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Yesterday morning, we drove all the way to Montauk Point. It's a long ride in the car whenever we go there, and the car is one of the least suitable places for me to be playing Pokemon Pearl, especially when I have stuff to spread out and I roll dice constantly.

To keep ourselves occupied, Marie was knitting a death blanket for Sabrina, but I brought a weapons catalog that I've been keeping by my bed ever since we got it as junk mail. Marie asked me why that has sparked my interest so much, and I told her that my interest in it relates to RPGs and my RPG-inspired ficseries Monster Collection Chronicles. I actually have a lot more to explain about it, which will have to wait to get its own entry later today.

While I was reading my catalogue, Mom asked Marie what she was doing. After Marie explained, I asked her if we would bury Sabrina in a cardboard box when she dies, since she likes to sleep in those all the time. Marie said that we should build a coffin for her instead of something so cheap as a box. I responded that Sabrina probably wouldn't enjoy sleeping on (or in) wood because it's so hard.

While we were on our way, we stopped at a Starbucks and got frappucinos. At first, I didn't want one because I thought they would taste the same as a latte (which I didn't like when me and Mom got some). However, on our way out, she asked me if I could get a sip of Marie's, and I happened to like it, so we got one for me.

Later on, still before we got to Montauk Point, we pulled over somewhere so that me, Mom, and Dad could get out of the car for a moment. I was the last one still outside the car when Mom and Dad got back in, and as I reached the car door, Dad slowly pulled away for a joke. (Okay, let me just clear up that there are some forms of teasing that I can take, as I sometimes even dish out some of my own forms, and there are some that I have less tolerance for. I'll need to discuss this with Dr. Perret next time I see him.) When I got back in the car, I'm like "Try that again, and I'll break that window." (No, I wouldn't actually do something like that.) Marie then asked me if I actually plan to order anything from that catalog, and then told me to show it to Mom. Mom didn't confiscate it outright, and she wasn't exactly mad, but she did notice that that catalog was actually directed to Matthew D. Clements (an ex-tenant of ours from years and years ago). Funny. I didn't even notice that.

We finally got to our destination (or at least a parking lot nearby), and we took a hike across a very rocky beach. Along the way, Mom collected any small, still-intact conch shells she could find, and gave them to me to store in my coat pockets. Dad also taught me about the geology of the place, such as how the dirt cliffs formed and how the rocks piled up and became mostly smooth and round. We eventually got to the end of the beach, where we could see about six seals on top of the rocks in the water. (One of them was on a separate rock from the rest.) We had a nice look at them before leaving.

Not much to say about the ride back home. When we got back home, the first thing I did was write the first four lines in the intro of Makeruna Makendou into Romaji. I plan to continue as the days go on, so that I can actually translate them the best I can and then write a translation patch.

Choose Your Weppins!

Okay, this morning, I stated that what I have to explain about the role of weapons in video games and my future fanfiction will have their own LiveJournal entry. Here are how they relate to certain video games and to my RPG-inspired future fanfiction:

Dark Cloud: Each of the six playable characters have their own type of weapons: Toan wields swords and knives, Xiao wields slingshots, Goro uses axes and war hammers, Ruby uses magical rings and armlets that fire balls of energy, Ungaga uses spears and staffs, and Osmond carries guns. Some weapons aren't exactly any of the aforementioned types but are used similarly. Such examples include the Kitchen Knife (actually a meat cleaver that Toan can use), the Turtle Shell (a turtle shell on a big stick, wielded by Goro), or the Cactus (a cactus on a stick, wielded by Ungaga). What's really interesting, though, is that unlike in real life (where weapons have to be manufactured) weapons can "evolve" into better weapons if they're used often enough. For example, the Swallow (a machine gun) becomes the G Crusher and then the Star Breaker if the stat requirements are fulfilled.

As interesting as that idea is, though, I won't be able to apply it into Monster Collection Chronicles, as that ficseries will use more realistic logic (such as one's body, not their weapons, getting stronger as he or she continues to fight).

Anima: I first heard of this game when I came across this pic of a fantasy-style sword collection. The person who drew that pic has other collection pics related to Anima, but that one naturally became my favorite of them all. It's too bad that Anima turned out to be completely life-like. It's not like one can see weapons so closely when playing Grandia III, although one could do so in Dark Cloud.

(On a side note relating to Monster Collection Chronicles: While Dark Cloud, Grandia III, and Anima do provide perfect examples of what weapons and other equipment would look like in Mon World, which represents the past, other games like Contra: Hard Corps or Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars would provide equivalent examples of weapons in the futuristic Mech World. Except, of course, that in Zone of the Enders, most weapons are built into mechs, not useable by people.)

Shadow the Hedgehog: Not an RPG, but still worth noting. This game is known for being the first Sonic game where you can use weapons, and a wide variety at that. That's one of the reasons I bought that game, although most useable things usually go unused. Some of the things Shadow can wield include pistols, uprooted signposts, electronic poles found in cyberspace, rocket launchers, ray guns, and more. In fact, even street lights can become weapons when freed from the ground, but of course, it's not possible in real life to swing something that long and heavy.

(This game inspired an entire story arc in Digimon Royale, not only because of its variety of weapons, but also because of Shadow's ability to break things and the fact that what stages you proceed to depend on whether you're good, evil, or neutral in the previous stage.)

Digimon Royale (and related games): I'm still personally debating whether or not I'll enable Digimon to use weapons that can be found or bought. On the one hand, this was an important part of Digimon World 3, and the cover art of Digimon World 4 depicts Agumon (a normally empty-handed Digimon) among several other Digimon carrying a short battle axe. However, being realistic, not all Digimon have arms with which to hold such weapons. On top of that, even though Digimon in the anime series usually digivolve into something quite similar to their current or previous form, this is not always the case (at least according to Digidex. For example, Agumon has a lot of Champion forms that he can digivolve into (including Garurumon, which was Gabumon's Champion form in Digimon Adventures 01). And finally, there are Digimon that carry miscellaneous weapons, such as giant Yo-yos (wielded by the Ultimate-level Yo!Yo!mon*), and even more formal weapons wouldn't look right on any Digimon species other than the one that carries them.

Maybe the weapons that might be bought in stores will be equipable by any Digimon whose anatomy would allow them to carry weapons. Those that can't carry weapons would have their own advantages, such as being able to battle underwater, or to be riden by their master like a horse. There are all kinds of Digimon, and one set of rules cannot possibly fit all of them.

Monster Collection Chronicles: Here it is: my #1 life project. While it is debatable as to whether or not I should apply weapons to Digimon Royale, there is no doubt that they will have a prominent role in this ficseries. Both this ficseries and DR have a combination of game-like and realistic logic (exactly why I plan to write them), DR will have more of the former while MCC will have more of the latter. That means that, unlike in most existing RPGs, one cannot simply buy upgraded weapons in stores, with the best weapons available only in the last few regions explored. Instead, each Knight will have only one novelty weapon (which in this case, is his or her respective Monster Weapon). Those are as follow:

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In addition to their respective Monster Weapon, each Knight will also be trained to use other weapons and weapon types. Handguns (brought from Man World) are the most noteable example, as they are light, compact, don't need to be charged up (unlike magic spells), and don't require close combat.

Other: So, yeah. Weapons to choose between are a major reason why I play RPGs such as Chrono Trigger and Grandia III, and these RPGs are one of the main reasons why I plan to eventually write Monster Collection Chronicles. Makeruna Makendou Z, however, is a noteable exception; according to the review, there are no weapons or equipment to buy or choose between. In that game, that's actually a good thing, because it saves me quite a bit of translation work and allows me to have a break from all that dice rolling I normally do when customizing my characters. I played Grandia III because I previously enjoyed Grandia II and, at the time when I ordered it, I needed a break from playing Sonic Adventure 2: Battle for so many weeks on end. On the other hand, the reason why I want to play Makeruna Makendou Z (even though I still have quite a bit left from Pokemon Pearl) is because I've been fond of Mai ever since I played Kendo Rage, and I want to spend some time with her in particular.

Finally, the title of this blog entry was (not by coincidence) also the title of a certain episode of Popeye. I purposely saved it for the end so that only those that actually bothered to read this entry would find out (assuming they didn't already watch that cartoon before).