#I only do personal art for/because of stories set on Tetra :')

[whiteraven90]

I'm thinking of making a worldbuilding/OC masterpost but i'm not yet sure what exactly to include in it. Anything you'd like to see/read about?

#whiteraven90 #Tetra #worldbuilding #I only do personal art for/because of stories set on Tetra :')

[spiritmaiden23]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. For sure, for being the cutest of cutes!! All Zeldas are cute though but she was the blueprint ;v; 

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. I’m a devout christian virgin I would never ever look at those kind of topics the only hot I see is the flames of hell for even considering this smh smh bUT NO FOR REAL THO I’M NOT REALLY SURE???? I mostly see people gushing over how cute she is rather than hot. 

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / In some aspects. We don’t really see Skyward Sword Zelda’s abilities in the games as we did in, say, BOTW where she goes full goddess mode. Aside from blessing the master sword, sealing herself away, and the implications that the game gives us with Zelda being not only a student at the knight school but also a badass warrior goddess in her past life; I’d say she’s pretty up there in terms of strength. 

Are they underrated?  YES / NO. GONNA GO WITH YES AND NO ON THIS. As a character, Zelda is far from underrated she’s actually cliche blonde character we all love and stan but in this incarnation.... also yes and no because while I see a lot of people like SS Zelda keep in mind that SS is the black sheep of the series so not a lot of people have good opinions on it. I’ve seen some say she’s annoying, too shoujo or even Mary Sue at some points and hweoh we all know that the last one ain’t even close to true since she’s far from bland and OP written. But it’s all a matter of perspective!  

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO.

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO /

Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO.

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL / FOR THE MOST PART, if we were talking verses like say witch verse she’d have more of a neutral reputation considering witches aren’t really well-liked ;-; 

How strictly do you follow canon?  

I try to do the best that I can do given with what we’re working with here all while adding my own spin to her characterization because we all have different perspective when it comes to art! How I see Zelda is someone who’s bubbly, playful (big ol bully hweoh), a bit of a busybody if she feels she needs to step in due to worrywart tendencies yet highly responsible and carries a wisdom that’s beyond her age, she doesn’t like seeing people bullying others and isn’t afraid to put her foot down to speak her mind if something is up. While kindness is sorta her strong suit I wanted to go beyond “nice girl” and just showcase other sides of her too, hence why main verse is typically set during the events of SS because here we see her growth into the girl we see at the end of the game where she’s melancholic of her past but is looking forward to seeing what the future holds and wants to build a brighter tomorrow with Link by her side along with friends and loved ones. I’m not at all confident in playing as her, despite playing as Zelda since 2017 haha!! So I can’t really say that I’m super strict in following canon considering that’s how I view the character through the actions and dialogue throughout the game, perhaps the creators had something different in mind than how I see Sky Zelda.   

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  

DO YOU LIKE WHOLESOME GIRLS?! Wait no, hold on, that’s a little too vague, so let’s try that again. Do you like wholesome genki girls who were once a god who fought in a war in their past life? How about pastel girls who may seem sweet but are deep down bullies towards loved ones? Are you at a point in your life where you find yourself wondering: where on earth can I find someone who’s ray of sunshine can brighten up my day. Will do I have good news for you buddy! Introducing your very own friend: Zelda from hit series Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. This Zelda is more extreme than the others due to the fact that she’s not a princess, that’s right no princess titles clogging up that beautiful name. Just a knight who somehow finds out she’s actually a goddess reborn as human, no biggie! 

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?)

SHOUJO PROTAG WHO’S TOO FREAKING CUTE!! So.... if that’s not your cup of tea ;v; but nah I can see people not liking Zelda because not everyone like the nice girl who’s your childhood friend characrter, I totally get it but if you dig a little deeper you see that there’s more to it than that.

What inspired you to rp your muse?  

My close friend was FINALLY getting into the LOZ series back when BOTW was first coming out, her playthrough of SS made me remember how much I loved each characters and honestly Zelda’s design in that game was always my fav right next to Tetra and ALTTP/ALBW! At the time I mostly played more introverted muses or straight up villains and I wanted to try my hand at playing more wholesome characters like Sky Zel and ALTTP Zel ;v; now look at me, the CEO of wholesome cute girls ;v; 

What keeps your inspiration going?  

Motivation and time at this point, I’m not the young starry-eyed rper who used to have playlists and replay things to keep up with canon. I just pray to god I’m doing ok, let jesus take the wheel and just sorta do my own thing. I think having fun threads or a friendship with partners or just good vibes from them def helps a whole lot. 

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO.

Do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO. SORTA KINDA NOT AS MUCH AS I DO WITH ALTTP ZEL BECAUSE I’M ALWAYS NERVOUS THAT I MIGHT LIKE BREAK THE CANON OR ZEL’S CHARACTER!! 

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO.  

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day?  YES / NO.

Are you confident in your portrayal?   YES / NO.

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO / Most of the time!

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO. I mean, that’s a trick question because I can be sensitive in picking up tones and reading between the lines but like if you mean if someone says something mean than no not anymore at least, I’m too old to care about what people say about me or think about me. 

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?  

YE! I do! I mean we’re all improving and junk so I see no issues with criticisms uvub I always worry about whether or not you can hear different voices within the characters I rp as among writing issues I have that comes with learning disability and ADD, I try my hardest but I know at the end of the day there will always be grammar mistakes and even spelling! 

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?

YES YES YES!! OMG YES!! I TAKE WHATEVER QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE AND JUST... WORD VOMIT BACK SEVEN PAGE ESSAY SOMETIMES ;V; 

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?

Eh, well yeah it’d be nice honestly to hear feedbacks and thoughts. Just saying ‘I don’t like this or I don’t agree with this’ doesn’t really help anyone who wants to improve but I’m not gonna like press them for it either because again I’m at the stage in my life where I’m just like ‘it is what it is’. 

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?

Shrug emoji, and then move on! Again it’d be nice if they can tell me though but I won’t press them for it if they don’t feel like it. We’re allowed to have our opinions after all yo!

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?

It is illegal to hate sky zel or any Zel really... NAH JK I DON’T REALLY CARE I’ve liked characters who aren’t popular among the fandom, I’m more or less used to seeing character bashing for faves so like it doesn’t really affect me at all I’m just like “lol” and move on. 

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?

YES! Though keep in mind, despite me using Grey instead of Gray, I use US English ;v; so keep that in mind when spotting out certain words other parts of the world may spell differently because us US Americans just..... gotta be extra like that. 

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?  

I TRY!!! IDK IF I COME ACROSS AS THAT but I’m very much someone who goes with the flow anyway, I’ve been told that much IRL and I’m just hweoh not really someone who’s a stick in the mud or has a stick up their ass, you know? I’m pretty laid back and not much bothers me, I can get petty if I have to come across rude people that’s the one thing that kills it for me but aside from that, I just wanna try to get along with people. We don’t have to be friends if you’re not feeling the vibes but friendly terms is good enough for me!

That’s about it, congrats for filling out!

#long post / #ooc postings. #the ceo of cute wholesome girls that's all i wanna be known for #but phew the sleeping pills are kicking in i can't write too well now #so good niiiiight enjoy this early munday meme!

[neokad]

The Legend of Zelda - The Wind Waker! (HD Turbo Championship Edition)

Hi everybody!

As I plan to revisit many Zelda games I haven't played in years (or at all!) in the upcoming months, I finished what used to be one of the most controversial titles in the series for the second time, and the first in four years! And to my shock considering what I've heard about this adventure over time, I fell in love with it all over again 💗

I'd actually like to start this humble review with this analogy: What surprised me the most while replaying this game, is how its overall structure and world are. I feel like the best way to describe this game is like this: A perfectly balanced mix - as all things should be - between a classic Zelda quest, and the much more revolutionary Breath of the Wild. Now, I gotta say, it may be strange to some people to compare an older title to a newer one to describe it, but I promise it'll at least somewhat make sense at the end of this review... I hope O_O

But hey, we might as well review the plot early as usual! Well, there honestly isn't a lot to this story as usual for most Zelda games, but it is pretty solid regardless. Basically, as the ambient intro of the game teaches you, the ancient land of Hyrule got flooded by the gods, as Ganondorf tried to conquer the land with no Hero opposing him. And ever since that event, the world has been flooded with the Great Sea, only leaving many small islands and some people behind to rebuild the world. And so, many years after this happened, we find this game’s Link on his 12th birthday, wearing the “Hero of Time’’s clothes for the occasion as a longheld tradition. BUT, as this supposed happy day happens, his sister Aryll gets kidnapped by a giant flying bird to the Forsaken Fortress - as many other young girls. Naturally, Link tries to go save her with the help of Tetra - another young girl that escaped captivity thanks to her crew of pirates. With the help of her companions and their ship, Link sets out for the fortress, but as he is clearly underpowered, he gets demolished there by none other than Ganondorf, and washes up ashore, unconscious on Windfall Island, greeted by... a talking red boat! And this same boat tells him he must collect the Three Pearls of the Gods in order to gain access to the Master Sword, to finally save the kidnapped girls! This is not the whole plot of course, as I’m hiding some actual plot twists from you, the reader, buuuut I will say that while it’s not the most developed tale out there, it’s well done! But I feel like what drives this the most is certainly the art style and the characters themselves. See, I firmly believe this game has the best Link in the ENTIRE SERIES, no questions asked! He’s expressive, funny, endearing and he just looks so dang adorable! Part of his charm is definitively thanks to the situations he’s put in, but I think it’s mostly because of the game’s artstyle. IT’S BEAUTIFUL

Yes, granted, it’s not nearly as detailed as many games you’ve probably played, but the cartoony style they chose for Wind Waker really makes the locales pop out, and made the slapstick in the game that much more endearing! Plus, some of those shots just look, well, breathtaking really.

Speaking of character expressions and slapstick, I also believe Wind Waker possesses a very memorable set of NPCs as well! Be it the employee in the battleship game with his twofaced personality, or anyone involved in the many sidequests all over the islands, I’ve built lots of memories just traveling all around the sea, reading and delivering letters, just to get to know those people more! And it turned out that a good chunk of them gave me a good time!

Well, let’s talk about those travels, shall we? Wind Waker got (in?)famous over the years for having sailing. Lots of it. And especially in the original Gamecube version, it made travelling slow and boring to some as a result. Basically, you needed to constantly change the direction of the wind in order to travel as quickly as you could. Suffice to say, switching the wind’s directions this often got irksome pretty quickly : P Thankfully, the HD port on the Wii U does give you an optional Fast Sail in a side quest! As early as the second island in the game! Which means that those who found the sailing unbearable in the original will have a better experience ^^ But regardless, there’s a lot of sailing in this game, which is what replaces running/rolling around on the overworld. And instead of having different regions, they’re all replaced by 49 islands of different sizes and importance! And this is where my BOTW comparison will shine~ I think this game is pretty close in spirit to Breath of the Wild in some ways. Sure, unlike in that game, you’re locked to a certain sequence of items/dungeon/progression, just like a classic Zelda experience! BUT!  Wind Waker also allows you to explore 40+ non-important islands, and sailing between them in anticipation of what you might find there is suuuuch a good feeling! Plus, there’s many treasure chests to loot (both major and minor) while you’re travelling on the big blue. Due to how much you can find in your way off the main quest - while being far away from the suggested path the game wants you to do at the moment - gives this game a very open feeling despite still having a linear quest to it! And I think this element of discovery and exploration in a linear format - coupled with the great visuals and ambience the sailing offered - made this game so, so, so much fun to play <3

But what about the gameplay and dungeons themselves? Well thankfully, they’re both quite good as well! What I like most is how much of an improvement swordplay got compared to Ocarina of Time. Not only are the enemies generally more diversified in strategies and design, Link also received many new moves to his arsenal, and those made combat so much more intense and exciting! Though it did make the game very easy overall thanks to having so many options... alongside you not taking very much damage for most of the game :P Still, the dungeons made up for this! They’re quite fun and pretty well paced, and each offer some quite nice ambience as well!  Although I will say that the late part of the game has two dungeons with pretty similar concept, which while fun in their own right, did feel a little uninspired despite them having clever puzzles :/ On a semi unrelated note, the intro sequence at the Forsaken Fortress has you playing a stealth sequence, and you coming back to it later while able to defend yourself was a high point for me!

I do want to leave a quick note about the music, and honestly? It’s pretty great as well! Like I pointed out earlier, the dungeons create some very fitting atmosphere, but as soon as you’re outside them, many of the main islands have some very pretty, energetic music that is PERFECT for a Zelda game (especially Dragon Roost Island), and the Great Sea theme is very adventurous and grandiose, which motivates you even more to set out and explore! Though it’s somewhat strange that many smaller locations have no music at all, which makes sense to be fair, since those islands are usually pretty small from the outside ^^

Overall? I expected to only like this game, but I ended up adoring it! The Wind Waker is a marvelous journey that leaves a lot open to the player about how they approach the game, while still giving you enough of a compass to never be lost! And a competent story with charming characters and great music certainly help to make that adventure all the more memorable! Though I suggest you all should play the HD version if you can, since it has the fast sail and better looks. BUT, it also heavily tones down the infamous lategame Triforce fetch quest. (While it did not make much sense story-wise since you could just do spoiler without it before, I didn’t find it all that bad in the HD version since you can do some of it before having completed all other dungeons in the game ^^ But yes, HD or not, this is a grand adventure! Play it! 9/10

#zelda #wind waker #review #neokad #gaming

[dierlich-design]

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of the Past Concept and Art

The legend of Zelda: Echoes is the Past is an original Zelda story I came up with some time ago and original posted to Zelda Amino but have since taken down. However, in an attempt to preserve and back up my art, as well as perhaps flesh out the story a bit more for a reboot, I have decided to post everything on the current story here. So let’s get right into it.

Cover Thumbnail

The cover thumbnail is pretty simple in terms of looks. It shows our main protagonist alone atop a desert dune overlooking... something. What is that something? Well, that’s something you find out later in the story. I didn’t feel the need for the cover to be overly complicated and felt this matched better with the overall feel of the story.

Story

The story of Echoes of the Past takes place in an alternate Hyrule where Gerudo citizens in Hyrule are constantly harassed, attacked, or even killed by Hylians. The Royal Family has recently begun promoting Hylian superiority and attacks on Gerudo have been on the rise. As a result of this, our main protagonist will set out from her home in Ordon to see her ancestral home in the desert in hopes of not only seeing the world she dreams of, but perhaps understanding and stopping the spread of hatred towards her people. But is she ready to face the world? Or will her sheltered upbringing be her downfall?

Below is a very crude map of the Hyrule this story takes place in. It is a work in progress and is very basic but provides a basic understanding of the journey being undertaken.

Characters

There are a total of 6 main characters I created for this story who were to play a significant role in the stories outcome. The main protagonist was to be Piper, then Kishava, Toren, Kaya, Zelda, and Ganondorf. Let’s take a look at then and see what they’re about.

Piper is a half gerudo, half ordonian girl who lives in a farm with her family in the Newly independence Ordon. She is rash and reckless, often getting into fights with other kids who pick on her for her red hair. Because of her heritage, her family decided to move deep into the forest and build a farm, to protect her from the prejudice that follows her.

She is eager to see the rest of the world outside the forest, an when the time comes for her to leave on her journey to see her ancestral homeland in the desert, her timing couldn’t be worse. Along the way she will have to deal with the racism and hatred that follow her people as both a Gerudo and an Ordonian (who are no longer well liked now that Ordon has won the war for their independence).

Kishava is Pipers mother and pure blood Gerudo. Before Gerudo predjudice grew as much as it did, she left the desert and made her way to Ordon and fell in love and had a child. She is wise and often teaches Piper stories about their culture, heritage, and homeland. She gives Piper her first scimitar, and her blessing to see the outside world once Piper comes of age. Her clothing is a mixture of Gerudo patterns as well as Ordonian fashion.

Toren is a pure blood Ordonian and Pipers best friend. He was one of the first to see past Pipers heritage and see her as just another person. And as such, their friendship grew rather quickly. Level headed and intelligent, Toren is often referred to as Pipers protector, always pulling her away from fights that would otherwise end poorly for her. He comes from a military family, and when he sets out with Piper on her journey (because there’s no way he’s letting her go alone) he brings his brothers Ordonain armor and shield.

Kaya is a rough and tumble young woman from the eastern coast of Hyrule. She is an accomplished cage fighter and sailor, and is instrumental for Pipers journey north to the desert. Her design is based of Tetra from the Wind Waker, and her brashness and eagerness to fight rivals Pipers. While initially at odds, the two find mutual respect in their upbringings and hardships throughout their lives.

Princess Zelda, now simply known as Zelda, has forsaken her family and her titles after their horrid acts towards the Gerudo people. She has since run away and formed a makeshift militia, and spends her time fighting back against her former family, recruiting outcasts and those hunted by the royal Family, and protects those who cannot protect themselves. Her following grows by the day, she her skills in Sheikah magic make her a force to be reckoned with.

Ganondorf is the chosen chief of the Gerudo people living within the desert. He is hailed as a king and a god, beloved by all who serve under him. He is a self proclaimed freedom fighter and will do whatever it takes to fight against the “savage Hylians” and lead his people towards a brighter future. Convinced the only language the Hylians speak is violence, his solution is sinple. War. With an ancient power thought to only be legend residing inside him, he is ready to take on whatever challenges he faces and whatever enemies get in his way.

Follow up

This is all I have on this current story. The characters have their own separate story arcs that developed throughout the story and several of them meet up and part ways. The story as of now is now completed but my be later on. I wanted to create new and interesting characters, as well as maybe spice up and change familiar characters. Hopefully more is to follow.

[lasorciereviolette-blog]

On Witch

(So RP’s are a bit slow right now so I might as well continue down the saltapalooza that has been opened up due to a post on how Sega’s flanderized Amitie over the years. 

This one’s kind of all over the place, because it’s not a strict flanderization argument per se and since Witch is my favourite I like to gush about her. I’ll try to keep on topic as much as possible though.

So I’ll start by saying that honestly, this could be a lot worse in several ways. Sega’s done at least a little homework on Witch. It took them nearly a decade to put Witch in one of their games (no, 7 does not count since she has no lines) but it looks like she’s here to stay seeing as she was kept on the roster for both Tetris and Chronicle.

But... Now what? See, my analysis has led me to the conclusion that Sega have absolutely idea of what to do with Witch.

I didn’t always have that viewpoint. At one time I thought Sega had done a pretty good job with Witch. She showed up, her story was reasonably funny, and she was actually allowed to behave like a selfish jerk unlike certain characters. 

However, a little while ago I came across a translation of Yon’s cutscenes. And I came across an unfortunate discovery: Witch’s campaign in 20th is nothing new at all. Nope. It’s just a copy-paste of her few scenes in Yon, and one cutscene in Sun.

Let me elaborate. See, in 20th Witch is trying to collect ingredients to create a potion in one of Wish’s spellbooks. Collecting these ingredients involves taking parts off of certain cast members, namely Draco’s tail, the Acorn Frog’s eye, an imp’s horns, a ladybug, a dark wizard’s hair, and a fish’s scales. On the surface this isn’t a bad premise. I didn’t mind it too badly before I knew anything about Yon. Except in Yon, Witch’s goals are almost identical. She needs Draco’s tail and Seriri’s scales, and wants to collect Carbuncle’s finger grime (... somehow) just in case she ever needs it. When she comes across a sleeping Dragon, she also tries to seize the opportunity to grab some snot.

The details aren’t exactly the same, at least. Which is nice, because if the scenes were word for word the exact same I’d be even more peeved. I can at least give the writers that much. The thing is, after waiting so long for a beloved character’s comeback, why did they decide just to recycle half the cutscenes from other games? I suppose this can be forgiven since it’s an anniversary title, but it’s still a little odd.

And then we get to Tetris, where Witch has a total of... One scene. When DLC was released, she got another very short scene. While these were both original, there... Really was nothing to them. All she wants to do is perform an experiment with blocks in one, and in the other she mocks Draco, which would have been absolutely unsurprising if you had played either Saturn or Yon in the past. Witch’s appearance is very much a token one and she doesn’t even really interact with other characters besides Draco Centauros when there was an opportunity to have her bounce off of the members of the Starship Tetra, or Amitie, or Ringo. Or maybe to put her in Primp and have her hang out with some of the people she used to. Talk about a waste. Witch is a fun and dynamic character who has been allowed to remain a bit of a jerk. There was plenty of room to have her interact with new characters, but instead they threw her into space and called it a day. Hell, she’s a comet witch and she doesn’t even notice she’s in space!

Which leads me into the next part of this rant, the fact that Sega only really seemed to look at Yon and one cutscene in Sun and determined her entire character from there. Before Yon Witch was primarily a comet witch. While she did make potions in Seriri’s Happy Birthday, Witch’s gameplay was focused more on flight and spellcasting. Based on her moveset in other games, Witch not only shares most of Arle’s spell set (being proficient in fire, ice, and lightning magic, as well as being able to cast Brain Dumbed and Jugem) but has her signature Meteor spell and a few other comet style magics such as Big Bang. These spells have a distinctive star theme when she casts them, distinguishing her from Arle.

Pretty cool, huh? She is also somewhat of a melee fighter, not being afraid to swat people with her broom. (this isn’t the greatest of examples but it’s cool so)

Coming back to her broom flying, a whole game was built around it called Comet Summoner. It didn’t have much of a story, but it did feature a bunch of cute levels and a powerful boss that may or may not have been Witch’s future self. And this future self was strong, with a huge red aura, several health bars, and the ability to not only zip around the stage at high speeds, but cast spells of her own and combo you with a mix of melee and magic if you fuck up and get too close to her.

Witch would make a good fighting game character. 

This is getting a bit off topic, but point is, Witch is versatile. But unfortunately it seems that apart from her spell names Sega can’t be bothered to remember her versatility and just wants her to make wacky potions. I’m not opposed to her making wacky potions, it’s not necessarily bad, but at one time she was a lot more than that.

She was more complex as a character than she seems to be in 20th or Tetris. Maybe not in Yon, where she appears very little, but in Madou Monogatari she got some attention. Yes, Witch is selfish. Yes, she’s pretty power hungry. Yes, she’d probably sell quite a few people out for a single corn chip. But there are some people who are dear to her, like for example her grandmother Wish. While again, I can’t read Japanese, Witch Leeroy Jenkins’s into a room when she sees her grandmother’s body on the floor in Tower of the Magician. Afterwards, Witch’s body language is pretty clear to see.

She’s clearly very worried about Wish and does not appreciate any harm coming to her. Even jerks have loved ones, I guess?

Let’s give Sega the benefit of the doubt, maybe that one trait just hasn’t come into play yet. After all, Wish hasn’t appeared (but she has been mentioned). Sure. However, there are other traits that the Sega games ignore when it comes to Witch’s character.

First, Sega has arguably made Witch into an even worse jerk. In Compile’s games, Witch is often abrasive and rude, but she will defer to an expert’s judgment in a situation she doesn’t understand. Case in point, Saturn. Upon coming across the Yog smoke, she avoids possession because she immediately listens to Arle and Rulue’s advice. She doesn’t argue, she just does it. 

Contrast this with 20th. 

In general, Witch is crafty and rather full of herself in Saturn, but not so much as Rulue. She has a low opinion of martial arts and so that makes her play well off of Rulue (It probably also explains her animosity towards Draco), while she has a high opinion of her magical skill and loves to soak up praise. Witch also shows little ill will towards those who quit the tournament after a Yog presents itself, which might hint at some sensibility the character doesn’t tend to have much of after this. 

Witch is also a bit of a snarker in this game:

There’s character here besides her excitability, or getting pissed off when things don’t go her way. Now Saturn does bring up Witch’s legendary temper, but we don’t really see the results of that in-game. 20th really pushes that informed attribute into the spotlight, where all her thoughtfulness and cleverness go out of the window for her to make a bad potion that obviously contained too many substitutions, to the potion not being useful in the first place, to her beating up Lemres for stating the blatantly obvious. Witch doesn’t really come off any smarter than Draco at the end of this, because all of this was obvious! She just comes off as an even worse ass than usual because of Sega’s wackiness mandate.

I also really don’t get what the point of her fighting Lemres even was. Lemres seems disappointed at the end that he didn’t get to talk to Witch more, but the story just ends. There isn’t any kind of payoff or character growth here. Just... Nothing. Again, a total waste of potential, having the two comet mages meet and then do absolutely nothing of value. Love it, Sega.

Oh yeah, there were two more things Sega forgot about. First, this.

Witch is probably an actual pervert, to contrast with Schezo’s fake perversion (which may or may not be real perversion too sometimes, because Saturn’s fun like that). So that’s another thing Sega forgot, for better or for worse.

Which leads me to the last bit that Sega’s forgotten. This too I can’t really say if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. I like that it exists in Compile’s games, but if Sega remembered it would likely devour what remains of Witch’s personality. In certain games, there are implications that Witch may have a crush on Schezo. She fawns over him in athletic clothes in Puyolympics and as seen above, asks if he’s cool and wants to touch him in Saturn. Then of course there’s the whole “I want you” scene that solidifies the thing. For all I know there could be evidence for or against this in Tower of the Magician, which is a game where the two spend quite a bit of time interacting with each other, but since I haven’t learned to read Japanese in the last few hours I can’t comment on that, as much as I want to.

Now whether this is a good or bad thing for Sega to ignore really depends on your interpretation of this trait. I’m personally torn, because again I’m glad that Witch has not been reduced to a lovesick one-note failure. On the other, it’s a facet that a more competent writing team could have explored with some success. So it sucks that it’s been abandoned completely, but the end result could have been really terrible had Sega noticed this, so... Yay?

Okay, so I’ve written blocks of text. What does it all mean? Well, it means Witch isn’t immune to being flanderized in Sega’s works. It could be a lot worse, but there’s plenty of Witch’s character that’s been left out of current Puyo and plenty that has been aggrandized into a worse person. Right now Witch reminds me of a mixture of herself and Saturn’s take on Rulue, which... Really sucks, because no wonder Sega can’t figure out how to make Rulue stand out if they give her traits to other characters! Poor Rulue. Give her some love, Sega. She doesn’t deserve this kind of shafting.

As for Witch, you’re not going to get a total sweet kindhearted girl out of her. She was never that kind of character and that’s not a bad thing. But throwing on Rulue’s most boastful traits and making her a worse jerk, then giving her cameos because you don’t know what to do with her isn’t a good way to characterize her. Return some of that sense into the mix! Like I said in my Schezo comments, not everyone needs to be a wacky joke 24/7.

#puyo puyo #witch (puyo puyo) #madou monogatari #characterization #discourse #compile #sega #this one's even longer and less concise than the schezo one so apologies in advance #a lot of it's just generally talking about witch's character

[repeatsfate]

A, K, R!!

vidya games!

K – game you’re most looking forward to? 

at the moment it’s super mario odyssey and pokemon ultra sun and moon! and, uh… my inner 12 year old is rearing her ugly head to force me to admit i’m also pretty hyped for sonic forces, oops. lOOK IT LOOKS FUN, OKAY…

i’m looking forward to fe musou too but also i’m pretty neutral on it– everything they’ve revealed has been super incredible so far and i’m looking forward to maining my birb, but i’m more interested in the confirmed fe16 and i’m looking forward to hearing more about that when the time comes.

R – most underrated game? 

hmmmm… while xenoblade chronicles itself would certainly fit the bill despite shulk being a giant meme now, i think i’ll take it a step further and go on to say xenoblade chronicles x deserves a bit more love than it got– 

despite the very real flaws with the game and some aspects of the story, a thing that draws me to it aside from the ‘if you can see it, you can go to it’ MASSIVE open world and setting on a foreign planet was just how human its supporting cast and even minor npcs are. the game does an excellent job of portraying raw humanity in both ends of the spectrum– where there are heroes, there are people even in man’s most desperate hour that took that second chance as an excuse to be horrible, horrible people. the encounter of alien life goes as swimmingly as you expect, with the remaining fragments of humanity split on how to deal with these new beings in their midst. some choose to try and form alliances and bonds, the others shun and fear the outsiders– many quests actually revolve around the racism in what’s supposed to be a safe haven for the aliens pledging themselves to humanity’s side. the conflict taking up the last leg of the game is one born of human grief and the sting of loss– and when you really get into the motivations behind it it’s so easy to understand why the person did what they did but also acknowledge yeah no you did bad buddy you gotta pay for it now. i just???? it’s so good????

the planet and creatures that make up the game’s setting are imaginative and beautiful, i honestly love just booting it up and wandering. sometimes it’s scary as all heck because OH GOD GIANT MONSTER OUT OF NOWHERE but also… that just adds to the immersion and feeling like you’re a tiny fish in a big, big sea… and when you’re strong enough to stand up to those monsters it’s the most satisfying thing in the world.

the musical direction is honestly up to taste- i personally adore xcx’s soundtrack, but those not a huge fan of hiroyuki sawano’s works might find it lacking. here’s a personal favourite! 

point is, it’s super fun, i want to do an araceli run sometime if i can ever be arsed to go back on my wii u or it gets a switch port, and a verse would be fun to play around with… i’m not a huge jrpg person, but i really really like xcx. also, fans of matthew mercer– he’s in this one, too! he plays lao huang, one of my all time favourite characters tbh

point is it is flawed, yes, but it’s also a very solid jrpg that i had fun sinking hours into and i’d totally do so again

A – favourite game of all time? 

my top fave game of all time? easy! it’s the legend of zelda: wind waker! 

it wins in both nostalgia points and a critical eye as i’ve gotten older– as a little kid, it was the first game i ever actually beat all by myself! the gamecube was the first home console i ever got to own– for a while i lived with my granny, who wasn’t very big on gaming if that makes sense? and then after moving back in with my mom she got me one for christmas and a friend lent me wind waker after i tried playing it at his house and repeatedly got stuck in the forsaken fortress. the excitement of finally making it past that and seeing this big, bright, beautiful world and story unfold before me has stuck with me to this day?? idk how to explain it i just. wind waker was an important game in my childhood, and i’ve played through it a loooooot– mostly i’ve noticed it was during times of stress or particular loneliness. everyone has that one game that’s been there™ for them during times of duress, and wind waker has always been mine. 

okay i’m read more-ing the rest of this because i… went on for a WHILE. which is also why i answered it last oops. tl;dr there are many reasons why i love this game and it’s still my fave even now that i’m nearly 23. 

as an adult, i’ve found that from a technical standpoint the game holds up really well, too– even without the hd remake on the wii u wind waker is still a very beautiful, stylistic game; a major benefit to having taken the art in a more cartoony direction is that it prevents the game from aging too much; if you were to look at the vanilla gamecube edition now, it still holds up amazingly! (meanwhile, i find that while twilight princess is still lovely, the more realistic art direction tends to date it a little. i could look at the original and just know the era it was made in, whereas if i never saw wind waker before, i would question it.) 

the textures are rather blurry, sure, but that was a product of the time– hypatia on tumblr actually produced a mod with hd textures for roms of the gamecube version– check out these comparasion shots of the then-work in progress mod versus the original textures… and then here’s a few polished shots of the mod with a few extra effects dolphin/ishiiruka can provide. in short, the original wind waker is a very, very beautiful game and age has done very little to tarnish that even with the remake’s updated graphics. 

but obviously graphics don’t make or break a game, though proper presentation is important– wind waker’s story also resonates with me deeply in various aspects. as an older sister, the initial quest to set out and rescue your younger sibling in danger caught my attention and held it fast; they do a very good job of making you feel attached to aryll, and the scene where she is kidnapped always tugs at my heartstrings every time i see it. watching this young boy who lived the world’s most quiet little life on a tiny island suddenly get swept up into this grand, big adventure to rescue someone dear to him and becoming an actual hero – despite having no relation to oot link whatsoever! – is the quintessential coming of age story that most people can relate to, and watching that change as the game plays out is always really sweet???

 it was nice watching link’s development through his little actions: the backing away from helmaroc king when he first storms the fortress and then confident staring it down the second time and then giving it what for– aside from ganondorf himself that’s my favourite boss in the game if only because of those moments of development. link’s not just some kid from outset in over his head anymore– he’s a hero who overcame the trials of the goddesses himself in the name of protecting his baby sister, and he will not fail again. and then, after he could easily just throw in the towel and take his sister home because he accomplished what he set out to do, link goes on and sees it through to the end anyways because restoring order to the world is the right thing to do– there’s no legacy of knights looming over his head like several of his other incarnations. there’s no grand kingdom, there are only desolate little islands. there’s a princess, but… he barely knows her. hell, she didn’t even know she was a princess until that moment. 

the story also touches on themes of death and the ends of eras… but also ends on a note of hope and new beginnings– clinging to the past only leads to ruin, and we must create opportunities for ourselves and the world to grow. hyrule is actually completely washed away by the end, and ganondorf goes with it– unless we assume breath of the wild is in the adult timeline, that’s it. he’s gone FOREVER in the subsequent games, with bellum and malledeus taking his place as the main villain. the kingdom link and tetra found is called new hyrule, but that’s all they share in significance– it’s their own land, just like the king said. that final scene of wind waker with the king always got to me– that message of hope is so poignant and powerful, i just. i don’t know how to put it into words, but it’s a scene i love dearly. 

then there’s the music and cast of characters, and even quests and gameplay? i know the sailing could get tedious but i always liked it; it was relaxing to me just watching the virtual waves and listening to that beautiful score?? the characters are all bright and unique and fun– they’ve got their own little lives and you can impact them in so many different ways and things definitely change once you do?? like starting windfall vs windfall after you do a few sidequests or even turn on the ferris wheel and lighthouse again feel so different? it’s a neat little detail i’ve always found!!

…i really need to stop rambling about wind waker now i actually dozed off a bit typing this post, oops.

#long post; #◈▏▐ ❛ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ sᴀᴛɪsғʏ ʏᴏᴜ / ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴜᴛʜ. ❜ ― ( latrocinari ) #◈▏▐ ❛ ᴄʜɪɪ ɪs sᴘᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ. ❜ ― ( ooc ) #◈▏▐ ❛ ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴅᴏɴᴇ ʏᴇᴛ. ❜ ― ( meme )

[dualitysdownfall]

It's 12:25 am and I tried to go to sleep but it didn't work so i'm getting really hot in my bed and i'm gonna type about a bunch of stuff

I think if im trying to go to sleep then its probable The Worst Time to be typing out thoughts and rants on my phone but idc

You know that icky fuzzy stuff that gets on your teeth if you don’t brush them? Well i forgot to brush my teeth before going to bed and it’s too late to go out of my room again because there’s a baby sleeping in my house and if i wake up the baby i’ll end up waking up everyone. So i can’t go next door of my room to brush my teeth and i know the fuzzy stuff will irritate me, not to mention guilt me for not brushing my teeth, unless i get it off. So I picked it off with my fingernails. Ended up drooling on my pillow. Small price to pay I guess. I did still feel kinda bad about not ~genuinely~ brushing them, but then I thought. Hey, they didn’t have toothpaste in the caveman days, and cavemen still had teeth, right? So it won’t kill me if I don’t brush my teeth for a couple days. It’s kinda bad, but not life-ruining.

I’m a really picky eater and all my tastes tend to favor things that are more sweet or just less healthy, as most people’s do. I do genuinely want to be healthy, but it’s kind of hard changing that when you’re not the one buying the groceries, and my mom’s idea of healthy dinner is my idea of ew. So as I was trying to sleep just now, I started thinking about how I want to eat healthy, and so to prove a point to myself, and maybe my parents if it ever comes to that, I started compiling a list of healthy foods I like. Fruits, veggies, more healthful versions of regular foods I eat, etc.

While we’re on the topic of health, exercise for me is a different story. Whereas I do actually have healthy foods I like, there are very few exercises I enjoy. I bet I could count them on one hand. I like walking, swimming, rollerskating…. and that’s about it. …Y'know, come to think of it, I’d do those a lot more—by choice, even—if I had roller skates and a pool at home. (This sentence clearly indicates that I don’t.) Maybe I’ll ask for roller skates for my birthday. Maybe I’ll have my party at the roller rink. My cousin did that once: had his birthday at the roller rink and then got skates as a present. My sister used to like roller skating just around the house. She did it while she read books for school. It was interesting. I hope she looked up so she didmt run into things.

I’m listening to music instead of YouTube right now. My phone charger is downstairs, so I have lowbattery mode on even though its at 86%. Trying to make it last through the night because i dont have a second charger upstairs. Well i do but it’s old and hasn’t worked for years. I don’t know why I haven’t just thrown it away yet. I should do that...

It's really hot in my bed and I’m starting to sweat but I’m not gonna take the covers off because they’re blocking my view of the smoke detector’s light in the corner of my ceiling and I’m scared of smoke detectors (and the sound they make, and fire, and…)

I’ve always been scared of death. I don’t know what will happen after i die. Where will I go? What will I have to do or have done to me? I didn’t used to be so unsure of what I believed in. But when I was little I was still scared of being sent to hell. I wasn’t sure if I was meeting the requirements necessary to go to heaven. Now that I’m older I realize I don’t HAVE to believe what I was taught as a child. But I don’t know what I DO believe, and so for all I know once I die I’ll just float around, alone, endlessly, in the darkest depths of the universe… infinitely. Doesn’t sound fun.

I don’t want to be thinking about that at 12:51 AM, but here I am.

I should really go to sleep… but I can’t… and now I’m all hot and my arms are sore from holding up my phone and my mind is awake from using my phone…. I really should have thought this through.

I always wanted to try packing a backpack for a day or two and basically run away from home but it wouldn’t be running away from home because running away from home implies you needed/wanted to get away from your home situation, but that’s not what I mean. I just … the challenge of trying to fit clothes and water and money and other essential stuff into a backpack and then trying to survive on your own for a bit just appeals to me. Though I suppose those who have had to do it, as a necessity rather than a challenge for fun, would beg to differ.

I’m hungry.

Why did I let myself stay up so late? I really need to break this tendency to stay up this late, before it becomes irreversible.

In theory I really like being up late. It’s quiet and peaceful and you can pretty much do whatever. But in practice, the darkness and the silence creep me the heck out and the later it gets, the more guilty i feel for not going to sleep.

Coincidentally it just became 1 AM.

So I’ve been playing loads of Tetris lately, and I know the “tetra” in “Tetrimino” means four. Like how tetriminos are made of four squares. But what about the “mino”? Is it like, amino? Like amino acids? Tetrimino acids? I wonder

If I were to visit another country, I’d want it o be an English-speaking country, because while I’d like to learn new languages, I worry that upon going there, where people speak that language instead of English, I’d need a word for something and not know what it is or how to say it. You could tell me after a few years of studying that I was fluent enough to get around well enough and make small talk, but even just simple chatting can get complex.

The differences in American English and British English are interesting. There are different words for things sometimes. Like what an American would call pants, a British person would call trousers, etc. I’m sorta fascinated by British accents but if I tried to fool people and do one I’d probably use an American word and they’d figure me out

I don’t have any particular reason to want to do things like run away from home for a day or pretend I have a British accent. If I were to do them—not saying I will—my only reason would be “to see if I could”.

My art ability comes in two modes: Pretty Good and Meh. The usual setting is Meh: My sketches are OKAY, but not fantastic, and usually stay as sketches because I lack the control, patience, etc to do anything impressive with pens or markers. Then, very very rarely, the switch flips to Pretty Good. Now I am very able to use things like micron pens amd make interesting outlines with them, my sketches are spot-heckin-on, and I can use my markers quite effectively. However, this rush of artistic skill only lasts about one to two drawings. An example of a drawing made while that was happening is my gemsona Grape Agate, whose post people are still occasionally reblogging for some reason. I’m not sure why this weird inconsistency in my art skills happens. People will probably just say, it’s all in your head, you’re not trying, etc, but I don’t think it’s in my control. Though I’m sure some adjustments to my mindset couldn’t hurt in the moment while I’m getting ready to draw.

I’m going to keep typing about things until I get too tired to keep going.

There’s this thing called Pearlmethyst Week coming up and I want to participate by drawing something for each day of the week. The issue with that is, I want to draw using my mom’s display tablet that she has for her computer. She seems hesitant to let us kids use it during the day, so we’ve taken to using it when she’s not home or when she’s asleep. I’ve already finished and scheduled three Pearlmethyst Week drawings, but time’s running out to finish the other four and we’re going on vacation over the weekend meaning I won’t have access to the drawing tablet. I’m going to work on sketching them as much as possible until the weekend, but if I don’t get them all finished before we have to go, then I’m considering bringing my copics and microns on the trip and drawing them traditionally in my spare time.

I'm starting to zone out and not want to move my fingers. Maybe im finally falling asleep. However i am still not too lazy to correct my typos so maybe im not.

........Okay, it's now 7:47 AM and i have slept!!!!!!!! So now i'm gonna post this... cause I did want to. If you wanna chat about any of my weird thoughts, shoot me a message~

#melancholy starlight trying to go to sleep

[kisaragizan]

Ultimate Storm (Aqua Force) + Thoughts

Hey everyone, Zane Kisaragi here once more! I’m doing a deck profile of my Aqua Force deck that I know was long overdue from December when I finally completed my Blue Wave deck with Set 9 stuff. The reason for the delay is because I’ve been going back and forth between my two favorite builds of the clan and ultimately I ended up picking one over the other due to various new cards, how it does vs the current meta, and overall how accessible it is to me. However, recently I’ve been taking a closer look at my real life deck and decided to revisit a build I made a year ago and further improve upon it (especially after I dropped it without updating it), which is the build now.

Deck Name: Ultimate Storm Deck Description: So for those who don’t already know, I originally had a deck profile called “Divine Storm” which basically took various elements of other Aqua Force builds, offensively and defensively, mixing them into one to give more flexibility and versatility across many different match ups. I’ll go through what I’m playing in real life and then what I’m playing online (because there are cards that I’m playing that have not been released so think of that segment as an “alternative cards choice) followed by why I dropped Blue Waves as a whole (for now), followed by my thoughts of Vanguard now and where my hopes of Aqua Force are towards.

Grade 3s

x4 Blue Wave Dragon, Anger-boil Dragon: The dragon himself. His GB2 is one of the most aggressive abilities that any of Aqua Force’s Grade 3s can have to a point that it can rival stride. Because my G-zone favors this card, he is technically my “ideal ride”, however even if I don’t ride him, I have a very strong back up.

x3 One Who Surpasses the Storm, Thavas: Favorite card, my avatar even. I sincerely hope that he gets a new Grade 3 edition of himself that helps out the entire clan. Other than that, there isn’t much to talk about this version sadly: I don’t really use his GB2 and although his retire does help, his ultimate form does cover the “control” part of the deck. Although, he is beneficial to have in the vanguard circle if you’re going into Lambros especially with Melania and Adelaide in the fray. However I always have my lucky SP Art in any/every Aqua Force deck.

Grade 2s

x4 Tidal Assault: Yes, for those who are familiar to my situation, I finally got myself a fourth Tidal Assault. The reason being is that: he was super cheap and the new print looked super shiny. I really shouldn’t have to explain what Tidal does for the clan outside of being the staple of any Aqua Force deck.

x4 Battle Siren, Adelaide: Thavas’ personal Grade 2 waifu. She is useful for one turn but she’s worth it especially in the control match up when you stride into Commander Thavas. 11k by herself and swinging twice from either front or back (if used with Commander), makes her super strong.

x4 Couple Dagger Sailor: Couple Dagger is one of my favorite grade 2s from the past because she allowed my decks to have an aggressive nature outside of Tidal. I feel as though if a deck is too generation break heavy it loses to Grade 2 or even Grade 1 gaming (namely 7cs Rush Grade 1 Rush), even in Aqua Force since your only way of evening the odds is by relying on Tidal. In addition, she doesn’t require a booster and even protects herself for later. Both reasons why I dropped Magnum Assault from my deck (although I might try him again at 1 or 2 later, not sure yet.)

Grade 1s

x4 Kelpie Rider, Nicky: Again, I finally managed to get myself my last 2 fodders just before I got my Commanders and Wailings. I still use him for my deck thin strats (especially if I want to ride the SP Thavas and/or have a hand full of triggers or need field). At times I do feel like playing less of Nicky so I can play more Grade 1s that will help but because Striding is needed, I prefer not to run into a situation that I can’t stride because I didn’t have Nicky at 4.

x4 Perfect Guards: I’m missing 3 Plato’s so zzz. Outside of that, you can get away without playing the counter charge PG because most of your strides cost next to nothing and a big power play will only require 3 CB at most. Not to mention, Supersonic Sailor is also here.

x3 Battle Siren, Melania: Thavas’ personal Grade 1. On Wave 3, CB1 if you have Thavas Vanguard to give herself 5k and a draw. She’s one of the best grade 1s to have because she can switch her roles from booster to attacker and she’s able to keep herself on the board majority of times. I even was playing her in Blue Waves because I found that Melania does more on a Commander and Lambros turn than Seagull Soldier did overall.

x3 Battle Siren, Stacia: I was often going back between 2 Stacia/4 Melania and 3/3 but at times I felt 2 wasn’t enough so I played 3 to help assist with Tetra-boil turns, Wailing turns, and even Lambros if my field was set up correctly. I might play her to 2 for a tech of something since I notice my soul builds up high and the only thing that soul blasts would be Adelaide.

Starter & Triggers

Bubble Edge Dracokid: I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: The best starter in all of Aqua Force. Rewards for being aggressive early, especially if you’re missing a grade 3 (to ride or to stride with). I should go further to explain that, Andrei is good but all of my grade 2 targets already restand and my only other available targets are Melania and Grade 3s. With Melania being a triple counter blast and calling a grade 3 is probably for emergency field presence. I have attempted to try Milotis (Wave 3, Soul Charge it when a Thavas VG attacks, call a Thavas from deck and at the end of turn add that Thavas to hand). However, I feel drawing 1-2 cards early as possible will be more beneficial to me than adding a Grade 3 since those cards could be heals, units, and even grade 3s themselves for stride fodder. 

x4 Blue Wave Soldier, Brutal Trooper: One of the 3 best criticals in the clan. You can shuffle it back into deck just to increase your critting and optimally, used with Tetra-boil will allow you to draw an entire wall of defense.

x4 Supersonic Sailor: Since I’m severely lacking the Countercharge PG, this is my main way of counter charging. Very rarely I use this but because of how often this deck draws, you’ll draw into it and you can shuffle back Brutal Trooper to maintain critical triggers that you can check.

x4 Battle Siren, Malika: Draw Triggers. I’m not huge fan of them especially since I have Petros, Melania draws, Bubble Edge draws, Brutal Trooper draws, essentially this whole deck is just “drawing”. The reason I have them is because originally I noticed I wasn’t drawing into something. Whether it be stride, or PG, or heals, units: I just ended up drawing into what I really needed. Chalk it up to RNG, I figured I’d try draws and eventually they started helping me get those missing cards. I’m still a bit skeptical about them because drive checking them when I need a critical is the absolute worst feeling, so I might just play 2 and throw in my Petros, but for now, draws are staying until I feel I’ve worked my way out of them.

x4 Heal Triggers: Heals are heals, they don’t really do anything for now. I still play Carolina but I also appreciate the Blue Storm, Kitchen Sailor aka “The Chef” and Ice Flow Angel. There is a new heal trigger with an effect coming out, which I’ll explain in the online portion.

Generation Zone

x4 Storm Dominator, Commander Thavas: Holy god yes, I finally got 4 one of them being an SP. (Yes, I got an SP pack but it’s a complicated funny story which I’ll explain later). One of the best strides in Aqua Force because of his versatility against Link Joker, Aqua Force’s greatest match up. Currently the best first stride too because enabling GB2 for Anger-boil and Thavas name for units like Adelaide and Melania to go off. I will say it actually feels good to have all 4. Originally the original deck profile was to make this card as strong as a Lambros turn since I felt Lambros in the meta that the deck was up against, was not a safe stride to go into.

x4 Blue Wave Marshal Dragon, Tetra-boil Dragon: Like I said before with Anger-boil, my G-zone is geared and favored to ride Anger because of Tetra-boil. While he does lose 1 Drive Check, he is able to restand when a rear attacks on the fourth battle. Paired with Brutal Trooper and you can honestly make back so much advantage if you’re unable to finish them there. I generally only stride into this for Brutal Trooper but he is a safer finisher to go into compared to Lambros especially given the meta. Speaking of.

x2 Marine General of Heavenly Silk, Lambros: I still have my two thanks to one of my closest friends. Lambros still retains his glory as being one of the solid finishers for Aqua Force especially since he’s free. However, back then and even now, Lambros faces a lot of “disruptions” especially from Gears, Kagero, Link Joker, Narukami, Granblue, and even Angel Feather. Especially with G-Guarding, I feel Lambros has a lost a lot of his value to be the “sole finisher” of the clan but he is still pretty powerful when the time comes.

x2 Storm of Lament, Wailing Thavas: Saving the best for last, the newest stride of Aqua Force that I got December. I’ve been so excited to get him because everything about him is just super amazing: from the art, the name, the lore I gave for him (because he’s missing one), and especially his ability. His GB2 is CB1 on Wave 3 or more, he gets 5k per rear-guard attack and opponent cannot call Grade 1s to the guardian circle. Already right here is super good: at the bare minimum, 36k with a grade 1 restriction. Lastly, his GB3 is when he attacks for every rear-guard attack, your opponent retires one of their units. I’d argue to say this is probably this is one of the most devastating strides in the entire game right now, even more than Phantom Diablo because you’re forcing your opponent to drop a lot of hand due to grade 1 restriction, they have to call back all of the units that were retired and in addition to the previous attacks that they had to deal with before, honestly a complete game changer. I play 2 because there have been times when I played 1 and I needed a second Wailing to seal the deal because they obtained a perfect guard after I had already used my initial one, plus the G-zone is pretty flexible to warrant 2. This is a pretty safe stride to go into because regardless if the attack gets disrupted, it’s still counted as another +5k, even attacks that whiff or go at a rear guard. I have had the pleasure of breaking a GC wall of defense with Wailing + triple triggers all to vanguard. Even in the face of clans with recycle Perfect Guards, Wailing just does not care and the aftermath of it is pretty messy. I’ll rant more about how glorious Wailing is later.

x2 Guard Leader of Sky and Water, Flotia: Wave 1st or 2nd, she gains +5k Shield. She’s okie, not the best, maybe the worst but I have ranted about how she can screw with attack patterns especially on restanding vanguards. Outside of that, she’s used as a means to accelerate my G-zone so I can go into my GB2 stuff faster.

x2 Blue Storm Deterrence Dragon, Ice Barrier Dragon: On Wave 1st or 4th+, he gains +10k Shield. This one is a little bit better than what Flotia is, still wondering why it wasn’t Wave 3 or more but I mean I guess their mentality is that on Wave 3 just Perfect Guard.

Online Deck/Alternatives

So, this won’t be like my regular Alternatives segment since I have played the deck online via Cardfight Area, and I am able to use some of the newer cards (albeit only like 2-3 new cards). Other than there, these are cards I don’t have in the deck but would prefer to use or offer as a suggested tech/swap.

Grade 3s

Jockey of the Great Sea, Skyros: This would replace Thavas, me personally I’d keep 1 Thavas just because of Stride Fodder situation. Skyros is a key importance of the deck because it gives the deck a solid match up against direct control on the opposing turns. In addition, his on placement skill gives you the ability to grab a G3 meaning you have the ability to stride later and removing dead checks from the deck (and alternatively, switch your Vanguard). As for the exact number, 3-4 works best because I feel you should always have something that can be searched a low amount vs something you want to see very often since its better to have and not need to than to need and not have. Originally, the Divine Storm deck had a fatal weakness which was staying on Skyros for too long because most of your support is Thavas and since Wailing was not released at the time, having only 2 Commanders made Skyros a very dead vanguard in terms of being a finisher. Now with 2 extra Wailing Thavas, you can effectively make use of your Thavas units like Melania and Adelaide a lot better while on Skyros or even Anger-boil, provided you stride into a Thavas vanguard.

Grade 2s

Magnum Assault: While I have expressed that I no longer like Magnum Assault as a staple because his requirements being both slow and dependent on booster, he is still forcing at minimum 15k shield (10k and 5k provided w/ a 7k booster), is generic, and reusable. So with that, you can replace Couple Dagger or Adelaide with him but I’ve been trying him at 2 by cutting one of each and seems okay.

Grade 1s

Light Signals Penguin Soldier: So as I said before, the deck doesn’t really soul blast a lot, so you can actually play this at 1 or even the countercharge 2 Jellyfish in place of one Stacia.

Dispatch Mission Seagull Soldier: Same as the previous one, but I like playing Seagull at 2 personally but you can still find room for one if you want to tech him in. That and, the power up does help Tidal/Adelaide/Couple Dagger but otherwise the units hit on their own especially Adelaide and Couple Dagger.

Triggers

x4 Kelpie Rider, Petros: Petros is Thavas’ personal critical that gives +5k to Thavas vanguard and 1 draw by soul charging it. Hm, you can easily replace either criticals or even the draws with Petros. In Supersonic Sailor’s case: You don’t need the unflip since you have your perfect guards but better safe than sorry. For Brutal Trooper: there’s only 1 pair of Tetra-boil so being able to use Brutal to plus is only going to happen once at the most. Lastly draws, because well, Petros is basically a 10k draw trigger, which ideally would be better to replace the draws but can’t say for certain as all of these triggers are equally important.

x4 Officer Cadet, Ioanes: This is the new heal trigger that is released in the fighters collection that has a skill when used to call forth it’s corresponding Generation Guard. It’s skill is to draw after pitching a grade 1 or less from your hand. It’s decent but there aren’t too many grade 1s or grade 0s at that, that I’d be willing to drop for this effect. Better than nothing I suppose.

Generation Zone

Air Element, Sebreeze: I’d take out one Tetra-boil for Sebreeze because having all of your generation break units (especially Melania and Stacia) to be used against a 9k is very powerful. Accelerates your Generation Zone, and again you don’t really counterblast too often so this would be a powerful investment, if not, your second stride will push for game. As an after thought, unless you played Thavas in a high amount, Melania and Adelaide won’t be of use but Tidal and Stacia still helps.

Blue Vortex Marshal Dragon, Last Twister Dragon: For those who do not know what this unit is, this is the Generation Break 8 for Aqua Force. You’d replace this with your last Tetra-boil. Last Twister Dragon can come off as very underwhelming and I agree because for starters: Aqua Force should never last to Generation Break 8, the G-zone has a plethora of finishers that striding into this is very unlikely. However, it is possible to stride into this with some G-guarding and of course going into your persona strides. For 1 CB, it gets on Wave 2nd - 4th, when your unit attacks it gets +5k and at the end of the battle, you check top 4 cards call it and if it has Wave both VG and called unit get +5k. For a “final stride” compared to other clans, yeah very underwhelming. The idea of this stride is basically to use it when your field is lacking. All you need is to have your rear guard get to Wave 2 and you can start building your board back up even stronger than before. I’ve had people come up to me saying it’s worthless because there’s no good Wave targets (outside of Melania/Foivos/Anger-boil) however that’s only a “bonus”. It’s a “throw everything you have” type of card. I have been fortunate enough to stride into it twice and have won both games because my field was severely lacking in both cases but I still managed to pull through. This card also conflicts with key units like Tidal/Adelaide/Foivos because they have to be called to the same rear as the attacked unit making their restands wasted (although you can just call them last, like calling Adelaide as the final card). It’s still something awesome to stride into if you get the chance, if you don’t like it, you can always add in this card.

Marine General of Heavenly Silk, Aristotle: Originally a pretty decent card because you could snipe 2 if you were on Thavas or even kill important units. However, because only does GB1, I feel its slow because I like to be able to have GB2 ready so I can go into GB3 by second stride especially with Wailing Thavas. Comparatively, I’d easily choose the Generation Break 8 over Aristotle because again, it’s a cool card to stride into and if you have next to nothing in terms of field, you get back a field, +5k, and hopefully end the game. 

Guard Leader of Sky and Water, Ioanes: This is the new G-Guard that was revealed to Aqua Force. On Generation Break 1, Counterblast 1 and flip up a G-Guard in your G-zone, choose any number of rears and they get resist and cannot be attacked and the shield gains +5k for each unit chosen. Already: best G-guard in the clan. Only downside is that it is Generation Break 1 but it’s super good. It deals with the “Wave 3″ vulnerability that our previous g-guards failed to cover and it protects our units. I’d play this over one Flotia but you only need 1 because ideally you only G-guard 3 times a game, so this can easily flip up a g-guard that won’t be used if a heal gets damage checked. (I have used all four heals at one point or another) However, I suppose you can play 2 but I see no point.

Metal Element, Scryew: Originally one of my favorite g-guards because free +10k for one discard. I dropped it initially because I just wasn’t using it enough and even then I went to play 3 G-guards. I feel Scyrew is good outside of the other 2 G-Guards that I originally played, Scyrew still has value. Dizmel has been replaced by Ioanes and Agleam has been replaced by Ioanes heal trigger. Scyrew still has some value because the Ice Barrier G-Guard, although free, has very stiff conditions, so I’d replace one for Scyrew.

Why I dropped Blue Waves?

I personally do love Blue Waves because Tetra-drive is my favorite dragon and ultimately it’s a very sturdy deck: you plus a lot, you don’t have to commit too much or too hard, and it hits all of the right numbers and it can have maximum flexible while at its peak on Tetra-boil, in addition it has really good early game. I can play it for what it’s supposed to do but at specific moments the deck is very stiff and above all else, I feel Thavas does more, is faster, and more flexible.

I feel the deck itself is powerful but a bit gimmicky because of it’s dependency of Tetra-boil. Don’t misunderstand, I have nothing against Tetra-boil, I think it’s a fantastic card, however, I feel the deck is forcing me to play into it otherwise I end up losing out of many of its advantages and flexibility especially with key cards.

For my starter, I don’t play Bubble Edge in Blue Wave because my only chances of triggering the double draw is with the following

Two Tidal Assaults

Commander Thavas play w/ 1 Tidal Assault

Foivos on Lambros

Tidal on Tetra-boil w/ Anger-boil heart.

Instead I play Officer Cadet Andrey because it allows me to justify running non-enablers like Blue Wave Marine General, Damia or High Tide, Sabreflow Sailor, etc. They can become restanders on their own if the situation arises. In addition, one of my good friends whom is also my teammate showed me Foivos/Andrey interaction which is pretty good. Andrey helps especially on Wailing and/or Lambros turns.

However, even with all of that, I felt Blue Waves weren’t doing enough for me until I strode into Tetra-boil, to which there are times where I felt I should be pushing for game via Wailing. Whereas in Thavas, I’m constantly attacking from all fronts, drawing from Melania and Petros, and even retiring while also having some coverage due to resist of Melania or Skyros. Though undeniable, Thavas technically has a underwhelming early game, but its why I also played Couple Dagger Sailor to give myself the extra advantage. And of course if I rode Tetra-drive, the feeling was not too good. Damia is a Blue Wave ride target but she herself doesn’t really do a whole lot outside of fixing numbers especially for Tetra-boil, Tidal, herself, or Stacia. Again, I did try Melania in Blue Waves which worked in the benefit that I strode Thavas (which was always my first stride) but she remained as a booster if I went into Tetra-boil.

All in all, Blue Waves are a very strong deck if you’re playing “Blue Wave” (striding Tetra-boil) but if you aren’t then it starts showing its stiffness. While you can get away with not using Lambros because it has gone down in terms of value and Tetra-boil is on-par if not stronger than Lambros, I feel this is an issue when it comes to Wailing since again Wailing is a whole different stride with a different type of pressure/objective. Compared to the Thavas deck or even Anger/Skyros or Anger/Thavas, you can stride into anything without much difficulty and do more because Tetra-boil and Lambros are on par, whomever your vanguard is, whomever you stride will have the roughly the same effect. Although I say I dropped them, it’s moreso that Thavas has taken priority because I enjoy his style of play.

Vanguard Thoughts

So my thoughts of Vanguard as of now. Nothing much really, just waiting until I see something of interest or for new Aqua Force support. Regarding Set 9, I felt it was a good set ”economically” because of the reprints of various expensive cards but outside of that, the set was very lackluster and bad. Like outside of Wailing, I don’t think any of the cards from the set outside of Janka see any play whatsoever. There was no Blue Storm support after hyping Maelstrom stride, there was no good Blue Wave support (not that it needed it), only a few good Thavas cards like Nikitas, Janka, and Stand Trigger got to shine. The Quintet Wall was unnecessary. The G-Guard was okay, could’ve been better but whatever. I feel a lot of stuff went wrong for Aqua Force in that set because even though Wailing and reprints were worth, I feel many of the clans issues were not answered. 

Personally I think Aqua Force needs a whole revamp of better units or better ways of attacking instead of Tidal clones because although they are good, they’re very susceptible to disruptions. I honestly expected Last Twister Dragon to be “give the board 5k and they get double attack & back row swings”. I also expected an alternative Thavas with a skill that gives unit a skill such as backrow swing or restand upon stride, but perhaps maybe in the future. Also another yet minor issue is that our G-zone is very Persona Flip based which I don’t mind that it is because of the Ioanes G-Guard but having to G-Assist away 2 of the same cards is not very pleasant but it’s whatever I suppose. Lastly I have noticed that Bushiroad has been giving clans the ability to stride for free or providing fodder for various conditions, while this game is driven to “Stride to Survive” I do have hopes in Aqua Force getting one in which doing so will mean we would have more space to play other Grade 1s like Seagull. I wouldn’t mind recyclable PGs under various conditions either but they’re okie but I do believe we should have better rears with Wave keyword that enable easier attacking (backrow swings) or units similar to Melania at the very least, is a top priority.

As for me personally, I’m still in the situation of “no regular locals to play at”. I did go once for the Trinity Dragon Box Tournament and uh got 3rd in the pack fights but I won with my Blue Wave vs Luard and Silver Thorns (both ended in Wailing). I also played with friends when I went to NY to get my box of Set 9 and they were pretty fun games. Honestly, I ended up not getting a box because my card was not working at the time and while I did buy a Single Wailing, my other friend (whom is also AQ main) bought the SGR Wailing in front of me and when he bought the box I intended to buy (but couldn’t), he  ended up getting the Aqua Force SP pack but after he gave it to me, hence why I call my SP G3 Thavas the lucky Thavas. I still play online via teams and etc but I recently decided to try and host a tournament with a box prize at the end, so I’m hoping to see how that goes. Other than that, not much has changed. New vanguard stuff such as Domination and Kagero had me revisit this deck since I don’t wanna deal with Dominate, although Kagero is also been getting some very good support so seeing them back in action is interesting. Also initially, I played Blue Wave more because of the early game due to Grade 1 Rush 7cs being a troublesome deck (especially for Thavas but not so much for Limit Breaking and early aggro). However, since they have slowed down due to hits and I did drop Magnum for Couple, I imagine I could use Thavas again. In addition since Blue Waves did suffer from lack of retire for things like Angel Feather, I initially thought by having Wailing, it pretty much had an answer for everything. Like I said before, Wailing Thavas is quite possibly one of the best strides for Aqua Force, on Phantom Diablo tier because it does a lot for so little requirements and is quite honestly one of the greatest things to happen to Aqua Force in a long time.

Other than that, I do play and try out other decks and clans. Some I have in real life but again I mostly play these online for fun if I don’t feel like playing Aqua Force.

Shadow Paladin: Namely Diablo but I have been playing with Luard especially Diablo/Luard and even tried out Diablo/Raging. I have mixed feelings about the trending Luard decks with Folda and 10k Grade 2s but I had to try them out and they’re pretty okay. I do prioritize Diablo though most of the time especially Spectral.

Granblue: I have Nightrose in real life since I started to take a liking to her play style. Retiring, multi-attacking, resourcing, and power columns. Especially with the addition of Negrosonger and Dragut.

Kagero: I originally bought the Legend deck when it dropped and have fiddled with it but I’m especially interested in the new Blademaster because I like how Kagero is making a comeback without Overlord that and Taiten is super fun.

Link Joker: Mostly Chaos Breaker and Messiahs separately. I love Chaos’ art and Universe is just the icing on the cake. Messiahs have a fun play style of picking which to lock and unlock and of course I have a thing for critical vanguards.

Angel Feather: I love Rescue as a mechanic of drive checking before battle. It’s a fun and interesting deck I’ll have to say, plus doing the power pump on the opponents turn is funny at times.

Royal Paladin: Namely for Exceed. I’ve tried Brave and I don’t really like it because I feel I have to force myself into it by dropping and guarding early intensively (since I like to take damage and establish my counter blast) and I’m not a fan of Sanctuary Guard.

Alternatively, I would like try out Genesis and Bermuda Triangle (especially after the Bermuda stuff is revealed but only as online decks). Also I have thought about doing deck discussions of these clans so if anyone wants me to do so, so that it isn’t just Aqua Force 24/7, I’d be happy to do so~

Sorry for the long dragged out post but I had fun doing this. It was awesome and I’m finally glad that I got to post up that deck profile. For more information regarding the tournament I mentioned: Please copy the following link to your browser: http://cardfight-wiki.ru/areafor/index.php/topic,3143.0.html (I’m not sure why tumblr won’t let you click the link correctly but better to copy and paste than no link.) Once more, thank you all for reading. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please ask or contact me through that link (via forums), or message me on Skype (liltroy614) or on Discord (Ultimate «Kisaragi»#6223).

#aqua force #deck profile #zane kisaragi #thavas #cf-vanguard