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#but I've never considered using 3 as a pointed strategy
ambrosiagourmet · 1 month
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I've been thinking about Laios' succubus lately. Mulling it over a bit.
Because I've seen these pages brought up a fair bit, but almost entirely in the context of shipping (on all sides, really). And I really want to understand what they are doing for the story beyond that.
When I went back to reread the scene and section, a few things caught my interest: the way Laios responds to both forms of his succubus, the themes of the volume the chapter is found in, and the other events of the chapter itself.
So let's dive into those three things, and what I think they say about the succubus scene's purpose.
Laios is never fully frozen by the succubus
So. If you compare Marcille and Chilchuck's reactions...
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to Laios':
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There is a difference. Sure, the basics may look the same once it turns into Scylla Marcille, but even then, it functions differently.
Chilchuck and Marcille are completely frozen once they catch sight of their succubus. Izutsumi, as well, isn't able to look away, and completely freezes up once her 'mom' starts talking to her. As Chilchuck describes, "just looking at them makes you unable to move."
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And yet, Scylla Marcille has to actively convince Laios to comply. He even looks away from her at one point!
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Laios accepts this succubus, but he is never actually helpless to it in the same way. Taken in? Convinced? Sure, at least enough to let things happen that he probably should question more than he does. But magically compelled? Not really. Not the same way as everyone else is. So that's interesting. But let's move on for now.
2. Volume 9 is all about drive and desire
I don't often look at chapters within the context of the volume they are included in, but I think there's some really fun things to be found with that perspective in mind.
For one, volume 9 starts with an exploration of what desire brought Laios to the dungeon:
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And ends with a question of what desire brought Laios to the dungeon:
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It's also very concerned in general with questions of why people do what they do. Why they are in the dungeon, why they are with the people they are with, why they stay, what they fight for.
In addition to Laios, we see it with Marcille...
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Izutsumi
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Kabru
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and Mithrun
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Hell, we even get it for the demon!
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It's certainly not the only volume concerned with desires and motives, but it is particularly focused on these ideas.
The succubus scene fits quite well into the ongoing question about desires, especially Laios' desires. It is even placed at an interesting spot within the volume. The volume is six chapters long, and the scene takes place at the start of the 4th chapter. It's almost smack-dab in the middle.
With all this in mind, it is interesting that, with both versions of the succubus Marcille, it's not totally clear which parts of her Laios is rejecting.
The first version of Marcille looks human, but Laios attacks when he identifies her as a monster. The second Marcille looks like a monster, but he seems to believe that she is the real (human)(ish) person that he knows. So is he rejecting the monster at first, and then accepting the person? Or is he rejecting humanity and only interested in the monstrous?
Something to consider as we look at the next point...
3. the rest of the chapter is a seduction, too
This is one of those things that might not be apparent on a first reading, but is crystal clear on a revisit. We see the succubus try and charm Laios over 7 pages, and then see the Winged Lion do the same thing for the next 19.
Much like the succubus, it offers the mingling of monsters and humans. Much like the succubus, it offers belonging.
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(and this is the point where I absolutely must also link this post by fumifooms on the succubus, which has some great ideas on how the scene is informed by Laios' trauma and desire for acceptance!!!)
But, back to the point. The Winged Lion wants to feed on Laios just as much as the succubus did, and it uses similar strategies to try and make that happen. Though this chapter isn't really the turning point for the next Lord of the Dungeon (it is Marcille who will, eventually, become the Lion's next victim), it certainly behaves like it is.
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Laios is convinced. The succubus gets its meal. By the end of the volume, the reader begins to understand how concerning his desires are. Together, it is all very good at building up that sense of dread and pending disaster, as we see exactly how and why Laios might just fall into the Lion's open arms and bring about the end of the world.
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So that's the three things I noticed. But there's still something I want to touch on by looking at the way these observations overlap, and what they reveal, together.
As I said, by the end of the volume, you can feel the tension growing. Just as Kabru and Mithrun do, you look back for an answer to the questions that have been built, chapter by chapter: why is Laios here? Where will his loyalties fall? This chapter, and scene, seem to prove the inevitable truth: he will choose the monster, of course. He will choose the seductive, easy power of the Winged Lion.
But the details of what actually happens tell different story: one in which the Lion is wrong.
First, as a reminder - even in Scylla Marcille mode, the succubus never fully entrances Laios. It convinces him, but it doesn't have him completely under its thrall.
Similarly, in the dream, the Lion does convince Laios to embrace the world he is offering. But even within that dream, Laios continues to ask questions that will be vital to him later. It is because of those questions that Laios comes to a new understanding about Thistle.
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And it's this realization that he cites later as part of his reason for refusing the Lion's offer.
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He is thinking through things the entire time, just like he continues to question the succubus even after it turns into Scylla Marcille.
Laios also expresses an interesting reason for why he wants to see the future of this world. He's not just invested because it would mean people liking what he likes, or him getting to spend time with monsters. The thought that comes immediately before his acceptance is about what he wants for monsters and people.
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I don't think it's a coincidence that this statement - "we're living beings that share the same world, but all we can do is keep killing each other" - can apply to the various humans races just as much as it does to humans and monsters. The thing he is thinking about here isn't just a matter of his personal daydreams. It's an idea that underpins every conflict in the story.
Laios caring about how people as well as monsters in this manner is something that the Lion gets wrong every time. Even at the end, he still frames Laios' desires entirely around hating people and loving monsters.
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The Lion has heard him express an opinion about the future of the world! It happened right there in the dream, right in front of him! He just didn't take it seriously, and didn't view it through any lens other than "Laios likes monsters more".
He's convinced that he understands how to get to Laios. Maybe the Lion can't truly see everything, or maybe his vision into everyone's deepest desires has made it hard for him to realize how much choice still matters. That people can, and do, choose which desires to act on, and how to act on them.
Whatever the case, he's wrong about Laios, and the story shows us this over and over again.
After all, look at how the succubus interaction plays out:
A monster uses Marcille to appeal to Laios...
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He realizes that something about the situation is wrong, and rejects her.
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It changes strategies, and makes new offer: to turn him into a monster.
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It also assures him that his friends are, or will be, taken care of.
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He accepts. Or rather, allows the monster to have its way with him.
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But Laios is not as helpless as he initially appears, and what the Lion thinks is a successful seduction also contains the seed of an idea that will allow Laios to later resist him.
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We even get to see Izutsumi playing a similar role in both instances, as the one person fully able to take action in the face to the illusion.
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The story lays out what is going happen, and then explicitly tells us that the demon and the succubus are thematically related.
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The chapter performs a great sleight of hand here - everything about it seems to indicate that Laios is doomed give in to the option to have his deepest desires realized. But if you look closer, it also contains the evidence that he won't. There's a lot more going on for him.
Yes, he still falls for obvious tricks. He is still extremely into monsters, and he still doesn't feel like he fits in with other people. He may, deep down, crave to surrender to the monstrous - to let it absorb him. But he questions more than he seems to. He considers more than people realize. He cares so much more than anyone gives him credit for.
And I think this is part of why we see the succubus called back to so many times, especially with the wolf head addition to his Monster Form, which he specifically added due to his encounter with the Scylla Marcille.
This all stays with Laios. It doesn't just foreshadow the path of the story, it is fundamental to how and why he walks that path. It's not about him choosing monsters, and it's not about him choosing people. It's about how he considers both, and cares about both.
And it's about the forces that think they already know his answer. Mithrun and Kabru. The Winged Lion. The succubus.
It's about how they are wrong.
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empirearchives · 4 months
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Is it true that Napoleon Bonaparte used to know and associate with the Robespierre brothers? Like from what I've heard, he was pretty serious about it, to the point that it hampered his career post-thermidor. (It would make the stereotypical depictions of the Terror in Napoleon 2023 pretty hillarious, honestly.)
Yeah, it’s true. According to Saliceti (a Montagnard politician from Corsica), Napoleon was “their man” (1).
The first known mention of Robespierre by Napoleon was on 23 January 1791. He wrote a piece called Lettre à Buttafuoco. Matteo Buttafuoco was a Corsican politician. In it, he writes: “O Lameth! Oh Robespierre! O Pétion! O Volney! O Mirabeau! O Barnave! O Bailly! O La Fayette! This is the man who dares to sit next to you!” (2)
Napoleon was a political ally of the Robespierre brothers. As far as I know, he never met the older Robespierre brother in person, but he did meet and know the younger brother. They were associates and even became friends. Augustin Robespierre wrote to his older brother “the citizen Bonaparte commanding the artillery is of transcendent merit.” (2)
In 1794, Napoleon accepted an “unofficial” position in the Committee of Public Safety’s war office, specifically at the historical and topographical office. While he worked there, he wrote to his brother “I am swamped with work at the Committee.” (3)
This is how Pontécoulant, who oversaw him at the topographical bureau, described Napoleon at this job:
“It was not a mere sinecure that he had accepted, he sometimes worked fifteen hours a day, . . . and the considerable number of memoranda, reports, letters, and documents of all kinds that he wrote . . . would fill several volumes. Never, even during the campaign of 1794, had the topographical office of the Committee of Public Safety . . . deployed such activity; he maintained continuous communications with the leaders of the different armies, and their staffs, astonished, learned from then on to know this nervous style, full of precision, movement and masculine energy.” (4)
It was during this time that he was asked to write a general memorandum on grand strategy. It was titled Sur la position politique et militaire de nos armées de Piémont et d'Espagne (On the political and military position of our armies of Piedmont and Spain). The person he submitted it to was Augustin Robespierre in June 1794.
Frank McLynn’s description of the memoranda:
“Basing his strategy on the writings of Guibert de Bourcet, Napoleon devised a plan that enabled the Army of Italy to advance to the watershed of the Maritime Alps, having secured control of the passes of Col d'Argentière, Tende and St-Bernard. With the enthusiastic support of Augustin Robespierre, who took Bonaparte's memorandum to Paris with him, Napoleon argued that if the French attacked in Piedmont, Austria would be forced to come to the aid of her Austrian possessions and thus weaken her position on the Rhine, allowing the French to strike a knockout blow there. Napoleon's chances of getting the plan accepted looked good, for his new commander-in-chief, General Dumerbion, deferred in all things to the political commissars; Saliceti and Augustin Robespierre, in turn, nodded through anything military that came from the pen of Napoleon.” (5)
Augustin sent Napoleon to Genoa for a diplomatic mission on 11 July 1794. So, the Robespierres were behind the beginning of Napoleon’s long diplomatic career. In fact, Napoleon was still on this mission when he learned about the death of the Robespierre brothers (28 July 1794).
Earlier that year, the younger Robespierre brother had actually proposed that Napoleon take command as head of the Paris National Guard and replace François Hanriot in Paris. Napoleon considered it, but decided to keep his post instead.
Hanriot was executed the same day as the Robespierre brothers. Who knows, perhaps the same fate would have happened to Napoleon had he accepted the offer.
Nevertheless, according to Jean Tulard “the 9th of Thermidor opens a difficult period for him”. (2) He was arrested in the south of France for his association with the Robespierre brothers. The order was signed on August 6th, and he was imprisoned for over a week (August 9th-20th).
The fact that Napoleon had been in a foreign country (Genoa) on a mission for the Robespierre brothers at the time of 9 Thermidor was used against him.
According to Patrice Gueniffey, “Napoleon spent his spare time reading the history of Marshal Maillebois’s campaigns in Italy and writing a long, self-justifying memorandum addressed to the representatives […] without saying anything against Robespierre”. (3)
The appeal which released him specified his military acumen. He was considered too crucially important to the war effort to kill or keep imprisoned.
“We are convinced of the possible utility to us of this soldier's talents, which, we cannot deny it, are becoming very necessary in an army that he knows better than anyone, and in which men of this kind are extremely difficult to find.” (3)
So he was released, with his head still attached to his body. But, the situation had definitely changed for him. The representatives were cautious about him and refused to reemploy Napoleon as commander of the artillery. Nevertheless, he continued to work on the campaigns as part of the staff of General Dumerbion, and working his way up from there.
In 1797, Napoleon evoked Robespierre in a speech in Ancona to a surprised dinner party. He defended Robespierre for his “alleged crimes” and said of him:
“Since its origin,” he tells us, “France has had only one strong government: that of Robespierre.”
The impression of horror that the memory of this man had left on everyone’s minds was so recent, so profound, that it is difficult to imagine the painful surprise this opinion excited, and with what ardor it was opposed. Far from abandoning it, General Bonaparte tenaciously supported it:
“What,” he said, “is a strong government? It is one which has a well-determined useful purpose; the firm will to achieve it; the force capable of making will triumph; finally, the intelligence necessary to properly lead this force. Let’s examine if Robespierre combined all these advantages: What was his goal? The triumph of the revolution. He felt that a counter-revolution would be more bloody, would lead to more cruel, more lasting evils than those that our revolution had demanded and would still require. So he wanted to accomplish it at all costs.” (6)
Did this association have an effect on Napoleon’s career? I would say it definitely impacted his reputation and the perception everyone had of him.
To Madame de Staël (and eventually Victor Hugo), Napoleon was “Robespierre on horseback” (2). Mallet du Pan calls Napoleon “a Corsican terrorist” (7). The royalist pamphleteers had titles like “Robespierre and Buonaparte or the two tyrannies” and “The Jacobins and Buonaparte or historical essay on the alliance of the two tyrannies which oppressed the French nation” (2). In them, Napoleon was described as a “worshiper of Marat, accomplice of Robespierre, vile complacent of Barras” (2). To Metternich, “Napoleon seemed to me the incarnation of the Revolution” (8). He tried to warn the other countries in Europe against making peace with France, because, to him, “No peace is possible with a revolutionary system, whether with a Robespierre who declares war on chateaux or a Napoleon who declares war on Powers” (9). William Pitt the Younger spoke of the “jacobinism of Robespierre, of Barrere” and called Napoleon “the child and the champion of all its atrocities and horrors” (10).
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This is a royalist caricature of Napoleon created by Pierre-Marie Bassompierre Gaston. The caption says “One is always faithful to one's first love”. (Source)
Here is Napoleon’s stance on Robespierre:
“Robespierre died because he tried to stop the effects of the Revolution, and not as a tyrant. Those who wanted to bring him down were crueler than he was: Billaud-Varenne, Collot d'Herbois, etc. He had against him Danton's party, which was powerful and immense. Probably he could not have acted otherwise. I believe that Robespierre was without ambition. . . . Everything I read in the Moniteur teaches me nothing, but it confirms me in the opinion that I had, and settles me in it even more. To be sure, Robespierre was not an ordinary man. He was very superior to everything around him. His discourse on the Supreme Being proves it. Disgusted by what he was hearing, he felt the necessity of a religious system among people who did not want anything, either religion or morals. Morality had to be raised up again. He had the courage to do it and he did it... That was great politics. No doubt he shed blood; that is the other side of the coin, but he is certainly less guilty than Tallien, who slaughtered Bordeaux, or Fréron whom I saw in Marseille taking poor unfortunates by the collar to have them shot. Those men were real killers. Had he [Robespierre] not succumbed, he would have been the most extraordinary man who appeared.” (3)
Sources:
(1) Adam Zamoyski, Napoleon: A Life
(2) Jean Tulard, De Napoléon et de quelques autres sujets: Robespierre vu par Napoléon
(3) Patrice Gueniffey, Bonaparte: 1769–1802
(4) Le Doulcet de Pontécoulant, Souvenirs historiques et parlementaires
(5) Frank McLynn, Napoleon: A Biography
(6) J. P. Collot, La chute de Napoléon
(7) Albert Sorel, L'Europe et la Révolution française, V. 5
(8) Memoirs of Prince Metternich 1773-1815 Vol. 1
(9) Henry Kissinger, A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace 1812–1822
(10) The speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons, V. 3
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Read your post on dialogue, not sure if anything I missed answers this so sorry if this is answered! I was wondering if you had any advice for discussing background and a robbery plan, how that could be tackled without a massive paragraph of dialogue. Not sure if this is an actual technique but would starting with a line of dialogue and having the paragraphs after be not-dialogue be a good way to go about that? Apologies in advance for “not-dialogue”. I minored in English. Words are hard today.
How to Write Characters Planning/An Explanation of an In-Story Plan
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Do you know what's even harder than making a plan?
Having to write about your characters making a plan.
Explaining plans, especially in action/adventure stories that have a lot of moving parts involved, can be a one-way ticket to info-dumping central. I have never written a "planning" scene that I didn't struggle with horrifically, because it always seems like I'm shoving into the readers' faces why they have to do it this way and not another way.
Here are some tips on how I've managed to defeat the much-dreaded In-Story Plan.
1. Give the Planning Its Own Scene
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Planning scenes take time. They have a lot of moving parts, require a lot of thinking and outlining to make sure there aren't any plot holes, and take a lot of energy for a writer to power through.
Putting this kind of scene at a huge point of tension or excitement will completely dampen the momentum of the story. Planning scenes are slow and direct, requiring intricate intent and understanding from both the writer and the reader--otherwise, everything that comes after the planning scene will fall apart. Planning scenes are better at building tension and anticipation rather than being the culmination of that tension and anticipation.
Of course, you can have your characters make a small plan in the middle of a fight, but big plans like heists, escapes, battle strategies, or other major character moves that require multiple pages and aren't just an exchange of dialogue and a paragraph or two should have its own section.
It is difficult to put a planning stage in the middle of something, so if you're having trouble figuring out where your planning scene should go, consider putting it at the start or end of a chapter or before/after a line break.
2. Explain Some Things Beforehand So You Don't Have to Cover Too Much
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Plant some details surrounding the plan before the actual planning scene. This way, you don't have to worry about explaining each and every aspect of how it's going to go; even if you do have to reiterate some of these details, at least it won't be all new information for the readers.
These things could include:
1. Passing stand-out details about the places they will eventually infiltrate/rob/escape or the people they're going up against
Newspaper headline saying [Name of Corporation] just spent 9 million dollars on a new laser security system.
"Ugh, I hate walking by this place; it gives me the creeps! Rumor has it the statues come alive as an extra line of security."
Explain powers/influence enemy has
2. Magical Limitations
If your WIP includes magic, you might want to pre-explain all the reasons why they can't just use magic to solve the thing they want to do before the planning scene. Magical explanations are almost just as hard as plan explanations, and you don't want to have to burden yourself with combining the two.
There are more than just these two, but these were the ones I thought were the biggest!
3. Fight Back Info-Dumping by Balancing Description and Dialogue
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How to Write Dialogue
How to Balance Description and Dialogue
If your planning scene is just one big chunk of text describing what they're gonna do, the readers will grow restless.
The key to writing a good planning scene is to give the characters props/staging, have interjections from other characters that may not be necessarily relevant to the planning, and include other aspects that make the scene important besides the planning.
Describe the space they're in before the start, pointing out interesting aspects.
Have the characters use a map, moving around pieces and pointing out specific areas.
Have some characters be more in the loop than others, interjecting their own input or asking questions.
Make the characters walk around, gesture, fidget, the whole nine yards! Break up that dialogue with visual cues the readers can latch onto to better envision the scene.
Have them joke around, maybe go off on some short tangents before quickly returning to the matter at hand.
Maybe the main character finds out one of their friends is a hacker, or into acrobatics! That contributes to both the furthering of the planning process and the building of that character!
You can also spice up that dialogue with some speech tags if it's feeling a bit stagnant! Here are some speech tags that could be useful in explaining a plan:
Asking
Asked, Demanded, Grated, Inquired, Insisted, Interrogated, Pried, Prompted, Quipped, Quizzed, Queried, Requested
Answering
Answered, Replied, Responded, Retorted
Explanations and Observations
Added, Advised, Affirmed, Alleged, Announced, Assumed, Began, Cautioned, Commented, Corrected, Deadpanned, Declared, Estimated, Explained, Guessed, Informed, Interrupted, Lectured, Mentioned, Noted, Observed, Pointed Out, Presumed, Proposed, Recommended, Remarked, Repeated, Revealed, Theorized, Told, Suggested, Supposed, Warned
Agreeing
Conceded, Confessed, Admitted, Affirmed, Agreed, Decided, Declared, Vowed
4. Use a Fresh Set of Eyes
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The best way to make sure your planning scene doesn't come across as one big info-dump is to have your work be read by someone who's never laid eyes on it before.
You know your story better than anyone else. You know how the plan is supposed to go, and why they make some choices over other choices. A beta reader can be very, very important when it comes to not only picking out info-dumping, but also picking out possible plot holes.
The LAST thing you want is to have written a whole novel based around this plan, only to have a reader go "Well why didn't they just do [obvious option you didn't even think about]?"
Unfortunately...this has happened to me on multiple occasions with my current novel, which is why I've had to completely re-write it twice (these re-writes have improved the story for the better, of course, but have set me back years!)
5. Watch/Read Planning Scenes by Other Authors
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Sometimes, watching or reading planning scenes can help you get a taste for the different rhythms and props used to keep it from being one big info-dump.
Of course, films and TV shows do have visuals and audio to keep watchers entertained in a way that us writers don't, but pay attention to the ways that the informative dialogue is broken up--with quips, with shots of different items, characters speaking up or moving around the room--and incorporate these narrative beats into your own storytelling!
Here are some planning scenes that you may want to look into to help spark your creativity!
Some of these are more intimate plans, some more elaborate, some involving more props/movement, and some involving more explanation!
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Inception (2010)
The Martian (2015)
Next Three Days (2010)
The Fellowship of the Ring(2001)
Game of Thrones 7x02 (2017)
Game of Thrones 8x02 (2019)- Planning beings at 3:07
Game of Thrones has a lot of good battle strategy planning scenes, and the Ocean's franchise specializes in heist planning scenes!
Feel free to reblog and suggest more!
Hope this helped, and happy writing!
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honeytothebee · 2 years
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But this is huge back step from Meghan. They created her royal persona after Kate. They said she have more glamour, she can speak her mind, she is a feminist. Now she just copies Kate which actually means defeat.
Disclaimer: I'm going to say something I've held back on for a long while. Early on I adopted an “avoid speculation, only respond to what they do or say" approach to the Sussexes. I mostly don't want to change that. This is not a blog about the Sussexes. I came here for William and Catherine and their family and I will stay for them. But what I'm about to write very much has to do with the Cambridges. Again, it is only speculation. It is only my opinion.
I think Meghan Markle has been obsessed with Catherine since before she married William. I think she at least followed but maybe even participated in commentary about "Kate Middleton" online. I would guess that she read the coverage that we all know was quite negative for many, many years. Not necessarily from actual royal reporters and biographers, but celebrity gossip bloggers like Lainey. I believe it's very likely Meghan frequented a royal forum or two as well as Celebitchy, where she read Kaiser's venom.
Why do I think this?
Because as you pointed out, in the beginning she sold herself as everything “Waity, Lazy Katie” was supposedly not. Go back to the engagement interview and her PR around that time. She was going to out-Duchess the Duchess of Cambridge. She was going to "hit the ground running." No part-time years of adjusting and easing into the role for her! She was used to being in the public eye. This would come naturally for her. She had a CAREER and was a SUCCESSFUL woman. She loved to give speeches! No nerves to be found. Her fashion was going to be *on trend* and never frumpy or boring.
If anyone read the petty, trivial criticism hurled at Catherine for years, they would understand that Meghan presented herself as the anti-thesis. During that engagement interview, she gave away that she was very aware of all the things the Kate haters love to repeat. She also made it clear she would get those things "right."
And this is where I have to pose a question. Why was she so aware of that hate directed toward Kate from certain corners of the internet? Why does she even now make comments about being a Stepford wife, something she could have pulled right from Kaiser? It couldn't be because she was part of that group of jealous, hateful, venomous women so sure they would have been a better wife to Prince William? Surely that's not the case, right? Because Meghan knew nothing about the BRF, right?
How do these photos make you feel? Why did moments like these happen so frequently?
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Why has Meghan, or at least her PR and her squad of supporters, sought for over 3 years to destroy William and Catherine’s marriage?
To answer your question with my personal opinion, Meghan sought to “out-do” Catherine in every area by becoming the duchess those old-school Kate haters considered ideal. When she was not successful in winning either the public’s respect and affection or William’s attention, she abandoned that strategy and became consumed with adopting the identity of the woman she couldn’t manage to unseat. Jealousy. Obsession. Fixation.
I repeat: she should never be in close physical proximity to Catherine ever again.
This is my opinion only.
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soylent-crocodile · 7 months
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Strackbird (Monster)
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(Detail from Bloodpeckers by Sheather888)
(Strackbirds don't look too exciting, but their behavior is a fascinating case of symbiosis that I've never seen before and I love it, to the point that I think it's my favorite pre-Pangeacene Serinian creation, sorry Elefinches.
Most excitingly though, their "hook" isn't a weird life or reproduction strategy, but assisting megafauna- something that translates pretty well into Pathfinder! I designed them with Evasion and a high ac/attack so they can be paired with much larger and higher CR animals.
Also, fun fact, this family of birds eventually evolves metamorphosis, and their descendants include the quadrupedal birds I posted a few weeks ago.)
Strackbirds are small songbirds who have evolved a symbiotic relationship with large predators. As their name implies, they aid their host by flying ahead of it and harassing large herbivores so as to aid the predator's hunt. In return, the predator allows them at the kill site, where the small carnivores can feast relative to their size, though scarcely make a dent in the predator’s meal. Their most common host is the tyrant serin, a large terrestrial bird that has convergently evolved a tyrannosaur-like niche.
In areas where strackbirds are common, large herbivores frequently adopt small cleaner birds, which serve the dual purpose of hygiene and fending off strackbirds. Humanoids in areas where strackbirds live have learned how to kill them quickly, and falconry is a common practice in such regions, with one breed of hawk specialized to prey on strackbirds.
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(King of His Domain: The Tyrant Serin by Sheather888)
This small bird is colored in eye-catching orange and black, and has a surprisingly wicked looking beak. Misc- CR1 TN Diminutive Animal HD2 Init:+8 Senses: Perception:+6  Stats- Str:4(-3) Dex:18(+4) Con:6(-2) Int:2(+0) Wis:15(+2) Cha:13(+1) BAB:+1 Space:2.5ft Reach:0ft Defense- HP:7(2d8-2) AC:18 (+4 Dex, +4 Size) Fort:+1 Ref:+7 Will:+2 CMD:8 Special Defenses: Evasion Offense- Bite +9(1d4-3 plus Diversion) CMB:-7 Speed:10ft, Fly 40ft (Perfect) Special Attacks: Diversion (DC11) Feats- Improved Initiative Skills- Fly +13, Perception +6 Ecology- Environment- Any Languages- None Organization- Hunting Party (2 Strackbird, 1 Tyranoserin [use stats for a t-rex]) Treasure- None Special Abilities- Diversion (Ex)- A strackbird’s natural niche is to provide a distraction to aid in the hunts of larger animals. A creature dealt lethal or nonlethal damage from a strackbird’s bite attack must make a DC11 Will save or be distracted until the start of the strackbird’s next round, taking a -8 penalty to Perception checks and being considered flat footed. The DC is charisma-based. However, a strackbird that has spent 24 hours cohabitating with a medium or larger animal may instead use 10+that creature’s constitution modifier as the DC for its diversion ability. Evasion (Ex)- This ability functions as the rogue ability of the same name.
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itsclydebitches · 9 months
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Adding to the Semblance discussion. It was REALLY uncomfortable when they said what Semblances meant and I realized what Adam’s represented especially when Blake talked about her own Semblance.
it did not leave a good taste in my mouth at all when Blake just said ‘his Semblance is like yours’. Not even touching on the implication of Jaune’s own Semblance manifesting as his literal desire to be useful to the point he is sacrificing his soul(they specified he’s boosting their Aura, not just healing.).
like…I fully expected an intervention or something but no.
On a less…upsetting note. Do you think in Volume 5 when Ruby said she unlocked her Semblance training, it was that moment in Yang’s trailer? One where Ruby bolted and tripped. Which made me go ‘Oh, so this is the moment she talked about!’. Always found it weird how no one mentioned it in discussions.
I think it helps a smidgen that Ren's lecture (from what I recall, anyway) makes it clear that not everyone agrees with the theory that semblances = innate aspects of who you are... but the problem is the show then went to treat it as a given, rather than just a dubious, perhaps self-fulfilling idea. However, if RWBY is going to commit to that 1:1 connection, then yeah, the writing needs to consider what semblances reveal about a person that perhaps needs to be addressed. The closest they've gotten is with Blake and I think that's a staggering failure because 1. Her clones are not solely used for running away (they fight back, provide distractions, combine with dust, etc.) 2. Other characters with similar semblances (like Sun) apparently don't have this same flaw despite the metaphor suggesting as much and 3. Running away isn't inherently a bad thing. I keep thinking about how Blake's biased perspective of her own semblance might have led to a more nuanced version of Volume 8. What happens when you take a character who originally thought that running was a horrific, cowardly act, only for her to realize over time that it's just another kind of combat strategy, one that's often necessary in a long-term war (something she's in a unique position to understand given her generational fight for equality) and then you set her up in contrast to her overly optimistic "We can do it!" leader when they're both faced with a no-win scenario? As the cynical, hardened, activist, "You have to know how to fight to survive outside the kingdoms" team member, I'd have loved to see Blake help Ruby grow as they face more and more complicated situations... not clasp her hands and gush about how she's always looked up to her (not actually). Semblances could have been a key part of all that, especially when you take into account that speed is also a useful tool for getting out of a tough situation. How often has Ruby used her semblance to get away from a fighter she knows she can't take on alone? Roman, Mercury, and the like? But that Ruby belongs to a former version of the story that wasn't upholding certain messages to the point of narrative nonsense.
I'm drawing a blank on where Ruby "bolted and tripped." Was that another short? I never saw Yang's trailer as the moment she unlocked her semblance though, if only because Yang has no reaction to it. She laughs a little and says, "Nice one, sis" which is not the kind of excited response we'd expect from a younger Yang when Ruby hits such an important milestone. I've always assumed we've never seen the exact moment Ruby unlocked it on screen, just heard about it in passing.
Although, in re-watching that moment I spotted this:
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Far from being a generalized character flaw, the context of this is Ruby running from hand-to-hand practice when we've already established that she doesn't want to do this. That's another flaw the show introduced without considering how it fits into the larger World Building. Why is Ruby the only one who has the "problem" of not being able to fight without her weapon? I would have bought this if the show had simply framed it as an issue all Huntsmen face, but Ruby is in a unique position to circumvent it given her family's personalities and fighting styles: Yang is a brawler, Tai might have been similar, and we see that Qrow has no problem shrugging and throwing a punch when his own weapon is lost (Tyrian fight). Instead, RWBY acts like Ruby is the only one with this issue (Ozpin calling her out), she's apparently overcome this with a single hit (Haven battle)... and then it never comes up again. Despite the fact that Volume 9 has her lose her weapon and then be too traumatized to pick it back up for all of 30 seconds the hand-to-hand never returns as a satisfying, "Ah, good thing Ruby had that development and came from this family, otherwise she might be in serious trouble here!"
Hmm. You know, now I'm just thinking about an AU where teeny-tiny Ruby with the speed semblance is originally trained in close combat because do you realize the advantage you have with Petal Burst and your small stature? Besides, playing dirty in the name of survival is a Rose-Xiao-Long tradition! It's not until late in Signal that Ruby is deciding on her weapon and it's a damn struggle for her to wield such a massive scythe, but she's stubborn and is determined to follow through on her choice. So one day she looses Crescent Rose in battle and Roman thinks that's it, this kid only had "one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed" going for her and those stuffy Huntsmen are notorious for putting all their eggs in one basket, learning their fancy moves with their fancy, dust-powered weaponry and then it alllll falls apart the second they're forced to get their own hands dirty. Piece of cake.
...only for Ruby to kick his ass with arms like steal from wielding a weapon that weighs as much as she does, the ability to slink her way under any guard, a speed semblance that can take her behind her opponent in an instant (trailing petals as a distraction to boot), and years of training under Tai, Yang, and Qrow—all of whom really like punching things.
Ruby: What? Did you think I needed Crescent Rose? That's stupid...
Yang: 👏👏 😎 👏👏
Blake, who also harbored those assumptions about Signal-trained Huntsmen because like many of their enemies she comes from a culture where you fight with whatever the hell you've got on hand: 😍
Weiss who DOES need her weapon to enact any kind of damage because she's been taught that any fighting that could so much as muss her hair is a big, cultural no-no and she's just beginning to realize that maybe that ignorance/aversion is a bit of a liability:
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omgkalyppso · 2 months
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sylvix 8 14 and 16 bc the ship meme popped up on my dash again :)
\( ̄︶ ̄*\) I appreciate you! Thank you for the ask.
8. Do they have any children? If so, do these children predate the relationship or are they a result of the relationship (whether through birth or adoption or otherwise)? Does any partner excel in their child-rearing? If so, is this because of education, experience or instinct?
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Picrew 1. Picrew 2. Picrew 3.
I never really explored a lot of my oc Fae's post-canon world publicly, but Sylvix are together there and it was my headcanon that trans Felix would not be comfortable carrying a child to term, and so they adopt Elspeth. There were already so many Faerghan redheads, that I didn't feel bad about going that route with her design.
I've seen a few people headcanon Miklan a child that they adopt, and have sometimes played with the idea that she's that, but otherwise her origin isn't angsty. Happily chosen by her parents in an orphanage because she was scrappy and because her hair reminded Felix of Sylvain's. A brighter, quieter swordsman than Felix was in his youth, who still manages to remind people of him somehow. A Fraldarius in every way.
She's adopted between five and seven, so they miss some of the younger years and milestones, but are around for her to be young enough that she still mimics some of Sylvain's exaggerated / flirtatious smiles, that she still requires a basic education besides one that would be specifically required for people of their rank, that other discoveries and heartbreaks and illnesses are still a new and delicate thing.
Felix is better with making Elspeth feel better after an injury, or handling colds and impatience and distraction. Sylvain is more approachable with emotional conversations, but I don't think he's the best at them or that he'd want to have them without Felix present so Elspeth has to deal with both of her parents talking about her insecurities and desires almost like strategy. Ultimately it works because Felix and Sylvain are mature and kind-hearted and attentive to their daughter, but it's definitely unconventional.
They're always trying to pull each other closer. A whole family with a concern of living up to deserving one another.
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Picrews 4&5. Other ot5 kids here.
I also want to add that she's at the Officer's Academy at the same time as two of my ot5 kids: (Hilda and Lorenz's youngest) Baldovin or Vinnie, and (Fae and Claude's only daughter) Sadaf. Vinnie and Sadaf, despite having different birth parents, near consider each other twins. Born only a few months apart and raised together by parents who were involved with one another, they're very familial at least, and the best of friends.
I wouldn't say I ship any of my next gen (with the specific exception of a merciedue fankid and an ot5 child), because I've not really invested in them as teens / adults the way that I've invested in them being children, but I like Elspeth developing a crush on Vinnie, and friends with both of them.
Baldovin is nothing like very little like Lorenz in temperament, unlike his elder siblings. He's loud. He's boistrous. He's short as a Goneril. Here's another paragraph about him from this post:
Baldovin (minor Crest of Goneril: Sometimes allows combat arts to prevent enemy counterattacks.) is a fortress knight. A slow, sturdy wall of armor. Lives to defend, and tries to incapacitate. Sympathy for his enemies. Feels like attacking marching units while mounted on either wyvern or horseback is unfair to man and animal, and thus only uses mounts to get from point A to point B. Crest nonsense: WILL wrestle your wyvern for fun, and enjoys the shock in how their necks rear back when his Crest allows him to pin their chin down while their wings struggle (squish that cat).
I also feel obligated to mention that in Fae's canon / post-canon, Sylvain joined the Golden Deer, and Dimitri survived Gronder but did not end up ruling as king. I have a few dimimari fics about where that left him, but they aren't fully transparent that Felix also remains his best friend.
14. How often does each partner cry? How do their partners engage or react to the differences in emotion between themselves and their partner(s)?
I think that while Felix did grow out of crying as often as he did as a child, that Sylvain cries a lot and unfortunately for Felix, it becomes more and more likely that seeing Sylvain in tears makes him cry also. Felix puts in so much effort post-canon in his relationship to Sylvain (among his platonic relationships to others), so that they can have harder conversations and feel better — and not simply awkward, after vulnerabilities are shared. It surprises Sylvain how bad he, himself, is at communicating, but it becomes more obvious through Felix's growth and efforts. They still have time to be young men together, and Sylvain also improves at giving tears their space, whether from sadness or otherwise.
16. If prompted to describe what love and / or acceptance feels like in their relationship, what sort of answer would each partner give? If this is not their honest answer, what would be the true answer for them?
Felix would say it feels like coming home. Like having a place to rest and not have to worry about being anything but you are.
Sylvain would say it feels like a warm fire after ages in the cold, like something you want to throw yourself into to recover from the chill, but that you have to wait for and tend and appreciate for it to steadily warm you.
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blackjackkent · 1 month
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Good news, everyone! There are TWO Spectators in the House of Hope dungeon, not just one.
No sign of Raphael yet but probably only a matter of time.
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First order of business is to get Hope out of her chains.
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The chains are anchored on giant crystals on each side of the arena, which possibly we could also destroy, but the hammer comes with a unique attack, "Unshackling Strike", which says "Smite the magical bonds keeping a a creature restrained, paralyzed, or stunned, freeing it." So we just need to get into melee with Hope and smack her with it.
I loaded Jaheira up with the hammer since she's the one of us least dependent on weapon attacks; unfortunately she's also the slowest of us so it took two turns during which I had everyone else start clearing the room.
The spectators, as usual, are scary as fuck and have 3 billion attacks; the most concerning bit was that one of them managed to land a paralyzing ray on Jaheira, which puts her out of commission temporarily. Unclear if this was deliberate because she had the hammer or just unlucky.
However! Hector has a freedom of movement potion, and we have Magic Pockets(tm) meaning Minsc could throw it on Jaheira before her turn. TEAMWORK! STRATEGY! I'm SO GOOD at this VIDEO GAME!
(Not really, but I try. XD Throwing the potion apparently doesn't work if you're ALREADY paralyzed, which is fucked up. >:( )
I think their target must not have been random, because they KEPT doing this to Jaheira, forcing us to kill them before we could cut Hope free. A surprisingly scary bit of this ended up being maneuvering everyone so they wouldn't get yeeted into the abyss by the knockback on the imps' eldritch blasts. (I did have to do a reload for this because Karlach got knocked off; I considered a feelsy drabble about it but it didn't really feel like it served any greater character point beyond "oh, whoops, shouldn't have stood there." XD )
The reload went much better; I was able to get Jaheira over to Hope and hit her, at which point absolutely nothing happened. >:( So I guess we were supposed to go for the crystals after all.
At this point I just got annoyed and beat everything up before trying to continue. XD This had the added benefit of letting us short rest and heal up before actually cutting Hope free.
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Strike one.
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Strike two. And she's out!
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"FREE! I never thought I would be, believed I could be, hoped I might be. HEADS WILL ROLL!" she crows, waving her arms around. Then her face falls sharply and along with it, her voice.
"But we must address the hollyphant in the room. I can see how you avoid looking at me. I must be so terribly mutilated after all these decades of torture. Don't hold back. Tell me how bad it is."
Her head bows, her shoulders hunch.
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Hector looks at her with some bemusement. "You look perfectly normal," he says, because she does - really more normal than one would expect under the circumstances.
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She smiles weakly. "We both know that's not true, but thank you for being so kind."
He blinks. "No, really... you look fine."
The smile strengthens, but turns all the sadder for it. "You truly are the kindest fool I've ever met..." she murmurs. A pause, and then she turns away sharply. "We'll carve our way to the entrance hall and chop Raphael into messes! That's the hopeful version of course. The likely version is that WE ARE THE MESSES AND HE IS THE CHOPPER! ONWARD!"
-----
Hector and the others watch her leap back to the platform where they came in, and all of them look more than a little troubled.
"What's she talking about, Hec?" Karlach asks in a low voice. "She looks fine."
"I don't know," Hector answers grimly. "I'm more than a little concerned that perhaps she doesn't at all. It wouldn't be the first thing we encountered here disguised under a glamour."
The deep red of her face pales slightly. "Oh. Oh gods..."
"I hope I'm wrong. Gods, I hope I'm wrong."
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aleakybiro · 1 year
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A ramble about Breath of the Wild's difficulty level;
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I've poured more hours into Breath of the Wild than I probably should have, perhaps only outdone by my last obsession with Animal Crossing New Leaf. I’ve finished the game twice, and decided I wanted another go. Let me say; it’s rare to come across a game so captivating it makes you want to pour in another 150 hours to see every detail all over again.
My first time playing the game, I was pretty bad at it by any gamer’s standards. If I wanted to go somewhere, I’d quite literally go as the crow flies. I’d cross cliffs, attempt to jump huge rivers, swim across lakes; because, apparently, I’d never heard of roads. At every enemy, I chose flight over fight. I forgot to prepare food before every venture from a stable. There was no strategy, no direction, no intent. I once tried to befriend wizzrobes because I thought they were fairies, and I’ll die disappointed about it.
But I think that was why it was fun. I played the game like a 6 year-old who just wanted to ride horses and find out what happened to Zelda. And the game let me. Unlike most games, where you can only access certain parts of the map at certain levels, I could go the most illogical way possible and this game would just laugh and wish me good luck. I didn’t get stuck, like ever, because I wasn’t bogged down figuring out how it was supposed to be played, how someone else was expecting me to get unstuck.
My second time, I knew the tricks. I knew there were roads and bridges, I knew how to fight from the offset, I knew which enemies were too dangerous to take at the beginning, and how to find everything. This time, I went to Gerudo town first so I could get the magic jewellery, because I knew it would be helpful on the way to getting the proper armour. I played the game the way it was perhaps not so much intended to be – for Breath of the Wild there is, of course, no intended way – but expected to be. Eventually though, I got bored. I didn’t have the patience to drag my heels through the completion of every shrine and puzzle. I just fought Ganon so I could finish the game and start over. Another nice option, might I add.
But why? Well, there was no challenge anymore. I knew how to beat every enemy, what was where. I knew to visit the castle dungeon mid-game to get the goods rather than right at the end where they were little use. I knew every twist and turn, every memory scene, most of the secrets in the map. But it just felt like I was walking in my old footsteps with less wonder and less to discover.
I love Breath of the Wild. I wanted to traverse its wonderful universe a hundred times. But I couldn't just do the same thing a third time, what was the point? I needed something new. A challenge. So on my third playthrough, I had some new rules:
No upgrading hearts or stamina. I could collect every spirit orb in the game, but it wasn’t allowed.
No upgrading runes.
No using the champion gifts, even if I had earned them fair and square.
No fancy clothes. Basic Hylian clothes only. And the warm doublet, ‘cause I said so.
No upgrading clothes either. Not that I’d miss the fairies.
Now, this put me in an interesting position. I played through the Great Plateau as normal, and enjoyed it as I always did. There’s something about it, it’s just my favourite part. Perhaps it’s the secluded area, perhaps the small space as you build from zero. Or maybe the stronger link to the story at that point in the game. I’ve never been sure. But the moment I set foot on Hyrule kingdom soil, there was no more normal; and in a good way.
At this point, I hadn’t considered any other changes to my playthrough, so I set off down the beaten track towards Kakariko village…for maybe 2-3 minutes?. I saw the Bridge of Hylia, and I turned right. Impa could wait.
And it was a great decision. The Faron region is the only one you’re not really directed to in your main quest, when you think about it. Most regions are home to an important village, a major path, or an area where at least part of the main quest takes place. Excluding Akkala, but there’s plenty of direction towards it. So what directs people to Faron? There’s only one memory there, and it’s right on the outskirts. Either you’re aiming for completion, or you’re just plain curious. The latter is the beauty of the game.
The only area that really has a difficulty level intended for a specific point in the game is the Duelling peaks, and to an extent Hateno, suited to be easier in the beginning. So Faron was a fun choice for a first region. Storms, the lightning god, a jungle, a peaceful village unaffected by your main quest? Perfect.
I had my knowledge of how to fight, and of different enemies and whatnot, but I was still in for a shock. Oh yeah. Where most of us would brush a couple of Stalmoblins off, they were a one hit killer for me, and I quickly learned I couldn’t take three at once without getting hit. A rude awakening. So travelling at night was out. I also quickly found I had to restock food at every cookpot, because there was no point in carrying a ten heart meal. Just lots of burnt fish and mushrooms. Classy.
But the biggest change (and my favourite) was the combat. I’m aware that you can buy master mode if you want to make the game more challenging, but what does it change? You take more damage, enemies are stronger, your weapons break more often. To me, that honestly sounds very frustrating. It makes the technical combat more difficult, but it doesn’t change how you approach it. That, for me anyway, was the fun bit.
I remember early in my first playthrough, I was sent to raid a beach camp near Hateno village to rescue some sheep. At this point, I was still a terrible fighter (and a bit of a wimp), so I picked the monsters off one by one with remote bombs until there were few enough to take in one go. It took a while, sure, but hell was it a satisfying victory. Now, two playthroughs later, it was back to that kind of strategy. Analyse your surroundings for things to drop or to blow up, approach from the right place, bait monsters out to you, pick them off one by one. Granted, I failed a lot – I’m still not a great fighter by any stretch of the imagination– but I was thinking about what I was doing, so every victory felt more earned.
The most satisfying win I’ve had so far was against a lynel. (No, I wasn’t going to hide from them this time, I’m slightly less of a wimp.) So, I thought back to how I normally fight a lynel. Stasis, hit, wait to recharge, repeat until dead. But that strategy had some beef with my little rulebook – No stasis +.
Which turned out to be pretty brilliant.
In my previous victories against lynels (few and far between, if I’m honest), I had never really taken the time to watch how they fought, I’d just ran around waiting for my stasis to recharge. However, upon watching, I noticed they don’t have too many moves, really.
Their close combat moves feature a cross slash and a heavy swing, dodged by backflip, as well as a charge attack which can be avoided with a side hop, both allowing me to get my hits in with a flurry rush. (which were my best friend this playthrough, even on bokoblins)
They also featured a move where they breathe fire – my personal favourite, because for the lynel of Ploymous mountain, he was standing on grass. When this move was featured, I could glide on the updraft, and draw my bow.
Now, a general rule when fighting a lynel is never draw your bow. You draw your bow, they draw theirs. Big mistake.
My first encounter with a lynel way back when was with the one on the Naydra snowfield. Here, I had a similar situation as with the wizzrobes. You see I thought, ladies and gentlemen, that the lynel was a centaur. Like an npc creature. That I should go and talk to. Until, of course, I saw the dreaded yellow exclamation mark and knew I had royally screwed myself over. I ran, only to find that their arrows could HONE IN ON YOU LIKE MISSILES, and I was dead in less than ten seconds. You can draw a number of conclusions about my intelligence from this, but the important lesson is never to let a lynel draw its bow.
Once yours is in hand, the only way to stop it from doing so is to shoot it in the face, stun it, then put your bow away. But on the ground, you have no chance of this hit before you’re trampled. From the air, however, the time freeze allows you to take the shot, drop to the ground, and perform the legendary move of mounting a lynel.
Did it take some trial and error to figure this out? Absolutely. Would I have figured it out if I hadn’t put myself in the position where I had to? Probably not. And I certainly wouldn’t have been able to ramble about it like a 5 year old at a birthday party if I hadn’t.
To me, that’s what makes videogames exciting, especially ones like Breath of the Wild, where you’re constantly figuring out new ways to do things. If any of you have ever played Splatoon, think about what’s more fun; Shooting your enemies down, or surprising them as you jump out from the trail of a curling bomb and splashdown three people at once? The rewarding part of the fighting aspect of gaming is winning in the ways that no one, sometimes not even yourself, expects. I don’t imagine everyone feels the same way; there is, of course, a certain pleasure to just blasting them. But this is true for me.
I also feel like, as you move through Breath of the Wild, you get a lot of great tips on creative fighting; from npcs, loading screens, and hidden all over the game, but many of them quickly become irrelevant. Taking out a bokoblin camp with magnesis is all great until you have seven hearts and can run in and mow them down in 20 seconds. During this playthrough, I actually learned a lot of tactics I could apply in the overworld through shrine puzzles.
In my early game exploration of Faron, I encountered an area of constant thunderstorm, caused by a shrine. The shrine was at the top of a massive waterfall. First thing that comes to your head? Yep. Zora armour. But by my rules, that wasn’t an option. Next? Climb the cliff and rest on its ledges. Bad news; with one wheel of stamina and constant rain, that wasn’t happening either. So what would I do? Come back later? In any other situation, yes, but this time, later in the game I’d still have no fancy armour, and no more stamina. So I had just as much chance of success now as I would later.
I am admittedly proud to say I did figure it out. The solution was found in a rather annoying shrine puzzle, where you had to lead one of those giant Sheikah orbs along a waterfall and into the hole. The goal was to use cryonis blocks to make a path for it. Incredibly pernickety and frustrating, but there was the solution, staring me in the face. A cryonis staircase up to the top of the waterfall.
It took a while, but it’s another example of using every tool at my disposal. The runes are an aspect of Breath of the Wild’s gameplay that is very creative, and very well used in overworld korok puzzles as well as shrines, but I think, rather underutilised in combat. That’s not to fault the design – the open nature of the game gives us the option, but most players would simply rather opt to use a royal broadsword, which is to be fair completely understandable.
This way of playing made the experience feel more human. If you were out in the wild, you’d need every trick in the book. You’d have to pick your battles - when you travel, what route you take, what you pack - very carefully. From the beginning of the game, Link is, let’s face it, already strong for a human/hylian. He can fight, he can take being stabbed a few times, withstand harsh environments for a decent amount of time, jog for way longer than I could dream, sprint a fair bit, climb sheer cliffs… He has the strength of your average soldier right off the bat. By the time you’re halfway through the game he’s frankly super-human. And yes, this kinda fits with the lore of the goddess’ chosen hero, but still; anyone who can get hit by a guardian’s laser square on and get back up is more than just abnormally strong.
And I’ve always been very interested in what it would be like to be a civilian during the events of the game. We laugh as travellers get beaten up by red bokoblins, but the truth of it is we’d probably be just like the truffle hunter girls. This time I suddenly didn’t feel so invincible against a black bokoblin, and the reality of the danger of Breath of Wild’s expansive world hit me. It’s not all pretty post-apocalypse of open fields and skies. I don’t think the urgency of the boss battle in universe quite hits any player in the vast expanse of pretty picture material, but during this playthrough the thought did occur. Not that it made me go any faster.
Really, my point is that even if you love obliterating sixteen monsters in one charge (‘cause same), I would still whole-heartedly recommend trying Breath of the Wild this way if you ever plan to play through it again. It gives a different take on the world and gameplay, which for me was very fun, and breathed a little new life into a game that was already brimming with it the first time. Games are best when you play them however you want. Solve problems with crazy backwards solutions. Play games like a happy little six year-old at Christmas. Sometimes making things difficult for yourself is fun, and who’s gonna stop you?
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macgyvertape · 1 year
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D2 Lightfall campaign thoughts
gameplay discussion above, campaign and post campaign story below cut:
New UI looks good, just wish they made the element mods color coded.
Immediately went to go craft a bunch of weapons before starting the campaign, I’m glad they made the change to crafting materials
Thinking back to when you used to have to spend ascendant shards to change the armor affinity of a masterwork piece, I’m so glad the game has progressed to no elemental armor since that will save me a lot of vault space.
Once again 9 or 10 resilience is incredibly noticeable in survivability vs lower resilience
The redo of the mod system from a dev standpoint probably makes designing the challenge level a lot easier since the elemental well mods had a lot of extremely powerful outlier combos. However, doing fun and varied buildcrafting was a big engagement point for me for the last 6 months so I hope there’s more creative options than at first glance.
huh Bungie is introducing destroyable cover, that showed up in the mars battleground last season. Very curious about the design process for that
Fighting tormenters feels like Dark Souls where you position around telegraphed wind up attack and a lot of dodging. Especially when you damage them enough and they “go full sicko mode” and charge you for the kill grab. Blinding grenades or chill clip to stun, or Arc Speedboost with witherhoard/anarchy for damage over time and kiting them around seem to be the winning strats. 
Checkpoint system in the campaign right before the rally flag is great for when something isn’t working in your loadout. I really appreciate the ability to change loadouts mid mission for a different final boss loadout
Basically every fight involves something that will force you to keep repositioning and a lot involve infinite ads. I've found witherhoard to be the most effective gun. Honestly most of my deaths are when the game forces me to run around with no cover then the ads shoot me. 
Overall I really liked the difficulty and challenge of legendary and enjoyed playing it mostly solo. Replaying missions helping a friend and its interesting how even though enemy health and damage is increased some parts are easier with enemy targeting AI.
The game was a lot more generous with giving me increased power level gear so I was never underleveled for any mission. Really appreciated it as both BL and WQ I had to take a break from the story to go farm blue gear
I used Necrotic grips and Osteo Striga for a lot of the campaign and it goes really well with Strand
Strand grapple vs a damage grenade, there’s not a lot of times where I want to grapple into a bunch of enemies, and there are times where it just swings me off a platform because of momentum. I’ve only unlocked Warlock so far but the cooldown on the Strand Grenade is so slow vs campaign that it takes some of the enjoyment out of it. I’m sure like stasis which was also underwhelming at first, that I’ll like it after some patches.
New updates to the Tower are cool but more importantly menu times seem to have improved. 
Glad the Terminal Overload public event will matchmake you with others directly, considering you need to finish the event to complete bounties to get an item if you want a pinnacle from the Partition missions.
Campaign:
New intro is great actually for explaining the story so far to new and returning players
Then the space battle cutscene was fucking great. The witness looks cool and less of a meme smoke-Megamind lookalike
If I had a nickel for every time an unknowable alien force sliced a bunch of things apart and gave me chills I’d have 2 nickels. (The Expanse protomolecule rising scene). That poor ghost where it had that moment of eye contact before falling apart just like the samurai sword slash trope 
I wiped 3 times against Mr Grabby hands, the fact that it's such an enclosed area didn’t help. Icarus Dash and Witherhoard and kiting the boss around were my winning strategy
When I first saw the cloudstrider armor design from the trailers I thought the metal bits looked really awkward but it looks so much better in game
Glad the cabal have moved beyond the need of pressure suits so Calus can have all this drip
Osiris’ criticisms feel a lot bitchier than I hope the writers intended because he makes so many of them. “Stop wasting time” as we go literally as fast as we can and I get my ass handed to me by tormentors. I get what they’re trying to do with his character arc but I wish the writing would trust I remember what he said 5 minutes or the last mission ago vs have him keep repeating the same thing. 
Second mission boss was a pushover
Oh no ghost but yay we get to talk
When ghost says “they have it locked down tight” lmao yeah that like 6 gunships and 4 tanks
Caiatl shows up to rescue us, I love her so much. Then we get a vehicle escape segment which is a lot of fun with Always On Time
The fresco style cutscene is beautiful, not new info to repeat players but a good exposition to new/returning 
Awww its Saint calling Osiris. Like Osiris’ terse commentary is clearly coming from a place of grief and frustration because he’s so used to doing stuff himself with Sagira as a moderating force and now he literally can’t. Him forgetting Sagira was dead for a brief moment was really touching. 
The need to use Strand to get around the suppression fields is a much better setup of why you have to use this darkness power vs needing stasis to open a few locked doors
“Information wants to be free” as Nimbus gives us a tank, I’m pretty fond of them
RIP Rohan, it was pretty obvious from foreshadowing he was going to die defending Neomuna and Nimbus the rookie would have to step up, he didn’t get enough screentime for me to get attached 
I like how the game clearly tells you when there are interlude dialogue
The tormented called “imprint of Nazerac”, Neomunda citizens having nightmares that feature Nezarec i hope this plays out somehow
Lmao immediately after listening to the radio messages I did the strike where Nezarec is on coms. Got to say he has the sexy monster voice, and I’m glad that a lore character who was built up so much gets to play a bigger role than Nezcafe drink. I can’t wait to see his physical design when we eventually fight him and very interesting since his corpse was dismembered for the reliquaries. I thought Rhulk was cool as fuck and hope Nezarec is equally as hype
I really I liked the speed racer section of the strike but wow that section will feel very different in GM
Nimbus is very cheerful and upbeat referencing Rohan’s death, they’ve been characterized as a jokester throughout but I figured there would have a more serious moment here and it would be a break from comedic relief to let the story breathe. The campaign story so far has really been pingponging from dark and serious vs cheesy quips, but it's landing too much on the side of cheesy that it makes me wonder why I should take the threat seriously.
The training montage with Osiris’ voice over about letting go of grief and persevering handled that line of comedy/seriousness with the tone a lot better 
The music that played during the Headstrong mission right after the training montage made me go “wow this is a lot of 80s action movie vibes” which apparently there are interviews where they said they were looking at blockbuster action movies to set the tone. 
It also made me realize in the style of a blockbuster action movie there’s been no explanation of the mcguffin of “The Veil”  and the other mcguffin of the “Mast” and how it plays into the Witness’ lager goal just that The Witness getting it would be bad, but no specific of how exactly. 
In the final mission it took me way longer than it should have to realize I was supposed to fight all those cabal strand empowered. Caiatl’s speech was badass and I loved the moment of fighting alongside her
Final fight was the one part I didn’t do solo just because of how many times I died from falling off the platforms. 3 people made the second phase easy because Calus could only chase 1 person at a time. I did like the final fight being in an ancient Istar lab that was the founding of the city.
Good on the Witness for the Xanatos gambit, it got what it wanted either way things played out. 
Once again another cliffhanger teaser where it throws something new at us that we have no context for. Big The Expanse ring gate vibes.
I don’t understand why Zalavala and everyone were just standing there the entire time, since it seems like the campaign takes days but the way they’re standing there implies they haven’t moved and it's been hours. 
Zavala has a really somber and well done speech after the campaign, and once again it's that tonal whiplash from the cheesiness of the campaign
I thought there would be a lot more exploration of the themes of mortality: Calus’ fear of death lead him to ally with the Witness, Guardians are brought back to life and basically immortal until they die in combat, Cloudstriders sacrifice a long lifespan for 10 years, and Osiris sort of in the middle with only the rest of his lifespan to live out. But there's not really any of that in the story
I thought the soundtrack was really mid except for the track that plays during the first tank scene and the track when you’re exploring the veil. Its not just that I expected it to be more synthwave to match the 80s tone but there wasn’t anything really stand out. 
Post Campaign:
Disappointed how there was no dialogue about how Neomuna has known about the Last City for all these years and any explanation of why they didn’t help out during the Dark Ages or The Red War even if only in a humanitarian way. I assume it was a resources issue, but I hope there’s at least some written lore for this
I think its cool how a lot of the bounties are Neomuna citizens, and that you can see them standing around as virtual avatars. Funnily enough I’ve seen more named Neomuna citizens than Awoken citizens (it’s all troops in the Dreaming City) and the Last City (there’s Eva and Hawthorne)
Neomuna has a LOT of bars around it, seems like citizens had a pretty fun time with all the art, arcades, and party setups
Really like how the Unfinished Business exotic quest reused the Garden Raid, a raid I think is beautiful but hate to run. The writing with Nimbus where they make jokes but have heartfelt moments with the players was what I wanted from them in the campaign. Also great closure for Osiris
Lmao at the reporter trying to interview Ghost, “Mr. Ghost can you hear me?”
Between Asher alive in the Vex network (he’s viewable in Partition) and Nezarec being in the Vex network I’m looking forward to how this plays out in the next Vex storyline. I was hearing ominous whispers just playing randomly at times around Neomuna, but with Nezarec’s sin the message is audible
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Text
15 Questions: Character Edition
Thank you @ceph-the-ghost-writer for the tag! This looks like a lot of fun~
I'll tag @writerfae @vcaudley @starlit-hopes-and-dreams and @calicojackofficial for this!
Let's do Dain Sundamar, from Captured by the Fae Beast. I've been in a Faery sort of mood recently.
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1. Are you named after anyone? Not as such. "Dain" is an old word meaning "haughty" or "worthy"; such things are often used for the sons of royal lines. "Sundamar" is a faery epithet referring to destruction, death, and especially the rending of things that were formerly whole into broken pieces. I suppose it's simple enough to imagine why my mother would select such a name for me.
2. When was the last time you cried? Such an odd question to open with. High emotion, even to the point of weeping, isn't a thing to be hidden, and I don't keep track of such events. I believe it may have been at my wedding.
3. Do you have kids? The idea appeals, but I would like to spend a few centuries enjoying Leah before we make such an attempt.
4. Do you use sarcasm? Who doesn't?
5. What’s the first thing you notice about people? By long habit, I assess how easily they could attack me. If, however, you're asking about physical features, typically their scent.
6. What’s your eye color? I would say yellow-orange. Leah calls it wolf gold.
7. Scary movies or happy endings? I'm not certain what a "movie" is, but as far as stories go, I certainly prefer joy. I've had enough fear and pain in my life that I don't seek such things out for entertainment.
8. Any special talents? Many.
9. Where were you born? In the Antlered Palace at the heart of Stag Court.
10. What are your hobbies? I have a number, but my favorite among them is flower-hunting. I have a great appreciation for wildflowers, and find it both soothing and rewarding to go in search of such lovely, ephemeral things.
11. Have you any pets? I have a riding stag, of course. Most small creatures don't tolerate me, but Leah's strange cat has an appalling fondness for my lap.
12. What sports do you/have you played? Would you consider combat a sport? I enjoy the practice courts a great deal, and am a deft hand at swordplay and glamor-battle both.
13. How tall are you? That question has two very different answers. Around six foot four, typically.
14. Favorite subject in school? Though I had private tutors for my schooling, I had a great appreciation for tactics and strategy, as well as a general fondness for reading.
15. Dream job? I've... never considered it. When one is born a crown prince, one's future is fairly well-set. Ranging, I suppose? I have always appreciated the opportunity to turn my strength and skills to the protection of my people, and the First Army was always a comfortable home for me.
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whumpinggrounds · 10 months
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Thank you!! It does help a lot :D and don’t worry about “rambling stuff” cuz rambling good >:D To me it’s like. Back at the community I grew up in we don’t really talk about chronic pain, a lot of the folks have it but it’s still so overlooked it’s almost like the problem has never existed in the first place. To put it a bit cynically it’s like we are always encouraged to shut up about whatever stuff you’re going through (to the point where needing to pee in school is sometimes considered an inconvenience to others and scold-worthy), unless they’re sure you’re gonna actually die. Have moved out since but guess I still got things that need to be kicked outta my system >:D)
Sorry about the ranting, went a bit off rail and so I tried censoring part of the rant that might be triggering to others. I’ve always been a bit clumsy communicating with others about the chest pain when it’s in the way of letting me doing stuff with others, so just hearing your thoughts on the matter, knowing how other people like us may think and deal with it, is already a great help to me. Again, thank you! You are doing a truly great work
This is a really kind message, and of course! Happy to talk about this, especially if it helps you at all <3
One more thing: I just started reading it, so I can't speak to the book in its entirety, but I've heard really good things about The Pain Management Workbook by Rachel Zoffness, and so far I really like it! She talks about chronic pain as a biopsychosocial phenomenon, and walks through exercises that can help reframe and (hopefully) reduce pain.
Zoffness herself experiences chronic pain, but I want to give a caveat here that she does believe and research around the idea of pain as biopsychosocial, meaning that her strategies for pain management and reduction are cognitive behavior therapy based. She does not claim that pain is "all in someone's head," but the way she talks about pain as a psychological and social occurrence may rub some people the wrong way.
Anyway that's all I have for ya! Be good to yourself <3
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So, this is basically a rant that goes nowhere but please bear with me.
On the topic of BTS mentioning army all the time and making everything about army.
I've been a fan of multiple artists and I consider myself to be someone that spends a lot of time listening to music and I want to say that I've never noticed another artist mentioning their fans so much. I've got to say that even though some of it is fine, and I love two! three! and performances such as 21st century girls (it's so cheesy but I really like it), to me army seems like a scapegoat for not being truthful. I refuse to believe that army is the central reason of their whole being and if it truly is then people should be concerned and they (bts) would need a psychologist because there's no way that a dependence like that on the "love" from their fans is healthy. At this point it's just the easy answer to every question and that in my opinion makes it boring, I want the creative input and reasoning, not "this is because we love army☺️" and that's it.
I've truly tried to (and I'm still trying to) understand this behaviour. I've been wanting to study Korean for roughly a year and an half, and in this time I've researched a lot on Korean culture and language, even though my speaking habilites are almost zero. I've found that SK culture tends to be really collectivistic, a lot of emphasis on "we" instead of "I" (using 우리/our instead of 내/my in some situations that would seem unusual in english, for example). Furthermore, there seems to be a focus on emphasizing others hard work and dedication, along with focusing on shifting the blame to oneself when things don't turn out perfect and almost a necessity to remark that one is always trying to better themselves. In no way do I want to seem like I consider myself an expert on this, or even remotely knowledgeable, this are just my observations.
I think that this cultural aspect is in part what influences the kpop tendency to put the fans in a pedestal. And in BTS case it's mixed with some company policy and marketing strategies, no doubt, that exaggerate it. I still don't really understand it's appeal, but whatever works I guess, I just wish it'd be different.
Now onto proof
I gotta say that I've found myself enjoying it more than I thought I would (thank you people on Tumblr that post recordings). The DNA demo has really highlighted that jhope is an all rounder, and jump's demo makes me think that that song was always destined to be a banger. Also, I really loved that they released Tony Montana feat Jimin, even though I still prefer to hear the live recording, nothing beats jimin's growls and I don't know why they are never included in recordings.
I've got to say that I've only listened properly to 3 out of the five new songs. Yet to come sounds really cheesy and somehwhat predictable, but for now I like it, even though I know I will eventually grow tired of it. for youth is also the most ballad-sounding ballad I've ever heard BTS sing and I can't really say much more. And what surprised me the most was run BTS. I've been hooked on that song for 3 days straight and I love it, I don't know what you think about it but I love how energic it sounds and if we don't get a bomb choreography mic drop style I'll be really angry, it'd be a missed opportunity.
(I know right now I seem to like super hateful but I promise I really like BTS, like I go hyper for most of their music it's just that some thing really get to me.)
So yeah, thanks for putting up with this rant that was completely unnecessary and totally self-indulgent, fell free do completely disagree with everything I say.
Anon, you don't sound super hateful at all and you don't have to convince me or anyone that you're a fan or at least have an interest in BTS. You're entire ask is actually a proof of that, don't worry.
I agree with the first part, how Korean social behavior and attitudes may reflect the relationship between group-fan. I also did some research and yeah, that's what I got as well. But as you said, due to marketing and company policy, BTS took it to the next level. I'm fully aware it's considered bad and a possible career kill to talk bad about the fans. Totally understandable, but then to say that they're own existence is only because of Army? It reminds of the ITS talk Tae had with Jungkook about how he needed to go on Weverse to talk to Army cause he needed to feel that he is still loved. Artists love that they are loved, especially if they reach a high level of success. But fans can get you down as well. It's not ok to supposedly consider that everything they do and achieve is only for the fandom. That's why I doubt it and I'm more inclined to believe as well that they choose to say such things because it's the easy automatic answer as well.
I'm not impressed by Proof, it really is underwhelming, but Run BTS is a banger. It's the only song that I listened to multiple times since the release.
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arcyrus · 2 years
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HI cyrus or colress please if you like ... for quastions 1 9 10 18 maybe <3
oh MAN [cracks knuckles] i am literally going to do answer all of these now i hope you know what can of worms you opened here. putting it under a readmore in case it gets too long LOL
anyways starting with cyrus.
favorite things about the character: genuinely my favorite aspect of him is how much of a fucking hypocrite he is. "get rid of human spirit and denounce emotion" my ass, when he's out here being the most spirited and emotional character in the whole game. the kind of person who thinks he's emotionless or can trick people into thinking that but in actuality feels way too much and Hates it. i want to drown him in lake verity specifically. also i love the entire galaxy / sun / etc aesthetic with him and team galactic (<- biased astrophysicist moment)
9. favorite headcanon: i'm going to use this as an opportunity to talk about why i gave cyrus a volcarona in my au stuff LOL. his parents gave him a larvesta as his first pokemon (quite uncommon and hard to train) and it goes with their high expectations of him... he holds his larvesta to the same standards that he does himself, and pushed it very hard to live up to his parents' expectations - and it ended up evolving quite quickly relative to most volcarona....
10. who do i ship with this character: i crossed the event horizon of accretionshipping too long ago to seriously consider anything else honestly. i have chosen this rarepair as my hill to die on and it is entirely worth it. who cares if cyrus and colress have never interacted in canon and likely never will, it's my city now and i make the rules!!
that being said i do respect cyrus / cynthia as a ship, i like the dichotomy and whatnot but personally i just like them as a very complicated (former) friendship than romantically.
18. what i associate this character with: hooooo boy this is a loaded question. some of it is a bit more towards my particular story stuff that sits in my head but here's some of it:
the sun - easy answer, but true. center of the solar system, incredibly important, yet scorching and unforgiving. there's an icarus / moth too close to the flame parallel i can make here wrt the legendary stuff he gets involved with too
a black hole - this is just an upgrade to the sun theme really and is also because i am biased towards them in the astrophysical sense. but still similar to the sun stuff ultimately just on a bigger scale... a supermassive black hole is at the galactic center and influences the entire galaxy around it even if it's not "active". they do weird things to time and space that are honestly just ridiculous
various pokemon types - dark and flying obviously (seems like the kind of person to wish he could fly), but also fire and dragon. the former tying in with the sun thing, passion, etc, and dragon because legendaries lol
i'm going to stop now for the sake of how long this is getting but let it be known i think about this way too much.
ok colress time
favorite things about the character: somehow colress is genuinely the only fictional character ever to make me experience cuteness aggression. sometimes i draw him and it makes me want to strangle him. anyways my actual favorite thing about him is his complete lack of care for like, anything other than the pursuit of knowledge? to the point of possible apocalypse? i love that he really is gray and is open to all possibilities as answers to whatever questions he has. i don't know he's just really great and i like him.
9. favorite headcanon: colress cynthia lusamine family truther. colress and cynthia are about the same age while lusamine is decently older, so he's actually somewhat closer to his cousin cynthia than his sister lusamine. i like to think that cynthia also has an interest in his primary research question of "how to bring out the power of pokemon" so they bond over strategies for this and whatnot. i've had this headcanon for so long that i've honestly forgotten it's not canon LMAO
10. who do i ship with this character: see above!!! i cant say how much i think about these two honestly its a problem LOL. i'll take this question as an opportunity to say that like with the previous one i understand why people ship antigrav in this case but personally it's not my thing. i like ghetsis but i am too rarepairpilled to ever consider it myself ahaha
18. what do i associate this character with: here we go again!
mercury: this one is entirely based on my own au but i don't care. mercury as both the planet closest to the sun (simultaneously scorched and freezing), and as the liquid element that was used for all sorts of things and poisoned people before they knew what they were dealing with
various pokemon types: steel of course, but also psychic very heavily bc he gets up to more stuff related to this in my au than canon HAHA. ice as well, both because of the kyurem stuff and to contrast cyrus :P
i honestly would have put some more but i need to go leave for a thing now hahaha. i am absolutely always willing to elaborate on any of this at any time
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zorua-adorable · 1 year
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*hands you the mic* top five favorite franchise? (Or more than five, however many you want to share)
*grabs mic* Alright, I had to think on this a bit. I always seem to have a hard time picking definitive favorites. (Also it took me a while to word everything just right.) Also, gonna add a read more since I think this is gonna get long.
5) Dragon Ball
The irony of this being being in my top five is that I remember when I was a dumb child who thought I wouldn’t like it.
Literally. When I was in early elementary school, my best friend and her younger brother were sleeping over one day; so we were in the basement and watching TV, and there was en episode of DBZ on that they wanted to watch, but I did not. Like, to the point of looking away from the TV with my hands over my ears. (Young me was so dumb.) All I remember was that it was an episode with King Kai in it.
And then in 2014, my older brother got into Dragon Ball, so he was telling me about the characters and stuff; and then one day he decided to show me a clip on YouTube, and that clip was Goten vs Ekosa (idk why that one). And the he introduced me to Abridged, so for a while all I watched was random clips on YT and Abridged.
And then later that summer Battle of Gods came out in theaters in the US, so we went to see it. A bunch of his friends were supposed to see it with us, but they didn’t buy tickets ahead of time and it was sold out by the time we got there, so it was just my brother and I. And then on the way home, he was telling me about this website (that has since been shut down I think) called dbz.tv that had all of DB/Z/GT and all the movies in English.
So it was with that website that I watched all of OG DB. But this was back when I had my old desktop computer with the 8pm curfew and all these website restrictions. So what I did was sneak downstairs whenever possible and watch it on my mom’s iPad. And then after that, I went on to Z, which I never fully finished; I either stopped at the filler episode of Gohan and the robot, or after the fight with Vegeta when they were loading Goku onto the aircraft to go to the hospital.
And a couple month ago, I thought to myself “I should revise DB” and now I'm here, spiraling in brainrot.
4) Fairy Tail
The second anime I’ve ever seen. Also I don’t remember if I knew that Pokémon was an anime when I got into Fairy Tail, so this might’ve been my introduction to anime in general.
I was introduced to Fairy Tail one day at a friend's house. Their family actually had Netflix so we watched the first episode together. And then I went looking for somewhere to watch it online, and I just ended up down the rabbit hole. (This was also the first show I ever made an OC for; if I ever revisit her, she's gonna need a lot of reworking.)
I’ve also been considering rewatching some time soon, and I gotta get caught up on the sequel manga, so probably expect more posts/reblogs on it some time soonish.
3) Fire Emblem
Another one I got into via my brother. I think Awakening had recently come out, and he was telling me about the plot, and then one day he let me do a playthrough on his copy. I remember after I got Donnel, he did the grinding for me to get him to a point where he’d be usable and good in battle.
Although, I was not very good at the game back then. I sucked at strategy and knew NOTHING of other class lines to reclassify into or skill inheritance, which is why my Donnel!Nah got Sol instead of Aptitude and my Frederick!Yarne got Luna (they did wreck quite a bit of shop on the battlefield though). And there were a number of characters that I never used, so there were a number of 2nd gen units that I never got. Like I said, I sucked.
That save file is long since gone. And over time, as the years have passed and I’ve played more games, I've gotten somewhat better.
2) Lilo & Stitch
A classic. I have seen the first movie so many times; I used to quote it with my best friend all the time; I still quote it quite often. I remember waking up real early some Saturdays just to watch the TV show. Also I recently got the remaining two movies that I did not already own on DVD for my birthday.
1) Pokémon
This may be kinda cliché, but I just really love Pokémon. Maybe it’s the nostalgia, but I can’t see anything else topping the list anytime soon. It’s always been there for me and always given the whole range of feels. Idk what more to say about it.
*drops mic*
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After 125 hours I consider myself well enough prepared to begin Horizon: Forbidden West: New Game +: Ultra Hard. I’ve got a little bit of the completionist in me, so one damn trophy still locked is going to torture me forever. Horizon: Zero Dawn, you ask? Well, at some point I guess I lost interest because I never even finished the DLC. So there: having 67% trophy completion or whatever is fine! But having 98% will kill me.
Truth be told, UH is not the last trophy on my list. I have yet to beat 2 Machine Strike players (why must games develop their own little versions of chess then demand I learn to play them?) or the Enduring (why must games develop their own little versions of melee combos then refuse to acknowledge the button presses?). I have also found only one Delvers’ Trove, killed zero enemies while gliding (another combat mechanism that doesn’t fucking work), and have two more colors and five more NG+ face paints to unlock (but that will take care of itself via UH). More than anything, this is a test: if UH is a colossal, impossible pain in the ass immediately, then it’s not worth it. Despite the aforementioned 125 hours, I do have a full-time job and a spouse and a dog and the responsibilities those entail. But if I simply need a little more combat strategy and patience for stealth mode, then I’ll go for it.
UH is always a strange beast. Sometimes it’s “enemies take less damage, you take more,” which is generally boring and not worth the time. Sometimes it’s “enemies take an incredible amount of damage and you can easily learn how to dodge/defend long enough to have the whole thing devolve into a tedious stalemate,” which is worse. Now that we are in the ninth generation of consoles, I expect cleverer AI to be the cornerstone of UH difficulty. But I also expect the game to acknowledge that, if I’ve put 125 hours of gameplay into it, and I’ve taken the time and effort to upgrade the legendary weapons it was already a time and effort commitment to acquire, then it shouldn’t be impossible. Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Dragon Age: Inquisition all have very fair UH equivalents — if you have put in the time, they’re truly not that hard. (They don’t have carry forward mechanisms the way Horizon does, so it’s more a matter of knowing how to optimize your play and immediately find or craft the best weapons for your playstyle rather than upgrade and stockpile.)
Took a break, ate some ice cream, walked the dog, and commenced UH; subsequently plowed through To the Brink, The Embassy, and half of Death's Door. So far it has not been so difficult it's put me off. In fact, I kind of like it. Got a bit of a rude awakening from some scroungers when I learned that shooting their resource pouch and their butt radar or whatever wasn't enough to immediately kill them like it is in Normal. Maybe I've never noticed their attack patterns before because I usually kill them too quickly, but they seemed to have more acrobatics and quicker recovery time when chaining attacks. The bristlebacks also seemed a little quicker and changed up their attacks more often. I know I've seen "charging with a giant log in their tusks" before, but I saw it several times in the few battles I fought in the first hour of UH.
The Embassy was much easier than I expected. The rebels seemed to circle on their mounts for a set period of time, and though I took potshots at them with my fire arrows, they didn't really retaliate. I've also enjoyed berserking machines so I can just hide and pick them off at my leisure. The duel with Grudda wasn't very hard -- I used the valor surge for super-powered melee combat -- although I did get thrown off the cliff, wasted a third of the valor surge trying to get back up while the game warned me I had left the quest area, and didn't manage to get off a single resonator blast either. Still, my OP valor surge did a lot of the heavy lifting (and knocked all his armor off), so I set him on fire a few times after that. Oh yeah, no health bars is killing me!
I'm currently strolling around the Latopolis facility, smug in the knowledge that I can just cruise underwater to avoid Specters for the whole mission… nursing some carpal tunnel…
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