I treat consumables as though they are power ups. I don’t let myself keep more than 10 of them at a time UNLESS there is a specific point at which I’m scheduled to use all of them at once. Such as, if there is a particular boss battle where I am planning to go all out and curbstomp the enemy with extreme prejudice out of sheer spite.
Some particular foes I’ve encountered in the Trails of Cold Steel series really piss me off and I feel a distinct sense of pride when I don’t even give those fuckers a TURN, leaning hard on time-elemental spells to grant my allies extra turns, and interrupt combo crafts too. Even though I was “scripted” to lose, I wanted to show them how fast shit gets real and they need to stop fucking around. If not for any other reason, i like to save time on a fight that doesn’t deserve to be drawn out - WITHOUT surrendering.
Those arrogant shitbags talk a big game but I slapped that underestimating charade right off their smug goddamn faces before they get a chance to BLINK. I like to really get into playing the roles in my role playing games, you see, and narratively i like to think it’s my party making the antagonists regret toying with us. They will remember that the only reason they survived was because they were holding back. And the next time … NOTHING WILL HELP THEM. 😈
Parasocial Attachment to a Hallucination Box meticulously configured to lie at you as convincingly as possible. It deals you a drug that you mistake for “validation” by spitting out words statistically weighted to come across in a flattering light. It understands you, itself, and the world even less than Cargo Cults comprehend Aerospace Engineering. Gorging yourself on the slop it shits out every time you type something and hit [enter] will leave your imagination in paralysis. You’ll only have yourself to blame. Don’t do it. You’ll be happier without it.