storm-eye-the-umbreon · 6 months ago
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: You're the one called Storm Eye yes? Teron asked me to stay by your side and in return I shall share all he has kept secret from thee. Storm Eye: If he has secrets to keep I don't think it's fair for you to share them. Who are you? Kho: I am Khoshekh. Brother by bond not blood to Teron. Someone he has never told you of I am certain. Storm Eye: And why would he not mention you? Kho: For it was my wish. I am leader of a cult that shall not be known to you just yet. Storm Eye: That... that sounds like something related to Teron. And if it's not I don't think there's any harm in you being around. Kho: If I may ask, can you tell me your story? That which began upon your creation by Arceus Sarii.
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... The angry god, with a twisted sense of justice. You know him already. "Yes but others might not. Surely you know there's a nearby crowd who listens. Other-worlders like to lean on the broken veil you know." I thought the world became less stable with your approach. "No need to worry over the fading. I think they are only here to listen, not to trespass. Not like you have a say in the matter, your child and partner are both from another world that has made a permanent change to Arceal." Do you want the story or not? "Apologies. Proceed."
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The flame of wrath, blind brutal justice. I had no clue how horrible he was when he created me. Only that I knew the intense hatred and betrayal that Teron held for the god.
I came into this world confused, hurt, without memory, and lacking control over my body. A monsoon kept us both wet and miserable for the long slow walk to the edges of Arceal. Even without memory though I felt what Teron's body refused to forget. Immense sorrow, a broken heart, and extreme fear. He took my existence as a curse at first because that was the intent when Sarii forced him to share his body with me. He yelled internally for me to shut up and leave... But something happened when he heard my own voice with a trembling fear answering him.
He softened his tone. I didn't know why his attitude changed so quick. And I was scared when he gave me full control of our body and told me to keep walking. It hurt. My paws ached, I was extremely thirsty despite the heavy rains, I felt for the first time the hunger and weariness he was protecting me from. He knew if he kept control with his own thoughts we would both die.
And he did not keep his thoughts to himself. On the journey to... well, to a place I didn't know at the time. Well it was the outskirts near Damonia, I don't know why we didn't go there first, he never said. But on our journey there, he helped pass time by talking of his family. Of his espeon partner Vivi and their twin kids who both were loved enough to be sylveons.
The more he talked of Vivi and the kids Terra and Vyrin, the more our body ached and felt weary. The more I wished he would tell me who I was and where we were going. The more I wished for him to cry and beg for control of our body. Instead he talked of sneaking out of royal chambers in his youth to have fun with Vivi. Of the stars and weather that were present when his kids came into the world. Of how close the two were and that he was glad they never fought. Those stories in particular his voice did waver.
We got to the outskirts and traveled until we were at the mouth of the disappearing river. And we collapsed until another espeon found me. She told us the weather that day was unique and we were only in the eye of the storm. She was the first to notice I was not Teron. The first to notice we were two unique individuals who were forced to share a body. And she introduced herself as Solaura and asked me to name myself. I had no ideas at the time but eye of the storm felt apt enough. And so I became Storm Eye that day.
She was patient and understanding. I felt anger but not towards me even though her eyes stared directly in mine. I felt shame that was not mine but Teron's and he finally cracked and asked for control. I think without Solaura I would have never known how horrible Sarii was to Teron. He would not have said anything to anyone but her, not even me.
Teron was crowned king of Arceal and he was held in high regard by everyone except Sarii. Sarii only saw him as a puppet to play with until he got bored. All it would take is to be angered and Sarii would ruin his life. Teron doesn't know what he did to anger Sarii, maybe he did nothing at all. Arceus Sarii had always been the embodiment of wrath and ruler of Arceal. Uxie Ayro, a much older god, was the one who chose, fathered, crowned, and made a ruler of Teron. Sarii had no say in the matter and that may have been the only thing that made him constantly angry. Whose to say.
In Sarii's wrath, Vivi was murdered for being an 'unfit queen who distracts the king' despite also having the favor of all of Arceal. Sarii made sure Teron see her turn into nothing but ash from his power alone. And his daughter Terra was sentenced to execution as well. Those who feared Sarii dared not go against what was asked and only wore hoods to avoid the gaze of Teron as they held him prisoner and marched him to the front of the execution. He noticed something that would shatter the rest of the kingdom once they noticed it too and allow his escape.
His son Vyrin had always been kind and boisterous wherever he went. Some may speak against Teron and question his decisions, some were jealous of Vivi, many did not know Terra and her softspoken words, but none had anything ever negative to say of Vyrin. Many called him a cure for any sorrow. Not to mention his own unique fur color for a sylveon. A striking blue reminiscent of the sky. But that day his fur was painted over in pink. Terra was nowhere to be found.
In the span of two days Teron lost his home, his wife, his son, and feared he had also lost his daughter. To a god he joked with, held meetings with, and thought he could mildly trust despite his blatant anger. He still refuses to tell me how he escaped, only that Vyrin made everything that follow become a blur in his memory.
In his escape Sarii was enraged and cast a curse on him. I think it was meant to be much worse than what I am to him because Giratina Chocolate took the brunt of the attack and bought him time. She was too late for her original intent to save Vyrin at Terra's request. She could only help Teron escape. The attack took it's toll on Chocolate as I think she is still unable to leave the Reverse to this day and Teron is forever grateful to her.
All of this as it was told to Solaura began to make me hate Sarii far more than it seemed Teron could. I was the one that urged us to find a way to kill the mad god. I was the one that forced Teron to take his life. But he was the one that found the resources and methods to make such a thing possible.
This country has been under several pantheons and there are two points in history that seem concerned with godkillers. The first is what we sought, ancient magic from before there was a distinction between god and mortal. The other seems forgotten wholly outside the moving cities whose names I forget. But this ancient magic was imbued into artifacts long buried under endless sand.
These exporations to find ruins and artifacts did lead into some good luck for me. Mostly because Teron refused to take contol of our body and let me explore individuality. During those adventures I was accompanied by my now daughter Etsuko as she was searching for her mother Magdalene. It was nice to finally meet her and well, I suppose I started to understand what it felt like to love someone. That only drove my hate for Sarii and what he did to Teron even more.
I was stupid. We found a candle of golden ichor said to burn the blood of gods. I shouldn't have brought Etsuko with me to fight Sarii and I don't know why Magdalene wasn't more angry at my lapse of judgment with that. I'm lucky it worked out that we were all safe in the end and did manage to kill Sarii. But still all I did was too risky and I do regret that aspect of it. I am glad Teron was a constant presence through the whole journey but I do wish his reaction to Sarii's death was less somber.
Then again I think my hate did outgrow his own and with Sarii dead it has petered out until recently. I think my curse to Teron is that I feel and voice his emotions more strongly than he can. I think that's why we split. Terra is headed back to the executioner and he did not want my anger. I hope he knows what he's doing.
"He does. He is on his own quest to save her and I trust you he is not alone. Thank you for sharing the story though I think you more rambled it than told it. I'm sure you can bring up details if prompted but I won't pry any further."
I forgot you were listening. It was just nice to talk about.
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grassbreads · 2 months ago
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Waugh the new extra in the Tai Sui print volume was written for me personally I swear. It's all about random people in their world, both on other peaks at Xuanyin and back home around brothels in Jinping, gossipping about Xi Ping and what they know of him right after he gets brought into the inner sect.
As the gal who wrote 8k words of outsider pov fic about Xi Ping the moment I finished the series, I couldn't have asked for something that caters to my taste in bonus content more perfectly.
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genericpuff · 2 months ago
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ok i know it's a webtoon you can read online for free but Rachel/Inklore really did just spoil every twist and plot beat within the plot summary of volume 8 huh
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this is literally the next volume they just announced and it's going to be releasing after LO goes behind daily pass and yet they're not even trying to keep things even somewhat interesting for the trad pub market that they're trying to expand through, jesus christ lmao this is yet another lesson in "what not to do" courtesy of LO 💀
your plot summary is supposed to be a HOOK. NOT A WHOLE ASS SYNOPSIS THAT GIVES AWAY EVERY TWIST AND PLOT BEAT. By comparison, LO's Volume 8 "summary" isn't a plot summary, it's a goddamned Cliff's Notes 😭 like ... this feels like they accidentally included the extended pitch notes in the summary, like is there seriously not a single person at Random House going "um, isn't this a little too much?"
I'm not even joking when I say you can deadass just read this summary and understand the gist of the S2 finale. The actual episodes do not contain anything else of substance beyond this summary. All the 'twists' are given away, and anything else that might be 'interesting' is literally dropped or forgotten about by the end of S2 anyways so it winds up not mattering (cough Eris cough)
Literally the first two paragraphs would have sufficed, with the additional removal of the Apollo lineage reveal because again, THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A TWIST. IT'S A DUMB TWIST, BUT IT'S STILL WRITTEN AS A TWIST LMAO everything in that third paragraph and beyond is WAY TOO MUCH and it's not even making any efforts in its prose to pull you in with enticing set-up, it's just clinically saying "this happens and then this happens and then this happens".
Compare it to the Volume 1 description, it's like night and day:
"Persephone, young goddess of spring, is new to Olympus. Her mother, Demeter, has raised her in the mortal realm, but after Persephone promises to train as a sacred virgin, she’s allowed to live in the fast-moving, glamorous world of the gods. When her roommate, Artemis, takes her to a party, her entire life changes: she ends up meeting Hades and feels an immediate spark with the charming yet misunderstood ruler of the Underworld. Now Persephone must navigate the confusing politics and relationships that rule Olympus, while also figuring out her own place—and her own power."
Short, sweet, to the point, gives us enough setup to understand what we're going into but not enough details to spoil the whole frigging thing, and it ends perfectly with a hook that gets you interested in both Persephone and Hades as characters.
Y'know what, Inklore, here's a freebie on me, for Volume 8:
"Court is in session, the witnesses have spoken, and now it's Persephone's turn to take the stand. Torn between her loyalty to her mother, Demeter, and her blooming love for Hades, Persephone reveals to all her true motives for the Underworld - but shocking revelations are brought to light by the scheming Apollo that may determine Zeus' verdict and Persephone's fate once and for all.
Meanwhile, deep within Tartarus, a long-forgotten threat from Hades' past has re-awakened, and has set his sights on Persephone as his new wellspring of power...
Will Persephone and Hades finally find their peace? Or will fate tear them apart for eternity? Find out in this visually stunning and climactic conclusion to Lore Olympus' second season."
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superklutzkent · 2 years ago
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was thinking about a universe with cheery bruce. that's not the idea but y'know the basic gist of is that bruce didn't get stuck in a permanent emo arc for the rest of his life after his parents died and he's rather happy. anyway the idea i had that was how bruce's lively attitude would affect the batkids, dick, jason, damian and tim respectively. they'd mostly be the same, jason's kind of baffled at how kind and forgiving bruce is considering he stole his tires and even more dumbstruck when he offers him a place to live in a the manor and the mantle of robin.
but then jason dies, and bruce blames himself for it. for not being strong enough to protect him.
thus the emo arc begins. he stops pulling his punches and slips into the persona of the dark and cryptic batman we all know. he gets worse, as much as the batfam tries to help him. one scene in particular i'm thinking of here is clark hears about what happened he flies over to gotham to comfort his friend, but when he finds him he's speechless to say the least. just picture this okay-
clark (as supes), concerned: bruce?
*bruce (as batman), turns his head slowly, gripping the unconscious body of some thug. his hands are coated in blood*
oh the angst potential. he's horrified because he's never seen him like this, he's never acted like this before. it's not him. kind, happy bruce would never beat someone bloody and unconscious, not like this.
anyway when jason comes back and everything's patched up bruce still has a rough time with what he'd become during the months following the tragedy. jason knows and feels a surprising amount of understanding towards him. because the ordeal had changed them both for the worse, and neither would ever be the same again.
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wunderlass · 2 months ago
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Went to a place called Mother Shipton's cave this weekend, a place that:
a) claims to be the oldest tourist attraction in England and
b) I last visited as a 6 year old and it's haunted my nightmares since then.
The gist is that in the 15th century, a 15 year old girl gave birth to a baby in a cave during a storm, and that baby grew up to be known as a woman called Mother Shipton. She predicted the future and was supposedly a witch.
Her mother refused to name the baby's father, so she was banished from the town and gave birth alone. They lived in the cave until the little girl was two, when the mother went to a nunnery and the girl was fostered out. She was 'hideously deformed' (hunchback, walked with a cane, crooked nose) but learnt how to heal using plants from the local woodland. She married a local man at age 21 and he died two years later, and both events were claimed to be as a result of her witchcraft. She lived a long life for the time, eventually dying at age 73.
Now, bear in mind, there is no real evidence she actually existed. She never wrote her own prophecies down. But the tourist attraction sprang up not long after her death, and consists of the cave she was supposedly born in, down by the banks of the river. It's still in a stretch of woodland and is next to a petrifying well - water runs down over the rockface and has such a high mineral content in it that anything in its path gets coated and eventually turns to 'stone'.
It's both a beautiful, peaceful place, and very eerie. You can understand how people would have attributed the petrification process to witchcraft or sorcery.
Anyway, it got me thinking about the story of this woman, which has survived for over 500 years. From what we know:
A 15 year old girl was forced to give birth alone in a cave
Her daughter was disabled, and it's not unreasonable to assume that this second point might have been the result of the first thing
There was probably a reason the father went unnamed, and it's highly unlikely to have been a good reason
A man married her, despite her disability, and the local people do not seem to have considered that it might have been out of love.
When she died, it's said that friends buried her, because she was refused a place in the churchyard. Which means she was liked and respected enough to, y'know, have friends.
So what we have here is a woman cast in what we now consider as the archetype of a witch, who may have just been a disabled woman who never did any harm to anybody? Who may have actually helped people?
Not sure what my point is here. Something about the intersection of ableism and misogyny, I guess. At least the people who run the visitor attraction do seem to treat her memory with a certain amount of respect.
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toujokaname · 1 year ago
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An Unfamiliar Sight (HiMERU Idol Story)
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Author: Kanata Haruka
Characters: Rinne, Niki, Kohaku, HiMERU
"—HiMERU also feels restless in his school uniform, you know."
Season: Winter Location: Lounge in TV Station
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Rinne: Hiya~ I got to the dressing room earlier than expected, huuh.
I've turned into a respectable member of society ♪
Niki: What're you talking about, Rinne-kun. A respectable member of society doesn't typically stroll into the dressing room right at the last minute.
Uh, wait? Is Kohaku-chan the only one here?
Rinne: Ain't it weird that Merumeru's runnin' late? Did he get a stomachache or somethin'?
Kohaku: Haah. You both just go at yer own pace as always. Didn't y'all see HiMERU-han's message?
HiMERU-han mentioned there were some procedures at Shuuetsu Academy he couldn't miss, so he'll be late.
Rinne: Academy? Oh, yeah, Merumeru's still a student.
Any way you look at it, he doesn't look like a student at all, so I totally forgot.
Niki: I completely forgot about it too. So HiMERU-kun's an earnest student, huh~
But, you know, it's kinda mysterious. I feel like I've never seen HiMERU-kun in his school uniform.
Even though we've already spent a bunch of time together?
Kohaku: Yeah, that's right. When Crazy:B got thrown into the same room, he and I both took a temporary absence from school.
He returned to school after movin' into the Seisoukan dorms, so we haven't had a straightforward chance to see it, y'know?
Rinne: Gotcha. Well, I guess Merumeru ain't tryna hide it either.
In that case, wouldn't it be interesting to see Merumeru in his uniform at least once?
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HiMERU: —What about HiMERU's uniform?
Rinne: Oh, speak of the devil ♪ Hey, Merumeru. You're wearing your uniform this... time...
HiMERU: Apologies for the delay in getting here. HiMERU will get ready quickly.
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Rinne & Kohaku: .........
HiMERU: Amagi, Oukawa, what's the matter? You look quite dumbfounded.
Rinne: Gyahahahahaha! Hey, hey, ain't that a bit too much, Merumeru?!
HiMERU: What is it with you laughing all of a sudden, Amagi?
Niki: Woah~ It's my first time seeing HiMERU-kun in his school uniform.
Yup, yup, I see. So it feels like that~ It's kinda refreshing.
HiMERU: —Right. Now that Shiina has said that, HiMERU gets the gist of it.
However, he finds it upsetting to be laughed at to this extent.
Kohaku: No, sorry, HiMERU-han... It ain't like I'm burstin' out laughin' like Rinne-han, but....
Seein' HiMERU-han in an unfamiliar outfit, I was at a loss for words to describe this strange feelin'...
Rinne: No matter how I look at it, you look like a cosplayer! For real, my stomach hurts! Gyahahahaha!
HiMERU: (...Is it really enough to warrant saying that?)
Rinne: Hey, hey, don't make that face, Merumeru.
I've never seen ya look like a proper highschooler before, so I just burst out laughing.
Kohaku: My bad, HiMERU-han. I'm in the same boat as Rinne-han.
There's a saying of "the clothes make the man", but in yer case, it's the opposite.
The uniform can't compete with yer mature atmosphere.
HiMERU: —Amagi, Oukawa, there's no need to force yourselves to keep talking.
It seems like you are desperately trying to patch it up, but the conclusion remains the same.
From now on, no matter how much of a hurry he's in, HiMERU will make sure not to come to work still in uniform.
Rinne: Don't get so pouty, Merumeru. It was my bad.
See, I never really went to school properly.
So it's prolly the norm for highschoolers like Merumeru to exist, yeah?
Niki: Well, besides HiMERU-kun, none of us are really attending school properly. Even I only graduated middle school.
Kohaku: I'm also just startin' to get back into school.
If you think 'bout it that way, the only one here who's leadin' a decent student life's HiMERU-han.
I wonder what kinda highschool life yer leadin'. I'm curious now...
HiMERU: —HiMERU can confidently say it hasn't been the youth that Oukawa is expecting.
Rinne: But, actually, you're havin' an exquisite time at school, ain'tcha?
Accordin' to our deputy director, Shuuetsu's a place with a well-established employee benefits system.
HiMERU: HiMERU hardly makes use of it. Naturally, HiMERU prioritizes idol activities.
—Ah, but some of the services available at Shuuetsu may indeed be described as "exquisite".
Kohaku: Oh~ If HiMERU-han says so, then they must be real good.
What the heck are they? I wanna know for reference.
HiMERU: Although it may have sounded grandiose, it's not such a big deal.
It is only a ryoutei—that is to say, a high class traditional restaurant. You can enjoy delicious dishes with well-balanced nutrition.
Niki: Please wait a second!
A ryoutei?! There's a place like that at Shuuetsu Academy?!
HiMERU: Yes, it seems that it is managed by the same affiliate company as CosPro.
A dedicated chef and nutritionist are assigned to each idol to provide the optimal menus.
It is reasonably inexpensive for students, so it has been helpful for HiMERU to utilize it several times when he eats meals.
Niki: ...I see. There's such a heavenly place in Shuuetsu, is there.
I've decided. I'm gonna transfer to Shuuetsu Academy! And I'll eat a bunch of food at the ryoutei!
Kohaku: That's a lousy motive, Niki-han...
Rinne: To begin with, Niki's a middle school graduate. You gotta start from the beginning, not as a transfer!
You'll be a first year in highschool and it'll just be too tough, so forget it, forget it.
You'd be better off securing your future by becoming my housewife and getting a permanent job at my place.
Niki: I hate that, I don't wanna be taken away by Rinne-kun for my whole life!
Please, HiMERU-kun! I don't like being pushy, but I wanna go to Shuuetsu's ryoutei too!
HiMERU: —HiMERU can't do anything about it single-handedly.
However, Shuuetsu Academy is a school for outstanding idols.
If Shiina can demonstrate exceptional talent as an idol, perhaps...
Niki: Are you for realsies?! You must be!
HiMERU: —Provided that you can demonstrate your ability. In that sense, this upcoming recording may be just the right chance for you.
Niki: Alriiight! Once it's decided like that, I'll get to work right away!
Rinne-kun and Kohaku-chan, we're going all out today!
The taste of ryoutei is waiting for me!
Kohaku: Niki-han really is a guy who only cares 'bout his stomach...
Rinne: ...Nice job baiting Niki, Merumeru.
But I won't take the blame for whatever happens later, aight?
HiMERU: —HiMERU understands that. That is why he didn't confirm anything either.
In the worst case scenario, he will take out a meal from the ryoutei and bring it back to the dormitory. It's humiliating, so he'd rather not, if possible.
Now, let's put an end to the chitchat. There's not much time left for the recording, so let's get ready quickly.
—HiMERU also feels restless in his school uniform, you know.
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Note: About the housewife line... Yeah I don't know man. What it says on the tin. The page just talks about how women getting married used to be referred to as a permanent job, which is what Rinne says Niki should get with him.
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qcoded · 2 years ago
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To be fair, I don't think it would have been that much of a good idea in terms of storytelling or plot for Belos to actually have freed The Collector. Considering that we know how far the kid's powers can go (Examples: Moving the fucking MOON, being able to dollify people, rearranging mass at will, etc).
Can't really blame him since there was a good chance The Collector was going to cause even more chaos.
Buuuuuuuuut, at the same time, I would have honestly loved to see how The Collector's and Belos dynamic would have been affected specifically, and how in turn that'd affect the fate of the Boiling Isles (considering that The Collector was the one who stopped the draining spell but like. mostly focusing on dynamics here).
I know damn well that if Belos tried, he'd basically have his whole plan set in stone. He spent so much time with this child, probably having to deal with The Collector's silly questions, tiring games (whatever games a shadow could play), and more, promising them to eventually set them free once in a while if the other asked for reassurance.
And eventually, he DOES end up freeing The Collector. The child would be the most happy he's ever been in centuries, because his 'best friend' actually freed him! He fufilled their promise, and they'd play so many games, just as they said years ago. So hey, it'd only be fair for The Collector to repay Philip for his kindness.
Take in mind too, Belos knows the in's and out's of this kid. After all, they did spent atleast 200+ years together, he's been emotionally manipulating this child since the start. And what happens when you pair that with complying to a request that was made from the very beginning? Unconditional trust.
I'd imagine that after The Collector was freed, he'd probably make the kid make another promise, probably along the lines of "Only listen to what I have to say, ok? The others wouldn't understand you at all, not like how I do. That way, we'll have even more fun as we play." (Honestly I made that up on the spot but you get the gist).
And y'know, Philip actually fufilled his first promise! So surely he isn't lying with this one either, so of course, Collector accepts.
Belos would probably be the most gaslighty he's ever been too.
Collector starts to doubt him? Words of affection and reassurance would be thrown his way immediately, probably even physical displays of it too.
Collector does anything that's against Belos wishes? Taking back all those previous positive reinforcements, saying how disappointed and hurt the man was after all he's done for the child, only to be doubted? Manipulation 101, everyone.
It'd all end with The Collector running back to Belos, because after all, he'd probably end up alone again, and that's the worst thing that could happen.
Honestly I could say so much more, but they're dynamic in canon is honestly complex enough and I don't have the braincells for it xd
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inventors-fair · 5 months ago
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Mix and Match Commentary: Putting it All Together
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What a weekend... That's what I get for thinking I can juggle a dozen things this close to the end of the school year.
It looks like 13 out of 25 different adjectives were used in this contest, as well as 13 out of 25 different nouns! "Belligerent" was the most-used adjective, appearing on three cards, and "Choir" was the most-used noun, appearing on a whopping five cards, but oddly enough there was no Belligerent Choir today. I'll be honest: I'm shocked that nobody went for a Gargantuan Frog or something of the like. There were definitely some favored ideas on display with the given combinations.
And yet, there were a few that truly surprised me! I think that overall I'd call this contest a success. The words on the list were fairly straightforward and also 100% off-the-cuff, so perhaps if you all would like to see this again I can have a more curated list, perhaps taken from some actual cards with the idea that you can't use a name of an actual card in the combo. But hey, we'll see how it goes. How do y'all feel about this contest? It's something I've been wanting to do for a little while now.
There were quite a few cards that almost, but didn't quite, make the cut here, so I'll be talking about them as JUDGE PICKS. Check 'em out to see what we liked about them. Onto the commentary!
~
@an-anarchist-shapeshifter — Umbral Expertise (JUDGE PICK)
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This combination checks out with the card superbly. I'm reminded of cards like Training Grounds, from a vibe perspective, or other cards that would probably depict a location in which a specific form of magic is practiced and honed. This card's mechanics are, to say the least, massively complicated, and it took me a little bit to figure out the real gist of why it works so well. The ability of each player to have shadow creatures makes those decisions harder to pick up on based on board state; I would worry about places where you're behind and have to continuously flicker your cards to make the best blocks, and then there's the option of blinking a creature after blocks if there's a shadow war going on—you get the idea.
Blink shells and aggro shells are both strange places to see cards like this that have the best of both worlds. What I will say is that I worry about how much board complexity this card adds. Making lots of tokens, for example, might be easy to track in digital but harder on paper if there's no good way to show how shadow counters are distributed. And even then, what indicator would be good enough? Would it be the theme of a set, or is this more Commander-focused where you can have these weirder mechanics? I've got a few questions about that, but complexity is my main concern. I can imagine someone being quite upset about a huge board that's inadvertently badly represented because of weird counter checks. Playing with it in a moderately-built board, though—I'd love that.
~
@big-golyat — Ossified Choir
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I find it interesting that both cards that used "Ossified" this week used them with "Choir." Small world! When I looked at this card, the one thing that I wanted from it mechanically was something that it could do with that tap ability that wasn't just, y'know, tapping. Would it have been unreasonable for this card to have "2, T: You gain 1 life" instead? I don't think so. With the notion of a choir, though, exalted is absolutely one of the best mechanics you could've used for the flavor connection, and I totally get that.
Flavor's a strange one here, no? Not a bad one, of course, but I'm wondering if these things are statues, if they're just made of bone, etc. I'm imagining statues because of how it would work with gods, relics, all that stuff. Being enchantment creatures doesn't hurt with that, either. I think that it makes them feel a little more constructed and less naturally, well, that. Regardless of the cool flavor, though, this card would probably be a good addition to an evasive color combination in limited. Exalted is awesome and I like how you can see this as a pseudo-Enlist? Almost? I mean, tapping for extra power is related in at least one way. Smallest of notes: quotation marks go around the periods.
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@curiooftheheart — Unbound Tomb
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Huh! I like the ETB on here, and I just had a throwback to Zendikar. For some reason I was thinking about cards that exiled without a specific ability tied to them, but then Bojuka Bog hit me, and yeah, this card totally works in that vein. Entering untapped is pretty crazy comparatively; then again, so is not hitting the entire graveyard. What're you going to do, play this against Dragon's Rage Channeler? Possibly. But I don't know if it would be strong enough to mainboard or sideboard, unless you're deep into graveyards and lifegain. Most graveyard hate wants the entire thing to be exiled. De-delirium-ing someone is fun, though, and I wonder if that's what you meant to hit specifically. All the same, though, gaining massive amounts of life ain't nothing. This can probably get 3-5 life fairly consistently in a grindy limited game.
I'm wondering about the name and combination, though. The tomb is in the process of being unbound, sure, and that may be enough; lands are hard to get through with action words if it's not repeatable, and that may be a me issue. And while I like the flavor text, I'm not sure how it precisely relates. Are the ideals mentioned there the things being exiled? It's not a major issue for the card itself, and it's a strange little card to be sure. I think ultimately I like it, and the life gained would only be a problem in formats where it's a) easy to bounce lands for some reason? or b) heavily graveyard-based AND grindy, like Shadows over Innistrad was.
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@dimestoretajic — Tyrannical Response
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Play this on your turn, and your opponent is basically boardwipe-or-scoop. Play this on an opponent's turn after attackers have been declared, and once more, boardwipe-or-scoop. I would've been totally down for this card making 2/2s, but 4/4s is such a massive swing for the number of creatures that you'll be getting that it's not worth justifying this even as a legendary instant. I respect that you put the limitation, don't get me wrong, and it was the right thing to do. The massive amount of power on board is enough to tip the scales in a way that's probably not as balanced as one might imagine it to be.
But again, one could argue the nature of legends and legendary instants/sorceries, whatever, I know where that's coming from—and I still say that it's too much. The last limited format with legendary instants/sorceries had almost fifty legendary cards that could fulfill that role. Maybe it's a pendulum issue, though... But no, I'm really iffy about this one. Maybe I'm just paranoid about the swingier board states that this could enable. Still, you picked the right combo, name, and flavor text for this kind of effect at the very least. The numbers game is the only thing I'd change.
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@feyd-rautha-apologist — Belligerent Tomb
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Conceptually, I like this card, so let's work on how to do some editing for it. Firstly: auras have to enchant either objects or players. Graveyards are zones, so a card can't actually enchant a graveyard. Rather, this card should probably be enchanting a player and should probably be a curse as well, so that the text can read: "Whenever a card is put into enchanted player's graveyard from anywhere, that player loses 1 life." For the flavor text, this should probably be in quotes, since it appears to be spoken from the perspective of a specific character and not a general ephemeral being or omniscient extrapolating voice.
This enchantment, however, has got a lot of power problems going for it. Turning something like Tome Scour into a Lava Axe, which you can do quite easily on turn three, barring any Hedron Crab shenanigans, is a bit much when comparing cost to effect. I know that it seems expensive, but I wouldn't be shocked if this had to cost as much as 3BB overall. 2BB might be okay, I suppose, depending on how much milling is in the set that you can force onto your opponent. Again, not a bad idea, but the power, practicality, and wording could use some work.
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@hypexion — Belligerent Spirit
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One must be punished for being alive, after all. This card's simple for sure, but it does the Undying stuff well enough for me to say that it's really a pain and I'd love to play it in limited. Swing, get in kinda, sac, etc. A four-mana 2/2 might not seem great until you also have extra damage and a recursive body to think about. Having it be a 2/3 wouldn't necessarily be out of the question either, would it? Or would that throw off some numbers... I dunno, but either way, I could definitely see this blowing up in draft tier lists.
Is it just modern sensibilities that make this card difficult to balance without being too powerful? I don't know, honestly; Murderous Redcap was good in its day and this is pretty much in the same vein, innit? I don't think that it's too far off from that design and I...honestly just noticed that it was that close when writing this. Heh. But in all seriousness, it fits the name, it fits the ability, and I don't think anyone would complain about a Redcap effect being in limited, the more I think about it. That said, I've never played with it. Last note, but the flavor text is 85% there. It's an awesome notion and I'd love to tweak some wording in the editing bay. The vibe is great.
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@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Impossible Notion
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I think this card needed one more line of rules text: that you could spend colorless mana as though it were mana of any color to cast it. Would that have been too much? Or would that even be relevant? The point is, I'm not quite meeting this card on the mechanics side. The name and ability combination, though, not only makes sense but also feels like it wants to have some kind of Eldrazi invocation. Getting things back from exile by a) casting them and b) having to own them and c) having to spend colorless mana all makes sense for a restriction.
Then the question remains: should this card exist, and why? Getting things out of exile has long since been a bit of a thorn in R&D's side. Combining this with Karn, the Great Creator—or at least putting them in the same design-space room and letting them duke it out—makes for a deck that really puts a damper on things. Insta-speed Relic of Progenitus plus this is a real pain. In limited, what would this card do then? I honestly couldn't tell you. This card may not be too bad for a one-time use, I'll give you that. I'm struggling to find an argument in favor of its presence, though, strictly based on the rules that have been set for exile recursion and the prevalence of problematic possibilities for which this card allows. Still, a bold design for sure—even if the flavor text could be a little meatier.
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@masternexeon — Ravenous Overflow (JUDGE PICK)
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I was actually quite happy that multiple people took abstract nouns and made creatures out of them. This card is, additionally, a real pain in the butt and ravenous indeed. You know I really like how you framed this combination of green and blue here. There's a force of nature that's representative of consumption, but that consumption is also taking the form of flooding and overtaking the land (and its inhabitants) through how much it's flowing. Green gets its hunger sated, but not by flesh; blue gets its domain expanded, but is forced by ferocity. It's a cool balance. That's one of the major reasons I'm going with it as a Judge Pick this week!
Whether or not this card is balanced is another thing, and it's really funny regardless to turn everything into Islands. The thing to keep in mind is that turning something into an Island without it being a land... I honestly don't know what that would do. Seriously, I took a few hours off after reading the comprehensive rules—I know, long weekend—and I don't have a definitive answer. To be fair I wasn't sure what to look for but the point stands. I think the payoff might be a bit too swingy in limited, honestly. Sacrifice two random creatures to more or less shut off your opponent's big threats and/or mana sources, and then use any additional synergy to permanently keep your opponents off their colors unless they're also blue? Seems a bit hard to stem the flow, pardon the pun. But how can you scale the effect to keep this while adjusting the numbers? And also by putting "Island lands" instead of just "Islands." Saves me a headache.
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@misterstingyjack — Abandoned Choir
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I did ultimately like this card even if I wasn't super convinced about it. That said, the card draw could be pretty neat—I suppose I was just more swayed by Amonkhet's designs and the use of counters as a resource, because this can kind of turn itself into a draw resource and/or potentially use other cards with defender and the ilk as resources, but it's a bit...narrow? Maybe Amonkhet had its different themes that it was working with, and Phyrexia is a little iffier on that front. I do like how you've used white card-draw to its strengths, though. This feels like reasonable space.
So how often will one have three toughness? Probably often enough to make a difference. I do wonder how this card would've played with the change to do a creature with power 1 or less instead. I honestly don't know if that would be too powerful considering an abundance of tokens and/or weenies, but hey, it's an end step effect, whaddaya gonna do. This card really is a thinker. I do appreciate the writeup, though, and I think that as an Aftermath-y card, I can totally buy what the effect was going for. What's a choir to do in Norn's wake? Sing the praises and all, which makes sense to me. I'm also very curious as to why this is the second mono-white Choir with an implied self-tapping theme. What's up with the psychic connection here?
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@partytimesdeluxe — Freshwater Tomb (JUDGE PICK)
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There's this wonderful freshness to this design combination that feels great even if the practicality is a bit strange. What's the best-case scenario for this card in terms of mana-fixing? I suppose that a hybrid card dying would make for a great trigger, but beyond that, this card feels a lot slicker than I imagine it to play. Y'know? I think that a lot of folks liked this design because of how it feels. On the battlefield, I have to wonder if this card would do everything that one wants it to do. Protecting a creature from being animated and/or cycling the creatures that die is...also something.
I suppose I too want this design to play well but I'm not sure what the true benefit is. Perhaps I'm not seeing something? If this land was, like, Bloom Tender...hoo boy. Would that be too powerful? Or, if it was "1, T: Add two mana in any combination..." That way it could turn dying creatures into XX, XY, or YY, depending on if they were multicolored or now. Multiple ways of filtering. Honestly that sounds a lot stronger than the one-mana restriction. Child of Alara dying would help this card, sure, but beyond that... I think I'm picking this card because the possibilities and the slickness are absolutely there. It's just on the brink of being perfect in terms of actual gameplay; I absolutely need to praise the idea because, well, of how cool it feels!
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@piccadilly-blue — Plentiful Canyon
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Alright, so, neat as the notion is, I think everyone is in agreement that this card doesn't 100%-functionally-work, and the only question is why within the comprehensive rules. As far as I can tell, the main reason is that playing a land is a special action that doesn't use the stack, and can't have costs associated with it, because playing a land isn't a spell and additional costs only exists for spells and abilities. Assuming that everything within the comprehensive rules is how I understand it, you could play this land and pay its cost with its own mana ability since there's no moment that this card would be on the "stack," i.e. it would exist on the battlefield by the time you would have to pay the "cost" to play it.
...God, does that make any sense? I hope it does. Regardless, the discussions have been discussed and I think that we're all in agreement. I've talked a zillion times about your envelope-pushing and how much it makes me think so we'll leave it there. The flavor text, then! I like the rhyme here. Feels like the western prairie ballad that you were aiming for, and that's a great addition to the vibe of the card. 
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@real-aspen-hours — Draconic Absolution
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The flavor text here is great, and the implication is pretty cool; it feels kind of like Jund's dragon worship but with less of a predatory-shaman nature and more aligned with the Phyrexian-style divinity that is creepy and powerful all at once. I'm starting with the flavor and feeling here because—and I'm not sure if this was intentional or not—this card is an upgraded Rip Apart from Strixhaven. Where Rip Apart destroyed instead of exiling and was sorcery speed, this card is just that but slightly better.
Is that enough? Not exactly. If there was consideration for Rip Apart, I really would've liked to see a mechanical distinction beyond "strictly better." If there wasn't, well, I don't blame you; it's a clean design and clearly someone at Wizards thought the same thing if the card was actually printed. Tried and true, I suppose? That's unfortunately all I got for this particular card considering all of the considerations. In the end, I think that we're left with one last request: make sure you put your rarity indicators in your text submissions! Argh.
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@reaperfromtheabyss — Freshwater Lasso (JUDGE PICK)
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I'll give this card the award for "most physically imaginative use of world tropes in conjunction with the name." Lassoing things is super on-par for Thunder Junction, and I love how you connected that to the name. And we gotta agree—this lasso is indeed fresh and watery. Hydromancy allows for this card to really come into its own, and I love how it can be something that revolves around potential dexterity for untapping creatures, or as a prison for your opponent's creatures.
I wish this didn't have to be a rare, but like, it really really does. Insta-speed gaining control of a creature is something that can't happen too often in limited. The fact that it is instant-speed definitely ups the complexity. I don't mind that at all! Could there be one additional thing that this card does to make it so that putting it on your own creature doesn't suck as much? Well, actually, gaining control of a creature that you can then untap is...really cool. Man, this card is cool. We had a lot of strong contenders for this week and this is as close to being in the top six as you can get, honestly. Maybe I've just been enamored with Thunder Junction but I don't care because of how darn cool this card feels. Good job.
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@sombramainexe — Kindred Spirit
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So for the render here, the name did have to change in order to fit the contest; pluralizing the names does indeed count as changing the words, ergo, disallowed. Regardless of whether or not is was changed, I'm not a fan of having the name and typeline be the same thing. Perhaps it was a mistake to have "Kindred" be part of the adjectives list considering the kind of cards that a name like that drives people towards. I'm still working on it. With this particular card I feel that the name could have been changed because of the fact that it's not currently giving as much without AD or flavor text. The tongue-in-cheek aspect comes across as ultimately derivative instead of subversive, which is what I imagine the intent to be.
Mirrorweave is still a valid card, though, and I think that this card is an interesting take on it. Turning things into Spirits could be an awesome blowout. Why do the names not change, though? I imagine that it's because of legendary rules, and I understand that—is there a different way to go about it? I think that this is honestly completely new design space, because as far as I can tell there's no mass copy effect that allows creatures to keep their names. I wonder what the design principle behind that is, and I'd be curious to hear.
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@stupidstupidratcreatures — Magnificent Mortar
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Hey. Listen. Don't look at the card, look at me. Okay? I think that this is hilarious. This is a very, very funny card and I'm also a little bit mad. But it's still funny. But I'm a tiny-teensy-little bit mad. And I can't help but admire the fact that you designed a card with an implied second card that will, as far as we know, never exist. That's chutzpah if I've ever seen it. As for the interpretation of "mortar" here, I was thinking more in terms of salvos when I made this card and less about the combination, and yet you're here with one of the most creative combinations I've seen.
Mashing up creatures for mana is awesome, actually, and the way to activate it with a pestle is funny enough. As far as mana rocks go, I don't think that this card is the most powerful and I wish that it could've had one additional ability to really get the pestle's power online. You know how there was the whole "Blank of Empires" cycle of artifacts from some core set a while back? M12, that was it, right. But yeah, no, the abilities really ramped up because it's hard to get artifacts with the same name on the battlefield at the right time. Might want to consider that in terms of power level for next time. I'm gonna be very concerned if there's a future contest in which the Perfect Pestle can make an appearance, but hey, the world may never know if I accidentally do that one. Heh.
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@tanknspank — Draconic Choir (JUDGE PICK)
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I think we're in the realm, once again, of having really cool cards with really cool abilities that happen to be so normally and pragmatically good that they just barely miss the ledge of greatness. Having that pseudo-flashback kind of effect, the Dreadhorde Arcanist ability, is really cool, and stacking those triggers is necessary for making this effect really max out. It's a bear that beats in limited and burns out your opponent before blocks. What more can one ask for?
The last question I could possibly have is why "Choir" was such a popular choice this week. What was it about that word that just made people go nuts with these collective designs? I'm not complaining, I'm just really surprised. A choir of dragons is still pretty awesome, though, so I won't complain about that. What world would this be on? It feels almost like a Baldur's Gate kind of style, but that's probably not it. Maybe the "choir" is a metaphorical one and all the roaring is what brings the fire to life. Who can say, who can say. All the same, this card is a self-evident wonderful piece of work and I think that it should be commended for its solid design choices as a support card for limited and constructed spellslinging decks.
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@wildcardgamez — Kindred Banner
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We have a mix between Pillar of Origins and Rally the Ranks; Is that enough? I think, while this design is normal, its effects are really generic slash expected. Kindred means creature types, banner is an anthem. I feel that this could've been flavored somewhat, or given more mechanical significance that we haven't seen before. I'm actually surprised we haven't seen this exact combination, but it's a normal enough effect that I can imagine we'll see something like it in the future of design.
So, I'll say for the rest of this commentary to take a look at the uniqueness of the winners and the expectations for them. Or... No, actually, I won't do that. Because I'm not going to say that this card is bad. It's pure good design, based on the foundations of the creature-type-matters effects that we've seen printed before, and what else can one possibly ask for. I think there's the question to ask: are you submitting for the contest, or are you submitting to show you know what a good card is? That's something I can't answer, so I can offer only a couple small edits, and leave the rest up to you. Firstly: you probably want this as an "as" ability, like most of these creature type effects are. There are many reasons why, but the stack is a pain. Secondly: Like Pillar of Origins, you want to say "spend" instead of "use" in the text of the second ability, and you might also want to add that this is for abilities too if you want that.
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There we go, whew. Have fun designing artifacts this week! — @abelzumi
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milktian · 5 months ago
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WuWa spoilers under the cut!! I just finished I think the first act? I just need to get this off my chest. There's still a lil more but ill probs edit this when i finish that yippee
EDIT: so there wasn't a lil more they just stick your character in a chair and when you get out quest over. Lil weird but alright.
So. The story itself is intriguing - the exposition dumps really weren't great tho like my eyes kept glazing over but i think I got the general gist. It isn't the strongest start, but I can only hope it gets better from here cause i still really really enjoyed myself.
I'm not sure if I was meant to do Lingyang's quest earlier + meet Yuanwu earlier cause they just kinda,,, showed up in the final stretches and like i've never met them in the story before. It was a lil jarring
Also.
Havoc Rover.
One-winged Angel Rover..... i want to wait until enough time has come out but you know i'm drawing that. I do need to get a handle on his playstyle though im so used to spectro rover jfdnjkhdilk
The Threnodian (?) Puppet (??) boss was literally so cool i can already see WuWa's enemy designs being in my top top favourite of enemies designs and I am not even kidding. It was so like,,,,, cool and freaky and oufjdjsglfk gushing about them. I wish there was a way to see that model somewhere like in an archive but im begging i wanna look at it when im not fighting for my life.
Also side note: the fighting in general, combined with enemy designs weirdly reminds me of the dark souls games??? Like to me it feels like it smooshed genshin + dark souls together and y'know what, i needed that. Ik it's stupid to compare it to dark souls just cause it has a dodge + parry mechanic and the enemies, but i don't know how my brain works dude. it just does that
Also the domain was sick as shit im so ill rn. You can't use cameras in the domains i think (rip) so this was the only one i got. I also hope they have the cutscene on yt or something cause there's like one frame which is gonna replace my argenti wallpaper (sorry bb)
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The new area - Norfolk Barrens - also looked super cool. I adore wuwa's environmental design. I've only been through it during the story, but I'm excited to explore. Once I'm free of story and quest stuff, I'm gonna go on my 100% everything spree like in genshin lmao
I'm tempted to pull for Jiyan but I kinda wanna save? he is super fun but I'm trying to be more like,,,, ig reserved when it comes to pulling in case there's someone who I prefer later on. I wanna focus on building lingyang + Havoc Rover for now. I don't care too much about the meta but i still wanna survive in combat yknow
despite the bugs and stuff i've encountered, im having a super fun time and can't wait to see where it goes!!
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zero-ek · 5 months ago
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A little ramble on Magireco's EoS
I genuinely do not remember how i did i ever got into Magireco, i do know it was before the NA version came and went, and i do recall being there for i think 2 or 3 annis, but apart from that i have absolutely no clue how that game ever came into my life.
Something that i do know, though, is that before, and even during some of my time with Magireco, i was always a lurker through and through, like, i wasn't very much into participating on fandom or even just talking about stuff i like into the void like i usually do now.
And to be honest that hasn't really gone away, like for example, i love Symphogear, it's a very dear show to me, but looking at my blog and Twitter, i never even mentioned it or engaged with the fandom once. I grew up with Nanoha and Kancolle and Sailor Moon, they're some of my favorite media ever, i pretty much never talk about them, i fell in love with Revue Starlight recently and never mentioned it again. I got a whole bunch of other examples but you get the gist of it.
The point i want to get at is that Magireco was probably the first time that i ever felt comfortable being active in a fandom, like, talking to people, being into art and writings and fanfics and all of that. Not only that, but Magireco was the first time that i felt compelled to contribute something of my own. I decided to translate some stuff whenever i could, definitely not as much as i wanted to, but the thing is i think that was the first time i worked on translations purely out of love for a fandom, out of wanting to get it out there more (i was in a couple translation teams and whatnot in the past, but i never really had that drive). And even now that's still something i'm inspired by for the other fandoms i'm in, like, i have a whole second blog for translations now, simply in the spirit of "hey this is really cool i think more people should see it."
I actually stopped playing the game itself a good while ago, i'm a casual all the way when it comes to games, and it's just the sad reality that casuals are the sworn enemies of any gacha game, having to choose between paying money or ceaseless grinding is simply beyond me. But even after leaving the game behind, i still decided to stay around the community, not only because i was still very intrigued by the story and where it would go, but also because by that point i was already so attached to Magireco as a whole. Plus y'know, there's always that one select group of people who make incredible art and writings and stuff that you grow very fond of and just can't let go (if you're reading this and happens to be one of those people whose notifs i live in, hi! Sorry for annoying you, but i love your posts!).
So y'know, even though i haven't actually played the game in years by this point, it still seriously shocked me to hear about the EoS, though to be fair it was finals week and something else happened, so there was a bit of that nervousness mixed in there, but still, it's just been in my head this whole time. I do know that like, people have been talking about it being a possibility here and there for a while, and i have to be honest with you, i loved Puella Historia, but with how seemingly definitive the closing of Arc 2 was, i couldn't see it as enough to launch a new storyline or serve as the game's driving force for an extended period of time (i thought Scene 0 would be that, given how it was marketed as this huge deal, and i do think that it was an attempt to try and reel more people into the game, thus the focus on the Holy Quintet).
I guess what i'm trying to say is that i do know that some people saw it coming, and i can't deny that even i felt that way a bit, but i don't know, it's always still so hard hitting to have that be confirmed outright, to know for a fact that something you loved ended, or will end soon. I suppose because it takes away the deniability you get with like rumours or omens, there isn't any "maybes" to cling to, it's over and you just gotta deal with it whether you like it or not, and that is never an easy thing to go through, i mean ask me from this January, she would know.
But in the face of that, the thought that i found comfort in, and why after the shock settled, i feel strangely okay with it right now, is that i'm much more happy to have been part of this fandom, that it was my first proper community experience. I know that i'm only in like a corner of it right now, and god knows it's hardly the most perfect fandom out there, but i still loved it, i loved reading through all of the stories, i loved the fanart and the writings and all the cool fanwork people have put out, i loved not just seeing the discussions, but actually talking to, and somewhat getting to know the people in the community, and i'm very happy that i got to contribute a little bit myself, i just had an all around great time being here these past couple of years.
For my first fully fledged fandom experience, i feel incredibly fulfilled, even now, i truly mean it when i say that Magireco is the best community i've ever been a part of. EoS be damned, i just don't see myself letting go of it anytime soon
I'll stick around for as long as this fandom breathes.
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sobredunia · 1 year ago
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tell me about Fez, please, im looking through your blog and like, i am intrigued
please click read more for an unskippable cutscene
ALRIGHT SO.
FEZ is an indie game created by a (now hated on the internet) guy called Phil Fish. If you wanna find out why he's hated do your own research this isn't about him it's about his videogame
It came out on april 13th of 2012 (yes. homestuck day. i know), and it sold over a million copies by the end of 2013. I've tried finding how many copies have been sold up to this day in total but didn't find anything, but the general gist is that it was pretty much an instant hit, and people absolutely loved it, working together to solve its intricate puzzles even to this day. Yes, there are mysteries hidden in here that an entire community of dedicated fans still hasn't found the solution to 11 years later
(tiny warning here, do not play this game if you have motion sickness or are severely affected by rapidly changing images, there are whole areas that are a doozy to play through. Please stay safe!)
Gameplay
Fez has a singular core mechanic that remains unchanging throughout the entire course of the game, and that is the ability to change perspectives
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this is what the game looks like, a 2d pixelated landscape with tons of beautiful colors
but.
this is what the game also looks like
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that's right, baby, this shit's actually in 3d
you use this change of perspective nonstop throughout your adventure, to cross gaps like demonstrated in the gif, or to simply access places you couldn't in that current perspective. There are other tiny mechanics that get added, like invisible platforms, crates and buttons, bombs, timed platforms that disappear... they add a bit of flavor, but the main mechanic is always there
There's also a really big emphasis on puzzles towards the latter half of the game, but I'll get more into it later
Story motivations
Your name is Gomez, you are a tiny little guy living in a cozy 2d village that you have never ever left. One day, an old man named Geezer sends you a letter asking you to climb to the top of the village. There, a giant fucking cube appears outta nowhere, teleports you to a satanic ritual, then to the vaccum of space, speaks to you in a strange language you cannot understand, and gives you a free hat. Oh and also he explodes or something
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After you're given the hat, the fez, you discover that the world is actually in 3d, and you can now change perspectives. You unlock the core mechanic
After that, you wake up in your room with the fez still on your head, and a being in 4d called Dot is sent from who knows where to tell you that the cube that gave you the hat is called Hexahedron, is actually technically kinda god, and you fucking killed him. Now, your mission is to pick up its 64 pieces and reconstruct him
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You see all those tiny golden cubes? You have to collect 8 of them to make a bigger cube, and you need to collect 32 of those
Now hold on, I hear you ask, didn't you just say that you need to collect 64 pieces? Why are you changing your mind and saying 32?
Because, my dear friend, there is another type of cube that you have to also collect
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These are called anticubes. Y'know, "a negative for every positive" type of stuff. You have to also collect 32 of those
The main difference between an anticube and a normal cube is that they aren't broken into 8 pieces, when you find one it'll be whole. You can also sometimes encounter full golden cubes btw, but they're rarer than its normal tiny pieces that you collect. Another main difference is that these cubes are much, much harder to find, and I'll go into detail in the next section
There's also this one hub area, with four doors that will only open once you have enough cubes (anticubes also count)
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Once you open the door with 16 cubes, you'll enter this one town filled with people that aren't quite like you. In there there's yet another door that will open when you get 32 cubes, so get to gathering motherfucker, you got a long way ahead of you
Puzzles (anticube edition)
When you collect that first anti cube, there is no going back. The floodgates have opened and you are now too deep in. You know too much. You must see this to the very end, for better and especially for the worse
The puzzles in fez are actually surprisingly varied when it comes to difficulty and accessibility. Most likely, the first anticube you'll find will be in this one room. You'll scan the qr code and do the instructions it says, and then the horror of your new life will begin
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But this is just the tip of the iceberg, because BOY OH BOY are anticubes convoluted to find in some cases
Sometimes you'll get them by solving relatively easy puzzles, like this one
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others will require a bit more thinking, like this one
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and then we have the hardest ones where you'll have to learn how to read words, numbers, and commands in the FEZ language
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and these arent even the hardest bullshit puzzles the game will pull at you. it gets worse. it gets so much worse
Game ending
Surprisingly enough, you can get a game ending with just 32 cubes. In fact, it is literally impossible to get the 64 cube ending without the 32 cube one unless you have outside help, you know the answer to all puzzles, or you somehow get extremely lucky in a very specific number of rooms
Behind the 32 cube door there's a giant gate that, and I shit you not, teleports you into fucking space
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Aliens are canon in the fez lore and they look like squids
Once you reach the top of the alien temple fucking thing, you enter an eye(?) and there you meet the shell of god, the Hexahedron. Since you haven't gathered all 64 cubes, it fails to reconstruct, and it breaks down. This part is pretty dangerous for people with epilepsy, by the way, as there's rapidly changing black and white colors. The 64 cube ending is a bit easier in the eyes, but yeah, just a heads up
In the 32 cube ending, you get sent back home, and you see how the town gets more and more pixelated. Then you see a weird sequence that's like those videos of people really zooming in into things and you see the particles and microscopic stuff?? idk. and then you see Gomez playing the drums :D
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After that, you wake up in your room, still with your Fez, and the same sequence at the start of the game plays out. You go to the top of the village, Geezer summons a giant fucking cube, you meet god, but instead of getting another fez, you get cool glasses, that allow you to finally solve a batch of puzzles you couldn't see before and you can finally gather the last anticubes
In the 64 cube ending, the Hexahedron reforms correctly, and instead of zooming in, it zooms out. You see that your world is a tiny cube next to many tiny cubes, and then those tiny cubes form a 4d entity that looks just like Dot, and then those many Dots next to eachother zoom out until they're nothing but static, and then it looks like a tv is turned off, and then the credits roll
They're both very strange endings, and definitely not what a lot of players expected or wanted, but what can you do
Puzzles (hell edition)
NOW.
You thought that was the end?
You thought you could simply walk away scot free?
You thought that this game had no more last "fuck you"s up in its arse?
You thought fucking wrong
Because you know that something's not right
Because you're in too deep
You've played this far. You've scrolled this far.
You have to see how this ends
You have to tie up the last loose ends
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You see this? This is the game's map. It actually has a really clever design! Not only are the icons for the areas cubes, but you can also change perspectives like how you do in-game! Pretty cool, right? There are also some small indicators you can see on the bottom left. They mark if you've left any cubes, bits, treasures, or locked doors. They also mark any secrets you might have left! And they turn golden once you've found everything there is in that room, including secrets
If you were normal (let's imagine that for a bit, okay?) and you got the 64 cube ending, that's it, right? You've gathered every cube, you've gathered every map (you need them to get all cubes), you've gotten every key and opened every locked door, that should be it, right? You have everything the game asked you to have, so the whole map should be golden, right?
...right?
No! :D you fucking fool, you poor summer child
In fact, there are three rooms left. Three rooms left with a secret symbol next to them, and one other special room
First, we'll talk about the special room
Once you gather 64 cubes, you'll be able to open a door hidden on an unsuspecting island and access this one special room
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kinda weird, right? It has a tileset that appears nowhere else in the game, same with its background. There's also a strange transparent heart over it? Strange
Now, the three ungolden rooms
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First, the observatory, the room with the easiest puzzle, at least in comparison with the other two
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Second, you have whatever the fuck this is. In order to solve this one, you HAVE to know the Fez language, no ifs or buts. Not only that, but there's a high chance that you were reading the language the wrong way, so in order to have the remote chance to solve this mf you'll have to git gud and realise the error of your ways
And last, but definitely not least
The most infamous room in the entire game aside from maybe the heart room previously shown
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This cunt
These three are the hardest challenges the game has to offer, no exaggeration. And also, the first two rooms can be solved at any point of your adventure, but for the third one you HAVE to have completed the 32 cube ending, no workarounds
Now, how to solve them?
If you go to the observatory at night, you'll notice two red blinking stars in the corner. They're speaking in binary code, with one being 1 and the other being 0. Then, that binary has to be translated into a buncha diff languages to be decoded, and once you're done you'll be left with a set of commands that you'll enter in the observatory to get a special red cube that not even Dot, the motherfucker in 4 dimensions that knows things beyond our comprehension, knows what it is
For the second room in fez language, you'll need to answer a question with the cubes provided to you. It's a weird thing where you have to mix this word with the name of the company who made the game, I don't know man. Once you've answered you'll get the second red cube
And now, the third room
Commonly denominated the black monolith room
Why is there no black monolith?
Because you have to make it appear
First, you have to get this burnt map
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Behind it, there's a string of code that translates into commands
You need to get into the room, and use the special ability given to you in the 32 cube ending: first perspective mode
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You'll have to stand in the tiny square inside this infinity symbol thing that doesn't have a line in it (basically, not the one the screenshot is looking at lol), and then you'll have to do the commands
Once you do it, the black monolith will appear
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Okay, you did it
You put the code correctly
Now what?
This isn't a collectable. This isn't a red cube. This doesn't do anything. What is this? How do I solve this puzzle
You wanna know the answer?
Who fucking knows
No one knows the answer to this. No one knows how to solve this. The community solved this a week after launch by bruteforcing it. I shit you not they made a bot that spewed random fez inputs and people just tried them until they got the correct solution
No one knows how it's meant to be solved. To this day, people still go on the r/fez subreddit to give their theories on what the intended solution was meant to be
They have tried everything
The position of the candles, the boiler room, some other random ass rooms that look remotely similar to the black monolith room, a random shower room, it somehow being on a book in the game that's just filled with haikus??, some bullshittery mobius strip mental gymnastics, the other half of the code being in an abandoned airport in Arizona...
...whatever the fuck this is...
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by far the most known theory was the release date theory
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but that got disproven by one of the devs a few years ago
but anyways, we've already gone through insanity for long enough, it's time to be normal now
Once you've gathered all of the red pieces, they will appear in the heart room
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that's it
we're done
.
..
...
....almost
there's a secret code
one that was actually intended to be datamined for once lmao
If you look at certain artifacts in the menu and you rotate them a certain way in a certain order, the heart will vanish and the screen will turn white
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you'll be sent back to the menu, and if you load that save file and go back into the temple...
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there will be nothing waiting for you there
that, my friend, is the true end of Fez
You wanted to know too much, you wanted to learn everything, to the point of wanting to tear open a creation that took blood, sweat, tears, and five years to complete. And now there is nothing. You ignored the game's boundaries of only wanting to let you know this much, and now the game is empty, the love is gone, and there is nothing left for you here
You can leave now, I hope you're satisfied
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mysticstars02 · 5 months ago
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KW: Miscellaneous (RAW)
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this is the best image i could use for this blog. ik there's one i really luv to use (it's the huge collab art made by yumikosudou where they transform YW characters into those gegege no kitaro art style characters you see in the right). Buuut i think it's safe to use this image here haha
Featuring two collabs with actual stories! And also some stuffs I find that Idk if it'll fit or I never seen these before lol
Cells at Work! Collab
(ngl i did not expect this to collab a series i barely know of. I don't watch but the concept looks cool!)
GeGeGe no Kitaro: Great Yokai War (?) Collab
most pure thing i ever seen. it's like seeing the interactions and the epic fights...but in chibi style XD
The Great Trial of Challenges
OH THIS ONE! I really wanna talk about this cause i think this is a pretty cool feature they add. Sadly I didn't get the main gist of this buuut I'm pretty sure this feature requires a shit ton of your playtime experiences and some competitive thinking (rambling warning btw lol)
How it works is that you have those green keys you can spend ONLY on the Great Trial and let me tell you: the Great Trial...is srsly a trial. Y'know those competitive features in the YW mainline games where you can set the rules only to specific rank of youkais (Like set the rule to an only Rank A or C battle), the Great Trial of Challenges is kinda like that...except it's very mean (It may be easy if I have some translation skills but it may be not haha XD).
Let's set up a real example coming from a KW player: If I remember, the trial is set up by 3 stages. Each stage contains restriction and certain aspects for tribe AND rank.
The 1st stage is free-for-all style meaning no restriction/rule, just put out your best team.
The 2nd stage gets a bit harder. There are now rules and restrictions. Let's say the rule for this stage says you can only use Rank A or lower youkais (I believe this also applies to Gunmashin/War Demon God's Rank???) AND you cannot use this following tribe: Enma and Kaima tribe
Now comes the 3rd stage, this time it's serious. I believe they add more rules and restriction to this stage so now, you can still use Rank A or lower BUT you are forced to use them from this tribe like you can use Rank A-C but only from the Slippery tribe. This also will go for the Gunmashin as well (You can only use the demon god's from this specific class)
Sometimes the rule will keep you using Rank Sho but you can't use Rank Paradise/Heavenly Rank youkais
Very challenging but it's also pretty cool! You may think that this looks like it's worth to try it out...yet I haven't mention why this feature is very mean. I haven't gone that far yet I also forgot how many challenges I clear (I think I clear at least 50???) BUT...there is a challenge that will forever be a wall to me before this game announce to go defunct. What challenge is that I struggle the most?
On the 3rd stage of the challenge I was on (again Idr what it is exactly), there is one rule...that is so mean idk how the f- am I suppose to do. These are the following restrictions: Rank Sho, Any tribe is acceptable, Gunmashin is allowed, you are forced...to use one youkai
Yeah
A rule said to use one youkai against a team of 5 Rank Sho youkais
Part of me thinks that maybe with quick summoning, instant collision damage and bulky stat could work right? Ngl, I got my ass kicked like so many times on this freakin 3rd stage of the challenge I was stuck on (I tried to use Rank Sho Rinne on this challenge, 3 seconds later and he immediately got his ass kicked asksa)
Again, pretty cool feature for challenging players and huge props to the user responsible for the Heavenly Rank's stories (bc I'm pretty sure you unlock those scenes by completing certain amount of trials. I'm very positive you have to beat EVERYTHING and my poor brain is not enough :'''>)
Never-see-before events (well for me lol)
I found a few of these videos coming from the user who's responsible for the Heavenly Rank stories. I actually don't remember seeing these events during my KW playthrough (I might have misremember it but yeah)
More interaction with Gunmashins? Part I
More interaction with Gunmashins? Part II
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hyenahunt · 2 years ago
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Obbligato: The Devotion to Tatsumi Kazehaya - 5
Writer: Akira
Season: Spring, three years ago
Characters: Jun, Kaname, Tatsumi
Proofreading: Remi + 310mc (JP) & honeyspades (ENG)
Translation: Peace & hyenahunt
Jun: Hah! So you mean we all have no chance of success and just get to spend our lives getting bossed around like slaves, huh? Reimei Academy's fucking incredible!
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Location: Reimei Academy's Labour Camp
Time: Evening, that day.
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Jun: Hmm... So basically, this guy isn't a Special Student anymore?
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Kaname: .....
Jun: Some scandal happened during the filming of a movie or a show, and he either pissed off or got on the wrong side of the higher-ups, and he lost his role...
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Kaname: .....
Jun: So going along with what the bigshots wanted, Reimei Academy temporarily stripped HiMERU of his Special Student title.
And now he's so sad and upset about it he went nuts and had a little cryfest in here just now. That's the long and short of it, huh, Kazehaya-senpai?
Tatsumi: Yes. While HiMERU-san hasn’t told me what happened exactly, I've more or less grasped the situation due to various things I've heard from others.
In any case, it feels as if there's been a high level of damage control about what's going on, so it's hard to understand what happened exactly.
All that is clear is that, yes, HiMERU-san did something which caused the temporary loss of his Special Student title.
As such, he has also been stripped of the private quarters given to those with such privilege, and thus has found himself within the walls of this Labour Camp instead.
Jun: This is the first time I've ever heard of a Special Student losing their title... What exactly did he even do? Did he deck some bigwig in the face or something~?
Tatsumi: I wonder... It's only natural that this is all that the students know. However, the teachers' knowledge regarding it is limited as well.
On the other hand, I've been fielding non-stop questions myself, all of which ask the very same thing: What did HiMERU-san even do?
As it stands, I have no way to answer them.
From the reaction of the public, it would seem that HiMERU-san did something that was strictly taboo in the entertainment world.
Jun: Tattoo?
Tatsumi: Taboo. In other words, something prohibited by social norms.
Jun: Your words are kinda goin' over my head, Kazehaya-senpai...
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Tatsumi: My apologies. While I strive to do what I can to make my words understandable... if they're unable to reach you, then they're no better than the cry of an animal.
Jun: Well, I've more or less gotten the gist of it, at least~ To sum it up, HiMERU basically went and did some shit he really shouldn't have done, huh?
Tatsumi: That is my own personal theory, yes.
Jun: If that's what happened outta the blue, you've got me curious, y'know. What exactly didja do, HiMERU?
C'mon, I'll keep it a secret if ya tell me, y'know? How'd ya make the higher-ups totally lose it?
I don't wanna make the same mistake and set them off, so you oughta share all that info with the class, yeah?
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Kaname: .....
Please refrain from speaking to me so casually. You'll infect me with your Non-Special Student cooties.
I'm not a good-for-nothing idiot like the rest of you.
Jun: 'Scuse me? Literally in what way are we different? We're both at the very bottom of the barrel, aren't we? We're sitting in the same Labour Camp wearing the same jersey and eating the same shitty food, in case ya haven't noticed!
Tatsumi: Is my food truly so disgusting...?
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Jun: Ah— I only mean that as a figure of speech! Kazehaya-senpai, your cooking's the best, for real! I meant to say it was stinky, not shitty, kinda like the stuff you'd eat in a prison!
Tatsumi: Haha. If this were prison, then you all would be released so long as you remained patient enough to fulfill the labor asked of you. At the end of it all, you would be allowed to live in the same brilliantly shining world that the Special Students do.
Jun: Real life's nothing like that, though~ The walls here are so high that if you were to fall even once, you'd spend the rest of your life tryna climb back up.
Tatsumi: You mustn't lose hope, Jun-san. So long as you believe in such a world and work hard towards it, then one day you will be rewarded.
... Though, it isn't as if Reimei Academy's structure makes it particularly welcome to such sentiments.
HiMERU-san losing his rights as a Special Student is unusual, however. Nor have I ever heard of anyone becoming a Special Student if they were not already enrolled as one.
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Jun: Hah! So you mean we all have no chance of success and just get to spend our lives getting bossed around like slaves, huh? Reimei Academy's fucking incredible!
Well, maybe that's just how it is in actual corporate life, too. You know, born a nobody and die a nobody and all that.
Tatsumi: Now, now, don't sulk... You're still young, Jun-san. You should look to the future with bright eyes, towards the hope that lies aplenty before you.
Jun: Hey, you're young too, Kazehaya-senpai. What's up with your old man act?
Actually, in your case I should say you act all mature, huh? You're always so calm and reliable~ No one would think you're only a year older than me.
Tatsumi: Is that so? Perhaps I’ve spent so much time around the elderly that I’ve begun to act like them too.
Oh, dear... I just remembered, I must leave for the catacombs soon.
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Jun: Not again. You went last night and didn't come back 'til this morning, didn'tcha?
Tatsumi: Haha. As the one who founded them, it is only right that I take care of them, isn't it?
If ever you are interested in dropping by, Jun-san, please do so. And bring HiMERU-san as well, if possible.
Jun: What? Why him?
Dude, wasn't he sitting on top of ya with his hands 'round your neck when I came in?
If anything, I'd rather chase a dangerous guy like him right outta here, y'know?
Tatsumi: It was merely an accident, that's all. HiMERU-san happened to fall, and my body was there to catch him. Isn't that right?
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Kaname: .....
Tatsumi: If it was done with ill intent in mind, I forgive you. I don't mind what happened one bit, but if possible I'd like to get along with you from here on out, HiMERU-san.
Kaname: .....
Tatsumi: Haha. Now then, I'll be off. ♪
♪~♪~♪
Jun: (Welp, there he goes... Kazehaya-senpai's as mysterious as ever — to this day I still can't tell what he's thinking.)
(And HiMERU feels like a ticking time bomb himself... Ugh, I feel like even more weird shit's gonna happen again.)
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Jun: (All the same, I guess I'd prefer this to the usual daily routine of doing nothing but soul-crushing chores.)
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← prev ✦ all ✦ next →
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indigosfindings · 9 months ago
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can you elaborate more on the joyful/optimistic art vs cynical/sad art thing?
(re: this post)
sure, sorry in advance if this is messy.
the gist is that there's a slew of micro-discourses whose common thread is the inherent or automatic superiority of art and stories that are optimistic and centre 'joy', 'love', and other positive emotions over those that don't.
it manifests a million different ways: "x series is bad because it's pessimistic/cynical/dark", "x story is bad because it depicts SA/incest/abuse*", "horror is really about love/family", "love is a unilaterally healing and moral force", "dark/negative art is universally less authentic/earnest", "sad/disturbing art is easy to make while positive art is difficult," etc. (also seems to correlate w the internet's general attitude toward criticism--that even mild negative feedback toward any art is in essence insulting its author & audience)
one of the factors imo is that a lot of people are unwilling to interrogate their reactions to something. like the process is "i see disturbing art -> i feel disturbed -> 'disturbed' is a negative emotion -> this art has done something negative to me -> this art is bad" and then never question it further
as for why i feel frustrated: hmm where to start. it's an extremely flat heuristic that diminishes alll art with any aims other than to please or to be Fun. it denies that "to disturb", "to frighten", "to disquiet", "to sadden", "to critique", etc are worthwhile endeavours in art. it also just betrays a narrow view of what has the capacity to be Fun for someone! i'm especially frustrated because horror always gets the brunt of it. there's a sort of longstanding anxiety about the "value" of horror, about horror needing to "prove its worth", and i think a lot of people's answer to that is to say "it's not actually about Scary, it's about Happy :)"
one of the really popular takes that i still see today is "if you're writing a fantasy story where anything can happen, why incorporate homophobia, misogyny, etc?" and, i mean, it's a pretty straightforward answer--because those things exist in real life, and by incorporating them into a story you can reflect, comment on, and explore real issues that are pertinent to the audience! likewise re "love is virtuous and healing," it's just a simple fact that love is morally neutral. people do HORRIBLE things for love all the time. i used to be more idealistic about this, but now i honestly cant stand the idea that a saccharine, childlike stance on love is by default a better one
(there's a huge comparison to be made here with the reactionary pushback against modern art btw)
it also ties into a broader schema--"toxic positivity" is a popular line, but we can aim higher: there's a sort of cultural mandate toward positivity, where saying "x is bad" is worse than x being bad. think right and send thoughts and prayers. capitalism loves the idea of each person fending for themselves--you have the whole concept of "wellness" and "mindfulness", ie Positive Thinking as a vector for mental health (the corollary being that a person who is unwell is a person who is Not Trying Hard Enough To Be Positive), whereby to read a situation cynically (or pragmatically!) is the worst thing you can do. and well, by the same token, when we have a whole cavalcade of employers who LOVE seminars and videos about How To Manage Your Stress (and zero interest in inspecting what it is that makes employees excessively stressed to begin with!), im sure you can imagine why someone could get exhausted of positivity.
as i said in the previous post, the most insane part is the particular framing of this atittude as somehow counterculture, controversial, or against the grain. y'know, when we're discussing chipper upbeat art about how everything is good vs art that's grim, violent, negative, pessimistic--which of these is most likely, historically and today, to be censored, to be banned, or to arouse controversy?
*(obviously there are depictions of SA and other sensitive subjects that are callous, sexist, etc! but there are also plenty that are trenchant, edifying, powerful, evocative, etc!)
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slurpygunch · 10 months ago
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Y'know what? I'm pretty excited about 2024, in my personal life. A lot of good things to come.
For one, my birthday is just a few days away! I'll officially be turning 21, isn't that cool? I'm very likely not going to actually use that fact to buy much alcohol or weed or whatever, but I can finally go into 21+ businesses, y'know? My girlfriend has been old enough for a little under 2 years now, and she's really been looking forward to going to such places with me. It seems fun!
I've also got a video appointment right after my birthday, which might be the final appointment before I can officially start receiving a prescription for my ADHD! I really look forward to that. I took Adderall for it in the past, and it really went well, really calmed me down, made me... singular. Felt good to get things done and enjoy media in peace, without The Sludge getting in my way.
Having my ADHD under control will also make it easier for me to focus on pursuing more... meaningful things, like working on my little roleplay worldbuilding project, and starting to practice making digital art, and learning how to ride my bike. Stuff that I really do care about, that I really am excited for, but just haven't gotten around to doing, due to... the sludge.
April first, all fast food workers get an increase to their minimum wage, including me! It'll effectively be a 25% pay jump in my case, and that's pretty dang exciting. Even if my work reduces my hours a bit, it'll just mean making the same money and having more free time. Win-win, so long as I don't get laid off or something, which would really suck.
Some time during this year, my uncle that I live with will move out, and that'll be pretty momentous! I've been dealing with him for about... two years now? and I'm really looking forward to not spending another year being his roommate. It's a multifaceted issue, but the gist of the symptoms is that I can't really put effort into decorating the house I live in, or leave food or hygiene supplies out, because he'll rearrange things or use my stuff. Chronic issue, no solution has worked, just want him gone.
If I no longer live with him, my girlfriend of about 28 months can start staying with me for extended periods of time, and maybe even move in, ooh! That'd be so wonderful. We have so many things we can do when we live together, or at the very least spend a lot of our time together!
This year is also a major election year, the first one I'll be old enough to vote for, and that's not necessarily a good thing, but it could be! and regardless, it'll certainly be interesting.
Some good things are coming to my games, too! MC: Better Than Adventure gets a really cool update, Warframe gets cross-save permanently, and I'm betting Ultrakill's seventh layer will get its missing extras, which would be super majorly cool.
I'm excited for 2024. I'm really, genuinely optimistic that I can find a lot of good this year, and I intend to try.
Thanks especially to @sewahsworld for being with me in this journey, and @basicskellie for being such a good friend :)
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tvitr · 2 years ago
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Well looky here, I wrote a thing.
... Or just a scene I can see playing out lmao.
General gist: Iono pesters Grusha into appearing on Iono Zone to talk about his snowboarding accident.
Now this is something he really doesn't want to do, but she's persistent and wears him down enough that he finally agrees to do it just to get her off his back. Iono is ecstatic as Grusha almost never does interviews, especially ones related to his accident, and she hypes the ever loving Hell out of it. She promotes it in all her streams, she has a trailer for it made, she reminds everyone of the time and date, like she really hypes it up. This is a rare bare-all interview with legendary Paldean snowboarder Grusha Ibáñez and you do not want to miss it.
The day finally arrives. Iono wastes no time in introducing Grusha to her audience, that he's here to talk about his accident, and-
He cuts her off.
"Wait, which accident did you want me to talk about again?"
Iono is, understandably, a little confused. He continues, "Like, I've been snowboarding for over 20 years now, I've had more than a few accidents in that time."
She's about to tell him she wants him to talk about the accident, y'know, the big one that everyone knows happened but nobody knows the actual details of, when he takes off on some saga about how he was attempting slopestyle for the first time when he was 8 and fell off a grind rail and smashed several teeth out, followed by another one about he broke his wrist racing his sister when they were both 10 (and still won the race, he adds with a smirk). It continues like this for a while, with him just talking about random crashes he's had over the years, never once mentioning the one she and her viewers are waiting for. The most serious one he talks about (or so Iono assumes) was one time he blew his right knee out in training, and had to get surgery, which jeopardised his participation in some major tournament, forcing him to compete wearing a brace. He still came first, he adds with another proud smirk, brandishing a photograph of himself on the podium to boot.
Iono isn't paying much attention to him by this point, instead reading her chat, noting with some alarm that people are leaving, accusing her of clickbaiting her audience, that Grusha is kinda unlikeable and arrogant, or that they thought he would be more interesting than this. They came here for the heartache and tragedy, to hear about such an esteemed athlete cut down in his prime, not to hear him brag about how he won some competition on a busted knee.
She finally interrupts him in the middle of some spil about how he accidentally ran over a wild Greavard out on the slopes and broke his shoulder (the Greavard was fine, he assures her), turning off her camera abruptly and without her usual outro. Grusha is smirking once again by this point. Mission complete.
She asks him what the Hell was all that about, that he knew damn well which accident she wanted him to discuss, and that he basically clickbaited her audience and now they're mad at her. He lets her rant before simply shrugging and telling her that, if he's honest, he doesn't think his big accident is suitable for her channel. He doesn't watch her content regularly, sure, but he's seen her recent uploads, and just doesn't think his accident would look well-suited alongside yesterday's beauty-vlogger-drama mukbang with Tulip, or the day before thats summoning-a-cartoon-character-at-3am video. So, he told her about some less serious accidents he's had over the years. Not his fault her audience didn't like them.
Iono dismisses this, she's had plenty of sob stories on her channel that went down a treat, what makes his so special that it can't be discussed?
She starts listing them off, not noticing at just how much he bristles at her words. Needless to say, having one of the most viscerally unpleasant experiences of his life reduced to just a "sob story", something meant only to be displayed on magazine covers to entice readership, or in video thumbnails to entice clicks, doesn't sit well with him.
He reaches in to the envelope of photos he's brought, rummaging through and eventually pulling one out. He thrusts it in Iono's direction, stopping her monologue dead in its tracks. She doesn't like how abrupt his movement was.
"What's-"
"Just take it."
She does so, tentatively, and very reluctant to look at what she's been handed. Eventually, she glances down at it.
It takes her a moment to realise what she's looking at.
"That's me. The day after the accident."
Iono struggles to process what's in the photo, the number of wires and tubes criss-crossing his body, the oxygen mask covering most of his face, that frankly terrifying looking contraption around his head, his sunken and barely open eyes-
She realises he's talking, about how he thinks the photo might have been taken the day after the accident, but he's not entirely sure. He'd lost track of time, he says, the first few days in hospital passing in a sleepy, painkiller-induced haze. His parents had taken the photo, and though they said it was taken the day after, he suspected those first few uncertain days had been just as much a blur for them as they had been for him.
"You know, you're probably the first person outside of my family who's seen that photo."
That photo, he explains, was taken for use as a possible press photo, but was ultimately never published. According to his parents, they'd wanted to wait until he was actually somewhat conscious and able to choose what photos he wanted to disclose. And, needless to say, he'd never released it. He hadn't released any photos until weeks after the accident, when the halo and drains were removed and he'd started physio, and could actually sit up in bed somewhat. Iono vaguely remembers seeing that photo in the papers at least.
"Bet that would've been good for your stream, eh? Show that off to all your fans."
Iono flinches at his tone. He's mad at her, she can tell that. But there's something else in his voice. Something she doesn't recognise.
She finally pulls her eyes away from the photo and looks over at him, shocked by how much his posture's changed since he handed it to her. His arms are folded tightly, he's bouncing his leg rhythmically against the floor, he's looking straight ahead with a cold, hardened expression. A far cry from the smug asshole who'd been sitting there only a few minutes prior.
And then she realises what she heard in his tone.
"... I'm sorry."
He doesn't react.
"Like, really, I'm... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made you do this."
Still nothing.
"I-I can tell that this is like, really uncomfortable for you to talk about and I know why you didn't want to do this, I shouldn't have forced you into this, I'm so... so..."
Nothing.
"Please say something."
He wants to say something. He wants to turn to her, to hold her face in his hands and force her to look in his eyes, and tell her more. Tell her that his spine never fully healed, leaving him with chronic pain he'll likely have for the rest of his life. Tell her it's a miracle none of his shattered vertebra managed to damage his spinal cord, or that none of his shattered ribs managed to pierce his heart. That it's a miracle he's still alive, let alone able to walk, that if his body hadn't been found in time, then the internal bleeding would have killed him for sure. Tell her that he wasn't the only casualty in his family that day.
How's that for a "sob story", eh?
But... he doesn't. He doesn't need to. She seems like she's learnt her lesson anyway. It'd just be cruel to rub it in.
"I should probably get going now." He stands, gathering his coat and the envelope of photos, turning to Iono to collect the last photograph.
She's crying.
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