#*fiora button

[druidberries]

Meet Fiora "Dot/Dottie" Button - a sim for the guild amakiir tryouts from @potionio

Fiora is a 21-year-old, shy, music-obsessed satyr, trying to learn to get out of her shell.

a bit of her backstory under the cut

Fiora is from a small village in the feywild consisting of only satyrs. When she was just 5 years old her village got attacked and, in the midst of everything, she lost her family. She didn't know what to do and did the only thing she could think, run.

After running for what felt like forever, she stumbled across a hobbit-like village consisting of gnomes and halflings. The people saw this poor child and gladly took her in, teaching her everything she knows.

[raxistaicho]

Which Xenoblade character would be the favorite of each of the FE3H main characters?

Hmm, that's a very interesting question!

Well, I think all of them would like Rex, just because he's best boy and highly idealistic, which they would all like in different ways, even if some of them might think he's a little too idealistic at first.

Edelgard would probably empathize with Malos's issues over being essentially locked into evil, though she'd have to know about them for that to matter. Probably she might try to interact with Fiora due to similar circumstances, though her focus being mostly on Shulk might not provide much even ground.

Dimitri would totally like Senna as a boundlessly hard-working sparring buddy, I think, and she'd give him a rare challenge in terms of sheer weight-lifting ability. Shulk would definitely do him some good since Shulk goes through a similar and in ways better-written version of the same character arc.

Claude, I'm less sure of, I'm afraid.

They'd all hate N. His crime of destroying the original City pushes all their traumas in different ways. And Amalthus, who likewise presses their buttons in different ways.

[emblemxeno]

Xenoblade 1 DE Main Story/Game Thoughts

Finished the main story! I didn't go full completion but I got full affinity for all areas and saw every Heart-to-Heart. More detailed thoughts-including spoilers-under the cut!

-For starters, DE is a great update to the original. Many QoL improvements trims the extra menu time down a lot (inventory management, art books, equipment/gems, etc.), especially swapping gems. Also hell yes to including the appearance feature from X, as someone who prefers the default outfits for everyone!

-Same applies to battle stuff and general gameplay. Quest tracking, gauges on things like Break and Topple, clearer status effects, chance arts being highlighted, even something as small as the scroll between Talent Arts/Running/Chain Attacks being more streamlined had many great returns on me not pressing the wrong thing.

-However... why did they not just go all the way with more changes? The two big ones that come to mind are trading and Colony 6 collecting. First, why can you not bulk trade? It is such a time sink having to constantly open the menu again and again. And since trading and skip travelling share a button, I clocked probably over a hundred instances of opening the damn map menu instead of trading since there's a second of cooldown before the option appears for the NPC again! It's an annoyance that is easily ignored once or twice, but absolutely brutal after the tenth time.

-Jumping ahead a bit, but I speak not just criticizing DE but XC1 as a whole. It's probably an unpopular opinion but I don't like the ongoing Colony 6 reconstruction sidequest. The first time I completed it-about half a decade ago I think-was magical! Seeing a ruined home blossom into a lively city due to my hard work was something I'll never forget as an RPG fan. But I don't have that kind of time on my hands anymore (or I simply have better management of time now that I don't stay up til 4 am playing video games anymore lol). Exploring Bionis and Mechonis is an undeniably wondrous and beautiful experience, but only when doing normal quests (well most of the normal quests) and progressing the story. Jogging around places trying to find each item is incredibly unfun and tedious. The big offenders are typically Ice Cabbages (luckily I got all the ones I need by playing through the Valak portion of the story), Rainbow Slugs (I spent an entire hour on the Fallen Arm ugh), and the Black Liver Beans. The last one was the breaking point, I can't stand the Bionis Interior and after an hour in there just trying to find one, I said fuck it and did the Time Attack trials to get them that way. It was just not... good! I don't like it a bit.

-Last thing on DE specifically, I found that the graphics are apparently controversial among fans? I'm understanding of the position, as there's definitely a charm that the original artstyle had, especially being on the Wii. But to me the original has more issues in its visuals than just being a different artstyle. Poor resolution, blocky models, souless faces when not in an important cutscene, absolutely diabolical pop-in. And some say that the original gave its characters more personality during cutscenes, which... I don't get whatsoever. Did we watch the same scenes, cuz it's very hard to distinguish emotion in the original, whereas DE has better mouth, eyebrow, and facial movements. Certain scenes may "look" more emotional in the original, but things get exaggerated all the time to compensate for poor resolution or graphics.

-Now on to the just XC1 in general! Holy fuck the main cast is better than I remember. Shulk, Fiora, and Melia were already my favorites, but honestly... Dunban is probably my absolute favorite out of all of them now. His story is just so succinct and he's just so cool and hot and kind and just ughhhhhh!

-Egil is still best villain in the game, no surprise. Revisiting this game honestly made it really fucking clear why I loved Dimitri from 3H so much cuz the two are so similar (to the point where you can pull line's from the game about Egil and put them in 3H). The others fair less well. Metal Face/Mumkhar is delightfully hammy and an amazing threat for the first half of the game, but is as deep as a puddle. Dickson and Lorithia I found I dislike even more, for the wrong reasons; they lack charisma, and it's noticeable in places where the game gets really anime in its hammy villainy, but they're written and played a bit too straight for it to come off as anything other than lackluster. Though at least Dickson has presence as Shulk's caretaker and the guy who everyone knows and respects; Lorithia though? Throw her away. Honestly if Yumea took her place and retained the bigotry against Homs it'd be much more entertaining IMO.

-Zanza himself is a definitive mixed bag. Were I ignorant to Klaus' entire story from XC2, I'd honestly write him off as a by-the-numbers arrogant (but secretly imperfect and prone to "human" folly) god figure that happens in many, many RPGS. But I can't dislike him because I do know the entire story, and Zanza being an utter dickwad is explained in great detail and makes sense. Honestly, he does work for the story that XC1 is telling without playing XC2 as well, but ehhh. I guess it's just really difficult to be the main villain after Egil does such great things in a limited time.

-Narrative is great, just as it was the first time I played. Highlights for me:

Singlemindedly fighting for revenge is destructive not just to your enemies, but to yourself and your friends. Ignorance and unwillingness to look beyond your own world or history means you may be hurting innocent people without realizing it. Chaining your life to the deaths of others rather than supporting the survivors is unhealthy and can lead you down a path of misery and disaster.

Ether is not just analogy for carbon/other base elements in our world. Philosophically it's analogous to light and fate as well. Shulk unlocks the Monado's powers when he stops treating it as a tool with functions, but rather as an extension of his will. He wills his wishes into his heart, and they are made manifest. He protects Reyn with Shield not cuz the Monado lets him, but because he desired it. Same with Sharla and Speed, and it's how Alvis taught him to unlock Purge. It's how he resists Apocrypha, and later gains Cyclone once the Apocrypha is destroyed. His will is so strong, it becomes resistant to Zanza's influence, hence why he starts suffering the more he learns of Mechonis' history. The truth being brought to light is painful internally and externally, as Zanza physically rejects anything that challenges how he sees the world. Shulk brings himself back to life, begins having visions without Zanza, and gains his own Monado-which looks purely made of ether and light-through pure willpower and the desire to create his own future.

Shulk's duality and inner turmoil when he realizes his yearning for revenge is destructive; Fiora's endless strength of heart when dealing with a machine body and carrying on Meyneth's wishes; Melia going through hell and back trying to find a balance between her sense of self and sense of duty (I imagine Future Connected is gonna touch on that more as well); Dunban grappling with his moniker of being a hero and mentoring the party despite being imperfect and lamenting his disability; Reyn's goal of being a protector developing into being a supporter once he becomes insecure over his strength and character compared to Shulk; Sharla trying to keep hold onto a sense of hope that her love is alive before coming to terms with the fact that she needs to cherish her life and love those within it; Riki just being the fucking best dad and friend in the world.

Having played XC2 and XC3 makes all these things even richer as well.

-Last but not least, gameplay:

-Most quests are good. Most. The generic quests weren't ever fun for me, and they cause significant bloat that could've been trimmed IMO. Especially since lots of quests ask you to kill monsters and collect items anyway.

-The method to get quests started though? Awful. I know that things like Community in Torna and Field Skills in XC2 are hated, but man I can't stand having to change the clock and track the damn NPCs in XC1. Especially since there are many areas separated between towns/villages and "wild" areas (Colony 6 and Bionis Leg, Frontier Village and Makna, Alcamoth and Eryth + Valak), it just makes things so drawn out. Going back and forth, changing time and all that, is a sour point on this game.

-Like I said a few weeks ago, the Xenoblade series as a whole is unmatched in gameplay story telling. Beautiful and large environments make curious exploration a treat, especially as you start getting pieces to puzzles that can get completed later. I payed a lot more attention to the High Entia and Giant related sidequests due to the fascinating lore, for example.

-The fights are great, if a bit centralizing. Shulk, due to Monado arts, is the best character to have in the party and is sorely missed when switched out. I have pretty standard opinions on the rest of the characters, so no need to speak on each individually. I will say though, holy fuck is the AI just as bad as I remember. Shulk wastes his Monado gauge, Sharla is terrible at using arts and always puts herself into cooldown, and Melia for the love of god, stop firing elementals as soon as you summon them you're made of tissue.

Topple locking is deffo the prime strategy, cuz there were fights I wouldn't otherwise have won were it not for it, and thankfully Reyn and Dunban have pretty good AI.

Two major gripes though. Spikes are a terrible mechanic, gross. Second, I hate that the enemy tags affect accuracy, it makes certain quests extremely brutal to complete without grinding. And I just hate having to fight tough/overlevelled enemies as a whole, it becomes routine and simple after a while.

As a whole, I like the gameplay still, but it feels very restrictive going back to it after seeing all the crazy tricks I could do in 2 and 3. And also auto-attack arts > timer arts forever and ever.

-Overall a very great experience getting to replay this game like this. Though more rough points than I remember, and with certain things that have not aged well whatsoever , XC1 is still a good game that I'm glad introduced me to this series. I'm taking a break before playing Future Connected.

[orlissa]

Spotify Shuffle Tag Game

Tagged by the extraordinary @pia-bartolini

Let you spotify predict your 2024!

Rules: shuffle your On Repeat playlist, and the first twelve songs represent your 2024.

...So I don't have spotify, or any music streaming service, but I have a bunch of music on my phone (pirate life for me...) and a music player with shuffle function, so here we go:

January: White Horse (Taylor's Version) February: A Dark Season - Galavant OST March: This Love (Taylor's Version) April: Sparks Fly - Taylor Swift May: Innocent (Taylor's Version) June: Rebecca - from Rebecca the Musical, Hungarian cast recording (I'd like to point it that this is the song in which Max tells the narrator the true nature of his relationship with Rebecca and how she died - although in the musical it's more of an accident than murder) July: Buttons - Pussycat Dolls August: Why Did It Have To Be Me? - Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again OST September: Superman - Taylor Swift October: Timeless (Taylor's Version) November: Fearless (Taylor's Version) December: Forever Winter (Taylor's Version)

That's 2/3s of Taylor Swift, but not in July, which is a travesty, because that's when I'm going to The Eras Tour

Tagging @buttercupadventures @stargazerdaisy @agentramsey @jomiddlemarch @mercurygray @catleen9 @aloveforjaneausten @fiora-miriel @vesperass-anuna @polikszena

[adelle-ein]

lace's xenoblade 3 review/thoughts

So I finished Xenoblade 3's main story. I'm far from done with the game, but I did all the main character side stories and a lot of side quests, and I do have all the heroes. Most of them aren't ascended yet, and I have many other misc sidequests and places to explore on my list, but I'm going to be doing that here on out while enjoying the post game perks.

Overall it was really good despite some glaring issues. Spoilers, obviously!

Just to make thing clear: I have only played Xenoblade 1. 2's character designs, weird-ass grooming love triangle, treatment of women, fanservice, and obsession with sex and dirty jokes are such massive turn-offs that I refuse to pay money for it. If someone would like to give me a copy of 2 as well as the money for its allegedly amazing DLC then I'll play it, but that's literally the only circumstances I can see that happening in. Also, to be totally honest, the fandom tendency to bully and harass people who don't like 2 has ruined any interest I might have otherwise had. I am generally familiar with 2's lore and how it connects to 1, though, having read up on it while deciding whether to play 2 and in advance of playing 3 -  no expert, but I do know stuff.

My biggest issues with Xenoblade 1 were that a) it didn't seem to like its main cast very much and b) it absolutely hated women to a frankly comedic extent. 1 literally is just The Shulk Game, periodically featuring Melia and Dunban. Every significant scene, major moment, iconic line, act of bravery comes from Shulk. Every characters' thoughts, feelings, and motivations revolve entirely around Shulk. Every woman revolves around her love interest (who, uh, is generally Shulk.) Reyn effectively vanishes by midgame, Sharla really served no purpose in the plot whatsoever and was largely there to be a love triangle point, Dunban is pretty much just a mentor, and while Melia gets a lot of plot focus and characterization, it ultimately amounts to a lot of suffering and minimal payoff (slightly rectified in Future Connected.) But it could be worse - Fiora, despite all her setup as Shulk's foil, despite her arc setup about disability and mortality and a literal god in her chest, is nothing more than a love interest, who has no motivation beyond being at his side, who at the pivotal motivation-stating moment has nothing more to say than "Shulk!" And of course there's also Riki, who is literally just a comic relief character and is unceremoniously written out of the game every time a cutscene gets emotional or plot-significant (only to reappear shortly after asking for food at inappropriate moments.) If it weren't for the Heart-to-Heart unvoiced text convos — which take for-fucking-ever to unlock — that would literally be all there is to these characters, and even within the Heart-to-Hearts, there isn't that much to go on. Ultimately, I enjoyed 1 a lot more for its gameplay and potential than anything else. To me, a story that doesn't care about its characters is pretty much never an enjoyable one.

Long story short, Xenoblade and I have a tenuous relationship. I pretty much exclusively play turn-based games due to a variety of disabilities. Xenoblade's combat, however, is forgiving enough on easy mode that I can get by thanks to auto-attacks and not relying on button mashing, so it's pretty much the only one of its kind that I've ever played. I'm including all this context to make it clear going in that I do not consider myself a Xenoblade fan, or hardcore player, by any stretch of the imagination.

My point here is that 3 absolutely blew me out of the water. 3 loves its characters. It adores its characters. It wants the absolute best for its characters. Which, uh…is sometimes an impediment, but most of the time it's great. Every cast member actually plays a role, gets an arc, gets backstory and development, and most importantly of all, they maintain a consistent web of friendships that have nothing to do with Noah. Every duo of characters gets some kind of cute interaction once in awhile, even combos like Eunie and Mio that don't hang out much, and it not only makes things feel organic, it prevents both love-interest-trap and the Shulk Obsession effects that 1 suffered from. Everyone gets a side story, everyone gets big boss fights, everyone gets a big piece of the screentime pie even though Noah is the main focus, and it's the high point of the game. The characters are all, genuinely, really good — Eunie and Taion are far and away my favorites (duh…) but they all overall feel well fleshed out and well loved. Noah definitely gets preachy towards the end, but he doesn't get every single good one-liner the way Shulk did.

Sena, unfortunately, is the only real exception to this rule. The poor girl starts and ends the game as Mio's cute accessory that she sometimes lends to Lanz. While she still gets way more character work than, say, Sharla, and isn't reduced to a love interest, her ascension quest has absolutely nothing to do with her and her "development" makes  no impact on her behavior for the rest of the game. Taion changes visibly as a person after the events at Colony Lambda, but while Sena says a few things about being true to herself, every subsequent story scene still has her using her perky, happy-go-lucky persona and being Mio's hype girl. The writers clearly had an idea in mind for her, but really fell down in executing it. This shines in Mio's side story — apparently Miyabi also saved Sena before her death, and yet Sena has never really seemed affected by this the way Mio is. It's never even mentioned before this side story that Sena had any involvement in Colony Omega. I have no idea what went wrong with writing Sena, but it's pretty sad, honestly. All that being said, it's really not THAT bad — it just sticks out compared to how the other five are treated. More of a "five great, one mediocre" type situation, you know?

Honestly, gameplay is great. The combat is insanely confusing and overcomplicated and everyone is yelling constantly but like. That's a given. Xenoblade. If I hadn't played 1 I probably would have just had no idea what to do, but I was able to fumble through despite getting bombarded with "tips" such as "Celestial Arts are special Arts triggered by filling up the Star Gauge and properly timing your Moon Attacks. By triggering a Punch -> Fly -> Burst -> Shine combo, you can turn off the enemy's Rage Meter and Shatter them, thereby executing a Shattershimmer attack. Try it for yourself! Also half those moves don't actually work on most bosses, but we won't tell you that." That gives you an idea of how every single "helpful tip" that pops up in Xenoblade feels to me. Again, though — a lot of this is on me. I don't have the processing skills or memory to be Good At Xenoblade, and easy mode negates the need to know most of this anyway, but man is it silly sometimes. I have some nitpicks about smaller stuff, like how the class unlock system works (luckily the postgame options render this effectively obsolete, whee!) and steering the boats (sound of me getting stuck on a stray monster and crashing sideways into an island.) But the exploration is so much fun and the sidequests are a lot more engaging than 1, and that's what really matters to me in Xenoblade gameplay.

Plotwise, things really do just drop off after the chapter 6 opening. Everyone said so and I was skeptical. I am no longer skeptical. Not sure the writers had any idea what they were doing beyond that point. It's not as bad as some (TEAM ASANO) but it sort of feels like they might have run out of time a little — the last dungeon really just feels like padding, X and Y don't even get death cutscenes, and Z feels unfinished. The basic concept of Z being the personification of everyone's fear and inertia works really well, but — and I can't believe I'm saying this — it wasn't as well executed as the similar final boss in Persona 5. Just not enough time spent on Origin and what its whole deal is, and things stayed a bit too Noah-centric at the end for my tastes. Also that final boss needed to have skip options in the cutscenes, if I hadn't cleared it my first try I would have cried from sheer fatigue lol. I also think the "side stories" are pretty meh, with only Taion's and Lanz's really working for me — I actually quite liked Sena's, but it isn't remotely about Sena and really should have been just a Ghondor quest. Eunie's felt purposeless, Mio's just absolutely destroyed the very concept of death in the entire game, and Noah's was…terrible.

And this brings me to my biggest plot complaint: death has become absolutely meaningless. The rebirth thing, I could get behind. The execution of Taion's side story, for example — while Nimue is drawn to and admires Taion for the same qualities that led to her past self mentoring him, she never regains her memories, and things will never actually be the same again. But that's okay, because she gets to live her own new life now. That can work for me. I can get behind that. Similarly, Eunie found her old husk and remembered her previous death, but she doesn't gain all the life experience and memories of that version or anything, just lives with the burden of a trauma she didn't experience. Moebius recruits gain memories of all their past lives, but they also become evil and warped under the weight of repeated bitterness and loss. All of these approaches worked. Not perfectly, but they worked for me. And then Miyabi shows up and just ruins everything. She's the age she was when she died, she retains all of her memories, she's exactly as she was. She might as well have never died at all. So…what's the point? That sacrifice that shaped Mio's life and outlook — it was pointless, in the end. Miyabi gave nothing up to save Mio (and Sena.) So it wasn't even a sacrifice. These aren't as bad but: Why is goddamn MWAMBA back, that's the silliest thing in the world, he's the Tutorial Party Member and those should never come back (unless you do something cool a la Fiora, and that sure wasn't the case with him.) His Agnus equivalent from Mio's squad whose name I don't even know is back. Cammuravi is back, and while he seems to be retaining his amnesia, he acts exactly the same, he's back to his previous age, and he's ~naturally drawn~ to Ethel (which…their relationship wasn't explicitly romantic or anything but I do feel a little weird about him hanging out with her as a child in this life when they were equals and the same age with some romantic subtext in the past one…) I do know however that some future quest will age Ethel back up, but that was all very weird. I don't think anyone should be coming back at the age they were previously, but even if we're doing that, they DEFINITELY shouldn't be regaining their memories.

In a game that's literally supposed to be about life and death, the value of each cycle, of each life no matter how temporary, where the characters repeatedly insist that each of their lives have value no matter how many times they're reborn — "death" becomes less than a slap on the wrist. I also don't know why Nia revived — probably just a 2 reference, as I understand from the wiki, and if so that's totally fine, but the timing of that after Mio's side story just blew the concept of death off a cliff was really not ideal. Would have been better to have her not awaken until after D was killed, as it just adds to all the resurrection in Mio's story and makes things feel very silly and death extremely cheap. The one good thing is that so far Miyabi seems to be the only cartoonishly bad no-consequences-at-all example, but that could change in other side quests, and frankly, once is bad enough when the game's themes so heavily revolve around the value of life and death.

Moebius is insanely hammy. It got old really fast, and then got funny again when I realized that literally every single one of them is like that. There's a certain refuge in audacity there, imo. They're just all complete weirdos who won't stop chewing the scenery, I can respect that. Although D's "true identity" being treated as a big reveal ("wow! You're a serial killer that has literally never been mentioned in this game before!!") was pretty ridiculous. Also kinda disappointed that we didn't get E, T, L, and S alongside N and M…while it makes sense, and the implication is that this is the first life in which these six got together, I wanted evil Eunie :( N is kinda hilariously pathetic, which may not have been the intention. I got off so many daze->bursts on him during his last battle and he was just bouncing around like a fucked up plinko horse it was goddamn hilarious. Also his armor has a booty window. I can't take this guy seriously. The big M/Mio reveal is really well handled and great, though, and the absolute peak of the plot. I just laughed at N a little during it. Can you really blame me.

I will also say that M/N's story did, personally for me, ruin the idea of Noah/Mio as a romantic couple — seeing a version of them that reached the peak of codependency to the point of genocide taints every version of them. Even though the versions we play as can reach acceptance and part for the greater good, it's hard not to think of N and M and their arc. Again, that's for me — not judging people who do love the couple or anything, I'm just a little repulsed by them together now :') I will also say that while some of the "life cycle"/"yay babies" stuff feels a bit hamfisted, it's really not too bad, especially with the focus being more on babies and life than "everyone's purpose is to make babies." And the language seemed surprisingly non-heterosexual (I'm so glad that Lanz/Sena stayed platonic.) The game sort of glosses over N and M (or some other version of them, but I got the impression that was them)'s teen pregnancy as well as Monica's (Ghondor is 18 while Monica is 33 — easy to miss but Monica was a teen mom) and I do feel weird about that. Not the end of the world but the material sometimes teeters on the edge of…not so great?

Side note: Now that I think about it, why are Nopon entirely outside the cycle and just living their merry lives completely consequence free in whatever parts of the world they want. Why was there no Moebius nopon i am so disappointed. Not to mention they keep inventing shit that just completely shatters all of Z's plans. Nopon are canonically more powerful than Moebius this is a very funny concept to me

All of this being said, the ending itself actually works okay for me. I always have mixed feelings about "but then it never happened!" type endings, I always prefer "let's rebuild the world with the tools we have." I don't like it when "bad/flawed/noncanon" timelines get erased without a trace and become meaningless. This is why my favorite time travel game is Radiant Historia. Have I mentioned I fucking loathe act 3 of Dragon Quest XI, to this day have refused to play it, and actually regret buying it at all solely thanks to act 3's existence? It's a MASSIVE pet peeve. Anyway, the ending narrowly subverted pissing me off — it manages to stay bittersweet by treating the Agnus/Keves separation as a consequence of restarting the world. You could argue that the ongoing "oh, they'll meet again somehow" reassurances ruin this, but to me it just barely manages to work. It might, admittedly, undermine some of the messages about moving on and forward and avoiding the endless now — but I think it's okay, in the end. Even if baby Noah runs into that alley and immediately trips over baby Mio and they get every single memory back, I think the ending as a whole is well-constructed enough that it can work. It wasn't a huge, universal retcon — either the effects of what happened will linger (they'll regain their memories and have to live with that knowledge) or the consequences of their choice will (they'll never meet again, or they'll meet but not remember) and that ultimately works for me. Subjective, though, and I get why some are disappointed with it in one way or another -- I would also have personally preferred a "rebuilding the world together without any Flame Clocks" ending. It's better than "Fiora's just all better and a Homs again with no lingering effects at all" or "Pyra and Mythra just are alive and have separate bodies bc Reasons now" though. *JKR voice* You solved it, Ginny was perfectly happy again!

The characters are what really carry this game's writing as opposed to the plot, and that's generally okay with me. Really, my big outstanding complaints are the death thing, mostly as it applies to Miyabi, and that things are a real slog in the final fetch quest and then dungeon, with that classic "padding an already too long JRPG" vibe. Seriously, I finished at 62 hours as a fast reader with a whole ton of side content left to do — that dungeon could have been ¼ of the length and equally effective, guys. Why.

Miscellaneous commentary — the VA work is great/terrible in exactly the ways I wanted it to be, Nia and Melia's new designs are great (and Melia's really suits how her VA's voice has changed, which is a strong improvement over Future Connected - not anyone's fault, just a weird side effect of things being recorded a decade apart. Getting to properly see and hear adult Melia really feels like it fixes up those issues though.) The Nopon are way cuter than they've ever been, fluffy and big-eyed, and their speech is definitely my favorite from the three games (toning down the mehmehmeh was a very good call, especially since this world is supposed to be a mix of 1 and 2.) Giving Riku that extremely deep voice in the English dub is a hilarious choice and I have endless respect for them for that. The main cast all sounds great, Sena being an American stereotype is so funny, Noah's VA handled his multiple roles really well, and Eunie was just hilarious at all times. Seriously I adore her. Music sounded great, but I was mostly listening through switch speakers so that obviously affected the quality a lot — it sounds way better when I listened on the PC through headphones though so I'm slowly making my way through. Should have won at the game awards but we all knew it wouldn't lbr :') The character models are great and this is definitely my favorite artstyle from any of the Xenoblades — everyone is a LOT more expressive than 1 but not, well, ugly like in 2. Much more facial feature diversity too which is sorely appreciated. Jiggle physics were kind of ridiculous (Mio should not have those!! She's like a b cup!!! why) but at least the outfits and angles weren't too wild, and Monica is the only one who looks outright cartoonish proportions-wise imo. I really enjoy the class system and getting to do wild/fun stuff with it, but I also like that significant cutscenes have everyone using their "traditional" weapons — it strikes a nice balance between gameplay and character fun for me. In general all the fight cutscenes were really well choreographed and lively, with lots of cool touches that made them actually worth watching -- stuff like Lanz blocking a huge long hit while Eunie and Taion use an ongoing sustained heal to keep him alive longer, it's neat.

Also That Photo is so dumb and so poorly timed but hey that's why i'm not playing 2

Anyway, yeah, I have my gripes but it's overall a really good and heartfelt game that feels like a lot of love was put into it! Really good! I…will still be avoiding the larger xenoblade fandom bc What The Hell Is Going On In There. eunie's the boss. why is this so long i just wanted to write a few paragraphs not the fucking iliad sobs

[unearthlytwilight]

character overview and stat snapshot! lots of images

Lyn's tale:

oh well. she doesn't really have story presence after her tale unfortunately. she's an alright character, I guess, but not really standout

"why not use Marcus??" I like him more than Marcus. he's devoted to his duty and is a total bro to Kent. respects women a surprising amount. also he's really funny. grew on me a lot!

one of five cavaliers. he's a good straight man for Sain and them vibing is nice to see

no strength. her friendship with Lyn is cute and her dynamic with Fiora is sweet. a little cutie and there's nothing wrong with that

Rebecca is better. the game made the normal archer #3 joke twenty years before I could and that's about all I have to say. his Rebecca supports are nice though

sure is a fighter. I like his relationship with Natalie. he's just vibing but that's okay. sometimes you just gotta go to work

suffers from being on foot but her mag is good. she's good comic relief, but unfortunately it takes her A with Oswin to see her beyond that. her realizing that Lucius is a guy is funny as shit though

surprisingly blessed. he's a good straight man for Serra and his supports are overall pretty good.

thief. has no right to get as much main story screentime as he does but he earns every second of it. his character's great. his supports are all great. 10/10 one of my favorites.

*shakes him* what is your strength?? still, he's a cutie. love his Matthew support and his pre-chapter pre-recruitment monologue. might get a promotion out of sentimentality

Eliwood's tale:

would appreciate speed. really grew on me, he might be a favorite lord even. I've said a lot about his character (& will continue to) but he really does get a bad rap.

one of five cavaliers. gets no focus but his supports are nice enough. also his join dialogue is cute. love this little grass man

one of five cavaliers and the easy button. he's cool I guess but he's also just around. he's also in fe6 but is also just there

no speed augh. it's like they looked at fe6 and decided "for the prequel, made him even stupider" and he is certainly that

surprisingly good. as a character she's just chillin but of all the village archers, I like her a lot. she's just happy and I like that

funny merchant man. I'm used to the avatar being the convoy but I honestly like this better. feels more integrated. also capped con lol

res-blessed. like how he doesn't want to be "Uther's weird brother" but feels pressured into it. also he would ride or die for Eliwood which I respect

his luck worries me. honestly he's doing his best. probably gets more characterization in Hector's tale but I'm not playing that soooo. definitely possesses the most dad energy so far

horse staff. it's a shame 2/3 of her paired endings are sad. also wow she even has a sad portrait here that's pretty depressing

spinny boi. also edgy boi but his Lucius supports are good at fixing that. his Wil support is pretty funny.

his magic sucks but he gets weird crits. Raven supports good. his other ones too but those people haven't joined yet mostly

Luna. man, they really did go "let's make Hugh's dad a character even though we have like two pieces of information about him" and by god they succeeded. what a nerd. love him to bits

got doubled his join chapter. his supports are good though. also said "suicide squad" in 2003 so that gets him some points in my book

actually has strength (Florina callout post). another duty character but her supports are pretty good. out of her current ones, her Florina support is cute

thief. has a strength growth. his Matthew support is super good. unfortunately, we don't quite have the context for his character yet, but he's a chill guy

higher def than most of my combat units. she's a cutie. I like her relationship with Eliwood. also I know she was being controlled but "Children of flame... come to me" is a baller line

[chrancecriber]

Antenne Vorarlberg Chillout Lounge (August 21, 2023)

23:55 Christopher Von Deylen - Free 23:51 Mo' Horizons - Dance Naked Under Palmtrees 23:48 Blank & Jones Feat. Mick Roach - Magnolia 23:41 Edx - We Can't Give Up 23:38 Nto (Fr) Feat. Sofiane Pamart - Invisible (Piano Version) 23:35 R3hab X Lukas Graham - Most People 23:31 Blank & Jones - Flowing 23:29 Above & Beyond - Quieter Is Louder (Original Mix) 23:24 Tinlicker Feat. Nathan Nicholson - Always Will 23:20 Fine Young Cannibals - Johnny Come Home (Mousse T. Cocktail Mix) 23:15 Deep Dive Corp. Feat. Dennis Le Gree - Water 23:11 Nora En Pure - Tantrum 23:03 Audiofly Feat. Fiora - 6 Degrees 22:56 Atb - No Fate 22:49 True & Berger - Imprint Of Pleasure 22:45 Blank & Jones With Coralie Clement - Days Go By 22:42 Alok & Timmy Trumpet - Underwater Love (La Vision Remix) 22:39 Felix Jaehn Feat. Jasmine Thompson - Ain't Nobody 22:32 Mashk & Soul Button - Pensées 22:29 Majestic & Boney M. - Rasputin 22:22 Hraach - Delirio 22:18 Sofi Tukker & John Summit - Sun Came Up (Radio) 22:15 Hagen Feetly - Cry 22:10 Van Bellen - Morning Awakening 22:08 Christopher Von Deylen - Arco Iris 22:05 Lost Frequencies, Zonderling & Kelvin Jones - Love To Go 22:02 Robin Schulz Feat. Graham Candy - 4 Life (Original Mix) 21:56 Deep Dive Corp. & Setsuna - Transatlantic 21:53 Lost Frequencies & Elley Duhé - Back To You 21:46 Max Melvin - Earth Inside 21:44 Dj Antoine & Flip Capella Feat. Evelyn - Dark Love 21:39 Sean Hayman - See Of Love (Whisper Mix) 21:34 Klangperlenspiel - Million Words 21:31 Tomas Skyldeberg - Outside The Window 21:28 Norman Feller - Retrospective 21:25 Sanah - Invisible Dress (Maro Music X Skytech Remix) 21:22 Laniia - Fireflies 21:19 Michael Gray & Shelly Poole - Borderline (Lee Muddy Baker Acoustic Mix) 21:16 Italobrothers - Stay 21:13 Alle Farben & Flynn - I Need To Know 21:09 Alphawezen - 4043 21:06 Pretty Pink Feat. Mark V - Don't Dance 21:01 Joachim Pastor Feat. Nathan Nicholson - Saint Louis 20:58 Oovee Feat. Alesha Dixon - Higher Love 20:52 Good Guy Mikesh Feat. Filburt - Place Of Love (Mp Edit) 20:45 Max Melvin - Sometimes 20:42 L'imperatrice - Peur Des Filles (Montmartre Remix) 20:39 Junge, Junge Feat. Jamie Hartma - Wicked Hearts 20:35 Justin Robertson Presents Revtone - Love Movement 20:32 Mike Candys & Jack Holiday - Saltwater (Rework) 20:29 Jelly & Fish - Appreciation 20:24 Redondo, Bolier Feat. She Keeps Bees - Every Single Piece (Original Mix) 20:16 Garlington - Falling To Pieces (Extended Mix) 20:13 Portishead - Revenge Of The Number 20:04 Nor Elle - Silent Storm 20:00 Sofi Tukker X Mahmut Orhan - Forgive Me 19:57 Lucy Neville - Shameless 19:51 Amanaska - Tide 19:49 Srtw & Mave Feat. Sønlille - Last Train Home 19:44 Syntax Error - Träumen Im Gras (Syntax Experience Mix) 19:39 Claptone Feat. Dizzy - Queen Of Ice Queen Of Ice 19:37 Dize Feat. Aurii - Wenn Ich Nicht Mehr Weiss 19:33 Sting - Cool Breeze 19:27 Jens Buchert - Cocoon 19:23 Klangkarussel & Poppy Baskcomb - This Love 19:19 Air - You Make It Easy 19:16 Morgan Page Feat. Lissie - Firewalk 19:12 Dvine - Unknown Reality 19:08 Tontario - Late (Original Mix) 19:04 The Alan Parsons Project - Old And Wise 18:59 Above & Beyond Feat. Zoe Johnston - We're All We Need 18:54 Lux - Northern Lights 18:51 Filatov & Karas - Au Au 18:44 Nora En Pure - Come With Me 18:41 Avaion X Vize X Leony - Pieces 18:38 Tinlicker Feat. Nathan Nicholson - Be Here And Now 18:32 Max Denoise Feat Claire Willis - Bring To Me Life (Original Mix) 18:29 Kygo & Sasha Sloan - I'll Wait 18:23 Tebra - Istok 18:19 Schiller - Sommerregen 18:16 Rosa Linn - Snap 18:14 Le Shuuk Feat. Xilions - Goodbye 18:10 Nicos - Secret Love 18:07 Kygo With Avicii & Sandro Cavazza - Forever Yours (Tribute) 18:02 Atb & Anova - Route 66 17:56 Aisen - Another Day 17:53 Above & Beyond Feat. Zoe Johnston - Treasure 17:48 Lux - Golden 17:45 Sans Souci - Take My Breath Away (Original Mix) 17:41 Ac Venture - Rain In Spain (Roberto Sol Remix) 17:36 Beanfield - Planetary Deadlock 17:30 Lamb - Wonder 17:25 Lstn - Times Of Sorrow 17:23 Crying Robot, Abi F. Jones - Different Sides 17:19 Lstn, Arya Noble - Desert Walk 17:16 Sons Of Maria - Always 17:13 Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still (Ofenbach Remix) 17:05 Jan Blomqvist - Empty Floor 17:03 Luca Schreiner Feat. Johnny Chicago - Its All Gonna Be Good (Junge Junge Edit) 16:59 Sean Bay, Mehdi Mouelhi Feat. Arabella - Maktoub 16:52 Dale Anderson Feat. Anil Chawla - Pimento Grove 16:45 Cosmo Klein Feat. Ynot - When Doves Cry (Original Mix) 16:42 Robin Schulz & Felix Jaehn - One More Time 16:37 Schiller Feat. Jael - Tired (Live) 16:33 Guardner - All Right 16:24 Moby - Too Much Change 16:19 Schiller X Tricia Mcteague - Miracle 16:15 Aural Float - Be As You Are 16:12 Sneaker Pimps - 6 Underground 16:08 Ck West - Aldebaran 2021 16:03 Sine - Smooth Relaxation 16:01 Sons Of Maria - A Kiss Like This 15:58 Sum Wave - Backyard Stories 15:54 Martin Böttcher - Old-shatterhand-melodie (Orbient Mix) 15:50 Above & Beyond - The Inconsistency Principle 15:47 Felix Jaehn Feat. Lost Frequencies & Linying - Eagle Eyes 15:41 Colyn - Unstable Gravity Alert 15:38 Max Johann & Layrz - Tell It To My Heart 15:32 Alle Farben - Sonoro (2018 Rework) 15:29 Pascal Letoublon - Feelings Undercover 15:26 Together Alone - Ain't Nobody 15:22 Set Mo Feat. Deutsch Duke - White Dress (Radio Version) 15:20 Gil Glaze Feat. Dante Thomas - West La 15:16 Nora En Pure & Lika Morgan - In The Air Tonight (Sons Of Maria Remix) 15:13 Tim Plvnk - Just Tonight (Extended Mix) 15:09 Bolier & Leandro Da Silva - Floripa (Extended) 15:06 Mount & Emdey - Venus 14:59 Caf Bar Feat. Sara Allman - Gimme Shelter (Chilled Buddha Session) 14:55 Above & Beyond - Out Of Time (Original Mix) 14:52 Iberis Eguana - Sand Of Time 14:48 Gardenstate & Bien - The Best Part 14:42 Joachim Pastor & Signum - Something You Need (Extended Mix) 14:37 Channel 2 Feat. Tanya - Space Cowboy 14:32 Anrey - Lost Lands (Extended Mix) 14:28 Neptune & Moonnight - I Need A New Love (Original Mix) 14:24 Fritz Kalkbrenner - Void 14:22 Twisted Harmonies Feat. Mougleta - You & Me 14:17 Schiller - Der Goldene Engel 14:14 Starley - Lovers Strangers 14:11 Lizot - Daddy Cool 14:08 Glockenbach - Dirty Dancing 14:05 Lost Frequencies Feat. Sandro Cavazza - Beautiful Life 14:02 Felix Jaehn Feat. Zoe Wees - Do It Better 13:59 Alle Farben - Bad Ideas 13:57 Felix Jaehn, Cheat Codes Feat. Bow Anderson - I Just Wanna 13:50 Nora En Pure - Thermal (Extended Mix) 13:46 Kygo Feat. Maty Noyes - Stay 13:39 Timboletti - Dhunche 13:36 Raffa Fi - Ritmo 13:32 Kygo Feat. Sandro Cavazza - Happy Now 13:29 Armin Van Buuren & Avira - Illusion (Mixed) 13:24 Thomas Lemmer & Andreas Bach - Deep Ocean 13:21 Black Coffee & David Guetta Feat. Delila Montagu - Drive 13:18 Sono - Keep Control (Artbat Remix Edit) 13:14 Sum Wave - Malin's Song 13:09 Placebo - Running Up That Hill 13:05 Loud Luxury - Cold Feet 12:59 Cinemascope - The 7th Dream 12:57 Gibbs & Code X - Close To Your Heart 12:52 Schiller & Tricia Mcteague - Guardian Angel 12:49 Sam Feldt - Be My Lover 12:45 Nora En Pure - World Of Rules 12:42 Robin Schulz Feat. Alida - In Your Eyes 12:38 Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes 12:32 Tebra - Suton 12:28 Blank & Jones - Sunny (Summer Vibe Mix) 12:21 Richard Grey - Need Your Lovin (Murjd Remix) 12:16 Arden - Open 12:05 Cell - Above The Clouds (Live Version) 12:01 Beatkonexion - On Air 11:58 Audax Feat. Ron Caroll - Falling For You 11:53 Schiller & Giorgio Moroder - Lichtjahre 11:49 Avira & Kiko Franco Feat. Nathan Nicholson) - Ocean 11:45 Ambyion - Motion 11:39 Boris Pillmann - Mood Of Moonlight 11:35 Viva La Panda & Finding Molly - Bring It On (La La La) 11:32 Nora En Pure - Dry Sobbing 11:26 Max Melvin - Magnolia 11:22 Backstreet Boys - Chances (Instrumental) 11:19 Sans Souci - Nanda 11:15 Shaun Feat. Conor Maynard - Way Back Home 11:12 Armin Van Buuren Feat. Jake Reese - Need You Now 11:07 Rìfìs Du Sol - Next To Me 11:02 Maestro & Cabal - Rocklands Beach 10:59 Edx - Ecletric (Mixed) 10:55 Blank & Jones - Fallen 10:52 Wave Wave Feat. Lena Sue - Repeating 10:45 Firtz Kalkbrenner - Golden (Fideles Remix) 10:40 Under Pressure - Near The Ocean 10:37 Consoul Trainin Feat. Steven Aderinto & Duoviolins - Obsession 10:34 Sono - Trusting You 10:29 Owen Ear, Stereoteric - Screaming Heart (Original Mix) 10:26 Nora En Pure - Branches 10:23 Dj Antoine Feat. Chanin & Jona Xx - Dancing In Tulum 10:19 Croquet Club - Awake 10:16 Pulsedriver & Tiscore Feat. Anna Grey - We Are 10:12 Robin Schulz - Moonlit Sky (With The Void Pacific Choir) 10:08 Nightmares On Wax - Les Nuits 10:05 Hein Klein & Cheyenne - Every Breath You Take 10:00 Schiller - Der Tag...du Bist Erwacht (Mit Jette Von Roth) 09:57 Blank & Jones - Coastline 09:51 Mr.da-nos - San Francisco 2k20 09:47 Melounge - Too Much Sugar 09:39 Miyagi, Sascha Braemer, Dan Caster, Jan Blomqvist - Woodpeckers Love Affair 09:36 Bolier - Another Blue 09:33 Alan Walker Feat. Gavin James - Tired 09:30 Edx Feat. Jess Ball - Take Me Home 09:27 Kush Kush & Sickmellow Feat. Kazhi - Blacklight 09:19 David Broaders - Curracloe 09:13 Beyhude - Terso 09:10 Tiesto - Lay Low 09:05 Bissen & The Crossover - Quicksand (Chillout Mix) 09:02 Nora En Pure - Fibonacci 08:56 Axwell / Ingrosso - Something 08:53 Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano - Let It Lie 08:49 Tonenation - Hijo De La Luna 08:44 Ganga - The Wind 08:42 Blank & Jones Feat. Coralie Clément - Cest Mieux 08:37 Rìfìs Du Sol - Alive (Anyma Remix) 08:34 Major Lazer Feat. Dj Snake & Mø - Lean On 08:26 Julian Wassermann - People 08:23 Alan Walker Ahrix - End Of Time 08:20 Bebo Best & The Super Lounge Orchestr - Come As You Are 08:15 Ac Venture - Penang Waltz (Roberto Sol Remix) 08:13 Alok Feat. Alida - Love Again 08:08 Rue Du Soleil - Manush 08:04 Gestört Aber Geil & Anna Grey - Thank You 08:00 Los Alamos Country Club - Children (Ambient Remix) 07:58 Mike Candys, Sb Mont & Salvo - Turned To Dust 07:50 Armen Miran Feat. Jivan Gasp - Lost Memories 07:43 Marcel - Departure 07:38 Mike Candys & Jack Holiday - La Serenissima 07:35 Kungs Feat. Jhart - Dopamine 07:30 Mikael Delta - The Last Storm Of Words 07:27 Nora Van Elken - Okinawa 07:24 Klangperlenspiel & Puzzls - Kyoto (Wish You'd Move On) 07:19 Diamans - Perception 07:11 Monolink - Don't Hold Back 07:09 Zaz - Demain C'est Toi 07:01 Desert Dwellers - Union 06:52 Blond:ish Feat. Bahramji - Omnipresent 06:48 Zero 7 - In The Waiting Line 06:44 The Ocean Piano - Piano Mi Camino (Blue Wave Mix) 06:41 Trinix & Ian Urbina - Bad Things 06:35 Nora En Pure - Don't Look Back (Extended Mix) 06:32 Gamper & Dadoni - My Lovin' 06:28 Schiller - Summer In Berlin 06:26 Braaten - Enjoy The Silence 06:23 Shallour & Riah - Lie 06:18 Fous De La Mer - Luces 06:10 Cabeiri - Plants Telling 06:06 Moby - My Only Love 06:03 Fritz Kalkbrenner - Daylight Is Falling 05:58 Blank & Jones - Coming Home (Afterlife Remix) 05:54 Daniel Steidtmann - Pigeon Lake 05:51 Mark Ronson Feat. Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart 05:48 Kamrad - Feel Alive 05:44 Hallmann - Always Be 05:41 Mila - Herzlos 05:38 Nora En Pure - Stop Wasting Time 05:33 Lyke - Stay With Me 05:28 Tosca - Natural High 05:24 Sum Wave - Goodbye Earth 05:22 Minelli, Filatov & Karas Remi - Rampampam 05:14 Ost & Kjex - Queen Of Europe Feat. Anne Lise Frokedal (Solomun Remix) 05:07 John Kah - Carina (Enui Remix) 05:04 Edx - Neptune 05:01 Alle Farben - Berlin 04:53 Blank & Jones - California Sunset 04:48 The Alan Parsons Project - Lucifer 04:45 Nora Van Elken - Interstellar 04:41 Lost Frequencies & Mathieu Koss - Don't Leave Me 04:38 Kygo Feat. Ellie Goulding - First Time 04:33 Worakls - Caprice 04:30 Hugel - Can't Love Myself (Feat. Mishaal& Lpw) 04:25 Rodg - Life Is Life (Chill Mix) 04:22 Rita Ora - You Only Love Me 04:19 Above & Beyond Feat. Justine Suissa - Little Something 04:11 Menachem 26 - Hal (Anatolian Sessions Remix) 04:09 Melonia - Sweet Child O' Mine 04:06 Steve Forest, Te Pai - Never Gonna Give You Up 04:03 Ed Sheeran - Photograph (Felix Jaehn Remix) 03:59 Schiller & Peter Heppner - Leben... I Feel You 03:53 Rodg - Jacqueline (Chill Mix) 03:50 Shaun Frank & Takis Feat. Shells - Don't Say I Love You 03:47 The Alan Parsons Project - The Turn Of A Friendly Card 03:42 Blank & Jones - 10.000 Emerald Pools 03:39 Duboss - Losing My Religion 03:34 Faithless Feat. Nathan Ball & Caleb Femi - I Need Someone 03:28 Hotlane - On My Own 03:25 Daniel Portman - Sensual Desires 03:18 Röyksopp & Jamie Irrepressible - The Next Day (Mind Against Remix) 03:16 Dennis Lloyd - Nevermind 03:12 Sum Wave - Beach Memories 03:08 Robin Schulz - Above The Clouds 03:03 Velvet Lounge Project - Dimelo Tu (Mix And Magix Remix) 02:59 Undressd - Forever Young 02:55 Stone Van Brooken, Henri Pfr - Tarida (Original Mix) 02:51 Edx - Vommuli 02:44 Soul Button - Circadian Rhythm (Hraach Remix) 02:41 Sixth Finger - If I Can't Have You 02:38 Vize & Leony - Dolly Song (Devil's Cup) 02:36 Nora Van Elken - Honshu 02:32 Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine 02:30 Trinix - Soweto 02:27 Thrdl!fe & Sleepwalkrs - Outta My Head 02:24 Xillions - Somebody Like Me 02:20 Kygo & Tina Turner - What's Love Got To Do With It 02:17 Blank & Jones Feat. Kyle Pearce - All Of Me 02:13 Tiesto - Everything (Acoustic Version) 02:09 Sound Nomaden - The Morning After 02:04 Bent - I Love My Man 01:58 Röyksopp Feat. Susanne Sundfør - If You Want Me 01:55 Yves V X Bashkar - Halfway (Feat. Twan Ray) 01:52 Adara, Egzod, Sinego - Free 01:47 Kidsø - Fir 01:44 Chicane - Capricorn (Back Pedal Brakes Remix) 01:40 Consoul Trainin - Take Me To Infinity 01:34 Edx - Conundrum 01:30 Lost Frequencies Feat. Love Harder - Beat Of My Heart 01:28 Trinix - Rodeo 01:24 Swedish House Mafia & The Weeknd - Moth To A Flame 01:21 Alex Zind Feat. Lisa Schwab - Cruel Summer 01:18 Sam Feldt - Post Malone (Feat. Rani) 01:15 Hypnosis - Pulstar 01:11 Rìfìs - Like An Animal 01:09 Mahalo - High Life 01:04 Cosmic Soul & Tom Novy - Like A Dream 01:01 Eelke Kleijn Feat. Ost - Lost Souls (Nora En Pure Remix) 00:57 Robin Schulz & David Guetta - On Repeat 00:54 Basixx - Stay In Your Sunlight 00:50 Lenny Ibizarre - Smooth Temptation 00:47 Loud Luxury And Frank Walker Feat. Stephen Puth - Like Gold 00:43 Passenger 10 - Voices In Her Head 00:38 Perfect Silence - Di (Original Mix) 00:36 Mellowdy - Rise Up 00:32 Jan Blomqvist & Bloom Twins - High On Beat (Sofi Tukker Remix) 00:28 The Weeknd Feat. Daft Punk - Starboy (Kygo Remix) 00:22 Goa Foundation - (I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight 00:18 Schiller - Liebe 00:12 Anrey - The Forgotten (Extended Mix) 00:08 Pirra Feat. Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas Remix - Limousine Lies 00:06 Robert Manos - With No End 00:03 Nto (Fr) Feat. Sofiane Pamart - Invisible (Piano Version)

[openmindsthings]

Fragile e fiera come un fiore.

[druidberries]

an unexpected friendship blooms.

hiiii this took me longer than I would have liked (oops) but I FINALLY made my lil edit of sarys made by @spurgees and fiora made by me for guild amakiir! :))

|| poses ||

[ashescroissant]

If You Love Arcane Play League of Legends - But Please Understand A Few Things

I’ve seen a lot of posts going around about League of Legends, most of them telling folks not to play the game. When in fact, you should play. We need more people to play the game and keep it alive. I’ve been playing League of Legends since Season 2, here’s some tips, advice, and a handy guide to play League safely, some resources to get you started, and what to expect from the game.

1. League of Legends is a hard game!!!  If you don’t like hard games, that’s okay. You can play against the bots. But if you want to play the meat of the game which is PVP, you need to understand that it is hard, and complicated with a lot of depth. 

People have literally spent years trying to master this game and even those at the top of the ladder still feel they have much to learn. It’s one of the main reasons that the community is so toxic. Because League is already difficult for one player, if another player isn’t playing well, it effects every single other person in the match.

If my Jinx, Vi, or Caitlyn is 0/10/0 that effects me as Fiora your mid lane Yasuo, your jungler, and your support, even if we didn’t start on the same lane. It makes it harder for all of us to win. 

The main thing to understand is that League is a strategy game, and you need to play it like one. I’ll link to some helpful resources to get you started.

2. The League Community is toxic, but that doesn’t mean you have to be, or need to interact with them.

Typing /Mute All in the chat mutes literally everything that could ever be said, or spammed in the chat. Use it. There are also mute buttons for specific people. Or. Within the game settings, you can turn the chat off entirely. 

3. The champions featured in Arcane are not good starter champions, with the exception of Caitlyn

Jayce - Is a Hybrid champion who is pretty hard to learn, but really fun once you do learn him.

Jinx - Is easy to pick up, but hard to master, and has a lot of flaws in the grand scheme of the game. 

Caitlyn - Is incredibly strong right now, easy to learn, and has the longest attack range in the game. (Aside from late game Tristana.) She is very safe and pretty easy to learn. If you want to pick up the game, I strongly suggest starting with Caitlyn. 

Vi - Vi is a jungle champion, jungle is a difficult role with a ton of responsibility, but lots of agency for the player in that role. Vi herself is rather easy to play, but the role she plays in is not. Only try picking her up once you have a better understanding of the game as a whole. 

4. There are some really great champions, that haven’t been featured in Arcane yet, who are great for newbies and deserving of your love and attention! Please check them out!

I couldn’t even begin to list all of them here, but I will show off a few of my personal favorites.

Illaoi - Top Lane Juggernaut

Big strong lady who brings the fricken kraken to battle with her! Illaoi is an awesome champion, a very strong top laner for beginners, and really not that hard to learn. You can check out DirtyMobs on youtube if you want to learn more about her. He is a GrandMaster Illaoi one-trick and is a super nice guy with great informational content for you to learn from.

https://www.youtube.com/c/DirtyMobs

Samira - Riot’s love letter to Devil May Cry - Bottom Lane ADC  While Samira is not as strong as she once was (and by that I mean completely overpowered.) she is still incredibly fun to play, has a really awesome backstory, in game lines, and great style abilities. I would not pick her up as your first champion but definitely one to pick up after you’ve learned the game a bit. 

Diana/Leona - Mid Lane Assassin - Tanky Support

While Diana and Leona are quite different in terms of their roles and their gameplay, they go together in the lore. Quite literally! They are canonically gay, and both are great introductions to a more aggressive and tanky support in Leona, and a great starter Mid Lane assassin in Diana. 

And that’s only a few! League has some amazing characters and incredibly cool lore behind all of them. I truly adore this game and all of it’s characters and have loved them for years. 

5. We Need You!

Part of the reason that the community is so toxic, is because no one wants to play because of it. As we all know, the best way to change things is to enact that change. I for one would love to see a surge of new and friendly faces on the rift! Please help those of us who love the game and aren’t toxic, breathe new life into our favorite game and keep it alive!

Lastly some helpful resources!

Starter Guide To League Of Legends - From SkillCapped https://youtu.be/u9JdENUoGik While Skill Capped is totally a scam. Their youtube videos such as this one can be incredibly helpful for new players.

Neace (Youtube/Facebook Streams)Coach:  https://www.youtube.com/c/NEACE/videos - While Neace might not be the nicest guy in the world, he is a coach for League and has tons of content for you to learn from. 

RossBoomsocks: https://www.youtube.com/user/RossBoomsocks While not a coach or pro-player of any sort. Ross does some great comedy videos, silly builds for champions, and is just all around fun to watch. He does also have some helpful tidbits in there.

Virkayu: https://www.youtube.com/c/virkayu Virkayu is youtuber who mainly focuses on educating players about the jungle role. (Basically if you want to play Vi, start with this guy.)

xFSN Saber: https://www.youtube.com/c/xFSNSaber If you wanna learn how to play Caitlyn and Jinx, this is your guy. He is a Challenger ADC coach and Caitlyn main, and has tons of educational content and coaching videos for you to learn from.

[stromuprisahat]

black-rose-writings:

Not to mention Jesper went from 0 to a 100 ability-wise in the span of, what, 2 days?

He's not that powerful in the books, and I don't mean that as an insult.

Book!Jesper is a mid-tier telekinetic at the best of times. He makes those powers go far by being very creative with how he uses them, but he's also severely out of practice with intentional use of his powers due to his (very valid) fears. Intentionally curving a bullet is something that he genuinely sees as an achievement in the book.

In the show, he seems to do that on a regular, which I guess does somewhat explain the level of ability. That and his reason for hiding his powers (and possible minor mental block) being "caring about people will get me killed" instead of, again, very valid fear of being captured and enslaved or worse, so a pep talk and a bit of "convenient backstory reveal" drug trip did the trick.

But honestly, amputating Fruzsi's fingers with buttons, aside from being just kinda gross (like, if you're going to do that, just send one through her skull First Class style and be done with it. Why mutilate her first? Same for Kaz and Pavel in the last season, now that I think about it.) is not even that impressive? There's no creativity, no real sense of stakes, he's just using buttons as bullets.

Especially compared with his big creative kill of the Tidemaker is SoC (the one on Parem who isn't solid).

Jesper's Grisha arc in the books was great, IMO. It felt real, and I personally felt genuine happiness with him, whenever he successfully used his powers to save the day.

IDK if this makes sense.

I just feel like, aside from the fact that they killed the Loyalists, it didn't even work all that well as character moments. I get that they tried to fit as much as possible into this season because Netflix sucks, and there were some production issues due to Covid, so everything was going to feel rushed, but this feels worse than rushed.

Book!Jesper's arc was about self-acceptance and becoming comfortable with what he is, despite the trauma and constant fear he experienced as a result. It had elements of a coming-out story, as well as bit of neurodivergence acceptance, and it was rooted in external acceptance from his father and friends, as well as empathy for other Grisha and the realization that hiding won't make him safe.

In the show, all of the acceptance and empathy motives are gone, and it comes across less like a coming-out story and more of a weird hobby story, if that makes sense.

In fact, basically all of Jesper's external motives are gone, aside from his mother, whose death has been reframed as the main reason for his hiding, rather than being the catalyst for his father making him hide, which was a weird choice to say the least (it also briefly made me imagine a scenario where the Crows' season 1 plan gets ruined because Jesper runs into Leoni at the Little Palace and accidentally exposes them). Like, they simplified the story, which is understandable, but in the process made Jesper seem like an asshole.

And I just went on a lot longer than I wanted to. Sorry about that.

fiora-miriel:

I would also add that on the good side, we have only two casualties (Baghra who wanted to die and David who might still be alive).

Whereas the evil(tm) side was basically obliterated even though they had a lot of amplifiers. (Also Fruszi who seems to have trained her skills a lot losing against Jesper who has barely used his powers but is suddenly soooo proficient??)

#that was just so weird

it is ridicolous how fruszi and her companions get slaughtered by the main cast. like..jesper seems to be greatly enjoy hurting her. the narrative is so twisted. we are really supposed to be rooting for the "good" guys when they show reactions like that? sure its a fight scene, people die, people get injured, theyre on two opposide sides. but jesper..really...i..am speechless

[blacksurvivalnostalgichanges]

black survival characters as no-context d&d quotes

Adela: “I want to steal something from this shop. I rolled 37 total.” “You black out and suddenly you’re sitting behind the balcony holding a set of keys. You stole the something, the store, the wife, the house and the shopkeep’s identity.”

Adriana: Yes, you remember the mayor. You were there when you killed him.

Aiden: I AM THE STORM THAT IS going back into the ocean and dissipating.

Alex: I wanted to find my sister, and you’re the most competent group I’ve met. Not a compliment.

Arda: I can sense centuries of tax fraud emanating from this sarcophagus.

Aya: Hello. I would like to acquire drugs, that of the illicit kind. I am not a cop.

Barbara:I don’t know how, but my skeletons unionized and started a strike.

Bernice: Basically you’re gonna turn on Nitro into your horse.

Bianca: This whole this is basically Home Alone but with vampires.

Camilo: No, DM, seducing the door is always an option.

Cathy: I obviously ran a hemodialysis and canceled out the blood pact.

Celine: I just pressed a button, what the C-4 did afterwards has nothing to do with me.

Chiara: This family tree looks like a spider web.

Chloe: I don’t objectify women, i womanify objects.

Daniel: It counts as discreet if no one was alive after witnessing it.

Echion: I cast Heat Metal in his genital piercing.

Elena: This elevator works, idiot. It works better than everyone else here.

Eleven: Does it really say in the group that you can put over 50 cubes of cheese in your mouth?

Eva: “If a cop didn’t see it, it didn’t happen.” “.....” “Oh fuck, a cop see it.”

Emma: “You find a mythic sword, it deals 1d12+1.” “Holy shit, 1d13!”

Felix: This is Star Wars, physics exist when I need them to.

Fiora: Guys, what’s the most honorable way to hit a seven year old?

Hart: “And when you say you took care of it, you mean...” “We did fuck all.”

Hyejin:How dare you not die after I shot you?

Hyunwoo: Dude’s never seen armed concrete and thinks it’s sorcery.

Isol: “I said we needed miners as in from a mine, who mine gold, not people from Minas!” “Uai....”

Jackie: I’m genocidal, but I’m not a traitor!

Jan:I have 25 strength. Locks are merely decorative to me.

Jenny: I don’t know if I can keep going now that I know this goblin has bigger tits than me.

Johann: I don’t understand. They were death cultists yet they were afraid to die.

JP: “You spent the DM’s inspiration, bardic inspiration, the cleric blessing, and the druid’s orientation to try and hold in a fart?” “And i failed.”

Laura: In our defense, it was just a little bit of conning.

Lenox: “They told me you were an alchemist, but what are you really?” “An alchemist.” “I don’t know what I was expecting.”

Leon:It was theorized that he was a slut in an armor, but I find it unlikely.

Li Dailin: It works like this:Sorcerer is the guy who never studies but always gets a passable grade, Wizard spends his entire life studying and gets the best grades, Warlock sucks the teacher off and gets test answers.

Luke: I’m a dungeon master too, I know your tricks, Satan.

Magnus: It’ll work, but with a penalty since the Bard counts as an improvised weapon.

Mai: I don’t have any biases. I hate everyone equally.

Nadine: The odds of being assaulted by a parrot here are low, but never zero.

Nathapon: “What side are you on?” “I don’t even know anymore!”

Nicky: I’m back, drunk, and filled with anger!

Priya: I spent an hour with this shiny sword. Either it synthetized with me, or I’ll die of cancer.

Rio: All this discussion just to piss in a jar and we don’t even know if that’s gonna work....

Rosalio: “Did you really sell your soul to medieval Jeff Bezos?!” “Well, yeah, it’s a Greataxe +1!”

Rozzi: Making carrot cake usually doesn’t require this much homicide.

Shoichi:You ever noticed that all of Allison’s characters are just Allison but with money?

Silvia: I can stick around and annoy you or leave and fuck up. Your choice.

Sissela: Three sessions and we already traumatized a child. Great work, gang.

Sua: I just want to note we fell for the medieval equivalent of the nigerian prince scam.

Tia: I’m gonna take a long rest, hug a pillow, and pretend somebody loves me for twenty minutes.

William:He’s 22, so he’ll roll hormones with a disadvantage.

Xiukai:Can we discuss my fetishes when I’m not DYING?!

Yuki: Now gentlemen, if you’ll allow me, I’ll go cry in that closet over there.

Zahir:So we’re looking for clues to be racist, is that it?

[orlissa]

Last Sentence Tag Game

I was tagged by the amazing @mercurygray

Last Sentence Tag Game: Write the latest line from your wip (or post where you last left off in your art) and tag as many people as there are words in the line. Make a new post, don’t reblog.

I basically have two WIPs now, a drabble and a one-shot (yeah, because my muse has left me...):

He definitely did not intend to fall for her.

She let her maids help her dress in the mornings, lace up her corset and make up her buttons, smooth her skirts and set her hair, but in the evenings, once she was back in the privacy of their chambers and the royal airs were gone, she liked to take her hair down herself.

Tagging @vesperass-anuna @menatiera @cpt-winniethepooh @stargazerdaisy @polikszena @aloveforjaneausten @fiora-miriel

[rainbowwing251]

Wakey Wakey (Xenoblade Chronicles Tickle Fic)

A/N: This was meant to be a drabble, but apparently, drabbles are exactly 100 words long… This fic is not 100 words long. At all. Whoops.

Oh well, I should have known that I was going to write nearly 1000 words (counting this Author’s Note). I mean, come on, this is a lee!Shulk fic. I should have seen that coming.

I think you know the drill about romance and NSFW around here, so I’m not going to write it out here. If you don’t understand the NSFW part, look at my blog description and pinned post. As for the romance part… I’ll be honest, I don’t know how to write anything that is romantic in nature.

I suppose that’s it for now, so on to the first.. short story? Short short story? Whatever you want to call it, it’s a fic nonetheless!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took all of her willpower to not giggle as she opened the door to Shulk’s room and snuck up on the sleeping Hom.

Normally, Fiora wouldn’t bother him while he was asleep. He was long overdue for a good night’s rest after everything that had happened in the old world, the world of Zanza. However, it was currently 8:00 in the morning, and he was still sleeping. She had to wake him up.

“Everyone’s wondering where he is, and if I don’t wake him up now, he might sleep through the whole day.”

Was that an exaggeration? Maybe.

She slowly lifted the blanket off of the former heir, revealing his shirtless form. He usually kept a shirt on at all times, but right now, it was the middle of summer, so he took it off every night when he went to bed.

“Perfect.” She couldn’t help the quiet giggle that emerged from deep within her chest, “His worst spots are wide open…”

She waited a bit to make sure that the younger blonde was still asleep, then crept her fingers towards his sides. As soon as they made contact with his skin, she slowly wiggled them.

Nothing. There was no reaction whatsoever… for two whole seconds.

“Is he dreaming, or is he feeling the tickles?” Her question was answered by a quiet, “Mmmhehehe…” from Shulk.

“He’s feeling the tickles!” She dragged her fingers up and down his sides, relishing in the sleepy giggles that poured out his mouth.

Eventually, she drifted her hands up to his ribcage, carefully tickling the skin that resided in the crevasses between his ribs. The resulting giggles were a bit louder than the previous ones, and he even tried to bat at her hands.

“Hehehehehehe… Ahahahahahalvihihihis…”

“Alvis?” Apparently, Shulk was dreaming about him.

“What’s going on in his head right now?” Fiora asked herself.

She was curious about the dream, but she had a goal, and she was not going to distract herself from it.

She gave him a quick scribble to the underarms, which made him squirm in response.

“Almost there…” she thought to herself as she rolled him onto his back. She was ready to go for the kill, but she wanted to make one last attempt at waking him up before she made her move.

“Shuuulk…” She whispered with a sing-song tone. She leaned down towards his face before she spoke again. “It’s time to wake uuuup~”

All she heard was a quiet, “Mmm…”.

“Come on… You need to get up!” She gently shook him, but his eyes didn’t open.

“Okay then, you asked for this~!” Time for the kill!

Fiora moved her head down to the scientist’s bare stomach, then took a deep breath. Using her hands to hold him down, she blew the biggest raspberry onto his belly.

His eyes shot open for a split second before he closed them again and fell into hysterics.

“AHHHHHHHHH! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHLVIHIHIHIHIS! WHAHAHAHAHAHAT AHAHAHAHAHAHRE YOHOHOHOHOHOU DOHOHOHOHOHOING?!”

“I’m not Alvis, silly~!” Fiora said before she blew another raspberry.

“F-FIHIHIHIHIHIOHOHOHOHORAHAHAHAHAHAHA?” That was the only thing Shulk was able to say before he fell into another laughing fit.

It didn’t last long, however, as the former Mechon pulled herself away from the giggling boy.

“Good morning, sleepyhead~!” She teased, poking his belly button. “Sleep well?”

He let out a squeak and shot his legs up to protect his torso.

“Well, I was sleeping well… until you tickled me awake!” He finished the sentence with a slight pout on his face.

“Sorry~ If I didn’t do anything, you would have slept all morning!”

“Huh?” Shulk looked outside, but he couldn’t tell what time it was based on the position of the sun. “What time is it?”

“It’s nearly 8:15 in the morning!” Fiora told him as she went to find his shirt.

He nearly jumped in shock, “What?! Are you serious?!”

She nodded and handed him his sweater, “I am! Everyone’s been looking for you for the past hour!”

“Oh… sorry…” he said as he rose from the bed and put his sweater on.

“Don’t be. We know you’ve been super tired since the day Zanza fell. You deserve a good rest after everything that happened.” Fiora told him with a smile. Shulk reciprocated her smile with one of his own.

“I guess you’re right…”

He then looked towards the floor with a slight blush on his face, “But still, I’m sorry for sleeping in…”

His friend let out a giggle, “Didn’t I just tell you to not worry about it?” She then brought her hands up into the former heir’s line of sight, “Do I have to tickle you again~?”

She saw him stagger backwards, “N-no, no you don’t!”

“Aw~ That’s too bad…” She put her arms down to her sides. “Can you at least tell me about your dream?”

“Huh? My dream?”

“Yeah, your dream! I heard you say something about Alvis. What were you dreaming about, Shulk~?”

He blushed in response, knowing that if he told her, she’ll tickle him all over again.

[someoneintheshadow456]

…well THAT was incredibly underwhelming.

Seriously Game? You made the side quest monsters stronger than your final boss? Well of course gamers are going to do the side quests first and fighting literal God isn’t a challenge anymore.

And it looks like Bionis and Mechonis used to be EARTH, of all things, but Zanza pushed the button and everything went to hell. I wonder if they expand upon that in the sequels…

Basically Xenoblade is what I thought Valkyria Chronicles was going to be - a nice fun experience to pass the time but not much beyond that.

The characters are pleasant but boring at best, and just boring at worst. Dunban literally does nothing (I thought HE was going to die in the Mechon attack instead of Fiora and tbh he should have). Riki is interesting as a concept but he’s not really for me.

Melia is the biggest example of wasted potential I have seen. She had all the ingredients needed to become another one of my Blorbos but she just did not land. It’s most definitely because she doesn’t react to all the shit that she goes through, or even have any character development.

*sigh* The main game is done. Now it’s time for Future Connected…

When I went to fight Egil: Underleveled by about 12 or so. Died the first time because I ran out of time on destroying the three pillars (AIM GODDAMN IT-). Have to downgrade to Casual Mode like a pathetic loser to have a fighting chance against him.

When I went to fight Lorithia: Overlevelled by about 12 or so because of all that time spent mercy killing Telethias, getting Shulk and Reyn's skill trees, and searching for those damn Rainbow Slugs. Manage to wipe the floor with her on normal difficulty and barely pushing a button.

Also me when I went to fight Lorithia:

[orginaldisneychild95]

Racing Against the Odds (Pt 2)

By the following morning, Fiora is finished with her breakfast.. after cleaning up and leaving her kitchen all set, She grabs her bags and heads out of the door. On the way to Peli’s hanger, everything from the previous night is still sinking in... it’s incredible how her life had taken such a turn so fast, but in the best way possible. She had always wondered where the break from the ordinary.. smiling, she realizes she finally got it.

(***) 

Finally arriving at Peli’s hanger, sure enough the first thing she sees is Mando’s ship, ramp lowered.. Looking at Peli’s office window, she waves hello, the older woman returns a smile and wink. Fiora gets closer to the razor crest, peeking around the corner inside, she calls out to her protector.. “Mando?” A reply from inside.. “Come on up, set your things down”... She walks up the ramp, taking a look inside. A classic, but impressive. Compact space, but still enough room to move. Nodding in approval, she sets her things down in front of the passenger seat, behind Mando’s pilot seat.

“Very good, all ready to go”.. Fiora turns to find Mando directly behind her, she smiles brightly. “We’ll be taking off soon, go ahead and get comfortable” Nodding in agreement.. “I’m ready whenever you are”. She confirms. Mando nods once and steps away to set the final details with Peli in stone.

(**)

“So you already have all of the details and coordinates you need. If there’s any issues or problems, send me a transmission, don’t wait”. Concern and protection weaving itself in Mando’s voice.. he can’t tolerate the idea of anything happening to Fiora or her. It already was too marked by being close to losing Grogu to the enemy. 

Peli smiles and touches his arm caringly, giving him look of security.. “I’ll be just fine, my friend. It’s all under control. You just be the hero and take care of this mess for my friend in there. Please, keep her safe.” Mando let’s out a soft modulated chuckle in reply, “I made a promise, and plan on keeping it. This is The Way.”

Peli nods and gives his bicep a squeeze in goodbye. She heads back to her office. Mando sighs and turns back to the ramp of the ship, boarding and pressing the close button behind him. He climbs the ladder to the controls and seating area, once off.. walking towards his seat, he lays out the blueprint for Fiora, turning his seat to find her sitting quietly.. her beautiful shape draping the chair, legs crossed at the knee. Her delicate fair skin peeking through the slits of the ankle length tan skirt, ankle high laced boots, her soft curves calling out to him. A matching elbow sleeve length tunic, short on her toned stomach but not much.. her beautiful face pensive. Mando thinks silently “She’s the envy of every star in this galaxy, just to touch her.. just once.. But can control myself?” 

Coming out of his thoughts his clears his throat, she looks up at him when she hears him... “Is everything alright?” Her voice soft with concern.. 

Mando straightens his posture in the seat, and begins to talk..

“Fine. It looks like it’s time to to fly, I just hope you mind such a simple mode of transportation. it should take no more then two days, unless we run into trouble.” 

Fiora giggles at him.. “It’s problem at all, I just need to reach Mikka. Also, if you mind, I brought food. bread and fruit. I hope that’s okay.” Her sweetness is so overwhelming, Mando can almost taste it..

The handsome bounty hunter tilts his concealed head to the side, a smile in his voice.. “It’s perfectly fine, sounds delicious. .. You.. you, look lovely”. The modulated voice is slightly strained, as if he had a hard time finding the words, Fiora looking across from him, found it adorable. 

Fiora feels her her cheeks grow warm and she nibbles on her lip... Her voice reaches a sassy timber.. “Why thank you. Are all Mandalorian’s as handsome as you?” Mando’s eyes go wide from behind his visor, a smirk on his lips..

“Haha, unfortunately.. that’s a secret”. Mando silently tells her she’ll never find out, a subtle playfulness in his answer.

Suddenly, Firora returns him a smile.. but not any smile. The most sensual smile he had ever seen... The next sentence is whisper.. “I’m sure I’ll find out”. She replies slowly..

Mando can feel heat warming his blood and radiating within his suit.. This woman is everything and more that could want or desire, but her sensuality was to much.. especially since it was effortless for her. It all flowed naturally and Mando couldn’t resist that in a woman.. unbeknownst to him, this was going to be the longest flight of his life.

Mando clears his throat once more, breathing deep.. “Alright.. let’s go”. turning back towards the controls, he fires up the ship then gently the vessel lifts toward the midday sky..