#lambda (tog)

[gailardiagalan]

back on my bs heres graces

[kresnikcest]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH 😭

Commissioned u66gy again for Asbel and smol!Lambda and 🥺 them…

[artyartpile]

Blossomgale

[artrantia]

There were a couple of delays, but these Graces charms are finally available!

Link to Etsy

[mister-e-muss]

Alright everyone. Hope you’re having a happy pride month. In the meantime, it’s time for another Backlog Report.

In case you couldn’t tell, I’ve been busy during May 2025. As always, brief thoughts are below.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition

Coming back to this game was like getting to know an old friend again. It’s just as fun and involving as I remember, if not a little bit more. The soundtrack courtesy of Hiroyuki Sawano is just as amazing as it always was. (NLA themes they could never make me hate you.)

The quality of life features brought in truly make a difference in smoothing out some of this games rough edges. Thanks to the new speed at which you gain affinity, I was able to do missions that I never so much as touched in the original version. I’m not too sure how I feel about the instant cooldown though: it trivializes too many fights and when it doesn’t, it just feels like a cheat. Yes it makes responding to ally prompts easier, but it feels like a patch job rather than a proper mechanic the game is built around.

As for the story, I like it. I do think that even the original release deserves more credit than ‘cliffhangers bad.’ The new stuff added is a bit of a mixed bag that really deserves it’s own post. The sum of it is that while I’m willing to accept the new ending as a conclusion, and I loved the final dungeon, there’s more than a few things that could have been handled much better. That said replaying the main story did remind me of how well it handles itself in the beginning. It does front load a lot of exposition, and the beginning may not give you many options, but by the end of chapter one you have a full arts palette and know how to use it, and by chapter three you have a goal and an antagonist to race against. However replaying also made me realize just how short some of these story missions are. Chapter 7 in particular can be cleared in less than thirty minutes with all the fast-travel.

I’m happy to say that not only do I still love this game, by the time I was finished I had put in enough hours to make this game my second longest played on my system. (Neatly sandwiched between Xenoblades 3 and 2.)

Tales of Graces F Remastered

The Tales series is an interesting one to me. I’ve always felt that action games tend to fall into one of two broad categories of ‘dodge dodge dodge poke’ or ‘mash mash mash dodge.’ Dark Souls and Monster Hunter, DDDP. Kingdom Hearts, MMMD. These two categories themselves feel almost identical to me across multiple games. That’s part of why I generally prefer turn-based battles: I can feel the difference between Octopath Traveller and Final Fantasy 7 better than the difference between say Bayonetta and Kingdom Hearts. I bring this up because the Tales series has been generally unique in its combat: in that it borrows heavily from fighting games and the series feels markedly different from other action RPGs because of it.

If Tales of Vesperia is a traditional 2D fighter, than Tales of Graces is an anime arena fighter. It is a mash mash mash dodge, per my definition, but it gives you reasons to control when and how you mash buttons. At its best, ToG’s combat feels like badass butter sliding across a smooth-as-hell skillet. Though I have to say that I’m not wild about the Eleth bursts and breaks as a replacement mechanic for Overlimits. They are generally not player-driven. Sure the meters that cause this go up faster or slower depending on what you do, but they will fill up sooner or later unless you have all your party members on standby. The Nova barriers are also a minor irritant. They’re meant to make you think about how you want to end your combo and pay attention to what attributes your artes have, but really it just comes down to having one at the ready, pressing B, and then it’s back to business as usual.

The story is generally good. I enjoyed the main cast, and I found (*Spoilers!*) Richard and Lambda to be an intriguing antagonists. That said I wish that the voice acting was given a little bit more direction. It’s serviceable as is, but some of the deliveries sound stiff or awkward. (Sophie’s VA gets a pass on this: she’s supposed to sound stiff.)

Over all, I rate this as my second favorite among the Tales I’ve played, right below Abyss and right above Vesperia.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

I genuinely find myself loving these games. As someone who emphasizes storytelling in games, it’s a delight to find these emotional narratives in a genre dominated by ‘funny Hoohoo man.’ The music is beautiful, the landscapes a painted beautifully, and the movement is just as smooth and addicting as it was in the first game, if not better as more tools are acquired earlier.

The team evidently did everything they could to improve the experience from Ori and the Blind Forest, giving the player more combat options, new movement tools, and the ability to swap around different set ups for a customizable experience.

That said, that is also why I prefer Ori and the Blind Forest. In trying to make the experience a better video game, I think they’ve lost some of the thematic charm of the first. Will of the Wisps feels more like a video game than its predecessor, if that makes sense. The Blind Forest was remarkable among action-platformers in that it emphasized the latter over the former. It had no boss battles because, as I said before, combat wasn’t the point. Now everything else about the story is still great. Shriek being an eldritch mutant monster until her mask is cracked, and then staying a monster because that is what she’s chosen to be by now, is just 👌. The framing of the story flipping from parent and child to siblings is just 👌. The ending coming full-circle and revealing the true identity of this games narrator is just 👌.

I still loved this game. I’m sure many people find this one to be an improvement in all regards to the first, but thematics are enough to make me remember the first one just a bit more fondly.

MegaMan Battle Network 2

And now for something completely different!

These games are known for their battle systems, and quite rightly. As a trading card guy, I love the process of collecting chips, putting excess ones through the trader, and assembling a custom focused folder. I love the random hand that you draw, and that there’s an in-universe mulligan for chips you don’t need. These games are almost always fun in nearly any situation.

That said, I do think the Freezerman segment drags the pacing of the game down a lot. Thematically, it’s cool that the second-to-last boss doesn’t have a dedicated dungeon, but instead changes the entire overworld of the internet. In practice however, there’s just too little information and guidance to go off of, leading to a lot of aimless wandering. Of the 23 hours this game took me, an embarrassingly large portion of it was spent on this one episode.

I enjoyed the story, but I think this is also a case for why I prefer Starforce. The main antagonist turning out to be just a lonely kid lashing out at the world and Lan becoming his first friend afterwards is great, but it’s all backloaded. Starforce would have likely introduced the character behind the mask first, and then played out this emotional beat with the buildup and the payoff it deserves. I don’t need to talk theoretically, because that’s pretty much what they did with Pat, Rey, Jack and Tia.

Play this game, and if you get stuck, open a guide.

Reynatis

Remember how when this game was first revealed, it was fresh off of Kingdom Hearts 3 and the Verum Rex discussion? How this game was going to be the ‘fine I’ll do it myself’? Remember how this game came out and then people just stopped talking about it?

Unfortunately, it’s not hard to see why. This is a game that needed to hide its limitations better. Shibuya is a vibrant and interesting setting with tons of alternate history lore to dig into, but exploring it can get tiring when you only have about two tracks for it, and neither of them are exactly sweeping orchestral masterpieces or bright and catchy pop. Oh and there are addicts and gang members and magic cops on every single corner that want to stick a knife in you, that the game then punished you for fighting. Going dungeon crawling through fog portals sounds fun, until you realize that they’re almost always just forests with a single path, and they only come in flavors of red or green. For how grandly it tries to present itself and how vibrant the character designs are, Reynatis is surprisingly monotonous.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy this game, I did. But for how good many of its concepts are, the game itself needed two or three more passes through the revision process to be truly brilliant. I hope we get a sequel because I would Love to see this team realizes their full potential.

[jonathankatwhatever]

Continuing. Can’t stop, it seems. Found a great example, a general formula for Pi discovered by string theorists that includes a scale factor, a lambda, meaning it generates Boundary for any lambda. When was it the thing to make a cha-ching sound now?

One thing I see as women age is they tend to develop a larger delta between appearance private and appearance public. This is true in both dress and make-up. It is difficult for the male to grasp how that reflects context, which makes it another great example because women need to fit into contexts, to be more specific and thus identified to the context. I have trouble grasping what the male thinks, but from what I have observed it’s that they fit the context to them so the pairing process is Tigs and the female process is Togs. How well does this work becomes external perspective and internal perspective, and these have poles which arrange orthogonal to the value, to the result, to the real, that being the Composition or I(//)I.

This is why you can generate the concept of monopoles but not find them in 0Space, in D3-4Space. The pairings which occur in 0Space can’t be ideal outside of the abstract, of the intangible, except maybe as a flicker. This is the same as balancing on a ball: you can do it for this long and the states which add up to balance occur and flicker, even as you hold as still as possible, which reduces the flickering, which is part of the tensioning application of gsProcess which has been working so well physically. In other words, iterative potential doesn’t mean you can see into the blind spot, because that blind spot must always be there for an Observer. An Observer is an Actor in the act of observing.

About the real again. There’s gsReal and the real numbers and the many conceptions of what is real and reality, which come out of gsReal. So that means gsReal maps Actuality, meaning all the Attachments and Pathways, come to the End which is szK(//)zsK, and there are thus mappings to the 0Space states which are D3-4 existence within the D3-4Space specified in the gsSpace generated within D-structure.

Isn’t that cool?

Need to shower and go to the gym. The methods have improved so much recently. As I’m continuing to establish tensioned range of motion, which translates into effort in both directions, End to End, in idealized structures and thus poses and movements, then the amount of weight I move jumps. I get into the best alignments now, and do that much more fluidly. I’ve identified how that causes much of the pain: a literalization of the angles and relationships of the body to the movement. Like if it hurts when I lower on my left shoulder, that’s because it’s not at the correct angle, not in the right position, etc. and the reason for that may be referred or distant and is likely mirrored either as another issue or as a hidden accommodation to the imperfect structure. Pulling and twisting those out against higher and higher resistance isn’t meant to build strength or muscle but to explore the efficiency of the position and thus of the structure, with the other results coming along.

[catharsisaudade]

We thought we could save eachother from loneliness…

[megoomy]

choose your fighter

[sakuraswordly]

[somacruising]

Tales of the Rays: Advent of Final Form Dhaos (English Translation)

This is a short event in which Dhaos’s final form was available in the gacha. The story event is about Asbel and Sophie going to the World Tree and helping him out. Asbel, in particular, is interested in Dhaos—though Dhaos doesn’t care much. 

As always, this is machine translation with small tweaks on my end to try and capture their voices better. Screenshots were taken from TimeFactor’s YT channel.

Let’s begin~

     SCENE 1

     [ Dhaos is in front of the Great Tree ]

Dhaos: …It seems nothing is amiss.

Dhaos: But I must remain vigilant.  I have no interest in any empire, but if they’ve begun to use technology from other worlds, they might become interested in magitech and influence this World Tree.

Dhaos: Even if this world is false and I am nothing more than a shadow, I cannot afford to miss a chance to obtain the 'Great Fruit'.  For that reason, I…

      [ Asbel and Sophie appear ]

Sophie: Asbel, someone is here.

Asbel: Aren’t you…

Dhaos: ……………

Sophie: Asbel, do you know him?

Asbel: Kind of… But it's the first time we've met like this.

Dhaos: What are you doing here?

Sophie: We're here to see the World Tree. What about you?

Dhaos: I'm the one asking the question.

Sophie: Well… I'm here to explode it artistically.

Dhaos: Explode?

Asbel: Ah! No! We really only came to look at the World Tree.

Sophie: Everyone at the hideout is drawing now. So I want to paint different places.

Asbel: Apparently, kids enjoy this. Anyway, I’m Sophie's chaperone.

Sophie: Mint told me that the forest with the World Tree is full of life, so I decided to come here and paint.

Asbel: That's why we're going to stay around here for a while. Is that alright with you?

Dhaos: …Do what as you wish.

     [ Dhaos Exit Stage Right ]

Sophie: …Did we bother him?

Asbel: No, I don't think so… By the way, what were you saying just now? About making something explode?

Sophie: Beryl taught me. In order to become good at drawing, you have to make your art explode.

Asbel: Well, I don't know what that means, but don't do anything too dangerous.

Asbel: (By the way, was he…that Dhaos? The Salvation Army seems to be getting in touch with him every now and then…)

Asbel: Wasn’t Dhaos an enemy of Cress and his friends?

Sophie: Asbel? Did you say something?

Asbel: Hmm? No, nothing. Well then, I'm going to keep an eye on things around here, so if you need anything, call me right away.

Sophie: Yeah, I will.

     SCENE 2

     [ Sophie and Asbel are still in front of the Great Tree ]

Sophie: I’ve finished.

     [ Dhaos is around, not speaking ]

Asbel: (Dhaos is…still hanging around the World Tree. Is there something on his mind?)

Sophie: Hey, Asbel, how does it look?

Asbel: (Come to think of it, I heard from Cress that, for Dhaos, the World Tree is…)

Sophie: Asbel? Hey, I’m talking to you Asbel.

Asbel: Huh? Oh, sorry, Sophie. What is it?

Sophie: I finished my picture. Is it good?

Asbel: Oh, it’s very good. I love burdock.

Sophie: It’s the World Tree…

     [ The sound of an explosion!! ]

Asbel: Whoa! What was that sound!?

      [ Dhaos walks over ]

Dhaos: Again…

Asbel: Dhaos! Where are you going?

Dhaos: …That's none of your business.

Sophie: Dhaos, do you know what that sound was?

Dhaos: A petty conflict between the Imperials and the Resistance. Their battle has been raging around here as of late.

Asbel: What!?

Dhaos: I have no interest in the futile squabbles of humans. However, since Yggdrasil is here, I can't ignore it.

Dhaos: You all should leave here immediately if you don't want to get involved.

Sophie: …Then we will fight with you.

Dhaos: What?

Sophie: You want to protect the World Tree, right? Then we can help you.

Sophie: And if it's against the Imperial Army, we're already involved. Right, Asbel?

Asbel: Yeah, you’re right! Dhaos, let us fight with you.

Dhaos: …As long as you don't get in my way, do as you please.

Sophie: Asbel, let's go!

Asbel: Right!

     SCENE 3

     [ Dhaos is walking away, after the fight ]

Dhaos: ……………

Sophie: Dhaos! Wait please!

Dhaos: What? The Imperial soldiers have been driven off. There is no more reason for me to linger.

Asbel: Maybe so, but the members of the Resistance you helped wanted me to give you their thanks.

Sophie: They say you saved their lives.

Dhaos: I didn't intend to help. Do not assume that I wished to aid in your vulgar warring.

Asbel: Dhaos, we understand that you probably didn't do it in order to help these people.

Asbel: But in the end, you saved many lives. You can take that gratitude in stride, can't you?

Dhaos: …It matters not. I don't need it.

Dhaos: But give them this warning. I will show no mercy to anyone who causes more conflict in this area.

Asbel: Does that mean you're going to fight the Resistance as well?

Dhaos: That depends on their actions.

     [ Dhaos leaves ]

Asbel: Dhaos...he's…

Sophie: What's the matter, Asbel?

Asbel: Nothing... It’s just that until now, I thought that Dhaos was nothing more than Cress’ group’s enemy.

Asbel: But, after fighting alongside Dhaos, I can’t shake the feeling that Dhaos is bearing some kind of weight...

Sophie: Yeah... I also get a strange feeling when I look at him.

Asbel: Strange? Sophie, what kind of strange feeling?

Sophie: Well, it felt like he didn't see us at the beginning.

Sophie: But when he was in front of the World Tree, he felt a little warmer.

Asbel: …Yeah. Looks like we both got the same impression.

Sophie: You do?

Asbel: Oh. So I wanted to talk to him for a bit, but I'll save that for another time. Cheria and the others will probably be worried if we get home too late.

Sophie: Yeah, okay.

Sophie: …Asbel, I hope we can talk to Dhaos more when we meet him again.

Asbel: Me too.

     SCENE 4

     [ It is night time, Dhaos is alone on a path ]

Dhaos: …It's a quiet night. Those people have left—

Dhaos: …Come out. I know you are there.

     [ Asbel walks over ]

Asbel: You noticed me? I was waiting for the right time to call out, but…

Dhaos: What do you want from me?

Asbel: The Salvation Army asked me to “Please deliver this melon to Dhaos.”

Dhaos: ……………

Asbel: Actually, I contacted Mark and got him to send me with it.

Dhaos: Then put it down and leave. Also, tell him I don't need any more presents.

Dhaos: …You still have something to say, don’t you?

Asbel: …Dhaos, just tell me one thing. In your original world, is it really possible that such a grand World Tree could actually wither?

Dhaos: …Yes. Due to the foolish actions of humans, mana disappeared from the world, and the World Tree withered.

Dhaos: The technology that once destroyed the World Tree may be used in this world. If that were to happen, this World Tree, too, would—

Dhaos: That's why I vowed never to repeat the same mistake again.

Asbel: Are you doing this…to save your home?

Dhaos: …If you already know that much, I have nothing more to say.

Asbel: I thought so… I could feel your desire to protect the World Tree when we fought together.

Asbel: Besides, I can painfully understand your desire to protect your home…

Dhaos: Human, are you pitying me?

Asbel: No, I’m not. The empire is abusing technology from various worlds. Our fears aren’t so different. I will definitely help you to prevent the World Tree from dying.

Dhaos: …You alone will not be able to change anything.

Asbel: I know. But, I’m not alone. I have friends who are with me, who are struggling with me, who are there for me.

Asbel: So, please believe in us humans. That's why I came to see you today. We are all living together, rooted in the same world.

Dhaos: …Human nonsense.

     [ Lamba speaks up ]

Lambda: I thought the same thing as you: that the words of this person are nothing more than empty ideals unworthy of my time.

Dhaos: You…? I thought he had a strange presence, but I did not realize he was host to a parasitic life-form.

Lambda: Parasitic, huh… I'm not going to talk about that right now.

Lambda: I am with you to see the path this one takes. If you say that this person's words are lies, then it won't be too late even after seeing them through.

Asbel: Lambda…

Dhaos: I will never believe in humans. However…I don't care what you do. At best, you will simply keep helping until you’ve satisfied yourself.

Asbel: Dhaos…! I definitely won't let you down. I promise.

     BONUS DAILY LOGIN CONVOS

DAY 1 Dhaos: It looks like the Imperials brought out a Magi Cannon. It seems that it works differently from magitech, but I mustn’t let my guard down. Perhaps I should take care of it before it's too late. For the sake of my planet...the mother star, Derris-Kharlan...

DAY 2 Sophie: There are a lot of other students in the drawing class at my hideaway. So this time, I want to go out and paint with everyone, not just Asbel.

DAY 3 Sophie: When you see it up close, the World Tree is huge. Asbel: Yeah, that's a really amazing tree. Sophie: Yes. And the flowers blooming around it are very healthy, too. Asbel: I'm sure that's because of the power of the World Tree.

DAY 4  MIA :(

DAY 5 Sophie: Hey… Dhaos: Do you have something you want to say to me? Sophie: I was drawing a portrait of you. What do you think? Dhaos: …This is meant to be me?

DAY 6 MIA :(

DAY 7

Dhaos: I fight to protect the World Tree. I don't expect you to understand that. I do not ask for your understanding, nor do I take the side of the humans. To thank me would be an act of gross misconception.

DAY 8

Sophie: Asbel, that person was really strong. Asbel: Ah, so that's Dhaos’ power… Sophie: I felt a little sad watching him… Why?

DAY 9

Mark: Did you get the melon I sent you? Dhaos: I don't need it. Mark: Our world is safer because of you. Please, just let me do something. That's all.

DAY 10

Dhaos: Why do you choose to walk with humans? Lambda: I simply chose to live. Dhaos: This may result in people betraying you again. Lambda: Should that happen…I will destroy them.

[airitopia]

「 I want to destroy this world so no one has to suffer from despair and betrayal anymore 」

Do NOT repost/republish this work!

[jheyjette]

Some stuff based on https://incorrecttalesquotes.tumblr.com/

[kresnikcest]

Artwork by Mutsumi Inomata from the special novel included with the Tales of Graces Anniversary Party Blu-Ray set

[artyartpile]

the lambda brain cell reactivated and wouldn't go away until i drew him again lmao

[hungrydolphin91]

random doodle based on that one skit. basically just an excuse to practice drawing Asbel ngl

[idiots-of-ephinea]

Fourier: "Lesbianage?"

Asbel: "Oh, bi spy!"

Pascal: "I'm a pan with a plan!"

Lambda: "The ace is on the case."

Richard:

Richard: "I'm gay."