#((the dialogue all the way on the right is directly from the game in act 2))

[lonelyoleander]

i'm front row at their wedding sobbing violently and shaking like a frightened animal

[endiness]

Debunking misinformation about Netflix's The Witcher (Part 1)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7]

"Henry Cavill is a massive fan of the books and the games and he quit the show because the writers wouldn't stick to the books and he just cares about the source material so much."

Henry Cavill not only did not know that the books existed when he started pursuing the role of Geralt, but he actually thought that the books were based off of the video games (and he still didn't bother to read them) and he didn't learn that the games were actually based off the books until Lauren told him (even though the first thing in the game credits is that they're based off the books); as of 2021, he as only read the full series once — right before he was cast in 2018; while he has played TW3, he has only played a little of TW2 (and I've never found any evidence that he's played the first game); and he also has not played the DLC for TW3.

Henry Cavill also started heavily pushing the narrative that he's just such a massive fan of the books and how important adhering to the source material is to him during the press for S2 to deflect from how it was due to his acting choices of cutting Geralt's lines and either saying nothing or just grunting instead that Geralt's characterization — who is much more verbose in the books — was book inaccurate in S1:

He also lied about the situation and tried to act like Geralt was never originally written as being verbose and blamed the lack of dialogue on Yennefer and Ciri's prominence, which cannot be true as confirmed by Lauren:

And tried to act like the lines he was cutting weren't that important anyway so it wasn't really a big deal, which also cannot be true as confirmed by Joey:

He also started pushing the narrative that adhering to the source material is so important to him and it's 'tricky' to do that with Lauren's vision, but his definition of "Lauren's vision" is the show being an ensemble piece with Yennefer and Ciri at the forefront (like the books) and the show in general heavily centering around women (like the books):

So the idea of him caring so much about "book accuracy" is, in fact, not accurate to the books at all as his problems were the prominence of women in the show when Ciri is the main character of the main book series, which the show started adapting from S2 onwards (which is when Henry Cavill started to complain about wanting "book accuracy" in the first place), and when women are very prominent, central, key figures in the books and they often drive the plot forwards.

Lastly, S3 was the closest adaption of the books out of all the seasons so far, so the idea that he quit after S3 because the writers just weren't respecting the source material and the show wasn't following the books doesn't make any sense anyway.

"Henry Cavill is the only reason why the show was even close to the source material at all."

I've not only never seen any evidence of this, but if anything, I've seen the exact opposite: Henry Cavill was either directly responsible for or at least contributed in some way to a lot of things that went against the books or didn't happen in them.

As I already pointed out, he cut Geralt's lines in S1 and either said nothing or just grunted instead which is inaccurate to Geralt's characterization in the books. Here's another quote from Joey affirming that:

(Just to note: During the press for S1, he frequently talked about how the games inspired his performance as Geralt — sometimes talking about them even more than the books despite how the show is based off of the books, not the games — and it wasn't until S2 press that he suddenly changed his tune and started talking about how important adhering to the source material ie the books is to him. He also only started advocating for a more book accurate Geralt because he got dunked on by reddit for his book inaccurate performance in S1.)

He didn't want to play Geralt and Jaskier's friendship as directly as in the books and buddy-buddy with each other:

He didn't want to have any kind of conflict in Geralt and Ciri's relationship in S2 — at least on Geralt's side of things:

Nor play Geralt struggling with fatherhood at all — all of which led to the domino effect of Yennefer's betrayal:

Eskel's death (which in itself also led to things like Vesemir trying to create new witchers and Lambert's attitude toward Ciri):

And Voleth Meir being the big bad of the season:

He didn't want Geralt and Triss to even just platonically find comfort in each other in S2 — which is what happens in the books:

He nixed a sex scene between Geralt and Yennefer in S2 because he didn't think it'd be in character of them to have sex after reuniting which, uh, is absolutely in character of them:

While this is an incredibly inconsequential change, given the prevalence of this idea that Henry Cavill is such an ardent defender of the source material ie the books and how much he wanted the show to adhere to them, I do think it's important to note that he pushed for — and got — more signs into the show even though by his own admission that is more of a game thing than a book thing and he got it into the show for the explicit purpose of catering to game stans:

This is also another incredibly inconsequential change, but again, given how prevalent the idea of Henry Cavill pushing for perfect source accuracy is, I do just want to point out that he would wear his armor 24/7 to make it look worn down:

Even though it is canon in the books that Geralt will buy himself brand new clothes, so the idea that Geralt's clothing has to look worn down and can't be brand new is not actually book accurate.

"Lauren wanted to make Roach's death a joke."

Just to address this point specifically, Lauren wanted to make a meta reference about how all of Geralt's horses are named Roach. That in no way, shape, or form means that she wanted to make Roach's death into a joke or even that the scene had to be played comedically. This is what Lauren had to say about the subject and the 'joke' in question (which, js, actually fits the tone of the books more):

And as far as the "Henry Cavill is the only one who cared about the source material and he's the only reason why the show even stuck to the books at all" front goes... Henry Cavill did change the dialogue in this scene to a book quote/reference; however, the quote in question ("Enjoy your last walk across the meadow and through the mist. Be not afraid of her for she is your friend.") is not something that Geralt himself says and the line/scene from the books foreshadows Geralt's ending in them.

So, at least imo — especially taking into account the incredibly high standard the fandom has set for Henry Cavill as the #1 defender of the books — I don't think this change was actually book accurate especially given the narrative significance of that exchange in the books.

[foibles-fables]

thinking once again about the delicious concept of Talanah having deeper and more numerous hang-ups about sex than Aloy would...

When it comes to the act itself, at least. We all know Aloy has a metric fuckton of interpersonal baggage to work through, and she's certainly gotten started on that. But I think, in an early established relationship with the two of them on equal ground communication-wise, she'd be way more clearheaded about the act of sex specifically.

The Nora are an incredibly sex-positive tribe, as long as it don't result in babies outside of a sanctioned mate blessing. They use contraceptives liberally ("my sister stopped taking her tea!") and same-sex couplings are accepted and not outside of the social norm. While the tribal leadership is a matriarchy specifically based on the merit of having progeny, the rest of their society is an egalitarian one.

Rost, as a devout Nora, would've felt the same way about sex. And he would have impressed these ideas upon Aloy--with frankness, with no nonsense or baggage (since there's no social backing for it)--in preparation for her to join the tribe after her Proving, as was his wish. I think any angst Aloy would have about sex would be connected to her heaps of internalized otherness rather than upbringing--but if that was settled beforehand, I don't think she'd feel shame about the act itself.

The Carja, on the other hand. lmao.

Unlike the Nora, we don't have a canon outline of their attitude toward sex specifically--however, one can infer that it would fall into the rest of their patriarchal societal structure. They're kinda Catholic-lite, if you will, but make it the Sun. Only a couple blips of ambient dialogue give reference to it and they're mostly played for idle laughs.

We know Talanah herself is a badass and hellbent on breaking social barriers--but I think it's also interesting to view her through the lens of also being a product of not only Carja society at large, but also a noble upbringing. I just think it's fascinating, character-wise, to think of her having no shame or trepidation about kicking down the door of the Lodge--but still having to fight internalized shame about sex, when it comes down to it. Obviously, that wouldn't be a part of her everyday behavior we've seen portrayed. But it's just so compelling to think about from a theoretical standpoint.

AND it ties pretty much directly into the Comphet Talanah Hypothesis. Shame about sex is one thing--shame about having and/or wanting to have sex with women is another thing entirely. To me, in-game evidence points to the idea that the Carja are at least somewhat tolerant of same-sex couples in the peasantry. But I do see it being viewed as very very very much against the grain for the upper class, because noble patriarchy. Not downright condemned as sinful in and of itself, but regarded and responded to with an extreme amount of otherness as one falls out of line re: their "rightful duty" to their Khane. For a noble who is gay, lots of repression, lots of internalized homophobia.

So consider Talanah. Already othered to the point of some pretty bitter social rejection, as we see in HZD. Why would she, as a noble with the ingrained upbringing that comes with it, want to embrace that part of herself and bring more otherness upon herself? If she's going to feel shame about sex and baggage about sexual relationships, wouldn't it just be easier to make herself take the path of least resistance and have it be with a man? Because at least that's what she's supposed to do. Right? And she barely even has the language for anything else. Even though she's never really done anything she's "supposed to do" before. Maybe it would just be better to do that, for once. But why does that feel so wrong? Why does it feel like she's going against herself? Why does the thought of being with a man actually make her recoil? That’s what she’s supposed to want, isn’t it? After everything why does this make her want to hide? Why can't she stop thinking about Aloy? Aloy's hands, Aloy's mouth? Why can't this one Sun-damned thing just be easy?

Just. Ough. I love that this concept puts another line of give and take into their developing relationship. Talanah helping Aloy come further out of her internalized isolation through shared experience--Aloy helping Talanah come out of her internalized sexual shame and homophobia thanks to her own lack of baggage surrounding the two.

I have so many moment-specific headcanons about all of this BUT this is already long enough so I'll just spare you and leave you with the meta. for now. (that's a threat)

[vxlkirayaxo]

Older women part 1

Character: Scara/ kuni / wanderer

Warnings/ tags:, modern au, cursing, fluff, little angst, inappropriate jokes, reader being oblivious, scara being a simp, 4th wall breaking scara, milf reader, alcohol (reader drinking)

No gn reader this time sorry guys 😔 this idea has been sitting in my drafts for months lolllz

I had beidou in mind a lot for the reader sorry xxx

You started genshin at first to get closer to your teenage children who had started playing this game called genshin impact. You were already a gamer so you decided to give it a go, downloading it on your PC that you usually use for work and booting it up.

Pretty soon you got to the sumeru quest line and a certain indigo haired puppet caught your eye. His attitude reminded you of your first love which caused you to sob, a little bitter at the memories of what happened between you and your first love.

You learned that he was once called kunikizushi and that scaramouche or wanderer now, had a very sad backstory. You got a bit thirsty and bored so you stood up from your PC to grab a bit of booze. As you staggered out of your office to grab some drinks, wanderer who was talking in the game paused and looked directly at the screen.

"Tch...this is an important part of my lore." He grumbled making nahida giggle. He glared at her before crossing his arms and just impatiently waiting for you to come back. Tapping his foot on the ingame ground until the door to your office opened again and he went back to the position he was in before.

You took a sip of your beverage before you sat down in your chair. Humming as you clicked the auto play as you continued to listen to the dialogue. You couldn't wait to talk about the archon quest with your children. You took another sip before leaning your chin against the palm of your hand.

"Come back to the banner, I wanna get you so I can name you stinkytoots." You rumbled bored of all the dialogue. It took every ounce of restraint not to react to that, still having to put up the act that he wasn't aware of the videogame.

Eventually you fell asleep from boredom. Your arms crossed and laying on the table while your head rested up on them. Some drool out of the corner of your mouth meaning you were deeply asleep. Wanderer stopped talking when he noticed you were asleep. He tapped his foot on the ingame ground trying to think of something before he sighed and reached a hand through the screen and moved your drink away from you in case you moved around in your sleep and spilt it.

He sighed and looked at you. Reaching his whole upper torso out of the screen and watching you sleep, not in a creepy way but in a 'whag am I going to do with you' kind of way. Nahida giggled again, of course the goddess of wisdom knew she was also just in a video game but she preferred to watch scara hopelessly try to interact with you.

"mm... stinkytoots...your crit rate sucks..." You mumbled in your sleep as you repositioned your head on your arms. Wanderer let out a huff of disgust at the nickname. He wanted you to think much more of him than....'stinky toots'...

Yes, he wanted you to think of him much more than reminding you of your first love, a bastard that left you when you were in need of them the most. He wanted to be your only love, since you were his he thought it was only right. He reached a hand and touched the end of your hair.

"you need a haircut, I could see your split ends from in-game." He hummed, a cruel smirk on his face as he insulted you but he meant none of it. He placed a kiss on your head before going back into the screen. He figured it would be safer to watch you from inside in case you wake up.

He wasn't ready to actually talk to you yet.

[cienie-isengardu]

Zuko and Azula in "The Beach"

Lately I think a lot about "The Beach" episode [x], especially about this small detail of great teamwork Zuko and Azula have during the game.

Zuko is looking ahead, directly facing their rivals (who had the control of the ball at this moment) but his body is clearly lowered to the ground, left hand most likely touching the ground, legs bent and widely spaced - a clear contrast to Mai standing near and how he stood before on two separate occasions

which is why I think Zuko willingly create an opportunity for Azula, so she could jump higher - something she definitely used to their team’s advantage. If Azula simply jumped on her brother’s back when he wasn’t expecting it or wasn’t ready, he would probably just fall face down from the impact but as the scene shows, he had no such problem nor was angry about it in the following scenes.

During the game sequences there was no dialogue shown between our protagonists, so it is hard to determine if Azula in advance called Zuko to give her a “lift” or Zuko offered on his own, or did they were that much in sync they just acted without thinking. Regardless I like this few seconds long interaction, because for me it implies how they trusted each other despite all the rivalry and bitterness from previous episodes. Like Zuko trusted Azula won’t use that moment to hurt/humiliate him by overuse of force, the same as Azula trusted in Zuko’s strength and that he won’t mess up by losing his balance. It is a small thing but no less sweet to see them working well together when fighting for the same goal - what reminds me a bit their teamwork from the previous season finale.

Interestingly, it was also the second time Zuko assisted Azula in scoring against their rivals while not scoring himself any point on screen. The first time happened almost right at the beggining of the game (second from total five sequences)

while each girl have the solo sequence of winning a point:

Azula's first attack,

later Ty Lee landing on the net

and Mai kicking the ball (and presumably scoring)

while Zuko’s two actions are shared only with his younger sister while there is no sense of competition between the siblings, something contrasting a lot with some previous and later episodes.

Azula is bossy and competitive through most of the episode and her brother lets her be that without a complaint. Azula and Zuko get along pretty well and A) do not argue (with the exception of the campfire scene and then they argue not even for the whole scene itself) and B) don't get on each nerves the way they do in the palace, with Ozai's presence looming in the back of their mind. I absolutely adore this episode, as it humanizes all our Fire Nation characters by showing them as teenagers outside the war zone but also giving us a bit of insight into what Azula and Zuko could be if Ozai didn't pit them against each other. And they could be a great team!

[kopiicryptid]

Sometimes I think people don't discuss enough about how human Curly's character is.

And I don't mean in the 'he's a guy with good intentions but fails' way, I mean in the sense that literally, he acts the most human in the game. He has the most human reactions, dialogue, and flaws. I know the devs made Jimmy's design with the idea of him being an "everyman" in mind, but to me, Curly feels more like an everyman.

Curly's good enough that he doesn't raise red flags or alarms, but he's also not perfection incarnate. He's just some dude who happened to be good at piloting but not with managing a crew, which emphasizes the idea of Take Responsibility. He can be a good pilot, a good friend, a good person, but all that is meaningless because of one big flaw and that's his inability to Take Responsibility as a captain and consider all the measures or actions he could've taken to protect his crew.

That isn't to say he was lazy or completely ignorant, another thing that makes him human is the stress from the job, how overwhelmed he must've been from the layoffs, finding that of the crew members he got along with best was pregnant without consent, and that it was caused by someone he considered a friend for potentially *years*. And it's clear from the very first scene with him that his mind is not in the right place, he simply assumes it to be.

His reaction to Anya's news is painfully human and that of a cis man as well, someone who has grown with the privileges of being a male but also of a best friend. I don't consider his confrontation of Jimmy to be out of disbelief of Anya (I argue he believes her because he doesn't seem to deny the statement and seems to quickly understand who was at fault), but out of shock and confusion, the need for clarity and to hear it from his friend himself, despite already knowing the truth.

And God, does Curly put the 'man' in 'human' in this moment, thinking that he and Jimmy can fix this, instead of the consequences for Jimmy, instead of punishing his friend or berating him. Maybe it's out of fear of possible years of abuse from Jimmy, maybe it's because Curly is just a man, or maybe it's because it's all Curly can think to say in the moment. Either way, it doesn't excuse the trouble his inaction causes for the rest of the crew. All because he had the privilege of thinking like a man.

So I think it's real ironic and tragic that post-crash, everything that made Curly human was taken from him. His looks, his voice, his bodily autonomy. He can't make choices, can't move, can't speak, can't do a damn thing because he didn't do anything when he had the chance to. And what's really damn ironic to me is how the audience dehumanized him, too. From people's first impressions that post-crash Curly was the 'antagonist' or 'monster' of the game, to fans reducing him to a pet or infant of sorts, to people glorifying his intentions over his actions, and even to those who demonize him as someone who directly supported Jimmy's actions or treat it as if Curly did the crime himself.

To say that Curly was just a good-intentioned guy would be undermining his flaws, but to say that he's just as bad and if not worse than Jimmy would also be a great mischaracterization to Curly and completely miss the point of his character. Curly is just a human, just a man. A man with more power than the rest of his crew, but simply an average cis man you'd find on the street. He has traits that many people share and that we can find in ourselves, because he's a normal man. Painfully so.

Though perhaps the greatest disservice to his character and what people overlook in relation to his humanity is the abuse of it. And no, not from Jimmy, but from Pony Express itself. Although I suppose that's a conversation for another day.

[butwhatifidothis]

I LOVED To Be a Creature, and it genuinely creeped me out to see the things Edelgard and Hubert said to Byleth (though it's the same as the game, stripped out of its voice acting and background music, the dialogue is so much more horrifying). Really makes me wonder if Edelgard's love for Byleth is genuine in any way. Do you think there's any real love there or is it just obsession?

Thank you!!! I had a feeling that placing Edelgard and Hubert's words in a context that isn't meant to make them look flattering would really let their casual racism shine, and I'm glad it's seeming like that is in fact the impression people are getting lol. SO sorry for the late answer btw 😭😭😭

As for whether Edelgard's love is genuine... I got opinions lmao.

got a bit long lmao under the cut it goes

If Edelgard felt the way she does for Byleth on exclusively SS and CF, I could maybe see how this is a "genuine" love (insofar as a love steeped in "I may hate your race but you're special and Not Like The Other Ones because I think you're special to me" can, uh, ever be genuine, in any case). But because Edelgard still feels as strongly towards Byleth on AM and VW where she quite literally never talks to them directly in any meaningful way, it becomes waaaaay more like she's just weirdly obsessed with this person who saved her one singular time ever five years ago from an attack Edelgard set up. It makes the "love" way more forced and contrived and obviously trying to squeeze tears out of the player for standing up against the cute girly trying to murder them. Or, alternatively, it makes Edelgard come off as manipulative, saying that she just wanted to walk with Byleth and it makes her so sad to HAVE to fight Byleth because BYLETH wouldn't stand by HER - and she's saying this on AM/VW to a person she's talked to in conversation a cumulative, what? Hour? Two? Maybe a few days, being nice? Over the course of, being as absolutely generous as physically possible and not counting the five years Byleth was missing... two fucking years? She's shitting herself over fighting this stranger she doesn't fucking know? Yeah, sure buddy, whatever you say - you see what I mean?

And honestly even outside of those two routes, I think it's more that she sees Byleth as being hers rather than actually liking them for who they are. A body to stand next to her and tell her how right she is and comfort her - who doesn't have the background of "I was literally raised to think this is my only purpose in life" muddying the sincerity of the brown-nosing - who also happens to also act as The Perfect Fighter and The Perfect Strategist to actively help her get what she wants. That view of Byleth being a tool doesn't really go away unless they marry her, seen by how they quite literally get nothing for all they've done for Edelgard should they go unmarried to a noble (guess they just weren't meritable enough once their use to her was done).

As well as how much more Edelgard doesn't like Byleth disagreeing with her or otherwise going against her flow than pretty much anyone else in the game - you lose supports points if you don't think the Black Eagle Strike Force name she made is good, she quickly denies the notion that Byleth isn't detached from others/emotions and insists they are just like she is, she gives them the same callous and thoughtless words she was apparently given once in her life while they are in the midst of mourning their recently murdered father so that they get over it already and get back to being useful to her (directly saying she will only reach out her hand when it's time for HER to move forward, not when BYLETH heals from WATCHING THEIR DAD DIE IN THEIR FUCKING ARMS MAYBE A WEEK AGO). She never treats Byleth kindly unless they do everything she wants, which like. Isn't love???? At all????

There's just this... weirdly possessive air Edelgard has around Byleth that always threw me off, especially with how easily she admits to have been willing to kill them so far into CF and how readily she cuts ties with them the second the fighting's done (which is particular because how just how clingy she was to Byleth everywhere else - you know during all that time Byleth had a use to her). Incorporating that into being an intentional part of her character is certainly interesting, but not in a way that's flattering to the idea of Edelgard genuinely being in love with Byleth lmao.

Personally tho, even disregarding almost everything else, the simple explanation is that I don't think you can really sit there and say you love someone while openly hating part of their racial heritage. Wild thought, I know lmao

[demento-mori]

Alright! Now that ive finished Act 3 ive put together some of my general thoughts and feelings from this section of the game.

First off, I absolutely love how much the dialogue, descriptions, flavour text and so on changes and evolves throughout the loops. There are so many little details and plot threads, such as Siffrin repeatedly hitting their hip against that one corner, and getting increasingly frustrated each time, or learning that the dying plant is Mirabelle's and being able to compliment it in the next loop. It makes the characters and the world seem so organic and alive, and provides a sense of progression as you are able to learn more and more about the world around you. Even though the game gives you the option to loop directly to certain floors and areas, I find that I prefer to go through the house the 'legit' way each time, simply because I'm so eager to see whats changed.

Siffrin's psychological decline has been devastating to watch play out, especially since you, the player, are right there alongside them. You're also hoping that each new dialogue unlocked, and each change in the loop means that you've found the right solution to end the loops, and everytime you're disappointed and feel like your efforts were all for nothing. This especially hit home in regards to the party/family members. The first time you do each of their friendship quests its so heartwarming and emotional, you feel so happy that you've been able to get to know them better and become closer with them. But then, in each subsequent loop the impact of those quests lessen, and its easy to begin seeing them as just another hurdle you have to overcome in order to progress. It mirrors how Siffrin gradually stops seeing them as autonomous beings and rather as actors in a play, who he is "manipulating" to get his own happy ending.

The changes in the game's artwork that show Siffrin looking more worn down and tired is equally devastating. Its a small but very effective detail that drives in how the loops are wearing down on them. It almost feels like the game itself is becoming more and more corrupted as the loops wear on.

The worldbuilding is on another level. Like, you can tell that so much thought and care has been put into the world. The countries and their different customs, the religions and their practices and mythology. The language, the fashion, the magic system, the history. One thing that really stand out to me is how Vaugarde is clearly a very wonderful place, but its far from a utopia and there are still societal issues and injustices. For example, rather than taking the route of "there is absolutely no prejudice, all races genders and sexualities are equal", the game shows that gender and romantic/sexual attraction are all widely accepted and seen as fluid due to the change belief, but conversely aromanticism and asexuality are not as common or accepted as they clash with the religions practices. This makes the world seem much more fleshed out and believable, as it provides clear and convincing justifications for why the society is the way it is. And all of this isnt even getting into the more spoilery worldbuilding elements, such as colours and the island north of vaugarde, or even simplier stuff like the other countries and their cultural differences, or the various different vaugardian towns and their unique customs.

I feel like Isat is the only video game Ive ever seen that utilises the time loop concept to its full potential, let alone accomplising that in a way that still translates to a well-made and engaging gameplay loop(ha). Both the gameplay and the story make full use of the time loop gimmick in order to craft a compelling narrative, to explore the characters, their backstories and development, and the psychological effects of the situation upon them to their maximum potential, and to ensure that the gameplay loop never becomes stale and is able to consistently keep the player invested with new things to explore each loop. Its truly a masterpiece of game development.

[phoenix-downer]

FFVII Rebirth Demo Impressions

I played the demo several nights ago and loved it! This post is about my thoughts/impressions as I was playing.

(Quick note: My shipping preferences are Cloud/Tifa and Zack/Aerith, so that is going to influence my perspective and what I write about. There will also be spoilers for the OG game and Crisis Core throughout).

One of the first things I noticed as I was playing through was the graphics. The graphics look fantastic. I can tell the game being on the PS5 is making a big difference. The jump in quality from Remake to Rebirth is really noticeable.

It's so weird seeing Cloud act like Zack. Like I KNOW it's Zack and it's creeping me out a;lksdjfdfj because it's just...so not Cloud. They knocked the "this is wrong" vibes out of the park by using Zack's mannerisms and gestures with Cloud's model slapped on top, and it's giving this uncanny valley feeling to everything "Cloud" does. Cody Christian even sounds more like Zack's VA (Caleb Pierce). The attention to detail with all that is excellent. The updated graphics give them a lot to work with in terms of showing the wonkiness with Cloud's memories.

There was also a clever shot in the truck of "Cloud" asking the real Cloud if he's okay, and you see a hint of Cloud's blond hair peeking through the helmet.

I liked the dramatic/heroic version of Sephiroth's theme that played. And when Zack gets hurt by one of the monsters, I think it was Cloud who made sure he's okay, which was a sweet touch. Also, the screen is tinted with green, which is a cool way to show the effects of the Mako poisoning on Cloud.

Another thing I noticed: Cloud's eyes look SUPER green, more so than in Remake. Don't know if it's the upgrade to the PS5 or if they wanted to show the Mako poisoning progressing, but I thought it was a cool detail.

Okay it's like Cloud swapped he and Zack in his memories directly at one point soon after they arrive in Nibelheim. I swear this is 100% what Zack would've said to Cloud about Aerith, but instead it's one of the "security officers" saying it to "Cloud": "So, any friends here you wanna see? Maybe a girlfriend? Speaking of which, I bet you're dying to hear about mine. Am I right?"

Lmao Sephiroth still has groupies, this is giving Crisis Core fanclub vibes and I'm all here for it. I'm glad the game still has those silly moments and that continuity with past games. It makes the tragedy I know will unfold later on that much more poignant.

Speaking of which, it's depressing seeing all the townspeople in Nibelheim knowing they're going to die. Just walking around talking to them, Nibelheim really feels like a lived-in place that Cloud has so many personal connections to.

An NPC asked Cloud if he's seen his mother yet, another one recognized me, and another couple of people noticed me and asked if I'm looking for Tifa. They Know™️

Also, it's really interesting seeing Cloud craft the welcome home he WISHES he had gotten. He wanted to come back to Nibelheim as a hero everyone praised, but the reality was much different. So seeing that contrast is a really good insight into Cloud's psyche and what he wants (praise, recognition, approval, etc.)

Oh found some cats, I'm glad there's another area dedicated to just cats ;aldjf; (complete with photographic evidence):

Awwwwww there was a sweet reference to Tifa leading the exercise classes for Nibelheim from Traces of Two Pasts, and she asks Cloud in the modern day if he was able to keep up with the class (she wasn't teaching this particular one, but I love that bit of continuity).

Tifa you can tell is nostalgic for Nibelheim hearing Cloud's recounting of what happened too, the voice acting and dialogue for this part is all really well-done.

The option to see Cloud's mom was really well-done. Cloud never went back to see her in reality, of course, which means his memory glitches out like crazy during this part: he "hears" his mother talking to him about a conversation that happened at an earlier time, like his brain is desperately trying to create something that never happened and is latching onto the nearest fragments it can find. I like how they translated this scene from the OG game, it gave off eerie vibes.

HE DID THE LIL SHRUG AND NOD LIKE HE DOES IN THE OG GAME if you try to enter his mom's house again after the "memory" is over. Also, it's like his mind is trying to protect itself from delving too deeply into a false memory so glitchy (and maybe he feels a deep level of guilt at not actually going to see her as well), and so you can't go back into his house, just like in the OG game.

You can have Cloud go up the water tower too, and he looks towards Tifa's window THE ANGST OF IT ALL a;lskdfj. I love those little moments of Pining™️

Tifa's like wait you went to my place?? Oh Cloud...you were such an awkward weirdo...

"Our reasons, huh? I bet most of them had to do with you." Barret shading Cloud for why he and Tifa didn't hang out more ;alkdjf again I love the humor in these moments.

Awwww Fluffy got mentioned! Nice to hear her brought up again.

"You went into my room?" I'm dead. Tifa sounds so indignant and rightfully so. It's weirdo behavior Cloud ;laskdfj

"You went through my stuff?!" Not off to a great start buddy, but I had him pick that option because I figured he ought to be honest. Tifa and Aerith both call him an asshole if you admit to doing it too, which made me laugh. And naturally my mind is wondering how this will impact the iconic date later on. Did I just piss both Aerith and Tifa off and lose affection points with both girls? Probably lol (and honestly, Cloud deserved it for that stunt).

Tifa's lil moogle plushie on her bed is adorable. I love the touches like that that make the environment feel more lived in.

Awwww I found Tifa's theme to play on the piano hehe. I love that that's the first piano piece you can find in the game. Just one of my favorite FFVII songs because it fits Tifa so perfectly and has this bittersweet sense of longing as well as this beautiful tenderness to it.

Also, I got a kick out of the piano minigame. The first time I wasn't great at it and got a C. I struggled to do both "hands" at the same time. I did it two more times after that, and it starts to sound really nice when you have a streak of a bunch of correct notes in a row. Like Cloud's going to town on the piano with extra flourishes. If you miss notes again though the metronome comes back on lol like "you still need to practice and get the rhythm down."

The second two times I got an A (I'll have to keep practicing to get a star and see what happens), and the gang praised Cloud, which I thought was cool.

Found more Sephiroth groupies and ran into Zangan in the inn. It was really sweet hearing Zangan praise Tifa so highly. Also, "Cloud" saying, "yeah right" when Zangan says "Tifa will go far" is another good clue Cloud isn't himself. Tifa was offended and Aerith was offended on her behalf. I love how Aerith keeps backing Tifa up on stuff, it's really nice to see more of their friendship.

The photographer dude is back and I love him. And he even says the same thing he said to Zack in Crisis Core about how he can't waste his film on Zack because he doesn't know who he is ;alskdfj. What's a guy got to do to get a little respect?

"You look so different" lol yes I do random villager because I'm not me, and then there are some nice creepy foreshadowing moments from her kids. The girl says, "Gonna beat those monsters?" and the boy says, "Gonna be 'em?"

The irony of the mayor saying he'd brag about Sephiroth visiting Nibelheim till the day he dies:

I still really love Brian Lockhart's design. He's like if the 70s met cowboy fashion, and it just works somehow. And this carries over from the OG game, but his concerns about Tifa's safety are well-founded given what happened when she and Cloud were kids and sets up future reveals in the remake trilogy nicely.

Also, Tifa is so small next to Sephiroth. I love her sass in this part of the story, and this time around there's some country twang banjo version of her theme and I love it. Also Sephiroth shaded the camera guy al;sdkfj;dskf but "Cloud" talked him into it and thus the iconic photo came into being. Again those moments of humor will never not be funny. And I loved how Tifa was being such a good guide and giving info about the area as they started to ascend the mountain.

Also, when you finally get to the title screen, it cracked me up how Nomura is listed first, before Hamaguchi. Probably a seniority/respect thing, but Nomura is the creative director and Hamaguchi is the director.

Also, the version of the main theme that plays as you go up Mt. Nibel is awesome, and once again I had to get a screenshot because this area is just so beautiful:

Tifa wanting to travel is a sweet touch, though Sephiroth is practical and points out that he travels on business trips and not for fun. Of course "Cloud" points out that you do learn stuff on these trips. It's a nice contrast between Tifa's naive optimism, Sephiroth's jaded world-weary outlook, and Zack's positivity tempered by experience.

Also, Sephiroth's hair is very swishy. I thought that needed a note as I was playing this. Props to the artists, animators, etc. who rendered it.

I chuckled at Tifa racing up the mountain and teasing "Cloud" and Sephiroth about whether or not they can keep up. Just shows a fun, playful side to her personality and also shows how eager she is to prove herself. And then she dropkicked a monster to protect "Cloud" and then teased him about it alks;jfdsf. She's so much snarkier with Zack than she is with Cloud, and it's an interesting contrast.

The real Cloud of course is in the background, protecting Tifa from danger. Even in his rewritten version of history, the real him is lurking in his subconscious protecting her because she's that important to him. She thanked him so sweetly when he did too.

I made a note about seeing the bridge that collapsed with Cloud and Tifa on it when they were kids, man all the little details like this and the foreshadowing is just A+.

Tifa has Trauma™️ from falling off a bridge before, hmmm, wonder what that's from, and she's still like hey I'm the guide I'll lead us a;ldkfj when "Cloud" offers to go first lol.

Still holds true years later but wooooow Nibelheim sucks at constructing good bridges lol. It was a wholesome moment where "Cloud"/Zack grabbed Cloud and kept him from drowning though, and Sephiroth was able to grab Tifa (which is ironic considering how he tries to kill her not much later, and it's sad because it really shows he was a good guy). Of course the other security officer probably drowned rip, poor guy.

YAY SEPHIROTH'S IN MY PARTY FINALLY

"For your performance review" lol I like Sephiroth's sass and how he teases "Cloud" like this.

I just obliterate everything playing as Sephiroth ;alsdkfj and truly love playing as him. And him slamming his own dad will never not be funny, I mean Hojo just really sucks.

At this point I started focusing more on playing the game since there were more monsters to fight etc., but I still got some nice screenshots and had a few more thoughts.

The Mako spring just looks incredible, so I had to include a photo:

The scenery by the ocean was gorgeous too, I can't wait to go to Costa del Sol:

The real Cloud helping Tifa get to safety from the monster and "Cloud"/Zack and Sephiroth being bros is top-tier content. Also Sephiroth looks like a model in pretty much every shot he's in:

Oh the dramatic irony of Tifa not knowing it's Cloud and him refusing to talk and her being sassy and telling him, "You better keep me safe" and then of course he does. The music is creepy now that we're about to enter the reactor lol, of course it is.

"Would it kill this guy to say something" he would die from embarrassment and shame, yes:

"The company really needs to be more transparent" that's the understatement of the year "Cloud" ;lakfj;asdf

Cool use of JENOVA'S theme. I always enjoy hearing that theme and how otherworldy but also very 90s it sounds.

Zangan's comment here is gold, I love the bee in his bonnet bit:

The Shinra basement stuff was genuinely creepy l;kasjdf like I know what happens and I was still freaked out! The atmosphere was just really well done.

"I should go. Mother is waiting." There it is, the iconic meme line a;ldal;skdjf;lsdjf it just kills me, Sephiroth is such a psycho.

Loved seeing Zangan helping people get out of the town and telling "Cloud" to get in there and help, but of course the situation is still incredibly dire by the time "Cloud" gets there.

This shot in front of the water tower was gorgeous and really haunting, especially when the water tower collapsed. Just the symbolism with that, the loss of Cloud and Tifa's special place and how not long after this, he feels like he failed her and failed to keep his promise:

Main Scenario: Check on Mom. Oh Cloud...

And then you see the real Cloud collapsed in front of his house and calling for his mom, this is so depressing:

This is where the more realistic graphics really serve the story well, because it makes this moment that much more of a gut punch, especially when he hears his mother begging him to live. The last few moments before her soul returns to the planet perhaps, trying to save her son from danger one last time.

And now that "Cloud" is hurt, he looks busted up even in the menu. I thought that was a cool detail to include.

It's like Cloud's memories are trying to right themselves because he winds up on the ground like where he was supposed to be. When Sephiroth murdered the man who tried to help him and then went on his creepy murder spree of several other villagers culminating with the mayor, that was all really well done too. Horrifying because there's nothing Cloud can do to stop the senseless murder of people he's known all his life, and it really shows how cold and ruthless Sephiroth has become.

This moment was good too with the memories seeming glitchy again:

And then of course I must end this on The Iconic Scene™️ a;lsdkfja;kdslf complete with psycho smirk:

Needless to say, I very much enjoyed this demo and am looking forward to the Juno one! And the full game, February 29 can't come fast enough.

[the-bitter-ocean]

( ACT 3/ ACT 4 SPOILERS) This is part 7 of the many responses/ dialogue options I wrote for the conversation that Rewind and Mirabelle have on what Rewind’s identity truly is. To understand the full context you can find the original post here. Writing is under the cut:

{{“So I suppose you must have a lot of questions for me don’t you? Theories as to who I might be?”}}

{ You do. You can’t help but feel overwhelmed by all of this.}

{{“Let’s make this like a game so you can get to know me a little better. How’s that sound hm?”}}

{You nod slowly, still unsure.}

{{“You get one guess for this so pick whatever feels right in your heart.” }}

{One guess?}

{ You don’t know why but Rewind’s aura feels .. otherworldly. Divine, but it’s not something that you quite recognize. }

{There are a lot of different beliefs outside of Vaugarde that believe in deities other than the Change God. }

{ And even though you aren’t familiar with most spiritual practices other than the Change belief- you know for certain that the Change God does not tend to help directly in this way. }

{So if it’s a god that’s helping you…it has to be something else other than them. }

{ Odile talked about Ka Bue and their religious practices during one of your loops.}

{You remember because everyone was shocked by the vast number of potential gods someone could pray to. }

{With that logic in mind, you figured an Expression would make the most sense. }

=> {You’re an Expression.}

{“..Are you an Expression?”}

{{“Me, an Expression?” }}

{{“As in the kind of deities that your ever elusive Mage prays to from time to time?”}}

{ Riri shakes their head.}

{{“It’s a good guess, but no. I’m not any type of god in the slightest.”}}

{{“Sorry to say it but there’s no divine intervention at play here! Just help from regular little old me!”}}

{ She winks at you. }

{ You groan.}

[let-spretend]

hey !! very self indulgent fanfic here, wanted to insert reader into the game itself so lots of dialogue is directly pulled from chp 15. armageddon !! could be platonic if you squint ‘cause it’s pretty vague. still open to requests and criticisms.

liu kang x reader !!

"There is nowhere to run, Shang Tsung. Nowhere to hide." Liu Kang opens his arms, looking side to side. "We have banded together to rid all timelines of your evil. The threat you pose to them ends today." He points to the ground.

"Such certainty, Liu Kang. That this battle will end in your favor." Dark Shang Tsung only spits back with venom.

"It can end no other way. Because across all timelines, the arc of history bends toward justice."

"Does it? In this timeline, it bends toward me." Dark Shang Tsung's arms engulf into flames and he starts to swing his arms into a circular motion. Chanting, he shoots a beam of fire towards the sky. Slowly, a portal starts to rip open, lighting up the area. "Behold, Liu Kang, the hell I unleash upon you!" He motions his arm toward the portal and skulls start to pour out, creating a pathway. Dark versions of everyone start to come out, with Quan Chi leading the herd. Dark Shang Tsung and Liu Kang stare each other down, while Dark Shang Tsung's army starts to line up near him. He yells for them to charge, gesturing toward all of you. You start to run up the stairs, with the rest of Liu Kang's army also doing the same. You don't pay any attention to who you were fighting, just interacting with whoever decided to stand in your way. You push and kick your opponents into the green waste between the pyramid stairs.

"My godly might will strike you down." You turn your head to see a Li Mei in similar attire to Raiden. You get into a ready stance and are ready for anything she tries. You notice crackling occurring between her fingertips and you realize she was a version of someone's timeline's Raiden. You land the first punch, cornering her into a wall. Continuously you strike, pushing her down to the floor for enough time to escape. She falls with no intention of getting back up.

You sprint toward the stairs again, climbing up to one of the many platforms on the stairs. You see a flicker of green in the corner of your eye. Before you could act, a version of Syzoth punches you right in the face. You fall to the floor, clenching your cheek. You send a low kick, causing Reptile to meet you on the ground. You push yourself into the air and aim your feet toward Reptile's face. "How you like that, Syzoth?" You chuckle, imagining your timeline's Syzoth being defeated by your hands. Before she could respond, you lift her up from the ground and throw her across the platform. After this action, dozens of dark Shang Tsung's people come rushing towards you. You start to run, sucker punching a dark Kenshi along the way. You hear Sento clank to the ground as you turn the corner. You see an oncoming shadow but no people around. You clamor to the ground as a heavy weight jumps onto you. A person that appears to be Sub-Zero towers over you, ready to strike. You roll to your right and get up onto your knees. "So eager you had to jump onto me?" You banter. She sneers and sends icicles toward you. You crouch down and go for her feet. She acts quickly and jumps up, coming down with a kick. It lands on your stomach, you grunt in pain but punch her in the face as she lands. Blood paints her face as she attempts to wipe it off. Her stance now staggered, she summons an ice flail into her hands. She lunges toward you but you block, the flail breaking on impact. You suck in from the pain and cold it left. You slap her face and punch her in the stomach three times, sending her a couple feet in front of you. As she goes down with a thud, a Dark Sonya that has Kano's eye starts charging toward you. She kicks for your face and tries to slash your arm with her blade. You block all of her attempts and reply with a punch to her face. Her face swings back as her robotic eye releases a deadly beam. You hold her face away from yours and punch her with brute force. She cries in pain and falls.

"You get to be killed by a megastar." You turn around to be met with a Shao Kahn dressed in Johnny's attire. You can't help but let a loud laugh escape your lips. He charges at you and you go flying, landing next to the defeated Sonya. He walks over slowly and you jump up and kick his stomach to keep him from coming any closer. He groans and you keep at it. Punching in any place open and finishing with a kick to the balls. He yells out in pain and topples over. "Learned that on from you, ironically." You retort. You hear a mix of low growling and yelling above you. It was Goro. He jumps off of the roof and lands next to you, making you almost fall over from the impact. He hurls his hammer into your face. Your face burns with pain and you clutch it instinctively. You thought your whole face was taken with the hammer. Goro tries to hit you again with his hammers but is stopped by a punch. He falls onto the stairs but kicks your aid back. You look up to see a Ninja Mime Cage being caught by more Cages. Johnny taps him on the shoulder. He jumps back up quickly and turns his head to the right to see why Johnny tapped his shoulder. Janet also taps him and he faces her. Johnny shouts and "Ms. Cage" does the same. Probably to hype themselves up. Ninja Mime smiles at their antics and also yells silently. You chuckle at the mime's attempt at yelling. He notices your laughter and sends you a wink, but is quickly interrupted by Goro. He swings his hammers toward the three of them and they all dodge. Johnny back kicks Goro in the balls while Ninja Mime flips in the air and kicks his calf. While he winces, Janet kicks him in the face, leading him closer to the ledge. Johnny sends a green blast from his hand hurling toward Goro. You don't remember your timeline's Johnny having powers. Ninja Mime tries to land a finishing kick but Goro grabs his leg. He bends it in an unnatural way, a crackle left his leg. Despite that, he does not make a sound. Although his face contorts in pain and distress. He is tossed by Goro into the green abyss. The Cage's both kick him onto the ledge, pushing him off politely with a send off. Johnny sends you a thumbs up but Janet gives you two. You smile and pick yourself up. You hear yelling behind you but don't bother to turn as another Dark version of Johnny starts to approach.

"You've clearly no sense of self-preservation." You sigh again. "I don't have time for this." You say, in a deadpan voice. Janet scoffs. "Oh, you will." You run towards her and she braces for some sort of attack. But all you do is push her to the floor and take off. "Ugh! Come back here, Y/N!!" You ignore her and run up the never-ending stairs. Your breathing was starting to become shallow. You try to drink your spit to somehow calm yourself and also give you hydration. But it obviously didn't help. You try to look down while running to keep you from seeing the amount of stairs left, knowing the consequences. But you stop, hearing many footsteps ahead of you. You look up to see 4 people. You scan their faces and they all seem familiar but you couldn’t quite place it. Before you could attack, you’re surprised by a weaponized fan.

“Allow me.” Kitana declares.

You happily oblige and let her slay the four in front of you. She ruthlessly slices off limbs and heads. One head with sunglasses on, rolls down in front of you. Weirdly, it felt like a taunt. You try not to think so deeply about it. "Thank you, Princess Kitana. Or.. maybe not a princess?" You say, with uncertainty. It was hard to keep track of everything and everyone. Kitana only chuckles. "You are too cute. Kitana is just fine and you're welcome. Now hurry. There's no time to waste." You were about to reply to her before she was tackled by some person. You were caught by surprise and your first instinct was to help her. You figure she was able to defend herself, but mostly it was the fact that you were being approached once again.

"Reptiloids are apex predators." She calmly says. This time it was a Reptiloid Sindel. You sigh and get into a ready stance. You don't even bother with a quip. Before Sindel could even attack, the ground starts to crackle with red lightning. You look around your surroundings for anything and your eyes land on a chain hanging from a pillar. You kick the pillar to push yourself toward the hanging chain. Sindel screams in pain from the lightning and a figure that looks like Kung Lao, lands. You could see that stupid hat from a mile away. Sindel falls to the floor with severe burns but the figure pays no attention. He removes his hat and cleanly slices the chain you were dangling from, in half. You fall to the floor but get a glimpse of his face. It was Raiden's. "Ew!" You exclaim, not being able to fathom that 'that' exists. He practically flies into you and your stomach burns from his lightning. You dodge his attacks from his hat and begin to punch once he puts it back on. Getting a closer look at the Kung Lao-Raiden mashup, your eyebrows furrow. You push him toward a torch and his clothes catch on fire. He screams and tries to put it out but falls off the pyramid, not realizing where he stood. "That was an abomination.." You breathe out, as you watch him flail to his death.

You jog up the stairs, tired, before noticing two figures. You look up to see Dark Shang Tsung and Quan Chi up at the top, staring down at you attempting to run up the stairs. You see Shang Tsung talking to Quan Chi but can't make out what he says from all the yelling around you. You keep running up the stair trying to catch up. They face each other and start to create a bubble of magic, mixed with orange and green. They both raise it into the sky and throw it into your direction. "Shit!" You dive onto the next platform, as you watch it pass by you and hit many others toward the bottom. Your body aches from the fall and fatigue. "Ugh.." You slowly start to pick yourself up try to continue up the stairs.

But distant growling could be heard from around the corner. Just as you start to catch your breath, three dark clones of Mileena charge toward you with sai in their hands. The two in the back stay in a standby position, while the Mileena in red attire attacks. You grab her arms and make them cross, using her left hand with the sai to puncture her right shoulder. You twirl her to make her face her copies. You use her body to block their advances, also using her arms to attack them. You slice the neck of the Mileena in yellow. You stab the side of one in blue and stab her again but with both sai in the stomach. You kick the Mileena in your hands and take the sai out of hers. You stab her in the chest but have no time to take them back out, as another Mileena charges. You block, but she swipes you off the ground, flipping her sai to face your eyes. You catch her arms and use all your strength to keep her away. She tries to push harder with her body weight but you turn her arms inward, gouging her eyes out with the sai. Her blood flings onto your face as you push her off of you. You stood up quickly, looking at the scene. You were breathing heavily, scared of what could’ve happened. "Fuck..” You just stare at Mileena’s lifeless body. A little bit of payback for Kenshi's eyes.

"Hurry Y/N! You are almost there!" You look up to see a very ethereal-looking Shang Tsung cheering you on, with a version of Quan Chi by his side. But they are both blasted with a green force, which seemed to be sucking their souls out. You watched as their bodies were being ripped away from their skeletons, the flesh sploshing onto the floor.

Dark Shang Tsung was on his knee, supporting himself. You start to run up the pyramid stairs again, angry, but interrupted by a different Quan Chi body slamming you to the floor. You let out a grunt, landing on your arms. "I don't have time for all these distractions.." You state. You waste no time and punch his stomach. Blood sputters out of his mouth from the sudden blunt force. You take a small knife from his belt and decide it was now yours. You swipe for his neck and push in deep, and glide the knife across. Blood spews out and you are drenched in it. "Ugh.." You lightly push him and topples onto the floor. Now you have his and Mileena's blood on your face. You sigh as you start to run, trying to find the stairs again. You hold your new knife tightly, ready for any attack. But instead you find Liu Kang on the stairs, fighting off some foes. He kicks them off and notices you climbing up the stairs. He turns his body and attention towards you. "It's only a little further, Y/N. Follow me." He lingers a little, sort of assessing you. He slightly furrows his brows but gestures for you to follow, which you do.

You both reach the top where Dark Shang Tsung and Quan Chi seemed like they were waiting for you to arrive. You pocket your small knife and form your hands into fists. You looked over at Liu Kang to see him with barely any injuries and effortlessly vibrant. You try to cover up the fact that you were heaving from just climbing all those stairs and the fact that you were admiring him at a time like this.

"Your defenses have failed, Shang Tsung. This is over." Liu kang instructed, while tilting his head slightly.

"I do not think so." Shang Tsung delivers a simple, yet defying answer.

"Realize, sorcerer, that you've brought this on yourself. Avarice and ego have again proved your undoing. We have no choice but to eradicate you." You had to be completely honest, you have no idea what avarice meant but you only nodded in agreement with Liu Kang. You note in your head to start using that Word-A-Day calendar from Johnny...

"It is you who will be eradicated. You and your followers." Shang Tsung's eyes linger on you when he mentions Liu Kang's followers. "And once you are dead, all timelines will be mine." He starts to run toward you and you react the same. You throw a punch but he dodges and extends his claws out. He raises his arms and scratches your chest. You grimace in pain but don't stop for it. You aim a kick to his face and follow with another one. He blocks them all and pushes you and kicks you in the head. You get dizzy and fall to the floor. You try to get back up, knowing Liu Kang needs your assistance. But you couldn't. You slump to the floor, trying to fight the urge to close your eyes. You try and focus on the sounds of grunting and punches being exchanged. You hear Liu Kang's high pitched yells and fire leaving his hands. You cannot stay on the floor any longer. You ignore the gnawing pain in your head and shake it. Your eyes open right as Quan Chi releases a beam in the form of a snake attack Liu Kang. It entraps him and tangles him so he cannot move. Your face contorts that into a scared one, but you take a deep breath.

You try not to seem nervous to your enemies and hold your expression blank. You slowly start to approach the two. "Your position is precarious." Quan Chi states, with a bit of enthusiasm laced within it. "To survive, you must submit." He stops walking and forms his hand into a tight fist. Shang Tsung approaches you, slowly. "Yes. The question you must ask is: if Liu Kang couldn't finish us, how possibly could you?" You didn't say anything, only replying with a solemn facial expression.

Shang Tsung jumps up and tries to land a kick onto your face but you slide and make him miss. He swiftly turns back and punches you consecutively. Every blow hurt, but reminds you that you needed to win, not just for you, but also for Liu Kang and the Realms. You block and grab onto his arm. You throw him onto the ground and start to do the same. Just punch the shit out of him. He cries out in pain but uses his feet to kick you off of him. He extends his claws again and swings in whatever directions he could think of. "Two can play that game." You pull out your small knife and pierce his lower stomach area. He instinctively clutches his wound and you take that opportunity to bash his head onto the ground. He stops moving, but you could tell he was still breathing.

"And they called me the Chosen one." He looks down at your work but looks to you smiling. You were tired but still super happy Liu Kang complimented your efforts. "Thank you, Liu Kang. Should I..?" He places a hand on your shoulder. "You have done more than enough, Y/N. Please, permit me to end this." He lightly squeezes before letting go and again lingering to take a look at you. You look back with an honest face. He blinks and turns away. He begins to swing his arms and sand starts to fall out of his hands. Dark Shang Tsung and Quan Chi slowly start to fade away into sand, then blown by the wind.

"May that be last we see of you." Liu Kang sends the sand off, watching it fade away.

The ground beneath you starts to shake and soon cracks. Liu Kang looked equally as puzzled but you still ask him. "What's going on?" He looks over at you, then back to the few specks of sand. "The timeline! Without Shang Tsung to hold it together, it's falling apart!" His eyebrows furrow as looks at you but he shakes his head, looking at the ground. "You must return to your timeline before this one collapses." His arms engulf into flames and it surrounds you. "Thank you for your aid and presence, Y/N. May we one day meet again.." Before you could process his words, his warm flames start to hug you. "Wait, Liu Kang! I've got so many things to-!" Everything around you turns into white and you're scared for what's to come. Was he going to restart the timeline? Or did he only remove you out of there? You had so many questions and everything had moved by so fast. You could only hope that he would come see you again.

[annasinterests]

I See Fire

|| main masterlist ||

a/n: i'm dedicating this to my love @tinygarbage because the percy brainrot has been unreal for both of us. i thought this up after watching a tiktok (pls don't ask me i literally watched it once, swiped out of the app, then threw my phone across the room) and so this is what we got fellers. ALSO, one line is directly inspired by/from the D&D movie, so i give credit to my boy edgin because honestly the scene about him being so unapologetically honest about his mistakes was everything to me (i also guessed his dialogue word-for-word that entire time and was RIGHT). honestly thinking ab whether or not if i wanna make a part 2 to this..

divider by @saradika ! ❤️‍🔥

word count: 682 words (who knew i could actually write under 1k)

pairings: percy de rolo x reader

warnings & tags: angst, past trauma, arguing, cursing, miscommunication, unresolved ending

“No!-” You seethe, hands balling into fists at your sides, “Don’t you get it?”

Percy scoffed, “You ask that like I should know, and I don’t!” He raised a pointed finger to you, “How can I when all you ever do is leave us in the dark!”

Your jaw clenches as you turn away. White-hot anger blazed your body and blotted out everything else, even the tears that brimmed your eyes and streaked your cheeks.

“Always putting yourself at an arm’s distance, acting like you have the biggest burden to carry– well, guess what? We all have shit of our own!” His rigid tone made your face scrunch up. “You push away every single person that tries to get under the surface, including us! We’re supposed to be a team, damn it!”

You hated him. His pompous attitude and sense of entitlement, as if he’s somehow better than everyone else, or deserves explanations for things that don’t concern him. You hated his stupid glasses that made him look pretentious as hell, and that unnecessary trench coat he wore at all times. And the way he constantly whips out some sort of contraption that leaves the others in awe, stroking his ego, but you wouldn’t dare give him the satisfaction.

But what you really hated, arguably most of all, was that he saw you. Right through all the acts and walls you put up to protect yourself– a promise that there’d be no more pain and tears for as long as you lived out your days.

A promise now shattered.

“Without trust, we are nothing.” The words are venomous, so full of exasperation that it strains his voice on the last word.

A sigh and some shuffling follows a moment or two after, and all you can think is how he’s undeniably soothing the crease between his brows while his other hand rests on his hip, a classic pose of his in high-stress situations. Not that you ever paid attention…

“Believe me, it’s not worth living life that way.” His voice was softer, almost apologetic, “It’s… lonely.”

Had you been completely blinded by your own emotions, you would’ve taken the opportunity to tell him to shove it and kick rocks, but you spared him.

“I, too, thought it was easier. I’d seen my loved ones hunted like game, my own sister betrayed our family name, Whitestone had been–”

“Whitestone still stands,” you snap harshly, abruptly cutting him off. “My home does not.”

It’s then you finally turn back to him with a chilling glare and darkened features. His expression drops to widened eyes and slightly raised brows, clear that he’d not been expecting that response. But now it started, and you couldn’t stop.

“My friends do not– my family does not.” The words are registering at higher decibels that burn your throat after each word, “My life– everything!”

You march up to him, squaring up before his infuriatingly tall frame, locking eyes with his. You were shouting in his face, reaching a point of zenith you didn’t know you had, your vocal cords raw and sore that you were sure they could snap at any moment.

“I’ve lost everything that ever mattered to me and it was all my fault!”

Your body is trembling from the sheer force of the confession, and the air isn’t getting to your lungs the way you need it to right now. Your eyes, narrowed and fierce, fight to maintain their focus, but that buried, broken part of you is clawing its way out with a strength you can’t compete against.

His eyes flicker between yours, his face softened by a frown. You force yourself to look anywhere but his pitying gaze; you don’t need or want it, especially from him. You hastily wipe away the tears with the back of your hand, take a sharp breath in, and then exhale deeply. Out of all people, you couldn’t believe the one person to break you down would be none other than fucking Percival Fredrickstein von Mu—

“You don’t really believe that… do you?”

Yes, of course I do.

[kattythingz]

For the ask game thing, J K R X!

Hoooh? You're approaching me? Well, if you dare...

J - what’s your favorite fanfic trope? Have you written it?

I ADORE A VERY SPECIFIC FLAVOR OF CANON REWRITES. Basically: what if canon but my blorbo was treated as the love interest (and all the cliches that come with that, yes, hello I love whump) and my ship is endgame?

Think literally just Crown. The entire concept came to me years ago because I wanted, so desperately, to see a world where Ed was basically treated as Ling's love interest. And how that would change the plot! How would their relationship develop? How would they act AFTER they're dating? Blorbo treated as love interest + established relationship MY FUCKING BELOVED.

I did it to Ed again with Reliable Conclusion; I did it long before that to Stiles with Sweet Disaster; and I've most definitely contemplated doing it to Shinichi in a kaishin "what if Shinichi played Aoko's role in Magic Kaito" au.

If this trope has no fans left, it's because I'm DEAD.

K - do you have a guilty pleasures in fic (reading or writing)?

Oh, dude, SO MANY. SO SO MANY. I've already said I like my favs being treated as love interests, so you can imagine all the "stupid cliche" positions that I like to write said favs into. I CAN'T HELP IT MAN. I know my blorbos are competent in canon, and I'll never erase that! Any "weak" situation I ever write them into HAS to make canonical sense to me, otherwise I just. I can't.

But also, what's wrong with a strong character needing to be saved? Ed, for example, altho yes yes he's disabled, is also just human. Even without his automail kicking his ass, as a human he can still inherently be weak! You just need to know where to apply that weakness!

Also I really like dressing my favs pretty, heh. I FIND THEM PRETTY AND THUS THEY DESERVE TO LOOK THE PRETTIEST. TIS THE LAW!!!

R - which writers (fanfic or otherwise) do you consider the biggest influence on you and your writing?

Right off the top of my head, SiryyGray from Capra comes to mind. The way they tied Ed's flashbacks into the narrative so time feels WACK. The way their writing style is so damn atmospheric and vintage somehow, like you're IN those 1940s with Ed. THE WAY THEY TIED THAT WHOLE BOY WITH A COMPASS STORY INTO THE LARGER NARRATIVE AND IT HELD THEMATIC MEANING? I ATE THAT SHIT UP.

Their writing style definitely directly influenced mine! Honestly, I've caught myself thinking back on Capra a lot whenever I'm trying to write certain scenes in my own fics.

I can also cite The Map to Everywhere book series (highly recommend) as direct inspo that taught me to just, have FUN with formatting! Even in a published book! That series is my favorite in the whole world and it has so much fun with its visuals and formatting! I really admire it.

X - how would you categorize your fanfic reading? Are you a voracious reader? Do you carefully pick and choose? Something in between?

Oh, god no, I am DEFINITELY picky. Like, "I'm striving to become a professional literary editor" picky. I try so hard but unless your premise is EXTREMELY captivating and ticks all my trope boxes, then even slightly mediocre writing will turn me off at times. I can't unsee if there's a dialogue tag every single line; if the punctuation's bad; if two characters speak in the same paragraph. Every fanfic pet peeve you can think of, I've clicked off a fic from.

It's unfortunate, because I remember being 12 and reading every cool sounding fic I could get my hands on. But my writing's evolved a lot over the years. And so have my expectations for fics because of that. It's not rlly sth I can turn off in my brain anymore, as much as I wish I could sometimes.

[the-cryptographer]

Finished Mass Effect 2 as well.

This game did get me a bit more invested in the worldbuilding. Idk, I think it retains a lot of the basic jarring gender existentialist issues that were in ME1, but I admit the like... emotional resonance of a lot of the ambient dialogue on Illium and Tuchanka - the conversation with Aethyta - made it come together in a way that felt harder to dismiss.

I think the same goes with the Quarians. idk, in the context of dragon age you can still see the sort of anti-nomadic and anti-indigenous settler-colonialist sentiments come through in the dialogue about whether Tali needs to regain the homeworld or move on. But the extra levels of sci-fi, the fact that the Quarians are the creators of the Geth, really do sort of distance it from real life in a way I feel more inclined to engage solely on the merits of the text. And it really helps that the Tali loyalty mission was so standout. The way she defends her perspectives to you. The way the game rewards you ultimately not for taking the right side on the political conflicts of a culture you are not a part of, but for showing up to support and protect Tali and respect her wishes about her dad while she is under scrutiny by her own people. It was very emotional - honestly everything I wish we had gotten from the Merrill character quests in DA2 - and it gave me a pretty clear picture for why she is the favoured romance for the more straight dude part of the fandom.

Am super excited to replay her character quest with Legion as part of it too. idk, love that funky little geth dude.

I did come around on Miranda, even before she tells the Illusive Man to go to hell in the final quest. Idk, she didn't become less objectionable on a personal level exactly, but she does gain depth and did ultimately make me appreciate her part in the story.

Yeah, really glad I installed the Jack romance mod to restore the cut content with fshep. Was worried I was jumping the gun thinking she'd be the character I went feral over but, nah, I was exactly right. Truly she is like Fenris and Sera had a horrible horrible child with all his angst and all her emotional volatility and I love love love her so much. I admit her romance is def the like creepy da2 lis and zevran brand of trying to tongue someone whose agency is undermined by having nowhere else to go after repeated exploitation, but something something what were you doing at the devil's sacrament? At least you don't shove her into a wall directly after she has a ptsd episode and assume that's consent.

idk, for things i disliked: the da2 style dialogue wheel of saying shit I never would have predicted really continues and is tbh worse because exhausting the questions on the left side of the dialogue wheel sometimes results in shep making wildly contradictory points that are really not compatible with one another at all. idk, i was basically reloading every major conversation twice trying to find the options that actually seemed to come together into the character I was actually trying to roleplay.

more than one loyalty mission fell apart for me on the sudden moralising about who is okay to let your friends kill after an entire mission of gunning down hundreds of people. idk, i have individual opinions about how safe it is to let some of those fuckers keep running around with their heads attached vs others, and also opinions on who it is mentally healthy for the companions to act out their murder impulses on, but these two opinions do not always match and in almost all cases shep is so high handedly moralising about it I want to slug them.

ammo management in this game kept being a huge pain in the ass. there was absolutely no rhyme or reason I could tell between missions that overloaded me with so much extra available ammo that I was drowning in it, vs missions that were so stingy with it I was almost out of rounds on my third non-preferred weapon by the end of it.

[nightmarebunarts]

The Flipside was bad for like a number of reasons but ignoring all the glaring bullshit it had going on, it also just wasn't as entertainingly written as the prior games.

Class of '09 has the unfortunate issue of dialogue sometimes feeling a little bit stilted, with characters monologuing in like a "creator talking directly at you to own the haters" way, and it's only really saved by the great voice acting when it happens. But The Flipside had some of the?? Wonkiest dialogue in the series? Maybe ever?

And like it's saved by voice acting again, but it's much more in your face because the characters feel so much flatter and it becomes much harder to ignore with the absolute fuckery of everything else. And you kinda start to notice the cracks early on and then you realize, "Oh this guy doesn't want me to enjoy this experience" because what other conclusion are you supposed to draw after getting, like, one of 5 character assassination endings within the first 15 minutes.

And then you finish the game and you find that obnoxious fake suicide tape with another classic "character talking right at you but it's actually the creator" monologue we've gotten so used to. Which for the record sucks ass and is entirely incoherent in its attempt to be profound or whatever. And then you get a message from the creator that confirms everything you've been thinking for the past 2 wasted hours of watching a car wreck unfold in real time (at one point literally!!) and in the last paragraph this guy calls you specifically a pedophile if you didn't enjoy this experience and have like A Criticism for him, because there's no better way to evade criticism than to deliberately antagonize former fans I guess?? How's that working out for him do you think

[maleficore]

Daydreaming bg3 scenarios is my full time job at this point and I've had this phenomenal idea on my walk the other day. It's not really a headcanon since it has little basis in canon and directly contradicts some game events and plays with the lore like it's play-doh so more of a AU/fanfic idea, but...

It always struck me as inaccurate for Durge to be referred to as a "Bhaalspawn" since they're literally a PART of Bhaal made into a separate person in an act of (very confusing) divine creation and it really downplays just how powerful and dangerous they are. Especially since I fully subscribe to the idea that Durge is NOT a mortal, but that's simply not in the game due to just how OP it would be to play an unkillable Dame Aylin-esque character and the definition of a Bhaalspawn is "mortal offspring of the dead god Bhaal". So what the hell are they?

The Slayer. Or at least they're a direct vessel for it, more like.

No, really. Hear me out. Have you noticed how Gortash refers to Orin as "The Slayer" in that bit of dialogue when she puts a dagger to Ketheric throat? Except she's not? Not yet at least because the dialogue does not change depending on if you're still the one who has Bhaal's favour or not and she doesn't get it until you piss of Dad enough for him to go "fine have it your way, ungrateful brat". Plus I don't think The Slayer has been used as a shorthand for "Chosen of Bhaal" anywhere else sooo... Does he assume it's a feature of the position since he knew Durge had command over the form before their disappearance?

That's what birthed the first worm in my brain leading to this unhinged infestation, but it's not all -- there's THE URGE itself.

The game fucks it up SO bad on the whole front because it's reluctant to take choice away from the player, which is maybe understandable, but absolutely WRECKS the narrative that it's something to be afraid of. There's what? Alfira and the squirrel? Those are the only unavoidable consequences of having these supposedly violent and divine compulsions baked into every cell of your damn body. Saving your partner from a gruesome death by your hand needs a dice roll of 15, for fuck's sake! It was harder to convince a bunch of goblins to not turn me into an arrow pin cushion. Durge themself has been scared shitless of it their entire life and you're telling me the thing mostly boils down to dialogue choices? That just won't do for me, sorry. In the game The Urge's source is also never really explained beyond "of course you have unstoppable violent compulsions, you're 100% Bhaal's flesh and blood" which is fucking BORING and doesn't make sense to me because as far as I know Bhaal loves murder because that's his domain as a god, he was not a compulsive killer as a mortal so why would it be something that's passed down? No, The Urge is a fucking Slayer thing!

"It also had the ability to incite attraction in others, and remove any negative feelings they felt, or compel an urge to slay in any intentionally malevolent being, whenever it chose."

To be fair this is from a 2e sourcebook, but COME ON. Didn't it strike anyone else as weird that young Durge is mentioned to have slain an entire PALADIN ORDER before making their way to the temple if you're playing as an oathbreaker? Like, HOW? Slayer form bay-be, that's how.

(Can you tell by now I'm not normal about the idea? Yeah.)

All living creatures learn the best from their own mistakes and I think that letting The Slayer take over would be Bhaal's version of letting your incessant kid touch the clothes iron because they just refuse to leave it alone. Bad parenting, but it's Bhaal we're talking about lmao. "Oh you don't want to kill? No biggie, fuck around and see what happens then. I'll wait." is way fucking scarier to me than him just forcing Durge's hand with the butler basically being like "Heads up, master. Your father is pretty mad and your Urge is hungry so you might commit a murder tonight!" right beforehand.

Just the mental image of Durge thinking "I've done it! I've saved Isobel!" and then having the starved Slayer rip itself out of them like it does out of Orin when Bhaal forces her to transform... You see my vision right? RIGHT? And then the beast gets slain because what else is there to do and since Durge is immortal they just come back to themself instead of becoming goo (which is a game mechanic already since their sis is not so lucky, rip). The drama and angst potential is INFINITE. The sheer raw power of THAT being the "Bhaalspawn" reveal because if Isobel is alive that means Jaheira must be there like "what the FUCK are you exactly??" and no one can pretend that Durge is just Bhaalspawn+ like they do in the game. Do they kill anyone? People are bound to be at least heavily injured, especially since they've JUST fought Ketheric's bossfight and are not rested and at full potential.

GOD, I am rotating this thing in my head so fast the friction is bound to make my brain melt.