#hunter battles are rough but they're a different kind of rough

[quillpokebiology]

Any facts on the different meowth such as the galarian or alolan ones

I'm going to choose Galarian Meowth because that's the kind of Meowths I'm used to

Galarian Meowth Facts

(Art by @artsy-theo)

-The scientific name for Galarian Meowth is "Cattus felixummus (galarius)," which roughly translates to "(Galarian) Lucky coin cat"

-Galarian Meowth can be found in forests, riversides, and Polar beaches; with their thick coat protecting them from the cold

-Galarian Meowths are descended from meowths that lived by ancient cultures in Galar. These meowths lived aboard the ships and towns of raiders

-This breed was bred to have a thicker coat that would help protect them better from any attacks with weapons and the cold. The standard breed has become smaller and thinner over the years to train them for pokemon battling instead

-While many cat-mon are known for being silent and sneaky hunters, Galarian Meowth are known to be loud, ruthless, and vicious hunters; raiding groups of pokemon with large groups of their own and hunting as many as they can. They eat just about any small pokemon and, if there's a large enough group to help take them down, but their main prey is Pichu, Pikachu, Pidove, Skwovet, Pumpkaboo, and Goldeen

-While Meowth all over the world are seen as good pets, the ones in Galar are not the most common pets for their visous nature. It's much more common to have a Purloin as a pet instead

-While Kantonian Meowth and Alolan Meowth prefer to stay away from the water, Galarian Meowth love the water and hunt a lot more in it, even bathing themselves in their as well instead if the usually, "licking themselves to groom." This is because the raiders their descended from were known for many seafaring adventures, making them used to the water

-Galarian Meowth's horns are mostly just for show to make them seem more intimidating and to attract mates, but they'll sometimes use them in battle if their claws are damaged

-Galarian meowth can actually be found anywhere that their ancient partners went. While they're obviously most common in Galar, a tiny population of them can be found in Unova and other regions

-While they were well-respected by their seafaring ancestors, Hammerlocke Galarians saw them as savages and would actively hunt any Meowths they saw. Luckily, the population was able to recover

-While Galar's national Pokemon is Galarian Rapidash, the national cat of Galar is Galarian Meowth

-Kantionan Meowth can climb trees, and Alolan Meowth can't climb trees very well, but Galarian Meowth's long claws and grip make them thrive in trees, even making their homes in them

-While they look soft and fluffy, their fur is actually very thick and rough to the touch. It feels like touching hay (which is NOT soft)

-Galarian Meowths have more respect for Meowths with darker-colored coins. Researchers believe that darker colors mean they have more metals, making them stronger against attacks

[amelias-zelda-calamity-quintet]

Random musing that I hope the Din's Temple arc is going to make pretty clear: Zelda can't be in the main party for Mark of a Hero for too long for the same reasons Gandalf can't be in the main party for too long. She is a divine wizard, and literally breaks the power scaling of any combat scene I want to write with her. She would one-shot 90% of the Mini Bosses & Bosses I've written so far. I know I said she's a level 3 wizard in the character sheets, but I mean like. Narratively. Mechanically, she's level 20 already, hands down.

There are more actual narrative reasons, chiefly in that as a major political figure (she's the heir to a nation) if Zelda jumped into the plot and started running around doing things, she runs into the issue of overriding local (and eventually foreign) governments. So the actions she has to take within narrative are more on political leveraging and intelligence gathering to allow the person who's "supposed" to be doing this stuff (our Hero) can do those things. The barriers she has are not ability, it's political liability. She could easily break the law and get things done, but what kind of future leader does that set her up to be? Link, as the Hero, does not have that restraint in movement, it's expected he'll show up. And also, Zelda is making sure he'll be welcomed if he does (in the Hero persona at least).

It also comes into some of the character contrast I want to have between Link and Zelda in MoaH as equal agents on the narrative, not one rescuing the other exclusively. If Zelda is also diving into these dungeons, it becomes harder to separate why Link specifically has the Triforce of Courage. Which is not to say Zelda isn't courageous, but she can't be equally courageous to Link. The two are meant to play off each other that way. Your lawful good, high tactics minded political official and your chaotic good, improvisational monster hunter. Long game vs short game, high profile vs low profile, Wisdom vs Courage.

Link is notably bad at politics and long term strategy, the Hero act is a rough attempt to convince the court of his title as Hero (since they have no in universe confirmation he is for sure the Hero) and not everyone is convinced. He is very good at solving short-term problems though, adaptation to things gone wrong, and immediate problem solving (like dungeon puzzles), which notably in MoaH, Zelda's not good at her plans getting thrown off. Eventually, they balance each other out that way. Link needs help thinking ahead, Zelda needs help adjusting quickly. They're a team, and their strengths are different. Compliments to each other. The threats that they're good at handling then are also different. Zelda could probably one shot most of the monsters outright, but it's Link's combat experience of learning and developing plans around monsters' weaknesses in the heat of battle that would get her the shot she needed. Which says nothing of his own ability to also fight those monsters.

Zelda is still an active agent in the story, we just don't see her front and center in the plot all the time. She's still doing plot, but the Link POV means the reader won't see that the whole way through. And not to get in my own head about my planning or whatever, but I wanted to ramble a little about the thought process behind the black cat autistic GF x golden retriever ADHD BF pairing that I have going for this Zelink story.

So much of the current formula, of Link being Zelda's knight/Hero/protector (and even with the reversal in EOW) has them chasing after each other rather than working together. And I think that reduces so much of Link's personality down to just "rescuing Zelda." Not to mention what it does to Zelda's personality. Rather than showing how they're equally competent, how they have personalities and lives outside of each other and also are strengthened and supported because of how they work well together. You know. Like a couple. God, just, let's circle back on this after Letter of the Law is out and I'll show you what I mean.

[saltylittlecreature]

What would Dc20 "True Dragons" be like

This is just a brain thought I Had about potential stat blocks for DC20 (I make a lot of those, and I find it fun), and was scrolling through YouTube when I stumbled across a video from Pointy Hat, about dragons as different classes. Being into DC20 started my brain up and made me really enjoy the idea. So now we're here. To Clarify. by "True dragons", I'm referring to the more sapient dragons. (This also lets you give them a lot of various subtypes of dragons.

I really like the idea. Pointy Hat has two videos where he has the dragons hoard people like socialites who gain power the more followers they have on Tumblr (Which I do enjoy, but I'm not focusing on but is also I cool Idea, I would recommend checking out their video). Although, I'll mostly be speculating on the classes and their potential as dragons.

Dragon Ideas

Here are some ideas for these dragons

Barbarian dragons: an interesting Sp-bassed dragon, that can gain a rage ability. With the battle cry to hype up their allies in a fight. Perhaps this dragon would have special bloody abilities that emphasize the classic abilities.

Bard Dragons: This Mp bassed dragon that specializes in having minions, and putting on a good show. Alongside granting charms. And before you say it, yes this creature would have a charm ability.

Cleric Dragon: A dragon serving a god is nothing new, but not very common. Able to Chanel divinity would be very usable. Alongside their omen ability (Which also has plenty of plot potential, could be an oracle atop a remote town people's pilgrimage to their lair, or could be part of an inquisition situation).

Commander Dragons: Another Sp based dragon, with them commanding horns of minions and giving them more actions. Alongside that aura ability.

Druid Dragon: A classic nature dragon who would probably have a lot of extra lair actions. With that special ability to tack on more Wilde characteristics (Could be interesting to see a dragon suddenly show characteristics of a bear). Alongside the ability to control the weather.

Fighter Dragons: Dragons that are also Sp bassed, that have second wind, Alongside the dueling feature.

Monk Dragons: Dragons that use Flurry of Blows and Sp again. Alongside their many stances. (These lads could have a monetary somewhere).

Ranger Dragons: Real nature vibe, but with Sp this time. Their bestiary feature is a very interesting ability. Alongside their Favorite train. With Hunter's strick having excellent coverage. (I really like this one ngl. It has a lot of range).

Rough Dragon: A sneaky dragon someone will make into an edge lord if they exist. Rough stamina would especially affect these dragons' fighting style, alongside cheap shots and cunning action. These would be very fun to fight, and almost definitely. I can see them holding some of thief or brigand army.

Sorcerer Dragons: Overload magic would mark this dragon like a scar and make it so flavorful. With meta magic coming in close second to me. These alone would make these creatures an interesting draconic idea.

Warlock Dragon: I'm gonna circle back to Pointy Hat's examples and say narratively, these are the Warlock patron primers (Seriously, Pointy Hat is really good, I'd recommend his Chanel). Sacrificial bond is fun, along with Life Tap and Life drain being especially fun.

Wizard Dragon: A special scholar who is known to cast very well designed. Arcain Sigel and Arcain Points. I would enjoy some more wizard-theming and have different powers. I would enjoy them having more dragons based on the different spell classifications (Kind of like what Pathfinder is trying to do in their most resent edition)

Palidon Dragon: Although removed from the core rules, they are still available and I enjoy them, so they're being placed here. With their smite and Sacred weapons. This class would be dangerous to encounter. (These are supposedly going to be replaced with a spell blade class, but I haven't seen much on it, so we'll all have to wait and see. Which is more than I can say for the next class).

Psion Dragon: Dragons with the biggest brain flex, while also being a class that's now removed from the core rules. Teleconises and Mind sense are two flavourful abilities, and you would be amused to find another class fit to make a Cthulhu dragon. (There is also no news I can find about if there will even be a replacement for this class, so as far as I can tell, these funny mind lads are just gone. which deeply saddens me).

Spell braid dragons: This is a Class the dungeon Coach (The lad who made DC20) mentioned would replace the Palidon, and I don't have access to it yet (I only go Alpha 0.7 bundle). So I'm guesstimating for this one. These should have a special ability to do with their hard in my opinion. Along with really flexible damage. Again, it is hard to say exactly what to do, but still. it's fairly useful and a good thing to keep in mind (Also, apparently Captain America would be a spell blade of sorts according to the dungeon coach which is interesting inspiration)

[adelheidvonschicksal]

Another anime rec, Ahiru no sora! They're kinda ugly but you get used to it lol. And the slam dunk movie 😍

While we're talking about recs, got any good animes lol?

Oh, oh; Ahiru reminds me there's another volleyball anime like Haikyuu called Seiin High School Boys’ Volleyball Club. I only watched the first few episodes but the animation is good. Other than that, I mostly watch battle Shounen so I don't know if you care for that but there's:

Inuyasha – a classic

SK8 Infinity: feel good sports anime about skateboarding; season 2 coming soon. You probably already watched it though since you seem like you like sports anime! Air Gear is also an older sports anime.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn – This is an old one I used to watch back in middle/high school. It started as a comedy manga actually, so like yeah the main character runs around in his boxers doing silly things with the other cast for like the first 18 episodes; but after that, it turns into your standard shounen anime. If you don’t like the comedy part, you can watch to like episode 10 (or whenever a character named Fuuta comes in) and skip to episode 20. The art is a little rough in the first season too. It’s a very easygoing shounen, not many people die.

It actually holds a dear place in my heart. I always hear rumors of a remake coming but I’m never sure if they’re true. It’s also made by the same lady who did the art for Psycho-Pass.

Psycho-Pass: Crime thriller with the FINEST men.

D. Gray Man: also, nostalgic choice; it’s a shounen about fighting demons, and the demons are made from people’s tragedies. It has a sort of anthology feel at first with the different stories. I do like that the main female character can carry her own in a fight too (but then she started to get on my nerves a little later lol).

Deadman’s Wonderland: I highly suggest the manga over the anime. The Anime cuts out and skips so much. It’s about a kid who gets put in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, but there’s superpowers and death match for the jail to make money. It’s an extremely violent anime though and has SA, what basically counts as human trafficking, torture, and other triggers like that.

Yu Yu Hakusho: A classic along with Dragon Ball Z. Gege Akutami said the 3rd season villain (Sensui) is one of his favorite villains. You can tell he really based Geto off of him and his fall from grace, along with both their plans to solve their issues. Geto has more romanticization with his reasons though. It does fall off a bit in season 4 though. He’s also the guy who wrote Hunter x Hunter.

Gangsta. : This one is pretty graphic. Has SA, child abuse, prostitution, and mafia type things, but I love the main 3 characters and their relationship with one another. It also has a deaf main character and good diversity if you’re looking for that kind of representation.

K Project: It’s an ecchi, but I really enjoyed the ride trying to figure out who the murderer is. I recommend reading K: Project Red manga first because it makes the context of the anime mean so much more and gives backgrounds to all the characters; it also makes the anime more emotional. The cat girl is annoying to me though lol

Parasyte is a good one I’ve heard.

Summer Wars: a really good anime movie about a family trying to save the country when a Satellite threatens to crash when a virus takes over all internet intelligence.

A Letter to Momo: Another movie; it has a little bit of a Spirited Away feel (although Spirited Away is much better). It’s a coming-of-age story about a girl who moved to an island after her father passed away and island spirits are trying to help her with her problems.

Ranking of Kings: It’s a good one; the story gets dark a bit suddenly. I actually still have to finish it!

The other stuff you probably seen like Saiki K., Jojo, Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note, Ouran High School Host club, Angel Beats, Noragami, Cowboy Bebop, and Samurai Champloo.

[onehourhero]

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

This one probably doesn't really count because I've already played it quite a bit, but it has been a while and I never finished, so I feel the need to at least replay the opening so I can remember HOW to play the game, and while I'm here, I'll go ahead and do a OHH take on it.

Clearly the rating is Keep Playing

Survivor is the sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order which followed Cal Kestis, a survivor of Order 66 as he attempted to find a holocron full of young potential Jedi's locations before the Dark Side did.

What is interesting about this game mechanically is that it takes that default stance that at the beginning of the game, you have to be depowered so you can build your character back up... and throws it out. As far as I can tell, you're just as 'powerful' at the top of Survivor as you were at the end of Fallen Order (more or less). You've got pretty much all the moves and movement options like wall running and ziplining upwards, etc. that you learned in Fallen Order. Instead, they add NEW things, new movement options like a jetpack and lightsaber stances beyond just one blade or two. You can use a blaster/one handed saber, or even a two-handed greatsword-like heavy saber. You are back down to a smaller health and force pool and only 2 stims at a time, but those feel like they're just his new normal rather than feeling like he was nerfed.

This is a sequel. Should I play the first one first?

You don't really need to, but I'd suggest it. There ARE places in the menus where you can practice your moves and/or learn techniques in a safe environment and there IS a kind of flashback to Fallen Order to jog your memory, but the flashback isn't very narratively coherent, especially if you're starting on Survivor. I DID play Fallen Order all the way through and still didn't remember a lot of what was in the flashback :joy: The good news is if you decide to play Fallen Order before diving into Survivor, it's not like going back in time to play a game before good camera mechanics were developed. It hasn't aged much if at all and still makes for good play.

So! Survivor!

In the opening scene, you're back as Kestis, apparently captured by some mercenaries and being taken back to the center of the Star Wars universe- Coruscant. A senator has attempted to capture Cal in an effort to find more Jedi before turning them over to the Emperor who has made his palace at the Jedi Temple. Cal's been busy, working with Saw Gerrera and acting the 'terrorist'.

You're quickly on the move with BD-1 and a new ally, Bode- a bounty hunter type with a jetpack and blasters. You pick up a skill point or three as you're racing across Coruscant's rooftops, force pushing stormtroopers off ledges in what is always a satisfying mechanic.

Somewhere around the end of the hour, depending on how much time you spend exploring and how long it takes you to get through the platforming sections, you're faced with an unexpected twist and the first of the 'boss battles' against a returning foe. It's... rough lol

Overall, though, the first hour is a pretty good indication of the rest of the game. Pretty good scaffolding and prompting for how to use your abilities and the other mechanics in the game. The only thing it's really missing is the travel between systems and the workbenches. Travel between systems is pretty simple- use the navigation console in a ship. The workbenches give you the opportunity to customize your weapons and BD-1 (colors, materials, and different components that you pick up while exploring). You can also pick up new hairstyles, facial hair styles, and clothes for Cal as you explore.

There's also a huge 'open' world where your new base is that you'll explore between missions, opening new sections as you develop more skills and movement options. This is also not the end of meeting up with returning characters from the first game. You might have split up after Fallen Order, but that doesn't mean you're alone. (Though there might be some... mending of relationships that needs to happen.)

Mechanically, combat and platforming are smooth. There's lots of options but they don't really feel overwhelming, and there is the aforementioned training area where you can go to practice new and old moves to refresh your memory when you find yourself falling back on the basics too often. (Or when you walk away and forget to play for 6 months >.>)

[death-rebirth-senshi]

I already knew about Lady Maria and Friede before I played the games. Though Maria was from a no commentary playthrough so I was introduced to her fight as if I were playing the game. And I was immediately obsessed because, me.

But might as well get to know the latest Fromsoft lady that's making gamers everywhere miserable.

[ceph-the-ghost-writer]

What was the inspiration behind your oc? What was the first thing you decided about them?

Ollie: Like Athena, she sprung from the depths of my imagination fully formed and ready to do battle. It happened around the time I wrote about Renato showing up at Dorian's and mentioning other aquilae. I figured at least a few of Renato's comrades had to hate him, and that if one were his ex/rival it would be good for some laughs. A lot of Ollie's backstory is based on stories about cults and America's current political climate, extreme Protestant sects and transphobic panic in particular. She's a complicated character stewing with all sorts of emotions and I'm glad to have her around.

Micaela: She existed in a nebulous form when I started Phagophobia, but didn't coalesce until I decided Dorian would start out as human. She actually contained a few bare bones left over from a much older, villainous character, but by now the only resemblance is in the name. Coming from the same generation of bloodborn as Desmond and Theodore, she's part of the opposition to Mergus and his aquilae, highlighting different approaches to power, adversity, community, etc.

Elfy: Yet another character born from Phagophobia. I basically asked myself what kind of friends Isaac might have, and an extroverted, rebellious ghost hunter showed up first.

Ben: This one came out of a collaboration I started with two other writers years ago. He was a direct contrast to the Twilight vampires, starting out as somewhat crude, self-centered, and honestly kind of a jerk (though he would grow over time). Ben's softened somewhat in recent years, though he still has some rough edges and can definitely be terrifying when he wants to be. His love of baseball has remained consistent.

Tilda: Another character who started out much darker and gleeful about violence, meant to be the original-version-of-Ben's werewolf girlfriend. Eventually, though, I decided her lupine curse could be used to explore other avenues maybe, and she changed just like he did. Her full name, Clotilda (which she despises), comes from the last known slave ship to bring captive people from Africa to the U.S. It was burned and scuttled to hide the deed since Congress had banned importing slaves (though not owning human beings of course). Her family is loosely based on those who commissioned the ship. They're an example of insular Old Money and how oppression evolves in different eras, with a horrific supernatural element thrown in for good measure.

Yi: She was just a name until I started writing Phagophobia. Her tattoos, short hair, and muscles were the first details to pop up, the latter maybe inspired by Jude Perry from The Magnus Archives. Yi's also just a type of character I like: looks like a one-dimensional bruiser, but is actually steady and thoughtful. She's meant to be the most sympathetic of the enforcers and go through her own arc about her views on the Coven.

Mergus: He's got pieces of a few characters mixed in, including the name. But being a ruthless bastard with a lot of charisma is the unifying theme. Mergus is based on the type of person who's dangerous because he seems so reasonable and caring. And he is...to a point. He helped a lot of vulnerable humans during the break, including kids like Renato and Ollie. It gave him genuine pleasure to be of service. And in the back of his mind he had a sense that service would generate a lot of loyalty. That, say, a couple of trans kids with no support system would latch on to him and absorb his ideals because they trusted him. He doesn't make the rules, he just plays by them, and with skill, you understand.