#I haven't played all the games and am trying to avoid spoilers

[kuramirocket]

Okay, but we as a fandom need to talk more about the fact that Luigi is basically a sniper.

Thunderhand, ghosthunter, superior jumping ability, engineering talents and sniper.

*insert you're doing amazing sweetie gif*

[simpcityy]

My Little Spawn Pt.7 (Dadstarion X Child!Reader)

Summary: Astarion was finally free from Cazador after being kidnapped by a mindflayer but he was stuck with one annoying task, you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Baldur's Gate 3 or any of its characters.

Word Count: 1.4K

Warnings: Use of (Y/N), Cazador, language, violence, spoilers for those who haven't gone far in the game, mentions of blood, animal death...Uhhh...I think that is all. MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU AREN'T IN ACT 2 YET.

Author Notes: (PLEASE READ) I hope all of you are excited for this chapter, I know some of you have been waiting for an update. I will be updating more chapters less, I got a new job, so I've been trying to focus on that. Thank you for understanding my lack being online. So, these next chapters will just be mostly fillers to move faster on act 3 so we can get some father battle. So, this chapter and the next might feel empty or rushed because we are on part 7 and we haven't reach act 3 and Cazador hasn't made an appearance yet. I want this series to have at least a maximum of 12 chapters. As always, Thank you so much for the support! I should be updating the master list with all the links of each chapter soon. Remember to Reblog and like if you enjoy this series. I am happy to start a taglist for this series since this week I will be working on a story well two.

Every time they settle down for the night, Astarion would be pacing and complaining how they are wasting time, you could be in danger. “Astation, we need rest for any enemies up ahead” Gale began only to be yelled at by the pale elf. Everyone was on edge with Astarions foul mood keeping their distance from him, even Tav. Tav mostly kept to themselves as Astarion only glared the meanest eyes at them, spewing over and over it’s their fault. “We could've found them already but here you are all lazing around.” He crossed his arms sitting at his tent. “Alright fangs, we get it.” Karlach looks over, carrying over wood on her shoulder. “You are always welcome to go on your own and find them. We are all worried for the little soldier, but we need to be smart about this and not endanger them more” Astarion only looks away and sits alone in his tent missing his little spawn. 

You were running trying to avoid the shadow curse taking over you. You somehow escaped that cell, but it cost the life of a guard. All you could see is their life drained. You felt so bad but yet they tasted so sweet. You vowed yourself not a single word of this to Astarion. You were scared he was going to get mad. You ran over to a fire staying close to it whimpering. Hearing footsteps near you, you quickly crouch behind a large rock and peaked. Hoping whatever is coming near is friendly. “Halt! Who goes there!” A feminine voice calls out. “Come out or arrows would be fired” They threaten. You slowly walk out of your hiding spot. Gasps were heard, “It’s just a child” the woman walks over and smiles “Are you okay? We won’t hurt you.” She kneels down holding a touch. “I escaped from a big castle…” You whisper, staying close to your rock. “Castle? Moonrise towers.” One of them whispers to their leader. “Come, we have a safe place called the Last Light Inn, you will be safe there. There are children of your age as well.  “She gently took your hand and kept you close. “Harpers lets go before the Shadow Curse gets us.” She commands and walks down a path. 

You felt lost inside this inn. You watched as those same Tieflings from the Grove were playing a quiet game. You slowly walked over “Hi…can I play?” You placed your arms behind your back. They only look at you before going back to their game. You turned around ready to walk back to the chair you were in, but a hand grabbed your arm and spun you back to the Tiefling children. “Hey now, is that how we treat a hero? If I remember correctly, they helped us out back at the Grove.” Mol grins looking back at the children “So I reckon you reconsider their offer.” Once they see Mol, they quickly move over offering you a spot. You smile “Thank you!” You quickly sat on the open spot playing with them. 

Hours passed and you met many people, you caught up with Alfira but you noticed she seemed sad. You also noticed there are a couple of Tieflings missing but didn’t question it. You met Jaheira and Isobel along with many more. You stayed by Mol’s side befriending her. You munched on a piece of bread given by Jaheria when you looked overhearing a commotion. “Stay inside, could be dangerous” Alfira told you two before walking outside. You didn’t mind as you kept eating but hearing a voice you’ve missed so much; you dropped your bread. 

“Astarion!” You yelled running outside tearing up. “Stay back little one!” Jaheira warns as you go outside and slip past her. Astarion looks overhearing his name and swore his dead heart had a heartbeat again when he saw you alive and unharmed. He picked you up quickly and held you close, placing your head into the neck of his shoulder “Oh thank god your alive little spawn” He didn’t care who saw him, he was feeling many emotions. He kissed the top of your head. Mol walks over “They are the ones who saved us, and that is their daddy.” Astarion looks up hearing Mol “I’m just a caretaker” He rolls his eyes. The group can see their spawn companion is back to his normal self. 

After the group minus you, take some herbal medicine that makes you say the truth, you stay near Astarions side. “What have you been up to little Spawn.” He brushes your hair as you sit between the space of his legs. “I was locked up in a castle when I woke up. There were these people and they called me beautiful artwork.” You look up at him. He frowns “So they know about your situation. “He sighs “They aren’t wrong, your kind is an artwork to those who have bad intentions. Usually…you would…” He tries to find the right words “Not be breathing, not even a second you were born. Which explains why there isn’t a high population of little spawns like you, well Dhampirs. “He explains though he knew you weren’t paying attention as you were busy watching a weed flow by the wind. He chuckles to himself as you were easy to get distracted. You got up from your spot and walked over greeting everyone you missed, getting hugs from left to right. You even got a pat on the head from Lae’zel. Nighttime came and you pouted at Astarion “But I don’t want to!” You wiggle around in his arms. You didn’t want to stay in the camp again. “It’s for your own good, it’s too dangerous out there.” He sighs “Tav say something” He motions his eyes over to you. Tav only looks over before looking over to you, “(Y/N) it’s safer for you to stay at camp. You don’t want Astarion to be worried sick again.” They pat your head. You only pout before huffing “Fine” You finally relax in his arm. “And you are never going to leave my side anymore” Astarion placed you over his hip walking to his tent. 

Over the couple of days, you were learning many things about nature thanks to Halsin. You giggle as he shifts out of his bear form. “Again! Again!” You cheered. “Alright alright.” He chuckles trying his best to keep up with your energy. More days went by, and a new temporary companion joined the group, Arabella. It took some time for you to warm up and approach her after Astarion told you to not question anything about her parents. You stood near her and kept silent before she broke the silence “You can talk to me you know; I am nothing like those children from the Grove.” She looks at you. Sitting down next to her, you look at the ground before looking up to Gale who was at his tent giving you the thumbs up. You took a deep breath and looked at Arabella. “Would you like to be my friend?” The Tiefling smiles “Of course. I think I need a friend at this point in my life. “ 

Hours rolled by and Astarion sighs walking back to the camp after successfully being able to get inside moonrise towers and become part of the group for their plan. “You know I can’t wait for when we stab them in the back” He smirks before looking over to see you and Arabella playing catch with Scratch. Scratch gets the ball whenever you fail to catch it and rolls away from you. “Were they able to play with other children over at Cazador’s palace?” Tav walks over to Astarion. The pale elf lets out a small smile seeing how happy you look. “No…Cazador never lets them out of the palace, never thought of it since I thought they were a spawn. Sunlight is our number one enemy after all, but I think this…this is making them feel more connected to their…human side you can say…I haven’t heard them complain about blood hunger. Maybe this distracts them” He hums before walking over “(Y/N), time a bath and do not fight me on this” He began before seeing you dart off. “Come back here!” He yells Tav only chuckles crossing their arms and lean back a bit watching you slip past Astarions legs and escape every time from his grasp. Everything was slowly going back to where it should, minus the tadpole and mind flayer situation.

[wardencallings]

Okay. Let me preface this with I am enjoying this game. I like the story, pacing, and companions a lot. I enjoy the combat and the structure of the quests (mostly). But. Ugh.

Spoilers for Harding's romance under the cut (and note: I haven't finished the final fight yet):

This romance started so fucking promising. I LOVED the cute flirting at the start, the slightly awkward and nervous dynamic, and the lyrium kiss might be the cutest cut scene I have ever seen in my life. But why, if you're presenting an arc about two characters unable to touch each other, is there no on-screen yearning? Why do you leave how these characters handle this very specific problem off-screen, relegating it to an off-the-cuff banter between Emmrich and Harding? Why do I not see another kiss or point of contact between my character and Harding's beyond the final scene before she's made Hero of the Veilguard?

The romance is so front-heavy that the last part of the game makes it seem like we aren't all that in love, nor really all that close. I think what's extra frustrating is that my fiance is playing alongside me, and so I get to hear the cute banter between Harding and Taash while my Rook gets very little attention from her at this point in the game. Even the pre-final fight scene was lacking. Why can't I comfort Harding more thoroughly about her fear of one of us dying? Why, as a dwarf, can I not reassure her that I'll always be with her in some way because of our mutual connection to the stone? (Also, why, as a dwarf, do I seemingly have no resistance to Harding's lyrium while Taash can tank it fine? Hello?) That scene ends with a "Let's just focus on us tonight" sort of line, but I want to know more! What do we do? What can we do? I get leaving it up to the audience's imagination, but with so little context as to what Rook and Harding are up to in their relationship at this stage of the game, I would prefer something more concrete.

This romance would be almost completely perfect to me with the addition of one scene where Rook and Harding touch after weeks, or perhaps months, of yearning. I'm not even picky about how the scene would manifest (a goofy montage of them trying different ways to touch each other without triggering the lyrium, Rook peppering kisses on Harding's freckles to avoid long-term contact, Harding surprising Rook with her control over the magic leading to a longer, more passionate kiss, etc). As my Rook is trans, I really appreciated the line where I could tell her that Rook would love her for who she is no matter what, but give me MORE. Since Harding's romance is seemingly the shortest, there absolutely was room for one extra scene, if not more.

Also, I hate that Rook can't kiss her whenever he wants. My Rook is built different. He'll take the lyrium disorientation for even a second of contact with her. As I think many others would agree -- especially because of how charming the lyrium poisoning kiss scene is! It was right there!

All in all, I'm pretty disappointed with the lack of romance dialogue options and the sheer lack of Harding romance content after around the halfway point of the game. I still really am enjoying Veilguard, but I think it's a bummer we get more information about Taash and Harding's late-game dynamic than Rook and Harding's. I hate that it's making me resent Taash and Harding's relationship because I genuinely love Taash so much and think they're an excellent partner for an unromanced Harding! I hope the Taash romance doesn't suffer from this problem, for all you Taash lovers out there.

The silver lining: the romance is ripe for fanfic and fanart. I already have one commission on the way, and once I finish my school stuff for the week, I want to write a continuation of the pre-final fight scene for sure. And a Harding/Rook camping scene, perhaps! I also think I might be a little blinded by the initial disappointment, and once my vision clears a bit, I'll be able to appreciate it more.

[aoxizu]

i have, completely accidentally, finished all of the currently available wuthering waves main questline

meanwhile i still have not touched the 2.2 plot in star rail but shh i'll get that scene finished eventually and then i can start questing

but anyway. obviously jiyan and jing yuan have many similarities (general, initials jy, ponytail, voiced by sun ye, chinese, once knew a guy with white hair who later became a criminal), but jiyan just doesn't quite get to the same level as jing yuan does (also jing yuan showed up for me twice. jiyan has shown up 0 times.)

this will go into jiyan backstory spoilers kind of if you haven't yet seen that part of the main quest, and also tone warning: i'm going to complain a lot, and i am very biased.

but like. geshu lin did nothing wrong change my mind

it's like if the luofu was fighting phantylia and there was no astral express, jing yuan tells the army to guard the frontline with their life if necessary and then goes off to fight phantylia alone, and then the soldiers all have terrible morale so fu xuan decides to have everyone retreat and then jing yuan becomes a criminal for giving that order and fu xuan becomes the general

except fu xuan at least has some higher position in the leadership structure of the luofu, but jiyan does not. jiyan was literally just some random doctor in the army who said "hey what if we didn't lose our lives like we signed up to do and all ran away instead" and for that he was appointed general through magic dragon

it's like the game is trying to take a "war bad" stance at the same time as glorifying the military so they can sell the general and convince people to pull for him

and then (main story spoilers) when you go fight the not-bloodborne boss in the north wilds (i play in cn so i have no idea what anything is called in english) at the very end of the quest, jiyan pretty much does the same thing as geshu lin

he has his soldiers stay back while he goes to fight the big bad and the only difference is that jiyan takes 3 more people along with him and he also has the power of a prophecy on his side

i get that the game is trying to paint geshu lin as this kind of like war crazed general but like jiyan and geshu lin are in nearly the exact same situation here, making almost the exact same decision

i am being told that jiyan is different from geshu lin in some way but it's really hard to believe that when it looks like they're doing the same things

chinese culture doesn't like to glorify leaders who only focus on war and nothing else (see: han wudi, qin shihuang) (note that mao zedong and the cultural changes he brought do not agree with this attitude) and i suppose that's the reasoning for why geshu lin is a criminal while jiyan is fine since jiyan knows when to retreat or whatever, but i do not think the game does a particularly good job of showing that

this inconsistency may have also had something to do with the amount of changes that jiyan's character went through during development, since his (cn) va was originally sang liuze (ratio/neuvillette) (which i think would have fit jiyan better. personal opinion), and was later changed to sun ye, and his character was also originally just supposed to be a doctor in the army without the sudden becoming general part, so to a lot of cn players it just feels like kuro's trying to coast off of jing yuan's popularity

i don't think that's necessarily true but it is definitely affecting how jiyan is being seen in the chinese community

though i will say that despite the whole ???ness of jiyan's decision making process, the not bloodborne boss fight was really cool, and i really liked exploring that area

hsr on the other hand avoids the problem with trying to say war bad but also trying to sell a military general by simply having jing yuan focus on strategy, and clearly placing more importance on outsmarting the enemy rather than throwing people and resources at the enemy until it dies

but anyway. i'm still going to try and get jiyan, since i kind of like his playstyle despite it being burst based, though havoc rover does look cool enough for me to seriously consider using them for as long as possible

right now the game is in the weird place of being so new that i can't take a lot of it seriously, since it's still finding its place in the massive 2d-adjacent mobile game environment, but i'm sure it will either a) grow on me or b) become genshin, where i am a "day one player" but barely touch the game

or a secret third option, where it displaces my star rail addiction to plant a wuthering waves addiction, but i find that unlikely since i don't tend to like open world games as much

i'm excited to see where wuthering waves goes and if it can finally provide a challenge to the behemoth that is genshin

you know what the actual problem i have with wuthering waves is? when i take a picture with the in game camera and hit save it doesn't actually save. so i'm restricted to screenshots for the time being

[lord--of--trash]

So I have started Veilguard. I am a huge fan of the series and am reserving judgement for when i'm am much further in, but so far, I have a few ✨️ opinions ✨️ that I need to get off my chest. These are just my thoughts, and I'm sure other people have very different takes, which is incredibly valid! There are no spoilers for the story, just my gripes so far. I am very happy with lots of things to be clear, and it is clearly a well-made game with some serious thought having gone into it.

1. I am sad by the lack of influence from the other games. I have been reading lots of takes on this, and I really didn't want to have an opinion until i'd played it. It makes complete sense given that it's set in Tevinter not to have choices from origins and 2 have a hugely significant impact. That's fine! I understand why they didn't want throwaway lines and letters but I really miss the throwaway lines and letters🤣 Those are the little things that flesh the world out and build the world that we have been loving creating and shaping for 3 games. I live in the United Kingdom but I still very much keep up to date with American politics and discuss it. It would make sense for who is on the throne in Fereldon to come up in conversation at least once (even by background characters). My Hawke is alive and would 100 percent be chatting to Varric unless there is a damn good reason why she can't (which we haven't been given). A letter from her to Varric would have made my week. I think the little things matter a lot when you get the the 4th game in a series and whilst I understand the effort these things take and the desire to avoid little bits that don't impact the story- for me they make my game experience from a story telling perspective. Just a few letters or throwaway lines would have done wonders to help the game feel connected to its predecessors and help the player feel it is still the world they have built.

2. Mage combat is kicking my ass. Admittedly, this may be a skill issue lmao. I miss tactics and being able to pause the game when I'm getting my ass kicked to reevaluate. As a controller user, there are so many buttons and things I have to press without time to think - especially because I have so little health (or maybe the enemies just hit harder). I get the impression the combat is a lot easier and more user friendly in melee so maybe it's my fault for being a mage lover but I am struggling in ways I haven't in the previous games. The combat feels like the biggest change and massively ramped up in difficulty (even in story mode!!! Send help!!). I may have to try playing as a rogue or a warrior, but it's such a shame as someone who historically LOVES being a mage that the combat is less enjoyable. The abilities take all of my mana to use, so I use an ability, and i'm like, welp time to spam x and y and pray. There are some great elements to the combat, but on the whole, I'm finding it stressful and difficult to play as a ranged character. I miss my beloved hotbar with all my options there for easy access lmao.

3. WTF has happened to darkspawn. I get that they are supposed to look different for [redacted] story reasons, but man, the glowing red eyes are really cartoony and terrible - in my opinion. They don't feel nearly as sinister and real as they did in the previous games. This is just stylistic differences I personally really don't like the way they've cartooned them up.

So yeah, just some takes I needed to vent about. Again, these are my opinions, and I'm sure plenty of people love the combat and are fine with the style differences and lack of impact from previous games. I certainly wouldn't want to insult all the work that's clearly gone into the game - which, on the whole, is stunning. I may change I opinions the longer I play! I am reserving judgement for the game as a whole because I am still very early on, and it's likely it will grow on me the longer I play and get used to it being a different game to it's previous installments.

[raycatz]

I wish so much that I could fully enjoy totk but I am struggling so much. Idk why some of the decisions for the game are the way they are. I can't help but be critical given how important the series and botw are to me.

I feel like the game is struggling to have its own identity. I feel like some creature has wormed its way into botw's skin and is wearing it poorly.

(So far I've played through the Gerudo and Rito story quests. What I've written here though is mostly about the world and direction. I just need to get some of these thoughts out. There are spoilers.)

The three main criticisms people had with botw were the story, weapon durability, and dungeons- and man so far in totk these things have only been worse. (The boss fights are incredible though)

The framerate drops whenever I use ultrahand, and combined with my left joycon drifting it makes trying to use the new mechanic difficult to the point that I will avoid it to do something else.

Some of the game does feel like mashed up dlc ideas. I would have preferred them to be dlc even. If the Zelda devs wanted to tell this story or make a game with these mechanics I wish they would have made an entirely new game instead of using botw.

So far totk has no through-lines between itself and botw. No one has mentioned the Champions, only a single npc has talked about the Calamity, no one has mentioned Calamity Ganon or the divine beasts Link calmed, and only a few people recognize Link himself. The champion successors I've met haven't spoken of the Champions or their divine beasts which is strange given how they spoke of them in botw, and at most have only referred to Link having been there in the past as, "when you helped us" without any specifics as to what. I've done all the side quests in botw and to have the people I helped call Link a stranger is saddening. It's even more pronounced in Hateno. I bought a house there. I helped its people. And the house no longer has Link's name by the door and Hateno's people remark at how Link is a new face in town. Didn't I live there? Given how some of the kids have grown it's probably been around 4 years since botw. Where has Link been in that time for the people to forget him? In Kakariko Cottla says she can't talk to me because she isn't supposed to talk with strangers. We've played tag together. I cooked meals with her sister. It's sad. In botw we spent the whole time collecting Link's memories and growing attached to the land only to have the land forget us. I feel like it's a disgrace to all of the time and joy players put in and found in botw, and to botw's story- to have none of that matter.

What happened to the Divine Beasts and the Sheikah shrines and the slate? Further, some important npcs from botw are just gone without explanation.

If the events of botw are so irrelevant then why use the same world and characters? I understand it's a way to save time and resources but this game took 6 years to make past botw. I would have preferred a new world and princess/hero entirely so I could go into it as a fresh experience. Instead, it feels like what made botw important was swept away, and the map and characters are only being used as an empty husk, like setpieces. Majora's Mask being a sequel with reused assets worked because in Termina there was no reason for anyone to know Link, and him traveling to find Navi made sense, and the look-alike characters are different people. In botw, there is no reason for no one to recognize Link or his achievements. He is the Hero of Hyrule for that world and it's people. He freed the divine beasts and put an end to the multiple local disasters they were causing, yet none of that is acknowledged and it sticks out like a sore. (I'm really really hoping that Sidon talks about Mipha and the constant rain caused by Vah Ruta because how could he not? That's his sister! Yunobo saw Daruk's spirit in botw so I'm hoping he says something of the Champions. I'm really hoping.)

I enjoyed exploring botw's world because there were always koroks and shrines to collect. I could wander knowing there was something in store to find. The world never felt too big or empty for this reason, and the solitude made sense because of the Calamity. In totk the number of shrines and koroks has been greatly reduced (edit: there are more shrines and just as many koroks as in botw. It just seems I'm having difficulty finding them ashfsjdf.) I know the overworld already so there not being a reward for exploring gives me no incentive to. The lack of shrines and the cutscenes required to go through to use the towers is another hindrance on exploration and quests. I can't get spontaneously sidetracked because there's no nearby place to warp back to, and I know how far I'll have to walk to get there. Traveling can feel like a chore instead of something enjoyable. It feels like the overworld has been stripped.

The world wasn't made for the new mechanics either, and so the areas to use them in are all tacked on as monster camps or fallen ruins, instead of a natural part of the landscape.

The new map content, the Sky and Depths, would have been better being condensed. They don't fit within the scope of botw's map. The Sky Islands so far don't take up much space and are significantly less important than I hoped they would be. The Depths is a fun concept and I enjoy the restrictions it puts on players, with the soft cap and kinda rougelite aspect while you're in the early game, but it's way too big, very repetitive, and there's not much point to exploring once you know what it's about. Both the Sky and the Depths would have benefitted by being more carefully thought out, concise, areas and suffer from having to fit the scope of botw's map. The Depths has poes and zonite to collect, but these things come in such huge quantities and require even huger quantities of to be useful that it feels grindy. I need 3 zonite ore for one crystalized ore, 100 crystalized ore for one fuel charge. There are three charges in one canister, of 8. That's 7,200 zonite ore like wtf. How is this supposed to be achievable? So far I haven't needed to use the vehicles all that often so it's not particularly useful atm either. The amount of cross-trading currency collectibles is overbearing. For some time I had no idea what any of them were used for so I didn't know what the point was in collecting them. Bubulgems, zonite ore, large zonite ore, poes, crystalized charges, large crystalized charges- too many. Please condense some of them.

Gone are all the very cool weapon designs, replaced in favor of the new fuse mechanic and endlessly scrolling through materials to find the right thing to attach.

The memories and the story in that aspect are still passive. Even more so.

We're all familiar with the Zelda formula- totk now follows the botw formula. Plateau area, back and forth fetch quests to upgrade your abilities, four main story beat locations, memories, and then the open world for players to tackle freely. I'm really hoping there is more. There has to be because the Sky and Depths haven't been used in the main story beats so far. In botw you could go anywhere and have everything to do in a given location immediately assessable to play through, but in totk there are things locked by progression. However, it's awkward because you aren't told precisely what's locked or why. I'm like- I went through the effort to get here but there isn't anything for me to do. I know there's something here! But I can't do anything yet and idk why or what I'm missing! and instead of building anticipation it just makes me frustrated. I'm not sure if what I'm missing is locked to progression or if there is something I've truly just missed.

So I have a feeling of having missed something important story/mechanic-wise when exploring, and then on the other hand I have the feeling of being very clearly shoehorned towards certain goals. Nearly all of the npcs have dialogue that leads you towards something. I don't feel like botw was ever this in-your-face about goals. The Calamity happened 100 years ago so the people have had time to adjust, while the Upheaval is happening now. It makes sense that the Upheaval would be much more pressing, I just wish the npcs would chat about something other than "go here, do this" once in a while. Like, I found Bolson, and instead of being greeted as a familiar face or getting to see Bolson in character, he just told me to go somewhere for a quest related thing. So many of the familiar characters are missing the quirky characterizations they had in botw that made them them.

With being shoehorned towards certain locations: many, many of the npcs want me to clear out monsters at Lurelin. So I went to Lurelin. At that point I'd only completed the quest in Gerudo and five shrines, yet the monsters I faced in Lurelin (and widely across the overworld) were black level monsters, which I was and still am nowhere near prepared for. Totk is either meant to be more difficult than botw or there is an issue with balancing. I've touched maybe 25 shrines and have lit a good number of lightroots, but haven't completed many, so maybe that's a factor into the enemy leveling? I also think there's a way for me to get help that I haven't found yet. Regardless, the enemy scaling across the world feels like it happened too quickly and I don't enjoy the npcs pushing me towards things my character isn't ready for. I feel like there should be more checks in place for this that determine the npc dialogue to the player's progress.

I haven't even talked about the story.

I know I'm being very critical with the game, and I wish I could just enjoy it. I need to stop trying to find botw in this game. And I should take a step back for a while too. I'm just disappointed.

The music and boss battles have been incredible! I hope there's more structured boss battles outside of the main four + ganon. Heck I even hope there's a boss gauntlet with a cool reward.

Just- yeah. So far I am not enjoying the new Zelda formula when it comes to totk. Botw worked for botw. totk looks and is structured too much like botw to feel like its own thing, and yet trying to play it like botw is just upsetting because it isn't.

Totk is a good game, but it's a bad sequel.

I hope the Zelda team returns to the old format sometime, or at least pulls forward some of the ideas. I miss the concise dungeons that take multiple play sessions to get through. I miss the tricky puzzles that make me feel smart for solving. I miss combat being a puzzle requiring certain items or learning boss phases and patterns (rather than sticking materials to your bow and taking a "just deal damage" based approach. I want to be closer to it.) I miss the worlds that were puzzles in and of themselves like Minish Cap or the Oracle games. I miss seeing a clearly marked spot on the wall or a tree in the way and knowing that I'll pick up an item that will help me here later. I like that there were clear solutions. The clues in botw and totk for progression are not as clear. And the botw open-world format is too large for concise puzzles like this. I enjoyed the open-ended way to combat and puzzles in botw, but I feel there should be space for both. No more ways to fenagle the physics or smack your way through obstacles. I want to see linear progression and long-form puzzles return to Zelda games, at least for the next one.

I'm hoping there's some plot twist or turn in gameplay that I haven't reached in totk yet. We'll seeeeee

[phoenixeclipse-lmkau]

also i cant remember if i sent an explanation for ISAT[in stars and time, a videogame] or not. i am assuming you read my ask and decided its not your cup of tea and just binned the ask, which is fair.

but just in case it didnt hit inbox, this is my last attempt, but with words this time [i try and avoid spoilers in case you do want to play]:

party who travelled around trying to stop final boss[king] from freezing the land in time, go to the town before entering final location/dungeon.

you have a chat with your party during the day, pray to the local god and make a wish at the local wish tree for luck, have a sleepover the night, and go into the castle/house/i forgot what's it called. as the rouge[?]/the traveller of the party siffrin[that's you] its your job to lead and finds traps and keys.

as you enter a corridor very early on, you are told by the chosen one/housemaiden that this is the death corridor and that the party should be careful. so you go searching for traps, but dont find any.

well the housemaiden is stressed, it is the final battle today after all, so you reassure her its fine and that you haven't found any traps.

as you live through the novel sensation of your body being crushed by a rock.

congrats! you died to a boulder trap!

suddenly you wake up, from that nap you took the day before you entered the castle. and the only one who remembers is you! at least this time/loop you find the trap!

the game explores what its like being trapped in a timeloop without knowing what is going on and without your consent. its story/ character driven as you learn more about your allies as you loop throughout the story.

will siffrin ever escape the timeloops? what trapped them in the loops in the first place? and will we find out what they didn't know they were allergic to pineapples? find out by playing the game! or watching someone play the game! but preferably by playing the game!

You let me know a video I could watch and there was a small Crumb with it too. Loved that! Gonna make a short scene with it, but this is the first explanation that I received.

I think the game sounds really cool. I'm not sure if I'll play it because of the layout (I get impatient when reading game text and wanna just move forward. Which sucks because then I skip over important info!) But I might try to play it some time it does look fun.

Thank you for the suggestion ❤️

[riddlerosehearts]

Okay now EYE must ask you - how are you liking BG3??? How far are you?? Tell me about your Tav!!!! (Please and thank you <3)

hi!! 💖 i only started the game a few days ago and it was an impulse decision i made after having previously told a friend of mine that i definitely wanted to play it but that it'd probably take me a while to get around to it (and, because i thought i wouldn't play anytime soon i hadn't really been trying to avoid spoilers). but, i have the PC version and while it generally runs just fine, my computer is kind of slow and the game is so big that it took hours to download and install. so i kind of went ahead and started to come up with a whole character idea during that time LOL. sorry if my explanations of things get a bit too rambly/disorganized. i'm actually not very far in the game at all yet, i've been spending a ton of time doing stuff in the druids grove and i'm supposed to go find halsin but i haven't even gotten karlach in my party yet! i've recruited all the main companions except for her but i am excited to meet her. gonna put the rest of this under a cut for length.

my only background with DND is that i listened to the first campaign of the adventure zone and i've watched the legends of vox machina show. i also have a friend who's super into her own DND campaign and another friend who's told me a lot about dimension 20, specifically fantasy high--and i've considered trying it out for her but haven't gotten around to it yet! i think she actually told me the same thing about the episode lengths making it easier to get into than critical role, because i had tried critical role and it was just so long that i couldn't stick with it. but, yeah, i've also looked at the forgotten realms wiki a bit but i've never actually played DND. i have played skyrim and final fantasy 14 and some other similar RPGs with customizable blank-slate protagonists, and in those types of games i always have to make OCs to roleplay as--usually i'll think up a basic idea to start with and then flesh the character out as i get into the game. they're never really self-inserts but i do often project onto them a little.

so, in games like these my first character is usually an elf that specializes in elemental/destructive magic. idk why, that's just what i've always liked. in ff14 i started out as a black mage without knowing it was the hardest class to play LMAO. soooo i went into this planning to create a high elf sorcerer, but as i started writing out ideas and thinking about what to do, i ended up creating a half-high elf bard. they're transmasc/nonbinary and in my head they use he/they pronouns, but i picked the nb option in the character creator and that causes npcs to actually use they/them in dialogue which i think is so cool. i love that the character creator is so inclusive in regards to gender.

anyway, i named them elenion, which is something i took from the lord of the rings universe because i'm a huge nerd. in LOTR it's an elvish word that basically means "of the stars". here's a couple screenshots i took when i first started. let's just ignore the fact that this hairstyle clips into elf ears (and also that the face preset is from a mod i downloaded).

i didn't really give him a tragic backstory or even the most interesting story haha--i'm wanting to do something bigger and angstier with another character on a second playthrough when i'm more familiar with the lore and world of the game. and i'll probably also end up changing or expanding on some things about this character later, but for now i just kind of made a normal guy with normal problems. i had this idea that his father, a human who attracted the attention of a beautiful elf woman, was also a bard and was a very successful musician in his youth. so elenion has always shared his father's passion and dreamed of being like him, being able to effortlessly tell incredible tales and inspire crowds of people through song, but no matter how much he studies and practices he never feels good enough. if he seems confident it's usually just because he's gotten really good at faking it. he's also pretty reserved and often avoids having to talk about himself by asking a lot of questions. see, i kind of wanted to specifically find a way to not roleplay the usual sort of loud, flirty, goofy bard, lol. not that i dislike those kinds of characters or anything though!

however, bards are meant to be super charismatic, witty, and persuasive and of course the game strongly encourages that with the dialogue options and skill bonuses you get. so my way of explaining this is to have elenion be a bit like raine from the owl house, in that they may be shy, but they're very firm in their ideals and are no pushover when it comes to protecting themself or their allies. they're clever and have a snarky side to them, and they're genuinely friendly and caring in a way that gives them a sense of quiet charisma. which reminds me that one of the spells i gave them at the start was sleep, and it's made me imagine that when they were a kid they tried calming a crying baby by playing a lullaby on their lute and accidentally ended up casting their first spell.

oh, and, i also wasn't really sure at first where in the world i wanted elenion to come from but i decided on something pretty quickly after getting multiple of those dialogue options suggesting that the protagonist is baldurian! i pictured them growing up in a somewhat small town with their family but moving to baldur's gate as an adult, hoping that if they left the comfort of their home and started to journey out into the world a little they'd eventually find their spark and become the bard they wanted to be. unfortunately they've had little luck so far because even after all this time they can't see that maybe their whole fixation on trying to be just like their father and achieve the exact same kind of success that he had is holding them back. the fact that their father died the year after they moved away hasn't helped either. and now, in the middle of traveling to a historical site that they'd wanted to see in person and use as inspiration for a song, they've been abducted by mindflayers and are struggling with the massive upheaval that this has brought into their relatively mundane life.

so. yeah. my tav for this first playthrough may not be the most unique or exciting character but i like him! i like figuring out what kind of choices he'll make and thinking up new ideas for what he likes and how he sees the world. also, i find it funny how in your reply to my ask you said you thought you'd be into gale but then you fell for astarion--because i thought that i'd be all over the edgy, brooding, snarky vampire man, but it turns out gale is so charming and funny that i'm probably going to romance him first. i'm also pretty intrigued by shadowheart and wyll but i'm so early in the game that i can't even say who i think my overall favorite companion will be because they all seem so interesting!! even karlach despite the fact that i haven't actually met her yet, i've seen a bunch of cool gifsets of her and my brother told me he's been romancing her on his playthrough. i really need to go find her soon.

i'm sure you can tell from everything i wrote here that i am definitely enjoying the game LOL. i can already tell that there's just so many different things to do and see, that i will both need and want to do a lot of different playthroughs and that it's going to be something that sticks with me. nothing wrong with using guides and walkthroughs btw! i do it too because i'm worried about missing too many things and have the world's worst sense of direction even with a minimap. honestly i probably need to look up some guides for certain mechanics that i don't feel like i've really figured out yet. there's a sarcophagus trap in the ruins early in the game that got me SO stuck and got my whole party wiped and then i looked up a video and found out you could turn off the whole trap system by pushing a switch... i felt so stupid askjdfgf.

anyway, i think this got to be way too long of a reply so i will stop here! but if you ever wanna tell me more about your tav or anything definitely feel free to and i hope you're having an awesome day!

[queen-scribbles]

I saw the post about the big Bioware sale and figured you're a good person to ask since I've seen you posting about Mass Effect/Dragon Age a lot. The games look fun, and I'm a sucker for complex stories with customizable protagonists, but I am a complete weenie about the more, uh, mature stuff when it comes to romance and the 'M' rating keeps scaring me off.

Like I'm over 18 and I'm fine with the violence/drinking/most of the swearing listed with the M rating, but I just get deeply uncomfortable with the other stuff. I'm just weird like that, I guess.

Is it really a lot? Or is there like a skip option, or some kinda setting that'll just have it be a fade-to-black sitch like SWTOR? I won't be too disappointed if there isn't, I kind of expect that really, but I figured it was worth an ask while the sale is on/to keep in mind for the next sale.

I have major social anxiety and am kinda embarrassed about all this, so sorry about the anon-asking. :P

No, no, you're fine, I understand completely. (I can take or leave a lot of the sexier stuff myself) Now I will try to remember romance scenes bc I haven't played some of these games in 4-5 years, and some of the romances I haven't gotten to yet. 😅 (if you don't mind spoilers you can always look up the romance on yt to check for yourself if it goes past your preferences. but if you do wanna avoid spoilers I will do my best) P much all the romances there's only even potentially anything that might be a problem in the Culmination Scene.

(If I got anything wrong anyone please feel free to correct me)

I know in ME1 the romance scene(with Kaidan for f!Shep, Ashley for m!Shep, Liara for either) there's sideview but shadowed nudity for f!Shep/Ashely/Liara(with Arm Strategically Placed to block boobs so all you really see is a little bit of butt) and Kaidan/mShep is shirtless.

ME2.... I think there's 0 nudity and ftb for Garrus, Thane, Tali, and Jack(ftb on tenderness, comes back in to fully-clothed snuggles in bed), Jacob's shirtless, and Miranda you half-unzip her catsuit uniform so you can see her bra. Oh, and there's a mini-romance-y thing with Kelly and she wears something really skimpy if you do that.

ME3... I need to caveat I've only actually gotten through ME3 with my Kaidanmancers + the Jackmancer, but I watched p much all the others on yt to hurt myself. Also it's been a while. I don't thiiiiink there's any full nudity, when it gets to the big sex scene toward the end, the furthest it goes is cuddling/foreplay with underwear still on, then cuts to waking up still just in underwear, and not all the romances get that. Some of them, ah. end prematurely for different reasons, or the romance isn't an actual companion in this game, so there's less content(Kaidan, Ashley, Garrus, Liara, and Tali get the most, since they join the team + have been established longer). There are new m/m and f/f exclusive option in ME3, but it's been long enough I don't rememberrrrrr if there's anything risque for them. I don't think so.

Andromeda I've only done Liam's romance and I don't think there was much in there(you can get him to stop wearing a shirt on the ship about halfway through and there's a makeout session on the couch that ftb). I think Cora's and Jaal's involve male and female shirtlessness, but I'm straight up blanking for the rest of them.

FOR DRAGON AGE

In Origins, the "big scene" for the romances does involve "sexy" movements, but the characters still have on underwear, so no nudity, and tbh with game engine/graphics advances that have been made a lot of people find those scenes cringey/silly more than sexy now. I think you can skip those, maybe, but if you can't there's dialogue after so you can just look away til you hear your chosen sweetie start talking and the conversation takes place fully clothed.

DA2 they did ftb for the four vanilla game romances. Love interest shows up, there's cutscene kissing fully clothed, ftb, wake up in underwear at worst. (Sebastian MY BELOVED is romanceable with a f!Hawke, but since he's a) chaste and b) a DLC companion, there's absolutely no sex scenes with him, you can get chaste married on his friend path and he'll talk about the two of you getting married to reclaim his homeland on his rival path).

DAI is... simultaneously best and worst in this regard lol Josephine and Solas there's nothing. Sera and Cassandra you see boobs and enough leg to hint at full nudity without actually showing it(Sera's might get a little more explicit, it's been longer for her so I don't 100% remember). Dorian's has... full rear nudity, but I think that's it. Blackwall's I don't remember, Cullen and Iron Bull both have scenes where you can tell they're naked, but the Inquisitor or an object is strategically in the way of the naughty bits.

OH AND not romance related, but possibly an issue, there are demons in the DRagon Age canon known as Desire Demons, who look like practically naked purple ladies(they have, like, an even skimpier version of the SWtOR Slave Girl outfit and are fond of caressing themselves seductively). They aren't in DAI, but do show up in the first two games for a few quests.

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

disco elysium is in this weird-ass place for me. i know its up my alley. i know i'd enjoy it. i can't play it though, my computer suddenly blacks out and crashes randomly after a few minutes whenever i try and i haven't been able to find a fix. (this is a problem with all Unity games for the record.) and so i just... avoid it like the plague. i don't want to get any spoilers because i'm still holding out hope i'll be able to find a way to play someday, and it doesn't seem like the sort of thing where watching a playthrough would be really any fun comparatively. and so i am just sat here pretending i do not see this massive fandom that i would really enjoy

[victorcross]

VN REVIEW! Particles of Obsession

obviously have to do my first review with the game that basically inspired my vn marathon and is part of my blog theme. also I know the creator has a tumblr if you see this hiiiii

the basics: you're monika viotto, a college student working at a cafe. school sucks, life kinda sucks, you've gone through a lot and are just trying to make the most of it now. buuut unfortunately, you're not allowed to have a happy ending. you do at least have 5ish love interests though who make you suffer and/or suffer with you though?

available on steam and itch.io, full game is $30, alexander route dlc is $5, free demo

contains 18+ scenes, options to censor; sexual content scenes/cgs, dubious consent scenes/cgs, and descriptions of violence

MANY endings, extra content, and a walkthrough for each character

I'm not good at summaries but while avoiding any spoilers, all the above and the fact this game has a billion trigger warnings attached to it and on every character's page is all you really need to know. if you can handle a lot of extreme dark themes (listed on the game's page) I recommend trying out the free demo at least and seeing if it's for you!

and with that out of the way: actual review portion! spoilers abound

immediately must put it straight I Love this game and admire the clear passion and love (tough love. to be more fitting) put into this.

if you're really just looking for a straight up yandere experience your mileage will vary because you get that plenty out of sebastian and unfortunately brandon, while julian is like 3/4ths there and quinn is simply too normal for that (I can't speak for alexander since I haven't bought his dlc I would assume he's also like 3/4ths there). if you're also fairly interested in the purely narrative portions and can give our mc a fair shot, you'll probably enjoy it more

in general without getting really into specifics of the story or characters, it is an extremely dark story with a lot of triggering elements but I feel there's a lot of grace and tact towards all the subject matter that stops it from being unnecessarily disturbing or like it's purely for shock and I applaud that considering the darkness of the game is like part of the selling point. I love the writing and pacing, and it doesn't take itself too seriously or too silly it knows the right time and place for everything and the characters all have some level of charm to them. even characters with little presence generally feel like they really do have personality and life to them

I feel like this game really is worth the price, it honestly has so much packed in I feel like I have been spoiled because I play other vns and I'm like sigh....... I miss particles of reality. like there's so many endings with wildly different outcomes, your choices are spaced out well and can HEAVILY change the events, there's very few that are purely for like random minor dialogue differences and otherwise pointless. genuinely is a Your Choice Matters game even if you can only like die or suffer for the rest of your life but you're told that in the tagline basically

also the extensive trigger warnings are really good they're not something I personally need but I absolutely appreciate the fact they're there and how thorough they are as well as the censorship options

the only thing that has bothered me really has been that some of the ui is kinda plain but that's the artist in me I don't think people care that much

good game. anyways story and characters. tw for incest on brandon

so firstly I have to acknowledge the worldbuilding. there is actually a supernatural element to all this which IS mentioned in the game description but I am illiterate and only look at pretty pictures so it caught me off guard. basically there are these meta guardians who oversee reality and I'm not very into this aspect of the game so I'm blurry on the specifics but basically all the timelines are canonical, alternate universe are also canonical, and all have something to do with monika who as far as they can tell is just a regular human but they abruptly end when she either meets a horrible fate or dies, and reality is breaking. it's not understood why by anyone (even by the end of the game) and there's some shady shit going on in the guardian hierarchy.

again hasn't really piqued my interest so I won't get really into it or anything, but it is like a whole side to everything I feel like I have to address it. it isn't a detriment to the game, it adds an interesting layer of mystery and explains the whole existence of the vn which I find endearing. fun mystery to learn more of in the sequel! (I need to play the demo for it.....) the guardians investigating this also pop up to comment on the routes on occasion which may be annoying to some people but I think it's cute and they are funny sometimes. it's also not a frequent occurrence, mostly only happens at the beginning of each route and the separate sections with them only last a couple of minutes so they don't overstay their welcome or anything

moving on, our mc monika! I actually replaced her name at the beginning with mine and couldn't reset it so I was like wtf was it again.... thank you brandon's character profile. anyways

basically. I love her I find when mcs of media like this to be completely healthy people with normal happy lives/childhoods it can sometimes be really annoying so I think she is delightful and perfect for the kind of story this is. I think she's very realistic and well written for her background and personality and as someone who has fortunately not been in the mafia but has my fair share of troubles and history with unhealthy relationships I can relate to her and see why she does the things she(/you. I guess) does and her logic behind it. idk it was crazy to me that people in reviews found her annoying or stupid I don't think she does anything atrociously dumb there's always a clear line of thought or reason she chooses to do something or why she acts the way she does

there is a fair amount of focus on her character and background which is extremely sad but it may be a bother if you don't really care about her as a character and just want to get in the guys' pants but I LIKE HER!!!! I think she wraps everything up in a nice depressing bow. also she's funny sometimes

speaking of getting into pants though. love interest thoughts. you can play them in any order (aside from one) but the order they're listed in seems to be the intended way which is also how I'm going through them

first we have sebastian the poster child. he also has the most endings and general just appearances/presence of all the guys so if you like him you will have a fucking ball and if you don't like him it'll be a nightmare his presence is not limited to his own route at all despite the fact that outside of his route you are complete strangers he's just a really dedicated stalker. I think it is so so funny.

he started pursuing monika when he was 14 and she was 10 which is not the type of creepy weird inappropriate behavior I accept I do/did like him outside of that but with that knowledge I'm like oughhh.... he was never a good person anyways but that singlehandedly made him unsexy

about his character though it makes sense he is the poster boy because he lives and breathes the obsession theme he is delusional and wants to do everything he can to be the perfect boyfriend in your eyes and do things right by you but at the same time his selfish desire to have you overtakes him and all good will he has towards you. he literally cannot live in a world without you and you're the only thing he wants

I find he oddly has the least backstory or explanation to why he is the way he is compared to all the other characters/love interests? we know he is from an enemy mafia family that was shockingly a kind of healthy environment as far as a mafia family can be I suppose and we actually can play their meeting via brandon's route and I have found like 0 reason why sebastian becomes INSTANTLY fixated and obsessed with monika it's just love at first sight and he says as much. which is pretty flimsy and nonsensical that it's taken to the degree it is especially when the other love interests do have a clear reason why they love her and aren't obsessed to that degree

that's like my only real complaint about his writing otherwise he's very fun and the obsessiveness is such a ride, I found his routes really enjoyable and Eventful I can't recall other thoughts on him anymore because I did literally all of his endings and extras before doing the other characters so they've just left the building

also this is the funniest thing he ever says in my opinion yes it's around the same time as the last quote I showed.

my favorite ending with him was "not the one" it was the most unique to me both in what happened and how sebastian reacted and broke, it was really interesting

julian oh julian....

I have to premise that I DO like him he is very cute and endearing to me but I don't like his route as a love interest I basically only like him as monika's coworker friend with an unrequited crush. like there's a number of things that make him not really work for me

1. the dragon thing. like I do put my best effort to take everything presented sincerely as such but I simply cannot do it for the dragon thing I'm so so sorry I like the thought though. 2. ash he's convinced he has DID and ash is another personality but actually ash is just some demon or something possessing him and when julian dies ash will just possess another person and I honestly cannot understand it... why doesn't he just actually have DID? like if ash comes back in the next game remembrance I guess I can understand that more but otherwise I don't get why that isn't the case besides to either avoid doing the whole evil murder alter thing (which functionally is still what is happening) or demonizing DID in general

beyond that I think it's just a matter of preference I LOVE his personality and his backstory I simply am not into the serial killer aspect nor want him as my boyfriend. I want him as my friend he's cool. yay ❤️

my favorite ending of his was until you're mine

Brandon. is your brother so he's certainly not MY love interest because I'm not into that but I do think he is a really interesting and compelling character

his route is more of a backstory route than a brandon dating sim but brandon is like the only person in monika's like before going to college so it's like. what you would expect. very depraved. there's copious amounts of NSFW scenes between them moreso than any other character which is insane. I do ultimately understand why he developed an attraction and attachment to monika just due to the isolation and having no other person he feels emotionally close with so I feel like it makes sense he turned out the way he did and I do have some sort of empathy for him. he's very human and a horrible person. I didn't enjoy the sex scenes at all for obvious reasons but I can't objectively say they were like distasteful to write in at all

(also this is completely irrelevant but the fact he's into anime is so fucking funny I can't stand it imagine arguing with a guy on an anime forum and he's actually a member of the mafia with like a billion people in his kill count. I know this guy wants to try sprinkling japanese in his conversations like a middle schooler and has to hold it back for professionalism)

ouhhhh my baby darling quinn. I love quinn so dearly and their endings all suck so bad I'm so sorry

he feels like the most human of all the characters, they are very grounded and also the most normal and empathetic (which I will expand on in a bit) their route when you go with them to visit their family, feels the most emotionally intimate to me. like he feels like a person I would actually meet and could love in real life. I love them a lot!

being sane and grounded in this game is kind of a death sentence though so that's how I'd sum up quinn's routes they almost all end with monika and quinn being killed/kidnapped/etc by OTHER CHARACTERS so like I don't even have a favorite ending for him. because quinn almost never does anything to cause these bad endings they're a saint as much as they can be unlike with the other characters so it's not as fun as being kidnapped by sebastian when it is Quinn's route and quinn did nothing to earn the fate he got

I still loved playing through his endings but I was like damn can't quinn kill me this time instead!!! they try that actually in one but nonetheless

my true favorite ending is the extra what-if scenario where he's a yandere which honestly would have been really interesting to see me more of but you know. I am biased.

secret guy jumpscare pretend there's a picture of him here I do not have the motivation to grab one

as you may be able to tell by my url. I like victor. from the get go I thought he was the hottest guy so I was very eager to play his route

unfortunately his is extremely short and is a linear story where he's just killing your ass the whole time because he retains memories from all the timelines and he is utterly sick of you but I enjoyed it thoroughly even with his short time he is full of a lot of character and considering everyone likes you so badly it's very fun to throw in a guy that not only hates you but is fully aware of what's happening

he does make extremely short appearances in other routes (I think he only speaks in one of them?) too which is cute and also makes it funnier to me knowing that he's actually seething the entire time. the detail of his eyes always being open in the menu (unlike the other characters who have them closed until you hover on them) is also a little plus. I want to see more of him I miss him so bad

ANDDD that's everyone/everything.

when you finish the game you get character interviews and they're so cute good fuel. I may buy alexander dlc sometime and if I do I'll give it its own mini post I also want to play the remembrance demo...

this game says there is no happy ending except there is exactly one and it's the one scenario where monika is an only child and she gets with her bodyguard after throwing julian and sebastian out I'm so happy for you queen

[sarasa-cat]

waitwaitwaitwaitwait. Did I read your tags on that BG3 Sexyman poll right? You voted for Astarion?? You must tell me your thoughts on him, I have a desperate need to know rn

(Me right now: snickering and laughing and trying to look composed while sitting in front of the computer. Bwahahaahahhaahahahahahhahahaha)

I don't have all that much to say just yet because I really am not all that far into the game. Seriously, I have only had a few evenings of play, most of it meandering around. In fact, I still haven't met up with Halsin although when I last left my party in camp, I think they were somewhere near where he is.

THAT SAID **RUBS HANDS**

(Puts a cut here for people who haven't yet started BG3 and are avoiding ALL spoilers, even really really really early in the game stuff)

Right from the very first scene with Astarion he radiated OVERLY DRAMATIC DISASTER vibes and then, a little while later, the First Bite camp scene was just highly amusing. ;)

From what little I know or can guess via the blindingly loud foreshadowing, I am sensing that there is a lot of power dynamic issues wrapped up in the romance path with Astarion and eventually this will require resolving Astarion's ties/relationship with his full-vampire patron (name of that dude escapes me, not googling for fear of spoilers). If anything, Astarion is highly Entertaining(tm).

I could be wrong but my guess is that the Astarion arc will be Interesting.

Of the dudes, the only other one to interest me so far is Wyll. I know is that his story and his romance arc were radically reworked for the full release although I don't know much more than that and I did not play the early release. In the current version of his story there is a loud subtext of messiness regarding Wyll's situation (yes, I have gotten just far enough to meet Mizora) and that intrigues me. Quite curious about it.

I already suspect that Halsin isn't my jam, personally, but I'll reserve my judgments until he is recruited.

Gale.... Not right for the particular OC I'm playing for my first run through.

But, honestly, my personal all around fave so far is 🥰 Karlach 🥰

That said, for my first play through with this particular OC I have plopped into the BG world, I suspect that Astarion is the way to go and I also suspect it will be amusing.

One day in the future I will create an OC who is a bit more wholesome for a Karlach romance run.

AND I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED ONCE I GET BACK TO PLAYING. ;D

[genshinemblem564]

I am curious who is your favorite oc in feh.

I don't really think about favorites often, they just happen, so I'll list the ones that stand out and the reasons they do so. Sorry I couldn't answer your actual question, I hope this will suffice.

• Alfonse: His reason for remaining distant from summoned heroes was understandable. Just because they're here now doesn't mean anything. They will eventually have to return to their worlds and fulfill their roles. After learning about Zacharias however, my heart broke. He's self isolating due to trauma and grief, Anna and Sharena are hurt too, but he took it the hardest by a mile, and it's only made worse after the reveal. I never wanted a character to be real just to give them a hug more in my life, our boy needs that hug bad.

• Bruno: Man is loyal to the end. He fakes his death, takes on a new identity, and tries to get his best friend to kill him because of a curse on his family's blood where he's not in control of his own actions, all the while searching for a way to lift said curse for the sake of his sister.

• Veronica: I was always confused about how loneliness leads to wanting to destroy a nation, but after Bruno's explanation, I believe her actions may not be her own. This is only proven further by Brave Veronica since she holds no animosity towards the summoner, and now I just feel bad for her. Also, I love how Xander joins her willingly for the reason that she reminds him of Corrin. I think my teeth rotted from too much sweetness.

• Fjorm: Her story is a sad one from start to finish, and she still has the strength to press forward. Unless I missed an event, I'm fairly certain her contract with the summoner is the only thing keeping her alive, as I believe it's stated in game that Breidablik can revive heroes, even ones not summoned if I've interpreted the light's blessing mechanic correctly.

• Laegjarn: She is such a great character. She spent every day fighting to survive Muspell's cruelty using her smarts rather than her brawn. She was never as cruel as her father, only seeking combat because it's an order, wishing for peace between the nations of fire and ice. Even in her final moments, she thinks only of her sister's safety.

• Helbindi: Typical meat head, that's what I thought at first, I was DEAD WRONG. From his motivations for fighting to his betrayal of Surtr, he is a phenomenal and tragic character. I also headcanon that he acts as a second older brother to Ylgr, at least I think it's a headcanon, I can't remember if that's their in game dynamic or not.

• Lif: I haven't played book III yet, so I can't say much other than "I like his design." I mostly try to avoid spoilers unless I'm researching for my writing.

As for FEH original characters beyond book III, I know next to nothing about them, as I've been playing in a linear fashion, despite not needing to. I actually beat book II on my first account, but it wasn't linked to my Nintendo account, so it didn't carry over, but that's why I'm able to give my opinion on book II original characters, in case you were wondering after what I said for Lif.

Regarding Fjorm's section, FEH is honestly almost as bad as Genshin when events are involved. The only thing making them better is that you can rewatch event cutscenes, but only ones you unlocked or that occur naturally, such as openings and endings. I know Fjorm has one regarding the rite she underwent, but I forget its name and category.

[gekidasa]

Fic Stats Game

Thank you for the tag, @jaimebluesq!

rules: give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the fewest words.

1 - Most Hits: And I will stay with you / And you will keep me close (or as I call it, Sangcheng Roommates AU). I was always somewhat surprised that this fic took off like it did, since it was a threadfic that got out of control, based on a rather silly premise (what if they were ROOMMATES at the CR!! And then unknowingly started dual cultivating to the point htat NHS developed a core earlier). The first half WAS entirely written as a thread (very unwieldly!) that I then cleaned up and separated into chapters.

And then... I will forever wonder if I should have left it at that. Except that the actual point beyond the silliness was that this was actually a canon divergence which would eventually lead to things going down differently when the Wen attack LP. I never actually wanted to get into THAT part of it, but I did choose to go into what would happen when NHS came to LP in the interim between the CR and the Wen indoctrination camp. And I also decided that they would end up betrothed. But despite researching, it was only after having written a lot more that I found out about the 3 letters and 6 etiquettes, and that... changed things. So I had to decided whether to/how much to rewrite. Anyway, I got bogged down. It's been hard. Currently there is just one chapter (part of which is already written) and maybe an epilogue to go, but... it's been awhile. I somehow haven't been in the mood to write this.

But I do plan to finish out what I'd planned. I just get distracted by newer ideas that maybe better fit how my headcanons and knowledge evolve.

2 - 2nd Most Kudos: When a secret isn't really secret. And I am ALSO continually surprised by how popular this turned out to be. It's a short little Touya/Yukito fic in which they are already a thing and Yukito sleeps over, and then has an unexpected middle of the night conversation with Fujitaka (spoilers: Yuki didn't realize that Fujitaka has been well aware of how he and Touya feel about each other for a long time). The reason its popularity is surprising is that Touya is barely in it, most of it is just Yuki and Fujitaka talking... but I admit, it IS rather sweet, like CCS tends to be.

3 - 3rd Most Comments: How Jiang Wanyin avoided being blacklisted by matchmakers. My current baby of the moment! I'm having so much writing this, I call my sangcheng Betrothal AU, and it's also a fairly silly premise. It was inspired by a tweet where a guy says his parents were trying to play matchmaker, so he told them he was gay... and then they came back with a binder full of men for him to potentially date. So in this one, JC yells in the middle of a meeting with matchmakers that he doesn't want to marry any woman. He THINKS he means "right now", but YZY takes it to mean he's a cutsleeve. She has the matchmakers prepare a list of young men to potentially be the consort of Jiang-zongzhu, and he winds up betrothed to his friend NHS. This very much plays into my headcanon that JC is ace/demi (demi, in this case) and not very selfaware about his preferences. It's also a canon divergence: YZY and Yinzhu survived the massacre of LP, and JC never lost his golden core.

4 - 4th Most Bookmarks: The Half-Eaten Peach Longs to be Filled with Cream. This is just straight-up sangcheng porn. 😂

The morning that a discussion conference at Qinghe is set to start, NHS asks JC to fill him up and plug him up so he'll feel it all day. Halfway through the day, he gets a refill.

5 - 5th Most Words: Hold the doors. My one NieLan fic so far. Also porn. Modern AU, LXC has moved into a new building and has noticed his hot neighbor NMJ. One day they ride the elevator together and NMJ helps him with his groceries. And then LXC gives dage a beer and a blowjob.

Bonus - Fewest Words: The final gift. Super short (201 words) post-canon Kamen Rider Ryuki fic, about Kitaoka's fate in a timeline without the Rider War. Yes, that sentence means it's both post-canon and canon-divergence. If you know Ryuki, you understand why. It's also Kitaoka/Reiko but more about Kitaoka himself.

Tagging @angie-s-g @revesdelimonade @apocrypha73 @lostheartkix @trixietricoter @mulberrylotus

[stormbabylore]

All right, here goes! Started a tumblr specifically to infodump about all my baby FFXIV WoLs. Here's my main, circa Heavensward, when I finally had some glams I loved for her. She's a precious little bean, and I affectionately call her my "Stormbaby." ♥

So, a few things about her!

Name: Aeryn Stormwater

Age: Probably mid-20s, but she actually doesn't know!

Class(es): She canonically started as archer and later picked up the lance, too. She did try her hand at conjury but struggled to connect with the elemental magics and remained rather weak in the art. A known associate of the "Dutiful Sisters of the Edelweiss," she has some meager skill with a dagger, but she prefers the bow. (Outside canon, Aeryn has both black mage and astrologian AU personas!)

Crafting/Gathering: Omnicrafter forever! \o/ (Although I still haven't picked up armorer for some reason.) Canonically, just weaver, alchemist, and botanist. She does end up helping out around Naldiq & Vymelli's from time to time, mostly just with gathering and deliveries between the city-states.

Other Hobbies: She keeps a journal with her at all times that she uses to jot down notes, important details, sketches, and maps of all her adventures. When words fail her (which is frequently), she often finds she can write or draw what she thinks. She will also, eventually, take up painting.

Extras: Aeryn has no memory of anything besides her name when she wakes up on a chocobo cart bound for Gridania, in Eorzea, a place she knows nothing of. Folks tend to assume the stars on her face are tattoos, but upon closer inspection, they don't appear to be inked. The yellow streaks in her hair are natural, though everyone assumes she dyes it. (The game doesn't allow it, but her bangs would be yellow, too!) She frequently dreams - often having nightmares - but she can't seem to remember anything about them when she awakens. The first time she sees the ocean, she falls in love with it, and she has a tendency to spend her idle time near natural bodies of water when she is able.

About the Ears: When she saw those bun ears at the Gold Saucer, she Had. To. Have. Them. She still wears them with several of her glams. Unclear if she will ever give them up. /huh

And a few things about me!

I am Not a Typical Gamer. I panic in dungeons and feel terrible when I mess up. But I am o b s e s s e d with this game, its nuanced storytelling, and its myriad ways to play and explore.

I have too many so many alts and will likely end up blabbering about them all here at some point.

I've been playing XIV for about a year and a half, but I like taking my time with the story. Just finished Shadowbringers MSQ and am taking a pause for my emotional sanity. :D :D :D

(Still avoiding Endwalker spoilers where possible!)

I can't do FCs. They bug the heck out of my anxiety.

If I emote at other players, I'm probably highly over-caffeinated! I generally feel extremely awkward afterward and often just... run away.

⋆｡° ✩ °｡⋆Urianger⋆｡° ✩ °｡⋆ I love him with the entirety of my heart.

If you read all this, thank you, and have a lovely day! /beam

[manonamora-if-reviews]

Glimmer by Katie Benson

============= Links

Play the game See other reviews of the game Read the Post-Mortem See other games by Katie

============= Synopsis

It's bleak out there. No one would blame you for turning away.

============= Other Info

Glimmer is a Twine (Harlowe) game, submitted to the 2022 Edition of the IFComp. It was ranked 53th overall.

Status: Completed Genre: Slice-of-Life

CW: depiction of depression

============= Playthrough

First Played: 3-Oct-2023 Last Played: 11 Aug 2023 Playtime: around 10min Rating: 3 /5 Thoughts: Short but hopeful story. Kinda.

============= Review

Glimmer is about a person spiraling in helplessness, having a hard time to function around the bleakness of their situation. It is also about hope, and the importance of having caring people around.

Spoilers ahead. It is recommended to play the game first. The review is based on my understanding/reading of the story.

The game is simplistic in both style and visual. A few lines of text, one choice, maybe some extra interactive links to add description. It is straight to the point. The world is bleak, so you turn your back to it. You face some hardship, so you avoid them. Little by little, you close yourself to everything around you. But, at your lowest point, a hand reaches out to you to pull you out of your funk (forcibly if you resist), reminding you that there are still good things out there to enjoy.

I thought the game started out strong, with tackling themes of drifting and avoidance turning into depression and isolation (though it felt at time a tad too surface-level in its representation), when faced with a bleak world and difficulties in your life. The whole losing your joie de vivre and vicious cycle of negativity.

However, I found the whole second act... dissonant almost? In your darkest moment, an unnamed friend* barges (back?) into your life, gives you a cup of tea and a biscuit, and like that, you snap out of it, awkwardly and timidly claiming you tried to get better all this time. When the first part of the game implied quite some time had passed between the first event of the spiral and current time, it feels like a whiplash to have a "recovery" happening so suddenly. This feeling was aggravated when choosing to resist the friend's pleas does little to change the outcome. As if by magic, you get better by the last page. After just a cup of tea. *I really didn't like that you would not even acknowledge their personhood, I think that's also a reason why it felt weird.

I still haven't made my mind about the (lack of) choices and what it means for the player agency. I've come to appreciate more the kinetic approach of storytelling in IF, and considering how debilitating depression can be, making you think you do not have a choice, it is thematically in line with the story. However, the few available choices lack in consequence or are essentially disregarded by the story, which makes the little agency the player has essentially useless. It felt a bit frustrating and unsatisfying.

I did appreciate the message the game was trying to convey, but I don't think the game quite manage to get the point across.

=============

OG Review during the IFComp:

Short but hopeful story. Kinda.

There is something so tragic with this story that did not hit me right away. One my first playthrough, I dismissed it as dealing with the surface-level aspect of isolation (whether by your environment/other people or yourself). Maybe it has to do with the way the writing portrays the indifference of the main character about what is happening around them and to them. It really shows how easy and how fast it is to become completely isolated and how much effort is required to get out of that pervasive cycle. I only realised how subtle this was until my second run.

Still, I am not sure how I feel yet about the game as a whole. The forcefulness of the friend in contrast with the absolute passiveness of the player made me feel a bit awkward. Even when you choose not to follow your friend, you don’t really have a choice in the matter at the end. The “recovery” of the player also felt a bit rushed*? I know sometimes it can take just a message to be “brought back to the living” for some people, but it felt a bit too fast when the first part of the game saw the player spiralling into deep despair.

The choices also don’t have any consequences at all, which I think is a shame. Even when isolating yourself, you still have agency about what to do (even if you end up choosing to isolate yourself more every time) and your action have consequences to yourself and the people in your circle. That felt a bit lacking? That or the MC has a really nice friend.

Overall, this was a short and concise story, but it also left me unsatisfied.