#I love the aesthetics of this game so much

[y2kas13]

Can She Stay? (Paige B. x reader)

Paige b. x dads best friend's daughter!reader

Summary: Paige goes with her dad to his best friend's house meets his daughter and quickly becomes close.

cw: fluff, rizzler paige lol, spicy but no smut, reader isn't given a set race or weight just mentions of curly hair and being on the 'thicker side' but nothing too defining y/n used srry

a/n: (I wrote this months ago and never knew how to finish so I’m gonna post it how it is if you wnat a continuation I definitely will) I'm actually from and live in CT so I'm gonna use the name of a college from here for realism its not important tho so don't worry lol thank you for tuning in to my poll for those who interacted this is technically my 2nd fic on Tumblr but my other one sucked and flopped 😭 so hopefully this is better. I appreciate interaction!

Paige was a go-getter, constantly up and running ready to take on the day and do what needed to be done.

Needless to say, she didn't want to get out of bed and go with her dad to sit around and listen to old dad jokes for the next few hours.

She loves her dad, but after weeks of training and hard work, she wants to mindlessly scroll on her phone and eat some well-deserved junk food.

"Come on Paige it'll be fun I promise it'll be worth your while. watch you'll have so much fun you won't wanna leave! now come on Paige!" Hearing her dad have so much enthusiasm trumps her feelings of wanting to stay home. She changes out of her pajamas into black loose-fitting sweatpants and a white crop-top she puts her slides on and gets in her dad's car and falls asleep.

Feeling the car come to a stop makes her open her eyes and see that they are presumably at her dad's friend's house. She rubs her eyes and stretches to wake her up. She hops out of the car and walks up to the door after her dad.

Before her dad can even finish knocking a man who looks the same age as her dad opens the door. "Bob! there you are old timer hurry up the game is coming on." He ushers them in and both Paige and her dad hurry inside.

Paige takes in the living room while her dad and his friend playfully banter with each other. Before Paige can open her mouth to say anything she hears soft footsteps coming toward the living room which causes her to look up.

"Dad, what's all that noise?"

Paige sees probably one of the prettiest girls she's seen in a while. Beautiful curly hair held out of her face by a simple headband, she's wearing a simple blue crop top similar to her own and the smallest pair of black pajama shorts she's seen in forever.

The feeling of the girl's eyes also looking her up and down causes Paige to finally stop staring and look away. "Come here baby let me introduce you!" The pretty girl steps further into the living room to stand by both dads which causes Paige to follow without even thinking. The girls' dads introduce them to each other, "This is my daughter Paigey she plays basketball at UConn she's a little star." Bob says with obvious pride in his voice which causes Paige to slightly blush and look down waving him away playfully at the nickname. This elicits a small giggle out of the girl which makes Paige smile a little harder and look up at the girl seeing that she's already looking at Paige. "This is my baby she goes to Southern and she's the student council president at her school." Pride is also evident in his words, the baby name makes the girl turn away in slight embarrassment.

The TV in the living room starts playing a loud sound alerting the dads that the game they were awaiting is finally starting so they offer that the girls should go hang out together in the girl's room. They head towards the girl's room.

"So baby huh?" Paige says with a small smirk on her lips, the name used making her laugh.

"Oh whatever Paigey," The girl rolls her eyes playfully and sits on her bed, "I have a real name you know." Paige looks around the room taking in the aesthetically pleasing room with light grey walls dark hardwood floors and posters of all her favorite shows and artists on her wall.

Paige sits down at the small dark wooded vanity now looking at the girl perched on the bed, "Care to share then princess?" the nickname princess causes the girl to spring up and look at the blonde girl at her vanity

She shares her name with Paige to which Paige compliments.

“So student council president huh? You’re a smart girl aren’t you.” Paige says with a smirk but there’s no condensation or malice in it.

The curly haired girl nods making her curls bounce and flop in her face slightly. “Yep school has always been my thing I’ve been best at.”

Paige gets up from her vanity and walk over to the bed. She looks the curly haired girl in the eyes and moves some of the hair that fell in her face. “Maybe you should come by my school and see me do what I’m best at.”

[dyktvideogamesfx]

You've said Ultrakill is one of your favorite games-- I'm curious what your favorite part of it is... the lore's great, the weapon pool is just. mmm, the enemies and level designs. incredible.

the way it does difficulty? has to be my favorite part. i love how i can just. go do something thats a little bit harder. get a slightly better time, get a slightly higher wave, add an additional modifier like radiance or a self-imposed weapon challenge, and p-ranks all make for the perfect difficulty curve that has lasted me over 600 hours

so with that lil infodump, i bring it around to the beginning question-- what's your favorite thing about ultrakill?

There is MANY things I enjoy about ULTRAKILL... but my favourite?

I think generally, it is the lore. I'm gunna go under a read more here just in case. But to add to it- Gameplay is incredbile, even if I'm not very good at it.

The weapons? Hilarious. Looney tunes ass shit that somehow exactly fits the games aesthetic and style. How it merges comedy perfectly with tragedy and serious moments.

But anywho! Under the read more for some ULTRAKILL spoilers.

I am... quite frankly abnormal about how V1 is not the main character. That this is a game about Gabriel, at the end of the day. How every major change, every major importance, comes from his decisions in the end.

I'm already a big lover of playing with religion. One of my TTRPG characters who I have yet to play is a priest going through some real shit. There is so much you can do with religious guilt and the things that bind and ULTRAKILL plays with that like building blocks, it fucks.

The creativity of how each of the layers of hell is depicted is also? MWAH. perfect. PERFECT. seriously, I have never seen a game just play with its concepts like this before. The enemy designs also go hard.

I just really enjoy its lore conceptually. Breaking away from something thats been chaining you is always something I find hard to be invested in- especially if the character, Gabriel in this case, is very much like "No, I can't be feeling this way, there is something wrong with me."

It's just good. ULTRAKILL is good. Fraud WHEN.

[ropebunnykant]

Hi!! What are your thoughts on the confrontations at the empty pool vs the ocean? Obviously the ocean is relevant to kant's past but the juxtaposition of the two is so interesting to me but I can't really figure out if that was just an aesthetic choice or if there's actually something to it.

Looking forward to your thesis about the boat scene!!

omg thank you for asking and i will absolutely be writing an in depth post about the boat scene probably later on cause it was sooo chock full of things and first kanaphan deserves every fucking award possible for that scene

i will say, i think when it comes to analyzing media, there are so few things that are done and chosen "just for aesthetic." i've had other people comment on that when i've talked about the religious imagery, and while yes, aesthetic is important in media and often times can be reason enough for directors and designers to choose them, i would say more often than not there is also meaning behind big choices like set. they put fadel and style in an empty pool for a reason, just as they put kant and bison on the boat for a reason.

now, the boat was likely a very obvious choice for bison because like you said, it's relevant to kant's past and kant told him on their first date that he was scared of the ocean. so, of course tying him up and putting him on a boat surrounded by water to confront him would be the exact sort of psychological torture bison would want to inflict on kant.

but when you compare it to fadel and style, i think it's also a way of representing openness, and in a way it's a representation of each couple.

because fadel confronts style in an empty pool, and he's stripped style almost completely naked. style is laid almost totally bare, and that's true in a literal sense as well as a metaphorical sense, because fadel knows he's a "snitch." and the thing about fadel and style is that while yes, there's been lies and deception there, style has also been very earnest in every way he can be. it was only more recently that he had to start lying for real, and even then he still sneaks in as much truth and openness with fadel as he possibly can. and it's exactly what he does here - even with a gun to his head and fadel telling him not to say he loves him, style still says it because it's true and style doesn't know how to be anything but open and honest with fadel.

and then when it comes to the bison and kant of it all, there's a lot more lies and deception. kant is not laid bare in the same way - bison even has him in essentially a costume by putting him in the patient scrubs. but at the center of it all is the fact that even with all the lies, even with the murky waters, kant has been honest with bison. he's been vulnerable with him. and that's how bison knows putting kant on a boat and telling him to jump overboard is the cruelest thing he could do to him. it's fair game to bison because of what kant did to him, but it also shows that even if bison thinks everything was a lie, there was always some amount of truth to it. because kant never had to give an assassin his biggest fear, but he did it anyways.

i also think the empty pool vs the ocean says a lot about bison and fadel's intentions in the scene, even on a subconscious level. i don't think fadel at any point planned to actually hurt style. maybe he told himself he would, but i think deep down he knew he would never be able to go through with it. so, he puts him in an empty pool where yeah, he can get hurt if he pushes style into it and he hits the floor of the pool, but those injuries likely won't be serious enough to kill him - and he won't drown.

whereas bison, despite likely also knowing he can't actually hurt kant himself, took him somewhere he could make kant do it for him. and even then, it's clear he regrets it as soon as kant hits the water, because he's calling out to him as soon as he jumps off, as if he didn't expect him to actually do it. bison wants to hurt kant but he knows he can't, whereas fadel wants to want to hurt style and knows he can't. and those are two very different things.

[zhongrin]

i'm buzzing from coffee so here we go. sorry if i missed anyone, my memory is akin to the invertebrates sometimes. also i'm tagging people who may not even know i exist in this, so if you don't want to be tagged, no hard feelings, lmk and i can remove it ᰔᩚ

ps. this is all /pos, /lh, and /genuine with some /silly sprinkled in

@queen-belial i have 0 idea who astarion or durge is, and i have never played baldur's gate in my life. but nevertheless, know that i am always so utterly enamored at the rare crumbs of art and fics you post.

@abyssmal-skies you're one of the few people who are still into traditional art and i think it's amazing!!!

@harmonysanreads with her crazy deep in-depth character analysis proficient brain writes banger after bangers of yandere works that will make you shiver in a good way.

@brynn-lear is yet another lv.999 yandere writer, with her plot twists, unique ideas, signature art, → !!!GAMES!!! <-, and cannibalism tendencies.

@mochinon-yah with her amazing amazing art and personality as sweet as her name.

@euniveve with her series and worldbuilding and amazing arts like girl how does your brain work i need to study it.

@pranabefall who cuts open my heart and stabs far too many needles in it before sewing it back up (wow thanks, doctor) with her beautifully painful fics.

@jessamine-rose the concept of playing with dollhouses as a blog 'theme' itself is already so unique, but the worldbuilding and character building jess is doing in every fic of hers is INSANE!!!

@naraven alon oh alon.... your music. you're the toby fox in our squad in my head and i really hope one day your music will be heard by all.

and if we're speaking about beautiful proses being written to mesmerize your senses, @chryseis-lxve aka cherry does it like no other!!!!

@teabutmakeitazure serves quality dark tea for your aventurine, childe, and chrollo fixations ☕️

@dottiro is THE canon dottore writer in my head but their pantalone fics especially are so 🫶🏻🔥🩸 (interpret those emojis as you will)

@stickyspeckledlight may use whimsy and silly words in their fics but you'll look up from their works at the end of the day and go 'what the fuck /pos'.

@crystalflygeo writes delicious smut (and will occasionally break your heart *sideeyes LoHK*) and will beckon you to visit her blog more for more delicious food (perhaps pet the local deer in the process too).

@floraldresvi may not be your 'typical writer' where she posts drabbles under the 'x reader' tag, but she drops a bouquet of happiness into her friends' inbox and i respect that so much ᰔᩚ

@silentmoth if the utterly adorable moth persona didn't bait you into looking into moth's blog then you're a monster let me just say i binged moth's masterlist. it was very worth it. 20/10 would do it again.

@pawpiefawn's calming, quaint vibe doesn't deceive - it's a cozy space for wriothesley and al haitham enjoyers, but let's be real here. i think the main charm here is miss ying's personality!!!

@silkjade has a way of writing that will leave you wondering what beautiful truly means because her aesthetics sense is top-tier and it flows into the way she writes her fics ✨

@pearlywritings has super comforting and fluffy fics that makes my day and some spicy stuff that makes me go 👀 → 🤔 → 🤤... i don't even kiss diluc but i want to root for familyau!diluc and reader, they're SO LOVABLE.

@the-travelling-witch has a plethora of magical potions you can select from, but just be careful because the poisons are as potent as the love potions ;)

@risustravelogue may be on hiatus but will still forever be one of my favorites because time means nothing to the kinship i have over fellow devs doing art and writing ;w;

the combination of @persicipen's pastel colors and the way she writes always leaves me feel like i've just watched a grand performance at a local classical concert at the end of every fic ✨

@lovegasmic if mila's theme(s) isn't pulling you in then i am silently questioning your aesthetic sense her yummy drool-worthy smut fics will. the o■■p■s fic.... the kn■■■■■g fic.... mmm.... yes.....

no big sis? no problem! @grimmweepers is THE big sister figure and THE al haitham writer for your al haitham fixations.

@unriding if evie's personality hasn't pulled you in then you're a monster her moze musings and fics will; i don't even kiss him but she makes him look so squishy (/pos).

@euthymiya with her quality writing pumps content after content of quality dishes (and side dishes of personal rambles which i find endearing) all over my dash, it's amazing.

@saetiate if their url didn't clue you in their wit then let me ー you'll find banger genshin and hsr smutfics that will blow your mind like it did mine.

i used to associate @catcze with pink but now i just associate her with being one of the aesthetic queens bc every theme is SO pretty ー delve into her wriothesley tag, you will not be disappointed.

@xeraeus with the amazing amazing art that i always somehow miss because timezone is a bitch (jun, i still think you're secretly a wizard or something bc how do you finish commissions that fast!!!).

@danijaci needs no introduction, we all know they're an absolute madlad in drawing (/pos) and those comics + blushing series + biker series will alwasy live in our head rent-free.

i personally think a good artist can relay a story or depict an object with a few lines because it shows that they fully understand the essence of things - which is what @erabu-san does splendidly.

idk if this is allowed but can we make this ask into a post where everyone tags their favorite content creators/artists/fic writers in the fandom so that they get the recognition and love they deserve!!

let's do it!! 💖💖💖

@jojaxcola @crispyanonart @eemamminy-art @itsmeglycine @nicoleknives thank you for all your wonderful sdv art <3

[hyperions-light]

Making Fanfic Banners/Collages with Canva for FREE

Hello friends! Canva is an online software tool that mostly gets used for creating social media advertisements, but YOU can use it to make pretty, custom banners/collages/images for your fanfiction! For FREE!

WHY should you do this?

Fun

Custom art thing for your fic!

If you put pictures on your fic posts, sometimes you get more notes (sometimes)

The joy of creation!!!

I will walk you through it (with pictures) below the cut!

STEP ONE: GO TO CANVA, MAKE AN ACCOUNT

You can sign up with email, gmail, or FB. Gmail is the most convenient, but I think they do 2FA no matter what, so take that into account.

STEP TWO: DON'T PAY ANY MONEY & IGNORE AI

Every time you login or make stuff or do ANYTHING, Canva will try to get you to pay for Canva Pro. Don't do that. I've had access to the Pro and free versions and there's no reason to pay for anything on here. Also, they have an AI that's supposed to make things for you, but it sucks & isn't fun. Ignore it.

STEP 3: CHOOSE A TEMPLATE

Okay, so if you're a graphic designer... I mean I'm not sure why you're reading this tutorial, you can definitely make cooler stuff than I can! You should just use the 'create blank [post type]' button and go to town! But if you're not (like me) what I usually do is pick a type of template that Canva has (like blog banners, instagram posts, facebook covers, etc) and go browse their designs. My advice is not to look for something that you completely like, but something that has the right vibe-- you're going to be messing with all the individual aspects of the post anyway, so just pick based on aesthetics. Try to make sure that if you're going to put your fic title on your work that you pick/create a design where the text is clearly displayed/in an easily legible font.

NOTE: Some of the designs will have a little crown in the corner, and these designs are only available if you pay for premium. If they have a little $ on them, instead, that just means they have individual paid elements in them that you can get rid of, so feel free to use those, too!

STEP 4: CHOOSE YOUR PICTURES

Okay, so I like this screaming seagull one. I clicked on it, and selected 'customize template'. So now I want to get rid of the seagull, and replace him with my own stuff. You can do this a couple of ways: if you have screenshots from your game/show/other media, you can upload them by clicking on the little cloud icon on the left side that says "Uploads". If you DON'T have pictures, or you don't have ones you need, there are a couple options:

You can try to browse Canva's selection of pictures. It is in the "Elements" tab; you type in a search, and then select the "photos" filter from the little marquee below the search bar. My advice is to only use one word search terms, because Canva loves showing you all the photos that you can use if you pay for them, and if you use more words, they do that more often. There ARE free photos in there, but you have to scroll a bit.

If you don't want to deal with the search system or can't find what you're looking for, sites like Pixabay, Pexels, and Unsplash provide free photos that you can use without attribution, and do not require you to have an account to download. Please DO NOT just search using google/other engines and take things from there-- those photos are often not licensed for free use. The sites I linked will try to sell you pictures, but not as much as Canva, and there's usually a lot of free stuff to choose from. Download the pictures you want in a good resolution and upload them to Canva!

STEP 5: MESS AROUND WITH STUFF!

Okay, so now you can add your stuff and mess around with it!! Just click on the element (like the seagull) and delete it. Then go to your uploads and click + drag the image you want onto the canvas. You can use them as the background by dragging them to one of the corners, but you can also just put them on the canvas and mess around with them. In the left picture, you can see some of the options you have to resize and move around the image, so different elements appear on top of or behind it. If you click on the button that says 'edit' on the little bar menu that comes up when you select the image, you'll get the menu in the right picture, where you can mess with filters and colors, etc. It's not a completely comprehensive editing software, but you can do a lot of things! I encourage you to mess around and see what looks cool!

STEP SIX: ADD MORE STUFF, IF YOU WANT!

I love adding more stuff. You can change and add text by clicking on the textboxes that are already there, or you can use the "text" section on the left menu to add new blocks. They have some fun combinations and a lot of fonts! A thing I like to do is go in the elements tab and search for 'patterns'; you can add them on top of your image or elsewhere! The opacity setting is your best friend; you can overlay a bunch of stuff and create interesting/unique collages! You can also add basic shapes, frames, moving elements, and clipart, if you want!

STEP SEVEN (FINAL): DOWNLOAD YOUR THING!

When you're done, the 'share' menu in the upper right corner will let you download your image in a bunch of different formats (I'm pretty sure you could make a looping GIF for your fic here on Canva, too!) I usually do PNGs for the quality. I haven't had any issues uploading on Tumblr (or on Twitter, when I used it).

Anyway, I hope you'll try making these! I didn't show it, but there are a lot of different templates you can use, so if you want to make a collage instead, just look around! I think it's super fun to do for my fics! If you have any questions, you can bother me on my blog or in the replies section of this post, just please be polite! Thanks for reading!

[artbyblastweave]

You ever play prototype and/or infamous?

Neither, although given the dual zombie/superhero fixation both should probably (sigh) Go On The List. Viewed at a distance, Infamous, as a franchise, has always been interesting to me because of how it's a really prominent data point when it comes to working out the strengths and weaknesses of an open-ended superhero game. My understanding is that in contrast to Prototype (where you're mostly The Special Boy) it's a setting that wants superhumanity to be large enough to act as a demographic- it wants to be a world where people besides the player are empowered, and lots of them- but the need to standardize enemies that you'll encounter again and again means that this rounds up to there being functionally a handful of power types that a whole hell of a lot of people receive, rather than the beautiful myriad of X-Men or Wild Cards. Likewise, the need to operationalize the protagonist's powerset as something that can grow or expand over the course of a playthrough leads to extremely generalist interpretations of electrokinesis, pyrokinesis, and so on, rather than the hyperspecific, limited implementations of the same found in other cape-punk media. And of course it was produced in that mid-2000s era where character dress and presentation in an original IP could be superhero-coded, iconic, but not too expressly superheroic, because we want to be able to take our juvenile power fantasies oh-so very seriously. For very understandable production reasons it mostly appears to add up to the exact kind of superhero setting that isn't really my cup of tea even if it's perfectly reasonable on its own terms. I'd love a game with its basic formula that's much more willing to embrace conventional superhero aesthetics, with the requisite worldbuilding to make those aesthetics and conventions remotely plausible within the fiction- we've all read Worm, you know what I mean by this

[witchexia]

NEW!(not included in my other headcanons) Dr. Simon Glass headcanons!

Maverick (his therapy duck!) is anomalous!

He likes to keep these marimo moss balls as 'pets' in his office (and before you ask YES he does care about them and his plants and flowers!!!!!)

oh SPEAKING OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS, i think he would have lavenders, monsteras, succulents, parlor palms in his office, but incase he knows he's too busy, sometimes he gets one of his coworkers to water them for him!

a LOT of people mentioned this headcanon but I AGREE SO MUCH, but he has a HUGE sweet tooth ! he has to stop himself from taking too much of the candy from the snack bowl he has in his office Ahihihi

also this IS canon but he keeps snacks under his desk ! i made it so he has a bowl of them ON the desk but he has backup bags under his desk, so when the snacks run out from the bowl he can simply refill it!

He ALWAYS shaves his facial hair, he got it from his military days (in the military, your face MUST be clean shaven - exceptions being mustaches and religious reasons, skin conditions etc - and he cannot get off of the habit of not letting ANY facial hair show haha

When he's alone in his office, he likes to listen to stuff like Michael Jackson or Jack Stauber while tidying up his office and playing with Maverick

He strategizes what he wears so he could be like a walking huge cuddly teddy bear (he wears warm, comfy clothes ! what he wears in summer is a new story LOL)

not sure if i mentioned this in my previous headcanons BUT he teaches his patients how to do origamis as a calming method, and he has a little cup FULL of origamis HE made !

About how he types texts, I headcanon that he switches from capitalizing his sentences to NOT doing it at all, sometimes it just depends! like- he capitalizes his sentences in VERY important text/email conversations, and he doesn't when he's texting his coworkers or patients!

If he overhears ANYONE talking about wanting to have a job in the whole psychology field, he gets REALLY excited and is TOTALLY willing to help them/offer them a role!!

another somewhat canon one, BUTTTTTTTTTTT he has access to EVERY Safe, Euclid humanoid SCP file, and a big amount of Keter files! He's spoken to almost everyone, so of COURSE everyone likes him!

On some days, he does his work in the cafeteria! You may find him there in the earlier hours in the morning or lunchtime!

Another headcanon i REALLY like, BUT he LOVES light blue - light yellow things ! he gets VERY happy when his patients bring him little trinkets with that color scheme!

a little obvious, but his fashion aesthetic is Light Academia !

IF he EVER has the time, he goes to visit a local pond to feed the ducks there fruits!

In the situations where one of his coworkers/patients are having a birthday, he COMPLETELY makes sure they feel loved and important ! He gives them fun little origami trinkets and stuff !

I feel like his patients EASILY get him to watch stuff, like for example: one of his patients talks about a popular series/movie like squid game, Simon checks it out, instantly likes it AND SO ON ! (i took inspo from someone elses headcanon for this one!)

ANOTHER somewhat canon? HEADCANON, but he's like a MAGNET for animals! if he goes out to a public park, you BET he will be surrounded by pigeons!

he LOVES card games like uno! and hes ALWAYS up for a card game with a patient/coworker! lol imagine beating your therapist in uno HAHA

(lmk if some of these headcanons are repeated from my other hcs! i forget things VERY easily and i thought of some of these on the spot ! i HAVE talked about these to some people!)

[gatheredfates]

Playerscope, modding and the hunt for aesthetic: why you should be more upset about mods and community expectations than you already are.

I love that this sounds like an academic paper but HONESTLYYYY. I need to put my thoughts to paper in regards to my burnout with xiv, otherwise I think I'll go insane. This is a controversial yet brave post. I am well aware that I partake in some of the things I'm going to be critiquing; aka, "thank you, dinklebottom, we live in a society." I'm also not critiquing mods from a space of offering more accessibility to people and/or facilitating representation not currently offered within the context of the game. There is nuance to every discussion and I'm coming at this from an overarching view around mods and community expectations/standards rather than player joy. I hope this makes sense. I'm also predominately writing from a roleplay perspective, though I'm sure a lot of what I end up saying can reflect in the art party/social space. Just know if I haven't mentioned the latter it's because that's not my scene and I don't pretend to know otherwise.

Anyway. For those who don't know, there's a new mod that's causing some strife in the xiv community called Playerscope. Here is the reddit thread about it. I'm not going to be talking too much about the mod in general because that's not the point of this post, but seeing discussion around it today just made me feel more exhausted than I already am when it comes to modding and the xiv community around it. It made me realise... I'm actually really sick to death of mods. I'm sick to death of what they're doing to the community when it comes to gatekeeping, policing and in general the interactions we have with each other in the community.

Let me explain: I wrote a post about the roleplay mod on bsky that kind of articulates at a surface level what I mean.

I think what makes me sad, which I'm sure is echoed by a lot of people, is that mods feel like the standard now rather than an option and that there's a certain expectation for people to have them if they want to engage with facets of the community—whether intentional or not.

Unlike XIV, WoW has a supported mod scene (within reason) and TRP 2 and the like have been accepted for years now. In a space where people can't slap on an RP tag, having that tool readily identifies you as a writer/roleplayer and you can include as much or as little of your character as you like. The general idea is if you have one of these tools enabled, you're a roleplayer to some capacity. You can dress up the profile to a certain degree, you can add links and supported pictures, but you're mostly reliant on what you put to paper in regards to your character. Even then, I find filling out what my character is doing currently and marking the rest as a WIP doesn't necessarily exclude me from roleplay if I want to find it. A lot of people will do that and a super simple description to incite interest around their oc.

These days in XIV... I don't know. I do think communities have gotten more insular—it's why I'm so pedantic about trying to find them for the Compendium—but I also think mods and, to a certain extent, the 'nightclub' scene have gotten in the way of it as well. My argument is such.

I want to go to an event (for example sake, I'll call it Seascape). In order to fully participate, I may need:

Their discord.

A roleplay addon.

A carrd/google site/etc.

Their synchshell (including mods, mare and everything else)

Potentially a mod of some description so people know I can see theirs (and vice versa).

Also that your mod isn't made by a shitty person.

Appropriate understanding of the scene/social space.

Some luck and a prayer that it's an inclusive space and not a closed rp group advertising as being open and/or a mod showcase advertising itself as something different.

Like??? Holy shit you guys. If you are someone who doesn't want to mod because you're worried about repercussions it really just feels like a big 'fuck you, good luck'.

And let me be clear, not every community is like this. I'm incredibly lucky to have found fantastic roleplay within my own rp event/community, I have great friends who run awesome, inclusive events for people of any skill (writing or otherwise) and I do fully believe you can just enable the rp tag and find fun, fulfilling roleplay. But I've also found the above a lot of times, too. I've had people point-blank get mad at my partner because he won't install mods and try to exclude and/or circumvent him in spaces. It's weird. I've been to events where the only time I felt like I got proper interaction(s) was when I joined the aforementioned, even if I have my character's profile linked in my about. It's weird.

Honestly, no wonder new roleplayers feel overwhelmed. Not only do they have to learn roleplay etiquette, they have to be a mod expert overnight? It feels less about what someone can bring to the table as far as a story but what mods they can install to either look cool or pass an unspoken social barrier. As much as I'm down bad for aesthetic and looking the part, I hate it being at the cost of accessibility and fun for someone else.

Arguably it's the same for gposing and the like as well, which contributes to my exhaustion alongside all the graphical changes and I just. I'm gnawing at the bars of my cage.

I don't think it's going to change and arguably it's more of a Twitter/X issue than a Tumblr, one but Tumblr lets me write mini essays and Twitter will tell me to kms.

Ergo, I'll go with the essay-writing platform.

Anyway, I guess this is just a reminder that you don't need 4596419651 mods to be in the community and that people should be more vigilant on including people who don't have them for whatever reason, provided they operate in good-faith and want to contribute. I think we're careening to a slippery slope of expectation for something unsupported and I don't like it.

[frostfires-blog]

Hello, it's MXTX Ask Game :

1.) From the 3 works by MXTX, who is your favorite (canon) couple? Why?

2.) From the 3 works by MXTX, do you have any non canon fav ships?

(FYI, I have at least 10 non canon ships from those 3 series, sorry)

3.) From the 3 works by MXTX, do you have any favorite quotes (from each series)?

4.) Who is your favorite love interest in MXTX three novels (luo binghe, lan wangji, mobei jun or hua cheng)? Why?

5.) Who is your favorite mc in MXTX three novels (shen qingqiu, wei wuxian, shang qinghua or xie lian)? Why?

6 a.) Which do you think is more tragic, Yi City arc or BeefLeaf arc or the Fallout between Shen Jiu - Yue Qi? Why?

b.) Can I ask your opinion on the comparison between bingqiu, wangxian, moshang, and hualian (their plus and minus sides)?

P.s 1 If you have not read SVSSS, it's okay, then you can answer based on TGCF & MDZS. But if you have the time, please read SVSSS, too. It's so funny. Yes, they're not as deep as TGCF or MDZS, but still have depth in the story.

P.s 2 As Jiang Yanli fan, do you love the canon ship of Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan? For me, she is too good for him, and I'm not really the biggest fan of JZX.

P.s 3 As Yushi Huang fan, too, I'm so happy and excited that you include her in your top 5 fav characters in TGCF. You're the first one that I know of that include her in top 5 favorite. Until now, I thought it's just me (and I have been TGCF fan since 2020). Also, who do you ship her with? I ship her with Pei Ming (sorry, please don't be mad). It's just funny that playboy like him meet a woman that he can't seduce like her. Oh and in the new revised version, it's canon that Pei Ming have a crush on Yushi Huang.

Sorry for my long ask.

[Hey! Once again, thanks for sending me this! Sorry, it took me so long to get around to it. To avoid offending anyone, I would want to stress once more that these are just my personal opinions.]

1.) Some of you will call me predictable for this... I'm sorry, but it has to be HuaLian. They are the epitome of enduring love and devotion to me. They embody so many tropes I love while remaining so refreshingly impactful. Their journey, their struggles, their aesthetics... I just adore everything about them. I've mentioned this before, but their relationship feels so authentic and sincere because their affection for one another is built up so steadily and meticulously. Their affection for one another is truly palpable through every held glance, melodic sigh, and subtly delicate touch. Undoubtedly what makes them not only my favourite MXTX ship but also my favourite ship of all time is that they embody the concepts of loving someone without expecting anything in return and loving someone at their worst; that sort of unadulterated, unconditional love is something I aspire towards but will likely never find.

2.) Regarding non-canon couples, I support many fan-favourite ones, but I am not as passionate about them as most other fans are. In fact, I partially understand MXTX's decision not to make any more side ships canon. The ones I'd say I have positive feelings about are the following...

⚬ BeefLeaf: They're my favourite non-canonical side ship in the MXTX universe. Admittedly, I didn't take much note of them on my first read-through (which is my attitude towards most side couples). I wanted to feature them in my side edits earlier this year, but sadly there wasn't enough material for them. ⚬ Pei Xiu x Ban Yue: Underrated but pretty cute ⚬ Pei Ming x Yushi Huang: I'll expand on them at P.S. 3 ⚬ FengQing: A classic. ⚬ QuanYin

⚬ SongXiao: Another classic... I've heard that the Yi City arc was supposed to be a separate story entirely, so I feel like this makes sense. They remind me a lot of another ship, but I can't put my finger on it.

⚬ A lot of you are going to be mad at me for this, but I really like LiuShen—as in Liu Qingge x Shen Yuan (aka our Shen Qingqiu). SVSSS is the only MXTX novel where I ship the protagonist with anyone else other than the main romantic interest. While I could see certain characters having one-sided feelings for Xie Lian and Wei Wuxian respectively, I can't see either of them returning those feelings at all. Shen Qingqiu is just so shippable for some reason—so I totally get why he is shipped with a lot of other characters. As for LiuShen I just like their easy dynamic—namely the trust they place in each other and them being on almost equal footing. Also the tension, the denial, the pining...

3.) Honestly, there are a myriad of quotes I like—but for the sake of keeping this brief, I've picked out a few that I found impactful. Since I've only read SVSSS once—and haven't done a hanakotoba analysis post on it—I didn't have a list of quotes at hand like I did for TGCF and MDZS...So there are fewer quotes listed for it. Additionally, the tone of SVSSS is very different from that of TGCF and MDZS, so finding fitting quotes was more difficult... Everything Shen Qingqiu says and thinks is especially hilarious, but I didn't want to post anything crude or too colourful here...

+ Bonus: My favourite non-serious quote from each series...

4.) Definitely Hua Cheng (surprise surprise). I just love how sincere, charming, and straightforward he is compared to the other male leads. I think he has the coolest design out of the four as well. While he might not have as complex of a backstory as the others, his sheer commitment and charisma more than compensate for that. His sassiness and snarkiness is really endearing as well. I really do like Lan Wangji, but I have complicated feelings about Luo Binghe. Somehow I always forget about Mobei Jun—he just doesn't have much presence, though his awkwardness and stoicness are entertaining in their own way.

5.) I truly like all the MCs though, which makes this choice a lot more difficult. Shen Qingqiu is so funny and relatable—as is Shang Qinghua. Wei Wuxian is so multi-layered, charismatic, and inspiring. Xie Lian is so profound and endearing. In the end, I'd have to say Xie Lian is my absolute favourite, though. What sets Xie Lian apart for me is that his kindness stems not from him being unable to see the bad in people, but from him actively choosing to believe in their goodness. Despite being subjected to tremendous adversity, he continues to be resilient and virtuous. Even so, he is not a perfect character and has made mistakes—but he has learned from them and has grown immensely from his experiences. This makes him not only incredibly captivating but also immensely inspirational. Furthermore, his awkwardly blunt humour is both relatable and endearing.

6a.) Damn, this is a tough one. They are all impactful scenes in their own ways so I'm going to go by process of elimination... The "fallout between Shen Jiu and Yue Qi would probably be in last place. This isn't to say it's not tragic but rather that I wasn't as emotionally invested in either character as I am in the others. It was a necessary part of the plot and I can understand both of their situations. That is to say, I couldn't see things turning any differently. Next would probably be the Black Water/Beefleaf arc. This arc didn't really hit me on my first read-through because I was mostly focused on HuaLian. Also, I was very suspicious of Ming Yi so his betrayal felt a little anti-climatic—not to brag, but I have a pretty good eye for that kind of thing. That being said, I still was somewhat taken aback by his motives. On my second read-through, I started becoming more invested in all of the side plots, and it all hit me much harder. What pulls this down to second place is that I can greatly sympathise with He Xuan. While Shi Qingxuan didn't deserve to be punished for something, he had no active part in—He Xuan's feelings were justified. Given that their respective conclusions in the series' final volume have left room for a possible reconciliation—I selfishly and delusionally hold onto the hope that they will.

This leaves the top spot for the Yi City Arc, which gripped me from the first time I saw it. This hits me so much harder since, by its end, 4 lives are irrevocably changed. Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan and A-Qing truly deserved better. While this arc is often overlooked and criticised, I think it's one of the most complex and powerful arcs in MDZS. The dynamics between Xiao Xingchen, A-Qing and Xue Yang are incredibly complex—with the latter's motives being much more complex than simple revenge. A-Qing's strength and bravery truly stood out to me while Xiao Xicheng's compassion and selflessness were truly moving. Although the arc mostly consists of flashbacks, it still ties in well with the present storyline. The parallels drawn between the main cast and the Yi City group are very clever and add depth to the series. What truly makes this arc heart-wrenching is that its conclusion leaves no room for any hope whatsoever. It's truly a heart-wrenchingly beautiful story.

6b.) In all honesty it's difficult to compare them given their respective complexity and differing circumstances... While I'm not sure if I answered this in the intended format, I did my best.

i) BingQiu: ➜Pros: ⦁ Binghe's assertiveness complements Shen Qingqiu's evasiveness and willful ignorance well. Considering that Shen QIngqiu would likely never be honest about his feelings unless prompted. ⦁ They are the most complex MXTX pair, as both characters are grappling with numerous actual-life problems (such as comphet and abandonment issues, respectively), which lends them a sense of nuance and authenticity. ⦁ Shen Qingqiu shows commitment to learning to be more accommodating of Binghe's relationship needs towards the end of the series while Binghe is learning to make necessary compromises. ➜Cons: ⦁ They have differing values, with Binghe caring only about Shen Qingqiu while Shen Qingqiu cares about other characters, which is a source of contention between them. ⦁ Sometimes, Shen Qingqiu doesn't respect Binghe's agency or personhood and makes high-handed decisions on his behalf. While this is not done maliciously, it nonetheless hurts the latter. This stems from them never truly stepping out of their roles as student and master. ⦁ Oftentimes, Binghe's possessiveness and jealousy terrify Shen Qingqiu (and me)—this causes him to flee from Binghe, aggravating the latter's abandonment and control issues. ⦁ Shen Qingqiu's lack of transparency with Binghe—and himself—is another issue. While the system prevented him from being transparent for a long time, I was disappointed that we never saw him come clean to Binghe at all.

ii) MoShang: ➜Pros: ⦁ The trope of an author's love for their character being reciprocated is very indulgent and gratifying. ⦁ They gradually bring out the best in one another—with Shang Qinhua becoming more standoffish and bold while Mobei-jun becomes more expressive and compromising. ⦁ While they face many of the same issues as BinQiu, I feel like they efficiently subvert many of them. For example, the uneven power dynamic of Mobei-jun being much more powerful than Shang Qinhua and the latter's fear of him is subverted by Shang Qinghua being the creator of PIDW and thus having a degree of omniscience over its characters, setting, and plot points. ➜Cons: ⦁ The physical violence and master/servant aspects of their dynamic are off-putting. ⦁ The lack of straightforward communication between the two results in many misunderstandings. ⦁ In comparison to the other main pairs, they are not as noticeable, defined, or developed due to their limited screen time and prominence in the series.

iii) WangXian: ➜Pros: ⦁ Their natural chemistry is exemplary with each of them supplementing the shortcomings of the other. ⦁ Despite their opposing dispositions and approaches to things, they share similar values and priorities—which enables them to respect and trust each other and collaborate effectively as they mature. ⦁ The extras highlight how, after getting together, they continually work to understand each other's boundaries and learn to accommodate each other's needs. ⦁ Their adaptability is another one of their strong points as a couple. Although they are both pretty headstrong, in Wei Wuxian's second life they gradually learn to make concessions for one other. ➜Cons: ⦁ Their differing communication styles caused a lot of miscommunication and distance between the pair in Wei Wuxian's first life. Although I feel like they've considerably worked through this by the end of the novel and balance each other out nicely now. ⦁ Lan Wangji's limited expressiveness and directness are another point of contention. While Wei Wuxian's obliviousness is legendary, if Lan Wangji had been more transparent, Wei Wuxian wouldn't have misconstrued things to such a large degree. If not for Lan Xichen's intervention, Wei Wuxian might never have realised the extent of Lan Wangji's affection for him. However, over time, Wei Wuxian learns to better read Lan Wangji overcoming this obstacle.

iv) HuaLian: ➜Pros: ⦁ The age-old trope of "even if everyone abandoned you, I would still stand beside you" is unmatched. Hualian embodies the sentiment of loving someone not just at their best but also at their worst; which is an unparalleled depiction of unconditional love. ⦁ Their relationship was founded on a good friendship centred around mutual respect, open communication and sincerity. As such their interactions in the present time always feel comforting and natural as opposed to the other pairs. ⦁ Hua Cheng is very respectful of Xie Lian's agency and supports him in his endeavours. That being said he will step in when Xie Lian is being careless with his own wellbeing which is something the latter needs. ⦁ They greatly complement one another and have both helped each other overcome their respective issues. Namely, Hua Cheng being strong enough to help shoulder Xie Lian's burdens and continue believing in him even when everyone else abandoned him. In the same way, Xie Lian gave Hua Cheng a reason for existence and a place to belong—this not only gave the latter direction but also helped him to value himself more (since someone cared for him). ➜Cons: ⦁ They are sometimes perceived as dull in comparison to other pairings because most of the trials they face are of an external nature, which means they rarely deal with disagreements with each other. ⦁ Hua Cheng's lack of well-developed friendships with anyone other than Xie Lian is somewhat disconcerting.

P.S.1) I have read all three MXTX novels, though I rarely speak about SVSSS. This is mostly because I'm not the biggest fan of BingQiu and Binghe in general. This isn't because SVSSS is a bad book, but rather that I went into it with very high expectations and it was very different to what I thought it would be like. I'm not the biggest fan of the teacher x student trope or large age gaps, so that threw me off as well. Someday I want to reread it and take more time considering it as I do—since I feel like I've greatly misunderstood some characters' intentions midway, especially Binghe. Maybe I'll come to appreciate more someday after becoming more open-minded...

P.S. 2) I do like Jiang Yanli x Jin Zixuan (I would've mentioned them at #2 but you only asked about non-canonical ships). That being said, I totally understand your feelings—especially since I used to feel that way too. I only started appreciating the ship after having watched the live-action and rereading the novel. During the intial arcs, Jin Zixuan doesn't have much respect or care for Jiang Yanli—which was really upsetting. However, judging by the context given one can slighly empathise with his discomfort. After all, no one wants to be forcibly married off to someone they barely know, especially when your peers don't think highly of that person. The disolution of their enagement was something I think was totally necessary at that time. After the war, he grows up a bit—he realises how compassionate Jiang Yanli is after the Soup Incident... This is when his feelings start to shift and he starts pursuing her. Yes, his mother is encouraging him—but at the hunting tournament, he states that he is pursuing her out of his own volition. Added to this, the fact that, even as prideful as Jin Zixuan was, he was willing to put aside his beef with Wei Wuxian and not only invite him to Jing Ling's One-Month Celebration but also go to Qiongqi Path to fetch him to make Jiang Yanli happy really moved me. The live-action's added scene of him having lotuses planted at Golden Carp Tower so Jiang Yanli wouldn't get homesick was endearing as well. Ultimately, Jiang Yanli deserves to be happy, and she was happy with him, so I have no issues with their relationship. They both deserved to see their son grow up...

P.S.3) I'm glad you like Yushi Huang too! She's incredibly underrated—I fear most MXTX female characters are as well... I do ship her with Pei Ming as well—but I'm not too disappointed that MXTX never made them official. I also like the idea that Pei Ming for once wants what he can't have. Xuan Ji's curse on Pei Ming has indeed turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts... How awkward he is around her is incredibly amusing. As prideful as he is, he respects her. Somehow he consistently finds himself being saved by her despite his male chauvinism, which humbles him. I quite like their dynamic and wish we had gotten more scenes of them—hopefully, the donghua will expand just as they did with the Fangxin Arc. I've heard about the revised version but haven't checked it out yet. I'm quite attached to the original, and the bits and pieces I've heard about it have given me mixed feelings. I do like that MXTX expanded on Pei Ming's feelings towards Yushi Huang and hope to find time to read that part sometime soon.

[ Ahhh! Sorry for rambling so long...I wanted to make sure I covered all my bases, and ending up getting ahead of myself again... ]

[spocks-husband]

✨Axel's Ultimate Batman Video Game Play Guide and Reviews

You guys seemed to enjoy the previous version of this I did with all the Batman Animated shows, and now that I'm done with all the Batman games I thought I'd post my thoughts on those too! I decided to do this one in just like. Regular text format. Bc I didn't feel like editing all these into images like I did for the last one. So uhhh lemme know which format you prefer lol.

Anyways, please enjoy my comprehensive thoughts and feelings on (almost) every modern Batman game, five months in the making because I have no life. Enjoy!

🦇

Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)

My Personal Rating: 7/10

My Total Hours Played: 17.1 

Steam Rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (96%)

Description: The first game in the Batman Arkham Series. Based off the iconic Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth comic from 1989 (aka the only good thing Grant Morrison has ever produced in his entire feeble life). The inmates at Arkham Asylum have begun a violent riot, and as Batman goes through the hospital to stop them, he uncovers a sinister conspiracy involving his greatest enemies.

Play If You're Looking For: An intro to the Arkham Series, a very different interpretation of Arkham Asylum compared to other versions of Batman, and some really dark aesthetics. Also, this isn't explicitly canon, but according to this series’ timeline, this game takes place in the space between Jason's death and Tim’s arrival, so if you're interested in a very dark, brooding, traumatized Bruce, playing this game with that information changes it a lot. 

Things I Liked:

Genuinely really scary

Incredible atmosphere 

Both Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil are featured in their iconic roles

Really well written

Birthed a bunch of really iconic Batman memes (go to the r/Arkham subreddit, it's so funny unfortunately) (OFFICER BALLS.)

This was actually my introduction to Oracle and I love her more than anything in these games

Things I Didn't Like:

The graphics aren't fantastic but to be fair it was 2009 so

THE FUCKING BANE BOSS FIGHT. GOD. FUCK YOU BANE. THAT SHIT TOOK ME SO LONG.

The Killer Croc boss fight wasn't super difficult but it was so scary that I cried the first time I played it so. Keep that in mind.

Batman: Arkham City (2011)

My Personal Rating: 9/10

My Total Hours Played: 27.5

Steam Rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (95%)

Description: The second game in the Batman Arkham Series. After the riot at Arkham Asylum, Sharpton ascends to the mayor's office and cuts off about 6.4 acres of Gotham as ‘Arkham City’; a walled off portion of the city where crime runs rampant and mostly untethered. 

Play If You're Looking For: Agonizing Brutalia angst, a fight with pretty much every Batman villain who's ever existed (except for Scarecrow but that's for AK), a tiny sprinkle of Brucie Wayne right at the beginning, and an INCREDIBLE story that is generally agreed to be the best in the series. 

Things I Liked:

TONS of collectibles

Taliaaaaa my angelllll <<3

The side missions are really great

If you get the DLC, there's a special game section focused around Harley where you play as Tim’s Robin and it's super fun

The story is just. My god. It's so good. It's SO good. 

The map is massive and there's so much to do, I was still playing weeks after I finished the story

Things I Didn't Like:

As much as I loved the collectibles there's like over 400 of them in the game and I couldn't get all of them and it still pisses me off 

You have to play as Selina a few times in order to progress and she's like super weak compared to Bruce (not in a misogynistic way on my part I mean like she genuinely dies after like two good hits) and her dialogue annoys tf out of me. Sorry I'm a hater. 

Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)

My Personal Rating: 9/10

My Total Hours Played: 27.2

Steam Rating: Very Positive (89%)

Description: The third game in the Batman Arkham Series– but this one is a prequel! I actually played this one after Arkham Knight but. Shhh. Anyways, this game is based loosely off the world presented in the Batman: Year One comics, and follows a younger Bruce in his early days as Batman, including the origins (lol) to many of his greatest enemies as they try to hunt him down, with their efforts spearheaded by a certain someone behind the scenes. Also it's Christmas!

Play If You're Looking For: Little baby angsty Bruce being a problem child, a game where you get to punch cops, and tiny tiny tiny baby Babs being adorable (she's like twelve and she's so cute).

Things I Liked:

I don't usually care about the soundtracks for video games but. FUCK the music is good. It's all based on Christmas/Nutcracker music and it's really really cool

This game genuinely helped me get over a lot of really deeply ingrained trauma surrounding Christmas /gen

Fun little Mad Hatter side mission!

Batman and Riddler argue like teenage boys (because they are)

Alfred and Bruce's relationship has some genuinely really beautiful characterization in this and their arch is really enjoyable 

Things I Didn't Like:

FUCKING. BANE. HE HAS LIKE THREE SEPARATE BOSS FIGHTS AND THEY'RE ALL SO HARD AND SCARY AND AND AND AHHHH 

The graphics are a little iffy but to be fair my view was skewed bc I played this right after finishing Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight (2015)

My Personal Rating: 8.5/10

My Total Hours Played: 47.9

Steam Rating: Very Positive (91%)

Description: The fourth and (kind of) final installment of the Batman Arkham Series (not counting Arkham Shadow because idgaf). Scarecrow is back, and threatening Gotham with a new fear toxin compound, resulting in a mass evacuation… but something else is going on here too, and Batman has a new enemy who may be his most dangerous yet. 

Play If You're Looking For: agony, pain, suffering, nightmares, tears, emotional exhaustion, etc. 

Things I Liked:

Really well written story (it's just really traumatizing)

Some of the most beautiful graphics in any video game like. Ever.

The DLC suits are SO COOL, you can play as Flashpoint Batman….

Really really great fighting mechanics that make combat actually really enjoyable even though that's not really what I'm here for

Amazing side missions; there's basically a side mission for every mechanic in the game, so whatever your favorite part is there's a little section where that's pretty much all you do

Things I Didn't Like:

This game took me WEEKS to get through because the story is so painful it was genuinely not fun half the time 

The ending isn't very satisfying (to me)

You know the concept of the “all is lost moment” in story telling? Yeah, this game’s “all is lost moment” is like 80% of the game. Everything is lost like. Most of the time. 

Oh we're just not gonna talk about Talia. After all that shit in Arkham City. Okay. Cool. 

Selina is so annoying in this game, there's this whole side mission that's basically just her and it's really irritating

FUCK YOU EDWARD NYGMA THAT DRIVING COURSE WAS BULLSHIT AND I COULDN'T GET THROUGH IT NO MATTER HOW HARD I FUCKING TRIED

I actually just kinda hate driving games generally and there's a LOT of driving in this game but you get used to it eventually and it becomes easier

Gotham Knights (2022)

My Personal Rating: 10/10

My Total Hours Played: 46.9

Steam Rating: Mixed (68%)

Description: Batman is dead, leaving Dick, Jason, Barbara, Tim, and Alfred to pick up the pieces and finish what he started. 

Play If You're Looking For: Batfam content, a perfect mix of “holy shit I haven't cried this hard in years” and “this is the funniest thing anyone has ever produced ever, goofy dialogue and one liners, and casual queer rep.

Things I Liked:

The map is HUGE and genuinely feels so unbelievably alive in a way that I don't think any other Batman game even comes close to in its depiction of Gotham– like I could write ESSAYS about how well this game captures the experience of living in a big city like Gotham (let me know if you want me to make a post about that actually lol)

Collectibles that are actually reasonable and fun

Super fun side missions

Absolutely gorgeous graphics 

The characters can emote and all the Batkids have their own dance moves :( and Jason dances like he's 70 years old it's really cute :(

Even after completing everything in the entire story it's STILL fun to go patrolling because it keeps generating new crimes– premeditated or otherwise– for you to fight and it's really fun

The Batkids have a pride flag in their house ☹️ and Dick has a bi flag mug ☹️

Things I Didn't Like:

Literally everyone hates this game for NO FUCKING REASON it's genuinely fantastic you guys are just losers

Talia is unfortunately characterized kinda shitty and it makes me sad bc her design is incredible but she does some OOC stuff :(

You can customize your suit but not as extensively as I would've liked 

This game gets kinda hard to play at points because it's really hard to see your screen through all the tears (cough cough the last boss fight cough cough)

Batman: The Telltale Series (2016)

My Personal Rating: 5.7/10

My Total Hours Played: 9.1

Steam Rating: Very Positive (86%)

Description: A 5 episode point-and-click adventure following Bruce Wayne as he faces some of his biggest challenges, both as Bruce and as Batman. 

Play If You're Looking For: Minimal combat and story-centered gameplay.

Things I Liked:

I love love love the character designs in this game, this is actually one of my favorite versions of Bruce possibly ever

You get a lot of opportunities to make Bruce and Selina kiss in this game and I said no every single time and it was very gratifying for me 

Alfred and Bruce have an incredibly sweet father-son relationship (if you play your cards right, anyway) and it makes me really emotional because Bruce literally loses EVERYTHING over the course of this game and Alfred is there at his side the whole time

The ending was really satisfying overall and actually made me enjoy the game a lot more

Things I Didn't Like:

Chapters 2-4 are INCREDIBLY stressful, especially for me because A) there's an involuntary psych ward commitment and B) there are a lot of themes around the Wayne's developing a bad reputation and being hated, which are massively triggering for me personally and because I don't have the spoons to play through the whole thing at once I had to sit in that stress for a while before it concluded in-game

Batman: The Enemy Within (2017)

My Personal Rating: 4/10

My Total Hours Played: 10.2

Steam Rating: Very Positive (91%)

Description: The sequel to “Batman: The Telltale Series”. John Doe is let out of Arkham and seeks to take you up on that favor you promised him.

Play If You're Looking For: BatJokes, Angst, and a lot of “Is Batman Good For Gotham?” Stuff.

Things I Liked:

The opening chapter with Mori was kinda fun

I think Amanda Waller was written pretty well overall

Things I Didn't Like:

Fucking any of it lowkey 😭

Same as the other Telltale game tbh

For me, it was emotionally exhausting and really upsetting, but that's just kinda because I HATEEEE the “impossible choice” trope in any almost any media, I just never enjoy it, and there's a LOT of it in here

The ending made me wanna kms because there's literally no good option here what the fuck

Like I get that's the whole point but. Okay what if I kms what then. 

[shiredwarf]

Finally beat the Returnal DLC so have some screenshots :D thought the story couldn't get more devastating but I was wrong :))))))))

[blackkatdraws2]

[Toon x Mobster] A tender moment.

[Animation timelapse here!]

[AUDIO USED:] Chet Baker - Almost Blue Sound Effects edited by me!

[slutpoppers]

Keramon just being a weirdo.

Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!

[helloyesamwoman]

"I'LL MAKE YOU SAY HOW PROUD YOU ARE OF ME."

I think this is officially my peak for a while. This piece was made in dedication for my girlfriend. She's had a hard time the last few weeks and I wanted to cheer her up so I decided to make art of one of her favourite songs from one of her favourite games of all time. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. And of course. Rest in Peace Divide. This is also made in your honour and your legacy. Fly High.

[front-facing-pokemon]

[ghooostugs]

jammer lammies….. they are the absolute sapphic rarepair i need MORE lammy and katy truthers in my life