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Pahrak Model ZX

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  1. Pahrak Model ZX

    They Remembered!

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    So I guess Square Enix is doing a collaboration with a new smartphone game or something, and they’re doing ads to promote it of course, and guess what?
     
    There’s not a Cloud in sight.
     
    IT FEATURES FINAL FANTASY V.
  3. Pahrak Model ZX

    Things to See

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    Well, for starters, I decided to suck it up and go to an 11 PM showing of Star Wars on Thursday. It was an excellent decision and if you have not yet seen the movie I highly recommend you do so. There’s basically nothing else I can say about it, because I’d rather have friends than spoil it.
     
    Also, it was announced that Steven Universe is going to be back on January 4th! Not just that, but it’s going to be a full-fledged Steven Bomb, and the brief descriptions we’ve been given for the episodes are sounding pretty interesting already!
     
    Oh, and then there’s this event going on in Japan right now, Jump Festa or something, and I guess Square Enix is there and released a new trailer for Kingdom Hearts II.8 and III. Wait…actually, that’s kind of a big deal!!
    -The II.8 part of the trailer starts with some footage from (what I assume to be) the introduction of 0.2, showing Yen Sid explaining the situation to Mickey, Riku, and Kairi and saying they must find Aqua, Ventus, and Terra. Mickey then confirms he met Aqua in the Realm of Darkness, and…that’s that part. Then they do a bit for Back Cover—basically the same as last time, it flashes a few shots of the Awakening platform with the Union emblems and the Foretellers are speaking about how there’s a traitor. And then of course there’s some shots of KH3D HD.
    -After that, we get a bit of KHIII gameplay footage! Seems to be set in Rapunzel’s world if I’m not mistaken, it reuses a few old scenes of Sora fighting dandelion Heartless before showing him fighting a group of the new Nobody breed we’ve been hearing about! We don’t get a close-up, but it’s still super-obvious they were under Marluxia’s command. There’s also footage with the Buzz Lightyear Blaster Attraction Flow. Also, it looks like Sora’s using something like a Shootlock, although when he dashes between the enemies its styled like how they’re presenting Flowmotion in KHIII, so…I dunno? And there appear to be new variations of those floating mage Heartless! The one looks a lot like the Yellow Opera but might have a new design on its cloak, and it seems to summon a ring with four sharp points along its edge. There’s also one that looks to have a pinkish red cloak, and it also creates rings, though its look a lot like Axel’s chakrams for some reason. Not sure if there’s a reason for this, but it’ll be interesting to see.
     
    I sure hope the rest of my weekend is this good.
     
    (Oh, and I should probably mention that Cartoon Network is airing the new Pokémon movie tomorrow if that’s something you’re interested in.)
  4. Pahrak Model ZX

    Thirteen Years

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    As of today, I’ve been on BZPower for 13 years. Being 24 years old, that means I’ve been on this site for over half of my entire life, so I guess that’s kinda cool. Let’s see how productive this past year was for me:
     
    -Wrote An End Escaped, which I rather like
    -Hosted Slizer Mafia 2: Okotans’ Revenge, which I think went well
    -Hosted Slizer Dome US, which did not go so well
    -Finished Shooting Star Sonia 2, ending up with a 100k word story that I wrote in roughly a year while holding myself to a biweekly posting schedule
    -Wrote Slizer Mafia 2.8, which honestly I probably didn’t need to do
    -Hosted For Coronet and Cancellation [slizer Mafia 3], which was woefully short
    -Wrote Glimpse of Horizons, which I also rather like
    -Hosted Mafia XXXIX: Hotel of Okoto, which had one unique mechanic and that mechanic ended up being a flop
    -Wrote Second Star for The Legend Continues, which was fun even if it did poorly in the polls
    -Wrote Toa of Fire, which is okay
    -Wrote She Understood, which…I’m not really sure what to say about
    -Just kicking off Wall of History (Signups are closing tonight!)
     
    Well, that’s fairly productive. Rocky, but productive. You can also see how my style of Mafia hosting gradually became “the Mafia steadily wipes out the village while I play unfitting music.” Good times.
     
    It’s obviously tough to say for sure what the coming year might bring, but I already shared several things I’m working on/considering recently. Progress on Shooting Star Sonia 3 is…slower than expected, but it is happening. I was just reminded that this December is Mega Man’s 30th anniversary, so I’m considering waiting and posting the story on that day as a way to celebrate, and probably with the first few chapters close together to hopefully make up for the extra wait. On a different note the world of Olkir is also coming together, so I may just do that casting call before too long. Maybe next month?
     
    Here’s to another year!
     
    (Wow, not a single Kingdom Hearts joke.)
  5. Pahrak Model ZX
    Some of you may be aware of the announcement of Pokemon Black and White, the Generation V games set to be released in Japan sometime 2010. While examining the pictures and hoping this wouldn't be another Generation III situation, I made a shocking discovery...look at this picture:
     

     
    Look to the left, under the bridge...
    THE TRUCK HAS RETURNED.
     
    Those of you familiar with this dreaded enemy know what this means, and those of you not familiar with it should be glad you are not! In order to defeat The Truck I am in the process of forging a sword of infinite cutting power, made of a combination of Adamantite, Adamantium, Mythril, Orichalcum+, Protosteel, Exsidian, Nintendium, and Brightsteel and energized by Lightsaber crystals, but I fear it will not be complete in time...
     
    Join me in the battle against The Truck! Bring as many allies and weapons as you can--we must be fully prepared when Black and White are released and The Truck launches its attack!
     
    (Yeah, I'm a little insane...pay no attention to the otaku behind the computer screen.)
  6. Pahrak Model ZX
    Being a Super Saiyan is fun, but all Saiyans end up getting killed sooner or later. When I died, some of my allies tried using the Dragon Balls to bring me back, but something went awry and my spirit was thrown into yet another dimenison--the dimension of The World Ends With You. I was dead, but I died in a different world, so normal rules in the Underground didn't apply to me, and I was free to do as I pleased. So, I figured out how to achieve a Noise form. Just because I could.
    (I was way overdue for a TWEWY form.)
     
    No new news on Pokemon Black and White 2...but I'm officially on Spring Break! *energetic fist pump* I've got a whole list of stuff to get done while I have the chance, and I want to start by updating the Spirit Index. Look for that today or tomorrow.
    Related to that: if you have any Spirits, the prime time to send them to me would be between now and the 17th. I should be able to get them online a lot more quickly if you do.
     
    As promised, I've done some work on VioletRose and HonoredSoul! I want to add a section to the main post detailing the Orb Center (Buy, Sell, Order), but I'm still working on the price range for Orbs. My idea right now is 10 W for a 120 FE or less Orb, adding 5 W to the cost for every 10 FE, making a 200 FE Spirit worth 50 W (the amount won from an Element-Lord). Parasites would be an obvious exception to this (I'm thinking a flat price of 30 W?), and maybe Vehicles should be a little more expensive...still working that out.
    I also need to settle on prices for healing items. I'm thinking 1 W for an Elixir, 5 W for status healers and Megalixirs, and 10 W for a Hyperlixir, with certain items being unavailable until later in the game (like in Pokemon).
    Working on deciding rosters for the Element-Lords, who will probably not be named. The first Element-Lord you fight will use one Spirit, the second will use two, the third will use three, Element-Lords four, five, and six will each use 5 Spirits, and the final Element-Lord will use seven. I'm thinking that I should avoid giving them Orbs submitted by readers so that it doesn't look like I'm playing favorites...
    Also inspired by Pokemon, I'm thinking about limiting the number of Orbs a player can carry/use at a time. What do you guys think about this?
    And I will definitely compile a list of Spirits that need additional restrictions on usability, such as Trynakh. I'll present it here so you can comment on it as well.
    I'll try to get a modified version of the first post together by next week's blog entry. Discussion on the above points and/or anything I may have missed would be most welcomed if you have anything to say.
     
    Before I go, fellow Pokemon Black and White players may be interested to know that, starting this Saturday, you'll be able to download a free Lv 100 Zekrom or Reshiram via Nintendo Wi-Fi! (Zekrom for Black Version, Reshiram for White Version)
    (I'm glad I can get a Reshiram, but...it'll be stronger than my Zekrom D: )
  7. Pahrak Model ZX
    But first, I actually managed to update the Bioni-Lords Spirit Index after all this time! It's a very Technic Coliseum-inspired update, with FanonRiders and Cosmic Slizers and RoboRiders OS. No word yet on if this has motivated me to actually kick myself back into writing the darn thing, but...
     
    Anyway, E3. You’ve probably all heard the news. I’m just gonna mention the stuff I care about.
     
    I kinda had a neutral opinion about the idea of a new Smash Bros, but now that Mega Man is going to be in, I’m buying it. Even if I’m not that familiar with Classic Mega Man, I was worried about him and his franchise, so seeing him do something like this is quite a relief. Also looking forward to Wii Fit Trainer becoming the lethal joke character.
     
    Originally I wasn’t paying attention to Final Fantasy Versus XIII, but now that it’s Final Fantasy XV I guess I will. *shrug*
     
    Development on Kingdom Hearts III has begun. Keywords: “development” and “begun.” It still probably won’t be out for a while, but that’s okay. At least I know which platform to buy for it. As for my emotions on this…they’re complicated, but you’ve probably heard my rant on that before, and it’s not important. But I do want to know why Sora has the Master Keeper. Also Kairi should be playable. Or at the very least, finally become the super-awesome superwoman we’ve always known she can be.
     
    A ton of new Pokémon news! Game Freak has been so generous these past few months. New features and new Pokémon are always interesting to see—Talonflame and Noivern in particular look like something I might put on my team. The Fairy-type…I have no complaints about the new type being “Fairy,” actually, but the idea of bringing in a new type is something I’ve never been particularly open to. Also, I’m not sure I agree with weakening Dragon. I actually think Steel, if anything, needs some more weaknesses. Meh, I’ll get over it. Also interesting to see that the player character of the opposite sex appears, but apparently they lose their hat when not serving as the playable character. I know hats are the symbol of main character status in Pokémon, but…
     
    Was hoping for something The World Ends With You related, since the teaser image in the iOS remake was revealed last August and they haven’t given us anything else since. But I‘ll be patient. Hey, I was always okay with the possibility of no sequel since TWEWY stands on its own so well, but with that teaser image there’s gotta be something in the works…right?
  8. Pahrak Model ZX
    Pokemon Black and White 2 are out in Japan! *fist pump* So yeah, once the info starts rolling in, I may make slight changes to the Kyurem Spirit. But probably not.
    Anyway, on to the main event of today...
     
    Korra Thoughts, contain 100% spoiler concentrate, highlight to read:
    -Hey, the vagrant's back!
    -Fighter planes! We're in trouble now...
    -My first reaction to Tarrlok's revelation: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!
    -My second reaction: "Yakone and sons, bringing terror to Republic City for 50 years! Come to us for all your villainous needs!"
    -My third reaction: Amon's backstory is kinda similar to Kytan's in Bioni-Lords...there goes my thunder. D: Oh well, at least it goes to an awesome series.
    -My fourth reaction: Wait, did they just redeem Tarrlok? Tarrlok?
    -Hm...so, does Amon use bloodbending to jam their chi flow or something...?
    -Invisible fence, called it. Come on guys, use your heads.
    -Asami steals ALL the Equalist weapons! MECHA FIGHT!!
    -Taking down planes. Iroh the Second is officially awesome.
    -Wait wait wait, children bound and gagged? Isn't that a bit much...?
    -KORRA!! NOOOOOOOO!!
    -Seems the Lieutenant is going from "the Dragon" to "the Starscream." I approve.
    -So how do YOU like getting zapped, Amon? Also, this scene shows that it has became WAY too easy to bend lightning. Seriously.
    -Yay, she Airbends before the season ends! Although...how can she still use Air when she's lost the other three...? Ah, whatever.
    -The scar is fake? Hm, I was thinking that Amon had a firebender actually scar him to support his story, which would give him extra points in the commitment department. Oh well.
    -Actually, I was thinking the same thing as Bolin. Sure, you lost three elements, but at least you're not totally powerless, right?
    -Yeah, we get to see Bumi the Second! ...For about five seconds...
    -...Did Tarrlok...just...blow up the speedboat...?
    -Well, since bloodbending is what caused the problem, couldn't Katara use her own bloodbending on the next full moon and see if that helps?
    -I see why she's upset...she's always been so proud of being the Avatar, and now that's been taken away from her. This is an excellent chance for some great character developme--
    -AANG!! And Roku and Kyoshi and...other Avatars...
    -Wait, was that Energybending? So Energybending CAN restore bending?! The theories were true!!
    -AVATAR STATE! Had to happen at least once. Suprised it didn't happen sooner...
    -Well, we didn't get that character development, but I guess this is cool. Again...I love this show, but it moves quickly.
    -So Korra knows Energybending now...yay for Lin getting her bending back!
    -I guess when Korra goes back she'll be giving out free bending restoration. She'll be up for days...
    -Alright. When does Book 2 start? And what will it be called? And what will happen? I MUST KNOW.
  9. Pahrak Model ZX
    No major Bioni-Lords developments this week, sorry. So I guess I'll just talk about the major Pokemon development of the past week.
     
    We've been playing Pokemon Black and White for a while, waiting for them to announce the inevitable third version, when, on Sunday, an announcement was made. Rather than releasing a Pokemon Gray like everyone was expecting, they surprised us all by deciding to make Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2! Strange, yes, I agree. They really haven't told us much about it yet, so at this point everything is speculation...except for the mascots, of course.
     
    The mascots of Black and White, Reshiram and Zekrom (respectively), are part of a trio of Pokemon (as is often the case with version mascots), the third member being a Pokemon named Kyurem. Kyurem is the mascot of both Black 2 and White 2, but it has a new form for each version!
    This is original Kyurem.
    This is Black Kyurem, mascot of Black 2.
    This is White Kyurem, mascot of White 2.
     
    So it looks like Kyurem ended up eating one of the other members of its trio. Oh, Pokemon...
    And yes, I plan to make a Kyurem Spirit that can switch between all three forms. These games should be released in Japan this June, so I'll probably have enough info to make them about that time. If not then, the games are supposed to come to America in autumn, so I'll definitely make the Spirit once I get my own copy of White 2.
     
    I'm psyched. This is gonna be a great year for American fans of JRPGs, such as myself. We got Final Fantasy XIII-2 in February, we're getting Disgaea 3 Portable in April, Pokemon Black and White 2 in autumn, and Kingdom Hearts 3D at some point this year (rumored to be July)!
    So I'll be distracted for my work all year long.
     
    Oh, and since I'm on spring break week after next, I'm going to sit down and put some work into VioletRose and HonoredSoul. I truly am going to do my best to get them up during May or July!
  10. Pahrak Model ZX
    Aw, the title was supposed to be in all caps... D:
     
    So, Forgotten Bond is winding down, and I figured I'd settle on a release date for Kako. Right now, I'm planning to post the Prologue on April 19th and Chapter 1 on the 20th. (Since the Prologue isn't really anything new, I thought I should follow up with some actual new content immediately.)
    The bad news is...I'll probably be pretty distracted in April. That's the season of final projects, plus Disgaea 3 portable is being released about that time, and Avatar: The Legend of Korra is premiering...so I'm going to try and get a few chapters typed ahead of time so I can post semi-regularly during that timeframe immediately after the release.
    (I'm stuck on the writing at the moment, but since I already have 15 complete chapters...)
     
    Also, I want to adress something that was mentioned in Sekai but never really explained: Widgets are not the only currency in the Bioni-Lords world. Each island has its own individual currency (which I hope to get on Exo's Desk at some point), but Widgets were created as a universal currency for Bioni-Lords on their quest. It'd be really annoying to have to exchange money every time you got to another island, right? Of course, not all places accept Widgets...
    In relation to this, I began thinking about who the economies of each island compare to each other--we mentioned Fe-Isle's mining industry, but other than that we don't know what each people on each island actually do for work. I want to spend some time thinking about that...
     
    I was also thinking about adding two additional arcs to Kako--a Ta-Isle Revisit (since, being the first island, it's never featured for more than a couple chapters) and a Mainland Revisit (since we haven't done anything of importance on the Mainland). What would you guys think of these? I want to get some opinions before I start looking for a place to put them in the overall plot.
     
    As promised, I have revised VioletRose and HonoredSoul! Opinions, comments, suggestions, etc are greatly appreciated! Hopefully its better organized, and various edits have been made, including changes to the Spirit Tracker that should help to prevent abuse. However, there are a few Spirits who will still need more restrictions, and this is the list I'm working with right now:
    Exo-Barraki, Shadow Toa Kopaka, Locutus, Nikila, Trynakh, Undead Cicada, Seeker of Darkness, Exo-Kohrak Kal Abomination, Freeshooter, Obscura: Angelic Paladin, Silent Hero, Fading Memory, Luna Diviner, Graceful Assassin, Destined Key, Savage Thunderbolt
    As for the actual restrictions...still working on those.
    The post below mentions links, but they're not active, just placeholders.
     
    BIONI-LORDS VIOLETROSE VERSION and BIONI-LORD HONOREDSOUL VERSION
     
    Originally there were two worlds: a world of humans and a world of Bionicles, but things have changed since then. The two worlds were mixed together, and while they were separated again, both worlds were changed beyond recognition: humans and Bionicles existed side by side, but Bionicles were reduced to Bioni-Spirits: animalistic versions of what they once were, multiplied into species, and some that looked like they were from a foreign universe. What’s more, when a Bioni-Spirit takes enough damage, it transforms into a glass orb filled with a spark of energy, and a human can then use that Orb to fuse with the Bioni-Spirit, creating a new entity…the Bioni-Lord.
     
    In this game, you will control a Bioni-Lord in one of these two worlds, and send him or her on a quest to become a legendary warrior. Below is the character form:
     
    Name:
    Gender:
    Appearance:
    Age:
    Starting Orb: (see below)
    Version: VioletRose or HonoredSoul
     
    The Orbs you can choose to start with differ depending on which Version you are playing. VioletRose players can start with #3. Pohatu, #857. Onyx, or #927. William Furno. HonoredSoul players can start with #9. Lewa, #842. Scuba, or #930. Preston Stormer. For details on these Spirits, see the Spirit Index.
     
    Of course, not all Spirits can be obtained—some are only found in one Version and not the other, and some cannot be found no matter how hard you look. Version Exclusives can be found here, unobtainable Spirits can be found here. Players playing the same Version can interact with each other freely, and there is a way to get the Spirits of the other Version!
     
    Olmak Breach:
    There is a hole in the dimensional fabric between the two worlds, and this hole can be accessed by a facility found in all towns called the Olmak Breach. When you visit the Olmak Breach, you leave behind a “ghost” in the space between dimensions, and this ghost can interact with ghosts of players of the other Version. Ghosts can battle to earn Widgets (money) and trade Spirits, and the rewards of these activities can be retrieved by visiting any Olmak Breach facility.
     
    The world is composed of a number of cities, each of which is tied to a specific Element (or Elements) (see below), and venturing just outside the city walls you will find areas where you can find, battle, and obtain wild Bioni-Spirits. Each town has an Olmak Breach, an Orb Shop where you can buy new Spirits (see below), a Healing Shop where you can buy healing items for use in battle (see below), a Training Field where you can fight players of the same Version or NPC opponents, and a Battlefield (see below).
     
    Elements:
    Spirits and attacks have Elements interwoven into their beings. The Elements are Fire, Stone, Earth, Ice, Air, Water, Jungle, Light, Shadow, Rahaga, Steel, Thunder, Dragon, and Psionics. Each Element has two weaknesses and two resistances—if a Spirit is Fire Element and hit by a Water attack, it will take double damage from that attack, while a Water Spirit will take half damage from a Fire attack. Also, if a Fire/Ice Spirit is hit by a Water attack, it will take triple damage, while a Water/Fire Spirit will take one-third damage from an Ice attack. Elements, with their weaknesses and resistances, can be found here.
     
    Orb Center:
    At an Orb Center you can Buy, Sell, or Order Spirits. The Spirits you can buy differ in each town, but you can order a Spirit available in another town for an additional fee of 10 W. An ordered Spirit will not arrive immediately—you must fight three battles before it will arrive. Prices for buying/selling Orbs: 10 W for a Spirit with 120 FE or less, adding 5 W to the price per every 10 FE increase. (Exceptions include Parasite type Spirits, which are usually sold for 30 W.)
     
    Healing Shop:
    Spirits automatically heal after each battle, but there are a few items you can buy to use during battle. These items are available for purchase at the Healing Shop in each town, but you may need to reach certain milestones before they become available.
    (Name-effect, cost)
    Elixir-heals 30 FE, 1 W
    Megalixir-heals 60 FE, 5, W
    Hyperlixir-heals 120 FE, 10 W
    Frost Vapor-heals burn, 5 W
    System Shock-heals paralysis, 5 W
    Magma Burst-heals freeze, 5 W
    Realization-heals confusion, 5 W
    Liquid Sun-heal blindness, 5 W
    Nightmare-heal sleep, 5 W
    Harmonica-heal silence, 5 W
    Immune Booster-heal poison, 5 W
     
    Battle and Battlefields:
    Battles in this game are simple. You choose a Bioni-Spirit to fuse with, and your opponent will do the same (unless it is a wild Bioni-Spirit). You will both take turns using an attack, and I will roll a 6-sided die to determine if it is successful or not; 1-3 is successful, 4-6 is unsuccessful (unless accuracy modifiers are involved). Usually, you can only use one Spirit in battle, and when its Fusion Energy (FE, or health) count is depleted, you lose. This is where the Battlefields come in.
    Battlefields are in every city you will visit. Inside a Battlefield, you will fight an Element-Lord, a powerful Bioni-Lord who specializes in the Element associated with the city. If you can defeat the Element-Lord, you will win Widgets and an Elemental Code for your Spirit Booster. A Spirit Booster is a device that can store Bioni-Spirits as data (a more convenient method than carrying around all the Orbs), and can be programmed with Elemental Codes to unlock new abilities in Spirits and allow you to use multiple Spirits in one battle. Not all Elemental Codes are available in each Version, however.
    To illustrate: possessing the Fire Code allows you to use as many Fire Spirits in one battle as you want, and if those Spirits have an Effect, it will activate. If a Spirit is part Fire and part Thunder, or some other Element also available in the same Version as Fire, then you must obtain the Code for that Element as well before you can activate the Spirit’s Effect or use it along with other Spirits in one battle. If, on the other hand, the Spirit is part Fire and part Ice, or some other Element not available in the same Version, it can be used along with other Spirits in one battle and its effect will activate.
    However, there is still a restriction on the number of Spirits you can use in one battle. At Level 1 you will be able to use up to 3 Spirits in one battle, and you will gain one additional slot for every Level you gain up to 8 slots. However, after defeating all seven Element-Lords you will gain a special Bioni-Spirit that can be used in addition to the other 8 Spirits. So, after beating the last Element-Lord, you’ll be able to use any 8 Spirits of your choice plus a special Bioni-Spirit in one battle.
     
    You begin in a city tied to three Elements, and thus has three Element-Lords—you will need to fight each one before you can move on. Once you beat all three, you receive a Spirit Tracker (see below) and are able to visit three more cities, each tied to one Element, in any order. After doing that, you have to return to the starting city, receive a secret artifact, and head on to the final city, and once you defeat the Element-Lord there you will receive a unique Bioni-Spirit. After that…you’ll see…
     
    For VioletRose:
    Starting city is tied to Fire, Stone, and Earth.
    Secondary cities are tied to Jungle, Shadow, and Thunder.
    Final city tied to Rahaga.
    Receive Wildflower once all Element-Lords defeated.
     
    For HonoredSoul:
    Starting city is tied to Ice, Air, and Water.
    Secondary cities are tied to Psionics, Light, and Steel.
    Final city is tied to Dragon.
    Receive Elder Toa once all Element-Lords defeated.
     
    Spirit Tracker:
    With this device, you can search for a specific Bioni-Spirit, so long as its Element is the same as the city you are nearby. Once you use the Spirit Tracker, you must fight another battle (the battle with the Spirit you are tracking does not count) to reboot the Tracker before you can use it again.
    Once you reach Level 3, you receive the Tracker and will be able to track any Spirit with 140 or less maximum Fusion Energy. With additional Levels, you will be able to increase the charge with more battles. Fighting a second battle will boost the charge to track Spirits with up to 160 maximum FE (at Level 4 or above); a third will allow you to track Spirits with up to 180 FE (at Level 5 or above); and a fourth battle will allow you to track Spirits with 200 maximum FE (at Level 6 or above).
    There are several Spirits with additional restrictions, which are detailed here.
     
    Some Spirits can be upgraded into new Spirits, but the FE of the upgraded Spirit cannot exceed your current Spirit Tracker limitations. To upgrade a Spirit, state that you wish to, and then win three battles with the Spirit (unless it has special upgrade conditions).
     
    (Several of the Spirits on the Index are noted to get stronger and develop new abilities based on what Level the player is, but these are based on the old Level system that used Ultima-Orbs. When you obtain one of these Spirits, I will PM you a modified version of these restrictions updated for VioletRose and HonoredSoul.)
     
    As always, follow BZPower rules! I think that about wraps it up…
  11. Pahrak Model ZX
    95% Guilt!
     

     
    (No, seriously, first try!)
     
    I've never seen Guilt this high, let alone on a Medal this good. At this point it's more sensible to wait for Magic Mirrors than fuse another one! Thank God I might actually be able to get some Adamant Ore now.
     
    EDIT: My gosh I just noticed
     

     
    Jack what are you doing. Why the sneak.
  12. Pahrak Model ZX
    Square Enix: (2006-2013) We are working hard on several new Kingdom Hearts titles, two will have major plot developments and one will retcon the story to show things involving fan-favorite characters, everyone’s putting in a lot of effort.
    Fandom: But none of them are called Kingdom Hearts III! Why do you hate us you should have called the fourth game in the series Kingdom Hearts III since you called the third one Kingdom Hearts II I’m going to completely ignore everything you’re doing because you didn’t.
     
    Square Enix: (2013) We only just started development on Kingdom Hearts III, but we were able to just barely pull together an announcement trailer to give you an idea of what you can look forward to!
    Fandom: UGH FINALLY! *five seconds pass* JUST RELEASE IT ALREADY I mean how long can it take to create a game??????
     
    Sqaure Enix: (2015) Yeah, there’ll be some KHIII news at the D23 Expo later this year…haha actually we already have this cool trailer to show you at E3! Sorry it’s not longer, there’s a bunch more we wanted to show but couldn’t due to time constraints.
    Fandom: OMG wow that’s so cool but hey wait no release date?! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?! UGH YOU ALWAYS DO THIS IT’S LIKE YOU DON’T EVEN CARE ABOUT US SQUARE!!
     
    Nomura: (in an interview a few days ago) I didn’t originally intend for there to be such a wait between KHII and KHIII, I was working on other Kingdom Hearts titles that whole time, but fans just kept asking “where’s KHIII?”
    Interviewer: (which you’d think would imply a degree of professionalism) Yeah it’s so great that now there’s a “legitimate sequel”
     
     
    Wouldn’t it be great if we actually appreciated what creators did for us instead of complaining and getting angry at them for not totally conforming to our narrow demands in an abbreviated timeframe?
     
    It probably would.
  13. Pahrak Model ZX
    Everyone knows I love (J)RPGs, so it should come as no surprise that when I heard about an RPG you can stick Miis in and watch their Tomadachi Life-esque interactions, I was intrigued. Now that the demo is available on the eShop, I picked it up and played through it, and figured I’d do a post about it because why not.
     
    The gist, for those of you unaware, is that you are a traveler in a fantasy world inhabited by Miis. A Dark Lord has begun stealing people’s faces and sticking them on monsters, so you must form a party, fight these monsters, and rescue everyone’s faces. One of the main draws is that everyone here is a Mii. Whenever you are introduced to a new player character, or other key characters such as the Dark Lord, you are asked to cast a Mii in that role, and can do so either by importing one from the 3DS Mii Maker, using data from Tomodachi Life, looking through a list of Miis people have shared online, or just creating a new one right then and there. In a town, the NPCs are all automatically cast using a random selection of shared Miis, but you can change any Mii in the game from the menu. For the player characters you are also asked to choose a personality type, as well as a Job. (I didn’t realize it had a Job System going in, this made me so happy you don’t even know.)
     
    Here’s who I ended up using:
    -Pahrak, the laid-back Warrior
    -Kairi, the kind Chef
    -Ruka, the cautious Mage
    -Riku, the cool Thief
    -And for the Dark Lord, I skimmed the shared Miis and ended up picking someone’s Waluigi Mii
     
    The various personality types have perks that activate from time to time. Laid-back characters can become “unusually focused” to power up their attacks, or hide behind an ally who takes damage for them. (I’m so sorry Kairi.) They also have an ability to avoid getting status ailments, entitled “Nah.” Kind characters will sometimes go easy on an enemy and not actually attack them, and the enemy will either strike while their guard is down (I’m so sorry Kairi) or be grateful and leave the battle. A cautious character will sometimes take a little extra time to warmup, powering up their attack. Cool characters, meanwhile, will sometimes aim for an enemy’s weak spot to do extra damage, and can also avoid damage entirely with a smooth sidestep. The Jobs available in the demo are Warrior (attack and defense), Mage (magic damage), Cleric (healing), Thief (speed, stealing, normal attack hits all enemies), Chef (attack and healing), and Pop Star (buffs).
     
    There’s a lot of little things that go into this system, so I don’t have time to go over each and every one. Some things I’m a bit uncertain about, such as your Mii, the traveler, being the only one you actually control. The rest of the party is controlled by AI, though it seems a fairly competent AI, and you have some support options available separately from whatever Job your Mii is using. Shops, too, are oddly random—when your characters reach an inn at the end of each area, each character will pick something they want to buy (either a restorative item, their next tier of armor, or their next tier weapon), and you decide who to give the money to. It seems to be random, so if you really want that new sword for your Warrior but they want an HP Banana, you’ve got to go on another adventure and see what they’re thinking after that. Apparently, there’s also a chance that the character will by something other than what they set out to get, but I haven’t encountered that yet. You could say there’s an unusual lack of control here, but…somehow, the game is still a lot of fun. I guess the idea is you’re supposed to trust your party members to do their own thing and back you up? And I mean, that’s essentially the function of the relationship system: you can do various things to bring two characters closer together, and with each new level gained you unlock extra perks such as showing off to do more damage, warning of an incoming attack for a better dodge chance, and comforting someone after they’re hit to raise the relationship value even further. When everyone’s showing off at once, you can lay down some serious hurt.
     
    Since this is a demo it’s obviously not super long. There’s only one town, and a handful of its NPCs have their faces taken and placed on boss monsters; once you defeat them you can go put the face back where it belongs to get a reward, and after restoring everyone in that town, you’re given a key item to pass the castle gate…only for the guard to tell you the demo ends here. But, the available areas will give you a few hours of gameplay, and even after reaching the gate you can still grind if you want. Did I mention the demo’s save data can be transferred to the full version of the game? And since one of the last areas is really good for grinding, I still feel like there’s a lot of value in continuing to play. My characters’ levels and equipment tiers are steadily rising, and more than that, a count of how many enemies you’ve defeated is kept, and at every 50 you get upgrades to your support options. When I do get the full version (which I probably will), I’ll be unstoppable!
     
    (…Though, spoilers, I hear there are two points in the game where your level gets reset, so it’ll probably be short-lived. Not sure what to think about that…)
     
    Anyway, for a relatively short demo of a seemingly simple game, Miitopia has some thoroughly entertaining content for you to play around with, and the transfer function is great incentive to delve deeper into it than you might otherwise. If I can afford it, I definitely want to pick up the full game when it comes out, and I’ll probably keep playing the demo so I’ll be more prepared when I do. It’s not perfect, but when you’ve got a mix of classic RPG flavor and Nintendo humor, how can you possibly say no?
  14. Pahrak Model ZX
    A thing I saw on social media prompted this and I thought I’d just throw it up to see what happens. Asking random questions is a popular thing here in the blogs, yes?
     
    Suppose you’re leading a makeshift Toa team, and you can choose the main character of up to five things (TV show, movie, book, anime, game, whatever). What does your team look like? Bonus points if you can work out actual team dynamics or even Kaita.
     
    The only catch is you’re not allowed to choose Goku/DBZ.
     
    Deliberate.
  15. Pahrak Model ZX
    I caved and bought a new copy of Megaman ZX off Amazon. And it was actually new! It was in a case, and even wrapped in plastic. Rad. Anyway I’ve completed Easy Mode with Aile and most of Normal Mode with Vent so this seems like a good time to say stuff I guess.
     
    My memories of the first time I played this are a little fuzzy, but I do think I’m benefitting now that I actually know who all the Biometals are based on. ZX as a whole is a neat progression from the Zero series—it capitalizes on Zero 4’s proposition of humans and Reploids setting aside their differences by showing a future where the races have grown close enough that you can hardly tell which characters are which species. It feels a good bit lighter too. There are serious threats and some fairly precarious situations, but the locations and people tend to seem a little more optimistic, so even if trouble is starting to brew again it still feels like the world has really developed a lot during the interim. I really like that.
     
    And of course, this game is noteworthy for giving us a choice of protagonist! Differences between the two are typically pretty minimal (crawling speed, knockback), though there are a few that stick out more than others. In Aile’s story, Zero lookalike Giro says he’s already a member of the organization you end up working with, meanwhile in Vent’s story he doesn’t say anything of the sort. Plus, I noticed two or three very vague references to ZX Advent’s villain that only occur in Aile’s story. Basically Aile’s story is better. And when Vent beat Prometheus the first time, I got a scene that focused a little more on Prairie’s origins and essentially confirmed she’s…well, spoilers. So there is some value in replaying with both protagonists, especially with a certain bonus you get after clearing the game with both, but you don’t really have to if you don’t want to. Anyway, while Aile isn’t the first playable female character in the franchise (I only discovered this recently), this is the first time we’ve been given the option of a female character who actually drives the story forward and is treated on equal terms as the male option rather than being an unlockable bonus. Put more succinctly, she’s the first female Mega Man, which is still a huge deal. (And yeah, “Mega Man” is a gender neutral term here, more on that later.) This, plus a few of the characters introduced in Advent, make this series seem like it’s trying to break the gender stereotypes of the franchise, and now that I know this is important I’m even sadder it was cancelled. Aile’s great. We need another round of Aile.
     
    Right, so, “Mega Man”. It’s actually a term/title in this series, referring to anyone who can utilize Biometal, with this game showcasing three at a time (the protagonist, Giro, and the villain...well, five if you count Prometheus and Pandora, but anyway). There are even more in Advent. I feel like this gives it a slight meta quality, since now we have characters fighting each other to determine the best Mega Man and we’re sort of asked to decide what we want that term to mean. Even before this you probably could have had a debate on that subject: while some of the series just have a character named Mega Man, that isn’t always the case. X’s name is X, but you’ll never hear anyone not call him a Mega Man. Since Megaman Zero is a thing, can we call Zero a Mega Man? And while MegaMan Volnutt is named MegaMan, the presence of MegaMan Juno in Legends implies there’s more to it than that. (Too bad we’ll never know for sure!) So having ZX begin to play with that is neat, I think. And I like the fun with acronyms in the Biometals’ M.E.G.A. System (Meta Encapsulated Granule Awareness)…though I have to say the Japanese version is even more fun. Since Mega Man is Rock Man in Japan, they get R.O.C.K (Rebirth of Crystallized Knowledge), and rather than shout “Megamerge” when they transform, they actually, honestly activate their powers by holding up their Biometal and shouting “R.O.C.K. On!” You can’t beat that. That’s just incredible.
     
    And I’ve always loved the concept of Biometal. It’s a great way to bring back familiar heroes without technically reviving them or bogging down newcomers with needing all this backstory, and you end up with a good variety of abilities to play around with as you wander aimlessly around the map looking for the area you need to get to next. ZXA does give you a lot more forms to choose from, but while that’s fun they can be redundant or overspecialized, so you could argue ZX’s smaller selection is a bit better rounded.
     
    Anyway, that’s an overview of my thoughts on ZX. I don’t want this to be too long so I’ll leave it there. Now I need to justify buying a new copy of ZXA so I can give more coherent thoughts on the series and its place in the timeline.
  16. Pahrak Model ZX

    Three Things

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    1. There are now subs of the Steins;Gate movie. I can't link it on BZP because of reasons, and you may be better off waiting until there are higher-quality subs, but just so you know, they exist. I cried a little.
     
    2. I put up a new short story: Opportunity for Ambition. It's a part of my "Heretic Stories" project and focuses on Tehutti's character, and how I want to represent him. I was originally prompted to do this by the FFFC a while back (the same one I used to enter stories focused on Ehrye and Nuhrii), but I didn't get it done in time, and now that it's actually finished it's too long anyway. Mavrah's also very important--he just kinda showed up and ended up taking the job...
     
    3. While I don't have an intended limit on the number of Heretic Stories I'll produce, I want to have at least one for each Matoran. They're not perfect, but I have something for Ahkmou, Vhisola, Ehrye, Nuhrii, and now Tehutti...but I can't think of anything for Orkahm. All I'm getting is that he's a real boring guy, and I don't know how to write a story about that. I'll keep thinking, but if anyone has any ideas/suggestions, they'd be much appreciated.
  17. 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.
  18. Pahrak Model ZX

    Throwback Thursday

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    We had some down time at work right before I was about to leave so we were just talking. Random stuff, no real direction, and somehow the conversation ended up on dinosaurs, which ones we thought were kinda cool and that sort of thing. And someone mentioned a liopleurodon.
     
    And I was like, “Huh. You know, I’ve only heard that name in one context before. That’s a memory I’m not really sure I want to relive.”
     
    The conversation continued in that vein until I left, neither of us directly referring to the thing we both agreed we didn’t need to remember, but we both knew.
     
    We both knew.
     
    Not to mention that right before that, another coworker had said “pew pew” in response to my saying “laser-focused”. (She was the one who offered “throwback Thursday” as an explanation.) So it is possible I’m entering into some time distortion where decade-old memes come back to haunt me. That could be dangerous…but then again, I know that Rick Astley would be on my side in that fight. He would never let me down.
     
    Side note, typing that title makes me think Throwbot Thursday should be a thing. Maybe.
  20. Pahrak Model ZX
    A new fighter for Pokken Tournament has been announced!
     

     
    If type immunity comes into play then this is a very broken fighter we are looking at. They probably won't, of course...though Gengar could still be broken who knows.
     
    Personally I'm hoping the game gets representatives for each Generation and type, but it'll be awhile before we'll know about that. I'm just really excited, I want to play this game.
  21. Pahrak Model ZX
    I've posted a new story in Off-Topic Culture!
     
    She Understood is a short (under 2000 words) Kingdom Hearts story examining Kairi's thought process as she is about to begin her Keyblade training. Essentially, it's her reaction to being shoved outside of the plot constantly over the past ten years or so of the franchise, and only now being (sort of) brought back in because they need to fill a quota.
     
    Yeah, I'm...displeased with said developments. Preparations are certainly in place for things to turn around, but after seeing Dragon Ball Super heavily advertise Buu as part of the U7 Team only to replace him with Frieza of all people at the last second has renewed my worries.
     
    Come to think of it, this might actually be the first piece of actual fanfiction I've written about Kairi. Huh. Maybe I need to re-evaluate my actions as well...
  22. 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.
  23. 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…
  24. Pahrak Model ZX
    See that? That’s what I meant about subtitles. That’s actually cool, unlike Today in Reality Avoidance 2, Today in Reality Avoidance 3, Today in Reality Avoidance 28…
     

    Here We Go Again Fullbringers:
    -Some nitpicks priorities to get out of the way here: Chad, Orihime, and anyone else who might have developed Fullbring by this point should definitely get upgrades, there’s absolutely no reason for them not to. Ichigo’s Fullbring should look more like his Inner Hollow/Arrancar form, and the Inner Hollow should awaken and conflict with him, since his residual Hollow spirit energy was supposed to be what gave him Fullbring. And I’m still unclear about the whole “shinigami can take Fullbring powers”…it was shown later that Fullbringers can share their powers, and that’s cool, and the thing about shinigami taking them could just be a lie Xcution told, but I’d like it clarified. Though this could still be a way for Ichigo to get his shinigami powers back—Zangetsu and his Inner Hollow have repeatedly been shown as being linked, so learning a new way to tap his Hollow powers would lead to tapping his shinigami powers as well.
    -As for relation to other arcs: there was some foreshadowing that there was a previous Substitute Shinigami and that it might not’ve gone too well, but I love foreshadowing so I’d like to insert a few more hints. Probably involving Urahara and the Vizard, maybe during the Turn Back the Pendulum mini-arc. I think it’d also be a good idea to put in some kind of connection to the Soul King or Squad Zero, since that’s supposed to be a major myth arc in the series and the Fullbring arc doesn’t have even a single mention to it. As for the specifics…eh, who knows.
    -So, should the setup of this arc be changed to get us out of Karakura Town? For the sake of argument, let’s say yes. Xcution might typically operate in some relatively distant location and only recently made its entrance into Karakura, probably making contact with Chad first before getting in touch with Ichigo. I think I’d like the team pretending to be good to be smaller, probably just Ginjo, Yukio (the kid with the PSP), and Riruka (the tsundere). As Ichigo develops his Fullbring, Tsukishima would show up and mess with someone’s memories before vanishing, and then Ichigo would demand they go after him. The other Fullbringers would be on Tsukishima’s side, giving us more opportunity for battles as we pursue him—this could lengthen the arc a little, but hopefully not to the point it becomes exhausting.
    -We really need more on Ginjo. What were the circumstances that led to him becoming a Substitute Shinigami? What are the details on his time as one? If he has some Hollow in him, what’s the story on that? What was his zanpakuto, and where is it now? (Well, in this version I’d probably make it so he still has it/gets it back.) I believe he wanted revenge on Soul Society, but why, exactly? And that point has a lot of potential: since Ichigo fought against them as well and might have continued to have some problems with them, they could get into a discussion about what they agree on where their views differ exactly, and the shinigami arriving to restore Ichigo’s powers is a great way of showing that the Soul Society has begun to change for the better and that Ichigo’s way of working with them is more effective than Ginjo’s bid for revenge. There are some things I really do like about this fight, and I would love to see them driven home a little more.
    -As for Ichigo and Zangetsu’s appearance being a little different as a result of the traces of Fullbring, I honestly like that. It gave a nice upgrade to Ichigo’s classic look in preparation of the new story that still lay ahead. That, I want to keep the same.
    -Come to think of it, this arc had a scene where one of Ichigo’s sisters was at Urahara’s shop stocking up on Hollow-fighting necessities. That never went anywhere. It could be neat if one or both of them got more involved, potentially even developing a Fullbring or something and earning a place in the final arc.
     
    Thousand Year…er, the final arc:
    -It may sound harsh, but I want to completely redo this. Okay, where to start…
    -Quincies as the final opponent can work. It can. But I strongly feel that it needs to be done differently. (I’m sure I’ve ranted about why I don’t feel the canon version worked so I’ll skip that part.) Here’s what I propose: the most powerful Quincy (who has a pronounceable name and looks nothing like Zangetsu) fought Yamamoto ages ago and was killed. How does he get back in this arc? Well, since ###### was only mentioned once (barring the fourth movie), let’s say that King Quincy manages to escape from ###### to add a little variety and a sense of completion to our exploration of the structure of Bleach’s world. To take his revenge on Soul Society for killing him and wiping out his people, he has refined the ability to restore Quincy powers (like what happened to Uryu post-Soul Society) into an ability to potentially grant Quincy powers to ordinary humans, with a chance that it might just kill them (in the same vein as how Rukia initially stated creating a Substitute Shinigami works). He gathers and trains a Quincy army in secret, waiting for the opportunity to strike.
    -Since this training has to involve killing Hollows, this creates an imbalance that Soul Society takes notice of. Not knowing about this new threat, the prime suspect is obviously Uryu, bringing the tension that I mentioned before to a head and probably leading to Uryu vanishing for a while. We were all expecting Uryu joining his brethren to happen, and I will admit to being legitimately happy when he revealed it was all a ruse, but I think this could be a lot more meaningful if Uryu was genuinely torn. Sure he cares about his friends, but they’re continuing to work with an organization that wiped out his people and clearly will always have the idea of doing the same to him in the back of their mind. I want this to lead to him killing Kurotsuchi (I want that abomination dead and gone) and having an intense duel with Ichigo, which was promised in the mini-arc that introduced Uryu but never went anywhere. It doesn’t necessarily need a victor, but obviously I want it to end with Uryu turning against the Quincies.
    -The bit about Yamamoto ordering several souls to be “killed” to maintain balance is interesting, but I want Ichigo to learn about it and be outraged. His battle against the rigidity and flaws of Soul Society could get a more final resolution, and this is the perfect lead-in to it.
    -By the way, Icihgo’s mother was not a Quincy. She certainly should have had great spiritual potential, maybe seeing ghosts like Ichigo did at first, or possibly being a Fullbringer—heck, I think it’d be interesting if she had also been a Substitute Shinigami for a time. Maybe she and Isshin met under similar circumstances to Ichigo and Rukia, but Masaki naturally lost her power since that’s the way the process is supposed to work. But her being a Quincy, Aizen attacking her with a super Hollow, Ichigo being a mix of literally everything…I don’t think any of that is necessary. As an extension of this, no Quincy powers for Ichigo, Zangetsu is Zangetsu and doesn’t get reforged (I like dual-wielding but c’mon, its appearance just changed, it’s too soon), and Ichigo’s Inner Hollow is what we initially thought it was: a byproduct of how Urahara restored his shinigami powers in preparation for Soul Society.
    -Another big problem I had with this arc was that the Quincies functioned identically to Arrancar. I’d prefer they actually stuck with bows, or at least mostly projectile weaponry—I remember one of them had a sniper rifle, that was a good idea. Giving them all extra powers is fine, though perhaps more of them should center around their arrows, and the super mode…I don’t know. I do love power-up transformations, but this was the main thing that made them seem like Arrancar clones, so maybe if there was a different way to modify the ultimate release of Quincy power it would feel a little fresher.
    -The bankai medallions are an interesting idea. As a potential tweak, while bankai must be active for the medallions to be used (since it brings the zanpakuto spirit into the real world), they could absorb the spirit entirely, leaving the shinigami with an empty, powerless sword while the Quincy integrates the zanpakuto’s powers into their own. Maybe this could be their main powerup? Urahara’s solution of lacing the spirits with Hollow reiatsu would still work (and be the reason why Ichigo and the Vizards’ zanpakuto spirits can’t be stolen), but might be saved for a little later. The shinigami would need to learn some different abilities in order to keep fighting, which would help to keep things more interesting.
    -Speaking of zanpakuto, between the Fake Karakura Town arc and this one, I’d really want to show off everyone’s zanpakuto and the bankai of everyone who has one. I’m still annoyed that certain characters who had bankai died before showing them, and that some people who must have zanpakuto were never seen with them. Yoruichi could draw her zanpakuto in her fight in this arc instead of getting that weird transformation, saying that she doesn’t use it because “against most opponents it makes fights too easy” or something cliché like that. Ukitake could show his bankai in a battle…and then get killed in that fight, rather than dying by suddenly revealing he has a god inside of him. That was just pointless.
    -I do still like the idea of the Quincies attacking Soul Society. A bit more death here could be useful (I want Byakuya dead too, he annoys me and it could further motivate Rukia), and Squad One’s lieutenant could get a full fight where we see him die instead of being done in off-screen. The Yamamoto fight is good, and I don’t particularly mind the idea of the King Quincy he fights being a fake; really, my only point on that front is that since the real King Quincy steals Yamamoto’s zanpakuto spirit, he should actually use it. Still though, this set of battles shouldn’t take too long—a smaller set of Quincy generals would help with that—and even if Tensa Zangetsu does get broken, that silly bit about a broken bankai never regenerating doesn’t need to be a thing.
    -Squad Zero would still show up and take some of the major characters to the Soul Palace, but the parts involving zanpakuto I’d like to change. We don’t really need to reforge any zanpakuto, so maybe the sword-maker has come up with a new way to enhance their abilities. My first idea would be a third released state, but that could seem a bit contrived, so maybe we should go for simpler enhancements, or additional zanpakuto-like weapons. (Maybe this is involved in the shinigami learning new abilities after losing their zanpakuto spirits.) Also, the shinigami who knows the name of everything just revealing the names of bankai is a bad idea—Renji having a different “true” bankai is pulled right out of thin air and I don’t approve, and…it’s not clear, but there’s a chance this was how Rukia got her bankai. If we still want to keep something like this, maybe the shinigami could offer to tell Rukia the name of her bankai to have her refuse and resolve to unlock it the correct way (or at least Urahara’s way), which she of course will still do in an upcoming battle. Beyond that, maybe we could provide everyone with a place where they can do some last-minute training.
    -I’m not sure if I want Aizen involved here. Honestly it might be best to just leave him totally sealed and barely even mention him in this arc, and if he does show up, I definitely don’t think he should be up and about and even more powerful than before, since that makes no sense to me.
    -Kyoraku taking over Squad One is cool. Oh, that reminds me of his lieutenant, and how instead of a regular zanpakuto she had a special one that had been passed down through her family that conveniently had the power to slay godly beings, which was revealed while they were fighting a godly being. That was bad. Let’s not do that.
    -I go back and forth on whether or not I like what happened with Unohana and Zaraki. Let’s say we’ll leave it the way it is, though I would like someone to give a proper explanation of how Unohana’s bankai works. (Not Unohana herself, though. Her unnerving silence in this fight was definitely a good call.) As for Zaraki…I do like the way his zanpakuto looks in its “true shikai”, but I want to keep the idea of the constant-release zanpakuto, so even after he learns its name it won’t change forms. It could get a new ability, maybe a literal take on his “I can cut anything” that lets him slice through things he couldn’t normally slice through, or maybe a new special attack, but probably nothing fancy. I also don’t particularly like the idea of his lieutenant actually being his zanpakuto spirit (especially since she has her own zanpakuto), and I think it might be better if Zaraki never attained his bankai.
    -I like the idea of Squad Zero opening the path to the Soul Palace and the Qunicies exploiting that, though I think Ichigo should stay at the Soul Palace and it shouldn’t be reconstructed by King Quincy. While everyone’s up there training, he could send some of his forces back to finish of Soul Society while he and his best generals make their way to the Soul Palace for the final battles. This is where Rukia can obtain her bankai and that Uryu vs Ichigo fight can happen. The fight between King Quincy and the shinigami who knows the name of everything was pretty cool, but since I don’t want King Quincy to have those “Almighty” powers that completely break the story, the conclusion of that battle might need some alteration. Perhaps the shinigami claims that he could take away King Quincy’s name and render him nothing but not actually get to do it, or one of his generals could be “erased” instead.
    -As for the dead Fullbringers reappearing…we could do without it, but if they are in I’d like them to do a little more. I’m not sure what exactly, but a tease followed by a 200 chapter wait for a sudden “Here’s how you win” statement doesn’t really work for me. Same goes for Isshin and Ryuken.
    -So…the final fight. King Quincy vs Ichigo. Like I said, no “Almighty” powers, so King Quincy would need something new. It would make sense if he had all the special abilities he granted to his generals, and again, I really want him to actually use Yamamoto’s zanpakuto spirit since he has it. I certainly don’t want this to be an easy fight, preferably it should involve at least a few of the major characters and really push them to their limits, and maybe the Soul King would have a close call for drama. (No need to kill him off, though.) In the end, though, the heroes will narrowly slay the villain, and Soul Society will begin the process of rebuilding—and perhaps reforming as something greater than it was.
    -And the hotly-contested ending. Now I don’t give a flying fish about all this shipping nonsense, but if you want my honest opinion: I like that Ichigo and Rukia don’t end up Together ™. The idea of them being very close and caring deeply about each other without it necessarily being romantic is something that I really enjoy. Now, we don’t necessarily need a skip ahead to the future, and honestly I don’t have a whole lot that I’d really like to see in one. Maybe some more clarifications on where everyone ended up. I’m not sure about Ichigo inheriting the clinic—maybe instead he’d join law enforcement so he could continue fighting to protect people? I also wonder a bit about Chad being a boxer, but I don’t have any other suggestions so hey, okay. But I definitely approve of Rukia becoming the new Captain of Squad 13! That is one thing about the ending I absolutely love and have no notes on, aside from a scribbled in “That’s freakin rad” and a smiley face.

     
    Something I should say: it is by far easier to alter something with the advantage of hindsight than to come up with and execute new ideas in real time, especially over the course of several years. I seriously doubt I’d do well running an original manga (my gosh, I would implode) and I’m impressed that Tite Kubo was able to do as well as he did, and definitely still glad that we got Bleach.
     
    See, the reason I keep thinking about Bleach is because at one point Bleach was my favorite anime. I loved it so much, and I’ve always wanted to love it again. Unfortunately, I think it’s time for me to let go of that hope, but I wanted to try to turn my complaints into something more constructive. This is that.
     
    Who knows, maybe Kubo will put out a new series sooner or later and it turns out really interesting! I’d like that.
  25. Pahrak Model ZX
    I’ve decided to commit to writing the next chapter of Beyond Ruin about the Queen of Fire. But, I’m having trouble thinking of a good way to showcase her.
     
    While she’ll probably develop some aggressive and impatient attributes like most fire-wielders, I think I want her to mainly be a flame that burns in place—she just enjoys being where she belongs, ruling over the volcanic realm of Pyrada in peace. I’ve said before that she stays out of affairs that don’t concern her, but she can hold one heck of a grudge and hates being indebted to people, so it seems like her view is based on paying things back, looking at most things like a transaction, reacting to things rather than instigating them…
     
    And I kind of like that, but I don’t know what to do with it right now. You know what I currently have in the document for the next chapter? She’s leaning against one side of her throne half-asleep tossing a fireball in the air like it’s a hacky sack or something. That’s it. I don’t see her as being motivated to do much else, and I doubt anyone would be up to messing with her while the entire world is rebuilding in the wake of the Ruinous.
     
    I mean, I could have someone try to loot the still-damaged Pyrada, but the Queen would just set them on fire and that’d be the end of that. She has been tasked with sealing away the Eastern Ruin, but I’m not sure how interesting it would be to see her dragging an unconscious monster up a volcano, plus the Eastern Ruin is the only Ruinous I haven’t even started coming up with an appearance for. Maybe I could write something about her wanting to stay independent, but her advisors point out she kind of needs to start trade agreements with the other queendoms, and then she groans and tries to get out of it, and…relatable as that is, I’m not sure it’s entertaining, fitting, or smart to do (since it might be limiting her character a bit more than I really should).
     
    So it looks like I tried playing with Fire…and got burned! Hahahahahahahaha!
     
    (Seriously though does anyone have any suggestions?)
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