STATUS:
@SaltSight Game was Astlibra: Revision. Found it on sale bundled with another game I've been wanting so I gave it a shot and got like, straight indie JRPG of the early 2000s injected into my veins.
1 yr ago
Current
@SaltSight Game was Astlibra: Revision. Found it on sale bundled with another game I've been wanting so I gave it a shot and got like, straight indie JRPG of the early 2000s injected into my veins.
3
likes
1 yr ago
Hate that strange ennui that hits after 100%'ing a really, really good game. Good time was had, but man am I glad it can't mess my sleep schedule up anymore.
6
likes
3 yrs ago
Rich people blood sports is how the Oscar's should always have gone. As a hot blooded american man I cant sleep at night without witnessing violence of some kind.
3
likes
3 yrs ago
So true. Anyways, play Lancer!
3 yrs ago
Final Fantasy: Stranger in Paradise is the funniest shit I've ever seen while also not being a bad game. Just crack open some cold ones with the boys, blare Limp Bizket, and Kill Chaos.
@AzureKnight(VRA), @Rezod92 Kazunosuke’s mild prank aside, he did have a valid question to ask the three. Why bother helping humans at all, when as soon as this was over, they’d likely be banished? Or even betrayed? This was a fool’s errand, start to finish, that could only end well if humans overcame their fear of monsters. But, given the island’s history, that was…less than likely. Still, Vivian would answer:
”Why do you practice with a sword, despite knowing one day it might cut you? Why fight and grow stronger when some day, you’ll be weak and old? Humans are far too foolish to think at lengths on something’s motives. I myself have no intention of sticking around, but your friend and lord leads a hopeless rebellion, backed by people his nation fears, and fighting an engine of cruelty that would cut down everyone to the man if it meant seizing Shizuyama,” Sitting with one foot spiked into the ground, Vivian demonstrated impressive balance as she crossed her free leg over the spiked one, spreading her arms a bit as she continued.
”I know how it feels to push yourself to breaking. Knew the risks of it far beforehand. And yet still, I chased victory. I don’t know if I’ll find what I seek here, or anywhere, but I know that I will find nothing by running forever. And besides…the spirit underdog humans show is amusing. I saw a man your age with a quarter the skill pilot a ship through rough waters, not surrendering even as Varjan cannonfire rained down on his vessel. …When I see determination such as that…I can’t simply ignore it.”
Vivian would then rise from her perch, leg turning back to its normal pointed, yet humanoid frozen state. ”I look forward to working with you, Dancing Blade.”
Matsuri
”Hmm…it makes more sense to keep you all held back for now, rather than just throwing you out into the wild and hoping one makes it,” Matsuri said before shrugging slightly. ”But, I’m not as smart as a lord for sure. Still, I’m really glad that there are still some shinobi around! I bet together, we can make those Varjans pack up before the end of the year,” the fox woman said, infinitely hopeful as she removed her festival mask, looking Kageho in the eyes just before she said to head to Takeshi, and that she’d follow from behind…before completely vanishing.
Pouting slightly, Matsuri would fold her arms. ”Lady Kyouko said they don’t trust yokai, but I didn’t think she’d be opposed to being seen walking back together…” the Inari grumbled, misunderstanding a little bit of why Kageho didn’t want to walk back directly next to her. Still, she didn’t have much left to do, and would resolve to return to the temple to report in.
The Hyper core mecha will have fought a handful of kaiju with mixed results since mecha technology would have been fairly new at the beginning. Sometimes Hyper Man would have had to swoop in to finish the job.
But the Talos core mecha is much newer and hasn't seen combat yet.
At least that's my idea for now, I'm flexible.
As for combat preference, my initial idea (again, flexible) is that the Hyper core is initially designed for space travel, and the Hyperian's are masters at manipulating energy fields. Their ships need to designate what is 'self' and what is 'other' in order to figure out what to transport long distance when folding space. Whatever is designated as 'self' is covered in a protective field to shield it from the rigors of hyperspace travel. So I was thinking that the Hyper core covers the entire mecha in a protective field, making it good at essentially punching and kicking. But the Hyper core is very stingy at relinquishing energy for other uses. So ranged weapons for the Hyper core mecha would need to use conventional weapons (ie. things launched using their own energy/fuel, so munitions and explosives).
The Talos core then would lack this ability to coat its mech in a protective field, but is designed purely for outputting massive amounts of power instead. This makes it physically less sturdy, but able to take advantage of the latest in human-developed energy weapons, so lasers, bean swords, etc.
You would have a bruiser and DPS build, essentially.
Sounds good to me. What style visually are you thinking the mechs should sort of follow? I figured that the Hyper mecha should be bulky, but wasn't sure if that should go the route of "classic rounded" robots or something a bit more modern but with armor and big punchies.
In light of these new details, I would prefer to take the Talos Core, for a variety of reasons. However, I can work with either, and if you have a strong preference either way we can talk it over. If we can't decide, worst case scenario we can ask the GM to flip us a coin.
Are we trying to make a unified vision of how the mecha for Project Colossus work? I know we were talking about the reactor core having some kind of intelligence, but I wasn't certain if that's meant to be universal.
I imagine that maybe different organizations while unified under Colossus got the same tech, they'd build different kinds of machines. I'm not picky about it, since if we're starting off as semi-real robot pilots then the mechs will start as clunkers anyhow.
The cool thing about gundam as an example is that they've been all over the spectrum between real and super robo, so you can kind of point at different places in the franchise for inspiration.
Like, maybe starting with something like Alaya-Vinjana, or psycommu controls; it's mostly a real robot, the thing that makes it special is how it integrates with the pilot, either psychically or perhaps through neural implants. Or maybe spiritually, if we wanna go that direction.
Then develop a "psycho frame" version, that's more integrated and lets the user project some amount of psychic power(or spiritual, or whatever!) through the robot.
And eventually end up with stuff that may as well be magic, like the GN particles in 00. They don't even pretend to explain the technology, GN particles just do whatever it is they need to. They're propulsion, letting the gundam just kind of float around instead of needing thrusters. It produces a field that can absorb attacks, and it can be projected into beam attacks. But also it fundamentally alters the pilots, and makes them evolve at a crazy rate(but there's also a "bad" version of the particles, that will cause DNA damage, but that's okay because the "good" GN particles can heal the damage too).
And if you wanna do combiners, maybe they literally just fuse together at that point. Go full super robo and just have a scientist do some techno babble on the side about how their constituent molecules harmonized briefly to allow the fusion, or something.
Maybe our robos use an otherworldly, semi-sentient power source that bonds with the pilot, and the furthering of that bond could be the entire impetus for the advancement of their power. Early in development, it's just viewed as a fancy, super advanced reactor, which is necessary for machines of this scale. The robot itself is more or less just a machine(the absolute bleeding edge of technology, bust still), but unbeknownst to the R&D team, the mysterious power sources that they used form bonds with their most frequent pilots, and soon they stop responding to anyone but their chosen pilot. Over time the engineers realize some of what's happening, and lean into it with their development, leading to further advancements.
Big fan of mysterious alien tech that bonds with the pilot and lets the machine evolve alongside them. BIG fan.
"This world is simultaneously complex and simple. Rudimentary forces of nature following advanced principles without knowing it, the golden ratio followed by reflex alone...and we humanoids stand at the pinnacle of reason. We alone can see the world for everything it is."
Appearance: A scholar and bookish sort by nature, Morgan is far from physically imposing, standing at 5'4" and possessing twiggy limbs and a pale complexion. The most stand-out trait of this blue-haired woman has to be her piercing cyan eyes that seem to devour everything they see, deconstructing it, breaking it down, reassembling it, and then finding something new to dismantle in her mind.
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Magic Divination: Esperism, Void
Abilities:
Probe-Mind: Espermancy as a practice is famous for allowing one to read minds, and Morgan is no stranger to it. However, rather than peering at the explicit words one says, she instead tunes into latent emotions and changes in one's brain. After all, you can just THINK of something else to counter a mindreader, but one couldn't hide how they felt in the recesses of their mind. In battle, this is used to gauge enemy intention.
Over-Clock: The magic of the mind isn't just for peeking or influencing others. A dangerous spell that accelerates neural pathways in one's own mind, allowing them to access parts of their brain that were previously unused, recall virtually anything they know, and to accelerate their brain's processing speed far beyond its normal limitations. When using Over-Clock, Morgan obtains a reaction speed outstripping any living human, with the drawback of extreme mental fatigue occuring after sixty seconds of usage. After which...well...it isn't exactly dignified to see a genius spouting gibberish, so she tries to avoid using it for long periods of time.
While Over-Clock is powerful, it is worth noting that Morgan can still only move as quickly as she normally could. The only thing moving faster are her thoughts.
Lunatic-High: Utilizing Over-Clock on another person is virtually impossible, due to how different everyone's brain is structured...but a watered down version is certainly possible. A diluted version of Over-Clock that can be used on others to greatly enhance their mental acuity for a small period of time, only having a small fraction of the mental fatigue that Morgan would suffer using the full thing.
Strange-World: An inverse of virtually all espermancy principles, this spell functions much like telepathy, but as an offensive stream of concentrated thoughts meant to hinder the opponent. Trivial gibberish, theorems that would take years to understand, the names of specific strange body parts of fish found thousands of meters beneath the sea...
...Morgan certainly knows a lot of things, not all of them useful. She doesn't mind sharing. Aggressively.
Mind-Palace: An illusion that manifests the inner workings of one's mind. Almost impossible to utilize in combat due to its exhaustive cost, but does allow the caster to capture a glimpse into someone's past, manifesting a room of memory that forms around the environment.
Star-Step: Utilizing void magic's manipulation over space, Morgan quickly accelerates in a straight line and leaves a streak of void energy on the ground that, while it remains present and undisturbed, allows her to instantly teleport back to the initial position regardless of where she is within a 200' radius. Only one Star-Step field can be active at a time, and creating a new one will erase the older one.
Cosmic-Force: A singular black ball of energy that can either gravitate objects towards it, or away from it, at a gradual rate that decreases as it influences larger objects. Fairly brittle, and isn't used as direct offense.
Banished-Comet: The most directly offensive spell that Morgan has, that condenses inorganic matter down into a cubic foot and then launches it at high speeds, repulsed by void energy. Essentially, a very fast rock.
Black-Hole: All magic is formed of energy, that passes through the world, to people, then back into the world. Each spell, a unique mechanism to channel that force, with all Magi having their own unique ways of doing so. Black-Hole can only be used when Morgan fully grasps the mechanics of someone's spell, to the extent that she could cast it herself with relevant training. Black-Hole will then "rob" the target of that spell for as long as Morgan keeps focus on it, gaining an orb of energy that can "cheat" its way into casting the spell for her using her own energy.
Once the spell has been robbed, the original user loses all ability to cast it until Black-Hole is undone or destroyed.
Equipment:
Silvered Pointer: A silver alloy cane that used to belong to the prior Laplace...or perhaps, even the one before him. A straight-handled cane that hides a rapier within, the blade being of exceptional make. It has been well-cared for, even after being passed down. The body of the cane reads: "Je n'avais pas besoin de cette hypothèse-là," and Morgan can often be seen carrying it underneath one arm with her always.
Polymathis Ensemble: A sharp suit that is often customized to the owner's liking, each name-bearing member of Polymathis is afforded a wardrobe. Yes, this does in fact mean Morgan only wears one outfit. Her's are kept close to the standard, with the exception being a silver boutonniere affixed over her tie.
Brief Background: Some are born with everything, while more still are born with nothing. Born in the slums of Morgenröte's backstreets, Morgan was the typical orphan sob story one could expect. No parents to speak of, picked on for her size, and always uncertain of when her next meal would be come.
She couldn't remember how it came to pass, but one day she found herself in an alleyway, playing a game of some kind against a man wearing an iron mask. His movements were minimal, his breath wheezing, but Morgan understood as soon as she touched one of the game pieces that something important was on the line. A best of three match, with the first game spent with Morgan losing completely and utterly, her lack of understanding of the rules leading to a sudden defeat. After manipulating her pieces in the second game in an unexpected way, she just barely eked out a victory, one of the two needed for her life to change.
Outraged, the man began to play in earnest, trumping each of Morgan's amateur strategies, taking piece after piece and dwindling away at Morgan's resources. It was a hopeless situation, one that many would call as simple as "a child just can't beat an adult." And yet, an orphaned child born in a bad environment understood one thing very clearly:
If the odds were against you, even them.
A coughing fit overtook the man as he wheezed, the deft hand of a child gliding across the board to snatch a meaningless piece in the backline of the iron man's formation. She'd cheated. Right under the nose of the man who would become her grandfather, Morgan would open a seemingly meaningless gap that would lead to that man's defeat in two more turns.
No child was as sly as they thought, however. Of course an adult would notice a little game of sleight of hand, baited by a coughing fit. And of course, it was the perfect test for the future Laplace, as one who created an opportunity from nothing even if it meant risking everything. Morgan would be lead to a grand library afterward, her reward for victory being indoctrination, education, salvation, and experimentation. The limits of what a mind could store were stretched to their limit each day, grueling study taking place of a childhood, with many other children who had passed similar tests soon failing and being expelled from the halls. And yet, in the heart of Morgan...
There was nothing but elation.
Here, she was superior. Here, she was powerful. Here, she wasn't weaker or jealous, hungry or cold, here, and only here, something other than birth and strength mattered. Of course, magic was part of the curriculum, and children were often compelled to compete against one another in contests of direct magical combat. Morgan would often win her duels days in advance, watching her opposition practice in order to learn every facet of their skillset, and counter it at every opportunity.
At the age of 16 Morgan would accept the last name of the scholar that had brought her in, Laplace the Mécanique Céleste. It was only after passing their tests that she was deemed worthy of knowing of her home's identity, the Polymathis, a society of recluse magus that believed that potential should be sought everywhere, in the name of all geniuses that died in silence. Bearing the weight of a genius' legacy, as well as the prestige of Polymathis with her, she would travel the world in search of long-forgotten knowledge, study the stars above her, and harness her magic to the utmost until a flight of fancy struck her.
"I may see something interesting if I go."
"...Besides, I'm never afforded wiggleroom in my research budget. Detestable as it is, I'll have to work for money."
Anything else we should know about you: Morgan is a huge fan of sweets, indulging in them at any chance she can when offered, and is easily bribed. "Tutoring, private lessons, proofreading...if you promise me enough sugary delights, I'd even take you into Polymathis myself!"
Color: 4682B4
Took me a while to have a concept I liked but hey, enjoy an insufferable lady!
@AzureKnight(VRA), @Rezod92 The fight raged on with the trio pushing Kazenosuke, skilled as he was, though it was growing clearer that the swordsman couldn’t match the combined strength of two martial mamono and a magical backup. Vivian had heard some mamono courted in this fashion, beating their would-be lover to a pulp beforehand to gauge their strengths. Vară had run dry on stamina, and Zeta seemed alright, and finally, Vivian was growing tired from regrowing her limbs after each clash with Kazenosuke, but in the end they’d finally gotten a slight advantage just as some disturbance surrounded them.
Vivian would narrow her eyes at the birds, then lower her posture. "Whatever is going on here, it has nothing to do with us. However..." Rather than striking directly at the crows, Vivian would approach Kazenosuke, standing at his side. "I have a sneaking suspicion they're trying to eliminate two birds with one stone. Kazenosuke, one of the most skilled fighters in the land, and three monsters that had just exhausted him. Strategically speaking, killing us all now while we're exhausted cleans things up nicely," Vivian surmised, looking to Kazenosuke. "Oh, and, if these are Varjans, I will have to remind you that you were indifferent to those who'd have a knife at your back at the earliest convenience."
Matsuri
Oblivious to the ninja almost assassinating Matsuri right as she opened her mouth, the Inari raised her bowed head and would get to explaining. "Okay! So, Lord Takeshi has gotten help from Lady Kyouko, who's sent monsters from Zipangu like me, and others from other places here to help you all out. I think its because nobody wants Varjo to have a big foothold out here," Matsuri said, then explaining the teleportation, how Ayu and Takeshi were doing, how they were searching out allies, and how Matsuri was SO glad she didn't spend all day in the woods without finding any shinobi.
"...So anyways, I'm just super glad that I found you! Takeshi said there was a whole other wave of Shinobi that might be with you, so...are they also hiding out here in the forest? Takeshi can use all the help you can provide!" Matsuri said, once more bowing, and offering the boxed lunch once again. "Oh and please, do at least try a little. Folks back home are insanely good cooks!"
Fairies didn't usually have dreams. At least, not if they had a full fun day of pranking, playing, and generally tuckering themselves out a bunch before falling asleep for a solid 4 hour night nap, waking up just in time to greet the sunrise with the rest of the forest. Liliana herself hadn't dreamed in about a decade, always tuckering herself out, so it was a surprise to her when she awoke in a dense forest with trees taller than any of man's greatest castles, blades of grass that eclipsed the mightiest men, and there on the forest floor sat the little splinter of the world tree that she called her weapon.
Blooming quietly upon the hilt of her blade, Whimsy sat, staring with mild disinterest at Liliana. The primordial elemental was as beautiful as any flower, but had the cold disinterested look of something that hadn't been seen for centuries since the current demon lord rose to power. The hungry, wild eyes of a predator that existed in a food chain separate from emotion and love, and shimmered a pure gold framed by black scilera, lacking pupils. "...How relentlessly boring you are. Pretty please, Whimsy! Sugar on top, Whimsy! Fix the broken little people while I nap, Whimsy!"
"Eh? Oh, um, i-if you don't want to then..." Liliana started before Whimsy looked down her nose at her. "You'll what? Cry about it to Rosebud? Alice? Oh right. Neither are here. In spite of how much you think about them, neither could stand being around you so long. Seeing your thoughts is just revolting," Whimsy said, before leaning down and flicking Liliana's forehead. "You can't even find a way to live all on your own. All your ideals are piecemeal and borrowed. You belong at the bottom, no matter how high you climb. Just a matter of when you'll fall."
...Right. Laying on the ground of her dream, Liliana remembered...Whimsy was like this a lot when they didn't have to work together. Bound under contract to listen to Liliana, the realm of dreams was far from her Queen's orders to it. Whimsy was free to unleash her disgust at Liliana without reservation. Even still, Liliana would bit her lower lip and sit back up. "I'll just fly back to where I was then! And, I'm the one that agreed to leave Rosebud's side. I'm not a budbaby anymore. Besides, you're my sword! I boss you around, not the other way around!"
Smiling just a bit after Liliana found some bark, Whimsy would lean forward, looming over Liliana while the light pink petals of her body draped over them both. "You'll wither and die before long. And I'll just keep on having fun regardless. Maybe I'll have whatever new wielder I find dig you up and press you in a book. I've heard some humans a millennia ago would use pins to preserve fairies on walls. Could be fun."
Crossing her arms with a huff, Liliana wouldn't back down as she stared at Whimsy. "Who cares once I'm dead anyways? I'll just have to do so many good things that you'll feel bad about stuff like that!"
A brief pause permeated the air, before Whimsy sighed and withdrew her petals, perching her cheek on the palm of her hand while looking at Liliana. "...Fool. What can a lowly Sixth Bladeflower possibly do? Go on and die in an amusing way, at the very least. Maybe a Varjan can make better use of me."
Liliana was surprised at Whimsy's retreat, before smiling. "...Got it. I'll make really sure to win every fight from now on, then. I know for sure you'd cry if some evil Varjan mage started using you in a potion or something." With her piece said, Liliana would start to walk away, fading away from the dream that, in reality, had never really been her's. Whimsy was left alone, her petals curling around her body while she watched Liliana fade away into the haze of the dream, back to reality. "...Little fool. You can't protect anything. Especially not me. ...But, perhaps...you have improved just the tiniest bit since we came to this backwater island. Either that, or you just grew more foolish."
Eula
@Enkryption(CAR/ALI), @Rezod92 Eula was quiet throughout Dinah's explanation, silently compiling whatever information she possibly could. Their banishment, and memory loss...likely came from coming into contact with Wonderland's spell, enforcing the promise once more. But that did leave one major thought in her head:
...Why were they panicking so much?
Lilim, demons, and all contract based magic as far as she knew had to be incredibly specific in wording, there was no rule against returning early, just that they couldn't. Not that it would void the concept of the exile. As such, Eula would lean forward and delicately push an index finger against Carroll's forehead, before she then curled back her middle finger to flick her in the forehead. "...Both of you seem to be misunderstanding the exile. You just have to wait one year longer, correct? Win then, after a year. Train. Learn. Study the weakness of Lilim's. And this time, I will come as well. That should even the odds somewhat."
wintersoldier,
Bugman,
RawrEspada4,
Stern Algorithm,
CitrusArms,
Noctis,
Snowdrops,
ppppppppp,
Bacon,
Apollosarcher
