#not that i want them penalized! but it falls flat to see characters who are only honest in cool or helpful ways

[senadimell]

I’ve realized I have a particular soft spot for characters with no guile in them. Characters with hearts on their sleeves, with their reactions written on their faces. Sometimes they’re left out of grand plans or restrained to prevent their interference—this tends to happen in those vast, epic stories that put a premium on intrigue and cunning. Other times, though, (and these are particularly dear to my heart), their honesty is not portrayed as a flaw that holds them back but as a core and valued part of who they are that enables them to do what is needed, even though it’s not always without consequence.

#so foremost among the latter (in my mind) is meg murry who couldn't mask if she attended a masquerade in full costume #but while its acknowledged that her lack of restraint (emotionally and otherwise) is a barrier in her life / it's not a flaw but a strength #and it's her ability to unabashedly love her brother that saves him (in a way that we understand has cosmic reverberations) #but i think megs are fairly rare when it comes down to it... #perhaps i should acknowledge that guileless characters tend to only feel genuine when there are acknowledged consequences #not that i want them penalized! but it falls flat to see characters who are only honest in cool or helpful ways #and only lose control of their emotions in cool plot ways or funny sarcastic ways #i'd put kaladin in the guileless category even though he does put a lot of effort into mimicking emotional stability #it's stuff like whitespine uncaged and the aftermath where the man cannot keep his mouth shut for the life of him #but he cannot accept Jasnah's realpolitik and he cannot accept amaram's utilitarianism and this dedication is tearing him apart #but i'm especially thinking of Max McDaniels; it's clear everyone around him is constantly trying to use him #and that he's a weapon rather than a general; they do it with love and concern but they rarely see him as an equal #ultimately he is not a David Menlo; he doesn't know the deep dark workings at play. he doesn't *get* how everything works #and sometimes he feels silly or has the wool pulled over his eyes. But he's not belittled narratively for that even when he regrets it #but ultimately that is who he is. what you see is what you get. there is depth to him certainly. but not deception #there's something amazingly poetic about his time as the Bragha Rùn and coming mask to mask with himself #and that as one of the things that wears down his willingness to collaborate with Prusias #he is treated like a pawn and underestimated but people mistake guilelessness for docility and expect easy manipulation #but max is also a wild card even if he is often predictable and i love him for it

[yo-namine]

Okay, I’m not done with this idea, so...

To start off, Riku and Kairi's relationship post-KH3 is a little, uh.... strained. After everything that happened in the Graveyard, Riku really doesn't trust Kairi to hold her own at all. They both want to go search for a way to revive Sora, but Riku's pretty dead-set on Kairi staying safe at home while he does all the actual work. He's already lost one friend, and he's not risking losing another. Kairi argues that if he's going to go chasing the Lich, he needs someone like her who can bring him back, but her argument kind of falls flat because her PoH abilities have been pretty shaky ever since Sora died because, well, her heart's broken. So Riku doesn't budge, and Kairi's left feeling useless and powerless to help her friends. Again. Also, Kairi can tell that Riku does sort of lowkey resent her for being a liability back in the Graveyard. Riku knows it's unfair of him, but he can't help how he feels. And while Riku really does want to keep her safe, Kairi feels that he's also shutting her out as a way to penalize her for costing them Sora's life. Angst ensues. Basically, instead of working together on a way to bring back Sora, Riku and Kairi end up pushing each other away and doubtlessly making things harder than they need to be. 🎉🎉🎉

Obviously, Kairi isn't going to just stay home. She thinks that if she can fully regain her powers, she may be able to restore Sora like she did in KH1, or get some kind of tether on him from the Realm of Light like she did in KH3. So she decides to sneak off on her own to first go find the other former Princesses of Heart to see if they can teach her more about her abilities, and then hopefully get her powers back and use them to revive Sora or at least help Riku. And admittedly, there’s a small, petty part of her that just wants to prove to Riku that she's not useless.

Naminé catches on to what Kairi's planning and wants to come with her to help however she can. Kairi kept her alive for the last couple of years, so Naminé is basically RIDE OR DIE for this girl at this point. If Kairi wants to go save Sora, then dammit, they’re gonna go save Sora. That said, she probably feels guilty enough to leave Riku a note or something just telling him that she and Kairi left together and everything's fine and to please not freak out. Riku reads it and is like "for fuck's sake," decides to go look for them (on top of everything else he's doing).

I'm... not really sure how Xion gets involved tbh. Maybe she initially wants to help Riku find Kairi and bring her home, but then switches sides once she realizes that Kairi's just trying to prove herself? Anyway, Xion is a total badass and (in this story, at least) has some of her Days boss battle abilities still in her arsenal, so after she joins the other girls, they're able to venture into more worlds that they'd had to avoid before because the combat level was too high they were too dangerous. During their journey, Xion gives Kairi lots of pointers that do her way more good as a keyblade wielder than whatever Merlin had her and Axel doing in that time chamber.

There's initially some tension between Kairi and Xion because Xion is supposed to be "Kairi as Sora remembers her," and in this story, Xion's clearly much stronger and (now that she's free of the Organization) cheerier than the real Kairi. So Kairi feels like she's hanging around a better version of herself all the time, and it takes effort to not let her bitterness over it show. It also doesn't help that Kairi's spending most of her time with two people who are like embodiments of Sora's love for her (Naminé being the Nobody that was created from Sora housing Kairi's heart in his, Xion being made up of Sora's memories of Kairi). Theoretically, that knowledge should be comforting, but it really just ends up rubbing some extra salt in that "Sora's dead and it's all my fault" wound.

While they're off on their journey, Riku tries to call Kairi almost every day, but she never picks up because she knows he'll just try to talk her into going home. Eventually Axel calls her, and it's fine until she realizes he's trying to weasel her whereabouts out of her so he can pass the info along to Riku. After that, she keeps her phone off.

Kairi, Naminé, and Xion start to work really well together after a while both because of their skill sets (Xion being the powerhouse, Naminé the healer, Kairi the warrior-still-in-training), but also because they have a lot in common. Xion can empathize pretty strongly with Kairi feeling like she's just a liability. Naminé knows how it feels to be used by people more powerful than you to hurt someone you care about. The trio develops a pretty deep understanding of one another, and they help each other rationalize and work through their problems/insecurities (like Xion has a tendency to get irritated/overly defensive when her judgment's questioned because, well, she also isn't sure if she can trust her own mind sometimes thanks to the Org reprogramming her in the past. Naminé has some pretty deep-rooted abandonment issues that are part of the reason she clings to Kairi as much as she does. Kairi has survivor's guilt in spades.). Character development ensues.

Naminé does Not like combat or just hurting things in general, hence why she sticks to healing. She does still have her heart-shattering ability from CoM, but she never wants to use it again (especially considering whose replica vessel she’s inhabiting these days).

Meanwhile, Riku thinks the other masters will help him with figuring out how to either find the Lich or contact Sora somehow, but nope. Yen Sid and Mickey don't want him going after the Lich or "chasing hearts," potentially costing them another valuable wielder getting himself killed. Aqua's more inclined to let him do what he thinks is right, but she's also doubtful that Sora's heart is even salvageable at this point. She tells Riku what she knows from her own training just because she feels he has the right to that information as a master, but that's about it. Beyond that, Riku's basically on his own. Without any real leads, Riku decides to visit different worlds to learn more about their differing concepts of death/the afterlife (so like the Underworld in Olympus, the Locker in the Caribbean, etc.). A lot of worlds have legends of creatures similar to the Lich that ferry the dead and all that cool stuff, so he makes note of that while also scouting the place for Kairi. He might also run into Maleficent at some point and learn something from her (since idk, she commanded the Heartless for a while, so maybe she knows something about the Lich)?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The trio runs into Riku once early on, and it... doesn't go that well. Riku's still not keen on Kairi running off (plus he's probably kind of annoyed that Naminé and Xion sided with her over him despite them both being his friends for way longer, oop), and Kairi's still frustrated that Riku has 0 faith in her and won't let her help him. They basically have the same argument they did back home, only now there's been more time for resentment to build. On top of that, they're both grieving over Sora without really knowing that they are (because neither's willing to even consider the idea that he may not be savable), and both feel like the other's abandoned them when they need them the most. Anyway, their fight doesn't accomplish anything other than hurting each other further. They split up again after Riku tells Kairi to just answer her damn phone every once and a while. She doesn't.

So Kairi meets up with the former PoHs as she travels worlds. She's lucky that Riku's on bad terms with half of these ladies and is gonna steer clear of Wonderland, Agrabah, and Beast's Castle. Kairi gets advice and some training from each of the princesses on how to tune out her own self-doubts and focus her magic on what she wants to accomplish. Her biggest help is probably Belle just because that lady spent SO MUCH TIME in Hollow Bastion's library in KH1 probably reading everything about light/darkness. That, and I think Belle kind of uses a tethering ability in KH1 to bring the Beast to Hollow Bastion (or at least, the Beast says he got there just by ~believing~, so maybe it's a two-way connection or something), so she may have a better understanding of her (former) powers than the others. Anyway, Kairi slowly starts regaining her powers, and they only get better as her confidence/faith in herself improves. Eventually, she starts working Faith/Holy into her combat moves and "tethering" to the other girls just to see if she can. She's able to use the latter ability to sense out where exactly Naminé and Xion are whenever they're separated from one another. Connecting with people in the same world is easy enough, but doing it across worlds/realms is trickier, so she practices reaching out to Riku occasionally with mixed results. She gets to where she can figure out where he is, but she can't communicate with him, and she's not sure if that's due to her abilities being too weak or if it's because she and Riku have been shutting each other out (spoilers: It's mostly the latter.).

The trio has another run-in with Riku later on. He and Kairi have another argument, but it's more constructive this time around. Riku starts to call her out on leaving him to go on this journey (because unlike her, he's been going it alone this whole time, and it's really starting to get to him), but she points out that she only left him before he could leave her. Everything kind of starts to click after that. Riku eventually apologizes for trying to leave her behind, Kairi apologizes for shutting him out for so long. There's still some tension between them, but it starts to ebb once they finally start working together on a plan to bring Sora back.

Kairi finally turns her phone back on to find approximately 34978593487 missed calls from Riku. She also sees that he left her a few voicemails, and while Riku says she can just delete them, she keeps them to listen to later when he's not around.

....I'm not sure how this ends? Part of me likes the idea of Sora just... staying dead and everyone moving forward with their lives because that's all you can do, really. But another part of me really likes the idea of Riku and Kairi finding the Lich and figuring out a way to split the price for Sora between them. Maybe they have to give up a fraction of their hearts or cut time off their lifespans to give to Sora's. And they both agree to just not tell Sora about that once he's back.

I realize I'm leaving a TON of characters out of this story lmao. I don't know what everyone else would be up to. tbh Ven could probably save Riku and Kairi a lot of trouble just by introducing them to his magic cat that apparently knows all about the afterlife, but.......................... whatever.

#my posts #kh3 bloggin #kh3 spoilers #fic ideas #dream trio

[gladlyhumbled]

Dear Generation: To The Youth

Here lays an address to a group of people like myself: young, Christian, and eager for a revival.

It seems quite absurd to believe that the Church is taking a step back in faith and leadership, yet that seems to be the case. Pastors are manipulating the Word, leading others astray, and the walks of many Christians have grown cold. There are more variables that should be taken into account; regardless, the significant issue is that the once firm roots of Christianity appear to be weakening, the fruits of God’s people lessening, and the soil of their faith eroding. This alarming implications caused can be conveyed by the “domino effect.” Weaker faith produces weaker relationships, weaker relationships lead to weaker boundaries, and weakened boundaries creates susceptibility to  weakened morals. But since we have been called to be newly transformed, shouldn’t our actions affirm that? Shouldn’t we be progressing instead of regressing? Before going any further, I want to mention that I am by no earthly or heavenly means perfect. No one is perfect. I’m still learning to deal with these uncomfortable--borderline overwhelming--truths, however if I’ve learned anything, it’s to take them in in little by little, because they are the ones that produce the greatest spiritual results when you align your life with them. That is why I sought out to write this “letter”  to you all as to speak. The truth is, I believe that we, with the grace and power of God, can create the ripples of change needed to heal our nations and its hurting people. Without no more time wasted, let us begin to be the people this world, and the Kingdom, needs.

The next generation should be outcasts. One of the hardest truths to swallow, considering it is of human nature to desire acceptance and approval from others. Unfortunately, when we live to please the world, we certainly are not pleasing God because He is not of the world and He calls us to that same conduct (1 John 2:15, John 17:14-16). Another issue that is commonly associated with non-conformity is self-image. We don’t want to seem idiotic, weird, or flat-out atypical in the eyes of others. Truthfully, the solution is adopting a renewed mind. We must not decide our actions based on what would please the world, but on what would please God. When fear kicks in and condemns us saying, “Do you really want to say this/do that? Don’t you fear what everyone will think of you?” we need to be able to believe and confidently respond, “Flee from me, Devil! For God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).” Then we should do what we are called to do, no matter how silly or downright dumb we look doing it. It is very important to remember that the greater the call, the greater the opposition. In other words, it is silly to think that Devil is going to rest while God is working through you to impact the future; he is like a prowling lion, always seeking to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He’s the god of this world, already leading countless unbelievers down an eternal path of destruction, how much more is he determined to lead the elect astray in order that God’s light and glory is diminished?  Now more than ever, for the cause of Christ, we need to step out when we feel uncomfortable. Speak out even when we don’t feel confident (if it’s God’s message, you don’t need to delay it reaching the heart of someone else due to your emotions). Live loud even when everyone around us is barely living. Why? Because we are qualified. We don’t have to be skilled or the best at what we do, just willing and assured that God will work through us (2 Corinthians 4:7). At schools, they can get rid of the anthem, but they can not rid us from acknowledging our God. No one can stop us from carrying the powerful, living, breathing Word of God to our classes--no one but ourselves. No longer should fear hold the keys and determine our outreach before we’ve even given it a chance, because indeed we have the power of God dwelling inside us. So if the world chooses to hate us for being Christians, then how much more will they condemn us for living out the life God intended for us? A life that requires a readiness to be an outcast. However, if they love us for who we are, then they’ll be transformed by the richness of God’s love and grace. We should be ready to be outcasts and live according to God’s will regardless of how the world perceives us. In a hundred million years into life in eternity, all of those things that held us back will be for naught. The next generation should be outcasts.

The next generation should be lovers. Let’s radically change the genuinity of that word...by living it out. Live with our hearts on our sleeves, aware that it could get broken, but comforted that it could be the very reason a lost soul finally finds his or her way home. Even if someone doesn’t get saved, you’ll be reminded of the great joy that you were able to plant a seed of hope in a life that wouldn’t be the same without it. Let us love when we are happy, and even more so determinedly when we’re sad. Let love be our greatest weapon when we’re attacked, belittled, and rebuked. For if love is greater than faith and hope, and it covers a multitude of sins, than such an anthem is needed to bring God’s salvation to a dying world. Let us extend our Father’s love to the homeless and homeowners, rich and poor, reserved and vulnerable, humble and haughty alike. Our love should know no boundaries in gender, class, religion, appearance, beliefs, personality, sexuality, political stance, and race. Whatever flaws we see in ourselves, may we fully surrender them to God to love them out of us, and may we do so for those who don’t have that liberty. To believe or not believe isn’t the dilemma (we aren’t penalized for their ultimate decision), it is to love or not to love, because there is so much power every human has when it comes to loving, so many chains we can break.The next generation should be lovers.

The next generation should be worshipers. This alludes to more than just reserving one’s praise for the Lord on Sunday and then returning to silence on the rest of the weekdays. Let us enter into a state of constant praise. We ought to know when God deserves to be worshiped: at all times and in all situations (Hebrews 13:15-16). When we wake up in the morning, let His praise spill from our lips. Before we drift away in our slumber, let our last words be reserved for Him and His goodness. When our insides are rumbling with joy, let us praise Him! When we are troubled, may our praises ring even louder. For the little things, big things, and everything that falls in between, let us bring Him praise. Let. Us. Bring. Him. Praise. And may we all be wise in understanding that God always deserves to be worshiped because He is eternally good.Even though our emotions are fickle, God does not change: who He promised to be thousands of years ago still stands true. He doesn’t change in goodness, just because our life meets with turmoil. No matter how frustrating it may be to us curious beings, we are not entitled to know why God does what He does, and we are definitely not capable of fully understanding His ways. Isaiah 55:9 states, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Interestingly enough, the Greek word for higher is gabah, meaning to be high, exalted, and exalted means to be highly regarded. God’s ways and thoughts should be respected in that manner. Maybe one day everything will all make sense, but until then, the next generation should be worshipers withstanding,and may it be evident to all who are watching.

The future generation should be intentional. Being intentional is one of the greatest lacks of this current society--even in the church. Once our decisions are rooted in intention--the ones that Jesus wills for us--we will not only glorify our Father in Heaven, but we will saves ourselves from unnecessary hurt. We are imperfect beings and many of the choices we make are based on our own carnal knowledge and desires, bound to cause us great harm in the end. So avoid brash impulses, steady yourself in the heat of peer pressure, and trust wholeheartedly in the knowledge of the One whose thoughts are greater and ways are higher, for obeying Him brings a future better than anything one could imagine. Reflect and thoughtfully deliver each word you speak with love, truth, and care. Treat everyone, no matter their character, with the respect you would want bestowed unto you. With every partner, be intentional, working prospectively towards marriage while glorifying God. Every act should work to bring God delight, no matter how “starved” your flesh feels in some aspects of life. It may be overwhelming, frustrating, even treading the lines of sacrificial, however, once we submit to the will of our Father, we will find joy in doing what is good. The next generation should be intentional. 

The next generation should be holy and blameless. Do not worry, He’s already got you covered on that (Colossians 1:22). However, to be an effective witnesser you should always strive to live righteously, pleasing God by living out what is right. Again, that calls for a life of intentionality. The next generation should be holy and blameless.

The next generation should be prayer warriors. As expected of Christ followers, prayer should  be a priority. In the morning, afternoon, and night, let prayers and praise always spill out from our lips, directed to our good, good Father in the name of Christ. When we are happy, pray. When we are sad, pray. When we are anxious, pray. When we are angry, pray. When we are trailblazing through trials or have found our way through them, pray. Before and after we have exhausted every effort, pray. Pray for the lost, the hurting, and the needy, and the hopeless. Pray without ceasing, as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 encourages, always returning to it for any and everything. It should be a habit instilled in our minds, and an observance for all of time. With consistency, a man or woman of God can also be known as a man or woman of prayer, and all the glory goes to God for that! The next generation should be prayer warriors.

The next generation should be a people hungry, eager, and, on fire for Jesus because guess what? 

The next revival is coming and we are going to be the ones leading it.

#Christians #Christian #God #Jesus #Holy Spirit #Devotional #Bible #bibleverse #Inspirational #letter #a letter to Christians #Blogger #Christian Blogger

[xxxdragonfucker69xxx]

Monomyth

A character distributes their weight (5 points) among seven Archetypes, governed by the seven astrological bodies. The Sun is Hero, for matters of virtue and the heart. The Moon is Trickster, for all stealth, deception and shenanigans. Mercury governs the Wanderer, Venus the Lover, Mars the Warrior, Jupiter the King and Saturn the Sage. Each Archetype in which a character has at least one rank can additionally divide that many ranks in Skills, defined by the character themselves. Making a roll consists of rolling dice equal to their rank in the Archetype, plus autosuccesses equal to applicable Edges.

In addition to these standard rolls, a character receives several Feats to enhance her actions. The precise number thereof depends on their Might, which starts at 2 and goes to 12. They receive that many Legendary, Epic and Mythic Feats. Feats can be used to enhance a normal action, or they can be used by supernatural miracles. A Legendary Feat adds a single success, an Epic Feat adds successes equal to the character’s Might, and a Mythic Feat adds that many successes squared. These also apply to miracles that use Feats; a miracle could use a Legendary Feat and only get a single autosuccess, or the same character using the same miracle could get (Might) extra successes. (This notation follows d19 convention; dice rolls are [number], while flat values are (number).) A character’s Legendary Feats refresh every scene, their Epic Feats refresh every session, and their Mythic Feats only refresh every story.

Miracles are special powers dependent on the Aspects. Anyone can use a Miracle if they have at least 1 point in its Aspect, and a Miracle always trumps mundane actions or obstacles. Opposed Miracles roll their attendant Aspects.

Mortals, extras, NPCs who are not miraculous enough to invoke the supernatural do not use these rules. They mostly get a single success for anything they could be expected to succeed at, with set dice pools for tasks they’re specialized in.

EDGES

Each Aspect comes with a certain kind of Edge involved. These may be bought at creation, or granted by certain Miracles. They may also be obtained naturally, but until the character pays XP to raise the relevant Edge and bind it to themselves, it just serves as stunt fodder. Edges are always linked to the relevant Archetype but may also be linked to other Archetypes or Aspects, serving as a source of Feats for that Aspect, sometimes with other bonuses. Total Edges cannot surpass the relevant Archetype. A point in an Edge may grant a Legendary Feat, two points an Epic Feat, and a similar scale for other bonuses to uses of the provided Feats.

Hero: Virtues

Virtues represent causes or beliefs that comprise the character’s identity, and can be used to resist mental attack or generally reinforce actions drawing from those Virtues.

Trickster: Tricks

Tricks are disguises or setups which allow the character to reveal that whatever just happened didn’t actually happen, and was actually this other thing all along!

Wanderer: Sancta

Sancta are safe places that give the character something they need: shelter, food, information. They usually require that the character be in them to benefit from them.

Lover: Companions

Companions represent pets and sidekicks who are capable of acting on their own or reinforcing the character’s own skills. They often offer the chance to substitute for other Aspects or opportunities impossible with a single character.

Warrior: Weapons

Weapons are meant to be used for conflict, even if not necessarily combat. A frying pan is stunt fodder if it’s just for cooking, but a Weapon if it helps in cooking competitions.

King: Support

Support represents favors you can command or demand from people you know, usually not other characters but people in the background and offscreen.

Sage: Skills

Skills represent the one thing a character is just really good at, for whatever reason. Not things like fighting or talking, but maybe firefighting or talking to children.

HERO MIRACLES

Sense Evil: Sense if anyone is planning to hurt you right now

Dramatic Speech: Grant a Feat to someone else

Pure of Heart: Perfectly resist a mental attack (Epic+)

Heroic Willpower: Get back up after a finishing blow (Mythic)

Channel Virtue: Get Legendary Feats out of a Virtue (Epic+)

Deep Bond: Act as a Companion for someone else

Holy Smite: Deal extra damage to something with opposing Virtues

TRICKSTER MIRACLES

Just Kidding: Take back something you said

Bavarian Fire Drill: Gain temporary Support, though you have to escape consequences later

Friendly Fire: Redirect something to someone else at random

Doppelganger: Appear as someone else

Black Hat, White Hat: Cause two characters to come into conflict

With Catlike Tread: Do something unseen

Disapparition: Leave the scene without being observed

Cross My Heart: Lie perfectly

Murphy’s Law: Something that can go wrong does

Outside the Box: Reduce the efficacy of Miracles that penalize you

Cover Identity: Establish a Trick as a persona that has its own stats, and assume that persona by spending that Trick’s Feats

WANDERER MIRACLES

Fastest Man Alive: Outpace anyone else who doesn’t use this Miracle

Flash Step: Instantly move to anywhere you can see

Water Walk: Move without falling through water, disturbing snow, etc.

Master Key: Open a lock, trap, binding or seal

Always Coming Home: Fit in no matter where you are

Opening the Way: Momentarily connect a doorway to a Sanctum (Epic+)

Lodestar Reckoning: Always know how to return to one of your Sancta

Hermit Crab: Temporarily claim a place as a Sanctum, for no more than a week. You must leave it after that time (Epic+)

Rainbow Bridge: Enter a spiritual realm such as the home of a god or the realm of dreams (Epic+)

LOVER MIRACLES

Cupid’s Arrow: Inspire an emotion in someone

Below the Belt: Perfectly manipulate someone as long as you use something they care about (Epic+)

Give and Take: Demand something in exchange for something, perfectly (Epic+)

Man’s Best Friend: Gain an animal Companion (Mythic)

Sexual Healing: Help someone recover, physically or mentally

Danger Sense: Be aware when one of your Companions or friends is in danger, and where they are

Reading the Room: Be aware of how anyone in sight feels about others, or how people feel about someone in sight

Heart’s Desire: Know what someone wants most

Sublime Performance: Put on a show (music, dance, speech, etc) so compelling that anyone who sees it is hypnotized and enthralled

Inspiration of the Muse: Let someone use your stats instead of theirs

WARRIOR MIRACLES

Lethal Weapon: Kill someone or destroy something (Mythic)

Unbroken: Survive a finishing blow (Epic+)

Berserker: Gain bonuses depending on how wounded you are

Knuckle-Cracking Show: Intimidate someone into backing down

Bullet Time: Act twice in a row (Epic+)

Fated Strike: Guarantee success in a combat round

Heavenly Ladder Style: Get a temporary +1 Weapon from the scenery

Iron Lotus: Attack multiple people at once

No Sell: Become invincible to attacks until you attack (Epic+)

Battle Cry: Enemies must resist or flee (Epic+)

Second Wind: Heal yourself (Epic+)

Scarred Over: Once you have been damaged by something, you cannot be hurt by it again while that wound remains (Epic+)

Lifting the Sky: Perform any feat of strength, or overcome the strength of anyone else (Mythic)

KING MIRACLES

Stonewall Jackson: Bring your whole party back to the fight

Take a Stand: Negate someone’s attempt at social influence

Power of the Purse: Evoke Support that doesn’t really apply, drawing on their resources

Human Chess: Change what your Support is from

Champion the People: Evoke your Support in combat (Epic+)

Judge’s Wisdom: People cannot lie to you, though they don’t have to tell the truth

Guards! Guards!: Summon a small group of NPCs

Sanctified Oath: Bless a promise or contract so it can’t be broken, including by yourself (Epic+)

Commandments: Speak a law that supporters must obey or be cursed (Mythic)

Provide for the People: Ensure that your supporters have enough to eat (Mythic)

Fisher King: Link yourself to your supporters, so you always know their opinion and so you are protected if they love you

SAGE MIRACLES

Just As Planned: Retroactively negate an obstacle by having planned for it

Listen to Teacher: Grant someone a bonus after instructing them

Jack of All Trades: Gain a point in a Skill you don’t have (Epic+)

Gut Instinct: Know the answer to a yes or no question (Epic+)

Art of War: Apply your Skills to combat, no matter what they are (Epic+)

If I Remember Correctly: Come up with a fact which doesn’t contradict previously established lore

Loremaster: A Skill involving information lets you know anything anyone knows about it; you know everything there is to know about History or Science or Anime Trivia.

Reading People: Ask something about a person and know the answer

Improvise Madly: Gain a bonus according to how hard an uncontested roll is

Prognostication: Know whether or not something is a good idea (Epic+)

Query the Universe: Ask a question about anything and know the answer (Mythic)

Monomyth started as.....jesus, i dont remember. an exercise in writing subtle powers (i used to be way big on flashy elemental stunts)? i think i made this around when heros journey was announced and i was real excited. the original version also had the equivalent of scion APPs but that made it literally just a weird scion homebrew so. bye to that

even as it stands most of these powers are mostly ripped from other games like godbound or the modern magician (though i guess that one doesnt really count as stealing). overall i would deem this a failure, though maybe the one redeeming aspect is using feats to pace power usage

#tatterpigs #tatterpigsgiving #monomyth

[felixtheflava]

Too many words about Draculas

I’m way into the modern Castlevanias and think about them probably more than I should when I’m not actually playing them. Since I like to indulge in the unjustified delusion that I know a thing or two about game design, and because I want to talk about the Draculas, I’ve decided to, well, talk about the Draculas for a hot minute.

This ended up being really long by the by, like really ridiculously so. Nobody should write this much about Castlevania for no reason. But, well, I did, whoops.

To preface, I’m not going to talk about every Castlevania game from Symphony onward, because even I can’t justify being that pointlessly overzealous in a single post. The easiest games to compare in the post-Symphony genre are the three that came out on the DS--Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, and Order of Ecclesia. These games are the easiest to compare not just because they all came out on the same console, but because they all fit squarely within the exploration-focused design philosophy that dominated the series for many years after Symphony of the Night (and before all that messing about with whatever was going on in Lords of Shadow). The games are all essentially doing the same thing--explore an area, fight bosses, defeat ultimate Drac or whoever happens to be wearing his cloak--but the specifics of the presentation and design are vastly different between the three. So in analyzing them, I’ll start with a quick overview of the three and then compare them in a bunch of categories I think are important until I’m done doing that, and by the end I’ll make some sweeping and frustrating statements about which one I like the most. Also I’ll be spoiling the hell out of all these games, so keep that in mind if it’s a concern.

I should also mention that I like all three of these games. They’re great games, and any Castlevania fan should run through all three of them. If at any point it seems like I’m being irreverent and snarky, that’s because I am, but it comes from a place of love.

Dawn of Sorrow came out first of the three. It’s only one of them that is the direct sequel to another game--Aria of Sorrow, which happens to be my personal favorite Castlevania. It and Aria feature the Soul Set system as their primary selling points, with every enemy in the game dropping a unique soul that can be equipped for an attack, ability, or passive buff. It also is the most standardly laid-out of the three in that the entire game takes place in a large haunted spooky castle, albeit not Dracula’s specifically, just another tangentially-related demon fortress that happens to be relevant to Dracula-related events. It would probably just be Dracula’s castle again if that wasn’t sealed in the moon or whatever.

Portrait of Ruin features two main characters which you can switch between or have fight together--a fairly standard Belmont-esque axe-cross-and-whip man and a spellcasting witch. The mechanic works better than it sounds by letting you freely swap characters and not penalizing you greatly for your partner getting hit. The game takes place in Dracula’s castle, but breaks up the familiar locale with a series of painting worlds which explore visuals not typically seen in the franchise. So that’s nice. 

Order of Ecclesia came out last out of them all, which is apparent in the game’s visuals and presentation. The protagonist uses glyphs to attack, which allows her a mix of physical and spell-like attacks, although in sheer breadth her arsenal doesn’t match the other games. The areas in Ecclesia take on a more old-school feel as entirely separate areas with little to no relation to each other, until you reach the final castle at the end that has more of a free-flowing exploration feel to it.

The most apparent category to judge is visuals, and it also has the clearest victor. Dawn of Sorrow adopted a somewhat flat anime aesthetic for its character portraits which was a total letdown after the surprisingly detailed art in the GBA Aria. It’s enemy and area design is fine, but some of its visual effects look cheap and for some reason blood splatters from most enemies appear more of a bright orange than red. Portrait of Ruin is an improvement on Dawn--it still uses an anime style, but the portraits are cleaned up significantly and animations are improved upon. It still has the weird orange blood problem, though. Ecclesia goes back to highly detailed character portraits and on top of that has much more interesting designs for them. The areas that might otherwise be bland are brought to life with evocative background art and the blood splatters actually look red, controversially enough. It could be argued that Dawn and Ruin’s styles allow their characters to be more expressive, but with no voice acting in any of the three I argue that the burden of that falls to the writing, which is something I’ll get into later.

I’ve touched briefly on each game’s main system, but let’s get a bit deeper into it. Dawn uses the soul set system from Aria, which is a tried and true winner--having every enemy drop a unique ability is an amazing way to maximize Castlevania’s signature enemy variety. Dawn, however, makes what I see as a severe misstep in making it so that the power of your offensive souls is determined by how many of that soul that you have. To me, this takes away some of the charm of the system, since it means a new soul isn’t necessarily viable the moment you pick it up and most souls aren’t viable at all unless you grind for them. As such, most of the souls that matter are the ones you use to get the true ending and the ones you use to upgrade weapons, which is a painful underutilization of an amazing system. 

Portrait of Ruin, as I’ve mentioned, seems like it would be unwieldy but actually plays quite well. The sub-weapons for Johnathan, your vampire hunter, do suffer from some of the same grindiness as the souls in Dawn as most aren’t viable until you master them. However, Charlotte--your resident witch--has access to a wide array of spells and a surprising amount of them are useful. Choosing the right spell for a situation feels appropriately clever, and the game eventually provides ways for you to master Johnathan’s subweapons that don’t take too long. The game also gives you surprising flexibility in allowing you to use one character’s spell or sub-weapon while controlling the other. Overall, the game’s core mechanic is solid and surprisingly deep.

Order of Ecclesia uses the glyph system, which is just sort of an odd way of doing equipment. What it amounts to is that, in addition to equipping weapons, Shanoa can equip spells and use them just as easily and swinging a hammer. Letting spells be your main attack makes most of them viable to use, and you can combine two offensive glyphs to create a glyph union super attack. Sadly, the list of viable combinations isn’t particularly long, which prevents the system from being truly engaging. As sort of a side note, since Shanoa’s attacks are spells that require MP, Curse in this game is weirdly debilitating for no incredibly good reason.

Level design has a similar stratification. The castle in Dawn is fun to explore but forces a lot of backtracking that doesn’t feel necessary. It benefits a lot from being the only one of the three to be a single, contiguous area, and it also has the most well-hidden secrets out of the three, but some of the areas themselves are just a pain to move through. In particular, the right side of the castle has two towers, one going up and the other down, that are laid out almost identically throughout with only varying enemy placement. Ecclesia’s design is even weaker--a great many of the areas you visit are literally straight lines, and most of the others are still rather linear. It doesn’t require much backtracking, but it also provides very little exploration, and many of the bland levels have similarly bland enemy placement. The castle is an upswing, but it still has very little to reward you for poking around. Portrait splits the line rather well. It rewards exploration in both its portrait worlds and main castle, but lays out the levels in such a way where you almost never have to backtrack. It does get a bit of a black mark for the four painting worlds in the endgame that use palette-swapped environments, but they still manage to mix it up with enemy design and routing for the player.

But let’s get to the fun categories, yeah? Let’s talk about the wacky story of an old man who won’t stay dead, and how each of these games try and deal with that ridiculous premise. For Dawn, it’s easy, because it and Aria both take place in the future where Dracula has already been destroyed permanently. So instead the story revolves around an even more arbitrary situation--apparently anyone born on the day Dracula was destroyed has the potential to inherit his powers, and manifests them in different ways. The protagonist, Soma, is shown to be the best one, but he fights off being Dracula in Aria, so now some cultist lady wants to kill him so her pet Draculas can be the real ones. So the story’s gone peak anime right along with the art, and unfortunately Soma transitions from being an entertainingly out-of-his-depth student to just a really boring piece of cardboard with basically no interesting character moments. The game might have actually pulled it off if it had really committed to how ridiculous it was being, but unfortunately everyone was taking it seriously and it just falls flat in the end.

Portrait of Ruin decides to focus less on Dracula and instead set up another vampire, Brauner, as the main villain for most of the game. Brauner is using the power of Dracula’s castle to create a painting that will annihilate humanity in order to protect his two abducted vampire daughters from being harmed by the evil, warmongering humans. Y’know, normal stuff, or at least it is compared to Dawn. He’s clearly in the wrong, but he’s still miles more interesting than the endless parade of villains who just want to revive Dracula for the sake of weird cosmic moral principles. He does end up reviving Dracula in the end, but only as an accidental result of his manipulation of the castle’s magic. It’s a shame that the protagonists he has to play off of are the whiny Johnathan Morris and the occasionally fun but usually just smug Charlotte Aulin. Johnathan has an arc about getting over how his father never taught him how to use Vampire Killer, but the resolution to that arc is optional and you can defeat Dracula either way, which makes for kind of an odd final story note if you wisely decided not to do the irritating optional boss that wrapping up that particular baggage entails. Ultimately, the protagonist and antagonist’s arcs really have nothing to do with each other, and an interesting dynamic between them entirely fails to ignite.

On to Ecclesia, then. While Ecclesia has a lot of characters, most of the story moments center around three main ones who are ostensibly part of a church group dedicated to preventing the resurrection of Dracula. The count himself has no active hand in events until his castle is raised near the end, so the interactions between these characters is what drives the plot. The protagonist, Shanoa, has lost her emotions and memories to a ritual accident, which of course raises alarm bells. What’s interesting, however, is that the first thing you see in the game is her interactions with her adoptive brother, Albus, and her teacher, Barlowe. After this, you also see the event that damages her personality. Rather than being a cheap way to explore a character’s past as the story progresses, her amnesia is written as a surprisingly compelling emotional disability. Getting into the details would take a rather long time, but to simplify--Albus looks like the villain at first, but in fact Barlowe is the nasty boy trying to bring back Dracula. Shanoa and Albus grew up together and were incredibly close, but her loss of memory as the result of Barlowe’s manipulations puts distance between them and forces them to fight. There’s a line when Shanoa finally hunts down and kills Albus to the effect of “I should be crying. I can’t even shed a single tear”. This is a hell of a punch in the gut from a franchise with this silly of a premise, and the writing manages to stay strong even as Shanoa confronts Barlowe, regains her memories, and faces off against the big man himself with nothing left for her but her mission.

Now that I’ve mostly spoiled all the endings, let’s get down to brass tacks and really dig in deep with these final bosses. Two of them are awesome and one of them sucks. The one that sucks is Dawn’s. It turns out that, in setting your story after the final defeat of Dracula, you preclude the possibility of having him as the sick boss fight. Instead, you fight Menace, which is an amalgamation of all the demons that Soma has gained dominance over in the game. This sounds like a cool concept, but in practice it’s just an extremely tall meat man who endlessly spawns little flying enemies and has incredibly slow, telegraphed attacks. The fight takes too long and is extremely boring the whole way through, which certainly pales in comparison next to the two best Dracula fights in the franchise. Runner-up in my book is Portrait of Ruin, where the game answers your two-person team of protagonists in the most blindingly obvious yet unexpectedly awesome way possible: a Dracula and Death team-up fight. Dracula flings his normal fireballs and meteors while Death weaves through them with his scythe, broken up by several team attacks that the deadly pair can perform--including Death transforming himself into a scythe and Dracula swinging him to create a huge explosion. The second half where Dracula absorbs him and transforms into a big demon is less great, but the fight as a whole is still a standout moment and a fantastic way to end the game. Ecclesia just has a regular ‘ol lone Drac to cap things off, but his attacks have been cranked up to a million. He changes his attacks depending on how you avoid them, and his later moves force you to watch his afterimage as he teleports around the room and starts performing moves that would seem perfectly at home in a fighting game. Not to mention, the fight tops itself off with a well-implemented story finisher, where it actually makes sense that Shanoa is able to defeat him as opposed to Johnathan in his quantum state of having and not having the proper weaponry to do it. 

In summary, Portrait of Ruin clearly has the tightest design among the three, while Ecclesia is the standout winner in story and presentation. Dawn falls squarely in the middle, but has some special perks for those nostalgic for Aria of Sorrow. It’s maybe a little weird to say but in spite of its gameplay foibles I still rank Order of Ecclesia as my favorite, with Portrait of Ruin a close second. It’s interesting to look at these games not just comparatively to each other, but in comparison to the Castlevania formula as a whole--how each one chooses to be and to not be loyal to those rules--but this post is already freakishly long, so I will mercifully digress from that particular wormy can. There are a million more things I could say about these games but I’ll leave you with a simple “thanks” if you’ve managed to read this far. So thanks!

#castlevania #castlevania: dawn of sorrow #castlevania: portrait of ruin #castlevania: order of ecclesia #writing #yikers I really do need to read some damn papers or whatever and not be doing this

[rieshon]

Summer 2017 Power Rankings

These power rankings are pretty late so I'm going to kind of half-ass them.

1 NEW GAME!!: I loved the original NEW GAME! of course but this new series really cements it as one of my favorite cute girls series. It's not just that the girls are cute, but it even has real character development and an interesting story that nevertheless doesn't cross the line into distracting from the cuteness of the girls. Basically what I'm saying is any cute girls doing cute things anime that makes me cry at the end is going to end up being my anime of the season. ★★★★★

2 Kakegurui: So it had a non-ending, but Kakegurui was the sequel to Akagi I never knew I wanted: the one where Akagi is a hot babe with huge tiddies who is sexually excited by gambling. Great production values, compelling gambles, and Hayamin as Jabami Yumeko is easily one of the best performances of the year. ★★★★☆

3 Mahoujin Guruguru: Kukuri is angel! The humor in this show sometimes vacillates between "riotously hilarious" and "fart jokes" but when it's on, it's on. It's full of great homages to classic RPG tropes, without ever being cloying in that "hey, you guys remember that?" way. But most importantly, Kukuri is angel. ★★★★☆

4 Princess Principal: The ending was pretty lame, yes, and I ended up docking the show a star for it, but everything leading up to it was so enjoyable that I still have to give the show a lot of credit. The look and aesthetic of the series is fantastic and some of the individual episodes are wonderfully crafted standalone stories, even if the show's overarching plot turns out to be kind of dumb. I don't think I'll ever forget the cute workers' co-op episode. Also can't forget about those amazing Kuroboshi Kouhaku character designs. Dorothy is the best girl. A second season is practically confirmed, so it'll be interesting to see if they can do something more interesting with the political stuff going forward. ★★★☆☆

5 Tsurezure Children: I feel like this show kind of flew under the radar, but for me it was one of the cutest things I saw all year. Adorkable couples get up to adorkable shenanigans and it's great. I just wish it had had more of delinquent Ayaneru, but really all the girls here are great. ★★★☆☆

6 Aho Girl: It's what it says on the tin. A show about a stupid girl. Yuuki Aoi is a joy as the titular aho, screaming her head off like a moron in the best possible way. A few of the vignettes fell flat, but the show moves long fast enough (and is only half length at any rate) that it never overstays its welcome. I think as a full length series this show might have been kind of tiring with Yoshiko's constant screaming; the 12 minute format works perfectly here. ★★★☆☆

7 Hinalogi ~from Luck & Logic~: Luck & Logic was one of the worst shows I watched in Winter 2016, so imagine my surprise when the spinoff sequel turned out to be this good. Douga Koubou doing a sci-fi action series never really sat right, so they decided to stop doing that shit and make a cute girls doing cute things anime instead, and if anyone can make those it's Douga Koubros. It's not in that top tier of cute girl anime, but it's definitely solid, with some good humor along the way. ★★★☆☆

8 Made in Abyss: This show also started strong and fucked up at the end like some of the shows above, but Made in Abyss gets penalized harder because what it did wasn't just incompetent, it was also offensive. Sorry guys, but I don't sign up for anime with cute girls in them to watch the cute girls get tortured. It's saved from falling further because Nanachi's character is so great (helped along by Izawa Shiori's wonderful performance) and some of the Meaty storyline got me right in the feels. It's still a shame, though, because after two or three episodes this show really seemed like an anime of the year contender. ★★★☆☆

9 Fate/Apocrypha: What can I say, I'm a sucker for Fateservice. You got people summoning servants, command spells being used, that now-trademark "DONG" sound that polearms always make in these Fate anime... There's definitely a lot to enjoy here for the right kind of viewer. Obviously the production values aren't on the level of a ufotable Type-Moon production, but the action sequences are fun enough, and with a cast of characters this broad there's bound to be someone you'll like. Astolfo-kyun is angel! ★★☆☆☆

10 Gamers!: For a show called Gamers!, there really isnt a whole lot of Gaming! that goes on. It's really just love polygon romantic comedy shenanigans, which I like well enough, but I can see why some people would feel betrayed by this turn of events. It had me laughing pretty heartily at times so I can scarcely complain; unfortunately something I can complain about is that the show gets dangerously close to QUALITY towards the end. Also, the final episode of the series where they decide to talk about games after all and Aguri just complains about microtransactions the whole time is great. ★★☆☆☆

11 Tenshi no 3P!: Sadly this will not be filling any Mokkan-shaped holes in my heart any time soon. It just doesn't have the spark that Ro-Kyu-Bu! had, and the high school girl ended up being my favorite character anyway. It doesn't help that the plot gets genuinely stupid in the second half, when our hero threatens to call the police on one of his friends stealing a few guitar picks from the lolis... and that's not even the half of it. Cute character designs and Saku-nee's angelicness gives this show something to enjoy, at least, but it's no RKB. ★☆☆☆☆

12 Hajimete no Gyaru: You know I love me some gyaru, but it's harder to enjoy them when they're QUALITY. Hajigyaru has its moments but is mostly just mediocre, even with Kitaeri as a blonde lesbian gyaru. You'd think that sounds like a recipe for AOTS, but it never goes anywhere. Unlike some people, I did actually enjoy the antics with the protagonist's moron friends, though; they seemed like just the right level of stupid and offensive for a show that's about gyaru tiddies.  ★☆☆☆☆

13 Senkizesshou Symphogear AXZ: I really wish Symphogear was good. In theory it has everything I like: cute girls doing cool things, yuri, a great voice cast, copious Elements Garden music, over-the-top sci-fi weapons... Too bad the writing is just atrocious. I never cared about anything that was going on at any point in this series. They also keep killing off all the new characters that might give me something new to enjoy about these sequels. At least we got to hear Genjuurou yell GUNGNIR DA TO!?! again. ☆☆☆☆☆

#power rankings