Been thinking about my baseline. Punchline? There is none!
So? let's get down to it!
Picking up right after the fight from last week, some good ol' friendly banter between enemies. Right to the end, I wanted to keep the tamer's devil-may-care personality, especially about the situation she found herself in. I think adding in the fact that she still had beasts ready to be deployed but couldn't do it, and acknowledging it was a good choice here. When I was writing it, I was afraid I didn't put enough focus on their being there, so it felt like a bit of a wasted opportunity, but at the same time, the threat of there being more adversaries still lingered. I suppose to some degree, it can be left up to the imagination of the readers. Might distract from the fights taking place to lean too heavily into that, probably. All things considered, the threat directly ahead should be the focus of the characters. Heck, Su even mentioned that one shouldn't take their eyes off of their adversary.
It was nice to have a scene with the girls following protocol. Heck, just them having one is important, huh? It shows that they're used to doing that sort of thing and that they were trained to handle such matters. Since in the main story, it's pretty rare for the gang to have to take on Humans, it's not a concern they usually have. I mean...when they do, it's usually looking for sacrifices so uhh...both the handling of, and the clean-up are...not done! It doesn't matter, I mean.
Truthfully, I've always had mixed feelings about Devotion having interrogators. It...it sounds kinda bad, doesn't it? Maybe it just is. I'm still a little conflicted about the prospect of it. But at the same time, it doens't need to be...
bad you know? Like, the kind of interrogators that would waterboard someone is the kind of bad I'm thinking of. There are the kind that press x to doubt right? I mean, the girls in the story did have weapons but they could just be used for intimidation rather than actual force. The wounds that fanatic suffered specifically weren't from them, though. That was actually from the main story, since Su beat the shit out of him before he got away.
So, as you likely guessed, there was a second artifact! Took me too long to come up with a name for the maker, but I think it's a pretty good one! Every now and again, you'll hear some names more than once, but that's just 'cause they'd made more than one artifact. The good thing about that, is that it leans into the idea they all have a specific field of research or a concept they made their items around. In truth, I do feel a little conflicted about the existence of these items 'cause like...when you see it, you might think, "Well, why doesn't the gang just use them regularly?" and I've considered it. A part of me is afraid that it might make things more convoluted. I mean, it already is! This story! But it'd be
more you know? I've been thinking of ways to justify it in story, but I don't know how well the suspension of disbelief would hold in the minds of readers, so currently whether they would, could, or should remains somewhat ambiguous. It's a work in progress! Bear with me here.
As for the Tiratez thing, I don't think I ever talked about it here. Or maybe I had and forgot. The long and short of it is, that guild master's aren't given a title in game. I mean, they're probably referred to as such, but they didn't have a title from what I'd seen. The name was something I had originally made for Innocent, but decided to carry it over here. Having Shabur and Sellistar use that might make things a bit less confusing, since he shares the title with Peorth and every other guild master in the series.
Next! Moving in a little deeper, I'd thought about how I could fix up the terrain of the area. For it to mostly be dirt and stone carved out to make caverns, I figured a little deeper in I could change things up a bit. There's a reason, actually! This time it's not just set dressing! It's set dressing, but not just! In this case, it raises the implication that some of these things were here before. I mean, the giant stone doors speak for themselves. A bunch of squatters aren't gonna build stonehenge lol. Can't recall if it was here or later, but the situation was also meant to imply that the fanatics did indeed make more tunnels, courtesy of the guy with the claws. Not just for them to have escape routes, but to confuse their enemies.
Also before I forget! I realize what this was missing! Traps! Literal traps. I mean, you could have the other kind but how well that would work on a group of girls is yet to be tested. ...If anyone women have been to femboy hooters, dm me a 5000-word thesis about it.
Anyway! Wanted to introduce an important concept here--that being, magic creations and...non-magical...creations? I suppose. Sometimes you can see fighters, or rather casters, both create and eliminate things. Those who use Shattered Berg can dispel it after it does what it needs to do. However! If you were to shatter a real berg, you can't dispel it! It's very much the same for the other elements. It serves as a good limit to what Mages are capable of, but also prevents the complete removal of things that already were. What concerns me about the prospect is the idea of...well, let's take TJ/Reina's battle for example. Due to their fighting, they tore up the Belos plains. TJ said he could fix it with magic, and did. It raises the question, "Does that make it the same as the rest? Or would a part of it always be magical?" There's no concrete answer to that, yet. Thus! Well, here's a couple of ways you could consider it, to shake that sense of wonder. One! Over time, that which serves as a replacement becomes as much the real thing as the rest! Two! Everything is kinda magic anyway, so that which serves to replace it becomes it due to...magic! That's it! I guess option 3 is...as ever, it's magic, I don't have to explain shit. Wanna hear me say magic again?
Moving on! Next fight starts with a band of adventurer types! I tried to make something of a balanced party. You can tell these guys are mooks, can't you? I did try to make them somewhat distinct in their mannerisms though.
Anyway, first new stance is courteous of Purnima, that being, Bull Rush. To some degree, it's a little like Guard Impact, but it has its own uses. The former doesn't require the momentum of the latter. That aside, BR doesn't stun. It's a charge that's meant to knock opponents away, hence the swing at the end of the charge.
I'd mentioned Dark Dagger before, but boy, there's a whole lot going on packed into that 1-2 second stance. It all happens so fast it was always difficult to tell what was going on, but I hope this clears it up for future reference. There 4-5 hits within the entire thing and even then, it requires some pretty insane movements.
After that is Dust Devil, a Dagger user stance! It's pretty self-explanatory isn't it? Some of them get pretty wacky, but it's probably in line for this game ands tory lol.
Piper's Melody follows that, and it's a new bard song. It does a bit of damage with a chance for confusion. I think the hardest part about doing songs is...describing the melody! There's no easy way to do it! No matter how you spin it, it sounds weird! There are plenty of adjectives in the English language but only so many can describe what you can't hear! /endrant
Cyclone Cutter, Multi-Blade and Formless Hit are all SP skills. Since there are no Wind Wizards in the story, you've likely never seen that one here lol. Multi-Blade is likely from a tree that I never delved into...or I forgot it, and Formless Hit did appear in USSR but I may have mixed it up with Crazy Hit. I know, the name sounds weird. It'd be better if it was Formless Hits at least, 'cause it's like six or seven hits. Gonna change that right quick. Accuracy is good, but readability doubly so!
Subdue is a new skill with the same effects as Neutralize. It's for Templars, though! As the name suggests, it's the kind of attack that would leave an opponent with 1 HP.
Wind Cutter and Aero Slicer are both SP skills also, so if you see them again, you'll know. I don't think they had any particular effects, but Aero Slicer may have hit twice. I dunno. Never played the element, tbh.
Bullseye Marker is a new skill by me also. Here, Chana uses it to pin down her target, but it can be either lethal or non-lethal. She very well could have pierced every appendage on that person but...that'd be kinda morbid, wouldn't it? Not that this story is afraid to step into that territory. I mean, after the kuri chieftain thing...yeah, it can get a little messy lol. Nonetheless, the thing I like about this stance is it has a bit of simplicity to it. Some of her attacks have very powerful effects, so a skill or two like this where it's literally just throwing daggers feels at home.
Dissonant Wave is me again. That one, unlike Sonic Wave isn't just a sound. It has an impact, as you can see here. Powerful enough to knock a target down, depending on their size of course. Smallter targets would likely be launched. Also does a bit of damage! Handy!
I personally love that Wizard's line. That "ah shit" moment she has before deciding to go all in lol. Though they might be random mooks, having moments like those is nice too. I'm not
too worried about humanizing them, or rather...well, developing them thoroughly, but that's nice.
Last spell/song is Calming Play, an SP skill. You can use it on multiple enemies, but yeah it puts them to sleep. You might ask yourself, "Why didn't she just do that to begin with?" and in turn I'll ask you, "Why don't you throw a pokeball as soon as you start a fight?"
Bit of banter between the girls before progressing to the next scene. Had one of those moments where I was thinking, "Scene's gotta have a reason, doesn't it? What's the reason for this discussion?" It kinda feels like it doesn't have one, doesn't it? If so, I'll count that as a success, hell yeah! You'll often hear about going to Atlantis, the Ocean King and all that jazz, but Gatia Sue is only mentioned off-hand every now and again. I don't know for certain what she was doing there...or at least, I don't really remember. It was standard fare to encounter one of Iris' party members after each boss fight. Lair of the Evil Dragon had Muwen and Zoe, Shangri-La had Shaowee, Pyramid Treasure Vault was Van Giwoo and Cold Heart was Gatia Sue. Moon of the Sixteenth Day was just DMP, though. But Kazno...I can't remember if, or when, you meet him. I know in the later expansions you have to fight him but I can't remember if you get to talk to him. But you know? That concept was part of what inspired meeting the Saints following a boss fight. In all fairness, you had to fight both Zoe and Shaowee solo, but other than that the rest were amicable. If I ever did write Innocent Life, that'd probably be some of the events that took place. The meetings definitely, the fighting, possibly. Muwen is a definite yes, Shaowee, no.
Anyway! That kinda explains the joke Chana made. That and Gatia Sue is just plain scary. Oh right! The reason for the scene was to let readers know that well...Nia and friends are doing stuff too. I'd feared when I wrote this side story that it'd seem odd that there are so few enemies within the hideout, but the idea that their forces are split up and battling the others lends credence to the idea. That, and it would explain why they might only have 1-2 artifacts per captain.
Next! Another captain, this time with a more unique design! If you don't remember Amae's herald, it was the eye. I...can't remember it very well myself, actually. No wait, I remember. A small part of me was afraid it looked like the eye of providence. It might've, originally. Isn't that thing bad? Like it was the symbol of the free masons or something wacky like that? I don't remember what those guys did or who they were, but uhh...anyway, safe! Symbols are wack, FYI.
Anyway, this guy has more of the generic baddie vibe to him, doesn't he? I was a little reluctant about it and thought of changing it but I just couldn't shake it with him for some reason. I think in the end, I was just like, "This's fine. I'm fine with this." and left it as is. Him and the other captains are all different, so having one that fits the baddie role doesn't hurt too much. I was a little worried the conversation would sound redundant when they started talking about TJ, but in all fairness, it's unavoidable. To readers, it'd be things they'd heard before to some degree, so it might feel like repeated information. To some of the characters, it'd be a first. Nonetheless, what's truly important is the feelings of these respective characters.
Lemme give you an example. In P&C:
- Popcorn Chicken:
Talin and Kana discussed the existence of the Anima, their purpose, and what they were to God Re. In that scenario, Kana played the devil's advocate to the creator god and it gave us a bit of a glimpse into what it might be like to look at the existence of those beings from a higher power.
In this situation, the roles are reversed, in a way, aren't they? Those who look up rather than from those who look down. People are wont to be terrified if higher beings walk among them. Doubly so when that very same higher being is meant to herald the end of all life lol. In this case, though, the fanatic sees him more as a weapon or a tool towards that end. He understands Asmodeus' existence, but sees TJ as a tool of him, rather than something that could stand on equal footing or potentially rival him. It's a fascinating case because he acknowledges the inhuman aspects of the character, but disregards the opposite. I think there's merit in that, because you can break down the thought process, see where it might be flawed and where it might be correct and consider what he's saying. He's not entirely wrong, but there are statements that don't add up also. It's a curious thing, isn't it?
Continuing that thought, I didn't pick Miyabi for any specific reason to be the one who questions things. After the first time I just decided to roll with it for consistency's sake lol. Still, having one of the girls be the one to question things does help to put it into perspective. The Cerebians don't know the whole truth of the matter. Neither do the fanatics. The story often touches upon this fact, but here we see it much clearer. The readers are privy to the fact that there's a whole lot of misinformation between the two, and that they, alongside TJ need to find the truth by hearing from each faction and reading through Memorious Sanctum's entries. Bit of a "We're not so different, you and I' moment here. Not explicitly, of course, since neither side sees the similarities. It's weird to think about a bit, because it makes the heroes seem a bit more...questionable in their actions, but a little more morally grey scenarios never hurt anybody! Except for me, because I'm writing it and it can get hella convoluted!
I do have to admit, the lines before the battle started made him sound a bit like a common mook and perhaps a little out of character for him. I dunno if I got confused somewhere along the way or I just phrased them poorly, but I might go over those one of these days. I dunno if I leaned too heavily into the more refined speech earlier on or not, which is why I feel this weird dissonance with his dialogue there.
Now, before I say a bit about the fight, lemme tell you something about it. So when I first plotted this out, I originally only had the idea for who the first boss would be, and a vague idea for what the final boss would do. Somewhere along the way, I'd considered going with a recurring theme for the captains. What was that theme, you ask?! Well, you probably don't care, but I'll tell you anyway! It was based around the three wise monkeys. I played into that concept a bit with their dialogue and you'll see how some more later, but I also did with their designs and their fights. Hence! Why this fight takes place in a dark room! The point of it? There is none! I did it on a whim, but it works really well considering that it's fanatics we're dealing with here, doesn't it? Though it does make me wonder...would this be considered skillful writing? Or just a stroke of dumb luck? If I'd planned it out from the start, perhaps but...the hallmark of a good writer is rather ambiguous, isn't it?
Anyway, the battle! The first new stance is Chulsango, but it's not new as in I made it, just not introduced. It's an SP skill that Guardians used, and I did use it once in Innocent. The electricity and stuff is something that you get when you become a Guardian, or in other words, with the lvl 2 skill. It was at this juncture I became more aware of the distinctions between levels and tried to apply them.
Next! Samara is...well, something I made, of course! They fall pretty slowly, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. They hit a lot more because they only disappear after touching down. Took me a while to find the name of the plant on this one lol. Used to call them helicopter leaves or something, so I never did find out what the actual name was. Until now! The more you know, babyyyyyyyy!
After that is Rime Maiden's Prison! When I wrote it, I was all, "good idea, me!' but by the end of it I was like, "Why in the seven hells did I think having a Cerebian play pop up pirate with a living person is a good idea?!" I didn't scrap it this time, though. By then I'd already wrote most of the scenario around it so I decided to remedy the problem, somewhat lol. As the story implies, she can control the icicles, so once cast, the spell isn't a one and done deal. In that way, she can still use the iron maiden to trap her target. This one isn't filled with spikes, though! It's just...it's like a coffin. An Iron-maiden shaped coffin.
Speaking of torture devices, I was looking at a few for some reason or another and I realized that...well, a lot of Sin eater's attacks are named after them. The something-horse was one, Scavenger's Daughter too. I spent all of Shadowbringers being all, "Damn, that's a cool-ass name. Wish I thought of it first" and then I read about the thing and how you use it and I was like, "I'm gonna have nightmares about that". All in all though, it made me realize how fitting they are for them. Thematic harmony and all that jazz. You never know what you might discover by chance. It can take you on a real helluva journey. On that note, Natsuko Ishikawa's doing Endwalkers too. I'm hype as all get out! It needn't be said, but her writing for that expansion was godly. Ah but, I can gush later, there's work that needs doing.
So back to the matter at hand, we get a return of the Heart of the Guardian spell. I really want to lean into the idea that Templars mix magic and stances, 'cause it'd be a waste not to. Speaking of, I started referring to them as such, instead of Temple Knights. I liked the latter better, but it might give off a different vibe and mislead readers. I think the official name is Templars also, but it may have been contested previously.
You know, as I was writing this fight I couldn't help but fear people would think that I had the Diablos in mind when I drafted it. Yes, the monster. But it wasn't that! What inspired me to do it this way were the claws...that I forgot the name of, but they were from the GBA Zelda game. I might have mentioned it before, but I absolutely adored the Minish Cap. I played through t multiple times, I looked for all the secrets, I collected posters and wallpapers and everything. Love it to death. There's a story behind it about how I'm a stubborn, pig-headed idiot who doesn't like to change his mind when he sets it on something and how I regretted it shortly after and how my older bro was right and I
probably should've listened to him but
didn't but! That was years ago! I've said it before and I'll say it again, but I was a dumb kid lol. I won't tell you that story, though. It does exist, and acknowledging that reminds me that sometimes a second opinion is good. Anyway, the Minish Cap! Love it. I think some of the aspects of it inspired other parts of my work too. Before I get off of the topic though, Roc's Cape was siiiiiiiiiick. Hands down, my favourite item.
Back to the matter at hand, Blessing of the Goddess is a skill by me. It heals! I was sure that Templars/Saviors had a healing skill but maybe not...odd to think about, really. They definitely had some incredible buffs, though!
Tides of Reclamation is a new spell that I'm debating on if I wanna change the name of. There's another spell with a similar name and it fits better there, so this one might get a new one once I determine what it should be. The story describes it pretty thoroughly though, so I'll spare you that.
Twin Fist and Hell Fist are both SP skills. As you see them here, they're the Lvl 2 versions. I don't remember what the lvl 1 version looks like so...yeah! It's definitely the case!
We've got names for the artifacts, those being Godouin's Cowl and Favosa's Prism. I assume it was obvious, but in case it wasn't the cowl does allow him to see in the dark, hence why he can move so freely.
Anyway, about Hailstone...in most cases, the icicles are launched from the user to the target. The nature of the spell was originally that they fell from a circle in front of the user. The way Miyabi uses it here is more like that. As it should be, really. I borked that one on purpose and it stayed that way lol.
Next is Wondrous Frontier! It's something of a spell with a bit of a ramp up. It takes a while but you can see Purnima use it later. her beating things with her hammer has nothing to do with that lol. But! The good thing about the spell is it doesn't get in the way of the others.
Fortissimo is a Bard's 5th skill. For all intents and purposes, TJ should be able to use it. Technically. But he probably forgot that, and if Su doesn't know it, he definitely doesn't. 3rd Class shenanigans aside, he should know it lol. Anyway, it's a short but very powerful song. Hits a good amount of enemies a lot of times over a very short duration.
Following that is Nautilus' Zeal. The design of the spell was based on the creature indeed! This was one of those cases where I found the name first and then did the design after. It uses both ice, and water in interesting ways, doesn't it? As you can see here though, the effects of Leif's potion are starting to run out so Miaybi's going back to her usual self.
Next! Luminous Gaol is just a dagger skill. General dagger skill, not throwing specifically. It traps enemies, but it doesn't prevent casts or stances.
Heavensfall is an oldie but a goodie, you know what it does. I tried adding some more detail to give you a better idea of what it looks like than I had...in uhh...2014? Maybe? 2015? Something like that.
The fight ends with claw fanatic getting Yamcha'd. F for that lad.
So! We finally get a concrete answer to what Nia meant! You don't get to see Nia die this time, though, but you can imagine what it'd be like lol. Potions tasting bad was something from Inno, but it's also one of the few places they actually use them in the story. That used to be a thing, huh? In truth, they were kinda a pain to write in, but I could still see myself using them every now and again. Technically, Naomi uses one! It's just an injection lol.
And so, that ends the update!
Not too much to say this time around. I've been doing more FF14 'cause I'm trying to finish my Resistance weapon before the next update. Truth be told, I was afraid I was gonna skip the last step 'cause I couldn't see myself queuing up for the required amount of raids. Was hoping the next release would let me take an easier path to complete it. But! That Moogle tome event thing came at the perfect time! Not only can I get the tomestones, I can get the memories and people are also running the raids frequently. It saves me a world of trouble in several ways. Watching Hololive and running old content is pretty relaxing, really.
On another note, been trying to fix my sleep schedule. Always had a bit of a weird habit. I...tend to sleep more than the average person. It'd always been that way. I'd thought it sleep apnea, but it wouldn't have made sense for me when I was younger because then, I was at my most active. Oddly enough, in spite of it, I get really bad insomnia often. My loving cat likes to go in and out of my room and make a bunch of noise until I get out of bed, but even when he's not there I still sleep poorly for some reason. The body is jank, the mind is jank and they're both hard to fix lol. Decided to try some sleep gummies or something. ZZZquil? Gonna see if it works. Data soon to follow. If it doesn't, I'll do what I always do! Shrug my shoulders and say, "Guess I'll die"! The human body is strange and complex and science is hard. Solutions are hard to find, more often than not.
Nevertheless, in spite of that, I'm gonna keep on keeping on. I'm still functioning, so, you know? I'm gonna do what I can, as much as I can. It's worth doing, and that's reason enough for me.
So I say, but that can change on a whim eh? Not this week, though, Next week is up for grabs! Til' then, or not, see ya!
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