#used my limited knowledge of the plot of this game lets go

[hiddencircus]

༘ ೀ⋆｡˚ MARI LAYOUTS! | requested by anon.

likes & reblogs are appreciated! | reblog if use <3

#★━ my stuff! ★ #haha purple #used my limited knowledge of the plot of this game lets go #mari omori #omori #omori game #omori mari #omori layouts #omori icons #omori edit #omori edits #mari omori layouts #layouts

[notimeliketoday]

Northern Crater Illusion (Tifa version)

I know people's been saying something about this part in like forever especially in the OG but I finally get the courage and spite to write my own take. That's what I get staying on twitter I guess.

(You best believe I will post this there but on concentrated amount - character limit is only the blue checkmark's friend on that island.)

Most specifically I want to have a closer look on how Sephiroth pulled his attack using this *truth* that he and Tifa share and how this translates to Tifa's own personal conflict with Sephiroth himself.

Yeah, got so tired in that Sephiroth hates Tifa because of her interference to his plans for Cloud and the only one who can fix him takes.

No, fam. That's what the Rebirth seem to imply to y'all but Sephiroth already hates Tifa in OG separate from Cloud. (Or does he?). Heck, him leaving his Masamune beside her father's corpse is a literal taunt daring her to go after him and use his weapon to inflict damage to his person. This is before Cloud made himself known by stabbing him due to his own grief by the way.

Even with all this, we see he doesn't really seem to care to remember the name of who killed him until Cloud had to point it out in Junon.

CLOUD had to point it out. His KILLER has to tell him his name just to make him remember.

Tifa though?

Getting talked to so intimately with faux kindness - the very same treatment he now shows Cloud in Rebirth, imagine that.

Now let's also remember that this is the OG and therefore any trappings of Rebirth's new plot doesn't exist here because this is the beginning of it all.

Anyway, I revisited this scene because of an itch urging me (it's the spite) and a thought suddenly occurred to me.

If we remove Cloud's side and trappings in that part of the illusion (basically all things Cloud) and look at this from Tifa's perspective as a standalone thing for her own character, it paints a very clear picture of Sephiroth attacking her.

People always miss this because Cloud once again overshadowed Tifa's own trauma and unresolved conflict with Sephiroth as the one more openly attacked in this scene.

Let's look at Sephiroth's lines:

The lie has been set. Obviously Tifa won't let this unanswered if she could help it. So this is her response:

With Sephiroth's response to this being the first images I posted above.

It's been made clear how extremely pressured Tifa was at this scene especially when Cloud reveals he hinges all his faith in her while suffering her own trauma again AND attacked by their enemy.

It wasn't just Cloud Sephiroth gaslighted in this scene.

That's what this part is trying to show us and regardless of who gets attacked here the outcome is the same: Cloud is just an illusion created by Jenova using memories of people, most especially Tifa.

Sephiroth doesn't hide his attacks to her at all and it astounds me how everyone who played this game back then believed only Cloud was dealt a great mental blow. (Most of y'all are kiddies I guess that also tracks.)

Tifa actually had it much worse!

She was so overwhelmed from it all she accidentally made the wrong move of answering Cloud in the negative:

When I said she's under tremendous pressure it isn't just because of reliving her trauma and carrying the burden of Cloud's mental state alongside her own increasingly damaged psych.

It is the fact that Cloud wasn't the only one relying on her affirmation - or lack thereof - to validate which one was speaking the "truth". Sephiroth was also using her to confirm his claims and he knew very well he's got the upper hand to the "truth" she has known, all the while gaslighting her that it IS the only truth. There's even a picture to prove it!

This is not the picture but this is also that picture.

Of course, Sephiroth made sure to include her into the story. She's not part of it simply because she was there but because according to his statement..... her memories are part of Jenova's knowledge used to make *Cloud* - the failed clone.

The Cloud who by Seph's own words is just a construct of Hojo after Nibelheim's burning. A clean slate born from collective memories thanks to Jenova.

The sheer implications behind these statements are our clue to the underlying conflict that exist between Tifa and Sephiroth outside of Cloud. That the hatred is not a one-sided thing, and just because it isn't readily understood why it exist doesn't mean it isn't present.

Sephiroth drives the knife further to twist the mental wounds even more. Tifa being the one to carry the most burden of all:

Now here's a pretty interesting thought: a girl who is just plain ordinary is important enough to have Jenova's effort in molding a clone after her own desires - her childhood friend. Sephiroth is basically admitting he's got one special clone just for her. (He even gave her one in Remake but that's a slightly different story).

Ignoring the fact that Cloud is not a construct it still makes you wonder: why use her for that lie? Why her in particular?

(We are using Tifa as our center focus for this so I'm going to exclude the "she's Cloud's childhood friend reasoning. This is not about him.)

Then it can be answered if you look at it as his own way of tormenting Tifa - using a clone imbued with her memories.

A mutual on twit said that maybe because she's the one who the group trusts the most, however more than half the party wasn't there yet when *Cloud* (who Sephiroth consistently claims is just his clone) appears in front of her on that bench.

AVALANCHE as it was at that point doesn't have anyone else with a connection to Cloud.

So it goes to show she is the target of said clone's manifestation.

That is, if we believe the lie Sephiroth weaved and take it as he said it at face value, which definitely is what his claim would be to Tifa who can't refute it, especially because apparently *Cloud* really did show signs of "clone behavior" when they first met but the tech limit back then doesn't show us how it should be like to its fullest extent.

(As someone points out here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/hartofhearts.tumblr.com/post/665525778591694848/the-implications-of-tifas-familiarity-with-marco/amp) My phone isn't cooperating 😭

How could she when his "truth" matches exactly everything she knew five years ago? How could she say he's wrong when Cloud's behavior was suspect when they met for the first time in years after Nibelheim (and for her part after he left for SOLDIER)?

She tried refuting but it's clear she has her own doubts about him as well, as she couldn't continuously defend Cloud from Sephiroth's persistent claim about his current identity.

By gaslighting Cloud he doesn't exist, he also gaslights Tifa into thinking her real childhood friend is gone and it's all just in her head now.

Sephiroth KNEW so well she wanted to see Cloud five years ago but didn't see him and use that to his own advantage. It's why this is so effective a gaslight to both.

As far as Tifa knew, the last time she saw Cloud was when he left to join Soldier. This Cloud's fate is unknown to her, maybe he died or maybe he forgot about her and all such insecurities Sephiroth could use with that solidify his claims that he was all " Aw, poor Tifa. Waiting for someone who never came. Here, Jenova's made you a clone with your memories of that boy to play with you."

That's what it looks like if we only see this scene through Tifa's eyes.

Again, taunting her in the same vein as when he first did leaving Masamune besides her father's body.

Why would he do so if Tifa didn't caught his attention in the first place?

Sephiroth is clearly playing around with her and toys with her emotions just as clearly as he attacked Cloud.

He just couldn't break her like he could him no matter how hard he tried because Tifa's mental fortitude is so strong.

#tifa lockhart #sephiroth #ff7 #cloud strife #writing this post made me realize something about sephiroth and how he views tifa in og #and it somehow pulled me even further into the ship #doesn't help that it fits so well with his actions to her in og #sephti

[cepheusgalaxy]

How to make a plot 101

Compilation of little things I've learned to make a plot for stories

Fun fact:

You don't need to think on a confusing plot. At all.

All you need, for starters, is:

1. A problem

Once I read, can't remember where, that you don't need to make plots: make problems. Make a problem, and give it to a character

1. What is it?

2. How does it affect them?

and

3. Why does it affect them?

2. The castle structure

This is a method I kind of made up. The castle structure is based on the 3 acts.

It is basically like this:

A story has 3 layers, which I will be calling walls. The first, the outer wall, is the first things we see in your world. Aka the when you start doing your exposition. The story hasn't exactly gotten on track yet. Is when the character is just starting to enter the plot, the major events. Using an example, we could use a princess trapped in a tower, which is where this structure came from XD

So, we have a princess, and he (my oc my rules) is trapped in a tower. He only sees a little fraction of the world, much rapunzel-like. Then, we have what I call a Spark.

You could also call that the inciting incident.

It is what takes the princess out of the tower (in our example, that could be a charming prince)

The princess gets out of the tower, touches grass for the first time, and then while wandering around, maybe he already has a goal, maybe he just wants to travel around, he and we get to see more and the princess (your character) does as well.

We're entering the first wall.

Here we set more secondary characters, we set a world, and we have what I call a Guide. The Guide can be the same as the Spark, and their responsability is to introduce the princess to the outer world. Let's say, maybe a character, Cam, is an angsty boy, because his mother was killed by monsters, but he has a limited knowledge of them, and when the Spark appears (maybe Cam is attacked by a vampire and a vampire hunter saves him!), he gets to know more and more about it, becomes aware of this world that was hidden of him until now, get to know the characters who'll be with them for the rest of the story, etc. The Guide is the Something (maybe a character, maybe a book? You also don't necessarily need a Guide, they're just an element) that will introduce your character to the Things and guide them into the exposition. They are the character with more knowledge about Certain Topic than the protagonist, so they can teach us. The Guide's knowledge usually reaches the last wall.

Now the character needs to get into the next wall, and get into the castle which's protected by it.

We can also think of it as a game.

The plot moves around getting in this castle, the third act!

That's when the characters get The Last Piece of Knowledge They Needed. Maybe it's the fact that rapunzel-princess was the child of the Evil Lord and that's why he was trapped in that tower, maybe it is that Cam has a vampire ascendance and he wouldn't have found it out if he wasn't attacked by vampires that day. Maybe it is that the King Master Lord is evil and has been sending monsters to the party to defeat all the game, maybe is the fact that [omori spoilers that you'll know if you ended the game]! That information has to be essential for the characters to defeat whatever is the antagonist force.

The Castle analogy is, technically, a meter for knowledge. Ignorance is the first. Maybe not proper ignorance, but the ignorance over the things that will matter for the story. Let's say, a character is a conqueror and a strategist, they are leading one side of a war and they know everything. Like, all the future moves their enemy is going to make, everything they need to know. But this Everything doesn't include the pirate who captures them and starts the story of a former general who is trying to escape the pirate and get their way home. They may know a lot, but now enough to prevent the story.

Knowledge is the next part. They know now. Who's with them. Where they're going. What do they want. The next wall would be, reaching the castle, the last piece of knowledge they need. Maybe it is the answer to who's the villain, or just How To Defeat The Villain or maybe the answer to the last mistery.

It is the last piece of knowledge they need to finish the story. Or the arc. Or the season.

#out of the drafts #that's one way to go #writing #writeblr #writing advice #i think its pretty neat #long post #this one doesn't make much sense but i didn't wanna send it to trash

[yume-x-hanabi]

I thought of simply copy/pasting my twitter thread but you know what, we’re on Tumblr, we’re allowed proper paragraphs, so let me just ramble like in the good old days :p

Assorted B²TSM Headcanons pt.1: Worldbuilding

Honestly the funniest thing about this fandom is that the entire canon consists in four skits, two music videos, and a song. That is to say, BARELY FUCKING ANYTHING. Guys, I’m used to a video game with extensive lore developed over several games, eight guidebooks, thirteen Drama CDs, five short story series, and some manga. I cannot begin to tell you how different this experience has been 😂 Anyway, as frustrating it can be to have barely anything concrete to go with, it also means… it’s free real estate, baby 😎

A. The Time Machine

So, I’ve been thinking about the mechanics of the whole time-travelling thing for a bit longer than is healthy, and I’ve developed some potential ways it could go that could be fun to play with.

But first, a crack theory I’ve become very fond of: the "time machine" gave them new young & healthy bodies, but the creation of those bodies was influenced by whoever was operating the machine at the time. That's why they all look vaguely like Brett or Eddy—I mean, Bang YG and his assistant. That would also explain the fact they can all speak modern English (+ the accents).

Now let’s look at a couple ways they could have been brought to the future:

1. Actual, full-fledged time-travel

They were plucked from some point of their lives and dragged to the future with no warning. That opens up a few possibilities:

1.a. Continuity errors. Plucking them from their past lives will alter the timeline, and probably change the world of classical music irrevocably. Basically Bang YG u done goof. You’re gonna need forty Ling Ling stones to fix that mess. Oh boy.

1.b. The timeline is not affected, which means they’re fated to go back to their own time at some point, probably with some very convenient memory loss (this was a common plot in HP time-travel fics when I used to be into it /tangent). This one comes with high angst potential: knowing their time here is limited, having to make the most of it, and the worst is that they won’t even be able to use future knowledge to make their past lives better when they go back. Oh the drama, oh the angst.

1.c. The timeline is not affected, because this basically creates a parallel universe, in which history up to the use of the time machine remains unaffected.

Whichever scenario you go with in this category, this means they were brought over when they were still relatively young, and likely haven’t yet composed some of the great hits they’re known for. Imagine Tchaik and Shosty talking about Beethoven’s 9th symphony, meanwhile he’s like “huh, I have no memory of this piece”. That can lead to some complex feelings, knowing such-and-such famous piece is yours but in a way it’s not (not yet). Or, worse, learning about facts from their personal lives that haven’t happened yet. Momo realizing he’s got about five years left to live when he goes back to his era (in scenario 1.b.)

2. Kind of a reincarnation AU

So this summer I watched Paripi Koumei, which is a very fun and light-hearted anime (highly recommended), and I bring it up here because I really like the concept and think it could apply here. The premise of the anime is that famous strategist Zhuge Liang (Kongming) from the Three Kingdoms is reborn in modern-day Tokyo after he dies. He basically spawns in modern Shibuya with a youthful appearance and all his memories. So, I thought this could be a way to go with how the “time machine” works here: it brings the guys’ consciousness from the point of their deaths and gives them a younger body (a copy of their own, or *see crack theory above*).

That means they know exactly what they did in their past lives. That also means that they remember their own deaths. Very trauma, much angst.

On a brighter note, that means they’re here to stay. They’re basically given a second chance at life, in a world that’s hopefully a bit easier to live in than their past one.

B. The Band’s Concept

I can’t imagine the public being told they’re the real deal. I mean, imagine if people learned that there was a time machine out there that could bring loved ones back to life. That would cause unending chaos. And that’s if they’re believed to begin with—the most likely reaction would be to dismiss it as a prank.

So, the “official” version they’re going with is that it’s simply the band’s concept, that they’re roleplaying the composers (like I think there’s a kpop group whose concept is that the members represent the zodiac signs). So, in essence, they’re pretending to be random guys who’re pretending to be their actual selves XD

Regarding roles, there is much debate about who the maknae is. Is it Shosty, because his birth date is the most recent? Or is it Mozart, who’s the youngest in terms of actual years lived in his previous life? I like to think that the company never confirms either ways and lets the fans argue about it to their hearts’ contents. It’s part of the mystery~

(In truth, the actual members don’t give a damn about “roles”, they’re just there to make music.)

(Maybe that’s part of their unconventional side that makes them popular among some people.)

Also, Pag wasn’t meant to be brought to the future, it’s a result of a time machine mishap. He basically barged his way into their debut because “How dare they form a band without me, greatest violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini?! Mamma mia…” and now he’s hanging around. Not quite an official member, but often heavily involved (whether they want it or not). Mozart says he’s their mascot. No one is sure how to feel about that statement.

Lastly, since so far they’ve either been using their last names or nicknames to address each other, I’ve developed some headcanon that their last names are their stage names, but also simply the names they go by now in their day-to-day lives. Like they’ve shed their first names, it’s a thing of the past, an identity they can’t truly assume anymore. Maybe that’s why they’re so fond of nicknames, because it gives them a more personal touch (Mozart started the trend, and it caught on very fast after that). They do still use full names from time to time in certain circumstances, and that’s what’s on official documents, but… it’s complicated. I like to think they eventually start reclaiming their full identity between themselves as time passes and they grow more comfortable in their new circumstances and their bond grows closer. (Names as a sign of intimacy, in my fandoms? It’s more likely than you think!)

Anyway that’s it for the worldbuilding side. I have a few more posts planned about different aspects of this universe and their characters.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this, and your own headcanons if you have some!

#in which i subject my whole follow list to my new obsession #feel free to mute the tags if you're only here for Tales lol #anyway i have way too many feelings about this dumb fictional band #b2tsm #b²tsm #b²tsm headcanons #if we're not careful i'll have a ship manifesto ready by the end of the year #that's how deep i am atm #long post

[tathrin]

✏ 🐺 ⚠ 📚 please! :D

Answers for this LotR ask-game.

✏ rewrites: here's a pencil, which ONE thing in the novels/films are you changing?

Oh gods, just one? Ughhh that's hard. Okay, even stretching the definition of "one thing" to the utmost limit to be an entire character subplot...I'm still torn between Give Arwen An Actual Coherent Plotline (which I think would do the best thing to fix for the movies) and Show Legolas And Gimli's Friendship Arc (because that's at least something that just gets largely overlooked-and-glossed-over with the occasional flicker of lip-service paid to it at random rather than being an absolute cluster-fuck of incoherent half-assed thoughts that stumble all over themselves without any actual fucking resolution/explanation like the Arwen Stuff). Much as I would personally like to see the latter, I think if I were actually given the chance to change one thing, then it would be the Arwen Situation just because that's such a fucking MESS and it really needs fixed.

If we're going with literally just one single thing, then: Denethor burns to death on the pyre instead of running like three fucking miles to the end of the city what the fuck.

🐺 GROND GROND GROND: which of the battles is your favourite to watch? is there a combat scene in particular that you enjoy?

The Battle of Helm's Deep. As much as it bothers me that the elves are there without any plausible explanation, and especially that they just fucking disappear from the entire plot as soon as it's over, it also looks so damn good to watch! And my irritation is mitigated by the GRIN that I absolutely cannot stop from breaking out over my features every single time I hear "that is no orc-horn!" and see the look on Théoden's face when Haldir walks in (and the smug little grin on Legolas's face too because let's face it, he doesn't get to be a little shit in the movies the way he is in the books and that is a crime) as well as by the absolute fucking BEAUTY of that battle itself, not least of all the heart-wrenching scene where Haldir dies. THAT MUSIC OH MY FUCKING GODS AM I RIGHT!? Gods, even when you're watching it as critically as possible and picking-out the bits where cause/effect break-down and narrative order was shuffled in ways that don't make logistical sense and picking up on the minute little errors and inconsistencies...it's still so damn fucking good.

(btw I know I cannot be the only one who noticed, but since it seems that many of the little details that the early movie-fandom used to talk over obsessively in the 2000s have fallen out of common knowledge in more recent years...who else desperately wants to see the footage of the cut where it's Legolas who hauls Gimli out of the water after the wall is breached, rather than Aragorn? Because it's Legolas's hand that actually pulls him up, but then the footage cuts to Aragorn helping Gimli away...but it was Legolas whose hand pulls him out of the water, Legolas who yeeted himself down the stairs on an orc-shield to get to Gimli, so why don't we get to see the rest of that!?)

PJ, the Extended Editions are godsends don't get me wrong...but could we have ALL the deleted footage sometime? Pretty pretty please with elevensies on top?

⚠ fucking buckleberry ferry: from the clip of Dom and Billy discussing the one swear word they could theoretically get by censors, which line would you change?

I honestly don't know, because I don't know that that would actually do anything to add to the weight of things? But a very soft, "oh fuck" when Théoden sees the Nazgûl flying towards him, perhaps!

📚 boxset: how were you first introduced to Middle Earth?

My little brother actually read them first, and he made me read them. I think I was in eighth grade? Give or take a year or two.

Our mom had a collection of "classic novels" that she'd gotten from some kind of book-club some years back, so we had copies of all four books on the "fancy shelves" in the living room next to all the "real literature" and boring biographies and stuff, so I read nice pretty leatherbound editions first, with lovely maps and illustrations, and I think that added to the "weight" of the story in a way, because none of my other fantasy/sci-fi books ever merited such treatment so it made them feel special.

But it also made me leery of reading them tbh, because I'd spent my whole youth being told that the books I liked were crappy books that just Could Not Compare to the Worthwhile Literature that real readers liked (and which were, imo, usually shit). So I'd actually ignored LotR my whole life because it was on the Fancy Book Shelf so I assumed they were also crap. But my brother insisted that I suck-it-up and read them anyway, and that I had to read all of them and not just The Hobbit and call it a day (he knows what a stubborn, contrary person I am, and that it was A: going to take several thousand words for me to give them a fair chance and also B: the Hobbit alone wasn't going to blow me away) and I was reluctant, but he persisted and I did and oh boy was he right. Then like one or two years later, we found out they were making movies so of course we had to re-read them so we'd be ready and I think we both read them at least a dozen times between then and the release of Fellowship, to the point where mom eventually bought us each our own paperback copies so keep us from pestering each other lmao.

(The Silm took a while. I had to literally trap myself on a train freshman year of college with nothing else to do in order to get through that one the first time shhhh.)

#lotr movies #middle earth asks #lord of the rings #me #arwen #legolas #gimli

[hungrydolphin91]

So. Dolphin. Tell me about these little guys :3 (Persona edition) What are they like? What are their names? Backstory perchance? Mwehehe

Bonus:

*johnny yong bosch voice* PERSONA! thanks for getting me into this franchise btw, though my knowledge is still limited to the 60 hours we've played of P4 Golden so far and the bits you've shared about 3 and 5. Thus I can say with tenuous confidence that these guys aren't from those games at least? 😅

So who are they? Well first there's Psychic Chie aka, uh, Rosalind. I can see her filling a similar role as Chie though, being sorta loud and easily flustered and probably has a mad crush on whoever the protagonist is. She's got those Leia Rolando/Lynne from Ghost Trick vibes of being very cheerful and trying her best but oops! Problems instead! And maybe trauma!

I like the floating heart shaped beads around her, I hope she uses them as her weapon 💓 She's probably like "teehee I'm gonna beat you with cuteness!" and then it's like 'oh no Rosalind, you made the Shadows fall in love with you instead!' 'Oopsies!!' *canned laughter*

Next is a character whose art style looks like Q or Q2, and the pattern on their skirt suggests they go to Yasogmai High too? So either this is from a social link I didn't do (I never did join the drama club did I 😅) or they're a Q-exclusive character who is part of the same world as the P4 guys.

But that's all I got for the Naoto-esque deductions, time to make stuff up. This is Linette, a level-headed but quiet sophomore. She's not shy, she just doesn't speak much unless prompted. She probably has all of the braincells of the group, unless corndogs are involved, and then all sense goes out the window (I'm assuming you chose this picture for a reason and it's not just a coinidence she's eating one 😅).

She's probably an NPC who like helps you measure your social links or something, but occassionally she also shows up during plot events to say a couple helpful lines and then dip so the player cans solve the problem themselves. Or maybe she is a social link herself in a community garden or something, she does have a powerful (and adorable) flower motif going. Very cute. I think I'd like this character. Is she romanceable?

And then finally we have this sexy evil looking guy. I'm not sure if he's actually bad or just likes to look morose and debonair but I'm gonna say he's an antagonist at least, probably not the final boss though. You're not important enough for that.

Since he's bad he probably has a name like Eddelgard or Evangelion or something that starts with an 'E' because all bad guys have 'E' names, right Pav? ;) EXCEPT in Persona, where they all have 'A' names instead, so naturally this guy's name is Avangelion.

[It has occurred to me that Persona games usually give their characters Japanese names so I have a 0 percent chance of getting these names right. oh well.]

So Avangelion here has the swept back hair and the corsage because he wants to look like a ladies man and all the NPCS love him BUT the protagonist and party know his true nature, that he's actually manipulative and cunning (I'm probably slandering this guy sorry hope he's not your favorite 😂). He has some grand egotistical schemes where he's in charge of everything because he should be because he's better than everyone else and he says this aloud and somehow the NPCs are still like 'aw isn't he such a gentleman??💗'

It's either that, or he's a perfectly normal party character who like. Uses swords and magic and stuff. That's a possibility too.

And that's them! Thanks for letting me ruin these characters, I had heaps of fun making shit up 😂 feel free to send more if you'd like! Also feel free to take this chance to infodump the truth in the notes.

(Oh, and the bonus, Crazy Dancin' Mark. We all know and love him, beloved character of the Dancing All Night spinoffs.)

#persona #so sorry to everyone who actually knows these characters i'm sure they're much better than i can imagine 😅 #and thanks again pav for sending these! i love being silly together :3 #ask games #yknow i should start putting persona 4 stuff on this blog anyway i might as well

[againtodreaming]

Hi dear :))

For the ask game:

Chamomile, camelia, orchid, ivy,

(Sorry not sorry you didn't set a limit-)

Hi Misfortune!!! Tysm for the ask <3 (and i will never set time limit on these things ;)) ALSO!!!! THE BIRD IS SO CUTE!!!! 😍💖 Back to another episode of "Mila tries and fails to answer questions in less than 10 sentences"

chamomile ⇢ what kind of things do you like receiving as gifts?

I mean, it depends? It's a case-by-case basis thing.…ok, I'm lost so let's go back to the words I wrote when I was trying to outline my answers to see if I can figure out how to elaborate the logic behind that. 

[Meaning. Useful. Emotion.]

Like…well, that? Not sure how to explain it. Like my uncle last year gave me a hammock bc it was on sale and like, why would i even want a hammock 😭 Even if i did want it, there is no place to put it in my house!! I can’t even use it.  It’s useless and minimum effort bc like, he knows I like to draw and write and read. Like, buy me office supplies at least! Those are cheap too and I will actually use them. He bought me the 6th book of a fantasy series when I was a kid and ok, idk why he only got me the 6th book of a series I had never heard of when I didn’t even have the 1st 5 books but at least I enjoyed reading it even if I was somewhat lost with the plot. And last year he bought me some cheap notebooks for Christmas I think which I did like bc I love notebooks and can always have more so it’s like. If u are not going to put some thought or effort into the gift and make it meaningful, like, at least give me smth I will actually use. If not it feels like such a waste since it will be just shoved somewhere in a closet never to be seen again. But another example, my aunt. She rarely buys me stuff bc money, but when she does they are things she likes that she thinks I will like which I love!! And even when she doesn’t buy me stuff, she makes really pretty illustrations for me. Or even my younger siblings!! There have been a lot of times they have given me handmade crafts (or drawings) they made and like, okay, most of them were not exactly what u would call pretty, but their intentions and the effort they put into it is what mattered!! Or a great-aunt who knitted a scarf for me. I haven’t seen her many times in my life so we don’t really know each other well, and I don’t care much for scarfs, but she didn’t have to give me anything but she wanted to and decided to make a scarf herself which I appreciate a lot plus I will probably need to use a scarf during winter, so you know, useful too.

orchid ⇢ what’s a song you consider to be perfect?

@irritable123 you also asked orchid: 

None I think? I mean like…What is perfection?

Ended up going to the dictionary:

perfect (adjective): complete and correct in every way, of the best possible type or without fault

So like, perfection doesn't really exist? Bc like, are we judging it under whose parameters? It doesn't exist. It's all subjective. Unless maybe we add religion to the discussion but that's a whole other thing and I haven't had religion classes since primary school (it wasn't even a favorite class so I didn't really care for keeping the notebooks after the school year either) and that was only Catholicism, so not knowledgeable enough either to even try to debate that. So, back to the point, songs. Perfection has never entered my mind when judging anything but my own stuff and I know nothing about music (can't even remember how to read the music sheets and I know I knew that in primary school, like that's the most basic thing, we probably learned it in 2nd grade or smth) so I don't have enough (not even the basic) knowledge to even try to judge it on a technical standpoint either. If we are going to judge perfection using my own likes as parameters……..can't be done either. I just listen to whatever I'm in the mood for? I just add every new song I like to the same playlist I have since I was like 12 or 13 years old and favorites come and go. I do have more specific playlists in youtube but it's mostly categorized by the fandom of each AMV and a couple for WIPs and one that's like, comfort music. And I speed up almost all of them up every time I listen to them (reason why I prefer to listen in Youtube rather than Spotify but I'll accept Spotify when I need to use my phone for background music), so even if I did consider a song perfect, would it even count when I prefer to listen to it in the speed up version? 😅😂

camellia ⇢ what were you like when you were younger? do you think you’ve changed a lot?

....look. I can remember the most random details about my childhood, most emotions and summarizing strokes, but ask for specific memories and I'm lost (unless u are asking for a few negative ones or random snapshots). So like, trying to be accurate here but no idea how correct I am being aasdfghj

Okay I was always described as: shy, quiet, kind, and creative. Smart by adults. Which like…I mean, they always told me that I became really talkative after I knew someone for a while. I don’t know if i have become more talkative after all the moving countries plus growing up, or maybe it just feels like I’m more talkative bc most of my childhood friends were really extroverted and more talkative (they usually talked to other people for me…I was REALLY quiet with people I didn’t know, even if they were classmates) (just you know, shaking my head for yes or now and 1 sentence answers at the most) (i did talk a little more with some classmates after i got familiar with them and if i liked them) than me so maybe I just didn’t notice it?? And okay, social confidence has always been super low, but I was fine in general in other aspects. Then moving countries and like, confidence in every part of myself dropped below zero. I didn’t even feel capable of washing vegetables for a time (idk!! but in my brain i could surely find a way to mess it up and wash it wrong and then everyone would maybe get sick and and and yep i couldn’t)  and I’ve been doing that since I was probably like 5 years old so like omg 😭🤦‍♀️💀 Then, this last year the confidence levels have started rising to more normal levels, wouldn’t say they are very high, but they are good enough to function. Somehow, definitely better with social situations than when I was 13 so that’s at least an improvement. I've become a lot worse in academic stuff, mostly bc depression and anxiety and at first the foreign language thing and well, the zero confidence for anything so I just haven’t been doing anything in fear I will mess up. Like, I’m sort of all or nothing with stuff 😅 Been doing well this school year so far but like, the classes have been easy so far so like yeah, we’ll see how it goes. I don’t know, I just used to be more active, present, useful, productive, I actually did the stuff I wanted when I was younger. But most things, it’s just…I mean, aside from being more mature and self-aware (from so much overthinking lol) I don’t think I’ve changed much? Same interests, same likes, same values, same personality. Things got added but that's it i think? It’s just how the way I act that has changed a bit but trying to get back into doing the stuff I used to so it’s like, the want is still there, it’s just my willpower that’s a work in progress ig? Not sure what more to add in this section so just stopping here 😂

ivy ⇢ what are your ‘tells’ for your emotions and moods? how can someone tell you’re happy, annoyed, upset or tired?

Happy = this one is usually obvious (pretty sure at least, my sister says i'm usually easy to read; also, i don't really bother trying to hide my emotions except in some occasions). The more happy, the more energetic i get, the higher and faster i talk (although this one also happens when I'm annoyed), and I just get really...I don't energetic, I want to do stuff, have fun, more optimistic, laughing a lot, more social, affectionate

Annoyed. Depends on levels? As I said, higher and louder and faster I talk. I will either be complaining a LOT or staying really silent, with some trying to not be snarky comments with varying levels of success if someone directs any question to me or if the annoyance just gets too much (i usually try to retreat before that happens tho). Also, dramatic.

Upset..right, remember me saying that i don't really like to hide my emotions unless it seems necessary? It's this section (sometimes annoyance, like it, depends but mostly here bc I can complain a lot but a lot of it is mostly out of principle). Depends on the level and category of upset really, and how close someone is to the situation. And if it's useful to share. Like, if i think telling someone will help my problem, I will probably share but if not, I'll just keep quiet and deal with it myself. Or if it's too recent. A lot of stuff is old news by now even if they are still problems so sharing those is easier than new stuff that are still doing their obligatory rounds around my head. If I feel like it's...idk, justified or inconsequential for me to be upset I will be upset. Either complaining about anything minor that has suddenly become annoying bc of my mayor annoyance, or complaining about whatever thing i'm being forced to do, or silent or taking turns doing both and just with no wants for anything and just like, no energy for anything and wanting to be alone and not wanting to talk or do stuff or anything. If I'm hiding it...it's not actually hiding bc it's not like I'm actually making an effort to hide it but just like, no complaining and I will not make efforts to behave happily or anything but I will also not express that I'm upset? Like, you can ask me whatever and I will just lie and either deny feeling upset, downplay it, attribute it to whatever else or just shrug and shake my head in yes or no and try to escape the conversation. Like, just will be more quiet and subdued. I actually don't know how good I'm at lying bc I really dont like lying but also, the few times I have lied nobody has said anything about it so ig they believe it? Or are they just giving me the benefit of doubt??? Like no idea, I don't lie enough to have much data. Also, half the time I'm upset about smth I can be more passive aggressive but, unlike my sister who will be doing passive aggressive comments each time she seems me, I will be so passive about it that the only one who ends up knowing about it it's me which is both frustrating and relieving and embarrassing so...yep. I just don’t like fighting ig. Can't do silent treatment tho, my sister does it and it's like ugh. I hate it. Plus I don't like being upset, anger requires so much energy and feels awful and it's my least favorite emotion, and the sooner the conflict is over the better. Tend to fidget a lot with my rings or hair-ties or rocks (if i have them near) or strands of hair when anxious. Also, almost forgot to mention this part but if I'm upset about smth and the people I'm talking with are not related at all with the problem, I usually don't mind talking about it

Tired....i mean tired? Quiet, subdued, maybe complaining, no energy to want to do anything, stressed about all the stuff I have to do.

ps: no idea how obvious i am when i'm upset when i'm not trying to make it obvious. bc sometimes people notice and sometimes they don't?? even when i think i'm pretty obvious?? So like yeah, no idea

#mila habla #asks #sorry it's so late!!

[mortia]

Custom Regions in SC4 for TS2: Part 2

OK, so we have successfully created a small custom region in SC4 to be the base for our future TS2 map. Now what?? 

Well, there are a few different things to play with. You could obviously use the game’s existing terraforming tools to sculpt your map but...why? Getting away from the janky limitations of SC4 was the main reason I wanted to look into this to begin with! 

*Note: Again, I wouldn’t consider this guide to be for a beginner. I’m assuming that you have knowledge of how to use either a 3D software package, Photoshop or both. Also, this one is LONG. 

PART 1

PART 3

While my initial plan was to make everything in 3D and then use that geometry to create a Height Map, that turned out to be very...unpredictable. What I would suggest, in the end, is drawing a 2D Topographical Map to generate your SC4 Terrains. 

But let’s step back a bit. My first suggestion would be to plan your map out in some way. Use tools such as @greatcheesecakepersona​‘s HoodPlanner to plan out the actual sizes of plots and allocations for roads and general shape of your ‘hood. Once you come up with a design that you like then take it to the next step.

Design in a place where you can be free to play with no limitations on undoing and trying again. I personally like to “sketch” out my idea in 3D just so that I can see for myself that everything works well. I don’t think there is a 3D program out there that does not have sculpting capabilities. The 3D can ultimately be used as a guide for tracing so don’t consider it time wasted! It can also be used if you decide to make an entirely 2D map as a displacement map for later! But I am getting way ahead of myself, so let’s start at the beginning. You can also jump straight to making a 2D image instead if you are more comfortable there. 

Option 1: Starting with 3D

(I use 3D Studio Max, so my example images will look different from those of you who use other software, but the principles should be the same regardless.) 

So, in the program of your choice start by creating a Plane. 

I used an in-game ‘hood deco object to scale my map and it landed on the dimensions of 106′-8″ square (or 32.3 meters square). This is obviously approximate but it hasn’t been too far off from what I’ve seen so far. Why does scale matter at all? Well, I’ll show you later!

Once you’ve got your Plane to the correct size, time to subdivide it so that we are working with the same grid that SC4 will be using. Set your Length and Width segments to 64.

Now sculpt away! Keep in mind that this is going to be a functional map and plan areas for your buildings and roads accordingly. You’ll probably already have an idea about those things anyway if you’d planned out your map beforehand.

(My map is pretty nonsensical but it’s just for the sake of an example)

Once you’re done with your sculpt-planning, you can go ahead and try to create a height map from your geometry. 

Height Maps are 2D Black & White images that use shades of gray to tell a 3D program how high or low something should be. The lighter an area is, the higher it is. The darker the area, the lower it is. So 100% Black would be the absolute lowest point on the map, and 100% white would be the maximum in the opposite direction. 

Most SC4 grayscale maps will be in shades of gray, very rarely (if never) using complete black or white as those colors translate to true extremes in SC4. Below is an example of a good height map used for creating a full-sized region. 

There is a LOT of existing information out there about using grayscale maps to generate terrains for SC4. I would highly recommend signing up at Simtropolis as most Google searches will end up sending you there anyway, and for good reason. I apologize if I start jumping around from this point on. 

As I mentioned before, using pure black or white in your map will result in very extreme highs and lows, for that reason, staying in a gray palette is advised. The SC4 Community has already established what different RGB Values correspond to. For Example:

So, if making a map for TS2, maybe use 70 and your darkest and deepest point, and 150 for your brightest and highest. It’s totally up to your judgement but these values have worked well for me. 

I am not going to go into how to generate flawless Height Maps from geometry here. One, because it will vary depending on your software and two, because I don’t consider myself to be an expert on that at all and would rather not speak as though I am one! I will, however, run through how I made mine and that should be a decent starting point.

First, I create a Blank Material and use a Gradient Ramp or Gradient Map for the Diffuse slot. Set the darkest point to be RGB 70-83 and the brightest to be RGB 150. 

Apply a UVW Unwrap to your geometry. Make sure that you can see the texture of the Gradient Map in your workspace. You’ll want to use Planar Projection and align it to either the X or Y Axis, Then you should end up with something that looks like this (hopefully)

Rotate or Scale the UVW until it is going vertically on your terrain. Ideally the lowest point should be in the darker gradient, the higher in the lighter gradient. 

Light your map from above in a way that minimizes shadows. Or turn off shadows in your render engine. Or use an emissive material that will not obscure the shades of your gradient. Whatever you choose, shadows are your worst enemy. 

Set up a Camera above your map and use orthographic view if possible. Render! Save as a .bmp. 

This is what I end up with. I can already tell that I’m going to have issues with this because of these soft, darker areas but let’s proceed. 

Take your height Map render into Photoshop and crop it to be a perfect square. 

Next, and this is very important because the image will not work in SC4 without this being done: Change the image mode to Grayscale and make sure that it is set to 8-bits/Channel. 

Now resize your image. It might seem crazy but your new, single small Region has a texture size of an enormous 65x65 pixels.  

Then it’s time to save your image as a .bmp. Apparently this file type is read the best within SC4 when it comes to differentiating between shades of gray in height maps, so stick with this. 

*Tip: Always Undo the resizing after saving out you 65x65 bmp. You don’t want to be stuck with that tiny image in the future. 

Option 2: 2D Topographical Maps

A topographical map is a 2D drawing of the contours of the land. It might look really difficult and intimidating but it really just requires the ability to visualize, draw shapes, patience and basic math knowledge. 

Let’s look at this simple topo map for example:

Each of those rings represents a change in height/angle/slope. So, assuming that an RGB Value of 84 is where SC4 begins to show a shoreline, and 255 is the absolute highest point we can reach, let’s take this image into Photoshop and add color to see if we can make a hill with a gradual slope. 

I would recommend using masked Solid Color layers to create your height objects. Not only will it be clean but it will make it very simple for you to adjust any values later if you want to tweak. 

Here I have made two layers to start. One is the ground level color (RGB 85), the other is the highest point of our peak (RGB 150). From here, we can start to figure out the math of what colors will make up the remaining rings. 

Here they are labeled so it’s easier to understand. So if RGB 85 is our ground level and RGB 150 is our highest point and we have 5 rings between the top and bottom, we can assume that each ring will have an RGB value that increases by approximately 10 for each level. 

This is what the result is. You can use a brush or a lasso to create your shapes. They also don’t need to be perfect or stay precisely within the lines. Remember, this is going to be interpreted by a 64x64 grid in 3D, and smooth, curved lines aren’t really going to read accurately anyway. 

So this is what my map ends up looking like once I turn off the image I was using to trace. Your picture of your 3D map, if you made one, can also be used as a basis for tracing. 

But we have to change one thing. Our image has to be a square to be read by SC4, so change the image size to be a perfect square instead of a rectangle. 

Resize and save this image out at 65x65 following the steps that were outlined above. 

OK! Let’s test this out in SC4 and review the results!

#ts2 tutorial #mortia builds a game #ts2 terraforming

[longitudinalwaveme]

Barry Allen Video Game Proposal

Important Disclaimer: I am not a video game designer or regular video game player and my knowledge of the mechanics of game play is thus fairly limited. This is more of a plot proposal for a video game than anything else. While I will be selecting bosses and creating hypothetical side missions, there won’t be any detailed descriptions of how the playable characters will work. That being said, should someone with a broader understanding of video game mechanics wish to offer suggestions, I will gladly add their ideas to the proposal. 

Now...onto the plot! (After the cut)

The main playable character for this game will be Barry Allen, the second Flash. Jay Garrick and Wally West (as Kid Flash) will be playable characters in some of the side missions. (Wally will also get his own game where he’ll be the main playable character. The plot of that game will be its own post.) Iris Allen will be a main supporting character, and Dexter Myles (the curator of the Flash Museum), and Nora and Henry Allen (both alive) will also appear in somewhat smaller roles. Patty Spivot, a somewhat younger Fred Chyre (to set up his bigger role in Wally’s game), and Captain Darryl Frye will show up at CCPD. 

Eobard Thawne (Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash) is actually not going to be one of the antagonists for this game. Neither is Gorilla Grodd. Both are great villains, but both of them are the sort of villain to become the primary antagonist in whatever plot they show up in. Since neither is the primary main boss that I have in mind, I decided to exclude them. Guys like Evan and Axel also won’t appear as they wouldn’t have debuted in the time that this game is taking place. 

After an opening cutscene that establishes Barry Allen, his wife Iris, and his dual role as both Flash and a police scientist, there will be a tutorial/intro mission with Rainbow Raider as the boss. The level will take place in an art museum (of course), and Barry will have to fight his way through the emotionally-manipulated crowd before fighting Rainbow Raider. This fight will let the player get used to whatever combat style Barry uses; as such, it will be less difficult than subsequent levels. However, Rainbow Raider still won’t be treated as a complete joke. The Rainbow Raider’s not too bright, and he will be played mostly for comedy, but he’s very powerful and his boss fight will reflect that. 

After defeating Rainbow Raider and taking him to jail, Barry arrives late to the CCPD and is chewed out by Captain Frye for his lack of punctuality. After the cutscene ends, the player will be able to walk around the department building, chat with coworkers (notably Fred Chyre), and do some CSI work with Patty Spivot. Eventually, Barry will be called to investigate a potential crime scene; this will lead into another cutscene.

Roscoe Dillon, alias the Top, has been found dead in a hotel room. Most of the police force isn’t particularly upset about Roscoe’s demise; Chryre comments that he was “crazy even for a Rogue”. Barry replies that, Rogue or not, Roscoe deserves justice if he was murdered. The player will get to analyze the room and the body for signs of foul play, but there’s no evidence of a struggle and his system is free from poison. Barry will also discover that Roscoe’s tops are nowhere to be found. The player can also uncover a photograph of Roscoe--not costumed--with a blonde woman, but Barry won’t focus too much on that at this point in the game. 

When then get another cutscene. This one will begin with Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Weather Wizard, Heat Wave, the Trickster (James Jesse), Pied Piper, and Mirror Master (Sam Scudder) playing cards in their latest hideout. Suddenly, a young woman in a glitzy light orange skating outfit and a mask bursts into their hideout via one of the windows. 

“I’m the Golden Glider! The Top is dead, and you’re going to help me avenge him!” The Rogues (sans Cold and Pied Piper) laugh, having no reason to believe he claims, and Digger hits on her creepily. The woman responds by throwing one of Roscoe’s tops at him. The top releases some knockout gas and Digger faceplants into the table. Lisa then proves the Top’s death by pulling out a tape recording of what she describes as his last will and testament. In the video, Roscoe tells the other Rogues that he recently developed telekinetic powers. These powers enabled him to go on a crime spree that even the Flash was unable to stop...but they came at a cost. The Flash’s super speed sent Roscoe’s brain into overdrive. His brain was overheating, and he managed to figure out that he would die within a few days. As such, he sent for his beloved girlfriend; the two spent his last hours together. Roscoe demands that the other Rogues avenge his death by humiliating or outright killing the Scarlet Speedster. The woman then removes her mask. 

“What do you say, big brother? Will you help my avenge my beloved Roscoe, or do I have to do it myself?” Cold tells his sister that of course they’ll avenge Roscoe...but she should stay out of it. Roscoe wouldn’t have wanted her to get involved in a life of crime. But Lisa insists that she will be a part of the scheme. “I’ll make the Flash suffer as I have suffered! And if you get in my way....you’ll regret it.” Len gives in and the two concoct a plan that involves the Flash running a gauntlet of all of the Rogues. Each one will commit a spectacular crime, one after the next, and gradually wear the Flash down until he’ll be too tired to defeat them as a group. Sam will serve as the group’s “get-out-of-jail free card” should anyone get captured, and with any luck, they’ll be able to steal a bunch of money and valuables as well. 

After this long cutscene, the player will get to play as Barry in his role as a police scientist a bit more. He’ll learn from the coroner that Roscoe died of an aneurysm and he’ll also run the fingerprints he found at the hotel room where the Top died to see if he can figure out who stole the tops. The fingerprints don’t match those of any of the criminals in the CCPD’s database. Before Barry can run more tests, however, his phone rings. It’s his mother, reminding him that they’re coming over to his house for dinner that evening. Barry chats amicably with her and then hangs up the phone. Then the police receive news that Captain Boomerang is attacking W.W. Wiggins’ toy company. Barry promptly goes into action as the Flash. 

For this level, Barry will have to fight his way to the top floor of W.W. Wiggins’ office building, where Boomerang is holding Wiggins hostage as he loots the company safe. Normally, this would be relatively simple for Barry, but the building is full of employees and Digger’s henchmen, who wear his signature hat and fight (rather poorly) with his boomerangs. However, many of them also wield guns and some of them will threaten employees or use them as hostages if the Flash gets too close. Throughout the level, Boomerang will yell at his henchmen for their inability to properly throw boomerangs, they way they anger the Flash by endangering civilians, and their preference for using guns over his weapon of choice. Boomerang will of course be the boss of the level, and he’ll throw all sorts of boomerangs at the Flash. When he is defeated, Flash then puts him in jail...but as soon as he’s gone, Digger grins, well aware that Sam will soon free him. 

The player will then be allowed to control Barry (in story terms this segment happens four or five hours after Boomerang is defeated) and examine the home he shares with Iris, but this sequence will only last a few minutes before Barry’s phone rings again and he learns that his parents were in a car accident on their way to his house. His mother managed to escape with only a broken arm, but his father flatlined for a few seconds before the CPR provided by the young driver of the other car brought him back. He seems to be doing better now, but he has a sprained ankle, and both he and Nora will have to stay at the hospital for a few days to ensure that they’re all right. Barry and Iris rush to the hospital; Barry invites both of his parents to stay at his house while they recover and they agree. Barry then confides to Iris that he’s a bit nervous about having his father stay with him. He loves his father, but he’s well aware that Henry has always been somewhat critical of him. Iris reassures him that she’ll support him and that she’s sure that things will improve between them if he tells his dad how he feels.  

After this cutscene ends, the story will pick up a few days later. The player will control Barry as he uses his super speed to prepare a guest room for his parents and then as he has to use it more subtly as he helps them move in. The player will have to be careful to avoid tipping his parents off to his super speed. After they’ve been settled in, Iris leaves for work. In a cutscene, Barry has a heart-to-heart chat with his father; he’s thrilled when Henry tells Barry how proud of his son he is. Their chat is interrupted by a news report of Heat Wave setting fire to the Flash Museum. The cutscene ends as Barry rushes into action. 

In this level, Barry has to stop Heat Wave from burning down the Flash Museum. Heat Wave doesn’t have henchmen; instead, Barry has to save people and Jay Garrick‘s exhibit from the flames. One of the people who needs to be saved from the museum is Dexter Miles, the museum's curator, who also narrates much of the level with Shakespearean turns of phrase. This level will naturally be full of Easter eggs and references to events in the Flash comics. Heat Wave is of course the boss of the level; he’ll use his flamethrower in a number of creative ways over the course of the fight and might even melt the Flash’s boots to the floor at one point in the battle. After Barry defeats him, he’ll as Rory why he attacked  the Museum. Heat Wave will reply by telling Barry that the Top was his friend. He didn’t really want to set fire to the museum...but he didn’t want to ignore the Top’s dying request to avenge his death either. Barry is confused. The Top died of natural causes. What is there to revenge? Before Heat Wave can answer, a top spins into the room and creates a small explosion; Barry manages to save both himself and Heat Wave but the latter is knocked unconscious. Still puzzled but with no way to answer his question, Barry takes Heat Wave to jail. 

A few days later (in-story), the player will once again play as Barry in his lab. He manages to match the fingerprints that were found in the hotel room where the Top died to Lisa Snart....Captain Cold’s younger sister. She is an Olympic-level ice skater and has no criminal record. Further research suggests that she recently quit her ice skating team and dropped off the record. But what on Earth was she doing in the Top’s hotel room? And how is he going to find her? However, before he can ponder this too much, Patty Spivot brings in another case from him to examine. Solving the mysteries around the Top’s death isn’t a particularly high priority for the CCPD, so Barry puts his work on the case aside.

Barry meets Iris and his parents for lunch in a cutscene. This is mostly just a scene of fleshing out the dynamic between Barry and Iris, but at one point Barry asks his parents how they’re doing. Henry’s response: “Under the circumstances, quite well. You might even say that I’m in tip-top shape.” Barry does notice the oddity of the comment but writes off his concern as the result of excessive focus on the Top’s death. After lunch, everyone returns to Barry’s home. Iris gets a phone call from her newspaper. Captain Cold is robbing a bank and they want her on the scene to report. Barry then tells his parents that he’s needed at CCPD HQ and then runs into action as the Flash. End cutscene. 

In this level, Captain Cold has frozen the entrance to the bank completely solid. All the entrances are iced over and the streets around the building are covered in ice slicks. Further, the exceptionally low temperatures slow the Flash down considerably. The player will have to figure out how to get Barry inside the building while also avoiding the traps that Cold has set up around the bank, such as falling icicles, attacks from thugs he’s hired, and absolute zero cold fields that will stop the Flash completely for several seconds. Once the player gets inside, they will need to free all the frozen customers and bank tellers before moving on; further, the inside of the building will also be filled with traps. Once you finally get to Cold (who’s inside the vault), he then serves as the boss for the level. However, you don’t capture him once you wear his health bar down. Instead, he manages to trip the Flash up one last time in a cutscene. He does the classic “ice slick on the floor” move and the Flash slides into a wall and falls unconscious, allowing him to escape (albeit without the cash he wanted). 

After the cutscene, the player will get to play as Iris. About a week has passed since the Cold fight, and Barry has asked her to investigate Lisa Snart since the department doesn’t seem to want him to spend any time on the Top’s case. Iris uses her talents as an investigative journalist to study Lisa’s history and see if it connects in any way to the Top. Through her research, she learns that the Top was frequently spotted in cities where Lisa’s ice skating company was performing. It’s as though he was following a family member...or a lover. That would explain why her fingerprints were in his hotel room, and where his tops went. Barry, who has been on the phone with Iris, suddenly tells her that he has to run. The Trickster has been spotted at a local traveling circus.

The player will then return to controlling Barry as he tries to capture the Trickster. James isn’t trying to steal anything or hurt anyone; he just wants to mess with Barry. He’s hired a number of the circus performers to help him put on a show, including a lion tamer, some clowns, a few acrobats, a strongman, and a sword swallower, all of whom Barry will have to battle. James, for his part, has cast himself as the ringmaster (complete with top hat and red coat). He spends most of the level treating the battles as though they’re circus acts; however, once Barry defeats his henchmen, he’ll fight him directly as the main boss of the level. He’ll use his airwalker shoes, his rubber chickens, sneezing powder, exploding whoopie cushions, and more. When Barry finally defeats him, James will cheerfully accept defeat...but when he starts to tell the Flash about how excited he is to see him fight the “newbie”, a top appears from seemingly nowhere and spews out a cloud of knockout gas. Once again, Barry is left with no one to question. 

After the cutscene, the player will again gets to play as Barry Allen in his lab, where he will be told by Chyre that the Top’s costume has disappeared from the police’s evidence room. He wants to investigate this, but Chief Frye tells him that solving a recent string of potential serial killings is more important, and Barry agrees. The player will then do more CSI work, positively identifying the blood found at several recent murder scenes belongs to Dr. Michael Amar. (Murmur’s actual capture will be a side mission.) After Barry solves the case, there’s a cutscene where his phone rings. It’s his mother, and she’s worried about Henry. He seems odd; she says. Barry, however, feels that his relationship with his father has never been better, so he brushes off her concerns. “He’s probably just struggling to adjust to living in someone else’s house. Trust me, he’s the same great man he’s always been.” After he hangs up the phone, he’s promptly distracted by another alarm. The Pied Piper has broken into the Rathaway estate! Barry rushes into action as the Flash. End cutscene.

The Pied Piper is attempting to steal some of the valuable items in Rathaway manor so that he can sell them. He plans to give the money from the sale to the poor of Central City; Barry’s goal is to stop him. However, in order to do this, he has to find the Pied Piper in the labyrinthine manor, as well as avoid the hypnotized guards, Piper’s sonic traps, and all of the incredibly expensive and valuable things within the manor. Mr. and Mrs. Rathaway will be absolutely furious if anything is broken. Pied Piper is of course the final boss. When he is defeated, Barry asks him why the Rogues want revenge for Roscoe’s death. Piper replies by telling Barry that he’s not interested in revenge; he just went along with the plan in the hopes of being able to help the downtrodden. Barry then asks him if there’s a new Rogue. Before Piper can respond, yet another top appears. This one shoots out lasers, and Barry is forced to remove it from the premises before it can do damage to either the manor or anyone in it. By the time he returns, the Piper has vanished, and Barry is promptly shooed off of the estate by Mr. and Mrs. Rathaway, who seem strangely annoyed by his presence and far too eager to get him to leave. Barry reluctantly leaves, with not one but now two mysteries unsolved. (This second mystery will be resolved in a side mission.) End cutscene. 

Barry is now convinced that the Rogues’ individual attacks are part of a larger plot against him---one that’s somehow connected to Roscoe’s death. He’s still not sure why they want revenge on him for the Top’s brain aneurysm or who the new Rogue is, but he does decide to go on the offensive. As the Flash, the player goes to visit the Rogues whom he’s sent to prison---only to find that they’ve escaped. Since the cells are totally intact, it’s clear Mirror Master must be responsible. This confirms the fact that the Rogues are indeed united in this scheme, but it also means that he’ll have to find one of the Rogues in order to question them. Barry promptly begins to search the city at super speed--and promptly discovers Mark Mardon sitting with an attractive young woman in a bar. Then another cutscene begins. 

Upon seeing the Flash, Mardon starts complaining about how he’s busy right now and actually tells the Flash to come back when he’s not on a date. Barry asks the woman if she’s aware that Mardon is the Weather Wizard; she laughs. “Of course! My husband’s the mob boss you sent up the river a few months back, copper. I know every crook and thug in the underworld. Can you blame me for goin’ on a date with one of the handsome ones?” Mardon is less than thrilled to learn that his paramour is the wife of a mob boss  and tells her that being her boytoy is not worth ending up six feet under when her husband finds out. He might be powerful, but even a god has to sleep sometimes. The woman promptly calls him a coward (and several other choice appelations) and storms out of the bar. Mardon, now in a rather foul mood, pulls out his Weather Wand. Barry is just stunned enough by the exchange that he just witnessed to allow Mardon to summon a windstorm that tears open the bar. End cutscene. 

The player, as Barry Allen, has to act fast to save the bartender and the few patrons who were at the bar at 10 in the morning. He manages to get them all to safety and then returns to the bar, where Mardon has changed into his full Weather Wizard costume. Weather Wizard wasn’t planning to fight the Flash today, but after finding out that his date was a mob boss’s kept woman and then being insulted by her, he’s more than willing to work out his frustrations on Barry. During the fight, he’ll be throwing everything from lightning bolts to cars  to hailstones at the Flash; Flash will also have to save nearby citizens from his rampage. When Barry finally defeats him, he tries to get Mardon to tell him what the Rogues are up to and who the new Rogue is...but before Mardon can say anything, another weaponized top appears. This is a variant on the knockout top the Golden Glider used earlier on Captain Boomerang, and Mardon promptly slumps into unconsciousness. Barry rushes Mardon to prison and then rushes back in the hopes of finding who threw the top. The player will be able to analyze the scene and discover that the top is being operated remotely...but before he can trace the signal, the top explodes. Barry only narrowly escapes the blast. 

The next level begins with Barry at home with his father. They have another heart-to-heart chat; things get so personal that Barry actually reveals his secret identity to his father (the player will be control over how he displays his speed to his father). Henry reacts with the appropriate shock and joy. When Nora enters the room, Barry tells her too. She is equally surprised and proud of her son---but after she expresses her love for her superhero son, she asks Barry if they can speak alone. Barry agrees. Once they’re alone, Nora tells her son that something is very wrong with Henry. “He’s been sleeping on the couch...and when he looks at me, he seems annoyed. He always used to look at me with love. And a few weeks ago he started leaving the house when you were at work without telling me where he was going.” She thinks he’s having an affair. Barry is torn. He can tell his mother is very worried...but at the same time, this is the best his relationship with his father has ever been. He doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. However, he does agree to check things out. No sooner does he say this than he notices his father leaving the house and going to the car. Barry changes into the Flash and quietly follows his father as he drives into the city and to a very familiar hotel. With a growing sense of dread, Barry follows Henry into the hotel. (The player will need to remember to use their powers in order to avoid being detected.) Henry goes to the exact same room where the Top’s body was found...and there he’s met by a blonde woman whom he embraces. This woman is the same one from the photograph; the same one whose fingerprints were all over the hotel. Lisa Snart. 

“Roscoe, honey...have you found a younger body yet?” 

“No, sweetums. Not yet. But given what I’ve managed to learn from staying in this body, that’s a good thing. You see, it seems that Dr. Allen’s son is the Flash... the very man who tried to separate us from one another.” Lisa laughs. 

“Perfect! What better way to get revenge on the Flash than to use his own father as a weapon against him?” Suddenly, Henry’s--the Top’s--eyes glow. 

“We are not alone!” Lisa promptly grabs one of the weaponized tops throws it at Barry; forcing him to reveal himself. Once he does, a two-on-one boss fight begins, with Lisa and the Top both launching attacks at the Flash. Golden Glider has aerial attacks; slicing and kicking the Flash from above. She also has a lot of weaponized tops and her own weaponized gems that she can use; the Top has super speed and is telekinetic; he can also induce vertigo. However, the body he’s inhabiting is quite old, and Henry’s mind is fighting against Roscoe’s control. This weakens his powers. Eventually, Roscoe will come to the realization that they might well be defeated if he stays in this form (when he gets to 50% health) and he vacates Henry’ s body. Lisa screams (thinking Roscoe’s gone for good) and starts to sob; she attacks Barry again, but her grief makes her sloppy and Barry is able to defeat her and take her to jail. Barry and Henry have a heart-to-heart and Henry tells Barry that, while he hated being under Roscoe’s mental control, the things Roscoe told Barry while impersonating him--that he was proud of him and loved him--were the things he had wanted to say but had never quite known how to express. The two hug. End cutscene. 

A few days later, Barry is again working at the CCPD when he learns that a body has disappeared from the morgue. The body belonged to a young man who died in a boating accident a few days ago, and strangely, there was no sign of a break-in. The body is just gone. The player controls Barry as he examines the room and finds fingerprints on the doornob. When he examines them, he learns that the fingerprints match those of the dead body! Before Barry can puzzle this out, however, he hears an alert. The Mirror Master has been sighted at a downtown jewelry store. The Flash rushes off to stop him. 

When he arrives, the Mirror Master starts to move at impossible speeds. It’s a mirror construct, and it leads the Flash to a mirror maze, where Scudder launches his attack. The mirror maze is full of hundreds of duplicates of Scudder as well as twisted doppelgangers of the Flash himself; Scudder pops in and out of the mirrors to shoot a Flash with his Mirror Gun and then disappears when Flash gets too close. Flash can only defeat him by timing his speed just right; hitting Scudder when he pops out of the mirror to set up his shots. When Mirror Master s defeated, Barry takes him to jail.

After this point, there would be a bit of a breather--a cutscene where Barry spends time with his family and then a mission where he saves some cats from trees and generally runs around helping as many people as possible. He’d also figure out that Roscoe had stolen the corpse from the morgue so that it could be his new body. 

Then there’d be a final boss fight where Barry would fight most or all of the Rogues at once (probably after they tried to break Golden Glider, Mirror Master, and Weather Wizard out of jail) and we’d get to see Roscoe make his full return, having altered his body in order to resemble his original one. He, Golden Glider, and Cold would probably be the last three standing. As the fight goes on and Roscoe starts to realize the full extent of his powers, he starts to display some delusions of grandeur---and also lets it slip that he thinks that he should lead the Rogues. Captain Cold would naturally object to this, and in spite of Golden Glider’s efforts, the two turn on each other. Flash, at this point, would be utterly exhausted; the fight between the two gives him time to recover. He then manages to defeat both of them and finally defeat the Rogues---though Golden Glider does manage to escape (albeit with the thought that perhaps the Rogues do need a new leader: her). 

The game would then end with a cute Barry and Iris moment. 

The side missions will be in their own post. 

#flash comics #barry allen #flash rogues #long post.

[pridepages]

In Any Universe: The Darkness Outside Us

I just finished The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer. I have thoughts...

Here there be spoilers!

There is so very much to unpack in The Darkness Outside Us. The novel invites discussions about biological ethics, late stage capitalism, the horrors of interstellar travel, society’s evolving perceptions of queerness...but the first thing I want to tackle is its love story.

In Schrefer’s world--set centuries into our future--Earth has reformed itself into two nations: Federation and Dimokratia. The plot revolves around two heroes: Ambrose Cusk, a rich boy princeling looking to prove he’s worth more than the Federation leading family he was born into by becoming a space explorer. The other is Kodiak Celius, an orphan Dimokratian raised in a draconian survivalist program who has emerged as the best of the best that their cosmonaut program has to offer. They have each been chosen for a mission: they are told they are going to rescue Ambrose’s sister, Minerva, who was sent on a mission to a space outpost and has sent a distress signal.

Let’s get this out of the way (don’t say I didn’t say I didn’t warn you!): that mission is a lie. The true mission? Our boys have been sent to be humanity’s emissaries to a new, potentially habitable planet 30,000 lightyears from Earth. And it only gets worse from there. No human being could make that journey in one lifetime. The solution? Our heroes have been cloned. In fact, we never meet the “original” Ambrose or Kodiak. We only get to meet their clones. Several clones, actually. To make the mission a success requires more than a single human lifespan. So multiple clones were made of each boy. Every few thousand years, the auto-piloted ship requires human attention. The ship then wakes a set of clones--who have no idea what they are or what their true mission is--tricks them into performing a laundry list of human required maintenance on the ship--and when it no longer needs them, the ship executes them.

I know: what the fuck, right?

Still, Ambrose and Kodiak are testaments to human ingenuity. Over the course of a few lifetimes, they begin to clock what’s happening. They begin to leave messages for the next “generation.” In several lifetimes, Ambrose and Kodiak must come to grips with how they got there, the limitations of their existence, and must make a choice of how to live the life they’ve been given.

But there is one constant in these lives: in every one of them, they fall in love. 

If there is one romantic trope we are suckers for, it has to be the idea of soulmates: that no matter what the circumstances, there are souls out there that are meant to be our other halves--that we would fall in love no matter what the lifetime. Schrefer has delivered, but he has delivered it with nuance.

Most times that Ambrose wakes and meets Kodiak, he says some version of the following: “Not my type, but purely as an aesthetic object he’s marvelous.” This is not love at first sight. If anything, it’s clear that under other circumstances than being the last two people in existence, these two might not ever fall for each other. But they are, in fact, “pretty much the only game in town, if you’re the sort who’s even remotely into human contact.” But Schrefer does not want us to interpret this connection as pure convenience. These boys live and grow and sacrifice and die together over lifetimes. they come to understand each other intimately, and they pass that knowledge on through recordings to each new iteration. The last Ambrose receives the following words of advice from a predecessor:

“You think of love as dizzy electricity. You think if you aren’t in this heightened state, that the relationship is failing. This is a lie, an infection you contracted from popular music and fantasy reels, that doomed all your short romances...The bonded support you and Kodiak feel for each other...isn’t the heat of his body against yours at the bottom of the water tank. Instead, it’s the fact that you two are together at the bottom of the water tank.”

Attraction--particularly queer, physical attraction--is something to normalize and celebrate. I wouldn’t want to downplay its beauty. But it is worth stating that love, the kind of love that weathers storms and lasts lifetimes, is founded on so much more. It’s mutual respect. It’s bonds formed through the darkest times. It’s tenderness in vulnerability. It’s sharing small moments and large. Above all, it’s a choice we make and a bond that we have to work to coax and nurture and grow. Ambrose and Kodiak’s love story is a critical addition to queer canon because it speaks to what happens beyond those first moments of sparks. Like a little seedling in deep space, sometimes love requires tender care and devotion to grow into something lasting.

#the darkness outside us #eliot schrefer #mlm #gay #queer lit #lgbt reads

[littleoddwriter]

🎨 + 🌵

Hi there! Thanks for sending something in. :')

Fanfic Ask Game

🎨 How would you describe your writing style?

Oof, that's a difficult one. I'd say that my writing style is driven by characters and their interactions, such as their emotions. The emotional aspect is always the biggest one for me and what drives the story, rather than a lot of plot. There may be some set-up, but all in all, it's about the characters and their feelings and what those emotions make them do, which direction they are driven into going, and so forth. So, my style in and of itself is an emotional one; although I sometimes write it too "clinically" in my own opinion because of terms I use (because English isn't my first language and I have a hard time letting go of what's been drilled into me at school). Oh, and it's always from the perspective of one - or both - of the characters, which obviously heightens the emotional aspect, while limiting the reader's knowledge of what's truly the case, etc. It's often almost like an internal monologue, but in third (or second, depending on what kind of fanfic it is) person, you know? Especially if there is little to no dialogue, I tend to put the reader directly into the character's heart and mind and what they're feeling and thinking. I hope this counts as a description of it and makes sense?

🌵 What is your favorite kind of fan fiction to read?

One Shots - length doesn't always matter, but usually no more than 2k, but with a few exceptions - usually Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, or Fluff/Domestic Fluff/Slice of Life. I'm a huge sucker for those and love reading them! :'D Basically, though, everything I write I usually also read/look for in other people’s works!

#seriously i have no idea if my description of my writing style makes sense or if it's 'correct' but yeah #i don't actually read so much anymore because i'm so busy writing that i don't have time for it :/ #ronny.exe #anonymous #ask game

[xqueenybeebooks]

I Read The Masked Fae

Title: The Masked Fae Author: Shari L. Tapscott Tags: historical, fantasy, romance, fae prince, not really a love triangle, grumpy male lead, beauty and the beast retelling Spice: Fade to Black Cliffhanger: No CW: familial abuse, ruling through fear, attempted murder, implied murder of a child, human slavery (let me know if I should add others)

Read More for Review (Spoiler-Lite)

When I realized partway through this book that there were very strong Beauty and the Beast elements I had to take a moment to assess how I predictable I am. One of my favorite versions of the fairy tale involves Beauty living in the castle and being visited in her dreams by a beautiful and mysterious prince that gives her cryptic messages and advice. So when the Masked Man starts giving Alice cryptic advice when he visits her on her balcony at night, suffice to say I was having a great time.

The main female character is Alice. She is a talented painter that is going to the home of the local Fae aristocracy in order to bargain for the release of her older brother, who gambled away their home in a game of cards. She's fair and witty, and exceptionally stubborn. I enjoyed her taking the knowledge that copper was poisonous to Fae and getting herself a small weapon, however, I thought her use of the tool left much to be desired. She was fun, but I think I just wanted her to be a bit more kick-ass.

Brahm is the titular Masked Fae (who is also the first prince of a matriarchal fae kingdom) who dons the mask in order to help lost humans return to their side of the bridge before they get caught by goblins or nefarious fae. It is through Brahm that we learn most about this part of Faerie and it's history, which is about ten different shades of fucked up. He is a broody, intelligent fae prince who loves his siblings and his people and does his best to protect them with the truly limited power that he has. His backstory lines up really well with his personality and I genuinely just want all three of the siblings to all be happy.

The world of this book is very dynamic and it feels like we are only seeing a small sliver of the larger world, which I really appreciate. It definitely feels like the type of world where multiple stories could take place on the same continent and all be very fresh because the reader would uncover various pieces of the world through all of the different characters.

The plot was pretty fun, there's a scene involving acorns in a childhood fort that I thought was extremely cute. However, I thought that the finale felt a bit rushed, though perhaps that was the point considering it felt like a lot of things happened in a very short amount of time.

Overall I would recommend this book to someone who likes fae romance and wants something on the cleaner side.

#bookler #the masked fae #shari l tapscott #fae romance #fantasy romance #also the weird love triangle between alice and both of brahms personalities was hilarious #i'm excited to get my hands on the sequels about brahms siblings #especially drake #cuz that one also involves eleanor and i gotta know #also i read this one via audiobook so if I spelled the names wrong that's why #2023

[vinxwatches]

star trek: Lower Decks season 2

actions pact start. on the one side it's a very interesting conflict. on the other this feels like trying to undo the setup of the finally. ok, semi reset. like the option of them working together, but also maintaining the status quo

i do hope that main guy and main girl don't get together. i just think their relationship is so much better as a friendship. lamp shading animation errors. neat. odd to introduce a new character to just replace him with an old one.

ok. last episode did some lampshading. but if they just undo a major character death then that's just stupid. like maybe it's a reference to another show but that doesn't work in this show on it's own, and if the show doesn't work on it's own then that's a major weakness of the show. like if it's the plot of the episode great. but it better not be just a throw away joke or lampshade. so she's pansexual. it wasn't confirmed yet. yet somehow her being straight or even lesbian would be a bigger surprise. ok, they actually did something with it. more a joke, but at least it's something i can accept.

ok, i'm a very basic bitch. i just love myself some badass lady.

"we call ourselves the redshirts. makes us sound invinsible" even with my Very limited knowledge on startrek i get that joke.

everything tastes like black liquorish... well, being dutch would come in handy there. not like i'm the biggest fan of liquorish, but i grew up with it. random question: is liquorish related to liquor name wise? not much of a revelation. is or isn't he ready? what's their relationship like going forward?

roles reversed episode... but like... one of the big points is the that higher up often do a very meh job. showing their job is hard is stupid ways fails on so many levels. the point has to that it's rigged right? ok, they made good use of it.

so here's something i just thought of: the conceit of this show is that many people want to rank up, going from lowest rung to highest officer. this... well it's stupid. lets compare it to me: i'm a programmer. if the company i worked at worked like this then tough hard work and showing of i could move up the ranks. manager, maybe HR, CEO... i would not be able to do that. well except CEO because in big companies that's not a job. no matter how good i show of to be at making a program that's not the training i'd need to lead a team. i'd prefer the person to lead the team to be a good leader over being a good programmer. of course understanding what your team is doing well enough is part of being a good leader, you can't be a leader in construction and become a leader store management without training and be any good. but a leader wouldn't need to understand how my code works to be a good leader. their method of ranking up makes sense for a show (or a game) as it means the protagonists (or you the player) have something they can work towards. but in reality it's a sign of at best outdated leadership structures. now it makes sense why star trek has it: it's an old show based of submarine battles. so of course it takes hints from the military, which stuck for a long time or even still sticks to going from the bottom to the top instead of training people for different ranks. and as i said it works well for narratives. but it's still worth pointing out.

wait... why is there a door for the spaceport inside which spaceships remain? a massive interior space without atmosphere. i mean, could be justified as keeping it safe from debris, but still seems silly. i mean i was going to save compared to smaller hatches for individual ships, but that would mean multiple gates while this just means one giant gate all ships have to pass trough. still feel silly, but i can make it make sense. i doubt they put this much thought into it.

i feel so much for the lady who got angry over the ballroom dancing competition having to be postponed. damn you empathy.

damn this is a cool setup. and i already know the twist, it'll all be for nothing as the other ship will be able to save itself. either ruining the captains chances for success or making her want to stay on the old ship.

damn good finally already.

damn... that twist though.

#star trek: lower decks season 2 #star trek #star trek: lower decks

[porteurdereve]

EVENT INFO

G'raha has been ready for this event for as long as he's existed. He wants to go on his own adventure, conquer enemies, reap the rewards, and have fun. While majority of the biomes suit G'raha, I think I will narrow it down and give explanations for each one. At his core, G'raha Tia is a researcher and historian/archeologist, so he will focus on seeking knowledge first and foremost.

Fantasy Biome: G'raha will want to explore this biome in hopes to retrieve artifacts and information on Spirale's past. He has scoured the texts from the library and bookstores to find limited information. He believes that these caverns holds secrets to unlocking the truth behind Spirale's past.

Sea Biome: Having heard stories about the settlements in the Ruby Sea, the Sunken City of Skalla and the Tempest, G'raha is extremely excited to explore the aquatic terrain of the Sea Biome. He doesn't have much of a goal other than learning more about the myths associated with the sea.

Jungle Biome: From exploring the likes of Rak'tika Greatwood, G'raha knows well that civilizations sprouted in dense forests and hidden behind the foliage can be unearthed treasures, scripts, and historical findings. He wants to explore the jungle for these purposes!

Abilities: Considering G'raha Tia is a multi-class character (tank, healer, dps), he will be able to use all his abilities. However, my wise friend Jade suggested that I narrow on which class he should be. So, considering on your character's abilities, G'raha will adjust for them! Rather, if you'd like him to be a paladin to your healer, a dps to your tank, or a healer for your dps then please let me know!!

As for his abilities, he is quite OP and I've included only HALF of the abilities and spells he actually has in game to make things easier on myself. However, he will have access to limit break if things get tough. He will only use limit break once and it'll be a few replies in rather than at the very beginning to mirror the progress of going through the dungeon.

If you'd like to plot please just dm me or like the starter call! :)

#from a distance star | ooc #isola event

[demonfox38]

Completed - Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest 1)

No more janky TV photos. Just a janky GIF.

I don’t think it would come as a shock to any of you that I enjoy a good amount of Twitch. Like, finally sacked my cable subscription because all I watch is YouTube, Twitch, and Pluto.TV. Now, my streamers of choice are either GDQ participants, Kusogrande hosts, or people who are otherwise mellow while grinding to get milliseconds off their PBs. As a result, I was spending a fair amount of time last month watching NESCardinality plug through "Dragon Warrior" randomizer runs. (Which, if you haven’t seen his GDQ run of "Dragon Warrior", you should. Because holy shit, the level of RNG manipulation going on in that is phenomenal.)

Here's the thing, though—I hadn’t beat the game myself. At least, not until recently.

Any cursory knowledge into JRPGs will easily bring up the "Dragon Quest" series. There’s a lot of repeated anecdotes, regarding it. It’s Japan’s favorite RPG series. When one comes out, a significant amount of people take the day off. It’s got art by Akira Toriyama and music by an absolute shithead. Slimes. And…is that it?

Playing the game itself, it’s not immediately evident why "Dragon Warrior" didn’t catch as much fire in the US as a series like "Final Fantasy." (Maybe "Persona" in the modern era.) It’s not like "Hydlide", where eye-searing graphics, a single poorly-looped song, and obtuse mechanics doomed it to Funcoland reject stands. "Hydlide" may be apropos as a comparison game in one distinct way, however. Both "Dragon Warrior" and "Hydlide" were originally adapted for the Famicom in 1986, with "Hydlide" having earlier PC incarnations before that. The US adaptations of these games came out in 1989. Those titles were competing with the likes of "Mega Man 2", "Ninja Gaiden", "The Adventures of Bayou Billy", and "Faxanadu." That’s like putting Byzantian cave scribblings of Christ next to the works of Italian Renaissance artists.

Plus, let’s face it. The average Nintendo Entertainment System gamer at the time was either:

10 and under, or…

Let’s just say, not capable of playing something that required more thought than moving to the right and shooting/jumping over things.

The big saving grace for "Dragon Warrior" came from a brilliant promotional idea. With a load of extra copies of the game on hand, Nintendo decided to give them away as a bonus for subscribing to "Nintendo Power." Big dick energy. I mean, I know a lot of modern-era services give a game away a month for subscribing to them, but to have something physical back in the early 1990s? That was pretty cool. Cooler than burying the unsold extras in a desert, anyway.

With games of this age, I do like to try playing them knowing only what’s given to me in materials enclosed with the game. Ya know. Feel what the pain was for the kids at the time. So, I downloaded the game’s manual and poster, then gave it a shot. With those limitations in mind, this game does surprisingly well! The manual’s author was really doing their best to help babies through their first RPG, and the map was helpful in figuring out pathing and grind spots. (Oh, and also advertise a little for "Dragon Warrior 2." Nudge nudge, wink wink, right?) Even if I didn’t have that, the game is clear enough to make objectives known. Granted, there’s a fair amount of fetch questing to be done, so it doesn’t hurt to have a pad of paper at hand to take notes.

I highly disagree with the manual writers on one thing, though. Saving the princess does not have to happen at level 12. Frankly, with the bullshit around her and with what little she provides in gameplay value, you might as well save that task for after getting Edrick’s armor.

Who is Edrick?

Uh…guess I should start with a plot summary, huh?

So, a while back, this dude named Edrick (or Loto, or whatever the translation picks in your version) brought peace to the land of Alefgard with a shining ball of light. Some territories need four balls of light; Alefgard was good with one. But, ya know. Peace doesn’t last forever. So, when the ball of light and the kingdom’s princess are nicked by a dork calling himself the Dragonlord, monsters start pushing everyone’s shit in. Despite no proof (yet) of your heritage, you set out with the king’s blessing to collect Edrick’s treasures and stab anything that looks at you funny. Maybe keep an eye out for the princess. Standard hero stuff.

I’m not gonna lie. There was this initial wave of dread I felt after my first battle with a Slime. 1 gold, 1 EXP. You wanna know how rough that is? A stay at the first town’s inn? 6 gold. A single healing herb? 24. A copper sword? 180. Like, fuuuuuck. Granted, the economy gets a little better once you can push past the first area, at least in terms of housing. It goes from needing 6 battles minimum to rest to 2 battles. Still, the economic crunch is real. God help you if you screw up without saving for a while, too. The king needs tax money, and apparently, he’s getting that by yanking half of your cash off your corpse.

Granted, the steep economy also unconsciously gives the player a good incentive to grind. So, that’s some okay game design. I also like how the game plops you outside of town and flashes the final game’s dungeon in the corner, like "Hey, idiot. Figure out how to go here." Good stuff! Even the battle system becomes smoother, once you figure out what the monsters know and what you can do. Stopspells for magical bastards and Sleep for heavier hitters go a long way. Just don’t be surprised when the game gets rude. Critical hits and enemy dodges are calculated separately, so I saw a few dreadful "Excellent move! The enemy is dodging" messages chains. I also had a Red Dragon that decided I had gone far enough into Charlock and decided to take a pre-emptive turn, put my dude to sleep, and take him from full health to nothing in four or five swings. Just real cool. The coolest.

Speaking of messages! The translation in this game is weird, to say the least. It’s trying to lean into a "Ye Olde English" pronoun/verb set that goes very thick. Like, dragging damage numbers and rewards several lines down in the textbox area thick. I’d imagine that would be really irritating if English wasn’t your first language. Style can be helpful for world building, but brevity wit etc.

Despite the game’s age, several changes were made for the U.S. release to help it out. There’s a graphical overhaul that might not be appreciated in game, but it is pretty evident in comparisons with the original Famicom version of the game. I still prefer the "Final Fantasy" battle layout and artistic style better, but the effort did help spruce the game up. It also has an internal battery for saving instead of a password system, which is great for children in 1989 but maybe not for adults in 2022 that are struggling with a dying battery. If you were wondering what dickhead in the world likes passwords over internal saves, congratulations! You found me!

I’m just saying—if I didn’t have access to a dude that knows how to resolder shit, I’d be in trouble. Like, there are circumstances where passwords get stupid long or unwieldy, but I’m not opposed to a decent password system for simpler games. Also, I’m sorry to report that your "Pokémon Gold", "Silver", and "Crystal" saves are all gone now. GBC-era batteries just weren’t meant to keep time for over 20 years.

One thing that surprised me about my mindset during this game is how many alternate scenarios kept going through my head. Like, 2010s dark fantasy scenarios. Maybe it was a reaction to the cutesy monster art and vanilla-sweet story? Or, maybe I was thinking about the "Nanashi no Game" series and how that’s all about corrupted "Dragon Quest" styled games? Just saying. There’s a lot of potential possibilities for something to go wrong here. Like:

So, it’s nice that the king resurrects the player. But, at half his gold, no matter the cost? Imagine what it would be like to be a citizen of Alefgard, in such circumstances. Who does the king decide to bring back, and why? Could he keep an army of resurrected guards for all eternity, as long as he keeps getting their bodies back? What about the peasants? Are they destined for eternal work and poverty? How do you handle the king deciding not to bring your mom or grandma back? What’s exactly the limitation of his power, here? Somebody’s sword in his chest?

The hero is constantly being badgered to prove his worth not through his actions, but his bloodline. Doesn’t that shit get old? What happens if someone else takes that token of truth first? (Yeah, yeah, "Chrono Trigger" fans. Settle down.) He wants to colonize his own land, but what does that look like? Taking over Charlock? Going further and never coming back? Does he perpetuate the bloodline bullshit, or does he go democratic? Does he ever think of going back and getting his money/vengeance from the king, or is taking his daughter revenge enough?

You can decide to not save the princess. It’s totally doable. She only helps you find Edrick’s Token, and that’s always in the same place. What happens, then? How is she not blind and mentally disturbed from being held captive for months in a dark cave? What does she do if the Dragonlord dies, but nobody goes to find her? What does the dragon guarding her do? Does it lose heart? Does it bond to her? Does she become the next Dragonlord?

I mean, I’m not alone in thinking of these things. "Dragon Quest Builders" is basically asking that question. Well, in the more basic "What if the hero had taken the Dragonlord’s offer?" way, but still. Someone else was thinking about it. Someone was also trying to get some of that sweet, sweet "Minecraft" money too. The spirit of Taloon lives on.

If you’re interested in gaming in a historical sense, then "Dragon Warrior" can’t be passed up. The circumstances around the game are still influential for JRPGs, particularly in Japan, so it may be helpful to understand where the "Dragon Quest" series started and why it became successful (even if it was a bit by force.) It’s also a cheap game to get a hold of, both digitally and physically. At least, better than most NES RPG prices tend to be.

You do have to be patient with grinding, however. Also, I’d classify this as a podcast game. Ya know, something you play while you have the audio muted and other audio playing on another device. A weird call? Maybe. I mean, the intro theme is good, but a lot of the music is otherwise a set of short loops with mediocre scoring.

…You’ve really, really got to be careful when you make the triangle channel a lead in an NES song. I’ve only heard it work, like, once. It’s got no volume control, man. The sound’s either on or off. Very unnatural. Annoying when it goes too long.

#post game evaluation #dragon warrior

[lemonlurkrr]

@aureateart​ ok. My favourite parts of twilight princess  (and some other random thoughts about TP sprinkled in there) taken from my monster TP word vomit google doc :

Link lmao

Ok but for real, I like this incarnation of Link :)

I love Ordon (it just seems like such a chill and cozy village)

ALSO love how easy it is to interpret Link as being a sort of older brother figure to the Ordon kiddos. It’s just,, super cute? AND GHHH nice nice good thanks nintendo for giving me characters to care about/characters that I can imagine Link caring about

He didn’t sign up for any of this (tbh, none of the Links really signed up for this jshdjsd). But I mean like, dude was just going to take a trip to castle town, drop a gift off for the royal family, and come back. But haHA oopsies he did get to castle town eventually but definitely not the way he expected hsjdhsd

He’s just a little dude?

AND FUCK. HE REALLY HAD NEVER BEEN OUTSIDE OF ORDON UNTIL ALL OF THAT

everything is new for the player AND Link

Midna

She’s cool :)

she really just

*teleports into your jail cell* hello whore.

I am no master at writing but AYYYY she do got a character arc!!!

She was actually pretty helpful sometimes, I ALWAYS checked in with her before turning to a game guide

Other NPCs

NICE

Love all of the TP character designs (ASHEI’S ARMOUR??? AOWOAOAOOAO)

Saving Zelda and all of Hyrule was important yea but thinking back maybe it was more like, the Ordonians and the kids were what was pushing Link to keep on going

I like the Resistance members :) Very video gamey of them to have one NPC assigned to each dungeon but hey!!! Kinda cool getting to see a little glimpse of each of em

Idk, it’s just fun to imagine Link popping into Telma’s bar after each dungeon and taking a little rest :) (or to celebrate? maybe just chat, idk, give this man some downtime!!)

Honestly it was just kind of nice that Link wasn’t entirely alone. I mean, I know Midna was there the whole time, but I am always for giving Link a big group of friends (see my love for hyrule warriors, age of calamity, and LU LMAO)

Hero’s shade, very very cool, kinda sad he died with regrets but HEY. He got to pass on his knowledge eventually

AND the connection to OoT?? AND assumed to be related by blood too????? GOOD SHIT

Ilia, I REALLY really wanted to like her (er, it’s not like I dislike her, she’s just,,, kinda there for me).

It definitely seems like Nintendo was pushing to make her the romantic interest, but GHHHHH they really threw that out of the window for me by having her lose her memories

I saw a text post a while ago that said it would have been interesting if Ilia was Link’s sister instead and YES!! That would have been cool too :0

Wish we got to know Zelda a little more

I feel like we barely know anything about her

Idk man, like I said earlier, I never really had any sort of drive to save Zelda during my playthroughs

She obviously knows Midna, so maybe if they gave us just a little bit more of that relationship I’d be more interested in her?

TP WORLD BUILDINGGGG

Botw has good world building too, but each race felt kinda,,, isolated? I absolutely love the different architecture and vibe each town has (and all the the weapons too) but ghhh yea everyone felt so separated. As far as I can remember, we don’t see tooo much of the races interacting with each other? Now that I’m typing that out maybe that’s to be expected because of the calamity but KLSJDKJFD ANYWAYS THIS IS ABOUT TP

The world feels nice and alive, love how populated everything is

Castle town I like castle town a lot, it feels dense and busy and I really like how you can’t talk to every NPC you see

Very cool very fun that we got to see the Gorons hanging out in multiple spots

kinda wish we got to see the Zoras a little more (I guess they are a bit limited since they need water but GHHHH the tp zoras are so prebby,,)

BUT HEY, I do remember seeing a zora or two hanging out in the hot springs around death mountain after beating the lakebed temple (I think, might have been a different dungeon) 

but aaaa would have been nice to see them in at least a couple of other places. I think it would have really added to the “congrats Link!! You’re restoring peace to Hyrule” feeling you get from seeing the Gorons hanging out in Kakariko and Castle Town

ORDON

Love how chill it is and how it’s kind of separate from Hyrule proper

They really do seem to be doing their own thing apart from the rest of Hyrule

Just kinda adds onto the “he’s just a regular dude minding his own business” kind of vibes I get from TP Link

Also I like Ordona :)

THE LIGHT SPIRITS,,

Love their design

And love how they’re not exactly like a pure white?

Different spirit representing each aspect of the triforce my beloved

But yes hi I think Ordona is very cool

Who are you, how did you get here, which goddess do you represent? Do you even represent one of the three golden goddesses? Do the Ordonians know about you? Have any of them ever SEEN you??? Do they worship you? Does anybody even know about the existence of the light spirits?? FUCK so many questions but ghhh I like how they broke the status quo a bit by throwing in a fourth spirit :)

I feel like this one is kinda weird but I like that voice sample they used in the light spirit music. It’s spooky and pretty at the same time :)  

cutscenes mmmmm

Ok ok, the spooky lanayru cutscene is very good

BUT THE “Link, Chosen Hero! Lend us the last of your power!” CUTSCENE MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM LOVE IT SO MUCH

IT just

Idk man

It just hit different

I like the music

And seeing the light spirits swimming around in the light juice water whatever it is

Summoning the light arrows?

AND HHHHH “Lend us the last of your power!” THIS IS IT. This is the final battle.

Seeing Zelda bow down, and then Link putting his hand out 👌👌👌

Link: ok bud, let’s do this together :)

Connection to OoT (did I already mention this? Maybe., Whatever)

Very cool nintendo :)

I love seeing connections between all the diff zelda games.

Because like, on one hand, they’re all separate from each other because of yknow, individual hero stuff. BUT ALSO, they’re all connected because of the reincarnation stuff

Grrrr walking through the sacred grove and going “The Hero of Time walked around here a long time ago” FUCK THATS SO COOL

Is the Hero’s Shade watching me? What does he think of me? DIsappointed? Proud? The Hero of Time went through HELL so this timeline didn’t have to deal with any of the shit Ganon was gonna pull with the triforce, better not fuck this UP Link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Midlink is cute

Kinda hurts that she smashed the mirror but that was probably so Nintendo didn’t have to worry about people going “but what about the twili??????” for any of the other games LMAO

BUT ALSO LIKE SKJDKLJFJ There are some pretty massive plot holes in TP anyway so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ whatever it’s fine we’ll just use this for angst because GOD do y’all like angst

So is Shadlink

Honestly don’t know where this ship came from but it’s cute so whatever

THE MUSIC??

Love Midna’s theme and how they referenced the dark world theme from ALttP (I remember trying to learn the dark world theme on the piano and doing the Leonardo DiCaprio point meme at the little jingle I recognized from Midna’s theme)

Hyrule field theme SLAPS.

Apparently references a couple of the other over-world themes from the previous zelda games (I got this from 8-bit Music theory’s video on the over-world zelda themes, he talks about TP at around 11:40 but def recommend watching the whole video if you’re into music analysis stuff)

So there’s this bit of the Hyrule Field theme, I don’t know the official name for it but I remember seeing somewhere it being called the “at an advantage theme” since yeah, you hear it during the boss music whenever you expose their weak points. FUCKINGGG LOVE THAT. Didn’t notice it during my first playthrough, but hearing it during my second was like a little easter egg for my ears every time :)

Midna’s lament is very pretty (and fun to play on the piano)

COURAGE THEME.

I didn’t care for it too much when I started playing the game but hearing it in ZREO’s arrangement of the Hyrule Field theme literally makes me turn into a puddle of emotions. Also hearing it around and of the Ordon kids (I think it plays after Link saves Colin) AAAAAAAAAAAAA

Orchestra piece #1 and #2 HOLY SHIT???????????????? 

Literally, the first time I listened to those I just,,,, plugged in my headphones, volume 100, layed on the floor/against my desk and silently vibed. I don’t know what the hell it is, but those two just fit so well with TP?? I still avoid listening to them nowadays cause if I DO I definitely will get overwhelmed with the “god I love this game so FUCKING MUCH” kind of feels.

Wolf link sucks at singing

the first time I heard him howling Zelda’s Lullaby I lost my shit because LKSJLDKSGLKJFSKG god that was.,, Bad. Anyways, hearing him howl some of the songs from OoT was cute :)

TP STAFF ROLL??? 

VERY GOOD. IT’s like 10 minutes long and GOD do I love every single second of it. It doesn’t have the same energy as the skyward sword staff roll or the orchestra pieces but GOD does it hit good??

Nice and calm after that big exciting adventure. Maybe it would have been more fun or emotional to have a higher energy piece but it was really nice getting to sit back and watch the camera fly around Hyrule. Seeing like, the Gorons and the Zoras having a good time, the kids returning to Ordon? GOOD SHIT.

and AAAAA that end, when you hear the main Zelda theme and see Link riding off out of Faron woods on Epona… good shit. It gets you thinking, where the hell is he going? What is he doing? Off ot do more adventuring? Going to help out the resistance or something? Going to help Zelda? Or maybe he’s trying to figure out a way to restore the mirror of twilight? Whoooo knows.

hhHHHHhhh it’s just that final reminder that YES!!! YOU JUST PLAYED A ZELDA GAME. JUST ANOTHER STORY APART OF THE WHOLE EPIC OF THE ZELDA SERIES AS A WHOLE

I also want to acknowledge the instrument/samples they used for all the twili stuff.

They’re all just so unique and contrast SO well with the rest of the TP OST. LIKE FUCK!! Anytime I hear the screech from the Twilit Kargarok? Sends a shiver down my spine. I associate those sounds SO strongly with the twili realm. (Like, the same way you associate the BSHEWW VVWWMMM sounds with light sabers)

I love it so god damn much

literally any time there’s a certain sound or motif associated with something I lose my shit

Sacred grove sacred grove sacred gro-

lovely lovely lovely so much fun playing that on the piano. AND again, I did the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme when I heard the theme from the lost woods come in GHHHHHHHH

shoutout to TP Faron Woods for helping me study and get through all of my schoolwork

BLEGUUHHH can you tell that I really love music?

and also yea I guess TP is kinda cool too :\

IF YOU READ ALL OF THAT THANKS I GUESS

#lemonspeakrr #LEMON SPEAKS 2K WORDS ABOUT TWILIGHT PRINCESS BECAUSE THEY ARE INSANE.