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1moremilgram-enjoyer · 7 months

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Fuuta and the Five Man Band Trope; BG Characters, User Icons and Graffiti Patterns Analysis

Hello members of the jury! Did you know Bring it On and Backdraft are very awesome? It’s true! Look it up!

Anyways, today I want to talk about a particular aspect of Bring it On which I consider interesting, and that is the gaggle of characters who show up all throughout the video, both in the “RPG fight scenes” and in the messages all around. In particular, these four who stand besides Fuuta after Killcheroy’s defeat, before abandoning him in the next few frames.

All of them show up in all three battles in one way or another, and the fact they’re here makes me think. See, I believe there are four of them to allude to a very common narrative trope used in a lot of fantasy stories, the Five Man Band. A trope where the story follows a group of five, of which the protagonist is the leader, and all the characters fit into certain archetypes. If you want a better explanation, I’ll recommend this fantastic video by Overly Sarcastic Productions, which is how I know about the trope in the first place.

There were already a few things making me think of this trope in Bring it On, so it’s especially interesting that it seems to carry over into Backdraft as well, with only four paint cans appearing in all three graffiti campaigns.

(Yes there’s a fifth one against Killcheroy, don’t worry I’ll get to it)

Blue, orange, yellow (also looks orange in the screenshots), pink paint/purple can. So, a recurring group of five with Fuuta. Is it possible, then, that these are related? Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out. And in doing so, I accidentally fell into a rabbit hole which ended with me trying to assign each character an user icon and trying to figure out who killed Killcheroy- ooh boy.

Yeah as a warning this post is pretty reach-y and unhinged, but I like over-analyzing background characters so.

CW: Cyberbullying and online harassment, doxxing, death and murder, mentioned sexual harassment, mention of suicide, Killcheroy choking on paint image.

I’ll talk about each character individually, their role in the Five Man Band trope, who I believe they are in terms of user icon, and which paint can I believe represents them in Backdraft.

The Hero/Leader: Fuuta

In stories where only one member of the party is the protagonist, they are most likely to be the leader. They are the most outwardly heroic, usually passionate and driven, and of course, the leader of the group, the one who makes the tough decisions. In terms of fighting style, they’re usually well-rounded short range fighters.

Obviously this is Fuuta. Not only is he obviously the protagonist, he’s the one who puts up the ‘wanted’ posters for the second and third battle (though not the first!), and in those two battles he’s shown as the first to enter battle. He’s also the one who first sprays over the graffiti in Backdraft, obviously using the red can. In terms of combat style, he also fits pretty well, as he’s a short-ranged fighter, but still has quite a bit of versatility. Looking at his move sets:

Left and top look to be simple attacks, but bottom appears to be some kind of Area of Effect attack and right appears to be a self-healing move. What the hell that would look like in the context of online discourse, I have no idea. Additionally, it is common for the protagonist to exhibit the most growth in terms of powers, which certainly fits his shifting moveset.

In case you’re not aware, he’s also “pazuzu” in the social media seen in Bring it On. He’s the only one with a consistent username, the rest all vary throughout the MV, and the only way to recognize them is through user icon. No idea what Fuuta has to do with a god of wind, but here we are.

I don’t think I have to justify this one too much. Let’s move on to the focus of the post, the other people.

The Lancer: Spear Guy

The Lancer is the Leader’s right hand man, or alternatively their second in command. They may disagree on occasion, but they can be very close friends who always have each other’s backs. The Lancer can fit a ton of archetypes, but they’re usually a foil or an opposite to the leader, and can be either the most supportive of the leader or always butting heads with them.

Incidentally, do you know what a lancer is? Like, the actual word, not the literary term? Well, it’s a warrior who uses lances. Or as you may know them, spears.

To no one’s surprise, the Lancer is Spear Guy. He’s the closest to Fuuta, as can be inferred from them always standing close and Fuuta looking to him after his big victory in the second battle. The fact he uses a lance as a weapon is a possible indication that we really are going for the Five Man Band trope here, because it makes him literally a Lancer.

Incidentally, this also makes him pretty easy to identify in terms of user icon. He's Poison (the skull icon), Rumerie.

In case you're not aware, the name Rumerie appears intertwined with "pazuzu" in Backdraft (gonna ask you to look it up yourself because I've reached the 30 image limit), implying a particularly deep connection between the two. And although the username changes like all others, the fact the very first shot of Bring it On contains Poison being referred to as "rumerie", it's safe to say they're the same. Additionally, check out what rumerie is saying. (Translation by rochisama here, it's a bit difficult to follow but it's a really good resource! As a warning, I might get some of these messages wrong because my critical lack of Japanese knowledge hinders how well I can actually check who is saying what)

[Poison] るめりえ＠D_T @/RUMERIE_... Know any good games?

(Notes: るめりえ is just "Ru me rie")

And shortly after:

Indeed, a guy in the arcade flashes green, presumably Rumerie. Note how he's in the center, as if he is the "leader" in Fuuta's absence, in case you needed any more connections to the Lancer archetype. You'll also notice he and the blue guy next to him have faces, which in Milgram signifies importance. I believe these three are all part of the Five Man Band. Why is there one missing? I'll get there.

Additionally, note how Rumerie wears a watch on his right hand. This is important because it lets us know exactly which can of paint in Backdraft belongs to him. In the scene where Killcheroy is attacked directly, we see a hand with a watch holding the blue spray paint can.

(The bottom left image is to show that the blue looks lighter than it really is in the upfront shots. When the lighting shifts a bit, it's more clear that this is specifically Rumerie's darker blue. The rest of the graffiti is the same, so Rumerie is the splotch at the bottom right.

And in the Killcheroy attack you can clearly see the difference between the two blues. The lighter one is even lighter than what it looks like in the other shots. And yes, the pattern's different, I'll get there)

So Rumerie has blue spray paint, which unfortunately means there's no clear connection between the colors in Bring it On and Backdraft.

Still, there's something interesting to note. Everyone in the Five Man Band has a particular graffiti pattern they stick to in the first two campaigns and at the start of the Killcheroy attack. For Rumerie, this is a big splotch with two small trails leaking down.

Why is this important... for me at least? Because the same patterns can be observed in the red paint over the Guilty prisoners in the section of the video dedicated to them.

And can you guess which one got Rumerie's?

Fuuta. The way I interpret this, it means Rumerie was particularly important in the reason Fuuta ended up with a Guilty verdict.

Why? Well, I believe Rumerie is the person who originally got Fuuta into cancel culture. Notice how the last message before Fuuta joins in on the Ice Gorilla attack is Poison's, and how Spear Guy fights in the frontlines of that battle, combined with what I said before, that Fuuta didn't put up a wanted poster for that battle.

("Frontline" is admittedly debatable)

[Poison] み @/MiMiMiMi.... You can only get away with stuff like this when you’re a primary school kid~

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... Ahhhh, this is the end for you huh

(Note: み is "mi" and means either fruit according to Google translate, or what I think makes more sense, "hot water", as in, Ice Gorilla is in hot water).

(Also note: I find it interesting that Rumerie here seems more forgiving of middle schoolers than at the end, when we know he was one of the people who attacked Killcheroy. I think it may be trying to show that everyone in the group got worse, not just Fuuta).

So, Rumerie caused Fuuta to cause Killcheroy's death by getting him into the whole cyberbullying thing. We can also see him encouraging him later on, when Fuuta takes a photo of the sexual harasser.

[Poison] 恐縮です @/i_am_sorr... I’m amazed you were able to get a photo

(Notes: 恐縮です translates to "I'm afraid." I... don't have a single clue why the hell this is like this, I'm just gonna ignore it)

The final thing to note is that Rumerie's graffiti pattern is different in the post-spraying scene of Killcheroy I showed earlier. Instead, Green Paint takes Rumerie's pattern, which is incidentally the one on Fuuta's Guilty thingy. More on that later.

As to why Rumerie's pattern changes in the first place, it's possible that's trying to imply the final attack on Killcheroy was much, much different from the others, possibly more vicious. Which we know is likely true, so I think it works.

Anyways, other messages he sends (I'll skip the icon since you know it's Poison). To Ice Gorilla:

NETANASHI@DT @/NETANATASHI_darkT You’re gonna die a really dumb death

どくろっち @/DOKI_DOKI_52 You’re never gonna be able to live this down www it was a good life while it lasted www

(Notes: "Netana tashi" appears to mean something like "added information," fitting the idea of cyberattacks. darkT and therefore DT is likely a reference to the Dark Triad, which seems to be Fuuta's "guild" displayed right next to his level.

どくろっち might mean "mole cricket" (???), and doki doki is an onomatopoeia for the beating of the heart. Take that as you will.

Rumerie comes off as quite aggressive in these messages, as you can probably tell. "www" is the way Japanese people write laughter, equivalent to "hahaha" in English)

He also writes another message during the second "battle."

るめりえ＠D_T @/RUMERIE_ What a fucking pig, that’s just gross wwww

(Notes: The name Rumerie returns, if you were somehow still wondering who this is. It's the exact same username as before, funnily enough. Also has D_T for the Dark Triad)

The Heart - White Robe Wizard

The Heart is the conflict solver of the group. They are usually the most emotional and expressive member, and is often a healer or otherwise a magic user, or specializes in some combat niche like archery.

Also, if your Five Man Band has a token girl, this is most likely the token girl.

(Wow this collage sucks. Tumblr 30 image limit my arch-nemesis)

Listen, I don't usually like to assume character's gender merely by appearance, but we know less than zero about this people, so I'm gonna have to bend my principles a bit. This wizard is the most femenine looking of the Five Man Band, so I hope you forgive me for assuming both that she is a girl, and that she is the only girl of the group.

Regardless, there are other reasons to assume she's the Heart. Mainly, she seems to be by far the most expressive of the group, being the only one to show any emotion in the lead-up to the Killcheroy battle. The white of her robe may represent purity of heart, which doesn't fit anyone in this group, but would fit the Heart better than other archetypes. There are arguments for her being the Smart Guy, but I think Heart works a tiny bit better.

Then we get to icon, and I'm comfortable in saying she's the Galaxy. From the messages related to the second "battle."

(Quality's trash but I'm trying)

[Galaxy] ♡MANA♡ @/inoue_mna... Mr Inoue……? That’s scary……

(Notes: mna is likely just short for mana. No I don't know why she shares a last name with the asshole professor)

Even ignoring that galaxies are usually associated with mysticism and magic (mostly because I'm not even sure that is a galaxy), this user takes the name "♡MANA♡". As in, the thing wizards use surrounded by two hearts. Additionally, the message does sorta feel like it fits her more than other characters, I guess? I mean, it's perfectly fine for anyone to express discomfort and fear at seeing sexual harrassment, but this is a toxic Twitter community, I doubt the boys here want to express any """weakness""" as reasonable as it may be. Do you understand what I'm saying?

You could argue this should maybe go to the Purple Robe Wizard instead, but consider this other message from the same "battle."

[Galaxy] AAA@DT @/55552G4r6ggc... Has he got no shame!!! Go to hell!!! That’s so gross!!!

(Note: The 5s might be Ss. No I have no idea what the fuck that handle is)

Apart from shouting, the name has "DT" in it, for Dark Triad. There are only four icons which ever appear related to it, and since Fuuta's isn't one of them, it could be presumed that the four which have DT are the members of the Five Man Band.

Then, look at this exchange, from the batch at the start as Fuuta is walking down the street.

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... A L L M Y C L A S S E S A R E S O D U L L . W A S T E O F M Y S C H O O L F E E S

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... Everyone else there is an idiot so it’s boring

[Galaxy] YU-TA @/YUTA_199... Let’s go to the arcade then!!!!

[Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soccer... The people in charge here are shit. I could do a much better job

(Notes: Yuta is primarily a boy's name, which sorta contradicts the thing I said about this being a girl. However, this can be easily solved by assuming she's transfem and in the closet.

That's mostly a joke, but it is a possibility, I just don't know why we're giving so much characterization to a side-side-side character you feel? The more likely explanation is that while in Japan Yuta is a boy's name, there's also a version for girls which derives from Hebrew, and is also just Yuta. Given we've already seen characters with odd names for their gender (Haruka), I don't think it's a stretch to say this is such a case.

Anyways this might imply we know the full name of this wizard, that being Inoue Yuta. Interesting)

The main takeaway her is that Galaxy did want to go to the arcade like the other members of the Five Man Band, but probably didn't since Fuuta appears to have turned her down.

(... Why did he do that, actually? He went to the arcade anyways...

Though I guess she does look at him very enthusiastically in that second post battle scene... and the Heart is often the love interest of the Leader...

CRACK THEORY: White Robe Wizard has a crush on Fuuta, and he doesn't reciprocate)

So, if Galaxy wanted to go to the arcade, we can maybe assume they're part of the Five Man Band. In fact, we specifically know they're the only one who wasn't at the arcade, which lets us completely narrow down which of the spray paint cans belongs to them.

Yep. In case you missed the spoiler with the color I've been using for her, she has the yellow paint can. Not only does her right hand itself look slightly different than the others, it also has a ring none of the people at the arcade had (debatable on orange guy ig but I think we would see it if he had it). Since this paint can is part of the Five Man Band, we can assume it's the missing member's, therefore Galaxy's, therefore White Robe Wizard's.

The pattern which corresponds to them is a thick, horizontal bar, which shows up over Mahiru in the Guilty prisoners section. Certainly fits with her being the Heart (and having an unrequited crush on Fuuta). The pattern changes in the Killcheroy post-spraying sequence, again possibly because that attack was expressely different.

Again remember the colors are a bit off in the front-facing shots.

(By the way; Rumerie's altered patterned after the Killcheroy thing may look extremely similar to this thick straight line pattern, but it's not quite the same. This pattern has two small trails going down, Rumerie's has four and the bar is longer)

(You could argue it's still meant to be the same thing, but I think they're different enough that I don't have to find a way to relate them)

Here are the other Galaxy messages. The only ones I haven't talked about are in the Ice Gorilla fight.

[]足 @/speed☆star Looking this I can really feel how terrifying ( ) SNS can be lmao

(Notes: We can't see the first symbol of the username, and since 足 is "feet" apparently, I don't think we can know what that is. The parenthesis are empty in the video too. SNS is Social Networking System, so social media. Fits the "That's scary" MANA message)

(…）@/NAGARERUYOURE_UfU You’ve ruined this store’s business, I hope you were charged a lot for your idiocy

(Notes: I think this is the right message? It's really hard to know which message is which in the translation I'm using. In any case, it sorta fits. Putting that handle into Google translate gives me "flow less" or "streamlined", but I'm not sure how much sense that makes)

The Smart Guy - Cloak Dude

The Smart Guy is smart. That's their thing. Usually some flavor of quirky, but the main thing is they're clever, and they have a good head on their shoulders. They're intelligent and sharp-witted, and- okay I'll stop with the synonyms. For combat, they're usually not in the frontlines. Usually they're mages in fantasy settings, but archers and other long ranged combatants aren't out of the question.

This one, frankly, is almost entirely through process of elimination.

Cloak Dude has the dubious honor of being the only one apart from Spear Guy and Fuuta to show up on all three post-battle cutscenes. He seems to be an archer.

As I said, saying he’s the Smart Guy is more process of elimination than anything else. Shield Man sorta has to be the Big Guy, so we’re left with Smart Guy for Cloak Dude.

Thankfully, I think Identifying him in the icons isn't too difficult. Remember when I said he's the only one to show up on all three post-battle scenes? As if he's slightly more important than the Heart and the Big Guy? Well, there very well may be an icon which fits both that and the Smart Guy archetype. Water Drop, and therefore the Orange Arcade Guy.

Not only do they share the first message shot with Rumerie, check out what they say.

[Water Drop] 流＠しずくと読みます @/D_TTTT... School work has really been a pain lately… I don’t want to type another word

(Notes: 流 means style. しずくと読みます apparently means something like "I read it like drop [water]" which I guess work with the icon)

Note the @/D_TTTT Dark Triad handle. So, they're tired from school work? That means they're doing their school work to some extent, and academic diligence is usually associated with the Smart Guy archetype. Other messages keep up this theme. In the Ice Gorilla battle:

[Water Drop]（…）@/drop_[...]... There’s a limit to what sort of things you should do. How are you gonna live the rest of your life after this?

And in the second battle.

[Water Drop] io @/io_dog_very... Sexual harassment is pretty much the worst thing a person can do. How are you gonna explain this???

(Notes: "io" appears to mean "say it")

Their style of speaking is quite articulate, using longer sentences than other icons and with a more serious tone. No use of www either. The one counterexample is this:

[Water Drop]（…）@/[...] You’re wasting everyone’s time, idiot

But I still think it sorta fits. There is also one message from the second battle I don't have the translation of, but it also doesn't include www so.

Why is this important? Well, it's not. But more articulate speech, while not an actual indication of intelligence in reality, is a common way to communicate a character is smart in fiction.

Their final message is particularly interesting. It's one of the only messages we have in relation to Killcheroy.

QRT [Fuuta] Storm Pazuzu @/pazuzu_soc... I think I’ve got all her details now. Based on her previous tweets I’ve worked out her school. The fact she lives so close is hilarious lol

[Water Drop] Judgement☨Onizuka @/MONSTER_BUZZ... You’re the worst offender of all

(Notes: ☨ is the Cross of Lorraine, a symbol often associated to Joan of Arc. I guess you can connect the idea of a hero being later burnt at the stake for heresy to Fuuta's story)

Water Drop, despite the fact they do attack Killcheroy themselves (more on that in a moment), are condemning Fuuta for doing exactly that. They're hypochritical, but they're trying to claim a moral high ground by distancing themselves from Killcheroy's death. Again gives me vibes of someone trying to present themselves as smarter and more level-headed than they really are, but it's hard for me to explain why that is. Do you get the vibes too? I hope so.

Anyways, graffiti. They can be either the pink or the orange paint, but I think Orange Paint fits the best. Their graffiti pattern is a thin line which vaguely looks like an arrow to my completely unhinged mind, and it's the one associated with Amane, who is not necessarily smarter than the other guiltied, but she is very diligent in her studies as implied by several Timelines conversations. Smart Guy thing again.

The other thing is that their color can't be seen in the shot right before Killcheroy's final appearance, but it can be seen in the initial "attack", and we can see his hand attacking Killcheroy later. I believe this is representing what I said before; although Water Drop attacked Killcheroy like everyone else, they later tried to distance themselves from the fact, they "erased their paint."

(The angle on the Amane thing is slightly different, but I doubt that matters)

(The latter images are to show that yes, Orange Paint did attack Killcheroy. The can may look more red because of the lighting, but as you can see on the example to the side, the orange paint can does look almost red anyways)

Now, there is one more thing to say about the missing orange at the end there. And that is the gray-ish paint to the bottom left. What's interesting is that while it follows the Heart's pattern, it doesn't correlate with any of the colors we see actually attacking Killcheroy.

So... do you wanna go insane with me for a moment?

What if that is the orange paint, but they painted over it with gray/lilac to distance themselves from the attack as stated previously? The reason it looks like the Heart's pattern is because he's trying to appear more conscientious of others' feelings than he really is. Of course, that is deranged even for my standards, but it is an explanation.

Anyways, not much more to say about this guy, since I already talked about all his messages in Bring it On.

The Big Guy - Shield Man

The Big Guy is the muscle of the group. Generally physically big, though it can also be metaphorical. Their exact personality can vary quite a bit, but the most common trait is loyalty and protectiveness over the group. Sometimes can be quite an idiot, himbo style, but not always.

And if we're talking big and protective, there is someone who perfectly fits the trope.

Protective? Man has a shield. Physically big? The biggest of the group bar maybe Spear Guy. And just look at how he stands in that post-battle two scene! My guy has zero thoughts in that head of his. I think the archetype fits him perfectly.

Anyways, if you've been paying attention, I said before the members of the Five Man Band could be identified by which icons ever appear with D_T on their username, so by this point we could narrow it down by elimination alone. The final member by this logic is Supernova, and I think it fits enough. It also has a deep blue background, therefore we're likely seeing Blue Arcade Guy here.

[Supernova] Avyxs@D_T @/Dark_Avyxs_T... Uni is so much fun! It can be a pain depending on your subjects but my friends and teachers are hilarious

Loyalty, check.

To be clear, there is absolutely an argument that he instead should be Thunderbolt, since that icon shows up right before we cut to the first sidewalk scene, pairing it with Rumerie and Water Drop; and speaks twice during the second cancelation, the same as Rumerie, Galaxy and Water Drop. Or Rock even, some of their lines and the icon itself point to the trope's personalities. However, I personally think the D_T connection is a bit more interesting, which is why I'm going with Supernova for him. It's not like this matters much anyways.

Process of elimination also assigns him the Pink Paint/Purple Paint Can, who has a zigzaggy pattern which trails off with a weird blob at the end. Mikoto gets this one... sort of. It looks like it's flipped and rotated around a bit, but it's still a zigzag pattern which trails off with a weird blob at the end. I think it's close enough, and I also think it makes sense. Mikoto is canonically the strongest physically out of the Guilty characters. I believe there was a ranking of arm wrestling strength that put him only below Kotoko and Kazui. Additionally, the alter who killed likely did it to protect the system, which works with the protectiveness of Shield Man.

(It sure was convenient four people got guiltied in the first trial huh)

The pattern also changes pre-Killcheroy appearance, you've heard why before, the attack was different.

... Yeah maybe I'm reading too much into the repeating patterns, maybe they're just like that to make things easier on the artists, but at this point I'm in too deep to back out.

The other Supernova messages are the following. In the Ice Gorilla fight:

実家傷兵 @/super_power... He’s shut in www is the fridge your new house now ww

(Notes: 実家傷兵 means either "family wounded soldier", "soldiers garrisoned at home by their parents", or... "soldiers stationed to protect a country's territory during World War II." I assume it's the first two things)

(…）@/[...] Just stay in your beloved freezer forever wwwwwwwww

(Notes: He wrote the same message twice. Really not beating the "not particularly sharp-witted" allegations with this one)

(…）@/lightning_player Definitely not buying any ice cream there

(Notes: What the fuck did Ice Gorilla do anyways? Lock themselves in a freezer full of ice cream? I'm so confused)

There is also an obscured message where Supernova has the handle @/NaGGrYjYP2Fe or something like that. I am not gonna even try to decipher what the fuck's going on there.

Finaly, on the second cancelation.

毒門第一号 @/warokeru_080... Oof lmao she looks like she’s gonna be sick

(Notes: Focusing on the victim more than the attacker does vaguely fit Shield Man. 毒門第一号 is "poison gate number 1." No comment. "Warokeru" apparently means "meltdown." Also no comment)

The Sixth Ranger - ???

The Sixth Ranger refers to a sixth character who joins the Band during the story rather than at the start. Where they come from is very variable, but sometimes it's a reformed villain of some kind.

Funnily enough, this trope is replicated in Backdraft too. Let's circle back to the big question. Who is the extra, green paint can in the Killcheroy attack?

They paint over the part Pink Paint usually takes, and later we see their paint with the Rumerie and Guilty Fuuta pattern. Additionally, they're the only one in these cases to paint over the small name graffiti, which combined with the fact they could potentially be closely linked to Fuuta's Guilty verdict, could imply they're the ones who killed Killcheroy. Because as many know, Fuuta's victim in the Undercover kill shot has both shoes on, unlike Mahiru and Kazui's victims who have a shoe missing to represent their suicide. And this could imply Killcheroy was outright murdered by someone else, though obviously not Fuuta himself.

If that's true, given how odd this Green Paint person is, I would assume that's the person who killed Killcheroy. Let's run through the other Bring it On BG characters to see if we can narrow down a suspect. I will skip over anyone we see only in the Ice Gorilla battle, because most of them are never seen again.

The Blue Haired Soldiers

These two show up quire a bit, though weirdly, the soldier with lighter hair doesn't show up in the Ice Gorilla battle itself nor the post-second battle scene. But he's still seen in the post-first fight battle scene and in the lead-up to the second fight. Still, this odd pattern could maybe mean he's the killer? He didn't participate in the strictly online battles, but possibly yes in the Killcheroy one? I'm not sure, I think there's a better candidate so.

One reason I don't think Light Blue Haired Soldier is the killer is because I would assume he's Rock, since his hair vaguely fits the color. Additionally, his armor looks very similar to Shield Man's (see: neck guard thing), which could imply they're the same "class." That would make him a Tank probably, who is usually associated more with defense even if they have good offensive capabilities. Rocks are also usually associated with strong defense, a claim I'm basing practically entirely on Pokemon typing philosophy lol.

Aside from him, Dark Blue Haired Soldier would probably be Thunderbolt based on the fact it's sorta the only one left, and again, color fits.

Here are their messages. Sidewalk scene:

[Thunderbolt] キマ注意＠ダークトラ… @/K_I_M_... Nothing’s happened lately, it’s boring

[Rock] まっすMAN（強化中）@/MusclePu... …wait, it’s Monday? Which means uni today??? I haven’t… done my homework…

(Notes: As I said, Rock shares similarities to the "Dumb Big Guy" archetype. Again, same class.

キマ注意 means "be careful" or "pay attention", and the @/ダークトラ is @/Dark Tiger. Thunderbolt is very aggressive, so the username sorta fits.

まっす can mean a few different things, I'm not sure what the best translation is. 強化中 means "currently being strengthened", so again, fits the Tank role)

Ice Gorilla battle:

[Rock] 問答 @/s... Just get out already

[Rock] 小箱の〇 @/[...] We won’t let you get off lightly for this＾＾

[Thunderbolt] サンデー～（…）@/[...]_1004 The food looks so good wwwww you should just [...] and die

[Rock] 〇石〇じ @/[...]TAKAI As far as learning experiences go this one sure cost a lot. What you did really was a huge waste. Thanks for all your hard work. Here’s hoping you do better in your next life.

(Notes: Thunderbolt is very aggressive, as you can see. His armor is similar to Fuuta's, so likely a Warrior class, which makes sense.

問答 means Q&A basically. Huh. 小箱の〇 is missing a character, but what we have appears to translate to "small box." 〇石〇じ also has characters which haven't been recognized.

サンデー～ means Sunday～)

Second battle (how long until my readers notice I don't remember the name of the second guy-):

[Thunderbolt] 自由（ちきゅうじん）@/not_jiyuun... My uni is done for now wwww

[Thunderbolt] kakikukeko@ド @/DONK... What an idiot, you should just (…) already

[Rock] まっすMAN（強化中）@/MusclePu... Super gross, thanks for exposing a lowlife sexual harasser

(Notes: Interestingly, Rock takes their original username again. Thunderbolt is once again a dick, caring more about his uni being "done" than the victim.

自由 means freedom, which I guess fits the tweet? Interestingly, though, jiyuun is also freedom, so "freedom @/not_freedom"? What is this fucking naming scheme.

ちきゅうじん means earthling (?). I couldn't find something solid for kakikukeko or ド but "DONK" is funny)

Purple Robe Wizard

If you're like me, you've seen me mention this person and immediately asked "is that Killcheroy." But no, since we see them in the lead-up to the Killcheroy battle in Bring it On, as we see every other character mentioned here. Additionally, I believe they might be the one responsible for the big attack which takes away like half of Killcheroy's life bar, but not the one who kills her, as Killcheroy still has health after that attack disappears.

If we do assume that attack is theirs (because there's no indication of who else is in the Killcheroy fight otherwise), then they have to be represented by one of the paint cans attacking Killcheroy at the end of Backdraft. Since they also attack Ice Gorilla, they are unlikely to be Green Paint, and therefore are most likely Light Blue Paint.

No recognizable pattern there.

Unfortunately, we have an issue. We've run out of user icons, which, uh...

You could maybe argue they share an icon with someone else? Or something? Or maybe they exclusively send DMs so Fuuta can't see their harrassment. I hope this isn't too big of an issue.

So, here's the thing. I don't think any of these three characters, the blue haired soldiers and the purple robe wizard, are Green Paint. Because they lack one critical feature: being the "Sixth Ranger." The Green Paint isn't notable just because it appears, it's notable because it appears alongside the Five Man Band. In particular, it has a penchant for replacing Five Man Band members. It paints over Pink Paint when the gang first attacks Killcheroy, it steals Rumerie's pattern in the aftermath shot, and it shows up when Orange Paint doesn't in said aftermath shot. It doesn't really matter who they replace, they have a pattern of replacing someone.

And wouldn't you know, there is a character that sorta fits that in Bring it On. The only character who is never seen attacking Ice Gorilla, neither in the shot of the battle itself or the aftermath.

The Black Knight

I'm calling them that because their armor is darker than everyone else's and I think they killed Killcheroy lol.

Do you see an interesting pattern here? They don't show up in the first battle at all (and I cannot stress enough, it’s the only character that doesn’t), but after the second battle, they're always seen with the Five Man Band minus the Heart. As if they replaced her, in the same way Green Paint usually replaces a member of the Five Man Band.

And you could argue it should be the other way around, that White Robe Wizard replaced the Black Knight, except White Robe Wizard shows up in the Ice Gorilla battle while Black Knight doesn't, so if someone's Green Paint of the two, it would have to be Black Knight.

But hold on, you may say. Black Knight shows up in the second battle, they can't be Green Paint!

Except for one detail. Yes, Black Knight is in the post-Rypirotes (finally looked up the name) fight scene, but there's one person in that post-battle scene who didn't fight Rypirotes. Check out the minimaps:

(I'm ignoring the distorted minimap because, well, it's distorted, and it's before the Killcheroy battle, not during)

The blue triangle is Fuuta, the red dot is the "enemy," so the green dots are the other people in the battle.

The Ice Gorilla battle minimap shows 11 green dots, which perfectly fits the amount of people on screen there. The Killcheroy battle shows 6 green dots, which perfectly fits the amount of paint cans we see attack Killcheroy in Backdraft.

And yet, there are seven people in the post-Rypirotes battle scene, but only six dots in the minimap. Which means one person in that post-battle scene didn't fight.

Obviously, it's impossible to know who didn't fight. All this does is open the possibility that the one who didn't fight there is Black Knight.

But here's the thing. Everyone else in the post-Pyrites battle scene is displayed in the Ice Gorilla minimap. The only other recurring character who Green Paint could be, then, is Light Blue Haired Soldier. But as stated before, they're never seen as part of the Five Man Band, so I find it unlikely this is the case. Also because color-scheme wise they fit Rock, and Rock does "attack" both Ice Gorilla and Rypirotes, just not at the same time as the time we see the minimaps I guess.

So there’s the thing. Because Black Knight didn’t fight either Ice Gorilla or Rypirotes, we don’t have an user icon for them, which makes it all the more suspicious that they show up in the lead up to the Killcheroy battle. I guess the blue haired soldiers didn’t attack her for some reason, since there’s only six paint cans.

And then there's the class thing. You remember how I said Light Blue Haired Soldier fits with Rock because he seems to be a Tank by armor? Well, Black Knight wears the same armor as Fuuta and Thunderbolt, they're a Warrior. What could this mean? Well, if Fuuta is the guy that doxxed Killcheroy, and Thunderbolt is one of the most aggressive "attackers" as seen by their comments, we can infer Warriors may represent particularly dangerous or vicious characters. Keep in mind these aren't actually videogame classes but they're metaphorical. Thus, it would fit Killcheroy's killer to be a Warrior.

... Ok, to be fair a lot of this is based on like a hundred different assumptions stacked on top of each other like a house of cards, I feel like I'm reading too much into too many things and I'm pulling conclusions out of my ass, but I think these interpretations are at least interesting enough to share, which is why I'm sharing my brainrot with you all. You can probably find several thousands of holes here if you think critically, but you know. Vote Black Knight Guilty (wait that’s not-)

Conclusion

I am never beating the insanity allegations.

I do think the Black Knight is probably the one who killed Killcheroy, but knowing that, and everything else I said in this post, is more for curiosity's sake than anything else. This doesn't really add much to Fuuta's character or anything, but eh. I enjoyed going crazy over these side-side-side characters, and I hope you enjoyed my ramblings as well.

If you actually managed to read all that, then you deserve a Five Man Band all for you! Which role do you think you fit best? You don't have to answer that this isn't YT. Take care!

#milgram #milgram project #milgram theory #fuuta kajiyama #milgram analysis #i need severe amounts of help #bring it on mv #backdraft mv #rumerie #tagging him cause hes the one people care about #well normal people anyways #cw doxxing #cw cyberbullying #cw death

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epicspheal · 4 months

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Hi! Congrats on making it through your first year of med school, I know that's hard to do so make sure to take some time for yourself 💜

I wanted to know if you could write something for Gordie? I'll take anything, but please take your time before doing this.

Hi there anon! Thank you so much for the kind words. Medical school has been an interesting challenge to say the least I also have to apologize for the delay in getting to this ask! When I first got this I was like "Oh Great, I'm actually working on a Gordie fic right now and I'll let them see this" Only school and writer's block got in the way So I'm going to bend my own rules for this an actually just do a character analysis for Gordie instead. So here we go... GORDIE NEEDS MORE LOVE FROM THE FANDOM Admittedly, I didn't know much of Gordie because I first played Shield. But since I loved SwSh so much I decided to go back and get Sword and there I actually fell in love with his character. He breaks the mold in a number of ways. Let's start off with his name. In Japanese his name is Makuwa which is the name of fruit called muskmelon (or just melon) which is very similar to Melony's name which is also derived from melon. So that's an easy tie between the two's familial connection. But Melons have interesting symbolism of their own as they represent prosperity, good fortune, and abundance in many cultures. And despite the rift between him and his mom, Gordie has abundance, prosperity and good fortune.

He's a major gym leader in one of the strongest gym circuits to date (minor gym leader if we're talking Shield but that's still huge), he has plenty of adoring fans, and his league card talks about how he's highly suspected of becoming a champion one day. Which is something that I don't see talked about much even in SwSh circles that absolutely should be. One for any trainer to be strong enough to considered a future champion is huge as there's only a handful of trainers who can even attain that rank. Even moreso as a type specialist. As we can see in the list of established champions in the series, the vast majority are multitype trainers with only a handful specializing in one type. And of those who specialize in one type only two of them (Wallace and Peony) that solely use Pokemon of their specialty while the others have at least one Pokemon not of their actual type. Gordie is a rock type specialist where all of his Pokemon are at least partially rock. And let's not forget that of the type specialist champions all of them are either Water, Dragon or Steel (yes Alder could count as a Bug type specialist but he's currently listed as a multitype champion). Rock however is often the specialty of the first or second gym leader on a gym circuit with so far only one trainer (Olivia) being representative of the type in the Elite Four. So for Gordie to be a rock type trainer who is strong enough to be considered a future champion is a huge accomplishment that I think bears mentioning.

Now let's take a look at his team. You can see while he does specialize in Rock types, only one of his Pokemon is pure rock while the others are dual type. The typings not only on the Pokemon but the moves he has are quite diverse allowing him to hit multiple types super effectively and cover 3 out of the 5 rock weaknesses. His team and movesets show he prefers an offensive approach prioritizing speed with Shell Smash, Tar Shot, Sticky Web and Coalossal's Steam Engine. In fact one of his in-game quotes alludes to the fact he prefers quick battles "I'll be bringing my matches to an end in a heartbeat—you'll see. No one who sees them will ever forget me."

He also heavily prioritizes breaking through physical defenses with Body Press and Wonder Room, as well as weather and entry hazards like Stealth Rock, Sticky Web, G-max Volcalith and Tyranitar's Sand Stream. It's a very solid set up that shows why in Sword he's the 6th gym leader challengers face and it shows how this team is very well designed to defeat Melony's.

As I've played through Sword at this point more than Shield (as I've decided for the purposes of cactusverse the Sword line up are canon) as I've gone through his gym, I really appreciate how encouraging he is to the player as they try to avoid the pitfalls in his gym. It's a nice touch to have him do that shows despite the fact he is a strict trainer he does have a soft side.

We know he does get frustrated after losing and unfortunately some people take that to mean he's a sore loser but he's not. Yeah he sulks in his locker and openly talks about his pride being bruised but there have been far better examples of actual sore losers in the franchise and he's not one of them. His fans honestly find his sulking sessions endearing and he even apologizes whenever he loses his cool.

"Sorry to lose my cool... I'll be sure to challenge you again."

And let's talk about the fact that he canonically is very popular and has a large fanbase. As a chubby character that's huge because unfortunately fatphobia exists and chubby characters are rarely portrayed as being popular, desired and highly skilled like Gordie is. Oh and he does backflips too showing his size doesn't mean he is unathletic? There are just so many positive subversions here and it's wonderful to see.

And Gordie cares a lot about his fans. He's stated to take the time to do autographs and meet and greets. He's seen in Twilight Wings opening fan mail in his hotel room. And a lot of what he discusses in Pokemon Masters EX involved him talking about how to best please his fans. It's obvious he cares so much for those who support him and it's heartwarming to see.

Now to get to the main talking point about Gordie...his strained relationship with his mom. I've seen people say that Gordie hates his mom but that's simply just not true! He's frustrated with her for trying to push her training style and preferred typing onto him. He wants to show he can succeed without her methods. But that frustration doesn't mean he hates her and quite frankly it's tiring to see how fandom portrays frustration as hate with Gordie and others. You can be frustrated without hating and I wish people would learn to use that nuance when talking about characters with strained relationships because usually when a narrative wants to display feelings of hatred...it will be very obvious.

In fact when Gordie does talk about Melony it's actually very tame. He mentions wanting to surpass her and how on Pasio the cold nights remind him of her. But nothing that signifies hatred. Sure they aren't on speaking terms but families sometimes go through rough patches. I'm sure at some point they'll begin to mend the rift. But yes, Gordie's a wonderful character that shows how even little details can signify so much. And once again I must say...Gordie deserves more love from the fandom!

#ask epic spheal #gym leader gordie #gordie pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon masters ex #character analysis

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autisticsupervillain · 3 months

Text

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Stats Equalized!

The show where we equalize strength, speed, and durability to decide who would win a battle of hax, skill, and versatility.

This Month's Fighters...

Sollux Captor vs Cole MacGrath!

Sollux Fanart by @rabble-dabble

Conditions:

InFAMOUS 2 Cole without the RFI is used.

Scenario:

Cole assists in fighting off an Alternian Invasion of New Marias, bringing down one their battleships with a thunderstorm. Sollux survives the crash, having been kept prisoner onboard as a backup battery. Cole mistakes him for one of the invaders and attacks him.

Analysis: Cole MacGrath

Many years in the future, human civilization would meet its grim end at the hands of a monster known only as The Beast. Humanity’s last survivor, a man calling himself Kessler, would use his fantastical powers to travel back in time and prevent the apocalypse. Taking over a secret society called the First Sons, Kessler would use their research to amplify the powers of Conduits, humans with special powers, with an explosive device called the Ray Sphere. Setting the Ray Sphere in the middle of Empire City, one man would survive it’s blast and go one to become the world’s savior. The name of that survivor, of the man who would slay The Beast, is Cole MacGrath.

Even before awakening his extraordinary powers, Cole MacGrath was an impressive young man. A parkour prodigy, Cole has the streets, rooftops, and sewer systems of both Empire City and New Marias memorized like the back of his hand, even capable of outrunning police with his skills. He was an incredibly intelligent man as well, smart enough that his parents can easily pass him off as a teacher. He was a straight-A student during his four years of college prep, only dropping out when one of his professors began tormenting his friend Zeke. But, after the blast, he became something more…

Now gifted with extraordinary electric abilities, Cole became a living battery, capable of absorbing and manipulating electricity to an extraordinary degree. With his newfound powers, he can create a wide variety of bolts, missiles, grenades, and blades out of his electric powers, ranging from homing missiles to sticky grenades. He can also create Arc Restraints, electric chains designed to pin his opponents down.

In regards to his defensive abilities, Cole has a huge moveset to draw from. He can create shields that convert bullets into energy for him to absorb, glide through the air and telekinetically throw heavy objects by manipulating magnetism, regenerate from being riddled with projectiles, can fully heal himself and restore his stamina by absorbing electricity, and even restart his heart to come back from the dead.

This wide variety of powers is only scratching the surface of what Cole can do, which comes as a result of how his powers work. See, Cole can develop new powers in a wide variety of ways, such as by absorbing large quantities of energy, or even just by using his powers in creative ways during a fight. Throw these methods, he has developed and mastered both the above powers as well as the following ones. He can:

Create thunderstorms.

Throw tornados.

Drain electricity from storms.

Absorb ions from killed opponents to enhance his powers.

Amplify his speed immensely via Precision, causing foes who were previously only a blur in his view to move in slow motion.

Give himself unlimited energy and stamina briefly via Karmic Overload.

Heal crippling wounds with his healing pulse, an electric zap that amplifies the body’s natural healing abilities.

Can see visions upon getting new powers, teaching him how to use them.

Can see how a person was killed by touching their corpse, as well as see a path leading to their killer.

And suck the bio-electricity from a person’s body with bio-leech, a technique that requires he grip their face.

Can create electric grappling hooks.

And many, many more.

Of particular note is his Radar Sense, a sixth sense that operates independently of his other senses in an omnidirectional way, allowing him to see electrical sources, people included, as well as outline those with hostile intent towards him in red.

Keep in mind, these are all just his electricity powers. Upon reaching New Marias, Cole was able to use a device to transfer some of Lucy Kuo’s powers into himself, after which he gains additional ice based powers, allowing him to create ice missile, ice grenades, and ice spikes roughly the size of buildings, even using his ice powers to launch him skyward to create distance from his opponent.

Speaking of distance, he’s probably going to need it, as he isn’t a great melee fighter. He’s a skilled user of the Amp, yes, and he can hurt people as strong as he is, but he lacks any kind of martial arts training. Cole is a ranged fighter through and through. Thankfully, Cole has a wide variety of resistances to aide him against anyone who manages to get in close. Cole has repeatedly shrugged off ice and fire attacks, taking no damage when getting ragdolled by The Beast, who is a giant monster made of magma. He has successfully endured Sasha’s mind control, which was powerful enough to take control of all of Empire City even while weakened. He has survived being doused with acids and resisted being ripped apart by The Beast’s Black Holes, which break down and absorb matter on an atomic level. He, like all Conduits, are resistant to most forms of radiation and all forms of disease, including the Plague that would’ve wiped out the human race had it not been stopped. His powers can even ignore the resistances of others, such as where Cole killed Kessler and David Warner, two people who can absorb electricity on contact, with his electric attacks.

Even with all this though, he does have one major weakness: water. Large quantities of water will short circuit is body, killing him in a way he likely can't resurrect from. Even standing in neck deep water for 30 seconds will kill him, being able to withstand being drenched only for brief periods of time. Furthermore, cutting out the electricity in the areas around him will make him nauseous and give him a headache and he can’t touch most electronics or fire arms without making them explode.

Overall, Cole is a remarkably powerful master of electrokinesis and he’s remembered as one of the most powerful Conduits of all time for good reason. Respect the Patron Saint of Empire City.

Analysis: Sollux Captor

Doom. The Aspect of dispair. Those bound by Doom are fates chosen sufferers, predestined for a life of pain and misery. And there is no better example of that in all of Paradox Space than Sollux Captor.

Born on the alien hell world of Alternia, Sollux was born as a Gold Blood. The third lowest caste in Troll society. Thanks to his status, he was not only relentlessly persecuted, but he was predestined to serve as a living battery for the Empire's warships, guaranteeing a short life of pain and misery once he left the planet. Even on the planet, his life wasn't much better. Largely because a nearby highblood and local 8itch mind controlled him into killing his own girlfriend.

So yeah, as you can see, if you're bound to the Aspect of Doom, then life is just going to shit over you right from minute one. While all your friends are bound to primordial concepts that grant them cool superpowers, you're bound to a concept that forces you to hear the voices of those who are soon to die. Well, okay, I say that, but it's not all bad for poor Sollux. For one thing, being a SBURB Player does give him a few handy perks, like a video game style hammerspace inventory called a Specibus, or a leveling up system called an Echeladder, which goes up continuously as you do random things, ensuring that you're always getting stronger.

Not like Sollux needs much help with that. He's easily the most powerful psionic on the planet, arguably the strongest in history. As a direct descendant (or clone. Kinda. It's complicated.) of the Psiioniic, Sollux has inherited all his absurd abilities and psionic powers. This includes telekinesis powerful enough to lift buildings and eye lasers big enough to vaporize skyscrapers.

Sollux's telekinesis is so powerful, it can overpower and redirect meteors summoned by the Reckoning, including those the size of Australia. And that's on top of it's utterly ridiculous range, allowing Sollux to grab and throw meteors from the other side of the universe or blow up a laptop that was in a different timeline entirely.

But, as with all things Doom bound or SBURB related, it came at a price. Since Sollux was a SBURB Player, he was inevitably going to witness the end of his race, as it's the job of him and the rest of his friends to create the next universe while their old one dies. Furthermore, he didn't even get to live in our universe, because someone from the universe he and his friends just created traveled back in time to kill all of his friends. The pressure of having to hide from this god-like entity shattered his already fragile friend group, causing Sollux's rival, Eridan, to go on a killing spree. This resulted in Eridan vaporizing Sollux's eyes and killing his new girlfriend... right before Sollux gets dropped down a flight of stairs for unrelated reasons.

Man, Sollux is just the Spider-Man of the Homestuck universe. He certainly has about as many dead girlfriends. That isn't even counting the time he got forcibly fused with the person who killed his girlfriend (not Vriska, the other one). Yeah, needless to say, when your life sucks as much as Sollux's does, you become something of a grumpy dick. He's relentlessly cynical and pessimistic asshole, which is certainly not helped by his bipolar mood swings and short temper.

Despite this though, Sollux's luck did eventually begin to turn around. He's far and away the most competent hacker in Paradox Space, capable of hacking into a video game that alters the fabric of reality. Eventually, his first girlfriend came back to life as an immortal time goddess and they hooked up again, a little while after Sollux discovered he is now half-ghost. This means, not only does he not age anymore, but he's only half blind now, with only his living half being bound to his pre-existing injuries. So, not only is Sollux Spider-Man, he's also Danny Phantom.

So, no matter how badly life kicks him, Sollux is always going to rain down hell on whoever and whatever crosses his path.

Throwdown Theme:

youtube

Throwdown Breakdown:

This is an interesting matchup.

Sollux has an absolutely massive advantage in terms of range and scope. While Cole can cover entire cities in thunderstorms and tornadoes, Sollux can call down meteors from space all the way from the Outer Ring. Solluc can quite literally throw everything in the universe that he can lift at Cole. This is a fantastic way of separating Cole from his options, ripping entire buildings out of the ground to seperate him from sources of electricity and keep him from recharging. Given how similar Cole's powers are to those of a typical goldblood, I think it's safe to say Sollux would think to do this. Goldbloods are literally used as batteries to power spaceships, the idea of one drawing on power from technology isn't too far fetched.

On the other hand, Cole vastly outpaces in terms of versatility. Besides his telekinesis, Sollux's only other conbat applicable powers are eye beams and very specific procognition. And while said eye beams are fuck off huge, Cole is bringing a lot more to the table. Cole's shields, movement options, and healing powers give him a lot of ways to simply tank, dodge, or recover from a lot of the damage Sollux can deal. Frankly the image of Cole electric web slinging across the buildings being thrown at him is simply hardcore.

Most importantly, Cole does have a limited counter against his electricity sources being taken away. Precision Mode would let Cole move fast enough for Sollux to not track him, allowing him to get his hits in and reach sources of electricity before Sollux could react. The problem with that is that it chews through energy really fast, which won't work if Cole's already hurt for energy. Karmic Overload is basically a free instant refill, but in practical terms it's a one-off until Cole can farm more Good Karma for himself.

Meanwhile, Sollux's telekinesis counters a lot of things thanks to its scope. He can just disperse any storms Cole creates, send missiles and grenades right back, and throw sources of electricity into space where Cole can't reach.

However, Cole's similarity to other goldbloods could very well let Cole catch him off guard with some unique tricks. The ability to just revive from death at will because his body still had electricity in it would trip Sollux right up, Cole's weakness against water isn't something he'd ever even suspect (meaning throwing the whole ocean at him is right out), and stuff like Karmic Overload and Precision Mode would come right the hell out of nowhere.

But, ultimately, I think telekinesis on Sollux's scale is just too clean of a counter against Cole. It can get him out of Arc Restraints, throw Cole's projectiles back, get rid of his storm clouds, and even just... yeet all the city's electronics into space where Cole can't get them. Fight's over I guess.

There are certainly circumstances where Cole can win this. Namely by perfectly exploiting openings created by Precision Mode or resurrection. But they are much more circumstantial than Sollux's own powers.

This Throwdown's Winner is...

Sollux Captor!

#fictional throwdown fridays #stats equalized #cole macgrath #infamous #sollux captor #homestuck

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darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght · 4 months

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Chapter 7- Part 9

Ooooh, I see some discoloration in the darkness, and I think I can recognize what it is.

That’s right, our final Pokémon is a Grubbin! Apparently, this encounter can either be a Grubbin or a Joltik, I’m not sure how the game decides which bug to give you here, it could just be a 50/50 thing. But honestly, I would’ve been fine with either of them, both would be helpful for the Gym. Joltik is obvious, being part Electric-type itself by default; as for Grubbin? Well…you’ll see (and no, it’s not about its evolution).

Anyways, I’ve got a good Ball for this, so let’s start by just purely putting it to sleep with Sing.

So far so good. And now, my secret weapon: Chekhov’s Dusk Ball!

Not only is it nighttime, but we’re in a dark building, so this should work perfectly on this Grubbin (especially with it being asleep)!

Outstanding, amazing, 10/10-

I named her Prong after the metal protrusions on electrical plugs- which, you know, given the Grubbin line’s association with electricity and such, seemed fitting.

Anyways, with the lights back on, do these NPCs have anything new to say?

I mean, seems like the lights got fixed pretty quickly, so it couldn’t have been that bad all things considered.

Which god, there’s like thirty of them.

Anyways, those are all the encounters- now it’s time to build our final team for Julia! …After I admire these nighttime light effects.

Nice.

Anyways, as for our team to take on Julia- I did some looking, did some moving-around on the PC, and this is the final product (or, well, near final because there’s yet more grinding to do):

I swapped out Breeze and Streak for Bloom and Prong. Once this Gym battle’s done, I’ll probably bring Breeze back in after beating Julia, but as for Streak…who knows, this may be his time to get some rest.

I’m keeping in Whiskers because she has a bit more type coverage in the form of Zen Headbutt and Disarming Voice in addition to a STAB Normal move. As for why I’m keeping Riptide in, well- c’mon, he’s our starter! I’m not taking my starter out of the party! It’s like Octopath Traveler, you can’t take the chosen protagonist out of the party- and even when you are allowed to take them out of the party in the endgame, I still don’t do it because I’m too attached.

Anyways, there are some interesting things about Bloom and Prong. For one thing, Bloom apparently has a unique Original Trainer-

“Sweet Co.”...whatever that is. Maybe it’ll become relevant later.

Oh, but Bloom does have the Budew line’s Hidden Ability! Very nice, even if it won’t come into play in this particular Gym battle.

As for why Prong is so special, well, that’s pretty simple: her moves! And in Grubbin’s Gen VII learnset, there’s one move in particular it learns early on, and Prong luckily has it in her current moveset:

BEHOLD! AT LONG LAST, A SINGULAR GROUND-TYPE THING! Again, I doubt we’ll be able to rely on it during this particular battle, but a Ground move is a Ground move and it is so good to have.

Now, the next task is to get these two on the rest of the party’s level- Lv. 16 specifically- and from there, grind everyone up just a bit more (but still below Lv. 20, of course). Bloom in particular is an interesting case, because I want to evolve him into Roselia, but we can’t do that until it’s daytime again. So, I can probably start building up friendship with him now, then continue tomorrow.

And it was in the midst of trying to build up friendship with Bloom that we ran into this new guy, a scientist-looking dude. What’s he got to say?

What kind of analysis would you even be doing on the outside of a building, of all things? Let alone to the point that you get the “wrong” data? How does that even happen?? Do you even have a doctorate, sir??

Wha-!? Excuse me!? Those are what the Read-Outs are?? I mean- if talking to NPCs is what gives those Read-Outs, I mean…I do that pretty frequently already, so maybe getting all the Read-Outs won’t be so bad…? I still wish we could just get the data by battling under that Field Effect a certain amount of times or something…

Which Field Effect is this Read-Out even about, anyways?

Oh- yeah, that makes sense.

#pokemon reborn #pokemon reborn spoilers #pokemon fan game #pokemon reborn screenshot let's play

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warsofasoiaf · 1 year

Note

Do you think you could do a character analysis of Elden Ring? Like what did you think about Godrick the Grafted?

Sure.

One of the true joys of FromSoft's boss design is how well they communicate through gameplay as much as by lore, which is typically far more minimalist and delivered almost solely through item descriptions. That reminds me of the classic RPG days, where all lore was delivered through textboxes as a matter of practicality. Some of the funniest bits of classic gaming could be found in item boxes, like the description of the Golden Pantaloons in the original Baldur's Gate. FromSoft does a lot of communication through visual, non-verbal storytelling in boss movesets, from the goofy humor that you see in the introduction of the Gaping Dragon in the original Dark Souls to Morgott's regal demeanor when you finally face him at the food of the Erdtree in Elden Ring.

Godrick is the weakest of the Shardbearers in Elden Ring. He the only one who is not a direct son of Marika (due to the whole Marika/Radagon dual nature), he is a distant ancestor drawing from Godwyn the Golden's line, one of the most beloved of Marika's children. Godrick is quite keen to trumpet his legacy as heir to Godwyn and Godfrey. He proudly exclaims: "I am the Lord of all that is Golden. I command thee kneel!" Gold was the traditional color of royalty, as the rare and valuable metal signified the power and prestige of those who wore it. Godrick clings to his royal pedigree as a security blanket, but at every turn, the game does not hesitate to display his weakness and falseness. His healthbar proclaims him "Godrick the Grafted" not "Godrick the Golden," as he pretends himself to be. Only Morgott, who has his own hangups, refers to him as the Golden (and the one sword grave, which may have been carved on Morgott/Margit's orders). Whenever he shows up in the backstory, he's "the runt of the litter," and constantly beaten and humiliated by his cousins. He hides to flee Leyendell rather than face Morgott with the Mimic Veil, He hides from Radahn in Stormveil, then insults Malenia only to be beaten badly in a fight and beg for his life. No one respects him, not Kenneth Haight, not Gostoc his possible bastard son (the Gostoc/Godrick plotline is cut content, so its canon is dubious). Even his Great Rune emphasizes his weakness, as mechanically, Godrick's Great Rune is only useful at lower levels, before you hit the soft caps of mechanical progress where another rune might provide more concrete benefit, and the benefits equal to that of Castle Morne's legendary Grafted Greatsword Ash of War, Oath of Vengeance.

Godrick's epithet continues to emphasize his weakness. He is named "the Grafted" for his practice of grafting the limbs of other Tarnished on himself. Lacking power of his own, he hopes to take it from others rather than improve his own skills, as that would risk himself and risk conflict with Radahn to the east or Rennala to the north. The fact that Rennala, broken in Raya Luceria, does not command her armies, can still keep Godrick in Stormveil Castle further shows his weakness - the Carian Knights were not only equals of the golden champions of Radagon, but they seem to be able to handle or at least intimidate Godrick's much-diluted blood. Godrick didn't even develop grafting on his own, that was developed by Godefroy, who was captured by Ancient Dragon Knight Kristoff. At every turn, Godrick is shown to be weak and incapable, the least of all the lessers, and draws only the least to him. Those who willingly give themselves up to be grafted, certainly, but the gameplay does this as well. His Lordsworn are the weakest, their Tree-and-Beast surcoat tell how faded they are. Even the dragon, who Godrick proclaims as a true-born heir is wrong. True dragons in Elden Ring possess stone scales, four wings, and four legs. This minor dragon only has two wings and lacks the stone coloration of Lannsseax, it is merely a minor offshoot, much like Godrick himself.

His moveset emphasizes this as well. His rolls are big and clumsy, far less adept than Margit the Fell Omen, the boss who we need to fight in order to reach Stormveil Castle. Godrick has multiple arms writhing on his back but they don't wield weapons. He wields two greataxes but Margit swung his holy Giant-Crusher hammer with greater speed and skill, showing that he is weaker than Morgott's lieutenant (it's actually Morgott, but a first-time character doesn't know that). The flames that he conjures when he cuts off his own hand in desperation to graft the dragon head are likewise scattershot - he does not create magma to deny terrain the way the Magma Wyrms do. All of this emphasizes Godrick's weakness, but also his envy. He aspires to heights that he lacks the capacity or capability to achieve on his own and hopes to bypass that by stealing the strength of others. Just as stealing the Mimic Veil though, all it does is prevent his defeat, it does nothing to strengthen him. Notably, envy is held as a sin because it's holder does nothing to improve themselves on their own, to earn that which they desire. To be envious is to be covetous, to desire to take rather than earn. One of the chief reasons why envy is a sin is that it denies worth to others, as Dante says that it is: "a desire to deprive other men of theirs." Envy is not just greed, but the idea that those who have what they have do not deserve it no matter what, it is for the envious sinner to possess. Godrick possesses countless hands but cannot use them to grasp anything, highlighting his impotence.

And so, Godrick is defined by weakness that he cannot break out of cowardice. Margit protects him from interlopers to Stormveil largely to prevent the rise of a greater foe, though he bears regard for all descendants of Marika not afflicted by the Omen Curse. This is the only regard that any of his family has for him - pity. Malenia spares him only after he begs, Margit only patronizingly protects him to prevent someone with actual skill rising to take the Elden Ring by claiming two shards. Godrick refuses to make something of himself, to challenge Rennala, Rykard, or Radahn and earn two shards to challenge Morgott. He wishes to return on rays of gold, to prove himself worthy of the legacy of Godfrey and Godwyn, yet all he ends up being is the first step on the road that the Tarnished, who bears no godly blood, to gain in power. And unlike Godrick, the Tarnished puts in the effort. He or she dies, countless times (unless you're one of those no death/no damage guys, but that isn't the standard play experience) but learns from each attempt. Like the Chosen Undead in Dark Souls presents an eternal opportunity to learn as long as you don't go Hollow, each death is a learning experience, enabled through Marika's removal of Destined Death from the Elden Ring. Godrick doesn't put in the work, he'd much prefer to just graft more Tarnished. This too, is reinforced by gameplay - you can level grind but will quickly reach a peak, and success is enabled far more by learning the attacks of each boss and their countermeasures. The Tarnished doesn't succeed by mindlessly grinding Vitality and hoping you have enough HP to trade blow for blow with the boss, but by using the correct Ashes of War, rolling at the correct time, and leveling your equipment. When the Tarnished defeats Godrick, they've beat a foe that switches between physical and fire damage, one who telegraphs his attacks to teach proper rolling instead of panic rolling, and of adapting to mistakes and changing boss movesets. When the Tarnished beats Godrick, the game is saying: "Congratulations, you have learned the mechanics, now let's escalate the pressure in the next zone; I hope you have fun in the Lakes of Liurnia, where elemental damage is more common, swarming is more common, and some stuff just doesn't seem fair at all."

Godrick is thus, in the final insult, the last tutorial boss. Morgott teaches you that you can hit the bricks and explore the Lands Between for better equipment, upgrades, and runes to level up, or even to look for items and exploits via the shackle you buy from Patches. Godrick is the final exam of the tutorial. You've successfully gone through a legacy dungeon, you have the chance to summon Nepheli provided you explored the castle as you're supposed to do. Use intelligent rolls, keep your head in the game, and you'll find that you've more than earned your victory, Tarnished.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#elden ring #elden ring godrick #godrick the grafted #godrick the golden #character analysis

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shallahi-and-snowflake · 2 months

Text

Mrrp!

So, we’ve done some training and analysis, and apparently I am level 40, I’m about 5 feet tall, my base stats are average except for a Speed of 75, and my Friendship is 200.

My Ability is Intimidate, and my current moveset is Bite, Thunder Shock, Scary Face, and Electric Terrain.

[Video ID: Shallahi the Luxray is rumblepurring while laying in a sunbeam. A Squawkabilly decides to flap into frame and sit down next to her.]

#shallahiposting #rotomblr #pkmn irl #Lightweaver Luxray

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thebattlecircle · 7 months

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I'll just pick one...

Snorlax (Nickname: Blubbr)

Ability: Thick Fat

Moveset:

Rest

Sleep Talk

Body Slam

Snore

Item: Rocky Helmet

I don't build teams often

cuz I suck ass usually

That's one down, just need 5 more.

I'm likely adding a no item addendum because that's a bit too hindering if they don't know their stuff. I may just also give advice from what I'm aware of and learn what I don't know.

My analysis below:

I feel that's not the best moveset since 2 moves require ya being asleep. Snore I get, but sleep talk can pick any of the other 3 moves, including rest and snore. You pretty much halve your chances of good moves when you use it like this.

Body slam is a good pick, since that can potentially paralyze and is a strong, high-acc move. Rest is helpful for recovery and plays into snore well.

However, Thick Fat does squat overall. All it does is have damage from Ice and Fire attacks. When dealing with poisoning from toxic or the like, which is a big threat for beefy bois: Immunity may be a better option.

For a fourth move, I would run Zen headbutt or High horsepower. One hammers into it's weakness of fighting types, and the other deals with not very effective steel and rock type opponents.

The rocky helmet is a good option, but leftovers would also be overly useful as a prolonged tank.

I could run either option.

BUT DO THEY SPLASH?

No, Karpy they don't splash.

USELESS!

#battlecircle #pokemon analysis

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gemglyph · 1 year

Note

Btw

WOULD YOU ELABORATE ON THE SWORD FORMS THINGY PLEASE AND THANK YOU

I am happy to!!! :D

(LU Martyr) Skyloft Culture Analysis - Sword Forms

Now Continued! :D

Sword forms on Skyloft are definitely different than the sword forms that come later. That's because using a sword on Skyloft and being a knight is more like dancing and an artform instead of life or death situations (for the most part anyway). Movements depend on the dance, but most of the time they are meant to be fluid from one step to the next. (Some movements may be jagged, but they should flow into the next step of the dance).

There are probably movesets specifically based on the movements that Loftwings and Levias make when they move and thus would be named after those things. Ex: Loftwing's Gale/Gust or some moved based off of the spiral charge. Levias' Protection would probably be some type of defensive move/strategy- or some variation like Levias' Wake would be to knock people away- because Levias is said to protect Skyloft and the way Levias moves definitely makes wind wakes that would knock people away. I think there are also a few based off of different wind currents and the Thunderhead. That's just a few of the things I can think of. In my head I have more thoughts about movement than specific names (which.. it would probably help to name things).

Unfortunately... Movements that are specifically named after things around Skyloft probably lose their names and/or significance behind the names as time passes on. The names would change to have more relevance to what the move actually does (ex: Spiral Charge).

The dances of the Golden Three are more likely than not lost to time instead of the entire dance being changed to sword forms. I say this because those dances are more specific to Skyloftian cultural events instead of actual sword forms. There are few and select times they have been used as sword forms on Skyloft.

Sky chose to use the Goddess Dances as sword forms for battle (especially after Fi would perform them). It's not the most common thing.

Now, I'll go briefly over how I think sword forms look in the future based on the Dances I previously listed.

The Dance of Hylia - Hylia's March. Probably becomes more choppy and less dance-like as time passes. It's easy to have large group do step formations to this.

The Dance of Din - Din's Resistance. This has lost the entire dance behind it and is now a single move for a block. It's meant to be borderline impossible to move past.

The Dance of Nayru - Nayru's Counter. Similar to Din's Resistance, the rest of the dance has been lost. A single move that is used to counter an opponents attack. Parrying the movement either away or used as an counterattack.

The Dance of Farore - Farore's Flurry (Rush). The rest of the dance has been lost and is now summed up to quick, rapid strikes meant to end a battle quickly.

That's all I have at the moment!

#out of the apple box #capt’n my capt’n!!#lu martyr #Skyloft Culture Analysis #Everyone is going to see the sword forms in Martyr #I'm.. simply better at describing movements instead of names haha #it's near criminal how easy it would be to translate some dances into sword forms. Dance translates very well into sword fighting.

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crystalelemental · 11 months

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I've finally had the time to read through your Pokemon Team characterization! Gen 5 was when I realized that, maybe the Pokemon team and the arrangement actually had something to tell about the characters, but reading through your characterization made me realize that perhaps that already happened a lot sooner than I thought! Thank you for writing all of those, I had fun reading them.

Steven was the trainer that made me want to add Skarmory to my team. Raising it was rough since it's purely defensive, but I had a good experience having it. The Claydol setting the screens...I still remember my Emerald team almost getting defeated because my 10-years old brain didn't understand why his Metagross took less damage from my Blaziken. But yeah, Steven's Emerald battle was so much fun, and I agree his ORAS fight is kind of a downgrade.

I also like your analysis of Cynthia's team, and I very much agree with them. No matter what team she's using, she'll always be a challenge and difficult to defeat...that Double Team-spamming Spiritomb, I hate it. And the fact that I had to raise my own Garchomp just to counter hers in my Shining Pearl playthrough said a lot about how strong her ace is.

And your Hop team analysis...I love it so much! I think the story and characterization behind his team composition are more apparent than the others, especially because he takes center stage in Gen 8. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing, I like it. He's one of my most favorite rivals alongside N and Hau, so I am very happy when you did a post of him.

I read through Whitney and the Poison specialists too, they're all great! This makes me want to request some as well, but feel free to take your time and do it whenever you want to. I was going to request N's BW final fight team and B2W2 seasonal teams but realized that'd be way too much to work on, so...Morty and Zinnia! For Morty, you can do his GSC or HGSS, or B2W2 version, your choice.

I'm honestly interested to see what your characterization analysis of their team will tell about them, especially Morty (other than the fact that Johto doesn't have that much Ghost Pokemon selection he resorted to the Gengar line).

There's a lot, so I'll respond fully under the cut.

In completely fairness, I'm making up a lot. None of this is confirmed, but the idea is to showcase that you can make stuff up, and that's the basis of developing a character back in those times. Gen 5 was the first character-centric game where they really had a lot to work with, and Gen 7, oddly enough, really emphasized character moments to the point you have a pretty effective idea. But before that, you just cobbled together, and I really wanted to see more of that than just the Red and Blue favoritism stuff, so I decided to try my hand at this. I'm glad it seems to be at least somewhat popular, given how some of them got a decent response outside of my immediate sphere.

I was kinda surprised that his first ORAS fight is exactly the same. Like, it's almost the same movesets. Which is kinda funny, the way things change just by mechanics and movepools. But yeah, I really love the Emerald team, definitely my current favorite fight.

Cynthia's generally tough. I haven't done the BW or BW2 fights in a long time, so I don't remember them too well, but I can't imagine it's any easier. And...yeah, my opinion on BDSP is low, but I think as a good example of "Cynthia is always really weak to setup," Cresselia swept both of her big rematches in my game. Cresselia is stupid good as a Calm Mind setter.

Hop's felt slightly like cheating because we know so much about him, but it seemed to go over well with Hop fans, so I'll take the win.

Whitney's...might have been my favorite so far? Because there's so little to go off of. Well...okay, no, Geeta's was my favorite because I have an ulterior motivation (being contrary), but Whitney felt the most cobbled together from stuff we don't know. Which I think was more fun.

I can do all three. No promises on turnaround time, but I'll give each a try. And hey, great news! Morty's in a similar bracket to Whitney, and I don't actually know much about Zinnia! So this will be cobbling together nonsense real good.

#books-are-my-life-stuff

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huggingtentacles · 1 year

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may I request an in depth analysis of:

Magma Whip Candlestick

Rogier’s Rapier, with special reference to affinities and weapon arts that aren’t dex or int related

I will answer this one but please one at a time.

Magma Whip Candlestick is a whip, and whips are good. You can't really go wrong with it. It's good dual-wielded, it's good in your offhand. But the damage is worse than the analogous Giant's Red Braid, and the weapon is a bit shorter as well. However, it makes up for it with it's Ash of War which is perfect area denial, and can even be used as a nuclear option in an invasion scenario.

The thing about this ash is that you can hold it for as much as your stamina bar/mind bar allows. When your opponent is within range, you can just keep hitting, which makes it extremely useful when your enemies are cornered. On top of that, the magma on the floor protects you from retaliation if you whiff. And don't get fooled, that Magma is not like your Magma Sorcery magma, that magma deals considerable damage you can't really ignore and tank through.

The drawback is the start-up animation. The initial swing of the Sea of Magma is kinda slow and doesn't cover a lot of area. It's the next hit that has a lot of range, but by that time the opponent has all the time in the world to retreat. That's why using the ash is the most useful for trades and cornered opponents. You can't really use it out of neutral and it doesn't combo with anything really.

In PVE it's a great source of area denial. If you have a large enemy who would get hit by numerous magma splashes, or a group of weaker enemies, it's really good to just slap away at them with the Sea of Magma. It's both fun and safe.

7.5/10 weapon

Rogier's Rapier is a thrusting sword, and thrusting swords are great. They're good in mainhand and offhand, they're great two-handed, they are quick and really effective. Rogier's Rapier range isn't bad, but it's no Cleanrot, and the damage doesn't compensate for it. What we're really using it for is the heavy attack: a really quick double-hit. More often than not, if a weapon has a fancy-shamncy heavy attack, it's probably trash in PvP. That is not the case for Rogier's Rapier. It's GOOD and I mean "you can literally replace the regular r1" good. It breaks poise really efficiently, staggering even the most poised-up opponents after patch 1.07. my favourite thing to do is to use it with physical affinities, because of the strong status build-up potential. Cold, Poison and Bleed are all ready good as well for the same reason. The particular ash of war doesn't really matter that much, though. When I use the rapier I prefer to rely on the weapon moveset itself, and the ash of war is just a nice addition. HOWEVER.

A nice touch about it is the 110 crit modifier, which makes Quickstep really really good. It has good synergy with this weapon in particular. Backstab fishing requires a lot of skill and pressure, but rogier's Rapier really rewards it well. On top of that, the strong attack is extremely good as a wake-up tool. If you time it right, at least one hit will land, which is all it takes after a crit with this weapon. Pair it with the Dagger Talisman and you got yourself a crit machine.

I think it's a weapon with a very high skill ceiling. It's good, and you might just put in the effort to learn it. It's not good for beginners, though. If you're new to pvp, use the cleanrot.

8.5/10 weapon

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cybergrapeuk · 2 years

Text

To combat the perfectionism I've internalised since 2016 from watching too many cynical movie reviews and animation storytime critiques, I've decided to make a video essay about why Bugs Bunny is a good character in Multiversus in about roughly 2 weeks.

My animated avatar won't have inbetweens

I will use lots of B-Roll

It will be a casual analysis of his moveset

If I'm scared of making something "mediocre" and making something "cringy" people would pick apart because it's something they don't personally like, then maybe it's about time to make something that defies my own fears.

I want video making and animating to be fun again.

#video log #youtube #work in progress #update #personal development #perfectionism #theres more to art than being the best

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probskay · 2 years

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Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle Tierlist based on Moveset Effectivness

been playing burst battle recently but apparently no one likes this game, so I made a tierlist of character effectiveness based on what i’ve played of the story/training modes so far

I’ll do a character by character analysis below the read more tag, but this is generally what I think of the effectiveness of each character. also this tierlist isn’t ordred because at that point I should just make an ordered list and not a general tierlist.

Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle is only $5 on switch right now, so check it out! Hit me up if you want to play a couple of rounds, or want me to give you the lowdown on how the game functions

S characters generally have easy access to laser attacks, which are honestly just really strong. they would be easy to dodge if you were playing in such a way where you're moving a lot, but the moment you stand still they come at you really fast and take priority over most other bullets.

Marisa Kirisame has not only quick access to multiple laser attacks, but she also has decent defensive options for intercepting bullets, and her spell card is also just an extremely effective laser attack.

Rumia: The game calls her “Lumia” but that’s incorrect. Anyway, Rumia has access to a wide variety of laser attacks, some of them that target in a following fashion but fire at a delay. These are fantastic attack options, giving her great shakeup potential with such powerful attacks. As well, she has fantastic defensive options to just put up shields and stop bullets from penetrating them.

Youmu Konpaku doesn’t have a proper laser attack like everyone else here does, but she has a very fast and powerful ground based attack that is also quite wide, which makes it likely to catch a foe within it and deal heavy damage. Her other moves are also rather strong and fast, albeit they’re most effective while you’re on the ground.

A characters have access to at least one strong linear attack akin to a laser, and generally powerful defensive options

Reimu Hakurei has one laser move but it requires a button combo slightly harder to access than all of the S characters. However, she can potentially make up for this by having the most powerful defensive abilities of any character in the game. She can throw a bullet-absorbing bomb that lasts for a certain amount of time and cancels any bullets that enter it.

Hong Meiling's linear attack is really strong, but it's ground based and thus jumping makes it easier to avoid. Meiling excels at close range combat, however, as her linear ground attacks cancel most bullets and can even evade Reimu’s defensive bomb. She also has fast acting stun attacks that can leave an opponent open for a killing melee combo.

B characters are characters with movesets that require too specific a play style to be very effective.

Remilia Scarlet's most powerful attacks require very close range to be performed, which is a risky place to be. However, if you can keep the distance closed and the pressure on, Remilia’s many fire attacks serve as powerful, bullet cancelling shotgun blasts. Remilia also has a strong laser-esque attack that can aid in knocking an opponent over and giving you time to close that distance.

Sakuya Izayoi has basically no defense, forcing you to rely on extreme offense and mobility. On that front, however, she does excel. All of her attacks come out fast, and she has some particular moves that are excellent for shakeups, being very capable of catching a foe off guard. Her lack of defensive options does mean that she’ll rarely if ever get her spell card out, though.

Half of Flandre Scarlet's kit is very use case, and often also quite short ranged. Unlike Meiling and Remilia, she also doesn’t have the kind of defensive options needed to keep that distance closed. This doesn’t mean she can’t be used, though, as a variety of her kit consists of weird laser-type moves, which are great for clearing enemy bullets and getting her spell card out more often.

C characters is just Patchouli.

Patchouli Knowledge has a lot of strong attacks, but they're mostly about arena control, meaning if your foe is decent at dash shots to continuously fire (especially if they’re playing Sakuya), they'll pretty easily avoid the arena traps you place. She has one really wide laser move that's great for defense, and one arena trap that does strongly limit opponent mobility, but her kit is lacking otherwise.

D characters have especially limited movesets based on particular gimmicks that swiftly put you at a disadvantage compared to other opponents

Many of Koishi Komeiji's bullets fire at a delay, and her spell card is generally not useful. The delay might confuse opponents for a little bit, but mostly it’s just going to make it hard for you to keep the pressure on. Her spell card is mostly just a defensive option, which allows you to perform other attacks after it’s activated, but it’s best use case is just tackling your opponent, which is not good for a spell card.

While Cirno has decent defensive ice walls, those make up a third of her kit. The ice walls are HP based instead of timer based, meaning you can’t rely on them to defend you for very long. The next third of her kit is limited ground moves that can be easily jumped, and the final third are normal bullets that make up basically everyone else's kit too. She's the only character with a built in taunt tho so i take it all back, Cirno SSS tier

#touhou #touhou kobuto v burst battle #touhou burst battle #touhou reimu #touhou marisa #flandre #touhou cirno #remilia scarlet #touhou sakuya #touhou rumia #patchouli knowledge #youmu konpaku #hong meiling #koishi komeiji #no but seriously i don't know why cirno's kit is so bad

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epicspheal · 1 year

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Shine On: An Analysis on Champion Diantha

Dear Diantha,

The Pokemon fandom owes you an apology. For years she's been the butt of everyone's jokes when it comes to champions because many found her battle too easy. But between Pokemon Masters giving her some much needed focus and some redemption in the Masters 8 tournament in the anime, Diantha is finally getting her flowers as people (myself included) have begun to truly appreciate her.

So let's start with her name. Diantha comes from Dianthus which is part of the scientific name for carnations. Her Japanese name is Carne which again also points to carnations. Now carnations are some of the most beautiful and popular flowers in the world. Just going on that alone her name really suits her as she is very beautiful and in-universe is very popular as an actress. But what about the meaning of carnations in floriography (the language of flowers)? Well broadly speaking carnations symbolize fascination, distinction, love, and captivation. As a champion and A-list actress, she's certainly a person of distinction. Diantha really loves acting and Pokemon battles and she's good at captivating an audience in both fields. If we want to go deeper, each color of carnation also has a meaning. Given that her outfit is primarily white we could assume she's supposed to represent a white carnation. White carnations symbolise many things, such as luck (it's actually supposed to be a potent good luck flower for women) and loyalty. These two are the symbols I think most represent Diantha because as an actress she needs to have a lot of luck in getting roles. She also shows a lot of loyalty to her ace Gardevoir and she talks a lot in both XY and Pokemon Masters about the bonds people share with their Pokemon.

Alright, but what about her team? While Pokemon isn't really known for it's storytelling overall, it's actually really good with environmental storytelling via team composition of the trainers. You can learn a lot about a trainer by which Pokemon are on their team, their moves, which one is the ace, etc. For Diantha, at first glance many people would assume that there wasn't much of a narrative for her team as she is like many champions a multi-type trainer. However when you look at the species she uses there's actually a theme going on. It's a little more abstract than say Lance and Iris' Dragon/Dragon-like themes though.

See Diantha's team all could be tied to various genres of film. Her Hawlucha invokes action, superhero and sports related films. Gourgeist can represent the horror genre. Goodra can represent the fantasy genre. Tyrantrum and Aurorus can both represent the sci-fi genre thanks to be fossils. Finally Gardevoir can represent romance and fantasy genres. That's a wide variety of film genres, so you can infer that Diantha probably doesn't stick to just one genre when she is acting. And she confirms via dialogue in Pokemon Masters explaining that she has been in a wide variety of films. Indeed her team also further speaks to the idea of variety because her team's individual typings span 9 of the 18 elemental types. Their movesets combined span 16 of the 18 elemental types (technically 17 since Flying Press acts both as a fighting and flying type move). So variety is clearly important to Diantha.

Now let's talk about Diantha's dialogue. When we're first introduced to Diantha, she's talking to Lysandre who's asking why she wouldn't want to remain young and beautiful forever. To which she replies the following:

"What a strange question… Why would I want to play the same old roles forever? Youth may be beautiful, but it's not all there is to life. Everything changes. I want to live and change like that, too. So I look forward to playing different roles as I get older."

This is really telling about her outlook. That she's very positive and she enjoys which ties back to her team composition. She's embracing the idea of growing older and being able to play roles she couldn't at the moment. Whereas Lysandre is essentially endorsing society's strict beauty standards and ageism she's actively embracing the idea of changing looks and growing old. And in Pokemon Masters there are lines of dialogue that again have her expressing her interesting playing numerous types of roles and not just being typecast. For someone in her line of work that's a very unique outlook to have and it's really commendable.

But then after Lysandre she introduces herself to the player and she gives a quote that I think really gives insight into her as a character

"[...]You both have lovely names. Oh, and you're both Trainers! Don't your Pokémon look happy? I'm a Trainer myself, in my off time. I look forward to us battling someday!"

The part we're going to be focusing on is "I'm a trainer myself, in my off time". This is significant because despite being a literal league champion she considers being a trainer more of a hobby (since she says she does this in her off time) than a profession like she considers her acting. We also see a similar line Pokemon Masters if we talk to her in random conversation

"I have an identity as an actress—and also as a Champion."

Again she places more weight on her being an actress than being a champion. While there are definitely quotes where she talks about being a champion in Pokemon Masters (which makes sense because Pasio is more battle oriented) the fact that in normal casual conversation she tends to focus more on her identity as an actress is telling. Indeed a good portion of her dialogue does bring up acting in some way. This all shows that she primarily sees herself as an actress. Which isn't a bad thing at all she certainly isn't the first trainer in the series to put more emphasis on passions outside of battling. Not even the first champion- Steven actually does this as well.

This focus on her professional identity as an actress actually helps to shed light as to why she isn't as involved in the Kalos storyline as many would've expected. Actresses are busy people. While we don't have any direct information as to why she wasn't present during the end stages of the Team Flare arc, we can infer she was probably filming somewhere on location during those events. She doesn't show up as much as previous champions because being champion isn't her only or primary job. As I've mentioned before, if we're being technical it's not really the champion's job to intervene in situations (considering that most of them in fact do not) but you know it is something they probably should do as concerned citizens…

…and eventually Diantha realizes this. Let's look a bit at her dialogue when you first challenge her for the title of challenge

"Welcome at last, dear Trainer. As you must know, I am the Champion, Diantha. Oh, but you are… You're the child I spoke to in Lumiose City and Coumarine City, aren't you?! Then that means that you are also the one that dear Augustine said… Of course! How could I--?! Oh, I must look like such a fool not to recognize you sooner! You and your Pokémon are the ones who stopped Team Flare for us all! It seems wrong of me to say this, but thank you! You saved us all… I can't wait to see what you and your Pokémon are capable of now that I know exactly what it is you've done already!"

The line "It seems wrong of me to say this, but thank you! You saved us all…" upon playing Pokemon Y for the second time really gave me the impression that actually she feels remorseful for not being there. That she feels like she should've stepped in more. To be fair she probably should have because she does seem to have a personal connection Lysandre and maybe she and Professor Sycamore could've tried to get through to him (although honestly at that point Lysandre was probably too far gone).

I like this because she's one of the few champions who actually expresses regret for not doing more to help and that's really big of her to admit. This actually even goes further in a quote from her in Pokemon Masters during the Shining Hearts of Dragons story line.

"I think I understand now why Champions are the ones who guide younger Trainers! I always worked hard to improve myself as a Champion and actress, but I never really gave much thought to helping others improve…Now, I think that's something I should have done more."

This is really crucial to understanding who Diantha is as a character, and for me this is really where she won me over. There was a time where she didn't understand the concept of mentoring not only as a Champion but as an actress. And that right there outside of her busy schedule as an actress explains why she wasn't constantly checking in on the player. And her not understanding that is 100% valid.

Again I'm going to reiterate, Pokemon battling and the league itself is really just a very organized sporting event. Mentoring is encouraged but it's not an absolute requirement, so someone can easily become one of the best and not put any effort into looking out for the newer trainers. At the end there only real requirement is to keep winning. Everything else is just added nice things they can do and probably should do regarding their status

And given the fact that acting and film-making is cutthroat and if that's the realm Diantha has spent the majority of her time in, it's totally understandable why it just didn't occur to her to be more of a mentor.

The line "Now that's something I should've done more" is also really pertinent. Again like her statement at the Kalos League, it expresses regret for not being more involved. She understands where she went wrong and she's learning and growing as a person. She's not perfect, and that's what I've really come to appreciate about her.

What I love about Diantha in Pokemon Masters, is that you see that she is actively taking steps to grow by mentoring others. First in the Shining Hearts of Dragons event where she helps Iris one of the only child prodigy champions who actually holds the title. It's a lot of pressure for Iris and she could use some guidance and Diantha is the perfect mentor for her at that moment. Sure she's not a full on dragon tamer, but she knows what's it like to interface with the public and deal with harsh criticism so she can guide a younger champion into learning how to stand in the face of a negative public opinion.

We see this again in the "Melancholy Wally" event where she helps Wally realize that in his pursuit of becoming stronger he's lost sight of just enjoying being with his partner. Considering that Wally was partnered with a Gardevoir and her ace is a Gardevoir she of all people knew firsthand of how sensitive Gardevoir are to emotions and how that would be affecting their bond. She's more of a hands-off mentor as she doesn't really hover over Iris or Wally, but that works because they are very self-driven children so a more hands-off style of mentorship would work.

Sure the Iris and Wally events aren't official game canon, but the sentiment and growth are. It's why it would've been cool to see sequels to XY where she does take more of a mentor role citing that she wished she had of done that earlier

But yeah Diantha is a really cool character who I think gets dismissed a little too easily on account of her champion match. She has a lot more going on than meets the eye and now that the fandom is more receptive to her it's time for us to start looking at her character a little deeper.

#champion diantha #pokemon diantha #character analysis

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