#interested in which is why the games dont reflect that

[gayemeralds]

do u have any serious thoughts on archie sonic as an adaptation of its source (satam/the games) or do u view it as a more separate thing

as an adaptation of satam i think its great. it starts off a with a different tone than the show but it does eventually get up to speed with it. it explores concepts and characters beyond the scope of the tv show but in a way that's pretty in line with what had been presented. like bunnie and antoine had a phenomenal time in archie comics imo.

as a game adaptation... eh. i think it does an interesting job of worldbuilding, exploring places the game canon hasn't reached, but i don't think it can necessarily be called a great adaptation. it did evolve into its own thing really. i can be a lot more forgiving to archie for doing things so drastically different from game canon because it started off when there wasn't as many games and the lore wasnt super consistent or overarching. i kind of view it as its own separate thing given the context it was brought about in- it was developed during a time where sonic the franchise itself was still growing so i get why it ended up radically different.

[supermaks]

Austria obvi been a doozy to process but 1 part of the conversation thats always interesting to me is how people are taking Max and Lando's battle as a textbook example of 'dirty' racing and comparing it wid other battles that are seen as 'clean'. Heres the thing tho, the choices both those drivers made in those laps dont have 'clean' alternatives that wud have benefited them in that moment. It was an inevitable type of confrontation. At least for the most part.

Clean/dirty racing in this generation of very wide cars literally just a matter of is there a significant enough delta to give one of the cars lap advantage or not. If there is, u get something like George and Landos lil dance in Spain. One of the cars has better tire wear, is faster, so its just a matter of waiting for the right time to make a move and build a gap. Its clean because its a waiting game, its not a battle at all. But if the cars are more evenly matched, and more importantly, if the driver defending/attacking is actually willing to defend/attack, thats when it becomes too close for comfort and as racing drivers what ur basically saying is, I am willing to take that risk because I need to gain ((or I need to keep)) advantage.

Something thats also been interesting is how people have perceived each drivers role in this particular 'dirty' battle.

I been reading and watching a lot of analysis of those laps and one of the things that jumps out immediately is that theres this assumption that Max had to get out of the way. He just had to. The fact that he didnt is what made the battle 'dirty' and the onus of 'cleaning' it was on him. When u press that narrative, and u ask the simple question of why wud a racing driver even consider allowing another one to pass him, the argument turns into endangerment. It was dangerous that Max didn't let Lando pass. The tactics Max employed to defend his line were dangerous. Follow up question, why does it matter if they're dangerous when ur literally racing cars 200 miles per hour. Oh, because what Max did specifically is not allowed'. And what is that, specifically. Then the 3 ghosts of under braking past come into ur house to offer Max a chance of redemption. And u think, why are they here. Wheres the telemetry, the wheel input, the driver cam, the stewarding precedence, the actual rule, that allows some hypothetical idea of intentional harm to even enter this conversation. But it doesn't matter anymore, because it has set the tone for how ur gonna deal wid Max's role in a 'dirty' battle vs Lando's. Lando will, inevitably, become a victim of Max, not an active participant in a battle for the lead. Max's tactics are dangerous, while Lando's were necessary.

Ant Davidson starts his analysis on skypad by comparing Max setting up a corner to Baku 2018. Baku happened in a straight, and both drivers were reprimanded for it. I personally think Max shud not have weaved in a straight like that, but thats my opinion, its not reflective of the sporting rules. Late maneuvers are dangerous but they're not necessarily illegal, not just when it comes to defending, but also attacking. What Ant Davidson does in this opening analogy is setting the tone of HIS opinion. And its interesting to me that he finishes the segment, in which at several points he talks of Lando's choices in first person, wid 'I rest my case'. The fact that he had a 'case' at all and feels comfortable admitting it is kind of shocking until u realize that the objective of his 'stewarding' is to turn defending into a punishable act because Max was the one doing it, and Max is 'dirty'. In no instance are Lando's late maneuvers questioned because, we go the back to the original point, Lando was entitled to make them. He was entitled to pass. Max, however, is not entitled to defend.

Johnny herbert who was one of the stewards in Austria, said that they looked at Max's defensive maneuvering and it was 'clever' and made Lando's life difficult but it was not clear it was under braking. He said Max positions his car very well but sometimes goes beyond the drivers 'unwritten code'. Then, regarding specifically the incident in t3, he says some people claim Lando could have moved and yes maybe but he was right not to, because it showed Max he was prepared to 'fight back' and he can 'beat Max at his own game'. Lando did not complete a single overtake in Austria. Not once did he get ahead of Max where he didnt have to fall back again. But because they bumped and Max was penalized, this is a net positive for him. The underlying implication here is that anything that threatens Max's position on track is a net positive for the driver, and for the sport. About how this battle will affect Lando, Johnny says, 'up until Austria Max had always won. Now he is not winning. It will be interesting to see how Lando responds. He will now be in a better place after what has happened. He has realized he knows he has a chance of beating Max at his own game.' Lando finished a race pointless the day after he got fleeced in a sprint. I dont think this was a positive grand prix for him. I think he engaged in a few laps of hard racing wid Max that ended in a puncture for both. Thats not important though. He challenged Max. Johnny seems content wid just that.

The issue is not that Lando isnt a victim because Max is, nor that pundits are not allowed to be biased, or that Max shud not have been penalized. Whats been bugging me about the reaction to Austria is that once something like that happens and it involves Max, its no longer about what actually took place or the dynamic between drivers that allowed it to escalate, its about deciding whether or not the battle was dirty, and how is that dirtiness attributed to a single actor. It takes motor racing and turns it into the weighing of souls. And Max's will always be heavier.

[emoangel44]

i think the thing that makes people mischaracterize and completely miss the point of chara is that theyre written to be two very different things concurrently that dont really mesh together.

from what we know concretely about chara as a character, they were a very mentally ill child and complicated person who simultaneously hurt and helped people around them, who held both a lot of love and hate in their heart. they are fairly vague but also have specific character traits such as liking chocolate and filling up water glasses to the brim to maximize efficiency. they take speaking patterns from toriel and an interest in gardening from asgore. if you believe in the narrachara theory, they even have a character arc that changes depending on the route you take. they are inarguably a character who haunts the narrative due to their decisions in life having lead to tragedy that shapes the very plot of the game inextricably; and arguably a character that haunts the narrative and shapes the story much more literally in being a conscious force and companion that accompanies our journey.

at the same time, chara isnt treated as a character at all and is instead a meta-narrative device meant to act as an in-universe player stand-in. in this way chara isnt actually a person with character traits, but a vehicle for toby to provide commentary about the people who play video games. they are a concept that represents the state of thoughtless exp grinding. in the no mercy route their main purpose is to be a reflection of you and your mindset, even more directly than flowey. the reason theyre named after you is because, for a number of aspects in the game, they are supposed to be you; with no notable separation like there is with frisk.

this problem also heavily applies to frisk, for who there is an effort to separate their identity from yours at the end of the pacifist route but who still ends up with no real character traits of their own. people compensate for this by using black-and-white thinking; which results both in assigning frisk and chara a sort of "good-and-evil" dichotomy leading to their early fan interpretations, and in thinking that frisk and chara can only be either fully fleshed out characters or mindless player inserts leading to people favouring option one and basically ignoring the player as a concept except to occasionally use it as a generic big bad.

i think toby prioritized meta-textual implications over actual textual characterization for the human characters in undertale. this left chara as a character feeling unclear, unfocused, and incongruent due to them trying to be several things at once with no real through-line; and frisk as a character feeling practically non-existent outside of being a vessel. there are effectively two different charas in undertale, the character and the plot device, which makes it hard to talk about them as one consistent whole. i think this is why in tobys second game hes been putting such a focus on kris as a character and their separation from the player, as to improve on what he didnt properly touch on in undertale.

[molluskmirage]

Bad’s fighting style and tactics are very cool and interesting. He is not a bold pure strength player like etoiles, or in what most people assume of strong pvpers but he is an incredibly strong pvper in his own space! Bad hunts with predator tactics, he doesn’t pick fights that could be ‘messy’/even if he could beat them, he wants the guarantee and he’ll be patient in assuring that. He checks his surroundings and looks for weak points. He tries to glean any info he can about anything and everything as knowledge is its own power. He utilizes that people underestimate him a lot and if they dont he will demonstrate ‘weak’ behavior to pull the screen back.

He is a wicked strategist and also probably the best support player I have ever seen for pvp. Its not a flashy role so it goes unnoticed but bad is such a monstrous support to any he aids. He is freakishly gentle while fighting with others and does not damage his teammates he can also volley mobs with them like he would with Dapper and makes it look easy. His aim goes crazy which is why he is an incredible bowman, and bow tactics also lends itself to the quiet lurking from a distance, one shot and the jig is up so make it clean. And he does!

in order to really compare Bad you need another that reflects these tactics. Bad appears fairly ‘decent’ in most things but always in a second best sort of way and that’s actually why he is so incrediblely frightening at what he does. He’s not aiming for the top he’s aiming to weaken and bully and kill. That aim to injure broke red’s mentality on the first day which kept them from there potential. If he can string along the mind games he can have others walk right into his web without him doing the leg work. He’s incredible at it. It’s something I really admire him for as I wish to find my own lane that highlights my own talents. I feel like Bad isn’t often praised exactly for what he excels in as he is often compared for things that arent quite his lane he is so brilliant at what he does though and is very cool to see he so regularly breaks the mold of expectations and wow. Its freaking cool!

Edit: He is the epitome of ‘you may win the battle but I’ll win the war’

[radioroxx]

Hiiii I love your mal du pays thought. Yea I know I’m supposed to be sleeping but the sickness woke me,,, ANYWAYS do you think maybe it were first created in the headspace as a way for Siffrin to cope with being alone? Do you think that maybe Siffrin was able to be with it in their dreams and maybe doesn’t even really remember because Siffrin blocks so many things out and it only comes to Siffrin in their weakest moments when they NEED it. Siffrin as a child was lost and alone and scared and needed a friend and the only person he knew was himself so, because yeah. I never saw mal du pays as an exact extension of his sadness but more like. A reflection of all their lost memories and a reflection of his weakest moments. I think Mal is there as a protector. To keep them safe from themselves and THATS why it appears during the kings fight. “You’ve been doing this long enough, let me talk some sense into you” type thing but. The sense maybe wasn’t exactly what needed to be heard. Yknow? Does this make sense? I’m still eepy but <3 wanted to quickly say this 2 u before I forgor. (Ps yea I knew there was a limit 🥰 dummy)

ITS FUNNY U SAY THIS BC. AFTER I POSTED THAT I STARTEF THINKING. i like as well the idea that mal came first? i dont know at what exact point sif wouldve split, possiblyyyyy late teens? makes sense to me… would be neat

in that way i think i could see it working opposite to the way u put it. siffrin offering company to mdp instead! aaand years go by mdp fronts a lot less etc etc. stealing things from the very quick notes app i created el oh el

i personally am interpreting the mdp scene in game as more of a… freakout on mals part. big ol panic attack you get the idea, which came about through these. twisted thoughts about their family. for funsies ofc. since i already established my belief of mal as much Younger more prone to getting afraid like this. sorry im also tired so words arent working with me very well atm. but yes i do think ur idea is p interesting too :0

[mythalism]

despite being a clear solas stan i do genuinely understand and empathize with people who feel slighted by the blatant narrative focus on him versus other characters, especially if he doesn’t particularly resonate with you. people often call him as “controversial” which is undeniably true among the fans, but i honestly wonder if he was written to be controversial or if it was an unexpected consequence of his writing that they didn’t anticipate. the devs with the most creative power and agency all clearly adore him, if not as a person at least as an interesting character. but i remember how much the popular opinion towards him changed after the release of trespasser, from "some guy i never talked to because hes boring" to "evil maniac" and i honestly cannot imagine the developers would intentionally create a character, whom they knew would one day become effectively the central point around which the narrative orbits, and make him.... hated by like half of players? and not just hated as in "love to hate" but like genuinely hated. like i know people who are literally are not going to buy this game because it focuses so heavily on a character they dgaf about or dont like. and the devs definitely know this. they literally changed the name from "dreadwolf" to "the veilguard" because they didnt want to make it seem like it was all about solas. they literally said this when asked about the change. which is just... fascinating because... he was written this way!!!! he was written to be an asshole to people who dont like him. hes literally a pride demon who hates people who hate him LMFAO. and he only really becomes sympathetic if you put effort into getting to know him. but what incentive does a player have to get to know him??? LITERALLY NONE??? like he actively dissuades you from getting to know him. and the game really does not give you any other reason to until the very end, when you find out he was sketchy... but some people just do not care? and why would they? a ton of people played inquisition as their first game and would barely know who fen'harel is despite a few vague mentions in the temple of mythal and like... 2 codex entries. some people dont even read the codex entries. and all of this is made even more insane because all of this was necessarily for him to be in-character as a trickster god cosplaying as a nerdy loser. and a lot of fellow solas lovers write off criticism of him or people who just dont like him as automatically wrong and invalid because "he becomes what you think of him" and while thats true, he basically becomes Pride or Wisdom depending on how the player treats him, it still presents an insane conundrum that has led us to this point of contention. but the worst part is i literally dont even know what else they wouldve done?? like i dont have any fixes for this LMFAO. making him bestie coded just so people liked him going forward would be completely out of character. i just find it so interesting that we have ended up here, and while obviously im personally glad there is such a narrative focus on him because i love him, and i think the way he molds to the perception of the player reflects the "expectation makes reality" concept that exists in spirits is a brilliant narrative tool (that also further suggests he was originally a spirit), it also makes perfect sense to me how he has become so divisive with people interpreting him as two entirely different characters, literally an evil pride demon or a beloved wisdom spirit, and i wonder how they are going to continue it in veilguard

[rassicas]

idk if this is the question box )scratching my head) but thank you for translating that interesting tidbit about the ink tank! It had me thinking.. How is the ink refilled in their tank? I kind of assumed a tube was connected somehow to their sacs like an iv lol.. I think im actually lost on how the mechanisms of the inktank work for the inkfish. Ik this game's logic and biology isnt meant to be taken apart like this though it's fun to ponder bout it. Id love to hear your thoughts! Thank you kindly

I'd definitely give this post a read as to why the "ink tank drains ink from the inkling" idea doesn't make a whole lot of sense. all we really have in terms of words from the devs is that the weapons are not hooked up to the ink tank and that ink comes from the wrist. it seems like itd be pointless strain on the inkling to drain more of their ink into the tank... which they would swallow back into their ink sac?

I think the way the ink tank is filled is just as simple as it being filled from the pressure of outside ink going into the tank, like putting an open bottle underwater. this would explain why your tank refills very fast when going under the ink. in the case of hi-tech turf war tanks, the flow of ink into the tank could be more controlled, and have filters to keep it clean. The speed that outside ink flows into the tank depends on your ink recovery ability. (I think abilities are like digital tags that interact with the ink tank) Limited ink challenges would just be disabling the function of the ink tank that allows it to take in ink from the outside.

As for agent 3, their ink tank is literally just a soda bottle held with rubber bands. refilling it could just be like. opening up the cap a bit or poking a hole. maybe cleanliness is less of an issue since this homemade tank is just for their scrap hunting adventures where they would just be swimming through and taking in their own ink, rather than playing a team sport that involves using ink that others have used. Also with how an ink tank THIS low-tech can exist, as well as how turf wars started out as a back-alley street sport played by kids, and how many thick items of clothing you can wear, that also pushes me away from the idea of ink tanks requiring medical equipment like needles and tubes directly into the ink sac through the back (though this was what i initially imagined too) Unfortunately, No matter if you view it as inkling->tank->weapon, or tank->inkling->weapon, or how the ink goes in or whatever, there's gonna be contradictions somewhere. i feel like these things have not been thought about in depth on the developer side, or at least are not wholly reflected in game, like how some of the visuals seem to point towards that it's inkling->tank->weapon somehow, like the way the ink tank passively refills when you stand. but I'm going to chalk that up to being a gameplay thing. Because after all, gameplay takes priority and Splatoon Is A Game, and this leads to things like subs and specials coming from seemingly nowhere. (I don't recommend thinking too hard about how a realistic in-universe turf war would work, unless you like headaches)

...Final note, the ink tank needing to drain from the ink sac to function also is a problem for say, if a non-inkfish wanted to play ink based sports, which is mentioned to be a Thing that happens in-universe. Since non inkfish dont die in water and can't respawn, i belive they'd have to play under a different ruleset.... for those who cant produce ink on their own, I think it'd make sense for them to play with the ink tank hooked up directly to the weapon.

[magicalgirlsirin]

the elysian realm: well written, poorly directed

NOTE: this post is an elysian realm critical look by a relative newcomer to hi3, i dont really have the grace of having played it as it came out. i enjoy the elysian realm, but in my opinion, its absolutely a mess with regards to storytelling.

Part 1: so no theme?

When I titled this post, I meant it quite literally. There's plenty of stuff within Elysian Realm that is well written, I'm not here to argue that it isn't (with some small caveats). Most characters are interesting and engaging, and have a wealth of available text to further their depth. The real problem here is that all that detail and work isn't in service of anything. There is no theme to the Elysian Realm, no point of narrative, no common through line. Elysia introduces us to the realm, implies there's a point, that the 'unfinished lives' of these 13 trailblazers is going to go somewhere, and then waffles the plot all the way from the initial game mode through Elysium Everlasting, with a final cinematic which I will get to later for my thoughts on why it doesn't work.

The initial game mode that kicks off the story is just oddly paced. The first chapter is relatively fine, just serving as an introduction to the realm and its mechanics both in and out of universe. One of the first questions I had was just "why does kevin have a weird basement paradise with ai copies of his mostly dead friends and then also a version of himself and hua who are still very much alive" and I'm loathe to report that the realm never bothers answering this question or elaborating on why it exists. At risk of sounding like HoC, it really is a meaningless diversion with pointless people existing redundantly.

The second and third chapters, however, are unforgivably bad. I realized upon reflection they were probably heavy focus on Mobius and Aponia respectively because their suits were debuting at the time (or something to that effect) but it feels like such an agonizing detour to focus on them with seemingly no other motive. Learning about the two furthers my understanding of the Flame Chasers as a unit, I Guess, but doesn't illuminate anything about the realm or even Elysia.

I will get back to Elysia.

Part 2: No really, why is Mei here?

Another major problem with the Elysian Realm is that Mei pretty much ceases to be a character. Even though she's the point of view, she barely expresses any of her own opinions, thoughts, or even basic input outside of rebuffing Elysia's attempts to flirt with her. Sure, she still has some snark and sass to her, especially when interacting with Kevin, but outside of that I can barely remember anything important she does. Which is crazy! I could easily describe any other contribution she's made to various chapter sets/arcs within the game, but the Elysian Realm is absolutely dead air.

This ties into the fact that the realm has no theme, there's not a point, so Mei isn't going on a character journey. You could argue that Elysia is influential to Mei's arc for gifting her the power of origin, but that's not really... character growth. Mei becomes origin because she accepts the blessings* and ideals of the Flame Chasers, but because she didn't learn dick or shit in the actual realm, everything kind of just rings hollow. Mei functionally is meant to be a stand in for you, the viewer, to self insert into the realm and imagine that you're the one interacting with everyone, which is such a disservice to Mei.

*I want to briefly sidebar to curb the misconception that Mei was given the power of origin because she collected all the signets, or that the point of the realm was to find someone to collect them all to have that power passed along to them. Mei getting the power is unrelated to the realm's existence as far as I'm concerned, given that Hua says this:

I trust that Hua is telling the truth here, mostly because she has no reason to lie to us. What this does leave us with is, unsurprisingly, still no answer on the purpose of the realm. Vague handwaving of Kevin saying that Mei has earned the right to "seek answers" only for the narrative to do a weird slight of hand where Aponia goes "now you get to know Elysia's secret because you defeated me kyaaaaa" is not the point. I doubt Kevin allows people into his basement for the possibility of finding out some dead chick from 50,000 years ago that no one outside of WS would actually know by name was secretly a herrscher.

Speaking of which.

Part 3: The Elysia was always a herrscher reveal is dumb

I know this is the most contentious part of the discourse™ when it comes to Elysia, but I cannot understate how stupid it is. I can accept retcons of herrscher order, begrudgingly but yes I will concede if the game wants to commit to it. What I cannot concede to is the game saying that Elysia was born a herrscher.

All the Flame Chasers got MANTIS surgery. This is a fact. Elysia received it as well. Don't you think like, I don't know, literally anyone involved in the procedure would have noticed she has honkai radiation off her like a nuclear bomb? This is such a basic hole in logic and it feels like the game almost wants you to forget that this is a thing, but I didn't, I've spent the past 2 months digging through all the realm game mode text to come to this conclusion.

I also have grift with the fact that she was a previous era herrscher with sapience, since a lot of the tragedy of the previous era is because of the loss of humanity. Kevin was fucking devastated by the HoF emergence, because he hesitated. He saw Murata's face and thought she was still in there. But she wasn't. Kalpas lost Emile to the HoD. Mobius lost Klein, not only to her own over-ambition, but to HoL. Sakura lost Rin to HoC. All of these are essential to their stories, and it's because those herrschers were just mindless tools, godproxy emanators of destruction with no higher order thinking skills. Only a will to subjugate humanity.

Oh but actually Elysia is a sweet and special perfect girl who never did anything wrong, she didn't betray anyone, she was always the bestest girl who loved humanity and was a friend to everyone because she's so lovable and you should love her too ❤️❤️❤️

Yeah no I'm not doing that. I want to make it clear that I actually really like Elysia, and it doesn't take much to fix the parts of her story that have no logic or retcon themselves in the span of a chapter. She's very close to being well written, which makes it all the more frustrating that the narrative continually bends around her to make her have less flaws. Elysia is pushy! She's overbearing, and tends to needle at people whenever she notices something. She forces Mobius to try on clothes she likes but Mobi doesn't, she constantly flirts with Mei and calls their hangouts dates even if Mei doesn't seem interested, she's a little selfish and plays pranks, all of this stuff is very endearing! I just can't deal with the other things the game does to try and make me like Ely more.

Part 4: Even if I try to fix it, the realm is broken

I could sit down and outline ways to fix Elysia's writing, the way the realm's story is structured, and it would be fine and dandy in service of smoothing over the stuff I didn't like about it, but you know what it wouldn't fix?

Mei.

Yeah I think we all just keep forgetting about Mei being in here. The thing is that because the Elysian Realm is such a dead weight in canon, you almost can't make Mei go through character development because it wouldn't flow into Transcending Finality in a comprehensible way, and this post isn't about the problems with the final chapter set of Part 1 (although I do promise I have some complaints about the writing choices in there too).

The realm treating Mei as a self insert, and not really serving her arc either, is seen most obviously in "Because of You", the ending cinematic. One that famously doesn't feature Mei at all in the fighting. The ender for this arc is Elysia, because all things start with Elysia. It's Elysia Impact all the way down, except for the part where it has literally no bearing on the main plot.

And that's the problem, isn't it? The only thing the realm really does is augment our understanding of Kevin, and only barely so if you want to split hairs about how Sim!Kevin isn't our Kevin, given that there's a few stray dialogue moments that actually go against Sim!Kevin and most other characters insistence that Kevin is an immovable rock of a man.

So at the end of it all, what do I even say? I love the realm, obsessed to death with it, all the characters are my favorites, well written, absolutely dogshit in terms of story direction. I find this contradiction to be reflective of Elysia, a character who exists only as a vessel for whatever the writer/story director thought would be cool, instead of making it mean anything.

[slimejugular]

ohhhhh im sure theres content of this or someone has thought about this before my apologies if that is the case. however I Really Want To Know about the pure vessel's life prior to the sacrifice

given that Ogrim in his dreamnail dialogue reflects on that there were other vessels seeing the existence of Ghost, its safe to assume that the Pale King's five knights were not privy to the atrocity that is the Abyss yadda yadda infanticide

Soooo its like. Here is how PK would approach this situation. "Here take this. my kid. train....them. but DONT do anything else only training" real quick I wonder how PK handled ***his image concerning PV. He would assuredly have some sort of guise going on to fool everyone, showcasing odd behavior towards his alleged child, avoiding use of their pronouns, or not saying their name, not displaying proper amounts of affection, a detached demeanor, etc.

anyway, off track, My point that I meant to address is that the five knights - hypothetically, unaware of the intentions behind the birth of the Pure Vessel, they very likely instilled ideas in them!! And I would much enjoy reading about that!! or to think about it more really

Instilled ideas 1 - Influences in PV's fighting style and other shit:

I recall someone's mention of what patterns there are from Godhome PV that are from Hegemol. The two masks of damage and the erratic instances of PV jumping seem similar...but what about the other knight that we can fight in the game? Ogrim? Who knows! His attacks I do not see embodied in PV whatsoever. And boy do I wonder about it. If not attacks, perhaps an influence in the way of the mind? Giving PV an unwanted sense of positivity and loyalty towards their fate, reflected in the way Ogrim carries himself so jubilant in present and his standing devotion to the Pale King. wwhich brings me to the next section , since the other knights can be only speculated on in their attacks.... But here it is despite that

PV's attacks alongside miscellaneous assumptions:

Said earlier, the random jumps and two masks of damage - Taught by Hegemol. Funny to think of the process of this. Jump, my child. And decimate your enemies with your weight.

Furthermore, on this -- Hegemol is a heavy looking guy in game, and I head canon that the carapace that makes up PV's grown body is verrrrry heavy. It contains properties of Void as well, which Void by itself is oppressive and emulates the feeling of "heaviness", so the natural heft of a bug's shell and the void combined makes for some substantial stuff. Younger vessels probably weigh less. Gives reason to why this attack is a thing.

the Lunging dash - I propose Dryya taught them this. No logistics behind this. She looks to be an agile bug, so I relate the attack to her for that.

Parry - I don't know ): Most basic thing in fighting ever. I mean their way of parrying looks interesting, but I would not exactly say it came from a specific knight or other bug.

I think itd be cute if this attack was taught to them by Hornet through her training with Vespa at the Hive, but it makes more sense for it to be the other way around (and this is also a cute alternative)

3 slashes across the area - I propose Ze'mer taught them this. The aggressiveness of it reminds me of the Mantis Tribe, which I should mention I like the interpretation of her attack style in the Pale Court mod. A commenter brought up how with her relation to the traitor lord's daughter, she was susceptible to influence by the mantis tribe fighting style.

Also notable is that the height of their in-game sprites is similar in height. They're both a similar amount of thickness (ish). I would imagine that Ze'mer would be the perfect bug to share with PV on how to take advantage of the space that they encompass (only applies to the vessel's prime form)

Any soul attacks e.g seven daggers, full-arena spikes, healing sequence - Taught primarily by the Pale King, being a higher being and all - the sigils look similar, uhh spikes, etc. Can lesser, non-higher being bugs even use soul? besides the soul master that is? I'm not versed in that knowledge. Sighh I would like to imagine Isma somewhere. Mayhap she helped with the process of learning to heal.

Void Tendrils - Special one! I do not believe this attack is attributed from anyone, rather self-taught, though the Pale King might have aided with the learning of it, seeing his own knowledge in void from the workshop in the White Palace. On the other hand, since he made constructs -- prim and prime, uncharacteristic of the uncontrollable look of this attack, I find it difficult to imagine...

Void walk/teleport - Special one part 2. May have been taught by the Pale King as a normal godly use of Soul to teleport, but it eventually morphed into using the power of the Void. Or could have been somewhat the opposite, PK teaching them how to utilize their void. Unsure.

***oh god this became too long i am going to resume it with a continued reblog another time

[choko-flan]

hi, are you still developing the game? or moved on to other things? i dont even know if you use tumblr or this account anymore, but really wanted to know

I'm super sorry I never got around answering your ask, I am a year late replying I hope that's okay. To answer your question I'm still developing Verloren, just been very slow at working on it. I've been focus on all the backend mechanics which is a lot of eventing. There's not really anything graphically interesting to show which is why there's been a lack of updates OTL.

I've also been reworking the story which means the 2020 demo no longer reflects the current game. Hopefully in the future I can put out a more accurate demo that reflects all the changes to the game. (also that demo would be longer) A little sneak peak at one of the things I've worked on is this save menu that I've evented. It's one of the things in the game I'm very proud of, feel like I've improved a lot with eventing in rpg maker. Do know everything here is placeholder art ^^;

Just thought before I go back being pretty inactivate that I answer messages that I've missed. I'll try to open this account to check for any random asks to not have to answer them years later like this. When I finally do come back I'll be sure to give a nice big update of all the new things in the game.

[anomymoussoapbar]

I'm proship/profiction because I understand that the content somebody creates or is interested in isn't a perfect reflection of how they are irl.

I trust that other proshippers understand how to separate fiction and reality.

I'm anti-censorship; I won't make any exceptions because we've seen in history that once you start making exceptions, it can lead to queer media also being demonized and banned (the best I can think off the top of my head is the trans institute that existed in nazi Germany, which had so many amazing trans resources, getting destroyed by nazis).

I believe people should be able to use art as an outlet for anything. Not every single thing in life needs to be censored, and people do often use art to process feelings and experiences.

I'm against harassing people for their art. Not only does harassing some internet stranger sound like a waste of time, it's bullying too. I don't want to be a bully.

I believe in "don't like, don't look, don't interact" (my own variation of don't like don't read). I have tools to block people and hide content I don't want to see. I'm going to use them. I am responsible for curating my own online experience.

I've seen people online who use proshipping as a coping mechanism. I don't understand how that's possible, but that doesn't really matter so long as those people are safe. I wouldn't deny a victim their coping mechanism unless it endangered their life because that's against my beliefs and I'm not a therapist, so that wouldn't even be my place to speak. I've noticed antis don't like these kinds of victims because they don't fit into the antis' perfect boxes of how they think victims should be, so they often harass and bully and claim victims need therapy/need better therapists. I find this ridiculous because in my and many other's experiences, therapy is inherently proship/profiction and antis ignore this/claim it's not true (idk how you can do that if you're not a psychologist but they're too far gone to argue with). And they don't even offer to pay for the therapy, lol.

Thank you for making this blog and being curious, you're amazing. Sorry that this is kinda long lol

Hello!!! :*)

Thank you so so so much for your views.

I find it interesting how you listed it and specifically how you explained "don't like don't look don't interact" [I really like how you phrased it :*)] which I myself see me doing a lot.

When I read through your explanation, I began getting vaguely reminded of those internet safety PSAs they would make kids watch when you are younger, of curating your own safe environment.

How to report bullying, and to not harass others online as well being points that made me think of those internet safety PSAs LOL

Something I find myself thinking about is on how a lot of what fiction can affect reality is a concern long ago that was likely brought by concerns by parents who were against video games saying it promoted violence.

I also find the idea of fictionally dark themes interesting, as I have realized I. Do often indulge in dark medias. In an oddly comforting way.

I really don't like how people harass proshippers, or anyone in general. And from what I have been gathering, not all proshippers indulge in dark thematics. Perhaps the majority, but the proshipping idea is simply respecting even if you dont share it.

Also, when you mentioned people not being exactly how they write or the creations they make, I realized how a lot of mainstream medias follow this. The creator of most Studio ghibli movies is COMPLETELY different from the peppy and cute movies he makes and the creator of popular horror Manga Junji ito makes a lot of horror visuals and grotesque stories however is just a sweet guy in real life.

I know I bring it up a lot in my posts, but a lot of why media can be triggering for me and sickening is when I see what reminds me of my own traumatic experiences [S/A /COCSA and grooming.] And how no matter how much I filter, it will always end up appearing.

As it makes me physically sick, revolted, and sadly reminds me of what I've so deeply buried.

However, I am ONE side of the S/A survivor victim experience and spectrum. The other is people who find comfort in exploring their feelings and it helps them understand on what happened to them.

And I love art. I express myself through art. I used to draw what happened to me and draw out how I felt with characters. But it would make me feel so much worse. As I am and was at the mental point of connecting so hard to the fictional reality which I built to be so much better than I was in.

I don't really know why I'm saying all of this, I guess I just want to lead to the fact that every survivor has their way of coping, and mine isn't the same as everyone else's. And I am still learning to accept that and educate myself on it. Because I do. I really do want to understand and take away my own personal stigmas.

I have so much more I would love to add but I feel I have been rambling for too long LOL

Oh my goodness I'm so sorry for ranting but anyways, thank you so much for the ask and informing me in this much detail. You are so so loved and appreciated. 💞🌸

[2cmtall]

oikawa x y/n scenario

Context: a scenario where oikawa and you help each other with your insecurities and struggles of self-loath.

A/n: a few years back I was really interested in Haikyuu, my favourite character being Oikawa (I almost always like the flirty, egotistical guys idk why 🤷‍♀️) and recently I decided to check out my pinterest board dedicated to this man. And that turned into me reading fanfics on tumblr an looking through pinterest. I'm honestly surprised that there are still people who like this show and there are some that still post about it. Even if you dont like/care for haikyuu or Oikawa, maybe this scenario in general could be interesting to you? 🙃

CW: I suppose themes involving self-loathing and feeling as though you're not pretty. Please excuse any misspellings or grammatical issues.

================================================

For him to have a relationship with somebody who is not conventionally pretty.

You're not ugly by any means but because you have never recieved any confessions or experiences of love by guys in school, this has caused you to question your beauty. You dont necessarily try to be beautiful, opting to get extra sleep and pick out quick outfits rather than take the extra effort, but that doesnt mean you don't care. You just don't know where to start and not much motivation to go beyond your comfort zone.

That is until you met oikawa. Now the romance wasn't sudden, as most love at first sight portrays conventionally beautiful people.

Oikawa is the type to usually receive affection/attention from cute girls so he assumed that look was normal. When both of you meet, you both didnt really care for each other. He was just a popular guy, and you were just a girl.

You became their teams manager because it was recommended by a fellow student, but while you got accepted and was working, you were sometimes reminded of the fact that some if not most guys wanted pretty managers, something that you apparently arent (not true).

Oikawa, despite his previous lack of feelings for you, noticed. He noticed because as the weeks when by, he grew to appreciate your work and had a bare jist of who your were. So when you adorned a deep sadness in big volleyball games or any other event involving other teams and their managers, he took note of it. He was able to find the source of the problem when after the games or as the teams were mingling, he heard comments about how you were the "ugly duckling" among the other managers, saying that they feel bad for the team that has to see you every practice.

This for some reason irked him. He usually ignored comments regarding the managers because he knew what most guys wanted, it wasnt his business to get into he thought. And if he had to be honest, back then and still a bit now (though only to go along with convo with other guys), he makes comments about pretty managers.

But his view has changed ever since he caught glimpses of your true self. What areas you were passionate about, your strengths, even some of your weaknesses he knew. He knew from your actions how you were caring and empathetic, wanting to make sure he didn't overwork himself. There were times where everyone was groaning at his antics (to be expected. no one can blame them), but you were off to the side silently laughing. There were times where hes made comments about Tobio's unending talent, and you reprimanded him lightly, reminding him of his own talents, even if he couldnt quite see it himself. There were moments where he swore you could see through to his true self by the way you look at him in deep thought. You have even joined him in his antics, copying his silly moves and laughing alongside him. And last but not least, hes seen your competence and skill as a manager. You still had a lot to learn as it was your first year, but you had the drive to reflect and be better, which is important in a manager.

So when he heard those rude comments, it irked him because they were discrediting your work and even indirectly insulted his own team! As if! You are one of the reasons why their team does so well. Hes had enough. Done with the blatant insults, he walks towards the nobodies with false politeness, a smile not reaching his eyes. He looks down at them and says "hello! Sorry to disturb your thrilling conversation, but I couldnt help but concern myself over the talk of my dear manager." Their quick shock at seeing the king himself quickly sobered with laughter as they realized his words. One of the guys spoke. "Oh man! Shes Aoba jousai's manager?! What were guys thinking in letting her join? Doesnt your school have tons of cute girls?" Oikawa isn't fazed. "Why of course we do! But unfortunately, not all of them have what it takes to be a competent manager like y/n."

He then leans in closer, his smile wiped from his face, and speaks in low tone causing the two boys to look petrified and angry at the same time, offending by whatever oikawa said and angry by his audacity. It was the type of look that you have seen players make when an opponent is stronger than them and is looking down upon them. It was a sight to see to watch them angrily walk away from a smug oikawa. Even more amusing to see oikawa then get hit by a flying ball, its owner none other than iwaizumi.

You had no idea why he would jump to make such an action, ruling out the possibility that he might have done it for your sake as to not make embarrassing and hasty assumptions (you arent exactly oblivious to signs, more so doubtful the romantic type of motivations apply to you). Your conclusive theory is that he did it to defend aoba jousai, as they did indirectly insult the team (and you saw the way his face twitched at the sneering boys at the mention of the team). But even so, you cant help but feel a little better, especially when oikawa gave you a big smile and a peace sign afterwards.

Eventually one thing leads to another and oikawa decides to help you out by offering to give you makeovers, go over skin routines and do your hair for you in the mornings whenever he gets the chance, reassuring you many times that hes willing to wake up extra early for this. You were still very wary about the idea, not wanting to be a nuisance or a chore for him but after a lot of persuasion and pleading, you hesitantly agreed.

He ended up being very serious about the whole process, going over different products and processes, giving you tips and advice for achieving the confidence and the look that accentuates the beauty that's already there. Of course he is still teasing you and performing his usual antics, but when he gets to the nitty gritty processes and whenever you start to feel down about your self, hes serious, a layer of concern in his features.

For your first treatment, he let you stay put and allow him to do all the work, wanting you get a feel for the products and to also treat you since he could see the worry and self loath in your eyes as his fingers go over the black heads on your nose and the blemishes and scars on your face. But he can also see the genuine interest in your eyes and he smiles to himself whenever you close your eyes and unforrow your brows, completely relaxed when hes lathering products on your face or applying make up. Hes patient with the parts you might be scared of, like curling your eyelashes (hes quick to point out the beauty in them. You might laugh in denial but he saw how you gave yourself another look in the mirror, seeing if what he said was true). The way he goes over hairstyles are amusing, but also therapeutic. He teases at first, messing up your hair and holding your hair in a weird way intentionally to lighten the mood, but when you give him full/semi-full creative freedom (depending on if you have looks you'd prefer or didnt want), he worked to give you one he thought fit your looks and needs well. It would be therapeutic because his fingers would sometimes graze your scalp/skin and he would hum to himself, his fingers working rhythmically. Hes grown to like whenever you close your eyes when hes giving you makeovers cause it means you trust him and found the experience relaxing.

Overall the experiences are calming and hes done, although there are still some doubts, after some reassurment, you look much happier. Hes caught you once or twice looking at yourself in the mirror and he cant help but smile seeing you obsess over his work. Over some weeks, you've grown to experiment and be more confident about your looks, looking much happier at school than previously before, and in those morning sessions, the two of you have talked and bonded over different topics, ranging in all levels of seriousness or lack thereof. Hes grown to like to you for who you are, every side that you show him, and you've grown to understand him at a deeper level as well. You've both helped each other, you with your confidence and him with his tendency to overwork himself, but noth of you have helped each other with the others tendency to self loath.

Your romance was slow, and it took a while before one of you confessed and for you to accept that oikawa loves you, but since you both had a sense of understanding your relationship was healthy.

Bonus: I think it would be cute if oikawa helped you in subjects/areas you have trouble understanding. Through your study/HW hangouts and oikawas dramatic antics and way of teaching, it helped strength your bond and to give yourself confidence that your capable of understanding any material as long as you have the motivation and the right learning strategies that work for you. You have both also took this time to watch previous volleyball matches where oikawa enthusiastically teaches you all there is to know about volleyball and the specific matches and players. It was very educational and you enjoyed seeing him passionately talking about it. It would also be cute if you two subconsciously watched close together, as if you were a couple.

[doomzday-zone]

I don't know if you're like Joking about the Midnight Motorist being about Into The Pit because if you have Genuine theories I want to hear it 👁️👁️

Also I don't get why people keep saying it's an ~unsolved mystery~ it's William Afton right? Am I just as confused as everyone in the FNAF community rn?

I've heard multiple theories about the midnight motorist, one that the Mustard man is in fact william afton and one that hes someone else entirely, and to that i say: both can be right!

we know that in ITP the rabbit isnt *exactly* william afton, but moreso a reflection of him and the horrors that happened at the freddy fazbears pizzeria years before. which would explain why the sprite is a decidedly yellow colour instead of Wills usual purple, and the fact that the rabbit disguises itself as oswalds father also explaining why the sprite is in the shape of a human man instead of a man sized rabbit.

The car being driven by the Mustard man in the game is a dark purple, in the ITP novel the colour of oswalds car isnt specified but in the game it is red </3 a possible explanation for this being that the car looks purple because its dark which is slightly less believable than the alternative, being the colour of the car is more symbolic 😌 calling back to William afton, which isnt completely unprecedented in the fnafverse generally if something is purple its expected to be connected the aftons in some way(for instance michael aftons corpse sprite being purple etc.)

Now.... Jr's. what could this possibly mean for into the pit? i need you to remember there are multiple endings in the game, ill come back to this in a second, in the game files the lore parts of the midnight motorist is called Later That Night. implying this is something we havent seen yet or possibly a different perspective on something we have seen- SO this COULD be either a) a continuation of something we saw in ITP or b) something entirely new. which brings me back to Jr's- you can remember the multiple game endings now<33

in the novel oswald and his dad dont Actually leave Jeffs Pizza, this could imply that something bad will happen again after the events of the story. and adding the game endings what ACTUALLY happened after everything is extremely vague. i propose that the events of MM happen later after the main events of ITP, and given that oswalds dad only wakes up in the pit After the death of the rabbit and since i already established earlier the rabbit is still alive, i also propose that oswalds father is most likely dead. now HERE IS WHERE JR'S COMES IN W THE IRON CHAIR IM SERIOUS THIS TIME:

Jr's is referenced as a restaurant from one source, but also theorized to be a bar, i dont think the distinction is super important but, the interaction with the green fella is mighty interesting "You're not allowed here, dont make this harder then it has to be" in this context this could be in reference to the scene at the house, the disguised rabbit is no longer allowed into the nearby establishments due to its reputation. 'dont make this harder then it has to be' is SUCH an interesting line too, not only implying that the Mustard man knows exactly why hes no longer allowed here, but also the subtle accusing tone and implying that the reason is not only a burden for the Mustard man to carry but that it also weighs pretty hard on the speaker. whatever it was, its serious.

"You know what you are. dont make this harder than it has to be"

Finally, the scene of the home. with the Mustard man identified as the Rabbit, the person sitting in front of the tv would be oswalds mother. we know from ITP based on how many times its mentioned and such that family tv time is SPECIFICALLY very important for them, so the fact we see her here now alone is very telling.

the Rabbit goes to the other room, the door is closed and cannot be opened, this is the only other room in the home that is accessible.(remember that oswald is an only child) the messages that play out when repeatedly going to the door are in reference to the Act revealed a little later but also symbolic of the thematic relevance of child abuse/abusive and controlling parental figures and dynamics in ITP. at the back of the house the window to the locked room is broken and there are footprints leading into the surrounding woods that being a persons footprints and larger set of what seem to be animatronic footprints, paired with the message "he ran off to that place again, when he gets back he'll be sorry" <- this is the Rabbit referring to the pit, and the boys eventual fate.

Lastly the empty lot and the mound are then symbolic of Jeffs Pizza an empty shadow of the former freddy fazbears pizzeria establishment, the pit itself, and what ended up happening to oswald. giving dual imagery for a rabbit burrow and an unmarked grave. Oswald is dead.

To wrap this all up, a summary: The Mustard man is the ITP Rabbit in a human disguise, after the events of the ITP novel oswalds dad is dead, cue the drive through the woods. at the house oswalds mother sits at the family television alone, talking to ghosts.(realistically you would probably hear your sons rooms window breaking regardless of whether or not its raining *which is still a possibility but just hear me out okay lol*, by the time the rabbit gets back to the home oswald is already dead and his mother knows it) oswalds rooms door is closed and cannot be open, he is not there. at the other end of the house there are a broken window and footprints, that of a child and an animatronic. at the empty lot there is a mound of dirt, cue the bad ending of ITP, the rabbit kills oswald, its over. the rabbit is no longer allowed in the nearby establishments, and most likely just like William afton before him nothing was done about the deaths.(also note the callback to the theme of a broken community and communal isolation in ITP, the community just goes about their normal activities *notice the decently full parking lot at Jr's* simply shunning the rabbit and wishing to forget *now think about the 'dont make this harder than it has to be line, this specific community has seen this tragedy before*)

((ALSO ‼️ dont have the energy to make a whole Bit abt it rn but obv this is all connected to Pizzeria Simulator by the ball pits.

and its lore relevant bc william is supposed to DIE in that game but comes back, which is made clear by the rabbit being in midnight motorist/its story implications n whatever u GET it yeehaw !!!))

but hey....... thats just a theory😏

[palant1r]

you disagree with buying hogwarts legacy on moral grounds (fair), but also think that nobody should be tainted by their association with ‘problematic’ media. how does that work?

i am going to choose to take this anon ask in good faith and assume you have legitimate interest in my thoughts on the distinction. under that framework, this is an interesting question i have a lot of thoughts on, so thanks for asking!

first, we need a definition for "problematic." In my post, i was specifically referring to fiction that depicts things that would be morally objectionable in real life — rape, incest, abuse, pedophilia, murder, etc. because that's most relevant to the proshipper/anti issue i was addressing in that post. however, that's certainly not the only kind of definition one could come up with. when we talk about immoral or problematic media, there are so many ways that could apply and so many things that could be talking about, each with their own ethical concerns. so let's offer up a few different kinds of "problematic" media.

fiction which depicts things that would be ethically wrong in real life -- think game of thrones, dead dove fanfiction, hannibal, lolita, etc

fiction which depicts things that would be ethically wrong in real life, but through a lens that misrepresents or romanticizes these things in a way that reflects poorly on the author's understanding of these real-world issues -- think fifty shades of gray

fiction where the content isn't the focus, but that content was produced by or with the involvement people who are, shall we say, unsavory -- pirates of the caribbean, enders game, harry potter

fiction where the production of the content involved breaches of ethics, and the art exists because immoral things were done -- the shining

and there are many more categories! we cannot have the same conversations about all of these kinds of media, because they each demand their own ethical and critical framework to assess how they affect their consumers and environment, and what constitutes responsible and thoughtful engagement.

if we view media consumption (a term i hate, but it serves our purposes) through the lens of harm reduction, then it's clear why category 1 and category 3 are different. im watching hannibal on tubi right now. this is not harming anyone. similarly, no one would be harmed and no harm would be enabled by me reading some dark fic on ao3. the objection to buying hogwarts legacy is one that's founded on political principles and harm reduction — that is, that monetarily participating in jkr's intellectual property directly enables her to use her influence and money to continue her anti-trans crusade in the UK. and that's a very specific objection. it's not just dependent on what kind of media hogwarts legacy is, but on who benefits from it and what those benefits will result in. i don't even have the same objection to fiction in the same category — i dont feel as strongly about people like, buying a PoTC dvd or a copy of enders game.

to elaborate a bit more on my objection to hogwarts legacy...my thoughts on hogwart's legacy aren't that anyone who buys it should be shunned and isn't a real ally. in fact, it's something im still grappling with, and i havent really pinned down my true thoughts. on one hand, i feel a great frustration with leftists who still buy harry potter media. but on the other hand, i also recognize that HP is still a massive cultural property, and many people in the real world simply do not recognize this concern — and that one person's purchase of a video game isn't going to singlehandedly run JKR's empire. the way i think about hogwarts legacy is far more akin to how i think about chic fil a than how i think about fifty shades of gray — it's part of the debate over ethical consumption under capitalism more than the debate over media. of course, that's not the only objection to hogwarts legacy. from what i've heard, it's pretty damn antisemitic, so i'd certainly side eye anyone i heard gushing about the plot or arguing it contains no bigotry. but that's not part of why i object to buying it, because i think that consuming bigoted media with a critical eye is a crucial part of learning how to dissect the underpinning ideologies involved.

this is part of why i reject the proshipper/anti framing, because so much of the argument seems to be based on the presupposition that a single critical framework can apply to literally every mode of engagement with every single work of art ever made, when my favorite part of media analysis is forming opinions and thoughts about specific works. like, the position of "no one should be tainted by their association with problematic media" is really only accurate to my opinion on category 1, and even then not unconditionally. part of media literacy is meeting each piece of art where it is, and forming thoughts and opinions based on that specific art and how it interfaces with reality, rather than applying a generalized template. for instance, i do actually think that how people engage with and think about art can reflect on their real world morals — but i draw conclusions from how they engage with a work of art, not the mere fact that they engage with that art.

TL:DR: the reason that i have different opinions on different things is because those things are different. nuance baybeeeeeeee

feel free to ask any follow up or clarifying questions!

[oswednesday]

If I'm interested in Unknown Armies, should I get the 2nd edition book or the .. four(?) 3rd edition books? I see you've recommended 2e a lot, but I'm curious what your take on the differences are + why to choose one over the other. Thank you! (:

its sort of like how dnd 3.5e vs 4e like those are two vastly different games but the vastness is only really noticeable when youre playing them, like both updated systems the game mechanics entwine development in a way that people dont find very flexible which gives both these games more of a boardgamey feel and i think thats reflective of like really really specific categories of classes that were previously covered by like wider variations; in addition if your entry point into tabletop is like a fate system 3e will feel familiar it will feel less like the coc style game it is in 2e i think is the biggest thing For Me, 2e is just The Most Perfect d100 chance system out there

[coconox]

my whb progress 2

as of apr 7, 2024

since whb's half anni has passed, i thought i'd do a progress check to reflect on how much has happened btwn now and this post

general info

lvl: 47

status: 🤨 mostly f2p

i say mostly cause i just recently broke the f2p status and bought bp for ppyong

i refuse to buy packs and in the future i'll prob be very selective over who i pick for bp (aka i wont buy every bp), so for the most part i'll just be having the f2p experience

when i started: launch (10/03 my timezone)

ver: erolabs

team setup

i finally have levi now lmao

sometimes i'll switch out one of the levis for attacker satan but this is what i use generally

everyone's lvls and artifacts

skill lvls (normal atk-ult-passive)

attacker mammon: 1-3-1

selfie mammon: 4-5-4

selfie satan: 4-4-1

selfie beel: 4-4-4

bloodshed levi: 3-3-1

selfie levi: 3-3-1

secret club

i only work on completing mammon's unholy board

stuck on needing attacker mammon's sig atm :'))

materials

too lazy to screenshot it all but im basically broke on pies, tears, pretzels (tbf i dont play the minigame whatsoever), red keys, yellow keys, and seals

everything else im either ok in supply or overflowing w it

overall thoughts / reflection

this section is for me to look back on in the future when i do progress posts. i'll break down this section into multiple parts similar to my prev post for consistency

STORY

honestly, its interesting in concept. since sadly only 1 chapter has released btwn now and my last post so thoughts havent really drastically changed

ch5 imo wasnt really a full on hades chapter. yes, it takes place in hades and yes we get some intro abt hades, but i think this was supposed to act more like a bridge to tartaros, which is prob why we didnt have any h scenes w any hades chars aside from levi. ofc we'll get back to it being hades-focused eventually, but the story for a while is most likely gonna pivot to tartaros bc of that big lore drop abt mammon at the end

i assume we'll prob be introduced to the cherubs in tartaros bc of selaphiel txting us near the end + it being mentioned at the end that theres a hub of angels in the lab, and hopefully part 2 of mammon's h scene. it was strange at first for mammon to only have 1 h scene, compared to satan or levi that had 2, but w him implying theres probably gonna be a part 2 in his h scene + we'll most likely see him again in ch6 (or however many chapters tartaros will be played out), we'll prob experience part 2 in his home country. tbh that prob just me inhaling MASSIVE hopium since mammon isnt rlly that popular but i can dream ok-

i hope us being in tartaros doesnt last for just 1 chapter. you cant condense the experiments tartaros went through to create a clone of mammon only for them to fail + bring up the fact that the seed is prob also in tartaros in just 1 chapter. well— technically you can, but not at the pace chapters are at atm. chapters have roughly 15 parts of story on the main branch, and imo that much info abt tartaros cant be condensed into 1 chapter unless if they make the story bits like WAY longer than what they normally do

GAMEPLAY

tl;dr as an endgame player, its too easy 💀

working on the spreadsheet ever since the games 1st month of release and now just recently testing multiple team comps, the "meta" is so monkos HSHFJDJ

this game is INSANELY dependent on you having more than 1 dps/tank light card. light is also just an unstoppable element and i wish the game was balanced a bit more to let other elements shine

enemies are now way too easy to defeat. ik i prob shouldnt be complaining abt this but pls im a pgr and neural cloud player at heart I NEED SOME CHALLENGE

ch3 and ch4 were prob the most tedious and awful chapters, but at least they actually made me think when it comes to battles. now i just place down chars and let it play in the bg while i go do smth else. ofc this may just be bc i have a team that im comfortable w using everywhere, but id like to see at least a bit more "challenge" outside of holy coin portal

also, for weekly achievements, lvling artifacts is not a great requirement

i only pull when theres a new s rank or when mammon is moved to standard, so its very, VERY rare compared to avg users. having the artifact req is essentially forcing me to pull during those gaps just so i could fulfill a weekly req which sucks. i also dont need to lvl anymore artifacts in general for my team comp. lvl 15 is the bare minimum i need to get through all content w ease, anything after that is just a small boost tbh

on the note of daily/weekly requirements, there needs to be more of them

i mean in a sense of theres still gonna be 9 daily achievements, but you get more options on HOW you get to the 9 daily achievement req. most gachas that ive played always have more options than necessary to fulfill the overall requirement to get all rewards, so having this strict number w strict reqs is rlly not that great tbh

RESOURCES

thoughts from last time still havent rlly changed. pies and candies especially are still rng dependent which sucks, and now there gonna revamp pancakes while also keeping the old pancakes ???? theres way too many currencies (w some even having very little to no use) atp which can and will get overwhelming for new players

GACHA

i hate solomon seals. you can tell that red keys were supposed to be the main gacha currency if you ever look at old packs, but smth happened along the way and now we have seals

pity is also way too high for what we're earning atm. based off of f2p earnings, every week we get roughly 1 pull of red keys, maybe 2 pulls of yellow keys (red and yellow keys are more dependent on the key boxes which again, dependent on rng), and 1 pull of solomon seals. this doesnt include the stuff earned outside of dailies/weeklies, and i think there should be more ways to earn said currency through dailies/weeklies and not be so dependent on either paying or pulling chars

speaking of pity, i wish we had pity for both of the standard banners

i also wish theyd separate char and artifacts into their own banners. that way, if someone has a char but needs their sig, they can just pull in the artifact-only banner and try to get said sig

tl;dr in general i wish everything wasnt so strict and rng dependent, also wish numbers made sense like why do we get at least 5 red keys a week when 1 pull is 3, JUST GIVE ME 6 KEYS ATP

so yeah thats all for now lmao. im pretty sure i have a lot more to say abt this game but my minds at a blank atm, so ig thatll be saved for the next progress post which will be around 1st anni