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glassmarcus · 4 months

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Sea of Throwbacks

*Played in September 2023, Written in December 2023

So I got Sea of Stars thinking it was going to be a Chrono Trigger throwback, but it actually ended up also being a Super Mario RPG throw back too. I was not disappointed in this aspect as both of these games rule. Honestly it’s probably a mélange of Classic RPGs that I just haven’t played because I wasn’t born yet, but I can’t verify that. Visually it's reminiscent of Chrono Trigger and the overworld traversal is completely cribbed from it as well. Your entire active party travels behind you as you overcome obstacles, and once you get into battle, it happens exactly where you initiated said encounter on the map. And of course, Sea of Stars is full of dual and triple tech team moves which I can't get enough of. This game is also stuffed to the brim with lore and despite the levity it tends to have, it for the most part takes itself seriously. These are the things I expected when going in. But I did not expect the combat of this game to be a full evolution of Super Mario RPG’s. Action commands and timed hits are essential to being successful in encounters. Sure there are aspects of Chrono Trigger as well, but the small skill list and party count really made it feel more like Mario. It's even evident outside the combat, due to the pacing of the game near the middle. Mario RPG is a breezy ass game and while I can't say the same for the beginning and end of Sea of Stars, once this game kicks up the speed and stops putting things in your way, it felt like the ideal successor. I'm not kidding, I got Bug Fables vibes during this game, which is some of the highest praise I can give a spiritual successor.

Sea of stars has a fun world to explore that’s teeming with puzzles and secrets. You get new abilities as you move through the game that make backtracking more engaging now that you can interact with your environment differently. But in all honesty, I had the most fun when the game was at its most linear. This was made by the same team who worked on The Messenger. I haven't played The Messenger, but from what I gather, it’s like half Linear Platformer and half Search Action game. And I've seen nothing but love given to the Ninja Gaiden like parts while I've seen lukewarm reception to the Metroidvania parts. I don’t know if this is true at all, but I would not be surprised if it was. Once I started making steady and quick progress I didn't want that vibe to die down. It feels incredible to blast through a level with Megaman ass music in the background, taking on hordes of enemies one by one to get to your destination. It perfectly converted the classic sidescrolling energy into a classic RPG. Why would I want to return to another area and back track after moments as peak as these? They really tapped into something with the mid section of this game and a lot of it comes down to the perfect presentation and again the combat.

One thing I really like about more modern turn based RPGs is the manipulation of the action economy. Classic RPGs can get a ton of flak for having turn based combat, but I only really see a problem with that format if you aren't really thinking and are mostly just waiting your turn. Sea of Stars side steps both of these issues because the whole point of combat is to delay enemy turns while dealing damage. Each enemy has a timer and a set of elements above their head. Every time someone in your party takes a turn, that timer goes down. When it hits zero, they attack. BUT if you hit the enemy with attacks of the displayed element, they skip that turn and attack later. Because each party member has different elements they can use and each attack uses different elements, you need to be constantly thinking ahead about when characters need to attack and what resources need to be reserved. The entire goal is to make sure you are playing the game as much as possible and that your opponent isn’t. And it doesn't just constantly stimulate your brain, but also your reflexes, as the timed hits don't just do extra damage, they use extra elements as well so your strategies depend on you nailing your timing. It is the exact direction I would have liked Super Mario RPG to head in. It’s great that action commands aren’t required for that game, but I much prefer a system that’s built around the expectation that you won’t screw up the timing of your moves.

What didn't satisfy me was the story. It starts pretty slow and doesn't really get interesting until mid way through the game. But once I started to get into it, I was itching to see what they were cooking. And I was enjoying the meal until the waiter came in cleared my plate before I was done eating. This game just kinda...ends. It's not super abrupt, but it feels like there should be more or at least a falling action. There is none of that. Just climax and credits. And I think this is because the real ending is locked behind 100% completion. Which I won't do. It's fine for secret bosses and combat trials which I did do a few of. But finding 70 collectible sea shells spread across the rather large and dense world is a bit of nightmare. Even the radar I unlocked isn't precise enough to be valuable at all. Yea the story got kinda good, but it's not good enough for me to go through all that work. I am a bit intrigued about the story of The Messenger and how it connects to this game. And whatever game this team makes next I'll definitely be on board with. Despite some gripes, I was thoroughly impresses with Sea of Stars and who knows, if I ever get an itch to play it again maybe I will collect those dumb sea shells.

#sea of stars

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bahamutgames · 1 year

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Afterthoughts: Legacy Collection

Game: Megaman Legacy Collection (August 25, 2015)

Console: Nintendo Switch

And here we go! My first game of 2023 was the Megaman Legacy Collection! Megaman 1-6 all done and done! That’s like, what, 46 Robot Masters? I don’t know I can’t do math and I’m too lazy to pull up the calculator! Same as before, I’ll just keep sharing my afterthoughts here until twitter fixes up its issue with threads (if it ever does ahaha... hah... ugh.)

Unlike the Cowabunga Collection (which was made by the some studio, btw!) I won’t be writing about each of these games on their own since, even though they’re all different, they don’t differ quite as much as the TMNT games which were genuinely almost completely different games depending on which console you played it on. Instead I’ll be just sharing my thoughts on the whole first half of classic megaman as a whole with little bits about each game as I go.

And as always, this is NOT a review! And should NOT be taken as such! For both the full package and each game in of itself, I am just throwing up my thoughts and feelings that I had while playing the game! Please don’t take anything I say as a knock towards or against playing it. If you’re interesting in any game I ever talk about, please check it out for yourself!

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE FIRST 6 MEGAMAN GAMES! IT’S MEGA MADNESS!!

Opening

So as I’m sure some of you all are aware. I’ve become a bit of a Megaman fan lately. Specifically for the X and Zero games. A few years back a friend of mine randomly bought me the X Legacy Collection 1 just as a random act of kindness and I became totally hooked! I played all 8 X games and jumped into the 4 Zero games (which is my favorite MM series of all time, Zero is one of the coolest edgy bad boys made in a lab EVER!)

And recently I watched an 8 hour video about Megaman Lore, and I’ll be honest it got me VERY interested in checking out the classic Megaman games! I’ve always had respect for them, but I never really sunk my teeth into any of them (except 7 which I played a bit as a kid). I’m glad I got to give them a shot cause they’re certainly very interesting!

Stuff I liked

As you can probably guess, as a fan of the X and Zero games. There’s a lot to like about classic Megaman. It’s got robots, a cute main character, fun character designs, great visuals, great music, and pretty good gameplay. Let’s start with the characters, I LOVE the characters in these games! Megaman and Roll obviously look amazing, but the enemies and robot masters all look fantastic! Well, some of the robot masters can be hit or miss but for the most part they’re GREAT looking! (Some favorites from each being Fire man, Quick Man, Needle/Snake Man, Skull/Toad Man, Napalm Man, Blizzard/Knight Man. In terms of their designs at least. The less said about Quick Man’s fight the better.) And the enemies are all super charming and silly like mets, and all the lovely robot bug designs like dragon flies and beetles! Obviously I prefer my characters to look edgier and more anime motifed, like X and Zero. But I’m a Mario guy originally so I can’t help but be absolutely in love with these cute and cartoony robots that these early games present. As of right now I think my favorite character from the classic games is Protoman, I haven’t met Bass yet but Protoman seems the most like my type.

Then the visuals. Man, those visuals. These games look GREAT especially for NES. The earlier ones don’t look as good as the later ones (obviously) but they still look pretty nice! But man, once you reach 4/5/6? They REALLY figured out how to make NES games look CRAZY good! I was seriously blown away by some of these games, I actually did not believe they were all NES games and had to double check. In my opinion they actually look like fan games that TRY to replicate the NES style but wildly overshoot what the NES was actually capable. But no, these were real NES games. For real. It’s nuts to me. And a lot of the menus and stuff look nicer and nicer with each game, cutscenes look better and better. Some of the cutscene art in MM6 genuinely looked like SNES stuff to me. That Capcom Logo? I swear to GOD that was an SNES game dude. What the hell. Music is pretty nice too but sadly I actually don’t have a lot of the stage or boss themes stuck in my head like I did with X or Zero. However, yeah, that Wily Stage theme from MM2 that’s stupid popular really is AMAZING for no reason. I’ll give it that.

Then the actual gameplay and levels themselves are pretty good! It’s standard Megaman stuff, so you know what’s up. Fight 8 bosses at the end of stages, get their powers, and use them to beat the rest of the bosses. Rinse and repeat. It’s a basic formula but it works REALLY well, even this early into the series. And by the time you reach Megaman 6 the gameplay becomes MASSIVELY improved. Sliding on the ground is GREAT, I LOVE fusing with Rush to get new forms (the way it’s handled in 6 where it’s weaker but you have infinite use of it is my favorite!), and of course Charge Shots! It’s very simple, but very fun! Again, not as good as X and Zero which REALLY perfect on it with wall jumping and such. But I wasn’t expecting it to be better. It’s still REALLY good! And a lot of the stages themselves are VERY cool and have really good gimmicks! I like when there’s low gravity and you can jump higher, I was surprised to see a vehicle section in MM6. I think my favorite stage gimmick was Gravity Man’s stage, with sections you’d have to do upside down. It’s pretty dang cool, especially for an NES game!

As for the Legacy Collection itself? Pretty good! Like Cowabunga Collection is has a lot of art and bonus content, and it adds save states, rewinding, and full button remapping to each game! Considering how cheap it gets (I got it for like $7) it’s a pretty damn good collection!

Stuff I didn’t like

Yeah, sadly, even though these games are clearly pushing the NES to its limits... They’re still NES games if you catch my drift. Thankfully the Legacy Collection comes with rewind, because straight up these games would probably be impossible without it. I know they’re not ACTUALLY impossible but. These games have some bullshit in them. Like, massive enemy spam, enemies with bizarrely small hitboxes that you CANNOT hit without insanely pinpoint accuracy, stuff like that. Basically, I think the Megaman series, and especially these classic games are filled to the BRIM with bullshit that would just not fly in any other series. And it kinda just gets a pass for being Megaman. Like the amount of times you have to make blind jumps, only to get instakilled for blind jumping in the wrong direction. How is that fair? Or good? It’s not. Again I played it with rewind so who am I to talk, but come on. Why?

Similarly, but less bad, I think these games have a bit of an issue with not knowing when to end. Of course these games need to have levels at the end after the robot masters, it’d be way too short and anti climactic if they didn’t... But DAMN do they ALL have to be headaches? Can they be fun? They’re all so long and especially towards the end you have to go through 2 different fortresses, made up of 4-5 levels each, managing your weapon ammo all the way through. It’s just so tiring. And they all have boss rushes where you refight the old bosses which thankfully goes by pretty quickly since you have all the weapons. But still this is SUCH a chore and something that wouldn’t fly in any other series. Oh well.

Lastly, and this one is a bit more of a nitpick. I know these games have a lot of plot in their manuals and 8 hour long deep dive videos about them. But I wish the game itself contained more story. I was pretty pleased with the in game cutscenes which games like 5 had, or the rather nicely drawn cutscene images in 6. But I feel like they should have more story in between the robot masters? I know it’s NES but Ninja Gaiden had LOTS of cutscenes on NES? But also Ninja Gaiden wasn’t one of the best looking NES games of all time so maybe that’s what stopped Megaman from going nuts with its cutscenes.

Final Thoughts

Which one of these does Zero show up in again?

No I’m just messing. Yeah, classic Megaman 1-6 hasn’t aged perfectly. And is filled with a LOT of bullshit that would NOT SLIDE in any other series. But despite shortcomings in some areas, these games do hold up pretty well. If nothing else, their presentation in sprites and music are AMAZING. Genuinely pushing the NES so much farther than I thought was possible. They had crazy visuals that seriously made me think I was playing an SNES game at some points.

I had the second half of the collection too, but I’ll be playing those later. Steaming through 6 Megaman games in a few days was already a lot to take in. But I am very interested to see where the next 4 go, and how I feel about Bass (the resident bad boy). I still absolutely prefer X and Zero (nothing will ever dethrone the Zero games) but I had a great time with these earlier Megaman titles. I guess I’m a full fledged Mega Man guy now... Did you notice how I kept writing Mega Man with no space this whole time? I didn’t realize until JUST now. Oops. I’m not fixing it.

Unrelated, but after playing these games I went back to play as Mega Man in Smash Bros (which I always do whenever I play a game that has content in Smash... Or Playstation Allstars.) and can I just say that making Mega Man’s moveset and color schemes must have been SO hard! There’s SO MUCH TO CHOOSE FROM! Must have been why he’s one of the only characters who had really good custom moves in Smash 4. My favorite alt is either the Red+White (rush) one or the Green+White ones. In case you were wondering.

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Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed listening to me ramble on about old as hell video games these past few days. The game I’m currently playing is a little newer and a little less arcadey. So look forward to hearing my thoughts on THAT... whenever the hell I beat it.

In the mean time, you can follow my twitter for more art and gaming wackiness! I’m always posting SOMETHING there because I’ve got a lot to say and talking about video games is the only thing that gets me through the hard days of cooking and cleaning and working.

That’s all from me for now. Thanks for always indulging me in my video game talks. Go out and play a popular game you’ve been interested in!

#2023 #Thoughts

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context-is-for-kingpins · 4 years

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Tuesday Tunes

Alrighty y’all, I’m starting a new thing where I share and talk about songs that remind me of comics! For the first one I’m actually doing 3 songs cause they’re all on the same album and have been stuck in my head for like two months now.

This was the first song I heard from these guys and it makes me think of Netflix Daredevil’s beginnings in vigilantism. It’s Matt and his love for his city. He sees the evil and corruption that has become status quo and he feels like he’s the only one who is willing to actually stand up and do something about it. He’s breaking out from the silence and apathy. Probably my favorite lyrics that I could totally see in a DD comic are:

Say a prayer for all the children still sleeping at night

Say a prayer for all the fathers who still remember

Say a prayer for all the girls who’ve learned to stand up

Say a prayer for all the boys who won’t surrender

This one reminds me of Daredevil season 1, specifically when “Fisk” is still just a faceless name that the thugs are afraid to say. I mean look at these lyrics and tell me that’s not Matt talking about Fisk.

Gonna have to do better than fear

Gonna have to step out of the shadows and fight

And when they see your face again

They will know what it means to have fear dragged out into the light

This last one is all big and exciting and makes me think of Daredevil season 3 when everyone is back together and making a plan to take the fight to Fisk. I think it’s just perfect. I mean just look at these lyrics.

We’ve got Matt resolute on doing whatever it takes to end Fisk:

I've got this burning like my veins are filled with nothing but gasoline

And with a spark it's gonna be the biggest fire they've ever seen

Cut me down or let me run, either way it's all gonna burn

The only way that they’ll ever learn - we’ve got to turn it off

Fisk and the people who let him get to his position of power:

At the heart of the city there is a building that looks down over all there is

And the man in the tower controls it all without raising a single fist

It's like they've gathered up the city, they sold it to the Devil and now

It's gone to hell and they wonder how

And the gang holding on to hope and striving to pull Hell’s Kitchen out from under Fisk’s thumb:

There is a city that this darkness can't hide

There are the embers of a fire that's gone out

But I can still feel the heat on my skin

And this mess we're in, where you and I

Maybe you and I

We can still make it right

Maybe we can bring back the light

Please tell me what you think! Do you agree? Did I miss anything? Did you interpret it differently?

#i know its technically wednesday but i forgot and didnt want to wait another week to start this #lets all just pretent i posted this before midnight #ill start queueing some so they actually come out on tuesdays #fun fact: this album is a prequel to these guy’s album about megaman #like the videogame!#THIS IS A MUSICAL FANFIC!!#im pretty sure #i don’t know all that much about megaman lore #matt murdock #daredevil #wilson fisk #kingpin #protomen #tuesday tunes #this is not a comic #this is music

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animatedminds · 3 years

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Star Wars: Visions - Episode 6: T0-B1

The third one of the night (well, early morning now), and the final one of today’s (well, early tomorrow’s) set. This has been a really enjoyable trio, and I hope the last three are just as engaging as these three. But without further ado:

Episode 6: T0-B1 Developed By: Science SARU Directed By: Abel Góngora Let’s start with an important philosophical question: What if Astro Boy... but Star Wars? And there you have our premise. Let’s get into it. In an indeterminate time after the Original Trilogy, possibly also after the Sequel Trilogy, T0-B1 (or Toby, a riff on Tobio, a name Astro Boy fans should immediately recognize, but hey - it’s also a pun on “to be one.” I like my references to be double layered) is a highly advance and humanlike droid in the shape of a stylized child, the creation of a kindly, armless (not a typo) old scientist named Prof. Mitaka, who looks a hell of a lot like Dr. Light (Megaman being another property with clear Astro Boy reference, this feels like a double-reference). Mitaka is a traveling researcher dedicated to seeding life on barren planets, but T0-B1 only dreams of the stories he hears from his “father” about the Jedi, and the battles they’ve had across the years.

He wants to be a Jedi, and seemingly in an attempt to occupy his endless attentions, Mitaka suggests that he - like the padawans of old - search the planet for a kyber crystal before he even thinks about becoming a Jedi. T0-B1 combs the planet, eventually finding his way into Mitaka’s secret, forbidden basement - where he’s sure a kyber crystal must be. In doing so, he finds a ship and accidentally sends a transmission... which ends up reaching the wrong ears, eventually bringing tragedy... and destiny... down upon T0-B1 and Mikaba’s heads. Let me preface this by saying that, unlike some other fans and writers, I don’t really have a problem with a droid becoming force sensitive, per se - at least, as long as its done right. Partly because Star Wars has always been kind of weird and half-measure about droids. Droids are clearly sapient, some (like R2) outright proactive in the destinies of others, and many clearly have emotion, resolve, and a yearning for more than what they have. But droids in Star Wars are explicitly limited in what they can be, often by the story itself, and are often treated as non-human (in the sense of being non-anthropomorphized) even though they are increasingly written with a degree of humanity. Canonically, droids cannot be force sensitive because they aren’t alive, but the force exists within everything and guides the universe as a whole, and as droids become more mentally alive int he writing it becomes a sticking point that this rule is somewhat limiting. It frankly wouldn’t surprise me if, one day, they decide to say that someone like R2 was force sensitive all along.

Onto T0-B1 himself. Toby, as the Astro Boy equivalent, is very obviously going to be force sensitive. He’s extremely human, fluid and highly contrasting to the design of the other droids in the series - or even in the short itself - for reasons the short chooses not to get into because it’s just trying to tell an Astro Boy without worrying about the lore. As an Astro Boy reference, he also gets a straight up fusion super mode at one point, which is pretty rad but a bit jarring for the setting. But the short invites you not to care about that sort of thing, because it knows what it wants to do and is going to commit to it, by thunder. So this one was interesting, folks. It more than any of the others is a straight up merger of two franchises, one step below a crossover: it’s very blatantly Astro Boy, Star Wars Style, which gives it a very different concept and overall feel from any of the other shorts. But that said, there’s a lot of attention to the fact that both concepts are conducive to the same themes. The familiar Yoda speech of excitement and adventure not being what a Jedi pursues are paramount to the story, in T0-B1 learning that what he chooses to do with his life is more important than his immature idea of what makes a Jedi cool. But at the same time, the Astro Boy theme of someone not part of the world finding their purpose as someone, something great and beyond their beginnings is absolutely something that slots into Star Wars no problem. Visually, it’s fantastic. It has a distinctive visual style that emphasizes the cuteness and fluidity of the main characters while also maintaining strong landscape and epic scale of action which... again... is understandable, given that its a throwback to Astro Boy. Most of the comments one could make about this short eventually cycle back to that comparison, because of what the short is doing. But that doesn’t diminish how well the mix of environment and character can come off in the moment, and the fight scene towards the end of the episode is all the better for it - though it does end somewhat abruptly.

As for the secondary focus of these reactions - the canon potential part... as you might know by now, each Visions short film is non-canon, but we can still look at each to see how well they fit into the universe - as, with enough support, there’s always a chance that things that fit in well might get the incorporation treatment should the company believe there’s potential there. And does T0-B1 fit well into the setting of Star Wars. Oh My, No. We can start with the fact that, my own opinions about whether droids could work as force sensitive aside (and again, I personally think it could work), the company‘s official stance on that is currently “no, absolutely not.” Then we can go into the fact that T0-B1 is way different conceptually than any other droid in the series, on an entirely different level. He feels like a character from another franchise, because he is a character from another franchise. And that’s okay. This feels like another one that isn’t trying to fit within the setting as much as do the thing it sets out to do, and do it well.

And as always, the canon potential bit is an entirely separate question from “does it do the thing it wants to do well?” And I’d say it does. It wasn’t necessarily my favorite thus far, but only because everything in this series has been dynamite thus far. This short fuses two classic narratives from the 20th Century - one from the East, one from the West - into a single story, enhancing the themes and characteristics of both, and it does so with a lot of heart.

#t0-bi #star wars: visions #disney+#astro boy #megaman #Science SARU #Abel Gongara #Yuichiro Kido #star wars anime #sci fi anime #noncanon #very noncanon #good episode #doubtful chances #its practically a crossover #also its adorable #osamu tezuka #professor mitaka #Animated Minds for Animated Times

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unclerippuascension · 3 years

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Autistic infodump about Balan Wonderworld or whatever the fuck

Man it really does suck that Balan Wonderworld fucking crashed and burned because unlike Mighty No. 9 I feel like there was some glimmer of goodness in there. Not in terms of gameplay, that’s borked because Yuji Naka still thinks we’re in the fucking 90s where games had one godamn button gameplay and yet also has 80 powerups (seriously what ganja was he smoking, is he ok?), but I mean the story. Which is so weird because the implimentation of story in this game was so passive agressive, like Yuji Naka didn’t want a story but Square was like “No no, you work at our company, you put a fucking story in your game”

Like... there’s clearly story here, but there’s no dialogue. Not having spoken dialogue isn’t a bad thing, but you need to have story shown off in another way and Balan Wonderworld doesn’t do that. That’s especially bad when your story relies on making us care about the struggles characters have. And the people who made this game knew that because they made a fucking light novel that explains everything about everyone. I just WHAT

Was is it too much for them to have a part of the pause menu where you can get a short biography of the characters you’ve met? Kirby Star Allies did this and that game didn’t have a story as big as Balan Wonderworld’s! Not to mention the novel really pulls a FNAF novel where it explains so much important lore that ain’t NOBODY who isn’t in the fandom is gonna read, hell with how much this game flopped I don’t even think anybody in general is gonan read it. Stuff like: did you know Balan was created by Lance, that weird hentai tentacle guy who’s kind of the Reiali of this game? (apologies to Nights fans if I fucked up the name) YEAH, ME NEITHER, YUKARI HAD TO TELL ME. Their whole thing is basically this one meme in case you haven’t read the novel like me

I want you really think about how much of a mistake this was. Don’t pull a FNAF novel series if you’re making a game, there are ways to impliment story without it being JRPG levels of involved. Again, just have short blurbs as an option in the pause menu.

Speaking of Balan, they really did my mans dirty. It’s like the one Spongebob meme, “You used me...TO BRING IN PLAYERS”. You do not play as Balan in this game, you do QTEs. I never played Nights, Sonic was my Sega fix, but if I was a Nights fan I would feel so cheated. He’s got so much potential, and he’s probably a more developed character in the light novel, but here? He’s just the hook, and once you bite the rest of the game is just....

yeah.

Again, they could have had stuff for Balan that wasn’t QTEs. Maybe some gameplay like Nights? I get that the game isn’t a Nights game, but maybe have his short segments be little snapshots of that kind of gameplay? Please the game is so horrendous, people would find the game tolerable if they had the gameplay version of that cold glass of water in the middle of a marathon.

Also maybe cut back on the powerups, do we really need 80 of them? So many of them make other powerups obselete, this isn’t a Megaman game, Mr. Naka. We do not need 80 powerups that are all more or less recolors of each other. It doesn’t help that most of these costumes are ugly as sin, useless (serious, who thought Box Fox was a good thing, I just want to talk), or are just a recolor of another powerup. I heard there were originally going to be 40, but even 40 is too much. Your character has three slots for power-ups, have it be three powerups per world and make them permanent additions and not something you need to re-acquire because yes that’s a thing. To bring up Megaman again, imagine if you were using a powerup and you died, and now you’d have to battle the robot master again to get it back. It’s not exactly like that but its on the same track.

Yukari said this while we were talking about this topic, but Balan does feel like a game that should have been some kind of animated series or something. When this game is in cutscenes it is genuinely impressive with how it handles the conflict of the characters, well the characters who actually have compelling problems that you need to solve by Psychonaut-ing it into their heads. What do I mean? Well one world is around a little girl who’s cat got hit by a car, and the event made her so scared and upset that she is now afraid of cars and streetlights because it reminds her of that tragedy. That’s relatable! Even if the game doesn’t translate that, you’re still theoretically helping a child grieve the loss of a pet! And then the other guy is some smug old fart who got beat by a rival and isn’t the champion of chess anymore. Too my knowledge the game doesn’t really scale these problems like where the problems the characters slowly become more ‘intense’. Like the first guy you help is a farmer, but I feel like the chess guy should have been first because his problem is like... dude just get over it, you’re gonna lose nobody is perfect.

The worst part about all of this is that Square Enix told Yuji Naka he had one chance to make a platformer, and he pretty much wasted it with how this game was handled. I am pretty damn worried that Balan will be like Geno and Mallow where Square just never fucking uses them again, maybe not AS bad as Geno and Mallow but in that similar ballpark

It really does kinda suck, my guys. I just wanted a cool game with a funky clown-looking dude, man!!!

#balan wonderworld

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kenyizsuartblog · 4 years

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Three Years of Diablo fanfiction

Hi, everyone!

So, yesterday was the third birthday of my biggest project yet, That First Spark, and well... it kinda got me thinking and reminiscing about the road up to this point. I know most of my Watchers aren't reading the story, or aren't into Diablo in general, so feel free to skip this journal, you won't miss anything. :)

Not gonna lie, I did not realize for the longest time that it has already been three years since I uploaded Chapter 1 onto Fanfiction.net - and back then, it was supposed to be a oneshot! I just had this idea of “wouldn’t it be interesting if Lyndon found Inarius and rescued him somehow?”, and that was it. But right after I’ve uploaded this oneshot, I began brainstorming. Could I spin into an actual long story, was there enough material to do so? Behind the scenes I wrote scenes for practice (some actually made it into the story proper later, if edited), I was trying to map out the general flow of the first arc, and just generally conducting scientific experiments over it. While I am a Discovery Writer, and thus work with the most basic planning possible, I did not want to actually start a story, if there was no viable path for it.

But… there was a path. And here we are now, 3 years and 55 chapters later. 3 very, very weird years.

I branched out to new sites because of this fanfiction, including Tumblr and Archives of Our Own. On Tumblr, I’ve done and still doing my best to create and maintain a well-organized blog with all the necessary information, and I hope to improve on this field down the road. On AO3, my fanfic inspired another writer to make their own story, which makes me so happy and proud I cannot put it into words, honestly! I would have never imagined my work would have this effect on anybody.

I’ve got dragged into a hidden hive of scum and villainy that masquerades as an “accepting and inclusive Diablo community” on Tumblr to this day. They are lying. Go figure. They backstabbed me for no reason (none they bothered to ever mention) at my lowest and left me to bleed out – that almost killed the fanfiction. But I have also met a single virtuous person in that very same ”””community””” who actually practiced what he preaches, and listened and talked to me when all the others were busy conspiring against me. I still consider him a good friend, and I hope he does the same of me. If not, well, that is his business alone. But that experience taught me some very valuable lessons and shaped my worldview to what it is today. And for the record, no, thankfully my worldview is still very far away from “everything sucks and everyone is an asshole”.

My nephew was born in 2018 and he is the cutest kid you can possibly find! I became his godmother too!

I graduated from my architecture university, after 6 years, and began looking for a job. That in on itself had been one hell of a roller coaster. But I’ve settled down in an office and stayed there for over a year now. How long will I stick with this job, and this profession? Hopefully as little time as possible. Architecture did not become my calling.

Diablo 4 was announced in Blizzcon 2019, and I basically went batshit insane when it turned it Lilith will be the main antagonist. There are no words describing my hatred towards that bitch, I cannot wait to wipe the floor with her for good!

I’ve celebrated my 4-year-anniversary with my boyfriend this year. <3

And most surprisingly, this fanfic taught me to maintain my focus and motivation better. In March of this year, I have decided to no longer excuse my truly horrendous uploading schedule away with “shifting inspiration and focus” and other such nonsense, and aimed to have a new chapter out every month. I’ll be honest, I had my doubts if I could have stuck with it, but here we are more than half a year since then and I’m still going strong! This was actually a revelation to me. I’m quite the opposite of the “Unorganized artist” archetype, I live for organization and good day schedules, but for the longest time I had difficulty to stick with a topic for long, or have an actual framework for it. I’ve still not fully knocked this bad habit yet (why hello there, Megaman fancomic I really need to finish…), but just the fact that I could manage to pull it off in one project’s case boosts my confidence in it.

I have improved a lot as a writer, and I cannot wait to continue improving and put all of my experiences from this endeavor to future stories, including DuatStories, and even my own fantasy novel one day, hopefully. Of course there is still a lot for me to learn. The monthly updates and my Discovery Writing style together mean the pacing isn’t all that spot-on, there are important details and information that gets forgotten or come up at a much later time than it was first supposed to, and of course the usual grammatical errors and misspellings. Maybe my next goal should be to learn to plan a story out more in advance! Wouldn’t that be nice. XD

And, well, I know That First Spark is not a super popular story, most of my Watchers don’t read it. And that’s okay! Diablo has a large community but most of it focuses on seasonal plays and builds, so the fanart section gets left behind. This is a fact I have accepted a long time ago and have no real qualms with it. I have fun creating it, and apparently, some people really enjoy it, even if silently. One to the point of being inspired by it! Of course the followers of Belial who cause further division and isolation with their venom do not improve things in this part of the fandom, either. There is no helping that part, all I can do is keep doing what I love doing, and what I love doing is basically drown myself into the lore and use it for a ridiculously long adventure story.

So for everyone who reads this fanfiction, even if you leave no trace behind, I thank you. For your attention, for your time, for your patience. Here’s to years more of running around in Sanctuary like a headless chicken, almost dying every other week and saving the world on the side once per month! Let’s hope I’ll finish this adventure before Diablo 4 comes out ;) I might have a chance for that!

Thank you for reading! And remember, guys.

Everything is going to be alright.

2020.10.16.

#that first spark #diablo #three year anniversary #birthday musings #I don't normally do this I swear #but this is a special occasion

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daily-dose-of-imagines · 4 years

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𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕌𝕡♡

Hi there! I’m sorta new to your blog and I wanted to say I love all your headcanons! Keep it up! And remember, taking time for yourself is always important, so understand the long wait. Don’t push yourselves 💕

That said, I was wondering if I could request a (anonymous) match-up for Haikyuu!! Free! and JJBA? I’m a straight female who is fairly short (5’2”), slim/thick (according to my friends) with hazel eyes and medium length blonde hair. I tend to have a more tomboyish/geeky style. I practically live in graphic T shirts, hoodies, jeans and sneakers.

I’m pretty much an ambivert who tends to come across as quiet and awkward with new people, especially those I’m unsure of. This is because I have the habit of reading people quickly, so if I don’t feel a connection I often clam up and appear stoic. Though, most of the time I tend to warm up quite easily and usually come across as friendly and laidback, so much so that some people say it’s intimidating. I’m super talkative and despite my bad resting face, have a ridiculous sense of humor! I enjoy laughter and am amused by almost anything, since my humor bounces all over the place. Dark, offensive, sarcasm, puns etc. Although, I know when to lay off and remain serious if the situation calls for it.

According to close friends, while I am mostly funny and compassionate towards others, I can often come across as blunt and stoic. Even cunning and mischievous to the point it scares other people. I hold back tho. I also tend to say whatever comes to mind and it catches people off guard a lot. Though, I try to keep it to a minimum. I strive to be patient but tbh I struggle with anger issues sometimes and holding grudges, but I’m improving!

As for interests, I am a complete video game nerd and could discuss games and lore all day if given the chance, especially MegaMan or any of the Nintendo series. It’s one of my biggest passions that unfortunately I can’t express as often as I’d like since many view it as weird. I also adore animals of all sorts, especially reptiles and exotic creatures! In addition, I’m a creative writer, vocalist and aspiring artist! I adore anything artistic or animation related and can ramble for hours about the subject. I also have a knack for randomly researching unusual facts, such as the history of animatronics or any other idea that comes to me at the time. Psychology and random trivia take up half my brain tbh.

I am quite stubborn, independent and skeptical when it comes to romance, but at heart I’m a true romantic. I’m just in denial lol. I’m pretty gentle at my core and am easily drawn to guys who are mellow and soft but have a humorous side to them as well. Also, I adore cuddles and physical affection (I get shy tho). Anyways, tysm and I’m sorry this was way longer than intended! Have a good day/evening, keep up the good work! 💛💕

»»————-　♡　————-««

Hello sweet pea~! Welcome to our blog~! I hope you enjoy your stay with us~! ^^ I’m so glad you like the head canons we come up with! ;; It makes us so happy knowing you enjoy them~! We promise we’re taking the time to take care of ourselves so don’t worry your cute head~! ^^ Other then that, you’re more than welcome to have a match-up~! I’m so sorry this took so long to get out ;; I hope you enjoy who I’ve paired you up with, and again thank you for your support to our blog~!

» » Admin Ko

𝕀 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕐𝕆𝕌 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘...

ᴏɪᴋᴀᴡᴀ (ꜰʟᴀᴛʏᴋᴀᴡᴀ) ᴛᴏᴏʀᴜ

Mischievous in his own right, Oikawa is the match- for you~! He’s quite understanding in your quiet personality, and honestly isn’t interested when he first meets you. Though of course this changes when he happens to pass by and does an entire double take to soak in the sight of your sudden change in personality among friends. The setter from then on is constantly observing you before gradually working his way into your life. Before long, he soon comes to realize the massive crush he has on you.

In short, it’s to the surprise of no one that within a week you both are officially a couple. Oikawa is immensely taken aback by the change in attitude you have when among close friends that every time it happens it just further intrigues him. Not only that, but the alluring feature of how you can still be so relaxed yet still intimidating to many. Similar to you, he’s just as cunning and mischievous to the point you both could be considered a duo to not be messed with. He won’t hesitate to talk someone down if they try to pick a fight with the both of you.

Other then that, he finds your passions endearing and adorable. It’s more often than not that he’ll request information from you just to see the sparkle in your eyes as you talk away. It’s also an absolute given that he’s just as affectionate-- if not more affectionate with you. Oikawa thrives off of skin ship and will literally take any moment he can to solidify to not just the public, but to himself that you both are an actual item.

ᴋɪʀɪꜱʜɪᴍᴀ ɴᴀᴛꜱᴜʏᴀ

Energetic and upbeat, Natsuya is the one for you~! Someone who isn’t afraid to start a conversation first, he jumps in to make a casual friendship with you, and is most pleasantly pleased to see your laidback and friendly attitude. (Of course not immediately but as he begins to grow on you.) Personally, he doesn’t find you as intimidating, but there are moments where he does feel unsure around you. His humor can be a touch similar to yours, though not as extreme. Other then that, he’s most definitely be the type who’ll mix in well with your cunning and mischievous side. Especially when he has a desire to pull a couple of harmless pranks.

He may not be as interested in video games, but he does show some activity whenever you happen to talk about lore. The story and intricacy behind it just as alluring to him as the way your voice narrates the mystery and theories. Besides that, he’s quite affectionate and won’t hesitate to give you all you need. He may not be overly affectionate, but he gives enough. A lot of his actions are gentle and sweet when it comes to you and gradually he becomes more like his true self around you. (Meaning he’ll be comfortable enough to speak to you about his own turmoils etc.)

ʜɪɢᴀꜱʜɪᴋᴀᴛᴀ ᴊᴏꜱᴜᴋᴇ

A trickster with a heart of gold, Josuke is the last one on this list~! Ever so sweet and understanding, he’s patient with you when it comes to understanding your ambivert tendencies. Though he doesn’t really notice it until you really mention it to him as you both happen to click rather well with friendly grins on both of your faces. He’s just as talkative as you and most definitely enjoys your sense of humor.

Josuke absolutely loves your cunning and mischievous side. It’s a trait he personally connects with well and will adamantly ask you to join him on his adventures of cutting corners. Other then that, similar to you he’s an absolute gamer nerd. He’s just as invested, if not more into video games and will actively talk with you about the lore and theories for hours on end. Usually facing one another while laying in bed with the sparkler of curiosity and passion in both of your eyes.

Similar to you, he’s quite stubborn and very independent. Josuke is most definitely the true romantic sort of guy, and will do his absolute best to showcase that to you. He’s quite affectionate, but tends to be quite shy about PDA at the start of your relationship. Of course this grows old and within a couple of months he’d leisurely have an arm wrapped around your waist or holding your hand as you both walk the streets of Morioh.

#anime matchup #matchup #submissions #match-ups #submission #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu matchups #free matchup #free x reader #jjba x reader #jjba matchup #oikawa x reader #toru oikawa x reader #kirishima natsuya #kirishima natsuya x reader #higashikata josuke x reader #josuke higashikata

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diablo-that-first-spark · 4 years

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Three Years of Diablo Fanfiction

Hi, everyone!

But… there was a path. And here we are now, 3 years and 55 chapters later. 3 very, very weird years.

My nephew was born in 2018 and he is the cutest kid you can possibly find! I became his godmother too!

I’ve celebrated my 4-year-anniversary with my boyfriend this year. <3

Thank you for reading! And remember, guys.

Everything is going to be alright.

2020.10.16.

#that first spark #diablo #birthday musings #three year anniversary #it1s been one hell of a ride #let's hope it will last for long #thank you everyone!

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murasaki-murasame · 4 years

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Oh boy that sure was a whole lotta stuff going on in the 1.5-year anniversary digest video, huh?

I was hoping to post some of my predictions and hopes for it beforehand but life stuff got in the way so here we are, lol.

Anyway there’s a lot I wanna talk about across the board so it’ll go under a cut.

When I saw that this digest was like 20 minutes long I figured it’d be padded out, but lol it’s actually even more dense with material than the last one we got. This really makes up for the recent drought of news and content.

Firstly, they immediately showed off Gala Alex, since she’s a given at this point and we all knew it was gonna happen. Funnily enough she actually seems like she might more or less be bait for the banner happening afterward, which also seems to be a shadow element banner.

In general Gala Alex is a weird and complicated character and I’m not sure what to make of her. At first glance she doesn’t seem super essential or game-breaking, but she has poison infliction and buff dispel, so I’d probably benefit from getting her since I don’t really have good units with that sort of utility in my shadow team yet. But I’m not gonna bother doing more than the free daily tenfold summons on this gala, since as a whole she doesn’t interest me much and I think I could live without her.

On top of her weird skill chain mechanic which I’m struggling to wrap my head around, she also introduces the chain co-ability feature, but I’ll get to that later since it’s a whole big thing.

Hopefully she’ll at least let people start accepting sword units into eKai, lol. That fight has a very open and accepting meta, unless you’re a sword unit in which case you’re fucked because there’s currently no meta shadow sword units people want for that fight.

We’re also getting two separate platinum summons for this gala that cover the past gala units, which is honestly kinda tempting to me since I still don’t have Gala Elly, but I’d just have a 1/3 chance of getting her instead of the other two gala units on her platinum summon, who I already have, so it wouldn’t be worth it.

Then there’s a whole bunch of free summons and wyrmite from new endeavors and co-op rewards getting reset. Which will be helpful in building my stash back up, but I’m probably still gonna avoid spending any resources on this gala.

I’m happy that this gala seems like one I can skip, since I went all in to get Tobias, and I didn’t want to end up regretting that.

Anyway, we also got a look at the next raid event, which will start at the end of this month. It looks like it’s another shadow element one, which just reminds me even more how much we need another wind element raid event, but it looks cool. Aldred has a fun, edgy design. I hope he’s actually worth using. As a shadow unit, he’ll at least be competing with the most stacked element in the game. It also looks like the event’s story is gonna involve the Syndicate, which we’ve actually known about via wyrmprint lore since the game came out, but they’ve never come up until now, so that’s interesting.

They also showed off the banner units, who look cool, but it’d take a lot for me to want to summon for them since I have so many good shadow units as it is. They also said it’ll be another two-part banner, which is getting really annoying.

We’re also getting a rerun of the FEH collab event, along with some sort of a new part two event for it, so that’s cool. I started playing the game at the tail end of the FEH collab originally, but I didn’t actually take part in it since I had performance anxiety about doing any of the co-op stuff, lol. So this means i’ll at least finally be able to get Alfonse.

I think the part two event is probably gonna involve more Fire Emblem characters who’ll be on their own banner, but like with the existing FE units, i don’t really have any attachment to that franchise so I probably wouldn’t be interested in pulling for them.

Though on that note, they did say that all of the four existing FEH units will get mana spirals, which might be interesting. But since I already have Euden and Xainfried at 70MC, as well as Gleo, I don’t think I’d be interested in pulling for Marth, Fjorm, or Veronica, lol. It’s at least interesting to set up this precedent, though. I guess we can assume that if Megaman ever gets rerun, he’ll get a mana spiral too.

If we get new FEH units in a part two banner for the event, I feel like they might end up being a bit underwhelming, since they probably won’t come with mana spirals built into their kits, but we’ll see how it goes.

We also got teasers for the next three main story chapters, which isn’t what I expected at all. We already knew when they’d be coming out since they’re on a fixed schedule now, but I didn’t expect actual teasers of the story content in them. Though tbh the thing that intrigues me the most is the gameplay clips of chapter 14 that involve unique maps based around the Alberian capital. I didn’t think we’d get to actually do stuff there, so that’s cool.

Also, them teasing at Leif showing up in chapter 13 is making me think that either he’ll be the next gala unit, or a welfare unit. Hopefully the latter, since he’s obviously a light sword unit and we already have Gala Euden as a light sword. If he’s a welfare unit, though, I hope he’s not super weak like Laxi.

We’re also getting the event replay feature, but sadly it seems like there won’t be any raid events in it at first, and the facility events included from the start are ones that have gotten reruns relatively recently. So that’s a bit lame. I’m glad they said that they plan on adding raid events to it, though. It looks like you can at least get the facilities from the facility events, so I hope we can also get the welfare units from raid events.

With the new version update they’re also apparently introducing a new currency called fafnir medals which can, to some degree or another, be exchanged for different materials. There’s a whole list of them, but let’s be honest here. The only one that actually matters is the gold testaments, lmao. Unless there’s a really rigid cap on how many of them you can trade for each week/month, that’ll probably be the main thing people trade for. Hopefully it can help address the need for more testaments [especially now that co-abilities are a bit more important]

Then there’s a few bits and pieces to the 1.18 update that they didn’t even mention in the digest. Like how there’ll be adjustments to daily endeavors, the addition of normal endeavors related to using skip tickets on your daily stages, and the ability to check your summon history. But the biggest deal they didn’t mention is how they’re standardizing drop rates in e/mHDTs, and adding horns to the weekly bonus chests for eHDTs. Which is basically exactly what people had been asking for.

We’re also eventually gonna get our encyclopedia feature, which will be nice, especially since it apparently comes with rewards based on how much stuff you have. Which will probably provide a huge batch of rewards to old players right off the bat.

They also showed off two more Agito bosses, who will probably be the next two ones. They didn’t say which would come out next, exactly, but we at least got their names and full designs, which also spells out what elements they are. I can’t actually remember their names at the moment, but the Sylvan lady is water, while the twins are flame. Since wind units have been getting some attention lately, I think the Sylvan lady will be next, and then the flame twins afterward, but we’ll see. One way or another I think the final Agito is gonna be the shadow element one. Which is a bit lame, since my light team really needs a boost. Oh well.

Oh, and they also teased at the Agito, or at least Volk, being formally introduced in chapter 14 of the main campaign, so that’s interesting.

And of course one of the biggest things in this whole update is the huge changes to co-abilities in general. Chain co-abilities are the main thing, but I’m also really intrigued by how in co-op matches, you’ll now take on the effects of your own team’s co-abilities, rather than the co-abilities of the main units your team-mates are using. On the one hand it means you can more comfortably run multiple units of the same weapon type in co-op without feeling like it’s a waste, but I feel like it’s also gonna introduce new ways to cheese some fights, like how 4-Gleo comps can now benefit from stuff like defensive co-abilities from AI units. I think that sort of situation was an intentional choice on Cygames’ part, though. It seems like their way of helping to make end-game content easier and more accessible. It also means that you have to depend less on your team-mates if you need stuff like defensive coabilities to survive an opening blast or something. So you can control that yourself and not worry about what co-op room you end up in.

But the real star of the show, whether or not it ends up being more game-changing than the change to how co-abilities are applied in general, is the chain co-ability feature. Which basically just seems to be a straight up second co-ability that every unit gets, but with the unique quality that they can stack with each other. I don’t actually know how often you’d bother stacking them, though. I looked through all the units I own and what chain co-abilities they have, and it seems like in each element, it’s usually units of the same weapon type that have overlapping chain co-abilities [like Mitsuhide and Fritz getting combo time]. So most of the time I don’t think you’d bother. It also looks like they’re kinda under-tuned, stat-wise, probably to compensate for them being stackable, so I think they might ultimately not be a huge deal, but hey, it’s just a straight up bonus set of stats on top of everything else, lol.

It’s a bit overwhelming since literally EVERY character has a chain co-ability now, and there’s way more variety in them than with regular co-abilities, but there are a few that stick out to me.

-Water seems to be the only element with units that have buff time chain co-abilities, from what I can tell, with Renee, S-Estelle, and Cibella having it. I think this might make S-Estelle a more valued AI team-mate for water teams, since buff time is a pretty big deal, and she also brings the skill damage coability.

-Light seems like one of the main cases where you might stack chain co-abilities, since S-Luca, Annelie, and Fritz have the same one that gives a strength buff whenever you get an energy stack [with a cooldown]. Which I think has a lot of potential, depending on how exactly it works.

-On a similar note, Lucretia has one that gives her a chance to get inspiration stacks when she gets energy stacks [I forget if it applies to just her or the whole team, though], which is interesting. I had a feeling they’d start adding inspiration mechanics to light to complement the amount of energy mechanics going on with them.

-OG Xainfried gets Dragon Claws VI, which seems like it’ll probably be a pretty huge deal for him. Pipple also gets about 18% dragon haste when he’s maxed out, which seems like it’d complement really nicely with Xainfried’s kit.

-Mitsuhide and Fritz’s combo time chain co-ability is gonna be REALLY nice for Gala Luca, since he kinda struggles to keep a high combo, but part of his kit relies on it.

-There’s a whole lot of units who get defensive chain co-abilities which will probably help people get by in HDTs even more. Including units with offensive co-abilities like Mikoto and Valerio.

All in all it seems like a really overwhelming and potentially game-changing mechanic. I also think it’s gonna be just about impossible to properly reflect the implications of it in the DPS sims, lol. This introduces way too many variables. And even then, the DPS sims won’t account for any of the more defensive ones, which have their own value.

Since the chain co-abilities seem to be tied to the regular co-abilities with how they get upgraded, it sounds like this is gonna incentivize getting more people’s co-ability nodes, which will also involve more use of testaments.

The chain co-abilities are one thing, but there’s also some interesting uses for how you benefit from your own AI members’ co-abilities in co-op. Mainly for characters with unique co-abilities like Tobias, H-Mym, and V-Melody. I think Ezelith is gonna basically always want to have an H-Mym on her team, Lin You is gonna want V-Melody on her team, and any wind buffer other than Tobias is gonna want a Tobias on the team to give them more buff-time.

Oh, and I almost forgot that they also casually mentioned that they’re gonna be bringing back defensive battle event types in the future. They didn’t go into much detail about it, but I assume it means that we’ll get more random events once in a while with the same sort of format as the FEH one. Hopefully that’d help alleviate the feeling of stagnation that comes with constantly alternating between raid and facility events endlessly. Since I didn’t actually participate in the FEH event I don’t know what that whole event type entails, though.

I’m probably forgetting lots of stuff they talked about, but they talked about a LOT of stuff, lol. It’s hard to keep track of it all. I wasn’t expecting such a substantial update for the 1.5-year anniversary, but I’m happy with it.

#murasaki rambles #dragalia lost #no thoughts in my head only mini zodi u_u

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monstersofsilence · 4 years

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good amount of bullet hell games eventually coming out and I’m all for that but still a good amount of games I’m qUITE interested

GTTOD (Get To The Orange Door) - is a really cool one. like if Tron and Doom had a baby and it’s just fast-paced, retrowave shooting action

Neon Abyss - another cool one! seeing gameplay of it, it’s like Exit The Gungeon but there’s more stuff to it than what Exit The Gungeon had [don’t know what Exit The Gungeon is, it’s like Enter The Gungeon but more so a side platformer... just see gameplay of Enter The Gungeon and imagine that... but like Megaman style... sorta...] and it’s also rogue-like!

Cygni - like Galaga on steroids. enough said uwu

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes - what I got out seeing the trailer... LITERALLY Bloodborne but 16-18 bit style with a hint of Zelda with the overview perspective and it looks pretty dope. I hope it comes out to Xbox because it looks really cool and I’m starting to get with games like Bloodborne that has this gothic/lovecraftian setting involving beasts and eldritch beings. that’s some good shit ouo

Ghostrunner - pretty much Cyberpunk swordsman and I’m all for anything in the cyberpunk themed

Carrion - I mean... you’re a monster that’s a pile of flesh killing humans. ENOUGH SAID. it looks cool. I love it and I want to play it when it comes out uwu

Anno Mutationem - another cyberpunk themed game. it looks cool. I want to play it .w.

future games show showed lots of cool title that I want to play. usually regular show cases from before would show a few games I’m forward to or some that surprise me and got interested but that’s about it. the show case LITERALLY showed lots that I want to play and that says a lot :o

still, I actually like bullet hell games are becoming more of a thing. after playing Enter The Gungeon so much, I just want more games like that now. even with rogue-like elements so each playthrough is never the same!

that shit is nice. and games like Morbid, or anything Bloodborne-like, GIMME

I never played Bloodborne but its setting and lore is just INTRIGUING

overall, the Future Games Show was pretty good! not a lot of bullshit talk. just goes straight to the games and it should be like that with all show cases. it should be like that PERIOD. don’t talk but if you do, be brief and then show us the games. literally 99% of people just want to see games and not hear talk about the system specs of a console or bringing in PELE to talk about a sports game that feels like it’s lasting for an ETERNITY

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sepiadice · 5 years

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Art Direction of Tabletop RPGs

Dungeons and Dragons is good at being Dungeons and Dragons.

That shouldn't be a controversial opinion, and it's not worded as one, yet I have one friend who derisively labels it as a war game, and another friend who believes D&D is all you need in regards to TRPGs. These two are from distinct eras of my life, and have never met.[1]

My moderate view is such: Dungeons and Dragons is good. It's not the ultimate system, but if you want a western fantasy built on the framework of Tolkien, Fifth Edition is the way to go. You could use a different system, in theory, but no other system has the same reach and stability. Everyone knows D&D, which is valuable.

Its combat and mechanics are a good balance of grit and function, and it's mostly teachable. My friend's 'wargaming' derision is because he believes it doesn't support role-playing well. Something about the guy who wrote Dungeon World saying if it's not in the rules, it’s not in the game.[2] But I've always felt that D&D makes the right decision in not bogging it down with structure and dictating the 'correct' way to role-play.

However, if you want to do anything else (Sci-fi, non-european fantasy, superheroes, Slice of Life), best case scenario the seams will creak in the attempt. D&D is good at being D&D, and that's the limit.

I appreciate D&D. I'll play D&D, happily!

There's a reason I bristle when “DM” is used as the generic term.

That said, I've always had a sort of tonal disconnect when I play D&D, and it's because of the art.

Fair warning, what follows is a lot of personal interpretations and vague mumbling trying to relay a point. I’m not actually an authority on anything.

(Dungeons & Dragons owned by Wizard of the Coast . Image sourced from Wikipedia)

Dungeons and Dragons does not have pretty art. It’s technically well done, and far from ugly, but it’s not actually inspiring. Above we have the cover of the Player’s Handbook, the first thing most new players see. Setting aside that the focus of the cover art for what should be the book about Player Characters is a giant monster man[4], the cover is very orange. The actual people are composed of muted, neutral colors, and the background is vague and out of focus.

It’s not really conveying an air of fantastic worlds and larger-than-life characters (giant wearing a dragon skeleton aside). It coveys oppression, monotony, and “realism”.

(Pathfidner owned by Paizo. Image sourced from Wikipedia)

Pathfinder’s core rulebook, on the other hand, is colorful. Look at that big, bright dragon![5] Sensibly dressed Fighter Man’s brown clothes are still bright enough to pop him out from the green-grey dungeon background[6], and Fantastic Sorceress’s red dress is also bright and helps frame the Fighter as her hand glows with magic.

While both covers feature a woman with an orb of magic, D&D’s cover shows magic as contained and lighting a small space, while Pathfinder’s magic is big and trailing, hinting at movement.

Actually, D&D’s mage girl doesn’t have a cohesive movement. Is she falling from above? Jumping in from the left? Where is she going? It doesn’t really follow in a meaningful way.

Anyways: color. Yes, yes, I know the plague of brown and and muted tones is a much whined about criticism, and it might seem odd from someone calling himself SepiaDice, but neutral tones have their place; usually as background and supporting other colors to pop more.

Besides, Sepia has a noble history in film, the brown range isn’t a common image color, and Sepia is fun to say.[7]

Color choice is very important. Bright colors draw the eye and make visuals more distinctive. Bright colors also denote and bring energy to things. Dull colors are used for locations meant to be calm and sedate. If you want the characters and locations to seem fun and full of life, you fill it with bright colors.

Everything breaths, adventure can strike at anytime!

Dull colors, and it’s hibernation. People are around, but they don’t seem to enjoy it.

But let’s turn to the visual storytelling: what does each cover tell you about life in their setting?

D&D: lots of posing to look fancy, but there’s no real sense of energy. Jumpy Magerson’s weird Megaman hop has been mentioned, of course. The Giant has a look of dull surprise as he drops Jumpy Magerson,[8] as he holds a sword in the non-active hand. Foreground fencer man is wide open, holding his own foil up and away from where it might accidentally jab anyone. The locations is… orange? Looks like there might be lava geysers?

Patherfinder: A dragon roars at its enemies! Teeth bared, tongue coiled, tendons on display! Wings unfurled to make it seem larger! The fighter is yelling back at the dragon, his weapons mid-swing! Shoulder forwards to defend the rest of the body! The Sorceress is holding a firm stance as she casts a spell that crackles with arcane energy!

Pathfinder’s cover tells a story of epic combat, fizzly magic, and energy. D&D’s cover tells a story of two adventurers existing in a space also occupied by a giant.

Now, both of these systems have the same ancestry, as Pathfinder is an iteration on D&D 3.5.[9] But one sparks more joy when I look at it.

But let’s do another case study. I’ll need an audience volunteer, and my brother’s the only person immediately on hand.

I’m going to make him list three qualities of goblins real quick:

Green

Wimpy

Sneaky

Awesome. Don’t know if the green text translated, but those are what he wrote. Give him a hand!

So, with those three traits in mind, let’s look at a goblin picture from D&D Beyond:

(Owned by Wizards of the Coast. Source here)

Like, you can’t say D&D doesn’t call that a goblin, it’s literally on the goblin page.

This guy is yellow. He’s built like a four foot tall WWE Wrestler. He’s defending with his advancing arm as he rears up to smack ya!

(Okay, “Sneaky” is a hard one to argue.)

Moving on, what does Pathfinder call a Goblin:

(Owned by Paizo. Source here)

Look at this charming miscreant! Green. Big ole head. Good mix of of ugly and oddly adorable. Probably two feet tall, and happens to want your two feet, please, but you could step on him if you’d like.

He also looks like a Gremlin

(An adorable little chaos monster owned by Warner Brothers. Source)

Point is, Pathfinder’s more cartoony take on the classic monster feels more in the spirit of the thing. Every time I see one of those goofy faces, I feel like I’m in for an enjoyable time.

Bringing us back around to the point of this essay: the art direction of D&D bogs down my theater of the mind. The art in the rulebooks don’t inspire creativity or fantastic visions. It inspires… dull, lifeless people walking through dirt roads flanked by dead grass.

I don’t enjoy looking at D&D’s art. Relatedly, I don’t like looking at the art of Magic: the Gathering, whose style I can’t help by see in every D&D sourcebook cover I see. Neither game invokes an inviting world, but utilitarian ones that exist to give quick, forgettable visual flair to represent mechanical card effects.

To save making this long essay even longer and unfocused, I’ll save talk of actual ‘canon’ lore for another time.[10]

So why do I, a semi-professional funny man and sad dreamer who can’t actually draw, want to talk about rulebook art?

Well, I’ve always felt a disconnect when I play D&D. I make the characters, I roll the dice, I attempt to role-play, but I’ve always had an emotional gap between me and the character I’m playing. I like the concept, but when I use my theater of the mind, the character feels stiff and divorced from everything. Kind of like the 5th Edition rulebook.

Then I saw this:

(Source tweet. All of this artist’s work is great and I wish I could hire them.)

This half-elf showed up on my twitter timeline, and my first thought was ‘How come my characters don’t look like that?’

Soon followed by ‘Why couldn’t they?’

Then I completed the trilogy with ‘Why haven’t I imagined my characters in a style appealing to me?’

As I was deep into contemplating what sort of aesthetic I consider my “brand”,[11] it was entering a mind primed to start overanalyzing.

So, how do I imagine my characters? In the neighborhood of the D&D art, if I have firm concept. Micah Krane always was mentally nebulous to me, just kinda being a generic half-elf dude. Trix (who was created for the brightly colored Pathfinder) is green-haired and wears a tail coat, but otherwise is also normal looking in my mind’s eye. In the last two D&D campaigns, Tybalt was also vague in appearance, and Teddi had Goat horns, but those were meant to stand out on a generic rogue character.[13]

But you know what I’ve never put on a character I’ve played? Glasses.

I hope that those who read my various media reviews[14] don’t need this overly explained, but I like glasses. I, myself, don’t wear glasses, but I find them to be great accessories in character design. Frames the eyes, come in a variety of shapes, adds bit of extra visual interest. I always point out Meganekkos and pay them extra attention.[15] I really, really like girls with glasses.

But I’ve never made one. Because there’s no cute design in D&D rulebooks. Just a range of handsome people to ugly halflings.[16]

That is the effect of art design in a system. It sets tone, expectations, and aesthetic for the players. It’s so ingrained that everytime I see art of players’ characters that break the standard, it always takes me aback. It’s inspiring to see artists who manage to divorce D&D the game from D&D the art.

I want to imagine fun, personally appealing characters. But the subtle direction of the insert art as I look through to rulebook, or the provided character portraits of D&D Beyond does not suggest things I like to see. It infects the mind, and leaves specific molds. People in practical, mundane clothes, walking down drab, uninteresting roads.

It’s the same lack of escapism that makes Western (Video Game) RPGs super unappealing to me.[17] Dark Souls, Elder Scrolls, Bioshock don’t look like fun places to be, they look tiring and full of splintery furniture waiting to do 1d4 nonlethal damage.

So I have to talk about anime now.

My mother was staying at my home a little while ago, and I turned on My Roommate is a Cat. This prompted her ask me about what about anime was appealing. I couldn’t form a competent answer for the question at the time, but it’s had time to churn in my head.

Anime is a good middle ground between cartoon and realism. It can broach deeper topics and more mature storytelling than children’s cartoons,[18] without sacrificing a light visual tone and fantastic imagery. Also, the fact that it’s produced by a non-American, non-European culture lends a degree of separation with cultural expectations and tropes. Enhances Escapism.

Luckily, in (very) recent years, after generations of exchanging video games and animation back and forth, Japanese Tabletop RPGs are starting to join in on the fun.

Which means I can look at Ryuutama.

(Image copied from DriveThruRPG. Brought over the pacific by Kotodama Heavy Industries. Buy this book.)

I love this system.

Watercolor art direction. Layout evokes a spellbook. Two Characters and a Dog take the focus on the cover, while the road signs and tiny shrine in the background invoke the emphasis on travel and wonder.

The interior art?

(Taken off the Ryuutama (english) website. Buy this book.)

Well, that makes the game just look like fun. Cartoony characters fighting cat goblins. Conflict, but it doesn’t make life feel like a constant struggle. A world I wish to inhabit. There’s also more detailed images of dragons and other world-establishing pictures mixed in to give the art range, but it’s this sort of charming that makes Ryuutama the first rulebook I actually sat and read cover to cover.[19] It’s a good system I already reviewed. Buy this PDF, maybe they’ll reprint the physical book.

Anyways, I’ll admit, the art’s a little too simple for D&D. Perfect for Ryuutama, and the end of the scale I want my mental image to be, but overshoots the sweet spot. And it’s difficult enough to find players for the much more popular 5e, so Ryuutama exclusivity would grind my playtime to zero.

Still, Ryuutama does a great job of setting it’s light, fantastic tone, where D&D has failed me. The art direction of the books, and years of exposure and defaulting to what I assume D&D should look for establishes a mental habit that’s hard to break. Wizards of the Coast has drowned nerd spaces with its particular kind of art, especially with MtG plastered all over hobby stores, deck boxes, dice, playmats, and even D&D sourcebooks.

That’s not even accounting for fanworks and the speculative fiction art in online spaces.

So what do I want to look like? Were I blessed with talent or with patient to actually learn to draw well, what would I be referencing?

What about what set my expectations of fantasy years before IndigoDice invited me to that fateful Traveller game?

(Screen cap of Tales of Vesperia grabbed from here.)

Well, okay, what I’m actually thinking about is Tales of Symphonia, but Vesperia’s graphics are kinda what nostalgia tells me Symphonia tooked like, as opposed to what it actually looks like.[20]

Look at that verdant town! Warm lighting, bright characters, leaves growing to depict life. A hotel built into a tree. This is a fantasy world that is unashamed about life thriving.

Forget solarpunk. This is my aesthetic.

As for the party members…

(Okay, Judith’s a little gratuitous, but The Definitive Edition lets me put her in a suit, and she’s awesome. Art stolen from here.)

Oddly enough, as far as JRPG outfits go, these are pretty tame with details.[21] Mostly bright, popping colors, even Yuri’s dark clothes are done in such a way to not feel grim and edgy, hints of personality, and I just enjoy looking at them.

The Tales series as a whole does a good job of taking European fantasy and applying Japanese whimsy to the design. Also yukatas. Every member looks like the hero of their own story, while still being part of a cohesive whole.

Which is, you know, the ideal way to operate as a TRPG party.

So, what’s the take away?

Artists, keep being creative. Pull inspiration in from things besides the rulebooks and Critical Role. Look at the other things you love and bring visual flare and whimsy to your art. Then share it. Ignite the passions of those of us who can’t do the draw-good thing.

Players, play with the tropes. I love doing it narratively and mechanically. My favorite rogue is still my neutral good stage magician who would never do a crime. Explore what’s possible in the freeform world of tabletop games, both in play and your Theater of the Mind.

Game designers, branch out with the art. And stop using Powered by the Apocalypse as a crutch.[22]

Hope this long ramble was enjoyable and cohesive. If you want more of this, my other works, and maybe to allow me to make an actual play podcast, consider supporting me through Patreon or Ko-fi.

Until next time, may your dice make things interesting.

[1] Though I would love to read a transcript of the two discussing it. It'd be a fun debate. [2] I don't like Powered by the Apocalypse for precisely this reason. Every actual play I've heard with the system has players talking about their characters in the abstract, because they're just pressing the buttons on their character sheet.[3] [3] I maybe should do a breakdown of PbtA one day. [4] Which is pretty poor direction. Do an epic group shot of characters battling a horde around them. [5] None of the D&D core books has a dragon on the cover. Come on, that should’ve been a gimme! [6] Similar note as footnote 5. [7] Also CornflowerBlueDice is too long to be catchy. [8] I figured it out! [9] I haven’t looked at at Pathfinder’s forthcoming second edition. Fifth Edition reclaimed it’s throne as The ubiquitous system after fourth lost its footing, so I don’t think there’s much point. [10] TL;DR: I ignore it. [11] Pulp Fantasy is too mundane. Steampunk is too victorian-y. Sci-fi fractals into so much. Solarpunk has appeal, but isn’t quite right.[12] [12] Haven’t really found the term. [13] Let’s not examine that I put more thought into female character design than male for the moment. [14] Which you should. Validate my efforts! [15] And desperately pray it’s considered innocent enough of a fetish that I don’t have to stop. [16] Never liked halflings. Gnomes are fine. Halflings, in art, have always been off-putting and malformed. [17] That and the emphasis of character customization kneecapping the Player Character’s narrative involvement. Can’t give them a personality if that’s the end user’s job! [18] Even Avatar: The Last Airbender felt like it had to sneak the narrative depth it achieved past corporate. [19] I do need to give it a reread, though. Relearn the system. [20] It still looks good, especially the environment, but the characters are kind of… leaning towards chibi. [21] This, specifically, is why I chose to highlight Vesperia over Rune Factory. [22] Technically nothing to do with this essay, but I can’t stress this point enough.

#SepiaDiceRants #ryuutama #Fifth Edition #Dungeons and Dragons #pathfinder #tales of vesperia

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yunxies · 5 years

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do you know any lesser known medias (such as ina11, transformers, what u usually like) as u have lots of great interests when it comes to shows, etc and im interested in hearing more? im trying to get into more things and its kind of hard finding more media.

oh i’m flattered to hear that! hmm i don’t consume very much media and tend to just get into one thing and hyperfixate on that for months at a time but let’s see...

kaitou joker - a really fun manga turned anime (i haven’t read the manga but i’ve heard people say the anime is better) about flashy bright-colored phantom thieves. wacky, super entertaining concepts, coupled with a surprising amount of depth and emotion. it’s zany and childlike and EVERYONE has a tragic backstory. in any case it’s really fun and engaging, i don’t post about it much here bc it’s not super on my radar but it’s an absolutely underrated gem of a show (and probably less popular than other stuff i’m going to post about)

elsword - i’m only into this one secondhand and mostly just piggyback off my friends’ posts but this one is a korean mmo, i don’t know much about how the actual game goes but the characters are all super compelling from what i hear about them from my friends. the character designs are all really good as well

lobotomy corporation - again, only into this one secondhand. it’s a game inspired by scp stuff where you work for a corporation in a post-apocalyptic world that extracts energy from monsters, and you have to allocate resources, appease the monsters, contain them when they rampage, choose how many of your employees to sacrifice, etc. it sounds really good and fun and i love the characters. i really wanna play it but i don’t have the time ;_;

megaman x - okay so this isn’t exactly unknown but like transformers it’s not, like, in the mainstream fandom spotlight so i guess it counts. really good video game series about robots at war that you can analyze for all sorts of deep themes about morality, pacifism, etc, etc. also x and zero are gay. stan axl

gundam build fighters - the gundam franchise is really famous but this installment less so, it takes place in a world where the rest of the gundam franchise is fictional and people do battles with their little gundam plastic model merch. obviously it’s very, exists to sell toys, but like yugioh it has a really fun uplifting vibe of people just being passionate about their hobbies and having fun with that, it’s really sweet

kamen rider - again mostly secondhand hbfdgj can you tell i’m reeeeally bad at getting around to watching/playing things but i like this one. japanese live-action superhero show that’s been ongoing since like the 60s, every year there’s a new series with a new plot and main character. it seems really fun a lot of people are into it. i like ooo and w because i love ankh and philip. insanely popular in japan so idk if it counts as lesser known but yknow

danball senki - by the same company and director as inazuma eleven and it’s a lot like inazuma eleven except with tiny remote-controlled fighting robots instead of soccer. i’m not very far in but already they’ve used these tiny remote-controlled robots to stop an assassination attempt on the prime minister sfhgldg akihiro hino at it again. i only know like three people who have seen it but everyone says it’s super good so i’d check it out

yugioh spinoffs - idk what you followed me for so maybe you know these already but while the original yugioh is super popular the spinoffs are less known, there’s still a huge fanbase but they aren’t really in the collective nerd consciousness as much, anyway they’re all really good. i recommend gx, 5ds and zexal (OH GOD ZEXAL) the most, arc v is universally panned as a disappointment, have heard mixed reviews on vrains but i’m not very big on it. but gx 5ds and ZEXAL!!! are really really good (gx has a loooot of filler in the first half though and zexal also kind of does)

princess tutu - I KEEP FORGETTING PRINCESS TUTU because it’s not really an Interest in that i get the urge to create fanworks for it but it is one of my favorite shows of all time, it’s about fairytale characters who are trapped in a story made by an author who loves tragic endings, and need to escape the tragic ending and forge a new one. it’s also about ballet, and ducks. i admit a lot of me liking it is because it hits on a whole bunch of my personal favorite tropes/aesthetics but it’s also really good in general

animorphs - OH MY GOD I FORGOT ANIMORPHS. please read animorphs. i know it’s a meme to make fun of the covers but it’s genuinely one of the best ya series of all time it gets soooo deep into exploring and deconstructing all the realistic implications of the whole “plucky teens fight an alien invasion” setup, fair warning it gets BRUTAL and there is an entire genre of tumblr posts that are just people who only know the covers discovering how brutal it is but it’s sooo good. you can read it legally for free online

vsinger - i guess this counts? a line of vocaloids made by shanghai henian that have more lore and background to them than the other vocaloids who are kind of just a design, a name and an age. like for instance tianyi is an alien who can detect peoples emotions using music and can only communicate in song. so you have a bit more character stuff to play around with. i’m mostly just there for longya he’s sexy. gatling is a good song

also i’m really interested in this webtoon called ga dam hang seol it looks so good and interesting but the translation team consists entirely of one friend of mine who is always really busy and so the translation is only 5 chapters and updates very sporadically cries but just in case you’re interested you can read the comic here and the translation is here

well i think that’s about it that’s the accumulation of the past few years’ interests! also in a few years be on the lookout for a very cool and interesting novel whose title i haven’t decided on yet appearing on tapas (poses)

#replies #long post #Anonymous

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airconditionedgirl · 6 years

Text

Top 15 Smash Bros Newcomers Wishlist!

Okay, I do have some stuff to stay about and around the actual list, but I know you guys don’t care about all that boring stuff, so LIST FIRST!!!

15) Tracer (Overwatch) – I don’t play Overwatch, and I honestly think it’s influence on the games industry has been a net negative, something something loot boxes. But the fact remains that Overwatch is really, friggin popular, and Tracer is really friggin popular in it. She seems like a good character, and would probably work well in Smash. Plus, it would be really cool to have an openly gay character in the game.

14) Sora (Kingdom Hearts) – Sora is great, and his fighting style would be unique among the sword fighters in Smash. And considering the legacy of Kingdom Hearts as a franchise, and the upcoming #3, it seems like the perfect time to add him.

13) The TMNT (TMNT) – Though not originating in video games, these four were practically made for them, with so many classic and awesome games being made in their image. Each turtle could be an alt costume character, they’d all have they’re own specials, their Final Smash would unite them, do I even need to say anything else?

12) Steve/Alex (Minecraft) – But ONLY if they walk in the same stiff, rigid way that they do in the game! That would be both fitting, and hilarious.

11) Ribbon Girl (Arms) – I honestly can’t think of a way for them to easily incorporate her moves without making her crazy OP, but it could happen! Anyway, she’s on the list pretty much because I think she would be super fun to use.

10) Dixie Kong (DKC) – I’m not personally a big fan of DKC, but I know a lot of people who are, and who are fans of her in particular. So yeah, doeet Nintendo!

9) The Boy & the Blob (A Boy and His Blob) – The NES game would qualify it for a deep cut Nintendo lore pick, the reboot on the Wii was really friggin good, and these guys would provide a unique spin on the Two In One Fighter. Also, if this did happen, it would be absolutely ESSENTIAL that the Down B be a hug, in homage to the hug button in the Wii game. If it was the Down B, it could increase attack power briefly! Or, failing that, it could be a taunt?

8) Captain N (Captain N: The Game Master) – Yet another deep cut Nintendo lore character! This guy almost seems like he was made for Smash. His neutral B would be the Zapper, his other moves could be based on NES sprites, it would be a really cool nostalgia trip, just, ugh, so awesome. They could even build him from the ground up to be one big homage to classic NES stuff, like how Pac-Man represents a lot of arcade era Namco Bandai games!

7) Rygar (Rygar) – My last deep cut Nintendo character, but this one is the most justified out of the three, I feel. Rygar was one of the earliest NES games, it was really cool, and his yo yo shield thing would make for a really unique weapon!

6) Team Rocket (Pokemon) – Not super into Pokemon, but this seems like an obvious choice. If it were up to me, I’d go with Jessie and James as the trainers, but their game counterparts would work fine. As to the actual Pokemon they’d be using, I honestly have no idea.

5) Shovel Knight (Shovel Knight) – Once again, hella obvious. He should just be in Smash. He’d be awesome, he’d have so many cool moves, it would be awesome for the fans of Shovel Knight, it just needs to happen. The only real question here is whether Shield Knight should be included here, and them be a Two In One Fighter. The only reason why I didn’t put her on the list alongside him is because I’m honestly not sure how that would work, mechanically.

4) Impa (Zelda) -I just really want her in Smash. I honestly don’t care if they use her Ocarina of TIme, Skyward Sword or Hyrule Warriors designs. I just really love Zelda, and she would just be really, really cool.

3) Midna + Wolf Link (Zelda) – SO FRIGGIN COOL!!!!

2) Amaterasu (Okami) – Okami was a really, really good game, and Ammy in Smash would be perfect. I close my eyes, and I can picture her moves, her zipping across the stage, her barking at the other characters. And a lot of her moves in Okami could be put directly into the game!

1) Proto Man (Megaman) – I love Megaman so much. It really was amazing for me to see him in Smash, and the way they made him so accurate to the games, even though it clashed with the usual design philosophy of other characters in the Smash? It seemed too good to be true. Now, if they could just do exactly that, but with Rock's rival? That would be PERFECT! Honestly, I would be fine with him having the exact same Robot Master powers as Megaman, but there’s one thing I would definitely have to insist one, if I had any say in the matter: Proto Man is often represented as being more powerful than Megaman, but more fragile. So maybe increase his damage output while also making him lighter to represent that? Idk, but either way, I just really want this character in Smash.

Okay, first thing’s first. Captain N and the Turtles aren’t video game characters by design, and Smash Brothers has always only had video game characters. And yes, that is true, but it doesn’t have to STAY true.

Even if they’re not originally video game characters, they are inextricably tied to video games, by the premise of the Captain N cartoon, and by the fact that the Turtles have had a LOT of good games. Turtles In Time for the arcades and the SNES is considered by many to be one of the best Beat Em Ups of all time. So by the standard of being connected to video games, and to Nintendo’s golden age, they both qualify.

Moreover, I do think that Smash branching out from video game characters as candidates is necessary for the franchise to continue, if it does so after Ultimate, just as they branched out from first party characters.

Also, you may have noticed that there are several characters that are not on this list, being King K Rool, Banjo-Kazooie, Crash Bandicoot and Waluigi. That’s because I personally really don’t care about these characters. And if they did get added, I probably wouldn’t play them, just like probably never going to touch Ridley.

On the flip side of that coin, there were several characters who I REEEEEEALY want to be in Smash Brothers, but I refrained from adding them because they would either be impossible, for not especially viable. And I didn’t want to make this list a waste of everyone’s time by making it 100% self serving. Two of these characters include Fi, from Zelda, and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I want to close off this post by saying that, even though these characters being in Smash would make my day, I honestly wouldn’t mind if none of them made it. I everything I could have hoped and more has been delivered in Smash Ultimate. I am so excited to play it, and I have such respect for Sakurai and crew, because it is very clear to me that there is so much love going into this game. December can’t come fast enough! @supersmashbroscentral

#sorry it turned into an essay by the end of it!

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servetolive · 6 years

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Buddy, can I get a porn fic with Lore punishing a newly-assimilated Borg given emotions who stepped out of line? I've always wanted this and your shit gets me hot.

fuckin-A!

LORE/HUGH Y’ALL Written to “Thin Red Line” by Mona Mur and En Esch. also, idk why, but i wrote Hugh while thinking of Megaman/Megaman X.

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! took a few day break from tng fandom and am preparing for xmas weekend, and now i’m good to go!

The knock on the door was out of sync; syncopated, in a strange way that the Borg had no way of knowing was so. Lore pulled his lips away from his brother, leaving just enough room for him to murmur loudly, “Come in.”

Crosis and another drone had him by his shoulders, his feet skidding against the ground as he struggled against them. Once Lore caught sight of him, he moved to stand. Data caught on and stood from his twin’s lap, and together, they observed Hugh being dragged before him, his brow furrowed in defiance and his bottom lip pursed and tense.

Crosis and his drone shoved Hugh to the ground, holding him firm against the ground. Hugh grunted as his chin hit the concrete.

“Data,” Lore said, turning his chin down to his younger sibling. His eyes did not leave the captive before him, however. “Go outside. Make sure that the others keep busy.”

Data looked up at Lore, eyes widened for a moment. Hugh had seen it many times before: separation anxiety from those of them fortunate enough to be in Lore’s intimate presence.

“But, brother–”

“Go on.”

Without another word, Data left the room. Hugh’s eyes followed the younger android’s movement until he heard the door behind him hiss open and squeeze shut.

From the corner of his eye, Hugh saw the black, pointed tip of Lore’s boot adjacent to his face. He didn’t know why he was straining so much to see more of him–the more he tensed, the harder the drones pressed him into the ground.

Lore sighed.

“Let him go,” he said.

They did, and Hugh dared not move. He breathed heavier than ever against the floor, looking up at Lore, as the drones released him. He shook his shoulders away–a sign of defiance that no one bothered noticing.

He was able to crane his neck upwards to look up at The One, who gave him a kind smile before reaching down and pulling the cord the connected his visual feed to the rest of his body.

When Hugh opened his eyes, it was to a slightly different reality. His limbs were entangled in a mess of of hydraulic wires that fed into the main computer in Lore and Data’s personal lab, and he had no control over them.

It was not something that normally would have caused him immediate alarm: he had spent his earliest years hooked up to the Collective in the same manner, undergoing maintenance or repairs after a battle. He would hear the comforting hum of his comrades and could feel the warm thrall of nutrients entering his feeding tube.

His eyepiece–which he had once showed Geordi, the one who had given him his name–was missing. He felt the strange, brisk sensation of cold surge through him, something that was foreign, even in the dark halls of Lore’s lair.

He heard his name.

Hugh.

Hugh lifted his head. Off to his right, attending a panel, Lore stood with his back to him, typing in commands.

Hugh fought the impulse to allow his neck jerk to the side, and failed. He grunted just as Lore punched a few commands in and looked in his direction, over his shoulder.

His world faded again, just as if he were in the nursery.

Hugh opened his eyes, frigid air billowing from his nostrils into a cloud in the air before him.

Lore was near him. He couldn’t see him yet, but he could see how the air refused to settle around him. He caught a flash of gold, though it took a few seconds longer for the light to reach his brain.

“Let…” Hugh thought about what his human friends had taught him, but nothing they had said had anything to do with the concept of conflicting emotions.

“Let me go,” he said. He knew he sounded weak. He knew he sounded unsure. He wouldn’t even have known to bring such words to his lips if it weren’t for the Collective, and he wouldn’t have any idea of the meaning behind them if it weren’t for The One.

Lore ignored him, at first. He clucked his tongue.

“Poor thing,” he said, quietly. He heard the sound of water, and closed his eyes to the warm streams that flowed in tiny streams over his forehead. The difference in temperature left signatures around his face and chest; everywhere that they touched.

“How many times is it now,” the android said. He appeared in front of Hugh, giving him a start. Lore’s gold eyes examined Hugh’s black pupils, the same way a doctor would. The pail in his right hand fell to the floor as the wet sponge came up to nip at the sore sides of Hugh’s mouth.

“Three?” Lore dropped it into the bucket and held Hugh’s jaw firmly in his fingers, like he were examining an animal to confirm its pedigree.

Hugh had no desire to be touched in such a way.

“Three times you’ve run from me,” Lore went on, turning Hugh’s chin this way and that. “And yet, I still refuse to believe that you don’t want to be here.”

Hugh remembered the first time he had run, and the first time he had been dragged back. The first time he had heard Lore’s voice in relation to him and him alone; the first time he felt the android’s fingertips slide against his own inorganic flesh. The fruitiess argument he had tried to pose to Lore. The response Lore had given him. The rising bumps on his ashen skin.

“I don’t understand it, Hugh.” Lore was fiddling with the remote settings on the device in his hand while Hugh hung from the wiring in the ceiling. “You’re not so different from me.”

Hugh tried to jerk away from Lore’s touch. He knew what would come next. The honey smile, the patronizing gaze, the pursed lips.

He heard the water drip as the sponge moved to his bruised lips.

“I want to leave,” Hugh said, trembling. “I do not wish to be–”

“Assimilated?” Lore sighed, looking at the floor for a moment in that infuriating way that reeked of condescension. “Nobody here wants to be assimilated, Hugh. Haven’t you been listening?”

Hugh said nothing, but his mind followed the patterns of warmth that the water made as it trickled down beneath his uniform. Lore reached out with a hand and tore way the plating of his torso, exposing the rivulets to cold air, causing him to shudder violently.

“We’re trying to advance beyond that.”

He felt the hot tips of Lore’s fingers tear through the rest of his protective clothing, razoring into his sides as the plasticine fell away.

“You have such a beautiful mind,” Lore whispered softly in his ear, his hands–at room temperature–curling around Hugh’s waist and sliding down to his hips. “I really don’t want to take it away from you.”

In that moment, with his chest heaving, Hugh wished he could say something to Lore. He wished he had the sense to argue with him, as others had, even if it might have meant the end of his self-awareness.

The android brought one hand up to the wires and snapped one free. Cold gasses hissed from the broken cord and Hugh felt a part of him jerk downwards, as all the feeling bled from his upper arms and feet.

Smirking, Lore took the sizzling, live end of the wire and traced it against Hugh’s skin. He knew what it should have felt like. The first time he ran, Lore hadn’t bothered to take his nervous system offline before shocking him, and he remembered arching his back into the air, screaming out into the open as the currents racked his body.

Now he felt almost nothing, but not nothing: a slower, burning ache that trickled into his nerves rather than jolted through him out right. He moaned an alarmed, frightened whimper as crackle of the charge traced the twitching muscles in his abdomen.

Smiling, Lore reached down and pulled the rest of the Borg’s clothes away from him, exposing his young and expectant cock.

“Don’t,” Hugh breathed. He still had problems understanding why, but something about his memory on the Enterprise told him that he should object. Perhaps even that the pleasure that Lore had given him the first two times was not desirable.

“Sssh,” Lore cooed into his ear, now standing behind him. This made Hugh even more nervous, since he couldn’t see what the android would do next.

“Stop it.” He brought his arms up and around Hugh’s arms, pressing his lips against his temple. “Don’t let those human discretions get the best of what you and I have here,” he paused to wrap a warm, buzzing hand around Hugh’s sex, which caused the young Borg to tense up and cry out openly, his eyes squeezed shut.

Before that, Hugh had been considering countering with something–something about whether or not they “had” anything at all, but the thought remained unformed, and without any reference to further it. This–even though it was “unwanted,” whatever that meant–was more than what he had ever been given by his comrades in the collective; more than what he had been able to give. That they were all connected with each other deep beneath the bioplast seemed to pale in comparison to what warm, gentle contact with a stronger being could offer.

Lore chuckled in his ear. “Why are you crying, Hugh?” His fist moved slowly up the shaft of Hugh’s cock, stopping to enclose the head with his thumb and forefinger in a ring. Hugh twitched and shuddered as Lore tightened the ring and moved it up and down.

He could hear the pointed corners of his mouth, smirking as he talked. “Does it feel good?”

“Yes,” he replied, still incapable of telling untruths.

Grinning madly, Lore scooped up the leaking fluid from Hugh’s cock and held his dripping fingers up before the Borg.

“Do you want me to make it feel even better?” he asked, smoothing it across Hugh’s jaw when he cupped his chin. He slid a finger past his bottom lip and teeth, allowing him to taste himself–an act, perhaps, a few degrees too high for him on the sensory input scale.

Hugh, who was seizing up from overstimulation, wasn’t sure what to make of all this. He opened his eyes toward the bright lights above him, hoping that their brightness would cut into his nervous system to distract him from the dull ache he felt in his crotch. It didn’t work.

He shut his eyes. Tears pooled at the corners.

“Yes.”

Their favorite reward was the show Lore would put on for them in the Great Hall, with he and his brother at the center, naked and caressing.

They never talked about it openly, but it was the wish of every Borg that they could have what Lore gave his brother. They emulated the same desperate looks Data made at him; the same pleading sounds of devotion in their voices.

Hugh had no idea how many of his cohorts were able to say that they had been penetrated by Lore, but no matter what his fledgling independence had taught him about autonomy and independence, the feeling either of those gave him were dust compared to the feeling of Lore deep inside of him, filling a space in his body that he had never known he possessed, connecting with him in a way that was wholly unknown to him and his people.

It wasn’t just the feeling of his cock pulsing inside of him or the grip of his fingers around his hips. Lore was able to tap into their hive mind with ease, filling him with indescribable thoughts and small comforts that gave more meaning to contact than his interactions with his so-called “friends” on the Enterprise had ever given him.

What’s more, Lore’s voice came into his head in words, just as much as feeling.

You want to leave us, Hugh?

The feeling of lips and hot breath against his cold skin was sublime. Hugh felt his eyes glass over as Lore pushed deeper inside of him, the remaining wires above him rumbling softly as they ran into each other.

Hugh moaned: a sound so foreign to his own ears. He could hear the mechanical ruffle of other Borg peeking at them from the doorway behind them. Lore paid them no mind.

The soiled hand cupped his chin again, this time harshly.

You want to leave me?

Hugh cried out again. It was meant to be a word–yes? no? What could he possibly mean by either of them?

Lore sighed into his neck, dipping into it with his metal teeth.

You think anyone out there can give you what I give you?

With Lore’s words fresh in his mind and the knowledge that his brethren stood watching, likely painting him as “lucky,” and the understanding that they would see him in a completely new, different light, Hugh found within himself the link to his thoughts and the functions of his body and clenched himself around Lore’s cock.

“No,” he said out loud, surprising himself: Borg never answered vocally to what was said in Their mind. He was near completion, almost convulsing, and had no mind to think about the consequences of it. He leaned his head back against Lore, another action that he could never have thought of it weren’t for he and Data’s displays of passion.

Very good, dear.

Lore stopped moving and pulled out of Hugh, which made him sigh and gasp with disappointment: the most human noises he had ever heard himself make. The android’s hands came up and around, one grabbing Hugh’s cock and the other taking hold of his balls.

“I’m going to do something for you,” Lore whispered loudly enough for anyone listening in to hear. “That I’ve never done for anyone besides my brother.”

He tried to watch Lore’s hand move quickly up and down his anatomy, but the painful shocks it caused sent disruptions to his visual feed.

He panted, unable to speak. The shocks hovered between sharp jolts of pain and the addictive stabs of a narcotic flowing through his systems.

This was impossible. It was like witchcraft to him.

The whole structure seemed to shake with him when Hugh came. He didn’t realize until the very last moment that as he poured into Lore’s waiting hand, he was screaming loudly enough to breach the confines of the walls.

The sound of his voice died down as his processes shut off, one by one.

He woke some time later, still hanging, still hooked, but without the feeling of warmth that he had felt spread between he and The One.

He wasn’t alone. Data was there, still in his vibrant uniform, out of place as ever. He was examining a panel in Hugh’s head, unconcerned with his indecent, filthy condition.

“Lore wanted me to inspect you before releasing you,” he said, gently, without any of the beauty and closeness he had felt with his older brother.

Hugh said nothing, but hung there, tired and with a dull pain in his thighs, which were suddenly coming to life. To keep himself company, he tried to piece together the emotions he had when Lore was embracing him; the feeling of his head against his shoulder and the comfort of his touch. The pain and the unwanted excitement that was indecipherable for him.

And he realized, for the first time, just how cold anything else besides Lore’s touch felt to him.

#lore/hugh #star trek tng #descent #borg #implied data/lore #fic #queenloofah

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laphicet · 6 years

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sweetlaphicets 2017 games of the year

Its just me rambling nonsensically and unedited about games I loved this year

2017 was a damn good year for video games <3 I played a lot of different games and DLC’s this year, and I just wanted to talk about some of my favorites this year ! Also, this list will be limited to things that were released this year.

Resident Evil 7 – Starting off the year right for me. I love Resident Evil and survival horror a lot, and the series was unfortunately waning in terms of interest to me, with its shift towards more action instead of puzzles and exploration. Then Resident Evil 7 comes a long and throws all that out, and pretty much is classic Resident Evil formula, but modernized a little bit, and in first person. What a game it was. Fantastic atmosphere, with small memorable areas that you explore every nook and cranny of, and really just get to become familiar with all of the environments, with an interesting story with an entirely new cast of characters, with a focus on developing the games main antagonists, the family whose house a large portion of the game takes place in. Survival horror is BACK baby <3 Nier Automata – I love Yoko Taro, a lot. I love platinum games games’. Put them together and well… you have an unforgettable experience. Music that I listen to on a daily basis (Vague Hope is sooooo good), and characters I think about constantly (9S needs a hug…). It’s funny, when I first finished all the routes of the game, I cried a lot, especially on ending D, but I also felt… the characters weren’t as developed or memorable as the first Nier’s. As time goes on, and the more I think about the characters, the more I realize, I really did like the characters a lot, it just took me some time to appreciate them more. This game made me really happy, because I feel Yoko Taro is finally getting the widespread recognition that I’ve always felt he deserved. His stories are so far out there and different, but the drakengard/nier universe is my favorite universe of all time, and the lore is sooooo cool. Can’t wait to see what Yoko Taro does next <3 Detention – As I said in the Resident Evil 7 section, I love me some survival horror games, but I also have a big passion for psychological horror games, and Detention hits all the right notes in that department. Every single thing in the game has some deeper meaning, the reason you see enemies, all the puzzles, and all the imagery in the backgrounds, which is totally my jam (something Silent Hill gave me a passion for) and the story in general is just really dark and good. The game itself is a point and click side scrolling game with a focus entirely on puzzles (pretty good and very…interesting ones at that) and exploration. There are enemies, but they don’t really pose a threat, and they’re just there more for serving a purpose in the story. Detention is really great and not that expensive, if you like horror games, I definitely think its worth looking into.

Azure Striiker Gunvolt Striker Pack – Always wanted to get into these games back on the 3DS, and since they came out on the Switch, I got to give both games a go, and they immediately hooked me. Super fun megaman styled games, with an emphasis on tagging enemies and then electrocuting all tagged enemies at once. It feels really satisfying to use Gunvolts electric abilities, and it definitely has that Inti Creates charm to it. Visually, it reminded me a lot of Megaman Zero. I was even surprised at liking the story as much as I did. It’s not a super detailed or developed story, but I really loved Gunvolt and Joule <3 I hope for a third one at some point.

Ys VIII Lacrimosa of Dana – I love Ys games, and I went into this one specifically knowing absolutely nothing, never watching any videos and only having seen a few screenshots. I was so surprised by the structure of the game and the fact that the world was as big as it was, and gorgeous at that. As usual, Falcom made some damn good music too <3 Also for the first time in the series, the characters resonated with me more then usual. I think it was the stuck on an island premise of the story, everyone having to work together to survive and having to actually speak to everyone and get to know them a bit more through quests. I don’t really like the raid or defense missions, but they’re not unbearable, but definitely a low point for me. The rest of the gameplay though… man is it good. Each character feels damn good to play, especially Dana. Dana as a character in general is pretty great, and I’d really like to see more of her at some point. Soso localization aside (which they’re re—localizing now) Ys VIII is probably my favorite Ys game at this point.

The Evil Within 2 – This game is what I might call the “surprise of the year” for me. I enjoyed the first game a lot, but it had so many design aspects that I really hated (so many damn 1 hit deaths in that game) This sequel however… does everything right in my eyes. An open town to explore as a sort of giant hub world that gave me Silent Hill vibes (exploring the town was always my favorite part of that series) But perhaps the biggest surprise for me with Evil Within 2 was the story. The first games story was pretty bland, and somehow they turned the bland, boring main character from the first game in to a really well developed and well done character that honestly made me feel bad for him. Going into this game I wasn’t expecting to cry going in to this game, but it definitely gave me a lot of feels.

(DLC) Final Fantasy XV : Episode Ignis – This DLC episode gave me (and I think some other fans, 1 in specific that I know :3 ) exactly what I wanted, but I won’t spoil that here. I loved this DLC and I don’t really want to talk too mumch about it because its hard to talk about without spoiling the main game. So I’ll just sayh this, I love Ignis and I want to hug him. Also Yasunori Mitsuda composing for a Final Fantasy is pretty damn rad.

And now for my game of the year… (99% of people who know me will not be surprised xD)

Tales Of Berseria – Some of the games on my list are better designed, have better gameplay, and waaaaaaaaaaay better level design, but nothing resonated with me more this year then Berseria. Something about it just clicked, and clicked hard. I love the characters so much, especially Velvet and Phi. I kinda don’t think a cast of characters for a game has resonated with me as much as this game, the closest its ever been before this was Yuri and Alice from Shadow Hearts, and the cast of the first Nier. There are scenes from this game that I can just think of out of context and start to get emotional >_> no games ever done that for me before. I’m not sure if it’s the game itself really emotionally resonating with me to this extreme extent, or that the game was there when I needed comfort more then anything due to some really awful bullshit that happened this year, but either way, I really love this game and its incredibly special to me. I also saw a lot of my self in Velvet and Phi... the way Velvets moods are and her anger remind me a lot of my self when I have really bad mood swings that come at random. And then Phi... well.. I saw more of myself in him then I ever have with any other character before, for reasons that maybe I’ll write about in a seperate post one day. He has a lot of my own personality traits and one big thing about his development and over the course of the game that just really... resonated with me in a way no character has ever before.

#resident evil 7 #nier automata #detention #azure striker gunvolt #Ys VIII #the evil within 2 #final fantasy xv #tales of berseria #holy crap I talk too much

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annadesu · 7 years

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Steven Universe Podcast - From Fan To Crew - Thomas Sanders, Chris Graham, Maya Petersen, Amber Cragg, and Mario Piedra

Steven Universe Podcast - 9/21/17

Amber - Always knew she wanted to be an artist. Did a bad job with her schoolwork, but kept saying it was ok because she was going to art school, anyway. Luckily is worked out for her!

Maya - Didn't really think about a career in art until after college. She did a published piece in a Megaman tribute book, which was a bit of a surprise to her. But after being selected, she thought maybe she did have more talent than she assumed, and worked hard on getting into the field more.

Amber and Maya - Both members of the fandom early on. They made lots of fanart. Amber felt a "spiritual" connection to the themes of the show. Maya loved the fact that the female characters actually had personality traits, and that being female wasn't considered their personality. They all looked and acted different from each other.

Amber- Was doing a drawing livestream when Rebecca Sugar liked one of her SU posts. She promptly freaked out. Then, she joined a drawing chatroom where Ian and Rebecca were goofing around, and Ian corrected Amber on the way she was drawing Garnet's hair. Amber contacted Ian the next day, saying "I'm the person who drew Garnet's hair wrong, it was fun drawing with you!" and Ian asked her to do a test for a show.

Maya - Saw an open call on twitter in 2015, and did a board test. Waited a while, and was called back. Communicated mostly by e-mail. Much more low-key than Amber!

Maya - Walked into work the first day thinking "don't get fired". Work hard, work fast, work well!

Amber - Was sick her first day or work because of the climate change from Kentucky to California. She came in wearing her SU fan t-shirt.

Impostor syndrome - Happens to a lot of people coming to work in the field. You see this great new job ahead of you, and worry about how you will perform. You assume everyone else around you is much more talented, and together than you are. It took Amber half a year to shake this feeling.

Amber's advise for fans - "Make your own stuff. Make your own stuff, put your name on it, put it online where people can see it. You can draw fanart if you want, you can draw your own stuff if you want. Showcase your ability to write and draw. And if you can only do one of those things, you can partner up with somebody who knows how to do the other thing. Or you could do both of the things, and get better at both of them together. The important thing is, you can't be found if there's nothing of yours to find."

Maya's advice to fans - "You can't wait for inspiration, you just have to do the work. Fail alot, and fail fast. That's how you get to success faster."

Amber - "If you have an obsession with something... like a show, or a book, or an AU of some other thing you don't even like anymore, but you love the AU... If you feel this passion for something, and you're embarrassed by it? Don't be! Use that as a reason to make whatever you want. If there's a fire inside you, do something with it. Don't be embarrassed. Embrace that, and use it to propel yourself forward. I spent 2.5, 3 years drawing just Homestuck fanart, and drawing Steven Universe fanart. Look how much time I spent drawing this stuff, but look how much better I got. Draw for love!"

~~~~~

"Save the Light" is the first console game for GrumpyFace Studio. Both Chris and Mario tend to spend more time on their phones and tablets now, and haven't been able to play as much console games as they did when they were younger. Both were big on cartoons and nintendo growing up. They were shown the SU pilot before the show was given the greelight, and they said they wanted to work on a game for it because they knew it was going to be something special. They also got to see episodes before they aired while working on the game, so they were fans right from the start. They not only admire the show, but the people working on it. They love lore driven shows like SU.

Working with the crew has been easy, since they also love video games. They understand references to older games, and how games work in general. It makes everything much easier.

GrumpyFace was not told about the "Save the Light" arcade Easter egg in "Arcade Mania". They could not believe it, and they immediately called them when they saw it.

The crewniverse is a guiding hand for the games. They will tell them when they get something correct, and they tell them when they would do something differently with the characters.

In the first game, they tried an 8-bit style, but Rebecca suggested something cleaner. Rebecca also has a good sense of color. Steven Sugar has the master map of Beach City, and he knows where everything is located.

Making a 3D game is a lot harder than a 2D game. Mixing them both together is also very hard. No production is ever "easy", you always learn something from it. The game developers did not expect Squaridot to be as popular as she has been. They had made a bet that atleast one person would draw fanart of her on the day she appeared. That day, however, there was a LOT more than one piece of fanart. A lot of fans of the show are great artists.

~~~~~

Thomas Sanders is a huge SU fan. Touring the studio was a very eye opening experience for him, since he didn't know that much about animation production to begin with. There's a lot of little things going on that people don't know about. Since his online fans knew Thomas liked cartoons, many of them suggested SU to him. He saw some fanart, and watched it casually at first. After the heavy drama in "Maximum Capacity", Thomas was amazed that a cartoon "went there". It was so refreshing to him. SU broke a lot of barriers, and takes a lot of strides, and still does.

With his vines, Thomas tries to appeal to kids and adults and be relatable. McKenzie Atwood got in contact with Thomas because of her video editing for the show. She introduced Thomas to the crew, and they were able to get together and make some vines.

All the voice actors are very nice people, and are very good friends with each other.

Deedee is such a "mom". Thomas had mentioned to her that he was nervous about driving a rental car in LA. After doing a singing collab with Deedee, she put a note on his backpack that said "Drive safely, let me know when you get back to Florida, Love, Bird Mom". He keeps the note in his suitcase. Thomas feels very influenced by SU in his life. He is able to go deeper into his own storytelling because of how he has seen everyone reacting to SU's brand of storytelling.

Thomas is curious about the fate of Lars, and how Sadie fits into his story arc. He's also very curious about Pearl, since we don't know as much about her as the other gems. We still haven't seen White Diamond, either.

Thomas loves how everything in the show can be discussed further. Fusions, the music used, hints from earlier episodes that you didn't even realize were hints at the time... He loves it all.

NEXT PODCAST: Leading The Way - Rebecca and Steven Sugar

#su #steven universe #steven universe podcast #su podcast #fandom

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