#still haven’t gotten around to tales of vesperia

[goldensunset]

[delkios]

Sick as a Dog (ToV)

Spent all day at work and forgot that it was Saturday oops. Title: Sick as a Dog Fandom: Tales of Vesperia Rating: PG Word Count: 1888 In Responds to: Fluri Week 2019: Sick Saturday Characters: Yuri, Flynn, Repede Summary: Pre-game. Few things can resolve a rocky relationship like sick family. "Repede, c'mon," Yuri's knees were aching from how long he'd been crouched on the wooden floor, back aching just as much from peering under the bed almost as long. "You need to at least drink." The dark lump under the bed made a noise that sounded surprisingly like a refusal while also sounding rather pitiful. Yuri growled and sat up so he could bang his head and a fist on his mattress. "Come on, Repede," he gritted out, worry fraying his patience to mere threads, "get out of there!" He'd tried to pull Repede out earlier but the dog had whined and snapped at him, struggling enough Yuri had let go, not wanting to risk hurting him in his already weakened state. As Yuri was contemplating the effort it would take to move his mattress and flip the bedframe on its side to get at Repede, there was a knock on the door. Both grateful and annoyed at the distraction, Yuri yanked open his door with a barely contained snarled, "What?"

Standing on the other side was Flynn, carrying two bowls on a tray. "I was told Repede is sick. And that I'm supposed to make you eat." When Yuri made no move to do more than stare blankly at him, Flynn pushed the tray into Yuri's abdomen, causing him to take it reflexively. He stepped inside the room, "Where is he?" Yuri looked down at the tray, recognizing it and the worn bowls as coming from the Comet's kitchen. One was a stew, chunks of potato and carrot floating in a dark tomato and wine-based sauce, the other a clear yellow stock that smelled like chicken. The scent of both made Yuri's stomach grumble. He set the tray aside hastily, some of the stock sloshing over the side. He closed the door and rounded on Flynn who was now crouched in almost the exact same position Yuri had been moments earlier. Flynn's hair was matted down though the ends curled slightly. It seemed he'd been in the misting rain long enough for it to actually soak in, droplets hanging from his chin and armor, the half-cape sticking against his back. Must have just gotten in from a patrol, though where on the palace grounds he'd be patrolling that would get mud tracking up his greaves, Yuri hadn't a clue. Yuri felt ridiculously self-conscious, even with Flynn in a more disheveled state than he. Keeping out of Flynn's sight, Yuri ran hands through his hair, trying to tame the flyaways and tangles he'd put in there earlier and surreptitiously dust off his clothes from laying on the floor he hadn't cleaned in who knew how long. Figuring he was as put-together as he'd ever get in this situation, Yuri asked in his most nonchalant tone, "Why are you here, exactly?" Flynn barely gave him a glance. "I care about Repede as much as you do." He pulled off his gauntlets, holding a hand under the bed while making as soft clicking noise. "You've been slacking on the child support." "Really? You want to have an argument about this right now?" There was movement under the bed and Yuri tilted his head slightly to one side. Repede had his face pressed against Flynn's scratching fingers. Traitor. "Have you had anyone look at him?" "With what money?" "Do you even know what's wrong with him?" Flynn asked, a bite of irritation in his words at Yuri's flippancy. Yuri's own mouth twisted as he said, "He'd been eating onions." Flynn sat upright, expression accusatory. "You know onions are dangerous for dogs!" "Yeah, I do," he snapped back, "Ted and his friends were sneaking parts of their lunches to him behind my back. I'm not a complete idiot, Flynn." After the uneasy truce that settled between them in the last year, Yuri had expected to feel insulted at the accusation. He hadn't expected it to still hurt so sharply, though. Flynn looked contrite about it, at least. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accused you of being so irresponsible." He reached back out to stroke Repede's head. "That explains why Ted had been so adamant that I come here, at least." "Mm." Yuri would probably have to apologize to the kids at some point. He hadn't meant to snap at them as harshly as he had when he realized they'd been accidentally poisoning Repede but seeing his dog weak and shaking and throwing up had rattled Yuri considerably. For an entire night he had thought Repede might die and even now, with the worst of it passed, Yuri still couldn't help the fear that Repede would never get better. Flynn reached out with both hands, cupping Repede's jaw between them. Then Flynn closed his eyes, a line of concentration forming on his brow, and his hands began to glow a pale green. Repede's ear flickered, making a soft noise of confusion while Yuri stood there, shocked. He watched as the light deepened, struggling to form a glyph before the magic dissipated and Flynn let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry, Repede," he stroked the dog's head, Repede's tail thumped weakly, "I still haven't gotten the hang of it." Yuri sat down, back against bed. "Was that a healing spell?" "An attempt." Flynn stood to grab the bowl of stock. "It's been slow going. Magic is tough to wrap my head around." Something tightened in Yuri's chest. Only officers were taught magic and even though he knew that was the track Flynn would have to take to fulfill their- his -dream, Flynn had managed to cross that huge gulf between ranks without Yuri realizing it. What else had he missed since he left the knights? What had Flynn accomplished that he hadn't thought was worth telling Yuri because he was too humble to mention them? Because he was too busy to talk with Yuri that often? Because he didn't want to seem a braggart while Yuri was stagnant? Because their relationship was on the rocks? "Here, Repede," Flynn said softly, setting the bowl down. "You need to keep hydrated." When the dog made no move to get up and drink, Flynn dipped two fingers in the bowl, letting them soak for a couple seconds before holding them out to Repede. Yuri held his breath- Repede seemed so fragile these last two days, unable to bring himself to eat and rarely drank -as Repede sniffed at Flynn's fingers. Then gave them a tentative lick. Then again, until every last trace of the stock had gone. "Come on," Flynn said softly, pushing the bowl a little closer. "Have some more." Repede crawled to the bowl, lapping it up slowly. Yuri let his breath out, simultaneously relieved and hurt. "He always listens to you," he said, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice. "Don't know why he came with me." What did Yuri offer him? Freedom to do what he wanted, sure, but it was always one aimless, struggling day after another. With Flynn, Repede would have a purpose, better care, better food. A better life. "Did it ever occur to you that Repede listens to me at times like these because I baby him when he's hurt?" Yuri looked at Flynn in surprise. "What?" Flynn returned that look with one that had a teasing gleam to it. "Sometimes, when you're not feeling well, affection helps you feel better." "I know that." It wasn't as if Yuri wasn't the same, memories rising up of pressing his face into Flynn's chest as if his best friend's arms would protect him from feverish misery. Of still pretending to be feeling unwell just so he had excuse to curl with Flynn for a little longer. "You're not exactly an affectionate person, Yuri." "I can be," he said a tad defensively. "Not easily. You act like being open and straightforward with your emotions gives you a rash." "You don't know that it doesn't," Yuri said mostly so he'd have the last word. Flynn rolled his eyes and let him have it. Repede, having had his fill of the stock, crawled out further and pressed his face into Flynn's lap. Flynn made soothing sounds, running his fingers through Repede's fur. Yuri's victory felt pretty hollow in comparison to that. They sat in silence for a few moments, Yuri not wanting to disturb the scene. He almost felt like an intruder in his own room, watching the comfort and connection between the two as if he'd never been part of it himself. Then Flynn gently shifted Repede's head away, wincing slightly as he moved to mirror Yuri's position against the bed, leaning forward to pull off his greaves, and pauldrons and half-cape. When he settled back, Repede moved around, pressing his body down the side of Flynn's leg, resting his head back on Flynn's lap. Yuri watched as Repede's eyes blinked slowly, barely opening each time as he verged onto sleep. "Did you ever think it a possibility," Flynn said softly, startling Yuri out of his trance, "that Repede is difficult with you when he's sick because he doesn't want to disappoint you?" Yuri's brow furrowed. "What do you mean disappoint me?" "By being a burden." "He's not like that with you." "I'm not his partner." He rocked back slightly because, when Flynn put it like that, it made sense. There'd been many a time in their past that Yuri would downplay an injury or hold in his emotions to keep Flynn from worrying, from thinking of Yuri as weak or pitiable or burdening Flynn with his own issues. And he knew Flynn had done that to him and it would drive the both of them mad whenever they caught the other doing it but they always did. Because Yuri never wanted Flynn to think badly of him. But could a dog understand such abstract concepts? Repede whined, moving his head to stuff his snout between Flynn's arm and side, as if to hide his face. Repede was a smart dog, seemed to understand what Yuri was saying or feeling. And even if he didn't... Yuri couldn't let what Flynn said go so easily. He slid over, arm brushing against Flynn's and Flynn moved his away so Repede couldn't hide behind it. "Hey," Yuri said in the gentlest voice he had, "I'm not going to be disappointed in you. I'll never be disappointed in you." He ran a hand over the length of Repede's head. "No matter how sick or injured you get, you'll still be my partner and I'll always have your back." Repede made a soft sound but he laid his head onto Yuri's lap, shifting his body to nuzzle tight into the space between both men. His eyes closed but his tail still wagged periodically, weakly. When Yuri looked up, Flynn was looking at him with a soft expression that Yuri didn't know how to respond to. The best he could do was lean in until they were pressed shoulder to shoulder, all while ignoring the heat threatening to creep over his cheeks. Sometime, after Repede's tail slowed to a halt and the only sound was a soft noise as he exhaled, Flynn shifted until he could rest his head on Yuri's shoulder. And Yuri, wanting this moment to last a little longer, pressed his cheek to Flynn's hair.

[meimikana]

My Tales of Vesperia fanfiction was written long ago (back in 2008), but seeing as how the fandom has had something of a revival thanks to the Definitive Edition, I might as well repost them for people’s enjoyment~

Overprotective: AO3 Fandom: Tales of Vesperia Pairing: N/A Rating: Teen Summary: Sometimes friendship is just something that has to be endured. (Post-Canon)

P.S. The fic is under the cut for people who don’t wanna go to AO3 for whatever reason. Cheers~

---

Even before he attempted to open his eyes, Yuri knew that things were off. For a start, his head was killing him. And on top of that, there was also the bed he was apparently laying on. His recollection was a little fuzzy thanks to the icepick of pure, undiluted agony that was trying to crack his skull open from the inside, but he was fairly certain that he'd been pretty far from any sort of bed when he'd last been conscious. Also, it was a really comfy bed. He usually couldn't afford this sort of thing. So what the hell had happened? And was he going to regret waking up?

Slowly, carefully, he cracked one eye open, and shut it an instant later, biting back an accompanying groan. He couldn't ever remember his head feeling this bad before. Hell, he didn't even think LeBlanc yelling into his ear for hours on end could make it hurt this much - not that he was keen on finding out. Just what the hell had happened?

"Yuri?"

Oh.

"Are you awake?"

Flynn.

Goddamnit. He remembered now. They'd been taking out one of the last remaining groups of Royal Guard. Stubborn bastards just didn't know when to quit. They still kept clinging to their "commandant's" ideals long after it'd been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Alexei'd been a Grade A lunatic. Yuri had tagged along with Flynn's knights for this particular operation. It was only fair since he'd been the one to figure out where those idiots were holed up anyway. Besides, he hadn't had a decent fight in awhile. That always made him antsy.

It'd gotten a little squirrely there at the end, but Yuri preferred it that way. It was so much more fun when things were hectic. And then Flynn had pulled his usual bullshit, pushing him out of the way of a strike he would have easily deflected without any outside interference. Yuri couldn't really remember anything after that, but with the way his head was pounding he could hazard a guess. He'd hit his head on something. Hard. Overprotective Flynn strikes again.

"You asshole," Yuri ground out as he levered himself up on the bed, gritting his teeth a moment later as his head decided to add a large dose of glorious nausea to the fray. Wonderful. Usually, whenever this happened he'd just bitch the idiot out and stalk off. There was only so much of Flynn's - well earned - guilt that he could take in one sitting, after all. Unfortunately, with the way he was feeling right now, Yuri doubted that there would be much stalking in the foreseeable future, and that was assuming he could manage walking at all. Frankly, he wasn't too sure about the merit of even trying at the moment. Ugh.

"I take it you feel like shit?"

Once he was certain that he wasn't going to puke just yet, Yuri opened his eyes to slits and glared across the room at his "best friend". Flynn, the jerk, was sitting over at his desk staring back at him with what amounted to contrite concern. Smart. He was out of range of strangulation, and a quick glance around Flynn's room produced no sharp or heavy objects within reach for him to chuck at the present bane of his existence. Damn it. "How'd you guess?" Yuri grumbled as he reached up and gingerly ran his fingers through his hair. There was a very distinct area of ow on the left side. That would most likely be where his head had connected with whatever had been in the way. Lovely.

"Ah well, you hit pretty hard and you've been out for a good long while," Flynn said sheepishly, giving Yuri a little apologetic smile before dropping his gaze down to the floor. His expression turned dark as he added, "I was starting to get a little worried."

Yuri grimaced. Oh god, here comes the guilt. Still, in this particular case, it was very much deserved. "This is entirely your fault, you realize?"

"I know. I'm sorry," Flynn at least had the presence of mind to look properly contrite, but Yuri knew damn well that he wasn't all that sorry about it. He was just sorry Yuri had gotten hurt - and definitely guilty as hell about his hand in that -, not because he had interfered again when it wasn't needed or wanted. God, why did he have to get stuck with such a mommy for a best friend? "I can't really help it. It's such an ingrained habit. Whenever I see you doing something stupid, I just have this automatic urge to save you from yourself."

"You're not winning yourself any favors here," Yuri said flatly as he leveled one of his patented glares of death at his friend. Flynn had the temerity to answer it with an outright grin. "I was doing just fine, thank you very much. In fact, I was enjoying myself until you had to butt in and nearly crack my skull open with your help." He cut his tirade short at the look that crossed Flynn's face thanks to that particular turn of phrase. "Oh god, don't tell me you did crack my skull open?"

"Not exactly." Flynn grimaced and fixed his gaze on a point somewhere over Yuri's head. "Hair line fracture. The good news is that the new mana formulas for healing are working out rather well. The bad news is that it's still gonna hurt like a bitch regardless."

Yuri would have rolled his eyes, but he just didn't feel like dealing with the repercussions. Trust Flynn to nearly kill him by simply pushing him out of the way of something he could have handled just fine on his own. Asshole. But that and their current location in Flynn's quarters in the castle did beg the question of what'd happened between then and now, and he had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what had occurred. "Please tell me that you did not carry me the entire way back to the capitol." He made it more of a statement than a question, but he knew he was going to get an answer anyway, and one that he wouldn't like.

"Well, yes." Flynn sounded confused. Of course he would. "What else was I supposed to do?"

Yuri groaned and flopped back down, regretting it an instant later. Ow. He was never going to live this one down. Even if no one had really seen it - and of course they had, the Flynn Brigade had all been present for the operation -, then they would all eventually hear about it anyway because the knights just couldn't seem to keep their mouths shut where gossip was concerned. God, he could hear Tweedle A and Tweedle B mocking him about it already. Why couldn't Flynn have just let him die in peace or something? It would have been the humane thing to do.

"Here." Yuri blinked in surprise as gentle fingers grasped gently at his head. He hadn't heard Flynn get up. "Let me help with that." A moment later the touch turned cool and soothing, smoothing down the ragged edges of pain into something more bearable. "How's that?"

"Better," Yuri mumbled in relief, noting for the first time that Flynn wasn't wearing his armor. Must be pretty late then, he wouldn't have bothered climbing out of his tin suit if he were still on duty. "You're getting pretty handy with those new formulas."

"Well, you know how it is," Flynn muttered absently as he carefully ran his fingertips along the site of the wound, checking to make sure that it was healing up properly. "The commandant has to set a proper example for the rest of the knights. It wouldn't do for me to fall behind on the newly developed healing artes."

Yuri snorted. "Fine example you set what with nearly killing your best friend."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Flynn said breezily as he straightened up. "They all know how much of a stubborn ass you are. They probably think you deserved it."

"I hate you," Yuri groused.

Flynn chuckled in response before heading back over to his desk. "Love you too."

Yuri lay there comfortably in silence for a few minutes. His head definitely felt better after Flynn's little boost. It felt more like a rhinossus was dancing around inside his skull rather than an icepick relentlessly trying to stab its way out. It still hurt like a bitch, but there were degrees of bitches that he could deal with. He could definitely deal with this one. And while going back to sleep was a very, very tempting thought, he still had stuff to do. At the very least, he should let people know that he wasn't dead. "I should probably get going," he muttered dubiously after a moment's consideration. He really didn't fancy getting up, but some things just had to be endured - kinda like Flynn's cooking. Ugh. On second thought, it would be in his best interest to not think about stuff like that, or he really would end up puking.

"It's after midnight," Flynn said evenly, his tone brooking no arguments from the peanut gallery. "And I let everyone know that you haven't up and croaked on them. Everything's fine, nothing's going to fall apart in your brief absence, so just stay put for once."

Yuri rolled his head to the side and studied Flynn for moment, then sighed and closed his eyes. "Whatever." He couldn't see it, but he could easily imagine the triumphant little smirk his capitulation had produced. Jerk. Well, at least the bed was comfortable, and his head didn't really feel like it was up for much walking anyway. Still, there was one little thing that didn't quite fit. Sighing to himself, Yuri rolled his head back over and eyed Flynn skeptically before asking, "So where are you going to sleep?" He had a sneaking suspicion he already knew the answer to that.

Flynn stiffened at the question, then ducked his head down self-consciously. "Ah, well, I, uh, hadn't really thought that far ahead."

"It figures," Yuri grumbled irritably as he started scooting over. "You were planning to watch over me all night, weren't you? Idiot."

"Guilty as charged," Flynn chuckled goodnaturedly as he stood up and walked back over to the bed, taking the unspoken invitation for what it was. "In my defense, I was pretty worried for awhile there. You weren't waking up and that was a pretty bad knock you took," he added as he sat down and started to pull his boots off.

"You sure there are no chickens in your family's history?" Yuri asked conversationally as he held the blankets up, an amused grin plastered on his face. "You've got the mother hen act down pat and the hair definitely works in favor of that explanation too."

"Har har, very funny," Flynn muttered sarcastically as he lay down and draped the offered covers over himself. "Go to sleep, Mr. Comedian."

"Whatever you say, commandant." They both chuckled at that and shared matching grins before Yuri finally allowed his eyes to drift shut. He really was awfully tired and the pain wasn't helping with that any at all. Sleep probably was his best bet for the time being. Of course, there was still one last consideration to take care of. Not even bothering to open his eyes, Yuri reached up and grabbed the hand that had been reaching for his head. "Stop fretting."

"Fine fine. If that's how you want it," Flynn sighed, sounding very put upon as he lowered his hand back down to the bed. He didn't even try to shake it free from Yuri's grasp, but that wasn't exactly something he wanted to do anyway. "Goodnight, Yuri."

Yuri smiled softly in answer, loosening his grip on Flynn into something much more comfortable. "Goodnight, Flynn."

[kaleidographia]

[Review] Tales of Vesperia: The Brightest Star in the Night Sky Doesn't Shine as Strongly as I'd Hoped

Warning: Contains allusive/thematic spoilers.

The day is finally here! Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, containing content previously unseen outside of Japan, has finally been released, so that us English speakers and/or non-PS3 owners can experience the new storylines, characters and features for the first time! Alas, this isn’t a post about that, firstly because this post is going up day-of-release and I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, and secondly because I am writing this from outside of the country and won’t be united with my pre-ordered copy until I return next week, RIP.

Therefore, this post is written from the point of view of someone who has only played the Xbox 360 version. I will try to keep it brief for the sake of not spoiling newcomers to the game, and also hopefully not to complain about things that are fixed (or broken??) in the Definitive Edition.

Tales of Vesperia is a game in the long-running “Tales of” franchise from Bandai Namco, the first one in HD, originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2008, later receiving an updated PS3 version in 2009, exclusive to Japan. Like many older fans, my introduction to the Tales of series was with Tales of Symphonia for the Gamecube, and I fell in love hard; I was therefore extremely excited to play the next games, but unfortunately, I never owned the platforms for them until very recently. Along with Tales of the Abyss, Vesperia and Symphonia form the “holy trinity” of games in the series almost everyone loves; find a Tales fan and ask them their favourite game, and the answer will likely be one of those three (note: I’ve heard very good things about Graces and the two Xillia games, but unfortunately haven’t had a chance to judge them firsthand myself). The three games, while not directly related in terms of plot or setting, share a lot of things in common, as they had mostly the same creative team, often referred to as “Team Symphonia” (as opposed to “Team Destiny” which made most other games since then). One notable difference is the scenario writer, Takashi Hasegawa, while Symphonia and Abyss were written by Takumi Miyajima.

The Tales series is known for its reliance on anime and JRPG tropes, often used in a way that plays off cliché expectations only to then layer plot twists and character development and produce a much deeper experience than what would be expected from the get-go. When used effectively, these methods produce a story that is both fun and emotionally challenging. Tales of Vesperia is no different, offering a cast of archetypes that should be highly recognizable to those familiar with the genre, and yet this may be best set of characters in a Tales game. The party has impressively good banter, chemistry and dynamics and several scenes had me laughing out loud or yelling, and I never had a bad time watching their relationships unfold.

Unfortunately, the game spares little time fleshing out backstories or learning more about each individual character outside of the main plot. By the end, I was left wanting, as the cast was so endearing and vibrant, yet I knew next to nothing about them aside from what had been relevant to show onscreen. I longed for more information about where they had come from and how they had gotten where they were, but it is a testament to the strength of the character writing that their storylines reached a satisfying conclusion despite this relative sparse amount of information about them. “Backstory is not story”, Craig McCracken and Frank Angones were fond of saying to fans of Wander Over Yonder, but for a game with the size and scope of a 60-hour JRPG, not providing that window of information feels like a hole in the worldbuilding.

Mechanically, Vesperia builds on the model established by Symphonia and refined in Abyss, where combat takes place in a 3D arena and the player can run around, hit enemies and rack up combos fighting game style (the franchise calls this “Linear Motion Battle System”). While Symphonia was in 3D, it restricted the player to a single side-to-side corridor of action. Abyss added the ability to run around in 3D space by holding down a button, a feature Vesperia also has. This makes combat easier and more fun, as nothing is quite as satisfying as avoiding an attack and then running around and hitting the enemy from behind. And, as the game allows up to four players controlling different party members, and I have a player 2 (shoutout to my roommate Opal), Vesperia’s system is the most well-suited to multiplayer. If nothing else, I never felt lost while on the battlefield yelling for backup. The one major flaw is that boss fights come with massive difficulty spikes and I often had to grind and formulate careful battle plans with Opal just to not get continuously massacred by bosses.

Storywise, Vesperia starts off very strongly, sort of peters out near the middle, and then the third act falls apart. At first the theme is anti-authority, with a protagonist who grew up in the slums, neglected by nobles, who became a knight and then quit out of disillusionment when it turned out all they did was squabble about politics, and the inciting incident and early driver of the plot is his quest to “fix the plumbing” as a popular Tumblr text post put it. It’s clear Yuri has all the reason in the world to not trust authority and he even goes full vigilante against unjust abuse of power, but while this thread seems like the most important theme in the story, after a while so many other elements come into play it ends up lost and doesn’t really make much of an appearance except to highlight the differences between Yuri and Flynn’s approaches to life and how they prefer to help people. On its own it’s a compelling idea, but it never gets the follow-through it deserves, and my expectations were certainly subverted—but in a bad way.

It’s hard to talk about the third act without spoilers so I will probably come back to it for a proper analysis at a later date, but its ultimate message was already kind of limp in 2008 and is even more laughable now. For a game whose initial premise was so strongly against authority, the ultimate resolution of the main conflict reads as incredibly daft in light of just about everything that is happening in politics at the moment. There’s a very strong environmental allegory and the comparisons to climate change are not subtle, but the writers probably bit off more than they could chew because realistically trying to solve this problem in the time the story allotted would have been next to impossible; I still would have hoped the implications of the given solution had been actually explored instead of settling for an “oh well, guess everything’s been fixed now”.

I’m being harsh about the plot because to me Vesperia has a lot of wasted potential. Don’t get me wrong: I do love this game. It is in fact up there with the holy trinity as far as my opinions of the series go, but it lands in third place out of the three because it just fails to live up to what its first half promises about the world it created. To put it bluntly, if the story had just ended at the conclusion of the second act, it would have been much stronger. That the game continues for another 20 hours on a completely different track with an unsatisfying, unrealistic conclusion is a huge shame because it brings down what could have been a real masterpiece of tropey anime JRPG narratives. I live for that stuff, there’s a reason I want to play every Tales game, but that’s what makes this letdown the most disappointing. At least the characters themselves get good conclusions; it is unfortunate I can’t say the same for the main plot.

Despite all this I think Vesperia is a worthwhile experience, and one of my favourite things about is its aesthetic sense. Every location is immersive, polished, and the pinnacle of what I want to see in a videogame, to the point I dream of Symphonia and Abyss remakes made in the same style (and every other game in the series, to be honest, but that seems unlikely with the direction it’s taken since then). I genuinely cared about the party and I wanted to see them succeed and I was ultimately happy that they did even if I did roll my eyes a lot. The combat was so satisfying and so fun to play with a player 2 it makes me twice as mad that Zestiria’s camera goes completely wild during multiplayer and prevents me from joining in. I should note that for someone who plays as many games as I do I am notoriously terrible at them so I heavily favour story over mechanics, but Vesperia is a game that reminds me that engaging gameplay can make a huge difference. Yeah, I suck, but at least I’m having fun while sucking. That’s more than I can say for a lot of games.

If you like JRPGs, games that let you run around and hit things, or fun and intriguing character dynamics, you’ll probably like Tales of Vesperia. If you’re looking for a coherent story from start to finish, you’ll probably disappointed, but there’s just enough there to keep you engrossed until the end. Overall, Vesperia is solid, and the parts it fumbles aren’t bad enough to ruin the whole thing, but hopefully the extra content in Definitive Edition helps to smooth it out; I’ll have to find that out for myself.

Aside from how it messes up the voice acting this time around. Oh, Bamco.

[aurimeanswind]

Back Again—Sunday Chats—7/8/18

Welcome Back!

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, and I wanted to open up with a bit of a litany of excuses as to why that is! I know when you’re just on the outside looking in its hard to know exactly why I haven’t been posting these or asking questions, or really anything on Sundays. It’s a combination of things.

First of all, the last two Sundays I have not been home to write up Sunday Chats. Three weeks ago I was in Cuba! Well, technically I was at Key West, the day before I’d go to Cuba, on a cruise ship. Most importantly, the only internet access I had was through the data on my cell phone, and so I couldn’t really post Sunday Chats. In theory, I could solicit questions via my phone, I could write it up offline, and then go on and post it when I’d get home the following Wednesday, but I really didn’t want to because it was honestly a genuine vacation for me. I wanted to kind of check out and try and not be online so much. Of course, I failed a little bit in this regard, I was checking Twitter ravenously any time I had an internet connection, because I have a problem. For the most part, when I was off on my cruise with my mom and my brothers three weeks ago, I was without an internet connection, and it was a little nice, but also a little stressful.

The week before that, it was E3! We were living in the Microsoft/Bethesda press conferences! I was going to write something that day but honestly between the post shows and just consuming E3 I honestly did not have time. I’ve done like, reaction write ups in the past, but I was a bit more down to live in the moment this go around.

Then I was in San Francisco! It was the day after Kinda Funny Prom, which was lovely, we’ll get to that in a bit, but that Sunday I was seeing a movie with Barrett Courtney, my sweet boy, and was just exhausted after KFP and everything then. I had stayed up way too late the night before talking games and eating pizza. I had a great time, but I was still pretty checked out.

The Sunday between those two, I was completely exhausted. Honestly? I’m still exhausted. The best thing, I think, to alleviate my normal “post-con depression” type thing I get after a Kinda Funny Live event and seeing all my friends is taking another, separate vacation just beforehand. I had barely enough time to stay at home and just sit on my couch and play video games before suddenly being whisked off to San Francisco. So getting home, I am just so happy to be home, to be sleeping in my pitch-black room on my comfy foam mattress. To lay on my couch and play whatever video game I want (which mostly has been Tales of Vesperia... again) and just... relax. Ya know what I mean? I just want to relax. I’m a solitary person. I’ve talked many a-time before on here, but I just love to be alone a lot. And I just want to be alone sometimes, especially after several back-to-back socially exhausting experiences.

And that’s a big part about why I’ve been so crappy about doing Sunday Chats consistently. Even before this last month of vacations I’ve been very touch and go about SC. Now that I have fully transitioned into being a full time employee, I work a lot more than my body is used to, even if I am four months into my new role at my job. It’s a lot for me. And I’m barely keeping up with my IP work of being an editor there. And that’s, I think, more important, because I am making decisions and a team is relying on me for that.

I essentially circle around two days off a week, Wednesday and Sunday, and so I work Thursday-Friday-Saturday, plus I have the podcast on Friday nights. Without getting too into the details, Saturdays at my job take quite a toll. Like, a lot on me, so just making it to Sunday, I’ve genuinely forgotten completely about Sunday Chats because I am sleeping in and resting and just trying to get my bearings. I know it’s not much of an excuse, but I’m hoping to turn Sundays into equally as productive days as they are relaxing. It’s just about finding that balance.

As per usual, my trip to San Francisco was motivational in some ways, so I feel inspired to continue to work harder and do more now that I’m home, and hopefully that can last me until PAX West in a couple months.

But that’s generally where the status of Sunday Chats is. As a big update, while not going into effect quite yet (maybe not even for months) but Sunday Chats will soon transition to be a full feature on IrrationalPassions.com. I think it’s a natural transition and it makes sense. It’ll still be available and accessible to all, but I want to play around with some format ideas I have, and I think it makes sense to be there since it is, predominantly, about video games, as it always kind of was. I want to have these heartfelt chats there, because I think as the “editor-in-chief” of the site, it helps build a rapport with the audience of that site which seems to grow every month.

Now that’s all done, let’s get to the editorial!

My Feelings and Emotions in San Francisco

I like this title because it’s just all about the feels. As many frequent Sunday Chats readers would know, depression is just slowly becoming one and the same with me. Like two amorphous blobs just close enough to each other that they become one. Like slime enemies from Dungeons & Dragons that just jell together on spiritual and self-hatred-like level.

So I’ve been through a rough like... 2018 to be honest. And so being in a place where I was just genuinely surrounded by affection and good vibes was really, really moving for me. I put out a twitter thread about the feeling which I think encapsulates most of what I’d want to say, and you can read that here.

But a big thing is how being in SF has proven to be a huge opportunity for me in the past: a time to “schmooze” as some people say, and talk to people, make connections, market yourself, or just meet as many people as you can and spread “the brand” as much as possible. And honestly, I just wasn’t here for that this year. I’ve gotten to a very, maybe even regressive place in my life, where I’d rather not get out there and try and be at the center of things and meet as many folks as possible. There were certainly several folks I had never met before that I wanted to meet, but for the most part I spent that time focusing on more intimate interactions with specific people.

A lot of this manifested in folks I’ve admired for a great long while, and that’s the fellows at OK Beast. I got to have a real heart to heart with Ian Preschel, someone I just haven’t been as close to for whatever dozen reasons that usually amount to time, and understand him better as a person. I got to have an emotional moment with Moises, someone I admire so goddamn much and for some reason keeps saying I’m the reason he started writing. I got to spitball ideas with Alex Van Aken, my fellow Alex-in-Arms, and share the wonders of running a business Slack with Blessing. They’re people I just genuinely look up to and inspire me legitimately every day, and I’m excited and hopeful to collaborate with them in the future. I have nothing but love for all of them, including Brandon, wherever he is out there.

I got to spend a ton of time with Barrett and Alyssa, my hosts, and Jacob Bryant who was also rooming with me at their place. They’re just family to me. Enough said.

I got to spend a huge chunk of time with Nicole Humphrey and Cameron Abbott, two very special friends to me, and for reasons I’d rather not put on blast here, it was very important to me that this time was worked into my trip, and I’m so glad it was.

Those dense, meaningful interactions are what I live for. It’s literally why I started the show Get Acquainted (new episodes coming soon I promise!) and they were the highlights of the weekend. I won’t list them all here, but suffice to say on a personal level this trip was very important to me, rather than on a “business level” which it has been for me in the past.

Thank you all for being open to wasting your time with me, I’ll be forever grateful.

ONTO GAMES.

What’s On Tap

Hollow Knight

I HAVEN’T TALKED ABOUT THIS GAME ON SUNDAY CHATS AT ALL YET AND IT’S INCREDIBLE OMG.

I love this game.

Final game time was 42h and 7m, and all of it was excellent. Well... Not all of it, there were a couple very frustrating bosses. But most of it was excellent.

One of the best Metroidvanias ever made. Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid, Ori and the Blind Forest, Hollow Knight, and Metroid Prime are the best of the genre full stop. It sits proudly in that number.

Don’t think. Play it.

Unless you really don’t like hard games, because it’s very difficult, but crazy rewarding!

Ys VIII

I just got this pretty recently and am only about four or so hours in, and so far it’s just a wonderful delight.

Compared to the demo I played a great many months ago on PS4, the Switch version does take quite the graphical hit, especially if you have a hangup about anti-aliasing. There are a LOT of jaggies to be seen here

BUT, I think performance wise it’s still very solid. Some hitches here and there, but during combat it’s generally smooth, and that’s what’s most important.

Very good. Recommended.

Captain Spirit

Honestly, there is too much to say here. Don’t hesitate, go play this. I do not care if you’re like Jurge Cruz (social media editor at IP) and are dead inside and don’t like Captain Spirit. It’s free. Go play it.

Nuff. Said.

More thoughts coming soon.

Questions

Remember you can tweet me your questions by looking for my tweet with #SundayChats in it on Sunday afternoons, and you can be a part of this write up! Much love to everyone who always shows up (I’m looking at you Brandon Gann! <3)!

Goddammit Tyler you keep asking me wrestling shit and you know I hate wrestling...

Uhh...

What if I just showed up and was Noctis?

Originally posted by ffxvcaps

A great many things! Event wise, I’m very excited about PAX West. Assuming I can still make it, which I should be able to, it’ll be a blast.

Plus there are new shows and new things coming from IP soon that I am just hyped for.

But let’s be honest with each other? Okay? Let’s all be real here?

Motherfucking Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition.

‘Nuff said.

My favorite Romantic Comedy of All Time just so happens to also be my favorite movie of all time, Silver Linings Playbook.

It is, in my humble opinion, a perfect film. It is the only movie I have watched over 10 times.

It’s very important to me, and while it may seem dumb to many of you, it told me that even fucked up bad people like me can find love in both themselves and others. And I really needed to hear that when that movie found its way to me in 2013.

Good LORD am I the WORST to ask about this. Well, first, Jamie. It was a goddamn pleasure meeting you at prom.

I mean, look at us:

I was very drunk and I’m so sorry.

But on a real level, a few things.

First, I did this horrible thing where I wrote everyday for almost three years straight and that was just a self-made torture and I have to keep myself in shape motivationally speaking or else I’ll have to do that again. And that sounds torturous. But as far as building strong habits I think that did help a lot. I mean, Sunday Chats is a direct by product of that, and I think generally people seem to like SC.

Second, I spend a lot of my brain energy trying not to worry about shit I have zero control over. If I misread a text and think someone hates me for whatever reason, which I do pretty much on a daily basis, I’m either going to text them back and ask, or do nothing, and if I’ve decided to do nothing, then I don’t get to be upset about it. If someone is doing some wack shit, I’m either gonna keep talking to them, or nah. Just do it, and everything else, well there is nothing you can do about it. Usually. But my depressed-adled and crazy-ass garbage brain still spends many an hour worrying about things I have no control over. But I’ll say this, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten better at it. Skill comes with time and age.

Third, I think finding someone on relatively equal footing as you but maybe doing something better or more interesting or just simply different than you can really be motivational. It’s easy to get demotivated by someone else’s success, but words I try and hold onto every goddamn day are “someone else’s success does not equate to your failure”.

I hope that helps!

I have not had a lot this year, unfortunately. Avengers was great? I looooved Ant Man and the Wasp! Adored it. Just saw it yesterday (on Sunday, actually!) and it was phenomenal.

But outside of that I don’t have much. It’s crazy to say that in a year where a new JK Rowling Harry Potter movie is coming out, but Johnny Depp is in that movie and he is fucking human trash and for some reason WB is letting him just waltz around like he hasn’t done horrific things. 

But anyway, I’d very much like to see Fireworks, from the same folks what made Your Name, but the dub wasn’t playing anytime I could see it this past weekend. :(

Maybe if it goes up on streaming soon (which I’m hopeful it will) I can see it.

Outside of that, I got nothing.

As someone who actively dislikes breakfast and most breakfast food, this is tricky for me to answer. I know your whole breakfast fetish Quin, so I won’t shit on you here, but I guess it’d just be a simple bagel (everything bagel. or poppy seed, depending on my mood) or maybe pancakes/waffles.

My thing is waffles/pancakes aren’t breakfast food, they’re anytime food. Or 1am food.

I have traveled a lot yes, but it’s been to a lot of the same places over and over again unfortunately. Not that that’s necessarily bad, but it’s been a lot of SF, Boston, etc, etc. 

Having just gone to Cuba, I finally have a passport! So it’s time.

It’s time Japan. I’m coming to you.

And hopefully Ireland too. But those trips will likely have to wait a bit and be very far from one another.

ISLAND BOY!

Well, that is a nightmare scenario for me, because I’d definitely die very quickly. BUT. If I had to choose.

First up would be Bentley from Sly Cooper, because he is a big needy nerd like me and would want to get the hell out of there ASAP just as much as I do, and he could make like, a series of small helicopters out of coconuts or some shit.

SECONDLY.... Hrmm.... harder choice.

There is a really great joke here about choosing Fi from Skyward Sword because maybe she could just DOUSE our way to a better situation, heaven knows...

But I’m mostly above that.

I’d say Cappy from Mairo Odyssey just because I just looked at my Cappy hat and it’d be fun to just capture turtles and crabs and stuff on the island. Not Bentley, he’d consider that an invasion of privacy.

I don’t know if YOU should get Detroit, but I absolutely love it. I’d say read Logan Wilkinson’s excellent review of the game, available here:

http://irrationalpassions.com/detroit-become-human-review/

He liked one relationship in that game a lot more than I did, but generally we’re on the same page with it. I love the game, and if Heavy Rain did anything for you then I think Detroit is better in just about every way.

I’ll say this: it’s not like 2018 has been BANGERs for me, but after 2017, where two of my new favorite games EVER came out (Breath of the Wild and Persona 5) it’s just so impossible to follow that up. That being said, I’m medium to high excited about MANY games this fall: Spyro, Tomb Raider, Valkyria Chronicles, AC Odyssey, Life is Strange S2, Code Vein, Darksiders 3, and Smash Bros. That’s a whole lot in just three short months to eat up like some yummy yummy candy.

So while I think he first half of 2018 has been pretty great, mostly because of Hollow Knight, but also Ni No Kuni 2, Celeste, Yakuza 6, and Moonlighter, its still been good. It’s been a big one for me to reconnect with my indie darlings. And that’s big for me.

I hope that helps!

Checklist

It’s been a while eh?

Well here are some recs!

“The Short But Chilling ‘Captain Spirit’ Weaponizes Empathy Against You” - Patrick Klepek - Waypoint.

I have barely read this but everything about it jives with me. Another one to check out only after you’ve played Captain Spirit, which I assume all of you are going to do, because it’s free, and because I asked you so nicely to do so.

The Music of Persona 4 Golden - Blessing Adeoye - OKBeast.com

I mean, it’s about arguably the best video game soundtrack of all time, from one of the best music-takers in games, that just so happens to be on my favorite video game of all time. What do you want? Go watch.

OK Beast Podcast Episode 100 - OKBeast.com

I’ve found myself far more into OKBP since they merged OKB and PPR into one show. Here is their 100th episode, where they decided to rank the best 100 video games ever. For some reason.

Like, what if on Ep 400 of IPP we ranked the top 400 video games of all time? Fuck that.

Love those boys.

That’s it. That’s all she wrote. Or rather, that’s all I wrote. Sorry this posted Monday, I hadn’t checked my work schedule for a minute and then I saw at like, 8:30pm I had to open today and that means I have to wake up at 6am and I figured I should be responsible and get a full night’s sleep. Still didn’t fall asleep until about 10:30am, but I wrote some of this last night.

I’m rambling.

I love you all.

Do me a favor though?

Keep it real.

[notanothervideogameblog]

Fanfic: Imprints on the Body and Soul

Summary: In a world where every meaningful encounter in your life gives you a Mark, Yuri didn't have many Marks before leaving Zaphias. All the changes he goes through, both good and bad, leave their Marks.

A Tales of Vesperia Soulmark AU. Assumes you know plot details up to the Shrine of Baction.

AO3 Link

Yuri was quite certain that he hated whatever biological or psychological imperative it was that caused Soulmarks to take shape. Whenever a person began to change because of the presence of another person in their life, that person left a Mark on their body. The Marks were like warnings of: "this person could ruin you," but they appeared too late to serve as a proper forewarning to stay away from some people.

The Marks didn't even hold importance. Your oldest, dearest friends wouldn't leave a Mark if they didn't steer you towards a certain path you wouldn't even consider without them. Your dead family who you'd never known would never even get a chance to leave an imprint. Your worst enemy could leave a never-fading Mark on you with sheer cruelty.

Yuri's Marks took the shape of stars. Yuri's first star had been on his right arm, in the dip on his elbow, its color the muted blue of a cadet soldier's uniform. It was fitting, as it had formed when Flynn had spurred Yuri to join the Imperial Knights.

The Mark Flynn left was Yuri's first. It was the first to appear on his skin and it was the first to start fading away when Yuri walked away from the Knights and the corruption.

There hadn't been any new markings on Yuri's body for a while after. Yuri'd become stationary, aimlessly slipping through life and not really grasping at another person. Then he'd met Estelle and together they'd ended up on a journey to save Flynn's life.

Flynn had also given Estelle her first Mark, Yuri would find out one evening when the two didn't have anything better to discuss than their Marks. It had been Estelle who brought the matter up in Quoi Woods while they'd been having a lunch break in the seemingly nonthreatening woods.

Estelle sighed heavily after Yuri's estimation of her as being sheltered. "Fair enough, I suppose," the woman had said sullenly. "I haven't had many chances to gain any Marks. Not enough people have gotten close."

"It's not so rare, being distant," Yuri said easily. "I consider the Lower Quarter my family but I sure don't have Marks from them."

"That's unexpected," Estelle said bluntly and Yuri fell silent, not knowing how to answer. "It's just. You seem so worldly," Estelle hurried to explain, waving her hands while Repede scoffed from somewhere around her knees, tauntingly right outside of petting distance.

Yuri shot the dog a warning look, not about be ridiculed. "Not really," he said to Estelle. "I haven't gone far from Zaphias before and I've been content with my life, so there hasn't been much need to change." It was mostly the truth. He hadn't seen many ways for himself to change, but, he had always felt the need for something to give.

Estelle nodded, like she understood. "I don't really have friends or close mentors or even rivals to drive me to change," she explained and Yuri felt that perhaps she did understand, at least a little. "Flynn was actually my first friend."

"Same," Yuri said with a breathy laugh but Estelle was focusing on removing the glove on her right hand to show a dark blue flower blooming in the middle of her palm. Yuri noted a forming callus in the inner arch of her thumb, the result of gripping a weapon tightly when fighting off monsters. It was an interesting contrast when viewed right next to the little flower.

"The openness symbolised by the open palm," Estelle started to explain, "is essential to trusting friendship." She placed a finger on top of her Mark. "The locations of Soulmarks tell of the lessons they teach," there was something about her voice that made Yuri feel like he was being lectured. "Flynn is the first person I trusted whole-heartedly, and he's a dear friend." Estelle clenched her hand into a fist slowly, closing her fingers over the Mark protectively. "So I want to help him now."

Yuri thought about the faded blue on his arm and frowned. Astute, Estelle didn't ask about it, but she did look like she still wanted to say something. She only picked the topic up again after they'd already spent some time continuing their journey through the woods.

"Flynn was the first who really listened to what I had to say," Estelle told Yuri. "I hadn't realized before how much I'd wanted someone to value my opinions, even a little." Estelle pouted then, a much more playful expression when compared to before. "Flynn doesn't really seem to know what to do after listening, however."

Yuri laughed, glad that this other person who'd been marked by Flynn could see him so clearly. "He doesn't get a lot of things, but he's dependable."

Estelle hummed in agreement, smiling. "I really am glad to be out here," she confessed. "Back in Zaphias, I just drifted through life without really doing much. Maybe out here I can make a difference."

It was a familiar sentiment. Yuri tried not to think back on the endless still days in the Lower Quarter and swung himself over a falled tree trunk. "Let's get going then," he declared, turning to Estelle to offer her a hand over the obstacle. "There's a whole world waiting out there, not just Flynn."

Estelle grinned and grasped his hand, allowing Yuri to heave her up from the ground and over the tree trunk. As they continued on their path to Halure, Yuri thought that there was a light spring to Estelle's step. His knee itched, but it wasn't all that unpleasant and he decided to let it be. The itch didn't really do much more thank make him want to keep moving, anyway.

It would be hours later, while spending the night at Halure, that Yuri would look at his right knee and see his second Mark. Estelle had formed a pink star on his knee somewhere between Zaphias and Halure. She'd been the primary catalyst for Yuri leaving Zaphias. In a way, everything Yuri would experience during said journey could be attributed to meeting Estelle. Yuri decided she deserved her place on his skin.

He also wondered if she'd given Estelle a flower to match the star she'd given him. However, they didn't really talk about markings after that first time, so Yuri never found a good chance to ask.

When the red mark first appeared on his left bicep in Capua Nor, Yuri thought it was a bug bite. It was a dull red, only a touch darker than his skin tone. Only, once it began to darken, Yuri realized that no bug bites took the shape of perfectly symmetrical stars.

The Mark kept darkening and Yuri's prods on it turned into scratches whenever he caught sight of it. Soon enough it had deepened into an unmistakable Soulmark and even the sight of it irritated Yuri. He thought about the injustices in the world, and the Mark darkened.

Somewhere between "You guys would be lost and lonely without me around," and "Do you think you'd wanna maybe start a guild with me?" Yuri obtained another Mark, a yellow star in the palm of his hand that had taken a while to form and had only been unmistakable to Yuri once he'd already decided that he didn't really want to part ways with Karol.

Living in the Lower Quarter, your friends never went far. You didn't have to worry about potentially never seeing them again if you didn't tell them to come over again. The people in the Lower Quarter always knew where everyone was, or at least where they were likely to find someone. Yuri hadn't really ever learned to differentiate between the people he didn't mind, the people he liked, and the people he was happier with than without.

Apparently, Karol fell into the latter category. Yuri didn't want him to vanish into the wide world, hard if not impossible to ever find again. And when he weighed the idea of forming a guild with Karol against returning to the Lower Quarter, the guild sounded much more tempting. Yuri cared about the community he came from, but he knew they'd always be there waiting whenever he got too homesick.

By the time the group had made it to Dahngrest, Yuri could count four Marks on his skin. Flynn's faded Mark on his right arm, Estelle's soft pink on his matching knee, Karol's yellow in the palm of his right hand, and the mysterious red Mark on his left bicep. He'd stopped worrying about it, even though it sometimes rose from the back of his mind when bathing or changing. The Mark that looked and felt dark, but seemed to have no purpose.

Then Barbos flung himself off Ghasfarost, all the while gloating to Yuri about the enemies he would make. "Regret, sorrow, and despair will hound you all the way to hell, and I will be waiting there for you." Those had been the man's last words, and Yuri thought about the star on his arm.

'Enemies, huh,' Yuri mused as he turned away from the edge. 'Sure, I definitely have to worry about those if they keep killing themselves.' Really, Yuri didn't fear the dead, it was the threats still alive that made him worry.

The meaning of the Mark was cemented when its color settled on blood red on the night Yuri realized that the likes of Ragou would never face justice, because justice was tied up by politics. He brought Ragou to justice himself, sword swung by the arm that held the Mark he knew encountering Ragou had created. After all, if people like Ragou didn't exist, Yuri would never need to change into someone ready to do away with them.

After Yuri returned to his lodgings for the night, he thought about the bloody body he'd flung into the river. His right hand went to the red star on his bicep, and scratched at it until the repetitive motion calmed his mind enough to let him sleep.

In the end, each person Yuri killed left their Mark on his skin, dotting his right arm with small, blood red stars that failed to make Yuri feel regret. No, Flynn's accusations, both the ones in his eyes and in his words, did that well enough. There was the first Mark from Ragou, highest up his arm, from blatant murder. There was another slipping lower and to the side from that, for Cumore, whose death Yuri had caused without ever drawing a blade.

Yuri tried not to think too much about his red Marks, but he took comfort in the outline of one large star taking shape on his torso, tucked partially away under his arm. The outline was black, and it had first appeared when Yuri had told Flynn: "I'm going to start up a guild." The star was the size of Yuri's hand pressed up against his side and Yuri decided that he could fit his guild in there, in that single Mark.

The first color to start filling the empty space inside the outline was the hopeful yellow of Karol. Yuri recognized it from the small star of friendship in his left palm that was the exact same color. The second color was Judith's midnight blue. That one took Yuri some time to figure out, because Judith connected with them all in a way that was very wisp-like, slowly building up trust and contentment between them all. Yuri really found out the truth when the group was crossing the Sands of Kogorh for the second time. It was Rita who'd proclaimed loudly that Judith was dark blue, scribbling down notes about Marks and shades of color. Yuri didn't fancy getting burned so he didn't ask, but Karol had always been more ready to risk Rita's wrath.

"How do you know that?" Karol asked suspiciously. "Do you have a Mark from Judith?"

"None of your business!" Rita shrieked and began casting a fire ball, but Karol had already zipped away, moving surprisingly quickly in the desert heat.

Yuri was sure that the only reason Rita wasn't already an expert on Soulmarks was because her Blastia research kept her too busy to have another area of study.

The skin around Yuri's two red Marks was itself reddened, irrirated by Yuri scratching at it absent-mindedly. Yuri refused to accept that the gesture was a sign of any kind of remorse. Still, while the Marks on Yuri's arm maybe failed to bring forth regret, he soon gained two new ones that appeared on the back curve of his right hip, which were another story. One of the stars was a hot-blooded red and the other was a calm green. The two Marks that had taught him betrayal. Knowing the Don and the Duce had taught Yuri about scheming and betrayal, and he did indeed regret how the dishonesty of others had led to their deaths, as well as his own part in said deaths. Those ones Yuri didn't scratch at. He avoided touching them as much as possible, actually.

A literal Mark of backstabbing, even when he hadn't been the target. When the group took off to chase down Judith, Yuri wondered if that Mark that Rita had gotten from Judith had been replaced by one on Rita's back. The girl had started off so suspicious of people, there was no telling how deeply Judith crushing the Fiertia's ceres blastia had hurt her. Yuri didn't have a separate Mark for Judith but he was determined not to let it appear on his back. He would end the Krityan, if she proved to be untrustworthy.

In the end, all of Yuri's mental preparation wasn't needed. Instead, after Judith had finally rejoined them, Yuri pressed a hand to his left side, and felt warmth. His guild was safe and sound.

Despite all of the uncertainty and chance tied to Marks, Yuri felt a resigned certainty when Raven reintroduced himself as 'Schwann Oltorain, First Captain of the Imperial Knights'. He knew he would be leaving the Shrine of Baction with a new Mark, the only variable simply being where it would appear, which cluster of his sorrow it would add to.

The encounter ended in a way that Yuri hadn't guessed in any of the disbelieving considerations he'd had time for with everything happening so fast. The battle was intense and then the shrine was collapsing and finally Raven ended up sacrificing his own life to save those of his teammates, even after he'd betrayed and attacked them. And while Yuri ushered everyone else out ahead of him, he wasn't entirely glad to leave him behind. Not even close.

It was after Ba'ul took to the skies that Yuri carefully separated from the rest of the group. They we all still reeling from recent events, so Yuri had faith that he wouldn't be immediately interrupted, so he found a private nook on board the ship to look over his skin. He needed to find the new Mark he knew for certain had to be there.

Yuri did find a new Mark, but it hadn't ended up on his upper arm or on his back. Instead he found a grey star further down his arm, resting atop the pulse point on his left wrist.

A startled laugh escaped Yuri, prompting a confused sound from the ever-faithful Repede, who'd come after him by then. Yuri cradled his wrist in his right hand and turned to give his best friend a smile, the best one he could manage right now.

"I didn't want him dead." Yuri was admitting it to himself as much as Repede. He really hadn't been certain at some points back there. He sat down, hunched over like he was shielding the proof of his actual feelings. He looked at the Mark, and wondered about the color. It didn't really seem to suit the Raven he'd known.

"I didn't want you dead," Yuri told the Mark, like the one who'd caused it could still hear him from beyond the grave, just through this Mark connecting them. Repede was a warm presence by Yuri's side a moment before the dog pressed up against Yuri, offering silent comfort and support. Yuri let go of his newly marked wrist only long enough to give his friend's ears a grateful scratch.

In the end, Raven hadn't been another lesson in betrayal or vengeance. Encountering him hadn't even really been about justice, although it came close. Yuri rubbed a thumb on the Mark, steely grey, certain and solid. It was mercy, plain and simple. And Yuri thought that perhaps he needed that lesson, at least in the here and now.

[delkios]

Brings My Soul so Close to You (ToRays/ToV)

Please continue to pardon any inaccuracies with characterizations as I still haven't gotten around to familiarizing myself with games other than Vesperia and Rays. Title for Wonders Never Cease by Morcheeba. Thanks to suguelya for giving it a look-through.

(dreamwidth) (pillowfort) (AO3) Title: Brings My Soul so Close to You Fandom: Tales of the Rays, Tales of Vesperia Rating: PG Word Count: 7203 Characters: Flynn, Yuri, Hubert, Estelle, Velvet, Ludger, Mikleo, Ami and Ix Summary: Set in a nebulous post-Mirrage Prison timeframe. Five different looks into Yuri and Flynn's relationship "Yo. You still doing the perfume thing?" Hubert looked up from his book, eying Yuri carefully as he lounged up against the door frame. "I do." Hubert didn't particularly dislike the swordsman but they also rarely interacted, leaving Hubert to mostly know of Yuri through his reputation which... had some worryingly unsaid parts to it. "I thought you didn't care for it." He shrugged, not quite looking at Hubert and Hubert couldn't decide if it was an actual sign of nonchalance or a show of it. "I don't really, but it seems pretty popular with everyone else and there's been a couple I've liked." "Okay, then." He still wasn't sure if Yuri was being honest with him or not but Hubert couldn't really see how this could be a joke. He pulled a piece of paper and pen from a nearby desk. "Did you already have a scent in mind?"

~*~*~*~ "A scent?" "Yes. Your friend, Yuri, came to ask me to make perfume for him- his first, actually -and I realized that I don't believe anyone told you this is something we do." Hubert said, his posture formal but relaxed. Flynn was much more comfortable for him to interact with than Yuri. He chalked it up to mutual military professionalism. "People make requests for what kind of perfume they'd like- specific scents, if they have any in mind -and I try my best to create a perfume to their satisfaction. I will admit that it's been far more successful than I expected." "That seems like a lot of work," Flynn said, "having one person do all that." Hubert chuckled lightly. "Oh, the material gathering is shared with others. Normally I give a list to groups going out foraging or getting supplies. The actual mixing is done by myself." "And it won't be too much trouble making something for me?" "Not at all. Most people reorder perfumes I've made previously so I don't often get a chance to make an entirely new one. I'd appreciate the challenge." "Hm. Where we grew up, perfume was only used by the rich or for special occasions. Even when I was able to afford such things, it never occurred to do so, so I never really gave it much thought." Flynn tilted his head, eyes glancing upward as he thought. "I guess... Yuri?" It took a moment for Hubert to realize what he said. "I'm sorry, you want it to smell like Yuri?" "When we were little, we used to share everything: toys, clothes, even a bed. He was always with me through the hardest years of my life." Flynn laughed, ruffling his hair. "It's embarrassing to admit but my mind eventually came to associate his scent with comfort. I know it's silly but they say smells are closely tied to memories." Hubert smiled, warm and full of emotion. "No, actually. I think that's wonderful." Hubert immediately regretted his words. It took nearly a week of gathering and experimentation before he was finally able to approach Estelle with two bottles of perfume. "Yuri," he said crisply, setting one bottle down, "Flynn," he set the other down, a hand span away. "They actually asked for perfume?" Estelle asked with surprise. Ever since Hubert was persuaded to allow distribution of his perfumes, he'd gotten Estelle to name them. "That's a surprise, I didn't think Yuri liked using anything scented asides from soap. And Flynn always had to borrow perfume from other officers before official events." She giggled to herself as she picked up the bottle Hubert had said was for Yuri. As she opened the bottle, Hubert said, "It's an odd combination and it took me a bit to get the balance right, but I think it turned out well." Estelle sniffed lightly. "It's smells... like the ocean? And something flowery?" "Ocean and cherry blossoms." Among other things to help blend the two scents together. Estelle looked at Hubert for a moment, a slow smile spreading on her face. "Did Yuri pick those?" "Yes," he looked a little suspiciously at her, "why?" "Oh, no. It's just two of the first places Yuri and I went when we started our adventure. We restored a giant cherry blossom tree to protect a village and then we went to a cliff and saw the sea for the first time." Estelle laughed. "Both times Yuri talked about Flynn. I didn't think it was very important back then since I knew they were close friends, but I didn't realize that Yuri isn't the kind of person that casually reveals his thoughts." She swirled the bottle slightly, looking like she was thinking on a memory. "I think he was a little sad he didn't get to share those moments with Flynn." Hubert crossed his arms, thinking over her words. "Flynn's someone Yuri thinks about a lot?" "More than he's willing to admit, I'm sure." Eyes dancing with mirth, Estelle wrote 'Close to the Heart' in decorative script on the bottle. "And this?" She picked up the one for Flynn, opening the bottle and taking a whiff. "It smells kind of familiar." Hubert looked both annoyed and embarrassed. "Flynn said he wanted it to smell like Yuri and at the time his reasoning was quite sweet but then I realized it meant having to steal from Yuri's laundry and it was just such a hassle." He'd gotten caught by Repede of all Nexuses and Hubert had stumbled over his words trying to find an excuse before remembering- dagger and surprising intelligence aside -Repede was just a dog. He still felt compelled to assure him he'd return Yuri's clothes, however. Estelled gave it another whiff. "But you did it. This very much smells like Yuri. What did Flynn say that made you think it was sweet?" "He said that Yuri was with him through difficult times and his mind equated him with comfort." "Aww, that is sweet." She smiled and wrote 'Home' on the bottle. "I think they'll both like it though I don't know how likely they are to actually use it. I'm not entirely sure either of them really understand the point of perfume." "Well," Hubert picked up the bottles, lips quirked into a faint smile, "that's fine. I've been toying with the idea of scent diffusers, I might experiment using these. Everyone treasures things in their own way, after all." ------------------------------------------------- For a moment upon reading the note requesting her assistance at her leisure, Velvet considered ignoring it. In part because she was curious to see how long Flynn would wait for her to show up but mostly because, though Flynn seemed decent enough and Laphicet greatly approved of him, he reminded Velvet of Eleanor early on in their relationship. Though she was fairly sure he wasn't nearly as annoying or frustrating as Eleanor had once been, it wasn't a headache Velvet was particularly eager to relive. Of course, now that she was standing right there in front of him, Velvet really didn't have much of a choice. "What is it?" "I apologize for asking this at the last minute," he gave her a somewhat contrite smile, "but I was hoping you'd be able to help me make a White Day gift for tomorrow." She narrowed her eyes. "Didn't I see you with whole bags of gifts last week?" "Those are return gifts. As much as I would've like to return handmade chocolates in kind, I'm afraid my schedule and the amount didn't make that feasible. But I was hoping to do something a little more personalized for my companions." Velvet had no idea what Flynn's cooking abilities were but the folks from his world- Yuri especially -had been fairly adamant about not allowing Flynn to cook though the use of terms like 'alone' and 'for others' had her more curious than anything. "And you're asking me specifically because?" He looked somewhat embarrassed. "I know my cooking can be... divisive. But you strike me as the kind of person that won't hold back. If you see me doing something incorrectly or suspect, I'm certain you wouldn't hesitate to point it out." Velvet starred at him long and intense but Flynn didn't so much as twitch. "Fine." She pulled her shoulders back, fists planted on her hips and her face was set as hard as the most ruthless military instructor. "You will do what I say and only what I say. You only get one chance at this so the first time you go ignore my orders, I'm done. Understood?" Flynn snapped to perfect attention, "Yes, ma'am!" ~*~*~*~ "I need your help figuring out something for White Day." Ludger nearly jumped at the sudden voice behind him. He turned to find Yuri there, arms crossed and stance as easy as ever. Ludger gave him an odd look. "How am I supposed to help you with something like that? I know for a fact you don't have issues working with chocolates, Elle raved about the bonbons you made last year for weeks." "And if this was for any normal person, it wouldn't be a problem." Yuri tsked. "Unfortunately, Flynn's got a fucked up sense of taste and doesn't care that much for sweets." "...Flynn?" Ludger asked with a slow blink. "You're doing this for Flynn?" Yuri just shrugged as if this was a perfectly normal thing. "Sure. Mileena said on White Day guys are supposed to give gifts to girls and people important to them, right?" "I suppose that's true." He wasn't sure if it actually was. Asides from Kocis and Ix whose relationship was somewhat unique, Ludger didn't think any of the other guys gave their guy friends, childhood or otherwise, a gift. On the other hand, he also didn't want to get into an argument over it. "But why do you think I can help?" "You're more experimental with your recipes than Velvet and they mostly come out pretty good. You might have better ideas how to make a chocolate he'd like." Well, Ludger wasn't exactly immune to praise, especially when it came from someone whose cooking skills he respected. "If nothing else, I can at least try. What are his preferred tastes?" Yuri's expression flattened out, apparently already expecting his words to screw everything up. "Savory. Spicy. Meat." Sure enough, Ludger's thoughts skidded to a halt. He put one hand to a table and the other to his head. "Oh boy." ~*~*~*~ Velvet set down the recipe on the counter in front of Flynn. "Here. The ingredients and technique are simple but the results- when done correctly -make it seem much fancier and complicated than it actually is." She gave him a moment to skim over the paper before slapping her hand on the counter to get his attention. "First lesson: cooking is an art, baking is a science. Experimenting and changing recipes is much easier when you cook because you can constantly taste and adjust the food's flavor. With baking, once it's in the oven, that's basically it. Once it's been cooked, it's near impossible to change the flavor or texture. That means, with the way the ingredients and heat interacts, unless you really know what you're doing," Velvet got right up in his face, eyes deadly serious, "never deviate from the recipe." Flynn swallowed reflexively. "Understood." Velvet watched with a hawkish, critical eye as Flynn pulled the ingredients and dishes out, treating this as seriously as he would a strategy meeting and, while she found that hilarious, it was also understandable. Cooking for someone could leave you feeling surprisingly vulnerable, especially when it was for a special occasion. Even with all her confidence and experience, Velvet still felt that on occasion. She stayed silent and vigilant, speaking up only to instruct Flynn to grease the ramekins more. When he'd done so to her satisfaction and placed them aside, Velvet looked down at the ramekins, going over the count in her head: Estelle, Rita, Judith, one for Velvet to test... "Why are there five?" Flynn paused in measuring out the ingredients, checking to make sure he hadn't miscounted. "One for you, Lady Estellise, Rita, Judith and Yuri." "Yuri?" "Of course. It's a day for men to show appreciation to the people important to them, I can hardly leave out my best friend." ~*~*~*~ After a number of trials and errors- and an emergency shopping trip to restock -the two men were fairly certain they'd gotten a recipe that wouldn't burn while making, wasn't too brittle and wasn't overwhelming. Of course, given the ingredients, neither of them felt qualified to actually judge how good it was. Deciding to stay out of the process for making the chocolate that would actually go to Flynn, Ludger asked, "So why exactly are you making chocolate for Flynn? Especially since you said he's not particularly fond of sweets?" "I told you already," Yuri said, intently focused on his chopping. "I know, I just don't remember you giving something to Karol or Raven last year." "Yeah, well I also didn't spend nearly every moment for over ten years hanging out with them." Well, Ludger had to give him that. Then Yuri added, "Besides, he'd gonna get me something so I need to give him a gift in return." ~*~*~*~ Velvet still seemed unconvinced. "So you're doing this because you think he's going to make you something?" "I know he is," Flynn said with utmost confidence. ~*~*~*~ "What makes you so certain of that?" Ludger asked. Yuri scowled- the one everyone knew was just for show. "Because that's just-" ~*~*~*~ "-the kind of guy he is," Flynn said with a bright smile. ~*~*~*~ Gatherings for gift exchanges on holidays in the dining area was becoming customary, several tables filled with groups chatting and passing things around. Yuri had already given the women of his group their chocolates, each decorated and personalized for each one though they were happy to break off a piece so one of the others could give it a try. Yuri was preening at their compliments. Velvet, part out of curiosity and part to be supportive, helped Flynn bring out the plates before joining her own group. Each small dish had a delicately ridged, slightly tapered cake placed in the middle, liberally dusted with powdered sugar and a bright red strawberry, sliced and fanned out on top. Velvet hadn't even had to give Flynn any direction on it, his eye for detail apparently extended to gorgeous plating. She put her plates down in front of Judith and Estelle, both women's eyes brightening at the sight but there was still something stiff in their posture. "How pretty," Judith said, picking the fork up from the plate but making no move to actually try it. "You followed a recipe for this, right?" Yuri asked, glaring suspiciously down at the plates Flynn set in front of him and Rita. "He did," Velvet answered instead as Flynn took the last remaining seat. "I was with him to whole time." Yuri's glare intensified. "Are you sure?" Velvet glared right back at him. "Do you really think he could sneak something by me? Especially when it comes to food?" "Well, we should at least try it," Estelle said slowly despite her encouragement. She, also, didn't make a move to actually take a bite. Velvet rolled her eyes. "He made an extra and I tried it. I wouldn't let him feed you anything inedible." Yuri grabbed his fork like he was grabbing his sword. "Alright. Here goes." He pierced the edge of the cake, chocolate oozing out from the middle, screwed his face up like he was saying a prayer and shoved it into his mouth. His eyes shot open. "Oh. That's really good." Flynn beamed like he'd just discovered world peace. The girls dove into it a heartbeat later, each heaping praise on Flynn at first taste. Yuri, already on his third bite, paused to slide the package he'd brought towards Flynn. "Here. For you." "Thank you," Flynn carefully worked a finger under the seams, opening the gift without ripping the paper. "You didn't have to, you know." "Yeah, I did. Tried to tailor it to your taste so I don't know if you'll actually like it." It was a seemingly plain bar of chocolate but when Flynn bit at the corner, his eyes went wide. "Yuri, this is amazing!" "Heh. Good to know." Seeing that uncharacteristically soft smile on Yuri's lips, Velvet decided it was best to make her escape. ~*~*~*~ Ludger waited a discreet distance to intercept Velvet. "Surprised to see you playing waiter." "More like reassurance," she said blandly. "That Flynn hadn't accidentally poisoned them." His eyes flickered to the table, then back at Velvet. "Out of curiosity, did Flynn say why he made one for Yuri?" Sensing there was more to it than simple curiosity, Velvet studied Ludger closely. "Because Yuri is his best friend and Flynn was certain he'd make something in return," she said slowly, "why?" "Huh. That's pretty much exactly the reason Yuri said he made something for Flynn." Ludger couldn't quite tell if Velvet was amused, annoyed or apathetic. "So let me get this straight. Yuri made Flynn chocolate as a return gift for the chocolate he made as a return gift for Yuri." "Well," he hooked his thumbs in his pockets, "they weren't wrong about the other getting them chocolate." For a long moment, Velvet stayed quiet. Then, "They're both idiots in the exact same way, aren't they?" "I'm kinda getting that, too." It looked like everyone had or was just about finished with their cakes and there had yet to be any abrupt exits, blanching or chugging down water. All good signs in Ludger's book. "You helped Flynn make chocolate lava cakes?" "Watched, really," Velvet said. "He followed the recipe without any problem, picked up techniques quickly and they came out perfectly fine. Not anything like the kitchen disaster I was expecting. He even did the plating without any help. I don't know what Yuri's talking about." There was a brief pause. "Wait- you said he followed a recipe?" "Of course. I told him he wasn't allowed to deviate even the slightest." Ludger nodded to himself, "I think I get it. Yuri wanted my help making a chocolate bar because he said Flynn has, uh, unique tastes." "You helped Yuri make a chocolate bar?" The question was obvious in her words and, at the face Ludger made, Velvet looked like she almost didn't want to know. "What kind is it?" "It has chopped bacon and ground chili peppers." Her mouth pressed into a thin line, watching Flynn happily take another bite, oblivious to her, Ludger and Yuri's disturbed expressions. "Yeah. Now I get it." ------------------------------------------------- Honestly Mikleo thought the addition of Flynn was one of the best things to happen to the group. He basically took over assigning field and guard duties and helped Cress out with training. It allowed Jade and Leon to focus more on the finance and logistics and intelligence gathering side of things which meant Mikleo really didn't have to deal with an infuriating cryptic or overbearing critic anymore. He was also thankful for the fact Flynn came at it more like a taskmaster than an officer, preferring to ask for volunteers rather than ordering someone for a mission and trying to keep assignments within the person's interests or skill sets whenever possible. A number of Nexuses were or had been part of the military on their respective worlds and while Mikleo's experience with an actual military organization was pretty minimal, it was a relief that Flynn had no interest in restructuring the group into a military framework. Though, he'd admit, the military's tendency to organize and schedule things did come in handy from time to time. There were two kitchens anyone could use at any given time though, by unspoken agreement, the larger one was reserved for those who had cooking duty while the smaller was for those who could cook for themselves so the chef for the day didn't have to cook for everyone. With such a huge group, it was unfeasible to expect one person to feed them all on their own so there were always volunteers to help out in the kitchen. And despite all the work he did, Flynn often checked the kitchen to ensure there was enough people working and was always willing to chip in his own time if staffing was lacking for any reason. Whenever Yuri was on kitchen duty, Flynn, more often than not, was in there with him. It was somewhat surprising, really, given Yuri had be vehement about not allowing Flynn to cook- which didn't stop Velvet from allowing the knight to help her but most things didn't stop Velvet. Then again, Flynn was generally relegated to things like prep, washing and chopping food, getting out tools and dishes, setting things up to serve and cleaning up afterward. Mikleo volunteered to help them when he could, he found the way Yuri and Flynn worked together fascinating. They seemed to have an instinctual awareness for each other, always aware of where the other was and when they were in need of something. It was almost like a dance. Mikleo, conversely, had nearly bumped into or been bumped into on numerous occasion no matter how he tried to keep out of the way. He couldn't help saying, when the food had been set out and the three of them were cleaning up, "You two work surprisingly well in a kitchen." Yuri shrugged, putting some of the food into containers to be taken to those that wouldn't be able to make it to dinner. "We spent a few years working at an inn to pay for board. I cooked, he cleaned." "And did whatever odd jobs the owners needed to have done," Flynn added, taking the dishes Mikleo had washed and drying them off. "Is that how Yuri got to be such a good cook?" "And why Flynn became such a clean freak." Flynn shot his friend a mild glare. "If you knew how some people left their rooms, you'd understand." He turned back to Mikleo with a faint grin, "It was also rather meditative. Not a lot of people interrupt cleaning staff so I always had time to organize my thoughts." "You should've seen it during the rainy season," Yuri grinned, leaning over to look at Mikleo passed Flynn's shoulder. "He'd sit by the door with a mop and bucket, trailing after anyone tracking mud, no matter who it was." "Dried mud is pain to clean up!" Flynn protested. Yuri's eyes suddenly lit up. "Hey, you remember the time you reamed that captain for dumping his filthy cloak on the floor?" Flynn's mouth opened, the beginnings of a justification on his lips when he abruptly froze. His eyes went large and Yuri's grin wicked. Flynn didn't even react when Mikleo nudged his hand with a ladle. ".....that was Captain Schwann." Yuri roared with laughter. "Hell yeah, it was!" He slapped Flynn's back and Flynn closed his eyes with a pained sigh. "I can't believe I'd forgotten about that!" "I can't believe you reminded me of it." "Schwann?" Mikleo prodded at Flynn's hand again until he took the ladle. "Isn't that Raven's old name?" Yuri was still chuckling, smirking broadly. "I'm gonna have to ask if he remembers that." "You don't have to," there was something almost pleading in Flynn's voice. "Oh, I absolutely do. You yelled at him until he went out on the stoop and wrung out his cloak then made him hang it up!" Packing up the last of the containers, Yuri wrapped them up in a large cloth. "I'm gonna take this to Rita and the other eggheads." He gave them a wink. "I'll leave the rest to you!" Then he was off and Flynn glowered after him. Mikleo did his best to stifle his laughter. "He really seems to enjoy pressing your buttons." "Too much, sometimes." He took the last plate from Mikleo who then drained the sink. "But I suppose that's to be expected with childhood friends." "I can understand that. Sorey and I have had our fair share of arguments." "Oh yeah, you two are childhood friends as well, right?" "Yup." With the last of the water gone, Mikleo began to wipe down the sink. "We've been together ever since I can remember." Flynn chuckled, "I can barely remember what life was like before I knew Yuri." He put the dry plate on a stack, taking a portion of it to put into the cupboard while Mikleo put the utensils back in their drawers. "Have you two been together the whole time?" "A little while back we went about three years without hardly speaking to each other. I told myself it was because I was too busy or because of some silly slight from the last time we passed each other by but, I can admit now, it was because I was hoping he'd miss me enough to come back to the Knights." "Was it difficult?" Mikleo asked as they put away the last of the dishes. "Absolutely. Not in the same way losing my parents was or trying to survive on the streets before the inn keeper took us in, but it was a hardship I never had to deal with before: being without my greatest support. But I think it was the best for both of us. Admittedly, Yuri did flounder a bit, but we got out of each other's shadows and grew into our own person." Flynn rinsed off the towel, then wrung it out and began to wipe down the counters. "Introspection is much easier when you don't have someone covering up your weaknesses." His brow furrowed, something inside knotting uncomfortably at Flynn's words. "Do you mean you think being with someone for too long stunts your growth?" "Ah, that did sound like that, didn't it?" Flynn tilted his head to one side as he thought over his words. "Can, I think, would be more accurate. And I'm certainly not suggesting cutting off ties for years is the way to go, but taking a day or two for self-reflection every once in a while is helpful. And, even if something does happen that keeps you separated, you'll realize that you carry a piece of them inside your heart. That the time you spent together and the memory of them has and continues to shape you into the person that you are." Mikleo liked the way it sounded much more. "So?" He asked teasingly, "How did Yuri shape you?" Flynn just laughed. "Oh, patience and forgiveness, mostly." "He certainly strikes me as the kind of person that gets into trouble easily." "True. But mostly I meant forgiving myself." Mikleo paused, then turned to look up at Flynn. "What do you mean?" "Yuri likes to point out my flaws and mistakes. To tease me, mostly, but also to remind me that I'm only human." Flynn grinned self-effacingly. "Sometimes, even though I know better, I expect myself to make every decision perfectly, no matter the circumstances." "So Yuri reminds you to forgive your imperfections?" "Something like that. But also he's been with me through the worst times in my life and no matter how badly I screwed up or the times when I wanted to hate myself, he always forgave me. And even though I have issues with the way Yuri goes about some things, there's no one I trust more, nothing I have more faith in than him." He smiled at Mikleo, something warm and deep that was a lot like being wrapped in the sun. "I figure if someone like him can forgive me when I'm at my worst, then I could learn to forgive myself, too." The sheer faith momentarily took Mikleo's breath away. "That... that's an amazing sentiment. I can't imagine what that's like." Or admit that it made him a little jealous. "Really? Your relationship with Sorey seems quite similar." "Not quite to that level." "You're closer than you think," Flynn said, squeezing Mikleo's shoulder. "You just have to have as much faith in yourself as you have in Sorey." "That can be surprisingly difficult sometimes," he said ruefully. "I know. But that's why you need people like Yuri or Sorey in your life. Someone that will always remind you that, no matter how much you want to give up on yourself, you're still worthwhile." They lapsed into silence, Mikleo lost in thought. That brief pang of jealousy of the bond between Flynn and Yuri- unbreakable, irreplaceable -had faded at Flynn's words. What he and Sorey had was just as deep and strong, just different. And, more importantly, it was theirs. That revelation had Mikleo smiling to himself throughout the rest of clean up. ------------------------------------------------- "Excuse me." Yuri looked down at the hesitant voice addressing him from somewhere around lower-torso level. He recognized her immediately as Chester's little sister. "What's up?" "Um," she said, pressing her lips together and tugging at her skirt. "Can you braid my hair?" Yuri leaned down, hands braced on his thighs so he was eye level with Ami. "That's a weird thing to ask a random person." "Chester said he was gonna do it this morning but him and Cress got called off to do something else and I don't know when they're gonna come back." "There's plenty of women that can braid hair." At least Yuri was mostly sure of this. Ami's mouth twisted, looking much like Ted or Karol did when they were about to admit something they thought was childish and dumb. "When Chester or Cress braid my hair, they always hum or sing me songs and it's... not as comforting when it's a lady." Considering the issues that came up with her exoflection, Yuri didn't have the heart to deny her such a simple comfort. He stood upright. "Well, if that's the case I can't really help you. I've never braided my hair. But," he said as Ami's face fell, "I know someone perfect for the job." When the situation was explained to Flynn, he just nodded and began to remove his gauntlets. "In that case, we'll share the job. I'll braid your hair and Yuri can sing." "Why are you volunteering me for this?" Flynn merely lifted an eyebrow. "Seems fair considering you volunteered me." He noticed Ami's look of concerned and smiled warmly at her. "Don't worry, Yuri has a good singing voice though he hasn't done it much since we were kids. Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable." He hadn't sung much because Flynn used to always watch him with an expression that made Yuri self-conscious. Not that he'd ever admit to it, of course. "I'll hum instead," Yuri announced before all but throwing himself down on the nearby couch, arms crossed behind his head and eyes closed. He heard Flynn ask Ami if she was ready and the little girl's quietly excited reply, then Yuri began to hum. It was one of Ranko's songs, one she said she sang as a duet. Flynn seemed to like it. A few bars into it, Yuri cracked an eye open and watched his friend comb his fingers through Ami's thick hair. From the small smile on Flynn's face, even with the slowed tempo Yuri hummed, he obviously recognized the tune. "How do you know how to braid hair?" Ami asked after a while. "I used to braid Yuri's when we were kids. Sometimes I put flowers and clovers in there." "Really? That sound so cool!" "I also used to help him put his hair in buns and twists, too." "Chester never does fun stuff with his hair and he won't let anyone but me play with it. How come Yuri lets you play with his?" Flynn didn't say anything but Yuri could practically feel the glance his way so Yuri said, "When I decided to grow my hair out, some older kids gave me a tough time about. They'd tease me, pull it, try to tangle it up." Ami made an angry sound. "Some boys did that to me, too, but Chester and Cress never let them get away with it." "Boys are the worst," Yuri said decisively. "They are! They stopped when one tried to put mud in my hair and I punched him in the nose. All the moms wanted Chester to punish me but he couldn't stop laughing." Yuri snickered and he heard Flynn chuckle as well. "Flynn would stick up for me, too. Once, though, one of 'em manage to cut a good three inches out of my hair. That was when Flynn started helping me put it up until I got big enough to fight 'em off myself." "I'm sorry. You have such pretty hair." "Thanks," Yuri craned his neck around to smile at Ami. Flynn was carefully sectioning out her hair on one side. "I talked Flynn into growing his out once but it kept turning into a tangled mess no matter what we tried. Even when it's short like that, he can't do anything with it." "I'm perfectly happy with my hair how it is," Flynn said dryly. "I know you are 'cause no one can tell you haven't brushed it." Ami giggled and Flynn tried to hide the twitching of his lips. "Aren't you supposed to be humming?" "Right, right." When Flynn had finished and handed Ami a mirror to look into, she gasped. "It's so pretty and fancy! Did you braid Yuri's hair like this, too?" A thick braid ran down each side of her head and where they met at the nape of her neck, he'd blended them into one. "No," Flynn said a little wistfully, "Yuri wouldn't let me get too creative with his hair." "But when the girls and young women in our side of town found out how well he braided hair, they came to him all the time to do theirs. Before festivals, there'd be an entire line of women waiting for him." Yuri snickered. "All the guys were so jealous." Flynn just rolled his eyes. "Not like they couldn't learn themselves." Yuri just snickered harder because that had never been the point. "Ami!" Elle half called, half sang as she came in, "finally got back from shopping, did you wanna- oh wow! Your hair is so pretty!" "Thanks!" Ami kicked her legs happily, beaming at her friend. "Flynn did it for me!" "You can do braids?" Elle asked with wide eyes. "My daddy would do it for me sometimes. Ludger tries but they always come out." "If I may," Flynn said, holding out a hand near Elle's hair and running his fingers through it when she nodded. "Hmm. Fine hair tends to have trouble staying up. Yuri's hair is thicker than yours but also pretty fine so I think can make yours work." "He said he can even put flowers in it!" Ami said. "Really?" Flynn laughed. "Why don't you two gather whatever flowers you want me to put in your hair? I can redo Ami's hair after I do Elle's." "Yay!" The girls bolted for the door. "Thanks, Flynn!" After a moment, Yuri sat up on the couch. "You're such a sap." "I may be." Flynn patted the seat Ami had vacated. "Want me to braid your hair while we wait?" "...sure, why not." ------------------------------------------------- He'd been floating on the edge of consciousness for some time before a knocking pulled him out completely. "Yuri? Have you seen Flynn? No one's seen him today." Groggy from lack of sleep, Flynn half-turned to his back. In part to pull out the strands of Yuri's hair that had gotten into his mouth before pushing himself from the bed. It really wasn't big enough for two men to sleep comfortably but neither had the bed at the Comet they shared right up until they joined the Knights. Flynn supposed it was a good thing they'd gotten used to sleeping piled on top of each other long before they reached the age when most boys found that degree of closeness to be awkward. He padded, bare foot, across the floor, putting on a shirt- Yuri's -as he went and scrubbing a hand through his unruly hair. When Flynn opened the door he found Ix there, staring at him with wide eyes. "Oh! Uh... sorry, did I wake you?" "It's fine." He'd worked on less sleep many times before. "Is there something wrong with your room? I know it can't be comfortable having to share a room with three other people. Sorry, Mileena didn't think there'd be so many of you when she made this place." Even with those that decided to stay on the Heimdallr with the Salvation Front, a lot of rooms had to double-up to fit all the exoflected. It was a good thing Yuri had picked one of the smaller rooms from the start, he didn't have to share with anyone but Repede. And now occasionally Flynn. "It's fine," he said again. Before Mileena had gotten around to exoflecting another bunkbed in one of the larger rooms, Flynn shared Yuri's bed. Just like old times. "And I enjoy my roommates." Sharing a space with Asbel, Hubert and Kor was a lot like living in the barracks before Flynn became an officer. It was kind of nice. A few had offered to give him a room of his own in deference to his rank but he'd been adamant about not turning this into a military operation or getting special treatment. "Then I'm interrupting something private." "Ix." When he looked up, Flynn just gave him a warm smile. "It's alright. There's nothing you need to worry about." Ix hummed, gaze dropping again and it took Flynna a moment to realize Ix's eyes were caught somewhere around sternum-level. Flynn looked down at the star-burst shaped scar on his chest- more of a burn, really -perfectly framed by the edges of Yuri's shirt. "Ah. That. I'm sure you understand," he told Ix with a faint smile, "it's better to risk your life than someone you love." His expression went pensive, something Flynn was quickly learning was fairly common on the young man. "It must have been painful." Flynn thought back about how hard it was to breathe, not just from taking Alexei's attack to his chest but from hearing that Yuri had gone missing, that he must have fallen off Zaude. How, day after day, ships and soldiers combing the ocean and shore would report back to him having found nothing. Then, one day, with his hope just a tenuous string, he'd gotten a letter from Estelle saying Yuri showed up in Zaphias, injured but well, and they were off to Zopheir to test a hypothesis of Rita's and for the first time in a week Flynn could breathe clearly. "Yes," he said softly, "but it was worth it." Ix gave a little huff of laughter. "I'm kind of envious how open you are about these things." "Well," Flynn looked over to where Yuri still lay on the bed, having scooted over to take up some of the space Flynn had vacated. "It took a lot of time and hardship to get to this point." He looked back at Ix and smiled. "But that was also worth it." When Ix's pensive look remained, Flynn asked, "Is something on your mind?" "I..." he bit his lip, visibly gathering his thoughts. "I agree that taking on danger in order to protect those I care about is worth the risk but... are you ever frightened about the thought that the person you care about thinks the same? That they'll take on the danger to protect you?" "Of course," Flynn said without hesitation. "If they weren't important to me, it wouldn't be frightening. It can be difficult, even painful, when they take that burden for me, but I'd imagine it hurts them just as much to see me take theirs. And because they're important to me, I have to respect their wishes. There is, however, a vast difference between respecting someone's wishes and allowing them to act thoughtlessly and recklessly." He sighed, memories bubbling up in the back of his thoughts as he spoke. "There may certainly be disagreements as to which side of that line someone's decision falls on." He gave Ix a gentle look. "However, while one's willingness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others can be noble, I think it's better to protect each other and face the danger together." Ix's his smile was subdued but bright, something in his eyes settling more comfortably. "I'm glad you're here. Having so many unique and eccentric personalities can be fun but also really draining to deal with. It's nice to have more people mature enough to give open and sensible advice around." Flynn laughed quietly. "Well, I know not everyone appreciates that. But I'll endeavor to help out whenever you or any of the others need me." "Sure, just remember to take care of yourself, too. And let me know if you ever need anything. We're in this together, after all." Ix waved before retreating down the hall. Closing the door, Flynn shrugged out of the shirt before brushing Yuri's hair out of the way and sliding back into bed. "Wuzzit?" Yuri murmured, still mostly asleep. "Ix." "Wha'd he want?" "I think the shock of seeing me partially dressed in your room first thing in the morning made him forget to ask. Sorry. Pretty sure he thinks we're sleeping together." Yuri let out a soft, amused snort. "Not inaccurate." He turned his head, not enough to actually see Flynn but enough so Flynn knew he was irritated. "Yer lettin' the cold air in." "Move your legs, I'm about to fall off the bed." Yuri let out a put-upon sigh, shifting his legs enough so Flynn could tangle his own with them. They lay there, pressed skin to skin, one of Flynn's arms resting comfortably over Yuri's waist, breathing matched long and slow. After a while, however, Yuri said, "Can feel you thinkin'." "Sorry." "Don' be sorry. Sleep." "I don't think I can." "Still tired, aren't ya?" "Yeah," Flynn admitted. He started to move again. "But if people are looking for me, I should get up. There's plenty I could be-" "Nope," Yuri didn't move his face from the pillow but he grabbed at Flynn's wrist. "Yer nightmare's bad 'nough you came to me in th' middle o' the night, you need ta sleep in." Then, before Flynn could protest or argue, "Repede!" Almost instantly the bed dipped and Flynn looked down just as Repede settled his head heavily on Flynn's thigh. The man sighed, letting his head drop back down next to Yuri's. "Try'n move now." Yuri shifted just enough to send a smug, sideways look to Flynn. "Don't wanna disturb our sweet li'l puppy, do ya?" Glancing down at Repede, the dog merely stared back at Flynn, amusement clear in his one eye. Flynn sighed again, body relaxing. "You're both terrible." Yuri chuckled, drawing Flynn's arm further around him. "Love you, too." Flynn just pressed his face against Yuri's back, hiding a smile in his hair.

[aurimeanswind]

Life Changing—Sunday Chats (2-5-17)

My life has gotten so weird.

So to start, An Editorial:

Leaving Parts Behind

For those who didn’t tune into the Bonus Content from last night’s Irrational Passions Podcast, or don’t follow me on Twitter, I’ve been in a bit of distress lately. It really all fell apart on Thursday. That was the day I knew.

Going to school these past two weeks, there was a growing level of discomfort, with me, in my life. Maybe it’s the 30 minute commute. Maybe it’s the fact that my college is only accepting 48 of the 61 credits I’ve completed in Community College. Maybe it’s the fact that in the vast majority of my classes, I’m about four or so years older than everyone, which is a first for me in my entire life. Maybe it’s the seeing all these younger folks who just come across to me as people who don’t understand or aren’t prepared for the world outside; who haven’t lived it. Maybe it’s the fact that I had to take a test to see if I could just immediately pass out of required grammar class, and got one question less than I need to pass, feeling completely cheated.

I don’t know what it is, but I went from confident and ready for the challenge, to completely miserable. Almost over night. 

I know I wasn’t the biggest fan of school. Through depression and all blockades of my life, it took me four and a half years to finish Community College and get my two year degree. I’ve been working on getting that done and transferring to a university since I graduated high school in June of 2011. It’s been five and a half years. And I get to this University and I just realize something...

I don’t want this. This doesn’t make me accomplished, happy, or confident anymore. This isn’t for me.

And coming to that realization has been a wave of emotions that has kind of wrecked my whole head. I don’t know a life where I’m not constantly pursuing school, but looking at my 24th birthday coming at the end of March, and seeing this school-based road drawing on ahead of me for another three years is... Sickening. I don’t want to be done with this when I’m 27. I don’t want to have to wait until I’m in my late 20s to start getting on with my life. I want to get on with my life.

This isn't to lodge criticism to anyone else, this is just an expression of my emotion. Of who I am, and what I feel I need to do now, which for the first time in my life is... I don’t know. I’m kind of afraid for what the future holds.

I know there are plenty of wonderful supporters of mine that feel as though any day I’ll get hired into the gaming industry and be able to ship off and live my dream, but I’m not so confident. I don’t know if/when that’s going to happen, which isn’t to say I need to give up, but is to say I need to switch things up.

We’ll see what happens. Big things are coming soon, or at least big on my very micro, Irrational Passions-scale.

IN OTHER NEWS

Hey Danny and Tony, Tony being Tony Horvath, host of Irrational Passions Podcast, and Danny being Danny (fucking) Juarez, of the internet and such, are starting a new Irrational Passions Podcast, tentatively named IP Westcast (name not final). Which means Danny is joining the regimented and veteran (exaggerations) team of Irrational Passions Podcast(s)!

We attempted something like this before with Writer’s Ramble, the short lived secondary podcast from the writing team of 2014, but that died off because of various schedules, states, and countries. I’m more hopeful for this new project, mostly because I said to Danny and Tony: “hey don’t be like all those other tapered-off failed podcasts or else I’ll be super pissed” and as they have no respect for me as Editor-in-Chief of IrrationalPassions.com, we’ll see what happens!

Regardless, I’m very excited. Stay tuned for more info coming in March for that show!

What’s On Tap

Injustice 2 Beta

Good fucking Christ did I get wrecked.

I played Batman

They played Supergirl

I don’t think I touched the ground

Couldn’t do any moves

Two rounds lasted about 14 seconds. Longest 14 seconds of my life.

We’ll relay more info when I’m not getting wrecked.

Resident Evil VII

THIS GAME IS SO GOOD!

I’m really surprised by how much I love this game. It’s far deeper and longer than i thought it’d be

it has just enough Metroidvania-esque parts to it, what with backtracking and revealing new areas, that it hits that pacing note of go-here-do-this just perfectly with me.

Colin Moriarty was definitely right when he said this is like an Adventure game, and I think that’s true to the formula of the original RE. 

Probably going to go and finish it after I finish this write up. Quite excited!

Tales of Zestiria

Ah... Well, they can’t all be winners. This one ended on a bit of a sour note as I finished it up this week.

First, the good: the story was great. The characters were so consistently great throughout the game. While none of them hit the level of amazing, and one is unceremoniously killed off and almost immediately replaced, there are great high points with the team. One of my favorite casts of Tales characters in a while, probably on par with the Xillia 1 team.

None of the characters were quite “shiners”, but the duo at the game’s center, Sorey and Mikleo, were great.

It’s the gameplay where everything falls apart, which is a pity because I don’t think a Tales game has ever been this poorly balanced, with the high points being Xillia 1 and Vesperia, having near-perfect balancing.

The game essentially spikes and de-spikes (if that’s a thing?) at irregular points to the end of the game. One boss is super easy, the other takes you out in two hits. It’s absurd, frustrating, and made me actually yell at my TV (but just a little, I swear).

It’s an absolute disaster, and for the first time since Graces playing a Tales game, which even itself got better in its post game, was I just wishing the game would end. Overall, i think it’s a solid package, but it falls apart in a lot of ways toward the end.

Questions

Well, yes and no. I think there are a TON of heavy hitters, but I think the second half of the year is still a big mystery. I mean, the big ones, Call of Duty, Battlefront 2, which we know are coming, we no nothing about. I’m genuinely excited to see Sledgehammer Games’ second crack at a Call of Duty, that should be something people are interested in. Oh, and then there is the triumphant return of Assassin’s Creed. They haven’t taken a year off in that series since AC2 came out, years ago. Holy crow am I excited to see what that becomes! Oh, and maybe a DESTINY SEQUEL is coming out this year?!

Anyway, we have a lot of question marks with the second half of this year, but a strong first half has typically been indicative of a weaker latter half. Let’s see if we can turn 2017 into “one of the greats”, so to speak. ;)

I’ll tell you know what ISN’T the best dragon, this piece of scaly fucking garbage:

But for real, I don’t know. The Sean Connery Dragon from Dragon Heart?

Hrm, I have steak so infrequently that it’s hard to saaaaay. I do like a Porterhouse because it’s SO MUCH. But a really well made New York Strip? Filet Minion? Fuck me dude. So good. Probably the NY Strip, but it’s been a minute, like I said. Could change if I widen my pallet.

Medium Rare is the way to go. Anything more and you’re doing yourself a disservice. No judgement, but that’s the way.

Sides? Asparagus, mashed potatoes is a bit over done, but still good, and fuck it mad, I’ll have some Mac n Cheese on the side of that brisket. Let’s goooooooooo!

Fuck I’m hungry now.

This was a very, uh, interesting video.

My favorite bird? I’m not a huge bird guy, but I always thought owls were pretty cool. Doves are also cool.

But birds always just seemed like useless flying rats to me, and that might be a bit messed up, but eh.

Penguins are neat.

Least favorite bird? Pigeons. Duh.

Haha, I’d probably give Xyger the ability to teleport. That way he could shut down the obvious drug-cartel he must being running to be able to afford going on all of the trips he is going on. Gotta be drugs.

Plus, then he could be there to support all us good people for all the community events. And I’m sure he’d abuse the power to hug me a ton. This is an inherently selfish gift.

Oh. Shit.

Stripes.

Polka dots make you look like you’re 12, and I already look young enough as is.

But polka-dot pants are, indeed, HOT.

So for me it’s definitely Provolone cheese, salt and pepper, mayonaise, and mushrooms. I mean, i like me some green peppers too, but sometimes you get too much between mushrooms, onions, and green peppers. If you can find a balance, give it all to me. I don’t think I’ve had a traditional cheese-whiz cheese steak. I’d definitely give it a shot though!

Cheese streak is probably in my top five favorite foods. Though I think i’ve been won over by the Chicken California in recent years.

Nooooooope. I usually try and watch it with my roommates, but I’m not even trying this year. Fully uninvested from it, and I think my life is better for it. Just me though, go enjoy your sports ball or whatever kids.

Agree. But it’s gonna be lit.

PARTY AT PAX EAST 2016!! Come see me and Kaylie and all the cool IP stuff that we’ll be doing there!

I don’t know if the Steal Your Heart special edition is still the current special edition. Mine says the same, but I’d bet it’ll just get rolled over in the system to the current Collector/Special edition once the 14th rolls around.

Regardless, Amazon support has been pretty consistently great for me, so I’m not TOO worried.

This is relevant to HBomb and Friends. The first episode of HB&F I was tired out of my mind but it was a ton of fun. Also the episode of that that lead to the BrOC, of course, and recording The BrOC is always a metric fuckton of fun.

I will say this, and it’ll sound weirdly kind of half-negative, but I am consistently surprised at how much I have recording Irrational Passions Podcast. It’s always a nice surprise when we break off into fun tangents and laughs are always common. 

In GOTY land, Katie Kasarda’s from this past years, as well as Brandt Ranj’s first appearance on them hold special places in my heart as a ton of fun. There are also podcasts I’ve recorded that have never been released that were a great deal of fun.

I LOVE METAL GEAR SOLID.

It’s a weird thing, I actually powered through the whole series via GameFly just before MGS4 came out, and then of course my mind was blown by MGS4. First brush I didn’t love MGS3 as much, but I love it a ton now. 

That series is something special. It’s very much like Kingdom Hearts in its convoluted story nature, and I love both those series, so look at me, eh? The games play pretty awfully though, especially 1 and 2, in my humble opinion. MGS3 also plays pretty poorly, but Subsistence introduces a bit better controls as far as camera is concerned. 

MGSV though? A masterfully crafted video game, even if the story is a bit of a mess. I know people give that game a bad wrap, but I think that has gone down with me as one of my favorite games of all time, just because it plays so goddamn well. Story wise? MGS3 or 4 is my favorite. MGS4 just has so many payoffs for me.

I don’t know if it’ll get any bigger or anything, but I’d love to get more people posting on it, get some more respect from publishers and get more pre-release coverage of games. I don’t know if it’ll happen, but we’ll see.

Also hoping to redesign the site pretty soon and get a refreshed logo that is similar but a bit simpler.

We’ll see what happens. So long as I can support the site, as IPP keeps going, and people want to keep writing for it, I’m happy seeing IrrationalPassions.com grow for years to come.

It’s gonna be so lit yo.

I think it’s solid. It’s short, and concise, and having just watched it, it’s definitely a good idea to see Zelda on that thing, just because it has the mass appeal.

It’s crazy to see it during the Super Bowl. I mean, it’s the Big N’s first Super Bowl commercial, and it’s not often we see video game commercials. It shows how much they’re committed to making this a thing.

But people recognize Zelda, the platform looks great in the ad, and it’s really easy to understand. Continuing the trend of that initial announcement, which is good.

I think they have absolutely learned from the Wii U failure. It’s hard to say what they’ve learned, but a big thing is Nintendo still wants to do things a Nintendo way, and they’re obviously very particular. I mean, I’m not gonna sit here and argue that they aren’t tone-deaf, I’ve written a whole editorial about it, which you can read here:

http://irrationalpassions.com/editorial-where-are-we-with-switch/

I don’t know for sure, but again, this being called something separate from the “Wii” branding and the way their broad-sweeping ads, like that Super Bowl ad mentioned above, speak so simply to a wider audience tells me they’ve learned something. This thing, at the very least, has its own identity, and that’s somewhat encouraging.

Shoutouts

A big shoutout to Logan Moore, who just announced he is joining up with Dualshockers. That dude is super cool, and I got to podcast one-on-one with him pretty recently on his show, and you should check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXyJ5OtTPAc

Also a shoutout to Danny Juarez, obviously, since he is gonna be taking up a big mantle writing for Irrational Passions and podcast with us as well.

Well, I’m gonna drink some beer, play some games, and finish RE7, then FINALLY start Tales of Berseria. 

Thank you so much for the metric-ton of questions. Love you all. Keep it real

[aurimeanswind]

Your Favorite JRPGs—Sunday Chats (8-6-17)

Happy August everyone! The last month of summer, the heat is kicking up, and video games for some reason are coming out an entire month early again. It’s getting a little absurd, honestly, because like 12 games are coming out this month that I want and that’s just like... every month until December. Sooooooo.

Well anyway, this Sunday Chats is a bit different! I said last week that instead of soliciting questions for me from you, my lovely readers in this weekly digest of my life, I’d ask all of YOU a question, and then talk about your responses!

Well, suffice to say, you all blew me away. I said last week that I’d really love it if all of you came out for this, and I was going to start with something easy, but today I got the most responses to any Sunday Chats EVER. Over 30 responses and I am just so so so SO grateful! I love the readers of Sunday Chats as much as anything I make because, much like most things I put out on the internet, it’s very intimate and personal, and allows for a kindred connection between me and you! So thank you all so much for submitting your responses.

This week, I asked the question: in as few tweets as possible, what is your favorite JRPG of all time and why? Now, keep in mind, this isn’t a thing I’ll be doing every week from here out. I think I’ll do it the first Sunday of every month, keep it a monthly thing, and return to your regularly scheduled Sunday Chats next week, but this felt like a good thing to start off on. I am a massive JRPG fan, and I love them of all shapes and sizes. I’m working on a brand new project that is focused exclusively on JRPGs, and I wanted to know everyone’s favorite, but to know where my followers are at with the genre, and also maybe get some ideas of games to play for this new project.

With that being said, since most folks sent in multiple tweets for this (which is totally fine!) it’ll be a bit longer than a normal questions section, and I’ll talk about the games I can, so let’s get to it!

Your Favorite JRPGs

One, it’s SUIKODEN, so I guess the jokes on you, and two, it’s one of those classic JRPG franchises that I have never stepped my toes in. Though I’m not sure “it just is” is a very good explanation as to why it’s the best JRPG for you, but hey, to each their own.

Suikoden has the idea of just tons and tons of characters, kind of Fire Emblem style, and I like it for that. It was going for that army building idea in a JRPG way back when, before Fire Emblem got really crazy with it, and it’s a really cool mechanic to design around. 

I really truly love Ni no Kuni. It’s such a beautiful game about coming of age and dealing with loser, and like you said Brendan, the story is really incredible. Oliver’s struggle with kind of finding what it is and what it really means to love someone and lose them is incredibly poignant, and the turns the story takes as it goes on are really fun. I could not be more excited for the sequel and what it does with the franchise.

Ghibili’s style in that game really does set it apart too. Visual/Audio-wise, it’s unmatched in a lot of cases, with a score done by the Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra, and some of the most stylish and heartwarming designs I’ve seen in a JRPG on consoles. Oh, and most importantly, that game, and its sequel, know what’s up with a world map, and how important it is still.

Now that is quite the praise. Honestly, digging into Nier has been a lot of fun so far, and even though I haven’t played nearly as much of it as I need to, there is something unquestionably special to it.

Now to say its the best 6 hours in is definitely too early, but I’m excited to see what all the dialogue is about.

So of the three classic Final Fantasy games, Four, Five, and Six, Four is the one I have played the most of. I can confirm that the Chocobos are incredibly adorable, but I really loved the characters in FF4. Specifically Cecil was such a great protagonist for me, and his kind of camaraderie turned rivalry with Kain is awesome, and while I never finished the game, that was the crux of what pulled me through what I did see of the game.

The version I actually played the most of was the voice acted DS version, which I really loved! I remember it getting a lot of shit, but I thought it was a pretty dope way to play that game.

While I know remotely nothing about Final Fantasy 5, I know it’s got an infamous job system which, if I am remember correctly, is kind of like an extension of Final Fantasy 3′s job system? And would then continue in Final Fantasy 9? I obviously don’t know for sure, but yeah. I know nothing about FF5 of all the classic FF games (excluding the first three). 

Though I’m glad someone has it as their absolute favorite. In conversations it always seems to be Six or Seven, and to hear Five is at the top of SOMEONE’s list is a comfort to that game I’m sure.

Yeah, I mean Final Fantasy 6 is the one, right? I feel of that era of FF games, it’s the one that gets brought up the most. I’ve tried to start playing it on two separate occasions now and I just have never been able to get into it. Maybe I need to play it on its original SNES format, not the PSone version, but I’ve always just never gotten really interested in it. Folks have defended the Esper system by saying its better than FF7′s materia system too, and I don’t even know if I’ve gotten far enough into the game to see it.

It’s one of those games I want to love and just haven’t given the time really.

Yeah I mean Final Fantasy 7 is one of my absolute all time favorite video games ever, and I don’t think it’s a cliched answer at all. I think that game truly holds up, and is a blast to play. I replayed it early last year and had a great time playing it on PS4 via the PC port to the system. 

The Materia system really doesn’t get enough credit it honestly. The idea of leveling up these gems and having them give you more spells and then split off into more and more and more Materia is so cool. Plus, I loved the way Materia was just all about slotting things next to each other in simple ways to make combos, like combining “All” with “Cure” and being able to cure your whole party. The magic was just great, and things like the Enemy Skill Materia and the 2x/4x attack Materia just made leveling and grinding in that game super different, since you were leveling your characters but also the Materia on them.

I’m a massive fan of FF7′s story, and its music is just all time for me. It’s an absolute classic, and weirdly enough, I think actually looks kind of great still. It’s backgrounds are all prerendered and blurry as hell, sure, and the characters all have Pop Eye arms, but there is a charm and a consistency to that presentation that I love.

Now to answer your questions Brandon, I think Tales of Vesperia is all time as far as some of the most underrated JRPGs. So few folks have played it, and what that game does with weapon skills is incredible. It’s also one of the best JRPG stories out there too! I like it even more than Final Fantasy 7!

As for most overrated JRPG, I’m not sure. Probably for me PERSONALLY it’d be Final Fantasy 6 right now, but I know that comes from ignorance. That game is hard for me to penetrate, mostly because it hasn’t grabbed me. But it’s of a different era and I haven’t given it a true shake yet. Unfortunately, it’s the best answer I can think of off the top of my head.

JRPGs are about their systems and their characters. I love a good world and story, but I think if the systems that link together are good, and the cast of characters you have are memorable, you’re in for a winner no matter what.

Final Fantasy X is another game that I tried to play multiple times and just never penetrated. To be fair, it’s been a great deal of time since I actually tried, and I’ve never given it a shot as an adult, so I want to, don’t get me wrong. Just to find the time...

Ten-Two is one of those games that I feel like you don’t hear a lot of love for, but when you find someone who loves it, they really love it. And yeah, the whole dress-system (I think its dresses?) that replaces the jobs has a really cool ring to it. Plus, who doesn’t love pop-idol main characters?

Kingdom Hearts is one of those all time games for me. Much like my cohost Nabeshin, Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix is one of my all time favorite games. It perfectly does mesh two amazing things I love: Final Fantasy JRPG goodness, and Disney, and honestly makes it look easy.

If you think of the big budget mash up games, none of them have gone as far as Kingdom Hearts as far as trying to create a cohesive universe and tie it all together.

There are just so many true genuine feelings that Kingdom Hearts evokes. It tries, and I think for the most part succeeds, at being the Disney movie of Japanese Role Playing Games. It tries to teach the player about love, friendship, and the sacrifices and struggles that come from that. At least, the first one does. It takes that to another level and tries to build a universe after that, and say what you will about the later games getting away from the core concepts, it creates something magical and expansive. A world that sucked me in with characters I love and wonder to be shared for all. Its a franchise that, above most, has felt like a warm hug when I need it.

The World Ends With You is a game Nabeshin and Scott from Irrational Passions have been trying to get me to play for years. I’ve tried it out before and it’s crazy intimidating, but there is no doubt that it is one of the most original video games I have ever seen, just in general. It takes the pop/punk/hiphop style of music and art and beautifully coalesces it into a Tokyo as it is realized in TWEWY. I really respect the game, and I wish I could break into it, even though it feels impenetrable.

Just another one I need to add to the list.

Dragon Quest is ashamedly a JRPG franchise I have never touched, and it’s one I desperately need to play. With DQ7 and 8 out on the 3DS now, I feel like there is no better time to get into it, but I just don’t have the time or money. DQ11 is one that is on my radar though, and looks excellent. I feel like its really the progenitor of Chapter Based JRPGs like you pointed out Harold.

So yeah, Pokémon!

Anyone of those haters out there that says Pokémon isn’t a JRPG, they can go shove it. It totally is, and still today acts as maybe the best gateway into the genre. It’s phenomenal and I adore it. Like Nato said, there are really technical levels to the game if you want to get into them, but also like Jeff said, it’s just real good monster catching and raising.

I think Silver/Gold/Crystal and then by extension Soul Silver/Heart Gold are definitely the best Pokémon games, essentially because they refined the mechanics to a great point before you get into all the incessant mini game bullshit, and also happen to have pretty much the whole first pokémon game in them as well. 

For me though, it’s still Pokémon Black and White. 150 new Pokémon and through the run of that game you see nothing but those new Pokémon? It was like being in the OG Pokémon game but all knew, and recapturing that experience was really magical for me.

So Fire Emblem is incredible. I’ve played all the Fire Emblem games released in the US save for Shadows of Valentia, and I absolutely adore the franchise.

As a JRPG built around tactics gameplay, it’s definitely one that you have to commit to and be careful, especially because it’s a deep rabbit hole. Both the original Fire Emblem and Path of Radiance are absolutely fantastic. Path of Radiance is probably my second favorite in the series, behind Fire Emblem Awakening, which is also one of my favorite video games of all time.

Awakening is just the tactics gameplay perfected, with amazing stacking system, duos that can link up and fight together, and of course the relationship system with tons of cute Fire Emblem babies to be had. I love it.

The series has grown and evolved so much over the last few years, and I cannot wait to see the next major console release next year with all the learnings of the 3DS entries.

I have never played Vagrant Story, but if it has spies in it, and Jarrett Green likes it, then you know it’s good.

I’m sorry Kaylie, you know I hate hurting you so, but Tales of Symphonia is the gateway. For all three of us I’d say it played the same role of discovering games like that.

Symphonia was my first Tales game, a franchise I love and adore to this day, I mean look at what I said above about Tales of Vesperia. It was one of those times where I went into a GameStop and said “I want an action game like this that’s long and has a lot of voice acting and cool characters in it”, and back in the day my GameStop/Babages was legit, and the guy behind the counter pointed me onto the TWO DISCS that made up Tales of Symphonia. And boy did it change my life.

It was the first time I was “aware” of what a JRPG was, why Japanese games were the way they were, and really what the game, and the genre, was going for. It was really eye opening for me.

I played the game predominantly cooperatively with my brother and my friends, and it was amazing. I cannot undersell how much fun I had with my first play through. It was also the first game I remember playing that had a New Game Plus, and though I never got into it, I was so blown away by the idea, I have always saw that as a huge plus since.

While I don’t think the game holds up as well as I’d like it too, having beaten it on PS3 just a few years ago, the game is definitely still super special for me, and I do love it.

Goddammit Roger.

Seriously, shoutout to Persona 3. Good god is that game incredible. I have a long history with that game, playing way back when in 2008/2009 and loving-loving-LOVING it. It means more to me than almost any game, and on any given day is probably my second or third favorite game ever.

It’s dark, its character driven, and as the first game to use the Social Link System, it really hits a lot of the potential the series holds. A surprising amount I’d say, only to be evolved on in its sequel.

It’s a special game and I hope with Persona 3 Dancing Moon Light coming out soon a lot of folks will consider revisiting it. Hopefully Atlus just does a proper remake like the game deserves.

Yeah y’all.

I mean, it may be preaching to the choir here, but this is the game, in my humble opinion. Persona 4 Golden is my favorite video game of all time, and I absolutely and without question, adore it. I have often described it as “the perfect game for Alex O’Neill” and I stand by that.

The game is perfect. For me, at least.

There are blemishes on its perfection, for sure, and parts of it may not have aged incredibly well, but when I think of the potential of video games and their character/storytelling, Persona 4 is it for me.

It’s approachable, its lovable, it’s got some of the best gameplay ever, and the way all the systems interlock and support one another is brilliant. I cannot say enough good things about Persona 4, and I will likely never stop.

If you have never played a Persona game or Persona 4 specifically, you should fix that. 

Persona 5 is truly, truly fantastic. It’s near impossible to follow up a game like Persona 4 Golden, and yet Persona 5 does it and honestly makes it look easy. While the game’s message didn’t hit me the same way Persona 4′s did, I think that says more about me than the game. It’s still something to behold, and I’ve written and talked plenty about it all year.

I’m just bummed Cameron didn’t feel the need to tell me why it was his favorite...

Lunar is another game, like Final Fantasy 6, where I have tried to get into it and failed on multiple occasions. I will someday though, because in a recent attempt to get into Lunar I was having a great time and then a bunch of games came out. I think I will get into it at some point, what with the pretty great PSP version of the first game out there, and I really love the loving style and design that game puts out. I really want to know more about it, but want to play it to learn it.

Wow. Those are a lot of fantastic games, and thank you all so much for sharing! My favorite JRPG is obviously Persona 4 Golden, like I said above, with Persona 3 FES, Tales of Vesperia, Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix, and Final Fantasy 7 being pretty close runners up. I feel I’ve touched on why all those games matter to me so much, and what makes them so good, so I won’t repeat myself here. 

But JRPGs are an incredible genre. They’re expansive, world building titles that create misfit casts of characters and send you off on your own Goonies-like adventures. The idea of a group of misfits saving the world is a classic story, and though almost all of these games mentioned above follow that same arc, they somehow all have their own unique aspects. Whether its a multilayered system of mechanics and monsters to catch, or great writing, or in depth character development, they each bring something new to the table, and those are the best things a JRPG player could ask for. Now, there is still plenty of room to go up for the genre, and I’m excited for this new project to talk about maybe the ways it could do that.

What’s On Tap

The only thing I’ve been playing is Overwatch, and while Doomfist is still great, the main draw has been getting back into playing Overwatch with people again! I convinced friend of the Chats Kaylie Woomer to buy Overwatch and seeing her get into it and actually have fun with a multiplayer shooter for the first time. Like, ever? And this would be her first multiplayer game on top of that just in general. Which is super exciting!

It helps keep pushing that idea that Overwatch is crazy accessible and fun to get into. Even for folks who aren’t super into shooters!

But it’s been fun to see someone else’s genuine first experience with the game, and shooters in general. Shoutout to Kaylie for playing with me! Also to Andrew, Cameron, Xyger, Sean, Danny and more for playing with me this week. It’s been a ton of fun!

The Checklist

There is a lot of drama going on in video games recently, so I’m just going to pimp out locally sourced projects, so to speak.

The new show from Irrational Passions: Input - http://irrationalpassions.com/the-first-episode-of-our-new-show-input/

So Jurge Cruz, Logan Wilkinson, and Jarrett Green, the editorial team for IrrationalPassions.com, have put together a new show. It’s called Input, and it’s a news-based show that discusses stories, games, and the stories of the people making games. I’m so excited about it, and you should please subscribe and rate/review it. It just launched and it would help a ton right now.

Break in Reality Podcast Episode 56 - https://soundcloud.com/breakinreality/bir56gotyw

I was on Quinten Hoffman’s podcast this week, Break in Reality, with other friend Andrew Taylor! We did our “Game of the Year Watch” talking about our top picks so far in the year, and it was a great time! Give it a listen!

4 Yanks 1 Aussie Episode 48 - http://www.4yanks1aussie.com

I was on Episode 48 of 4 Yanks 1 Aussie with the good boys over there, which is not out yet, and probably won’t be out for a few weeks, but I’m excited for you all to hear it. Well, yes and no, but it was a great fun time, and I really do love and respect those guys.

I hope you all enjoyed this very unorthodox Sunday Chats. I had a lot of fun putting it together, and we’ll be back to the normal Sunday Chats format next week, so don’t worry too much about it.

Well, I’ve had a nice long day, and it’s time to chill out with some Game of Thrones and Chinese food.

Cheers all.

Keep it real.