Execution

WLC 6.A: The Real "Disarm Traps" Spell

Ling looks upon the runic circle and scans the area. As she expected, the big trap is filled with various smaller traps, some more cleverly hidden than others.

"Bl'ell," says Ling, "Only one way to deal with this."

Ling conjures a herd of false deer. She directs the biologically accurate meat puppets to charge through the field while she hides a magic shield-tree. The traps and curses detonate with explosions of various flavors of energy. Flaming chunks of meat fly into the air.

When the cacophony ends, Ling peers out onto a wizardly warzone. Stone and ice statues stand over struggling half-sunken beasts, all coated in viscera amid the burnt field and corrosive pools. Several deer suffer from various disfigurations: extra limbs and openings (like Ling's own spell "Unwanted Orifices"), inside out (Sir Kenra's "Bodily Inversion"), and a torrent of diseases - both natural and magical.

"Guess I have a fan," mutters Ling.

A: You created that spell? Wouldn't have expected you to craft such a horrifying transfiguration. L: It only lasts a few seconds. J: Enough time to cause mental damage, sensory discordance, and intense physical pain. L: Yeah, that's how suddenly gaining and losing fully functioning body parts works.

The meat and deer dissipate, causing the crumbling of the now hollow statues. Holes remain where they had been trapped.

Ling still keeps her attention focused for more hazards as she approaches the broken windmill, carefully stepping around the lingering hazards.

WLC 3.1: By Dawn's Early Plight

Melandria, the Shadow Queen, oozes out of the darkness into the sleeping town of Rankedge. The sun, what the Inner Glowians call that weird rock floating in the center of the planet, shines its light on the lands to the east. No matter how many times she sees this inner world it still unnerves her; the bending of the land into such an unnatural state.

The goblin town has recovered since last she was here, but one building is largely unchanged: Dr. Ling's brutalist brick apothecary. The placards on the side identify it as the Wizard Lizard's Pharm.; they also direct people seeking the Lizard Wizard, Lang Cantor, to the other side of town, by the Gizzard King, a local restaurant.

Melandria, as beautifully dressed as ever, takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. While she waits, she looks about the empty roads, at the the simple stone huts that line this side of town. Her mind drifts into nostalgia, only to be pried back to reality by the sound of the door unlocking.

The door creaks open and a child peers out. The little gecko, almost a miniature Ling wearing a pink smock, stares at Melandria for a second, then says, "Mum's not home." She closes the door suddenly.

J: The end. D: What that's it? J: I'm kidding. There's more.

Melandria knocks on the door again. When the little one opens it again, the darkness grabs it and holds it open.

"Let's try this again," says Melandria, "I am the Shadow Queen and I am looking for Dr. Ling, who I assume is your mother."

"Yes," says the gecko puffing out her cheeks, "She's not here."

"Then, where is she?"

"Get out of my house."

Melandria conjures her magic orb, black like all her things, to her hand. She calls Ling and hears a faint buzzing come from within the house. "Did she leave her orb here?" asks Melandria, pushing her way into the building. "Ling, I need you."

The apothecary is in a sorry state. Contraptions of various types line walls, while a cluttered counter blocks the way into the backroom. The backdoor is actually several threads of beads. A small hammock hangs near a messy dresser in the corner.

"Get out of my house," says the gecko, "You, big titty w***e."

"Child," gasps Melandria, " Where did you learn that word? You shouldn't say things like that."

"Jevoi, what's that racket?" calls a groggy voice from the backroom.

"Ling, it is I," says Melandria, "The Shadow Queen."

"Bl'ell, Mel," says Ling, audibly rummaging around the other room, "Why didn't ya just call?"

"I did," says Melandria firmly, "Several times." She enters the backroom.

The super king sized bed takes up most of the room. It's blankets are crumpled to the side and the pillows are scattered. There are a ludicrous number of shelves along the walls, most of them supporting water bottles. So many water bottles. The rest of the shelves hold an assortment of wands, amulets, scrolls, and books. There is a second door in this room with a plush alligator sitting over it.

Ling is sitting naked on the side of her bed, flicking her magic orb. "What's the problem?" she asks without taking her eyes off it, "So I can prepare."

"Ecological disaster."

WLC 3.5: Gank's for the Memories

"Go on," says Gash, pushing Jevoi into the room, "Say 'hello.'"

Jevoi freezes; the older reptilian's eyes stare into her. Gank puts her tome down and slides off the side of the bed and slowly walks toward Jevoi.

"Hello, there, pinky," says Gank. She turns her attention to the tallgoblin, "Shouldn't you be helping your boss, old man?"

"Boss said-" Another explosion and Melandria's voice echo up the tower interrupting Gash. "On second thought, keep an eye on Ling's kid." He leans down to Jevoi and asks, "Are you going to be okay?"

Jevoi nods and Gash takes off back toward the stairs.

L: To be fair, we were just about to call him back anyway.

Gank quickly slams the door shut and turns to Jevoi. "Alright, pinky let's play a little game." She grabs the gecko by the shoulders with one set of claws and the waist with the other, and sets her on the bed. "I know your weird mom can regrow her limbs," she says with a smile. Her three rows of sharp teeth shining in the low light. "Let's see if you can do it, too." Jevoi continues to stare into Gank's eyes, transfixed. Gank hesitates. "Aren't you scared, pinky?"

Jevoi's voice squeaks out, "You're so cool."

"No fear at all," says Gank, "You're as weird as your mom."

"No, I'm not," says Jevoi, snapping out of her enamoration, "She keeps bringing women home and putting them in her bed." Jevoi looks to her side. "You put me in your bed; you're the weird one."

"I'm going to eat you," says Gank, bluntly.

"She says things like that, too," says Jevoi, equally blunt.

L: When have I ever said that.

D: You said that to that lady who needed a new arm last week.

L: That- Th- Nevermind it.

Gank pushes herself off the bed. "You're funny, pinky," she says, "What's your name?"

"I'm Jevoi." She sits up and spots Gank's tome. "What were you reading?"

"Just magic rituals," says Gank, trying to be cool and aloof, "Old man says I have to learn something here and this is the least boring thing they've got."

"Mum wants me to study magic too," says Jevoi, "But all she has is her dumb plants and animals. I want to learn blades."

An idea worms its way into Gank's brain. "Blades, huh?" she says, "I know where my 'mom'-" Airquotes. "-keeps her swords." She leans toward Jevoi with a coy smile. "Want to see them?"

"YES!" Jevoi jumps off the bed and almost into Gank's naturally armored face.

L: Reminder: I was fighting the abomy outside.

J: And?

L: I just think Dalini would like to know the other side of this.

J: Fine, make it quick.

WLC 1.3: Say, "The Princess?"

The wizard's daughter loosened her posture as she stared into the dark backroom. "Please, come out here," she says, her eyes aglow.

At the sound of shuffling behind the wizard, the old gecko sighs, "Fine, do it."

A smaller gecko in a ragged brown dress scurries quickly next to, and hides behind, the wizard. "Nana Ling," she whispers, "Who is that?"

"Don't act like ya weren't listening," says the wizard Ling, her focus still on her own daughter.

Said daughter takes a few steps forward, around the fire, and leans down. "I'm Jevoi, your mother," she says, smiling for the first time in months. "What's your name?"

The little gecko leans out from behind Ling and looks at her nana. Upon seeing a faint nod, she says, "Dalini. My name's Dalini."

"Dalini," Jevoi repeats, "What a beautiful name: Princess Dalini." Dalini tilts her head in confusion. In response, Jevoi stands tall again. "That's right," she says, "I am the Dead Sun Empress, ruler of the Inner Dark." She pauses, looking over her little doppelganger. "And that makes you-"

Ling scoffs. "Still trying to rename Inner Glow?"

"It hasn't glowed in eight years, Mum," says Jevoi, her eyes darting to the wizard's bone-infused hat rim which masks her.

"And whose fault is that, Jevoi?" asks Ling, leaning back so that Jevoi could see her face again, the face they share.

Mikado Story (Injured)

In both games, getting hit in Story mode will give the player character battle damage in future scenes. These are the four limbs and either the head (BB1) or torso (BB2).

Here's those Mikado scenes from the first game, but this time both Mikado and the other playable characters are fully damage. I only recently discovered you could even apply the damage effects to NPCs. It's an exploit anyone can do: using the secret P2 option in Story mode (R1+R2+L1+L2+Start+Select almost anytime on P2's controller while in Story mode), any NPC in P1's story that is defeated while controlled by P2 will be fully damaged when they reappear. No gameshark codes or other data manipulation required at all.

WLC 5.9: Hey, Demon, It's Jevoi

"G'day," says Jevoi, "Is this- this seat taken?"

The marilith looks at the mortal, but only briefly. She rolls her eyes and continues staring at her food, strange purple meat. "Sure, whatever," she says, "Pretty gutsy walking up to a demon."

D: So what did you talk about? J: Philosophy. L: What kind? J: That's not important.

Jevoi sits down with her drink in hand. "Well, I mean," she struggles to say, "Who says demons have to be bad?"

"The gods?" says the baffled mailith. She stabs the meat; it oozes in response.

"Not really a fan of them anyway," shrugs Jevoi, "Seems like there's a lot of problems they're choosing not to solve."

The marilith looks up, bemused. "And how'd you fix them?"

"My mum always said that we have to keep working to override the people seeking to make everything worse."

"You believe that?" The marilith twirls her fork. "Just try harder?"

"No," says Jevoi, "If there are people dragging us backward, then logically the best thing we can do is get rid of them."

"Get rid of them... how?" asks the marilith. Her gaze intensifying.

"Kill them," says Jevoi blunt, swift, and cold, staring into the marilith's eyes.

A: That look in your eyes that day. I still remember it. L: So ya let her into your cabin then? Eh? Eh? J: Mum, no!

Looking into those eyes, it is as if the whole room has gone silent. The marilith had never had a mortal look at her this way before. She laughs, and says, "Want to walk with me? Name's Angustias, by the way."

"You can call me Jay," says Jevoi, sipping her drink.

"Afraid to tell a demon your name?" asks Angustias, coyly leading Jevoi out the door.

"You're not the first demon I've met," says Jevoi, following coolly.

A: You were trying so hard to be an aloof rogue. J: And you were trying to be seductive. A: I was succeeding.

The duo step out onto the deck and looking out of the bubble surrounding the ship. The stars and galaxies sparkle and shine in the great dark void.

D: Stars? L: Distant lights in the surface world's sky. J: Magnificent beacons of power that fill the cosmos. A: They're really not that special, just plasma.

The pair lean on the railing, neither sure what to say, and so, they linger in silence. A good silence, to be fair.

It definitely sells her animal tamer role.

Her outfit in the latest episode is so 🔥🔥🔥 I had to make a drawing!

Story Mode (English)

In Bushido Blade 2's Story Mode, the starting six characters (including Mikado) have different outfits than they use in the rest of the game.

I know how to switch it back, though. I said I was a dirty little hacker.

This video is every scene she's in. Video is my own; made it a while back. Her English VA is Wendee Lee, who also voices Jo.

The first part of the video is her role in other characters' stories. First as an enemy, then as a friend. The second part of the video is her own story route. The Narukagami crew only have one ending each in this game, while the Shainto have a choice at the end of theirs.

Mr. Gamma ready to rock this world.

Mario Kart World Waluigi 🌹💜

Current Wizard Lizard Chronicles Ideas:

Here's just a collection of thoughts about what kind of stories Ling has to tell. Orc War will be Chapter 8.

The Orc War: a dark story about the brutality of war, people's capacity for cruelty, and what happens when you push a good woman too far.

Cultural Transitions: "Be gay, do crimes" dominoes into two societies' revolutions. Big focus on the how the Vrow became less xenophobic.

The Godmother, or "Jevoi, We Have to Cook": Jevoi attempts to join the Mafeya.

Mother Fearest: Meet Ning; master assassin, Social Darwinist, overbearing mom.

Wizard Lizard and the Lizard Wizard: spelling errors drag Ling into her neighbor's own perilous life.

How I Met My Step-mother: Ning meets the love of her life due to her wild daughter's social strife.

Hara Kiri is Haram: Back in wizard school, Ling helped a suicidal samurai avenge her family.

Are You There, Goddess? It's Me, Jevoi: What's worse than puberty? DIVINE PUBERTY.

Succ You Bi: Young Ling is offered demon summoning powers in exchange for representing Hell in a debate and Ling learns her mother's darkest secret.

The Day the Sun Died: What drove Jevoi to ruin the world?