thinking about my splat OCs again now

I just discovered your blog and I already love it! Can I ask you what would be the favorite video games of the groups Destiny, Sea salt and Wayfinder please? What would they play or like? If that's too much feel free to reduce to the characters you like the most or ignore, it's really okay! Thank you and good vibes!

A/n: Woo just slowly gonna try and go through the requests! I added a few extra bonuses, hope you enjoy <3

Multiple KH Characters and Their Favorite Video Games!

Destiny Island Trio: 

Sora: Fighting games- preferably Smash. He mains himself main characters (Mario, Link, Kirby, FE protags). He sucks. He is the guy who button mashes and corners players to beat the hell out of them. 

Riku: Fighting games- preferably Tekken or Street Fighter. Mains Jin or Lee. Attempts to be strategic but gets way too competitive fast and is busy mashing all the buttons off the controller. 

Kairi: Way too good at fighting games. But she’d probably play lots of Pokemon or monster collecting games. She has many setups that are both competitive or just fun ones for a fun challenge. 

Sea Salt Family: 

Roxas: Persona fanboy. He hasn’t played 1-2 but he can’t pick a favorite between 3-5. Plays all the spinoffs or has someone else play them for him. His favorite characters are the protagonists. Hears jazz music and assumes this is a Persona 5 reference. 

Xion: Resident DMC and Souls-like player. Girl is a monster on the controllers despite being just being born. The way she can effortlessly combo and dodge all attacks makes her a fearsome opponent. 

Axel: Mario Kart. Axel is pretty average at video games (unless they’re like, retro or arcade) but Mario Kart? He’s on it like Donkey Kong. He mains Funky Kong. 

Saix: He has two wolves inside him- the logical gamer and the second, more absurd gamer. Sometimes he wants to unwind, so he might pick up a basic platformer like Mario or Sonic, but on the other side- he’s a menace in a Warriors game. He’s hacking and slashing. He’s killing everyone in his path. Also, he’s a completionist.  He has to get the best markings and everything. Won’t settle for less. 

Wayfinder Trio: 

Terra: Minecraft and fighting games. He tries his best lmao. He’s just got pretty big hands so often he messes up with combos but he’s also pretty impatient and tends to spam certain moves.

Aqua: Rhythm games definitely. Watch her effortlessly get all perfect scores in one try. Even the hardest OSU! map has nothing on Aqua. She also kicks ass at fighting games. 

Ventus: He likes Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and Mario Party. He always loses at almost any game against his friends though. 

Bonus Characters: 

Namine: I feel like she enjoys visual novels and Okami. She really loves aesthetic games and is a patient player. 

Xemnas: does not play video games beyond Candy Crush or Solitaire. You kids and your “Splatoons” or “Bayonettas”, go pick up an old Final Fantasy game smh. 

Xigbar: Call of Duty. Fortnite. PUBG. Overwatch. He’s a menace and plays all sorts of FPS games. His sniping abilities IRL translate very well into games. Also likes the Hitman games. 

Vexen: Bookworm and civilization manager games. He’s big on Age of Empires and is a top talent within the community. He loves playing as the Vikings or Mayans for competitive play. He’s also made many custom maps. 

Zexion: Tower Defense managers and Ace Attorney. He loves deducing the crime or finding the best way to defend his base with the minimum amount of units possible. 

Xaldin: He doesn’t play games (lie). He plays romantic visual novels. Plays all kinds of them. Otomes too. He is a lonely man. Also loves cooking games. 

Lexaeus: farming games. He just has a fun time playing Story of Seasons. Rune Factory is nice too but he prefers SoS because he loves the farming aspect more. 

Demyx: Guitar Hero. No argument. This man did all the crazy achievements and was going at it for days.

Luxord: Yeah yeah solitaire and gambling- have you considered he loves playing the Yakuza games? Well now you do. He loves the games dearly and cherishes them and likes to be the biggest Yakuza on the block. Also yeah, he plays lot of gacha games. 

Marluxia: Doesn’t really play video games, but he’d most likely play some horror games with Larxene or town management games. 

Larxene: Horror games or multiplayer games where she can troll people. Banned from multiple servers and people refuse to play with her minus Marluxia. Aesthetically though she loves Trish from DMC and thinks Vergil is number one. 

TOA Anniversary Munday!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

tagging whoever wants to do this!

Name: Pat Gem! Patrick is the full name but Pat is what I go by most often in this group.

Pronouns: he/they

Birthday (no year): September 15! Same as my beloved kitty Cassie.

Where are you from? What is your time zone?: I'm from California, PST! I was born in the Bay Area, moved to Alabama where I spent ten years as a kid, and moved back to California. That's the truncated version.

Roleplay experience: I started roleplaying on the Warrior Cats Forums in like...2010, I think? I also did private Skype rps with my best friend at the time. This lasted for 3-4 years until both fizzled out around the same time. I have some experience doing group nuzlocke rp on the nuzforums, but that also didn't last as long as I'd like. Other than some ttrpgs, I had a dry spell, and in 2019 I joined a Friends at the Table tumblr RP that would change my life. There I met Maddie and some other friends, and while the rp wasn't super active after I joined it, Maddie and I started doing rp ourselves! Finally, in late 2021, Lucius invited Maddie to TOA and I also got the invite and tagged along.

Got any pets?: Yep! Cassie and Oreo, my beloveds! Both cats, Cassie is the one with a hairdo and she's almost 4, Oreo's a year and a half and a tuxy baby.

Favorite time of year: I love when it is nice and cool but not too cold. Fall is my favorite season, personally, but really I especially enjoy not sweating to death.

Some interests and things you like: I'm a huge Pokemon fan, which I'll elaborate on later. Here though I'll say that I have a huge interest in competitive Pokemon, both singles and the official VGC circuit. I'm a big TTRPG guy! I have a lot of systems and games I like but I'll single out Fall of Magic, Jenna Moran games, the Forged in the Dark system, the Belonging Outside Belonging system, and It's Been A Long Long Time! I have an interest in speedrunning, I watch a lot of videos about it and it's fun. I love Discworld, the Terry Pratchett series. Tales of Vesperia is a game of all time. Yuri Lowell your problems disorders. Ace Attorney helped mold me as a person. Warrior cats will forever live in my heart. Bionicle also helped make me the guy I am today. 999 is a visual novel of all time. Play it and do not look it up. I actually have a huge interest in media analysis, it's something I really really enjoy talking about and researching. Splatoon my beloved. Octopath Traveler 1 and 2! I love birds and bats and lots of animals! Okay I'm running out of steam and also this is very long so I'll just stop here but there's definitely things I am forgetting.

Some funfacts & trivia about you: - I'm a library and women's and gender studies student, and hope to some day work as a librarian! For now, I'm an afterschool program associate, and I love working with the kids. - I have met Nancy Pelosi while wearing a Pokemon button up. - I've survived a tornado that started above my house. - I have finished 34 nuzlockes. - Marth was one of my first smash mains but I didn't get into Fire Emblem for years. - I have the cilantro soap gene but I like the taste of soap. - I'm physically disabled and use a cane irl! - My girlfriend used to have me blocked on Twitter. - I've made it to playoffs every single Pokemon draft league I've been in but never made it past semifinals - I was very isolated as a kid and rarely left the house. As a result, I learned my vocabulary mostly from books, as well as how I talk and emote from books and shows. I've been told I talk and act like a cartoon character, which I suppose is fair!

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play?: I play a bunch of Splatoon, probably one of the main games I play! It's very fun, and I'm a Sploosh/Custom Jr/Tentatek triple threat main who constantly hovers around S. Octopath Traveler 1 and 2 have me grabbed so hard. I am hopelessly a Pokemon guy. I play nuzlockes, casually, and competitively, and I have almost every single Pokemon and its learnset and viable competitive learnsets memorized. I am very normal about it. I also really love the Zero Escape series. I've been playing the warrior cats procgen sim ClanGen recently. I used to play a bunch of No Man's Sky, want to get back into that soon. Honestly I struggle to consistently play and finish games, and I've been trying to work on that.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: Bug; Flygon. Yes, you can combine these two to get the logical conclusion: Flygon should have been a Bug/Dragon type! It's based off the life cycle of a lacewing!!

How did you get into Fire Emblem?: I've got two stories here, one of how I almost got into Fire Emblem and how it got on my radar, and the other being how I finally got into it for real. So, in 9th grade, I had a crush on a boy who played Awakening at lunch every day. I'd talk with him and he actually offered to buy me Awakening, but I, one of the only poor kids in a rich school, was flabbergasted he would spent 40 dollars on me and felt guilty and was like are you sure? And he was like well okay if you don't want me to. I kind of wish I'd taken him up on the offer because he sucked as a person and his family was super rich but oh well. I then played the hell out of the demo. Flash forward to 2019. I'm scrolling twitter and see a friend of mine is streaming Fire Emblem Three Houses. I've seen it before, and it seems pretty fun. A lot of my friends like Fire Emblem. I watch the stream and fall in love with the characters and style of the game, and I impulse buy Three Houses. I then tell Maddie and sell them on Three Houses. Thus, it begun...

What Fire Emblem games have you played?: This is a fun and complicated question for me to answer because if you count me backseating Maddie, it's some of fe4, most of fe7, fe8, fe9, fe10, over half of fe13, some fe14, fe15, and fe16. If it's just me, that shrinks down to some fe7 and fe8, some fe9, over half of fe13, some fe15, and some fe16. I was an active participant in watching the games so it feels like a smidgen of playing them but not quite?

First Fire Emblem game: Either the Awakening demo or Three Houses.

Favorite Fire Emblem game: Shadows of Valentia, Sacred Stones, and the Tellius duology. Hard to specify a single favorite, especially depending on what we are defining favorite as.

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 : Where do I begin. I mean Lukas is like, perhaps one of my strongest ones. Though I'm also smitten with Forsyth and attracted to Python despite him being terrible boyfriend material. Recently I have been making eyes at Legault in Blazing Blade, and also playing Fates for the first time had me really surprised at how much Setsuna charmed me. Uhhh lemme think also. Christ Kent your problems disorders bewitch me. Claude you are my everything I will do anything for you. Shamir also if we are talking 3h, what a gal. Ranulf my beloved, he's got things together and he's playful and teasing and just has a great personality. Also Titania...pretty and strong and cool and just a fantastic character who I would not object to kissing on the mouth. I think i might stop here because if I keep going I am going to just take you on a tour of my numerous Fire Emblem crush tastes.

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Panne; I'd also S support Libra or Say'ri. I need to mention that my first awakening playthrough was in 2020 though so if I'd gotten it in 2013 like I almost did I'd probably have gotten married to like...Libra if I waited that long, Chrom if I messed up and got automarried, or like. Stahl or something bc he's really nice and a knight. - Fates: I have not S supported anyone in Fates yet but Setsuna and Silas I am Looking. - Three Houses: I actually never have S supported anyone in Three Houses, as I never actually finished my personal playthrough! However, my big choices are Shamir and Claude, though w the latter I just pretend that's me bc I don't do teacher/student. - Engage: Not enough experience to say who I might S support. Will get back to you.

Favorite Fire Emblem class: Do laguz/taguel/manakete count. I'm also weak for archers I shan't lie.

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class?: Oh I know I'd be one of those frail little mages who has explosive firepower and waning physical ability. Honestly being that but on a wyvern would be fun. My good friend my mobility wyvern.

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation?: Golden Deer 4ever baybee not even close.

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with?: I'll get back to this, I'm not sure if I have the info I need to make an informed choice. My first thought is that I would love to have Ike chilling with me though, Ike my good friend Ike.

How did you find TOA?: Lucius invited Maddie, and Maddie invited me! I was roleplaying Forsyth with Maddie's Python 1on1 at the time and the idea of a group RP was very appealing to me, despite me being swamped with work and school and health issues at the time. I'm so glad I made the leap!

Current TOA muses: Forsyth and Leanne!

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again?: Forsyth! I don't see myself dropping him unless his narrative here is done, really.

Have you had any other TOA muses?: Oh Ranulf...I had a very fun time with him, but I just was not in the state to handle three muses and having two muses has been much more manageable, so he's probably not coming back for a while.

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards?: I tend to write very earnest characters, especially in a group RP setting. I've pushed my comfort zone before, but characters who express themselves very openly and intensely are my bread and butter. Characters who wear their hearts on their sleeves, for better or worse.

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most?: Hard to say, but honestly I really enjoy writing relationships, and the ways in which they shift and change over time. I really like character-focused writing the most, emotions and thoughts and such, and exploring the connections between characters! This feels like a silly answer, but it's what I'm feeling!

Favorite TOA-related memory: Oh man this is a hard one. Hard to choose so I'll just pick one that came to mind which is Leanne and Vaida's bizarre adventure in Queen's Compass. What a good event that was, blows a kiss to the sky for Zyra. I'm also a huge fan of everything involving Forsyth's Jugdral meddling and the narrative impact of his deaths in KKE. There are so many funny little experiences and memories that stick with me forever, really.

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔: Tee-oh-ay! Pronouncing it as a word is the same as Toa from Bionicle and to keep them distinct in my mind I sound it out.

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day that you’d like to share? 😉: The world if I could handle three muses...Legault scratching at my door. Ranulf also scratching at my door. Blows a kiss to the guys I would enjoy playing but don't have the time and energy for.

hi izzy!!!!! how was kcon?????? im sad i couldnt go in person this year but i can't wait to watch the replay some time!! for the ask game: 🎵 + 🎧 + 🌟 for skz please!! <3

omg hi siyuan!! I hope you’re doing alright! 💜🫂 kcon was A-MA-ZING!!! I had the best time this weekend all three concerts were great and I got to see so many ppl and I was happy bc I got to see some acts I wanted to but hadn’t seen yet (wayv, everglow, g-idle) :D

I lost my mind over taemin and cried hahaha but I was also happy to see the boyz again and see the new sub unit omg omg I can’t believe how sexy their song is 😭😭😭 (I also thought of you when I saw jacob and his cute fluffy bucket hat haha) AND itzyyyy I love them so so much I know I HAVE to see them whenever they come on tour again I also enjoyed some of the opening pre-show groups too (I’m so happy I got to see verivery again 🥹🥹🥹 it’s been so long <3333) seeing ateez and skz again tho was also my highlight!! I finally got to see pirate king which made me so happy bc I’ve been an atiny with my mom since debut so it meant a lot! AND I MANIFESTED SUPER BOWL FOR SKZ!! it was all I asked for (my mom and some friends are my witnesses lololol) this kcon I just wanted to see super bowl live and I got it hehehehe 🙈🙈 but I’m so glad I got to see the new title tracks for skz and ateez (s-class and bouncy)

overall I had a lot of fun even tho my mom and I got hit with rain since day 3 concert was in the middle of a storm lololol (eric and chris both told us thank you for coming in the storm and to be safe 🥹) I really had fun this kcon I was sad it was over but I met some nice ppl and had good seats all 3 days down on the first floor it was so cool to be so close on all days 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 I’ll def post some pictures soon once I’ve gone through my videos

I’ll do the game underneath the cut bc I rambled a bit 😂😂 hope you’ve been well siyuan sending you love and hugs

🎵 recommend a song based on your vibe/blog

I think I’ll recommend make me happy by wheein, 19 by skz, and connected by bang chan (I feel like those match my really chills vibes for my blog and also my love for chris LOL)

(also bonus bc I know this isn’t kpop but I think this song goes with the vibe of my blog too but it isn’t kpop so it just gets an honorable mention lol)

🎧 put one of my kpop playlists on shuffle and share the first song that plays

so I don’t have like a big multi kpop playlist anymore (it got too big for my liking 😂) I just assign them to groups (I am trying to make a gg playlist soon tho bc I think it’ll all be better in one playlist) so since you picked skz for the other one I just went to my skz playlist and shuffled it. it gave me circus - kr version hahaha 😂👏🏼 I love circus tbh the mischievous/video game vibes are immaculate for me (the sound in the beginning reminds me a lot of splatoon lol)

🌟 send w/ a group, and I’ll talk about my favorite era, concept, and/or album

thank you for sending skz siyuan!! <3333 so I think my favorite era was god’s menu and maybe maniac era now too. reasons being 2020 skz is one of my favorite years for them, and also they helped me a lot to get through the start of the pandemic. maniac era is my other favorite bc it was the start of my love with the maniac tour (I ended up going to the maniac tour 7 times through 2022-23 and each time it was magical and I’m so happy and blessed I got to see them so many times 🥰)

favorite concept for them I believe is a mix between the apocalyptic stuff they’ve done like side effects and scars (and now social path) and I also love the chill and/or cozy vibes they’ve had in things like fnf, the view, blueprint and tmt and things like that. I like when they do mvs like that a lot

favorite album is hard—and you may know that already—for me but I think again GO LIVE is still my favorite album of theirs and also I’ll mention I Am Who?, ODDINARY, and 5 STAR now

im really liking story mode and splatoon 2 in general so far, and i just got to the 4th area, so here are some random thoughts i have on it in no particular order.

I rlly like that Marie is basically the only other character here. I may be biased cuz she's my second fav character (shiver is number one ofc) but i just rlly like her commentary. But not have Callie here to also say random stuff is kinda sad..... Like at first i was like yessss lets go only Marie(no offense, i love callie). But i miss her :(

I may be one of the few sheldon enjoyers as someone who actually likes reading all his dialogue, so i appreciate him also being here.

THIS IS HARD. I know i suck at video games... but some of these levels just feel so LONG. And making me fight enemy octolings with a charger is evil. Anyway yeah i need some easier levels spread out between these like splat 3 had. Cuz this is..... not good. I have to keep taking breaks cuz the long levels do be mentally taxing. Like hello this is funny squid game i cant be bad at smth intended for kids. I havent straight up failed a level yet but ive come close.

Hello?????? The ruins of ark whatever its called salmon run map is so cool????? Why dont we have this in splat 3 yet. Its so fun.

speaking of salmon run, not being able to throw eggs or have the movement of splat 3 is so cursed. like, what do u mean thats not a thing????

Yeah the not being able to do the lil charge thing up wallls is so unsatistfying.....

I had to play as a guy cuz i wanted my splat 3 hair. (the ponytail) which i dont usually care about in games, but the girl inklings have cuter voices.... Oh well i am a dude now lol. Luckily gender is a game to me so i dont actually care other than the voice difference

Pearl and Marina my beloveds.... HOW COME WE DONT DONT GET STAGE SPECIFIC DIALOUGE IN SPLAT 3????? not only do deep cut not get many chances to speak in story mode they also have repetitive news segments...... so sad.. its ok i still love them. But yeah i love these funny creechurs. why are they like that. they say so many insane things. pearl and marina are so funky :D

Forcing me to use the hero charger for certain levels is so evil and messed up. I only like dualies, rollers, and sometimes brella. They cant do this to me.. I cannot aim....

As with splat 3 i am enamored with the backgrounds in the story mode levels themselves. i love just wasting like 5 mins just staring at them. I want to make literally any of them my desktop background but idk how to get a good pic of them.... man especially the upside down city looking one in 3. its so pretty and just UGH ITS SO GOOOD/

I am so poor..... what do u mean clothes cost money/?? i have to play the game??? all i want is to dress up my funny lil squid... i need a splatoon spinoff that is just a casual game thats like a dress up/room decoration game. maybe w like a cooking minigame too. thats ideal. like animal crossing or smth but squids. Shooting ppl is stressful.... (dont ask me why i play splatoon if i dont like combat cuz its scary. i couldnt tell u)

WHY ARE ALL THE INK COLORS IN THIS GAME SO MUCH PRETTIER THAN THE SPLAT 3 ONES???? ITS NOT FAIR. Some of these blue's are so pretty... i want...

none of the multiplayer maps have rlly stuck out to me in any way. Like they all just kinda feel the same lol. I think like maybe one or two i thought were cool? but idk the names. i def like the aesthetic of a lot of them.

I wanna just try all the weapons and specials but noooooo i gotta level up. just gimme everything ok

i also wanna explore the stages but as far as i know there isnt recon. I was just gonna do a private battle but turns out u cant do those w one person. And i was so excited cuz there were splatfest stages availbe too...... so sad i just wanna check out the maps but idk how to/if i can do that.....

the amount of times ive fallen off the map in the main level select area of story mode is more than i can count. its not even funny at this point

I also just cannot find some of the scrolls/sardines in some levels despite playing them mulitiple times. Not to just expose myself as incompetent over and over today, but i am 100% gonna need to look up a guide cuz i do not have the patience for this.

Also the rhythm game is surprisingly one of my fav things so far??? Like i am having the most fun ever with this thing. I want it in splat 3 so bad w all the new songs. Its actually just so fun. Like idk maybe better than story mode somehow. Maybe i just have my priorities wrong tho lol

Anyway yeah tats all i have 2 say for now... I think. idk im having fun w the game so yeah

What other Nintendo franchises did you lose interest in?

Not often people actually want to hear this stuff, I just want to remind anyone reading this that somebody asked for my opinion, so keep that in mind before you say i'm being whiny, I keep this shit to myself for the most part unless someone asks... anyway...

Pokemon is one but I don't need to beat that dead horse again. I think Splatoon probably held the record for going stale, Splatoon 2 felt pretty much like the exact same game as splatoon 1 but with a few things from splatoon 1 missing. And Splatoon 3 looks like more of the same again. When people post videos of Splatoon 3 I can't tell anything that's different about it from Splatoon 2. Feels like a game that should have waited a generation and Splatoon 2 could have just got a hefty expansion, or maybe instead of a new mainline game, Splatoon coulda made it's first spinoff.

Animal Crossing is kinda getting there too but being able to decorate outside went a really long way with New Horizons. I think some of the more important updates took too long to get here though, I got tired of playing when they introduced the ability to decorate our residents homes, which was one of my most wanted features since my fave villager Paula still has her same shitty starter home from day 1. New Horizons really turned it around but I REALLY want the next Animal Crossing to be different.

Yoshi is another one. Too easy. Too much Yoshi Story influence in both the art style and the music. It gradually got more papercrafty. I just don't care for the direction they've taken Yoshi as a character after the SNES era. He feels like he should be on Sesame Street now.

Kirby... ehhh... I can't say I've lost interest, because I really want to play Forgotten Land. I just think there are only so many times I can be wowed by "cute pink puff sees Dedede doing bad things but surprise surprise, Dedede was innocent and an ancient dark god was behind it all", like this is exactly the thing people were getting tired of with Sonic, why is it okay when Kirby does it? I don't want dedede to be a villain again, I'm just tired of the stakes being that high all the time, give me a break once in a while, give me more Superstar level stuff... also I don't think the gameplay gimmicks they've been adding add anything of value, they mostly slow the pace at best and are clunky and make the game less fun at worst. Also none of the spinoffs have ever looked fun to me.

I don't think there's anything else i'm losing interest in, there may be stuff i'm more indifferent to these days but my investment in them was never strong to begin with, like I guess Pikmin, I like the first game, never got a chance to play the 2nd game, and thought the third one was just okay.

My Intro/Pinned!!

I finally made a proper introduction for my account! Please read if you want, it’s not required.

I’ve also made a multi-bandom account: @bandom-schmandom

Please enjoy my into!

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[ 🦊 ] The Basics ;;

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Name: Sparrow

Birthday: October 17th

Sexuality: Bisexual (No Preference)

Gender: Non-Binary

Pronouns: They/Them

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Personality Type: INFP

Zodiac/Star Sign: Libra

Hobbies: Art, Reading, Writing, Listening to Music, Playing Video Games

[ ☕️ ] Things I Like ;;

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Bands & Artists: KISS, My Chemical Romance, Megadeath, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Flamingos in the Tree, ABBA, Palaye Royale, OMOcat, Jack Stauber, Mac Demarco… (there’s a lot more but those are the ones I can think of right now)

Video Games: Splatoon 2/3, Hastune Miku: Colorful Stage, Space Leaper Cocoon, OMORI, Cookie Run, Roblox

Books: The Scarlet Letter, Cucumber Quest, Harry Potter, Homestuck

Other Things: Internet Icebergs, Talking W/IRL Friends, Cluttercore, Nostalgia, Graphic Novels, Pinterest, MY MUTUALS <3333

[ ☣️ ] Extra About Me ;;

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- I’m in waaaaayyyyy too many fandoms/bandoms to count

- My music taste is pretty open

- All my current IRL friends are guys (who I love to death)

- I’m actually a furry!! Been in the fandom for 5+ years

- I enjoy writing fanfic, specifically fluff & one shots

- I have a sister and two brothers

- ^^ also i have two cats and two dogs

- I would do almost anything to meet any member of KISS

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Thank you for reading my intro, I really appreciate it! Please follow me if you like any of the thing I do, or just want to be mutuals. I’ll see you around, bye-bye!! <3

my interests;

beanie babies - I’ve been collecting them for a little over a year now, I post every time I get some new ones ^-^

pusheen - I’ve had an obsession since seventh grade but I started collecting some merch around three years ago!! it’s so expensive tho nfndnf so far I have a lot of teddy bears, a blanket, a mug, and a shirt! and I’ll probs get a tattoo of pusheen and stormy one day >-< (edit from future myr: I indeed have a pusheen and stormy tattoo)

animal crossing new horizons - 1000+ hours yeah… im onto my third island now, I should start posting stuff about it sometime soon, when it looks the way I want it to! I’ll often reblog acnh related stuff :3

other video games - oh the brainrot is SOOOO REAL. Other games / franchises I might post about are Sonic, Kirby, Splatoon, Legend of Zelda, Pokemon Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and I think those r my main ones but I’ll probs add some in the future :3

winter - best season only season! You’ll often see me reminiscing about cold weather / awaiting the return of it. will often reblog anything that has to do with snow

2000s toys / nostalgia - grew up during this time so I’m often prone to reblogging stuff about it! digicam pictures from back then, outfits and popular toys (lps, monster high, mlp, sillybandz, everything and anything really)

miniature teacups - I must post my collection some day… (update - i have!) my smallest one is about the size of the nail on my pinky

sewing - I love hemming and adjusting n all the things like that. I make garments sometimes but not often, I find they require a lot of work and resources n also I always end up messing up bc I cut corners jfkdbf

writing - I don’t do it often and enough and I haven’t had the chance to as of recent due to some poor mental and physical health :o hopefully I’ll be back on it soon!

80s décor - gross and grimy 80s rooms. ugly tiles and bold gold trims… that one shade of pink… too many florals. it’s where I reside

Any kind of design / interior design - esp 80s-90s for interior, but I’m a big fan of architecture and design and just building overall so I post a lot about that sort of stuff!

this is a list of appreciations, comprised of various things that I could remember. perhaps I’ll add more stuff some day :3

I don't know if I'm writing this post out for anyone really, I think I just need to see it written out. Mario In Review is set to finish March 10th, and I really don't want to take a break. I mean, I really, really do, but also really really don't at the same time. So I've been hard at work* writing scripts to fit into this gap in scheduling. *trying and bashing my head against writers block So after MIR I think I'm going to try and get a review about Tunic out. I think I know what I want to talk about, but I'm having a really hard time writing it all down. Even me writing this is to procrastinate writing the actual script, although I made decent progress today having now finished Two(2) whole paragraphs. Then I want to do a review of the 1993 seminal hit Super Mario Bros, and the scheduling works out perfectly so the next video can be a review of the 2023 probably questionable but undoubtedly financial hit Super Mario Bros After that's more of a wash. I've got ideas for Psychonauts 1 and 2. Splatoon 3's single player. And I'd like to write about how Lil' Gator Game takes inspiration from Breath of the Wild while incorporating it in a much smaller scale game.

Different topic, I just started watching the second part of Jojo Stone Ocean after putting it off for some reason. I always forget how much I love JoJo until I'm watching it, but man is it some good Anime. Definitely gonna talk about it on my pod next week Also today I got my final part to what will soon be my new PC, so tomorrow I think I'm gonna try and "build a PC" which is still incredibly scary to me.

And I just realized that as of tomorrow I've been making Youtube videos for 2 years now. February 3rd I released my 2020 GOTY video, a couple weeks later I put out a video on the Paradise Killer soundtrack, an album I am listening to literally right now as I'm writing this. And I wasn't entirely consistent that first year, but as of January 22nd 2022 I've kept a consistent schedule of every other week (except for Christmas where I went a week early, and now I'm going to weekly again, plus I started a podcast in there too) But other than one week where I missed a podcast I've been remarkably consistent. I think that's a big part of the reason why I want to get a video out in between Mario In Review and the Mario Movies Reviews. Even though I'll have been going weekly for 6 weeks I want to keep to the base schedule. Also just in general I've spoiled myself by having so many videos done in advance, now knowing I only have a little over a month to finish the next feels, I dunno, bad. This is tangential but I've started receiving more thumbs downs on my videos than before. Someone disliked my 21 GOTY, and my most recent podcast. And as it turns out dislikes really suck. There's literally nothing I can take away. Did those people just not like me? Did they not like my opinions? Did they not like my production? Cannot say, it's just a number. But a number that I wish didn't affect me as much as it does. I think in the end I'm just telling myself I need to keep doing it, but it's certainly disheartening.

I think that's enough of that. To recap, Mario in review for the next 6 weeks, then bi-weekly hopefully a video (about Tunic, maybe lil Gator Game), then the Mario Movies. And I'll keep doing the podcast for now too. Okay bye!!!!!

all my fandoms

ahhhhh i wanted to put down all the fandoms im in so that people know, so here it is!

• pokémon - i casually watch the anime and read the manga on occasion, but im REALLY into the games. im mostly focused on gen 3, 5, 7, and 8, but i love all of them ahhHH, im super into everything that has to do with interpol. ive been playing since february 2018 but only got into the fandom around january 2019. my favorite characters are looker, anabel, elesa, platina, emma, and hop

• kpop - im a multistan but twice is my ult group and i love them SO much, the only one that comes close is loona. ive been a fan of twice since feb 2019 and a fan of loona since feb 2020 but i only got really into them at the beginning of the summer. my twice (and ult) bias is sana, my 1/3 bias is vivi, my oec bias is jinsoul, my yyxy bias is chuu, and my overall loona bias is yeojin

those are my main two fandoms but the rest will be under read more! all my fandoms will be in the tags but this is just like extra info

• splatoon - ive been playing splatoon since august 2019 and i love it! im not really great with the events of the main story or manga, but i know all the characters and LOVE octo expansion. my favorite characters are callie, marina, and agent 8

• six the musical - i literally just got into it yesterday but i LOVE it. my favorite queen is kate howard but anne boleyn is a close second. also why does everyone ignore jane i love her????

• club penguin - okay hear me out, club penguin has LORE. ive been playing it since i was 5 years old. i wrote club penguin fanfiction when i was 7. i highkey wanna rewrite it and post it here but im afraid of being judged hhhhhh. but yeah stan club penguin. its fun.

• animal crossing - ive been playing since december 2018 and im a lot more casual now but i love it! my favorite villager is rosie, i used to hate her but now shes my favorite 🥺 theres a whole backstory to that and its pretty crazy, if this gets like more than 5 notes ill tell it here

• ddlc - im not really into it anymore but i like it. i started watching playthroughs like june 2019.

• love letter - this game is gonna slap just yall wait

• frozen - don't judge me pls, i rlly like it, i dont know much about the term "kinning" but i feel like it would be appropriate to say i kin anna, again pls dont judge me

• undertale/deltarune - i feel like the cringe culture around this died off (i think cringe culture died off in general, hopefully) so yeah, ive played deltarune many times and im near the end of undertale rn, its fun! im a pacifist of course, but i am trying genocide on another save file.

• danganronpa - i dont know much about it but my friend got me into it and i like it! she wants me to watch playthroughs but im more interested in the anime ngl. my favorite character is kyoko kirigiri

• this is just a list of the other groups i stan and my biases in them. itzy (yuna and lia), stray kids (still figuring this out but either minho, jisung, or jeongin), blackpink (rosé and jisoo), purple kiss (im so hyped for their debut, idk my bias yet but my favorite mini solo was ireh's. swan has the same personality type as i do and my ult bias has that personality type too, so itll most likely be swan), red velvet (irene and joy), momoland (i dont rlly stan them much but my bias is jooe, shes the reason i knew about kpops existence. i saw that legendary tropicana commercial. in a way, using law of syllogism, that video saved my life), somi (shes a soloist so i mean i guess,,, yeah.), weeekly (idk my bias yet but im leaning toward monday), iz*one (not a huge stan but my bias is nako), bts (a very lowkey army, my bias is taehyung), gfriend (yerin), stella jang (STAN HER SHES SO TALENTED)

• the cult on youtube that watches people make those tiny japanese candy kit things

• idk if this counts but i watch jaiden animations and odds one out

Splat 2 Charger Tips

This post was inspired by @skyplayssplatoon who recently made some tip posts to help out the community

Control Settings - For chargers, a lower sensitivity is usually better in order to keep your aim steady. My personal settings are -2 for motion control sensitivity and +2 for R stick sensitivity. Just like any weapon, test with different settings to see what works best for you. 

 (Sorry analog stick users, I’m not very experienced with those types of controls, if any charger mains want to give their settings in the replies it would be appreciated)

Aiming TIps - Try to practice aiming in the training room before going into any matches. It doesn’t need to be for very long and you don’t need to hit all your targets, but it helps bring your muscle memory back if you haven't touched a charger in awhile or you’ve been using other weapons. 

- If you have the time, change up your aiming practice in the training room too. Don’t just practice shots while standing still. Shoot while moving, from above, from below, while jumping off of ledges etc. These routines may seem tedious, but the practice will stick over time and will make your aim more consistent. 

- Snapping onto your targets is a useful and flashy method for getting kills. This video is a great example of what snapping looks like. However, for less experienced charger players, it’s a bad habit to pickup early on and can actually hinder your aim if you try to rely on it. 

Survival Tips - Splat 1 veterans will remember right-side peeking. The same logic still applies to Splat 2 and is pretty important when you’re facing other chargers. For those that don’t know, this helpful Splat 1 video by Squidkids will explain,

- A lot of chargers panic when enemies get into shooting distance. This usually results in a lot of panicked shots that don’t do a lotta damage. When players are close, try to calm down and hit the target with 2 semi-charged shots (i forget about this one too, so don’t worry if this doesn’t stick right away)

- Scoped chargers have a 5% increase to their range, but don’t get the ability to hold their charge. They also lose their field of vision when they zoom in. Try not to stay zoomed in for too long, because you may not see any enemies trying to sneak up on you.

- BOMBS. Chargers with bombs are godlike (imo). They’re the most useful and readily available method of keeping enemies away from you when they get too close. A tip @radiogirl15 taught me was to aim the bomb around your feet when you think you’re going to die. You’d be surprised with how many kills you can get when squiddos and octos aren’t expecting it. 

- Don’t be afraid to jump back to spawn. Chargers will find themselves in a pinch more often than not. As you practice, try to learn when to stand your ground and when to fight another day. It doesn’t take much Quick Super Jump to make this effective either. 1 or 2 subs can make a huge difference, try it out sometime!

(Secret tip, try this out in recon mode. Hold Down on the control pad (like you’re saying Booyah!) and quickly press X then A. If you do this correctly, you can superjump back to spawn without even opening up the map! If you want a clearer explanation of this, just ask in the replies or I can setup a video after this post)

Abilities - Similar to settings, abilities are up to player preference. They’re also dependent on what kinda charger you’re playing. There are a ton of chargers in the game now (; ;) so I’ve put the list underneath 

(Also, remember that abilities in Splatoon operate in diminishing returns. Try not to stack more than 1 main and 3 subs of any given ability and give your gear some variety!)

Note: These abilities are just recommendations and are not set in stone. Find out what works best for your own playstyle. Chargers that are empty have the same recommended abilities as their siblings for the same reasons. 

Splat Charger - Ink Saver Main (2 subs can allow you to shoot an extra charged shot from a full ink tank) 

-Ink Saver Sub (BOMBS)

-Ink Recovery Up (Less time in in the ink, more time shooting)

-Swim Speed Up (Helps your survivability, by making you more mobile)

-Quick Super Jump (1-2 subs, i dont wanna be a nag, but i love it)

-Special Charge Up / Special Saver (Mostly used for ranked, Stingray is useful in Rainmaker and Tower Control)

Firefin Splat Charger - 

Special Charge Up / Special Saver (Suction Bomb Rush is good for Splat Zones and Turf War)

Kensa Splat Charger - 

Special Charge Up / Special Saver (Optional for this charger, since Sprinklers helps you get your special really quickly)

Special Power Up (A better replacement for Special Charge Up, 1 main and 3 subs recommended to keep your baller intact in most situations)

Classic Squiffer - Main Power Up (1 main and 2 subs can increase your range to about the same length as a Goo Tuber) 

Swim Speed Up (This charger has the shortest rage out of its class. It benefits from higher mobility to get within distance and run away cause enemies will closer most of the time)

Quick Super Jump

New Squiffer - 

Special Power Up (Use for the same reasons as the Kensa Splat Charger)

Fresh Squiffer - 

Ink Saver Sub (The suction bomb is pretty ink greedy, so some Ink Saver Sub comes in handy) (The other 2 Squiffers have less ink greedy subs so they don’t need the ability as much)

Special Power Up (2 subs to 1 main is recommended because it increases the splash damage from your inkjet shots - makes it easier to land shots basically)

-The 3 Squiffers are pretty flexible and are mostly up to personal preference when it comes to which abilities you want to run

E-liter 4K - Main Power Up (1 main or 1 main and 1 sub is recommended, the increased turf coverage can help build up special quickly too)

Swim Speed Up (Since heavyweight weapons were buffed in patch 4.3.0 it doesn’t take as much swim speed up its weight class) (recommended amount from as few as 2 subs to 1 main 3 subs)

Ink Saver Main (2 subs grants one more fully charged shot with a full ink tank, 1 main grants two more fully charged shots with a full ink tank)

Special Charge Up (When you use your special, your ink tank automatically refills) (Use your specials wisely in order to keep your ink tank in the green)

Ink Resistance Up (With low mobility, this weapon can suffer from being stuck in enemy ink) (1-2 subs is recommended)

Ink Recovery Up (This weapon needs a lottttttt of ink)

Quick Super Jump

Custom E-liter 4K - 

Ink Saver Sub (Optional, but beakons are expensive)

Sub Power Up (Help your teammates out by getting them to your beakons faster) (If they use your beakons lol)

Special Power Up (Patch 4.6.0 buffed special up for bubbles so you don’t need as much) (2 subs to 1 main of special power up is recommended) 

Bamboozler 14 Mk I - Main Power Up (2 mains and 7 subs / or 3 mains and 4 subs will get you to the damage cap of 99.9 damage)

Ink Saver Sub (The curling bomb is a useful mobility option and if you hold the bomb it can make a great defensive option)

Ink Resistance Up (The bamboozler is the only charger that doesn’t make complete lines of ink when it isn’t fully charged) (You’re bound to get stuck sometime so this ability comes in handy)

Quick Super Jump

Bamboozler 14 Mk II - 

Ink Saver Sub (The sub isn’t as threatening or ink greedy so not highly recommended for this version)

Bamboozler 14 Mk III - 

Special Power Up (Like the Custom E-liter, use it to increase the size and damge radius of your bubbles)

Goo Tuber - Special Charge Up (Splashdown is a good panic special that can take enemies by surprise when they get too close) (Having the special more often helps especially)

Ink Saver Sub (Gee suction bomb! Why do you get 70% of the ink tank?)

Swim Speed Up (With more time to hold a charge, having more speed grants you more opportunities to utilize this unique ability)

Quick Super Jump

Custom Goo Tuber - 

Special Power Up (Same with the New Squiffer, helps with the inkjet)

Scoped Variants -  Same recommended abilities as their unscoped variants. 

this is an ask based thingy but im really in the mood to infodump so im just gonna answer them all under the cut !

Favorite video game?

starting off with the absolute hardest question huh? i can’t possibly name ONE favorite game of mine because i adore my favorites for many different reasons. my overall favorite video game is ffxv or botw. ffxv because it has brought me so much joy for such a long time, and because i have such a connection with the characters. botw because i was actually in the fandom when it first got announced in 2016 so i got to be there when the hype was at an all time high– and finally being able to play the game after waiting for so long was an unforgettable experience. i have more favorite games but ill talk more about them in the ‘’special place in ur heart’’ question.

First console you owned?

my first console wasn’t a console. my friend and i used to play on her nintendo dsi all the time and at one point tiny little me reeeally wanted one of my own so i saved up and got one in [redacted] when i was 7. my first actual console was a wii though, we got that around the same time.

A game that holds a special place in your heart?

ffxv and botw mean the absolute world to me, but super mario galaxy and skyward sword are very important to me too. skyward sword is the game that got me into zelda which got me into anime which got me into final fantasy etc etc etc.  super mario galaxy was the first non-mini game collection and more adventure story-ish game i played. i was so proud when i beat it for the first time and mario was my first ever ‘’fandom’’ :’) 

Favorite video game character?

bro. i cant pick just one so i’ll choose one per game : prompto, ryuji and link. they were all my comfort characters at some point and i projected like crazy onto them. this doesnt mean that i wouldnt absolutely die for noct or zelda. 

Least favorite video game character?

i dont think theres anyone i distinctly dislike? i always talk about hating ardyn but that’s because he’s just a salty bitch. as a character i think he’s a great villain and i rly love him. i honestly always end up liking everyone somehow, maybe there is someone i just forgot about but i cant remember at all. 

Favorite genre?

adventure games, or action rpgs. 

Video game character you’ve had a crush on?

every character ever, but i distinctly remember the moment i fell in love with prompto sjghfkshd i was watching a playthrough of xv in december 2016 because i didnt have a ps4, and the guy got to the scene in galdin quay where the bros learn insomnia fell. i had watched about 6 hours of the game by that time and wasn’t particularly interested in the characters but not uninterested enough to drop it. i hadnt even gotten a good look at the characters faces yet, so when the camera zoomed in on prompto when he said ‘’might not be save for us here!’’ i noticed he had freckles. oh god. oh fuck. oh my god hes fucking cute. oh my god better watch 30 hours of this game now

First video game you remember playing?

wayyy before i got my own gaming systems, my then-best friend had a gamecube in her attic. i was around 5 or 6 at the time. whenever i was over at her house and we didnt know what to do, she’d sometimes propose to play ‘’mario kart’’. important is that we are dutch, and i was a literal child. i thought mario KART meant it was a fucking card game, so i always declined whenever she asked. on one fateful day, i finally gave in and was pleasantly surprised it was in fact not a card game, but a viddy game. so we played mario kart double dash. (…i had never played a video game in my life besides browser flash games and was Very Very bad)

Age you started gaming?

so i played my first video game that i didnt own when i was about 5 or 6. then i got my first supply of games at age 7/8, but i dont really consider that time to be when i started ‘’gaming’’. i’d say that was when i started mario galaxy, so i’ve been playing video games for real (ie. story adventure games with boss battles) for about 6 years now.

Hardest video game you’ve played?

this is gonna sound stupid, but the witcher 3. there’s like 7 difficulties and i played on the EASIEST and still had a hard time, i just couldnt get used to the combat. i had the same problem with assassin’s creed syndicate, but after about 10 hours i actually knew what i was doing, and ive played the witcher longer than that and still am clueless. this is kind of an unpopular opinion but i dont particularly like that game

Video game you’ve spent the most time on?

i guess i am what you’d call a casual gamer; i really like video games but during a normal school week i only game for like 2-6 hours. most of the time i dont play for like 2 weeks if im busy. gaming has kind of taken over my life not because i play so much but because i get so emotionally invested lol i’m currently on summer break and even now im not playing a lot because of exhaustion and executive dysfunction. this derailed slightly but the game i’ve played the most despite my casual gamer status is …. … …. ffxv. surprise, right? the runner up is botw, but xv wins by a landslide. 630+ hours. botw is 350. my main save in ffxv is almost 200 hours i think. damn. i really managed to keep myself entertained with that game… (………i was thinking recently, since the loading screens in xv are so long, how much of this total amount was spent watching screens. i imagine it’s several hours, especially if you fast travel a lot.)

Most embarrassing gaming moment?

many moments in my gaming experience are embarrassing, but a more recent one: i was in xv’s postgame, beating some dungeons on my new save file. i had just finished daurell caverns and hadn’t saved in about 2 hours. (uh oh) i was driving around in the regalia type d and got to the big cliff near lestallum, and remembered someone made a gif of jumping in there so i wanted to try it too. i imagined the game would just put me back on the road, like it does when you crash into something. except it didnt. i got a game over. where was my last save? 2 hours back all the way in hammerhead. yippee.

Scariest video game you’ve played?

i never play horror games, cuz for me games are supposed to be relaxing experiences. no hate towards horror games of course, they just stress me out. the only time ive played horror is when friday the 13th was for free on ps+, and my friends really wanted to play it. (theyre kinda addicted to it now. huh) they had already gotten over the initial fear of having jason chase you, but i was still terrified. i can play the game without getting scared now tho. the horror sound effects just rly freaked me out at first jhsdkghsd

Most memorable gaming moment?

playing breath of the wild for the first time, or beating it for the first time. both experiences were filled to the brim with excitement and nostalgia. seeing botw as a blank slate, a world for you to explore, having no idea where you’re going… that was pretty incredible. now i know every nook and cranny of the map, so i wish i could play it for the first time again. i was so incredibly immersed. beating it was insane. i cried for 30 minutes and the end wasnt even sad, i was just so amazed at the fact that i was really here, playing breath of the wild, it was really real. the fucking main theme in the background (which i cannot for the life of me listen to without crying) didnt help with my emotions sgkdjh

Video game character you wish you could meet in real life?

…………..its prompto again. maybe 2017 me …. was .. kind of a kinnie

PC, Xbox, Playstation, or Nintendo?

i dont care about console wars at all, but i think hardware-wise, pc is the best, because if you have a good pc you can basically do anything. i however do not, so i just play on consoles. ive never particularly liked xbox, so i only play ps4 and nintendo. not the switch though. its kinda petty, but my best friend and i really dont like the switch djghks

Gaming company you’re most loyal to?

none. i used to call myself a nintendo nerd (oh my god…. i m. gonna die) in like 2015 but since the switch came out and since i got a ps4 they kinda lost me. i still like their game series of course, but as a company i don’t care for them. the only reason i see square enix as one of ‘’my’’ gaming companies is because ffxv took up like 70% of my gaming experience, but besides final fantasy i don’t really love them too much either.

If you could only play one video game for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

atm i’m really into ffxiv because theres just so much to do, but that’s just a new, possibly temporary interest. if i had to choose, i’d say botw. maybe i’d say ffxv, but i feel like running around doing nothing in that game isnt very fun, because the world is sorta empty after completing every quest and getting to level 120. in botw, just fucking around on your horse is still really relaxing and nice. 

Do you use strategy guides?

yup. in certain games i try to avoid them but i usually end up stuck or in need of advice. i couldn’t have gotten so many p5 trophies if not for the internet lol

How often do you use cheats?

never, simply because the games i play often do not have cheats. unless im playing the sims and are in need of a motherlode, i dont use them.

Competitive or single player?

single player. im bad at video games and like to do stuff at my own pace. online multiplayer can be fun every now and then in games like mario kart 8 or splatoon, and i also like teamwork stuff like ffxiv or comrades. but ultimately, i prefer playing on my own.

Video game character you want to/have cosplayed?

have never cosplayed, dont have plans to either, but it would be fun to cosplay link. omg. i just remembered i have that fucking chocomoogle shirt… sorry link im gonna slap on some sasuke hair, black jeans and ugly sneakers 

Ever go to a video game convention?

i have not, i have however gone to three (3) video game concerts which is basically the same thing. 

Hardest boss fight you’ve been in?

the hardest bosses for me are usually the ones with a gimmick. you have to use a certain item or tactic to beat them or something. other hard fights for me are when you fight someone with a similar skill set. (in ffxv, this happens twice, once with the iggy-noct sparring match and once against ardyn. somehow, the final boss was easier than getting the prince to eat vegetables.) i don’t know an actual example of THE hardest boss fight ive been in though. at the time, the first bowser battle in mario galaxy was the hardest thing in the universe and i got stuck for like a month. currently, i’m having trouble with the riku-ansem fight in kh1. 

Video game you wish you could burn from your memory?

the zelda cdi games? no, i dont really know. i dont hate a game so much that i’d want to forget about it altogether, but i dont exactly love ocarina of time that much. it hasnt aged well and playing it on the gamecube for the first time in 2015 wasnt a good idea. im sure it was revolutionary at the time, but i cant handle the outdated controls gsdgksjs 

Favorite gaming series?

see, i love ffxv itself more than the entirety of the zelda series, but i dont love ff as a SERIES more than the zelda games. so if were talking series, zelda for sure. i fucking love those games and they mean a lot to me. 

Do you skip tutorials, or find them useful?

i often skip them because i cant pay attention, but then find that i need them anyway. so i usually do skim through them. 

Best online gaming experience?

one really good one happened a few days ago in ffxiv, some guy and i exchanged emotes for like 30 minutes and it ended with us becoming friends on psn :’) ppl dont usually emote back at me in that game so this was really wholesome and nice gjshksdj 

Worst online gaming experience?

i dont really have a worst? theyre more annoying. think try harders in gta online killing you 15 times in a row because they want to show you how good they are or something. magically, online gaming hasnt been too hard on me (mainly because i dont game online that much)

Why do you game?

it brings me joy. it’s a fun way of relaxing, while being stimulated at the same time. games have meant a great deal to me the past 6 years and i wouldnt want to lose them for the world.

Answer 21

Answer 21, tag 21 people you would like to know better

Tagged by: @batgirl-87 Thanks so much!

1) Nickname/s: Liz. Occasionally Blue on social media

2) Zodiac Sign: Leo

3) Height: Slightly below 5′3″ (About 160 cm)

4) Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

5) Last thing I googled: “years in prison for murder” That sounds super suspicious, but I swear it was because one of my best friends asked how many years in prison he’d get if he killed his group project team members as a joke and I was legitimately curious

6) Favourite musicians: Okay uhh... just off the top of my head we’ve got Panic! At The Disco, Fall Out Boy, Mewmore (they do really great video game remixes on Youtube), Pentatonix, and I’m including Shoji Meguro, the composer of the sountracks for the Persona game series because they’re amazing

7) Song stuck in my head: Real obscure but it’s the Splatoon 2 version of the Spicy Calamari Inkantation

8) Following now: 22. Because uhh... I keep unfollowing inactive blogs and never following new people. Probably gonna change soon once I catch up to the story in HPHM and no longer need to worry about spoiling specifics of the plot (I read the occasional datamine, I just like seeing it for myself first)

9) Followers: 71. I block as many bots as I can, which keeps it low, but I also don’t post too much, so that’s to be expected

10) Do I get asks? I’m lucky if I get one per year, but that box is always open if people ever want to use it. I try to get to them as fast as I can when I see them

11) Amount of sleep: On days I have to get up for work: 5-6 hours. On days I don’t: about 10

12) Lucky number: 7 or 13

13) What I’m wearing: Right now? Blue pajamas. Earlier it was my usual ensemble of a tank top, blue jeans, and navy blue hoodie (You seeing where my blog name comes from?)

14) Dream job: Ideally, writing and drawing my own fantasy comics

15) Dream trip: Pretty much anywhere in Europe, honestly, but I’d really love to see any part of Ireland or France. Denmark, too, just because I supposedly have strong Danish heritage and I’ve always been curious

16) Favourite food: I ADORE seafood, especially shrimp tacos, but I also just really like fresh fruit? Jazz apples are wonderful. And I miss Philly Cheesesteaks from when I went to college in Pennsylvania

17) Instruments: I used to play clarinet in high school, but I have no idea if I still could

18) Languages: English. That’s pretty much it. I took Spanish for most of my education and I can’t recall any of it because I never have reason to use it

19) Favourite songs: At the moment I’m going to say: The Overpass by P!ATD, The Last of the Real Ones by FoB, when you smile by neeks, and Face my Fears by Utada and Skrillex

20) Random fact: I have three avatar characters from games I play, and I’ve been posting about them in the opposite order I created them in. Seren (HPHM) was last to be created, first to be posted. Sanya (KHUx) is firmly the Middle Child, and pretty soon I’m gonna start posting about Saga (Pokémon Series) once we get more on Sword and Shield

21) Aesthetic: I’m going to be very specific. It’s rainy cities at night. LOTS of neon and glowing lights in the dark, reflected off of the rain

Tagging: I don’t even know 21 people to tag. Just one. @anheiressofasoldier, it’s all yours if you want it!

Cool Games I Finished In 2018 (In No Real Order)

Man! Wow! 2018! 2018 was a wild year for me. I managed to deliver those elbow drops I talked about last year and ended up doing a lot of of things. I left my job and moved cross-country in the span of like 2 and a half weeks! I took a new job in the video game industry (play Ninjin and Override)! I took a trip to Vegas a week after that! I got in a relationship! I got out of a relationship! It’s been a ride. A ride that hasn’t left me a ton of time to play video games or write about video games, but I’m like 1000 times happier now so it’s probably a fair trade. No matter what though, I will always be here at the end of the year to make a bunch of terrible MSPaint banners and provide you with another one of these. Here’s a bunch of cool games I experienced for the first time in 2018.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PlayStation 2, 2004)

Nocturne is a game that I haven’t been able to get out of my head since I beat it. It’s so damn cool. It starts with you witnessing a demonic apocalypse where only you, your two friends, your teacher, a reporter, and the man with the world’s wildest widow’s peak survive. These people are, with a couple of notable exceptions, the only real characters in the entire game. You barely see them, and when you do your meetings are usually pretty brief. Sure, you talk to and recruit a horde of demons to your side as party members, and you interact with a handful of demonic antagonists and various demonic NPCs, but for the most part the game is just you. You, alone, wandering the weird hellscape remnants of Tokyo. It’s one of the most solitary-feeling video games I’ve ever played, and it nails this atmosphere flawlessly. The music, the visuals, the writing, every element gels with every other element so smoothly to create a prevailing, almost overbearing feeling of loneliness. The combat and gameplay mechanics are what I understand this series to mostly be like (this being the only mainline SMT I’ve played), and are fun and engaging in a way that’s not too dissimilar from the Persona series. The only knock I have against Nocturne is that the dungeon design super sucks. I’m fine with endless corridors, my love of the PS2 Persona games can attest to that, but almost every dungeon in Nocturne has an annoying gimmick to it, and they all essentially boil down to different takes on a teleporter maze. I was kind of almost dreading navigating dungeons by the time I got to the last fourth of the game, but my intense love for literally everything else saw me through. For those of you who like JRPGs and haven’t played Nocturne, I’m sure you’ve heard this plenty of times, and I was like you once. I didn’t listen. But now I’m on the other side of the tunnel, so I get to say it. You should really, really play Nocturne. It’s good.

Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion (Nintendo Switch, 2018)

Octo Expansion is what Splatoon 2′s single player mode should have been from the start. Don’t get me wrong, the packed in single player campaign is fine, but it’s basically a level pack for Splatoon 1′s. Octo Expansion, on the other hand, is 100% fresh. Structurally it’s much more diverse, with the campaign taking place over 80 mostly-bite-sized missions with varying objectives. There’s a couple of stinkers in there, but overall the quality of the missions is much higher than what was in the original single player campaign. They can actually be pretty tough sometimes too! It was fun to see some actual challenge in a Splatoon campaign. Everything wrapped around the core gameplay of Octo Expansion is kind of phenomenal. The setting and visual design is super weird, the music is way more mellow than anything else that’s come out of the series and creates a great sense of atmosphere, and the writing is actually genuinely pretty great. There’s a lot of funny dialogue and good character moments. They made me like Pearl! The weird gremlin that eats mayo! She’s my friend now! The last half an hour or so of Octo Expansion is also straight up my favorite sequence from a game I played this year too. Don’t sleep on this thing just because it’s DLC. It’s legitimately great.

Monster Hunter: World (PlayStation 4, 2018)

At the outset I was incredibly skeptical of Monster Hunter: World. This wasn’t entirely fair to the game, as a lot of this feeling was based on its initial E3 reveal trailer kinda sorta matching up to some mostly not true pre-E3 leaks, namely that it would be much more action heavy to cater to Western audiences and tie into the then unannounced Monster Hunter movie (which, as an aside, looks like a trainwreck that I desperately want to see). You can probably pretty easily find some tweets and posts from me around that time saying that the game looks like trash because of some misinterpreted new game mechanic. I am here to say that I am a big wrong dumbass and Monster Hunter: World is very good. You might be surprised to hear this, but it’s Monster Hunter! With a bunch of good and well-executed gameplay refinements! And graphics that aren’t repurposed from a PS2 game! It’s a ton of fun and I put a lot of time into it, but it’s not without its flaws. The number of monsters and weapons is comparatively way lower than in previous games, mostly due to that whole not repurposing PS2 models thing. It’s still kind of clunky in a lot of the places Monster Hunter has been historically clunky in, but also in some pretty big new ways, mainly around playing multiplayer. Also the story, while it’s as bland as it’s ever been, is exponentially more intrusive thanks to the addition of voiced cutscenes (which need to be triggered before the game lets you bring other players into story missions, causing a lot of that clunk I mentioned earlier). It’s all nothing game-ruining, of course. The game wouldn’t be on the list if it was! Monster Hunter: World exceeded my expectations, and I’m super looking forward to playing the recently announced G Rank expansion when it comes out next year.

Contra: Hard Corps (Sega Genesis, 1994)

I wish I could go back in time and kick my own stupid ass for not playing this sooner. I’d written off Contra: Hard Corps for the longest time based solely on some bullshit I read on the internet at an age where I just took other peoples’ opinions and made them my own. This and Castlevania Bloodlines were the bad ones, the ones some weird b-team crapped out for the Genesis while the SNES got the good stuff like Contra 3: Alien Wars. Well, it turns out... they were right about Bloodlines. But MAN were they wrong about Hard Corps. Hard Corps is the best Contra game. It fucking rules. I would have gone on with my life never giving the game a glance if not for this excellent Giant Bomb feature happening, and a couple of episodes in I knew I had to play it for myself. Contra: Hard Corps is fucking nuts. It’s balls to the wall 100% of the time. There’s so many unique enemies and wild bosses and they’re all never not exploding. The game has four characters with unique weapons and multiple different level paths that have totally different levels, bosses, and story beats. Oh, and the soundtrack fucking rips. Sometimes it’s a little too much, and there are definitely some sequences and boss attacks that are total gotchas that you can’t survive without prior knowledge of how they work. I’d also be remiss not to give a special shoutout to level 4′s awful, tedious, unskippable-on-any-route boss. But god damn if the rest of Hard Corps doesn’t outshine these flaws. It’s the high water mark for insane non-stop 16-bit action.

Deltarune (PC, 2018)

Does this count? It’s a demo for a full game that won’t be out for a real long time... I suppose it does, it’s self-contained enough. Deltarune, the free demo for the sort of but also sort of not sequel to Undertale, is unsurprisingly good as hell. Less surprising for sure, as Undertale is a known quantity these days, but I’m still way into it. The story is interesting and full of charming characters, and the battle system has been overhauled to include things like multiple party members with different abilities while still keeping all the things that made Undertale’s battles novel. The music is, of course, fantastic, and the visuals look much nicer while adhering to the same general style as the previous game. It’s fairly short, and some character development feels a little rushed because of it, but again, it’s a small chunk of the beginning of a much larger game. I can’t imagine any of this stuff wouldn’t be expanded upon. It’s hard to judge this thing story-wise due to the nature of it being a demo. I thoroughly enjoyed what is there, though, and look forward to playing the rest of the game in 50 years or whatever.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo Switch, 2018)

This game is so much. Even though the first thing I learned about this game was “everyone is here”, I still wasn’t ready for how much it is. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is maybe too much. Of course, as previously stated, everyone (meaning every single previous playable Smash Bros. character) is here. Most of the previous stages are also present. This was all known. Where the game really, truly goes overboard though is in the single-player content. There’s the usual classic mode for every character, this time specifically structured around a theme for each character, but the vast majority of it is actually comprised of the all-new spirits system. Spirits are non-playable video game characters that you can collect and equip to your fighters for special abilities, sort of like a less terrible version of Smash Bros. Brawl’s stickers. You collect these spirits through spirit battles, which are fights themed around the character the spirit represents via extremely clever usage of already existing fighters and mechanics. These battles range from the obvious (Big the Cat’s battle tasks you with fighting a giant purple Incineroar), to the obscure (fight the main characters from Zangeki no Reginleiv as represented by Link and female Robin while you’re giant-sized), to the creative (Porygon’s spirit puts you in a fight against wireframe Little Mac and Akira from Virtua Fighter, normally an assist trophy), to the downright in-jokey (the spirit of Ness’s Father, displayed as the telephone spirte from Earthbound, makes you fight an invisible Solid Snake). There are like 1200 spirits. The vast majority of them have an associated battle. And you don’t just experience these battles through a menu, at least half of them are implemented into the 30 hour long adventure mode, World of Light, which has you fighting spirits, navigating dungeons, and facing bosses. It’s insane. They focused on spirits in lieu of collectible trophies this time around and they absolutely made the correct choice. The trophies in the last two Super Smash Bros. games were fine, but easier access to existing 3D models of most represented characters made them inherently less exciting than Melee’s tailor-made collection of high quality (considering the time period) renders, many of which would never receive a 3D model again. The spirits system manages to be exciting in the same way Melee's trophies were, fostering a genuine sense of anticipation to see what they cooked up next, but in the context of gameplay. They completely knocked it out of the park. Smash 4 made it on one of these lists long ago, and I essentially just said “it’s more Smash Bros. and that’s good”. Smash Ultimate is also more Smash Bros., but it’s SO much more Smash Bros. It’s so much more extremely good Smash Bros. The only things I can ding it for are some totally subjective stage preferences (where the hell is Poké Floats) and some slightly less than optimal music sorting decisions. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is, ultimately, the ultimate Super Smash Bros.

These games were also cool, I just had less to say about them:

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Nintendo Switch, 2018): Remember Castlevania 3? Inti Creates sure did! This prequel to the still unreleased Koji Igarashi Kickstarter project Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is an unabashed love letter to Castlevania 3, and it’s pretty good. Mom Hid My Game! (Nintendo Switch, 2017): A charming little game in the style of those old escape the room Flash games. It even looks like one (in the literal sense, not the pejorative). It’s not tough or replayable really, but it is $5 and consistently absurd and surprising. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (PlayStation 4, 2018): Yakuza 6 is kind of a weird juxtaposition. It’s the final chapter of Kazuma Kiryu’s story, but also the first game to use the Yakuza team’s new Dragon Engine. The story end of things is a good, solid sendoff for a bunch of characters I’m going to miss very dearly, but the gameplay feels very formative and limited in a way that sort of reminds me of Yakuza 1. I had a good time with it overall, but I hope they manage to dial it in like they did with the previous decade of Yakuza games and make something truly excellent again. Looking at you, Judge Eyes. Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth (Nintendo 3DS, 2017): Etrian Odyssey V is a return to basics for the series, ditching things like overworlds and sub-dungeons and just pitting your party against one big labyrinth. Honestly, gotta say, I miss the stuff they left behind! The core of Etrian Odyssey is still super strong so I had fun regardless, but the overall simplicity of the game and the changes to how classes work had me missing EOIV more often than not. Soundtrack’s great though, as expected. Sonic Mania Plus (Nintendo Switch, 2018): To be completely honest, most of the stuff they added to Sonic Mania in Plus really isn’t that fantastic. Mighty’s spike and projectile immunity is fun, but Ray’s flying is more interesting than effective. Encore mode is largely disappointing, with most of it feeling identical to the base game outside of its all-new (and too hard for their own good) special stages. HOWEVER, Sonic Mania Plus was an exceptional excuse to play through Sonic Mania another six or so times. Congratulations to Sonic Mania for being game of the year for two years in a row. WarioWare Gold (Nintendo 3DS, 2018): A good compilation game, executed much better than in the team’s previous Rhythm Heaven Megamix, but lacking in reasons to come back after you’ve played all the games. There’s the usual toy room stuff WarioWare has had since Touched!, but it’s bogged down by reliance on a currency system and the fact that sooooo many things you unlock are just parts that feed into a larger, not that interesting thing. The part where you play WarioWare is great though, and the new visuals make it all feel fresh even though it’s mostly older games. Mario Tennis Aces (Nintendo Switch, 2018): I had a brief, passionate love affair with Mario Tennis Aces. The core gameplay is rad as hell and more like a fighting game than a tennis game, with multiple different special shots and a focus on meter management. I played like 40+ hours of it between the full game and the demo and never even touched the single player (which makes it technically not count for this list, but, shut up). I got 2nd place at its very first tournament at CEO 2018. Then I... stopped playing. It had some weird balance issues, sure, but I think it was more a victim of circumstance rather than anything else. I moved basically right after CEO and just never went back to it. It’s still incredible though. I hope this game’s systems are the standard for Mario Tennis games going forward.

We made it! Bottom of the list! It was a shorter trip this time, but I’m still proud of you for making it here all the same. Thank you for reading the words I typed about video games. I’m looking to get this web page back into gear in 2019, so you can probably expect part 2 of The Best Babies sometime in January. Hopefully I’ll actually play some video games too so I can bring back Breviews on the first of February. Until then!

TWEWY: Final Remix - Thoughts

So, I’ve more or less beaten Final Remix now. I’ve beaten the main story, as well as “A New Day”, and while I still have to play through “Another Day” and get the Secret Reports, I think now is as good a time as any to type up my thoughts.

Since the original story is ten years old and I’ve played it dozens of times, I won’t be discussing the plot of that too much. However, I will discuss “A New Day,” so I’m going to put the rest of this under a cut as well as spoiler tag it just so that no one ends up seeing anything they don’t want to see.

To begin with, Final Remix as a whole.

First, I do think that there are some legitimate criticisms as far as the gameplay goes, and those criticisms stem from the fact that SE clearly ported over the iOS controls instead of building from the ground up to make something that would work with the Switch. While I understand that the Switch doesn’t have dual screen capability, that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have implemented the JoyCons in small ways when playing in handheld mode (such as using buttons for the Tin Pin Slammer whammies), or that they couldn’t have found a better way to utilize Neku’s partners rather than treating them as pins. The motion controls when playing in docked mode can be a bit wonky as well, and in particular I personally found Joshua nigh unplayable in that mode. Moreover, there are certain areas where the gameplay is not intuitive at all, where a bit more assistance would have been helpful. Namely, the giant bat boss in Week 1, Day 3 was changed to compensate for the fact that there aren’t two screens, but you are not told what you need to do to launch Shiki to the top screen, so you’re screwed if you don’t figure it out on your own. Likewise, Tigris Cantus was changed to compensate for the lack of two screens, but you’re not told that you have to stand in her shadow to allow your partner to attack her directly during the third phase. These two bosses caused me way more frustration than necessary as a result.

All of that said, though, I do think that a lot of the freaking out I’ve seen about the controls is a bit of an overreaction. The reliance SE had on Solo Remix was a detriment to Final Remix, to be sure, but the controls just take some getting used to. This can be difficult for seasoned TWEWY players such as myself, but with a little bit of practice it’s not that bad (particularly in handheld mode). Even when it comes to Tin Pin---yes, it sucks that you can’t use the buttons for the whammies, but if you know that ahead of time you can train yourself to quickly tap the whammies. Takes some practice, but the original Tin Pin Slammer did as well. You just have to retrain yourself.

Moving on from that, I do think that the majority of the remixes were absolutely fantastic. However, there were some . . . bugs? . . . with the music in certain areas. Such as: When you first meet Shiki, “Deja Vu” starts playing, taking over “Despair”, which rather ruins the mood of the moment considering Neku is still panicking about the Noise that were attacking him. That wasn’t the only place where there was some musical dissonance, but it’s one of the first ones I remember off the top of my head, particularly because it was so jarring I looked up a video of the original DS version of that moment to see if I was right in remembering that it was off (and I was). I’m not exactly sure why SE screwed with the music like that, but I wish they hadn’t. The remixes are great, but we didn’t need which track plays where screwed to that degree. (Though that said, for those who don’t like the remixes, you can switch back to the DS OST at any time in the settings menu. I’m not sure if that fixes the musical dissonance that sometimes occurs or not, but that’s an option. So there’s no real excuse to have “I hate the remixes” as a reason for hating the game when . . . you can disable them.)

Overall, while there are a few minor things here or there that could have been better, I don’t think that any of this is a reason to discourage people from buying this game, particularly when it has been said this is our last shot at a sequel. These are all petty, minor inconveniences---they’re not enough to ruin the experience, in my opinion, particularly for a brand new fan who won’t be blinded or have their opinion marred by nostalgia.

All of that said . . . “A New Day”. Oh boy. 

I think the biggest weakness of “A New Day” is that it was too short, and left way too many things unanswered. This is obviously to leave room for the sequel (which we now have a reason for; there was no room for a sequel before, but now there definitely is), but at the same time it’s also a little frustrating, especially considering the very good chance that we won’t get a sequel due to it not selling well enough in Japan (which is Nintendo’s own fault, by the by, because I was actually in Shibuya this past August and I saw no advertising for it anywhere---literally, I passed by Tower Records and I heard Splatoon 2 music playing, but I didn’t hear a single note of TWEWY music, wth), and people in the western fandom telling curious people to buy the DS original or iOS ports instead. The idea that we might not get any answers to any of the questions raised (and that Neku might just stay dead forever, I guess) is really frustrating to me, but I guess in Nomura’s defense he couldn’t have planned for that, so. It is what it is.

Nonetheless, there are a lot of questions raised. Why was Shinjuku erased? Is it erased for good? How is that affecting Shinjuku in the RG? How are Noise appearing in the RG in the first place? (I actually wrote a fic where that happened once, though I only got about two chapters in with it.) I can say that I’m not at all surprised that Coco is actually a Shinjuku Reaper. I always felt that she didn’t really fit with Shibuya at all, ever since the iOS port first came out and I first saw her. She just doesn’t look like a Shibuya Reaper, you know? But she does look very Shinjuku. I can’t really explain it, but the fashion and vibe in Shibuya is just different from Shinjuku, particularly since Shinjuku (contrary to what is said in TWEWY) is actually the high class fashion center of Tokyo. Like, Shibuya is filled with teenagers and all that, but Shinjuku is where you go if you want expensive fashion. So while I’m not saying that Coco’s outfit looks very expensive, I am saying that the fact that her fashion is so different from what we see in Shibuya in TWEWY definitely makes the fact that she originates from Shinjuku make so much more sense. I’m really glad that was clarified in “A New Day”. But that said, that doesn’t explain how she got to Shibuya’s UG to begin with (particularly since I thought that Reapers couldn’t travel between the different UGs), nor does it explain how she can summon a Noise big enough to swallow a city, or create illusions like she did, or use the Taboo Noise refinery to revive Minamimoto . . . there are too many questions here. Way too many questions, and we don’t have answers for any of them.

That said, although I do feel that it was too short, and though I feel that scrambling the map was done less because it made sense for Coco to do that, and more because they wanted to create some artificial length (because if you don’t know how to get to each location, you’re going to spend way more time randomly running around than you otherwise would), I did still enjoy it. The highlights for me were:

Seeing development in Neku’s relationships: Right off the bat, Beat was ready to form a pact with Neku again, and Neku was ready to do the same with Beat. They didn’t even question it, despite how they (understandably) questioned everything else. Not only that, but Beat screamed and reached for Neku when Neku was shot again right in front of him, and I can only imagine how devastated Beat must be right about now. If he didn’t need some therapy after the Game (and he did---they all did), he definitely needs some after seeing his best friend be murdered right in front of him. Then there’s Neku’s relationship with Shiki. One of my favorite parts is when he saw her in Eri’s body again, and his immediate reaction was, “No, that’s not Shiki. That’s not what she really looks like.” I made a post about it before, but one of the best things about Neku’s relationship with Shiki---one of the things that makes it amazing---is the fact that Neku doesn’t truly warm up to her until she drops the Eri act and starts acting like herself. Neku was never impressed by Eri’s looks, and he certainly isn’t impressed by her bubbly attitude; if anything, that annoys him. But Neku cherishes and loves (whether you see it as platonic or romantic) the real Shiki. And so the disappointment he showed when he saw her in Eri’s body---the fact that he doesn’t want this “fake” Shiki, he wants his Shiki, the real Shiki---was extremely heartwarming. I also loved how casually he agreed to go with her to pick up some thread to repair Mr Mew at the end. You know that’s an errand that has nothing at all to do with him, but he just wants to spend some time with her. That’s really cute. ♥ We didn’t get to see very much of it, but I liked what we saw of Neku’s relationship with Joshua as well. I always found it odd (and perhaps a little forced) that Neku said he trusted Joshua at the end of the game. Joshua is someone who repeatedly lied to, used, and murdered Neku. Whatever his reasons for it, Joshua has made it abundantly clear time and again that he will put his own motivations above Neku’s well-being, and he will not feel sorry for it. So while I of course understand Neku not forgiving Josh, I could never understand Neku trusting him despite that lack of forgiveness. If anything, I thought it should be the other way around, that perhaps Neku would forgive him after understanding where he was coming from, but would still not trust him. Either way, I was glad to see in “A New Day” that Neku doesn’t quite trust Joshua as much as he claimed. When he realized that Joshua would likely have some explanation about what was going on, he chased him down. He refused to back down at first, not believing that “Yoshiya” wasn’t playing him. When he had a vision of Joshua potentially shooting him, he thought of that as a very real possibility. All of this points to the fact that it’s less that Neku does trust Joshua, and more that he wants to, and that he’s still feeling pretty conflicted over it. Which, all things considered, is extremely understandable and IC. Finally, Neku’s relationship with Hanekoma has always been one of my favorites, and I was so happy about the little glimpses we witnessed here. I used to write fics where Neku saw Hanekoma as a father-figure (without explicitly saying as much), and where Hanekoma basically adopted him, so I honestly felt like this part of “A New Day” was written for me, haha. The bit where Coco started insisting that Hanekoma was untrustworthy, and Neku turned away from her (as he often does with those who annoy him) and insisted that he trusted Hanekoma more than anyone warmed my heart. Hanekoma, despite Coco’s interference, doing his best to help Neku and get him to WildKat, warmed my heart. And at the very end, where Hanekoma asked “What about Neku?” because he knew Neku’s fate? That, too, warmed my heart. We all know that Hanekoma, at the very least, does hold affection for Neku given the final Secret Report of the original game (“I am glad to have had the chance to meet you”), and I”m glad to see that carried over here as well. Hanekoma is worried about him, and I really want a sequel to see what, exactly, Hanekoma does to help him out of this situation he’s now going to find himself in. (Playing the Game again . . . this time with Pi-Face as his partner . . . RIP, Neku.)

Joshua’s characterization was deliciously on-point. I know that so many people disagree with me on this one, and that’s fine. Everyone can have whatever opinions they want. But from what little we saw of Joshua there at the end, I felt that he was 100% IC---and given how much Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance butchered his characterization, this was so, so refreshing. The thing about Joshua, which I noted above, is that he’s not a sentimental person. He’s a pragmatist. He sees the bigger picture and he puts his own motivations and goals above the well-being of others. Joshua is a person who murdered a teenage boy in cold blood twice, a smile on his face in each time, because he wanted to use said teenage boy as a pawn in a game of life or death. Joshua is a person who was willing to erase an entire town because he felt the citizens weren’t living up to their potential. Joshua is a person who isn’t merciless, and he’s not evil or cruel, but he does believe the ends justify the means and he has little patience for those who would whine about it. He originally chose Neku because Neku was the epitome of everything Joshua hated about Shibuya, the absolute worst person that Joshua could find (that also had suitable Imagination), and though Neku’s development and growth as a person changed Joshua’s mind about erasing Shibuya, that doesn’t mean that he grew attached to Neku on a personal level the same way that Hanekoma did. I know that many people took the Secret Ending of the original game to imply that he was emo about not joining Neku and the others, but I just rewatched it and, honestly, nothing gave me that implication. If anything, it’s vague enough so that you can interpret either way (that he’s either upset about not joining them, or that he feels they’re wasting their time---because after all, Hanekoma says, “Hey, it’s their world. They can decide what to do with it”), but I’ve personally always felt that the “Joshua is a lonely sad boy who just wants to be friends” was more wishful thinking on the part of the fandom versus what we actually see in Joshua’s characterization. Moreover, even if part of Joshua does care about Neku to some degree and wants to be friends with him and others (and again, that’s part of him), he’s still going to value the bigger picture over Neku as an individual. If Neku has to die again to get the job done, so be it. If Neku isn’t necessary for what Joshua has to do and ends up dying as collateral damage, so be it. He might not be exactly happy about it, but ultimately Joshua is here to play the long game, and Neku might not factor into that. In fact, judging by his “I don’t need him anymore” comment at the end of “A New Day” (which makes sense, because since Joshua’s Game with Megumi is no longer running, he has no reason to restrict himself to the RG and thus does not need a proxy to play for him), I’d say Neku doesn’t.  Either way, I was really, really glad to see his proper characterization return. As I said, I felt that he was terribly OoC in KH:DDD, which actually led to me returning the game halfway through because it pissed me off so much, haha. Joshua is one of the most complex, fascinating characters I’ve ever seen in a JRPG, particularly with how he wasn’t swayed and won over by The Power of Friendship™ there at the end, and I was delighted to see that return. All in all, if you really want to know how I view Neku and Joshua’s relationship post-Game, here’s a fic I wrote a few years ago of the two of them interacting, featuring Neku’s lingering trust issues, lingering anger over what Joshua did to him, and Joshua’s lack of patience for what he sees as Neku’s pity party and inability to see the bigger picture. (Oh, and also Joshua teasing Neku and needling him to piss him off on purpose. Irritating Neku will never stop being one of Joshua’s favorite pastimes.) 

Neku’s Imagination giving him additional ESP. Because what were those premonitions if not ESP? Of course, all the Players are espers to some degree, but Neku had the highest Imagination of them all, which is part of why Joshua chose him as his proxy. We been knew about this for ages, but seeing Neku have premonitions of the future---even if they were partially given to him by Hype-chan---was still very cool. Considering that Noise are not appearing in the RG as well (RIP to weebers girl), I wonder if his premonitions will continue in the next game, should we ever get it. Oh, and speaking of---Shiki mentioned having a feeling that something awful was going to happen right after (or before?) she noticed the tear in Mr Mew’s seam. While that’s not as strong of a premonition as what Neku experienced, it’s still extrasensory perception, and I like that she got some of that as well, that it wasn’t just Neku being the most special boy as per usual. Because after all, as I said, they’re all espers to some degree.

The foreshadowing that Coco was controlling everything was also on point. Aside from the fact that she looked so out of place and her insistence on going along with Neku and Beat was odd, the fact that Fake Shiki and Fake Rhyme changed their behavior just so to match with the feedback that Coco got from Neku and Beat was subtle, but juuuust enough for a perceptive player to catch, and I really enjoyed that. (For instance, after Neku mentioned that “Rhyme” was acting awfully distant toward her brother, Fake Rhyme started calling Beat “big bro.” There’s also the fact that Kariya and Uzuki’s personalities were swapped, and that Coco said “isn’t this how they are?” meaning that her information about them was second-hand . . . and another point to the fact that she was the one behind everything. Oh, and the fact that Coco doesn’t know what Shiki really looks like, and thus Fake Shiki looked like Eri . . . and Coco wouldn’t have known Shiki’s true motivation for her entry fee, hence the “I forgot,” and so on.)

All of that said, aspects that I didn’t enjoy (length and cliffhanger aside) as much were . . .

Fridging both Shiki and Rhyme (or, well, their fake selves) was unnecessary. In all honesty, as much as I love Beat and his friendship with Neku, I think that “A New Day” was a wasted opportunity to not have Neku partner with Rhyme. We never got to know what her play style was in the original game, and she’s the only one of Neku’s new friends that he never got to partner with. She’s just as capable of a Player as any of the rest of them (arguably more so given how clever she’s shown to be despite her age), and we barely got to see her personality or characterization in the original game due to how early on she got erased. Although “A New Day” was short, I would have really liked to partner with Rhyme for it, to see how she and Neku interact on their own, and to see what kind of play style she brings to the table. I’ve always headcanoned that she used psychs outright like Neku (i.e. a variety of pins), but I wonder what Nomura always envisioned for her. I would have liked to see that. Aside from which, not only did we already go through Beat’s despair over having Rhyme erased in the main story (which means that going through it again here was a re-tread of what we literally just got done seeing), but I also felt that both his and Neku’s reactions were . . . extremely underwhelming. Beat cried and attacked the shark, but otherwise he got over Rhyme being erased a second time pretty quickly. As for Neku, he goes from shouting, “Don’t you touch her!” at Beat at the end of the third week in the Game when Beat goes to knock out possessed!Shiki to just sort of . . . accepting that Shiki was erased without really caring in “A New Day”. There wasn’t even really any drama about it at all, despite how she was his primary motivation for fighting during weeks two and three. So not only were they erased for the sake of manpain, but they were erased for the sake of manpain that was barely explored, at that, especially since Neku and Beat thought this was real at the time and thus had no real reason to get over it so quickly. (And I mean, I get that Coco had that happen because she didn’t want Neku and Beat to figure out that Shiki and Rhyme weren’t real, which they were pretty close to doing, but still. Doesn’t change the fact that it felt unnecessary for the most part.) And honestly, I’m really not kidding about the wasted opportunity re: Rhyme. I would have loved to have partnered with her. Why we couldn’t have that instead I’ll never understand. (I mean, in-universe I suppose that Coco might have chosen Beat because he is notoriously stupid, but like . . . come on. Let us partner with Rhyme, SE! We’re not asking for a lot, here!!)

The whole bit with “Yoshiya” wasn’t explained and felt out of place. As much as I loved Joshua’s characterization, Yoshiya is another story. The over-the-top stuttering was bad enough, but there’s also no real explanation for why he behaved this way. At first I thought that perhaps this was a time travel plot and that this was how Joshua was before he died and ended up becoming Composer, but not only was that not the case, we have no explanation for why this did happen at all. Why would Coco believe Joshua acted like that? What reason did she have for thinking that? He was so far out of character that, looking back, it’s really jarring. (Still, I’ll take Yoshiya over KH3D “Joshua”, so that should tell you something about how I feel about KH3D.)

We never got a real name for Hype-chan. It’s been all these years and we still have nothing to call her but “Hype-chan,” smfh. But no, really, what’s her name? What’s her story? I want to know and yet I may never find out. This kills the Scrawlers.

All in all I did enjoy it, missed opportunities and raised questions aside, and I really want the sequel. Here’s hoping we manage to squeak enough sales to get it. It would be nice. (Especially since the fact that the sequel would likely be made especially for Switch should mean that the control issues would be smoothed out. One can only hope.)

Not to be rude, but being distressed by financial instability and then quickly afterwards making poor financial decisions (refusing to settle for a cheaper computer and then buying a video game) makes it sound like that contributed to your problems, and you almost definitely want to correct that behavior before your next financial problem occurs instead of buying more games and then stressing more about how scary your lack of money is.

Ok I think I need to explain since I have a feeling more than one person is thinking this. I’m probably gonna sound like I’m justifying my poor actions, but here’s the thing:

- I’m not really one who focuses on getting shit only if they’re cheap or they’re on sale. Yeah paying something at a lower price is always nice, but experience taught me that lower prices are not always a good thing. And some things is better to be bought immediately or you’ll risk to not find them anymore. These are the things that I learned from experience, it’s not easy to change mentality after that.

- Games are one of the few joys I can allow myself to have. And even then I barely buy one game per month because of my interests. Sometimes that number goes up to 2 games in a month, but usually it’s just one. and most of the time I spend various months without buying games. There were a few years where I bought more or less only 2-3 games in 12 months because I couldn’t afford all the things I wanted. So yeah, games are not my biggest money issue.

- I bought that game right away mainly because I’ve been craving to play it ever since January, and I don’t want to miss out on it. And nowadays big games are all 60-70€, so you can’t really avoid throwing out a lot of money.

- Returning to the joy part, games allow me to improve my mood and detach my mind from problems that otherwise would literally consume me and render me even more useless. Recent example is when I had that panic attack and hysterical cry 1-2 weeks ago. I tried focusing on working on the commissions I was procrastinating for too long but no matter how much I worked on them or how many breaks I took, I kept feeling a heaviness inside that bothered me quite a lot. It only went away after I allowed myself to spend hours playing Splatoon 2. And on a side note, it’s not a secret that I have depression. And the only reason why I’m not a drug-filled zombie at this point is because I’m able to keep myself in a good mood with the stuff I enjoy. This includes games.

- As for the “buy a cheaper computer”, I would have done that already. But I want a powerful computer that will last for many years before I’ll have to buy a new one. (We did the same trail of thought for this computer, and it has 6-7 years now). Also a powerful computer will allow me to do stuff faster since softwares will run and process faster, but also try other ways of gaining money, like properly rendering speedpaints without the pc taking 3 days to render 15 minutes of video, streaming games at high quality without my computer shitting on itself or try new art medias that my pc would have difficulties with. And flash news, powerful computers are not cheap, no matter what. If I managed to gain enough money to buy new hardware for my computer for a total value of 1,000€ in a few months, I can gather 1,500€ for a new computer.

- Also I’m generally one who doesn’t mind paying more to get better stuff. Better paying more and have stuff that lasts longer than paying less and having problems left and right.

- Also sorry but I spent 25 years living with my parents who pay all the bills and never taught me money management. Let me figure things out on my own.

I hope I explained my point of view on all these matters.