Domino Quartz's Delightfully Quaint Random Banter Thread #248

[LaZodiac]

...Okay, shot in the dark.

If P5's themes were crime and rebellion with a moral of "don't just sit idly by while tyrants ruin the lives of others to ensure their own comfort" and P4's themes were small town melancholy and ignorance with a message of "don't give up on things, be it things about your life that you like or greater concepts like the value of truth just because it comes with bad things" then...

P3 is an existentialist horror story? The opening message was something about how your time was short and make the best of it, so... I'm guessing nihilism and depression, but the message is "life has no meaning and everyone's gonna die, make the most of what you have?"

Am I in the right ballpark?

More or less yeah. Like Anonymous Wizard says; "Memento Mori" is the theme of the game, in every single aspect of it. It's also the only modern Persona game that doesn't like, pull up at the last minute with regards to its themes (P5's rebellion and P4's self-actualization both kind of conforming to a very particular kind of rebellion and self-actualization that is sanitized and unmessy has been talked about here and elsewhere at lengths and it is annoying) and I am not going to spoil what happens in it, but it is a game that very much promises a lot and delivers on basically all of it.

I still love the Evokers as a concept. We are not fully complete yet, as beings- we don't have access to the inner "right"ness we need to use Personas. But we need to use'em so we're gonna force them out with a heaping helping of good ol' thanatos. It rules. It's horrifying. You can make incredibly deep characterization realizations about the party members based on their shooting form when committing faux suicide (Yukari is so ****ing nervous about it, Akihiko's gun placement is in a place someone with intense boxing knowledge would know is the easiest place for a bullet to hit the brainstem and does it with zero hesitation that dude needs some help, etc etc) and every single aspect of it owns.

Smashing tarot cards and donning/doffing masks is, so less dramatic or thematic, and it's a little sad as a result (though still not terrible, obviously, just... lesser).

[Anonymouswizard]

Spoiler: Persona endings, P3 onward

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P3 also has an option to side with the bad guy and condemn the place you're in to death. Although it's closer to P5's Perfect World ending, Ryoji serves as the seductive side of death in the same way that Maruki is the Charming Autocrat.

ETA: the masks are actually more thematic to the series as a whole, but Evokers fir P3 perfectly. The P5 cast's masks represent the side they present to the world, and to summon their Persona they rip that away to reveal their more complicated self. Meanwhile in P3 the characters have to mentally bring themselves to the edge of death to force their Personas out.

It's also weirdly justified by the series' mechanics, P3 is the only game in the series where characters aren't going to a cognitive realm or experiencing reality conform to belief

[Rater202]

In irritating popculture news, an upcoming comic by Marvel will be a new volume of NYX.

NYX is a comic about homeless mutant teens living in New York City. The orignal NYX, for example, provided a great deal of missing information on X-23's backstory.

The upcoming volume is rumored—only rumored, mind you—to be about Kamala Khan volunteering her time to help out such teens in New York City...

And allt he people who started bitching about her being a mutant and very clearly haven't read any of her comics since she was are complaining about her abandoning her supporting cast and moving to a new city.

...The city she lives in is literally right across the river from NYC. She has literally walked that distance.

****ing fearmongering, man.

Meanwhile reading the actual god damn comics, every solo book she's had since becoming a Mutant has prominently featured at least one member of her solo supporting cast.

[Bartmanhomer]

So anyway today I wrote my first chapter of Dungeons & Dragons: The Dragoon Family on Wattpad and I posted the story in the Art & Crafts subforum.

[2D8HP]

I tried to send this in a PM, but I’m having trouble with those, in any case it’s no great secret:

If you’re visiting San Diego the Model Railroad Museum near the zoo is well worth the visit, and as I recall the back then six year old loved it

As for me (since I haven’t given an update here in a long time, I’m living less then a ten minute walk to the Pacific Ocean, still with my beloved roommate who’s recovering from yet more cancerous tumors removed, I still have a 1978 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle, still doing the same job; on weekends I visit the kids.

I have a horrible cough I can’t shake, which since my beloved roommate has a chronically weak immune system makes life awkward (I wear a mask when we’re inside together).

About the most exciting new thing was I went to see one of my all time favorite bands The Buzzcocks perform this last week, and at the concert a very drunk young lady (she said she was only 39) said that I “looked really hot”, and was very friendly, the last time anything close to that happened was over 33 years ago (also at a concert).

I’m looking forward to seeing what D&D 5.5 is like, and i still re-read old sword & sorcery tales

[Rynjin]

.
P3 is an existentialist horror story? The opening message was something about how your time was short and make the best of it, so... I'm guessing nihilism and depression, but the message is "life has no meaning and everyone's gonna die, make the most of what you have?"

Am I in the right ballpark?

P3 was to my understanding the last persona game that really held onto its Shin Megami Tensei roots and was just unabashedly edgy. P3 got so popular that P4 and P5 needed to be "mainstreamified" and they lost a lot of the darker themes and more existential bent that connected the two franchises tonally.

[Rater202]

So my Marvel/Owl House crsover/fusion fic is now up through the end of the first Season of The Owl House so to celebrate, have a line or exchange from ech chapter presented entirely without context.

Spoiler

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"Hah!" Eda exclaimed. "First time almost getting arrested?"

"No, actually," Luz admitted. That had been a very bad field trip and even though it was totally that older lady's fault the school made her get tested for a bunch of stuff before they'd let her come back to class.

---

However, before Luz could demand answers Tiny Nose walked into the living room "The wesults awe back. Luz the human, youw blood tested positive fow puwe evil."

---

Both Clawthorne sisters blinked. "Did... Did your apprentice breathe at all while saying that?"

---

Amity blinked. "That is the stupidest thing I ever heard... What's a supervillain?"

---

"It's amazing," Luz declared. "it's like if you took everything good about a human library and then replaced all the boring parts with a delicious blend of horror and whimsey. Also, I think your siblings were hitting on me."

---

"You seriously didn't have anything else I could borrow?" Amity asked, not for the first time, as she sat on Eda's couch in Luz's otter costume.

---

Amity then composed herself, allowed the heat to fade from her face, and made to leave when she noticed The Owl Lady standing at the doorway and the heat returned to her face in full force.

---

"What is that?" Amity asked as Luz filled the cup/lid with a dark, viscous liquid.

"Coffee," Luz replied. "Black as night, with lots of sugar." Luz then downed it in one go and grimaced at the strong, bitter taste even as undissolved sugar crystals crunched against her teeth.

Amity looked at Eda, "It's what humans call bitter bean blood." Eda paused for a moment. "Of course. I have no idea what she does to get it that strong. You could stain a coffin with that stuff and even with the disgusting amount of sugar in it it smells bitter."

"It's not that bad," Luz defended.

"King tried some and spent ten minutes twitching on the floor," Eda deadpanned.

---

From off the airship stepped a pair of older teens, one boy and one girl, with dark green hair. They both had some notable bruising.

"What happened to them?" Eda asked.

"I don't know," Alador declared. "They were like that when I picked them up from the Conformatorium."

---

...Also, she suddenly thought about how she'd almost asked the human girl out twice while high on the potentially toxic brew that Luz called "coffee" just as she was falling asleep and the sheer mortification kept her awake for another hour.

---

"The chips you like were discontinued," it spoke with a voice like a stereotypical moaning ghost. "Now to get that delicious flavor you have to actually put pieces of us in your mouth, ooooooh!"

---

(After being shown the video in question, Luz explained that it was a work of fiction and that humanity did not, in fact, determine which nation ruled the world with a giant robot martial arts tournament. She then asked how exactly the HAS had figured out how to work a 'vee-see-are.')

---

"Well if you're gonna break the law I'd hope you'd be at least happy about it," Gus chipped in.

---

With a shout enquiring about the location of his 'wee men' in an accent that Luz had imitated and called 'Scottish,' Gus's recreation of the human legend Old Man Henderson led the guards on a chase through town.

---

"A fair warning from a brave man of principle," Perry concluded. "And it looks like a coven guard is about to attack me so I must conclude this broadcast. This has been Perry Porter, punching a cop in the face," the news anchor finished as he did just that.

[DavidSh]

And allt he people who started bitching about her being a mutant and very clearly haven't read any of her comics since she was are complaining about her abandoning her supporting cast and moving to a new city.

...The city she lives in is literally right across the river from NYC. She has literally walked that distance.

If you're willing to take the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) trains, or a ferry, Jersey City is closer to Manhattan than much of Queens is. Not so much if you have to walk, unless your powers include walking on water (without that ability, you'd have to either go north to George Washington Bridge, or take a very circuitous route involving Staten Island).

I don't know why I was thinking she was from Paterson, but even that would be a frequent commuter train excursion into NYC, changing either at Secaucus or Hoboken.

[Lord Raziere]

So my Marvel/Owl House crsover/fusion fic is now up through the end of the first Season of The Owl House so to celebrate, have a line or exchange from ech chapter presented entirely without context.

cool, I have this idea for like three undertale fan fic where where child protagonists of shows fall into the underground instead: Luz or Steven Universe or the Pine Twins. I've worked out what I feel are good reasons why each would climb Mt. Ebott, which do you think would be more interesting/I should do/focus on first?

[Rater202]

cool, I have this idea for like three undertale fan fic where where child protagonists of shows fall into the underground instead: Luz or Steven Universe or the Pine Twins. I've worked out what I feel are good reasons why each would climb Mt. Ebott, which do you think would be more interesting/I should do/focus on first?

My brain is going to Owl House, but only because I'm hyper-focusing on it right now.

If I had to justify it, Luz's appreciation of weird/creepy and the focus on Found Family in her show of origin(whereas the other two shows tend to focus on existing familiar bonds) fits better with someone taking Frisk's role in the plot.

[Form]

Wait, hold on... in Persona 3 the characters unlock their Personas by committing suicide, if I understand correctly?

That's pretty dark. And admittedly does pique my interest. Maybe I should have a closer look at it one of these days.

[Peelee]

As for me (since I haven’t given an update here in a long time, I’m living less then a ten minute walk to the Pacific Ocean

I'm not envious at all. Nope. None. Zero envy. Not one bit. Hardly ever dream about having a beach in walking distance. Don't know why you would even think that. Don't even know what "envy" means.

I WANT A BEACH HOUSE

still with my beloved roommate who’s recovering from yet more cancerous tumors removed, I still have a 1978 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle, still doing the same job; on weekends I visit the kids.

Hooray!

I have a horrible cough I can’t shake, which since my beloved roommate has a chronically weak immune system makes life awkward (I wear a mask when we’re inside together).

Boo!

Glad to hear you're doing well!

[LaZodiac]

Wait, hold on... in Persona 3 the characters unlock their Personas by committing suicide, if I understand correctly?

That's pretty dark. And admittedly does pique my interest. Maybe I should have a closer look at it one of these days.

Well, fake suicide. They use specialized objects called Evokers that are designed to resemble real guns, but when the trigger is pulled it just delivers a small shock- along with a loud bang and the recoil one would expect from a real gun, to sell the image it's, well, evoking. The idea is to serve as a totem representative of the death drive- by miming the action of suicide with them, it causes your instinctual inner spirit to react with an outburst of power to try not to die. Inciting flight or fight through imitating the motions because yeah, sure, you know it's not really killing yourself, intellectually, but your spiritual side feels you performing the ritualistic actions using something resembling the real tool, and it incites the response.

The only characters that don't use a gun are Aigis, who is actually a mostly self-actualized being, and Koromaru who is a dog and thus cannot hold a gun. Instead he uses a shock collar that goes off when he barks.

You definitely should, P3 is incredible.

[Anonymouswizard]

Wait, hold on... in Persona 3 the characters unlock their Personas by committing suicide, if I understand correctly?

That's pretty dark. And admittedly does pique my interest. Maybe I should have a closer look at it one of these days.

Miming it, yeah. It's not strictly necessary, but due to their circumstances (not in a cognitive realm, Philemon hasn't given them a boost, they haven't had to confront their shadows and so may not be fully awakened) it's by far the easiest way.

Persona 3 is also really great, probably the best in the series. Notably SEES members have their character development much more tightly tied to the plot than the P4 and P5 cast's and it has one moment that hits harder than anything in the later games.

Spoiler: P3 spoilers

Show

A member of SEES, and an actually really useful one, dies. This has major consequences including being key to the arcs of two other members.

Then there's the funeral, where it becomes clear how few people he let actually know him.

WThe only characters that don't use a gun are Aigis, who is actually a mostly self-actualized being

Aigis and her sisters actually go have Evokers, they're just more like internet kill switches. Because Evokers exploit the fear of death it's likely hers actually momentarily deactivates her.

[LaZodiac]

Miming it, yeah. It's not strictly necessary, but due to their circumstances (not in a cognitive realm, Philemon hasn't given them a boost, they haven't had to confront their shadows and so may not be fully awakened) it's by far the easiest way.

Persona 3 is also really great, probably the best in the series. Notably SEES members have their character development much more tightly tied to the plot than the P4 and P5 cast's and it has one moment that hits harder than anything in the later games.

Spoiler: P3 spoilers

Show

A member of SEES, and an actually really useful one, dies. This has major consequences including being key to the arcs of two other members.

Then there's the funeral, where it becomes clear how few people he let actually know him.

Aigis and her sisters actually go have Evokers, they're just more like internet kill switches. Because Evokers exploit the fear of death it's likely hers actually momentarily deactivates her.

A double edged sword that, given not having social links for half the party members makes the male PC playthrough feel just a little duller, and I do think that was caused by the fact that "well Junpei's character arc takes place in the plot we don't need one".

RE that spoiler tag: god don't remind me ;-;

I just straight up forgot that was the case.

Anyway, one of the two birthday commissions Celeste got me is finished; BEHOLD, NOBLE

Spoiler: spoilered for size

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[2D8HP]

Glad to hear you're doing well!

Thanks Peelee!

[Rater202]

Popculture Trivia: Both Marvel and DC have depicted the IRS dealing with the issue of supervillains blatantly refusing to pay taxes and using their powers to get away with it by hiring superheroes.

DC hired the Flash as like, an actual tax man going around busting people for tax fraud. Was a whole storyline.

Marvel's solution was more elegant: They hired the Hulk to go around and tell people to pay their taxes and let the implicit threat do the work.

[enderlord99]

Yoshi wouldn't stand a chance against the Hulk, but, believe it or not...

Turnip Boy would.

[Rater202]

More Comic Book Trivia: Some more science-minded reviewers have noted how Spider-Man's web-swinging would be dangerous in real life due to either Gforces and their effect on the blood or else um... the fact that his demonstrated level of durability isn't enough to account for the kinetic force of a sudden stop.

This debate may have been referenced in Cult of Carnage: Misery when Elizabeth Allen, a major recurring character who has been in the franchise since the orignal Amazing Fantasy #15, is bonded to the Misery symbiote and decides to give webswinging a try while getting used to it.

She immediately misjudged a swing, lost coordination and control of her momentum, and crashed into a water tower with enough force that she would have straight up died if not for Misery's healing factor putting her back together again.

[BisectedBrioche]

Spoilered for stressful IRL stuff

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So, I was meant to have two weeks off for my birthday, but I ended up spending most of it looking after my dad. Either seeing him looking terrible, or waiting to pick him up from hospital. On Monday I got a call telling me he won't be making it out...

[Rynjin]

****, I'm sorry to hear that. Sounds like this came pretty much out of nowhere?

[Rater202]

Spoilered for stressful IRL stuff

Spoiler

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So, I was meant to have two weeks off for my birthday, but I ended up spending most of it looking after my dad. Either seeing him looking terrible, or waiting to pick him up from hospital. On Monday I got a call telling me he won't be making it out...

*offers hugs*

[LaZodiac]

Spoilered for stressful IRL stuff

Spoiler

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So, I was meant to have two weeks off for my birthday, but I ended up spending most of it looking after my dad. Either seeing him looking terrible, or waiting to pick him up from hospital. On Monday I got a call telling me he won't be making it out...

God, I'm sorry about that Brioche. You have my sympathies.

[Form]

Spoilered for stressful IRL stuff

Spoiler

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So, I was meant to have two weeks off for my birthday, but I ended up spending most of it looking after my dad. Either seeing him looking terrible, or waiting to pick him up from hospital. On Monday I got a call telling me he won't be making it out...

I'm sorry to hear that. Sounds like you're being a good daughter to him, though, for what it's worth. Muchos hugs.

[Anonymouswizard]

Spoilered for stressful IRL stuff

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So, I was meant to have two weeks off for my birthday, but I ended up spending most of it looking after my dad. Either seeing him looking terrible, or waiting to pick him up from hospital. On Monday I got a call telling me he won't be making it out...

****ing hell. Love* and hugs being sent your way!

* platonic.

[Keltest]

My deepest sympathies. I know what its like to get that kind of news.

[Bartmanhomer]

Spoilered for stressful IRL stuff

Spoiler

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So, I was meant to have two weeks off for my birthday, but I ended up spending most of it looking after my dad. Either seeing him looking terrible, or waiting to pick him up from hospital. On Monday I got a call telling me he won't be making it out...

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope your father will make a speedy recovery.

[Rater202]

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope your father will make a speedy recovery.

I think you may have misunderstood.

[Bartmanhomer]

I think you may have misunderstood.

How?

[Rater202]

How?

Typically speaking, if someone is in the hospital and the doctors say they're not making it out of the hospital, it means they're not going to recover.

Ever.