#in a game largely associated with robots

[scover-va]

Anyways moving on from my dashboard struggles, being both a fnaf fan and a horizon fan is fucking hilarious bc william afton and ted faro are like 5 steps away from each other characterization wise yet only one of them has an actual bearable personality and it isnt Ted

[theminecraftbee]

i'm still thinking about the fae zedaph prompt so much that i have. an entire au in my head now. that i am now sharing, in case others are interested.

so the setting of the au is an intentionally kind of anachronistic blend of sci-fi and fantasy, and those things often come into conflict, with a lot of magic interacting badly with technology and technology interacting badly with magic. a vaguely earth-like setting from the near future, where there are robots and space travel and cybernetics, but ALSO a vaguely earth-like setting where there are portals you can slip through that will drop you into the feywild and there are magcial creatures lurking beneath the surface. the idea is like, if an urban fantasy had the 'urban' part set in a sci-fi world.

anyway, so zedaph is an ancient fey creature. a wild fey no longer really associated with either court, but at one point having belonged to the seelie court, zedaph mainly just courts chaos. he's PROBABLY some kind of archfey, but it's worth noting that even other fey aren't fully certain what zedaph is supposed to be at this point. see, in a move that makes almost no sense to a human, zedaph has started to get bored of the games of fair folk. he finds them too... predictable! and sure, to HUMANS the fair folk can seem chaotic and without rules, but to zedaph? he wants something NEW AND EXCITING.

too bad that these days, even if he IS invited into the human realm, it is a bit dangerous to navigate for a fey such as himself. his own deep connection to nature and the natural world makes it so he has some trouble when he's in the tall metal cities of the human realm.

enter: tango.

tango is an android built for... some purpose. he's not really sure what his purpose is, or if he still has one, which is kind of distressing, because his creator either died or abandoned him before tango was turned on. he likes building zany contraptions, sure, but he also sort of wants to search for SOME kind of meaning in his life, since androids aren't really built to be purposeless and that lack of purpose is starting to wear at him. and in another setting, this is a great start to a cyberpunk story about what it means to be human, but in THIS setting, tango accidentally proves he must be developing a soul when he stumbles through a portal to the feywild by accident and fails to find his own way out.

the good news for tango is also the bad news: he's not built for a natural place like the feywild. see, his creator had made him largely out of cold iron, and that, even more than any specific technology, repels fair folk magic. so the good news is that he is largely immune to fey shenanigans! the bad news is that the feywild itself is rejecting him, putting him in immense danger.

enter: zedaph, who is FASCINATED to discover that these days the humans are making machines with souls. zedaph, eager to discover something new, makes a bargain with tango: tango guides him in the human world so zedaph doesn't die of metal poisoning, and in return, zedaph guides tango whenever he stumbles into a dangerous supernatural hotspot. look, zedaph's even making a fair deal and everything, since he can't just like, steal tango's name and force him to, on account of not even tango knowing what his true name would be! the two of them shake on it, and as such, a bargain is struck between both android and archfey.

they both find each other surreal and baffling but are ALSO each other's best friends in an equally baffling and surreal world.

impulse comes into this story later--after whatever the first few adventures tango and zedaph have are, exploring both realms together to try to find something new and exciting for zedaph and something to give tango purpose, the amount of magic tango's being exposed to finally takes its toll, and tango starts to malfunction. zedaph panics as he realizes all at once that he has a friend (thing he didn't know he even could get?) and that friend is in danger. also, uh, more importantly that deal. right. that.

naturally, he then kidnaps the first software engineer he can find. this is a proportionate response, right?

luckily the first software engineer he finds is impulse, and impulse is hardly like, normal, either. like, yes, he's a fully mundane human with only the world's most minor cybernetics, he's normal that way, the way he's not normal is that he gets kidnapped by a terrifying and awesome fey to fix a paradoxical android and goes "this is so cool. hi my name is impulse it's nice to meet you! aw, geez," and acts like everything is normal. neither tango nor zedaph are quite good enough at the idea of 'normal human' to dispute this, and a friendship is then born.

impulse serves as the fixer for a lot of their problems that neither tango nor zedaph are equipped to handle, but he's also like, he'd theoretically be the everyman if he wasn't busy going "every man gets whisked away by the plot of a philosophy major's dream every once and a while right" and going with the flow on things NO SANE PERSON SHOULD GO WITH THE FLOW WITH. he's just chilling in the world's least "just chilling" scenario.

so... there you go there's the ENTIRE TEAM ZIT AU that my brain spawned from the prompt "fey zedaph" i hope you enjoy,

[boinin]

Batten down the hatches: Rin's ego is about to land

The latest chapters show Rin playing with an unfamiliar aura: what looks like swirling rivulets of water.

This represents the refinement of his ego and playstyle since the under-20 match. But what exactly are they going for with the swirling water? Here's my two cents.

Rin is strongly associated with water, specifically the sea. He grew up by the coast; he and Sae shared a love of watching the sunset over the water after training together. Those childhood memories are turbulent now, like dark clouds on the ocean's horizon.

It's here he realises that he can no longer play the puppetmaster football that helped him thrive in Blue Lock. As good as he is, it wasn't authentic... and it's nowhere near where he needs to be to compete with his brother, or even Isagi.

Rin's flow state is the most unique out of any others we've seen. Let's dig into it. All panels are from the official translation, which is important as the translation choices are 1) consistent and 2) likely chosen carefully.

In the dying moments of the match, Rin complains about feeling restrained. Being Itoshi Rin is eating him alive.

Cool, calm and aloof.

A genius. Prodigy. Puppetmaster.

Team player. Team captain.

Isagi Yoichi's partner. Shidou Ryuusei's rival.

Itoshi Sae's little brother.

The prospect of defeat rudely wakes him up. His pretence comes crashing down hard, triggered by his ineffectiveness in spite of the teammates around him. It's one of the best rugpulls in sports manga.

When the power of friendship comes knocking, Itoshi Rin tells it to fuck off and die.

What a glorious moment... and not just because it posits Rin as a Uchiha Sasuke kinnie. I prompt you to examine his eyes in this panel.

They're a swirling vortex of hate and destruction, befitting Blue Lock's angstiest character. The shape reminds me of this:

Satellite images of Hurricane Franklin and Hurricane Idalia, August 2023. Image credit: NOAA Satellites.

Rin's true ego, which he unleashes against Sae, is a storm.

Optional soundtrack for the rest of this post (because Rin 100% listens to this once it comes out in Blue Lock's universe).

Although it isn't portrayed visually as such in the under-20 arc, the metaphor fits Rin's evolving playstyle. What is more destructive, more uncontrollable, more senseless than a hurricane? A violent force of nature that we can predict but never avert?

When a storm approaches, all we can do is rank it, track it, then attempt to mitigate the inevitable damage.

In football terms? Sounds a lot like playing Rin.

It's even alluded to in chapter 250: the graphics for Rin's formation are similar to the satellite images of large storms.

Within the U20 match, there are exchanges that support this theory. Darai calls Rin's evolving playstyle arrogant and avaricious. The latter (meaning extreme greed) is evocative of a force that pursues what it wants without regard for anything in its surroundings. What it can't have, it destroys.

Niou is confident enough in his physicality to try withstand his opponent's attrack. Rin literally flips him into the air. Niou's hubris brings to mind all man-made constructs which are supposedly storm-proof... until a cyclone comes along and proves otherwise.

The contrast between Rin and Sae's egos are interesting. If we accept Rin's is a storm, i.e. a destructive force of nature that cannot be controlled, Sae's is the opposite despite being as impossible to defy. Sae's motif is defined in the manga as "beautiful destruction", plays and passes depicted in graceful data strings. Rather than natural, his playstyle is sleek and controlled, and dominant to the point of appearing pre-ordained by his opponents.

Their attitudes are equally different. While Rin drools and loses composure in the final minutes, Sae does little more than raise his eyebrows throughout the entire game. He's completely emotionless.

It's the extremes of human nature: animalistic rage versus robotic detachment. This time, the latter wins. Will Rin have an opportunity to face his brother again, with a better grasp on his ego? Here's hoping.

My final thoughts on Rin are speculative. How does one beat a storm? Not just endure—but subdue and calm one?

It's beyond human capability. The ability to control the weather exists only in myth and fantasy, and even then it's usually in the hands of powerful entities, not mere heroes or wizards.

Subduing something as powerful as a hurricane would require a god.

Is this Isagi and Rin's endgame?

Time will tell.

[vampire-wizard-solidarity]

i think the way totk references skyward sword only highlights the problems with totk and gets a little insulting at times.

this is mostly about ganondorf’s demon king form being highly reminiscent of demise. i get that it makes sense, since ganon’s power most likely comes from demise’s curse, so when it’s amplified it visually references that. that’s neat, and not an inherently bad idea, even a good one in some aspects.

however, all it does for me is highlight just how much of a non character ganondorf is. demise is, to an extent, also a non character: he isn’t deep nor extensively fleshed out, but the thing is, not all characters have to be. and him, he works. most of the game is spent with ghirahim, his much more expressive and motivated sidekick. he’s fun, intimidating when he has to be, and balances being silly and being an actual threat well. demise is the kicker, the final punch, when ghirahim spent the entire game building him up, we finally get to see him, he’s intimidating, he’s serious in contrast to ghirahim, he immediately shuts the villain we spent most of the game fighting up, and reduces him to an object to be used to fulfil his own goals. his boss fight is cool, and so is he.

demise is a god of destruction, he doesn’t have a motivation beyond the fact that he is a representation and wields power over evil. and that’s the point. skyward sword’s themes largely center humanity vs inhumanity, link spends a large portion of the game running around fulfilling a plan he doesn’t fully understand, being roped into this ordeal before he even finds out about it, not really comprehending what’s happening or why for a long time. so, it’s only natural the final force he has to face is an equally incomprehensible threat, and he defeats it not because he comprehends it more now, or understands the ancient conflict between gods or any of that. he does it because he wants to protect someone he loves, he does it because he forms a genuine bond with the robotic, originally emotionless guide who was made only for the purpose of aiding him in this godly plan. humanity triumphs over godhood. humanity triumphs over inhumanity.

in totk, however? there really isn’t much difference between ganondorf before and after he becomes the demon king. he has no particular motivation before or after, he is a king who wants to rule over hyrule with evil, and then he becomes a more powerful king who wants to rule over hyrule with evil. he looks more like the god of destruction now, but that signifies nothing other than he is more powerful now. ganon has always been associated with power, and the way power corrupts has always been a fitting theme for him. he could’ve had development throughout the game, and him becoming more like the literal godly representation of evil could’ve signified that development. maybe he was a king with an actual motivation, an actual in story reason to oppose hyrule, we could’ve been shown his human side, what he actually cares for and why he does the things he does, and then we could’ve seen that side of him dissolve as he taps more into his power, becomes more like a being of destruction that destroys simply because that’s what it has power over. him taking visual cues from demise could’ve actually meant something, could’ve been a visual representation of the way his power corrupts him. instead, we get nothing. there was no reason to bring ganondorf back, because he still acts like a motivationless monster, who is evil simply because he is. all talk of this being “his game” was a lie, considering he could easily be replaced by a generically evil monster and nothing would’ve changed.

ultimately, i still wouldn’t have been happy with this story because it would still lean heavily on the orientalist narratives still alive and present in zelda, but this would’ve been at least something. the way it is, the fact that he takes visual cues from demise pisses me off because it highlights just how one dimensional his character is, it makes me feel only cynicism because it makes it clear that ganondorf was only brought back because he’s a popular and iconic character and not because he had any purpose in the story or because the writers had anything interesting to do with him.

[mrmorsh]

Information about the characters (Swap au —Chaotic swap. The idea of au is simple, the characters change roles, but their characters remain unchanged. And their appearance is changing thanks to the skins and costumes from the Sonic games.)

Agent Shadow is an elite agent of the Gun organization. His specialties are espionage and theft of important data. Trained by the best special forces fighters, thanks to which he is able to fight back even the strongest robot. His rocket boots allow him to temporarily levitate as well as make a series of short but fast jerks. During his time at Gun, his senses had dulled and Shadow had become more cool-headed. The hedgehog has a side type of earnings — the New Babylon Casino as well as a series of bars. Loves :Successfully completed tasks, money, as well as strong girls. He usually acts with cold and businesslike indifference, only occasionally showing his vulnerable side. It has a set of different types of gadgets, bombs, special glasses and pistols. Despite his cold nature, Shadow has a narrow circle of personalities that he can call friends without doubt or sarcasm. Just that the hedgehog hides his real emotions behind the mask of a harsh and cold agent. Of all of them, perhaps only two saw the real emotions of the hedgehog. Most often, it separates the eternally arguing Rouge and Lien-da, Which is why most often it becomes a beacon of reason for Rouge and Lien-da.

Rouge is a perfect life form created by Professor Gerald Robotnik as a universal medicine. Extremely dangerous due to the power to control the energy of Chaos, as well as because of the abilities that were added thanks to the altered dna. She is able to destroy stones and metal with her scream, but this ability requires great strength and concentration. Her element is air, so anyone who decides to arrange a fight in flight will instantly fall to the ground due to a barrage of attacks. She is a little obsessed with the power of Chaos Emeralds, so she tries to collect them. Rouge communicates quite easily and playfully—this behavior is associated with watching a lot of old movies on vhs, in which the main roles were played by spy girls. Rouge took the manner of her communication and behavior from the heroines of similar Films and TV series. Despite her cheerful demeanor, Rouge is still plagued by nightmares about the Ark colony, perhaps she has post-traumatic stress disorder. Her main connection is that Agent Shadow is her personal psychologist, he often calms Rouge at night when she wakes up from Another nightmare. Agent Shadow may be Rouge's main love interest, but due to her inexperience, all she can do is flirt. She is very proud and ready to fight dirty when faced with a formidable opponent. The carefree and playful attitude of the bat, due to its abilities, can strain some characters. To most people, Rouge seems brave, ambitious, independent, flirtatious, calculating narcissist who thinks only of herself. Although in fact this is just an image that she plays out in public, her closest friends know that the girl is actually kind, although she has moments of depression.

E.G.G-123—The most dangerous and intelligent of the E-series robots, is the creation of Dr. Vanilla, which as a result got out of control. It has a large arsenal of weapons and ammunition.Initially, E. G. G -123 was created as a guard for Rouge, which was in stasis at one of Vanilla's bases. However, the rapidly developing intelligence of the robot rebelled against Vanilla, wanting power as well as revenge for being locked underground for three years. In his arsenal there is :Rockets, miniguns, flamethrowers, plasma and laser weapons. In addition, the robot is very smart, which allows it to create its own weapons, which often work against its master due to mortality. E. G. G -123 likes to gloat and joke during battle, praising his fighting qualities as well as his mind. He often underestimates his enemies because of too much confidence in his abilities. The robot likes to compete with those individuals whose powers are not inferior to his own. He likes to arrange friendly fights with Rouge, considers her a worthy opponent. Despite his hidden desire to take over the world, E-123 himself wants Agent Shadow and Rouge to share the board with him. As a result, he tends to be extremely headstrong, reckless, aggressive and destructive - destroying everything that gets in his way.

---

Dr. Vanilla is a brilliant scientist and a villain with the biggest ego. Her main goal is to take over the world and prove that she is the greatest genius. Its main weapon is intelligence, which allows you to create robots and various equipment. However, her main weakness is her confidence in her invincibility and because of this, she sometimes underestimates her opponents during combat. Arrogant and narcissistic, she creates countless technological wonders that fuel her huge ego, usually bolstered by her goal to finally build an empire, and she doesn't care where it starts. Single-mindedness and stubbornness can be called a strong character trait, because she never gives up when most would accept defeat. Rare moments of losing control of anger turn Vanilla into a dangerous tornado of rage that threatens both allies and her enemies. Basically, he behaves calmly and coolly, showing emotions only in times of victory or defeat.

Gemerl is a robot created to copy other people's abilities as well as destroy the heroine cat Blaze.Jimerl is as fast as Blaze, and is also able to copy the abilities of other heroes, but he cannot copy more complex ones such as Chaos control. He is very restrained and calm; he never seems to be in a hurry, but he manages everywhere. On the surface, he seems quiet and modest, but in fact, he is probably no less insidious than Vanilla, with the only difference that he is very good at hiding his true feelings, thoughts and intentions.Other robots know that he is vindictive and vindictive, and will always figure out how to ruin the offender's life. Therefore, everyone tries to maintain the appearance of a good relationship with him. Jimerl himself is quite satisfied with this state of affairs. The only thing that can break his usual equanimity is the appearance of a possible competitor.He is a violent, aggressive, cold-blooded and intelligent killing machine with a great superiority complex. However, from the very beginning, he had a habit of imitating Blaze's gestures, if not in a mocking manner.Jimerl's most dominant trait is his hatred and obsession with Blaze the cat. Programmed with the sole purpose of surpassing and destroying the cat, the robot is obsessed with the belief that it surpasses Blaze in all parameters. The robot considers itself as it says:"Jimerl is excellent, Blaze is insignificant!"

Agent Vector is Dr. Vanilla's devoted assistant, who may be in love with her. As a rule, he performs secondary work, collecting materials for the construction of bases, checking factories for the production of robots and making coffeeAgent Vector is the most calm of their henchmen Dr. Vanilla.Vector is used to Vanilla's not always obvious plans and understands her better than most other people. He obeys the doctor, taking all insults in his direction and doing some humiliating things without unnecessary questions. Vector tends to consider himself the smartest in any situation. This may not always be true, but he is really quite smart, considering that he lasted the longest as Dr. Vanilla's assistant.Vector usually shows a calm side of himself. However, he speaks in a rude tone and may not pay attention to the details of the conversation. At the same time, Vector himself does not mind and frankly deceive and mislead, imitating Dr. Vanilla, whom he admires and respects.

---

Amy Rose is a combat soldier created by former subordinate Vanilla -Tails. Amy was originally created to destroy Blaze the Cat, but then Tails directed his forces to create his empire. Rose has become a leading force that helps Tails with his plans. Amy is gloomy, speaks little and is cold-blooded towards any battle or opponent. It can release lightning bolts from its body and also move at equal speeds with the Blaze cat. Her main ability is dark inspiration, which causes the worst and most evil in the personality to wake up. She does not show emotions even during the battle, because she is gnawed that she is just a living weapon created for destruction. But despite this, she finds the company of the robot convenient for her, to some extent she considers the Metal unit her only friend. She is ready to listen to the ideas of others when she admits that she does not really have a special plan of her own that could be implemented, which makes her more open to suggestions. In the future, she will hate Tails and will be obsessed with finding her real family, although it is still unknown whether she was created in a laboratory or was kidnapped for experiments. He likes to use a bat that can absorb energy from Emp or other sources and then release it in the form of lightning. She hides that she likes to be read bedtime stories.

---

Metal unit v.3.0—Was created as an attempt to replace Jimerl, but now monitors the state of the Emp. He was programmed to take care of Amy, but then the program turned into true emotions. He likes to cook , but because of the imperfection of his program, the food he prepares becomes a biological weapon. The unit is able to use its powers to control water, is able to create whole storms and even tornadoes. However, he can be too obsessed with Amy's safety, which is why, after her defeat, he can retreat, taking the hedgehog with him. He speaks politely and formally, addressing others as "sir" or "ma'am." Despite his restrained behavior, he is capable of moments of strong emotions: when he thought that Amy had been fatally injured, he flew into a rage and destroyed everything he saw.

Tails Miles Prower is a former fan of Dr. Vanilla, who decided that he would outgrow his idol and that he would be able to take over the world. He has a lot of knowledge in the field of creating cyborgs, mutants and robots. Uses Warp Topaz and its energy to open portals, hypnosis, and energy shots from a prosthetic eye. He voluntarily replaced some parts of his body, which is why he received additional abilities:Shooting a laser beam from the eye, hacking techniques, strengthening strength thanks to a robo hand. Initially admired the work of Dr. Vanilla, an unrecognized scientific genius and a big ego forced Tails to enter the road of crime. In addition to his intelligence, the fox is a pretty dexterous manipulator. He could masterfully use other people to his advantage to get them to cooperate with him or lure them into traps, and he knew exactly how to strike his enemies where it hurt the most.The fact that he had been an outcast for so many years made him bitter and cynical. A selfish genius who puts his own well-being above everything else.He is very easily ready to say goodbye to the life of another living being, so he immediately put Amy in front of a choice either she serves him or dies. Tails managed to sew a device inside Amy's heart that can stop the girl's heartbeat. He has absolutely no sympathy and considers Emp and Metal as ordinary instruments that can be replaced.

[khaire-traveler]

🗡️ Subtle Talos Worship 🪨

Collect rocks/crystals you like

Bask in the sunlight (Cretan)

Take a walk/hike on a sunny day (Cretan)

Light a bonfire; sit in front of it; focus on the warmth and life it provides

Collect bronze colored items; wear bronze colored jewelry

Assert your personal boundaries; make it clear when someone has done something that made you uncomfortable

Get a candle that reminds you of him (no altar needed)

Keep a picture of him in your wallet

Wear jewelry that reminds you of him

Make something with your hands; work hard on a project or item you're creating (Cretan)

Stand up for yourself and others; stand up for those you love

Assert your boundaries; make others aware when they upset you or make you uncomfy

Set boundaries for yourself; I'll only give this much support to that person, I won't stay on my phone for hours before bed, I won't engage with this media that always upsets me, etc.

Have a stuffed animal of a creature that you associate with protection, defense, strength, or the sun (sun = Cretan)

Have imagery of bronze robots/automatons, swords, shields, large rocks/boulders, the island of Krete (Crete), the sun (Cretan), Volcanoes (Cretan), or light (Cretan) around

Learn self-defense; carry weapons on you (pepper spray, pocket knife, etc.)

Learn how to properly use a weapon of your choice; sword, bow and arrow, short sword, spear, pocket knife, etc.

Listen to yourself, especially regarding situations/people that your gut tells you are unsafe; your GUT, not your ANXIETY

Get to know yourself better; know that you know yourself better than others

Disregard unconstructive criticism; work on not taking hate personally (easier said than done, I know)

Fall asleep/meditate to the sound of island ocean waves

Try to eat healthy; fruits, veggies, protein, etc.; take care of your physical body

Grow your own produce or herbs (Cretan)

Support local farms; buy their produce (Cretan)

Support farming/food (Cretan) or humanitarian organizations; support homeless shelters

Volunteer at a food bank, soup kitchen, or farm (Cretan)

Take regular breaks from screens; make sure to go outside for some fresh air (Cretan)

Make sure to wear sunscreen on sunny day (Cretan)

Go cloud-watching (Cretan)

Exercise; get movement throughout your day, even just stretching

Visit the beach or nearby body of water; stick your feet into the shallows; try to ground yourself there

Ground yourself regularly; check in with yourself and your body frequently

Own a sword - it'd be so cool if you did

Play a fighting-based video game; choose a supportive/defensive character

On a tough day, be gentle with yourself; eat/drink something comforting, take a shower, get cozy under a blanket, watch a comfort movie, etc.

Stick affirmational/encouraging notes in places you'll see them throughout the day

Make a list of your personal strengths and weaknesses; try to healthily reflect on ways you can better yourself

Drink fruit or vegetable juices (Cretan)

Paint or draw an island; purchase art of an island from an artist

Support local businesses

Get involved with local communities; support groups, gamer groups, neighborhoods, etc.

Leave good tips for those working in the service industry; delivery drivers, waiters, hospitality workers, etc.

Treat service workers with compassion and empathy; they've got it rough

Build a sand castle; give it some cool defenses

Support the less fortunate in your community

Volunteer at a homeless shelter; volunteer within your community

Donate supplies to homeless shelters; hygiene kits are always needed

-

This is my list of discreet ways to worship Talos. There are two versions of him most commonly worshipped - that of mainland Greece and that of the island of Krete itself. Both vary vastly; Krete saw him as a bronze automaton Sun god that fathered Hephaestus, while mainland Greece saw him as a giant bronze automaton assigned to protect Krete by Zeus. I gave suggestions for both versions. I hope y'all find this helpful, and take care! 💚

Link to Subtle Worship Master list

[loreleywrites]

Loreley's TTRPG Characters: Kalliope Vex

I had y'all vote in a poll to see which of my TTRPG characters y'all would like to hear about first, and it was a clear win for the most problematic one. Good job, Tumblr! (Genuinely, good job; I love playing Kalliope.)

Kalliope Vex is my character in Armour Astir: Advent by Briar Sovereign, a PBTA game featuring magitech mechs called astirs, big-scope faction turns that change the course of your revolution, and narrative-first rules that embrace all the Cool Robots and War Is Bads a fantasy-bent Gundam-vibed game can offer. You can find it here.

ANYWAY.

Let's start with my favorite picrew I've made of Kalliope:

Kalliope (xe/xer) is 37yo, 6' tall, and weighs just under 200lbs. Xe's got lean muscle, a goth bob, dykey combat boots, and xer left eye has a glowing green iris and black sclera to reflect the power of xer patron. I'm playing the Witch playbook, which means in order to pilot xer astir, Kalliope struck a deal with a mysterious entity known as The Deep to access the powerful magic needed to construct and control such a large machine.

Xe's of the opinion that xe shackled this being in order to use its power, but The Deep has its own plans and helps and hinders Kalliope according to its own whims. Classic D&D warlock vibes.

Kalliope's whole deal at the beginning of our campaign is that xe wants to destroy the fascist empire, the Spellbound Republic, by any means necessary. Xe spent about a decade operating as a rogue astir pilot ambushing Republic squads whenever xe could hunt them down. Now, xe's part of the crew of The Adamant, a carrier operating with Fate's Inflection, the largest anti-fascist resistance force.

Xer astir is named Clatterhulk, and it's largely constructed from leviathan bones and obsidian. The cockpit is accessed by ribs opening up and granting entry. It boasts massive obsidian claws, a mounted cannon of focused bioluminescent light on top of its skull, and carries a sniper rifle that shoots bullets imbued with the crushing pressure of deep ocean trenches. Most notably, the upper arms, upper legs, sternum, and spine of Clatterhulk are etched with a series of arcane glyphs.

Kalliope has the exact same glyphs carved into xer upper arms, upper legs, sternum, and spine. These are glyphs associated with The Deep, and they link Kalliope's magical power to the astir and allow xer to do simple things like control the astir and complicated things like sense the heartbeats of every person in Clatterhulk's range while xe's piloting it.

Born in the slums of Glass Harbor, a coastal city built inside the rim of a massive caldera that embraces Crater Bay, Kalliope endured a childhood under rule of Amaurosia, the Goddess of Fear. Ever defiant, xe didn't understand why even adults let fear rule their lives. Young Kalliope reveled in scaring other children, and as a teenager began to truly understand the power one could gain through fear. Xe watched the Spellbound Republic leverage Amaurosia's power to control the populace, so xe joined an insurgent group called the Shatter Fists. When Kalliope was about 18, the Republic managed to capture and publically execute most of the Shatter Fists, leaving xer functionally alone in the world. This is when xer quest for power brought xer in contact with The Deep, xe constructed Clatterhulk, and xe began a bloodthirsty campaign of vengeance and violence against the Republic.

To Kalliope, all that matters is power. Xe's surly, rude, and arrogant (all to a fault), shielding xerself from having to genuinely connect to another person ever again. Xe doesn't do romance; sadistic hookups are all xe thinks xe needs (Kalliope carries a ritual knife carved from whale bone on a thigh strap, and xe does not practice safe kink with it.) Kalliope doesn't just want to kill fascists, xe wants to hunt and humiliate them. Xe wants to sow fear in their ranks the same way they used fear to rule a city.

Besides breaking pathetic women, Kalliope does enjoy live music and frequents dive bars for the music as much as the women and alcohol (Xe is a heavy drinker.) Despite Kalliope's rough edges, xe is a brilliant engineer and a talented scrimshaw artist (Xer ritual knife depicts a whale locked in combat with a kraken.) Xe also loves lollipops. I don't know why. I think I just loved the idea of xer flirting with someone by taking a lollipop out of xer mouth and shoving it into the other person's. Or crunching it in one bite. Mean ladies can like candy too.

ANYWAY.

Since we've been playing (a few months now), nobody in the crew really likes Kalliope any more than they did at the beginning except Captain Archer Mulligan, the captain of the carrier. He understands that Kalliope has turned xerself into a weapon, and so long as he can aim xer, xe'll be an asset to the war effort.

Xe literally broke xer against the wall trying to punch a squadmate who was laying into xer after xe had to retreat from a sortie xe recklessly launched xerself into.

Kalliope is starting to understand that working with other people, trusting them, can be an asset for xer goals too. The more people xe can leverage in combat, the bigger fights xe can win.

Xe's also started thinking about what happens when there's no more blood to shed. It's not a thought that ever crept into xer mind before (I think xe has internalized that xe's going to die fighting in this war, despite how much xe blusters about killing every last fascist in the world.)

The big development happened only last session, as I have declared a rival for xer! There's this sniper working for the council of fascist demigods whose gun can literally take down astirs, Ririka. Ririka has escaped from multiple sorties, so during the last downtime, Kalliope hunted her down to a dive bar and confronted her with the intent to intimidate her before xe inevitably kills xer. This is the most genuine way Kalliope has ever flirted with anyone, but I don't think xe knows it yet. I'm looking forward to seeing how badly Kalliope and Ririka fuck up each other's lives. Maybe they kiss! Maybe they don't. Gotta play to find out what happens.

Well, I think that about covers what I was planning on sharing. I hope y'all enjoyed hearing about this mess of a character I'm currently playing. Happy to answer questions about xer if folks are curious.

[gofancyninjaworld]

The OPM Webcomic in 2023

This is late: it's deleted itself three times, damn!

By the Numbers

There is a reason I call ONE the bad boyfriend. He’s exciting, unpredictable. Swans up, love bombs us with interesting webcomic updates, then ghosts us for months and we can’t say anything as we see him gallivanting around working on other things… and just as we start giving up, he’s back! It makes everything he gives us feel extra precious.

On the other hand, Murata is the good boyfriend. Steady, reliable, shows up when he says he will, lets us know if there’s been a change of plans, and we often have an idea of what to expect from him. It’s easy to start taking him for granted, or even to feel entitled, but that’s a mistake.

So, after ghosting us all of 2022, ONE has returned in 2023 and given us 8 updates! All have been between 16 and 20 pages long.

By the Story

The only game in town is genocide

The problem that Genos has is that he is so very easy to dismiss. He has come to us with wild stories about out-of-control cyborgs destroying absolutely everything in sight, improbable survivals, mad scientists, and blood quests. In a world that is to all intent and purpose a sober, serious, modern world. One that yes, is plagued by monsters, but where apocalyptic destruction by cyborgs is nowhere in sight. So it's easy to think less of what he's got to say. His stories since have only gotten wilder and more improbable… only they're absolutely true.

Finally, the truth of what Genos has been saying, and the thing he's been desperate to prevent, is evident. And it's too late to say that he's right. I'm going to stop here for a second to invite the reader to consider what it takes to kill. Go to a mall with a gun and shoot at least one person? Easy. Shoot and kill at least one person? Probably not too bad. Kill several? Harder. Kill EVERYONE given that there are lots of exits? Are you kidding? It would take sustained bombardment, not a guy with a gun. We see in OPM world that scary and terrifying as monsters are, the death toll they inflict is much smaller than you'd initially expect, even allowing for the presence of heroes. It is really, really hard to kill a lot of people -- people don't sit still and wait for death. So for one individual to walk into town and leave nothing standing and no one alive is an extremely deliberate action of incredible violence. Back to the story. Now, we're no longer talking about the extermination of one town full of people. We're seeing the simultaneous, systematic destruction of multiple entire cities.

Not a single one of the owners of these voices is left alive.

Against such evil, who can prevail?

Well, heroes will, of course. But what's this? Something a couple of Neo Heroes (Ryomon in an interview and Accel when he pressed a suit onto Mumen Rider) said earlier on in chapter 138 about pro-heroes getting culled is coming to pass literally. We've seen for a while that the Neo Heroes appear to be on scene first to deal with monsters. Appear to have the right tools to defeat the monsters effortlessly when it's a brutal struggle for the pro-heroes. Child Emperor has been giving the situation the side eye for a long time as he's noticed that many of those monsters appear to have been modified.

Now it all comes together. While the robot army appears largely hapless in front of the Neo Heroes, it's a different story for the Pro Heroes. The S-Class heroes are managing but the other pro heroes are being overrun. Lightning Max gets not just targeted, but his feet, his specialty weapons, shot out from under him. Fortunately for him, Mumen Rider, no, sorry, Neo Mumen, comes to his rescue. Some other heroes are not so lucky: Bun Bun Man is killed. :( As the surviving pro heroes note, this is a systematic slaughter.

Things are no better at Hero Association HQ. There is nothing half-assed about the robots being sent to target them: at least four million mill around, hemming in the few heroes there and preventing any help from reaching them. Not that there will be help coming their way...

It's a different story for the Neo Heroes. They're working hard to save people, but increasingly, we realise they're in no danger. Even when they can't cope with the robots, all that happens to them is that the robots blow past them. Webigaza is so outraged and stricken by the sight of the neighbourhood she grew up in being obliterated that she pushes herself far too hard -- we hope someone grabs her before it's too late for her.

There is one hero who doesn't appear to be working. Drive Knight appears to be just robot spotting. Maybe he works when we're not looking but he seems to be just enjoying the show.

And what about the people who aren't heroes? Well, anyone with the means to fight back is being targeted too: a group of vigilantes who sometimes take out monsters were eliminated first thing. The Machine Gods are also active, targeting S-Class heroes and powerful individuals like Garou (yes, he's found another job!) and Sonic alike.

Why? Ah, you'll have to see the next section.

In war, truth is the first casualty

A lot of what's happening isn't entirely surprising to us as readers having the luxury of seeing things from high up, but our knowledge doesn't matter. It's how the characters within the story, particularly the characters with the wherewithal to do something about it, make sense of what's going on.

As you might imagine, the tables being tipped in favour of the Neo Heroes means that they're getting cheered on by the general public while the pro-heroes, even those strong enough to make a difference, are increasingly scorned.

The Machine Gods have no trouble explaining what's going on, if you care to ask them a direct question. Zombieman willingly allows himself to be beaten down and be taken to their headquarters to find out. Eguro tells him that in the new world, humans won't have their pesky free will and will thus be happy. They're here to capture and eliminate or reform the 'irregularities,' the exceptionally strong individuals capable of giving them problems.

Elsewhere, we have Genos going through Metal Knight's laboratories. As of the end of the year, he'd gotten through the first one.

Someone else with beef with Metal Knight is Child Emperor. He has finally put together the source of the robots and goes to confront Metal Knight. We leave off without a conclusion, but what transpires is interesting. Reasoning that it's unlikely that Metal Knight would be so careless as to leave his fingerprints on the robots now attacking the world, it's likely that someone is trying to frame Metal Knight. However, his erstwhile mentor isn't off the hook. Has he abandoned his humanity in an attempt to finish an uncontrollable AI?

We leave off with a tense standoff between Isamu and Bofoi, the old man giving nothing away as he faces off against the increasingly agitated boy.

No idea when ONE will return to this. No idea if Genos will crash the party before we can get those answers.

When you chase sweetness, you drink antifreeze

McCoy is at the nexus of the great deception. His help was instrumental in undermining the Hero Association, stealing data and plans, helping recruit pro-heroes and give vital information on manipulating those heroes. As the attack has progressed, he has been having increasing misgivings. He wanted money and the sweet benefits of enjoying a top position with a hero organization. But he never intended to facilitate evil. He's greedy, not evil.

Everywhere he looks, things are increasingly suspicious. Starting with Mr. Fuzzy, whose precognition appeared to have mysteriously failed just when it would have been most useful. What if he isn't actually a psychic at all? The implications are bothersome, but they fit all too well with the rest of the occurrences. The cold refusal to help the Hero Association in any way, not even to save them. The way the Neo Heroes have been stockpiling fuel, raw materials and an insane quantity of weaponry. The way the two wealthiest heroes have mysteriously started preaching becoming cyborgs and giving away their manpower and wealth to the Neo Heroes. The way he McCoy is being pressured to become a cyborg himself as the way Mr. Fuzzy puts it, there's not going to be a place in this world for anyone who hasn't accepted his (Fuzzy's) implementation of cyborgization.

We end 2023 with the sight of McCoy scrambling in vain to try to get either Superalloy Darkshine or Metal Bat to help. The former refuses and the latter is locked up in a self-healing prison. McCoy tries to retrieve Metal Bat's original metal bat, but he's caught by A and Ryomon. The sweet juice he sought to sip now turns out to be poison. Poison that he notes is going to kill a lot of people. Including himself.

I'm praying 2024 sees this arc reach its climax and end! Pray our Bad Boyfriend is in a generous mood this year.

[akirasarchives]

[00] | 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗘𝗥

sᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: In a Spades game, you find yourself weirdly drawn to a concerningly relaxed man.

🂥 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟬𝟬: Five of Spades

TOEI SENDAGAYA APARTMENT

A large, grey apartment complex casts a shadow over its surroundings. Yellow lights flicker ominously, dimly lighting the twisting hallways that lay vacant. A small group of individuals stand idle on the steps just inches from the doorway leading into the eerie and most likely death-inducing building. They speak silently between each other, passing weary looks and judging stares, though they seem to outright ignore your obvious presence as they glance back down at their mobiles. You suppose you can’t blame them, as your figure is all but swallowed by the mere size of the complex.

A woman sporting athletic attire briskly jogs past you, taking no time to accept a phone and find a place to wait until the game commences. Perhaps her visa was due today.

“Second thoughts?” A voice echoes. Slowly, you twist your neck to peer over your right shoulder. A man leans against the wall beside the steps leading into the complex. His posture suggests that he’s relaxed - oddly, but the hood of his white jacket casts a shadow upon his facial features. You stare at the faceless man for a few seconds, allowing the silence of the night to replace your reply.

Before you stands 9 participants, each seemingly mirroring each other's worrisome expressions. Whether it be from the unknown of the game or due to your presence, you’re unsure, though you decide to not dwell on it and calmly grab a phone from the table.

Muffled sounds of music fills your ears, causing you to cock your head to the side. The man from outside stands with his eyes closed as he seemingly listens to music from earphones which are hidden by the hood of his jacket. You can’t help but stare at his blatantly relaxed form.

“Registration has closed” The robotic voice calls, signaling that all participants required are present. Your lips purse anxiously as you stare at the brightly lit screen, waiting for the next set of text to appear.

“There are a total of 13 participants. The game will now commence”

“Excuse me” A meek voice calls, to which your eyes flicker in the direction of. A man wearing a hat hesitantly asks the duo, which you previously hadn’t noticed, enter where the people of Japan have gone. You can’t help but bite your lip as an unsettling feeling washes over your body. Though hypocritical, you can’t help but feel he will drag down those who he associates himself with. Having almost died from your own inexperience and just barely getting out the kind woman who helped you with your first challenge, you can’t help but think that the man may not be so lucky.

You shuffle on your feet as you look away, coincidentally glancing at the mysterious man who catches your gaze momentarily. It’s almost as if there's a glint in his eyes and you can’t gauge what of. Mischief? Curiosity? Malice? Judgement? Anxiously, your eyes settle to stare at the worn material of your sneakers.

“Difficulty, Five of Spades.”

The sporty woman begins to stretch. You observe curiously, all the while the tense atmosphere from earlier begins to thicken.

“Game, ‘A game of Tag.’ Rule. Run away from the Tagger.”

Players begin to mumble between themselves. A sigh parts from your lips as you think about the size of the building. Although big, it becomes clear that it seems too narrow to properly escape from said tagger.

“Clear Condition. Discover the safezone hidden in one of the building rooms within the time limit. You clear the game when the objective is fulfilled. Time limit, 20 minutes.”

Easy enough.

“Once 20 minutes has passed, the time bomb hidden in the building will explode.”

Oh.

Making a beeline for the elevator surprised you as others from the small group did not follow. You wonder if they simply think that the lift is out of order, though you suppose that the act of preserving some energy may give you an advantage when it comes to running from the tagger.

Seven floors, you note as you scan from the list of floor options. The top floor feels most practical as you can easily watch for the tagger - though a part of you hopes that the tagger doesn’t have the same thought as you.

“Top floor, please” A voice calls. Your finger slips from the button as you peer over your shoulder at the person asking. It’s the guy with shaggy blonde hair from outside again, yet he now watches you with a quirked brow. You turn silently, clicking the ‘7’ button before turning to lean against the metal railing inside the lift. He scans you once more in a blatant act of outright staring yet somehow it doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable but more so inquisitive.

“Following me?” You ask amusedly, trying to find some light in the weird coincidence. He only snorts lightly, dropping his head as if your question had caused him to think carefully about his response.

“Would seem so” He replies casually as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his suspiciously clean jacket. You hum, finally being able to study the features of the stranger. Tanned clear skin, stubble attempting to grow in, deadpan eyes, overgrown bleached hair and a shorter stature than most other men. He glances at the floor numbers changing on the small screen, shifting as the floor grows closer.

“Hey” You call, wanting to receive an answer before he can scatter off once the doors open. He hums, throwing you a quizzical look. You shift, standing with more confidence.

“What’s your name?”

Arisu. You believe that is his name anyway. He and his friend seem to have split apart, but he forms an unlikely alliance with the athletic woman from earlier. She impressively scales the building, jumping between floors and attempting to open doors. Something tells you he’ll be of great help in this game, especially with the help of the short haired woman.

You’ve already attempted the top floor and to your dismay the doors won’t budge. Usually, you would’ve ran to check the others but the tagger stays focused on the lower floors where most players run between. The fifth, third, sixth and seventh floor have all been checked and you watch as said woman checks the first and second floor. It’s risky, seeing as the tagger has disappeared into the stairwell following Arisu’s friend and the two other serious looking men.

It’s similar to observing an ant farm, watching how players scatter frantically. You try to ignore the blood stained walls and carcasses of those massacred but you know it is a scene you’ll think about later when leaving the arena.

“There are currently 10 minutes left.” A reminder that your life is on the line pushes you to leave your current position. Many players are dead, which means less people are here to do your bidding and attempt to open the doors on the lower floors. The killer has been in the stairwell closest to you for a few minutes now, so you chose to use the stairs furthest from yourself.

“Making yourself useful now?” He asks. You can’t help but laugh lightly, turning to examine the man who stands at the intersection of both hallways.

“Could say the same about yourself” You muse, turning back to the stairwell.

He snorts “Do you know where the saferoom is?” He quizzes.

You pause, looking back at him “No.”

He nods “There is a difference between us afterall”

You plant your feet determinately, staring at the long-haired man sternly.

“Show me”

The blonde slinks past your figure, silently jogging down the stairwell without a glance back in your direction. You chew your lip anxiously as you follow with a raised heartbeat. No clear view of the tagged creates an unsteadiness in your being, so you silently create a spacing buffer between you and the man.

After he turns the corner with no sign of being shot, you follow after. Arisu, the man from earlier steadily makes his way towards the door that the blonde was heading too as well. You almost pat yourself on the back due to your earlier prediction.

“I had a feeling you’d find it” You nod, looking at Arisu. He passes a look between both you and what seems like your game partner, but his hand stops at the handle. You frown, glancing at the floors to see where the tagger is.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” You ask, showing him your phone screen. The timer displays three minutes and Arisu seems to sweat nervously as he watches the seconds pass.

“Why did the tagger follow us?” He asks, looking at the man in the white jacket. He shrugs passively “Maybe they know something we don’t?”

Arisu nods, slowly turning the handle.

“Thank God” You praise, watching as the door slowly creaks open. The room is dark, dimly lit and another black door is attached to a wall to your left. Arisu and Blondie enter first, pacing cautiously. You enter too, looking to your right.

A small, darkened hallway is to your right. Perhaps a coat room, but something feels off.

“Guys” You call anxiously, attempting to ignore the rising feeling of uncertainty. You try to tell yourself that it is the natural fear of the unknown and just a normal human instinct, yet a small glimpse of a white shaped diamond emerging from the blackness causes you to stiffen.

“Tagger!” You almost screech, ducking as the two before you split mere seconds before gunfire rings out. You all but slam yourself into the door in a failed attempt to pivot your feet, stumbling messily as you attempt to balance yourself.

Blondie somehow tasered the tagger in your split second of clumsiness to which you catch both him and Arisu breathing heavily as they glance down at the taser he had hidden away in his pocket.

Bring a weapon, you note. The rules never said you couldn’t.

“It never hurts to be prepared” The blonde starts, yet is cut off by the second tagger firing his gun. In just a split second he has pushed you outside into the hallway and slammed the door closed. You fall back unceremoniously with your spine slamming into the brick wall as you fall onto your ass.

“Arisu is in there!” You panic. Frantically, you check the entirety of your surroundings without care for your neck.

“I just saved you” He states, regaining control of his breathing. You swallow the lump that had risen in your throat in the short amount of time, before shakily moving to a crouching position. If you weren’t so shocked, you would’ve snapped back that he only pushed you out because you were in his way.

However, you exhale shakily as you look at the hallway connecting to the closest stairwell “The other tagger. He’ll come”.

“Thirty seconds.”

More gunshouts ring out before you can expand on your worries. The man blinks, rising to his feet as he opens the door once more. Your heartbeat quickens once more, shuffling to move yourself out of the view of the open door. He glances around the corner, ducking as a round of shots are fired into the wall behind his head. Arisu screams for help and you hope that he is not hurt. A part of this feels like it is against the rules to have two taggers but the game never specifically stated that there was just one tagger.

In the split second of silence, you swear you can hear a woman in the room. Blondie throws his taser into the room after, standing back to pivot behind the doorway.

“Ten seconds”

The robotic voice begins to count down, yet the sound is drowned out by your own heavy breathing and loud heartbeat. Your chest heaves erratically, causing you to grip at the ground in an ironic attempt to ground yourself.

“One”

You brace, eyes scrunching as you begin to curl in on yourself.

“Game Cleared. Congratulations.”

Huh?

Your eyes snap open, finding the man already looking back at you. For a second you see relief flash upon his face but he is quick to glance back at the room as a small explosion rings out.

“We’re alive?” The question is rhetorical yet you find yourself staring at the man with his back turned to you. You can’t help but let out a silent laugh.

Something in you tells you to follow the blonde man. He definitely belongs to a group though you can’t help but suspect that he is well off in terms of supplies. Clean clothes, working earphones and a clear objective after finishing the game.

Sheer curiosity, or stupidity? Internally, you slow yourself for being too curious.

One of the men from earlier follows behind, it’s the man with the shaved head, yet they don’t speak or acknowledge each other. Maybe they fought?

Blondie pauses, allowing the buff man to continue past him. Even with the distance between your figures you can’t help but feel you two are barely inches apart.

“Following me?” He asks, referencing your first verbal interaction with him. You freeze, hands stilling by your sides.

“... No” You mumble with your breath caught in your throat, staring silently at the back of his head.

His shoulder shake slightly, indicating that he must’ve found your answer somewhat amusing. He turns, cocking his head to the side.

“Chishiya” He replies, turning on his heel once more.

The word stuns you, allowing him time to wander off to the vehicles hidden by the moonlight.

masterlist | next

[herrscherofmagic]

At the risk of being overly pessimistic, I've got some thoughts to share about HI3rd and Part 2 and whatnot. This is more of a vent post than any proper discussion or analysis but I want to share these thoughts somewhere because it's been on my mind for ages, and learning that the new UI comes tomorrow with the new patch has finally pushed me to write this.

Regarding Part 2, I will say that I'm willing to give it a shot. I know quite a few people (at least in some parts of the honkai community) felt a bit iffy about the Salt Snow Holy City arc, but I ended up loving it. So even though I haven't even started the current Fu Hua story arc, I do want to catch up and continue with the story.

But when I think about the past of HI3rd... I can't help but feel a genuine pain at the wasted potential of this game, its stories, and its characters.

There's a charm about early HI3rd that I really enjoy, partially out of nostalgia but also thinking about what could've been. So far, it seems like Mihoyo is intent on going full steam ahead and moving on. I don't see any sight of older valkyries being given minor updates (i.e. voicelines and basic animations/emoting), nor the early story being reworked, and even the original UI is getting straight-up replaced with a new design theme.

What do I think about when I think "early HI3rd"?

Hyperion. St. Freya. Shicksal. AE.

Of course this includes classic stuff like the White Comet battlesuit, or the early story arcs like the Battle of Schicksal.

But I'm also thinking about the incredibly neglected Armada and Dorm systems.

I'm thinking about all the different Valkyries and Valkyrie squads that we're told exist, yet only serve the tiniest slivers of roles in the story. The Phosdjinns (Susannah's old squad). Wendy & the Valkyries at the Schicksal base she was stationed at. Jackal, before she quit Schicksal and joined AE. Ana Schariac. Alvitr. Ragna.

I'm thinking about the fact that we still know virtually nothing about Bianka's brief stay at St. Freya. Or about how Rita struggled to become an S-Rank Valkyrie as a relatively normal person who had no stigmata like Bianka nor Herrscher powers like Kiana.

In terms of aesthetics, I think about the bright colors we associate with Hyperion and the old menus.

I think about all the old weapons & stigmata, and even the new ones, and how they have tiny descriptions that hint as so many interesting things behind the scenes. AE's Project: MEI, for instance, or Schicksal's St. 1504 labs.

I remember how often some people used to go "oh Genshin, pffft whatever, Honkai is so much better and it has cool animations and songs and it's Depression Impact and all that stuff!!!" and I used to agree with that. In some cases I still do.

But then I think about how EMPTY HI3rd feels. Genshin has some issues, but it's story has continuously been getting better, and the early content is still a fairly solid foundation. There's tons of interesting lore archives and hidden details across countless weapons, texts, and archive entries. You can learn so much about the past of Mondstadt's Aristocracy or the civilization of Sal Vindagnyr, or about the Yakshas, and Adpeti, or the 5 Inazuma sword-forging schools, and Enkanomiya, and so on.

But there's almost nothing about Schicksal or AE. We know almost nothing about how these two factions operate, aside from "they have a bunch of fancy tech".

Hyperion's not the only flying ship Schicksal has. Aside from Helios we also see and hear about others like the shuttle that the Immortal Blades used in Arc City, or the large ships we see flying in the background of the Armada home screen.

Where are those ships built? Who's crewing them? What does Schicksal do with all these resources? How are the Valkyries in these ships and stationed in bases across the world fighting Honkai in their own way?

What about AE? Sure AE has robots, but robots alone aren't enough. AE still needs leaders and people to make decisions. We know about the obvious Welt, Tesla, and Einstein. But what about Raiden's father, Raiden Ryoma, who we saw play an active role helping AE in the Second Eruption? How does he use ME to help support AE's operations? Are there others like him who make their own investments and sacrifices to help protect their corner of the world?

What was Susannah's life like before and after she joined the Phosdjinns? What about the Phosdjinns themselves? We know a tiny bit about them: their squad leader, Matilla, seemed to come to lead the squad after the past leader died in combat. The other member, Zofia, seemed to promise the old squad leader to protect Matilla. And Matilla chose Susannah herself, so she may be at least partly responsible for getting Susannah up to the point where she could join the Immortal Blades.

What's their story?

What about Ragna and the Valkyrie Assault Squad? I remember there was a CG long ago, Idk if it was permanent content or a temporary event CG, but it revealed that Ragna knew both Rita & Bianka as well as Himeko. So the same person that trained Himeko and led her into battle also gave guidance to Rita and Bianka. What was her life like? How were these incredibly influential Valkyries changed by this role model they have in common?

And speaking of Rita... in the Meow Town Escape event, Rita told Susannah how she had to work hard to join the Immortal Blades and become an S-ranker. Rita has no legendary stigma like Bianka, nor is she a Herrscher like Kiana, nor a MANTIS like Hua. So how did she get to become an S-rank? What trials did she endure, what sacrifices did she have to make?

What about Sin Mal? What happened to Cocolia's orphanage after the failure of the X-10 experiment? How did Cocolia end up working with AE, and how did she end up serving as an agent(?) for World Serpent as well?

Speaking of Cocolia, what happened to her after the Second Eruption? She went from being a minor officer in the Red Army in the middle of Siberia, to running an orphanage that also ran a secret set of experiments. What did she endure in all those years?

There's so much more I could go on about. Wendy, Ana, pre-World Serpent Jackal, Alvitr, Amber, Dr. Nagamitsu, Sin Mal.

All these characters have hints of their stories throughout the game. Sometimes it's a small set of flashbacks, some are fortunate enough to star in a single arc, and some are unfortunate enough to get most of their character development in temporary events.

And of course St. Freya itself could do with more screentime since most of that story is told through manga, not even in the game itself.

But all of these details lead... nowhere.

HI3rd is full of countless seeds of stories, little snippets that tell us that there's so much more beyond the story of our main trio. These characters don't all need full story arcs, of course not. The main story is written and done (though I think the first few chapters deserve a solid remake).

But there could've been something more. Archive entries, weapon & stigmata descriptions, new Valkyrie Chronicles episodes, etc. Schicksal HQ OW could've been revamped to tell us more about the Immortal Blades, Otto, Amber, and Dr. Nagamitsu. Sakura Samsara could've been polished to meet modern standards, giving both Kallen and Sakura fans better content without having to write them into a new part of the story.

Heck, I even think Mihoyo could've even released a "St Freya semi-open world". Make a "Chapter 0" prologue that takes place in Nagazora when Mei awakens her Herrscher power and when she & Kiana meet Bronya. Then make a couple of short story missions mandatory in the Schicksal semi-open world, then lead that into Chapter 1. That way the Main trio gets a proper introduction and we're not thrown into an in-progress story with no proper beginning.

Then that Schicksal semi-open world could have been filled with all sorts of content that develop the early story without having to cram lots of stuff into the post-Selene events. Short slice-of-life stories in the St. Freya school days, little peeks at the past life of Himeko and Theresa, archive entries telling us more about Schicksal & St. Freya.

Players that want to advance the main story can do so almost right away, just with a bit of extra context going into the action. But old & new players alike could revisit this era of Honkai and learn more about these beloved characters, and the rest of the story could continue as-is without having to cram extra story arcs elsewhere somehow.

I've been thinking about all this stuff for months, hell maybe a couple years now. As someone who plays HI3rd, Genshin, and HSR, and enjoys all 3 games equally, I like to see how these games can all learn from one another. HI3rd has so, so much room to grow as a game and as a story experience, and Genshin & HSR provide a lot of examples of ways this can be done.

There's a lot of room to adjust the early story of HI3rd and add content without bogging down the pacing of the main sequence of events, just like Genshin & HSR have lots of side content like character stories, stuff that's important and enjoyable but also isn't part of the main story and doesn't get in the way of those events.

But as far as I can tell... none of this is ever going to happen. At least not anytime soon.

Part 2 is here, and the new UI is coming. We'll soon get introduced to a new cast of characters, and new stories will be told.

But I don't agree with the whole "let the past stay in the past" thing here, because these aren't finished stories. HI3rd has countless untold and unfinished stories already.

I think expanding on the stories of these characters and organizations will only improve the rest of the game.

Learning about Jackal's past will make her more than just a mustache-twirling villain that throws a tantrum when Senti breaks her toys.

Learning about Wendy will make her an actual character and not a shitty "look at this character and their sad back story, oh no they turned evil, oh no they died off-screen! how sad :(" character.

Learning about Himeko's past is obviously going to make her sacrifice feel more impactful. Final Lesson was already sad, but what if we had in-game story content that showed us what happened to her when her father died, and when she joined Schicksal? What if we got to witness her growth under Ragna's leadership and the way her life was changed when Ragna died?

All of these characters could benefit from a bit more backstory, even the Main Trio. Exploring these early stories would make HI3rd's setting feel so much more alive and thought-out. Not everyone cares that much about these characters, but Mihoyo has the power to give them a reason to care.

I know not everyone likes the way the Elysian Realm story played out, but I think nearly all of us can agree that the Elysian Realm did a great job at presenting the story of the Flame-chasers. We get archive entries that tell us key scenes of their past, and we interactions with them that show us their personalities. But so many other characters outside of the Elysian Realm get nothing like that.

Obviously implementing even some of these ideas would take a lot of time and effort. I understand why Mihoyo might've chosen not to address the early story, because for a given amount of resources they're gonna make more profit off of continuing to move on and make new characters and focus the story around them.

But knowing why things happen doesn't stop me from being disappointed about them. Even if Part 2 turns out positively, that won't fix all the broken things in Part 1.

As I write this, I'm listening to one of the Genshin OSTs from the Narzissenkreuz Ordo. Having finished that world quest series recently, I keep thinking about just how incredible that story was. The story of these characters and the tragedy they endured reminds me so much of the struggle of the Flame-chasers. But that was all side-content. It was unvoiced quests with minor characters with simple models. But they had so much life to them. They had interesting motives to push them through the story, and they had interesting connections with each other. The story of the Narzissenkreuz is just one part of the many intertwined stories of Teyvat, and it's a beautiful part.

And then I think about HI3rd, and I wish I could have this same experience with HI3rd, where I could think about the lives of these characters and their motives and the struggles they go through, but I just can't. Not without diving fully into the realm of fanfiction and dreaming up stories that give these characters the life they never got to live, and which they may never get to live in the canon of HI3rd.

All these seeds of stories that were planted years ago and neglected ever since. Never watered, never sprouting, never getting to see the sun.

[solarsyrup]

Would love to hear your extended thoughts on totk (i haven't played it and only played about 10 hours of botw)

Oh boy! I've had a year to stew on this, so here we go!

...er, actually, before I really start tearing this game a new one, I have to acknowledge how central Breath of the Wild is to Tears of the Kingdom's shortcomings. While not championing (pun intended) Breath of the Wild, I do hope that comparing the two helps emphasize the many mistakes of Tears of the Kingdom.

Okay, with that out of the way, here's some stuff. A detailed and hopefully thorough examination of the faults of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, yes, but ultimately: stuff.

Why begin like this? Well, because Tears of the Kingdom LOVES stuff. There is a persistent and irritating theme across the game that you'll have more fun if they just keep dumping more things in your lap. More items, more enemies, more dungeons, more plot (well, sort of), more checklists to fill out, more stuff.

The game's central theme seems to be rebuilding, emphasized both with the general beats of the plot and the emphasis of the new construction mechanics. Certain other abilities were replaced, the weapons system received a major overhaul, and in something of a first for the series, you can actually acquire allies (of a sort) to fight alongside you.

There's a lot going on! I just wish that any of it was done well. Entire areas are introduced only to be practically empty. Central mechanics are a chore of almost hilarious repetition. Many elements introduced in Breath of the Wild were actively made worse.

In short: Tears of the Kingdom is a game that hopes it can dump enough stuff into your lap that you forget it's not actually good.

(If anyone is hoping to read this entire thing, I hope your butt is comfy; that was just the preamble.)

Before anything else, let's get the basics of the plot down: Ganondorf appears, Zelda disappears, and... well, actually, that's pretty much it. While Ganondorf's return and Zelda's whereabouts (spoiler: she was sent to the past and then turned into a dragon) provide the overarching impetus for the plot, very little else contributes.

Each of the major races introduced in Breath of the Wild faces natural phenomenon that endangers them (heavily alluded to be the handiwork of Ganondorf) but are otherwise mostly inconsequential to the narrative. Each arc concludes with a member of said race awakening as a sage and offering to lend their strength to Link, after they have acquired a mineral macguffin, a secret stone that —

Oh. Right. They're literally called "secret stones".

Call me nuts, but going in blind I was absolutely certain that they would be the titular "Tears of the Kingdom". Nope. Secret stones. I guess I'm the idiot for thinking that such a long development time would leave room for a second draft.

The narrative impact of solving these crises is virtually nonexistent. While the completion of each major dungeon in Breath of the Wild both freed the associated Divine Beast to help in the final fight and provided a useful power from its champion, Tears of the Kingdom instead opts to dump a nebulous promise of teamwork and and an eerie, green simulacrum to follow you around in the wilderness.

I cannot overemphasize how poorly implemented these "avatars" are, failing in almost every fundamental way. Rather than providing useful abilities at will, the player is left chasing after a dead-eyed NPC to activate practically worthless powers only when absolutely necessary. And far from providing a sense of camaraderie, the silent and omnipresent avatars can actually be unsettling. They're also miserable in combat, serving more as meat shields than a conceivable ally. To add insult to injury, the final sage — a GIANT ROBOT, no less — is borderline useless, thanks to the game's poorly-thought-out mechanics.

The practical shortfalls of Tears of the Kingdom is such a large topic that I'm practically forced to tackle it piecemeal. While larger constructions were the focus of much of the game's promotional material, I think the smaller Fuse mechanic serves as a better starting point.

A major point of contention within Breath of the Wild was the implementation of breakable weapons. With a very small handful of exceptions (namely, the ubiquitous Master Sword and the ever-recharging Bomb rune), weapons break after a set amount of use. Tears of the Kingdom attempted to remedy this situation by introducing Fuse — an ability allowing players to attach most items to weapons, shields, and arrows, increasing their stats and potentially giving them new properties.

This is a prime example of Tears of the Kingdom brazenly dumping stuff in the player's lap.

The system is an absolute mess. First, to encourage (borderline mandate) that the player engage with this new mechanic, the plot has decided that all weapons in Hyrule have degraded because of... plot. Making them anywhere near feasible for combat relies on using Fuse, meaning the player is in a constant loop of (essentially) gluing items to their weapons. Now not only are you scrounging for weapons, you're also looking for stuff to stick on to it — and reminding yourself to do so, as it's very difficult to do in the heat of combat. Adding insult to injury, there doesn't seem to be a particularly substantial increase in weapon durability after using Fuse. Some later-game items are sturdier, but their rarity makes them unappealing as mere monster mashers.

This leads into another issue with Fuse: constantly fighting for resources. Beyond previously-established uses from Breath of the Wild (making elixirs, cooking, selling, upgrading equipment, etc.), items are now also the means by which you strengthen weapons. Should you glue that horn to a sword, or will you need it for an upgrade down the line? Retrieving an item used this way isn't impossible, but it may as well be. And considering that you'll want to go into fights with weapons pre-Fused, players will constantly be scraping together more stuff just to keep their supplies healthy.

BOMB ASIDE: Okay, please forgive a moment of very specific nitpicking, but nowhere is the Fuse issue more evident than in the absence of bombs. In Breath of the Wild they were (obviously?) used to break cracked walls and as an emergency weapon. With their very notable departure, EVERY cracked wall in Tears of the Kingdom has a chance of spitting out rocks and rusty weapons when broken, just to keep up a supply of cracked-wall-smashing implements. So now even the WEAPONS THEMSELVES are needed for progression, and you have to keep gluing them together. Great!

This also applies to the game's Ultrahand power, allowing the player to cobble together vehicles, structures, and similar devices to complete quests and achieve goals. Aside from the ever-present need to collect more stuff (in this case, Zonai parts) to begin freely assembling these devices, the plain and simple fact is that they're cumbersome and — frankly — kind of lame.

Without going too in-depth (although, hey, if you're still reading this then maybe you'd be into that), the system is a slow process with a lot of room for failure. Misplacing parts frequently sabotages entire projects, trying to move individuals components is frustrating, and the results are generally unimpressive. Sure, there are interesting builds and neat combinations, but they're almost always more trouble than they're worth. More often than not, players will simply find spare parts littered around individual puzzles, slap together whatever the devs had in mind, and move on. Rather than feeling creative or ambitious, it feels like someone simply forgot to put the game together. More stuff.

But it's a good thing you can build vehicles period, because the game introduced entire new levels of Hyrule to explore: the sky and the depths. Each is ostensibly as large as Breath of the Wild's original map of Hyrule, both near-necessitate the use of Ultrahand and its construction abilities to explore, and both are some of the biggest wasted opportunities I've ever seen in a video game.

Both the sky and the depths are absolutely barren. While there are what I would loosely describe as "points of interest" in both, they hold surprisingly little importance. Oh, there are enemies to fight and chests to open aplenty, but it ultimately just acts as more stuff. More rupees. More minibosses. More materials for more upgrades.

Stuff. More stuff.

Since I've already gone this far down the rabbit hole, here's a running list of other bad design choices in Tears of the Kingdom that I can't feasibly include in an essay-style answer but are still worth complaining about:

The addition of caves throughout surface Hyrule was poorly implemented; Breath of the Wild noticeably shied away from using them for the exact reasons they stink here (difficulty in location and navigation, clumsy climbing mechanics inside, camera difficulties, etc.)

Quest and shrine rewards were noticeably less valuable, further prolonging the grind for materials and weapons

Having to upgrade the battery for Zonai devices isn't the worst idea; having to mine in the barren-ass Depths for the ore for it IS

The sheer amount of items in the game makes navigating menus and scrolling a constant issue, and even by mid-game trying to Fuse an arrow takes a preposterous amount of time

While I enjoy the boss designs, they (and their dungeons) are almost totally irrelevant to the plot. While I guess you could make the argument that this is truer to classic Zelda formula (most dungeon bosses being an unexplained monster) I feel like it doesn't hold up as well as the Blight Ganons' personal enmity with the champions

Many promising elements from Breath of the Wild (such as the Zonai mazes) receive zero explanation, relevance, or discussion, and many frustrating elements went completely unchanged (I cannot believe the Korok seeds/inventory upgrade system is the same beteween games, the mind BOGGLES)

The Zonai receive basically zero attention, except for heavily implying that one of Link's earlier incarnations was a Zonai? What a weird thing to purposelessly shoehorn in

Zelda is sent to the past for no other reason than to justify why this game also has ancient structures and technology, making it further baffling why the Zonai are essentially an afterthought to the game

I cannot overemphasize. Secret. Stones.

Shrines are much more of a chore thanks to the aforementioned issues with Fuse/Ultrahand

The house-building system is AWFUL and, just, straight-up, absolutely fails to capture what made the home-buying subplot of Breath of the Wild so beloved

Breath of the Wild's use of Malice (limited appearance outside of major dungeons) was much better than Tears of the Kingdom's use of Gloom (spreading it like peanut butter)

(also Malice is a way cooler name)

Huge tonal clashes throughout the game (trying to play up Ganondorf as a bigger threat than Calamity Ganon vs. mushroom mayoral election?)

The Master Sword absolutely sucks and reacquiring it is a huge letdown aside from the obvious "regenerating weapon" benefit

The Goron and Zora subplots are both awful, it feels less like you're saving a society and more like you're the janitor, the Zora plotline especially is just a miserable follow-up to Breath of the Wild's Mipha arc

Both Link and Zelda have significant alterations made to them that are completely undone at the end of the story, which really undercuts the whole "rebuilding" theme of the game

As much as I enjoyed Matthew Mercer's performance, Ganondorf really doesn't have much story presence and for most of the game her kinda just slides into frame every now and then like a Saturday morning cartoon villain

Speaking of squandered characters, poor Mineru is easily one of the best newbies and she gets like, absolutely nothing

...I liked Zelda's Breath of the Wild hairstyle better THERE I SAID IT

Tears of the Kingdom is a game convinced that if it hands you enough stuff, you'll stop worrying if it's any good or not. I've read that many of the new mechanics were originally conceived as DLC for Breath of the Wild, and I don't know if the devs understand what an indictment of Tears of the Kingdom that statement really is.

Because ultimately, that exactly what the game feels like. It feels like they took a completely different game and dumped some bloat on top of it — items, bosses, cutscenes, whatever.

And one of the most insulting aspects is that Tears of the Kingdom tries to frame it as freedom. You can build whatever you want! You can choose how to solve problems! The lack of cohesion is palpable, and it makes the entire experience feel like you, the player, are responsible for putting together any fun you want to experience. It's bizarrely apathetic.

I'm honestly surprised that more people haven't drawn comparisons to the likewise genre-twisting Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, considering the attention on mediocre vehicular gameplay and a similarly irreverent tone to its predecessor(s). It's uncanny.

...so anyway, there you have it. I had originally planned to have some kind of robust conclusion here, but I think I'm done with writing about all this... stuff.

[theminecraftbee]

Wels checks the controls on the cryo chamber one last time. It’s correctly using the power system from the pog he needed to make it, it’s almost completely full of trader cores, it’s ready to create an eternal, and there, right there, is the place he can put in the name of the thing he wants to clone to fight for him. Everything looks completely normal. If he were to call Iskall right now, the man would probably say that Wels is calling him for nothing and is being paranoid, because he would be, because the cryo chamber is normal.

It should work just like the skill says it should, Wels thinks. Create an ‘eternal’. Create a cloned not-quite-person to fight for him in the vaults and provide certain bonuses to make it easier to fight. Basically a robot made out of flesh. Slightly disturbing, but hey, after seeing a vault fighter with a familiar face for the third or fiftieth time, Wels is pretty used to the vault gods going for slightly disturbing. It goes with the territory. He’s over it.

There is absolutely no way this should go wrong.

He puts Helsknight in the name plate and waits.

It’s a bit strange, watching the figure he’d fought appear in the cryo chamber. Hilarious, almost. After looking around to make sure it’s still working correctly, Wels breathes out deeply. Well. He’d been worried for nothing, right? Flesh robot. Nothing bizarre happening. There’s an eternal in there, and he can check its stats and set it to have a withering cloud and give it gear and sure, it looks like Wels’s nightmare dark self, but that’s the point. Hard to be afraid of something he starts to associate with safety. Baby steps.

He laughs to himself. He goes about cleaning up his base. The eternal, sleeping in its glowing cryo chamber and wearing its black armor, haunts him over his shoulder.

...maybe he can put the thing in some of the dumber vault armor he’s found. Like, isn’t there a flamingo one? Imagining Helsknight wearing a pool floaty makes Welsknight laugh to himself. Yeah. Even better first step in his slightly messed-up game of exposure therapy, here.

He hums. Besides, if it goes wrong, it’s not like this is a multiplayer world. Nope. Singleplayer. Wels can fight to his highest power and no one but himself will get hurt. It’s nice like that.

Steadily, he relaxes. Yeah. Not as terrible of an idea as he thought. Potentially a hilarious one. Plus, the withering cloud will be very handy in the vault against large groups of mobs and bosses alike. He thinks. He’s still trying to figure out how to optimize all of this stuff. He’s not very good? And he’d just died in a vault earlier and he’s rebuilding so he didn’t have that much good stuff to give his eternal -

- there’s a sudden banging sound.

Welsknight whirls around. Inside the cryo chamber, Helsknight’s eyes are open. He bangs against the side of the chamber again. The acrylic holds true. For a moment, Welsknight just stares, which is long enough for Helsknight to stop banging against the container and look Wels dead in the eyes.

The glare Helsknight gives him is worse than any Wels has seen before.

Wels laughs hysterically. No way this should go wrong. Right. Of course. Tempting fate, right there.

“Hello, Helsknight,” he says.

Helsknight opens his mouth. Through the cryogenic fluid and the chamber, however, he can’t say anything. He settles back to a glare. Wels stares for a while longer.

“...you can’t get to me from there,” Wels says. It’s a revelation.

Helsknight bangs the acrylic chamber again. He glares harder.

“Genuinely, I can’t get you out. I have to be in a vault for that. The ability doesn’t even work in the overworld. And honestly, I can just not summon you. That’ll... that’ll work,” Wels says slowly. He walks up to the side of the cryo chamber and slowly does an inspection of it. Everything looks normal. Right. The mistake was just... giving something his shadow self’s name and visage. Give a devil a vessel and it’ll appear or something. Right. He won’t make this mistake again.

Or...

...he thinks of the original reason he’d done this, and he thinks of what Helsknight claims to be.

He reaches the front of the cryo chamber and sits down, cross-legged, in front of it. Helsknight looks at him, baffled.

“Of course, it wouldn’t help me at all not to actually use my eternal. That cost good skill points. So... hello, Hels. I know you can’t talk easily right now. I’ll... ask yes or no questions, then. Nod for yes, shake your head for no. Care to negotiate?”

Helsknight just stares.

“I can leave you in there, but believe it or not, that wasn’t my intent to begin with. This was always about confronting... okay. Look. No tricks. Let’s negotiate. For however long you’re still in my eternal there, at least. I don’t know how that works.”

After a long moment, Helsknight nods.

Wels isn’t sure what emotion he feels at that. It’s probably not relief, but he’s not sure if it’s anything else, either.

“Right. First up. I can really only summon you in vaults. Lets set ground rules for that and go from there,” Wels says, and he takes a deep breath, and he begins.

[technovillain]

OTTO MENTALLIS. god i wish he had a brain to go in I need to know what it looks like

I've seen a few really great concepts for an Otto brain level overtime and I may have been influenced by some of them....

We know that Otto turns to inventing to express his emotions and moods, as he showed Raz in his lab. Despite having a good outlet, I can't see Otto as the kind of person who is easy to get to open up. He's definitely a really layered individual, that's definitely evident in his characterization even without seeing into his mind.

I know that like every character in Psychonauts is tied to brain imagery, because duh. It's the brain game. But Otto feels especially brain-coded to me. I'd love to see his mind broken up into the id, ego, and superego.

So the brain level would consist of 3 main chambers: a center chamber with grand showroom floor full of Otto's crowning achievements and brilliant devices. I picture Otto being extremely present in his own mind, almost to an unnerving amount. Like every mental figure is Otto in some way or other. I'd picture a lot of them being "Otto-bots" with his mind being so mechanically inclined. A big screen similar to those on the Otto-matics displays a giant Otto head, who talks over the showroom and guides the room's puzzles. On two opposite sides of the room are two doors, heavily locked, that have to be unlocked through solving the puzzles in the main room with the various gizmos and gadgets.

Beyond the now unlocked door on the right lies a figment-strewn, winding hallway indicative of the twisting membrane of a brain. Inside this room is the "superego" Otto, who I think might be heavily brain-looking, like maybe just a brain for a head. I think this version of him is being terrorized by a bunch of robOttos (lol) asking him a lot of questions. Questions of ethics against his experiments, questions about Lucy, about Ford, etc. Raz has to find his way through the overwhelming crowd and get to this version of Otto. He then goes inside of this Otto's mind. I think this area would contain a memory vault showing a bit about how Otto was raised and how he was taught "good from bad" a la superego. The ground would be covered in water (which is such a guilt-associated element to the Psy7 at this point, also doubles like all the tears Otto kept in.) that is electrified, needing levball mechanics to finish the section. Raz tries to bargain with the superego-Otto, but accidentally ends up misguiding him. He gets booted from superego-Otto's mind back to the area with the big loud crowd. (He was trying to balance superego Otto with id ideas and gave him the wrong ideas) This Otto disappears, descending downwards, having a change of heart about feeling guilt.

Beyond the unlocked door on the left is another hallway, growing darker as Raz proceeds down it. It is a factory floor with dozens of brain-Ottos being cruelly driven to work by 0tt-0, a seemingly evil robot version of Mentallis. 0tt-0 is obsessed with the bottom line and cranking out revolutionary, helpful ideas at an unreasonable speed for genius to progress at. The puzzle platform would involve Raz having to help the brain prisoner workers get their work done in time without getting detected so he could get up to 0tt-0's platform and infiltrate his mind. It's sort of the same deal as the other room, except the electricity in this room has caused an electrical fire and needs a lot of time-bubble mechanics to get through. (He was trying to balance id Otto with superego ideas but it backfired, yada yada) 0tt-0 disappears, ascending upwards.

Returning to the showroom shows Regular Otto Mentallis onscreen, now becoming increasingly unstable as his superego and id selves fight on his shoulders. Raz explains how he was just trying to help, Regular Otto pretends he is fine.

Eventually, the showroom floor drops away, the invention parts now floating in a big empty void. Regular Otto grows very large and is tormented by the two smaller versions of himself. As the id and superego fight, everything in the void tilts back and forth. A scathing remark from the id means everything tilts left, superego means everything tilts right. Yada yada, platforming hell, definite justice scales imagery, Raz has to get Regular Otto, aka the Ego, to accept that he has to be open to other people about his feelings, that fighting internally and keeping himself down with his own internal struggles without reaching out will never get him anywhere but more stressed.

I hope that made like. A smidgen of sense. I might draw a super messy layout for it later!

[neoyi]

No Straight Roads is an impressive First Good Try from a newcomer developer. It's a bit clunky (loose jump mechanics; weird fixed camera angles during stages prior to boss fights; some uh, choice voice acting, though the latter is largely relegated to NPCs), but it's visually surreal and enticing, and the game is a mastery of nuanced depths and inner secrets coming from each of the major characters.

Naturally, I was immediately drawn to the robot boy band, which, conceptually alone, is fantastic. This is such an evil thing for a major corporation to do. You have advanced machinery designed to be the perfect entertainment system, drawing in millions of fans and their money. They're completely ageless and can be exploited for however long is needed, and if one "dies", another can replace it. 1010 is diabolical.

But NSR one-ups this amusingly bizarre backdrop by adding 1010's manager and his contribution alone simultaneously explains a lot about the game's creativity and charm, AND his character. NSR isn't above emotional and heartbreaking moments, but it constantly maintains an upbeat, positive energy; fittingly Neon J's war background is portrayed as hammy and comical.

But they're not making fun of him for being a strait-laced soldier (well, a bit, but not in a mean-spirited way.) NSR is really good about laying out the cards and letting you find and piece together why these people act the way they do. And I'm just so damn bewildered and in awe that this man, clearly a war veteran and possibly enduring PTSD, decided the best way to cope is to take his toy-making skills and create a military-themed boy band. Art is therapeutic, after all.

And it somehow works? Like there is something absurd, but fitting about a former war vet addressing his band as soldiers and treating them as such. It's just another form of training, just replace guns with dancing, and any war fields with a stage platform. It's kind of fucked up, honestly.

I can see why fans have latched headcanons of this guy being a father to his boy band. Like in-game, he portrays the army-specific "Father to his Men" and hints of his backstory seem to imply that his robotic toys are very important to him. I mean, he's an artist, and a lot of artists extend a lot of themselves and a generous pouring of love (sometimes a little too much) into their crafts.

And then you see this and go, okay, yeah, I think the fans are onto something. He could have easily replaced any of these bots from an attack like that. Neon didn't have to get up front to try and protect them.

Of course, this could be another extensive of his military background; he's protecting his men because it's what he was trained to do. Maybe it's subconscious that way. Maybe he's already lost so many of his friends and brothers-in-arm that he just dived in. But I think it's abundantly clear 1010 aren't just soulless tools to him.

And like, the guy has, at least, a decent sense of morals. I'm not sure how he feels about associating with a capitalist company (and to be fair, NSR isn't really about that, though I guess I could argue that the people high up are as much victims in their own myopia that they failed to notice the greater issues as much as Bunk Bed Junction is), but he's one of the first to point out Bunk Bed Junction's chaotic method isn't exactly any better (he is correct, there wasn't any damn reason to break a nine-year-old kid's piano.)

This is kind of what I mean when I say NSR's characters has layers. So much that for a game I powered through in two days, it had a lot to say about its cast, and it does it with gusto. There's a lot I could probably talk about Neon J and 1010 (do the latter have self-awareness? Is he a cyborg because he suffered severe war wounds?)

Also holy shit, their Christmas upgrade. Words can't EVEN.

[alln64games]

Body Harvest

PAL release: 30th September 1998

NA release: 20th October 1998

JP release: N/A

Developer: DMA Design

Publisher: Gremlin (PAL), Midway (NA)

N64 Magazine Score: 91%

Body Harvest was originally going to be a large collaboration between DMA Design and Nintendo, but Nintendo ended up pulling out, leaving DMA to work it all out on their own. Despite this, DMA turned out something impressive in size and scope.

This game was the birth of the current open world modern-day open world games – many people associate it with GTA 3 on PS2, but many aspects of that can be found in Body Harvest. Of course, both were made by DMA Design (now known as Rockstar North), but it’s amazing how much of what they did started on the N64.

Alien bugs keep harvesting humans and, as humanity are on their last legs, the hero Adam and his assistants (a woman in a skimpy outfit and a robot) are sent back in time to stop multiple invasions to save humanity.

Roaming out of your time ship, the game feels like a 3rd person shooter – the controls are pretty good for the time, with a big help from autoaim. However, before you encounter your first enemies, you’ll come across a car, that you can hop in.

The vehicles are very odd to control by today’s standards, but you can get used to them. There are a massive amount of vehicles in the game – and not just cars, but tanks, planes, boats, helicopters and more. Some have their own weapons and special abilities, while all essentially act as armour for you – you don’t lose your health while in a vehicle, becoming vulnerable once they blow up.

The vehicles aren’t just for getting to places, ether, they’re all part of the “puzzle” of each area. The open world isn’t just a backdrop for the game, but is integral to the design of the game. You’ll encounter many roadblock and will need to figure out how to get past. It’s something that I feel a lot of open world games lack and you’re constantly thinking about how to get about the landscape.

The first area itself is impressive in size and scope, and that’s just one of the maps. There are four main areas – Greece 1916, Java 1941, America 1966, Siberia 1991 – that have unique looks and vehicles, all with its own puzzle to figure out. There’s also a final mission that takes place on the alien comet, but it’s a more straightforward combat mission.

I did find some parts of Java and America a bit too difficult to navigate, and sometimes a harvest will happen in an inconvenient location – as humans are eaten by the large harvester bugs (one of many different types of bug aliens), a bar will go up and losing too many humans will result in failure -and every so often a mutant will be created to hunt you down.

The difficulty of the game is very unfair, especially due to how the game saves. Each location has 3 or 4 alien processors and you can only save at beacons placed after these have been destroyed. This means that there can be a very long time between saves and messing up a fight can cost you hours of time.

On top of that, the game unfortunately has technical issues. Vehicles can sometimes get stuck, and some are required for progressing. Making a wrong turn when exploring can also lead you to a place where you can’t return, meaning you have to reset. These issues make it a pain to play the original version of it, so I highly encourage playing in a way that utilises save states.

While it certainly shows its age, Body Harvest is a phenomenal game. It’s simple, yet expansive at the same time, and the open world is designed around the gameplay. This game gets overlooked a lot, yet it was definitely an important step in the evolution of video games.

I also do wonder how different Rockstar would have been if Nintendo properly supported this project – would GTA3 had become a GameCube exclusive?

Body Harvest is magnificent. In many ways, it’s the ultimate 3D shoot-’em-up: packed-to-bursting with aliens, peppered with explosions, awash with blood and innards and rollicking good fun. Get it in.

- Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #22

Remake or remaster?

Body Harvest is perfect for a remake. there are four amazing levels to recreate in higher detail, sort out the issues with saving, add some bonus challenges (perhaps let people return to previous levels to explore fully), better driving mechanics. The game’s world is wonderful, it just needs updating.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Body Harvest

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

When updating the animated movie schedule that I have on hand, I noticed something...

We have some mixed-media games of chicken coming. Family movie battles that may or may not happen, on the heels of the recent release date switch-ups for TRANSFORMERS ONE and THE WILD ROBOT:

The first one... Possibly... MOANA 2 vs. WICKED PART ONE - November 27, 2024. Disney and Universal head to head with musicals, one all-animated, one live-action with lots of animation in it. I say possibly, as I'm not sure what audience WICKED PART ONE is aiming for. Is this gonna be a PG-rated family film? Or an edgier PG-13 affair? I know next to nothing about the musical (apparently it's recommended as an 8+ sorta deal?), but these are both very similar in a few regards: Musical, fantasy, and because the latter is associated with the family classic THE WIZARD OF OZ - WIZARD OF OZ wouldn't have happened if not for the influence and success of Walt Disney's SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. I still think it's worth including. I can see both doing very, very well because of how beloved the original MOANA is, and because WICKED is a big deal and OZ is always a classic. MOANA 2 came out of nowhere as a former Disney+ series-turned-movie, so that makes the face-off all the more interesting to me.

Then there's MUFASA: THE LION KING vs. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3. December 20th of this year. Disney vs. Paramount. An all-animated movie that looks very real vs. a live-action movie with animated characters in it. MUFASA has a trailer out, which makes sense given that it was originally supposed to come out in July, so it was probably finished or close to being done a while ago. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 entered production after that, and will still make its date apparently, with no trailer out.

MUFASA is a prequel/sequel to a 5-year-old LION KING remake that grossed $1.6 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing animated film of all-time. That being said, whenever Disney does a follow-up to one of their modern remakes... It usually doesn't do anywhere *near* as well as the first... See ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS and MALEFICENT 2 as evidence of that. Both SONIC movies combined didn't make half of what LION KING '19 made, but still did very very well for what they are. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 made $405m, so I can imagine the third movie making significantly more than that. Especially since they're bringing in even more characters that fans know and love. Perhaps the family movie event of the holidays outside of MOANA 2. I don't really know who's exactly all that thrilled for MUFASA, but maybe I'll be wrong on that one. Maybe that'll be the movie to go to if the other two are sold out.

Another family movie battle is set to commence next summer. On June 13, 2025...

Pixar's delayed animated sci-fi adventure ELIO vs. Universal's live-action adaptation of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON.

Both of these movies were delayed from their first-nabbed release dates, ELIO seeing the biggest delay. When it was eyeballing March 1st of this year, ELIO had a trailer and a poster out. Then during the writer and actors' strikes last summer/autumn, Disney delayed the Pixar picture by a year and a half. As rumors indicate, this picture needed to be extensively retooled... Can't do that when the writers and actors voicing the characters are out there fighting for what's right, so it had to wait.

Live-action DRAGON first nabbed March 14, 2025, and then moved to ELIO's date after ELIO took it. It is currently filming in Ireland.

Out of these two movies, I think DRAGON is a guaranteed success. As much as some of us don't like 'em, live-action adaptations of things largely associated with animation tend to do pretty good. Whether it's streaming shows or feature films. Once in a while Disney doesn't score, but when they do... They do. Often to the tune of a billion dollars, or at least half as much as that. Last summer's LITTLE MERMAID may not have made back its budget, but $560m+ is still nothing to scoff at. It's a *flop* in the same way MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING was. Made lots of money and was quite popular, still wasn't enough. Then you wonder why there are strikes, eh? The HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON animated trilogy that was made at DreamWorks is pretty beloved, all of its installments grossing above $490m+ worldwide each. And Dean DeBlois, who directed on each film, directs the live-action movie too. John Powell returns to score, Gerard Butler is back to play Stoick the Vast. The familiarity will help it, but if it's different enough to stand out, that could also really help it. The first movie will also be 15 years old by then, definitely some nostalgia there. I think it'll at least make $150m domestically, if not $200m. From the outside, it looks like a "live-action remake of a DreamWorks animated movie".

Whereas ELIO? I've repeated this ad naseum, but animated movies that aren't sequels or easily-recognizable IP (read: Mario) tend to open low in this day and age. ELEMENTAL, Pixar's first not-sequel picture to open theatrically since ONWARD, collected the lowest opening ever for one of their movies. Luckily, it had legs and audiences overseas really dug it, getting it nearly past the 2.5x-its-budget threshold. I'm sure Disney wants a bona fide return to Pixar blockbusters, original and sequel. Thus they would probably want ELIO to remain a summer launch. Pixar barely ever deviates from a late May/mid June release, with the exceptions of some March and November releases. Typically, they like that June space.

I also noticed... There's a sizable gap in early 2025. There's an animated feature set for late January (DOG MAN), another for February (THE SMURF MOVIE)... And then, nothing till ELIO. March and April, completely blank. No doubt caused by the strikes, maybe more if/when an animation strike erupts this coming summer.

I do wonder if ELIO, since the delay gave it *plenty* of time to be fixed up (I hear it isn't a GOOD DINOSAUR situation where they completely started over, just re-configuring whole parts of it), will be completed ahead of schedule. Disney has an untitled project set for early March, likely a placeholder for something. Could just be a Searchlight or 20th Century movie, maybe ELIO could move there. Live-action SNOW WHITE opens later that month... But that didn't stop Disney from planning on releasing ELIO and SNOW WHITE together this past March. Disney often tends to put things close to each other. For example, MOANA - a Thanksgiving 2016 release - opened between early November release DOCTOR STRANGE and mid-December biggie ROGUE ONE. One example off the top of my head.

But it will all happen when it has to... I do doubt, however, that ELIO will go head to head with HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON '25 though. In addition to that, I still find it kinda weird that Disney Animation will have three sequels in a row when there was at least one original being developed there. Things often change close to release date, too, so... We shall see...

And lastly, I covered it before... This time an all-animated face-off... Warner Animation's CAT IN THE HAT movie vs. an untitled Pixar movie, both set for March 6, 2026. Until we know what the Pixar movie is, likely an original movie, I can't really say. I would reckon the Pixar movie moves, considering that Pixar hasn't landed a March hit yet. Circumstances... ONWARD was released right before the pandemic became a national issue here in the states, TURNING RED went straight to streaming, ELIO could've been this year's March picture but moved to next summer. Maybe March 2026 is when Pixar succeeds with a springtime release. That is, if CAT IN THE HAT ends up moving.