#shuriken icons

[bivekits]

flipside, boombox & shuriken icons for a request!

250 x 250 & free to use, credit not necessary but appreciated ^_^

[jammerwaves]

THE REST OF THE PHIGHTERS PLUS SOME EXTRAS

250 x 250 & free to use, credit not necessary but appreciated ^_^

[slutpoppers]

<- Lord Orochimaru vs Hiruzen Sarutobi ->

Summoning Jutsu: Edō Tensei

[silly-boardz]

buncha phighting icons :D (2)

[fandonnavyce]

Patrol Partners 2024

This is my co-authored fic for this event. Shout out to Leonardo_Turtle for being a great partner!

Aka the Brain Dead Meet Cute where Tim and Danny are Trapped in An Elevator during a Rogue Attack

Danny presses the 12th floor elevator button to take him to the new exhibition in the observatory. He has been looking forward to seeing it since he had arrived in this dimension but never had the time to visit until now. The exhibition was supposed to be a stunning gallery of all the exciting xeno-meteorology on the different planets in the Cassiopeia Galaxy. Danny was so looking forward to seeing it. Danny fired off a quick text to Tucker, as he impatiently watched the numbers above the elevator doors ascend. Ding went the elevator upon its arrival to the 12th floor. The lift doors parted open.

CRASH

Startled at the sudden noise, Danny looked up from reading Tucker’s reply. Streaks of red and black went smashing through the hallway’s window in a shower of shattered glass. Multiple bodies hit the ground. The one in red smoothly rolled to his feet but he was being ganged up by the other three fighters dressed in iconic black outfits - Ninjas and (red and black costume with a stylised cape and domino mask) Red Robin?! Danny had heard of the vigilante Red Robin before, but he had never seen him in action before. (Warning Long Post)

Three on one seemed like an unfair fight but the hero was more than holding his own. Danny silently reached over to press the ‘Open Doors’ button as watched the fight with great admiration. Red Robin was deftly dodging the multiple attacks from multiple angles. Sliding out of range and using his staff’s greater reach to counterattack with such elegance, it looked choreographed. So Danny decided that the best thing to do was to not get in the way. Instead he would wait for the fight to be over. Danny pressed the ‘Open Doors’ button again.

Whilst Red Robin batted away a shower of shuriken with his staff, Danny prevented the doors from closing again. With a stunning swing Red Robin managed to knock one of the ninjas out of the fight completely. The two remaining ninjas shared a look before pouncing. With aggressive coordinated attacks, the fight sped up. As the intensity increased, Red Robin's staff became a blur. Then it began sparking with electricity. It took short work before the second ninja was convulsing on the floor. Red Robin then knocked the third ninja to their knees before swiftly electrocuting him right in front of Danny. The slumped over body crumpled at Danny’s feet.

Danny was looking at the unconscious ninja, and giving them a little nudge with his foot, when he felt someone staring at him. He looks up and finds Red Robin staring blankly at him in total disbelief.

“What?” Danny says as he gives the ninja a bigger nudge. “He’s in the way.”

“And you didn’t think to use the stairs to get away?” Red Robin asks. “Or just get to safety like a normal person?”

Danny surveys the fight and, as if the thought had just occurred to him, he says, “Yeah I should probably leave. I don’t think the exhibit is still open after this.” Danny pointedly looks around at the scene. Then he shrugs and motioned towards the elevator. “Need a lift?”

Red Robin looked at him like he was insane. Then he just sighed and nodded his head.

"Might as well," Red Robin said while dragging the ninja out of the elevator by his leg. He lifted his hand to his ear and looked away while saying, "B, need a cleanup on floor 12. Heading down for a perimeter check."

Danny watches as Red Robin comes closer and enters the elevator. For the last time Danny reaches over to the elevator buttons but this time he presses for the ground floor. He shifts over so that the vigilante can have more elbow room. The elevator begins to descend. The pair stand in silence. Danny keeps giving side glances to Red Robin who seems to be either unaware or merely ignoring Danny’s furtive looks.

Danny's slouch straightens up immediately when he feels the elevator's momentum suddenly slow down with a loud screech. A siren goes off. Danny looks down to find Red Robin’s hand clutching his arm as if to brace him. Danny stares down at the gloved fingers holding onto his sleeve, stares up at Red Robin, then back down at the hand with a look of confusion. Danny opened his mouth to ask why but the vigilante had already retracted his hand, and was visibly cringing. He reached his hand up to his ear.

“Batman, Batman come in,” Red Robin hurriedly says into his comms. But the vigilante only received static. “Oracle,” he tried instead, his voice was a studied calm.

“No response?” Danny asks commiseratingly. Behind his mask, Red Robin looked blankly at Danny before shaking his head.

“The elevator is causing interference with the signal so I can’t get through.” Red Robin then cocked his head. “Can I borrow your phone?” he politely asked.

“Why?” Danny asked suspiciously, holding his phone protectively close to his chest.

“I think I can use it to boost the signal and get through the interference,” Red Robin explained. “Don’t worry, you’ll get it back in one piece,” he reassured.

Danny grimaced, “I don’t think my phone will be compatible with your tech.” Danny’s current phone had been cannibalised and rebuilt by Tucker during a feud with Technus. It had ended up so modified that Danny would be unsurprised if any day now his phone woke up sentient.

“Can I at least try?” he asked with an expectant hand out. Danny couldn’t find any good reason to say no. Reluctantly he handed over his phone, placing it directly into the vigilante’s hands. Red Robin flinched when their hands touched, and Danny winced back. Red Robin had clearly been startled by how cold Danny’s hands were even through their gloves.

“Sorry, cold hands,” Danny apologised. He trotted out the usual fib to explain it away. “I have low blood circulation.” Nodding silently, Red Robin appeared to accept that. Nervously, Danny fidgeted as Red Robin physically inspected his phone, taking off the back and everything. Danny looked over Red Robin’s shoulder to watch what the vigilante was doing. Red Robin’s eyes never left the phone. Eventually though, the vigilante gave up the attempt and agreed with Danny’s initial assessment.

“I’ve never seen a model like this. Where did you get it?” Danny was saved from answering when suddenly the intercom crackles to life above them.

“Good day good citizens of Gotham city, you might be wondering why I brought you here today.” A nasally sounding voice spoke. “Well it’s quite simple really. The Batman thinks he is smarter than me and it’s getting on my nerves. So, I decided to give him a challenge he can't beat. That’s where you lovely people come in. If Batman solves my three riddles, I will release the hostages. If he doesn’t…..” The voice starts cackling. “If he doesn’t then the observatory goes boom. Batman, you will receive your first riddle in five minutes. Be ready”. The intercom fizzles out, leaving an awkward silence.

Danny hears Red Robin silently cursing while he stares at the now silent intercom. He feels a bit guilty for getting him stuck in the elevator with him so he decides to break the tension.

“Well, he’s a bit of a fruitloop isn’t he? Wonder what his deal is.” Red Robin turns his head towards Danny with a flabbergasted look on his face.

“You wonder what his deal is, do you even know who he is?” Danny looks back at Robin, awkwardly staring at Red’s disbelief. It dawns on Danny that he had just messed up.

“Whaaaaaat?” he laughed nervously. Danny felt his smile stretch just a bit too wide for a human. “Of course I do!” he lied. Internally Danny was furiously debating with himself whether or not to just admit he doesn’t know. He decides to double down on the lie instead. “This is the guy who does, who does the stuff with the you know… the other stuff.” Red Robin’s stare is unrelenting. Danny begins to sweat nervously. “Which are… riddles?” his voice rises. Danny crosses his fingers behind his back. Unbeknownst to Danny, Tim could see that. There were mirrors in the elevator. Also, Danny’s arm movement had been very unsubtle.

The intercom crackles to life again with the familiar voice from before who Danny now knows as “The Riddler”, a name that Danny privately thought was very stupid. “Well Batman, I hope you are ready for your first riddle.” He chuckles evilly “Riddle me this: Take me out of a window, and I leave a grieving wife. But stick me in a door, and I can save somebody's life. What am I? You have 3 minutes to give me your answer.” The Riddler chuckles as the intercom fizzles out.

“What can be taken out of windows and put into doors?” Tim furiously mutters as he thinks out loud. “Well the most common glass to use for windows is silicate glass, that is a mixture of sodium carbonate, limestone and silica aka sand whilst doors are typically made from wooden materials, like pine or oak, even mahogany so are they talking about Carbon or organic matter since all living beings need it. But what does that have to do with grieving wives? Unless they're talking about steel doors, but again, what does that have to do with grieving wives and life saving?” he trails off into thought.

Danny meanwhile looks down in concentration. “Take me out of windows… grieving wife; Stick me in doors… save lives. Windows… doors, windows, doors…” Danny frowns as the cogs in his mind turn. Then like a bright flash, he gets the answer. “It's the letter n!” Danny blurts out triumphant. Red Robin’s head whips round to face Danny. A disgruntled look of confusion was on his face.

“What?” he sharply asks, slightly irritated at his broken train of thought.

“It’s the letter n,” Danny repeats in excitement, “the answer is the letter n!”

Red Robin folds his arms. “How?”

“Like this: If you take the letter n out of window you get,”

“Widow,” Red Robin interrupts, now catching on, “and a widow is a grieving wife. Which means if you put the letter n in door you get,”

“Donor” Danny finished cheerily, “as in blood donor or heart donor. Something that can save lives!”

“That’s,” Red Robin is staring at Danny with an intent look in his eyes, “impressive. You figured out the answer to that riddle very quickly.” Danny responds with a sheepish grin. He was just about to say something when his phone went off. It’s an incoming text from Tucker. Danny fishes it out from his pocket. Danny taps out his reply on his phone’s keypad.

“How are you getting a signal in here?” Red Robin asks inquisitively. Danny’s finger freezes over the keypad. His brain stalls.

“Errrrr.” Fortunately for Danny, he’s saved from answering when the intercom turns on again.

"Impressive, Batman. You've correctly guessed that the answer was the letter 'n'. Now, for my second riddle, a little favour from that foolish Kite Man," the Riddler muttered with annoyance. “I love to dance and twist. I shake my tail as I sail away. When I fly wingless into the sky. What am I? You have three minutes to give me an answer.”

Once more, the intercom is silent. Red Robin sighs deeply and looks at Danny.

“Well that is an easy one, a kite probably. He gave it away even before he said the riddle.”

Danny looks at him questioningly. “How was it obvious?”

“Because he said Kite man made him say it. You know, like the super villain?”

"Of course I know who he is.” Danny chuckles nervously. “I was just confused because you said SUPER villain. I mean, he is a villain alright! Just not, you know, a super one.” Red Robin looks at him like he grew a second head.

“What do you mean not a super one? What’s the difference?”

“Well…. presentation.” Danny thought he nailed that one. But one look at Red Robins face makes him question himself again. “You know what, probably not important right now though.”

Tim can’t believe what his day just turned into. First, he finds out Jason changed out his regular coffee for decaf, and then he has to deal with Ra's al Ghul’s ninjas only to get stuck in an elevator with a citizen who deals with stress by lying poorly. What’s even worse is that he still doesn’t know his name after all this time. Tim turned to the other occupant of the elevator.

“Sorry, I just realised we have been stuck in this elevator for a while and I never asked for your name.” The stranger looks relieved by the change in topic.

“Oh yeah, it’s uh... it’s Danny.”

"So, Danny, you're not from around here. Are you?"

“Whaaat?” Danny starts laughing nervously. “Is it that obvious?”

Silence falls awkwardly between the pair trapped in the elevator. Tim notices that Danny is fidgeting and his eyes are darting around the elevator as if he is looking for a quick way out. Tim supposes that it would be pretty scary for a non-Gothamite to deal with the dangers of a rogue. So he decides to put his extensive Robin training to the test.

“Everything is going to be fine, you know.” he says while trying to exude confidence. But it comes out a bit stilted. The awkward silence remains a bit before Danny speaks again.

“Saying who gave you the riddle, knowing that the guy's whole aesthetic is kites may just be the dumbest move he made yet. How long do you think Batman would take to solve it?”

They are interrupted by an angry voice coming over the intercom again.

“Well, it seems Batman solved the riddle. Not that it was hard. I’m never going to do a favour for Kite Man ever again. That loon doesn’t know a good riddle even if it hits him in the face.” They hear the Riddler sigh and quietly count to 10 before continuing. “I guess it is time for the last Riddle. When you stop to look, you can always see me. But if you try to touch me, you can never feel me. Although you walk towards me, I remain the same distance from you. What am I? As always, you have 3 minutes.”

“Well the answer obviously has something to do with space, or at least the sky,” Danny immediately declares with full confidence. Tim raises an eyebrow.

“How so?”

“When you stop to look, you can always see me. But if you try to touch me, you can never feel me,” Danny quotes, “That is clearly a reference to something you find in the sky, like the MOON OR THE STARS!” He says that last bit very excitedly. “But what kind of phenomena is it where you can walk towards it, but remain the same distance? Most of the difficulty with space travel is surviving the conditions of travel. Unless we’re talking about objects in space that are so far away that the usual units of distance are rendered useless,” Danny mutters off, “but that’s what the unit ‘lightyears’ was literally made for. So are we back to…”

Tim watches Danny struggle to answer the riddle. He believes that Danny was on the right track when he said that the answer was something that could be observed in the sky but he wasn’t so certain about the space aspect. After all, if the answer was an approachable object then it wouldn’t remain the same distance away if you walked towards it. That meant the answer had to be something illusory, a visual phenomenon. Tim thought hard and then grinned when the answer came to him.

“Danny I know what the answer is,” Tim called out.

“Huh?” Danny blinks in wide-eyed surprise.

“The answer to the riddle, I know what it is,” Tim repeats, smiling wide. “It’s the horizon.”

Danny stares at Tim before face-palming. “Oh my god, that’s so obvious in hindsight,” he groans in self-deprecation.

As the time keeps ticking on, Tim notices that Danny is getting more agitated. And the more agitated he gets, the more strange he begins to appear. If you asked him what was strange about him, he couldn’t tell you. Call it Robin's intuition.

Danny takes a deep breath and releases it in a frustrated sigh. “Why is it taking Batman so long to solve the Darn riddle? It’s been well over 7 minutes now.” He starts to sound more distorted the more frustrated he gets. “I didn’t come here to be stuck in an elevator for god knows how long, I just wanted to see that blasted exhibit on the Cassiopeia Galaxy, Why is that so gosh darn hard?!”

Tim finds it amusing how Danny swears like he’s a 70-year-old granny at church. “That’s one way to say it.” Even as he is smiling at Danny’s misery, he can’t help but think how odd his voice sounded. It sounded like he was talking from an old radio. The more Tim pays attention to Danny, the more things start to add up. He decides to not comment on it because Danny doesn’t come across as dangerous. Just a little weird. He is 90% sure that he is a meta, The other 10% might be that he maybe needs to sleep a little more than 3 hours over a period of 5 days.But it was then that he saw it, Danny’s eyes had slowly turned more and more green. To the point they were glowing. He doesn’t want to put him on the spot by saying he is a meta, but if it meant getting them out of the elevator sooner then he would.

“So what are your abilities?” he “subtly” asks. He does his best to look as not threatening as he can while Danny looks at him with a startled expression.

“Whaaaat? Abilities?! Why would, why would you think that?” Danny’s voice is pitching higher as he tries to stammer out another lie.

“Dude you don’t have to be scared, I won’t tell anyone. But if it gets us out of the elevator then it would be nice to know.”

He sees how Danny is gearing up to tell another lie before deflating. “Yeah okay, you got me. I’m a meta.” Somehow, Tim still gets the feeling that he isn’t being told the whole truth. He decides not to call him out on it. “I can phase us out of the elevator so we can help Batman take out the baddies.” Danny says excitedly with a cheeky wink.

Tim looks at Danny with a flabbergasted look. Then shakes his head and says, “OK besides the fact that you just said baddies unironically… You could have phased us out of here this whole time?!”

Danny at least has the decency to look sheepish. “Sorry dude, I just didn’t know how you would react.” Tim releases a big breath and takes a few seconds to collect himself.

“Alright, we can talk more about this later. For now, let’s just get out of here and kick some riddler butt.” He can hear Danny giggling when he said butt, but he decided to ignore it like the adult he is. Especially since Danny has started to stand very close to him. He hoped Danny didn’t see his blush.

“Sorry, I just need to hold you so I can phase us out. Is that ok?” Danny asks gently. Tim agrees and then he can feel Danny’s arms around him. “Hold on tight.” Tim does as he says and puts his arms around Danny’s neck. He then feels a wave of cold wash over him as he is slowly lifted off the ground. They then go up and through the walls until they land on the floor in front of the elevator doors. The cold feeling goes away when Danny lets go of him and steps away. He takes a moment to orient himself before turning on his comms.

“Batman, this is Red Robin, are you there?”

“Red Robin,” Oracle’s voice comes through the line, “Where have you been?” Her voice is partially concerned but mostly curious. “I lost track of you after you were attacked by ninjas?”

Tim sighed, already regretting the words that were about to fall out from his mouth. “I got stuck in an elevator,” he defeatedly admits. Oracle breaks out in laughter.

“What?! Are you serious? What do you mean you got stuck in the elevator?”

Tim runs his hand through his hair. “The building I ended up fighting Ra’s assassins happened to also be where the same building that The Riddler was attacking at that moment. So when I decided to take the elevator instead of the stairs after my fight, that was when the elevator stopped working,”

“Because of the Riddler,” Barbara finished. “So you’re at the observatory? That’s where Batman is right now.”

“Yeah, so if you could point me in the direction of the fight that would be great.”

“Replacement, you’ve missed the fight!” Jason yells, cackling loudly. Tim could feel his face fall.

“What?” Tim asked despondently.

Barbara was kind enough to be apologetic, “Sorry Red Robin, the fight is already over, Batman has already handed Riddler over to be arrested and everything.”

“Oh that’s…” Tim just manages to not curse, “fantastic.” He ignores Jason’s howls of laughter. “See you later Oracle, Red Robin out.” Tim decisively cuts the line. Bottling up his irritation he then turns to Danny. “Your phone number,” he demands. Danny quietly recites it. Tim nods, memorising the 10 digits. “You will be hearing from me,” Tim declares before releasing his grappling hook and swinging away, so very done for the day. He’ll tackle Danny and the mystery of his meta status a later day.

And if he decides to ask Danny about it over coffee or at Bat Burger then that is strictly between him and the handsome stranger he met in the elevator.

The End

@patrol-partners-batphandom

Masterpost

[sunshinemoonrx]

InuBrother's iconic unnamed shuriken he acquired through unknown means

[narutocharacterpolls]

ROUND THREE

MAITO GAI vs UMINO IRUKA

Reasons for submission under the cut

Gai

was instrumental in the success of the story - he may not have won against Madara, but he put fear in him and had it not been for hacks, he would have decimated him where no one else could

believes whole-heartedly in his student to the point of dedicating his life to making him a splendid ninja

came from nothing, worked his way up from nothing, and is now considered to be one of the greatest shinobi to have come out of the Hidden Leaf. People know and fear him

made Itachi bail. That man was ready to fight everyone else, but packed it up when Gai came on the scene

kicked Jiraiya in the face and never properly apologized

great salesperson - always has a spare jumpsuit to give to passers-by and hook them on his favorite brand. True influencer and fashion icon

had a bowl cut before it was cool

was a great friend to Kakashi, and was there for him during the highs and lows of his horrifically stressful life. Arguably saved Kakashi's life with his constant support, and the story could not have happened without him. Is considered by Kakashi - one of the most powerful and infamous shinobi in the world - to be his equal and his best friend

loves kids. Supports his own students like he was their father, and equally takes pride in Naruto and protected Sasuke after Sasuke's first run in with Itachi

in the anime, he is shown to be hard on the outside but clearly permissive in that he would sneak Chouji food in the middle of a mission and try to push Naruto into figuring out who Minato was

confident in himself and confident in others - he is everyone's biggest cheerleader and he isn't just talk; he'll work hard with you. When he says he'll do something, nothing will stop him and he will follow his promises even when no one is watching.

hot. Man has pretty privilege

amazing, supportive teacher and friend

he is always trying to be positive in such a dark world and cheer up those around him

he's so good to Lee, Tenten, and Neji, you can just tell how much he cares about those kids

his speech to Lee was super moving. He knew Lee was scared and made sure to be there for him

he was ready and willing to die to defeat Madara in order to save the others

an actual decent upstanding father figure

unbridled whimsy

excellent tits

Iruka

he is kind-hearted and soft and has a big heart

he always has a watchful eyes over his students. But he can also be stern if needed. He knows how cruel the world can be and wants to make sure his students are properly prepared for the dangers they'll face

he doesn't have prejudices against his students. No hostility towards Naruto who was often the victim of misplaced anger due to the Nine-Tails who was sealed within him. Thus, Iruka came to be one of the only adults Naruto respected in his youth as well as the only person who could control Naruto's behaviour to some degree

due to Iruka's more nurturing, protective and compassionate nature, Naruto views him as a mentor and Iruka in turn, views Naruto as a younger brother

he treats Naruto to ramen whenever Naruto returns from a mission, where Iruka gets to see how he is developing as a ninja

his refusal to allow Naruto to graduate at first was not out of spite, but merely out of caring strictness and a desire for Naruto to work harder and reach his own potential

has a great sense of duty, honour and selflessness as seen when he protected Naruto from an attack, suffering a shuriken wound in his back in order to protect him

he regards the children of the village as the backbone of their village, even being willing to sacrifice his own life to ensure their safety

Iruka to Naruto: "Stop acting like a baby! You want to know what I really think of you?! I think you're one of my most precious students… and… you're like a little brother to me."

he is Naruto's first mentor figure. He deserves more credit and screen time!

he's the only adult with a working brain

one of the few adults who sees Naruto as a human being not a God savior

is the only one who actually apologies to Naruto for treating him badly

one of the reasons Naruto turned out the way he did

he deserves a Reise

a nice father figure

[jimc0]

Kombat Pack 1 - Takeda Announced in Mortal Kombat 1

The Blade Whipping Shirai Ryu returns to Mortal Kombat! NetherRealm Studios has announced that Takeda will be added to Mortal Kombat 1 on July 23, bringing his iconic blade whips, shuriken, and teleport-kick to the fight. Parry Shen reprises his role as the voice of Takeda, adding a familiar touch for fans.

Players can anticipate unique interaction dialogues that delve deeper into Takeda's character alongside his arcade story mode ending. As the final addition to Kombat Pack 1, which also features Quan Chi, Ermac, and guest characters Homelander, Omni-Man, and Peacemaker, stay tuned for NetherRealm Studios to unveil more DLC updates in the future!

#MortalKombat #MortalKombat1 #MK1 #MortalKombatTakeda #NetherRealmStudios #FightingGames #Takeda #KombatPack1 #MortalKombatFans #NewCharacter #ShiraiRyu

Mortal Kombat 1 – Official Takeda Gameplay Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqZwGZBx-t8

[robotgirlservos]

[ask-elliot-doorman-fam]

For Tera: how many siblings do you have?

For N: favorite song?

For Uzi: I'M GETTING DRY ON MY NIGHTCORE!!! ANY SONG RECOMMENDATIONS???

For Mod: Saw that one of Tera's siblings is named A K and I felt compelled to say that I have a NUzi fankid named Shuriken, because of the ✨iconic✨ "fricken ninja star". Also cause I thought it sounded like an edgy enough name for Uzi to name her first born son after.

Three. You already know the twins. Other sibling is on a "journey of self discovery." Nerd.

It's still Eternal Dream, I don't think that will ever change

Never gonna get better then BITE ME baby!

(That's a badass name! Nice!)

[ashzoomer]

I’ve finished the first icon a few hours ago and started working on a few others!

Faction target: Theives den

List: Slingshot, katana, vinestaff and shuriken

[bivekits]

random phighting! skin icons raah

250 x 250 & free to use, credit not necessary but appreciated ^_^

[the-coiner-prince]

Nightbodiment

[ night + (gender)bodiment ~~ nightbodiment ]

A gender in the genderbodiment system related / connected to , or described as being the embodiment of night .

[ flag ID : a rectangular flag with six concentric shuriken-like / twist shapes, the colours from the innermost to the outermost are: pastel yellow , pink daisy , dark lilac , afternoon sky blue , muted dark purple , and dark purple . in the center of the first flag there's a dark purple human body shape with a moon icon where should be the head. end ID ]

~ day 4 of @decayedgender #coiningstories ~~ NIGHTMARE / NIGHTIME

Coined by the prince 👑

[ PT : Anyone can use the terms that the charming has coined , but ke asks to Please DNI if any of these aply to you: racist, sexist, ageist, antimogai, antiliom, BaB, ableist, transmed, transcum, fujoshi, radfem, terf, proshipper, anti-agere, antifurry, NSFW blogs, (NO)MAP, zoophile, necrophiliac, incestuous or supporter of those who act on these types of paraphilias. end PT ]

[roamingberry]

The card arts for the Ninja Stars upgrade cards.

The weapon & upgrade card icon.

An icon for the Assassination Target upgrade card & the Ninja Stars & Shuriken models.

The icon for the Ninja Star emote.

[scraftyisthebest]

Thinking about Liko’s Sprigatito, and the fact that it’s a Grass-type starter getting the major spotlight for the first time in ages, as it’s Liko’s starter and the one who will likely evolve all the way to Meowscarada. Which is unique because Ash’s Pikachu is an Electric-type, but historically his other aces, namely Infernape and Greninja, were Fire- and Water-type respectively. 

But what I find most interesting is how this ties into the theme of the four magical elements of fantasy: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air, the common elemental quartet in fantasy worlds, especially RPG ones, which Pokemon is innately rooted in. In Pokemon’s case, while the Fire- and Water-types’ respective representation of the Fire and Water elements is obvious, the Grass-type can be seen as the rough equivalent of the Earth element, as Earth magic often embodies dominion over plant life and plants come and derive energy from the earth, which is embodied well in the original Grass-type starter, Venusaur, who possesses the power to manipulate nature, release vines from its back, and other powers over the earth. Air meanwhile can roughly be represented by the Electric-type, as it embodies lightning, which comes from the air, and in many cases when lightning isn’t a separate element in a given fictional world it is tied to Air.

Ash’s Pikachu, being his starter and universal ace, is an Electric-type, and as such can roughly represent Air. In fiction, the Air element in terms of character often represents a carefree, energetic, and free spirit, which is what Ash is at his core. Ash’s Pikachu mirrors Ash himself in this aspect of his character, being playful, energetic, and friendly: everyone’s friend, just like Ash himself. Combat wise, the Air element is often associated with lack of raw strength and power, but what it lacks in this front it makes up for with speed and skillful offensive/defensive maneuvers: as a combatant, Pikachu is a small Pokemon that isn’t powerful in a vacuum, but is a skilled and fast Pokemon capable of using its speed and skill to its advantage.

Ash’s Fire-type starters, most of all Infernape who got a starring role as Ash’s ace in Sinnoh and is now the leader of Ash’s Fire-types at Oak’s lab, but to a lesser extent can be applied to Charizard and Incineroar as well, naturally represent the element of Fire. Fire is often the most common element for a Shonen hero to be associated with, and while Anipoke isn’t strictly a shonen, Ash has always been more or less a stock shonen hero in terms of his personality and goals. But more importantly, Fire is driven by passion. Oftentimes, this can be represented in being hotheaded and brash, which Ash is in many cases, especially when it comes to protecting Pokemon, but is more than anything an embodiment of willpower, determination, and spirit, as Fire is a high energy element innately. Ash is passionate, and determined to achieve his goals, most reflected in Infernape and how said willpower combined with Ash’s kindness to it drove Infernape’s mighty Blaze, which was driven by a sheer passion and determination to win, especially against Paul at the Sinnoh League.

Ash’s Greninja is another one of Ash’s most iconic Pokemon and his ace in Kalos, and as a Water-type, it naturally represents the element of Water. The Water element is a mix of strength and fluidity, and doesn’t have the sheer energy of Fire or Air, but has a distinct gracefulness and refinement to its strength. One who is associated with the element of Water is often represented as calm, profoundly wise, and one who goes with the flow. Greninja represents this best as it is very much graceful and skilled in battle, akin to a ninja, yet powerful with its Water Shuriken, and is more calm compared to Ash’s other Pokemon, yet carries an air of wisdom to it at the same time. Its power is made manifest as Ash and Greninja become one and it unleashes its true form as Ash-Greninja, and they master their power as heroic figures. This can in turn represent Ash as a capable role model to other who can inspire others with his passion and strength: he is one whose passion, experience, and life is one others can learn from both in battle and in terms of life principles.

Horizons is only just getting started, and Liko’s story has just begin, but her partner being Sprigatito, a Grass-type, and one who will likely evolve all the way based on Meowscarada’s popularity, can also be reflective of her character thus far from what we’ve seen, and Meowscarada seems to be setting up to be the first fully evolved Grass starter to receive star treatment in a long time, after Fire and Water-types like Infernape, Greninja, and Incineroar have carried that mantle. As I have said, the Grass-type best aligns with the Earth element of the Elemental Power quartet. In terms of characteristics, Earth is often associated with one who is strong, dependable, and protective of others: in many cases this also further is reinforced by a warm and motherly energy. Liko has a ways to go before her Sprigatito becomes a great Meowscarada, and the two have much development to go through thus far, but we can already see much of the Earth element in Liko’s character and how she has developed thus far: Liko has already stated that she wants to become a strong Trainer so she can protect the people and Pokemon she cares about, which is very much a characteristic of Earth characters. And we have also seen that she is very compassionate and empathetic: she can sense how others are feeling and her world thus far is centered around her relationships with people and Pokemon around her that she meets along the way, aligning with her personal growth of becoming someone who can protect others. Thus, we could see this further along the way as her Sprigatito will very likely evolve and become Meowscarada, and Meowscarada’s characteristics and battle style will likely very much align with these characteristics.

A long ass rant from my crazy neurodivergent brain but just compiled a bunch of interesting thoughts I had about Anipoke as of late here.

[rimeiii]

Analyzing What in "Hell" is Bad's gameplay (+ the four demon king's gameplay archetypes) based on trailers alone

I don't know if anyone has done this yet, but literally the only reason why I'm doing this is because. Well. I'm a sucker for tower defense and I'm probably the few people who's interested in this game mainly because of the gameplay, so I do want to brainrot a little bit aha. There's also this little interaction within my crew server:

(danchou is a running nickname for me bc this server did start out as a granblue fantasy crew server and i was the captain of the crew)

Now I can't recall if Prettybusy has ever explicitly stated that WHB will be a tower defense game (like I THINK they did? but idk?) but at this point I'm deep in the trenches of tower defense games (specifically Arknights) and I need a break from the mind-bending struggle that is Surging Waves 9 in IS3 aka Integrated Strategies aka Mizuki and Caerula Arbor after dying on floor 5 one too many times so! Here we go!

Preemptive warning that I'm probably going to slip into Arknights terms because that's what I'm familiar with, oof.

Continued under the cut because this is going to be LONG.

Let's just jump right into it - to the brief view of gameplay from the second trailer!

Okay, sure. Some of the icons and elements are a bit...vague, I guess is the word. But some things are pretty obvious so let's get them out of the way:

You have the stage number up top.

24/30? Number of enemies left!

Now these last two numbers on the top of the UI are a bit confusing, but one of them (most probably the smaller number) is likely to be HP. If I had to guess it'll work like Arknights, where one enemy entering the base would count as 1 HP lost (apart from bosses). The other might be the number of opportunities we get to move a unit on the battlefield, kinda like Path to Nowhere, though the trailers so far have not shown that this is a gameplay feature, so take this speculation with a grain of salt.

The round circle in front of the building is likely to be the base. On the other hand, the red squares are likely to be enemy spawn points.

Red bars are HP bars, while white bars are skill/ult bars.

I do wonder if the game will incorporate something akin to Arknights' high ground tiles. There are two different tilesets in the second trailer, a plain white/cream one that forms a path to the base from the enemy spawn points (where Leviathan and Mammon are standing), and a textured grayish one separate from that path (where Beelzebub is standing).

For the uninitiated, in Arknights, only ranged units can be deployed on high ground tiles. Take for example the one of the boss stages of IS3. Here, the boss is dead and I was in the process of cleaning up the final few enemies. There are three Operators in high ground tiles (Honeyberry, Ansel, and Fiammetta) and four on normal tiles (Mountain, Mlynar, Saria, and Highmore).

High ground tiles are denoted by being at elevation compared to regular tiles, where melee Operators can be deployed. Whether an Operator is melee or ranged is denoted in their Operator screen, at the bottom left (where their class, attack range, and roles are also denoted).

Why do I say there might be high ground tiles in WHB? Because Beelzebub's attack seems to be an AoE ranged attack, akin to the Artilleryman class in Arknights, like Fiammetta or Shirayuki. In addition to that, he is standing on the gray tiles, unlike Mammon and Leviathan. As an aside, the visuals of his attack reminds me of Shirayuki's shuriken, specifically the ones in her second skill.

Anyways, my only gripe with what I'm seeing in the trailer is the vague description in attack speed. It's kinda like a repetition from Arknights. In Arknights' case, it's actually one of the few things in the Arknights status screen that's really vague, and to see it also replicated here...hoo boy.

Like how much of a time interval difference is there between "slow" (Mostima), "slightly slow" (Mudrock), and "average" (Enforcer)? Plus, Mostima's third module has raised her attack speed for every level, so how different is the Mod3 "slow" different from the regular or Mod1/Mod2 "slow"? Thankfully the wikis all have detailed information for the actual attack interval, and for all intents and purposes this vagueness isn't game-breaking by any means, but it'd be a nice QoL addition if we have access to that information in-game.

But you're not here to listen to me talk about Arknights (it's a wonder if you are, honestly, considering this is meant to be a WHB post), so I'll get to my next point.

It probably wouldn't really matter much in WHB?

Like I said earlier, the game's main focus is the demons, not like Arknights where we have people doing absolutely insane things like max risk Contingency Contract or IS3 Surging Waves 15. So, if Prettybusy doesn't really put as intense of an effort into the tower defense aspect like Arknights, I'll be fine with it. I'd appreciate it if they also really develop the tower defense gameplay though, and not turn the later stages into pure DPS checks. We'll see when WHB officially releases!

Enough with the complaints, though. I want to talk about potential character classes, starting with the four main demon kings! Starting with my man, my baby, my love, Leviathan! (danchou stop)

Leviathan, once again proving that I can't escape from falling in love with characters associated with water and the sea, seems to be the WHB equivalent to a Defender in Arknights, potentially either a Protector focused on DPS, like Hoshiguma, using his coffin as a shield. He seems to have taken the brunt of enemy damage in the second trailer, likely due to tanking the hits - his HP is so low I'd be scrambling to deploy a medic or Guardian Defender if it were Arknights. Though, his ult reminds me of Asbestos's second skill, with the increased range and AoE damage. Otherwise, if he has other forms, I'd imagine him being a Summoner, who summons his Eldritch beings onto the battlefield. Kinda like Deepcolor, I guess?

I talk about alternate forms because it does seem you can use multiple versions of the same character in the same team, and these alternate forms seem to have different classes. However, this screencap was taken from the first trailer, so...

Anyways, I talked about Beelzebub potentially being an Artilleryman in the second trailer, I'd talk about the form in the first trailer, which seems to imply that Bubs here is a melee unit. Yet, the party select screen seems to indicate that Bubs is a ranged unit. Note, however, that there doesn't seem to be a clear path like in the second trailer, so enemy movement seems unclear. For all we know, the enemy Bubs is fighting might be the WHB equivalent of an aerial unit.

With Bubs out of the way (wow gbf brain is real), let's move on to speculations regarding Mammon and Satan. Again, screencap is from the first trailer, so I'm not so sure how accurately this will reflect on the current build used for the second trailer, much less the final product.

Satan seems to be yet another ranged unit or a melee class capable of ranged attacks (so, a Fortress Defender like Horn, or a Lord Guard like Arene), if that weapon is of any indication. Like, is that a ballista? He's said to be the most violent of the seven kinds, so is he doing AoE damage like an Artilleryman Sniper, point-blank shots with large damage like Heavyshooter Snipers (like Pozyomka or Schwarz), just has a high attack stat like Deadeye Snipers (like Andreana or Ambriel), or purely focuses on dealing large damage at a farther distance like Besieger Snipers (like Poca/Rosa or Totter)? So many ways we can go with him, and I for one am interested!

And last but not least, Mammon. Those tentacles (and later on the gold hands from the second trailer) surrounding him actually reminds me of Ambusher Specialists from Arknights, melee Operators capable of dealing AoE damage to their surrounding tiles (like Mizuki and Manticore). Considering one of his abilities is to create gold that turns into weapons, this might be one of the manifestations of his abilities!

Now, I'd continue with the other demons eventually, but in a separate post because this is. Already so long. Plus, we don't have as much info about the other demons (and angels) apart from the character previews, so much more speculation abound. So, uh, thanks for reading I guess? Ahaha-