#they are just amazing at spiking

[cheerio-bear]

More from the improv lol

[fractalkiss]

Lance Stroll | Post-Race, Singapore 2024

[tubesock86]

spike receiving praise

[homicidalbrunette]

I'm calling this video "everything is shit but it's okay because we have each other."

[tarotfiend]

i’m not afraid to admit it. i’ve watched phil’s new video 8 times.

[the-priestess-of-dawn]

Grima and Final Blows

The other day I mentioned that I had an essay about Grima to write that I'd been putting off, and between that and all the great essays my fellow Grimleal scholars have been putting out recently, I decided to sit down and finally get it done.

So here you go. An analysis of Grima's difficulties with directly killing people.

Okay, so I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time, because one of my favorite things to explore when it comes to Grima is the gap between their villain act, which they actively play up in front of others in both Awakening and FEH, and their true feelings, which are hinted at in Awakening (particularly through the Future Past DLC) and made even clearer in FEH— their own evil actions are repulsive to them, and they wish they could live normally among humans, but they don’t believe they have any choice but to be the monster that “the fell dragon, Grima” is supposed to be. They are committed to this “fell dragon” character, to putting on a show for everyone, and they are so good at it that it’s easy to overlook that they… uh… aren’t very good at killing anyone important. Not directly, anyway.

Sure, Grima is responsible for numerous deaths. But what is their actual kill count? Well, in Awakening’s main game… zero. (Unless you count Chrom, but, as we witness, that was not a voluntary act on their part; Validar took control of their body. You could also make the argument that Grima “claiming the sacrifice” at the Dragon’s Table counts, but the problem with that is, although it’s obvious that Grima accepts the life force of the Grimleal members as a sacrifice, it’s not at all clear whether or not Grima personally kills them. Although it’s possible that they did off screen, it’s also possible that Validar killed them, or that they were ordered to take their own lives; there’s no reason Grima would have had to lay a hand on them.) In the Future Past, it’s… one, maybe one and half (Naga’s spirit, and Tiki, but only in body. More on this later.)

And it’s not as though Fire Emblem shies away from showing villains directly murdering people, Even in Awakening itself, the intro to Chapter 9 shows Aversa killing a Plegian soldier for delivering an unsatisfactory report, so it wouldn’t have been out of place to let Grima stab a few NPCs as a show of brutality. Especially seeing as Grima is the evil dragon final boss. As early as Mystery of the Emblem, we can see Medeus killing his cleric hostages to restore his own health if you fail to rescue them before trying to defeat him, and as recently as Engage, we get a whole cutscene of Sombron eating Hyacinth. Fantasy violence my beloved <3

Anyway, the point is, Grima could have been written to be much more violent and I don’t think anyone would have complained. Instead, though, Grima repeatedly— and consistently across the series— tries to avoid engaging in direct combat.

Let’s start with what Grima does in the main game of Awakening. We know that Risen pursue Lucina into the past, because we see them fall out of the portal with her in Chapter 1. We also know that those Risen, as well as the others that are appearing throughout the land, are not being directly controlled by Grima, because later in Chapter 13, as the Shepherds are leaving Plegia after meeting with Validar, Aversa, and the Hierophant, they are pursued by more skilled Risen, and Frederick notes that “Either they are learning our ways, or someone is commanding them…” So… It seems that sending the Risen—with or without specific orders—to attack while Grima is not themself present is a favored tactic.

But what about when Grima is present? Take a look at the Endgame: Grima chapter. Yes, you eventually get to engage Grima in direct combat. But not immediately. What Grima does first is…

Grima attacks the Shepherds with dark spikes from a distance, reducing everyone’s hp to 1. Now, here’s what happens next: Grima attempts to possess their past self, Robin hears the voices of their friends and breaks free, Naga heals everyone back to full health, and then the fight against Grima begins… Except actually, the Shepherds have to get to Grima first, because they’re at the top of the map and they’re not budging. Naga warns them that “Grima’s servants will beset [them] to no end.” and she’s not kidding. Grimleal reinforcements will spawn infinitely, and they can hit pretty hard. Even with everyone starting at full health, it’s possible to lose units to these Grimleal soldiers if Grima isn’t defeated quickly. Can you imagine what would happen if Naga hadn’t healed the Shepherds first?

Well, I’d guess that they’d probably all die to the Grimleal without Grima having to face them up close. Which was probably what Grima was going for.

This isn’t the only time Grima tries the dark spikes trick, either. Grima attempts this exact same move in the Future Past 3 when they face Lucina, Severa, Laurent, and Gerome.

Grima announces “With the next blow, I will kill you.” and then demands that they hand over the Fire Emblem as well as the gemstone they hold. The threat is very real. But…

Given that at 1hp, a gust of wind could take the kids out, would it not have been easier and faster to kill them and just loot their bodies immediately? And yet Grima lets the kids have an extended discussion about sacrifice, and even suggests that Lucina would indeed buy a little more time by running… Again, I cannot stress enough that Grima should be able to finish them off in one hit at this point.

So the plan was almost certainly to back off and let the Risen do the actual killing, even though that would be a lot less efficient under the circumstances. And when Chrom and the Shepherds arrive, Grima immediately turns their attention to them, saying “If it’s a reunion you seek, my soldiers shall welcome you on my behalf.” Then they once again pick a spot at the back of the map and refuse to move from it, forcing the Shepherds to fight through the Risen in order to engage Grima in combat at all.

And sure, Grima has some excuses. “I was hoping not to have to flex any muscle,” they say right before the dark spikes attack, as if to justify why they didn’t do it sooner. And of course they taunt Lucina over having to choose to whether to run as her friends sacrifice themselves for her or to stay and fight and die with them. “I must say I shall enjoy this either way!” Yes, Grima, we get it, you’ve made it very clear that you’re an arrogant asshole.

But is arrogance really all there is to it? If we look at what Tiki tells Grima in the good ending of the Future Past, it looks as though Grima’s arrogance has brought their own downfall. “If you had left Mount Prism alone, Grima, you might have stood a chance. Instead, you have brought the Awakening right to your feet.” However, when you think about it… Is Tiki’s continued existence not in itself a result of Grima’s repeated pattern of not really wanting to land a finishing blow? The game states that Grima did in fact kill Tiki… but only in body, not in spirit. This is, according to Tiki, because Robin intervened.

Now, the question I have is… Is it really possible that Robin could have intervened both against Grima’s will and without them having any idea? Honestly, it’s hard to tell exactly how aware Grima is of Robin’s resistance, because they lie about it a lot, e.g. stating that Robin’s spirit perished in sending Chrom back to his own world, even though just moments later, Robin is once again overpowering them. So, keeping in mind that Grima is a liar, was Grima really arrogant to leave Tiki’s body in Ylisstol, and to not make sure that her spirit was fully destroyed? Or was Robin simply able to capitalize on Grima’s propensity towards backing off?

Because surely the only way Grima could be unaware that Robin had acted against them is if Robin hadn’t actually acted against them. I don’t think I believe that Grima really wanted Tiki gone. Naga, sure—longtime nemesis and all. But if Grima had truly cared about seeing Tiki’s existence destroyed… Well, I doubt Robin could have interfered that much.

But maybe it could still be a matter of arrogance. Maybe Grima just didn’t think Tiki’s spirit could do anything with Naga’s spirit gone, and thus didn't care to pay attention to her anymore once she seemed dead enough.

If that’s true, it doesn’t explain why Shadows of Valentia Grima exhibits the exact same habits when fighting Alm and Celica, despite never having been outside of the Thabes Labyrinth at this point in their life. As opposed to the various Terrors throughout the rest of the Labyrinth, which chase Alm (or Celica) down in the overworld to force a fight, Grima is immobile in their room, and will wait patiently there indefinitely until the player chooses to engage. You can even evacuate from the dungeon.

But if you do choose to fight Grima, it proceeds much like the battles against them in Awakening go. The main difference is that they actually will move from their starting position this time, if you position someone in their range. That still requires a fight against (proto-)Risen who are spawning in from the sides to stop your party’s advance.

So… Now it’s starting to look like Grima actively prefers this one particular trick… And it’s a fundamentally defensive maneuver, which makes perfect sense from SoV Grima’s standpoint (they were attacked out of nowhere, after all), but is not really an obvious standout strategy for Awakening Grima, whose taunts and threats suggest an aggression that would be better supported with a more offensive strategy… Consider, too, that Awakening Grima is in fact being even more defensive than their SoV iteration, since they don’t move towards you at all.

With all that in mind, it really, really looks like Grima doesn’t want to fight, especially in Awakening. Not that they don’t intend for the Shepherds to die—on the contrary, they’ve set everything up so that the Shepherds will eventually be overwhelmed—but that they don’t want to land the killing blow.

(And gee, I wonder what might be fueling their reluctance? Being controlled and made to kill your best friend by your own hand wouldn't be totally traumatic or anything, right?)

And then... Funny thing here, I’ve been procrastinating writing this essay for a long time. I originally started thinking about it shortly before the Depths of Despair banner was released in FEH, so imagine my surprise when I saw this characterization hold up in the writing of Fell Exalt Chrom’s Forging Bonds as well… The Grima there says that Chrom was the one to kill the rest of the Shepherds. Now, it’s pretty clear that it was through Grima controlling him, but that’s not the point. The point is that once again, Grima didn't have to do any direct killing.

Look, if it had only ever happened once, I could buy that maybe Grima was just underestimating their opponents, that maybe they thought they could get away without having to put very much work in. But for Grima to operate this way so many times, so consistently, and to their own detriment? No...

Grima doesn’t like direct combat. Grima has trouble even when it’s a fight they asked for.

And when you think about it, that makes their reaction to Robin choosing to land the final blow themself in the sacrifice ending all the more understandable.

“…YOU WOULD… NOT DARE!”

Because Grima would not dare. Grima has always preferred to let someone else land the final blow.

[fiepige]

Since we're approaching the holiday season I have a very important question:

If Hobie was to wear a santa hat as Spider-Punk would he wear it like this:

or like this?

Or maybe even like this?

[moe-broey]

Split dyed my hair repainted my nails black and made myself some sick ass fucking cuffs (WITH spikes). We're So Back

[guckies]

Because Bolas Rojas has the magic of friendship I’m assigning ponies

Cellbit - Twilight sparkle

Phil - Applejack

Baghera -Spike

Jaiden - Rainbow Dash

Foolish - Rarity

Slime - PinkiePie

Carre - Flutttershy

[hartxstarr-art]

valediction

[thatonesalmonlingnamedspike]

look!!! its root beer!!!

i did it! i did the thing!!!! look!!! root beer!!! in the fantastic pixilated party!!!(ebay version of tadc) wohoo!!! i actually like this design!!! yayyayayayay!!!!

@duckmenacethemultifandomlover inspired me with theirs!

also their cool so go check em' out! :D

[beardedhandstoadshark]

If Smash Bros is a kid playing with toys, Melee is said kid getting older, and Brawl/Subspace Emissary is them growing up and struggling with the societal pressure to stop being into "childish things“ already vs going "fuck you cringe is dead“ to them, then where does that leave Sm4sh and Ultimate?

Especially Sm4sh, with the Master Core. That thing was weird, right? It came out of nowhere, created nightmare fuel, and dropped dead on the ground.

So I‘m proposing: it continues right where it left off. Tabuu is dead, and with it, The Cringe. The first kid, then teen, now adult is living their best life creating sickass crossovers of more games than ever before now that they‘ve got a Steam Account.

But anyone who‘s ever grown up ridiculed, be it for their hobbies or their interests or whatever, who’s spent their entire life up until then perfecting how to hide what they love from anyone else and no one to share, knows: The shame doesn‘t leave. Not completely.

It lingers, it festers, in the back of your mind and out of sight on most days, all the little jabs and familiar hurt every single act of love reminds you of piles up one by one, until one day in the middle of it all it finally cracks, and bursts out stronger than ever.

Or in other words; if you fight the hands on a high enough difficulty, it gets interrupted by the Master Core violently ripping out of Master Hand.

Aside from Master Hand specifically being the Creation half of the Hand Duo, putting emphasis on that, the Core’s forms are interesting. It starts off as a humanoid giant with no face but a glowing head, sweeping arms arms across the stage like someone shoving their things off a table, the head bursting open into a vacuuming void or slammed on the ground.

Defeat it, and it turns into a Beast. With sharp teeth and spikes in its back, claws like a T-Rex and scorpion tail, it looks like a chimera of animals a kid would find cool.

After that, too-many swords with spiky edges and even spikier decoration barely made out. Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t have an edgelord phase as a 13y old where you thought stuff like this was the sickest shit ever.

Then the next phase: You. Or rather, the character you picked to make it this far. If it’s your first time, most likely your favorite or Main too. It’s programmed to be bigger than the player and have all your custom moves and equipment, but as you defeat it, it shrinks down in size as the Black swarm slowly clears to show the colors underneath.

If you defeat it in the 3DS version, this is where it ends. In the WiiU version, you get another phase: Subspace Emissary Body Horror Edition. A maze that plays just like Brawls (Tabuu’s) Subspace, but in the form of a body whose guts you traverse, where you have to find and hit 4 hearts that audibly beat. It spits you back out after the first 2, but you go back in to finally finish the job,

And there it is. The Master Core. Cleared of the festering swarm, it’s just lying there. Still. Glowing a bit, a rainbow of the previous forms’ colors contained with black and white. Behind all the darkness, there is nothing that can really hurt you.

(Unless you wait for too long. Because if you wait for 45 seconds, it will fly back up and unleash Tabuu’s attacks on you.

Because if you don’t do anything against those thoughts and ignore them, the shame will just come back to strike you.)

So you go kick it, and it comes back. You strike it, it comes back. Next kick, it comes back again, another kick, strike, every time it comes back, but every time, it flies a bit farther, takes a bit longer, is easier to get rid off, until finally, for the last time, for real this time- GAME!

So that’s what the Master Core is, imo. The literal Core of all the negative thoughts that festered over the years of the kid, teen, adults’ shame of loving the things they do, ending in them finally coming to terms with their childhood experiences and moving past them once and for all.

(And Ultimate’s spirit mode is them getting into the Smash Bros fandom on the internet but if i ever explain that one it’s in a different post)

[frankenbolt]

I told my Aunt that the ides were on friday and she looked pained and said "I can't believe I forgot, my favourite high school essay on the ides. I suppose I'll have to make something nice to celebrate...what can we make that we can stab?"

Sometimes I tell her things just to see her face, because her children are so very normal about near enough everything...but then I remember she is my Mother's older sister, who raised her to be the person she is today.

And there had to be a reason why my Mother is like that.

[foggysirens]

people calling small subfandom groups ‘dead’ just because they’re not the most popular tag within the base of the fandom is so funny to me because ??? that’s literally just how fandoms work ??? you have your base interest and through that you can find your community and most of the time those are just smaller !! like especially when it comes to ships and stuff and yes, of course some will be larger than others but once again that is just the nature of fandom !!! and i think that is where so many people just do not really understand what fandom means outside the broad perception of the word cause like two people can be a fandom. fandom grows and shrinks with interest, but that doesn’t make it any less of a fandom. i see so many lovely and dedicated groups fans who love the book/show/movie/band that they talk about and create for and it’s like the same ten people. and they are a fandom !!! hell, i don’t really think any fandom is truly dead, because when i look at the fic and art and meta made i can see the love that went into them and that isn’t diminished by the creator not being active in that space anymore !!! they loved and they created !!! and to me love is the heart of most things but it especially is for fandom !!! and that can be with two people or two thousand fandom is for fun and and finding your group however big or small !!! fandom is what you make of it !!! anyways all this to say is to say i love you small fandoms and creators you are the backbone of our society <3

[enemyoflactose]

Can we maybe stop harassing and ridiculing people for the type of fiction they consume? Like, don't insult people for what they like even if it's no one specific, don't insult them over head canons, don't insult them for liking something you don't, don't insult them for shipping something you don't like, don't insult them period.

It's really weird and honestly incredibly annoying. Like, care about real issues maybe? Care about a real person or real situation? Block the stuff you don't like? Stop bringing up the stuff you don't like?

What's so addictive about being a nuisance and a hater? Being kind is free.

I've made the mistake of being a shitty fan and I've since realized that it hurts real living people that don't actually do anything wrong and I'm trying to get better at being kinder. It's not hard to be mean, but it's so much easier to just ignore the stuff you hate and move on.

[teddybearsims]

im playing rdr2 for the first time rn so probably no sim posts from me for a bit bc its ALL I can think about ;-; <3