#and one said he needs to vote for the piranha one

[arcsin27]

It’s not very strong but I’m convinced I have a Chicago or at least Midwestern accent, and I’ve noticed I say some things kinda differently than I’d expect to

And really to reiterate I know I’m saying piranha and almond incorrectly, at this point I refuse to change out of spite and stubbornness. Plus piranha should have the same vowel as plant so the mario enemy’s name (which is where I first learned the word) makes sense 😤

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

Rick Riordan Characters as Things People I Know Have Said

Percy: "Aw man, I wasted my toilet piranhas!"

Annabeth: "Oh yeah? Well, I have a hyperfixation and autism, so there!"

Grover: "I have tried to eat my bedside table."

Luke: "You have no dignity, you’ll find something hot enough that humans like.”

Thalia: "There's a knife in the store, and he might pull it on you~~~ [to the tune of AIWFCIY]."

Jason: “How did I die by going down a waterslide?”

Piper: “Jesus is with the sapphics. Are you? Vote blue!”

Leo: "How’s our pasta Jenga collection going?”

Nico: "Pretty please with your desecrated organs on top?"

Will: "[Name], that is textbook reading, not fanfiction."

Hazel: “What the frick-frackity gosh darn crick-crackity.”

Frank: "I will throw my grandmother at you. Just her ashes though, because she’s dead.”

Rachel: “That’s it, take off your shoe, I’m throwing it out the window. And since it’s a Croc, I bet I can get it stuck in that tree.”

Reyna: “You can choke him out later.”

Coach Hedge: “The priest just attacked me with a bowling ball."

Apollo: "Oh yeah? I got a jazz square, and I'm not afraid to use it!"

Chiron: “You have one job and that is to be violent.” (He sets the mic down then realizes and picks it up again) “I meant, not violent.”

Sadie: "Did they have milk in the 1990s? Did they have s*x in the 1990s?”

Carter: "You made fourth-dimensional rats. I don't want to hear it.”

Walt: “I either need a historian or Jesus. Or live-action Shaggy.”

Zia: “I wouldn't love you if you were a worm. I only love God.”

[helios-serpentine]

how do you kill a god? / private training. (tw: gore, death, fake blood)

He had a plan, walking into that room. 

A solid one, clear and calculated. His confidence, nonchalant and sure, was underlined by how he approached the Gamemakers in their booth and stopped a good distance away from them. Posture straight and arms crossed behind his back like during an evaluation in the Academy. Prim and proper and raised to be right where he was standing. 

He introduced himself, just like he had practised. Clear voice, blank face. Not overly cocky, not unsure of himself. Helios wanted to give the Gamemakers a clean slate to judge him from. The only thing that mattered, was his presentation now. That was exactly what would make or break his chance for sponsorships over others in the Arena. Make or break his right to respect, or fear. 

Turning, he directed his gaze toward the entirety of the large room. For what he had in mind, he needed all of it, after all. 

With a faint noise, his clock began to tick down. 

Games: 4th Arena: Capitol Arena Victor: Myron Vestis, District One

“Quite a while before Academies existed in One,” he began while approaching the racks with weapons, picking out a spear, “the District already got its first victor. There was no finesse to what Myron Vestis did there, not even a little bit.” Helios lifted one leg and broke the wooden spear in two over his knee. He carried both ends of the weapon towards one simulation station, one where flesh coloured dummies with robotic skeletons waited to give tributes worse beatings than those orange holograms ever could. 

Helios chose the highest setting. 

Immediately the dummy jumped into action, robotic movements as Helios stepped onto the square that limited the training dummy’s range of movements. ���All brute force,” Helios said, right before beginning to defend himself against relentless blows directed his way. A dodge of a hit to his face, another hit blocked by one half of the spear. Had this been purely Helios, he would have played this thing up for longer, like a cat with its prey. But this wasn’t entirely about him right then. 

He was re-enacting past victories. As a proof. An assurance. 

Narrowly dodging another punch, Helios put all his might behind hitting the dummy over the head to throw it off its rhythm even just a little bit. A robot was different from a person. This hit could have taken someone out right then, but that was not how it had happened in the Arena either. Myron had had the broken end of a stick to defend himself against another brute from Two. The robot faltered but the difficulty set for the simulation ensured that it was back to normal quicker than Helios would have liked. Still, he dodged another hit, before he jammed the jagged edges of the spear where a leg muscle would have been, knocking the robot down to his knees. 

Helios kneeled as well. Then, with a dull, odd sound, the end of the broken spear sank smack dab into the middle of the dummy’s face. The other end caught in the training mat below. 

The dummy was left slumped over, right where it had been defeated. 

Games: 25th Arena: Tropical Swamp Victor: Celeste Prospera, District One

“You know best what the reaping twist for the first Quarter Quell was. Vote for your neighbours, friends, or the next best bitch you want to get rid of. Fascinating concept, but this wasn’t really meant to put the best of the best into that Arena. Just the worst.” 

Celeste Prospera and her District partner had fought their final battle right next to a piranha infested river, brackish water that was unfit to drink. 

Celeste had been chosen because she was the daughter of the commonly despised mayor. Her district partner, Mink, was a convicted murderer who had slaughtered an entire family in their sleep. 

Helios did not choose a weapon at all this time. Highest setting once more, he found himself embroiled in a fist fight, an up and down, constant struggle for the upper hand. The dummy before had bled. Cold and an odd shade of red, but the rubbery skin had been broken all the same. He took a fist to the stomach this time and it punched the breath from his lungs in a way he could never do to a robot. Helios forced himself to recover quickly, to remember the story he had been told in those history classes that had gone over every single victor from One. 

He twisted around the robotic dummy, quick and light on his feet. In a move that had been crudely dubbed ‘The Prospera’, Helios jumped onto the dummy’s back and held on tight. Mink hadn’t been able to get hits in on Celeste while she was on his back, and she’d clung to him like a goddamn monkey, unable to be thrown off. 

The piranhas eagerly awaiting a quick meal would not be the ones getting in a bite this time. That final time. 

Helios’ jammed his teeth into the robot's neck with all his might. They broke through the rubber until a sickeningly sweet liquid, cold and stale filled his mouth. He forced himself to stay on the dummy’s back even while it thrashed and jolted like a wild horse, intent on throwing him off at all costs. Without cringing, he ripped out the spongy side of the dummy’s neck, right where the artificial carotid resided. Fake blood spraying, they both fell to the ground. Helios got to his feet moments later, spitting the mess of rubber skin and blood to the ground. 

Below him, the dummy had found death, just like Mink had at Celeste’s hands so many years ago. 

Games: 63rd Arena: Hot Desert Victor: Gloss Shimmer, District One

Artificial crimson blood dripped from his chin as he moved on, wiping at it with the back of his hand. Half of his time was over already. It had seemed longer and simultaneously much shorter. Still, he had more things ahead of him that he needed to get through. To prove himself just how he had imagined. 

“63, the Academy in One’s capital was gearing up to be one of the most fruitful in the country. They sent Gloss Shimmer, and he did not disappoint, did he?” 

That Arena had been a simmering hot desert, scarce of water and food and any resource that didn’t depend on sponsorships. It had been a fast and brutal Games. The career alliance had not idled with hunting down tributes, but the scarcity of anything remotely resembling something safe drove the outer district tributes rather desperate as well. It was survival instinct versus trained killers, and the Capitol had gotten a fast paced show for the ages. 

Gloss stood out, still. Charismatic and skilled, he fooled some of his fellow tributes into a sense of safety they were so sorely lacking. By the time there were only three people left, he talked one into killing the other. And the last one - well, Helios had never wanted to end up like the poor bastard from Eight. 

He grabbed a sword, entering the next simulation area. Highest setting, standardised, he fought a tribute holding a mace. Lithe movements, akin to a dance so custom to One these days that it was refreshing to try other things sometimes. Fighting had evolved, styles were different, moves invented and reinvented. Helios suffered one more hit from the mace, something that left his upper arm throbbing with pain. He clenched his teeth through it, carried on parrying the swings with the blade of his sword. Waiting for an in, he eventually got it. An opening, arms spread out, the blank mask of the dummy’s face revealing nothing as it reeled for a short moment. 

Helios lifted his sword, practised aim and intensity, and did what had been done almost almost forty-five years ago. The arm holding the mace was hacked clean off. Blood sprayed. The other arm followed. More blood covered the training centre ground. Helios watched the dummy slump to the ground, twitching without its arms, defenceless as it bled out. Gloss had waited for the last of his opponents to bleed out. Had savoured the last of his minutes in the Arena ticking down to nothingness in the boiling hot sun. 

Helios didn’t have that much time. 

He drove his sword through the dummy’s back, piercing the spot between his ribs, right where its heart should have been.  

Games: 64th Arena: Mountain Victor: Cashmere Shimmer, District One

“Cashmere was a fighter, but she wasn’t as cruel as her brother. Or so I’ve been told. I’ve heard she was cold, but she followed the rules, some basic decency while playing the game. She knew she was going to win, so she didn’t beat around the bush. Except for the end. There, she played it like a Shimmer.” 

This Arena had been a mountain. Cold and unforgiving terrain, traversing the space was sometimes so tricky that injuries occurred without any external influence at all. It was cold and from the recaps he’d seen, it must have sucked to be in there. Still, the finale had been one that’d gripped the nation, had people lean forward in their seats to watch the tragedy unfold. 

There’d been a snow storm, terrible winds that made the edges of the slopes even more dangerous to traverse. 

There had been Cashmere, and the last remaining person in her alliance, another girl from Four, and the piece of rope Cashmere had received as a sponsor gift. 

Helios took a piece of rope as well, expertly fashioning it into a noose. He switched on the next simulation, swiftly moving to the side to climb up the net attached to the side of the wall. Up above, there was a beam that Helios wrapped the other end of the rope around, before swinging the other end at the dummy roaming its territory on the mat below. It took him two tries to catch the dummy’s neck. With some difficulty, he hoisted the struggling, flailing dummy up into the air, having it swing right below the beam he was sitting on. 

It was a bit trickier to recreate Cashmere’s victory, but this would have to do. Remembering the way Cashmere had first tied the noose and then shoved the girl off the edge, Helios tied the rope around the beam securely. A gust of wind had come, had caused Cashmere to trip and to fall right over the edge. She’d managed to hold onto her dangling fellow tribute, and she’d had to cling on even after the announcement had sounded, up until the Hovercraft had come to collect her. 

Helios dropped from the beam, holding on to the still trashing dummy. Rubber and metal constructs were no match for skin and bones and everything that held a human body together. Very much unlike the girl from Four, the dummy’s body that Helios was holding onto separated from its head. Helios landed on his feet right next to the unmoving body. 

It was at that moment that the buzzer sounded. 

There had been more he’d wanted to do, but his time was up. Gone, right alongside the haze of focus guiding his every movement. He pushed out a shuddering breath. 

Helios stepped off the training mat, four separate sections left in a bloodied mess behind him. 

“Thank you for your consideration. Expect a fucking show.”

[maytheoddshq]

Helios Serpentine. District One. Score: NINE.

(tw: gore, death, fake blood)

He had a plan, walking into that room. 

A solid one, clear and calculated. His confidence, nonchalant and sure, was underlined by how he approached the Gamemakers in their booth and stopped a good distance away from them. Posture straight and arms crossed behind his back like during an evaluation in the Academy. Prim and proper and raised to be right where he was standing. 

He introduced himself, just like he had practised. Clear voice, blank face. Not overly cocky, not unsure of himself. Helios wanted to give the Gamemakers a clean slate to judge him from. The only thing that mattered, was his presentation now. That was exactly what would make or break his chance for sponsorships over others in the Arena. Make or break his right to respect, or fear. 

Turning, he directed his gaze toward the entirety of the large room. For what he had in mind, he needed all of it, after all. 

With a faint noise, his clock began to tick down. 

Games: 4th Arena: Capitol Arena Victor: Myron Vestis, District One

“Quite a while before Academies existed in One,” he began while approaching the racks with weapons, picking out a spear, “the District already got its first victor. There was no finesse to what Myron Vestis did there, not even a little bit.” Helios lifted one leg and broke the wooden spear in two over his knee. He carried both ends of the weapon towards one simulation station, one where flesh coloured dummies with robotic skeletons waited to give tributes worse beatings than those orange holograms ever could. 

Helios chose the highest setting. 

Immediately the dummy jumped into action, robotic movements as Helios stepped onto the square that limited the training dummy’s range of movements. “All brute force,” Helios said, right before beginning to defend himself against relentless blows directed his way. A dodge of a hit to his face, another hit blocked by one half of the spear. Had this been purely Helios, he would have played this thing up for longer, like a cat with its prey. But this wasn’t entirely about him right then. 

He was re-enacting past victories. As a proof. An assurance. 

Narrowly dodging another punch, Helios put all his might behind hitting the dummy over the head to throw it off its rhythm even just a little bit. A robot was different from a person. This hit could have taken someone out right then, but that was not how it had happened in the Arena either. Myron had had the broken end of a stick to defend himself against another brute from Two. The robot faltered but the difficulty set for the simulation ensured that it was back to normal quicker than Helios would have liked. Still, he dodged another hit, before he jammed the jagged edges of the spear where a leg muscle would have been, knocking the robot down to his knees. 

Helios kneeled as well. Then, with a dull, odd sound, the end of the broken spear sank smack dab into the middle of the dummy’s face. The other end caught in the training mat below. 

The dummy was left slumped over, right where it had been defeated. 

Games: 25th Arena: Tropical Swamp Victor: Celeste Prospera, District One

“You know best what the reaping twist for the first Quarter Quell was. Vote for your neighbours, friends, or the next best bitch you want to get rid of. Fascinating concept, but this wasn’t really meant to put the best of the best into that Arena. Just the worst.” 

Celeste Prospera and her District partner had fought their final battle right next to a piranha infested river, brackish water that was unfit to drink. 

Celeste had been chosen because she was the daughter of the commonly despised mayor. Her district partner, Mink, was a convicted murderer who had slaughtered an entire family in their sleep. 

Helios did not choose a weapon at all this time. Highest setting once more, he found himself embroiled in a fist fight, an up and down, constant struggle for the upper hand. The dummy before had bled. Cold and an odd shade of red, but the rubbery skin had been broken all the same. He took a fist to the stomach this time and it punched the breath from his lungs in a way he could never do to a robot. Helios forced himself to recover quickly, to remember the story he had been told in those history classes that had gone over every single victor from One. 

He twisted around the robotic dummy, quick and light on his feet. In a move that had been crudely dubbed ‘The Prospera’, Helios jumped onto the dummy’s back and held on tight. Mink hadn’t been able to get hits in on Celeste while she was on his back, and she’d clung to him like a goddamn monkey, unable to be thrown off. 

The piranhas eagerly awaiting a quick meal would not be the ones getting in a bite this time. That final time. 

Helios’ jammed his teeth into the robot's neck with all his might. They broke through the rubber until a sickeningly sweet liquid, cold and stale filled his mouth. He forced himself to stay on the dummy’s back even while it thrashed and jolted like a wild horse, intent on throwing him off at all costs. Without cringing, he ripped out the spongy side of the dummy’s neck, right where the artificial carotid resided. Fake blood spraying, they both fell to the ground. Helios got to his feet moments later, spitting the mess of rubber skin and blood to the ground. 

Below him, the dummy had found death, just like Mink had at Celeste’s hands so many years ago. 

Games: 63rd Arena: Hot Desert Victor: Gloss Shimmer, District One

Artificial crimson blood dripped from his chin as he moved on, wiping at it with the back of his hand. Half of his time was over already. It had seemed longer and simultaneously much shorter. Still, he had more things ahead of him that he needed to get through. To prove himself just how he had imagined. 

“63, the Academy in One’s capital was gearing up to be one of the most fruitful in the country. They sent Gloss Shimmer, and he did not disappoint, did he?” 

That Arena had been a simmering hot desert, scarce of water and food and any resource that didn’t depend on sponsorships. It had been a fast and brutal Games. The career alliance had not idled with hunting down tributes, but the scarcity of anything remotely resembling something safe drove the outer district tributes rather desperate as well. It was survival instinct versus trained killers, and the Capitol had gotten a fast paced show for the ages. 

Gloss stood out, still. Charismatic and skilled, he fooled some of his fellow tributes into a sense of safety they were so sorely lacking. By the time there were only three people left, he talked one into killing the other. And the last one - well, Helios had never wanted to end up like the poor bastard from Eight. 

He grabbed a sword, entering the next simulation area. Highest setting, standardised, he fought a tribute holding a mace. Lithe movements, akin to a dance so custom to One these days that it was refreshing to try other things sometimes. Fighting had evolved, styles were different, moves invented and reinvented. Helios suffered one more hit from the mace, something that left his upper arm throbbing with pain. He clenched his teeth through it, carried on parrying the swings with the blade of his sword. Waiting for an in, he eventually got it. An opening, arms spread out, the blank mask of the dummy’s face revealing nothing as it reeled for a short moment. 

Helios lifted his sword, practised aim and intensity, and did what had been done almost almost forty-five years ago. The arm holding the mace was hacked clean off. Blood sprayed. The other arm followed. More blood covered the training centre ground. Helios watched the dummy slump to the ground, twitching without its arms, defenceless as it bled out. Gloss had waited for the last of his opponents to bleed out. Had savoured the last of his minutes in the Arena ticking down to nothingness in the boiling hot sun. 

Helios didn’t have that much time. 

He drove his sword through the dummy’s back, piercing the spot between his ribs, right where its heart should have been.  

Games: 64th Arena: Mountain Victor: Cashmere Shimmer, District One

“Cashmere was a fighter, but she wasn’t as cruel as her brother. Or so I’ve been told. I’ve heard she was cold, but she followed the rules, some basic decency while playing the game. She knew she was going to win, so she didn’t beat around the bush. Except for the end. There, she played it like a Shimmer.” 

This Arena had been a mountain. Cold and unforgiving terrain, traversing the space was sometimes so tricky that injuries occurred without any external influence at all. It was cold and from the recaps he’d seen, it must have sucked to be in there. Still, the finale had been one that’d gripped the nation, had people lean forward in their seats to watch the tragedy unfold. 

There’d been a snow storm, terrible winds that made the edges of the slopes even more dangerous to traverse. 

There had been Cashmere, and the last remaining person in her alliance, another girl from Four, and the piece of rope Cashmere had received as a sponsor gift. 

Helios took a piece of rope as well, expertly fashioning it into a noose. He switched on the next simulation, swiftly moving to the side to climb up the net attached to the side of the wall. Up above, there was a beam that Helios wrapped the other end of the rope around, before swinging the other end at the dummy roaming its territory on the mat below. It took him two tries to catch the dummy’s neck. With some difficulty, he hoisted the struggling, flailing dummy up into the air, having it swing right below the beam he was sitting on. 

It was a bit trickier to recreate Cashmere’s victory, but this would have to do. Remembering the way Cashmere had first tied the noose and then shoved the girl off the edge, Helios tied the rope around the beam securely. A gust of wind had come, had caused Cashmere to trip and to fall right over the edge. She’d managed to hold onto her dangling fellow tribute, and she’d had to cling on even after the announcement had sounded, up until the Hovercraft had come to collect her. 

Helios dropped from the beam, holding on to the still trashing dummy. Rubber and metal constructs were no match for skin and bones and everything that held a human body together. Very much unlike the girl from Four, the dummy’s body that Helios was holding onto separated from its head. Helios landed on his feet right next to the unmoving body. 

It was at that moment that the buzzer sounded. 

There had been more he’d wanted to do, but his time was up. Gone, right alongside the haze of focus guiding his every movement. He pushed out a shuddering breath. 

Helios stepped off the training mat, four separate sections left in a bloodied mess behind him. 

“Thank you for your consideration. Expect a fucking show.”

[minhothebunny]

Detective Lee - Chapter Eight

(A/N: I've realized that when the pov is in the third pov, I say "she" or "her" instead of "you". For this chapter, I'll be using "you" and "your" instead, and I'd appreciate it if you tell me which you prefer!)

THIRD POV.

Ever since Felix's first time at the boba café, he's been coming in to talk to you a lot. He even asked when your working hours are, and you found that he's only ever been showing up on your workdays. At first, you didn't believe this and came to Yuta for confirmation where he told you that "he's never gotten an Australian customer".

Over the days, you and Felix have been getting much closer. You felt that it was too good to be true: a hot Aussie wanting to be around you and even walking you home every day. He did everything Eunwoo did: helps you clean, offers to take over when you're overwhelmed with too many customers, and even walks you home. For some reason, you've been a lot more comfortable around Felix than you have been around Eunwoo. You're not too sure why. Maybe it's their vibes?

A ding from your phone shook you out of your thoughts. (A/N: Lix🐥 is what you have him as, and queen😪✊ is what he has you as.)

lix🐥 oi, you awake? Read at 8:39 pm.

queen😪✊ yup

lix🐥 you better be because I'm taking you on a ramen date :P

Your heart raced at the word date and your cheeks heated up. Clearing your throat, you managed to type a quick reply.

queen😪✊ a d-date?

lix🐥 you stutter over text? idk whether to thinks that's cute or cringy-

queen😪✊ um

lix🐥 but it's you we're talking about, so it's definitely adorable ;) (A/N: ew bye I cringed)

Your eyes widened at the flirty comment. Before you could reply, though, Felix sent another text.

lix🐥 you better be ready right now

queen😪✊ right now? why now

Before you could wait for Felix to reply, you felt a hand on your shoulder.

"Ahh!" You turned around to see Felix laughing.

"Felix! That's not funny! I almost got a heart attack!" He didn't reply, now on the floor with tears in his eyes.

"How did you even get in here? I didn't give you a key!"

"I didn't need one; your front door was unlocked. You know, you should start locking your front door. What if you get kidnapped, and I'm not there to save you?"

"You wouldn't be able to come in and save me if the door is locked," you deadpanned.

"I'll bust the door down with my guns."

Your eyes widened comically, "You have guns on you?"

"Mhm, every day. You wanna see them?"

Before you could say no, Felix took off his jacket, flexing his arms.

"You see these guns? Could fight five motherfuckers at once."

You facepalmed, "Guns? I don't see any guns. Besides, you wouldn't even be able to kill a spider if I asked you to."

"Hey! Are you trying to get me killed? I can kill any bug, but a spider? You've lost your mind. It'll fucking eat me." (A/N: Idc what y'all say, spiders are terrifying. Yeah, they're smaller than me but so are piranhas and other ugly bitches.)

You rolled your eyes, going into the bathroom to get changed while Felix sat on a chair near your bed. Quickly getting out, you walked towards your vanity to put on some makeup and do your hair. Right as you were about to pick up your makeup brush, Felix came up behind you, slowly back hugging you and taking the brush out of your hand.

"Nope, none of that. You're not about to cake your face; you're already gorgeous."

You blushed, looking down. Felix put his hand on your jaw, making you look up at your reflection. "You're stunning. I don't ever want to see you putting on makeup when you're going out with me. A date is about me seeing you, not the makeup. You honestly don't need it."

You were touched by his words. They seemed so genuine, and the close proximity between you two made you weak in the knees. You looked into Felix's eyes through the mirror to see his soft, loving gaze staring right back. You sat in the comfortable silence until, "Felix?" He hummed in response, not taking his eyes off you. "Can I at least put on some lip gloss?"

Laughing, he slowly let go of you. For a second, you felt sad when the warmth that was once protecting you faded away. That was until Felix turned you around, your chests pressed together. Putting his thumb and index finger underneath your chin, he lifted your face to look at him. He was so close to you you thought he was going to kiss you. Felix brought his face closer to yours, and you closed your eyes, feeling something soft against your lips. Your brows furrowed in confusion: these weren't Felix's lips. You opened your eyes to find that Felix was putting your lip gloss on for you, and you internally cursed, looking away. (A/N:🤡)

Felix chuckled, twisting the cap of the tube, "You're blushing. What did you think was going to happen," he teased.

"N-nothing," you said, still looking away.

Smiling, Felix placed both his hands on either side of your face and leaned in, pressing a quick, soft kiss to your forehead. Your eyes widened in shock, your feet stuck in place. Felix then pulled away and held your hand. "Come on! Are you just gonna stand there, or will you get moving?" You didn't reply, instead moving your head slowly to meet his eyes.

Felix giggled, dragging you out the front door and into the nearest convenience store where you ate to your heart's content, not worried about how much you were eating in front of him. _________________________ Looks like we've got a flirt on our hands ;) Writing texting scenarios are so tedious plz😭✋ somebody remind me that this is a Minho ff before I make them fuck-

Would you prefer for me to continue using "you" and "your" or do you want me to go back to "her" and "she"? All my readers so far are female, but what about enbys- if you are an enby, please comment, and I'll edit everything to be gender-neutral!

What do you guys think so far? Do you prefer Eunwoo or Felix?

This chapter was on the longer side so thank you to those that read through it all! I hope you guys like it. If you do, please vote and comment. Thank you for reading! -Nina <3

Edit: smh you were supposed to get this 6 hours ago but my dumbass brother kicked the internet router🙄

[feelingbluepolitics]

America, we have a problem.

"Attorney General William P. Barr on Friday vigorously defended [t]rump’s use of executive authority and suggested that House Democrats were subverting the will of voters by exploring whether to remove [trump] from office for abusing his power.

"[t]rump campaigned on a vow to upend Washington, and voters were aware of his agenda when they elected him...Mr. Barr said."

➡ This manages to ignore the subsequent election, when voters had realized, "Oh shit!," and elected Democrats to take over the House to hold these dangerous radicals accountable and in check, including Barr's would-be mad king trump.

If "exploring whether to remove" trump "for abusing his power" "subverts the will of voters," than already we're not in America anymore. Elections are props...which doesn't matter, because we already had the last one they were going to count. There is no such thing legally, or morally it appears, as "abuse of power" once power is obtained.

Furthermore, this reasoning that "voters were aware" is beyond attenuated by now.

"Voters were aware" that trump was a serial sexual predator, so it's ok.

Voters were aware that trump was a tax cheat and a criminal, so that's ok.

Voters were aware that trump cared more about his own interests and Russia's than America's, so that's ok.

Voters were extraordinarily manipulable, by Russians, by Fox, by the Republicon smear campaigns aimed at Hillary for decades, so "voters" can be told anything.

And the popular vote doesn't count -- only the electoral college obscenely stuffed with Republicon partisans from prior election phases counts -- so we are more than halfway ripe for having our democracy stolen anyway.

"'While [trump] has certainly thrown out the traditional Beltway playbook and punctilio, he was up front about what he wanted to do and the people decided they wanted him to serve as president,' Mr. Barr said in a speech at a conference hosted by the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group influential in Republican politics."

➡ Note that the audience for this brave new world debut, where life is both painful and meaningless for most, was presented to the proto-newest-Nazis, already powerful, and keen for political transformation which accords with their "principles" of overthrowing all the constitutional stuff they don't like. (Rights should be based on skin color and money, and America detoured unfortunately when the First Civil War didn't work.)

"[t]rump’s opponents 'essentially see themselves as engaged in a war to cripple by any means necessary a duly elected government,' Mr. Barr added."

➡ See? War. It's only to be expected if they fight back with all the might of the government which they took control of by getting hold of the only parts that matter: an immoral executive with practiced dynastic potential, a lawless Attorney General. Also helpful are amenably dishonorable Republicons in Congress whipped alternately by ambition and greed and by fear of tweets, and a Supreme Court willing to preside over mock court pretenses of justice splintered from constitutional principles.

"His forceful defense of [trump] came after some of [t]rump’s allies have in recent weeks accused Mr. Barr of failing to vociferously back [trump]. [t]rump was said to be frustrated that Mr. Barr urged him to release a reconstructed transcript of the July call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at the center of the impeachment case.  [trump] also wanted Mr. Barr to hold a news conference to say [trump] had violated no laws, only to have Mr. Barr rebuff the request. [t]rump has denied that account.

"Speaking for an hour at the upscale Mayflower Hotel a few blocks from the White House, Mr. Barr hit back at [trump’s] critics on an array of fronts as he argued that [t]rump, in his capacity as *resident, has not overstepped his authority.

"While Mr. Barr never uttered the word impeachment, he castigated those he sees as stalling [t]rump’s agenda. He defended [trump’s] right to set policies, steer the country’s diplomatic and military relations and keep executive branch conversations confidential from congressional oversight."

➡ We know we're in serious trouble when these people come out of conspiratorial ballrooms in soundproofed mansions, and start making speeches like this in public.

Besides, few people in the know will want to lose their seat at this table, and will do whatever it takes to keep it. They might have essentially all the meat at their disposal and for the taking, but the piranha culture is strong.

Barr didn't use the word "impeachment" because technically, before America's new regime is officially recognized, that word, combined with the Constitution, spoils his whole argument. It's a sensitive point. This whole movement came about from Republicons getting pissed over acting honorably with respect to Nixon's impeachment but being shut out by wary voters. Then they tried acting dishonorably with respect to the petty and malicious impeachment of Clinton (which would also have been much more prurient if Kavanaugh had been given more of a chance then.)

Now they've decided to criminalize impeachment rather than abuses and crimes. Nice trick of pseudo-evolution there, if they can manage to hold onto that one.

"'In waging a scorched-earth, no-holds-barred war against this administration, it is the left that is engaged in shredding norms and undermining the rule of law,' Mr. Barr said."

➡ Well. We can see where their imagination has ventured. Also where their rationalizations have hardened.

"He noted that opponents labeled themselves 'the resistance' immediately after [t]rump was elected and accused them of 'using every tool and maneuver to sabotage the functioning of the executive branch and his administration.

"'Resistance is the language used to describe insurgency against rule imposed by an occupying military power,' Mr. Barr said. He added that it connotes that the government is not legitimate. 'This is a very dangerous and indeed incendiary notion.'

"Mr. Barr spoke as the second public impeachment hearing wrapped up on Capitol Hill, where Democrats have accused [t]rump of abusing the power of his office for personal gain."

➡ Oh. Pardon the earlier error. Not Civil War, but rather putting down a dangerous insurgency of everyone who disagrees with them. That's very different than a fight that acknowledges two opposing points of view. It sets a more accurate picture going forward, when additional purges will be necessary to nip insurgencies in the bud.

"In his address, Mr. Barr suggested [trump] has acted within his powers and that his opponents were willing to bend the law to stop him."

➡ !

"Mr. Barr is known as an executive power maximalist and a believer in the unitary executive theory, which posits that the Constitution imbues the presidency with broad powers that are subject to relatively little oversight. [Or none at all.]

"He has argued, for example, that Congress cannot make it a crime for a president to exercise executive powers corruptly; and that presidents have authority over law enforcement investigations even when investigators are scrutinizing their activity."

➡ If a "president" can do no wrong...why would we ever need a new one? The next one can be appointed by the one who can do no wrong, so that's how that works.

The conclusion of this article references academic and legal arguments which push back against the fascist totalitarian utopia of Mr. Barr's extremist visions. It is unclear why "maximalist" is somehow less extreme than "extremist," by the way.

In any event, counter arguments and opposing points of view may be well on their way to becoming moot. Or imprisoned. Or dead.

[irkimatsu]

@cryptobiologist and @jyushinoodles - I’m gonna answer your replies beneath a cut. I’m doing both at once because they’re similar, and using a cut because I usually try to make my NDRV3 posts somewhat vague-ish, and to reply in the way I want, I need to be very not vague. So, spoiler cut for the end of chapter 2!

cryptobiologist said:                                                                                                                         ‘kirumis rlly smart’ im laughing if she had just left hoshi drowned in the prisoner lab she would have gotten away w it but no 👀    

                       jyushinoodles said:                                                                                                                            kirumis just rlly smart dhfghsjdf but yeah i kinda agree, also sad to see her go like that :(                          

I’m laughing that both of you commented on the same exact quote. (Even if one was joking about the other, I still sense the sarcasm in both. =P) ...however, while I do disagree with the assessment that Kirumi had to be exceptionally intelligent to pull this off, I do understand the logic behind her batshit plan and understand why it was better than just leaving Ryoma’s corpse in the lab. That might have been a better idea if this took place on the outside and escaping capture didn’t have an extra reward outside itself, but within the rules of the killing game, when I compare that idea to what actually happened...

Scenario 1: Kirumi drowns Ryoma and leaves his body in the lab. She manages to leave behind no specifically incriminating evidence, but there’s nothing else to point to anyone else, either. With no leads, false or otherwise, the students are left without a starting point when discussing things in the trial... and the longer they talk without having any direction to follow, the more of a chance they have of hitting on a piece of evidence that Kirumi had no control over, like everyone else having alibis or someone seeing her by the lab even though she has no personal relationship with Ryoma. Even one piece of damning evidence against you can be deadly if everyone else has zero, especially if they start pressing you and you slip up in your attempt to defend yourself. Also, even in a worst case scenario where everyone shoots in the dark and hopes for the best, there’s still a chance that everyone could randomly point at her. 1/13 are some pretty shitty odds, yes, but they’re not foolproof.

Not only that, but how long would it have taken someone to even realize that Ryoma was dead? He didn’t exactly have a wide social circle. Even if he stopped showing up for group things, people could easily assume he’s happily holing himself up somewhere like Maki and doesn’t need people checking in on him. This would be fine in a grudge killing, but to get the trial started, people need to actually find the body. That would take a long time in this case, and given her motive, Kirumi didn’t have that kind of time.

Scenario 2: This is the one we’ve got - Kirumi stages things to frame Himiko. Yes, this means leaving behind more evidence, but the way I see it, a plan like this doesn’t rely mostly on leaving no evidence - it relies on leaving enough false evidence. With the way she staged the body reveal, everyone’s eyes were on Himiko before the investigation even started. If everyone’s already thinking it’s her, then they may not even bother investigating very much, or they might try to link any evidence to Himiko due to confirmation bias. Just look at all the effort she made them waste in investigating the escape trick, as if the secret behind it had anything to do with the murder. If she can get everyone to panic and vote for Himiko five minutes into the trial, then it doesn’t matter if they go “wait, fuck, they couldn’t both fit in the staircase” shortly after voting - it’s too late, no take-backs. These casts always have enough students willing to jump the gun on flimsy evidence, and I could see a ploy like this working without a level-headed protagonist around to start refuting things in the debates.

I do still find some things like the piranhas eating the corpse and the inner tube to be pretty insane, and the layout of the building is a little too convenient (why does Ryoma’s lab have a window to the pool?), but... eh, it’s Dangan Ronpa. The second game had a guy murder a super-strong robot by making his pet hamster hit the robot’s sleep button. These games are weird.

(I have no excuse for the prime minister thing, though. what)

[evancarmichael]

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[sanctferum]

Dangan Ronpa V3 Chapter 2 Trial Part 2!

Last time, Maki may or may not have lied, but if she’s telling the truth, Kaito has a potential motive for having done it again. Potentially.

Monokuma & Cubs theater: Voting time edition! The Monokubs start to freak out over having apparently missed the second part of the trial. (They haven’t.)

...Are the Monokubs making fun of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within? Is that what this is?

A little after midnight, Ryoma visited Maki at her research lab. He wanted to see the motive video...perhaps, since he had Maki’s video, he assumed she would have his? Maki didn’t look at her video, as she said back when the videos were first distributed, so we don’t know if that’s true.

Did someone know who had whose videos? Kokichi perhaps, but did he have time to watch the motive videos before returning to the Entomology Lab? But no one else would know, so it has to be...

So Ryoma went to Maki’s room, since she had told him it was unlocked. That’s where the pad would have been. Ryoma offered to trade motive videos, but Maki didn’t want to see hers.

Maki didn’t bring it up because she knew if she brought it up, people would suspect her...

Did Kokichi tell Ryoma about the motive video? If so, Maki’s story gains more credibility.

Kokichi confirms it. But he didn’t watch the whole thing - he just checked who had whose video.

Still, we can’t be absolutely sure Maki is telling the truth...even if it’s likely, it’s not certain.

Lie bullet time! Shuichi and Kaito never met last night...but no one but us two know that! Shuichi spins a story, basing it off the truth - him and Kaito did exercise together at one point. And in this story, Shuichi and Kaito heard two people talking. Maki, and someone else. Ryoma.

Everyone ends up buying it. Except Miu. And Kokichi...

When was Ryoma placed in the piranha tank? During night-time, it has to be. But how? I think I know.

Seems people can’t decide when the body was placed. During night-time, or not during night-time? Monokuma interferes at this point, and activates the morphenomananana...the scrum debate setup.

Exact same cutscene for it, too, including showing all the Monokubs in the background...despite the fact that Monokid is dead. You fucked up there Spike Chunsoft.

A corpse could enter the gym at night-time...The blackened moved the body from the pool area to the gym using the window, like I’ve been saying.

They didn’t use the ladder, because it isn’t tall enough. And how would they have replaced it in the gym in between night-time and the show without anyone noticing?

How did the body get placed in the tank without the pane shifting?

“Tell ‘em Shuichi”,the spiritual successor of “Tell ‘em Makoto”

gg Kaito

Where was Ryoma killed? It’s gotta be the stone sink in his lab, right?

Wait, the culprit steered the topic away from the actual murder scene...I can’t remember who got us onto this topic, though...was it Kirumi?

Where did Ryoma drown? Can’t be the pool. Sirens didn’t go off. It’s definitely the sink.

And the handcuffs are proof of that.

Ryoma could’ve used the Shukuchi method to avoid capture. Was he ambushed by the blackened?

Kokichi knows something...again. And isn’t telling us.

The lab is parallel to the gym...if you use the window.

Psyche taxi!

I don’t like this minigame. Also I got a hidden Monokuma through it, somehow?

The blackened used the tennis nety wire...we know it can reach, if it’s 50 feet or less. Kaito told us. Which doesn’t look good for him.

No...it’s the rope! The rope in the puddle!

Last night, the rope was on stage. And the next morning it had been moved backstage.

50 feet between the lab window and gym...50 feet. I know that number. I just don’t know how it factors in yet.

Gonta says it would work if there was another rope...that must be how the tennis net wire factors in.

But how did they carry the body over the ropes? It would have been all the person’s weight, plus Ryoma’s body’s weight.

Miu has an idea! It’s probably nonsensical and lewd.

Hmmm. Miu has a decent idea, but it wouldn’t quite be precise enough. If you handcuffed Ryoma’s body and slid it across the rope via the handcuff, how would it land in the piranha tank?

Kokichi says the culprit put the body in the piranha tank with their own hands. But then he says that it probably isn’t possible. What’s he trying to tell us?

Kaito...what’s up with you? I’m really not sure whether to trust you or not, man...

what could have been used with the rope to move the body between the windows? The inflatable tire thing, perhaps?

What’s the Hangman’s Gambit trying to tell me?

Ropeway?

A vessel for the ropeway...the inflatable tire has to have been it.

So they stood on the inner tube as it crossed the gym via gravity, put the body in the tank without putting themselves into the gym, and left.

But how did they not enter the gym if they put their foot on the windowsill?

The blackened asked the Monokubs if putting their foot on the windowsill was allowed...

Monokuma is less than happy that Monosuke slipped up and admitted a crucial detail...

Monodam tries to calm things down between the Kubs, and Kokichi points out that if the Monokubs were asked such a thing, Shuichi got the method of transportation right after all.

The culprit got rid of the ropeway by dropping one part of it in the gym and the other in Ryoma’s lab, which is where they reeled it up from after depositing the corpse.

While cleaning up, the inner tube fell into the pool and the culprit was unable to retrieve it without breaking the rules.

Almost the perfect crime? A bold and cunning plan? Not Kaito, then, he’s an idiot.

The culprit...Shuichi says he’s got a good idea of who it is.

Someone who was in the gym beforehand...but who?

Someone who went to the gym beforehand. Kirumi, Himiko, and Angie were in the gym. And the person who shifted the debate away from the real murder scene was Kirumi.

Looks like we’re right...

Why would she kill Ryoma? The only thing I can think of is that she fulfills all requests given to her. Could Kokichi have requested a killing to spice things up?

Kirumi spent those five minutes in the gym completing the preparations? Tying the rope to the window and placing the partition in the piranha tank?

The abrasions on the window frames must be from the rope being weighed down by the weight of two bodies.

Wh...for everyone? Is she lying, or?

A duty to serve and protect everyone...and if she surrenders, they won’t forgive her. Is the “they” she’s talking about someone else besides the Ultimates?

Kaito gets it. “everyone”. But that phrase isn’t referring to the Ultimates.

Kokichi is smart. What other “everyone” is it likely to be? Why, whoever is in her motive video, of course.

Kirumi says that “everyone” is referring to the Ultimates. I ain’t buying it.

Everyone’s taking Kirumi’s side. She was so kind and good to everyone. But...to just drop this now would be turning away from the truth...right?

Insufficient proof. It’s true, we don’t have enough proof. Hmmm. What can we use as proof?

Maki or Kaito as suspects...I dunno...I’m mighty suspicious of them, but you too, Kirumi.

YES. Shuichi made a promise to seek the truth. He promised Kaede not to be afraid of the truth anymore. So he can’t back down.

The final clue...it’s the scrap of cloth in the water, right?

It was used to control the inner tube? How?

By using their hands for friction...which means that the person with black gloves is very suspicious, Kirumi Tojo.

I’ll prove it with this Argument Armament!

She’s wearing gloves now...but that’s because there’s spare gloves in her room.

Closing Argument!

We’re starting out with Act 5 of the incident.

And that’s the truth of this case...but why did Ryoma agree to meet with Kirumi alone at night? And why did Kirumi kill someone in the first place?

Kirumi’s pride as a maid makes her take on any request she receives...did someone request that she kill Ryoma, or what?

Voting time!

Everyone voted for Kirumi. Except herself, she voted for Shuichi.

Once again, we got the back route path.

And we ended up being correct. Kirumi was the killer.

Shuichi thinks Kirumi still cares about us...but no one can deny that she just tried to kill us all, so...

The request Kirumi accepted, that lead to all this...was it a request from her motive video?

Kirumi watched the motive video on the Kub Pad she received. Somehow, the Kubs gave her the fight video...her own.

Everyone was supposed to get their own videos, but the Kubs screwed up.

Monokuma pretends that redistributing the videos was what he intended all along. Monosuke is absolutely done with the whole mushy crap between Kubs and other Kubs and his pops. Monodam is silent about that, probably because he plans to push Monosuke into the way of the next execution.

Kirumi received her own video, but why? Bad luck, nothing more.

We’re gonna watch Kirumi’s motive video and something about it is apparently hard to believe...

Kirumi was suddenly summoned by the Prime Minister of Japan one day. Told to serve her country. Told to SAVE her country.

“Make this country great again”, he said, in a clear reference to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. Well OK, probably not in-universe. And then...the prime minister gave his authority away. To Kirumi.

Kirumi is, in all but name, the Prime Minister of Japan. And the most important people in her life...are her fellow countrymen and countrywomen. Every Japanese citizen. And an unfortunate event will soon effect all of Japan...and every man, woman, and child in it.

Kirumi didn’t even remember her role as Prime Minister until watching the video...but she still doesn’t remember what she was supposed to save the country from...

Could the unprecedented crisis facing Japan have anything to do with the Ultimate Hunt?

Kirumi was devoted to everyone in Japan...and weighed the fate of a country with the weight of the fate of 12 fellow students, and found the country needing her more. Even if it meant her classmates would die...

Kokichi thinks they should have let themselves die. If it means everyone in the country dies but you live, it isn’t worth it.

Miu brings up a good point. What does Monokuma plan to do with the rest of humanity?

“I am the ruler of this world. Nothing is beyond my power.” The words “this world” in yellow...hmmmm.

Kirumi killed Ryoma because Ryoma was easy to kill. Someone without a good reason to live....She summoned him to his own lab, revealed the motive video...and Ryoma turned his back on her to clean up the tennis balls in the court...in all likelihood, Ryoma knew he would be killed if he did that by that point. But having no reason to live, and having met someone with such a strong reason to live...he did nothing to stop his own demise.

Ryoma likely made things that easy because he saw his motive video...sapping him of any reason to live. The reason he wanted his motive video was that he had no reason to live...no one important to him to escape to. He figured by watching the video, he might see who Monokuma thought was most important to him, and that person could give him the will to live.

His motive was empty. Nothing. No one. Just Monokuma taunting him about how there was no one in the entire world that was important to him.

No reason to live. But Kirumi was the opposite. She had too many reasons to live. And that’s why she killed.

Gonta and Tenko would both rather sacrifice themselves if it meant Kirumi could keep living...because what value is there in their own lives compared to hers?

Once again, Shuichi revealed the truth and it lead to hopelessness...

But Kaito won’t let people give up. No one’s life is more or less important than another’s. Because life is priceless. You can’t compare two lives to one another like it’s some kind of math problem. Life’s purpose is simple - to be lived.

Kirumi had been desperately hoping to live. Hoping that someone would volunteer to be sacrificed in her place. And if not for Kaito’s speech, it might have worked.

Or maybe, she wanted to try and get everyone to rise up and defend her. While the Exisals eliminated them, she could try to escape.

So says Kokichi, at least. And Kirumi confirms that he was right...

Even after losing, she refuses to give up. What is her plan...?

To save her country, she’d debase herself and give up all pride, do anything, kill anyone...and then she runs for it.

Monokuma is busy laughing at the very concept that she can escape. Everyone urges her to run and get away...but Monokuma is already preparing a punishment.

Ultimate Maid execution: Strand of Agony.

Kirumi finds herself boxed in on both sides by silhouettes representing the people of Japan, with protest signs. A vine falls down, covered in sharp thorns. Kirumi climbs it, willing away the pain of the thorns. Chainsaws start to pop out of the wall. Kirumi climbs, as her clothes and flesh is shredded. She finally reaches the top, to find that the sky she was climbing to was a mere drawing. Then, letting loose a scream of utter frustration, she realizes the vine is breaking, which it does, and she falls to her death.

Meanwhile, Monodam pushes Monosuke into the vine. He loses his glasses in the confusion and blindly searches around for them. As he’s about to find them, Kirumi falls onto his body, destroying him and killing her.

Monotaro and Monophanie are freaking out and vomiting. Monodam claims Monosuke was getting in the way of the Monokubs getting along...just like Monokid.

Nothing will stop Monodam from getting along with his two remaining siblings...not even Monokuma himself. And with that, Monodam issues forth a proclamation...the Monokubs are in charge of the academy now. Monokuma finds it adorable and amusing that Monodam threatened him. He’s so amused he sneezes...and blows up. Hope you got another spare, dude.

Everyone is sick of the killing game. Utterly sick of it. Afraid for themselves. Afraid of themselves. Willing to let themselves stay trapped forever if it means no one else dies. But as long as they’re trapped, they have no way of knowing whether the motive videos are true...

Kokichi is still thinking about how Kirumi regained memories from watching her own video...but everyone’s decided that if their lost memories would make them want to kill, it’s for the best that no one watch the videos.

Maybe, facing the truth won’t be enough...at least, not alone. Maybe running is a valid option too. Didn’t work for Kirumi, but still...

As everyone leaves the shrine of judgement, Gonta says something strange. The stars are beautiful in the sky, but...they aren’t the stars Gonta knows. Wherever this place is located might not be Japan after all.

Everyone starts to leave again, but Kokichi warns that there’s someone in the group who is a liar, an even worse case of compulsive lying than his. Maki.

Ryoma was blackmailing Maki to get the motive video. HMMMMM. Is she really not the Ultimate Child Caregiver, then?

Kokichi seems to think her true identity is something else, all right. But what?

Kokichi has known Maki’s true identity the entire time. Even if he’s lying, the look on Maki’s face confirms that she has deep secrets to hide...and then Maki rushes Kokichi and starts to choke him.

Kill from the shadows? Is she the Ultimate Assassin?

Oh fuck, she is! I wonder if her backstory up till now, with children liking her and being an orphan, was entirely made up?

And thus ends chapter 2, and we get Kirumi’s gloves as a present.

[commonsensewizard]

This Is Why There Are Rules Against Nepotism

There is nobody with half a brain that was unaware Trump had no political experience. It would probably be safe to say that of the ones who voted for him, it was a huge plus to the majority. It was the fact that he wasn’t a Washington insider, had no ties to special interests, was not ‘bought’ by the corporations or Wall Street, and better yet...he wasn’t a politician. And, what else was attractive about him was that he didn’t mince words, said what came to mind...which was what was on a lot of Americans’ minds...and was the perfect candidate to upset the Washington apple cart.

His business acumen and ability to make deals was also attractive. Trump has a hard nose and possesses the ability to beat the competition. In this case, it is our enemies and those allies who purport to love us, but only want what they can get from us.

What we didn’t count on...and probably should have...is that he has always been able to have his own way. Thus the problem he has now. Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka, and his son-in-law have no business being involved with the president, his staff, or his agenda. They need to go home. What’s more, they need to tell daddy it’s in his own best interests, pack their own bags, and go to the house that isn’t the White House.

Junior is the biggest problem he has now. His naïve behavior with the Russkie lawyer, no matter how it turned out, stinks to high heaven. Yes, I know, Hillary and the DNC were involved in the same thing with Trump, and Bill certainly didn’t just talk about the grandkids in the plane with Loretta Lynch. Only a mindless amoeba would believe that. But, this post is not about them. It’s about Trump, who knew going in that he wasn’t only being circled by every shark in the ocean, but also by every barracuda, killer whale, stinging jellyfish, piranha, pacu, crocodile, sea snake, funnel web spider, etc etc etc....name whatever poisonous critter you want to....he knew going in. He KNEW.

Family is family. Business is business. And politics, especially at the highest level, is murder. One should never hire family, or friends, or special love interests. Nepotism rules exist for a reason. It dissolves all appearance of favor of one over the other. It dissolves all appearance of impropriety. It cures many ills to have rules that keep everyone on a level playing field.

I have never seen an office affair turn out well. I’m sure some have, but I’ve never seen it. I have been around them, and have seen the atomic explosions they cause. That is why my rule is to never crap where I eat. When a boss hires his son, nephew, etc, that person eventually throws his or her weight around, knowing there won’t be retribution forthcoming. They begin to do stupid things. And that is the rule that Trump Sr. has broken. And the crap has hit the proverbial fan. It makes no difference if Junior broke the law or not. It is the ‘appearance’ of impropriety, collusion, unethical behavior that is at the forefront. Trump’s enemies have been looking for anything to fan the flames about Russia. They have been desperate to keep the coals of rumor and innuendo alive. “Just a small breeze,” they have been praying. “Just a little one.” And now, Junior has given it to them. The best thing Trump can do now is to weather the storm. And when it’s over, he needs to clean his own swamp of relatives, friends, hangers-on, and the like. He needs to be a real manager, and surround himself with people who know what they are doing, and then equip them to be good at it. Until he does that, there will only be more trouble down the road for him.

[williamsjoan]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Sakurai Discusses How the Game’s Development Went, New Characters, Esports

In late December, Famitsu published on its online site a very lengthy interview with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Director Masahiro Sakurai. In it, Sakurai went back over the game’s development, detailing when it exactly started and how much knowledge of the Switch’s hardware they had at the time. He also shared comments on many topics, from how did they choose the new characters, to his stance towards Esports and how did that affect the game. Here’s a summary with the most interesting bits and quotes.

The interview started by going back to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s full reveal during E3 2018. Sakurai, being at the E3 venue, would hear the cheers of the audience watching the Nintendo Direct, along with the cheers of Nintendo staff themselves. Barely any knew about the details of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate part of the direct, to avoid “Everyone is here!” being leaked at all costs.

Now that the game is completed and out, Sakurai was asked about its development in detail, and what kind of troubles they encountered compared to past games, seeing Ultimate is the biggest Super Smash Bros game yet. Surprisingly, the team didn’t have that much of a rough time:

Actually, making Super Smash Bros Ultimate wasn’t particularly harder than making the previous Super Smash Bros games. We always put in our all in our games, so this time didn’t feel any different. We gave everything we’ve got like usual.

Development on the game started around February 2016, right after they had finished the DLCs adding Corrin and Bayonetta in Super Smash Bros for 3DS and Wii U. In a sense, Sakurai started making Ultimate in his head while working on these DLCs. He stressed out that this isn’t some kind of amazing achievement: the development team was much smaller when working on the DLCs, going from over a hundred people to only a dozen. As such, supervising this small team while working on Ultimate wasn’t difficult.

Sakurai, at the time, knew about the Switch’s specifications and how the console was supposed to turn out. But knowing these hardware details didn’t really influence them much. At first, they were a bit worried about the portable mode’s capabilities, but these doubts were quickly swept away:

The early documents for Nintendo Switch said the console will be able to switch between being a portable console and a stationary home console. We saw very early in development how amazing portable mode looks, so we realized there would be no problem even if multiple persons played on portable mode together. We’re really thankful about that, because if the Switch’s portable mode had too different specifications from docked mode, we would have needed to make two sets for some of the game’s assets. For example, a specific interface for docked mode, and one for portable mode.

In this regard, Sakurai detailed how, when working on Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS, they had to create many things twice, one for each version, which tired them out. For the 3DS version, they had to do a lot of adjustments like reducing the number of polygons or changing some of the colors used. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate also includes features they wanted to put in Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS, but couldn’t because of the game being on two different consoles. One of those features is how when characters are ejected in Ultimate, they start by flying at very high speed, but then suddenly decelerate. This also makes it so the moment where you can’t control your character is a bit shorter, and Sakurai thinks it’s better this way. The 3DS’s screen being too small, they couldn’t do that there or players would have trouble seeing their characters. Sakurai said this is also why the ejection clouds are more emphasized in Ultimate, and why they added the radar:

We put in the radar for this reason, but also to rat out players who like hiding at the edges of stages (laughs).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is also faster-paced than the previous game:

On 3DS, the screen was smaller and so we made the game a bit slower on purpose. For Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, we increased the tempo a bit to make things more fun. Increased speed makes it a bit harder to properly adjust online battles, like adjusting lag, but we prioritized this to make local multiplayer more enjoyable.

Sakurai also added how back when making Super Smash Brow. Brawl for Wii, they took into account the fact that many Wii players were playing videos games for the first time. As such, they thought the game shouldn’t feel like it’s too fast and confusing to keep up with, hence why it feels slower than other Super Smash Bros. games. But in the end, it’s not like they thought “we need to make Ultimate faster”, rather, it became faster for various reasons: considering what would be best to make the game as fun as possible, and considering the Switch’s current user base, as they did with the Wii.

After that, the interview switched towards Spirits and how they decided which characters to include. Basically, Sakurai asked the team in charge of Spirits Mode to make proposals on who to add and to limit themselves to a certain amount of characters for each series. Long-running series with many characters had a higher limit. They tried to put in as many different characters as possible to try and please even those who like relatively unknown or unpopular characters. Some Spirits were also added because one of the playable characters has a connection with them or their series.

For spirits with an evolved form, they prioritized characters who have transformations, like boss characters, and those who appear in multiple games but with different appearances. These were the easiest characters to pick as they’re usually the most iconic ones, appearing multiple times in their series.

Next, Sakurai spoke about the new characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In particular, he explained why he initially told everyone to not expect many new characters, even though they ended up adding a lot:

Because when you already have over 60 characters, adding a few doesn’t feel like the total count changed much. If you don’t count echoes characters, we didn’t add that many. And If I didn’t say that back then, everyone’s expectations would have been way too high to satisfy.

Sakurai then detailed each new character and how they made them.

Inklings are the one they had the most trouble with. Mostly because including them meant they had to make it so any stage and any character can get ink on them. They also had to think on what kind of effect the ink would have, and whether to include the ink reserve mechanic or not. In the end they tried to make Inklings into support type characters that are strong in team battles.

Ridley was made to be as scary and menacing as possible, as he’s supposed to be a more serious villain than other Nintendo villains like Bowser and King K. Rool. That’s also why they made his introduction trailer so serious.

Simon and Richter were pretty easy to make. They focused on making them into long-range fighters, thanks to their whips and the items they throw. They can hit opponents from very far away, but as a handicap, the whip is hard to master and you need a lot of practice to aim correctly. As for why they added Castlevania characters, they were quite popular during the votes they did for the previous game, and they wanted to add characters from a series which is popular worldwide, through many generations. They didn’t have many choices left when it comes to IPs which fit these criteria. Problem is, all Castlevania games have different protagonists, and Alucard was the most popular character. They put in Simon and Richter to please as many people as possible, and since most would be happy as long as a Belmont shows up.

King K. Rool was designed as a heavyweight fighter based on counters who can also fly. That seemed a bit too simple so they added his stomach armor mechanic too.

As for Isabelle, they made her by customizing Animal Crossing’s Villager, changing a lot of their characteristics. So she’s not an Echo Character. Her shape is totally different as well. They also tried to make her as cute as possible. Everything from her idle animation to her walking animation is cute.

Incineroar was chosen because while there’s already a lot of characters who use wrestler-like moves, there was no actual wrestler character in the game. Incineroar’s also the only character they weren’t planning to add from the start. They did plan to add one pokemon from Pokémon Sun and Moon, so they kept one slot open, but didn’t decide on which pokemon until later.

As for Piranha Plant, Sakurai knows some people are upset about it, asking why they’re adding someone who’s not even a protagonist, but that’s exactly why they decided to do it. They want to get non-protagonists in the spotlight as well. The way it plays is very unique too and requires players to aim very carefully.

The interview then switched toward Adventure Mode: World of Light.

Sakurai and the development team got the initial idea behind World of Light story after remembering what they did near the end of Super Smash Bros Brawl’s Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary. Specifically, the part when all the characters are lost. Instead of doing that in the end, they decided to start with all characters disappearing, and make the story go from there. In the introduction movie, who gets a line and what do they say, was carefully decided as well. Marth’s the one with the most experience when it comes to strategies and commanding an army, hence why he ‘s the one saying “if each one of us takes out 10 of them, it’ll be fine”. Meanwhile, Zelda’s line indicates they’ve been fighting a lot already before this final standoff, and how they can’t back off anymore.

The interviewer specifically asked about Captain Falcon getting hit just before getting on his machine, and how funny that was, to which Sakurai answered:

If you think about it, we don’t know if F-Zero machines actually work outside of F-Zero circuits. The machines have the “G Diffuser System” installed on them, and can run thanks to the anti-gravity-like particles spread from the circuits’ guard rails. So even if he did got into his vehicle, maybe it wouldn’t have worked. But he probably did come to the battlefiled riding it, and in Super Smash Bros. Brawl there’s a part where you see it flying otuside of a circuit, so we don’t really know (laughs).

Lastly, the interview shifted towards Super Smash Bros Ultimate‘s online mode and the game’s position in Esports.

Sakurai believes that when it comes to online battles, games shouldn’t count each player’s win and loss counts. At most, only the number of wins should be recorded. The Smash Tag system present in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is an extension of that thinking, quickly showing you who you fought against and what kind of player they were. Sakurai said it’s also in order to avoid people getting depressed when seeing their high loss count and avoiding playing online because of it:

I didn’t want people to get depressed after doing ten online matches and only winning one. Needless to say, you can easily calculate yourself your loss count by checking the numbers of battles you did and your win count, but we wanted to hide the loss count as much as possible, to avoid players getting discouraged.

Sakurai also shared some words on Esports:

It’s an honor that the Super Smash Bros. series has its place in Esports, and I think what makes it unique is the fact that it’s a big Esport game whose Esport aspect isn’t its only appealing aspect. We tried to satisfy as much people as possible with Super Smash Bros Ultimate. You can customize matches to fit the preferences of people into Esports, but beginners can have fun as well. There’s no limit on how to play Super Smash Bros. and to reflect this we polished every aspect of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, instead of only focusing on the Esports aspect.

Sakurai also revealed that he barely participated in the balancing process of each character in Ultimate:

I did work on making the basis for the characters’s motions and attacks, but I barely did anything regarding things like each attack’s strength or their number of frames. That was handled by the monitoring team and the characters’s development team. Handling all of this myself for over 70 characters would be impossible (wry laugh).

Wrapping up the interview, the journalist from Famitsu asked Sakurai if the Super Smash Bros series can be considered his lifelong work, and an estimate on when the next game could come out :

I don’t know what the future holds, so I can’t say anything concrete on what will happen from now, but if Nintendo commissions me for another Super Smash Bros game, I’ll probably accept and consider the project my highest priority. But that doesn’t mean a new game will come out soon. I think it’s fine even if there isn’t another one in the next ten years (laughs). Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was made because the Switch was coming out, and we were asked to make the new Super Smash Bros it needed. Maybe the next game will be for the next hardware. Maybe I won’t be working on it. I don’t know. Plus, making the next game  will be a big challenge, as “Everyone is here!” was a miracle that probably won’t happen twice. I can’t thank enough all the people who let us use their characters.

Sakurai recently appeared in a video interview for the inclusion of Persona 5‘s Joker in the game.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is out now exclusively on Nintendo Switch. You can read our review, and grab a copy on Amazon if you haven’t yet.

The post Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Sakurai Discusses How the Game’s Development Went, New Characters, Esports by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.

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