#though a saga commander would be really neat

[inventors-fair]

Settling at the Top: Hybrid Legend Winners ~

Our winners this week are @grornt, @horsecrash, and @izzet-always-r-versus-u!

@grornt — Vhati en-Dal

Someone never read the Weatherlight saga story—and that someone is me. Whoops. Hard to imagine a point at which novels were the main way to consume MTG lore and whatnot, but that hardly matters now that we have this moment of defection. I guess the only issue is that this card feels split from the timeline more than it is an alternate timeline—i.e. this is the card that could've followed instead of Diabolic Edict. That said, there's the placement of where a timeline truly becomes an alternate one, and I really don't want to get into the semantics of it. Vhati deserves differently.

And what a card you've made of it, too. The lifelink overlap is pretty low-hanging fruit for WB hybrid but that doesn't mean that it ain't still awesome. Utilizing tokens is one of the ways that this becomes significantly better, and Ball Lightning-types would absolutely love to have this card in their arsenal. With the card draw, it's definitely a bend in white, but not so much a bend that it's not understandable. Limited draw with something that white cares about is more than enough to see it through. As both a potential commander, a good limited build-around/utility card, and a neat mechanical callback, I'm really happy with the design sensibilities on display here.

@horsecrash — Sythis, Havoc's Hand

I think the shorthand works here, because honestly, the only thing throwing me off is the fact that some cards like Karametra's Blessing add a whole lot of words in there. Not that this card is hard to grok my any means, but it's a lot of text and there's only so much I'm willing to encourage adding for the sake of specificity. Let's back up. Mechanically, this is a limited powerhouse and I can imagine the work that it would do in a heroic-style standard/pioneer shell for sure. Double strike is rather powerful, but in-pie for both colors, and ramping up auras, flash enchantments, upper-curve creatures—pretty crazy powerful but only as much as a body can be.

What's interesting here is the difference in the flavor from Theros' usual fare. I can picture this moment where schwoop, planeswalkers gets taken to an alternate timeline or something, and the once-peaceful Sythis was created with a little too much wildness in her. Touching the monstrous wilds imbued her with the power to protect through force. It's a bit of a departure from Akroan valor, and yet there's a cool concept there about everything in Theros being topsy-turvy. What happened to the rest of the plane and the gods? What happened to that devotion to have the Nyxian entities suddenly change their form? Great use of the prompt.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Winota, Martial Force

You, on the other hand, can go to your room and think about what you've done. Good grief, this card is heartbreaking. Like, in terms of alternate universes or whatever, there's now a world where the once-revered bonder Winota is a stoic, severe, militant figure who uses her powers to destroy the creatures that she once would have loved. That activated ability... I'm honestly a little unsettled! Perhaps Winota still has that bonding ability, turning monsters against each other for the sake of Drannith. Unless I'm reading that very wrong, anyway. Our timeline's Vivian meeting this timeline's Winota wouldn't end well.

I don't think that much is going to end well for your opponent if you manage to land a Winota on board either. Creating non-Human tokens with things like Resolute Reinforcements or Anim Pakal ensures that the sacrifice will get all the indestructible that you need (except for Winota herself, good balance) in the competitive Human shell. Limited will make almost all your humans so much better, and on-board removal is always incredibly powerful. Mythic legends are both of those things for a reason, though. I think that this is pushed but far from unbalanced. I also appreciate how the similar abilities/triggers utilize completely different play patterns than the original Winota.

Great job, everyone. Runners coming up. @abelzumi

[master-apology]

Okay, after playing through the demo again and giving myself some time to digest it I'm going to put down some thoughts.

The demo itself went longer than I expected, consisting of the game's prologue and ending after your third day of spending time how you choose, or after reaching a certain point in the first main dungeon.

Setting and Themes

While not Atlus's first foray into fantasy (I think that'd be Etrian Odyssey), they're most prominently known for MegaTen's urban fantasy, cyberpunk, and post-apocalyptic stories. The game's definitely marketing itself through its connection to the Persona games and the calendar system draws immediate comparison, but part of P3-5's charm was the contrast between regular life and crazy psychic battles with mind monsters, so a story that's all fantasy all the time might not click with some of the people coming in from P5. I happen to like fantasy, especially weird fantasy, so it's not a problem for me. The game is openly metatextual, beginning by pondering the worth of fantasy, the protagonist's fantasy novel clearly being about our world, and containing a lot of references to Thomas More's Utopia. There's hints that the setting might actually be post-apocalyptic, with the most dangerous monsters being called Humans, hints of an Old World, and the usage of Esparanto. I'm curious to see where this all goes.

Characters

Characters are all enjoyable so far. I'm obviously not the first person to say this but Will, the hero's default English and Japanese name, really does look like the kid of Aigis and the P3 MC. The dialogue you pick for him is voiced, which is nice. Also, I find it funny how all of your initial party members are noticeably taller than he is. Kind of fun to play a short king. Will is an Elda, a race of people at the very bottom of society's social hierarchy, their mere existence considered blasphemy against god. Needless to say, a lot of people you can talk to around town aren't happy to see you. Gallica is neither an annoying fairy nor a shitty mean fairy, but the rare best friend fairy. She casts a spell on Will early on making him music wherever he goes, meaning the soundtrack is technically diegetic. I like More, but I can't help but think of him as a yassified Igor. Your party is neat; an honorable young noble from a fallen house, an experienced veteran mentor, and a dedicated lady knight. Griffith Louis Cypher Guiabern seems like he'll shape up to be a good villain.

Gameplay/Combat

I felt a little trepidation when I learned there would be a mix of real time and turn based combat since I mostly prefer turn based, but I needn't have worried. The real time combat is simple and ultimately in service to the turn based combat. It gives you the chance to instakill weaker enemies and lets you get an ambush on stronger ones, though if you're not careful they can ambush you instead, and you can enter turn based combat whenever you want. This is important, as combat can be pretty tough, even on normal difficulty, and who does the ambushing can make a big difference. While Metaphor's similarities to Persona are obvious, combat and character progression actually feel a bit closer to Digital Devil Saga, with SMT's usual Press Turn style rather than Persona's One More style, as well as each character having an extensive tech tree. The Archetypes are more like a job system than personas; any character can learn to use any Archetype and an Archetype determines what equipment they can use. That last bit is especially important as physical damage is once again split by weapon type. Some interesting complexity is added to the combat with positioning and synthesis skills. You can command a character to switch between the front-line and the back-line, which determines how much damage they'll deal with and take from physical attacks. Certain enemy attacks will only target your front or back line and the trailers indicate some skills are dependent on position as well. Synthesis skills are combo moves that can only be used if you have specific combinations of Archetypes and take up two of your press turns. Notable, it seems like all AoE attacks are synthesis skills, so you may end up in a situation where you want to arrange your party's Archetypes a certain way just so you can use them.

Tips

This will go into some detail about what you get into during the demo, so avoid if you want to go in blind. First piece of advice is that the optional boss in the mines is totally beatable if you're prepared. Equip both Will and Grius with the Mage Archetype as soon as you can. By the time you get to the boss they'll both have ice magic, which is its weakness. You can get a good great sword type weapon for beating it, which can be purified later for an even better version. Learn and equip the Healer Archetype to Will as soon as you get it. Don't go to the dungeon the first day you can. You should instead spend some time looking around town, talking to people, and picking up quests. One quest in particular is to help out at the inn's kitchen. Spend the afternoon sitting at the bench, increasing your wisdom, and the evening in the kitchen. Complete the quest the next day to increase your wisdom again and get it to the second level. With your increased wisdom you'll be able to accept a quest from the magic shop lady which unlocks a new, smaller dungeon. You'll also be able to get equipment purified at the church. The purified version of the sword you got from the mines makes normal attacks deal fire damage instead of slashing damage, which will be a big deal in the main dungeon. The dogs in the first area are weak to fire and the soldiers are weak to pierce, so the best Archetypes for you party will be Healer, Warrior (with fire sword), and Knight. The next area is mostly zombies, which are weak to light and fire, with some stronger enemies that are weak to bashing. Best Archetypes for here are the same as before, but have either Strohl or Hulkenberg switch to Brawler for the tougher guys. The next area is mostly skeletons who are weak to light and bash attacks, but are resistant to pierce, so a good team would be Healer, Warrior, and Brawler. The midboss encounter, and the cutoff point for the demo, is a soldier using magic attacks and buffing four skeletons. The soldier is weak to pierce like the others so have someone with Knight and have your other characters equip Healer and Seeker, as they synthesis moves will make short work of the skeletons.

Finished the Metaphor Re:Fantazio demo. Lot of fun. Was hoping to play it on PC but had to play it on PS4 instead. Computer couldn't handle the desert the game drops you into first thing.

[kerra-and-company]

Okay, throwing some thoughts out here, so miscellaneous Icebrood Saga: Judgment spoilers under the cut!

I AM SO GLAD BRAHAM IS STILL ALIVE. HOLY SHIT. I so wanted to be able to give him a hug when we found him and pulled him out of the snow; why wasn’t that an option? (Kidding in terms of gameplay, but I’m definitely writing a fic at some point where Kerra gives him a hug. Or it’ll just live in my brain. One way or the other.)

I had a feeling that if Braham survived, Ryland would too, and yep, I was right. And he got stabbed because of course, and of course it was Rytlock, and of course he stabbed him with Sohothin. There’s most likely a lore and/or pain post to be written about that one.

I liked that Ryland kept the ice-saw and that it didn’t change back to a flame-saw after Jormag died. Ryland didn’t change without Jormag, so why would his weapon?

I’d missed the instanced content where you can actually talk to people, so I was super happy to see it come back. I don’t absolutely hate the DRMs, but I definitely prefer instanced stuff when it comes to the story.

Aurene using the magic from the ley lines to sever the champions’ connections with their dragons was really neat and I liked that concept! Actually using the fact that she’s a prism for magic, hell yeah! (And we got to do the crystal-wings thing again, which I was very much a fan of!) And having some of the magic go to what I assume is Steve the deep sea dragon made sense and is a decent jumping-off point for EOD.

The aesthetic was excellent, and I loved the art! Primordus and Jormag had excellent designs, and the attacks seemed good to me (though Jormag will absolutely freeze your ass off if you don’t get out of the way in time, be warned).

I almost got exasperated when they were like, “whoops, you have to hit them more than once!” But it wasn’t actually tiresome for me when I went to do it, and they had less health after the first time, so it wasn’t a pain, either. (And it makes sense--it’d take more than one hit to take down an Elder Dragon.)

This could have just been me (‘cause I know I’m not the most experienced player in the world), but Braham was harder to fight than Ryland--and I don’t mean in terms of “I don’t want to fight you” (though that too of course) but in terms of literal mechanics. He moved and jumped so much and it was harder to bring his health bar down. Not super difficult or impossible or anything, just harder than Ryland, which I thought was a neat parallel even if it’s just for me.

The Commander is a hypocrite. Yep, 100% agree, Braham. You still need a nap. And a hug. Anet, let us hug Braham, please.

Aurene felt guilty, and she shouldn’t (in terms of I don’t want her to--it’s definitely in character). Not everything is your fault, sweetheart. Along those lines, I liked that we got to talk to her at the end! And Braham, and Gorrik and Taimi and Jhavi!

Taimi and Braham need to actually talk about things. I know they couldn’t fit in every conversation, but that’s one I would have liked to see, and it’s one I hope they have in the future.

Can’t wait to see Taimi and Gorrik’s research and what they find out (even if we know or can guess at some of the answers).

Ryland insulting Rytlock and Crecia was expected, for sure, but it’s also interesting because he’s insulting who they were at the beginning of the saga, not who they are now, because he doesn’t know enough about them now to give them updated insults.

It also made me very curious if we’re going to get updates on the Khan-Ur situation, which is by far not the most important thing going on and I’m glad they didn’t focus on it here, but I still would like answers at some point.

I just thought of this but Crecia trapped Ryland in flame in a parallel to how she protected Smodur from him earlier in the saga, right after mentioning Cinder. Ow.

And for everyone’s Commander who’s terrified of fire (Kerra included), fighting Braham has an extra nightmare attached to it, so...fun times.

What happened to the Frozen? Are they free? Still trapped? My guess is free since it was magic Jormag ice and Jormag is dead, but that wasn’t answered (I don’t think) and I really would like to know!

Also, what exactly was the death toll from Jormag and Primordus throughout this whole thing? I don’t need super specific numbers, but estimating is hard and my only conclusion is that it was a Lot, which is slightly too vague for my brain.

Is Aurene going to end up as the only Elder Dragon? Can she hold that much magic alone? The fact that the next part is called End of Dragons continues to scare me.

Gonna end this with: I thought this was a decent finale! I almost wish it could have been longer, but that’s more because I love doing story things and crave more of it than because I thought it was badly paced. (I do think they could have made it at least a bit longer, though, and I would have appreciated that.) They didn’t kill Braham, which was my biggest fear, and he gets to recover and be okay. Two Elder Dragons are dead, as is Ryland, and we’ll be going to Cantha eventually.

First living world season that I’ve been around to play during the release of the ending chapter, and I’m pretty satisfied with it! I’m sure I’ll come up with more complaints later since my default mode is positive, and I still have questions, but overall opinion at this point: pretty good!

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

WAIT I take it back I do have one headcanon-ish idea.

So I’ve been re-reading Fallen Star and Brother Avengers, right? And last night I was having a lot of fun imagining how well Thor and Loki would get along with Stan and Ford.

Like, Ford and Loki are over there talking about traveling between realms and magic and science and all sorts of stuff, and then Thor’s sitting there with Stan like, “So how do you solve your problems?” “I punch them.” “... EXCELLENT.”

And then I was thinking, why stop there? Why not set this in the Wingfeather Falls universe?

Thor: I am Thor and this is my brother Loki. We are princes of Asgard. Kalmar: Nice to meet you! I’m Kalmar. *pause where Thor and Loki stare at the grinning Kalmar in growing confusion because usually people have more of a reaction than this* Janner, sighing: Kalmar is the High King of the Shining Isle of Anniera. *Thor and Loki now have to deal with the fact that they are, technically, outranked by a child*

*later* Kalmar: Oh hey, Thor, you left this in our room *hands Thor his hammer* Thor: ....

Loki: So your music, it has magical properties? Leeli: Yep! Loki: Fascinating. Janner: Hey can I borrow these books I got out of your library? Which is pretty amazing, by the way. Loki: Yes you absolutely may. Just put them back.

I imagine all the Asgardians would be really thrown off by Leeli being crippled, because that’s even less normal for them than it is for humans. So they’re either incredibly awkward around her or condescending, and she hates it. Finally she gets fed up with it one night during dinner, stands up and points at Odin and goes, “He only has one eye, but you don’t treat him like he’s not your king, or like he can’t command you. There’s nothing wrong with him and there’s nothing wrong with me, so just stop it, all of you!” *sits down in a huff*

This isn’t really in the Marvel movies, but in the Fallen Star Saga Loki is a great healer, and so I think that at some point he would go and ask Leeli if she does want to be healed. But he asks in a way that’s neither awkward or condescending, because he knows what it’s like to be treated differently for something you can’t change. And Leeli recognizes this and kind of smiles at him and shakes her head and tells him no. “May I ask why not?” “I think it’s important that I’m like this. It reminds people that even though you might be different you can still live. And I think that’s very important to people like my uncle Artham, and uncle Fiddleford, and to the people on our island who used to be cloven and Fangs, and to the people in Skree and Ban Rona who never really understood how different could be good.” *pause* “I think, Leeli Wingfeather, that you are more noble than all the warriors in Asgard.” *Leeli blushes* “I’m sure that’s not true, but thank you. And I think you’re very kind.” *Loki blushes* *mumbles* “Thank you.”

Meanwhile, Kalmar has snuck Mabel and Dipper into Asgard and Mabel has covered Thor’s cloak with glitter so that it can scatter behind him as he flies across the sky. She just about dies when she sees the Rainbow Bridge.

Dipper doesn’t trust Loki until Loki casually slides him a stack of books on Asgardian creatures and magic. They’re friends after that.

Also, in a stroke of inspired genius tonight, I came to the realization that Tony Stark and Fiddleford would be friends. (and by that I mean the Tony Stark specifically from the Fallen Star Saga, aka the only Tony Stark I have ever consistently liked) Tony: So this is my suit. Fiddleford: Neat! Does it play music? Tony: ... Yes it absolutely does.

And, for the record, Thor and Loki are VERY impressed by Artham’s wings.

@ash-grimmy I don’t know if you want to read my ramblings about this but I’ll tag you in case you do. xD

[minaminokyoko]

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker--A Spoilertastic Review

Boy, oh, boy.

Well, it’s over.

And I don’t know how I feel about it.

Let me start as I always do by saying I have no attachment to Star Wars. It’s always just be something to watch for me, nothing more, nothing less. I am ambiguous and apathetic. I admit that the first time I ever perked up was with The Force Awakens, which I still think is on par with the first two original films in terms of being engrossing. I actually liked it more because Rey and Finn connected with me more than I did with Luke as a kid. Then Last Jedi happened and it derailed the places that I had hoped we were going to go. I didn’t dislike Last Jedi, but I certainly didn’t like it either. I appreciate the risks it took, but I felt it didn’t pull them off and that’s why I had zero expectations for this film. It left a lot of people unsure of the future.

And unfortunately, J. J. Abrams pussed out.

There is no other way to say it. He basically listened to the people who complained about The Last Jedi and catered the characters’ development in order to try to please them. Which is shitty as hell.

That being said, this is an enjoyable movie, imo. It’s a satisfying end to the overall Skywalker saga, I think, but not to its original characters. I’ll explain below.

Overall Grade: C+

Spoilers ahead, as always.

Pros:

-The action is great. Just great. Really engrossing, really fun sequences. Everyone pulls their weight, too, unlike the subplots in Last Jedi. It’s also visually stunning. It’s a polished film, much like what we’ve been enjoying about the Mandolorian, how it integrates real sets with effects instead of just that sterile bluescreen nonsense Disney has been doing recently.

-Reuniting Finn, Rey, and Poe was a fucking Godsend. They are so likable together. It was the whole reason I liked The Force Awakens so much. They’re a good group and you really root for them the entire time. I’m glad they let them be in the story together. It’s the way it should be. They have a ton of chemistry and I would like it very much if they are kicking off an original franchise now that they have ended the Skywalker saga. We’ll see.

-Poe in particular is a lot of fun in this film, which is much needed since he was such a headstrong pain in the Last Jedi. Here he’s back to being just charming and salty and likable as hell. I really enjoyed Isaac finding a path for Poe, because at first he was kind of filling the snarky badass role that Han Solo did but he found his own way and I like him a lot for that same reason. He’s convicted but he’s softened up from how he was in Last Jedi and I think it works great.

-Rey being at the center of the story—and don’t worry, we’ll talk about this below, ugh—even though I highly disagree with the direction they took her in, is still great. I like that they still didn’t listen to the whiny gits who hate a woman being a Jedi. I like that Rey is fighting every second to hold onto her own truth and be her own person. Good for you, girlie. I do hope she gets more stories. She’s a good bean.

-The tribute to Carrie Fisher was nothing short of beautiful. I got choked up. Thank you for honoring her. I miss her so much. I only wish she could have seen it herself. She’s such an inspiration.

-Good pacing. Nothing stagnates and there aren’t any subplots that feel extraneous like in Last Jedi. The film is focused on all the right areas.

-Kylo Ren fucking dies like he deserves. See ya later, Darth Fuckboi. But we’ll also discuss that below.

-The Han Solo cameo caught me waaaaaaaaaaay off-guard. Harrison Ford has made no bones about hating Han Solo, which annoys me because I still think Han is his best performance, and yet he still agreed to cameo, so that was pretty neat. Unexpected for sure. But I’m sure Disney waved a very pretty paycheck and he only had about 10 lines, so why not?

-I did like Rey’s adoption of the Skywalker name. Thank you for giving meaning to that strange title choice. It’s very heartwarming to end on that image of Luke and Leia, together again, smiling fondly at this little girl they adopted. She ended a war and now she can be herself. I loved her creating a gold lightsaber too. It’s very fitting and it’s such a great thing to see. As a female fangirl, it makes my heart sing to know that millions of little girls get to grow up with a female Jedi as the lead in the new franchise.

-It was nice to see Lando again! Good for Billy D.

Cons:

I have three big fucking problems with this movie. They don’t break the entire movie, but they damage it so much that now I get why the movie is getting so many mixed reviews. The things this movie does well, it does well, but the things it fucks up? My God, does it fuck them up. Let’s dig in.

-First huge problem: *gets out loud speaker* KYLO FUCKING REN DID NOT DESERVE A FUCKING REDEMPTION ARC. FUCK. THIS. FUCKING. FUCKBOI. HE DOES NOT DESERVE A REDEMPTION ARC BECAUSE HE IS A GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING SPACE NAZI AND HIS ACTIONS DO NOT AT ALL WARRANT A KISS FROM REY NOR FORGIVENESS FROM ANYONE. FUCK DARTH FUCKBOI. FUCK ANYONE WHO THINKS HE COULD BE REDEEMED AFTER KILLING HIS FATHER IN COLD BLOOD AND TRYING TO KILL HIS MOTHER AND OH YEAH REMEMBER THE BILLIONS OF DEAD INNOCENT PEOPLE HE KILLED AS A PART OF THE FIRST FUCKING ORDER OH MY GOD THIS IS THE WORST WRITING HOW FUCKING DARE YOU.

Ahem.

This arc did not work in the Last Jedi either and yet here we fucking are. We are in a world that is asking us to forgive a goddamn Space Nazi. It’s so unacceptable. But I shouldn’t be surprised, since this is the same fucking year Hollywood is trying to ask me to feel bad for the goddamn fucking Joker.

Kylo Ren does not and never will deserve a fucking redemption arc. He willfully slaughtered billions of people. Billions. Fuck you for asking me to care about him. Fuck you for that disgusting kiss. He is an abuser and Rey has not shown any romantic interest in him whatsoever up until this point. I can’t fucking believe they pandered to the fucking gross ass Reylo fans. And yes, fight me, I don’t care, Reylo is fucking problematic as hell and that was the most forced bullshit I’ve ever seen in my life. Go to hell.

-Second huge problem: retconning Rey’s backstory made me fucking furious. It was the one fucking thing I didn’t want J. J. to mess with and not only did he mess with it, he went with the most illogical fucking method to make Rey’s lineage “important.” Say what you want about the Last Jedi but the thing that worked best was Rey’s parents being fucking nobodies who sold her off. That was a great story element. It reinforces the very important idea that you are who you choose to be, to quote the immortal words of The Iron Giant. Where you came from does not fucking matter. Your blood does not matter. You are the person that you want to be and that’s how you should live your life, with choices that are important to who you are, not where you came from. They backtracked just to pay lip service to the originals for no reason and because they got too scared to color outside of the lines.

-Third huge problem: Palpatine’s retconned inclusion in the story. There is no way you can convince me that old ass Palpatine crawled on top of a woman and made a baby. It does not fit at all. It’s just stupid, stupid crap and I hate it with my entire soul. I want to slap whoever the hell wrote it. Not only does the Palpatine bullshit make no narrative sense, it’s a straight up retconned bullshit plothole. I defer to the experts, but from what I remember, there was no indication he was still alive in the previous films. It overshadows what was a promising story and it derails so much for her fucking character to have this useless lineage garbage that doesn’t work on any level. There was no reason to crawl back to Palpatine when Last Jedi felt as if it was leading towards Kylo fulling stepping into the Big Bad role and Rey rejecting his stalker, abusive shit to be the Jedi she wanted and needed to be.

-Continuing the “maybe Rey is secretly evil” bullshit from the last movie. I hated this in Last Jedi too. Rey shows absolutely no signs of being evil. Ever. At most, she loses her temper, but that’s it. Normal good people can lose their temper. The movie constantly keeps saying maybe she’s bad but her actions are universally good, kind, brave, and helpful, so why the hell did they pursue this nonsense at all? It’s clear that Rey is virtuous. The First Order has done nothing but oppress her and kill innocent people, so why the hell would she ever entertain the thought of joining them? It’s so pointless. The only time it even made a little sense was when Palpatine said she could save her friends by commanding the Final Order and even then it was a fucking stretch. Christ, I hate it when the writing is forcing something that does not match the character’s actions. Good job with the Force vision, by the way. Every single non-stupid person knew it was going to be a Force vision when we saw it in the trailer, you cliché bastards. They were wasting everyone’s time with this and they should be ashamed of themselves.

-Not going anywhere with Finn telling Rey how he felt. Finn in general was still sort of not as important overall as I want him to be, but we’ll see if that changes if their stories continue past the Skywalker saga. Either way, the attention has constantly been shifted away from Finn and Rey and it’s very frustrating because their friendship is so endearing. Whether you ship it or not, it’s an important relationship and I wish they had spent more time on it instead of having him fret after her constantly. Sigh.

I probably need to keep marinating on this film. There’s a lot to drink in. As I said, I’m not sure how I feel, since the good is really good, but the bad is really bad. It feels like it’s not good enough for a B grade, but it’s better than a C grade, like I need a letter between these two. It could’ve been done so much better, but it also could have been done much worse. I definitely like it better than Last Jedi, but it’s not exactly good either. It’s a trouble film. It’s a fun film. It’s just…a lot of things. I would say that the scale makes it satisfying as a closing statement to the saga, but not for the individual characters. Rey’s derailment due to Darth Fuckboi is a huge disservice, so while I think people are overreacting, I get why they’re angry at the film, especially for the three things I noted. It truly seems to be a film split right down the center in terms of good/bad. That’s all I can say for now.

[msgameandcake]

One thing that helps the Paper Mario partners have identity is the way their attacks work. Most have a sort of “basic” command that their standard attack uses, then their special moves expand on in various ways, typically with one or two outstanding exceptions along the way.

Goombella’s Headbonk mirrors Mario’s Jump command, pressing A when you land on the enemy from above, with her Multibonk special mirroring the Multibounce move you get access to early on for repeated bouncing on a single enemy.

Koops’s Shell Toss mirrors Mario’s Hammer command, holding left on the control stick to charge up an attack, which his other two shell attacks work with changing up how the charging and timing work, the last of which require mashing the control stick to the left instead of simply holding it.

Yoshi’s Ground Pound requires rapidly pressing the R trigger, while his Gulp move requires holding the R trigger down and his Yoshi Stampede attack requires mashing both the R and L triggers.

Vivian’s Fire Punch, Veil, and Firey Jinx attacks all require random button commands of A, B, X, or Y, starting simply with one random timed button input, to a chain of random button inputs you see all at once, then a chain of random button inputs you only see as you complete them.

Bobbery’s Bomb requires holding down A to charge a meter then letting go once it’s full. His more powerful version of the move requires some intense button mashing of A to fully charge the meter instead.

Ms. Wowz’s moves all involve meter charges, though they all charge in different ways. Wiggling the control stick left and right rapidly, stopping the meter’s automatic charge at the right time, manually charging a meter but stopping before it overflows, then charging a meter by rapidly pressing A or B as instructed.

Madame Flurrie is really the only one who diverges from this pattern, with all four of her attacks using completely different action commands.

I think it would be interesting to see this concept combined with the Bros. Moves of the Mario & Luigi games, in particular the way the original Superstar Saga handled them. In the first M&L game, each bros move (except two optional ones) correlated to one of your moves used to navigate the field, and in turn often used action commands related to how you’d use the field moves. Seeing combo moves between the Paper Mario partners that combines their basic action commands together in one move would be a really cool way of signifying them working together in a mechanically coherent manner.

The game Steven Universe: Save the Light has a lot of these elements in play. A varied cast of characters with action commands who can also do combo attacks together. Now, I haven’t personally played the game, but what I’ve seen of it, it seems like the only major thing missing here is a sort of basic type of command for each character to identify with. As such, when characters combine their abilities, the ensuing combined action command doesn’t really act as a combination of the individual commands, because the individual commands weren’t already heavily identified with the solo characters. Basically, as far as I can tell, every character in the game acts as a Flurrie with no core command type to base most of their moves around, thus rendering the theoretical combo move mechanic I suggested above moot. That aside, it still seems like a really neat game worth playing.

[slumberinglabyrinth]

the base/shared effect for Lions in Fire Emblem Heroes seems to be DC (given that it’s been the ‘when transformed: [effect]’ part that’s shared within races/movetypes) and while we can probably expect Skrimir to be more of a player phase unit given chronic dumbass disorder his propensity towards attacking first and asking questions later, Giffca acts as a bit of a middle-of-the-road unit in terms of how much he ends up doing in the Tellius saga when compared to Caineghis (whose personal inactivity is almost entirely enforced by the position he is in, as I’ve discussed a bit here) and his nephew which makes it somewhat harder to place what his personal weapon effect and what he as a whole might end up being built towards.

Giffca’s primary role in the Tellius Saga and especially in PoR is to act as an extension/proxy for Caineghis, so something of a support beast unit would be easily justifiable but I think that flipping that around and drawing from him being inherently more flexible in the scope of his actions when compared to Caineghis would be an infinitely more interesting. Some ideas:

Mixed phase is the closest to his actual role in story so mixed phase he will be, and we can probably expect him having Special Fighter as his B slot (or Bold as something along the lines of Hardin, but that’d be more Skrimir’s bread and butter since he’d also have dc)

Given that he gets more up close and personal than Caineghis does but isn’t as quick to jump the gun as a certain thickheaded lion, Close Defense 4 might make sense and it’d also be a way to have him further contrast with Caineghis.

Other options for his A slot would include Bracing Stance 3, Nullify as a Prf skill that grants immunity to eff against beast, or really any other defensive skill (introducing a fourth tier isn’t required but I wouldn’t expect them to do otherwise)

Armor March is an obvious choice to put as either his personal weapon effect or his C slot but I think that’d be a bit too easy for a unit with DC both from a design perspective and from a usage perspective. It being his C slot could be justifiable but it really shouldn’t be his personal weapon effect, and given the options for his A and B slot, I think he could easily forgo a C slot if we slap a special and an assist onto him (might be a good chance to get Harsh Command+ into the standard summoning pool if it isn’t already by the time he comes out?).

For his weapon (this is one single idea):

Broadening his transformation criteria to allow him to transform when granted “a movement bonus from armor march” (so no boots, no gray waves) regardless of who he is next to would be a really neat direction to take “can travel” and “can do more things than Caineghis” in, though it would require a significantly weaker actual unique effect when compared to our current baseline for a Lion Laguz.

As mentioned/linked to above, Nullify is Giffca’s default skill in RD (and he’s the only one with it) and that makes him a convenient candidate for having it on his weapon instead of an a slot a la Garon/Sothis. I think this and a broader transformation critera (plus the static stat bonus on every beast weapon) would be enough for his weapon if he gets a decent statline given that it makes him more flexible than Caineghis in terms of physical movement/team comp while making him a bit more specialized towards surviving based off of not getting blown to pieces by specific weapons/units/builds instead of having obscenely large numbers carry him to victory.

as a side note i’m like 50/50 on nullify making ruptured sky deal 20% instead of 40%

[vftawpf]

Letter of Intention

violefellay@gmail.com

(+34) 658 17 61 95    

************************************************************

To whom it may concern,

My name is Violeta Fellay, I am 26 years old, and this is my second attempt at applying for admission to your Character Animation program. Last year I made it to the interview, and I hope to have improved my portfolio enough for this year's class! You can find it at http://vftaw.tumblr.com/

Ever since I was a kid I always had a pencil in my hand. I spent all my free time doodling and creating stories in my mind. Despite this, I could never envision myself living from my art, so when the time came to choose a career I pursued my other passion: languages. I moved to Buenos Aires and enrolled in English Translation at Universidad del Salvador, and started studying Japanese with a private teacher. The first three years were very positive, but during my fourth year, when graduation became apparent, I realized that translation was not what I wanted to live off of and my academic year went downhill. However, at the same time I became more enthusiastic about art. I started making friends online who helped me grow as an artist and become more involved in the community. I was no longer doodling; I was making art with a purpose.

By then I was already 22, and after finishing my degree in Translation, I found out Animation was available as a career in Argentina, and I saw it could be a way to channel my passion for art. I enrolled in the Animation Program at Universidad del Cine. Unfortunately, since it’s a relatively new bachelor, it is really lackluster. Even though I learnt a lot about live action films and developed my understanding of film theory, I was very disappointed both by the lack of focus on animation itself, and by the unqualified art teachers there, from whom I received almost no feedback and no real instruction.

During that time, I also took a course at the Academia de Animación. In their three-month stop motion workshop, I learnt animation and how to make a puppet. Before we knew it we were knee-deep in the preproduction of our short film, “Experimotion”. We had two weeks to prepare the sets and characters, and only five days to animate all the shots. It was crazy but it made me see how a professional environment works and I knew right then that that was what I wanted to do for a living.

After finishing that course, I talked to my friends from university, and we decided to make another short film, following the Academia’s model of production, with me acting as Animation Director. This time it took us four months, because we could only work during the weekend, but it cemented the fact that this is what I wanted: to work with other people to make our stories come true through animation.

After seeing no improvements in my university, I decided to drop out and started saving money to study abroad. I dove headfirst into my own projects and portfolio, and got involved with a couple of stop motion projects where I was Animation Director pro bono, as well as helping with the art department in the creation of sets and puppets. You can see the shorts I worked on in my showreel and in the 'optional' tab.

After getting your rejection letter last year, I did not get discouraged. I had my mind set into furthering my education. I found a small but renowned school, Daniel Martinez Lara's PSL, a 3D animation school based in Barcelona, where I've been living for the last seven months. It's been a great and challenging experience. The curriculum is tight and really demanding, for a 10 month course. I've been enjoying it immensely and look forward to continue growing these last few months. It is a course focused on character animation, but it also emphasizes the need of the independent animator to know how to model and rig, so that our showreels can be more unique, instead of having the same character rigs over and over again, and using our own props as the animations call for them.

I am a proficient user of ClipStudio, Paint Tool Sai, and Dragonframe. I'm learning animation in Maya and Blender, and can also make polygonal models and rigs in Blender. I have a working knowledge of TVPaint, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Premiere, and Corel Painter. I speak fluent Spanish and English, I have a moderate command of Japanese, and I am learning Danish.

As for my future, I see myself completing my education, and working mainly as a character animator, or generalist if needs must, but I could also see myself working in production. I do not have aspirations to work for big-name studios, I would much rather work for small studios or indie productions, preferably with projects that I resonate with and that drive my creativity. I would love to work in a 2D feature in Europe, but I am open to traveling for work wherever it presents itself, as I love seeing knew places and meeting new people.

Sadly, animation has been pigeonholed as a children’s ‘genre’ by the general population, I wish to see that changed and for animation to be seen for what it is, a tool for telling stories, any kind of stories. Other than a few indie features, and sitcoms, it is usually short films that touch more mature themes. It is great to see how enthusiastic young people are about shows and movies, and I wish for the industry to continue growing out of its box.

I want to tell stories for the people that do not get to see themselves in media. I want to tell stories where the characters are not a stereotype, where their lives are not plot devices or mean jokes. Growing up without a positive reinforcement in the media I consumed was harsh, even if I did not realize it at the time. I am now critical and no longer a passive consumer. I am vocal and open minded, and I wish to be part of the change of the industry with my work.

My biggest influences are comics and cartoons. I love the sprawling world Eiichiro Oda has created in One Piece, and the myriad of characters that populate it. I enjoy getting lost in Mignola’s inks in Hellboy; when I read it I always get an untamable urge to draw. At the moment I am most drawn to Vaughan’s Saga, for its incredibly human sci-fi fantasy in space, as well as Staple’s amazing art and colour schemes. I love all kinds of animations, but the ones that influenced me the most are those by Disney and Pixar, not only for how important they were to me during my formative years, but also for the beauty and care they put into their breathtaking productions, although I do wish they were not so traditional with the themes they portray. One of my biggest influences at the moment is Rebecca Sugar. Steven Universe is the kind of story I wish to tell, with characters that are alive and a story that is driven by emotions, and where the characters are developed through the quiet moments in the episodes. I love how she takes the time to show us the characters instead of using faster cheap tactics to further the plot.

When speaking of my influences, I cannot not mention my online friends, without whose great encouraging and handholding, I would have never taken my art seriously.

Choosing my three favourite works was hard, I am an avid fiction reader and I love watching movies and series, but if I had to choose it would be The Fall, by Tarsem, for its stunning photography and use of real locations, as well as the depression story subtly told through a children’s tale. Lilo and Stitch, for its beautiful animation and design, as well as how it portrays family issues and the importance of human connections. Lastly, I spent most of the last two years raving about Mad Max: Fury Road to anybody who would listen, I was thoroughly impressed by its photography and stunts, but I especially loved the feminist themes that are central to the film and how George Miller chose to empower women without relying on the shock factor of showing the abuse they suffered.

Choosing my least favourite works was even harder, for I usually consume media through recommendations from people who know me. I was specially let down by Laika’s Boxtrolls, I was very excited to watch it given I had loved Paranorman, but the script was disastrous and even insulting at points, which goes to show that even with the most advanced stop motion techniques, the neat 3D-looking animation, and the huge budget, there is nothing to it without a story to sustain it. All-Star Batman and Robin is possibly the worst comic I have read, it is a downright insult to the Batman franchise, and I dislike it especially for showcasing such a skewed view of the dynamic duo as well as Batman’s beyond ridiculous grimdarkness.

I have had the luck to travel extensively thanks to my parents. I have been to a lot of Latin American countries, and have been lucky to visit Europe too. One of my most memorable experiences was last year. When I moved to Barcelona, my 60 years old mom tagged along and we trekked the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage before class started. It was a 170km trek uphill and downhill in rocky terrain through Galicia's valleys, carrying our 10kg rucksacks. It was very tiring but so endlessly rewarding that we're already planning when and how we're going to walk the whole 800km way from France.

In 2015, I went on a trip to Europe for two months by myself, and visited Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland and England. This was possible mostly thanks to my online friends who graciously offered a place for me to stay so I did not have to spend much money in lodging. These were people I had never met, but that I had been chatting with for more than five years. I had a fantastic time with them, getting to know them face to face was very exciting. I was hell-bent in meeting as many friends as possible, and it was that what took me up north to Viborg, where I visited one of your alumni and one of my oldest online friends, and she took me on a tour to TAW. I was ecstatic, and I knew I wanted to attend there.

Your program is perfect for me because your intensive curriculum and project-based education is the kind of environment I thrive in. Such a hands-on program will help nurture my skills and I know I have what it takes to make the most of it. Most of my experience comes from stop motion and 3D animation, but my dream is to be a 2D character animator. Nevertheless, I know now that I love all types of animation, and I would be happy working in whatever branch. I am eager to be surrounded by passionate and dedicated students and teachers, and to hone my skills to take my art to the next level. I love working with people and I am always excited to learn from them. I am very inquisitive and a very fast learner.

As far as how I am planning to finance my education, I have savings and a flat that I lease in Argentina, and I am applying to a scholarship through VIA University College. Where I not to get it, my parents are willing to help me with the tuition fees.

Being accepted to your school would be a game changer for me, not only because of your top-notch education, but also for the future possibilities it would open for me. Thank you for your time and consideration.

 Yours sincerely, Violeta Fellay