#But also I think it'd be funny and also really heartwarming

[probablyaseamonster]

so... we all get the father vibes from Pentious, right? It's not just me?

Theres the "son?" Joke in the pilot which sounded a liiiittle too sincere, there's how he acts around his egg bois... and how that cringefail energy of his could easily be translated into embarrassing dad behavior...

So anyway what I'm saying is I still think Baxter could be his missing son-

[shidoukanae]

Lyla: *is the protagonist*

Everyone in this manga including Lyla herself: We need to put Princess Helene on the throne. No we're not going to ask her for her opinion we're just unanimously going to agree to put her on the throne and force everyone around us to agree to this.

[felassan]

Sylvia Feketekuty: "To celebrate DA day, I've made a bluesky account that I'll keep active for a few days to talk about my work on Inqusition or Veilguard! After a few days I'll lock the account, because I'm not a social media person. Happy to talk until then though. I want to say straight off: the reception to Emmrich, Manfred, the Mourn Watch, and the Grand Necropolis has been heartwarming for all of us who worked on those people and places. Thank you all very much!" [source, two]

Rest of post under cut due to length and spoilers. [Post Two, Post Three]

Sylvia Feketekuty: "In the meantime, I do want to talk about a couple of things I saw floating around regarding Emmrich: 1. Emmrich being 52 or 50. I think people got 50 from data mining a character file, but we can't do a ranges in those files. As in, I couldn't input 50-60, it had to be a whole number. I put down 50 as an early ballpark, then went more accurate in later audition scripts. 2. Fifty-two is a old number I threw into an early document before his art or character was totally final. (And which caused another developer a headache because they thought it was accurate, I never updated it. Sorry about that.) 3. "Wait, how old is Emmrich then?" Once I saw his final character art, I felt more mid to late 50s. MAYBE early 60s. But unless we specifically state a character's age in the game, it's all malleable. I honestly would just adjust it to your impressions unless stated otherwise. 4. I've also seen comments on how weird it is for Emmrich to act like there's an age-gap in the romance if your Rook is around his age. And you're right. 5. The reason is because Rook WAS younger when those scenes were written and worked on. I felt it'd be odd if I never addressed the May-December aspect, especially as it hooks into some of Emmrich's worries. 6. By the time that shifted, it was really too late to change without catastrophic repercussions to the excellent cinematics and music and other things that depend on line delivery and timing. 7. To be clear: you can feel how you want about the age gap coming up at all! But that's how the discrepancy came about. 8. "Is there a way to reconcile Emmrich acting like my Rook is way younger than him if they're not?" Great question! I have several suggestions: -Accept it's an error. (True, but unexciting) -Emmrich considers a gap of 3-5 years scandalous. (Funny, albeit a bit cartoonish.) -The Mourn Watch has perfected swapping out organs, and Emmrich is nervously hiding that he's way older than he looks out of vanity. (Untrue, but funny.)" [source thread]

User in reply to point 6. above: "I'm personally glad it was too late to change because their argument about it is genuinely my favorite scene in the entire game! 😭💕 It's such an important moment to me" / Sylvia: "Thanks! That one was one where I was all sweatily trying to balance things out, with tone, with pacing, etc. Really glad it came together for you. (Cine and the actors did heroic things there to get it feeling just so!)" [source]

More snippets:

Emmrich's favorite ice cream flavor? Rum raisin [source]

Lots of people on the dev team shared the vision of having a bunch of gothic weirdness in that pocket of Thedas [source] (Necropolis/Nevarra)

Sylvia "especially liked writing the Mourn Watch origin, it was fun to write a fellow nerd for Emmrich to chat with" [source]

Sylvia poured some personal worries and fears into writing Emmrich [source]

On Vorgoth and their nature: "I'm a little leery of saying anything, partly because I'm cowardly avoiding publicly defining anything more until/if I ever need to. And partly because I did want them to be a fresh unknown. Sorry!" [source] "I'm glad you like Vorgoth, but I'm afraid I don't have much for you that isn't in the game. I deliberately wrote them so as to leave room, if we ever revisited them, or for Vorgoth to remain mysterious, if we did not. I'm sorry if that's not a very satisfying answer!" [source] "I will say, it was fun to throw in a few lines about Vorgoth's art collection. Their passion for it is sincere and deep. (I wanted all the Watchers to have a little non-death related hobby or interest, because they can be so singularly focused.)" [source]

Dwarven Mourn Watcher is a rare origin combo for Rook so Sylvia wanted to call it out [source]

On the outcomes of Emmrich's quest: "I tried really hard to make the options equally viable, and more up to the player's interpretation or preferences of what it would mean for Emmrich in their view. It's been interesting seeing reactions to it, which hinge sometimes on various single lines pushing people one way or another!" [source]

"The Grand Necropolis is always eager and ready for a new member of the Mourn Watch to grace its ranks." [source]

User: "I loved Emmrich's view on death and what his personal quest ultimately went on to say about the nature of death itself, and how the beauty of mortality lies in its impermanence and unpredictability." / Sylvia: "I really wanted to dig into those themes, and everyone in cine and art and level design and editing and the whole team honed in exactly on the vibe. The floral stuff especially, I was so thrilled when I played through the Memorial Gardens' with the art and lighting in." [source]

User: "I experience thanatophobia and that first conversation w/ Emmrich was so affirming and helped me describe my own anxiety to others" / Sylvia: "Thanks, the thanatophobia was, as you may've guessed, a personal experience for me too. I'm glad it was something that helped a little." [source] "I suspect that phobia is way more common than people think, and part of the reason Emmrich talks about it was to express that sentiment out loud. I find it helps sometimes just to acknowledge it." [source]

What languages does Emmrich speak other than Trade? "I think he'd be familiar with Tevene, since there's surely many, many old texts about magic written in that language. Kind of like a doctor that knows latin through their work. I also named that MW alphabet "tomb-script", though I'm not sure if it has a spoken component or not since it never came up in-game. If it does, he'd be able to speak that for sure." [source, two]

User: "Playing as a Mourn Watch Rook has been an absolute delight!!!" / Sylvia: "Thank you so much, I really liked writing those branches of the dialogue. Since Emmrich's so focused on necromancy, it was fun having a Rook who could be both casual and knowledgeable about it." [source]

User: "In your opinion, what outcome do you prefer for a romanced Emmrich (lich/non lich)?" / Sylvia: "Interesting question! To be honest, I'm afraid to answer it properly in case anyone takes my answer to be a canonical one. I really wanted either path to feel equally interesting/correct for whatever you decide fits your Rook's relationship with Emmrich. (We're also in the strange waters of meta-reasoning. I GAVE Emmrich his fear of death-Sorry Emmrich!-which makes me feel a little culpable for that, even though he's entirely fictional. And that might prey on my mind when trying to decide. A very odd experience!)" [source, two]

What music genres would Emmrich be into? "Classical music is very much playing to type for Emmrich, but I feel it's also correct. He'd enjoy a nice concerto or an organ recital. Or, if he's feeling daring, a bold new Orlesian opera! But I don't think his tastes are too outré in that area. That said, I saw someone post something like "Leave Emmrich alone, let him attend the Depeche Mode concert" while listening to Depeche Mode's "Violator", for the first time, which made me laugh. (Great album. If he could get over the shock of synths, Emmrich might enjoy "Waiting for the Night".)" [source, two]

When writing Emmrich the devs wanted to try and hit the gothic romance vibe [source]

Does Emmrich mix his own fragrance/cologne? Does he ever vary it by the season? "I think Emmrich goes to some of the many perfumers that have set up shop in Nevarra City around the Necropolis, just because he trusts their judgement and expertise. I hadn't considered him varying it by season, but that's very fun! I certainly think he has more than one bottle of scent." [source]

User: "How does Lich Emmrich have sex?" / Sylvia: "I don't mind the question! But my answer's a bit boring: I generally stay at arm's length on the more explicit romance stuff, just because if it's not stated or shown in-game, I don't want to bring in a canonical answer that might affect what people imagined. My general preference for romantic scenes that get physical is to leave blank space somewhere, so players can imagine what happens next. It's not the ONLY way to do it, I think there's legitimate artistic reasons to go more explicit. But that's how I approached Emmrich (and before him Josephine.)" [source, two]

User: "The scene with the fade glow where he touches your hand haunts me in the best way" / Sylvia: "Aw thank you. Our animators and audio people made that scene way better than I could've hoped! They took such care with everything there. I want to say that little eye-peep from Rook was added in by one of them, which was the perfect touch." [source]

User on Emmrich: "i’m curious whether you think he’d prefer dogs or cats (or both, or neither)" / Sylvia: "I think he'd consider cats and dogs a little too noisy and messy for his tastes. Not like a nice, quiet plant or skeleton! (Weirdly, I actually had a scrap of banter going over this exact subject at one point. It got tightened down to the exchange with Harding about the pig he used to hug when he was a kid.)" [source, two]

Sylvia was trying to tease Nevarra with the Tevinter Nights story Down Among the Dead Men [source]. "It was really fun to tease the Necropolis, so to speak, in TN, and I'm grateful we got to actually let players through its gates at last." [source]

User: "if Rook chooses to save Manfred and keep Emmrich mortal, what would Emmrich wish to become of his body once he did pass on?" / Sylvia: "Good question. I think he'd want to remain active and useful in death. A guide for other Mourn Watchers, or posted as a mystic guide somewhere dangerous, or perhaps an oracle in the library." [source]

User: "when and how was it decided that Emmrich would be romanceable? I remember reading that he would not be a romance option." / Sylvia: "I'm not sure where that came from, because I pitched him and then shortly after that we decided the entire cast was romanceable. That was fairly early on in the development of Veilguard, as I recall it. (Could've been a crossed wire?)" [source]

Trick Weekes: "Sylvia wrote the fantastic Emmrich "the Vol-carnage" Volkarin and everything that happens in Nevarra while dealing with a lead writer whose attitudes about corpses and undead are... not dissimilar from Taash's." [source] / Sylvia: "I still remember when you gave the very accurate feedback "I think we need to give players whose Rooks aren't into corpses some roleplaying choices to express this" and I was all "Ohhh yeaaaaaah." (Thank u Trick, you were right)" [source] / Trick: "Specifically, being able to express this without locking themselves out of the content! (For non-Sylvia folks) Given my issues with corpses, Emmrich as a whole was SUPER Not For Me, so I gave one caveat and then said, "For the rest of my critique, I will be impersonating his target audience." [source]

Sylvia on the secret origins of Manfred: "After I pitched Emmrich, I started jotting down notes and thoughts on his plots, his quirks, all that kind of stuff. It was very early on Veilguard, anything was still possible. We were chatting in the writer's room about it one day, and I think we'd just seen some early concept art for Emmrich. And our lead writer Trick Weekes joked that Emmrich looked like a man who'd have a skeleton named Manfred. And I laughed and went "Yeah he does!" And then I thought about it. It's wild in retrospect, but that one comment spurred a train of thought that led to the core of Emmrich's arc. He may've ended up a very different character without it! tl;dr: I stole it from Trick." [source, two, three, four]

"I got to play with a pretty free palette when defining the way Emmrich and the necromancers view death and spirits. But I tried to keep it within the confines of existing lore. That's one reason why that scene where Emmrich talks about Manfred to Harding goes into "the eternal question" of whether a soul actually returns with the dead or not. Nevarra has distinct beliefs, but I thought it'd be interesting if its people argue over their interpretations of those beliefs." [source, two]

"the other writers also suggested a bit later on that the big choice dig more into Emmrich's philosophies. Initially, it was more personally focused on his fears, which made it 'relatable' but pettier. Without that correction, I think it would've been weaker, I totally needed the team push." [source]

"I have a few guides to graveyard symbology, and it's so packed with references and meaning." [source]

User: "Did any of your own fears & experiences, make it into the writing of Emmrich? If yes, is it information you’re comfortable sharing with us? If it’s too personal to give any details, that’s fine as well. Also, across the other games, who do you think Emmrich will get along with best?" / Sylvia: "some of his fears are absolutely personal. The reflexive-compulsive panic over death is something I'm very familiar with, and I wanted to explore that through him. Because I suspected it was not uncommon, and worth examining. The question of who he'd get along with from the other games is surprisingly tough! Because without asking the other writers about their characters, I wouldn't know for sure. So I can only really speak to Josephine with surety. That said: -I think Josephine would be polite, and grow to like him, but would never entirely be over the ostentatious necromancy. -I think Emmrich meeting Sera would be the funniest match." [source, two, three]

"Peter Cushing was also one of my go-tos as an example of what I wanted Emmrich to be." [source]

"(Huge shout out to all the animators and level designers making Manfred run, quite literally. Like 95% of his personality lives in his movement, I think they nailed it.)" [source]

On Emmrich: "I tried to put a lot of passion and sincerity in his love for the dead, and I admit the Necropolis was THE big place I wanted to see in Thedas myself ever since reading about it in a codex." [source]

User: "Thank you for letting him have that cemetery dream date!" / Sylvia: "Having the date in the cemetery was one of the first things I wanted when thinking about the romance." [source]

"Josephine was the first time I was entrusted with a new character and a new romance at once, and that'll always be special to me." [source]

User: "How much input did you have in Emmrich's appearance in the podcast?" / Sylvia: "In the podcast, none myself. I believe it was handled by a third party but reviewed by a few people at BW, I don't know too much past that. (We did provide a descriptor and character rules. Stuff like "Emmrich never swears" and "always says amongst" and broader, more thematically useful things.)" [source]

User on Emmrich: "Are you planning any other external-media stories for him?" / Sylvia: "Thanks very much, The Flame Eternal has a special place in my heart for being the first time Emmrich got to be center stage in a story. (And very flattering to hear about the cross stitch. That's so cool!) I can't speak to any external-media plans, I'm afraid. That's not an implied hint about anything existing or not, it's just literally outside what I'm allowed to chat about. It'd be fun to do something like that again though!" [source, two]

"I must give full credit to Nick Borraine, Emmrich's voice actor. He got the compassion and tenderness the character needed right away." [source]

"And glad him being closer to your age resonated, I really wanted someone older out on an adventure. No reason that has to stop at any age IMO." [source]

User: "do the mourn watcher/nevarra in general raise their pets after they die to keep them around? like a dog skeleton with a whisp in it?" / Sylvia: "To be honest I hadn't thought out this one, but it's a very good question. I'm not sure how common that would be, or even if it's permitted to have pets running around the family crypt. (I definitely thing people would WANT to do it.) You know, I think I'm going to have to leave this one in the vague quantum foam of the future. I think I'd want to not only double check existing lore, but answer that in-game (or in a book or etc.) if we ever need to. (Hope that's not too much of a cop out. Sometimes I like to leave questions I'm not sure about alone, because until it's in an official game or story, it doesn't quite count.)" [source, two, three]

User: "as someone who shares emmrich's anxiety about mortality, getting to spend time with him, and in the grand necropolis and with the mourn watch, was genuinely soothing" / Sylvia: "Thank you, I'm glad he was a comfort. It's a familiar fear for me too, and I'd hoped he would connect that way with people very much." [source]

On the giant ribcage 'ceiling' in the Necropolis: "sadly, even I don't know all the mysteries of the Necropolis. (Which is to say it's a very cool bit of art but has no stated origin yet. Could be a large dragon, a giant...or something weirder!)" [source]

On TN story Luck in the Gardens: "It was nice change up, writing in first person and with someone so rascally. I've got an enduring affection for the Lords after writing Hollix, the scamp." [source]

User: "I just love his genuine enthusiasm for everything he does. If the other party members had fan clubs Emmrich would be the president of each and I love that for him" / Sylvia: "Thank you! I really wanted him to embody a kind of expansiveness and generosity of spirit, to stand in contrast to the eeriness of his abilities." [source]

User: "What was your inspiration for Josie?" / Sylvia: "My girl! When I came on to Inquisition, there'd already been work done on setting up the spine of the main plot, and figuring out the overall cast. But one of the advisors was a little murkier. It just said "Diplomat" on the white board. We knew we wanted someone in that position, but not who. So in a game where you were out exploring, killing demons, etc., but also had a big organization to run? I immediately wanted to make a Diplomat firmly there for you. Somebody you could hand the keys to the entire Inquisition to while you were out, and know it'd be in good hands. I also thought it'd be fun to have someone from Antiva, since that area wasn't covered yet by anyone in the cast. And I needed her to be polished, smooth, but heartfelt, because of that aforementioned trust. And that was the core of Josephine! Her voice actor, Allegra, brought her to life with such lovely charm, and hearing those early sessions also helped me further hone her tone." [source, two, three, four]

"Our music supervisor Ron Dazo hit it out of the park with Emmrich's music IMO. And so glad you liked Hezenkoss! Just very fun to write as a character." [source]

User: "Did any specific watcher raise MW Rook?" / Sylvia: "Good question! I kind of left that one alone because I wasn't sure if I wanted to let Rook define that themselves, or leave it open, and also I'd have wanted a full conversation on it. In the end that was a little out of scope so I left it unsaid. Which is to say that it COULD be Vorgoth who helped raise your Rook. And that stands until/unless we give a definitive answer (or let you choose from a range of answers) one day." [source, two]

"It was such a pleasure for all of us to finally get to explore the Necropolis, I am very glad we got to throw open the gates." [source]

User: "I was wondering if there were any Mourn Watch details you wished you had more time to explore? I was so struck by some of the ethical implications in your stories" / Sylvia: "Geeze, now that's a question. I mention it with Emmrich, but there's some resentment over the power the Watchers hold as THE mortalitasi of the Grand Necropolis, between them and the other orders. There's something to that situation I liked. There's also questions of how they select people for the order. What their standards are, how closely they work with benign spirits. And how they cultivate those relationships. How deep does that go? I also mentioned in a codex "the lives and bodies of those who tamper with the undead of the Necropolis are forfeit unto the Mourn Watch." which is pretty chilling. What's that punishment like, exactly? And in general, writing about anything weird or unexplained in the Necropolis brought me much enjoyment, and it would be fun to dig around how the Mourn Watch deals with (or what they want out of) all these mysteries and entities." [source, two, three, four]

"Geeking out with Emmrich about spooky stuff was a delight to write." [source]

"I liked writing someone older this time, it was something different for me and rewarding in some unexpectedly different ways. (And thanks especially for the nice words on DAtDM - I was very excited to introduce people to the Mourn Watch there!)" [source]

"Ah, tomb-script. I named it but it was our concept artists who went developed it with the hexagon shape-language of the Mourn Watch, which I loved. Conceptually: I think it's used purely an occult or sacred language. Something for the graves, or books on magic, but not everyday things." [source]

"Some trans people kindly offered their help with some feedback on some of the romance lines and others, which absolutely made them much better." [source]

"Trick Weekes actually wrote a ton of the banter where Emmrich inquires into qunari artifacts and customs, and Taash talks about what it was like to grow up under a scholar. I really dig the dynamic they unearthed between the two there." [source]

[empty-dream]

Just played To The Moon Beach Episode

Just kidding it's been almost one month since I played and I'm NOT over it.

Chronologically taking place sometime after the end of Impostor Factory, specifically after the Bestest Dancers comic.

Happy note first, I LOVE the surfing minigame. I played with all 4 characters just so I could get all the winner banners lmao.

Also the conversations, when funny, are funny as fuck, classic Freedbird Games.

My favorites were the night pool scene and the basement scene. I LOST MY SHIT lmaooo.

The beach memories with messages from players is so cool and heartwarming. Is there any way I can put my message there too? I'd probably write an essay inside tho.

Kan (and I assume his wife and son?) makes an appearance is so cute.

On the other hand, it is indeed the most depressing beach episode.

Or rather, the first half was wacky as shit with just a sliver of hints, and then BOOM DEPRESSION.

The aforementioned night pool scene? When I picked "says nothing" I laughed my ass off. Then I restarted the game at that point and picked "show approval" thinking that it would lead to another hilarious exchange. It slapped me with realistic truth and sad what-ifs instead.

I knew it'd be sad like there are hints but DAMN I DIDN'T EXPECT FREEBIRD GAMES TO ACTUALLY GO DOWN THIS ROUTE I REALLY THOUGHT THEY WOULDN'T, I JUST DIDNT EXPECT IT WOULD COME LIKE RIGHT NOW 😭

Kan Gao made To the Moon when he was mulling over mortality since his grandpa had life-threatening illness, and since then it has always been about grief and questions revolving death and life.

And I personally feel like the Beach Episode is the peak of everything the series is about: Grief, regret, what-if, the parameter of "a great life."

After following the series for around a decade, it just hits so hard I still don't even know what to say.

SPOILER BELOW

ROSAWATTS CANON BUT AT WHAT COST

"I wanted to build you a garden." "You didn't give me enough time to prepare." WHAT THE FUCK BRO YOU CANT JUST DO THIS TO ME TT O TT

You know, when you think about it, what happened to Neil and Eva is exactly the opposite of Quincy and Lynri.

The only reason why Neil never confesses to Eva, despite loving her since teenager, was because he knew the pain of losing a loved one like how his father Quincy lost his mother Lynri, and Neil didn't want that to happen to Eva.

And it was all for nothing. Eva still ends up doing exactly what Neil fears, and WORSE.

Not only she suffers watching him die and losing him in the end, she keeps reliving all their days together. Since the very first game in fact. It's the only explanation why there was pain signal even in real life back in the first game and why the Minisode had Eva in her room.

It begs the question, would it have been better if he admitted his condition and feelings for Eva sooner? If instead of fearing what would happen in the end, Neil opened up earlier, like how Lynri did to Quincy? If Neil and Eva had more time, if Eva had more time to prepare, if they had more time to be together in the way that they've always wanted, if they had more time to make peace with the knowledge of what would come together, would it be any better?

I personally don't know the answer to that. At first glance, I thought the answer would be yes. But somewhere in my heart, I knew it'd still hurt anyway. It'd be just a different kind of pain. And I don't know if it's fundamentally right to compare those pains.

When they say grief is a difficult topic, they are not kidding.

[totaldramafan-lauri]

Short Ghostf**kers first impressions

-I say this as a Moxxie fan.....it is cool to see Millie go on a job without him. I think it helps her character, and will silence more of her haters. I've always said this about Millie - she's not flat, she just needs more focus episodes. Here's another one. Thank goooooood.

-Millie and Blitzo's backstory is surprisingly heartwarming? Here I thought that it'd just end at "I like your spunk", but the fact that he taught her to be more than she thought she was capable of.....it's really sweet. I never knew that about Millie, that she used to think so lowly of herself, but seeing how imps tend to be treated outside of Wrath, it makes SENSE, and.....It really goes to show how I.M.P being an imp-run business in Pride is so unusual! The fact that Millie met Moxxie through Blitzo is extra sweet. Aaaaaand, admittedly, it does also explain more why he tends to, uh.....n-not take their romance very well. He met them before they hooked up. Then they hooked up...while working for him.....Yyyyyyeah, knowing Blitzo, he probably had some feelings about that....

-The fact that Moxxie fell first and probably simped for a while is adorable, and it's just another way I relate to him. XD We both love powerful women

-F for the "Millie was Loona's babysitter" headcanons, tho.

-Now we have the full "first meeting with Blitzo" flashback collection! Yaaaayyyy! Gotta catch 'em all!

-Ghosts being really "infestor demons" is....interesting worldbuilding? But....why are they so much more powerful? All the powers this guy had are CRAZY. Are they only able to be that powerful on Earth? Are they another kind of demon who can freely go to Earth? So many questions.....

-I know it was only played for laughs, but what Blitzo did with M&M's money really bothered me and I hope he fixes that, cuz....yeah, no. Thankfully, he makes up for that in the same scene where he flat-out admits that he and Stolas were never really......dating. He's not in denial about things, which is good.

-That scene with Tilla huuuuurt! Why is THAT how we first see her face!? Uggggghhhhh!!

-I WOULD be annoyed at Blitzo in the first half of the episode, but wanting to go out and have fun after what he's been through....I-I mean, it's understandable, right? I don't think either he or Millie are at fault here. Good conflict.

-I like Millie's role as the "straight woman" of I.M.P as the one who's got her crap together and doesn't have any trauma, but adding this new layer of "grew up thinking she wouldn't amount to much" is a pretty good way of giving her another dimension. Again, I already liked her before. XD

-Millie having trust in Blitzo and not believing the infestor's (don't remember his name) words, then punching him saying "Blitzo can take this" is freaking AWESOME, she's so cool

-Heck yeah with Blitzo implying he's done stalking M&M, and heck yeah to him learning the importance of platonic friendships!! Now Stolas has to learn the same thing.....Stolas has never had the CHANCE to have real friends....Having friends to talk to can really help you, and he's been denied that cuz of his lifestyle, which is why he comes across as unintentionally insensitive sometimes and why he hates himself and uggghhhh, hug the bird, hug the bird but also knock a lil bit of sense into him first cuz both sides need it but HUG THE BIRD

-Didn't really laugh all that much. The humor in this episode was too over-the-top and most of it was just one joke (wanting to be screwed by a ghost) that I didn't really find that funny. I DID, however, laugh at the Scooby Doo door chase parody. XD

-Oh, and the songs were.....there, I guess

-Overall, a good and VERY NEEDED episode, 8/10, Apology Tour was better tho

[joshuamj]

Thoughts on Echoes of Wisdom

This is for the full game, so spoilers ahead!

My non spoilery overall thoughts: Really good and enjoyable game! Unfortunately the echo combat just really wasn’t for me.

I’ll start off with a list of positives! I’m probably missing some specific stuff, so keep in mind i like this game more than just these bullet points.

I loved the intro where you get to play as Link with all his hearts n stuff. If makes me think of like an alternate universe where the game was never revealed to be a Zelda Game, and so the switch to Zelda is a complete surprise…

It was heartwarming to see the townsfolk and guards seem so fond of Zelda :’)

Also Link!! It was so so nice to hear people appreciate Link.. made me feel bad for wearing his cloak and making a few people almost think i was him.

Also just learning about Link was really cool. Got to see his house, his hometown, his motivation for fighting… was all really cool

Was cool to have him be canonically incapable of speech… Was very surprised when they outright said he couldn’t talk. Later in the game though when you're traveling thru Null with him and he just kept giving u weird little nods i kept on thinking “we gotta get this kid some sign language lessons, stat!” I do love his stoic little face, its really funny. Paired with no speech, he truly is a weird little guy…

Favorite echoes time:

Water block water block water block my beloved. I used those fuckers to skip the entire stealth portion of both hyrule castle and the gerudo stealth minigame thing. (so u can imagine how much i sucked at the deku one :( )

Flying tile. I loved when someone would be watching me play and clearly think I didn’t know what i was doing or that i surely couldn’t make it to a certain area and then boom. Flying tile.

That one spider fella who provides webs to climb on

CROWS. I used hordes of crows to rob monsters blind it was awesome.

When you get ur first outfit, some people will say different things to you depending on if you're wearing your disguise or not! I only really tried this in castle town, so idk if it works anywhere else, i kinda doubt it.

Also people begin to talk to and comment on Tri and its cute. It was fun to see Tri become more social. Also theres tons of comedic potential when it comes to who can see Tri and who can’t.. We did have that happen a few times where only like half the people there could see them. I want fan comics of funny moments springing from that

It was so nice to have the King of Hyrule be a good dude and a sweet dad. Made it even more frustrating when he Got Got and was replaced with an evil echo

Was very glad to see the deku scrubs back… they’re just funky little guys

Also!!! It seems that in this game deku scrubs go by they/them!! At least 2 or 3 of em do, i have evidence. Also they they/themed Tri iirc, so thats some nice confirmation to have too.

Absolutely loved when the hyrule field themed slightly changed and had the Zelda’s Lullaby notes at the beginning. When I first heard, my jaw dropped and i was wondering what the heck was going on. Such a beautiful start to the track…

Very fun getting to play alongside Link, and was especially fun to have to do all the puzzles for him lol. It was great getting to grab him with Bind

Null was sick, and dang when they started absorbing the Tris and started looking like them… gave me chills man

Also shoutout to Null for being a cool non-ganon main big bad! It'd be cool to have them come back for another game someday… usually ganon is the only recurring one, but Vaati came back like twice, so its not out of the question.

I’m glad Zelda got to keep the Tri staff :’). I was prepared to say goodbye to Tri since that's what always happens to Zelda companions, but I was really happy to get something to remember them by.

It was fun to have the triforce be a fairly big thing! It was barely in botw/totk, so I had been hoping for a new game to bring it a little more to the forefront again.

Overall, the game was beautiful and cute, was engaging and had an intriguing story. I really really enjoyed it!

Okay, negatives time. This portion looks really big, but I swear the positives far outweigh the negatives to me. My biggest gripes with the game itself are mostly just quality of life things. Otherwise, the issues I faced were more “me-issues”. It wasn’t the game, it was me. I’m not a super creative person, like in totk I really didn’t do much with the Zonai building stuff, so I wasn’t doing crazy stuff with the echoes either, and I think I was probably downright bad at using echoes, so that's a skill issue on my end. Also just game mechanics preference, I just prefer to go up and wack things. It was very strange and slightly annoying to have to stand aside while other things fought for me. But honestly, I was able to guess from the trailers that the combat gameplay probably wasn’t going to be for me, so I went in knowing that, and that helped me not be too upset about it. So while I do complain about it, i absolutely know that not everyone feels the same and that its not the game’s fault, so pls don’t come at me lol

(anyway, list of negatives:)

Combat using echoes was really hard for me and not really fun ngl… Part of it’s definitely on me, but also like. Many echoes are just so damn slow to attack, and often times other things will dodge while they’re winding up their attacks, or just straight up kill my echoes immediately. A few times i was actually seething with rage because of how annoying my echoes were being….

That stupid fucking echo select menu. Whose idea was it to bring back the weapon cycle menu from botw/totk. It wasn't bad in botw, but with all the things you could fuse to arrows in totk, the flaws of that style of select menu were definitely showing. Yet they used it again here???? It wasn't bad at all at first, but there’s almost 130 echoes in this game and god is it a nightmare to cycle through them. 

The lock on system. As far as I can tell, you can’t like cycle through things to lock on? And i’m never a fan of doing that anyway as i often fumble the controls in the process. But it would've been real helpful cuz god the lock on system was frustrating. It would often lock on to my own echoes or some random thing when I was trying to target an actual enemy and Cause Many Problems

I couldn't seem to turn down the music? Using headphones, even the lowest volume on my switch was too loud, but I couldn't find a way to lower the game’s music, which confused me, since many games have like, audio settings to mess with stuff like that. Like all i needed was for the bg music to be quieter, the sound effects weren’t too bad (thankfully only had this issue with headphones tho, and was able to find places to play alone and have the sound up)

Also maybe this is me imagining things or just me not being creative enough with my echoes, but i swear as you went on some fights were definitely made for sword fighting in mind. Which is strange cuz the game’s whole thing is echoes and wisdom and whatnot.

Was very bummed to have to give up swordfighter form to give Link back his weapons. Cuz then I just spent a lot of those final fights just kinda running around trying to not get hit while Link did most of the work. Like, i get it. Logically, Link needs his stuff back, and since the game’s who Thing is Zelda and Echoes and Wisdom, so theyre gonna want you to embody that aspect of the game in the final fight and use echoes. So i understand why. Doesn’t stop me from being sad about it.

Why not more outfits :(? Like I had quite a bit of extra rupees toward endgame, they should have added regional clothes to all the stores to give you something else to spend ur money on, cuz this far into the game u probably have tons of smoothie ingredients, and those only cost 10 rupees, so ur not spending that much on healing or buff supplies.

Honestly besides some quality of life things, if I could just be in swordfighter form the whole game, it would be near perfect. Really wish you could have gotten like, a reward of a sword you can fight with normally, for finishing the game… Like i would totally start a new file if I could replay the game but now with the option of either non-temporary swordfighter form, or just, like giving Zelda her own sword.

Also i wanna know what they were saying in that last cutscene when Zelda and Link return, and the King and townsfolk are there. Cuz at one point everyone looked at Link really shocked?? And i don't think it was him talking, cuz i think he had already been talking before

Also mixed feelings on Link getting his ability to talk back. I would’ve liked him to stay canonically mute, since it's interesting to have a Link that doesn’t just not talk much or something, but actually be incapable of speech. But I also get it, it seemed like losing his speech was a part of his motivation to do what he did, and it seems like he wanted the ability back, so it's not nearly as bad as if Link had just been naturally mute yet was magically “fixed” or something. But if they're gonna make Link speak again, I wanna see it! We see his mouth move and him make talking gestures at the end, but if they're gonna show him speaking, i wanna see :(. But even with that, I’m of 2 minds… Link is such an interesting character, but him speaking would really characterize him differently… so i didn’t actually really want to hear him speak, but they showed it on screen, so i wanna know what he said!!

Also wish we had gotten an explanation for the swordfighter form…. It was so cool and intriguing and it made me think we were gonna get Lore (™) for the sword and might crystals and everything, and if we were lucky, some Link lore too. But eh, as much as I wanted an explanation I did suspect that it truly was nothing more than a game mechanic, thus we weren’t going to get any explanation. Still ever so slightly disappointed tho.

So yeah, those were my thoughts! They’re very fresh, and clearly just kinda word-vomitted on the page, so maybe someday in the future I’ll have more like, overall things to comment on, but for now, this is it! Really good game that i just wish i could wack things in more <3

[kestalsblog]

iCarly Reboot Season 3: Episode 1

I guess I'm carrying on my tradition of writing thoughts for the new iCarly episodes now that the third season has started. I'm not sure I'll do this for all the episodes, but I thought it'd be fun for the first one. Haven't watched the second one yet.

Overall, I really enjoyed the episode - got some genuine laughs from me because it just felt like such lighthearted, stupid humor for the most part.

-Of course I'm a sucker for romance, so I'm enjoying every bit of the Carly/Freddie setup, no matter how corny, but I particularly liked the aerial ribbon moment. I think normally the characters who are destined to be together would be in sync beautifully while the outsider (Pearl) flopped around clumsily, but seeing Carly and Freddie out of sync together was actually really heartwarming and sweet. Also suggested to me that Pearl will sail on just fine once her relationship with Freddie inevitably ends.

-I thought the weird fantasy YA subplot of the blonde girl "sister" was refreshingly funny. I'm used to characters like her getting oversexualized ditzy humor as their main thing, so I was really laughing when she pulled the strange voices. Surprising fun!

-The stalk of wheat joke also got a good laugh from me. As well as Spencer's quip about being too smart for therapy. (I'm sure we can all relate to feeling that way at points, as ridiculous as we realize it to be).

-Not too invested in the Millicent wedding plot line, but for the most part, her plots have not been all that interesting. I like her character much more than I did at the start though, so I hope she'll get something richer down the line. (Also, is it possible for a kid to officiate a wedding? Did I understand that right?)

-I don't have much interest in Paul as a character. He kind of just feels like "let's put Josh Peck in this show with Miranda again."

-It's still strange how not about iCarly this show is. It was good that Carly was mentioned to be an influencer again with the failed TV show, but it still feels like the writers forgot about the web show. Personally, I'm not that invested in that anyway, but still feels odd when it's literally the title and the whole launching point of the series.

Anyway, I'm excited for this season because I know Creddie will be happening. The ending Creddie scene was as mature as it needs to be for a goofy show that still wants to demonstrate these kids aren't kids anymore.

Also, it's just good to see Miranda again. I love her so much. She's so stunning and talented! (I don't care what anyone says; some of her old songs were BOPS too!)

[antifa-stray]

4, 6, 8 and 17 -💙

Thank you @huntinglove this ask made me very happy 💓

4. What is the most human thing that you've ever seen done by an animal/machine?

This was a hard one actually. Probably those TikToks of dogs with the soundboards that play different words, it's pretty heartwarming (and can be very funny). I've heard of other stuff but that's what I've technically seen with my own two eyes.

6. What's something that always reminds you of the same thing every time you see/hear/etc. it?

THANK FUCKING GODDESS I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE.

Gideon Nav from The Locked Tomb with her skull face paint always reminds me of Hordak from ND Stevenson's She-Ra reboot without fucking fail. I really want a Locked Tomb show by the same artists so bad you don't even know.

I can't think of Harley Quinn without thinking of the song Boss Bitch, Doja Cat did an excellent job

I can't think of America Chavez without hearing Gina Rodriguez' voice (Carmen Sandiego reboot, Jane the Virgin) Same with Deadpool, I just hear Brandon Rogers any time I think of him. (Blitzø, Helluva Boss) I really want a show with the two of them (along with a few other of my favorite somewhat obscure marvel superheroes played by a casting that I think would fit them perfectly)

8. What's something that'll never happen that you've put a lot of thought into anyways?

What I'd do if I were physically a vampire. It'd honestly be my ideal because everyone wants immortality but the curse of immortality is outliving your friends, and vampires can turn others into vampires too, which solves that problem. I also would adore being a mermaid/succubus physically (I say physically because I have both vampires succubi and mermaids in my system) Also shapeshifting. If I could shapeshift I would actually shapeshift into each headmate when I switch to them.

17. What fills you with nostalgia, despite being relatively new?

Okay a few answers for this one. Skylanders for one. I adore those games and they very much have been an integral part of my childhood.

League of Legends & Team Fortress 2 for another. I love these games so much you don't even know, I'll talk for HOURS about them (and I plan to make a YouTube channel where I do just that)

Lastly, Tomb Raider with Alicia Vikander. Lara Croft is a HUGE part of my queer journey, from being one of the first and biggest factors in cracking my egg to something that's still a massive source of comfort. I love that movie, and I hope to Goddess that the sequel ACTUALLY GETS MADE.

[milkykageyama]

haikyuu boyfriend hcs!!

haikyuu characters as ur boyfriend headcanons bc i can't sleep. so here we are.. (ft. kuroo tetsurō, bokuto kōtarō, sakusa kiyoomi)

warnings: mention of marks/hickeys on kuroo's part but nothing suggestive, also this is rlly shitty and.. yeah

p.s. this is more of a self indulgence really lol i just miss the haikyuu boys sm

sweet, sweet boyfriend kuroo loves to babied and spoil u so much!! he loves it when u get all excited opening the gifts he gave u, and it can be anything. he learns to bake just so he can make u cute cupcakes and cookies to cheer u up during exam week, he knows ur bad habit of forgetting ur meals when u are too focused on ur tasks. tetsurō adores u so much, he can't help but to give u kisses EVERY CHANCE he gets. he loves to nuzzles into the crook of ur neck, kisses the skin there which sometime would leave marks, but they're just cute lil marks!! tetsurō thinks u look cute with them, but ofc only on the places that ur clothes can covered. he loves to see u blushing and all red when he flirts with u, and when he tells u jokes that only he finds them funny. but u laugh anyway bc ur boyfriend tetsurō is just so adorable!!

AHHH THE SWEETHEART KŌTARŌ!! he's such an adorable boyfriend it'd feel like you're taking care of a big baby (in a good way)!! he gets excited very easily, so u best believe he will always hype u up. he loves to give u back hugs, bc he's so buff and big and u feel so small in his arms he just wants to protect u :(( he also loves squishing ur cheeks, whether you're chubby or not, kōtarō doesn't care bc he loves u regardless!! (he's still gonna squish ur cheeks anyway) he loves taking u to his games/practices just so u can see how amazing ur boyfriend is, and HE IS amazing, so i assure u will feel pride every time u watch him play on the court. kōtarō can get needy, yes, but he definitely knows when u need space for yourself even if u don't seem to realize it (ofc he'd get sad bc he just really want to hug u and give u a lot of kisses, but kōtarō is an amazing boyfriend so he understands and won't force u to anything)

OH PRETTY BOY KIYOOMI!! he may not show it much, but trust me he loved you sooooo much thay u could ever think. he sometimes has a hard time showing it to u, but boyfriend omi is very romantic!! he writes u love letters and put one on ur work/study desk every day to make sure u know that you are loved, along with ur favorite drink or snack on the side. he's also very good with words, sometimes he gets too honest 'n blunt, but u love that part of him, how he's not scared to voiced his thoughts. u also love how sweet boyfriend omi is with his words, every time before u two go to bed, he loves to tell u how much he loves and cares for u with such beautifully arranged words. they're always so heartwarming and never failed to almost make u cry!! but don't worry, boyfriend omi will hold u when u cry, and he knows it's okay to let it all out instead of bottling it up, he always make sure u remember that

[txttletale]

Vi or Gideon for the character ask game! :)

gonna do gideon because all my opinons on vi boil down to "i just think she's neat" (and also i like the way u portray her in ur fics). my two opinions (ask meme. send me blorboi) favorite thing about them: i love how gideon is good at some things and bad at others. like, she's perceptive and understands a lot about stuff that makes sense to her (swords), but she's also totally oblivious and short-sighted and doesn't pay close attention to things that bore her. and that's just a great trait to have in a protagonist, you see her shine, you see where she doesn't. makes her rounded and likeable. least favorite thing about them: nothing she's perfect. the only two points in her narration when i disagreed with her was when she called abigail and cytherea's conversation boring (noo gideon historical trivia is actually very interesting) and when she condemmned ianthe's decision to throw augustine into the stoma (ianthe sucks but if she hadn't done that the Sun Would Have Gone Out.) but those aren't bad moments or anything they're in character and work well. i love her. #girl favorite line: ok this is a tough one. i think it might be "This is Gideon Nav Talking Time". like. the assertiveness. the 'i am not taking this bullshit anymore of it'. it's glorious brOTP: okay this is a weird one but hear me out. ianthe. i just thikn the brief dynamic they have at the end of Ht9 of Gideon being like 'you're a horrible creep and very evil please stop making such funny jokes' is really endearing. but also palamedes as like the first genuine real friend she has is also a heartwarming classic. my brOTP is gideon/any friends at all honestly OTP: i mean her and harrow obviously. are they unhealthy and insane and codependent? yeah. so what. let the #girls have a fucked up relationship in media for once i say. its feminism nOTP: ok its not so much a nOTP but i do think everyone who thinks that gideon/coronabeth would be healthy or even functional has a HUGE misreading of coronabeth. they're attracted to each other, for sure, but as an actual relationship they'd be awful for each other and it'd end in disaster. random headcanon: adhd gideon isn't a hot take but adhd gideon. unpopular opinion: every time i see a post arguing that gideon is 'actually smart' i'm like, idk, nonplussed. just feels like takes like that devalue the actual strengths and forms of intelligence she shows in order to frame them in a more, like, traditional way? lame. song i associate with them: cry for judas. i mean:

mistreat your altar boys long enough and this is what you get: sad and angry, can't learn how to behave still won't know how in the darkness of the grave long black night, morning frost i'm still here but all is lost

favorite picture of them: idk i don't keep fanart in mind usually but i like it when fanartists make her look like a bit less of a super-badass and instead focus on the fact that she's a goofy teen. she deserves to be smiling like a dumb asshole i think

[house-of-laminations]

Bloodborne Anon works for me! It'd also probably be the first time in eons that Father and the angels have been at the very least respectable to the demons.

Though the Hunter just assuming they knew they were a Great One and never bothering to actually check is funny. Makes you wonder which side is more out of touch with how humans behave - the demons or the Hunter. Though the Hunter using the messengers to store and retrieve extra snacks for Beel is both cute and heartwarming.

You know an otaku like Levi is going to want to touch the Hunter's swords. They look so cool and why is his friend always so nice to him?! Even more so after learning his friend could, and would, fist fight Father for him.

Barbatos either is/was a Great One himself, or has the blood/powers of one. Like he probably might have suspected that the Hunter was something more than human, just not a Great One.

Can you imagine though the demons, Simeon, and Solomon trying to court the Hunter? Courting a regular human is awkward but courting a human turned Great One? Where do you even start? Demons appreciate impressive kills that display how strong the potential mate is. Or build comfortable nests. Maybe they notice that the Hunter seems to be really interested in blood so perhaps a gift of their own blood? At least they might be able to test to see if demon blood can be used to make blood vials. Also maybe not tell them that they've killed other Great Ones before.

Somewhere the Doll is amused by the Hunter panicking at being courted. Because out of everything the Hunter has faced it's courting that throws them off. Does she help them? No, not really but she might suggest bringing some Yharnam texts and books to Satan.

The closest the Hunter's ever dealt with royalty was the Vileblood Queen.

It would be hilarious though if Hunter responds to their courting attempts in a way that registers as positive for demons but just ??? for the Hunter.

Belphie being torn because it feels really safe to sleep next to the Hunter but also still remembering getting stuck in the Hunter's Dream. Even if he's assured that the place isn't so bad and it's practically home he still doesn't want to risk it. Maybe never explain to him that it's where their Hunter fought and killed the Moon Presence/Flora and that's partially why it was so unsettling.

I am absolutely losing it at Great One MC and the entire Obey Me cast sharing one braincell about what they think is 'normal human' behavior. I think they all miss the fact that the Hunter probably forgets to breathe. It's even funnier if you consider Great One!Barbatos has been there the entire time. They're all just terrible at recognizing these apex-apex predators.

What about a Hunter that spec'd into Beasthood? Oh, Levi can't open this jar? That's ok, I've got it, don't mind my arms becoming giant claws with weird tendrils on them this is completely normal. The gang having heard of the feats humans are capable of under adrenaline and just like assuming that's what happened there.

Shovel talks with Doll would be in their futures, but especially for Belphie. It's very possible that there are also echoes of Gerhman lingering in the Dream, doing its very best to 'test' this new intruder. Belphie goes to sleep wearing the Hunter's clothes one night but wakes up in the Dream wearing them and that's not what normally happens. Hunter MC is very careful after that with what they allow the brothers to take/touch.

Courting would either go terribly or amazing. Kinda similar to how there would be a massive disconnect between human-demon or human-angel relationships, surely there'd be equivalents for demon-Great One. Barbatos seems to be the one connecting best with Hunter MC and no one can work out why, they're all so jealous.

And, of course, the inevitable "have you thought about having kids" discussions.

[bauhausluvr]

IT WENT SO WELL!!

IM SOO HAPPYY i literally left her room SCREAMING to my friend and there was like a rlly quiet classroom with their door open so that was rlly embarrassing she probably heard it 😭 BUT OK ILL GET INTO IT

SO I FINALLY MANAGED TO SAY GOODBYE TO HER... we settled a time right in the morning through emails then i was so fucking nervous all day because i was scared it'd be really underwhelming as i'm used to it being , and i've been in a really pessimistic mood for the past few days but it went so, so well!

we hugged (OMG she even asked me if i wanted to and in my head i was like: um, yess????), she asked for my personal email, we gushed about music to each other one last time. it was so heartwarming. she even said she listened to mitski a little which made me so happy bcz im a massive mitski fan, then we gatekept kate bush from new stranger things fans together (/hj). when i gave her the gifts she said she didnt think she did enough to deserve it and it was too much, though i insisted she did. 😭😭 im scared for how she'll take my letter to her but i'm excited too. she also said that she was like really 'bad' in school she failed a lot of her exams and threw smth at her teacher and that she even got accused of slashing a teacher's tires bcz she had such a bad reputation, which is so funny to me because i cannot imagine that with her at all! it gives me some hope too she reassured me that these results aren't everything which i hear a lot but coming from her it did genuinely comfort me a lot.

i will miss her a lot, i get to still see her at prom and i'm looking forward to that. i assume she will email me too but it just won't be the same, i'm just glad we sort of parted happily though i could not have wished for anything more.

[timidizzy]

I never see anyone talk about Convergence so I'd just like to remind u all that it ends with Stephanie and Tim getting back together.

I like reading Convergence as though it takes place in pre-reboot canon and as the last comic story we have that takes place in that canon, so it's very heartwarming to me thinking that in the end of what we used to know, they still find their way back together.

Also I just think the whole trying-to-make-out-but-theyre-sore-from-combat thing is just really funny and I love it because we never see that in comics but it'd be p accurate

[boxesblr]

tis is i, shy! I read the newest chapter and whoo boy i have thoughts!

First of all aaah????

Okay, now that that's out of the way, Tay what the fuck. I am gonna assume she is Defector, then? If you even assigned her a role, that is! Why would you just SHOOT oh my god Tay. It's valid though, if the power station got sabotaged, I'd be paranoid too. Not that paranoid that id SHOOT AT MY FRIENDS, but I kinda get where she's coming from.

RIP Ze's hard work, that sucks :// I think its sweet how the others care for Ze (special s/o to Platy at this point) and I do think it is interesting how differently both Ze and Chilled deal with the other being hurt and idk if the thought that Chilled is used to it by now makes it worse or not. Either way, it hurts :(

To reiterate: I love how much they care about each other, honestly it is very heartwarming. Get yourself friends like that, seriously. I know you've said in the tags it's interpretable as romantic zrc but i just love how unromantic it is and how it's just friends who mean a lot to each other and want the other to survive and to be okay. If Chilled turns out to be a traitor, I'm gonna be so pissed at him, like dude what the fuck. Ze worked so hard and died so much, you better be good.

It must be incredibly painful to get shot and have another person put their hand close to the wound as well, kudos to him for enduring it so well! Hope you feel better soon, bud!

Also, Ze what the fuck why would you run towards someone with a GUN? I mean i know why, but still!

I wouldn't be surprised if people are being pissed at Tay now and all this makes me wonder how the exiling will work, considering you are unable to enter certain rooms in PW and you can't really block them off or anything if you apply that concept to real life. Or as real as it's gonna get here xD

Let's hope Ze wont get mauled by wolves this time. Or freeze. Or starve. On this note, I want to thank Shubble for being a great medic and holding the group together. Its a thankless job and she is doing her best - seeing your friends in pain must do bad things to your mind, especially if it wasn't a nature accident but a "my friend shot my other friend", you're really ticking off the trauma bingo, huh? :D

Additionally, I keep wondering about how Zes lefthandedness translates, because surely some tools must be built to primarily support righties? And I know fanfic is riddled with description like "the taller one" or w/ but despite my soft spot for height differences, I am glad you didn't insert it every second sentence but basically just mention it when its relevant. I am sad GaLm isnt in it as far as I can tell, because then it'd be two Stevens, two Anthonys and two Zachs/Zacks and i think that'd be funny as heck lmao.

Also also i love the tidbits of worldbuilding we got! So they did train for this at least somewhat! Although i'm gonna go out on a limb and assume they thought they were going on vacation, instead of being stranded and waiting to be rescued.

Is the timelimit still an issue? Like, instead of 30min its 30 days? Or is it completely gone? Anyways, hope youre having a great day and i loved the drama of this chapter!

Hey Shy! Hope you’re having a good day and ty for reading and asking <3

Omg im so happy you noticed that Tay is defector! I thought it fit her well and was a nice way to ramp up some tension. Yeah I think the paranoia, the atmosphere they’re in, and the environment too all contributed to one snapping moment for her - which definitely happens in the game for certain people too :(

Thank you! I thought that in this situation a lot of care would happen, especially towards Ze given his hard work and it clearly affected him personally. I also liked showcasing the difference in how people care for eachother too, and some bonus bit of angst for Chilled always going to find Ze but in the instance where Chilled is shot, Ze runs away (understandable but still). I very much think that as Ze continues his small transformations, he finds himself defaulting to running in situations where he is stressed or needs to take action - in the games he usually favours actions and lone wolfing over discussions and talking it out. 

I love writing Chilled and Ze interactions because they have such a natural dynamic from being good friends but they also butt heads on a lot of aspects. They always know when eachother are ghosts trying to signal to eachother, and I love that Chilled goes to Ze with all his suspicions and Ze likes to go to Chilled as a ghost :D

Shubble a real MVP <3 I haven’t especially thought about left-handedness which is kind of funny because I am left-handed and know personally the struggles of living in a right-handed world :’( Sorry for no Galm!

I worry for our boy Ze but I don’t want to hurt him too much! He’ll be out in the colds alone but maybe he’ll be alright... right? And the group will be there in his absence, we’ll have to see if anything changes there.

Thank you for noticing the worldbuilding! I’m trying to inject it in there! Yeah, they very much thought this was going to be a vacation, it’s a shame it all went wrong. Time limit isn’t fixed because I don’t think that works with the kind of universe logic I’m going for, but they’re in a world of finite resources and they can’t survive there endlessly, so it’s more a matter of escaping before they run out of food/wood/other stuff. 

Thank you again! I’m glad you enjoyed it!

[woulddieforperrytheplatypus]

Okay so bc of how Meapless in Seattle would play out in the Relocation AU, Doof would have no reason to drink the liquefied cutonium. Cause he drinks it while trying to deny that he was there on a coffee date with Peter. Everyone is just playing keep-away with the container. (That said, it'd be funny if he DID drink it for some reason bc of the bit where the gang picks up the cutified Doof. They'd probably be like ._. "... That you, Dr. D?")

in general, the entire episode would play out way differently because the a- and b-plot gangs would inevitably end up joining forces. perry would definitely end up knocking mitch and balloony's robot suits around if they dared threaten phineas and ferb. (also i want to know what candace would think of balloony. i'm sure she'd have Words on that whole situation and it'd be super fucking funny to see.)

I should really start tagging posts about this au now... welp, live and learn lmao

Sooooo I’m going to stay up until 3 am waiting for the new Taylor Swift thing to drop on Disney+ so I can watch it with the rest of the fandom on twt, which means I have more than enough time to go off on tangents and I apologize in advance

I definitely think if/when I write this, I definitely want Heinz to drink the cutonium just for shits and giggles, but it didn’t occur to me until you said this that there wouldn’t really be a reason for him to do it, so, naturally, I rewatched the entire episode just to figure out that one scene and because I love that episode and I have a general idea of how it might go down:

It’s kinda the opposite of the actual episode, where it’s Peter and Perry are at the coffee shop and Heinz is outside (idk what he’s doing there tho bc he’s not visiting Peter uhhhhh help), and Heinz does something loud and stupid (probably falls over or something idk he’s clumsy he would totally do it) and everyone in the coffee shop looks out the window to see what happened, and Heinz looks through the window to see if anyone noticed (and they did). Obviously, Heinz sees Perry (and Peter but mostly Perry) and he’s like :))))))) and my original plan had been that Perry runs out to see him and gives him a hug or something cute like that, but my new plan is that Perry actually runs away because he’s afraid that if OWCA finds out that Heinz saw him, he’ll be relocated again and he was just starting to get used to Seattle.

Heinz runs around the building and tries to catch up to him, and he after Too Much Yelling, he finally gets Perry to stop around the same spot they were in the episode (with Peter slowly catching up). Idk what he’s gonna yell but it’s gonna be something really pure and heartwarming ig idk words are hard, but Perry’s gonna freeze and Heinz is gonna run towards him while paying absolutely no attention who his feet whatsoever and whoops he falls in one of the kids’ ditches.

*casual switch to present tense bc there’s literally no reason to write this in future tense*

Perry turns around and looks down at him and he can’t help but smile because he knows he shouldn’t be here but this man is just so freakin adorable and he absolutely remembers why he loved their nemesisship (not that he’d ever forgotten, of course, but it’s hitting him harder now that he sees him). Heinz’s just like “You gonna give me a hand?” (in a lighthearted way obviously) and Perry is absolutely not going to give him a hand because Heinz would end up pulling him in instead, but it doesn’t matter anyways because Heinz makes a really big gesture when he asks and he ends up knocking the cutonium loose. Perry hops down with him to check it out (and Heinz is lowkey offended that he’s more interested in this cup than his ex-nemesis) and then Mitch shows up and he’s like “Hey gimme the cup” and Heinz is like “nu-uh my cup” and Mitch is like “GIMME DA CUP” and Heinz is like “fine, take the cup!” and then downs the cutonium right in front of him out of pure spite and that’s why he ends up drinking the cutonium (and subsequently gets kidnapped by Mitch (after being tossed around like a game of hot potato))

Ngl I don’t really know how the rest of the fic is gonna go at all but you’re absolutely right that things are different so I’m gonna do some spitballing here,

For one, I feel like the kids would stop heading to the Flynn-Fletchers as much because it was just so sad, but for the sake of this fic, we’re gonna say that everyone was at the Flynn-Fletchers when this started so now Buford and Baljeet are there with them. They end up getting hold of Heinz the same way they do in the show, and Phineas absolutely does say “... that you, Dr. D?” (purely because I love when the kids call him “Dr. D” it makes my heart happy). And Heinz is like, “Perry the platypus is here!” and the kids are like 0_0 and even Phineas isn’t quite sure wtf is happening, but The Man Of Action Ferb pushes him out of the way and follows Heinz’s instructions (all while ignoring Meap talking about the cutonium bc this is far more important) and they find Peter and Perry still over by the ditch and someone yells down to them (or, more specifically, to Perry) and Perry looks up and sees them and starts tearing up, and they let him and Peter in and Perry just jumps up into Phineas’s arms (he can’t exactly jump up into Ferb’s because he’s driving) and it’s a very heartwarming moment and Ferb hands Buford his handkerchief and everything and then someone ruins the moment. Idk if it should be Meap being like “Someone wanna fill me in on wtf just happened?” or Heinz being like “Wtf Perry you ran away from me but not them?” but it sure do ruin the moment, that’s for sure

Uhhhh idk that’s all i got on that. I guess Mitch gets Heinz back and then the kids team up with Perry (and Peter this time) and go get him and stuff happens? And there’s a running “gag” ig where Buford is the only one that thinks it’s weird that Heinz drank the cutonium out of spite and he keeps bringing it up and everyone else is like yeah that sure did happen whats your point

Oh my god tho I need the kids to see Ballooney. Literally everyone else would be like “oh no it’s an evil balloon ex-best-friend we should be scared” and Candace is like WHAT THE  F U C K  IS THIS THING and she is the only one to question why the fuck there’s a sentient balloon man there fdhfsjadfhsjkad

[shinovii]

*sounds of ten pounds of Flex Tape wrapping* Okay good, don't know how these pipes keep breaking but this time for sure there won't be any leaks! Now then, let's begin!

Back here in Royal Woods and I'm ready to talk about new episodes of The Loud House, the first ones of the new decade!! This time we'll be starting this double feature off with "Exchange of Heart", a......Clyde episode!?

Sweet, just what we needed!!! Let's get this going already!

So it's a lovely day at the McBride household, and it's breakfast time! We see our lovable nerd Clyde greet his dads and decide what to do for the day, but we see they're rather......protective of him. They even shot down all of Clyde's plans and the poor boy doesn't get enjoy a few other things. The amount of protection from the loving parents seems to be smothering Clyde, leaving him frustrated at the lack of freedom on his own. So now the young boy comes up with new plan and signs the family up for a Brazilian exchange program, leading to the introduction of the highly energetic child known as Tiago! Maybe having another kid hanging around will have Howard and Harold ease up on Clyde...

Oh Clyde, what you lack in some character growth you make up for with good humor and the ability to carry an episode well. With a name like Exchange of Heart, you'd think it'd involve Lori like a previous episode but I guess the whole crush thing ran its course (I've always wondered how Clyde deals with having helicopter parents, especially given the amount of safety precautions and concerns (seriously, what stool needs a seatbelt). I though Snow Way Down hammered that point in about Clyde not needing to be protected like a fragile glass shelf, but considering this episode was more about Clyde not getting any breathing room to enjoy things, it seems to work much better here. Harold and Howard keep giving me good laughs, as well as showing me that they need more screentime since they definitely lend themselves to some interesting moments and heartwarming scenes. Then we have Tiago, this highly energetic kid who is one heck of a hugger! How do you give us a supposed one-off character and then impress us with him so much. Despite how small his screentime was, I couldn't help but like the kid a lot and I honestly hope he does make another appearance (maybe he and Clyde could hang out more). The ending moments were a rather nice one, and quite funny too. All in all a solid episode that shows me that Clyde is quite capable of holding his own.

Also hi Lincoln, bye Lincoln!

Lola, Lola, Lola.....how do you do it!? Do what you may ask? Why give us another episode we can all enjoy! How's about we take a good look at her latest performance in "Community Disservice"!!

We begin this episode with Lola winning the Little Miss Sunbeam Pageant. *claps* and that's it, roll credits "Cramped inside this tiny space", okay that's not the case. No it was actually a nice daydream our young diva was having, but then a phone call arrives for her! It's not good news, however as it turns out that Lola's application is declined. The reason, of course, being Lola not having done 10 hours of community service before. Quite a conundrum for Lols as she has no idea what to even do before the pageant begins! Cue big brother Lincoln to save the day, as he suggests a new student buddy program. Fast forward to the school and Lola is introduced to the new girl to show around, Meli Ramos, but it seems that Meli is rather......shy. How will Lola take this chance to succeed in her community service effort?

I dunno how this happens, but Lola just keeps having amazing episodes! Seriously, this girl continues to wow the crowd anytime she's the focus (it's like the writers know they gotta give her the best everytime)! I'm actually glad we got to see more of Lola's life at school too, good gosh she's such a celebrity in Royal Woods Elementary! It shouldn't be so surprising and yet it does, it was an excellent showcase of how she conducts herself to her fellow classmates! But that's just one highlight to this episode, the next big one happens to be Meli. Who's idea was it to give Lola a buddy this adorable!? They deserve a raise for giving us an amazing contrast to Lola's eccentric demeanor, as well as someone who I could see being Lola's bestie! This also made the ending moments that much sweeter and I do hope we see more of Meli as the show goes on! A wonderful episode that really nailed it out the park and another big win for Lola too!

Also, Lola what is with you and butterflies this episode? Be glad one didn't swoop on by you this time around lol.

Welp that's one double feature wrapped up, and I'm sure I got another one waiting for me soon enough! That's good, because the hype is still going strong and I'm eager for more of The Loud House! Until next time everybody!!!