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bioelectriccorporation · 3 years

Text

Doing Eula’s Story Quest So You Don’t Have To:

disclaimer this is just a presentation of the quest with relevant quotes(and some lesser analysis) and not a judgement call on whether eula is worth sympathizing with. please defer to actual poc on that matter.

under cut for length

Opening scene, excerpt of conversation with Jean:

Jean: I have recently received multiple reports from the Knights of someone within the Lawrence Clan having close dealings with the Fatui.

Paimon: The Fatui! Again?

Paimon: But who are the Lawrence Clan?

Jean: There was a dark period in Mondstadt’s history when the aristocracy ruled over the city. The hard-won freedom that followed with the fall of Decarabian was lost once again, as slavery spread throughout the land.

Jean: The first Dandelion Knight, Vennessa, spearheaded the revolution that overthrew the old aristocratic system and established the Knights of Favonius, leading Mondstadt to become the city that you see today.

Jean: The aristocrats, that had oppressed the people of Mondstadt, were none other than the Lawrence Clan.

...

Jean: Unfortunately, the Knights of Favonius and the aristocracy have been at odds with one another for as long as I can remember.

Jean: We have considered every possible way of resolving our differences, but it seems the descendants of the aristocracy remain antagonistic toward the Knights...

Jean: ...No matter what stance we take when dealing with them, the outcome is always the same... Our efforts only result in adding more fuel to the flames.

The Lawrence Clan is not painted in a sympathetic light, and this attitude toward them(bar Eula, for obvious reasons) persists throughout the quest.

Jean then sends the protagonist to talk to Schubert, the Lawrence Clan member in question. He very much holds onto the past structure of oppression, demonstrating extreme classism and going so far as to say that in the past, the protagonist would have been whipped for their insolence(which, in this case, is just the act of trying to have a casual conversation with Schubert).

This sets up Schubert as the antagonist of the quest, though not the entire Lawrence Clan, as Eula and Schubert are the only clan members present or mentioned.

The protagonist then runs into Amber at the Knights of Favonius Headquarters.

Excerpt from conversation with Amber:

Amber: Hehehe, I've been on the receiving end of [Schubert’s] lectures many a time. The Lawrence clan can be very particular about such things.

Paimon: Uh... You mean everyone in the Lawrence Clan is just a big headache?

Amber: As aristocrats, they believe there should be a certain distance between themselves and common folk. *sigh* I understand their thinking, but that's just not how things are anymore. Amber: However, there is one exception among the Lawrence Clan. My good buddy - Eula!

Paimon: B-Buddy?

Amber: That's right! Not only is she from the Lawrence Clan, but she's also Captain of the Knights of Favonius 4th Company.

Wayfarer: Jean told us that the Lawrence Clan sees the Knights as enemies.

Amber: Eula is special! She's not quite like the other members of her clan. She has her own beliefs and it shows.

Amber: In other words, she doesn't really adhere to the strict rules and conventions of her family.

Amber: However, she's still quite knowledgeable about dealing with the Lawrences. I'm sure you'll see what I mean if you meet her.

Paimon: Hmm, that's strange. If Eula is a member of the Lawrence Clan, then why would Master Jean choose us for the task? Couldn't she just ask Eula?

Amber: Ah, well... It's a little complicated. Basically, the Lawrence clan has frowned upon the fact that Eula joined the Knights, her family members don't particularly care for her…

Amber: In their eyes, Eula is nothing but a traitor to the family.

Wayfarer: She sounds like quite the character.

Amber: She's very easy to get along with. Just explain the situation and I'm sure she'll help you come up with a way to get along with Schubert.

Amber: In fact, I think she's out in the wilderness on patrol this morning. You should be able to find her around Stormbearer Mountains.

Paimon: Thanks, Amber! Alright, you heard her, let's go find Eula!

The protagonist meets Eula after battling some Fatui, when she saves them from being killed by an enemy they were unaware of.

Excerpt from conversation with Eula:

Wayfarer: So you must be Eula?

Eula: Yes, that's me.

Paimon: Paimon thinks she's pretty strange... Although, at least we can communicate with her.

Eula: You dare to call someone you've just met "strange"? Forget the aristocracy, that's rude even by normal standards!

Eula: Speaking of which... how do you know my name?

Paimon: This is the Honorary Knight of the Knights of Favonius. And speaking of rude, we're trying to investigate an aristocrat named Schubert Lawrence.

Paimon: He's so obsessed with etiquette that he's not even willing to speak with us!

Eula: Hahaha! I understand now. That's my uncle alright.

Eula: But why do you mean to investigate him?

Wayfarer: He may be secretly involved with the Fatui.

Eula: I see... Haha, you have some nerve defaming a family member right in front of me. I will have vengeance for this, too!

Paimon: No, no, no! This is an assignment from Master Jean! It's just an investigation, that's all!

Wayfarer: Aren't you curious about your uncle?

Eula: To the everyday citizens of Mondstadt, everyone in the Lawrence clan is scum. It's natural for rumors and unwarranted gossip to lead to such suspicion.

Paimon: Hard to avoid such a reputation when you're known as the ruthless rulers of Old Mondstadt.

Eula: So that's what you think of me? Yet another transgression to avenge...

Paimon: But didn't you say it first!? Argh...

Eula: Hahaha, curious... We've only just met, and you've already given me three causes for vengeance. It's been a while since I've encountered anyone as interesting as you.

Wayfarer: Your definition of curious is... curious.

Eula: I assume you need me to teach you the conduct of the Lawrence clan. Only then will you finally be able to communicate with my uncle, correct?

Eula initially presents herself in a similar manner to the aristocracy, seemingly obsessed with vengeance over minor transgressions. She seems to care greatly about the image of the Lawrence clan, and appears to resent the negative image it (quite rightfully) has.

Eula then attempts to train the protagonist in the ways of aristocratic speech via demonstrations. It goes very badly. As one would expect, the working class citizens of Mondstadt don’t like being demeaned by a member of the aristocracy that used to oppress the city, even one that is slightly more sympathetic for her role in the Knights of Favonius.

Conversation with Randall, the last one of these demonstrations:

Eula: You there, lowly worker, I-

Randall: Yeah, I've already heard it all before. Look, just spare me the time, our answer is always the same. We've got nothing to say to the likes of you.

Randall: I mean, seriously, can't you just take a hint?

Paimon: Please calm down, we don't want to cause any trouble.

Randall: *sigh* I know she's a Knight of Favonius, and that the Knights wouldn't misplace their trust, but the name Lawrence carries too much weight with it.

Randall: Even to this very day, the descendants of the Lawrence Clan are still scheming to reclaim Mondstadt and reinstate their aristocratic rule.

Randall: And if that wasn't enough, here you are purposefully using their awkward way of speaking just to put on an act? Don't you care for the feelings of us ordinary folk?

Eula: You have a point.

Eula: But mark my words, this transgression will not go unnoticed!

Randall: H-Huh? You wanna fight? Listen here, I might be no match for you, but I'll be sure to lodge a complaint with the Knights of Favonius!

Wayfarer: Maybe we should just call it a day now.

Randall: I'm sorry but... I want her to understand that I'm serious!

Randall: Listen here, if you don't want things to get more unpleasant, then you'd better just stop.

Eula: Forget it, there's no point in quarreling any further. Let's go.

Randall: *sigh*...

Eula: It's alright, this happens quite often. Let's find someone else to talk to.

Paimon: Uh, Paimon thinks we've seen enough now. Let's just stop.

Excerpt from the conversation with Eula after this segment of the quest:

Paimon: Actually, Paimon thinks we should apologize for asking you to demonstrate for us. We had no idea the feelings between the Lawrence Clan and the people of Mondstadt were so bitter.

Eula: Haha, what can we do? The Lawrence name is already a dirty word among every household in Mondstadt. Even three-year-olds know the story. I see this kind of attitude all the time.

Wayfarer: And somehow you still manage to brush it off with a laugh?

Eula: Don't worry, what with me being a Knight of Favonius, they're usually willing to speak a few words with me.

Eula: Perhaps my aristocratic manner of speech provoked them today. Believe me, it's not a big issue.

Paimon: So this is the way things are normally for you? There's no need for them to direct their anger at you personally.

Eula: That's the way things are. Perhaps it's just fate for those who've made mistakes. Accepting punishment is only fair, right? But when your family has committed atrocities, I'm afraid there's no easy path to reconciliation.

Eula: As memories are carried in the city breeze, the faults of such grievances are passed on from one generation to the next. It is now my turn to bear this burden.

Eula: At least I have a means of living a relatively normal life compared to the elders of my family. I have nothing to be discontented about.

Wayfarer: So you knew all along that we'd encounter these kinds of problems?

Paimon: Yeah, why were you so willing to try and demonstrate for us?

The narrative paints Eula in a sympathetic light for “dealing with the alienation of being a member of the Lawrence Clan”. However, she acknowledges the fact that Lawrence Clan deserves this foul reputation given its history, contrasting with the first conversation the protagonist has with her.

More training of the monster fighting variety ensues, finishing with a trip to Good Hunter to buy a diplomatic gift for Schubert. There, you run into Amber. Sara ends up giving Amber a salad on the house, prompting Eula to swear vengeance.

Excerpt from conversation with Eula, Amber, and Sara:

Eula: So... we clearly didn't order this, yet you prepared it without authorization... Hmph! Mark my words, this transgression will not go unnoticed!

Paimon: Uh... you're going to take revenge on her for giving us a free salad!?

Sara: You should know me by now, that's the kind of villainous character I am! Hehe...

Sara: Well then... please wait a moment while I get the dish for your uncle started.

Eula: Hmph, delicious unauthorized delicacies... Sara will pay for this.

Paimon: Why would you choose Gebratenes Fleisch mit Sauerkraut as a gift for your uncle? Paimon's never even heard of that dish before... Eula: This dish isn't actually on Good Hunter's menu. Only long standing patrons such as my uncle would know about the dish. The old aristocrats seem to take a liking to it.

Amber: Because of the sour flavor of the sauerkraut, not too many people are fond of it these days. I guess it's become less popular over time.

Amber: Eula treated me to the dish once, and I couldn't even finish a bite. I've nicknamed it "Gebratenes Fleisch mit Vengeance" ever since. Yuck!

Eula: I never expected us to have such completely different tastes in food... If I weren't in such a good mood, I'd say that constitutes grounds for transgression...

Wayfarer: Huh, so even Amber doesn't escape your vengeance?

The “transgression” that Sara commits? Eula gets her vengeance by paying for the food, but putting the Mora under the plate. This is the first sign that though Eula cares about “transgressions” and “vengeance”, she does not seek to hurt people she doesn’t feel deserve it.

Amber and Eula leave, and the protagonist takes the gift from Sara, leading to this conversation:

Paimon: Paimon's been meaning to ask... No one could stand the sight of Eula when she was trying to speak with the others in Mondstadt earlier.

Paimon: But she seemed to get along fine with you and Amber just now… what's up with that?

Sara: The people of Mondstadt don't take kindly to anyone bearing the Lawrence name.

Sara: They are unable to see past her family, therefore they don't actually see Eula for herself.

Sara: So no matter what Eula tries to do, it's seen as a wrongdoing. It essentially strips the meaning of anything she tries to accomplish.

Wayfarer: I think I understand now.

Paimon: How come you're able to see Eula differently then?

Sara: Well, when she joined the Knights of Favonius, it caused quite an uproar.

Sara: Many people signed a petition, demanding that the Knights reverse their decision.

Sara: At the same time, numerous members of the Lawrence Clan crowded the entrance of the Knights of Favonius Headquarters, clamoring for Eula to give an explanation.

Paimon: Whoa... so both sides were unhappy.

Sara: That's right. So, you can imagine how determined Eula must have been under such circumstances.

Sara: But thanks to Grand Master Varka and the unwavering attitudes of others in the Knights of Favonius, they were able to quell the unrest. Tensions still remain beneath the surface, I'm afraid.

Sara: In the eyes of the people, she's a stain on the Knights of Favonius... and in the eyes of the Lawrence Clan, she's a disgrace to her family.

Sara: But she simply fulfills her duty as a Knight, silently helping one person after another, myself included.

Sara: People like Eula should be approached with care and understanding. She could stand to be treated a little more fairly.

Wayfarer: It's good that you're able to understand her.

Sara: I believe a day will come when things will get better.

Eula is clearly defying her family’s oppressive mindset, but the narrative still disparages Mondstadt for not welcoming a former oppressor with open arms.

You meet Schubert, and, surprise surprise, he is scheming with the Fatui to take over Mondstadt. You follow him into the Fatui’s lair, when Eula catches up to you.

Excerpt from conversation with Eula and Schubert:

Schubert: Don't touch me, get out of my way! I'll leave on my own!

Eula: It seems we've finally caught up with you. This place is crawling with Fatui.

Eula: Oh, it's you. It seems your investigation went well.

Wayfarer: It was all worth it.

Schubert: Aha! I see now. So you're the one that taught them our etiquette? And I thought you despised such pleasantries!

Schubert: Furthermore, there is a rule in our family. Such traditions are never to be taught to outsiders!

Eula: Ah yes, rings a bell. So what? I had no reason not to teach them.

Schubert: Y-You have brought shame to our family and ruined my plans! It's all for naught now!

Eula: I know that you poured great efforts into these plans, uncle. But you were well aware that it was not the right thing to do. As a Knight of Favonius, I could not overlook your actions.

Schubert: Knight of Favonius!? Let's get one thing straight. I am your uncle, and you are a member of the Lawrence Clan! You should strive to restore your family's glory!

Schubert: You still have a chance. Defeat every Knight of Favonius here, and leave with me!

Schubert: Then I shall plea with the family to spare you and give you a new beginning!

Eula: So just to be clear, you want a Knight of Favonius to attack the Knights of Favonius?

Schubert: I shall say this one last time. You are not a Knight of Favonius. You are a descendant of the Lawrence Clan!

Schubert: The blood of the Lawrence Clan flows in your veins! You must comply with the will of the family!

Eula: Since when have I ever complied with the will of the family?

Schubert: Wh-Why you... you unruly maid!

Eula: If anyone should be angry, it should be me. As a member of the Lawrence Clan, you knowingly plotted against the city of Mondstadt and threatened its safety.

Eula: Had you ever stopped to consider the trouble it would bring to so many people? Had you considered how many enemies you would make trying to keep the plans under wraps?

Schubert: Y-You dare lecture me!

Eula: That's right, in the name of the family that you so dearly revere, Uncle Schubert.

Eula: I've never experienced the age of "glory" you always speak of, and I've never understood our family's incessant pursuit of it.

Eula: But I am capable of discerning right from wrong, and I deeply understand what "freedom" means to the people of Mondstadt.

Eula: The Lawrence Clan should never and will never become what you've dreamed it to be!

Schubert: Grr...

Schubert: Oh, the disgrace of it all! How could such a rebellious monster emerge from our own family!?

Eula openly defies the oppressive goals of the Lawrence Clan, solidifying her stance against them. However, she still claims to act in the name of the family, but her idea of restoring their name appears to be to make amends with the people of Mondstadt, not to rule over them again.

The protagonist escapes the Fatui lair, and has a boss fight, after which this conversation ensues, and the quest ends:

Eula: *sigh* And there was me thinking that he was just another elder of the family and a lazy one at that. I never suspected he could stoop this low. So stubborn... Mark my words, vengeance will be mine!

Paimon: Oh yeah, you suddenly appeared at just the right moment.

Eula: Yeah, about that...

Eula: Because you stole my targets by attacking the Fatui I'd been tracking earlier...

Eula: ...I came to exact my vengeance. You tried to do my job for me, and I'm here to return the favor.

Wayfarer: So getting the diagram of Mondstadt's defenses was your way of exacting vengeance?

Paimon: Finally, after all this time, Paimon understands what you're saying!

Paimon: In reality, you sensed that something might happen to us during our investigation...

Paimon: You were worried about us and your uncle, so you brought a team to take a look!

Eula: My purpose was vengeance, don't twist the story.

Eula: Hmph, you don't look too bright, but it turns out you have a knack for scheming...

Eula: And mark my words, I'll remember that...

Paimon: Hey, what do you mean Paimon doesn't look too bright!?

Eula: You have seeded a deep enmity between us... just you wait.

Eula: Even if you were to be completely destroyed, I would never forget you!

Wayfarer: So, does that make us your "arch-enemies"?

Eula’s definition of “vengeance” is shown once again to be naught more than a front.

In summary:

The narrative sympathizes with Eula, and disparges the people of Mondstadt for alienating her, though they have every right to do so.

The Lawrence Clan are not sympathetic, and Eula is directly at odds with them.

Eula does not seek to restore the glory of the Lawrence Clan in the oppressive sense, and wants to not be judged for her family, but her actions.

#fathericraveviolencecore #genshin impact #please dont treat me as the one to make a judgement call on this. poc please feel free to give your thoughts #since this issue doesn't affect me personally i dont want to speak over people who it does affect

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ihaveneverbeengivenflowers · 5 years

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Girl crush: Integra Hellsing

Or perhaps should I say

*cof cof* *deep baritone voice* *japanese accent*

INTEGRA FAIRBROOK WINGATES HELLSING

From: Hellsing Author: Kouta Hirano

Warning: spoilers about both the manga and anime versions all the way down from here!

Basic plot: At the age of 12, Integra loses her father and inherits the command of the Royal Order of Protestant Knights, a centenary monster-hunter organization leaded by the Hellsing family to protect England and the Anglican Church against supernatural threats. However, her uncle has always wanted to control the organization, so he plots to murder her right after his brother’s death. Attempting to escape, she finds herself in the basement of the manor, where some kind of legacy from her ancestors is supposed to protect her. When she gets shot by her persecuters, the shedered blood awakes a ridiculously powerful vampire tamed to serve her family. While Alucard performs a carnage with her uncle’s men, she kills him and actually assumes the command of the Organization. Plus, she's recognized by Count Dracula, no other than Vlad III The Impaler himself as his new master.

Now let me tell you why she’s my favorite female manga/anime character ever, and let’s consider her 3 versions (the manga and both anime adaptations):

The “original” Integra (I mean, manga and Ultimate anime versions) is my personal definition of a badass girl, and getting to know her was groundbreaking for the standards of my 16 year old self. Somehow she represents my ideal of strength, proud and self-assurance, in the best “I ain’t gonna take no shit from no fucking one” style I so admire and wished I had to myself... if my anxiety disorder didn’t screw me up.

In parallel to her strong temper, there’s a delightful tendency of hers to show a warped sense of humour with sarcastic teasing and taunting jokes - much more like Alucard, for example. In my opinion, Gonzoverse (ie, the first anime adaptation) depicted her too prone to anger and hard to please - like his antithesis, while I rather think of them and their psychological bond as different sides of the same hell broken loose.

By the way, I really think of her and Hellsing in general as thick with sexual tension, and not just because the prequel of the story was supposed to be a hentai. It’s not hard at all to think of BDSM, you just need to take a closer look: she cuts or bites herself and allows the vampires to feed on the blood dripping from her fingers, watching them from above with a wicked smirk. Gonzoverse also made its way on picturing her as a temptress, especially on the final minutes of the last episode, when Alucard breaks the glass in his hand and asks her one more time to drink his blood. The gaze she gaves him, omfg... I don’t care whether I’m straight, but pray tell me, am I the only one who gets turned on with that shit?

I’ve talked before about Oscar from Rose of Versailles, one of my other favorite female characters, and I can’t help comparing them two because Oscar also represents strength, but from a completely different perspective. Somehow, I think it’s like Oscar was raised by her father as a man, but Integra finished raising herself as one due to the circumstances (please note I don’t literally mean it, there’s no identity conflict related to her biological sex or gender). Maybe we’ll take it as given that she’s a natural leader because of her tenacity, but I think that’s more related to the events that required the young girl to grow up as a tough woman, otherwise she’d be deposed from her post, disrespected by a bunch of older men or eaten up (literally or not... take it as you wish, hahaha) by the family’s vampire servant.

That leads me to the next topic: no matter how fucked up is the situation, she still has the guts to do whatever she must do. Clearly this kind of behaviour is not reasonable 100% of the times, but she’s just too stubborn to give in. She lost her father, almost got killed by the uncle that sweared to look after her, shot him dead right after whitnessing a carnage, was betrayed by the butler that probably raised her like a daughter, took a great responsability at a very young age (and 22 is still a very young age to deal with all of that vampire nazi shit, in my opinion), got shot again and lost an eye and Jesus fucking Christ, she didn’t shed a fucking tear. Just for the record, I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with crying, it wouldn’t make less of her. But I can’t convince myself that Gonzoverse didn’t fuck this up this trait of hers (I wish that was all I think they fucked up, but... yeah, you know).

Taking the opportunity to dwell a little bit more on this subject: again, in comparison to Rose of Versailles, I once read somewhere that the anime was a reinterpretation of the feminine through men’s eyes. Guess we can’t say that of Hellsing, because well, it’s a seinen (ie, mainly marketed to adult men) and the author himself is a man. But to make sure that the tv series would be appelative enough to this particular audience, it might seemed to be a good idea to rebalance her relationships with male characters. To cite a few examples: 1) she relies much more on Alucard and/or Walter than she does in the original storyline, 2) she's easily subdued by Incognito without being able to offer resistance and 3) even the surgeon who sweated a bucket to successfully operate her was a man. On the other hand, she’d rather stab herself and almost bleed to death than having her blood tainted by a vampire, and this may have been their attempt to keep her nerve somehow.

Moving on, but still considering the masculinity thing: at the original storyline, we’re first introduced to the younger Integra, and then there’s a 10 years gap. The (not so) older Integra surely has been through a lot and earned the deserved respect. And I find this change (I’d rather call it “process” if we could have followed her during this considerable period of time, because it certainly didn’t happen overnight) of hers very meaningful, and very graphic in both anime adaptations. Not just because she wears trousers instead of skirts, but also because of the color tones (brighter in the past, darker in the present), body language (wider gestures x closed posture) and interactions (physical contact x distance to other characters).

By the way, if you think she dresses like a man, please read this excelent analysis and realize you got it wrong. As the author very well explains, the canon storyline develops in the late 90′s, and she dresses like a businesswoman of her time. Besides, Kouta Hirano is not exactly a reference when it comes to fashion sense. Let me emphasize that there’s no sex/gender misconceptions at all in this character. Her feminility is recognized by other characters in the story, and we can take for instance the way they adress her: except for Sir (an honorific granted because of her position at the Round Table) and sama (which is gender neutral), female pronouns are used to refer to her - lady, fräulein, ojousama... The symbols of masculinity, I think, are employed to refer to the concepts of strenght, power and defiance. Plus omg, are you people fucking blind? Am I the only one who thinks she’s breathtaking?

Well, last but not least at all: that must be something if the No Life King, an overpower as fuck vampire who’s like 500 years old bends a knee in front of her. Alucard has been surely under her control because of the restrains her family has over his powers, but I’d bet my ass he simply allows her to hold and pull his leash, and that he somehow enjoys it as much as his freak terminator job... and she seems to enjoy it as well.

Search and destroy, motherfuckers.

#hellsing #hellsing ultimate #gonzoverse #integra hellsing #anime #manga

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kazooiesart · 4 years

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Can someone explain the boat AU for me?

Of course!

The Boat Au is based off the Adventure Time game Pirates of the Enchiridion, where due to someone messing with Ice Kings crown, the land of Ooo is flooded.

In the au, Ooo has been flooded for a long time, right after Bonnie and Neddy were made. Her family are not artificial, and are the reason Bonnie and Neddy exist. They were both abandoned and were found by a young girl some amount of years older than the two. They hide Neddy and use a boat they found as the land starts to flood, as Marceline was also abandoned.

Years later, we draw our attention to a small boat holding a family. Minerva and Martin, and their son Finn. The boat is attacked by a bear, killing Martin and Minerva, but is defeated by Finn. He uses the skin of the bear to make shoes and a shawl, and is alone on the bloody boat with the bodies for several days until he is found by another family on a boat, Joshua and Margaret and their sons Jake and Jermaine. They adopt the young boy.

Unfortunately Margaret and Joshua die. Natural causes this time around but due to his parental figures dying again, Finn distrusts adults who try to take care of him. Its sounds absurd I know.

Luckily Finn is not alone this time around, as his adoptive older brothers are here to accompany him until they are found by Bonnie's boat. As this is several years after Bonnie met Marceline, the two are now both adults.

Finn attacks Bonnie, blinding her in one eye, and she, without thinking, cuts off his arm. While Bonnie could just try and make another eye, as she is made of gum, Finn cannot just regrow his arm, so she makes him a prosthetic and she wears a eyepatch.

Peppermint Butler, Science, and Banana Guard #39 (just called Banana Guard. Hes my BG oc who is a cat) are the result of Bonnie trying to create creatures while they explore the flooded Ooo.

Lady is in on the mix too! She came to Ooo for the same reason she does in canon, but didn't expect it to be so... watery. She finds Bonnie's boat and the two become friends, and she starts dating Jake.

Fern comes from a small island that had a grass sword stuck in it. Finn took the sword out and it wriggled out of his hand, making a replication of Finn, who could use the weapon. However, the sword wasn't aware that Finn’s shoes and shawl weren't apart of him, meaning that Fern is part bear. Jake, Jermaine, and Finn have all accepted the grass boy as their new brother. Uncle Gumbald, Aunt Lolly, and Cousin Chicle kidnaps Fern once night and gives him his Green Knight form, planning to have Fern turn on the boat, but he won’t, annoying Gumbald.

That’s one boat down! hahaha

Next up is Simon and Betty!

The two are still fiancees and crazy. Simon found a book at the same place he got the crown at in canon. Like in the show, he thought it would be fun to read somethings from it, except that it was a strange ancient spell book that opened a portal into the future and pulled the two through it.

Upon arriving in the flooded land, Simon found a old crown. Putting it on gave him magical ice powers and he sorta went crazy, but his appearance didn't change. His craziness isn't as bad as it is in show, and its easy to hide and pretend that he’s fine (aka he lies to Betty and hates it) but uh oh! Betty finds a bright yellow hat with a ribbon on it. Putting it on should've been a bad idea, but she does it anyway. She gets magic and insanity like her finance, but she is much more obvious in it. Her eyes go blank white and she is constantly sparking and saying strange things. Simon takes what he believes is his duty to make sure his fiancee doesn't harm herself or anyone else with her uncontrollable and unpredictable magic.

Next is Kara and Frieda

These two end up kinda like Simon and Betty. Kara loses her memory and goes by the name Susan, and Frieda tries her very best to get her to remember who Frieda is and who Kara is. They have their own boat, filled with strange gizmos Frieda makes in her spare time. These have become objects Frieda tries to use to get Kara to remember.

Last up are the outsiders!

These guys don’t have a boat. Prismo, Cosmic Owl, and Huntress Wizard live on their own.

Prismo in the Time Room, where he sends Jake letters and often invites Jake and Lady to hang out.

Cosmic Owl lives in his apartment thing, but often visits Prismo, and can be considered a loose friend of Jake’s.

Huntress Wizard lives in any non flooded forest, usually visiting Finn when he plays his flute.

#adventure time #at boat au #sorry its so long

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c7thetumbler · 6 years

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Quick Game Reviews: What I played 2018

I’m gonna go ahead and do this for the whole year, which includes games that WEREN’T released this year, but I played this year. I also made this throughout the year, so most the opinions were right after I played it and if it’s been updated further might not include that in my blurb.

I needed to type and felt like I needed to make something. This might motivate me I suppose. Let’s get started

DOOM 2016 [PC]

I grew up on Pokemon, Mario, and Doom II. I couldn’t play it until I got my new computer this year so yeah way too late. This is a pretty solid game, though thanks to all of the bonuses and honestly nearly intrusive leveling up system kinda stepped in the way of the raw combat. It’s obviously my choice, but I felt encouraged to spend a lot of time exploring areas I’d already cleared rather than run and gun.

That being said, I still loved it. The secrets were, for the most part, really clever and fun anyway and the combat is delicious. I would strongly recommend this

A Hat in Time + Seal the Deal DLC [PC]

I love this game. A lot. It’s really cute and looks really good, it’s got a ton of charm, and it’s honestly a very good time overall. I 100% the base game last year when it first came out, and I would highly recommend to fans of 3D platformers, and still worth a try if you’re on the fence on them. The mod support is also great that it’s in there and I want to try that a lot. however the DLC...

So the new level is pretty short and while it’s fun, it’s not as good as the other levels. The characters (I think) are really cute and the charm is all there and that great, but it has all of 3 levels, and 2 of them are exploring the exact same places (the boat) and the 3rd is a nice twist on that, but other than that it’s pretty barren. The time rifts were fun as well, but alone... eh. The Death Wish portion, that is the super hard challenge mode...

... is not good. Obviously my opinion, and I might be missing the point, but after having been frustrated over and over and over again, the game itself is just not tight or clean enough to warrant it. My backing for this is that a large portion of the challenges rely on originally unintended level geometry or quirky mechanics in order to complete, and having challenges that require you to be in the know about these honestly inconsistent “quirks” is just not good. Specific examples: the ice hat giving you a small boost to avoid jumping in challenges is alright but fluctuates in how much height it gives you a lot, the challenges around the train chase still have the wonky hitboxes that do not line up with what’s still on screen, and the parade challenge has an invisible hitbox on the main platform that can kill runs. In short If you have found you love the main game and are a bit of a masochist, go for the DLC.

Pokémon Ultra Sun [3DS]

This is more or less just a revisit of the same generation with some very minor changes. The story changes take the focus away from Lillie and Lusamine (and as a result how interesting the former and evil the latter are) and places it on Necrozma and Ultra Beasts. I really like what they did with Necrozma, but overall it feels like a lot less. And while the Rainbow Rocket post game was nice and fun nostalgia, it’s still missing a solid post game like B2W2 or Gen II had.

Ultra Wormholes are cool though, and all the good mechanics from SM are still there, so honestly I would recommend this if you haven’t played gen 7 and like Pokémon.

Hey! Pikmin [3DS]

It’s awful. I can’t think of a reason to pick this up.

I can rant about this for years, but it basically got the Zip Lash/ Sticker Star treatment: it took a franchise known for something and made it something else that was bad. It’s an incredibly slow puzzle “platformer” where you have to collect a bunch of treasure using pikmin you find in the level, it’s laggy even on a n3DS, and even though the point of the game is to collect enough treasure to leave, if you do that they’re all like “by the way, you still have to beat the final boss” so the entire auto-collecting side game you put your pikmin into is entirely pointless. This is honestly the worst 3DS game I played this year.

Hollow Knight [PC]

So I’m normally not that great with the games-that-are-pretty-dang-hard, and this was no exception. That said however, I did get pretty far (probably) before I got to a boss fight I just couldn’t beat (It was an onslaught of rolling knights in the raining city or something, it’s been a while). And after that I tried finding more power-ups and stuff to help, but I had to set it down after getting bottlenecked there. That being said, I can very easily see why people like this hardcore metroid-vania platformer, and would still recommend it if you’re into the Dark Souls style of high difficulty and mechanical mastery in other genres.

Axiom Verge [PC]

This is another Metroid-style game. I really liked this one as well, especially how its power-ups weren’t the traditional “You jump higher now” traversal power-ups. It really has a nice atmosphere and theme that still feels alien and metroidy while also feeling like the glitchy world by giving you weapons and movement abilities that let you glitch and change the environment around you. I really liked it! My only real complaint is the bosses get really challenging through a result of eventually figuring out what weapon and strategy is was designed for, and there are some areas that I was completely lost trying to find where I was going next, but all in all it’s pretty solid.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch [PC]

I normally really hate games where the focus is “lol, you can barely control your character! hahaha.” I actually really liked this one; it isn’t hard to get the hang of it and it’s really funny and still enjoyable at the same time. I rarely actually felt annoyed at the controls. I had a ton of fun with it, even if it was a little short.

Kirby Star Allies [Switch]

My complaints are very much the same as everyone else’s here; it’s a pretty okay Kirby game, but it lacks real challenge and is pretty quick. the real “star” of the show is playing the game with different characters, but since you can’t do that until after you play through as Kirby, by that point it’s either grown on you or hasn’t. The best part is the unique levels they made for the DLC characters, Gooey, Marx, Dreamland buddies, etc. Those are a ton of fun. If you like Kirby games, this one’s no Super Star but you’ll likely love all the attention to the free DLC characters and it’s not bad by any stretch.

HOB [PC]

It’s a 3D, top-down Zelda style game with an emphasis on some platforming elements. The world is wonderful, definitely the Aesthetic with clockwork worlds that Spiral Knights wishes it could’ve had. I actually had a ton of fun with it. The secrets and exploration were great, combat is ehhhhhh but that’s not really the focus. It’s a good time, If you like Zelda but with some puzzle platforming and great atmosphere, check this one out!

Poi [PC]

This is a Unity 3D platformer that attempted to brush off the Unity, and does an alright job with being mechanically tighter than most, but still has the Unity feel. Controls are a bit loose, could’ve used a lot of polish, but honestly this scratched the 3D platformer collect-a-thon itch for a bit and I actually 100% it. You have to love 3D platformers like Sunshine or Banjo Tooie to be able to like this, but if you do it’s a pretty fun romp.

Princess Remedy In a Heap of Trouble [PC]

This is a fun, short bullet-hellish game with an old-school Atari aesthetic. It’s pretty fun, but honestly I like the mechanics in the free game better (though this has more content). It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s quirky (and kinda short), try out the free game and if you like that one give this a try! The main difference is the “date” mechanic, where people you heal can join you to give you a different special power from healing, to various kinda of bombs, time freezing, homing bullets, etc. Once you find one though, it’s hard to convince yourself to try something else.

Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion [Switch]

This is Splatoon 2′s expanded hard/challenge mode. I’m a big fan; a few of the challenges are eh, but overall the aesthetic and branching map structure are super fun. The expanding on the lore and bonuses are also great; even though earlier I don’t normally go for the extremely hard, I found myself 100%’ing this. There’s a really tough challenge at the very end of all that, and I would say If you liked Splatoon 2, pick this up. It’s the expansion of Single Player that it deserves, though prepare for a few frustrating challenges.

... But now you have to pay for a terrible service to play it online so keep that in mind...

Celeste [Switch]

This is a fucking great game and you should buy it. It’s a challenging (very hard) platformer in the line of super meat boy and maybe even I Wanna Be The Guy, but this does it extremely right. restarting is very quick, the controls are incredibly tight, and the levels are genuinely clever and fun.

The story is also really solid, and I can’t recommend the whole package as a solid game.

Grow Up [PC]

This is the sequel to Grow Home, a game I’ve quick-reviewed a long time back. I liked the whole explore a whole planet and find some neat stuff, however the challenges are reliant on some weird procedural animations which don’t necessarily cooperate. It kinda overstays it’s welcome as a result, though the open nature of it is really fun. I have a hard time recommending this one, but it’s still a pretty solid romp even if it fights you a bit.

Sonic Mania Plus [Switch]

Having 100% the base game which I highly recommend, I was expecting a lot more things to do with this. Encore mode is fun; I really like how you can change up your characters and have to adjust on the fly. The new special stages are tough but fun, but the pinball minigame is.. not good. Gets old pretty quick. additionally it doesn’t add much after encore mode. Might and Ray have abilities that meaningfully add some neat gameplay stuff, but after how great the base game was, I was expecting a little bit more. That being said, the DLC is a nice bonus for the base game and you can’t really go wrong with it.

Lovely Planet [PC]

So I made a point to only play this game when I was drunk. The first few times I happened to be when I played it, so I stuck with it. This is a quick-restarting FPS with a focus on perfect shots and maneuvering to destroy all the target and get to the end as soon as possible.It’s hard as balls but really silly, so if you’re into perfectionist gameplay it’s worth a go. Probably not drunk tho.

Ever Oasis [3DS]

IIRC, this came out at a time where there was a lull in Nintendo games, or at least 3DS games so this one was very much skimmed over. It’s a mix between a town management sim and Zelda-style dungeon crawling and resource gathering. On paper, and even somewhat in game, this is a cool idea; you get townsfolk who can go with you on missions, each with their own abilities, and what you get outside of the town is used to help expand you town, which will buff you/your townspeople's abilities to go further in dungeons.

In practice however... they don’t really mesh. The limitation of 1 item per party member and items being locked to specific people you need to find, going to dungeons is a chore as you need to find out which characters you need to actually play (often not your best). Meanwhile, time passes so quickly and your town’s shopkeepers run out of resources so quickly, it’s a full time job to keep up the town and then you run out. They mitigate this near the end game by have the ability to make parties out of townspeople who can’t own shops, which are very rare. The ending is good up until the last moment where they do a thing that doesn’t make sense to get some points for emotion but... It just doesn’t work to me.

All in all, it has a demo to show how a dungeon works, and if you like management AND what that dungeon has to offer, go for it. Otherwise, the setting and character design are great but not enough to really hold interest

Q.U.B.E. 2 [PC]

The First game was Portal-esque in that you navigated the first-person Cube puzzle maze without any dialogue while manipulating the chambers with a variety of cube-spawning and extending abilities. You had to piece out and interpret the story yourself. This is the opposite; there’s a lot of dialogue, story set-pieces, and it’s bizarrely paced. You’ll get through most the game in like an hour, but then the last 2-3 chapters are the bulk of the game. Those are pretty fun, but the game is still incredibly short and I liked the tone of the first better. It’s short, it’s not bad, but it doesn’t really stand out.

NES Classic

So I dunno if I love or hate this thing. It’s great because it’s an official NES with controller and emulator and gives me the opportunity to play a buncha games I hadn’t before, but the controller cable is too small, the damn thing has trouble getting enough power (EDIT: This was actually my aparement’s faulty wiring, though if you aren’t supplying it with enough power the sound won’t work either), and this things existence is probably part of the reason we’ve not seen a proper virtual console support on Switch. You can hack it to be able to upload other ROMs to it, which is neat (I haven’t done that), but ultimately it’s worth looking at the games and asking yourself: Do I really want to play most of these? Do I really want to buy this when I’ve already bought most of them?

SNES Classic

This is the same as above but more expensive with less games... But to me is a better value. It has a better selection of games (in my opinion), though they could’ve included some better ones. It still has the power issues (which are overcomable easily) but comes with 2 controllers with longer cables. Also StarFox 2 is a very nice game. I’d recommend this more than the NES Classic, but again, weigh what’s in it vs what you actually want to play if you can’t already

WarioWare Gold [3DS]

This is a compilation game done right. It has the WarioWare charm and the voice acting adds even more to it. The microgame selection and adaptations are wonderful, and honestly I don’t have any complaints. It has changed everything to fit in one of 3 (+2 smaller ones) categories: Mash, Twist, and Touch (+ blow and short). These are normally separate by category, but near the end they mix and match and even do some fun mix-up with it in the very last rounds and bonus game modes. Whether your first WarioWare or a veteran, this is in my opinion the best in the series, and I would suggest you give it a go.

Monster Hunter World [PC]

So this one is hard. I really wanted to like it, and after playing Dauntless I thought I would. I even promised friends I would play it with them frequently and keep up but... between friends being able to play when I couldn’t and the game’s wonky controls and online issues, I was falling behind and getting frustrated. That’s kinda side stuff; if I really liked it I could’ve caught up. The truth is, I liked Dauntless better because while it was also very buggy, the combat was just a lot more straightforward and responsive. Monster Hunter seemed like Dauntless with a bunch of annoyances added onto it. There are tons of collectibles and recipes, weapon sharpness is entirely pointless when the monsters run anyway to give you breaks, the weapons I played seemed sluggish to attack with, and monster attacks were unclear a lot of the time. Everything just felt like a pain in the ass or waste of time to deal with and put a lot of focus on inventory management or grinding, and to me the core game you would do that for just wasn’t there.

Like I enjoyed the free roaming and exploration, but the fighting is just not for me and that’s the whole point of the free roaming and all that. I feel bad about not liking this after enjoying Dauntless, but I just am not into Monster Hunter and will be skipping the series from now on.

Katamari Forever [PS3]

I got this one thinking it was a compilation game of all the Katamari games!

It was not. It’s actually the hardest Katamari game... Which kinda surprised me about how much of a dick they are when you start out since their controls are incredibly weird and unintuitive (you get used to them) and anything short of perfection will get the Kings to any where from passive aggressively imply you did poorly or just straight out call you awful and not to bother.

Here’s the part where randomly in the giant text post I just completely break whatever I was talking about because I’m 95% no one actually reads this so for shits and giggles the first person to reply to my tweet where I posted a link to the blogpost stating that they found this paragraph will get a free me replying back to that tweet saying “nice” back. An enticing gift amirite? Anyway continuing on.

That being said, it’s pretty fun after all that; there are one or two levels designed to be super annoying but the ones where you play the core game of quickly building your Katamari are for the most part very solid. This is for existing fans of the series, but i had a pretty good time with it after I got past the barrier to entry.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero: Ultimate Edition [PC]

I’ve talked about liking Shantae before on this blog; I mentioned that I liked Pirate’s Curse but the fact that side missions and collectibles were actually required for game completion. This Shantae looks great and all, but they completely tossed out the open-like nature and makes it a series of linear levels that you have to revisit at least 2-3 times to find the stuff that should’ve been off somewhere in a different series of areas and optional that’s really just slightly out of reach due to a power up you arbitrarily find after the level you needed to use it in ends. Dungeons are completely gone; the game literally is just “go right” and remember all the little things you couldn’t get to for when you have to backtrack over and over again.

That’s just the base game, and even with all that said it’s not a bad game, it just doesn’t really feel like a Shantae game anything other than aesthetically. I spent a few hours trying to 100% the base game, but after getting 99% and discovering I had to backtrack yet again to a snake merchant to trade for dances just to use them once and trade back, I just had 0 interest in getting the final percent. There are also a variety of different takes on the same campaign where you play as Shantae in different costumes with different abilities, Risky, or even Bolo + Skye + Rotty, and again those look fun but... I don’t really want to play the same game another 10 times.

Dragalia Lost [Android]

This is Nintendo’s first jump into mobile with a new IP, and while it’s definitely banking hard on more traditional gacha mechanics (you can get 5 star items instead of Hero characters only), it’s definitely not bad. It’s pretty generous with stamina and resources, at least when you start, and my only major complaint is how you seem to hit a wall in terms of how long it takes to really progress about a week or so of playing every day in. And it’s quite a wall; there’s quite a lot of grinding needed once you get to chapter 6 (the current final chapter that really feels like just the end of a prologue (Edit, they recently added chapter 7)), so you really need to like it. The levels are kinda simple as well, though there’s a maze-like area in the story that’s a bit more clever so it’s a start at least. All and all, it’s worth a try, but if you don’t like the top-down brawler after the first world, it’s not worth forcing through gacha mechanics for; especially since after you complete normal story mode, all you’re going to be doing is grinding to get through hard and the summoning currency gets scarce fast. For reference, getting enough to be able to challenge the High Dragon quests and not immediately die in them takes 2 months of grinding specifically for that purpose if you use your stamina optimally, which you won’t because events are more fun anyway

Overcooked 2 [Switch Download]

So this is actually really fun with a friend or 3; and that’s where it really shines. Sure, you can do it single player but it just doesn’t feel as fun. This is a sort of quick time-management game where you have to frantically run around cooking various recipes before they run out of time, to get a star rating at the end. There’s some bad levels, but the majority are really fun and it feels very fair even in single layer; I always think at the end regardless of the rank that I could’ve managed my dudes to do even better. The only real complaint is the loading times seem... unnecessarily long. Especially for restarting a level. It’s nothing too bad though.

Luckily this has online multiplayer, so I highly recommend picking this up on a platform that your friends have it on, ie Steam. I got it on Switch and in hindsight since I strongly dislike Nintendo’s online service I really wish I had gotten like a 2-pack on Steam. That’s not a complaint with the game though; I really liked it!

Super Mario Party [Switch]

Probably the best Mario Party in a very, VERY long time. This is going to be a longer review. I played this first with Keewy and his roommates and we had a great time in every single game mode (except online).

The Mario Party mode is really good; they’ve shrunk the map and reduced how much stars cost to 10 coins, but 10-15 turn games can still take an hour to an hour and a half. This makes it a much simpler, easier to get mode, but the real star here is them bringing back the Ally & character dice mechanic from Mario Party Star Rush (had it’s good moments, but was on 3DS so that’s it for that). Each character can roll a normal 1-6 dice, but they also each have a unique die that has different numbers on it. These are for the most part balanced; character with higher numbers on their dice also have downsides instead of a 1. 0′s, losing coins, and in some cases gaining coins (because you still don’t move), and it adds a level of strategy to it where otherwise it would be just “roll and hop for the best. That’s what it is still, but sometimes you can choose. You can also pick up other characters who will help you in minigames, give you the option to roll their die, and add 1-2 spaces to your roll. It’s super fun.

The River Rafting mode is 4-player co-op, and it’s pretty fun as well your first run through. Not single player though; this very much shines with 4 people. However, because there are only like 8? 4-player co-op minigames, you see every game on your first run so it doesn’t really hold up after your first couple runs.

The dance mode is great; it’s like Rhythm heaven but Mario Party themed. Again, these minigames are really fun, but once you play through all 3 difficulties, which takes about 10 minutes, there aren’t any you haven’t played.

2v2 is ripped straight out of Star Rush, which is a great thing. Again, don’t play this with a cpu on your team at least. As far as I can tell, even in Mario Party mode, CPU’s make the same brain-dead decisions on the boards regardless of their difficulty level. Anyway, this has the same 4 boards but opened up vastly; You now roll, combine it with your partner, then add any allies you may have picked up along the way’s 1-2 rolls and other bonuses. The point is to land on the starspace and buy it, and it’s just a good time to see the strategy involved with either going for the stars, allies, or secondary goals. By far the best alternative Mario Party gameplay style in a while (way better than Island Tour’s linear maps and 9-10′s Car mode), but again there’s only the 4 maps.

So I guess my only true complaint is that while there are a lot of minigames, they’re split so much over the different modes they don’t feel like a lot and you see repeats frequently. Additionally it would be nice to turn on/off the bonus stars at the end and other options involving maybe skipping some of the cutscenes (star moving, places changed, etc.). All in all, the best and most interesting Mario Party in a long, long time. I highly recommend it if you have a friend to pick it up with.

Just Shapes & Beats

Got this game for a bit of random multiplayer. It’s a pretty fun, music based bullet hell game all about staying alive through the song while crazy stuff happens on screen. The story mode doesn’t overstay its welcome, but there’s also plenty of content and challenges for those who are so inclined, and only one of the levels felt utterly, bullshitingly unfair (which is really good with bullet hells) so It’s a fun time if you’re into top down bullet hells, and better with a friend in challenge mode

Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee [Switch]

I could write a dissertation on this game and how it’s neither good or bad; it’s just kinda... there. Some aspects are incredibly disappointing; the capture mechanics are absolute garbage, forced motion controls are atrocious, player/npc animations and interactions are completely stilted and lazy, the world is very bland vs Sun and Moon, the performance in handheld mode drops frames sometimes which is unacceptable, there’s almost zero post game, and even more. It’s by all means an HD reskin of a Gameboy game running on their crappy 3DS engine.

But there’s a lot of good here as well; seeing pokemon in the overworld is amazing and should be the case in the series moving forward, partner pokemon (eevee) are fun and fucking adorable, riding pokemon is great, having fast captures makes chaining a really fun mechanic, Having some of the E4 and Gym leaders interact with you during your quest makes the world interesting, connectivity with go is very limited but still good, having only one pokemon be obtainable only once in the game is a welcome and frankly overdue change in the game, removing breeding/abilities/held items really streamlines the mechanics and makes the game more enjoyable in a lot of cases, and I could go on.

I’m not going to recommend it, but I mean if you liked any pokemon game you’re definitely not going to not have fun with this one, even if the randomness in the capture mechanics frustrates you to no end

Super Smash Bros Ultimate [Switch]

So I mean it’s smash bros. Not much really to say about that, it’s pretty good. I kinda like Smash Bros not just for the multiplayer but the single-player as well, which is why Brawl is still my Favorite so take that as my approach here. The normal gameplay is fine, though the input buffer feels wonky at times and some characters are much harder to play against than others, which in combination with the sheer amount of characters makes it very difficult to get the hang of and counter accordingly, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just the barrier between playing casually and playing a bit more seriously feels sudden when randomly coming across characters that have inherent advantages from being wonky. Cloud for example seems to have a move for evertyhing, can spit out attacks very quickly, and if you try anything silly they’ll just charge a better move, and then randomly fighting a Ganondorf is like “I hope they don’t know how to read you because you can die at like 35 from a single fuck up”

The Single Player content though was... Disappointing. Not nearly as bad as Sm4sh, but it seems like they spent so much time putting as many characters and stages in the game as possible that they realized they wouldn’t have time to do old game modes the same way, so they made a system which allowed them to make custom smash battles with weird attributes and built the entirety of the bonus content on that. There’s really only adventure mode which is just a progression of Event Matches which gets somewhat stale and repetitive quickly, Mob Smash is just not really that fun past your first run or two, All-Star Smash is actually near impossible and not even rewarding, Classic does one or two cool ideas with routes but they clearly got lazy with a lot of characters there too, and the only platforming challenge in the game is the bonus level which takes 30 seconds and never changes.

Their Online mode is unacceptably bad and lacks options for random fights as well, and given that they’re charging for it this is just flat-out unacceptable. Buy it if you like playing Smash for the Multiplayer (which is almost everyone), but this is a hard pass if you were expecting a large amount of interesting content like Brawl’s Adventure mode had. Or are incapable of learning past a certain point, like me.

Katamari Damacy Reroll [Switch]

So after having played Forever earlier in the year and hearing how much praise this got, I had very High expectations! Unfortunately the controls are still ehhhhh and the game is surprisingly short; I beat it over the course of a 4ish hour flight. It’s definitely a lot nicer to you than Forever is, but in terms of amount of content it’s not aged well. If you’ve not played it before, pick it up on sale, but as far as I can tell this outing doesn’t add anything new to the original and it’s just a straight up re-release

Mario Tennis Aces [Switch]

So does anyone actually look forward to Mario Tennis Games? The past two have been husks of content and this one’s not really much better. The charging mechanic is interesting, but doesn’t feel that consistent or fair in some scenarios, but like was anyone waiting for this to get announced? Or is this just a “safe” series that sells okay and pads out the library for quick cash?”

It’s weird that they knew the Adventure mode was something fans really, REALLY wanted and touted it as some huge deal, even advertising it with a cool pre-rendered cutscene, and the whole mode with all challenges turns out to be at most a couple hours long, repetitive, and only actually has the two cutscenes (the 2nd being like 10 seconds). They made some silly RPG level up mechanic which didn’t feel like it made any difference, you can’t change your character so you’re really only learning how Mario plays, and it does a really poor job of explaining the different kinds of shots to you so it’s not even good for learning the game. I wasn’t expecting an experience worth telling for generations with the plot either, but even that gives up on itself; Luigi is possessed but he doesn’t do anything the whole game until you fight him, not even with the 3/5 power stones you have, and these power stones you spent the game collecting don’t do anything or matter because Bowser comes out of no where and “takes” the racket and power stones and challenges you to an admittedly fun boss fight. Not in a cutscene mind you, you’re just told this happens. It’s just lazy.

The game has some visual issues too; it’s missing any sort of stylistic flair and honestly just looks like an up-res’d Wii game, though with smoother models. Shadows flicker and cut through textures, and something weird’s going on with anti-aliasing that makes everything look blurry as hell too. I will say props for going to the effort of making tennis costumes for every character though; so that’s more effort than what went into Ultra Smash.

If you’re a huge, HUGE fan of Mario Tennis, go nuts. But uh, yeah this isn’t really worth your time for the price otherwise

Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Starter Pack) [Switch]

Yeah so it’s rich coming from me, but honestly this game is only hindered by the physical toys. As far as I can tell you can only play as generic Mr. No Personality or Fox, and then you only have the two options for weapons. The game could get interesting combat-wsie with the combinations of ships and like I think 14ish different weapons? But with just the starter pack you run through what the game has to offer pretty quick.

It is interesting though how I very rarely play Ubisoft games and hadn’t played one since their open-world formula milking, but right away I could tell that it was a Ubisoft open world game. There’s a lot to do, a lot of planets to explore, movement is fun and surprisingly easy, combat is pretty straightforward and has potential, but the key thing is that there’s like 30-50 facilities on each planets with like 4 different types of objectives (3 of which are “kill the same bad guys immediately here”), and you can spend hours on one planets doing some minor variance on that same thing over and over and over.

It’s a pretty good start in terms of base mechanics for what would be a cool system for an open StarFox game (and I know it wasn’t trying for that) but the repetitiveness of exploring, frankly pathetic writing in terms of characters, and locking a lot of the interesting content behind toys detracts from the experience. It’s definitely not un-fun, but after clearing 4 planets and seeing that’s just what the game is doing I don’t have any interest in continuing.

At least other than to see StarFox, because Ubisoft did them better justice than Nintendo has in years.

Best Game I Played in 2018: Celeste

Easy choice here, Celeste has a wonderful story, looks gorgeous, plays like a dream and managed to be an incredibly challenging platformer that didn’t make me lose my patience ever, which is AMAZING considering how little patience I have whenever I fail at a game.

I was going to pick the best game that actually came out in 2018 but honestly it’d be between like 4 games that I had gripes with in some way or another, so i’m going to say Overcooked 2 is pretty fucking solid and leave this whole run on sentence in the heading font because why not it’s my dead blog I can do whatever the fuck I wan-

Anyway that’s it. Hope everyone had a good year

#Game Impressions

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ghostmartyr · 6 years

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Pokémon White Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 6]

Five badges down, three to go!

Hail the victorious living:

Frogger (Seismitoad)

Ptera (Archeops)

Palm (Breloom)

Batman (Escavalier)

Gelding (Tornadus)

Fido (Entei)

Clay invited our ten-year-old self off to see a cave in the middle of the wilderness, so that’s first on the agenda today.

Or is it?

Yeah, fight time.

Bianca has learned the way of the Hyper Potion. I would mind this less if she used it on something that didn’t know Hypnosis. And Defense Curl. And Lucky Chant.

Bianca’s Musharna is much like Bianca’s Patrat. It has murder in its heart.

STOP FEEDING IT HYPER POTIONS BIANCA. JUST LET IT DIE.

Sigh. Well. It’s BRNed now. So Fido doesn’t have to be awake for the rest of this fight. Aw, but it wakes up anyway, because Fido loves me.

All of my fucking yes.

I’m going to let Gelding tackle the Pansear, because I don’t think he can get too hurt from it. I’d very much like to not be wrong about that, and ta-da, all is well.

The final Watchdog is before us.

How fitting that Gelding knows the move Revenge.

Confuse Ray is nothing before it.

Confuse Ray, Super Fang, and Hypnosis.

Hey so Batman’s in now and I don’t like this at all.

Lemonade for Batman. And now a Hyper Potion.

Super Fang can’t be its only attack.

HA, BATMAN WOKE UP!

She fought through the Confuse Ray and killed the bloodthirsty Watchdog!

Hell. I hate those things.

Bianca gives us Fly, so yay. When’s Surf coming around?

This route is great for Palm, so I’m going to give in, let him lead the party, and throw the Exp. Share on anything that can’t do jack against the current set of wilds. I guess it’s nice that everyone’s getting a turn up front.

Time to open up our new area. Hopefully it’ll be full of things Batman can grind against. ...Gosh, that’s a sentence.

LOOK AT THE COOL CAVE.

Also N is there.

Fight time?

Oh hey, I forgot you things existed!

I guess they’re people. I probably should not call them things. Hey N, why do you get a ninja squad with your knight motif? What kind of Mary Sue nonsense is leaking out of your green hair and if you give me your hat will I stop commenting on it?

Also, fight time is apparently not until the end of this cave. If then.

Which means now is the time for finding pokemon.

...Not you. No repeats.

Chargestone Cave’s true power is bringing all of the characters with names together. Hi Professor Juniper. Are you going to give me free stuff again? You are!

It’s a Lucky Egg!

That is an incredibly useful item to have. Thank you, Professor. I am so glad you do something besides telling people where they can ride their bikes.

Actually I don’t know if she does that. I haven’t tried to ride my bike anywhere I can’t. I’m too used to being yelled at over that.

‘Ello, score. I don’t know how I feel about how many of these things I recognize from elsewhere, and let me tell you about how much I wish this Yanmega did not have SonicBoom, but Yanmega’s cool.

The trick is not going on autopilot. This thing can murder any number of my team.

(Yes, I forgot the Quick Ball again.)

Net Ball?

...Nope.

This has the feel of not going well. Frogger, you have the most HP, go soak up some hits.

If I have to knock it out just to avoid a wipe I’m going to be sad.

I need to buy some stuff at the next town. I have eight Great Balls left. They aren’t even earning a shake. Hey, wait, that one did. Yay?

Yay!

Dang, name. Name.

I don’t think enough people are reading these to judge me if I name it Fluttershy. That’s his name now. See you another time, Fluttershy. Hopefully never. I like the current squad.

The game’s now decided it’s Summer.

This matters because now the random Deerling we come across will be adorable and green and I can never have one.

I’m gonna give Gelding the Lucky Egg and toss him out in front.

There’s Chansey in here. This one knows Minimize. Another move I don’t care for, but yay for Revenge killing it in one hit. Plus, you know, actually hitting it. This cave is going to be gold for exp.

A wild trainer appeared!

I can’t remember if Archen has a Rock typing. This thing is conceivably very dangerous. Not while it uses Agility, but... Yeah, okay, Acrobatics brought Gelding down to 25, Fido, operating under the theory that it doesn’t have a Rock move, go murder it.

Murder achieved. Good dog.

Frogger’s going to be in front for a bit while I see about healing.

Frogger does not do enough damage to harm the Chansey with Softboiled.

Batman, get in there and try to fix something.

Future plans include never letting Gelding take damage. This is all a massive inconvenience of switching and walking around and switching and yay exp.

I think the next time I can buy stuff I just need to make a concentrated effort to pick up some Potions. Walking back to whatever Center equivalent is nearest to save items is very time-consuming. I should give up and buy all the health I will never need.

Look at my super special awesome ninja escort. Because I might fall off the bridge if I’m left to my own devices or something, idk.

Gelding wants to learn Agility. I do not want him to learn Agility. Guess which one of us has an opinion that matters.

Now a Maractus has appeared. Is this cave just the land of repeats?

One level below, Shiftry, Chatot, and Xatu wander the halls. So only the first level is the land of repeats.

These guys both just gave me a Nugget for no reason. Score.

Oh great, a few steps away is someone who heals stuff. That is so much better than free Nuggets. Naturally the healing’s only there because Team Plasma and plot stuff needs to happen elsewhere in the cave, but we can’t have everything.

Another pokemon I love is Scraggy. Team Plasma likes using it. How dare they. Same with the Sandile set.

This gen has so many good pokemon what even.

Like, yes, Watchdog.

But everything else.

Heyo, Batman’s learned Iron Head. Ptera’s going to get the Exp. Share now. I think the leveling is going to be a little absurd for a while, but I want it to be absurd with everything on the same page. We do not play favorites on this team.

Because the favorite is dead.

Gelding’s turning out to be surprisingly useful just because his moveset has so much variety. He has a Fighting, Psychic, Flying, and Dark move, and a focus on both Attack stats. It just walks on things. Floats.

Hahaha except for Watchdogs with Hypnosis. Why does that not ever miss. Hypnosis, Super Fang, and terror. These are the tools of the devil.

!!!!!!!!

I can’t catch it, but ! ! !

I’ve never seen any of these in any of the games! This is truly the cave of wonders!

Also our new way of dealing with Watchdog is sending out Palm and having Palm Mach Punch it into oblivion. Because we shall not suffer a Watchdog to live.

Another level down, and there’s Grimer, Electrike...

I need a legendary bingo card and I need it yesterday. The heck. The actual heck.

...

Am. I playing with a shiny clause?

...

Okay, here’s how shinies will be dealt with: I am allowed to catch them outside the realms of the standard challenge. They will not receive nicknames, so will not be used. But I can try to catch them.

“Them” meaning this Grimer, because I don’t think shiny odds are affected by the Randomizer. This is just some cool natural luck.

...Luck that I think I am going to use my one Quick Ball on. I haven’t yet figured out which move is least likely to kill this critter, but all of my pokemon have ten levels on it, and are fully evolved. If I can dodge hurting it, I should.

Hella!

I don’t usually dig the green shinies, but it is super appropriate for Grimer, and I am very happy to have it.

This floor has Zubat. My heart has a feeling. You have not been missed, you fucking bat, but no Pokemon run would be complete without you. It just wouldn’t be the same.

You know, I think I might have gone down the wrong stairs for plot progression. There were just normal trainers and items down there, and there are stairs that go up to the right of those stairs.

...I’m gonna heal before I address that.

Up the stairs, and we’re back to Entei.

As well as plot.

I was about to ask if there’s any other gen that cares as much about its color names, but then I remembered that yes, pretty much all of them are linked well to some kind of something.

I keep disagreeing with N. I can’t remember/do not know if that changes anything in the slightest, it’s just what’s going on.

Hey so I forget. How does N rationalize his use of pokemon for battles? Was that in one of the dialogue bubbles I didn’t read? Or just much earlier in the game? I don’t particularly care, I’m just curious.

Then there’s Professor Juniper and all the other adults who listen to this kid and go all, “Oh sweetie, we all go through the phase of thinking we’re the only ones with good thoughts. Lots of love, keep having fun!”

I’m paraphrasing.

Look, Flying Gym place.

If there is some other way of thinking of it, I do not have it on my memory record. Oh, Move Deleter’s in the house next to the Center. That would be maybe useful if I still had a legendary that knew Cut.

I don’t, if you recall.

Hey, we meet Professor Juniper’s dad. He updates our pokedex, so maybe we won’t end up with question marks where most of our team’s numbers should be.

Flying Gym Leader’s name is Skyla. Pretty sure she is one of the Gym Leaders I am continually searching out femslash fic for. Results make me sad, but then again, it’s been a while. Maybe that’s what I’ll do after beating her.

“Hey kid, wanna see a graveyard?”

Aha.

That is much more depressing in a Nuzlocke run.

This is a really tiny city. There’s the airport, a few buildings, and then BAM, back to nature. After being immediately outside a cave. This town just popped into place because the airport showed up, didn’t it?

But more importantly...

It’s a new route!

What will we get?

I’m walking around the grass because I can’t remember if there are other kinds of grass in this route and I want the illusion of choice in my completely random options. This has led to fighting a triple battle with a trainer who has a Watchdog.

At least it can only make one thing fall asleep per turn. It doesn’t bother trying, because this monster knows Hyper Fang, which is maybe even more stressful when its only chance at attacking is a critical hit, but the important thing is that it’s over now and another Watchdog is dead.

We faint the pokemon we attack. My team can be killed, but not their opponents.

Watchdogs still die.

#Canon

Hello, I accidentally took a step into the grass, and here we have our new friend!

...How not to kill it. I think the usual route is just Biting it with something, but everything except Fido and Batman has ten levels on it, and Fido and Batman are Fido and Batman.

Grass/Water, right? Hm.

Frogger, let’s see if Mud Shot can keep the little guy alive.

Heyo! Not even to the orange. Good boy, Frogger.

And oh geez, I have been very negligent in buying stuff. Poke Balls are still in good shape, but none of the other Balls are.

Oh, nice. That was pretty much painless. He needs a name, though.

You remind me of a ninja turtle.

Leotello. Bam. I hope I don’t need you, because I know I didn’t choose the Water Stone to have, and I can’t recall if I’ve picked one up.

I really need to switch Gelding out of the first slot. Fido needs some leveling, and Gelding really does not anymore. He’s 40 in a field of high 30s. ...Okay, the actual field is high 20s, but the field known as my team is high 30s, and that’s what I care about.

Anyway, Fido. Witness the power of the Lucky Egg.

...After I go and buy some stuff before I forget.

(That didn’t happen, I fought the next trainer instead.)

I FORGOT ABOUT AXEW.

Aw, you adorable dinosaur creature you. I am so sorry I’m gonna murder you, yes I am. Such a perfect, flawless critter. Best Dragon line is best, no question. Haxorus even has an amazing shiny form. -pats Axew on its perfect head-

Okay, purchases. Potions. Balls. Need them.

Have them.

Okay, yeah. Journey free to continue.

Male Nidoran is a thing in this route. So is Girafarig. So are trainers.

Mother?

Why are you caring about your ten-year-old at this point in the story?

...Huh. And that’s literally all she calls to do. Neat.

There’s darker grass over the ways. Let’s see what I could have had if I had been slightly more smart about where I put my feet.

Hullo, it is a Staraptor.

That is such a damn badass bird.

Like, look at it.

Look at its soulless eyes.

Terrifying.

V cool.

Purrloin is also in the darker grass. And more Buizel. Back in the normal grass there is Ariados. I always had some degree of affection for that thing. No idea why. Never once used it, and I don’t like spiders. I guess it doesn’t have the right number of legs, so that makes it okay? Huh, there’s also a Durant.

...Did I enter a different area? I didn’t see anything to indicate that. There’s a Girafarig back again. Maybe it was just a percentage thing.

Ha. Yeah.

I don’t wanna go in.

A place I obviously should have come to long before.

I’m just going to run upstairs and dance around the graves until I find my next pokemon and trigger whatever’s necessary to let me battle the Gym Leader. Armed with the comforting knowledge that if any of my team dies, they will have a good, immediate resting spot.

I know I’m like the millionth person to point this out, but really. There are really trainer fights in a graveyard? Wherefore art thou respectless maggots.

Oh my gosh! You! You are a favorite thing! Hello!

...How the heck do I not kill you?

I think. I’m going to give Gelding a shot. Air Cutter isn’t too

...

No?

Gelding no. No no no no no no no.

Damn it. No.

To finish the thought above, Trapinch is Ground, so I was willing to chance Gelding’s high Attack against Air Cutter being kind of wimpy, and the type resistance killing STAB, and there was a risk regardless because of the levels and stats, but I thought Flying vs Ground wasn’t such a terrible thing to bet on, given the options, and.

Hell, now I’m sad.

Less meaningful things hanging out in the graveyard are Anorith Anorith and Anorith. Is it one species per level or am I just unlucky and growing sadder?

I picked up a Revive off the ground in a pokemon grave site.

That’s a yes on sadder.

Hey, so I’ve been seeing a lot of Swoobat lately that I haven’t screencapped, and that reminded me of something: I never went back to that cave, and I think there was more to it. It has one of the legendaries from this gen in its depths, I think, and I guess there isn’t much for me to do in it, but it’s weird to think there’s a place I didn’t really explore.

...Meanwhile.

Where is my bingo chart.

I don’t even know this thing’s typing. I think it’s from this gen, but it’s one of those that I maybe got from a GameStop event and never really looked at or used, and even that is foggy. My assumption would be Psychic just based on me shrugging and assigning Psychic to any legendary I’m not sure on.

Green could mean Grass, though. Wait, no it couldn’t. I used Flamethrower and it lived.

Fido’s setting a record for number of times it can hurt itself in confusion. Being put to SLP is practically a blessing, and I seriously need to switch before we see some legendary on legendary death action in the wrong direction.

Yeah, definitely Psychic. Batman is super effective against it.

So that was needlessly scary, and then on our way down the stairs to see the friendly nurse (this gen is so kind about healing stations and I love it), we run into a Dragonair.

I don’t think I could play a randomized version without Nuzlocke rules or something similar. I would go nuts training every single thing I loved to be a viable option. I’d be a hundred hours in and have four badges.

Plot?

To soothe the souls of our fallen friends.

Huh. This is kind of an empty detour. Skyla’s only up here to heal a pokemon off-screen, and then we ring a very pretty bell that gives me feelings that wouldn’t happen without the death clauses. It’s nice enough, but I could have sworn something a little more monumental went on. No?

Am I thinking of another memorial site? I think I might be... I think Golett is somewhere later in the map?

Maybe that’s what I’m thinking of.

I won’t complain about the free exp, this just felt like a bit of a non sequitor delay. Usually places like this turn out to be optional.

What are you doing on top of this tower. You are lunch for Palm and I appreciate that, but this is the opposite of your natural environment.

Palpitoad’s up here too. Palm is a lucky mushroom kangaroo this eve. His Attack stat will always make me sad, but his existence makes me happy.

The floor below the top has Muk in addition to the legendary song thing. So that’s neat. Actually wait, Frogger’s the only one not 40. Maybe I’ll let him beat up on the Muk.

Oh. He was closer than I thought. Anorith works too, I guess.

Every time I see a Trapinch I am going to feel just so sad.

So sad.

I don’t even know what I would have named her. But we would have been amazing together.

For now, though, it is Gym time.

It might not have aesthetic, but Skyla’s Gym is all about firing yourself through cannons repeatedly to find new opponents. Yes.

Ptera is going to be in the first spot. With Crunch in the place of Rock Throw (why did I do that again?), he only has Ancient Power for STAB + Super Effective, but he’s still overpowered as heck, and has a partial Rock typing, so he should be okay against other birds. I think most of my team can probably handle anything she throws out, though there will, of course, be the odd “wait it learns that?” moment. Hopefully nothing too catastrophic, but I do expect it.

It’s a bird. It’s a plane.

It’s a me.

Without the necessary syllables to make that reference fly home.

So, the cannon fodder seems to have early 30s for their squads. Ptera’s not having a problem with that, despite me using Acrobatics even though he has a Lucky Egg on him. Items and Acrobatics do not play well together. I’ll try to remember that before Skyla. It hasn’t mattered so far, but if it does matter, it’ll be against her.

Oki doki. Lucky Egg off, Ptera prepped. I was lazy and used a Potion for 12hp to top Ptera off instead of going back to the Center. It isn’t like I’ll have much use for standard Potions. It’s practically free healing.

Now then.

Let’s gooooo.

I can’t remember if I’ve commented on it yet, but the sprite for our protagonist just looks so serious this gen. It isn’t quite so noticeable when he’s on his own, but put him next to someone like Skyla and he brings Red to mind.

He is a little happier in the video chat things.

Maybe he just takes Gym fights seriously.

What a weirdo.

First up is a level 33 Swoobat, looking adorable. Yay for Crunch, and it is gone. Following that is a level 35 Swanna. I’m going to use Ancient Power and cross my fingers for that one. I was about to be happy with Crunch over Rock throw, but I really miss having a physical Rock attack.

One and done, last one up is a level 33 Unfezant. Ancient Power again?

Yes!

Another painless victory, another badge! Sweetness!

Skyla lets us go with a warning about seeing Team Plasma in the next city, but that is a thing for another day. Now is the time for basking in the glory of success and Pokemon Centers.

#Pokemon #Nuzlocke Challenge

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multiimuse · 6 years

Text

Dilan HCs

Odds for your boys tbh. B)

I’m never trusting u with meme powers again, kitty.

ANYWAY.

1. What does their bedroom look like?

Relatively neat, if still rather dusty in corners from years of disuse. Sparsely decorated with a bed and a nightstand, a dresser and a closet. He has a (probably) useless decorative lance mounted on the wall above his dresser, and and a small lamp on his nightstand. There used to be a bonsai on the dresser, but Aeleus rescued it took it away a few years before the garden fell, when Dilan’s attempt at using it to relax nearly did the poor thing in. (He’s considering trying again, but it would probably meet the same fate if he did.) Overall? It’s not very personal - it’s just the place where he sleeps. His space is the kitchen.

3. Do they exercise, and if so, what do they do? How often?

Dilan’s more likely to be caught moving than standing still, honestly. If he’s not cooking or working on putting the castle in order, odds are he’s exercising or training. Keeping in good physical condition is important to him - one of the few things that had little to no change during his time as a Nobody. And it’s certainly better than sitting around letting whatever he’s feeling catch up to him. As for what, specifically, he does, he rotates through routines so that he can generally keep from overstressing any one area.

5. Cleanliness habits (personal, workspace, etc.)

Unless he’s been actively working up a sweat (which is admittedly rather often), Dilan tends to keep himself and his personal spaces presentable and neat. It’s easier to get things done when everything is kept neat. Really, that’s all it’s about - it’s not so much a personal preference as it is practicality and training. (Although when it comes to the kitchen, it’s also about avoiding contamination and bacteria, because no-one wants food poisoning and unwashed dishes are gross.)

7. Favorite way to waste time and feelings surrounding wasting time

Dilan doesn’t waste time. If he does something, it’s because it needs or should be done, for some reason or another - and idleness is something he outright refuses to indulge in. Even if that reason is simply to try and make himself feel better? It’s worth doing.

9. Makeup?

Hahaha no. He does groom his sideburns though? (Sorry ladies, those eyelashes are all natural.)

11. Intellectual pursuits?

He prefers to leave science to the scientists, but Dilan does have a soft spot for history. Knowing what happened in the past can prepare one for the future, after all. (He’s also rather interested in nutrition, mostly because it ties into cooking and being able to balance good food with needed food is important.) Really, though - he’s just not that interested in research.

13. Sexual Orientation? And, regardless of own orientation, thoughts on sexual orientation in general?

It isn’t something Dilan thinks of much. He fell for someone exactly once, and it ended so badly that even decades later he’s not willing to even consider the concept of being attracted to anyone. (I as mun would tentatively label him as both demisexual and demiromantic, but neither he nor I know if heteroromantic or biromantic or panromantic; it’s something to find out if it ever comes up, I suppose.) As for views of it in general? Love is Stupid and he’ll recommend avoiding it, but doesn’t actually care one whit what anyone’s orientation is. It’s just not a thing that he thinks about one way or another.

15. Biggest and smallest short term goal?

Right now, his biggest short term goal is getting his temper back under better control. Living so long without it has gotten him out of the habit, and the sheer intensity of it’s rather overwhelming. His smallest is to make sure Braig keeps eating because he doesn’t trust the man to look after himself right now.

17. Preferred mode of dress and rituals surrounding dress

He... tends to stick to his uniform, really? After years of wearing the organization’s coat he’s not exactly prone to thinking about alternate clothing. It... doesn’t really feel right to wear the guard uniform like he has been, either, but - there’s something comforting about it, something that makes it easier to reintegrate into his life as Dilan. Maybe he’ll branch out in the future, but right now, this works. (As for rituals, unless he ended up wandering into the kitchen in the middle of the night and fell asleep there, you’re not likely to catch Dilan leaving his rooms without him being fully dressed in his uniform. He isn’t particularly comfortable with leaving things done only halfway.)

19. What do they think about before falling asleep at night?

He tries not to, actually, beyond lists of what he needs to do the next day or going through what he’s already gotten done. Thinking too much leads to feeling, and he’s really not fond of how free the heart is with forming emotions to even the littlest things.

21. Turn-ons? Turn-offs?

NEXT QUESTION BECAUSE THIS ISN’T RELEVANT.

(On: When someone isn’t intimidated by his temper, who has the fire to match himself. Touches to his collarbone. Massages. Soft voices reading aloud in the evenings. Off: the slightest sign of distress, strong perfume, poor manners at meals.)

23. How organized are they? How does this organization/disorganization manifest in their everyday life?

He’s relatively organized? It’s again not so much a personal thing as it really is just the discipline required to be a decent guard. So things tend to be kept in order, he keeps appointments, etc! However... his temper can easily throw that all into disarray. When he loses his temper he tends to throw and/or misplace things, or lose track of time until he’s finally calmed down again. It’s another reason why he wants to get it under better control again.

25. How do they see themselves 5 years from today?

That isn’t something Dilan’s letting himself think about too much - it’s easier to take everything one day at a time. Providing the worlds are still standing in five years, he imagines he’ll be in much the same place he is now: rebuilding his life, whatever method it takes.

27. What is their biggest regret?

He has two: that he never saw his daughter after his relationship fell apart and as such has no idea what her ultimate fate was, and that he did not stop Xehanort, did not even step in, when he knows that he should have. (Perhaps it wouldn’t have made a difference in the end, but that doesn’t negate the responsibility he feels he bears.)

29. Reaction to sudden extrapersonal disaster (eg The house is on fire! What do they do?)

He’s a guard, so he’s trained not to panic - instead, he’ll respond to whatever it is as calmly as possible and if it’s something he can deal with, he’ll deal with it. If it’s not? Get everyone he can out of the way and keep them there until someone who can deal with it has been informed and is on their way.

31. Most prized possession?

If anyone were to ask, he’d state that it was either his weapons or his cooking knives. But the true item he prizes above all others is a soft child’s doll shaped like a knight. He never got to give it to the one meant to own it, but he kept it safe for her on the off-chance that someday he might. Eventually, it simply turned into a reminder that he can’t bear to let go of. (And he’s just about as possessive of it as, say, the Beast and his rose. Never touch it without permission, if you even have been given the right to know that it’s there.)

33. Concept of home and family?

The castle is his home, and its denizens his family - or as close to one as he has or bothers to think about. Family, to Dilan, is made up of bonds of loyalty that can never be broken - if they are easily shattered, then they were never family in the first place. If any physical location could be considered ‘home’, it would probably be the castle kitchen - it’s where he’s most at ease, where his path is most likely to cross with the people he cares for, and where he retreats when he needs to do so.

35. What activities do they enjoy, but consider to be a waste of time?

He doesn’t really waste time, so if an activity could be considered as such he doesn’t let himself try it long enough to find out if he likes it or not. ... He probably should, just to branch out a little more, but it would take some persuading to convince him that anything that might be seen as a waste of time (movies, meaningless doodling, etc) is worth giving a shot anyway.

37. Are they more analytical or more emotional in their decision-making?

He tries to be analytical, but that was far easier as Xaldin. Now that he has his heart back, there’s something of a push-and-pull going on in his decision making. So unless he forces himself to calm down, his first reaction is going to be emotional. (Have I mentioned he really didn’t want his temper back, yet? Because he sure didn’t.)

39. What recharges them when they’re feeling drained?

Cooking, mostly. Dilan uses it to unwind, to de-stress and to be productive in the face of more overwhelming emotions. If he’s too drained to even manage that, however, he’ll simply make some kind of tea and relax at the table until he’s doing a little better. If he’s hit that point, however, he’s not likely to be social, so it’s usually best to leave him be and let him make the first move.

41. How misanthropic are they?

He’s... pretty misanthropic. Naturally a little suspicious and guarded around others, his relationship falling apart led him to drawing farther back, guarding himself further and making it that much harder to trust that anyone has good intentions, and then, after what happened with Xehanort... well, by now he’s more or less given up on humanity as a whole, or bothering with people he doesn’t already have some connection with. (There are a few exceptions, but they are exceptions.)

43. How far did they get in formal education? What are their views on formal education vs self-education?

Dilan’s family wasn’t particularly wealthy, so that while he had formal education up through the end of high school, that’s where it ended; he enlisted upon graduating, and anything he’s picked up since has been self taught. Primarily, this includes cooking, but he’s also picked up more than he would like to know a few things from being around Ansem and Even for so long. He has no strong opinions on formal versus self-education, save that he wishes more people were taught how to defend themselves - a silly thought, perhaps, before the Garden fell. But now? Now, he’s willing to bet more than a few survivors agree with him.

45. Superstitions or views on the occult?

He doesn’t really have any? Dilan isn’t a superstitious person by nature, and tends to not do a lot of thinking about occult matters. His mindset is more or less one of ‘if I don’t think about it, it won’t affect me’ - which works well enough until you lose your heart and start living an existence that is neither truly living nor existing but still somehow something. (Now that he’s himself again, he’s still trying very hard not to think about such things.)

47. If they were to fall in love, who (or what) is their ideal?

Hahahahahaha, ha. ha.

Never again. (Ideals are for idiots and children, anyway.)

49. If this person were to get into a fist fight, what is their fighting style like?

If it’s to the point of a fist fight, it’s usually because Dilan’s too angry to think straight, so the only thing he’s focusing on is releasing his anger onto his opponent. Thus it lacks in his usual finesse and precision... but given that he’s still strong, and fast, and trained in combat, he’s... still pretty dangerous and not one you really want to piss off to the point he’s throwing punches.

#;hc: dilan #kitty how dare u i'm going to be working on these for DAYS #xD

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thebibliomancer · 7 years

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Essential Avengers: Defenders #11: A Dark and Stormy Knight

December, 1973

“Dark and Stormy Knight”? I get it! Because.... because the Black Knight?

Right. Well. Anyway.

This is an okay cover. Conveys the nature of the threat they’ll be facing and illustrates Dr. Strange’s stunning overestimation of his own abilities. But I just have to wonder. Where is Valkyrie’s cover bubble?

Last time: Dormammu tricked the Defenders into thinking they needed the Evil Eye to unstone Black Knight from when Enchantress turned him into a statue as an eternal testament on how rad she is. A lot of nonsense and shenanigans ensued but the Avengers and Defenders together defeated Dormammu and claimed the Evil Eye. Or rather, Scarlet Witch did most of the work.

This time: Time to fire up that bad boy and see if it works. Yup. This is technically the last part of the Avengers/Defenders War. The war is over but it would kind of feel dumb to not address whether the big motivating factor of so much of the event could be saved or not.

So lets start as Dr. Strange points the Evil Eye at the fourth wall.

Both teams are back on Earth now. And although there is a lot of damage from the dimension merge and monsterificaiton of people, if Scarlet Witch hadn’t gotten the Evil Eye to eat Dormammu Earth would now be a land filled with mindless monsters under Dormammu’s rule.

Nick Fury goes up to thank her for saving humanity but she blows him off. She doesn’t want humanity’s thanks. She was just doing her Avengers duty. I see she’s still a bit nettled over those anti-robot suicide bombers.

Trying to avoid an awkward conversation, Fury tries to swing the conversation toward the Defenders but Dr. Strange instantly wipes his mind. In fact, he wipes knowledge of the Defenders from everyone’s minds, except the Avengers.

What a douchey thing to do, Dr. Strange. Its his wish that the Defenders remain unknown to the world at large. Maybe he just doesn’t want to be blamed for gathering the Evil Eye and indirectly causing this disaster. Either way, his desire for privacy probably doesn’t outweigh the entire population’s desire not to have their synapses scorched.

Anyway. He does it. With the power of the Evil Eye, Dr. Strange wipes knowledge of the Defenders, cleans up the damage left behind by the dimension merge, and poofs away the Defenders.

At least he cleaned up after himself.

So at Strange’s sanctum, Dr. Strange uses the Evil Eye to turn himself into a statue.

Its for a good reason, swearsies.

Oddly, someone forgot to tell the colorist that the Black Knight should still be a statue too. Womp womp.

Dr. Strange astral projects away from his stone body into that cool space land that the Black Knight’s spirit had retreated to. While he’s at it, he muses on the irony that Dormammu lied about the Evil Eye being used to help the Black Knight when its being used to help the Black Knight.

But when he gets to the arbitrary space spot where the Black Knight’s spirit should be, by the Many Moons of Munnopor, it isn’t!

Meanwhile, while the Defenders wait for Dr. Strange to finish up what he’s doing, Hawkeye muses.

He’s probably going to quit the Defenders. He likes them but he ragequit the Avengers to prove he could make it on his own and if he just immediately joins another group, how would that look?

Plus, being tricked into fighting the Avengers put a sour taste in his mind mouth.

Namor agrees. “Being in a group is not the way one demonstrates his true worth.” Namor himself is planning to quit after this mission.

And then Dr. Strange comes back. He starts to explain that the Knight has vanished mysteriously when the Defenders vanish mysteriously. With that most mysterious of sound effects: the FOOM!

The Defenders now find themselves in a world of deserts, fortresses, catapults and oh hey, its the Black Knight. Just the man we were looking for!

They’re a confusing but welcome sight for sore eyes but there’s no time for casual conversation! They’ve ended up in the 12th century Crusades and the Arabs are attacking!

Hahaha, I don’t want to be anywhere near Marvel’s Saturday Morning Cartoon conception of the Crusades.

Neither does Dr. Strange, although for different reasons. This isn’t his war so he’ll just use a spell to immobilize the attackers so the Defenders can get their bearings.

Hulk is fed up with... pretty much everything by this point so just pounds the ground, knocking the attacking Arabs off their feet. And then the other Defenders jump in to help now that Hulk has kind of made their decision for them.

And then a grey version of the Hulk attacks.

Noooo, not Joe Fixit. A gnome of some sort. Except a big gnome. Wish they didn’t make it look so much like the Hulk. It’s not confusing so much as it is off-putting.

Anyway, Dr. Strange and the Silver Surfer blast the gnome, Temax, to no avail. Hulk attacks only to get swatted away.

Dr. Strange reiterates his desire to avoid conflict and teleports the Defenders away before Temax can throw a really big rock.

MILES AWAY, the Defenders plus the Black Knight reappears. There’s no immediate danger so you know what that means!

Exposition time!

Black Knight explains that because of a spell cast by Merlin at the time of Camelot’s collapse, his spirit was yoinked back in time to possess the dead body of his dead ancestor, the original Black Knight. Their spirits have mingled and he’s on a quest to find and fight the man who murdered the original Black Knight, MODRED THE EVIL!

Who also died centuries ago but his essence lives on and can appear anywhere, anytime. Which sounds hax.

Because of Modred’s interference, King Richard was captured and made an Arabian prisoner in the middle of his crusade. And Prince John, instead of being a lion in England trying to get a meddling fox, has taken command of Richard’s army and is planning to desert the king. Also, he’s teamed up with Modred.

The spell that yoinked Black Knight brings opposition to Modred. So it brought Black Knight into this time to fight him and it must have caught up the rest of the Defenders too, to even the odds against the magic that Modred wields.

Basically: Merlin did it.

Later that evening, the Defenders have a plan.

They sneak into Richard’s prison in the guise of really conspicuous priests. And then they split up. Dr. Strange, Namor and the Hulk will go after Modred. The rest will go to free the king.

Black Knight takes a second to grouse that Valkyrie has his sword but Hawkeye says hey you left it unattended on your body. Losers weepers.

Meanwhile, the ‘get Modred’ side of things follows a hunch of Dr. Strange’s. There’s only one corridor of the fortress with no sand on the floor. Clearly, that means the gnomes absorb the sand, leaving the floor clean.

And then they get spotted when two people arguing over a bet drop a torch and see that the Hulk has green feet.

Before you can say ‘man gangrene is really bad huh’ Hulk and Namor have punched them unconscious but too late to keep them from crying out.

Meanwhile elsewhere, Valkyrie ponders that she feels no love for the Black Knight. I don’t remember if I mentioned it but early on when she first joined, she had an irrational love for a man she knew for five minutes. Whether it was just a side-effect of her creation by the Enchantress or something else is unknown to me. But it seems to have worn off.

Anyway, they rescue Richard.

And then get attacked by three gnomes, one of them still looking uncomfortably like the Hulk, another looking like the Hulk if he became a monk, and the third not being very Hulk at all good job.

Anyway, the Defenders get their shit rekt. They all get one feeble attack before being knocked sprawling by the gnomes.

Valkyrie tosses the Ebony Blade to the still standing Black Knight and he has a moment of confidence where he reaffirms his bond to the cursed sword, the singing power locked deep within its polished black metal, and that he was born for battle. This is why he is the Black Knight!

He valiantly rushes forward proclaiming that the Ebony Blade can counter magic!

And he gets even more rekt than the other Defenders.

Damn.

Elsewhere, the other party finds Modred, Prince John, and Chandu the Arabian wizard. Chandu is summoning more gnomes.

The Defenders leap to attack, Dr. Strange confidant that using the Evil Eye will swing the battle in their favor.

But Chandu casts a spell against Dr. Strange and knocks him for a loop. Its magic that has never been directed against him before. Because Chandu is calling on the same forces Dr. Strange usually summons. Womp womp.

Also sorta implied that Dr. Strange doesn’t have access to those forces right now because he hasn’t chronologically befriended them yet.

And then Namor punches Chandu right in his goatee.

And then gets tackled out of the fortress by the gnome Chandu was summoning. There’s a bit of bad news, best news though. Bad news: the gnome hits like a mack truck’s gamma-irradiated cousin and Namor is hurt pretty bad. Best news: the gnome tackled him into an oasis. Not only does the water reinvigorate Namor, it also happens to be the elemental weakness of the gnomes.

The mohawked gnome starts melting.

Now this is something Namor can get behind. “For as I understand so well, water and land ultimately destroy each other!”

You do you, Namor.

And he do do him. He smacks the oasis so hard that he sends a wave through the mystic chamber where the Defenders are fighting Modred and co AND into the tower where the other Defenders got their asses kicked trying to rescue Richard.

And thus today Namor is MVP.

But something occurs to Namor. The whole Avengers/Defenders War was pointless. For many days, the Defenders fought hard to gain the Evil Eye. But it was Merlin’s spell that yoinked them back in time. And it was the simple cleansing power of punched water that saved them from the gnomes. The Evil Eye hasn’t done jack or shit!

Maybe that can be remedied? Because Prince John picked it up from where Dr. Strange dropped it when Chandu zapped him. And boy Prince John is just going to flip the board, so to speak.

And then Prester John shows up and goes ‘nope’ and force summons the Evil Eye to his hand. And he blasts Modred and Prince John unconscious.

Prester John explains that he sensed that the Evil Eye had been restored so he traveled through time to retrieve it. Because he can do that. Shut up.

And even though he has recovered the Evil Eye before he ever obtained it, he’s going to stay in this era because Prester John doesn’t care for your 20 cent paradoxes. Prester John has important Evil Eye owning to do.

Anyway, not only does he belong in this era, he tells Black Knight that he does as well. What with his valor, skill in swordplay, and love of the life chivalric.

PRESTER JOHN KNOWS ALL.

Black Knight admits that he never felt comfortable in the 20th century and could never get interested in being a full-time Avenger (you never even tried!). He’s going to stay in the past!

Dr. Strange is strangely (hah) comfortable with their whole quest being pointless. And since Black Knight already has a body in the past, Strange is just going to keep the stone body in the present. It looks good in his study.

King Richard doesn’t understand any of this high-concept nonsense but he’s happy to have Black Knight if he wants to stay.

And then Prester John sends them Back to the Future with the Evil Eye. Because that is also something it can do.

Back at Strange’s Sanctum, Hawkeye calmquits the Defenders. He thought about becoming part of the team but its not really what he wants. And he’s off to have solo adventures.

Namor also quits. He has to go spend more time in Atlantis. But he’ll be back if he’s ever truly needed. Likewise for the Silver Surfer, except for the Atlantis thing. And likewise for the Hulk, except for the Atlantis thing or the promising to come back thing.

And off they fly or jump hella high in different directions.

Leaving just Valkyrie and Dr. Strange behind, wondering if they’ll ever see them again.

Considering there’s a ‘next time’ box, I wager there’s a strong possibility.

Anyway, that was the real, true actual conclusion to the Avengers/Defenders War. It kind of falls flat. Its good to get resolution on the Black Knight even if that resolution is ‘nah I’m going to stay in the past and help with the Crusades.’

Because of his love of swordplay and valor and chivalry. He is the worst kind of ‘I was born in the wrong century’ person.

But after being fought over so long, the Evil Eye was ultimately pointless. Well, I guess it sent them home. But it would have been a dick move of Merlin to yoink people from the future without a way to send them back.

I think overall this didn’t need to be part of the Avengers/Defenders War. Its not a satisfying conclusion. All it does is tie up a loose end that the Avengers themselves weren’t interested enough to see followed up on.

Also, if Prince John was defeated here, when will he sign the Magna Carta? You’ve destroyed history, you idiots!

#Defenders #Avengers #Avengers Defenders War #pointless artifact of mass destruction #Dr Strange #Namor #Hulk #Valkyrie #Silver Surfer #some historical figures #Essential Avengers #Essential marvel liveblogging #i guess monsters weak to water are a pretty good idea in the desert

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dracolord1208 · 8 years

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The Question

Dracolord1208

AO3

Day 7: New Beginnings

Summary:

Symmetra and Junkrat are overseeing their children's center when a big question is asked by one of the kids. The couple decides to think about it and decide later. The two choose to get advice from a close friend Mercy.

Notes:

So this takes place a few months after Remembrance. During that the married couple found and met with Jamison's long lost sister Chloe.

“Hey get back here you scoundrel!” Junkrat called out to the kid that just decided to steal candy from Junkrat.

“Never old man.” “Old man. I’m 29.” “Hahaha,” The kid continued to run away from the Junker all around the orphanage.

“Will you two please calm it down Chloe and I are reading to the other children.”

“Sorry mam.”

“Yeah. Sorry love.”

Junkrat and Symmetra found themselves back in Australia for the weekend. They were currently helping out at the Vaswani Children’s Home where Jamison’s sister Chloe worked. After many sizable donation’s Symmetra saw it fit to buy the place out and run it as a private institution. Junkrat, however, was the one to insist on changing its original name to a nobler one. The couple would now find themselves making weekend trips to help around the campus and make sure that the kids would have everything they could need.

The children’s home had also diversified to provide aid for autistic children now. Symmetra began hiring staff that was specially trained to support autistic children. She wanted to provide the services that she felt would have helped her as a child to any children with exceptional needs. The kids who arrived were not going to have to grow up with the same difficult childhood that she had, and Junkrat was going to do whatever he could to assist her. Junkrat decided to use a majority of his money to fund the children’s home.

At this moment Satya was surrounded by children that were enraptured by her voice. As she followed along with the book, she would change for voice becoming overly animated at the drop of a hat. The children loved her. Although she did like to keep her distance and avoid physical contact, her motherly instincts would kick in at the drop of a hat helping even the dirtiest of kids.

“The Queen infiltrated the enemy kingdom’s stronghold. She snuck her way through the palace looking for her target. Finally, she found it. Records of the royalties wrong doings, proof that they had knowingly endangered their people. The Queen quickly escaped having what she needed to take the crown down. When she returned her, Knight was there. He had known what she was going to do and instead of protesting her plans danger, he revealed that he had already prepared what they needed. As the sun arose the next day the world had changed the kingdom had been changed the people knew of the nobleman’s wrong doings, and they knew that the Queen was the one that saved them.” Symmetra closed the book that she was holding signaling the end of the story and the beginning of the inevitable questions and answer part of story time.

“What happened to the Queen?”

“She took over the kingdom and became the new ruler.”

“What about her Knight? Did they get married?”

“Yes during a beautiful wedding ceremony the two were wed.”

As Symmetra panned the group looking for the next question to answer she saw that Junkrat had at some point joined the reading and was lovingly watching her.

“Did they have any kids? Yeah. Yeah! Yeah!” The kids filled with energy at this new development in the story.

Immediately filled with embarrassment Symmetra wasn’t sure how she should answer. Unfortunately, Symmetra made the grave mistake of looking over to Junkrat who was equally red and nervous.

“Uh yeah. The Queen and her Knight had plenty of children they even made orphanages were all the kids of the kingdom were able to live and play and find fabulous homes.”

The crowd erupted into cheers at this new ending of the story. Lucky Chloe was able to detect awkwardness in the air, and she decided to herd the kids away to allow the couple some privacy.

Junkrat was a bit hesitant as he approached Symmetra. “Well might fine story you got there.”

“Thank you.”

“Noticed it wasn’t exactly…” Junkrat bent down to read the cover of the book she was holding. “Harry Potter? It sounded a bit like a different story I know.”

“What story would that be?”

“One about this dynamite gal I know that, fought hard for everything she has. I think I might be in love with this beautiful Queen.”

“Well thank you, my Knight, in soot-covered armor.”

“It’s hard to stay clean in my white armor when I am fighting dragons.” Junkrat pulled Symmetra into a side hug while giving her a kiss on her head.

“Aw. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“So we set up our orphanage, and we saved the town, um. About those kids?”

“Yes.”

“Is, that, um, something that you want?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I love the idea of having a large family. I was alone for so long, and when we started getting closer, it felt good, but raising children is so challenging. I just don’t know.”

“That’s okay.” Peppering Satya in kisses he held her tight in hopes of calming her down. “We have a lot of time to think about it. No reason to jump to conclusions. We aren’t in a rush, are we? Do you have one in ya now?” Junkrat dropped to a knee and put his ear to her stomach.

“No. Come on. I am not pregnant right now.”

Raising from his knee, he returned to hugging Satya. “Ah don’t get me excited like that you know how I am.”

“Yes, you're incorrigible.” Satya now pulled Junkrat into a full kiss.

“Ew, they're being gross! Ew Ew.” The kids had returned and were gawking at the couple as they broke from their kiss.

“I guess that you two figured it all out.”

“Yes, Chloe thanks for the help.”

“Anytime Satya.” _____

“Alright you. Stay safe on the way back.”

“Thank you. We will be back next month. If you need anything as always feel free to email me and we can work out getting it to you.”

“Thank you, and Jamison.”

“Yeah?”

“Take care of Satya. She is the best, and I love her.”

“Same. No problem mate.”

“Take care.”

The married couple headed off and boarded their plane off back to the base. On the aircraft, they didn’t talk that much both of them were decided to take the time to think about the overlaying question. “Are they ready for a baby?” Symmetra called her OBGYN and made an appointment to get some information. Junkrat decided to visit Mercy once they were back home. The rest of the flight, the two of them, started researching what being a parent would entail.

Junkrat’s research consisted of googling short strings of thoughts as he jumped from one worry to another. What does being a dad mean? How do you be the best parent possible? What does an ordinary family do? How do you raise a kid? Radiation poisoning affecting future children? Junkrat would read a few sentences in each article he pulled up before a new question popped up and he would follow that lead.

Symmetra’s research was methodical detailed. Symmetra would thoroughly read the best scientific journal written by the most respected researcher in the field. Her questions did differ from Junkrat’s, while he was wondering what being a parent would entail Symmetra was full of worries of childbirth. The dangers of childbirth. What age are you too old to have a baby? Common congenital disabilities? If the mother has autism what are the chances her child will be? The last question was the one that worried Symmetra the most. While she knew that she would love her child no matter what she also fully knew the challenges that they would face in life.

When the plane landed, the two were entirely devoted to finding out as much as possible about this challenge as possible. As the two made it home and passed out on their bed, they experienced a restless night as nightmares of even worse scenarios filled their heads. When morning arrived, the two knew that they were going to need to seek help.

First off Junkrat needed to go and meet with his doctor Mercy. When Junkrat first joined Overwatch Mercy asked him to provide her with his medical records, figuring that a lie would be better than nothing Jamison forged fake medical records for himself and Roadhog. This seemingly deceived Mercy as they were able to join Overwatch just fine but once they had officially met for the first time, Mercy immediately knew she had been tricked by Junkrat. With just one look over Junkrat, she was able to diagnose all sorts of ailments, because of this Mercy took it upon herself to fix him. When Mercy was finally able to give him a full inspection she was surprised that he was even alive. As he gave her a rundown of his medical history, she was even more impressed.

“How did you loses your arm?”

“Well I got a pretty bad cut on it, so I just wrapped it up, and it was all right for a while. Then the cut got all gross and started hurting dreadful. Then over time it began to spread down my arm. It was around then we just decided it was best just to get rid of it, so we just took the arm off.”

“And how did you remove it. What procedure and anesthetics did you use?”

“Ana what? No, we just used a car crusher.”

“A what!?”

“Just one of those car crushers that you use to crush a car flat. Just poked my arm in and closed it flat.”

“You had nothing to alleviate the pain?”

“Well had a belt and a gun so yeah. Once it was crushed, they chopped the last part up and wrapped my arm, and I were good in about a month.”

Mercy’s jaw dropped that wild nature of it was almost too much to deal with.

“And your leg?”

“Oh got stuck in an omnic trap and just had to get out. After a few hours, there was no way to break they trap so I had to improvise. Lucky I had some shape charges on me at the time so boom and I was free.”

“You blew up your leg to escape a bear trap?”

“Yup.”

Mercy was now holding her face as she confirmed his stories with x-rays and blood workups. She then made it mandatory that they met once a week until forever. That’s why Mercy knew it was important that Junkrat called to set up an appointment before their regular time.

“’Ello Doc.” Junkrat sat on the examination table as Mercy entered the room.

“Greetings Jamison how can I help you today.” Mercy crossed the room and began the routine check-up as she asked him more questions. “Are you feeling nauseous, out of breath, or dizzy?”

“No.”

“Well, have you sustained any new injuries? Have you fallen or had any nose bleeds lately?”

“No.”

Finishing her checkup Mercy took some quick notes then turned to Junkrat. “So what do you need?”

“Well this um is a little personal and it involves Satya so that I would appreciate some delicacy in this situation.”

“Of course Jamison anything that happens here is completely confidential.”

“Well we just came back from the kids’ home, and while we were there, um, the question came up.”

“Question?”

“Kids. Do we want them you know?”

“I see that is an important question. Well, are you ready for a child?”

“I don’t know Doc. I mean I don’t even know if I can have kids, or if they would be healthy. I mean what if we have a kid and he has two heads!”

“That’s not likely.”

“I’ve seen it. Little lizard with two heads, it doesn’t know what direction to run away, so it just runs in circles.”

“I am certain that is not as likely as you think but if you want, we can conduct some test.”

“That sounds fantastic Doc so what do you need?”

“Well, I’ll need a sample so if you could just take this cup into the bathroom and fill it that would be great. Also to help you out here’s some reading material.” Mercy handed Junkrat a cup and some porno mags like it was nothing and just went back to taking notes.

“Oh okay.” After a few minutes and a few memories of Symmetra Junkrat returned with the required sample. “Here your go.” Junkrat relented the sample with a shade of pink encompassing his face.

“Alright I will need a few minutes to study this, and I will be right back.” True to her word Mercy returned with the results from the test in hand. “Well, it seems that your time in a radioactive wasteland has affected you, but there is not much cause for concern. It appears that your sperm count is lower than average, but your sperm does appear to be perfectly healthy. This means it might take you two longer to get to having kids, but it should be possible.”

“So they won’t have two heads?”

“No, radiation poisoning has not caused mutations in human children. I’m sure your baby would be okay.”

“That’s surprising to hear.”

“Well, do you have any other questions?”

“Yes!”

Junkrat proceeded to hound Mercy for all of her knowledge on the subject. Although Mercy did not have any children of her own yet, she was the most motherly person Junkrat knew, so her advice was incredibly valuable to Jamison. After a few hours of questioning Junkrat had to finally halt his questioning due to Mercy having another appointment that she had to prepare for.

While Symmetra no longer directly worked for Vishkar anymore they still provided her with the best insurance possible for life. With this, she was able to visit her doctor whenever she saw fit. She was also able to pick her doctor, and Vishkar would cover the cost. That’s why Symmetra found herself in the waiting room of the world’s most renowned doctor, Angela Ziegler. Symmetra’s appointment was supposed to start over an hour ago and while waiting Satya’s worries began to spiral out of control.

“Mrs. Vaswani. Dr. Ziegler is ready to see you if you just follow me I’ll lead you to the examination room.”

Mercy walked into the examination room after the nurse finished taking some quick readings. “Alright have a good day. Sorry for the wait my earlier patient had a lot of questions, and it took longer than expected to finish up.”

“Hello.”

“So how can I help you today?”

“Well over the weekend the topic of having children came up. So I would like to look into the possibility of me having children.”

“Okay. Now how do you feel about having a child?”

Symmetra felt tears start to sting her eyes. “I’m scared. I don’t know what to do. I want to make our family larger, but I don’t know if I can. What if I can’t get pregnant? What if I can’t handle being pregnant and the baby or I die? What if the child dies? What do I do if they have autism like I am, and I can’t help them? If I fail and I can’t do will Jamie leave me?”

“Oh no, Satya.” Mercy pulled Satya into a welcoming hug. “Oh, Satya. It’s going to be okay. You are going to be a great mom. Okay. You are so, so, strong. You are one of the most caring and beautiful people I know. You are going to be fine. I am going to make sure that you have a great time being pregnant and I am going to get you through this. Satya doesn't worry okay.”

Wiping away her tears and sniffling Satya pulled away from Mercy. “Thank you.”

“And Satya, Jamison loves you. He would never leave you. I suppose I shouldn’t tell you this but… Jamison was just in here and was asking about the same thing. He loves you, and you are going to be great parents.”

“Thank you, Angela.”

“Anytime. Why don’t we take some test and see how everything is working. Next, we can talk about removing your IUD.”

“That sounds okay.”

After finishing all of her tests, Symmetra was feeling a lot more confident about being a mother.

“You should be okay now. Now I want you to talk to Jamison more. Doctor’s orders.”

“Okay.”

Symmetra headed home finding Junkrat working on his tablet when she entered.

“’Ello love how’s your day?”

“It was pretty good. I had a doctor’s appointment with Angela.”

“How did it go?”

“Very well. How was your meeting with Angela?”

“What? How’d you know? Did she tell you?”

“No. There aren’t that many people with the last name Vaswani that can check into to Angela’s office for a checkup.”

“You got me.”

“Well, do you want to talk about it?”

“I guess.”

The couple sat at their dinner table to recap the events of the day over dinner.

“So Doc checked out my swimmers. She told me that count could be higher but other than that I’m all cleared for takeoff. I was worried that the kid might have eight arms and bat wings and all that, but Doc proved me wrong. What about you?”

“Angela informed me that I am healthy enough to be a mother. She said that I should not expect many complications during the pregnancy. She also told me that we should start sooner rather than later depending on how many children we want.”

“How many is that?”

“More than one for sure. I’ve always wanted a big family, and I think we could handle multiple kids.”

“I could see it. I’ll handle the chaotic moments, and you can give us all order.”

“I like the sound of that. But there was one more thing Angela told me.”

“What’s that.”

“Well due to our medical histories there is a higher chance than normal that our child might be neurodivergent like us. The chances of them showing symptoms of autism and ADHD is greater because they are hereditary in nature.”

“And?”

“And!? And I am worried about them. It’s not easy growing up like that. The world isn’t a nice place for children. Are you not worried about their futures?”

“No, no. That’s not what I mean. I am trying to say, so what? So what if our kid ain’t other people’s ideals of perfect? I know that I love ‘em even though they aren’t even real yet. I know I won’t stop loving them ever. I know that you will love them as well. I know that they will do great and survive no matter what because that’s what their parents did. I got along just dandy in the wastes, never once did I think I was at a disadvantage. You can do amazing things that no one else in the whole world can do. You are so strong and amazing, and I know that that kid will do amazing things because you are their mom.”

“Do you mean that?”

“Every word and then some.”

“Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too Satya.”

The two embraced in a joyful kiss that was filled with relief and passion.

“So there was something else I had Angela do while I there.”

“Hm?”

“I had her remove my IUD.”

Junkrat turned his head questioningly.

“So if this conversation went well, we could start right away.”

Junkrat finally understood her meaning. “Well then to the bedroom!” Junkrat proceeded to lunge toward Symmetra and picked her up bridal style as he carried her to the bedroom.

“Put me down. Put me down. Oof.” Symmetra laughter was the last thing that was heard before the bedroom door was closed.

Notes:

So if you like this get ready for a lot more, I plan on doing some adjustments to Remberance and The Question, and they will be part of my new long fic. I hope you want to read a married Junkmetra because there is going to be more. I hope you all have a good week and life. I love all of you. My Tumblr is http://dracolord1208.tumblr.com/

Series this work belongs to:

« Part 7 of the Draco's Junkmetra Week series

#symmrat week 2017 #junkmetra #symmrat #day 7 #overwatch #draco original #junkrat #symmetra

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tumblunni · 8 years

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Speaking of my dumb story ideas, I’ve been thinking some stuff to flesh out the Cathedral Game’s setting! RANDOM IDEAS AHOY LONG POST AHOY

* I’m thinking I need to make some concrete ideas for the villains maybe. When I first had the dream that inspired this all, it was just some sort of ambiguous ‘demon army’, kinda like a mindless zombie plague or i dunno, maybe the demons were sentient but they were all evil except for florin anyway? It was a more boring cliche kind of enemy than I usually write, with no moral grey area. Just an endless wave of foes that would justify the setting where everyone is stuck living inside a church and you have to defend it and try and turn it into a little town. And I guess if we had to have a 100% evil enemy with very little character development then it makes me less uncomfortable if theyre some sort of supernatural nonsentient plague instead of a bunch of people born evil. But then Florin existing as your sidekick was like the first part of the dream and it was never explained why he was the only non evil, completely sentient demon. Plus now I have a different zombie-themed story so mindless plagues would be samey. PLUS... welll... I need to stop being all ‘because I saw it in a dream it is somehow a cosmic message that it has to be in the story and can never be changed’. Kinda the point of being awake is that i can look at things more rationally and plug the ol plotholes, yo!

* So anyway, the idea I had was that it would... just simply be an actual army of actual villains with actual motivations and moral ambiguity. I was thinking maybe the setting could be like the perspective of civilians trapped in-between a civil war between two countries, just trying to survive and hoping that the promise of reincforcements coming to evacuate is actually true. The gamneplay of holding the fort and constantly gunning down enemies could be even more depressing when you know that not all of them are necessarily evil, they’re just soldiers doing their job. Maybe its ambiguous whether your country or their country shot first, maybe its like their country is suffering from some form of recession or illness or lack of resources and they’re only trying to conquer this other country because their families are dying at home? Maybe its some form of religious conflict, or maybe its even something with a very villainous dictator running the show but the people working underneath them are just normal citizens forcibly drafted into a war they dont believe in. There’s a whole pile of different possibilities for moral ambiguity, yo! Not sure yet which would work best, hmm...

* Might possibly be an opportunity to use a character I’ve been sitting on for a while but couldnt find a story that suited her. After I played Fe: Awakening I felt really uncomfortable about how the game treated Excellus as if he was hateable only because he was ugly and ambiguously gay/transgender. like.. he’s a horrible jerk of a villain yet the plot really overfocuses on insulting his appearance and gender rather than retaliating against the things he actually does. Made me feel sympathy for a jerk I never wanted to feel sympathy for! So I kinda ended up being inspired by the wasted potential and thinking up an idea for a similar character who actually IS sympathetic, and has the ambiguous LGBTQ aspect properly explored as a plotline. I think it could actually be powerfully sympathetic to see this villain who’s constantly degraded and misgendered by her teammates, and has a lot of reason to believe the worst of humanity. Someone who could switch sides if shown some basic decency by our heroes, maybe? And I felt it could be good if she did have a very similar personality to Excellus, just like a good version of it. She could still be a comic relief egotistical person, but not a murderous monster. And the ego could be like... sad, because she’s purposely trying to act unaffected and secure and like she loves herself, when really she’s being treated like shit and doesnt know if she deserves it or not. And I was thinking also possibly she could be a greedy merchant type character, like Anna? (also from Fe: Awakening) That could be the role she takes in the town once you recruit her, she could be a savvy businesswoman badass! Playing rune factory 4 makes me appreciate how cool a trader character can be, Arthur is so neato~! He talks about it like its the most amazing job ever, I just feel like it could be even cooler if we had that passion along with a more goofy greedy personality. Like ‘hahaha im only in it for the money’, but no, she really has this kinda cheesy cute reason why she does the job, she just really enjoys meeting new people and being able to change the world a little piece at a time. It reaffirms her faith in humanity after all she’s been through. (Tho also she’s still a total badass, since she was a former general of the villain country, after all!)

* Oh and I was thinking of a really tragic alternative route for her if you don’t recruit her. You could fight her multiple times throughout the game and then when you get to the final one and she realizes there’s no escape she suddenly drops the comic relief act and it gets really somber. I was thinking maybe she could have a mentor type character or a friend or a love interest or something? Or some other something she was trying to keep safe all along, some reason why she still had hope, some reason why she was fighting for an army she didnt believe in, just to save up enough money for... some sort of life goal? I dunno, maybe she has a sibling who’s in the hospital and she’s trying to save up for treatment, and then on the day of the final battle she gets a telegram hearing that they died and she wasnt even there to say goodbye. (And the death would somehow be directly caused by the player’s actions, thus determining whether you recruit her or not) So even though every time before she always flaked out like a coward with a comedic quip as soon as it looked like she was losing, now she just doesnt have anything else left to lose. This time she WILL NOT LET YOU redeem her, she will not let you SPARE her, she doesnt even speak a single word in the entire battle. Her difficulty spikes immensely in this fight to the death, and she only cracks a smile and gives a parting quip once you’ve dealt the final blow. And I was just imagining it could be EXTRA depressing combined with her plot of facing predjudice for being transgender! She’s spent most of this time being treated by the other commanders as ‘sir [name]’, gritting her teeth and bearing all this degredation, trying not to stand out too much. But in the end now nobody else is here to put her down, all those other ‘brave knights’ are the ones who ran away like cowards and left the ‘coward’ to take the last stand. And she doesnt care if she dies anymore. So she hangs up her armour for this fight and instead decides to go out in all her finery, wearing the dress she’s kept locked away in her trunk the whole time. Walking onto the battlefield like a bloody bride, and being one hell of a monster boss battle despite missing all of her platemail. A whirling dance of death! To go out smiling! To maybe make her family proud, and if she can meet them on the other side she could do it with the face she always wanted to wear.

* ....basically make it super depressing so you regret your actions and go back and see what the other option leads to. But also so badass that people wouldnt regret seeing the scene, yknow? And this might be the height of her character arc, kinda, but she’d be able to have whole new character arcs if you choose to recruit her. And you can make your own badass battles with her now! * Not sure tho whether maybe the family member/mentor/whoever might die either way though? That could fit the bittersweet found-family themes of the game, pretty much everybody’s someone who’s lost their biological relations and found new people to love in this new community. It could just be like... the choice between this person dying tragically and causing merchant-general-lady to commit suicide, or them passing away naturally due to their illness after saying goodbye to her, leading to her joining the heroes to try and prevent tragedies like this. * A possible other EVEN MORE tragic idea I had- an alternative where this person has already been dead for a long time before the start of the story, and the villain leader has been lying to merchant-general in order to keep her working as their minion. So the player choice would be like... you can reveal it to her and purposely send her into a suicidal spiral as an attempt to destabilize the enemy forces and win an important battle. Its a complete dick move, yes, but it could save the lives of all your family and friends! But then if you believe that this merchant-general is actually redeemable you could like... do the same thing but with different motives, in a different way. Reveal it in less of a sadistic, tactically-planned way, and more of a ‘no seriously this is why you cant trust your boss’ way. And she’d be likely to actually believe you if you’d been befriending her before now. * Or perhaps maybe her sibling died years ago and she heard about it but was unable to accept it, since it was her only reason to keep on going. Maybe she feels guilt that she was too busy making money to try and save them, and that meant she wasnt there to hold their hand when they passed away. So now she keeps on hoarding money for no purpose at all, except because this routine keeps her going. And she keeps writing letters to someone who’s already dead. * buuuut that might be too similar to Malachi’s plot, since he has memory problems regarding a tragic event in his past. Though it was his own death rather than a family member’s! ....actually I dunno, maybe a twist could be that he’s actually her lost sibling? That’d kinda be wrapping things up too coincidentally though. But on the other hand it could be an interesting plot to explore his relationship with his newly returned biological sibling, compared to the adoptive relationship he’s been developing with Florin. RIVALS FOR TINY BABBU’S LOVE! Buuuuuut I also liked the idea of Florin’s death being very far back in the timeline, and he’s been sleeping underneath those ruins for over a century. It could be cool to have him experiencing a lot of things for the first time, and to get a perspective on the past before the war...

* ALSO ANOTHER POTENTIAL CHARACTER IDEA * Another enemy recruit maybe! I seem to be going in twos, I made two demon characters and now two redeemy people XD The idea I had was that this could be just a random soldier that you keep as a prisoner, and have to decide whether to execute him or not. It can be hard to keep prisoners of war when you’re stuck in this seige situation and you barely even have enough food to keep your own teammates alive! Tensions could run high because you’re choosing to keep this guy alive when its making things worse for us all, plus we cant really trust him, seriously?? He surrendered but maybe its just a trap to infiltrate us! He claims a sob story of his country being forced to invade us because of famine, and being drafted against his will, but can we trust anything that comes from the mouth of one of those scum?? And then there’s the question of what exactly you’ll do with him if you think he cant be trusted! Are you able to execute him in cold blood? Do you set him free and hope this decision doesnt come back to bite you in the ass? Do you try and execute him while pretending you didnt- setting him loose in the forest to die of exposure or at the hands of his own former comrades...?? And its very annoying because the entire time he’s insistantly begging you to kill him, and generally being a huge downer! :P This is what convinces you to spare him, if you pick that option. It starts off as just ‘I’m gonna spite you, I won’t let you die if its what you want’, but eventually you realise he really never wanted to be part of this war, and he’s weighed down so much by his sins that his pleading for suicide was completely genuine. There’s no spy plots, he was just a simple farmer thrown into battle with nothing more than the clothes on his back and the sharpest pitchfork he could salvage from the wreckage of his old farm before it was torn down. The famine ruined his business and he had no way of surviving unless he sold his land to the army, to be bulldozed and turned into the site of a new weapons factory. And even after that he ended up forcibly drafted when things got even worse, losing what little livelihood he’d managed to scrape together again. He doesnt have a home to go back to, he just wanted to die on the battlefield, and by all odds he SHOULD HAVE! This is the condition of this latest round of ‘soldiers’, nobody even wastes armour on them, theyre just disposeable fodder to be mowed down as a distraction. What shitty luck, that he just happened to get captured by some bleeding-heart fools who refuse to chop his damn head off! So basically I’m imagining him like a Nanu-esque depressed grandpa who’s kinda sassy sometimes but also really really needs a hug. And like... model prisoner, to a comical degree. When he comes to terms with the fact he aint gonna get killed no matter how much he begs, he’s just like ‘dammit i cant help but help’. He’s just a normal good guy at heart, he’s not really on your side so to speak, he loved his country but he didnt agree with them wanting to wipe out your country either. he misses how his country used to be, and he doesnt know anything about your country or whether its any better, he doesnt have much hope. But when he’s stuck with nothing to do all day, he just cant help subconciously falling into kindly grandpa behaviours! Gotta clean up this cell! Hey, do you want some cookery tips, mr guard? Oh whoops, mr guard you dropped the cell keys, here have them back! Hey this bar over here has poor structural integrity, I tried to rope it back together with a braid of my own back hair! All the time he’s trying to trick you into agreeing to execute him, and being a total sycophant agreeing with everyone who says he’s evil. CMON IM TOTALLY EVIL, PLEASE STAB ME, I’LL BAKE YOU COOKIES! And then as time goes on he just becomes less of a prisoner and ends up making friends with everyone, winning the trust of even those who opposed him the most at the start. All entirely unwillingly! Agreeing with all their oppositions so hard that they stop opposing XD He ends up just pottering around doing odd jobs as a janitor/groundskeeper type guy, even ends up being the one in charge of keeping the keys to the jail he started off in. Somehow the most trustworthy man in the whole town, cos he’s the one person who will never say he’s trustworthy! His humble goodness just shines through~! And he could help out a lot cos he has inside info on the enemy army, and is able to give a sympathetic perspective of the everyday citizens’s life, and just how much dissent there is, how few people are willingly cooperating with the war and how they can find allies and destabilize this regime based entirely on fear instead of loyalty. He’s like a ray of hope that changes everyone’s perspective on this big seemingly-inpeneterable all-evil army! A grumpy suicidal ray of hope, who never shuts up about how hopeless it is! XD of course, eventually he’d be able to find new reason to live in this own, and make friends, and have hugs and joy~! But it’d be a hard journey! And a journey filled with a lot of ‘geez grandpa stop joking about suicide holy shit’ *disciplinary hugs* * Tho actually I dunno if a farmer would be a good career choice for him, I just picked it cos its the easiest to imagine him losing his livelihood in the war. His career in the town would be being this janitor kindly advice man/treasurer sort of guy, but i dunno... if he was a banker before then that makes him too similar to general lady :P ...maybe he was a janitor on someone else’s farm...? Honestly I would love an excuse to have a badass sympathetic janitor man and go on a bit of a small rant about how service work is very physically demanding and deserves a higher minimum wage yknow. RESPECT JANIGRAMP ... actually the name Jani is a good name his name is now jani it is law Jani the groundskeeper, because jani the janitor sounds dumb. SYNONYMS!

* Thinking of ideas for the fictional religion I’m gonna create for this world! Its more fun if we have a completely fictional set of traditions that’re just a general metaphor for topical questions about real life religion n stuff. And it would sidestep the problem of plots accidentally seeming like theyre ‘oh this one religion is evil and false’, when really the point i want to make is about how people of all religions are capable of perverting their faith’s peaceful teachings and using it as an excuse to wage wars. hell, athiests have done the same thing! ‘this religion is inherantly evil bwaaaah’ stuff IS athiests using their own beliefs as an excuse to hurt others. Thats the kind of athiest I never want to be! I completely respect religion and I think that we can never have an answer as to what’s true about creation or an afterlife, we can never know until we die. I don’t believe in heaven, but I dont think I have absolute proof it’s wrong, and I dont care about proving myself right or converting people. I feel inspired when I see people draw strength from their religion, even if I don’t believe in it! Lots of great things have been done in the name of different religions, just like lots of terrible things have. Human beings are great and terrible things, human beings make choices. This doesnt tar everyone with the same brush of whoever made the wrong decision, just because they believe in the same gods! ....man, sorry, I went off on a mini rant there. But yeah, what I hope to do is to have religion as a framing device and discuss some problems with certain so-called religious people, but also show the positive side of it via the protagonists. I mean, the whole point is that you’re living in a church, after all! The idea is that you’d hear a lot of horror stories of other people acting very ungodly in the name of god, both in the enemy army and in the hidden secrets of people in your own country’s government. But the goal is that you see all this hellish stuff and you still choose to be a bastion of what you believe is good and true, you learn from these mistakes and try and make the true sanctuary that everyone was seeking when they fell into the traps of those other monsters. And also I was thinking it;d be like the protagonist’s exploration of being agnostic, after her faith was shaken from her original church being destroyed in this war. She was the only survivor, maliciously left alive by [currently unnamed main villain rival guy], who wanted her to suffer the grief of knowing she’d failed her role as protector. But instead she travelled onwards and found this other church full of defenseless people that need a new guardian, and she is FUCKING DETERMINED to never fail again! It started as just seeking revenge against that evil overlord, but instead its become about protecting these new people and regaining her faith in humanity. And that doesnt necessarily mean regaining her faith, that’s up to the player. She has a journey of realizing that some things about her former church may have actually been corrupt, and that she was just blindly following instead of making her own decisions, She has her hero worship of her dead comrades dismantled, and has to come to her own conclusions about what’s right and wrong in the scriptures she’d learned, and what she’ll do as she goes forward. Its up to the player to decide whether she regains her faith or decides to become an athiest in the end, or even remains agnostic and decides she isnt able to find an answer yet, but either way she will still be forged into a true blue hero, no matter the reasons behind it! I wanna make all options an equally good ending, its just a personal choice that changes some scenes but not necessarily the course of the story.

* Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah! Religion ideas! I was considering possibly the legend could involve something about ‘an absent god’. The traditions say that humanity failed the creator long ago, and they left us behind because of it. The direction of all religion is based around this idea that we are inherantly born sinful, and have to do certain things in order to appease our ancestors’s sins and bring the gods back. I’m thinking it would be a good idea to create multiple sects of religion that’re variants on the same original holy text, that’s something that fictional religions dont tend to do for some reason. In this case it could be different perspectives on how exactly god dissappeared, and what exactly god saw as our sin, what on earth we have to do to make up for it. And I was thinking that the idea could be that god shattered into a million pieces that were scattered across the world. This leads to territory wars over places that’ve been determined to contain remains of god buried beneath the earth, and people invading indigenous civilizations in the name of holy tasks to dig for these relics. Power struggles over how many god burial grounds your country owns at any given time, controversy every time a digging operation fails to find a crystal. Pieces of god being used practically as currency, used to power magical weaponry in these wars... lies and deceit over fake godstones that no-one can prove you don’t own... * And this way even though magic does clearly exist in this world, it leaves it ambiguous whether religion is true, and whether any of the different sects is more accurate about the true will of god. It would seem reasonable that athiests exist here even when magic exists, thats usually a problem in fictional settings, you have gods right out here in the open yet some people still dont believe in them? XD It’d be like... yes maybe all these crystals that grant magical powers are actually fragments of an absent god. Maybe they grant those magical powers because of the reasons scripture tells us. Maybe if you bring them all together you can meet god and be granted one wish, maybe you could end the war. Buuuuuuuut.... maybe there’s just a natural crystal that grows underground and grants magical powers. Maybe nothing happens when you put it all together. Maybe it’s just like how people considered electricity to be unpredictable divine punishment before we learned how to harness it for ourselves.

* And there could be like... sects of the religion who believe god chose to leave us out of shame for our sinfulness, sects who believe a certain group of humans betrayed god and shattered them, thus holy war is justified against that country. Perhaps even sects that believe that god being shattered was a positive thing, that god chose to give fragments of their power to humans so they could choose their own destiny. (This is considered as scandalous as satan-worship in-universe) And there’s a related sect that believes that humans only even came into existance after the shattering event, that shattering into pieces was how god granted sentience and free will to the angelic servants we used to be. And this has permenantly corrupted us, thus the sin that we need to undo in order to retun god is... individuality, in all its forms. I think these are the ones who had the very extreme fanatical members who ran Malachi’s former church, and committed various atrocities including his murder. (Though, again, this doesnt mean that the viewpoint is inherantly evil. Just the people who took it from ‘tranquility, enlightenment and fealty to fellow man’ to ‘LITERALLY NO INDIVIDUALITY EVER’) ....hmmm, actually the morality system could be even more complex if I nail down a set of different factions of the religion and let you choose between all of them in the end. (or choosing none of them, or choosing your own interpretation) And there’d sorta be a fanatical/critical morality bar too, which determines whether you get the good or bad ending. In this case ‘critical’ would be the good option, I mean it more like... ‘I’ve analyzed everything about this scripture and come to my own conclusions, I won’t do anything immoral out of blind belief unless I actually have reasons to agree that it’s the right choice’. Aka how any normal good person decides on a religion to follow. And the fanatical side would be leaning towards never questioning. So sometimes you would have to like... take options that would seem like ‘the bad option’. Dont just blindly agree with everything that points to a particular faction viewpoint, that’ll lead to badness! Sometimes you have to question things, take it from the perspective of a character who is discovering their own faith, rather than a player who already knows from the beginning what option they want to pick.

* Man this has got complicated lol, I’m starting to ramble!

* Anyway, i was thinking this would explain what the ‘demons’ are, in this world. Normally humans can only use magic by using godstone as a power source, demon is a universal term for all creatures that are made of magic and can use it infinately as part of their very being. They’re considered unholy and must be destroyed, because they’re ‘imprisoning’ a shard of god inside them. And its really unfair because its a complete and utter random chance if someone becomes a demon when they die, you can live your entire life thinking you’re a normal human until the godstone in your heart activates and saves your life. Your life which is now ressurected in a monsterous form and can never return to your old family. The traditions say that it only happens to people who are sinful, thus they totally deserve to be slain, of course! Oh, and I think the main evil army guys would be using demons as weapons, which is part of why the anti-demon sentiment is like... even worse than usual in the protagonist’s country. Its incredibly depressing because demons are completely sentient, and the only way they become mindless battle monsters is if they’re tortured beyond breaking point. The same way you’d reduce a human to that state. But the protagonist starts off not even knowing that demons can talk until she meets Florin, she’s only ever seen these demonic ‘soldiers’ that’re really just whipped and beaten prisoners chained together and thrown towards the enemy in the hope both parties kill each other. “Yeah but why do so many demons ally with the empire?” *florin looks into the camera like he’s on the office* And I was thinking maybe a more positive religious interpretation of the existance of demons could be that they’re actually angels instead. (Yeah, even if this religion is very different its gonna probably have a lot of similarities to protestant christianity since that’s what I was raised in. i dont feel comfortable critcising someone else’s religion that I’m not personally experienced with, yknow?) ANYWAY SORRY FOR THAT ASIDE Yeah, there could be some very rare pro-demon religious folk who believe that those who are reborn after death are actually chosen ones rather than sinful. These fragments of god blessed certain people who were pure enough in heart to earn the power to be able to enact god’s love to the world. Because even though god is in pieces, god very much wants to forgive us. These magical beings are sent as god’s messengers to help guide us on the right path to redemption. That’s why they have such great powers of creation! (though others would say its destruction...) A single plant demon like Florin could watch over and sustain an entire forest, revive it from drought and become a cornerstone to build a whole city around! Though even this faction isnt 100% correct or incorruptable, there are those who’d interpret this as demons having a DUTY to do that. There are rogue members of this faction who enslave demons just as much as the people who use them as weapons. I was thinking a plot could be that Florin almost gets suckered in by a band of these guys, he’s just so overwhelmed to find anyone who doesnt hate demons! But they want to imprison him and force him to grow their crops forever until he dies of exhaustion, because that’ll mean he’s ~happily fullfilled his purpose and rejoined god~. I mean, if he says he doesnt want to, thats just so sad! That means this pure angel has been corrupted by humanity’s sin, he doesnt know what he’s saying! * man i have so many ideas aaaaa

#cathedral tower defense #sorry long post #i need to nail down a set amount of factions for the religious war and think up names for them and stuff #and like... countries #and which countries have how much of each faction #i think the main villain army would be like a totalitarian state where one religious faction is enforced by law #but for everyone else country doesnt equal faction #i think to make the scope of this thing small enough to fit with a mostly self-contained story in a single town...#it would be best to keep it to just two countries- enemy guys and the protagonists's country #maybe mention other countries in passing to add flavour tho #like 'we were supposed to get humanitarian aid from [place]'#and maybe the protagonist is new to this country actually? maybe her entire country was taken over by the villains rather than just hometown

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