Big Girls Don’t Cry (Maybe, LOL)

I’m going to take a shot in the dark and assume that that is certainly not the case.  I pretty much have to, since I’m working under the assumption that even the biggest of big girls is still a human being and thus capable of a vast emotional range, as well as reasonably impacted by stimuli of all kinds throughout her life.  But I am an optimist, so who knows?  It’d probably help if I’d actually seen the movie Big Girls Don’t Cry and didn’t just want to use it as a cheeky, pun-based lead-in to the topic du jour.

So enough dawdling.  Let me say this to start: why aren’t there more giant protagonists in fiction?

Also, let me say this to…uh, continue: apparently I referenced the movie even though there are at least three different songs with the same title.  

Why was I born a cultural dunce?

RE: One Piece: World Seeker

One day I need to have a talk with my brother about his penchant for impulse buys.  

Like, I’m not about to tell him how to spend his money, but him grabbing One Piece: World Seeker -- and preordering it months in advance, at that -- has to qualify as a potential red flag.  Did he know that the game would be good?  No.  Did he have room in his schedule for it, given that its release date was sandwiched between Devil May Cry V and Sekiro?  No.  Is he even a fan of One Piece?  At best, he tangentially orbits it; he’s seen a whopping four episodes, played snippets of one game, and likes the “manimals” of the Enies Lobby Arc.

Oh, and he’s a fan of Tony Tony Chopper…even though he got the name confused and called him Tony Chopper Chopper.

I don’t know what possessed him to get the game, and I never will.  But what’s truly bizarre is that, in a way, I’m actually glad he did.  One Piece: World Seeker is easily the weirdest game I’ve played in a while.  So let’s talk about it.

Because it gives me an excuse to embed One Piece theme songs.

Doubling Down on the Dumb

As eager as I am to write about Devil May Cry V some more -- and Kingdom Hearts III, I guess -- I can’t gorge on those two games all the time. Not that those two games are in the same league, of course.  One is the sort of dessert you’d get from a Michelin-starred restaurant, while the other might as well be half-eaten leftovers from Denny’s.  Guess which is which for extra fun!

So what am I going to waste a Monday slot on this time around?  Not Sekiro.  Not that I have anything against the game (besides my vehement hatred of ninjas), but A) I haven’t played it yet, and B) I haven’t even finished Dark Souls.  The first Dark Souls.  There is another game that’s piqued my interest, but because I’m so intrigued by it, I want to hold off until I can pump more time into it.  So I guess for now, I’ll talk about something non-video game related.

Now then.  Let me regale you with a post on the stupidest thing I’ve ever done…this month.

Go play The MISSING. (Also, writing junk.)

Now, I don’t want to oversell the game, but let me say this about The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories. Its greatest sin is that it released in the same year and quarter as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate -- because if it chose any other time period, then it would probably, if not easily, be my Game of the Year.

I mean, it’s not perfect.  There are some technical issues (on the Switch, at least), a decent chunk of the puzzles are surprisingly basic (except for one at the end involving a big shoe), the voice acting occasionally reaches a point where main heroine JJ is channeling the spirit of Tommy Wiseau, and…yeah, I can see the general length of the game -- or lack thereof -- being a sticking point for gamers that want bang for their buck.  Then again, my $30 got me about 8 hours of entertainment, so your mileage may vary.  Also this is both a complaint and a compliment: this game really pops off in the final act or so, meaning that the ending is…yikesy mikesy.

I’ll probably talk more about the game another day, but for now?  Buy it, watch an LP, read up on it, consume it however you can.  Now let’s spend the rest of this post talking about big dumb writing projects.

Here comes a new(ish) challenger, I guess?

Proving that EVO lasts all year here on Cross-Up, here’s…something that is distinctly not tied to any currently-released or upcoming fighting game.  But the blog is called Cross-Up, so I would be remiss if I didn’t adhere to the theme.

Well, since I’m not planning on boring anyone with the details (for once), I’ll make this brief.  I’ve been putting in the work with my characters recently, primarily because I’ve been on something of an art kick -- though as a writer of sorts, you can bet that many a notebook page has been scribbled upon.  What’s relevant to this blog is that because of my work beyond it, I may have reached a new level.  Presumably that means I’ve leveled up as a writer, but more importantly, I feel like I may have made a breakthrough with a certain character.  

Right now, he’s the one character I need to make a breakthrough with the most.

Shower Thoughts with My Hero Academia (Season 1)

You know what?  There’s a version of My Hero Academia out there in another dimension, locked deep within the darkest confines of the multiverse, where Midoriya never got his Quirk.

Like, I’ve been thinking about it, and I realize that if All Might had never run into Midoriya, and/or if neither one ran into that green blob villain -- which is feasible, given the slim odds of their encounter -- then the Symbol of Peace would have gone on as planned, given his Quirk to someone else he deemed worthy at U.A., and left our hero to be…not a hero.  

I won’t lie: there’s a part of me that wouldn’t mind seeing that story play out.  Maybe have Midoriya enroll in U.A. anyway in the support class?  Have him develop gear for heroes (in-training or otherwise) while providing support as their mission control?  Let him find ways to build armor/equipment that simulates useful battle Quirks?  Or -- and here’s the real kicker -- have him team up with Bakugou so at least one of them can make it to the top.  Bakugou’s got the talent and power, but Midoriya assists and conditions him so that the fire in his belly gets directed instead of scattered in all directions.  An uneasy alliance, sure, but a BEST MATCH when the two truly learn to work as a team.

But you’re not here for hypothetical situations.  You’re here to find out who is best girl in My Hero Academia (besides Iida, as discussed).  And the answer is…drumroll pleeeeeeeeeeeeease…

Voltech’s Super 3D Adventures of HYPER-DOOM

Alternate post title: Don’t You Just Love it When One Mistake Made Weeks Ago Ends Up Invalidating the Weeks of Work That Follow?

Okay, maybe that wouldn’t be much of an alternate title.  But damned if it doesn’t accurately represent my situation -- and yet despite that, I’m actually not that mad about it.

Just…residually mad, I’d say.

Do it for Her, or Whatever -- ACT I

Alternate post title: Do it for Her, Even if it’s the Stupidest Thing Ever

Technical (Mechanical?) Difficulties Rule -- ACT 2

Now, I'm not going to say that I'm in the middle of the Suffering Arc of my life, because A) it's not THAT bad, and B) I don't want to jinx myself, buuuuuuuuuuuuut...man, it'd be a pretty apt descriptor, given the past 1.5 weeks.

Technical (Mechanical?) Difficulties Rule.

Alternative post title: The "Well, That's Unfortunate" Mini-Arc.

Well, there's no other way around it this time.  I've had some of my stuff IRL break down on me -- not my computer, thankfully -- and it required some attention.  Granted "attention" is borderline synonymous with "try to fix it but potentially break it further", but let's not dwell on my failures as a handyman.  Word of advice though: be wary of your surroundings when you're taking off any article of clothing, no matter how meager.

I like how I'm making this more ambiguous and grandiose than it needs to be.  But don't worry about it.  Or me, for that matter.  I'm mostly okay; it's just that I need to try and get some repairs done, and hopefully that'll be sorted in the next day or two.  The trade-off is that because of this mini-arc, I'm worn out, annoyed, and more than a little stressed.  It certainly doesn't help that there's been a string of 100-degree days, so I can't even go out in the dead of night without breaking a sweat.

The takeaway from this post is that, well, this IS the Monday post.  It sucks because I came up with one that I was itching to upload, but I'll have to save it for another day when I'm not soaked, warding off bugs, and lamenting my starkly-limited skill set.  Maybe Thursday, then?  Time will tell, but I'll probably be back on track by then.

In the meantime?  If you're reading this (and aren't a ghost -- or, alternatively, you exist), then feel free to use the comment section to gush about your favorite fictional character.  That'll be interesting to read.  In exchange?  Please accept some hype Sentai music.

See you guys next time.  Assuming I'm not caught up in an explosion.

On Kingdom Hearts and Planning Ahead

For the record: yes, I know that there’s new footage of Kingdom Hearts III, yes, I’ve seen it, and yes, I think it’s good.  I thought about doing a post on it immediately, but there was something else I wanted to toss up first.  Also, I don’t want this to become a Kingdom Hearts blog, even though it’s pretty much going to once I start uploading the content from 2.8.

Then again, I’m putting Kingdom Hearts in the title because I have a hunch nobody will read or care about this unless I do so.  Given that?  Have a taste of the ultimate clickbait.

…Featuring [REDACTED] from the Kingdom Hearts series.

RE: Fortnite

Oh yeah, I played Fortnite that one time.  Guess it’s time to do a post on it.

A Writer’s Hubris

It was a coin flip between putting “Writer’s” in quotes or not, given that the same qualifier could be applied to me.  But there are times when I like to pretend I have some shred of legitimacy, and this is one of them.  Now watch closely as I proceed to rip that legitimacy into thousands of tiny pieces.

Such is my way.   Take heed of it -- of the aesthetics of justice.

Hiatus Time is (Almost) Over!

*insert crickets chirping here*

Yeah, it’s getting close to that time, so I figured it’d be best if I make a quick housekeeping post to announce it.  I’ve been holding Cross-Up down this winter with one-a-week posts, compared to the usual two, as per the hiatus -- one that I went on to finish writing a novel.  The progress on that is…going to take some explaining, but to put it simply?  Assuming everything goes well, I’ll be done with the lion’s share of the work before the end of the month.  Or maybe by the end of the month.  That’s a big assumption, though.  I’ve had three separate IRL interruptions in this day alone, so anything (awful) could happen.

Some days I wonder if it’s because I’m secretly a font of chaos and calamity.  It’s possible.  Check back with me three Thursdays from now; those seem to be my unluckiest days.  Not Mondays, for whatever reason.

What’s Going On with Star Wars?

*sigh*

Man, I wanted to do another post on Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, but I guess this is slightly more important.

Slightly.

Slightly.

RE: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid

“We Madoka now.”

I remember using that line to describe Kamen Rider Gaim a few years back, and with good reason.  For those unaware, Gaim -- a tokusatsu series carrying the Kamen Rider torch -- was spearheaded by Gen “The Butcher” Urobuchi, who by then had long since stolen the spotlight with his now-infamous magical girl anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica.  Confession time: I haven’t seen the latter series, but I have seen the former.  And cultural osmosis has made me suspect that there are more than a few parallels between Gaim and Madoka…which I’ll spare you of here, because spoilers are involved.

Parallels or not, Gaim went on to become a fan favorite with plenty of spinoffs to its name.  I’m mostly okay with that; I like Gaim, and I can see why people would absolutely love it, but to me it’s not the be-all and end-all.  Good, but not outstanding; strong, but not without flaw.  It did give us Micchy, one of KR’s best characters (IMO), but it also gave us Kaito, one of KR’s worst characters (IMO).  My thoughts aside, it’s not hard to imagine the showrunners wanting to reproduce the success and fame that Gaim brought in -- especially as a follow-up to the less-than-stellar KR Ghost.

Enter Kamen Rider Ex-Aid -- which at a base level is “We Madoka Now: Revengeance.”  But if you cut even an inch deeper, it’s Gaim 2.0.  But if you cut two inches deeper, then you might have the same opinion I do: Ex-Aid is the bizarro-Gaim.  It’s good for the reasons that Gaim was bad…and bad for the reasons that Gaim was good.

…In my humble opinion, of course.

RE: Re: Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Okay, so I think I came up with a workaround for uploading Danganronpa images without spoiling myself to high heaven.  I’ve got the PC version of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, so all I have to do is take direct screenshots as events transpire, and I’m at no risk of tapping the forbidden knowledge.  Ergo, now I’m free to use this picture of Tenko’s shit-eating grin without consequence.  Also, I remembered that Soundcloud is a site that exists, and thus I can head there to listen to the game’s OST.  And thanks to that, I don’t have to worry about video thumbnails/titles that try to spoil me on upcoming content.  On that note: YouTube, what the hell?

This is a lot of effort to put into not learning about a game.  Just as well, though.  Because 1) Danganronpa V3 is kind of blowing my mind right now.  And 2) get this game.

Or, you know, watch an LP.  That works, too.  But also, get this game.

Sonic Forces is…Uhhhhhhhhhh?

Wait, didn’t I just do a post on a Sonic game a few weeks back?  Haven’t I met my quota for the year?

Yes, probably.  On the other hand, I’m pretty sure everybody’s already standing by the proverbial barrel.  So I guess I’ll grab my magnum, join in, and play a winning game of Russian roulette with some swimming little fish sticks in the making.

Do Me a Solid -- Creepy Song Arrange

Boy, this is gonna be an unreasonable request.  But if past Christmases have taught me anything, it’s that I’m pretty good at making demands and expecting a big payoff from, you know, normal people.  No wonder I only got clothes that one time.

Also, alternative post title: I Should Have Thought of This While it Was Still Halloween, But I Guess This is Okay Too Since I Did a Super Mario Odyssey Post

Wait, would that fit into the Blogger dashboard’s title page?  I don’t know.  I’ve never exactly pushed the limits on the character count.  For titles, at least…

On Danganronpa V3 and Spoiler Culture

*sigh*

All right, Danganronpa.  I’m starting to get a little pissed off here.