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the-ace-with-spades · 1 year

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Still on my Pacific Rim AU brainrot so here we go with the fic idea that's not leaving my head...

Backstory - so, if anyone's seen the Dossier Files I made, you might already know bits of it but:

Everything from Top Gun (1986) except for Goose's death still happened, we just move the event by around 10 years into the future so it was like 1996/7 instead. Kaiju start attacking in 2006, Carole dies in the attack on San Diego, and Mav and Goose become one of the first co-pilots along with Ice and Slider.

Goose dies in Romeo Blue when they're still connected and Mav adopts Bradley (who is 13/14 at the time). He and Ice are married already and Slider, who has another baby on the way, retires from combat after Goose's death, scared that he's going to orphan his kids, too.

Ice and Mav start drifting together and they are The Dream Team��. Obviously, Bradley watches it all as he's being moved from Shatterdome to Shatterdome with the Lucky Seven Team.

He turns seventeen, gets into the Jaeger Academy Program and the whole pulling the papers happens but Bradley is stubborn and a legacy kid so the current Marshal from their Shatterdome (I imagine Viper, maybe?) goes over Mav's head and he gets in and starts attending at eighteen. This made the situation between Brad, Mav, and Ice tense as hell (especially Mav because Bradley knows Ice is too soft to ever tell him no and it was not his initiative) but they still talk

Bradley aces the training and during it, finds his co-pilot, Darcy (OC, obviously). They get the newest Mark-III to pilot, Gipsy Danger and they instantly become The Dream Team™ too. Bradley becomes PPDC's poster boy as the late Bradshaw's kid (no one knows about the Mav and Ice thing...) and Darcy is the youngest pilot to enter the program and one the few Aussie pilots that qualified in the past few years. They're the new duo of the PR team basically and they're sold off as celebrities when they have a win after a win.

They take a year off when Darcy gets pregnant, in reserve in LA, and when they're back to active duty and Knifehead happens and Bradley goes through the exact same thing Mav went through - his co-pilot dies when they're still connected. Darcy's mind never leaves his brain and he can still feel her.

Just before this, Ice gets diagnosed with cancer and stops piloting to basically not die under the neural load. Mav is looking for a new pilot.

Something that would be a big spoiler happens between Mav and Bradley and Bradley leaves PPDC.

Mav and Ice are visiting the training program with the new recruits and Jake, the cocky son of a bastard, challenges Mav to a fight and they accidently find out they're drift compatible. And Jake becomes Mav's new co-pilot for Striker Eureka.

The world goes to shit, Ice is running PPDC as renegades and they're running out of pilots, and after over 4 years, he tracks Bradley down to where he's working as a cargo pilot at the Anti-Kaiju Wall. He doesn't know one thing though - that Bradley has a kid, a three-year-old daughter.

They arrive in Tokyo Shatterdome and Bradley meets Natasha, who, in Ice's mind is a great candidate for his drift partner (and becomes his daughter's favorite very quickly), and Bob, one of the leading upgrade engineers for the re-commissioned Gipsy. And Jake, the biggest ass Bradley's met who has a problem with him even though they've never met before.

Now, Jake is a bigger ass than usually because he had a celebrity crush on Bradley - or rather a Crush with capital C, posters in his bedroom, interviews recorded and saved on his laptop, t-shirts with Gipsy Danger and Jake Bradshaw written in the back of his math notebook included. He had daydreamed about meeting Bradley and impressing him and becoming a co-pilot pair ala Ice and Mav and when he disappeared right before Jake had an opportunity to meet him in Sydney Shatterdome, he was Mad™. It subsided with the years going and the longer Bradley was gone, the more he was becoming PPDC's new poster boy. In Jake's mind, he went from zero to hero and Bradley went from hero to zero.

And then Bradley shows up at his 'Dome and he realizes the crush isn't gone at all and he's Fucking Mad™ about it. And then he discovers Bradley's got a kid.

Some smaller details I might include somehow:

Nat was one of the crew of the Crimson Typhoon up until a year before.

Jake is half-Aussie and the accent switches places with the Texan drawl sometimes (he learned to hold it back because his dad didn't like it when he spoke with his mama's accent). Everyone thinks it's fake but Bradley realizes it's genuine because Darcy was Aussie. (Also, I added this detail because I was struggling to find a reason why Mav and Jake would have an Australian Jaeger as Americans...)

Slider's family (aside from his eldest daughter who is in college) is at the 'Dome with him, including Sara.

Bradley and Darcy's drivesuits were metallic red, now Brad only wears black. Mav and Jake wear metallic green, but it used to be metallic blue when he and Ice were drifting together.

Bradley's daughter had multiple Jaeger Plushies and ironically, her favorite is Striker Eureka because it has a dog in the decal and 'has a funny name and funny face'

When Bradley leaves, he leaves his dog with Mav and Ice (one he got when he was seventeen) and when Jake moves to the 'Dome, he basically announces the dog is now his, not Mav's, because he likes Jake better (I still don't know what dog breed, tho?? I'm hanging onto a beagle/miniature german shepherd atm)

Sara's and Ice's names are spelled this way (Sara and Tomasz) because that's how they'd be spelled if they were Polish.

Bradley carries a boombox into the jaeger every time he rides - uses his dad's and mom's cassette tapes. He's also got a couple of walkmans and his daughter her own too - decorated with stickers and glitter.

Things bordering on spoiler-y + additional dossier for Darcy and Brad's medical report under the cut:

The shit that happened between Mav and Brad was that Ice had the idea that hey, maybe you could drift together, and they could, really well at that, Mav just...didn't react well? It ended with them almost blowing up Lucky Seven and Ice erased the records so no one knew the details. They both said some shit and Bradley decided he's never trusting Mav again and he's got nothing holding him in the PPDC.

Bradley and Nat are compatible, they're actually really compatible for a pair of people who are not related/never met before, but Bob is going to be Nat's co-pilot, and Bradlye and Jake will ride together, is all I'm saying.

The mockup files not included in the previous post (with a small cameo from Penny):

Text in ALTs

(also, going to tag you here, @redfurrycat, because I thought you might like it 👉👈)

#dunno if I'll ever write it (i want to at least finish planning the fic and write the dialogue before I post the first chapter)#so here it is #also the funniest thing about this fic is my brain decided that the background track for writing this au is entirely doja cat #so i'm writting heartfelt scenes listening to paint the town red or get into it yuh #hangster pacific rim au #hangster #icemav as background #tgm

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modmamono · 1 year

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"All non-numbered Puyo Puyo games aren't mainline." No. Please hear me out.

Someone pointed me to someone still perpetuating and you're reading the results of my reaction.

This isn't a call-out to anyone in particular, and I'm fully aware some reading this may've just been misinformed. To some it just flat-out doesn't apply. And others don't know what I'm talking about. By the end of it I hope I've made my point. And apologies if any of this is a bit too harsh.

Recommended that you read this with some passing familiarity in Puyo Puyo at minimum.

Context for those not in the know.

For over a decade there have been people who're adamant that only the numbered Puyo Puyo games count as mainline Puyo Puyo games.

Meaning there have been only 7 total mainline games to them:

Puyo Puyo (1991, 1992)

Puyo Puyo Tsu (1994)

Puyo Puyo Sun (1996)

Puyo Puyo~n (1999)

Puyo Puyo Fever (2003)

Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (2005)

Puyo Puyo 7 (2009)

[If you're confused, all these games have puns that make them phonetically numbered in Japanese or English even if they aren't on paper.]

That's 7 out of 16 games mainline games.

What are the mainline games?

(I'll be calling the numbered games by their number from now on for the sake of this blogpost and only this blogpost.)

Puyo Puyo (1991) | **Puyo Puyo 0**

Puyo Puyo (1992) | **Puyo Puyo 1**

Puyo Puyo Tsu (1994) | **Puyo Puyo 2**

Puyo Puyo Sun (1996) | **Puyo Puyo 3**

Puyo Puyo~n (1999) | **Puyo Puyo 4**

Puyo Puyo Box (2000)

Minna de Puyo Puyo (2001)

Puyo Puyo Fever (2003) | **Puyo Puyo 5**

Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (2005) | **Puyo Puyo 6**

Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary (2006)

Puyo Puyo 7 (2009) | **Puyo Puyo 7**

Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary (2011)

Puyo Puyo Tetris (2014)

Puyo Puyo Chronicle (2016)

Puyo Puyo Champions (2018)

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (2020)

I will be arguing from this point of view. Though I will admit that I personally don't think games like Minna and Champions are very relevant. But that's irrelevant because I do think they are Mainline (and my reasoning isn't number-based).

Your mileage may vary though. But at least there are still more mainline ones than 7. This is what makes the most sense to me. But all I ask is you to either roll with this or hear me out. Not to take me as gospel.

What makes a mainline Puyo Puyo game?

I'd define a mainline Puyo Puyo games by a Player vs Player kind of experience. It's not even about the content as much as it is about the foundation.

All 16 games have that foundation. Puyo Puyo 0 might lack a lot of other stuff later games have, but it evolved a game later into Puyo Puyo 1. Making it mainline as well.

Also just because a game deviates a little from other games doesn't make it not mainline too.

Take Chronicle for example, while the main mode only has a single game board for a grand majority of its campaign, it still has a full-fledged PvP mode. Something you can't say of the Nazo Puyo games.

[Edit: Canon ≠ Mainline.

I cut this originally, but it's clear to me I need to add this back in:

Games are more than their stories. These games do not have to be canon to one another to be mainline. For example, I don't consider Minna de Puyo Puyo canon. I do consider it mainline.

This is about the content the game offer you. Not the stories. Because Canon ≠ Mainline.

I knew people conflate those two. But I cut it because I made that clear in the section above.

The rest of this post has been untouched.]

Why does this matter?

A question best left for the end. But I'm tackling it now.

It matters because it's damaging.

If you think the only mainline count towards the story are the numbered 7. The last Puyo Puyo game that "mattered" is Puyo Puyo 7 in 2009...

It's 2023.

Why are you waiting on a new "mainline" game when we've been getting them for a while? I will get into why they are mainline now.

Why would you inform a newbie that over half of games don't matter? Am I missing something here? I'm willing to admit that maybe I'm tackling this uncharitably, but even charitably it still confuses me why one would do that.

The part of the post where try and make my cases as to why each Puyo Puyo game listed here is mainline.

(Please note that Puyo Nexus doesn't have a list of the amount of rules each game has on their respective pages. And I'm not counting endless modes as rules, even if they are. Regardless of my accuracy, it shouldn't deter from my point much as the rough idea will also get it across.)

1. Puyo Puyo 0 | Puyo Puyo (1991)

Story: None Single-Player stages: (52 Nazo Puyo Puzzles) No. of rules: 1 PvP: 2-player (but not the main draw at the time) Playable characters: None

Some consider Puyo Puyo 0 a prototype of Puyo Puyo 1. I consider it a separate game. And thus the first game in the series. You'd be silly to not consider this game as mainline regardless of whether you think this is PP0 or the first version of PP1.

And the pieces are there. The main focus is Endless Puyo. But the PvP mode is there which became the main focus one game later where the series' appeal still lies.

But for now this is just the humble start of Puyo Puyo.

Interesting thing regarding this main series debate is that this game has Nazo Puyo. Only 2-and-a-half games have that mode in earnest, at least how it is here. Nazo Puyo is a spin-off. The games PC-98 Nazo Puyos, Nazo Puyo 1, 2, and 3, and Super Nazo Puyo 1 and 2 aren't mainline, but their DNA are directly from this game as Puyo Puyo 1's DNA is.

2. Puyo Puyo 1 | Puyo Puyo (1992)

Story: Yes Single-Player stages: 13/16 Stages (Depends on the version you're playing.) No. of rules: 1 PvP: 2-player Playable characters: None

Ta-da! Puyo Puyo 1!

This is the game that put the series on track to how we know it now. 1v1 matches. Characters. Them each having their own AI. If Puyo Puyo 0 was the spine Puyo Puyo 1 is nearly every other bone in the body of Puyo Puyo. This is the baseline of what every other mainline Puyo Puyo game will be.

The 1v1 aspect of it was what made the game stand out, if you play a PvP Tetris-like game they owe Puyo Puyo 1 a lot.

That said, while I prefer PP1 over PP0, I wouldn't call it a perfect sequel to PP0. Outside of the Game Gear version there is no Nazo Puyo mode.

But as I said, Nazo Puyo spun-off into its own series. So that's not the biggest deal. I play PvP Puyo games for PvP and Nazo for Nazo. They could've had the two modes be joined in each entry forever, and they didn't. What can you do?

I'd go over what makes this game mainline, but it's a numbered game.

3. Puyo Puyo 2 | Puyo Puyo Tsu (1994)

Story: Typically no. Depends on the version. Single-Player stages: 33 (but you're likely to fight waaaay less than that) (not counting tutorial fights like some versions have) (counted Satan and final Masked Satan as one.) No. of rules: 1 PvP: 2-player (4-Player on Super Famicom.) Playable characters: None

The standard Tsu rules are here!

I don't have to go into what makes this one mainline. Only that it has an atypical single-player progression for the series and that in most versions don't have much in the way of cutscenes.

This game did a lot for the series but didn't add much I'm now realizing.

4. Puyo Puyo 3 | Puyo Puyo Sun (1996)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 24 (26 if you count Carbuncle) No. of rules: 1 PvP: 2-player Playable characters: 16 (18 with cheats) (22 total on GBC [check])

It's the third game!

And it made a huge leap by adding a character select! This is such a huge deal we take it for granted now.

I don't need to make an argument in its favor.

5. Puyo Puyo 4 | Puyo Puyo~n (1999)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 16 (21 on PlayStation) (9-to-17 on GBC) No. of rules: 1* (2 on Nintendo 64) (* With several obstacles for a lack of a better term.) PvP: 4-player (2-Player on PlayStation and possibly GBC) Playable characters: 18 (23 on GBC)

It's Puyo Puyo 4! The slow one!

Another one I don't have to argue. It's numbered.

If you don't mind I'm skipping over the GBC version. Just know it's a different story. And based on Puyo Puyo Quest it's not the version that happened based on how Doppelganger Arle acts.

6. Puyo Puyo Box (2000)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: "FUCK BOX' ENCOUNTER RATE ahem. Too many." ~A friend No. of rules: 5 PvP: 4-player Playable characters: None.

This is our first non-numbered game. But at the time is was as close to a Puyo Puyo 5 as you were gonna get seeing as this was Compile's last Puyo Puyo hurrah before SEGA took over the reigns the next year.

Let's give an overview of what this game has to offer:

An RPG mode. (I've seen enough people dismiss this game on that alone.)

Normal vs Puyo matches.

The 4 main rulesets of the previous numbered games.

Excavation Rules. (Something the does come back in some later titles.)

Like... Those middle two facts alone make this a valid mainline game. And that's twice as many modes as the N64 version of Puyo Puyo 4! Otherwise that's 5 times the amount of modes!

This is more Puyo then we've even gotten up until this point. And people call this a spin-off?

And have I've gotten into the fact you can mix-and-match rules? I can choose between PP1, 2, 3, and 4 rules, and my opponent can select something differently from me! THAT'S AWESOME! No other game has done that since. That's something you do when you wanna up the ante on the formula that's already there. That's not something relegated to a spin-off.

This game's mainline as hell.

This is the game where you find Schezo sleeping in a treasure chest.

7. Minna de Puyo Puyo (2001)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 20 (And if you do that twice more you get 16 more stages.) No. of rules: 1* (* With several obstacles for a lack of a better term.) PvP: 4-player Playable characters: 17

The true start to SEGA's run of Puyo Puyo.

Like this is easy: mainline. It's just several stages of Tsu rules. It has way more stages than any given Compile-made Puyo game.

It often gets dismissed in general. Like this only thing people remember this game for is "Stop". But it's on par, above par even.

I do consider the game non-relevant though. This game didn't leave much of an impact. You could say SEGA's run started with the next game and the only reason people will correct you is because this obscure GBA game actually started it.

8. Puyo Puyo 5 | Puyo Puyo Fever (2003)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 19 No. of rules: 3 PvP: 2-Player (8-Player on DS) Playable characters: 16

It's Puyo Puyo 5!

I'm not gonna go into this title much either.

It's a soft reboot (for now) in a new world with new characters. It's slightly above par with Puyo Puyo 3 in terms of content I wanna say.

Nobody is calling this game non-mainline and I'm not going to go against that grain.

Just know from now on, if you see this game as a soft reboot and a fresh start, no matter what other people will tell you, know that SEGA's continuity is way more solid than Compile's run ever was.

This is weird because the reputation, perhaps not at the time of writing anymore but for the longest time in the west at least, is that SEGA doesn't care about continuity but Compile did.

From Puyo Puyo 0 to Minna I skipped over a ton of games. They legit made too much they didn't bother keeping a continuity. From now on, with a few exceptions (namely Puyo Puyo!! Quest), the rest of the games I'll talk about in this post are the only Puyo Puyo games released. And they all happened, and there's no reset button.

There are a few instances like PP5's WakuWaku/HaraHara-course-either-or, 20th Anni's Arle, Schezo, Satan, and Rulue debacle, and the Schrödinger's canon that is all of 15th Anni. But otherwise, this is all pretty solid.

9. Puyo Puyo 6 | Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (2005)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 51 No. of rules: 3 PvP: 2-Player (8-Player on DS) Playable characters: 21

I have no idea what I seriously have to say about this game.

What I said about PP5 starts here in earnest. This is the first Puyo Puyo game that actually took lore seriously. And arguably took it the most seriously of any game. And not because later games tossed it aside, it's just that you can't pry into everyone's private lives like you can here or they don't have discussions about their lives like they do in 15th Anni. The lore this game established never went away.

So if I were to bet. This whole "only numbered games matter" thing revolves around this game. People got really invested in this game's story.

Have you met my friend?:

The Crimson Spirit. (I'm calling him "Crimmy" for the sake of this post because we could all use a laugh.)

I'm gonna assume you know who he is and what his deal is.

Crimmy here is why I assume people think why SEGA doesn't care about lore. Because they introduced this guy, with a fleshed-out, fairly sympathetic, yet mysterious backstory. Yet they shelved this this guy afterwards. Like he had to return for a sequel.

I'll be honest. I don't think they had a long-term plan for Crimmy.

I know he's cool and a formidable opponent, like he's got style and bitchin' theme song.

But he's the setup to a joke in the game's story mode. Fever 2 is a pretty funny game. It's not out of the realm of possibility they made an elaborate backstory and a connection to the new kid Sig. Just to not do anything with it really.

Also, this is nothing new.

PP4's Doppelganger Arle never got a serious follow-up. We still don't know what she is.

PP5 had Popoi. He's in a similar boat to Crimmy. Only difference is there's no connection to anyone but Accord. Where are the demands that he gets elaboration? (He actually is given that but as of writing you statistically don't know about his tax collecting days.)

And later final boss figures actually got resolutions. 2 of which are arguably so easily solved it's a joke. Just like I think PP6's ending for Crimmy is.

I'm admitting to being a little dishonest here. Like Doppel's likely because of the soft rebooting (though I doubt they actually had a plan for her either) for example. Pick apart my logic all you like, doesn't change the fact Sig and Crimmy are popular and people feel like they're owed a follow-up.

I think that ship has sailed. If it was ever in the cards, it's not in the cards anymore. Because I doubt a Puyo Puyo 8 named Puyo Puyo 8 would give us the confrontation and follow-up you wanted. Because Puyo Puyo 7 sure didn't do it either.

Not that the Sig and Crimmy thing was ever forgotten. We'll keep getting drip-feed Sig and Crimmy lore. Aside from Chronicle (I think) and Champions (no duh) Crimmy does have his thumbprint in the story in some fashion (Quest especially).

I forgot if I ever had a point. But I will say that I find it silly this "only numbered games matter" thing only really hinges on this game it seems.

Because as I said, this is the first mainline Puyo Puyo game to take lore seriously. 1 out of the 6/9 games so far focuses on the lore.

Puyo Puyo 1 to 5 were self-contained episodes with reoccurring characters. Why would Puyo Puyo 6 be any different?

Not that I fault anyone for wanting a follow-up. I don't. It's just that I don't think they thought ahead Fever 2 when making Fever 2, and the next game just didn't focus on them. Or the game after that.

(Also both Sig and Crimmy are so popular, them actually squaring off might not be what you actually want. Might result in at least one getting eliminated, or a major status quo change for both. Becareful what you wish for.)

Unrelated but if I may be über pedantic:

Puyos 2 to 5 all had puns based on its the number it's on.

Puyo Puyo 5, or its proper name "Puyo Puyo Fever", is a pun on the number 5 in Japan and the new Fever mechanic.

Puyo Puyo 6's proper name is "Puyo Puyo Fever 2" or sometimes "Fever Chuu". Chuu isn't a pun on 6 at all.

Puyo Puyo Fever 2 is logically called Puyo Puyo 5-2.

And I don't care if it's officially the 6th one, or that its working title is Puyo Puyo 6, or that the game's marketing made 6 puns. Because Puyo Puyo 5-2 is a valid pun you could make. It is the sequel to a soft reboot in the same world after all.

And given there's only one game between "Puyo Puyo 5-2" and Puyo Puyo 7. Why don't people see 15th Anniversary as Puyo Puyo 6?

I wouldn't want that, and this is so arbitrary but so is the whole "only numbered games matter" thing anyways. Especially with the stuff we know about the games now we didn't know prior to the boom of new fans this fanbase has gotten with PPT1 releasing in the west.

10. Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary (2006)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 176 No. of rules: 12 PvP: 4-Player (8-Player on DS) Playable characters: 22

Hey, look! Why isn't this considered Puyo Puyo 6?

Look. I get it why this one isn't considered mainline to some people.

This is a tournament game. 22 playable characters, and only 1 could be the winner. So it's easy to dismiss this game as if didn't happen.

Except Puyo Puyo 7 and 20th Anni especially do make it clear a lot of 15th happened. Just not how we saw it.

And this game is the explanation why Satan, Schezo, Rulue, etc. are in Primp now.

This game is also important because it retroactively turns Puyo Puyo 5 from a clean-slate soft reboot to an overall soft reboot. With all the returning characters. Which only means so much since so far this series has been episodic one game's story doesn't lead into the other.

Until this game that is. Since there are a lot of call-backs and elaborations from older games. Of all games 15th Anniversary is the only game that rivals Puyo Puyo 6 in how much lore there is.

As I've said in the PP5 section, SEGA's run has a more solid continuity. And it really begins to show itself here.

Also this is the most content a Puyo Puyo game has ever gotten up until this point, it overshadows the next game even.

No spin-off in the same genre with the same cast should have more content than a mainline entry.

Spin-offs tend to focus on a different cast (like how Dynasty Warriors spin-offs like Samurai Warriors are cut from the same cloth, but it focuses on a completely different cast in a different country), or they focus on a completely different genre (look at any given Mario or Sonic Spin-off that isn't a platformer).

Same genre (same formula even), same cast.

11. Puyo Puyo 7 (2009)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 22 (47 if you count alternate scenarios) No. of rules: 5 PvP: 4-Player (8-Player on DS) Playable characters: 19

I'll cut to the chase, why is Puyo Puyo 7 held in such high importance to some people?

Besides PP4 and Minna, PP7 has to be the least-liked game by default. It does nothing with what people want out of a PP5-3. Yet this game counts as a real Puyo Puyo game while 15th and 20th don't?? You've noticed how much PP7 offers to the table, right?

I don't wanna go over why PP7 is the way it is. That's a story for another blogpost I don't wanna make because I'm not a historian.

Puyo Puyo 7 gets a ton of flack for not being as feature-rich as the game before or after it. But in terms of content I'd say it's pretty on par, if not higher than most numbered games. Something it doesn't get credit for. It's just that PP6 and 15th outdid it. PP7 is only really a bad deal because 15th Anniversary came before it on the same consoles.

It's one of the least-liked games. Yet people place this much importance on it. Sure it changed Puyo Puyo forever with the characters it introduced. The next game is a sequel to this game. But I don't know why the only game with Ringo and friends that counts is the one where they aren't fleshed out.

I'm not sure yet if anyone that still believes/believes the numbers nonsense is still reading. But would you even care about Puyo Puyo 7 if didn't have a number? Be honest with yourself. The answers will vary but I'm saying a lot people would say no. Because a lot of people frankly don't care for it now (and that's okay).

Because in the lens that only the numbered games count, this isn't a very satisfying game to go out on. Last episode, new character takes the lead. If you think every game after this isn't canon, what's the point of Ringo?

Genuine question: If you believe only the numbered games count. Would you take the opportunity to strip Puyo Puyo 7 of its 7?

I'm willing to bet a good amount of people will do that. As I said, this isn't a continuation of what people wanted from PP6 and 15th.

Also if we got a Puyo Puyo 8 right after 7, it would probably follow up on the new cast introduced in Puyo Puyo 7. Because why leave them hanging and undeveloped? Characters introduced in Puyo 5 didn't get fleshed out until Puyo 6. Good chances that the next game would've done that.

And surprise! The next game, 20th Anniversary, is that exact game!

In some alternate timeline where SEGA made a poor marketing decision, I'm convinced 20th Anniversary is called Puyo Puyo 8.

But it probably never was actually considered because look at this:

It was successful. But it also wasn't that liked. Puyo Puyo 7 kinda poisoned the prestige of a numbered Puyo Puyo game.

Combine that with how I think the western Puyo Puyo fans talk about this game more dismissively than anything...

Since then we've had 5 games that fleshed out Ringo and her friends and everyone else has been developed since which people have grown attached to. I cannot live in a world where Schezo isn't an old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

To turn back the clock back to the end of PP7 to make Puyo Puyo 8 is a horrible idea.

Have you met my friend?:

Ecolo.

Regardless of what you think of him. Going back PP8 as if 20th, PPT1&2, and Chronicle didn't happen is a bad idea for this fella alone.

If we went back and did a PP8 like that, all the games between 7 and now still happened. Even if they didn't happen in-universe they still definitely did in ours'. And in our universe, people like Ecolo. Thus it would make sense to have him back in PP8.

But unless they make use of the fact Ecolo can just ignore space/time it wouldn't be the same Ecolo.

In PP7 Ecolo didn't reform, frankly he was a very terrible person.

But after he bumped his head in 20th Anni he reformed and became a part of the regular cast that way. That is the story of 20th Anniversary.

This, in all likelihood, would be the story of PP8 too! Would you really want two games about Ecolo reforming? We have 20th Anniversary for that. If we did a redo in that PP8 we'd have an Ecolo reformation plot + erased canon. You will piss people off. AND it'll be pointless.

And if you think 20th Anni doesn't matter to the canon. PP7 sure thinks the "Spin-off" released before it sure mattered:

(The first 15th Anni reference in a Puyo game after it.)

Admittingly, I have heard that the original Japanese didn't mention the tournament (the one from 15th). But that's the first time Amitie and Satan met, it's the only thing it could refer to here since it's talking about behavior which is what their interaction was about. And this language they use implies they haven't really encountered each other much or if at all since 15th Anniversary.

If a "spin-off" like 15th Anniversary matters to "mainline" game Puyo Puyo 7 why wouldn't 20th Anni or literally any other Puyo games afterwards? They take about as much effort to make give or take.

For the record, I really like Puyo Puyo 7. It makes me happy and genuinely enlightened me, no joke. Not because that game's unbelievable though. Don't expect it to enlighten you.

12. Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary (2011)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 200 No. of rules: 21 PvP: 4-Player (8-Player on DS) Playable characters: 30

Hey look! It's Puyo Puyo 8! It's Puyo Puyo 7's sequel! This game wouldn't make sense if Puyo Puyo 7 didn't happen. This game is more of a sequel to PP7 than PP6 even was to PP5 or any game prior to that for that matter.

There are so many nods to past games I'm not even gonna bring them up it's too much. But one of those games is 15th, with follow-up interactions or call-backs of stuff that happened in that game. It did happen, just not in any of the 22 ways we saw it happen. A lot probably didn't even happen on the tournament stage but in the back rooms.

I already blew my load why this game and the others are mainline in the PP7 section so I don't have much more to say. The games post-PP6 and sometimes 15th and PP7 have the stigma that it's like a cartoon with a reset button. But 20th isn't like that. No game starting with PP5 has been like that.

13. Puyo Puyo Tetris (2014)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 70 (100 total if you include DLC.) (Do note not nearly that much stages with story content.) No. of rules: 5 PvP: 4-Player Playable characters: 24

Everything I have to say about this game has been covered in the PP7 and if not I'll cover it in the PPT2 section.

This is the first game with a reformed Ecolo though. He acts the part. Still a brat.

Also just because it's a crossover doesn't mean it isn't canon. They just legally can't acknowledge the game happened in other non-Tetris crossovers is all.

14. Puyo Puyo Chronicle (2016)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: RPG mode. 24 mandatory bosses, a bunch of other bosses, and a whole ton of regular encounters. No. of rules: 18 PvP: 4-Player Playable characters: 24 (+ too many to bother listing in RPG mode.)

Similar to Puyo Puyo Tetris 1, I plan to save most of my talk about this game until Puyo Puyo Tetris 2. I wonder how much of a surprise that is.

But yeah this game's mainline.

Have you met my friend?:

Her name is Ally.

It took Ally a while, but I'd say she's part of the main cast by now.

She's sticking around.

And for the validity of the game. Just because it has an RPG mode doesn't disqualify it being a main game. Regardless of the quality of the story.

If that disqualifies that game I'm gonna disqualify PP6's as a mainline game since it has more emphasis on world-building. That's an arbitrary thing to base things off of too.

15. Puyo Puyo Champions (2018)

Story: No. Single-Player stages: 50 Hidden Nazo Puzzles. No. of rules: 2 PvP: 4-Player Playable characters: 27

It's main game. I'd rather not count it, but despite the lack of a story and merely two modes, it fits the bill.

Interestingly this is the first mainline game with Nazo Puyo modes since PP1 on Game Gear. And making it the first Nazo Puyo period since the mid-90s. You just gotta suffer through too many mindless, borderline-useless tutorial drills to get to play them.

Side-note: It's really funny to me that Puyo Puyo 0, the first game and the only other game to have Nazo Puyo, has more Nazo Puzzles than Champions.

Like this game's weird. I'm not sure I can properly defend it like the other games. And I hope you understand why. To me it barely qualifies.

16. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (2020)

Story: Yes. Single-Player stages: 92 No. of rules: 6 PvP: 8-Player (?) Playable characters: 28 (40 with DLC)

Puyo Puyo Tetris 1, 2, and Chronicle are the most interconnected the games have ever been. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 does not work if Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 didn't happen. This is the most sequel a Puyo Puyo story has been. Even more than 20th was to PP7.

It's also a showcase of how much continuity still matters in Puyo Puyo because of Ex and the people that helped him Squares got pissed and wanted to destroy them. That's the most direct cause and effect between games.

Any dimensional rules they established in PPT1 and 2 apply to Chronicle retroactively as well. They even reference the fact Chronicle happened. There's the full Ally chapter. But even as early as Stage 2-P1 there's this:

"this stuff" refers to Skill Battle Rule. Introduced in Chronicle and before Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 ONLY in Chronicle. It's just locked in Arle's subconscious right now.

Chronicle happened. As did this game. And as did Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 as it's connected to 20th Anni. 20th Anni as established is the true Puyo Puyo 8 and thus a sequel to Puyo Puyo 7. Puyo Puyo 7, a numbered game, says 15th Anni is canon so why shouldn't the game past Puyo Puyo 7? Of course Puyos 1-6 happened too. And PP0 is the bedrock. [Cronicle also mentioned Puyo Puyo Box.]

Gameplay-wise you could prefer a certain thing one game has over another. All these games will give you what'd you want out of a Puyo Puyo game. If you visited your fellow Puyo Puyo fan's house to play some Puyo Puyo and for some reason, all they had was 2 copies of Minna, 2 GBAs, and a link cable for some reason, are you gonna complain? Doesn't matter what you think of the gamefeel, it's still Puyo Puyo, it services VS Puyo Puyo matches like PP 0 to 7 would. Just like Box, 15th, 20th, Tetris 1&2, and Champions do.

It's what the single-player Nazo Puyo doesn't deliver. It's what Madou Monogatari doesn't deliver. But these 16 games deliver it. They are mainline games. Even if they don't have a number.

So why tell people that the majority of these games are lesser?

Regardless if you mean to imply that or not, that is what you're implying. Why would you imply that? You like Puyo Puyo right? Wouldn't you want others to like Puyo Puyo?

I find this rich because 4 and 7 are the least favorites and numbered. Meanwhile 15th and 20th give you more bang for your buck and are way more liked by people.

And not for nothing, but aside from PP6 the numbered games are fairly nothing games. You beat them but unless you wanna improve yourself you're done with the game in 13 to 20-ish stages.

The non-numbered games except for Minna and Champions has a lot more to offer than the numbered games.

And this isn't new. A lot of franchises stop numbering their games.

Sly Cooper has 4 games but the 4th isn't numbered. But unless it gets retconned it's canon and mainline.

Ratchet & Clank games were numbered 1 to 3 in Europe, but a large majority are both canon and mainline.

Super Mario Bros. is a series that stopped numbering. Super Mario World is SMB4 in Japan, but we don't have a number. And I would look crazy if I told you that game wasn't mainline. Is the upcoming Super Mario Wonder not mainline because it's not numbered?

I could go on.

The difference is that Puyo Puyo counted higher than those franchises ever did.

My conclusion I guess?

This overblown importance on number is a lazy shortcut to deeming what's canon or not. And a relic of a time when the western fans could barely play any of the games in English legally or not.

(Thanks to @nenilein and Fred for helping to keep focus.)

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salty-ass-simp · 28 days

Text

So I have been wanting to get back into writing fanfics, I literally haven't done it since, like, middle school (so like 8, 9 years?), and I have ideas, but I'm nervous about what to start with, but sense I finished The Venture Bros in like 4-5 days, I might start with that considering how I already have an oc made.

Also, I don't know if no one else knew this and didn't tell me, but like there is a two year difference between s1 to s7, because in s1 ep 11, Orpheus comes in contact with the old Ventrue crew and tells Action man he's gonna die of a stroke or a heart attack, we see the attack happen in s7 ep 3, that is when they find Jonas Sr in the Problem machine. And, with the character I made and doing math (mostly using Rusty's birth year, both 1960 & 1961), I think Season 1 is around 2004/2005, stays like that for like maybe 3 seasons, then progresses to 2006 in whatever season(s) and season 7, maybe a lil earlier, is 2007.

Anywho, hopefully I can convince myself to write the fanfiction and maybe a couple oneshots, headcannons:)

#the venture bros x reader #venture bros x reader #Venture Bros #the venture bros #my ocs #oc

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mooseyspooky · 6 days

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Why do you think Morrissey has been acting like this lately? Is it because Marr turn down a reunion? I don't think he only wanted the reunion for the money. I also feel like Morrissey feels irrelevant and forgotten and thought that maybe a reunion might give a new life to his career

Darren asked me about this yesterday, and I wrote a whole essay about it. I think just copying it here will be a good answer to this.

Darren: How are we feeling about the moz and Johnny news

Me: Pretty indifferent. Same shit another day. I mean they survived the court case and banged all the way through the early to mid 2000s to 2009

Moz having a tantrum is nothing new

I was very sad to hear Johnny said no to a reunion

But it's not like I don't get it

Andy passed last year

Johnny wanted Moz back in 2008 and Moz ghosted him after promising he was totally on board

Moz didn't show up for the 2006 fundraiser concert for Andy's dad's cancer

Which is pretty ruthless

Moz clearly hasnt opened a single email Johnny sent him since 2018 when Johnny filed the trademark and tried to get him to cosign

Which is insane because Johnny did it specifically to stop Mike Joyce (the Classically Smiths venture that he tried roping Andy into, though Andy backed out at the last minute. Some say because of his cancer, but I'm sure Johnny being so pissed off about it he got lawyers involved was also a part of it)

Which is literally something Moz should be gagging to do at all times 24/7

And meanwhile nothing

And then Johnny continued to try, even sending the paperwork again this year in January and nothing

So i mean why would Johnny want a reunion

Moz wants it to happen a year after Andy is buried, it's too late

Does it hurt I don't get to see them together on stage ever, yes, but I'm not like

Demented

If I was Johnny I'd be so fucking tired

Like beyond exhausted

Sharing a stage with him?

Putting up with him on tour?

Moz canceled over 50% of shows last year

No explanation, sometimes on the _day of_

Just wouldn't do them

I mean Johnny won't cancel a show if his grandma dies

Moz just

Cancels cause it's a slightly breezy day out and that offends him

Yes I love Moz, I am his ride or die, I will go to my grave obsessed with him and everything about him

But I am aware and understanding he is extremely fickle and can be very stupid

This is all happened, literally all of it, cause Johnny made very light fun of him on Twitter

Like barely a joke

Johnny saw some popular girl on Twitter who is a super fan

Saw she mentioned a reunion

Didn't tag him

And Johnny posted a picture of a far right dude in England that Moz protested the treatment of in prison one time like- i don't know. 7 years ago

They put the guy in a prison where he was at high risk, and Moz made a slight offhanded comment saying it was cruel

So now here we are, with Johnny posting a picture of a guy

To a Smiths super fan

Who didn't tag him

Who mentioned a reunion

Because she saw Oasis get back together

And Moz got _so upset_

He decided to throw an absolute shit fit

And now Johnny has to be like literally can you calm down

And in some ways I understand both sides

Moz just

His sort of...recurring thing

Is that he really really hates when Johnny won't stick up for him

Or when Johnny is quiet when people are dog piling on him

Johnny did that a lot in the 90s

During the NME smear campaign, for instance, and the court case

And it really broke Moz up

Like, and I can imagine it did hurt

To be so close and so in love and meanwhile Johnny won't do anything. Just sit there and refuse to say anything

That's probably heartbreaking

Especially with Moz being so. Like. Blindly in belief that Johnny is forever innocent, forever perfect ("the always innocent young cabin boy")

There is no flaw

But Johnny is a human being, too, who has a lot going on

And to then see Johnny, here in 2024, once again. After 30 years not stand up for him

But instead making teasing posts on Twitter

Even if they're not cruel

I could see it causing Moz to have a meltdown

Should he be? At 65? No. He should be over it

But he's not

He still wants Johnny to love him, to defend him

And so yes he did have a total split from sanity for a bit but at the end of the day. I think the underlining thing is is that it stems from Moz being so deeply infatuated with his first love that he can't stand even the slightest notion Johnny isn't still as infatuated with him

Johnny was able to move on, to continue to keep his marriage, he was able to maintain friendships and have a lot of normal stuff that Moz couldn't because autism

Undiagnosed unrecognized autism but all the same

Moz is still, in his mind, deeply entrenched in the belief that Johnny is perfect and slight diversions from that cause major malfunctions

Moz clearly doesn't give a shit about the trademark thing. He's ignored it since 2018. Moz has talked about loathing albums being repackaged (Paint a Vulgar Picture), so clearly the greatest hits thing doesn't really bother him

Moz wanting a reunion, sure. Okay. Maybe that stung but my god he had to expect it

So what does Moz care about?

Johnny

That's it. Period.

He wants Johnny to love him and be obsessed with him forever, and that's the long and the short of it so.

#Marrissey thoughts #Moz #Johnny #The great hissy fit of 2024 is over

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theeccentricraven · 3 months

Text

OC Origins

Thank you @kaylinalexanderbooks for the tag! This is an especially fun one.

Rules: talk about the origins of the names and personalities (and maybe even the design?) of a couple of your OCs!

From The Blood Cleaners

Justin

When I got the idea for The Blood Cleaners back in 2006, I knew early on that I wanted a male protagonist. He was largely inspired by Jonas of Lois Lowry’s The Giver and Equality 7-2521 of Ayn Rand’s Anthem. Like them, he would be determined to stand up to the status quo to choose his own life. I imagined he would be determined for justice, both justice for himself and justice for the people around him, hence the name Justin fitted him perfectly. It was even more fitting when I later met a new friend named Justen who reminded me a lot of my own Justin with his determination to defend liberty and live his life with purpose.

It took a long time to come up with Justin’s appearance and age. Originally I just imagined a dark-haired boy. As I developed the dystopian world of Corpa - a completely self-sufficient city - I knew I needed a place where it would be realistic to have quarries and mines. I picked Arizona as a location (though I did take some liberty to craft a fictional location). I then felt it would make sense for most of the population to be of Hispanic descent and have brown skin. Latin-American culture matters a lot to me since I studied Spanish for years, love the culture, have many friends of Hispanic heritage, and have nieces and nephews with Latino ancestry, too. I thought it would make sense for the nuclear war apocalypse to create a bottleneck in the population, hence the survivors would mostly be people of color and so their descendants also would be. Ultimately, I decided to have Chapter 1 begin with Justin at age 8 when he makes the two key discoveries that serve as the inciting incidents of the two main plotlines, and then the rest of the story would be about Justin at age sixteen. The age made sense since sixteen makes more sense to begin an occupation rather than twelve, and because the content and subject material of the book should be reserved for readers sixteen and up (age of the character often represents the ideal age of the reader).

So that’s how I made sixteen year old brown skinned, black haired Justin who is determined to fight for his freedom.

Joselyn

Originally I thought Justin’s only love interest would be Clarice (I’ll tell her story in a future post). Clarice is one of the children of the Fists - the government and ruling class of Corpa - who lives in the Steel Castle. Justin would meet Clarice after earning the privilege to work in the Steel. The problem was that she would be absent for much of the story. For Justin to get to work in the Steel, he would have to first go through the training, the torturous transformation, work as a blood cleaner for a while, and slowly discover his telekinetic powers. This would be a lot without a love interest. When I started the revival process for The Blood Cleaners last year, I put behind a lot of years of regret for not writing. Not knowing how many books I would get to write for the rest of my life, I wanted to cover what I would regret not doing. For a long time, I wanted to have a story where two characters bump into each other after running around a corner. I wanted it to be a type of “meet cute”. I gradually came up with the idea of having Justin at age eight unwittingly bump into his future love interest when they were chased by two separate groups of people. This allowed for Chapter 1 to start with the inciting incidents for two of the major plotlines. First inciting incident was when Justin discovered the secret note. Second inciting incident was him running into Joselyn, beginning their romance plotline. I named Joselyn after Jocelyn of the film A Knight’s Tale. I used S instead of C to make them different.

I wanted to make Joselyn and Justin be parallels and opposites. Unlike him, she lives on the surface, not underground. Like him, she’s one of the common people as she lives on a farm. I did this partly for world development, since I wanted to show how the farms played a part in the self-sufficient city. I also made her be a Spanish speaker, since Corpa has a good deal of English and Spanish speakers. I describe Justin and Joselyn having similar features with brown skin and black hair, though they are not related (thank heavens!). They have a familiar ancestry, as Justin’s late father was also a commoner on the surface. Joselyn’s farmgirl characteristics might have had some influence from the love interest in Anthem, Liberty 5-3000. I make it clear that Joselyn is a capable girl, not a vulnerable damsel in distress. She has similar beliefs as Justin, though she’s more outspoken, no concern for how speaking her mind could threaten her life. She’s good at taking charge, though she begins with self-esteem struggles. I don’t like the way that the media has a tendency to either portray a smart female character who needs to deal with the dumb guy getting in her way or to portray a dumb female who needs a smart guy to rescue her. I defied the tropes by having Justin be a constant support for Joselyn, helping her get out of a rut, not in a way that shows he’s capable and she’s incapable, but that they are both capable and need support from each other.

I knew from the beginning that this meant there would be a love triangle because I did not want to cut Clarice - she plays a vital role in the story. I like having the love triangle be different from the usual love triangle tropes. I’ve observed that most love triangles are a girl choosing between two guys. When a love triangle is between a guy and two girls, the girls will often be nasty and the guy will be a jerk. I wanted my love triangle to be more innocent, in which both of the girls are worthy of and need to be loved. Justin never meant harm, as it happened because he didn’t want to hurt either Joselyn or Clarice and he genuinely fell in love with both of them. I won’t give away too much, but can say Justin will regret the heartbreak when it happens. As with any love triangle, a choice must be made, but I won’t give that away.

Other Posts on Joselyn: here here

Tagging (no pressure): @katenewmanwrites @willtheweaver @buffythevampirelover @winterandwords @addicted2coke-theothercoke @evilgabe29 @spitefulbull @tildeathiwillwrite and open!

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abalovesfic · 2 months

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Gonna talk more about The Book of Bill in this Ask. As well as ur answer to my 1st Ask:

"1. Preorders start today actually!!!!! It’s a really great zine and I’m excited to have been a part of it."

Nice!

"2. I do plan on finishing at least The Helpful Lie, I think I owe the fic that much and I have so much of it mapped out. That being said…"

I really do hope u will at least finish this fic someday. As well as Illumine and Cosmic Twins. And etc. I love these TAU fics dearly after all. However, I can wait. I have waited years for more of something, and I can take a long to post and stuff myself. And I can do the same with these things.

"3. Spending time in the Psych fandom has been so rewarding. This was the right time for me to transition into something else. I’m gonna put this vaguely for privacy’s sake— I needed a new fandom if I was going to engage healthily again. And honestly, I think in 7 months Psych has given me more support and community than 12 years in Gravity Falls ever did. (But that’s luck, considering I went to Psych con and met the people who live in my phone.) (And probably also demographics.)"

I am sad u feel like the GF community couldn't always give u the stuff that the Psych community did. I have had great times in the GF fandom(s) myself personally. Saying that, I am happy Psych and it's community is is making u happy right now.

"4. Obvi Gravity Falls and TAU are still the loves of my life and rn there’s this beautiful meld of Psych and Gravity Falls coexisting in my brain. Book of Bill was great and it reinvigorated something in me. So yes, I’ll come back eventually and write more but for now, I’m invested in my little queer detectives"

And I hope to see u and I am excited to see u come back more in/to the GF and/or TAU fandom(s) someday (like new chapters and/or fics. Etc.), but like I said, I am happy you are having fun with Psych right now. And/or having fun with a blend of Psych and Gravity Falls in ur mind.

Also, "Book of Bill was great and it reinvigorated something in me",

Cool!

Gonna talk more about this, but I will save that for it's separate Ask.

Thank you for ur Answer to my previous Ask.

1/?.

Oof. Uhhhhhhhh.

I think it’s just the helpful lie I’ll be finishing. (Maybe cosmic twins.) I can’t go back to Illumine. I do not like to contradict canon and though I didn’t know Book of Bill would be a thing a the time, I still don’t like that my story arc was off and the fic is too far gone to change anything. I won’t delete it but I’m not finishing it.

I love the game of canon too much. I like having to work within its confines even if I’m going off the rails with an AU. It challenges me as a writer. So Illumine has lost its appeal, but The Helpful Lie has certainly gained some. I have thoughts about my dumb triangle son…

And ok ok… it’s not that Gravity Falls/ Tau wasn’t a great fandom with tons of love and support. It is! And forgive me if this gets TMI. But I felt like I would never be good enough for this fandom. All of my fic, cosplay the freaking fanzine I started, my whole thesis, every single academic conference I went to specifically to talk about the show, all of the work I put into to Gravity Falls: I was essentially destroying myself for a fandom that wouldn’t love me back with the same passion. I still LOVE Gravity Falls with my whole heart and soul. But that burnout still hurt me.

So this step back has been good.

And Psych is oddly different. I think the fandom is old enough now to be kind of its own thing— but going to Psych con was the eye opener. I was worried about being the new kid on the block in this fandom from 2006. But complete strangers have shown up for me, tried to help push my academic career by promoting my writing and trying to get me celebrity interviews (which didn’t work out but damn— I’ve never had folks do me those favors before just because they want me to succeed), among other things. It changed my perspective a lot to have total strangers hug me and tell me I had done so much.

That was very ranty and emotional because I’m super sleep deprived (Bill my son please hop into my brain and joy ride me around, leaving me to wake up in a Taco Bell and with half a chalupa. This flesh puppet is ripe for the takin’). But things have been good different in this new corner of the internet. And when I’m ready I’m gonna finish the helpful lie so that I can feel good about it and not like I’m jumping through hoops.

Oh and the blending in my brain looks like memes

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meta-squash · 7 months

Text

I reject Owen Harper's absolutely nonsense canonical timeline and substitute my own.

According to canon, Owen was born in 1980 and died (power plant) in 2008, making him barely 28 when he died. But also according to canon, he did 7 years at medical school, then was junior houseman for a year where he met Katie (but then a different canon book says he met her when he was 21). Then he was engaged to Katie and she died, and he was with Torchwood for 2 years before Gwen joined, and a Torchwood employee for a total of 4 years.

It literally cannot work. If Owen did 7 years of medical school and one year as a junior doctor, he'd be 26 (maybe 25 if he gotten into med school as early as possible at 17) by the end of his first year of being a junior doctor. But he died at 28, and was at Torchwood for 4 years before that death. Again, I know I'm being nitpicky about a show that's had some type of media around since 2006 and a billion different writers and clearly no one looks back at old canon details. But still. Would it hurt to at least make things vaguely plausible?

So. My version of Owen's timeline:

Owen is born in 1976 or 1977. He does 7 years of medical school starting at age 18, during which time he meets Katie when he's 21. He's 26 when he becomes a junior doctor, and has about 2 or 3 years actually working as a doctor (I've always imagined it was in A&E or something equally varied and "interesting" which fits with his sort of jack of all trades vibes in Torchwood). He proposes to Katie in 2003, and a few months later she starts getting sick, but they continue to plan their wedding. She dies. He works for Torchwood for 4 years and dies at age 32 or 33 in Exit Wounds.

First of all, it now makes sense time-wise in terms of actual linear time.

But also, Fragments gives a glimpse of just how much losing Katie fucked Owen up entirely. I think the loss of not only his fiancee but also his actual career (since everyone seems to think he's gone mad with grief or whatever) would fuck him up far more intensely if he'd been dedicated to both for quite some time. The Owen we see in Fragments is nice, is loving, clearly cares, and is good at his job in a way that means he's respected by his peers in general and not just for his skills. Compare that to Torchwood Owen who is sarcastic and spiky and a bastard and good at his job but doesn't want to let on that he cares. That's the kind of drastic change you make after a loss of something you've had for a long time and you cannot emotionally or psychologically afford to try and form those kinds of connections again (case in point: Diane).

Like, Owen and Ianto have such incredibly similar backstories, but one of the reasons I think Ianto bounces back from his loss of Lisa and the trauma of Canary Wharf is because he's young and because his job/relationship was not a very long one and therefore had not settled into this comfortable thing where you deep down expect this same thing in the future forever. Ianto hadn't made a life for himself yet when he lost Lisa at 24. So there was room for him to change, to move on, to find someone new in Jack. Owen had already made a life with Katie and his job as a proper doctor, and losing it totally ruined him.

#torchwood #torchwood meta #owen harper #i just love owen so much #anyway this ramble comes from me writing a post cyberwoman fic and doing timeline research

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evilmisto · 2 months

Note

Cats Dump!!! (Pick your favorite question cuz I have a couple)

Dump about your band au? What’s your favorite non-replica and why? What are your headcanons about the show in general?

HEEHEEEE thank you for the ask

the band AU... I don’t have it fully figured out yet but I’ll try my best lol

They start off as a pretty small band. Tugger is the lead vocalist and lead guitarist, Teazer is the rhythm guitarist, Bomba is the bassist, and Mungo is the drummer. Bomba ends up leaving the group bc of tensions with the other members.

So at this point they obviously need a new bassist, and this is where Misto comes in. Misto isn’t, like, super musically inclined like the rest of them— obviously he likes it and he has some musical experience, but his life doesn’t revolve around it. It’s just something he did for fun. However, he does have a bass. And because of this Tugger BEGS Misto to be their new bassist. Misto is hesitant bc he’s not very good at it but Tugger is like “nooo it’s easy I promise pleeeeaaaaaase be our bassist” and Misto gives in

(It’s not even like Misto is the only bassist Tugger knows he just really wants to be around Misto. Bc he’s gay for him)

So they go on a short hiatus while Misto practices bass with Tugger and some time after they come back they get super successful. And this leads into a 2000s emo band, Summer of Like type affair. Lots of drama. Lots of angst. Quick get these guys in Vans Warped Tour type shit. You know

and that’s all I have so far

2. My favorite non replica has to be il sistina just bc I love Misto’s design so incredibly much

(EDITING THIS ON AUG 7 TO SAY MY FAVORITE NON REPLICA DESIGN IS GÖTEBORG 2006 TUGGER NOW. HES SO PETE WENTZ CORE I LOVE IT)

3. My head canons about the show in general arent that unique tbh 😭 Jemima is Demeter and Macavity’s daughter, Misto and Victoria are siblings, etc. I think maybe Skimble is Jemima’s grandfather or uncle but he’s more of a father figure to her because Demeter left Macavity when Jemima was very young so Skimble was more present in her life

anyways THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASK HEHE I LOVE RAMBLING

#cats the musical #tuggoffelees #asks #editing this to say if yall don’t know what summer of like is...#look it up. if I explain it in the tags I’m gonna get whiplash

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pixelkip · 5 months

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Curiosities of Lotus Asia ch. 35 has an Aibo in it and I'm gonna be a nerd about it.

Ok I have no idea just how many touhou fans are aware of Laika, Rinnosuke's robot dog introduced in CoLA ch35 but if you're not aware, he finds this robot and it causes all sorts of chaos and wrecks his shop, and they eventually find out its possessed by a puppy spirit. If you're at all curious, go read it on the touhou wiki if you haven't already.

How do I know for sure that it's an Aibo? Well, on top of the fact it definitely resembles one, Sumireko suggests naming it Aibo and in BAiJR Aya literally says it's an aibo. This is one of the few things she probably didn't lie about in this book bc how the hell would she otherwise even know what an aibo is TO be able to lie about it.

(Side note, the official name is just "AIBO", im not sure why she calls it AIBO buddy here, maybe bc aibo is a pun on the japanese word meaning buddy but why tack it onto the end? Idk)

Ok for those who don't know what an aibo is, it's a series of robot dogs Sony made, there were several models released between 1999-2006, and later had the ers-1000 in 2018 which is still available (and I personally have an ers-111 :3)

Pictured: aibo models ers-310, 220, 110, 210, and 7

Ok, so, what kind of AIBO is Laika then?

This is where it gets.. confusing.

this line from sumireko would imply it's an ers-110, as it was the very first model of aibo ever released.

But.. laika doesn't look much like a 110

Ok the way she's drawn doesn't look that close to ANY real model of aibo, but the drawing makes her look more like a 210, with the (probably) white coloration, visor shape, and upturned ears.

(110 vs 210)

It's also possible she doesnt resemble any model too closely to avoid copyright issues, but even then she visually resembles a 210 much more than a 110.

Other than that ch35 doesn't give us much else to determine her model, she doesn't display any particular behaviors that would indicate it, rinnosuke says her expressions can't be read implying her eye lights are non functional, and that she's completely silent. Aibos LOVE to make noise, and usually communicate through music and tones, so it's likely the animal spirit is simply pup-petting (hehe) a nonfunctional aibo body. Rinnosuke also mentions that it's begun to actually listen to him, which would imply a 210 or later (110 and 111 do not have voice recognition) if it weren't for the possibility that again, it's just the puppy controlling it.

So there's a few possibilities here.

- zun didn't depict her to be any particular model to not get smited by sony's lawyers

- she is a 110 but for whatever reason, be it a miscommunication or just zun or the artist deciding it didn't matter that much, that isn't reflected in the art

- sumireko is wrong, and she is a 210

Or maybe she's just a 110 with some cool customization, like paint and custom ear pieces. Then again, she did pass into gensokyo meaning she's been totally forgotten, and that seems less likely if someone took the time to customize her.

So now im curious. Given the evidence, what do YOU think laika is? Even if you didn't know shit about aibo before this post, hell, ESPECIALLY if you didn't, what do you think?

Personally I kinda like to think she's a 210 bc I think they're neat. Maybe even a gold 210, since the yellow tinge in the cover art makes her look like the very pale gold of the pale gold 210s. But as an existing aibo enjoyer I'm a little biased

I really hope laika gets to come back at some point, I have a little bit of hope since beast spirits as a plot point have become a lot more significant. She seems like a very good doggy :]

If you for some reason read all of this thank you for indulging my insanity

#touhou #touhou project #laika touhou #guess whos obsessing over characters no one cares about again #aibo #i talked about aibo so much in this post i might as well tag it l #curiosities of lotus asia

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salty-protagonist · 2 years

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Undertaker’s Shop of Mysteries

Ever since he was introduced way back in 2006 (7?), almost all of the weirdness has been shown to have ties with a bigger project. There are many items in the Undertaker workspace that seem like cluster but are actually grave additions to the series.

Here is the overlook from a chapter at the beginning of the Circus Arc:

We already know there are actually 4 people in that room (at least) with RC sleeping inside the coffin OC is sitting on. The speech bubble kind of blocks it but you can see the weapons (I don’t know what they are called) UT uses in Book of Atlantic stored on the right side to the shelf behind UT. Other than these, I think there are three items that can be additions to the plot.

The coffin behind Sebastian that is covered with a cloth. At first only seems normal that there would be a coffin there, but that coffin -just like RC’s- have been there since the start of the story. During the Jack the Ripper investigation, Madam Red, Lau, Grell, Sebastian and OC go to Undertaker to learn about the victims. While OC sits in the coffin that has RC inside, Grell and Madam Red choose to sit on a coffin that is placed around the same location and has a cloth covering it.

Also, the coffins that keep reappearing all seem dirty/older. If RC’s coffin, which appears useless this early in the story looks used. Then there is a chance that the clothed coffin could be used to store an important character presumed dead too.

The second is the coffin behind Undertaker. When UT is introduced to the series, his first action is coming out of there (Jack the Ripper Chapter).

Maybe it’s just his bed since he is a very eccentric character, or like a break room of some sorts. But I feel like he had made that coffin for somebody before the bizarre doll experiments began, and later retrieved it as a memorabilia of some sort.

Maybe Claudia? Maybe Vincent? I don’t think any concrete info can be obtained about the person further than this.

The coffin is probably not used for corpse preservation for bizarre dolls like RC since there are cushions inside and no tanks like there is in RC coffin.

The reason why I think it’s not UT’s coffin in which he was buried as human is because there have been no mention of grim reapers interacting with their human self so far. The design is similar to the ones UT uses for funerals and experimental reasons too so it’s more likely that he made it.

The last object that I believe is important is this weird glass (?) jar of a heart. It’s located under the speech bubble (first image) next to the shelf that is blocked by the speech bubble.

It’s really weird to see an object that is mostly used in today’s sci-if movies in the office of an 19th century Undertaker.

Conservation of human body parts is not a new practice as you all may know. What’s different is the technology. Since Undertaker is a grim reaper, he does have access to technology that is centuries ahead (the death cythes as example). The liquid could be the same one that RC was kept in. It wouldn’t be weird to see organs floating in a glass jar at an Undertaker too. That’s probably why Sebastian didn’t notice it specifically.

To be honest, I’m not sure if that is exactly a heart. But I will assume it is and all the ideas will continue on from there. By know, we know that when bizarre dolls are deprived of blood in a way their blood vessels start showing. Maybe the reason why is that they don’t have hearts. All the nerve impulse is generated from the brain so it makes sense that they can continue moving until their heads are destroyed. If they don’t have working hearts than the blood circulation could be controlled by a device UT installed (grim reaper technology) or while they are given blood, used blood can be removed in the process. This may also be why they can’t go for long times without being hooked up to machines.

I’m currently re-binging the series, will reblog when there’s additional info. Thank you for reading :)

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #kuroshitsuji manga #kuroshitsuji undertaker #kuroshitsuji theory #black butler theory #black butler memes #kuroshitsuji spoilers #black butler spoilers #black butler manga

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zebedeezing · 4 days

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One of my gorillaz order of events theories for phase 2 - 3 is that Russels suicide attempt was a lot earlier in the timeline like only a few months after noodles disappearance like 2006 maybe 7. The reason he knows how to swim over to point nemo is because hes become familiar with living in the sea as a cryptid for 3-4 years, and that’s also how he adjusted gradually to the toxic fish diet etc.

Noodle finds out about Russel, thinking hes dead ofc she’s devastated and now she CANT bring herself to go anywhere near Murdoc and 2D so she looks for him on the sea to confirm and then commits to living out on her own until later when she goes to battle the black clouds.

I think Murdoc still manages to barely believe Noodle is alive but doesn’t believe Russel is. He makes Cyborg noodle and it’s kind of a taunt bc he thinks Noodle seeing a replica of herself as this ~ child soldier she was formerly raised to be would stir her into coming back. But he sees Russel’s presumably more clear cut death with the note as a big betrayal and doesn’t wanna even try getting another Russel both out of respect and disrespect & disdain - just uses the hip hop machine which is kind of counterproductive since the machine was built by Russel and screams Russel when you look at it.

#autism posting #i dont like the idea that Russel has a drum machine replacement only bc Murdoc doesn’t care and that’s not just because im a russdoc fan #i cannot stress enough how much all four of them got the menal ilnes and thought making music was the ultimate therapy replacement #gorillaz #gorillaz phase 3 #plastic beach #text post #my hcs #sometimes this changes but yeagh #noodle gorillaz #russel hobbs #murdoc niccals #// suicide mention

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icedteaandoldlace · 2 months

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💖📥🖊️🧠

💖 What do you like most about your own writing?

I think maybe the dialogue. I have a lot of fun writing it, and it's also really fun to reread, especially if I nailed a character's voice well.

📥 What is your fave fic to receive comments/messages on?

I don't really get comments frequently enough to know, but I know the fics I get most excited for getting kudos on are always the least popular ones. It's always nice getting them on any of my fics, but there's always that extra jolt of excitement when a title that hasn't gotten a lot of attention suddenly pops up in an AO3 email. Also, anything that has a fun twist in it. Even if it's super obvious, I like to hear when a reader picked up on what was going on, or if they saw it coming from the start.

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

Dante’s eyebrows sprung up in disbelief, and this time it was genuine. “Terry got mono?” he said, his voice wavering with barely suppressed laughter. “How did that happen?”

“He got it from my lab partner, which is why I’m paired with Cisco now,” Kamilla said impatiently. “Can you just tell me where he is please? I lost my notes and I really need him to lend me his.”

Dante tilted his head thoughtfully. “Well, I don’t know where he is right now,” he said. “But if I had to guess, probably the library or the room where they have metal shop. He should have a free period right now, and he’s usually either got his nose buried in a textbook or he’s working on building something nerdy.”

She could hear what he was trying to do, and if she weren’t in a hurry, and if he weren’t Cisco’s dead brother, she might have told him off for it.

-from a somewhat cracky fic where Kamilla and Cisco get stuck in 2006, in an unfamiliar timeline where both their high schools are merged into one

🧠 What’s an idea you have that you can’t quite call a WIP yet?

A Flash season 6/early season 7 rewrite where Cisco didn't take the metahuman cure at the end of season 5, but instead had it forced on him by the collectors when they thought he was the one who killed Cynthia. He gets his name cleared like two minutes afterwards, but it's already too late, and the cure is irreversible, so They Done Fucked Up Big Time. And life without his powers is even more difficult this time around because it wasn't something that he chose. It gets even more frustrating after Crisis, because now Cynthia is alive, and Echo and the collectors agency don't even exist on Earth Prime, so why the hell does he still not have his powers when the event that caused them to be removed has been erased from history? (I already know the answer, but he won't figure it out until later.) He does end up getting them back, and he is able to open a breach into the Mirrorverse to rescue Kamilla, there's just a whole lot of stress and bullshit he has to deal with first.

#ask #fanfic ask game #shrinkthisviolet #The Flash #Cisco Ramon #Kamilla Hwang #Kamisco #getting to this way late because work was long today

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dangan-kagura · 2 months

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Opinion About Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves Having an English Dub. Will People Use It?

So the newest, upcoming fighting game installment by SNK is gonna bring back the Fatal Fury series, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. And get this, the game is gonna have an English dub!

Exciting?

Well, I say “Exciting?” because I’m not even sure if people are gonna play the game with English voice acting, they might instead play the game in Japanese. The likeliest reason why anyone would want to do this is probably because they’ll think the Japanese dub has better voice acting. This would concern me a little bit, because if I watch people’s videos of the game on YouTube, a majority might prefer to play the game in Japanese and not English.

Now before I explain why this would concern me, what I want to talk about first are the past fighting games SNK made 20 years ago. I’m of course talking about KOF: Maximum Impact. It was a spinoff game that brought The King of Fighters to the 3D fighting game genre, and get this, it has an English dub.

Or rather, a really bad English dub, as in, either no one knows who the voice actors are, what other work they’ve done, or they’re not professional voice actors who have dubbed anime by Funimation. It was the mid 2000s, and at the time, not every Japanese video game series got to cast professional voice actors in the dubbing business. This playlist should suffice as evidence if you want to check out some character playthroughs of the game.

I will say that while there is some positive reception with Maximum Impact (like in the 7/10 range) the game’s bad English dub is probably the reason why no one would want to play it. If I remember right, in IGN’s review of the game, they described the English dub as “piss poor”. And worst of all, the PlayStation 2 version of the game doesn’t have the option to switch between English and Japanese dubs, although the Xbox version has this issue resolved. So if you went to a store that sells used video games and wanted to try out Maximum Impact (if they have a copy) I’d recommend playing the Xbox version if you don’t want to deal with its bad English dub.

SNK even ended up making a sequel, KOF: Maximum Impact 2, although the localized version is titled as The King of Fighters 2006, which is weird since 2006 was when The King of Fighters XI came out on console. SNK even made a third game, KOF: Maximum Impact Regulation A, which was released in Japan only. My guess is that because the first two games had bad English dubs, SNK probably figured that Regulation A wouldn’t sell good outside Japan.

But it doesn’t end there, well, maybe for Maximum Impact. In 2009, SNK released The King of Fighters XII, and I’m sure not many people know this, but the game does have an English dub!

But there is a problem. While the voice acting in KOF XII is better than Maximum Impact, the game doesn’t credit which voice actor voices which. The game now remains as probably one of the most underrated installments in the series, seeing as how the game can be seen as sort of a beta version of what The King of Fighters XIII would be like. I’m not sure if there was a majority of gamers playing the game in Japanese, but from my experience, I chose to play the game in Japanese out of concern that the game’s English dub would be just a lame as Maximum Impact.

The King of Fighters XII ended up being the last game in the series to try out an English dub. When The King of Fighters XIII came out in 2011, that game didn’t bring back the English voice actors from KOF XII, whoever they were. Interestingly enough, it’s one of two KOF games (the other being KOF XIV) where Atlus got localization rights (I think) and even though they’ve made English dubs for some of their own games (e.g. Persona) I’m guessing Atlus chose not to give KOF XIII & XIV English dubs. Or it could’ve been SNK’s decision, thinking back to the bad English dubs the Maximum Impact games had, they probably couldn’t afford to hire professional dubbing voice actors.

For this new Fatal Fury game, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, it does look like this is SNK’s first try to cast professional dubbing voice actors. Unfortunately for me, I don’t know who they are, and I’m too lazy to even look them up. I mean, my generation of dubbing voice actors might be different, so I doubt this game is gonna cast any voice actors I’m familiar with. For all I know, my favorite voice actors are probably retired at this point.

But now I want to talk about why it concerns me that a majority might prefer the Japanese dub over the English dub.

It’s silly I know, but I’m actually worried that people would think the game doesn’t have an English dub if a majority play the game in Japanese. Then again, with all the English trailers, I’m sure people will know the game has an English dub, but I’m worried that people won’t actually care for the English dub, no matter how famous the voice actors are (if they’re famous).

And it’s more than just thinking back to the bad English dubs the Maximum Impact games had, if anyone today remembers those games. I remember 9 years ago when Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- came out. A lot of people were playing that game in Japanese despite the game having an English dub with professional anime voice actors. Back when I used to be a Guilty Gear fan, I did play this game in Japanese, thinking that maybe Aksys Games didn’t have the funds to hire professional voice actors like with SNK. But it’s only until a few months back I got to learn a little more about Aksys Games, namely the fact that they originally localized the Zero Escape series by Spike Chunsoft, and that series has the same kind of voice actors from Spike Chunsoft’s more familiar series, Danganronpa, and they’re the same kind of voice actors used in the Guilty Gear Xrd games.

I ended up learning a year after Xrd -SIGN- came out that the game has, well, I’ll try not to say it multiple times. I found out for example that Tara Platt ended up voicing both Millia Rage and I-No in the game, which surprised me since, at the time, I knew her as the original English voice actress for Vert in the Neptunia series (before being replaced by Carrie Keranen) and in that series, there were plenty of familiar voice actors to me and lots of people were playing that series in English. Vert is my favorite Neptunia girl, and back when I was a fan of Guilty Gear, Millia was my favorite, so I guess it was like… destiny or fate? Or maybe just a big coincidence? Despite this, it did bother me a little to see a majority play Guilty Gear in Japanese and not English.

But Guilty Gear aside, I’m not sure if other Japanese fighting games like Street Fighter and Blazblue are like this too, where there’s a majority of gamers playing them in Japanese despite these games having, again, professional dubbing/anime voice actors. When I did try out Street Fighter IV and the first Blazblue game, I chose to play them in Japanese. But I’ll admit that I’m not a fan of either of these games, I thought Guilty Gear was cooler looking than Blazblue, and Street Fighter IV felt like a piece of shit game (but that’s a different story for a different time). I will say that I do see a lot of people play Soul Calibur in English (myself included) but I’m not so sure about those other games.

As an aside, in the 90s, there were anime movies based on the Fatal Fury series, and they got to have English dubs made by Viz Media (the same people who made the English dubs for Bleach and Inuyasha) and they do have some pretty good voice actors. For example, I remember reading that they casted David Kaye to voice Kim Kaphwan (surprisingly, I know him as the voice of Clank in the Ratchet & Clank series). If Kim does return for this new Fatal Fury game, I highly doubt SNK is gonna recast David Kaye to voice him.

I mean, I can’t say for certain if the Fatal Fury anime films were any good, I’m not one for anime reviews, and this is a 90s anime we’re talking about. There’s also an OVA based on Art of Fighting, but it wasn’t that good despite having an English dub too.

I’ll admit that there are some games where I’ve chosen to play them in Japanese despite the opposite, where a majority might prefer to play them in English.

For example, I play Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and even Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity in Japanese, but a majority seem to prefer to play them in English. It’s not that I think the English dubs are bad, though I admit that I’m not big on Princess Zelda having a British accent or Matt Mercer voicing both Rauru and Ganondorf (I think Jamieson Price would’ve been a great casting choice for Ganondorf) but they’re one of those games where the lip sync during cutscenes is based on the Japanese dub. That, and I only know a few of the voice actors, more specifically, I only know that Kate Higgins voiced Purah, and Cherami Leigh voiced Riju. Another example is Dynasty Warriors 9, I play that game in Japanese since the English dub didn’t recast the original voice actors from the other games and the English dub is, well, just as bad as Maximum Impact I guess.

So with the upcoming Fatal Fury game, how are people gonna play the game voice acting wise? Will they actually try out the English dub to see if their favorite characters are voiced by their favorite voice actors, or will they stick with the Japanese dub thinking that the English dub might have some lame voice lines or bad translations like with Maximum Impact. In my case, I’m curious to try out the English dub. It’s the first time in 15 years since SNK gave one of their games an English dub, and it looks like this game is gonna have some very professional voice actors. I highly doubt I’ll recognize any of them, but I’ll still play the game in English to see if I’ll like it.

I hope I made some sense with this blog, and I apologize for how long it is if you made it this far.

#blog #opinion #fatal fury #kof #king of fighters #fatal fury: city of the wolves #voice acting #dubbing #english dub #non-danganronpa stuff #i wish i could've provided more images

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