#“used only in the final boss and also the final boss's special ultimate attack”

[mantisgodiveblog]

The header looks great! Dandelion head looks adorable in your art style and in blue! A bit sad you found out Loop’s name in the manual, but a fair trade to see you discover the manual! Odile trying to curb Bonnie’s chaos is adorable! Bonnie loves bullying Isa for being a rock type, little hypocrite. But maybe check everyone’s weaknesses again- it’s an interesting detail. Clearly, Loop is a Lizard type. Odile, shopping for supplies: *loop sfx* what the- Siffrin! I know this is your fault somehow!

Thank you! We've got a dot card that we're using for these icons, and we're slowly rotating through the colors - the background color for one card becomes the accent color for the next. We've got six colors in total, so we're hoping to rotate through all of them by the end - this game is six acts long, after all.

If Loop's name is revealed in a particularly entertaining manner in-game, we'd hate to miss it. Let us open up the statuses real quick, we sort of paused writing up the liveblog post mid-conversation, so we should have it on hand...

Huh. HUH! This is gonna really fucking suck for the King fight. We assumed that her weakness would be Scissors, since Paper is weak and Scissors is neutral, so we guess we didn't read too close. Damn. It's really gonna fucking suck in the King fight if our only time stop curer dies.

Odile shows up in the King's room on Day 1 after Siffrin spends some memories to teleport there directly from the start and just kind of stands there holding an accidentally-stolen jar of jam as the teleportation registers. She knows that this is Siffrin's fault because they're the only person who's actually prepared and not just panicking about the teleportation directly to the king. Also, what the fuck, Siffrin, how did you do that and why?

Loop is weak to Rock and Scissors and strong against Spock and Paper. We see. It all makes sense now. Someone who can draw human faces please draw the epic Loop-Spock-Siffrin showdown.

[randomlywanderingmoth]

Part of the problem with Fate Grand Order is the core gameplay is fundamentally flawed, and it's very difficult to restore "a fun game" around a flawed core.

Quick and Buster and Arts were all interesting notions, and could have mapped into action gameplay (if we were to merge FGO's ideas with FSR's gameplay I would equate them to fast attacks, heavy attacks, and weaker attacks meant to charge your special bar, but I digress).

As it is, though, it just makes for unpleasant feelings in gameplay, demanding optimizations (I would point out that in the international release we only recently got the ability to combo all three together, and made Quick chains strong enough to consider independently). Those optimizations rise up around every aspect of the game; only a select few Servants have the ability to AoE without accessing their Noble Phantasm, and they haven't even made it to international. There's a wide range of Craft Essences, but only a few that ever matter. Creativity in builds is tamped down around increasingly narrowed build notions as the devs design with over-optimized teams in mind.

The end result is a game that, optimally, advises you to use your super rare fully powered optimized support, your friends' identically super rare fully powered optimized support, and a high power damage Servant, and repeatedly fire the damage dealer's Noble Phantasm to either clear waves or kill bosses.

Speaking of which, from a lore perspective, this is also completely messed up. By the lore of the Nasuverse, a Noble Phantasm is a Servant's super secret ultimate move, only meant for the final hour. This is fully incongruous with the gameplay, where you typically throw the same world-ending mythology-defining techniques three times in a row and call it a day. (Entertainingly, in the International release, we've also made it to Traum, where we see faceless Servants fire their Noble Phantasms like simple artillery, but that's its own commentary.)

Like, it's so effortless to imagine better systems than this! Servants deployed on a chessboard-like map, heralding back to the themes of Fate Apocrypha; suddenly we don't need anything as mechanically obtuse as Class Advantages when we could organically differentiate each Class by how they navigate the board or how they fight each other (Riders can leap over enemies like knight pieces in chess; Archers can attack at range without moving; Lancers do really well on Attack but have poor Defense; and Berserkers can be the units of terror that lore implies!)

Alternatively, the Grail Battlefronts we've already seen- rework the entire game to operate more organically like that; maybe Servants can use skills without entering combat, but it exhausts their actions. Then different forms of gameplay can exist beyond just "mulch the enemy"; like "defend this location" or "collect these resources" or "defeat This Particular Foe".

Or, even if we had to work with just the system we have! Change THAT! Rather than select three cards from a set of five, have it go down the list; each Servant gets One Action to either pick from "Quick, Buster, Arts, Use A Skill".

As for Servant Customization, walk it all the way back, all the way back up to the Attack/HP boosting. Make it so that players can individually optimize Servant performance in different ways- this Servant has better output in Arts, that Servant has higher Crit Star generation. And for folks who'd already spent their Fous, you could just say "right, so anybody with Fous spent can now allocate those points into these new Stats! No harm done!"

Of course, in order to do this, they would likely need to construct a whole new framework for their game, whilst preserving the progress people have made until now.

Then again, they are presently building castles in the sand during the rising tide with one hand and bandaging bullet wounds with the other, so maybe a long shot like that is what they need.

[rainisawriter]

Like My Own (Shibaman)

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Genre: Fluff, slice of life

Word Count: 6,504

Pairing: First Person, Shibaman

World: High&Low

I worked on this fic for about a week lmao but I finally finished it weee~

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Shibaman was a young man in his second year at Oya high school. Despite his young age, he had one desire in the back of his mind that always remained with him – he wanted to be a father. Now, he may not be the smartest kid at Oya, but he knew he was too young, too immature, to have a child. That didn’t mean his desire for one waned.

His own father had never been in the picture, leaving his mom to raise both him and his sister on her own. He grew up seeing her struggle to do her best for them and he grew up longing for a father figure to look up to. A lot of people don’t realize just how important having a father can be to a child, whether it’s their biological father or someone who was just willing to step up and take on the role.

Statistically speaking, children who have father figures in their lives tend to perform better in school and, ultimately, in life. That’s not to say that single mothers are to blame or are bad parents. Mothers are important, as well, as they are generally the ones that teach us to be kind and teach us skills that we need to survive.

However, there’s just something special about the relationship between a child and their father. It’s almost surreal, like magic.

Despite how badly Shibaman wanted to become a father, he also didn’t want his child to grow up in a broken home like he had. He wanted his child to be loved and supported by both his mother and father. He wanted his child to have a stable home and, most importantly, he wanted to give his child everything he or she wanted in life.

Shibaman stepped into the Itokan Diner, his eyes scanning the inhabitants. He was the only Oya student allowed in the diner because his sister, a member of Ichigo-Milk, was always there with her friends. Being the older of the two, she often bossed him around and employed him to help them out. Because of his large size and natural strength, he was a good person to have around.

Ichigo-Milk was sitting in the back corner at a round table beneath the dart board. They were leaning toward each other, talking in hushed whispers as they stared at the Sannoh boys. He followed their gaze and paused, his brow furrowed.

The Sannoh boys were gathered around the tables in the middle of the diner, as they typically were, but something was different. Or rather, someone was different. A young boy sat among them, no older than five or six years old. His hair was as black as night and his eyes were a striking green, an uncommon color among Japanese children.

Where had he come from? Why was he here?

His protective instincts kicked in and he felt annoyed by the boy’s appearance at the diner. Though things rarely went down there, it was always a possibility. Everyone knew that the diner was Sannoh’s HQ and if someone were to attack, the boy would be in danger. He shouldn’t be there, but what right did Shibaman have to say anything? He didn’t know what the boy’s relation to Sannoh was and, honestly, it was none of his business.

“Oi, get over here.”

His gaze met his sister’s and he approached their table, flopping into the chair beside her. His gaze kept flickering to the boy, he just couldn’t help it. The boy was just too adorable and tiny, his instinct to protect the boy was in high gear.

“Hey,” he nudged his sister’s arm, jerking his head in the boy’s direction. “Who is that?”

“His name is Syo,” answered Shiba as she sat back in her hair, folding her arms over her chest. “Other than that, your guess is as good as mine.”

“Huh? You don’t know?”

“They won’t tell us anything,” complained Junko with a scowl. “He just started showing up a couple of days ago.”

Oshiage nodded, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. “We asked several times who he is, but each one says something different. One minute, he’s Tettsu’s cousin, and the next, he’s Cobra’s half-brother.”

“The kid won’t talk either.” Shiba clicked her tongue. “I tried asking him, but he just looked at me blankly. He couldn’t even be bothered to lie!”

Oshiage giggled at her best friend’s annoyance. “You wanted him to lie to you?”

“Of course not, but if he’s not gonna tell me the truth, the least he can do is at least try and make something up! It’s like I wasn’t worth the time to do so,” she huffed, a pout coming to her lips.

Shibaman rolled his eyes at his sister’s behavior.

Naomi approached the table, setting a glass of water in front of him. She offered the group a smile before turning to leave.

“Ah, Naomi-san!” Shiba leaned forward, grabbing the woman’s attention before she could leave.

“Hm?” Naomi looked at her curiously. “Did you decide to order some food?”

“I was just wondering if you could -”

“Before you ask,” the woman cut Shiba off, hand on her hip and a knowing smile on her lips. “I won’t tell you anything about Syo. It’s not my story to tell and it’s not your story to know.”

Shiba pouted again as the older woman walked away. “Seriously, what’s with all the secrets? Why’s this kid so important? I don’t get it.”

Shibaman smirked at her. “It’s driving you crazy, isn’t it?”

“Shut it!” she snapped, punching him in the shoulder.

“Huh, did you just punch me? I didn’t feel anything.”

“You’re such a brat!”

Shibaman just snickered.

Several weeks passed by and Syo continued to stay at the diner. Shibaman found himself making excuses just so he could visit more often, if only to check and ensure that the boy was safe. He still wasn’t entirely convinced that Sannoh hadn’t kidnapped him.

The first time he interacted with the boy was a week and a half after first seeing him. The Sannoh boys were off doing their own thing except for Tettsu, who had fallen asleep in the booth. He was supposed to meet with his sister, but he got there earlier than her.

Syo was sitting at the table, reading a book that looked too advanced for his age. He looked up when the bell above the door chimed, his green eyes locking with Shibaman’s. Syo would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a bit intimidated by the high schooler, what with his height, broad shoulders, and resting bitch face. He was quite the intimidating guy and he had the strength to back it up.

Shibaman wasn’t dumb. He figured his large size, especially compared to the small stature of the boy, was probably scary for him so he did his best not to seem quite so big. He smiled at him warmly, choosing to sit across from him instead of at his usual table at the back. He could feel Naomi’s eyes on his back, but the woman said nothing as she continued preparing lunch.

“What are you reading?” he asked, lowering his voice so as not to startle the boy.

Syo lifted the book off the table, showing him the cover.

His dark eyes scanned the words, brow furrowing. It was in English and, though he recognized a couple of words printed there, the majority of the title was lost on him. Is that why the boy never spoke? He had lifted the book when asked about the title, though, so he at least understood what Shibaman was saying.

“Do you speak Japanese?”

Syo nodded, setting the book back down.

The older male felt relieved at not having to attempt speaking in broken English, leaning forward and crossing his arms on the table. “You’re not much of a talker, huh?”

Syo glanced over his shoulder at Tettsu before leaning forward and lowering his voice. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

A smile tugged at his lips and he nodded. “That’s right. Strangers can be dangerous.”

Naomi approached the table, setting down a rice omelet in front of Syo and a glass of water in front of Shibaman. She smiled at the boy, brushing his hair away from his forehead. “Shibaman isn’t a stranger, though. He’s the younger brother of Shiba.”

Syo’s nose wrinkled cutely. “Shiba and Shibaman? That’s weird.”

“Syo,” Naomi scolded, hands on her hips but Shibaman just laughed at his honesty.

“Don’t tell anyone, but I agree.”

Syo grinned at Naomi as if to say, ‘See?’ She just shook her head and returned to the counter to clean up the mess she had made. He took a bite of his food, savoring it for a moment before looking up at the older male. “If you’re not a stranger, that means I can talk to you… right?”

“If you want,” nodded Shibaman. He was surprised by just how happy the boy seemed about this revelation.

“I only get to talk to my older brothers,” he frowned, sending another look to Tettsu. “They don’t let me talk to other kids…”

Shibaman mirrored his frown, his brow furrowed. That kidnapping theory was beginning to look more possible. “Why?”

He shrugged a shoulder, stuffing his mouth with a spoonful of omelet. “They’re really overprotective.”

“They don’t let you talk to your friends?”

Syo lowered his head, frowning. “I don’t have any.”

The words tugged painfully at Shibaman’s heart, his head swirling with so many questions that it was beginning to give him a headache. He didn’t even think before he spoke, though he rarely ever did. “I’ll be your friend.”

Syo’s face instantly brightened up and he nearly jumped out of his face. “Really? You mean it?”

The older male nodded, his eyes following Syo as he ran around the table. His body tensed up when the young boy threw his arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

“Thank you, Shibaman-san!”

His heart melted, large arms easily encasing the small boy. “You’re welcome.”

He caught Naomi’s eye, expecting her to be upset over this development but, to his surprise, she looked happy. Just a few months ago, the female had been uncomfortable with an Oya kid being so close in proximity to Sannoh and the diner, especially after the incident with the White Rascals, but he had slowly grown on her. She could tell he was a good kid and he seemed genuinely interested in Syo.

Naomi understood the need for the overprotectiveness of the child, but she also understood his desire to socialize and have friends. Being constantly under lock and key was no way for a child to live. She sometimes wondered if the alternative was any better. Sure, he would get the freedom he wanted so desperately, but he would also be putting himself in harm’s way.

Nothing in life is guaranteed, though.

There was no guarantee that the boy would be harmed or even recognized, something she had tried to convince Syo’s mother of to no avail. The woman had seen the darkest depths of humanity in her years and she wasn’t willing to risk her only child seeing it, too, especially not because of her. Naomi was sure the woman would never be able to forgive herself should any harm come to him simply because they share the same blood.

Maybe an Oya kid wasn’t the best influence in Syo’s life, but Naomi was sure this would be good for him. Because of that, she decided to keep it a secret from the Sannoh boys, even Yamato. After that day, she even started convincing the boys to leave Syo with her, giving both of them a break from their overprotective asses. In the time they were gone, Shibaman would arrive to spend time with Syo.

Most days they would just talk, sometimes they would play with cards or play a board game. Shibaman even downloaded games onto his phone for the boy to play and often brought him snacks or ice cream. There were even a couple of occasions when Syo taught him a bit of English. It was basic stuff, just introducing himself, but he felt excited to be able to pass knowledge on to his new friend. Shibaman had nothing against learning from someone younger, either.

He was impressed by just how smart the young boy was. He picked up on things quickly and was able to sense subtle shifts in someone’s mood. He knew an argument was about to break out between Dan and Tettsu or between Naomi and Yamato. Shibaman had seen the young boy stop the fight before it even began multiple times, something that surprised both him and Ichigo-Milk.

Syo rarely spoke, after all. He acted more mature than half the adults in the room, something Shibaman admired about him. It was also concerning and he couldn’t help but wonder what had made the young boy mature so quickly. He never talked about himself or who his parents were. Whenever the subject was brought up, usually by Ichigo-Milk, he would always shut down or simply walk away, much to the amusement of Chiharu and Tettsu.

Shiba was determined to learn the truth about him, though her brother wasn’t sure why. Maybe she had a suspicion of who his parents were and she just wanted to prove to everyone that she was right. He didn’t know and he really didn’t care. Syo clearly didn’t want to talk about it and that was enough for him to leave the subject alone.

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“Where are you off to?”

Shibaman looked at his best friend as the blonde appeared at his side. “To see my sister.”

“Again?” Tsuji quirked a brow, dark eyes knowing that the brunette was hiding something. “You’ve been going to see her a lot lately.”

“You know how my sister is. She’s a pain in the ass.”

Tsuji hummed, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his baggy jeans. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for one of the Ichigo-Milk members.”

Shibaman’s lips curled back in disgust at the thought. Sure, the girls were pretty, but he couldn’t stand them. They were way too much like his sister and it annoyed the hell out of him. It was like having four Shibas to deal with. One was more than enough.

“Not a chance.” He hated lying to Tsuji. They had been best friends since they were young boys, having grown up in the same complex. They’ve gone through hell together and always came out the other side because they had each other’s back. He felt guilty for not telling him about Syo, but he had no idea how to even bring up the subject.

I met a young kid and I’m his only friend so I keep going to see him and not my sister like I’ve been saying doesn’t really have a nice ring to it. If anything, it sounded wrong to him and he had to ponder the situation itself. Was it weird for a second year in high school to be friends with a six-year-old? Maybe if he was a family friend it wouldn’t be so strange, but Shibaman didn’t even know who the boy’s parents were. He just knew that Sannoh was super protective of him.

Tsuji could read his friend like a book. He knew that Shibaman was lying and he also knew that he felt guilty about lying. He chuckled, resting his hand on the taller boy’s shoulder. “I’ll catch up with you later, then. It’s supposed to rain this afternoon, don’t get sick.”

Shibaman nodded, grateful that he didn’t press the issue.

After parting ways, the taller of the two headed to the convenience store near the diner. To his chagrin, his sister and her best friend were working that day. They stared him down from behind the counter as he approached.

He motioned toward the clear case holding various pastries. “Give me two cupcakes. The ones with sprinkles.”

Oshiage nodded, moving to grab them from the container while his sister leaned over the counter, eyes narrowed suspiciously at him. “You’ve been buying a lot of sweets lately.”

He scoffed at her. “Is that a crime?”

“It’s suspicious.”

“Tsuji’s had a sweet tooth lately.”

“Bullshit.”

The two siblings stared each other down, silently challenging the other to back down.

“Here you go,” Oshiage smiled, handing him a clear bag. The cupcakes had been placed in a paper container to keep them safe, set at the bottom of the bag. “That’ll be $2.50.”

Shibaman dug into his pocket, dropping the money against her palm before taking the bag, blatantly ignoring his sister’s look. When he got close to the diner, he was stopped by Yamato who was leaning against the building across the street. The older male slowly approached, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. He was only taller than Shibaman by an inch so the two were level when he finally came to a stop in front of him.

Shibaman bit back his smart remark, not wanting to cause problems.

“Stay away from Syo,” Yamato ordered, dark eyes narrowed.

“What?” he narrowed his eyes back, jaw tensing at the order. Who the hell did he think he was, ordering him around like that?

“I know you’ve been spending time with him when we’re not around. That stops now.”

“Who are you to decide that?”

Yamato’s eyes flashed with annoyance and he took a step closer, getting into his face. “Do you think you’re helping him? He knows you’re a delinquent. He’s gonna grow up thinking you’re cool and he’ll want to be just like you.”

“You act like you’re better than me,” he spat angrily, his hand tightening around the bag.

“I am,” confirmed Yamato. “Because I don’t fight for the hell of it. I fight to protect my family. I don’t fight for fun like you do.”

He wanted to deny the accusation, but he couldn’t. For as long as he could remember, he lived for the thrill of fighting. It may have begun as a means of survival, but now it was just a way to pass the time. He enjoyed fighting. He enjoyed winning fights.

“If you actually care about Syo, you’ll stay away from him. He doesn’t need a thug like you corrupting him.” And then Yamato turned on his heel and headed into the diner as if nothing had happened.

Shibaman stood there for several minutes, his body tense as he glared at the ground beneath his feet. He was pissed, not just because of the way Yamato had spoken to him, but also because he knew the older male was right. He wasn’t a good influence for an impressionable six-year-old, even if they never spoke about what his life was like at Oya.

Did Syo know about Oya Koukou? Did he know that Shibaman went there?

He closed his eyes, nostrils flaring as he exhaled sharply.

Thunder rumbled overhead, the sky darkening as thick, gray clouds started to roll in.

Shibaman didn’t even notice, too lost in his own thoughts. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that Yamato was right. A high school kid had no place befriending a six-year-old, especially not when said high schooler came from Oya. He would only corrupt the boy. He knew that and yet…

It felt as if his heart cracked when he turned and walked away from the diner, vowing not to see Syo again. The sky opened up, pelting him with ice-cold rain, but he didn’t care that it was soaking through his hoodie, weighing him down.

Why did the thought of never seeing the boy again hurt so badly? He knew it wasn’t right to consider himself a father figure to the boy, especially not knowing if his actual dad was in the picture. Part of him hoped he could fill that role, though, even if was just partially.

“Someone like me doesn’t deserve to be a father,” he muttered darkly, slamming the cupcakes into the trash.

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Syo tapped his fingers on the tabletop repeatedly, staring at the words of his book. He had been reading the same page for about five minutes, the words simply not sinking in. It had been a week since he last saw Shibaman. Had something happened to him? Why had he suddenly disappeared without so much as a word? He was worried and, more than anything, he was sad.

The tall male was his only friend, the only person he could talk to openly. He wasn’t so ungrateful as to not appreciate the love of the Sannoh boys, but they were family. They loved and protected him as if he were their own child, something he was grateful for, but they weren’t his friends. Plus, he saw them every single day. Even if you love someone dearly, you need a break from them sometimes.

Syo was growing anxious and frustrated. It didn’t help that he hadn’t seen his mother in a couple of days because she’s been so busy with work. He felt like a caged animal, ready to snap. He found himself being short with the Sannoh boys, trying to avoid them or ignore them, and they had taken notice.

Tettsu pouted at the boy from across the table, head resting on his folded arms. “Oi, Syo-chan~”

His fingers twitched at the corner of the page.

“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting so weird lately.”

Dan glanced at the young boy from where he sat at the island. Only he and Yamato knew about Shibaman’s visits to the boy and only he knew about Yamato confronting the Oya student. The others hadn’t even picked up on his secret visits. Some guards they were. Of course, Shibaman had help from Naomi, something Yamato took personally.

She was still visibly annoyed by the argument the two had after he found out. Every time he tries talking to her, she either glares at him or just outright ignores him. Not knowing why they were fighting, the others found it to be amusing. Their tone would no doubt change if they knew it was concerning Syo.

Chiharu frowned from beside the young boy, reaching over to poke his cheek. “What’s wrong, squirt? You can talk to us, you know.”

Syo didn’t feel like he could. The Sannoh boys shared everything so nothing he said was private. What he told Shibaman stayed between the two of them, something he felt grateful for. He could tell the older boy anything and not have to worry about everyone else knowing it, too. If he wanted everyone to know, he’d tell them himself.

“Come on~” Tettsu kicked his foot lightly under the table. “Tell us.”

Syo smacked the book down hard on the table, standing up. The diner fell silent, surprised by the boy’s reaction. He was usually quiet and reserved, rarely getting angry. No matter how much control he had over his emotions, he was still just a child and he had a breaking point like everyone else. His green eyes locked on with Dan’s, surprising the older man by how intense they were.

“I want to go to Oya Koukou.”

The diner was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop from a mile away.

Chiharu and Tettsu stared at the boy with wide eyes, sputtering as they tried to formulate a reply. Chiharu got there first, tugging at the boy’s arm to try and get him to sit back down. “O-Oi, you’re too young to be thinking about high school!”

“Y-Yeah!” Tettsu nodded furiously. “You should focus on getting through elementary school first!”

Syo scowled at the misunderstanding. “I don’t want to enroll there. I just want to visit.”

There was a visible relief in the room, though it was still quite tense.

“Why would you wanna go there?” frowned Tettsu. “It’s not a place for kids.”

Chiharu nodded quickly. “Trust me, I used to go there. It’s not a place for kids, at all!”

Syo’s gaze didn’t wave from Dan’s, making the older male shift in his seat. He ignored the two as he stepped around the table, moving closer to Dan. “I want to visit Oya Koukou.”

“Buy why~?” Tettsu couldn’t wrap his head around what had gotten into him. Why the sudden interest in going there? How did he even know about Oya?

Without Yamato or Cobra around to shut him down, Dan knew he had to step up. Clearing his throat, he stood up and turned toward the boy. “You know we can’t let you do that.”

His fists clenched at his sides, his body trembling from how tightly wound he was. “I want to see Shibaman-san!”

Tettsu and Chiharu exchanged a confused look. They had no idea what the hell was going on.

“You did something, didn’t you?” accused Syo. “You threatened him or… or…”

“Or maybe he just decided he didn’t want to hang out with a little kid.” Dan’s reply came out harsher than he meant it to and he felt guilty when the young boy flinched. He softened his gaze, squatting down in front of him. “Listen, Syo. Shibaman isn’t a good guy. He’s dangerous and unpredictable. He’s not your friend, he -”

“You’re wrong!” cried Syo, tears welling up in his eyes but he fought against them defiantly, not wanting to look weaker than he already felt. “He’s my friend! You did something, I know it! I want to see him!”

Dan was growing frustrated, mostly because he didn’t know how to solve this problem. Where the hell was Yamato when he needed him? “You’re not seeing him ever again. That’s final.” His voice was firm, leaving no room for discussion.

“I hate you!” Syo snapped, running from the diner, tears sliding down his cheeks.

Dan was frozen to the spot, his eyes wide and heart clenching painfully. Is this what it felt like to be a parent? It made him grateful that he had no kids of his own.

Naomi rested her hand on his shoulder, a frown on her lips. “He didn’t mean it, he’s just upset.”

He nodded hesitantly, swallowing hard. “We… We have to find him.”

The words snapped the boys awake as they scrambled out of the diner, screaming the boy’s name.

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Syo had no idea where Oya Koukou was and he knew Sannoh would be hot on his heels, trying to find him. He could faintly hear their yells echoing through the buildings as they searched for him. When he spied an older man sweeping the ground outside his shop, he decided to stop and ask for directions. It was better than running around aimlessly hoping to get lucky.

“Excuse me, sir.”

The older man looked up, a smile coming to his wrinkled face. “Yes?”

“Can you tell me how to get to Oya Koukou, please?”

“Oya? Why, I don’t think you want to go there. It’s not a place for children.”

Syo felt annoyed at hearing that for the third time, but the old man had done nothing wrong. He took a deep breath, pushing down his frustration. “My brother attends the school but he forgot his keys.”

“What a good little brother,” the man chuckled, gently ruffling his mess of black hair. He wasn’t the least bit suspicious and gave up the directions without a fuss. “Do be careful, young man.”

Syo bowed, thanking the man for his help before taking off in the direction of the school. It didn’t take long to reach the school since he ran the whole way. He was surprised by the way it looked, resembling something he might find in one of his horror books. It hardly looked like a school at all and he was sure it had to be haunted. At first, he wasn’t even sure it was the right place because it looked abandoned, but he could hear students yelling and laughing through the broken windows.

Syo took a few deep breaths to steel himself before stepping through the archway. His shoulders were tense and he tried to ignore the strange looks he was getting from the students. They crowded around him in the courtyard, amused by the small child.

“Eh, eh, what’s this? You lost, kid?” A boy with gravity-defying hair stopped in front of him, smacking his gum loudly as he towered over Syo.

“Maybe he came here to challenge us,” snickered a snake-like boy with greasy hair.

“I -” Syo’s voice cracked and he winced at how vulnerable he sounded, especially when they started to laugh like hyenas.

“Aw, is the wittle boy scared?” mocked a large student, his shoulders shaped like a square.

“He’s so mesmerized by us he can’t even speak!” giggled another, flipping his long hair over his shoulder.

“What should we do with him?”

“Maybe he wants to join Oya!”

“A squirt like him wouldn’t last a minute here.”

Inside the school, students were racing toward the windows to see what was happening. They wanted a front-row seat, seeing nothing wrong with bullying an obviously frightened child. They found it hilarious.

Tsuji and Shibaman exchanged a look as students rushed past them, laughing like maniacs.

“What do you think that’s about?” questioned Tsuji, approaching the window.

The taller male just shrugged a shoulder, not really caring. He was still feeling down about the situation with Syo despite having tried to forget about it all. No matter how many people he beat down, he couldn’t stop thinking about it and that just pissed him off more.

“What the…” Tsuji’s brow furrowed in confusion, leaning closer to the window. “What the hell is a little kid doing here?”

Shibaman’s head snapped toward his friend and he rushed over, feeling his heart drop into his stomach. He recognized the boy instantly, wasting no time to dart down the stairs. He shoved several students on the way, ignoring their angry cries. Tsuji was confused as he rushed after his best friend.

“Get the fuck away from him!” Shibaman growled, shoving his way through the crowd that had gathered around him.

Syo recognized the voice instantly, darting toward him as he broke through the crowd. His arms wrapped tightly around the older boy’s waist, burying his face in the male’s hoodie so he didn’t have to look at the other students anymore. Shibaman put his arm around the boy’s shoulders, glaring daggers at the others.

Tsuji was surprised by how protective his friend was being over the boy but he knew it was important to him. He stepped up, putting himself between the group and Shibaman. “Take him inside.”

Shibaman leaned down, bringing Syo into his arms before heading back into the school. He glared at anyone that dared look at him, a silent warning to stay away, though no one was dumb enough to attack one of the strongest guys at Oya.

━━━━━━༻Elsewhere༺━━━━━━

I stifled a yawn as I sat atop Oya Koukou’s roof, stretching out against the couch. Jamuo sat across from me, playing a game on his phone while the others watched, cheering him on. Tsukasa was sitting beside me, his head leaning back and eyes closed. I’m not sure when it started, but I love spending my free time here at Oya. It feels strange to say, but it’s actually quite peaceful. Not only that, but the other members of Sword won’t venture here which means they won’t be bothering me.

It’s like a mini-vacation.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I tugged it out, checking the ID. It was Dan. “Hello?”

“Hey,” he breathed out.

The shakiness of his voice put me on edge immediately and I stood up, eyes narrowed. “What happened?”

Tsukasa lifted his head, watching me curiously as I started to pace back and forth across the roof.

“Don’t get mad… I, I’m so sorry… you trusted me and I let you down, I –“

“What the fuck happened, Dan?” I demanded. “Spit it out.”

“I got into a fight with Syo and he… he ran away. We’ve been looking but we can’t find him.“

“Jesus christ, Dan.” I ran a hand through my hair, feeling panic beginning to bubble up inside of me. My mind was running a mile a minute, trying to determine where he might have run to.

“I think… I think I know where he went.“

“Spit it out, then.”

“I think he went to Oya…“

I stopped dead, my brow furrowed. “Why would he come here? For me?”

“No, he…” Dan went silent, clearly trying to determine how best to say whatever was on the tip of his tongue.

Takasa, a first year that’s part of Fujio’s faction, stepped onto the roof with his arms filled with plastic bags. He was the errand boy, often going out to buy snacks for the group, a role he took seriously. He looked confused as he approached. “You guys won’t believe this! Some little boy came here to Oya.”

Tsukasa’s eyes snapped to mine, realizing what was happening.

My heart skipped a beat as I ended the call, looking at the younger male. “Oi, where is he? The boy.”

“The guys were surrounding him like hungry sharks,” he frowned, beginning to hand out the food, completely oblivious to the tension around him. “But Shibaman and Tsuji came and took him away. Maybe he’s their kid brother or something.”

Shibaman and Tsuji? Why the hell would they protect Syo? I tossed my phone to Tsukasa who caught it easily, instructing him to call Dan back and let him know that Syo was with me. He agreed without hesitation and I hurried off the roof, pushing through the throngs of boys. I knew the duo spent their time in the broadcasting room so I made a beeline to it.

Tsuji was standing outside the door and when he noticed me rushing toward him, he held a finger to his lips. My brow furrowed in confusion, my steps slowing as I reached him.

“What are you doing here, Syo?”

It was Shibaman’s voice, slightly muffled by the door. I moved closer, careful not to touch the door since it was cracked open.

“I wanted to see you…” replied Syo, his tone laced with sadness. “I got into a fight with Dan-nii.”

“Just because you disagree with him doesn’t mean you should run away. They’re probably really worried about you, ya know.”

“He says you’re a bad man but I know you’re not!”

Shibaman was silent for a moment. “I’m… not a good role model. He’s right about me.”

“No, he’s wrong! You’re a good person and… and… you’re my friend!” Syo started to sniffle, barely holding back his tears.

My heart clenched in my chest and I swallowed hard, hating the sound of him in pain.

“I’m going to take you back to the diner, okay?”

“No! I don’t wanna go! I wanna stay with you!”

I pushed the door open, stepping inside the room. Both of them turned to look at me in surprise, though Syo’s quickly morphed into guilt as he scrubbed at his eyes, tears streaming down his red cheeks.

“Mama…” he cried.

Shibaman’s head snapped to him, eyes wide.

“Dan’s pretty upset,” I told him softly, resting my hand on his head.

“I’m sorry…” he threw his arms around my waist, burying his head against my stomach.

“He said you guys got in a fight. I’m guessing it was about Shibaman.” I glanced at the boy in question and he quickly lowered his head as if he were somehow guilty.

“He’s not a bad person!” Syo lifted his head, looking up at my with determination. “He’s my only friend!”

“The Sannoh boys aren’t your friends?” I quirked a brow at him and he shook his head.

“No, they’re family. Shibaman-san is nice to me. He’s kind and he plays with me because he wants to, not because he has to. I love my nii-chans, but… they only spend time with me because I’m your son!”

“You’re wrong.” I squatted down in front of him, wiping away his tears. “It’s true that it started out that way, but they view you as their own little brother. That’s why they’re so protective, because they love you and don’t want to see anything happen to you.”

“They’re too protective,” he muttered. “I can’t even go outside and play.”

I sighed deeply, rubbing the back of my neck. “That’s my fault, not theirs. I told them to protect you. I’m sorry, Syo, I didn’t know you were suffering so much. I’m sure they didn’t, either.”

“It’s okay,” replied Syo softly. “I’m sorry for running away.”

“You’re too much like me, kiddo,” I chuckled, ruffling his hair.

Syo glanced at Shibaman before looking back at me. “Please, mama. I don’t want to stop being friends with Shibaman-san!”

Standing up, I turned to look at Tsuji. “Can you take Syo up to Tsukasa? I’d like to talk with Shibaman alone.”

Tsuji glanced at his best friend before nodding, holding his hand out. Syo took it hesitantly, frowning at us.

I waited for them to be out of earshot before turning toward the taller boy, but he spoke before I could.

“I’m sorry for the trouble,” he said quickly, bowing at the hip. “It’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault that he’s like me,” I laughed, patting him on the shoulder. “No need to apologize.”

He slowly straightened up, nodding his head. Even with a hoodie on, I could tell his body was tense and stiff. “I’ll stay away from him.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Huh?”

“Are you saying you’ll stay away from him because you don’t want to be around him or because you believe it’s for the best? I imagine one of the boys had a talk with you, yeah?” I quirked a brow, folding my arms over my chest. “If I had to guess, I’d say Dan or Yamato.”

Shibaman shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he considered the question. “I… enjoy spending time with him.”

“Good.” I fell onto the couch with a sigh, stretching out my legs. “Syo is clearly attached to you, he’d be pretty upset if you didn’t want to be his friend.”

“You’re… okay with it?” his brow furrowed in confusion as he searched my eyes.

“None of us are perfect, Shiba. We’ve all done stupid shit. Hell, I still do stupid shit. You’re not a bad person for making poor decisions and if you want to spend time with my son, I’ll know he’s in good hands.”

“I’ll protect him with my life.” His expression was dead serious, eyes burning with determination.

“He’s a handful, ya know.”

“We can handle him.” Shibaman bit his lip before slowly moving closer. “I promise you, I won’t let anything happen to him. I’ll treat him like my own.”

A smile tugged at my lips. “I’ll be counting on you, Shibaman-kun~”

━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

[teefa85]

Went back and cleaned up the True Ending of Sea of Stars...

(spoilers under cut)

Aephorul makes up for Elysan'darëlle being so weak! Though to be fair, half my problems were the fact that I was having trouble pinning down the timing on his instant death attack (why does a boss in a game with limited healing items being brought to battle have an instant death as a NON SPECIAL ATTACK). So my Poutine was wasted early and I spent time with people dead and unable to do anything. Oh, and not realizing I had a beam cannon or the ability to dive until the second Fleshmancer Space Battle...

In the end, I had both Seraï and Valere down from said instant death and had the luck to get my Ultimate charged. Thankfully I keep Resh'an back since his job IS using his Ultimate to batter enemies so he was healthy. Brought him in, and let The Great Eagle take the final blow. How appropriate...even if it's a puppet.

Well, Garl kicking the crap out of Aephorul in the following cutscene was glorious too!

Also, the fact that now Valere and Zale come back on Garl's birthday not just to fly over the world in his honor but to visit him in their secret cave is so heartwarming. Their friendship is the most precious thing in this game!

Only achievements left are Wheels (didn't want to stop the main plot to play a mini game to completion) and Artful Gambit. Which I might go back to in NG+ in the future. But for now, onto other games. I definitely enjoyed my time with this.

[krimsonkatt]

Zenith Von Zerithia (Final Apocolyptis Ver)

Zenith Von Zerithia, a party member and major character in my game Chronicles Meteorfall. She is the incredibly beautiful catgirl duchess of the city-state of Zerithia, a city run almost entirely by friendly monsters. She is not a beastkin, but rather a rare type of alfar called a "Cait Sithe", alfar that specialize in transformation magick but otherwise are average in every type of magick, unlike the other tribes which are heavily specialized. She is spunky, friendly, and kind of tomboyish, the complete opposite of what her delicate princess-like appearance would tell you. And oh, she HATES being called delicate, so try that around her and you're sure to get a proper ass-wooping. She starts a relationship with Tayo halfway through the game, and is the most impacted by Tayo's sacrifice at the end of the game, especially since she is pregnant with Tayo's child. She is incredibly strong, able to hold a massive battleaxe with one hand. She is also incredibly agile and quick on her feet, doubly so since she always wears her poofy princess-like ballgown, high heels, and gloves everywhere she goes. Her boobs are an F-cup and she's very proud of them.

Her mother was killed in a bandit raid on Zerithia 4 years ago, and thus has inherited her family's wealthy estate and their special power to purify monsters of their evil instincts. She possesses two maids and a butler, Felicia, Flora, and Jacob, with Jacob being a former human to willingly transformed himself into an eternally-young vampire to care for Zenith past his old age. After the destruction of Zerithia Zenith rebuilt it using the help of a bunch of monsters Zenith purified, who then came to inhabit the rebuild Zerithia.

Zenith's S-Class is the Empress, arguably the most powerful of all the S-Classes. Why is this? Well, the Empress has a certain passive art known as "Beast Lore." With this art equipped Zenith can learn nearly ANY enemy art used on her and after equipping the newly learned art onto one of her skill slots while Beast Lore is equipped, use them herself. This is the only way to access various powerful enemy-exclusive arts such as the "Break" and "Guard" line of spells, and with the MASSIVE selection of additional arts at Zenith's fingertips with Beast Lore Zenith can fit literally any role you can imagine and do it far better than anyone else. It just takes A OT of grinding and refightng bosses in the dream realm to get there.

The Empress' other arts are no slouch either. Many of these arts are garnered to always land a critical hit, making it incredibly easy to build up press turns with these arts. Other arts like Royal Wave and Pixie Dust have more niche uses, but are still incredibly powerful. The Empress' talent art is "Beastdancer", a powerful art that allow all allies attacks, including magick, to always crit for a single turn. The Empress wields swords, axes, and fists.

Zenith's S-Talents include Furious Fists and Melody of Purity. Furious Fists is unlocked from the second Zenith is available and deals smash damage to one foe 4 times based on level, afterward granting power charge to all allies. Melody of Purity is unlocked by merely STARTING Zenith's EX Quest, which is a move that allows you to instantly pacify any enemy inflicted with Baetylus' curse. It can also be used at will during talk conversations, even with the art is not equipped. Zenith is the character with by far the easiest S-Talents to unlock, though her ultimate weapon and ultimate class take by far the most effort out of any character with an extremely lengthy and in-depth EX Quest. Stacy is the only character that comes close to the complexity in unlocking her S-Class, S-Talents, and ultimate weapon. Zenith's ultimate weapon is the Werebuster, an axe that always lands critical hits when attacking.

Like all alfar Zenith has the ability to transform into a tiny winged insect-like version of herself called a fairy. With her talents as a cait-tribe alfar she can also transform other people around her into fairies too, albeit only for 5 minutes at a time. However, fairy form has the cost of turning anyone transformed into a girl, as fairies are exclusively female. (normal alfar can be male or female) If fairy form is used for too long at a time (around a day or two) an alfar can become stuck in their fairy form forever and become unable to turn back to regular size. These "pureblood alfar" as they're called tend to form their own communities separate from other alfar. Since pureblood alfar are all one gender they cannot normally procreate, so they instead pollinate flowers to birth new fairies from them.

[rootvegetableboy]

cm dev log #9 - july 2024

i think july might’ve been my most productive month yet! i really surprised myself with how much i achieved. it’s really satisfying proof that development is only getting faster & smoother the longer i go on :]

some really really exciting stuff implemented, including but not limited to…

new mechanics!

a surge/dodge mechanic has been added! press the spacebar to avoid incoming attacks! you can use this both directionally for a boost of speed, or while standing still to become invulnerable to damage for 15 whole frames. woah!!!

healing flask!! fuck everything else i’ve said in every log, good game design is all about beautiful potions. like all good potion ui, you get a little visual of your flask emptying:

reworking older systems!

i’m currently in the midst of reworking my save/load system! i’m not going to say too much, because… it’s one of the main hooks of my game… but it’s going real swell. i only have to do one more thing before this is in a workable state, which is:

i need to create a new in-game menu system from scratch =_=

this is something i’ve known was coming for a while, but i find coding UI pretty annoying sometimes, so i’ve been putting it off. the current in-game menu isn’t up to par with the artistic style of everything else, so i want to re-do it. i also plan on separating out the save/load menu from the in-game menu.

HOWEVER! i was able to do a successful collisions/hitbox rework this month in its entirety! this is huge, it’s an issue i noticed in january and has been bothering me all year!! it’s kind of hard to explain this one, so let me whip out some visual aids:

the dark rectangle around her feet is her collision box; when i write code that references a collision with the player, it’s checking for a collision with that box. such as… collisions with walls! or furniture! having it just around her feet is what allows me to fake a 3D look with only 2D art, so she can stand/walk in front of walls and objects and it doesn’t look horribly strange.

if her collision box included her head, she would stop moving as soon as the top of her sprite touched the bottom of the wall.. it would look and feel very odd!

but, you can immediately see where this becomes a problem when enemy bullets are checking for a collision with the player. she would get shot in the head and just like, be fine, it would go right through her…

i had the same problem with one of the enemies i’ve implemented, where i wanted to figure out a way to have both the collision box that comes with the sprite and a differently shaped hitbox. i hunted through a lot of forum posts for the best way to do it, but ultimately decided on what i personally thought to be the most “elegant” solution:

an entirely separate invisble object that follows all of the player’s exact movements and handles all of the player’s health and taken damage. (that’s all it does: the player object got to keep all its other code.)

i actually have no idea if this is optimal! but it works, and i got it working with minimal effort. it was a little trickier figuring out how to apply this concept to enemies, but i was able to write a little script so that every enemy i place in a room will spawn its own hitbox object. task complete!! the 3D illusion is secure and i can still maintain expected combat logic.

actual game content!

ah, finally…! after 9 months of development, the first miniboss is here…!!!

like a lot of things in game dev, you never really think about how much goes into a boss fight until you make one… but i had So Much Fun crafting this. im absolutely buzzing with ideas for future fights!

so, this all included: a small arena, pre-fight dialogue that automatically triggers when walking into said arena, barrier objects that appear during the fight so you can’t escape, and associated save/load scripts so that the boss doesn’t respawn if you leave the room and go back in. as for the miniboss herself, she gets her own special health bar with her name attached, and a state machine that cycles through three different attacks until she dies. (i haven’t coded player death yet lol)

some miscellanious stuff!

you may have noticed if you watched the video above, but i’ve changed the aspect ratio from 4:3 to 16:9. i like the nostalgia of a 4:3 but… i think with the way combat is emerging, the experience only benefits from the added screen space. you get a lot more room to see, and thus more time to react.

i’m finally starting on implementing music!! it’s getting atmospheric, babey!!! i’ve also got a little list of sfx that needs doing and i’m stoked to get started on it. video above doesn’t contain any sound because, i have not written a boss theme for her yet, and i didn’t want it to just be the shooting/damage sounds… i promise i am thinking a lot about sounds. and i can’t wait to dive into vcv rack to whip some up!!

i finally set up a github source control. files are secured. every other hobbyist dev should do this way earlier than i did

i’m proud, i did a lot! ^_^ i really want people to be able to playtest the miniboss fight soon—currently i plan on having one available to those interested in a couple of months! i have no idea how hard it actually is and i need some different eyes on it asap, so please let me know if that’s something you would be interested in :]

signing off for now… have a good august, everyone!

[drtrashgames]

Here’s a quick overview of how to play Treasure by Torchlight!

The basic premise of this game is to enter into randomly generated dungeons, fight monsters to earn XP, level up your character, collect loot and treasure, and ultimately defeat the final boss.

To start with you have 3 characters you can pick from! Each character has a special ability that you can save up and spend during a dungeon run.

To move in a dungeon, you must spend torch points. If you are at the edge of a tile, you can place down a new tile and you will immediately move to that tile and engage with it.

If you back track over already placed tiles you cannot engage with them, but you will still spend torch points to move.

T-Tiles are special because they give you a choice. When you place a T-Tile you move to it and then select two additional tiles and place them on either side. You must then move to and engage with ONLY ONE of these options. Once you move you cannot go back and engage with placed tiles, so choose wisely!

If you encounter an enemy you must immediately fight them. Rolling the dice determines the attack damage of both you and the enemy. Enemies can become stronger as you level up your character.

Enemies also have special points on them. You can spend an enemy card to refill your special attack points. But since you cannot level up until you exit a dungeon, spending an enemy card to refill a special point means you will not earn XP on that enemy. So choose wisely!

Defeating an enemy earns you XP which can be used to level up your character in the XP Tracker. The tracker is an abacus with the top numbers beings ones and the bottom numbers being tens.

Once you reach a certain amount of XP, you level up and swap out the modular level pieces on your character tracker. In this way you will begin to have more movement, attack, and health as you level up.

If you successfully exit a dungeon without dying, you can then spend your enemy cards to raise your XP and level up your character, go to the shop to buy new items, exchange treasure for money, and or swap out your character for the next run.

You will have to back into the dungeons multiple times to level up your character enough to take on the final boss. But every step of the way your torch will be growing dimmer. Use items and specials to keep that torch lit so that enemies don’t gang up on you!

And that’s a basic overview of my game! I have two versions: a full size version and a smaller cheaper mint-tin version. Both contain the same gameplay and can be found here.

[timelessxmemories]

So, if I may take the liberty of refreshing your memory, in my AU, instead of Light and Dusk being in the same position as the player, it’s the Entity, who was, in a way, their predecessor in an ancient cycle created by Light and Dusk in the desperate attempts to replace the being that created them (and possibly also the Valley), whom they accidentally caused the death of an immeasurable amount of time ago. The game would have multiple endings:

- The One Of Us Ending would be the game’s bad ending. In it, the player does not deviate at all from the path set by Light and Dusk and has extremely minimal interactions with the Entity, leading to them not learning any of their companions’ story. Therefore, Light and Dusk would ultimately convince the player that the Entity is the enemy holding the Valley in its static state, and the final boss battle would be against him. The player can win or lose this battle; winning results in a cutscene in which the player takes the Entity’s power and continues the cycle, but both outcomes end on a black screen with the text ‘At least one of us could be free.’

- The Cyclebreaker Ending is the game’s ‘neutral’ ending. In it, the player sees some of the companions’ story, just enough to know the Cycle exists, in which case the option to ‘break the cycle’ appears just before the confrontation with the Entity (completing the One Of Us Ending at least once will cause this option to appear automatically on all subsequent playthroughs). Upon pressing this option, instead of backstabbing the Entity, the player uses their weapon to break the chains binding him to the cycle, initiating a boss battle against Light and Dusk with the Entity as your ally. Upon defeating Light and Dusk, the Entity thanks the player for breaking the cycle, tell them he’ll take care of the Valley for now and sends them home to their original world, while cryptically implying that, if they were ever to come back and look really closely, perhaps they could give everyone the ending that was truly meant for them…

- The game’s true, good ending is the Constellation Ending. It can be accomplished by exploring as much of the game as possible and collecting a series of hidden items relating to Light and Dusk’s past. When the ‘break the cycle’ option is selected with all of these items collected, final battle against Light and Dusk does initiate like normal, but instead of attacking the player is able to use each of the hidden items and convince Light and Dusk that it’ll be better not only for everyone else, but for them as well to stop living in the past and to move on with their lives (the Entity also refuses to attack in this ending and will focus on supporting the player instead). The game ends with a montage of the player, the Entity, Light and Dusk taking care of the Valley together and repairing the damage caused by the cycle.

WAHAHHGG YES YES YES I STILL LOVE ALL OF THIS SO SO SO MUCH. its actually kind of funny because for a while my brain kept relating this exact au of yours to the canon storyline, I kept going: 'nono. isn't the entity trapped in the cycle??' and I kept mixing my lore up with yours so for a while that's how it went, and then when I looked back at the canon storyline I had a sense of deja-vu where I was all like: 'hold on. wait a minute.' but I just, augh, your whole au of this still holds a near and dear special place in my heart so so much, I care it, very, very much!!! its so important!!!!/gen

[cru5h-cascades]

With Side Order basically 3 days away at this point (the dlc's releasing on the 21st at 7 PM CST), there's just one more thing I wanna talk about when it comes to speculation (well not really speculation it's more so just me hoping this will happen):

PLEASE LET THE PROFESSOR WHO OWNED JUDD AND MADE TARTAR HAVE SOME SORT OF SIGNIFICANCE TO THE STORY. LIKE A MAJOR ROLE.

Like I have this one idea sort of similar to @lbodraws' Villain Agent 4 AU (with their interpretation of the villain of Side Order, G.H.O.S.T., an AI made to store human consiousness that basically decided to do its own thing after not being given the order to awaken the humans whose consiouses they were storing) where basically the professor had a plan B for himself since he didn't make himself immortal like Judd, the plan being that if he died in cryogenic preservation he'd have his mind transfered into a computer program in order to live on in some way. However, something goes wrong and the professor's digital world is overidden by whoever created the Order Sector. The professor gets his files compressed or whatever and they get put into a special area on the top of the tower so he's under close surveilance, however he keeps on trying to fight back in a few ways, with the main one being creating the voids in the spire.

To be honest, I'd love to see both a villain Marina and Lil' Judd in the DLC alongside the professor as well, so this is how I kind of see the final boss being like if all three of these guys had a role to play in the DLC:

Phase 1: Marina (the misguided antagonist): Marina is under the influence of another being (weither it be by brainwashing or by other means) and it's Agent 8's job to snap Marina out of it. Marina would use all sorts of modified specials and inventions against Eight during the fight (also basically this fight would sort of be like a parody of the Splatoon 2 final boss since RotM also had that with DJ Octavio at the begining). After finishing this phase of the fight, Marina regains control of herself, we get some dialoge, and then we get the reveal of the true villain of Side Order...

Phase 2 & 3: Lil' Judd (the real big bad): Lil' Judd goes on a monolouge about why he did what he did and how (basically he ended up getting Marina to unknowingly unleash the Order Sector onto the world to help Lil' Judd achive his ultimate objective: to be the only Judd left standing or something like that) and then the next 2 phases of the fight happen I guess. After beating up Lil' Judd, the professor decompresses his own files now that Lil' Judd isn't able to control the Order Sector, at least for now, and decides to raise hell onto everyone in the room, leading us to the next phase of the fight...

Phase 4: the professor (one of many victims of Lil' Judd): Blinded by rage, the professor gets this corrupted form of sorts where he's all glitchy and stuff. The professor, beliving that the Side Order crew is working with Lil' Judd, attempts to attack our protagonists, only for Eight to defend everyone. The professor will use various tricks to distract the player so he can kill them and will spare the player no mercy during the fight. It isn't until the layer finally shoots at the professor enough that he comes to his senses and realizes what's going on and stops fighting. We get some dialoge at the end of the fight or something and then the Order Sector appears to be falling appart due to the professor messing around with the code too much during the fight, so he urges the Side Order crew to get out of the spire before they're trapped in an infinate void forever. The professor opens a portal to the real Inkopolis Square outside of the spire and then I guess the final phase of the final boss happens where you need to take the emergency exit out of the spire to get to the portal in a set amount of time. The professor stays behind to keep the Order Sector up and running so he doesn't die or whatever.

And that's all I really got for what could happen if the professor was involved in Side Order. If you couldn't tell already, this is a super rough idea of what could happen if this was the case because this is just me hoping this happens. Anyways, I kinda doubt that the professor will actually even be mentioned in Side Order ('cause that guy just has to be one of the most minor characters in Splatoon) (but then again dedf1sh made it into the DLC and has a huge role in it so maybe it can happen with this guy too), but hey I guess we'll just have to find out in three days, am I right?

[mencnfire]

Muse added | Kano

ㅤnameㅤㅤ kano. ㅤaliasㅤㅤ the black dragon. ㅤageㅤㅤ 33 / 58. ㅤpronounsㅤㅤ he / him. ㅤspeciesㅤㅤ human. ㅤbirthdateㅤㅤ november 9th. ㅤsexualityㅤㅤ heterosexual. ㅤnationalityㅤㅤ australian. ㅤoccupationㅤㅤ mercenary / cartel boss. ㅤheightㅤㅤ 6ft 3" ㅤbuildㅤㅤ muscular.

personality

kano is a ruthless mercenary, cartel boss, martial artist and criminal. a man who will only ever side with the winning side - a brutalist who knows no other language than violence...and of course sex, and booze and australian~!kano may seem happy-go-lucky, casual and a bit of a jokester but beneath the thin veil of charisma is an obsessive and fierce man willing to stop at nothing to get what he wants.

biography

given up as a baby - kano was extremely young when he was adopted by a loving couple eager for a child of their own. named 'kao' by the japanese mother to adopt him, a mistake on the birth certificate led to him instead being called 'kano.' his father, a brutish australian man and former military man said 'hey, that's pretty cool' and thus came kano.

growing up, kano was doted on by his parents. his mother was strict, teaching him martial art ( specifically aikido ) from an early age, his dad on the other hand began to grow aloof when the boy that they'd adopted began to turn hostile. at a very young age ( five - six ) kano began lashing out and attacking strangers. his maliciousness was something his parents tried their best to curb out but the child seemed to persist. despite this, kano loved his mother dearly and would listen to her. at the age of thirteen, his parents had reached their end with kano's behaviour and separated. kano stayed with his mother while his father became an alcoholic recluse who would hardly ever see his son ( mostly due to his own depression ).

during this time, kano began to run with street gangs and gangsters. he rose in the ranks quickly, his brute strength, tacticians mind and borderline psychopathy a huge benefit to him when it came to dealing with other criminals.

at the age of 21, his father died of a heart attack. kano was upset by this but didn't let it get to him having been estranged from the old man for a while.in his early twenties he met sonya blade and jax briggs. despite being a known member of the black dragon clan; kano offered his services as an insider and mole and began feeding the special forces information on both the black dragon leaders and rival gangs. he also formed a romantic relationship with sonya.

ultimately, he was tricking them and had no real intention of selling the black dragon out. in order to propel himself further, kano used the special forces to rid of his enemies and in one final act of betrayal - revealed this to both them and most importantly the woman he'd convinced the hardest, sonya. killing her partner, the two went from lovers to sworn enemies.

around this time, kano's obsession with sonya began. in his late twenties and while being pursued by the special forces, an altercation with jax briggs saw kano lose his eye and face a near death experience. this event changed his life, his eye having now been transformed into the cybernetic eye he uses - he also experienced trauma from this event, however in his later age doesn't think of it as much.

kano has since been in and out of jail, capture, torture etc - he evades the forces that seek to bring him to justice while simultaneously serving only himself. the events of this blog are shaped both around this backstory and the events of the video games mixed together. at the age of fifty, kano is a mature mercenary running his own cartel. known fiercely as the black dragon and supplying weapons to those who will pay the most as if they're candy.

skills

laser eye || skilled with knives/guns/general weaponry || trained in martial arts / kickboxing || assassination techniques || close-quarters-combat || criminal-activity / connections.

[elendsessor]

something i noticed about the story of world (and to a lesser extent iceborne) is how many elements were built on from 4/4ultimate. they’re few and far between but are done well for the most part!

but where it absolutely succeeded the most is how it improved upon a plot point in 4 ultimate’s added high rank story campaign, that being the siege.

both feature an elder dragon with at least some relation to snow at the entrance to a town having to be repelled using the power of friendship(?) and a big ass canon, plus both having a uniqueish theme (probably the weakest aspect of vel’s because rusted kushala got a special theme (that’s better than the normal kushala theme i wish they kept it and that it didn’t play only once) meanwhile vel’s is just her theme shortened and with less instruments)).

the npcs in worldborne stand around and do nothing compared to the ace hunters and the mechanics within the siege are pretty underwhelming, sure, but the story buildup was sooooo much better.

while the ace commander is the one to tell the player his history with rusted really started when his master took a bullet for him, we never see it. we don’t really get that urgency. the pre rendered cutscene with their second encounter helps establish the tension between them but there’s not as much urgency. we actually get to see velkhana doing shit, showing the actual danger she poses, and when she full on predicts the huntsman’s attack and counters?? that’s how you know she’s actually a threat and not just there because we need conflict. having that brief battle encounter before the siege also helps a ton.

also the ball doesn’t stop rolling with her retreating. to fight rusted kushala in 4u after the high rank story, you have to beat gogmazios aka the final boss of g rank. you then eventually get the quest (i think after deciphering one of the ancient texts i don’t remember) but even then, if you want to fight rusted in the battlequarters, you’ll have to wait until it cycles into the optional battlequarters siege quests, which can take multiple in game days (and you have to beat whatever shows up just to get a chance at rusted reappearing so prepare for teo, chameleos, and apex steve to ruin your day until then). most people stop 4u after beating goggy so they miss out on a ton of quests already and you’ll have to exercise a ton of patience. rusted’s not even fun??? after that initial story quest it’s worse kushala and given how monsters are programmed in 4u, yeah it hits like a train and having a full squad barely evens the odds.

you get straight to velkhana and her fight is so damn cool. fast paced and challenging but also fair, and you can actually hit her without having to deal with pushback every 2 seconds. really should be the ultimate standard for story siege quests.

[lethal-highway]

Predictions

After having thought about it, here are my predictions for Sonic Shadow Generations. My predictions are mostly about what stages will be introduced for Shadow, since the standard stages in Sonic Generations will most likely already be included as implied by it being a remaster. It seems like this game largely exists as a lead up to Sonic Movie 3, which will be a play on the events of Sonic Adventure 2 (interesting that they're skipping the first Adventure title, by the way.)

It's probably to make Shadow marketable again, like with Knuckles. If this succeeds, he may very well become even more popular than ever before.

Main Prediction: Backstory Level Pack + Playable Character After unlocking him, Shadow becomes a playable character in Modern Sonic stages. Pretty straightforward, but they might add a few things to the stages in order to utilize some unique mechanics of his. You can see him teleporting in place of a homing attack in the few seconds of gameplay they show, so it's possible.

In addition, I predict for there to also be a smaller sum of levels for Shadow in order to sum up his backstory before heading into a conflict with a resurrected Black Doom. For this prediction, I'm selecting 1 per game.

Shadow Stage 1: Radical Highway That city stage in the trailer could easily be Radical Highway given the red siding on the roads. Plus, it's Shadow's first stage ever, it's very iconic, and Sonic Team loves to use the stage theme as a musical motif for Shadow. If they don't include Radical Highway in some form, I'll be shocked.

Shadow Stage 2: Final Chase This one's a gimme if you watched the trailer. His debut title is Sonic Adventure 2, and we get a brief glimpse of him on that very stage attacking GUN robots. It's only natural, since it looks like it'd get followed up with that reimagining of the Biolizard boss fight, which was the culmination of Shadow's arc in SA2. Shadow Stage 3: Hang Castle/Mystic Mansion His next appearing title is Sonic Heroes. I'll admit, this one's wishful thinking- there's not much evidence for it, since all four teams go through every stage in Heroes. It means none of them really have any special meaning to or association with Shadow, as a character. I love these Halloween stages, though. Sue me, I named myself after the fucking month of Halloween.

Shadow Stage 4: Westopolis His next chronological installment is Shadow the Hedgehog. To tell the truth, I'm torn between Westopolis (the first stage, and the one you have to do on every playthrough, ugh) and Final Haunt (the only stage that comes close to being good, a stage taking place in the alien landscape of the Black Comet, home of the Black Arms and Black Doom.) The trailer's city stage could still be Westopolis, though, given that red fog, which looks very similar to the fog in the hilarious opening cutscene of Shadow the Hedgehog, so I suppose my hands are tied. But my earnest desires are for Lethal Highway (gee, wonder why,) and Final Haunt.

Shadow Stage 5: Radical Train His next installment is Sonic 06. Normally, I'd not include one from this title, but Crisis City is literally in Sonic Generations. Anyway, Radical Train is the only stage anyone likes, so let's root for it. It's also the stage associated with the cutscene where Shadow roundhouse kicks Silver, and that one is truly legendary.

Shadow Stage 6: Mystic Jungle - Eggman's Facility This one was difficult: his most recent appearance in a mainline title was Forces, as a DLC character, with three stages for a short story explaining his involvement with Infinite, a prominent villain in that title. There's not much to go on here. Ultimately, I've picked this stage, as it's the most distinct of the three, involving infiltrating one of Eggman's bases. Nobody wants a second Green Hill stage.

[percdude]

Black Eagles/Super Danganronpa 2

A note: Personal skills change after either remnant-esque reveal during route or post time skip 

Hajime Hinata/Izuru Kamakura (House leader):

Personal Skill: Amnesiac: All debuffs applied to him are shrugged off at the end of the round

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Ultimate Proficiency: Doubles weapon growth during battle 

Proficiencies: Faith & Reason

Class they would excel at: Gremory

How you recruit them: N/A

Noble/Commoner: Commoner

Crest: Crest of Hope

Crest Effect: Chance to heal adjacent allies heal for 10% of their maximum HP after initiating combat

Crest: Crest of the Ultimate

Crest Effect: Chance to do one of the following after initiating combat: conserve weapon durability, heal to full hp, and deal damage to adjacent enemies after the combat ends

Crest Relic: Sword (Magic): 1-2 range. When Crest of the Ultimate triggers, randomly chooses one of the other effects and adds it to the activation. Also, if an attack with this weapon puts the enemy under 50% HP apply the Rattled effect.

  Nagito Komaeda (Class second):

Personal Skill: Jinxed: If something can go wrong, it does.

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Jinxed: If something can go wrong, it does (but only for his opponents).

Proficiencies: Lance & Riding

Class they would excel at: Commando Knight

How you recruit them: N/A

Noble/Commoner: Noble

Crest: N/A

Crest Effect: N/A

Crest Relic: N/A

  Akane Owari:

Personal Skill: Voracious Appetite: Consumable healing items do not take an action to use (once per turn), all consumable healing items get a free extra use while in her inventory and heal for 50% more.

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Vulture: When landing or assisting with a final blow, heal for the amount of HP the opposing unit had at the beginning of the combat. Cannot use consumable healing items.

Proficiencies: Gauntlets & Axes

Class they would excel at: Reaver

How you recruit them: C+ Gauntlets, give her at least two smoked meats, and invite her to the dining hall for at least one meal of her favorite food. 

Noble/Commoner: Commoner

Crest: N/A

Crest Effect: N/A

Crest Relic: N/A

  Chiaki Nanami:

Personal Skill: So Sleepy: +5 Mt. when wielding a martial weapon but cannot double. Opposing units also cannot double.

Proficiencies: Axe & Heavy Armor

Class they would excel at: Guardian Knight

How you recruit them: 16 Dex (20 if playing as the Male MC), give her a pillow (lost item), If playing Femc attend a class sleepover

Noble/Commoner: Noble

Crest: N/A

Crest Effect: N/A

Crest Relic: N/A

  Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu:

Personal Skill: Baby Faced: Decreases opponent hit by 10 until he attacks them.

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Underground contacts:  If takes no action except wait, all allies within 2 tiles of him gain +5 Mt. and +15 gambit hit rate.

Proficiencies: Gauntlets & Authority

Class they would excel at: Boss

How you recruit them: Save the suspicious merchant during either a quest or an auxiliary battle & 15 Authority.

Noble/Commoner: Commoner

Crest: N/A

Crest Effect: N/A

Crest Relic: N/A

  Gundham Tanaka:

Personal Skill: Blessing of the Devas: If adjacent to a mounted ally, they heal 20% Hp at the start of the round.

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Fury of the Devas: When a summoned ally deals damage, heal for 25% of the damage

Proficiencies: Faith & Reason

Class they would excel at: Summoner

How you recruit them: Visit the stables and gift at least 5 carrots to the horses/pegasus there, also have at least one mounted unit in your party.

Noble/Commoner: Noble

Crest: Crest of the Beast

Crest Effect: Chance to inflict Burn for three turns if struck with a magic attack

Crest Relic: Staff: Grants access to a special summon of a Manteke unit (leveled to the parties average). Additionally grants +5 damage when using a Dark magic spell.

  Hiyoko Saionji:

Personal Skill: Light Feet: Grants a canto-like effect after dancing for someone. Allows her to take another (non-dance) action if range permits.

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Bloody Feet: Grants +10 Crit. After landing a final blow may freely choose a target to grant a dance regardless of range

Proficiencies: Daggers & Faith

Class they would excel at: Dancer

How you recruit them: Win the White Heron Cup (Hiyoko is not allowed to participate after sweeping the last three years)

Noble/Commoner: Noble

Crest: Crest of the Vitriolic

Crest Effect: Chance to apply a debuff to Def. & Res. after saying something during combat.

Crest Relic: Daggers (her fans): 1-3 range. +5 Crit. After dancing for an ally, grants the effect of both a Rally attack and a Rally magic.

  Ibuki Mioda:

Personal Skill: Cacophonous: Rallies and other buffs applied to her have double the effect.  

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Death Note: Allows her to perform a special song that affects all enemies within two tiles of her with the rattled condition. Each enemy rattled this way heals her for 1/20th of her HP.

Proficiencies: Lance & Faith

Class they would excel at: Diva

How you recruit them: Attend one of her concerts, Participate in at least one jam session, and Find her guitar pick (lost item)

Noble/Commoner: Noble

Crest: Crest of Sonic

Crest Effect: Chance to move again after performing a song.

Crest Relic: Microphone: +10 Def. and extends range of all songs by 1.

  Kazuichi Soda:

Personal Skill: Womanizer: Gains +5 hit and crit when next to a woman (regardless of if they are friendly or not), suffers -5 hit and crit when not next to a woman.

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Destructive Personality: If he has only moved during his turn, gains access to a special action that can remove one bit of cover, wall, or shrubbery.

Proficiencies: Axe & Sword

Class they would excel at: Blacksmith

How you recruit them: Make at least 2 upgraded weapons at the blacksmith & C in Axe

Noble/Commoner: Commoner

Crest: N/A

Crest Effect: N/A

Crest Relic: N/A

  Mahiru Koizumi:

Personal Skill: Frozen in Time: Successful hits with a magic spell applies Seal Movement to the opponent struck for one turn

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Dark Memory: Being damaged by (or killing) an opponent grants a stacking +5 to hit (and an additional +5 to hit if she gets the final blow) for all enemies that share a class with it (resets at the beginning of every battle).

Proficiencies: Faith and Reason

Class they would excel at: Chancellor

How you recruit them: Reach B support and rescue Sato during an auxiliary battle

Noble/Commoner: Noble

Crest: Crest of Memory

Crest Effect: Chance to double Hit and Crit. if she has landed the final blow on someone that shares a class.

Crest Relic: Strange Picture Taking Device (Camera): +1 range on spells. If using the same spell on a different target, and her last target is still alive, will cast the spell at both.

  Mikan Tsumiki:

Personal Skill: Purposefully Clumsy: +30 Avo. if the last action taken was a support spell

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Bye-Bye Ouchies!: Allows for healing magic to be used offensively. Grants Magic +10 when doing so.

Proficiencies: Faith & Riding

Class they would excel at: Bride

How you recruit them: Reach C+ support rank with Hajime and at least one of her other classmates, Talk with her about medical stuff at least once, Take her out for mission assistance at least once (and have her either heal you or heal her yourself), and give her at least one Hunting Dagger.

Noble/Commoner: Noble

Crest: Crest of the Devoted

Crest Effect: Chance to boost healing based on support level (1.0 at none, 1.5 at C, 2.0 at B, 2.5 at A, 3.0 at S)

Crest Relic: Sword (One [very large] needle): Magic weapon, 1-3 range. When using healing magic offensively, boost it by 1.5x. Additionally, grants a stacking chance to conserve spell use when a healing spell is used in this way (resetting every time a charge is conserved and increasing in increments of 25%)

  Nekomaru Nidai:

Personal Skill: Boisterous Assurance: When rallying, rally all allies within two tiles of him.

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Unleashed Potential: When a rallied ally gets a kill, grants +1 Mt. and +5 crit until the end of the battle.

Proficiencies: Gauntlets & Authority

Class they would excel at: War Monk

How you recruit them: 20 Str. & Win at least one Tournament

Noble/Commoner: Commoner

Crest: N/A

Crest Effect: N/A

Crest Relic: N/A

  Peko Pekoyama:

Credit to user @ lesbiankakyoin for the idea of giving Peko a crest.

Personal Skill: Fierce Devotion: When next to someone of noble birth, they get +5 Avo. & Peko gains +5 hit & +5 Avo.

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Unhinged Mastery: Will always double when initiating combat and deals damage to enemies within one tile of her opponent.

Proficiencies: Sword & Dagger

Class they would excel at: Trueblade

How you recruit them: At least C support with Fuyuhiko, B+ Sword, gift her a Ceremonial Sword

Noble/Commoner: Commoner (Crest implanted in her by Fuyuhiko’s parents to better serve him, he is unaware they have done this)

Crest: Crest of Servitude

Crest Effect: Chance to Teleport to Fuyuhiko’s location and defend him when he is attacked. Increases in likelihood the lower his HP gets, capping out at 75%. Also grants +5 Mt. and +10 Hit (while using a sword) or +10 Crit (while using daggers).

Post-Paralogue Crest: Crest of Defiance

Post-Paralogue Crest Effect: Chance to halve any damage taken, triggers based on dex. Prevents her from being moved by enemy effects. Also grants +5 Mt. and +15 Hit (while using a sword) or +15 Crit (while using daggers).

Crest Relic: Sword (Katana coded): 1-2 Range. Immune to weapon triangle effects and grants +10 Crit when she initiates combat. Grants a chance to reflect projectile attacks at the opponent (based on Dex).

  Sonia Nevermind:

Personal Skill: Foreign Dignitary: When struck by an attack, boost Hit and Crit of all allies within one tile of her by 5

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Royal Guard: Will always start combat with a full battalion of Novoselician troops in addition to her other equipped battalion. The battalion cannot withdraw from combat and can use both the Wave Attack and Resonant Flames gambits.    

Proficiencies: Authority & Sword

Class they would excel at: Rigain

How you recruit them: B+ Authority, Attend a Novoselician dance (in Novoselic), and win the respect of the Novoselician military. 

Noble/Commoner: Noble

Crest: Crest of the Noble

Crest Effect: Chance to emit a healing burst (2 range, heals allies for 1/10th HP) after successfully hitting a gambit.

Crest Relic: Crown: Doubles the effectiveness of spells when they target non-nobles. Grants spell range +1 and movement +1.

  Teruteru Hanamura:

Personal Skill: Self-Gratification: -5 to hit to every female unit within one tile of him but receive +5 hit for each female unit within one tile

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Cannibal: When within a tile of a slain enemy, replenish one use of all healing items for allied units within two tiles.

Proficiencies: Reason & Riding

Class they would excel at: Dark Knight

How you recruit them: Cook with him at least 3 times & have at least one female recruit. If playing as Femc, will ask to join when you first talk to him (and every subsequent time until you say yes)

Noble/Commoner: Commoner

Crest: N/A

Crest Effect: N/A

Crest Relic: N/A

  The Ultimate Imposter:

Personal Skill: Faceless: Nullifies the effects of the weapon triangle

Post-reveal Personal Skill: Multifaceted: Nullifies the effects of the weapon triangle when they are targeted, doubles the effects of it when they initiate combat.

Proficiencies: Gauntlets & Lances

Class they would excel at: Sergeant

How you recruit them: Recruit every other (recruitable) member of their house.

Noble/Commoner: Noble

Crest: Crest of the Vacillator

Crest Effect: Chance to copy one item from their opponents inventory

Crest Relic: Weapon (appears as a shapeless blob of metal in the inventory screen): When initiating combat, morphs into the weapon that is strongest against what the enemy is using. Also provides the ability to counter-attack when targeted with magic (Bow if ranged, Gauntlets if close).

  Masterpost

[offbrand-deltatraveler]

So I’ve put off writing my final thoughts on Heartcatch for way too long now

Originally I was just taking a bit of a break from Precure for a day and focusing on what I was trying to finish Heartcatch for to begin with, but then I tried to write this post the next day and it just. Disappeared from both of my Drafts, so I gave up on it not wanting to type all that again

But I’m back and doing it now, because I’ll probably never do it if I don’t get to it soon

First of all if you’ve been following my commentary one thing you’ll know best is that I love this season’s characters. Yuri should’ve been dead so I don’t really care about her aside from how cool she is as Cure Moonlight, but Tsubomi, Erika, and Itsuki are really fun to watch and really unique characters and that makes them one of my newest favorite Precure teams

And I love the recurring side characters but there weren’t really many in this season. The only real noticeable ones were Boss and his sidekicks

I will day though that I noticed how Sasorina was largely the only good general. Compared to her who actually feels like her character is centered around being a Desert Apostle, the other two just feel like afterthoughts and really only get good in the finale. And also I really love the Snackies. Best foot soldiers

Secondly I really love the music. Between the special attack songs (Pink Forte Wave, Gold Forte Burst, and Heartcatch Orchestra songs my beloved), the character themes, So Crazy Uproar being one of the most memorable chaotic songs I’ve heard so far, and a lot of other stuff, it has a really cool OST

And I love it’s world and lore and all the cool concepts regarding the system under which it’s Precure operate

Which I don’t normally point out but I think would be important part of the transition into the fact that I really did not like this season’s story for a multitude of reasons

First of all Cure Moonlight being alive was majorly self-contradictory writing:

-Her being this random kid completely retcons the vibe of that dream about her battle with Dark Precure. Her being a regular person is fine because like yeah what Precure isn’t but us actually knowing that breaks the illusion of her being on a higher level that all the other ancient Cures from the Precure Palace have

-The lore was clearly set up for her to haunt the narrative and for her role in the story to be the influence she had on it’s world while she was still alive. This is clear at multiple points because of the numerous writing issues that exist due to her being alive (Cologne’s revival completely destroys the themes of her arc, she takes the spotlight off of Cure Sunshine only to do the same thing she was doing, and Dark Precure beating Tsubomi & Erika so hard in Episode 15 was because she knew Cure Moonlight was still alive and that whole thing was handled really poorly)

Whacky Powerscaling & Bullshit Powerups:

-I distinctly remember Yuri saying something to Tsubomi & Erika about “true friendship” that was supposed to power them up but ended up doing absolutely nothing

-Forte Waves and Fortissimos doing largely the same thing is no problem near the end of the season where it shows how much more powerful the Precure have become, but prior to Cure Sunshine’s debut, before Itsuki starts training them, it just looks stupid and unearned

-Furthermore, Tsubomi & Erika never get any more powerful until Itsuki starts training them, yet they can always beat more powerful foes with the same attacks. And you can tell that they’re supposed to be getting stronger but they just never do for some reason

-I hate the Dark Bracelets so much. More powerful Desertrians already existed before their introduction but the devs didn’t wanna expand on the concept of multiple Desertrians fusing together to create a stronger one. Ultimately the only purpose the Dark Bracelets served was to delay Sasorina’s purification

-The Precure Palace, while cool, is not foreshadowed or alluded to at any point before it’s introduction. You can’t just suddenly pull powerups out of thin air

-They say the Heartcatch Mirage grants you infinite power with no elaboration on what exactly that means when in reality it has infinite power for you to UNLOCK. It doesn’t just give you all of it’s power, you have to slowly earn more and more of it by bettering yourself as a person and as a Precure

Inability to stick to it’s theme:

-Said this many a time before but the sub-theme of fashion and beauty is way more prominent than the main theme of flowers. “Floral Power” being portrayed by a line of glitter, the fashion club and Erika’s largely fashion-centric family being at the center of most episodes, the transformation perfume, the Heartcatch Mirage being a makeup kit... The list unfortunately goes on

-Dark Precure has nothing to do with the theme of flowers. She’s just regular, plain Light vs Darkness in a season that portrays Light & Darkness as Love & The Lack Thereof. Which is another reason Cure Moonlight shouldn’t have lived because Cure Sunshine, embodiment of light, defeating an enemy that was created by Cure Moonlight’s darkness would’ve worked wonders for her purpose as a Cure

Miscellaneous:

-Heartcatch Orchestra I love you to death but your instruments are extremely unbalanced. There are three takts and one tambourine

-Kumojacky’s attacks, while cool, are imo wasted potential. He should’ve been more like Julio or Kappard where instead of summoning a monster, he gets a new weapon to fight the Precure with. And I feel like that’s what the writers originally wanted to do because his Heart Flower Stealing Animtation really feels like an afterthought

-This person’s presence is never explained

-The Baron’s thought process behind turning Olivier into a Desertrian is never explained. If he didn’t want Tsubomi to be involved, why did he make Olivier air out all their dirty laundry in front of the entire city? Being a Desert Apostle who was sealed away for trying to destroy the world, he can’t be THAT new to how Desertrians work

However, I will say that my negative opinions of some things did change:

-I once complained about “Fortissimo” not being a flower-related word, but I now retrect that statement because it sounds cool and no flower-related word really fits. Like what else could you call it that would sound good when replacing Fortissimo in a sentence

-Marine has more to do with water than I initially anticipated. You could even say the Marine Shoot becomes her main attack in the second half of the season

-The perfume I now realize represents a flower’s scent and has nothing to do with fashion & beauty

-Tbh while I said the reveals all come too early, really the only reveal that came too early was Yuri being Cure Moonlight because she wasn’t supposed to be alive in the first place

Overall, 5/10. Probably the lowest score I’ll ever give any season

Not only was everything but the story good and that’s really not a compliment, but it also had a pretty weak cast of side characters and like. How do you even do that

Having completed this season, I will finally be moving on to Tropical Rogue after a short break

[emangel2718]

I'm bored but too tired to do anything significant so here's my personal judgement on the Kirby Superstar (Ultra) abilities in the context of Helper to Hero

Fighter Fight is a unsurprisingly solid ability for the arena even if I find it slightly lacking in the main game. Its default attack is a rapid attack with decent reach that only requires leisurely tapping, though it can only be used on the ground. The button hold attack is strong and has even better reach, essentially being a projectile. The only issues are that when on the ground its attacks have some lag frames and the hold attack moves you forward slightly. Given its reach however this last point isn't ultimately that signficant.

Parasol Parasol is a very charming ability that unfortunately isn't all that strongly utilized in superstar. In the rest of the game it's honestly kind of meh and unfortunately the arena setting doesn't do it any favors. Its main problems are tied to the way superstar handles melee weapons. The primary attack immobilizes you and doesn't do that much damage but it does shoot a short-range spray of projectiles and is usable in midair. It has a special proximity attack which could maybe have some utility but it also immobilizes you for a good few seconds. Its dash attack launches you, which is a fantastic way to slam your face into enemies, and its down air not only launches you but keeps you vulnerable the entire time, garunteeing you smack your face if you hit them. It doesn't even boost your guard in any way from what I've noticed. The final nail in the coffin is that with the primary attack being basically the only attack you can use in the arena setting it's rather dull.

Ice Ice is surprisingly versatile. The primary attack immobilizes you but does decent dps and the jump attack move is not bad at dealing with airborne enemies. All of its attacks also freeze non-big-bosses which can be an annoyance in the miniboss rushes as the iceblocks have to be destroyed before the next one will spawn but can be very helpful for bosses with destructable projectiles as they become fairly damaging projectiles of your own which still do damage even if just bumped into. This also gives some extra utility to the dash move which continuously attacks in a circle around you, making it a good defense against destructable projectiles. Overall it's a decent ability.

Sword Sword… Sword is a classic Kirby ability and a solid option in the main game. It's highly controllable, moves fast, and slices and dices. Unfortunately in the arena context it's… bad. To start with it shares almost all of Parasol's problems, but then it makes some of them even worse. The main attack is a 3 part combo which effectively immobilizes you much more significantly, except that during the second part of the combo also moves you forward, far from enough to be useful but definitely enough to push you into contact damage range given that this combo attacks at melee range. It does have one other semi-viable attack which is its default air. It does a small amount of damage and gives you a backward impulse. Unfortunately the impulse isn't strong enough in either the upward direction to keep you airborne or the backward direction to protect you from enemies… walking toward you. One other problem with sword in general is that many of the tanky bosses feature significant invincibility periods after being hit by all but the most rapid hit abilities, severely hampering the damage output of all of its attacks. Granted this doesn't just hamper Sword but given all of its other shortcomings this really just totally murders it. With it being this bad it loses even more points for for being the only ability that 2 helpers have meaning you have to do at least 2 successful runs with it to unlock the secret bonus (which isn't that significant but still).

Mirror Mirror is one of like 2 abilities to give you a good dash attack for the arena. Not only does it not move you anywhere but it gives you a decently far extending and quite fast attack that makes you invulnerable while it's active to boot. Its main attack is a spray much like ice's and has the same benefits, minus the freezing, as well as the ability to reflect horizontally moving projectiles and a significantly better upward spread, making it usable even against some airborne enemies. Mirror even gives you a perfect guard. Its only real downside is that its dps is not the highest but it's not so low as for impatience to set in. Overall one of the better abilities.

Cutter Cutter, in theory, is a perfectly fine ability. It has a ranged primary attack that even boomerangs back for a second chance at a hit. It also has a fast melee combo that does pretty heavy damage. Unfortunately the thrown cutters are very lacking in damage and the combo is weirdly intermittent. Additionally most of the combo's damage comes from the very last part which can easily miss when an enemy is only on the ground very briefly. Did I mention you can only use the combo while in adjacency range on the ground? The fact that it's so close to being a good ability only makes it that much more frustrating.

Plasma Plasma is tied with Bomb for being my favorite ability in the main game. In Helper to Hero it also shares that tie with Suplex but we'll get to that later. Plasma essentially has it all: powerful, ranged, single shots; a good dps rapid attack; and a passive shield that's active even when you aren't guarding, though it is only effective against destructable projectiles. You also just hover as Plasma Wisp, only slowly dropping, making positioning and dodging even more straightforward. Plasma is, however, one of two abilities that I'm going to give a discomfort penalty to. With the charge up mechanic requiring you to rapidly press d-pad directions and its rapid dps attack requiring button mashing. I still consider it the lesser discomfort of the 2 as the d-pad scramble is definitely not as bad as button mashing and the ability is perfectly serviceable even without the rapid dps attack. It is also worth noting that it's entirely possible to get carried away with the d-pad scramble and run yourself into things.

Beam Beam's signature attack is, unsurprisingly, not that powerful but not to the point of invoking impatience. It also has some utility against some airborne enemies with its reach. The main star of the show though is the charge attack. It's powerful, infinite ranged, and it doesn't even take that long to charge. It doesn't even require a d-pad scramble. Its one downside is that you can't move while charging it and you drop like a rock. It's still very possible to hit airborne enemies with it but doing so requires first putting yourself significantly higher than them. The dash attacks also don't launch you and have some good reach but given the other moves in the toolkit they're kind of just there.

Bomb Bomb is frankly the most simply effective ability in the game. Its primary attack is highly spammable projectiles that do respectable damage, though it does very much notice invincibility periods. The bomb drop attack also has a surprising amount of utility, especially given how you can drop it without really interrupting your flying as Poppy Bro, making it a great way to put on some more damage while you dodge. Its only downsides are that it's maybe a bit too simply effective and when I said that it notices invincibility periods I meant that it really notices them.

Yoyo Yoyo is a melee ability with so much reach that it's basically a projectile and it does pretty respectable damage. It can also attack upward and downward though the reach is much less signifcant. Since it's able to destroy destructable projectiles it's not bad defensively either.

Wing Wing is the second ability that gets a discomfort penalty as its primary attack sends out a single short ranged projectile per button press and is the only move in Wing's entire arsenal that doesn't launch you in some direction. It also doesn't even do that much dps when you are mashing like crazy. Ultimately even the very nice flying controls don't get it out of the same tier as sword.

Ninja Ninja also has a mashing-based projectile as its default attack. Fortunately this one maxes out at a much more comfortable pace, has infinite range, and isn't Ninja's main dps. That title goes to the attack Ninja does when you hold the attack button, which strikes the enemy with a melee attack and then subsequently summons 4 giant slashes which do heavy damage, though only if used on the ground. The combination of potent burst damage and an infinite range melee attack makes Ninja a very solid choice for the arena.

Hammer Hammer is another melee only ability that would suffer the same problems if its dps weren't so… bonkers. The upswing in particular (though Bonkers still swings downard for it) is somewhat risky to use but does so much damage that it all but ends many fights immediately. It has my fastest time (on my most recent save) of 05:20:82, over 3 minutes faster than second place. This does unfortunately make runs somewhat unintersting aside from the ridiculousness of it.

Fire Fire is basically Ice but worse in every way. Its default move is basically the same but without freezing. Its midair move is a self-range attack with no invulnerability that can launch you if it hits the ground before expiring and all of its other moves are launches. It's sad to say that even the Kirby's Adventure form of Fire, which only had the breath attack, would probably be better than this incarnation for the arena.

Jet Jet is a strangely good ability given how it centers around a launch, something I've panned moves on other abilities for. This is for 2 reasons. Firstly, if you fully charge a launch, you can press the attack button again to do a powerful attack with a large spread that also stops you instantly, you can even charge it up in safety, guard, and then use the fully charged launch instantly. Secondly this is the only launch to give you enough invulnerability and move you far enough to not be likely to make you vulnerable again in the middle of an enemy's body. While it is a launch, it's a much more controllable and predictable launch. It does have one notable downside which is that the flying is highly inertial, meaning you're a sitting duck for the first half second or so upon activating it, though you can just let go of the button to start falling again.

Suplex Honestly I wish I could play as Bugsy for a whole game. Suplex is a high risk-high reward move that requires you to watch for grabbable objects, at least if you're playing it the fun way. You also have a downward kick which is a somewhat slow but reliable way to do damage. Additionally, since you're not playing as Kirby you don't have to worry about losing it, making the risk much more approachable. These three things together make Suplex a powerful and fun ability.

CopyTAC This list talks about things in terms of abilities but frankly TAC doesn't even actually use the Copy ability within Helper to Hero. TAC essentially uses 2 versions of one attack where it throws out its hand to a surprising length. One is uncharged and sorta Yoyo-esque in its use and the other is charged, doing decent damage. Also has a perfect guard. Surprisingly solid given what it is.

Wheel Wheel is another one that just kinda sucks in the arena context. Honestly it kinda generally sucks in any context not specifically built for it but it's so fun in the ones that are that we forgive it. The only way to attack with it is to ram into things. It does make you invulnerable while ramming but this stops almost immediately if you run into the edge or turn around. It's also not really that damaging. Naturally it's a bit of a thing to use against airborne enemies. Sword tier.

Stone Stone is stone. You fly above the enemy and fall on them, becoming invulnerable until you release it in the process. It's effective but safe in a very dull way.

Sword again Sword tier.

[starlitfunkster]

Since I do have some people in my Following that may be interested in Mega Man (or definitely are)... YOU WANNA HEAR ME GUSH ABOUT MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS IN THE CLASSIC SERIES??

The Stardroids are extra-terrestrial robots of unknown origins. Although sometimes, they are given origins. In the Archie Comics and in the Megaman Gigamix Manga, they are created by Ra Moon. And are ancient robots that will destroy everything and must be feared.

Sad that they don't return in any later games, and yet the Mega Man Killers do! (Aside from Quint. Wonder why...)

But today's the day I gush about ALL of them! And also have excerpt's from TVTropes for more info. It's made by fans, sure. But it's reliable enough for me! ...Also why would I use Fandom.

ANYWAYS...

Terra is the co-leader of the Stardroids, and is a great introduction to them! They are immune to the Mega Buster, so Mega Man had to upgrade his buster into the Mega Arm. Don't ask how that does damage to Stardroids, I am not the doctor that made that weapon. Also his hair is so cool... And he's the basis for my MHA oc! For the most part. Technically, all the Stardroids are. But it's mostly Terra. Excerpt from TVTropes: "The leader of the Stardroids who is greatly respected for his unrivaled determination in battle. He is, however, somewhat nervous and has an obsession with cleaning. Terra likes to wash his mane of hair with shampoo, and thus doesn't like to use hats or helmets to cover it up. In combat, Terra utilizes the Spark Chaser, a laser that guides onto his targets and deals massive damage to them, in addition to teleportation and paralysis abilities that allow him to get ahead. His serial number is Space Ruler Number: 001."

..i wanna touch his hair...

Sunstar is the best final boss in a Mega Man game. I'd go play Mega Man V myself, but uh… I'm piss-poor at Mega Man games. :') Also he has my favorite design of all the Stardroids! Apparently he's also optimistic, when he isn't being released as a doomsday weapon. Perhaps Wily should've considered that he was a doomsday weapon instead of releasing him.. Excerpt from TVTropes: "An ancient super robot hailing from the same extraterrestrial civilization as the Stardroids, created to be the ultimate weapon of mass destruction. Dr. Wily releases him against Mega Man for the final battle of Mega Man V, before being promptly blown off the battlefield before Sunstar faces Mega Man. For an ultimate weapon, he's surprisingly optimistic and cares for his dental hygiene. Because he takes a while to fully wake up, he tends to try not to stay up too late."

Out of all the Stardroids, Mercury is the one that makes me uncomfortable. Maybe its the fanfiction.. or maybe its his design. Also apparently he's an advocate of communism?? Well, alright Capcom! You do you with writing your space robots. Excerpt from TVTropes: "A greedy Stardroid whose body is made of a liquid metal which allows him to take any form and dismantle himself to attack in a similar fashion to the Devil series of robots. Mercury doesn't have many friends due to his loose tongue. Neither does he get along with Pluto, and he hates malicious gossip, especially when it's about him. Despite his greedy nature, he is an advocate of communism. Mercury's Special Weapon is the Grab Buster, which can steal energy and items from enemies and absorb them to recover his health." This is off-topic, but I want to shove my hands inside of him. Would he stop me? Would he just let it happen? I know Gigamix!Mercury would kill me if I tried. Even if I wasn't a robot, he'd still kill me. I think that's just a given with all the Gigamix!Stardroids though.

CRAB. ROBOT. Why is this the only crab robot we get in the West? We could've had Cancer too! You can tell I am impartial to him because he's based on a crab. And I just.. gush about crabs to myself. I mostly blame Lightbulb from Inanimate Insanity from making me hyper-fixate on crabs sometimes. Mostly… Also, side-tangent, but why does he clean his 'hair'? He doesn't even have any! So why does he do it? Also what shampoo would he use.. hopefully not Terra's, but I think Venus is smart enough not to! Excerpt from TVTropes: "A very aggressive Stardroid that walks sideways like a crab (an animal he is motifed after), as he is unable to walk forward. Venus loves cleanliness and washes his head with shampoo every morning, despite the fact that he doesn't even have hair. His main weapon is the Bubble Bomb — a strong bubble made of a soapy substance that explodes on contact."

And now the robot that would play World of Tanks.. if he could. Or even wanted to! I'm doubtful he would be interested in that stuff, because why do it on some phone you can't even use… WHEN YOU CAN DO IT IN REAL LIFE!!! He's also the nicest of his comrades. Most likely only to the Stardroids themselves, and not outsiders. Maybe. Idk. Excerpt from TVTropes: "A Stardroid who is essentially a walking armory, Mars is characterized by heavy armor and a large assortment of deadly weapons. The rollers in his feet allow him to move at high speeds; however, Mars cannot jump well because of his very heavy armor. Mars is surprisingly the warmest of the Stardroids. He likes survival games, most likely because they allow him to make use of all of his weapons, and dislikes restraining himself in battle as well as surrendering."

It's him! …Prepare to see those two words for a second time later on the list. Jupiter's pretty cool! He's one of those that I'd want to have an armor replica based on. Because I'd want to fly without propellers! It'd also help me get over my fear of heights.. hopefully. Also he's GREEN!! It's a nice use of green too. :) Also he has the best weapon in Mega Man 8-Bit Death Match.. which can be debated all you guys want. But I'm not changing my mind. >:) Excerpt from TVTropes: "A Stardroid equipped with a jet engine that grants him the ability to fly at super speed, which he likes to combine with acrobatics — but hates turbulence. He often has an irresponsible personality, to his allies' chagrin. In ancient times, Jupiter was equipped with several megaton-grade bombs, but they were too dangerous for him indoors, so he modified them to channel energy for his new main weapon, the Electric Shock, which allows him to emit huge beams of raw electricity."

The one I had to use the ring for Hoshiakari Terra! …I mean, I had to. How else would they make a black hole without containing it? Saturn's ring, that's how! This is also a good use of browns on a design. Brown, orange and yellow go well together, but sometimes they don't. It depends on what shades, and where the colors are used really. Though, that advice works with pretty much any oddball color combo. I also love to picture Saturn struggling to play a video game because he doesn't understand how to play most of them. Fanfictions are good, see? …Not all of them make you disturbed of a character, like Mercury. Exerpt from TVTropes: "A Stardroid who has the power to control time and space, owning to his namesake. Saturn has a large ring that he uses to initiate his Black Hole attack which pulls his foes closer to him. He is somewhat lazy and uses his Black Hole to bring others to him instead of going to them, which gives him a bad reputation. Saturn is fickle-minded and neophilic, but seems to have low allowance in terms of money (likely as a result of his love for novelty). He enjoys hula-hoops and is natural with it, but doesn't like video games."

I'm not going to comment on Uranus's name. I have standards.

…Would he let me climb atop of his body? Would he even allow it? …Wait, I had the exact same question for Mercury, wth.

Excerpt from TVTropes: "Uranus is the Stardroid with a bull-like appearance who also has the greatest physical strength and athleticism. Uranus' bull motif translates well to his personality: he has a short temper, likes to run fast and to overturn tables whenever he's mad, and dislikes both bullfighters and red flags. His Deep Digger allows Uranus to lift heavy boulders and throw them at his opponents."

It's him!! My favorite!!! NO IT ISN'T JUST BECAUSE HE'S A CAT!

I love his colors! I love his weapon! I can and will pet him, even if he may kill me if I do!! NOTHING WILL STOP ME FROM LOVING HIM!!!

…Okay, need to dial down the obsessiveness a little. This is why some people question your sanity on the internet, girl.

Excerpt from TVTropes: "Pluto was designed for jungle combat, and thus as his appearance suggests, he has very quick reflexes and is agile like a feline. Despite looking like a fierce predator, he enjoys maintaining his sharp claws with manicures and gets annoyed when they're damaged in battle. Pluto can move at supersonic speeds thanks to his Break Dash, slash at his enemies up-close, cling on the walls and fire projectiles from his hands. He doesn't get along with Mercury, likely because he's weak to the latter's weapon."

And we end on a whimper. Sorry Neptune, I just don't have a lot to say about you. It is cool that your a fish, and you eat salty foods. And you also don't like fishing (which makes sense, you are based on a fish after all). Just don't smack me with your Salt Water. I know it does nothing to humans, but it's still salt water!

Excerpt from TVTropes: "Neptune is an aquatic and bulky Stardroid with a half-human, half-fish appearance. He's a very good and fast swimmer; for some reason, he prefers salty food and doesn't like fishing. In combat, Neptune utilizes the Salt Water — a fluid with salt-like substances that can corrode any metal."