#I do think the players know what I'm talking about

[purpleopossum]

The scariest horror game I ever played was one of those cheap, crummy little find-the-object games you could buy at the grocery store 2-to-a-disk (yes really) It was about a woman who woke up with no memories in an abandoned asylum. As she goes through she realizes there's someone here with her who she hates, who she assumes is in charge here, and who has her daughter. Weirdly, the building is abandoned. There are no nurses or other staff, just this one doctor/guy you're trying to avoid. She explores, reading patient files and slowly putting together what happened. Her husband was a doctor, specializing in coma patients and some kind of weird experimental thing with uncovering memories (in coma patients). He was abusive. She took her daughter and ran, but ended up in a car crash. Her daughter suffered minor injuries, she ended up in a coma... and was handed back over into the care of her husband. He descended into unethical practices and madness (not very far, he was already evil), obsessing over trying to save the main character. He lost his license, but managed, with the help of his secretary, to hide himself and his work away in this abandoned facility (His secretary eventually turned on him when she realized he was evil, and he murdered her/injured her to the point of being in a coma, and experimented on her) There's nothing the player can do for his "patients," who are basically already dead after all his years of experimenting on them, and eventually she blows the building up to kill them both so her daughter can escape. It was incredible, atmospheric, and the villains were NEVER the patients, but the abusive medical staff that have power over them. I have thought about this game, and the implications of it, ever since. It gave me nightmares for years, and I think it altered my brain chemistry. There are STILL SHOTS from this game that just THINKING ABOUT still sends me into fight or flight (not gore, literally just a guy standing in a doorway) I have not been able to find this game again, and it has been many years since I played it, so apologies if anyone knows what I'm talking about and I got details wrong. (Also if you know, please, please, please give me the name. I will love you forever.) And I got it for a couple dollars at the grocery store, because someone made it as a random throwaway title.

The worst thing is that there is so much potential for exploring the horror of psych wards from the angle of medical abuse, ableism, forced treatment/drugging, loss of autonomy, power imbalance, demonization, dehumanization, etc, and YET the horror genre keeps defaulting to "insane asylums and psych wards are scary because there are mentally ill people in there"

[dyns33]

Family protection

I missed Alfie during Flufftober, I'm not going to lie, even if it was fun

Thomas Shelby was preoccupied.

No, if he was honest, Thomas was just as terrified and furious at that moment, hurt inside, ready to devastate everything in his path, like every time he was told that a member of his family had been targeted.

It had perhaps been a mistake on his part to believe that it was not necessary to monitor Y/N after her marriage. Solomons' men took care of that.

So, when John had called him in a panic, saying that there were rumors about the kidnapping, or even the murder of their sister, he had at first remained frozen at his desk.

Since Polly had brought her back, this little girl from another mother, also abandoned by their fucking so called father, he had loved her. Maybe even more than the others.

The child was adorable. Shy at first, then smiling, with a crystal-clear laugh, asking for cuddles from her brothers, playing with dolls with her sister, and always wanting to be with them.

Normally, boys didn't accept the presence of girls. Poor Ada knew something about that. But strangely, with Y/N, it was different. Neither he, nor John, nor Arthur, could refuse her anything.

She came with them in the streets, in the countryside, in the trees. There were some limits of course, but he had shown her how to climb, jump, run. How to defend herself, if one strange day they weren't there.

Thomas confided things to her and her only when they were alone. The times he slept in the fields, she came to join him. That was often what pushed him to come home, because he didn't want her to catch her death. She stayed there, glued to him without saying anything, respecting his silence like no other member of his family, and for that, he ended up talking to her.

It was a false secret, that Y/N was his favorite. A secret that didn't bother anyone, since she was everyone's favorite.

So Thomas Shelby was preoccupied, because it was said that something had happened to his little sister, without anyone being able to clearly say what.

"She was in a bookstore." Arthur mumbled. "She goes there several times a month, to get books and read to the kids. They like it, she has a beautiful voice. After the session, she often has tea upstairs with the old owner. Men came in, beat up the employees and customers, before going upstairs. Then there was a fire. We don't know anything else."

"And Mr. Solomons ?"

"Haven't managed to reach him. His little assistant says he's… busy."

You'd think the same guys had come to Camden Town to destroy the King's Bakery. Because everything was in a pathetic state, and it was the doing of one man, who shouted orders from his office when he wasn't breaking anything that came his way.

If Thomas was preoccupied, Alfie had lost his mind.

During an important meeting with the Irish, he had let Ollie handle the business, and since the men had to be watched, it was a new kid who answered the phone.

He learned only two hours after his return that a woman had called. Not just any woman, his wife. Who was worried, because there were men in front of the bookstore, whom she didn't know.

She was smart, his wife. His tender Y/N, well raised by the Shelbys. Even if she was normally safe, she remained wary, thinking of looking behind or through the window, knowing all of her husband's employees.

The incompetents who followed her that day had been found with their throats slit in an alley.

Even though his patient was at his limit, Thomas let Alfie finish his tantrum, noting that he had left only the phone and the record player intact, which was playing opera to try to calm him down.

Y/N had disappeared for four hours now. He wouldn't calm down.

"They would have called, huh ? To give their fucking instructions. Or maybe they're scared, they know that my men, the most competent this time, and yours, are all over town, and that as soon as we know who did this, they'll be dead. But… If they don't have her… Tommy, if they don't have her, if she's in that still smoking pile of ashes… I'll burn everything."

"Arthur and John are going to find her."

"Yeah, huh ? You can sense it with your gypsy powers ? Your witch aunt read the cards and saw that my Y/N was healthy ?"

"Not now, Alfie."

Solomons growled, turning his office chair in anger and slamming it against the floor until it was all crumbs. It was only because it was his wife's family that he was acceptinf Thomas' presence.

And for his part, even though he wanted to blow his head off for not protecting his sister properly, Tommy sat there smoking his cigarette, remembering how it had felt to hold Grace in his arms.

When the phone rang, he stared at it for a moment, before looking at Alfie, frozen in the middle of the room, staring at the wall. He wondered if he hadn't heard, before realizing that the wandering Jew was afraid to answer.

It might have been the famous ransom demand, which would teach them that a lot of harm had been done to Y/N, and much more would come if they didn't do what the kidnappers wanted.

It might also have been the coroner, who had finished putting names on the bodies following the fire.

Slowly, Thomas put down his cigarette, before answering.

"… Tommy ?"

"… Y/N ?"

"Give me that !" ordered Alfie who immediately came back to life, snatching the phone from him before finding a softer voice. "Treacle ? Love ? Are you okay ? Where are you ?"

It turned out that despite the lack of practice, taking young Y/N into the woods to teach her how to climb, jump, play tightrope walkers and hide, had been a good thing.

Realizing that something was happening and since her husband was not reachable, she had climbed through the upstairs window on the courtyard side, hoisting herself up onto the roof, until she found a secluded spot to climb down.

Then, not knowing who to trust, she had stayed hidden until nightfall, to go to the closest and safest place from her position, which was her sister's house.

"Faster, Ismael !"

Thomas could have muttered that it would be better to get to Ada's alive, but he only clung to the door handle while the driver obeyed Mr. Solomons without worrying about pedestrians or other cars.

It was also useless to stop Alfie from jumping onto the sidewalk, forgetting his cane in the car to go and bang on the door like a madman until someone opened it.

Calm only returned when he laid eyes on Y/N, settled in the living room and already surrounded by all the other Shelbys who had been called after them.

"Treacle. Forgive me." he sobbed as he threw himself at her knees, his arms around her and his head against her stomach. "I was so worried, love, I thought I was going to die."

"Oh, Alfie. I'm sorry, I wanted to call you before but I didn't have access to a phone."

"I'm the worst husband. I didn't protect you. If my men weren't dead, I'd slit their throats myself."

"Let's try to talk about something happier." Thomas coughed as he approached, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder who smiled at him. "Did you hurt yourself jumping off the roof ?"

"No, I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"Strange clothes."

"Yes, love. You weren't wearing that this morning."

"Oh, I…" Y/N said, visibly embarrassed. "I may have "borrowed" a disguise. And money. And a car."

"She's our lil sis !" Arthur declared proudly, oblivious to the dark looks from his aunt, sister, brothers, and brother-in-law.

Maybe they had also shown young Y/N how to steal, but only once or twice, for fun, telling her that it was wrong, and that she would never need to do that because they would take care of her.

Alfie mumbled in Hebrew, which made her laugh. Probably insults without malice. He only let go of her to allow the others to kiss her before he took her back to their home, returning worse than a leech at the first opportunity.

When he proposed to add some of his men to Solomons' for her next outings, the king of Candem was at first outraged. He didn't bark only because his wife had already experienced a lot of emotions, but he would not let Thomas humiliate him.

However, in the middle of the night, certainly when Y/N was sleeping, Solomons contacted him.

"How many men, and what price ?"

"I'm the one who feels insulted now, Alfie. She's my sister, that will be the necessary number and for nothing at all."

"Hmm… You know, they all have something to say about you, your siblings. All of them, while you take care of them. I know it, I see it, but they are never happy. But not Y/N. No, my treacle has nothing but compliments for her big brothers, and you the first. Tommy this, Tommy that. She adores you."

"I adore her too."

"Hmm. Not as much as me, and so there will be fewer men than mine, but… I accept the offer."

"Glad we almost agree on something, Mr. Solomons."

He did not sleep that night, because Thomas Shelby was a preoccupied man by nature. By business, by his family, by the future and the past.

But as for his favorite little sister, he could have slept peacefully, knowing that her husband was there to ensure her happiness and protection as he had sworn during their marriage.

And if something were to happen, they would join forces, then Thomas would probably kill Alfie to punish him, if the madman didn't kill himself first to join Y/N whom he loved at least as much as her brother loved her.

[strifetxt]

i get that wild life (and secret life before it) are very different from life series past in that the mechanics are very front and center, and i understand the frustration that causes when part of what tumblr fandom in particular really loves about the series is the social dynamics! i get it, i really do.

but i think at this point, unfortunately, they can't really just do a pure social game anymore in the same way? this group of creators knows each other very well at this point! they've learned the patterns, both of the game and of each other! the social game just isn't going to work as effectively for any of them! there's only so many ways they can do "normal semi-hardcore survival until we all start killing each other", at the end of the day.

that's the reason why they need the gimmicks to be more intrusive. yes, maybe they get in the way of the "typical" progression of a life series, with base building and alliance forming and such, but like. the ccs have done that all before, several times over. the gimmicks give them something different to interact with that isn't just each other, which makes it easier for them to make videos that are new and interesting to a wider audience.

and to the people saying that it gives them no time to build a narrative and form character arcs--isn't the fact that things are different now an interesting narrative in and of itself? isn't it interesting to see the ways in which these characters react when faced with each new bizarre situation? the way that several different crumbling relationships had to be put on pause this past session because everyone had to focus on a threat bigger than themselves?

ultimately, this new style of life series might not be your cup of tea, and that's completely okay. or maybe the snail gimmick felt too unfair; i definitely think grian maybe underestimated the impact that they'd have, which explains the much shorter session. i do personally hope that the next wild card is one that gives the players some more room to breathe, considering how many of them talked about how stressful this last one was. but like. i've seen multiple posts taking this whole thing in bad faith and saying that the gimmicks are proof that the life series is just becoming a soulless content mill and that it's clearly a sign of corporate greed, and like? i mean, putting aside the fact that this is their job, and they do have to make their videos get views to secure their livelihoods (which is hardly 1% bourgeois living, to be clear), at the end of the day, i'm pretty sure grian's just trying to strike a balance between making the series fun to watch, and making sure it stays fun for his friends to play.

[mygaynesshasnolimits]

Just watched Kaitlyn’s media video. So excited for her and she’s so well spoken! I think she’ll be big for us. Side note her speaking so highly of everyone but especially of Azzi 🥹

🤦‍♀️ 🤦‍♀️ I completely got lost in the mix and forgot to post about it yesterday! And yeah anon I really really like kaitlyn and feel like she's being underestimated. Allie mentioned how sharp she is and like on the court you can tell that her in game experience comes into play and she just knows what she's doing. Excited to see her play.

Just spliced together a few parts of kaitlyn's, allie's, and ice's interview (scratchy voice interviewer really needs to reel it in "what are your impressions on azzi? nobody's seen a lot of her" stfu) LOVED kaitlyn's answer about azzi though.

Allie talking about Carol and azzi basically being the moms of the team lol. Also seeing ice herecmade me realize just truly how much I've been missing her. lol at her face when the interviewer mentioned coach wanting to play ice, jana, and Sarah together. I love how ice threw paige into the mix with them. I mean blondie really does think she towers over everyone lol (like how she really believes she'll hit the ceiling with her legs doing a cartwheel 😭) I'm really looking forward to seeing Sarah play, she's big but also fast. And also it's gonna be interesting seeing jana play with her level of aggression (geno did say either she or the person she's gonna be guarding is gonna foul out at some point in the season lmao and ice had mentioned how jana knocked down the practice player lol)

All in all very very excited to see them all play. Hoping for an amazing, healthy, and successful season for all of them.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Something I talk about with Wifey is that the longer video games are around, the more wide spread access to them becomes, the more games seem to interact with players from a starting assumption of familiarity with gaming UI, lingo, and cultural behaviors. To the point that many games these days include tutorial levels that simply DO NOT TEACH certain things because it is assumed the player is already coming in familiar with that skill or information.

And unfortunately, it's not just the games themselves, it's also other players. I will fully acknowledge that other players were never exactly patient with me and my learning curve, that impatience has turned into a noticeable increase in disrespectful or outright mean behavior when they realize I need more help than they wanted to give. Increasingly, even communities where I have historically found effective gameplay learning resources for myself are more likely to steamroll past me and refuse to explain why I'm struggling, leaving me to try and figure it out myself.

I *do* get it. At a certain point I think people in gaming communities came to the conclusion that everyone plays video games and so everyone has been learning alongside them the whole time. But that's a REALLY hostile way fkr communities to interact with new members. The tendency to say "well you should know what these words mean, we shouldn't have to change what we say" isn't like. Wrong, but it DOES miss that point which is that creating an invisible ravine between new players and basic community information is going tobite us in the ass eventually, even if only by presenting a hostile and disdainful face to the rest of the world when they try to interact with our hobby, a thing that I think most of us acknowledge is both unpleasant and destructive of community growth/solidarity.

i must have spent hours at this point just scrolling through steam trying to find a single game i might be interested in. what is all this stuff. no matter what search filters I enter it doesn't even seem to change the types of things. is literally everything tagged "exploration" and "adventure" and "open world" and "simulation" or what

i don't want to play a "cozy" game. I don't want to play a "horror" game. why are games trying to make me feel one of two binary emotions. just because i don't want to play "the Entity is gonna Get You in the Evil House" doesn't mean I want to play "Happy Strawberry Sunshine Farm."

this is an unfamiliar world to me. like super mario wasn't trying to give me a specific rigidly defined emotional experience. It was just a Game.

i don't even know what most of these genres are like wtf is a roguelike.

none of those things inherently go together more than they go with anything else. it's just a list of things

[whimsyraincoats]

boy meets girl; jess mariano

cute imagine with jess meeting a certain other gilmore daughter! not sure if it’s a series yet, we’ll see!

words: approx 1.6k

Walking through the doorway, the dark haired boy couldn't think of anywhere he'd want to be less. Just that morning, the woman who introduced herself as Lorelai, had told him that she had two daughters about his age. He can't be completely sure as he wasn't exactly 'actively listening' but by the time his brain had caught up to what his ears were hearing, the idea of twins living in such a town like Stars Hollow had him thinking everyone was cartoon characters. Jess Mariano couldn't picture anything other than identical twins in matching outfits, with the same comedic, animated personalities as the whole town.

Following the source of the noise and clatter into the kitchen, against his will, Jess shared a small greeting to the first of the matching set, Rory. Seemingly, the calmest and least annoying of the group yet, he noted. After being subjected to talk of lemons and being quizzed to no end about his dietary requirements, Jess slipped away from the chaos to what he believed was the living room. Taking in its state, he noticed the odd arrangement of the table and decided that it must not be its permeant place. He glanced down at his watch from beneath his dark grey hoodie sleeve, and looks at the time. Simultaneously, the boy's ears pricked up at the sound of David Bowie that came from up the stairs.

Curiosity and boredom getting the better of him, he climbed the stairs one at a time, planks creaking under each step. All aspects of politeness gone from Jess since he stepped off the bus earlier apparent, as he waltzed though the open bedroom door at the opposite end of the landing. His eyes surveyed the room as some excitement sparked there as he took in the posters, stacked CDs and endless amount books overflowing the shelves. The dark haired boy's gaze landing on where the music is coming from as it changes intro Big Exit by PJ Harvey.

Meanwhile, the brunette girl dragged a comb through her bangs one last time before placing it back onto the bathroom counter with a curse as she noticed the time. Happy with her final decision pertaining to her outfit, she hopped on one foot into the hallway as she pulls her knee high sock up her shin to its full length. Just as the dark haired boy turns to leave the bedroom he was currently standing in.

"Oh my-! Jesus Christ, way to give a girl a fright!" The girl heaves, with a hand placed on her chest. She eyed the boy as he opened his mouth to say something, not before a persistent sing song interrupts them.

"Reyaaa, Jess! Party's moved to the living room!" Lorelai enthusiastically announces up the stairs.

"Coming!" The girl yells over the banister before walking back over to the now-named mystery boy.

"Jess huh? Guessing you're Luke's nephew, right?"

"Nothing gets past you ay" Monotonal, Jess replied as he quirked his eyebrow.

"I'm Freya." Pair complete. "You know you're acting very nonchalant for a boy I just caught snooping in my room."

The boy in question scratches the back of his head slowly. "Wasn't snooping, just looking, admiring even. 'S a difference." His mind refused to believe his heart just skipped a beat as they both lined up in her bedroom doorway, only inches apart as Jess leans on the side of it. Her sparkly, brown eyes invoked a certain feeling in him when they made eye contact.

Freya gently pads across her floor to her CD player and speaker as she presses pause. "You like Bowie?" She questions.

"Yea, it's what made me come upstairs." The brunette turns to share a grin with the boy now hovering by her bookshelves. "Aren't we hooked on phonics?" Jess murmurs.

Letting out a chuckle she replies, "Do you read?"

"Not much." As he picks up a book to examine the cover.

"I could lend you that it's great!" She exclaims as she finally takes in the dark haired boy standing in her room. His grey hoodie nearly fully zipped, paired with dark jeans that rest loosely on his hips. His eyebrows furrowing as his dark brown eyes bore into a page in the book. She felt a blush creeping into her cheeks as she finds herself aware of how handsome he really is.

With a shrug, he put the book back, "No thanks."

Trying to hide her disappointment at the rejection, Freya tried to change the subject.

“Okay erm well I think we-”

“Do these open?” Jess cut her off as he gestured to the window.

“Oh.. yeah, just unlatch then push.” She said as she awkwardly stood by her bed,

“So shall we…?” The girl looked at him with confusion before what he’s referring to clicked.

“Oh, I promise you even if you could climb down, there’s nowhere to bail to.” Slightly bored at the interaction, Freya walked over to her door. “I get you have the need to do or say the opposite of whatever people, in this case Luke, wants you to do, but I’m so hungry. And Sookie, while borderline insane, is a really good cook, so as much as I hate to say it, you’re on your own.”

“You don’t know anything about me.” The boy replied dryly.

“I know!” Freya replied softly with an amused glint in her eyes, knowing his response proves her point. “Come downstairs and eat and you can tell me all about you.” She flirted as she looked over her shoulder while holding the door handle.

Jess let out a smirk while he looked down at his shoes and shaking his head.

Taking that and his silence as a no, the girl stepped through the doorway. “Well, close the door behind you, or the…window? Which ever one you end up using.” She said with a smile on her lips.

Descending down the stairs, Freya couldn’t help but notice the warm curiosity growing inside her at the thought of the boy.

౨ৎ

Checking her watch, the brunette decreased the pace of her steps back to a walk as she headed for Stars Hollow Books. In a miscommunication with her, not so happy, Mom, she had been told the time rounded up, hence the original hurrying, but alas the girl will make it before the store shuts for the evening.

While walking, her mind wandered back to the mismatched stories of the last 24 hours. After having met Jess, although not massive on the manners or socialising, considering he had just moved was perfectly reasonable. However all Freya had heard for the last day from her Mom was the verbal abuse of his character. Even Luke’s too due to their recent fight that even trumps Sid and Nancy, just to add to the confusion even more.

She heard Jess come down the stairs a moment after her while she was passing plates along, but didn’t see him after that. Further developing the mystery that’s been stuck in her mind.

Fiddling with the plastic handle between her fingers, the girl walks out of the Market with a textbook and a folder she desperately needed.

Lost in thought, she crossed the road with her house as her destination, when a familiar voice snapped her out of it.

“Hey.” Freya snaps her head round to look at the boy who she seemed to have summoned by thinking about him.

“Hey, yourself.”

“What’re you doing out here this time of night?” Jess questions with raised eyebrows.

“Just getting somethings I needed for school, how about you?”

“Oh yeah same.” He dismisses.

“You know, it was quite the disappearing act you pulled yesterday.” The brown eyed girl brought up, after a moment of almost awkward silence between them.

“Huh- yeah, as tempting as your offer was, tupperware parties and potlucks really aren’t my thing.” He replied as he untucked his hands from his pockets.

“Just too cool for school huh.” She said, amused as she took him in, his puffer vest, his watch resting on his wrist and a coin he’s moving in his hands. “What’re you doing?” The girl questions.

“Oh this-” Showing her the coin, answered “Just another little disappearing act.” As he revealed his hand as empty of said coin.

Suppressing a giggle, Freya shines him a smile with creased eyes.

“Jess, if you ever want to speak to me again, please don’t pull that out my ear.”

After cracking a smile that unlocked a sense of accomplishment in the girl, replied. “Understood.”

“Hey, I like your shirt.” Jess complimented.

Looking down at it to check which one she happened to throw on earlier, she grinned once more. “Thanks! How much Beatles stuff do you know?” She asked excitedly, her eyes illuminated.

“Oh, only the stuff that everyone does, I wouldn’t have been lined up to be one of their groupies that’s for sure.” He joked.

“Hey, speak for yourself, I adore them, I would’ve been pushing other girls out the way. I adore any British band to be completely honest.” Freya spoke with excitement.

“I know, your room isn’t exactly keeping that a secret you’know.” He referenced the multitude of Britpop, The Smiths and The Beatles posters spaced on her walls. Jess couldn’t help but marvel at the way her face flushed at the prolonged eye contact and his comment.

Snapping out of her trance, the girl glanced down at his arm and gently held his sleeve to check the time. The boy’s body grew alert at the touch. “Shit! I’ve got to go in a sec, I hadn’t realised the time.”

“Oh, well in that case, I’ll leave you with one last magic trick. He dramatically stated as he pulls a familiar book out of his pocket.

“You bought a copy? I told you I’d lend you mine!”

“It is yours.”

“You stole my book!” She accused, dumbfounded.

“Well, I just wanted to put some notes in the margins for you.” He handed the book over, as he tried not to let his mind linger on the way their hands touched.

The girls eyes furrowed in confusing as she flicked through the pages.

Looking up innocently, “I thought you said you didn’t read much?”

“Well what is much?” The boy replied with a drawn out shrug and smirk. “Goodbye, Reya.”

Desperate to hide her slight astonishment, smirked as she began to walk away.

“Goodbye, Dodger.”

After a few paces, she looks back to be met with a smug grin. “Oliver Twist.”

The brown haired girl couldn’t help but share the grin while she nodded. Despite all the things she had heard about him in the last day, she couldn’t help but feel giddy at their interactions. The twin secretly hoped there would be more in the future.

an; i’ve read this so many times i think i hate it. hahaha jk and hope the dialogue is okay i was doing it from memory!!! OH and yes i used my own name for the character hahahaha it’s better than y/n atleast!!!<3

[coffeegnomee]

And I- For a minute there the Joker was back. and all at once the arc was never about the tnt or the withers. it was about the yap and the psychological battle.

1:01:00 ZAM: "you're afraid” KAB: “no i’m not!” ZAM: "‘no i’m not’? Yea no you are.” [..] KAB: “try- listen. It’s- i don't have to explain myself to you” ZAM: “but Kab is that the truth or is that just what you think is the truth” KAB: "‘don't pull my truth is subjective' shit on me”

ZAM: [joker laugh]

KAB: "don't do that” ZAM: "Kab, I dunno. Like I just don't think- KAB: "zam zam zam zam see you aren’t that different from me”

ZAM: “sorry that tired old trick isn’t going to work on me."

ZAM: "Because I know you're just playing up a little, a little show, just to hide your true fear. I dunno”

KAB: you don't know what you're talking about” ZAM: "I think I do. I think I’m very confident in what I'm talking about” KAB: "I’m glad. I’m glad you're confident in what you're talking about zam” ZAM: [joker giggle] KAB: "cause you're gonna be even more glad when I see the light drain- from your eyes when the entirety of spawn is decimated”

ZAM: "you couldn't even say that without stuttering oh my godddd. Like” 

ZAM: "[silence] I’m sorry. But like-” KAB: "that was unnecessary” ZAM: "I'm just being honest with you. You're afraid. You are afraid.” KAB: “afraid?!” ZAM: "you are. You are afraid” KAB: "Afraid of what?! You?!” ZAM: "getting killed, getting murdered, getting banned off the server, anything like that. Anything inconvenient, anything that goes against your little plan” KAB: “[talking over him] you're not going to do any of that!”

ZAM: "I may not do that, but there are [walks up close to her face] many other players on the server that could. You don't know what you're getting into”

 KAB: “I know exactly what i’m getting into. And I’ve decided to- just disregard all of that” ZAM: “mhmm?”

Takes sword out of main hand and never holds it out again the rest of the conversation. he won.

[gryffintheparrotcat]

Things in Veilguard that have annoyed me so far, in no particular order:

(I'm about to recruit Emmerich and Taash, if you're not there yet consider yourself formally spoiler warned)

1. Solas hates bloodmages now, this makes no sense.

2. Bioware still doesn't know people darker than #8D5840 exist. This is the fourth game, you'd think the devs learned this by now.

Player characters pass the paperbag test, that is not a good thing. I swear I've seen npcs with darker skintones but Rook can't have a slice?

3. Dalishs are just chill with their gods being evil and real and instead of addressing all that we just go and watch another elven community get massmurdered.

4. We're in The Elvenenslaver And Qunarihater City™ and there are 0 slaves and everyone is friendly to my elven and my qunari Rooks.

4. My Rook having an Elgar'nan vallaslin has not been acknowledged even once.

5. The qunari are going against Qun orders and are just cartoonishly evil now. Neither of these things align with previously established lore.

6. The Crows are all a big happy family. Sorry Zevran.

7. The Grey Wardens are incompetent. Again.

8. My Rook being called kid by Varric and others, that is a grown adult man.

9. Being called Rook. I didn't like that title much to begin with but the fact that it's not even earned this time makes it even more annoying. He has a last name!

10. The companions doing jackshit in combat. I'm a mage not a tank, can someone else kite the enemy?? I miss the pause button

11. The controls being different again. Why is spacebar a whole different button in each dragonage game? Were these ever made while considering people who may play one after the other?

12. Harding not being a romance option for the inquisitor. I never played Viviennes semiromance (i'm always siding with the rebelmages so we haven't exactly been getting along) so I can't say how deep that is and if she should be an option, but i will note that she is also not an option.

13. Harding saying she wasn't in the inner circle of the inquisitor. Harding darling I promise you inquistior adaar loved you dearly. I'm pretty sure I talked to Harding far more than I talked to Varric in Inquisiton.

14. "The previous games aren't relevant because they play in the South" WHAT ABOUT KIRKWALL? What about Navarran Princess Cassandra?? Dorian is here why not the others?? Not even mentioned once?? Cmon.

15. No proper wrinkle slider in character creator... again.

16. Not being able to resize eyes in character creator. Why??

17. No slider for the stomach to stick out. A for effort on even adding bodysliders to begin with but I was hoping for proper tummys for once.

18. The dialogue wheel. And more specifically how little origin/class specific options there are as a mage elf with a vallaslin specifically. And not being able to be mean, just a bit blunt. Meeting Davrin and him being a bit prickly at first was a breath of fresh air ngl. I don't need evil alright, I get it I'm playing a hero now. But let my Rook be a bit spicy sometimes. Neve complains about a Crow prioritising Treviso over Minrathos? Let Rook be an ass about it.

19. I brought Neve & Mage Rook to recruit "The Mage Killer" and neither have voiced any discomfort about that? Or acknowledged that at all? Neve has some party banner with Lucanis but even there it's more of a L "Are you scared bc of the title?" N "lol nope".

Hopefully I won't have to make a pt2 any time soon.

[lafaiette]

Do you also feel like there is an ungodly amount of trash talk about Solas? Which would be fine but there really aren’t very many options to defend him????

That’s my biggest gripe so far. Like I feel like they are taking the choice away from me by making me be antagonistic towards a character that I don’t want to be antagonistic to in a game that is supposedly about CHOICE.

Sorry Lafiatte I’ve been feeling spicy about it lol.

OMG YES (under the cut because spoilers)

Everyone detests him, Harding is angry with him even before Varric gets stabbed, all insist what he did was terrible, that he was always distant and prickly, when we know this wasn't exactly true - he didn't want to grow attached to people in DAI for obvious reasons, yes, but he was always kind with his companions and the people in need. He always approved when the Inquisitor performed a kind action (like leaving flowers on a tomb) or said something nice.

If you use the outside camera when the Inquisitor first arrives in Redcliffe, you can see Solas kneeling down to help some hurt people on the road. That's who Solas was, not the cold person everyone (especially Harding) describes.

Also, no one wants to understand his POV - I think I have seen only Davrin "defend" him in one occasion, and Rook can sometimes say something positive about him ("He's lending us his help", "He's been nice so far" etc.), but it's really, really frustrating. Also, the constant repetition of the theme of regret - sometimes the dialogue seems written for 5 years old children playing a Pokemon game.

It's like the devs wanted the new players to hate him, and the old fans who never liked him to finally have the chance to say how much they can't stand him. Meanwhile the players who genuinely liked him, friendly Inquisitors and romanced Lavellans, are swept under the rug.

"Oh... you like Solas? Damn... good for you, I guess..."

I'm glad some people are liking it, but I can't see any love for the fans and the setting in this game, only fatigue and hurry. Understandable, after ten years of development hell, but damn, I'm sad.

[wizardsix]

bioware either writes a trans man and allows the player to invade his privacy out of nowhere or writes a buff nonbinary character and makes it their whole personality. just stop. I'm fed up with it and I'd rather have a game w no trans rep than butchered trans rep and forced allyship.

there's absolutely no need to use our modern terms in a fantasy setting. its very weird and jarring and shows how little bioware cares. it's not difficult to make up their own words or just talk about it in a more natural way. you'd think for a fantasy world that has made up languages they could easily make up a word to describe genders and sexualities, so what's the issue? why don't we get the same care everything else (supposedly) does? like how come no one uses the words gay or lesbian or even bisexual but it's easily implied through dorian saying "I prefer the company of men" and sera's "we have too much in common bc we both like women"???? how come they can say that in a way that doesn't break immersion but taash has to go crazy about gender and write "trans/non-binary/genderfluid/agender all so so super valid I am affirmed" on the walls??

I get what they were trying to do with taash's story but it's not executed well at all especially with that fucking misgender scene. bioware I can assure you most people won't dissolve when they're misgendered. saying sorry or just correcting yourself and moving on is ok. its preferable actually. we don't need a character to stop the conversation to give a speech about how misgendering is bad and apologizing is also bad and act all white knight for us. it's embarrassing. like if I didn't know any better id say they were making fun of us. that's how fucking bad this writing is.

I'm sorry to the people who just accept the bare minimum, but it IS cringe and annoying to have our existence watered down to "trans" and "valid". why can't we just fucking exist without being turned into freakshows to gawk at. trans people deserve better representation than this caricature. we deserve basic fucking respect. our existence is much more complicated than cis people could ever understand and I'm sick of people pretending to care.

[rosenrot234]

I'm aware a lot of silent hill acts kinda like a big ol ink blot test for the player. That includes the characters to a point. Folks having diff opinions usually is fine when it comes to silent hill. I get it.

But at the same time I feel kind of confused when people call James stuff like pervert or that he's toxic masculinity. I never got that vibe. I'm talking about OG James too.

To me the sex stuff with silent hill is "Dude James hasn't had any kind of intimacy in 3 years. And he had a intrusive thought like ONCE probably looking at a nurse taking care of Mary." And Silent Hill is skipping in a smug manner all "You still thought about it" even if it was a lightning fast intrusive thought.

His indifference to the monsters being hurt to me is "He's angry at the cancer / disease. Not Mary. The Mary he loved isn't here anymore". So when he sees the Mannequins being harmed by Pyramidhead, that is why he's indifferent to it and just focusing on hiding. To me the cancer is making a total mockery out of Mary by appearing so feminine based. So that's why all the monsters just look so icky but so sexy. And again why Pyramidhead punishes the monsters too. James had that intrusive thought and felt guilty about it. But he's not taking it out on just women period. He's taking it out on himself. So Pyramidhead messing with the monsters too makes sense. I understand WHY people think its purely punishing women. I just politely disagree. ( Altho one can also see the apartment scene with PH as "He's just playing with dollies. Making a silly widdle mockery of playing house" since he's using 2 Manniquins for this. It gave me more a chuckle since PH is a giant troll, that is what he is meant to do )

This is also probably why if you do the kill / stomp a bunch combo a bunch against the monsters, you actually nudge your playthrough towards In Water. The more James really really beats up the monsters ( himself ) , the more he's at risk of drowning. It's a very small nudge though. Nothing to really worry about if you're achievement / ending hunting.

People take him saying he hated Mary way too black / white imo. But again. I'm aware. Ink blot test. This is more a mild disagreement at the end of the day and I wanted to ramble.

I'm also not trying to ignore the whole strip club thing either. I was talking more about the core of the character. Dude was trying to cope. But I don't think that makes him this big slobbering horny beast I see with some fan portrayals of him.

Christ reading thru this post to check if it sounds alright just makes me think "Well if people didn't know I was Asexual , they sure do now". lol

[paisholotus]

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗. 8

Play: moments in love~ Art of Noise

Narrative

The boys all sat in the living room at Denki's house. Izuku, Denki, and Sero was watching a movie. While Katsuki, Kirishima, and Shoto were playing cards. Mina was in the back laying down for a moment.

"Take 4 Icy hot! What the fuck are you doing?!" Katsuki yells, impatiently bouncing his leg. Shoto gave him his usual stoic expression and sighed taking the cards. Kirishima laughed and shook his head, "bakubro, you need to calm down. It's just a game. Remember we said we'll work on your anger?" Katsuki just grunted scowling down at the table.

Izuku playfully scoffed and looked over to the table, "that will never happen. Wasting your time." He said, and started laughing. Katsuki snapped his head at Izuku, glaring at him. "NOBODY ASKED YOU SHIT, DEKU!" Izuku stuck out his hand and smirked, "point made." He said, making Katsuki growl lowly.

"Ok, can y'all both shut up. I'm trying to watch this." Denki said, not taking his eyes off the tv. Kirishima and Shoto shook their head knowing Katsuki was going to say something. "Oh, so you want to get your ass beat again, sparkplug?" He said, making Denki huff and cross his arms on the couch. "Fuck you, Bakugo." He said, making Katsuki laugh.

"So, I invited some people over." Sero said, looking down at his phone. But, he could feel them staring at him.

"Who the fuck told you to invite random people over to my house?" Denki asked, knowing that's what everyone else was thinking too.

Sero smiled and looked at Denki, "it's people we already know. Those girls." He said, making everyone look at him confused. "Which one? Who did you text?" Kirishima asked. Sero smirked putting his arms behind his head, "that short fine chica. Nadia." He said, making Izuku glare lowly at him. Sero noticed and smacked his teeth, "the hell you mad about? You're the one fucking avoiding her because you're scared of being in relationship with her. I mean really Deku, she doesn't seem bad. Not like that other puta" Sero said, making everyone hum and nod.

Izuku waved him off knowing he was right. Izuku didn't like relationships. Not anymore. The last one he was in really fucked him up. It turned him cold in a kind of way, he wanted nothing to do with women. He just wanted to stay to himself. But, with Nadia back it was giving him feelings he didn't want. Last time he saw her he wanted nothing more but to kiss her and get close to her, but last time that happened he ended up getting done in the worse way. So, he genuinely didn't know what to do, but to keep distance.

"But, her sister." Sero whistled, "Mami is fine as fuck." He said, making Katsuki quickly looked at him with a glare on his face. "She's already taken, scotch tape!" He yelled, making Sero raise his hands up in surrender.

"What about the one with the big ole ass? Gimme that one." Denki said, rubbing his hands together. Izuku rolled his eyes and tapped Denki telling him to shut up and nudged his head to the table, Shoto looking at him with an icy glare, letting him know that Deja was spoken for as well.

Denki smacked his teeth and pouted. "Y'all, always taking the good ones." He said, folding his arms looking back at the tv.

Mina comes from the back into the kitchen and walked to the table sitting down on Kirishima's lap, "maybe you'll get a girl when you stop acting like a player wannabe." Mina said, to Denki laughing.

Denki scoffed and looked at everyone. "Yall, gon stop talking shit about me." Katsuki smirked at Denki and leaned back into the chair, "we'll stop talking shit when you stop looking like one of the aliens off Men And Black." He said, making everyone laugh. "Get in the gym fucker." Katsuki said, making Denki flick him off.

There was a knock on the door making Sero smile and get up. "They here." He said.

This could either be a mess or a good time....who knows?

[stardustedknuckles]

I love fey morality. Everyone, audience and party alike, is super convinced Nana Morri is evil - as in, malicious. And it's like. No? She runs on a completely different scale than we're used to, as does Fearne. Going by the strictest definition of evil as "it's me and mine, and the rest of everyone else can get fucked," maybe, but that's. It's the feywild. That's how fey run. It's why I was so hoping for Fearne to be along the evil axis because it's not immediately equivalent to causing deliberate harm or exploiting others for their own gain. It is very simply how this realm works. Everyone was waiting for Morri to trap the hells or try to steal Patè but that's not how this works. There are still rules. They just are not our rules, and the Hells had not broken any of Morri's. Plus, she and Fearne share the emphasis on individual freedom, even if the axis of what constitutes that freedom is a bit skewed.

That's not to say that everyone currently sitting in pieces in Nana's trophy room necessarily deserved to be taken apart the way we understand cause and effect or punishment, but it also doesn't mean Nana Morri is some malignant boss fight to be. Her business is her own. Even the heart of the lion guard was given to her, not wrenched out of someone's chest for her own purposes.

It's funny to watch people react to her and to Fearne with the rules and mindsets of the material plane/something approaching real life. Fearne has never abided by those rules and doesn't understand them, and that's why I think Imogen was both correct and mistaken to raise Fearne's hand when it was asked who might turn on everyone. Correct to be suspicious because Fearne follows the beat of a different drum, but absolutely wrong to think that once the Hells were her people that she would allow harm to come to them, let alone enact it. The friction there lies in what Fearne considers to BE harm in the first place. Same for Morri. You can't judge fey by mortal rules, and Matt and Ashley are doing a great job with that friction and it's baffling a lot of people - fictional and real.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

since more of like the class swap etc started going up every once in a while there will be a question in my inbox that would take me literally multiple comics' worth of art to answer adequately lol. and I don't wanna do that under an ask I want that to have its own space! so if I don't answer ur question know that it's probably that^ above there and not that I think ur question sucks

[himbohimhoe]

Holding out hope that the writing in veilguard will get more bearable but rook saying to lucanis that it's "not nice that Spite hurt him" and he "shouldn't accept that it’s fine bc it wouldn't be ok if a person did that" like. That is a demon. Built off a single emotion called SPITE. Rook I am finding it really hard to believe that u have lived in thedas for more than 30 seconds.

[coolseabird]

Gale is my favorite guy for her, and Karlach is my favorite girl so I'm happy each is winning out of their respective gender. :] Minthara’s dialogue with both is just so much fun, and I think she has the strongest chemistry with them by far. But ultimately, Galethara is my top choice, especially for an evil run. He’s more easily corruptible and can believably fall into villainy for her, which is perfect for a darker playthrough. Mintharlach, on the other hand, is my favorite for a more good-aligned, knockout recruitment/romance run. It's super sweet. 🥺 @alicelufenia ‘s writeup explains the appeal of them perfectly imo (check the reblogs for that) so I’ll focus on Galethara here.

In the game, Gale as a companion feels conflicted about the grove, but with the right words, you can talk him down, make him see things your way. Meanwhile, Karlach and Wyll hold fast to their principles, and they’ll leave rather than stay with someone who commited such an atrocity, which makes sense for their characters. If you’re playing doing an evil origin and want to stay in character while having a believable moral decline, Galethara just hits different. As an enjoyer of destroying the grove that's why I have to put Galethara as my #1.

It’s like, Yes, this is wrong, but this pretty drow lady might be the only chance we have to survive. I also don't want to die. What’s one grove compared to destroying many more with the orb? Just that initial moral compromise leading to more and more. And later on after learning about the crown, Oh! I’d use the crown differently, for the greater good… we could shape the world in our image, take down the gods themselves. It’s that heady corruption arc that makes them so compelling together. (And it's not like he needed that much of a push to begin with based on how companion Gale acts in Act 3 haha) He is the definition of the road to hell is paved with good intentions and Minthara is more than happy to drive down that road. It’s great stuff!

Gale and Minthara together are like the Macbeths; they're both ambitious nightmares who can make each other worse. But Minthara also grounds Gale emotionally, she's always encouraging him to pursue greatness and to defy the gods and not to kill himself.

You know those memes about creating a character just to give Shadowheart an aneurysm? Like a githyanki cleric of Selune? Gale is that character to Minthy, lol. He’s a non-drow, a wizard, and a man, and yet, to her horror, she develops feelings for him. Then, when he saves her and proves he’s just as ambitious as she is, she falls hard. I think romances between foils are so fun. They’re so different in so many ways, but both were cast aside by the gods and have similar desires: to prove themselves and rise to the top. They’re also the most codependent companions in the game, and putting them together is fascinating. They’d make absolutely terrible villains together, and I love it. Gale's evil Absolute ending with a romanced Minthara is especially fun. You get to crusade with her to destroy the gods. It meshes very well. He's definitely going after Lolth first. And even if you don't do that, becoming God of Ambition Gale and supporting her war in the Underdark is very fun too. She says this out of pocket line in the epilogue:

God Gale: I may no longer be your lover, but I am the god of ambition. If you desire my aid, you've only to ask. Minthara: An intriguing proposition. To harness the powers of the heavens as I once harnessed you...

I adore her. 😭 Having a god wrapped around her finger for once is what she deserves.

Minthara without fail encourages every dark impulse a Gale Origin player might have. When he consumes the Shadow Weave within the Thorm kids (is it cannibalism to eat the Weave in a body?), she’s totally gung ho about it in this is the dialogue you get with her:

"Ah, the wizard. I could not help but notice that you have been exploring new avenues of knowledge recently—I approve. … The pursuit of knowledge and power should always be our goal. … Do not let the laws or scruples of inferior minds stand in your way."

She’s all in for seizing the crown too, and it’s amazing. Also, Gale Origins are the only ones who can hug Minthara in the epilogue romanced or not

Also even if they aren't romanced she admits she has affection for him.

She also thinks his beard is dashing. I rest my case: