#Had a lot of fun with the dlc either way

[therantingsage]

Been md au-ing for a bit but since I recently finished Side Order (I think) my thoughts have returned to Communing with the Dead.

((Minor minor Side Order spoilers below the cut? idk))

I gotta say, I'm kinda annoyed a little bit that I was like the one person who decided NOT to headcanon Dedf1sh as nonbinary only for this DLC to genuinely come out and do that. Like I didn't think me making Ahato a she/her transwoman would be something that would be able to be confirmed NOT true! And I'm not saying that to say it's even something that disappoints me! I'm nb and enthralled by the rep!

The problem is just that I've written 74,000+ words calling Ded she/her and having the transness and stuff be a major overarching theme? And also I still like Ahato better than Acht as a name...

Current plan: keep Ded in cwtd she/her but have them adopt they/them in addition to that later in a 'cool I've been alive now long enough that I have complex thoughts about this I want to be she/they' kinda way. Because it would be weird and jarring to change it abruptly just to comply to canon. The only major change to be made is that when I eventually have Marina meet her (because I planned for that to happen eventually anyway) there'll be recollection on Marina's part.

Also in the story I had Ahato be removed from active duty because fighting isn't her strong suit, so I feel very validated upon hearing Acht say that they slacked off a lot in the dlc akjdfjdf I clocked that one, that Octo is NOT a fighter in the slightest.

Not planning on changing her personality in the fic, all things considered it's very much not canon compliant to any degree, and also the personality she had in-story is kinda built from the ground up anyway. There'd be very little reason for them to act how they did pre-sanitization, which is somewhat implied to be how they act in the dlc.

Anyway that fic is still on the backburner, but rest assured I am still thinking about it! Now that we have any canon information about Dedf1sh at all there'll be an easier place to work towards.

Last note is that any sort of canon compliancy with this story is a losing battle from the get-go now because this is a ship fic and Side Order Ded is very much implied to be aroace aksjdfhaskdfh didn't expect that either but it is STELLAR. If I put Acht in Unions and Reunions, which I plan to, I'm definitely going to depict them very differently than how I do in cwtd. Maybe put them in a qpr? I'll figure it out as I go.

[someobscurereference]

Insane over the awakening trio again. We fought a war together, saved each other multiple times, and I know for a fact I can trust you with my life. We have never learned to socialize normally so we can't interact in a normal environment for five seconds without dunking on each other. I would follow you through time and space and abandon everything with you. You are the living reminder of every awful thing that have ever happened to me. Our traumas make us hurt each other at every turn. We're the only ones who know what lead to each other becoming Like That. Our jobs are barely in the same area and we don't even hang out that much outside of necessities. You are all I have left. I cannot fucking understand you. I am the only one in this entire world who has the ability to even try to.

x

[maxwellatoms]

What kind of video games do you like to play Mr. Atoms?

So many! Assuming there's time. These days there's generally not, so I've been bingeing Vampire Survivors in half-hour doses.

Above is a gif from Noita, my top game of the pandemic. It's an old-school "Metroidvania", but every pixel is simulated and you're a witch who can manipulate her spells (and thereby the world) in a seemingly infinite number of ways. Here, I've built magical "buzzsaws" around myself, which blinded me to the shadow amoeba. In Noita, almost every death is due to hubris, and I think I love that pendulum swing. If you're lucky and skilled, you can become a walking whirlwind of destruction, but you're always your own worst enemy. Bonus: You can turn your vomit into rats.

I'm currently on a break in the midst of my Baldur's Gate 3 run, with a party consisting of my BG2 character's daughter, Karlatch, Lazelle, and Shadowheart. Ladies' Night!

I'm also playing a bit of Shadows of Doubt. I'm not sure it'll hold up long-term, but it's got a lot of potential.

I don't really limit myself by genre or platform, but I'd say that I primarily play indie PC games. The games in my Steam library that I keep going back to again and again?

Cities: Skylines: A chill City Building Simulator. Lots of fun mods.

Darkest Dungeon: This thing is a classic strategy game IMO.

Death Road to Canada: A light, fast Project Zomboid. Dogs with guns!

Dwarf Fortress: For me, it's the ultimate fantasy sim. I love it so much. Looking forward to Adventure Mode finally appearing on Steam.

Project Zomboid: The ultimate lonely 2D zombie apocalypse survival game. Or non-survival game, I suppose.

Total War: Warhammer: For when I'm in a strategy-y mood. Like a lot of people, I'm a bit soured on the modern DLC scene, so I'm still waiting on #3 even though I'm a Chaos stan.

Not on Steam? I do play some Star Citizen from time to time. I backed it a decade ago. I used to joke that it was the game I was going to retire into, but more and more that's looking less and less like a joke. Still, it's made some good progress in the last couple of years and I'm hopeful that repair and engineering turn out to be fun.

The game I'm looking forward to most would be the next Elder Scrolls. I know it's still a ways off. Ever since my Nereverine landed in Morrowind with the intention of becoming a just and righteous cleric and instead found herself an unwitting villain and colonizer, I fell in love with the Elder Scrolls and it's deep, gray lore. It is (for me) a great way to really get into a character's head. Roleplaying... go figure.

Since Morrowind (and a backtrack into Daggerfall), I only allow myself one canon playthrough. My rule is to "let it ride", so that aside from death, if I screw up or if something unexpected happens I don't save-scum. All of my characters are related, either by quest or bloodline. I already know that my next character will be Aventus Aretino (the kid you catch summoning the Dark Brotherhood). My Skyrim character (above) had adopted him and then left him in the hands of a vampire, so I should be covered even if there's a big time jump. Now I just have to wait six more years for the game. And then maybe two for mods. God I'm so old.

I need to spend more time with Dave the Diver.

Anything current I'm missing out on?

[boltdrake]

Ok about moral greyness in elden ring fandom

I feel like it’s mostly treated as either some kind of badass cosmetics for a GoodGuy (like “my blorbo is cool and good and kind but you know they kill people - bad people, so it’s not bad but it’s not also your Jesus guy which is normal bc who would give their second cheek”) or some kind of euphemism used by bad/problematic/pseudo intellectual people to erase morality

I’m bad problematic pseudo intellectual person so take my opinion with grain of salt, but I think it’s a great misunderstanding or what a morally grey character is in ER especially

It’s usually based on the that understanding of goodness that to be good you just need to do good things and don’t do bad things (which is of course extremely vague and not defined but anyways). It’s seems pretty straightforward and because of that brings a lot of confusion

It’s quite easy for a character to be GoodGood (even with murders but I digress), you can see it in many fix-it fanworks where often every trouble finds its own, well, fixing, and there’s always a way to set things right, maybe just with some sad deaths along the way, but characters often will find this correct way because in these universes there’s always at least one

(It’s not a rant on fanfiction I like it and I like fix-its very VERY much)

And when same logic is applied to the game itself, often arises treatment of characters as GoodGood, MisleadedGood and BadBad ones

But in the stories we see in Elden Ring context is usually such that when a character wants to get something, even something good, like for example make people live forever or cure their own sister, there’s sometimes no way of resolving their trouble without facing some kind of moral choice, even if you’re a literal half-god. You either get what you want with a price, or don’t get it… also with a price. Because fromsoftware stories are build on conflict, tragedy and irony

That’s what makes character grey, the fact there’s no third option or that you don’t have third option just because world is that way and you’re unlucky. And not choosing to get what you want can be as bad as choosing opposite. And that’s what usually makes situation complex and twisted and inherently grey

I don’t want to say that like every person in fandom should treat all the characters as mostly good ones without making some way less sympathetic than others. Making characters twisted and horrible is fun! I’m just tired of the way how people 1) don’t realise there’s often HUGE room for interpretation and make it problem of others 2) hate characters with such a passion as they were real humans who live in your neighbourhood on planet earth 2024 3) sanitise characters into strictly Good and Bad ones etc etc etc

My whole vent on Miquella’s hatebase is in fact divided into two parts, one being me thinking many people just lack understanding of the DLC/base game ideas and plot, but that’s ok we all have different opinions (I’m just the only one who is correct. LIVE WITH THAT.), and second being that vague ??rudeness?? and hatred which accompanies division on Morally Good and Morally Bad, because there’s this subtle idea like. Oh if you like Godrick/Rykard/Post-DLC Miquella / Seluvis then you’re moral pervert/ lover of Dark. Which is rarely true and really annoys me

I also have no trouble with GoodGood characters being GoodGood because, well. it’s comforting and cozy stuff. But often it turns into token of moral superiority, like look I love GoodGood guy because I’m good too and also not stupid. This is also annoying and I wish we had less of this in fandom.

It’s often also a lie to oneself, because even if we approach elden ring from I Can Simp Only Morally Pure ones (which is very boring and butchers the whole thing in my opinion) then we would probably be left with only Boc, Hewg and maybe Roderika. What do you mean you want to simp LITERAL murderers?? What do you mean you want to simp those assholes demigods who think that people are just dolls for their games, who turned the land into land of the dead because they just couldn’t stop war after war after war to decide who will make new order? What do you mean you want to simp the demigod who quit the war to do literally nothing to stop it???? CRINGE

Also GoodGood character headcanon making without self-awareness often results in very weird moral twists of its own, because in this logic character is allowed to make only GoodGood decisions, therefore all the stuff character made in canon MUST be good and morally justified. This leads to something like Marika fans writing essays on the topic You Can In Fact Deserve Genocide

Enough for today have a good day fellow dlc lovers 💪

Upd posted this on main by accident got jumpscared it’s so hard to copy past on mobile for some reason. No edgy on main I promised!!

[fifisyaya]

Why does no one talk about the fact that side order completely ruined Marina and Pearl as a duo??

In the Octo expansion, they’re seen as a duo who banter for fun but still deeply care for each other. This is seen in both the DLC chat logs and the news, where Marina often makes fun of Pearl for either her size or not being able to do tricks with the Dualies, etc. Etc. Pearl does the same for Marina, just not so much and mostly acts like the punchline in the jokes— acting annoyed (although jokingly so).

They make fun of each other but are still close, which is supported by Pearl’s whole “fight” with Cap’n where she defends Marina and clearly states that if Cap’n came close to harming her, he would be the one getting hurt instead.

Or when Marina quite literally supported Order only because she was scared of losing the stability in her life— one of the main points of that stability being Pearl herself, and Marina almost crying on live TV because she thought Pearl wouldn’t want to be off the hook anymore.

There are a lot of factors that support pearlina in the story, and they were literally so well written personality wise in the second game.

Until the third game came along.

In side order, most of Pearl and Marina’s dialogues in the elevators consist or quite literally flirting with each other— of course, this is pretty much a big implication of Pearlina actually having some kind of canon confirmation, and that’s a huge step for the franchise!! However, it becomes annoying once the ship is overrepresentated.

Comparing the dialogues from octo expansion and side order, there’s a CLEAR difference. While in the first dlc, Marina and Pearl clearly cared about each other and still bantered in their own ways, they were each written to be their own character. Pearl and Marina had different world views, Marina’s being very impacted by Octoling society while Pearl was convinced octolings existed no longer. Not only that, but the whole Chaos V. order discourse in the second game.

In the third game, they’ve been dumbed down to “Pearl and Marina.”

It was obvious Marina’s views on order would change after the Splatocalypse, but didn’t Nintendo have a better way of demonstrating it than the choices taken in side order? Her and Pearl’s character have almost completely merged together— same views, always agreeing on everything, always flirting, etc.

I’m not saying the DLC was bad, although it kinda was. I just feel the need to point out that The whole playful off the hook dynamic that made it so obvious that they cared for each other has quite literally been dumbed down for shipping value and it makes me so sad to see, they were such good characters who got dumbed down for no reason as Nintendo (once again) pays more attention to the money.

[xxxdizzy19]

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐋𝐂 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮

I want to share smth that troubles me.

Just finished the main story of Secrets of The Spires and you know… I've never felt so lonely before, in the ending cutscene. The story was fire, an insane moment with Quaritch too, everything was fun. Still, there is a thing that bothers me. Don't get me wrong, DLC has a nice plot, so many cool cutscenes, but I had expected more. For me the biggest joy was to meet another Sarentu, Rasi. I wish there was more of her tho.

I continue to be tormented by the feeling that our main character will remain on the sidelines of the story, despite of everything they've done, yeah. I feel like we are some kind of killing machine and nothing more. To please all kind of players developers had made a mistake. As a result we have no name, we have no canon gender, we are no one and at the same time we are being someone. So weird. I don't feel connected to our protagonist. In AFoP there are no other options for us except customisation of our hero. You can give whatever name you wish to your Sarentu, you can use your imagination, but this won't change this cruel truth - we are no one at this point. Despite everything, yes. And here they are those little moments of affection between our clanmates. Ri'nela and Teylan, romantic or not, but the way she touched him is crazy and I'm just standing there like 🙃. What a stupid thing, being in a crowd and still feeling lonely. And there is so much talking about Nor who just ran away and left them in the time of great need. I want him back too cause I'm curious how he's doing. If there will be a sequel I won't be surprised either if developers will make Nor some kind of a cool Toruk Makto guy or an Olo'eyktan just to make his comeback epic. Hell no, bro. Unfair. Come on, our protagonist is doing literally EVERYTHING and for what? So much of a reckless tough warrior behavior just to be called a "Kataru's child" in the end, cause we are nameless 😐. I feel like we are forced to see how our clan changes, grows, maybe even fallen in love with each other, while our Sarentu remains still. Who are we? Who is our father? Why there is no a single word about him or us? Even from Rasi. She remembers our mother, but not our father. What the hell?😐 No words about us in the notes or audio logs too. Ubisoft, why? Still, I'm so glad they are not the last Sarentu.

This whole game really has a lack of roleplay options and some details. DLC made me happy, but at the same time it made me think about a lot of things. Maybe I'm not the only one in this.

Or maybe I am.

[katyspersonal]

I had a fun dream regarding the Elden Ring DLC!!! In fact, it was a DLC for the DLC. Apparently it was my brain's spin on "how it could have gone differently", centered around at least 3 different endings (?) that I got to try! It was hard to say whether I was playing or actually being the main character and experiencing all this (best type of videogame-based dreams!)

The focal point was Divine Gate being destroyed and Miquella being spat back out, in his accursed child body again and the "plot" started when we returned some things/feelings to him to make him active. The amount of dialogue he'd provide depended on the amount of Crosses we visited, and before returning them he was completely limp. In either case he was labeled on the map as 'Heartbroken Miquella' or something. There was one 'default', ending that needed passivity sort of. There were plenty of quests and things to do still that were required for the plot, but provided you didn't do anything "special" it ended up in Miquella basically building a Noah Arc very quickly. Yes, because some unknown force triggered the great flooding that was coming. It would basically destroy the world Greater Will and Fingers created so far, and yet let it be made anew. The good side of it was, that since Death is connected with water in Elden Ring world (souls of those that didn't die properly assume Jellyfish form, Godwyn became a sea creature, Tibia Mariners) a LOT of people were coming back with the water but in pure form. Children of the Stars without their rotten flesh and all. This ending felt bittersweet though; having done so much to 'uproot' the fundamentally wrong things Two Fingers melded into this world, he still could not find the courage to let his friends die yet there was no time to separate their bodies from flesh like Ranni and victims of Astrologers' experiments... Effectively, preserving """filth""" into new world and saving what he could save.

The second ending somehow stopped the flood by effect, granting it protection of his gentle pale yellow light (not to be confused with the oppressive gold of the Erdtree!). Protection from any Outer God and from corruption and rotting from within. That however would result in people like Malenia, Godwyn (Prince of Death), Romina etc getting sealed into yellow crystals for the 'next 1000 years' so they could not corrupt the world but alas they could not be healed still. This ending was centered on Miquella comprehending that no, Radahn wasn't "corrupted by sinful world" into becoming a warmonger compared to younger self but war WAS his nature. And for many people, alas their nature was 'necessary evil' without which the world would be a hollow place. So he accepted he could not "save" some people because that'd not be them anymore. However, he could still let the world rest in Heaven by putting it in preservation for a long time. Not cleaning, just preserving from evil, external or internal. And how this secret ending was achieved? ......by marrying Miquella, which included a large variety of activities in order to distract Leda, avoid Leda, lead him away before Leda appears, sending more friends to talk to Leda, having Dane and Leda shipped (lol okay??) etc hfhygxjjh Because if you messed up this part, she'd not let you close enough to Miquella and you'd be set back to flood ending XD

Third ending had to do with the darkness!! It was a secret one, where you would seek rifts Messmer left along the way where he used Base Serpent powers too much. The rifts were patched out by the earth itself, but you had to reopen them like wounds. Reverse Crosses collecting! Because.. if they all were opened, you could access the Lightless Abyss that Base Serpent came from and force it into the world! It would extinguish any and all light of this world leaving only blue star-affiliated one. A bit like Ranni's ending but EVIL!! Creatures of golden light would get striped from it though (Queelign copes and seethes lol). It ensured a lot of horrors being unleashed though and consuming every "weak" person. Tarnished, Albinaurics and other lightness were remotely safe, but those born of gold and under Ring and relying on it were FUCKED. Especially Marika's family. They'd remain defenseless and be the first to get swallowed, so from now on they'd need protection. And whereas blue stars remained the age would be darkness swallowing all of them until only one remained. I as a "player" knew it'd explode to bring the light again.. but other characters didn't.

.....yet when I wanted to try this unleashed Abyss ending, Miquella himself stopped me by stabbing me with Bewitching Branch (not swinging it, specifically stabbing) and I woke up from very intense feeling of love and yearning for him lol fgfggh The last thing I remember how scared he was that he barely stopped... all that. But I just suddenly found him the most appealing person in the world, as if I never loved anyone else. I can't even describe how it felt. It was like.. every cell of my body suffering and only his touch could cure this torment. I had to lay down about 20 minutes to finally calm down gjfggd I am actually embarrassed by it, especially since intrusive thoughts followed, but also I guess it wasn't my fault? Very weird type of alarm clock though 💔

[puhpandas]

was thinking last night about the direction the fnaf story is going and I was thinking about vanny cassie. like vanny cassie would be such a perfect villain because it brings vanny back to the spotlight and cassie has a connection to Gregory as a friend.

her arc would be so tragic in every way and she wouldnt know what or who to believe. she would believe she was abandoned by Gregory again (in this case he didnt cut the elevator) like all her friends and her dad did and that vanny is a friend. both manipulation and supernatural mind control stuff like glitchtrap did to vanessa to create vanny.

and 3 stars could be the protags in a post hw2 dlc game that's big and free roam story like sb. I think Gregory would be a better choice as player because he would have the best reason to chase after cassie; shes his friend. vanessa would be very important also because like. Vannys back. and now she has a family and another kid shes gonna fight like hell for.

"the family missed the greatest opportunity of their lives" vanessa didnt destroy vanny glitchtrap and mimic when she should have, and now they're back. and she isnt gonna run away scared this time. shell finally end them for good

and also Vannys motivation. since vanny killed glitchtrap (probably to take his place as big bad bunny virus) this makes you wonder why shes doing this. we dont know why glitchtrap did it either so I guess the same reason as him. shes supposed to be reluctant tho so? idk what's changed. but we'll go with building the monarchy evil pyramid back up

so vanny would be trying to get all of the followers back, or maybe shes still following mimics orders and it wants them back. could have a potential rebellion plot from vanny at the end but that's besides my point

the point is itd be such a fun spot to reveal ggy. Vanessa's been hiding it from Gregory to protect him, maybe freddy too, and Gregory has no idea and just knows he has tons of memory loss. hes moved past it to live his new life, but after doing all this to get Cassie back, it turns out vanny wants all the followers back and hey, why is she talking about 2?? who is dr rabbit?? why is she after me??

I just think theres a lot of potential in a plot like that for all characters. Vanessa's arc as vanny is already so interesting but cassie has an obviously very similar arc becoming vanny but also so different. she would be manipulated while shes alone hurting and believing she was betrayed with abandonment issues and taken advantage of. vanny would be using her as a vessel, so theyd have to get her out of cassie to kill her for good.

and if Gregory had to find out about ggy at this point, itd be a big deal but also truly make that connection between cassie and Gregory. no matter who cut the elevator Gregory would feel at fault because he either did it or wasnt fast enough to stop cassie before it happened. so he would have to confront condemning cassie to the same fate his family and now apparently HE went through and that's his best friend man. and also not to mention the concpet of vanessa and cassie of course

[jadeazora]

I feel like some of us have that region that isn't "for them", and Galar was DEFINITELY that region to me:

Like, the story was pretty boring thanks to the hyperfixation it had on Gyms. And then when something interesting would happen, Leon would show up and redirect you. I get what they're going for, he's their unbeatable Champion and it's nice he's getting involved with the affairs of his region, but it came at a downside. (I feel like Alder was better since the player still felt relevant to the plot, even tho he was pretty active and involved too.)

Most of the major characters just weren't utilized well, fell flat, or annoyed me (tho there's some I liked, like Sonia, Piers, and Raihan) Like, we FINALLY have a jerk rival after two decades, and he's forced out of the plot midway in (due to his own decisions, but still wanted more with Bede), and I think Marnie only really got as popular as she did because of her design, because she's kinda forgettable personality-wise. 🤷‍♀️ There's way more going on with Piers imo. Hop was ok, but I think they could have done a bit more with him. (Maybe if they had explored him growing up in Leon's shadow more?)

I feel like this is gonna be an unpopular opinion, but I just never vibed with Leon and the way the games and anime shilled him just always rubbed me the wrong way. He's not the worst Champion, that still goes to Geeta, but between how the games just use him to redirect the player and the character-shilling, I just kinda found him annoying. 😔 (I tend to not really like showboaty characters most of the time, tho there's a few exceptions like Alastor. I feel like if they got the charisma to back it up, I might end up liking them, but sometimes, it just comes off as kinda lame instead. Imo, the charisma is there more for anime Leon over the games version.)

The idea of minor League Gyms was neat, but we never really got anything with them until Klara and Avery. Like, we can assume Allister/Melony and Bea/Gordie were minor League depending on what game you play, but in the games they're not Gym Leaders, they don't even appear.

I also hated them forcing me into a Gym Uniform in-game for those battles/League fights. (Let me keep my drip, dammit.)

The villain plots ticked me off. I've already gone after Rose a couple times in this blog, but if the energy crisis had been a few decades away, I could understand the rush and frustration with Leon, but 1000yrs was way too big a window. The Royal Brothers are meant to be annoying and ridiculous, and they definitely hit their mark there.

The box Legendaries were the most boring duo for me (They're not Pokemon I dislike, they're fine. The other box Legends were just cooler. I like the more eldritch Mons tho, so I really loved Eternatus.)

The base game's wild area felt really limited and small once you find your way around. The Crown Tundra's was way better, not to mention Paldea's.

I didn't really care for the Dynamax gimmick. (I've always been a Mega Evolution guy tho. Gigantamax could be cool, I think I just like the alternate forms.)

I will say that the DLC improved quite a bit imo. I liked characters like Peony and Mustard, the exploration was an improvement and the quests were fun, and it was cool seeing the interactions between Gym Leaders and such in the Galarian Star tournament. They also get bonus points for bringing back two of my favorite Pokemon, Volcarona and Magnezone. (I also feel like the Galar-original Mons were pretty good overall, and same with the clothing options.)

But like, by the time we got out of Gen8 and into Paldea for everything (well, the games and the anime anyway, wasn't the biggest JN fan either, I still have to catch up on Adventures), I was so happy. Technical issues with SV aside, I've enjoyed Gen9 a lot more overall.

[kunimilktea]

This picture of kori in the last post is sending me

She looks so silly dkkskskdkd.

Speaking of kori (also hey I had an mc called cori that's cool!) when do her and cove get together? Is it in the step 2 epilogue with the confession or during the charity confession?

Also unrelated to Kori but what do you mind going more into depth on your thoughts for both Derek and Baxter dlcs? I love discussions around their dlcs I wish people would genuinely talk more about itz going into depth into the themes of the dlcs and how they affect Derek and Baxter as characters, but then again I'm someone who loves analyzing the media they consume so djdkdkjd. General discussions about these things drive me crazy (I think is worth mentioning that I'm autistic so djdkdk)

Your art is also very lovely I loved watching your doodles, you're one of the artists I always look forward to to get a notification from 🫶

THATS ALOT OF QUESTIONS YOU GOT THERE BUDDY,,,,

Im kidding tho it's appreciated nonetheless ^_^

SO FIRST OF ALL THANKS FOR LIKING MY ART 🥹🥹🥹 i try my best to make time for drawing my silly our life doodles despite being busy in college and i appreciate anyone who rlly enjoys my dumb doodles of my ol mc shenanigans

Answering the confession question, they confess at the end of step 3 cause i thought the slowburn was fun 😇

I actually drew their first kiss right here

Now with the derek and baxter dlc question,,,

So fun fact! With how i played the the dlcs over all me and my friend Lo (@/oiulse) would choose which boy to play the dlc and stream it on call, so Lo picked Baxter and i took Derek, it was really funny cause casual constantly played in our heads during the Baxter dlc (bless lo btw for gifting me both dlcs labyu oomf 🫰)

With how i feel with BOTH dlcs

For my boy Derek Suarez

When i played the first moment from dereks dlc my voice started like acting up from how long THAT specific moment was, maybe its just me but the first moment in particular felt really long, I get it though its the first time ur meeting the suarez family and in no way did i NOT enjoy it, but there were indeed moments where im like DAMN ITS STILL NOT OVER cause of how tired my voice was getting LMFAO, all the other moments were rlly fun my favorite one from the dlc was where u hang out with liz on daddy day and there was an option to gift a card to cliff 🥹, his step 4 was also a bunch of fun i loved the family bonding get to do with the suarez brothers (u can just tell that i love family aus) and getting to hang out with derek made me love him more as a chr, HIS STEP 4 VOICE IS STILL A JUMPSCARE TO ME FROM HOW DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT IT IS (no hate to the va btw) STILL VERY FUNNY THOUGH HAHAHA, i made it so that Derek, kori and cove get to be neighbors before the both of them get married so now they hang out LOTS

With THE Baxter FUCKING Alexander Ward

I heard from another friend that the baxter's dlc was gonna be angsty and i was like oh hell fuckin yeah i love angst! AND THERE CERTAINLY WAS ANGST ILL TELL U THAT MUCH, since i was watching lo play through the Baxter dlc i will admit there were a few times where i spaced out cause ANOTHER fun fact, we played the dlcs like really late on my timezone so i was either drawing while Lo was playing or i was in the brink of conking the fuck out, i was able to know what was going on overall i think the ONLY moment i like fully spaced out on was when the mc and baxter were like out drinking or smth and there was this entire thing with the bartender and the singer, that specific scene in particular i was fully focusing on smth else and it wasnt till later that when i played the baxter dlc for myself that i knew what was finally going on, since me and lo have our castaways au to think abt while playing these dlcs we were building aus upon aus of what lo's mc would do when meeting with baxter again after 5 years its fun lo has never been the same since and neither have i, the angst was good soup and i can see why baxter's dlc was more expensive than derek's LMFAO

But ironically enough the dlc that made me cry was DEREKS DLC,,, that moment on the step 4 epilogue with the brothers having a heart to heart is going to be MY ROMAN EMPIRE, I FUCKING LOVE FAMILIES BRO GAUGHHHH

Anyways sorry that was unnecessarily long i could have organized my thoughts more but i dont have the patience for that so i hope u dont mind that all my thoughts and feelings were all over the place hahaha

In conclusion the dlcs was a nice content buffet 👍

[thenukacolachallenge]

some fun facts about Luis and André Peña(his VA) Part Two: Electric Boogaloo

okay so i did one of these that was just from the Nick Apostolides streams(minus the Separate Ways DLC stream(s), THOUGH I DO WANNA WATCH THAT), but now i'm going through other videos of streams and finding out even more stuff that i wanna talk about lol sooooo... PART TWO BABEY

this all is from Twitch Streamer Peralt's charity stream for JDRF UK, in which André is a guest on! it's a fun watch, i recommend the whole video tbh, André gives out a lot of useful life and acting advice and the vibe is just lots of fun. but, these posts are primarily for stuff related to Luis, which is what i'll be cataloguing!

NOW WITH TIMESTAMPS BY REQUEST!

-André considers the role of Luis to be more than just voice acting, more of just full-on acting, since he also did his motion capture, which i find very interesting. i always love hearing the BTS processes of things i enjoy and that's such a cool fact. i'm sure most people know that he did mocap for Luis already, but I like that André doesn't consider his performance as Luis very different from a regular acting role. (timestamp)

-André took the more cheerful aspects of Luis from his own personality. He mentions that he's a relatively happy person himself, but that happiness comes from knowing darkness, and that was just something that he kind of naturally transferred over to Luis, considering Luis's backstory itself is so dark. One of the first things that drew me to Luis in this game was his goofy behavior in a terrifying situation, so i'm thankful for it! (timestamp)

-André also gives a lot of interesting BTS with pointing out the differences in acting mocap vs stage vs onscreen acting. it's not related to Luis per se outside of his relation to André, but it is SUPER fascinating, and you can tell André is really passionate about acting and it makes me appreciate his performance all the more. I can't wait to see him in new roles! (timestamp)

-When asked if there was anything from OG Luis that André took with him as character inspiration/canonicity/whatever else, he mentioned that he tried to take mostly the essence of Rino Romano's voice and mannerisms, and tried to emulate all of that without it being in "bad taste"(in reference to OG Luis being kind of gross toward women), and kind of added more quirkiness as more of his own spin on it. personally i think he did a great job; Luis is still very much a flirt, but he comes across as less of a creep and more just a harmless flirty goofball, which i think threads the needle really well for him as a character! (timestamp)

-(not related to Luis, but André is very adamant that the S in Leon S. Kennedy stands for Sancho, not Scott, which makes me giggle) (timestamp)

-André picked up smoking(again) for the role of Luis! it was also how he practiced Luis's lighter trick(which he clarifies is referred to as 'lighter juggling'); every time he'd have a cig, he made it so he had to do the tricks before he could light it. One of the tricks is called "the Infinity", where you flip the lighter through your fingers in a continuous motion, and there's one where you toss the lighter in the air, and close it as you catch it. He was a smoker growing up, he had stopped, he picked up the habit again for Luis, and then threw his cigs out the second he finished his final scene as Luis. He also clarifies NOT to smoke; he is able to start and stop smoking fairly easily, but that is not the case for most people. As a former smoker myself, i agree: if you dont already smoke, don't pick it up! don't pick up vaping either please!!! (timestamp)

-not related to Luis, but André talks a bit with Peralt(the streamer) about self-defense, martial arts, and alcohol. He tells a story about how he got jumped in a bar by a drunk guy and how his background in self-defense helped there, and talks about the effects of excess alcohol consumption. i keep repeating this, but the stream is a really good one, and i highly recommend watching it yourself! (timestamp)

-Someone asked what André thinks about the Luis and Leon shipping, and I really like his answer. He starts off by clarifying that everyone is allowed to have their headcanons, and there's nothing wrong with shipping in general, and to ship whatever you like. However, for André himself, he used the model of how he and his brother interact for how Luis interacts with Leon. He likes to goad his brother, who he describes as "a hothead" and "like Leon", and so he transferred a lot of that energy into Luis goading and teasing Leon. He played Luis as realizing that he and Leon are stuck together, and he knows Leon won't do anything to really harm Luis, so he put a lot of energy into basically razzing him like one would a sibling. He also finished by once again clarifying that people are allowed to do whatever they want in their own headcanon lol. (some people do get really upset about that stuff!) (timestamp)

-as a quick aside to the above conversation, André mentions that Luis cares SO MUCH about Ashley. When it comes to Leon, Luis is, in André's own words, "a dick to him". Ashley, to Luis, is "pure" - the one thing in the entire scenario that has no business being in this place. With Leon, Luis knows from his uptight demeanor, that he's been through hell before - this guy is stuck with him, in hell, for better or worse. But Ashley is innocent, dragged into this to be a pawn of Saddler's. So he's most concerned with Ashley's safety overall, and André tried to really push that concern and care in his performance. i think it really shows, especially in the scene after the cabin standoff, where Ashley coughs up blood and Luis immediately realizes that she's been infected, and he has to save her. (timestamp)

-During Luis' scene in the vanilla game with Ada(not Separate Ways scenes, although i think this scene is in the dlc too?), André confirms that Luis telling Ada "you should be telling me what a good job i did" is just him trying to make up an excuse of sorts for not having the Amber on him. Small detail, but one i like! (timestamp)

-André once more affirms that Luis is a cat person! He also specifically states, again, that he'd probably start off as not a pet person, but he'd probably get adopted by a stray cat, who he'd leave out food for but eventually let into his home, and that'd begin his love for cats. He also mentions that actors have to think about things like this, to flesh out their characters, which makes me wonder what other headcanons he has for Luis! (tbf tho, i've been wondering this since i watched André's unboxing of the Luis jacket he got commissioned for cosplay, and he mentioned that Luis loves spice) (timestamp)

-in the end, the stream raised a bit shy of 1k for the charity JDRF, which is super awesome!!!! i am several months late but congrats to Peralt's community for making that happen!!!

that was all i managed to find out about Luis specifically, but if i missed anything, feel free to add on in a comment! sometimes it's hard to hear with so many people talking and so much going on, but i'm enjoying learning about Luis outside of the game itself like this :D i'm planning on watching André's streams, the rest of Nick's streams, Nicole Tompkins'(Jill Valentine's VA) streams with André as a guest, and anymore i can find, so if i mind out more stuff about Luis from these vids, yall can expect more of these hahaha!

[exaltedfuzz]

HI I LOVEEEEE your Art I LOVEEEE your ema! I wanted to ask if you've played aa6 and your thoughts on aa6 ema! I really like that they brought her back and i really think they balanced her personality well by making her more upbeat because of her job, but shes not wholly optimistic either. I really like her relationship with prosecutor sadmadhi throughout the game too! I feel like there's a scale in emas mind from Most to least acceptable prosecutor men and on one end is Miles edgeworth, the other is Klavier gavin, and sadmadhi is in the middle. if that makes sense lol. I just think she talks like she doesn't like him, but she goes along with him way more than she would if Klavier ever asked her to do half the things he asks of her. Also I think it's really interesting that aa6 had ema and mayas first canon interaction! that was interesting to me because ema was sort of designed with Maya in mind and lana and mia obviously have some history, I think it was time for their sisters to meet too. sorry for the Long ask but I just treasure your interpretation of these characters so much!

Hi! I recognize your username from my notifs. Thanks for the support, and for your ask! 🫡 Glad you like the Emas!

I have mixed feelings on SoJ, but Ema is my favorite part of it. I like her a lot in it. She's still got a bit of the edge from AJ, which is nice to see. I like some of her new sprites too, like the swaying thinking one and the 🥺 one. Much prefer her munching sprite from AJ though. The shovelling snacks into her mouth is much more Ema. I also really don't like her official full body art for SoJ.

Unfortunately, Nahyuta doesn't really interest me... His design is too complex to do silly drawings of, for one. I feel like their dynamic was a little underdeveloped, a bit shoehorned in. It's a shame, because their backstories set up a possible dynamic that could be quite interesting, since Lana and Nahyuta kind of have the same motivations - writing team missed a trick. Also, I think Ema would have realistically been grumpier about having to fly halfway across the world every few days. It didn't reeeeaaally feel organic to me. But I do like the idea of their dynamic.

I like the way Maya and Ema interact, even if it's brief. Implies that they have met before, and they're friends, which is cute, though I wish it was a little more delved into. I feel like Maya's characterisation in SoJ is kind of boring. Not as bad as Pearl got it, but still nowhere near as good as she was in the trilogy. Honestly, the whole game falls flat for me when you compare it to the emotional weight the trilogy and AJ have. I really like some of the cases though. And Ema's mini games are great as always. Except the bit with the suitcase which lagged out my 3DS and made me restart it twice, haha. (Though, again! Her mini games were kind of better in the other games!!!)

So, to answer your question, I do like Ema in SoJ. And, despite my criticism, I do like SoJ! Just not as much as the other games in the series. When you play them all in a row, it feels kind of disappointing. I think it's because it's not on the intimate, domestic scale of the trilogy, which is where I think Ace Attorney really shines. (Case in point: Bridge to the Turnabout)

Super happy to see her in another game though, she's really fun, exactly what SoJ needed, and I'm really glad she was the detective they went for. Also, the outfit they put her in for the DLC cutscenes at the wedding is really really good. They were cooking with that one.

I'm really happy to hear you're interested in my interpretations, it means a lot. They're characters I've grown quite fond of.

This turned out quite long. Haha

Here's Ema and Nahyuta for you:

[riding-the-sunset-bird]

hi!! i know this depends a lot on personal taste but i thought i'd ask you because you know the game so well, which dlc do you think is the most worth it?

(note: this anon clarified in another ask that they meant all DLCs but were most interested in the Cove Step DLCs; thank you!)

Hi!

First off, gonna give you massive credit here because I think this is a super fascinating ask, so much so that I want to do a bit of a deep dive!

(skip to the end for the summarized/basic stuff)

Personal Preference

I'll begin by saying that if you just ask me this question outright and it comes down wholly to my opinion and my opinion only, then I'd say that Baxter's DLC was the most worth it to me. The actual reasons for it are a bit too extensive - I'll leave it at me simply adoring Baxter and what his DLC contributes to the story's narrative - but that would be my answer.

However, I'd really like to go into something that I find more objective. We'll do this by splitting that idea of "worth it" into different categories and going from there, because it could mean so many different things depending on player preference.

Story Relevance

This just boils down to what DLC adds the most to Our Life's story, which I'm defining as "moments/scenes that would feel natural in the base game" as opposed to a DLC that comes off like extra content but not necessary content.

For this one, I'm going to award the points to the Step 3 DLC, mostly for Reflection, Late Shift, and Serendipity. All three of these moments provide something for what already existed in the base game, to the point where I almost think it's odd for them to be DLC content.

Reflection gives both backstory to Cove's scar (something that had been talked about before but not fully explained) and closure on Cove's conflict with his parents over their divorce. It also shows character development for Cove as he moves past all of that.

Serendipity follows up on Liz meeting Shiloh in the Step 3 intro. Even if the player doesn't care about Shiloh, I think it makes sense for Liz to go searching for him even if you didn't have the DLC, and then the DLC just lets you actually see what comes from it (that's not how it works in-game but I'm just making a point).

Late Shift follows up on what the MC's job is if they chose to have one, as well as showing Cove at his job. It expands the initial choice of "job"/"no job" during the intro into an actual moment, which gives it more meaning. I'd consider it an equivalent to Charity in that way (which is impacted by whether or not the MC volunteers at ORCA).

So yeah, Step 3's DLC, no contest.

Consistency

This is what I'd imagine to be the DLC that is the most "all-around" of the DLCs; maybe not too high of highs, but not too low of lows either, just an all-around solid product.

I'm giving this one to the Step 1 DLC. While it's the shortest of the DLCs, I think the content is consistency good throughout all moments. All feature the MC just doing assorted kid things and satisfy MCs who might be Indifferent to Cove early on (all except two allow the MC to mostly ignore Cove if they'd prefer to spend time with others), whereas the Step 2 and 3 DLC can be more mixed.

For example, Reflection - while solid and emotional if you're invested in Cove's backstory - is a lot of talking and not a lot of doing, Happiness is hilariously short if you're Indifferent to Cove, and Serendipity is probably a total skip for players who aren't interested in Shiloh. For the Step 2 DLC, Soiree tends to be a standout moment that overshadows the rest and other moments are largely out of the MC's control (Escapade if the MC isn't having fun, which has little impact, and Summerwork if the MC isn't the type that would lead to the drama in said moment).

But the Step 1 DLC is the one I feel would be most consistently enjoyable throughout the whole thing, at least when keeping in mind the limitations that would naturally be placed on the MC given that they're a child. I always enjoy playing each fairly equally.

Fun Factor

This just comes down to the highest highs - the DLC that provides the most fun - and I'd say that the Step 2 DLC does that.

Mall allows you to spend roughly equal amounts of time with Derek, Lee, and Cove (both a different experience from the base game and gives the MC a new location to mess around in).

Birthday lets you engage in various games and meet with Miranda (which could be something fun for the player, either meeting Miranda early if they haven't played the full game yet or seeing younger Miranda if they have). Plus, that this is the moment where the MC can retaliate against Jeremy (dooting Jeremy into silence is one of my personal biggest non-Cove non-Baxter highlights of the game) which gives the moment worth all on its own.

Soiree being a big win whether you want to bring Cove or not and giving the MC multiple different ways to experience it (including having a dance with Baxter, regardless of whether they go down his route or not). This allows MCs who might not be Indifferent to Cove but still don't want to bring him for whatever reason the full freedom to do so (unlike Happiness), which allows for more replayability.

I've expressed points about Summerwork and Escapade already, but even disregarding the potential fun of those, I think the highs of the others outweigh the lows, which I don't think the Step 3 DLC would do with the ones I've gone on about. The Step 1 DLC is overall more consistently good and I think a player is more likely to enjoy all of the steps, but I think the Step 2 DLC is more fun.

Other Matters

These are a few details I don't want to get too much into but still wished to address. The Step 3 DLC, content-wise, is unquestionably the largest out of all of the Step DLCs (provided that you play all of the moments in each), even though all Step DLCs are the same price. Likewise, the Step 2 DLC is larger than the Step 1 DLC.

Goes without saying that quantity does not equal quality and, while not pointing to any specific target, I want to add that I don't think it's acceptable for things like CGs to not be up to par with the ones in the base game when you're paying for the DLC while not paying for the base game.

Additionally, I think it's strange for the moments that feature the alternative guys to be locked away (Mall and Summerwork for Derek, then Late Shift and Boating for Baxter; Derek won't even join the player at their house if the MC is Indifferent to Cove and Terry/Liz will jump into Cove's place in Late Shift/Boating respectively rather than the MC potentially getting Baxter). This can make Derek's proposal in particular at the end of Step 2 confusing to base game players because they will have only seen Derek in the intro and ending, thus making his crush come out of nowhere.

It doesn't change the quality of the DLCs themselves, but I just wanted to point out that both Derek and Baxter kind of have an extra price tacked onto their DLCs because most players would probably want to see more of them before buying those.

And yes, it does indeed give the Step 2 DLC a few points towards the story relevance category because Derek's proposal is there no matter what, but I thought the Step 3 DLC still outweighed it.

Just wanted to get all that out of the way.

Addressing the Cove Wedding DLC

I sometimes call this the "Wedding Planning DLC" because that's what you'll spend a large chunk of time doing. That's not a criticism if you like that, just stating an observation.

Unlike most DLCs where I can weigh the various moments' pros and cons, the Wedding DLC is just one long "moment" where you plan your wedding with Cove, have the wedding with Cove, and then have the reception.

Also, Baxter is the wedding planner, so if you hate him then prepare to hold your breath before diving into it.

I think it does well for what it's trying to do (it's a little sad that there's no CG but there are so many mini-CGs that I get it), so it really is just a matter of whether you want it or not.

The Step DLCs are $4 each and the Wedding DLC is $3, so do I think that the Wedding DLC is worth 75% of any of the Step DLCs?

Not really (I eventually got tired of the planning part to the point where Baxter giving dance lessons became the most exciting thing that happened, as it felt like there was some development going on, lol), but I can see why it'd be worth it for other people. I recommend it if people are just very dedicated to planning a wedding in addition to seeing the wedding and reception.

Derek's Story DLC and Baxter's Story DLC

These two are another case where it very heavily leans on personal preference. I've already said that I like Baxter's DLC the best, but I might as well talk about Derek's too.

My feelings on his DLC are... complicated. Basically, it's the Derek and His Family DLC and I think that's great, but when it comes to plots centered around families, my attention tends to drift (this includes the moment titled Family in Step 2, by the way). Found family holds my interest a bit more though, one example being a potential plotpoint you can go down in Derek's DLC where you consider Mr. Holden a father to you.

While I do enjoy the personalities amongst Derek's family (barring Nicolas until Step 4), I think it might end up being a problem for some because the story stops being about you and starts being about Derek due to the amount of characters exclusive to his DLC all connecting back to him and not you. You take a backseat to the plot and Derek's issues in Step 4 actually end up being resolved without you during an argument/conversation with his brothers.

Which is good if you just want to kick back, watch the plot unfold, and listen to Derek talk about his problems, especially as his major issue takes place between Step 3 and 4 so the player doesn't witness it. Me personally, I had a lot of my agency taken away during key moments, such as Siblings where I didn't think going to see Elizabeth was a good idea, nor Boardwalk where I missed out on seeing Jorge (who is my favorite Suarez) and Elizabeth's relationship develop because the game has you go with Derek, nor the ending of Step 4 where I wouldn't have just run off with Derek due to wanting to spend more time with the family.

Another awkward little detail is that Derek will crush on the player and try to get them into a marriage proposal regardless of the player's own feelings, which can lead to some awkward moments (like Nicolas wanting to see the player in a swimsuit "because that's what Derek wants").

Baxter's DLC is the opposite because his family is only mentioned occasionally and not even seen on-screen. You largely spend one-on-one time with him and characters tend to focus on the player rather than Baxter (and when they do focus on Baxter, it's often as an extension of the player's connection with him).

It's very high drama/angst for a typical Our Life story, which can naturally turn people away who prefer the slice of life nature of most moments. It's a very different feel from the rest of the game and not just because the player is spending time with someone who isn't Cove. Cove is set up as the character that the player is with for all steps and in-betweens, inevitably meaning that Derek and Baxter won't stick around after their step until their Step 4; it's just that one of them makes far bigger drama about it than the other.

The DLC also lets you meet Miranda's brother and you get a psuedo Wedding DLC mashed into Baxter's Step 4 where you're part of the wedding planning process without being one of the people the wedding is for. Miranda gets a mini-plot for herself involving her relationship with Terry in addition to already getting one of Baxter's moments centered around giving her a birthday party.

On the downside, the interest system in Our Life does not function towards going down in interest (doesn't function well in general with how Baxter's DLC works, really), so going into Baxter's Step 4 with the idea of never forgiving him or not at least becoming friends again won't work. The game assumes by the act of choosing Baxter's Step 4 that the player wants to eventually hear Baxter out and becomes friends/lovers again, otherwise they'd be doing Cove's Step 4 instead; it's just something to keep in mind.

Speaking of Cove, while Baxter's DLC gives a little more focus towards Miranda and Terry, Derek's DLC has a moment where Cove shares equal screen time with him, so you could consider both DLCs to give extra focus to separate groups of people (Cove+Mr. Holden or Miranda+Terry).

Basically, both DLCs are entirely different and I can't really give them a category because they're so different compared to the base game, so I'll give some bullet points later of who I think would enjoy the DLC rather that putting them in a box.

The only other thing left to say is that, while Derek's DLC pairs with the Step 2 DLC and Baxter's DLC pairs with the Step 3 DLC for getting that little bit of extra time with the respective character, story-wise I think the Step 2 DLC is also good for Baxter's DLC because of Birthday and Soiree.

Recap

Overall, I do believe that every DLC has its own value and anyone could think differently on which is the best to them. I felt like it'd be too cheap to just claim which one is the best, especially since I like the more controversial Baxter DLC (the Step 2 DLC is my favorite Step DLC, for the record).

So to summarize:

Step 1 DLC (for Consistency)

most consistently likable and good all around

if one moment stands out from the others, it's not by much

the "safest" choice of the DLCs, which could be seen as either a good or bad thing

Step 2 DLC (for Fun Factor)

highest highs of the Step DLCs

allows for multiple assorted character interactions

Soiree being a strong moment to lean into the MC's independence

meeting younger Miranda in Birthday and finally retaliating against Jeremy

solid addition in combination with owning the Derek DLC or Baxter DLC as an extra bit of fun

but can have a feeling of the MC being "taken along for the ride" in some moments or doing things that might not seem like something that'd happen to them

Step 3 DLC (for Story Relevance)

includes the most content that adds to the MC's/Cove's story in a meaningful way

serves as an extension of a few happenings in the Step 3 intro

heavy on emotion

works in combination with the Baxter DLC to give the player extra time with him

feels the most natural amongst the base game moments

but can be a mixed bag depending on the MC's feelings on Cove and other characters like Shiloh, potentially leaving at least one moment as a total skip

The Cove Wedding DLC is good for people who:

like the idea of planning their wedding the way people spend hours doing character customization in games

can enjoy or tolerate/put up with Baxter as the wedding planner

are cool with a low conflict/casual plot (as nothing goes wrong during the process)

are fine with having no Cove CGs, only mini CGs

The Derek's Story DLC is good for people who:

like plots centering heavily around family

enjoy young children acting like young children

want extra time with Cove and/or Mr. Holden, as well as Elizabeth (who features in two separate moments and also Step 4)

prefer sitting back on some level and watching the plot happen around them instead of directly from them

don't mind being reminded every now and then that Derek is crushing on the MC if playing a friendship-only route

And the Baxter's Story DLC is good for those who:

prefer one-on-one time with characters

want a change of scenery from the usual Our Life plotlines and a heavier dose of drama than the usual

are seeking more time/development for Miranda and Terry, as well as their relationship

like the potential option of having a fling with Baxter in their story (whether that ends with the MC romancing Baxter in the end, someone else, or no one at all)

wish to be involved in a wedding with a conflict attached, as well as the MC not being part of the couple having the wedding

Hope this answers your question!

[tricitymonsters]

Heyo I got a question for you again

Who are Raath Kazu and Marcel ?

Are they other love interests that are going to be in the game (I’m assuming they’re going to be DLCs since they aren’t in the game right now)

What are they like ? What are their personalities ?

Can we get any tidbits as to what their monster forms are ?

What do they look like ? And how old are they ?

Are they connected with our main three in any way ? And if they are connected, how ?

What do they look like,visually speaking Do you have any sketches of them we can see

I have a little character bio thingy in my pinned post that might help!

Raath, Kazu, and Marcel are side characters that have appeared in various "extra" TCM content, though Marcel had a small role in Akello's concept chapter (which you can check out over on itch if you're interested in learning a little more about him).

All three of these guys will be appearing in game at some point, though at this stage they will not be relationship options. They may get their own routes in the future but I'm not really in the planning stages for that right now so it's a possibility but not a promise, just yet.

Raath:

Raath is a sadistic, unhinged private assassin who's been doing a lot of dirty work for Amir's parents. He's feral, has no social skills, and visceral to the core. He's doesn't really know the circumstances of his birth but estimates he's about 35. He's about 6'3 and built very lean/athletic because of the physical demands of his job. Raath is something... not quite human, but also not quite demon either and I'm being deliberately vague about that :3

(thanks @b00k3t for the sketches)

Kazu:

Kazu's a friend of Mori's and deeply loyal to him, though that doesn't stop Mori from being annoying on purpose and Kazu from brawling with him on the regular. Kazu's 32, and 6'7ish, built like a brick shithouse and a prodigal, professional martial artist. Kazu's quiet and gruff but protective and selfless, even to Mori. He has a semi-secret nerdy side that loves J-Idols, Kamen Rider/Super Sentai, and bugs. He also runs his own mechanic shop to work on cars and his prized motorcycle which he custom built. As of right now, Kazu doesn't have an official monster form but there's been talk of how well being an Oni would suit him.

(thanks @coyoxxtl for the sketches)

Marcel:

Another Big Boy, Marcel is about 6'4 and pretty cut as he's a star college athlete with the potential to make it to the pro level. He's Akello's only son and, like his dad, is generally a genial and fun person to be around. Marcel is loud and animated, loves playing jokes, and is extremely confident in himself to the point of being cocky and full of swagger. However, his charisma usually keep that from being offensive and he tends to be popular with everyone, except his coaches and teachers who wish he would take things more seriously.

Like Kazu, Marcel also doesn't have a monster form yet. :3 (another @b00k3t sketch, thank you!!)

[velvetjune]

Alan Wake Night Springs DLC spoilers and thoughts:

This is very vague, but this really was the most Remedy thing to ever exist. My brain exploded at some point from Everything. Good game—you can tell those developers had the time of their life making all this. looking forward to the Lake House as something more serious and similar to the main game/tone.

Episode one with Rose was the best! Stunning from the start until the end and had the funniest moments in any Remedy game. [Rose voice] “𝖎 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖈𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚”

That fanart was SO good and could’ve been drawn by any irl Alan Wake fan. I can’t even say another or act like it’s embarrassing because I also think Alan is hot. So. Same Rose.

Bad boy Scratch being a werewolf.. Cat boy Alan (and the fucking Nightmare on Elm Street crop top fanart of him) being comically weak and in distress.. Rose dipping him at the end was unbelievably hilarious. Reject alpha male Scratch and embrace wet cat Alan. Every few minutes I had to remind myself that Alan technically wrote this,, his mind,, his perception of himself is incredible

That episode also was fun all around to play. Endless ammo and fun effects with the automatic shotgun. Rose slowly getting covered in blood. She’s already one of my favorite characters after this—she’s cringey in the best (and scarily realistic) ways. I support her

Episode 2: wish this one was longer because I missed Jesse and her awkward and aggressive conversations with others. I thought Dylan would pop up at some point, but of course Alan wrote himself into this twist ending. Couldn’t stop laughing with that. It felt just like the Night Springs eps of Alan Wake 1 lol.

I had the most trouble with some of the sections of this game, but it was fun, mostly just felt like a fool for not initially understanding it. The secret agency and clear references to the Board and FBC were everything. It was just Control: Coffee edition.

Episode 3: Death Rally Tom !! I was beyond happy seeing this. Always nice to see more Zane.

I’m not very familiar with Quantum Break outside of the general story and beginning, so the last episode was So Much. Initial thought: Please no Jesse and Tim in Control 2. It’s almost certainly supposed to be because of Quantum Break, but that version of her waiting for Tim came out of nowhere for me lol (also 😔 because I either want her to be with Emily or not get with someone at all—Control Jesse is so far from Beth Quantum Break/Lisa imo). The “but maybe…” multiverse romance was. whatever. cheesy but in a more negative way.

Another thing that makes me somewhat relieved this is the whacky DLC is that it does address a lot of the vague unanswered questions of the game in the typical sci-fi way (and probably a big win for theorists), and I want to keep that away from most of the main games. I like not knowing things lmao. It’s not a huge deal and I love all the crossovers/realities, but I want future AW (if 3 happens) and Control games to still largely focus on the mysterious horror without anything too definitive or distracting. I’m mostly okay with it here because this is Also an episode written by Alan and hosted by Door, so it’s not reliable—even if I’m sure this is what Remedy envisions when writing these games.

^ something something “In a horror story the victim keeps asking why, but there can be no explanation and there shouldn't be one. The unanswered mystery is what stays with us the longest and is what we'll remember in the end.”

However looooved how the third episode changed the style of the game repeatedly. The very last scene where the words form the writers room and Alan before it abruptly ends was great and the standout of the ep.

I’m not going to try to unpack all this, but it’s interesting how Alan and Door present themselves as being these largely antagonistic forces in this DLC. They’re an underrated duo (the two Masters of Many Worlds). Everything felt like it was Alan purposefully trying to imprint on these realities and influence things in his writing, making certain things parallel his life and circumstances. Reminded me of him attempting to get the irl Koskela brothers to kill each other to get out of the Dark Place. Hard to tell what’s really the truth.

I like Door too much to be scared of him. The jump scares were nicely paced throughout and the echoes of Tim/Shawn/Jack fighting him were interesting.

The tribute for James McCaffrey at the end was emotional and lovely.

[yumeka36]

Black Myth Wukong

I finally finished my (mostly) all-bosses playthrough of Black Myth Wukong. Since a lot of my favorite streamers were playing it, and it looked intriguing from the trailer, I wanted to give it a try once I had my fill of the Elden Ring DLC. It took me a month to beat the game (I only had time to play about 2-3 hours a day).

Overall, I enjoyed the game immensely. Give me a game with really cool and creative monster designs, plus pretty, scenic areas to explore, and I'm happy! The combat is really fun too - the mix of spells, melee attacks, transformations, stance styles, etc, gives you such a variety of ways to play. Plus the fact that you can respec anytime removes the pressure of committing to one build. But honestly, I kinda stuck with the same build the whole game, lol. I focused most of my skill points on health, defense, attack, Immobilize, and Pluck of Many, as well as putting all my Mind Cores into the same, plus mana. This got me through basically all of the game with relative ease. Actually, either I got overpowered or the game wasn't that difficult for me, since by mid-chapter 2, almost every boss was a first or second try victory for me. Only exceptions were the Loongs and few chapter finale bosses and secret area bosses who took a few tries more. Then there was Erlang, who took me at least 30+ tries over 3 hours and was one of the hardest bosses I've fought in any game (coming from someone who's fought every boss in Elden Ring, Sekiro, Bloodborne, and the Dark Souls trilogy). So yeah, don't want to see that guy again anytime soon.

The only time I respeced a bit was to put more points into four banes resistance against Erlang. But I was also dumb and didn't realize there was a Drink to restore Qi, which was what I really needed to get rid of his shields with the fan vessel. But I still died a few times even after figuring this out, so I think he's just a really difficult boss.

While I enjoyed the heck out of the gameplay, unfortunately I couldn't follow the story/lore well at all. Obviously this is because I know close to nothing about Journey to the West or Chinese mythology. So while I understood the basic premise of finding Wukong's relics throughout the land, everything else as far as who the characters were, what their relationship is to Wukong and each other, and why they're doing what they're doing, was totally lost to me. Even after watching a "story explained" video, it's very clear that the game is a true sequel to Journey to the West, and you're guaranteed to be lost about most things if you haven't read the book. But the fact that I still enjoyed the game despite this just shows how fun it is. If I enjoy the gameplay mechanics, not being able to follow the story isn't that big a deal to me. Also, the animated music videos between each chapter were amazing. My favorite is the one for chapter 3, which was so well choreographed but also deliciously horrifying.

Like I do with most games, I wanted to make sure I beat every boss and explored every area the game had to offer. But I also didn't want to follow a walkthrough religiously either (which is something I did in my early days of gaming with the Dark Souls games). Other than look up a boss list and where to find them, I played the game mostly blind until around chapter 4. I was upset when I realized I had missed key things in chapter 3, which was being able to fight the Apramana Bat and Rat Captain bosses, as well as attain the Auspicious Lantern curio from the Lantern Wardens (I did fight a couple of them, but then decided to avoid them once I got yeeted off the cliff, lol). So from that point on I carefully checked IGN's walkthrough as I explored each area. Thankfully those were the only two bosses I missed during the rest of my playthrough. But damn, does this game have so many hidden secrets! I can't imagine anyone finding all the bosses/secret areas without looking it up online.

I guess that's one complaint I have about the game...maybe the secrets are too secret? Like I said, I don't know how a player is expected to figure some of these things out if playing normally. Maybe some more hinting about how to access the secret bosses and areas would have been nice, even if it's just some NPC dialogue or more elaborate item descriptions. I also don't like that they hid an essential thing like armor upgrades behind a questline that's so easily missable. A couple other minor issues I had were forcing cutscenes in the middle of fights and your character being way too prone to stagger with few ways to increase Tenacity, resulting in many wasted mana and focus point attacks (why is Tenacity not part of the skill tree?) But again, these were just minor issues and took little away from my overall enjoyment.

So yeah, I highly recommend Black Myth Wukong if you like fantasy adventure games focused on boss battles and various combat styles.