#“i dont like it bc its not like other souls games”

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

A Celebration of War

Im just saying. FS is not subtle. Radahn, as the grand figure of the old regime, is the ONE battle wherein you fight with a whole PARTY. Many smaller men united to topple the huge. Like. How is that not just the most blatant and in your face metaphor?

But what I truly love is that... It's a celebration. Of war, yes, but primarily of change as well - of whatever ending you need Radahn to die for. And Radahn doesnt die in like this bitter, solemn affair. Its a fucking festival.

Its two fold in that sense - bc for all the sins of the previous golden age, one must not lie to say that there wasnt anything admirable. If we must start afresh (and we must), we must not start on a lie that the poisoned tree did not bear fruit to feed future generations.

BUT, lets not be held back by the past. lets face the future through combat with comrade in arms. Glory was claimed before and we in turn can claim it for ourselves. it is, by far, the most hopeful fight that ER has, by a country mile. And it was staged as such.

Radahn is not an active agent of the empire or the status quo. But he does persist, stubbornly, ridiculously. So his greatest accomplishment is to facilitate his farewell. If we have to take anything for truth, it is that once upon a time a young Radahn understood that his time would also come. But if it must come, then they would have to bring their spears. And that, if nothing else, is admirable.

The greatest honor that we could bequeath the old regime is to see it properly defeated, and honestly remembered - tarnish and all.

[cozylittleartblog]

9th annual nick valentines day (ft. soup again) + doodle i made last year that i forgot about, from when bethesda gave us that free update

[moeblob]

Huevember 22

Brent, the most expressive bard to ever bard.

[kirkwallguy]

I'm thirsty for your commentary on the veilguard like I'm in a desert btw

after all my dai haterism i was hoping to maybe be a lover on main for once 😔 but the writers decided the haterism must continue

[itsalwaysdark]

like obvs i cant ask How do i develop my personality ^_^ Id like to be an entire person with thoughts and feelings can someone tell me how to do this ^_^ like thats not how that works i just have to do it but its like i just dont have it like. i dont know why i dont have anything you know

[phagodyke]

i keep getting irrationally miffed at ppl 😐😐

[nicely-done]

hm. thinking emoji

[jaggybot3000]

originally I thought the voice changing thing in Be Born was Heart trying to take back control or fight Mind's influence, but tbh that doesnt make sense if he literally JUST resigned himself in the song prior (The Heart Acoustic), and said he wanted to see how Mind would fare. i doubt he would want to take back control anytime soon.

and since the song is about Mind trying to convince Heart to get over his depression and keep writing songs with him despite whatever sadness he feels, his message would be kinda redundant if Heart was just parroting Mind the entire time and seemingly agreeing with him. like, the point is Mind is trying to explain his reasoning, and even if he's somehow able to force Heart to sing along with him, then why would he even bother explaining? like he could just make him sing and be done with it, but he can't because it's not that simple, he is actively trying to CONVINCE Heart to sing with him, and it's not working.

i think Heart only bites back/speaks up again during Storm and a Spring, to mock Mind and his claims of wanting to keep making music he "loves", and he does it with a very clear, strong, and notably undistorted voice. (on a similar note, i dont think it's even remotely Soul in Be Born cus he kinda disappears after the beginning of Cacaphony and doesnt come back until with a bang with The Soul Eclectic, I doubt he would join Mind in berating Heart when he's the one that most wants them to get along)

and although i mentioned the black words/white background thing as Mind's signature (which is true) it is still inconsistent across pre-Light lyric videos since the entire lore was developed alongside the album. Just Apathy and Ruler of Everything notably has it flipped (Heart w the black lettering and Mind w the white lettering) when it shouldn't be. but what remains consistent, even in those songs, are when a different character starts singing, the background switches to follow their voice. which is not the case for Be Born. it stays white with black lettering, only briefly glitching at times, but NOT at the parts where "Heart" supposedly sings.

In other songs, Heart also has moments where his supposed "normal" voice distorts, though not as majorly as Mind's, very notably in The Bidding during the "Here he is the piece of shit/Sitting seething high atop his stolen throne" or "We've been here like a thousand times" where it almost sounds like it's coming through a radio. Heart and Mind are more similar than they like to admit, given they are different sides of the same person, so it makes sense that their voices can become more clear or more distorted, just like their other half's. it makes sense that they...

...have the same voice. okay yeah it's like a no shit moment cus yeah of course it is indeed just Chonny Jash putting on different voices for each of his characters based off him. but the point is they sound so similar that even after learning their distinctions/differences, the audience still mistakes one for another. it further blurs the lines of where these characters start and end, and just how similar they are, which connects to the point of the album's journey. it is interesting to think about what it implies for a character like Mind, when his voice reverts back to "normal", or Heart, when his voice becomes distorted.

tldr: every part in "Heart's" voice during Be Born could just be Mind himself, voice bugging and glitching bc he's unstable, reverting to a similar, maybe even weaker version of Heart's (or Whole's, technically) voice. maybe it's not so much Heart trying to fight Mind's influence as much as Mind trying to fight off Heart's influence in the song. or something.

anyway long story short, yayy new headcanon has Been Born(aha) yayy!! Minds voice is pathetically weak and he tries his best to cover it up w his voice modulator. idiot.

wait. i might sound super fucking stupid but is there any chance be born is just really just mind singing by himself

nowhere was it stated heart or soul sang in the song too, iirc it's just common for ppl to speculate on which of them is singing. even in the lyric video (where in the description chonny jokes about releasing the songs in the wrong order, meaning he already had a good idea of the lore/characters) there is only black lettering upon a white background, which is mind's signature. what if the voice changing is just the equivalent of voice cracking for mind. have we ever thought about that. this is highly embarrassing for him

[toyherb]

also another thing about ds2 that I didn't mention in my last post is how difficult it is to see mobs against the environment. that's really annoying.

[opal-owl-flight]

can I ask about the poster "agent 3" kids story?

Yes you can and here it all is!! Presenting…

tldr: She comes from a family of big name actors in the industry, and shes been raised from hatching to continue their legacy. Its…a lot of pressure to put on a kid, especially one who just wants to make her (impossible to satisfy) family proud. Despite being surrounded by impossible standards, the fakest friends chosen for her, being given everything she can ever want (except what she really needs), and putting on a hundred masks for everyone in her life for survival’s sake in a cutthroat industry, she chooses to be kind.

more details under the cut!!

Her name is Sariwa, which means “fresh” . Named for her spring green tentacles and as a blessing from her parents that shed stay youthful, beautiful. a hope that she would be seen and be adored (as freshness implies coolness/popularity in sploonworld).

Shes hatched into the acting industry, with both parents being big in the industry. From hatching she was expected, trained to be an actor like her mother is. The media adores them, this “sweet little family”, but no one knows how nefarious everything is when the cameras are off.

The dad is neglectful, disappearing into meetings most of the time. The mom is a helicopter parent to make up for it. Pointing out every flaw that Sariwa apparently has in either performance or appearance. Never giving praise. Except when she performs “well enough” on stage. This instills in the child this need to make them proud. to…to make everyone happy. She becomes someone whose dependent on other peoples’ praise to function.

Shes given everything else, dont get me wrong. Every material thing she’ll ever need. all the big popular “friends” chosen for her. But…shes not allowed to turf. yknow. biggest event in an inkling’s life here in Inkopolis. and shes not allowed to go to school either. shes too busy memorizing lines for adverts or-

The second she turned 14, she was chosen as the lead role for Cuttlegear’s brand new show abt Agent 3. She looked exactly like the legendary hero, according to the sources. All her time went into this project. Thankfully, unlike at home…her co-actors were very kind. Her parents didnt choose for her this time. She was meeting actual people who dont put on masks beyond their job. the actor they got for Cuttlefish, in particular, is a very kind soul, defending her when the directors get too pissy with her performance. (Those are the only people she fears, tbh shes fearful of most authority figures.)

*Cuttlefish is also depicted as kind and supportive in the show. and in most games. Unlike the real Cuttlefish, which is kind of a loony old man who pushes ideas on young inklings. He still gives more support and kindness that 3s dad ever gave, but thats only RELATIVE to how little he gave in the first place. One can only imagine the longing this inspires in the real 3.

Sariwa…since shes hatched shes had to put on an act. Be the perfect little doll for her parents. For the world. But her friends here, they inspired her to…have fun with what shes doing again. To take off the mask (mostly beyond the clock). Breathe life in the character when she can. (But lets be real…shes getting 3 spot on with how many parallels they have with each others lives.)

But what is she beyond the mask, her role? She wasnt allowed to do anything beyond this. She was forced to depend on her abusive parents and their associates. She cant live alone beyond them. Not allowed to turf bc shes “a prim and proper young lady; above such violent drivel that only delinquents participate in”. They gesture to 3, whos one of the faces Squidforce uses in their promotions, and say (ironically.) that she must not become that. Face ripped to shreds and eye mangled.

No one knows they got that from the real war that Sariwa is pretending to show.

The show does its best to be an accurate telling. Child friendly, to a point. Horrifying things still get kept in somewhat. Things that will horrify a child on stage.

If Sariwa is terrified of the props, can you imagine how it was for 3?

————————

And once she realizes all of this. Once she gets out of this situation thanks to Callie, Marie, and 3 themself. Does she feel guilt? Guilt for depicting the horrors in a way that glorifies it instead? A part of a project that aims to make people complacent to the real horrors that churned below?

There is one thing Sariwa feels about 3, that I am aware of rn.

“Im glad, that out of every story I couldve told, Im glad it was yours.”

Just like 8, she sung this tale in her hearts. Just like 8, she used this to break out of this terrible situation, answering the call of the ones who promised her safety. A better life. Like the way she stage broke through that prop in the choreographed Octavio fight, she broke through the influence of those around her.

*She actually went off-script a bit in that scene. After she beat down Octavio, she held out her hand. Mostly to help the actor up. But then, without realizing, she spoke, she spoke of making things better between the nations. That maybe he doesnt have to steal the zapfish anymore.

Her time with the octoling actors, and hearing the stories from the ex-octarians, made her aware and know the fact that theyre people too. The directors kept it in. They knew that if they released this as they have planned it, there will be fuckign riots from the ex-octarians or the Inkling “sympathizers”.

She saw the value this story held, despite the subliminal messaging that she wished wasnt implemented. That she wished she wasnt a part of. She saw that its a tale of hope. A tale that inspires one to become the hero of their own life. A tale that inspires one to make the world a better place.

————————

So she was hatched and raised to make people smile, singing her songs and dancing their dances. Much like the clan singer that was 4, except the tradition is much more healthy compared to industry standard. And she didnt become as mean as the people around her, at least not internally. She put on a mean mask but she felt the void within. When she was given kindness for a long enough time, she put her walls down.

And just like the real 3, she underwent through the horrors of expectations she had to hold up, and trying to make uninterested parents proud. They dont see her as their daughter, shes just a means to an end. She had to wear a hundred masks to survive and it made her lose her sense of identity. She had to be mature, she had to take the shitty behavior of adults who expect her to be like one too. It made her lose grip of who she is beyond this role. Hell, they made her so dependent on their handouts that shes not sure she can exist beyond this hell. Much like how 3 struggles to know a life beyond their duty.

And much like 8, she used the story she was telling to break out and get herself in a better situation. She met with the real Agents 1 and 2 (without her knowledge) and asked. Begged. for help, after her show ended. (3 also kind of pointed the two in her direction. Bc cod knows how horrifying this industry is. Shes lucky she didnt get any of the grosser horrors ~~its bc I didnt feel comfortable writing such topics~~)

And then shes faced with the same problem all the real legends faced. What comes after the end? When the dust clears, what happens next? She wasnt given a damn choice, she wasnt allowed to try to learn things beyond this role. to be beyond an imagined agent 3. a soldier for the screen. who is she now, that shes out of that battlefield?

little does she realize that the real 3s asking the same question for themself.

[ganondoodle]

even if i didnt love botw as much as i do, totk drives me nuts bc, similarly to pokemon, this series is so SO SO full of potential, they have so many games they can pull from, theres so many themes, characters and worldbuilding thats just left to rot, you dont need to connect anything with a chain to old titles, you dont need to bring back any things that already had their ending, but PLEASE harness at least a fraction of all this!!!! and they just refuse to do it beyond shallow references

totk jsut drives it all home to me, bc this isnt just the next game in the franchise, but a DIRECT SEQUEL no 10 years apart from botw, yet they cant even, they REFUSE to even keep the continuity with its OWN lore it established in botw together, and that, i think, is what truly makes me so insane (derogatory) about totk

it PROVES they do not care, they dont care to build on anything of the lore of old titles beyond references in form of amiibos or whatever, they dont even care to make a sequel to their most successful game in the franchise coherent with its own lore

botw established a captivating detailed world full of potential, while lacking in active storytelling, it had environmental storytelling, characters and ideas that were the perfect ground to build on-

and then they do away with it bc idk .. they want you to build mechs and make videos of it that go viral and thats all they care about or something

shiekah tech? forget that existed character being the character you know? act as if you are seeing them for the first time just like they are lame story? dont think about that just be distracted by the epic presentation of it lore the previous title established? forget that, all that matters is what is here and now beloved character from old games beign brought back? hes a new guy and has no background and no lore and just sits waiting for you at the end to have a flashy fight with references from old titles and their lore? just here for nostalgie bait, dont you remember? you LOVE this series, now give me 70 bucks for a glorified DLC that ruins what you loved about the series and makes you realize that nothign matters and nothing is interesting anymore

you are supposed to take it all at face value, to not think about anything, to see a character say something and just go with it, and forget it the second its over, be distracted by good music and pretty visuals, but dont think about, dont think about anything but what is directly said to you like you have no critical thinking skills, forget there was a game before this one, only the one you play matters, empty your skull and dont let yourself feel anything but what the game tells you to feel

if they dont even care to make the sequel to their most successful game actually build on the previous title, dont even care to keep their continuity of two games supposedly directly happening one after the other in tact- maybe they never cared, and all the meaning we thought we saw them build into their games was all accidental and meaningless

and that is absolutely soul crushing for fans like me to discover

its a game. its not a story, its not a world, its not themes, its not characters, its not lore. its a product made to make you pay money, not to make you think about anything.

[mchi22]

would u guys believe me if i said i only just played the level now

going 2 play the last level of a game

[emberunderscore]

FableSMP EPIC the musical AU

whole thing comes from the perspective of Midas (as Quixis specifically) being Scylla, which means Icarus has to be Odysseus, which is also fitting tbh.

this is only based on the released sagas bc i dont have the vibe of the future characters yet (i dont look at a whole lot of snippets). also dont think about any of the blood family stuff too hard - theres nothing weird dw but it just makes stuff complicated with the gods

Monsters

Scylla - Quixis Midas

The ideas of Scylla being human turned monster, Midas is human turned Quixis, which in this universe could be something of a replacement for monstrous, which also works with 

Spooky bitch Midas propaganda

Look at my edit to be even more convinced

Polyphemus - Leviathan/Vorago

Probably makes most sense with Leviathan

Instead of the parent/child relationship with Poseidon they're siblings (ocie is poseidon)

Humans/Dead people

Odysseus - Icarus

Icarus has to be Ody because of Midas being Scylla

The song Monster

The conflicts within the plot work well with Icarus’ own relationships

Eury and Ody see each other as brothers, even though it isn't’t blood. Maybe they’re not blood related in this AU

Eurylochus: Rae

Brothers!!

Rae is seen as the leader of Lodestar, which works well with Eury’s place as the voice of the crew

Penelope: Centross??

prison duo

but it actually works because Icarus would do anything for him. just look at season 3

he's probably not smart enough to be penelope but the agenda is more important than that

Telemachus: Oscar

Ik Oscar isn't Icarus' kid but he is Centross and theoretically Centross would've been the one to raise him anyway

See Legendary

Polities: Athena

Optimist

Song open arms

"everything's changed since polities"

Perimedes: Caspian

Perimedes is the one who stabs Odysseus in the back to stop him from killing Eurylochus in Mutiny

For Rae? Cas wouldn't hesitate

Tireseas: Haley

Dead prophet

who else

Ody's dead mom: Isla

Isla is Icarus' mom??? In this AU??? /s

Gods

Zeus: Fable

Orignially this was Epros but I was convinced to change it

Massive ego

Yellow

Actual reasons in this post

Athena: Enderian

This could also be fable but I dont think Icarus would defy him like how he does

Goddess of the Mind, need I say more

Aeolus: Aurelius

They have the vibes I think

Aeolus is gender and so is Aurelius

There are a lot of options I think

I like the idea of the Winions(?) being the piglins they had in their bunker

Poseidon: Ocie

Ocean

At the beginning Ocie is so ready to kill people, she does not care for human life. Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves

She would do that for Vorago

Canon compliant beef with Icarus 

Circe: Momboo

My first thought was Ven because I'm a fucking dumbass

It makes so much more sense than Ven

Plant lady, plant witch

badass

girlboss

pretty woman

Hermes: Rakai

They have the vibes

One of the very few gods to tolerate Icarus

gender

Apollo: Malitae

Apollo sounds so fruity in god games

Apollo cares most about music in god games which is a form of expression so i think it fits for Malitae to be him

Hephaestus: Nexus

In god games Hephaestus' thing is trust, he's pissed that Ody betrayed his crew

Nexus is the Goddess of Loyalty so it fits really well that she'd be upset about that

Nexus was also a knight so being a god of blacksmithing isn't too far from that

Aphrodite: Soul

Aphrodite cares about Ody's mom's broken heart

If we thing of it in the context of soulbonds it makes sense that Soul would be upset about that

Ares: Netherum

Ares is the only one in god games to match Athena's power, which checks out - major god to major god

Maybe its a bit ooc for Netherum themself

But god of destruction as the god of war. thats something

Would totally step in for Soul

Hera: Perix

In this AU we ignore family dynamics- Perix is not married

Calls Athena "baby" (kinda gay)

Fits the vibe

can you come up with a better idea? no, nor could I (credit to Sardar106 for this casting lol)

Calypso: Ven

They're so "This could never really happen but let us pretend"

"I wish we could've been something"

Look at this post (person who reblogged has better words than me go read that)

thank you for coming to my au talk. please share your own thoughts and opinions (but also remember that i am objectively correct all of the time /j)

Updated after Wisdom Saga

[fakeuwus]

RECKLESS | lee heeseung

now playing ☾⋆⁺₊🎧✩°｡ reckless by madison beer

"how could you be, so reckless with my heart?"

⁺ ⋆˚ genre: idol!hee x nonidol/university student!femreader, pure angst sorry lol, established relationship

⁺ ⋆˚ warnings: cursing, lowercase intended, barely proofread, mention of i-land LOL, lots of dialouge and idk if thats even a warning but had to put it out there, use of nicknames like babe/baby, infidelity

⁺ ⋆˚ word count: ~1k

⁺ ⋆˚ message from nic: wanted to put smth out while working on my jay fic!! got inspired by this show i was watching called "the game" (dont watch it its like highkey misogynistic and a bit racist and just overall so bad 😭) i wanted to rewatch it bc i used to watch it as a kid and now i realize how bad it was skdkd. but basically the bf is a pro football player while the gf is in med school and a certain plotline in the show inspired this 😁 also this is my first writing piece so pls be nice and feedback is appreciated!

heeseung slowly opened the front door to the apartment you and him shared, trying to be as quiet as possible since you were most likely sleeping. once he made it in he tip toe'd his way to your guys' bedroom. "did you have fun tonight hee?" you asked, while sitting on the couch with nothing but the lamp on. heeseung jumps, "holy shit you scared me! baby what are you doing up? come on let's get you to bed."

he walks over and tries to give you a kiss. you turned your head down only allowing him to press it to your forehead. you were pissed. actually, you were beyond that. words could not describe what you were even feeling at the moment.

you get up from the couch and stand before him, "you didn't answer my question. did you have fun tonight hee?" heeseung is perplexed by your tone. you sounded... hurt? angry? annoyed? all of the above? he tried to proceed with caution, racking his brain of all the possibilities of why you could be acting like this.

"uh... yeah babe, i had a lot of fun tonight. sorry i stayed out so late by the way. you really didn't have to wait up for me, you're probably tired." he was hopeful this was the right answer. it's gotta be, right? all you could do was stifle a cold laugh.

why the hell were you laughing? what was so funny? heeseung can feel his heartbeat in his ears and his skin was turning hot. you had never once acted this way in all of the years you guys had been together. it may not seem like a big deal to others, but you had always been so caring and sweet towards him.

even when you guys were arguing, your soft voice never changed. this was new. this was scary. you had a smile that didn't quite reach your eyes now and it seemed like you were staring into his soul.

"yeah heeseung. it's 2 am," you say sounding almost condescending, "but no i'm not mad that you stayed out so late. i mean i WAS, but after someone sent me a little something i realized there are worse things to be mad about." suddenly your phone is shoved into heeseung's hands. his jaw dropped. no. there's no way.

"who sent you this?! wait no it doesn't matter baby you can't believe this can you?" he reaches out for you but you pull away and start walking towards the front door to gather your jacket and bag, "so you're not even going to try to deny it? huh. i guess my friends were right." it makes him sick how you seem so calm on the outside, your words and actions treating this like one big joke while he's freaking out. he'd rather you be a crying, screaming mess than whatever behavior you're exhibiting at the moment.

you turn back around to him, "you think i don’t know who you’re giggling with on the phone while i’m sitting in the room studying for hours? that i’m stupid enough to believe that you’re not making out with her in that video? that i’m blind enough to not see the heart eyes you two make at each other while in the same room?” your words drip with venom and they shoot heeseung straight in the heart.

he feels like the room is spinning and he wants to faint. he wants to go up to you and hold you and tell you that she doesn’t matter, that you’re the only important thing in his life. but that’s not what happens. heeseung is too wrapped up in the moment to admit his wrongs.

frankly, he’s disgusted with himself and at a loss for words right now. he wants to convince not only you but more importantly to himself that he didn’t do anything wrong. and so he does. what comes out of his mouth next are words he’d soon regret. “WHAT DID YOU WANT ME TO DO YN?! i’ve been so lonely lately because you’re so wrapped up in school and she’s THERE FOR ME. she’s been there when you weren’t. i wouldn’t have made out with her if YOU were at the afterparty with ME like i asked you to! we won four fucking awards tonight and i just wanted my girlfriend there to celebrate with me.”

and just like that, you snap. the jacket and bag in your hands are now thrown to the ground and heeseung flinches. “YOU ARE SO FUCKING UNBELIEVABLE! do you hear the words that are coming out of your mouth right now?! i told you i have an exam tomorrow there was no way i was going to that damn party.”

tears are blurring your vision and your breath is becoming uneven. you don’t even recognize the man standing in front of you. “i have a life too heeseung. while you’re out chasing your dreams so am i. do you even acknowledge the sacrifices i have made for you over the past five years? tell me, was she there for you when you first became a trainee? was she crying for you every fucking episode of i-land? was she there every step of the way supporting your career?!"

heeseung doesn’t speak. he doesn’t move an inch yet his brain is moving a million miles per minute. he knows you’re right. he knows that you decline going out with your friends so you can wait for him to come home from practice. that your life only revolves around school and him. and he’s so eternally grateful for you. his heart yearns to express all the love he has for you and that he fucked up so badly. he just wants to fast forward to the part where you guys work through it and everything is okay again.

but that time is never going to come because you walk up to him with a heavy heart, placing the promise ring he gave you all those years ago in his hands.

he stares at the pretty diamond that shines in the moonlight, the only thing illuminating the darkness that’s consumed the space you both once filled with love. “i hope she was worth it,” you say as you open the door and walk out into the cold night. leaving heeseung and all of the memories of your relationship behind.

© fakeuwus 2023 do not repost, translate, or plagiarize

[mythalism]

my other ted talk is that i think it's a boring decision for solas to have been that personally involved in tranquilizing the titans. like firstly why does a lyrium dagger... do anything to titans. they are already made out of lyrium, why would poking them with a drop of their own blood even hurt them. if they want the dagger to have been infecting them with some sort of lyrium-borne tranquility disease (???) that needs way more explanation bc it doesn't really make sense on its own. nor dies it make sense for it to be disguised as an idol and blighted and then somehow clean again. secondly it's already established that curing tranquility is pretty easy and you just need 1 (one) spirit to fix it. so like what's the problem. that's actually easier to solve than if the titans were just dead or physically fucked up somehow? thirdly it makes the whole world seem too small and beholden to the whims of one guy if solas did all this stuff. i think the other evanuris should get to be more active. andruil is already established to be really into messing with titans and possibly unleashing the blight, and half the evanuris get no lore at all... what's up with june and sylaise especially. they should get to contribute. i think june should have a mandatory towers of hanoi puzzle, as a treat.

and WHERE did flemythal's whole revenge scheme go. i was just waiting for her to have been using solas and everyone else all along to achieve her own goals... she did not forcibly possess generations of swamp witches just to maintain the status quo. where's that old god soul she went to so much effort to get? arguably even dumat's soul from the first blight may have been salvaged and put into andraste? did she have something to do with that? what was that codex entry about andraste maybe using a secret method to prevent her soul from departing when she died? what happened to those hints in dai about the avvar legends tying into the elves and titans? where's the well of souls juice that either morrigan or the inquisitor get dunked into? what was flemythal doing before solas "killed" her in the dai end credits? why did she tell hawke that stuff about leaping into the abyss?

we will simply never know, bc bioware had too many development mishaps and decided to fire half their staff without severance. sad. we need more passion project itchio game dev artist collectives or something, this late capitalist canadian liberal development process is not good for storytelling 😔

these are great questions. i also love how lyrium has no presence in the game outside of the dagger. red lyrium? never heard of it. and how the lyrium dagger was.... you know. cured of the blight. by solas. he cured red lyrium. he cured titans blood of the blight. how? dont worry about it. shouldnt this be extremely relevant to the entire blighted world of thedas? dont worry about it.

[cactusringed]

i think its fun to see them explore mods, and varied gameplay, and varied stakes and test each other's adaptability each time, i think adaptability has been a large theme of the life series i havent seen many speak about and can often be the make or break of whether a player does well or not, and i love analysing the way people's personalities influence their gameplay and how someone's gameplay speaks about their personalities etc lol. anyway im also biased bc joel won and i dont want to be mean about the series joel won in. because he genuinely did so good lol. he was adaptable and level headed and reliable and i was soooo proud of him throughout the whole series because he's come so far, because it's a culmination of everything hes gone through. each player, and especially joel rn, has grown tremendously throughout the series and i think its fun having this growth - whether the growth has been positive or negative - be challenged constantly.

i think the main problem with the reception of this series, and with the reception of.. every new life series since last life ngl, is twofold; i think due to how dramatic and intense third life and last life got depending on which pov you watched, as well as the mythologisation from the fandom itself, there is this expectation of the life series being the intense, heart wrenching, tragic roleplay series when it was always meant to be a fun competitive improv series where they got to mess around and let go of their inhibitions. because near everyone in this series comes from established smps that are peaceful or highly controlled when it comes to conflict due to the amount of work poured into builds and storylines, so having a sort of anarchy server always felt to me like their way of letting go of these rules they always abide by and go wild. meanwhile, i think when you play minecraft for a living for longer than some of your viewers have been alive, there is a real danger of it getting horribly, intensely, soul-suckingly stale. furthermore, when you have a wide breadth of skill and experience like the life series has within its members, you WANT things to be varied and sometimes even unbalanced to give each players a chance. it might sound counter intuitive, but the thing is that it HAS worked, to a relative extent. there is already this kind of "going with the motions" feeling that is instilled in the members, and has been for a good few seasons. it is noticeable. and when you are the game master, it is even more noticeable. it is expected of the game master to vary the gimmicks and premise in order to keep the game from being predictable both for its players and for the viewers.

i think sometimes it doesn't always land, because the truth is there is only so much testing you can do in a series that is about surprising not just the viewers but the players (and where the players not fully knowing what is to expect is a core point of the series*). not only is there only so much testing you can do to make sure it doesn't impact gameplay too much, but also so much testing you can do to make sure it doesn't impact dynamics too much, and the viewer experience. and then the question is: when you do realise, maybe an episode or two in, what do you even do? a ton of work (and potentially money) has been poured into setting this up. so what do you do? do you continue? do you tweak it mid-season, potentially breaking the complex mods put in place? do you just stop it? do you like, apologise to your fanbase -- "sorry guys, this one was a dud!" ??

like, genuinely. what do you do in this situation? and what do you do when something you would've expected to be a labour of love, with input from the fanbase even, is received in such a way? im not saying "uwu think of the creators feelings" or whatever, they make more in a month than i make in a year. but i do sympathise with them because when creating an episodic and improv series like this there is very little you can do if you see it not going the way you or the fanbase wanted. i personally enjoyed it, even if some bits fell a bit flat, because there were good moments and i thought a bunch of the gimmicks were funny, and i thought they challenged the players in interesting ways. although they are linked and this link IS important to the series as a whole, i like to let each season stand on its own as its own experience as well -- and imo this one does stand. depending on what you want out of the series, the gimmicks might've taken too much of a centre stage, maybe they were too intrusive, maybe they kept players from interacting in a way you enjoy. i tend to take it as kind of... what it is, with an episodic, improv series made by people who are neither professional nor trained storytellers or game developpers (well tango was a game dev wasn't he, but tango isn't the admin of the server so that doesn't even matter anyway)

*you wouldnt think surprise is a core point of the series, but it is. ive already said many times but third life would not be as it was if it wasnt for the fact that no one knew what to expect from the series. they didnt think it would get competitive so fast, they didnt think it would get so dramatic and intense and involved so fast. they didnt think the scarcity of resources would be such a hot topic so fast, etc, etc, etc. you literally hear it so often in various povs in third life, especially grian's though i think, how they just didnt expect the series to have such a feeling. furthermore, theres a clear shift in the series when murders start truly happening. there will never be another series like third life because the only way to have a series like third life is to erase the players memory. since that's impossible, the closest thing grian can get to is introducing strange and unexpected gimmicks to their gameplay.