you've got in store. You'd be proud of it, and you'd believe that it's one of the most brilliant ideas out there. Then a few days after you finish planning, you'll realize it may not attract as much readers as you may have expected initially. Then you'll get tempted to change your visions for the story and adopt the plot lines that the famous works have.

Do not abandon your own vision.

It's your work. It's your masterpiece. Listen to feedback, sure, and let them guide you into becoming a better writer, but do not let go of the things that made your work your own. Some way or another, there will be people who would love your story, and they'd deeply appreciate that you made it the way it is.

So don't hesitate. Is it weird? Is it unconventional? Does it belong to a genre that's not as popular as the others? It doesn't matter. Write it, polish it, and show it to the world.

People will love it as long as you do.

#if: events #Happy Asian and Pacific Islander month!!#Asian/pacific islander month 2021 #a/pi month #a/pi month 2021 #aapiheritagemonth #aapi month #interactive fiction #authors of color

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astraeaclearwater · 4 years ago

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〔 brittany o’grady, twenty-four, female, half-blood〕⟶ i believe astraea clearwater just walked into the leaky cauldron. that is the former hogwarts student now working as a potioneer. i heard they can be impatient & superstitious these days, lets hope they are still affectionate & persistent as well. i believe she is siding with the neutrals after the reconstruction of the ministry of magic. [ bailey, 26, cst, she/her]

q1. what are your thoughts on the charity, pur societatis, created to rebuild the wizarding world after the terror of he-who-must-not-be-named? “Anyone who claims to be pure, can never stand for the entire wixen world. We’ll just have to see how they start to rebuild, won’t we?” While the charity might do some good, Astraea wondered privately what harm they would bring. She didn’t face the same discriminations as muggle borns but she understood what it meant to be ‘tainted’.

q2. why did you choose to become a potioneer? “It’s just always been a dream of mine since I was a child.” The familiar answer rolls off of her tongue, coating it in ash and dust. She had learned a long time ago that, ‘trying to find a cure for werewolfism’ led to uncomfortable questions and judgemental stares. Once they found out what her mother had been, they would never talk to her again. The only person who hadn’t pried was her mentor - and he was also the only person she’d come close to telling in years. “Besides,” she shrugs, a wry look on her face. “Isn’t it a waste if you don’t use what gifts you were given?”

q3. do you feel safer now that he-who-must-not-be-named is dead? or do you believe he is still out there? A dark look crosses her face and her hand instinctively drops to her wand. She may not have fought on the front lines but her apprenticeship had seen its effects. Blood Replenishing potion and Bruise Balm and sleeping draughts and essence of dittany. The list went on and on and on. There was no time for research, only time to mince and chop and stir. More than once, they’d had to pack up shop and move somewhere else under heavy spellfire as death eaters attacked their lab, trying to weaken their side. Astraea could feel her heart begin to race and her breathing pick up. Forcing herself to relax her fists, she stared up at the interviewer, eyes hard. “I don’t think I will ever feel safe again.”

mun’s choice.

Spotify

Savage Daughter - Sarah Hester Ross

“I am my mother’s savage daughter/the one who runs barefoot cursing sharp stones/I am my mother’s savage daughter/I will not cut my hair I will not lower my voice

Nina Cried Power - Hozier

“It’s not the war but what’s behind it/Lord the fear of foul men is mere assignment/And everything that we’re denied by keeping the divide/it’s not the waking it’s the rising

Bottom of the River - Delta Rae

“The wolves will chase you by the pale moonlight/Drunk and driven by a devil’s hunger

Haven - We Banjo 3

“Walk with me ‘neath the rising sky/We will make a choice for love and joy

Capable - The Wild Reeds

“He says ‘you’re awful young for 21/You’ve got some work to do/Bit your pencil harder than/You were planning too’”

“You’re capable of so much more/Than these people give you credit for/And you just need to show it”

Crowded Table - The Highwomen

“I want a house with a crowded table/And a place by the fire for everyone/Let us take on the world while we’re young and able/And bring us back together when the day is done”

Oom Sha La La - Haley Hendreickx

“I’m throwing out the milk/The olives got old/I’m tired of my mind getting heavy with mold/I need to start a garden”

Biography

Grew up on the edge of a small wixen town

Father was a wizard but he was gone before Astraea was born

Her mother was a muggle witch - the magic she created was in her tonics and her intents

Astraea grew up surrounded by the mundane magic of her mother, learning different types of herbs and flowers and mushrooms, what qualities each stone had

Astraea like to “help” her mom with spells and often times the effects were more potent than expected

When her letter arrived, Astraea could hardly contain her excitement - her mother hid her sorrow behind a smile

Throughout her first couple years, Astraea did well in Herbology and Potions, with Transfiguration and History of Magic her worst

The summer of her third year, a pack of werewolves attacked Astraea’s small town while her mother was out delivering her wares. The local healer managed to keep her alive but it didn’t stop the affliction from taking hold.Fear took over the town and Astraea and her mother were cast out for fear of the next full moon. They hid deep in the forest, stumbling upon an old abandoned shack. That summer was the worst couple months of her young life. (1974)

From that moment on, Astraea became hyper focused on her schoolwork, determined to find some way to help her mom, sure that they would eventually learn a cure

Her friendships became secondary and she grew more and more secluded as she dove deeper and deeper into her studies

Her mother was killed at the end of her sixth year. (1977)

She graduated within the top 10% of her class and went straight into a potion apprenticeship, set up by Professor Slughorn.

Astraea drifted through lesson after lesson, mincing lacewing flies and carefully crushing nettles alongside 10 other aspiring potioneers.

When she was 21, a man visited their lab, eyes carefully scanning around as he walked towards the back office (1980)

Stopping at her station, he watched Astraea mix together a bruise balm and frowned. “If you didn’t have the enthusiasm of a limp noodle, you may actually be good.” And then he moved away, ignoring her indignant expression.

After that, Astraea left her apprenticeship. No job, no goals, no hope, she picked up a serving job in a muggle town and managed to save up enough to get her own apartment.

She started to grow plants, by accident at first, and then she began to seek out ones from her childhood until her apartment was overflowing with greenery

Astraea wrote to the potioneer who had insulted her and asked if she could continue her apprenticeship with him

After some convincing, he agreed. (1981)

Under his tutelage, she worked harder than ever before and began to find herself again, for the first time since her mother had been killed.

When she was 23, she officially finished her apprenticeship and earned the title of Potioneer (1982). She hadn’t found a cure yet but she was getting close to...something

Wanted Connections:

I’m working on writing these up right now. I’m definitely looking for some friends or ex-friends, maybe people she was close to in school and then began to pull away from. Or people who she met after Hogwarts and developed some sort of competitive friendship with them.

Definitely looking for an Ex - will write up more on that this week

Will also be looking for her mentor, the one who helped her finish her potions apprenticeship but that’s also going to need a bit of a write up.

I am definitely open to filling any connections or making new friends!! I’m very excited to be here

#dmhqintro

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pauperpedia · 5 years ago

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Tuesday Brewsday 26: Eyeing Bully with Deluxeicoff

For over a month now I’ve been playing Boros Bully a lot, and have been fairly successful. I’ve topped 16 a challenge, came in third place in the Facebook league, Won a PCT event while coming in 2nd and top 8 in two others. The whole time I was thinking if there was any room for improvements and implemented some ideas. Whenever you want to make changes to a deck however, you need to go back and see what works and the reasoning behind why certain cards are in the deck. Since I wanted to write about the deck regarding this, I thought there was no better person to consult than the original deck designer himself, Deluxeicoff. I asked him four questions about the deck, but first, here is the mainboard decklist I’ve fallen in love with.

1 Sentinel's Eyes

4 Faithless Looting

4 Thraben Inspector

4 Seeker of the Way

4 Squadron Hawk

1 Guardian of the Guildpact

2 Palace Sentinels

4 Battle Screech

2 Rally the Peasants

4 Prismatic Strands

1 Firebolt

1 Electrickery

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Journey to Nowhere

1 Oblivion Ring

1 Secluded Steppe

4 Boros Garrison

6 Mountain

6 Plains

4 Wind-Scarred Crag

So what did the original creator of Bully have to say about his beloved Delver killer?

Q1: Originally you didn’t run Palace Sentinels. What was your reasoning and do you still stand by this?

A1: Bully was an aggro deck at its start and the metagame at the time didn't have too much Tron, so using Raise the Alarm EOT had A LOT of play options/surprises and game wins...from the obvious fueling battle screech out of the blue, to blocking, to having a double answer to fling with opponents countermagic - its combination with prismatic strands was paramount and I still feel this build is the right call given the metagame and/or shifts in it. Remember, I placed 3rd in a challenge on its debut, and was a shoe-in for the win if I had one more second. My last round in the top 8 was vs. familiars and I timed out with lethal on the stack - MEGA frustrating... Palace Sentinels slows the deck down, but is necessary vs. Tron... but I'm still not sure since the addition of it didn't make the match THAT much better, just a bit - moreover the ability to protect monarch via strands is usually the angle. More importantly was my lack of using Thraben Inspectors - that was a design miss on my end, I leaned heavily on sacred cats for their brutal efficiency and re-use-ability. I've liked Guaridan of the Guildpact mix with Monarch, but I'd never play more than two Palace Sentinels personally. Just a few weeks later, I placed 2nd in the Rags to Riches tournament in Seattle using 2 Palace main. It has been awesome to see the variations of the list over the last year or so - no right answers, just cool tweaks for the given state of the game.

Q2: Are there any new cards that would improve the deck?

A2: From my original design, there is now an instant that does the same thing - but I feel your recent addition of one Sentinel's Eyes is very 'on-brand.' The DNA of the deck is Faithless Looting - pitching stuff in your yard that can come back makes faithless looting feel like a cheap Treasure Cruise. Future expansions continue to come, pay attention to abilities like retrace and embalm, escape etc.., I feel the lack of "Seal of Fire" is a bad call in most lists - this card isn't "NEW" but it is often overlooked...once out, it is an un-counterable option to about 90% of the critters in Pauper.

Q3: What decks typically give this one a hard time? What is the strategy you find best to beat those decks?

A3: Tron was and is always an issue...decks with recursion locks. A combination of Monarch, Flaring Pain, graveyard hate, sheer aggro pumps and/or land destruction are all decent ways to attack, but it is usually a hard matchup...which is why I like the surprise value in Raise the Alarm/more aggro approach. As much as I like to have a 'GOTCHA!" card - Tron is too resilient, and in the end, it is often best to be the problem. Also, at Pauper's first ProTour LA - I went undefeated -(after a first round scoop due to my lands mysteriously vanishing and taking a loss to start.) In that list, I ran COP Black - because Nasty's build of Gurmag/Dimir build was very popular, but I had success vs. it with that simple addition...Guardian's of the Guild don't hurt much either there :)

Q4: If WOTC let you design a card for Bully, what would it be and what would it replace?

A4: Hmm...it would need to be a sideboard card vs. Tron...flexible and have some interaction with the graveyard.

I really enjoyed getting Deluxeicoff’s take on Boros Bully. I still remember the Rags to Riches event held by Card Kingdom in Seattle where I got to share a drink and hang out with him to play some pauper before the event started. If you ever find yourself with some free time on Saturday, Deluxeicoff broadcasts his Pauperganda show via Twitch at 9 am pst. He also has a YouTube channel, a Facebook page, and if you want to support him go donate through buymeacoffee.

So what are my hot takes on the deck and what have I tried to implement? I’ve been loving the fact that Bully can beat practically any aggro strategy out there. With the uncommonly strong (pun intended) Seeker of the Way combined with Prismatic Strands, it’s easy to recover and then take the game away through the air with Battle Screech and Rally the Peasants. Whenever I see a turn 1 island, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that I have the upper hand in the match. Considering Delver decks are on the uptick and Tron is seldom seen in leagues or community run events, I’d say Bully is in a good spot right now.

Recently I’ve tried out some new cards in the deck to see if they improved upon the ole Bully on the block. I started out by moving towards a more artifact centered deck so I could run Galvanic Blast alongside Lightning Bolt. I did this by removing Journey to Nowhere, Oblivion Ring, and one Guardian of the Guildpact. My reasoning behind this was that it could give the deck more reach and have a shot a taking out Tron once they have a fog lock. In the end I didn’t really like the mashup between Monarch and Bully the deck resembled. Stumbling on mana or constantly having an underpowered blast in the face of artifact removal was harsh. I also felt like the change made some matchups worse like Affinity or UB Delver where I wish I still had Journey to Nowhere. Maybe I just cut the wrong cards to make room for Galvanic Blast, but in my opinion it just made the deck awkward.

Next I tried playing with two copies of Underworld Rage-Hound. I remembered way back when the deck played with Sanctuary Cat, it was such a great feeling to have access to a creature that not only spat in the face of removal, but pitching it to Faithless Looting never felt like a feel bad moment. The problem I ran into though was the same one that plagued the cat, there was no evasion to push through damage. Worse, having to attack every turn really took away its potential as a road block. The only positive I saw when playing Underworld Rage-Hound was when I faced a Tron deck, and even then it eventually got stonehorned. Too many creatures can block it and kill it, and Gurmag Angler just plain eats it.

After that I wanted to explore the escape mechanic further. I had see the success Sentinel’s eyes was having in decks like Hexproof and Heroic and wondered if a deck like this could embrace it al well. So far I’ve really like the inclusion of one copy of Sentinel’s Eyes. Being able to cast it from the graveyard by exiling a mere two cards and paying one white mana has been amazing. It instantly turns any of your birds into a threat, or gives your Seeker of the Way some added oomph. Another feature of Sentinel’s Eyes is that it gives the creature vigilance which Prismatic Strands loves. I really think Sentinel’s Eyes has a home here, but you might want to play around with the card you take out. The deck usually runs 2 Guardian of the Guildpact, but I’ve cut one to make room for it. I could see the deck maybe cutting a Firebolt or Lightning Bolt, possibly even Oblivion Ring instead. Only time and more “eyes” on the deck will tell.

1 Electrickery

1 Flaring Pain

1 Leave No Trace

3 Pyroblast

1 Ramosian Rally

2 Red Elemental Blast

2 Shenanigans

1 Standard Bearer

1 Oblivion Ring

1 Aura Fracture

1 Tormod's Crypt

My sideboard is a bit different than you might see. When it comes to my artifact removal, as much as I love Gorilla Shaman, I think Shenanigans plays really well with the deck’s plan. That’s why I run two, so I can increase the odds of a backbreaking turn two play against affinity.

I’ve always loved Aura Fracture in my white decks. A lot of the time this deck will have excess mana to pitch to Aura Fracture. Being able to continually destroys an enchantment can keep opposing Journey to Nowheres at bay and Hexproof from turning their Bogle into something even Ulamog would be scared of.

On that note I also love Standard Bearer. One of the decks that I hate losing to constantly is Elves. Standard Bearer can shut down their game plan of making huge elves with Timberwatch Elf. It also helps in the burn matchup by eating a bolt. Tireless Tribe has a hard time getting through it without Gut Shot as well. There are a plethora of reasons to run Standard Bearer, which is why I can’t not include.

The last oddball I run is a lone copy of Tormod’s Crypt. I like this over Relic of Progenitus for the reason that it doesn’t hit my graveyard when sacrificed. Being able to cast it for free is another boon when I absolutely need to find it and burn through two faithless lootings leaving me tapped out. It’s happened before and I was sure glad I was running that over Nihil Spellbomb.

That about sums it up. Get out there and bully your opponent in the best way, by swinging for lethal with a rally of birds. I hope you have enjoyed these blogs/articles. I’m always open to feedback and simply want to provide the best content I can. I’m always open to collaborate on a deck as well. Please visit and like/follow my Facebook page pauperpedia, a fan page dedicated to bringing you links to daily articles, videos, and podcast covering Pauper. You can also email me at [email protected] if any of you have submissions as well. Till next time folks, have a happy Brewsday!

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