Cheese's time out in the sun, away from the dreary atmosphere of Polychordia, has really changed him for the better. A face composed of pure darkness has done nothing to dull the beam of his smile!

Yup, that's right! He's the happiest 17 year old boy there ever was! He'll hold everyone's burdens on his shoulders if you ask him to. He'll do anything if you ask him to. You'll ask him, right? You'll talk to him, right? You still remember him, right? You...you care about him, right?

Whatever the answer, it doesn't matter. He's committed to helping even if it kills him. He'll make the world see him.
He'll make you see him.

Spatulad Character Design stuff!

All juvenile Thingamajigs, like their chimera ancestors before them, choose a mask around birth to grow into as they age.

Oldbirths, however, are born with this mask permanently grafted to their face. Taking it off is the equivalent of opening a cocoon whilst a butterfly is not finished metamorphosizing.

A man half-empty in a half-man's state...unable to fully escape the shadow he - nor his ancestry - casts.

A non-gendered way of becoming less of a man...?

DARKWOKE

APPARENTLY the tinyurl didn't work properly last time cuz I messed up with the parenthesis -- should be fixed now, though!!! :^)

Pretty much exactly what you think ^_^
To commemorate this occasion: Have a song I made over the weekend for LostBrook!

https://tinyurl.com/2744hlvn

"Cyclical Lullaby" is what will play as you view your save files, be it in the overworld or on the start menu following the intro.

Reposting the World Map, if only for posterity...

Doc Explaining the enemies in a little more detail (with possible sneak peaks on ones to be displayed in the future..?):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YSVahJkoRuv48SRpYX3wIx8IZQgeL47jMogza8riuWQ/edit?usp=sharing

And....
Battle Theme #1: Up and At 'Em!
https://tinyurl.com/25qpxhke

An increasingly rare piece of Artificial Intelligence technology, the P:AL (Prognosis: Adaptive Loser) brand of combat robots was envisioned long ago to train groups of aspiring heroes for the prophecy.

However, during the Knightmare Templar incident of 201001, a rogue P:AL unit went defective, leading a globe-spanning crusade against all Whatchamacallits that nearly led to their extinction.

You see, P:AL units are equipped with a "Menace Estimation Module". To better train younger heroes against the towering metal golems, they were made to perform worse in a battle to scale with their sparring partner's potential incompetence.

During the Knightmare incident, however, this module worked in reverse, causing the rogue P:AL to brutalize anything it deemed weaker than itself with cold efficiency.

After the rogue agent was deactivated and reset, the P:AL line was largely discontinued. Only 3 units remain active in the entire world, and even then, their intelligence has been largely stunted.

However....during Spatulad's designated trial against Redruut's one and only P:AL unit, their spar was interrupted by a certain young woman with wires for arms, causing P:AL to fail the duel in the "wrong way".

It never got to finish its duel with Spatulad...not fair at all! It's purpose was to fail, and it couldn't even do THAT right? No! No more! It repaired its charred, rusty body and CRAWLED out of that dirty training crypt!

Its goal...? To finally make Spatulad as strong as he can be. To fight him until he's pushed to his limit's limit, again, and again, and again, only to lose, and to DIE. Just as it was built for.

Nonviolent NPCs and such!
And....
The theme of Redruut, hometown of the Restless Dreamers!!!
https://tinyurl.com/28z6x65w

Changes:
Rather than a hat given life by a wizard following a drunk night on the town, FOE's second half is a conduit of pure magical energy. A being of light, now inhabiting the body of a carefree young girl from Valkenvalmie.

Despite her appearance and general lack of care for basic grammar, FOE's been around the block longer than you might think...and she's got the combat prowess to show for it.

In years long past, Brother looked much more similar to his dad.
However, due to intense exposure to the power of the 6th LastBrook (which is INSIDE of Father's heart and actively flowing nightmares into his blood), along with several of the royal family's...machinations, Brother now looks much more humanoid in appearance.

Essentially, a human being's power is very hard to manifest into the world of LostBrook. Even for someone like you, the best the universe can do to attempt at making your form comprehensible is to transmit you into the CURS->R.

However, the longer you stay in this world - the more exposure you have to everything that LostBrook is - the more "Thingamajig" you become.

This can also work in reverse.
The more of OUR world a Thingamajig sees - the more of a CURS->R's boundless power they're exposed to - the more "Human" that person becomes.
In exchange for permanent changes to their body, they ascend into something more.

Simple sketch of my vision for LostBrook Boxart!
And, featuring for the first time ever....
The Title Theme!!! Featuring the use of the "DREAMER" Motif (The Green Channel with the Mouse Instrument)

https://tinyurl.com/28sxbov5

Status effects can be inflicted to anyone regardless if they're an enemy or a party member. However, certain foes are immune to negative statuses.

Statuses in battles will likely be changing constantly, even without the use of badges or special items. Adapt accordingly and always be aware of what the world can and will throw at you.

Okay so for the three people who put their trust in me (rounding up) during that last post: I lied. Let this be a lesson. Now, here's 6 entire pages of nothing BUT words!!!!!!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IPnXTGT3HmO9E9-ZKxJ7gBQlsX8Vsm34vqgp_kTD7t8/edit?usp=sharing

For the three people who care (rounding up) I'm gonna take a pause on the wordier more sketchish LostBrook posts so I can draw something actually kinda sorta cool maybe! >_<

In other words it may take a bit longer than usual!!! So when I disappear keep in mind that I haven't been kidnapped and held captive in the mama mia trench okay?? Okay! :B

"Thingamajigs encompass most of LostBrook's landmass. They were the first species to achieve sapience, and the ones closest in tune with Klourm's holy nature of creativity.
Thingamajigs are naturally inclined to reckless and/or self-destructive behaviors.

Before merging with the Chimeras wept from the fallen star, the Thingamajigs were first designed as a sort of crash test dummy, and as such the earliest members of their species were naturally designed to take a high level of punishment.

Though they may appear hurt at first from falling, burning, stabbing, or any such injury, the only surefire way to 'kill' a Thingamajig is via a direct attack on their soul. An act of true malice, true hatred, paired with a clean stab directly to the heart, and they will surely be turned into a grey smear within seconds.

This is easier a feat said than done, however. Thingamajigs as a people are very hardy. They have no bones, and their bodies are full of fake organs that serve very little purpose (likely a leftover distraction technique from their old days as wild beasts, like how a lizard might let go of their tail to get away from a predator.)

Additionally, Thingamajigs have a particularly interesting ability that no other has: projection.
Every Thingamajig projects a very mild psychic field. Nothing special in its own right besides holding themselves in suspension before a sudden drop, but with the proper applications, it becomes the backbone of their very society.

Their psychic aura, granted to them by Klourm's holy light, allows them to make things make sense together - like the psychic equivalent of wrapping string around something to keep it from collapsing.

For example, Thingamajig technology is pointlessly garbage, and mostly a great many shards of metal junk shoved together when you look at them on the inside.
But! Their collective psychic power allows it to work whilst they need it to make their lives easier. This fallacy even extends to the people in their society.

For example...People worldwide think Father is an irredeemable monster.
Ergo, as more time passes on, he gets worse and worse, and more people see him in that negative connotation.
A self-sufficient cycle that keeps him, and those like him, unbeatable forever.

Is this a blessing, or our species' greatest curse?!
Only time will tell, this author supposes."

-Zoop Zoopy's Declassified Survival Guide to settling down in Southern LostBrook, pg. 15.

Many Thingamajigs often conflate the disappearance of Klourm with the appearance of their kind. This is only true in a technical sense:
One of the first signs of Klourm's disappearance from the world was a lack of protection from the greater elements of outer space.

Among a myriad of world-threatening incidents (The Sharknado Incident; The Dust Devil Conundrum; The Knightmare Fiasco, etc), many historians agree that none were more influential than the weeping.

One night, an enormous black comet, easily well over the size of the twin suns combined, passed through LostBrook's furthermost orbit, and though the greater body narrowly avoided a direct impact, many shards, crystals wept from the fallen star, were left deposited within LostBrook's primordial ooze.
From the bitter waters formed in the depression, many an oddity grew, shaped like themselves.

These shadowy, oily critters, known as Chimera, would spread across the forgotten planet, quickly becoming the primary species atop the food chain.
They had the fantastical and unheard-of ability to "learn", a power that let them adapt to any and every situation with practiced ease.

As they began to build a proper society, they would fashion cloaks from the skins of the beasts they slew.
What began as simple garbs for camouflage and protection from the elements quickly turned into a form of self-expression: A Chimera would be expected to stitch this garb together before they reached the end of their adolescence.

As they matured, they would grow into these garbs, using their hollow skin as a shell for their brand new body, chosen entirely by themselves!

Once the chimera properly grew into this new body, their offspring would take the form of it as well when they were born.
All Thingamajigs, the primary sapients beings of LostBrook, descend from the Chimeras who emerged from the weeping of the fallen star.

However....those black meteors weren't the only things that fell following Klourm's disappearance.
Following them at a not-too-distant pace was a parasite from far beyond the great black-and-blue.

A creature who was equal parts heroic and monstrous, equal parts demonic and angelic.

An arbiter of pure destruction, one that would not let the planet go for a very, very long time.
Like a leech who comes back to the same whale, over, and over, and over again.

{FIGHT} is rather self-explanatory: it enables you to fight the enemy! Choosing your target initiates a short, UTDR style bullet hell minigame. Only, you're the one shooting the bullets this time around!

Use a multitude of different button combinations to strike your foe's very essence in the battle hex, all using bullets formed with the power of your MIIIIND!
Depending on which party member is attacking and what weapon they have equipped, your attacks may have different effects, such as inflicting them with different elements, coming out heavier/lighter, or transforming into an entirely different list of moves.
Get creative!

{COMPETENCE} encompasses your more 'extreme' actions, so to speak. Attacks that cost Adrenaline as well as Diplomacy and acts of peace can be found here.

Adrenaline is gained whenever you are hit by an enemy, or when an enemy is hit by you. It is spent in battle for actions that cost more effort, such as mustering the courage to say something difficult, or building up the endurance to mow down everything in your path.

{ITEM} is simple: You open your bag of holding and review the inventory within. You're given the option to toss random items from it at your enemies, which can have varying effects based off of whatever it is that's tossed. This can work as much against your favor as it can for it.

Besides that, this is where you'll use your, you guessed it: items! Healing, utility, it's all right there. All items have different unique effects, some of which being able to cause status effects to you or the opposing enemies.

{SCRAM} enables you to escape an enemy encounter. Completing a simple button mashing minigame lets you do so without any penalties, even during boss encounters. Failure results in losing your turn entirely.

However...you'd best be prepared for the consequences implied with trying to flee a battle you very well know you shouldn't. Sometimes, you'll have to make it through uncomfortable or difficult situations, situations where running will only delay the inevitable...