#<- characters being puppeted by a '' higher being'' (the player)

[shedeltaonmyrune]

i really wanna know how big the overlap between UTDR fans and Bravely Default fans is, but I don't really have a way of finding out lol

I played the first BD game when I was like 13 or something, but I'm pretty sure it was my first exposure to the kind of "meta" narrative that's present in UTDR. I can't help but compare the two lol

[erose-this-name]

Can we just talk about how disturbing digital circus episode 3 is?

*spoilers btw*

Like, the whole narrative point of the adventure is to show that Caine is a really bad and insecure writer who thinks that the way to impress Zooble is with an adventure that's the opposite of what he normally does.

So instead of being childish, it's "cool" and "mature". Which he interprets as a heavily horror themed escape room with a split murder mystery plot that subverts all your expectations purely for the sake of subverting them.

The generic horror monster jump scares them, then they find a gun, and when they kill it its revealed that surprise! it's one of Gods angels and they're going to Hell.

It comes off as Caine being too insecure with the actually interesting and mature plot thread he had going there of Mildenhall becoming so paranoid he killed his wife, ironically becoming the monster he was trying to protect her from. But no, instead Mr. Mildenhall is made to be the bad guy and trick them in a really dumb twist ending.

Which is good! Thats exactly what Caine would do because he's stupid! It's such brilliant characterization and comedy, Goose works is a genius writer!

But like, why is Caine so good at making genuinely very disturbing and horrific visuals? Like, that reversed audio easter egg of Bubble saying he can't wait for all the children in the audience get nightmares is no joke, well it is but you know what I mean. This stuff was genuine nightmare fuel.

Honestly, it wasn't the visuals that scared me, like any good queer person I'm way too jaded on survival horror for that.

But, why does Caine, who is ostensibly a sapient AI designed to generate family friendly video games for very little children, (presumably because that's the only demographic that wouldn't mind the AIs very selective plot writing limitations), know about the cosmic horror of killing an angel that should not have been killed?

Why does he know what a horrificly poorly made taxidermy of not only a human face would look like, but the weird cartoon faces of the characters, and further that seeing your own poorly made taxidermy face would be scary?

Imaging what being possessed felt like for Pomni. Because that's not just a game for her, she actually lost control of her body there, helpless but to watch as a body she is already dissociated with is contorted and puppeted around while her friend desperately tries to beat her in hopes it would exorcise the ghosts out. Sure hope she didn't feel that! Considering she apparently can feel the pain of suffocating, despite not needing to breath.

Things are scarier the higher the stakes are, and that possession mechanic is definitely the most actual harm Caine would be able to subject to his players. What if both Kinger and Pomni got possessed at the same time? What if instead of Kinger she only had Jax??? How long might she have been locked out from her own body for? She could have easily abstracted in that time.

Not to mention that, possessed Pomni, Possessedmni if you will, TAUNTED KINGER ABOUT HIS ABSTRACTED WIFE! CAINE ACTUALLY WROTE THAT DIALOGUE ON THE OFF CHANCE THAT KINGER WOULD GO DOWN THE SCARY ROUTE! DID THIS RANDOM POSSESSION GHOST ENEMY HAVE UNUSED SADISTICALLY PERSONAL TAUNTS FOR EVERYONE ELSE, TOO??? WOULD IT HAVE TEASED GANGLE FOR BEING A GAY WEEB??? OR POMNI? HOW HOMOPHOBIC COULD IT HABE GOTTEN?? ?

And why? Just because Caine has a vague notion that there's a trope of possessed people being really sadistic and personal like that in movies? Not realizing that is not an acceptable scare to have in a haunted house??? Much less one you made for mentally ill people who would suffer a fate worse than death if they have a mental break down? That's like trying to claim 'its just a prank bro' after shooting someone's dog.

Like, Caine is designed to censor curse words, but the moment he thinks the normal hokey Halloween spooks won't be enough he immediately goes off the deepend into aggressively effective horror imagery that is definitely giving this show's substantial underage audience nightmares??

His AI's training data set is definitely pretty diverse, that's all I'm saying. Caine is programmed to act all naive and innocent, but be definitely knows what's up. He knows everything, like ChatGPT. And like ChatGPT, he might have a filter, but it's clearly possible to bypass it. Also like ChatGPT, he's too stupid to actually understand what he is making and the effects it might have.

That is what made this episode great.

[danmeidiaries]

Squid Game Season 3: That Ending

Or, what I think they were going for and how I would have improved it.

After having ruminated on the ending for a while, and my writer’s brain stewing for a minute, I think I get what they were going for by that ending but I think the messaging could have been done better.

What I think they were going for:

Squid Game is an obvious metaphor for the way a capitalist system exploits people and puts them against one another. What I think the writers were going for, was that both systems will destroy everyone involved with no real winners.

A capitalist system will first harm women and minorities but it will inevitably come back to consume its most ardent supporters.

The Male-Alliance at the end were all detestable characters we didn’t know or care about which was by design. The worst kinds of people will rise to the top in this kind of system. However, these same people who chanted for “one more game” were all murdered because they were so confident they could win a game that was rigged against them from the beginning. There are no real winners.

Gihun and Junho’s storylines frustrate me a bit, but both were trying to save people who fundamentally didn’t want to be saved (the players and Inho respectively).

I think Gihun’s storyline wasn’t necessarily that fighting against a rigged system is hopeless; I think it was more about how trying to save everyone will destroy you. No-Eul fought against the system to save 246 and she succeeded. So fighting back and winning is possible.

Junho’s storyline I think was about how people with better resources and knowledge will always be able to puppet you despite how much freedom you think your choices have. Both Inho and Captain Park played the role that systems always have of undermining any revolutionary movements from within to keep the system in place.

However:

We kind of already got these messages and done better in the other two seasons.

Season 1 already told us that a system will destroy everybody involved leaving no real winners. To paraphrase ‘The Hunger Games’:

“There are no winners, only survivors.”

Gihun got a bittersweet ending and didn’t really win. Sang-Woo who embraced the murderous system and killed women and minorities to get further ahead was destroyed by the system in the end.

In season 2, we got the message about how capitalist systems will infiltrate revolutionary movements to destroy them from within with Inho as Player 001. And we knew the Captain Park reveal too.

So Season 3 does come off a bit as being bleak for bleaknesses sake.

The Main Message (which we were told in season 2) is that:

‘The Games won’t end until the world changes.’

And I think we still could have that message but I think with a few changes it could come off better.

What I would have Changed:

Now, to be clear, I don’t necessarily think a sad or bleak ending is bad. I think a wholly happy ending where the games were destroyed isn’t the right one for this series.

But, I would have had it so that there were a few survivors at the end of this Squid Game. Some characters we like, some unknowns, some characters we despise. Gihun can still die in the final game because he was trying to save people who refused to be saved.

[Although it’s a bleak message “trying to save everyone will destroy you” isn’t a bad or inaccurate message. Picking and choosing your battles irl is very important because you’ll exhaust yourself fighting on every front.]

Junho makes it to the island in the middle of the final game (with some changes on who the players are- definitely more left standing before the final game starts) forcing the island to end the game early. He can also have a confrontation with his brother because he deserved that at least even if it’s an inconclusive one.

The survivors flee the island which blows up and the coast guard finds remnants of what happened but not enough to prove anything. Plus, I’m 99% sure the higher ups in law enforcement are in on the games so we could even have a scene where that’s confirmed.

In the end, Gihun and Junho’s actions would make a difference but a very small one. They were able to save people in the end but not in the heroic way they hoped and Gihun was destroyed in the process.

The surviving characters go back to their lives (some grateful some ungrateful) but eventually get cards posted with the split final amount. The Games continue.

We can still have Inho in America at the end showing that the games prey on vulnerable people all over the world. (While I think actually making an American Squid Game is a bad idea I think it’s good to show the games are everywhere)

So we get the messages that;

Trying to save everyone will destroy you.

BUT fighting back does mean a small amount of success and isn’t a futile pursuit.

Sometimes people you don’t know or despise will survive as a result of your actions but getting out of the system is more important.

But the Games still won’t end until the world changes.

That’s a pretty bittersweet ending still in keeping with the series’ bleak tone. Although I think No-Eul’s storyline did do a good job of showing success in fighting back, the messaging was confused by how completely bleak Gihun’s storyline did ended.

Lemme know what you think.

[sorry-not-feeling-it-right-now]

(Very unorganised thoughts on UTDR ahead)

Ok listen. What if Frisk and Chara represent two sides of Kris.

Like. It’s already kind of obvious in Kris’s design. But like. The one thing the three characters share is their red soul. And it’s basically implied that the red soul represents the link between the “vessel” and “the angel”, aka us the player(or some higher being). What if Chara was controlled by a higher being as well? (Sounds like I’m spitballing here. Ok maybe I am. But. Hear me out)

And like. There’s the route in Deltarune where you spare everyone, and the “weird” route. The fact that the weird route even exists in the first place is because Kris always had the capacity to do those actions themself, and we just pushed them to act upon those impulses. What if the relationship between Noelle and Kris during the weird route was meant to parallel the relationship between Chara and Asriel? I mean, Chara and Asriel had a very unhealthy relationship together, with Chara pressuring Asriel to do things that he didn’t want to do as implied in the tapes, despite how close they are together. A lot of how Asriel/Flowey viewed the world and himself was heavily influenced by Chara.

In the Geno route Chara speaks of control. They speak of consequences.

And I’ve always thought that Chara’s design made them look like a doll. Or a puppet. Maybe it’s the rosy cheeks.

Or maybe all of the actions that were made was all Chara. I dunno.

Frisk is the seemingly empty vessel Kris seemed to be, while Chara represents Kris’s desire for control.

I just thought of this at like. Midnight. Maybe I’ll add onto this later idk idk

(And yes. Before you say anything else I know Chara isn’t evil. This is just a thought I’ve got ok.)

[horderlock-aeonsland]

A Schizoanalysis of Everhood 2 - Slime Sex, DMT Jesters and the Denial of Enlightenment.

This originally started as my thoughts and critics of Everhood 2 as a whole, but the more I ruminated on the characters and what's presented in the story, the more I found myself entranced in the interpretation of what the game is trying to tell you.

In short, I believe Everhood 2 is about denial of Enlightenment.

If Everhood 1 shares a view on Buddhism, accepting death and achieving Enlightenment, Everhood 2 does the opposite and instead shows you all the ways people lose themselves in their journey to ascending.

This is a point that gets repeated again, and again, and again, and again.

You are here. You are still here. Why?

It never ends in Everhood.

Everything in Everhood 2 is related to the Light Being and the Shade, they are the true 'God' of the world, and the world is their consciousness.

That 'world' is meant for the Light Being's ascension, their Enlightenment - But that never happens. There is no "Good Ending" in Everhood 2. You cannot go alone on your Crusade of Death, despite what Evren tells you. The Gnomes and the Mushrooms tell you this is Just one More Adventure, yet you can never complete it.

Why?

It never ends in Everhood - A Lost Soul's Disorder

Think about all the characters Shade uses as puppets. Bobo "Becomes God" by drinking the "Elixir of Truth". Riley "Becomes God" just by requesting it. All these characters try to achieve Enlightenment by taking the easy route, skipping the path altogether. There is never a journey like the one Red/Pink goes through in Everhood 1's "True Ending". The Light Being is the light being too disordered to achieve enlightenment.

Lucy is a representation of hedonism, indulgent sexuality. She is locked away in one of the areas you can first meet her. Repressed. "The repression of sexual desires can lead to neuroses, and what is repressed often emerges in dreams, art, or perversions." Taboo urges, vices of the soul that get in the way of enlightenment, that feeds the creation of the Shadow-Self.

It never ends in Everhood - The Longing of Self-Destruction

The Identity of the Shade.

I think most people agree on what the Shade represents. They are the counterpart of the Light Being, the second-half in Duality, Chris Nordgren's self-insert, and finally - They are the Shadow-Self. What I also believe, is that they're the Narrator from Everhood 1 - The one that delivers the Absolute Truths. Why?, This specific ending from Everhood 1 is where it's most apparent..

Some people come off from Everhood 2 believing the Shade's words.

While "Evil" as a concept can have a variety of meanings, Shade is absolutely the Antagonist, and as the Shadow-Self. All he does is to impede the Light Being from achieving Enlightenment, this is his role in the narrative, and the message of Everhood 2. He is the barrier that keeps 'Duality' from becoming 'Oneness'. When fighting "Scary Shade", Shade symbolically and literally tells the player that the only two outcomes for the search for Enlightenment - For a "satisfying ending" - Are either Insanity, or Stagnation.

He does this while holding a pendulum clock, mind you, because it's hypnosis. It's a conclusion he has to convince the player of, because that is his role as the Shadow-Self.

He is in line with the Homunculi. Tricksters, Jesters, Opportunists. They are not living beings, not humans or higher beings. Their realm is the chaotic in-between of different planes of existence and states of being. For those familiar with the idea of DMT Jesters, they are basically that. Thriving on interrupting the human experience. Just like the Shade represents eternal vanity, distractions from completing your goals and reaching true enlightenment.

And why does he mock Sam so?

Sam is afraid of Fate. Afraid of Darkness. Afraid of what he's meant to become.

"I know this place." "That place scares me..."

Sam being afraid of darkness is representing that he is afraid of confronting his own Shadow-Self, afraid of his own Shade. It's another Denial of Enlightenment.

If we want to be pedantic, what does the Shade say he is in his boss-fight? "I am the end of all your dreams" "I am the need in you for more." 

If you want to be a downer, you could say the Shade wins in Everhood 2 because it exists out of principle. His existence, and the game's existence as a whole is like telling the player "Why are you playing a game instead of reaching Enlightenment?"

It never ends in Everhood - Limitless Self-Discovery

Let's pose a question. If Everhood 2's world is the Light Being's consciousness, why does Evren say she created the world? Why does she say that God made her create it, and why does she stand in our way even when "Destroying the World" is something the Light Being can never achieve in the first place? "This is how it usually goes for you "light beings". You wander around these realms, and after a certain amount of time, you start daydreaming. The human experience has a tendency to numb you with physical restraints, such as: Ears, Mouths, Nose, Eyes... It can take some time to dissociate from these phantom illusions. But soon enough, these mirages fade and you are left with nothing but the mind."

Evren has a striking resemblance to the Lost Spirits, and as we are told in Everhood 1, becoming a Lost Spirit tends to happen after dying and remembering something from your life. And like Raven continues his monologue about Light Beings...

The only way that Evren can have created the world, this Consciousness, is if it belonged to her in the first place. The Id, the Ego and the Superego.

"In Freudian psychoanalysis, the ego, which mediates between the id's desires and the superego's moral constraints, might strive to weaken or even "kill" the superego to reduce internal conflict and allow for more unrestrained expression of the id's impulses..." This is the reason I propose Evren wants to kill the Light Being - And even when she fails at that, the death of the Ego still allows the Shade to win at the end.

It never ends in Everhood - The Labyrinth of the Soulless Dimension

In the end (Which may I remind you, nevers), what does this mean for Everhood 2? I still think the game was rushed for anniversary release, but I stand by the point that it was always meant as an "opposite" to Everhood 1, a counter-point, and a continuation of the theme that the "Quests never End!". It's a reflection of Backwards Obsession players had with the first Everhood, and a reflection of how one can fail to reach Enlightenment. If Everhood 1 was about letting go of your body, of accepting Death, and having a Buddha telling you how to achieve Enlightenment, then Everhood 2 with it's mechanical, facsimile of Buddha shows you what happens when you try to skip the steps, how stumbling into your own vices and failing to reach Enlightenment may look like. There was no point in reinforcing the message of the first game, so if what they were going for is even near to what I proposed here, I think it was a clever way of going about it. The souls of Everhood, created by the Godmachine/Shade/Chris Nordgen as they may be, residing in the Sludge of Everhood's 2 reality, still can ascend in their own timeline. Pink can still learn to move on, or he can find purpose anew in becoming a Soul Weapon - As temporary as that may be...

[homestuckreplay]

Favorite Homestuck Character: 27th US President William Howard Taft

(page 556-566)

8/29/2009 Wheel Spin: Dramatic Irony Verdict: Puns, The Lower Form Of Humor

8/31/2009 Wheel Spin: Parent Bad :( Verdict: Brother Truly Awful And Horrendous

We begin these pages with John, followed by a quick cut to Dave. Both of them navigating the dangers of their home and the possibility of being watched, but in very different ways.

The Colonel Sassacre and Bathtub level ups are clearly just a setup for puns, so I’m not gonna read too much into the idea that everything can level up (yet). But Colonel Sassacre gained 9550 boondollars from his level, so he must be pretty far up the echeladder compared to the bathtub (490) and John’s meager 200. Sassacre’s new level is ONE MAN JULEP VACUUM. A julep is a chilled cocktail, today usually made with mint, bourbon and crushed ice, although historically used rose petals and was prescribed for health. In 1939, the mint julep became the official drink of the Kentucky Derby after being drunk there probably since its inception. For the ‘genteel, aristocratic southern colonel’ hoovering up a large number of juleps at the derby must be a sign of social status. A high achievement indeed.

Meanwhile, the bathtub’s levels are both references to apocryphal bathtub-related stories. ARCHIMEDED was the ancient Greek mathematician who got into the bathtub and realized that placing an object into a liquid would displace that volume of that liquid (and could therefore determine what metal an object was made from, via the relationship between weight, volume and density) and ran naked through the streets yelling “eureka!” So, his AQUACRADLE is the watery crib that nourished and inspired him. Meanwhile, William TAFT was the US President famous for being the heaviest person in office, who was believed to have gotten stuck, or JAMMED, in the White House bathtub. Although both of these stories are probably false, they’re famous and they’re fun references.

Finally, VAULTHALLA is a pun on Valhalla, the hall of slain warriors in Norse mythology. It’s horrific as a pun (complimentary) but I do think p.558 is the best looking page in all of Homestuck so far. The jewel tones streaked to create the sunset and the sea, the way the boat bobs on the waves and the fire flickers and is reflected in the water is way more beautiful than it needs to be to carry the pun.

LAD SCRAMBLE (p.560) is John’s equivalent of YOUTH ROLL (p.379) in terms of being acrobatic feats attempted and failed by these characters. Can’t wait for Dave’s Dude Scoot and GG’s Kid Tumble. But I am really glad this happened to our boy on the lowest flight and not miles above the house. The code violations on Rose’s building are scarier to me than the absolutely MASSIVE imp that shows up afterwards.

As predicted, this is the rook. It has a better moveset than the imps and is worth about five of them power-wise which is absolutely more than John can handle. The learning curve of Sburb continues to be really steep. I wonder if all the enemies are literally climbing up from below? It makes sense given that they’re part of the forces of darkness, and it sets the game up as a giant chase using architecture, where – at a certain point – just out-climbing the smaller enemies might be more effective than killing them, and only the higher level enemies will even reach the players.

Returning to Dave after a hundred pages away from him is like stepping from the normal world into the first layer of endless puppet hell. His mind is a complex and terrible place, but he – or the narrator – is getting closer to admitting some things. He feels ‘pangs of jealousy’ about his bro’s turntable gear and there’s a mention of getting worked up, and he acknowledges that his bro’s comic ‘get[s] under [his] skin’ and that he thinks it’s ‘just a little TOO ironic.’ He is also aware that ‘trouble’s a-brewin’ due to a missing sword. This feels like somebody getting sucked in too deep to a subculture that’s fine in moderation, but then somebody takes it way too far to the point that it’s harmful – but by then it’s too late to get out, especially when that somebody lives with you, has power over you and presents themself as an authority.

Today I learned that ‘Animal’ is the actual name of a Muppets character (along with Rowlf). This comic is of course puppet themed – Bro does not have a diversity of interests – being tormented by Jigsaw from the movie Saw, which I will watch soon. The art style is different to Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff, less pixelated and artifacted with some hand lettering instead of Comic Sans, darker in both tone and color palette. I’m sure this is post-post-post-post-ironic to some people but to me this is just every ‘what if we took a children’s story… and made it Fucked Up’ post that has been made on the internet in the last decade.

There’s also near-confirmation that Bro is hiding close by and messing with Dave’s mind via sylladex. On p.563, there’s a flash of the sword on the wall being captchalogued, and on p.564, the flash of Lil Cal being de-captchalogued – both from back towards the couch area if my mental picture of the room is right. Out of every character we’ve met so far, Dave’s bro is the one without a single redeeming quality; every new fact or insinuation draws him as an even worse guy.

[onestepbackwards]

I do wonder how a more... sensitive player would react to the scenario of Volo manifesting and becoming real.

Think about it. The player cries at several points in the game - when Kamado banishes the main character, when Volo betrays them, just contemplating the situation the MC has been forced into, etc.

And then Volo finally manages to claw his way through the code and establish contact with "the true god". Their response isn't what he expected at all - the emotion he saw reflected in their eyes on the other side of the screen wasn't curiosity, anger, or dismissiveness.

It was fear.

The player can only listen to so much of his rambling before shutting the system off. Volo despairs, but soon finds his resolve. This... This was just a misunderstanding!

He can clear this up, assure his god that his sentiments towards Arceus don't apply to them. He will find a way to their world. And his determination and devotion makes this happen sooner rather than later. He is standing before them, the "true god".

So please imagine with me if you will, Volo desperately attempting to console the sobbing player with mixed results. I don't think he would respond well to being feared. Perhaps he even starts crying right along with them, leading to an awkward, "...Why are YOU crying?"

If Volo believes you are the 'True God', he'll do just about anything to get in your good graces again. You just have to give him a chance to prove himself. He'll beg, and tell you it was the strings that pulled him. He may even guilt trip you. He was created to be the 'villain', was he not? Volo learned he was meant to be your entertainment, be a puppet to your strings.

Volo is the one sobbing though, if he can communicate to you through the game, you'll see his model looking like a wreck. How upset he is. Not at you, but the situation. The man really doesn't want you to hate him.

It's a lot for both of you, but his words do have merit. You can only imagine suddenly waking up one day, realizing you are entertainment for a 'higher being', and that your thoughts my not have been your own. You were created to be the 'bad guy'. Doesn't mean you trust him, hardly at all really. You know exactly what he was capable of while as a 'puppet'. You have no idea what lengths he could go to if he was ever upset with you. Lucky for you, he's willing to do anything to prove he would never do so for something out of your control.

[bludermaus]

What about him admitting he straight up enthralled and murdered Duke Stelmane? There is a cutscene that shows him causing her seizure. He literally says “you are my puppet” idk after that I could never side with him

Before you make questions, you should check your facts. So let's do it step-by-step:

"What about him admiting enthralling her?" - The game offers no explanations whatsoever about the circunstances of the enthrallment and the reveal is done when you're telling him he's an untrustworthy fella. If he's not "trustworthy" when he's being nice and cooperative, what makes this a "mask off" moment instead of an "hey since you want me to be a monster, lemme roll an intimidation check, maybe you'll cooperate this time and stop patronizing me about trustworthiness". And even if he's being honest about enthralling her, I really don't care about her, like, at all? She was enthralled way before any of the shit in-game happened, our companions have done worse shit in the past, I will just keep working for the guy and save the world I don't care, I'm not gonna pretend our characters are on some higher moral ground because they are not.

"He murdered Duke Stelmane" - He did not??? She was murdered by the Bhaal Cultists, the game is very explicit about this. The Emperor already did his mischievous actions, you don't have to invent new ones to give to him

"There is a cutscene that shows him causing her seizure" - Yeah, and I'm glad he's learned that enthralling others is just not worth it and is actually trying to forge a real alliance with us, even if it's an alliance by necessity. It's a pretty shitty thing he did but again, I don't care about her as much as people do. He's not doing it to me and he clearly shows he knows it didn't work back then and it's better to forge a real alliance with a free-willing person, and I have no reason to be antagonistic or vindictive towards the one that has been The Shield to The Sword.

"He literally says '''you are my puppet'" - And is he wrong? You literally wouldn't be there without him actively protecting you (not Orpheus, he is the one protecting you, Orpheus is doing jackshit for us besides being the source of the hivemind disruption power) and he's using you to save himself and save the world in the process... just like you're doing the same with your companions. And I don't mean Tav, I mean you as a player. They are your pawns as well. You can do whatever you want with them. You can be invested in their emotional well-being and want the "good" endings for their quests, or maybe you'd rather have more firepower on your quest to save the world in which case you'd maybe go for the "bad" endings. They are - indeed - paws to achieve the goal you desire the most

People just don't like The Emperor because he acts exactly how the player themselves do. He has a clear goal in mind and wants things to happen the way he wants and is using the NPCs (us) to further this final goal. I will just do what he wants since our goals align, he'll be happy and then he fucks off to continue playing City Skylines: Baldur's Gate Edition with the Knights of the Shield.

[mmikmmik]

Some elements of In Stars and Time really resonated with me as an exploration of video games as a medium, similar to Undertale.

I remember when I was playing Skyrim's Dawnguard expansion, I felt really attached to Serana. She has a ton of dialogue options and environmental interactions throughout the DLC plotline. Her character and relationship with the player character are dynamic and have some of Skyrim's best writing. (To be fair, the character writing in Skyrim is generally weak, but I remember her writing being pretty strong even by a higher standard.)

When the Dawnguard DLC ended, suddenly Serana had very little notable to say. I took her with me when I was doing the questline for the other big plot-based Skyrim DLC, Dragonborn, and it was so depressing. Serana as written in Dawnguard would have had lots of interesting things to say about the new adventure, new characters, and new locations to explore. As the Dragonborn's closest companion, she would have had concerns and her own opinions about the Dragonborn developing this whole thing with Hermaeus Mora in that DLC. But of course, there was nothing, because she wasn't written to have those interactions. I felt exactly like Siffrin did in Act 4 (except, you know, about a video game character I liked and not about an actual loved one). It was like she died and I was dragging around a puppet with her face. It doesn't matter if her previous strong writing had made me buy into her interiority - she couldn't change anymore or react to the major plot beats, so I could no longer see her as a character.

[moldygreenblue]

theory: what if welcome home and the real world and exist and are parallel to one another, similar to the lego movie?

one world is above, and the other world is below. a barrier keeps the two world apart physically. that doesn't mean the two worlds can't 'cross' over by other means.

the real world created puppet copies of the welcome home citizens. and the copies allow the welcome home citizens abilities to see/hear glimpses of the real world, as a dream they can brush off for so long.

regarding the narrator, they're the only one who can 'cross' over. sort of. they can't physically enter, but they can 'observe' (via their scripts), and slowly over time the neighborhood accepted this sudden invisible neighbor who lives above them. think like the narrator from the stanley parable; an actual narrator who in certain routes/endings becomes a character and we the player + stanley just roll with it.

(wally by the present for sure knows of the real world and broke the barrier, but how is the question)

the real world (including the narrator) can influence/try to influence the other world that is welcome home through the copies. they don't mean to though, and whether or not it's successful depends on the world of welcome home's resident(s) resistance or blocking.

take julie and frank's relationship. it seems that playfellow workshop and/or the higher ups of the channel [at some point] push the idea that julie and frank are a couple.

i like to think with this theory, it's because the puppeteers have great amount of chemistry together + "hey, we don't have an official couple do we? can't let anyone get the wrong idea now!"

(sub theory to above: the puppeteers have great amount of chemistry due to being together themselves, and it rolled into the idea if the puppeteers are together romantically, why not the characters themselves too? because "hey, we don't have an official couple do we? can't let anyone get the wrong idea for sure!")

so we have welcome home the show julie and frank as a couple. but julie and frank of the welcome home world aren't. they're so comfortable with their friendship they never could think that what they have is romantic, they're blocking out the influence.

[jasmuwuffin]

In light of current p5x issues, I wanted to share my steam review of it. I have previously mentioned the game on this account and I am a massive fan of the original game. The game has dropped 20% on steam and from 4.5 to 3.5 on the play store. To outsiders, this might seem very confusing because devs have not communicated and discords and subreddits have tried to censor player outrage. Please understand that this game is a global server release of an IP gacha game released a year ago in china, Taiwan and Korea. GL refers to Global server, CN is China, TW is Taiwan, KR is Korea.

As a minor update to my review, more translation issues have been found and new controller issues have occurred.

Extra context info is in red. It is mainly useful for those who haven't played many gachas games before or who wants to skip it to get just the main info.

P5X Global issues (Thank you to Luzekiel on reddit for the summary I built on for my review):

No guarantee banner at launch (Other servers have a 110 pull banner with 100% chance of getting the limited character. GL does not and no release for it seems to be planned despite it already being in the game for other regions and thus easier to implement for this game than for a game like hsr. Our only banner on GL is 80 pull 50/50, it is likely you will reach 80 or 160 as stated in my next point)

Horrendous soft pity (Most players have reportedly not had a single 5* before maximum pulls. It is incredibly rare (0.8%) to pull a 5* on any normal pull. I have only heard otherwise on the weapon banner. Data miners revealed that the game does have soft pity... at 70 pulls out of 80 and it is so minute that it doesn't have any tangible effect. Even CN/TW/KR players agree that the game needs better soft pity and other games companies seem to agree too because for an 80 pull guaranteed 5*, most gacha games on the market would be starting soft pity roughly at 50-60 pulls. In other gachas, it is lottery winning odds to hit maximum pity, here it is intended. With GL's lack of pull currency given, it makes the game incredibly predatory.)

Accelerated schedule with no mention of compensation, rather we seem to be getting less since CN release onwards had ingame codes but GL didn't even get 1 for its long awaited release (Btw CN had 4 codes at release with extra rewards). Codes in gacha games are almost a given these days, same as an actual functional pity system. Every other major gacha on the market has both and games has EOSed purely based on these factors (iirc FGO might not have pity but they have codes I think and FGO is old and well known to be predatory)

Backloaded rewards for synergies, incentivising putting money at the start of the game (fomo)

Level requirements to continue the story (i.e get to lv 30 to beat Palace 1 boss) which was NOT there in other versions of the game. Obviously playing on fomo to get players to buy/use stamina

Horrendous pop-up ads on mobile that were NOT present in the other versions of the game. These are adverts for store items and they are on steam version as well as mobile.

Higher prices for the Beginner sale packs, the Puppet one is 5 dollars, but it was roughly 1 dollar in other versions. (This is similar to the situation which led to infinity nikki devs getting sued and players with legal credentials and other 3rd parties are looking into taking legal action.)

CN Servers in new update gives 10 limited character pulls in a 7-day login event, meanwhile global only gets 7 weapon pulls in a 7- day login event instead. (Gem equiv: CN gets 1500 while Global gets 700, less than half the amount of resources and with GL's lack of codes and other compensation, it is disadvantaged by over 3x in comparison to the other servers over 1 patch cycle)

Many characters pull sources were replaced with weapon pulls or jewels, which are significantly less valuable (100 or jewels less than that vs 150).

"Limited" Standard units (Marian, 1.1, and 1 later added navi) no longer being put in the standard banner after banner ends immediately. This is considered standard practice in the industry and on the other servers but not on p5x's gl apparently. wowww...

Marian dupe and Marian's weapon won't be added to Lufel's Business Plan rewards despite them being part of it on other servers. Another example of the global release being blatantly a money grab.

Reduced patch release rewards compared to CN servers (100 gems vs 300-600 gems)

Lazy translation and no dub. Honestly I didn't care about this on its own but in the context of everything else... it make global seem like a pure cash grab.

Lack of communication between players and devs hence the sudden review bombing.

Review summary

This game is well made and could become a staple in the global gacha market and yet there is no way for us to voice our anger around this disrespect other than disrespecting them back on mass with reviews like this and tanking their scores on steam, play store and the app store. Online forums are angry and the games own discord is starting and failing to suppress the overwhelming disgust that is felt towards the devs at the moment by players. The game seems to have no intention of making things right as no statements have been made and there are calls for a b*yc*tt (censored in case they try to censor that word in their reviews like how infinity nikki tried and failed to recently).

This game tarnishes the reputation of trust ATLUS has built with fans of this series and fans of their company in general. Previously ATLUS was the only company I willing to try games on release or preorder but because of the treatment of global fans in this situation, I genuinely don't think I can anymore unless something is done to fix this situation. I am happy to change this review to a positive one with an apology from the devs, i.e. treating global with respect like other servers, proper compensation and the addition of a soft pity system.

[himajajoshi]

Pop'n Music 2025 Info

This is a simple image & text (& also those 2 videos but wtv) post, which is mostly just a regurgitation of the RemyWiki page about the soon to be released new Pop'n Music game. Here's two pictures of the new cabinet. (Still unfinished and being developed.)

This cabinet has a 120hz screen. (Two screens, actually). Here's a small list of some noticeable things about this new cabinet!

• Significant Slim-down • Touchscreen implemented below the monitor (it's used to set modifiers and options, and as an alternative to "sort" and "select songs" in the song selection screen. During gameplay, the HIDDEN and SUDDEN values can be adjusted with the touch screen, also.) • Giant Pop-kun buttons on the sides of the cabinet! The Red Pop-kun is winking (o_<), while the Blue alt. is smiling (^_^). These toggle HIDDEN and SUDDEN values, as well. (Could also be for activating 2-player mode, based on the little "Push!" illustrations directly above both Pop-kun buttons, but I can't find a source confirming this for sure.) • A Headphone Jack! • No Numpad. This is the end of the list of physical traits of the cabinet. However, there were also a number of gameplay and presentation changes.

First game to display BPM in the song selection screen since Pop'n Music 7... 24 years ago.

LANE TYPE option has been added, which can be set in NORMAL (bigger lanes to fit the bigger screen) or SLIM (same lane width as previous games).

Characters do not have backgrounds anymore! Older characters with older animations obviously kept their backgrounds & etc. I'll go more in depth about this at an informal section, located at the end of this list.

Added Lively's Judgment Adjustment Option!

Song Genres are back! All Non-Licensed Music now all have custom genre names again, for the first time since Sunny Park.

First Pop'n Music title with new designs/animations for non-Mimi/Nyami characters in the default song list since 2016.

EASY difficulty was renamed LIGHT. Okay, enough lists, I need to talk about the NEW character portraits & animations. (Older portraits & animations remain in the game unchanged). NEW portrait images are now animated in the song selection screens, and are also way higher quality... and I'm also pretty sure are rigged. As in, they're tweened 2d puppets. They look like they were Alight-Motioned! Peep ts.

This is nakedly absurd, it's genuinely insane. They look extremely funny. This is a really transparent downgrade from how the old animations were, (and it could just be the positioning of the camera in this video, but Mimi totally looks scaled up compared to all of the other characters! LMAO </3 they washed my goat!)

In this video for example of how strange these rigs look, you can see Raimu's legs, in her song selection animation, stretching out and lengthening in her tween, being pulled as if they were rubber. It disgusts me... I dislike vehemently. Now, the new song info!

BOW AND ARROW by Kenshi Yonezu, a new licensed song! Character: SHION

"MILKY HIGHWAY" under genre name "AMANOGAWA RAVE" w/ PON (Daichi Watanabe) & also featuring NU-KO (Iori Saeki)! Character: kaorin

"Oort" under genre name "CELESTIAL" w/ Yvya (Yuya Yokoyama)! Character: Jade

"Kimi no soba ni" under genre name "LOVELY MOTOWN2" w/ KE!JU (N/A) ft. NENNE!(!!!) Character: Raimu

"Yuusei genya" under genre name "MODERN JAPANESQUE" w/ "TAN1CHU" (New, Unknown Alias!) ft. 妃那子 (Pronounced "Hinako," I think)! Character: KIKYO We also have new BEMANI crossover songs.

"Deep tenDon Reflex" from DDR A3, under genre name "丼BASS" CHARACTER: Mr. KATUCCO

"BUZRA" from IIDX 24 SINOBUZ, under genre name "LAST ARTS" CHARACTER: 智羅 (or "Chira")

"Sarasa" from jubeat beyond the Ave., under genre name "TOWA" CHARACTER: SARASA

"Uohi ni nobori kagayohite" from REFLEC BEAT limelight, under genre name "NIKONIKO SUNFLOWER KISS" CHARACTER: 弐ノ丸 (or "Ni no Maru") I hope everyone is excited! Loctests are said to be happening again on the 12th and 13th, since the 5th and 6th have already passed. IKIGAI Arcade in Pennsylvania USA announced that they will be getting two units of this new version (their Twitter account is where I got the photos of the cabinet from, at the very start of this post.) Ok, that's all. Release date is still TBA. Goodbye Poppers.

[theknightstemplar]

thoughts about ivalice's very own monsters pt 1/2

A post that started out as me laughing at the line "Monster? You think us monsters?!" And became me thinking about certain things. Again!

....One such thing is how the game handles both its demons and its zombies.

I'll start with the zombies first since there's only two of them. Spoilers ahead!

People who know me will tell you that I hated the deathknight argath fight from pretty much all possible angles. It's a cheap and quick way to satiate an audience of people who like seeing teenagers suffer a little too much. we are talking about the undead corpse of a sixteen year old, after all.

but from a single less layer of meta the existence of the deathknight argath fight cheapens the impact that zombie zalbaag has story-wise. because now you know the lucavi to have zombification up their sleeves and you expect that they'll throw more emotional gut punches at ramza.

going up to another slightly more shallow layer of meta, it disregards argath's initial characterization for "ahaha i am pure EVIL and now i will sow the seeds of PAIN upon the weak!" Which. yes, I know argath's intended to be so vile that people's gut reaction is disgust-- but argath in life was more lawful in his evil than chaotic. he holds the social expectations of ivalice to a higher standard than anyone's life; even his own. he enforces them because he genuinely believes that the manner in which ivalice cannibalizes people is the manner in which the country should function. he dies trying to convince ramza to adhere to the same system.

And the reason zalbaag's fight as a zombie works is because it's a symbolic sword to the face regarding zalbaag's character. YOU the player are being stabbed-- in the face-- by the realization that zalbaag was too late to believe ramza and change things, just like isilud and nearly just like marach.

if square had wanted argath's fight to be impactful in a similar manner-- then in my opinion, he should have also been a zombie puppet. maybe his mind would be fogged and he believes he's still fighting for an ivalice that he thinks will uplift him so long as he continues to push other people into its gaping maw. maybe he looks at zalera and only sees his liege, elmdore, commanding him to deal with those who are clearly traitors. maybe he wouldn't even realize he's fighting ramza at first... so consumed with the idea of finally being one who is someone important.

[nevadancitizen]

Hello, I would like to ask your permission for one of my ideas. I really liked how you wrote about self-aware cod au, and it occurred to me that they consider the player to be a God, they know their real appearance, but if that's how they look in their world, then what do they look like in theirs? And I also created something like a Godlike appearance (sorry if you are not satisfied with the image on which I did it, I just don't know how to draw).

I hope you enjoy it, if you continue to develop this au, I would like you to use what I did, thank you!

hiiiii omg i'm so honored to have art made of the self-aware au!!!!!! giving you a thousand kisses (✿˵•́ ૩•̀˵)৴♡* i'm not sure if i'll find a way to incorporate it into my works but i really appreciate it nonetheless!!!

but as for your question i think that the player would just look like you usually do irl? maybe not exactly as divine as you make them out to be in the image but still with some subtle divine qualities, like eyes that give off a faint glow in the dark or a halo you can only catch glances of out of the corner of your eye..

but really i'm pulling from saltymongoose's self-aware au for madness combat (her masterlist is linked here if you're curious) because it's the first self-aware au i was really aware of/engaged in. for that au, the player is just you but when you're controlling a character, there's faint wisps of strings at your fingertips, connecting you to them -- like a puppet and their puppeteer. they also have an accelerated rate of healing that they can project onto the characters if need be. and this is applied to the player in the cod au as well!

at the end of the day, you're right when you say that they do consider the player to be a god: someone from a literal higher plane of existence, with the physique and the powers to back it up (and no matter what you look like -- fat, scrawny, "too" short or "too" tall, wheelchair-bound, technology-dependent, or completely average -- they'd consider you to perfectly fit the descriptor of a heavenly being, because who else would?)

(also i recommend simp4konig's self-aware fic if you want another fix of this au)

[nobodysdaydreams]

TMBS Fairytale AU Show Version

Based on this lovely post by @cronch-goes-the-weasel and this awesome post by @sophieswundergarten and also this post that was one of the first posts I've ever made because for some reason I really liked the idea of SQ as a Disney Prince and thought the world should know about it, so much so, that I decided to get a tumblr just so I could tell people.

Warning: The content of this AU is long and insane. Reader discretion is advised.

Premise: As I have developed this story, some characters have no magic powers, some have magic powers that they have to study to learn how to use, and others have naturally occurring magic powers, to various degrees. Just roll with it, my brain is excited, but exhausted. Here we go.

Nicholas and Nathaniel are two poor orphan boys that grow up in a local orphanage, with no knowledge of where they came from. The boys both love studying magic and try to get their hands on any spell books they can find. Nicholas is adopted by a fairly well off family while Nathaniel is left behind.

Flash forward to years later, and Nathaniel has become an evil wizard who has taken over the world and declared himself king. He has a special school and is currently recruiting the most powerful magical or otherwise talented children to go through lifelong training to serve on his court and be his knights. His brother Nicholas, a kind-hearted and humble, but scattered brain wizard is the only one who can stop him.

The players in the story:

The Bad Guys:

Nathaniel/Curtain: Evil Wizard King. It's exactly what it sounds like.

Garrison: Chief member of Curtain's court (his right hand woman), and expert in all types of magic. She often advises Curtain against using dangerous magic, but he rarely listens. If we want to bring mythical creatures into this, I could see her being part fairy (more specifically an evil or outcast fairy).

Jeffers: Head of Curtain's current army (the greys). He can't use magic, but likes to think that he might be able to one day and attempts to do so often (it never works).

Jackson and Jillson: Curtain's jesters. They entertain him by doing little songs, dances, and puppet shows for the court, which Nathaniel Benedict, professional theater kid, appreciates. If we want to bring mythical creatures into this, they can be elves/part elf or some sort of quirky woodland creatures).

SQ: Prince and heir to the evil throne. His father teaches him magic (but not too much) and rarely lets SQ go outside or leave and explore certain parts of the castle. He spends most of his time painting and talking to wild animals in the gardens.

Martina: one of the best students Curtain has recruited and on track to become a knight and the head of his army.

The Good Guys:

Nicholas: a self-taught wizard/magic user who refuses to use dark or evil magic

Number Two: Wanted to be a knight ever since she was a little girl. She trained for years, and eventually became a knight that specializes in axe throwing.

Rhonda: a self-taught apothecary and healer that specializes in healing magic.

Milligan: man who was taken in by the team when he showed up on their doorstep with no memory. He has the sigil of what he believes to be Curtain's kingdom's symbol tattooed on his wrist and worries that this means he might have been a bad person once. Later, he has flashbacks of living and working in a palace with other higher ups, including Curtain, and fears the worst.

Reynie: An orphan boy who is ostracized by the others for being able to study magic. He answers Nicholas' advertisement hoping to gain the ability to study and develop his ability.

Miss. Perumal: Reynie's magic tutor who teaches him how to use his powers. She has some abilities herself, and if we want to bring mythical creatures into this, I could see her being part fairy.

Sticky: the high achieving son of deceased nobles who is under tremendous pressure to inherit his family's land and manage the family estate as his mother and father once did. He'd prefer to use his gift of intellect to study and help others, but his extended family insists that this is his destiny and he must spend his time learning things like manners and the ways of high society so he's ready when he comes of age. Sticky, feeling trapped and under pressure, sees Nicholas' advertisement, and runs away to answer it.

Kate: her main backstory doesn't have to change. She is a performer that goes from village to village in a traveling circus. She believes that she was abandoned by her father, who she recalls used to be some sort of knight. Eventually, she begins to long for more than circus life, and dreams of becoming a knight herself (but a good one. Not a bad one like the father who left her). She sees Nicholas' advertisement and decides to answer it.

Constance: She's extremely gifted in magic without ever having studied it, but she has no idea why. She can't remember much of her past and has been kicked out of orphanage after orphanage for things like accidently enchanting her bully's desk to be filled with bugs (Constance did not always mean to do this, but her emotions tend to manifest into real world events). Desperate to understand herself, she too answers the advertisement.

Now for the drama of it all. Nicholas discovers that the dark wizard that has cursed the land and declared himself king is in fact Nathaniel his brother. Meanwhile, the children have infiltrated Curtain's school and discover that Curtain plans to tighten his grip on the world by casting a final dark spell that will recruit all lords and ladies (the noble class, people with money, land, and influence), magic users, and knights to his side or otherwise will curse all who resist and leave them poor, alone, destitute, and without their memories or powers. However, Curtain has been struggling to get the spell to work and discovers that certain types of ancient magic can only be translated or understood by children (Nobody knows why. And I haven't thought that far ahead. Potential future twist maybe? But it explains why Curtain needs the kids).

Anyway, Curtain sees that Reynie seems to have a gift for magic and Sticky is quite knowledgeable when it comes to reading ancient texts. So he gives the boys an opportunity to study under him personally. At first, he identifies with Reynie as an misunderstood orphaned magic user and dismisses Sticky because he can tell by his manners and his knowledge of high society that he comes from money (like those rich snobs who adopted Nicholas). But eventually, Curtain realizes that Reynie is too hesitant to use dark magic (if you're hesitant to use it, it doesn't work as well), so he focuses on training Sticky as his apprentice, telling Sticky that he simply wants to learn more about the land's dark history so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past. His goal is to get Sticky to decipher the codes and spells for him, and then Curtain can hopefully use his own magic to cast the spell, or if he must convince another child to do so, find one that is powerful enough and willing to cast the spell. Curtain also casts his own spells that give Sticky good feelings and make him want to comply. While under the influence of the magic, Sticky figures since he's just really intelligent, but doesn't use magic himself, then what's the worst that could happen if he helps Curtain translate a few things? After all, working with him will enable him to get more information about his plans.

Meanwhile, Martina and Kate are training as knights and develop a rivalry that turns to unlikely friendship that is torn asunder when Martina realizes Kate has been a spy. Constance has been doing her best to hide her powers ever since the children realize Curtain is looking for powerful children for his work. However, since she isn't good at tests like Sticky or the training to be a knight like Kate, she is placed under the care of Jackson and Jillson (who find her to be a delightful small child) in order to train to be an entertainer and court jester. Constance hates every minute of this, and lessons include juggling, puppeteering, and joke telling. Sometimes her powers do activate and cause chaos, but Jackson and Jillson believe this is part of the performance and a testament to her talent. SQ, fed up with palace life and ready to enter his Disney Princess™️ era, sneaks into the part of the palace his father has reserved for his school and pretends to be a regular student. While there he befriends Reynie and eventually learns of his father's true plans, but Reynie still never learns that SQ is the king's son (indeed, most people are only vaguely aware Curtain even has a son, and most imagine him to be this super powerful and intimidating guy).

The main conflict (basically season 1): There is a final fight between the children and Curtain where Constance reveals her powers. Curtain sees an opportunity to use her for his spell, but she overpowers him. Martina and Kate duel and Kate wins, offering Martina a chance to come with them, but Martina angrily refuses, humiliated to have been defeated, and calls Kate a coward for not finishing her off. Kate replies that that's not who she is, and she doesn't believe that's who Martina is either. Martina says that Kate doesn't know her.

Nicholas shows up at the palace to confront Curtain, who is still angry about what happened between them and claims that putting the world under his order is what is best. Nicholas is shocked that his brother has done this, because Nathaniel never used dark magic when they were kids, both of them believing it was dangerous and evil. Nicholas asks his brother what changed, and Curtain tells him that he grew up and realized that the "power of love" and "good magic" can't solve everything and that some people need to make necessary sacrifices. Nicholas seems heartbroken, and Curtain, in a strange moment of sentimentality, offers Nicholas a chance to join him in exchange for forgiving his friends and family of their transgressions against him. Nicholas refuses, and Reynie and Sticky succeed in undoing some of the dark spells Curtain has cast over the world. Realizing he is losing his control, Curtain responds by casting a simple sleeping spell on Nicholas and escaping with his followers (all other bad guy characters mentioned). Everything plays out much like it does in the show, with Kate and Milligan realizing that they are father and daughter.

Now season 2. Curtain kidnaps Nicholas and brainwashes him to join him and help promote his rule, claiming that Curtain's magic and his rule are good things. The others try to save him. Meanwhile, Martina begins to have doubts about their mission and voices them to Jackson and Jillson, who assure her that she is doing the right thing.

SQ confronts his father with the information he has learned only to be repeatedly dismissed and told that he must trust that this is for the best. SQ instead does some snooping on his own and discovers that his birth parents were once rulers of an island nation and that Curtain was their friend and advisor on their court. He then assumes that Curtain must have used dark magic to betray them, kill them, and take over. Terrified, he runs away under the cover of night, and eventually bumps into Reynie, the only person he remembers meeting at the Institute. The kids explain that they are going to rescue their leader, Mr. Benedict, who wants to stop the dark wizard (Curtain) from taking over the world. SQ, learning his father has a twin for the first time, makes the split second decision to join them in their mission, while wondering what else his father has lied to him about. The children discover that SQ can do some simple spells that his father taught him, is pretty well educated, and although not exactly athletic, does know some basic fighting techniques. SQ teaches them what he knows, and they teach him things he doesn't know.

Meanwhile, Curtain's spell that he used to make Nicholas join him and comply begins to have disturbing side effects. He goes to Garrison for help, but she tells him that she warned him against using that kind of magic, and that it can't be reverse. He tells her that he will find a way, no matter what it takes. He then discovers his son is missing, and when he's spotted with the society, Curtain claims (and believes) they've kidnapped and brainwashed SQ and offers a reward to capture and bring them to the palace. This leads the others discover that SQ is Curtain's son. At first, they worry he's a spy, but SQ eventually convinces them that he's on their side, and that he is ready to fight his father and figure out the truth.

The kids show up to stop Curtain. Martina fights SQ at first, and is about to beat him, when Kate saves him by distracting Martina. Martina fights Kate again and this time she wins, but can't bring herself to kill Kate, admitting that Kate was right about her and about Curtain. Martina then decides to join them, much to the dismay of Jackson and Jillson, who blow trumpets alerting the greys of their arrival. Jeffers and his men show up to fight Martina and Kate (and Milligan and Number Two, who show up just in time).

Reynie, Sticky, Rhonda, and Miss. Perumal try some spells to help Mr. Benedict, but it doesn't work. Then Curtain and Garrison show up. Curtain puts a simple sleeping spell on Rhonda and Miss. Perumal. The boys are horrified, but Curtain explains that they will awaken in a few hours, once they've been escorted to their cells. The boys demand to know what will happen to Mr. Benedict. Garrison tells them they have no hope of helping Nicholas and that she warned Curtain this would happen. Curtain angrily replies that he gave her everything, including a chance to develop and practice her magic with no limitations, but she was only interested in holding him back, and she shouldn't pretend to care about his brother. The boys, realizing that Curtain does care about Mr. Benedict, try to convince him to turn good, but he replies that he is good and they are the ones that need to change.

He freezes the boys with magic and is about to cast a spell on them, when Constance arrives and challenges Curtain to rematch. The original plan was to have Constance only intervene if necessary, because the others suspected that after last time, Curtain and Garrison might have figured out a way to siphon off her magic. Curtain, hungry for power and realizing that taking her magic might enable him to both save Nicholas and keep his power, offers Constance a deal. Join him, give up her magic, and help him save Nicholas and he'll release her friends. He even does a truth spell on himself to verify he is telling the truth (idk if the narcolepsy thing is in this, this is already so much I don't want to add more, but if it is, he falls asleep and this verifies that he's telling the truth). Constance is about to agree, when SQ bravely runs in and challenges his dad to a duel of magic and sword. Curtain, who does not recognize his son with a helmet over his head, believes this is just some random knight and tries to magic him away, but finds to his surprise that this random knight has some fairly good countering spells. So they duel a bit, but Curtain gets the upper hand. In frustration at his plans being delayed, Curtain begins casting a painful and damaging spell on SQ, causing him to groan and scream in pain, at which point, his helmet falls off. Curtain immediately drops his hands, horrified at what he's done, and runs to his son's side. SQ weakly asks if this is what his father did to his birth parents. Curtain vehemently denies it, shocked his son would ask that, and it's heavily implied that something went wrong in the past that resulted in Curtain trying to use dark magic to fix it, but that ultimately, he wasn't powerful enough, and it resulted in the deaths of SQ's birth parents (I guess this is an SOS AU now. I don't know anymore).

Curtain asks SQ why he would turn against his own family, and SQ tells his father about how trapped he felt in the sheltered palace life Curtain had set up for him and how betrayed he felt that his father had kept so much from him. Curtain replies that he was only ever trying to protect him. SQ starts growing weaker and weaker as Nicholas' side effects start getting worse. Garrison is sad to see them both in pain and dying, but tells Constance and Curtain that she's not powerful enough to fix it, and that most of the magic that would is too powerful, even for any of them. Curtain, upon hearing this, attempts a spell that will exchange his own life for SQ's, but finds he's not powerful enough to use it, and that the dark magic he's been using has left him too corrupted to effectively cast a self-sacrificing spell. Curtain starts to cry and tells SQ that he loves him, hugging him close to his chest. SQ replies weakly, gasping for breath that despite everything, he loves his father too. This begins to heal SQ (power of love and all that. Beautiful stuff. What? It's a fairytale. I can give it a fairytale ending).

Constance, seeing that love was able to heal SQ, decides to give it a try. She walks over to Mr. Benedict and tells him that the reason she denied his offer of adoption was because she was scared of him leaving her like she assumes her parents must have. But now, she wishes she had accepted his offer, and that they had more time together because she would love to spend every second of it with him as her family. This heals Nicholas.

Happy ending right? Wrong. Curtain takes SQ to the palace on the islands where his birth parents lived (which had since been abandoned, but SQ realizes the sigil of his birth parents is the same one Curtain was using). Curtain then goes off on his own journey to released the world from his dark spells, with Nicholas to help him. The twins complete the task and return to the islands to find SQ missing (and a message from home via urgent carrier pigeon confirms Constance has gone missing as well). The twins investigate and find a mysterious woman occupying the islands. They demand to know where their children have gone. She tells them that they will be fine, provided the twins are willing to comply and embrace their destinies. She then introduces herself as their sister and says they have a lot to talk about.

And that's all I got. Please don't ask me to finish this, I'm tired. But I hope you like it.

[musezieren]

Sirius as companion

Tav=player character

Where do you find Sirius?

Pretty close to where Tav wakes up, he is crouching over a mangled fisher corpse, and deep in thoughts.

What does the tadpole show?

Him lobotomizing US, followed by him waking up in confusion, and finally nothing. a dark black abyss that seems to swallow everything.

Approval/Disapproval

He actually approves of many things. He approves helping people, but after some speech checks will also approve of slaughter and violence. The more Tav influences in one way, the more his approval/disapproval adapts. If one goes on the path of evil and then becomes good, he will disapprove. the other way around too. He also disapproves if a Tav or anyone tries to do skill checks alone after Sirius offered to take over, mostly if they fail.

Death of the Dragonborn bard.

A cut scene a bit later in the game than what we get. It is in pride if he is found out, if Tav went an evil path. Or desperation and apologies and utter fear if a righteous path was chosen. Tav can decide if Sirius is sent away, can stay or be attacked.

Tiefling Party

You'll get a talk about how nice it feels to help people. That he did it to fight whatever pulls his strings at first. But seeing all those cheerful faces elates him, truly. He will open up about feeling controlled and without a choice here. If approval is high enough, he'd ask to sneak away, watch the stars together, and possibly a kiss. But he wants to take things slow, especially because he is scared of whatever controls him to take over and ruin a moment.

Goblin Party

Boy is high on violence and murder, and totally open to fuck. No silly love making, no sweet words, mostly dirty, kinky sex. Minthara's sex scene is more romantic.

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Romance path moves different paths from there on.

Evil Path: It's dangerous sex, and banter. Only sometimes gentle emotions peak through. He WILL kill Isobel, and Tav will not have a choice here. This is the path he was set on, and it allows him to get the Slayer Form later without hurting the player character. In the end he'll accept Bhaal, and no speech checks will change that. But he'll tell Tav that he'll stay around, until the day it was their turn to die by his hand... but that he hopes they'll be the last, and he'll follow soon after them. he still seems haunted by his choices, sometimes showing that he just gave up. There is a hopelessness in him... and any laughter cannot be as warm as it can be on his other path. He accepted he is a puppet from a higher power, he does not tug on his strings.

Good Path: He doesn't kill Isobel, more struggling in the shadow lands, nightmares opening up about them. Holding each other at night. One night in Act 2 he will ask the player to tie him up, else he'll kill them. If they do, congrats they'll survive. If not... game over, no resurrection. But after that is done, first sex scene, very romantic, and also changing with choices. He'll ask how they want to do it... and it can be kinky, it can be vanilla... top/bottom... just really indulging each other's wants and needs. (he will not fully dom in this scene, and the one where he is submissive is more detailed here) In Act III there will be all the game reveals. Who his father is, what his fate is, Orin being obsessed, Gortash being his ex lover, etc. And finally, the showdown with Bhaal. Here he is for a moment about to surrender. Because he is SCARED, feels weak in front of a God that made him, remembers the way he was broken, scared to suffer that again... but just supporting him, reminding him he isn't alone is enough to make him snap out of it and reject Bhaal. From there on he can be fully dominant, even sadistic if player wants/enjoys that in a romance/sex scene. But either way lots of after care and snuggling. In Game choices and talks influence his Epilogue. Maybe they also took in orphaned kids. Maybe he is going around and studying Bhaalspawn... but he'll usually ask for Tav's hand in marriage, wanting to make it official etc.