#all thanks to zanza

[selfmadesaviour]

Welcome to selfmadesaviour!

A private, selective and independent multimuse.

Penned by Micha, they/them, 21+, CEST. All credit for icons, headers and other graphics go to ZANZA ( @zanzabug ).

CARRD.

DOCS.

MEMES.

[seizeourdestiny]

Junk Sword Playthru

On my most recent NG+ playthru of XBDE, I decided, hey, why not set the appearance of Shulk's weapon to the Junk Sword?

Hilarity ensued.

The first cutscene affected by this change is when the party first encounters Metal Face.

Like with Dunban's weapon in the prologue of a NG+ in the original version of the game, a Monado light visual effect just gets slapped on the Junk Sword when the Monado is supposed to be active.

Yeah, support that blade of light with your hand!

Get impaled by the Junk Sword, idiot.

Shots that focus on the Monado just became really hilarious to me.

No, Otharon, no it wasn't.

Shulk, that's the sword's edge you're holding it by. Shulk, you're gonna cut yourself.

And then I found out other characters will hold the Junk Sword instead of the Monado.

To be fair to Alvis, his weapon IS just a palette-swap of the Junk Sword. Still funny to see though.

Shulk continues to pose dramantically... with the Junk Sword.

And then we come to Valak.

Oh Valak.

This is what had me vibrating with anticipation after the Alvis example.

It doesn't even properly rest on Mumkhar's shoulder lmao.

Good luck holding back Dunban with the Junk Sword, Shulk.

Oh no, the Junk Sword is being deactivated!

This was an unexpectedly funny shot. The Junk Sword is enough shorter than the Monado II that it just... sorta hovers above the ground here.

Um, Miqol, no, it isn't.

The Junk Sword impaling anything just looks kinda silly to me.

Another instance where the model doesn't physically match up is in Mechonis Core.

And now, for the part that truly got me. That had me laughing so hard I nearly fell off my chair.

Zanza gets the Junk Sword.

I was not expecting that. At all.

Just... look at him lol.

Fiora gets to hold it too.

Junk Sword can still block bullets.

And hands.

And here it is. One of the last frames with the Junk Sword.

Thank you for joining me on this silly journey. This was a really fun change to the cutscenes.

There were plenty of screenshots I couldn't fit in here. I'll likely make separate posts for some of them (particularly ones in Makna, Valak, and Mechonis Core).

And for those keeping track, five characters got to hold the Junk Sword: Shulk, Alvis, Mumkhar, Zanza, and Fiora. What a lineup.

[every-character-ever-poll]

WEEK SEVEN LINEUP

Soooo. I've been gone a while. What was supposed to be Week Six became more like "Two Months" Six. My bad. I can't promise that random breaks won't happen, but I'll do my level best to not let them become longer than a week if they do (knock on wood - the last time I said "I'll try not to take anymore random breaks" i dipped for a month).

Anyways, here's a very delayed Week Seven! Thank you to everyone who stuck around while I vanished.

Darkiplier - Markiplier

The Puzzler - Generation Loss

The Extinguisher - Jerma's 2022 Holiday Awards Show Extravaganza

The Giant Rat - Rat Movie: Mystery of the Mayan Treasure

Candace Flynn - Phineas and Ferb

Venus aka Kanamori - Heaven's Design Team

Han Ying - Word of Honor

Michealangelo - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Carrie White - Carrie (all media)

Steve the Trooper - Chuggaconroy’s Pikmin videos

The Thunderhead - Arc of a Scythe

Haruki Nakayama - Given

A - Tomorrow Will Be Dying

Doris Frances Barbara - Blood & Syrup: A Vampire the Masquerade Podcast

Juliet Capulet - & Juliet

May - & Juliet

Castiel Supernatural - Supernatural

Derek Hale - Teen Wolf

Lúthien Tinúviel - The Silmarillion

Potamos - Wedding Peach

Jiang Cheng - The Untamed

Poe Dameron - Star Wars

Asterion - Baldur's Gate 3

Dalian - Dantalian no Shoka

Shulk - Xenoblade Chronicles

Solid Snake - Metal Gear Solid

Zanza - Xenoblade Chronicles

Kuu - Haibane Renmei

Cole MacGrath - Infamous

Captain Olimar - Pikmin

Raku-chan - Nyan Neko Sugar Girls

Annie Wintersummer - Unprepared Casters

Yona - Akatsuki no Yona

Shane Schofield (Scarecrow) - Scarecrow and Jack West Junior

The Medic - Team Fortress 2

Sailor Jupiter - Sailor Moon

Orbulon - WarioWare

Mike - WarioWare

Cure Honey - Happiness Charge Precure

Crazy Barks - Drawn to Life

Ninjini - Skylanders

Cure La Mer - Tropical Rouge Precure

End (Endymion) - Beyond the End

Kansuke Yamato - Detective Conan

Mr. Crow, AKA Aldous Vanderboom - Rusty Lake/Cube Escape

Vega - Street Fighter

Izumi Miyamura - Horimiya

Aldark - Drawn to Life

M. Bison - Street Fighter

Aoi Inuyama - Yuru Camp

Klara - Pokemon

Virginia Lewis - The 10th Kingdom

Muriel - Good Omens

Nene Kusanagi - Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage/Project Sekai

Michiko Malandro - Michiko to Hatchin

Suzuki Shinya - 10 Dance

Miles Maitland - Bright Young Things

Diavolo - Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Burly, Blabberwort, and Bluebell - The 10th Kingdom

Natsume Takashi - Natsume's Book of Friends

Faust - Guilty Gear

Sugiki Shinya - 10 Dance

Cure Finale - Delicious Party Precure

Igarashi Vice - Kamen Rider Revice

Mitsumi Iwakura - Skip and Loafer

The Corinthian - The Sandman

Shizuku Hinomori - Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage/Project Sekai

Mickey Muldoon - The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns

Natsuki Shinomiya - Uta no Prince Sama

Sasha Braus - Attack on Titan

Virtue Courtenlock - Krillverse

Goop Lyn - veryextraincorrectfegbaquotes.tumblr.com

Jean-Francois - Bunny Maloney

Tome Kurata - Mob Psycho 100

Seras Victoria - Hellsing

Pang Pawaret - The gifted

Viren - The Dragon Prince

Brawne Lamia - Hyperion

Dai Lee - Let Dai

Haruka Kiritani - Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage/Project Sekai

Minori Hanasato - Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage/Project Sekai

Cube - Gather Ye Power

C-53 - Mission to Zyxx

Cynte - Endoparasitic

Ged/Sparrowhawk - Earthsea

Sniff - The Moomins

Soren Baltimore - Camp Here & There

Mellow - Endacopia

Eunhyung Song - Let Dai

Rufus - Deponia

Sheik - The Legend of Zelda

Lee Ping - Detentionaire

Kasane Fuchi - Kasane

Shigure Sohma - Fruits Basket

Aymeric de Borel - Final Fantasy XIV

Meta Knight - Kirby

Luka Couffaine - Miraculous Ladybug

Satō - Ajin: Demi-Human

Mudkip - Pokemon

Death of the Endless - The Sandman

[eaglefairy]

I have no liveblog to offer this weekend, so instead please take 2000 words of Meyneth analysis because I have opinions and I'm no longer afraid to share them. Summary: According to the canon of xenoblade 1, Meyneth is either an existentially less powerful god than Zanza, or her stated morals are in direct conflict with the actions she takes within the plot of the game. I walk through the reasons the former is at most implied by the game while being contradicted by the game's events and lore and what about Meyneth's characterization points towards the latter explanation. Huge thanks to @likestoimagine16 for chatting with me about this and looking this over before I posted it, it was super fun!

(Before we begin, a note: all of the following analysis is based solely on the canon of Xenoblade 1.  I will not be incorporating any potentially relevant information from 2, Future Connected, or Future Redeemed.  Anything from after the first game is just not true to who Meyneth is or to the characterizations of the people surrounding her in 1.)

Introduction For all of her stated importance in-game as the Mechonis's soul, Meyneth really does not do a lot during the game. The sum total of her actions are as follows:

Speaks to Zanza at Prison Island, begging him to cease their war and let the living be at peace

Saves the party from Egil at Galahad Fortress

Briefly acts from within Fiora to guard the party from Gadolt after his boss fight, but does not speak

Reveals herself properly for the first time in Agniratha and exposits the history of the Machina to the party

Saves the party from the explosion and holds them in the air long enough for Miqol to catch them

Battles Zanza at Mechonis Core and dies

At first glance, this doesn't seem too terrible. Zanza also doesn't actively do a ton over the course of the game; in fact, he probably does fewer discrete actions as himself than Meyneth does. There is one big difference between them, though: Zanza is inactive because he has a plan. He's controlling the narrative via the passage of fate, making him extremely active even if the party and player don't know he's there. Meyneth, on the other hand, is almost entirely reactive to what Zanza is doing and gives us no indication that she has any sort of plan to fight him. The most she does directly as a means of fighting him is ask to talk to him at Prison Island (which Zanza immediately rebuffs) and then debate him on philosophy before dying at Mechonis Core.

Option 1: Weaker God I can see two potential explanations for this inaction.  Option one: she’s just less powerful than him, and so any attempt by her to fight him is immediately doomed to fail.  There are some things in-game that support this.  Most strikingly to me, she and Alvis never directly interact.  For a while I was concerned that they never directly acknowledge each other’s existence at all, leaving open the possibility that Meyneth doesn’t know Alvis exists*.  Alvis does have a single line of thought immediately pre-Mechonis Core where he acknowledges that it’s Meyneth residing within Fiora.  However, Meyneth herself never acknowledges Alvis.  If only Zanza has direct access to Alvis’s power in Providence, that would in fact make Meyneth significantly less powerful and extremely disadvantaged against him.

*To be clear, I don’t actually think this is the case.  Based on everything else in the game, it would be absurd if Meyneth didn’t know about Alvis.  Where else could she possibly get her divine power from?  However, I do think it’s notable that the writers didn’t consider it necessary or narratively valuable to show Alvis and Meyneth interacting as an overall indicator of her status in the narrative, so I’m pointing it out here.

However, very little else in the game supports this.  Both Zanza and Meyneth have titan bodies, they seem to be about evenly matched within those bodies given that the battle at the beginning of the game ended in a standstill draw and not Zanza winning right then and there, and both Zanza and Meyneth seem to have created successful civilizations of people on their titan bodies.  

If anything, Meyneth might have been “better” at it, as the Machina worship her directly while neither the Homs nor the High Entia know of Zanza.  The Homs do hold the Monado in reverence as the fabled sword of the Bionis that can cut through Mechon and they have their funerary rites centered on the Bionis, but neither of those require a direct knowledge of Zanza of the kind we see the Machina have of Meyneth.  The High Entia I find even more interesting; while it would make sense for them to have intentionally erased the cultural knowledge of Zanza after the first battle of the titans when they sealed Arglas and the Monado away, there’s no evidence of that cultural knowledge ever existing, considering there are multiple side quests concerning High Entian history and not a hint of Zanza’s presence as an object of worship.  (Would the Valak Mountain War God count as an aspect of Zanza in this sense?  Interesting idea to think about…)  

Additionally, Zanza says “Now that I have both Monados, I should be at one with the passage of fate,” during one of the cutscenes before the final boss fight.  That implies that Meyneth’s presence in this world as the bearer of a Monado interfered with his control over the passage of fate (which is corroborated by Shulk interfering with Zanza’s sight during the final battle).  That in turn suggests that Meyneth had some amount of power over fate as a god, if we believe control over fate to be something that can be divided as Zanza alludes to in his dialogue.  All of this leads me to believe that if Meyneth is a weaker god than Zanza, it doesn’t affect any of her actions in the backstory or during the events of the game.

Option 2: Weaker Writing That leaves the other option: a writing flaw in which Meyneth’s stated character does not align with her actions and morals within the game.  We’ve been through her actions, but what are her stated morals?  She believes in the right of life to self-determination.  She sees Zanza’s actions specifically as directly in conflict with said stated right, and potentially the existence of gods as a whole.  Most of all, she believes in peace to the exclusion of things such as revenge or justice.  She (and the other Machina) want Egil to give up his plan of revenge and live in peace with them to heal from what Zanza has done.  When she’s speaking to Zanza telepathically on Prison Island, she asks him how many more he’ll kill and then tells him she’s there to talk.  Even when they’re battling in Mechonis Core, Meyneth is more focused on arguing against his philosophy and telling him that gods should not interfere with the lives of their people.

This is the heart of the problem.  Meyneth is portrayed as an unconditionally good character, Zanza’s rival in every way who wants mortal lives to be lived in peace, not under the tyranny of gods.  However, her actions and apparent values within the game make her near criminally passive against a god who fundamentally does not care about any of that.  Zanza creates and destroys all life in order to sustain his own existence (and I have to assume also Meyneth’s?  If she’s figured out the secret to divine immortality and hasn’t shared it with Zanza to make him stop that just makes her even worse, so…).  Narrative choices are narrative choices, but that Meyneth would still be at the “I can fix him” stage after who knows how many cycles of this is a narrative choice that strains my disbelief.  

Characters choosing to adhere to their morals even when it puts them at a disadvantage against their enemies is not a bad thing; however, having her hold to pacificism to this extent just makes her seem selfish and callous.  It is simply incompatible with her stated goal of opposing Zanza when Zanza’s actions are so extreme.  And to be clear, her choice to continue to try and talk Zanza down wouldn’t be so bad if the narrative didn’t absolutely stonewall her for it.  It’s very clear that Zanza is not open to negotiation, and Shulk doesn’t win by convincing him that living beings have inherent value outside of the resource they are to him.  It just makes Meyneth look silly to keep trying to talk the genocidal maniac down from doing genocide.

Objections Before I conclude, I want to take a moment to address some objections I could see to what I’ve laid out here so far.  First, as far as her actions go, Meyneth does have Vanea place her into Fiora with the stated intent to get closer to Shulk, but it’s still unclear what the end goal was there.  Was it to counterbalance Zanza’s influence on Shulk as the wielder of the Monado?  If so, Meyneth does remarkably little towards that goal.  The party isn’t ascending the Mechonis because of anything Meyneth said to them, they’re going up to fight Egil.  They don’t even know Meyneth is there until Agniratha, and the exposition there is mostly delivered by hologram.  Meyneth never directly interacts with Shulk about anything, let alone the cycle of war, which I feel is the bare minimum action if her goal is to erode Zanza’s influence on Shulk.

Notably, there are some suggestions in-game that imply peace with Zanza could be possible.  While I wouldn’t believe Zanza’s definition of “friendship” that he says he longed for at the end of the game to be reliable or at all similar to what friendship actually is, Alvis does repeat that Zanza wanted friendship and I’m much more inclined to take him at his word.  After the final battle, Alvis says that Zanza’s future and the desires of the party (and by extension Meyneth) could have coexisted, “but that time has passed”.  However, the game doesn’t indicate exactly when the time passed; the timing certainly implies that it was Zanza’s death that ended the possibility, but there’s no reason it couldn’t have been earlier.  

In addition, we’re given no indication of how likely that event was.  Given that nothing else in the game supports Zanza’s world being compatible with the freedom of mortal lives, I find it likely that the chance was infinitesimally small, something never quite impossible but extremely unlikely nonetheless.  While this does open up the possibility that Meyneth was justified in continuing to try to talk to him, the way it’s tossed in at the last second and is only told to us, never shown in any way throughout the game (through, say, High Entian legends or any kind of relationships between Zanza and his disciples) make me more inclined to believe it’s a last-second effort to add false depth to Zanza’s character.

Conclusion Overall, Meyneth suffers from a lack of focus that is sadly common to many of the female characters in xenoblade 1.  A lack of insight as to her inner thoughts combined with her extreme pacificism make for a narratively weak character who seems to be either fundamentally weaker in-story than her sworn nemesis or so committed to talking to him and making him realize the error of his ways that it literally gets her killed.  I find it most likely that the writers simply intended for her to be weaker than Zanza for unspecified reasons: disappointing, but not surprising.

What gets to me the most is that it didn’t have to be this way.  Even if she were just as strong as Zanza and/or more willing to fight against him, she would still have a significant disadvantage against him that sets the ground for the conflict seen in the game: her care for the lives and wills of mortals.  Her care to minimize collateral damage in the form of mortal lives will always give Zanza the upper hand in battle, whether directly in the form of attacking mortals being another way to hurt Meyneth or indirectly in the fact that Zanza has no qualms about manipulating mortals to do his will, while Meyneth likely would consider such a thing to be immoral and avoid it.  That, to me, would be a far more interesting setup than what we got in-game.

If you made it all the way to the end, thanks for reading! Please drop a comment or leave some tags, I'd love to keep discussing this.

[darkspear-dancers]

What if Ahualti was worshipped as a Loa? What primal form would she take, and what aspect would she represent?

Throughout all trollkind's history, only a handful of heroic and mythic figures have ever risen to the status of being venerated as a loa. Some, so it is said, retain their trollish form, such as Zanza and Bwonsamdi.

Ahuatli makes no such claims to greatness, but if this was her destiny, she would prefer to retain the hips her ma'da gave her. Failing that, she would be quite content to adopt the aspect of the snow leopard, and evoke the serene grace of the great wintry cat.

[ Thank you so much for the ask, @safrona-shadowsun !! ^^ ]

[seagullcharmer]

fanfic end of the year ask game. 3. 14. 25.

3. favorite line / scene you wrote this year

this one's just a silly snippet from a linkverse chatfic i'm theoretically writing but:

forest gremlin (not starlight): hello everyone. does anyone have tips for getting younger siblings to stop climbing you like a tree? #1 big brother: lol nope! you just gotta deal with it wild child: i’ve literally never had that problem. i am too short 😔😔😔 wild child: wish i did tho. i love kids 🥰 herding GOATs: bribe them with something else  herding GOATs: or make an escape and climb a bigger tree where they can’t follow you forest gremlin (not starlight): thank you firefly for being the only helpful link in this chat <3 herding GOATs: 👌 forest gremlin (not starlight): nvm forgot that we’re all forest children here. these kids have been climbing trees longer than i’ve been alive sleepyhead: lmao throw ‘em like a remlit

in contrast, this exchange:

Zanza turned his head, hair obscuring his face. “Does it matter? I have long been forgotten. I have committed unforgivable acts. Even you were going to betray me, were you not, my child?” Alvis shifted. “I could never disobey an order, sir.”

14. a fic you didn't expect to write

i haven't written much this year, but i guess i didn't expect to update her becoming?? also wrote a little bit for rusty lake roots, which was a surprise

25. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read

the artificial aegis project forever and ever!!!! but i will also always shamelessly plug soup and to be a sword . and since i'm currently rereading it, also my favourite botw/aoc fic honey nut. i think i've already read it twice this year.

[xenoblademisadventures]

Guys, I'm in a mood. Hot takes time for each Xenoblade. >:3

Xenoblade 1

Egil is a lame antagonist

The game's themes fucking suck

Dunban is the worst designed character in the series, in terms of gameplay

Zanza was more interesting before we knew about his other half.

Metal Face is one of, if not the, single best written antagonists in the series.

Melia's character design is really ass.

Xenoblade X

The writing is actually really good. Especially factoring in the sidequests.

X has the best gameplay in the series, but it also has, by far, the worst combat.

The series has yet to make a more compelling antagonist than Lao, despite having tried repeatedly.

Elma is underrated.

X has the best plot twists in the series. In particular the mimeosome twist is the single best plot twist Monolith has ever written.

X is literally the only good open world game. Easily outclassing more famous titles like Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring.

Tatsu is inoffensive, even considering how extraneous he is.

I actually liked the food jokes. They felt homey. Even if they weren't particularly funny.

Thank fuck Cross never happened again. The actual worst protagonist in the series.

Elma has the best character design in the series. But True Form is arguably worse than Pyra.

Xenoblade 2

The only good character designs are the NPCs, and even then, 2's NPCs are much lamer than the rest of the series'.

2's additions to the lore were universally shit.

I really liked 2's combat, but I also think almost every boss fight in the game was shit.

Rex shouldn't have been in the game. Pyra should've been the actual protagonist.

The tensions between Mor Ardain and Uraya were interesting, up until the game decided to drop it for literally no reason.

It's frankly a miracle that the game is polished and playable considering how disjointed it feels fundamentally.

Dromarch and Ursula bug me particularly because Polar Bears and Cats canonically went extinct.

The music in 2 would be good if it wasn't for the horrible misusage of certain songs. Shadow of the Lowlands is the greatest offender and actually ruins the song for me, but Counterattack, Ancient Vessel, Spirit Elpys Crucible, and such were also horribly mishandled.

Tora can burn in hell. What the fuck?

I don't like anything revolving around how Klaus was handled in 2. Also the beginning of the "Meyneth never happened saga."

I don't think it counts as a hot take to say that Pyra's character design is ass, actively ruins the mood of every scene she's in, and makes the character writing worse. But I also have to add that it isn't just that the artist was jacking off. Even if Pyra was the most modestly designed character in the game, her design would still be ass. And that applies to every other shitty design in the game (except Dahlia, where the problem really is just.. why?)

2 is, by far, the worst game in the series. That said, I'd consider it a relatively inoffensive game if it wasn't a Xenoblade game, and I do get why people like it.

That said, the way 2 handles its themes is pretty lame.

Also, the way 2 concludes Pyra's and Mythra's arcs is offensively terrible. That's just not how you should ever conclude a massive arc, nor is that how you should fucking conclude a suicide arc.

"Nia. I love you. I love you and all you guys." is still the single funniest line of dialogue in the series.

Torna the Golden Country

It's really funny seeing the camera guy suffer.

This dlc singlehandedly makes Pyra a good character, despite Pyra having zero lines of dialogue in it.

I wish this was the main game.

Xenoblade DE

They made Reyn ugly.

I don't like that they lowered the cooldown of Melia's Reflect Art.

I don't like the change to Alvis's character design. Not just the core crystal, which recontextualizes how the audience interacts with the character, but also they made his jacket less fluffy. What the fuck?

I just generally don't like the Alvis is Ontos thing specifically because it I liked how he was handled in the original and I dislike the retcons 2 made to the lore. That said, I do like how the concept was handled in Future Redeemed.

I don't like the remix of Engage the Enemy. I feel like it misses the point of the original song by making the vocals so much more present.

Future Connected

I don't mind the story, but it also contributed absolutely nothing to the larger story.

Haven't played the game, but I can't imagine removing the Vision and Chain Attack mechanics from 1's combat would contribute a positive change in the gameplay.

Xenoblade 3

The designs for the main characters are, on average, presentable but not very good. In particular, I really dislike Noah's and Eunie's class outfits. They just feel out of place and don't vibe with the characters.

Z is the only good villain in this game. While N had a compelling backstory, every moment he was on screen took away from that.

Joran was such a bad villain that he made Lanz a significantly less interesting character in the process. Same with Eunie.

The only instance of "backstory character that got revived" working for me was Taion's mentor (forgot her name). Every other time, it was handled in a way that took away from the story.

3 has by far the best designed combat in the series, and I'd be surprised if Monolith manages to top it any time soon.

3's level design isn't on par with X, but I wouldn't mind the series going this direction in the future.

Camera button was the best idea the series has had in a long time.

Future Redeemed

Having the game tell you completion% singlehandedly ruined the exploration for me.

I found Rex, Glimmer, and Nikol to be rather underwhelming. Especially when I was excited to see what Monolith would do with them upon introduction.

This really should've been a standalone game rather than a DLC. Too many character arcs got skipped over. The combat seriously suffers from lack of customization options. Matthew and A didn't really have enough time to establish themselves. Neither did Na'el, even though I really like her. Alpha would've also benefitted a lot from having more time to cook.

Overall. Mixed to negative opinions about this one, but I'm still really glad to have experienced it.

A would've been the best designed support in the series if their AI couldn't use their Talent Art.

[goro-pancake-akechi]

Spoilers for the entire Xeno Series

I love how the final boss of Xenogears representing Miang's world of death is called Ouroborus, and the ending song representing Fei and Elly's love, while called Small Two of Pieces in English, is called Moebius in Japanese. I love how Xenoblade 3 shows that Fei and Elly's desire to be together forever is ultimately empty, and that instead they should enjoy the time they have. I love that it paints the cycle of death that Miang thrived from as at least being better than an eternity trapped in a single moment. I love how Xenoblade 3 shows that Fei's desire to be with Elly forever would have driven him to a point where he essentially becomes Grahf. I love that N doesn't represent Id or the Coward, but simply Fei himself, and his inability to cope with the loss of a loved one. I love that Noah represents his hope that the future will be bright, and his determination to change it if it isn't. I love that N and Noah represent the two aspects of Fei that allowed him to overcome every challenge he faced in Xenogears. I love that Noah still shares that sadness and pain from loss, but is able to accept it. I love that in the ending, Noah and Mio are running to the end of the world, like in Moebius/Small Two of Pieces. I love that all of this was set up in Fei's previous incarnations, such as Kim, who did something similar himself when he lost a loved one. I love that this is absolutely what happens with Fei in Perfect Works Chapter 6. I love that all of this has been eluded to with previous Xeno villains. Wilhelm's Eternal Recurrence. Zanza's cycle of death and rebirth. Jin's moment of eternity. And now, N and Z's Endless Now. Perfect Works Chapter 6 has been the biggest Xeno Series mystery for so long, but Takahashi has been telling us what it was this entire time. We just didn't realize it until he told us that with Xenoblade 3 that Fei had a part in causing it. I love the Xeno Series. And as sad as I am to see the end of Perfect Works, I'm excited to see where Takahashi will take the series in the future. This is the best story ever told, and I cannot thank Takahashi enough for creating all of these wonderful experiences.

[the-smashor]

How I would personally include the Madou Monogatari Chronology lore into the current Puyo Puyo canon (For reference, I am 100% certain it's not currently canon, or at least as is)

1. Lillith is already a thing, thanks to Chaotic Final Exam. Her creating that world with the Sepharim Orb is also still fine. Maybe change her name to "Lily" or something if Sega can't legally use her, especially since it would fit how Satan's pet names tend to work. Though I doubt she'd need to be mentioned by name at all, and could probably just get an indirect reference like Wish in 20th, though a direct appearance wouldn't be horrible, of course.

2. Satan's backstory is great. Hell, part of me thinks that's still canon to an extent, given what Satan says to Squares about somebody always seeking absolute control.

3. The Creator's characterisation. Now, purely serious villains are actually pretty common in Puyo Puyo. Ex and Squares didn't really have jokes until after their defeat, if at all. They're memorable due to being tragic, complex characters with understandable motivation. Possessed Marle and PP7 Ecolo, meanwhile, were more or less just kinda crazy, which isn't a direction I want to go for either. So I'm thinking The Creator (Who would probably have a different name) would have an arrogant, self-centered personality. Think of him as like Zanza from Xenoblade or Zamasu from Dragon Ball Super, or a less angry Gabriel from ULTRAKILL. This would help him be memorable due to his sheer stage presence when he appears. It could also lead to some fun interactions with other members of the cast, and is an archetype we haven't really seen.

4. The Demon in the tome of sealing should either be connected to The Creator or should be fully revealed prior to them showing up, because how on earth is that going to be considered a threat when God has already been defeated?

5. This is the biggest one, don't make the entire thing happen offscreen. The Creator should have at least a solid game dedicated to them as a villain. And it should happen after PPT2 as well. Puyo has recently had major power escalation. Ecolo almost broke the multiverse twice, Ex prevents the multiverse from merging together and Squares is even higher on that cosmic latter. God is honestly just the next logical step at this point.

6. Related, the end of the conflict should also change. The "Nobody has souls anymore" implication is very much a no-go. Arle can still have her crazy super form thing, but I also don't want this to just put the Fever and 7 casts on the bench. Just make the form a one time thing or make it a sorta power of friendship boost (Which isn't unheard of in this series, it's what let Squares be defeated) instead of whatever the heck the Chronology did. Either that or make a flashback to Chaotic Final Exam to the extent Sega legally can so people aren't completely lost.

7. In general, keep the tone the same as usual for this series. Basically, like how Kirby games do it for those who aren't aware. Not a whole lot of angst, and leave anything messed up for people who look into it. God is trying to destroy the world, that's all you really gotta know.

[kimzee-the-great]

Guess who finished Future Redeemed today.

There will be spoilers below the cut, so be warned.

Now I've been a Xenoblade (I have yet to be able to play any Gears or Saga games) since 2016. I have played and beaten every game in the series. And I have to say that Future Redeemed might be either right at the top or pretty damn close to it.

To be honest, I think I'm just gonna shout all my feelings here. So I apologise if you don't like walls of text.

It felt like a game made for fans of both 1 and 2, and the fact that the original Xenoblade Chronicles is my favourite game of all time (I have a monado tattoo and a Shulk cosplay to prove it) really helped me just fall in love with this DLC.

There were just so many references, so many areas and so much just felt familiar. I cried when they let you walk around Colony 9 and you got to see how it had changed.

But I think the thing that got me the most, was when the party went into Origin. We got to find out more about the Savorite Rebels. We got to find out more about Klaus' world. It was a massive pay off and I'm so happy that it happened.

And that fight against Alpha. That music gave me massive Zanza the Divine vibes and it fit so well. And also the music continued if you went into a chain attack!!

And the fact that we got to see that both Rex and Shulk had children and we got to meet them. The fact that they were trapped in that cycle and had no idea who Rex and Shulk were to them broke me, when I picked up the hints the game was dropping.

Although the thing that broke me the most, was definitely the thoughts that stuck with me. This game might be the last in the Klaus saga. Meaning that this might be the last time we get to see anything from the characters in this game. And that does make me really sad. I know that before we knew of this game, we thought we might have seen the last of the MCs from the previous games. But now it feels all too real.

I do hope they come back in a future game, but if they don't, I will really miss hearing Adam Howden voicing Shulk.

Okay my ramblings are over. Thank you for reading this mess. For your time, I offer you a cookie 🍪 .

There is probably more I want to say, but I can't think of anything right now. But I am looking forward to whatever Monolith have in store for us next.

[xenobabble]

Please have some sparkles, if that’s alright!! I’m excited to get to hear about your OCs!!~ ✨✨✨✨

Thank you!! I'll do one OC per blade game, I think, since we got 4 sparkles here :3

Menyx is embued with enough Meyneth Power(tm) that they can vaguely sense Zanza's influence on others. Shulk, Dickson, and Alvis all set them off -- they aren't a fan of Miqol being friendly with them.

(art by @bionisinterior!)

Roderick is a Urayan Garfont Merc. Vandham and co actually saved him from ending up dead like his parents by killing his parents' killer. He looks up to Vandham and became a merch shortly after turning 18!

Exterina or E for short, is a Xeno who crash lands on Mira sometime during the events of Xenoblade X. They don't seem to remember what their species even is, or perhaps they're just faking...?

Shura is a Defender-type Kevesi from Colony 11. His weapon is a gunlance, similar to Reyn's from Xenoblade 1's. He's very disconnected from life after living in Aionios and seems to find the idea of death boring more than anything.

[felikatze]

wroah... so the big reveal was just that N is a shit boyfriend huh

(post ch5 scream dump)

[this post is about N Xenoblade. i am not saying that N pokemon is a shit boyfriend. i am sure he is quite sweet.]

my god FINALLYYYYY N and M got explained and i am VERY happy with what the truth ended up being

the game doesnt tell you the logistics of it bcuz THE LOGISTICS DONT MATTER BABEY! THIS IS SYMBOLISM TOWN

noah and mio as the personification of N and M's regrets and hopes.... emotional

i looove that afterlife sequence where mio is doing a grim reaper impression and noah sees all of N's life and mio asks him. "would you choose again?" bcuz that's what noah is. as much as N convinced himself (had to convince himself) that he made the right choice some part of him still wanted to chose again so of course noah would pick differently.

just like. a lot of great moments in this stretch of the game! i fuckin love how N just got what's coming. It was fun how comically evil and dead inside he was during the whole castle agnus prison sequence, only for it to be revealed that M spent that entire time just hoping N would give up the ghost and spend time with her. But he didnt. He was so obsessed with forever that he let now slide from his grasp. She didnt want eternity. She just wanted a little longer. God.

The M/Mio switcheroo made me HOWL jesus christ i was giddy. how meyneth of M. hmmmm. same letter. And so N continues the zanza tradition of eternity obsessed guys who are just assholes in very mundane ways

like i looove how N broke down also. that's karma bitch. but then again the game makes him a tragic figure by showing his backstory AND THEN calls him a coward because Noah Is N and if noah could chose differently so could N. that's tha point of parallels yea. also that flashback of N tearing the city down and M just yelling at him that he's torn down everything they've built

and CHRIST the reveal that N and M were part of the first ouroboros. i did cry a bit at the scene where N is saying goodbye to his son and then he destroys the city and its like. yeah he just killed his grandkids or whatever. chriiiist.

i'm a bit miffed M didnt have more screentime before all this to establish more that she well and truly hates what N's doing even if she still loves him. Like it WORKS but i wish she had more time before chapter 5 the same way N got built up as an antagonist

N Xenoblade Yandere Moments. that's what devotion does to a mfer. like i do do love how the same innocent feelings of love that Noah has toward Mio can get twisted into. that. like at some point for N it wasnt abt being close to M as a person anymore. it was just abt keeping her around as long as possible. From love to possession yeah? I mean. literally locking up M in jail bcuz of a switcheroo isnt a subtle metaphor. she just wnatrd to be with him a bit more but he was too blind to see it shbfjfbgjgn. wails.

tgis ended up mainly abt N and M cuz they are the first guys to noah and mio's second guys and i'm a slut for these kh-esque identity shenanigans. N and Noah are on the opposite end of the Same Guy spectrum as M and Mio which is so fun. N and Noah having their fuckin Ventus v Vanitas type beat meanwhile M and Mio pulled a Crimson King Adol fusion in the background. if you understood both of these you have good taste in video games. thanks.

SOOOO MUCH i could talk abt. noah punching his knuckles bloody. M essentially committing suicide. SHANIA. shania actually committing suicide. sena's whole self worth arc running behind all this. her and lanz almost blowing tf up. ghondor. ghondor is so fucking funny. YOU CANT JUST CUT THE TENSION BY LITERALLY SAYING "I'M BACK BITCHES" OR SO HELP ME GOD

monica must've been a mom at 15 for ghondor to be 18. wild.

i think this is most of the thoughts that would otherwise keep me up at night. good game

[katribou]

going from fighting level 100+ monsters to then fighting level 81 god in xenoblade (quote is from spy kids)

[gramoturtle]

Tag Meme: show your lockscreen, last song listened to, last photo in your camera roll. Thank you @whimsicalbumblebee for tagging me!

Lock screen: I don't have the source of what my actual lock screen cause it looks like the artist deleted their accounts so I don't feel comfortable posting their art without a source, so here's one that's kinda in the right direction that I did try having as a lock screen when trying to decide my current one.

Source by pssgrtak (Xenoblade 1 spoilers)

Last "Song": Counting Backwards to Infinity from Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass OST

A "song" I like to associate with Sho Minamimoto at the end of TWEWY. Came up in a conversation and wanted to share it so I got to "listen" to this again.

Last photo: I was gifted this bar of earl grey chocolate so I wanted to remember it so i can buy it later!

Tagging: @twixtandshout @qrovidcore @tisorridalamor if you feel like doing this!

[eaglefairy]

A new world is born.

Began with a little world tour to kill some unique monsters and get more experience (and affinity coins)

After the Bana fight Roommate: Huh, I wonder where Bana went after this. Me, gleeful: Oh? You want to see Bana now? ... Roommate: He's on the wheel now! Me: He's on the wheel now!

I'd recommend looking back at the previous post on my blog for a conversation much too long and winding to include in this post. It's worth it. Trust me

We're finally back at Prison Island and we literally walked past the fight that made her ragequit last week. The deinos don't attack us on sight anymore and the rest of the enemies won't spawn if they aren't fought so we just. walked past.

...and we just got the second bolt element so we are once again not fighting Dickson. This is like the third time we've walked away from the main story in the endgame, it's honestly kind of funny at this point

Upon seeing Demon King Dragonia for the first time: "OH. MY. GOD." "Ok but can you imagine like canonically...like people talk about the giants sometimes but no one talks about the dragons. And then finding out they're real??"

So I thought we were mostly keeping up with the collectopaedia, but we're looking at it again and we're missing items in Colony 6, the Ether Mine, Makna Forest, Valak Mountain, two from Galahad Fortress, and the Fallen Arm. What...what happened?!

My roommate is very disappointed that we don't really get any lore about the dragons and honestly, I agree with her. They're so cool and there's only three of them and we don't know anything about them except that they were likely important to the Giants because of their presence in the decor of Prison Island

Oh shit we're going for it. Past the point of no return!

Oh oops, I didn't make it clear that "point of no return" meant that she couldn't save past that point. Well, at least we have the autosave at Gondorl

Dickson...his death really tore her up. This is the only time she's cried throughout the whole game

:Saturn: Roommate: "Saturn, ok." still sniffling Me: "Saturn." Roommate: "...wait, Saturn?!"

"Jupiter?! So I'm actively in the solar system?!"

We're at the Moon now. "So the whole thing...the whole thing happened on Earth?! What the hell happened to Earth?!"

"Oh good, we don't have to fight Alvis. He'd probably beat me" (we are about to fight Zanza, she doesn't know yet)

I forgot how horribly ugly Zanza's second form is, wow. The roommate is not impressed either

Alvis: "I am Monado." Roommate: "I KNEW IT! I said that last week! Tell them I said that last week, Eagle."

Oh interesting, the experiment cutscene in 1 doesn't actually show Galea touching the button. I always thought it had. I'll have to rewatch the version from 2 then to see if my anger at the retcon is as justified as I thought

Time to beating Zanza: 99 hours

Final roommate stats: Game rating: 10/10, 5/5 stars, absolutely perfect game. Worldbuilding, design, characters, perfect Favorite character: Dickson, obviously Top 4: Dickson and Riki are both number one (whole head and whole heart respectively), Sharla and Reyn are number two, everyone else is below those Favorite area: Valak Mountain (and really any area that glows) Least favorite area: Bionis Interior by FAR Favorite town: Frontier Village Favorite party member to play: Fiora Favorite and least favorite story beat: Mechonis Core (because it's complicated) Favorite uncomplicated story beat: When Xord speaks for the first time and when Fiora is discovered to be alive Most heartbreaking moment: Dickson's death

Thank you all so much for joining us on this journey. I never thought I'd be liveblogging the entire game like this when I started, but it's been so fun to chronicle the entire game for the good people of tumblr. I've made new friends through this! Reaching the end of this game is bittersweet (heavy on the sweet), but it's certainly not the end of the liveblog! It's not even the end of this liveblog, honestly. Join us again tomorrow for more sidequests!

[archivestoriescrafted]

aYYYE I’M 25 WHAT THE F UCK