Learning new things again

It's been pretty much 9 years since I last learned geography, geology and chemistry at school, and now suddenly they're kind of interesting

(this is for worldbuilding reasons, of course)

Kind of random

For many years, I've avoided first-person shooters because I sucked at them. But it turns out I just hadn't played them enough. Played Quake II and playing Doom (2016) and I really enjoyed them.

Gushing about Road 96

Main Story/Game in general

Encounterable Characters

ALEX

• This kid belongs more to the MOTHER series, I'm not even kidding
• (Well, either that or The Goonies in place of Data. Think somewhere it said that the film was one of the inspirations for the series too...)
• (Also fun fact, I learned that one of the
• Oh, and look at that, EarthBound is set in the 90s, too xD
• He's super smart and nerdy so he, Lloyd & Jeff would make an unbeatable trio
• Also, there's no telling what he'd do if he were a teen in the 2020s -- he'd be thriving off of all the tech we have now
• Speaking of which, I really liked that conversation with him contemplating the future of technology
• Like having small computers that you can ask to give you directions or ask food from
• Or like having 100 people playing the same video game at the same time
• To be honest, I love this trope, where characters in an earlier point in time discuss what life could be like in their future world (i.e. our present)
• Oh, the bad ending with Alex... I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED! HE WAS THE ONE ,THAT GOT SHOT, WHATT]?!?!? Also unrelated, but in that scene where I had to use the nail gun to help find a generator, I was like, "Haha, what if I could shoot him," remembered that ending, and then went "Wait... NO..."
• It's kinda funny, I thought he was just an annoying 10-11 year old at first, but he eventually grew on me. 
• And then it turned out that he was 14 years old? That's crazy! He barely hit puberty, nobody would've guessed he was older than 11 haha.
• 
  

FANNY

• Alright, so I'm gonna admit, it's real awkward to like a cop character, especially in the 2020s haha
• The game seems very aware of this too, and has implemented some dialogue options that reflect all that when talking about or to cops, including Fanny
• But enough of that xD
• So, the game lets us know that Fanny's on Tyrak's side, at least professionally/career-wise
• Like, she's helped guard him during Petria's wall opening at the mountain
• And she was shown to work with cops at the pits during election day. It's not known how often she does this.
• And if our protagonist reveals that they're on Florres's side, all she says is that our preference has been noted. Dunno if she means this in a suspicious manner, but it's not hard to interpret that she's not too fond of that opinion. I might be wrong...
• What is clear though is that she has a more conservative stance on life & politics 
• Despite that, her relationship to Alex is pretty tragic to hear. I just couldn't not sympathise with her in that respect
• To be honest, I do like the complexity of her character
• First, there are her prominent relationships with other main characters in the game
• I mean, there's Alex who learnt that he's the bio-son of members of the Brigades, and cops and the Brigades are natural enemies. 
• And because of this, he ran away and sought members of the Brigades for info on his bio-parents
• And then, there's John, a member of the Brigades who looks after Alex
• His connection with Fanny started with when they were chatting and flirting with each other over the radio without knowing eachother's identities. 
• The different ways the endings play out with this sub-story, man, it's intense!  
• I have no idea how conflicted she is with her career -- I think the level of her conflictedness depends on which angle you want to take the ending, and the amount of impact you let the Brigades have in the story.
• I mean we have seen her at the pits, and while out on the road, she's denied their existence 
• She said at one point that she couldn't imagine even sending kids there because she's got a son
• Actually, in one of the endings, she has discussed her conflicted thoughts with her career.
• She's stated her awareness of what Tyrak's done to teens and how she "[hadn't] wanted to do [her] job for a long time"
• But she doesn't seem to like many of her co-workers
• She doesn't like how arrogant they get, or the power trips they have
• She's not as harsh to the protagonist as the others, and lets us go on multiple occasions, even knowing that what we're doing
• Also, I don't know much about Petria's situations on racism & sexism, but knowing this was based off of the west, and set in the 90s, it's really likely Fanny's a major underdog in her workforce
• And this makes her really push herself, take her career seriously, try not to make a mess of things, or even quit her job.
• To be fair, quitting a job is not an easy thing to do. She's never mentioned a partner/spouse, so there's that factor, too. She’s gotta support a family all on her own 

JAROD

• It's kinda funny how, since my first encounter with Jarod was the one at the old Brigades place -- the one with the tower -- I didn't see him as the danger that he was in the remainder of the game
• Sure, I thought he was weird and scary, but I didn't learn he was a serial killer until a little bit later, so I was quite shocked xD
• That was also the time he sincerely vented out to the player character about his grief over his daughter
• Don't think he mentioned anything about wanting to kill Sonya either
• And I actually forgot that detail, since I  actually started this game before I encountered him the first time. I saw the intro, left it for a couple weeks, and then continued playing.
• Yes, a few of his jumpscares did get me
• Interesting how some of his chapters can change up the genre of the game in an instant
• Also, it's interesting how he's seen when he's either a background character or any other kind of non-main character
• I feel like you don't get that kind of effect much in fiction, since normally you follow one point of view, or one version of a story
• How freaky would it be if we got to see him like actually interact with Robert, though? I haven't seen it, but if there is such a scene, I'd be so tense
• Maybe it exists in one of the books
• I mean, I read that apparently in one of Jarod's encounters -- one set in his taxi -- Robert is the one kidnapped instead of the random brigade. You can also see this in one of the endings, too. 
• Didn't know this guy would be the "tumblr sexyman" of the game, haha. But he does tick off nearly every box for the classic archetype/trope.
• Guess the "young" part can be cancelled out because I think it's more common nowadays for tumblr sexymen characters to be older, haha
• Also, I actually really love Flower Duet, so I liked how it’s his leitmotif. 
• Hearing it now, I can’t help but feel a sort of sinister undertone now, haha. Don’t worry, it hasn’t “ruined” the piece for me at all.
• Interesting how he’s both so focused on his grief over Lola and on killing Sonya & Robert that he got so out of touch with the politics of Petria 
• Figured this out when taking either one of the voting route or revolution route, where I asked a question for advice, he answers and I respond, then he goes “oh that guys still our president?” 
• Guess when you’re busy contemplating the murders of multiple people, you can’t really think about the law & who runs it, haha
• Maybe it’s just Sonya’s plot armour, but I was quite surprised when Jarod almost immediately changed his heart about to kill Sonya after she vented her regrets to one of her coworkers
• Like a normal person would be highly conflicted after learning that the person you thought was highly responsible for the death of a loved one turned out not to be responsible at all (and instead tried to help), That you were wrong about a huge part of something you felt so personally about for basically a whole decade 
• That would’ve made me seriously shocked for a while. But he was just like “Oh. Sonya’s innocent.” 
• Jarod seemed more pissed off at Sonya because he always mentioned her first before the brigades. But that’s probably also because it’s just easier to single her out compared to the brigades, which is a whole organisation... 
• But at the same time, he’d also know that most people he’d come across would not know the name of the brigades leader, or at least the one who recruited Lola, So while he already knew Robert beforehand, he figured he wouldn’t want to waste time with the specifics of his goal. 
• Guess Sonya’s a famous enough public figure that you’d know which Sonya if you just said her name

JOHN

• One of his encouters is pretty absurd, the one where he's upset about his "Mama Bear" being a cop
• Like imagine you're a teenager, all alone in the middle of nowhere
• And then you see a big & beardy older man drunk out of his mind -- who could easily tear you in half -- running aimlessly, and crying out "Mama Bear" and "Goddamn cop"
• And while the logical thing to just run away, you approach him and ask if he's okay and "Who's Mama Bear" x'D
• We're just incredibly lucky it's John and we can trust the guy
• John's cool, but I'm not gonna lie, Omen Vitalities sound like they taste awful
• I have no idea what ginseng tastes like, but the cucumber bit sounds like it tastes bad. I normally love vegetables, but cucumbers are just not for me
• I like how this guy actually cares about kids and their wellbeing
• Guess that's where his main inner conflict comes  in with the whole situation with Alex and his bio parents 
• And also his fallout with Robert was because of this. Said that Robert uses kids, radicalises them, and allows them to put their lives at risk for the revolution, which John doesn't like

SONYA

• I love this propaganda woman so much LMAO
• ...
• ...
• ...
• I can fix her
• Although I would definitely hate her in real life, haha
• Only like her 'cause she's funny
• I mean, there are multiple characters that I like that I would definitely not in real life
• One good example is Arnold Rimmer from Red Dwarf. Arrogant, neurotic, rude, cowardly, and subscribed to a magazine titled 'Facscist Dictator Monthly' x'D
• Ha, maybe Sonya and Arnold would get along with each other on that last part
• Now I just wish there was a 'Lister' to be her other half
• Anyways
• I actually started this game long before I encountered her the first time. So, as I said earlier, I saw the intro, left it for a couple weeks, and then continued playing...
• Because of that, when I encountered Sonya for the first time, I immediately thought she was a musician 
• That's because I had just been playing a lot of Streets of Rogue and I love the bouncer & musician's dynamic (The musician tells the bouncer what to do while being escorted to Mayor City, all while the bouncer suffers silently as their bodyguard, haha)
• God knows what she'd be like in the age of social media
• She's be a monster, no kidding
• As much as I love Sonya as a character, she's clearly one of the antagonists, both in the main narrative and the way she treats the player and most others around her
• So you'd usually expect her to either (a) realise her wrongs and try to better herself, or (b) face some kind of consequence
• In the hotel encounter, I think that if you let Adam fall to his death (even if he survives by falling into trash), he gets genuinely pissed, and the picture of him and Sonya eating out together doesn't show up in the credits. So, I guess there's that for mistreating Adam, even though that's less on her end
• I've discussed this more in Stan & Mitch's section, but it's interesting how you can't let Sonya die in this game, either
• 
  

STAN & MITCH

• If you know me enough, clearly these guys were going to be my favourites.
• They're not very smart, not very competent, and they're not very boy-next-door material
• I love incompetent wannabe petty bad guys that belong more in 80s-00s Saturday hero cartoons xD
• And also, I should definitely say that these two -- at least in terms of attittude, exchange of dialoge, and relationship to the law -- remind me so much of a certain shady three-man team, just without a boss
• And yes, I have imagined crossover scenarios. Maybe I'll make a post for my ideas on that, not that anyone would care, haha
• I was trying to get the scenario where Stan & Mitch don't find out who Sonya's would-be killer was, and when and where he was going to attack, once. 
• In doing so, I just felt AWFUL because the whole process was so slow, letting my actions just sink in
• It hurt a little more because I LOVE sibling characters
• It's kinda like dramatic irony, the way you know something that the characters in the story don't, and Stan & Mitch are some of my faves, so it was kinda painful to see their reactions to not finding the information they needed
• It's not like the time where I decided to let Zoe die, because that was a one-time, one-action decision, so it all happened in a flash.
• It made me scared when Stan & Mitch didn't show up at the wall near the end of the game to try to see Sonya. If they knew about the killer, this was before they would attempt to take him (Jarod) down (despite the fact that he already decided to stop killing Sonya anyway)
• So thankfully, and also kind of not so thankfully, Sonya doesn't die either way!
• Honestly, I think it would be kinda funny if, despite mentioning that they prefer to be apolitical, they've been secretly hoping for Tyrak to not be the president anymore, mostly because of his extreme use of cops
• I mean, I remember when we were discussing cops patroling Petria during my playthrough aiming for a legal victory...
• I answered that there would be less cops with Florres as the president, and Stand & Mitch were something like, "We were discussing that, actually!"
• So if that were the case, that would be kind of funny, especially considering how much they care for Sonya and how she's very much on Tyrak's side.
• And they're like "Sure, if Tyrak weren't around there'd be less cops, but what about Sonya?! She'd kill us if she found out we wanted that!" haha

ZOE 

• Of all the characters here, I think Zoe's the most vital to the main plot. She's just down last because I decided to do this in alphabetical order xD
• I haven't yet played Mile 0 yet, so I don't think I'll be able to talk about her WHOLE character at the moment, so here's what I've got so far
• 
  
• Not gonna lie, I really thought she was going to be a "love interest" for the main character, but then I realised that wouldn't make sense since we play multiple characters who she'll never see again x'D
• 
  

Other Characters

ADAM

• Justice for Adam

MAX

ROBERT

From: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-rfiPDsvnQo?feature=share

Reminds me of the time one of my younger brothers showed me his assignment for English class. I think he had to watch Avatar for class and was tasked to create a journal entry written as if he were one of the Na'vi. He showed me an entire document of keysmash with the words "jakesully" and "bottlecap tribe" scattered here and there -- it cracked me up!!!

A list of my favourite characters or just characters that I like

If a character listed is written in bold and next to an asterisk, the character is one of my top favourites

VIDEO GAMES

• Adam (Road 96)
• Anchovy the Pizza Slime (Khimera: Destroy All Monster Girls)
• Balrog (Cave Story)
• Bards (Chants of Sennaar)
• *Beht (Spectrobes: Origins)
• Bouncer (Streets of Rogue)
• Countess Chelsea (Path to Nowhere)
• Chako (Cave Story)
• *Curly Brace (Cave Story)
• Doctor (Streets of Rogue)
• Don Quixote (Limbus Company)
• Flora (Path to Nowhere)
• *Gorrik (Spectrobes: Origins)
• Ice Man (Mega Man 1)
• Iggy Koopa (Super Mario)
• Ishmael (Limbus Company)
• Kawa Kawa (Path to Nowhere)
• Koopa Troopa (Super Mario)
• Lloyd (MOTHER)
• Ludwig Von Koopa (Super Mario)
• *Magnet Man (Mega Man 3)
• Metal Man (Mega Man 2)
• Mina (Iconoclasts)
• Misery (Cave Story)
• Mitch (Road 96)
• Morton Koopa Jr (Super Mario)
• Musician (Streets of Rogue)
• Nana (Ice Climber)
• Pharaoh Man (Mega Man 4)
• Popo (Ice Climber)
• Prince Poo (EarthBound/MOTHER 2)
• Quote (Cave Story)
• Ring Man (Mega Man 4)
• Royal (Iconoclasts)
• Sonya (Road 96)
• Stan (Road 96)
• Sweetheart (OMORI)
• Warriors (Chants of Sennaar)
• Wii Fit Trainer (Wii series)
• *Zig (Spectrobes: Originis)

ANIME & MANGA

• Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail)
• Luca Esposito (Astra Lost in Space)
• Hayashida Heihachi (SAMURAI 7)
• Jean Kirstein (Attack on Titan)
• Miki Naoki (School Live!)
• Rock Lee (Naruto)
• Rossiu Adai (Gurren Lagann)
• Sasha Blouse (Attack on Titan)
• Yoko Littner (Gurren Lagann)
• Yuki Takeya (School Live!)
• Yuuko (Nichijou)

WESTERN ANIMATED SERIES

• Aang (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
• Cut Man (Mega Man)
• Chloe Bourgeois, before a certain episode and onwards (Miraculous Ladybug)
• Guts Man (Mega Man)
• Jasper (Steven Universe)
• Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe)
• Marceline the Vampire Queen (Adventure Time)
• Magnet Man (Mega Man)
• Metal Man (Mega Man)
• Peridot (Steven Universe)
• Pharaoh Man (Mega Man)
• Roll Light (Mega Man)
• Rob (The Amazing World of Gumball)
• Toph Beifong (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

WESTERN ANIMATED FILMS

• 
  

WEB ANIMATION

• Daniel (Plainsville)
• Candy (Object Overload)

LIVE-ACTION SERIES

• Alan Partridge (Alan Partridge series, On the Hour, The Day Today)
• Arnold Rimmer (Red Dwarf)

I check every day for Chants on Sennaar to be on sale on Steam :')

Gushing about Chants of Sennaar

DEVOTEES

• I remember when I first saw the warriors at the gate and read their speech bubbles, I was was surprised to see they were speaking a different language!
• You don't know the pleasant surprise I felt when I saw that there were multiple levels and that we're actually climbing a tower (via the terminals). I was actually worried that the game would end after like 30 minutes of gameplay, haha
• I love the guy that opens the little window at the entrance to the abbey. Like they look at us for like three seconds, and I know it's just the mask, but they look so pissed off xD
• I didn't realise that there was more down-wards in the market area until I decided to check around because I'd already completed the warrior's language, so I thought, "how could this be possible? I must be missing something."
• [SPOILERS] I actually visited the devotees late in the game to see if they ever found out about the preacher's death and... The guy still thinks I should check the garden to see if he's there... The devotees in the church still wonder where the preacher went... Oh man, who's gonna have to tell them?! That's honestly really sad.
• [SPOILERS] Also, I just can't help but wonder. How did the preacher meet his fate there? He said something about him finding the lens, which found God, causing him to decide to go to the cemetary. And when he said, "I'm going up!" Did he believe it was his time to die? Was this a terrible accident? 

WARRIORS 

• There's just some kind of appeal to their "macho macho" attitude
• They're all about "DEDICATION" and "DUTY" and being tough, so when I learned that they go nuts over music and arts it makes me laugh.
• That's especially when [SPOILERS] after we help them learn that the devotees (the ones they saw as "impure" and illustrate as demons in their mosaics) also love playing music they go like "real shit?" and start listening to them play
• All the stealth segments here, I was being driven nuts by the one in that giant room before the armoury
• During that one part where we had to help out some warriors in placing crates, I thought it was funny how the warriors either (A) didn't notice an extra number because that's just the stereotypical macho tough guy stuff, or (B) they assumed there was just an idiot that just randomly joined in and just let us contribute to their work
• Funny, I initially thought these guys were going to be the main antagonists, but it turns out not. They're just a society that heavily prioritises their military and honour, only pejudiced against the devotees, and that they're actually one of the lower societies in the tower's hierarchy.
• Notice how the warriors (at least, the ones that we see) are much, MUCH taller than the people from basically  every other level in the tower. Makes me wonder if there's a height requirement.
• Don't know if I've said this before, but I wonder where all the other people from the warriors' level are at. Because clearly not everyone born in that level are going to grow big and strong enough for that. 
• Everyone else except the warriors show the ordinary people of their level living out their daily lives:
• Devotees: sitting around, playing games, listening to music
• Warriors: ??? Always seen guarding, working, etc. 
• [SPOILERS] Actually, the only time we ever see them not do anything that isn't related to their work, it's when they're watching a bard concert
• [SPOILERS] Bards: I mean, they do literally everything leisureful (sorry serfs)
• [SPOILERS] Alchemists: I know it's mostly research and stuff, but there are some of them in the library, standing around talking, etc. Even in their very organised, routinely lives, surely they have some time for recreation
• [SPOILERS] Anchorites: I mean, their lives were basically tied to their screens & stuff. You see them playing video games & stuff.
• [END OF SPOILERS]

Probably anything beyond this point is a spoiler, but I'll also mark the details that stand out as major spoilers

BARDS

• Bruh these guys are so mean to me for like no reason
• At first I thought, "wow, these guys are so cool, their culture prioritises the arts," because I'm interested in the arts a lot too
• But then they start hitting you with "HAHAHA, IDIOT, YOU ARE!" all of a sudden
• I mean, I guess it's not all that shocking when you figure out that, since beauty is what they value the most, it would be likely for many bards to have a sense of vanity
• [SPOILERS] I think it's hilarious how they're especially prejudiced against the warriors, AKA the ones who view them as the "chosen ones"
• [SPOILERS] Also, I think it's pretty interesting how, unlike the warriors (who saw bards as above them) and devotees (who saw warriors as above them), the bards weren't too fond of the alchemists. Aside from the monster, I feel like they're all like, "Our lifestyle is so pleasant, why would you want to be anywhere else? We're not like those barbaric warriors or those overworked alchemists."
• And there's also those serfs tied to doing all the labour, which I learned recently were only in those positions because they were left-handed (source)... 
• [SPOILERS] I remember coming across that resistance hideout in the sewers, thinking to myself, "the bards are so happy. Why would they feel the desire to be free?" And then I remembered their serfs existed xD
  
• Also that whole object-->subject-->verb structure made a mess of my mind, especially in the terminals

ALCHEMISTS

• That monster stealth segment. Reminded of an old Wii game (demo) I played, where the premise was to travel through school rooms only stepping into lit-up areas
• So they're miners and chemists. (And I realised just now that alchemy is basically "the art of transmuting metals" 
• I love the music that plays in their little town area. It's sort of "awkward" sounding at the start. Kind of in a clumsy-antisocial-scientist-who-studies-all-day sense.
• They have a giant clock with designated meal times marked. I thought that was kind of amusing, haha 
• [SPOILERS] That part where we enter Lab 3... I love the small story it tells. First you see the messy state the room is in. Not a normal mess causeed by disorganised alchemists, but one influenced by fast chaos and lack of control. Then the giant splatter on the wall. You look at the floor, you see hand prints. They're human sized, but follow its path and they get bigger, and bigger. There's a hole you can observe, and the only thing you hear is the heavy breathing of the monster you encountered earlier... GENIUS. You know exactly how things went wrong without even seeing or reading it.
• I feel like these guys have the some of the least prejudices held against the societies of the other floors. I mean, in one of the notebooks it sated explicitly that them and the bards a floor below them are "brothers". I guess they already recognise all of the societies as equals. Except, they view the anchorites as fairies xD

ANCHORITES

• It took me some time to figure out what they meant by "exile" and why that's the thing that they valued the most. Turns out they wanted to be hermits and separate themselves from the rest of the world. Or I could be wrong, and that's just my interpretation. But then again, just look up the definition of anchorite and it'll make sense
• 
  

Fanfic - Flora's calendars

DESCRIPTION: Flora gives away her leftover stock of firefighter's calendars.

CHARACTERS: Flora, Ignis, Kelvin (feat. Che, Bai Yi, K.K., Oliver, & Countess Chelsea)

KEY WORDS: Slice of Life, Comedy, Very mild romantic undertones

1, CAFETERIA - DAY

Various sinners eat their breakfast. 

FLORA: (Through the PA) GOOOOD morning MBCC! It's Flora again!

A few sinners look up to the speakers. Many others ignore the noise and continue their breakfast.

FLORA: Now, before continuing the reading of chapter 8 in the fire safety manual, I'll  also wanted to make an announcement! Today I'll be giving away FREE firefighters calendars! Feel free to drop by in front of my room to check them out! 

2, CORRIDOR - DAY

Che and Bai Yi flip through a calendar. KK leans on a wall behind them. Flora patiently watches them.

BAI YI: This is an interesting collection you have, Flora. I just don't get why you'd just give these things away for free.

FLORA: I'm just-- Hm... I don't really know how else to say this without it sounding like a *bad* thing, but I'm just trying to get rid of them.

CHE: Where do they even find "firefighters" like these, man? 

FLORA: Where? I think that should be obvious.

CHE: What, the fire department? Are these even real firefighters?

FLORA: Hm... I think some of them SHOULD be. I can recognise a few of them!