Friday Fan-Work: Slayer of Foultongues Chapter 5

Happy Friday everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin.

Finally, I’m sure you’ve been all waiting for Chapter 5. Good!
For those who need a catch-up, here’s the archive to help you look where to pick each chapter to catch up. Until then, sit back and enjoy the story

In the previous chapter
Bit and Finley’s plan has a hitch as they find Maria has stowed aboard. After ambushing an Acheronite security detail, Bit and Maria infiltrated a Security post wearing Acheronite armor while Finley and the rest leave the area to avoid any suspicion. Maria and Bit, with easy effort, managed to enter the facility and send a message to Finely and prepare a plan….

And now, the continuation….

Slayer of Foultongues: Chapter 5

Written By TheChoujinVirus

Orda walked in to notice the security team on their break and was puzzled over what was going on.
“Excuse me,” She said, “Who gave you the order to leave the security room?”

“Londor 9 and 13 stated Zeltla that our shift was over, so we took a break,” One of the security civilians stated.

Orda’s faced looked even more puzzled, “Zeltla told the Londor security detail I sent to the quartermaster? Hold up..I’ll  straighten this out.”

She and a few security soldiers began to head toward the security room. Meanwhile, Bit and Maria were going over the plans with Finley through the security camera. Bit gave his own opinion as he explained, “The city seems huge, I don’t know where we could rally that would be viable.”
“Oh, we’ll manage. We may have to hide out in some warehouse they don’t know of and report back to the group back at Smuggler’s Gorge.” Finley stated, “Otherwise, we’re sitting ducks in this area.”

“Do that then, we’ll-“

Maria’s last words were interrupted by Orda, “Hold it! You’re not supposed to be here!”

One of the guards noticed they weren’t Achronites, “Blast them!”
 Bit kicked over a table to create some makeshift cover as Maria dove behind it as the troops began to open fire. Bit still had his magnum as he shot at the guards, requiring some to find new cover as Bit switched to the Mjolnir’s armor-piercing mode. One Acheronite guard tried to flank them from Bit’s left side and was going to kill the Kiralin. Luckily, Maria caught him from behind and killed the ambushing Acheronite with a well placed shot through the torso with a Fang pistol. Bit noticed that the table’s starting to get damaged as the pockmarks on the table started to become holes.

“We need a way out Maria, our cover’s not going to hold any longer.” Said Bit.

“Hold your horses, Bit!” She cursed at the Kiralin, nearly getting grazed by a Fang round. She then spotted a nearby fire extinguisher at the doorway. This was their only way in or out of place, and they needed something to get the doorway cleared before more Acheronites arrived.

“Hey! That fire extinguisher looks good enough. Can you make the shot?”

Bit replied, “I bet I can, but why a fire extinguisher-“

“Just do it!” yelled Maria
 Bit agreed to Maria’s statement and took a shot at the fire extinguisher near the door. Though it was a flame retardant, it exploded near the door, spreading flame-retardant gas and giving them some ringing ears from the loud blast as they try to see what’s going on. Bit and Maria took their chance as they bolted out of their ramshackle cover toward the door. Shooting at some Acheronites either escaping for better vantage or straight in front of them. Orda saw some shape running toward them until she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. It seemed Bit shot her in the torso as she felt his body ramming her to the side. In one moment, they bolted from the office and had to make an escape through the hallways, as their prior entrance was now swarming with Acheronites shooting at them. This wasn’t good for Bit or Maria as they now must find a new route out of the security station. The two ran into the break room of the place, which luckily didn’t have any Acheronites in the area. Once in the room, the duo barricaded the front door and busted the door’s code terminal to lock the Acheronites out.
“So, what now? We can’t just stay here forever. They’ll break through that barricade?” Bit said, “and I’m running out of ammo.”

Maria agreed as she turned toward the window looking outside, “Hey Bit, mind we take the ten-second escape route?”
“Ten-second escape route?”

Bit’s question was answered immediately as Maria shot out the large mirror then told the Kiralin, “just follow me.”
 The two jumped through the damaged window, the fall wasn’t too high for them to pose any injury, but they did endure some slight cuts and bruises from the fall. Bit and the augment landed on the ground and out of the area. By the time the Acheronites broke through the barricade and noticed the busted window, the two ran from the bushes while watching out from being shot. Orda looked angry at the group as they were stunned.
“Are you all blind?! AFTER THEM!” She barked at the group as they scattered. She looked out for a moment, watching the two flee. She could shoot them, but for some reason, she knew they wouldn’t get far.

***************************************************
Bit and Maria managed to lose the group, looking around the empty town for the time being. It was audibly quiet, save creaking posts and silence. It was an eerie level of silence as the sound of vehicles moving in the distance reminded them that the Acheronites are still out there. Once they were somewhere out of the way, the two caught their breath. Maria looked at Bit and noticed that he was wincing a bit as he held his right arm.

“Bit, your arm!” Maria said in shock.

“It’s nothing! Guess one of the Acheronites nailed when we were in that fight,” Bit said, “It hurts like hell..but at least it’s not another-“ He saw some movement and pushed Maria aside.

“Hey, what’s your problem?!” she protested. “I saw something..” Bit replied, “Stay down.”

The Kiralin pulled his magnum out as he got up and headed toward the area. He got closer and pulled his pistol out only to find himself having five guns aimed at him. Though he heard the sound of a Hispanic voice speaking, ” wait! Hold your fire! He’s not one of those things.”

Bit moved his pistol down as he looked at the group of misfits, puzzled over who they were.
“You’re not part of the main group?”
The Hispanic male looked at the guy. His appearance made him a blue collar with a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, though his appearance made him in his 30s.
“The main group?” he quizzically asked, “We’re mostly the locals trying to put up a resistance.” He began to put two and two together, “Wait, .so, you were the guys who made some noise on the comlinks.”

Maria was moving closer and overheard them talking about the commlink, while Bit tilted his head at the group, “commlinks? You managed to slice into their network?”

“Sliced?” the Hispanic man stated, “Mira a este tonto! The Alien thinks we had to slice into a terminal!”

The other guys laughed along with him. He smiled and introduced himself. “Name’s Perez, Chief Perez.”

Bit cocked his eyebrow in confusion, “Chief Perez?”

“Damn, man, are you extraterrestres really this clueless?!” Perez said, trying not to laugh at Bit, “I’m law enforcement..or used to. Come..we’ll talk somewhere where we won’t be spotted. Oh, and bring tu mujercita with you.”

Bit turned around and said out loud, “You don’t need to skulk around, Maria. He knows.”

Maria simply muttered an inaudible “Fuck!” before following Bit. The group moved through the alleyway until they reached what a closed-up vehicle repair shop was.
Maria looked at the shop before asking him, “Makes you think you managed to remain under the radar.”
Perez looked at Maria, “It’s simple muchacha; most of everyone in this part of New Austin is either underground like ourselves, locking down or have been forcefully detained on the west side of the city. In fact, most of the group here is a small group holding the docking security outpost and another outpost east of here.”

“You must have had to risk your lives to get this info..” Bit said

“Naw, the Acheronites are clueless on using frequencies that can’t be tapped or sliced into. Usually, they sometimes will use our radio frequencies for fishing out any live signals..hence why we have to be careful. Though They’ve never seen how ingenious we human can be.”

The group entered the repair place, the interior was rigged up to look like a makeshift command center. There were up to five other people inside, some keeping equipment in check while others were waiting or monitoring radio chatter. The way it felt made it feel like it was a small bar than a ready room.

“Hey Ivan, anything on the chatter?” Perez asked
The man at the radio, a bearded old fellow no older than sixty and dressed like a military vehicle mechanic, turned toward Perez and replied, “Just routine chatter. Though they’re still looking for the folks causing a mess at their station…”
 Perez laughed and turned toward Bit and Maria, “Well, well, it seems you two became popular with the Acheronites…”

“Not the kind of fan following I want,” Maria boasted, “But it’s nice to see those Acheronites look fearful.”

Bit looked at Maria, “But what about Finley and the rest? They’re trying to meet us at your spot..”

Maria turned toward Bit, realizing what that meant.
“and if the Acheronites are searching for us, that means…oh, no..”

Perez cocked an eyebrow, “something up, muchacha?”
“Finley and the group were supposed to meet us at New Alamo Park before we got sidetracked. We need to meet up with them before the Acheronites get to them.” Maria said

“Oh? Your friends need help?” Perez said. He turned toward his crew and states, “Yo, Muchachos, we’re moving out!”

The crew nodded as they began to load up an APC. It looked similar to the one that attacked Bit when he first arrived but looked newer.

“Moving out?” Bit asked.

“You want to get your fellows?” Perez asked, “Unless you want to sit by here, let’s go assist your friends.”
 Bit nods as he gets inside the ATV, alongside Maria. Perez looked at the Kiralin for the moment. The ATV revved up as the garage slowly opens to the outside world, then departing like an animal leaving its den for food.

Maria hunkered down in one of the seats, looking at Bit. The Kiralin was inspecting his injured arm. He began to inspect it, as he winced at the pain.
“You’re really going to get that checked unless you want to get it infected,” Maria said

Bit looked at her, “it’s just a flesh wound..nothing serious..”

“Still..it doesn’t look too good, even if you’re an alien.” The lizard replied.

****************************************** Finley and his group arrived at the abandoned New Alamo Park. The place would have been filled with the local colonists enjoying their time, but now it’s as abandoned as a water park.

The large group of seven troops looked around for any sign of Bit and Maria.

“Where the hell is that girl and her friend?” Finley said, “It’s not too much of them to be this late..”

“Maybe they missed the wrong park?” one of the soldiers said.
Another soldier turned his head toward his left as he saw a group of vehicles heading their way.

“Hey Finnley, what’s that group over there?”

Chapter 5 (Slayer)FDDownload

Thursday Media Review: BNA: Brand New Animal

Review written by TheChoujinVirus
Note: The following review contains spoilers to to the anime. If you don’t want to be spoiled, do not read the review.

Happy Thursday, everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin here.

Netflix has been a good day for new shows to take a peek. I recalled during the start of this pandemic I watched and reviewed Cells at Work!, the anime that was infotainment. However, I heard of two animes that perked my interest that got me watching: Beastars and BNA. Beastars is a fun anime, as seen as an adult version of Zootopia. Still, we got something that everyone’s been talking about and is pretty recent. Created by Studio Trigger and released on Netflix Japan on March 21st of 2020, then worldwide two months later, BNA: Brand New Animal is a pretty exciting anime that became a talk of the town. Does this series have a good point? Let’s find out with my review of BNA.

Story

BNA takes place in a world where humans live alongside a group of humanoid animals called beastmen. Such hostilities between the two eventually led to the founding of a sanctuary city for the beastmen called Anima-City. Our main focus and protagonist, Michiru Kagemori, flees to Anima-City after she transforms into a tanuki beastmen. Once she makes it to Anima-City, she meets  Shirou Ogami, a wolf beastkin and private investigator that works directly for the mayor of Anima-City, Barnaby Rose. She reveals that she was human and not beastkin, which confused Shirou and Mayor Rose as they wonder how a human can become a beastkin. Our tanuki girl has the unique power to alter parts of her body, Such as longer arms, using her tail as a protective cushion, and turning her arms into birdwings for flight. All while she sees the problems and plight going on in Anima-City. They are showing her that the Garden of Eden is not as glorious as its put due to hatred. Things start to change by the sixth episode when we are introduced to Michiru’s friend, Nazuna Hiwatashi. She was a close friend and schoolmate of Michiru, who transformed into a beastkin as well (a fox beastkin). Now under the name Déesse Louve, a guru of the Church of the Silver Wolf. Michiru is glad about seeing her old friend after all these years but is shocked to see her manipulating the beastmen (and Michiru herself.) While this is going on, a medical company is known as Sylvasta Pharmaceutics. Their president, Alan Sylvasta, shows interest in the two girls for their unique traits of transforming their bodies.

During one incident where Michiru and Shirou stop a rampaging beastkin, Shirou is revealed to be the real silver wolf, leading Baraby Rose to explain the story to Michiru. She reveals that Shirou’s real name is Ginrou and that he was the survivor of the mass genocide of 1,000 years ago in the village of Nirvasyl. His powers were given to him when he absorbed the blood of 2,000 wolfkin corpses slaughtered. Also, while attempting to rescue her friend Nazuna but learning she wasn’t in danger, Michiru learns directly from Alan that the condition that affected the two girls resulted from them getting beastkin blood during their recovery from an accident years ago. He also reveals more about the incident leading to Shirou’s village and what happened. It wasn’t wonton slaughter, but the result of beastmen in-fighting and slaughtering each other brought on when beastkin of different species are pushed together into one area. This disorder is called Nirvasyl Syndrome. What’s worse is that Alan is covertly using the research data from Michiru and Nazuna to create a solution to the Beastkin problem. However, it’s revealed by Shirou that his plan involves turning beastmen into humans through genetic alterations and that Alan is using the Church of the White Wolf and Nazuna. Michiru learns that Nazuna will reveal that she is human. She reassures Michiru that it’ll help calm the beastmen; however, it’s learned that it will end up enraging the beastmen further. Michiru was able to convince Nazuna (though a subtle concert that would claim to “Help the beastkin”) not reveal the truth about her. This works (but is thwarted when another beastkin ousts her).

The whole town goes into a frenzied spree, and even Shirou succumbs to the syndrome. Though when he bites into Michiru, he suddenly is calmed down. They discover that Michiru and Nazuna, being human turned Beastkin, have an antibody in their blood that can cure Nirvasyl Syndrome. Shirou, now cured, heads out to stop the rampaging beastkin. At the same time, Michiru and Nazuna try to stop Alan’s plan of using his machines to use the anti-beastmen formula. During the fight,  Alan is revealed to be a beastman (a pureblood one) and declares that he was purging the “halfbreed beastmen.” To make things worse, he’s got the same regenerative powers that Shirou has as well. Two immortal beastmen fight while Michiru and her friends fight to stop and save the beastkin from extermination. Michiru finds where Alan and Shirou are fighting, and during the fight, Alan starts to show symptoms of Nirvasyl Syndrome. Shirou mocks him for saying that purebloods were immune to the disease. Though in a twist, instead of killing Alan, Shirou lets Alan bite him. Shirou explains that because he bit Michiru, he’s produced antibodies that allowed him to cure Nirvasyl Syndrome. Alan feels confused at why Shirou spared him after all he did to him and his kin. Before the fight, Michiru discovered that Shirou’s howl could calm down the beastkin and, with Shirou’s help, calmed the rampaging beastkin and thus prevented the beastmen extermination.

In the aftermath, the city was now remending. Rampaging beastmen are being treated of Nirvasyl Syndrome, the Church of the Silver Wolf is dismantled, Alain has gone into hiding after resigning the CEO position of Sylvasta Pharmaceuticals. Best of all, Michiru and Nazuna have returned their friendship and now enjoying their new lives in Anma-City, all friendships mended and everything fixed.

Howling Good: What made the anime great

BNA has some wonderful art style for its animation, which reminds me of FLCL or Gurren Lagan. This is no surprise as Trigger made Gurren Lagaan and Kill la Kill, which makes it a pretty good series and stylish. Another that makes the series great is the characters themselves. The supporting cast and the stars are likable in their ways. The protagonist Michiru is a likable character and isn’t falling into any open clichés that plague anime in general. Not only that, but her relation to Shirou is less romance and more of a mentor idea (something that again, doesn’t feel cliché’d) and keeps the focus on the world without plaguing the many problems some go through. The episodes are entertaining as they do have a mix of action and suspense that does their best to explain the world of BNA. Finally, the music, oh how that soundtrack is great! Going To and Night Running are songs one would say, “yup, that’s BNA.” The music does fit the setting of the whole series and doesn’t feel out of place.


Raging Beasts: What the series lacks.

Though the series is good and does its best to tell a story, some of the plotlines and story do feel a bit off. The first part, up until Episode 6, felt like random stories loosely collected. This makes the story feel lost until the arrival of the Church of the Silver Wolf. The sad part is the entire season only consists of 12 episodes, which makes the series pretty short and finishes up with already one villain. Sure, the story mentions crime within the Beastkin world (such as the Family). Still, it feels that it is pushed aside or the “anti-beastmen coalitions” mentioned in the story. Sadly, they’re all ignored and pushed aside. However, knowing the season, the whole thing maybe glanced in a future season if it is done. Lastly, though there are characters that are the main focus, such as Michiru or Shirou, there are some characters that feel a bit glanced or not much action.  Some characters are only given one episode, and that’s it with maybe a few cameos sprinkled in. One character I’ve seen more was Marie the Mink (NOT A  Weasel) and how she’s got more screen appearance than let’s say the don of the Family (a Beluga Whale Beastmen). Heck, I would also like to see more of the side characters and know more about them. For starters, we get a lot of backstory about Barbary Rose and how she and Shirou once traveled the world together, but we don’t know any of the backstories of Gem and Melissa Horner, the married couples who helped Michiru and Shirou with a home of their own? We don’t get to know their backstory? It can become a bit frustrating, but otherwise, it has its charm.

Conclusion

Though the series has its pratfalls; it has its great moments in the series. The story and world building the series has to offer something that makes it stand on its own. Studio Trigger knows how to make more anime. For those interested, BNA: Brand New Animal is on Netflix, so I suggest you take a look and see how you like this anime.

References

Saturday(Friday) Fan Work: Scavengers

Happy Saturday evening, It’s ya boy, Choujin here!

Sometimes when one writes something, it takes a muse to find out in this. While writing the next chapter for Slayers, I found myself distracted by No Man’s Sky, a game I’ve discovered. While doing two Derelict runs, I found my muse on a short story I managed to write since yesterday.

So sit back, grab a cold one, and enjoy this little short story I wrote.

Scavengers

Written by TheChoujinVirus

In the depths of the inky blackness of space, there are treasure troves of rare minerals. One such coveted trove is derelicts, abandoned hulks of former ships. Groups of scavengers explore these derelicts to find lost technology, abandoned treasure, and even rare Xeno technology….

 Three human men got news of a large Relian War Frigate found in the Tobali System that was orbiting a barren planet. Their ship, a small frigate long and lined with cargo blocks, begins to head close toward this large rusted red and sandy green colored ship. Inside the ship’s airlock, all three humans got themselves suited up into heavily bulky spacesuits designed for moving large cargo. Though two of their suits were intended to accompany a human, the third one’s suit had an altered helmet designed to fit something non-humanoid.

“So..how’s the suit fitting, Monty?” One human asked the odd suited human.

“It’s not bad…the helmet actually fits my muzzle. Though isn’t this more designed for canine augments?” The oddly suited human stated.

“Montgomery, you’re a mole augment. A helmet for a llama would fit you-“ The other guy was interrupted by their group leader, “Monty! Chen! Quit your clucking and get your suits sealed up, we’re heading out.”
“yes, boss,” The two said as they finished suiting up and checked their life support functions. The ship docked with the derelict. The Umbilical docking cable connecting the two ships together. Once tethered, the trio headed toward the derelict’s airlock, ready to find out.

“You think we’ll find some weird eggs like in those old 20th-century movies?” Chen asked
“It’s a derelict job, Chen.” Boss said, “We’re going in to see what we can find and hopefully make some cash off this.”
 Monty headed toward the terminal as he started to slice into it. Relian terminals were challenging to master due to the Relian alphabet and language, making it hard to guess what was enter and what was backspace. However, scavengers like Monty have to know how to crack languages. The terminal screen turned green as the airlocked creaked, slowly opening. Their ship’s system closed the airlock, it’s typical of all standard routines.
 “Alright, search the ship, and if you find anything of value, tag ’em,” Boss said. The others nodded as they entered the derelict hulk. The ship’s life support system was fried as some debris like broken metal and glass float about in the darkroom. Monty was quietly nervous as he began to shine his light all around the interior.

“Hey, Boss, I’m a bit curious..what are Relians?” Monty asked

“Relians are big saurian that have this ‘survival of the fittest’ warrior’s code. In short, they’re warmongers that think they’re the big predator in the galaxy. I also heard they had some conflict with the Traggians decades ago…” Boss said

Chen began to check the interior and then the radar on his helmet’s head-up display as he began to scan the ship. He began to narrow down any odd metals. The hud then points him toward a room not too far.
“Hey, boss! The computer’s picking up some metals over in that direction,” Chen said

“Where on the derelict?” Boss asked


“13 feet north and 2 floors below,” Chen explained, “I’ll lead the way.”
“Do that, Chen,” Boss said. He turned toward the Mole Augment, “Hey, Monty? Are there any signals in the area?”
“Nothing biological on the radar, so no worries about picking up anything silicate,” Monty said. He then noticed his hud briefly going crazy for a few moments as it seemed to pick up something 7 floors below them. “Wait..I’m picking up something seven floors below us?”

Boss and Chen check their helmet’s HUD for this anomaly but found nothing out of the ordinary. “It’s probably nothing Monty..c’mon, we’ll head toward the confirmed signature.”
“yes sir..,” Monty said, still looking at why his hud was picking up the anomaly while the others didn’t. The trio slowly waked through the low gravity environment as they reached the first room. Chen sliced the door’s terminal, and their first score was a Relian armory. Chen jumped in shock at the sight.
“oh my god!” he said, “They have slug throwers.”

Boss walked up toward one of these slug throwers. It looked like a very bulky pump actioned rifle. They remained in good condition, save for maybe the dust and probable scoring from not being used for years. Their energy supply was drained once Boss did a closer inspection.
“Energy-based too…never knew those Saurians were that nostalgic,” Boss said in awe. “Monty, use the scanner and get them tagged. The scavenging probes will bring them back to the ship.”
 The mole nods as he remotely activates the probes to come down and pick up the cargo once they cleared the armory. Once they were out, they saw the mono-eyed probes flying into the armory. Their flat, silvery cockroach-like bodies hovered about the room as they grabbed rifles, ammo, and anything. Then when they gathered as much as they could carry, they would leave the room and follow the path back to the scavenger’s ship before departing to pick up more weapons.

The group headed a few rooms out until they reached what was once the mess hall. The place had seen better days as disheveled expired food rations float about, trays and chairs were knocked over and damaged areas with exposed wiring and metal peered about. It looked like this place was hit the hardest. Boss looked around until he found a terminal. It looked similar to the airlock terminal they found outside. The layout of the keyboard and monitor made it more something designed for checking status than opening airlocks.
“Hmm…Chen, can you come over here for a moment?” Boss asked
Chen replied with a “sure,” before heading over toward Boss and the terminal. The two began to discuss slicing the terminal to access the map and possibly access the crew manifests to see what this derelict was carrying. While this was going on, Monty’s HUD still kept pinging that strange anomaly as though it was beckoning him to find it. It didn’t move, nor did it register as organic. Still, it was emanating a radiation bandwidth that was signaling what it was.

“guys..my HUD’s picking up that anomaly again,” He said

Boss looked at the mole, annoyed with him, “Monty, can’t you see that Chen and I are trying to slice this terminal? I have no interest in your bloody search for a fluke anomaly!” Boss turned his attention back to Chen, the two of them more occupied with the terminal than with Monty. The mole augment decided now is a time to discover what this anomaly was, leaving the two with their terminal.  Monty followed the trail through the derelict’s cold hallways, his light being the only solace as his radio was silent from the two. The mole augment passed by several rooms that were either in good condition but abandoned or damaged and exposed to space’s emptiness. Whatever happened to this Relian ship seemed to have been damaged in battle or by something else. All it added up to Monty’s mind was more questions than answers. Still, all he was focused on was that mysterious anomaly. He was already two floors above the anomaly when he found the hallway blocked off by collapsed debris. Finding out the only pathway toward the last two levels blocked off, the mole augment felt beaten.
“Hey, Monty?!” The radio from his helmet blared loudly, startling the mole augment into bumping his butt onto the floor, weakening something below him.

“Yeah..I’m here,” Monty replied on the radio.

The mole realized that it was Boss, who then started to rip into the augment.
“Monty, where the hell is you?! I turn my back for one moment, and you go running off to chase some phantom signature! Chen’s got the crew manifests checked, and most of it is foodstuff and building supplies. Whatever this Relian ship was, it was probably a cargo or colony ship. Meet us back at the airlock..I’ll talk with you about wandering off.”


“yes, sir..” The mole said, feeling like a defeated child who lost an augment with their parent. He was going to call it and leave when the floor below him gave away, sending him falling two stories down into a part of the derelict the radar was pointing toward.

Great…now I have to call boss for a rescue..he’s not going to let me forget this…”This is what you get for leaving”, Monty thought to himself, imitating Boss’s voice as he imagined the reprimand he was gonna get. Though he didn’t notice that he was at the floor, the anomalous reading was at, and when he turned around, he that the other half of the room was filled with glowing purple oval rocks. He remained stunned until the radio blared up again, this time from Chen.

“Monty, what’s taking you so long to get here?!” He asked
“the floor gave, and I’m seven floors below you guys,” Monty said, “when you get here, you’re not going to believe what I found.”

Boss yelled on the radar, “Is your suit damaged?!”
“No, sir, the suit’s okay,” Monty said reassuringly.
“Good, if that suit’s damaged, I’m docking your fee.”, Boss said.

It would take a good fifteen to twenty minutes for the guys to get here, but all he could do was stare at those rocks he found…whatever they were it was something big…

************************************************Once Monty was rescued, and the last of those rocks found, the crew returned to their ship to check the bounty and appraise it. They still remained in their spacesuits, only now with their helmets removed. Boss nodded at the salvaged Relian weapons, as they’d fetch a moderate price. Not much but enough to ensure the crew’s ship had enough fuel for the next operation.

Monty looked at the rocks with curiosity as Chen let the computer, Boss looked over at the dusty grey-furred mole before looking at Chen. When Chen finished the appraisal, his eyes looked shocked at the rocks then back at the two.

“What is it?!” Boss asked Chen.

“Sir, this shit’s Dragonite!” Chen said in a mix of surprise and willingness to cheer, “This shit’s Dragonite!”

Boss nearly coughed in surprise, “Say what?! Dragonite?!”

“yes! Those Relians must have had a cargo of this stuff aboard the ship. The Manifest gave no knowledge about it!”

Boss chuckles as he ponders the situation, “I guess those saurian must have had some precious cargo after all.” He then looked toward Monty, laughing happily. He tells the augment, “not bad..your little anomalous reading gave us a major haul.”
“Yeah, not bad for wandering off,” Chen said.

The mole said nothing, but he couldn’t help smiling with pride.

ScavengersDownload

Thursday Media Review: Medabots (GBA)

Review written by TheChoujinVirus

Note: I had to play the game via an emulator. I don’t endorse piracy, so support the creators and buy the original game. The game also contains spoilers to the game.

I recalled a while ago. As I did a review of the Monster Rancher anime, I discussed how with Pokemon, you had other monster collecting games. I also forgot about a game that themed about battling robots. For those wondering what I’m talking about, I’m talking about Medabots (or Medarots for those in Japan)

Medabots was a franchise that started on November 17th, 1997 (a year after the release of the Pokemon Franchise) and developed by Natsume (Creators of the Harvest Moon series). Sadly most of the games in the series were never released (save for games like Medabots AX, Medabots Infinity) and source material like the anime. However, there was one game that was released in the US. The game was titled Medabots (known in Japan as Medarots 2 CORE. Reason for this is the game is a GBA remake of the Japanese exclusive for the Game Boy Color Medarots 2 made in 1999). Also, the Medabot games do share the same path as Pokemon: Both have separate versions (Kabuto/Metabee and Kuwagata/Rokusho). For the sake of this review, I’ll be playing the Metabee version. So with that..in the great words of Mr. Referee

MEDABOTS! ROBATTLE!

Story+Gameplay

In Medabots, you play as the main protagonist (Ikki is the default name, yup the same one from the anime for those who don’t know) as you’re visiting the Medabot Corporation for another tour. The player character is hinted to be obsessed with Medabots and dreams of a day of owning one. One day, his mother tells him to go down to the Convenience store to pick up some dinner. He is suddenly and forcefully sold a Medabot by the store clerk (due to his bumbling of buying this medabot.) You get a Medabot (and a scolding from your mom due to this jerk of a store clerk). Though your dad helps you out as he gives you a medal given to him by the mysterious Phantom Renegade. With that, Ikki and his Medabot (Metabee/Rokusho) begin their journey as they battle other medafighters, rogue medabots, and of course, defeating the dreaded Rubberobo gang and their leader Dr. Meda-Evil.

 Though I could explain the story further, we need to get to the core aspect of what the gameplay is—some games like Pokemon, where you take turns and attack. Medabots has an exciting aspect of your companion and combat. First off, unlike Pokemon, where you capture the critter, in Medabots, you build your companion with three components: Tinpet, Medaparts, and Medal.
The Tinpet serves as your medabot’s skeleton (and determines your Medabot’s Sex). Medaparts give your Medabot the skills needed to either fight, inflict status conditions, and sometimes heal yourself and your partner medabots. The Medal is your Medabot’s brain, which provides better compatibility with certain medaparts. One example is the Kabuto medal of Metabee specializes in shooting, so using medaparts that use bullets and missiles with the Kabuto medal is much better. Otherwise, some medaparts would have a low success rate (e.g., Using a Monkey medal but using shooting medaparts). For the rules of combat, it’s pretty simple: The first Medabot to defeat the other (or the leading medabot) wins. Though unlike Pokemon, where you win money, the loser must submit one medapart to the winner. This is how you make your medabot stronger. This can also affect you, as you have to give up one medapart to the winner. If you don’t have enough medaparts to make at least one medabot, then it’s game over for you.

Now, the first thing you’re going to ask is, “but what about the battles? How do you fight?”
Battles are a bit interesting as battles aren’t really turn-based but more like a game of dodgeball. At your Medabot’s starting area, you make them choose what to do, such as attacking which part, charging up the medaforce bar, using support moves, or just letting the fight go into auto. The Medabots will run toward the middle of the arena to attack the other one. Their speed is determined by the robot’s leg medaparts and weapon charge (how fast your medabot gets to the center). Once at the center, the medabot will either hit the target directly (if it’s a ranged attack) or if its melee will target the closet enemy (some attacks like Destroy parts will hit only medabots with their back turned). When the attack is launched, it’ll hit a specific part of the opposing medabot. Now, when the medabot is hit, it strikes a part of the Medabot, which depletes the Armor (the Medapart’s HP). When it hit 0, the part ceases function by exploding and exposing the tinpet underneath. That part cannot be used unless revived via healing medaparts. When the limbs are destroyed, the medabot’s offense is limited. If the legs are destroyed, then the Medabot’s speed and terrain advantage. However, if the head medapart is destroyed, the entire medabot is defeated (regardless of the other medaparts). So you should be trying to go for the head whenever you get the chance.

The Winner is Metabee! What makes the game shine?

The core thing I loved is the design and the concept of the medabots themselves. Each one has a specialty and theme. Like for example, Churlybear is a teddy bear themed Medabot that uses gravity for its weapon or Floro, which is a flower Medabot that shoots lasers quickly. Also, you can mix and match parts to make your own robot with the parts acquired. You want your Brass to have Mermaid legs? Go for it! You want your Totalizer to have tank treads? Why not?! Want to basically make your Medabot a mix of various parts? Sure, go right ahead! Another factor is that Medabots incorporates themes from the anime of the same name, such as the names and some of the medabots (Though not all of them make it in the GBA game.) Lastly, the combat of the game is a change of pace that doesn’t feel like it copies pokemon. Having a form of strategy by building your medabot with the parts acquired while trying to aim at specific parts while hoping the enemy doesn’t nail yours. So you could go with building a bot that looks badass or a bot that can fight and win more battles

Function Ceased! What it lacks?

One annoying factor I found as I played was that the medaparts, though good, have a bit of an annoyance once you get a female tinpet. Remember, as I said, the Tinpet determines the sex of your medabot. This becomes important as male medaparts are incompatible with female tinpets (and vice versa). Some medaparts don’t come off as masculine or feminine and have more of a unisex appeal (e.g., some multileg medaparts or vehicle legs). This creates frustration as you have to find female medaparts when that inevitable acquisition of your first female tinpet. The next basis I find annoying is the story between two versions and the differences. From what I found with this GameFAQ walkthrough (I had to use it to see variations as I had to use the review via Medabee) and found out the game is identical with only mild changes with what your starter Medabot, what medabots you fight and what medals you find. Other than that, the game suffers the problem Pokemon has (not much of any difference in the story save for the creatures found.) A pity as it would be nice to see a different story or protagonist rather than simply Ikki and his choice of Metabee/Rokusho fighting Koji’s Sumilidon/Warbandit. However, I feel that it’s just a nitpick over the basis.

Medabot Conclusion

Now, despite its flaws and such, the game does have some fun (I’m still playing it from time to time and wanting to see more of the story) I do find the battle fun and refreshing. For those wondering how you can buy the game? From what I found the Wii U has it on the Virtual Console, and the game is being re-released as part of the Medarots Classics Plus collection for the Switch (in Japan), but otherwise if you’re a fan of the anime or wanting something vastly different to try out, I would suggest you play the game and find out about it. It’s a fun game, and something you might enjoy if you want to play with robots (Unless you’re Elon Musk.)

References

Tuesday’s Mumbles: Anti-SJWs

Note: the following is based on my opinion, so do not take it personally if it strikes you close to home.

Happy Tuesday everyone, it’s ya boy, Choujin here.

There’s a battle going on, tied to bits and bobs that some people criticized or feel is wrong. Some people who view themselves as fighting a war against Social Justice Warriors (or SJWs as people call them). I’m talking about Anti-SJWs, the reactionaries.
Now, i’m sure there are going to be some people out there that will take this with a grain of salt and think ya boy’s some SJW or someone who thinks scepticism is somehow bad. Never said that but, I’ll explain what I mean. Anti-SJWs are usually people who seem to freak out over the more petty things like anything that provides LGBT+, PoC, Women, Trans, ect. Can be in anything from movies, to just civil rights on some things.

A lot of those Anti SJW types usually seem to have some beef with certain things. One such example here by a youtuber was how some were upset over the design of a fictional character made for a children’s cartoon. It’s odd how so much energy is over a kid’s cartoon but instead they make this fear about children not having anything to aspire to? I mean, why do you ask that question? Also, really, really awkward when you as a grown man seem to be upset over how a fictional female character looks like for a children’s cartoon. Some even throw a fit over how a fictional couple behave when they’re not hererosexual. Such as some outrage here in which some people here are upset over a probable remake of The Little Mermaid in which Ariel is portrayed by an African-American.

Oh and don’t think it’s not something tied to just fiction and characters, let’s not forget about how some of them seem to attack certain actors and actresses such as Brie Larson (Many even admitting they can make money off of Youtube just for talking garbage about her.) just because she made a comment about wanting to see more different reviewers that weren’t the same type of people who may not have any interest in reviewing. Another issue is also some people hating people just because of the actors, like John Boyega (the actor of Finn) who had to endure harassment just because he played a stormtrooper. Really frustrating and really annoying, oh and let’s not forget when someone is framed due to their crimes (see my last article about my issue with the cult of personality.)


Those are just some parts of the major problem that come and go from these Anti-SJWs that plague everything, some even throw a fit over the notion of being called out. They’ll say that they’re “taken out of context” or that “it’s just a prank”. Though what really is ironic is that all of them from their own reactions have become the strawman they push onto people. Pretty funny if you ask me.


So what is ya boy’s suggestion? Well, with people like them, it’s a bit tricky. Calling them on their ironic behavior does work, but it mostly invokes their legions to attack you (again, see cult of personality.) Ignoring them usually just makes them feel they have some form of high ground.
It’s not an easy fight, but I usually just do both. Call them out on their behavior and move on from them, to hell with their legions.

But anyway, have any one of you ever dealt with anti-sjws or seen them in the wild? Comment below

Friday Fan-Work: Mechanical Swamp-Runners

Happy Friday everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin.

Usually, I’m not a person who does fan-work. Not that I’m against fanfiction, but it’s mostly I try to create some original content as best as I can. However, today’s story is a fanfiction I wrote for my World of Warcraft guild. It’s a bit of a cute story.

To give a brief summary of the story and why I wrote it? Well, it was during an RP war campaign on the Emerald Dream server of World of Warcraft. To summarize the story, the guild i’m in has made a camp in the Cenarion Refuge, an outpost in the area of Zangarmarsh of Outlands. As a form of intermission, three robots are hanging about, while two of them end up dealing with the dangers of the swamp.

So sit back, and enjoy this short story
Warcraft belongs to Activision-Blizzard and all characters belong to their rightful owners

Mechanical Swamp-Runners

Written By TheChoujinVirus

Two days in Zangamarsh and Chala already has herself set up as well as her machines Optimo, Jeeves, and Reaves. She wishes she could bring some of her larger items like the Iron Nightsabre. Still, she needed something to help move supplies and maybe repairs for the Ashen Vale’s efforts. She decided to head out to Shattrath to find a way to bring her Xiwyllag ATV, the Steel Shark, to Outlands. So while Chala was out, Jeeves, Reaves, and Optimo were alone for the time being. The only other machine with them being the Robosabre, Chala’s Mechanocat, which had the same mechanical cognition as the scraphound Mecha Vero.

As Chala was still out, the robotic trio passed their time with a game of Hearthstone. Commonly, Jeeves and Reaves were always in a match. Optimo, lacking arms to play the game, simply sat and watched the two machines duel it out between two decks. Though today, something was eating Reaves.


“Did you see Joenn’s reaction of me? What she told Chala?” Reaves asked the mechanognome while playing a hearthstone creature.
“Query: What are you talking about, Reaves? Do you mean Joenn’s trauma?” Jeeves asked. He played a polymorph spell, turning Reave’s creature into a sheep.


“What audacity…Fel energy being bad? I never asked to be created with a Fel core.” The mechanical creature played another card, then using a spell to heal himself.

Jeeves simply plays a counter card that eliminates the creature while he gave his opinion to Reaves.
“Suggestion: Maybe you should have better foresight and maybe better understand why she fears you.”

“Better foresight? What do you want me to do? Ask a Draenei that backs away from the sheer sight of you?!” Jeeves asks

“Answer: Use your observation, Reaves. You have optics and a processor, you should know that”Jeeves then delivers the killing blow, using a Firebolt spell to lower Reaves’s health to zero.”Observation: Just like your lack of it cost you the match…again…”
 Reaves looked at the board then at his robotic opponent. If he had a mouth, it would curl like an angry scowl before he stated, “That’s it! I don’t have to take this!” The Fel-powered machine chuffed off angrily, Optimo watched him walk off before he started to yell out “Reaves! Don’t wander off too far! Miss Nightshadow told us to guard the camp!”
“Reassuring statement: Do not worry, Optimo. He’ll be back soon. Legion machines tend to get flustered easily, and he’s not one to take defeat easily. The only thing I cannot tolerate is a poor loser..”

Optimo nodded as the group simply went back to their duty of maintaining her camp. Jeeves was simply keeping everything as tidy as possible (as much as an outdoor camp can be as neat as possible.) Optimo began to do his routine pacing around the camp, checking to see if Chala or any member of the Ashen Vale needed assistance. Though he began to worry about Reaves as he hasn’t come back yet.

“Jeeves, Reaves hasn’t returned back to camp,” Optimo said with concern.
“Reassurance: I’m sure he’s still steamed about what I told him.” The butler replied

“But it’s been one hour, thirty minutes and eleven seconds since he left,” the Mechanostrider said

Jeeves began to stroke his mechanical chin, reviewing how long since Reaves left.
“Puzzling Concern: You are right, Optimo. It has been a while. Hypothesis: He may have gotten lost in his haze, I suggest we wait for Miss Nightshadow to return to camp before we search for Reaves.”
“But what happens if we wait too long? He might be in trouble,” Optimo said, “We have to rescue him.”

“Caution: Miss Nightshadow has advised us to not leave the camp,” Jeeves said, “Losing you is not something that I would-“
Optimo began to walk toward the direction Reaves headed. Though as he began to pick up the pace and darted off, Jeeves followed but refused to stray too far from the camp.
“Ineffectual command: Stop Optimo! Ineffectual command: I order you to stop, Optimo! Miss Nightshadow will not tolerate this!”
Thecommandc butler’s command fell on deaf ears as he watched Optimo head off into the marsh. He had that horrible feeling that Chala was not going to be thrilled that two of her machines have left camp.

“Worried Self-Statement: Oh no…Miss Nightshadow will deactivate me for sure…”

******************************************************

The little Fel machine angrily trudged through the marsh, still fuming over what Jeeves told him.
“Lacking the foresight to understand why people fear me…What does that rustbucket know about what people react to? My guess is Joenn’s just a chicken…because nobody else seems to be affected by my presence.”

Reaves continued to mutter and rant to himself. Besides his self-monologue and the sound of his mechanical parts squeaking and creaking, the sound of buzzing fireflies, frogs, birds, and any other fauna dwelled in the marsh. He heard something rustle loudly, causing the fel machine to jump toward the direction.

“Who’s there!?” He then made a mockery threat against the invisible threat “I am powered by Fel!”

The rustling grew louder, opened fire with a blast, shredding a chunk of the bush as a now panicked rodent ran out and away from the area.
 Reaves sighed, “Keep it together, Reaves, you can’t just let everything just-” He turned around to then see Optimo right in front of him. Startled, Optimo backed away while Reaves nearly fell over in shock.

“There you are, we need to get back to camp,” Optimo said, “Miss Nightshadow will be upset if we’re not.”

The Fel Machine huffed rudely, “Why should I? She seems to listen to the Traitor Eredar..”

“Draenei…they prefer to be called Draenei..not ‘Traitor Eredar”, Optimo corrected Reaves.
“Whatever..” Reaves replied, “I’m not coming back…”

********************************************************
Back at the Enclave, Chala returned from Shattrath with some fresh produce to restock the Cenarion Circle’s supplies. She noticed the camp was quiet, a bit too quiet.

“Jeeves? Optimo? Reaves?” Her tone when calling Reaves seemed a bit stern, but when she didn’t hear from any of them, she pulled out her remote to activate them. She assumed that they may be in sleep mode. When she did activate the remote, she saw Jeeves was hiding behind some mushrooms to the right behind her. Chala heard Jeeves’s making noise as she turned toward the machine.

“What are you doing hiding there?” Chala asked
Jeeves started to stammer “Fearful Apology: It wasn’t my fault, Ma’am! Please don’t deactivate me!”

Chala cocked her eye in confusion, “What happened?”

“Explanation: Reaves left after he got trounced in Hearthstone. He didn’t show up in over a few hours, then Optimo left to try and bring him back.”

Chala turned shocked, “Wait! They’re out in the swamp?!” She quickly got back to her Steel Shark, checking the radar on the machine.

“Annoyed Explanation: I don’t understand those two from time to time. I feel that they have some form of faulty memory…” Jeeves said
Chala continued to look at the radar until she found two blips on the radar. “Ahah! Found them! C’mon Jeeves, we best get to them before something does..”

Jeeves nods quietly as he hops into the ATV with Chala, ready to rescue Optimo and Reaves.

*******************************************
“What do you mean by ‘not coming back?'” Optimo asked

“Why should I stick around with people who look at me like I’m going to kill them?” Reaves said, “Why should I tolerate people who think that I bring corruption because of my power supply?”
Optimo tilts his head as he rebutted to Reaves’s rant. “But they have no problem with me; in fact, some actually want to talk with me. Miss Aeriara said I have a cute smile.”

“That’s because you’re designed to look cute and helpless..I’m just a Legion machine that was given a new purpose…” Reaves said as he began following the path toward Nagrand.

“But you do have a purpose, you can change into anything that is needed,” Optimo said, “I can only analyze and scan.”

“Again, you’ve got appeal due to your appearance.” Reaves said, “appeal is good for those who like cute things and less on repulsi-“

Reaves fell over when he tripped over something. Optimo stared at this object with curiosity. It looked like a very lumpy and worm-like root.

“What is that root?” Optimo asked, but the sound of hissing and grumbling gave the mechanostrider its answer. The root twitches before it started to rumble underneath both feet, and erupting from the ground like a fresh shoot was a huge fungal giant. The creature turned toward the two machines, towering them as he had only one thing on its mind: food.

The Fel Machine looks up as he replies, “Well, it’s a fungal giant…that’s no problem. We can take him together Optimo,”
As Reaves turned toward his right, he noticed that Optimo wasn’t there and that Optimo was already running away. The fel machine looked back at the machine, watching but fearful as it started to stare at Reaves. However, as its fungal brain began to wonder what to do next, Reaves took the opportunity to take Optimo’s example and leaves the creature. Following his self-preservation protocol, Optimo ran near the shores of the main lake, near one of the towers. He began to look around for a few moments, then when he turned to look toward his left, he saw Reaves’s face. The Fel Machine, though his face couldn’t show emotions, was fuming mad.

“YOU LEFT ME BEHIND!” he bellowed.
“I thought you were going to run,” Optimo said

“I was going to fight him! I’m not some coward that runs away!” He said, turning behind him to see where the giant was. However, the giant was nowhere to be seen.

“Well, I guess he gave up.” Reaves smugly said, “I would too if I was chasing two fast robots.” The machine then walked closer to the water as he turned to Optimo. The Mechanostrider looked at his Fel counterpart before asking him. “Are you sure you want to leave?” He asked

“I’m sure of it, Optimo. Otherwise, she would have been searching for us by-“ On cue, Reaves’s body was grabbed by a large arm emerging from the water, an arm that belonged to that Fungal Giant. It didn’t give up, it simply burrowed underground to ambush the mechanical creatures. Before Reaves could yell, he was pulled underground, swallowed by the monstrous creature as it erupted to the surface as it now stared down at Optimo. The mechanostrider now scared as the giant got closer and closer. Suddenly, the giant’s mouth started to emit smoke as its belly started to glow green, growing brighter and brighter. Hotter and hotter as the creature turned toward its stomach, the pain growing. Though before it could react, it erupted in a hellish green explosion that spewed fel charred chunks and a damaged Reaves.

“Reaves!” Optimo said, nearly getting pelted by a chunk of burning Fungal Giant. He got closer toward the damaged machine, sparks, and fel fire emitting from its busted body.
“See?” The machine stammered, “No big deal… Now, …why can’t I feel my legs..or my right arm…”
Optimo was about to explain what was going on until the two found the sound of propeller blades coming closer toward them. Chala found them (though the loud explosion was probably the clue).
“Optimo! Reaves! Oh, thank Elune, you two aren’t badly damaged..” She said, though turned to the damaged Reaves

“But Reaves is..” Optimo looked at Reaves.

“Reaves will be fine..his Personality Core is damaged, but I’ll make sure he’s going to be fine.” She said. She then looked at the two as her tone turned into something stern, “Now..we have to talk about you two leaving camp….”

mechanical-swamprunnersDownload

Tuesday Mumbles: Hero Worship and the Cult of Personality

written by TheChoujinVirus

Note: The following article I have written is based on my opinion, so do not take it too personally if this hits close to home.

Heya, it’s ya boy Choujin here.

It’s a pretty big, but not so big surprising shocker that news of individual Smash Players and famous people having skeletons in their closets. Though our talk isn’t about those people, mostly a big problem: The people themselves. Now, I’m sure people ask ya boy this: ” ‘ey, what do you mean the people?”. Let’s explain a bit of something involving what I call Hero worship and the cult of personality. Mainly, some folks will worship certain people as though they’re infallible or that whenever something wrong happens to them, it’s somehow some big conspiracy to smear the person or something (Not saying that whatever is said is true), but instead, they treat any accusation or anything negative about something. Now before we get reading, just a reminder that this may feel like I’m nailing some people or presuming guilt, but it’s less on the focus and more on people’s reaction to this. Hence the cult of Popularity or Hero worship.

Commonly, some of it is born out of nostalgia or growing up. For example, some people grew up with George Lucas and remembered how he made the Star Wars Trilogy. Some people treat him like he’s infallible, ignoring the newer Sequel Trilogy as some people feel the original was better. Another example is none other than Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear series. A lot of gamers revere him as a great storyteller and game creator. Though when he released Death Standing, a game that turned out to be lackluster, people got hostile over critics for “not understanding the masterpiece” as though they assume people can’t understand his work. Those two examples I throw out are just one of many issues that can surface when people feel like they’re heroes are slighted or agitated by some kind of “shadow cabal.” It’s really frustrating and annoying to people outside of these as they see this level of hero worship to a near borderline cult. Nobody wants a fan cult!
Though the next group is something notorious within the anime fandom, a group devoted a voice actor calling themselves the Risembool Rangers. Now, having your favorite voice actor or actor, in general, is no crime, but this isn’t about fan groups. The Risembool Rangers have had a notorious issue of being a bit..zealous of Vic. Some stories involve how they view people criticizing Vic’s acting to one incident where some members threatened his ex-wife years ago. Then when news of sexual harassment allegations came out (keyword: allegations), the fan group went out of their way to attack and damage people solely on the grounds that they feel somehow that they must defend their god-like image of their hero. It’s pretty creepy. When things get so crazy that some will make death threats at random people on the internet because they didn’t like Metal Gear, thought their role in an anime was terrible or outright hate newer movies over the classics, it’s nuts.

Let’s move onto the 400lb Elephant (no pun intended) in the room: Politics and this whole political Cult of Personality. A lot of people have viewed this thing as something silly, though we got several examples of how it works: Ronald Regan, Barak Obama, and Donald Trump. Now, I’m sure it’s painfully apparent with the Trumpian cult, so you don’t need ya boy to explain that stuff (just watch the news or look the internet to better understand this cult), but on the other hand, there are the overwhelming issues that were brought up with Obama and the late Regan. Some Republicans (young and old) seem to look up and revere Regan as some kind of Christ-like figure that was revered for defeating the Communists. Though when you bring up the not so good parts of the history, such as Operation Condor, the Iran-Contra affair or things that Regan fucked up and you’ll see how they’ll blame certain people on focusing on that such as the “liberal media” or some other stuff for why it turned out that way. Hence cards like “Deep state” is continuously being played when their “god” is revealed to be a joke. But back on the subject of this, with Obama, people rode the card that he was some kind of angelic messiah meant to end the issue of Bush. When Obama’s became overambitious, and things went south? The people who backed him then began going into denial over the idea that what he was going was a pipe dream currently.
Hoo boy were people pissed when they realized that these things Obama promised didn’t happen, but you know..that’s the problem with the Cult of Personality and Hero worship. Some will elevate people to godhood and will become upset over it. These guys can get worse as unlike the last group, some of them will carry out threats, and some folks have gotten hurt or in physical fights over these. Some have even had private information made public (or attempted to be made public) just to put the fear into their critics.

Now, the next question is this: What should people do to prevent this situation where people elevate those into gods? Well, to be honest, ya boy feels that this is pretty tough in convincing people in not creating this. I do have some advice that could ensure you don’t get swept up into the movement and end up part of the legion. The first thing you need to know is that everyone is not a god or infallible—even the best and brightest who makes promises can screw up. People can be excellent speakers (or dumb people can be swayed easily). Just remember that vital part when you listen to people or look them up.
The next part is if you know people who are like this, kindly remind them about the first step. Don’t call them stupid or dumb or berate them. All that’ll do is just galvanize their support. Kindly bring up the flaws in this and leave it there.
This may feel like something stupid, but sometimes it’s the best one can do when dealing with the cult of personality.Other than that, ya boy’s real answer is to quote the computer from War Games when dealing with the cult of personality.

Anyway, have you run into any cult of personalities or hero worshipers that come off like any creepy vibe or annoyance? Comment below

Late Thursday Media Review: Wicked Willow

Review written by TheChoujinVirus

Note: This review contains spoilers to the game, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, do not read the review.I have some chat connections with the creator of the game, T.F. Wright. However, the review is done out of my own honest opinion. In no way am I being influenced by the creator.

Happy Thursday everyone, It’s ya boy Choujin.
 When one thinks of the genre of Urban Fantasy, they automatically assume the typical groups: Twilight, Harry Potter, and the such. Some may think of things like Life is Strange if needed when it comes to the genre.  Now your boy isn’t fond of the whole aspect of the genre (mostly thanks to Twilight), but I’m not afraid of trying it if it’s okay. Hence today’s review of a game that came out a week ago on the Steam store. The game’s called Wicked Willow, written and made by T.F. Wright (the same creator who made The Pirate’s Fate. I’ve also did a review of the game here if you’re curious of my review. Though unlike the last game, there are no furries in this story. So how is this visual novel? Well, let’s get started on my review of Wicked Willow.

Story Summary

In Wicked Willow, you play Willow, a 20-year-old college student and aspiring writer in a 1993 American city. One day, after chasing a strange black cat, she is attacked by a mass murder named The Axeman. She kills the guy by accident through her newly discovered powers. The cat she was chasing reveals he can talk and is named Shadow. He explains to Willow that she has a magical gift and that his job is to bring her to Tanya, the woman seeking out Willow. The old witch serves as Willow’s mentor throughout this whole crazy journey. And boy is it one crazy journey, from a bank robbery to loggers, to outright dealing with being Jumanji’d into a tabletop game and outright coping with the end of the world. Willow doesn’t go through this odd and bizarre adventure on her own as she runs into some colorful characters. Besides her mentor Tanya, the Serbian witch who knows a lot about our protagonist, you have the talking cat Willow, Willow’s closest friend Avery. You also have antagonists like Lydia, the very religious southern girl who looks like the poster child for the 700 Club and Xarsi, the succubus who seems to have a one-tracked mind. Now the game, for any visual novel, usually has paths and choices that affect what happens next in the story. Though beware, as Tanya explained that the use of magic has consequences, you could stop robbers by turning their bullets to flowers, saving someone but causing somebody else to suffer. Do you want to help the suffering person recover? Sure, you can save their life, but how much is to spare the life of a person? Maybe you shouldn’t use magic at all and try and solve it without magic? Whatever choice you make has a consequence for Willow, her friends, or even everyone around them. However, if they call you wicked due to the choices you make? Then so be it…

Wicked Wonders: What the game shines in

There’s plenty of positive choices in Wicked Willow, but I’ll try and name some preferences. One is the characters. Though the protagonist isn’t a tabula rasa like Mila from The Pirate’s Fate, Willow has her personality that makes her organic. In most games where you choose the outcome, it usually shapes the protagonist’s personality and world. Willow’s perspective and base personality don’t change to where she wants to punch someone, but she tries to fix mistakes. It’s not only limited to her; the supporting cast of the entire group is pretty great as well as each does have their quirks and strengths that make them stand out. It’s also done well by a great voice acting cast that brings the characters to life. Usually, it’s pretty rare to see voice acting in visual novels, but it’s pretty stellar. My personal favorite voice is the VA for Shadow the cat. I find it awesome how an older voice coming from a small cat can make a character interesting. I also like how every character you meet has a backstory that you can empathize with. (Some of them are pretty tragic.) For example, the villainous Xarsi is revealed to be once a nun who was devout but became a succubus out of desperation out of a frail old age. Another that was shocking was Lydia, who is a survivor of conversion therapy and that she was a closet lesbian. (It’s also revealed her Anti-Magic powers surfaced during these horrendous conditions.) In short, the villains in this story feels morally challenging (as it should be.) What I like also is the style and research. T.F. Wright did some homework on some of the stuff, as the story takes place not just during 1993 but also during a landmark moment known as Baehr vs. Miike, in which Hawaii legalized same-sex marriage. You see hints about Hawaii throughout the story (Blue Hawaiian, the flowers used to thwart the robbers.) It’s an exciting and subtle nod to this moment and something that fits the motif and several factors.
Finally, what I like about this is how they portray the romances, regardless of whom you choose to romance. They feel organic and not hasty corny, especially for same-sex romance options. Usually, my experience with stories involving same-sex romances kind of feels cringy (like bad anime level of cringe.) However, I do like how T.F. Wright’s writes these romances. The Final praise I like is the checkpoint system. In most V.N.s, you have to save at major choices then come back to it. Wicked Willow fixes this by creating a checkpoint system that lets you go back and check a new path; thus, you don’t need to create multiple save states during choices. Pretty good if I do say so myself.

Magical Flops: What the game lacks.

Though Wicked Willow had plenty of perks that made the series great, there were some issues that kinda made me feel a bit like they were lacking. First, I’d have to say is that though the backstories for each character are great, they are locked behind the romance paths. I wouldn’t mind learning of Avery’s secret during the Lydia path (it would explain how he figured out about Lydia’s secret.) Also, some characters on some paths are outright ignored, leaving some moments wondering what happened to said character while on this path. Another that makes me feel a bit griped is the endings. One is that there are a bit fewer endings than the usual, but that can be viewed as a compromised with the voice acting, but what kinda makes me feel a bit odd is how that there isn’t any negative ending (save for the world ending and having to reset the timeline) and that the conclusions you seem to go through, somehow doesn’t feel grim. (not total grim dark like how The Pirate’s Fate and their endings are.) Though some might view the Groundhog’s Day time-loop, Willow goes through as a repetitive bad ending (though some of them do give hints on what to do next or clues for a golden ending.) That kind of hurts replayability once you figure out the endings and secrets that are in the game. This gets to my last moment that though the basis of the game is excellent, it feels a bit short and not many secrets or mysteries to answer.

Hawaiian Conclusion

Despite the shortcomings of Wicked Willow, I find the series very nice and detailed. As I stated before, I wasn’t a fan of the Urban Fantasy genre, but I found Wicked Willow to be an excellent take at the genre.
The cast of characters, the voice acting and the quality of life make the game entertaining. It’s also great to see T.F. making more of these V.N.s and that his game got some excellent praises on Steam. Hopefully, he makes more games or V.N.s in the future.

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