#i think that’s the only minigame where they work together because it really is a meaningful moment for them

[p5x-theories]

I mean, how many characters have models that you haven’t posted yet? Bc I would like to see all of the models but if there’s a ton then I wouldn’t ask that of you

To be clear, literally every character in the game has one or more 3D models. Every single NPC, those faceless people that you walk by/through while walking through the city, every playable character (and every outfit they have; every single one of Wonder's outfit options), every shadow, every Persona, etc. The game's all 3D models (with 2D images over them making up the UI and portraits), and the files are where those 3D models and 2D images are stored, so quite literally, anything you see in the game is somewhere in the files, and something I could theoretically extract for you.

There's also a ton of stuff in the files that doesn't show up in the game (yet?), like 3D models and portraits for a bunch of the Confidants and Palace rulers in P5. Even stuff you only see for a few seconds, like the table and tea set that appears for Noir during her AOA finisher in the split second before it swaps to the 2D image people usually think of for her AOA, have their own 3D models.

So I appreciate that you're not asking me for all of them, haha!

I just focus on posting the interesting things and the new stuff; new portraits for main characters, 3D models for civilian outfits of the Phantom Idols that we haven't really gotten to see, characters indicated as future Phantom Thieves/Idols, stuff like that. And then if anyone asks me for specific stuff outside of that, I don't mind going back for it, because I noted down where everything is in the (massively disorganized) files, so it theoretically shouldn't take me too long to hunt down the pieces for any given character and put them together to post.

All that to say, I try to post the things that I know myself and others are probably most interested in seeing. You're not really missing much in the rest of the files, unless, for instance, there's a sidequest NPC or something you have a particular interest in and want to see the full portraits/model for.

[inoankin]

not to awopost twice in five minutes but you guys the arm wrestling minigame is so fucking important. like narratively, obviously it foreshadows the final fight, but it could so easily be used to foreshadow the victor as well. maybe leo is phyically stronger from years of being beaten down, and he’s so fucking desperate on that rooftop, driven by fear and rage and the need to protect his family. maybe vincent has more stamina, and is terrified to die before he even learns his daughter’s name, before he can reconcile or at least settle things with his wife. and of course there’s the development of their relationship and admiration of each other facilitated by the match, how one gloats and the other scoffs but you know he doesn’t mind, maybe even finds it endearing. and the throughline of hand-holding through the entire story, how they grasp each others’ hands and look each other in the eyes and still vie to beat the other. always one against one. even when they’re together they are against one another. and vincent knows it will all go wrong but he still grasps leo’s hand and grins when leo teases, because he can’t help himself, he can’t stop himself from liking leo and all his brash, cocky swagger. god dude. you don’t get it.

[blueberry-lemon]

Shouting into the Void about Palia, which has begun its open beta.

Palia is a "cozy sim MMO set in a fantasy world", as pitched by the developers at Singularity Six. If I had to set it up in one sentence, I would pitch it as something like "what if an MMO didn't need to have combat?"

Which is something I'm really excited about.

To clarify, I think the MMO term is slightly misleading. When you log on, you're sent to an instance of around 25 players or so, similar to how Sea of Thieves works. For what it's worth, I think this is actually a preferable experience versus being a "true MMO" with hundreds of people crowding around the town area. I think they made the right call.

Although I have some small critiques and some reservations about recommending Palia during its open beta state, I'm having a really fun, relaxing time and I'm really looking forward to how the game grows. Full thoughts below.

--- I'm sure people will be quick to compare Palia to Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. This is valid, and probably something the developer wants you to do. Like those games, Palia is about relaxing and having a good time in a simple town with charming NPCs.

That said, I think the closest analogs to how Palia works are actually Disney Dreamlight Valley and Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles. Dreamlight Valley I think is the most direct competition, so to speak. It's funny to see that another developer got to the multiplayer pie before Disney's teams were able to fully add multiplayer, lol.

In Palia, you dress up your character and you customize your home. I think the art is really great, and the animation has really impressed me. There's a great variety of outfits (although to be clear, 30% of clothing options are available from the start and the other 70% is, for now, premium currency only.) There's unfortunately only 2 choices of body type in the Open Beta, although the devs claim that more are coming.

There's a shocking amount of customization for your house and your lawn. At least, picture Animal Crossing: New Horizons but with better controls for dragging and dropping where you want everything. People who like setting up their plot of land will have a good time. You can even expand your property to make it larger.

The core of Palia's loop involves you hopping around between progressing the Main Story and progressing 8 different skills: Cooking, Hunting, Bug Catching, Gardening, Foraging, Fishing, Furniture Making, and Mining. In addition to this, you're progressing your friendship meter with the different NPCs and, if you'd like, selecting one to Romance.

There's some really smart innovations in Palia that I like.

For example, your Mining skill only increases when you PICK UP the ore loot that drops from destroying a vein of ore. Why is that? Because you're supposed to work together with friends and strangers. If the skill increased for each time your pickaxe struck the vein, then you'd get annoyed if your friend helped you, because working together would destroy the vein in less strikes. If the skill increased for destroying a vein, then only the person who got the "last hit" would reap the exp reward. In Palia, so long as a player strikes the vein at least once, the loot will drop for them when it's destroyed. This way, anyone around you can "get their hand on that ball" by helping strike the vein at least once. This encourages working together, sharing the loot, etc. The same goes for chopping trees: anyone who contributes at all will get the wood that drops. This naturally encourages people to work together. There's no reason not to, because you're not "stealing" the loot from anyone else or "stealing" the exp.

Cooking is the most fleshed out co-op experience from what I've seen. Recipes require ingredients and a stove or prep station. Then, when you start the recipe, you do minigames to chop ingredients and stir them. So long as any player contributes an ingredient or does one of the minigames, they get the full exp and the finished dishes from cooking, even if that contributing player doesn't have the recipe. So if your friend loves cooking, and has a bunch of recipes, they can initiate the cooking and then you can bring the mushrooms and do the chopping. Then you all get to level up and get the dishes.

Even activities like Fishing are more fun to do together. If you fish near someone else who's fishing, you'll both get a buff that makes the fish bite your hooks much sooner. It stacks higher the more you fish together.

Another smart innovation: a rework of the infamous "stamina meter." This time, it's a Focus Meter. If your Focus Meter drops to 0, nothing happens. You don't pass out, you don't starve, nothing. However, if you DO have Focus, you get a Exp Gain Multiplier. This encourages you eating dishes to stay well-fed without punishing you too strongly if you ignore it.

And then, lastly, the core conceit of the game: there's no combat or danger. Although there is a Hunting Mechanic, it's completely one-sided, like hunting deer (which the game is quick to tell you are overpopulated in the area.) You can't die, you can't get hurt, you don't take fall damage, you don't even have health, period. I think this is great at trimming the unnecessary parts of a game like this and keeping it truly relaxing.

Although I'm having a fun time, I can't wholly recommend the open beta of Palia for everyone. The game is still early in its life and is missing a lot of important UI/UX and central features. The Pause and Settings menus are pretty sparse. You can only have 1 character so far, there aren't multiple character slots. You can't even change your characters name once you've made it, so choose carefully. In addition, you might feel like there "isn't enough to do together" if you play with friends, which is similar to a complaint I have about Animal Crossing multiplayer. It's mostly a chill hangout game about fishing next to each other.

There are a lot of things in the game that still need to be fleshed out, but I'm really happy with the core structure they've set up. Once this game leaves Open Beta, I think it'll be an easier recommendation, especially for folks who have enjoyed Disney Dreamlight Valley. I think these devs are smart about how they're handling the core desire here: wanting to play a game like Final Fantasy XIV or Stardew Valley without having to worry about combat or stamina.

My partner and I love to play these relaxing zone-out types of games. While trying Atelier Ryza recently, my partner said: "I just want a game where you zone-out and pick stuff up off the ground." My friends, we finally found it. It's called Palia.

You can find the Palia Open Beta on PC, and the game is slated to release on Nintendo Switch.

[homestuckreplay]

Here's How GG Can Still Win

(page 637-650)

9/14/2009 Wheel Spin: Movie Reference Verdict: John’s Life Might Be Too Weird For Movies

9/15/2009 Wheel Spin: being silly :3c Verdict: being scared and terrified D:

John’s hammer, despite being sick as hell, turns out to be dangerous for him too. This is poetic, given the number of injuries he sustained from the pogo ride as a child, that he’s now finding newer and better ways to injure himself with it. Rose’s sweet catch is really good – and I’m always impressed at her 20-dexterity video game reflexes snatching Dad’s PDA from the air and sliding John’s bed beneath him just in time to avoid injury – but in this case, her move also stops John from falling through the hole into Dad’s room. Is this a coincidence, or is she still focused on stopping him from getting in there?

The Big Imp has entered the house, but is too big for the rooms inside. It’s going to cause serious destruction just by moving around if John can’t kill him soon – and John’s reached a high enough level that a second one is following close behind. It makes me wonder if the Big Imp will drop different, stronger types of grist that can be used to reinforce the house against mundane physical damage. Server player is definitely a full time job despite what Rose says about being ‘just a facilitator,’ and when Rose does enter the game and has to divide her time between server and client goals, this game is going to get even harder.

The visuals of page 641 don’t quite work for me, as the top two pictures overlap each other, and it’s hard to make sense of where the overlap begins - I turned it into a single image to get a better view (comparison below). I think this page would have worked much better as three sequential pages. The following page does this much better – despite the white space between panels, each starts where the previous ended, and it comes together in a visually pleasing way. I mention this because the problem will only compound as the scale of John’s house continues to increase, and the necessary aspect ratio continues to change. There are rare examples, such as pages 376, 484 and 494 where slightly taller images are used, and there are also animated and [S] pages, such as 246 and 250, where we are able to zoom out or pan up or down to see the world on a bigger scale. We haven’t seen it yet, but there could also be interactive panels, where we can use arrow keys or zoom buttons within a panel to see different parts of John’s house ourselves, while sticking with the standard panel dimensions – like having access to a ‘view only’ version of Rose’s server controls.

‘TT: In a way, thieving you of your free will as an adventurer, and the need to advance by your own skill and ingenuity.’ (p.643) I think it is deeply arguable how much free will John has as an adventurer or player, and I hope that the explicit mention of free will means it will be discussed in more depth later. The mechanic does make sense, though. If Rose could just pick up the bed and click and drag John to the first gate, that’d be a huge exploit in the game. Despite being in beta testing, we haven’t really seen any bugs in Sburb so far – it’s extremely well made and tightly programmed, arguably more so than most AAA game releases.

I thought Sburb would operate on video game logic where player characters don’t need to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, brush their teeth, or do other human things to sustain themselves, so long as their gel is viscose enough. So, what does it mean for John to sleep within Sburb? Is sleep still necessary for human survival, is it unnecessary but simply nice to take a nap, or is it something that could provide game benefits – such as minigames that can be played while asleep to gain extra resources, faster/automatic recovery of gel, or saving the game state to potentially return to that point later?

Also, the new sleepy John song is very windchimey to me, reminding me of Windchime Foley from page 82.

‘if you obtain the code for any item at your disposal, you think you could theoretically send the code to John and he could make it himself.’ The Sburb server disc didn’t work out, but Rose’s instincts are good. I wonder if there are any other items in Rose’s house that could help John out. Such as, I don’t know, whatever she’s got hidden in that purple box on p.218. A Grimoire for Summoning the Zoologically Dubious could be helpful too, as could a 20-foot tall granite statue of the mighty wizard, ZAZZERPAN THE LEARNED. This sadly makes me realize that Sburb alchemy is restricted to items that are small enough to captchalogue.

It’s certainly interesting that the Sburb server CD doesn’t have a captcha code – this must be intentional on the part of the developers. The relationship between the captchalogue system and Sburb as a game is really interesting to me. It makes sense that certain items just can’t be alchemized because they’d break the game, and these items wouldn’t need codes. We know that the Medium, where John is, exists outside of time – how possible is it that the sylladex system is also created by Skaia’s power (as it transcends those same digital-physical boundaries) and was always created to be a companion piece to Sburb? Or alternatively, did the sylladex system exist previously but without the codes on the backs of cards, and Sburb has somehow exploited that existing system to place those codes only on cards that will then be used in alchemy?

The forest fire is approaching Rose’s mausoleum much faster, and now the generator has gone out. It either hasn’t recharged the laptop’s battery at all, or its shutting down has caused the laptop to shortcircuit, as Rose’s laptop immediately goes dark. This is certainly much more dramatic than switching back to battery power. I asked a few weeks ago for the tension with Rose’s situation to ramp up so Act 2’s pace can accelerate, and I think we’ve officially hit that point – which I’m really excited about.

Rose’s main focus is on saving herself. This makes sense on two levels – she’s scared and entering self preservation mode, and it’s also necessary on a practical level, because John can’t progress in the game if his server player dies. I see Rose as someone who likes to be independent and self-reliant, and it must be hard for her to have to depend on someone else to get out of this situation. In this way, she’s the opposite to John, who wanted Rose’s help but was left without it when her laptop died – I love the storytelling here, it’s a great beginning of both their character development to challenge them and put them out of their comfort zones like this.

So, who will be Rose’s server player? Dave seemed likely, but he’ll almost certainly have to escape Bro’s rooftop saw traps before he can get the discs, and I don’t think Rose can wait that long. John seemed possible, but Rose’s plan to send him the disc code failed, and I highly doubt he’ll locate his dad’s car and the original disc any time soon. That means the only person left is our good friend gardenGnostic, who also happened to be the person who originally tipped Rose off about Sburb. This would be poetic, going from the snow to fire, from talk of a dead cat to sitting beside its corpse, from the birthday gift of an important tip to the ultimate gift of saving Rose’s life.

I think Homestuck will throw a curveball and suddenly introduce GG at Rose’s moment of greatest need, just as Rose was introduced at John’s. So far our characters have been introduced in early act 1, late act 1, and early act 2 – so if act 2 is heading towards endgame, which I think it is, this is the moment to finally reveal GG. They’ll need to happen across a server disc somewhere, so whatever the source of their prophetic gifts is could kick in to reveal its location. Alternatively, GG has said that ‘mail takes a while to get anywhere from here!!!’ so if they have been signed up as a beta tester without their knowledge, some delayed mail could be arriving right now. Either way, I think we’re about to get GG discovering a disc and swooping in to save Rose.

[danthediamondminecart]

RBBTOBER DAY 13 - 14: ANGELS & DEMONS

Or: What if Tanqr made a different choice of ally in Season 3?

So like, I'm cheating in more than one way here. Firstly, the prompt says angels and demons, not angels and devils. Therefore, Pink and Tanqr still apply despite Tanqr not being a devil in my headcanons.

Secondly, the drabble for this prompt is an edited draft of a fic from...almost exactly a year ago, actually! I'd intended to write it into a full fic for Halloween, but then Nerdy Prudes Must Die came out and suddenly all I could think about what what eventually became Antithesis. I only got to the first 2 scenes. I'm super busy at the moment, so I decided to repurpose that draft to make the drabble, with some changes to give it an actual ending.

Said drabble under the cut!

Somewhere in the RB Battles universe, PinkLeaf is practising his parkour.

It’s tranquil here in the lobby, with no one else around. The hosts made a private server for the finalists to practise on, and he’s been getting as much use out of it as possible. Apparently he’s the only one of the finalists with a somewhat healthy sleep schedule, because it’s early morning, and no one’s here. He was under the impression that Kreek and Bella and Denis were also training a lot, so clearly they prefer to train late in the day.

He doesn’t mind that at all. It’s so much easier to focus when no one’s around, when no one’s yelling at him, when no one can disturb his thought process. Plus, he’d rather not have to talk to people in general. Instead all he can hear is the whistle of the wind flowing past him as he leaps through the air from building to building, getting ready to head into some minigames.

He heads back to the centre, not paying attention to anything around him, when a voice cuts through the silence.

“Morning, PinkLeaf. You’re up early.”

Pink turns to the direction of the sound to see Tanqr leaning up against a pillar near the centre of the map. They make eye contact and Tanqr waves, waiting for a response. PinkLeaf waves back and tries to ignore him, but it doesn’t work. 

“Where are you going? C’mere, let’s chat.”

Pink sighs and jumps down to a tree that’s a little bit taller than where Tanqr is standing, trying to keep the high ground, ensuring Tanqr has to look up to talk to him. Tanqr accepts that’s the best he’s going to get. 

“What do you want?” he asks.

“Listen, uh…” Tanqr walks up to the tree and hushes his voice. “Denis and Kreek are making an alliance in the run up to the finals. Don’t blame ‘em, they’re going to need some help to do any good.” he explains, laughing at his own taunts. Pink just finds it annoying. 

“I suppose so.” He’s not really surprised. Kreek’s probably going to try to get all the help he can get to try to beat Tanqr. 

“Those two - and, Bella, I guess - are very much a threat. To both of us.”

“Don’t…imply Bella’s not that good. She is.” Pink interrupts, much to his own surprise. When since did I care about Bella that much? 

“Oh? Didn’t know you two were friendly.” Tanqr raises an eyebrow.

“...We’re not. I’m just saying, don’t…don’t put the others down.”

“Not trying to, just that she’s not who I’m worried might beat us. Kreek’s been gunning for my title, and I’ve seen Denis honing his parkour skills and he’s good at it - he knows that’s your strong point.”

“I think most people know that’s my strong point.” Pink responds. He didn’t mean it as an insult, but Tanqr takes it like one, and he purses his lips.

“Well- anyway-” Tanqr grits his teeth before he puts himself back on track. “Seeing that, I had a thought. Why don’t we get ahead of the game?”

“What do you mean?”

“Here’s my offer. An alliance, of sorts. We work together in the finals to crush the others. You’ll be the speed, I’ll be the manpower. Together we can make up the brains.”

PinkLeaf pauses in shock at the offer, waiting for Tanqr to start laughing and teasing him. It takes a second to realise Tanqr’s being totally serious.

“Are you…asking me to team up?”

“Yeah, obviously.” Tanqr snarks. “I’m going to admit something here, so don’t mock me over it, but you scare me, y’know? Not that much, of course, but…enough. You’re powerful. Where I fail in speed, you make up for it. If I’m not careful, you could beat me. And vice versa. So instead of that…” Tanqr holds his hand out. “Let’s work together. Just you and me against the world, what’dya say?”

Pink doesn’t know what to do. On the one hand, he doesn’t trust anyone easily, let alone Tanqr. He would not be surprised if Tanqr was just using him. But on the other hand, allying with Tanqr would give him a much needed edge, a little confidence boost if someone has his back during the finals. And then again, if Tanqr’s using him to win, surely he can do the same? 

Pink weighs his options. He either risks having Tanqr as a direct enemy, have Tanqr’s sheer strength and brutality poised against him, or he gets to use it to his advantage even if Tanqr turns on him. And if he does, at least he’ll expect it. 

Ah, what the hell. 

“Okay. Sure. I’ll do it.” Pink replies, finally settling on a decision.

“Sweet.” Tanqr smiles widely, in a way that Pink can’t tell if it’s sinister or not. “Uh, take the handshake, make it official.” 

Pink does as he’s told, shaking Tanqr’s hand as quickly as possible. Tanqr chuckles a bit at his reluctance before outlining his plan. 

“You’re free for the next few hours, right?”

“...Yeah.”

“Okay, cool. We can train together then. Stay here, I’ll join you in about fifteen minutes - I need to grab a bite to eat. Haven’t had breakfast yet.” Tanqr turns away from Pink, giving him a wave. “See ya.”

“Oh, uh, bye.” 

Tanqr pulls out his phone, types something in, and he’s gone.

Pink’s alone once again. The call of the wind blows in his ears and he shivers. He hops down from the tree and sits on a railing, contemplating. 

Did he make the right decision? 

[stergeon]

HOW TO PLAY

Last updated 5/3/2024

What is this?

This is a collaborative story about Hubert von Vestra from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The goal of the game is to help Hubert have a perfectly normal day without too much excitement or fanfare.

The story progresses based on the results of the poll at the end of each chapter. The gameplay is intended to emulate old text-based adventure games (and, yes, Homestuck).

Mostly, this is an excuse for me to draw silly stuff and make stupid websites.

---

What do I do?

Be Hubert.

Vote for the action you want Hubert to take.

????

Profit

---

OK but seriously how do you play this?

I'll draw a panel and write a post. The end of the post will contain a poll or other question to decide where the story goes next.

You can help direct the story by:

Voting in the poll

Providing a custom response in the post tags or replies

Asking for clarification or details via ask or by replying to the post, ex. in the replies on this post

In each post, words that appear in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS have definitions in Hubert's JOURNAL. The first time a defined word appears in a post, it will link to the part in the journal where the definition appears. Any subsequent time the word appears in the post, it will only be BOLDED AND CAPITALIZED.

The post may also contain links to minigames I've made (ex. the coffee game) or to other pages on my website that are related to the game (ex. Hubert's inventory, aka his pocket). I don't intend to link to any other websites, but if I do end up linking to another site in the post, I'll give a heads up.

Depending on the choices made in the story, Hubert's mental state may be affected. You will want to keep that in mind when voting. Remember: YOU are Hubert. And you want to have a perfectly normal day.

---

How does voting work?

Options for Hubert to take will be listed in a poll at the end of each post. The poll duration will be one day. When the time has elapsed, Hubert will take the highest-voted action. I'll write/draw how it plays out, then post a new poll to choose the next action.

Polls will have a minimum of four options representing potential actions for Hubert to take. Three or more will be preset options, and the last will be an "Other/Write-In" option for a custom response.

---

How does the Other/Write-In/Something Else option work?

If you vote for Other in the poll, please provide the action you want Hubert to take by leaving a reply on the post or in the tags.

---

If the Other/Write-In/Something Else option wins, how will a response be selected?

I don't know yet! We'll find out together. Either I'll take the most common response, I'll pick one at random, or I'll just choose the one I think is funniest.

---

How will the story play out?

I have an outline for the story. To the best of my ability, I'm going to try and keep it on track, but I'm leaving most of it to the winds of chance. If things start to really get off-track, I may eliminate the write-in option and just give three preset choices, but here's hoping it doesn't come to that.

---

When does the game update?

The game will update after the current poll has expired and whenever I get around to drawing and writing the response. I'm making an attempt to turn things around in 24-48 hours after the poll ends, but who knows how long I'll keep that up.

Note that many of the pages for game mechanics, such as the JOURNAL and Mind Wasteland, are updated almost as often as new posts are made, depending on how the story plays out. You might want to keep an eye on those.

---

Something is broken/not working on one of the webpages.

UH-OH! That's not good!

If you run into any problems with the site(s), please refresh the page and, if it's still not working, check back in 5-10 minutes. I'm coding this like a lazy person (read: rawdogging it without version control—yeehaw!) so it's entirely possible that if something is busted, it's because I'm actively tinkering with the site.

If it stays busted for more than 5-10 minutes, or if you run into responsiveness or accessibility issues, please shoot me a DM or an ask and I'll try to get it fixed shortly. Your help is appreciated!

---

I have a question about the current poll options/a game mechanic.

Send me your question via a reply on the post or an ask and I'll get you an answer :0)

---

STORY DETAILS

What knowledge do I need going into this game?

The game is set just over two years after the end of Fire Emblem: Three House’s Crimson Flower route. Consider that route utterly spoiled.

There may be references to events that have happened in my post-war fanfic series, In the Days After. However, you don't need to have read the series to know what's going on in the game. Hubert will also keep notes on anything that is relevant in his journal and you can reference the information there.

(FYI: the journal, minigames, and related tools are not hosted on tumblr and are instead on my own website for formatting/organization purposes. I'll give a heads up if linking to any pages not on this blog or my own website.)

---

Does this include DLC or FEW: Three Hopes content?

Sorry, I’m a fake fan. I haven’t played Three Hopes or the FE3H DLC and have a child’s knowledge of what happens in either of those games. I’m sticking with my area of expertise.

---

What ships appear in this game?

It's my story and I'm gonna make it gay. As of, uhhh, right now, these are the confirmed ships:

Hubert / Ferdinand

Edelgard / F!Byleth

Dorothea / Petra

---

RESOURCES

Links

Beginning of the story

All posts up to this point

Tools and mechanics

The tools listed below are updated almost every time a new post is made, depending on how the story progresses.

Hubert's Journal

To-Do List

Mind Wasteland

Pocket

Games

Games probably won't get updated again unless I get a sudden burst of inspiration or if there's a bug. If there's a bug, please let me know via ask or emailing me at stergeonGeneral@gmail.com.

Dress-up

Make a cup of coffee

[misc-obeyme]

And when Barbatos does get his full power back? I can only imagine he continues to be a butler (at least part-time!) bc he actually kinda enjoys it. Something about the idea of “Deities Serving Their People Helps Grow Their Power And Secure Their Immortality” is a cool idea to me.

Fixing up the town does raise the question, why don’t the royals just pay for it? But I think it’s simply the matter of “Dad doesn’t like my idea and won’t financially support me or my friends, so I’m on my own money-wise”? Which I’m sure Dia is okay with that because it just means it’s going to bring people together to work towards a common goal!

Levi confirmed hardest marriage candidate lol! I know in some farm sims there are second towns, or import shops. And you know how in stardew, part of the bedroom changes to accommodate for the spouse’s interests? Maybe a special marriage requirement for Levi is Internet Connection. Which in real life, it’s difficult to get any signal out in rural areas. If I were forced to live in a rural area, I’d probably marry the person with the strongest wifi too skdjfnjinvsd /hj

Maybe to accommodate for lack of gifts, you could also ask your chosen bachelor/ette to hang out, or you could go on certain quests for them? Many Farm Sims, in my experience, don’t explore other love languages beyond Gift Giving, and I don’t think I’ve seen a mechanic like “Quality Time” outside of cutscenes. They could be like multiple-choice events. It could help with characters like Levi and Satan, who you could take to the “local pub/community hall’s arcade corner” or “the huge library in the next town over”. As for quests, one example comes to mind like, Belphie wants sushi for dinner, but this farming town doesn’t have anything fancy like that, so you have to create three or five different sushi dishes, three of each, for the whole family. Everyone gets two hearts, but Belphie will get like five hearts or smth like that. OR! Not just building a library/museum for the town but also filling it up with books and mining artifacts, and it keeps building on Satan’s hearts! Or doing favours for the Little D’s so they can magically fix up the arcade corner of the pub/community hall. Just to toss out a few examples!

I like feathers! Or maybe the token can be something personalized that you can’t just buy or craft normally? Or MAYBE the marriage token could be like… A magic golden apple? In the OG game there’s a significance behind apples, especially between Diavolo and Lucifer (spoilers I won’t get into for everyone’s sakes)! A magic golden apple could be small enough to make into a necklace pendant, and will never rot (probably inedible anyway lol). It could be anything really.

Also I don’t see any issue with keeping the demon/angel elements. They could still be mixed into the game. I can see pacts turning into benefits, like a pact with Asmo can help you charm animals or collect hearts faster, or a pact with Mammon can bring more wealth for your crops! Maybe a full 10-heart friendship with Luke could give you the ability to heal your animals of illness! Though things like that could be less magical if most characters were human, which I also don’t see a problem with. Like maybe a Max Friendship with Satan could unlock a Barn Cat minigame where you can catch rodents and stave off the need to repair animal stables, or Max Friendship with Levi makes the fishing minigame ten-times easier, or unlocks a Charmed Golden Fishrod.

I have no experience in game development, but I would definitely make a fangame free for everyone to play if I could! I might just draw some concepts for funsies tho!

Okay, I love all of this!

Barbatos getting more powerful just by helping his people out? Yes forever.

And I think the family disapproval thing is a theme in some of the games, too. Like in Trio of Towns, the MC has to prove to their dad that they can even be a farmer to begin with and they have to do all these stupid checklists for him. So I could easily see it being like Dia's dad doesn't approve, so you're on your own, but together we can prove that it's doable!

Okay I love all the ideas you have about marriage candidates and gifts and such. Because I personally have never played a game where the only way to get them to love you was gift giving and festival participation. And the emphasis has always been most on gift giving. I love the idea of there being like specific quests or other such things that somehow incorporate the person's interests. Someone get Levi that internet connection!

Oh I like the apple! It really could be so many different things lol!

And yeah I was initially thinking the pacts in place of the marriage token, but I much prefer that like once you get to full hearts, you can make a pact with the demons. And then for all the characters, these different things give you different perks! I loooove that!

I also have zero game development experience, all of my knowledge comes only from playing games lol! I'd love to see any drawings you do, though!

[vees-genshin-blog]

Progress Check 4

As promised, I am here with progress check 4, and wow I have been doing pretty well 😊😊😊. Hopefully I can continue like this, though I'm a bit sad cause I've been neglecting my HSR account and Aventurine is coming and I need him and his lightcone 😭😭😭😭.

Character Builds

Here they are!!! As always, build from last week is on the left and current build is on the right. Surprisingly, a lot more changed than I thought. I think it's because I mention the change in my daily posts so it doesn't feel like it changed, but all the changes together add up in this post.

Weapon-wise, Polar Star is finally 90/90!!! That means everyone is all set weapon wise!! That's probably going to change once I get a Sapwood Blade for Bennett, but that's probably not going to be for a while 😅.

Talent-wise, Childe's skill and Bennett's burst were upgraded to 9!! I want to crown both, but I sadly don't have the mora for it right now 🥲. In the meantime, I'll get the things needed to crown Childe's burst.

Artifact-wise, Xiangling got a better pyro dmg goblet and an Emblem crit rate circlet so she has a full 4pc Emblem set!!! Her pieces could be better, and I'll probably continue farming it but it's not a priority right now.

Instead, I'm focusing on Bennett and hopefully getting a better feather or goblet. Ideally, I'd like a feather so I can give his current one to Lumine because she needs that crit damage. Or, I could get some good Bloodstained Chivalry pieces while getting Noblesse. Either works 😊.

For Childe..... You can already see the mistake I mentioned in Day 21 😭😭😭. He got a 2pc atk at the price of losing his hydro dmg goblet because I'm dumb. I'll try to get him a hydro dmg goblet after losing his 😔😔. I'll also continue to strongbox Nymph since I would like to switch to a 2pc Nymph instead of HOD.

Kazuha got a better ER sands than EM sands, so I switched to Iron Sting instead of the Fav sword. Xiangling and Bennett currently have no problems with their bursts, so I figured it would be okay. I also got him an onset EM circlet, so I just need an EM goblet and I'll be happy 😭.

Game Content

I had a lot of fun with the Nahida Birthday event!! The main quests were fun to follow along, and I especially liked the part where Nahida accidentally comes to their meeting and Kaveh and Faruzan are trying to come up with excuses 😭😂😭😂😭😂.

The minigames were nice, and the carriage one was almost like a rhythm game so it was my favorite 😊. For the battle minigame, I was able to get enough points for just the primo rewards!!

For the "Feast of Pursuit" event, I have only been able to the next difficulty after the easiest one, which I'm also not surprised about. I still can't believe that the highest difficulty of the first level has THREE Maguu Kenki 😲.

I did 2 small quests in Liyue in hopes of doing some exploration to get Mora because I am close to broke 👍.

Conclusion

I need to slow down on upgrading artifacts and building characters because I need to build up my mora supply. I also need to visit my teapot and increase the trust rank because I could really use the extra rewards.

I'm also hoping to slowly collect geoculi to increase stamina, and finish that one quest where you activate 9 pillars.

Anyways, that's everything from this week, and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

[miloscat]

[Review] Wario Land 4 (GBA)

A disappointing misstep... am I the only one who thinks this??

Despite coming so soon after Wario Land 3 (the fourth Wario Land game), Wario Land 4 (the fifth Wario Land game) makes a lot of changes. It tries to synthesise new ideas with the old and ends up feeling like a bit of a mess. It has a good reputation but honestly I don’t get it!

The first thing you notice is the visual refresh. We’re on the cusp of Warioware completely revolutionising Wario’s characterisation and setting, and WL4 gets a bit of a ripple from that. Wario is flexing and posing, driving a muscle car… read the manual though and it leans harder than ever into his hilariously gross habits and self-aggrandising mannerisms. Unlike a lot of other things in the game, this combination works well.

In a premise most reminiscent of Virtual Boy Wario Land, Wario is on the hunt for treasure and goes to explore an ancient ruin only to stumble on a series of wacky out-of-place environments contained within and a big weirdo out of nowhere as would-be antagonist. The use of magic portals does a little something for plausibility, I guess. Did Wario really need a princess to rescue though? Was that necessary? Shokora at least has a presence in the story thanks to her transformation into a mysterious cat who pops up in cutscenes / Mr. Game & Watch-style silhouette person who acts as shopkeeper.

The levels feel initially like throwbacks to pre-3 style, with a critical path and side rooms, where it isn’t always clear which is which. But you do need to thoroughly explore because getting all four chests in each level is mandatory to unlock the zone bosses, plus there’s a key to find to advance to the next level. Having to redo entire levels if you miss any of these is a real drag. There's also optional mini-puzzle challenges sectioned off in their own rooms, removed from the flow and aesthetic of the rest of the level. But things change when you find the frog switch: a giant timer appears, and you have to backtrack to where you came in. Sometimes things change in the level, or you find a new path to return via, but often those progress items are hidden in this time-pressured sequence as well.

Far from being an exciting combination of ideas, I think these concepts of structure and design are at odds, pulling in different directions. Similarly, the non-damaging conditions from WL2 and 3 return here, but in a position of reduced prominence, and they've reinstated a health meter mechanic on top. (The GBA's shoulder buttons also prompted a return of the run button from VBWL, but it feels underused.) Removing the timer and health system was a breath of fresh air in WL2... now they're back, and for what!?

The boss battles are another miss for me. They're also timed, and you have to do them quick to get maximum treasure, which is otherwise kind of a non-factor. Collecting coins in levels lets you play one of three minigames (none of which are very fun) to earn tokens. You can spend these in a shop before the boss door, for a variety of effects that simply remove health from the boss. This Breath of the Wild-style "reward" of making the fights shorter by just subtracting from their health bar is such an odd choice to me. The fights themselves are fine at best, but the bosses are visually overdesigned in a purposeful, grotesque way; I suppose it's meant to be amusingly absurd but I just found them ugly eyesores.

Playing the Wario Land games one by one, I've enjoyed seeing them refine the concept and bring in fresh ideas. WL4 on the other hand feels like it's trying to force ideas in and fumbling in the process, with a result that doesn't quite come together. Even though the play control is tighter and snappier, the game is less than the sum of its parts, less pure than previous Wario Lands. The music is really strange too, trying for some kind of esoteric wackiness but maybe trying too hard... The series has never looked better, but this might be a sign that it's losing its direction. Meanwhile Nintendo R&D1 themselves are soon to be restructured, splintering into oversight roles and smaller teams, and I think the "Wario platformer" series suffers as a consequence, while Warioware's star rises. We'll see in the next few reviews I suppose...

[lovinggreeniehours]

bouquet, tarot, controller, shoes, and drink with Five AND Lucifer :D - @prismaticuniverses

gasp,,,, the two,,,,,,,,, okay hold on hgsfjgdgh 👁

💐 bouquet - what kind of flowers would be in a bouquet that represents your s/i and f/o?

arifive: collectively, ive always associated arifive with blue violets (faith) and forget-me-nots too, on occasion. if i had to add more, definitely hydrangeas (pride 😭), red dahlias (perseverance), and anemones (devotion). the bouquet would be mostly blue and purple with the splash of red from the dahlias 👍

arifer: they usually give each other bouquets of a very specific black-red rose grown in the devildom. not that i have a name for those. as for human world flowers, they both like osiria roses too 🤔 but yeah in general, their usual flowers are roses. it's more of an irony thing? i guess? it's pretty in character for them, i think, to just go ahead and decide the actual flower symbolisms mean fuck all HDSGJFSH so yeah. the irony of them gifting each other flowers meant for romance. there's an inside joke there, but no one will really get to see it huh,,,,,

🃏 tarot - what tarot cards would best represent your s/i and f/o?

arifive: im not very well-versed in this one, but based off the short descriptions im reading for this, i'd give ari the hanged man card instantly. five, i think, might be the tower. them together thematically might be the wheel of fortune, due to the stopping apocalypses plot

arifer: i think temperance for them both, death for takahara, the tower again for lucifer (they're. the same person though. to me)

🎮 controller - what type of video game would your f/o enjoy the most? (visual novels, FPS, RPGs, fighting, sandbox, survival, etc?)

first of all both of them mock video games because they're the fun police or something 🙄

second of all they're both LIARS-

um. five i think likes to keep his mind working so he'd go for puzzle games. if he ever had to. but he also considers himself too old for video games or whatever that means 😭 if the tua universe allowed them to have phones, he'd probably have a few random minigames on his phone, but he won't use them very often

lucifer gets addicted really quickly to those braindead games like candy crush or something. so. he doesn't download them hfsgjgsdhh he Can enjoy silly games, and is the bigger liar between him and five (see: that one anime episode where everyone was playing a game that made them make silly faces at the screen) of course, he'd never play these games where people could see him

🩰 shoes - if your s/i and f/o can/could dance, what styles would they use? (ballet, hip hop, ballroom, salsa, tap, etc?)

ill be so honest right now 95% of my s/is wouldn't know how to dance anything but ballroom dances. and all of them would detest regular dancing anyway 😭 so um. im a bit limited

but i think that's fine. five was taught ballroom dancing at an early age, and lucifer has the power of natural skill. but if he had to pick, i think he'd enjoy the simple slow dance anyway. aren't i lucky /hs

🧋drink - what would be your f/o’s drink order? (coffee, tea, boba, lemonade, energy drink, smoothie, soda, etc? get as specific as you’d like!)

im sorry we are all so basic HFSFJHSFH coffee forever and ever amen 🫶 but i think five is the only one that enjoys it like. boiling and black 🤡 or whatever. lucifer tends to drink it black just to keep him awake. if not, he's open to trying new things in different places until he finds something nice. i'd probably just order caramel macchiatos for the rest of my life 👍

[remimibanana]

3DS Retrospective Part 1: Memories of the Past

Since the 3DS eShop has now closed and the online is shutdown, I thought I would take the time to look back at some of the games I've played on the 3DS!

This handheld was a huge part of my childhood, and I still play on it to this day. It deserves a very long retrospective from me for being in my life. I would love to come back to this in the future and smile at all of the memories I once experienced.

I have to thank my dad for introducing me to Nintendo or I wouldn't be here right now blabbing about this. He truly was my number one supporter in my gaming journey back then. I’ve played a lot of games so this will be long aha (sorry....thank you for reading this all if you do!).

Part 1 is under the cut!

Animal Crossing New Leaf

One of my absolute favourites on the 3DS! Love the music and gameplay and practically everything about it.

I remember going with my dad to my local Target to buy ACNL around the time it came out. I had my red 3DS with me, ready to play it as soon as I got back into the car.

I was so excited, I remember rushing to the 3DS section and instantly taking the game off the shelf while my dad was chasing after me. We went back to the car after he paid for it. I couldn’t wait to open the game, and I think I remember my dad going “open it already”.

Which I did!

Unfortunately for me, there was no game cartridge inside there. The staff forgot to put it in after we paid for it, and we didn’t even notice.

I told my dad and he was saying we could come back tomorrow because we were already far from the Target.

I was so sad about it that my dad turned around and drove back anyway lol

Once we finally got the game cartridge, it was time to play!

In New Leaf, you get to name the town you’re moving into. I didn't know what I wanted to name my town so I asked my dad. He said Knin, a city in Croatia where he comes from. I put it as my town name while asking him how to spell it.

Unfortunately I lost pretty much all of my games a few years ago, including this one (they were all in this giant yellow case and I can't find it, weep). But I do have screenshots! They're super nostalgic.

I loved the Southern Islands the most, the minigames were a lot of fun and listening to the cap sing was so cool. I never skipped his songs, I never knew you could (unlike some people).

You could even play with people from around the world with Club Toritimer that cost like 50 medals to obtain. I remember working hard to gain so many of them—all so I could go to the International Islands!

And hoo boy, I have a story to tell regarding this.

I went to the island and there were these people who were talking about giving bells. I stared at them, not wanting to interfere with what was happening.

One of them dropped like 50,000 bells, and I remember staring at it in awe.

Guess what I did?

I ran to the bells and picked them up into my pockets like any sane person would. I ran away while the others chased after me, yelling at me to stop. I clicked on the button to get me out of the island and that was that—I was a thief!

I can't believe I would ever do such a thing, stealing bells like that! I don’t even remember why I did it! I was really something as a kid.

I even ran into one of them again after a few weeks on the International Islands and I was so scared they would yell at me. They didn’t seem to realise or they just didn’t care, but I ran off anyway.

Tomodachi Life

I love this game.

I remember making myself, my whole family and other random characters and friends on my island! I used to spend hours on there, utterly immersed.

My brother and I used to play together since we only had one copy and things always went awry because of it. Case in point, let me tell you some things that I remember occurring.

My cousin married my old childhood best friend, which was flipping funny to my brother and I from memory. I told my cousin and she looked at me as if I was crazy and you know what, deserved

I didn't want a boyfriend in game at all, and somehow I never managed to but my brother decided to go behind my back one time.

I came back to me having a boyfriend and the game already saved. Once you save, that's it. Unless you had an action replay or something, you were screwed and stuck with whatever happened.

For those who have never played Tomodachi Life, the Miis can have dreams while sleeping. Some were interactive, allowing you to do things in the dream—those were the best.

You would also get an item relating to the dream, so it was always worth checking them out. I think it was one of the main reasons why I played.

My favourite dreams were:

The Transform (Superhero) where the Mii character says "by the power of (insert item)" and they just transform and say some random advice. Every time I looked at one of my Miis dreams, I always hoped it would be this one.

The Hide and Seek one where there are two Miis and the seeker says "are you ready?!" and the hider goes "not yet." and it just repeats and repeats until you exit. My brother and I used love copying this dream a lot lol

The Giant, where a Mii is sitting at a cafe in front of a closed window and the window blinds open to show your face using the inner camera and the Mii freaks out intensely lol

Of course, we can't forget that you can make songs! I used to love this feature. I was a kid, so I just made my characters swear lmao or sing about weird things.

I unfortunately lost this game, so all I have left are screenshots and my own memories….

I currently play the Japanese version on my 2DS since the European version I had installed stopped working for some reason. It’s good practice!

Bring it to the Switch Nintendo! please I beg I'll do anything even sell my brother why not

Pokémon Alpha Sapphire

My favourite Pokémon game! I love everything about this game, hands down one of the best remakes ever made.

I remember getting this for Christmas back in 2014. I woke up at like 4:30am alongside my brother (for some reason) and we went downstairs and started opening presents.

At this point, I already knew what I was getting. It wasn’t much of a surprise but I was so excited none of the less!

My dad who was awake at the time said "what the hell go back to sleep", and that we did. We went back to our rooms with our presents.

Fun fact, my brother got this small car while I got a whole 3DS game LMAO

When I woke up again, I instantly turned on my 3DS and started playing. A few weeks before Christmas, I got the guidebook for ORAS (I still have it actually!) instead of clothes like my mum wanted me to lol

I used that guidebook throughout my playthrough, and I managed to beat the entire game in one day which is seriously impressive, I could never do that now

I loved soaring the most, it was such an fun feature! Soaring through the skies with Mega Latias and exploring Hoenn...I can hear the soaring music even now. Take me back...

Secret Bases were the bomb, I remember always looking for those little holes around Hoenn and seeing how much space there inside them was with Hidden Power. My Secret Base was at Route 119 right before you enter Fortree City, at this grass bush.

I remember that you could buy decorations at Mauville City, and you could even get special ones on a Saturday.

I transferred my level 100 Sylveon from X to this game for some reason, I think I wanted my beloved partner with me but it wouldn't listen to me for the entire game lmao

The only reason I beat Steven back then is because Sylveon finally managed to listen to me and land an attack on Mega Metagross, which obviously died immediately upon impact lol

Good times.

Pokémon X

I remember getting Pokémon X because my friends had Pokémon Y and I wanted to play with them and be cool but I didn't remember they had Y at the time so I chose X lol

My old childhood best friend gave me a shiny Haxorus at my cousin’s birthday party when I showed him how I had the game and was stuck in Reflection Cave.

I loved all the customization, the music and just the entirety of the game! Probably my second favourite overall!

My favourite town is Lumiose City, it was so fun to skate around and explore every nook and cranny. It’s literally amazing how well they were able to make it.

Especially the sketchy alleyways, I used to always go through them all and then get lost because I don't know where I landed lol

I know how people didn't like the postgame (or how little there was) but I really liked it! Working with Looker and meeting Emma and her little Espurr Mimi....good memories!

I remember when I found out about Sylveon, the new Eeveelution in Gen 6, I knew I had to have one. I remember searching up how to evolve Eevee into Sylveon on Google, and it said it needed high affection.

So the new Poke Amie came in handy. I love Poke Amie so much! My favourite minigame is Head It, I can't believe they removed them after Gen 6, they were so fun ;;

But I wasn't sure how much hearts I needed for my Eevee so every time it tried to evolve, I would spam B to cancel it, I was that afraid of not getting Sylveon lol

I did this until I had full affection and then I let my Eevee evolve and I was so happy to see a very cute Sylveon! I checked again after and you only needed three hearts at the end.

This Sylveon was the first Pokémon I ever got to level 100 and it had Dazzling Gleam, one of my absolute favourite Fairy moves. The same one I moved to Alpha Sapphire I just talked about lol

Sylveon has been in my team ever since (had one in Gen 7, 8 and 9) and I plan on keeping it that way! Pokemon Legends ZA was announced and you bet your butt I'm going to have a Sylveon in my team.

The ost is so nostalgic to me. Lumiose City always makes me stop and reminiscence...

Yo-kai Watch

I love this game so much!

Technically this was my brother's game back when, he was the one who wanted it initially but I used to play it all the time since it was there.

The music and story is really good, I'm sad it kind of flopped overseas because it's really popular in Japan. Another reason to go to Japan....one day

I really like Komasan, just a cute Yokai that says "oh my swirls!".

My brother was the real pro at this game, I remember he used to mock me because I couldn't beat a boss that looked like some crazy doctor. He nearly finished the entire Medallium and got all the legendary Yokai which is rather impressive I might add!

(Unfortunately that copy got lost so he uh…lost all that….aha)

My most favourite part of this game is Terror Time. It happens randomly at night where the clock stops and you get transported into Terror Time. It's like a nightmare where you have to escape at the exit without getting caught by any oni minions otherwise they call Gargaros, the main scary oni. He was real powerful and strong and kicked your butt when you get caught.

I would also put away the clock and just run around at night on my bicycle hoping Terror Time would come. If I stopped randomly and I can't move, that meant it was Terror Time. I live for that thrill.

My brother used to be so afraid of it while I begged for it to happen. Every time it did, he'd give me to play so I can get him out of it.

Please localize the Yokai Watch 1 Switch Port I beg Level 5. It wouldn't be that hard. Pleaseeeee

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

I know most people don't like this game but I really like it! It was my first introduction to the world of Paper Mario.

I played the entirety of it with my brother and it was a lot of fun. I was the main person who actually played, my brother was moral support as we tried our best to beat the game!

I loved collecting all the stickers and going through all the worlds to get the royal stickers. I remember the beginning where everything is destroyed, and you have to save all the toads from being stuck in various places.

There was this one toad where for the life of me, I could not find. I looked everywhere and it just did not exist. They hid them too well, I'm afraid.

Fun fact, at the end of the game when you have to use Kersti to beat Bowser, I cried. For like three days lol. I didn't want to use Kersti, she was with us for the whole journey and I grew attached to the floating sticker.

Like I was full on crying in bed when I remembered using her. My brother didn't even give a damn.

It was sort of sad, wasn’t it? I finally got over it and used the flying sticker to beat Bowser up with my brother by my side. When we beat him, we were so happy.

I miss those times when my brother and I played games together, we don't do that anymore...

Pokémon Dream Radar

I remember buying this game when my dad put $50 on my account and I didn’t know what to buy. My friend recommended it and so I got it!

It was a very simplistic game where you would use the 3DS camera to shoot at these little energy balls to collect points and catch Pokémon.

You could even transfer them to Black 2 and White 2 after, which I always did with my Black 2 copy.

You could get the Forces of Nature (Thundurus, Landorus and Torandus) from this game, I believe it was one of it's main reasons for existing (but don't quote me on that one). As you play through the game, you upgrade your equipment and get closer to meeting them and of course, catching them!

I think I managed to get only two of the three back then.

Professor Burnet is in this game actually! She's the professor we're working under. I remember being so shocked when I saw her in the Sun and Moon anime. I knew her back when she was researching dreams, hah!

And then you have to capture the Pokémon, which is a whole another story. You had to move around a lot and shoot a continuous beam of light until you fill the meter before the time limit. it was honestly tougher than expected, the dang Pokémon keep moving!

Colors 3D

This was a game I got because my friend told me to get it, like above.

It's a drawing application where as the name suggests, you draw. There is a whole palette with every colour, a few brushes and tools you can use at your disposal.

There is only 5 layers, which isn't that great in all honesty. I wish it had more, it would make drawing much easier.

But I still use it from time to time! I like drawing on there when I’m bored and don’t want to drag everything out. Doodling has never been easier.

My favourite part was the Colors 3D Gallery, where you could view art uploaded by other people. It was very simple, but I used to go on there all the time! Loading into the gallery is pretty nostalgic to me.

Everyone is so talented on there! I don’t get how people can draw such intricate things on a 3DS. I suppose it really proves that it’s not the brush that makes the artist.

You could also add someone else’s art to your own gallery to view and draw on. I remember saving Tokyo Mew Mew art and whatever I liked at the time to my gallery.

I’ll miss going on it (´ｰ｀)

Mario and Sonic at the 2012 Olympic Games

I love this game. It’s my second favourite game in the whole series.

I think my brother got this game for himself, but I used to play it all the time because it was a lot of fun! Anyone could argue that the Wii version is better overall, but I think the 3DS version holds up well!

There were many events to choose from, such as water sports and equestrian! My favourite events were the Rhythmic Ribbon and Beach Volleyball! I was an absolute beast at Beach Volleyball, the one event I could beat at any difficulty without breaking a sweat.

Although you couldn’t choose any character for any event, as you can in the Wii version. Each event has a specific set of characters you can choose from, such as the girls or the heroes. Only four in each group and that's all you got.

I remember being disappointed a bit, since I was used to how the Wii version was.

Back then, I managed to get a gold medal for every event in the easy, normal and hard difficulties! I was as they would say, a pro at the game.

I think the story mode for this game is pretty decent, I remember beating the entirety of it. The end with Bowser and Eggman all powered up with the fog was actually pretty tough, the game let me pass because I kept failing the events over and over out of pity.

The records menu is the most nostalgic to me, the bgm makes me stop and feel things. I feel that a lot with those settings menus, their bgms are always so nostalgic.

I often come back to it from time to time but my skills have dwindled unfortunately…(blames my current 2DS for sucking and not me sucking lol)

Mario Kart 7

I know most people prefer any of the other Mario Karts, but I think this one has to be my favourite one!

I had a white 3DS XL that came with Mario Kart 7 pre-installed, but I also had the physical copy that my brother played with that I got from my birthday.

Emphasis on had. I have a story to tell here, one I’m not that proud of.

Unfortunately as a kid, I was way too naive. My old friend at the time wanted my physical copy in exchange for an eShop gift card.

Of course, that sounds stupid and I wouldn’t even dare consider it now. It was my copy!

I don’t know why, but I did. I think my reasoning was that I already had it on my 3DS at the time, and he was my good friend.

I think it’s one of the things I regret to this day, because I got legit scammed! The eShop card was used and it was only like $25?! My friend got a whole game and I got legit nothing!

To make matters worse, I didn’t even have internet at the time!

My mum got mad at me, and for good reason. I didn’t think I did anything bad, which probably made things worse. My brother was upset because he couldn’t play Mario Kart anymore.

Needless to say, I shouldn’t have done that. I remember regretting it after a while.

We got another physical copy at the end since my brother wouldn’t stop crying about it, but I learnt the hard way not to be so naive.

But anyway, back to the point.

I am an absolute beast at this game. I always beat my family when playing it. I love all the tracks, and pretty much everything about the game!

Rainbow Road is probably my favourite track, the 3DS version is so good! It is so big and immersive!

Sonic Generations

I remember getting this because I loved Sonic. I vividly remember playing it and showing my dad how fun it was.

It was one of the ways I could play Sonic, and it was also one of the reasons why I got a Sonic the Hedgehog emulator on my old laptop thanks to my dad.

I know this the console versions are better but I've never played the console version before. I think this version is not that bad as people claim it to be.

It holds up. The online on the other hand doesn’t, I’ll admit lol

I think I prefer the final boss here, I remember it gave me so much trouble as a kid (and even now when I replayed it some time ago aha).

The levels here are so good. Sonic legit has to outrun a killer whale, what more do you want? I used to replay them all the time!

Fast forward to now, and I just learned that one of the stages is from Sonic Rush that has the banger music. I didn’t know as a kid that Generations featured other game’s levels.

Pokémon Moon

I love Alola so much.

This game I got relatively late actually, during 2019! Why didn't I get Ultra Moon when it was right there?

I wanted to play the original before jumping into the sequel. I think I'm glad I did that, because I like Moon over Ultra Moon lol

This game is special, because it was the first game I ever completed the Pokédex on! My high school friend was the one who encouraged me to do it, and that I did!

I remember recording a video of when I did, seeing that 100% and getting that shiny charm felt so cool. This is one of the games that I still have to this day, luckily.

I always like to come back from time to time and see all my Pokemon, look at my beautiful party.

This game is also where I got my first shiny! I did the Masuda Method with the shiny charm and I managed to get Shiny Buneary in 64 eggs! I remember freaking the heck out!

I then tried to do the same for a Shiny Ralts, as I love how Shiny Mega Gardenvior looks like. That was an absolute failure and I was left with like 6 boxes of Ralts lmao

So I traded them all away using Wonder Trade! I wonder if anyone reading this got one, ehe.

New Super Mario Bros. 2

This was the version I played the most out of them all. I really like this one for how fun it is and the whole coin idea!

My brother and I used to play this one together, alternating levels and having our own saves. Honestly, one of the reasons I was able to beat Bowser at the end is because of this:

The Gold Super Leaf, making you practically invincible. Mario would turn into a white raccoon and no enemies could kill you. You still can die to lava or if you fall, but otherwise...

Cheating but not really cheating. Perfect if you suck at the game.

This would appear if you kept failing a level over and over, and I used to use it without a second thought. I would like to try to beat the game again without the use of this one day!

Super Pokemon Rumble

I loved this game so much as a kid. It was probably one of the first spinoffs for Pokemon I played!

I remember getting to the very end of the game, but never beating the final level???? I think I didn't have strong enough Pokémon for it, or I just didn't get around to it. If I ever do find my old copy, I'd like to finish the game.

The music is really good, I really like Toy Town and Axle Town! They're really nostalgic to me, I remember running around in them and healing up my Pokémon at the Dewdrop Fountain that was in the middle of each town.

The Toy Shop was objectively the best part of it all. It was where people from Streetpass would come to your shop and buy some toys. If enough people bought toys, then something special would happen in game. I believe it was that special Pokémon would appear and could be collected.

We need a remake of this Game Freak, i beg you

Pokémon Rumble World

This is more of a recent game I played, but I absolutely enjoyed it.

You go on these air balloons to various places to collect all the Pokémon! I remember downloading it because i enjoyed the original and this one had even more Pokémon to befriend!

This one unfortunately uses gems as a currency for in game purchases. It’s not needed to play the game, but certain things are locked behind them that help you catch Pokémon.

For example, there’s a stop mechanic that costs two gems to use. It's real useful.

This allows you to stop at the place you want—otherwise it’s random chance. At first, it was hard getting to the right place. You had to pray that it would miraculously land there.

And there was no way in hell I was going to pay for gems just for this one game I played from time to time. The eshop was going to close anyway, so there was no point.

I have a modded 2DS and I found a cheat that gave me max diamonds…you can guess what I did. For legal reasons, this is a joke and I would never do such a thing no wayyyyyyy....

With that, I was able to catch every single Pokemon available in game! It’s my greatest achievement probably, and one that I will flex on you all right now:

You can't get any more than 719 Pokémon. Try to beat that LOL

Probably my greatest achievement ever.

Nintendogs + Cats

I loved the original Nintendogs, so I had to get the sequel as a kid as soon as I found out it existed. I still prefer the original, but this one is still pretty fun.

I had a very cute dog that I took perfect care of. The walks were the highlight of the game, in my opinion. It was sort of an upgrade from the original, although the original always clears.

I have a story with this game as well, also concerning my old childhood best friend. I know, you're wondering how did so many things happen to me lol

Back then, I used to bring my 3DS to my cousin's birthday parties so I could play with said friend. We would sit on the couch right next to each other and get lost in our own world.

One time, it seemed that I dropped my copy of this game during one of these parties and my friend picked it up. He told me that he had it and that he’ll give it back to me at primary school.

That never happened and its been years since then. WHERE IS MY GAME DUDE?! I WANT IT BACK

So I got scammed and my game stolen by the same friend...maybe if we ever meet again, I'll demand for it back. Get some retribution for all the sins they've committed against me.

I hold grudges man and I HOLD THEM HARD

Animal Crossing Happy Home Academy

I actually got the set that came with the Amiibo reader since I didn’t have one. I still have it somewhere, but I don’t think I ever used it.

This was dubbed my brother’s game, and so he got to play it first.

I remember being upset because my brother chose the boy avatar, because I didn't want to be a boy when I would play.

I was smart and simply dressed up his character as a girl.

I put on a wig and a skirt, and boom! Girl character! It was the easiest way instead of nuking the whole save file. When my brother would play, he would make his character look like a boy again.

This game is pretty simple, but it’s a lot of fun! It’s no wonder they did it again for ACNH with the Happy Home Paradise DLC. I still think I prefer this one over the DLC.

Decorating houses for the villagers, especially the ones you like the most is the best part. I remember spending so long trying to get everything looking perfect and beautiful.

I managed to finish all the buildings you could make in the game, I was so happy to see Digby and Isabelle here!

Super Smash Bros For Nintendo 3DS

My brother got this game as well, but of course I played it way more than he ever did.

It was my first introduction to the series! I absolutely loved it, fighting as characters I love! I am a huge fan of fighting games in general, so this was right up my alley.

My mains were Rosalina and Luma, Zero Suit Samus, Zelda and Peach from memory, I became really proficient at using them all. My favourite stage was the Tomodachi Life one, since the Mii's you had in your Mii Maker would appear inside the apartments.

The 3DS version had Smash Run, one of the best modes ever if I do say so myself. You had to collect items to improve your stats so you can beat the final boss at the end! It was timed and honestly harder than you would expect.

It was a multiplayer mode but I used to always play by myself since I had no friends to play with aha

I remember always getting the same kind of stats and wondering how all the COMs were able to get such amazing ones—cheating I say!

Skylanders Giants

I remember vividly buying the game at Target. It came in a large box since it had the portal and three figures, as you can see above!!

I wish I could play this again, you need to have the portal and figures, and the portal I had is gone ;;

I remember being really invested in this game, playing through it and admiring how cool it looked! The story was pretty captivating.

My favourite Skylander is Chill, always loved her design! I actually broke the figure by accident, the ice spear she held fell out of her hand aha

I have a story to tell that is somewhat related to this game.

One time, I lied to a friend of mine that there was going to be a new Skylanders game after Swap Force that allowed you to use the figures on any game, particularly on Spyro’s Adventure.

My friend was stuck on the final boss in Spyro’s Adventure and I was a terrible person to make up such a story. I don’t even know why I did that, I think I got too excited making it up….

The worse thing was that they believed me completely and even told someone else about it because I told them to….

I’m sorry…..

Cars 2

You’re probably wondering, why did I play this? Well, my brother got it since he was a huge fan of the Cars franchise, but he barely played it.

And guess who did? ME BECAUSE HEY A GAME AND I LOVED CARS 2 AS A KID

It was pretty fun! There are many modes in this game, but I mostly played the Mission Mode as you could choose from any level you wanted (of course, warranting you played it in the main story).

Holly was the person who greeted you in this mode, and she was my favourite car back then. I always tried to play as her if I could since she was the only girl car playable in the game.

My favourite levels was the ones at the party in Japan, where you first play as Finn McMissle and sneak through the party without being caught by cameras or by Lemons. It was such a thrill, I became a pro at it!

Then you would play as Mater, rushing to the fountain before he overheated after trying Wasabi for the first time. That one was way harder than it seemed, the meter went down way too quickly so if you weren't fast enough, you fail.

They were the best levels, alongside the ones at the Oil Rig. Anything with Finn McMissle was a banger. He is a super cool spy car after all!

New Style Boutique Fashion Concert Demo

I never had internet when I was a kid or much money to buy many games, so I used to download demos. You never say no to free things.

One in particular is this one here!

There were two demos you could download for the game, the Fashion Contest and the Shopping Experience but I always preferred the thrill of being in a contest over simply dressing up your character.

I would like to introduce you to this one guy named MC Mode who is the contest official you see every time you play!

I loved this guy as a kid, not because of how he looked or anything. I liked this one specific dialogue he would say.

GO BE FREE MY BEAUTIES

It's not even that funny but it always amused me for some reason. I would even voice the line with a low voice. Every time I loaded up the demo, I always hoped I would get this.

You could tell by the opening lines of his speech, if he doesn't ask for the audience to turn it up a notch, then it would be the other dialogue that was in my opinion, boring as hell.

I have specific outfits I use for every single theme that always gets me to 1st place in most cases. That’s how much I used to play it.

I remember playing this demo with my cousin quite a bit because she liked dressing up games and this was the closest I had that looked appealing to her.

We used to get mad at the demo when it gave us the same theme over and over. The themes are randomised every time the demo starts, and can’t be influenced too much.

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance Demo

Probably my favourite demo of all time. I remember downloading this when I scrolled through all the available demos to download.

It was my first introduction to the Kingdom Hearts series, although I didn’t get into it until way later in 2019.

I loved flying around as Sora! The controls are a lot of fun, and you get to explore most of Transverse Town and beat the boss there! It was a giant monkey that was kind of a pain to beat.

I remember I used to always procrastinate actually beating the demo in favour for exploring. The controls were so interesting and I really liked how Sora could summon his little Dream Eater friends to help him out while battling.

With that, Part 1 is complete! I've played more games than this, but these are the main ones that I've made fond and not so fond memories with that I wanted to share!

I hope it was an interesting read! This took me forever to write. I feel like you can learn a lot about me.

Part 2 and Part 3 will go through more of the inbuilt software! I hope to see you over there too!

[leonameowzz]

We Could Finally Be Seeing Farena in-game + Some thoughts/speculations on the upcoming event

I mean, this one’s really obvious ngl. Seeing as how we’ve already been introduced to Cheka before, the only other “important” character relating to Leona is his older brother, Farena. Also seeing the pattern from other similar events, we’ve only been introduced to one new character that’s blood related to whoever the SSR is (e.g. Epel’s grandma/ Jamil’s sister). 

I would love to see the Twst counterparts to Sarabi/Rafiki/Zazu, but I don’t think they’ll introduce too many new characters, even if they do appear in the event, it’ll probably just be voicelines/silhouette. Again, if Aniplex does decide to switch things up, I’ll be all for it too!

I’m mostly also very excited to see how Leona interacts with Farena, or rather how Farena is gonna baby his younger brother with Cheka hyping him up too. Also maybe get a brotherly bonding moment during the event where Farena apologizes for not always being there, just to give Leona some closure or something. 

AND maybe an event where Leona finally gets recognized for something? Cause he’s not gonna be alone this time, his schoolmates are also going to be there, plus looking at the other characters involved (Vil, Lilia, Kalim), they definitely seem like the type that would encourage Leona and/or not be daunted by the criticism they get. They may not always see eye-to-eye (mostly referring to Vil here) but I can definitely see them all working together especially with their pride on the line.

Most importantly, here’s my BIGGEST COPIUM MOMENT where I’m hoping we get even just a snippet of Leona singing, because we were robbed of that during the Halloween event (thanks Floyd >.> Although tbf none of the twst events are voiced so we wouldn’t have heard Leona even if he did sing). Considering how the other 2 events had rhythmic minigames, I won’t be surprised if they had one here too (plus with the speculation of it being a musical/performance). 

Honestly if Leona does get to sing like how Malleus did, I’ll be seeing you guys in the afterlife cuz the way my soul would just ascend immediately-

[kichimiangra]

We've seen that Spike can arbitrate between the Piposaru and Specter to address their dissatisfaction issues; would the other protagonists and Morgan help improve the quality of life on Saru Station if they came on board, and would Specter pretend that was his plan and not scooping all the meaningful humans in his life into one big pile to bury himself within?

All of the other protagonists have proven that they are all compassionate people towards the plight of others. In fact if not for the mischief the piposaru get into so frequently the protags would probably be more open to the idea of hearing them out. (AU where instead of trying to change times they just escape the park and any human that comes across them gets a sob story about their sentience and shit.) I think even if they were getting up to mischief Jimmy would be willing to help improve their quality of life because he is a sweet pea. Kei and Yumi are compassionate to others but mouthy enough to call out what the issues are. Natalie can be easily reasoned with with the right logic and isn't favorable to cruelty to animals or unneeded discomfort (At the end of AE3 She can be seen with Specter picking fruit so clearly she at least doesn't hold a grudge with him unless they're bickering like siblings like in Piposaru 2001). Jake might be the only hold out, but is also a kind person, can understand the apes on a more literal level so there's no guess work, and in reality when under SPecter's control he had basically been doing the same organizational work as the whole of the Ukki 5 because unsurprisingly he could be an efficient business manager if he wanted to be... If he could just get over his thing with the apes. (I had imagined a scenario where both Spike, Specter, the ukki 5, and a large number of piposaru get sick and are down for the count and team protag, including Jake, are basically begged by Spike to come up and help them just keep things afloat until whatever flu is sweeping through the station subsides, and Jake has to put aside his issues for a few days because as much as the rest of team protag are willing to help they are an unorganized mess)

Trainer Morgan would of course be willing to help... infact Morgan could get away with more than Spike can even after being in a realtionship with Specter because Specter at least respects his human daddy and doesn't want to disappoint him so would take his advice to heart, while Morgan is trained to work with primates and even without Ukki in his dictionary he'd quickly start discerning things like unhappy work conditions, apes being placed in ill fitting positions, etc.

Spike and Specter collection 2

The only game the Specter coins show up in is AE1 so I can't help but thinks Specter was starting up his own currency to get a head start on capitalism. I can't think of a good in-universe reason to collect them though, cuz all they're good for in the game are unlocking some minigames on the time station, so I've only used them in reference as a mocking thing like "Good job here's a few nickles I had in my pocket".

Specter being Jealous of himself is a plot point lol.

Spike loves them until he doesn't.

The Piposaru end up all agreeing that they like Specter better with Spike around than without, when Specter and Spike get into a fight or argument they pool together to try and manipulate the two into making amends or being amicable with each other to various degrees of shenanigans.

They had a lovely evening in spite of the raw confusion for what the Piposaru are doing.

Circus!Specter lives kinda somewhere in the middle there. Unlike Pipotchi he doesn't have enough brain cells to really "Act" much, he's just kinda like this. That said, much like a dog or a small child he is aware enough that looking sad and pathetic can sometimes get him off the hook so if it was Circus!Specter around his usual enemies and they are seemingly mad at him he might play up that aspect of himself. There is enough overlap between the two that in a boss battle situation where somewhere mid game Specter lost his helmet Circus!Specter would still meet the protags in combat, but it would be a lot of attention seeking, random button pushing, and less PK. He'd still be like "I'm gonna win!" but instead of "Hehe Pathetic humans I shall defeat you and prove ape superiority" It's more like "I AM GOING TO WIN AND GET MORE ATTENTION HUHUHUHU!!!!" and the best things the protqags can really do is ignore him.

He does have his moments of cleverness, as back in the Park he was hard to keep locked up and was a little escape artist (Thus how he got a hold of the helmet so easily) showing he can be devious enough to see a button combo on a key pad and commit it to memory to unlock doors.

Most of the best drama with Specter comes from a Specter vs Relationship scenario, whether it's romantic, familial, companionship, leadership, etc. and how he handles that with his overblown ego and knowing full well that from the perspective of the 'other' in the relationship he is prone to dun doing a bad. Trainer Morgan tries to reason with the idea of why Specter would leave. The first time is one thing, but any time after that and now there's a pattern. He would be one of the first people to humanize and personify Specter because "There must be a reason he's like this...?" And because Morgan is so detached from the majority of Specter's origin he really only has the perspective of "He is leaving everytime he gets a helmet because he's not happy here." but as the almost sole caretaker to Specter of course he would reach the conclusion of "clearly I must be doing something wrong, making him unhappy, or am not meeting some specific need he has?" Meanwhile Specter is stuck in a loop of "Humans hate me for trying to usurp the world and I don't really care if they do, (Apes4Evar!) but I do care what specifically THAT human thinks of me because he's special and he is obviously going to be mad and ashamed of me because he is a human and JEEBUS I AM NOT EMOTIONALLY EQUIPPED TO BE ABLE TO FEEL GUILT OR SHAME HOW DO I FUCKING DO THIS?!..."

All involved with the Peak Point Project/Project Specter are kinda at a "Dissapointed/cutting their losses but happy to get SOMETHING out of it" zone. Specter did not fulfill any of the goals of the projects aside from the parks goal of "A pretty cool Monkey" which is contradicted every time he gets a helmet because he's ALMOST not worth the costs of doing business. The investors that acquired PipoSnake are happy with him as an individual soldier but the lack of consistent successful replication (like with Specter) makes the project a complete bust. (And despite seemingly having his shit together in reality Pipo Snake is one identity crisis away from a full fledged breakdown). Pipotchi doesn't have anxiety and was a shot in the dark success for the project, but he almost suffers from "Too much Humanity, not enough specialized help, not a human in a human society, etc." that leaves you wondering how responsible the project even is. So everyone is satisfied in that they got a consolation prize but the laundry list of each of these three apes issues really rubs the shine off. Like "Here's a free goldfish! Also, i has the Ick"

.

[badassbarmaid]

My initial thoughts on Rebirth.

Disclaimer: I shouldn't have to do this but I know how toxic the fandom has become in some ways, so know this is my opinion only, you don't have to agree or disagree, and I'm not here to say anyone who feels differently is less than. I'm just sharing my own thoughts as I process what I experienced playing through the game the first time.

I'm going to first go over what I loved about this game.

The world building. I was blown away with how large and complex each village/town/city was. Kalm, Corel, Costa Del Sol, Under Junon, Nibelheim...these were tiny little areas in the OG. I was in awe as we entered the spaces, got introduced to so many new characters and side stories, it was wonderful. This approach made me fall in love with Cosmo Canyon especially. This historical and regional intel quests have been amazing, too, in that it gives so much more inside into this universe. I'm still working through the side content to expand on this, but so far, I have been really enjoying the storytelling. Also - chocobo riding is SO FUN.

The characterizations. Just like in Remake, we get personalities for all the characters, main and NPC. Even for the glimpses we get of Cid and Vincent, I love how they are portrayed and make you already drawn into who they are and how they could fit into the story in part 3. This game made me really enjoy Yuffie and Cait Sith especially - characters I mostly ignored in the OG because I didn't like their personalities or gameplay mechanics. The smaller characters, from townsfolk in Nibelheim, other rebels in Junon, the GI tribe, or even the Black Robes...it's all so interesting and complex. I loved it. Getting the chance to see Myrna, Ifalna, Zangan, and even Tifa's father...peak narrative writing right there.

The relationship building among the main cast. I also loved how deep the primary relationships got among the characters. We see bestie scenes with Tifa and Aerith, bonding between Barret and Cloud, Nanaki and Aerith...it's all so real and deep and funny. The banter is hilarious, especially where Yuffie is involved or Cait Sith, but not obnoxious.

The additions to the battle system. I really like the synergy combinations. I thought that was a fun new mechanic and really makes you want to flesh out your parties. I also really like that they make you split off into different party combos throughout the story, which forces you to play with everyone but not so much that it hinders anything. Now as I am in post game, I'm really having fun swapping people in and out, unlike during the OG when I kept it to really only a core party.

The easter eggs to the OG. I loved the Fort Condor minigame/3D brawler nod to the polygon vibes. The hints to different areas of the OG game we haven't seen yet, the music choices, the direct lines. It's so evident that the developers wanted it feeling like we were going into our old stomping grounds, but with some new tweaks and twists, much like Remake. I'm going to enjoy seeing more as I do more of the sidequests.

The balance of the "romance". Of course we all know I am a cloti fan, but i think they did a good job balancing it all out throughout the game/ The first half is very Tifa heavy, the second half is more Aerith heavy, but it shows the complexities of these relationships and that they aren't cut and dry. Now, I will say though that it does seems to be tipped more in Tifa's favor, but I personally find that making more sense overall, but that's me. Independent of my own preferences, I think they did a good job not shoving one over the other in the main story.

I LOVED being able to play as Zack and have him and Cloud fight together, as brief as it was, because it was just so nice to see.

Okay, now onto the things I have concerns/qualms/issues with.

The pacing was rough at times. We would go through stretches of heavy, dense plot, to random long bouts of minigames. It was jarring at points in the story and seemed out of place besides Gold Saucer (Costa Del Sol, the moogle houses, the Queen's Blood game, etc. seemed odd). While I love minigames, it felt bloated. Clearly they needed filler in the game to make up for not doing the whole story plot.

It pulled a FF15 with plugging in characters and plot that required you to know the side stories like homework before playing. While I played Intergrade, I never played Ever Crisis/First Soldier so despite doing my research, I'm still confused over Glenn and that whole side plot. I felt for people who didn't play those games too, or if someone hadn't experienced Yuffie's DLC.

The ending was convoluted and confusing. It's evident that this game knew it was a middle child, so I knew there would be no resolution, but I am so confused by their narrative choices. The fusion of worlds? Aerith may be dead or may not be dead? Zack is still bouncing between realities? While I didn't know if I wanted Aerith killed off or saved, the fact that we don't have a committed decision on it and it's now vague...I don't like that.

The lack of reaction by characters to bizarre behavior. I know I wasn't the only one confused by the fact that Cloud would very obviously act out of character and folks seemed ignorant of it, beyond a few comments. He slaughtered people, spoke unlike himself, and nearly killed Tifa and Aerith, yet no one really bat an eye to it. On top of that, when Sephiroth did appear to more than just Cloud, folks didn't seem to react much at all to it. There were times in the last few chapters of the game that my partner (who watched me play) was very much like what the fuck?! It's one thing to have but muted in the OG because they had limitations...but this was just strange.

The buggy mechanics suck. I wish I could stick to chocobos; I hate navigating the buggy; the controls are just god awful for me. The load in and out time is long, it's hard to make turns or even stop, and I can never tell what terrain i can actually go on or not.

The puzzle mechanics also suck. I hated the sequence as Cait Sith in the ShinRa manor and the Temple of the Ancients. I felt like they were tedious or confusing and also bloated the story out too much.

Ultimately, I loved the game. I like the story choices, the music, the visuals, the exploration....as someone that has loved this story since I was 10 when it came out, I am very happy with it overall and will be replaying it a few times to catch everything I missed.

My partner said it best when he alluded that this has Nomura all over it. I hope the third game answers these questions and gives us a proper and committed resolution, whatever it may look like.

[inkofamethyst]

March 8, 2023

No one would ever get this out of me irl but I very occasionally, at the peripheries of my thoughts wonder what might have been if I had agreed to go out with that guy from biochem. (Can you tell that Hadestown has had an effect? This is dizzying. Next thing you know I'm going to be begging to have a crush (but also I'm very picky about my crushes bc they can't be undergrads (lol tbf I'm only barely not an undergrad myself), they can't be in my department, and they have to be someone I see somewhat regularly (no passerby crushes)).) Because part of the reason I said no was fear and part of it was that I was in excruciating pain when we had that study date (mostly the fear though), and then there was also the whole being devastated about not getting to show off that solo that I worked really hard on. Bad vibes all around. But he wasn't a bad guy. I was just scared.

Even still, I can't seem to remember his name.

[edit, next day: I wrote the above last night and you would not believe the butterflies I got today when all I did was make eye contact with some (very attractive) dude before a class. Ridiculous. (I have the need to catch his eye again.) This is gonna be like bike-boy from junior year lol. Or the caving dude, also from junior year (literally who did I think I was, trying to go caving just to get close to a man??? Lowkey still wish I'd been able to get in on that trip, but alas).]

God, I really cannot dance. Was recently informed that alum from my undergrad uni would be restricted in their GDrive space so I went in and culled (will ultimately have to remove half of what I have stored) a bit. In early pandemic days there was some Broadway challenge (it was basically a big ad but it was fun and free (and very successful, incredibly marketed), so) where each week you'd have to take time to learn a song or dance or something and post it and I saved my dance video to my uni GDrive and it's AWFUL. Like the steps are all there, I can remember them (because I drilled it hard) but I'm so clunky lookin--it's dreadful. IT'S SO BADDD. (keep in mind it was newsies though so like it is bad but the choreo isn't helping either) But. If nothing else, I keep that smile on lock(down). I haven't watched any of the theatre tapes from high school but that doesn't make me excited to see them, beyond hating the recorded sound of me singing, bleh.

Found out what next year's stipend numbers are going to be and there's still literally no way I'd be able to make it work with my current savings rates (25% (also I'll be increasing my estimated taxes to 30% from 25%)) without help. It feels kind of weird to say this because I truly miss my grandmother so much like it's not even funny, but she's helping me so much right now.

Want to make a text-based, randomized, hunger-games-style battle royale game in python for my friends to play. In a different life, I think I could've been a game dev. Literally. Writing, music, computer science (I don't really do visual arts though). To be fair, like, there's nothing stopping me from trying. On the side, just for fun, coming up with minigames. I think I'd need to become like Brandon Sanderson though, where I relax by doing something (actually, now that I think about it, I'm not that far off, it's just that I don't have a ton of access to my favorite hobbies rn (music, sewing, etc)).

Today I'm thankful for how beautiful biology can be sometimes. I love how we find reflections of the same ideas at all levels!!! Recently I was thinking about multicellular organisms, and how they're just a bunch of different cell types that have different jobs with the goal of all working toward the greater good of staying alive together. And you don't just see this in things like animals! There are unicellular organisms that form colonies when times get tough, and they sometimes will even divide out work amongst themselves. And at the multi-organismal level, people banded together during those early days of covid to make sure the elderly were fed, that we were getting fitness classes, that we could see performances. And I know this is a basic idea in biology, but that doesn't stop it from being beautiful.

[edit: I finished all of my pre-spring break homework!!!! Let the breaking begin!!!!]

[masterchef901]

We're weird here, right? Yeah? Good. Let me tell you about the fucking MAGICAL narrative journey that is the CoD Zombies story. It's weird, it's jank as hell, and by the end it has me thinking seriously on the implicit meta-narrative to it. Also, the story ends like 4 separate times.

So we begin with CoD: World at War.

"Nazi Zombies", a minigame unlocked by beating the main story, where you get to feel more justified in sinking lead into a horde than possibly anywhere else in gaming, or life for that matter. Over the course of the original maps, the devs see positive fan response and put a little effort into it. We get perks, fancy technomagic laser guns and wonder-weapons, and even some characters and lore.

That lore, by the way, is "The nazis were experimenting on mysterious rocks that turned out to turn people into zombies. Then the zombies broke out. The end." Our heroes, meanwhile, are all simple as hell. A Japanese honor-obsessed samurai, a German mad scientist, a Russian whose only desire in life is vodka, and an ultra-macho rambo-esque American with an IQ only marginally higher than that of the zombies they'll be working together to slaughter. Basically, all stereotypes, but played for that over-the-top sort of comedy enough that I'll be generous and call them 'caricatures' instead. This group would eventually come to be called "Ultimis".

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Back by popular demand, is the Zombies mode, now no longer exclusive to the nazi brand of zombie, because the story's going international. This time, our heroes are going on a tour of WWII-era conspiracy theories. Ancient Vril mysticism, Shangri-La, nazi moon bases - basically the plot of Iron Sky 2. Simple, except not really, but definitely absurd in a fun, goofy way. Notably, the loading screens and advertising also framed these maps in a sort of "comic book"-y way, to help us understand the level of narrative consistency and complexity we'd be seeing here.

(Before continuing, by the way, we also have the absolute TREAT that is the map "Five". Seriously, go watch its opening cutscene, and then imagine those characters being your friendly voices for the duration of the game)

The critical thing here is that, while WaW had some "easter eggs", they were just cute little bits and bobs. "Interact with some rocks hidden around the map, play a song", stuff like that. But Black Ops easter eggs were something else entirely. Trying to explain these feels like explaining the conspiracy theories that inspired the maps. "Go stand on the floor panels to enter Eclipse mode. Then find the four wall-dials and set them to specific values. Now use the shrink ray on a specific rock, which you must then shoot around the map until it lands on the temple." Stuff like that. And even though nobody realized it until the end, they were all connected - if you do all the easter eggs leading up to it, then the Moon egg culminates in the mad scientist character taking over the zombie horde. And then you blow up the Earth.

That's right, they decide to just go flying beyond all chance of imagining this stuff was happening on the fringes of history, it was all-along the story of an apocalypse enacted by a mad scientist and his rival engineering events against him. The End. This was the BIG moment that grabbed the attention and imagination of me and others as a kid. It took Zombies from "neat" to "COOL", and, for better and worse, secured this storyline and style as the "zombies breadwinner" for several games to come.

Side note: I don't recall exactly when they did this, but at some point Treyarch's writers realized that it's maybe a bad look to have one of the playable characters be "'German scientist who helped create the Nazi Zombies", on account of, y'know, the fact that that makes him a nazi. So at some point they did that thing where they "soft-retcon" in some audio clarifying that actually while he was always a psychopath, he was only ever in it For The Science (tm) and it was actually his rival Dr. Maxis who signed his research team on with the reich.

I'm not sure if there's a term for this sort of the thing - when writers don't really retcon in the sense of overwriting previously established facts, but use "reveals" to try and overwrite the meaning of those previously established facts. Yes, technically that's what all good reveals do, but it's also obvious in times like these that there used to be a clear understanding of the lore on both the authors' and audience's parts, which the author has since decided they don't like and want to redo. "Oops, that previous evidence/event didn't count because of contrived circumstances you knew nothing about and could not possibly have guessed."

If I sound like I'm going off on a tangent, I want to be clear - firstly, this sort of practice always frustrates me, because it makes it clear that the author is readily willing to "cheat" in the game that is the communication of a narrative, and secondly because that's secretly what this whole mega-ramble is actually about.

Black Ops 2: We Care About The Lore Now

So, Treyarch wanted to do more Zombies, and they liked the vibe they had so far, so they decide to stay in the storyline that exploded earth. The characters - now a farm girl, a nerd, a hobo, and a schizophrenic guy, all American, all came off more annoying than the "comedic" take Treyarch wanted. This group would be dubbed "Victis", and not only were these characters poorly received, but the story itself would feel aimless. How do you one-up a grand master scheme and the apocalypse? What are our survivors even doing? Treyarch has our old mad scientist and his rival acting as voices in the Victis gang's collective head to try and vie for control of the zombies, and this story would ultimately culminate in one of them (based on player choices involving arcane steps punctuated by some oddly sexual ones) winning the power struggle, and either way, some type of "the world ends again", either with the mad scientist turning the world into his plaything, or (the canon ending) the rival scientist enacting some weird arcane collapse that will let him be with his daughter. Either way, we don't revisit this world again.

I specify world because the characters will return, and even in the same game, actually.

But first - in the middle of the Victis plotline we take a brief visit to Alcatraz for an unexpectedly great zombies experience that's entirely disconnected from either of the plotlines so far. I bring this up only for completeness sake, and for a point that'll hopefully become clearer later.

Anyway, we now return to our regularly scheduled zombie programming - by which I mean, a whole new experience, Origins, featuring "modernized", more tasteful renditions of our original Ultimis team. We're introduced now to a strong-but-disciplined American soldier, a now safely WWI-era not-quite-mad German Scientist, a world-weary Russian who uses alcohol to tastefully take the edge off, and a Japanese samurai warrior who's struggling with the decaying traditional idea of "honor" in a World-War 1 setting.

This "new" (yet chronologically older) variant of the team would be dubbed "Primis".

And this time the plot has them freeing the spirit of a young girl, Samantha, daughter of Science Rival Guy Dr. Maxis who we'd just seen end the world (twice) from some weird arcane trap on the battlefield "of the Great War" so she can go to a mysterious place called "Agartha". Also, the ending cutscene shows her and "Eddie" (who appears to be a child version of our playable german scientist) to be playing with dolls and action figures of the zombies and the playable characters - implying that in fact our whole storyline thus far was "just a game", and the shift of control over the zombie hordes in the first game to Edward Richtofen was in fact just "Eddie" taking his turn playing as the zombies.

It's easy to forget for those of us who've kept up with the story since this, but I cannot overstate how confusing this entire situation was to resolve from a lore perspective. Options were:

1: As implied in the cutscene, acktually "it was all just a game". The lore that players had worked hard to uncover was all, within its own canon, a game being played by children. This was wildly unpopular, but also quite possibly the authors' intended interpretation because in a very real sense, it all WAS a game, and the lore mostly WAS made-up by players out of scraps of lore they'd found.

2: Our four protagonists had acktually all met for the first time in WWI, then again incidentally wound up together again after un-developing as characters due to Magic Rock Exposure (tm) in WWII. Somehow the little girl freed in Origins and her dad whose brain got put in a drone during that process both get put back into their bodies, I guess.

3: It's all a parallel universe with its own separate continuity; the little girl and Eddie believe they're just playing games with toys when in reality they've been shipped off to copyright-safe-Heaven and "games with toys" is how they cope with the trauma of their zombie-filled lives.

BLACK OPS 3: MORE

So, Treyarch picks option 3. Makes sense, it keeps us gamers feeling like our investment was in something worthwhile and not arbitrarily patched together, while also allowing them some more narrative liberty. Easy, right?

WRONG

Rather than just roll with "We're doing zombies again in a newer, cleaner universe", they have to tie everything up ALL together. Our new plotline is that ACTHSDHALY the zombie-rocks came from a bunch of eldritch tentacle-creatures called Apothicons from super-hell. We meet Dr. Monty, who's basically like if Willy Wonka was actually secretly God who's trying to get the kids safe and sound up in heaven and the now eldritch-based zombies sealed back away.

We follow Team Primis as they go back into our first universe to harvest the souls of Team Ultimis (so, their own original souls) which will somehow allow them to go to I-can't-believe-it's-not-Heaven too. They go there, shit accidentally goes wrong when eldritch-satan breaks out, but the gang beats him up with guns and Monty is able to re-establish his perfect world.

Except, uh, he tried to delete the Primis crew while he was it it, but don't worry, that random moment in Alcatraz earlier was act[coughing fit]ally super-duper important and drinking the blood of those prisoners let out heroes survive! BUT ACTASKFHALY THIS WAS MONTY'S PLAN ALL ALONG and he teleports them back in time to fight in-

oh right so "the great war" from origins wasn't in reference to WWI, it was

actually

the site of The Great War between humanity and the apothicons, and Monty time-travels the crew back then to be the heroes of legend that set up Origins to happen, creating a time loop. Characters are, this whole time, saying "the paradox must be resolved" without ever explaining what it is.

But yeah anyway the whole ride this game leads to a big "it was all a time loop" cycle deal, and also the tone has slowly shifted from BO1 comic-style to something that feels more like an "Avengers"-style quiptacular with MORE budget, MORE stakes, MORE lore that actually isn't a good thing because the more lore they pile on the more twisted and absurd the story has to get and also it occurs to me that "going avengers" actually is kinda the natural conclusion to "being like comic books".

BLACK OPS 4: BUT WAIT THERE'S FOUR

So at this point, Treyarch and Activision in general are spending more focus on trying to figure out a new angle to Zombies, but nothing takes off. Infinity Ward's "Zombies in Spaceland" was a whiff, Cod:WW2's "reboot" of Nazi Zombies didn't stick, and their new "Chaos" storyline featuring mixed-religious lore was also met with lukewarm-to-poor response (sidenote here: now that we're in a proper era where it's common practice to ask "What if Ra punched Odin in the face while Ares watches" we really should establish a term for it, like "Mixed-Religious Combat" following the form of "Mixed Martial Arts).

SO They felt some pressure to go back once more to the cash cow what is their absolute mess of an "original" zombies story, now termed the "Aether" arc. They don't have many maps left to develop this but that doesn't stop them from opening the story again, and this time the writers have fucking HAD IT with this story so they decide it's time to fucking END it.

Here's your finale: Victis crew (the all-american team nobody liked) are back, slightly better written this time, on the map that had gone the longest without a remake (notably, in keeping with modern media practice, every zombies map from from the Ultimis-Primis plotline had been remade at least once by now), and they make a macguffin.

Then Primis Nikolai (the russian guy) uses it to wish a new, zombie-free universe into existence and sends the kids away into it.

Also he poisons and kills all of Ultimis and Primis. Then has the kids shoot him. THE ADULTS ARE ALL DEAD NOW AND THEY GOT BANISHED TO SUPERHELL WITH THEIR MULTIVERSE THE END. Nikolai gives us some lore mumbo jumbo about how the arcano-babble and the eldritch-babble had done some techno-babble that "bound the team's destiny forever to the apothicon menace", so that the only way a universe could ever be free of zombies would be for him and his friends to all die.

And the thing is, he's right. Because if you've followed this far, you're probably seeing a pattern: People like these characters, even in their worst-written moments, and Activision isn't going to just let that go unmilked. As long as there is any possible way for these characters to return, they'll be brought back and the lore is going to be held and gunpoint and forced to cook up a reason for them to be there shooting zombies. So the only possible way to let this tortured, tangled mess of a plot finally reach an actual ending is to kill its protagonists - and not just kill them, but write them off so conclusively that there's no chance of resurrection, no more alternate universes containing them, NOTHING. THEY ARE GONE. And true to the Homestuck-ass law that was inspired by this exact effect, the only way death can stick from a narrative sense is if everyone's death is either a Just end or a Heroic sacrifice to nobly ensure a better life For the Kids.

Samantha and Eddie (at this point nobody asks why Eddie even exists or what timeline these kids are from) are finally safe. The end.

COD COLD WAR THE STORY KEEPS GOING

As if to prove my point, Cold War Zombies picks up with a new set of protagonists... and an easter egg featuring the return of Samantha, now slightly more grown up, I guess, and also with superpowers? And then she flies around a bit, before finally heroically sacrificing herself out of the story for good. Eddie - now a full adult Edward Richtofen once more - is a "big reveal" in a cutscene afterwards, confirming that, in fact, there will be no peace fucking ever until every last character from this beautiful, twisted plot is gone.

EPILOGUE

And I want to be clear, it is beautiful. I wouldn't have followed it this far or spent two hours learning just how much I have to type about it if I didn't love every second of it, especially the seconds spent hating on it. I could, and probably eventually will write another essay at some point on how fucking much I love jank-ass "broken" things like this.

But for now, I hope y'all see my points here. It's this weird case you see happen every now and then where people just fall in love with their characters, and won't ever let go. Certainly doesn't help that the authors of those characters can't figure out how to write anyone else decently, but this is just one of many franchises I've seen where the unwillingness to let go of a fan-favorite leaves the plot tied in knots as it constantly has to try and present a NEW BIGGEST THREAT EVER that becomes a BIG DRAMATIC CONCLUSIVE FINALE that then needs even bigger contrivances to bring the favorites back.

It's done a fucking number on Halo's story, which is impressive because a lot of halo's core fans never even really consider that it has one. It's hard for me to talk about Halo here without thinking to myself "STOP TALKING ABOUT JOHN"

Same deal with Marvel, same with Homestuck, same deal in a lot of cases that I'm sure you're aware of too.

So as my closing thought and my reward to you for reading this far, here's some homework! What the fuck do you call these problems? What do you call it when lore starts to go sour because it's spent too long being about the same thing? What do you call it when fan demand forces writers to rethink their endings repeatedly? What do you call it when writers "cheat" their way around prior writing, re-contextualizing everything so much that it's hard to actually believe anything they say anymore and we're just left to sigh and feel odd relief when they say "Somehow Palpatine has returned" without further explanation because at least that means ONLY the ending of the original trilogy has its weight retroactively worsened?