#it can happen sometimes right before cutscenes that they lose the will to fight but dont get to run away

[foxstens]

proof that ive gotten better at the game: guards now consistently run away from me

[passthroughtime]

well, aren’t you fucking stupid then

it amazes me how in LJ yagami is ready to save everyone and everything from the powers that be, UNLESS it’s kuwana. one might argue he’d learn something from okubo, but nooooo. granted, it’s not that simple of an equation (okubo’s “i didn't do anything” vs kuwana’s “i did it and feel no remorse”), but... yagami STILL struggles to see nuances of this particular situation.

and that’s ridiculous, because in any other case he’s more than ready to give a person another chance (to be heard/understood/supported/idk)

taking the school stories into account isn’t fair, but giving up on itokura never crossed yagami’s mind, even though she hurt seven people just because she was petty. he hopes that this isn’t what she wants deep in her heart, but is ready to let go if it is really. he talks to her, gives her the chance to accept his help and get out. he happens to be right, she doesn’t want this life. good for her. thank you yagami.

when he suspects sawa may be involved in mikoshiba’s murder, he still gives her a benefit of the doubt (after all, the screenshot above shows how he feels about her being connected to both murders, he just doesn’t want to jump to this conclusion because he knows her). he still goes and confronts her ofc, begs to make things clear, and after runs to her apartment when something troubling has suddenly happened that keeps her away from him, without thinking it can be a trap.

funny little tidbit in the main story as well:

who they are? idk! why does yagami suggest they don’t deserve to be punished? idk again! he’s just being a good guy i guess! (though i honestly think the last words should’ve been directed to kuwana. they always felt out of place to me, why would yagami think public security even has a use for that random dude? but kuwana... yet he can’t say that to his face for some stupid reason.)

kusumoto is a tricky one, because yagami blames both her and kuwana, but here’s the thing. he tries to convince him before he tries to convince her. time and time again yagami has the exact same conversation with kuwana, and only once with kusumoto (that’s undestandable though, BUT he pressures kuwana more in intensity time and time again vs the only chance he has with kusumoto).

an interesting thing here is what they are about to lose if kawai’s murder comes to light. kusumoto herself says it best:

kuwana will be tortured (to death), kusumoto’s political actions will be controlled. fair. the exact same.

btw she’s not the first one to tell yagami that kuwana is in grave danger. hell, yagami himself says (repeats) that to others.

but when kuwana says it to him, yagami suddenly doesn’t want to listen and doesn’t care that kuwana most probably going to die if he is about to go to the police (most obvious example of this exchange is shown before dig in your heels fight). which is kind of ridicuous, and may be the writers’ oversight, but i prefer to think that it is to show us how stagnant yagami’s beliefs may sometimes be.

yeah. tell me more. he literally says “i can excuse ANYONE but i draw the line at kuwana”. that is also considering that he still can save kuwana’s life, as opposite to emi and sawa. getting the truth of sawa’s murder out is retribution.

so, yeah, i believe that for the most part, his approach to justice is closer to punitive aspect than restorative, hence those all “i get how you feel, i know so well that it scares me”. yagami’s main problem with kuwana is that the latter decides himself what’s the right thing to do. it blinds him so much that he doesn’t care about what happens to kuwana after he surrenders to the police.

...to be fair to him, this is true only until the last cutscenes of the game.

this includes kuwana. i don’t care if i’m being delusional. it just does. the point here is that kuwana’s life is worth more than the justice system which is tend to be broken and redefined in the state that it is now.

...that’s not the point of this post though, so i’ll just shut up.

the whole “coming clear with your crimes” thing would work if both kuwana and kusumoto do that, simultaneously, not just kuwana. and yeah, yagami talks to them both, though in the end, kusumoto's confession seems to be enough. because for public security, kuwana is valuable as long as kusumoto’s secret is, uh, a secret. as well as he can’t be used as a scapegoat for soma’s crimes anymore, thanks to mafuyu and takano’s efforts to uncover this whole PS mess.

yet, yagami pressures kuwana the most. as if he’s not just a tool in a large-scale political game lol, and if his whole role in it wasn’t obvious to yagami from the beginning.

or what, he thinks if he was able to put himself in danger while investigating AD-9, and survive through it all, then anybody else can do it? kuwana is much more defenseless than yagami was, there’s nothing that would’ve protected him, or at least avenged the memory of him in the worst case scenario,

it fascinates me how yagami just... ignores the very real threat to kuwana’s life and his obvious insignificance in the grand scheme of things. idk. maybe yagami used kuwana more as an outlet for his frustration, but wow, that was fucking cruel of him to keep repeating to kuwana to go kys (sorry.)

during the boat’s scene, we can see in real time how yagami’s belief clash with each other: he knows that kuwana is about to be silenced for the greater good (the fate unfair to anyone), but kuwana is also a serial killer and that very kind of scum (who brushes away the consequences of his crimes) which doesn’t deserve to be saved.

^ i love this moment, how yagami still can’t figure out how to feel about him.

and then kuwana proves that he’s not, in fact, the kind of a person yagami despises, and the scales tip in his favor. yay. but kuwana is still a serial killer with no remorse to which he seems “deserving” of his justice. nay (?).

although, the problem is solved when kuwana uncovers his crimes. maybe, he won’t kill again, because going public with the reasoning behind them is good enough of a lesson (hard maybe).

but i think it’s beautiful, you know, in the end how yagami ends up losing his judgment of people, and that’s all just because of kuwana.

yes, it is a shippy post after all.

[bluepoodle7]

#Etsy #Yandre #YandereBoyfriend #YandereDatingSim #YourBoyfriendGame #YourBoyfriendGamePeter #PeterKing #HandmadePlush #HandmadeVideoGamePlushies #HandmadeYandereDatingSimPlush #Plushies

Thinking about this Handmade Your Boyfriend Plush and how well made this.

I remember seeing the creator's fanart of Eriko from Ilbleed and noticing the black/white motif on this character.

I knew who's oc this was.

I kept seeing this character getting popular after Manly did a let's play of this game.

I only know a couple of things that happen in the game but I also herd things behind in scenes.

I just hope this game gets finished and we get multiple endings.

I think Fuboo is making real plushies of Peter and the other but those will be chibi like.

But I like fullbody like plushies of video game character's that are human shaped but if they are cartoon animals then chibi is fine.

(Dating Sim Level Idea since Fuboo doesn't want Your Boyfriend in her Illbleed game.)

I just want a Illbleed Cork stage but like put a random dating sim level where you either die from the dater or get paired/trapped with them.

Also add the dater to your rescue party members and which character that is of age that you use the most they will crush on.

The ones you rarely use the dater will slowly kill while walking similar to Pokémon ruby/sapphire with a poisoned Pokémon while it loses Hp or just faints.

Also make the dater gaslight or intimidate other characters from using items.

Make the ones you rarely use start out with a high heart rate or bleeding a little but when dialogue plays the dater acts dumb by playing around the truth.

You can choose to let the villain of the level to kidnap and kill the dater or spare the dater by forgiving them for what they done but you lose party members which cost a lot to bring back.

You can also ignore or save the dater.

Once the dater dies the price to revive them is really pricey but you get a special ending for each choice you make.

The plot twist is that if you ignore to save the dater a cutscene plays when your character reaches the goal and it says CLEAR but then it falls apart then looks back to see the dater has killed the villain of the level.

Images, game, and video not mine but link is there.

37:41-37:51

Illbleed Stage 2 - The Revenge of Queen Worm - YouTube

Now you have to fight the dater in a battle using your least used character up to your most used.

The dater will hold back the attack if the most used character is in play.

The another cutscene will play if the dater defeated everyone but only cries about your most used character and if the player successful killed the dater they will become a ghost that you seal away in a jar then leave it in the stage they were in.

Another ending is where you let the dater defeat your most used character and the both of you make up.

The dater gets added for the next level and intimidates monsters.

The dater doesn't fall and crawl on the ground or gets spooked easily.

The dater will turn away any underage party members and if you keep picking that same character a new quick cutscene will play.

It would be that dater left one of two signs "Out to Lunch" and "Gone Fishing".

You either get kicked out of the movie, soft locked, or wait a whole day in real time to play the game right.

Instead of a warning mark or a story mark you get a choice mark.

When you scan and mark the choice the dater is questioning it makes a green orb then you walk up to it to collect it.

A cutscene will play the response.

The battle can either be just like a dating sim or a battle.

The dater's weapons are randomized before the final battle and sometimes a funny weapon will appear in battle which is rare.

For example a bubble gun, a worm on string, a plastic Halloween sword, a spinner top with spikes, weazel ball, or just a hard baguette bread.

For example a bubble gun, a worm on string, a plastic Halloween sword, a spinner top with spikes, weazel ball, or just a hard baguette bread.

When the dater is in your party they already start out with a weapon and can only pick up a second one since they already have a first weapon.

I have so many ideas for a Illbleed style game but not know how to make games.

Wish I knew.

I still like JohnDoeGame from MortisFox more since the world seems mysterious.

(Random thoughts you can ignore if you want below.)

Also my Oc Zable Fable would totally fall from the sky when first visiting his world since her realm jumping clicker would randomly send her there that way.

And fall on him by accident and apologize to him.

Then ask for a interview from him for her job.

Boyfriend Peter Plush Your Boyfriend Inspired Handmade Soft - Etsy

[nancydfan]

I think that Mia gets too bad of a rap from a lot of people.

Like yes, was she an agent of a super shady organization responsible for making a bio weapon that destroyed a great deal of lives? Yes. However we don’t know her motivation for joining them yet.

They could have lied honestly. Like The Connections could have advertised themselves to be a great, loving work environment and maybe Mia was young and naive and joined them. Or maybe she was desperate for money, and it was the only job that would hire her. Or hell, maybe she fully knew what they were and joined anyway, either on account of her morals being twisted back then or thinking that even though the company was evil maybe she could do good. Who knows, honestly.

Either way, with The Connections being a shady organization there’s like a very high chance that you don’t get to walk away from them alive. I’m sure if you quit they’d see you as a liability and take you out with no mercy. And that’s why I think Mia didn’t leave, because she knew she would be killed if she did, and maybe that’s why she took the job with Eveline, because it was more of a “you will do this or else” than an option for her (whether it was implied by her boss or if they were upfront about what bad things would happen if she didn’t take the job).

And maybe if her morals were twisted before I fully think meeting and falling in love with Ethan changed her if that was the case, because the Mia we see in RE7 and RE8 is a good person. We see that in how when the Baker’s rescue her she thanks them but tries to leave immediately and tries to warn them about staying away from Eveline (as shown in the note she left in the dlc “Daughters”). She could have tried to get them to call the hospital or her company but she didn’t, because she knew that she was under Eveline’s control and the longer she stayed there the more danger the family was. If she was a shitty person she wouldn’t have done this, she would have done everything she could to save herself.

We also see that in how she leaves a final video note for Ethan, telling him to stay away no matter what, because she didn’t want him to get dragged down in her mess. She knows how much Ethan loves her and I’m sure she knows if she sent a video saying “Ethan pls help” he’d come running for her, but she didn’t because she loves him and wants him to live even if she can’t be there with him. We see it AGAIN when she saves Ethan from Eveline’s grasp, when she tears him from the mold thing he was in and pushes him out so Eveline couldn’t hurt him. Fully knowing she’d have to face Eveline’s wrath.

And for everyone saying “why didn’t she just tell him then” I mean think about it. I think if this super shady organization found out someone they didn’t hire knew what was going on they’d kill them because again they’d be a liability and a threat. And that’s why she doesn’t tell Ethan because she doesn’t want him to be targeted and killed by them. I think if she had the opportunity she would have left The Connections but knows that it would result in her death anyway, and telling Ethan the truth would just end in his death if they found out and it was too risky in her mind.

And I think it’s this same form of protection that prevents her from telling Ethan he’s infected. She says (or at least we can assume that this was her) in Donna’s section that she didn’t tell him because she was afraid she’d lose him. I don’t think he’d divorce her if he found out he was molded (that doesn’t really make sense for his character), I think she was genuinely afraid he’d die (again) or worse begin to transform into a monster the way the rest of the infected did. And that’s why she keeps it hidden because she was scared to death he’d die or suffer a worse fate. Am I saying she was right in hiding it? No, but I think that everyone saying she’s manipulative and gaslighting are wrong because she truly loves Ethan and Rose, and I know she’d give her life gladly if it meant they could live.

I saw other people get mad because Rose is essentially being used as a bio weapon and how could Mia let this happen and I’m like?? She probably doesn’t have a say?? I mean yes Blue Umbrella is supposed to be “the good guys” now but like they’re still a huge organization, I’m sure Mia did her best to prevent this from happening and keep Rose safe but like at the end of the day what can she really do against a huge company?? If anything get mad at Chris because I’m sure he’s got some clout or something in that company that could have allowed Rose to live a normal life without Umbrella or maybe not being used as a weapon but idk 🤷🏻‍♀️ a lot of people were like “Mia’s sO annoying at the beginning of the game” but fam that wasn’t even her?? That’s Miranda?? Besides even if it was Mia that blew up on Ethan in the hospital (as per Ethan’s diary) 1.) people deal with trauma differently, and I’m not saying it’s healthy but she’s scarred and doing her best and 2.) probably was afraid if they talked too much about Louisiana Ethan would realize he was infected and then BAM he’s either dead or a mutated monster. And in the cutscene of Mia saying “you matter!” Can you imagine the stress of knowing your husband is Mr Mold Man and not being able to do anything about it, out of fear of what could happen to him? Like of course she’s upset and going to blow when provoked (not that Ethan was aggressive or anything just that he was prying into a very high pressure soda that is Mia’s emotions lol) because she’s been bottling this up and has no one to talk to, and after a while anyone would explode. I think she would have told him if he hadn’t answered that call. Also marriage is not rainbows and butterflies, sometimes you get into messy fights with your partner and sometimes you or the other person say things you don’t mean but at the end of the day you love each other and try to be better. If anything Capcom was depicting a normal marriage tbh.

At the end of the day Mia is not the bad guy. She is only human who tried her best to keep her family safe against all the odds and idc what anyone says, Ethan and Mia love each other and have a healthy relationship and that’s that.

I hope I do this ask justice cause this is the kinda ask I’ve been like hoping for cause you are absolutely gosh damn right.

I’m a chill person & I’m never gonna probably get up into someone’s face about anything cause it’s fandom. I’m not here to cater your experience. That being said, when I see some of these frankly bad takes on Mia I’m like

We know Jack shit about why Mia joined the Connections. Literally nothing so people who have a whole solidified nasty opinion of Mia should probably just sit down. You don’t have to like her. But you also could like, idk, be absolutely dead wrong cause lol Capcom went, yeah we’re not gonna explain any of that.

I got the impression that in between re7 and re8 that they are hiding from the connections too but I may have misunderstood that In re8. I think it makes sense it’s the type of organization you do not leave. No matter how badly you want to and once Ethan came along, do people really think she’d risk him? Spoiler alert: no, no she wouldn’t.

Also, re7 started w Alan. He’s the one that let eveline get out of control so...I feel like people forget that.

I’ve been talking to a friend about people using the Miranda Mia against the real Mia and I don’t know how to kindly tell people that the game kinda absolutely explained that’s not Mia? I do think Mias got a temper which makes sense because Ethan is so even tempered that he can balance her out better. But Miranda Mia was a fuckin bitch. She was needling Ethan’s pain and mocking him. Do people think Ethan sat around for three years taking that? Ethan’s a big boy. He can take care of himself. He was even fighting back w Miranda Mia so manipulative and abusive takes belong in the toilet w the rest of the shit.

Mia blowing up at Ethan means nothing. My parents have proven to me marriage is not easy. You will lose it on people when emotions run high. It happens. There’s a world of difference between a moment of anger versus abuse. But you still love and forgive people for moments of anger because we all have them. And I’m sure Ethan can be just as much as a pain in the ass. I love him more than most and I’d be the first person to admit I’m sure he didn’t make it easy all the time either.

Mia held the truth from Ethan because she was scared not just for her but for him too. It’s a selfless kind of lie. We all do them so I don’t know why Mia is getting burned at the stake for it. I’m just not movable on this. That was a heavy thing to carry and she was doing her best.

As for Rose, I don’t even know what Capcom is doing. How can anyone else know? She’s special and powerful. Maybe she wanted that life? I think we can reserve judgement until re9.

Like I said above, no one has to like Mia. Maybe you don’t vibe w her or maybe you still just don’t care for her. That’s cool. But my gosh don’t lie about the kind of person she is. If you can’t acknowledge her world and heart belongs to Ethan and Rose, I’m just not sure what to tell you.

Sorry for ranting on your ask nonnie 😆 I really appreciate that you sent this in! It needed said imo

[guynamedultimax]

What if Kirby had a traditional fighting game?

Listen, I know I should’ve done more “FNF fighting game characters” but i doubt anyone cared for that, and even then I lost a bit of interest, so if you actually cared sorry about that, you can still come up with whatever you want for the characters I didn’t talk about!

That being said, I think all Kirby fans here know Kirby Fighters 2. Personally speaking most of it was just the same as Kirby Fighters Deluxe BUT there were five playable Dream Friends. FIVE. Priority to the Copy Abilities a bit too high, isn’t it HAL? Sometimes it feels a bit barebones if you ask me. So I’m here to discuss what would a non-platform Kirby fighting game be.

THE GAMEPLAY

It’s the same as any basic fighting game, there isn’t really that much that the Kirby franchise can offer to make the genre a bit more varied, and that’s mostly due to the fact that Kirby makes friends wherever he goes and combat is pretty much straightforward in these platforming games, the crazy stuff comes from learning specific moves with each copy ability/character in the games and that’s also true for this game.

THE PLOT

I have quite a few ideas for how this can go:

-It’s a “what if” re-telling of Kirby Star Allies where Hyness’ ritual (somehow) also causes space-time rifts across the entire universe to be generated, pulling in Kirby villains from previous games but also allies, which would ALSO explain Dream Friends in the game’s canon a bit more properly.

-It happens in an AU. Plot would basically be Kirby Battle Royale’s but instead of shooting a loadshit of Kirbies onto Kirby, Dedede would just call upon all of their friends to fight for that cake before things escalate and Dedede loses control of the tournament to greater evils, forcing him to work with Kirby to stop the threat, be it old or new.

-Another AU idea but this time it’s original/based on Milky Way Wishes. Galactic NOVA appears every thousand years above Pop Star’s skies, and everyone tries to fight for the right to get the wish. Villain wouldn’t necessarily be ONLY Marx though, most of the Kirby villains could easily win against him if they get to NOVA and get their wish granted. Which means yes, all plots happen at once and Kirby has to deal with everyone at once.

-The least interesting idea: it’s Kirby Fighters 2′s plot but without tag team duos and with all Kirbies replaced with the roster.

THE ROSTER

Now we’re about to have some fun.

RETURNING CHARACTERS: The Dream Friends (and Kirby, of course)

-First up, all Dream Friends are coming back. You don’t even need to change their movesets that much, just add/tweak things, but just for funsies (and for a specific reason too) we’ll also give them specific copy abilities or more than one to categorize them.

-Kirby is the specific reason. He has the same moveset as his Smash Bros incarnation, although he incorporates more copy abilities (and also super powerful stuff like the Star Rod that he usually uses in endgame fights) in it now due to being a traditional fighting game. And yes, he still has his inhale. Using it will have the inhale be replaced by another move in-game, the closest one to a “neutral special” in the opponent’s arsenal. His copy ability is therefore, Smash Bros. And since the game has multiple super moves, we can make his gimmicks from the Kumazaki games the super moves: his level 1 would be a random Super Copy Ability from Return to Dreamland (cutscene is random everytime but damage is always the same), his level 2 would be using the Robobot Armor to stomp foes around, ending with a giant ground pound/fist to the ground and his level 3 is Hypernova Kirby due to the inhale being one of his most unique properties.

-Meta Knight and Dedede will also have heavy Smash influences but they’ll also use techniques from most of their boss fights, such as Meta Knight splitting himself in four clones temporarily for an attack or Dedede actually pulling out an axe instead of his hammer for some attacks based on his Triple Deluxe incarnation. Their copy abilities would formally be Sword and Hammer but with heavy Smash Bros inspiration. Meta can also call in for the Meta Knights to help him in one of his unique super moves. They’d all be there except for Sailor Dee and Captain Vul (one’s an alternate costume and the other is never seen outside of dialogue text).

-Bandana Waddle Dee’s moveset incorporates both Spear and Parasol, but due to the Spear being his most used tool he’ll be categorized with that.

-Marx is the first character with Unique as its own copy ability due to his arsenal being entirely based on his boss fight. Inhaling Unique characters doesn’t always allow Kirby to get copy abilities but when it happens he usually has their most basic move replacing the inhale. Gooey is in the same situation, but i have no idea what would Kirby get from him as an ability since he’s technically player 2 in the Dark Matter trilogy’s first 2 games. Rick, Kine and Coo would technically be categorized as Unique only because they have Fire, Water and Wind in their moveset. You could say they’d be stance characters while Marx is a zoner and Gooey a rushdown character.

-Dark Meta Knight is categorized as Mirror, and Adeleine (with Ribbon as an assist of course) is Artist. Daroach would be Animal, which is missing since its debut in Squeak Squad, as far as I can remember, but he naturally still retains his moveset of calling the Squeaks to help him.

-It’s pretty easy to categorize Magolor as ESP, and Taranza as Spider, while I have no idea what would Susie’s ability be even. Spark? She is mostly around in the Robobot Armor to be fair. The Three Mage-Sisters would be treated equally to the Animal Friends

THE NEWCOMERS

-NAGO, CHUCHU & PITCH: The other set of Animal Friends. I theorize a moveset revolving around the Cleaning ability like in Star Allies would be easy to make, although it can also incorporate moves from other abilities that have been in Dream Land 3.

-CHEF KAWASAKI: I think it’s safe to say this one is pretty easy to do just like the returning Dream Friends. He has a unique moveset in comparison to Chef Kirby that also has him use Kirby’s Final Smash from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

-LOLOLO & LALALA: Aside from pushing boxes and Gordos they can be the Ice Climbers of the game, and most importantly one of their super moves could have them fuse into their original form in the anime to reference that further.

-SHADOW KIRBY: A clone (in terms of moveset) for Kirby that lacks the inhale ability and has more attacks based on his appearances in Amazing Mirror (and also on Kirby’s unique ability to split in four in these games) and the Kirby Fighters spinoffs. Simple as it is.

-THE MIDBOSSES: They all play the same as their fights too, so doing a paragraph for each of them would be a bit redundant. I chose to add minibosses in because most of them are pretty iconic among Kirby enemies and some of them are also technically friends of Kirby’s. I picked Bonkers (whose coconut throwing and some special moves could make him different enough from Dedede if you ask me), Mr. Frosty (also because we don’t have an Ice-based character in the game), Buggzy (which I can see being the ultimate grappler), King Doo (because we don’t actually have a Waddle Doo in the roster and he’s technically not only their king but also the most unique of them) and Grand Wheelie (look, I like Wheel as an ability ok? it’s like playing as Sonic in a Kirby game)

-KNUCKLE JOE: Taking stuff from both his Star Allies moveset and his Assist Trophy from Ultimate PLUS a few references to the anime and you have the ultimate Shoto character in the Kirby franchise. Ryu mains, this is the character for you.

-GIM: Look, my three favorite abilities are Yo-Yo, Wheel and ESP, in no particular order, so I HAD to include him and the Grand Wheelie. Magolor covers for ESP enough. This lil fella looks more unique than most of the generic Kirby enemies and even among the copy ability ones he’s always been a bit of an oddball due to being a robot. The trickshots you can do with this copy ability make Gim perfect to camp, so he’d be a pretty good zoner as well.

-TAC: He’s been a Helper in Super Star where he also has an unique moveset. Expanding on it and on Tac being generally a copy ability thief could mean more copy abilities can be implemented in a moveset, probably even more than what Kirby can do. Also his design just screams potential to me.

DLC FIGHTERS

WAVE 1: Spinoff Dream Friends

Cuz these guys have been done dirty by Star Allies’ devs. Elline would be the other Artist character in the game and call for Claycia’s assistance in specific attacks. Prince Fluff would play mostly just like Kirby himself did in Kirby’s Epic Yarn and implement specific transformations in some attacks, ending with the tank one from the end of that game. Then we have Gryll. If you know how to make a Tetris/Puyo Puyo based character in a fighting game then good for you, I absolutely don’t know how. What I KNOW however is that she has a float like Peach’s in Smash Bros and I-No’s in Guilty Gear.

WAVE 2: Dream Villains

These guys would all play exactly like their boss fights. Hyness and Sectonia would remain mostly unchanged while Haltmann in terms of moveset is the same as Susie, just without every non-Robobot move that she has.

WAVE 3: Clash of Blades

THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S ALL ANIME SWORDFIGHTERS. They all pull from their boss fights, but Morpho Knight is gonna be a bit more unique compared to Galacta, Dark Meta and Meta Knight, having in the swordfighter equivalent of Akuma’s Raging Demon. Meanwhile, Dark Matter Swordsman and Galacta Knight are completely faithful to the source material, but they’d probably be a bit nerfed due to Galacta’s universe-breaking powers. (you can bet that if we get the remaining legendary heroes who sealed Void Termina in future games they’d be their own separate Wave 5 DLC pack)

WAVE 4: Revival of Old Faces

Nightmare and Drawcia are back and they’re here to stay! Their movesets don’t really need that much changes. Void however is an entirely different beast. He’d be a mix of Kirby, both Zero incarnations and Dark Matter. His design wouldn’t just be giant orb that switches between Kirby and Dark Matter faces, he’d be Kirby-sized and with legs and stubby lil arms like the pink puffball. And you can bet your ass he’d be broken as fuck.

SKINS

If a character’s appearance changed across the series’ history (like Marx Soul, Girl Blob Gooey, Shoppe Magolor, Mecha Knight, Dark Taranza/Taranza in the Super Kirby Clash games, Masked/Shadow Dedede, Anime!Knuckle Joe, Parallel/Pres. Parallel Susie, EX versions and so on) they’d just be an alternate skin/palette swap for the specific character. Multiple characters of the same species with little changes (like a normal Waddle Dee or Sailor Dee, or literally all Kirby colors including Keeby) are the same. I’m also debating on how Dark Mind would be a skin for Nightmare or if there’d be a skin inspired by him for the Dark Matter Swordsman. Zero and Zero Two would probably be turned into palette swaps/outfits for Void (imagine a white Kirby cosplaying as Zero Two that’d be so cute lol).

ATTACKING ASSIST CHARACTERS

Characters who appear in other characters’ attacks. Like the aforementioned Squeaks, Meta Knights and Claycia. Normal Dark Matter would appear in DM Swordsman’s attacks in some capacity outside of the eye laser and the Gordo Throw would return from Dedede’s previous Smash incarnations alongside the Waddle Dee Throw from Brawl. And naturally Magolor can call in the Lor Starcutter for one of his super moves. I am actually considering giving Tac the ability to throw random items/enemies at opponents, with the Bomber being one of these. It’d be a very RNG attack with the Bomber being the best outcome, blowing on the opponent’s face.

HELPERS

All characters in the game can be called on for an Helper attack, that can help you in some form against the opponent by either damaging or tampering with the opponent or by having you get healed or with some buff. Outside from the playable roster enemies that give you copy abilities would also be Helpers, but the specific ones I’m not so sure on.

BOSSES

Characters you can fight in Arcade mode, in Story mode or in a specific Boss mode. There’d also be a Ganon’s Fury (Hyrule Warriors) inspired mode where you’d play as the bosses pitting them against each other. I specifically picked Dyna Blade, Whispy Woods, Landia, Star Dream, Kracko, Great Edge, Pyribbit, Ice Dragon, Fire Lion, Masher, Grand Mam, Metal General, Kibble Blade and Pon & Con.

STAGES

There’d be quite a lot of stages, but I haven’t thought out specific ones except for Green Greens, Butter Building, a Ripple Star stage, one for Dedede’s castle with stage cameos by Tiff, Tuff and Escargoon from the anime and every final boss’s fighting arena.

THE MUSIC

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is gonna be nothing compared to this one. We’re getting all the important music from all pre-Kumazaki games, all music from Kumazaki games and spinoffs, and online arrangements with focus on orchestral (Desolo Zantas), metal (GaMetal, of course) and EDM (Acid Notation, Qumu and various others), including stuff like Itoki Hana’s vocal arrangements. We’re going all out on this one.

Aaaaand that’s it. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Stay hydrated.

[saintarchie]

Quicksilver

Sometimes being an evil genius means explaining your secret plans to yourself.

Outside Starkfort, the sentries are discussing the surprising news that the war is coming to an end, with the Swordbearers on the losing side. As one might expect, given how lackadaisical they were at the height of the conflict, they still make no attempt to stop us from entering.

Inside, the north staircase that was sealed shut last time we were here is now open, which I wasn’t actually expecting. Even with that option now available, I think it’ll still be west first. This direction was implied to be toxic by the journal diagram, but I suspect that might just mean it’s where Qada lives. Looks just like the east side so far. Oh, save point guy. Might mean there’s a fight coming.

Ah, it is Qada. All right. He’s still ranting to himself about Kamiizumi and his (in Qada’s view) outdated notions of pride and honour. He also suspects Kamiizumi was the one who stole the master sample, and contemplates using some of his own soldiers as test subjects in the development of a new one. Once he has it, he muses, he could go over Kamiizumi’s head and pitch it to the Eternian leadership directly.

Edea doesn’t think the Marshal would go for that, and says so, to Qada’s surprise. As it turns out, for Edea, all the stuff he just said was Fighting Words, and so now it’s Go Time.

Predictably, his opening gambit is a poison attack. A pretty powerful one at that. And he can heal himself. Or not? Oh, it’s a gimmick that heals him automatically every turn. Of course.

...

“Dealt user’s missing HP in damage”

...

What the fuck? That is unbelievably broken. He has 40,000 HP, what the fuck? There doesn’t seem to be any kind of limit on its use either. What the fuck. How the hell do you beat that? That self-healing thing never seems to wear off either. Fuck.

No, this isn’t happening with my current line-up; better reset and put together a party specifically designed to win this fight. Which admittedly is how the game is meant to be played, but this is the first time I’ve had to actually do it. Even with Chaugmar I was ultimately able to get by using the same party I stumbled in with. This guy? Not so much.

[some time later]

Right. Multiple healers, multiple summoners and a hunter/valkyrie hybrid, all of whom are immune to poison. Let’s see him shrug this off. Oh yeah, this is more like it. Still a struggle, but now we’re doing enough damage each turn to offset the healing gimmick. As long as he doesn’t spam that dark breath too much, we should get him eventually.

[eventually]

YES. Got him. Fucking finally.

Qada laments all the experiments that will now go unfinished and then dies rather theatrically. Meanwhile, I get the salve-maker apostrophe, which comes with a new game mechanic, based around combining things to make other things(?) Could be interesting. Anyway, probably best to go heal before trying the north section, so let’s head back out.

And here’s a cutscene. It seems Qada faked his death(!), and is now planning to use this opportunity to flee Starkfort and go AWOL. I know this because he explains this plan to himself, out loud, while still inside the fortress he intends to desert.

This has the expected result, as an unseen observer has overheard him and actually responds, asking if he intends to flee again(?) Qada answers(?) in the affirmative, justifying the act as simply doing what he must to survive. If he survives, he reasons, his fortunes are bound to reverse eventually, especially as he still has his chemical weapons knowledge.

He then goes on to talk, out loud(!), to an unidentified person(!!) about his intention to come back and kill everyone on both sides(!!!) Shockingly, this ends badly for him, when it turns out that the person he was speaking to, here in the Black Blades’ base of operations, about his plan to kill the Black Blades, was one of the Black Blades.

In fact, it’s Kamiizumi, who, having clearly been waiting for an excuse, wastes no time in dispatching Qada, for real this time. And so the moral of the story is “Don’t interrupt faking your own death to discuss your treasonous plans with an unidentified person who has a suspiciously similar voice to your immediate superior.” Which is a bit specific, but undoubtedly sound advice.

[umbralstars]

Basically an "All you need to know" about how I personally write Byleth/All of my Byleth headcanons. This is probably not everything but it's still long enough I have to put it under the cut.

* His birthday is 26 day of Blue Sea Star Moon 1159

- I know that 20 of Horsebow is probably the canon date but I've always used this one since my first playthrough and keep it cause I find it funny

* Byleth has all kinds of memory issues

* Demi-panromantic & demisexual

*Trans masc (He/Him & They/Them)

- He remembers and has dreams of things that are from when Sothis was alive

- He sometimes has trouble recalling facts about the world he lives in (such as who is currently ruling, his teaching plans or things that he has taught before, sometimes can't recall where he is). He keeps a journal of important things that he saw, learned, needs to know etc

+ Caused by being misaligned with Sothis' soul and her consciousness trying to overtake his own

+ He doesn't lose memories outright and can recall things if given the right direction. Once a memory is solidified as more long term it's much harder for him to forget it

- Sothis' memories can cause bad flashbacks that can take him minutes to get out of

+ Jeralt and the other mercenaries look out for him when episodes happen. They often have him talk about them afterwards if he wants too (ie like Jeralt and Byleth's conversation at the beginning of the game after the dream about Seiros/meeting with Sothis)

+ He can't speak during them and gets very spacey

- Fighting and strategy is instinctual for him so memory issues in those areas are non-existent

- When his soul fuses with Sothis' his memory problems mostly cease. All the memories about his own life are permanently solidified and he can somewhat tell the difference between his memories and Sothis'. He still can be paralyzed by her memories but has a much easier time getting out of dazes

* Has a love for learning about the history and culture of Fodlan and everywhere else

- When he was little Jeralt would often tell him stories and folktales about Fodlan while they were riding across the country side. The pre-month cutscenes during White Clouds are Byleth recalling those stories

- Loves learning about the places outside of Fodlan just as much as learning about Fodlan itself

- His favorite books are about history or folklore

* At a crossroad between trusting people implicitly and keeping others at arm's length

- His life as a mercenary certainly wasn't easy, even though he doesn't resent it, so he tends towards giving others the benefit of the doubt even when he may doubt their intentions. Cautiously trusting if you will. Some people may view him as naive because he's willing to trust off the bat and he's fine with that.

- Does fall in line with mercs not really trusting nobles but he points that more towards the parents currently in power and not the kids he knows

- Goddess help you if you break his trust. Once you break his trust it's very hard to actually get it back unless you give him cause for why it was broken in the first place

* Very protective of the people he cares about

- Death or injury of people he care for has always been his biggest fear. His family has always tried to tell him it's just a fact of life, their life especially, but he would rather fight tooth and nail to keep someone alive then to just let them die

* Really good with children actually

* Takes his job as a teacher very seriously. He knows how rough Fodlan and fighting can be, so wants to impart good lessons in the hopes of making his students' lives easier. He knows that some of them have already seen horrors or have been on battlefields, so he treats each person accordingly

* Has a really bad resting bitch face so people think he's really intense/scary when first meeting him

- He has complicated feelings towards being perceived as "intense" or "terrifying" since on one hand it's very useful when he needs to be perceived that way, but on the other hand he feels like that first impression makes it hard to connect with people afterward

- He doesn't ever go out of his way to make people perceive him differently mostly because it would be a hassle and he's thinks people who really know him would understand he's not like that

* Byleth is actually very introverted and somewhat has social anxiety

- He spent almost his entire life around the same people moving from place to place so introversion aside he's not the most experienced about talking to new people

- He never stops people when they want to talk and doesn't really hate talking to people it's just that he doesn't go out of his way to do it unless he likes talking to someone or it's important

* Jeralt's mercenary company is his family and the people he's closest to until Garreg Mach. The Mercenaries are an elite group of about 13 people of various backgrounds

- All of them are basically his aunts and uncles cause they practically raised him alongside Jeralt. He does call a lot of them Aunt and Uncle as well

- One or two are also like siblings to him cause they joined with their parent or when they were younger (like 15)

- They were the only people able to get close to Byleth or get him to talk for the first week or so after Jeralt's death

- I need to expand on them more cause they're very important to me and him

* Byleth has trouble outwardly expressing emotions and understanding his own. He actually feels very deeply but just has trouble really expressing it. Very monotone and straight to the point when he speaks and only slight shifts in tone tells how he's really feeling. Actually has hyper empathy

- Grew up like this despite Jeralt and the Mercenaries' best efforts. Jeralt was always best as reading him because he acted so much like Sitri

- Caused once again by a misalignment with Sothis' soul

- After his awakening, Byleth has a better ability to express himself, and even took on some of Sothis' characteristics, but he still has trouble explaining or talking about what he's feeling

* Generally very calming to be around for most people. Won't ever force anyone to talk but will talk if you start conversation

* Has done some very questionable work as a mercenary

- He has taken on a few assassinations in the past despite Jeralt's insistence he never get his hands dirty like that. The Remire Medicine Incident is one not spoken of much within the company

- He's dealt with brigands, putting down rebellions, guarding caravans, guarding nobles, helping train the standing armies, etc everything under the sun. Will practically do anything if the pay is right

- He does have standards and expects a full rundown of the job beforehand like his father and the rest of the company though

* Loves cats and dogs

* Actually pretty religious and devout by the time of his awakening

- He wasn't completely raised without knowledge of the Church as some of the mercenaries are religious, but he was agnostic for a good portion of his life

- As he lived at Garreg Mach and learned more about the Church's teachings he grew to appreciate it more and more

- Rhea taught him a lot during his many conversations with her

- As Archbishop he does his best to learn every aspect of the Church and exemplify them best he can. Really emphasizes giving aid to those in need, leans heavily into the "Goddess" aspect of his soul, reforms many aspects whilst keeping the core of the faith

- Personally speaks to Sothis on more of an equal and friend level then true God and devotee

- Does become known as the Holy Saint and Avatar of the Goddess within the Church years after he steps down as Archbishop. Doesn't really know how to feel about it but can't say his inclusion is wrong

* Byleth doesn't have the highest opinion of Edelgard

- As I write AM/VW Byleth he was never close to Edelgard at all during his time at Garreg Mach

- He really only sees her as the person who started the whole continental war (which he despises as he very much dislikes war in its entirety) and the person he believes to at least be complicit in his father's death (do not debate with me how much Edelgard knew Kronya's plan. This is entirely how Byleth views what happened)

- He never wished for her death, but does view her as someone very misguided and only wishes she never went as far as she did

* Very terrified of sleep after waking up post-Time Skip

- Fears falling asleep and loose more parts of his life an leaving everyone behind again

- Prefers to have someone close by who can wake him or being woken up in the morning

- Got into the unhealthy habit of just working himself into exhaustion and having a very irregular sleep schedule until his friends had an intervention to talk about what was going on

[oh-boy-me]

:0 could I have a beel,asmo,belphie,lucifer,mammon, satan (not including levi) and diavolo playing videogames? I thought it would be kinda funny since they're all really old- except for levi of course haha

Ohhh this should be fun!

Decided to do individual HCs for this one instead of a group thing so they wouldn’t be limited to multiplayer games.

Most of them, save for a certain prince, have been exposed to games a fair amount by proximity to Levi.

---

Lucifer:

Lucifer has a Mononoke Land account so that he’ll get the email notifications for events and can therefore keep track of Levi’s whereabouts.  He’s never played the game, though, nor downloaded the app, and he has no intention of doing so.

In general, he’s not much of a gamer.  The most gaming he gets done is minesweeper on Windows XP.  He doesn’t have the time, and it was never something he could get into.

That isn’t to say that he owns zero games, though.  His favorite genre is turn-based strategy, because he can afford to look away from them, and they make him think and plan.

He doesn’t like the hyper-realistic ones, though.  Things like Civilization and Here Be Dragons are up his alley, Hearts of Iron not so much.

He doesn’t care too much about the story, but a good soundtrack is mandatory.

Also he’s an old man so the controls also have to be intuitive or he just won’t be able to play.  Why is he jumping when he presses A he thought that was the attack button.

The type of player who needs to get every achievement.  A completionist.

When the group gets together for the rare multiplayer night, he has no idea what he’s doing and yet still manages to do well.  It’s kind of infuriating.

He won’t make alliances with anyone, no, it’s every man for himself.  He also actively targets Mammon no matter what game they’re playing.

The fact that he doesn’t really get it protects his pride when Levi inevitably wipes the floor with him.

Mammon:

Mammon actually does game a little bit in his spare time, mostly with Levi.  He’s got a couple consoles and is more open to different genres than Lucifer is.

He thrives in any game where the main goal is to rack up as many points or as much profit as possible.  He’s undefeated in tycoons and pinball.  (Tetris is an exception; he’s terrible at Tetris.  Stupid spacial recognition.)

The RNG elements boil down to his insane luck, but he’s actually very smart when it comes to investments and stuff, so it’s not like he’s only using his luck to get by.

If the games have multiplayer, even better!  Nothing like kicking Levi, MC and Belphie’s asses in a game of Fortune Street!

He also tends to like the action-focused games that Levi plays.  Not so much into turn-based RPGs, but he enjoys stuff where the enemies spawn, like in Zelda or Rune Factory.  And he’s great at button mashing in fighting games, although Levi, who actually knows how to play them, always beats him.

Mammon uses items as soon as he gets them, and is too busy rushing a boss to care about learning its patterns and strategizing.

Skips cutscenes even on his first run.  Levi and Satan hate him for it.

Like mentioned before, he gets an unfair disadvantage in game nights because everyone targets him.  Especially in those games with RNG, because otherwise he WILL win.

He’s banned from PTW games because he will indeed PTW.

Satan:

Satan is another one who doesn’t play too many games, and that might be for the best because he’s a nightmare to play with.

The sorest loser, and a pretty nasty winner too.  He insists on the hardest difficulty and then rage quits at the slightest inconvenience.

He will play when prompted, though; he’s not above hanging out with his brothers.  His favorite sorts of games are ones with a good story and/or good puzzles.  His planning is more on the tactics side, as opposed to Lucifer’s strategy, so he would love Fire Emblem.

He WILL drop a game if the story isn’t holding his attention, and he’s done so in the past.

Overly cautious and hoards resources.  He takes the safe route every time.

Also another completionist.

Beel would often ask Satan to help him find out which art pieces were originals and safe to buy in Animal Crossing, and Satan got a little bit interested and ended up making a resident on Beel’s cartridge so the donations could be in his name.  He went on a mini-campaign to drive out the residents he didn’t like, but one of them turned out to be Beel's favorite and he felt terrible about it for weeks.

During family game nights, everyone is always torn between appeasing Satan and telling him to deal with it when he loses.

He also gets angry if he catches on to the fact that they’re letting him win, though.

Probably a genwunner.

Asmodeus:

Asmo enjoys video games.  They don’t fit into his aesthetic so he’s never really tried to understand them, but he doesn’t dislike them by any means.

Gaming is becoming more mainstream though, right?  That’s a whole new audience that could appreciate him.  Maybe, just maybe, he can let himself be a bit of a geek.

Unsurprisingly, he’s got a penchant for games with customization options.  Surprisingly, he also really enjoys FPS games.  If he and Levi ever played at the same time, it would be chaos in the House of Lamentation.

As opposed to his in-your-face attitude, he likes to play sniper units.

He said he wants to tap into the gaming community, but he’s not very good at most of the games he plays so he’s too embarrassed to actually do so.  He does, however, play the Sims on livestream.  He does his best to make the steamiest and most dramatic scenarios happen, and he’ll hold strawpolls to let his viewers make some choices.

Asmo also plays Animal Crossing like a few other brothers, but his island is so well groomed and with just the right residents, it feels like you’re touring an uncanny dystopia and Asmo is the dictator.

When the group gets together, he usually ends up doing the worst.  He’s more interested in executing perfect combos than actually dealing damage, so he’s not aggressive enough to get anything done against players like Levi and Satan.

He’s also not very good at teamwork; he starts yelling at his partner very quickly.

Beelzebub:

Beel doesn’t have a lot of “gamer” in him, but some of his brothers seem to like it so he decided to give it a go.  Turns out his hands are too big, but he makes do.  Kind of.

You’d expect a sports game to be the best for him, since he’s so athletic.  However, it’s BECAUSE he’s so athletic that this sort of game isn’t in his library.  He gets too antsy and bored tapping buttons instead of actually playing the sport.

Beel’s also not an aggressive player in any sense of the word.  He feels guilty even hurting the most basic of slimes.

No, no games are better for Beel than the stress-free, casual life simulators.  Animal Crossing is no surprise his favorite one right now.  Satan handles the museum for him while Beel gets to do whatever he feels like in a world where the biggest threat is a wasp.

He’ll also play other low stakes games where living your life is the main goal, like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley.  His big heart can never choose who to marry in those games.

Horror is also ok for him, because while aggression is hard for him, self-defense is not.

He got the Cooking Mama app on his D.D.D. and bit the device in half, so he’s not allowed to touch that franchise anymore.

When the gang meets up, his non-aggressive side sticks around.  In fighting games, he’s more likely to dodge and steer clear of the others, and in other versus games he’s so open to compromise you’d think you were on the same team.

Satan did get him his favorite resident back.

Belphegor:

Belphie probably games the second most after Levi; it’s something that keeps him entertained but doesn’t require him to move very much at all.

I actually have no idea how to describe his preferred genres, but League of Legends and Dark Souls is basically all you need to know.

League lets him socialize a bit, and it’s the game that he and Levi play together most often.  As for Dark Souls, he loves the sort of game where learning your opponent’s every move and outsmarting/outmaneuvering them is the only path to victory.

I guess that would be described as “really hard action-adventure” games?  He’d also like Sekiro.

He also has his own copy of Animal Crossing to visit and play with Beel, but his island is so underdeveloped you’d think he started that same week.

Belphie is the true wild card of family game nights; sometimes he sleeps through the whole thing, while other times he can take down even Levi.

He has everyone’s habits down to a T--Mammon charges in, Asmo does too much setup, Levi’s overconfident--and he knows how to counter each and every one of them.

For someone who’s so much of a cunning player, though, he also misclicks a lot.

He’s the most likely out of his brothers to make alliances.  He’s also the most likely to break alliances.

If he doesn’t think he can win, he’ll choose a player and start sabotaging the game in their favor.

Diavolo:

Lord Diavolo had read about like, Mario?  The little blue hedgehog guy?  But he’d never owned a gaming console before.  He probably thought Neopets was peak gaming.

Levi swore to fix this grievous error, and this was also a mistake, because now Diavolo keeps trying to get Lucifer to play all these hack and slash games with him.

He has legitimately told Lucifer that “if you don’t play Devil May Cry with me THIS devil may cry!”

The games need to always have something happening in them or he’ll get bored, kind of like Satan’s need for a good story, except with action.

It’s also worth mentioning that “play a game with Diavolo” actually means “sit in the same room as Diavolo while he plays.”

And oh boy… is he terrible at these games.

He just button mashes until either he dies or all the enemies die.

Never uses any of the items he gets because he’s sure he’ll need them more later on.  When, Diavolo?  During the staff roll?

Will bomb a door before trying the knob.

Since he’s usually only around Lucifer, who doesn’t want to get sucked into this, and Barbatos, who honestly couldn’t care less about this, he’s been left alone and free to develop these terrible gaming habits.

It’s rare that he comes to family gaming night.  Legend has it that Lucifer’s piercing glare is somehow connected to the fact that his brothers always let Diavolo win.

Masterlist

[hollowisthyname]

Hello, Icarus! Please infodump to me about Danganronpa?

okay so! I had written out a whole thing but then tumblr deleted it! so that was fun! /s but now that I know what I'm going to write it's much easier, so that's good 😌

n e ways, I'm gonna do like a basic timeline w explanations and some other stuff that hopefully I'll remember once I start writing!! so let's go :D

a list of everything danganronpa in chronological order (not the order that you should play/watch the stuff in, I'll put that in the explanations)

Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Despair Arc (DR3) - second anime, watch along with the Future and Hope arcs after playing the first two games (and UDG if you want to). backstory for the cast of the second game.

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (THH) - first main game, play first. also has an anime that's basically the same as the game, but since there's not enough time to put everything from the game into the anime I definitely recommend playing the game. high school students from a prestigious school trapped in said school are forced to play a killing game, hijinks ensue.

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (UDG) - third game, not main. play after playing the first two games. very different game mechanics from the main three, and widely considered not cannon by the fandom. I like it though, and it introduces a lot of really interesting characters along with giving a v underdeveloped character from the first game a lot more character development. it's not necessary to play it (though one of the characters plays a pretty big part in the third anime, so that would make more sense if you already knew her), but I think it's interesting and fun. there are also robot fights.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (DR2 or SDR2) - second main game, play after playing the first game. same basic premise as the first game, except it's a different class (same school though) and this time they're on an island. even more hijinks and plot twists than the first game.

Super Danganronpa 2.5: Komaeda Nagito to Sekai no Hakaimono - (I could only find the Japanese title for this one, sorry 😔) kinda also part of the second anime? watch after playing the first two games (and UDG if you want) and watching DR3. character is woken up from a coma via overdramatic and overpowered other character.

Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Future and Hope Arcs (DR3) - second anime, watch along with the Despair arc after playing the first two games (and UDG if you want to). aftermath of the first two games.

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (DRV3) - third main game, fourth game in total. I don't actually know when it happens bc they're v secretive about everything, so I'm just putting it last. play last. same premise as the first two, the class is trapped in a school with a courtyard and a huge sort of dome around everything. peak hijinks, too many plot twists to count.

woo!! that's the timeline as I know it, hopefully I didn't miss anything. and I have managed to remember what else I was going to say, so let's move on to section two:

the mechanics of the games

danganronpa is, at its core, a glorified visual novel. every character has a certain amount of sprites for when they talk, as well as voice lines that aren't usually the exact text on the screen but fit the vibe of whatever they're saying. and as I've said before, there's quite a lot of talking. these games have more plot than should really be possible and most or all of it is done through dialogue. cutscenes and class trials are the only parts that are reliably fully voice acted, but there are a lot of those.

as for the parts that are less visual novel-y: you can walk around, and the settings are pretty much as 3d as the 2d-ish style of the game allows. you can also click on things, and sometimes clicking on stuff will get you monocoins, the currency of the game, which means you'll be able to buy presents for the characters!!

"now why do I need presents for the characters?" you ask. well, that's because you're given a certain amount of free time each game to hang out with characters you want to get to know better! the game's ending is fixed, so you won't change the course of the game by who you do or don't hang out with, but you can learn more about characters and become closer to them! giving them presents they like makes them like you more :D

and the most exciting part of danganronpa, what a lot of people play the games for, the true lure of the game.... the class trials!!

so these characters are in a killing game, right? basically, they're faced with a sort of lose-lose predicament: stay trapped in the school forever, or kill one of your classmates to "graduate". but it's not as simple as that, because in order to graduate, you can't be caught. and how do you determine whether or not a criminal has been found out? well, a trial of course!

enter the class trials. every student (barring dead or severely wounded ones) is required to participate in a kind of mock trial- except someone's really dead, and they need to find the murderer or they'll all die too.

(right, did I forget to mention that? only one person can graduate. getting out alive insures that none of your classmates get the luxury of doing the same.)

so, yeah. the class trials are a true fight for life on both sides, because who ever loses will be executed.

and they're really, really fun.

entirely voice acted! enough minigames that the list of them is probably longer than this entire post! the joy of solving the mystery! the... execution, right in front of everyone.

hey, it's a dark game. not like they're trying to hide that. and the executions aren't actually all that gory most of the time, but they're still very much there and onscreen. also as close to fully animated as the games ever get, which is pretty cool.

so how the class trials work is this:

there's a murder. dun dun duuuun. you investigate everywhere related to the murder to get "truth bullets", which are the reason you don't immediately fail at the trials. you don't have to remember all of them, they're all written down in your e-handbook. plus, the protagonists all seem to have really good memories.

time for the actual class trial!! Monokuma (asshole bear running the killing game) introduces everything, explains the rules. and everyone starts talking.

there are a lot of different parts to the class trial, but most of it is "nonstop debates". everyone talks one after the other, and you have to find inconsistencies and shoot the right "weak spot" with the right truth bullet. you refute the lie or mistake and everyone goes back to arguing normally.

there's also hangman's gambit (weird hangman to find a key word), multiple choice things (self-explanatory), and plenty of others.

near the end of the trial (or sometimes only a little over halfway in, it varies), the killer will.... kind of become obvious. there's a specific kind of change in behavior that's the mark of the murderer in these games, but I'm not sure how to describe it exactly. a lot of times there's an accent change, and in general they start acting much more erratic. since it's a trial, though, even after this presents itself you still have to prove your case beyond reasonable doubt.

and once it's become clear to the killer that they're backed into a corner, you have to do the "bullet time battle". it goes by different names in different games, but the basic mechanics are the same: you battle against a student (usually the killer, but not always) in a rhythm-based battle where you have to click to the rhythm to refute your opponent's statements. once you've dealt enough damage, you shoot the final piece of evidence, and that's the end of it.

the murderers react differently different times. sometimes they break down and confess. sometimes they keep denying it. sometimes, they're just calm. however they act, though, the end is the same. they are caught and punished accordingly.

but before that, there's one more thing to do. the closing argument.

your final task is to explain how the murder was committed, from idea to execution (look, a pun! see I can be funny too 😌). and you have to do it... as a manga.

you don't have to draw the whole thing yourself ofc- you just have to fill in the missing panels and then watch as the protagonist narrates it to the rest of the class.

and that's all for the class trial, not counting the long talks after every execution while still in the courtroom.

wow, this is getting...... really, really long. there's only one more thing I'm gonna add, and I promise it will be much shorter than the other two bc it is late and I am officially Incredibly Fucking Tired.

with no further ado, a very short part three:

my general impression of the game. its vibes or smth, I dunno this is just what i think about it

when I first heard of danganronpa, I thought it was a horror game. I can now assure you that it is not. thriller? maybe. debatable. but definitely not horror.

and despite its extremely dark premise, this game is not all doom and gloom. there's so much stuff about hope, and overcoming despair even when it seems impossible... it's not exactly a happy game, but there's a lot more of that in there than you'd probably expect.

all in all, I love this game. so much. it means a lot to me, and I think it's a really good game. thanks for letting me talk about it so much asdhfd :D

[myonechicagoworld]

CHICAGO FIRE – MERRY CHRISTMAS, ETC (S01E10)

                                                 [door slams]

Joe Cruz: [breathing heavily]

                  Where is he? 

                  Where’s Leon?

Flaco: Where’s my money?

Joe Cruz: Okay, look… I have a grand, but…

                                                 [door opens]

Joe Cruz: Leon. 

                  Flaco…

                                                 [door shuts]

Joe Cruz: Listen, man… I

Flaco: The deal was for ten grand, Joe.

Joe Cruz: I… I can make payments

Flaco: You know how this works. I give you a break, word gets out, 

            and everybody else wants a break. And I spend half my day

            explaining to people why they ain’t gonna get one. 

            So no breaks.

            Do you have the money or not?

Joe Cruz: No, I don’t.

                                                 [gun clocking]

Joe Cruz: No!

                                                  [door slams]

Joe Cruz: [panting]

Kelly Severide: Hey, yeah… is, uh, Renee Royce there? 

                           [chuckling] Leave…uh, leave what?

                           Word? Uh, yeah, sure.

                            Yeah, go for it. Leave word. Thanks.

                                                   cutscene

Peter Mills: Good morning, ladies.

Leslie Shay: Peter Mills, it’s the saddest thing. Christmas lights at

                      the north gate got blown down.

Peter Mills: What? We are gonna have to do something about that.

Leslie Shay: The fireman that saved Christmas.

Peter Mills: Mm.

Gabby Dawson: [laughs]

                            You think if I asked him to my cousin’s Christmas

                             party, he might take it the wrong way? 

Leslie Shay: Family functions are usually reserved for serious

                      suitors, so shouldn’t you be asking Casey?

Gabby Dawson: [clears throat] I just need a date so that my cousin

                            doesn’t make any more comments about how I’m 

                            gonna die alone.

Leslie Shay: So you afraid Casey will say no?

Gabby Dawson: Bitch, please.

Peter Mills: Hey, hey, Cruz, you give me a hand here?

Joe Cruz: In a minute.

Peter Mills: Okay.

Joe Cruz: You said ten minutes.

Leon Cruz: Yo, I don’t even want to be here. Why you calling me?

Joe Cruz: Come on inside.

Leon Cruz: What? So a bunch of fat firemen can make jokes about 

                    my face?

Joe Cruz: Look, this is a daily police bulletin. We get one of these 

                  every day.

Leon Cruz: That’s what ‘daily’ usually means.

Joe Cruz: “Expect increased violence in neighbourhood of

                   Humboldt Park due to an escalating gang conflict.” 

                   Leon, this is some serious business you’re getting

                   wrapped up in. I don’t know how else to say it, man, 

                   I’m worried about you.

Leon Cruz: Then pay Flaco his buyout and be done with it. Oh, but

                    you don’t got ten grand, right? So why are we still 

                    talking?

                    Look, just keep your nose out of my business before

                    you get my ass kicked again.

Joe Cruz: Leon, man. 

                 Leon! 

                 [grunts]

                                  [station alarm buzzes and blares]

(Over PA): Shift 51, Truck 81, Ambulance 61.

                                       [indistinct radio chatter]

Lady 1: I was deep-frying eggplant. I turned my back for a minute

              and there were flames everywhere. I… I tried to beat it out

               with a towel, I just…[continues indistinctly]

Matt Casey: Let these two take care of that hand.

Chief Boden: (into radio) Truck 81 is on the scene.

                                       [smoke alarm beeping]

Christopher Herrmann: Aah… turn off that smoke detector.

                                     [fire extinguisher spraying]

Matt Casey: All right, let’s do a quick walk-through, open some

                     windows, get this place vented.

                                             [beeping stops]

Mouch: Holy moly. These folks must be the 1% I keep hearing 

               about.

Otis Zvonecek: Oh, you guys! This priceless piece of artwork has

                           been destroyed. 

                           Oh, wait. Nevermind. It’s supposed to look like that.

Mouch: [chuckles]

Gabby Dawson: All right?

Lady 1: Thank you.

Matt Casey: Probably need a new countertop, but everything else is

                      okay.

Lady 1: Oh my God, thank you. 

                                                [kissing sound]

Lady 1: Thank you so much.

(Over radio): Truck 81, are you available to assist at a pin-in 

                       accident?

Matt Casey: (into radio) Truck 81 responding.

                      Pack her up. We got another call.

                                                [siren blares]

                                                [horn honks]

Lady 1: Come back! Somebody stop them!

Chief Boden: Ma’am, what’s the problem?

Lady 1: My diamond necklace was sitting right there on my dresser, 

              and now it’s gone. And one of those firemen took it.

                                              [siren fading]

                                                  - Title -

Christopher Herrmann: [groans]

Matt Casey: What’s the matter, Herrmann?

                                           [truck door shuts]

Man 1: Matthew Casey. How about that?

Matt Casey: What are you doing here, Griffin?

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): I’m with Internal Affairs Division now.

Christopher Herrmann: What’s the IAD doing here? 

Otis Zvonecek: CPD too. 

Matt Casey: What the hell’s going on?

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): A woman on Green Street said somebody

                                 walked off with her diamond necklace.

Mouch: What? 

Otis Zvonecek: [grunts]

Matt Casey: This is a joke, right?

Man 2 (Detective): No joke, Lieutenant.

Matt Casey: My men aren’t thieves.

Man 2 (Detective): All the same. We’re talking about a 50,000 dollar

                                piece of jewellery. 

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): That’s a class 2 felony.

Chief Boden: Casey, the police need to take statements from you

                        and the men. 

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): And I’m gonna need you to fill out a form too. 

                                 Basic stuff… where you worked in the fire,

                                 who you worked with, if you saw the missing 

        ��                        item or anything else at all suspicious.

Matt Casey: Can I have a minute?

Truck Firefighter: Man…

Chief Boden: I know what you’re gonna say.

Matt Casey: On my best day, I’d have to fight the urge to choke that

                      guy out. Today’s not my best day.

Chief Boden: The possible theft of a 50,000 dollar necklace

                        supersedes any concerns about your personal 

                        feelings toward Ted Griffin.

Matt Casey: Chief, you know as well as I do, none of my men took

                      that necklace.

Chief Boden: I hope not, ‘cause I don’t want to see any of them

                       lose their job and face criminal charges. And I don’t

                       want to see their Lieutenant get a black mark on his

                       record, so let’s just play this one by the book.

Matt Casey: [exhales]

Chief Boden: Good.

                                                   cutscene

Kelly Severide: Yeah, stop right here.

Squad Firefighters: Go ahead, lover boy.

                                  Yeah, go break her heart, huh?

                                            [squad door shuts]

Squad Firefighter: Never thought I’d see the day.

                                                 [chuckling]

                                            [knocks on door]

Kelly Severide: Uh, hey. Um, does Renee Royce live here?

Man 3 (Renee’s Assistant): [scoffs] Renee, there’s a fireman here 

                                               for you.

Renee Royce: Excuse me, gentlemen.

                         Thanks, Ray. 

                          Hi.

Kelly Severide: Uh, don’t mean to interrupt. Um, I know you said

                           you worked from home on Fridays, and uh…

Renee Royce: And you just pictured me all alone answering emails

                         in my underwear?

Kelly Severide: Well, I am now.

Renee Royce: Mmhmm.

                         Wow, these are, um, gorgeous. Thank you.

Kelly Severide: How about dinner tomorrow night? No interruptions

                          this time, I promise.

Renee Royce: Okay. All right.

Kelly Severide: Okay.

Renee Royce: Okay. 

Kelly Severide: I’ll see you then, Royce.

Renee Royce: Okay, Severide.

                                                     cutscene

Gabby Dawson: [chuckles] Wait, so what exactly do you have 

                            against Mills?

Leslie Shay: Not a thing. He’s adorable. He’s like a harmless little 

                      puppy dog.

Gabby Dawson: Yeah, a puppy dog with a little wolf blood in him.

                                                    [chuckling]

Gabby Dawson: Hey, what’s up, Chief?

Leslie Shay: Hey, Chief [clears throat]

Chief Boden: Sit.

Leslie Shay: Uh, Chief, is this about the diamond necklace Dawson

                      stole at the residence…

Gabby Dawson: Hey.

Chief Boden: Someone from another shift apparently just told your

                        field chief that sometime in November, four units of

                        Toradol went missing from your rig during your shift.

Gabby Dawson: What? 

Leslie Shay: Hm?

Gabby Dawson: Who’s saying this? I bet you it was Lowell.

Chief Boden: Don’t you worry about who said it.

Gabby Dawson: And why are they waiting till now to say anything?

Chief Boden: That’s probably because they heard IAD is sniffing

                        around our house. They want to cast the blame if

                        any more narcotics turned up missing.

Gabby Dawson: You know some junkie probably stole it off the rig

                             when we were busy saving his friend.

Chief Boden: That may be so. But it’s on you, Dawson.

                       So the two of you knock your heads together,

                       get back to me with your official version about what

                        happened by the end of the shift.

Gabby Dawson: Yeah, we’ll figure it out, Chief.

Chief Boden: You better. 

Leslie Shay: [exhales] Thanks.

Chief Boden: You’re welcome. 

                                                      cutscene

Peter Mills: We saved this lady’s house. Where does she come off

                     accusing us of stealing…

Mouch: It’s not like it’s without precedent. Back in the day, I worked

              with Pat “The Pinch” Osbourne. Had fingers like flypaper.

              The roof could be caving in on us, and Pat would take a 

               moment to rescue the silverware.

Peter Mills: So… what’s the deal with the Lieutenant and the guy 

                     from IAD?

Christopher Herrmann: Uh, eh, bad history. They went through the

                                         academy together. 

                                         And… there was an incident.

Peter Mills: What kind of incident? 

Mouch: The kind that ends with Griffin getting his face punched in.

Peter Mills: Wait, why… why did the Lieutenant hit him?

Mouch: He was talking trash about Casey’s family.

              Um, but, see… we don’t talk about that.

Otis Zvonecek: Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys, here we go. Here we go.

                           Hey, Lieutenant. Lieutenant, check this out.

                           The people with all the artwork… Sandra and uh,

                            Richard Vaughn… they’re selling their entire art 

                            collection at auction.

Matt Casey: I already finished my Christmas shopping.

Otis Zvonecek: No, no, no, no. Think about it. You don’t sell your

                           art collection. Your children sell your art collection

                           after you die, or… you sell it if you need the 

                            money.

Matt Casey: Otis, I have things to do.

Otis Zvonecek: The… the diamond necklace, it’s an insurance 

                           scam.

Matt Casey: So this woman nearly burned down her home in some

                      elaborate scheme to get firefighters in there so she 

                      could accuse…

Otis Zvonecek: No. 

Matt Casey: ‘em of stealing a necklace?

Otis Zvonecek: She didn’t set the fire. But when it happened,

                           she saw an opportunity to cash in.

Matt Casey: Yeah. You should write that down.

Otis Zvonecek: [sighs] Okay, I will.

                                                   cutscene

Christopher Herrmann: All right.

Gabby Dawson: Shay, your ride’s here.

Christopher Herrmann: There you go. Thanks.

Otis Zvonecek: Great.

Christopher Herrmann: Yeah.

Gabby Dawson: [chuckles] You going to the prom, Herrmann?

Christopher Herrmann: Hey, this is the flagship for Caesar 

                                        limousine. 

                                        Your chariot awaits, ma’am.

Gabby Dawson: Ooh.

Christopher Herrmann: This guy, he’s liquidating his company.

                                         I can only afford one vehicle to start,

                                         but I figure I roll the profits of this one

                                         into the next, and then the next, 

                                         and before you know it, I have a 

                                         whole fleet.

                                         Airport runs, weddings, prom season.

Otis Zvonecek: Really, Herrmann?

Christopher Herrmann: Hey… I was smart enough to bring my own

                                         mechanic to the negotiations. Severide got

                                         the guy to knock 1,500 dollars off

                                         the price.

Kelly Severide: You’re gonna have to spend some of that money to

                           fix this charging issue. And you definitely need to

                           replace the timing belt.

                                                      cutscene

Leslie Shay: And I thought I replaced every vial I gave you, but I

                      must have lost count.

Kelly Severide: Hey. How can they bust you for something that

                           somebody said happened a month ago? 

                           It’s their word against yours.

Leslie Shay: If it were my ass on the line, I’d put up a fight.

                      But Dawson’s the PIC. It’s her ass on the line.

Kelly Severide: Well, I don’t know what to tell you.

Leslie Shay: No, you’re right. 

                      It’s not your problem. You got what you needed.

Kelly Severide: That… Shay. 

                                            [station alarm buzzes]

Kelly Severide: Shay.

                                             [station alarm blares]

(Over PA): Ambulance 61, Truck 81. Gunshot victim, 

                  67 North Avenue.

Matt Casey: Capp, move this thing, will you?

Capp: You got it.

                                              [engine sputtering]

Christopher Herrmann: Oh, please, please start.

                                                 [engine starts]

Christopher Herrmann: Yes!

(Over PA): Be advised. Reports of multiple gunshot victims, 

                  Humboldt Park. 

Matt Casey: Humboldt Park. As predicted.

                                              [truck engine starts]

                                                   [door shuts]

                                                   [siren wails]

                                             [truck door shuts]

Matt Casey: Everybody back up. Give ‘em some room.

Gabby Dawson: Hey, Shay, let’s get a “C” collar on her. Get her in

                            the back of the ambo and start an IV.

Matt Casey: Is this the one?

Police Officer: The other two are DOA. It was a drive-by vehicle to

                          vehicle. Girl was hit by a stray. Shooters are long 

                           gone.

Matt Casey: Check these two, just in case.

Joe Cruz: I’m on it, Lieutenant.

Gang Unit Detective: What colour was it? The car, what colour?

                                     Was it an  SUV, a Sedan… what? Hey,

                                     come on, man, my partner heard you say 

                                     you saw the other car.

Man 4 (Eyewitness): Not really. I mean, it all happened so fast, man.

                                        [music playing from car]

                                                  cutscene

Leon Cruz: Yo.

Joe Cruz: Yo? Leon, I left you like four messages.

Leon Cruz: Busy day.

Joe Cruz: Yeah, no kidding. We just got a call on a drive by on

                  Augusta and Pulaski, and your boy Flaco was 

                  behind it.

Leon Cruz: Yo, can I call you later?

Joe Cruz: Are you with him right now?

Leon Cruz: Mmhmm. 

Joe Cruz: It don’t matter. I’m gonna do the talking.

                  There’s gonna be retaliation, Leon, and I know you know

                  that. You gotta put some daylight between you and 

                  Flaco.

                                                [locker door shuts]

Joe Cruz: Listen, Leon… I know you think you don’t got a way out

                  of this life, but you do. I can help you. Not… not right

                   this minute, but I can help you get out. Just say the 

                   word. You want my help, just say so.

Leon Cruz: So.

                                                   cutscene

Leslie Shay: There you go, sweetie. Get in there. Have a seat. 

                      You’re gonna catch a cold out here.

Gabby Dawson: [sighs] Okay, James, I’m gonna take your blood

                            pressure. Is that okay?

Man 5 (James): Will it hurt?

Gabby Dawson: I do it every time, and you always ask me if it’s 

                            gonna hurt.

Man 5 (James): You never know.

Gabby Dawson: I don’t know, it’s just too soon to ask Casey.

                            This isn’t the first time his relationship with

                            Hallie flatlined. And if it somehow gets revived

                            again, and she finds out that I asked him on a 

                            date…

Leslie Shay: Won’t you regret it if you don’t ask him, though?

Gabby Dawson: [sighs] It’s gotta be Mills. He’s just the more

                            appropriate choice.

Leslie Shay: I guess you’re right.

                     Oh, for your dress, there’s this new shop on Damen.

Gabby Dawson: No way. I sprained my credit card Christmas

                            shopping. I’ll just recycle something.

                            Oh, 110 over 60! James… you’re like a triathlete.

Leslie Shay: You’re good to go, sweetie. We’ll take you in and get

                      you your meds, okay?

Gabby Dawson: Oh, James, that reminds me. Did you steal any

                            Toradol from us last month?

                             I’m totally kidding [laughs]

                                                      cutscene

Gabby Dawson: Hey, give me a minute.

                            Quick question [clears throat]

                            Saturday… what are you doing?

Matt Casey: Depends. What do you got?

Gabby Dawson: Um, my cousin, the poster child for better homes &

                            gardens, throws this really super fancy Christmas

                            party every year. There’s a string quartet, plum

                            pudding, nutmeg sprinkled on the eggnog. It’s so 

                            perfect you want to vomit.

Matt Casey: Sounds awesome. And you need a date?

Gabby Dawson: Yeah. I mean, I just need a friend to bring along, 

                             really.

Matt Casey: Oh. Then maybe you should ask Mouch.

                      If you’re up for a date, tell me what time to pick you 

                      up.

Gabby Dawson: 7 o’clock?

Matt Casey: Great.

Gabby Dawson: [whispers] Yeah, I need a new dress.

                                                    cutscene

Christopher Herrmann: Chief, are you just gonna let these pretend

                                         cops violate our civil rights?

Otis Zvonecek: Yeah, don’t they need to show us a warrant or 

                           something?

Chief Boden: They are well within their authority to search firehouse

                        property. 

Peter Mills: Even our personal lockers?

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): You mean the department’s lockers?  

                                  Besides, it shouldn’t bother you if you’re not 

                                   hiding something.

Matt Casey: Griffin, can I have a moment with you?

Chief Boden: Locker room, guys. Come on.

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): What? You want to punch me again?

Matt Casey: When’s the last time IAD searched an entire house?

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): A firefighter stole a 50,000 dollar necklace,

                                 and it’s my job to find out who. But don’t

                                 blame me if you suddenly regret assaulting 

                                  a fellow classmate.

Matt Casey: Regret it? I’m glad I did it. You weren’t the first idiot to

                      make a crack about my family. You’re the last. 

                       No one’s brought it up again since I laid your ass out.

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): Sucker punched.

Matt Casey: You saw it coming.

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): The only ones who saw it were your buddies. 

                                  None of whom had the integrity to say what

                                  really happened.

                                  By the way… how is your mom?

Chief Boden: Hey! Hey!

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): Whoa, whoa, whoa. Casey blood sure runs hot,

                                  don’t it?

Chief Boden: Do your job.

                                                     cutscene

Leslie Shay: Remember that one call we went on at D and 

                      University?

Gabby Dawson: Which one?

Leslie Shay: We got a block away, and we realised the jump bag

                      was sitting on the curb. I think that’s when the vials 

                      went missing.

                      Damn girl, you wear that dress, I’ll be your date.

Gabby Dawson: I don’t know. I feel kind of naked.

Leslie Shay: It’s perfect.

                     Excuse me. Ring this up. 

Gabby Dawson: Oh, no, um, I need to think about this one for a

                             minute. Thank you.

                              Is everything okay?

Leslie Shay: Yeah. Why?

Gabby Dawson: You seem more worked up over this Toradol thing 

                             than I am.

Leslie Shay: No, I’m not worried.

(Over radio): Ambo 61, what is your location?

Leslie Shay: (into radio) Ambulance 61. We’re at Armitage and 

                      Damen.

(Over radio): Take in a working fire. 1100 block North Hamlin.

Gabby Dawson: Okay, I’ll take the other one.

                                    [station alarm buzzes & blares]

(Over PA): Engine 51, Truck 81…

                                                    [cheering]

Matt Casey: Let’s go.

(Over PA): Squad 3, Battalion 25, Ambulance 61. House fire, 

                  1100 block…

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): This house was supposed to be taken out of 

                                  service.

Chief Boden: You never made that request. So now you guys are

                        gonna have to sit tight… 

                                            [locker door shuts]

Chief Boden: Until these men get back.

                                                [engine starts]

Otis Zvonecek: That address is Humboldt Park again, isn’t it?

                                                [sirens blaring]

Chief Boden: This is Battalion Chief Boden at 1140 of North Hamlin.

Police Officer: We responded to a call of a gang shooting into the

                          building. They torched it and fled before we got 

                          here.

Chief Boden: Who’s inside? Another gang? Any civilians? 

Police Officer: You know as much as I do. 

Chief Boden: Could be gang members inside. I count six

                        mailboxes. That fire has reached the structure.

Victim 1: Help me!

Matt Casey: Mouch, Otis, on the aerial. Get ready to vent the roof. 

                      Herrmann, Mills, Cruz, with me.

Chief Boden: Be careful.

                                [siren wailing and comes to a stop]

                                                   [gunshots]

Firefighter: Get clear! Get clear!

Matt Casey: I got you, Herrmann.

Christopher Herrmann: [grunts] 

Chief Boden: (into radio) This is the Chicago Fire Department.

                        Lay down your weapons. We are trying to help you!

                                                   [gunshots]

Chief Boden: Cruz!

Joe Cruz: [speaking Spanish]

                  We’re not police. You’re gonna die if you stay in there. 

                  Let us help you!

                  I’m coming in.

Matt Casey: Cruz!

Joe Cruz: Don’t shoot!

                                               [door breaking]

Joe Cruz: [speaking Spanish]

Chief Boden: Cruz! 

Joe Cruz: [speaking Spanish] Don’t shoot!

                  You the Kings?

                   Insane Kings. I’m Leon’s brother. Where is he?

                   Where is he? Where is he?

Christopher Herrmann: That’s the shooter. Get over here,

                                         you punk. Take a look at him.

Joe Cruz: Hey, we’re in! Let’s go!

Matt Casey: Take the infrared. Mills, catch up with Cruz.

                      Herrmann… you okay?

Christopher Herrmann: I’m gonna crack one of those punks upside

                                        their head.

Matt Casey: No. You’re gonna sit this one out.

                      Severide. 

Kelly Severide: Let’s go. 

                                         [ladder raising]

Joe Cruz: Here you go. Put your arm around me.

                  You’re doing fine. Keep going.

                  Come on, just take it easy. You’re almost there.

                   All right, here we go.

                   Hey, somebody take this guy.

Christopher Herrmann: We got him.

                                         We got you.

                                          Shay!

Gabby Dawson: We got you, sir. Here you go.

                                  [chatter on police radio]

Victim 3: [coughing] Help us! [coughing] Help up!

Chief Boden: (into radio) We got a woman and a kid on the second

                        floor. Front, center.

Matt Casey: (into radio) We’ll get ‘em.

Victim 3: Help us. 

Kelly Severide: Fire department! Call out!

Victim 3: Help!

                [coughing] Help us!

                [coughing]

Matt Casey: Let’s go.

Victim 3: [coughs] My little one. I don’t know where he is.

Matt Casey: Severide’ll find him, but we need to go.

Victim 3: You don’t understand, I need to find him.

Matt Casey: Ma’am, we need to go right now.

Victim 3: Marco!

                                       [doors breaking]

Peter Mills: Hello! Anybody in here?

Joe Cruz: Anybody in here?

                 All clear.

Peter Mills: Clear! 

Matt Casey: Come on. Come on, buddy.

Victim 3: Please.

Matt Casey: We’re gonna find him.

Victim 3: [coughing] Marco! Marco!

Matt Casey: Ma’am!

Kelly Severide: I got him!

Joe Cruz: Get this guy out of here!

Peter Mills: Cruz, hold up. I’ll be back!

                    Come on, buddy. Up. I got you.

                                         [knocks on door]

Joe Cruz: Fire department! Clear the door!

                  Anybody in here? Call out!

Victim 4: [coughing]

Peter Mills: Come on.

Victim 3: [coughing]

Chief Boden: Got two minors, smoke inhalation. Get ‘em to the 

                        ambos. 

Christopher Herrmann: Let’s go.

Chief Boden: What do we got?

Kelly Severide: First and second floor are clear.

Victim 5: My leg!

Peter Mills: Watch your step here.

Victim 5: [groaning and grunting]

Matt Casey: Mills.

Peter Mills: Yeah?

Matt Casey: Where’s Cruz? 

Peter Mills: He’s still up there.

Joe Cruz: (over radio) This is Cruz on (into radio) three. All clear. 

                  Headed up to four now.

Matt Casey: (into radio) Cruz, wait for me. I’m coming up.

                                     [infrared beeping]

                                      [bangs on door]

Joe Cruz: Move away from the door.

                  [grunts]

                  Fire department! Call out! 

Victim 6: [coughing]

Joe Cruz: Leon!

Victim 6: [coughing]

Joe Cruz: Leon!

Victim 6 (Flaco): [coughing]

                            Thank God. Joe… help me…

                             [coughing & wheezing] Help me!

                             [coughing] Please!

                             [coughing] Please! Help… 

                             [wheezing] Joe!

                                                [door shuts]

Joe Cruz: (into radio) This is Cruz up top. All clear.

                                                 cutscene

Chief Boden: [exhales] Hell of a job you did out there, Joe.

                       Hey… we missed one.

                       Don’t beat yourself up about it. If you hadn’t gotten us

                        through that gauntlet, we might have missed them all.

Otis Zvonecek: Casey. Hey, you’re not gonna believe this.

                           So I ordered a background check on Sandra and 

                           Richard Vaughn…

Matt Casey: Otis I don’t…

Otis Zvonecek: And they are leveraged up to their eyeballs. It’s one

                           judgement after the next. They… They’re staving

                           off bankruptcy. They’re in financial ruin. And

                            Mr. Vaughn… investigated twice for wire fraud.

                             236 subscribers are gonna hear about this on my

                             next podcast.

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): Well, Lieutenant Casey. Four hour call, huh?

                                 That was… pretty convenient.

Matt Casey: It’s insurance fraud. The woman with the diamonds? 

                     They’re broke.

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): What do you do off-shift, drive around in a van

                                  solving mysteries?

                                                [door shuts]

Matt Casey: Ugh.

                                            [knocks on door]

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): Lieutenant Casey. You’re up.

Matt Casey: What is it you’re hoping for, Griffin?

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): Toss the room. Search him.

Matt Casey: Seriously? Come on.

                      It’s all yours.

                                                  cutscene

Leslie Shay: It was extremely careless on our part. You leave a bag

                      of full medication on a curb at a college campus,

                      you’re asking for trouble.

Chief Boden: And you are gonna be so much more careful in the 

                       future, right?

Leslie Shay: Yes, sir.

Gabby Dawson: Absolutely, Chief.

Chief Boden: Hmm. Okay. 

                        Just write down what you told me. Don’t sign

                        anywhere until you bring these back, because I

                        have to witness your signatures. If you would

                        like Mouch to go over it with you as your union 

                         representative, you do have that right.

Gabby Dawson: You want us to sign it in blood, or will blue ink 

                             suffice?

Chief Boden: Don’t you drag your heels now.

Gabby Dawson: No, we’ll get it right back to you, Chief.

Chief Boden: Shay… one moment.

Leslie Shay: What is it, Chief?

Chief Boden: Nothing. Go on.

                                                   cutscene

                                          [R&B music playing]

                               [panting, kissing sounds & moaning]

Renee Royce: Skinny margaritas.

Kelly Severide: What?

Renee Royce: Skinny on the calories, not the alcohol. 

Kelly Severide: Ah! Ahh.

                          You have a really nice place.

Renee Royce: Mmm, thank you.

Kelly Severide: Guess it pays to work in… foreign financial…

Renee Royce: International finance law. Yes, it does. But I want to

                         hear about you and how you fight fires every day.

Kelly Severide: It’s not every day. On 24, off 48.

Renee Royce: Oh yeah?

Kelly Severide: Yeah.

Renee Royce: I didn’t know that.

Kelly Severide: Uh, huh.

Renee Royce: And then what do you like to do on your off days?

Kelly Severide: I repair boats up near Monroe Harbour. 

Renee Royce: Um, do you go out to the lake much?

Kelly Severide: Yeah, more in the summers, but…

Renee Royce: Mmm. I haven’t been out in a while

Kelly Severide: I’ll take you some time.

Renee Royce: Oh, will you now?

Kelly Severide: Any time you want, Royce. Just say the word.

Renee Royce: Hmm.

Kelly Severide: What?

Renee Royce: Who was she?

Kelly Severide: What do you mean?

Renee Royce: The Renee that ruined my name.

Kelly Severide: She was my fiancée.

                                                  cutscene

                                             [car door shuts]

                                            [knocks on door]

Matt Casey: Evening, ma’am.

Lady 1 (Sandra Vaughn): Can I help you?

Matt Casey: I just wanted to apologise on behalf of Truck 81 for

                      your missing item, and to let you know we’re going 

                      to get to the bottom of it.

Lady 1 (Sandra Vaughn): Well, I should hope so. 

Matt Casey: This is a thermal imaging camera. It’s a really great

                      piece of technology. It helps us see through the 

                      thickest smoke. 

Lady 1 (Sandra Vaughn): Okay.

Matt Casey: We all carry them, and we leave them recording the

                      whole time we’re on a call. And actually I’m on my

                      way to drop all our cameras off with the police so

                      they can review the footage, and see exactly what

                      happened the entire time my men and I were inside

                      your home. 

                      So don’t worry.

Lady 1 (Sandra Vaughn): Okay. Is that it?

Matt Casey: Yeah.

Lady 1 (Sandra Vaughn): Great. So maybe you should leave now.

                                               [door shuts]

                                                cutscene

                         [locker opening and things falling out]

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): Son, you’re a slob.

Man 6 (Man in uniform): Got something.

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): Oh yeah. Oh boy. Gimme that. Gimme that.

                                 Oh, false alarm. Just an adorable pair of kitty 

                                  cat cufflinks.

Mouch: It’s the maneki-neko, a Japanese good luck charm.

              And those were a Christmas gift if you don’t mind.

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): Hey, domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.

Mouch: That doesn’t even make sense.

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): Chief Boden, have you been able to locate

                                 Lieutenant Casey?

Matt Casey: I’m right here.

                                             [cell phone rings]

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): Griffin.

                                  Is that a fact?

                                  That’s very interesting.

                                   No, thank you.

                                   The diamonds slipped down into a heat

                                    register, apparently. Mrs. Vaughn just 

                                    found ‘em.

Mouch: You gotta be kidding me. 

Christopher Herrmann: What a surprise.

Man 1 (Ted Griffin): Less paperwork for me. Hallelujah. Let’s go.

                                 Do say hi to your mom for me.

Matt Casey: Door’s that way.

                                              [door shuts]

Christopher Herrmann: All right… so what’d you do?

Matt Casey: Nothing. I just told her we recorded the whole thing on

                      our thermal cameras, you know. 

Christopher Herrmann: Yeaahhh…

Peter Mills: Wait, thermal cameras don’t record. 

Christopher Herrmann: [gasps]

Peter Mills: Oh. That’s good.

Christopher Herrmann: Ooh.

Capp: Casey, you have a visitor in the briefing room.

Matt Casey: Chris. This is a nice surprise. Merry Christmas.

                                             [kissing sound]

Christie: Yeah, Matt. Merry Christmas.

                Almost done shopping [chuckles]

                I couldn’t remember if you’re a large or extra large,

                but there’s a gift receipt in there.

Matt Casey: Oh. That’s really sweet. Thank you.

Christie: Since we saw you at the cemetery… Violet’s been pretty

                flipped out. “Why doesn’t Uncle Matt ever come to see

                 us? And does he not like us? Do you not like him?”

                  And she shouldn’t have to be asking those questions. 

                  And… that’s on you and me. 

Matt Casey: Absolutely it is, yeah. 

Christie: I feel like she’s been without her uncle, and… I’ve been

               without my brother for too long.

Matt Casey: Yeah, I want nothing more than for us to be in each

                      other’s lives. The last time we talked about it…

Christie: I know. I remember the conversation.

Matt Casey: [sighs] 

Christie: [exhales] So you’re still defending her?

Matt Casey: I’m not gonna turn my back on her.

Christie: Don’t you miss dad?

                                               cutscene

Matt Casey: Yeah, but there’s something.

Gabby Dawson: Excuse me one second. I need to steal him.

Matt Casey: Um, uh, bye.

                      Drink? 

Gabby Dawson: Oh, thank you.

                            Oh, I can’t wait to show you this room.

Matt Casey: Okay.

                      Ooh. 

                       Wow.

Gabby Dawson: It’s nice, right?

Matt Casey: Yeah.

Gabby Dawson: [clears throat] Oh, and hey, I promise I won’t let my

                            aunt corner you again [chuckles] like that. 

                            I’m sorry.

Matt Casey: [chuckles] It’s okay. She’s… she’s fun.

Gabby Dawson: Yeah, she’s better when you’re drunk.

                             Oh, better learn how to keep up, buddy boy.

Matt Casey: Yeah.

Both: [chuckles]

Gabby Dawson: I mean… are we just here as friends, or… is this a 

                            date?

Matt Casey: I can’t. I mean…

Gabby Dawson: No, yeah. I get it.

Matt Casey: It’s not a good time. 

Gabby Dawson: [clears throat]

Matt Casey: Because it’s worth doing right. 

                      Right?

Lady 2: Oops sorry. Don’t mind us.

Gabby Dawson: [clears throat] Uh, you ready for dessert?  

                            I’m ready… for dessert?

                                                   cutscene

Leon Cruz: This is crazy, bro. I was just up there, like, ten minutes

                    before it all went down. Flaco sent me to get Shorty.

                     Otherwise… I don’t know…[sighs] Somebody’s gotta

                     be up there looking out for me.

                     Joe, you okay?

Joe Cruz: I can’t. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I… 

                  [breathing unsteadily]

                                                     cutscene

Kelly Severide: You’re up early.

Leslie Shay: You know I love you, right?

Kelly Severide: Okay, what’s going on?

Leslie Shay: I love you because I know you’d stick your neck out for

                      me the way I have for you.

Kelly Severide: Of course I would.

Leslie Shay: And I did that to get you over the hump.

Kelly Severide: Which you totally did.

Leslie Shay: And then I found these in the trash.

Kelly Severide: Those are ol… they’re old.

Leslie Shay: I perjured myself for you, Kelly.

Kelly Severide: Shay…

Leslie Shay: I’m out.

Kelly Severide: Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you mean?

Leslie Shay: I mean I’m out. We had a deal… we wouldn’t get in

                     each other’s business, but I can’t hold up my end. 

                      So I’m out.

Kelly Severide: Shay, it’s okay. I got it.

                          I got it. I got it.

Leslie Shay: No, you don’t got it!

                      I’m not gonna sit here and watch you… just fool 

                      yourself.

                      I’ll get the rest of my stuff later.

Kelly Severide: Shay, hey, please don’t go.

                           Please don’t…please don’t do this.

                                        [door opens and shuts]

Kelly Severide: [sighs]

                                                 cutscene

Joe Cruz: [breathing unsteadily]

                                        [cell phone vibrates]

Voicemail (Matt Casey): This is Matt Casey. Leave it here and I’ll 

                                          call you back.

Joe Cruz: Lieutenant, it’s Joe Cruz. Um… Casey, man, I need to talk

                  to you. Uh… It’s really important. I, uh… [sighs] I, um…

                                               cutscene

                                         [whistle blowing]

Gabby Dawson: Here we go. I’ll make my brother get the rest of

                            your stuff tomorrow. And you are totally welcome

                            to stay with me as long as you want.

Leslie Shay: Thanks.

Gabby Dawson: You gonna tell me what he did?

Leslie Shay: No. You gonna tell me how your date went?

Gabby Dawson: Nope. 

                            He’s good. 

Police Officer: Thank you.

                                    [dispatcher chatter over radio]

Leslie Shay: Come on, give me something.

Gabby Dawson: [chuckles] Well, I was right about Casey. He’s still

                            into Hallie. And I’m an idiot.

                                                    cutscene

                                                [whistle blows]

                                                 [door buzzes]

Matt Casey: Hi, mom.

                                                    cutscene

                                                      [traffic]

Leslie Shay: Tomorrow night, you and me are gonna have a few 

                      margaritas.

Gabby Dawson: Heh! A few pitchers, you mean.

Leslie Shay: Yeah, that was implied.

                                                 [horn blaring]

                                          [cars & truck skidding]

Shay & Dawson: [gasps]

                                          [truck and ambo crash]

                                                      - end -

Definitions:

Buyout = Purchase of the target’s outstanding debt.

Internal Affairs Division = A division of a law enforcement agency which investigates cases of allegations of misconduct and complaints against any member of the fire department, and the necessary actions taken.

Toradol = Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. It works by reducing hormones that cause inflammation and pain in the body. Toradol is used short-term (5 days or less) to treat moderate to severe pain.

PIC = Paramedic in charge

C-collar = Cervical collars (C collars) are used to support your spinal cord and head, and to limit the movement of your neck and head. They’re typically meant for short-term use while you recover from an injury, surgery, or pain.

DOA = Dead on arrival

Drive-by vehicle to vehicle = Shooting someone in a moving car from a moving car

Thermal imaging camera = Type of thermographic camera used in fire fighting. By rendering infrared radiation as visible light, such cameras allow firefighters to see areas of heat through smoke, darkness, or heat-permeable barriers.

Maneki-neko = Common Japanese figurine, which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. The figurine depicts a cat, traditionally a calico Japanese Bobtail, with a paw raised in a Japanese beckoning gesture.

Domo arigato = Japanese phrase meaning “Thanks a lot”. The Japanese phrase said in this episode is part of a Japanese song.

[badluckbee]

the last of us part 2 opinions that no one asked for but i need to get out of my system !!SPOILERS!!

i literally don’t give a shit if the story is for you or not, art is subjective. BUT i think that there are some fundamental misunderstandings about what makes a good game or not?? idk you’re welcome to disagree but people are throwing around a lot of “i didn’t like it, therefore it is bad” ideas & it’s not sitting right with me. there’s gonna be spoilers in this post you’ve been warned.

i loved this game. it challenged me and even though it has its issues, it was still really good it still made me think and feel things so some of these reviews have seriously made me go ??!??!?!?!??

if you didn’t like tlou2 and want to argue with people that did like it about how bad a game it is i’m not going to do that,, you can go play the first game again i’m not stopping you from not liking and not playing this game. this is simply my perception of the game and the most common criticisms i’ve seen.

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if the only reason you don’t like the game is because boohoo they killed my favourite character,, literally as someone who has had the majority of my favourite characters die, they didn’t disrespect joel by killing him & ppl being THIS babyish about it & calling for them to rewrite the whole story is immature and embarrassing as fuck. that’s my biggest problem with the “fanbase” right now, we all knew that joel did a bad thing in saving ellie and we know that he’s done a ton of bad things before that, remember “we’re shitty people, joel, it’s been that way for a long time”?? tess wasn’t wrong, it makes sense that someone someday would come back for him and they did. if that’s what you’re mad about lol get a grip it’s not like we don’t see him throughout the whole game. (also i thought we all knew he was gonna die from the first trailer anyway) (also also did you guys not pick up on it when there was a song where the first line was “if i ever were to lose you, i’d surely lose myself” they laid out the whole game for you right there lmao)

things i’ve seen in reviews repeatedly that didn’t sit right:

1) joel and tommy wouldn’t have trusted abby.

joel and tommy have been living in a close knit community for four years with friends and family, there’s already a false sense of security. as far as they know, this is just a group passing through, they had no reason at all to believe that there was any malicious intent after not only saving abby but abby returning the favour and helping them out. they’ve never met them before, up until ‘the moment’ they’re very nice and welcoming, they also needed abby to trust them if they were all going to get out of that mess of infected alive. (ppl also forget that in the first game joel was, although hesitant, still perfectly willing to trust and travel with people, including henry and sam, who were kids just like this group so don’t play the ‘first game’ card)

2) ellie should have killed abby.

you’re seriously trying to tell me that killing abby would magically cure ellie of her ptsd??? if you weren’t blinded by your love of joel you’d know that’s not true lol literally the point is that killing her wouldn’t bring joel back it would only leave lev alone and vulnerable like ellie was and the meaningless violence would continue. literally none of the killing the characters did in this game made them feel remotely better, that’s the point. abby moved on from her pain by finding lev and looking after him, not by killing joel, just like ellie needs to begin to heal, not kill abby. if you wanted that fight to have a choice of whether you could kill abby or not i could POSSIBLY accept that but i would absolutely choose to spare abby every time. that last fight didn’t feel right anyway imo, i wanted to let her go before they even started.

3) ellie should have ended up with dina.

this game is shouting at your face that your actions have consequences!! no other ending made sense, if ellie killed abby and went back to find dina & jj still at the farm waiting for her there would be no lesson learned and no character growth!!

3) you shouldn’t have played as abby.

this is a grey one to me, i absolutely think you should play as abby but i think that the order was a little off, no one would be rooting for her over ellie after she killed a favourite character but if you have an open mind abby’s section of the game is really really fun and has some of the best moments in the game. i have some thoughts about what i personally think would have been super cool and i’m going to put it at the end of this post on the off chance that someone reads it but i totally get why they did it the way they did and it worked very well from abby’s day 2 onwards!!

4) it’s too violent?????

tell me what i’m missing here??? nd was as transparent as possible that this is a violent game centred around revenge and hatred that would feature brutal violence, smart ai and devastating cutscenes. yet there are people complaining that the game is too violent WHILE describing how bad they want to fuck up abby???? i understand not enjoying the violence, i wasn’t too bothered bc i’m pretty desensitised & i use way more stealth anyway but there were moments when it didn’t feel right & that’s okay?? that’s what they warned us about???

5) it’s just pushing an agenda, it’s too sjw.

people exist that are not male, white, straight and cis. stop crying about it.

i know no one will read this but i had a thought about a way to order the story to connect more with abby & needed to put it somewhere:

ok imagine for a minute if they had marketed it as a spinoff not a new game with new characters & no ellie or joel. you start as abby from her first day in seattle, forget everything before that for now!! imagine playing from there through to day 3 as normal, there are some very vague references to her dad dying and to her finally finding the killer but nothing that’s a giveaway for who her dad was or what happened in jackson. then we get to day 3 and that sniper scene (which was fuckin spectacular btw) and we see that it’s tommy there and it’s like ??!??!?!?!!??!? but we have to let it go for now to move the story on until we get to the theatre and we see eLLIE ?!???!??!?!!?!!?!!!!? and that’s where it cuts off and we go back and play as ellie and we see what abby did

i’m not a writer and i know that there would be problems with doing it that way but wouldn’t it be such a plot twist if we had been playing as abby from the start and connected with her and her friends more before finding out that ellie and tommy are even in the game never mind on their way to kill us??? i get why they didn’t do that though lol no one would have played it.

anyway this post isn’t attacking people for not liking the game or thinking that there are issues, this post is specifically about the people that claim that it’s objectively a bad game because they personally don’t like it.

here are some fuckin good awe-worthy moments that people are conveniently forgetting about:

- this is personal but tommy is one of, if not my favourite character, at least to me he’s one of the most interesting so seeing jeffrey pierce get more screentime was a big win for me!!

- jesse, yara and lev are DELIGHTFUL i love them v v much

- the museum i cried so much it’s so cute

- the acting!!?!?!?? especially ashley, the scene where ellie forced the truth out of joel is my favourite scene in either game acting-wise it BROKE me

- i said it before but the sniper scene was incredible

- the rat king!!! i'm a wimp it was so scary but man that reveal was fantastic

- abby’s fear of heights,, HELLO that scene on the bridges!!! i’m not scared of heights but it really got me

- the hotel!! how does nd manage to make hotels so scary

- the switch between playable characters was a plot twist and a half!!!! i gasped it was so unexpected i loved it!!!

- actually showing that the characters aren’t invincible and struggle with what they’ve been through,, showing ellie’s ptsd was so important!!!!

- ok idk why but the scene in the first game with david in the restaurant makes me so nervous every time,, i start shaking and sometimes i cry when i finish it bc that’s the definition of horror to me i HATE it it’s too scary. so when i got to that parallel with ellie and abby at the theatre and ellie was ‘the david’ of that encounter i had to sit and think about it for a long time, that scene shook me and i love nd for doing that!!

there’s probably more but this is already the longest post i’ve ever made & i’m tired (i’m not the best at getting my points across as well so if there’s anything that’s worded weirdly that’s on me)

[darling-blurbs]

The Cyro Archon is interesting so I’m developing her into my own character until I finish genshin impact. Let it be known when the Cyro Archon actually appears and her story comes to light, I’ll just fix the story a bit. Ok? Ok

So her name is going to be Esther since most of the gods use their vessels names even though Esther is actually her name before she became a god.

Her powers are like Elsa’s. She doesn’t have total control when she is overly emotional so when she was heartbroken, she hardened herself. Onto more of the story part of my character.

“I’m the- was. I was the Love Archon but I was not meant to be that. How can someone be the Archon of something they can’t even do right?”

The Archon War (I haven’t gotten to the reason for it so I’m making stuff up a bit here) was there. Esther hung out with a certain god for years before this. Ever since they were young. Esther was the daughter of the current Cyro Archon so when her father decided to leave for the war, she did as well. Leaving her palace in the sky to see her friend again only to see her crush falling for a mere mortal. She was fine with it for the moment thinking that it was only going to be fleeting but once the god took the boy as a vessel, she was furious and heartbroken to a point where her body started to grow ice patch’s to contain her fury. She had part of a fire in her. One of her parents had a Pyro vision so her power more was conflicting with each other to a point where she exploded.

She killed many civilians that day and even her parents were killed in her rage. The archons ran while she withered in pain. She hated them but over the 500 years, she forgave them for their pieces. One she didn’t forgive was the bard. She still loved him. After all the Love Archon cannot stop loving the Archon of the one thing she wanted to have most of in the world. She turned cold though. Hateful. Her heart never opened up again other times few others. Childe, Hat Kid (as she called him) and the rest of the Harbringers were her confidents. She confided in them about her hate for the bard which translated to one of her female harbringers to almost murder him

The lovely mondstadt festival. The one day in the year that both of the Archons think of their lost lover. For the Cyro Archon, she watched the bard from a distance and giggled when he did his love advice remembering when he used to listen intently when she talked about the concept. What she didn’t know was that the Anemo Archon knew she was there. Her aura was always familiar but he was too scared to find her and didn’t know who her vessel was. Later, in the end of the event if the traveler walks into the tavern after midnight there will be a cutscene. Venti is seen laughing with others and the traveler when someone walks in. No one notices other than paimon. The figure looks at the group under their hood and a smile crosses their face before putting a bag of mora on the table saying to pay the bards bill and it’s from an old friend. Once the figure is at the door, they turn around and puts their hand on the frame. Paimon can see their features. Icy blue eyes that seem In love with the said bard. Ice creeps up on the place where their hand was put before walking out of the door.

Immediately when the door closed, paimon starts to shake the traveler as the man working the bar shouts out. “Your mysterious friend bought your tab again Venti! You gotta tell her to stop someday!”

Venti seemed to sober up fast and run out the door. There stood the cloaked figure whose back is turned. The wind starts to pick up as it got more cold seem by how the townspeople started shivering and puffing out white clouds. The figure looked up at the moon before Venti spoke up.

“You don’t have to do that anymore.” The figure chuckles.

“The moon looks pretty tonight don’t you think...” she pauses before saying “Barbotos?”

She turned and her icy blues met his green eyes. His seemed lost and desperate while hers looked at him like one would look at a boy who slipped from their grasp.

Paimon gasped as they stared each other down. “Why would you do that Esther-“ “don’t call me that. You don’t deserve that title to call me by.” The figure stood her ground. “Did you make this festival to rub in the heartbreak?” She laughs under her breathe. “You even took the mortal’s skin! Is that how you wanted to turn me down? Say you didn’t want a relationship because you didn’t want the ties but fall for a mere mortal after fighting with them for a day?”

The air got worse with every passing second. The wind was slowing down with Venti’s sadness but the cold was getting unbearable. “I didn’t do that. I would never leave you!” Venti tried to contradict but was only met with more laughter.

“When my father died, you only cared about the well-being of everyone else! You didn’t even come and find me-“ “That’s because I didn’t know who your vessel was! This festival was going to be a gift for us but you decided to try and end the world!”

The figure’s feet was freezing the streets before she breathed. “This was a mistake. I should have never came back here.” She spun around and started to walk away. A portal opened up but Venti screamed wait.

She turned around. Her icy eyes steeled. The smile and anger gone from her features. Only the stoic female remained. “Don’t leave me again.”

“You left me,” she said before turning to the portal and abyss mages appeared as the portal closed.

Kaeya watched her leave as well as the traveler come in the tavern dejected. “Im guessing Venti didn’t tell you anything and just said he wanted to sleep? Of course he is protecting her still. Sometimes I think their just both oblivious.”

“What happened? No better question. Who was that?” Paimon asked.

Kaeya chuckled. “The person you just met was Venti’s ex lover. Someone he was dumb enough to lose. The Cyro Archon.”

The traveler gasped as well as Paimon. “That’s the person trying to kill us? The world for that matter?”

Kaeya glared at the flying fairy. “Watch your mouth pixie. She is my- close friend. I do a lot of spying for the inside and everytime I’m there, I realize that heartbreak can do a lot to a person. If we would destroy the world for the person that held our hearts, what would one do if they shattered it and stomped on it?”

Kaeya is actually part of the Cyro Archons army. He fell for the young goddess and actually is on both sides because he supports both side of the story.

[cryingcow]

Sera, Jingu, & Kazama - The Tojo Clan Secret [RGGO] - Ch. 8-9

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6

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Second to the last part, y’all! The chapters are getting shorter the closer we get to Sera’s death D:

Previously: Sera gets to check off “dug a grave in a forest with my best friend Jingu” on his “Things I Never Thought I’d Still be Doing as Third Chairman” list. Jingu turns to threats, which is where he went wrong because he should’ve known that upping the sweet talk would have worked better. Sera tries to murder Yumi and Haruka, but ends up helping her regain her memory, so uh thanks?

Chapter 9 has a lot of Kiwami dialogue, but I didn’t bother looking up the cutscene so it might not be the same wording as in the subtitles.

Warnings: Major Yakuza Kiwami/1 spoilers

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CHAPTER 8

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|Years after Yumi and Haruka’s “murder”. Yumi’s name and face were changed by Kazama, and Haruka was entrusted to the orphanage. Their existence is hidden away by Kazama, and they are presumed dead.|

|On the other hand, Sera was unable to cut ties with Jingu.|

[Tea Room]

Jingu: “Sera. Next job. I want you to rough up a member of the Diet a little.”

Sera: “. . . Jingu. Do you have a grudge against him? Is doing this suitable for our ambitions?”

Jingu: “What, Sera, are you dissatisfied? I’ll pay you. Just do it like you always do.”

Sera: (Jingu has changed . . . I’m just getting rid of people in his way. But I can’t cut ties now. I can’t afford to let slip about Yumi’s disguise. I just have to keep obeying . . .)

----

[Cabaret Club]

Man in suit: “No, sometimes I can’t do it and have to come to a place like this. Imamura-sensei . . .”

Imamura: “Oh yes, sometimes I like to take my wings off too.”

{Sera enters the club with his men.}

Sera: “Are you Representative Imamura Koji?”

Imamura: “Who are you guys?”

Sera: “We’re here to rough you up a little.”

Imamura: “Wh-what . . . ?!”

Imamura’s bodyguards: “Sensei, get down. We’ll handle this.”

Imamura: “O-okay!”

{A fight occurs. Imamura’s bodyguards go down.}

Sera: “Take him outside.”

Imamura: “No, stop!”

----

[Alleyway]

Sera: “. . . if we do it here, no one will notice.”

Imamura: “You . . . who paid you? What did I do? . . . was it Jingu? Did Jingu put you up to this? I’ve heard the black rumors about him.”

Sera: “. . . I don’t know.”

Imamura: “Wait! If he’s not happy with me, tell him to come to me directly! Politicians are supposed to confront each other’s conflicting beliefs and talk it out. He needs to understand that . . .”

Sera: “Sorry. I’m just doing my job.”

{Sera tells his men to beat Imamura up, but not kill him. He makes a phone call while the beating happens in the background.}

Sera: “Hello. I’m done. Ah . . . I understand.”

Sera: (. . . Jingu. How long do you plan to keep doing this . . .)

----

|After a few weeks . . .|

[Chairman’s Office]

Sera: “Kazama-san. What is it?”

Kazama: “It’s bad. Jingu has found out about Yumi and Haruka.”

Sera: “What’s that . . . ?!”

Kazama: “He has people hunting them down.”

Sera: “That’s bad . . . if they are found, they’ll definitely be killed . . .”

Kazama: “Jingu is now in command of the MIA. The amount of power in his grasp . . .”

Sera: “. . . Kazama-san. I have 10 billion yen that I received from Jingu. . . . what would happen to him if it were to suddenly vanish?”

Kazama: “!”

Sera: “Jingu was a member of the Metropolitan Police Department. It’s their money that the Tojo Clan is cleaning. If it were to disappear . . .”

Kazama: “Jingu will be held liable . . . and he’ll lose power.”

Sera: “Yes, if we take away his power then he can’t do anything to Yumi and Haruka. The money is outwardly considered Tojo money, so I’ll handle it. You spread the rumor that it has gone missing. If that happens, the Tojo Clan will descend into chaos. Then it’ll reach the ears of the police.”

Kazama: “That’s . . .”

Sera: “Take advantage of the hoax and hide the 10 billion.”

Kazama: “Jingu or someone from the Tojo is bound to figure it out.”

Sera: “True. The only problem is how to play the hoax. There’s a risk that self-made performances will be exposed.”

Kazama: “. . . in that case, I have a plan. There is a man called Terada from the Omi Alliance, monitoring Nishikiyama under my direction. Nishikiyama made contact with the Omi, and seems to be plotting something with them. He doesn’t know that Terada and I are connected, and believes he’s an enemy of the Tojo. If Terada whispers, ‘10 billion yen has disappeared’ into Nishikiyama’s ear, he will not doubt.”

Sera: “The Chairman’s scandal . . . that ambitious Nishikiyama would never be able to keep it to himself.”

Kazama: “Yes. He’ll try to expose the story to watch you fall. But Sera . . . there is a big problem with this.”

Sera: “Yeah. If 10 billion disappeared from Headquarters . . . I will not make it out alive. Kazama-san . . . I’m ready to face the consequences. Let’s do it.”

Kazama: “. . . I’m sorry about this, Sera.”

Sera: (Jingu . . . it’s like we said. You and I have a shared destiny. We rise together and we fall together, right until the end. Apparently . . . it seems the end is near.)

 .

-END-

.

CHAPTER 9

.

[Tojo HQ – Meeting Room]

Shimano: “Third Chairman . . . what on earth is this emergency meeting about?”

Sera: “Someone else called for this meeting, to discuss an emergency agenda.”

Kazama: “Hey, what do you mean by calling us all together for an emergency meeting . . . Nishikiyama.”

Nishikiyama: “I wanted to talk with the Third Chairman in the presence of all the direct patriarchs. A big stash of money worth 10 billion in the Tojo’s safety deposit box . . . is it true it got stolen?”

{The other patriarchs start shouting in shock over the money.}

Shimano: “Pipe down! . . . Hey, tell me he’s spouting bullshit . . . Third Chairman.”

Sera: “. . . where did you get this information?”

Nishikiyama: “Kansai. From Terada of the Omi Alliance.”

{The other patriarchs yell about the involvement of the Omi.}

Sera: “. . . I was just about to bring up the matter myself.”

Shimano: “So the 10 billion is really . . . !”

Sera: “Yes.”

Shimano: “That’s crazy! 25,000 of my men worked to death scraping together that money! 10 billion, do you understand how much blood that is!!!”

Kazama: “Shimano! Remember who you’re speaking to.”

Sera: “I will leave this in the hands of Tojo Headquarters. It’s been a long day.”

Shimano: “Hey! Wait!”

Kazama: “. . .”

{The other patriarchs go ballistic as Sera leaves.}

----

[Tojo HQ - Chairman’s Office]

Sera: “Kazama-san. It was a success.”

Kazama: “Yes, but it only starts here. We have to carry out the 10 billion without getting caught.”

Sera: “It will be hidden in an abandoned building owned by the Tojo Clan behind the bank until the hot air cools.”

Kazama: “Behind the bank . . . The darkness beneath the lighthouse.”

Man’s voice: “Oi! Third Chairman! Come out of there!”

Sera: “There seems to be a quick turnaround.”

----

[Tojo HQ – Lobby]

Sera: “What is it?”

Nishikiyama family member: “Third Chairman, how are you taking responsibility for the 10 billion?”

Sera: “I told you, the matter will be handled by Headquarters.”

Nishikiyama family member: “And you think we’ll be satisfied with that?! It’s 10 billion!”

Sera: “Hmph. I don’t need a lecture from someone so beneath me as a Nishikiyama family member.”

Nishikiyama family member: “What . . . ?!”

Sera: “Today’s a special day. I’ll be the one handing out the lecture. . . . come on!”

{Sera defeats the Nishikiyama family members.}

Sera: (As expected, Tojo is taking this hard. It won’t be long now before I get killed. I should start thinking . . .who I can entrust the Tojo Clan to.)

----

|After several hours . . .|

Sera’s subordinate: “Chairman. We’ve successfully hidden away the 10 billion.”

Sera: “That was hard work. Thank you.”

Kazama: “. . . fuu. It’s done.”

Sera: “Yeah . . .”

Kazama: “. . . was this really a good idea?”

Sera: “The only way to cut ties with Jingu is to take away the 10 billion he accumulated and let him lose his footing.”

Kazama: “Is that so. But if you keep this up, you’ll be in danger. You should hide away for a while.”

Sera: “. . . I agree.”

Kazama: “. . . ? What are you making? Is that . . . a blood seal . . .?”

Sera: “. . . the Shimano and Nishikiyama families will surely start to move against me. However, I am the Third Chairman . . . I have no intention of running away or hiding.”

Kazama: “You . . .”

Sera: “Would you please take care of my will in case of emergency?”

Kazama: “. . . Sera . . .”

Sera: “Kazama-san. I implore you.”

Kazama: “Sera . . . this . . . why isn’t there a name?”

Sera: “Kazama-san. I’m not originally under the Tojo Clan. Only yakuza can strike gold. You decide who can be my successor. The Tojo needs a man you can entrust the future of the yakuza to.”

Kazama: “Sera. You . . .”

 .

-END-

.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6

[carolynpetit]

On the Beautifully Broken Boreal Tenebrae

I’m so tired of feeling broken. I didn’t always feel this way. A sense of purpose was once a bulwark against brokenness. Going to a place every day to work alongside people I liked, feeling like part of something larger than myself, knowing that I was good at what I was doing and that I was a valuable part of the team. These things gave my life meaning. 

But for some time now I’ve been adrift. I thought for sure that the work I’d done in the past would open up doors to me in the future where I would continue to be able to do work I believed in, but it hasn’t worked out that way. I sometimes feel like a useless, discarded thing, now obsolete, of use in the old world but too awkward and ungainly for the new, doomed to fall through the cracks in the level geometry and plummet through the gray void below forever. Sometimes I’m afraid now even to write, afraid that anything I write will betray my brokenness, screaming MALFUNCTION! MALFUNCTION! to anyone who reads it.

But is it me that’s broken, or is it a world that can’t find a place for me? And what happens when a whole town doesn’t know what it’s for anymore? 

The new game Boreal Tenebrae (previously called Boreal Tales before being changed due to a prior claim on the title) is about a broken town, a town whose sense of purpose is turning to rot. It’s a lumber town in Saskatchewan, or at least it always has been. Now the Toads (yes, literal toads) who run the mill are talking of plummeting profits and moving operations overseas. And for some reason, mysterious blocks of static are appearing all over town.

You primarily play as Bree, a young Black woman whose sister Sarah has vanished. Sarah had a fascination with TV static. When she was younger, she’d done some “static scrying”--trying to find meaning in the snow between stations--and when the blocks of static started appearing in town, she’d returned to scrying as “a way to get to the source of our town’s sickness.” As you undertake Bree’s quest to find her sister (and possibly to save the town), you traverse the world beyond the static blocks on a surreal journey that finds you inhabiting a number of characters in a number of places, most of whom feel, in one way or another, crushed by the town’s economic collapse. 

For a young man named Jessie, the terrifying uncertainty of the future looms large, and he reacts with rage to the suffocating squeeze of capitalism, taking a baseball bat to the mailboxes on his suburban street.  

For Sam, forming a union seems like the only hope she and her fellow workers have, but how do you convince them to join you when they’re paid so little that they can’t risk losing the jobs that exploit them? Sam’s coworker Nicole needs to keep her job at the mill to support her uncle, whose body is broken by his years on the job and who now relies on an oxygen tank.  

The Toads’ exploitation of the workers is so complete that for some of them, even being able to entertain the idea of unionizing reeks of privilege. The mill doesn’t just grind up wood. It grinds up lives. Generations of lives. The game is insightful about how keeping us in economic precarity is just another tactic the powerful employ to get working people to turn on each other as we fight over scraps, rather than letting us come together to find our collective power.

The look of the game, with its hazy polygons, is immediately reminiscent of certain PS1 games, and it’s the perfect graphical style for Boreal Tenebrae’s tone and themes. I’ve long felt that the reason psychological horror games like Silent Hill linger so effectively in our psyches is that the graphical limits of the technology of the time actually enhanced their ability to create worlds that felt ethereal and prone to collapse. The town of Boreal Tenebrae similarly feels like something caught halfway between reality and dreams. Take one step and you might fall right through it.

And indeed, like the town where it takes place, Boreal Tenebrae itself is kinda busted. It’s got lots of little grammar and spelling errors. Some cutscenes didn’t play properly for me. I once walked right off the edge of the world and had to reload an earlier save. It’s not always easy to tell where the game’s deliberately cultivated feeling of brokenness--a fractured reality, a dying town--ends, and where it just being kind of a broken game begins, and if I’m honest, I don’t really care. It all felt of a piece to me, or as if the brokenness of my life was finding its mirror in the brokenness of the game. I’m sure that falling off the edge of an environment wasn’t something the game wanted me to be able to do, and yet when it happened I just thought to myself, yep. That’s how it feels these days. Like I could just fall off the edge of the world.

I won’t pretend to fully understand Boreal Tenebrae. I’m not interested in “getting it,” and I reject approaches to art that treat stories like this as puzzles to be solved. I don’t need to make sense of how all of its vignettes fit together to know that the experience was meaningful and affecting for me, that it said something to me about my own life and my own economic and existential fears, and about how I experience the world sometimes, too: as a fragmented reality where things don’t quite click into place.  

Boreal Tenebrae is, to me, a small, sharp little miracle of a game. It feels like a dream at times and then you come across a truth that cuts like jagged glass. It's unflinching and sometimes bleak but only because it wants to wake us up and make us hope for something more. In its depiction of brokenness, I found both anger at the systems that keep so many of us feeling broken, and forgiveness for myself and all of us who can’t quite figure out where we belong in a world that’s designed to grind us up.

Perhaps I should also tell you that Boreal Tenebrae doesn’t currently have an ending. It’s still being patched and developed, and right now, at a certain point, you get a TO BE CONTINUED screen. But like all the game’s rough edges, this, too, feels appropriate to me. Now is not a time for endings. We’re in a state of flux. We’re at one of those rare moments in history where we can glimpse the possibility of building something new, something better. I don’t know what the future holds for us here in reality or for the people in the town of Boreal Tenebrae, but I do know that if we’re going to create something better, where more people have purpose and dignity and live free of wage slavery and the constant fear of economic ruin, we’re going to build it together. 

At least, that’s what the static seems to be telling me. --- Boreal Tenebrae is available on Steam and itch.io, and as of this writing, is available in the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. If you’re able, consider kicking me a few bucks to support my work. I could really use the help right now. Thanks.

[septicbro1005]

Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion Ramble

Spoilers for the Octo Expansion. Don't want them? Don't read.

I fucking love the Octo Expansion. I've wanted to buy it since it came out, but I never bought it until December of 2020. Bought it for myself as a Christmas gift. Beat every level with every one of the little squishy looking things in a day. Pure unadulterated boredom causes me to fixate on new stuff until I finish it, and maybe even after.

One of my favorite parts from the Octo Expansion (other than the fact you get to play as an Octoling and get some radical fucking gear) is the final escape and final boss fight. Spoilers below for both the Octo Expansion and other Splatoon sotry modes, as I will be comparing the two. Please avoid the spoilers if you don't want to see them!

Now I'm gonna rant about this stuff because I love this game so much. So the final escape has seven phases, a boss, and then you make your way to a cutscene and the final boss.

So, for some form of context, you play as Agent 8, an Octoling who has no memory of who they are. You are picked up by Cap'n Cuttlefish, and both of you are trapped in a place called the Deepsea Metro. Before you can get into any train car though, you are met with a ringing phone.

Now, right away, this shows how much darker the Octo Expansion is going to be compared to the other story mode in Splatoon 2. That one, you play as an Inkling and you need to be DJ Octavio again because the Great Zapfish was taken. There's also a little side plot about Callie missing, and you later find she was hypnotized to work with Octavio all along, all that jazz.

Within the first few minutes, after you go through the tutorial, you are met with a sort of dark hallway with a light shining down on a telephone, ringing ominously. No music. Just the telephone and your footsteps.

The telephone ends up actually being a character, called Telephone. Smart, I know. He tells you to get to the Promised Land, you need to collect four thangs. I'm not making that up, that's what they're called.

So you have to pass a series of tests and such, some of which are boss fights, others of which are harder tests. Each of the levels give you a particular weapon or some options of weapons to choose from. Sometimes they're real weapons, or they could be bombs, occasionally specials.

As you collect these four thangs, you may see that they end up being parts of a blender.

When the thing is all built up, you and Cap'n Cuttlefish are told to go in there. When your dumbass gets in, you almost get blended to bits when Agent 3 (from the first game) comes and saves your ass.

I believe 3 gets conked the fuck out, but I can't remember that perfectly.

Then you move onto the phases. Holy shit the phases of the escape. Listen, I'm gonna elaborate on the first phase in a minute, but here's the name of all of the phases.

Coccyx phase, Villi phase, Belly intestinal, Diaphragm phase, Peristalsis phase, and Spinal phase.

So, I'm going to skip over the Coccyx phase for now. I'll come back to that.

The Villi phase has the player collecting a weapon. So you go through part of the phase with no weapon. You collect bombs first, and then you collect your Octo Shot. Not that big of a deal.

Belly phase is up next. You have to go from falling platforms to another section where you jump between sideways platforms to reach the end. Beat up a missle shooting sanitized Octocopter, and you're off to the next phase.

Now, while these phases have been happening, we hear dialogue from Pearl, Marina, Cap'n Cuttlefish, and some random noises from Telephone, who we now know as our villain.

Intestinal phase has you dodging lasers. While this is going on, Telephone wakes up and wants Agent 8 to come back and help him with his plans. You, being the little bitch baby you are, say no. And now we don know where Cuttlefish and Agent 3 are.

Diaphragm phase has you stealing a power source. You need to go hit a bunch of different things while controlling your Inkjet and trying not to fall to your death or get killed. Unlock the power source and go to the next phase.

The Peristalsis phase has you on a platform you need to propel. While propelling the platform, you need to protect the power source from Octosnipers and missiles and 8-balls, etc. It's an absolute fucking pain, but when you finish, it's so relieving.

Last phase is the Spinal phase. You go into an elevator and youŕe going up. You're so damn close to the surface. You stop. Agent 3 has been hypnotized and you have to fight them. They've been a member of the New Squidbeak Splatoon for so damn long. They're an expert. You're fucked. When you finish them off though, it feels so damn awesome.

Then there's the final boss. It's terrifyingly fun. It gave me such an adrenaline rush, I fucking loved it. I won't give specifics, but damn. The hyperbombs made me lose my shit.

[tev-the-random]

A Casual Sonic Forces Rewrite

Part 5 - Jailbreak

Just a warning: none of the images used here belong to me!

Just another warning: casual mild swearing here and there. So sorry, I’m easily excitable. It just gotta be like that sometimes.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

(LOOK! I began writing this weeks and weeks before the 23rd, but only now I was finally able to post it. REGARDLESS! I’ll say here my belated Happy Birthday to our favourite blue hedgehog! Can’t believe he’s 29 already, blimey…)

Well, hello there! You know, my mind has been running rampant with things that have nothing to do with one another and I have half a mind to begin rewriting another game; however, I already have way too much work as it is without trying to engage in another project when I’m not even halfway through this one. So yeah: the next rewrite will take a while still.

I don’t really know what else to say but “Sonic doesn’t want your VR set” and “hey, look! Is that a backstory?”

*“Fist Bump instrumental” intro plays*

 Previously in a Casual Sonic Forces Rewrite: we left the Custom Hero in the Spaceport after they secured a shuttle. Now recovering from Infinite’s surprise attack and preparing to leave for the Death Egg, our reckon team looks for a way to get the rookie back to safety before anything else happens. However, they soon receive a call from HQ:

 ‘Amy! Knuckles! Can you hear me?’ Rouge’s voice comes in.

 ‘Rouge. What is it?’ Knuckles asks.

 ‘I managed to recover some of the information I got in Green Hill. It’s about Sonic!’

 ‘Sonic…?’ Amy lets out in a contained but clearly sad tone.

 ‘These must be old files, then,’ Espio comments in seriousness.

 ‘Not at all. They were updated last week,’ Rouge responds

 ‘What did you find out?’ Amy asks.

 ‘Well…’

 The screen fades out and in comes a new cutscene:

 We see a close shot of our legendary blue blur lying on the ground. Dust fills the air, and he slowly gets up coughing. He brings a hand to his head, “ow…”

 Sonic starts to look around in confusion: to one side, dead plants and dry grass in tones of browns and greys; to the other – and the hedgehog is startled by what he sees –, the entrance to a big city bustling with shiny machinery, bright lights, robots and Eggman imagery; a flamboyant but oppressing atmosphere. Above the entrance, it reads:

“Eggmanland”

‘What…’ Sonic hurriedly gets up. ‘Where…’

‘A funny place to live in, isn’t it?’

The hedgehog turns around to face the source of the voice, only to be met with a certain masked jackal.

‘You!’ Sonic exclaims, entering a fighting stance. ‘Who are you?’

‘That doesn’t matter. Not to you,’ the enemy comments. He pauses for a moment before continuing, ‘I’ve heard a lot about you. Your strength is admirable. But as it was, you were in the way.’

‘Heh, were?’ The hedgehog gives him a convinced smirk. ‘Come on! You caught me off guard that one time. Right now, I can kick your butt! And as soon as we figure out what’s going on, we’ll bring Eggman down, just like last time, and every other time before that!’

‘Will you now…’ Infinite says in a mocking tone.

Sonic proceeds to run towards the enemy, who doesn’t make the slightest effort to get out of the way. The hedgehog goes right through him, and when he does so, both the jackal and the entire scenery begin to glitch out. For half a second, amidst the glitching, the world becomes a metallic prison cell, right before going back to the apocalyptic Eggmanland. Sonic doesn’t notice this as he falls to the ground and loses his balance.

‘Without you, the Eggman Empire was able to flourish well,’ Infinite continues as if nothing happened.

‘With you on top, right beside Eggman, huh?’ Sonic says, clearing his gloves of the dry grass.

‘Something like that,’ the jackal responds in a mysterious tone. ‘But I think we don’t have time to discuss this any further.’

Suddenly, a desperate plea for help is heard in the distance. It sounds an awful lot like…

‘Tails!’ Sonic shouts, looking around the barren land in concern. More voices call for him, making him tense up. ‘Amy! Knuckles! What did you do to them?’ He quickly turns to Infinite.

The masked one simply chuckles, which turns into an evil laughter, increasing Sonic’s frustration. The blue blur decides that he won’t waste any more time and runs into the crazy city to search for his friends. The second he turns around, Infinite disappears.

End scene.

We now begin a stage I like to call “Sonic’s Virtual Reality”! A brand new level set in this illusionary Eggmanland, full of twists and turns and grinding, robots, perhaps some Phantom Infinites and whatnot. It might feel similar to Shadow’s Virtual Reality stage.

I just think it would be nice to start with Sonic going:

‘This can’t be happening… I’ve got to find everyone and get out of here!’

And as you reach the end of the stage, he says ‘where is everyone?!’ and then we can hear Infinite’s voice saying the final line:

‘You’re too late.’

Now, you won the level… but did you really? Sounds like a bittersweet victory to me. What the hell is happening? I guarantee you Sonic doesn’t like this new reality in the slightest.

 Back to the Resistance, we open the scene with a dialogue:

 ‘Sonic is alive?!’ Knuckles says in astonishment.

 ‘I knew it! I knew it! Oh, Rouge, this is wonderful!’ Says Amy in the happiest of voices, almost tearful.

 ‘Indeed, those are great news,’ Espio cuts in. ‘Where is he now?’

 ‘Where else? In the Death Egg!’ Rouge affirms. ‘Apparently, he’s been moved to a solitary confinement cell recently. From where, it doesn’t say, but they’ve been torturing him for months on end…’

 There’s a second of stunned silence.

 ‘That’s so low…’ Knuckles enunciates with a bitter tone. ‘We need a rescue team!’

 ‘There’s a problem though,’ Rouge states. ‘I think you guys need to be our rescue team today. And you better hurry.’

 ‘What?’ Various characters question in unison.

 ‘Eggman is getting ready to banish Sonic into space. If the Doctor knows you’re going to the Death Egg, no doubt he’ll move forward with his plan ahead of schedule.’

 ‘Why didn’t you say that before?!’ Amy snaps. With a newfound sense of determination, she commands: ‘Everyone, get ready! We’re leaving for the Death Egg right away, no time to regroup!’

 ‘You all know what to do. Let’s go get Sonic!’ Knuckles exclaims.

 End of dialogue.

 It’s time for your Death Egg stage with the Custom Hero! Good luck!

(Ahem… Got this one from the Wiki and just thought it looked really dope.)

 This level should go about the same, I quite like it. Maybe less 2D sections and more up-and-down-and-twisting would be nice; taking a level theme such as “Nowhere to Run”, I would expect this to be a confusing stage. But what we’re really changing today is (you guessed it!) background dialogue.

 I don’t know what it is, but a bunch of these stages have the line “you’re our only hope, rookie” or something similar. It doesn’t sound right at all, not only because most of these levels don’t have enough stakes for such a climactic line like “you’re our only hope” just yet, but also because it makes no sense story-wise: why the hell is the rookie your only hope when two seconds ago all of your seasoned soldiers were doing just fine? This makes the Resistance sound useless… again.

 So Knuckles’ line goes like:

 ‘Listen up, rookie: we’re short on time. We have to rescue the prisoners and find Sonic the Hedgehog. You know the guy. Hurry up and leave no cell unchecked!’

 This makes things sound more casual – you did just join the Resistance – but also important enough. We have a set mission!

 Later on, Rouge’s line stays the same, except we’re adding:

 ‘This is a big mission, newbie. Make it worth it!’

 A bit more of the level plays out until we hear an alarm going off and Rouge announces that “they’re on high alert now!” And you know what? We’re actually playing the “high alert” mode! Imagine the doors closing around you, more enemies showing up in great numbers, the stage getting narrower and narrower as you avoid obstacles and approach the end at a neck-breaking speed…

 Congratulations, you did it!

 That was a lot of stuff, so I guess it’s time for an Intermission!

 Remember I said Rouge would find some very important piece of information? Well, here you go: after a number of stages without a sign of Sonic, we finally discover he is, in fact, alive. This probably seems like a short time when we consider that we’re still quite early in the story; but I didn’t want to drag it for too long either, as to not end up creating some unnecessary plot points we won’t be able to reasonably address later.

 Regardless, what I tried to do most with that short dialogue was to show that hey, the whole “Sonic is alive!” thing didn’t come out of nowhere. Additionally, we see that the Resistance, despite being hopeful, acknowledged that Sonic was gone, so why would Eggman have any new information on him? This common understanding between them makes their reactions seem more legit: “holy shit, Sonic is actually alive when we most clearly had reasons to believe he wasn’t!”

 Since we’re already talking about this scene, I’ve tried to give this mission more of a sense of urgency: Sonic is about to be banished into space, we don’t have time to prepare a new group to go get him, we have to use the group that’s already formed; forget reconnaissance of the Death Egg, we have a new priority! Chop, chop, guys, or Amy will smash you into bits.

 While Rouge tells what happened to the Resistance off-screen, we can deduce what’s been said, seen as the next cutscene shows Sonic himself. This is a new scenario I thought about for a long time: while the “torture” part in the dialogue was probably another mistranslation, I wanted to keep it and elaborate on it. What we see is a glimpse of that torture, perhaps the beginning of it. Sonic’s been suffering for the past six months inside a Virtual Reality where Eggman won and there’s nothing more he can do; his friends are always in danger, he’s always too late. He’s being put through that sort of scenario over and over and over again. And that sounds like torture. It will affect him.

 *Cough* I do hope I’m not coming through as someone who’s having too much fun with this. I’m a writer, I need pain for character development.

 The emotional repercussions of Sonic’s virtual reality are a little different than Shadow’s, I would say. Shadow knows for sure it is fake, he knows he’s being deceived and controlled while his friends are out there and have no idea where he is, but he can see no way out of this imaginary place he’s trapped in; and those, on my perspective, are some of the things he would fear the most. Sonic, on the other hand, doesn’t know what’s happening. He truly believes his friends are in danger in this world where everything is ruined and it is all his fault. He finds hope in the perspective that he will find his friends eventually, but still, this is a living nightmare.

Done here, on with the rewrite!

Back to Sonic!

 We see Sonic laying on his metallic prison bed, cuffed hands and ankles, and apparently asleep. But not for long, for he suddenly jolts awake as if from a nightmare. He looks around the cell, terrified, until he calms down and hides his face in his hands, sighing.

 The cell doors open, and in comes not Zavok, but Metal Sonic. The robot, of course, says nothing, so Sonic tries to fill in the conversation, as he’s clearly desperate for one.

 ‘Oh! Hi, Metal. So nice of you to come and visit me, old pal,’ he says tiredly, but still with that sassy tone of his. ‘What’s the occasion?’

 Metal, still silent, resolutely approaches the hedgehog, grabs him by the handcuffs and starts pulling him out of the cell. Sonic is just surprised, and doesn’t say anything as his robotic counterpart leads him away.

 ‘Hey, is that a space pod?’ He finally asks. The camera shifts to focus on said pod before going back to Sonic, who tries to keep his cool. ‘Just for me? You didn’t have to!’

 They keep approaching.

 ‘No, seriously. You don’t have to!’ Sonic begins to look worried and tries to pull away from Metal, but to no avail: his hands are (literally) tied.

 ‘So this is the end, my little nemesis,’ a voice comes from a screen on the nearby wall. Eggman tries to sound intimidating, but his grave tone is ruined by his clear cheer. ‘A splendid journey we had, wouldn’t you say? Now, before I banish you eternally, I have a few things to say…’

 Before anyone can say anything, however, an alarm starts blaring – the same alarm we heard during the Avatar stage, in fact!

 ‘What? They’re already there?!’ the Doctor shouts, frustrated by the interruption. ‘Those little pests-!’

 The screen turns off and both robot and hedgehog look at it. Suddenly, Sonic sees himself free from his electronic cuffs. Free of restraints, he stretches, seemingly relieved, and gives Metal a determined, daring look.

 ‘The end, huh? Let’s see you try again now that I’m free,’ he says.

 The camera pans out as both Sonic and Metal Sonic enter a fighting stance and stare at each other intently.

 Fade out. Cut.

 Boss battle with Metal Sonic!

(“You might know everything I’m going to do, but that’s not going to help you since I know everything you’re going to do! Ssstraaannge, isn’t it?”… What?)

 I want to say it looks exactly the same as the original boss fight, simply because “Battle with Death Queen” is one of my favourite tracks, but that wouldn’t make sense for Metal. That being said, I… don’t know. Maybe he uses bombs and lasers or fast close-range attacks or other robots and the platform crumbling down… but while writing this on my own, I’m really not sure. I’m aware that Metal Sonic is a fan favourite and his battles can be a touchy subject for a great part of the fandom, so… I’ll just leave it here. Imagine your ideal Metal Sonic boss battle!

 After you knock out this non-living being, Sonic ends the fight with a final, bitter sounding, yet almost triumphant line:

 ‘I’ll be taking my leave now. Got some people to find. But thanks for the hospitality.’

 Cue for Death Egg stage as Sonic! I don’t have much to say about this one, except that I would definitely cut a lot of the 2D sections and… I don’t know, everything that makes this look so much like a Classic Sonic stage. Am I the only one who got this vibe?

 Anyway, background dialogue: we made some other changes earlier that demand we modify what is said here for the sake of continuity, so it goes like so:

 ‘Whatever it is that broke into this place, thanks a lot!’ Sonic says pleased at the start. ‘Time to kiss another prison goodbye!’

 A good chunk of level goes by before we reach the outside section and he exclaims:

 ‘Whoa, did we have to be so far out in space?! I don’t have time for this! There must be a shuttle for me to escape in somewhere…’

 (Sweet Chaos, I just noticed how much Sonic talks in this level… I’d say he finally went crazy if I didn’t talk to myself just as much.)

 A good portion of the level goes by in silence – maybe with a casual “let’s try going up there” or “careful not to fall off here” or whatever. Remember when in-level dialogue consisted mostly of that sort of thing? – until we reach the quick-time event (lots of buttons! Please, this is not a cutscene, give me buttons to press!) and he says ‘That’s a lot of firepower. Well, here goes nothing!’

 That section is over so is the level! Phew!

 *Brews some tea* I don’t know why, but I feel like rewriting Sonic in this game is going to be the most stressing part. Probably because he’s the most absurdly dissonant thing, trying to be funny when he really shouldn’t. Man, I could count on the fingers of a single hand the things he said in the entire game that weren’t just poorly placed, stupid attempts at unnecessary comic-relief- *notices they put salt in the tea* Goddamnit.

 Anyway, let’s head for the last cutscenes of the day, shall we?

(I don’t really remember where I got this from. I was just searching around for gameplay footage that had the trailer avatar so I wouldn’t steal anybody’s OC)

 Backstory time!

 The cutscene begins like any other, without the text introduction. Similarly to the original, we see a group of people trying to attack Infinite as he floats next to destroyed buildings and houses. Some of combatants, clearly hurt, seem to be protecting the debris, trying to keep him from approaching, but to no avail. The masked villain exterminates them all with a blast of energy.

 A Lightning Wispon previously belonging to a soldier flies away and lands next to a hidden scared kid, who we recognize as the Custom Hero. They nervously scramble to get to it.

 Meanwhile, Infinite destroys the rubble swiftly and grabs something from under it. He closely analyses the green emerald.

 ‘Is this little thing the Chaos Emerald?’ The jackal murmurs with curiosity. ‘Is this what the Doctor wants? Even with all my power?’ A tone of frustration begins showing in his voice. ‘How pathetic. I could just…’

 Infinite begins crushing the emerald in his hand. A single long crack forms on it as it slowly gives in, when suddenly a whip of electricity crosses the air right in front of the jackal. It barely misses him, but makes him drop the emerald in surprise.

 The avatar runs in and catches the gemstone before it can reach the floor. They look at it carefully.

 ‘How daring…’ Infinite’s voice comes from above.

 The avatar is startled and turns around. They aim their wispon at the villain with a trembling hand and an absolutely terrified face.

 Infinite stares at them for a moment, almost as if waiting for them to do something, before giving a short chuckle. ‘But I can still see your terror, child. It’s wonderful,’ he comments amusedly. The Custom Hero begins slowly walking backwards. Shaking like a leaf, eyes glued on the enemy, they stumble and fall over, dropping their wispon, but still keeping a tight hold of the Chaos Emerald.

 The jackal gets ready to deliver a deadly blow when a curtain of fire appears between him and his petrified victim! Startled, he makes his way through the flames, but the avatar is no longer there. Already in the distance, we see a purple cat running with the avatar in her arms. The kid looks back at the enemy with a frightened expression.

 Infinite stays behind, mildly frustrated, but also intrigued. ‘Fine then,’ he says. ‘I’m sure we’ll meet again.’

 The scene fades out with a glitching effect, or maybe it blurs out… the important thing is that we fade into another scene from what was clearly a flashback.

 The present-time Custom Hero wanders aimlessly the corridors of the Death Egg, distracted as they muse over their memory.

 Meanwhile, Vector speaks through their communicator:

 ‘Looks like this place was used up until recently…’

 The scene switches to the crocodile and his chameleon friend, both investigating another part of the space fortress. Espio helps a group of relieved nameless characters out of a cell.

 ‘It appears that many of our brethren were held here,’ he comments.

 ‘That’s one more thing Eggman will answer for!’ Silver exclaims, and the scene cuts to the HQ’s command room. Silver and Blaze stand next to Rouge, looking at a giant computer.

 Blaze’s eyes shift through the screen analytically. ‘Why is the alarm still going?’ She asks solemnly.

 ‘The security is still under alert, but I can’t really pinpoint where the enemies are…’ Rouge responds.

 ‘Everything clear here,’ Vector confirms.

 ‘Nothing here either,’ says Amy.

 ‘Same here,’ says Knuckles.

 We go back to the avatar, who’s pulled from their thoughts by a laser shooting the poorly held wispon off their hand. The weapon flies away, and the young hero is faced with dozens of robots. They let out a gasp and turn away to try and run, but find themselves to be surrounded.

 ‘H-here!’ They cry out with a voice almost as shaky as them.

 ‘Newbie, send your coordinates! Knuckles can back you up!’ Rouge exclaims.

 The rookie however, continues to tremble, defenceless against the hoard of robots, when in comes the blue saviour! Sonic smashes the enemies in a single move and offers a hand to the fearful kid.

 ‘Easy there, everything is cool,’ he says with a comforting smile. The avatar seems mesmerized.

 ‘Rookie!’ Blaze calls out. ‘Are you there?’

 ‘Blaze?!’ Sonic looks at the rookie’s communicator in disbelief.

 ‘Sonic?’

 ‘Sonic?!’ Amy’s voice comes, hopeful. ‘Oh my goodness, is that you?!’

 ‘Sonic!’ It’s Knuckles’ turn to yell. ‘I can’t believe it!’

 The avatar deliberately gives Sonic their communicator, which he accepts, almost desperate.

 ‘I- guys, are you ok?’ He asks in an equally desperate voice.

 ‘Of course we’re ok, who do you have us for?’ Knuckles states, perhaps not so truthfully. But you can hear a tearful tone in him.

 ‘Oh, Sonic! I’m so glad-!’ Amy begins, probably actually crying, but she’s cut off by Espio:

 ‘I don’t mean to interrupt this moment, but we don’t have much time. We must leave now.’

 ‘Right,’ Sonic says.

 The hedgehog looks at the Custom Hero as if they’re his saviour.

 ‘Where’s the exit, buddy?’ He asks giving their communicator back.

 The avatar points him in the right direction. They depart together.

 End scene.

This… I like it a lot…

 Ok, I’ll back away for a second. In my defence, I got carried away and I think this was my prose mode screaming at my scriptwriting mode to just- and I- this scene is too long to be a regular cutscene but my writer feelings can’t handle anything shorter, I’m sorry.

 So… Intermission!

 It will become clearer as we go, but maybe you’ve already noticed that Sonic thinks the virtual reality world is real and he’s still in it. In his head, he was recently captured and brought to the Death Egg; he’s unaware of his extended imprisonment. But we’ll talk more about this and its consequences later.

 Now, to the prison scene… I thought it would be interesting to show Sonic having a nightmare because this is fucked up. I thought it would make sense if his ankles were shackled too, because handcuffs wouldn’t really lower his threat level.

 But we’re here to talk about Metal Sonic: he was, as you can see, a major reason why I got rid of Zavok – so that Metal Sonic and, eventually, all of the rivals could have more room to shine. This may be sort of a spoiler for later parts, but I plan on having two (yes, TWO!) boss battles for each of them, and to fit in six boss battles… is kind of rough, imagine having to find space for eight of them? No, three side villains is enough.

 Now, it made so much sense to me that it would be Metal Sonic, out of all the rivals, who would guard Sonic on the Death Egg! I mean, we’ve seen Metal in the Death Egg before, he is as much Eggman technology as the space fortress itself. Besides, being such an important rival, I thought he deserved the spot as the first Modern Sonic boss.

 It took me a while to figure that, in the original scene, Zavok probably came to take Sonic away, but maybe I’m just dumb. So instead of having Metal taunt the hedgehog, I had him get right to the point, despite Sonic’s attempts to engage in conversation – the isolation must be getting to his head if he expected the robot to respond. We now see with our very eyes that Sonic is about to be banished into space! And of course Dr Eggman wouldn’t miss his opportunity to gloat and give him a great speech one last time!

 He’s interrupted by the Resistance breaking into the Death Egg – I try to show as much as I can that this scene and the sequential level take place at about the same time as the avatar stage, so the “high alert” and everything associated with it has nothing to do with Sonic himself, but with the Resistance – and sounding the alarms. This prompts Sonic’s cuffs to release him because… maybe the rescue group pressed that button that releases everyone everywhere on the place, I don’t know, let’s use our imagination; the game didn’t explain what happened either, but I’ll roll with it.

 Sonic is still determined to find his friends.

Now let’s talk about the Custom Hero:

 Remember the cracked Chaos Emerald Blaze had in Part 3, right before we got introduced to the avatar? Well, there you have the explanation for that!

 I never thought the avatar’s backstory was a bad one; it’s simple enough, and it’s quite interesting. Still, not only is this backstory not aligning with our Infinite anymore, I also wanted to make it more interesting.

 I know the original one would lead into a whole lesson about conquering your fears, and I tried to keep that lesson there – you see how Infinite stood still, giving the avatar the chance to attack? But they didn’t. They stopped at one act of bravery and then just stumbled and froze in place … with reason, but still – while still adding an important piece that connects them to the Resistance. “Surviving kid” is indeed a very nice prompt for joining the battle, but “surviving kid who got rescued by the commander – and would therefore want to prove themselves even more – and who’s defied the enemy” is very dramatic and I’m all for it.

 Besides… someone’s got his eyes on us now…

 Now we’re back to the present, where the rookie is distracted thinking about their memory – a distraction which would lead them to not detect the enemies and get cornered.

 You might have noticed that some of the lines that are said in this scene were originally a part of the avatar stage. Obviously, that’s not our case anymore, as I thought it would be nice to have them be seen in a cutscene – as you can see, the Resistance interacting is my new jam.

 Silver and Blaze are finally back from their mission in Seaside Hill and are accompanying our team through the computer, so technically, everyone is here.

 I thought it would be such an interesting concept if the avatar had at least a few short spoken lines throughout the game. I love a good silent protagonist, but getting to hear the voice you chose in the customization actually saying something would be so exciting!

 So the rookie is saved by no one other than Sonic the Hedgehog himself, freshly escaped from his cell! And oh, wouldn’t you know it: everyone is happy. His friends are happy because they thought he was dead and he is happy because he spent the last six months trying to save them and now knows they’re ok. Even if this wasn’t the case, it has been so long since Sonic spoke to his friends and vice-versa, so everyone is so goddamn happy and I want a real reaction coming from them, especially from Amy and Knuckles, who have known him the longest, thank you very much.

And I think that’s about it for today! In a single part we managed to cover a nice portion of the story, so yay!

Now, Sonic is finally reunited with the Resistance. What will be the repercussion of those six months they spent apart? Maybe we can learn more about our enemies? How are Classic and Tails doing? Stay tuned for Part 6!

Until then, I wish you a nice day! Stay safe!