terabient

Taken from tumblr: For ten days, I post an image from a video game that has impacted me without a single explanation and nominate somebody to take the challenge.

Final Fantasy X-2


today's tag is fujicori! (i got ~fancy and used a virtual name drawing site this time)

Some other game stuff:

★ I got Downwell during the steam winter sale and uhhhh I LOVE IT. Very disappointed in myself for dying to bats like 90% of the time. Very pleased that one of the abilities you can get is gaining health by eating the bodies of your enemies. I also think this might be one of those games I play for a long time but never actually beat.

★ In Overwatch I've been trying to re-focus on improving my support play--for the past few competitive seasons I've basically been a D.va one-trick with some DPS fills when necessary (which happened more often than usual during the last two seasons.) But I feel like D.va + hitscans that aren't McCree is too narrow a hero pool and my performance is too streaky on DPS to make them my main role. I've been trying to get better at shotcalling as well, since I think I've got decent enough awareness to do so, at least for my rank...it's gone alright so far? At least when I'm playing Mercy or Lucio (I've had a few games where I've literally told the team's Reinhardt what to do, like "drop your shield and start swinging" levels of micromanaging...) I'm struggling a lot with Zenyatta, my aim is okay but I never feel like I'm using discord efficiently. I just kinda pick whoever's closest to me, or the Widow if they have one lol. I don't really know what to look for in terms of prioritizing discord targets :/

★ Soulcalibur VI released a balance patch last week and i've spent an inordinate amount of my free time trying to figure out how badly my main has been nerfed. (A LOT LOL) I've worked out how most of the changed stuff works, at least at a basic level, but I'm kind of nervous about posting it on public forums because I've never labbed stuff like this before, and I'm worried about being wrong. Only, being wrong is totally normal thing when you're trying to suss out game mechanics and it usually takes a group effort to do so...I shouldn't be nervous, but I am anyway hahAAA. I've just been sitting on this growing txt. file trying to talk myself into posting it.

I think I have said this multiple times every year i do NaBloPoMo, but I really ought to set aside some time to write instead of waiting until 11PM to get started. WHOOPS.

★ I went to the day phlebotomy course to make up for the Friday I missed. Our instructor saved the liability/risks and dangers video for the last classes because it's uhhhh kind of terrifying. "Here's a recreation of a draw that ended in permanent disability for the patient!" It was hard enough doing draws on classmates & volunteers after weeks of practice...I would have quit the class if I'd seen the video BEFORE performing my first venipuncture.

The course ends December 8th. I'm not sure I'm going to apply for phlebotomy jobs specifically anymore, but I'm glad I took the course and like...found that out now instead of later, I guess. Next January I will hopefully be able to start a medication distribution certification course to broaden my prospects but I think I'll have the job I want anyway well before that.

★ I got a Nintendo Switch today! My sister had like, a bunch of coupons she wanted to use before her Gamestop membership thing expired, and they were running a promotion where you got a $50 gift card with the purchase of a Switch console, so...now seemed like a good time to buy one. I only have Let's Go Pikachu and Blazblue Cross Tag Battle right now; I don't want to get too many games because I don't have the time to play the ones I have :( But it's hard because the Switch has a bunch of stuff I'd LIKE to play.

Also it took me like 45 minutes to create a Nintendo account because I kept getting mixed up at the "sign in with your nintendo network id to easily make a Nintendo account, which is not the same thing as a nintendo network account" thing. @_@

Adventures in SCVI's Libra of Souls:

★ Mitsurugi abandoned me because uhhhh I guess he wants to fight people in Japan now
★ I beat up the Wind Priestess from yesterday, who turned out to be Talim's older cousin. Still haven't met Talim but I think that's for the next visit. I'm not sure what the purpose of this questline is beyond making sure my automaton avatar meets every character in SC canon, but maybe something interesting happens later on?
★ I was enlisted in the "Bring Seong Mi-Na home" army (I didn't have a choice orz) which i guess means my avatar has straight up replaced Hwang like a true Mary Sue AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
★ A weapons dealer tried to beat me up for my sword so I stole one of his weapons instead, which apparently is an Important Decision
★ I met Groh in a field full of rocks, told him "the truth about everything" and he ASSUMED I WAS LYING WHAT THE F U C K
★ Azwel showed up for the first time and in a mode filled with primarily pedestrian dialog he was GLORIOUS AND CAMPY and now I love his goofy evil!Jesus-lookin ass
★ Libra of Souls has a food mechanic where you "equip" a piece of food to get buffs, and because this is the 16th century like over half of the sidequests involve you protecting spice shipments. This means I have a sack full of rare and expensive spices and absolutely nothing else. So I keep imagining my human-sized doll shoving a big satchel of black pepper into her mouth before every fight. X)
★ On that note, absolutely no one has commented on the fact that my character is a giant, sentient ball-jointed doll. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Adventures in Overwatch

★ I had some goooooood games playing Ashe tonight (and a few not so good ones but whatever) I'm a little better at using B.O.B and detonating dynamite early. Still struggling a bit in sniper duels but I'm generally coming out on top in Ashe v. Ashe and Ashe v. McCree fights. Also been pretty consistent in taking out Pharahs, but a lot of people are playing Pharah way out of position after her direct damage buff so maybe it's less me being good and more them being reckless.
★ Managed to win a match without a shield tank on Hollywood defense while playing Mercy, which was PRETTY UNEXPECTED like no one on the team is quite sure how it worked. But that's Overwatch for you ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

★ I am s l o w l y improving at performing venipunctures in class. I had 4 successful ones tonight and one that started but the vein was blown early into the draw, but it does not look like there will be any complications beyond a bruise in the area...phew. I still have over 15 venipunctures to go until I can take the certification test and I hope on Friday I won't have an unsuccessful draws...but I don't know. I'm not sure phlebotomy is going to be something I look to get employed in, but at least now I know a lot more about how it works which should help out in my field regardless.

★ I tried out PC Overwatch and it's basically the same as console Overwatch except my framerate fluctuates more and I'm really bad at just like, moving around with the WASD layout BUT my accuracy across heroes is up by like, 15%?!? I missed every single sleep dart I shot as Ana, though. And I was playing against the A.I.

Did a bunch of QP matches with my brother and sister tonight (on console) and I think I have a decent handle on Ashe. I feel like the hardest thing I run into right now is not being able to get the kill I need when I need it, because aiming can be squirrelly and repositioning to get better LOS isn't always an option, but that particular frustration is becoming less frequent. Getting value out of dynamite is also iffy--throwing it behind a barrier means you can't shoot it to detonate it early, and it's easy enough to walk out of its radius before it explodes--but I've been having better luck with that, too. I still don't know what to look for in terms of optimal ult use...B.O.B is pretty great at drawing aggro and mowing down slow-reacting players, but besides being a big shooty tank that disappears after a few seconds, I'm not sure what to do with him.

★ Still making my way through SCVI's single player stuff, the writing is uh. Pretty dull in a lot of spots and even in entire character stories? Kilik, Maxi and Xianghua were all pretty bare-bone plots about how the power of NPC friendship will help you in the dark times ahead. Taki's would have been more interesting if i could keep track of the like, 5 or 6 different organizations/people trying to take Mekki-maru from her...although some wanted her to re-seal Gel-o-Fury and some i think wanted to kill her just because??? This storyline was needlessly complicated.

In Libra of Souls my character left Maxi's crew (there isn't really a choice involved BOOOOOOO ) and I get to hang out with Mitsurugi, who is incredibly dumb. I'm not saying that I dislike the character (although, I've never had too much interest in him), it's that in SCVI there is a clear, concerted effort to portray Mitsu as the absolute stupidest character in the roster because....humor? It is, as the kids say, a weird flex but okay.

i started playing Soulcalibur VI this week. Fun fact, I had no idea it was being released until, like, half way through October even though it's been promo'd like, all year??? i'm a terrible fan. Feelings so far:

★ Story: SCVI is basically a fleshed-out version of SCI, so it doesn't have much in the way of surprises plot-wise, but there is a lot more world-building, character interactions and more time spent on building character arcs overall which is my bread-n-butter even in a fighting game so I've been enjoying it a lot! The writing quality is a bit hit or miss, the translation seems a bit basic (there's definitely been some conversations that do not sound natural even within the weird alt-history world of SC) but it's still nice to see genuine dialog happening between characters even if they are sometimes basic. The voice acting is good but the fact that dub actor pool has shrunk to like, 10 actors for all the characters in the game kinda makes every NPC sound indistinguishable.

★ Presentation: it's a Bamco figting game so it goes without saying that it looks great; the colors and lighting in particular are stunning. Character models haven't changed much from SCIV/V era but the stages look much improved. The story mode is presented a very Arc Systems fighter/visual novel way with illustrations rather than in-game graphics, and they're INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL. Kilik and Maxi's character portraits in particular are A+++++, on-fire levels of hot. The women suffer from a bit of same-face (like, it's a beautiful face! it's just the same for every girl) but that's my only complaint.

★ Gameplay: I don't hate Reversal Edge. I'm glad Guard Impacts are no longer a metered resource. Critical Edges are performed with a single button, which I don't hate on a fundamental level but you gain meter FAST in this game and successful CEs take off a lot of damage so I think the meter gain needs to be toned down a little. I haven't really played "seriously" yet though. lol

so uh i play a lot of SCV online, mostly with the occasionally fine folks who post at gamefaqs, and the guy who sets up the room has started streaming and recording the sessions.

anyway i got recorded last night and it was kind of intimidating but also kind of cool? the voice chat was recorded too, which was neat until i heard my own voice, and came to the disappointing realization that my laugh is distinctly 'nervous chipmunk' like. :c

IF you are so inclined to watch some people of wildly varying skill levels beat each other up for like 4 hours, the saved stream from Saturday is here:

http://www.twitch.tv/heeeeresjonny86/b/313523462

(1:43:00 is about the time I joined in. i won my first match and then went on a ~TOTALLY AWESOME~ 13-game losing streak, which is actually what I usually average. i'm so pro at this game!)

other things in this stream: a badass Maxi player, a discussion about zubats, Hipster Douchebag Patroklos (actually there's a lot of Patroklos in general) and some Dorito taco shell talk somewhere.

it's exciting, maybe?

Title: of love gone sour
Fandom: Soulcalibur
Characters: Amy, Raphael
Rating: PG
Words: 200
Summary: While tending to Raphael's wounds, Amy sees Raphael in a very different light.
Notes: Some one-sided Amy/Raphael.

( I lay beside him, my hand pressed to his heart )

I haven't done one of these fandom memes for awhile, so uh, have one now!

Name two (or more) characters from any of my fandoms and I'll tell you:

1. What they most commonly do during sex (if they are the sexing type)
2. Who has prettier (or just more attractive) hair
3. What they argue about most often
4. Who'd cope best if the other one died
5. The happiest plausible happily-ever-after I can think of for them
6. The most tragic possible ending for them
7. What I enjoy most about their dynamic
8. What I find difficult to write about them

i follow a lot of things but I don't always talk about them, SO if you are wondering what kinds of things are up for discussion just ask and I will happily discuss. Happily over-discuss, even.

So hmmmmmmm I have Soulcalibur V now and since I love this series with low-burning but never-extinguished passion I guess it would be a good idea to talk about it.

( cut for story mode spoilers, caps-lock abuse, flailing in glee & rage, etc. )

In closing I would like to point out that a day after SCV's release, there is already Z.W.E.I./Patroklos pornfic.

Never change, fandom. :Db

I ACTUALLY MADE A BINGO what is this. Granted, it's a tiny bingo, consisting only of four drabbles and a single icon, but at least it is finished.

Nothing explicit, but some of it is dark.

---

Title: All I Wanted
Fandom: Soulcalibur
Characters: Maxi/Kilik
Content Notes: For the Penance/Punishment kink. Contains consensual physical punishment.
Summary: Maxi doesn't think Kilik deserves this, but Kilik knows better.

( I've hurt so many )

Title: You and I, and Everyone Else
Fandom: Ghost in the Shell
Characters: Motoko Kusanagi/Batou
Content Notes: For the Orgies and Decadence kink.
Summary: Batou and Motoko have an evening out. (Canon notes: Although this takes place in the Stand-Alone Complex continuity, the idea of sense-sharing/e-sex - people sharing their physical sensations through their cyberbrain connections - is from the manga. In the manga, e-sex can 'only' happen between people of the same sex due to physical differences.)

( He'd been expecting dinner )

Title: The Sweetest Vintage
Fandom: Soulcalibur
Characters: Raphael/Siegfried
Content Notes: For the Bloodplay kink. Vampirism.
Summary: Raphael, doing what vampires do.

( This will hurt )

Title: Heart and Mind, Separate
Fandom: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Characters: Sayaka
Content Notes: For the Possession/Marking kink. Involves underage characters, no sex. Spoilers for Episode 7.
Summary: What magical girls dream of.

( It's not just her soul )

And finally, one Revolutionary Girl Utena icon for the Historical Roleplay kink.

So there's been some news about Soulcalibur V lately. (Yes, I still ♥ this series desperately. It's just been quiet for awhile ;o )

( Cut for spoilery stuff )

It's pretty clear that the developers haven't decided on who will and won't be in the game yet, but the current info says they're aiming for 20~30 characters, half of which will be new, meaning somewhere around 10~15 old characters will be returning. For those who weren't around when this journal was essentially ALL SC, ALL THE TIME, I'm hoping very much for Raphael and Amy to return, though if I have to choose I'd go with...Amy...? As a character she has more room for development than Raphael does, assuming they don't off Raphael by like, I dunno, having him go totally off the walls and leaping off a cliff. But, having Raphael die or taken out of commission by Soul Edge induced...stuff...would open the doors for a lot of Amy character fun. LIKE REVENGE! Or something. I dunno. I'd still like both of them rather than just one. Also, Raphael without Amy around as a driving force seems um...impossible. So I suspect whatever happens, she'll be around for gothic lolita fanservice

On a completely shallow note, Patroklos is pretty adorable. Now that Siegfried is all ~manly~ I may have to transfer my creepy fangirling over younger men to Sophitia's kid. Which sounds even creepier when I type it out. :o

THE END.

Tomorrow is probably Resident Evil squee. Or talking about bad restaurants. WHO KNOWS? Anything is possible!