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Pahrak Model ZX

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Blog Entries posted by Pahrak Model ZX

  2. Pahrak Model ZX

    Concept

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    You scroll through the Library Forum and see a short story entitled “Bionicle Agni Kai Fight.”
     
    You think “Agni kai? Oh, those firebending duels from Avatar? It’d be awesome to see two Toa of Fire have one of those!”
     
    Upon clicking the link, you discover a tale of Agni and Kai having an argument.
     
    From there you’ll probably experience either regret, anger, or perhaps a feeling of “Oh, that was clever!”
     
    (Fingers crossed it’s the last one.)
  3. Pahrak Model ZX
    So it looks like those rumors about the region being based on Hawaii are true! Alola looks kind of small, though.
     
    The starters all look great, but Rowlet is clearly the best choice. It’s an adorabird! You must choose the adorabird!
     
    Sun lion and moon bat both look pretty interesting. Not entirely sure at this point since we don’t have types and such, but I think I’m leaning Sun at the moment.
  4. Pahrak Model ZX
    There were three announcements this morning:
     
    1. Pokken Tournament DX! It’s Pokken on the Switch, adding in the fighters who have been added to the arcade version since the Wii U release PLUS Decidueye. Since I don’t have a Switch I don’t expect to be getting this, but it’s definitely interesting, and I look forward to watching how Decidueye plays.
     
    2. Gold and Silver on eShop! I was hoping they’d do this. Gold was the first version I played on my own as opposed to sharing with my sisters, so Johto was my favorite region before Sinnoh came along. I’m very much looking forward to another trek across the region with my trusty Typhlosion again.
     
    3. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon! Not a whole lot of info at present, but Solgaleo and Lunala have new forms that sort of look like they’ve fused with Necrozma (or are wearing it as armor or something). I didn’t think we’d get these so soon, but Alola is great, so I am definitely not complaining! I really hope we can get those forms with pre-existing Solgaleo and Lunala, since I already bought both Sun and Moon…
     
    This reminds me that I really need to transfer my Living Dex up to Gen VII. I’ve been meaning to do that forever…
  6. Pahrak Model ZX
    Dramatic Personal Life Nonsense You Should Really Just Ignore
    I hate my job I hate my job I hate my job I hate my job

    Sundays are awful. Closing is awful. Closing on Sundays is awful enough, but then someone calls in 20 minutes before we close saying they want a catering order for tomorrow at 11:30 AM, we call the caterer at home and she says she’ll do it, and we end up having to stay late to cut 12 pounds of meat and cheese for this idiot, and I’m just not entirely sure how to put my current emotion into words. Certainly not BZP-appropriate words.

    On that note there’s a slight chance a customer heard me mumbling curses so who knows I might be fired! I mean, I talked to tonight’s closing manager before I left and he didn’t say anything, so maybe they didn’t report me and I can keep my job, but either way I’m a horrible person and I sort of do hope they fire me!

    Aaaanyway

    You’re probably thinking “If you hate your job, you should look for a new one.” That’s a logical response, that’s what a person should probably be doing in this situation. For some reason I just haven’t been able to kick myself hard enough to do that yet. Probably that all-consuming feeling that life is totally meaningless, but I know that that’s never going away, haha!

    What’s a good way to waste time? I might still have up to fifty years to go and I kind of just want to check out until I can clock out.
  7. 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.)
  8. Pahrak Model ZX
    (Unmarked spoilers ahead, I’ll try to keep them…light.)
     
    I read Mr. Thornberry’s blog entry and it got me thinking about Kingdom Hearts well more than usual.
     
    The representation of light and darkness in Kingdom Hearts is…mixed, I guess. If you just take a cursory glance at the series, it’s the good guys keeping light safe from villains wielding the forces of darkness, and that’s not wrong. Heck, that’s literally the mission statement of the old Keyblade order as we find out in BBS. (Granted the game implies that order has some grave flaws, which might be why it ends up destroying itself…) But the series does try to say that darkness is not inherently evil, you just need to know how to use it.
     
    In
    , about 19:21, Xemnas asks Sora, Riku, and Mickey why they hate darkness, and Mickey and Riku say that darkness is a natural part of the world and there’s nothing wrong with that; the problem is that people just love to abuse it. (Sora just stands there trying to look menacing with his anime key, his major is in friendship not darkness.) The first game is pretty black and white on the subject, but since then they’ve tried to take a more neutral approach, primarily through Riku’s character arc: in the first game he fell to darkness and was possessed by Ansem, and ever since he’s been trying to make up for his mistakes and come to terms with the powerful darkness inside of his heart. This really comes to a head in Kingdom Hearts 3D, where he and Sora take the exam to become Keyblade Masters. Riku is using this as a chance to evaluate himself on a more personal level—is he really fit to wield the Keyblade when his heart was so weak in the past? (Of course if he wasn’t then it wouldn’t have still been with him, in-universe mechanics work like that, but he needs a little more than that, I totally don’t blame him.) The game answers with a very clear YES by having Riku succeed in becoming a Keyblade Master (the first new Master in about a decade) while Sora, due to having no experience with darkness, nearly gets dragged into a situation even worse than the one Riku found himself in during the first game. Riku, with his mastery of darkness, is essential in saving Sora, and the villain in this game (a new form of the villain who possessed him), outright says that Riku can now trap darkness in his heart and can no longer be manipulated. (I like to think that was a huge spirit-booster to him but I digress.) Riku made some mistakes with darkness, but he learned from it, and now he’s one of the best heroes we’ve got because of how good he is with darkness. So that’s a plus. 
    It’s not just Riku, though. The first Keyblade we see Mickey wielding is a Keyblade from the Realm of Darkness (so far the only one from that Realm we’ve seen, and he doesn’t always use it, but he still has it); the Gravity and Magnet magic players can use are said to be dark spells, and you’ve got Ventus using them even with his heart of pure light; and, again in 3D, the Dream Eaters in the Realm of Sleep are made of darkness, and while some of them are evil, there are at least as many friendly ones that join Sora and Riku as Pokémon-esque party members. (And they’re adorable.) There are plenty of instances proving that Dark is Not Evil in Kingdom Hearts…but, they’re not entirely unbiased.
     
    For one thing, we haven’t really gotten to Light is Not Good at any point. The villain, Xehanort, likes to say this, but, I mean…he’s the villain. You could maybe cite Roxas, who controls Light and works for a villainous group for a time, and maybe Eraqus, who firmly believes Light is absolute and attacks his student (and adoptive son) Terra when the latter becomes soaked in darkness, but neither of them are really evil, and are almost always portrayed sympathetically. (I know Roxas is super-popular, and I can’t bring myself to hate Eraqus since he’s a Jedi Samurai Paladin who looks like Hironobu Sakaguchi and is voiced by Luke Skywalker.) Maybe you could even mention Sora’s Heartless from Re:coded, which is behind all the chaos going on in the datascape and, while it is made of darkness (being a Heartless), it does use some light attacks in its battle with Data-Sora. But it’s Re:coded, so who cares?
     
    Plus, pretty much every villain in the series does use darkness to some extent. I mean, the very first villain is Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, and now they’re calling the new Organization the XIII Seekers of Darkness, and their plan is to unleash a flood of darkness upon the world, and the apocalypse in the origin myth was all about the birth of darkness, and then there’s Vanitas, and…yeah, there’s actually a lot.
     
    It’ll be interesting to see how this plays into Kingdom Hearts X, the (currently Japan-only) browser game set at the time of the origin myth. The world is filled with light, but people are fighting over it, and while it hasn’t gotten too bad yet, the myth tells us it’s only a matter of time. The Foretellers, leaders of the various factions fighting over the light, all have a symbol associated with darkness on their Keyblades, so it seems like they may very well be villains in disguise. This could be a case of Light is Not Good villains…but, the game also says to watch out for “seekers of darkness disguised as guardians of the light”, so the reveal might be that they’ve been going for darkness this whole time instead. We’re gonna have to wait and see, I guess.
     
    So basically, KH says and I think definitely believes and means that Light and Dark are not necessarily associated with any particular moral stances, but the archetypal associations you’d expect are still very, very much there. This might change after Kingdom Hearts III, which is supposed to be the end of Xehanort and his Seekers of Darkness, but for now our main example for stepping out of these associations is Master Riku. He does a heck of a job, though.
     
    Related: while The World Ends With You doesn’t have thematic light and darkness like Kingdom Hearts does, a certain character who is up to no good does have powerful light-based abilities. He’s not evil, but he’s an antagonist, surely. Make of it what you will.
  9. Pahrak Model ZX
    Since all the cool kids make blog posts relating to their special weapons, I figured I would too. I've already decided on two special weapons, but I'm having trouble picking a third. I'm trying to think of the most awesome weapon ever...below are some other ideas I have, and some feedback would be greatly appreciated. (Of course, they haven't been given stats yet--I want to wait until I pick one before giving it stats.)
     
    Reflect Coating: A magical armor polish Zadakh uses to give himself that extra sparkle when he’s disemboweling and eviscerating. If someone attacks Zadakh while he has this polish on, they take the same amount of damage they dealt to him. It’s water-proof, can’t be removed, and can’t be dodged. The only way to avoid its effect is to not hit Zadakh in the first place.
     
    Indestructible Sweater Vest: You know this one, thinking about bringing it back with some modifications. Since Zadakh's new powers allow him to achieve flight naturally, I'll be taking that ability away from the Sweater Vest, and since he doesn't have Nerd powers anymore...perhaps the Sweater Vest would re-enable them. Also considering making the Reflect Coating part of an upgraded form of this (probably Lv. 4)...
     
    Inmacula Shard: A tiny red stained glass shard that was ‘shed’ by a transdimensional robot. If Zadakh throws it into the air, it will float there and begin to grow into a huge stained glass window. Feel free to attack it—it’s indestructible, but you might slow it down. Why would we want to create a giant stained glass window, you may ask? Well, once it’s complete, it begins to draw in energy, both solar and otherwise, until finally releasing this energy as one or more uber-powered beams…that could, possibly, also damage Zadakh. We call it the “Window to the Afterlife”!
     
    Arm-Mounted Food Cannons: Borrowed from some kid with a big head who kept talking about aliens. They look like rotund, light brown forearm armor with gold fingers and small openings on the palms. Obviously, they launch food…might not be the most powerful weapon, but as soon as the first shot is fired, an apocalyptic food fight begins! All sorts of stuff begins flying all over the place—meat, vegetables, that unidentifiable mush they give you in cafeterias, even Thornax (but not the exploding kind)—it’s real tough to keep track of, and if you get hit with the food it might stun you, or get in your eyes and render you temporarily blind. And the hits do cause SOME damage…don’t underestimate it!
     
    Star Saber: A sword with a blade coated in cyan-colored energy that is quite literally capable of cutting through anything. Well, this version is modified for fairness: any armor, shield, or weapon that it cuts will regenerate shortly afterwards. Unless you make fun of Zadakh for liking Transformers Armada. No regen for you, you inconsiderate…person.
     
    Eternal Dragon: A Keyblade with a handle styled after a Chinese dragon, a blade resembling seven orange orbs, and key teeth that look like spiky blond hair. As Zadakh fights, stars begin to appear on the orbs, and when stars are on all seven, his overall power doubles...maybe? Not entirely sure on the effect when all seven orbs are active, could to something different...
  11. Pahrak Model ZX
    I have family flying in from Australia this weekend, so I may not have time to get online tomorrow. So, I decided to post Bioni-Lords Book 3: Kako Preview 2 early! I'm trying out a different writing style in this one--I recently read The House of the Seven Gables, so I think I'm going to subconciously try to imitate it for a while...it'll really come through in Preview 5. Anyway, this preview is a meeting of Element-Lords: old favorites like Norscu and Aile, and we also get another look at Avanda! Also, we finally get to see Zempyst, and two all-new characters: Cerveau and Vitirus (vai-tuh-russ)!
     
    Also, I posted another ZMoC topic, this one with self-MoCs--Exo-Zadakh, Hapori Zadakh, Exo-Pahrak, and Exo-Pahrak Kal Titan, some of which may be tied to Bioni-Lords. I know they're not all that great, but I wanted to get them online anyway.
     
    I've made some real progress with the new Spirits--there's only another handful that I need to get on paper, and then I'll start putting them on the new Spirit Index. After that, you guys finally get the link!
     
    Merry Christmas
    Again
  13. Pahrak Model ZX
    So, March. The month of celebrating green!
     
    Because Celebi is now available! I believe this is one you can download from the comfort of your own home, so just use the Mystery Gift option and you should be good.
     
    Unless it shows up in a special Poke Ball that no one can open, and then you take it to an expert and totally forget that it ever existed in the first place. That would sure suck, wouldn’t it?
     
    721 HERE WE COME!
  14. Pahrak Model ZX
    It took even longer then usual, but I finally finished Chapter 7 of Shooting Star Sonia. I feel like, for taking so long, it should be a lot better than it is, but...sorry. At least it has Harp Note's first Star Force transformation!
     
    I really, really hope I'll be able to keep this little bit of momentum going and get Chapter 8 done before too long. I guess we'll have to see, though, eheheh...
  15. 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.
  16. Pahrak Model ZX
    Asterisk Holder: Amy Matchlock
     

     
    Origin: Bravely Second
     
    Was It In Bravely Default?: No
     
    Overview: This Job seems to specialize in the new gun weaponry that will be available in Bravely Second. We have also been told that it possesses buffs and abilities for hitting all enemies. In addition, it seems that Amy can light her arrows on fire—how this might translate to the playable Job remains to be seen.
     
    Personal Thoughts: The first brand-new Job we had confirmed! This will probably be our Gun Lore Job, and I’m cool with that: Tomahawk has a unique look to it, and it sounds very adaptable. If I had a concern, it would be that the fire arrow could be something greater that might threaten Spell Fencer’s chances of making the cut, but I don’t think I need to worry about that really. Welcome to the roster, Tomahawk!
  17. Pahrak Model ZX
    As promised, A Mind in Darkness is now complete! The whole thing comes in at over 11,000 words. I’m glad I followed through on the idea—maybe there’s something else from that booklet I can use as inspiration…
     
    Anyway, on to the main point of this entry. When I announced A Mind in Darkness, I mentioned that I was working on another new project. In the past, I worked on some stories about humans who could use the power of Bionicle (and other) characters by turning “spirits” into armor—that series is pretty dead, but I still want to do something with the basic idea. Nothing like humans turning up in the MU, of course. That would just be ridiculous. What I wanted was a new world where both humans and Toa existed, and after kicking that around for a while, I got a new idea that I thought had some potential.
     
    But, I’m not so sure there’s an audience for this sort of thing. Not much point in putting a bunch of work into a story if it’s just going to rot in some forgotten corner of the Library, right? Simply asking if there was an audience didn’t seem like the best way to go, plus I really wanted to at least experiment with this idea a little, so I decided to jump in…if a bit tentatively.
     
    The result is the short story The Blade of Valor. Think of this as a pilot episode. Presented here is a rough working concept of a world where Toa are Elemental Spirits who watch over the humans, but when an evil force arises, a priestess is selected to bear a legendary weapon and set things right. I did a solid amount of world-building and prepared some backstory, but I don’t want to go much farther unless I see reason to. If I get a good reaction from The Blade of Valor, I’ll continue working and put together an entire story based on this concept. If no one seems interested, then I guess it just remains a one-shot.
     
    Please read if you have the time, but a few warnings. First, the length: it’s between 4000-5000 words. Interpret that as you will. Second, I tried to make the monster in this story rather disturbing, and while I don’t know if I really succeeded in that, I figured I should at least provide a heads-up.
     
    If you like the story, please let me know. Also, since the material presented is very tentative, suggestions are most welcome—if I do end up pursuing this, then I want it to be as great as possible. If nothing else, thank you for at least reading this entry!
  18. 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?
  19. Pahrak Model ZX

    IT'S AMIIBO

    By Pahrak Model ZX,

    He was delayed a bit, but I wasn't expecting the next attempt until tomorrow. I was at GameStop picking up something else and the guy checked their shipment and discovered the Blue Bomber had indeed arrived!
     

     
    I was hoping to take a picture with Megamiibo, Megaman.EXE, and Geo, but after ordering the Geo figure Amazon suddenly decided that all the vendors selling him didn't have him in stock. I'm not bitter at all.
     
    Coincidentally this amiibo is named Geo Stelar.
     
    I haven't gotten much (good) equipment on the Wii U yet, so I'm having trouble managing the ups and downs to get him some good stats. But he's been training with Greninja and Mii Brawler Kairi, and he's now Level 18! I shall continue to raise him into an expert fighter!
  20. Pahrak Model ZX
    Kingdom Hearts Unchained X continues. One of the recent additions was a school uniform (on a Raid Board), not exactly a costume I was looking forward to but there was a Cid on the other side so, eh, I’ll pick it up.
     

     
    …I actually kind of like the way it looks.
     
    But on a less tsundere note, I’ve actually leveled up quite a bit recently, because this month’s Weekend Raid Boss If There Isn’t Another Event Raid Boss is
     

     
    THE GUMMI HOUND
     
    I saw this on the Wiki a while back and just think it looks so cool. It’s a giant dog mecha piloted by numerous Heartless, with cannons that shoot other Heartless and, as I just discovered, ROCKET POWERED FISTS. Also it’s purple. Like, what’s not to love? Not only is fighting it easier than that 30 million HP Fortress Crab (the Hound starts at only 3 million), it also gives out way more Lux, not to mention I finally figured out when Bonus Hours are in my timezone and they just added the once a day Lux Up button. There won’t be one this weekend since the Trident Tail with the school uniform Raid Board is still going on, but man, I’m looking forward to fighting more of these.
     
    Also I’m so close to being able to equip a full set of 6 Star Medals, maybe then I can start getting more Adamantite and power up my relatively weak Keyblades. Divine Rose is awesome though, like it’s only at +18 and it already has a much higher strength than any other Keyblade I have. And it looks lovely.
  21. Pahrak Model ZX
    (Because I figured "Why wait?" Anywho, I hope to develop this scene a bit more by the time it works its way into the story. First things first, some reminders:
    -Dragon-Lord Aile is a little short, has long tan hair, tan eyes, wears a black t-shirt, khakis, a dragon scale jacket, and a bracelet (specifics still being brainstormed)
    -Thunder-Lord Zempyst has extremely light blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail, yellow eyes, wears silver pants, a pale yellow belt, a silver button-down long sleeved shirt, scratched up silver bracers on her arms, and lightning bolt earrings
    -"Tsundere" is a Japanese term used for a pattern of behavoir where a character switches between "tsuntsun"--being mean towards a specific individual--and "deredere"--being kind and caring towards that individual. May cut it out of the final version, but it seemed to appropriate I had to at least use it here.
     
    Now then, the preview begins:)
     
    Zempyst strode across the arena, saying, “You’ve got that look again. What are you telling her?”
     
    “It’s a secret,” Aile playfully replied. “I’ll tell you if you come closer.”
     
    “I’m not falling for that one again,” Zempyst stated. “You’re just going to latch on once I get close.”
     
    Aile sighed, “And there’s the downside of you knowing me so well. Why are you afraid of loving me?”
     
    Zempyst was started to get visibly flustered. “I just don’t like having the life squeezed out of me by those vice-like arms of yours!”
     
    “Come on, I know you’re not that fragile.”
     
    “I’m not fragile at all!”
     
    “Then prove it!”
     
    Aile lunged at Zempyst and locked her arms around the Thunder-Lord. Xyla took a few steps back as Zempyst attempted in vain to wriggle her way to freedom.
     
    “H-Hey! I didn’t agree to this!”
     
    “Well if I waited for you to stop being so tsundere, I’d never get to hug you!”
     
    “Stop calling me tsundere! It starts rumors!”
     
    “You know I don’t care what other people think.”
     
    Zempyst gave a desperate look to Xyla. “Are you just going to stand there or help me?!”
     
    Hesitantly, Xyla answered, “I, uh…I don’t think I understand this relationship enough to get involved.”
     
    “You’re kidding!!” Zempyst exclaimed. “Ugh…”
     
    “You know how to make me stop, Sparky,” Aile said.
     
    “Fine,” Zempyst growled.
     
    Aile loosened her grip just enough for Zempyst to slip her arms free. The Thunder-Lord half-heartedly returned the embrace, and a few moments later Aile released her.
     
    “You really need to cut that out,” Zempyst muttered. “And wipe that stupid grin off your face!”
     
    “I have no intention of doing either,” Aile adamantly responded.
     
    As Zempyst stormed off, Xyla gave Aile a puzzled look. “I don’t get it,” she asked. “Why do you hang out with Zempyst all the time if she’s so irritable?”
     
    Aile smiled. “You mean besides her good looks, dependability, compassion, sense of humor, intelligence, perseverance, responsibility, and ability to not let her emotions mess with her judgment?”
     
    From the other side of the arena, Aile and Xyla could hear Zempyst yelling angrily and one of her Apprentices. Quickly, Aile added, “Well, her judgment on major issues.”
     
    Xyla had yet to see Zempyst display any of these qualities, but she thought it best not to say so. “Yeah, besides all that.”
     
    “Let me tell you a story,” Aile began. “Once upon a time, a group of fourteen awesome kids were gathered up and named the Original Element-Lords. The Dragon-Lord quickly proved herself to be the most awesome, but, unfortunately, all that power went to her head and she became totally unbearable to be around. For whatever reason, the Thunder-Lord was more irritated by the Dragon-Lord’s attitude than the others were, and the two of them formed a hostile rivalry. Islands shook when they battled, and they battled a lot, even though it never really solved anything. After a while, the Element-Lords decided they needed to pick a leader, something that the Dragon-Lord was sure she’d be great for. When the Rahaga-Lord was chosen to lead, the Dragon-Lord was furious and challenged him to a battle.”
     
    Aile took on a more solemn air at this point.
    “In her blind fury, the Dragon-Lord lost control of her power…and she nearly killed the Rahaga-Lord. Really, it’s a miracle he survived, but he did, and he was even willing to forgive and forget. But the Dragon-Lord was ashamed of what she had done, and became horrified of her own power. She fell into a deep, dark depression the likes of which none of the other Element-Lords had ever seen. Some of them tried to help her, but there was nothing they could do, and she came dangerously close to the point of no return. But when all hope seemed lost, the Thunder-Lord—the last person the Dragon-Lord expected to see—came to visit. The Dragon-Lord was so surprised that she actually listened when the Thunder-Lord told her the things she needed to hear. The Thunder-Lord practically dove into the darkness and pulled the Dragon-Lord back out…she stayed with her, forced her to move on, and helped her forgive herself. All this from someone the Dragon-Lord thought hated her…”
     
    Aile inhaled sharply, smiled, and turned to Xyla.
     
    “So, the Dragon-Lord got her fight back, with a much more bearable if somewhat zany new personality to boot, and she and the Thunder-Lord became best friends with just a little remaining hint of rivalry. And, you know…they lived happily ever after and whatnot. And I do mean ‘ever after’, what with the eternal youth thing. Does that answer your question?”
     
    Stunned, Xyla stammered, “Uh…I…”
     
    Zempyst was sending her Apprentice away now. She put her hands on her hips, sighed, and looked back at Aile.
     
    Waving, Aile whispered, “I know she’s rough around the edges, but she cares a lot more than she lets on. If she weren’t here, then I wouldn’t be either.”
     
    Zempyst shook her head and left the Battlefield. Xyla turned to Aile again, saying, “So…you just ignore it when she’s difficult?”
     
    Aile shrugged and replied, “When you care about someone, you won’t let them push you away no matter how hard they try. Especially when you know that, deep down, they care about you too.”
     
    Xyla suddenly found herself thinking about Genakex. She shook her head, saying, “Uh, I see.”
     
    A sly smile crossed Aile’s face. “So, is Genakex on to your tsundere act yet?”
     
    “What?!” Xyla asked. “I-I-I’m not tsundere!!”
     
    “Xyla, I know tsundere when I see it. After spending so much time with Sparky, I can practically smell it. So how about we cut to the chase and you just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’?”
     
    A few other words crossed Xyla’s mind first. After setting them aside, she mumbled, “…Yeah. I think he is.”
     
    “Then he’s not gonna give up. He may not be as enthusiastic about it as I am, but the persistence will definitely be there. And, as someone who has spent decades being on the ‘tsuntsun’ end of tsundere, I’d like to encourage you to try and shift towards the ‘deredere’ side. No…no not encourage—beg is probably better. Being targeted by all that tsuntsun is no fun…”
     
    Xyla looked away, grumbling, “Sure, I’ll consider that.”
     
    “That’s all I ask,” Aile said. “Anyway, I’m hungry. I’ll see you later.”
     
    Aile left the Battlefield next. Xyla, left to herself now, sighed, “Why are so many of the Original Element-Lord insane?”
  22. Pahrak Model ZX
    After letting the document sit for longer than I should have, I finally wrote more of Divine Strength, and now things are actually getting somewhere. Chapter 2 featured the Queen of Light finding Riniyon's lair and discovering that he has created a spell capable of knocking a Queen's crown from her head--something that should be impossible. I didn't post this bit since the basics are in one of the short stories I wrote while I was forming the idea.
     
    I have, however, posted my rough draft of Chapter 3. This covers the battle between Riniyon and the Queen, and then shows the Queen of the Sea in person while we're told what's going to happen next. The meeting between all twelve Queens is also in one of the short stories, so I might not be posting that either.
     
    I feel like maybe I'm moving through this too quickly...although part of that might be because I haven't really planned much (if anything) beyond the point where the short stories stop. I know that a lot of accomplished writers will just write and see what happens, but I'm a little nervous to proceed when I don't have at least a plot skeleton planned out. Then again, that process didn't turn up a whole lot of satisfying results for me now did it, eheheh...
  23. Pahrak Model ZX
    I don't know why I don't see more people excited for this game, just look at the roster we've got so far:
     
    -Charizard
    -Pikachu (and Pikachu Libre)
    -Machamp
    -Gengar
    -Mewtwo (and Shadow Mewtwo)
    -Suicune
    -Sceptile
    -Blaziken
    -Gardevoir
    -Garchomp
    -Lucario
    -Weavile
    -Chandelure
    -Braixen
     
    And you get to control them all directly. To beat the poffins out of each other. With their fists (or whatever they have in place of fists).
     
    Like forget Pokemon Go I just want Pokken Tournament.
  24. Pahrak Model ZX
    Prompted by fishers' contest, I’ve got a brand new game inspired by the constraction line that started it all!
     
    Slizer Dome will allow players a chance to immerse themselves in the overlooked world of the old line, becoming Slizers of any region they choose and pushing their abilities to the limits in order to battle it out in a planet-wide tournament! You’ll need to find disks, gather rare sources of power, and battle elemental monsters if you’re going to become strong enough to best all the others, and be named Champion of the Millennium!
     
    The game will start Monday. I’ll make another post here with the link, and then you’ll have 24 hours to sign up before the first round gets started. I hope you’ll enjoy it!
  25. Pahrak Model ZX
    So when I went to download Fire Emblem Heroes the other day it wasn’t available yet and the store recommended the new Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links app, and I figured “pssh okay sure I guess I’m curious.”
     
    It turns out it’s…actually fun? Like, way more fun than children’s card games should be? I'm having difficult putting it down and I'm not sure I feel comfortable with this development.
     
    Part of it’s definitely nostalgia, of course. You unlock the ability to play as several characters from the original anime, you see, so you get to hear them constantly shouting out stock phrases and taunts. Basically everything Kaiba says is gold. Brooklyn Joey is there (even on some of his cards). Honestly my only complaint on that front is no Tristan, but more characters are already set to be added so who knows.
     
    I probably only played the actual card game less than five times when I was a kid so I don’t remember much (and certainly never had any skill), but Duel Links presents a streamlined version that’s extremely easy to pick up, so it took a while before I really felt like an amateur with a poor card selection. And, a few of those losses can be chalked up to bad starting hands…and being too tired/unfocused to do what I actually intended to do…anyway, what I mean is it feels pretty fair even to newcomers, except for when you fight that guy who looks like Red from Pokémon who cheats.
     
    I’d rate it 5/7 Millennium Items would recommend to nostalgia-prone friends.
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