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Pahrak Model ZX

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  1. Pahrak Model ZX
    Well, I think it’s time.
     
    If you didn’t know, I’ve been putting together a new idea for an epic, taking place in a new world named Olkir. The full primer can be found here, but essentially the idea was to mash concepts from both generations of Bionicle, as well as Slizers, RoboRiders, and Hero Factory, into one fantasy world. (Though…since G1 has more content to play with than all those others combined, the end result is something that could probably be termed a fanmade Bionicle G3 story.) This world is populated by humanoid villagers made of a special kind of living metal who belong to eight Elemental Tribes, led by Coronets blessed with the power of Elemental Gods known as Slizers. Villagers have learned to mine minerals imbued with Elemental Power to craft special weapons, or they can go to a Rider to be made a proper Toa—though this is far rarer now, since automata known as Hagah have begun keeping peace worldwide.
     
    I’ve begun setting up the plot, but I was curious to see if anyone out there wanted to contribute characters to this story, so before I go any further I’m going to put out the call. If you’re interested, I’d recommend glancing over the primer to get a clearer idea of what’s going on before posting your form in the comments here.
     
    What I Need:
    -A name for your character, of course.
     
    -You can be a villager, a Toa, or a Hagah unit. For the first two you will need to pick an Element: Fire, Water, Ice, Metal, Lightning, Rock, Jungle, or Sun. However, for plot reasons, no Toa of Metal or Sun will be accepted. (Hagah can be associated with a particular Element if they wish, but it isn’t required.) Also, before you go jumping at the chance to be a Toa, there’s something specific about how Toa work that you need to know. A Rider turns a villager into a Toa and they are then free to do what they want for the rest of their life. When they die, however, the Rider takes them to an area at the edge of the afterlife where sixteen canisters are stored. Each Rider’s existence is stabilized by harmonizing with the souls of two Toa. When a Toa dies, their soul is put into one of these canisters to provide this effect, and the canister’s previous inhabitant is then sent into the proper afterlife. The stasis is by no means uncomfortable, and again, it is temporary, so maybe it isn’t a dealbreaker—but it still requires a degree of self-sacrifice, especially since the lack of Toa lately means the stasis can last for quite some time. In short, if your character is a Toa they must be someone who would agree to putting off their eternal reward for a while, which is something that should be reflected in their character.
     
    -Appearance. Villagers and Toa are humanoids with metal skin, and can magnetize armor to their bodies. Hagah can have more diverse appearances if they’d like.
     
    -Now’s where we get into powers and weapons! Obviously a Toa will innately have command over their Element. As mentioned previously, the villagers have learned to create weapons imbued with Elemental Power, so anyone can have access to those. Using these weapons also allows anyone, even villagers, to develop unique Element-derived abilities all their own, typically referred to as Plays. I want to be pretty open with weapons and powers, and would encourage you to think up some creative ones! Though, an Elemental Weapon can only power abilities of that one Element, and a villager is typically only proficient in the Element of their Tribe. Examples of weapons and Plays and how they work are detailed further in a read more below if you want to look them over. This section of your form can easily be tweaked as the story progresses, so for now, come up with whatever you want, and I’ll discuss modifications with you if I feel the need.
     
    -Related to that, on the topic of masks. Masks of Power do exist in this world, but they are rare treasures found in hidden temples that can only be obtained by passing various traps and tests. So your character might have a mask, but only one, and said mask must have only one specific ability. Some masks have already been decided on, and those will be listed in a read more below. (Of note, it’s entirely possible for two characters to have the same mask—a new one is forged for the temple each time one is removed.)
     
    -And a bio, for, you know…everything else. Gender, character traits, history, all that good stuff. Naturally, a good chunk of this will probably be used more as a guideline than put in word for word, but I plan to discuss my ideas on adapting your initial information with you in detail as we move forward. So please, give your characters some interesting pasts or quirks, and potential paths of character development! I won’t be accepting any applications for important figures like the Coronets, but that still leaves a lot of other options. Also, I don’t think I’ve mentioned the Priests of the Slizers yet, but that’s a thing if you’re interested. You will have to main disks, though.
     
    -Oh, uh, one last thing…on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being most likely, how likely would you say this character is to be a member of a cult dedicated to Shark Demon Pridak? Just a survey, you know, for demographic research and whatnot. Totally not a spoiler.
     

    Weapons, Elemental Facets, and Plays Weapons made from certain eleminerals have special properties and can be used as “batteries” for Plays. The eleminerals are lunapollonite (Sun), rockite (Rock), florate (Jungle), ionalloy (Lightning), volcanore (Fire), mallaidro (Water), nexidian (Metal), and freezon (Ice).
     
    Commonly used weapons:
    -Disks: Throwing disks are considered a holy weapon for their association with the Slizers. Given that, it isn’t at all surprising that disks have been made from every elemineral.
    -Sun Gun: Exactly what you’d expect. There’s a bit of variety in what these firearms look like, but they all use lunapollonite to store massive amounts of sunlight which is then fired in concentrated blasts from the barrel.
    -Morcian Swords: Blades made in the town of Morcia on the Island of Lightning. Being made from ionalloy, they possess the ability to fire lightning bolts from their tips.
    -Skrall Shields: Shields made from rockite, making them extremely resistant to damage, and extremely painful to get bashed over the head with.
    -Viridian Bow: A green bow containing florate. When you pull back on it, an arrow instantly materializes; many users develop Plays that modify the properties of the arrows formed.
    -Grappling Hook: Consisting of a long chain with a hook made of mallaidro on the end, this weapon is immensely popular amongst the Water Tribe for its utility. When the hook comes into contact with something, it melds to fit it perfectly, enabling the user to grab onto almost anything
    -Vortixx Axe: The head of this battleaxe is made of nexidian, and when swung downwards, it temporarily greatly increases in density and weight, adding to the power of each swing.
    -Storm Drones: Though a recent invention, these are a favorite weapon of the Ice Tribe since many of them prefer not to fight directly. Usually coming in pairs, these small airborne devices have their own power source and a limited AI, enabling them to act independently and fire freeze blasts at their designated target. They also have a voice recognition system to take orders from their owner at any time.
    -Kardata: Not a weapon, but a style of martial arts widely practiced on the Island of Fire. While often used in conjunction with volcanore weaponry like the Furnace Fists or the Scorching Pike, Kardata users have refined their barehanded combat skills to a degree very few others have, enabling villagers to continue to fight even if they lose the weapon that powers their Play. The Kardata uniform consists of two shoulder plates that each rise into three curved points (think the Tahnok’s Fire Shields), and a sleeveless robe that fans out to the sides of the legs like an overcoat. The color of the uniform denotes rank: red is beginner, orange is proficient, yellow is skilled (the lowest rank that typically leaves the island), white is expert, and blue is master (very rare, so don’t necessarily jump straight to this).
     
    In order to devise a Play, one must first recognize their Facet. As villagers and Toa alike continued to use Elemental Powers, they came to realize that different people had varying affinities towards using the same Element in different ways. These affinities are now referred to as Facets, and this increased understanding has led to much greater ease in the development of unique abilities. Identified Facets include:
     
    -Rock Facets:
    --Igneous: Skilled in energy-based abilities
    --Sedimentary: What they create is very difficult to destroy
    --Metamorphic: Able to devise very creative abilities that don’t necessarily look like Rock-based powers
    -Jungle Facets:
    --Lily: Best at emulating specific types of plants
    --Sakura: Excels in both healing and poisonous abilities
    --Dandelion: While they can work with plant life, Dandelion Facets usually develop Plays related to animals rather than plants
    -Lightning Facets:
    --Stratus: Good at compacting and reinforcing their energy, making them skilled at materialization abilities
    --Cirrus: Good at controlling the direction of their attacks, very precise
    --Cumulus: Good at storing and unleashing power, resulting in very heavy attacks
    -Fire Facets:
    --Fahrenheit: Specializes in explosions
    --Celsius: Excels at control, making it easy to create localized attacks and weapons
    --Kelvin: Produces fire that burns much hotter, achieving white and blue flames more easily than other Facets
    -Water Facets:
    --Atlantic: Does their best when focusing on offense
    --Pacific: Excels at defensive abilities
    -Metal Facets:
    --Noble: Excels at manipulation of metal
    --Precious: Better able to produce metal with unique qualities
    --Heavy: Able to quickly produce extremely solid constructs
    -Ice Facets:
    --Arctic: Specializes in abstract abilities, like manipulating cold and using blasts of freezing energy. Those with this Facet tend to focus on studying the future over the past.
    --Antarctic: Specializes in concrete abilities, like constructions made of ice. Antarctic Facets tend to study the past more than the future.
    -Sun is a unique case. It does technically have Facets (Sunlight, Moonlight, and Starlight), but any Sun user can easily utilize all three, and as may be obvious their usage is restricted by the time of day. Sunlight Plays can be just about anything the user can imagine, and can only be used during the day. At night, Moonlight can be used to create “reflections” of an opponent, their weapon, or even their powers, meanwhile Starlight Plays call upon specific constellations to empower the user.
     
    All this leads up to Plays. Once an Element-user discovers their Facet, they can then apply their Imagination to their power, molding it into nearly any form they can think of. The resulting ability is what is called a Play. For villagers, their lack of proficiency with Elements makes this process more difficult than it would be for a Toa, so a villager typically focuses on developing one specific Play that becomes their trademark. Plays can range from simple to extravagant, all depending on the Imagination of the user and if they can conceive a way to tie it back to their original Element through their Facet. It is unknown just what limits, if any, exist on what a Play can be, though it has been noted that more powerful Plays have larger weaknesses—nature always seeks to maintain balance, and even the most powerful Imagination cannot escape this fact. However, some very skilled warriors have found ways to turn their Play’s weakness into an advantage. Since a villager does not naturally possess Elemental Power, if they are disarmed they cannot use their Play.
     
    Example Plays:
    -Horizon Quill: Sunlight Faceted Sun Play. The user shoots a beam from their sun gun and “draws” a line, usually on a solid surface. After a short delay, a great amount of Sun energy rushes either up or down from that spot, sweeping away the target and causing damage.
    -Viridian Forest: Lily Faceted Jungle Play. Used in conjunction with the Viridian Bow—a very broad Play that enables the user to create arrows with the properties of any plant they know of, though it takes a bit longer than similar Plays that turn Viridian arrows into just one type of plant.
    -Astral Blades: Stratus Faceted Lightning Play. Eight lightning bolts strike in a circle around the user and form into tangible blades that the user can wield. Anyone else who touches these weapons is shocked. The user can call a blade through the air directly to their hand, though they must not use this ability on the same blade two times in a row.

     

    Masks of Power These are the Masks of Power I’ve already decided exist in Olkir, and you are free to use any of them. There are a few others I’ve decided on that will be rare/unique/plot-significant, though, so if you want to make a new one maybe ask about a specific name/power before you get your heart set on it.
     
    -Mask of Calix: Enhances wearer’s perception, allowing them to react to things much more quickly than usual (assuming their body can physically handle it)
    -Mask of Pakari: Enhanced physical strength for a short time
    -Mask of Kakama: Enhances speed, though can be difficult to control when used at full power
    -Mask of Huna: Makes the wearer invisible, though the effect goes away when they prepare to launch an attack
    -Mask of Sanok: Increases the user’s ability to make precision strikes
    -Mask of Felnas: If the wearer understands their opponent’s Play, they can remove their ability to use it so long as they are in direct physical contact with them
    -Mask of Pouks: If the wearer understands someone else’s Play, they can copy it for a brief time, though it will not be as powerful as the original [50%] (will be closer in strength if it is the same Element [75%], and much closer if it is the same Facet [90%])
    -Mask of Crast: Pushes a target away, though repeated use can be exhausting
    -Mask of Pehkui: Enables the user to shrink, though their physical strength will reduce as well
    -Mask of Kualus: Enables the user to grow larger, though this does make it harder for them to maneuver and react
    -Mask of Kualsi: Enables the user to instantly move to any location they can see, but becomes increasingly disorientating with each use
    -Mask of Kiril: Used to repair inanimate objects

     
    That should about cover it. So, anyone interested?
  2. Pahrak Model ZX

    Golden Memories

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    VC Gold and Silver are out, in case you forgot. I got Gold. I was a little unsure, but in the end, the opportunity presented itself and I just couldn’t resist.
     
    And again, the Pokémon distribution seems odd, though part of it might just be which Pokémon I wanted. Plus there seem to be some limitations on the movesets that I sort of expected coming off of VC Red—it seems like, in later generations, Pokémon get access to (better) STAB moves earlier than they did in the first few generations, because they seem to have a bit of trouble with that here on the Virtual Console.
     
    But…dang. I love it.
     
    The graphics are retro while still showing a massive improvement over the first gen, the music is lovely, so many great system and interface changes are popping up, and while I’m having trouble finding some of them there are a lot of Pokémon here that I really adore. It’s Gold. This was more or less my first real Pokémon game—not one that I shared with my sisters, but one that was really mine—and the nostalgia is wonderful, much more so than was the case with Red.
     
    I started with Cyndaquil, of course, and have named him Blaze V, as in Blaze the Fifth. Blaze was the name of my Cyndaquil in the original Gold, and when I played HeartGold I named my Cyndaquil Blaze Jr in his honor, then when I needed a Cyndaquil and Quilava for my Living Dex we got Blaze III and Blaze IV…I considered going with something else, but again, I just couldn’t resist. The bloodline must continue. Currently a Quilava.
     
    The rest of my team, which I just finished putting together:
    -Will the Golbat, because I figured it’s time I use a Crobat. My thought process on the name was “Bat -> Batman -> Lego Batman -> Will Arnett -> Well I don’t have anything better so let’s just do that.”
    -Mettaur the Pineco, who took a bit of time to get because Headbutt trees but at least he didn’t use Selfdestruct thank God.
    -Lurerre the Chinchou, and now I never want to fish again.
    -Tau the Natu, my gosh you know how out of your way you have to go to catch a freaking Natu, when I heard they were at Ruins of Alph I got excited but nope you need SURF to get to the only patch of grass with Natu, and you have to go through Union Cave just to get to it, and some of them know Teleport, GOSH.
    -Gori the Mankey, since I liked having one in LeafGreen but never finished LeafGreen so…second chances.
     
    Okay, I’m off to grind. Cianwood is next but it's looking rather far away.
  3. Pahrak Model ZX

    To Cap It Off

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    Another Pokémon distribution is kicking off, but this one’s a little more complex than usual.
     
    A code just went up on the Pokémon website (PIKACHU20) that will allow you to download a special Pikachu wearing Ash’s cap. This Pikachu also comes with a unique Z Crystal, Pikashunium Z, letting it use its own super-exclusive Z Move, 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt!
     
    But! While you can only enter the code once, when you enter it will determine which cap the Pikachu is wearing. Of course, if you have multiple games you can surely enter the code into each during different windows and get a few variants, but unless you’ve got six Gen VII games you’re gonna need to time this carefully.
     
    I won’t copy-paste the entire schedule, but it looks like each timeframe lasts only about a week, so be sure you don’t miss your chance!
     
    Myself, I definitely want the original hat being distributed now, but since I have both Sun and Moon I suppose I should pick up another variant. Hm, none of the others really have that nostalgia kick for me, but I do love the heck out of Sinnoh so I’ll probably be getting that one?
     
    Oh, yeah, there is a seventh variant wearing the hat Ash wears in the new movie, but in order to get that you need to actually go to the theater and see said movie. Check your local theaters if that interests you.
  4. Pahrak Model ZX

    Pokemon Ultra News

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    is out for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon! Key points: 
    -The mascots are, as theorized, Necrozma having absorbed Solgaleo/Lunala. The forms are referred to as Dusk Mane and Dawn Wings, respectively, and enable usage of Solgaleo and Lunala’s signature moves.
    -The special Rockruff has the ability Own Tempo, and knows special moves which differ slightly between US and UM. It evolves into Dusk Lycanroc when hitting level 25 between 5 and 6 PM (that’s such a narrow window argh). There’s also an exclusive Z Move for Lycanroc—all forms too, not just Dusk—called Splintered Stormshards, which looks pretty cool. It also cancels Terrain effects!
    -Something that’s both unexpected and sort of expected: two brand new Pokémon were shown! Both are Ultra Beasts, currently codenamed Assembly and Burst, but that’s basically all we know about them. Well, that and that they’re exclusive. Burst is in US, Assembly is in UM. Guess I need both version after all! Hahahahaughh…I mean I was probably going to do it anyway, but it’d be nice to not need to.
     
    In related news, it’s been revealed that if you get VC Gold or Silver you’ll get a special 3DS theme and a Celebi for your Gen VII games! Sort of tempted to put that on the team now…well, actually, I guess I need an Ultra Moon team now so I can just add it to that!
     
    Makes me wonder if any other new Pokémon will be added to USUM—especially Mythicals. Gen VII might last longer than I was fearing, so that’s some good news.
  5. Pahrak Model ZX
    Like I said, for some reason I keep getting new story ideas rather than making significant progress on the ones I’ve already started. Anyway.
     
    My newest idea is a little ambitious so probably won’t get finished: a fantasy story with a central mythology that is an eclectic mix of multiple Lego themes. Both generations of Bionicle, Slizers, RoboRiders, Hero Factory, and possibly a few others. The details are pretty up in the air at this point, but I have ideas such as the Slizers being gods who created the mortal world, the elements being embodied and governed by Riders who ferry souls to the afterlife and also grant elemental power to villagers (turning them into Toa), and the island associated with the element of Metal, having been forbidden from having Toa, starting up a factory that creates automata who have now more or less made Toa obsolete and function all over the world. Plus, each island being ruled by a Coronet who receives a blessing from the Slizer who created their island, because I still really like that Coronet’s Halo ability I made up for Slizer Mafia.
     
    My question is, if I were to put out a request for guest stars, would anyone be interested in submitting characters? Whether or not this story is going to happen at all is still a question, of course, but before I hammered out plot details I thought I might as well see if it would be worthwhile to do a casting call. Just out of curiosity.
  7. Pahrak Model ZX
    Signups for my new game Wall of History will remain open for 72 hours!
     
    Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The inhabitants of Stoeia-Nui are learning this lesson the hard way as they struggle to endure an attack by the legendary demon Makuta, just as their ancestors did ten thousand years ago. There does exist a record of Makuta’s previous attack, but no one can read the language it is written in, leaving any hints that might lie within just beyond their reach. The villages have sent a team of Chroniclers to search out the Spirit of Knowledge and beg her aid, but it won’t be quite that easy.
     
    Each round players will be given a prompt and write a very short story. A winner will be judged and given “the power of Legend” for a brief time, enabling them to translate one portion of the Wall of History and learn helpful clues that will allow them to keep their villages safe. But will the Chroniclers do the right thing and share the knowledge with their fellows, or will they attempt to mislead the others so that their village fares better than the rest?
     
    Only time will tell if Makuta’s shadow of lies can be pulled away.
  8. Pahrak Model ZX
    At the dawn of time, the mortal world was brought into being, shaped by the Eight Gods of the Elements—the Slizers. Scuba, the Water Slizer, covered the planet in water to soothe and sustain all mortal life. Granite, the Rock Slizer, created the land for mortals to live safely on. Torch, the Fire Slizer, gave mortals fire to keep themselves warm and to destroy that which stood in their way. Ski, the Ice Slizer, provided ice to keep Torch’s flame in check, bringing the world into greater balance. Turbo, the Metal Slizer, filled the earth with valuable ore and taught mortals how to forge it into weapons, armor, and building material. Amazon, the Jungle Slizer, gave mortals plants they could use for food, shelter, and healing. Electro, the Lightning Slizer, taught mortals to harness the raw power of electricity. And Jet, the Sun Slizer, hung the sun, moon, and stars to help all life in the mortal world to grow.
     
    Mortals lived happily in their world, while the Slizers watched from the City of Legends where the gods reside. But soon, violence broke out amongst mortals, and the mortal world sank into anarchy. To restore order, the Slizers selected leaders for each Tribe, granting them a piece of their Elemental Power and naming them Coronets. The Coronets brought peace to the world, and impressed the Slizers with their ability to control the Elements. To further observe this, and to teach mortals greater respect for the Elements, they created Riders to live in symbiosis with mortals, governing the Elements and granting their power to those they deemed worthy—transforming villager into Toa. The Riders were also given the task of gathering up the souls of mortals who had died and bringing them to the City of Legends, either to work under the oversight of the gods, or to be turned over to Karzahni for punishment for their wicked deeds.
     
    This is the world of Olkir.
     
    The Water Tribe does not have an island to call home, for the endless ocean that covers the world is their domain. As such, they handle a great deal of trade and transport for the Islands, and are well-liked everywhere for how honorably they uphold these duties. Some of their most famed ships are the Gali, home of the Water Coronet, and the Lhikan II, named in honor of a Toa of Fire who helped the Water Tribe slay the Shark Demon Pridak long ago. However, there are a few crews who have broken off from the Tribe and roam the sea as pirates; the worst among these is the Irnakk, an ancient vessel whose crew has harnessed dark magic to torment the people of the world with nightmares from the relative safety of their decrepit barge. Toa of Water are the most common of all Toa, valued highly for their ability to insure safe passage for vessels with important cargo and passengers.
     
    The Island of Fire is somewhat isolated from other islands, and purely by choice. The Fire Tribe is an arrogant bunch who believe they have little if anything to gain from fraternizing with the other Tribes, trading only when necessary, and traveling only when they go in search of challenge. They were the first Tribe to discover minerals infused with Elemental Power, and after learning how to forge weapons made from volcanore, they began to slowly refine a martial arts style now renowned worldwide as the School of the Blazing Soul, or Kardata. Most Fire Tribe villagers seen in other parts of the world are practitioners of this style who are seeking to test their skills against foreign warriors. While hotheaded and drawn to violence, students of the School are taught astounding discipline and have learned to control these volatile emotions remarkably well, so they are well tolerated in most places. There are rumors of a Kardata Master who once tried to overthrow the Fire Coronet, but the Tribe refuses to verify them. At best, they have assured that if such a thing did happen, they would have been sure to purge that dishonor before it spread to the outside world.
     
    Those of the Island of Ice can be equally abrasive as their fiery kin, thinking themselves the pinnacle of mortal wisdom, but they are open enough to share that wisdom with nearly anyone. Due to the culture’s obsession with knowledge and understanding, Ice villagers are quite frequently selected to fulfill the role of the Priest of Time. Despite the Island’s harsh climate and the reclusiveness of the Ice Tribe, this land does see quite a bit of traffic, with people from all Islands coming to investigate the Great Library in which the Ice Coronet lives. The laboratories on the Island of Ice have produced a great deal of technology that has helped many people, though lately they have taken on some more controversial projects such as attempting to synthesize the same living metal that villagers’ bodies are made of. After enough people bothered them about it, the scientists have mostly backed off of these projects in order to earn more peace and quiet. Though, there is talk that even worse projects still continue quietly, and that the Ice Tribe is seeking some sort of forbidden knowledge that the public eye would most certainly disapprove of. The Ice Tribe firmly insists this is not the case.
     
    The Island of Metal was once the most feared Island of all. As of late, it has become the most loved. Since all villagers are made of metal, the idea of Toa who could control the substance was a source of great horror to many, leading to a general sense of wariness when dealing with this Island. Eventually, pressure was put on them to sign an agreement stating that the Metal Coronet would at no time prompt the creation of nor tolerate the existence of any Toa of Metal, and from that point on the wariness began to slowly subside. The Rider of Metal, deprived of their connection to the people, has grown weaker as time has gone on, and a great number of ghosts now roam the Island of Metal—whether these are the result of the Rider’s power waning or a spiteful refusal of their duty is a topic that is debated intensely. Recently, however, a villager named Makuro presented something spectacular: wanting to give the Island protectors to replace the absent Toa, he had devised the most ingenious artificial robot design the world had ever seen, automata who could think for themselves and fight off anything that could threaten the peace of the Metal Tribe. These automata, Hagah, were so good at what they did that other Islands began to request units. As production increased, Makuro built a great factory to better accommodate the process, and watched over his business with great care until his eventual passing. Now, two generations later, the Hagah have become a commonplace sight on every Island, greatly reducing the need for Toa. It is perhaps no coincidence that now, ghosts are also a much more common sight on every Island.
     
    The Island of Jungle is a land of paradox, more colloquially referred to as “the Island of Life and Death”. Nature reigns supreme on this Island, making it home to countless species of flora that exist nowhere else in the world, and the Jungle Tribe has learned all there is to know about each and every one of them. One of the outcomes of this is that the Island of Jungle is home to the greatest of all physicians, unparalleled healers who utilize herbal medicines that work what most consider miracles, thus granting the Island its claim to Life. Its claim to Death, however, comes from its other industry: many of the plants found here can also be made into lethal poisons, and those who have learned how to concoct these brews have trained to use them and other techniques to become expert assassins feared across the globe as the Umarak Clan. Those who seek to hire the assassins of the Jungle Tribe are usually able to find them, but those who wish them harm—including even the Jungle Coronet—have rarely had any success. Luckily, this shadow has done nothing to impact the use of the Island’s healers, and the Water Tribe has gifted them a special ship named the Ignika to make it easier for doctors and patients to be ferried back and forth.
     
    The Lightning Tribe is generally a friendly bunch, even if their impulsive natures can make them difficult to predict. Thankfully, the Lightning Coronets have consistently been those who have grown out of that wild nature, preventing the Island from doing anything too out of the ordinary. The Island of Lightning is also famed for its Morcian Swords, named after the town of Morcia where they are forged from ionalloy to grant their signature ability of hurling lightning bolts from their tips. Throughout all of recorded history, terrible storms have plagued the Island and caused great devastation. To their credit, this has done little to discourage the Lightning Tribe, and they have taken on a very defiant attitude when it comes to facing the will of nature, though this attitude is thought to have a hand in the relative rarity of Lightning Toa. Recently the Tribe has begun developing weather control technology (with some assistance from other Tribes), and the results are beginning to show real promise.
     
    Though the Rock Tribe is blessed with great physical prowess, they are some of the kindest souls in this world, and have long enjoyed favorable relations with all Tribes. Matching their pacifistic nature, the weapon they are most known for are their Skrall Shields—they prioritize defense and will always seek to solve things peacefully, fighting back only when absolutely necessary. Since no one has any quarrels with them, seeing them actually fight is quite rare. The only notable time the Island of Rock came under attack was during the rampage of Shark Demon Pridak, when the monster bit a chunk out of the Island’s coastline. While this wound, now named the Shark Gulf, went mostly ignored for some time, recently the Rock Coronet has posted guards in the hopes of catching a deranged cult who uses it to pay tribute to the slain demon. While there has been some concern over this development, the people of the world still love the Rock Tribe and welcome them with open arms…or at least, they would if the Rock Tribe wasn’t terrified of crossing the ocean.
     
    Finally, there is the Island of Sun, a seat of great power that has now inherited the fear shed by the Metal Tribe. The Element of Sun naturally gives those who wield it power over sunlight, but they are not left defenseless at night: they also possess the ability to bend moonlight and starlight, which are less powerful but have more versatile uses. Because of this, the Sun Tribe has always been considered one of the strongest powers in the world, and was treated with great respect for wielding such a tremendous Element. This all changed a decade ago, during the last Day of Foresight. When Krakua appeared to tell of the future, he spoke of a time when an endless eclipse would darken the sky, and of a Sun Coronet who would use it to amplify their power and rain devastation upon the world. No longer was the Island of Sun held in such high regard. While the Sun Coronet assured all that the prophecy would not come to pass, the other Islands could only distrust them, building up their militaries to prepare for this prophesied eclipse. Some Tribes have even taken aggressive action against the Island of Sun, including a Kardata user killing the only Sun Toa and threatening that worse would happen were they to create more. Even the Island of Metal has become hesitant to send Hagah to the Island. The Sun Coronet has done all they can to remain non-threatening, but the atmosphere has grown very tense on their Island. The Ice Tribe has studied the sky and predicted when the next eclipse will occur, and the world waits anxiously to see if it will pass without incident.
  9. Pahrak Model ZX
    It would seem my stress has taken the route of producing ideas at a faster rate than I can actually work on them, while simultaneously stopping me from getting too far on any particular one (including the ones I was already trying to work on).
     
    So, a brief look at what I’ve been kicking around lately:
     
    -Shooting Star Sonia 3, of course. Unfortunately I seem to be stuck on Chapter 2.
    -Wall of History, as mentioned previously. The mechanics and prompts are actually all set, and I’m about halfway through the lore, so not too bad.
    -An extended Mega Man ZX fic, probably as a result of replaying ZX just recently. Haven’t quite finished the first chapter and a little unsure how far I’m actually going to get.
    -A brief burst of inspiration on Glimpse of Horizon’s broader idea, but like…thinking I could make it into a novel for actual publishing? For some reason? Did not get far before that fizzled out, but who knows I guess.
    -That new story focusing on Vhisola I mentioned recently, which has exactly one chapter right now. I have some specific ideas about where to go, just stuck on what needs to happen next, naturally.
    -A short Kingdom Hearts fic in which Kairi is aware of how horribly the series treats her. That just sort of happened. I’m going to let it sit for a while, edit it, and probably just post it because I don’t know I just want to finish something and look productive.
    -One MASSIVE new Lego story idea I’m planning to give more information on in a separate post, stay tuned for that one.
    -Three, count ‘em, three separate ideas for Mafia games. Granted one was already complete before this, but now I’m thinking more about it, plus I finally sat down and revamped the Chorus System for another Musical Mafia, PLUS another idea that’s been floating half-formed through my mind for a while and now has been hammered into a pretty fine shape. I don’t want to do so many back to back, but…no one has had a new Mafia game since Hotel of Okoto ended, so…?
     
    And yet I still feel like it wouldn’t be a great idea for me to actually start posting/hosting any big projects. I have a new apartment lined up, I just need to move, but in a few weeks I’ll need to move again because I actually need to stay at my dad’s for a while until my new apartment is ready. Even after that, I’m really searching for a second job because I really need one, so if that works out there’s a question of how much time I’ll actually have for this stuff.
     
    But, depending on how this goes, there is a distinct possibility I could have an extremely productive fall. So I guess that’s pretty cool.
  10. Pahrak Model ZX
    I decided to start on a new story, and now that I've finished a draft of the first chapter I was wondering if anyone might be willing to look it over and give me some feedback?
     
    As some general information: this takes place on Spherus Magna after the Reformation, and mainly focuses on Vhisola. It's technically a follow-up to my previous story A Mind in Darkness, but you wouldn't need to read that in order to jump into this one--I don't really plan on any direct references to it, so really the only thing you might feel needs clarifying is why Vhisola and Macku get along. This chapter is just setting up the plot and Vhisola's reason for being a part of it.
     
    If anyone wants to help me out, leave a comment and I'll start up a PM for everyone who wants to give it a read.
  11. Pahrak Model ZX
    If, like me, you’re already thinking of which Pokemon you want to use when you get Gold or Silver on Virtual Console, I highly recommend checking someplace like Bulbapedia or Serebii to see where in those games those Pokemon can be caught, and where you can get the items necessary to evolve them. You just may be disappointed.
     
    I first became aware of this when I thought this would finally be my chance to try out a Tyranitar. But as it turns out, Larvitar can only be caught at Mt. Silver…which you can only access after beating all 16 gyms, so…that’s not gonna work. And granted, Tyranitar is a pseudo-legendary, so that can’t be indicative of restrictions on other Pokemon, right?
     
    Oddly enough, any Pokemon that needs a stone to evolve is pretty out of luck. The only way to get Leaf, Thunder, Fire, or Water Stones is to show specific Pokemon to Bill’s grandpa, who lives in Kanto. You can only get a Sun Stone by placing first in the Bug Catching Contest. Your best bet is a Moon Stone, which your mom might buy with your savings, or you can pick one up in Tohjo Falls right before you head for the League. So much for using Jolteon and NIdoqueen.
     
    And I wasn’t really seriously considering it, but: Slugma. A brand new Gen II Pokemon. Can only be caught in Kanto. What.
     
    To say nothing of movesets, that’s an entirely different thing that I’ve only scratched the surface of. My point is, I advise you to double check these things now so you won’t be surprised when you’re playing the game. I know it would’ve thrown me for a loop.
  12. Pahrak Model ZX

    798

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    Finally got around to transferring my Gen VI Living Dex and everything I had in VC Red up to Gen VII. Getting everything organized sure took a while, which I guess is why I’ve been putting it off so long.
     
    I already captured everything I could in Gen VII to keep the Living Dex as complete as possible, though there are still a couple gaps. While I have Rockruff and Steenee registered, I apparently neglected to get extras for the box, so I’ll need to breed those. Obviously I don’t have Marshadow yet, but the only glaring absence is the Litten family. I could restart either Sun or Moon, but since Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are coming out later this year I feel like it makes sense just to wait until I buy one of those and start with Litten when I do. Marshadow will probably be distributed between now and then as well, so I should be back on top by the end of the year.
     
    For the time being, I’m sitting at 798 Pokemon registered and I’m cool with that. Between all those, my Unown collection, all the Alola Forms, and everyone else I’ve got lying around, my Moon PC is bursting…and I’ve still got five boxes floating around in Pokemon Bank. Maybe I didn’t understand quite what I was getting into when I decided to finally catch ‘em all…
  13. Pahrak Model ZX
    Recently my sister got super into the anime Hunter X Hunter, so I asked where she read the manga and spent the past two weeks getting caught up. I’d only barely heard of it until recently—it isn’t a particularly well-known series, which I found a bit odd since it’s been in Shounen Jump since the 90s. Part of that might be due to multiple hiatuses, and another part could be that it has some subtle deviations from shounen norms…which actually are a big factor in what makes it interesting.
     
    One thing that stuck out to me really early on was that the focus is spread out more than you might expect. It’s become typical for shounen to say “Here’s the main character, we’ll just watch them 80%+ of the time”, but Hunter X Hunter doesn’t really do that. The supposed main character, Gon, spends quite a lot of time out of focus—for a big chunk of the fourth arc, he’s more of a secondary character while his friend Kurapika takes center stage to show off his flashy new abilities and take down some dangerous folks. Gon’s usually present whenever big things are happening, but he’s not the only one driving the action forward. Other characters matter! How neat!
     
    Speaking of Gon…he loses a lot. The kid has heaps of shounen willpower, but it doesn’t do him any consistent good. He’s certainly had successes, some pretty big ones, and of course he’s a naturally gifted quick learner, but when the biggest and baddest opponents show up he ends up losing more often than not. I think there was only one arc where he defeated the villain’s boss? We’re told he has a lot of potential, but his growth and struggles are kept a tiny bit more realistic, and because of that he can’t just suddenly beat every arc villain after a night of training. I like this idea, but…it does make me wonder a bit why Gon is here at times. I don’t know, maybe I’m just not that invested in his character on a personal level.
     
    There are definitely some engaging characters here, though. When I first saw Gon’s best friend Killua I guessed he’d become The Shounen Rival, but he actually turned out to be an extremely loyal and caring deuteragonist who at times feels more like the actual main character. Kurapika, who I mentioned earlier, carries a few tropes that remind me of a certain edgy ninja who turned into a massive disappointment, but Kurapika’s proved consistently interesting whenever he (inconsistently) appears. Heck, the most powerful villain thus far had fascinating characterization, but I can’t say a whole lot about that without spoilers…basically, the series has a great cast and actually gives us the chance to get to know just about all of them.
     
    A lot of my feelings are pretty vague right now, but one other thing I’m more sure about is that the series is…well, saying it’s a slow starter would give the wrong impression. Having known about the special powers developed in the series beforehand, I was eagerly awaiting those to show up and was waiting for a while. The early arcs still have great tension and accomplishments and action, it just takes a while for mystic abilities to show up, and when they do it’s step by step over the course of a few arcs. First they learn the basics, then they slowly perfect the basics, then they learn some more details, then they really start to fine-tune those, then they pick specific abilities, and those slowly sharpen as time goes on…because of this, it was a while before I got to a point where I decided “Yes, this is very good”, but I’m a sucker for flashy fights so take my opinions with a grain of salt.
     
    Hunter X Hunter is interesting, definitely. There are a few things that bother me a bit, and some of the changes in its formula come with some necessary downsides, but it evokes some genuine shounen vibes while still setting itself apart from the rest. Maybe I’ll come up with some more defined opinions after letting it sink in for a while.
  14. Pahrak Model ZX
    There were three announcements this morning:
     
    1. Pokken Tournament DX! It’s Pokken on the Switch, adding in the fighters who have been added to the arcade version since the Wii U release PLUS Decidueye. Since I don’t have a Switch I don’t expect to be getting this, but it’s definitely interesting, and I look forward to watching how Decidueye plays.
     
    2. Gold and Silver on eShop! I was hoping they’d do this. Gold was the first version I played on my own as opposed to sharing with my sisters, so Johto was my favorite region before Sinnoh came along. I’m very much looking forward to another trek across the region with my trusty Typhlosion again.
     
    3. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon! Not a whole lot of info at present, but Solgaleo and Lunala have new forms that sort of look like they’ve fused with Necrozma (or are wearing it as armor or something). I didn’t think we’d get these so soon, but Alola is great, so I am definitely not complaining! I really hope we can get those forms with pre-existing Solgaleo and Lunala, since I already bought both Sun and Moon…
     
    This reminds me that I really need to transfer my Living Dex up to Gen VII. I’ve been meaning to do that forever…
  15. Pahrak Model ZX

    Annoyed

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    I almost made it a year without making an entry whining about my personal life. I really wanted to hit that milestone. What a shame. But, looks like it’s time for Emotion™, so I’m afraid I have no choice but to bump my thoughts on Megaman ZX until my next post.
     

    The Nonsense So, I have a lot of skin tags on my neck. Always have. I’m really very ugly. One of them has gotten rather large lately, and now both of my parents are saying I need to check it out, my dad sobbing about how he thinks I could have cancer. I’m not particularly worried and figured I would just humor them, it might be nice to have this thing off my neck. After getting off work today I get a text saying I have an appointment to get it looked at tomorrow morning, and now I’m livid.
     
    “But Pahrak,” you’re probably asking, “why are you angry that your father is getting you to the doctor?”
     
    And you’re probably right. I am a horrible person. But here’s how my Horrible Person Brain is looking at the issue.
     
    I’m going to need to be at my dad’s house just after 10, and 10 is when everything opens around here. I work tomorrow, and will need to leave my apartment for there a little past 1. So I figure this is probably going to take my entire morning, which puts a wrench in my plans for tomorrow. I’m getting over a cold and I think my sister is catching it, so I was really hoping to get to the store and buy us a giant pack of tissues. Doubt I can do that now, since the last time I tried entering the store before 10 they told me to go stand outside for the next 8 minutes. Will I get to eat my lunch? Maybe. Probably won’t be able to shower before work, and I might not feel like it after, which means I’m going to smell terrible and be in an even worse mood on Friday.
     
    And let me reiterate: I have no reason to believe I actually have cancer. So I feel as though I’ve suddenly been asked to throw away my entire morning just to completely waste my time. That’s a big part of why I’m angry.
     
    Going a little deeper, I do have a tendency to freak out over little things (like you could say I’m doing right now!), partially due to the distinct possibility I have that Anxiety thing, and I’ve really been trying to make progress on that and some other things in my life. And now, my parents are putting the idea of cancer in my head. So I really only have two options: get angry at them for doing that, or think about it and be totally terrified. I’m sure you can tell which one I’m exploring at the moment.
     
    Which sucks. Because I’m so, so, so, so sick of being angry and afraid all the time, especially since it’s almost always over nothing, and right now I feel like those are my only two options. I don’t know, maybe there are more and I’ll realize that if I calm down, and then I get to continue feeling like an enormous idiot as always. Huh, I thought I was going for a positive outcome there…
     
    The reason it has to be tomorrow is because our main doctor is leaving for an extended trip out of the country on my next day off (Friday). So really, even in the remote event he finds out I have cancer, he won’t be able to do anything about it for who knows how long, while I’ll just be sitting here thinking, “Well dang, cancer!” Heck, I might not even get the results tomorrow, which means I’ll be at the job I hate, tossing around dead chickens to avoid being rude to customers, thinking, “Gee I wonder about cancer.”
     
    …I just don’t want to be scared. So, I’m gonna be angry, because I still haven’t learned an actual way to cope with that because I’m too stupid to actually take anyone’s advice or do anything at all.
     
    Right, whatever. RAEG TIEM.

     
    As expected, that was poorly organized at best. Yikes.
  16. Pahrak Model ZX
    It’s not ready yet but I think this could be a good one and I’m like…halfway there, give or take.
     
    The basic setup is that an island is being attacked, and this same exact thing happened ten thousand years ago. However, the only record of those events is in a language no one reads anymore, so they have no idea how to proceed and are doing very poorly. So, five Chroniclers are sent to find the Spirit of Knowledge and gain the power to translate the history so that they can find some clues to help the island survive. However, the Spirit needs some convincing, and we can’t know if all the Chroniclers are compassionate…
     
    At the start of a round, the players are given a prompt, and then have four days to write a very short story. I judge it, and the winner gets a piece of the history PMed to them. Then they decide what to do with it. They can publish it to the Library for all to see, or they can keep it for themselves. Or, they can just PM it to certain other players. And whenever they publish or share it, they can alter the version that gets published or shared. Because after that, a problem similar to the one in the history fragment will be presented to the modern-day villages, and the Chroniclers need to tell their people how to handle it. At the end of the game the status of each player’s village will be summed up, so if you want the others to do poorly, you can try to mislead them. So, who to trust?
     
    I just need to write up the history and decide on prompts, and then I’ll settle on a release date. I’ve been trying to do something like this for a while so I’m eager to see how it goes!
  17. Pahrak Model ZX
    I decided to pick up Megaman Zero Collection on a whim. My knowledge of the Megaman franchise is mostly limited to the series that came out in my youth (Battle Network, Star Force, and ZX), and every now and then I feel I should really try to expand that, and an entire four game series for $20 seemed like a good way to put a dent in that backlog.
     
    I’m very glad they put in an option for playing straight through the entire series on Easy mode. Even with that, I struggled a fair amount, so I’d hate to see how badly I’d do if I had to actually be good at the game to progress! Since I played ZX and ZXA the basics came back to me pretty quickly, though the X and Y buttons can’t be used…I guess these were originally GBA games, but still, weird. In any event I’ve made it to the end of Zero 4 and figured I’d try to type up some thoughts on it because why not. And hey, this contains unmarked spoilers.
     
    Since I already knew some spoilers going in, evaluating the plot fairly is a bit tricky, but man oh man, this has got to be the Darkest and Edgiest Mega Man of them all. Not to say that’s bad—I think they pulled that atmosphere off pretty well, actually. The first game felt a little…well, ‘empty’ might be too harsh, but I felt like they could have done more. The fact that Neo Arcadia is ruled by X feels like it’s just thrown out for shock value and not fully capitalized on, though there’s potential for some great angst there that would have made us all the more relieved to find out it’s actually Copy X. Plus it felt like Zero didn’t speak a whole lot throughout the game, so I wasn’t sure how to feel about him. Similarly, I didn’t have any particularly strong opinions on the Four Guardians at this point, aside from “Why are they called the Four Guardians if you’re going to permanently kill off Phantom in the first game?” Anywho.
     
    I started to really enjoy things when I got to Zero 2. Gameplay-wise, I was still terrible so I never got any of those neat-sounding EX Skills, but the Chain Rod was pretty fun even if I never mastered it. (You could just hang from the ceiling and swing back and forth endlessly. Extra fun when you’re doing this right behind Ciel when she’s trying to work.) Elpizo’s arc felt better-paced than the first game’s plot, and Harpuia started to show signs of being a more interesting character, so I’d say it was more engaging on that level. Plus it started to really focus on the lore of what happened between the X series and this one. Who doesn’t love lore? And since it ends with a touch of that and the mention of a mysterious evil scientist, it feels very well-connected to Zero 3, which I also enjoyed. That one delved even deeper into the lore, gave us an abominable arc villain, and gave Harpuia great development. (Poor Fefnir and Leviathin were left in the dust, unfortunately…but they’ve grown on me at least a little.) I already knew about The Twist that is Omega, but I think it was presented pretty well, and even foreshadowed! Plus that was a neat progression of forms during the final battles. And 3’s Easy Mode is even easier thanks to auto-charging weapons—I was even able to snag one EX Skill! 2 and 3 definitely make a good plot together, by that point I was definitely glad I’d bought the Collection.
     
    So, that just leaves Zero 4, which feels…a little different. Not bad, just…different. The absence of the Guardians, Mother/Dark Elf, and even Cyber-elf X probably contributes to that. I was worried at first—Easy Mode starts you off with all the modification chips, so you aren’t exactly weak, but you still have a pitiful amount of health. But after clearing the first mission and getting the new Cyber-elf, I realized this was the easiest by far. Easy Mode lets you apply all of the Elf powers at once with no penalty, rendering you a nearly-invincible force of nature who probably doesn’t even need to attack because the Elf is constantly obliterating enemies for you. Plus you can get EX Skills even when you’re terrible now! Absolute power!! Er, anyway, while it did seem a half-step out of the series’ norm, I do like 4’s plot: it tackles the tensions between Humans and Reploids and has them learn to start moving towards putting an end to that, which seems like a great goalpoint for everything that’s happened from Mega Man X til now. (It sets up ZX, too. Like, I really want to replay ZX now that I actually know the backstory. If only I hadn’t sold it…) I think it ended up being a pretty good way to end an edgy series on a rather optimistic note, if not totally happy since, y’know, Zero dies yet again. Also nice to see Wiel get what was coming to him. His plan this time around, while certainly horrific, does feel a little less original than 3’s “control all the Reploids in the world” scheme, but I guess that contributes to the feeling that he’s been backed into a corner at last.
     
    All in all, I enjoyed the Zero series. I’m probably not qualified to say much about the gameplay, but as for story: while the first game felt a little lacking, 2 and 3 definitely made up for it. 4 felt different but made that work to its advantage rather well. I’m glad I checked it out!
     
    Now I guess I’ll go back to watching people play the Mega Man X series, since those haven’t been collected into one Easy Mode package…yet.
  20. Pahrak Model ZX
    Recently Famitsu did a survey in honor of Kingdom Hearts' 15th anniversary, asking things like favorite characters, favorite scenes, what Final Fantasy characters you want to see (Bartz placed fifth!!), etc. More recently, Nomura responded to these results, and there were two things that really stood out to me.
     
    One: he is disappointed that Riku didn't place higher in the popularity poll and wants to fix that. I wholeheartedly agree.
     
    And two:
     

     
    (screenshot from KHInsider)
     
    Nomura has called American fans out on their impatient, entitled attitude, and it gives me life.
  22. Pahrak Model ZX
    has been released for the next Pokemon movie. What we’ve seen previously implied this was a retelling of the first season, showing OG Ash and a Pikachu who doesn’t like him and Ho-Oh being there, but now *echoing voice* IN HD!! */echoing voice* 
    This trailer shows that it’s not that at all.
     
    It starts out the same, but apparently after seeing Ho-Oh, Ash meets up with some entirely new characters with Pokemon from other regions who also have Rainbow Wings from Ho-Oh, and in a surprisingly soon reveal, the 802nd Pokemon Marshadow appears to guide them to the mountain where Ho-Oh lives. Serebii’s translations mention becoming “Heroes of the Rainbow” and Ash and Pikachu learning to become partners to defeat some powerful opponent. Also there’s a shot of an old man with a hat that looks suspiciously similar to the one Red wears. Yes, that Red.
     
    So…huh.
     
    My first reaction was “How can you go for a nostalgia cash-in while taking away virtually all the stuff people are nostalgic for?” Then I remembered one of my initial complaints was that “Movies that retell arcs are boring” and realized I actually like this development. I probably shouldn’t get my hopes too high, but there’s a chance for a rather interesting story here, and I’m looking forward to seeing if it delivers.
     
    But since this is giving us the Pikachu with the hat and Marshadow, that means we’ve already hit the bottom of the Gen VII event Pokemon well…which has me…worried…
  23. Pahrak Model ZX
    Kingdom Hearts Unchained X (with the X pronounced as “chi”) has just had a major update, now renaming itself Kingdom Hearts Union X (with the X pronounced as “cross”). First and most importantly:
     

     
    Illustrated KHII Kairi is available in the new Epic Medal Carnival, guaranteed within 5 draws and coming with three dots! She’s a Curaga, all attribute buff, all attribute debuf, fixed damage to all enemies, and 10 gauge recovery all wrapped into one beautiful package! With Tier 5 Guilt! Get this, especially if you’re playing for free. And, if you make her your shared medal, the home menu music will change to Kairi’s theme!
     
    …Hm? Oh, yeah, and you can log in to get a bunch of free jewels and enough Sora & Roxas medals to Guilt it. Plus fusing Medals now gives them passive skills. And there’s a bunch of new story quests with a new Keyblade and they’ve added a proper multiplayer mode now (which is…eh). Oh, and some new Avatar Boards and new chances at old Avatar Boards, and…was there some other stuff? I don’t remember at the moment.
     
    Side note, the Japanese version recently gained a few new story quests that introduce a new character. A laid-back edgelord by the looks of it.
     
    But most importantly, we’ve got a great chance at a fantastic medal emblazoned with the image of KH’s best girl. Don’t miss this chance!
  24. Pahrak Model ZX
    You know those other ideas I said I wanted to get off the ground sometime soon? This isn’t one of them. This one just showed up and insisted I do something with it and I didn’t feel like trying to do anything else anyway so it ended up done. That’s the short version.
     
    If you want the long version: waaaaaay back in the day, some noob named Exo-Zadakh started writing a story where Bionicles were Pokémon, except you fused with the Bionicles/Pokémon, and as time went on and he entered his weeaboo phase he kept adding Bionikemons based on characters and things from more and more series until it sort of became an original story while simultaneously being a fanfiction of a bajillion things. That noob eventually changed his name from Zadakh to Pahrak and, due to life events and despairing over the dreadful canon he wrote when he was 12, chose to cancel the series and went to pursue other endeavors. Yet an urge still remained. A fanfiction of everything is a lot of fun to write, and this was a big part of the noob’s life for a few years, so he could never really let it go. Pahrak is now trying to flesh out a new iteration of the basic concepts of this ancient story, but first, wanted to do a sampler to see how it goes.
     
    Either way, I’ve posted a new story in OTC called Glimpse of Horizons. It’s sort of a pilot for a much larger project I’ve got a desire to do, trying to get a feel for a piece of the world and, more importantly, the main character. So, while feedback is always appreciated, it’d be extra appreciated here! No clue when I might kick off the full version, but I do think I would like to. I’ll keep you posted.
  25. Pahrak Model ZX
    In my ongoing efforts to accomplish nothing productive with my life, I got an urge to rewrite Bleach in a way I think would be more interesting. Of course, that’s a momentous undertaking, so instead of writing the whole thing out I just threw together an outline. Since I’m not going to go reread the entire series some of this may be foggy, but hey, who’s reading this?
     

    Why Did I Do This Beginning through Soul Society:
    -Honestly I don’t think I’d change much for the first two arcs. Maybe just some miscellaneous things, like the shape of Tensa Zengetsu’s guard, and possibly a few bits of foreshadowing. Oh, and I feel like Aizen’s shikai should be a little less OP—as opposed to “see it once and I will forever have total control over your senses”, maybe give it a time limit, possibly a month or two so the Gotei 13 could still reasonably be under its spell during the Soul Society arc. Fairest would be that he needs his shikai active to use its effects, but maybe a little OP isn’t too bad.
     
    The Vizard and Hueco Mundo:
    -Since the biggest criticism of the arc is that it’s essentially the same as the Soul Society arc, changing the formula would probably be a good place to start. Since Soul Society was sort of allying with Urahara and the Vizard, an idea I had was that they could use Urahara’s portal-opening skills to just make frequent raids into Hueco Mundo rather than an extended infiltration done by Ichigo and co, essentially the same as the Arrancar popping into Karakura now and then (which would probably also keep happening). It could still go on for a while, but experiencing each world in short bits might make that more tolerable.
    -The teams being sent on raids would change regularly as well. A number of Soul Reapers, Vizards, and Ichigo’s friends would gather together each time and be dispatched, while others would stay behind and train or defend Karakura or something else. It’d allow a great chance to showcase all the characters, not just the popular ones, as well as give them more of an opportunity to lose some fights and be brought back to safety to reflect on that.
    -To facilitate this setup, it would sure help if Soul Society had an idea of what might be strategic places to strike in Hueco Mundo. A mole in Aizen’s forces would help this greatly, and I’d like to suggest Mashiro Kuna. (The Vizard lady with the green hair, I had to look up her name but apparently that’s it.) Hear me out: it’s been stated that she can maintain her Hollow Mask for 15 hours, without ever even training to control it. If she approached Aizen sometime before the plot started, keeping her mask on and claiming that her Hollow has taken control of her body, she could probably pull that off, as long as she keeps the mask on whenever Aizen’s nearby. Maybe she actually would train and lengthen her duration to be able to keep it on even longer, perhaps even indefinitely. So Aizen would think he has a powerful Hollowfied Shinigami in his ranks, but in reality she is able to leak information to the other Vizard, who in turn pass it on to the Soul Society. Of course, Aizen would almost definitely want to cast her under his zanpakuto’s control, but if we say Mashiro’s Hollow Mask makes her immune to it (either as a general Vizard power or because of the lenses her mask creates over her eyes), Aizen would be none the wiser and this could work out.
    -Obviously we’ll still have Ichigo training to control his own Hollow. Since he doesn’t respond well at first, he’d probably try going on a raid right away, and I imagine being in Hueco Mundo would give his Hollow a much better chance of taking control for a bit. Whether this would change the circumstances of Ichigo finally taking control of the Hollow is up in the air, but the series of raids would provide him a better time frame to gradually increase his control of the mask, rather than just suddenly jumping from novice to master like it sort of felt like in the manga.
    -Also Chad. Chad still gets his left arm armor in Hueco Mundo, though I might change its color scheme to match his right arm and come up with one singular name for the power rather than giving each arm a different name. Orihime might develop some new powers too—I think she’s technically a Fullbringer also? At least, I’d probably make that official in this version, so maybe she gets her 4 spirit Reflect early, or gets an entirely new ability added to her repertoire. And this should go without saying: Chad and Orihime get to win fights. From here on out. Interesting ones, and maybe a couple of easy ones later on just to be nice.
    -There’s a question of where this leaves Uryu. As I recall, he only agreed to go to Hueco Mundo because he wanted to help rescue Orihime, so with that not being the case I’m not sure if he would want to participate in the raids, especially since there should still be some pretty high tensions between him and the Soul Society, what with him being the last Quincy and everything. Though as long as the Arrancar keep attacking Karakura, that’d still give Uryu plenty of opportunity to show off, so maybe it wouldn’t be a real problem.
    -Tension with Soul Society in general might be beneficial here. For Uryu, they’re the people who wiped out his people. As for Ichigo, some of the shinigami might still not entirely trust him, or hold a grudge over his rampage. Plus, while in Hueco Mundo, I imagine the shinigami would want to smite as many Hollows as possible, and if this included some less than threatening foes like Nell and her gang, I’m sure Ichigo would have a problem with that. It’d provide a way to continue examining the flaws of Soul Society and perhaps show a gradual process of mending them.
    -With continued attacks on Karakura, it’s possible that more of Ichigo’s human friends could develop Fullbrings and get a formal introduction to the spiritual world, but I don’t have any specific ideas about that.
     
    Fake Karakura Town:
    -I think the basic setup here works as a climax for the Hueco Mundo era. The circumstances might be different, though: I imagine Mashiro would get word out about Aizen’s plan to attack, and perhaps this is when Ichigo and some others actually target Aizen’s castle in an attempt to stop him. They wouldn’t, of course, and we’d still get some fights in Hueco Mundo while other battles are going on in Fake Karakura, though I guess we’d need to decide which Espada are staying behind to still be fought in Hueco Mundo at this point…maybe only the top five are still around and only Ulquiorra and Yammy stay behind? I think that’s more or less what happened in the manga.
    -Ichigo and a couple of others would take on Ulquiorra. I definitely think Ulquiorra’s second Resureccion is unnecessary and, well…pulled out of thin air, so I’d cut that. I also think Ichigo’s Arrancar transformation is a little out there, though it might work better if it came from Ichigo’s Inner Hollow agreeing to work closer with Ichigo and meld their powers into something more potent. As long as it doesn’t revive him from near-death and is more evenly-matched with Ulquiorra instead of reversal-curb-stomping him, I guess it’s not so bad. Also I’d prefer to keep his original mask design, but that’s just straight nostalgia.
    -Whoever goes to Hueco Mundo and doesn’t fight Ulquiorra would fight Yammy, and I think this would be the larger group. I’d want this fight to be on-screen and very difficult, forcing several characters to combine their powers in interesting ways to figure out a way to topple the guy who’s supposedly the strongest Espada. (I mean, I’m not entirely on board with him secretly being the 0 Espada, but…I’ll keep it here so there are at least two Espada guarding Hueco Mundo while Aizen’s away.)
    -I recall most of the fights in Fake Karakura being alright. Though, I remember being dissatisfied with Yamamoto’s fight—an Arrancar created specifically to seal his flames is a fine idea, but I’d like to see it more as a full battle, and maybe end with the old man being worn down naturally (and maybe a cheap shot from Aizen) rather than just crumbling after throwing himself on his exploding opponent.
    -Admittedly, I’m not entirely sure where Grimjow would be in all this. His fight with Ichigo would probably happen prior to this final battle, and I’m not sure if he would go back to Aizen after that, or if Aizen would even take him back. Maybe he does, and Grimjow ends up fighting someone else in Hueco Mundo who holds him off so Ichigo can finish off Ulquiorra? Or maybe he comes in to help Ichigo fight Ulquiorra? It’s hard to say. I am totally okay with him surviving this arc, though.
    -So…that brings us to Aizen. Let’s start with what oddly bothered me the most: over 20 chapters with the same title. Either don’t do that, or give them all different subtitles, like earlier repeating titles (which I always thought was kinda cool). As for how the fight actually plays out…gee, what do I remember…well, if he’s attained god-like power then it does make sense he’d curbstomp a lot of people, but seeing them put up a little more fight might be more interesting. The real question here is Ichigo vs Aizen. I think I can get behind Isshin having Ichigo learn the Final Getsuga Tenshou, though maybe there should be a little more reason as to why—maybe Ichigo tries fighting Aizen with his Arrancar form (which he can now toggle) and plenty of help, but still isn’t able to win, so they pull back while the others continue to hold Aizen off. Obtaining the technique would be done in either Karakura or Soul Society, since I still feel the sudden Hyperbolic Time Chamber thing was…well, sudden. When Ichigo comes back, everyone else would probably be on the brink of death, and rather than doing a short curbstomp battle to no real effect I’d prefer him just use the Final Getsuga Tenshou right away, lose his powers, and let Urahara’s seal activate to finally defeat Aizen.
    -Also I’m not sure I really got Gin’s character? So maybe some tweaks would be made to that.

     
    Since this ended up being long and I’m not quite done with the final arc yet, I think I’m going to cut it here and post the rest another time. I already know my revisions for the last arc are going to be extensive…
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