Jump to content

Pahrak Model ZX

Premier Outstanding BZP Citizens
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,462

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    35

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Pahrak Model ZX

  1. Pahrak Model ZX

    SMASHING

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    Okay forget my previous vaguely sad post because I just got the mail and
     

     
    My excited flailing is irritating Christina, I don't know why because she's about to become an awesome Mii Fighter, anyway goodbye I'll see you all in November
  2. Pahrak Model ZX
    My next semester is starting up soon. Originally I had intended to have a rough draft of my novel Divine Strength done by now, but that definitely did not happen. At least the realization helped me kick myself into making some more progress.
     
    Part of that has involved me repeatedly posting about it on Tumblr, and answering some questions people have had about it on that website. I’ve shared a rough map of the story’s setting (it is by no means art, just there for reference), posted the names I’ve come up with for eight of the eleven queendoms, and with some help, have at least tentative emblems for all twelve Queens. I’ve also posted a few more story excerpts, and a few other miscellaneous bits of info. If anyone wants to peruse all this, you can check out the “Divine Strength” tag on my Tumblr blog, found here. It’s recently been sorted for easier access, details are over there.
     
    I’ve just begun Chapter 5, and I’m rapidly approaching the point where my short stories left off. It’ll be interesting to see what I can come up with next, but I think I’ll be able to get together something decent. My new goal is to get a draft done by the end of 2014. If I can do that, then I can edit and whatnot in 2015 and maybe work up some courage to try to find a publisher by, oh…2020.
     
    …That was a joke.
     
    I do need to find a way to fake confidence and not be crushed by rejection, at least. But, I have time—I have no idea how long this story is going to run, but this plot surely has a reasonable number of chapters left in it. One idea I’m toying with is going back and adding in chapters from the point of view of other Queens during the early chapters. We’ve been exclusively following the Queen of Light thus far, and I want to give them all at least some spotlight. Though, that could complicate things, adding in additional plotlines that pile up and make it really confusing…well, hopefully not. If nothing else, I know I want to do something from the point of view of the Queen of War later—I have a particular scene in mind that I think will be important in defining her character. Also what I’m envisioning looks cool.
     
    Anyway, I shall continue working. Slowly.
  4. Pahrak Model ZX

    Ultra Sunset

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    Hm.
     
    Well I finished Ultra Sun’s story and post-game episode. My feelings are mixed.
     
    There are a lot of things added to the game that I like, but there are two big things that irritate me. One is that it felt a good deal harder than SuMo, which I already didn’t think was particularly easy, but I know, git gud and all that, whatever. The second is that I…guess I had my hopes for the story too high.
     
     
     
     
    Well, either way, here’s my team:
    -Fistleo the Incineroar
    -Tempo the Dusk Form Lycanroc
    -Flipjack the Alolan Raichu
    -Kaitafish the Wishiwashi
    -Eggman the Alolan Exeggutor
    -Dusk Buster the Dusk Mane Necrozma
     
    I know this is mostly complaining but there really are some strong points to these games, I just don’t want to make this even longer and I’m sure you can find plenty of people talking about those. I do have Ultra Moon, but I’m not sure when I’m going to tackle that; I’m liking the team I’m planning but I am dreading that Necrozma fight…
  5. Pahrak Model ZX

    I'm Confused

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    Wait...are people upset that there are going to be more female characters in the next Lego Movie?
     
    I read the talkback and I can't really make much sense of it. I think they're saying they're worried that this means the director's just going to toss in some half-sincere female characters for the heck of it?
     
    Even though actually clicking the link in the BZP article leads to an article with the headline "'The Lego Movie 2' Director Wants More Strong Women In Sequel"?
     
    Which is basically just saying that there are going to be new awesome characters in the next movie?
     
    Some of whom will also happen to be female?
     
    Did I use whom correctly I never quite got the hang of that grammar thing?
     
    I don't see how having awesome characters is a bad thing, so I must be waaaaay off.
  6. Pahrak Model ZX
    This is the story of a trainer named Pahrak and his trusty Chandelure.
     
    Pahrak and Chandelure arrived in the Ferrum Region, having heard tales of the Pokken Tournament and deciding they wanted to compete. A girl named Nia was kind enough to teach them the basics of how Ferrum Battles worked, and after getting down the basics, Pahrak and Chandelure decided to get started.
     
    It was immediately apparent that Pahrak really had no idea what he was doing, but his sheer dumb luck seemed to work for a time. He and Chandelure made it into the Green League’s top 8 after only two sets of trainers, won the tournament, and earned their rank promotion!
     
    But then, a mysterious Shadow Mewtwo appeared. Chandelure was defeated in mere seconds.
     
    Though shaken, Pahrak and Chandelure moved on to the Blue League. Though still a relatively low league, it seemed Pahrak’s luck had run out, and his lack of skill finally caught up with him. The team has managed to start their climb up the rankings and have yet to suffer a loss, but nearly every victory is won by an incredibly slim margin. Pahrak is unsure if he can guide Chandelure even through the rest of this league, let alone the Red and Chroma Leagues beyond. It remains to be seen if he can ever master the techniques of “Blocking” and “Dodging”…
     
    (Pokken’s definitely fun, I just wish I was better at it. *sigh*)
  7. Pahrak Model ZX
    Hm, now seems like a good time to update y'all on my Bravely Default progress. Spoiler-free as possible.
     
    Made it to Chapter 2, where I'm finding much irritation, but at least I got the satisfaction of killing that wretched Red Mage in the sub-quest.
    Not to mention said quest gave me the first sign that Ringabel isn't a complete son of a brakas! Character development! Anything else I'd have to say about him, well...let's not and say we did.
    Tiz is...boring? I mean, all I've seen of him thus far is a set of pretty common Hero tropes. He's nice. But...eh.
    I like Agnes, though. She's very driven and dedicated, so I have a lot of respect for her.
    Edea's probably my favorite at this point. She's hot-tempered, but still really friendly and has a strong sense of right and wrong. Mrgrgr...!
    Oh, I should probably mention Airy too, maybe? I don't find her annoying like some other fairy guides. She's humorous and helpful, but I don't know that I've seen any actual character yet. Though, voicing her disapproval of going out of the way rather than just doing the thing with the Water Crystal has earned her a special spot in the "calling out their genre" region of my heart.
     
    On to jobs!
     
    -Agnes is on White Mage Lv 9. It'll be a while before she reaches Lv 10, it seems...aside from that, she has two levels on Freelancer, but that's all--you gotta have a White Mage, so she's only been in that role.
    -Tiz is currently set as Red Mage Lv 4 with level 3 Time Magic as his ability (though I can't purchase the third tier spells yet). Previous efforts leave him with Summoner Lv 6, Time Mage Lv 7, Black Mage Lv 7, Monk Lv 2, and Freelancer Lv 2 Jobs. He's primarily functioning as my offensive mage, so I'm changing him around a lot. Still working on getting it quite right...
    -I just got my hands on the Valkyrie asterisk and equipped that on Ringabel, but I have yet to fight any battles with it. His extra ability going into this is Thievery, which should be pretty effective since he was a Lv 9 Thief. Prior to that he was a Monk, which advanced to Lv 5 so I could equip him with Knuckle Lore so he could still kick butt as a Thief. One of my two physical attackers, previously designated as the "agile attacker", though that's clearly out with Valkyrie now. I didn't want to mess up Edea's set-up!
    -Speaking of Edea, when she joined the party, I left her as Freelancer for a while (she made it to Lv 2). Once we got the Knight asterisk, though, I was sure to give her that so she could learn the Two-Handed support ability. After equipping that and netting her Knight Lv 7, I switched her to Spell Fencer because, as in Final Fantasy V, a Two-Handed Spellblade/Sword Magic is painful as karzahni. She's currently sitting at Spell Fencer Lv 8, and I don't imagine I'll be switching her any time soon.
     
    ...Well, I have been thinking about spending a little time grinding so that Agnes and Edea can learn some support abilities and commands from other jobs. Agnes only has Examine and Treat aside from her White Magic--I use both, but letting her get some more Miscellany skills (and the Dungeon Master support skill) might be nice. As for Edea, I don't think I've used any of her Chivalry commands since changing her to a Spell Fencer. I'm not sure if I should get her some more Chivalry commands or go for another job...Two-Handed Sword Magic is really all she needs, to be honest.
     
    It's interesting to acquire Jobs by fighting bosses. Hooray for Megamanning! Provides some real satisfaction, and eliminates the mixed feelings and, to a degree, plot spoiling that came with Final Fantasy V granting Jobs through Crystal fragments. Although I'm hoping they go more into what the asterisks actually...are. The journal just says "semi-precious stones" that grant you Jobs. But...why?! I need details! Though it could end up being something...horrifying...
     
    So anyway. Norende Village. Using the internet, some Streetpass, and that glitch from the demo, I currently have 45 villagers! Even those imposing 99 hr tasks take less than 3 hours to complete! I've been leaving it on during class and while I'm at work, so I've made a lot of progress on everything, including unlocking all the special moves. Now I just need to get the hang of customizing them...
     
    Overall, I like the game so far. I'm at the stage where I want to accumulate a ton of knowledge on it, but, well, even only a quick glance at Final Fantasy Wiki ended up spoiling something for me, and I refuse to let anything else be spoiled! This is my time to practice patience, I suppose. I could never get the hang of that Job.
  8. Pahrak Model ZX
    I'm starting to get an idea together, but I want to run it by you guys first. Take a look:
     
    -Titled "Technic Warzone"
    -Fighters have a stat total of 12 by default. The sponsor can allocate another 8 when they start sponsoring. (Thank you, Pulsating Explosive!)
    -Trainers will be removed altogether.
    -Stat boost items will have explicit fixed values. (1 for most, 3 for “large boost”) The Golden Kanohi and Staff of Mind Reading will be removed.
    -Champions still get a free item. The reigning Champion for each season will be given an extra stat point that the sponsor can give to whichever stat they choose, but this stat point will go away when the next tournament comes around.
    -Upgrades provide abilities, but no stat boost. They will also be reduced in price to 20,000 W.
    -Players now begin with 25,000 W. I am also introducing a Widget limit of 75,000 W.
    -Player list will be put in a blog post with Widget counts, items, and the fighters they sponsor
    -A new item or upgrade will be introduced that will allow the sponsor to redistribute the 8 bonus stat points.
    -Play will be divided into three types: regular Coliseum play, which will be mostly the same; Tournament play, which will be pretty similar to how it is now (no stat redistribution, since we have the new stat system should fix that, but we will have an item limit); and a new type...
    -Warzone: A brutal game of chance that resets every Friday. Players will state that they wish for their fighter to attack another fighter (be specific), and I’ll roll a die. If you get a 1, your target dies and is eliminated from this week’s Warzone; anything else, they live. When your fighter dies (or when the Warzone is reset at the end of the week), you receive 5,000 W for every fighter you successfully eliminated. Even if you’re inactive, your fighter will still be an eligible target! (If you know ahead of time that you will be inactive for an extended period of time, please inform me and I will grant your fighter Warzone immunity for the requested amount of time.)
    -There may be some items to affect Warzone play, still working on it. Also, if you sponsor multiple fighters, you will only be able to target one fighter at a time, and you will receive fewer Widgets per kill (since you are essentially surviving multiple hits).
     
    Any thoughts?
     
  10. Pahrak Model ZX
    Work on Divine Strength continues. I just finished chapter five, the bulk of which can be read here (be warned, it's rather long). This scene involves all twelve Queens coming together in neutral territory to discuss the main threat of the story and how they will each deal with it. The same general material was covered in the prototype story Conference of Divinity, which has been posted both here and on Tumblr if you want to compare them.
     
    And now I'm a little stuck. The next major event I have planned is the alliance moving into Roche, as in the prototype story Alignment, but I'm not sure if I should go straight to that or insert another event or two first. After that, I do have an idea of what happens next, but the further ahead I go the vaguer my plans get. Ah well, I guess I just need to keep at it and see what happens.
  11. Pahrak Model ZX
    Slizer Dome just wrapped up, naming Jamie (El-P) the Champion of the Millennium. I feel like the scenes quickly became very basic, so I want to apologize for that, and for pushing some deadlines back way too far. Overall I had fun! Thanks for playing!
     
    If anyone has any comments, I’d be more than happy to hear them! I’d like to run a sequel if I can make it work, since the Slizer line actually had two years of story (well…two set-ups), but I’d like to refine the basic system before I make the big changes that would be necessary for Slizer Dome 2000. Maybe I’ll run one in between that uses the multiple planets version of the story so I can tinker with the system without it being in the same storyline as the first…Slizer Dome US: The More Convoluted Version?
     
    The only thing really on my mind right now if that I wonder if I should provide more ways to overcome elemental advantage, or maybe make it the second deciding factor while weapon advantage is first. There’s no guarantee the players’ elements will be balanced, and I feel like this time around they weren’t, and I worry it might’ve ended up a bit unfair. I don’t know—I want elements to matter, but I don’t necessarily want them to unbalance everything. Then again, my basic ideas for Slizer Dome 2000 sort of make elements a moot point, so…maybe I should just ditch them? (Though they could still be useful in Slizer Dome US…)
  12. Pahrak Model ZX
    Listen, I love Typhlosion and the Sword and Shield reveal left me feeling underwhelmed, and though I’ll probably end up seeing Detective Pikachu eventually I’d rather not spend money on it because what the what, so…this was the best way to feel like I actually still like Pokemon.
     
    I wanted to see if I could beat Pokemon Gold Version (the 3DS Virtual Console version specifically) only using Typhlosion. I restarted the game, picked Cyndaquil, named him Blaze VI, and never used another Pokemon in battle. The only Pokemon I caught were ones I needed for HM usage, and even then there were a good amount of gift Pokemon who could use HMs so I didn’t need to do much of that.
     
    After 12 hours and 15 minutes of game time, Blaze VI is level 84 and has beaten Red. And it’s a rather satisfying achievement.
     
    Honestly, I think this was easier than using a full team. I didn’t have any particularly big problems, per se, but here are the hiccups/close calls:
    -The second rival fight, since his Feraligatr knew Water Gun and Blaze didn’t have an effective way of dealing with him at that point
    -The freaking Ice Path, my eternal nemesis
    -Bruno’s Machamp probably would have been a problem if its Rock Slide hadn’t missed
    -Karen’s Umbreon, which is tanky and knows Sand Attack AND Confuse Ray
    -Lance got off a Thunder Wave so Blaze had to tank a few Hyper Beams, but he did, like a champ
    -The first thing to put up an actual fight in Kanto was the dang Snorlax in front of Diglett’s Cave
    -Blue did get a lot of damage on Blaze, but aside from one Extreme Speed it was all Sandstorm damage
    -And obviously Red is no pushover
     
    By going everywhere I could before challenging each gym and fighting everyone I saw, I was able to get Blaze to a Typhlosion before even the fourth gym. At that point he can learn Thunder Punch and Fire Punch via TM, and those (plus Dig for coverage and Quick Attack for fodder) will carry you pretty dang far—you’ll outspeed and oneshot just about everything. Definitely get Return ASAP, plus the Pink Bow held item to boost it, and be sure to pick up Earthquake in Victory Road. Obviously replace Fire Punch with Flamethrower once you get it. I barely used any items at all, either.
     
    It was a fun side project for a week. I’d kind of like to do this sort of thing again, but I think Moon is too hard for me to do a solo run…
  13. Pahrak Model ZX
    -Later this month we’ll be getting a demo similar to what happened with ORAS, which will give us access to a Greninja with the ability to transform into Ash-Greninja from the anime. Which is great! Except it’s still called Ash-Greninja instead of getting a better name. Oh well.
    -The main draw here is the mid-stage evolutions of the starters! Check ‘em out!
    -Mega Evolution is confirmed to be back! Thank God! Why did they wait so long to mention it? No word on if there are going to be any new ones yet.
    -There’s an area called Festival Plaza that connects to other players and provides several useful facilities.
    -A new system lets you assign your boxed Pokemon to various islands to level up, lure wild Pokemon, and find items. Which is awesome! Now even the Pokemon you’d never even think of using can be super useful!
  15. Pahrak Model ZX
    Technic Tournament 3 & Knuckles just concluded with Knuckles acquiring a full set of Super Emeralds and unlocking an epic scene where Hyper Knuckles destroyed the Makuta-possessed Great Spirit Robot in a single punch and then flew around the eight realms distributing magic rings to their inhabitants.
     
    Also Umarak became Champion and lost to Pridak in the Title Match. Not the ending I was hoping for.
     
    I’m not sure when I’ll host Technic Tournament 4 in 3D, but while this last game is still fresh in your minds I’d like to ask for any suggestions you might have. I’d like to make at least a few significant changes, else it doesn’t really feel justifiable to do another one.
     
    The only thing that’s really bothering me right now is that we still have most fights ending up with a character with Widgets vs a character with none. (Though this was averted relatively well in the Title Match, thank God!) The first thing I thought of was a limit on how many times each fighter can be promoted—like, in the first round each fighter can only be promoted by two players, and then they’re closed for sponsorship until round 2—but, I dunno, that feels a bit too restrictive…
     
    An alternative I like more: I was considering that players would promote a match rather than a specific fighter. You would of course state which fighter you preferred to win, and then I’d do another roll to decide how the money you bring in gets split between the two fighters. This would make it a bit more luck-based, since I’m tired of how easy it is to predict how the entire tournament is going to play out as soon as the first round gets underway. If I do this, I might also remove the “overpopular penalty” system, since it would probably be more obstructive here, and the bonuses and multipliers determined by type of promotion would most likely activate based on the preferred fighter.
     
    Trying to think of more wild cards, I wondered if I could add a “public opinion” system, which has an influence on how well certain lines do. Say G1 has +1 public opinion—if you promote a fight with a G1 fighter, they get an extra 1000 W or so. Meanwhile if Hero Factory has -1 public opinion, and if you promote that fight then that fighter makes 1000 less. (Though I may want to establish a lower limit, I’d hate for a player to bring in absolutely nothing based solely on this system.) I’d need to think of a good way for players to influence these values, of course, and I’m not 100% sure how to work that. My first thought was that it would be based on how many times fights featuring a specific line get promoted, but I also think it’d be more interesting if you could spend Widgets on more than just the promotion, so I might instead provide a set of campaigns players can fund to affect public opinion of certain lines. I think I’d like to randomize where these values start, and maybe add in a few random additions and reductions per round, but right now I’m thinking that for the most part I’d like it to be player-guided. That could change though.
     
    I also think I’ll reduce all rounds to 48 hours in length. Now that I’ve played a few more recent Games & Trivia games, I realize the rounds in the Tournaments are absurdly long, and it definitely gets driven home by the days spent watching the topic sit there with no activity because everyone’s already made their actions for the round. So Technic Tournament 4 in 3D should take only 10 days altogether.
     
    That’s all I have so far. Anyone have anything else to add?
  17. Pahrak Model ZX
    I ordered Protector of Water to get it, she(?) shall henceforth be known as Herald of the Trans Orange Mask of Fire
     

     
    I also hung the Okoto map over my bed because I haven't matured at all in the past 12 years
     
    This is great
  18. Pahrak Model ZX
    It's available on the eShop! I thought for sure the server would be too busy, but I downloaded it in just about 20 minutes!
     
    It's pretty fun, though obviously rather short. You get to meet Hau an Kukui, and have some encounters with Team Skull. I was right, they're losers. As reported previously your main Pokemon here is Greninja with the Batte Bond ability, letting it turn into Ash-Greninja after knocking out a Pokemon. The description just says it powers up Water Shuriken, though the move info doesn't say how much, so...seems a little underwhelming. But what did I expect from a form change that's just "give it the palette of the worst Pokemon trainer ever"?
     
    You get to use Kukui's Pikachu during a Trial, though! At the end it's given a Z-Crystal for one battle, letting you try out Gigavolt Havoc, which is pretty rad. The trial itself involves using the Poke Finder to take pictures of Jangmo-o and Hakamo-o, culminating in a fight against a Hakamo-o with the new Totem Pokemon mechanic. It's Sp. Def is boosted, and it can summon a Rockruff to aid it. After clearing that and reloading the game, you get the Ride Pager and can ride Tauros around the map, and you can access several small tasks that give you items you can transfer to the main game. There are also a lot of people saying certain things will happen in a certain number of days, so we're gonna need to keep checking back to see everything.
     
    Also, I haven't seen this myself, but...Serebii reports that you can sometimes use Poke Finder to see what would appear to be an Alolan Dugtrio. And it's, uh...not really what you'd expect...something to look into if you want.
     
    OH, also! Apparently, on the 31st and 1st, certain theaters in the US are going to be showing the first Pokemon movie! I haven't been able to find a list yet, though...
     
    PS People have datamined it and found what appears to be the compete Pokedex, plus shinies. I'm not gonna link it, but...it exists. If you want to see it. (Come on, you want to see it, right?)
  19. 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.
  20. Pahrak Model ZX
    Asterisk Holder: Currently unnamed old man (pictured right)
     

     
    Origin: Final Fantasy Tactics
     
    Was It In Bravely Default?: No
     
    Overview: We have been told that the Astrologer will use “Moon Magic”, which consists of powerful buffs including an ability known as "Element Barrier". Very little information is known.
     
    Personal Thoughts: Since Performer and Astrologer are both buff-focused, I’m curious to see how they will be differentiated. I find it odd that we’ve been told so little about the Asterisk holder—just that he’s a mysterious fortune teller—and since the Astrologer’s command is “Moon Magic”, I have to wonder if he’s related to Magnolia somehow. That could be interesting! I do like the general look of this Job, though I’m wondering what that weird contraption on the chest is supposed to be. Plus, the old man’s floating star halo is nostalgic. I guess he’s mastered the Job already!
     
    Update 1/23: New Magnolia image
  21. Pahrak Model ZX

    It's Seasonal

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    Unchained gave out straw hats in this week's ranking. Thankfully there was a Raid event so it was easy to earn a bunch of Lux! I've been trying different outfits lately anyway, so I changed things around and this is what I'm looking like at the moment.
     

     
    I'm totally not going to use this to make a One Piece reference. Nope. Just a...straw hat. No need to mention rubber pirates.
     
    Wow, this is probably the first (or maybe second?) time I've not worn a jetpack since being able to wear a jetpack.
  22. Pahrak Model ZX
    In today's class we sang "Everything Is Awesome" and discussed the cleverness of old episodes of Spongebob before getting on to critiquing stories. One of the stories up was mine, which was the prologue and first chapter of my rough draft novel Divine Strength, and people actually seemed really into it and wanted more! (Which is what a good prologue and first chapter should probably do, I imagine.)
     
    I was thinking of doing something unrelated for story 2, but hey, if they want Queens, I shall give them Queens!
     
    ...I don't want to just keep ripping pieces out of my novel draft, though, so I'm writing up a new thing focusing on an event that happened a few centuries prior to the novel. It's going to be primarily a battle and in the process I discovered that one of the Queens is a magical girl, and I'm hoping to make people angry by making the first few pages seem like a semi-cheesy love story before letting everything go brutally and horribly wrong.
     
    That's what a good writer does, right?
  23. Pahrak Model ZX
    Well between school and life I haven't been able to get much of anything done, have I? Life snuck up on me while my back was turned and started shooting at me, so I was at a bit of a disadvantage and needed to find cover. Of course, once I found cover Life kept shooting and I couldn't find an opening, and it was quite some time before I could step out long enough to deflect some bullets with my sword and get closer, but once that started I gained momentum and eventually got up to Life, cut off his arm, and knocked him out cold. I dropped him off at the hospital with a note addressed to him saying, "Don't mess with the nest."
    ...Get it? Nest? Because I'm a Bohrok?
    ...
     
    But anyway, hopefully the next chapter of Sekai will be up this week. I've gotten real far behind on that, but I'm still hoping to finish it before (or not far after) the two year mark. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how that goes...
    I hope you guys like this next scenario. It's still in the Lost Continent 9 arc, and it focuses on Khadaz and Norscu and everyone investigating the Dark Knights' castle. How can they do something like that, you ask? You'll see. B)
     
    BIONICLE: The Forgotten Bond has made some good progress, though it will still be a while before I put it online. Besides this and Sekai there are a few other stories I'm working on (for use on other websites), but they're almost done so that may create some more time for both Sekai and Forgotten Bond.
     
    And Technic Coliseum...I really need to get better at making frequent updates on that. Registration for the next tournament should begin this week, and once that's over we'll have new recruits and equipment--I'll be making some items for Hero Factory heroes available, sorry it took so long. As for the recruits I don't want to say, but you can probably guess who they are and what equipment they might be needing. And the Krana Xa-Kal...I've still got nothing. Its only storyline function is to wake up the Bahrag--how do you turn that into a battle item? Any suggestions would be welcome.
     
    I've also been considering a name change, but I kind of like "Exo-Pahrak Kal Titan"...my new idea was "Paladin Panrahk." I'll have to give that some thought...just saying, I might become someone new sometime soon. Not sure when I'll go back to being an Exo-Zadakh. But that's all I have to say. Until next time!
  24. Pahrak Model ZX
    Now that the English dub of Dragon Ball Super is getting into the Tournament of Power arc I can’t help but feel it’s only a matter of time before people renew their complaints about new characters Caulifla and Kale. These two are new Saiyans introduced to serve as opponents in said tournament, and are the first female Super Saiyans shown in the series main canon. (Prior there were a handful of games that offered female Saiyan player avatars who could achieve the form, but that’s it.) They quickly became somewhat divisive additions, and of course, many of those who despise them go around calling them Mary Sues. This is something that annoys me.
     
    Dragon Ball has never and will never be a literary masterpiece—there’s plenty of bad writing and I won’t try to tell you otherwise. And though I like these characters, I can see (and in some cases maybe even agree with) some of the issues people have with them. Criticism is healthy. But calling a character a Mary Sue isn’t criticism, it’s just dismissive, and always inconsistent. What one person considers a Mary Sue is different from what the next person considers a Mary Sue, and more than that, the same person can point out a “Mary Sue trait” in one character and totally ignore its presence in another. People rattling off reasons why Caulifla’s a Sue don’t seem to realize she actually has a lot in common with the main character, Goku, and saying that Kale is only ever written poorly when she has one of the most realistic character arcs in the franchise (unlike her predecessor Broly, who is now infamous for his stupidly petty motivations) just isn’t true. But okay, if we’re going to use reasons x, y, and z to define a character as a Mary Sue, do you know what Dragon Ball character fits the ever-changing mold surprisingly well?
     
    Future Trunks.
     
    Easily one of the most popular characters in the franchise, yes, but let’s review:
    -Showed up literally out of nowhere after the Frieza Saga
    -Immediately and effortlessly transforms into a Super Saiyan, mere chapters after the form had been introduced, and that was after immense build-up, thinking there could only be one (and that it was main character Goku), and seeing Goku go through a lot of anguish to achieve it
    -Kills Frieza, the biggest, baddest villain in the series at that point, who main character Goku took forever to beat, by either one-shotting him (in the manga) or toying with him in a curb-stomp battle (in the anime)
    -Then proceeds to effortlessly kill Frieza’s father, who was stated to be somewhere near Frieza’s level
    -Gets to spar with main character Goku for a bit
    -Reveals he is the son of Vegeta, another exceptionally popular character, and Bulma, a long-time staple who at this point has little interaction with and no visible interest in Vegeta
    -He came from the future, because only time travel makes that parentage work
    -In the future he was trained by the son of main character Goku
    -Said future is basically an apocalyptic wasteland
    -Later on he gets a unique transformation that makes him exceptionally more powerful (even if it does turn out to be functionally useless)
    -Gets temporarily killed in the final battle with Cell to spark very sudden character development in popular character Vegeta, and then is immediately revived
    -Gets an entire episode at the end of the Cell Saga dedicated to going back to the future and effortlessly defeating his timeline’s incarnation of the saga’s three major villains
    -Also he carries a sword he rarely uses in a series that typically doesn’t use weapons (swords are cool)
     
    Now if you were reading a fanfic and saw a character like that, what would you think? And that’s all just in Z: Trunks is made a main character in GT and Future Trunks is brought back in Super solely because of this character’s popularity, and that’s not even scratching the surface of how central he is to dedicated fanservice games like Xenoverse and Heroes. He’s so popular he can be shoehorned into anything and people rarely complain. He ticks so many boxes common on Mary Sue trait lists, and…nobody notices? How weird is that?
     
    And just to be a complete hypocrite: I also like Future Trunks. It’s almost like even a character with tons of “Mary Sue traits” can still be entertaining depending on how they’re handled, and that calling a character a Mary Sue means nothing other than “I don’t like this character and choose to blame the writer and insult anyone who thinks differently.” Imagine that.
     
    I still can’t really figure out why people are perfectly fine with Future Trunks but have such huge problems with Caulifla and Kale. Huh, though now that I think about, out of those three Trunks is the only one that’s a guy…nah, that couldn’t possibly be it, right?
  25. Pahrak Model ZX
    -Mega Man Star Force, or a sequel series
     
    -The World Ends With You
     
    -Interesting episodes/chapters of Bleach
     
    -Danny Phantom
     
    -Older Pokemon in the form of more Mega Evolutions. We do not have enough.
     
    -Slizers
     
    -RoboRiders
     
    -Final Fantasy V, preferably in remake form
     
    -Simplicity in life, no responsibilities, free time to actually play with Bionicle, and the like
     
    -GALIDOR
     
    If I don't get all these things then I will be very disappointed I mean if we're opening the portal to the past we need to make the most of it.
×
×
  • Create New...