#I’m not a massive fan of either of them unfortunately | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

transformerswoc · 1 year

Text

The TFP "Airachnid" Problem

Like I said, I'm gonna make essays and discussions regarding women in transformers <3. The first person is tfp Airachnid.

TFP Airachhid is honestly, the litmus test for how I feel that Transformers fans can handle “mean” evil, women. Because the hate train that she received and the hate she still receives is massive, and it rounding up to “she killed cliffjumper” or “she’s mean to arcee and starscream” “she killed breakdown” just shows that this fandom wouldn’t really be ready for a female villain that was worse than her, or that just did not give a fuck.

And honestly, that is soo unforutante because we see male characters, like Starscream and even like Megatron, who are basically like Airachnid, if not worse, getting love and support for their actions.

She’s not supposed to be nice…she is a villain a straight up, in your face, villain and that is interesting. Yes, other Airachnids/Black Arachnias get love, but a lot of them are morally grey or complex.

A lot of them either turn good or ambiguous in the end, or aren't who we think they are, giving them a very empathetic past to almost excuse their actions.

Yet, when we have villainous, no morals Airachnid, which I find made her character far more intriguing, it seems that people just hated her, and would hate her for the things they loved with the male villains. She was the perfect mixture of Starscream and Knockout, with Megatron’s brutality, and she was just…hated for it.

And it made me realize that in terms of female villains, we haven’t ever had one like her. One that says ‘fuck you’ to morality and shit, because I just do not think the fandom could handle her. And I’m talking about in the TV Shows.

There are female villains in the live action, but that is another topic for another time.

Lastly, to me as a Black Woman, I cannot help but feel a lot of hatred toward Airachnid is people not checking their own racism and antiblackness. I think it’s easy for people to, not even realize it, but hold black women to higher moral standards than others. The point is that, Airachnid is voiced by a Black Woman and fandoms tend to be very critical toward Black women whether they be live action, voicing characters, etc. black women are either too much, or not enough.

Funnily enough, we are seeing this with ROTB with tons of people who aren’t black women, bashing the representation of Black women in ROTB and saying they aren’t doing enough or they’re pointless.

And this brings me back to Airachnid and how fandoms tend to, unknowingly be very heavy and critical toward black characters, but especially, Black women characters as well who are mean, or who do not fit to their standards. That is just my perspective from a black woman.

I’m not going to sit here and say that everyone who dislikes Airachnid is racist, but I will say separately that I think a lot of reasons for disliking Airachid are rooted in misogyny.

There has been no good reason for disliking Airachnid that I haven’t seen laced in some form of misogyny, because every reason she is hated, you can trace back to a male villain doing the same thing, if not worse.

Given fandom’s negative reaction toward Airachid, I wonder if we’ll actually ever see such a cold, heartless female villain like we did her. I think that only thing that makes things ‘acceptable’ is if a female villain has complexity, or has depth or will eventually be a ‘good’ guy again, or at most, morally ambiguous. That is what makes a female villain acceptable and frankly, that’s not fair but unfortunately I just feel…that’s how it is.

Another thing I noticed, which I will make in another essay, is how TFP tends to shame any form of ‘feminity’ especially in its women but also, in queer outwardly femme charaters, like Starscream.

The ‘tom boy’ or ‘one of the boys’ perosna is something that we tend to see with Arcee and Miko. And forms of femininity such as motherhood, or being outwardly femme like Airachnid or Starscream are seen as ‘bad’ by the narrative.

What I mean by this is that, June is shamed for being motherly toward Jack, by Arcee and by Miko and it is something that she is made to feel bad for, for wanting to care for Jack. Arcee and Miko are portrayed as I said, as being ‘one of the boys’ Arcee herself made a negative comment toward the idea of being PINK…which is ridiclous.

Airachnid and Starscream are both heavily femme and queer coded, but they are shamed by the narrative and the fandom. Starscream is brutalized on the daily, and Airachnid, who is outwardly femme tends to be seen as irredeemable by the fandom and also inexplcitly evil by the narrative.

TFP’s issue with femininity is something is something I certainly want to talk about later on, but given this essay is just about Airachnid, I will stop here.

The last thing I'm also going to say is that I don't think that the writers knew, or understand how to write a female villain for a notoriously misogynstic fanbase. There are reasons why the other female characters are 'acceptable' and it's because they are for the most part, written in a way that is okay for a male audience. That doesn't mean they don't face their fair share of misogyny...they do. Especially Miko.

But an outwardly evil femme fatale who doesn't give a fuck about it...the fandom is just not ready for such a character. And while I don't think the writers needed to pacify her, i do 100% believe that when operating in a misogynstic fandom, you should learn how to write a female character in a way that will not get her dragged the way Airachnid has been dragged.

If you enjoyed my essay, please share and consider following?

Please follow my twitter, where I'll also talk more about women's topics in TF.

#airachnid #transformers #tfp #elita 1

85 notes · View notes

sarcastictissy · 4 months

Note

My apologies, I sincerely thought you were aware which is why I came to you ack, I’m so sorry D’:

But in short, the original admin, Puella, was the one who created Otipep and they made a doc about their experience on QSMP and the story behind why Otipep exists, and well, Otipep basically existed cause they were gone for a while, came back and decided to “roleplay” while they were in an unwell state with a high fever and used Otipep as an excuse for their rude behavior. And well, that led to Ro, Ro’s community and a few of Ro’s friends really uncomfortable with the entire situation.

The admin was removed as Pepito and we got Pepito’s perm admin Lina to continue the story.

The document came out yesterday (unfortunately I’m unsure if it can be accessed again due to Puella privating their account after receiving massive backlash from the community), and it honestly was extremely off putting, disheartening and disappointing to see so many rush to support them after the uncomfortable situation they created that left one of the most patient CCs uncomfortable alongside his community. I understand wanting to support all admins who worked on QSMP (trust me, I support many of the admins who have came forward with their story and admins who continue/ed to work on the project or on Q Studios) and were affected, but a lot of actions can not be blindly forgiven. Plus this is fairly reminiscent to the situation of Dianna(?), Tilin’s admin, where after they left the project, many found out that she broke the boundaries of other workers and also of a few CCs.

-💫

Dw about it!! Thank you for telling me! I'm not aware of Tilin's admin to be honest. I'm disappointed Optepip used their personal circumstances as an excuse for badly treated Roier, his fans, and his friends. I'm sure Optipep actually insulted his family as well but I could be wrong. Regardless, it does not seem that they apologised for the situatuon and used the fact they were fired (as an actor, or as an admin I'm not sure) as a way to get pity or sympathy, despite there being a valid reason for the backlash they received. Just annoyed they don't seem to accept the fact they did something wrong. And it's not clear that they don't understand they did something wrong, it's more that they choose to ignore the issue instead. Honestly I'm not sure what to think. I hope they do apologise to Roier either publicly or privately.

Also are you my first anon with a sign off?!?!!?! :00

#qsmp #quackity smp #qsmp discourse #qsmp admins

16 notes · View notes

wavesoutbeingtossed · 4 months

Text

Ok this isn’t directed at anyone or any fandom — also I actually can’t scroll my dash at the moment so forgive me if this has been discussed lol — but as someone who has a healthy interest in pop culture and the entertainment industry but doesn’t follow any fandom other than Taylor’s, and even at that only in a very curated niche of it, but is it really plausible that Taylor is directly targeting Billie or any other artist with her releases?

I find it really hard to believe a voice memo album repackage only sold on her website or a single remix would make that much of an impact on her numbers or other artists. Obviously they’re released for a reason and every bit helps and it’s to help maintain the momentum on the charts, but I would just be genuinely surprised if those alone could be enough to block another artist’s anticipated release.

To me, releasing bonus content/remixes/whatever a few weeks after an initial release seems to be pretty par for the course not just for Taylor but for many pop artists. I feel like I hear of so many who will release an acoustic or remix version or special limited time offer vinyl or whatever when numbers start to stabilize or decrease to keep charting for a little while. It doesn’t seem to my like Taylor’s schedule for TTPD is especially different from Midnights was, for example, and I don’t think much of it differs from what many pop acts are doing these days either.

If anything I think Taylor has held back considerably for TTPD. Not out of any kind of magnanimity or charity or anything, but just because I’m assuming that’s what feels right for her at the moment. A month or two ago so many people complained about how she was doing no promo for the album release. All she did, save for a couple of short teasers on social media, was release her album. No press, no interviews, no appearances. Aside from surprise dropping the album a la folklore, I don’t really know what else she could have done to be inconspicuous. And even with that, her album still went number one. I don’t think that’s out of any kind of Machiavellian scheming, I think she’s just that huge at the moment that anything she does is going to be news and going to be eaten up.

Yes, the limited time drops of merch on her website are annoying and sure the differing bonus tracks on her variants can be annoying, but again, it’s nothing other artists aren’t doing themselves. She had 5 variants of her album. Billie and Olivia and plenty of others easily double that. (And I’m not knocking them for that, I’m saying it’s normal for their industry and everyone does it.)

I’ve seen comments on non-tumblr spaces about how Taylor is stepping on the necks of other artists (like Billie) and I just don’t see how? She’s doing typical music business stuff and it doesn’t even seem particularly aggressive. Super aggressive would be releasing more signed physicals or a new variant with a different song or releasing The Anthology on physical or some other move that would appeal to the collector instincts in fans and drive raging capitalist tendencies. A couple of voice memos and a remix hardly seem like they’d make enough impact to significantly block also-big artists like Billie who are Grammy winners with huge fan bases themselves.

Taylor’s just so huge now that anything she does is going to loom large. Think about how Cruel Summer because a massive hit four years after it was released just by sheer streaming strength, and that was thanks to Eras piquing people’s interest. Taylor released a brand new double album in the middle of the biggest tour in the world and changed her set list to make it one of the most theatrical spectacles on social media at the moment. TTPD is kind of assured staying power for the foreseeable future for that alone. (Not to mention the increased interest in her personal life of late probably increasing streams of her music a tiny bit too. That’s probably an unfortunate byproduct of her fame, but when news drops I’d bet it does cause a brief spike.)

It’s not that I think Taylor does things purely out of the goodness of her heart or for artistic merit alone; I know she’s a shrewd businesswoman and I know she cares about charts and markers of success. I just don’t think she’s deliberately targeting other artists in some sort of feud. I’d bet she had her release plan pretty much pencilled in months ago, before anyone else’s releases were in the radar. This is chess, not checkers. Her imperial-level success at the moment does not mean she has to strategically cut off anyone else at the knees; it’s that she’s the closest thing we have to monoculture at the moment and she’s just everywhere whether she wants to be or not. She can make nearly zero effort to push the album and it’s still going to be number one. And the popularity will probably last through the summer thanks to Eras and the interest online.

So is the answer that she’s supposed to step aside for other artists? Is it unfair of her to occupy the national consciousness so pervasively? I genuinely don’t know though my gut instinct is no. No one would say that about other number one artists, but very few top artists are at her level of achievement at the moment. (I’d guess Beyoncé is probably her only contemporary in that regard right now.) I would very much bristle against that notion, because again, I don’t think anyone would tell any other artist that they’ve “had their turn” and should stop pushing their album so that someone else can have a shot. But Taylor is at such a level that even the most otherwise successful artists might struggle to overtake her for the time being.

And again in this specific case this week, we’re not talking about an indie act struggling to break through to their first big hit being struck down by Goliath. Billie is a multiple Grammy and Oscar winner! Her song was in one of the biggest movies of the year that dominated pop culture all summer! She is a headliner at festivals! She may not be quite at Taylor’s level of fame and numbers because no one is, but she has a huge fan base of her own! And I’m not pitting them against each other at all because I listen to her and Olivia and all kinds of current pop acts! My point is that Billie’s work speaks for itself as does her album release, just like Olivia and Dua and whoever else is releasing albums these days. At a certain point people need to step back and consider what is deliberate and what is just current industry trends that the pop acts in particular have to follow to get the numbers they want on the Billboard charts.

Maybe I’m completely wrong and maybe this is all a targeted plan to block other artists from taking over Number 1. But if I had to guess I really would think that at this point Taylor knows she’s going to dominate the charts no matter what she does — which is why she doesn’t have to make too many public moves anymore. Her fame and her work do it for her. I don’t doubt these extra drops help boost her numbers and there’s some sort of calculated reason why they come out when they do, I just don’t think that reason is “specifically block x person from beating me”. It’s probably more “try to maintain x sales” which at her level may de facto beat the next person behind her because she’s near untouchable, but the reasoning behind those actions is not the same, if you get what I mean.

It just all seems to be yet another point to villainize her for just doing her job and living her life, when at worst she’s just doing what everyone else is doing to play the system they all adhere do. It feels like another attempt to dehumanize her and turn her into this avatar for all of pop culture’s ills, ascribing her these Wicked Witch tendencies, when her team’s job, like all popular musicians’, is to make sales. It’s not that I think she’s some benevolent artist who doesn’t care because I’m sure she does, but I just find it really hard to believe the driving force is impeding other musicians as opposed to just maintaining her own sales. Perhaps the system is broken that any other act has trouble penetrating her dominance at the moment, and that’s another conversation, but if it were anyone else at this level of dominance right now, I’m positive none of these conversations would be happening to begin with.

#writing letters addressed to the fire #I’m not even saying this as a cupcake #just as an observer of pop culture #it’s just weird that she’s blamed for things no one else would be given a second glance about #these girlies are all going to come out with remixes and new versions and whatnot because that’s how charts track and they all play the gam #Taylor could go live in a cave for a year and she’d probably still dominate for months at this point #idk I think Twitter and Reddit have broken my brain lol

15 notes · View notes

talonflamee · 2 years

Text

i’ve been avoiding any scvi spoilers as much as i can, so i was lucky enough to not have had wattrel and kilowattrel spoiled for me. i still haven’t seen every new pokemon yet so i’m not venturing into the badlands (tumblr tags) but i still want to talk about these guys!

first off, very interesting choices of species to base them off of! most bird pokemon reference common and familiar birds, like a crow or a duck (/pos btw, this is not a bad thing) but i love that newer gen bird pokemon are including lesser-known species, like hawaiian honeycreepers and cormorants.

(baile style oricorio & ʻiʻiwi)

(cramorant & double-crested cormorant)

so wattrel is based on a storm petrel. there are quite a few different species, but i’d say the most direct reference is the leach’s storm petrel because of the forked tail and the general range of their habitat (although i don’t think that really matters much)

we’ve needed more flying/electric types for sure and this is a very silly fun little guy, exactly what i love in a first-stage, early-route bird pokemon. cute design with neat colors!!

👇

☝

they also incorporated petrel flight behavior into its animation which i’m a huge fan of! i can’t find any good videos or gifs showing their battle animations (and i also want to avoid searching for them) but they soar for a bit and then flap frantically like how petrels do to navigate through choppy water.

and kilowattrel is absolutely striking, pun intended. i’m extremely happy with this evolution

i never expected they’d make a frigatebird pokemon! frigatebirds are massive seabirds that have the largest wing:body ratio of any bird. they can have a wingspan of almost 8 feet! they can also ride air currents for days, weeks, even literal months without landing once. it’s insane to me

kilowattrel’s coloration is based on the female magnificent frigatebird. they have a beautifully angular shape and i think kilowattrel’s design captures that very well with the perfect amount of roundness

frigatebirds don’t typically show up near spain or portugal (where paldea is based off of) (so my attempt at guessing the storm petrel species didn’t really matter anyway lmao)

the few things that are weird to me about their designs are the eyes and yellow markings on the throat that go up their head. unfortunately, the eyes of every character in scvi (and pokemon legends as well) have issues with adapting to lighting and shadows. i think if this was addressed it’d look a lot better because they’re just way too bright sometimes. also the way the yellow comes up above the eyes should either be exaggerated or erased. i think it’s so subtle that it’s just unnecessary. but this is literally me searching for things to complain about if i absolutely had to say something bothered me about their designs. otherwise i think they’re fantastic, and as pretty mediocre as gen 9 is, i’m very happy we got these guys out of it

#this is so long and for what </3 #pokemon #talking #pokemon spoilers #pokemon scarlet/violet #wattrel #kilowattrel #i should finally do those bird pokemon reviews bc this was fun #also pic credits are included in the link

103 notes · View notes

swampstew · 2 years

Text

Blind Date Event ~ Franky X Reader

Thank you to everyone who submitted applications for my Blind Date Matchmaking Event. I hope you enjoy these lovely bedtime stories during this week of overpriced chocolates, flowers and heart shaped things. Happy Franky Friday to my boo @icy-spicy I hope you're prepared for all this man. Have fun on your date, make good choices♥

Mostly fluff, SFW, Franky X Female reader, first blind date experience. WC:1.1K. Minors DNI - my content is for mature audiences only

You were applying the last of your mascara when you heard knocking on your door. Standing against the doorframe was a massive yet sexy man. Despite his tall stature, blue pompadour hairstyle , scarred body with clear cybernetic enhancements, Franky had the most secure and confident aura you’d ever seen in a man. And not in a haughty arrogant way either as you were used to. Just pure sex appeal wearing artsy beach shorts and a tight-fitting designer tank top.

“_______, it’s nice to meet you! My name is Franky,” his massive, muscled bicep bulged as he pointed to himself in introduction. “I’m here to take you on a super awesome first date. I hope you’re ready for some fun!”

He held out his arm for you and you eagerly took it, letting him help you into his shock blue F-150.

“It’s electric,” he smirked as the car powered to life.

A fashionista and environmentally conscious? Franky was checking off a lot of boxes you weren’t sure you even had.

The two of you played the ice breaker games in your matchmaking pamphlet as Franky drove to your date destination. He was being coy about your date details but you decided to let him surprise you; you were always down for a good time. The half hour car drive was a lot of fun as the two of you learned about each other and then sang out loud to classic pop songs from your earlier years.

You noticed that the streets became more vacant, the neighborhoods a little more abandoned when you finally caught sight of the flashing lights behind one seemingly destitute building.

“It’s nothing shady or anything like that,” Franky explained. “I told you I’m a mechanic and this here is the very first test run of my company’s newest electric car models. Specifically for racing.”

“This area was unfortunately gentrified a few decades ago and the gross cost of living forced everyone out. Once the people were gone, so were the businesses. Now, we’re using it to test our newest engines since its virtually free of any civilians so we can contain damage control. Plus, no shitty cops around to bust up our fun!”

“So you’re telling me that you’ve gone and created whole ass electric racing cars?” you asked with your pitch getting slightly higher as you processed his words. Electric cars were only just becoming more normalized where you live but to hear of them being upgraded to become racing cars just seemed impossible.

He chuckled, “Yeah that’s right. The idea is to eradicate the use of fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions. Right now, we can charge each of these puppies up in 15 minutes tops and your ride will last about 60 minutes. But the real secret is its hydrogen fuel cell and fan system. The winds generated feeds the fuel cell with oxygen AND generates enough downforce to provide ample traction for high speeds.” He brushed his nose with a grin.

“Damn Franky are you some kind of genius?”

Franky flushed, swaying in place as you walked towards the event. “Ahhh yer just saying that, it’s real nice though. Well, I guess I technically am a member of Mens—"

“Hey Big Bro Franky!! C’mon we’re all ready to start!” some of his assistants and employees were beckoning you both with excitement. Everyone was holding colas in their hands.

“So, _______. How about it? You wanna…go on a test run?”

“Ummmm hello?! Fuck yeah!”

Maybe the car was a bit small due to it being a test car, or maybe Franky was just that bulky and you hadn’t noticed while seated in his roomy truck. Either way, you tucked your knees to your chest and squealed as the racing began.

Loop after loop, challenge after challenge, you and Franky were leaving everyone behind with a wave of debris. The car was sleek and ran surprisingly smooth, probably better than your best traditional car ever did. After an hour, the battery indicator ended the racing and Franky drove it back to the starting line; winning the final race of the night.

He helped you out of the car and you were both given ice cold colas. Franky clinked his bottle against yours and took a huge gulp. Puffing his chest out, he let out an excited cry at the success of the testing.

You were having so much fun and it wasn’t even over. The company were going to host a bonfire and party right there in the lot.

“______, I know this is supposed to be a date and all, so I am sorry that this was also technically a work event for me. We can head out and do our own thing or we can hang out here too. Whatever fits your fancy.”

You thought it over for a moment, “I am down to party with your crew and then maybe we can sneak away?”

“You’re super, _____. I like how easy it is to get along with you and your openness to try new things. I promise we’ll sneak away sooner rather than later.”

Franky was true to his word. You spent maybe half an hour partying with his friends before he slunk an arm over your shoulder and took you to the truck. He only drove a few blocks away before shutting the engine off and taking you to the truck bed. He laid out a giant blanket and some plush cushions in the back along with his guitar, a small radio and a cooler of you guessed it, more cola.

You spend the night cuddling as you stargazed, enjoying each other’s company. Listening to cozy music on the radio at first, Franky surprised you when he began playing covers on his guitar, which turned into the both of you doing acoustic karaoke. Before you knew it, it was well past midnight and he prepared to take you home.

He stood in your threshold, making sure you entered your home safely before he could properly end the date.

“I had a great time with you, _____. Would I be coming on too strong if I asked to kiss you goodnight?”

That was cute. The man had practically oozed charisma and confidence so it was nice to see him squirm a little. Instead of answering you looked him straight in the eyes as a smirk grew on your face, and you winked.

A bashful look overcame his face and he eagerly leaned down, one hand caressing your chin and cheek as he planted a surprisingly gentle kiss on your lips. A dazed and content look on his face as he stood back up.

“Call me when you’re ready to take me out again,” you winked again as you slowly close the door.

From the other side of the wooden barrier, you could hear him yell out. “You bet I will!” Followed by the muffled sound of something being smacked. “SUPER!!”

#happy franky friday #cyborg franky #blind date event #swampstew bedtime stories #franky x reader #one piece franky #franky op #franky the cyborg #franky x you #franky x y/n #swampstew #swampstew stories #franky #reader insert #op franky

63 notes · View notes

arsonisticscholar · 1 year

Note

Hii! I think I can kind of explain the hurricane family, but a lot of this is just from my experience, so idk.

The Hurricane Family is a Tumblr family! What does this mean? You decide for yourself!! Most of us have one common interest, which is LU (or just LoZ as a whole)! So this means that we make a lot of inside jokes about Link. I’m pretty sure the top favorite Links among HF members are Wind, Leg, Sky, and Wars? I do remember there being a bunch of Team Time-rs in here too lol. Anyways, most of the time people in the HF just. Do stuff on Tumblr ig. For example, Wars Angsting™️ (which you shouldn’t worry about), the scheming blog (you shouldn’t worry about this either), and the massive amount of Wind fans who take every opportunity to squish The Boy (this is very important)!! Most people here have big-time hydration issues though, so that’s a really good way get them back if you want revenge for any reason at all! Initiating spontaneous loving hours is also a really great option!! Sometimes we do fun stuff like having a HF feast (and maybe poisoning everyone with Parmexpiredmilkup shhhhhhh)!!! There is a fictional house called the Hurricane House where most family members live in the daydreams of myself and maybe others. You can really just make up your role and interact with people and you’re good to go! There is a Discord too!! Squiggle and Social are the “parents”, but they’re easily overthrowable, and unfortunately too responsible to spend all their money on a giant wheel of Parmesan. There are many people in the HF, and new members are constantly getting schlorped every day! Also, make sure to watch out for anti-Parm propagandists, and the Australians!! (You can tell who by them talking about fairy bread.) There’s also Baby Ornament Fanart, so many things related to Parmup, singing showcases, so many talented authors and artists who downplay their work for no reason at all, people who seem to be allergic to the idea of sleep, people who sleep too much, I’m just naming things at this point but I hope this was helpful to you!!! I’m sorry for writing too much if this was too much too. SOMEBODY PLS TELL ME IF I FORGOT SOMETHING

from a HF member who’s too shy to reblog the post because you. You are too cool for me.

Tysm!! This sounds sarcastic but I seriously appreciate the long winded explanation I really needed that lol

Also I’m torn between being touched and incredulous because omg someone thinks I’m cool~~ and …I’m literally the lamest person ever lol

#please bro I avoided interacting with the hurricane family for the longest time bc I was so anxious lol #you all seemed so cool #it still feels like I’m a kid trying to sit at the grown ups table when rbing your stuff

51 notes · View notes

rithmeres · 1 year

Note

ive absorbed so much trigun content through you and i still have no idea what it is about. what is it about please

ok so basically. there’s this manga which you can read here and also two tv shows (1998’s Trigun and 2023’s TRIGUN: Stampede) but so far i’ve only seen the 2023 reboot. ‘98 came out before the manga was done so it’s not the most accurate, but it has like a cowboy bebop vibe i’m told. i haven’t even read the manga (yet) (call me a fake fan if u want) but basically it’s like this: desert planet, space western, pacifism, christian imagery, PAIN, sibling relationships that will make u tear out your hair, fighting over resources, the nature of humanity, worms, love and peace and mercy.

most of the following character descriptions will be skewed towards stampede because that’s all i’ve got for now, but here are the main guys:

Vash the Stampede (aliases: the humanoid typhoon, babygirl, el wiwi, vashie, my beautiful girlfriend) has every mental illness inshallah and is wanted in 12 different jurisdictions for Crimes, but he loves people so much and he’s the sweetest staunchest pacifist the world has ever seen and he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt and he suffers for it like jesus.

Wolfwood, Nicholas D., (aliases: the punisher, el woowoo, ww, nico, nick, crucifix jim, (and unfortunately, Bigolas Dickolas)) is goth in the desert and carries a giant cross on his back. while this rips severely (<- factual) it is purely symbolic and certainly isn’t a giant gun that shoots lasers (<- lying). i can’t tell you things about him without spoilers. in the manga he’s a priest, in stampede he’s an undertaker.

Meryl Stryfe, our audience surrogate, is either a reporter or an insurance agent depending on the version of the story, but regardless of her occupation she’s trying to find vash for work-related reasons. area woman won’t stop collecting random shady men from the desert to add to her found family (and sometimes hitting them with her car)

Nai, or Millions Knives, is (one of) our main antagonist(s) and the absolute madman plays the piano and wears either 1) basically nothing or 2) a clothing item that can only be described as an evil snuggie made out of knives. i am not making this up. he’s a massive hater and he wants all humans to die btw but i actually love him and he’s got a specific sauce that makes him far from your regular boring evil villain

supporting characters in stampede include a kid made out of bugs, meryl’s drunk coworker, [REDACTED]’s little brother, the world’s best foster mom #1, the world’s best foster mom #2, blue-hair-and-pronouns, a mad scientist, and brad.

to my limited knowledge stampede functions as something of a prequel (?) to parts of the manga so i would suggest starting with stampede (beautiful) (only 12 episodes) and then tackling the manga (what i plan to do) if you want to give trigun a shot (so to speak).

or just talk to spacekrakens idk she got me into this mess and she knows more than me

20 notes · View notes

chaotic-super · 2 years

Text

The Gym Experience - 2

Read part 1 here

Lena sits idly in her car, unbelieving that once again she’s sat outside of the hellhole known as National City Gym. She rests her head on her steering wheel with a huff, completely baffled on how she’s somehow let herself be dragged here again.

Sure, Kara is cute and Lena’s a gay mess but that shouldn’t be enough to get her to put her body through something as terrible as physical activity. In fact, there’s nothing in this world that should justify her being back here, and yet here she is.

She sucks in a couple of deep breaths, seriously considering the paths she’s taken in life that have led her to this moment and considering how bad it will make her look if she leaves.

The conclusion of her evaluation isn’t what she was hoping for either: she can’t leave because Kelly and Alex have already been on a date together and have another planned so one way or another, it looks like the Danvers sisters are in her life for the time being, making it impossible to escape without looking like a complete jerk.

Another huff falls from her lips. She’s going to have to head inside soon, there’s no doubt in her mind that the sunshine-y piece of hot ass she met last week is an early bird too. There’s only a few minutes left until eleven thirty, the time they agreed on. Well, Lena didn’t agree to it, just sort of nodded when Kara suggested it, a terrible thing to have done.

A tap to the window beside her head makes her jump, her forehead clattering against the steering wheel painfully. “Ow!”

Kara’s muffled voice fills Lena’s ears completely panicked and apologetic. “Lena! Oh my god, I’m so sorry! Are you ok?”

Lena pushes herself back into her seat, her hands cradling her injured forehead and wincing at the dull ache that’s settled there. She meets Kara’s worried gaze through the window just a few seconds after.

With a tug of the door handle she’s swinging the door open but before she can get out, Kara is leaning into the car. “Should I go ask for ice? Or maybe I should take you to the ER? Can you see ok? How many fingers am I holding up?”

Lena can’t see anything because of the three fingers that Kara is holding in her face and her mind is struggling to keep up with the fast pace that Kara is spouting out questions at her.

“What?” Lena bats Kara’s hand out of her face and pushes past her to climb out of the car and to her feet.

If her brain was working properly she would use this as an excuse to leave but unfortunately for her, it isn’t so instead she says something that she’s never said before. “Let’s just head inside, I think there’s a couple of treadmills with our names on them.”

As they walk across the parking lot, Kara keeping her eye on Lena to make sure she’s alright, Lena can’t help but wonder where the hell that came from, she’s never said anything remotely close to that before so why did her brain default to that sentence?

Kara skips ahead as they get closer to the door so she can pull it open for Lena and then as she’s leaning over to grab the handle Lena gets a good look at Kara’s lithe form from behind and she has her answer. That ass is worth doing twenty minutes on a treadmill for. She can’t say it’s worth more than twenty minutes, but no ass is.

Kara leads the way to the locker rooms, a sad pout taking over those pretty pink lips of hers and making Lena feel guilty for brushing her off. She really does look like a little puppy dog when she does that.

“It doesn’t even hurt anymore, it was more of a shock than anything.” Lena reassures her, feeling a little bad at how quiet Kara has gotten.

Kara opens her locker, shoving her things inside then turns to Lena, apprehensive and unsure. “Are you really ok?”

“Yes, I am. Just not thrilled to be back in here again, I don’t know if you noticed before, but I’m not a massive fan of the gym.”

A smile spreads across Kara’s face. “I did notice, and I’m going to prove to you that it’s not so bad when you know what you’re doing.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Lena drones out, unconvinced and dreading the next hour of her life.

Kara just giggles in an adorable dorky way that makes Lena’s heart flutter. She scolds herself for it, telling herself that she shouldn’t be yearning after a woman that’s about to torture her but the sweet smile that she’s on the receiving end of cuts off her mental telling off.

She’s led out into the gym and over to the treadmills first. “We’ll have a quick warm up, just a brisk walk into a jog and some stretching, nothing too strenuous, and then we’ll see what we can come up with to ease you into everything else.”

Lena is just about to throw her earphones in when Kara taps her on her shoulder and hands her one of her wireless earphones.

“What’s this?”

“We should listen together, I have an epic playlist that will make you want to keep going forever.” Kara puts the left earphone in whilst Lena has the right, leaving the ear closest to the other woman empty so they can still hear each other.

Kara clicks her treadmill on, building up the speed rapidly until she’s speed walking. Lena’s reluctant to start but seeing the hopeful glint in Kara’s baby blue eyes makes her hurry up and turn her treadmill on too, groaning as she’s forced to start walking.

She glances over at Kara’s treadmill to check what level she has it on then changes hers to match it, not wanting to seem like she isn’t willing to try.

Her legs ache from the strain of it, it’s now set much higher than she would have put it on if Kara wasn’t with her. She can’t help but pant a little as she walks, pretty much jogging, to keep up with it and Kara takes notice and leans over to turn her treadmill down a little.

“We have to set the machines to us, you don’t have to be the fastest person here or the person who can lift the heaviest weights, listen to your body and set the machine to a comfortable level that challenges you a little bit but don’t overdo it.” Kara explains, scrolling through her phone to start the playlist for them.

Lena can’t respond to her because out of nowhere her ears are being assaulted with Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus.

“This is a great song to jog to, I always turn up my treadmill when it gets to the chorus but don’t feel pressured to speed up just because I am, we’re easing you into this. Ok?”

“Got it.” Lena forces herself to smile but she can tell it’s come out as more of a grimace. She gets where Kara is coming from with setting the machines to your level and sticking with what you’re comfortable with but what her body is comfortable with is her couch so it’s hard to judge what level she’s at other than stationary.

To try and take her mind off of the burning in her legs she focuses on the words of the song, and to her surprise she actually doesn’t mind it. It’s not the kind of thing she’d ever listen to herself, but it definitely fits Kara and having Kara vaguely dancing along to it as she jogs next to her is making her like it a little bit more.

She makes note of what level she’s on because it’s fairly alright for her, not making her too out of breath, just making her legs work and heating her body up nicely, then she presses the button to increase the speed as the chorus kicks in. She has to admit that Kara was right, it is nice to have a little run along with the song.

Kara clearly knows the songs well as they go through a couple of them because she’s setting her treadmill to each different speeds at the perfect times for when the songs pick up tempo and slow down again.

Lena takes her lead for when to change her speed but follows Kara’s advice to the best of her abilities, trying not to look over at Kara’s screen and instead setting the treadmill to her own preferences, not that she’s entirely sure what her preferences are yet.

After the third song Kara pauses the music and turns her brisk walk into a regular walk, directing Lena to do the same.

Lena’s a little bit embarrassed to be panting from just a few minutes of walking and jogging but Kara doesn’t pay any mind to it, grinning at her instead. “That was good, now let’s just keep walking while we start our stretches.”

Kara starts with her neck, giving it a gentle twist before focusing on her arms, swinging her shoulders around and getting her arms moving a bit. Lena feels a little bit silly but copies her, hoping that she’s doing it right.

They start from the top and work their way down, as soon as they are done with shoulders and arms, they head onto hips, Kara showing her how to open up her hips to loosen them off which will help them with squats in a little bit.

Lena had no idea that there was so many different ways to stretch and she was not prepared to be doing them today.

As they move onto heel flicks and high knees, which tire her out more than the jogging did, she realizes that she actually recognises a lot of it since they are actually fairly common stetches that you’d see runners doing at the park before and after their runs.

By the time Kara lets them off the treadmills Lena is done for, she’s panting like crazy and tired. “Good workout, let’s go shower then get lunch.” Lena picks up her water bottle and is about to walk away until Kara lets out a boisterous laugh.

“Good one, Lena. That’s funny.” Kara even goes as far as to clap along with her laughter. “That was just the warm up, we can get to the good stuff now that our muscles are ready.”

Lena’s shoulders sink in resignation. “What awful thing are you about to force me into?”

“Well, usually today would be my leg day but since I’m showing you the ropes, we’re going to do a full body workout to keep us nice and even, sound good?”

“Not good but logical.”

Kara isn’t the least bit offput by her unenthusiastic approach to working out, seemingly unbothered by it, just rolling with the punches and getting shit done.

Kara heads over to an open space. “Let’s not get too caught up with equipment yet, bodyweight is an excellent way to get into shape and it means that you can exercise anywhere so if you can’t make it to the gym, there’s always something you can do at home.”

Lena can tell that’s directed at her and that Kara knows that she probably won’t be coming here in the long run. It’s a smart move really, trying to instil some kind of exercise regime into her head, it’s too bad that Lena is super stubborn and will be scrubbing it from her brain the second they step outside.

“Let’s start with arms, I’m going to show you how to do a push up and some variations. I’m not expecting you to be able to do it right away so don’t worry if you can’t.”

Lena watches wide eyed as Kara gets into a push up position and starts to explain how to get into the right position and how to use the right form. Lena can’t say as though she’s fully listening to what Kara has to say though because she’s watching those arms flex with each push up and that perky bottom as it rises and falls in time with the reps.

“Lena?”

Lena’s broken out of her blatant leering when Kara looks up at her, kneeling on the floor after finishing her set.

“Lena, are you listening?” Kara’s cheeks are flushed pink.

“Yep, I was just…” Lena clears her throat. “…making note of your form.”

Kara supresses a smile, thrilled that Lena is looking at her that way, she likes it a lot but she really wants to teach Lena too and save the flirting for when they’re done. She takes in Lena’s gaze that’s focused on her arms, well maybe she can flirt a little bit. “Get down here and give it a try, I think I should study your form too.”

Lena nods and forces herself down into a push up position.

“Not too bad, you want your hands under your shoulders and your feet slightly apart.” Kara guides her with a gentle hand. “Now try and lower yourself down.”

Lena tries and almost immediately fails, getting down but not quite having the strength to push herself back up. She sinks down onto the floor dramatically. “I failed.”

“You didn’t fail, we just need to adapt.” Kara rubs her back, not mentioning the little groan that Lena lets out at the contact. “Brush yourself off and we’ll give it a try.”

Lena hates how chipper and supportive Kara is being, she’s not giving her an excuse to storm out of here and never come back, in fact it is making her feel sort of…motivated. Yuck.

Kara shows her a few easier variations of a push up, getting Lena to try it against a wall first and then on her knees so there isn’t as much weight on her arms when she tries it.

When she gets her first set of five on her knees Kara cheers for her, and her excitement leaves no room for Lena to feel embarrassed, not that she should it’s quite the achievement for her.

“That’s great, Lena!” Kara grins at her holding her hand up for a high five. “Since you got five, we should try for another two sets of five or just as many as you possibly can. You’ll probably find that you can do more next time and we can work you up to the next level of push ups.”

That doesn’t sound quite as good but for a second, Lena actually considered coming back. That’s progress that she was adamant she wouldn’t make. Goddamn Kara Danvers and her happy go lucky buffness making her come to the gym.

“Can I have a break first?”

“Just a minute then, you don’t want to rest too long but you’re still new to this.” Kara takes Lena’s break time as the perfect opportunity to do her other sets and explain her form once again, completely aware that Lena isn’t paying attention to what she’s saying.

Lena can’t help but love how attentive Kara is being with teaching her the ropes, being a perfect mix of being strict enough to get Lena to do what she wants but not pushing too hard so that she doesn’t scare Lena off like she’s a frightened little kitten. She really loves the view too.

Not a minute later Kara has her back at it, forcing herself to do as many push ups as she can, Kara cheering her on all the while. This time she manages an extra one, rounding her personal best up to six. After another tiny break she’s doing it again, getting only four before her arms shake and give out beneath her but Kara is still grinning at her and congratulating her anyway, washing away any bitterness she has.

“I’m so proud of you.” Kara hugs her tightly when they stand up, unaware of the way those words make Lena’s heart swell. Not knowing how long it’s been since Lena has heard those words.

“I’m sure you have plenty more nasty things you want me to do before we leave, don’t get too excited yet, I might fail spectacularly.”

Kara pulls back to meet her eyes. “It’s not about whether or not you fail, it’s about trying and I know that you are trying. I can see it and it’s paying off.” Kara sits back down taking a gulp of her drink before moving onto crunches, explaining them to Lena as she starts doing them.

She knocks out a couple of sets before getting Lena to have a go and discovers that Lena hates them with a passion.

“Come on, you can do this!”

“No, it makes me want to die.”

“Come on, Lena.”

Lena lets out a breath as she cranks out one more, her entire core shaking with the strain. “I can’t.”

“You like books, right?” An adorable eyebrow scrunch has Kara explaining her question. “Last week when we were in the locker room you said that you would prefer to be reading than working out.”

Lena nods shakily, falling flat on her back and giving up on the crunches.

“If you can give me another five crunches then I will take you to the bookstore after this and get you any book you want, even a hardcover.”

Lena has enough money to buy herself any book she wants but the opportunity to spend more time with Kara outside of being physically punished is definitely an incentive she’ll take. “Ok.”

She forces herself through more crunches, laying there like a wounded animal when she’d done while Kara giggles at her.

Kara can tell that Lena is getting tired so she rounds them out with some squats, lunges and then a plank, which to her surprise, Lena actually doesn’t mind too much, getting competitive since they did it together.

When she watches a bead of sweat drip down Lena’s forehead Kara can’t resist and purposefully drops out of the plank, letting her win the unspoken competition.

“Yes!” Lena cheers, dropping out of her own plank and draining the rest of her water bottle.

“Alright, alright. You win.” Kara admits defeat, content to never tell Lena that she rigged the game to make her win. “Now, let’s call it a day. That was a good start so we can plan our next work out after a shower.”

Lena doesn’t know whether or not she should jump for joy or groan at the prospect of another work out but when Kara offers her a slightly sweaty arm to escort her to the locker room she almost feels excited for their next outing.

They each grab their towels and fresh clothes and make for the showers, Lena peeking at Kara as she pulls off her tank top, so she can take a look at those delicious abs she wants to lick the sweat off. It’s a good thing she covered them up today because there’s no way she could have concentrated otherwise.

It makes her wonder if Kelly had prewarned Kara or not, that’s something the bitch would do, and if she thinks she’s getting a thank you for setting this up then she’s got another thing coming.

She goes in for a second look only to find Kara checking out her boobs, so she pretends not to notice, her girls are always happy to have a little attention from a muscly blonde with cute glasses.

They drag the shower curtains closed and have quick showers, coming back out with flushed skin from being scrubbed clean.

Kara tells her again how proud she is of how hard she tried today as they head out to their cars and drop their bags inside. Kara had parked right beside Lena and stops her before she can get into her car. “Shall we meet at the book store or shall I drive and I bring you back after a little book shopping and maybe lunch?”

Lena eyes up Kara’s old beat up car, considering her options when Kara interjects again, a little embarrassed by her old rundown motor.

“Sorry about the car, I’ve been meaning to get it replaced for a while, but I don’t like to part with things that aren’t broken. Old Jeremy here still runs great, so I never had a real kick up the butt to trade him in. I promise he’s safe though.”

Lena feels bad for making Kara self-conscious and closes her car door before locking it. “I think we already proved that injuries happen in my car so please, let’s carpool.”

Ever the gentlewoman, Kara opens the passenger door for her then head around to get in. She’s really glad she cleaned her car out this past weekend or else she would be doubly embarrassed. Still, Kara and Jeremy are practically a two for one deal, so Lena has now passed the test.

“Jeremy is nice, I wouldn’t get rid of him either.” Lena adds, buckling herself in.

“I know you’re just saying that but thank you anyway.”

They make small talk as they head just a few blocks away and discuss where they should go for lunch after but having no solid plans.

No decision has been made by the time they pull up in the tiny parking lot beside the bookstore so they just put the conversation on hold until they’re finished.

Kara scoots around the car to open the door for Lena again, taking her hand once the door is shut behind them. Lena is a little shocked by it but is completely enamoured by the adorable blushing cheeks she sees when she looks up at her beefy suitor.

“Ready?” Lena tightens her grip on Kara’s hand.

A rapid nod from Kara has them heading inside, aiming right for the shelves and pulling book after book down to read the blurbs.

Lena breaks away from Kara to grab a basket, dropping more books in the basket than she will ever read. One day when she retires, she will do nothing but read all day, so she’s got to be prepared and buy every book she likes the look of now. That’s what she tells herself anyway.

Kara has a couple of books in hand and figures that will do her for now. “Hey, Lena. I’m just about done, have you found a book yet?”

She turns back to Lena to find her struggling with the basket, more books piled on top of it because it’s so full and partially obscuring Lena’s body because of how tall it is. “We have to go now or else we’ll never leave.” Lena warns her.

Kara steps towards her, gripping the sides of the basket and taking it off her, her own books under her arm. “Right, let’s go before you leave all the shelves empty.”

Lena’s eyebrow quirks at the ease in which Kara is carrying the books she was struggling with just seconds ago. Yep, Kara Danvers is hot as hell.

The basket gets dropped on the counter in front of the slack jawed cashier, but the young woman snaps herself out of it quickly, starting to scan the books. Kara grabs a random book out of the pile and adds it to her own but doesn’t say a word. It confuses Lena until she’s finished paying for her books and piling them into a cardboard box the cashier found for her in the back. Once Kara has paid for her books plus the one she swiped from Lena’s pile, she drops the aforementioned stolen book into Lena’s box.

“A deal is a deal.” She shrugs, grabbing the box and heading back out to the car.

“Kara, you didn’t have to do that, I’m a CEO. I have more money than I know what to do with.” Lena places a hand on Kara’s forearm as she closes the trunk, now full of books.

Kara covers her hand with her own. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. When was the last time you let someone spoil you a little?”

The blank look on her face tells Kara exactly what she needs to know.

“One book isn’t going to hurt my bank account, Lena. I couldn’t have bought an entire box of books, sure, but if I can get you a book, why wouldn’t I? I like you and I want to spoil you.”

Lena gets where Kara is coming from, but she still feels off accepting it, she’s always been the one to pay for everything in a relationship, the one to try and woo the other because why else would someone want to be with her? It’s especially confusing because it’s clear that while Kara isn’t struggling for money, she isn’t rich either. “You’re sure?”

“Positive. Now, where shall we grab a bite to eat?”

It’s amazing really how Kara has made her feel so special just from one simple act and she really wants to do the same for Kara but knows that if she tries to do it with money she’ll probably think she’s just trying to pay her back.

“How about we head back to my place? I’ve been craving pasta since you made me do those crunches and not to brag but I’m pretty nifty in the kitchen.”

Kara beams at her. “Only if you show me how you’ve reinforced your bookshelf to not collapse under the million books you must have on it.”

Lena sucks her lips into her mouth, supressing a smile. “I know you’re joking but I actually did have to reinforce it.”

Kara cackles as she pulls the door open for Lena. “Now I definitely have to see it!”

#cw supergirl #supercorp endgame #supercorp #supergirl #kara leaned in #kara x lena #kara danvers #kara zol el #lena luthor #supercorp fanfic #chaoticsuper #fanfiction #fanfic

54 notes · View notes

no-thoughts-only-soup · 1 year

Note

So… what are the personalities of the cast in this new AU of yours? I’m just curious.

Well, I already explained Mario’s and SMG4’s personality, but there is a bunch I haven’t explored yet.

Starting with Meggy: since Mario isn’t a dumbass in this au and I still want the chaos trio…

Meggy is in part still herself, childish, competitive and prideful, but she also takes some of Bob’s traits. She’s a former Inkopolis gang member, who planned to betray her boss and take over his gang. Unfortunately, she got found out and had to flee. Meggy is the personification of be gay, do crime. Her first solution to every problem is use a gun and if that doesn’t work, use a bigger gun. Initially, all she desired was to start her own gang and get money and bitches, but instead she found Mario and friendship. Still does crime if it benefits her though. Dumbass gremlin.

(Kinda 50/50 on eventually making Four become dumbass gremlin too because then Mario doesn’t have to be)

Peach retains some of her original game personality, since like Mario she’s only partially an avatar. She’s sweet and bubbly, feminine and graceful… and also determined to get or keep what she wants no matter the cost. Peach is mostly pragmatic though, so she won’t go out of her way to hurt you or take revenge for all the time she becomes a butt monkey like V1 Peach, she can be incredibly sadistic whenever she does decide to choose violence. She’s the kind of girl who cheerfully smiles as she prepares to blow up a building, only briefly stopping when she realizes it’s tea time.

Most of the toads are either like game road or V1 toad depending on which one you come across, but the three that were with Peach when they approached the USB and became partially avatar are different. Alone, they’re pretty normal, maybe having slight differences between them. Together, they voltron together into Ultra Dumbass Toad, who takes after V1 Mario most with their idiocy and tendencies for chaos and destruction.

Luigi did not sign up for this shit, and the chaos of the world has finally driven him to say fuck it, I’m gonna do what I want. Uses his gentle and cowardly persona to manipulate others into doing what he wants, though it has a chance of backfiring on him. Often seen drinking alcohol or noping out of crew shenanigans.

And since Meggy is the violent selfish ass now, I think it’ll be hilarious if Bob is instead a very meek guy who preaches pacifism and love, which clashes with the fact he has swords for hands and comes from a family of violent warmongers. Still a pervert.

Boopkins is a short tempered Piranha who is more bark than bite. His teeth don’t even hurt that much, but he’ll never stop chomping on your arm if he’s angy. Which is always.

I haven’t seen Meta Runner yet, but I think it’d be hilarious if Tari was a parody of an edgy anime protagonist with some sort of sad backstory that everyone ignores. Massive weeb. Engineering pro who secretly loves video games and writing fanfiction. Insert blue hair and pronouns joke.

Saiko is stoic, strong and intimidating… which is because she’s too socially awkward to talk. She doesn’t even realize she’s scaring people, she’s just standing there, existing! Goes with the flow. Also a massive pervert.

I haven’t seen enough of Kaizo (missed his episodes) so feel free to suggest.

Axol is very tired and just wants to be left alone in his cave, spending his time sleeping, being on Tumblr and other social media and occasionally making art or edits. Horror fan. Often dragged out by Melony.

Melony at first starts like canon, being just a melon with a running gag that she’s always present during catastrophes, as if she’s started it. When she becomes human, she’s ecstatic, since now she has legs and hands and feet and everything! Seemingly always sugar high, Melony refuses to waste time, trying everything, preferably with friends, whether it’s doing crime, rock climbing or larping.

Honestly, some of them might be subjected to change tho, since tbh I hadn’t really thought of the rest of the crew that much lol. But I really wanted to radically change their personalities to hammer down that this is a different timeline.

Hm? Oh, SMG3? Well, let’s just say he remembers getting tortured by Smart Mario… and that he is very good at holding a grudge…

#smg4 #smg4 au #new guilt + au #smg3 #smg4 tari #smg4 saiko #smg4 meggy #smg4 luigi #smg4 bob #smg4 boopkins #smg4 characters #smg4 axol #smg4 melony

13 notes · View notes

jasmine-otome · 1 year

Text

Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei Review ⚔️

"Fifteen years after the Heiji Rebellion, the Heike clan has reached the height of its power, while the Genji clan remains devastated by defeat. Hidden deep within the mountains of Kurama lives Shanao, the youngest surviving male heir to the Genji name. However, Shanao harbors a deep secret known by very few.

The youngest heir to the Genji name is no man.

Her adventure leads her to find new cherished relationships, as well as something deeper than the feud between the rivaling clans."

This review will contain marked spoilers, which will be indicated by red text stating "spoiler zone" and will be struck through. The spoiler zones' endings will be denoted by "end spoilers" in green text.

Genre: Historical / Action / Adventure / Romance

Rating: ESRB T

Developer & Publisher: Otomate & Red Entertainment + Idea Factory International

Where to Buy: Nintendo eShop, Amazon

When I first heard about Birushana, I was super excited about the enemies-to-lovers route. Unfortunately, I took a pretty long break from gaming right before it was released, so I only got the chance to play it recently. I’m a massive fan of historical fiction, and this was my first otome series taking place in historical Japan, so I had a lot to expect. I had exceptionally high expectations for Tomomori, and I can confidently say he met all of them :). The game took me a little under 45 hours to complete over the course of a month; however, it’d probably take a little less time if you use walkthroughs most of the time.

I really liked the art, and the music was a perfect addition to immerse you into the time period. I loved how they implemented faceless sprites for most of the extras and how each character had multiple costume changes. Birushana is slightly unconventional in terms of directing, which I absolutely loved. The developers truly took advantage of the ability to move around the character sprites, which definitely ramped up the action.

The fight scenes were action-packed and incredibly immersive, as the sprites were constantly moving to mimic the energy of an actual fight (think piofiore gunfights on steroids). The developers also made excellent use of the perspective and rear sprites of characters, as well, which I don’t see too much. Overall, the art, directing, and music amplified the game’s immersion and made it super visually appealing and entertaining. All in all, *chef’s kiss*. 9/10

*the gif might be a little lossy since I had to really trim it down*

Birushana pretty much checked off all the boxes for my favorite features. It has a heroine portrait, bold and outlined text (making it so much easier to read), a flowchart, a status page, a dictionary, a skip-to-choice button, love catch, and sprite animation. The only thing keeping the system from being a 10/10 is the fact that the game itself was pretty slow and sometimes laggy. It was especially prominent when it came to disengaging the skip feature. Sometimes, I’d have to press twice to disengage, which is incredibly annoying when I accidentally activated "skip all". I typically play games with the second-fastest text speed, but I had to switch to the fastest speed since it sometimes lags between lines.

Instead of simply having points for each love interest, there are measures for strength, knowledge, and kindness. Not going to lie, this made the game kind of hard. Instead of getting as many points with your target love interest as possible, you also have to balance the other three measures…otherwise, you’ll end up on a bad end or the wrong route. When it came to Noritsune, I kept either getting a bad end or ending up on Benkei’s route over and over again until I gave up and decided to use a walkthrough. Benkei’s route was also a struggle since I kept getting bad ends. I can’t even begin to remember how many tries it took before I resorted to a walkthrough. Thankfully, after those two routes, I figured out exactly how to land on the proper route, and my struggle was no more.

Coupled with the fabulous directing I mentioned above, the fact that the sprites were animated served to turn the game into a cinematic masterpiece! It really coupled well to play upon the game’s adventurous nature. I’m not too particular about voice acting, but I think it was pretty good. I was rlly happy to learn that Tomomori's VA voiced Korosensei in Assassination Classroom and also had roles in various other series I really like, such as I’m the Villainess, The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today, Horimiya, High Rise Invasion, Boruto, My Love Story, and about a billion other series. Idk that was a bit random lol. 9/10

Birushana takes place in the Heian era of Japan and revolves around two Samurai clans: the Heike and the Genji. In addition to taking place in a historical setting, the game revolves around the real-life Genpei War and various battles that occurred alongside it. In fact, many of the characters and love interests are based on actual historical figures (although the writers do take various liberties, obviously).

The common route is pretty short (I didn’t track how many hours), and it differs from typical otoge as there are common parts during the individual character routes. Additionally, due to keeping in line with history, the unique character routes tend to be a little repetitive in some aspects, which was a bit annoying at times. Still, once I learned that it actually happened, it made sense why the developers chose to do that. While I usually play whichever character I feel like first, I decided to follow the developer’s recommended route order, and I feel like it really enhanced the gameplay experience. The best way I can describe it is pretty much layers. Each route is pretty much juicier than the previous one and unveils more and more each time. It also plays a lot of dramatic irony. There’s a LOT to be uncovered by the story, so it really encourages you to develop various theories and whatnot regarding the characters. I loved the more subtle touch of fantasy, so it wasn’t overly dramatic but still played an important role.

As for the endings, each route has a “Happy End,” a “Tragic Love End,” “If Ends,” and a couple “Bad Ends”.

*** SLIGHT SPOILER ZONE ***

The tragic love ends were a bit like a lite version of Piofiore’s notorious tragic endings, but when it came to the happy endings, I wasn’t particularly satisfied. They felt more like normal endings than “happy” ones, but I guess it just boils down to keeping it realistic.

*** END SPOILERS ***

Something that I absolutely loved were the “If” endings. After completing each route except Noritsune’s, you’ll unlock an ending with one of four side characters earlier on in the route. As a lover of side characters, I was absolutely pumped when I realized it. Their stories apparently continue in the fandisc, which I hope IFI will announce soon. Shigehira was my favorite side character, and I was super happy once I realized that he wouldn’t be limited to an undatable. I really wished other games would employ that practice *cough cough* Dairoku *cough cough*. I think Birushana did a pretty good job of tying up any loose ends in terms of plotline. I had very few lingering questions, none of which were quite pressing or anything. Some elements felt a little band-aidy, but nothing that made me completely roll my eyes. 7/10

When I started the game, my rankings for love interests were Tomomori > Yoritomo > Noritsune > Shungen > Benkei. After I completed it, my rankings surprisingly didn’t change. I didn’t dislike any of the love interests (which is pretty rare for me), and I absolutely loved two of them. 7/10

*the game's route order*

Shanao/Yoshitsune Minamoto is the youngest heir of Genji, who has spent her life living as a boy in the Kurama temple and has been training all her life in hopes of one day standing up to the Heike. Throughout her life, the name of Genji, which she holds dear, has been weighing her down, pushing her towards combat when all she truly wants is to make the world a better place and live in peace. Birushana follows Shanao as she leaves the temple in Kyoto and embarks on a journey to defeat the Heike and achieve her dreams.

I really liked Shanao as a character and found her interesting throughout. She’s strong, resilient, and quick-witted; overall, she is a very admirable heroine. She takes a very active role in the story and isn’t just a damsel. She’s also extremely dedicated to her beliefs and gives her all to reach her dreams. I loved how her strength was showcased throughout and not subjugated once a love interest appeared. I’ve found that in many battle/action series, the FL starts out as some goddess of war, but once she meets the ML, her abilities are pretty much disregarded, and she just becomes the ML’s cheerleader (cough, SAO). Thankfully, Birushana strays away from this and keeps Shanao at the forefront. She’s pretty much one of those characters you can’t help but cheer on.

Noritsune Taira is the nephew of Kiyomori, the Heike’s leader, and the cousin of Shigehira and Tomomori. He’s a bit sheltered when it comes to the real world due to his upbringing, has a hostile attitude, and quite a competitive spirit. Like Shanao, although he feels pride in his clan, he also feels weighed down by it and begins to see her as a rival.

What got me really excited for Birushana initially was the existence of an enemies-to-lovers route, which happens to be Noritsune’s. While they never really seemed like enemies, they were definitely intense rivals. His route was pretty light compared to the following routes, but it was also an excellent way to start off the game. Something I really liked about it was the character dynamic between him and Shanao. He sees her as a rival to overcome and, in turn, is pushed to grow as a person and escape the shell of his family, learning what it’s like to be in the real world. Throughout his route, he pretty much matures from a sheltered, bratty, rich boy to someone who knows how to work hard, respect others, and is self-aware. They pretty much have that iconic battle shounen rivalry that pushes each other to do better despite being on opposing sides (kind of like Sasuke & Naruto) but with a romantic twist (speaking of Naruto, one thing that drew me to his character was the fact that he has the same pink hair and green eyes as my favorite character, Sakura).

One of the great things about Noritsune is that he never disregarded Shanao as a rival, even after finding out she was a woman, and didn’t even care too much for her gender in general. He always saw her as an equal and admired her strength.

*** LIGHT SPOILER ZONE ***

I really loved how they could set aside their differences in the middle of the route and pretty much just be together for some time. Seeing them fight together was so power-couple. It absolutely broke my heart when they were separated towards the end.

*** END SPOILERS ***

I will say that getting on his route was an absolute nightmare without knowing how the game works, but I think it was all worth it for him.

Benkei is an exiled monk on a journey to collect either 999 or 1000 swords from the Heike (I forgot ngl). He’s a bit of a gentle giant and somewhat of a himbo. He is also incredibly loyal to Shanao as her “first vassal” despite having a bit of a notorious background. He also happens to be the oldest love interest in the game at 30 years old. Something I found a bit funny is how much older he looks than Yoritomo despite being only a year apart.

Benkei was probably my least favorite LI, but I did like his character. I found his himbo-ness quite funny and liked his route a lot, but I couldn’t really bring myself to see him as a love interest. Benkei takes great pride in being her vassal, and the two develop somewhat of a father-daughter relationship, bonding due to their lack of parentage...which made it hard for me to see them as a couple.

*** LIGHT SPOILER ZONE ***

One of the things about Benkei’s route that’s a bit unconventional (but I’m not complaining at all about it) is the lack of Benkei himself. This route pretty much felt like a Shigehira & Tomomori ad and is what turned me into a diehard Shigehira fan and got me super pumped for Tomomori lol. Safe to say, I was pretty satisfied with some of the bad endings. The route delves into the mysteries of Shanao’s origin and serves as a starting point for unpacking the layers of the story. It also really exposes the fantasy element of the story.

I wasn’t a massive fan of the romance in this route, as it felt a bit underdeveloped. Benkei pretty much served as a shoulder to cry on. Still, I will admit he makes a phenomenal side/platonic character.

*** END SPOILERS ***

Benkei's unwaveringly dedicated to Shanao and will do whatever he can in hopes of making things easier on her, even if it comes at his own expense. Overall, I liked the route (mainly due to the villains, lol) and I like Benkei as a character. Still, the chemistry as lovers wasn’t really there, in my opinion (but it was good in a more platonic sense).

Shungen is the son of Shanao’s father’s retainer and has been raised alongside her in Kurama since birth. He’s pretty overprotective when it comes to Shanao and is the pair's brain, while Shanao is the brawn.

I’m not typically a fan of the childhood friend troupe since they usually tend to go sour; however, Shungen exceeded my expectations. While the romance itself wasn’t anything to write home about, I did really like him as a character. He’s a bit nerdy and likes to read a lot, which, looking back, doesn’t seem to be super common. He’s also a talented flute player, which was also a cool addition. He cares a lot for Shanao and profoundly values her due to their close relationship throughout their lives. As opposed to Noritsune, he was more overprotective. He doesn't let her breathe as much, but it kinda makes sense since she's constantly in extreme danger (given the war and all). He’s definitely one of the sweeter LIs and seems quite innocent, lol.

This route was a big one in terms of plot twists, building upon the revelations in previous routes. While playing, I attempted to predict what was going on over and over again and got pretty close. It also unveiled even more questions surrounding Shanao, so it keeps you on your toes.

*** MEDIUM SPOILER ZONE ***

My favorite part was probably when he played the flute for Shanao every day, which really tugged on my heartstrings. I laughed a bit at the thought of Shungen being called some player-inputted name, like idk Emily, once the big reveal came out. I liked how this route had a big focus on the emperor as opposed to simply the Heike as well. Something pretty interesting to see was Shungen’s little light-yandere streak, especially since he’s been portrayed as this sweet, intellectual character who doesn’t seem very threatening. The happy ending for this route was a bit surprising since I was scared I did something wrong, but overall, it turned out pretty well. I felt so bad for Shanao in this route, and I can’t even begin to imagine what she must have been feeling after learning the truth. Thankfully, it made Yoritomo’s route feel a lot less wrong.

*** END SPOILERS ***

This route hyped me up for Yoritomo’s route, so I was pretty eager to get through with Shungen’s, which might have limited my enjoyment a little bit. While Shungen was likable, I couldn’t care too much for their romance. This route really tugged on my heartstrings, and I liked Shanao and Shungen’s close relationship as friends. I think Shanao’s role was a bit toned down in this route and that there were a couple of conflicts that could have easily been solved via communication. But overall, it was a really great building block for the rest of the story and ramped up the dramatic irony in the following routes.

Yoritomo Minamoto is Shanao’s older half-brother who has been exiled in Izu for the past 16 or so years. I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry, and just ignore it. He’s distant and closed off, and it takes some time for him to open up, but it makes sense given his background.

Having seen him throughout the previous routes, I was just itching to play this route. It’s full of angst, is pretty slow-burn, and really showcases the extent of Shanao’s dedication. She seemed a bit out of character for this route, but it made sense that it highlights how deeply she years for familial love. Being so far into the game, the route has a lot of spoilers, so I'll limit most of my commentary.

*** MEDIUM SPOILER ZONE ***

Growing up essentially as an orphan, Shanao's been longing for familial love for years, and upon meeting her only family, she can’t help but be dedicated even if it’s bad for her in the long run. Yoritomo starts off very stoic, but Shanao slowly chips away at his exterior, and they begin to open up to one another. It absolutely broke my heart when Shanao overheard Yoritomo discussing with Kagetoki and ran away. I liked both the happy and tragic endings a lot. The tragic one kinda reminded me of a blend of Dante and Nicola's, who happen to be my two favorite Piofiore characters.

*** END SPOILERS ***

I really, really loved Yoritomo’s character design (his might be my favorite), and his CGs were by far my favorite in the game. His closed-off nature really made me yearn for some scenes from his point of view since I really, really wanted to know what was going on in his head lol. Throughout the routes, I couldn’t really figure out if he was a good or bad character, but that just made it all the more entertaining. The romance felt a little fast, but overall, it was my second favorite route, and I really loved his character.

Tomomori Taira is Kiyomori’s (leader of the Heike) 4th son, Shigehira's brother, and Noritsune's cousin. He’s a highly talented militarist but tends to stay outside of battles unless he holds a personal interest within them. Right off the bat, he discovers Shanao’s secret and pretty much becomes weirdly obsessed with her, hopping on a quest to make her his…or to at least die by her hand.

Tomomori was the individual character I was most excited about both before and during the game, and I can safely say that he did not disappoint at all. Being the game's villain, he plays a much more prominent role than the other love interests in other routes and even takes the stage in some. Since he’s interested in her from the start, it’s almost like the whole game is building up on their relationship.

I absolutely loved the dynamic between Shanao and Tomomori: he’s all flirty while she pretty much can’t stand him (however, she does seem to hold some feelings towards him that she’d like to ignore). After seeing Shanao doing all the heavy lifting in the previous route, it was nice to see the roles being reversed. I finished this route the quickest simply because I was so obsessed with him. Coupled with several plotholes that don’t matter too much, his route connected everything revealed in previous routes and added even more, especially regarding the story’s fantasy side. Some things I predicted pretty well, but others came out of nowhere, so it was quite exhilarating to learn the whole story.

*** MEDIUM SPOILER ZONE ***

I really liked how Tomomori’s route seemed to take a break from the war setting and had the two of them travel together. It was one of my favorite parts of Noritsune’s, so I was delighted to see something like that again. I thought the whole hand-holding thing was absolutely adorable, and I was obsessed with everything about Tomomori. I thought the ghost story scene was hilarious and showcased some lighthearted moments between the two despite literally being in the midst of war. You can tell he cares for her by helping her control her powers, which almost connects them as so few people have the same ability. Their banter is excellent, and they just seem like a couple who complement each other perfectly.

Shanao exhibits much character growth by learning about Tomomori’s perspective on things and his real-life experiences after writing him off as some wealthy noble who’s never felt struggle. It showcases the hidden parts of Tomomori, and the fact that he doesn’t care too much about the fairings of his family holds a contrast to Shanao, who cares deeply about hers despite being barely exposed and integrated into it. The whole “I want to see her cry” thing reminded me of Claude from I’m the Villainess, who I also love, which was pretty nice.

When the two separated, I was literally dying for them to get back together omg. When I saw all the “one month” and “several months” later, I was dying inside and felt terrible for Tomomori. First, his dad dies right before him, and then his girl runs off to the enemy on the same night 😭.

The happy ending for this route was probably my favorite since it didn’t seem so…lackluster. The whole Tokuko thing felt a little band-aidy, but what can you do, I guess. He gets a bit cringe-ishly possessive, but it seemed like it meant to play on his funny side, so I didn’t take it too seriously.

*** END SPOILERS ***

Overall, Tomomori takes the cake. The entire game pretty much builds upon the tension between the two, and the route ties together all the prior revelations. Tomomori and Shanao had the best chemistry, in my opinion, and have a great dynamic between their personalities. He’s a little crazy, but in a good way. The route integrates comedy perfectly into the game's setting and takes on some surprising twists. Throughout the route, he develops from a bit of a weird, loving creep to a fleshed-out yet slightly clingy character. All I could possibly want now is another love interest like him, no one compares 😭.

To be honest, I didn’t care too much about the side characters except for Shigehira, Tomomori’s brother, who I absolutely loved. From the moment I saw him, I was lamenting over the fact that he wasn’t an LI, but once I learned that he was one in the fandisc, it was like the world had been saved. I really enjoyed Shigehira’s “If” ending since it showcases their dynamic. It reminded me a bit of Shanao and Noritsune’s relationship, since despite being rivals from opposing sides, they don’t really dislike each other and seem to care for one another in their own way. He’s a little bossy and cocky, but his time with Shanao helps him grow and mature a little bit. I’m really begging for an FD localization just for him because I need moreeeee.

I also really wish we saw more of the sibling dynamic between Tokuko, Shigehira, and Tomomori. Shigehira mentions the three of them playing together as children, but Tokuko seems very branched off from the beginning. She was pretty annoying from the start but a bit of a necessary evil and seemed to redeem herself somewhat.

Two “prominent” side characters were Tadanobu and Tsugunobu, vassals for Lord Hidehira in Oshu. Tadanobu’s the goofy and flirty one, while Tsugunobu’s the more soft-spoken and wise one. In my opinion, they didn’t add too much to the story that a random extra couldn't have…they were kinda just there for some occasional comic relief.

Takatsuna is Yoritomo’s young retainer and probably the game's youngest character. I didn’t care too much about him in the actual game, but I thoroughly enjoyed his “If” route. He seems pretty nice, but that’s it.

One character I wasn’t a fan of was Yasuhira, Lord Hidehira’s son. I’m not really sure why Yasuhira even got a sprite since he was pretty much irrelevant throughout the story. He only seemed to complain for a couple lines about Shanao, and that was the extent of his character. I wish his sprite was used by the emperor instead or something.

Overall, I liked Birushana quite a bit. While Tomomori and Yoritomo really took the spotlight, Benkei and Shungen were a bit lackluster, and Noritsune was kinda neutral. Something that really amped up my impression of the game was the insane directing. The developers exceeded my expectations with the action scenes, which were captivating and full of movement, which doesn’t seem too common in otome games. Everything is super animated, and the fight scenes are incredibly action-packed. The romance aspect varied by love interests, but for the most part, it was more subtle, with war and family ties being the main centers of conflict. My most significant criticism was probably the prevalence of unskippable repetition since each route seems to follow the same course, with some things changed in between. The game is excellent at slowly revealing information and building upon it, giving you just enough information to predict some parts but not enough to predict all aspects of it. To sum it up, a pretty good game. 8/10

*** HEAVY SPOILER ZONE ***

Does Shanao have a random dad, or was she reproduced asexually or something?

If Rengetsu looked like some monster creature, how come Kiyomori recognized Shanao as her?

How’d Tomomori know Rengetsu was Kiyomori’s sister if he hadn’t heard about her before?

Why’d poor Shigehira have to die in like every route 😭?

*** END SPOILERS ***

6 notes · View notes

fluffy-critter · 2 years

Text

#crosspost #busybee

3 notes · View notes

thetaekookcloset · 2 years

Note

This fandom disappoints me sometimes. I know this may be random, but given the recent Qatar visit I hate seeing fans decide for others what they can and can't be disappointed about. It's totally fine and normal to not love everything your fave celebs do. They're human it makes sense but like why can't we not support jk/bts being part of fifa and the world cup promotions? There's plenty human rights abuses, women rights/LGBTQ violations...we can be disappointed, right? I don't hate jk, I don't blame JK, I don't believe he supports that's either but that doesn't mean I have to blindly follow the promotions and suck it up (yes someone on Twitter told me this) to prove I'm his or their fan. Sorry, I wanted to vent because it fucking hurts when I see this happen. We are allowed to dislike this! I'm not in anyway saying to be hateful towards him I know they have contracts, my main point is that fans can decide to not support him being there or whatever he's there for (singing, etc) yet people on Twitter were so cruel about it and tuning out so many voices by calling them fake woke, or bitches or wishing death on them for simply saying they wish jk didn't have to be involved. It sickens me and honestly makes me want to cry. Why are so many fans online so cruel.

I don’t know anything about the actual issues at play here so I’m not going to speak on those, but I will say that of course you’re allowed to not like something BTS or the members are doing. You’re allowed to feel disappointed, no matter what people on Twitter say.

Like you said, BTS are human and they’re going to do things their fans don’t agree with or don’t like from time to time. No one has to blindly support or follow every one of them through everything they ever do. It’s just dogmatic nonsense to say otherwise. If you’re disappointed or upset, you’re entitled to those feelings.

Unfortunately, there are always going to be assholes saying stupid things, and Twitter is like the perfect platform for that kind of thing, so there’s probably no fixing that. Why are people that way? I have no idea, but a lot of people are, and this fandom is absolutely massive, so there are going to be a lot of people who suck within it.

All you can do is hold onto the fact that you’re allowed to feel your feelings, not let anyone try to tell you how you have to engage or act or feel in order to be a “real” fan or whatever, and do what you have to do to take care of your own emotional state and mental health. I’m sorry people have been making you feel bad. I hope that today you’re able to get away from that and just do something that brings you some peace and happiness.

#ask

7 notes · View notes

pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer · 2 years

Text

Games in 2023: One Piece Odyssey

The announcement of a brand new One Piece RPG tapped into some sort of childhood instinct in me, the kind where you hear two things you love are being combined into one thing and gasp in awe. Child Pahrak would be pleasantly surprised to learn that I’ve finally gotten caught up on One Piece, a dream that always seemed just out of reach, up there with completing the Pokedex. (Which I’ve also done! He’ll be so impressed.) But this isn’t about him: I’m an adult now, and I have to pay for my own anime RPGs. Odyssey doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, but it does deliver what it promises, and I found myself having a lot of fun along the way.

The game sees the Straw Hats shipwrecked on a mysterious island named Waford, where a less-than-friendly meeting with one of the island’s inhabitants results in them losing most of the strength they’ve built up over their journey. Obviously they’re going to need that back, so it’s time to scour the island and conquer its trials in order to get back out there searching for the One Piece!

You’re able to run around the overworld as Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, or Robin, and can switch between them with great ease. (Even once Franky and Brook join the party later in the game, they can’t be controlled in the overworld. Unfortunate as this is, I can see why both of them would have some unique logistical concerns, so I won’t complain much.) All of them have some unique action(s), but not all are unlocked right away, and the game expects you to main Luffy to use his stretching powers to grapple across very frequent gaps and use Observation Haki to scan for hidden items and enemies with EXP bonuses. Chopper is small enough to fit through narrow passages, Zoro can cut through metal doors, and there are certain items that can only be retrieved using Usopp’s slingshot; Nami, Sanji, and Robin all have unique items that only they can see, though they will remark if you approach one while not playing as them. And, while you can’t run around as Franky, once he joins back up with the crew he can build bridges to open new areas. It can feel a bit uneven, but…I was probably going to mostly play as Luffy anyway, so I can’t say it’s a huge flaw.

Battles involves fighting enemies in multiple areas at once, exploiting rock-paper-scissors style weaknesses, and tagging crew mates in and out of your 4-person active party. Personally I like it! It’s not too complex to understand, but does add its own extra layer to combat. Part of me wonders if you could expand this to have the whole crew fighting across the various areas, but that might be a bit too unwieldy. Fans will see plenty of familiar techniques at their disposal: Usopp has a mix of long-range explosive techniques (only 1 Pop Green, sadly) and gag techniques that only work if the specific enemy is dumb enough to fall for it; Chopper obviously is your healer, but he also gets a decent variety of attacking skills, including the ability to activate Monster Point for a few turns; Franky has a lineup of high cost but high damage group attacks that can really wreak havoc if you manage your TP (tension points) right. I do feel like Zoro’s many, many available techniques are a bit samey, though, and Sanji doesn’t really have anything that stands out. Despite having a long list of techniques, Luffy’s are just different enough to feel like a decent variety, and I really like that they turned Gear 2 into its own mechanic. (You can activate it either by itself for a mere 5 TP, or by using any of several “Jet” skills, and increase Luffy’s strength and speed for a few turns; I always try to keep it on.) Why they didn’t do this for Diable Jambe is beyond me.

Back at the story, the only inhabitants of Waford (aside from the monsters) are two humans: another shipwrecked pirate named Adio, who is able to summon massive energy gauntlets with his Grab-Grab Fruit powers; and a girl named Lim, who has some inherent connection to the island and is the one who took away the Straw Hats’ powers. I found Adio pretty interesting, and was never entirely sure how much I should trust him until everything was revealed at the end. Lim is an emotionless character who gradually warms up to the crew and comes out of her shell as the story goes on. Again, not reinventing the wheel, but I like her well enough, and she’s involved in some interesting plot developments later on. It’s Adio who convinces Lim that they should help the Straw Hats regain their powers, which have now been scattered all across the island in the form of special cubes. Defeating bosses on the island gets you cubes, restoring more abilities and enhancing the ones you’ve already restored. Some (most?) skills gain slots which can be filled with Cube Fragments you find scattered around the overworld; each fragment is tied to a specific character, and you can equip them to any available slots through the skill menu. (They can also be unequipped and rearranged at any time.) When a skill has 3 slots filled, it levels up, which usually means dealing more damage. Seems pretty straightforward, right? Well, here’s the catch: in order to fully absorb the cubes and regain all of their lost abilities, the Straw Hats need to venture into the strange dimension known as Memoria, a world made from their memories that asks them to relive their past accomplishments to process the cubes.

Basically, the game alternates between chapters where you explore a dungeon on Waford, and chapters where you relive a past One Piece arc; specifically, you go through Alabasta, Water Seven, Marineford, and Dressrosa. I think how one feels about this particular facet of the game will go a long way toward determining whether or not they’ll enjoy it as a whole. Anime games have always made a habit of retracing their source’s story arcs, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it can get a bit…tiring at times. That we’re explicitly “revisiting” these memories rather than simply advancing through the base story as the game’s main plot is something that might muddy the experience for some; Lim tells us off the bat that “memories are fuzzy” and some things might happen a bit differently, but there are scant few occasions where this plot point feels put to good use. If you were expecting timeline shenanigans akin to the Dragon Ball Xenoverse games, you’ll have to look elsewhere. It’s a bit disappointing, even frustrating at times: I was really looking forward to an interaction between Robin and the memory world’s Crocodile, but even when they’re in the same room, neither says a single word to the other! I don’t want to admonish the game for not fulfilling my specific expectations, but that one…we can all agree that one is a notable oversight, yes?

Still, I want to judge the game for what it actually does rather than what I wish it did. And what it does is lead us through some delightful new environments alongside a number of old favorites; Alabasta, Water Seven, and Marineford are some of my favorite arcs, and I know I’m not alone in that opinion. It was nice to see Vivi again. It was nice to see Iceberg and Tyrannosaurus. Marineford is the one place we do see Jimbei, and crucially, the game capitalizes on the fact that this time, the Straw Hats are there to help Luffy through what just might be the single worst day of his life. (Though you STILL don’t have Brook for this part. So it rings just a tiny bit hollow with him absent. You’d think it’d be the other way around with all the hollow space between his bones, YOHOHOHO!!) And there’s one particularly good moment in Dressrosa that I think most fans will enjoy, but I don’t dare spoil what it is. It was nice to see so many interactions big and small shared among the crew, especially the handful of sidequests that take 3 of them seemingly at random and see how they solve a problem without having the full crew to rely on.

Right, the sidequests! So many sidequests, be they those limited crew stories, hunting down other pirates to claim their bounties, or more standard RPG fare like “kill these enemies” or “bring me these items”. The game is surprisingly packed with things to do, with an in-game Objectives menu that rewards you for almost every single one (a total of 182!). It’s, well, a full RPG! I’ve got around 80 hours on my file and I’m still a few collectibles short of the Platinum. Even that doesn’t track the bestiary, which I’d like to fill just for my own sake, or that last Zoro Cube Fragment I’m missing, or seeing if I can get the characters to the maximum level. I got this far before the remaining tasks got grindy enough that I took an extended break. This might also be the time to mention that there are locked treasure chests all over the place, giving you plenty of incentive to figure out how to get your hands on the key that opens them. (I won’t tell you how, but it was something I was already doing because it’s fun in its own right.) There’s also mountains of hidden lore if that’s your thing: several journals you can find scattered about, as well as extra snippets unlocked by picking up those special items only Robin can see. This is a meaty game for sure.

I don’t want to spoil the story, so I’ll just say that despite some…misgivings regarding the endgame, I’d still say I like the plot overall. It’s got enough of that distinct One Piece feel to it that I couldn’t help but enjoy it. That’s true of every part of the game, really: you could go on all day about how certain things could’ve been “done better”, and there’s some merit there, but the game still does a fine job of everything and distinguishes itself by fully embracing One Piece’s unique charm. Will it be GOTY? No. Do I recommend it? Absolutely! And I eagerly look forward to what comes next, be it DLC, a direct sequel, or a separate game done in the same style. Even if none of that comes to pass, though, One Piece Odyssey is an entertaining and very filling experience, and one that’s yours for the taking.

Shortlist of things I want in a hypothetical follow-up:

-More Franky and Brook, ideally playable in the overworld. I’d like to see Brook get a field action, maybe running across water? Or something musical.

-Playable Jimbei!

-Faster overworld movement. Maybe it’s just that the plot setup reminds me so much of Sonic Frontiers, but I wanted to get around MUCH faster than I was able to. (Though you do get fast travel relatively early on, and that does help.)

-More costumes would be nice (bring back Robin’s hat 2k5ever)

-If we stick with the Memoria concept, I’d like to see events play out way more differently than in canon. I think it’d also be best if they used an entirely different set of arcs to avoid being too samey (the one I’d want most is Whole Cake Island, Skypeia probably has good odds, you could do a whole game that’s just Wano…)

-Let other characters who have Observation Haki use it in the field same as Luffy

-I do love that Conqueror’s Haki is a skill in battle, but I’m also curious about it as a field action that either stuns or removes weak enemies.

-Diable Jambe really should be a full mechanic

-Maybe a meter for Armament Haki you can expend to augment your attacks?

-There’s a whole slew of more techniques I want to see: more Pop Greens, General Franky, have Nami using Zeus, etc.

-Going on a bit of a tangent about Gears, I’d like more Gear 3 techniques for sure (Odyssey only has Gigant Pistol), and ideally the Gear 4 forms would last a little while like Gear 2 already does. One thing they could maybe try is, when leveling up Luffy’s skills using Cube Fragments, you can choose to apply a Gear to it? Like, when strengthening Gum-Gum Pistol, you have the option to make it Jet Pistol, or Gigant Pistol, or Kong Gun, and each would have their own unique benefits. Though, that might be too complicated…still, fun to think about.

-There are a few techniques in Odyssey that deal extra damage to enemies with certain Devil Fruit types, and I think it’d be neat to see more effects that take this into consideration. In that event, though, it would probably be best to have a more even spread of the various types: the Zoan buster move isn’t super useful when there’s only 2 Zoan bosses in the game, especially compared to there being 5 Logia bosses.

-I like the Bounty system, but I think it’d stand out more if they were minor characters from the anime/manga, maybe even some filler characters. Let me hunt down Foxy and get paid for sending him to his death.

#One Piece #Games in 2023 #want to try something different #will I stick with it? who knows!#Game Night

2 notes · View notes