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secret-diary-of-an-fa · 3 years

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God of War (PS4) Review: Kratos’ Postal Grief Beard Versus Norse Mythology

Once upon a time, a man was born by the name of Cory Barlog and thus a coin was flipped. Would he become a videogame developer or would he take up guarding the Mines of Moria by pulling wizards into a precipice? Those really are the only two options with a name like Barlog. Anyway, apparently the Mines of Moria were a bit of a commute, so the world gained a talented Auteur developer with a unique vision for a game series about going postal in ancient Greece. Fast-foward a number of years specifically calculated to make you feel old and ancient Greece is a distant memory. Norse mythology is where all the cool kids hang out nowadays, and that’s where we’re going in today’s review.

As you might have guessed, I’ve just finished playing God of War (PS4), which is fun to say because it rhymes. It’s a very good game that should be a very bad game. When considering modern media artefacts, I’m often prompted to ask the question ‘what went so wrong?’, but this may be the first time I’ve had to ask the question ‘what went so right?’.

Let me explain: God of War 4 (I don’t care that they don’t put the number on the box art, that’s what it fucking is) makes a single, monumentally stupid creative decision that should ruin the entire enterprise, but doesn’t. And that creative decision was- wait for it- a stab at maturity.

The last time we saw Kratos- the world’s angriest mythical being- he was finishing his battle with the Greek gods in God of War 3. There was a moment in that game which, to me, typified what was so great about the series. If I recall the sequence of events correctly, you kill your way through an ocean of expendable goons and critters who are just trying to defend their home on Mount Olympus, dripping with blood and screaming furiously, then wander into the bedroom of one of ancient Greece’s sauciest goddesses and play a sex minigame that you win by fucking her so well that her handmaids orgasm too. Then you toddle outside again and, head cleared, solve an incredibly complex and cerebral puzzle involving non-Euclidean geometry and perspective manipulation that takes bloody ages. That, in a nutshell, was the core identity of the original God of War: a gleefully unrestrained and immature approach to sex and violence coupled with a grouchy willingness to make unsuspecting players feel like fucking idiots for no reason whatsoever. It was awesome. In contrast, God of War 4 picks up many, many years later with Kratos hiding out in Midgard of the Norse mythos and, for once, he hasn’t got a nark on and he’s not trying to stick his cock in someone with cartoonishly huge knockers. He’s just sad because his missus has passed away, leaving him and their young, impressionable son alone in a big, scary world full of trolls and ginger psychopaths. ‘Sad’ isn’t a completely new emotion for Kratos, but, up until this point, he was usually sad in a way that resulted in five hundred people getting their spines broken in a very colourful manner. Now he just wants to cremate the remains of the woman he loved and carry her ashes to the tallest peak in the nine realms so he can scatter her in accordance with her final wishes. And that’s what he does, with son- Atreus- in tow. It’s a twenty-plus hour game in which the objective is very simply to honour someone’s preferred funeral rites- nothing more, nothing less. It’s very modest by Kratos usual standards. Remember that his stated goal in the previous game was to punch freakin’ Zeus so hard that his face would go all concave and then repeatedly stamp on his corpse.

We never actually find out much about what Kratos was up to between games or how he met his wife. However, he’s a bit thiccer than in previous instalments and seems to have lost the use of the ‘jump’ button outside of context-sensitive environments. On that evidence, I choose to believe he’s been running a small but successful family restaurant called ‘Kratos’ Potatoes’ and enjoying it all a bit much. And why not? He beat up Zeus- if he just wants to create and sample homely yet exotic Greco-Norse fusion cuisine while growing a ridiculous straggly dad-beard, I say let him crack on. Actually, is it a ‘dad beard’ or is it a ‘grief beard’? I think they send them to videogame characters in the post whenever a loved one dies so they can signal to the world how sad they are through the medium of angsty facial hair. But where was? Oh yeah: cracking on with it.

Y’see this is where the plot comes in: the Norse gods won’t let Kratos crack on. They’re determined to make him bow before Odin- especially Baldur, who is way too invested in having a fight with Kratos for reasons that won’t become apparent until very late in the game. They just keep turning up and trying to break Kratos and his increasingly like-him-but-not-as-good-at-it son Atreus. This time around, our heroes commit heinous acts of violence to defend themselves, not enact revenge, as they travel, inexorably, to the top of a lonely mountain through landscapes of stunning natural beauty and many, many hostile creatures.

Of course, Kratos taking his son on a hiking holiday with added troll-murder and the occasional slap-fight with Norse mythology’s biggest killjoys doesn’t sound as interesting as the original games. After all, those were basically a production of Kill Bill in which the part of Bill was played by a guy with the power to summon lightning bolts and access to a seemingly unstoppable army of monsters and demigods. The ‘fun factor’ even seems to have taken another downgrade, in that Kratos no longer operates with the entertainingly demented passion of the insane: he has been tempered by time and love and managed to turn himself into a paragon of serious self control. So why is God of War 4 so bloody good? Partly, I suspect, the answer lies in the constantly evolving relationship between Kratos and Atreus, which gives the story an unbelievable amount of heart and always manages to feel very organic. Kratos never learned how to be a parent, and we essentially watch him do it in real time, forming a bond with his son that seems impossible at the start of the game and inevitable by the end. Partly, the games greatness lies in the characters you meet along the way, who range from bickering dwarves to talking, decapitated heads who prattle on like laid-back tour-guides. Partly, it’s in the beautiful, epic landscapes that make the journey across the Realms to the highest peak feel epic and significant, even while it is small and personal.

But a videogame is nothing without gameplay, and it is here that God of War 4 really shines. I loved the original God of War trilogy (especially the third instalment), but I rarely felt like I was playing as, y’know, a god of war. Kratos might not be an uncontrollable whirlwind of fury any more, but he feels truly powerful for the first time in the ongoing series. In fights, every punch feels like it could crack stone; every axe-throw like it could rend the sky; every chain-whip like it could legitimately start a forest-fire. Out of combat, Kratos moves around the environment with the stolid grace of a man who knows his movements are inevitable; irresistible; an imposition on the environment that can’t be denied. You climb and complete elaborate, complex traversals knowing that the satisfaction you feel isn’t just the satisfaction of finding the correct route or solving an obstacle, but the satisfaction of a being forcing his way through a landscape that resists him at every turn but cannot stop him. The puzzles- of which there are many- strike the perfect balance between conceptual trickiness and ease of execution to remind you that Kratos is smart as well as determined; that his mind is as indomitable as his body. Then there are the little touches involving heaving huge stone pillars and similar unnecessarily over-the-top efforts. In short, the gameplay is interwoven with who Kratos is- with what he is in way that seems completely unprecedented. Even the RPG elements feel appropriate: they reflect the protagonist’s growing confidence in a skillet he hasn’t used in a long, long time.

Do I miss the uniquely juvenile, over the top identity of the old games? Absolutely: I’m a great fan of gratuitous gore and scantily clad women with big fuck-off swords. Usually, I find the desire for maturity in games to be a silly, pretentious trend that foolishly eschews anything obviously ‘fun’ for no reason other than courting the respect of people whose respect isn’t worth having. But I don’t think that’s what’s going on here- at least, not entirely. The developers of the God of War games are clearly artisans and craftsmen of extreme talent: their attention to detail is superb and their ability to weave a good tale from a simple premise is actually a little daunting for someone who considers himself a bloody good story-teller. It’s worth remembering that the de facto head of the studio, Barlog, became a father himself before commencing work on this game about a father learning to bond with his son. It feels personal and meant because it is. Other games might reach for superficially mature themes like family and redemption for altogether cynical reasons. God of War 4 does it because such thoughts are clearly much on the developer’s mind. I asked already ‘Do I miss the identity of the old games?’ and the answer is still yes. But that question deserves a follow-up: am I willing to embrace the identity of this new, quieter God of War anyway? And yes, yes I am.

But if we could have a few more women with enormous knockers and Kratos going properly batshit just once or twice in the next sequel, that would also be welcome. I mean, let’s try to strike a balance here, people, for pity’s sake.

#Secret Diary of a Fat Admirer #God of War #God of War 4 #god of war sequel #Kratos #Zeus #norse mythology #greek mythology #videogames #game review #games

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yggdrasil-mith0s · 3 years

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Tales of Symphonia is one of the most common answers I get when I ask "What was your first Tales of game?"

It's usually followed by "I didn't finish it my first time" or "I finished it but kind of forgot about it and didn't realize how good the story was."

Most of those people fell in love with the Tales of series through a different game than Symphonia even though Symphonia was their first Tales of game.

While this is okay, a lot of them also state that Symphonia is one of their favorite games in the series.

I have a theory on this and I want to lay it out. So... I will. Here is why I think Symphonia was a lot of people's first Tales game but wasnt the one that made them love the series.

First off, age. Destiny and Eternia (Tales of Destiny 2 in NA) were the only western releases before Symphonia. Destiny was released in 1998 and a lot of people weren't quite old enough to fully play through it all grasp the seriousness of the game and story. Those that were old enough probably weren't too excited about the gameplay and battle system which was mostly turn base at that time. It seemed weird, a little stiff, and a bit clunky at times. A lot of people didnt like that and the challenge it brought. It was also the first in the series (second ever) to reach the west. It had no fanbase and the internet wasn't exactly there like it is now.

Tales of Destiny II came out Seltember 10, 2001. That's right. One day before the Twin Towers fell, Tales of Destiny II was released.

Okay, I have to stop. It's Eternia. I hate they called it Destiny 2 in the west. Lol. I am going to say Eternia from now on.

Tales of Eternia had almost no good advertising for it's western release and the status of 9/11 brought about some weird thing where people only remember the towers and not much else going on. That being said, Eternia wasn't all that great and there were other things to be hyped about.

Namco thought that naming it Tales of Destiny II would be enough advertising since Destiny did pretty good in the west. The only problem is... they literally didn't do almost any advertising. They kind of just threw it out there to the west with minimal effort. A big mistake in my opinion but it sold enough to try the western market at least one more time.

Now it's on to Symphonia' release!!!

So here is the main part to my theory on why a lot of people begin with Symphonia but never finish or it takes a different game to love the series. This whole theory is more based on people 32ish and under.

It's because the beginning of Symphonianis bright, vibrant, and childish. I think people started it expecting some awesome adventure with a darker undertone than what we got in the first hour or the game. It takes a long time to get to the boss in the fire temple. There is one fight with humans. After that you fight bunnies and birds. Yep. You're supposed to be on a big adventure to regenerate the world and you fight bunnies, birds, and snakes at the start lol.

Also, your protagonists are children with two adults. Raine does make the situation better with her history enthusiasm but Kratos is kind of boring tbh. The cast is kind of dull at the start. They are immature (naturally) and fight bunnies lol. I digress when it comes to their decisions with the start to an otherwise epic, monumental game.

Symphonia was released in North Amarica July 13, 2004. Also, Final Fantasy was dominating the JRPG market and FFX was released a year prior and FF X came out just before 2002 and that's is arguably one of it's best games, mainly among FF/JRPG newbies. FF X-2 entering NA during December the same year (2004). Final Fantasy XI was kind of a disaster but it was there as well. Crystal Chronicles was a Final Fantasy game released in 2004 that was a multiplayer and kind of a 3D battle system (in a weird, "step outside the circle and you will die" kind of way).

There are a few other games that took attention away from Symphonia such as Drakengard. Drakengard got a bunch of advertisements that year. It was everywhere. I bought it abs remember thinking how amazing the gameplay and graphics were. It was one of those "test the limits, build an amazing story, and show off current gen capabilities" games.

Drakengard took up time. People had both saved to the memory card. A lot of people played both and sometimes never finished Symphonia or half assed paid attention.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time was released. Star Ocean was a hit in the west and everyone waited forever for the new Star Ocean (TEOT). It finally came that year and Square Enix knew the west had been waiting forever for a new Star Ocean. Square Enix had the big name in the JRPG and did a beautiful advertising job.

All that being said, Tales of Symphonia is finally released. The gameplay and story were amazing. Word of mouth helped out. Couch co op existed and the 2 player option was actually fun. The second player felt way more involved and could move around during battle and at the time, a co op JRPG of that caliber didnt really exist. It drew some people in. Siblings could play an RPG together and it was actually a really good game with an amazing story and combat system.

Namco also advertised Symphonia and learned their lesson that name alone wasn't enough in the west. They had full page ads in Nintendo Power. They advertised it in EB Games (Electronic Boutique, AKA, Gamestop before Gamestop bought them). They actually advertised it very well. I think it was because Star Ocean advertisements were out there and that was their big competitor for that release (they had to beat that before they could step to FF even though SO and FF are both owned by SE).

So... I think the flurry of all these things created one of the best games of all times. However, all the other games surrounding it and what led up to it created a storm.

A storm that had almost everyone play it at some point.... but not realize it's a series. Having played it they eventually come across another Tales game and buy it or play it. Quickly they think "oh... that's a series? I played that. Oh... this looks good actually."

Thus.... we have a reason why so many people have ToS as their first Tales game, admit it's one of the best in the series, but then tell you it's not why they love the series lol.

Thanks for reading my essay. There is more but tbh I spent way too much time as it is and wrote out way too much. I highly doubt anyone is even going to read all this or be interested but here it is. My stupid, useless theory.

#tales of #tales of series #jrpg #tales of games #tales games #bamco #tales series #tales #rpg #bandai namco

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lachlann-macnab · 3 years

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BDRP 2020 QUESTIONNAIRE

Your Name: Jean

Characters: Lachlann “Launchpad” MacNab

Pick one of your characters and talk about their growth. What about their story has surprised you? What are you proud of? How have they changed from their original inception to now?

Well, Launchpad is relatively new so he’s still pretty much the same as I envisioned him from the start-

-though I’ll admit that the idea of him having an enormous crush on Seamus/Scrooge was a surprise. I think it only took a couple of little chats with Sav and familiarizing myself with Seamus’ story for him to go “yes!! that’s the one I love!! let me at him!!”.

The funny thing is that it just kind of happened but also has a degree of canonicity to it; Granted, Ducktales ‘17 (the canon that got me into the Duckverse) didn’t delve a whole lot on the relationship those two have...but Ducktales ‘87 does and it’s fucking beautiful.

But I didn’t know that! I was just familiar with the newest canon -exploring the relationship led me to the older canon and I absolutely love it! I love the way the older version of LP is equal parts silly and capable and I try my best to express that nice balance on my interpretation.

And I wouldn’t have found that sweet spot if it hadn’t been for Sav and Seamus!

Pick another character (or the same character if you only have one) and talk a little about where you WANT them to go. What are your plans for them going into the new year?

Oooh man, this is probably going to sound rude of me, but I want someone to call Launchpad out on his shit.

He is a happy-go-lucky man, he is positive, he does think the best of everyone right from the start, he is honest with that, but there’s also a degree of performativity to the way he interacts with people: he is a people pleaser and he’s also someone who avoids problems/confrotation when possible.

That leads to him having a hard time actually voicing what he thinks when things were serious. Launchpad will default to what he thinks is the most noble/the best option even if he actually hates it. He tries his best to be a reliable dude, but that pushes him to his limits every now and then -and he hates it, but will do it anyways.

I’d love for someone to notice that and point out his marthyr complex to him, or how hypocritical he can actually be when noone is looking.

Jun did an amazing job at that, with the whole Moon Market incident and that is part of why I love his characterization and- I could rant about how Jun and LP are actually similar, yet different, but I won’t.

Someone please bitchslap my idiot son and tell him to be honest with his feelings, maybe get him to confront his feelings of inadequacy, maybe get him to actually face his problems instead of running away from them, kthanxs.

Pick a thread or a plot that you’re proud of and talk about why you loved it.

I have three threads I absolutely love, each for different reasons:

*Cleanliness is next to... with Jun: Jun called my idiot son out on his ‘noble man’ act. Jun was not impressed with his efforts and pushed him to an actual mini-meltdown because Launchpad didn’t know what to do or say to try and make things better: Launchpad is so used to having his way around people that the moment someone was inmune to all his tricks he...lost it. Big time. And I loved it.

*Untitled with Eilonwy: Both of them clicked instantly and- oh, man, I can’t really express what I feel about it, but:

Launchpad feels an actual, honest, connection to Eilonwy in various ways: both of them are a little bit weird, both of them are learning, both of them were kind of kicked out their comfort zones, both of them love adventure, both of them are fearless (in different ways), but there’s also a curious father-daughter dynamic to them. Eilonwy lacked not only a father figure but also a general actual caring adult one and I guess that’s part of what draws her to LP, while LP is a naturally caring man who also, (betweem the two of us), loves feeling like a good-ish role model instead of the dude people tell you to avoid because he’s an idiot, he loves looking out for people, he loves being understood -and Eilonwy, surprisingly, understands him without even trying.

They are so very sweet, they just clicked and both of them learn new things with the other: both about themselves and the world. And I love it.

*Dressed to the nines with Seamus: a.k.a “the one in which Sav let me go absolutely fucking ham”: It began with a chat about the need of gratious fanservice involving Seamus wearing (and getting out of) a suit -but soon became something else thanks to the Halloween task.

We soon got the ball rolling and Black Annis happened in a stupidly organic way (her very modus operandi, I discovered kind of late during the creation, ties way too well with the thread’s title itself and I’ll never get over it), and the mix of terror and action just naturally pushed the rest of the plot into the catharsis Seamus needed after all the stuff he’s been through.

The thread gave us the opportunity to write some mindless comedy, some yearning, some tenderness, plenty of gore, blood, trauma, legit PTSD, then back to tenderness and silliness -while also mentioning and showing a good deal of the things that have made Seamus the man he currently is, with the pretty and the ugly of it.

I just think it was an amazing character exploration for both Seamus and Lachlann, and I enjoyed every bit of it. I love Sav’s writing, I love Seamus’ characterization, I love how naturally it all evolved, I love how Sav can casually bring something up while plotting and the thing just clicks into place, I love how we just kind of understand where things are going or where we want them to go. Sav’s just amazing at brainstorming and general writing and I feel really, really lucky to have the chance to write with her.

I have no choice but to stan, really.

And I could go on and on about how the thread pushed both Seamus and Lachlann towards some big character development, but I really don’t want to rant -so I’ll leave it like this.

In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 strengths and talk about why you think it’s one of your strengths.

Gee, that’s a difficult one. I guess my strongest suit as of now would be Launchpad’s voice as a character -and I’m not only talking about dialogue.

I think everyone that has read any of my threads has noticed by now that the flow of the narration is an extension of how Launchpad himself feels and thinks: it’s chaotic and emotional, it can get self-conscious and snarky when he, himself, can’t, it brings some exposition while not breaking the simple, chaotic rythm of Launchpad per-se.

In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 areas of improvement.

This is way easier for me to pinpoint, hah! I definitely need to work on the length of my posts: I know seeing paragraphs upon paragraphs upon paragraphs can make people tired or make them feel intimidated to interact.

I also need to work on organizing Launchpad’s chaotic thoughts. The narration does get long-winded and sometimes the progression from point A to point B is way too chaotic -so much so that actually erasing it all would make no impact on the overall narration.

Pick one of your plots, or even just a character, and come up with a list of 3-5 “mentor texts” where you can look for inspiration or research, then write a short (2-4 sentences) why you picked those texts.

Not texts per-se, but I think a good way to get a feel of Launchpad’s general vibe is to watch “Top Duck” from Ducktales ‘87 and/or “The Duck Knight Returns” and “Double-o-duck in: You only crash twice”; Those episodes do an amazing job in expressing his insecurities and passions.

Now, leaving the source material behind, I think a book he resonates with is “Oh, the Places You'll Go!” by Dr. Seuss -it’s fun, it’s simple and it has an overall heartwarming message: It kind of captures that sense of wonder, discovery and positivity Launchpad both has and wishes to offer other people.

Another inspiration of sorts for Launchpad is Ferry’s “Parties are for losers” series: First of all, I’ll admit I’m a sucker for the Strugatsky brothers and СТАЛКЕР, so it’s no surprise I’m in love with Ferry’s interpretation of the story; I see a little bit of LP in KT’s story, but also in Yura’s and, surprisingly, in Olga’s.

PAFL’s setting is different, yet similar, to the Soviet sci-fi original: it deals with some disenchantment, it’s far from idealistic, it’s rough, but it’s also full of wonder and adventure: there’s big risks, but there’s also a good deal of things that make things, if not better, a little bit less miserable for the characters -and sometimes that something that keeps them going is other’s presence. PAFL is, for me, the inspiration for adventures that aren’t always glamourous, simple, or happy, taken by characters that are far from perfect, that have the odds against them, that carry a whole lot of baggage and, yet, prevail.

And, finally, a last inspiration for Launchpad, my lovable idiot son, comes from probably the place one would expect the least: God of War (2018).

I’m also a sucker for God of War, sue me.

I know it may seem bizare, but the message of the game just clicks with LP -and before you start wondering how in hell Kratos could possibly inspire Launchpad just let me tell you: he doesn’t. Because it’s not about Kratos I’m refering to when I talk about that story! I’m actually thinking of Mimir!

I love him so much.

Mimir’s role on the game is multifacetic: he brings exposition and ocasional comedic relief, sure, but I see him as the heart of the interactions between Kratos and Atreus (Kratos’ son, for those who may not know). Kratos is emotionally repressed and keeps to himself a lot while Atreus is a bundle of joy, energy, curiosity and someone that doesn’t think ‘because I say so’ is a valid answer to things; Kratos and Atreus clash during the first part of the game even when they love one another in their very particular ways.

In comes Mimir.

Mimir(’s head) joins the party and takes upon himself to act as a bridge between emotional distant father and young naive fearless son and...things start working for the three of them! Kratos starts understanding Atreus! Atreus slowly understands his father’s worries and needs! They begin the story as (almost) complete strangers but by the end they have an actual bond thanks to Mimir’s constant pushing and interventions: Mimir is soft with Atreus but bold with Kratos, the man knows when to joke and throw some riské comments for the chaos of it, but he’s also the first to offer words of comfort and understanding.

The man becomes part of the family even when he isn’t related to them by blood, even going so far as to give a ‘no, take me instead!’ when presented with the opportunity by a pair of enemies, even when his whole story tells us that he thinks of the idea of dealing with those people (won’t say who, because spoilers) as worse than death -the man hates the mere idea of going back but doesn’t hesitate a second to offer himself as a sacrifice for his new family.

And, damn, that’s what I base my interpretation of Launchpad on. He’s not a part of the family per-se but he constantly acts as a bridge between the youngest and more idealistic parts of it and the jaded, older, tired one; He’s happy to be comedic relief but will also sit and give anyone a pep talk when absolutely necessary -he knows his limitations but keeps trying and offering his best for those he cares about. He tries to be the heart.

I’m emotional about a disembodied head, don’t touch me. Play God of War (2018), it’s fucking amazing.

And now, a wishlist!:

I’m...actually up for everything and anything, really. I’d love some adventures, but I also love the more mundane interactions, I love the heavier topics but also the silly moments.

I guess, as I said before, the one thing I’d really love is for someone to push Launchpad to be honest about his feelings. Also a plot about him either considering to or actually flying again -those, however, will happen in due time and I have no rush to make ‘em.

Why do you RP?

Short explanation?: I love writing and reading.

Longer explanation?: I love writing and reading, I love complex characterizations, I love exploring new ideas and seeing how little plot bunnies become full fledged plots and/or character explorations or bring some character development, I love how that creates a domino effect with the rest of the cast. I love to see things happen: I love watching from afar as other’s characters learn lessons, create and conect-

-also, I write and read all day, everyday: that’s my job. I do script revisionism and organizational comunication. During work hours I have to check the flow of words, tones, and overall intentions; I have to do my best to make sure someone’s idea fits the box, but RPing gives me the opportunity to take the box and toss it out of the window. RPing gives me the chance to write freely, to write silly, to be imperfect and not worry about going from A to B or dealing with a checklist or tones, intentions or other’s ideas.

It’s just freeing. And that’s why I do (and love) it.

#bdrptask #/warning: long read ahead #/80% of this is me fanboying about other's writing; tbh

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vaulthunter426 · 5 years

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Borderlands 3 | What we know...

Just because I’m not sure the best way to present this information, prepare for a long list of new features in Borderlands 3 with my comments because.... well this is my blog. I will not be discussing the two Vault Hunters we’ve seen gameplay of in terms of their action skills and skill trees.

Quality of Life improvements!

Borderlands has aged quite well, BL2 more than BL1 but we can go back to games almost a decade (and actually a decade) old and they still feel great and are tons of fun. After taking about a year hiatus from all Borderlands games, I came back after the Mask of Mayhem trailer and I found myself trying to roll or slide out of the way of charging enemies and merely crouched in front of them. After so long of this, I knew what I wanted out of Borderlands 3...

Sliding, Grappling, Ground Slams - A feature that I was hoping for beyond almost anything else were movement upgrades and boy we got them. The sliding adds a whole new dynamic to fighting a mob of enemies and the grappling opens up a plethora of verticality options. Be sure to be looking up high for hidden chests! The ground slams seem to be an upgraded, more visually appealing version of the ground slams from TPS. Zane cocks back an arm with a Digi-claw before slamming his fist to the ground while Amara leaps into the air slamming both fists to the ground (not to be confused with her Action Skill).

Vending Machines - Instead of manually purchasing each ammo type by spamming our select key on them, we can now purchase the max amount of ammo by pressing a key as we approach the machine, without ever entering the UI.

“Claim Lost Loot” - A new “vending machine” in Sanctuary III collects all the loot we didn’t pick up and store them until we access the machine. Once we activate it, all the loot comes spilling out onto the ground in front of us for us to check out and make sure we didn’t miss anything. No more lost Legendaries!

Sanctuary III is the first hub in the Borderlands franchise that features a unique room for our Vault Hunters! Our room will be tailored to the Vault Hunter of our choice with possible customization options. The wall holds a number of “mounts” where we can showcase our favorite guns as well as a couple spots for a relic, shield, and grenade mod.

Loot Instancing and Level Scaling - Is your buddy ten levels ahead of you? No problem! If you join the game of a friend who is a higher or lower level than you, your damage output will scale accordingly so no one is over or underleveled! Along with this will be loot drops. If you open a chest to a blue and purple rarity pistol, they will be at your level and ready to loot. Your friend will also see a blue and purple rarity pistol, but different manufactures and at their own level. You both can take both pistols from the same chest. All of these options have a toggle feature if you preferred the previous games style.

Claptrap as a General of the Crimson Raiders - It’s nice to know that the Crimson Raiders are continuing on after the death of Roland, but their priorities may be a bit askew if Claptrap is a general... then again maybe his title holds no responsibilities... all about the ego boost.

Lilith as Commander of the Crimson Raiders - Not all that surprising although I was speculating that maybe she had ditched our friends to deal with some of that pent up anger post-Jack. It seems like she has been broadcasting across the galaxy searching for new Vault Hunters, and maybe even “broadcasting” directly into Siren’s minds as a comment by Amara upon meeting Lilith went something like “Oh so you’re the voice in my head.” Sounds like our Guardian Angel...

Marcus - I have no doubt Marcus will be buying and selling us guns, but we do see that in person he will be our go to for SDU’s. This go around the currency used is money opposed to Eridium, similar to our BL1 days.

Moxxi - She still has her bar, this time with four different slot machines, possibly activated by a unique currency each, or rewarding different pools of loot.

Tannis - “Tannis’ Lab + Infirmary” read the sign pointing us toward our old friend, which leaves a noticeable lack of Dr. Zed on Sanctuary III. Was he a fatality of the ill fate that befell Sanctuary 2? Or is he on Pandora?

Ellie - Ellie takes position as our lead engineer / car provider for Borderlands 3, as we no longer have our dear friend Scooter with us (nice decal of him on the outside of the ship though).

Unlockable Vehicles - It looks like we will unlock vehicles as we progress through the story, similar to the Bandit Technical in BL2, but there seems to be World Event / Side Missions that allow us to come across unique vehicles parked across the maps that we can get in and return to a Catch-A-Ride station so that they are available to use any time we like! This means if your vehicle blows up before you can get it registered, you may be out of luck!

Alternate Firing Mode- Initially inthough a couple of gun manufacturers would have alternate firing modes but it almost seemed like every gun during the gameplay reveal had an alternate firing mode.

Hyperion Shields- I’ve been wondering how the shields would work for the Hyperion weapon and it looks like they are ADS activated.

Unique Dialog for our Vault Hunters - A feature introduced during some of the DLC for BL2, as well as through the entirety of TPS was character dialog unique to each Vault Hunter. It is most definitely returning for BL3 and I couldn’t be happier.

Unique Looting for our Vault Hunters? - When Amara opened a chest (really a repurposed car trunk) she punched it open in a similar fashion to Kratos in God of War. Although punching a chest open definitely seems like Amara’s style, I wouldn’t say the same for the other Vault Hunters which makes me wonder if certain chests will have unique opening animations for each VH.

Location: Ascension Bluff - This was the location title card that was on the projection screen after got the initial reveal demo which makes me wonder if the Children of the Vault Propaganda center(?) is on a map called Ascension Bluff. I could be wrong in thinking that, however I’m pretty positive that all of that was on Pandora.

Location: Meridian Metroplex - Some interesting reveals about the city we’ve seen from the trailers! The Meridian Metroplex is on Promethea, and has become an Atlas controlled city. For some this is great, for others not so much. Maliwan seems to be attacking the city with their new ally...

Locations: So far we have Pandora and Promethea listed as worlds we can visit but I believe it was Paul Sage also confirmed an Asteroid(?) map that will feature low-gravity similar to (but not quite the same as) TPS.

Tyreen + Troy Calypso / The Calypso Twins- These two are fucking Borderlands equivalent douche twitch streamers. They’ve leveraged this position (or vice - versa?) into being Cult Leaders for the Children of the Vault.

They have broadcast stations scattered around the galaxy that we can destroy / turn off as a world event style challenge.

Tyreen is a Siren who can leech the life and power out of other living beings. Being a Siren, she’s convinced her followers that she is their God - Queen. Troy is merely piggy-backing off the fact that she has all the influence, or it seems that way to me.

Tyreen has streamed her ability of sucking the life out of beings to her many followers, and to the Vault Hunters who she calls her most loyal follower yet.

What’s a cult without its followers? Instead of our typical “Bandit” enemies, it seems like the main enemy faction of that caliber has been rebranded to Fanatics.

Tyreen has struck a deal with the Head of Mergers and Acquisitions for Maliwan, a guy named Katagawa (some dweeb who hates / envies / is jealous of Rhys, but also makes sense why he wants control of Atlas) and so mobs of both the Maliwan Assault Troopers and the Fanatics will be fighting you at the same time.

Randy Pitchford has let on that Tyreen is using the bandits, and probably her Maliwan allies, as a tool to find the Vaults so that she can gain the power of the Vault Monsters.

Zer0 has left the Crimson Raiders and is working with / for Rhys under the Atlas corporation, at least while the money and weapons are good.

Crimson Lance became the Crimson Raiders after Atlas fell and they joined Roland’s cause in Sanctuary. Now that Atlas is being ran by CEO Rhys, they are called Atlas Soldiers.

New Element : Radiation - Irradiated enemies will take damage and are also more susceptible to other damage types. An irradiated enemy can spread the effect to other enemies surrounding them. Upon death, an irradiated enemy will reach critical mass and explode.

Barrels - Elemental variety barrels can now be melee’d to launch at enemies before shooting them and causing them to explode.

Pipelines -Certain pipelines can be shot to cause radiation spills, or oil slicks that can then be ignited to cause an AOE of damage.

Enemies / Mini Bosses - There will be more mini bosses in Borderlands 3, and the weapons they use against you can be dropped so that you can use that gun on future enemies.

NPC - Certain NPC’s will assist you on missions, like Lorelei and Zer0, and then can also be downed. You can revive NPC’s and they can also revive you.

Paul Sage (Gearbox Developer?) - Paul made the comment about the low-grav environments as well as stating that if you “beeline through the story” it will take around 30 hours. Upon questioning if the guns in the reveal were better than what we will find (because of the basically non-existant recoil) he stated that in the past they’ve worked there way up to really good guns in terms of level progression, but this time they wanted to know if they could “start good, and make it fucking awesome.” So yeah. Guns are gonna be fucking awesome.

And that wraps it up! A nice guide to catch you up on things you’ve missed or to remind you of some things you’ve forgotten. I make no claim to have covered everything we’ve seen, but these were some things that I took note of. Feel free to add your own bits and pieces I missed in the replies! Borderlands 3 looks amazing, happy hunting.

- VaultHunter426

#borderlands #borderlands 3 #amara the siren #long post #amara #maliwan #borderlands 3 spoilers #bl3 spoilers #bl3 #atlas #rhys #zero #claptrap #lilith the siren #the calypso twins #troy calypso #tyreen calypso

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moldy-mold · 5 years

Text

Diary Post: My Thoughts and Processes on Making “Silent Strength” It’s lengthy, taking place over long period of time. Mainly written for my future-self to remember what I went through, but also for anyone who is curious. Now that the project is over, I can post without reservations. There are certain things I need to keep secret though, so if I’m vague I do so intentionally!

Basically, a lot of number-crunching, physical labor, and psychological labor.

It started off as kind of a joke tweet I made. I had enough content to make a Tales Of art book and people were receptive to it. So… I thought maybe I could go somewhere with this. A few weeks later, I suddenly had a lot of Kratos art. Like. 80% of all my Tales art was Kratos. It didn’t make sense to make a broad Tales Of book when really most of it was Kratos.

I hadn’t made a book since I was in college despite it being one of my favorite things to do. They were never art books, just some editorial design projects that totally didn’t count. This book… would be my first-ever art book.

Several times, I came close to having enough art to print a book - the last time was my large collection of Yusuke Kitagawa, but the quality wasn’t where I wanted. At that time, I was still experimenting with my iPad Pro and figuring out Procreate, so that was what I used him for.

NGL, I was pretty afraid of looking like a clown. After doing all this work, what if no one actually buys it? I was talking to some friends and they said they would buy it. It was enough for me. In the end, I’m creating something that I love. - The first thing I really wanted to work on was the cover. It needed to be epic but also mysterious (lol)… It was a good time to practice lighting and backgrounds. The cover had to be freaking Fantastic. I spent 3 days drawing nonstop. I was on vacation so I could spend full days just drawing. It was really intense. I would stop in the evenings to go for a run or else my legs would never get circulation again.

The hardest part was keeping it secret. I wanted to share it with the world right away bc I was so proud of it. Well, all I could do was show it to my parents and some close friends. They didn’t know who Kratos is, but it was obvious I was crazy about him.

Initially, I was doing some hand-lettering for the zine title instead of using a typeface. Tbh, I was so sure I was naming this zine “Blame Your Fate!” bc that is such an iconic line. But it just didn’t work with my cover, which looked… a little too serene for that. So… Silent Strength or Divine Strength? I asked around and got my answer.

But what size? All of my art has been on letter canvases. I wanted it to be large so you could see the details in the art. I’ll just start with that. - Luckily, I had all my Kratos-related art in one place. I started my InDesign file and threw everything in there just to see what it looked like. Man, I draw a lot of boxes… But I didn’t want them all next to each other. I also wanted to kinda organize it by the people Kratos hangs out with. There’s a Yuan section LOL… and a Lloyd section… and an Anna section. Idk, I tried to get some kind of order in there with a sprinkling of full spreads here and there to keep it fresh and interesting for the eyes.

I hadn’t worked with InDesign on such an intense level since college. I forgot all of the tips and tricks we learned in class. Spent some time reading on how to do things again… like adding page numbers. - I started drafting my pre-order form. It’s my first time making a google form like this. It’s kind of fun? I spent a long time on it, despite how simple it was. This was going to be my “Store” so it had to look and sound good. - My friend introduced me to charm-making. It seemed easy enough, and I wanted to give my zine more oomph. Besides, I’ve always wanted to make a charm.

I remember someone saying they’d buy a book of just the 4 Seraphim if it existed. I like them too and they lack art imo. In the end, I decided to do a polaroid charm. It’s not really that unique but I wanted Kratos to have actual friends to hang out with for once LOL.

She was going to do a group order to try to reduce the costs. I thought maybe 4 weeks would give me enough time. In the end she said I only have 2. I work well under pressure, so needless to say, I did make that deadline. I actually sketched the whole thing on the plane headed home. - After playing the game the second time, watching the OVA again, and reading “Offerings to a Star,” I have gained a real soft spot for Yuan. My friend once said, “If you weren’t stolen away by Kratos, you would be in love with Yuan.” Lol. I’ve been in a “Kratos and Yuan hanging out” mood lately, so of course I needed something good for the zine. They’re so cute together! Now… what is the bro-est thing I can draw?

I was currently in Florida for my friend’s wedding. I was friends with the groom and his best man since high school, so that makes it 10 years now. Seeing how they’re still friends after all this time, despite living in opposite sides of the country, was really moving to me. Of course, me being me, I could see Kratos and Yuan’s long friendship being similar to this, if they had gone to school together. I just had to draw it. - When I got back from vacation, I did some research on zine sizes. Mine was HUGE compared to others. I just didn’t quite realize it until I held a magazine in my hands. It really is huge…

I settled for a medium size. 7x9. I really liked how it looked. Petite but not too petite. Unfortunately resizing my book had messed up my artwork placement so I spent hours rearranging all the text and resizing my images. I found out afterwards that there’s a way to retain the format while changing the document size. Gee, that would have been helpful 4 hours ago.

Sadly, choosing a custom size booklet makes printing more expensive. But I wanted it badly enough that I’d be willing to pay for it. Letter size is just too large… - I decided to stop dragging my feet and post a promo. I just really needed a deadline for myself to get this all done before July ended. I’m happy it was well-received. A lot of people like Kratos huh…

Anyway, the pre-order is due in a week and I still don’t know what all the costs are yet. I need a physical proof ASAP to weigh at the post office! - Something possessed me one day to do another drawing. I don’t usually do painterly style (mainly because it’s really difficult and takes 10x longer) but I just REALLY wanted to push myself on this Final Piece to the zine. I wanted it to be… radiant. Almost religious. I worked on it obsessively. From breakfast to sundown. The only time I would stop was at 7pm to go running or else my legs would give out on me.

Call me crazy, but I would save my progress on my phone so I could examine it for errors during my warmup. I also spend an hour examining it for errors before going to bed. It’s a miracle I hadn’t dreamt of the painting. - I sent my files in on Sunday in hopes that they start working on it first thing on Monday…. and it HAPPENED! They finished before I even woke up. I think they start work at like 6am…

Of course, I drove over there as soon as I heard so I can get a look. “Please… please let the colors be okay,” I prayed as I was driving. I barely remember driving there, I was so lost in thought. It would be another long ordeal if I had to fix all the colors.

Thank the stars. The press proof looked BEAUTIFUL!! I was screaming to the client coordinator how much I loved it. I mean, I worried for a looooong time that everything would turn out too dark (it usually does) but it was PERFECT. I was especially worried about the cover, which contained a lot of yellow and I def did not want it to come out mustardy… But it was great in the end!

The press operator is a quiet man. He’s got a scary face and never smiles but I think he’s secretly nice. He has done a lot of favors for me in the past without my asking. He was the one to print, bind, and trim the book for me. Obviously he had to have seen what I was drawing. I wonder what he thought of it…? He walked away before I could express how happy and thankful was. He didn’t need to hear it. It was like he already knew. So cool…

I immediately took it to the post office to weigh it. I needed as much info as I could get and plus, I was dying to know for myself. This is the week I was supposed to open pre-orders and there was still a lot I needed to do. Take pictures, create mockups, pricing, etc.

NGL, all of these costs were building up fast. It was so darn expensive to make a zine while also keeping prices down. But I wanted so much more for my baby. Extra glossy cover, perfect binding!! I knew by the end of this, I probably wouldn’t make much money. It hurt a little, but I tried to think that it was for the greater good. Learning experience and all that. And creating something beautiful. Especially something beautiful of Kratos. - Pricing was really the hardest part. I pretty much threw profit out the window. However, I definitely did not want to be losing money. My dad and I had worked together to create a spreadsheet of expenses to make sure my head was above water. I followed it… loosely.

My friend came to talk to me at the right moment. I was sort of panicking at the prices. She made me realize I was thinking way too hard about it and gave me some tips based on her own experience. It really put my mind at ease talking to someone who understands my woes.

The truth of the matter is, the book is wonderfully made and has a lot of pages - countless hours of drawing. There is only so much I can do about pricing. It is what it is… I just needed to come to terms with my own worth. - Boy, what am I going to do once the zine is done? My friend says that I’ll be so over Kratos that I’ll stop drawing him (but the love remains). It’s like… all of the intense planning, working, struggling nonstop will just suddenly… stop. TBH, I’m running out of ideas. I spent it all on the zine. - Photoshoot today. I had to paint my nails purple for this occasion. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the look I wanted in the apartment. It’s just so naked without props. I think I’ll take it to a cafe for some nicer backgrounds. I talked it over with my friend and decided to do a quick flip-through of the zine as a promotional video. I used the most professional video program I had on hand… Snapchat. It actually turned out pretty legit and of course I slapped stickers on there because it’s Snapchat.

I had to tape/hide some of the pages for the video because I wasn’t actually done with the drawings. I had the printers print it anyway so I could examine it for color accuracy.

I’m really stressed about pricing now. It turns out I had a lot more international fans than I anticipated. I wish I took notes on interest earlier in the game to cater to them. I had a list of “possible buyers” and I only just now decided to check where they live? Foolish.

I did another cost analysis on paper to figure out what my goal was to make up for the charms. Right now they’ve cost me a fortune for something that was supposed to be giveaway. Other things that rack up are packaging costs, PayPal fees, and some other supplies I needed for this project.

Maybe I shouldn’t have made it 40 pages. It is an impressive number, but no one is really paying for quantity. I think 25 is a better number lol. If I had done that, I could have had my super-gloss cover like I wanted. :’(

There is hope though. And I’ve placed it in the hands of my followers to come through for me. I think I’ll open pre-orders on Saturday or Sunday, depending on what I finish. - “Losing your cool will only lead to poor decisions.”  Thanks, Kratos twitter bot. You always know what to say.

I read this post today on what makes people buy zines. Very interesting!  https://twitter.com/andythelemon_/status/1141469048653398019 - Photoshoot part 2 today. My friend and I went to a cafe nearby that had some nice atmosphere in hopes of finding the right shots. I brought all of my Kratos merch just in case. I’m glad I did though, since the tables were pretty sparse and it was difficult to capture the backgrounds without getting a bunch of random people in it too.

I would have been the photographer, but I definitely wanted my hands in the shots. In a way, it was meaningful - to show that this was made by my own two hands. Plus, I wanted to depict natural interaction with the product. It made it feel real.

The photos were cute! I feared it would look a little amateurish with all the merch in there, but I think fun was what I was really going for, not “professional.” And plus the flip-through was a Snap anyway LOL. As long as the photos have good lighting and tasteful composition, you really can’t go wrong with “fun.”

Now that I’ve finished editing my photos, there really isn’t anything holding me back from opening pre-orders. I’ve pretty much come to terms with my pricing. If I fail to break even, I’ll just have to open commissions to try to make up for it. I was telling my friend on the way home, “I gave this zine EVERYTHING I had to give. So at the very least, I won’t be disappointed in myself.” No stone left unturned, no detail left unchecked. It was perfect according to my standards. I really love my zine okay?!

I thought I was crazy for not only choosing a small fandom, I narrowed it down even further by picking ONE GUY to make this zine about. She replied, “Even if it’s small, those people who love him now must be EXTREMELY LOYAL to still be in love with a character from a 15-year-old game. All of them will want your zine.” - I went to bed that night with the intention of making the pre-order post live in the morning. I was so nervous I couldn’t sleep. I was wide awake until at least 5 or 6 am. Luckily, I was able to doze off for a an hour or two before I would shake myself awake again. It was a mixture of anxiety and excitement. It was the moment of truth - to see if all my effort made a difference. Was it going to sell? - The pre-order post looked really freaking good. I’ll give it that. I even made a YT account just to post that darn preview video on tumblr lol. It was definitely fun seeing everyone’s excitement and we all just freaked out together.

I broke even! That’s what really matters. Honestly at this point, I couldn’t care less if I made profit or not. I now know how much people really like the zine and that alone made me so happy I could die.

I was particularly fascinated at Google Form’s ability to transfer all the data collected into a spreadsheet. That is extremely helpful. I spent hours organizing the data. It was really fun…?! Now I can tell who gets invoiced and who paid and separate them into categories. IT’S FANTASTIC!

Stayed up late researching how much adding tracking could be. I had a slight panic attack thinking “what if my books got lost in transit?” It would really hurt me to have to reprint books and ship them again. And then I realized I will need to fill out customs forms for all international orders. Yikes, I’m gonna be living at the post office lol. You can print them out at home if you fill out the form online but there are still some things I’m uncertain about. I may visit the post office later this week to ask all my questions. - This morning I sent out everyone’s invoices. I gave the international people the option to purchase tracking. It’s expensive… but I need to provide that option just in case.

I received a nice message from someone who offered to advertise for me on Instagram. Of course, I gave them the OK! I’m really so shocked they would do that… They said the liked the zine so much it deserved more exposure. My dude… I love you… T_T

I thought about advertising on insta myself earlier in the week. For some reason I felt it was going to be fruitless since I don’t have an art account on there with a following. So, I gave up on the idea. Hey it worked out in the end.

I’ve never been so organized in my entire life. I want this zine experience to be perfect. The people have placed their trust in me, so I cannot mess up. - Edited some pages in the zine. The typography must be perfect… It made me think back to undergrad days in graphic design school. Man, if only I can present this as a project - photos, videos, matching accessories and all. I’d probably get an A lol. - Orders slow down after the first day. The rest is just about getting new people to see the post and giving other people more time to decide.

I finished my Kratos stationery today. It’s going to be so cute. My friend said people would want to buy it but I don’t have it in me to do more products at this time. Plus, I want it to be a surprise.

Why make stationery? Well my real job (no, I don’t draw Kratos all day for a living) is a stationery designer! It would feel really wrong not to put into practice what etiquette I’ve learned in this business. Plus, I felt that it was necessary to properly thank all those who ordered. And it’s fun?

I started designing the shipping labels for the domestic orders since I don’t need to fill out a customs form for those. I wish I had sticker labels but… it’s okay. It will still look good in the end. - Every so often, I would get nervous at the amount of money I’m responsible for. Perhaps, if I had a store with existing products I wouldn’t feel this way, but the fact that the books haven’t been printed yet made me scared. I know, I need this money to even print the books in the first place, but I’m just baffled at my customers’ trust in almost a total stranger. I felt pressured that I could not let them down and lose that trust. It probably didn’t help that I watched a documentary on Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos) that day.

So, I prayed every single day that nothing would go wrong. I’d check my spreadsheet constantly for any mistakes. It was a little obsessive, but I would rather be that than overlook something.

I began collecting cardboard boxes. My plan was to cut them up to protect the books during transit. I would have preferred hard envelopes but they were a bit pricey. If I have to do more work myself, so be it.

I’ve been getting nice DMs from some buyers. I think my invoice due date scared them… I really did not intend to be strict, but I wanted people to pay now if they can rather than forget about it. This happens at work all the time, so the best thing to do is have it due immediately. It would not look good to have to wait on stragglers when I close pre-orders, so I’ll probably reach out when there is one week left. - My Kratos stationery arrived! Aww it is SO CUTE!!! My babies… I have a lot of notes to write so I got started right away. It’s going to be a lot of work trying to come up with creative ways to say “thank you,” but I don’t mind. I said I was going to put my all into the zine experience so I will.

At long last, the charm order has been put in motion. My friend said it could take a while… I hope it won’t be longer than 3 weeks. I really do not want to keep everyone waiting. I may ship out the ones who did not win a charm first. I mean, there is no reason to make those guys wait. I should ask the charm winners if they still want to wait and see if anyone wants to give it up for someone else who is more patient. Hm. - I finally stopped by the post office today to collect customs forms. I have my work cut out for me since I’m filling all of them in by hand. D:

I’m not used to international addresses so I think I’ll ask for help in checking them for spelling errors and typos. Heaven forbid I mess up on the very last part of the zine experience.

In my nervousness, I decided to reach out about invoices early on. If someone wanted to cancel, I would rather find out sooner rather than later. Everyone was really nice about paying and thank goodness they’re still excited.

Feeling kind of overwhelmed by all the things I need to do, but it’s a good thing. If I don’t know what to do, I can either: cut cardboard, write letters, type shipping labels, draw more Kratos for a… possible volume 2? Someone I talked to today already said they’ll pre-order a second book if I make one. Omg I think I’ll die. But we’ll see. It’s just a joke right now haha… - Preorders end today. I had another nightmare last night that the books could not be printed properly and there was nothing I could do. Why do I keep getting nightmares about the zine! I had one a few days before about people canceling their orders when I asked them about the invoices. I’ll take these dreams with a grain of salt. I’m probably just stressed/worried but everything is going to be okay. When I open my eyes, nothing is on fire.

I received my final proof a few days ago. With all of the artwork completed and changes applied. The book looks good, no doubt about it. There was only one thing I was nit-picky about but it can be fixed. The press operator offered to print another book for me to inspect. I’ll go see it on Monday and then submit the rest of the orders. I also asked to to have a meeting with the press operator so we are on the same page. It would be beneficial to have an understanding of how my book is made so that I may be more helpful to him.

I spent the day preparing shipping labels. I hate to admit, I am not too familiar with the format international addresses so I had an address validator open as I was typing them in. For the most part, everyone was helpful in already formatting their addresses in the preorder form! - My parents called me the day after preorders were closed. They wanted to say congratulations on my success. No one thought it would do this well. I couldn’t be offended by that since I was also guilty of it. I’m happy though. It feels like my love spread across the world and was contagious.

I tried to think of what advice I would give to others. Obviously, genuine love for the subject and hard work were a necessity. But it would be good to consider value. If I were selling it at this price, I had to make sure my pieces and presentation looked the part. I ask myself, if someone else sold it, would I buy it?

I sent out messages to all the charm winners in the morning. I wanted to apologize profusely at the ridiculous amount of time it has taken to get them made. But no, I’ve got to stop apologizing. I stated the facts and left it at that. Everyone was really kind and patient⁠—to which I was thankful for. I don’t usually get that when I’m working customer service. - All the books were done printing in one day. Wow! I went to pick it up immediately of course. I can’t believe all of this is coming to an end. I finished preparing the mailers. All that was left was to stuff and seal the domestic orders. They were the easiest to do so I’m going to ship those first. The rest will need customs forms, which I haven’t filled out just yet. It’s going to be a while for those…

The mailers were quite sturdy with the cardboard cutouts I slipped in them. I have nothing to worry about. I’m sure my babies will be okay! - I took a whole box of domestic orders to the post office today. Wasn’t sure what to expect. But my clerk had to input every single address one at a time while I checked for errors. Omg, why are the post office shipping labels SO HUGE. I thought it was going to be half the size. And they’re ruining my designer labels! Slight panic but oh well…

I had a long long line behind me. I’m so sorry, people. Luckily there were two clerks or I would be really sweating. Despite my intimidating box of zines, the clerk and I had Synergy and we managed to ship all of these in about 15 minutes. I received a very long receipt and quite the bill lol. - Shipped the international orders today. I was kind of a mess since I had no idea what to do. I keep wondering if I can help speed up the process in any way but I don’t think I have the option to ship first-class at home.

When shipping international, keep the post office copy of the customs forms together with the package since they use that to type the address info into the system. Also, we get free tracking, which I did not know about. The other clerk told me that we did not get tracking for international first-class but I guess he was misinformed. It’s good to know for next time. - The charms finally arrived!! And THEY’RE HOLOGRAPHIC?! It was pretty awesome, but it makes picture-taking kind of difficult!! Anyway, I was a tiny bit disgruntled that they got my order incorrect, and I even asked for a reprint. But they said no, so I left it at that. Besides, it seems the holographic effect was well-received.

I like this size that I made. It’s really cute! Larger than your normal charm but not too huge. It’s almost like an Instax photo! - There was one customer who I found lives near me! I asked her if she wanted me to hand-deliver it to her in a public setting and she agreed (to my amazement). We finally met a few days ago and talked for hours and hours lol! I’m glad to have finally made a new friend here in this town but of course she’s moving away in two weeks. <:’3

We’re going to meet again to make the most of her time left. - I shipped the rest of the orders on the following Monday. I HAD to get these out. The poor guys have been waiting over a month! I think I picked a bad time to go because I had a huge line behind me and only one guy working. People in line were getting antsy or mad. The clerk at the other post office was super fast but not this guy…

For some reason shipping to the UK and Japan nearly doubled in price since the last time I checked. RIP. T_T - Omg I finally made a mistake. I wrote a letter to the wrong person. And the contents of that letter are too personalized!!! I am dying of embarrassment!!!!! Screams!! Had to apologize to both customers too!!! Luckily they were good sports about it but I’m seriously kicking myself AAAAAAAA!!!! - The most rewarding part after sending all my babies away is seeing the commentary on my project. It is so so nice to receive positive feedback. People are happy! Happy with something I created out of thin air. Everything was worth it 1000 times over. I can die happy!

I’m especially thankful to those who show understanding for how much effort went into it. It definitely wasn’t easy and I poured way too many hours into it… not that I regret that.

I don’t want to jump the gun but I would really love to make a volume 2. Because I know I can do better than last time. New and improved art and comics! But we’ll see if I make enough pieces for another book. I was against printing 40 pages before but now I kind of like it. It feels more worth it than a 25-page zine. If i’m going though so much effort, might as well bring in the entire package.

I’ll be printing more of this volume for Aselia Con 2020. Now I know people will appreciate it.

#diary

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umbrahighpriestofgiratina · 5 years

Text

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Tales Of Arrival Prologue + Chapter 1

This fic is rated Teen for blood, mild gore, adults doing adult things like drinking and swearing, and some dirty jokes and such.

About time I had another B fic huh? (Greenhorn Prometheus doesn't count, it was a three-parter that was written out ahead of time, shhhhhhhh)

So, this is a fic that took me some come convincing to write, (I was never really that fond of the actual PMD games, though I generally like the fics better) but in the end I got attached to an idea and was like "hell, let's go."

I will be up front in saying this is a Tales Of Symphonia/Pokemon Mystery Dungeon crossover, and that you should note three things about that:

1.There will be some massive fucking spoilers for Tales Of Symphonia, especially around the character Kratos Aurion, so if you're particularly concerned about that then I recommend playing the game or watching an LP before reading this fic.

A. That said... If you have not played Tales Of Symphonia, do not care about spoilers relating to it, and are just here because you saw "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon" in the title, you should be fine - this fic is like at least 70% PMD, albeit a celebration of what I like about the genre and a satire of what I don't.

%. This is set in a PMD version of the Yangverse. It's fundamentally the same world, just with no humans and a lot of PMD elements added to compensate.

But anyway I should go ahead and get into this. But before I do big thanks to @masaeanela and her Tales of Symphonia LP, without which this fic wouldn't have been possible. Here we go:

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Tales Of Arrival

(Banner by Shinywolf!)

Prologue: New Life

Kratos could see the vast darkness of space staring out before him.

Derris-Kharlan had been drifting for a long while. It'd be a while before it'd establish itself as a proper living planet. His communications with Yuan had ceased just the other day. He had already scattered Cruxis' Exspheres into space. He could barely see where he left in the sky anymore.

Normally he'd pretend it didn't hurt. But leaving everything behind-

No. He had to.

He looked in the direction in the sky Derris-Kharlan had drifted from. Lloyd. He was back there. Kratos wondered, hoped, that he and his gaggle of friends were doing alright.

He looked to where Derris-Kharlan was drifting in the cold void of space. This was the only place for him. He realized now the blood on his hands. The countless people Cruxis had killed he was complicit with.

He didn't deserve to stay home. He didn't deserve redemption. He didn't deserve a happy life with his son, the only family he had left.

As he thought this, however, he noticed a strange light in the dark, starry sky. Looking at it, he thought at first it was a comet or meteor shooting through the sky.

But then he realized it was heading through Derris-Kharlan's atmosphere at incredible speed.

Heading straight toward him.

He tried to get out of the way. But it was too late. The light consumed him.

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

Kratos woke up in a colorful, pulsating, void. He couldn't feel his body. Almost like he was part of the void.

Then he heard a voice.

"Hello? Hello? Kratos, you there?"

"How do you know my name?" said Kratos.

"Oh, goody, it is you!" said the voice. "Listen, I know this is kind of sudden, but something's coming to my world and I need your help with it."

"...Why me?"

"You're... uniquely qualified. For multiple reasons. But before I bring you over I need to ask you some questions."

"I-"

"First question! Do you like groan-inducing puns?"

"...Spare me."

"You're lucky I can't think of one. Second question! Do you get bothered by noise and ruckus around you?"

"I try not to let it get to me."

"Hmmmm... Third question! Your friend is crying right in front of you! What made that happen?"

Kratos thought back to Mithos. To Yuan. To Lloyd.

"...It's probably my fault."

"Ouch. Not much of the self-esteem type. Question four! Do you occasionally consider yourself to be dull and overly cautious?"

"Of course not."

"Sure you aren't. Anyway, final question! Have you ever wanted to communicate with aliens from another planet?"

"I'm assuming you're one?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny."

"Hmmm... Some beings from my world came from the stars, but other than you, Derris-Kharlan hasn't encountered any aliens yet... so yes, I suppose."

"Okay! Hmmm, let's see, yes, yes... I think I have a form cooked up for you!"

"...Form?"

"Anyway, remember that question about the aliens and how you said you'd like to meet them?"

"Yes? I'm guessing wish granted."

"Yep! Wish granted."

The void turned a blinding white before Kratos lost consciousness again.

Chapter 1: Welcome To The World

Kratos stirred, groaned, and finally opened his eyes. What he saw was blue sky, much more blue than on Derris-Kharlan. He tilted his head a bit, saw trees, grass, and -

"Hey you! You're finally awake!"

What Kratos saw next to him was a small, black-and-red fox wearing a teal robe, with inquisitive blue eyes staring right at him.

"I was just about to get help... Are you OK?"

"Yes... I am alright," said Kratos. "Let me just..."

He sat up. And then realized he wasn't himself. His body was now much, much smaller in proportion to his head, and fuzzy. And his arms were... wings. Not like his old angel wings, like bat or dragon wings, with claws at the end instead of hands.

"How... How did this happen?"

"Someone must have knocked you out!" said the fox.

Kratos gave the fox a look.

"It must have been a feral Pokemon... Do you remember anything about it?"

"No... and I mean... What am I?"

The fox gasped. "Oh no! You must have amnesia! Uh, you're a Noibat! Though, not like any Noibat I've ever seen. Your colors are all different..."

"So I'm a creature known as a Noibat, then."

"Yeah! And I'm a Zorua! My name's Edbark. Do you remember yours?"

"...Yes. It's Kratos."

"Kratos? Huh. Sounds foreign. Well nice to meet you Kratos! I'll be sure to help get your memories back!"

"I don't need-"

"Come on! I'll take you to a doctor in the city."

"...Fine."

Edbark started to trot off. Kratos sighed and started to try and follow, only to stumble over. Edbark turned back and gasped.

"Oh no! You've forgotten how to walk!"

"I'm fine," said Kratos. "I just need to get used to this new body..."

"Come on," said Edbark. "I'll help you."

Edbark propped Kratos up with his back, then they walked away together.

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

Eventually, the duo reached the outskirts of what seemed to be a city. There were many houses both small and large and dirt roads, as well as towering buildings which Kratos could only fathom a guess at the purpose of.

Having figured out how to walk by himself, Kratos went closer and saw the city was populated not by humans or elves or half-elves or dwarves or even angels, but by a staggering array of different animals, plants, and even inanimate objects, all moving around as if they were people.

"What... is this place?" said Kratos. "And what are these creatures?"

"This is Rainbow Wing City!" said Edbark. "And man, that amnesia really got to you... These are Pokemon! You're a Pokemon, I'm a Pokemon..."

"I thought you said I was a Noibat and you were a Zorua."

"Noibat and Zorua are both kinds of Pokemon silly!"

"...I see."

The two continued further on into Rainbow Wing City, passing various buildings and a great variety of Pokemon. Kratos marveled at the bazaars and shops and facilities run by colorful creatures he couldn't even count. Eventually the two reached what seemed to be a castle - Kratos noticed one of two in the city, along with a cathedral.

"And this place is..." said Kratos.

"The Adventurer's Guild!" said Edbark."They can help you out!"

Edbark dragged Kratos inside. Kratos noticed more facilities and corridors and dormitories inside, as well as what seemed to be an... Inn? With a bar?

Eventually Edbark dragged Kratos into a central room. Seated at the end of the room was a strange, cream-and-green mustelid-like creature wearing a red vest, flanked by two floating grayish blue automaton-like beings.

"Guildmaster, it's Edbark!" said one.

"And... some Noibat?" said another.

"I see, I see," said the mustelid. He approached the duo. "Edbark my boy! Who do you have here?"

"Guildmaster Stoakes!" said Edbark. "This is Kratos! Poor guy has amnesia! All he can remember is his own name... You gotta help him!"

Kratos was about to object that no, he did not have amnesia, he remembers the last four thousand years or so up until this point fine, but then he realized they probably weren't going to listen and decided to just roll with it.

"Hmm, amnesia, huh?" said Stoakes, scratching his chin. "He'll need some rest and recovery... But the Adventurer's Guild never turns down a person in need. He can stay here, we'll have Nurse Betania take a look at him."

"Yay! Thank you, Guildmaster Stoakes!" said Edbark. He turned to Kratos. "These guys have got you covered. I'll be back!"

He scampered off, and the two automatons escorted Kratos to another room as Stoakes followed.

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

A large pink oval with white tufts on her body and an egg nestled in a pouch on her belly now looked Kratos over. She looked him up, down, and sideways as she prodded and investigated his head and body. Kratos begrudgingly obliged as Stoakes watched.

"Well," said the pink oval, who was apparently Nurse Betania, "This is odd. He doesn't seem to have head trauma or other trauma or any injuries at all! How the hell does he have amnesia?"

"Well I wouldn't know." said Kratos.

Stoakes thought to himself a bit. "There's one possibility... Some nefarious Pokemon, somehow, wiped his memories."

"Well that gives us fuck-all evidence as to who!" said Betania, huffing.

"It seems it can't be helped." said Stoakes. He sighed, then turned to Kratos. "My offer for you to stay here still stands. Though... what do you remember?"

Kratos paused to think of a convincing reply. "...My name, Kratos Aurion. And apparently your language, basic functions of living, certain basic concepts... I remember nothing of this world or its people."

"Hm. Awfully specific memory wipe," said Stoakes. "Whoever did this to you must have had a very strange goal in mind... Nevertheless, you're safe with the Adventurer's Guild."

"Thank you."

"Hmph. Adopting another one, I see, Stoakes," said Betania.

"It can't be helped! Rule Number 1 of the Adventurer's Guild! Always help those in need, no matter who they are!"

Kratos was suddenly reminded of his son Lloyd's fondness for the Dwarven Vows. "I appreciate it."

"Besides," said Stoakes. "You came to Rainbow Wing City at a good time! The Seeking is soon! There will be a big festival and everything!"

"The Seeking?"

"I'll let Edbark explain that one, he gets excited about old myths and legends and stuff like that. Anyway, we should probably find you a room..."

He led Kratos out of the infirmary and down the stony hall to a set of rooms.

"Here's an empty dormitory. Since we're hosting you, you get to stay free of charge here instead of at the inn."

"Thank you for your generosity."

"No problem, Kratos! Come to us for anything you need!"

He headed off. Kratos paused, then sat on the bed of his new room and stared off into space.

What the hell was going on?

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

And there you have it, the beginning of this crossover adventure! This will update in rough alternation with Heroes After All until one of them finishes in like 3000 years. Stay tuned!

#pokemon #pokemon mystery dungeon #tales of symphonia #kratos aurion #tales of arrival

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randomfandomimagine · 6 years

Text

Family (God of War Imagine)

Characters: Kratos & Atreus (no pairing)

Fandom: God of War (4)

Categories: Reader Insert, GenderNeutral!Reader

Title: Family

Requested by @anothergamerchick (x)(x)

Requested by anons (x)(x)

A/N: My first God of War imagine! Sorry if it’s a bit quick-paced, I wanted to put a lot of stuff in. But I worked really hard on this one and I’m pretty proud with the result, so I really hope you guys like it as well :3

WARNING: Some spoilers from the game! Also, this is very long!

I stiffened up when I heard the distant sound of voices and footsteps. Frightened and cautious, I stood from the rock I was sitting in and took a look around me. I was done resting now, I needed to hide from the possible threat.

I quickly hid behind a bush and crouched to be even less visible. Then I tried to slow my breathing and calm my heart. I definitely wasn’t used to being alone and going exploring wasn’t resulting as appealing and adventurous as I had made it out to be.

I gasped when two figures grew closer and I looked down as though that could be helpful. However, the footsteps grew closer.

“What was that?” A very deep and intimidating voice spoke up.

“What was what?” A younger, slightly high-pitched voice replied.

“I heard something” The other one said. “In those bushes”

“Oh, no…” I uttered, knowing they had somehow discovered me.

My heart began racing at the thought that they would discover me. What if they were violent? What if they hurt me, or even killed me?!

“I… didn’t hear any…” The softer voice was saying, but they interrupted themselves. “Wait, it moved!”

I gasped, closing my eyes tight and cringing in fear. Maybe if I stayed as still as I could, they would leave.

“Show yourself!” The deep voice demanded. “I am armed!”

That was a definite warning, so I jumped out of the bushes and threw my hands up in the air in surrender. When I watched the two figures –a big burly man as intimidating as his voice, and a little boy –I knew I shouldn’t have made any sharp movements not to startle them. But only the boy got startled.

“Please, don’t hurt me!” I begged, feeling myself shaking in fear. Venturing into the wild on my own wasn’t the best idea I had. “I surrender!”

The man sighed in annoyance and saved the big axe that he was wielding. The boy, on turn, put his bow on his back once more seeing who I assumed was his father did too.

“Why were you hiding?” The man asked me, staring at me with a scowl.

“I-I got scared!” I hoped he believed me, I still didn’t feel completely safe. “I heard voices and…”

“We’re not gonna hurt you” The boy intervened, showing me a friendly smile. “We just didn’t know you were human, we thought you were a draugr or something”

“No, no, I’m human!” I nodded vehemently, slightly relieved. “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding”

The man groaned in annoyance once more, but he kept walking. The boy hesitated, but he stayed behind with me instead.

“I’m Atreus” He introduced himself with another smile. “And that’s my father Kratos”

“Pleasure to meet you, Atreus” I looked ahead to the man, even though he was ignoring me, and raised my voice so he could hear me. “And you too, Kratos, sir!”

The man didn’t reply, he just kept walking without even looking back.

“What’s your name?” Atreus asked me, seemingly curious and excited at the same time. I supposed it must have been nice for him to have more company other than his cold father.

“Oh, I’m Y/N” I smiled back at him, but was suddenly interrupted by Kratos.

“That is enough, child” The man turned around to us and gravely stared at me. “Leave us, continue your path on your own”

“B-But…” I complained, and I stopped walking along with Atreus, in pure shock.

“Come, boy” Kratos held Atreus by the arm and tugged at him so he would follow.

The kid, although obedient, seemed sad to be leaving me behind before we could even start getting to know each other. He didn’t give us any time.

“Wait, please!” I tried my luck, even if I was scared to anger Kratos. “If I could come with you, that would be-“

“No”

“Please, I have a weapon too, I could help you in battles and-“

“I said no!”

“Please, sir, I don’t want to be alone”

“Father…” Atreus shyly intervened, gathering the man’s attention. “We could use her help, and I would like her to come”

Definitely, the boy wanted some more company. Not only because the more, the merrier, but because his father seemed very stern and rough.

Kratos thought about it, his eyes moving from the boy to me. Then he examined me carefully, and I noticed how they fell over my mace too.

“Why would you want to accompany us, child?” I didn’t like that he kept calling me ‘child’, but I didn’t want to tempt fate seeing as he seemed willing to accept me, so I didn’t address the issue.

“Because I’m afraid… I need to travel Midgard, but… I don’t really want to be alone” I explained, flustered by his intense stare.

“Why are you travelling? Where are you going?”

“No offence, but that is a personal matter and-“

“If you want to come, you must accept my conditions. I demand to know your intentions”

I could tell by his expression that his patience was running thin. And I didn’t really want to upset him, so I sighed and talked.

“I’m completely alone” I began to say, saddened when I was reminded about it. “I don’t have a family anymore and I wanted to move on, leave my past behind”

Kratos frowned, as though that sounded familiar. But then he looked down to his son before his glance rested over me once more.

“Very well” Although resigned, he accepted. “You may come with us”

“Thank you!” I grinned and bowed a little in a sign of respect that I hoped he appreciated.

“If you endanger our mission” He warned me gravely. “I will not think twice to abandon you”

Those were harsh words, earning a gulp from me. I believed him capable of abandoning me in the middle of nowhere, so I needed to make sure that didn’t happen. It was all on me.

“I won’t let you down, I promise” I nodded humbly, letting him know I would do my best. All I earned was another grunt in response before he continued walking.

“Hey, maybe we can be your family now!” Atreus happily told me, making me smile, already growing fond of such a sweet kid.

“No, boy” Kratos corrected him. “We are merely walking the path together, nothing more”

“I’m… I’m sorry” Atreus replied, eyeing me too. I shrugged, pretending like it didn’t matter. But it did, even if I couldn’t expect them to adopt me just like that.

But I liked Atreus, he was very nice and friendly. Kratos not so much, but I guessed he needed to protect his boy at all cost. From everything and everyone, and that needed a little bit of tough love.

So I was determined to prove myself. To obey Kratos and show him that I was willing to do everything he told me to as long as he allowed me to travel with them. They weren’t really my family, but at least I wasn’t alone anymore.

We walked in silence, not daring to speak up not to upset Kratos, who seemed to enjoy the quiet. Atreus made me smile, though, as he was stomping on the ground and being careful to leave a perfect trail of his feet on the snow, lifting his knees as he moved. He was just a kid, after all, he was expected to engage in some childish demeanors.

I looked at Kratos’ broad back, the white of his skin contrasting with the red lines that occupied it. I had never seen someone like him, but I didn’t want to make any questions. Not even where we were headed, because I honestly didn’t mind as long as I wasn’t alone. But I did have an important question.

“K-Kratos, sir” I dared to speak up, pausing yet seeing that he only turned his head slightly over his shoulder. “Can I ask you a question?”

He let out a soft affirmative grunt as all response.

“If… when we encounter enemies, whether they are draugr or humans or anything… Am I allowed to fight back? I wouldn’t want to hinder your fighting”

Kratos definitely looked over his shoulder to me, surprised by the thoughtful and respectful question. He nodded and opened his mouth to reply.

“You are allowed to engage in battle with draugr and other creatures. Human, you leave to me. Atreus will do the same” As Kratos spoke, I exchanged a glance with Atreus, who grinned at me like he always did.

“I understand” I meekly replied, even though this time I was happy that he seemed not to be as bothered by my mere presence.

“Aye, ain’t gonna introduce me?” A voice suddenly said, that I knew didn’t belong to Atreus nor Kratos.

“Ah!” I yelped in surprise, looking around trying to find the source of the voice. “Who’s there?!”

“It’s me! Don’t be afraid, kid!”

“Where are you?!”

“Here!”

Finally realizing who was speaking, I looked at Kratos’ belt just to see a head. An actual human head, alive without its body. That was probably the work of magic.

“Sorry that I didn’t say something sooner, I didn’t want to interrupt” He said with a mild accent. “I’m Mimir, at your service”

“I-I’m Y/N” I was about to offer my hand to him when I realized he couldn’t shake it. “What… No offence, but why are you carrying a living head with you?”

Kratos didn’t respond, so Atreus did for his father.

“It’s a long story, really” He shrugged a little. “But he’s helping us”

“I sure am” Mimir said with a grin. “After all, I’m the smartest man alive”

I looked at Atreus, but the boy didn’t seem too bothered by it anymore. I then looked at Kratos, yet the man didn’t seem to care about anything. He was determined on his goal, whatever that might be.

“Atreus” I whispered, hoping his father didn’t hear me.

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask where we’re going?”

“Sure! We’re going to the highest peak in all of the realms!”

“Really? Why?”

I knew I should have been more sensible when asking my questions when the boy’s expression shifted from friendliness to a mild sadness.

“To scatter my mother’s asses, it was her last wish” He replied quietly, averting his gaze.

“Oh” Was all I could manage as an answer, knowing a little bit more about them.

They had lost someone too, just like I had. But at least they had each other. Even if Kratos seemed very cold and severe, perhaps precisely because of his loss. He might be a strong and stubborn man, but that didn’t mean he was incapable of loving. It seemed like he dearly loved his wife. And his son too, surelly he seemed ready to protect the boy from anything.

“What was your mom’s name?” I asked the kid, wanting to show an interest.

“Faye” To thank me for caring and worrying, Atreus smiled a little.

“Beautiful name” I told him to encourage him a little.

“What is it you speak about?” Kratos asked us with his deep and serious voice.

“Uh… nothing!” Atreus was quick to answer his father, who replied with one of his grunts.

I exchanged a look with the boy, who shrugged a little.

“Father doesn’t like me telling it to people” He sighed softly. “He doesn’t really trust anyone”

“Yeah, your father is quite… unique” I stared at the man, trying to figure out what was it about him that intrigued me.

It wasn’t only that he was so hermetic, distrustful or strong. There was something else, some sort of aura that surrounded him and made him stand out, that showed he was special. An aura I had solely felt around… gods.

I had only met one god, who ended up becoming my guardian before… well, before I was left alone. But that aura was unmistakable, I had felt it for years now and I would recognize it anywhere, there was no doubt that Kratos was a god. Did that mean that Atreus was also…?

“Why do you stare?” Kratos interrupted my line of thought, startling me a little.

“I’m not” I replied, quickly looking away and focusing my eyes on the snow at my feet.

I heard Atreus lowly chuckling, so I stared at him. I supposed he was amused by the fact that I was so intimidated by his father. But when my eyes fell over him, the boy looked down and kept on stomping on the snow, now stepping in the trail Kratos left on it, which was pretty cute.

“What are you laughing at?” I playfully glared at the kid.

“I didn’t laugh” He replied with a fake innocent tone.

I grinned as I leaned forward and picked up a handful of snow, rolling it into a ball and throwing it at the boy’s head. I held back a guffaw when Atreus yelped and stumbled forward a little.

Kratos turned around in a sharp movement, worried that we were being attacked. But I could have sworn I noticed how the corner of his lips curled up as Atreus retaliated by throwing me another snowball and laughed out loud when it hit me straight in the face.

However, when I cleaned my face from the freezing snow and I looked back at the man, the alleged smile was gone as though it was never there.

“My face!” I complained, chasing Atreus as I prepared another snowball.

“Truce!” The kid replied between giggles, running around and trying to hide behind his father. “Truce!!”

We laughed as we ran and threw each other snowballs, having fun and teasing each other with provocative yet playful insults. Until one of the snowballs didn’t hit the right target. I had been trying to hit Atreus, but since he kept using his father as a human shield, it hit Kratos.

“Oh, no” I muttered when he gave me a scowl. “Didn’t mean to do that…”

For a second, everyone halted and watched him in expectation. But Kratos didn’t do anything, he just stared at me with rage.

“Run” I said as I held on to the boy’s arm and tugged at it. “Run, Atreus!”

At least he wouldn’t chase after us.

We didn’t really stop for a break, and even if he tried to hide it, I could tell Atreus was exhausted. And so was I, to be honest, after a day and a half of running around and fighting. The way to the top of the mountain was long and filled with battles along the way. Kratos held himself back to let me show my skills, which were a little poor still. But I worked hard and made a great effort to prove myself and to also improve, obeying his instructions.

“Accuracy over speed” Atreus said to me. “Isn’t that right, father?”

“In your case, yes, you are impulsive, boy” Kratos’ glance fell over me. “You are too reflexive, you take too long”

“I’ll be faster next time” I promised, trying to hide how tired I actually felt.

I felt like I needed Kratos’ acceptance and approval so he would let me stay with them. I wasn’t alone anymore, and I was growing fond of them. Of Mimir, Kratos and especially Atreus. The kid was so sweet and so upbeat, it was easy to get along with him, not to mention his big heart.

As we exited the cave, we were received with the pleasant fresh air and the open spaces. It was quite claustrophobic inside there, so I was grateful for being outside again.

“Sindri!” Atreus exclaimed cheerfully, running to the dwarf standing in the tent before us, crafting weapons and such.

“That a friend?” I asked Kratos, but when I turned to him, he was taking hold of my upper arm. He didn’t even hear my question.

“Listen, child” He began to say, quite gravelly. “You must protect the boy, make it a priority in battle”

“But…” I frowned, surprised by the sudden warning. After fighting by his side all those times, I thought he wanted me to help him. “I always thought I should back you up instead…”

“No, you must do as I say” He took my answer the wrong way, thinking I refused to do as he said. It was like Kratos was always defensive. “You are only accompanying us because your company seems to be doing the boy good”

I was honestly shocked by how much he cared about Atreus. Not that it was strange, he was his father, but he could be so cold and distant! It was surprising to see him voicing his true feelings.

“I will protect him” I nodded, letting him know I had understood.

“Do so, but also let him fend for himself”

“How do you do both?”

“Find a balance”

As to leave me time to think those words over, Kratos left from my side immediately after. I frowned, trying to think how to properly create a balance between those two concepts. It didn’t seem easy.

Realizing Kratos was already at the tent, talking to the dwarf along with Atreus, I forced myself to go with them. It was a hard task, because I was very tired.

My legs felt shaky and unstable, like they wouldn’t be able to hold my weight for much longer. My arms hurt from carrying my weapon and thrusting it upon our enemies. My legs and feet were throbbing from the amount of work they made, walking, jumping and evading attacks. My back was also in pain due to the tension of the battles and for standing for so long.

I had been carrying a headache for a few hours now, but I was suddenly struck with an intense light-headedness. I wobbled as I advanced to the tent and leaned on the dwarf’s worktable, trying to hide my weakness.

“Who’s this?” He asked in a friendly manner, staring at me with curiosity.

“Sindri, this is Y/N, our friend! Y/N, this is-“ Atreus interrupted himself, however, when he lied eyes on me. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” I replied, managing to choke out that simple sound. Exhaustion was slowly taking over and even leaning my weight in the worktable, I felt faint.

“What is the matter, child?” Kratos asked me, scowling as he stared at me too.

“You look exhausted, kid!” Sindri told me himself, and all the attention wasn’t making it any easier.

“I’m okay” I muttered, even if I closed my eyes tight when everything started spinning around me.

“You are not” Kratos disagreed, and I got startled when I felt a big hand covering my forehead. When I opened my eyes, I found with him being closer. “You run a fever”

“I’m fine” I insisted, now tightly gripping the table. “It’s just a headache…”

“You need to rest!” The boy gently rested a hand on my arm to comfort me. “We can stop for a while! Right, father?”

“We will not” The aforesaid replied simply. “You will stay, you won’t slow us down”

I frowned, knowing I got exactly what I feared. Exactly why I didn’t say anything before, Kratos thought my very human need to rest was a waste of time.

“I said I’m alright! I can continue” To show my determination, I stepped away from the table, which was a big mistake. “I can-“

“And I said no” When I got even dizzier and dangerously wobbled, Kratos held me up by my upper arm. “You will stay with the dwarf”

“Me?” Sindri muttered, taken aback by this. “O-Okay…”

“I can continue, I promise!” I gulped, opening my eyes when I realized they had closed themselves without my consent. “Please let me continue, Kratos”

“If you can wield your weapon, I will allow you to” He suddenly said, which sounded a lot like an ultimatum. But he gave me a chance to prove it.

I weakly nodded and reached out to grab my mace. All the muscles in my arms sent a collective whine of pain at the weight of it. I winced, but gritted my teeth not to complain.

Suddenly, the weapon slipped from my hands and fell on the ground. I felt a wave of nausea run over me, and I gasped, suddenly out of breath.

“Y/N?” Atreus worried, placing a hesitant hand on my arm again.

“I don’t feel good…” I wasn’t strong enough to pretend anymore, I felt sick.

Suddenly, my knees buckled under my own weight and everything turned to darkness before I could hit the ground.

I awoke to a constant clanking sound that was somewhat familiar. But my slow mind didn’t realize what it was yet. I felt a warm blanket over me and another one under because I could feel the coldness from the stone ground beneath me.

I tiredly opened my eyes and found myself in a place we had visited before. Tyr’s temple, where Brok’s shop was. That explained the noise too.

“Y/N!” Atreus probably noticed me stirring, and he quickly ran to me. “You’re awake! How are you feeling?”

“A little weak” I carefully sat up, letting the boy help me. “But better, I guess…”

“That’s good! We wanted to bring you to Freya, but we were so far away! Of course, you don’t know who Freya is so-” The boy’s rambling confused me further, so I interrupted him.

“What happened, Atreus?”

“You got sick and we brought you here to protect you from the cold”

“Where’s your father?” I noticed Kratos was nowhere to be seen, and that was probably for the best. I didn’t have the energies to stand a lecture from him.

“He went to look for a cure for you, just in case” Atreus’ words let me astonished.

“Your dad went out of his way for me? He did that?”

“Well… Yeah! He did!”

I stared at him, wondering whether or not he was telling the truth. Knowing Atreus’ kindness, he might be lying to make me feel better. Seeing as I was silent and didn’t believe him, the boy kept talking.

“We didn’t know what was wrong with you, he was worried!” I was about to reply to that, express my disbelief and explain that I was just very tired, that nothing was wrong with me. But then a voice interrupted us.

“Atreus” There was Kratos, with his permanent scowl in his face.

The boy looked behind him, watching his father approach. Figuring he wanted him to leave, Atreus stood up.

“I’ll go tell Brok and Sindri you’re okay” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder, where the two dwarves actually were despite their disagreements. “They were worried about you too”

With that, the kid left just as Kratos arrived to my side and towered over me.

“I’m sorry” I immediately said, reading his cold expression. I also tried to stand up, but he held up a big hand.

“You must rest” He said to my surprise, seemingly calm and patient. That man never ceased to amaze me.

“I don’t want to slow you down” I muttered, averting my gaze in shame for all the time they wasted because of me.

“You will only slow us down if you get sick” I raised my glance at his words, still shocked because of his whole reaction. “You did not say you needed to rest before”

“I…” It seemed to me that he wasn’t angry that I was tired, but that I let it get so bad that I got sick. Then I truly slowed them down, like he said himself. “I didn’t want to seem weak”

“There is no weakness in that, only in failure, in giving up” He crossed his arms over his chest, and even though his face held the same cold and moody expression, I caught a hint of warmth in his eyes. “You are human, and you need to find your own pace”

“I understand” I nodded, obediently. “It won’t happen again”

“Good” His deep voice replied. “You see that it does not”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you” Truly, Kratos had become sort of a paternal figure for me, not only because I needed his approval to stop being alone anymore. I wanted to make him proud, and I admired his strength.

“You are still learning” Coming from him, I knew that meant ‘it’s okay, everybody makes mistakes, I’m not mad or disappointed’ but he would never say those words.

I smiled at him to show him my gratitude, to thank him for being understanding. Then I slowly stood up, glad to see I wasn’t dizzy anymore. Still a little tired and sore from all the walking and fighting, but I didn’t have a headache either.

“Are you alright?” Kratos held my upper arm and helped me to my feet. When I nodded, he did too. “We must continue then”

Taking my time and feeling him staring to make sure I was okay, I slowly made my way to reunite with Atreus and the dwarves.

“We are leaving” Kratos announced as he offered his axe to Sindri so he would upgrade it.

“Y/N, Y/N, I didn’t tell you!” Atreus held me by the wrist and took me with him as we distanced ourselves from the other three. “Father said I could tell you!”

“What is it? What did I miss?” I smiled a little, endeared by the boy’s upbeat nature still.

“I’m a god!” He told me, the pride reflected in his blue eyes. “That was why I kept getting sick, thinking I was mortal made me sick!”

I remembered Mimir saying something about it. The mind and the body got in conflict because believing himself mortal when in reality he was a god, it made Atreus fight against his own nature although unwillingly. But now it made sense, I had worried when I watched the kid get ill sometimes, especially when he lost control of his anger.

It made perfect sense, being Kratos some sort of god himself, his son probably inherited his godhood in one way or the other.

“That’s great!” I awkwardly said, not really knowing what else to reply.

“Right?” There was a big grin plastered on his face, but for the first time since I knew him, there was also a bit of arrogance in his usually kind and friendly expression. “No one can stop us now!”

I stared at Kratos, and feeling my eyes on him, he looked at me too. I frowned, and he seemed to know what I was thinking about, because his eyes moved to his son instead. I didn’t like this newly found confidence Atreus suddenly had.

This was getting out of hand, I knew it couldn’t be good. I knew that it was bad when sweet little Atreus turned arrogant and bigheaded all of a sudden.

And now he… had killed! In cold blood! Someone who, as his father said, was beaten! No matter how evil Modi was, it was cruel that Atreus killed him when he was already hurt. And even if he weren’t, it was just… wrong. He was just a boy.

I awkwardly stood there, hearing how his father told him off for going against his wishes, for disobeying, for taking justice on his hand, and for being outright unlikeable.

“But we are gods!” Atreus retaliated to Kratos’ words. “We can do whatever we want!”

“No, you will do as I say, boy” His father seriously told him. “And you will quit this attitude immediately”

“Whatever” The kid kept talking like he had heard nothing.

I noticed the scowl on Kratos’ face, this time worse than ever, angrier, more displeased. I cautiously stared at him until he reciprocated my glance, and then I piped up.

“Could I talk to him?” I asked him, knowing thst as his father, he might want to take charge of it himself.

Kratos’ response was a brief grunt of agreement, so I nodded and approached Atreus.

“Hey, kid” I started off by putting a hand on his shoulder.

“What!” He replied abruptly, shrugging my hand off.

“I think you need to take it easy” Seeing how hotheaded he was behaving, I spoke carefully.

“Why take it easy?” I almost didn’t recognize him, there was so much violence in his voice, so much hatred almost.

“You’re not being yourself! All these things you’re doing? Telling Sindri that you don’t care about ‘little people’s little problems’? Killing Modi like that? Talking to your father that way? Your mother wouldn’t have wanted you to-“

“Shut up!” He rudely interrupted me, angrily. “You don’t know anything!”

“I do know that you owe your father some respect and he knows what’s best for you and you should listen to him!” I began to raise my voice, frustrated that he had changed so much. I missed the sweet little boy from before. “And I know you should honor your mother’s memory by being someone she would be proud of!”

“I’m a god, people should fear me! I can’t be stopped!” Was his justification.

“That’s not how it works” I shook my head, remembering about the other god I had met, the one that looked after me when I was left alone in this world. He was always kind and selfless, soft and benevolent.

“What would you know? You’re just a mortal!” Atreus shouted back at me. “You don’t even deserve to be coming with us! You should be thankful that we’re allowing your useless presence! You’re nothing without us!”

There was a pause in which none of us spoke. I stared at him, searching his eyes for a hint of regret but I found with nothing. Just that burning fire of hatred and power that he had been portraying all this time.

“That was hurtful, Atreus” My eyes became watery at his terrible words, but even then he didn’t seem to care. He was so far gone into his megalomania that he didn’t realize how much wrong he was doing.

“Yeah, maybe next time you’ll think twice before disrespecting me” Was all he said, walking away from me.

It was bad enough that I was working so hard to get Kratos’ approval, but now I needed Atreus’ too? When we had been friends almost since the moment we met? No, that wasn’t even the true Atreus. That was a shadow of his former self, a terrible and cruel version of the kind person he used to be. I refused to believe that was who he had become.

Kratos passed me by, for the first time following his son instead of the other way around. And as the man walked by me, he rested a big comforting hand over my shoulder.

I knew it. We were about to enter Jotunheim, to finally reach the highest peak in all realms to finish our journey. But Atreus’ arrogance cost us a journey to Helheim instead. But being optimistic, at least the fight with Baldur and the guilt of us ending up here because of him seemed to bring Atreus back to normal.

But not exactly, as he had lost his lively nature and abandoned it for an apathy that I didn’t like either. But I didn’t blame Kratos for lecturing him again, even if he could have said the same things he said in a different, softer way.

“Kratos” I called him, eyeing the kid with the corner of my eye. “Did you know he would be like this when he found out he was a god?”

“No” The man replied solely, his eyes scanning around for a way out. “I did not know”

“Then you must have had a reason to wait for so long until you told him” I spoke lowly, scared that I was tempting fate and, mostly, his patience.

But to my surprise, he actually answered me, and he didn’t seem too annoyed about it.

“I hoped to spare him from the life of a god” He said with a heavy sigh. “Not that you would understand, child”

“I won’t ask” Kratos’ past was definitely the worst subject to bring up, so I didn’t.

“Good” He replied with a nod of approval.

“If I may ask, though… Why did you tell him after all?” I dared to speak up again, even if he had established a firm silence, but I broke it nonetheless.

“I feared he would fall ill like you did” His eyes fell over me for a moment, but then they looked away. In that brief moment, however, I could read almost fondness in his eyes. And at the same time concern because of it. Of me, of Atreus. He cared about us and worried about our safety. “I could not allow that to happen”

I was left speechless at the discovery. Me falling sick had opened his eyes, it had made him see that he didn’t want his son to grow sick because he kept a secret that concerned him. Kratos got so worried when I was sick that he learned the lesson. He… cared about me after all, I wasn’t just a nuisance for him.

I didn’t know what to say in response or even if I should say anything, but before I could, Atreus approached us even if crestfallen and repentant.

“I’m sorry” There was his soft voice again, and the kind look in his eyes returned to them as well. “I… I owed you both an apology”

“You did” Kratos was cold as usual, and he left us alone as he scouted the area.

I still didn’t agree with Kratos’ tough love but I was a little hurt by Atreus’ words still and he needed it at the moment. Besides, I understood it was his father’s best way of educating him.

“Y/N, I’m really sorry” The boy wouldn’t meet my glance, and his voice sounded genuine and regretful. “I didn’t mean anything I said, and… I’m really happy that you’re with us, because you’re my friend and you’ve always been so nice to me”

I remained quiet, torn between the compassion and the resentment. I wanted to immediately forgive him, yet I was still hurt by the things he said. Probably noticing this, Atreus kept on talking and hence apologizing.

“And I just wanted to say that… you’re not useless, you never were. You don’t actually need us, you helped us a lot. And that... I really enjoy being with you because you’re probably actually my first friend and-“

“Stop” I knew he wasn’t playing with my emotions trying to make me pity him, I knew every word came directly from his heart, and I couldn’t stand watching him feel so miserable anymore. “I know you weren’t yourself, Trey, it’s okay”

He paused for a moment, but grinned to relief the tension.

“I like the nickname”

“A friend’s gift, kid”

“But I don’t have one for you… Give me time, I’ll come up with one!”

“You don’t have to, boy”

We both laughed at my impersonation of Kratos, mimicking his deep voice and all. But we immediately stopped when he turned around to see what we were laughing about and silently followed him.

As we reunited with Kratos to hopefully get out of Helheim as soon as possible, I felt Atreus’ staring at me with gratitude.

“Thanks for forgiving me, Y/N”

“No problem”

We had come a long way, we had travelled through the realms and had even went through Helheim in order to arrive to our destination, but we were finally there.

I was moved as I watched Kratos and Atreus spreading Faye’s ashes together. A heartwarming moment between father and son, between man and boy. I was nearly moved to tears when I watched them truly bonding, accepting each other and Kratos being supporting and loving despite everything.

Then, we turned around and left, feeling somewhat accomplished that we had done what we needed to. I looked down, suddenly feeling overcome with sadness. A moment ago, I was moved by the beautiful moment I shared with them, by the accomplishment of making Faye’s last wish come true. Of witnessing such a sweet moment between father and son. But then I realized something: I didn’t fit in, I wasn’t part of their family. I was a stranger that they allowed to accompany them, and now that their journey was over, I had no place to go to again.

“Y/N?” Atreus asked me as we went down the stairs, breaking the silence. “You okay?”

“What?” I felt absent and drained because of this terrible sadness. “Oh, yeah… Yeah… I’m fine”

I noticed he exchanged a glance with his father, who let out a soft sigh and spoke up himself then.

“Speak up, child” Kratos mumbled, stopping on his tracks to properly address the issue. “What is on your mind?”

“I… well, actually…” I decided that it was a good chance to let them know how I felt, to say goodbye. “I have some things to say”

“Then speak” Kratos insisted, crossing his big arms over his chest.

“I… I just want to thank you… It was amazing meeting you. And I’ve learnt so much, not only fighting from you, Kratos but… Patience and discipline. And kindness and hope from Atreus. And wisdom from Mimir”

“Good” Kratos solely said, giving me a head nod.

“And Atreus” I put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up at me with his soft blue eyes. “I know he’s strict but… your father loves you and wants the best for you, and even if I had someone who looked after me, I was alone when he passed and I never met my parents… So…”

I paused when I felt very sensitive, my eyes growing teary as I tried not to get too emotional.

“What are you implying, child?” Kratos urged me to keep talking.

“That…” I deliberately avoided his glance, instead looking at Atreus. “You’re lucky to have a father like Kratos. And even though she has passed, I’m sure Faye was a wonderful mother and… she will always be with you in your heart, and she will always look after you”

“Why are you saying this?” The boy asked me, staring at me in concern and a bit of sadness as well.

“Because… The time has come to say goodbye” I gave a sad smile, pausing.

None of them said anything, not even Atreus with his usual upbeat nature. But I could feel their eyes on me as I looked down. I took a deep breath and gave Atreus a last hug, not being brave enough to do the same with Kratos.

“Goodbye” I said with watery eyes and a shaky voice. “This journey was incredible, thank you for everything”

Not wanting to drag out the painful farewell any longer, I started walking away. But then, when I was only a few meters away from them, the now familiar deep voice of Kratos called me.

“Wait” He said, making me turn around and look at him.

I waited as he said, with my heart pounding in my chest. He couldn’t possible say what I thought he would, right? What I hoped and longed for him to say.

“You are coming with us” Kratos walked closer to me until he was close enough, and then he softly put his hand over my shoulder. “You are family now, Y/N”

I felt a tear falling down my cheek, but even though they had welled up in my eyes due to sadness, now I shed them in happiness.

“Thank you!” I screamed cheerfully, throwing myself to hug him.

I gasped when I realized what I was doing, I hadn’t stopped to think. I was hugging Kratos, without his permission, without any warning either. It surely bothered him.

“I’m… I’m sorry” I stuttered, about to break the hug.

But Kratos chuckled, he actually let out a soft fond chuckle! And his big hands gently rested in my back, he was hugging me back! When we broke the hug, I looked up at him.

“Let us go home” He just said, with a surprisingly friendly expression I had never truly seen in his face before. I somehow got under his skin, which was a achievement.

Atreus suddenly chuckled excitedly and jumped around, tugging at my arm and hugging me. I grinned happily, infected by his energetic mood.

The two of us continued our way down the stairs to get back, Kratos closely following us. We were going home. I was going home, with my new family.

Tagging: @poem-whore, @snowfire71, @xionroxas, @raararasputin, @jewish-bisexual

#imagine #oneshot #gow #god of war #gow imagine #god of war imagine #kratos #atreus #mimir #freya #brok #sindri #reader insert #requested #faves

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marika-kurohime · 5 years

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Tales of Vesperia: “Yuri is The Morning Star “her” self as “she” should be” theory (11/26 complete)

First of all, sorry for BAD English here.

Previously I’ve tried to post this on youtube, but... here is the full version of it.

We all are confused at the moment by Tales of the Rays storyline and Vesperia’s postgame situation especially.

It's crazy for NO JOKE. Let's do this. If you're fine to think of Vesperia as something simple with yaoi/yuri ships - for now you can STILL do so, but

you have to see optional dungeons of this game: "Labyrinth of Memories" with Kratos Aurion in it and "the Necropolis of Nostalgia" (Patty got the key to start that VERY HARD and annoying dungeon (enter is in Zaude) which explains the whole "Сhildren of the Full Moon" thing and this world's past), open up all the skits and so on... It'll rise A LOT of questions, believe me.

This is where you can read this

I'm NOT fine with yaoi/yuri ships and there seems to be the one and only RIGHT way to understand all this mess, but it's crazy.

I don't want to write the theory before we have at least some facts, So, I'll only warn you for now that:

1)Yuri is with Raven ALL THE TIME in ALL worlds: Link, Asteria (chapter 4), even Rays where we have Estelle with us... you will read something... strange... (yeah... "strange" is a good word for it) between Yuri and RAVEN all the time.

2) It seems that Yuri and Rita have some sort of connection to Iria's and Luka's (Tales of Innocence) god-powers.

To sum this up: or this game is just plain and stupid or it has a different gender system. Think about this:

Rita's dresser scene, and also, how Yuri lived his life before and after his attempt to join the knights (some skits hinted this... and we got THIS dirty card of him for New Year)

I can't say any more right now, we all want some facts regarding, well, his gender, current behavior and his postgame relationship with Raven and Estelle,

BUT one thing for sure. HE IS NOTHING close to what you'll expect of him even if you ship him and Flynn together.

Maybe, from now on (Tales of The Rays arc 3) this line will be shown for the first time, I don't know... thanks to PXZ2 I'm afraid to know...

There is more to this. In his True Knight outfit,

he has pointy ears for some reason.

And to top it all: so-called fanservice in the Rays' special anime just killed me on the spot.

NO NORMAL explanation for THIS. He is not only nothing even close to a human (half-elves included) and can BE confused with a woman as with Leon (Tales of Destiny) and his sister (Leon is only 16 years old ), ALL NORMAL men see Yuri THIS way at his... well he is 21 at the beginning of the game and 22+ by the end.

No facts. They've been MESSING with us for two years before DE's worldwide release. And It gets waaaay more serious from now on...

JUST LOOK at...him(???) from the God Eater collaboration trailer...

No, no, no, I don’t think that I’m seeing things...

And so, to make a long story short: 360 version was incomplete (or "censored" by Namco themselves is a better way to say it) to the point when you can't get this story at all.

Are you sure you want to know more?... for a joke, it went tooooo far somewhere after we left Heracles,

but what I'm reading now... makes me split my tea and think of dropping it all for good because of Yuri and Yuri alone.

Tales of Asteria made it even worse. In chapter 4 we have 3 lines about returning memories to a person, who the character holds dear: Jude-Milla, Collette-Lloyd, AND Raven-Yuri...

guess which one was mature, tragic and romantic the most?

And he wasn't called Yuri in the title of his Chapter. It was something like: "The fate of the Morning Star". Just like in the at least two tracks from OST of the original game. This and that one too. And who the hell is this so-called Morning Star???

Well...

So... basically, the main character here is RAVEN.

And it's a story how he got himself our dear "hell of a goddess"

for a...

sorry... for a friggin substitute of his lost love

(and Yuri resembles her greatly to make it worse).

Tales of the Rays arc 2 was HELL of a read for me because of Yuri alone...

He is living with Raven, нe worried sick for Flynn's wellbeing,

he constantly shakes off Estelle on Rita...

FOR a friggin YEAR! Main Vesperia's story explains NOTHING

of what you really need to know.

You need to 100% clear this game only to get some dirty hints and a mind blow trying to put all this mess together.

If you know Japanese, then Drama CD's help as well.

Update: And yes, THIS was some anniversary to add the fuel to the fire. And as I feared, it is NOT only Asteria’s problem for sure.

So, we love Tales of Vesperia only because people do not bother to find out, what “VESPERia” means.

“Vesper” means Venus (or Astar/Astarte, Morning (male form - Anunit)/Evening Star) GODDESS OF LOVE and justice, yeah, yeah...

... and prostitution,

homosexual relationships and war and a lot more). Goddess, damn it...

Remember this statue at the Baction Shrine?...

Update: actually all this mess isn’t just about him being who he is, the main problem is THIS map

which is clearly our Mother Earth and not their Terca Lumieres AT ALL! Add to this what The Morning Star himself tried to say in Project X Zone 2:

Sooo... does it mean, that he got his reputation in our Earthly mythos simply living out his life to the fullest on some sort of “vacation trip” and is remembered by two names

(as Shamash and his twin sister Ishtar)? Daaaamn,

as if Judith’s novel wasn’t bad (I mean great) enough...

And now goes our final mythos based theory: Yuri isn't exactly a goddess, he is just a very high-ranked and powerful anunnaki. And he has THIS level of mental disorder separating Shamash

( light: True Knight in the heart, kindness (love), and justice)

“ His friend wasn't a knight, he was part of a guild. His friend didn't believe in "justice" and "virtue" but rather "resolution" and "morality". ” About Yuri from Flynn’s biography in the Tales of the Rays.

Although often cynical, he has a strong sense of justice and possesses an earnest desire to aid the weak and the powerless. (c) Crosspedia PXZ2 (2015)

and Ishtar...

sorry, not this one. Ishtar (Anunit, The Morning Star)

(dark: a whore to the bone, love (means sex) & war) parts of his personality. That means that both of "them" aren't whole and...

well, it’s better to stop here for now and see how bad our Dark Venus with a hero syndrome:

will be from the point when...

when “She” gets (regains?) “Her” full self-awareness...

*PXZ Project X Zone (sorry, spelled it wrong, but I’m too furious, you see, to check small details. I hate so much I even had to write all this about MY favorite MALE character I mistook “HER” for... to begin with. Hate the very thought people still didn’t know WHOSE Anniversary it is. If Namco wouldn’t give proper explanations, or they will be worse than what we can assume now... well, I did everything I could for HIM... before all the HELL this body really is for

breaks out. because It’s impossible to continue like this

and Yuri himself already understood that even Flynn saw him in a different light for all his life.

Update:

and with a new skill like that (by-the-books Lightbringer to me), it all will be confirmed/over in a few months at best.

Gods!

...this is not fun even for me anymore. I'm starting to pity "her" for real. DE isn't even a remake, you know...

It's PS3's remake but PS3 and 360 are NOT one and the same. What did we do to deserve this ten years after? (5 for me) ...Oh, what a mess.

It can only be compared with Estelle's new dress.

Screaming "dawn"+"bride" 100% Aya (as a silly child in her dreams to make it the worst situation possible for her for Aya has no info about her in the mythos so you can imagine on whom she is based on personality-wise from now on).

And the whole Namco's Universe is Unus Mundus based. This much is obvious from Anima&Animus + Ix's-zerom connection thing as they have shown it.

So... Vesperia's story so far (all with "probably" before every statement):

1) Something horrible happened to right-handed "HER" before he is shown left-handed 7 years old boy. (Luke and Schwann are both left-handed, Damuron, Raven, and Asch aren't).

2) Something horrible happened to HIM after the movie resulting in a second kinda split of what should be The MORNING part

into what I call Shamash and Anunit "twins". Damn.

3) Something truly horrible happened to "them" atop of Zaude for he has a blastia and that "survival" of his now....looks really fishy.

4) And a TOTAL SHIT happened in the end atop of Tarquaron. for "their"'s body is Istar's avatar kinda thing and we got that Brave Vesperia "star" smashed in pieces, so it is a spirit now... and you can imagine what we have in the Rays in addition to “them” (total four of them: Shamash for Estelle, Nergal for Judith, Ishtar for Flynn and Anat for Raven...

or even more) and “their” problems... This gonna be a once in a lifetime experience if our dear author is bold enough to drag ISTAR (Sirius star WOLF GOD) here to play the Fenrir's part not just our poor Anunit (Nanaiya) "girl" based on goddess Sakuya.

And what in the world was 360th Yuri then who earned 8.5. years of love, respect and admiration of the fans worldwide before Claw bitch in Asteria ruined EVERYTHING “he” сould for him? Who suffers so much from the mistreating he gets from everyone at their Dorms?

Hah... just a half of something really close to Luke's kind of existence

...without his own body.

This whole Rays "story" is a ONE BIG MESS meant to explain THIS.

AND this gonna hit really hard even those of us who are well prepared because Duke’s event and info from the near future were unexpected and crazy enough for me to get shocked despite all this lore digging. Then I did even more lore digging and dropped it all for good after chapter 9 of FR arc.

I just want to see how people will react if all the shit you just finished reading here about our favorite world and character

will be proven as even HALF-right in the near future as the story in the Rays progresses.

This still looks too simple for me. The real deal SURE is worse. I’m 100% positive only concept-wise mostly because of how he will look in GEREO’S world,

because he doesn’t look human at all and the symbols on his outfit are clearly Istar’s. I’m not bold enough to write how I think the real story will turn out...

, but our CONCEPT-based theory is enough for me to drop it all until it is over... and remember HIM

as he was AND by Shamash’s name only.

P.S. translated Rays’ screenshots are from Lol’s Youtube channel

#tales of asteria #tales of the rays #tales of vesperia #yuri lowell #tales of

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killscreencinema · 6 years

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God of War (PlayStation 4)

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So I missed out on God of War.

Back in 2005, when the first game was released by Santa Monica Studios for the Playstation 2, I was finishing up college. I remember reading about the game’s development and being fascinated by the concept - a Spartan warrior who decides he wants to kill the Greek gods? Cool. I never got a chance to play it upon its initial release because I was a broke college student and had probably spent what little money I had on some other game. I considered renting it, but no, no, this was a game I needed extensive time on and didn’t want to binge in order to get it back to the video store on time.

Before I could get ahold of it either way, some college buddies of mine bought the game and so began playing the ever loving crap out of it. Every time I came over to hang out, they were playing God of War, which bugged me because the whole game was being spoiled for me. When my friends played a game, they had this sick compulsion to REPLAY it over and over and over (whereas I finish a game and move on, like a sane person). This went on for at least 2-3 months before my desire to play the game myself was replaced with resentment for the entire series.

I had always meant to play the trilogy at some point, but other games took precedence. So when the 4th entry into the series, simply titled God of War, was released this year, and it was clear that the game was a kind of soft reboot/sequel (in the way that Resident Evil 4 was a soft reboot/sequel), it seemed like a perfect jumping on point for a newb like me.

Now I want to say normally I’m very uncomfortable just jumping into the the middle of a series like this. I don’t like to say things like, “I’m OCD”, because I feel it trivializes an potentially serious mental illness in order for people to make themselves sound less boring, but... I think I have mild OCD, especially in that I’m incredibly resistant to watching movies and TV shows out of order or playing video games out of order. It’s not just a preference thing - I get physically out of sorts when someone insists I watch something like The Raid 2, but I haven’t seen the first one. They might be like, “It’s an entirely new story with different characters, you don’t need to see the first one” to which I’m like, “No, you don’t understand, I NEED to see it.” However, I don’t think I’m actually OCD because many times I’ll break down and just get over my weird fixation on watching/playing things in order. My introduction to the Elder Scrolls series via starting with Oblivion and never looking back (Morrow-what?) is evidence enough to me that I am perfectly capable of skipping games in a series without feeling terribly bad about it.

The point of this dumb tangent is that I was dead set against playing this new God of War until I played through the first three, but it seemed to me like the developers went out of their way to make this game accessible to people who are new to the franchise, so I pulled an Elder Scrolls and blew caution to the (Morrow)wind. I’m kind of glad I did too, for reasons I’ll explain further when I discuss the story.

The game takes place years after the third, with the legendary “Ghost of Sparta”, Kratos, having retired into the mountains far away from his homeland of Greece. When we meet Kratos, he is in the process of building a pyre with which to cremate the remains of his dead wife so that he and his son Atreus can take her ashes to the “highest peak in all the realms”, according to her final wishes. At first Kratos is reluctant to bring Atreus on the journey, believing him to not be ready, but his hand is forced after a god named Baldur, brother of the Nordic god Thor, unexpectedly shows up to pick a fight with Kratos. After barely surviving the encounter, Kratos realizes that he and Atreus both would be more safe on the move than staying in one place long enough for Baldur to show up for round two. However, along the way, Kratos uses the journey as a opportunity to continue training his son to become a man, while Atreus is insatiably curious to learn more about his stoic badass of a father, but Kratos ain’t talking because he doesn’t want his son to know about his true godly nature.

So yes, the new God of War game is, at its core, a story about an estranged father and son bonding during a journey. Cue “Cats in the Cradle”:

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Kidding aside, I absolutely loved this aspect of the game and I enjoyed the back and forth between the characters throughout the story. This was helped by excellent voice acting by Sunny Sulijic as Atreus and Christopher Judge (of Stargate SG-1 fame) as Kratos. Evidently, Judge took over the role because the game developers needed someone who was physically closer in size to Kratos in the game for animation purposes. While I’m sure this was regrettable for fans of Carson’s work with the character, Judge is no slouch, and does such a great job even diehard fans of the series have to give it up to him as worthy of the mantle.

Fans of the series may be quick to point out that I may not feel that way if I were more familiar with the series, and that’s fair. Like I mentioned before, though, I’m glad that I’m coming in fresh, because not only does that make me a little more open to a different sounding Kratos, but not being as familiar with mythos of the series makes me just as eager as Atreus to hear more about his bloody past. One might say it takes on a... mythical quality?

No, wait, please keep reading, I apologize!

The game plays like a brawler in the style of Bloodborne or Dark Souls, though certainly not as difficult as those games are infamous for being. That being said, God of War ain’t a cake walk either! The game has a respectable bite to it challenge wise, forcing the player to learn how to deal with individual enemy types beyond repetitive Dynasty Warriors style hack-n-slashery. The optional boss fights with the Corrupted Valkyries is an absolute treat in which to test one’s skills, leading up to a hell of a brawl with the Valkyrie Queen (whom I couldn’t beat... dammit). That being said, epic boss battles like that are way too sparse and the same enemies get overused a little too much.

While Kratos eventually regains his iconic Chaos Blades from the previous games (spoilers), his main weapon is an axe called Leviathan and ohhh what a fun weapon it is too! Similar to Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, Kratos can hurl the axe at enemies, and call it back at will. This spices up battles a lot, allowing you to pull off awesome moves like throwing your axe at an enemy to freeze them with its ice powers, and beating another enemy with your bare fists, before calling your axe back to you, which slices up or trips enemies in its trajectory back to you. Meanwhile, your son isn’t just sitting on the sidelines cheering you on (or warning you of attacks from behind, which is helpful) - Atreus jumps into the fray to help either by shooting baddies with his bow and arrow or he’ll often leap on their head and keep them prone long enough for you to deliver powerful, but slow, cleaving blows with your axe.

And anyone with traumatic memories of GoldenEye 64 escort missions need not worry - Atreus cannot die! Yay!

Besides the main story quest, the game offers a nice variety of side quests to keep you busy without being so overwhelming that you totally forget there even IS a main quest (which is something that often happens to me A LOT with games of this type). Fortunately, besides killing all 50 of Odin’s ravens, the side quests are actually a lot of fun and don’t involve insipid fetch quests. While some of them can be fairly time consuming, like the labyrinth in Niflheim, none of them ever felt tedious.

If my ramblings haven’t made it clear, God of War is amazing game, which delivers a compelling “cinematic experience”, but without sacrificing substantive gameplay (a formula a lot of AAA developers named after badly behaved canines have trouble balancing). However, you don’t have to take MY word for it...

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#god of war #playstation #playstation 4 #ps4 #ps4 game #santa monica studios #sony #kratos #christopher judge #stargate sg1 #action adventure #previously recorded #rlm #red letter media

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goron-king-darunia · 3 years

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Annon-Guy: What do you think the 14 Symphonia would think of Amane Nishiki and Relius Clover? I know the guys would be embarrassed by Amane attempting to scout them sense Amane likes to recruit cute boys or handsome men (Emil, Lloyd, Genis, Zelos, Regal, Kratos, Richter and Decus all fit the bill). Of course, he would find the girls cute too. I do know that they would all despise Relius for only seeing people as objects (only souls mater to him). I think even Alice and Decus would hate Relius.

Lloyd likes to look for the best in people so while he might be embarrassed by Amane, I think he’d mostly just think he’s a “strange guy” without really judging too hard. Relius he might have a problem with because Relius values souls more than people and their lives and that’s similar to how Mithos valued an imagined ideal for equality over the actual quality of people’s lives. Genis would probably dislike both Relius and Amane because neither of them would really be seeing him the way he wants to be seen. Genis has a big complex about being short, to the point where growing 1/4 inch was enough for him to brag to Raine. Amane treating him like a cute new recruit would probably irk him because as much as he might enjoy being cute by dressing up as a Katz with Presea, he doesn’t want to be considered cute just for being young and short. So I’m sure he’d interpret Amane’s interest as him not taking Genis seriously. Relius of course would just see him as a new soul for experiments and Genis is already pretty resentful of getting that sort of stigma for being a half-elf, to the point where he really empathized with Mithos over their shared discrimination, which is why fighting Mithos was so difficult for him. Mithos is what Genis himself would have become without friends like Lloyd to show him that he could be valued as a person without having to LITERALLY change the fabric of reality the way Mithos wanted to. Colette, I think, would probably just consider Amane silly. Colette is the kind of person who, like Lloyd, sees the best in people, and befriends others easily. Even Richter, who attacked her, was considered “a nice person” even though she was willing to help Emil fight him in the end. So Amane would probably just be a quirky potential friend to her unless he did something actively and relentlessly malicious to prove himself an enemy. Relius fits the bill for actively malicious or at least actively misanthropic because everyone is reduced to a potential soul for him to experiment with, so I’m sure Colette would be willing to fight him. That said, Colette’s never actively hateful toward anyone, so while she might be angry at the way Relius thinks and acts, she probably would work with Lloyd and the others toward finding the least harmful way to stop him from hurting others. Raine would 100% be against Relius as a scientist and as someone who doesn’t value the lives of others, he deems test subjects. Like Genis, Raine is aware of what it’s like to be seen as just a guinea pig. So while she might respect his work ethic and dedication, she would 100% be against the inhumane things he does in the name of “science.” I’m not sure what Raine would think of Amane, but it’s possible she’d see him as an interesting case study and would be interested in learning more about him. Sheena might be put off by Amane at first since his flamboyant nature might remind her of Zelos, but since Amane seems more interested in beauty and especially male beauty she might be a little less put off? Sheena would absolutely be down to kick Relius’s ass. Unlike Lloyd and Colette, she would probably actively hate him and unlike Raine and Genis, it wouldn’t be for any personal reason. She and Zelos have a shared hatred for self-righteous people that think they can just do what they want and toy with the lives of others. Zelos would probably get along with Amane if Amane didn’t gush over him. XD Then again, Amane gushing over him might feed his ego. Depends on if Zelos is homophobic or not. I’m going to say no because I can’t recall Zelos ever being uncomfortable with anyone commenting on his looks, male or female, and I think if he’d be more likely to just be like “Glad you think I’m hot shit, but I’m just here for the hunnies~” Then again, since Amane is pretty effeminate, Zelos might accidentally hit on him. Again, not to beat a dead horse, but it would definitely be an exception if anyone DIDN’T hate Relius. So suffice to say that Zelos is not going to vibe with Relius treating people like cattle. Presea is more of the same with Relius. Unlike people like Mithos or Richter, whose pain she could probably understand (despite being the least expressive, she seems to be one of the most empathetic characters in the Symphonia crew) Relius seems mostly to be doing what he does because he CAN. Mithos did what he did for his sister and for equality for half-elves. Richter did what he did for Aster and to try to save the world from what he thought was a real threat (Ratatosk DID threaten genocide.) Relius is willing to throw his own family away in pursuit of his ultimate goal: his research. So while Presea might feel pity or sympathy for another adversary, she would probably fight Relius with no hesitation. I think Presea, as a craftsman, would vibe on some level with Amane, though Presea seems single-minded in what she considers aesthetic: animal cuteness. So I’m sure they could have debates about art but Presea probably doesn’t have much interest or experience with dance and doesn’t have a particular interest in human beauty because people don’t have pawpads that she can squish. Regal, as a noble, and a bit of a renaissance man, could probably understand the pursuit of beauty, aesthetics, and performance that Amane is interested in. Regal might even be flattered at being scouted. But Regal is pretty modest, all things considered, so I feel like he would decline an invitation to be in Amane’s troupe because it doesn’t really work well with his ultimate desires to help his friends and make up for having to kill Alicia. Again, probably a no-brainer that Regal wouldn’t like Relius, though he would definitely have an extra layer there of Relius turning his wife and children into tools to fight with. Regal had to kill Alicia to spare her the fate of being a monster and spare others from being hurt by her and it’s painful for him. So for Regal, it would be unthinkable to actually HAVE THE CHANCE to be with someone who cares about you, to have children that love you, and then just throw that away for power. Regal literally GAVE UP one of his greatest strengths, his powerful punches, to avoid hurting anyone ever again and to repent for hurting Alicia. So Regal would probably be disgusted with valuing power over people. Kratos would probably pity Relius. Having followed Mithos for as long as he did and after being shown the light by Lloyd, he’d probably know better than anyone that a single-minded pursuit of any goal, even a noble goal, can lead to terrible outcomes. And for that goal to just be the furtherance of science rather than any good that science could do for humanity would be enough for Kratos to be against him. Kratos would probably think Amane is strange, but kind of in a grandpa kind of “kids these days” way like “Lloyd? Lloyd is it trendy for guys to dress and act like this now? First Zelos and now this guy? Times are changing faster and faster. Wow.” I don’t think he’d necessarily mind being “scouted” but he’d be confused. He probably doesn’t see himself as an exceptional example of beauty, and it doesn’t really mesh with any of his goals. Emil is very shy and reserved and self-deprecating so he would be flattered by being scouted but would 100% think he doesn’t deserve it and would fall over himself trying to explain that he’s not a performer and he doesn’t know how to dance. Same story, different character, Emil would probably hate Relius, mostly for his shamelessness in hurting so many people and feeling no remorse. Emil found out the other version of him, Ratatosk, killed ONE person and was willing to throw himself on the swords of his friends to try to make up for that, Emil can’t IMAGINE what would have to happen to make a person just willingly use and hurt so many people and just NOT be bothered by it. He HATED Lloyd for the longest time because he thought Lloyd was like that and caused the massacre at Palma Costa and then just DIDN’T CARE about it. Post-game Emil would probably be softer on Relius because his friends saw a path to redemption for Emil that didn’t involve a death gambit, and even Richter who he’d hurt most saw fit to give him a second chance. So while Emil would absolutely want to take Relius down, I think he’d be with Lloyd and Colette in the “reform Relius if possible” team and not the “Beat sense into him by any means necessary” team that, say, Sheena and Zelos might fall into. Marta would definitely gush with Amane over how cute Emil is but every time Amane wanted to talk about anyone else Marta would get mad and just be like “No, this is gush about Emil time, I don’t care about Zelos.” I think Marta would also love to incorporate the whole “beauty of dance and fighting as a type of dance” into her own fighting style. Dead horse whipping hours again: Marta would be with everyone else trying to stop Relius but would also probably be “team soft punishment” like Emil and Lloyd and Colette because killing Alice in self-defense (or in defense of Emil) hurt her enough and I think she’d want to avoid having to kill anyone again. Richter would fall probably more on the side of pity and disgust with Relius for disgracing science, but I’m unsure if he’d also hate Relius for representing the sorts of people at Sybak that saw him and his kind as disposable labor (like how Relius turned his wife into a machine to fight) or as test subjects. I’m leaning toward yes, he’d hate Relius and would kill him if necessary, but Emil and Aster both impressed a sense of forgiveness on him, so I’m not sure if he would follow through with it or regret it if he did kill Relius. I think Richter would be a bit of a tsundere if Amane tried to scout him because when Aster echoed Aqua’s assertion that he was handsome in the manga, he got flustered and yelled at Aster to shut up. It’s unclear whether he’d be more uncomfortable with the fact that the praise is coming from Amane or whether it’s because he’s receiving praise at all, since the few times Emil praised him he seemed to be flustered by it. Richter’s also not big on dance so I don’t think he’d be very interested in being in a troupe with Amane. Alice would vibe with Relius’s pursuit of power by any means but would probably be disgusted just from the fact that she’s kind of jealous. Part of the reason Alice is so power-hungry is that she sees the world as a dog-eat-dog world, where the strong subjugate the weak. She doesn’t ever want to feel powerless again, so while she would admire Relius seeing what he wants and taking it, it’d be sort of the way a jealous prince would admire a king. If Alice had the power to crush him, though, she absolutely would. Because under all the layers of “I have to be strong so no one can ever hurt me” I’m pretty sure a small part of her recognizes that Relius is abusing his power and is pretty vile. Alice I think would vibe with Amane with the whole “Fight well and look cute doing it” aesthetic but would be pretty neutral with him otherwise. Decus would be flattered by Amane scouting him and might even join up with him if Alice would come along (and she probably wouldn’t unless it was Amane joining THEM instead. She only worked with Richter because Richter promised her more power because he had a contract with demons.) If he can’t be with Alice he’d probably just say “Love the offer but my one true purpose is to devote myself to Alice. Don’t blame you though! I do my best to be as attractive as I can be for Alice!” Decus would be willing to kick Relius’s ass for Alice but ONLY for Alice. Though if we remove Alice from the picture, I can see Decus having an issue with him because as much as Alice claims to only want power for power’s sake, she protected him. So he knows there’s goodness and love in her. With Relius, he probably would have no reason to believe there’s any goodness in him.

#BBTAG #Letters from Annon Guy #Relius Clover #Amane Nishiki #Anonymous

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wazafam · 3 years

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A hardcore God of War fan recently took to Twitter to show off her replica of the Leviathan Axe, complete with glowing symbols on the blade and two equipped runes for runic attacks. While the gaming world continues to wait with bated breath for the announcement of God of War: Ragnarok’s release date, this labor of love is a clear indication that appreciation for 2018’s God of War hasn’t died down in the slightest. This hype was further fueled by the recent PlayStation 5 patch for the game, which allowed the it to be played in 4K and at up to 60 frames per second.

As for the actual in-game Leviathan Axe, it’s unclear how significant of a role it will play in the upcoming Ragnarok. In 2018’s God of War, it was a bold step away from Kratos’s trademark weapons, the Blades of Chaos (or Athena, or Exile, depending on the game). Luckily, the axe proved to be a more than capable stand-in, allowing players to control Kratos in new ways and open up a litany of new puzzle, combat, and exploration mechanics. Like Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, the Leviathan Axe also revolves around the ability to recall itself to the wielder’s hands, which was the bread and butter of much of God of War’s gameplay.

Related: God Of War's Art Director Remakes Chrono Trigger's Cast 25 Years Later

On Twitter, Megret Agnès says that her Leviathan Axe replica took over 150 hours of work, and it shows. The replica is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, and the glowing symbols and designs that adorn it indicate that the model is based on the weapon’s appearance at max level. The replica is so lifelike that Cory Barlog, creative director at Santa Monica Studio, weighed in to call the model “glorious.” On the downside, Agnès responded to one comment to clarify that if the axe could chop wood, it wouldn’t light up; therefore, it would probably not be particularly helpful against a draugr or Dark Elf.

This is not the first time Agnès has paid serious homage to God of War. In fact, the year the game was released, she once again took to Twitter to announce that she had named her son Atreus. She has also created a replica of the deer that Kratos and Atreus hunt near the beginning of the game, complete with glowing antlers. Her Twitter features replicas and items from other games as well, most notably the Assassin’s Creed and the Bayonetta series.

With God of War: Ragnarok set to release, or at least be announced, sometime this year, there is no telling what new and fascinating imagery Sony Santa Monica will devise next. An additional hurdle the team must jump is making the game look distinguishable from other games that take place against a Norse or Viking backdrop, such as Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and Valheim. Luckily, the God of War series has always excelled at rising to the top of its class with its design, music, characters, and gameplay. With the next game as the series’ first entry on current generation consoles, it’s almost certainly going to be a genre-defining experience.

Next: God Of War: Ragnarok Developer Already Hiring For New Unannounced Game

Source: Megret Agnès/Twitter

God Of War Leviathan Axe Replica Glows Just Like the Real Thing from https://ift.tt/3qhGb8m

#Blogger

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lostsummerdayz · 5 years

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Castle Point Anime Convention Wrap-Up!

Castle Point Anime Convention is in the books! It surely indeed was one for the books as well, coming from someone who has not attended Castle Point in literal years. Try...2012 to be exact. Seven years passes by so flipping fast. To think, the last time I was at this convention was back when I was a mere nineteen year old! Regardless, time flies and as we get older and we evolve, so too must our conventions that we attend. If conventions do not improve of evolve, then they will never last for the long term. Rather dire things to say for an opening to a wrap-up post, but it’s how I personally feel on the matter. It’s a challenge for grassroots conventions to pull it off, but for those who do, the payoffs are grand. In Castle Point’s case, they have pulled it off. They have evolved greatly from the small yet modest “college con” that I recall attending way back when.

KDA Akali by projectxayah and KDA Evelynn by melanubis

As such, to end this foreword, I’ll be making some comparisons to the last time I attended CPAC back in 2012, to now, throughout this article. It’s going to be quite a lengthy read, so strap in everyone!

The Meadowlands Expo venue was simple to arrive with no issues on our end. A simple fifteen-minute-at-best-half-hour-at-worse-due-to-traffic bus ride from Port Authority was all that was needed to arrive. The bus stop even lets you off directly in front of the convention center itself! Here is where I can immediately talk about how helpful the staff was towards myself and the rest of the podcast. When we needed help as far as knowing where to go and con assistance in general, everyone was able to help, but, there weren’t any crowding that I noticed as well. Lines were handled well, and the Dealer’s Room/Artist Alley, places where there’s known to be a packed pandemonium, was handled well. Mainly this was due in part to there being a designated entrance and a designated exit. Take notes future cons!

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As the time drew nearer for the gates to be open, the hall slowly but surely filled itself with various cosplayers, attendees wearing gaming and anime inspired apparel, and soon enough the events began.

One of the first events was a maid performance, made to kick off the opening of the anime convention. It certainly had set the tone for the convention for sure, where one could hear it in ambiance even if they weren’t there to physically attend.

After the opening ceremonies concluded, I was left to explore the event as it were. One of the first stops I take in any convention is within the game room, so to speak. Majority of the games featured, due in part from the Snow Phoenix team, in the game room below are games in which I have played at least once, play on a regular at the local arcade, or games in which I never had played before (Or ever will play outside of cons)

Regardless of which category the games fell under, it’s always fun to go back to these games from time to time. Free play is just a bonus in all honesty. My personal favorite of the games featured here had to have been Sound Voltex, always a fine game in my book. The second being Crossbeats, a touch based rhythm game which, sadly, development ceased as of last year. It’s still a great game to go back to from time to time.

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Another portion of the game room were console setups. These had a slew of fighting games ranging from the Street Fighter Collection to Mortal Kombat 11, Soul Calibur 6 to Tekken 7, and of course an entire section of CRT televisions dedicated to Melee. Tournaments were held throughout the weekend, which, unfortunately I didn’t make it as far as I would have liked. However, those who I had met were friendly enough to me.

Back on the topic of rhythm games, I had attended a rhythm game panel that was being presented later on that afternoon. The convention was split into two venues. The main venue, at the Meadowlands Expo, had the main events while the Holiday Inn had the extra panels. This was where the Rhythm Game panel was held.

Held by RhythmCore Gaming, the rhythm game panel spoke about the history of rhythm games, mainly focusing on Bemani games, as well as touching upon mobile rhythm games briefly as well. For those reading who aren’t aware of what a “Bemani” is, essentially it’s the rhythm game division of Konami. Familiar titles include Dance Dance Revolution, Beatmania IIDX, Sound Voltex, Pop’n Music, and so much more.

All in all, as far as presentation, it was a well run panel. From a technical standpoint, the Castle Point staff made sure all equipment that were in use were running well, as far as projectors for example. Crowd control was also handled quite well, to avoid overflow. From the panelist’s standpoint, I feel they had gotten the gist of what each game is and how they play. Being slightly critical, I feel some of those who were assigned to talk about a specific game went more in depth with their game than others, but I know more than anyone the challenge of running a rhythm game panel.

See, way back in 2013, I, too, ran a rhythm game panel at a convention that has long since been discontinued. A good friend of mine and I both ran the panel, yet, with technical difficulties due to the inability of the staff to assist us, as well as not informing the panel ahead of us that we were running late due to the technical difficulties, the experience gave me more of a headache than I’d like to admit.

An awesome ass couple cosplay that, sadly, did not have any social media :( I still dug it!

However, this is where I can once again praise the Castle Point staff for being on top of making sure the panel ran smoothly. I can also give respect to the RhythmCore Gaming group for tackling on a subject to appeal to a crowd that may look at an arcade rhythm game in fear and confusion. I suppose I admit I attended this panel to see how others would tackle such a topic. I give the panel a “Certified Nay’s Thumb Up.”

For the rest of the convention, I had made sure to try to get my fill in of taking pictures of as many cosplayers as I found whom caught my eye, all of whom you’ll see throughout this post. One in particular who caught my eye was a Kasumi cosplayer.

Kasumi from Persona 5 Royale by ZodiacKind

See, again, for the reader who may not know this about me. I am a huge Persona fan. When I had heard news that Persona 5 Royale was a thing and I had saw the trailer earlier that same week, I was hoping that the cosplay community would work fast.

The cosplay community would not disappoint me.

This cosplayer deserves special mention just for having this at the ready so quickly, so, for that I appreciate this so much!

Another cosplayer who I felt deserved an honorable mention was a woman who was a very good Sub-Zero, but also earlier that weekend she was Kratos. I had the chance to interview her as Sub-Zero in which the video can be found below.

Sub-Zero by Amarys Berry

I mentioned in my previous post about Winter Brawl that vendors are the underappreciated glue that holds a regional/major together. There will be a post separate from this one where I interview one of the vendors from Artist Alley, but the same sentiment is stated here. There are so many vendors in the Artist Alley with their own story and own purpose for doing what they love.

I, in fact, covered an Artist Alley vendor at the Con itself! However, I feel a paragraph alone won’t be enough to give them justice, so please be sure to read the companion article here where I discuss meeting with Bunnies & Cream! You don’t want to miss it, for sure!

In any case, the same could be said for cosplayers. Cosplayers are not so much the glue, but the exoskeleton that makes the entire convention worth it. Each cosplayer has their own story in terms of what got them into it, how long they’ve been doing it, and what made them cosplay certain characters.

Unfortunately, things can tend to go awry when you least expect it. The blade on your sword prop may hang loose, an annoying thread may linger on one’s dress, a shirt may be ripping from the seams. All of these nightmares are easily avoided by those on standby who are dedicated to make any mess a fixable one!

This was quite possibly one of the few points of interest that I saw at the convention. An “all in one” emergency repair station not unlike one you would see at a convention. I couldn’t help myself. I had to learn more. Thankfully these guys were friendly enough to answer my questions I’ve had. Big thanks!

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With all of the maintenance that goes into making the perfect, subjectively of course, cosplay, no matter if it’s been a decade or ten days, every cosplayer is equally important to the well-being of any convention.

Even moreso when cosplayers engage in violent carnage within the squared circle and go for a swinging neck cutter as a finishing move.

In what was perhaps the highlight of the convention, the Cosplay Pro Wrestling event was a fitting end to an action packed weekend. Although I had caught it while in the middle of the event, what surprised me the most was how there was an actual story arc.

From what I was able to gather, the main story arc revolved around the face, or hero, Big Boss, feuding with Team Rocket, who formed an allegiance with Princess Peach. The main event was scheduled for Big Boss vs Princess Peach for the title.

Throughout the set, one of the matches I did see in its fullest was Winter Soldier versus, and I quote, “Jeff Harley Quinn.”

As you could expect from the name alone, this Harley Quinn shared a lot of Jeff Hardy’s likeliness as far as his mannerisms and his moveset. What one may not have expected, was Winter Soldier, who bore resemblance and a moveset similar to Roman Reigns.

Spears, Twists of Fates, Leg Drops, and Swanton Bombs were present here as one would expect to see from fans of both wrestlers, yet they also brought about some of Quinn’s cunning which was what gave her the overall victory.

Harley Quinn by Catie V

Eventually, after a match of Link vs Liu Kang, the main event transpired. Paing homage to heel stables of the Attitude Era, trickery was used while Team Rocket was able to give enough damage to Big Boss to have Princess Peach secure the pin.

However, when all hope seemed lost... Mario and Luigi, decked out in “Bullet Bill Club” shirts, went out and chased Team Rocket as well as Princess Peach out of the ring. What followed after was a tag team match, with more story building now that the Bullet Bill Club entered the scene.

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There was so much more that could be said as to what transpired in this two hour finale to an otherwise action packed weekend, including one of the guys from Attack on Titan fighting Isabelle from Animal Crossing, but it was one of those events where you had to be there to experience it.

That’s the one thing I can say about the convention. For a two-day con, there was always something to experience. If you wanted to meet one of your favorite voice actresses like I had, you could do so.

If you wanted to take in the sights and experience panels and learn new things about otaku culture and the like, you could do so as well. There’s literally no right or wrong way to attend the convention and the only thing that I can recommend is to do everything you possibly can. Unfortunately some conventions don’t have that, but, with this year’s Castle Point I can definitely say that the community as well as the staff had pulled out all the stops to make it memorable.

With that said in conclusion, for this being my first anime convention of the year, it was a fantastic way to start. Thank you once again to the Castle Point staff for giving myself and my fellow members of the Geeks podcast for giving us the opportunity. I’ll definitely try to attend next year for sure.

As always, may the Lost Summer never end! Tune to us soon for the next post!

#cpac2019 #Castle Point Anime Convention

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