#( The pokemon world tournament is such a good idea to bring back characters )

[shitpostingkats]

Yu-Gi-Oh Review Roundup: GX!

Favorite main character: Chazz Princeton

The Chazz. The yugioh rival who, barely five episodes into the first season, gets fed up with being in the show, sails away on a yacht, shipwrecks, is rescued by card game playing russians, gets adopted by said russians after beating all of them back to back in a 50 man gauntlet, and returns to the main plot triumphantly riding a submarine with an entire crowd of slavs chanting his name.

In, uh... *checks watch* episode 25.

Chazz is one of those yugioh characters who’s just always doing the most he possibly can, and you gotta love him for it. And unlike some prideful anime rivals, he actually has the skills to back it up. Skills you actually get to watch him build himself, from the ground up, after having his fall from grace/russian sabbatical. Which just makes it even more satisfying to see him tear into duels, because his archetype of choice, and his whole arc in general, is about using the most unintimidating, unwanted, and least powerful monsters. It’s like the pokemon trainers who threaten to beat you into next week, and then bring out. A magikarp.

Except he then absolutely trashes you with said magikarp. And clomps away in his big goth platforms, loudly proclaiming that magikarp are annoying, and stupid, and he definitely doesn’t like them. Nu-uh. Ignore the maxed out friendship stat.

Up until the heavier plot kicks in in season three, Chazz has hands down the best character arcs of GX. His fight to break free of his abusive brothers’ control, his crabby assimilation into the Slifer Squad, his brief stint and subsequent escape from a Literal Cult (yeah that happens in gx don’t worry about it). Chazz is such a charismatic and well developed character that, when he kinda vanishes for like a dozen episodes, only to reappear, having won an entire tournament offscreen, being heralded by banner-bearers, and carried on a freaking PALANQUIN

I stood up and CHEERED.

Favorite antagonist: The Dark King

The most stunning of trope subversions in a season chock-full of them. Yes, Yubel may be a more threatening and complex villain, but they have so much going on between the dub vs. sub battle, they may get the final save-the-world card game at the end of the season, but the Dark King is such an equally nuanced and menacing antagonist.

Because he’s the protagonist.

 The dark king is every concept I loved about the Yamis in DM, the idea that parts of ones soul aren’t wholly power of friendship goodness, the idea that you can still choose to be an anime protag even if there’s darkness living inside of you. Because being kind is hard. And the act of pursuing it hits so much harder when we see how much it costs to turn down the other path.

Again, I’m a sucker for any character arc even remotely analogous to mental illness. If you see a pattern in the way I review media, I wholeheartedly claim it. I am a simple creature.

But the Dark King also functions so fantastically as both a metaphor and a subversion because we’ve seen the trope of a Superpowered Evil Side before. The show is betting on that. The twist comes in that the Dark King is not some malevolent, foreign entity. That it’s Jaden. Just a scared kid, lashing out at the world and forced to deal with the consequences. And he’s not evil.

Whereas Marik shows with dealing in the part of yourself that wants to commit atrocities, Jaden takes it the next step, and has to accept that you can’t just get rid of it. You have to live with it. Rein it in. But be kind to it. Because it is you, and it just wants to keep you safe and it may be wrong and a base impulse but punishing your worst instincts is not only self harmful, it is impossible.

You may have instantly internalized any negative emotion out of shame, and yes, you may somedays even be controlled by it. But do not fear it. Learn to work in tandem with your rage. Do not let it possess you, but do not imprison it either.

The Dark King is one of those stories that I really think I needed to hear as a kid, but even now, consuming the series as an adult, doesn’t make that message any less impactful.

Favorite side character: Tyranno Hassleberry

Back in the early days of 2021, before the first season of yugioh dm was even a passing consideration of a thought in my mind, I decided to poll my online friends and determine what they thought the Best Worst Name in localized yugioh.

These were people that had never watched yugioh, never so much as glanced at the card game.

We started with 32 names.

After five rounds of voting, only one was left standing.

Tyranno Hassleberry beat Maximillion Pegasus, and thus was crowned the ultimate champion of Best Bad Yugioh Name.

Some might say this championship gave me a bit of a preemptive bias towards the funny dinosaur man.

They’d be right.

Imagine my delight, however, when this already-primed-for-stupidity name got a face, and we learn that big, dumb, real himbo of a yugioh name is attached to an equally big and dumb himbo of typical yugioh absurdity. I mean, truly, Tyranno Hassleberry is everything I love about yugioh worldbuilding, personified. In a series that takes an up close examination of the partnerships between man and monster, and the terrible psychological effects thereof, Hassleberry stands as the shining example of a character so full of love and stupidity that he is immune to the horrors.

While Jaden “What is attraction” Yuki is off getting ptsd from his partnership with a dragon demon that hyperfocuses on relationships so hard that it has put people into comas, Tyranno is also there. Just vibing. Hassleberry, do you have such a strong spiritual connection to your ace monster that you might be genuinely inhuman? Do you also have special anime eyes and mild superpowers? How’s that going? Good? Good!

The world of yugioh not only can provide rich, nuanced explorations on mental wellness and the very idea of identity, it can also provide a man who is half dinosaur and it is only ever lightly remarked upon. Apparently, the solution to surviving an ever expanding universe of unreality and cosmic horrors beyond your imagination is just. Be kind. Be happy. Talk about dinosaurs.

Favorite duel: Yubel vs. Zane

A masterclass on how non-plot-relevant duels can still contribute SO much to the show and its characters.

Zane is a funny little weirdo. The walking personification of Gifted Kid Burnout, this dude graduated valedictorian and then immediately proceeded to get kicked in the ribs by the realities of non-academic living, causing him to sink into a deep and self harmful depression spiral, obsessed with pulling others down to his level and proving to them that happy go lucky positivity is only a naive shield in the face of true adversity and cruelty.

*Laughs a bit too forcefully* What a funny dude!

Zane has basically been on a downward slide in mental wellbeing since season two, and at this point, seems to have reached a natural stopping point in his corruption arc. Tired, washed out, and pessimistic, but at least comfortable in his status quo of being An Absolute Mess. He’s teamed up with Aster as sort of the token chaotic neutrals of the party, the only ones edgy enough to do things like casual torture and murder, but he’s attempted to reach out to his brother, and has even begrudgingly been roped into protecting the gang as they make their final stand against Yubel. He seems to be operating under the belief that while he no longer has to try so hard to rid the highschoolers of their delusions that the power of love and friendship will save the day, he’s still a depressed snot rag wrapped in a black leather overcoat.

That fantastic bit of ex-villainous personality gets to go head to head against the current villainous personality, and it is a treat. Yubel and Zane carry entire scenes through sheer force of presence, and seeing them snark and attempt to out edgelord each other is a delight.

But it also is a very pivotal point for Zane’s character because, for once, he is not the most mentally unstable person in the room. That honor goes to Jaden, newly traumatized, and about to start rolling down the same hill. Zane recognizes those self destructive behaviors, even attempts to warn Jaden that refusing to acknowledge his actions will only lead to further harm, but before he can properly sit down and explain to Jaden that self harmful behaviors are bad actually, and that electrocuting yourself to feel any semblance of emotion is actually a massive holy shit red flag, Yubel interrupts them.

So now, Zane, Failure Big Brother Extraordinaire, has to come to some semblance of peace with his own emo demons, while battling Jaden’s for him (both literally and figuratively).

The sheer panache of two of the most wonderful anti-heros of yugioh, the emotional turmoil of Zane’s inner conflict, the realistic portrayal of how we process trauma, plus the absolute YUGIOH MOVE that is choosing to die of card game induced heart attack. Honestly, I could go on about this duel forever.

Favorite arc: Quest for the Rainbow Dragon

I mentioned previously that I started watching yugioh as something to have on in the background, usually while I sewed. The Quest for the Rainbow Dragon is the arc that made me put down my needle and actually devote my full attention to watching the show.

GX is a show full of subverting audience expectations. I have my own opinions on the prioritization of shock-bait over consistent plot writing, but I also can’t deny that when Adrian Gecko just shrugged off his shirt and engaged in freaking fisticuffs, I was speechless for a whole five minutes.

In between one blink and the next, GX went from a weird early 2000s merchandise advert that occasionally had character writing and the oh-so-rare taste of legitimately serious writing, to a full on survival horror anime. The surreal, empty desert environment of the spirit world, the main cast slowly whittled down and frequently split up, the eerie monologues of Yubel and their legitimately unnerving horror visuals; all contribute to this claustrophobic feeling of dread. The panic of the students feels real.

And QftRD, despite being the first entry in GX’s much darker and grander second half, makes wonderful use of smaller scale episode plots. Entire episodes are devoted to the struggle of moving from one room in the school to the next, or negotiating for enough food to survive just another day. Every main character gets to shine in aspects that we’ve only seen hints of in their lives of status quo card games: whether it’s Alexis’ natural leadership, Hassleberry and Axels’ military skills, Crowler’s actual want to protect the students’ well being, or Jaden and Jesse just finally getting to explore their connections with duel monster spirits. Heck, even the unnamed students get to shine, using their knowledge of the school to navigate through hidden passages.

It’s such a shock to the system, after two and a half seasons of decidedly not small scale apocalyptic survival. The transition from Saturday Morning Cartoon Weirdness to PTSD War Crime Hours is very jarring and unexpected, even if you know it’s going to happen. But the duel zombies arc goes a long way to make that pivot feel deserved, to give actual weight to the sacrifices and choices the characters are about to make.

Also, I somehow managed to write this entire thing without realizing this is my second time my favorite arc in a ygo show has been the one with the word ‘dragon’ in the title.

Greatest strengths of the series:

The slow burn from shonen cartoon to cosmic horror trope subversion.

Truly, I can only compare GX to a handful of other shows that have ever come within the same ballpark of a viewing experience. The closest I can get is maybe relating it to Red vs Blue: One of my favorite shows of all time. And one that it’s absolutely impossible to get into.

See, with both GX and RvB, they’re shows that start out silly, unconnected, and (don’t worry, I love both of these shows with almost my entire heart), bad. Now, an impatient viewer might be tempted to just skip to the point where the show takes off, where it quote unquote “gets good”. But the problem is, if you attempt to cut out all the chaff, you lose what fundamentally makes the sudden spike in writing quality so compelling: the unexpectedness of it.

GX grabbed my attention by the throat in Waking The Dragon, because, up until then, I’d been using it as chill background fodder. Jaden felt so real to me as a protagonist and a person, because I’d spent fourty hours watching him be a normal protagonist/teenager. The previous episodes might not have done much to advance in terms of the plot, but they delivered something equally important: A status quo.

And when that status quo is broken, it feels much more powerful to the audience because it feels so fundamentally wrong. Just like it’s insane to watch in real time as RvB goes from being a bunch of outdated loosely strung together skits to a military drama waxing poetic about morality, GX spins on a dime from “Saturday morning cartoon” to “Cosmic horror meta tropefest”, and every episode you want to look up from the screen and go “How. Wh- Who let them just... do this?” Who let them set out to write one kind of story, and then not bother to correct them when they started doing something completely different? And why is it so good?

That is a very rare feeling in media, I think. To be so truly and utterly thrown off guard by a change in story direction, yet having more fun than you possibly could with some so-called “good” stories. And I think it’s a feeling worth cherishing.

Weakest points:

The slow burn from shonen cartoon to cosmic horror trope subversion.

The other reason I compare GX to Red vs. Blue is the fact that they are both shows that I cannot in good conscience recommend to friends.

“Here’s this show I like,” I say.

“Oh, cool, I’ll check it out!”

They return, minutes to hours later.

“So, I started that show you like and uh. Are you aware it is? Bad?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, it gets better-”

“Oh, sweet, cause I was really worried-”

“-Just give it a couple seasons!”

“I, uh.” They tug at their collar. “Can I skip the bad parts?”

“No. :D”

Hours and hours of time sunk into a mediocrity on the off-chance it “gets good” is a tough pill to swallow for most people. It’s a tough pill to swallow for me, and I willingly aspire to watch every yugioh anime. Add on top of that poor production quality,  bloated plot bunnies, and some writing that has aged like milk, and you have. Well. A benign watching experience, at minimum.

And like I said, there’s good ingredients to the final storyline buried in all that early stuff! Just skipping directly to the middle in a hope to reach “the part everyone talks about” fundamentally waters down the experience, leaving you struggling to understand what has fans going bananas.

Why does the show hit you on the head 200 times with a hammer? Cause it feels so good when it stops!

Now, I’m not your parent, and you can watch tv shows however you want. If you only watched seasons 3 and 4 of GX, then by god, you watched GX, and you are welcome at the discussion table. Get in here, amigo. Your opinion matters just as much as mine.

GX is very difficult to review, in comparison to all its other sister shows, because the aspects some people praise are the very aspects others could never really get into the show because of. Its greatest strength as a story and its greatest weakness as a show are one in the same. It’s sort of this weird child of the family, unable to be talked about without a lot of contradiction and conversational backtracking. Is GX the best show of the three? Maybe. Is it my favorite? No, with an asterisk. Is it some people’s favorite? Absolutely.

If you changed it, made the plot tighter, the writing more concise, had a planned narrative from the beginning and slowly worked in elements of the larger endgame, would those same people still like it, in the same fervor?

I don’t think so.

Most yugioh moment:

YA SEE, A FEW YEARS BACK, ON A ROUTINE DIG FOR DINOSAUR FOSSILS, A LANDSLIDE BROKE OUT AND NEARLY BROKE MY LEG IN TWO. THEY HAD TO OPERATE QUICKLY, SO THEY USED THE DINOSAUR BONE I FOUND TO SAVE MY LEG. EVER SINCE, I'VE HAD WHAT THEY CALL DINO DNA. THE DOCTOR SAYS IT MAKES ME STRONGER THAN THE AVERAGE JOE.

#yugioh #yugioh gx #yu-gi-oh! #yu-gi-oh #ygo #ygo gx #spk's ygo reviews #essays #review #chazz princeton #jun manjoume #jaden yuki #judai yuki #yuki judai #zane truesdale #ryu marufuji #tyranno hassleberry #jesse anderson #johan andersen

[ringedgiant]

 Let’s fucking go gamers. Pokemon World Tournament time like back in B2W2. Right here, right fucking now.

 Sinnoh > Your 4fun region HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

#🪐; IC #🪐; Crack #( Seriously though... ) #( The pokemon world tournament is such a good idea to bring back characters ) #( Fuck. Have my boys: Faba and reformed Saturn be in there omg ) #( GAME FREAK PLEEASSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE )

[ygo5dsmonth2020]

YU-GI-OH! 5DS MONTH 2020

We’re back! It’s that time of the year! The mods are excited to announce this year’s themes for YU-GI-OH! 5DS MONTH 2020. 

Bored during quarantine? Say no more. We hope you join in this year!

Day 1 (July 7th): Stardust Acceleration

Accelerate! We’re kicking off into overdrive by starting this month off with our hero of the hour! Rev it up by showing us how YOU celebrate Yusei Fudo’s birthday!  

Day 2 (July 8th): Sink or Sail

As good captains, we all have a ship we’d set sail on. Which is yours?

Day 3 (July 9th): Story to Story

Our tale begins with a fast-paced story that takes us through the city’s tournament with the Fortune Cup, the Satellite’s peril with the Dark Signer’s, to Crash Town, to once again Neo Domino City’s action with the World Racing Grand Prix to the conclusion with the Ark Cradle. Which arc was your favorite?

Day 4 (July 10th): Songs to Fix a D-Wheel To

Let the music play! Do you have a playlist you wanna share? It can be for a character, a ship, an overall arc, or a fanfiction! Come on Eileen, show us what you got!

Day 5 (July 11th): Bloom of the Black Rose

Pitch dark flower, set to bloom! Today we celebrate the Black Rose, Aki Izayoi! How will you choose to celebrate our loyal psychic?

Day 6 (July 12th): As Above, So Below

Heaven or hell. Signers or Dark Signers. The Crimson Dragon vs the Earthbound Immortals. Whose side are you on?

Day 7 (July 13th): This Town Ain’t Big Enough

Yeehaw! Bring out your ponchos, set your guns to duel, and show us what all Satisfaction Town has to bring? Is it a character? The city itself? A duel? Satisfy us!

Day 8 (July 14th): Power Play

Further Turbo Dueling King, the Master of Faster, lover of ramen, and one hell of a (jack)ass. Today we’re celebrating the King Himself: Jack Atlas!

Day 9 (July 15th): Fly Your Colors

The World Racing Grand Prix! Today is all about Teams, whether it be Team 5ds, Team Unicorn, or even somewhere out of the WRGP- Like Team Satisfaction! Which Team are you on?

Day 10 (July 16th): Free Day I/Introduction Day

Our first free day! Use this day to either introduce yourself to the crowd or feel free to leave it open! It’s up to you!

Day 11 (July 17th): Fly, Blackbird!

This Satellite bird is our man of the hour! Our favorite hardworking, lovable, mother hen for kids, and unbeatable duelist, but what else is there? Show us! Give your love for Crow Hogan!

Day 12 (July 18th): Star-Crossed Lovers

Have you ever wanted to see the cast of Yu-Gi-Oh 5ds paired up with someone from another show entirely? Wanna see Yusei Fudo in a relationship with Dawn from Pokemon? Now’s your chance! Anything is possible today!

Day 13 (July 19th): Flip the Script

We all have a favorite alternative universe we’d like to see Team 5ds in. Whether it be a coffee shop, college, or maybe even a glimpse of the timeline Z-ONE came from! Anything is on the table for this day!

Day 14 (July 20th): Words Have Power

Like the Heart of the Cards, there are many signature catchphrases within the world of 5ds. What’s your favorite quote?

Day 15 (July 21st): Spirit World Walker

The holy light of protection, now cross and become eternal life! She may be small, but she sure is mighty! Bow down to the protector of the Spirit World- Rua/Luna! Today’s day is all about her!

Day 16 (July 22nd): Me and My OC

Most of us out there think of an original character to place into the world of 5ds. For many of us, it’s the start of friendships, self-journeys, or just fun and self-exploration into another world! Show us your OC today!

Day 17 (July 23rd): Polar Opposites

The modern-day story of light vs dark. A tale of contrasts. Ying-Yang. What two opposites do you want to showcase?

Day 18 (July 24th): Heart of the Dragon

Envoy of love and justice! This energetic machinist has as big of a punch as his heart! Today is all about Rua/Leo!

Day 19 (July 25th): Flex Your Canon

We all have our different headcanons about the characters or story. What are yours? It can be anything from changing canon to implementing your own ideas!

Day 20 (July 26th): Free Day II/Support Fellow Creators

Our second free day! You can use this day to submit whatever you wish, or you can shout out your favorite artist, fanfiction author, or just your favorite character! Give someone else some well-deserved love.

Day 21 (July 27th). Spin the Wheel, Throw a Dart

Story tropes! This could be anything from a day on the beach, a sleepover episode, or anything in between! What trope do you wish to see in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh 5ds?

Day 22 (July 28th): Tech Genius

The android with a supercomputer for a brain, Bruno stole our hearts as Antimony and continued until the bitter end. Today’s day is all about Bruno!

Day 23 (July 29th): Bad Guy Syndrome

The series had its swarm of enemies: whether it be Divine, Ruder/Roman, Rex, or Z-ONE. Which is your favorite?

Day 24 (July 30th): We’re Here Too!

Out of all the characters in the entire series, who do you feel is under-appreciated, or deserves more attention? Show us!

Day 25 (July 31st): Dead Guy Walking

Former Dark Signer, leader of Team Satisfaction/The Enforcers, and a brooding man looking for some satisfaction. Today’s day is all about Kalin Kessler/Kyosuke Kiryu!

Day 26 (August 1st): In the Z-ONE

Z-ONE is the man behind the madness. What kind of man do you think he is? A man trying to save the world, or destroy it? Tell us!

Day 27 (August 2nd): Pain vs Puff Pieces

Angst vs Fluff. Do you prefer a fairytale ending or a bittersweet tragedy? Pick one and show off!

Day 28 (August 3rd): Tale of Two Stories

We now have seven Yu-Gi-Oh series! What would happen if one of our heroes from Team 5ds happened to meet someone from the past, or perhaps the future? Whether you prefer to rev it up, high five the sky, or get your game on, show us what you got!

Day 29 (August 4th): You Can See Them Too?

The world of the Duel Monsters is filled to the brim with spirits. Showcase either your favorite duel monster or a moment within the Spirit World!

Day 30 (August 5th): Free Day III

Our last free day! Share with us anything your heart desires!

Day 31 (August 6th): Going My Way!

Today is the last day, but we still have the road to tomorrow. What does the future hold?

#yugioh #ygo #yugioh 5ds #ygo 5ds #ygo5ds #yugioh5ds #5ds #yusei #aki #ygo5dsmonth2020 #jack atlas #yusei fudo

[repentantsky]

5 Franchises That Should Have Warriors Games

I don't know how new anyone who read this is to Warriors/Musou games. Maybe the game I'm about to reference was a first for you, or maybe you've been with the franchise since it moved to the style it uses today with Dynasty Warriors 2. Whatever the case, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity showed just how capable the style of gameplay is, and I think it would be a massive missed opportunity to not make more spin-offs in that style to bring new fans in. With that said, let's take a look at 5 Franchises that deserve their own Warriors/Musou games.

5. Pokemon. 

Pokemon, while it does have some experience with action combat in some spin-off games, most notably it's Mystery Dungeon entries, it's never really gone full in with the idea, but imagine what a success it could be. With so many Pokemon to catch, and so many options for the basis of a story, be it something more serious like the theorized "Pokemon War" that's not mentioned in X and Y, but something more recent, to something more simple, like your team trying to earn it's way into a special tournament by beating rival teams in Warriors style battles, Pokemon is primed and ready to go combat where Pikachu takes out thousands of Mupkip's or Charizard gets to burn a grassy plain full of Roselia. Whatever Pokemon would do with the idea, it could be a lot of fun.

4. Just, everything Atlus. 

Atlus has a history of many great characters, and many dark settings, but possibly nowhere could the type of games they like to make be made darker than by the idea of thousands of it's famous, or infamous demons prowling the streets of Tokyo, or the hell, go world wide and capture everything from the Golden Gate Bridge to Big Ben, to the flipping pyramids. An easy story to write would simply be that the God's who have done nothing while their kind of have been murdered by protagonists and their teams over the years are finally going to try to end earth, but their all converging to the planet, caused all the timelines to blend together, and the hero's of each Persona, each Shin Megami Tensei, Last Bible, Etrian and everything beyond all need to work together to put an end to the evil and return to their own homes. It's a plot that could be interesting, and practically writes itself, so get on it Atlus.

3. Castlevania. 

The Castlevania series hasn't been the most active as of late, for obvious reasons, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't make for a great Musou experience. Finding yourself, a Belmont in a castle that causes you to see things that aren't there, this Belmont could find power in the illusions they see to create false, but functioning versions of protagonists in their family line, even making up a few to better fill up the roster. From there, it's just fighting the many hoards that are blocking your way through the castle. To create more content, there could even be a second castle that you have to make your way through with harder enemies, much like many people's favorite game in the series, or make it a somehow improved Demon Castle, and simply have it restore itself faster than normal. Regardless, taking on Dracula's supernatural army, sure sounds fun.

2. Final Fantasy. 

We already know that Square has dabbled in the Warriors style of combat with it's two entries Dragon Quest's two Hero's entries. Both games were solid, and people love to see their favorite allies from across this legendary series fight together, or against villains from other entries in the franchise. It could even be the next step in the Dissidia franchise, as another round with Chaos himself would be something fans would love. Regardless of what would be done, Final Fantasy is full of iconic characters, iconic monsters, and has more than enough lore to make a fantastic (pun intended) Warriors game. Chaos would be the perfect reason for all the characters to be fighting alongside one another, and the fact that some Warriors games can have a long run time, it gives the potential game plenty of chances to really play into it’s roster of character’s stories, and their abilities to really mess things up, or save the day.

1. Legend of Heroes/Kiseki/Ys

Of all the developers that have really been coming up in the world, Nihon Falcom or NIS America for some, has been making spectacular games for 40 years now. Of all of those, the Kiseki, or Legend of Heroes franchise, is probably their most beloved at this point, and for good reason. The first entry, named Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, came out way back in 1992, which hello to the 30th anniversary next year by the way, and has had so many fantastic characters it could bring to the a Warriors style game. With action combat something the company is already well versed in thanks to Ys, espeically Y’s IX, and a number of great characters to pull from both franchises, a Warriors game is begging to be made, and hey, maybe Dogi can finally be playable again huh? That would be nice. Jokes aside, it really should be something worth considering. 

And that’s my list. Can you think of any other franchises that the Warriors/Musou style of games can fit well into? Let me know in the notes below, reblog this list if it got you thinking, and have a fantastic day! 

#warriors #hyrule warriors #Final Fantasy #ys #ys ix: monstrum nox #pokemon #atlus #persona #persona 5 #persona 5 strikers #shin megami tensei #etrian odyssey #the last bible #castlevania #musou

[darksaiyangoku]

DarkSaiyan and OddNub’s YuGiOh Reboot

Back in February, my buddy @oddnub and I were talking about how we would reboot the YuGiOh anime, and we decided to follow in the footsteps of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and pitch a more faithful adaptation of the YuGiOh manga:

Now don’t get me wrong, the anime back in the 2000’s definitely had a big impact and, despite my hate for 4Kids, I do have fond memories of it. However, it’s such a shame that a lot of fans have overlooked such a great manga. What makes YuGiOh stand out from other Shonen titles is the fact that despite not being very action heavy, it’s still an engaging read and a battle of brains can be just as compelling as a battle with fists, maybe even more so.

Anime Studios

Some of you are probably wondering what would this new adaptation might look like and I have three main studios in mind for this:

A-1 Pictures

A-1 Pictures are my go to studio for this project. They have a knack for making good fantasy anime, such as Fairy Tail and Seven Deadly Sins, and using animators from those teams can really bring the battles to life in new and epic ways!

Not only that, but A-1 are also the studio responsible for producing Your Lie in April, Anthem of the Heart and the legendary Anohana. All of these are very emotional and hard-hitting stories and can carry over to the heavier moments adapted from the original manga, showing the audiences that this is going to be much different than what they’re used to.

OLM. Inc

While it would be great to have a more serious look at the story, let’s be honest with ourselves; there’s gonna be a huge demand for new merchandise. Known for also producing the Pokemon anime, OLM Inc seem like the perfect studio and can really capture a nostalgic “Saturday Morning Cartoon” vibe the original had.

Madhouse

Ah, Madhouse. One of the most popular studios among anime fans today. They would be a great studio to handle the YuGiOh reboot. Why? Simple.... horror. Madhouse is no stranger to horror anime, mainly thanks to their sleeper hit of 2014; Parasyte. Not only that, but they’ve also had some solid action series too such as 2011’s Hunter x Hunter and One-Punch Man. If they can combine that horror and hard hitting action, we could be in for a really good time!

Seasons

Keeping things simple, New YuGiOh would be divided into 7 seasons, each one being 24-25 episodes. The main story arcs are as follows:

School/Death-T Arc

School/Monster World Arc

Duelist Kingdom Arc

Battle City Arc

Tournament Finals Arc

King’s Memories

Ceremonial Battle Arc

Cast

Okay, I know that this is gonna sound controversial, but I wouldn’t have Dan Green or Eric Stuart return as either Yugi or Kaiba respectively. Before any of you jump at me, I have a reason. Mainly because I want this reboot to go in a new direction, which is being a more faithful adaptation of the original manga. As such, I don’t want any ties to 4kids being in this show. I want this to be fresh and exciting not just for newcomers but for older fans too.

Dan and Eric are the iconic voice actors for Yugi and Kaiba, I know that. But they shouldn’t be the only ones to voice the characters. Batman has had multiple voices, I think Yugi and Kaiba can have them too.

Anyway, me and Odd had a pretty cool idea where characters with a Yami form would have their voices be completely different, emphasising that there are two separate people inhabiting one body. The voice actors I had in mind are as follows:

Yugi Mutou/Yami Yugi- Colleen Clinkbeard/Bryce Papenbrook

Anzu Mazaki- Cherami Leigh

Jonouchi “Joey” Katsuya- Benjamin Diskin

Hiroto Honda- Kyle McCarley

Sugoroku Mutou- David Lodge

Setō Kaiba- Johnny Yong Bosch

Mokuba Kaiba- Alexis Tipton

Ryuji Otogi- Todd Haberkorn

Mai Kujaku- Erica Lindbeck

Dinosaur Ryuzaki- Newton Pittman

Insector Haga- Robbie Daymond

Bandit Keith Howard- Kyle Hebert

Para Meikyu- Lex Lang

Dox Meikyu- Talesin Jaffe

Maximilion J. Pegasus- Kaiji Tang

Ryo Bakura/Yami Bakura- Josh Keaton/Clancy Brown

Marik Ishtar/Yami Marik- Matthew Mercer/Mark Hamill

Shadi- Todd Haberkorn

Thief King Bakura/Zorc- Ray Chase

Music

There’s only one choice; Yuki Kajiura. I mean, she composed the music for Ufotable’s Fate!!!! What more could you ask for?

And that’s the pitch for our potential YuGiOh reboot. Even though it’s highly unlikely that this would all happen, it was still a fun thought to have. One day, I’m sure we’ll see another YuGiOh series that does adapt the manga more faithfully. Until then, we still have the manga with us right now. Seriously if you haven’t read it yet, do it!

Special thanks to @oddnub for helping me with this. Go check him out, he does some fun, cute artwork as well as some good stories. 👍

#OddNub #yugioh #YuGiOh reboot pitch #a1 pictures #olm inc #madhouse #yugioh manga #new voice actors #fan pitch

[hayleyb100]

Shattered, Part 7

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Midquel - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9- Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 the end

⚠️WARNING!⚠️

*A twisted story of Pokemon Sword and Shield, with Leon as main character. *Lots of fanons. *Everything is headcanon. *It isn’t spoiler free. *It includes death of a character. *SUPER ANGSTY.

"Bleh, it's yucky. You should cook something more greasy and unhealthy for us, old man."

"Then why don't you bring some food once in a while? If not, zip it. Beside, it isn't even for you, Raihan. Why are you eating and judging it anyway?"

Raihan and Kabu were complaining to each other in front of Leon, with a lighter atmosphere in the room. It became a regular thing now that three gather in Leon's place, Kabu brings packed meal and they all share the food as well as stories. Kabu would tell fascinating stories of faraway Hoenn Region, with so many unknown pokemons. Raihan would tell Leon about the fun they had together in pokemon camp and in daily life. Of course, they would listen and sympathize when Leon was low. With time, a smile bloomed in Leon's face more often and things seemed to have taken a turn for better.

____________________________________

One day, Leon quietly suggested something that neither Kabu nor Raihan expected.

"Maybe... we should gather somewhere else next time."

Kabu and Raihan stared at Leon with shock.

"Are you sure?" Kabu asked worriedly.

"I mean, you really shouldn't go outside when you are not ready. If it is pushing you, I suggest we do it later."

"Yeah, the old man got a point."

"I'm fine, really. You did so much to me, and I should make some progress by now."

Leon calmly grinned.

To be honest, Leon was still afraid of outside. Anywhere he goes, the place would have at least a hint of recollections on Hop. That's how close Leon was to his brother, and it would surely break Leon. But with all the help, he just couldn't stay the same forever.

"Well, if you say so... Then we should start with the closest town." Raihan suggested but Leon had another idea.

"Actually, I would like to go to Motostoke City. Mr. Kabu came all the way to my home all the time, so I think it is better to meet there to make things easier for him."

"Young man, do not worry about me. Do not push yourself."

"I'm fine, really." Leon chuckled again.

Raihan sighed.

"You're not gonna back down, eh? Fine. Just promise that you will make a beeline home as soon as you think it is too much for you."

"I promise."

____________________________________

A few days later, Leon wore the most comfortable clothes possible to loosen up before a big day in 8 months. He took a deep breath and lightly slapped his face twice with his hands as if he was going into the battle with a challenger. His mom was anxious to let him out of the house, but Leon insisted and persuaded her.

Leon took another deep breath and opened the door. The sunlight was blinding. It sure has been ages since he greeted the sun.

Everything around him, from the garden to surrounding town seemed so unfamiliar. It was just proving how long Leon was staying as a shut-in. As he opened the door, Raihan was waiting for him. Leon took a very timid step outside. The feeling of stepping on dirt just felt awfully bizarre. He shivered in intimidation. Raihan took his hand for him, helping and leading him outside where Flying Taxi was waiting to take them to Motostoke City.

"Take it easy. One step at a time."

Raihan encouraged Leon. With his friend's help, Leon was able to take the taxi and fly to the destination. And during their travel, Leon shut his eyes tight, to make sure he doesn't see the place he wants to avoid with all his life.

____________________________________

Motostoke City was brimming with people. They were scattered everywhere in small groups, shopping or chatting in the cafe. It was nerve-wracking for Leon to be exposed to so many people in a long while. It reminded him of that day of Champions Tournament, where he lost to Victor. Soon, Raihan and Leon arrived at the Motostoke Stadium.

"Stay here, okay? I'll get the old man. Will you be alright?"

Raihan sat Leon on one of the benches and asked. Leon smiled and replied.

"Of course."

"I'll be right it."

After Raihan left, Leon sat quietly alone. He was nervous as hell but was trying to keep calm. He fiddled with his fingers to see if it helps, but it didn't do much.

But after a short while, some people behind Leon's back started to exchange whispers.

"Hey, isn't that...?"

"Yeah, he is. The former Champion."

Leon could feel the chill going through his back.

"Did you see that? He smiled. He actually smiled."

"He's insane. How dare he smile when his own brother committed suicide?"

"Exactly! Has he no conscience? A family should have protected that poor boy. Yet he didn't do his RESPONSIBILITY and smiling like an ass! How dare he even feel happy? He is ought to be ashamed."

Leon's mind went blank again. Familiar despair twinged from within. Every sound around him started to blare. Leon blocked his ears and tried to breathe but he started to lose his breath again. It was as if he was having a panic attack.

They're right.

Who am I kidding?

How dare I feel happy after not protecting my beloved brother?

The blaring around him and the sense of being watched became unbearable. Leon forgot all about Raihan and Kabu and ran out of the Motostoke Stadium.

But being on the street crowded with people just made everything worse. All the eyes felt like sizing up on Leon and all their conversations felt like backbiting. The noise of people started to blare again and the whole world seems like spinning, making Leon dizzy and feel nausea. Leon just ran off to shake it off. But the more he tried to run away from the crazy hell of noises, the louder the noises got. Leon was losing his breath again. His mind became crashed so far off that he couldn't come up with a simple plan of going back into the Stadium and ask for help from his pal and a good uncle. He dashed madly, not knowing where he was going. He was desperate to get away from the sight of the people.

____________________________________

After running for a while, the noises died down. Leon took some deep breath and looked up.

But...

Things go from bad to worse so quickly.

For not seeing where he was running to, he ended up in a place that is like a hell to him...

The WILD AREA.

The cruel memories that he was pushing to the corner came rushing back in. The coldness, wetness, and stiffness in his hands, and the feeling of his world caving in.

"No... No... No!!!"

Leon started to sprint again in panic. The terror devoured him and stopped all his thinking processes. Only one thought possessed Leon.

Get out of here.

Escape.

So he kept hustling to the place he doesn't even know, and the result was expected. The more he ran, the more he got lost in his own hell. Since it was winter, Wild Area was freezing cold and it was snowing everywhere. Every time Leon breathed to run, the icy air filled up his lungs, causing intensive pain. But he still couldn't stop, because his hell continued like an endless loop. All the places seemed similar and the lake was everywhere. The fear choked Leon. It was as if he was tortured in hell for not protecting his brother.

After roaming around the Wild Area for hours, Leon collapsed on the ground. He could barely breathe, due to all the icy air he inhaled and the terror. The air froze his lungs. His consciousness started to fade away. The snow began to pile up on the collapsed young man, dropping his body temperature sharply.

'Oh. Is this the end?' Leon thought.

'Thank goodness... At least I got to die in the same place as Hop... Does that mean... I get to go to wherever he is...?'

He tried to move his body, but the frozen lungs screamed out intense pain and the body was so fatigued to move a finger. He could feel his body going stiff.

So this was how it was.

This is how he died.

Suffocating in fear.

As Leon thought all these, his eyes closed gently. His breathing became weaker, as he blacked out slowly.

"...Lee."

An incredibly familiar voice that cuts right into the bones woke Leon up. He couldn't move, but he could feel a person hugging him from behind.

"I'm sorry..."

The owner of the voice apologized, as he sobbed.

"I thought I was lifting the burden from you by doing this, but instead, I hurt you so much..."

Then why! Why did you leave me like that!!

As soon as Leon knew who that voice belongs to, he tried to quibble that person, but his voice didn't work.

"I cannot apologize enough, Lee. I shouldn't have done such a thing to you. I did it to make you comfortable but I made everything worse. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

Come on, voice, work!!

Leon was desperate to ask him tons of long-overdue questions and hold him in his arms once more, but he couldn't move. Leon just slowly faded away, 

as something warm covered him.

#pokemon leon #leon #hop #pokemon hop #rival hop #pokemon kabu #kabu #pokemon raihan #raihan #pokemon gen 8 #pokemon generation 8 #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon swsh #gym leader kabu #gym leader raihan #champion leon

[atlas-the-worldbuilder]

Final thoughts on Pokemon Sword/Shield

So in case you weren’t aware (which is most of you, I’m sure), a few months ago I started a Pokemon Shield blind Nuzlocke Run.  And recently, I completed the main portion of the Nuzlocke by defeating the Champion.  Having played through the game, though, I thought I’d give my final thoughts on it as a Pokemon fan, a gamer, and as a storyteller.

The Story & Characters

In all honesty, I rather enjoyed the main story of this game.  The Pokemon League has always been presented like a professional sport (at least in the anime/cartoon), so it’s fun to see the games taking that perspective and rolling with it.  It felt like an actual tournament/championship, to compete for the title in an officially organized manner, rather than just running a gauntlet of preset combatants.

In addition, I liked how they incorporated both the gym leaders and our rivals into the league story as not only combatants, but also as individuals with their own lives and aspirations.  Marnie and Team Yell are adorable, Hop is... mostly tolerable, thus far, but by far my favorite rival character has been Bede, the Psychic/Fairy trainer.  His haughty and prideful demeanor make him a delight to defeat, and his arc is a wonderful story to see unfold.  I’m really curious to see what he gets up to in the after-story! The Gym Leaders are also fun to meet and battle; the Pokemon games as a whole have been gradually attempting to give more and more character to each of the Gym Leaders you meet, beyond just trials to overcome on your journey to victory.  And while I always have a soft spot for the Hoenn & Sinnoh gyms, I like that they opted to have the Gym Leaders return in place of having more Elite Four members to fight  I only wish I could get more opportunities to get to know them better, cuz there’s some standout leaders from this batch which I truly enjoy!

My biggest complaint with Sword/Shield’s story, though, has been the “Heroic Quest” plotline which has become increasingly common these days.  I like the character of Sonia the researcher, and Oleana is satisfying to watch lose, my biggest complaint has been the pacing of the plot; the first 2/3rd’s of the story are us teaming with Sonia to gradually get the backstory revealed to us, and then in the last half hour, right as the Tournament’s getting underway, all the villains suddenly crawl from beneath the floorboards and run amok while you have to chase them down!  There didn’t feel like there was a proper buildup explaining why the villain wanted to summon the legendary Pokémon, especially one which we heard next to nothing about! This brings about an interesting idea, however... what if instead, they had completely forgone any Legendary-Summoning stories until after the league?  Honestly, I was way more invested challenging the gyms and fighting the champion than I was stopping the literal POKEMON APOCALYPSE from happening... so what if for future games, they saved those for after you became champion?  As a sort of test of your skills, to prove your worth to bear the mantle you have taken!  Maybe it wouldn’t have meshed well, maybe they needed to show of the game mascot more, I dunno...  it’s just my thoughts.

The GamePlay

THEY FINALLY LET US TURN OF THE GODS-FORSAKENED TUTORIALS!!!  PRAISE THE ALL-FATHER!!!

Ahem... In all honesty, I think I’d grown a bit too used to the 2nd screen of the DS-series games, but after a couple days of getting used to the mono-screen style again, I am pleased to say I found it very easy to settle back into.  Though there are still some features I wish would make a return (the HM moves as opposed to public transportation, poison’s effect while walking, wild double battles, etc.), there are alot of fun mechanics introduced and remedies to older problems that have been introduced!

I think one feature which hasn’t had much said about it is the introduction of the Poke-Jobs system; this system allows you to send your Pokémon out on timed “away missions” to gain both experience and items.  In the old days, if you wanted to passively level your pokemon, the only real option you had without introducing a second player was the Daycare center, and they could only raise two pokemon at once... and you had to pay for it.  With Poke-Jobs, though, I can send anywhere from 5-10 teammates out for whatever amount of time I want them to be out for, and then come back later to see them lively and with goodies to show for their work! At first, I didn’t think I’d get much use out of this system; I, like many players out there I’m sure, prefer to guide my pokemon’s training personally, honing their movesets and guiding their levelling and points the way I want from them.  But as I progressed further in my Nuzlocke, and as my daily life became busier and busier, I found myself sending my backup teammates out on jobs to keep them on par with my main team.  Given that the Move Deleter/Tutor and Name Rater are now services that have been rolled into the Pokemon Center, yet another good thing this series has done, I found it much easier to keep my reserve Pokemon prepared in case I needed a substitution. Some Nuzlocke “Purists” may call that taking the easy way out, but... frankly, I don’t have the willpower to do that much grinding.  I’m here to play a game and have fun doing it, dammit.

The Wild Area is another thing I’ve wanted to see from Pokemon for a long time - taking more steps to make the regions seem like an open world, with vast sprawling environments full of pokemon and secrets to uncover.  I’ll admit, though, the execution is... not entirely perfect.  While open expanses are fun to explore, the Wild Area did seem a bit... flat to traverse.  And while the weather mechanics translating into battle are fun to deal with, the same sets of wild pokemon appearing did start to wear me down.  I think what the Wild Area really needed, in the long run, was a system similar to how Black/White/Black2/White2 did - having seasonal progression ingame, where different pokemon would show up during different seasons, making the different places unique and novel all over again throughout the year. And for the record, many of my gripes with the Wild Area were addressed in the Isle of Armor’s expansion island.  VASTLY superior, and much more fun to navigate and traverse.

...I’ll openly admit this: I was not a fan of Mega Evolution when it was first introduced in X/Y.  I felt it was fine enough to see Pokemon battling without power boosts or “digi-volving” or whatever you wanna call it.  When Sun/Moon Introduced Z-Moves, it felt like a step in the right direction, but at the same time, I ended up not using it very often.  If I had to have a power boost to my pokemon, I would want it something that couldn’t be used as a crutch when the going gets tough - something that has a limited usability, and offers benefits specific to the time it’s being used. I say this because I initially approached Dynamax the same way: as just another power boost to level the playing field and shake up the battle meta which I don’t keep track of.  However, after barely surviving all 8 gym leaders without using a single dynamax pokemon, I decided to give it a chance: after having completed the Isle of Armor’s subplot and gaining access to the Max Soup, I fed it to my Toxtricity Spike, and started running dynamax raids.  As I started using it more and more, I started gaining a certain appreciation for it that I hadn’t before; this was something written in to being a unique cultural effect!  This literally is imagining Pokemon as Kaiju!  And for the most part, it works! While I still feel mega-lvl-power-boosts in pokemon are a huge waste, at the very least I can say Dynamax didn’t leave me with too bad a taste in my mouth.  I do hope, however, that Dynamax stays a Sword/Shield exclusive power; given it’s cultural importance in Galar, and how Mega-Evolution was in the previous generation, I think having power boosts specific to regions works better than having the same stuff used across the board for every meta onwards,

What Do I hope for the Future?

I can’t say for sure if they’ll release a sequel game for Sword/Shield, but if they do... I would want them to make these minor changes:

Hold off the Heroic plot for after the League plot; devote the main first half of the game to just the gyms and league story like was done here, and then save meeting uber-god-tier Pokémon for after you’ve claimed the title of Champion.

Having said that, fix the pacing of how the Eternatus/Darkest Day subplot feels as it’s being played out.  Offer us more insight into Rose and Oleana’s mindsets as they go about their business, and give us more coherent exposition from our field trips with Prof. Sonia. 

Fix how the Wild Area looks - give it more variations for each sub-region and offer more varieties of habitats, like in the Isle of Armor.  Or, alternatively, try to implement a seasonal mechanic to make the same areas change over the year, opening new paths and new avenues to explore!

Let Bede defeat Oleana.  Give my boy some closure.

Allow us to see and interact with the Gym Leaders outside of the gyms more.  I had, like, barely 2 lines of dialogue with Nessa, and even less for Milo.  Not asking for a whole lot, just a bit more to tie us into who they are as people.  Piers is best big brother.  <3

That’s all I had written for now.  If y’all want a biography of my champion team for my Shield Nuzlocke, let me know, and I’ll scrap a post together! <3

#Pokemon #Pokemon Sword Shield #Demotivated Review #Video Game #Atlas the Worldbuilder #nobody's gonna care about this #but that's ok

[the-kings-of-games]

GX Month 2020

SUper late and I’m too lazy to do anything (as always), but this seems like fun to think about. So let’s go!

Day 1 (August 31): “Game on!” (It’s Judai/Jaden Yuki’s birthday today! Let’s celebrate!): 

Jaden is a great protagonist. I love dumb but OP main characters, especially when they got lucky-go attitudes. 

Day 2 (September 1): “Red, Yellow, Blue!” (Ah, the tier system at Duel Academy. Which dorm is your favorite?): 

I’m attached to Slifer Red, lol. They got a cat for mascot, what more do I need? Also, they serve tempura for lunch.

Day 3 (September 2): “Rule the School” (These kids might be saving the world, but they’re still students with homework to do and exams to pass. Celebrate the school life today!):

Don’t know what to put here, but I was a terrible student because I didn’t study or do things in a timely manner. Do better than me, kids. 

Day 4 (September 3): “Sometimes I Can’t Believe We’re Related” (10Join! Today is all about the iconic brother-sister pair, Fubuki Tenjoin/Atticus Rhodes and Asuka Tenjoin/Alexis Rhodes!):

I love this sibling pair! ^^ Alexis is really cool, and Atticus is so far out of the left field. I really thought Atticus was going to be cool like his sister, or edgy like Zane, but nah, this guy is, like, I just want to support my sister and play this ukulele. They make such a contrasting pair, so it adds to the humor.

Day 5 (September 4): “Pass The Salt” (No story is perfect. So what is something you wish you could have seen in the story of GX?)

I can’t think of anything. 

Day 6 (September 5): “Going Down With The Ships!” (You know what I’m talking about. We all have an armada parked in the bay, but there’s that one ship, that one ship, that you would die for. Today is all about OTPs and OT3s!)

I really like Rivalshipping. I don’t really have that many ships for GX. 5D’s and Zexal are more of my jam. 

Day 7 (September 6): “Bring the THUNDER” (Ichi! Juu! Hyaku! Sen! Chazz it up! Today the world does in fact revolve around Jun Manjoume/Chazz Princeton.)

HANDS DOWN, one of my two top choices for favorite rival. (Jack’s the other.) My favorite things about Chazz are his name, his energy, and that fact that he’s a baby brother. He’s so cute! ^^ I just want to make fun of him.

Day 8 (September 7): “The Power of Friendship!” (Favorite dynamic duo, two characters you think would have been friends if only they met, how friendship saves the day, or maybe a friendship fail. It’s up to you!):

Chazz and Pharoah, lol. I need Chazz to hold that cat and pet it. Why didn’t he? :’(

Day 9 (September 8): “Born to be Bad” (Inherently evil, brainwashed, misguided, or misunderstood. GX boots a colorful cast of villainy. Who’s your favorite bad guy?):

I haven’t finished season 4 yet, but Nightshroud. 

Day 10 (September 9): Free Day/Introductions (Tell us about yourself and your GX experience! Your favorites, why you like it, how you got into it. Or leave the day open to do whatever you want!):

I’m known as kappa. I got Hulu, and Hulu has almost all the YGO series excluding VRAINS and SEVENS which is fine because I also have Crunchyroll and the internet, lol; so, I watched all the YGO series simultaneously, skipping back and forth between series. I did not watch any of them in order. GX was number 5 or 6, but it’s the one series I’m putting off. 

Day 11 (September 10): “Cyber Legacy” (No Yu-Gi-Oh! show is complete without a pair of brothers. Today’s stars are Sho Marufuji/Syrus Truesdale and Ryo Marufuji/Zane Truesdale!):

I love these guys! It was great to see them grow and become their own people. ^^ They had, I think, the most realistic relationship.

Day 12 (September 11): “But What If We Had Bikes?” (That’s right! It’s time for the GX crew to rev it up on their very own D-Wheels/Duel Runners!):

I CANNOT DRAW. SORRY LMAO

Day 13 (September 12): “And You Are…?” (Got a favorite OC? Or one you’ve been hiding in the closet? Introduce them to the world today!):

I only have a Rivalshipping OC baby. Her name is Mira Princeton, and she has Jaden’s brown hair and Chazz’s dark eyes (with a bit of a golden glow). Since both her parents can see spirits, it’d make sense that she can too, lol. Her companion is Yata-Garasu, a rare card that her mama won at a tournament. She likes pink and flowers. She is very close to Aster and calls him Uncle Aster. She’s four, and most of her life, she knows her dad as the “Slifer slacker but a really good duelist.” 

I love her. :)

Day 14 (September 13): “The Perfect Formula” (He duels with the power math and science! Today, show the world that you still remember Daichi/Bastion Misawa!)

Bastion is a funny character. “Everything is science. I’m going to disappear for several months. Don’t forget to forget me,” I think. 

Day 15 (September 14): “Insert pun here” (It’s meme day! Recreate your favorites! Make some shitposts! Be the troll you’ve always wanted to be!):

Bastion: SIr, I’m afraid your DNA is backwards.

Jaden: AND?

Day 16 (September 15): “Creation and Destruction” (The Gentle Darkness and the Light of Destruction. The eternal struggle. And also the Darkness that tried to drown the world. Huh. Feels a little unbalanced.):

It’s pretty cool to have darkness and light reverse, and then watch as darkness conflict with itself, lmao. The Light of Destruction would be a chaotic good, and the Gentle Darkness as chaotic neutral. (Don't quote me on that, I don’t do personality quizzes.) 

Day 17 (September 16): “Putting the D in Destiny” (Pro duelist by day and crime fighting vigilante by night. Today is Edo/Aster Phoenix’s day!):

He’s great. I like him. He’s the precursor to Declan Akaba’s D/D/D archetype. Maybe not. Can you believe that he actually said “Shmaden Shmuki on national TV???? LMAO

Day 18 (September 17): “In Another Life” (It’s AU day!):

Currently trying to write a fantasy-ish AU in which Jun marries the Supreme King. Trust me, I have no idea what I’m doing.

Day 19 (September 18): “I Was Here Too!” (GX has a vast array of unique characters, some of which we only saw once. Pick a “one shot” character and show them off!):

I really like Princess Rose. She was pretty, and her spirit monsters care for her. I appreciate that. 

Day 20 (September 19): Free Day 2/Support Fellow Creators (Show some love for your favorite creators, or leave the day free for whatever you please!):

Literally @ everyone whose work(s) and/or post(s) I’ve reblogged. Keep up the good work!

Day 21 ( September 20): “Prehistoric Predators” (The dino duelist with a fossil in his leg. Today is all about Kenzan Tyranno/Tyranno Hassleberry!):

Dino DNA is so funny; I’m sorry, Hassleberry, but I don’t like dinosaurs. At least you were cute as one. 

Day 22 (September 21): “Stop Blowing Holes In My Ship!” (Some ships are popular and some are…not. Today is all about rare pairs and crack ships! Give those underdogs some love!):

Tanya/Bastion is kind of cute. And I guess Chazz/Atticus too. ^^ 

Day 23 (September 22): “And For Today’s Lesson…” (The teachers at Duel Academy have their work cut out for them, but they still take care of their students. Show the DA staff some love today!):

Fonda Fontaine!

Day 24 (September 23): “Legend of the Seven Gems” (Resurrect the greatest light in history today with Johan/Jesse Anderson and the Crystal Beasts!):

Johan is very cute! I’m so glad they gave him a Southern accent in the dub. ^^ It makes him extra soft and lovable. I can’t believe that Johan/JIm is called Cowboyshipping, but I love that name so much.

Day 25 (September 24): “For The Glory of Academia!” (We got to see Asuka/Alexis and Edo/Aster over in Fusion Dimension, but what about the rest of the cast? Show us some Fusion counterparts today! What are these dorks up to and what part do they play in the war?):

I’m bad at rewriting canon. ^^: Sorry. 

Day 26 (September 25): “Dream Team From Overseas” (Austin O’Brien/Axel Brody, Jim “Crocodile” Cook, and Amon/Adrian Gecko. Today is all about them!)

I absolutely love Jim Cook, from him being Australian to having a crocodile as his best friend to getting burned with a mysterious object to cowboy hat. xD 

Day 27 (September 26): “Duel Monster Spirit Day!” (The world of GX is full of spirits. Do something fun to celebrate your favorite!):

Mine would be Scapeghost and Rose Garden Maiden! 

Day 28 (September 27): “Gold Eyes in The Darkness” (Today’s all about the Supreme King! Unleash the Darkness and create your content!):

I like his aesthetic. I’m into Chazz/Supreme King for sure.

Day 29 (September 28): “Don’t Forget Me!” (Have an underappreciated character you wish you’d seen more of? Give them some love today!):

Miss Dorothy! She’s wonderful, she’s friend shaped. 

Day 30 (September 29): Free Day 3 (Share anything. Anything at all. It’s free game.): 

The Chazz/Supreme King fic I’m working on: The Supreme King’s Husband (Prologue)

Day 31 (September 30): “Gotcha!”:

Is this a Pokemon reference? O_o

#kappachyun muses #yugioh #yugioh gx

[seijch]

work on your wip!! 5, 9, and 25!!

make me work on my wips!!

5. doom desire, a kageyama pokemon au

in which you and kags chase after whispers on the wind that tell the tale of jirachi, a pokemon said to be able to grant any wish. here’s the catch: it awakens for one week every thousand years. the good news is that it’s been about a millennium. the bad news? you have no idea where it is.

the italicized parts are in first person because theyre the reader’s diary entries,, itll make more sense In Context (i Hope)

hoenn is much warmer than kanto. i’ve underestimated the humidity here, too; it’s at its worst after it rains, the air uncomfortably sticky. at least the beaches look nice. maybe one day, i’ll be here for leisure and not business.

“jirachi?” the older man muses, reclining into the rattan chair. “that’s a name i haven’t heard in years, maybe decades.” he sizes you up, a sharp look in his eye. “you some hotshot researcher or somethin’?”

you slide the man your card as he takes a sip of his drink. he doesn’t spare it a glance, and you try your best to not fling your overpriced lemonade in his face. the man before you was a scholar back in his prime, a fellow lover of myths and legends of old. for that reason, you hold your tongue; you’d landed in the hoenn region less than a week ago in search of the mythical pokemon jirachi.

“you could say that. i’ve heard rumors that jirachi wakes from its thousand-year slumber in a few months, so i came to investigate.”

“you won’t find what you’re lookin’ for in slateport. head to rustboro,” he tells you, “they’ve got the best libraries in the region there.” he brandishes a pen, scribbles down a name. “this is one of my old pals from back in the day. ask for him.”

“thank you, sir.”

“don’t mention it,” he replies. “now go on,” he waves a dismissive hand, “let an old man enjoy his drink in peace.” you take your lemonade and go, a little put off by his attitude but feeling victorious nonetheless.

you’re so busy looking at the card (and trying to decipher the godawful chickenscratch) that you find yourself colliding with someone. “oh, i’m sorry-”

he’s leveling you with a glare. “it’s fine,” he says, voice clipped and making you think that it’s absolutely not fine. you can only nod and go on your merry way.

turns out, tickets to rustboro this time of year cost a lot of money. this better bring in the big bucks, or it’s back to cheap ass ramen for me. 

9. perish song, an oikawa pokemon au

in which oikawa finds himself in the tropical region of alola in search of a new addition to his team: the man-made type:null, created by researchers that bit off more than they could chew.

this one i might rethink tbh i just rlly liked the title of this too much to pass up

its kinda funny bc he and kags, at their core, have similar foundations to their stories: theyre both looking for a rare pokemon in order to prepare for the pokemon world tournament later in the year

“i’m sorry, sir,” you hear the receptionist say, “we don’t allow visitors into our basement-level facilities. you’re free to roam around the first and second floors! our pokemon sanctuary is regarded as one of alola’s top tourist destinations-”

“please,” replies the young man at the desk. he’s quite handsome, really, but you can tell that the receptionist just wants him to leave. you get the feeling you weren’t exactly catching the beginning of their conversation. “i just want to see the type:null facility.”

type:null? how does he know about that? “sir,” you cut in. both the receptionist and the visitor (who clearly knows too much) turn to face you. “forgive my intrusion, but i must ask...what sort of clearance do you possess?” the type:null facility--your facility--required an absurdly high position on the ladder of authority.

“do you work under that branch?” he asks, peering at the tray of coffee in your hands. “an intern or something?”

“as a matter of fact, i am one of the lead researchers.” your grip tightens on the cardboard tray as you give him a tight smile. “i apologize, but only individuals with the appropriate clearance and identification are allowed in the basement level, especially the type:null wing. if you have no other business here, i’d like to ask you to vacate the premises. preferably before i resort to calling security.”

the man blanches, having realized the mistake he’s made. “no, wait-”

you’re already walking away.

25. lost and found, a sugawara soulmate au

what was supposed to be an easy house-sitting job goes horribly, horribly wrong. thankfully, your soulmate has always had a knack for finding the things you’ve lost.

this was one of the first wips i ever took from my kpop blog and assigned to a character bc i had BIG suga brainrot back in the day

also i feel like we as a society do not talk about the fact that yaku like . canonically prefers cats

“hey, yamamoto?” you ask. “on a scale of one to ten, how mad would yaku be if i told him i lost his cat?”

there’s a near silence on the end of the line, the only noise being the faint rattle of static. then, in a solemn voice, “i’ll start planning your funeral.” no way around it: you’ve fucked yourself over. 

“uh huh.” you feel nauseous. if this was a cartoon, you’re sure your face was halfway to going green. “great. should i try to find it, or spend my last hours among the living writing my will?”

“i’d be writing my will. don’t give any money to lev,” he advises. “i swear i saw that fucker blow his allowance on cheese puffs last week.” great. yamamoto wishes you luck (“you’ll need it.”) before you hang up, feeling the room spin around you. this was supposed to be a simple housesitting job; yaku had printed clear instructions and left them clipped to the fridge door. how were you supposed to know that his stupid cat was itching for a chance to escape?

you need to find it, and fast. yaku’s flight would come in this afternoon, with him returning in the evening. you shudder at the thought of him coming home to a catless apartment.

okay. time for a game plan. the building’s got twenty floors. time to ring some doorbells and hope you didn’t come off as one of those door-to-door salespeople.

#those pokemon aus came out longer than i thought #thank you for asking 🥺 #also for choosing ones i needed to work on JDFSFS #these are the beginnings to all of them bc i had nothing else written LMAO #these are all rough and unedited...brain to google doc to tumblr type beat #🖋 wip game #💌 love letters #raenah 🧸 #raevaioli

[themattress]

Pokemon Franchise Narrative Comparison

To this day, there have been only three other mediums that have run for as long as the core Pokemon game series has: the anime series, the Pokemon Adventures manga series, and the Trading Card Game. With the obvious exception of the TCG, these have all had narrative arcs within each passing generation, and I want to use this post to compare their quality.

GEN I Games: Red/Blue/Green/Yellow Anime: Original Series: Indigo League + Orange Islands (The Beginning) Manga: Red/Blue/Green Chapter, Yellow Chapter  

1st Place - Manga. The original R/B/G Chapter brings the world of the Game Boy games to life in stunning accuracy, while also its own spin on certain things and crafting a simple yet sophisticated coming-of-age narrative, with the Yellow Chapter being its Actionized Sequel that raises the stakes even higher and deepens everything within this manga series. Add to this clear influence from the anime and the fact that it’s the only Gen I product to feature the character of Green in it, and we have the definitive story for the franchise’s first generation.

2nd Place - Anime. While increasingly less faithful to the details of the games, the anime remained very faithful to the spirit of them while telling its own coming-of-age tale for Ash Ketchum in the Indigo League series, plus a “postgame scenario” equivalent with the Orange Islands series. The highlight of this story is definitely how it fleshes out the games’ main antagonists: Gary Oak, Team Rocket and Mewtwo, into interesting, memorable characters.

3rd Place - Games. The 8-bit adventure that started it all is incredibly bare-bones and basic: take the Pokemon League challenge, thwart the evil Team Rocket along the way, and if possible fill up that Pokedex with all 151 Pokemon (”Gotta Catch ‘Em All!”). As a story, it’s not very interesting, but as an excuse for gameplay it works marvelously and established a winning formula for the series, and to this day it’s still charming in its wholesome simplicity.

GEN II Games: Gold/Silver/Crystal Anime: Original Series: GS (Gold and Silver) Manga: Gold/Silver/Crystal Chapter

1st Place - Manga. It’s funny - in the first volume of the G/S/C Chapter, things seemed to be a definite downgrade from the Kanto-based arcs that came before in terms of artwork, characterization and narrative. But then the mysterious masked antagonist appears at the end, and from then on out things just keep escalating to such epic heights that it becomes the best Johto story in the franchise and arguably the best arc in the whole manga series! Practically everyone and everything from the previous two arcs end up joining up with the new elements and the series up to this point is brought to a satisfying, conclusive note. 

2nd Place - Games. While the League challenge and Pokedex narrative threads are basically the same as before, and the Team Rocket thread is actually weaker, this story also features a stronger regional setting, a stronger rival, and stronger characterization for side characters both old and new, especially in the special edition, Crystal, making it a welcome step-up.  

3rd Place - Anime. An attempt at a new narrative was notoriously abandoned early on, with Takeshi Shudo leaving the head writer position and the whole show devolving into formulaic Filler Hell. While the Johto League tournament that concluded the whole thing was good, there was barely a story to support getting there, and the main characters had all become Flanderized versions of their former selves by the end. Without question, the anime had jumped the shark. But Shudo did give us the best movie and an OVA that properly concluded Indigo League’s Mewtwo arc before he was through, so let’s not say it was a total waste.

GEN III Games: Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, FireRed/LeafGreen Anime: Advanced Generation (Ruby and Sapphire) Manga: Ruby/Sapphire Chapter, FireRed/LeafGreen Chapter, Emerald Chapter

1st Place - Games. The first time that the games get first place, but only on the technicality that the other contenders are worse, since this really isn’t that big an improvement over the previous two generations’ game narratives. The biggest difference is that your character is the child of one of the Gym Leaders, and the evil team narrative thread (Team Aqua and/or Team Magma this time) builds to an epic high-stakes event that involves the Legendary Pokemon mascot of the game which will become a mainstay of the formula from now on. There is also the remakes of the original Gen I games, and aside from some small tweaks of improvement and a postgame scenario in an island archipelago (anime-inspired, perhaps?), the narrative is basically the same as it was before. Nothing outstanding, but serviceable. 

2nd Place - Manga. Talk about a mixed bag...the R/S Chapter started out with promise but ended up going to shit in its second half, the FR/LG Chapter was fantastic only to conclude with a bullshit last-minute cliffhanger, and the Emerald Chapter that connects the two arcs is just stereotypical, badly-written shonen crap with only a few good elements in it (plus some ironic enjoyment to be had in its batshit insane climax). On the whole, this was the weakest period that the manga series has ever had, despite Kusaka and Yamamoto’s best efforts.  

3rd Place - Anime. Beyond May and her character arc which, by some lucky fluke, came together wonderfully, the anime hadn’t improved that much from the Johto days. Hoenn was not done any justice (even the manga did a better job with it!), and the FRLG/Emerald composite for the filler arc afterward was just weird in spite of how entertaining half of it was. All in all, the anime hadn’t gotten a real narrative back. It was just going through the motions.

GEN IV Games: Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, HeartGold/SoulSilver Anime: Diamond & Pearl Manga: Diamond/Pearl Chapter, Platinum Chapter, HeartGold/SoulSilver Chapter

1st Place - Manga. Pokemon Adventures retakes its crown in this generation, with a phenomental two arcs in the Sinnoh region that are so linked that they essentially make up one whole story, and a brief, adequate arc in Johto that properly bridges the gap between those Sinnoh arcs and the Emerald arc before them. Whenever I think of Sinnoh, it’s the region portrayed in this manga that comes to mind, which is a testament to its high quality.

2nd Place - Games. One word can describe the narratives of these games: overcooked. There are a lot of good ingredients here that elevate the series’ storytelling to a new level, but way too many cooks who don’t have a unified idea of how to properly mix them together means that it becomes a muddled mess of mythology, philosophy and vague character motivations. This particularly pisses me off when it effects the otherwise solid Gen II remakes. However, the good elements are still good regardless, and as showcased by the following generation this was a necessary learning curve to get through, so it deserves some respect.

3rd Place - Anime. Ugh. Newly appointed head writer Atsuhiro Tomioka tries to have his cake and eat it too here, maintaining the anime’s banal filler formula while also attempting to tell a legitimate narrative, but he as just one man somehow manages to clutter up that narrative more than the several writers did for the games in this generation! It is an increasingly insufferable roller coaster of plot threads and supposed character arcs that are drawn out to the point of disinterest across four years, with you really feeling the disastrous pace when it takes a years’ worth of time between Ash winning his 7th badge and him winning his 8th. Combine this with the source material of the games being disrespected or cast aside perhaps worse than ever, and you get what I will always believe is the lowest point for the anime.  

GEN V Games: Black/White, Black 2/White 2 Anime: Best Wishes + Best Wishes Season 2 (Black and White) Manga: Black/White Chapter, Black 2/White 2 Chapter

1st Place - Games. With this generation, particularly with its first set of games, the learning curve undergone in Gen IV paid off. This is quite possibly the richest narrative in the whole game series in terms of plot, characterization and themes, and the peak of the traditional formula. Combined with stellar gameplay, it creates a high point that has yet to be matched.

2nd Place - Manga. The Black/White Chapter had a rough start, just copying the games’ plot almost to the letter but with the characterizations for the main characters truly being less than ideal (see what I did there?) However, once Black and White go their own separate ways the arc starts rapidly improving until it ends on a phenomenal high note that segues perfectly in the Black 2/White 2 arc that, like the Yellow arc, is an Actionized Sequel and, like the Platinum arc, is essentially the continuation and conclusion of the same story as in the previous arc. The only real mark against it is that it can be too fast-paced which only adds to the frustrating irony of the absolutely Hellish schedule slip it underwent (8 fucking years for an arc of just 24 chapters / 3 volumes to be completed! It’s never going to live that fact down!)

3rd Place - Anime. Kind of the reverse of the manga: had a great start being the best that the anime has been in a long time, only to get progressively weaker, with the third and final year being a trainwreck of checking off plot points in a mad rush to promote the upcoming Gen VI and pander to the whiny fanboys who’d been complaining about the loss of the formula and D/P-style story writing (yes, they actually liked those) plus the “soft reboot” aspect going on, particularly with Ash. However, much like the Gen IV games, the Gen V anime proved to be a necessary learning curve for the future and is a highly impactful series in that regard, so it deserves respect for that (although I hate that both a natural disaster and the B2/W2 games screwed up the originally planned Team Plasma arc! It’s never going to live that fact down!) 

GEN VI Games: X/Y, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Anime: XY + XY&Z Manga: X/Y Chapter, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Chapter

1st Place - Manga. I thoroughly dislike the story of the X/Y games and the Delta Episode of OR/AS, so imagine my surprise when Pokemon Adventures actually makes something good out of them (or, in the Delta Episode’s case, something tolerable at best). The X/Y Chapter is a delightful deconstruction of a lot of what’s in the games, turning what was light and fluffy and hollow into something dark and suspenseful and meaningful. And the OR/AS Chapter gets points for being the best that Ruby and Sapphire have ever been characterized, to the point where they’ve been officially Rescued from my Scrappy Heap (Emerald’s still lame tho).

2nd Place - Games. Like I said, I dislike the X/Y games’ narrative and the Delta Episode of OR/AS; I think they are the worst writing the game series has ever seen to date. But the main narrative of OR/AS - the actual remake of the Gen III games which features a lot of new and necessary improvements - is solid, and that’s enough to put the games at second place here.

3rd Place - Anime. Similarly, the one thing the anime series does really well - the Myth Arc, which includes the Team Flare storyline - is not enough to elevate it beyond third place, because the rest of the series’ narrative is just as lame as the X/Y games’, there’s not much benefit from OR/AS elements, and everything that it positions in its shameful fan-pandering utterly fails to deliver or add up to anything meaningful in the end. The Mega Evolution specials pretty clearly demonstrate that this should have been Alain’s show, not Ash’s.

GEN VII Games: Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon Anime: Sun & Moon Manga: Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon Chapter

1st Place - Games. The Gen V games have serious competition story-wise with the Gen VII games. Both S/M and US/UM are excellent, with things not done so well in one being done better in the other and vice-versa to the point where they compliment each other beautifully.

2nd Place - Anime. Miracle of miracles! For the first time since Gen I, the anime series gets its narrative in second place, with Daiki Tomiyasu and Aya Matsui completely reinventing it in a refreshingly fun and vibrant way. There are some missed opportunities here and there, but overall it’s a perfect adaptation of the Alola region and everything that makes it so great.

3rd Place - Manga. While this is still an arc of good quality that I like, it’s also perhaps the most disappointing since Ruby/Sapphire back in Gen III. After doing so well with Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos, one senses that Kusaka and Yamamoto struggled to adapt Alola to that same standard, and while the decision to keep US/UM as part of the same arc rather than be a separate one was wise, it’s during the US/UM half of the arc that things really start falling apart and the wasted potential of stuff that got set up earlier becomes overbearing. It doesn’t help that the leads are an unlikable hero with an interesting, relatable goal and a likable heroine with an uninteresting, unrelatable goal respectively. Let’s hope that the patchwork done in the volume releases fixes some of the problems so that I can like this arc even more.

GEN VIII Games: Sword/Shield Anime: New Series (Journeys) Manga: Sword/Shield Chapter

1st Place - Manga. As I recently stated, Kusaka and Yamamoto are back at their A-Game with this arc, taking advantage of all that was lacking in the games’ story and utilizing them in an interesting narrative that I can’t wait to further experience alongside our surrogate, Marvin.

2nd Place - Games. If the Gen IV games’ narrative was overcooked, then the narrative of the games four generations later is most definitely undercooked. It’s not the worst story - that’s still Gen VI - but it’s possibly the most disappointing since it’s so easy to see how it could have been better and you are left baffled as to why the writers didn’t go in that direction.

3rd Place - Anime. This series is highly enjoyable thanks to the continued leadership of Daiki Tomiyasu, but not only is there not as much of a narrative as there’s been in earlier shows, it isn’t even uniquely Gen VIII-based: taking place across all regions in the Pokemon World and taking influence from mobile games like Go (released in Gen VI) and Masters (released in Gen VII).  Add to that the unfortunate hiatus it’s now on and it can’t help but be placed last.

#Pokemon #Opinion #Analysis #Comparison

[sage-nebula]

@em-exceeds-change-zearu --- Hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to respond to your tags in a new post since the original post was long enough as it was, haha!

#also i love all of these picks and the thought that went into them #and that he has a varied team that's flexible and can take on tons of things #ALSO I'M GLAD YOU DIDN'T MENTION ZEKROM #I WAS DREADING A RED EYES BLACK DRAGON REDUX WITH ZEKROM #(even if zekrom and reshiram are huge walking red eyes and blue eyes jokes) 

See, it’s because I put a lot of thought into it that I didn’t mention Zekrom! Zekrom doesn’t work for the Red-Eyes Black Dragon at all (and ditto for Reshiram with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon)!

From a visual standpoint, I get why the comparisons were made. Zekrom is a black dragon with red eyes, and Reshiram is a white dragon with blue eyes. But that’s where the similarities end. While monsters in YGO have only very loose elemental associations, the fact still remains that the Red-Eyes Black Dragon is a fire dragon, while the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is an electric dragon. We see this in their attacks. The Red-Eyes Black Dragon’s attack is Black Fire Bullet (JP) / Inferno Fire Blast (EN), while the Blue-Eyes White Dragon’s attack is Burst Stream of Destruction (JP) / White Lightning (EN). “Burst Stream of Destruction” isn’t specifically electric, but it isn’t fire, either, and the look of it certainly looks electrical whenever it attacks (which is likely what led to 4Kids naming the attack what they did). Either way, these attacks make it clear in both the manga (JP) and the anime (EN) that Red-Eyes is a fire dragon while Blue-Eyes is an electric dragon.

But with Zekrom and Reshiram, that’s reversed. Zekrom is Electric/Dragon, while Reshiram is Fire/Dragon. Their types do not match up with the YGO dragons at all. And while some might say that’s a minor quibble, it really isn’t. Jounouchi is pretty heavily associated with fire, even setting Red-Eyes aside. Just off the top of my head:

The yo-yo he was pictured with in the cover art for chapters 48/49 was a “Fireboy” yo-yo;

He defeated Chopperman by setting him on fire with the candle + oil combo;

One of his most memorable cards is Flame Swordsman (though him saying it was his favorite card was an anime invention, but nonetheless);

He stayed behind with Yuugi during the fire at the Black Crown and made it out with only minor injuries; 

When he got to name an attack during his duel with Malik, he named it “Jounouchi Fire”;

The God card he’s most heavily associated with is Ra, and Ra is the one that uses flames to attack (versus Osiris’ wind and Obelisk’s lightning);

Speaking of, he survived Ra’s flames at first brush (he died a few minutes later, true, but even that was only temporary)

Jounouchi is pretty heavily associated with a fire motif, and so it makes sense that his signature dragon would be a fire dragon, rather than an electric one. And likewise, Kaiba seems to be associated with lightning and electricity far more than he is with fire. Kaiba is all about technological advancement, is always surrounded by computers, robots, and the latest technology that he himself invented. The God card that he’s associated with, Obelisk, is one that has lightning spark around its fists when it attacks. It makes sense that his dragon is an electric one, rather than a fire one. Switching that around by associating Jounouchi with Zekrom and Kaiba with Reshiram is a huge mistake. It doesn’t fit at all.

Moreover, the thing about legendary pokémon is that most of them come with a stronger meaning associated with them. They’re cool looking and have types, yes, but each of them also usually symbolize something, or have something they watch over, protect, or stand for. For Zekrom, that’s ideals (and fighting for one’s ideals), and with Reshiram, that’s truth (and fighting for the truth). While Jounouchi can be an idealistic person, what Zekrom actually looks for in its champion is someone who wants to push their ideals onto others, to lead the world with them, and that’s not Jounouchi. Jounouchi doesn’t want to push his ideals onto others; he lives his own way and that’s that. Likewise, Kaiba’s not really concerned with the truth outside of how it benefits him, and he’s not opposed to flat out ignoring or denying it when it doesn’t, so I don’t think Reshiram would choose him as a champion either, haha.

So yeah, I saw no reason to bring up Zekrom. The Red-Eyes Black Dragon is represented by shiny charizard, and that’s that.

#i also didn't consider sivally/silvuddy at all!!! #but considering that it's literally named...silver buddy... #(gladion you fucking nerd) #it's perfect #the nickanme is perfect #he would approve #maybe silvuddy is something he gets in duelist kingdom? #like. in pegasus' basement or something #but this is pokemon world and you mentioned gladion existing in this crossover canon so HMM. MMM. #I'M STUCK ON HOW HE GETS IT TOO 

I did imagine this as taking place in the Pokémon World, yeah, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t adapt Duelist Kingdom as well. All we have to do is make it pokémon battles instead of Duel Monsters duels. So Pegasus owns an island with a castle, and he decides to host his own battle tournament on his island (that takes place over a more reasonable span of time than just two days). Maybe entrants have to collect star badges instead of star chips, or maybe it is star chips if badges would get him in trouble with the local League. In any case, he has his own unofficial, not-government-sanctioned tournament, and it’s very much like Duelist Kingdom except everyone has real monsters and therefore people like Mai and Bandit Keith have a much harder time cheating than they did in the actual canon.

(Well, Gladion doesn’t have to exist in the crossover canon, haha. It’s just an idea I threw out there. I don’t know if any relationship I could invent for him would be as fun to write as the one I had between him and Alan, so it’s not like I’m very attached to the idea of him existing in this story.)

#...oooh #kaiba imports it into his Tower Of Death scenario because he paid big monies to Aether Foundation #jou ends up taking it back #the same way how in other trials they utilized things that belonged to their enemies against them #(maybe replace the stupid ride of fear part with it BECAUSE HONESTLY THAT WAS THE LOW PART OF THE TOWER. IT WAS STUPID.) 

Hmm, that could work! Although honestly it might make more sense for Kaiba Corporation to have created Type: Null. Kaiba spared absolutely no expense when it came to creating Death-T, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that:

According to the currency converter I use, in 1996 (when this was written / would take place), ¥10,000,000,000 would be $87,989,745.57. Kaiba spent eighty-seven million dollars to build a theme park to kill Yuugi with. Money was not an issue for him whatsoever.

But that said, Type: Null seems like the type of creature Kaiba Corporation would have created, particularly if they existed within the Pokémon world. Maybe not so much once Kaiba takes over and turns it into a gaming company, but back when it was still a company for developing military weapons? The concept of pokémon being created as weapons is not at all foreign to the series (Mewtwo and Genesect being two prime examples), and I could see Gozaburo wanting to top all of them by creating a chimera that replicated the powers of Arceus. So maybe Type: Null had already been created and cryogenically frozen, and Kaiba released one of them in the hopes that they’d be able to kill Yuugi and the others. That could work. That said, I did really like Chopperman as Jounouchi’s personal challenge, particularly since he knows it’s a trap and walks into it anyway because he feels it’s the right thing to do (what a Gryffindor), so yeah, replacing the horror ride would definitely be preferable, particularly since how sexualized that scene was re: how the ride groped Anzu was unnecessary and gross and hands down the worst part of Death-T. :/ 

#(I HATE TRISTAN'S BRAT COUSIN HE HAD NO REASON TO BE THERE AND ONLY EXISTED TO MAKE TROUBLE) #(I APPRECIATED THAT HE VAPORIZED INTO NONEXISTENCE AFTER THAT ARC. BYE BINCH)

Haha, Jouji is his nephew, actually! Honda was on babysitting duty for his big sister that day. I will say that I do like the fact that Jouji exists purely because it lets us know that Honda has a big sister, and I’ve actually utilized that by fleshing her out into a character for a few fics I’ve written (including my magnum opus), which makes me somewhat attached to her. That said, we don’t actually need that, because Honda brings her up again when he brings clothes for Shizuka to wear when he picks her up from the hospital:

(Sorry for the scan quality, it’s the best I can do right now. Also, the “I don’t know if they’ll look good on you” --- that’s VIZ being kind of loose with the translation. In the original Japanese what he says is more like, “I don’t know if they’ll suit you,” which makes sense given Shizuka is far more demure than what Honda’s sister is implied to be like, given her taste in clothes.)

This little mention here is actually part of why I characterized her the way I did when I wrote her; that she wore “loud” clothes when she was younger spoke to a punkish style of dress, and in my mind, attitude therefore. Either way, though, Jouji is the first way we find out that Honda has an older sister, and that happens much earlier than this, so I guess that’s at least a little good he brings to the story.

Still, though, I agree with you overall, haha. I don’t like Jouji as a character at all. I don’t like the toilet humor during the horror game ride (though that still wasn’t as bad as the ride itself groping Anzu), I don’t like how he’s perverted as a baby, and I don’t understand how old he’s supposed to be. He seems like he should only be a year or so old, but if that’s true, how can he talk that well? How can he understand more mature concepts? It feels like he should have been at least five or six, but then I suppose he wouldn’t have been able to be carried around . . . ugh. Either way, he didn’t really bring anything of merit or value to Death-T. The closest we got was that he was the bait to lure Jounouchi in, and I liked that because, again, Jounouchi knew that it was a trap, but he walked into it anyway because he felt it was the Right thing to do, both because Jouji had helped them once before, and because Jouji was a baby. (And there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment right before the games actually start where Honda is trying to get Jouji to shut up, and Jounouchi says, “Don’t make him cry!” Jounouchi really does have a soft spot for kids, aww. It’s the big brother in him, probably.) Plus, the fact that Jounouchi won that literal fight to the death while holding a baby in his arms is nothing short of badass, and I’ll never take any badass moments away from him. ♥

But yeah, Jouji was a worthless trash character, lmao. There’s a reason why, although I’ve written Honda’s older sister, I haven’t actually written Jouji. I’ve no use for that annoying thing.

#emexceedschangezearu #long post for ts #yugioh #meta #yeah so idk if I ever shared this but the love triangle with Shizuka? does not exist in the manga #neither Honda nor Otogi have feelings for her in the manga lmao #which is nice considering she's a junior high student (~13) and they're high schoolers (Honda is probably ~17 at this point since he's #the oldest of the bunch) #the fact that Honda literally wanted Shizuka to wear his older sister's clothes is the biggest sign he didn't have a #crush on her in the manga lmao. who dresses their crush like their sister?? no one #but the anime decided to rip this out and throw a weird and annoying love triangle in. SIGH. #it's also a waste because manga!Otogi >>>>> anime!Otogi imo #i far prefer awkward tsundere Otogi over flirty playboy Otogi #''I-I WAS JUST IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD . . . I-IT'S NOT LIKE I WANT TO BE FRIENDS OR ANYTHING!!!" <- actual manga!Otogi dialogue #anyway this is off-topic. i'll be quiet now

[fyrapartnersearch]

Harry Potter or Pokemon Originals; M// or F//

To recap my last post, it's been quite a harrowing number of months since I've last made a post here. I got horribly sick in late December and a number of rocky events happen IRL that made me drop roleplaying for a bit to recover from it, and then, lo and behold, when I finally turned back to my RPs, I forgot my roleplaying email's password. If we were roleplaying in the past, feel free to contact me once more.

  My name is Jupiter, I'm 21, and I'm looking to roleplay original characters in HP or Pokemon with someone who is 18 or older, preferably 20+ as well. I'm fine with side pairings of any gender combination, but I'd prefer the main pairing to either be M// or F//. As a preface, I write a lot on average, so my post length varies between novella or multiple paragraphs. Third person, generally past tense, but I can do present tense as well if that's what you prefer. Doubling tends to be my default (but not a requirement!), so let me know off the bat if that's not what you usually go for!

  For Harry Potter, I don't have a concrete plot in mind, but I do have some things I'd be interested in exploring! A setting in modern times as opposed to the original late '90's, exploring how the wizarding world and wizarding laws have shifted with the advandement of muggle technology; I'd imagine it was much easier to keep magic under wraps before smartphones came into the equation.

  Something to do with prophecies could be interesting — after seeing all of those prophecies kept under lock in the Ministry (before they were destroyed, at least, lmao), it got me thinking of what the extent of prophecies were and if all of them were as severe as Harry's, or what another prophecy could be. It could be fun to explore something with our own characters in that vein? I've never done a "chosen one" roleplay before.

  I like the idea of exploring lives post-Hogwarts since the main series doesn't really get into that (excluding Fantastic Beasts, which I can't stress enough how uninterested in I am. Similarly, I'm very critical of the world-building JK's done with expanding the universe, particularly with how sloppily she handled other cultures and their relation with her lore, so keep that in mind). However, I'm definitely up for writing some Hogwarts professor OCs! I've never done that before, so I'm interested. I'd like to either do that or have our characters in their later years at school and map out their lives/the plot from there.

  I enjoy characters who are a bit different from the stock image of each house (for example, I have a bully/rude Hufflepuff, a lazy/friendly Slytherin, a cowardly/unassuming Gryffindor, etc) — that is to say, I enjoy characters who have more depth to them under the surface and aren't exactly what one would expect coming from the very basics of their houses. I'd also love to explore characters from Beauxbaton and/or Durmstrang as well! Going off of the books with both of them being coed schools, though. I have no idea why the movies made Beauxbaton a girls' academy and Durmstrang a boys'. Not required, but I'd love to have a Triwizard Tournament tossed in the mix. (I know it was disbanded after Cedrid died but shhhh.) Not as the main focus, but it could be fun to get into. Or maybe center the roleplay itself around either of those schools rather than Hogwarts and a few characters from different schools get wrapped in a nefarious plot of sorts? Exchange students could also be very fun. Ooh, and I've actually been really interested in somehow bringing a muggle into the mix? No idea how that'd work, but I just think it'd be really fun to have someone non-magical as a main somehow and needing someone without magic or something, haha.

  Basically I just have, like, a ton of very minor threads and ideas I'd like to explore. I enjoy serious/darker plots, so I'd like to have a bigger plot that our characters bleed into!

  For Pokemon, I also don't have a concrete lot in mind. I finally got my hands on Let's Go and Pokemon SWSH just dropped, so the nostalgia trip has been hitting me with severity; after binging Let's Go for the past week, I've been thinking of picking up other games I used to love when I was a kid, haha.

  Given that I have no real plot in mind, I'm open to practically anything. Like I said above, I typically prefer darker, larger plots, which is something I'll sway for this universe! We could have a light-hearted, feel-good roleplay in this scenario. Still a plot, of course, but I don't mind if the vibe is less serious. That said, a more serious plot is something I'm open to as well! It's what I like, after all, haha.

  I'm admittedly a big fan of trainer characters, but I think it'd also be interesting to have a character or two who use Pokemon more in their daily lives or for reasons other than training. I've seen people toss that idea out before but never really played into it before, so it'd be fun to expand my roles. Anyway, for characters and the plot, I'm sure we can come up with something together. I enjoy adventure/journeying plots, so something along that line at the very least would be fun.

  As far as smut goes: it's cool with me but not required, so again, let me know if you'd rather not have it involved. My limits are the basic sort: nothing with underage characters/pedophilia, incest, noncon, bestiality, gore, mpreg, A/B/O, toilet kinks, things of that ilk. I also prefer to play switch characters in bed. I've spent way too many years playing with partners who only play bottoms in smut scenes, so I'm a bit burnt out on that.

  This might sound rude, but don't come to me with one line or a few lines that basically just say, "hi I'm [Name] and I'd like to roleplay with you" since I'll just delete it. Tell me who you are, if you want to do M// or F// and if you want to double or not, if you have a plot or want to explore anything I've said or would like to brainstorm, what your limits are, your favorite sorts of characters/tropes, stuff like that. Just give me a solid idea of what you're looking for and what you're all about!

  Also, please like... write in a way where we can both interact and have your character pull their own weight. I've done a lot of roleplays where I'm making all the decisions and writing all the action/inciting incidents, so please actively apply yourself as well! Roleplaying is all about equal effort, after all.

  If you're interested in anything I've said or have your own ideas, my email is [email protected]. Feel free to contact me again if we have a roleplay that I fell through on, even if it wasn't an RP for what I've listed here. :)

#oc rp #multiple paragraph #long term #email #harry potter rp #pokemon rp #smut rp #submission

[regularspelling]

2016 Book Blitz - June: Spiral Island 3

Oh yeah, I forgot to make this entry. I made the image for it and then forgot to do the rest. Not much to say here, really. Fell short of the goal, and spent the month back and forth falling ahead and behind par. Last few days of the month I had a ton of prep before going out of town for a business trip, so I fell behind then. I had hoped to catch up to reach par on the 30th during my five hour flights in the day, but I got sick partway through the flights and couldn't do any more writing from that point, so I only got that day's worth of words done by that point. 

I didn't end up finishing Spiral Island 2 in May, because I ended up further spending the beginning half of May still sick as I got a bad cold after my infection died away, and with all of the prep for the big Pokemon tournament that month and being sick I didn't have much time or energy. I got close, actually, with only two more chapters at the end left to write, and two I had skipped as well: one near the beginning that's mostly a public speech and I didn't want to take the time making that sound properly like a business speech, and another one that took place in Japan that I wanted to have access to Street View maps to get a better picture of what I was doing, but as I got to that point I wasn't in a place I had good internet access so I skipped it and moved on. So I finished the end of May not finished with Spiral Island 2, but needing to move on to start Spiral Island 3, so I decided to move on. 

If I hadn't gotten as far as I did, though, I wouldn't have moved on. Starting with Spiral Island 1, as I mentioned, I had to make changes in the plot to make it work with the lore. This continued snowballing more through the course of writing Spiral Island 2. Because of all of this, the entire course of the trilogy had changed. The story and the events are still the same, pretty much, but the reasons why everyting happened, to make it all make sense, changed. Because of that, because the way the third book progresses, if I hadn't figured out how the climax of book two was set once I hit June I wouldn't have been able to start the third one and would have had to continue writing it into June before I could start. Luckily, I was able to get it to a point I finally had an idea of the conclusion and everything was going with last minute writing on Memorial Day, so I was able to move on.

Beyond that, I still haven't finished book two. Because I still haven't finished book three. By chapter count, according to my outlines, Spiral Island 1 was 22 chapters, Spiral Island 2 was 30 chapters, and Spiral Island 3 is 40 chapters. The reason that worked out that way is mostly because there's more than one point of view being monitored in the second and third books, as opposed to the first book being almost solely from one character's view, as well as with the third book there's a lot of things happening. It's still a subset of the gameplay whenever I finally get to making the games, as all three only go into points actually important to moving along the story in a book and not points important to moving along the story as a game and other gameplay things, but there are more plot points important to the books as we move on so it naturally needed to be longer for each.

I've been kind of slacking since I got back from my business trip, and not writing as much as I should have (and you can partly blame that on the release of Pokemon Go), so I'm not quite done yet. With the word count at the end of June, I had finished up to chapter 26. As of this writing I've finished chapter 32, with a word count of 88775, so I'm getting close. I'm hoping to finish it up over the course of the next week, then swing back to catch the missing four chapters of book two after that so I can get my first pass editing done and have a first draft print done by the time I go out of town again mid-August. The end is in sight, culminating a total of fifteen years of work to bring this trilogy into the world (although I hand't really considered the print form to do it for nearly as long, honestly).

(from Regular Spelling https://ift.tt/3aw4sSO via IFTTT )

#IFTTT #Regular Spelling

[waynekelton]

Like... Magic: Arena? You'll love these alternative CCGs

Just a few short years ago almost every developer inside and out of mobile gaming was holding the idea of the CCG close, finding every which way to include 'Card Battle' elements into new IPs and sequels that made absolutely no sense. That RTS sequel? Have some cards. The latest iteration of your favorite shooter? Cards.

Developers have taken a step back recently, but the resurgence of Magic: The Gathering with its new MtG: Arena game has reignited the urge to pull packs and build decks. It hasn't made its way to mobile just yet, though, so if you lack a PC capable of running the game or just need your CCG fix on the go, we've rounded up a bunch of popular big-brand CCG games you can play where and whenever the itch needs scratching.

Barring a few odd exceptions, All of the titles below can be played on both PC and mobile, with console being an option with some. Each takes certain cues from the Wizards of the Coast game that started it all, too. So while you'll need to learn the ropes with each of these, if you can play the CCG that stumps Chess-besting artificial intelligence, you can probably pick up and play these without much issue.

Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links (iOS and Android)

Konami has released a few different Yu-Gi-Oh games on mobile over the years, but Duel Links has proven to be the more resilient of the lot: and it's multi-platform!

Released back in 2017, Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links condenses the classic card battler into short, snappy duels better suited to on-the-go play while preserving popular strategies seen in top tournament over the years. If you haven't played Yu-Gi-Oh before, it's less about managing resources and more about managing your monsters. Battling requires notably less mental arithmetic despite attack and defense numbers going well into the thousands, yet the core idea remains the same: whittle down your opponent's life with direct attacks to win the game.

Spell and Trap cards help create synergistic strategies, and with thousands of cards to pull from its dozens of packs, there's just as much thought to building a themed deck as you'll find in Magic. It's not quite the core Yu-Gi-Oh experience you'd find at your local card shop, but it keeps enough to not feel dumbed down for mobile play. It's Yu-Gi-Oh, but faster, and fans of the still on-going anime show will find the overhanging story and periodic character releases as a reason to keep coming back.

Shadowverse (iOS and Android)

If you prefer the high-fantasy style of Magic but enjoy a side-helping of anime, Shadowverse is really worth a look.

Created by the good folks over at Cygames - who are responsible for Nintendo's Dragalia Lost and the ever-popular Granblue Fantasy, Shadowverse is like the love child of Hearthstone and Magic, mixing the mana management of Hearthstone with the more complicated battle systems of Magic. The gorgeous anime-inspired high-fantasy art-style adds a unique personality to the game that's sure to appeal to a more specific type of player. And if you've ever played a Cygames title before, prepare to see characters cross over from their other titles for that added easter egg kick.

Like some of the other options here, Shadowverse has a rich lore and a single-player storyline to run through. The English dub doesn't skimp out on the voice actors, either, with Cassandra Lee Morris (Persona 5's sleep-obsessed Morgana) taking the helm. It's available on both mobile and PC, so there's a good chance you'll be able to squeeze in some practice at home without draining your phone battery.

The longevity of ongoing support for Shadowverse comes into question with the recommendation. Mobile titles can close down at a moments notice. But if you're at all interested in the premise, I can personally attest to Shadowverse being well worth your time. Maybe just think twice about dumping too much money into if I you notice a few too many run-ins with the same player. Though the recent announcement of an anime project might mean there's still plenty of life in this one yet.

The Elder Scrolls Legends (iOS and Android)

Another case of a popular franchise jumping on the bandwagon. The Elder Scrolls Legends isn't the most popular CCG on the market, but its reputation is that of a unique and intriguing card game that wasn't just some ham-fisted attempt to cash in on the Elder Scrolls namesake.

If you're one of the thousands of players still enthralled by Skyrim or happen to be balancing life around The Elder Scrolls Online, The Elder Scrolls Legends can keep you immersed in the world of Tamriel while you're out and about. Its various expansion sets all bear an obvious likeness to ESO add-ons, too, so new and old players of the franchise are sure to get something out of its varied content.

You won't be able to hop on over from another CCG and play like a champ from the get-go with this one. There are similarities - like the return of the ever-popular Mana system - but you'll still have to play through the tutorial to understand the rest of the game board and how to position your cards.

Gwent (iOS) (October 29th)

Here's one we weren't expecting to add to the list. Despite more or less every other CCG tie-in making a point to release on mobile, CD Projekt Red's attempts to tackle the genre extended to simply making a standalone version of the card game available in The Witcher 3. That changes toward the end of October when Gwent finally leaves its PC/Console confines to join the Apple ecosystem by landing on the iOS App Store.

Notice the lack of mention of Android? It's true. Gwent is doing the unthinkable by launching exclusively on iOS. The original blog post (from March) does bring up Android as something that's being worked on, but even seven months on, we're still being told and Android release will "be announced at a later date". If you're here before the grand iOS release date, chances are you can still squeeze into the closed beta.

As Paul Tassi explained in a Forbes article a few years back, unlike the other games on this list, an understanding of something like Hearthstone doesn't mean squat in Gwent. They couldn't be more different. It's a numbers game, with rounds as well as turns. There's less card RNG in play and far more strategy. It's about reading the room and outplaying your opponent, and about knowing when to hold back and when to go all-in.

Learning the basics is about as hard as learning its intricacies. It's a complex game. If you like the fake-out meta of Poker, you'll probably get a kick out of Gwent. And if you like The Witcher, you're just looking at an extension of the tabletop game you probably sunk dozens of hours into across The Witcher 3.

Hearthstone (iOS and Android)

Josh had a whole section here, but Hearthstone doesn't need any further introduction. It's the game that launched a thousands CCGs, and it differs from Magic in a few key fundamental ways that you probably already know about. 

Honorable Mention:

Pokemon TCG Online (iPad and Android Tablets)

If, like me, your first venture into the CCG/TCG space was with Pokemon, you might be surprised to hear that you can play a completely digital and 100% official version of the Pokemon TCG at home and on the go. This one predates the card-game boom of recent years, but for one reason or another, the only way it's playable on the go (without a laptop) is with a tablet. They just never updated the game to really work on a small screen.

For the uninitiated, Pokemon TCG Online is quite unique in how it plays. Much like the traditional RPGs, you're encouraged to focus on a small and varied selection of Pokemon. Resource management comes in the form of coloured "Energy" cards used to power each card's multiple moves, with the aim of the game being to knock out enough of your opponent's critters to claim the six "prize" cards taken from your deck at the start of each match. There's quite a bit of RNG not only with luck of the draw, but also countless coin flips to decide how status affects like Paralysis and Sleep help or hinder your team.

Unlike the other entries on this list, the Pokemon Trading Card Game app extends into its physical version. Packs can be bought in-game, but each real-life booster pack and deck comes with a redeemable code to add that same purchase to the video game.

It's a great tool for existing TCG players to practice their strategies online, but those without a nurtured interest in the physical game have plenty to gain here, too. Its visuals are overly childish and barely represent the franchise's other entries, and there isn't much single-player content to sink your teeth into. But if you're looking to play the Pokemon TCG against other players without waltzing into your local hobby shop, it's a good go-between.

-----------------

In an earlier version of this article, Nick put forward his own list of credible Magic: The Gathering alternatives. Since the mobile CCG market has moved on a bit since then and Magic’s potential on mobile has shifted, we thought we’d re-do this article with a fresh perspective.

It’s not possible to keep all text, but if you’re interested in the games he recommened that were like Magic: The Gathering, here they are:

Card City Nights

Dream Quest

Lost Portal CCG

Five Card Quest

Treasure Hunter

Do you have any games you'd recommend to scratch that Magic itch? Let us know in the comments!

Like... Magic: Arena? You'll love these alternative CCGs published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[elasianstar]

The world on a turtle’s back Chapter 1

“Ok Mikey, now you have to ride Agro up to the Colossus's flank as its wing flaps drag in the sand, then you have to jump for it and climb up to the top.”

“Almost, almost….dangit i missed.”

“That's ok, just get agro and chase him down again before he gets away!”

“GO AGRO!”

“He's taking off hurry Mikey!”

“BOOYAKASHA! GOT IT!”

“Are you two still playing that old game? It's the fourth day in a row.”

Leo was standing behind us one hand on each back cushion of the couch as his icy eyes scanned the screen where Mikey was taking down the flying snake falanx. The bright sword piercing the rune on the furry back of the beast before it fell, diving into the sand.

“Its not a bad game bro.”

“Yeah leo don't smash the classics, the original shadow of the colossus pushed the boundaries of what a platforming game was in its time. Back then game designers had to figure out how to code everything in a game from scratch, the industry was full of miraculous advancements in that time and it blew the minds of the gaming audiences around the world. A lot of what we know about data storage and computing came from the early game developers of the 80’s and 90’s.”

“She’s right, I use the same basic coding in the Tphones that was developed to create pokemon red. On a bigger scale of course, that program literally refused to crash.”

“I have an idea actually, go get Raph, we’ll play an awesome game i'm sure you'll all love.”

Mikey ran off to the weight room to get Raphael while i pulled an ancient gaming console out of my backpack.

“Is that an original Playstation?”

“Yeah Don its my little brother’s old console, how do you guys feel about a Crash Team Racing Tournament? My brothers and I play this all the time.”

“I could use a break from training”

“Yeah sure,i would love to play a game on such a nostalgic console, the tech back then was archaic but it was impressively durable.”

Laughing i plugged the old wires into the back of the tv.

‘You're telling me, Gabriel once shoved a PB&J in here when Charles had pissed him off. It still works like a charm.”

Donnie was turning the squat square console in his hands admiring the worn casing before pressing the button to lift the top disk hatch.

“You weren't lying, there’s a little dried jelly stuck under the scanner, its amazing this thing still works.”

Setting it down i popped the disk inside, pressing the power button only for it to freeze on the logo screen.

“It's done this from time to time ever since it went through a house fire, all it needs is a little…”

I slapped the machine and the disk continued playing like normal.

“Percussive maintenance.”

When Mikey and Raph got back i tossed each of them a controller as they sat on either side of me on the floor between the couch and the tv.

...

“I CALL CRASH!”

“This N-GIN fellow seems interesting, is that a guided missile.”

“Yep he’s good in the battle maps Don, I’ve got dibs on COCO.”

“I’ll play as this Polar bear guy.”

“I’ve got... Tiny Tiger?”

I started us on an easy map that each of their characters would have an even footing on and within a few races it had turned into an all out war, missiles and bombs flew across the track and the boys were jostling to block each other's views of the screen. Tension was definitely building.

“TAKE THAT DONNIE! MY POLAR BEAR KICKS YOUR CYBORG’S BUTT ON AN ICE MAP!”

“MIKEY HOP QUICK YOU HAVE A TNT ON YOUR HEAD!”

“FUCK I WAS WATCHING THE WRONG SCREEN!”

“AHHH SEAL!”

“WHAT THE FUCK LEO, I JUST GOT IN FIRST FUCKING PLACE AND YOU SHOOT ME WITH A DAMN ELECTRIC BALL!”

Raph jumped up onto his feet, getting in his older brother’s face with his lips pulled back in a snarl and his hands balled into fists.

“All’s fair in love and war Raphael, now stop making such a big deal out of a game.”

“I'M THE ONE MAKING A BIG DEAL OF THE GAME? YOU'VE STOLEN THE TROPHY FROM ME THREE DAMN TIMES NOW!”

The two stared each other down for several moments, Raph's anger seeming to visibly build itself off of Leo’s, before Raphael’s huge fist made contact with Leonardo’s face. The two rolled off behind the couch where they started beating the shit out of each other, curses flying while Mikey attempted to shield me and the console from the fury of the two behemoths. Within a few minutes the fight burned out to both boys staring at each other tensely, Leo rose to his feet and postured dominantly while Raph slunk back in defeat, leaving for the tunnel to the surface.

Pulling away from Mikey i gently waved off his concerned glance and moved toward Leonardo, He wasn't the only one who could pull the dominant shtick. Pulling my wings up to make myself look bigger though the blue turtle had nearly a foot on me i stalked up to Leo on my toes. Moving like a predator  my eyes flashed away from their usual green-blue hue to burn bright gold. We stared at each other in much the same way the brothers had moments before, although neither of us showed any sign of breaking into violence neither of us was willing to submit to the other’s will either.

“A good leader takes all of their followers’ thoughts and emotions into count before any action. I’m not saying Raphael was right in throwing such a fit but you could have handled that much more tactfully. I suggest you learn to understand your team better. They are warriors yes but they're also your family, and they're all you’ve got. You might consider not driving them away.”

Splinter’s voice interrupted us from where he was reading his romance novels on the overstuffed recliner.

“The young lady is wise Leonardo. You may benefit from heeding her advice.”

Leo’s eyes fell in submission to his sensei as I turned on my heel to follow Raph.

I found him a few blocks away sitting on top of an old apartment complex, his eyes on the horizon as the sky lightened for the coming dawn. At the sound of my landing he pulled in on himself a little tighter. I had seen the two eldest fight several times in the last week but I had never followed either before. Seeing this side of Raphael was something I never even considered as I sat quietly on the rooftop near him. My very presence seemed to make him relax, as if he were responding to my emotions. The first pop of sunlight struck us as the bright sphere edged over the horizon, golden rays sparking in his eyes and making them dance like embers floating over a campfire.

“What are ya starin at.”

I dropped my gaze to my hands, gently twisting the agate ring around my finger.

“nothing, sorry.”

After a while he stood up, holding out a hand to help me to my feet.

“Thanks, for sitting with me. I don't know why but it helped.”

“you're welcome.”

we were both a bit fidgety, but i’d had some time to think and had come up with a theory i had to test.

“Hey Raph, have you ever heard of empaths?”

“why.”

“It's just you seem to be very in tune with others emotions though you may not realize it.There was little reason for you to get so worked up down there but your energy was buzzing with all sorts of competition and spite and anger. You were mirroring and amplifying your brothers’ emotions to the point that you just lost control of it all. I think it may be the root of your more extreme anger issues, you absorb others’ turbulent emotions and compound them on your own without realizing until you get explosive….”

the look he gave me set my nerves off again and i hid behind my hair,  “Sorry was that too creepy and analytical?”

He nodded a bit looking at me skeptically, indecisive on whether he believed what I was saying or if he thought it was unsettling how easily I could read him.

“here,”

I placed my hand over his and thought of my favorite memory with my brothers.

“What do you feel?”

His eyes fell on our hands, a small hint of a smile tugging at his mouth.

“How are you doing that?”

“I'm not doing anything more than reliving a pleasant memory. I can help you with this though. Empathy is a common skill even amongst humans, you simply have to learn to realize which emotions don't originate from you and develop ways to deal with them without letting them cloud your own mind.”

“And that will keep me from being such a dumbass?”

I smiled wickedly, slapping him gently on the arm with the back of my fingers.

“Sorry I can't cure dumbass, but I can help you reign this in. All you have to do is give it an effort, Deal?”

His large hand grabbed mine like he was afraid to break it.

“Deal.”

…

The next friday I texted Raph and asked him to meet me on the roof of my apartment just after their twilight patrol. I set out a large blanket and packed some snacks and drinks, i stretched my wings out in the warm light of the setting sun to wait.

About an hour after sundown i heard the low thud of Raphael’s landing on the roof behind me. Looking over my shoulder i quickly sat up, laying my wings comfortably behind me i motioned for him to sit across from me on the blanket.

“So how are we doin this?”

“Well first you're going to have to actually make eye contact.”

He looked up at me and I could tell he was worried, but I didn't bring it up. He would get more comfortable with practice.

“ Close your eyes, were going to start by simply getting you to differentiate between your own emotions and those transferred to you by another. Breath deep and tell me what you feel, I will block my own aura from transferring so you won't get any crossover from me.”

After a few moments of breathing he spoke.

“Well I'm still pissed at Leo for his usual high and mighty bullshit, and at Mikey for waking me up with a water balloon.”

“all right, anything else?”

“well the ache in my muscles from a few quick laps around the city, it's relaxing. And sitting here, that's…. Why do I have to do this?”

“because if you can't decipher your own emotions how will you tell the difference between them and another's?”

I began projecting a heavy sadness, watching as his shoulders slumped and his breath shuddered.

“stop,... please.”

I pulled back behind my wards, leaving a slight soothing behind to apologize.

“if you can't tell an enemy from a friend how could you ever guard yourself in battle? It is the same for your psyche. Now seeing as your anger is the hardest for you to control I want you to focus on a memory that makes you angry without causing a meltdown, a mild irritation.”

When I noticed his face twitching into anger I pushed a little, adding my own similar memories and emotions as I watched his face screw in on itself as he bordered on rage. His fists balled and his thick arms bulged as he fought to restrain himself.

“focus Raphael, don't let yourself get lost in the fog.”

His eyes snapped open, burning into my own before cooling as I withdrew the emotion.

“What did you feel? Explain your way through what you just experienced.”

“It started with me remembering a time when Mikey bent one of my Sai trying to use it to poke a hole in the wall to run a can phone between his and Leo’s rooms. Then it just kept getting worse, like fire ants biting but inside my mind, it kept pushing me, stinging and getting more intense for no reason…”

“anything specific about that sensation you think you could recognize if you tried again?”

“maybe?”

After about ten tries and an hour's work he was starting to notice the same “fire ants” sensation within a few seconds of intrusive emotion.

We tried a few times with some other emotions but with a change in emotion came a change in sensation so it was back at square one. We did manage to lock down the sensations for the big three emotions before I had him emotionally exhausted.

Anger= burning stinging “fire ants”

Sadness= heavy clammy “mud"

Happiness= soft and warm “fur”

The whole time I watched his aura, monitoring the color change from red to blue to yellow. With the addition of intrusive emotion each one changed, becoming streaked with a slightly different shade of the target color.

Now he lay flat on his plastron, eyes still closed as I helped him clear his mind of all of the tumultuous emotions of our session. I had put on some gentle music that used natural sounds and radiated calm peaceful energy that he soaked up like a man lost in the desert guzzles water.

“I know you're doing that.”

I spoke around a mouth full of the cookies we were munching on.

“What?”

He took a swig from his water bottle.

“Making me feel all calm and peaceful on purpose. It feels like a warm sunlamp.”

“you made some good progress today, but you frazzled yourself. sue me for wanting to help.”

He did that laugh/smirk thing before burying his face in his crossed arms, a muffled thanks nearly silenced.

“It won't be that easy with others, I was pumping some pretty deliberate emotions your way using my abilities as a soul reader. Unintentional exchanges will be harder to notice before they've influenced your core emotional state. We’ll keep working with weaker and weaker signals and more varied emotions until you're completely familiar with each new sensation.”

He just hummed, and soon snores started to rumble through him as he fell asleep. He must have been more exhausted than I thought.

Careful to not wake him I drug the blanket he was laid upon under one of the rooftop awnings, throwing the other blanket over his splayed out body. I sent a quick text to the brothers explaining that Raph had been doing some training at my place and i had offered for him to crash here over the daylight hours. Nestling myself amongst my own wings I took up residence at the mouth of the awning and fell asleep to the rising sun.

RAPH POV

I woke up with a major kink in my neck, the late may heat feeling nice on my skin with the cool breeze.

Peeking my eyes open I noticed that I was under some sort of plastic dome thing that was open on one end like an igloo or something. Near the door a small black lump lay guarding the entrance, stray feathers and wisps of dark hair being blown by the breeze. I couldn't help but smile at the thought of her literally making me a blanket nest and guarding me while I slept.

“Morning Raph.”

She spoke without even a change in her breath to tell me she had woke up. It startled me, how long had I been watching her?

“hm. Mornin.”

Her wings rose first, fluttering a few times to fix the messy feathers before she sat up. She stretched her spine and rolled her shoulders, light cracks and pops betraying  her poor sleeping position before looking at me with those big eyes. They were emerald green ringed with blue and soft in the scattered light.

“you think you could sneak downstairs to my apartment or do you wanna just sit tight up here while I make breakfast.”

My stomach growled at the mention of food.

“as long as there aren't any helicopters around I think I'll manage.”

She poked her head out the front of the shelter and looked around before waving me on to follow her. Staying low we slid through the roof access door and down the flight of stairs to her apartment door.

The place was studio style with most of the space being one big room, a kitchenette sat off to the right and the living space was to the left. Above the bathroom was a small loft blocked from view by a tapestry of the night sky. The hardwood floor was scattered with black shed feathers and the windowsill was filled with long planters each holding several large plants. All of the shelves were covered in rocks and sculptures and little things, and there was a freaky looking stuffed raven sitting above her computer that creeped me out. the thing was watching me i swear.

She motioned for me to take a spot on the worn love seat facing the kitchen while she got to work cooking.

“Is sausage and eggs Ok?”

She was already pulling a large black iron skillet out of the cabinet and placing it loudly on the stove.

“You don't have to…”

She whirled around on me holding the spatula threateningly.

“Not another word, how many times have you guys had me over for dinner at the lair in the last two weeks, between feeding me after a medical visit or me just crashing dinner while hanging out I'm eating your food most nights. Now is sausage and eggs alright?”

her spunk always surprised me, so much spark in such a little bird.

“Throw in toast with some of that kiwi jelly you brought splinter last Tuesday and I'll shut up.”

She smiled, taking a jar out of the fridge with a tub of butter before digging out her toaster, The smell of cooking food making my mouth water.

Between flips she fumbled with her phone and the light guitar intro of Bon Jovi’s Dead or Alive started playing as she moved around the space.

“I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride. I'm wanted, Waannteeed, dead or alive…”

She tossed her head a bit while the guitar solo echoed in the small space

“And I walk These streets, worn out six string on my back. I play for keeps, because I might not make it back. I've been everywhere, still standin tall, I've seen a billion faces, and I've rocked them all!”

She knew every word, singing along with the music as she took something out of the skillet.

“And I'm a cowboy, I've got the night on my side, and I'm wanted, Dead or alive. And I ride, dead or alive!”

“So you're a classic rock fan.”

She reacted like she hadn't realized I had actually been watching as Panama from van Halen blared. She turned it down a bit as she cracked eggs into the skillet.

“Oh uh yeah, my youngest brother is really into it and it kinda re-lit my flame for the genera. Not as good as seeing it performed live…”

“you've seen Bon Jovi live?”

She ducked and waved it off.

“Yeah, well another me did. Should have seen her back then. I think my brother Felix still has my favorite leather biker jacket somewhere, he borrowed it last Halloween and hasn't returned it. I was a total rock chick back in the 70’s.”

The image of her in a heavy leather jacket while she sat on a wide and low red Harley flashed through my thoughts.

“Anyway food’s ready, ummm…”

She was looking between the dining table and the couch.

“You might be a bit too heavy for the dining chairs that came with this place. I'll let you eat on the couch this once but if this is going to become a regular thing I'll see about getting something sturdier for you.”

She handed me a plate loaded with food and placed a couple of glasses of milk on the coffee table before going back for her own. There were strange dark brown disks like hamburger patties on the plate, I picked one up and sniffed it, unsure of what it could be.

“have you never had country sausage before?”

My expression must have given me away, this thing was a sausage? What happened to the long linked ones Mikey would sometimes have April get from the Italian market?

“Try it, it's the same thing just without the casing, I personally like to dip them in my egg yolk.”

She tore the disk in half, dipping it in the runny egg before popping it in her mouth with a satisfied hum and an expectant look.

ELASIA POV

He seemed unsure of the new food but with a bit of coaxing he tried it, tossing the piece of sausage in his mouth like it was a shot that needed to be downed quickly before the taste hit his tongue. When it did however his eyes went wide for a second and settled as he slowly chewed, savoring the smoky flavor.

“farm raised pork from back home, there isn't much better.”

Shoveling another whole patty in his mouth he mumbled something that sounded like, “we need to make you cook at the lair more often.”

I couldn't help but feel proud at that, puffing up a bit before speaking.

“I figured you'd want me all to yourself!”

The way his expression changed and how he choked on his food made me realize how that sounded.

“my...my cooking that is.”

RAPH POV

She got really quiet after that, staring down at her plate while she picked at her food.

I reached across the table and stole one of her sausages, her face flushed with shock as I popped it in my mouth.

“maybe I should keep quiet, wouldn't want Mikey to HOG all of this deliciousness.”

The snorting laugh she made when she realized my pun had me reaching over to teasingly attempt another sausage theft but she smacked my hand away. We both smiled as she nibbled on a piece of toast, awkwardness forgotten.

...

“Uggggghhh, no more woman, are you trying to make me explode?”

“It's not my fault you loved my cooking so much that you decided to steal half of my meal as well as the double helping I had made for you.”

She moved to take my plate and cup but I blocked her hand before she could.

“No you cooked let me help.”

Rolling up off the couch I grabbed my dishes and followed her to the sink.

“I'll wash and you can dry.”

She tossed me a ratty grey towel and started filling the sink with water and soap.

CRASH!!

“Shit I'm sorry, let me...fuck.”

I had dropped a wet plate on the floor and in my rush I stepped on a relatively large shard, embedding it in my foot.

ELASIA'S POV

Moving quickly I took the brunt of Raph’s weight on my shoulders as I helped him hop over to the couch and sit down. Kneeling in front of him I gently took his large 2 toed foot in my hands inspecting the damage before grabbing the biggest piece of the shard.

Raph had been quiet through the pain so far but hissed and jerked away as I tried to pull out the glass. I looked up at him with a calming gaze, immediately feeling him settle.

“this is going to hurt like a sonofabitch but I have to get all of the glass out before I can seal to wound.”

His gold-green eyes looked back into mine, searching for something before he nodded.

“I trust ya.”

When I pulled out the shard his heavy hand came down to grip my shoulder. Grabbing a pair of tweezers and a large sewing needle I set to work removing the smaller slivers, extending my wing up to comfortingly brush against his side and the arm that was gripping me. After a few minutes I had gotten out all of the shards and allowed my magic to work on the wound, sealing it shut and leaving a small scar in the arch of his foot.

I don't know why but I pressed a small kiss to the scar before turning away to clean up the glass and finish the dishes, leaving Raphael to watch dumbfounded from the couch.

…

A little while later the sun set and I heard a tapping on the glass door to the balcony. Pulling back the curtains I was met by the three figures of Leo, Donnie, and Mikey.

“Come on in guys, Raph is just watching fast N loud in the main room.”

Mikey and Donnie rushed past while Leo stayed back with me.

“I’m afraid we can't stay long, we have to get on patrol before the purple dragons start getting too active.”

“I understand.”

He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

“Actually I have a couple things I need to say first. I'm sorry about the other night, you're right, I need to start trying to understand the unique ways my brothers think. It would not only help my role as a leader but it would connect us together better as a family. Especially Raph. And uh, speaking of Raph would you mind explaining this special training you mentioned last night?”

I had promised Raph that we would keep the details of our sessions private.

“It was nothing much, simply honing some innate abilities I believe he may possess. It's strictly confidential at this moment.”

“Yes, well then we really ought to be moving. Have a pleasant night Ms.Elasia. Mikey, Don, Raph let's move.”

Mikey gave me a quick hug and invited me down Sunday for game night and Donnie patted my hair claiming he left some files on my laptop that he’d like for me to look over before the two jumped off the balcony after Leo.

“Hey, um today was...nice.”

Raph lingered at the railing of the balcony, one hand gripping it ready to fling himself over.

“Yeah it was, next friday?  maybe?”

He smiled a little.

“Yeah sure, and ill...I'll practice a bit this week.”

Two beats of silence passed between us before I hopped up and wrapped my arms around his neck in a hug, my wings snaking around his shell. He froze for a second before I felt his strong arms around my waist and his chin sat firmly against my hair.

When I let go he was gone.

#TMNT #teenage mutant ninja turtles #the world on a turtle's back #Elasia OC #raphael tmnt

[tigerlover16-uk]

Anime I need to watch (June 2017 update)

Well, another month gone, another update. I’m sure anyone who’s noticed that I do these things knows the drill by now. Sorry I’m a day, almost two late again, I’ve been a bit distracted the last two days.

Okay, so I’m going to be honest with you guys... I pretty much spent most of this month just watching Fairy Tail and a couple of movies on the side.

I don’t know what happened. I was just going to watch one more arc of the show and then go back to either Yu Yu Hakusho or Soul Eater, but I ended up just binging over 150 episodes of this show in a month. I don’t think I’ve ever binged that many episodes of a single series in a month. Compared to Yu Yu Hakusho, which i actually enjoyed even more and yet it took me considerably longer to sit through the Dark Tournament arc, that just amazes me i got to this point.

I dunno. When i get really into a series and it strikes a good chord with me, I tend to get a little obsessive, so that’s probably what it was. Considering next up is a filler arc and I have less than a hundred episodes left to go, since the anime is on an indefinite hiatus, I think I’m just going to catch up on some other shows for July. And since giving my detailed thoughts on a hundred and fifty something episodes would take all day, I’m just going to summarize what I thought of each arc really quick and give some consensus at the end. Ask me for any more specific thoughts if you’re curious.

The Oracion Seis arc was pretty great. The titular antagonists were all pretty fun and interesting in their own right, though Zero was an underwhelming final boss. It was nice to see Fairy Tail teaming up with other guilds, I liked Wendy’s character, it was great that Jellal was brought back and overall it was a pretty exciting arc. I do have my nitpicks, like some weak writing choices here or there, and the members of Blue Pegasus fawning over Wendy and commenting on how attractive she’ll be when she grows up was... more than a little creepy, to say the least. but nothing big enough to spoil the fun. It was a pretty good arc.

The Daphne arc was just okay. Really, there’s not a lot to comment on other than it s kind of fun, but it’s very obvious that it’s just a filler arc.

The Edolas arc though, now that was a letdown. Which is a shame because it starts out really well, but somewhere around the second half of the arc (I think it was just after the episode with Happy’s parents) It just started to drag and feel boring for me. I didn’t end up caring that much about Edolas or the Exceeds, the whole “teaming up with Alternate versions of our heroes” idea is always neat, but not enough was really done with it. And Mystogan turned out to be a big disappointment. After his character was built up so well in previous stories, the reveal of him just being an alternate Jellal who’s a prince of another world, while that had plenty of potential admittedly, was underwhelming due to just how little we actually see of the character until near the very end of the story. And yet i still don’t feel like i knew that much about his character, despite how much importance seemed to be placed on his send off. It all just felt like a waste. And the weak villains didn’t make up for it at all.

The arc had a lot of good moments, both funny and awesome, and a lot of good ideas, but overall i just felt kind of glad it was over so we could move on. Ah well, at least Gajeel finally got his own talking partner, and Panther Lily’s pretty cool, so it was hardly a waste. Wish i could say the same for Lisanna, I actually really like her character, but from what else I’ve seen I have to ask, why would the author go out of his way to bring her back from the apparent dead like this if he wasn’t actually going to do anything with her afterwards? sigh.

Thankfully, the arc right after it with Grimoire Heart was pretty great. It was disappointing that the S-class exam was cut short in favour of Fairy Tail’s conflict with the villains of the arc, but honestly what we got was pretty great anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal for me. This arc had the most tension out of any arc in the series so far, and barring Kain who was kind of annoying, pretty much every member of Grimoire Heart was a fun villain in their own right. The stuff with Ultear was especially fantastic. The set up with Zeref was also pretty enticing, and I’m interested in seeing where everything with that leads. The arc was paced fairly well and it had an exciting climax.

It wasn’t a perfect arc though. While I’d been noticing them in the last two arcs, this for me was where I really started to see where the complaints with Fairy Tail having a lot of contrivances and obnoxious fanservice come from. Some of the ways the main characters beat their opponents were headscratching, and I honestly considered taking a break from the show when i got to the episode where Cana basically decided her battle strategy was going to be to summon swarms of bikini girls to befuddle Freed so he couldn’t fight her and Lucy. And while she made up for it later and I liked her backstory and development, Cana knocking Lucy out and leaving her to fend for herself was... kind of a jerk move.

Not to mention how weirdly executed that time skip was at the end, but that would take all day to cover.

But all of that didn’t stop it from being an exciting, fun arc, easily one of the best in the series.

Wish i could say the same for the Key of the Starry Sky arc, which just felt like a chore to sit through at first and only got better towards it’s final third. And even then while it had a lot of good moments it was a really underwhelming arc that felt awkwardly placed in between the start of the time skip and the Grand Magic Games arc. So, basically your standard filler arc. Ugh, it’s like the Garlic Jr saga all over again.

So i don’t think I’ll cover that in any more detail and just cut straight to the Grand Magic Games arc, which was thankfully a big improvement. Even though it had plenty of issues. Despite their reputation among some parts of the anime fandom, i actually tend to really like tournament arcs. I think they can be really fun when written well, and this arc was fun. The rival guilds had a lot of fun characters (and a few not so good ones), there were a lot of good fights and most of the main characters, as well as Jellal and Ultear, got plenty of good moments (although oh boy, did Lucy just keep getting the short end of the stick thanks to really bad luck). If nothing else, this arc was pretty entertaining and just enjoyable to watch, including having a lot of the funniest moments in the show. So it was a good pick me up after the last arc.

But it did have it’s problems, probably more glaring ones than most of the previous arcs. While a lot of the characters from the rival guilds were interesting and fun to watch, a lot of them got noticeably shafted when it came time for the Fairy Tail members to beat them. Laxus winning over Jura as easily as he did was especially eye rolling. Sting and Rogue felt like they could have been good characters, but they repetedly fell short and didn’t do much that was actually impressive, especially Sting. I actually didn’t mind Raven Tail and it’s members too much, mostly because it was really satisfying to see a bunch of creeps like them be pulverized in the end. But from what i understand neither them or Ivan, their leader, ever appear again after this story. Which... seems like a real waste, considering how Ivan and the guild were built up. They could have served as useful secondary antagonists in a future story with Ivan getting further development, and some closure between him, Makarov and Laxus,  buuut i guess not. Really kind of headscratching there.

And then the stuff with Future Lucy in the final act felt pretty underdeveloped and while tragic, also felt kind of anticlimactic. And while everybody fighting dragons was awesome, Future Rogue was such a lame villain with such poorly defined motivations that it was impossible to care about him by the time he was killed off. Though he did have some cool powers. Ah well, at least the backstory we got on the dragons was pretty cool.

There were several more moments of lazy writing too, but this is all going on a bit long, so I’ll just say that for whatever it’s faults, the Grand Magic Games arc was still a pretty fun story that was at least more interesting to watch than what came before it, and I’ll be interested to see where things go from here. Also, Frosch is now one of my favourite characters for just how adorable he (She?) is!

So, yeah, that was a lot of episodes. Overall, while I see some of the problems people would have with this series by now, I still really really enjoy Fairy Tail. It’s not always perfect when it comes to writing and there’s a number of missed opportunities, but it does have a real sense of fun and more charm than a lot of animes out there. And while i do think i need a break from it to catch up on some other shows next month, I look forward to getting back to it to see what’s next.

Okay, let’s talk about some of the movies i watched this month. Starting with another Pokémon movie, Kyurem vs the sword of justice. And thankfully, this was another good pokemon movie. It’s a pretty simple story, and much of the middle act is basically a big chase scene, but it works pretty well because Kaldeo is a pretty likeable character worth rooting for. The action was good, the legendaries featured were all fun to watch, the animation was nice. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking as far as pokemon movies go, but it was a biiiiiig step up from the movies that came before it, so for that I’m grateful.

And next up is... more Fairy Tail.

Yeah, this month I also watched the first Fairy Tail movie, Phoenix Princess. It was pretty great. The story was good, most of the characters got some time to shine, the animation was lovely, it was pretty funny and had a surprisingly tragic conclusion for a movie based on this series. I don’t want to go into too much detail because this update post is late enough as it is an, but I kinda loved this film.

And next up I watched the second Naruto movie, Legend of the Stone of Gelel... and dear GOD was it boring. Seriously, the Pokémon Black and White movies were more memorable than this thing. The plot was dull and uninspired, the villains and new characters were weak and bland, outside of a few funny moments i didn’t find much amusement in it and  the action was largely unimpressive. I can’t even comment much on the actual story because barely anything stuck after i finished watching the film apart from how much i didn’t care. Honestly i hope this is the worst of the Naruto movies and the next one i watch is an improvement.

And rounding it up, we have the movie Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time. A three way crossover featuring the protagonists of the first three Yu-Gi-Oh series... and boy, is it a dumb movie. The story is the definition of an excuse plot and full of questionable decisions and poor logic. The villain, Paradox, was ridiculously underdeveloped, with his terribly ill defined backstory about how duel monsters as a card game apparently destroyed the world in the future and him coming back to stop that by murdering Pegasus opens up a lot of REALLY awkward questions that the movie never bothers to address, just expecting us to believe that everything will be alright in the end because... our heroes beat the guy that was trying to save the future?

Honestly the whole thing was just dumb and confusing. Oh, it was entertainingly dumb and it did have a bunch of cool moments, so i didn’t have a bad time watching it at all. I probably would have straight up enjoyed the moments with Yusei if i had ever watched 5Ds, but that’ll come in the near future. But oh boy, is it a bad film either way that seems dedicated to fanservice and little else. And i pity anyone who’s not a Yu-Gi-Oh fan who ends up watching this film and tries to make sense of this, even with that dragging exposition dump at the beginning.

So, yeah, bad movie... but it wasn’t the kind of bad movie that annoys me, i had some fun watching it and laughing at the silliness and few genuinely good moments.

So, yeah, that about covers my anime viewing for June. I could have gone into more detail on some things, but honestly I’m behind on this update again and there’s way too much to talk about anyway if i did. And these posts are just meant to be updates and brief thoughts, not reviews. If anyone is curious for further thoughts on anything, feel free to ask.

I don’t know what I’m going to focus on for July. Right now i just got my hands on the Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy, so i imagine that’s going to be taking up most of my free time not spent browsing the internet for a while (I’m having so much fun already! I’m so happy to have Crash back like this, you guys!), but i guess when i can I’ll start catching up on either Yu Yu Hakusho and Soul Eater and then just watch whatever movies I get the DVD’s for. June was a pretty decent month for me, all things considered

Either way, hopefully I’ll have fun whatever i watch. As always I’m open to any and all recommendations. Seriously, as long as the following list looks, I’m happy to add as many more as possible to make my way through for the foreseeable future. And I hope anyone reading this has a happy July.

Series:

One Punch Man (Seen four episodes a while back, looks good)

Mobile Suit Gundam

Outlaw Star

Cowboy Bebop

Digimon Frontier

Digimon Data Squad

Digimon Fusion

Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s

Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal

Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V

Sailor Moon (Watched the entire first season and was about halfway through season 2. Should really get back to watching the full series) Sailor Moon Crystal

Yu Yu Hakusho (Up to episode 70)

Ranma 1 ½

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (2012-onwards series)

Hunter x Hunter (2011)

Fullmetal Alchemist

One Piece

Astro Boy (Any series. I just want to be able to say I’ve watched something from this franchise).

Kill La Kill

Gurren Lagann

Fairy Tail (Up to episode 203)

Little Witch Academia

Tenchi Muyo!

Death Note

Yuri On Ice

Fist of the North Star

Soul Eater (Up to episode 28)

Code Geass

Food Wars: Shokugeki No Soma (I watched about 9 episode, need to catch up)

Your Lie in April

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Mob Psycho 100

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Phoenix Wright anime

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

Natsume’s Book of Friends

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Eureka 7

Black Cat

Black Shooter Rock

Gunbuster

Afro Samurai

Space Dandy

Vision of Escaflowne

magical girl lyrical nanoha

Shin Sekai Yori

Baccano

Cyborg 009

Gaogaigar

Danganronpa

Yo-Kai Watch

Pretty Cure

Future Boy Conan

Yona of the Dawn

WataMote

Space Patrol Luluco

Rurouni Kenshin

Movies:

Your Name

Garden of Words

Paprika

Tokyo Godfathers

The Boy and the Beast

5 Centimeters per second

Millenium Actress

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro

The Digimon Adventure Tri Movies

Yu-Gi-Oh: The Dark Side of Dimensions

Pokémon: Genesect and the Legend awakened

Pokémon: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction

Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel

Pokémon: I Choose You

Ghost In The Shell

Memories

Perfect Blue

Naruto: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom

Naruto Shuppuden: Bonds

Naruto Shippuden: The Will of Fire

Naruto Shippuden: The Lost Tower

Naruto Shippuden: Blood Prison

Naruto: Road to Ninja

Boruto Movie

Fairy Tail the movie: Dragon Cry

Godzilla: Monster Planet

Mary and the Witch’s Flower

Princess Arete

Tekkonkinkreet

#Fairy Tail #pokemon kyurem vs the sword of justice #fairy tail phoenix priestess #naruto the movie legend of the stone of gelel #yu-gi-oh bonds beyond time #anime #naruto #pokemon #yu-gi-oh!