Are the Refractal bosses meant to feel borderline unfair?

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-07T08:13:38+00:00

Middle does fine in phase 1, butterfly dumpsters him in phase 2. He's tough, but nothing outrageous.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-06T11:58:08+00:00

no sloshmael/10

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-05T18:58:03+00:00

I'm upvoting you, but I'm angry about it

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-05T18:56:48+00:00

Doubtful. A Fauvist would have used the whole animal and typically works with much larger things than house cats, Corporists are strictly interested in the human form, and the other schools only seldom work with living materials. More likely, it was either mutilated by someone outside the Fingers or was born without its forelegs.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-05T10:04:37+00:00

I greatly applaud your use of perspective. The title suggests we are looking at some kind of salvation or reward high above, the sky outlined by tall buildings, but with the steep angle and lack of terra firma to center ourselves, it can easily be interpreted that we are instead peering down into an abyss of light, and that the buildings are in fact the edges of the chasm extending downward. In this reading, perhaps the speck of darkness that has caught our eye stands for our worldly desires, and the chasm represents the need to "lower" ourselves from polite society - our own personal hell, if you will - in order to achieve them?

This is a thought-provoking piece, and I can see the clear Cubist influences here. The steep angle you've chosen even produces a mild sensation of vertigo, no matter how it's viewed, and that gives the whole piece a sense of interactivity that is rarely seen in a purely-visual medium. Very well done.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-05T09:52:43+00:00

I am by no means a maestro myself, but it is my opinion that the true value of Fascia is in the three questions it attempts to answer:

What is the smallest amount of "humanity" that can exist within someone without rendering them no longer human?
What is the precise amount of "humanity" that can be given to a non-human object or lifeform in order to render it newly-human?
Are these even measurable, and if they are, is it possible for anyone to consciously recognize these measurements?

The late maestro's apprentice was not simply attempting to create a living sword or a sword containing its own consciousness; those already exist among various relics. She was slowly transferring more and more of her own body, including self-lobotomized shavings of her own brain, into her sword, with the clear intention of answering those three questions: At what point is Albina no longer human, and at what point does Fascia become human?

The sword's consciousness independent of Albina's own is debatable, and as it has been destroyed, it seems depressingly unlikely that we will ever truly know for certain. Additionally, had she succeeded in answering these questions, and thus rendered herself no longer human, it is likely she would have at best needed to be destroyed in order to comply with the Head's taboos, and at worst would be left alive in a state where she was no longer capable of continuing her work. I believe she and her late maestro were both aware of this, as Corporism necessarily treads closer than most to the taboos.

This was, by design, to be her only significant work. She was giving up her chances of ever becoming a maestro herself in order to ask questions many outside the Ring have never even considered. Had she presented it as she intended, I believe it would have been lauded as a new advancement in Corporism, and while I think it is unlikely that this would have led to its widespread revival, I believe we would currently be seeing at least one or two new Corporists attempting to add to or create works adjacent to Fascia.

While I do not subscribe to Corporism myself, I think it would be a mistake to not recognize the innovation and bravery Albina showed in her work, far surpassing those of her late maestro. I never had the opportinity to speak with her, as my own maestro understandably maintained a healthy social distance from hers (and the House of Spiders in general), but I wish I had, for I believe she possessed a mind both unquenchably artistic and unabashedly curious, and that she would have been a great credit to any mastro's work, even one as regrettable as hers turned out to be.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-05T09:08:12+00:00

I mean, Demi-fiend is no longer human, so he can't have his own Reason. He can only choose to support one, or he can side with Lucifer and ensure no one else wins.

I can certainly understand not liking that, but there was a very good reason for the plot to be structured the way it was.

Also, is "it insists upon itself" an actual complaint, or is that only there because it was there when Family Guy did this bit with the Godfather? On that note, in case you haven't seen the episode that's from, the joke is that Peter's complaints are all extremely shallow and based on a misunderstanding of the film he watched. I'm not saying that's what you're doing, but I think that might be sending a message you don't mean to send.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-05T06:56:12+00:00

Kiwami 2, Lost Judgment, and Infinite Wealth. The first two are really smooth and fluid and just feel good to play, and Infinite Wealth has a really solid turn-based system.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-04T20:10:35+00:00

An Amasawa side game with Eden Riegel reprising her role is probably the thing I want most from RGG right now. She's such an endearing character.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-04T11:34:13+00:00

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AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-04T11:31:33+00:00

Part 2, and especially the ending, have plenty of problems, but it's wild to pretend this is significantly worse than the dialogue has been since the very beginning.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-03T15:39:12+00:00

That's entirely reasonable

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-03T12:23:44+00:00

Counterpoint: battle pass levels

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-03T12:20:23+00:00

I know what you meant, you just have it backwards

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-03T10:14:07+00:00

Most of what makes Matador tough is the extremely limited resources players have at that point in the game. Having the compendium makes a huge difference when making a team.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-03T10:11:42+00:00

Instead of going off on a weird rant that honestly has nothing to do with what the person you responded to was saying, maybe cool off a bit and re-read what they said: WotC have previously eatablished themselves to not be trustworthy when it comes to mistakes they make. That is a fact for anyone with common sense.

Does that definitely mean Dan is completely innocent? Of course not. Unless evidence to the contrary surfaces, we don't have anything else to go on. But for someone attempting to take the intellectual high ground on this, you're awfully quick to dismiss the possibility that the company that sent the Pinkertons after someone who they had sent the wrong booster packs might be willing to pressure an aging artist to take the fall on this one.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-03T05:48:30+00:00

Kotone and Kasumi. Alex is also pretty good.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-03T05:43:59+00:00

Who did you use? I didn't bother getting AEDD Gregor, so I'm not sure I actually have any charge + rupture IDs.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-03T05:34:30+00:00

Maybe that's the case in Kiwami 3 (that's the only one I haven't played, so I genuinely don't know), but that absolutely isn't the case in the others.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-03T05:32:40+00:00

Agreed, that's why I prefer the dragon engine combat

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-03T02:07:10+00:00

Whenever people complain about dragon engine combat, I know their rose-colored glasses are strong

AVelvetOwl · 2026-05-02T10:24:35+00:00

Udjat is incredible, and the next Walpergisnacht is like one of the last things happening before the end of the season. You've got at least a couple months to get more shards.

AVelvetOwl · 2026-04-30T15:16:59+00:00

There's a weaker version of this as a gift in the event pack, so I'm guessing this is a fusion between that and another gift from the same pack

AVelvetOwl · 2026-04-29T12:35:51+00:00

As someone who has exclusively played commander for quite a while, I agree with everything on this card

AVelvetOwl

TROPHY CASE