#zenos i actually never disliked but i can see why people would!

[i-heart-hxh]

I found that question about the Zoldyck's training really interesting and wanted to add my thoughts on the topic and see what you think about them.

I totally agree that all their kids go through a well established training regimen, but I'm not sure if the torture training is something all the generations of Zoldyck's went through especially since Zeno doesn't seem to be keen about it, I wonder if it is something Silva implemented, this a complete head canon of mine but I feel like he is obsessed in finding the strongest heir since he himself never managed to become stronger than his father.

And about Killua receiving a special treatment, I kinda disagree with that, the main reason is that Killua out of all his siblings (excluding Alluka) is the only one who has expressed dislike about killing, Illumi doesn't even hesitate to kill innocent people, Kalluto said that he tends to torture his enemies and lose his sense of time cuz he enjoys making them suffer slowly, Milluki seems eager about experimenting new ways to kill people. So Killua, under Zoldyck's standard, is a problem child, he was tortured and being taught how to kill since birth, and yet he was healing injured birds with Nanika behind his parents back, he also has that other "problem", caring too much about other people, probably that is the reason why they made the needle make him forget about Alluka and Nankika.

When you think about the Zoldyck family and how they would deal with a problem child, I don't think talking to him or spoiling him is the way they would go about it, they probably tried to beat him out of it, especially since he has the most potential, he probably was expected to survive harder punishments. When they noticed that he wasn't changing they most likely decided to use Illumi's needle, which imo is a rather extreme measure, if you think about it, while the needle would keeping safe from stronger people, without it he could have been forced to analyze those fights to try to come out with a plan to overcome a fight where someone is stronger than him, Killua is a smart boy after all, instead the needle made him want to run away instantly, that in one way or another slowed down his training.

Finally, I think his siblings, minus Alluka, have way more freedom than him, we haven't seen Illumi getting scolded for forming an alliance/friendship with Hisoka, and from what we've seen, Kalluto hasn't been forced to return home or punished for joining the spiders which will make him develop relationships with a group of people, and Milluki never leaves his home, but when he goes to the auction to try to get Greed Island he is allowed to go without any complaints, I think Killua caring too much for other people is the reason he why wasn't allow to have any friends and is the reason his mother was so reluctant to let him leave.

Sorry for the wall of text but this topic is so interesting too me that I can talk about it for hours hahaha.

Thanks for writing this up, it's interesting to hear other peoples' takes on the Zoldyck family dynamics! They are super interesting, and while a lot of things are established with them, there's certainly some room for different interpretations on exactly how things work with them and how they feel about each other more specifically than the relationship chart tells us, especially because their relationships are complex. I enjoyed reading your thoughts!

I actually don't disagree with you about Killua's treatment, though in my view he was simultaneously privileged and treated differently than his siblings due to his status as the heir, and at the same time punished and beaten down for his compassionate and friendly tendencies, as well as his rebelliousness. I do think there have been "benefits" to being the heir for him, but they're benefits of a double-edged sort, especially because he doesn't want to be the heir in the first place.

The benefits likely included special treatment and focus on him to a degree, praise, and a sense that he excelled at training when compared to his siblings. Of course these end up being drawbacks in some ways because he's not happy in this situation in the first place and the increased attention was smothering, particularly from Kikyo and Illumi. I think he can receive preferential treatment and have it be both a thing that boosts his ego and makes him enviable to his siblings because everything centers around him, and at the same time even just the special treatment itself is a drawback for him.

The drawbacks are that he likely had a different set of expectations on him, his freedom was possibly less than the other siblings like you said (both because of the increased expectations AND because of his rebelliousness/personality that I'm sure the family felt they needed to force out of him at any cost), and when he does deviate from how he's "supposed" to be, I'm sure the punishments were indeed awful. I'll bet they tried all kinds of things to try to change the way he is, and as he got older he likely started hiding his real thoughts and feelings to avoid trouble as he considered his options for escape.

Killua seems to believe he has a good relationship with his father, he has respect for him, and he seems to like Zeno as well. Of course, from an audience perspective we know Silva has been majorly manipulating him and giving him freedom only because he anticipates that the needle will cause Killua to betray his friends and come back for good. Even though Killua ran away and clearly doesn't want to be an assassin and take over the business, he generally doesn't seem to hate his family members--or, at least Silva and Zeno. This makes me think the way he was treated directly varies a lot from family member-to-family member, and he does innocently see his father and grandfather as being some degree of "fair" and "able to be negotiated with."

Also, his attitude at the beginning still does read to me as being someone who has been praised a lot and is used to being considered superior to others. See how he acts about Gon being assessed above him in the Hunter Exam, for example, and just generally how cocky he is early on. I'm sure it's partly an act, and partly a result of legitimately having self-confidence due to being not only a Zoldyck, but among the most talented of all the Zoldycks. That comes from being confident in his power and talent, but of course his actual self esteem is horrible, because he's never been accepted prior to Gon (except perhaps by Alluka) for who he truly is as a person.

But I'm only disagreeing a tiny bit, because I do generally agree with you. Like I said I think both things are true at the same time. I definitely think he's faced a lot of difficult treatment from trying to be forced into a role his personality doesn't fit, but to me his upbringing feels like one of both privilege and special status and at the same time horrible treatment, loneliness, and pain, as a result of the "normal" Zoldyck training regimen and also any punishments he received for being himself.

[danwhobrowses]

Why Tashigi Deserves More Respect

I really gotta remember these other things I plan on writing XD Often I get reminded though by people around me criticizing something I realise ‘that’s a little misunderstood’ and then get compelled to write about it. For today we’re looking at the female Marine of One Piece, Tashigi. Now before we start, I want to make a point that Tashigi is still an underused character brimming with potential that Oda seems to shy a lot from. Oda can still sincerely do a lot more with her and I for one have been disappointed by her lack of use in Stampede and lack of appearance in Wano. However, I get a lot of people who feel that Tashigi is ‘useless’, and I’m going to say that this isn’t really the case.

Argument 1: Her Battles

Of course, a lot of strength regarding a character comes with their ability to come out victorious. It can harm any character in a show to constantly be on the losing side of a fight and it does hurt Tashigi (and Smoker) a lot that they do end up that way. While I would love Tashigi to have her first clean win since those guys in Loguetown I’d like to remind you that Tashigi’s fights do have a bit of defense to them, let’s look at all of Tashigi’s named opponents

Zoro (Loguetown) - We always knew that Zoro was winning this, while she was bested by Zoro the purpose of the story wasn’t ever going to be Tashigi being stronger, instead this was Zoro having to confront her similarities with Kuina in personality rather than skill.

Nico Robin/Miss All Sunday (Alabasta) - While Tashigi was unable to even strike Robin back in Alabasta, Robin’s devil fruit allowed her to be perfect for such a situation. A trained and deadly assassin, Tashigi’s physical confrontation was never going to succeed, but what was key to this battle was Tashigi’s realization in regards to the failure of Justice. In the end she had to rely on Luffy to defeat the Pirates the WG had assigned to maintain the balance.

Luffy (Marineford/Punk Hazard) - Luffy and Tashigi briefly crossed paths in Marineford, Luffy swiftly dodged her but again, Tashigi was never going to defeat Luffy and was merely a doorway to put Smoker and Luffy into a fight. It’s also worth reminding that Tashigi must’ve been capable enough to hold her own against Whitebeard’s lesser forces, since she was uninjured from Marineford. They also crossed at Punk Hazard, but then they were both weakened by being in unfamiliar bodies, something which Luffy even acknowledges.

Trafalgar Law (Punk Hazard) - as pictured above, Tashigi’s defeat to Law was another gateway for Smoker to enter the fight, but this one had more purpose in showing Tashigi’s willpower, which we will get to. As you can tell, there’s a theme: Tashigi would never have beaten Law in terms of the narrative, why do we hold it against Tashigi that she lost to the guy who later did this?

Ceasar Clown (Punk Hazard) - while listed as a fight, she fell the same way as Robin and Franky due to his DF being unrevealed, again this being a gateway to sell that Ceasar had a danger to him, I wouldn’t actually count it as a fight.

Vergo (Punk Hazard) - the Donquixote spy is one of Doflamingo’s deadliest subordinates. The original Corazon, Tashigi’s conflict with Vergo brought Sanji into the fight and once again highlighted to Tashigi the corruption within the Marines themselves. Like Law (and the next), we can’t be too harsh on Tashigi losing to Vergo, the guy easily fended off Sanji to the point of almost breaking Sanji’s leg, he also was able to beat Smoker

Monet (Punk Hazard) - Monet is a mixed one, because Zoro quickly defeats her she was quickly overshadowed by the fact that she struggled to even get on the offensive, broadening the gap between them. But, I’d like to remind everyone that Monet was able to force Luffy into fleeing their battle and was handling Robin, Nami and Chopper at once. Tashigi hadn’t completely lost either, I would bet that she’d fight without an arm, maybe not successfully but she would, and she got the finishing blow on Monet - her second offensive attack against Monet put her away and while technically this doesn’t count as a W for Tashigi she did not technically lose in this fight either

As you can see, while it’s easy to say that ‘Tashigi never wins her fights, so she’s weak’ it really undermines the opposition she willingly puts herself against. Narratively there’d be no reason for Tashigi to win these fights, doing so would lead to confusion and disbelief (for instance, would you have seen Luffy beating Kaido solo back in Bakura Town? No, obviously). Tashigi is still strong, she’s able to survive the Grand Line, easily deflect cannon fire with her sword and use Haki, the latter cannot be said for Main Characters like Nami, Chopper, Franky, Carrot and somehow Robin (like girl you spent 2 years with the Revolutionaries, where’s your Haki?). While we would love a win to validate this, Oda always puts her against an opponent that would be difficult for her to win against, and we thus mistake her inability to win as weakness. So that leads to another argument. Argument 2: Tashigi always punches above her weight While this is very much true, One Piece has often told us that being the strongest doesn’t always mean that you will win. Consider 90% of Nami and Usopp’s wins, Luffy’s wins over Crocodile, Enel, Lucci, Magellan, Cracker and Katakuri, the weak may not be able to choose how they die but that doesn’t mean that the strong can either.  I’d also like to argue that Tashigi’s motive on fighting strong opponents is not because she feels that she is stronger, she fights them because they are the enemy that needs to be stopped, her motives are pure in her pursuit of justice just as the Straw Hats fight stronger opponents because it fulfills a just cause such as saving Alabasta, their crewmates, people who had their shadows stolen, Camie, Fishman Island, the Punk Hazard children, Dressrosa, Zou or Wano. Tashigi really gets criticized for it because it doesn’t yield the results it does for major characters, often needing help to get the victory. In that I wanna point out a harsh truth as well; Goku - the people many anime fans will compare power scales against - almost never beats the main villain on his own in DBZ or DBS. Freeza - required damage from Krillin, Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo before the win, and he didn’t finish him off, Cell - tags out to Gohan, who also needs Vegeta’s help to win, Buu - needs Vegeta’s help via fusion and a full power recharge by the Dragon Balls, Beerus - he lost, Golden Freeza - he got jumped by Sorbet and needed Whis’ rewind, Hit - he gave up, Fused Zamasu - lost, and needed Zeno to wipe him out, Jiren - needed Freeza and 17′s help and Vegeta’s energy and finally Broly - needed fusion. So maybe, if even Son Goku cannot win on his own, we can cut Tashigi a little bit of slack given that she’s not even a main character.

Argument 3: ‘She does nothing’ I don’t really like this insinuation. Often Smoker and Tashigi are the ones that pick up the mess after all the enemies are defeated, but for some reason that equates to ‘doing nothing’. I think because people see Tashigi as interchangeable with any other character she is thus useless because she is not mandatory. However, Tashigi’s role is much more complex than that.

Even if she’s not strong enough to fight the biggest fishes in the pond, she still manages to grow and prove her worth. If Tashigi was replaced with any generic marine captain a lot of what happened would be different. It was Tashigi who identified Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu for Zoro, Tashigi who (albeit reluctantly) directed Luffy to Crocodile, Tashigi who kept the Straw Hats safe from arrest in Alabasta, Tashigi who convinced Smoker that he needed to swallow his pride and side with Law and Luffy to stop Ceasar and it was Tashigi who convinced Nami to entrust the Punk Hazard children to them. Through her experiences she also cultivates her own unique sense of Justice. While she follows Smoker’s doctrine of ‘A Pirate will always be a Pirate’ and that the Shichibukai system and the World Government as a whole is flawed, she has also learned for herself that there are times that pride must be set aside, in a way Tashigi’s sense of Justice has become a combination of Smoker’s and Fujitora’s: in order to rebuild justice, the navy itself must become strong enough to not depend on pirates, but pride cannot supersede the greater good. In addition, implying she does nothing also implies that she doesn’t practice her own sense of justice either. She stepped in on Zoro twice to protect her men from harm, before even arriving at Punk Hazard we learned that she had a good relationship with the parents who had their children kidnapped as they asked specifically for her which in turn led her to personally strive to reunite the children with their parents and she even protected the truth of Vergo from G-5 so that they didn’t feel betrayed and demoralized. Of the things Tashigi does, nothing is not one of them, she displays compassion, fairness and determination in definitive moments. Argument 3: She’s too hung up on her Feminism

So, one of the major dynamics of Tashigi and Zoro is her misconception that Zoro wouldn’t cut her because she was a woman, a belief that women have to prove themselves more to be seen as strong against men being one of the beliefs she shares with Zoro’s childhood rival Kuina. While it can be a tad irksome that she’d hang onto this with Zoro, until Monet Zoro never actually demonstrated the contrary to her. This is mainly a complaint by hindsight, we only dislike the opinion because we’ve seen Zoro more than Tashigi has, and she’s not 100% wrong, Zoro himself has been a bit of a traditionalist, in Skypeia he angrily chastised Enel for attacking Robin since she was a woman, and he only does step in on Monet to save Tashigi - not even finishing her off despite being very capable of doing so. Outside of Zoro, Tashigi’s feelings that she gets treated differently due to her gender is proven and reflected in how G-5 treat her with little authority, only really listening to her because she’s pretty. You can’t be too hard on Tashigi given that she is constantly faced with this truth on a daily basis, and her desire to be seen for her strength and skills are still an amicable one, it’s worth noting that even Law recognized that her mentality and warrior’s spirit was far greater than he swordsmanship, but he only thought this internally. In Tashigi’s case it would help her confidence to be given validation, and not in the condescending way Zoro usually talks to people.  While it can be annoying that she immediately thinks that she’s being treated differently because she’s a woman, this also shows that she wants to be treated as an equal; if she is defeated in combat she wants to be cut to preserve her honour, it is the mentality all Great Samurai have, including Zoro. Oda does something with Tashigi he rarely does with any woman in One Piece in making her less sexualised and body-confident to reflect her goal of being recognized by her spirit and actions rather than her appearance, but he also makes that complex for the character which in a way this is most important for.

Argument 4: She’s not a good Rival for Zoro

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about Tashigi’s character is that she is meant to be Zoro’s rival, in a similar manner to how Smoker and Luffy are embroiled in a Garp/Roger-esque cat and mouse chase. Because of this, people expect Tashigi to advance at a similar scale to Zoro to keep him on his toes, to make sure that he doesn’t end up complacent in his strive to become the World’s Greatest Swordsman. Her former likeness to Kuina also adds to this misconception, since because Kuina was Zoro’s rival with the same goal and always stronger than Zoro himself, Tashigi must be similar.

But this is not why Tashigi and Zoro are always put together. Tashigi is not Zoro’s rival, no other character we’ve met has the same goal as Zoro, and this keeps his story free to develop with different challenges. Tashigi’s pursuit of strength is not for the same reasons as Zoro, she doesn’t want to be the World’s Greatest Swordsperson, she only wants to protect the sanctity of the Meito and keep them out of unworthy hands. Her pursuit of Zoro was both because he dishonoured her in their fight and so she could claim Wado Ichimonji. In the New World however we don’t see that as much from Tashigi, even when she sees Shusui she doesn’t make a point to declare taking it from him because he’s unworthy (like Kin’emon would later do), this is because she does acknowledge his strength and worthiness of using these Meito, her personal conflict now though is to be seen as worthy to him as a swordsperson rather than a pirate to a marine.  In reality, Tashigi is instead Zoro’s and Kuina’s foil. She is similar in looks and perspective to Kuina but different in everything else from clumsiness, skill and ambition, the fact that Zoro struggles to handle this leads to the two becoming entwined in their respective journeys. No person gets under Zoro’s skin like Tashigi does, even to a point where he was reluctant to even be in eyeshot of her - how many people have you seen Roronoa Zoro hide from? They are each other’s foil because they are both stubborn people out to prove something but put on two different sides that conflict. That is the true purpose of their dynamic, their confrontations expose one another and show places where they can still grow and I still feel that we haven’t scratched the surface of this relationship.

Argument 5: She’s not Important

A combination of the earlier arguments, Tashigi gets a lot of flack because people think she’s not important enough as a character to have the screentime she gets. While it’s not hard to see why people feel that, it usually comes with people giving up on the idea that there’s a greater plan for her. It may just be me, but I am reluctant to believe that Tashigi appears in several forms of merchandise including calendars, games (as NPCs, Bosses, Supports or playable characters) and even figurines and not have a purpose in the greater scope of the story, do we really expect that from Oda? I doubt that very much! Granted, Wano would’ve been a perfect placement for her to push herself given the views on women in the country and it being the homeland of famous Meito. And yes, she could’ve had a much greater role in Stampede given how well they managed Smoker in it. We are allowed to be disappointed by this, but the fact that Tashigi has remained as consistent in presence as she has been in the show does hint at a bigger role, even if it’s being that wave of revolutionizing the Marines with Coby and Fujitora, her own origins or finally proving herself to the audience and to Zoro, Tashigi is not done and thus she is still important. “Just because they say a bird cannot fly, doesn’t mean that it never will” - Oda SBS 17 on Tashigi and Kuina’s names being named after flightless birds So, Why does Tashigi deserve more Respect? Tashigi as a character is one of Oda’s more subtle progressions. In contrast to Zoro who we see grow, we don’t see how Tashigi gets from A to B, we can also contrast to Coby whose rise becomes as magnificent as his puberty that Tashigi’s growth is much less abrupt and more steady, we see her struggles more than we do Coby where his successes are only heard in passing. Tashigi can also act as the ‘normal person’ in the marines, we compare her to Zoro in strength because she uses a sword but we never give her the benefit of the doubt that Roronoa Zoro is a bloody superhuman, plus not everyone has the great luxury of being trained by Dracule Mihawk for 2 years...furthermore, her challenges against Devil Fruit users are always filled with good intentions and strong willpower, but still self-doubt and shame, if anything Tashigi is one of the most human characters of One Piece for this reason; she learns, she suffers, she grows and she does it all without the luxury of Shonen perks such as superhuman power or endurance. Also she is a good person, she has a strong sense of morality and will, an altruistic desire and even in the situation she gets put in she makes a step that leads to the plot going in a positive direction. And for a character that has been in as many arcs as she has, there is still so much potential left to be untapped that fans are still after 2 decades eager to see from her.

Tashigi is a strong, valiant and just person, who is still really powerful if people stop trying to compare her to the likes of Luffy, Law and Zoro. Even when she fails she picks herself up and can still come out with a small victory from protecting innocents, arresting criminals and escorting children to get help. She is a lot stronger than people give her credit for and it’s for that she deserves respect.

[elveny]

FFXIV 5.4 spoilers and criticism and thoughts under the cut

Am I alone in feeling like 5.4 is kind of... rushed? Like, I love that they take so much effort to tie up lose ends and bring conclusion to things, but in a way, the whole thing fell sort of flat for me. Despite the many smiling pretty screenshots I got of M’ajah and the general wholesomeness ;) I love the twins A LOT and in general the interaction with your friends is awesome. Aymeric and Estinien also have me hoping that we’ll get to see a bit more of them again in 6.0? And in general several shipping feels were UP THERE. But. Hng.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the part with Alisaie and finding a cure for the tempered, I love that Ga Bu is still not forgotten, but honestly? It felt too easy. Despite the added experience in the First. The primals and the tempering have been a problem for millenia, people have studied and tried and failed, and given up, and we solve the thing in, like... two days. By... having computers analyse it. It’s... lazy. Somehow. Idk. I’m still sorting through my feelings. But the most interesting part for me were a few throwaway lines, like the one that Allag had an interest in not curing the tempered as in actively suppressing any tries to do that.

And the whole business with Merlwyb is the same, basically. I mean, yay, character development but I would have liked to SEE that development? The last line towards the beasttribes from her that stuck with me was “you gotta be willing to drown your neighbour to stay afloat” and now suddenly she’s all “if it helps, kill me and sign the peace treaty with my blood”. When? How? Why? And sweet Ga Bu, I love you like the next kid but weirdly stilted and imo unfitting dialogue for a child who just came out of a traumatizing experience and stands next to dead people.

And G’raha. I know G’raha is not beloved by all, but I actually do like the guy. I think he’s sweet, eager, incredibly smart and I LOVE what they did with the Exarch and how he evolved. (I also never saw the hero worship as bad as others experienced it. But boy did they really hammer that home in 5.4 to my dismay.) Honestly, 5.4 does him a disservice. They just took all that happened on the First and... ignored it? Basically, what we got in 5.4 is G’raha from back when we met him, back to being young and inexperienced. While every NPC and their aunt talk about how “old” he feels and how “his looks are at odds with what he knows and talks and can do”, none of it is shown in the acutal game and our interaction with him. Instead, we have a reenactment of our first meeting that just feels out of character. Others from my FC loved that but i was just frowning through that. Like, give me more of the intelligent known scholar they showed in between and less of the awkwardness that he never showed in the First, please.

One thing they also seem to do more and more with their villains is make them completely unhinged up to the point that they seem like a caricature of themselves. They do that with Fandaniel and with the whatshisname from the Emerald Weapon. And I very very much dislike the implications behind it. And that’s a personal thing, but I find the face animations they use especially unsettling. They come close to horror movie grimaces that just go that bit too far and show a row of teeth too much. If you know what I mean. Adding to that the clowny gestures, it’s just offputting.

That being said, I am SUPER intruiged by the towers / Final Days thing and especially the implications towards Zenos.

[ask-hunterxhunter]

Can I have a headcanon of the adult trio if they were in harry potter, like what house they'd be in, and who you'd ship them with?

Oh, this was so fun to imagine!Regarding theLove Interests, I didn’t place them with characters I actually ship them with but theones I think might have higher chances of getting their attention… The triowouldn’t be more interested in romance than they are in the Hunter universe,but having to live with several peoplein the castle during the year might end up making a few of them stand out in theireyes.

Their “preferences” would remain the same as well. Also, I only went forcharacters that actively appear in the books (including some of the adults). Ihave to say, this part was a bit hard, but I had a lot of fun! If anyone there has aheadcanon of your own or some idea about this particular scenario, please tellme!!!!

Illumi

House: Ravenclaw (definitely intelligent enough) or Slytherin(cunning enough). He would be one of those particular difficult students tosort (maybe they should create a House just for him…)Blood Status: Rumored Half-Blood or Pureblood (it isn’t clear andit’s not like people have the guts to ask Illumi anything personal).

Illumi in aboarding school is not quite a good idea, not only because the Zoldyck familywould still be known assassins and prefer to teach their children at home, butalso because of Illumi’s firm belief that assassins don’t have friends andbeing forced to live with other people during the year would make him dislikeschool quite a lot.

Regarding thefamily trade, it is very likely that Voldemort tried to recruit them, beingdenied (same going for the Order of the Phoenix). While the Zoldycks didn’tmind doing jobs for both sides back in the days of the war and even afterVoldemort’s second rising, they refused to take an active position and bothsides knew better than to cross any lines with them, reason why Voldemort nevertried to resort to blackmail or any other forceful method (despite hisarrogance and horcruxes, he knew it would only make the whole family out for his blood and they might jointhe Order then, which was an unnecessary risk as long as they kept acceptingmaking business with him) and arguments about how this war affects everyone andthey should do what is right also don’t yield much results. It’s not easy totell if they would eventually take a side when Voldemort took control orcontinue with their lives.

Truth is, theZoldyck don’t believe in blood supremacy (blood is all the same when it’s spilled),but they honestly couldn’t care less about this war since they are powerfulenough to keep themselves safe and move away if it seems to be the best for thefamily. Some who harbor more sense of honor and personal morals (such as Zeno,perhaps) may despise Voldemort for “killing for fun” or such “unfounded motives”and the level of torture his side employs even without need, but that would beit. Of course, that’s not considering Killua, who would join the Order as soonas he could, but I digress.

Because of hisreputation, it’s very unlikely thatIllumi would suffer any bullying for whatever reason (such as his mother comingfrom the Meteor City). And even if others didn’t know him to be a Zoldyck, he wouldstill be the sort of guy that others get out of the way by pressingthemselves against the wall.

 Students thatknow about the Zoldyck’s family business would prefer to keep their distancejust in case at first, Illumi’s attitude later making this seem the saferoption. The few who don’t know or try to approach him anyway would realize quitesoon that Illumi doesn’t want anything to do with them and it’s better to leavehim alone. He has enough self-control to not kill people around him just becausethey irritated him (and a cold glare has proved to be as effective in thisscenario), but those who tried (insisted) in befriending him would be utterlydisliked by Illumi, even if their intentions are actually pure. He doesn’t need friends. He doesn’t want friends. And despite everything, ifit became necessary to be cruel (verbally) in order to make those people getthe message, he would.

 Illumi’sthreatening reputation wouldn’t be enough to push some admirers away, but mostof them would be too wary to approach him directly (love letters or gifts arecompletely ignored by Illumi, I might add). Note that while he doesn’t form deepemotional relationships, Illumi wouldn’t go around antagonizing people. Wantingto have a peaceful life in school, he would remain polite (unless provokedbeyond his self-control) to his classmates, being that quiet guy who is notfriends with anyone but is neither bullied, mean or someone’s enemy, per say. Ina way, Illumi sees this school as an assignment of sorts that must be completed(though he tries to sway his parents to allow him to be educated at home). Juststay out of his way and you’ll be fine.

 The rich andsnob clique of the school may have some derogatory opinion of the Meteor Cityand people from there (regardless of how damn rich the Zoldyck are), but theywould know better than to say an “A” about Illumi’s mother (due to his family’sreputation, some wouldn’t want to talk about Illumi even in the privacy of theirdorms, fearing he has a way of knowing it anyway).

Possible Love Interests: (Illumi isn’tinterested in love in his own story, what makes you think it would be anydifferent in Hogwarts?)

° Narcissa Black:Although not much of Narcissa is revealed, it’s clear that despite being anarrogant woman, she values family above all else. If attending school together,Narcissa might be somewhat curious about the Zoldyck, which she would hide outof pride (and some self-preservation that she will never admit). The fact he stateswithout a care that blood purity is plain stupidity would make room for sometension between them on her part (and not always in a good sense) as Narcissa,while not dumb to provoke him too much, she wouldn’t cower in fright at hissight either. If things would be good between them is another matter completely…They might develop a somewhat friendly ground after a while or become nastyenemies, depending on how both respond to the situation and how far they arewilling to take things. There is also the possibility of the Black familyconsidering trying an arranged marriage between her and Illumi.

° Hannah Abbot:Now, this is a tricky case and one I wouldn’t quite call “romantic”. WhileHannah appears to be kind-natured and gentle, also loyal and courageous as shestayed to fight during the Battle of Hogwarts, she also demonstrated a somewhatvulnerable side that allows her to be swayed by other’s opinions (two evidences:In the second year when she was convinced by Ernie that Harry was attackingpeople, despite thinking Harry had always seemed a nice guy and on the fourthyear it’s safe to assume she was among the many Hufflepuff students who worethose badges against Harry despite having been in good terms with him).

I don’t thinkIllumi would actively pursue anyone romantically, but the fact that it seems hewould be able to have a degree of control over Hannah while nurturing her strengthwould certainly make her fit in his controlling views. However, I like to thinkher friends would try to help her once they realized Illumi is toxic to her.

Hisoka

House: Slytherin.Blood Status: Unknown (yeah, is anyone surprised?).

 Hisoka wouldbasically show Hogwarts why perhaps they should consider having a counselor/psychologistfor the students… He wouldn’t go around challenging classmates to duels 24/7 orbe disturbing in the level of someone such as Illumi, but his interest in strongopponents would remain pretty much the same as well as his bloodlust, whichmight be even worse as he is still so young. Classmates would be unsure ofwhether or not to approach him (even during first year) and even how, as youcan never tell with Hisoka: Sometimes his good mood isn’t “normal student”happy because he got a good grade or any other reason, but because he secretlykicked someone’s ass. Of course, due to several reasons, he would hide some ofhis worst traits (or at least how deep they go) a lot more than he doesoriginally, but he would still creep some people out quite a bit.

 Just like inthe Hunter Universe, Hisoka would be a lone wolf and remain an enigma throughoutall of his years in Hogwarts: No one knows where he came from, about his parents,how he could know several spells before ever coming to Hogwarts… And that’sjust how Hisoka likes it, as his past remains something he just doesn’t talkabout.

 Classmates couldalso at times see him training physical fighting in the school grounds. While thesnobbish groups would sneer at the idea of “muggle wresting”, they would stillbe “somewhat” impressed by his flexibility and agility, especially if they hadthe chance to see Hisoka dueling, ashe uses those moves while casting spells, making him a hard target, having anew style that is entirely his own. Even at his first year, he would beconsidered especially talented, but even the teachers would be unsure if thisis a good or bad thing, despite Hisoka acting polite and respectful towardsthem (secretly wondering if he would get to duel them someday). His gradeswould also be quite good, even with subjects he seems to not care much for.

 While Hisoka wouldn’tmind social interaction, people shouldn’t be to quick to consider themselves hisfriends but few realize this since, like I mentioned, Hisoka would hide hismore sociopathic traits more while in school. Towards his teenage years hewould also have a few “flings” (there would be quite some people interested inhim, especially after the weekend Hisoka pretty much walked to the lake, tossedhis shirt aside and just went for a swim in front of half of the school).

Not one to acceptbeing constricted, he wouldn’t have issues with interacting with students fromthe other Houses as well and, to be honest, it could be quite peaceful (or asclose to it as we can get with this clown). Regarding some other students ofSlytherin and their belief in blood purity or the rivalry with Gryffindor,well, Hisoka wouldn’t want anything to do with that from day one. If someonestarted talking about it, he would give them a bored, cold glare and say thisis easily the most moronic thing he ever heard in his entire life. Of coursethe purists in his House would be angered by this and try to either pressureHisoka or downright demand him to follow the “House rules”, which they wouldcome to regret quite soon, even if they are older. You want a rule? Hisoka hasone for you: Don’t you ever try tomake him do something he doesn’t want. Not if you want to keep the bones ofyour hand intact.

 Yes, Hisoka wouldn’thave issues with “demonstrating” how strength has nothing to do with blood status,after all… Blood looks all the same when painting the walls, doesn’t it? Thiswould make some of his House mates fear him while others, like Draco Malfoy,would hate him and believe him to be a blood traitor (or muggleborn), however ifthey acted upon it, it would endbadly for them, since Hisoka’s reactions would be… Well, pretty muchfrightening. And you should know how Hisoka is someone you wouldn’t want hating you (Hell, this goes for all theAdult Trio and we know it). Those who agree that those questions are just nonsensewould actually be cheering Hisoka on from the inside and might feel more confidentto express their opinion, so hey, maybe something good can come out of this?

However, don’tthink this means Hisoka would ever be part of a group that goes around provingthose points. Yes, blood purity is stupid. Yes, this feud between the twoHouses is boring. This doesn’t mean he will try to make other people see thisor take a stand against it, either: Hedoesn’t care.

 There is somechance he would get along fairly well with the Weasley twins (again, not quitea friendship, but…), even taking partin some of their pranks and often buying their products.

Possible Love Interests:

 ° LunaLovegood: Poor girl… She would catch his attention without even trying, and not so much due to the strangeaccessories she likes but due to the things she says and not in a negative way,either. Hisoka doesn’t like boring people and Luna is far from it in hisopinion. If anything, her open mind and theories would spark his interest andhe would enjoy talking with her. Luna might also be among the people who cansense how deep Hisoka’s distortion goes and her occasional comments about histrue nature would often impress him, as well as that particular strength sheseems to have.

This couldremain a mere “friendship” or become deeper in nature, to the point Hisokawould be seriously interested in her and not as a mere affair. And while hedoesn’t care for people, Luna would be the exception to this particular rule.  

° Sirius Black:This could end up either as a serious relationship or indeed something born onlyout of sexual interest and nothing more. There is something about Sirius’behavior in his teen that might attract Hisoka’s attention, such as Sirius’wits and confidence (and well, both can be quite show-offs at times). Hisoka isnot shy in displaying interest and wouldn’t be so during his teens. Not havinga care for rules or problems, it’s also likely he would enjoy joining theMarauders in some of their mischief. He wouldn’t be a part of the group, but wouldfind them pleasant enough for occasional company. Like I mentioned, whateverhappened between him and Sirius might be solely physical, sex and nothing more,or it might become an actual relationship.

° NymphadoraTonks: Being a Metamorphmagus would certainly arouse Hisoka’s interest, due tobeing such a rare thing to come across. It would be the first thing that wouldmake Hisoka pay attention to her. Her style might be taken as “different” or “weird”for other wizards (pink or purple hair), but Hisoka would actually find itrather attractive (namely, hot as hell) exactly because it’s her own (unlikesome who might use the Metamorph ability to become unbelievable attractive, Tonksuse it as she likes it, rather than to fit the societal norm).

As she notesin the book, her Head of House said she “lacked the ability to behave”. We see Tonksis full of life and good humor, traits Hisoka would definitely enjoy. This isn’tto say a relationship would work well or even happen (well, same can be saidfor all of the relationships of this post) due to Hisoka’s bloodlust.

° HermioneGranger: An unsure case, that may be just a fling or become something more… It wouldbe one of the cases when it seems the couple has nothing in common with eachother and how the hell did that happen to begin with?

Well, atfirst Hisoka would have zero interestin Hermione, deeming her a boring girl who can only follow the rules and recitetextbooks. Not his type. Hermione would also consider him as far from her typeas possible. Sure, he doesn’t go around calling her names or bullying her likeother Slytherins, but she knows he is far from being a “good guy”.

However, Hisokamight start to tease her from time to time, just to be a pest (especially whenhe is bored), though it wouldn’t ever get to the point of bullying. They wouldquickly develop a certain comfort zone with each other. Hisoka’s teasing wouldgo on, as if to make her unwind a little (and probably become a little moreflirtatious later on) and Hermione, while certainly often aggravated by him,would find that she doesn’t mind it so much… It would be quite strange for bothof them and for several reasons, but it might happen.

Chrollo

House: Ravenclaw. Controlled with his emotions, Chrollo hasa quick mind and a desire for knowledge that would make him fit in right away. Somehouse-mates may compete with him for grades, but Chrollo shows no interest insuch.Blood Status: Muggleborn or Half-blood. Hard to say, since he doesn’ttalk about his life outside of Hogwarts, but being from Meteor City, it’s veryunlikely that he is a Pureblood. And the people who know for sure don’t talkabout it with others.

We can’t saythat the Adult Trio would be better in Hogwarts or cause no problems andChrollo is no exception, even if he may seem better adjusted than Hisoka or Illumi,but this is an act and nothing more. He would be considered the perfect candidatefor Head Boy by the teachers: Well behaved, polite, incredibly intelligent… Butthose who have sharp instincts may feel something off about him, that hints to his actual nature as, in fact, he wouldbe pretty much just like he is in the Hunter Universe regardless of a youngerage: A person who has no qualms about killing others to achieve what he wantsand who cares for no one who is not part of his inner circle of friends (andGod have mercy if you hurt any of them in anyway). However, just like Chrollocould fool Neon, he would be able to fool everyone in Hogwarts.

 Coming fromMeteor City, it’s also likely that he had to grow up too fast, so the teacherswho are aware of the city’s conditions may try to approach him wanting to offerany comfort or help that might be necessary, but Chrollo would act as if he isa well-adjusted child (only accepting said help if it seems they would find itstrange if he refused too much). In a way, Hogwarts would be somewhat of atraining ground, as the first thing he would do once graduating would beofficially forming the Genei Ryodan. He wouldn’t be learning just the academic subjects,but observing people, listening about politics, expanding the knowledge hewould later employ (and even testing some of it already).

As Imentioned, Chrollo (as well as his goals) would remain pretty much the same. Now,while Hogwarts may be a certain oasis for its students, it wouldn’t ever become a “home” for Chrollo, evenif he would like it there (it canbecome a place of high emotional value even after he leaves), the knowledge,the possibilities it offers and he would have days he just enjoys a more normallife, no doubt, but his only home will always be the Meteor City. Still, it’snot easy to say if he wouldn’t ever steal something from there with the Spidersdue to the memories/respect for the place (though if some item such as thePhilosopher’s Stone was currently beingkept there, then you can believe they would as the stone is not part of the school).

 Even at ayoung age, Chrollo would be quite a prodigy and if we take a crossover whereNen doesn’t exist, you can believe that the Skill Hunter would, in one shape or another: Chrollo would be talented enough tobe able to create his own spells, a few of them quite complicated actually, sohe might find a way to absorb one’s magical talents in an at least similar way.Of course, no one would have any idea of this, even when he started to make “tests”right in the school grounds, testing the extent of what he can do.

 While he wouldbe well mannered and those who fancy him (male and female) would be enough forChrollo to be considered “popular”, people wouldn’t be able to get as close tohim as they think, just like in the Hunter universe. Chrollo would deceivethose he wants to come close enough to try some spell, curse or try the SkillHunter on as he perfects it, but there would very few emotional attachments inhis school life. Some students who would go around claiming to be his friends wouldnot be considered the same by Chrollo, as the only exception would be those whoalso came from Meteor City, perhaps those who would later on become part of theSpider, if they happen to be attending Hogwarts as well. He might considerrecruiting others as well when they graduate, depending on their power even ifthey are not from the same city. It should be noted that they would seem likeany other group of close friends (contrary to the students who became DeathEaters, as some of them already used Dark Magic in school) rather than future murderers.

 About thequestion of Death Eaters, while Voldemort might at least consider recruitingthe Spiders (or at least the most powerful, such as Chrollo) despite the possibility of their blood status (as theyare certainly a worthy addition to his side), he wouldn’t be able to find them morethan others in the Hunter Universe and the Spiders would have no more interestin taking part in the war than the Zoldycks, unless the Meteor City started tosuffer because of it, in which case they would return there and kill whateverDeath Eater (and perhaps even members of the Order) in a clear warning thatthey should leave the city out ofthis mess.

 Chrollo mayface some prejudice and bullying if it became known he came from Meteor Cityand also because, again, of his possible blood status by people like Draco Malfoy,for example. Chrollo would have some pretty poisonous responses to taunts thatwould be said in the calmest tone ever… And of course, if some ill fate were tobefall a person who annoyed him a bit too much… Well, it’s not like anyone can ever prove anything.

Possible Love Interests:

° HermioneGranger: There are several reasons why Hermione would catch Chrollo’s attentionand the fact she is so intelligent is not the only one. He might approach herafter crossing paths so often in the library, in a tentative way as he is stillmerely curious about her. His interest wouldn’t be romantic from the get-go, sinceat first Chrollo would just be content to find someone who enjoys reading and sharesa similar thirst for knowledge.

Over time,their interactions would increase and not be limited to the latest book theyread or what they think about a particular spell, with Chrollo starting to paymore attention to her and becoming a friend she can turn to when she fightswith Ron or Harry (Chrollo would certainly spend several hours with her in the thirdyear when both stopped talking to her for a while). However, in those times,Chrollo would subtly try to shift her attention to himself, wanting to separateher from the others. He would try keeping this as innocent as possible, sincehe would know at once that trying to turn Hermione against her friends wouldbackfire pretty badly.

In the end, regardlessof how things turn out, she may be one of the very few people that won’t becomepart of the Spiders (having, you know, morals) that Chrollo can stand.

° Harry Potter:Chrollo would have the same normal curiosity that many of the wizarding world sharesregarding Harry due to him surviving the Avada curse (and whether or not thismeans he has a possible rare skill Chrollo can steal), approaching Harry withoutacting as a fan or assuming to know anything about him. While he would be justas friendly as he is with everyone else, he would be basically evaluating Harryin several ways, including as a person.

Harry’spersonality, determination and the trouble “adventures” he gets intowould make him interesting in Chrollo’s eyes in a more personal way, regardlessif he seems to not possess any special skill that Chrollo would want to steal.Being quite good at reading people, Chrollo would be able to find a few thingsabout Harry (such as his situation with the Dursleys) without even talkingabout it. He might even consider recruiting Harry as a Spider, since he hasseveral qualities that would make him a good member… And maybe a part ofChrollo thinks about this because he wants to keep Harry close…

Eventually,they would develop a sort of camaraderie between them, which can become a seriousrelationship. If he happens to be older than Harry, Chrollo would definitely presenthimself as “the aloof and cool older student” that Harry can count on.

[tuwasduwillst]

Shadowbringers (pt 4/end)

This just has spoilers for everything, basically. :U I finished it and don’t feel like splitting stuff up because I have over 1k screenshots to go through...

Katana-bearing Centurion: Besides, there is but one hand that can make me whole again. My enemy... my friend...

He probably just says “friend” there in Japanese, but I don’t have my whole game switched, so I don’t get to know for sure. Good to know you’re still being weird, Zenos.

Don’t you smirk at me like that, mister.

Here’s Urianger being handsome, as usual

I hated fighting this old dude as Thancred.

1) I still can’t believe he can easily take out the WoL like he did

2) Stop making me be sword dudes!!

3) I get why they wanted people to see the dialogue here, but it was so slooooow and I died once near the end and had to do it all over again and ughhh, just go away

Ryne looks cute with her new hair and eyes, at least. :) Thancred is still a bad dad, but at least he’s doing better now... I guess.

Also, Urianger’s reaction to finding out that Thancred was paying attention to some of his talks about pixies was really good, haha.

...I wanna listen to Urianger give a pixie lecture...

Wow

This was something the game threw together when I asked it to pick recommended gear. It’s... some kind of look.

The Exarch/G’raha Tia is a qt. Y’know, I figured it was probably G’raha Tia, but I didn’t remember him being so short... and the lack of cat ears also made me doubt myself, haha.

I’m really glad I did the Crystal Tower stuff, though, because otherwise I’d... well, I’d still think that G’raha Tia/the Exarch is cute and like him a lot, but it wouldn’t have had the same impact.

I took a bunch of screenshots of Mikh’a. :U

& Emet-Selch, ofc

that one old dude: If you would pass me, you must endure all that I have learned on the battlefield... For I am a weapon forged in the fires of war!

~*oooh, I’m so scared of you and your tiny amount of health left*~

My MP doesn’t even have a dent in it, really. This is why I had such a hard time believing this dude could take out the WoL!! Even the first time we fought, I had tons of MP available to me and could’ve made a full recovery from being brought down to 1 HP. (...well, I have Benediction which is kind of cheating, but still.)

At least this was the last time I had to deal with him. He’s probably the worst thing about the expansion, which I guess I can deal with since the rest of it was so good.

Lots of really pretty screenshot opportunities in this expansion. c:

Mt. Gulg is something I thought was common to a bunch of FF games for some reason, but apparently it was in the original Final Fantasy, FFIX, and some random spin-off games. Weird.

How did Mikh’a hear him talking from that far away??

Emet-Selch has such a good design and you can tell that a lot of work was put into him. The expressions he makes, the way he stands and walks--it’s all unique to him and it makes him stand out a lot.

Even after everything that happened in the expansion, I’m really fond of him. They made the right move in having him kind of forge a more personal relationship with you/the WoL, because if he hadn’t been obnoxious in the background throughout most of the expansion it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as interesting/good as it ended up being.

I obviously chose to say that they were all Alphinaud’s assistants. :P

This little scene was so cute... lali-hos for everyone...

Crystal Exarch: Ugh! I would thank you not to shoot me!

I’m sorryyyyyy ; ~; You were there and I wanted to see what would happen!!!

Crystal Exarch: Ah heh... It may interest you to know that Mikh’a is a great hero in the land whence he hails. Some would say the greatest.

This little venture made me feel like I’d suddenly gotten married and adopted a child

(Which I’d be totally fine with, tbh.)

I loved this thing, actually!! I got to heal G’raha Tia, he healed me, we both healed our new tiny dwarf child, it was great.

c:

I’m still using the Mogrod. I’m never going to stop using it. Give me another thing that has a flower and swirly rainbows all over and maybe I’ll switch weapons, but until then? No.

...unless there’s, like... a really, really pretty plant weapon, especially if it matches Mikh’a’s outfit... but I don’t think there is.

I got to put my bubble on them. :D

He’s so cuuuuuute. And Mikh’a clearly agrees with my thoughts on him, considering the expression on his face when he looks at him.

One of the reasons I keep Mikh’a wearing the WHM gear is because I really like the contrast I get--a lot of the major characters wear black, so it looks nice when they stand next to each other. :D

Katana-bearing Centurion: The whereabouts of my one true friend, however--they interest me greatly. I but hope the beasts of this “First” are providing him proper sport.

Zenos is so funny to me. He just pops up like “did someone mention my friend” while his dad and Elidibus are having a serious conversation.

Innocence has beautiful hair and if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I’d never believe that he was Vauthry.

You can kind of see @tarifu in this screenshot! :D

You can definitely see her here--wait... why is half the party wearing dwarf beard outfits...

This is probably weird to say, but I genuinely like when characters I play in games like this suffer/are in pain. Not, like... constantly. I just like it when NPCs get to express concern and you aren’t some kind of unbreakable hero 24/7. >_>

Obviously I was going to say his name, who wouldn’t.

This made me cry!! I thought he was dead. :C

But thankfully Emet-Selch didn’t want him dead, so he did not die.

...why’d he even need a gun? Has he always had a gun?

I wish I could just float off into the sky after ruining everything and being a big jerk

sad kitty

I died when I came here with Jack and Mari because I didn’t realize I was being targeted by the boss until it was too late. :,)

I got to practice using my shield, though!! I’m not used to having one so I’m not super great at remembering it exists and using it; the tether thing is a good visual for “this specific person is going to be damaged soon and a shield would be Good”. ...unless everyone’s bunched up and I can’t tell who has it until it’s too late, I guess.

I know I’m level 80 now, but there’s still a lot I haven’t done and I’m still trying to figure out what the best way to do things is sometimes... I still need to mess with my hotbars and stuff, actually. I think I might switch some things around more than I already have, because some useful things aren’t as easy to use as they could/should be and I’ve been wanting to mess around with stuff for a while. The Trust dungeons should be a really good opportunity to test new configurations! Or the squad dungeons, I guess. :/a

I’m still not Ardbert’s biggest fan, but I don’t dislike him.

Poor Urianger, getting stuck with the role of the only other person to know the Exarch’s plans. :(

& then everyone died going to the bottom of the sea and the game ended

I got to help put dwarf helmets on sineaters :U

I also remembered that I have fancy wings now, wheee

I got a nice new outfit after doing my last Healer role quest! :D I like it a lot~ The whites are brighter than the last outfit, and the bit in back accommodates his tail much better than the corset did.

I might play around with mixing and matching some pieces once I get newer stuff, but for now this is what I’ve got! c:

...and I refuse to wear the hat. 100%. I’m not making Mikh’a look like a weird nun. :|

Amaurot was really good, even if being there mostly just made me sad. >_> The not-people were so cute and nice, though...

Big

The WoL hanging out on this giant bench is so cute.

I liked getting to talk to Emet-Selch’s friend. c: Well... kind of, anyway. Since it’s not really his friend...

tiny

Emet-Selch: I have broken bread with you, fought with you, grown ill, grown old! Sired children and yes, welcomed death’s sweet embrace.

I still don’t 100% understand how Ascians work, but I guess it’s canon that Emet-Selch fucks :/a

I regret typing that, I think, but it is apparently true

i think your fireplace has something wrong with it

Really though, this dungeon was excellent.

Alisaie decided that she wanted to LB right as one of the bosses was doing one of those “hide behind a rock Or You Will Die” things so she died & I accidentally walked right off the edge near the end of the last boss fight (oops), but other than that things went okay!

D:

ardbert could you please clean your axe somehow before you point it at me like that. tia

This was a really neat moment :U

I’m not calling Emet-Selch Hades ever. Sorry, Emet-Selch.

I was kind of afraid to do this trial and almost waited until someone would be able to do it with me, but it really wasn’t that bad in the end!

...except for when I died five times to the same attack... orz It was that arm-sweeping one, too, so it’s not like it’s not obvious that it’s coming. My problem was that I kept getting Raised in bad places right before it happened, so he basically just kept smacking me down over and over again.

(Which was partially my fault, because I should’ve waited to accept the Raise until I knew it was safe to be alive, but... I don’t like leaving the other healer alone and I don’t want to just be lying there uselessly if I can avoid it.)

Fortunately(?) the party wiped due to something completely unrelated (a failed mechanic I had nothing to do with) and I didn’t die at all the second time around! So at least there was that.

I liked this bit in the dark. c:

I also liked when I got trapped in the bubble and didn’t have to do anything. Thanks, Emet-Selch!

Genuinely though, it was a nice little chance for me to calm the hell down because my anxiety was getting real bad before/during this fight. >_>

Poor dude. :c Obviously he’s responsible for some absolutely terrible things and I’m not going to try to deny that or anything, but he’s lived for so long and he’s had to deal with the loss of basically everyone he ever cared about for that whole time. He recreated that entire city and all of its people, that’s how much he cared.

Still no excuse for basically trying to kill all of the people he didn’t consider “real”! But also still sad, IMO.

This made me go “awww” out loud and start to tear up, haha...

I didn’t want to leave him ; ~;

Estinien said a full sentence here about how these guards were dead, too (in a way that implied he assumed that’s what they’d find), and the localization translated it as “hmph”. Kind of a weird choice there, but okay.

Zenos basically went Full Yandere since he killed his father just because he could potentially get in the way of his thing with the WoL, so... that’s something that’s going to have to be dealt with at some point.

I’m interested in seeing how things go, but I’m also a wee bit concerned that other people might get caught up in whatever this obsession is. I don’t want anyone to get hurt or killed because of Zenos’s yandere tendencies. :(

Elidibus is being Boring on the moon.

But who cares about that! I got to lead a Girl Scout meeting for my level 80 WHM quest.

Oh! Almost forgot about the story I got to tell the girls: “The tale of a man who crossed time and space to save the world... and me.”

I think the second one is about (original) Minfilia, maybe? :/a I wanted to tell them about G’raha Tia, though.

Aaaand that’s all I’ve done! \o/ I unlocked a new dungeon and I know there’s more than one post-80 dungeon, so I’ll probably check those out when I get a chance... but I finished the main stuff.

Which is kinda weird, because now I’m done again, haha... but I’ve got plenty of stuff to do before the next new stuff comes out. Especially since I discovered that Vamo alla Flamenco is the “dancer’s theme”, apparently. Need to dance ASAP >:O

[monasatlantis]

Trails of Cold Steel 4 - Review of the game so far (Before chapter 2!)

So I finally finished our “little” intermezzo at the Black Workshop and also finally managed to get our beloved Rean back into class 7. And as things stand I feel the need for a little review after everything we’ve been through in CS4 so far.

Spoiler under the cut!

First thing I have to say is that I was not happy with how the first chapter (including the intermezzo) was. I absolutely despise the fact that through the whole of it, new class 7 was given the focus and it was handled like they are more important to Rean than everyone else. It is with any doubt the case that Rean treasures his students a lot and surely is proud of all they did and accomplished, but I do not think that it was fair towards old class7 to act until the very end, as if they were the only ones who could really save Rean. And even tho I get that as continuation of CS3 it does makes sense that we as the player follow the new class 7, I found is extremely questionable that we start with saying that there is no “old” and “new” class 7 but that we are all Class 7 instead and yet we constantly keep dividing them into new class 7 and old class 7 by name and on missions. It sucks!

Instead of making the parts were we had to find the places we had to drive the stakes in so damn overly long and boring (the pacing was outright awful though most of chapter 1) we could have split old and new class 7 into two teams (similar to the way it was in the intermezzo, mixing the two classes instead of dividing them in old and new and just adding a few character of the “old” class 7 into the “new” one as support) and had made it through all of those 7 places TOGETHER. That way it might have been a little less boring and we would have given both classes equal time and chances to shine.

Seriously, the awful pacing of chapter 1 was killing me. We’ve been running and running and running and running FOR HOURS. And for what? We’ve got the same information over and over again. People are forcefully recruited. We are going to war with Calvard. The Curse drives people to want war. Somewhere we find that colorful grass. Collecting old students of Thors and old classmates of the branch-campus while we are at it. The end. The plot was barely moving forward at all.

Plot-conveniences and plotholes were quite common in chapter one. I mean, it was impossible for Estelle and Joshua to come to Erebonia because they were considered dangerous and right when the war with Calvard is about to start and the security is so much more tighter, they suddenly get into Erebonia without much problems? Same for Lloyd and Elie... in CS3 there was no way they could help us, because they barely could help themselves and in CS4 they suddenly also can come to the aid of some Erebonians? I don’t see why the Bracer-Guild would have suspicions of Rean just because he is Osbornes Son. Multiple A-Rank-Bracer can vouch that he is a good guy. Toval, Agate and Sarah surely have reported a thing or two about the Ashen Chevalier. Its seems like a really cheap excuse they used to bring Estelle and Joshua to Erebonia. Would have been easier to say they just came to stop the war and the pressure it puts on Liberl. Ruther showing up to recruit Ash was ridiculous. He too works for Ouroboros and Osborne and they would have needed Ash out of the way, so he might not prove the stupidity and lies of the Empire. This was just a cheap excuse to bring Ruther into the picture for our regular “end of that mission” Diving-Knight-Fight. I mean look at it. There is no Zephyr anymore. Leo, Zeno and Ruther are all that left of it and they currently work for all the people Ash hates. So why should they even try to recruit him? Just so you know... Junas little speech to old Class7 relatively in the beginning was absolutely uncalled for. Her speeches and all are usually not a bad thing (tho I disliked they were pushing her as the leader, given the fact that she doesn’t give anything much though beforehand...) and made me quite proud though the first chapter BUT they way she talked to old class7 and how she said that they would understand Rean a lot better was absolutely unnecessary. First of all, I think old class7 was very well aware that Rean was currently suffering and has been suffering before. There is absolutly no reason why only new class 7 would get that, their weren’t closer to him, they just had recently spend 4 months with him or so, so they MIGHT understand his current situation a bitter better than the others, but not to such an degree. On top of that, you have to remember what old Class7 had lost and been through in this final fight. Aside from Rean, what did new Class7 lose? Altina was save! Ash and Musse, even tho currently out of the team, not in any mortal danger nor did they become their enemies. Neither of them had to face their fathers in battle, or lost their father or the love of they life. Neither of them had to face the consequences of the misdeeds of their families or the betrayal of people they loved and trusted. So excuse me when I say that it was totally unfair to scream at Old Class7 for actually mourning. It was tactless, mean and way out of line from Juna and the other two who supported her. A peptalk? Fine. But surely not like that! By the way, the Zero-Sword that became red and tainted when Rean took it, was purified when Arienhod catched it, after Ruther got it out of Reans hands, and yet, it is red again when we see it in the black workshop. If Celine always had the human form, it is very unlikely that she would have never used it before just because she doesn’t like it. Especially seeing how in CS2 she and Rean almost got killed by a magic knight and her ability to fight would have been most welcome here. Also... she will use this power more often in CS4, which seems extremely weird given the fact that she never even used it in life-threatening-situation before because she didn’t like it. Pure Plot-Convenience. How come we see Crow and Duvalie talking about Rean at the beginning of the Week and at the end of it, when we are about to save Rean, they still stand there like its still that day?

That aside... I know its no ones fault but I hate all the new voices >.< They just don’t fit.

My next complain is about the intermezzo. Like... WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?! It felt like I’ve landed in a final dungeon right at the end of chapter 1. The dungeon itself was okayisch... but the Enemies and the bosses were a damn nightmare. And whos Idea was it that those bossfights always had to play at the exact same time? Give me a damn break!

Urg. All that aside. The music is on point as per usual. The development of the new class7 characters was really great and it is nice to see all those old characters again. And boy I did cry a little when we finally got Rean back...

All in all, as you can see, my feeling about the game is not so good so far. I hope that now that Rean is back, it will get better.

[largepotato]

Stormblood thoughts

There’s current 1,064 players in queue.

I tweeted doing tthis earlier so I figured I’d write it while i wait to log in. I figured it’d be nice to give one coherent summary of my thoughts i guess, because i feel like talking to friends makes us kind of piecemeal our opinions together and are something imprecise or vague about what specifically we enjoyed or not, so organizing my thoughts on the game so far might be nice.

First, i guess, aesthetic. I think it did great, i think it made zones that are interesting, easily navigated and most of all coherent. So many of Heavensward zones just had this slight incoherence to them that doesn’t make sense to me, as a natural or even semi-seamless part of a broader geographical area. Obviously the limitations of the game make it such that we only see a small part of these regions, but stormblood managed to make it feel like the zones captured a part of a broader picture that feels natural intertwined with the areas that aren’t shown as well as its neighboring regions. It takes care to be mindful of its geography, the paths and routes feel detailed enough to be realistic, but not so mcuh that they’re a chore to navigate. It deos a better job than heavensward in encouraging you to explore the regions, but it also has lots of areas to explore with nothing significant there. Little nooks and crannies with a suprising amount of detail put into them, but nothing of actual substance. EAch zone feels different and captures its feeling very well, so overall i love the experience it has, but not w/o some issue.

The new gear provided is a mixed bag. The new gear introduced is all gorgeous and detailed in subtle simple ways that doesn’t make it feel overly wrought or cluttered for the most part. The recycled models are unique ones that I enjoy seeing again, but some were used too much or without sufficient changes to the model or the class it was on. I think the 67 dungeon is the worst offender of this, bc it is slight recolors of doman gear without any departures from the blue gear models or associated classes. The first dungeon being dyeable, the i270 and i300 green weapons being the same model, as well as several grey gear repeated from HW grey gear is also a bit bland. That some of the high end glamor gear is also now gatherer/crafter gear feels weird, but not being able to glamor that unto combat gear changes that. Most of this is outweighed by the new gear looking absolutely gorgeous, but it feel like lost potential in some ways.

Second, i guess should be plot. I’ll do things I liked, then disliked, then things i’m optimistic and looking forward to.

I’ll begin by saying I loved the plot as a whole. It delivered more than i was expecting in being this exciting journey to the east kind of quest. It managed to tie this kind of fantasy theme with something more earthly by having the back drop being a campaign to liberate nations long occupied, and it managed to do it in a way that was reasonably well nuanced. I wasn’t expecting much in terms of how it talked about ideas like occupation, and liberty, and rule, and cooperation with one’s occupiers, but I think it mostly managed to delivery in these regards. I think the dialogue was mostly really good at a mix of banter and serious deliveries, and I think it did good at using both ends of conversation to give characterization to people in the quests as well as your own character. Its overall quality made me realize the chaff that heavensward still had, despite that itself being a great improvement over ARR. For the most part, it had likeable protagonists who showed human flaws, villains who played specific roles as villains and served that ends well, and companions who grew and explored the same world and struggles as you did as a player character. 

The things i didn’t like were mostly in a lack of conclusion, or willingness to come to certain conclusions and closure with the narrative and characterization given to the characters. Primarily, this is in characters like Yotsuyu and Zenos, but kinda sprinkled through out. The game is uncertain what it wants from these characters or what role they should play in the narrative, and sometimes feels like the ending is overly flattening or just a dramatic shift that weakens the impact of the personality cultivated over the course of the plot. 

In Yotsuyu’s case, she’s presented as this self-determined and violent pragmatist who begins to be given a sympathetic background, that’s ignored for a dramatic one-dimensional ending (yes, i know i know). That it fails to give her opportunity to explore and understand her in a way that makes her and her collaboration with the empire more sympathetic is a huge short coming, and makes it feel wasted as a time to develop as a character. 

Zenos is what i might see as a quinessential JRPG villain, with morbid and truly baseless, and irrational ideas of human violence and instinct, and in most cases this would just be boring, but his position and role makes this more interesting because of the power he commands and the influence he offers. How he manipulates and affects someone like Fordola and how he perceives his conflict with you is so out of touch with the reality of the rest of the narrative that it almost works because that divide is so clearly shown.... until the end, and you go to the menagerie, and he’s just... He monologues and becomes a dragon and you fight and none of what he did before make sense. His imperial position and rule and authority to command armies at his call are irrelevant, and his brutally primitive world view isn’t given a context except its own word. It becomes uninteresting to me, and never really gives a closure on why his view is wrong, only that in some ways he validates himself and dies.

In a similar vein, the game wants to make a parallel between Lyse and Fordola, as a characters who mirror each other, and all of the pieces are there, but the game doesn’t or isn’t interested in making something from it, but that may be somethin to be developed as more patches are released. But its also indicative as a whole where the game almost wants to say something or provide this kind of insight or even the vaguest of messages, and shirks away and fails to do so in any way, or with any substance. (This also brings up my disappointment in the Lakshmi detour, in that it is a regression in where the plot has gone with discussing the nature of primals and primal summoning, and the vaguest of messages that can be gleaned from the arc falls unto deaf ears of the main cast, and leaves a bad taste in my mouth, especially in the context of Lakshmi being a real hindu goddess that’s depicted with an all too similar appearance. Even with that issue aside, it fails to do anything interesting or substantive, even though every piece is supplied and presented within the game).

For all those grievances, this also means i have a lot that I want out of the game and that I think it has the potential to deliver on. The end of the quest begins to raise more and more questions on the nature of leadership, or rule and authority, and what it takes to provide these things. They’re situated there both at the beginning and the ending, and I think it has a lot of promise both for an overarching story and post-game , as well as exploration through side quests and so on.

I’m kinda running out of things to say that don’t feel like repetition, but thats that I guess. I could talk about mechanical things another time, but I wanted to put this down I guess. enjoy.