#I had the first game but I don't think I ever played the story mode

[calista-222]

I’ve been playing Splatoon 3 and it’s so fun 

[silvergarnet12]

Splatoon was the first Nintendo game to push me out of my comfort zone of single player games, and with the closure of it's servers I wanted to draw a tribute to a game that really means a lot to me.

Some long rambles about the game under the cut.

When I first played the Global Testfire I was 15, and the only mutliplayer games I played were with friends in the same room.

Splatoon was also the first shooter I ever picked up, as I always liked bright colours over more realistic graphics in my games, and back then the only shooters I knew about were Halo(and that was only really a name to me!) and the CoD games.

Any worries I had about being bad quickly vanished as the sheer vibe of chaotic fun the game had, particularly when no one had played it before, got rid of any worries, and all I remember is having fun. And choosing to play as the guy instead of the girl for the first time, solely becuase I wanted a ponytail like in real life(I would continue to use the guy through the series as a tradition, a contrast to what I saw most people online doing).

When the game came out I binged the single player, and vividly remember the first time I fought DJ Octavio, and the first time I heard Calamari Inkantation. If ever a game was to convince me that a song could irreversibly change your life, it was Splatoon. Because to teenage me, in that moment, with Calamari Inkantation playing in the background while I fought an octupus DJ, it did.

It gave me terminal brainworms for this series. And here I am, 8 yrs later. Older and more tired, been through some shit, had some good times, tried, succeeded and failed in things throughout the years.

I've always been grateful that they made the decision for the player character from 1 to return, everytime they've shown up it's felt a bit like seeing an old friend, especially since as the games time skips have always had them close to my age(which probably helped my attachement back in the first game). So hi Three, can't believe we both probably pay taxes now.

I have the original two Inkling Amiibos, in a collection that is slowly building, I'm still attached to Marie, and yes I was on her team for the Final Splatfest.

I cried when it was over, just like I did in 2's Final Fest(I was team chaos, two for two baby!) and will probably do so for 3's as well. Something about this series just makes me super attached to it's world and characters.

So booyah Splatoon, my final online game of yours was well and truly years ago, but I replayed story mode to share you with a friend recently, and I think I'll refight Octavio tonight in honour of the good times.

You encouraged me to try out games I wouldn't have otherwise(hello Overwatch and Deep Rock Galactic), and outlasted one of the other major games of my teenage years(...Overwatch 1 I miss you). So thank you for that.

I'll miss Squid Jump, Inkstrike, the og kit for the NZap 89(why does it's new one not vibe with me ;-;), the Squid Sister's broadcasts and the more saturated colours. At least I can always return to the Plaza in 3, and that Spyke isn't dead like I was concerned he was when 3 released, and see the Squid Sisters perform during Splatfests again.

I have so much more to say in my heart about you but no more ways to word it.

You've been a fantastic game, and will always be a treasured experience that I am grateful to have been a apart of from the very beginning.

Now bring back Moray Towers in 3 damn it! It's in 2 but I DON'T WANT TO LOSE MY FAVOURITE STAGE IF IT"S NOT IN 4.

[alternatemars]

(me talking about my splatoon experience because I'm sad splatoon 1 is gone)

Splatoon has had a huge influence on my art style and well...my life-

It's sad to see the first game go after all of these years. Splatoon was my childhood, i remember playing it for the first time back when i was 8 lol!

I remember making an agreement with my dad that if i did my homework he'd beat octavio for me, and he did, i ran around the house screaming "HE DID IT!!!!!". I was a simple kid.

When splatoon 2 came around i absolutely lost it when i saw marina i was like "HOLY FUCK IS THAT AN OCTOLING?!?!", and I'll admit, marina was my number 1 favorite at the time. Now i love both pearl and marina! And i was so happy to see callie and marie again! Ngl marie is my favorite squid sister:3

Oh man...Octo expansion.

Needless to say i screamed...a lot...out of happiness!! I never expected to play as an octoling like ever! And when i saw agent 3 again i was so so happy. And man. That smile eight gave three at the end of the octo expansion. I instantly shipped it.

As for splatoon 3...i was excited but a lil salty about it because i couldn't get it at first- it eventually grew on me though! The story mode was pretty good! It's nice to see the characters grow up with you! I would like to throw lil buddy into the sun, in a good way!!!

Side order HAS A CHOKE HOLD ON ME OMGGGG- Side order is amazing! I wish it was a bit more like the concept art in the teaser! It's still so goooddd. I cried out of happiness when i saw the teaser and trailers!

Aaannnddd for coroika! I went to my partners house once and saw they had one of the coroika books and was like "THERE'S A SPLATOON MANGA?!" and proceeded to buy the entire series- i think its goofy! I don't care if it's a kids book I'm so invested in it lmao-

In conclusion. Splatoon is the best thing in the universe. (my opinion ofc!!)

[slarpg]

SUPER LESBIAN ANIMAL RPG v1.1 IS HERE! This is the most substantial patch since launch. On top of the usual bug fixes, we have new area maps, the new Additional Guidance mode, and most importantly... Melody now has a pet cat!! Look at him

As always, Steam users should get the patch automatically, while itch users can redownload the game from the store page. Common technical questions are also addressed in our FAQ page.

To try and manage expectations here, while this update contains more than the usual bug fixes, I don't currently have any plans to add a huge amount of content to the game. Right now I think it's already long enough, and the game's structure (with a definitive ending and no postgame) isn't conducive to adding DLC. And also, you know, what's there already took almost eight years of my life to make, and that kinda takes a lot out of you. But these additions felt like they would meaningfully improve the experience of what's already there.

Full changelog below!

v1.1 Changelog

"New content":

Additional Guidance mode can now be toggled on or off from the start of the game or via the in-game Options menu! When enabled, this will occasionally offer more direct hints on what to do next in a few specific parts of the game for more story-focused players - particularly a few puzzle segments, as well as helping you find the side content late in the game.

Ultimately, the total number of hints added across the game is low. Exploration, dungeon puzzles, and returning to previously-visited areas with new tools are core pillars of SLARPG's design, and I don't want to hold the player's hand every step of the way. But these specific bits have been parts where some players just gave up and messaged me (usually at like 3am), or posted a cry for help in the #SLARPG tag on Twitter. Which isn't optimal! So now an extra nudge in the right direction exists in-game, should you ever need it.

New area maps have been added for the Amber Woods, Sapphire Coast, and Uncanny Valley! They can be acquired from Park Ranger Taylor, the beach souvenir shop (first accessible in Act III), and Rafael, respectively.

And finally, as was originally intended, Melody now has... a pet cat in her house!! He is truly the most important part of this patch, and the most important thing that will ever be patched into the game.

Other tweaks:

Unrevealed enemies should no longer have their health bars displayed when using multi-target attacks.

The menu (and, by extension, the options menu) can now be accessed during the Prologue.

Fixed the Bestiary entries for the Loot Scooter and Helper Jelly not properly unlocking in the Sapphire Coast.

The animation for Megalith from the Geomancer Spellbook now plays for each individual enemy that's caught in its area of effect. (A compatibility issue was found with the script that made AoE attacks only play one animation, and this was the only skill in the game that needed said script.)

Originally the columns in the last "puzzle" room of the Flurry Mountains had no collision because that room is just a joke and I didn't want people to get stuck in a maze that exists purely for a gag but they now have collision so that I stop receiving bug reports about it

Added new line when entering the Fortune Teller's shop late in Act IV (or Act V) saying that he can help locate uncompleted major side quests at that point in the story. (He will now also point you in the direction of Fawna's side quest if you haven't completed it.)

A backup method of acquiring the missable Spellbook in Act III has been added late in Act IV. (You can still only get it once.)

The Crypt boss can no longer be defeated in a way that makes a certain unique status ailment remain after the battle.

There's now an additional warning at save points past the point of no return.

Other minor fixes.

Enjoy the update, everyone!

[ventiswampwater]

Do you think that what Bo said about him and his brothers ending up in foster care was also a lie? I've seen some who think he wasn't lying about that but I don't think the timing and the codependency him and his brothers have adds up to them being separated for a bit, ya know? Sorry for bombarding you with a question but ugh there's just so much untouched lore potential I wanna screeeeeam

*cracking knuckles* oh baby u just opened the floodgates I am about to be SO fckn annoying

so personally, I very much believe that bo's spinning an ENTIRE crock of shit during that conversation w/carly and wade

something that I think we all need to highlight more is that the baby idiot himself has SUCH a flair for the dramatic. our favorite caveman is a chronic theater kid. like, okay acting 101? okay thespian? okay daytime soap OPERA??? the scene he sets for this fuckmurdermayhem is just...................SO grotesque and dramatic and entirely UNNECESSARY LMAO

he's a weirdo who has sequestered himself in a town full of corpses and u just KNOW the gaps between the wax nonsense are LONG and BORING and he's ANTSY

the whole time he's chasing carly thru town he's just. blissed out. goin hehehehehhehehehehe be vewwy vewwwy quiet!! we're huntin' wabbits!!! elmer fudd-mode FULLY engaged

he GRINS before he's shot by a fckin crossbow?????????? BABY???? WHAT ARE U DOING??????

he is truly on some other shit!! convinced his bargain bin broadway play will go off without a hitch and he will somehow??? be getting a standing ovation for his foolishness????

sighing DREAMILY

this is the most fun he's had in possibly months, and he's living la vida loca. he's that one tiktok of all the kids performing summer loving in the denny's. this is his golden globes. his bafta (big ass fucking truck absurdity). his academy award winning performance, starring his raging boner & very little foresight!!!!

I think there might be LIL grains of truth to his story, ofc. the best lies have small kernels of truth to them, and bo's lies seem to work the best when he adds those in (mentioning that he's close to the deceased to incur pity/getting nick to agree to follow him to a second location by mentioning that they might have gone up to the house)

but I do believe that most of it is complete bullshit lmao

there is absolutely no way in hell that those boys EVER got separated. to me!!! at least!! nope. they were in that miserable little house together the whole time. vincent and bo's interactions together speak to years of sibling tension and growing resentment. lester's inclusion in all of this w/his role of like. the ferryman to the fckin UNDERWORLD that is ambrose. is so v a marker of his attachment to his older brothers

they're all inextricably linked!!!!!!

bo 100% killed victor tho. u do not mime shooting urself in the head when discussing ur dad's death if u did not shoot him point blank range w/a smile on ur face. u simply do not. not entirely sure if he killed trudy. feel like that might've been vincent/a group job. or. pet theory. she DID just die of natural causes. or. other pet theory. she was actively participating/aware of the first couple murders. we'll never know but. huh

I also REALLY don't buy the "trudy got a cyst in her brain" stuff. I've played around w/it in a couple fics, but I v much think the probablity of it being a complete fabrication? oh 99.9%. most definitely. talking about ur mom getting strapped to the bed & screaming loud enough for the whole town to hear? hsdfjhfdsjhsdf BOY GOODBYE.

like????? that's SUCH a deranged thing to tell someone u just met. and it v much seems like smthn he tossed out to purposefully unnerve them. he didn't have to say that, but he DID. bc he loves the cat and mouse game. that's why he creeps on them @ the campsite. he's so deeply abnormal

it's all this weird sad little story that's designed to make u uncomfortable. also. sidenote......................in this version of the scene that he's set, he's the mourning parishioner sadly recounting a tale of woe that he's notably detached to. who is he in relation to the story he weaves? nobody. just an observer.

if life could be a fckin dream boseph!!!

BTW. he does this in the original script, but it's somehow EVEN weirder.

he is. and I CANNOT stress this enough. roleplaying as a kid in the neighborhood that trudy liked and would spoil.

???????????????????????????????????????????

babygirl is truly going thru it!!!!!! babygirl this is EMBARRASSING!!!!!! ur MOMMY ISSUES!!!!!!!!!!! BABYGIRL!!!!!!!!! they are SHOWING!!!!! they are STAPLED to ur forehead!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

he's so ABNORMAL!!!!!!! I need to make out w/him!!!!!!!! RN!!!!!!!!!!!

vincent waiting 2 hear what dumbass alternate reality bo has cooked up for this batch of tourists:

I always talk about how dumb bo is. and I mean every word of it. I really do. but I do think he's got a couple braincells.

I v much feel like he's v much a creature of habit. he's been doing this shebang for years n years and he knows how it goes. he gets his fuckin n suckin and vincent gets his wax sculptures. bada bing bada boom. showtime baby.

his "plan" is v much as solid as a plastic bag drifting thru the wind, wanting to start again. he is fr hinging this whole thing on a series of events, that, should they not happen, he has no alternative for. and he is so weird and so strange and cannot deviate from his script LEST he get pissymad and ruin everything. he's so dumb. I'm so v in love w/him.

TL; DR!!

I wrote this for my peabrain video essay script and it's all the above bullshit nonsense. but more coherent:

& an unrelated bit. bc it's still my favorite bit of the script & the only part I recorded a voice clip for sfjdhdfjshdfs

[amerricanartwork]

Y’know, I have a funny story with the ship between Innocence and Pebbles.

@eggobuggo , my sister, was playing The Sims and made the iterators in her own humanised forms, including her version of Innocence and Wind, along with Moon, Pebbles, NSH and Suns, all with their own personalities and stuff. She set up a generic apartment, put the gang in, and just had fun making them do silly shenanigans together, while I sit and watched her play.

In particular, we headcanon NSH, Pebbles and Innocence as Gen 3s, the newer modes, and so she made them into teenagers, which, with a DLC, have a whole new host of features that are not in the base game. This includes getting crushes (which weirdly enough, young adults and adults cannot get).

But anyway, one day, later into the game (the gang basically all were in the high end of the friendship scale with each other), the notif board popped up that Innocence had gotten a crush on Pebbles. Unfortunately for her, NSH and Pebs were already being all flirty with each other (Ragequit is where it’s at for us), making Pebble basically keep her in the friendzone. Ngl, my heart went out to her :,) Especially so, because they were all sharing a room. (space was tight)

After that, I began thinking about it in context of it in-universe, and ngl, I came to quite liking it as a ship, especially since I see Innocence to be less… asshole-ish (?), I guess, than what the general fandom makes her out to be (I mean it’s understandable, we only see her to leak the pic of Pebbles condition and that’s it.). To me and Eggo, she’s much nicer unless you really piss her off, which then, her more cynical and gossipy side of her comes out. She was actually more of on the friends side with Pebble before the shit went down.

At the time, I thought “dang, it’s a shame I won’t be seeing anything of it since she’s so obscure.”. This was a couple months before I began seeing art of them on the main tag.

Soooo… I guess I’m somewhat of an og Milkshake (as is the fandom name) shipper???

Just, seeing you and others make art about them is almost surreal in a way, since the only reason I really considered them as a ship was cuz of a random event in a life sim game lol.

Also @eggobuggo, I hope you don’t mind me sharing the story. :)

Wow, that seems like quite the story! And I do agree, after witnessing something like that in a totally different game it must be pretty surreal to see the ship gaining popularity in the actual RW fandom now too! It's nice to get another seal of approval from an original Milkshake shipper!

For me, it's also a bit strange because it's something I've considered for a really long time as a lingering "oh, wouldn't it be cool if I could make this work?" idea. The obscurity and lack of content for UI to draw inspiration from, both canon and fanon, definitely added to these feelings and the difficulty of imagining a working portrayal of the ship, hence I've only recently felt confident enough about the relationship and UI as a character to act on it. So after Pura coined the ship name and made a lot more art of it, then other artists started expressing approval and even drawing it themselves, it almost feels like I'm watching the ship enter the mainstream (Tumblr) fandom consciousness in real time, which is honestly pretty cool, especially since it feels like I had a hand in it with that initial ask! And even if I wasn't the very first to consider it, I'll definitely continue supporting this ship!

For some other thoughts though, I totally agree on Innocence not being mean in reality, though for me she's not mean or gossipy at all and more so has a kind-of opposite major flaw that tends to cause bad things unintentionally. As much as I can understand interpreting the character as a genuinely mean person, I thought it'd be interesting to imagine that her leaking the rot simply caused others to perceive her as mean, not that she's that way in reality. After all, I don't think we ever see direct dialogue from Innocence in canon, and the only evidence I can find of her being mean is Wind's speculation on her motivations. I also took inspiration from @shkika's Innocence, but I just wanted to see if I could take those ideas further to create my own unique interpretation.

Also, it's actually pretty coincidental you're telling me this too, because in regards to what I've come up for my Milkshake portrayal, Innocence having an unrequited crush on Pebbles for a really long time is actually really important for both plot and character arc reasons! I've been developing my own take on the classic worm-off-the-string iterator AU idea with @hail-strom for like the past week or so and the ship as of now plays a decent role in that, but the unrequited crush acts as subtle, yet major context for Innocence's actions throughout, which in turn slowly influence Pebbles especially as he starts to reciprocate those feelings (much to his alarm)!

Anyway, thanks for sharing that with me, and thanks for giving me a chance to ramble about this ship more! I'm honestly so happy to see it growing, and all support counts!

[brawlmetaknight]

Why do you like META KNIGHT so much? What is your history with the character?

it's honestly kinda hard to put into words, but i think when someone has a Big Fave it's usually a mixture of feeling like you can relate to them but also finding them inspiring in some ways. my actual first kirby game was crystal shards on the N64, but i was first introduced to meta knight in 2004 with nightmare in dreamland on the GBA. i must've been like 10, and i just thought he was really cool and strong because of how easy and fun the meta knightmare mode was. nintendo games have been a big part of my life ever since i could barely talk lol, but meta knight was just a character i particularly enjoyed whenever he showed up, like in air ride. INSTA-PICK lol. i had also watched some of the kirby anime around that time, but i think it was when smash bros brawl came out that i really acknowledged the concept of having a Favourite Character and this dude was definitely him.

i was actually part of the kirby fandom way back when deviantart was in its prime (my account is long gone now). i'm pretty sure i drew the first ever daroach fanart on the english speaking internet but that's a story for another day lol. the kirby series was not my only interest though, and i moved on to other nintendo fandoms (mostly zelda) for the majority of my late teens/early twenties. i still played every new kirby release, but i wasn't actively involved in the fandom. it's really only been in the past…6 years? that i found myself drawn back to kirby/smash. part of it might be nostalgia. but thinking about my other favourite characters from different franchises, there's definitely some characteristics i always seem to gravitate to. i don't think you're asking for a character analysis so i won't go there lol, but yeah. i guess he's just a character that has resonated with me for a long time!

[sometipsygnostalgic]

World vs Rise - Multiplayer focused breakdown

This is a crosspost from Reddit. I played some World this morning and had some monster hunter brainrot.

Hi all! So I have about 750 hours on my main characters in both games, and I've been playing them for 2 years now. I have some thoughts on the multiplayer components - what Rise improved on, and what World does better.

I have played base Rise on the Switch and PC, and I played Sunbreak on PC. Meanwhile I played World WITH Iceborne on PC. I played base World on Xbox One in the distant past, no memory of that experience so it shouldn't quality much.

I played both games with a group of friends, and played many many hours doing SOS, lobby, or solo, so I have a good idea of how the multiplayer works.

Anyway let's get down to it.

Story

World has... much more of a story. I refuse to say that it's "better" but I think the story presentation is much better than Rise's. Iceborne's story progression is more interesting, but I do appreciate how Sunbreak tried to write this story with all the Qurio and Malzeno. I do like Rise's final fight with Malzeno significantly more than Velkhana or Fatalis, but I think I like Shara Ishvalda and Nergigante more than any monster from Rise. As for the characters, they suck ass in both games, Rise has a lot more personality on the surface level but less depth overall and feels less like a large living world. That makes sense from an arcadey, nostalgic experience? I guess I prefer World's story... but I don't prefer playing it.

Multiplayer Story Progression

Rise DRASTICALLY improved this. In World I often would be forced to start a quest in "expedition mode", then have to leave and reopen the quest my friend could join, which was especially annoying when we were both starting the quest the first time and we'd have to wait for each other. I don't understand why it doesn't allow you to start quests or join them freely. In Rise you can join each other's quests at any point, no matter if there are story cutscenes or what. IMO this is an example of World's immersion getting in the way of a cohesive multiplayer experience.

Additionally, I need to say World has more "annoying" Key Quests. There are a number of quests where nobody will join SOS because you're fighting a Nightshade Paolumu, or a Brachydios, or one of the crappy Zorah Magdaros quests, and that one Velkhana artillery mission.

I believe that this is because the quests have one of these two factors:

You need to change your set for them. Nobody wants to fight Nightshade Paolumu or Brachydios with their normal set because it's too painful. But why would you have a specific set just to join these not very interesting SOS quests? Well, I made a set for Nightshade just because I find it so frustrating that my SOS feed is full of 'em! I should set up for Brachydios as well but honestly I find him annoying to fight even with the right tools, not my favourite.

Time spent on the quest. Velkhana artillery is like 30 seconds with three people, and Zorah Magdaros is about one minute of fighting to ten minutes of downtime so nobody ever wants to join it.

With Rise, there's less of these annoying quests, but you can't CONTROL what quest you are joining on an SOS, which has its pros and cons. I'll go more into that shortly.

Normal Multiplayer Pacing

I think that Rise is a much, much faster game than World. In base Rise on Switch, you had to run into a match and attack the monster as fast as possible or it'd be dead before your palamute got there. This is mitigated when you're playing with friends, you can take your time and collect as many spiribugs as you want. It's also somewhat mitigated in Sunbreak because the monsters are such heavy hitters that if you DON'T get all the bugs, you're going to faint anyway. I feel like the game is constructed to accomodate for this. That's why monsters in Sunbreak are so tanky and hard hitting, they expect you to go at them with your full arsenal ASAP.

The pacing in World is much slower, which originally drove me insane, but over time I've grown to like it. I think base Rise was great for how arcadey it was, and World is a nice slower paced game. Sunbreak feels... too intense. Like, I'm fighting for my life in every Anomaly quest and even when I rush the match takes a long time.

Joining World SOS quests is nice and easy, you can take your time collecting potions and stuff before hopping in, you can prepare for the specific monster. In Sunbreak if you're playing in a lobby or with friends it's nice and slow there too. If you're SOSing in sunbreak, good fucking luck, more on that now.

SOS Request Changes

In World, you see all available SOS quests and choose what one you want to do. The pros of this are YOU get to decide if you want to fight Rathalos in the Ancient Forest again. The cons are that it takes longer to join a quest, and the person SOSing may not get any help if they're fighting an annoying monster - see Multiplayer Story Progression section.

In Rise, you don't see what you're joining anymore.

Pros: Faster join time for player, less faffing around in menus, and you can get people joining your quests no matter what they are. People get rewards no matter how late they join. Great especially for Switch players with the higher playercount.

Cons: You can't choose what you're doing. You can't see what quests are active, how long they've been going, or how many players are in them. Often I find that I join a quest and it's OVER already and I'm booted back to the village. Often I choose a category and there are no quests at all.

Uber Mega Con: You have to INDIVIDUALLY SEARCH Event quests??? Hello???? Why can't I join a random event quest? Why can't I see what event quests are open?? I want to do the golden Rajang quest with other people!! I have to pray that either someone is running it when I search for it, or that someone will search for it when I'm running it! Why is the event quest SOS designed this way in Sunbreak?! It's not like that for High Rank and Master Rank!

I feel this worked best when the game first launched. It doesn't work great on PC or Xbox which has a lower playercount than Switch, and therefore you will have a lot of quests with four people and a lot of quests with nobody joining at all. I think matchmaking is also designed so that it waits til it has 3 joiners before letting you in all at the same time, which is infuriating.

Combat

Base World was designed for the immersive, technical multiplayer experience that the PS4 wanted to sell. It wanted the world to feel alive. Your character is quite slow and clunky and less elaborate than in Generations Ultimate, but smoother as well. Combat is updated but everything is more muted and toned down.

Monsters feel alive, and you need to track them down with research. They run around with quick small movements and "limp" away to their dens. This can be annoying if you're chasing a Tobi Kadachi for ten minutes before it reaches its next stopping point. There are a lot of monsters with fast, unchoreographed attacks that you have to fight in enclosed spaces. I think the game is a bit more claustrophobic than what came before, and your stamina meter is outrageously small, and you take a long time to drink potions. Let's not forget how annoying World and Iceborne can be before you've completed them and got that sexy double HP double stamina Fatalis armor with Speed Eater and Evade Extender.

Attacks from the player in World are faster than in prior games, but hard hitting and deliberate. I feel a lot of satisfaction playing Longsword in this game. Every single weapon is fun to use because of how good the impact is. Not all weapons are equal though, and it's clear the Longsword is very powerful.

People complain about the Clutch Claw. In World, this tool was an unreliable piece of trash. In Iceborne, it's... almost necessary, to tenderize and knock monsters down. But personally I feel that even a non clutch clawed monster in World falls down more quickly than any Anomaly monster in Sunbreak.

Rise was designed for the fast paced, agile, arcadey experience that the Nintendo Switch is famous for. It's PERFECT for the console. You can ninja-hop to whatever direction you wish, you have so many more options for every single weapon. You can hop on your dog and the monster is already on your map. You can change what style you're using every moment of the match! It's almost limitless and you can tell because of how crazy speedruns have gotten in Sunbreak.

As a result of these arcadey changes, however, monsters feel... less alive. Closer to Generations but without the paintball tracking stuff that makes it so fun (in MY opinion). In Sunbreak especially, you'll find you're wailing on some monsters for 25 minutes before they go down. I don't enjoy Anomaly Quests and it's very difficult to get people joining them at certain level areas. You'll be spending a lot of time alone, especially if your friends have been playing more or less than you and are in completely different levels, therefore being unable to fight the same monsters. I don't think there's many areas in other games that have the same problem of, if you spend too much or little time in a certain mode, you can no longer play together.

Buffs and Nerfs in Rise

Some weapons got do-overs. The Hunting Horn is now far more simple and aggressive, with less powerful but still useful buffs. The Longsword started off as ridiculously powerful in Base Rise, to the extent it was by far the best weapon. Thankfully it got nerfed, but I think they overdid it - instead of making the weapon more slow and deliberate like in World, they simply HALVED the damage output of all its base game special attacks and gave it a bunch of new powers so you'd have a whole new playstyle. I think the new Longsword playstyle is too risky, with too little gain. It looks stylish in youtube videos but is no longer optimal for most players.

Other weapons are buffed or nerfed because of how Sunbreak plays. The Hammer is a dogshit weapon, sorry, because monsters no longer keep their heads in one place long enough for you to get some good stun damage. Stun in general has been hard nerfed in Sunbreak. In Rise, Sticky Light Bowgun was a beast, so they made sure to keep the stun values for ALL weapons low in Sunbreak and you'd be lucky to get two stuns in a match, even with how much time is spent in combat now.

The Greatsword got some fun skills, but because monsters are more mobile, I feel that it doesn't keep up. You're likely to hit something with a TCS in World, but in Sunbreak most monsters will already be 20 metres away by the time you finish charging, even with the cool new switch skill that lets you instantly charge.

The Gunlance... it's way more mobile but I feel like you need to put in a great deal of work to keep up with other weapons. The blast damage doesn't do it in sunbreak. My partner became a Gunlance Pro but she was barely keeping up with my Switch Axe output even though frankly she's way better at the game than me and she spent dozens of hours perfecting her set.

The Switch Axe, my main weapon, is ASTRONOMICALLY buffed. I already thought it was good in World and Base Rise, and in Sunbreak it's just... *chefs kiss*... Swing that thing around and everything in the area dies.

It's certainly way less effort than Longsword or Hammer is now, RIP.

Monsters

Sunbreak has perhaps the BEST list of monsters in any game. You have Astalos, Mizutsune, Almudron, Chamelos, Velkhana, Amatsu, Azuros, PRIMORDIAL MALZENO, basically everything you could want. World had a problem where a lot of monsters were just... quadripedic dogs or dragons, dragons, dragons. It didn't have anything like Azuros or Astalos. It had Jyuratados though... Great....

I think that Rise's NEW monsters tend to be annoying. I just mentioned Almudron but fucking hell, that monster is a NIGHTMARE if you're playing Greatsword or any slow weapon. It leaves mud everywhere, which is meant to encourage wirebug use, but what if you don't like using wirebugs all the time? Magnamalo is another one that hops around everywhere but I do enjoy fighting him.

Of the monsters that didn't make the crossover, I think Nergigante is my favourite from World. I love the CRUNCH of hitting his spikes with my Switch Axe or Greatsword, or my Gunlance. I feel nostalgic for the raid bosses like Safi or Alatreon but it's not like I rush to go back to them whenever I load up World.

I also think due to the more arcadey, less immersive style of Rise, most monsters that are in both games are more interesting in World. With exception to Zinogre. Fuck World Zinogre. And fuck Teostra. Again the monsters in World have more fast annoying movements.

So yeah this is a win for Sunbreak!

Endgame combat and set building

I feel the non-anomaly Sunbreak monsters are less annoying than lategame normal Iceborne. I think tempered monsters in Iceborne are about the same level as anomaly monsters, but they go down much more quickly.

I think World had a LOT more going for it in endgame, because Sunbreak ONLY has anomaly quests.

Let me put it this way:

I completed Iceborne about 200 hours into World. Then I spent the next 500 hours doing a combination of Tempered Quests for my decorations, Safijiva, Fatalis, Alatreon, and of course the Guiding Lands. In the Guiding Lands I trained my land to fight every monster at least a few times at level 6. Was it grindy? A... little bit? It didn't feel that grindy. I had fun doing it because almost every step was done with my friend, and there was only a brief time where he was too high level and I couldn't go to his land.

Fatalis, I don't like. I couldn't beat it twice. Thankfully there was an exploit that allowed me to collect fatalis eyes with my cats, so I was able to build a few sets just from that. I used various methods to get the parts I needed.

I was able to build a set for every single weapon shortly after unlocking Fatalis. Yes, the decoration farming was a bit of a grind. However, I think that it was nothing close to what awaited me in Sunbreak...

I compled Sunbreak about 120 hours into the game? I really didn't spend much time in High Rank. Anyway, I spent the NEXT 600 HOURS doing NOTHING except for Anomaly Investigations, and I AM STILL NOT AT RANK 300.

Please send help. I never hit level cap. It's just... a combination of failed quests, the amount of time it took to gain a couple of levels, the time it takes to complete each quest... Save me!!

I also spent a lot of time trying to "perfect" my sets.

FYI - I have about 20 sets in World and they are all for different weapons. I have about 20 sets in rise and they are all for THE SAME WEAPON. That is how complex set building is in Rise, there's no "perfect" set.

This has some... pros? I guess? You are encouraged to try out different things. But honestly... I don't like the RNG involved in rolling for parts, and how you have to go hunt the monster again to get a new version of that part, then spend resources upgrading it for a different set. It's... too overwhelming. Too complicated.

Maybe I should've hacked in parts, to make this part of the game more enjoyable, but I was doing it with my partner, and she is very competitive so I didn't want to cheat. I also didn't want to be banned or anything for using hacked rolls.

When I completed BASE Rise on Switch, I immediately made a set for every weapon! It was fun. I was able to quickly join matches and try them out, and I'd always have the parts ready because of how simple it was to join matches when the game was at its most popular.

I think the biggest problem with Rise's endgame is that they didn't have enough development budget to make something as meaningful and deep as World's Guiding Lands, so instead they artificially padded it out with all these Anomaly Investigations.

Overall

My opinions on the two games shifted as I became more experienced. At first, it felt like Rise was smoother at everything, but when I put more hours into World, I got used to all the annoying parts and became fully immersed. Then when I put more hours into rise and Sunbreak, the cracks started to show, reaching a breaking point where I put down the game and haven't played it in months since the final monster released.

I think Rise is a better casual, arcadey, fun game to play with your friends, making it perfect for the Nintendo Switch. Sunbreak tries to be something more. It succeeds in some ways, like more complicated combat, but trying to be as hardcore in Sunbreak as you are in World will result in a pretty miserable experience.

World is the worse casual game, by a biiiig margin, but the much better game to sink 700 hours into with your friends beating all the endgame content. It's perfect for hardcore gamers once you get past the annoyances of the Base World story missions.

My more casual friends preferred Rise, it was more digestible for them, but once I got properly into the game, me and my hardcore MH friend much prefer World. It's more fun for us to go back to. It's nice and slow so we can take our time to enjoy it, rather than racing to complete objectives so we can continue grinding AR or whatever the fuck.

[executables-sims]

Get to know you: Sims Style

Thank you so much for the tag, @goatskickin! :D I am ill rn, so please excuse the rambling. x) Long post ahead!

What’s your favorite Sims death? Maybe fright? I've only ever had it happen once via ghost, the anim is pretty funny. :)

Alpha CC or Maxis Match? My Simblr probably says otherwise, but I don’t have a preference! I’ve had nearly every possible CC style under the sun throughout my years of playing, and I constantly think about reviving my 'semi-realism' folder (living vicariously through you, other simmers!). I didn't play with CC until early 2006 though, so MM is a little bit more nostalgic. :)

Do you cheat your sims weight? Hell no! I'm still in awe of Nysha's townie body diversity mod finally letting townies be fat. :D I wish the game had a better way of managing bodyshapes so I could add more variety that way.

Do you move objects? Of course!

Favorite Mod? Of all time? Impossible! My continued interest in gameplay is always because of new mods. :)

I did gain a new outlook thanks to a mod recently, though! My wild romance sim Blaze Biermann ended up 'mood swinging' to fortune before he went to uni, and instead of reverting, it got stuck.

He had a few flings still (pleasure secondary), but after he returned home and met his daughter (for the first time since her birth), he started cringing whenever I directed him to romance his dates. It felt like he had grown as a person, and I loved it!

TL;DR: Randomly change your sims' original aspiration/s to give them interesting character arcs! First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack? I mean, not my decision, but our first TS1 EP was Hot Date. I'm pretty sure I got TS2 EPs/SPs in order of release (miss those days of unwrapping a new one every birthday/christmas!).

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing? We're LIVE, baby! 🎥

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? I don't usually get very attached to my first-generation sims, but maybe Evonne Milos, from the gameplay/story hood I accidentally destroyed in four days? Never actually played her, but I had a lot of ideas for a corrupt 'sexpot' politician. x)

Have you made a simself? Lots! 99% of the fun I had playing TS2 as a kid was me and my best friend making ourselves and our respective crushes of the week, and we'd always live in one of those Veronaville lots that was two houses connected by a balcony. I can't even tell you the amount of times she got me pregnant against my wishes whilst I went to the bathroom, lmao.

Which is your favorite EA hair color? For colour consistency, probably brown? But there are a lot of brunettes in Brunwick (must be the name!), so I enjoy the recessives popping up in gameplay. :)

Favorite EA hair? Does an EA download count? Jeanette is lovely.

Favorite life stage? Ohhh dude, that's so difficult to answer. They all bring different challenges and dynamics to the household! I feel like I've started to appreciate the child lifestage more since Brunwick has grown large enough to have multiple friendship groups. It's fun watching them goof around with each other and be actual kids, instead of sitting indoors skilling. I really need to build a park! :)

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

Are you a CC creator? Yes, I really love how this game has led me to so many creative hobbies! Would like to tackle BHAVs one day. :)

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad? Yeah! I consider us all friends over our shared enjoyment of the game really, but as a chronic lurker I'm not the best at cultivating connections. x) Does anyone wanna make a secret club? xD

Do you have any sims merch? No, but I do have a bunch of rad sims memories. 👉😎👉

Do you have a YouTube for sims? Nope, but I watched plenty of sim music videos back in the day! Found a lot of songs that way. :) Some formative memories here: One / Two

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing? I sadly don't have screenshots of my oldest saves thanks to a combo of no external HD and no screenshot program, but here's one example:

But gameplay-wise, a lot! My early years were probably based around creating stories more than actively playing, but when I did I would just emulate perfect families, attempt legacies, and restart BG hoods over and over. x)

Now I'm all about wants-based gameplay; witnessing and interpreting a story, as opposed to creating one from scratch. But I will add drama if I find my interest waning! x)

Who’s your favorite CC creator? Again, super-duper impossible to answer because everyone's CC makes the game fun, but my most recent CC shopping spree was Honeywell and HugeLunatic! :) 🛒

How long have you had Simblr? Technically 2011, officially 2013, but if we're being pedantic, I finally made a dedicated Simblr (this) in 2016. x)

How do you edit your pictures? These days, just sharpen and shrink! CC previews aren't too complicated either- a blurred out screenshot for the BG and a shadow.

What expansion/gamepack is your favorite? Ooh… maybe Nightlife, by a smidgen? I feel like it gave us a lot of new features and items, and the subhood was nice (as a non-builder at the time!).

Tagging: @daman19942 @aondaneedles @eulaliasims @profesionalpartyguest @tvickiesims @and everyone else, I love reading these! :D

[beevean]

At least in the games, even when the Belmonts started getting sidelined in favor of new protagonists I never got the feeling that the devs had a grudge against them in the first place

Leon and Juste got to be the protagonists of their own games

PoR and OoE treated the Belmonts' absence as a big deal and in the former even the memory of Richter can kick your ass

Julius is the strongest boss of Aria

The only games where the Belmonts felt disrespected were CoD and DoS, and even then you can at least tell it was just an excuse to allow each game's protagonist to face the final boss, especially in DoS where even Alucard was swatted away by Dimitrii of all people so it can't be said that the games always treated Alucard with favoritism

I wouldn't say Trevor was disrespected in CoD, just severely underutilized. He is appropriately hyped as the Legendary Belmont and he's shown to be quite formidable compared to Hector, even during his second boss fight. I don't know what was his deal with sending Hector to the Infinite Corridor without telling him about Dullahan though. something something curse scrambled his thoughts. or something something crush doing the same lmao.

I think the main difference between these games and the shows is that yes, the Belmonts may get sidelined to make room for the new protagonists, but at least they got shit done before.

Yes, Richter was too weakened to join Alucard in the Reverse Castle, but not only he actually killed Dracula in RoB, that was the entire catalyst of his fall from grace in SoTN. It's an important plot point.

Yes, Julius staying behind because unlocking the Mine of Judgment tired him out is silly and a far cry from him obliterating Soma's ass one year prior (while holding back!), but he's still the Belmont who broke Dracula's cycle of resurrection.

Yes, Trevor was stibby stabbed and molested by Isaac who isn't exactly the type that can go unnoticed lmao, but he still is the Legendary Belmont well known for being the first Belmont who killed Dracula, even if with the help of his friends. And as I mentioned, even in CoD you get to see how strong he is, both during his boss fights and during his cutscene against Isaac, who can barely scratch him before getting yanked around by the whip lol.

Yes, Leon didn't fight Dracula, but he's still respected as the founder of the Belmont clan as a family of vampire hunters, and he's still shown to be a formidable fighter through Walter, who is Proto Dracula anyway, and Death.

I'd say Juste is probably the one who was the most "disrespected", as the dude only has a Dracula Wraith killing to his name. Yet, in PoR he's still remembered as one of the Greatest Five, so clearly his feats are considered impressive.

Now compare this to N!Trevor and N!Richter, especially the former since his story is done. What do they have to their names? Trevor killed Death. And not even in that cool LoI way, because N!Death is merely a very ancient vampire and has no connection with Dracula. Richter still hasn't done anything worthwhile, yet he was already mocked by Alucard who recognized him as a Belmont because he was "on the brink of utter defeat", shut up you asshole.

And then there's N!Juste, who fell into cynical depression after the death of Lydie and Maxim (which is also a bruh moment, have you guys ever played Maxim Mode, dude's no chump) and so he's basically treated as another Trevor to be mocked. And then there's Julia, who exists only to be fridged and wasn't even a match for Olrox. And Dracula recognizing Trevor as a Belmont from his ineffectual punches imply some very bad things about the Belmonts that preceded him. And the vampires becoming the ruling class of humans in Nocturne imply some very bad things about the Belmonts that preceded Richter.

There is a pattern here. And it's not a good pattern.

[te-pu-si-ti]

Punchdrunk as hypertext

I am in the greenhouse room, and I clutch at my heart. What I see before me is a person in black latex receiving a drug on their tongue like holy communion. There are only two characters in the room: Kampe, and their dealer. But what I experience is much greater, because I can hear the music echoing: the music signalling that on the other side of the city, a city has fallen and a princess is dead, hanging up above, bare-chested and bloodied for all to see.

I remember her. It was her birthday, we danced with her, she stumbled into the arms of her lover.

I know this from an hour ago, before time reset.

I am in the flower shop, and I gasp. A tango is playing through the tinny speaker of the radio. The shopkeeper picks up a bouquet - her bouquet - and he twirls around, holding it in his arms, dancing a tango with a prop that is the start of Persephone's story, to the music that is the near-climax of her story.

I know this from months before, because I have been here before but it was different. It's different every time. There's so much to take in, and I have to choose who I see and what I focus on, and the context I bring with me is constantly developing.

That's a familiar criticism. Too many choices, no coherent story.

But Pope (2009) isn't a criticism of a Punchdrunk masked show - it's a criticism of a HTML novella, These Waves of Girls, hypertext, a story that you wade into by clicking through links. A story that leads you down many different paths, depending on how you choose to follow them.

Don't worry if you get lost - you're already lost. Embrace your curiosity. Turn your fear into desire. Fortune favours the bold.

The link is the most important new form of punctuation since the comma... Links make manifest the way texts relate to other texts, the way they structure themselves, and the way they restructure our thinking.

A reference to another scene, a repeated movement hearkens back to something you witnessed minutes ago, hours ago, weeks ago. A prop moves across buildings, touched by many hands along the way. Characters intersect, and you take a different path, thrown into another story before you reunite for a finale.

You ever gone down a Wikipedia rabbit hole? Clicking link after link, opening up a dozen new tabs, somehow finding your way from Scooby-Doo to Leukemia to learning the Yupik word for bread?

Her Story is an FMV video game where you uncover the story by searching a database of video clips for keywords. As you search for clues, things that don't make sense stick in your mind, because they might be important later. A new piece of information can cast something you've already seen in a completely new light.

You can stay with one thread, or you can let your curiosity guide you, bouncing around from one storyline to the next. It might not make sense at first, seeing everything out of order - but then as you make sense of it, you will form those connections, perhaps even more strongly than you would have done if you had watched a linear story that you didn't have to work for.

...the spaces of reading and writing shift in a hypertextual environment and the reader is required to adopt a mode of engagement in terms of an unstable textual terrain, which involves them in productive and creative processes as well as receptive ones...

"Because everything is constructed, everything becomes significant, in the artistic context everything ordinary becomes extraordinary." - Sam Booth

Uncle Buddy's Phantom Funhouse is a collection of digital and physical ephemera - notes, photos, lyrics, scribbles, all telling the story of this man you knew as Uncle Buddy, who has now died. You leaf through them, choosing what to pay attention to, taking away what you deem significant, building an image based on what he left behind.

 It does have an option to spell out the answer to the riddle if you want to skip that, but the significance might be lost in the process. ...

Description of Tamara, an example of theatre dubbed 'hyperdrama', theatrical hypertext.

"Punchdrunk's Sleep No More is an astonishing production that does nearly everything I had imagined hyperdrama could achieve, and much that I had assumed it could not." ... "The experience works here, but it is going to be different for everyone. How many people get to see Mrs. DeWinter’s scene? Of those, how many are in the bar when the band strikes up Paper Moon ? How many get the Woyzeck allusion the next day, or ever? This is the nature of the medium."

Seriously, read this article by Mark Bernstein.

 It’s not a game. Nothing you (or they) can do can prevent the fall of Troy or its terrible aftermath. Yet your choices (and chance) matter, and your reading of Those Trojan Girls is likely to differ from any other reading.

(hypertext is also, sadly, ephemeral, linked to its time and place. The above linked work is less than a decade old but I doubt I'd find what I need to read it, the right software and the right hardware of the right version with all the right features. Digital rot everywhere. Who has a floppy drive anymore? Who has Flash anymore? Just like nobody will experience The Burnt City anymore. Just like, soon, nobody will experience the McKittrick Hotel anymore.)

My first show: I see a man swinging upside down, hanging from the ceiling. The image haunts me. I do not know him, nor do I know the two onlookers. But it stays with me.

Many months later, I see him again, and he is an old friend - his name is Laocoön, a seer, and he is burdened with a prophecy from Apollo. Cassandra looks on, distraught, while the vengeful god puppets him. He is showing her the fate of her sister.

I remember her. It was her birthday. We danced with her. I watched her die, over and over and over. I remember every moment, every branching path, every intersection, and she isn't here, but she's all around us.

"There is no longer one author but two, as reader joins the author in the making of the text" - Jay David Bolter, "Literature in the Electronic Writing Space" "Go back into the light. Remember what you've seen... We love you so deeply. It's nothing without you." - Lily Jo Ockwell as Persephone, September 24, 2023

Lily photo by @rhianbwatts

[starry-eyed-never-satisfied]

Fandom Ask Game! 6, 7, 12, 15, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24

7. Is there a piece of clothing you think [character] is particularly fond of/that you imagine them wearing a lot or like to draw them in?

In terms of drawing, I've drawn Paul in his Destroyer costume most often, because it's really easy to draw, and he looks hot in it. But he looks hot in anything so....

When I was writing Let Me Know, that was hard because when I described Paul as dressing like a rock star, I was envisioning 80s or 90s, ripped jeans, leather jackets, band ts, that sort of thing. I knew a bit about girls clothes in the late 60s, but not a lot about guys, so when I googled it, it was a bit of a shock, and I still struggle to picture him at that time.

12. What's the funniest or craziest AU idea you've ever come up with?

I don't really do AUs like putting them in completely different worlds/situations, so the most AU I get it using stories not from Kisstory. Take It Off is one of those, that scenario with Paul stripping is completely made up, although we all would love to see it I know. It was fun to write and picture him like that.

15. Have you noticed your style change over time?

I think so, my stories are getting longer and more detailed. I'm adding more action

18. Type [charater]'s name and tell us what the autocomplete suggests as the next word

Paul Stanley ass

I am ashamed. What is wrong with me.

19. What's your favourite thing about [fandom] (the people in it, not the media you're all enjoying together)?

The fact that I think all of you will understand the answer to the previous question and not think there is something wrong with me

22. Give us a headcanon for [character]

When Paul is trying to fall asleep he plays with his chest hair

23. Has your favourite character/ship changed over time?

No. Stardemon for life!

24. What's your favourite thing about [character]?

I love so much about him, its hard to just choose one. I guess that he just has the most beautiful soul. He's been through so much, yet has never lost his positive outlook on life, just constantly believing that things can be and will be better

6. Show us a bit of a WIP!

Okay, this is pretty new, so is most likely not in it's final form. One of my very first stories is called I'm Watching Over You, its the story of the morning after the drunken Hotter Than Hell photo shoot. This one has the working title I'm Watching Over You - The Night Before

Paul grabbed another drink.  A hand rested on his arm.  Gene.

“How much have you had?”

Paul shrugged.

“Paul.”

“What?  I’m a rock thtar, ‘member.  Thith ith wha’ Im meana do.” He swaggered off towards a couple of girls.

---

Peter opened his eyes.  The room was spinning.  He looked over.  Paul was unconscious.  Paul?  Peter blinked a couple of times.  No it was definitely Paul.  And there were men around him.

“Gee –“ Peter couldn’t move.  “Gee!” he cried, looking desperately around for the one person he knew would be sober.

But Gene had already seen.

“Get off him!”

Gene in full demon mode made an impressive sight, bearing down, shoving the would-be rapists aside.

“Hey, sorry man,” one laughed lasciviously.  “Didn’t know he was yours.”

Ignoring him, Gene crouched and carefully picked Paul up.  His head flopped limply against Gene’s shoulder.

---

Gene got Paul out the back door.  It was slightly cooler out there, and Gene leaned against the wall.  “Oh, Paul.  What am I going to do with you,” Gene whispered into his curls.

[silvergarnet12]

Another wip

also bonus explanation for splashtags/weapons/badges below. Due to the nature of Rajaion and Almedha spoilers for Tellius below. Also technically a spoiler for Splat 3’s story mode in a badge description.

For weapons, every weapon here has the Kraken Royale special in Splatoon 3, and someone agessss ago tagged my first inkling Kurthnaga suggesting he could turn inot the Kraken, and I thought that was fun.

Kurthnaga: He has a roller purely based on the fact my brain thinks he'd use one. Don't ask why it's just vibes I guess.

"Promising Ruler" is a reference to the end of Radiant Dawn, and the number 3108 is a reference to 31/08 or Halloween, because of his Heroes debut. He has the lvl 999 Tableturf badge because I think he'd enjoy playing it, the gold Kraken badge because weapon reasons, the bronze Grizzco badge because I imagine Almedha ropes him in to joining her on shifts sometimes.

Almedha: She has a splatling because I think it looks cool, and does a lot of damage from a far just like a certain dragon laser beam.

"Restless Sister" is because she left Goldoa before the Tellius games and inadvertently helped set events in motion. 2202 is 22/02/07 and is Radiant Dawn's Japanese Release date.

I also think she has some tendency towards violence since in canon she had a child with Ashnard of all people, and I doubt he was ever non violent. So she has Salmon Run badges, the flyfish is because I hate them and anyone with that badge is automatically cool to me.

Ena: She gets the Gal because usually it's pink and so is she, I also think she'd find tricky ways to use the Splash wall it comes with.

"Fortunate Tactician" in this au Rajaion doesn't die(if I make any tragedy it'll be reversible because this is funny squid game au and I like happy endings), and she's still good tactically. 2004 is 20/04/05 and is Path of Radiance's Japanese release date.

She has the Kraken badge like Kurth because of her weapon, X Rank badge because she takes battling as a tactical challenge, and the gold Tableturf badge because I think she'd also enjoy it, but play it less than Kurth.

Rajaion: He gets the charger because I was running out of weapons with the Kraken, so he gets an Elitre because I think they look cool, even if I hate fighting them. Also the spawn in pose is cool as hell.

"Revived King" He gets to live in this au, and not die. With Dheginsea being retired from whatever his role ends up as, Rajaion is technically in charge now. 1004 is 10/04/07 and is Radiant Dawn's Australian release date.

He also gets a matching bg style with Ena.

All his badges reference his luck in not being dead. The gachapon badge is basically gambling, so luck based, Cuttlefish got revived in Splatoon 3's story, and the wavebreaker is used as a revival device a lot in Salmon Run!

[thessalian]

Thess vs the Proving Lab

Welp. That happened.

And here we are - what's left of HADES. I mean, I'm surprised there's anything left of HADES at all, honestly. But I guess Sylens doesn't have so much a concept of mercy.

HADES, you are a shitheel. I mean, the Derangement and the Mysterious Signal probably contributed to that, but I don't think getting mucked with by Travis Tate et al helped all that much.

So ... wait ... Sylens, are you seriously telling me you left HADES alive (insomuch as an AI is alive) specifically so you could keep your word way back when you said you'd give me the means to destroy it? ...Well, if I'm running around settlements that look like Dreamer's Terrace, I guess it's fitting that I've got Fae-wording bargains coming from this dipshit.

And now you give me a schematic to let me ignite firegleam. Only when it suits you. Ugh, fine, I'll go hunt Leaplashers. (I hate Leaplashers.)

Best way to deal with Leaplashers - from the next post code over.

"Story and Easy Mode: you do not have to shoot off the power cores--" Can I ... do it anyway?

Right. Firegleam ignited. In we go!

So ... there was no mechanic for just ... letting me swim there? Really?

We're really hammering home the parallels between Sobek and Aloy, aren't we. Also ... why can I not punch Travis Tate in the face? I mean, really, I want to punch him in his face.

.........Well, this wasn't what I was expecting the "We still have dozens of hours of gameplay to give you so we'll contrive a problem" to be, but I'll take it. This game really enjoys kicking one in the metaphorical balls.

Sylens ... these are unknown quantities trying to come through the door, and you're not tellng me nearly enough, but I've done enough reading to know that the little you say you know? Is complete bullshit.

Yeah, see? Though now I'm almost regretting having crunched that particular Focus because I want a very good, very solid, "I TOLD YOU SO" right now.

(Also, if she was carrying around a spare Focus - or several, given what she told Varl at the beginning - why did she not do that six months ago? Or even when she discovered what he did to HADES? She knew Sylens had spyware! If she wanted to keep getting answers from him, she shouldn't have destroyed the spyware-filled Focus; she should have shoved it in a belt pouch and used a different one - at least until she wanted to pry answers out of Sylens again.)

...What the fuck are you people wearing? Did you get all your ideas on future fashion from Star Trek: TOS? That's tacky as fuck, guys.

Except you, Mini-Me. ...I have a Mini-Me. Great. And someone really needs to give you some actual shoes. Your feet must be cold.

(Yes, I notice this shit.)

Okay, these are not the machines I know, and ... yeah, I read a review at some point that talked about the "new machines" and how disappointing their designs were, and ... I get what they mean now. Robots should not ooze.

"One is trouble enough". Oooooh, Sylens, I wish I'd left you eavesdropping. Just because of how much you fucking hate being wrong.

Oh, so your horrible blingy jumpsuit has a forcefield on it. So this is going to be the most annoying fight ever.

...I get Aloy wanted information, but why was there no option to just jump in the damn water and swim?!? Why did she have to play some demented version of Tag to crash an entire ... whatever that fucking thing was when it wasn't even going to hurt him?!?

So jumping puzzle plus oxygen management plus stealth out the ass. This has been the most annoying fucking thing ever and I hate it. Good thing I'm way better at stealth.

...Crippling by Cutscene. THANKS FOR THAT.

Ah. Hi, Varl. Guess you're feeling better. I personally feel like shit. But I'm going to Do The Thing anyway--

Okay, that's fucking clever. The Utaru name their settlements for music because they remembered the old "do-re-mi" scale-singing from their ancestors' Cradle teachings, and let it live on in the name of their "land-gods". And this is the first civilisation that actually acknowledges what the machines were supposed to do. Everyone else treats them as a hazard at best; the Utaru worked in concert with them. So ... basically it's the Utaru that have it right. Neat.

Yeah, go be with your girlfriend, Varl. I will stay put, I promise. If only because a) the cutscene wants me to and b) I don't want to be that much of a hypocrite given everything I've said to you and Erend over the last little while. Also, c) someone ought to have a romance option that isn't one throwaway bit in the DLC.

(YES I KIND OF WANT TO ROMANCE EREND SHUT UP.)

Aaaaaaaand my ribs are better. And little green exclamation mark. Hi, Xenophobe Lady.

...Aloy? Why could you not just explain to the Xenophobe Lady what a 'thrush' is?!? Maybe she'd stop being such a bitch!

Right. I know there's all this saving-the-world stuff (though I have to admit I'm a lot less jazzed about that when I'm fighting Futuristic Techno-Gods or whatever), but I'm going to take a break and then I am going to go and ignite every bit of Firegleam I have passed so far. It has been taunting me.

(No, seriously, Futuristic Techno-Gods who bring all of the mindsets of the Old World with them? I don't want this. I am in this game for seeing how civilisations might shape themselves outside of the influence of the Old Gods - this is speculative fiction at its finest! And now you're giving me Futuristic Techno-Gods who are, in point of fact, generations old? And where were they all this time?)

(...They were in space, weren't they. IF THIS GAME SENDS ME TO SPACE I AM GOING TO THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW. METAPHORICALLY.)

Right. Yes. Break. Then, Firegleam and hunting. I ... am weirdly less jazzed about this game now that we're bringing the Old World this far into it. There's still enough for me to love, but none of it's the main plot. It's getting space-opera convoluted here - more clones, advanced technology, people treating the civilisations that formed without APOLLO as lesser--

...Wait. If we have APOLLO and DEMETER and HADES and HEPHAESTUS ... why do we have MINERVA? Every single one of the subordinate functions, and even the rogue AI Nemesis, were named for Greek gods, so why didn't they go with ATHENA?

Anyway, we're going into a vaguely colonialist direction far beyond shit like the Carja being stuck-up about everything and I am not sure I like it. Also I want to punch Sylens in the face for effectively arming the rebel Tenakth. What does he gain from destabilising the region? More to the point, what do these Techno-God dipshits gain from it? They have to be helping with that shit somehow.

[fanz-y]

So now that I've actually watched 10 anime I wanted to rank them from best to worst

1. MSG: the Witch from Mercury; I have not seen any other Gundam show but I don't think this one is leaving #1 spot ever, and Bandai were cowards and homophobic for not showing us either a kiss or the wedding even though they got married, also I'm so mad that I episode 11 during the hug they didn't even say "I love you". The robots became the least interesting part of the robot show (8th I watched)

2. Bocchi the Rock!; probably what I want most anime to be, can't wait for the movie('s), this, G-Witch and Your Name might as well both be #1, also I want a cute Bocchi plush but I can't find one that's affordable without a high delivery :< (7th I watched)

3. Your Name; A movie that I found on a trans subreddit about a year ago, I didn't think it'd be as good as it was or that it'd affect me as much as it did, but I was left in tears when the credits came on, the story went somewhere completely than I thought it would, 10/10. also tied for first place, it deserves to be watched in a movie theater so much (10th I watched)

4. Cowboy Bebop; twink and his bear friend go on space adventures oh and the twink has his own shadow the hedgehog (6th one I watched)

5. BNA: Brand New Animal; the one of 2 studio Trigger show I've seen but from what I've read and heard they have a pretty mid reputation, I really liked it tho, I watched it around the time I came out and it's a pretty good trans allegory (still feel a tad weird about the ending) (4th one I watched)

6. Neon Genesis Evangelion (and the 1st movie); (don't)Get in the robot Shinji, I had been interested in it a bunch, big robots and all that, but only just got to it. The self perpetuating loop of abuse and trauma that Shinji and everyone gets put through because Genduo can't get over the death of his wife is horrible and I can't think of a more despicable antagonist than him, the movie was so fucked up. I still struggle to get what Seele was supposed to represent. I loved every scene where the Eva's get shown as demons, those looked real cool (9th I watched) (watched it entirely cuz of Signalis)

7. Cyberpunk Edgerunners; watched this before I played the game, the abuse that David went through combined with the end that I miss interpreted put me a bit off and I missed the point, but I got it after a rewatch (3rd one I watched)

8. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure; now that I've grown as a person I can safely say that it deserved to drift from spot 1, part 4 is still my fave. And it's still really really good in spite of how low it is (1st I watched)

9. Guilty Gear Xrd & Strive story mode; I am both counting and lumping them together, I liked the oversized Smurf with a gun, also Elphelt bby girl, still would've preferred an actual game tho(5th one I watched)

100000000000. Future Diary; I've watch this in a trade to get someone else to watch JoJo's, they came out better off with that deal, I am also no longer friends with that person (not because of the show but it's funny to mention) (2nd I watched) I still think it's missing some zeros, just add however many you believe it needs

Honorable mentions:

- Signalis; I know it's not an anime but it's anime adjacent and it's the best story I've ever played through, I don't even like horror games or gore at all that much but I will 100% this game and get all the endings, I wish I could talk about it more but spoiling ANYTHING about it feels wrong and making posts where half the words are censored just so fans get it isn't gonna work

- Pokemon; I loved the XYZ and B&W runs but I haven't watched it all and only remember catching it on TV

-Scott Pilgrim takes off, I watched the first few episodes, I don't particularly care for it, but it looks pretty good

Dishonorable mentions:

- Attack on Titan; I've had a run in with the series back when season 1 came out, back when I thought gore was cool, now I have negative interest in the series, I literally couldn't care less and I'm only putting it here to be fair

Conclusion:

After the Witch from Mercury and Evangelion, I don't care for big robots as much as I used to.

Oh and I'm watching some more soon-ish gimme recommendations

[toaster-selfships]

i of course HAVE to ask for number 6 on the ask game with mcqueen and anyone else you think would be fun to answer for. i would also love to ask 1 and 5!

~zale (@zaletham)

Thank you so very much Zale!!! Didn't realize how lengthy I was gonna talk about this here in the post and in the tags, but it was very nice to get out my system!! 😊

I'm actually so excited that you asked number 6 for M.cQueen, it hadn't even crossed my mind at first, and technically isn't zoo or aquarium, moreso museum, but I think that still qualifies- but! L.ightning actually loovesss dinosaurs! I don't know if you've ever heard of C.ars On The Road, it's like this little series that came out in 2023, each episode is about 5 minutes long(they say like 7 minutes but it's just 2+ minutes of credits, no extra credit scenes except for a 5 second one in one episode) and L.ightning and M.ater, to make a long story short, go on a roadtrip together and they go on stops along the way and the first stop they go to is like a dinosaur museum!

And L.ightning like full swing goes into hyperfixation mode and just babbles about dinosaurs and I love it. He says he did "hours of intensive research" and it just cuts to him watching documentaries in M.ack's trailer and it makes me giggle. M.ack is so sweet, I can only imagine how much second-hand dino knowledge he has cause of L.ightning or overhearing his documentaries! There's also been some jokes that what if the main reason L.ightning wanted to be D.inoco's team in the first movie is just cause he likes dinosaurs and I love it.

I explain a bit more in the tags but tumblr has a one video limit per post that I didn't know about?? So I'm just doing one of the clips here!

They're so silly I love it.

But basically to make a long story short! L.ightning has a massive hyperfixation on dinosaur stuff and would thrive in a dinosaur related musuem. Though, I'd imagine he'd be bored in an aquarium or zoo until he realized that he could make connections here, and he'd go around to all the bird-type species or sharks and talk about how they're related to dinosaurs or have dinosaur ancestors and such!

1) what does their alarm ringtone sound like

It took me some pondering at first who to answer this for and then an idea immediately hit me, and I'd figure I'd answer this for F.rancesco

Basically, to put it in a nutshell, F.1 is a bunch of international racers on international race courses, and whoever wins at the end of each race gets their national anthem played! And I'm giggling over the thought of F.rancesco setting his alarm that he wakes up to in the morning to ltaly's national anthem.

Ringtone wise though, he'd definitely set it to a specific song, or something someone would ask questions about so he could go on this entire spiel about how it relates to him or something he likes. I'd probably rub off on him at some point and he'd make his ringtone(or the ringtone specifically for when I call) S.mooth Operator by Sade.

5) how do they bookmark their book pages

I'll answer this one for F.inn, just cause I think he's the one that's mostly likely to read full books fairly frequently. He'd probably just have a simple bookmark. something small and fairly thin cause he likes taking care of his books and wouldn't want to bend any pages or mess up the spine of the book too badly, probably something like this:

Maybe not the particular design that's on it, but definitely just the rectangle with the little tassels on it. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a bookmark with the UK flag on it as a design, he's quite patriotic and I think it's adorable. Though due to my recent knitting escapades he'd 100% ask me to knit one like one of these:

Though this has also given me the brilliant enlightenment idea of F.inn having one of those book lights or book lamps that clamp onto the book and shines a light on it and you can kinda adjust it and l'1l be having brainrot over that for a bit. May or may not have cultivated a fic idea around it already.