#I was going through some of my gaming screenshots then I found this

[roorreer]

Something something. Making Solas a liar in Veilguard actively brings back a problem they fixed working on Inquisition.

On December 20 2019 VGS posted an interview with Trick Weekes about their work on Solas. This whole sentence is a link so its large enough for mobile but also disclaimer this is before they changed their name so deadname warning.

Here's a transcription I found here which is where i took the screenshots above. Since I know not everyone has 40 minutes to listen to an online radio interview.

I however highlighted the main point since most of you are not reading the screenshots anyway but skimming through. Rant under Read-more. Also bc i try to not be too negative on people's dashs but also i wanna ramble some more.

"But he lied a lot more. And it really weakened his character."

You can tell this happened during the game. Solas lies only once within Inquisition. He says something he can't be vague about and you push him so he lies, badly. He usually tells the truth vaguely. Typically Solas lies no more than Blackwall.

I fully believe that if in Inquisition your inquisitor figured out that Solas was Fen’harel and asked him bluntly to his face he'd confess. He might even be impressed. But why would you ever start to think that. No one assumes that their coworker is actually Poseidon regardless of how much they love the beach and ocean.

He hides in your expectations.

You can't ask him about being an ancient elf or being Fen'harel of myth because those aren't very probable. They're astronomically low to be truth within that universe. And outside, no one finished DA2 and went i wonder if one of our next companions is the Dread Wolf. Sera said, impossible things can't be surprises. He doesn't have to lie so when the truth comes out it's becomes obvious on a second playthrough.

They then actively bring back a problem they fixed in Inquisitions development. That they were open about fixing. That having a character that outright lies to you makes you have no intention of even hearing out the character. It retroactively undercuts Inquisition bc i see people trying to find Solas' lies in it when they aren't going to find any beyond the court intrigue.

It undercuts any lore we do get from Solas bc people dismiss it outright as being a lie from Mr "I abhor blood magic". I feel like shaking people's shoulders like no, dont do it.

They retconned him guys i have proof from 2019.

And its like if you hate Solas is this even satisfying? Like that's not Solas. His motivations are gone (that's a whole other post) and so is his core personality trait. It's like they went here's the Dreadwolf but during the ten years they replaced the smug asshole who was insufferably right with a 20 yo senior chihuahua that doesnt have any teeth.

My favorite villains are those that tell the truth. Because nothing hurts more than the truth. Can you imagine if he told you the truth. If he told you horrible things that you dismissed as lies to only be true. Wouldn't Varric’s death have more weight if he told you Varric was dead only for you - for everyone - to see him in the Lighthouse. If it was a spirit who took his shape to help you or even because it saw something worth reflecting in your memories.

So you dismiss him until it's revealed near the end oh he was telling the truth and you have an oh shit maybe he was right about other things but its too late to try and stop any of the truths he told you which could be from allies/companions betraying to stuff about Ghilan'nain and Elgarnan.

Like the only way to redeem Solas was to listen to him and by going out of your way to address problems he sees and you can find the alternative to tearing down the Veil by a series a little puzzle pieces throughout the game.

Have it be he will only listen to you if you listen to him. That he'll reject your other solution bc why the hell would he trust you if you couldnt extend the same.

Like Solas couldve been a great villian and he should've been great for both the haters and those that liked him. Not only the romance but for those who became his friend. Like i keep coming back to if i hated Solas would i be satisfied with Veilguard.

And the answer is no because that isnt Solas.

Tricking him has no weight bc he's an idiot in Veilguard like not even in the ending bc doesn't notice you switch the dagger around like right in front of him but none of his actions make sense. Ppl have mentioned the regret prison makes no sense for Elgarnan and Ghilan'nain bc they don't have regrets.

Attacking Solas has no weight because he literally needs the shit kicked out of him by a dragon for it to even begin to work. They literally need him to be at deaths door before its realistic that Rook could take him in a fight.

Redeem has no weight bc of the massive retcons to his motivations. They had to retcon the post credits scene bc even if Flemythal went hey i don't want you to do this Dai Solas wouldve went okay but that doesnt solve my other problems with the veil including the corruption of spirits and the fact its in literal shambles so i guess is still coming down.

I'm just disappointed. By the end of Trespasser they had a great villian and they just tossed it to the side and reverted him and people are arguing about a character who's sole defining trait in Veilguard is a problem they solved before Inquisition launched.

Basically we can sum it up with a screenshot.

[icewindandboringhorror]

Recent things.. mostly just writing screenshots lol

[nitrokiraru]

happy (late) yaoi day to some of my yaoi vn screenshots that i screenshotted bc i found them funny

(sweet pool would be here but for some reason the game didnt let me screenshot? it was so weird idk why it didnt)

going through my screenshot folder makes me miss playing these vns SOOO BAD i had the time of my life. thank u for ur time happy yaoi day

[sugarypinecones]

DODGE!!!!! god i want dodge so bad i want to lay between his stretched out legs and wrap my arms around one of them and rest my head on his thigh while he plays with my hair while we watch smth together but it's all background noise because his dick is so close to me mouf and i js wanna run my nose against the little outline from his washed out jeans IS THAT A CRIME IS THAT SO TERRIBLE please oh my god his strong rodeo arms i just wanna sit on his lap and rub my hands all over him im sorry i think im ovulating

(in lois griffin voice) whoever that was.. thank you….

NO because ur SO real.. like i audibly went holy to this, had to screenshot, send to council, and come back to re read again like that one sarah paulson video.

this was meant to be a tiny tiny blurb but it turned out way longer than expected so sorry lolz + f!reader

ALSO! if you sent an ask i am working on it, but i was on vacation so now im finally home and yupppp

send more asks. anything. i will try and match ur freak as hard as i can pls god, and anyways that being said:

like, get me; it starts out somewhat innocent. tired and lazy because of all the panic bullshit, you two decide to just stay home rather going out to all the random parties and events thrown between each game.

dayna and his mom don’t care that he has you over — they find it nice he found someone, a nice distraction from inside his head.

as for the show, it’s probably some random documentary or reality show: first thing he saw when logging into the streaming platform. he, genuinely, is probably engrossed in it, but you’re engrossed in him: how close you two are.

you’re laying between his legs, obviously, and his hands are strung around you messily, just wanting to have some sort of hold on you. how he’s holding you, you probably have no idea what, focused on the washed-out jeans of his — weathered from wear by rodeos or helping anne or anything else.

he’s probably yapping about something on the TV — “i don’t see how bestfriends could do that to eachother..” bla bla bla, you’re not really focusing in on it - humming, trying to sound interested in whatever it is he’s actually talking about. some “oh really?” and “i know..” are strung throughout the humming, but you have no idea if it’s actually appropriate to his talking.

he seems to catch on, though, unbeknownst to you. it’s hard not to notice his pretty girlfriend’s eyes focused directly on his crotch every few minutes, head shifting back and forth ever so slightly — making his dick twitch with need.

you wondered if his jeans are always this tight — wondering if you looked earlier you could’ve seen it, but the truth was, you really couldn’t. this only happened after the fact you got in the car — but obviously, you weren’t keenly aware of his crotch up until the minute you got in bed.

his hands run up and down ur back softly, and god it just makes the URGE to run ur face along the outline so much worse !!! he’s fallen quiet, so u slightly wonder if maybe something’s wrong or maybe he caught onto your disinterest in his words, so you glance up out of the corner of your eye, only to realize he’s been watching you for god knows how long.

he probably says something stupid, like: “you know the tv’s over there, right?” or “interesting?” something really dumb and smart-assy. you roll your eyes, probably say something back, and one thing leads to another and he’s nonchalantly trying to suggest you could do it if you wanted to.

so you do. and god !! does it feel as good as u thought it would. he twitches beneath u and tries to act like it’s really not turning him on as much as it is, but it’s hard not to, a sticky, wet patch is already forming at the tip of his cock; itching to bleed through the light jeans.

he ends up pulling you closer, forgetting all about the tv, bringing you into a hasty kiss, needy and desperate but still filled with tenderness.

you fix yourself on his lap, smiling into the kiss, glad you got your way, like it was ever a fight to begin with — it never was, he would give you anything you asked for whenever you wanted.

he’s so gentle when he touches you. his large hands wrapping around your waist as he pulls you even closer into his lap, his eyes closed, enjoying the kiss for a few more moments before pulling away, panting softly, breathless.

"you’re really not very good at paying attention." he mumbled breathlessly, a small smirk on his lips as he looked down at you.

he moved his hands down your sides, running them up and down your thighs, his thumbs brushing against the skin beneath the hems of your shorts as he shifted underneath you slightly.

“what’s going through your pretty little head, hm?” he mused, tilting his head slightly as he studied your face.

you hummed softly, looking up at him with a small, playful pout on your lips.

“well… i was listening,” you pouted, “kinda.”

he chuckled softly at your response, his hands continuing to run up and down your thighs, the touch of his palms warm and rough against your skin.

“you’re so cute,” he murmured, “but i don’t think you were listening at all.”

he leaned forward, planting a soft kiss on your nose, before continuing to trail his lips down your jawline and down your neck.

“i think you were too distracted by something else,” he whispered, his breath warm against your skin as he nipped at your neck softly.

he knew you far too well - he knew the way your body reacted to his touch. he knew how to make you melt.

he continued to nibble at your neck, gently, his teeth grazing your skin just enough to send shivers down your spine.

“can you even remember what i was talking about?” he murmured playfully, his hands still running up and down your thighs.

“of course,” you retort, clearly defensive. “you don’t get how best friends.. could do that to eachother.” it’s clear you were listening to him, but not the television.

he chuckled softly, his lips pressed against your skin as you spoke.

“of course you remember that part,” he teased, knowing damn well you were paying more attention to his jeans than the television.

he gently nipped at your skin, sucking on a small patch of it for a moment, before pulling away.

“you were paying more attention to something else, weren’t you?”

you flush. obviously you were — who could blame you ?? :(( he was just soo close to u and so there..

he caught the flush of your cheeks, a smirk playing at his lips as he lifted his head to look at you.

“aww, you’re so cute when you blush, you know that?” he teased, “especially when you realize you’ve been caught.”

he chuckled softly, his hands moving up to your waist, his fingers slowly slipping beneath the hem of your shirt.

you pull him into a needier kiss this time, hands roaming all over, as if trying to find the right place to grab: but all seemed so promising, that you couldn’t actually settle.

he groaned softly into the kiss, matching your neediness with his own. his hands gripped at your waist, his fingers digging into your skin, as he pulled you close into his lap.

he ran his tongue across your bottom lip, requesting access that you happily gave him. his tongue slipped into your mouth, exploring it hungrily, as his hands roamed across your body.

he trailed kisses down your jawline and down your neck, his lips leaving a trail of fire on your skin. he nipped at your collarbone, leaving small, love bites in their wake.

he slowly pushed himself back against the back of the bed, pulling you with him so that you were now laying on top of him, your legs on each side of his hips.

his hands roamed down to your legs, gripping your thighs as he shifted beneath you, his hips rolling up against yours.

he groaned softly as he felt the pressure against his lap, his lips still moving across your neck, leaving little love bites in their wake.

“you drive me crazy,” he mumbled against your skin.

you hum in response — too overwhelmed with pleasure to say anything other than jumbled messes, so simplify yourself with a hum.

his hands moved up, slipping underneath your shirt, and running his palms across your skin. he could feel the heat radiating off your body, and it only made him want you more.

he pulled away from your neck, looking up at you with his blue, lust-filled eyes.

“i want you,” he breathed, “so badly.”

your breath hitches — and you want to tell him to have you — right there, however much he wanted, but you can’t strangle any words out.

he moved his hands up to your hips, his grip tightening as he pulled you tightly against him, grinding his lap up against yours.

he let out a soft groan, his head falling back against the back of the headboard as he felt the friction against his straining jeans.

“you’re so beautiful,” he panted, looking up at you with a look of need in his eyes, “so damn beautiful.”

he slid his hands up further, pushing up your shirt as he did, exposing your stomach. he ran his hands up across your stomach and up to your ribs, his touch leaving chills in their wake.

he bit his lip as he looked up at you, studying your face, taking in your features as if he hadn’t seen you a million times before.

“i want you,” he repeated, his voice slightly hoarse with need, “all of you, darling.”

you leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips before pulling away.

“well,” you said, your voice low and sultry, “what’s stopping you?”

he looked up at you, his eyes darkening with need.

“nothing,” he replied, his grip on you tightening as he spoke.

he shifted beneath you, pushing himself up so that he was sitting up properly against the back of the couch.

“except for these damn jeans,” he muttered, his hands moving to the button on his jeans.

you’re quick to help him — eagerly pawing at the button, undoing it with ease.

he let out a soft gasp at your eager touch, his hands moving to grip your waist as you undid the button on his jeans.

he lifted his hips as you began to pull down the jeans, a small, needy whine escaping from his lips as the fabric slid down his legs and hit the floor with a toss of your hand.

“so fucking needy..” he groaned softly, his hands running up and down your sides.

he pulled you back down onto his lap, his hands gripping your hips tightly as he settled you against his lap.

his hips bucked up slightly, his arousal pressed against your thigh as he moved.

“you’re so good to me,” he panted, his hands roaming up and down your back as he spoke, “i’m so lucky to have you.”

he tilted his head, his lips tracing a path down your neck, nibbling at sensitive spots along the way. he left a trail of little love bites, his teeth grazing against your skin in a way that made you shiver.

“i want to touch you,” he murmured against your skin, his hands running up your thighs. “please let me touch you.”

you could give him permission a million times over — and he’d still ask before doing anything else in the process, so gently; a contrast difference to his rough hands.

“please.” you retort softly.

he groaned softly at your response, his hands gripping your thighs tighter as he pulled you closer.

“always so polite,” he muttered, his lips still trailing down your neck.

he slowly moved his hands up your thighs, his fingers slowly sliding under the hem of your shorts.

“i need you so badly,” he panted, his hands moving higher, “can i..?”

you nod vicariously.

he let out a soft sigh of relief at your response, his hands moving further up your thighs, until they reached the edge of your panties.

he ran his fingers along the edge of the fabric, groaning softly at the realization that he was so close to what he wanted.

“you’re so beautiful,” he murmured, “so perfect..”

you hum contemptibly, smiling.

he smiled at your hum, his hands slowly moving up, slipping beneath the waistband of your panties.

he ran his fingers over your skin, his touch gentle and soft, as he slowly moved towards your center.

he could feel you shiver with each touch, his own hips rolling slightly beneath you as he grew impatient.

he slowly moved his hand down, his fingers sliding across your sensitive flesh, his touch sending shivers up your spine.

“you’re so warm,” he murmured, “so ready..”

he gently began to rub at your sensitive bundle of nerves, his touch light and teasing, as his other hand moved to your hip, holding you in place.

he groaned softly at the feel of your reaction, his eyes studying your face intently.

“so beautiful..” he repeated, his fingers slowly increasing their pace.

he watched as you began to move against his touch, your hips rolling in response to his touch.

he groaned softly as he felt you press against him, his own arousal growing more and more with each small movement you made.

“that’s it,” he panted, “just like that..”

he continued his movements, his fingers quickening their pace as he felt you growing closer.

he could feel your body shaking with need, your hands gripping tightly onto his shoulders.

“just relax darling,” he murmured, “let go for me..”

he continued to rub at your sensitive core, his fingers moving in a steady rhythm, as he watched you grow closer and closer to the edge.

he could feel your body growing tense, your grip on him growing tighter, as you began to whine and pant with need.

“that’s it, just like that..” he repeated, his own hips rolling up against you as he continued his ministrations.

he watched as you grew tense, your body trembling as you reached the edge, your eyes squeezing shut as you arched your back slightly.

he kept up his movements, his hand still rubbing at your sensitive flesh, continuing to bring you closer and closer to release, “come for me, please..” he panted, his own need growing stronger by the second.

he could feel you growing closer and closer to the edge with each second, your breath coming in soft pants and moans as you teetered on the brink.

and finally, you came, your body shaking as you reached your climax, a soft moan escaping from your lips.

he continued to move his fingers gently against you, helping you ride out your orgasm, as he spoke softly, “so perfect..”

he gently pulled his hand away from you, his eyes watching as you came down from your high. he studied your face, taking in your flushed cheeks and messy hair.

“that’s it darling,” he murmured, “just breathe..”

he moved his hands to your hips once more, holding you tightly in his lap as he waited for you to regain your bearings.

[whatusername00]

Which Baldur's Gate Characters Know How To Lace Up Their Clothing - Camp Edition

I got this idea because I noticed Gortash's shirt isn't laced properly, and then noticed Astarion's shirt isn't laced properly, so now I need to look at as many characters as I can because I can't stop noticing. And I'm about to spend too much time on this for it to stay in my brain. Starting with all characters who appear at camp (main party + others.)

Shadowheart, Lae'zel, Gale, Withers, Aylin, Mizora, Duke Ravenguard, Emmaline, and Arnell don't have lacing on their camp outfits.

Starting with the default clothes for Tav. Yes, they know how to lace their shirt. Good job. This particular Tav is Durge, so it's good to know he didn't forget how when his brain got Swiss'd. However, it's not perfectly consistent because on the bottom 2 sets of eyelets he threads from the outside, but the third set he threads from the inside. Though this is probably intentional so the lacing doesn't hang on the inside of his shirt, so 9/10.

Astarion, baby boy, you were so close. But unfortunately there are two pairs of eyelets where he threads one side from the outside and one from the inside. For someone who wants to appear so put together, you think he could take the two extra braincells to lace his shirt consistently. 7/10.

Threaded consistently the whole way through...with one side. Why didn't you finish lacing your shirt? Why even lace one side if you weren't going to lace the other? Why isn't the lacing that you didn't finish shorter than the one that you did finish? All questions I can't answer because I cannot ask. 7/10 at least it's consistent.

I couldn't get a good in game screenshot of Karlach since her lacing is on her pants, but I found a texture rip so I can work with it. So the lacing here is the same all the way through, super consistent, *mwah*, but...it's sneakily unnecessarily complicated. Typically, the lacing that laces from the inside to outside would sit on top, but it's not that way on her pants. She pulls the lacing through the eyelet, then threads it under the other part of the cross, then threads it through the top of the next eyelet. And with as much lacing as her pants have, this must have taken forever for no extra benefit. It would have been easier to let it sit on top. 8/10 its pretty though.

Halsin. Beautiful. Gorgeous. I choose to believe the knots are hidden on the inside. No other notes. 10/10.

I've never actually recruited Minthara so I took a picture from the BG3 wiki. Just like Halsin, beautiful. Again, I choose to believe the ends are hidden on the inside. 10/10.

Jaheira's pants lace the same way Halsin's shirt does: perfectly. Though if the knot is hidden on the inside, I feel like that would be more uncomfortable, so I'm gonna headcannon that it ties at her waist under her shirt. Other than that, 10/10.

Minsc's shirt uses the same model as Wyll's so everything I said there applies here, though I feel like it makes more sense for Minsc. My real gripe here is that Minsc is a liar. Talking 'bout some thrice laced pants, but I didn't see any lacing on those pants. How dare he trick me in this way. 6/10 I don't like being lied to.

Yenna's mom may be dead, but she made sure her baby knew how to lace her shirt before she did. She may have gotten kidnapped by Orin, but she looked put together while doing it. Perfect 10/10. She deserves it after what she went through.

After being dead for 100 years, Isobel didn't forget how to lace her armor. Gotta be put together to see her girlfriend again. 10/10 Isobel can do no wrong.

Volo...I don't know what you've done to the front of your pants but it doesn't look good. Some of those crosses are missing. It looks sloppy. What is this. This is something I would do as a joke to see if anyone noticed. Well I noticed and I hate it. 2/10 it keeps your pants closed I guess.

That's it for the camp. I'll link other sets of characters below as I do them.

Tieflings

[ir-abelas-vhenan]

Losing My Mind over Veilguard 8/??

See, I waited a perfectly reasonable amount of time before coming in swinging again but I actually cannot get over how dead the game is. Literally. (Me ranting about an early game quest in Minrathous incoming)

Spoilers below the break

So. The first time you go to dock town? And Neve says in one of seventy different ways "no you don't have to come with me, this is my home not yours, I can handle this myself if you want to stay back" ?(but the showing not telling argument is for another day so I'll refocus and conserve energy for another day). Anyways.

This quest. The one where you go into the chantry in Minrathous and surprise!

Dead bodies absolutely EVERYWHERE.

I took a screenshot and then lost it, but it's worth mentioning that in my game, Neve's line of dialogue above about tracking down family and friends of the deceased didn't even trigger. If it had, however, I still would have lost my mind.

Why, you might ask?

Because after counting, losing count because I was counting so high, and then recounting about seven thousand times I can confidently tell you that plus or minus two to three more corpses, there are EIGHTY SIX dead bodies in the CHANTRY. The holy center of an incredibly popular religion! And even if it weren't that! It is a massive grounds with EIGHTY SIX DEAD PEOPLE who were KILLED HORRIFICALLY BY THE VENATORI AND DEMONS. How are you going to have the time to track down next of kin for that many people? And WHY are we acting like this is NORMAL?!

Dock Town is played very one-note already as a neighborhood where sketchy things happen and people go missing and it's best to just keep your head down if you're not in a position to do something about it.

But oh my sweet baby Maker come onnnnnnn.

You aren't going to recover from this if you're this branch of the Chantry. Presumably, you've just taken a massive hit across all levels of your religious hierarchy and that takes time and training to fill. And dock town is poor as hell, so where are you going to get the funding to fix this sudden staffing issue?

How does this affect (per @housederiva's iconic posts) Viper? Ya know, the guy we have found out through datamining is literally the Black Divine?? All we see (in the scenario where Treviso is saved) is him sadly sitting outside the chantry going "we remember the fallen" and that's presumably for the people lost when the dragon attacked, with nothing spared for the (again, I can't not lose my mind over this) eighty six dead people who were devoted to the same cause he is!

A whole smattering of holy women have just been yeeted off the mortal coil and it means absolutely nothing to your immediate party save for some of the emptiest lines ever, the city as a whole, or in the larger lore of the game. At all.

There are so many moments like this that had me rapidly oscilating between screaming at my ceiling and looking exactly like this:

And this isn't even something they can pass off as being too tied to the source material and wanting to start "fresh". This is just lazy, empty, disappointing storytelling and it's why I lose my mind a little more every time I see an ardent defender of the game tell an older fan to "get over it" or "let go of your expectations."

Because having something like (so sorry) EIGHTY SIX DEATHS go down with actually NO ripples throughout the rest of the game coming from ANY studio, let alone one that used to kill this kind of thing, is crazy to me. And I will die on that hill, even if it means Neve just kind of skips over my body on her way to find my next of kin only to never spare me another thought again.

[pixiesfz]

teammates k.c

plot: you vowed never to date a teammate every again.

warning: suggestive, sorry Courtney Nevin I love you

You swore you would never date a teammate again.

At first you opened your arms to the idea, your heart exploded when your crush kissed you at your game at the under 17’s World Cup.

You remembered Courtney’s smirk when you backed away with fluttery eyes and blushed cheeks.

You didn’t know the heartbreak it would cause you months later.

“Courtney we only see eachother at camps I- I don’t think I can do the long distance anymore” you sobbed to the blonde girl who sat on the bed next to you.

Courtney stayed silent, looking down at her feet.

“Please say something” you begged, leaning over to grab her hand.

“I slept with someone” she blurted out and you quickly pulled your hands away, your mind ran a thousand miles per hour.

You stayed silent as she was now the one who was begging from a sound out of your mouth.

“With who?”

“Just some random girl- I swear it didn’t mean anything I swear” she talked but you jumped off the bed.

“Courtney I need you to stay away from me right now, or for a while” you muttered, walking back to the door.

“y/n”

But it was too late you had slammed the door shut, making your way to your and Mary’s shared room.

You swore never to date a teammate again.

You had met Kerstin through Mary, constantly having to deal with the girl FaceTiming her Man City friend. “Fowler let your friend sleep” she laughed as it was clear you were trying to sleep in the background.

“Please listen to her Mary I told Kyra I would sit next to her in the bus and she won’t let me sleep”

You heard the Dutch woman’s laugh in the other end as Mary huffed.

During many camps after that you were invited into the FaceTimes, sometimes even talking to Kerstin yourself whilst Mary’s in the bathroom or running errands.

You found your cheeks blushing one time after a game, you were talking to Kirsten as Mary was washing her hair for the teams dinner tonight.

“I took Inspiration from you” she smirked “oh how?” You asked and she lifted her arm

You tried not to draw your eyes to the veins that popped out but you couldn’t help yourself. “Look a number three, inspired by your hatrick” she laughed and you rolled your head back “what is it you Australians say…you’re a gun!” She cheered and you blushed, too embarrassed to see the notification that Kirstin had taken a screenshot at the interaction.

Mary walked into the room with her hair wrapped up in a towel “looking fancy” you stated and panned the phone to her “nice Fowler, looking scrumptious” the Dutch girl laughed and you joined.

“if you guys are ganging up on me now I wonder what it’s going to be like when y/n joins city” Mary sighed and Kerstin gasped “your joining city?” She asked and you nodded your head “signed a contract not that long ago, so surprise?”

You were welcomed to City with open arms from all the girls Alanna taking you under her wing as she felt protective over you.

After all she was the one who caught you crying in the hallway after Courtney had told you she cheated, your eyes filled up with so much tears you could barely see.

“How’s Manchester treating you?” Allan’s asked as you sat with her and Leila, a Spaniard you had grown close with.

“Good I’m enjoying my time here everyone is so nice”

Whilst the three of you sat in the corner Jill cornered Kerstin who was ‘subtly’ looking at you from the other side of the room.

“You like her” Jill piped up and Kerstin jumped “nuekan!” She whisper yelled and Jill smirked “no I don’t” she denied.

“Yes you do”

“No I don’t”

“Yes you do”

“Yes I do”

Jill smiled triumphantly and clapped her hands together “then ask her out” Jill encouraged

“Ask who out?”

The two Dutch girls widened their eyes at Mary who had innocently jumped in on their conversation “uhm” Kerstin started and Jill looked around.

“Nobody”

“Y/n”

The two spoke at the same time and Mary’s eyes widened as she turned to her friend and hit her “why did you tell Jill before me” she said as Kerstin pulled away “ow stop” she said as Jill laughed and turned to Mary, pulling her away from her friend.

“So” Jill trailed off “do you know what y/n thinks of Kerstin?” She asked and Mary’s face fell and with that so did Kerstins “oh my god” she groaned.

‘I’m so stupid’ she thought but Mary grabbed her arm “It’s not that she doesn’t but it’s just that she doesn’t date teammates, she’s very big on it” Mary said and Jill shrugged “why?”

“Well when we were younger her and Courtney dated during Matilda’s camps and well when Courtney moved to Leicester and y/n stayed in Melbourne well…” she trailed off

“It’s easy for a couple to break up cause of long distance” Kerstin said as she thought of couples she knew “it wasn’t just the long distance, Courtney cheated on her and it really hurt her, so she’s vowed ever since” Mary said and the two girls nodded “oh” was all Kerstin said as she looked over to where you sat.

You were roomed with Mary for your first away game as your international teammate now was on edge from keeping Kerstins secret from you.

“You and Kerstin are close” she spoke up and you blushed, thankfully you were facing away from your friend so she couldn’t see the small smile that erupted on your face.

“I guess” you shrugged and Mary nodded “I know you vowed off dating-“

“Mary” you warned her and she groaned “I know but Kerstin isn’t like that”

“Yeah well I thought Courtney wasn’t like that either” you defended and Mary dropped her head “look” you started “if we weren’t teammates and there was no chance of having a weird team dynamic after we break up sure yes I would take her on a date” you shrugged

“I mean she’s nice, really cute, makes me laugh aswell as laughs at my jokes and has the tattoos that I’m attracted to and sure she would probably make a good girlfriend and-“ you stopped talking as you looked up to your fellow Aussie who was grinning ear to ear.

“I like her” you realised

“You like her a lot” Mary sang out and you slapped her.

You didn’t know what to do with your newfound information. Everytime Kerstin came up to you at trainings or at games you blushed and ran away like a little school girl.

“Y/n/n what’s up?” she asked you one day as she ran behind you “oh nothing” you trailed “any weekend plans?” She asked shakily as you both stopped.

You could lie and say no just incase she wanted to hang out but you found yourself wanting to hang out with her, by yourself…with nobody else there.

“None at the moment why?” You asked with a smile and the girl blushed “we should go out for coffee or lunch or something” she said and your breath hitched “or we could not-“

“I’d like that actually” you smiled and the Dutch girl nodded “great”

And with no thought your mouth betrayed you.

“Sounds like a date”

And you ran off.

The weekend came and you found yourself with Kerstin walking through a couple of clothe stores before you went out.

You couldn’t lie and say you didn’t like the way how Kirsten’s body would press behind you when you looked at a top for too long.

“That would great on you” she mumbled, her breath hitting your neck due to the height difference.

The top was nice and you were looking for your size until and idea popped into your head.

You turned your body to her, faces inches apart “how about we buy a piece of clothing for eachother and wear it out”

“wear it to our date?” She asked and you smiled, nodding and dropping your head to hide your blush.

“Okay but the top I like for you is near so close your eyes” she said with a grin as you did so “you pick yours then I pick mine I saw something at the start that is perfect”

Kerstin tried to be quick as she picked up a flowy top near where you stood, she remembered how your eyes lingered on it when you walked in.

“Okay I’m done” she announced before you smiled, a jump in your step as you made your way to a sweater vest that you knew that she would like and you knew she would look hot in.

“Okay I’m done too” you said and the Dutch girl laughed “alright let’s go pay and then get changed because we are already five minutes late to our reservation”

Getting changed you tried to ignore the way your heart was racing when she picked out the top that you secretly hoped that she would.

Kerstin stepped out with a grin “Love it” she smiled and lifted up her arms to flex as you laughed but secretly admired.

You both sat down and ate, Kerstin offering to pay as she invited you out. “Well next time I’m paying” you told her

“Next time?” Kerstin asked and you sheepishly nodded “yeah”.

It wasn’t until your next international camp that your teammates buckled down on you.

“No love life in Manchester?” Kyra teased as you smiled and you blushed, ignoring the stare on your face from a certain blonde.

“She would tell me” Alanna boasted and Mary choked on her food “no she would not” Caitlin told her “Yeah Lani if I was y/n I wouldn’t want you Interrogating my new girl” Mackenzie laughed.

“Well is there?” Charli asked with a grin and you shook your head as a ‘no’ but your facial expressions betrayed you.

“Who?!”

“What?!”

“I have to approve!”

“Aight everyone off her” Mary laughed before Steph quirked her eyebrow “you know” she stated and Mary shrugged “Well I’m the one who has to leave our room whenever she comes over” she groaned and you laughed from your spot.

“So does she follow you for all your matches?” Teagan asked and you nodded “you could say that”.

You laid on top of Kerstin, straddling her hips as you kissed down her neck “you know people are starting to catch on” you smiled, lifting your head up to press a kiss to her lips.

“So let them I don’t care” she mumbled “you’re just saying that cause you’re enjoying me right now.

“I have a pretty girl on top of me what else is there to ask for?”

“The FA cup?” You perked up as you both laughed.

“I’m just happy I finally got my own room this camp” you tutted “also my team knows I’m seeing someone but they don’t know who”

“Even Courtney?” Kerstin asked and you nodded. You saw hunger creep into your soon to be girlfriend’s eyes as you talked about your ex.

“I don’t like that your with her for the week” she said, her grip tightening on your hips.

“Then why don’t we show her that I’m taken” you smirked , leaning back down and kissing Kerstin.

You moaned in pleasure as she moved her lips down your neck, sucking hard on certain parts, knowing when to stop so they wouldn’t show up for your Matilda’s game.

You decided that you liked it when Kerstin was jealous.

You broke away as Both your hands went to the ends of your top, trying to take it off before knocking was heard at your door.

“Y/n!” Little Harper Gorrys voice yelled out as you rolled off Kerstin pulling your top back down “ow” you cursed and threw a blanket over Kerstins body who was silently laughing at your fall.

Opening the door you looked down to Harper who was smiling “you make weird noises in your sleep” she giggled and you nodded “where’s your mum?” You asked and she pointed down the hallway where you saw Katrina talking to Allanna who was on the phone.

“There you are Harps” Katrina smiled and walked over to you where Harper put her hands out for her “go to mama” you coed as Allanna got off the phone.

“Hey you and Kerstin are close yeah?” she asked and you nodded “yes” you nodded, panic laced in your voice as the said girl was hidden underneath a blanket metres away.

“Jill called said she’s not at the hotel they’re staying at” she said “oh” you mumbled, trying to look around your room to see if there was a clear body on your bed.

But a gasp was heard.

Katrina had her hand to her face and the running footsteps of both Kyra and Mary were heard as they went to your room.

“You have a hickey!”

“I know who you y/n is seeing!”

The mother daughter duo spoke at the same time as all eyes returned on you.

“Did your girlfriend follow you to Netherland for one game?” Alanna asked as Katrina laughed.

“That’s who you’re seeing?” She asked, putting the pieces together and you sheepishly nodded.

“Who?” Alanna asked, still confused as your nerves rose but a hand grabbed onto your back for comfort.

“Jeez Lani you’ve suffered one too many concussions in your life”

“KERSTIN!”

she latched onto your waist and placed her head on your shoulder “surprise?”

[anderstrevelyan]

Have you ever wondered exactly what's going on with all the dead bodies in the Wyrm's Rock audience hall, if you leave and come back after Gortash's coronation?

I did some in-game research while working on a fic recently, and in the name of sparing anyone else from having to lay all this out, too—here's a list of the victims, and some notes-based educated guessing on Gortash's motivation here.

(Beyond Iron Counsul Nuff's summary in the screenshot above: "My lord requires a clear path to his magnificent future. We cut away the troublesome bramble.")

Lord Petric Amber

Lord Amber's Bodyguard

Lady Ailis Belt

Lady Haeril Birch

Baron Callem Bormul

Lady Alia Durinbold

Lady Durinbold's Bodyguard

Lady Durinbold's Attendant

Lord Sarken Eomane

Admiral Peil Hullhollyn

Lady Winstra Hullhollyn

Lord Raylen Jannath

Lord Jannath's Bodyguard

Duke Dillard Portyr

Lord Portyr's Attendant

Lord Portyr's Bodyguard

Lady Beatrice Provoss

Lord Myer Ravenshade

Lady Silifrey Sashenstar

Lord Rugger Shattershield

Lord Shattershield's Bodyguard

Lord Shattershield's Attendant

Lord Milton Tillerturn

Lord Randolf Vammas

Lady Madeline Whitburn

9 Unnamed Patriars

First I'll note that not everyone you see lingering after the coronation ends up dead: I could talk to Lady Eshvelt Guthmere, Lady Ruth Linnacker, and Lady Freida Oberon, and their bodies aren't present in the hall later.

It also doesn't seem to be connected to vocalizing support for Gortash or not—you can overhear Portyr and Shattershield challenging him in the ambient dialogue after the coronation, but when you walk around and talk to everyone else the only one who has anything negative to say is Silifrey Sashenstar. Everyone else on the list above sings Gortash's praises.

So, here's what I think it is!

In the corner of the audience hall, you can find this note:

The Parliament of Peers is the body that's responsible for electing new dukes, and they held a formal vote to raise Gortash as Archduke and dissolve their own political body. Note the numbers: there's 23 members.

So who are these members? Up in Gortash's study, you can find this note discussing bribing, blackmailing, and threatening members of the Peers, which gives us the names of eight:

Five of these eight end up dead in the audience hall (Portyr, Jannath, Whitburn, Sashenstar, and Eomane).

As for the three Peers listed who don't end up in dead in the hall—Lady Ruth Linnacker, Lord Hir Rillyn, and Lady Haeril Vanthampur—let's look to this note:

Gortash has leverage against Ruth Linnacker through the abduction of her granddaughter, and I don't think it's unfair to assume Hir Rillyn and Haeril Vanthampur are similarly under Gortash's control, whether tadpoled or blackmailed (this is the one big assumption I had to make—bear with me!).

The other two with non-murderous leverage against them in the note above do end up dead, but I think there's some added context: I imagine Raylen Jannath is the husband of Wisteria Jannath, who Gortash canonically had an affair with (maybe it's personal? Maybe Raylen didn't care enough about the leverage of his own affair, if he knew she'd had one too?). For Portyr, there's the following in Gortash's study, noting he considers him a threat that shouldn't be underestimated, so he may not have wanted to stop at threats:

The inclusion of Portyr on the list of eight Peers could imply that the other three dukes are members of the Parliament of Peers, too. There's a book in Franc Peartree's house about the current state of who the dukes are, which I don't have my own screenshot of, but here's the relevant text from the wiki:

We know Belynne Stelmane is dead as part of the Bhaalist plot. Ulder Ravengard is tadpoled. The fourth duke was Thalamra Vanthampur, who's dead. They were waiting to replace her until Ravengard was found or confirmed gone—and Gortash was given this seat.

So, back to the original list of people murdered after the coronation. I bolded the names of those who aren't seemingly collateral damage (the bodyguards and attendants, and the unnamed patriars): there's 17.

17 killed after the coronation

Plus three Peers controlled through blackmail or other means

Plus Duke Stelmane and Duke Ravengard, dead and tadpoled respectively

That adds up to 22.

Add in Gortash's own vote, which he would have from taking (Thalamra) Vanthampur's seat, and you get 23.

The same number as the members of the Parliament of Peers.

Gortash didn't just orchestrate the Peers naming him the city's first Archduke, and he didn't just influence them to dissolve the political body that could vote another duke in. He made sure the individuals were destroyed, too.

[starrgirlella]

Lurking for love? More like lurking for LORE

Hi everyone! Just two days ago, I made some interesting discoveries about LFL by just digging around the website

I'm not sure if anyone else found this out so that's why I'm going to be sharing what I found because it's very interesting

This post is going to be pretty long lol and full of my rambling. If you're interested, please take a read! Do note that English isn't my first language so I may express myself a bit weird 😭

Also IK the screenshots are pretty shitty but I'm lazy oops

To start, I have a habit of checking the sinistershrike website along with the LFL itch.io game page. Why? Well I just like looking if there are any new updates (and its my hyperfixtation so I'm constantly looking for new content)-

And I noticed that on the sinistershrike website there was a new update which some of you may or may not saw.

In summary, the game is getting custom music, prounouns are getting removed so MC is going to be gender neutral and getting called only by their name and most interesting of all: a new main character is getting added, and they're going to be dateable!

Pretty interesting, right? I immediately got curious on who that character might be since they're going to cause drama and more mysteries.

But wait! I'm still not done, hehe

Afterwards, I was just randomly looking at Jacob Alden pics thru google. Again, why? Well, I don't know either lol. It's just a habit that I do when I'm bored and sometimes when I'm lucky, I come across new things.

And this time I was lucky!

So I scrolled down to the end of the results and I saw this post which caught my eye:

What's so interesting about it? Well the fact that the creators website is linked to it. Curious, I clicked on the link and was suprised at what I saw.

(Mind you I still dont know if I'm an idiot just finding this out or not...)

Basically, it's a site containing all info about Jacob! I got really excited when I saw it bc I LOVE learning all the facts about my favourite characters and finding new official content!

When I finished looking through it I noticed two things:

1. The website adress (is that what it's called? Im sorry english isn't my first language)

So when you look at the website adress you can notice how it's linked (basically an extension) to the creators webiste which is: sinistershrike.neocities.org

The thing is; you can't open Jacobs page on the creators site. Like yes, there is a tab which says CHARACTERS but if you click on it you'll get nothing but a scary looking Jacob. Which means to get to this page you have to type the adress in yourself.

So I'm assuming the creator is purposefully hiding this Jacob page (maybe because he wants to finish pages for all characters and more)

And here's the link if you want to take a look for yourself:

https://sinistershrike.neocities.org/character/jacob

2. At the end of the page, you have links to other characters made by the creator.

Not just lurking for love, but other ocs made by him!

Though, if you click on them, you'll get nothing. Maybe they're still being made? I'm not sure.

Now, when you look at the characters for LFL, it's very interesting because we now have info on Sarah's last name AND... an unknown character? Noah Vega.

At first, I was stunned. Who could this character be? Then I went back to the creators website and remembered the mention of a new character, can you see where I'm going?

Noah Vega must be the new character! He was never mentioned before; neither in the game nor in the creators deleted blogs.

And pretty quickly I found proof which helped my theory (I SOUND SO DUMB OMG)

Now going back to the website adress thing.

So I concluded that the Jacob website is hidden from the main website for an reason, hence you can only acess it by finding it yourself. I decided to mess around with the website adress a bit, to see if I could find any more extensions/links.

I started by putting different names in the adress. I tried out: Austin, Sarah, Cedric and Alfred but they didn't lead or anything.

BUT

The only name which lead to an extension was Noah. And holy shit-

I'm finding it hard to express how shocked I was at this discovery

This is a pretty big lore drop imo! So his website shows a pinboard with various notes.

And with these notes we can conclude two things:

1. He has an gambling addiction

2. He is investigating Jacob

He definitely an detective trying to solve an old murder case involved with Jacob. Hence why the mention that the new character will add more drama and mystery to the game.

The three murdered highschoolers must be his old friends mentioned in the game: Steve, Monty and Kenny. Which he claims that they haven't talked since highschool. In reality, they were murdered by him for reasons that are unknown for now.

The website link:

https://sinistershrike.neocities.org/character/noah

And that's about it! I had fun digging around finding this new info and writing this post. I hope to see more of interesting secrets like this in the future because it's fun finding them!

I hope this post was of interest to you :)

[yellingaboutmasseffect]

Griffons are not Long Termed Fucked: Real Life Animal Conservation Success for your Fantasy World Building

So the Dragon Age AMA sure was a thing. I am not going touch on any of the rest of it besides the future of the griffons, especially as someone who just played Inquisition and Veilguard. The reason I want to touch on the griffons is because animals are an interest of mine and I greatly admire the work that has gone into conservation and breeding programs across the world. Hopefully, y'all enjoy me theorizing about griffons with what I know.

Before we get into it, I would like to thank @ellstersmash for screenshotting the AMA and posting it here. Below the cut is going to be a screenshot from their post. Beyond the cut is spoilers for Veilguard so beware if you are avoiding those.

Ok, let's get the first thing out of the way, is 13 individuals ideal? Of course not but that does not make the situation impossible. I am going to go at this from "what would be most ideal" in the scenario that the game presents.

Aren't Assan and the other griffons siblings?

I think it is important to remember that Davrin is the one who says this. None of the Wardens involved in finding or raising the griffons would know that information. In fact, the only person that would know that is Isseya, who hid the eggs.

The wardens and Davrin were concerned in raising and training these young griffons. At that age, it didn't seem like they were thinking of the breeding possibilities in the future and considered them "siblings" because they were found and hatched together.

There is some visual cues that could point to the griffons not being from the same clutch. When you go back to the Hossberg Wetlands after rescuing the griffons, they can be found hanging amongst the wardens and they are surprisingly colorful and each seem to be inspired by different birds when it comes to their colors. While it is completely possible that is just how griffons were, it could point to a situation where Isseya stole an egg from 13 different clutches. It would make sense that when the griffons were wiped out, Warden command would have noticed if entire clutches disappeared but what about just an egg from each clutch? While this is the best case scenario, I do feel it's entirely plausible and would mean each griffon of our 13 have different parents.

In short, they could very well be siblings but there is no reason they couldn't be eggs from 13 different mated pairs of griffons. Hopefully Bioware goes with the later.

EDIT: As @siderealtide very helpfully pointed out in their reblog, we do know they are all siblings from one clutch from the story, Last Flight, as Isseya did cut them out of 1 dying griffon.

Given.... everything it could get retconned or as Siderealtide also pointed out as well they could be more mammalian like cats and have multiple fathers if their mother was especially frisky ( that would be fantastic for the situation. Not ideal but not insurmountable). Or magic but I did not feel knowledgeable enough on what is possible with magic in Dragon Age to theorize on that for this post. Back to the original post.

2. But isn't 13 griffons still too few?

Now there are ideal situations, which this isn't, but that doesn't make it impossible. It would make the griffons susceptible to a falling prey to a disease or scenario that deceased griffons might have had the genetic diversity to combat but none of the surviving 13 have the genes to weather through. That is not guaranteed to happen (and this is a fictional scenario.)

There are also some remarkable examples of animals coming back with similar odds.

The California Condor, my beloved. By 1982, only 23 individuals remained so they were all taken into captivity by the California Condor Recovery Program for a captive breeding program. In such programs they can arrange for mating pairs for ideal genetic diversity and hand rear individuals to ensure as many of the young live to adulthood. Today, there are over 500 California Condors in the wild and in captivity combined.

The Black Footed Ferret's program started with 18 individuals and 1000 are now in the wild!

In short, not ideal but not impossible. Even if you make a certain choice in game.

3. Ok, so how would the griffon breeding program work?

So I do believe both the Dalish/Veiljumpers and the Wardens would be capable of doing such efforts depending on your choice in game. They don't have as many tools at their disposal for optimal pairings or detecting genetic makeup, but they could do pedigrees to track who mated with whom and when.

Ideally, there would be more female griffons than males since the female griffons can lay eggs (hopefully more than one at a time). You could then pair a female and male griffon together until they produce a clutch/or clutches successfully before rotating in another male partner to repeat the process. From there, you would keep track of their ancestry to produce ideal mating pairs going forward and keep it as genetically varied as possible. In this ideal scenario, griffons don't mate for life and if there is lore about that, refer to my earlier disclaimer about my dragon age knowledge.

4. What about that 50/500 thing?

That came from Google AI summary. I admit I have never heard that rule before but it's more complicated than saying these numbers are required across the board.

5. Why did you make this post?

Like I said, it's a special interest of mine. I love watching Nat Geo shows about accredited zoos and learning about their conservation efforts. Environmental doomerism serves no one. Yeah, there will be times where we can't save species but people have shown time and time again that it is possible even under very bleak circumstances. So yeah in part this was about hope for these fictional griffons but I also if you got a little hope about real life conservation efforts, that's nice too.

[pernesophe]

Best Friend Nirei Akihiko "Helps" Reader Out

(Minors, Ageless and Blank Blogs DNI)

Synopsis: MATURE CONTENT: You keep getting with guys who say they're experienced, but aren't. Your best friend Nirei Akihiko offers to help you out.

TW: all characters aged 21+, so much shameless smut: cunnilingus, fingering, vaginal intercourse, overstimulation. MDNI

Also this was weirdly inspired by, and bear with me here, David Attenborough's 'Desert World'. It's kind of poetic, but also kind of okay? Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Master List (I have no rights to these characters, the works they come from, or the art/screenshots/manga panels used in this post)

(4740 wc)

It’s been 3 weeks since your 21st birthday, and ever since turning 18 you’ve had 6 relationships, more sexual endeavors than you could count, and no orgasms. Which was how you found yourself laying on your best friend’s bed lamenting about how every guy who’s taken you to bed has talked such a big game, and every time they end up choking.

“The most recent guy swore up and down that he could ‘take care of me’,” you scoffed out in annoyance while throwing your hands up in the air. Nirei Akihiko, your long time confidant, listened diligently to you telling him that ‘men ain’t shit’ - again. 

“Then, when we finally got down to business he wouldn’t take any of my direction and got defensive when I told him that I didn’t cum!” Exclaiming as you sat up on Nirei’s bed to look at him for emphasis, who was just nodding his blonde head along obediently. 

“He said, ‘are you sure,’ like I wouldn’t know! I literally played silent library with this guy, and let me tell you Nirei, I was silent!” Huffing out as you fell back onto his covers with an exasperated sigh. After a long moment, Nirei’s voice traveled through the room, but his words jolted you back into an upright position instantly.

“Then why don’t you just let me make you cum?” Posing the question as if he was offering to grab you an iced coffee before class, but you just gawked at him with a deep furrow in your brow. It felt taboo to hear those words from him when he was looking at you with those big, chocolatey, puppy dog eyes of his. 

“Just as friends,” he chuckled out reassuringly while putting his hands out in front of him to convey that his intentions were plain. Reader, they in fact were not plain seeing as your friend has been in love with you for years now.

“Nirei have you ever…?” Asking in disbelief as you blinked rapidly at him - never having heard about it until now, if he has. Uncertain as to why, but some fluorescent green monster flashed behind your irises and curled your fingers in the covers you were sitting on as you cocked your head in question.

“Like once - it wasn’t a big deal though so I didn’t say anything,” he chuckled out with an easy going shrug, though Nirei immediately clocked the jealousy swelling in your countenance. Chestnut orbs flicked down to your white knuckles before settling back on your perturbed expression. A smug grin tugged at his lips, but your gaze was focused on his innocently raised brows and the inquiring tilt of his head that caused a few blonde locks to fall over one eye.

Completely uncertain, but certainly desperate at this point, and seeing as Nirei’s typical timid demeanor had transformed to one of pure confidence, you nodded your head tentatively. Your companion’s expression changed to one of blatant surprise, but it was swiftly replaced with one of poorly hidden triumph.

Rising from his chair, he turned toward his bookshelf and started rummaging a few items together as you started to get situated on his bed. Turning back around, he saw the apprehensive look on your face and the way you were laid out for him, but Nirei just shook his head as a laugh puffed past his lips, which made you pause.

“Not yet,” his words were simple, but when you looked at him, bewildered - maybe a little hurt brewing in your expression - he inquired in a mirthful voice with a sharp arch of his brow, “I’m guessing you’ve only ever had quickies?” 

His typical puppy dog eyes became wolven - your friend has never looked at you like this before, and suddenly your breath was caught in your throat. Unable to muster a response, Nirei just laughed at your shocked expression.

“Hop in the shower. I’ll have some clothes for you when you get out,” he instructed in an authoritative tone as he handed you an extra towel from his shelf. Silently staring at him wide eyed as you gulped, before you took the towel with a nod and scurried off to the bathroom. Nirei watched you go with a satisfied smile turning the corners of his mouth - he’s waited so long for this and he had every intention of leaving you hooked. 

You’ve showered at Nirei’s apartment before, you even have your own products here, but this time it felt completely different. This time you weren’t just getting ready before going out or something arbitrary - you were getting ready for him. 

Unbeknownst to you, Nirei has done his research. Not like a quick google search, no, he understands how information flows, so after literally learning a woman’s anatomy he went straight to the forums. For months he’s been listening to every single one of your complaints, and then diligently looking into what women were saying about how they want to be fucked. Hell, he even went to a brothel and paid - just once - to be taught explicitly what to do, though he would never admit that to you.

While you showered Nirei grabbed a pair of simple cotton panties that you left there in case you ever needed to crash at his place, and a large graphic t-shirt from his closet that was a favorite of yours to borrow. When you stepped back into the room, wrapped in a towel and hair still wet, Nirei threw you a small smirk as he shamelessly raked his eyes over you, making your knees weak. Then he wordlessly gestured to the clothes on the bed before grabbing his own towel and hopping in the shower himself. 

Only a few minutes passed before Nirei re-entered, shirtless with a towel around his waist and blonde hair still dripping with water. Again, he silently simpered at you, an amused look playing across his face as he regarded your blushing cheeks. Nirei stepped into his closet and returned a moment later, still shirtless but wearing boxers and a pair of joggers set low on his hips.

It looked like a god stepped out of his closet, sun kissed skin still damp, shaggy blonde hair falling into his honeyed-mahogany orbs that burned with molten desire. You rubbed your thighs together involuntarily for some friction as your cheeks grew impossibly redder which only earned you an angelic laugh from your best friend turned sex-god (apparently?).

Nirei was enjoying your reactions too much to break the spell with his voice, so he wordlessly crawled up the bed until he was kneeling at your feet, an easy going smile plastered on his face. A shiver ran up your spine at the confidence exuding from his typically high-strung demeanor. You’ve never had a guy get this far before losing his cool and devolving into a nervous mess.

Bending forward he began peppering kisses to the tops of your knees without breaking eye contact while his hands skimmed over the covers to grab your ankles and drew your legs apart. Scooting forward as he spread his thighs apart, and then he reached under you to grab your hips. With one swift yank, your head was on the pillows and your butt was pressed snugly to his growing bulge with your legs laid over the tops of his thighs. Air caught in your throat as you’re suddenly, completely, within Nirei’s control - pinned under his unblinking stare, unable to escape, as he bent forward to slot his lips between yours.

The brunette-turned-blonde who you grew up with had always been so timid, he only was ever confident in things he 100% knew. But the way he was kissing you, licking and nipping your lips until you let his tongue slide in your mouth to tangle with your wet muscle…. How he dominantly claimed your mouth and let his hands roam over your body - touching every single spot that made your pussy pulse along the way… you quickly became intimately aware how well he knew what he was doing. 

Nirei kept his control steady the whole time he was exploring your body. Years he’s waited to touch you like this, and the whole time it felt like he was watching a beautiful oasis dry up from a drought caused by unsatisfying touches. For the longest time he’s stolen his anger at every single one of your partner’s half-assed attempts to please you, and applied that anger to his endeavor of knowing how to please you without fail. Knowledge is Power afterall. 

You felt it too, this desert growing inside of you, and every partner up until now has been little more than a passerby haphazardly spilling water on your sands. A mistake, a fluke - never anything intentional. But Nirei, oh sweet, diligent, faithful Nirei… His tongue swirling around your pert nipples felt like the first crashes of thunder rolling in, air thick with the promise of rain. As his eager mouth trailed over your torso, his wet muscle peaked out to trace along your ribs, it felt like the whipping winds that swore to you that a torrential storm was on the horizon. 

When his soft lips peppered gentle kisses along the insides of your thighs, you could almost taste the precipitation in the air perpaing to pour down from the heavens above. The first raindrops were splattering your sands and soaking deep into your being when his tongue teasingly drifted up the length of your leg to press a chaste kiss to your ankle. Golden irises bored down on you with a molten focus that felt like the hot, midday sun. 

Sweeping his tongue down your calf to pause at the back of your knee where he kissed the sensitive skin sloppily, and nipped along your gooseflesh. Finally, the rain began for what felt like the first time ever with an arch of your back as you cried out for more - the seeds located deep within have only just started to germinate. Invisible roots grew and stretched to the well located in the deepest depths of your core in hopes of budding.

Blonde hair tickled your thighs as Nirei’s merciful mouth littered pecks, bites and gentle licks up the insides of them that forced those, now-seedlings to blossom. Coming face to face with the verbena flower spread open between your parted legs, Nirei became more like a Hummingbird-Hawk Moth who could finally drink your sweet nectar after a decade’s long drought. 

Deliberate kitten licks were gingerly placed over your glistening lips, savoring your taste more than anything at first, but still you were keening your head back into the pillows as you fisted the sheets to ground yourself. Nirei mapped out your lips, clit and dripping entrance with his tongue thoroughly - clocking each and every pant, twitch and whine you emitted before committing the actions that caused them to memory - and then, finally, you were drenched in his monsoon. 

Nirei’s merciless tongue dipped and plunged deep into your core as if he were gathering every last bit of your pollen. Greedily teasing your entrance, swiping your arousal up with the tip of his tongue to savor the taste before descending onto your clit once again. He swirled and flicked the tiny bundle of nerves until your gummy walls were gushing even more nectar for Nirei to scavenge. This repetitive foraging of your folds went on for what felt like hours, until you lost count of how many times your body had tensed with pleasure only to relax and wash you completely in euphoria.

It wasn’t until your legs lay limp on the bed, that he finally crawled up your body - his face swam before your vision, tongue swiping over his lips that were upturned into a satisfied smile. Nirei suckled your sweet cunt through every suffocating squeeze of your thighs and tug of his hair - only sparing you a glance to chuckle at your overstimulated state - and it was well worth it to see you completely sprawled out like this in his bed.

Burnt Sienna orbs raked down your spent form and back up to your fucked out expression. When a contented sigh passed your lips, his victorious grin deepened as he brought his cheek next to yours, lips brushing your earlobe. 

”So, are you good?” He queried in a light, teasing tone, fanning your face with the warm scent of baked bread, before leaning back with innocently raised brows. Immediately you sat up with a notch in your brow and a slight pout on your lips.

”You said you’d fuck me,” your voice bled with indignation as you huffed out the words, to which Nirei chuckled low at your attitude. He surveyed your lower lip, slightly stuck out, with overt appreciation as a chidden sigh escaped him.

”I said I’d help you cum - you did cum right?” He posed smoothly with a questioning arch of his brow. Your mouth dropped open, but no response came, so you snapped it shut after a moment before defiantly looking away from Nirei’s smug face.

”Oh?” Nirei hummed as he straightened up to wrap his arms around you, drawing you closer. Whipping your head around to chastise him, but suddenly you were nose to nose with Nirei’s voracious gaze once again.

”Guess I didn’t do a good enough job then, hm?” He insinuated, voice tinged with faux hurt. Blinking slowly into his hungry eyes as your shoulders dropped and your pout deepened.

”No, I-I did,” you admitted softly, finally swallowing your pride. Nirei must’ve picked up a few things from that little shit Suo Hayato though, because he wasn’t letting you get off that easy.

”You did, what?” He goaded you with a tilt of his head and a knowing smile playing on his lips. Sputtering for a moment as your cheeks reddened, but you resentfully relinquished, again.

”Y-you made me… cum.” Confessing in an incredibly shy voice that Nirei has never heard you use before, which only made his cock jump in his boxers. Ravening pupils set in honey irises only deepened his grin, until it became predaceous. Like a coyote after hundreds of parched miles passing underfoot, traveling through dry desert sands, finally setting its sights on your small oasis.

”Good,” he breathed against your lips and your core clenched as an almost imperceptible gasp passed your lips. “Did you just get wetter?” He half whispered-half groaned against your mouth, and you shivered in his sturdy embrace.

”Show me what you’ve been doing for all those guys who ‘ain’t shit’,” he susurrated before leaning back against the headboard and sliding off his boxers and joggers. Of course you’ve seen him before, from growing up together, to skinny dipping later in high school, to just accidental walkins, but you had never seen him this way before.

His cock was long, girthy, veined with a blushing pink tip. It looked like it could fill you up completely. Nirei saw drool wet your bottom lip, and he leaned forward to lick it as he grabbed your waist. He dragged you onto his lap so you were straddling him, your drenched entrance positioned just above his leaking tip. Ever so slowly, you sheathed yourself on his thick cock, feeling every inch of him stretch you out on the way down. A quiet moan tumbled out of you as your gummy walls clenched around him, causing him to dig his fingers bruisingly into your hips, just barely stopping himself from bucking his hips into yours. Nirei peered up at you with worship etched into his features as you adjusted to his size.

Gripping his shoulders for stability before you experimentally raised your hips until just his tip was held in your folds, and then you oh so slowly slid down his length. Earning a deep, long exhale from Nirei whose expression was completely awestruck. Gradually, your pace quickened as you got more accustomed to his size until you were bouncing up and down his length vigorously. Loud echoes of wet skin slapping against each other, your incoherent babbling, and jolted ah ah ah’s filled Nirei’s room as you arrived and stayed at the cusp of your orgasm. 

Really bouncing on it crazy style, and the whole time he cooed through your salacious cries - telling you how breathtaking you look, and what a good girl you are for him. You were sobbing from how close you were as you grip his shoulders, digging your nails in as he smiled up at you with so much care. He wiped your tears continuously while cooing praises to you. Eventually, when you started losing momentum and leaned into his chest more, he squeezed your hips gently.

 “Getting tired?” Nirei inquired innocently, even though he regarded you with mischievous intent, and his grin was downright plotting. When you whined pathetically into his shoulder, unable to form a coherent response, he just tittered at you in amusement.

“Want me to take over?” Asking as if he was simply offering to carry something heavy for you, rather than fuck you into oblivion. Desperately, you sobbed and nodded into the crook of his neck, which caused a conquering smirk to spread over his face.

Nirei swiftly flipped you on your back and threw your legs over his shoulders, folding you in half, and putting you in a mating press before he pounded you into the mattress. His thrusts were unrelentingly rough and hard until you were completely beside yourself from cumming. Lost in the seemingly endless pleasure stretching before you. Apparently Nirei has stamina, because he didn’t even seem winded. In fact, he was whispering and mewling into your mouth the whole time. 

“Pretty girl,” he murmured as your eyes started rolling back, “good girl,” groaning deep as you pulsed around him, your thighs trembling from yet another climax. 

“My girl.” He growled before slotting his lips with yours, swallowing your moans as his tongue slipped between your lips. In between praising and claiming you, Nirei would also beg into your mouth - through all of your delightful sounds - for you to come undone again, and again.

“Just one more baby…” he whimpered as his sepia eyes watered with want. “Just need to feel you cum on me, One. More. Time.” Punctuating the words with his powerful thrusts when you were cusping the edge of your release, for the umpteenth time - teetering you over into a blissful abyss.

“Fuck Y/N,” Finally, after what felt like days, Nirei finally grunted low as he pressed his forehead to yours. “I’m so close,” he breathed out, gaze locking with your utterly fucked out one. 

“Wh-where do you want it baby?” Pleading, his hot breath fanned your cheeks, and you whined while fisting the sheets as you lifted your hips more into his brutal thrusts, making him grin lustily down at you. “No baby, you gotta say it, talk to me pl-please,” he pleaded low and gravelly as his thrusts grew sloppier. 

“Cum i-in me Ni-Nirei!” You just barely managed to hiccup out in between the ah ah ah’s ripped from your throat. Nirei simpered down at you before his hips stilled against yours with one, last, powerful thrust, and you could feel his cock twitch within your velvety walls. Inundating your greedy cunt with his hot seed. After he has completely emptied himself in you, he collapsed on top of you, and buried his face in your neck until you both caught your breath. 

Ever so slowly, he slipped out of you with a hiss against your trembling lips, and you whined as he shifted his weight to lay beside you. Propping one elbow on a pillow and leaning his chin onto his palm, Nirei then laid his other palm flat over your lower belly and caressed his thumb over your soft skin. Still feeling the aftershocks of your orgasms, you relished in his touches as his chestnut globes traveled over your satisfied expression, over your flushed chest, all the way down to where his release slowly leaked onto the sheets between your plush thighs.

“So?” After several lengthy minutes of silence, Nirei’s smug voice finally broke it. Your feisty demeanor returned tenfold as your eyes cut to his in a glare, which only earned a mirthful titter from your friend.

“Yes. Yes, you did a good job. I came,” relenting in an annoyed tone as you looked away to the opposite side of the room. Crossing your arms just under your bare breasts, which caused them to smush together a bit, and drew Nirei’s attention directly to them. While you pouted, he bent down and pressed an opened mouth kiss to the top of your breast, just over your thrumming heart. Choking slightly, you looked down to meet his teasing gaze just as he leaned up to brush his lips to yours, you froze completely.

“I can do it again, if you want?” Offering in a triumphant tone before he pressed a peck to your lips and leaned back to regard your pout and blushing cheeks. Blinking rapidly, your mouth opened, and then snapped shut as you shyly looked anywhere but Nirei’s face.

“Nobody has made me feel like that before…” admitting so softly as your bottom lip quivered slightly. Nirei’s hand trailed down in between your thighs and inserted two digits into your leaking hole, pumping his cum back into you. Whimpering mewls bubbled out of your chest as you face him again with the most vulnerable expression etched into your features.

“I know,” he acknowledged your words gently, his wolven gaze reverted back to his familiarly innocent one, and a knowing curve cut through his lips. Deep, coppery orbs peered into yours reassuringly, spurring you to speak what’s on your mind.

“Fuck,” gasping out in a defeated tone as a crease formed in your brow. “I’m never gonna feel like that again, am I?” You lamented pathetically up at him, eyes watering with need and the fear of abandonment. 

“You can,” assuring you gently as he began rubbing the pad of his thumb on your clit, edging you ever closer as your back arched off his bed. 

“If…” with that one syllable, he pressed his fingers to that spongy spot nestled in your walls that plucked at the string in your belly until it was taught. Suddenly, your hands flew to his biceps, digging your nails into his flesh as a desperate whine caught in your throat. Silently, you nodded, awaiting whatever his condition may be.

“... you’ll just date me already.” He proposed calmly with a slight tilt of his head and raised brows, studying your expression closely as he started pumping his fingers again. Overstimulated tears pricked your vision as your toes curled into his covers, and without a second thought you nodded vehemently.

“You gotta say it baby,” he teased warmly as his pumps became faster, deeper, stronger. With shaking thighs, and nails causing crescent shaped dents in his arms, a frustrated cry left  your mouth as you shot him a glare that just made him laugh at you with deep satisfaction. 

“Ye-yes, please God!” Warbling out as his ministrations cusped you to the absolute brink. “Nirei. I’ll date you, just please don’t stop!” Sobbing out as you looked at him beggingly. Nirei’s eyes fell half-lidded as he pressed into that spongy spot just right so your vision would go white, and circled your clit with his thumb until that string finally snapped. The torrent of your final climax of the evening rushed through your spent muscles. Bending down, he kissed your overstimulated tears from your cheeks as you came back down.

Once you’ve stopped pulsing around his digits, Nirei slipped them out of your core and brought them to your lips with a slight arch of his brow, and a salacious grin tugging at his lips. Completely thrown by his pleading puppy dog eyes, framed by his expectant expression, your lips parted without argument as he slid his (and your) cum covered fingers over your tongue. Unable to look away as you sealed your mouth around and suckled them clean, and then he promptly removed them and kissed you deeply - swirling the mixture of pleasure and saliva over his wet muscle. After parting from the kiss, you stared up at him bewildered for a long moment, and he just raised his brows questioningly at you.

“Nirei,” whispering his name in disbelief, “where the fuck did you learn how to… be like that?” Asking in an almost accusing tone as a furrow formed in your brow. Throwing his head back, he laughed loudly at your surprise.

“Don’t worry about it,” he murmured nonchalantly with a shrug as he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear adoringly. Gaping at him for a long, long moment before you muttered, much more vulnerably this time.

“Who taught you to be like that?” Voice tinged with jealousy, and hurt as your lips purse into a small pout. Your old friend returned in full as he blinked rapidly in shock, truly not expecting you to feel that way about any of his exploits.

“Myself,” he answered gently as he cupped your cheek reassuringly, “and you.” Tilting your head into his palm as your expression became incredulous. “Really.” He said low, in a firm tone.

When you still looked at him suspiciously, he encircled you in his arms and tactfully told you about how he learned all of that. First he explained that he memorized a woman’s anatomy, then scoured forums, and once he felt confident in his general knowledge, he then searched those forums for answers to each and every complaint you’ve shared with him over the years. The disbelief etched into your face transformed into surprise, and then unbridled awe at your partner’s thoroughness. After he finished his explanation, you asked him why he put in so much effort. Nirei just threw you a look and answered incredulously, “because I would do anything for you.”

As your relationship progressed it became so obvious that what he said was true. He was always going out of his way for you throughout your entire friendship: a baked bun pressed into your palm every morning before school as he’d tell you to have a good day; going to the library to check out the books you needed when your clubs ran late; rerouting his patrols in the afternoon so he could walk you home, or at the very least checking to make sure you got home safely. 

Once you two went off to university, he spent the week before classes visiting every bakery on campus for a baked bun as good as Cactus Bakery’s, so on your first day he could send you on off with your typical breakfast and an iced coffee. When you started partying with that one roommate who was more interested in having a good time than your well being, Nirei was there too. Showing up at the bar at a quarter to 3 just to wrap you in a coat and drive you home safely, where he’d put you to bed with water and painkillers on the bed side table.

Beyond some gentle teasing, he never made you feel bad for it - knowing it was something you just needed to get out of your system. So when he told you the extent he went through just to learn how to pleasure you properly, you shouldn’t have been surprised, but it felt like you couldn’t catch your breath for several minutes after his confession.

As for Nirei, he was just glad that you finally accepted his feelings and how far he was willing to go for you. It was a shock to everyone in your lives that the little tsundere that Nirei faithfully trailed behind throughout high school had finally fallen for their puppy dog eyed classmate. Even more shocking is the fact that you’re so hung up on your now-boyfriend that you’re a clingy mess half the time - hanging on his arm, wrapping yourself up in his embrace from the moment you see him, and staring up at him with pure adoration exuding from your very core. 

How could you not, when your oasis hasn’t suffered even the threat of drought since the first time he ushered in the rain. And Nirei absolutely devoured every bit of attention and affection you graced him with, an everlasting gleam of triumph in his sepia eye. Since you were without a doubt hooked on him now.

[nocturnowlette]

Hypnosis File Recommendations!

Previous File Recommendation Post Here

I've been gently motivated to start listening to and re-finding old hypnosis files again due to the reception to the previous post. I've been surprised at the amount of actually decent files I've come to remember, but still struggle to find many files that really blow me away. As I've said before, though, I'm a very stubborn owl.

That all being said, here are more files for your consideration.

Read all descriptions and warnings before engaging with these files. Do not engage with anything here or anything in my blog if you are under 18.

--------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Voidritch's Experiment by Bloof

This is a ren.py game about being being a test subject for the eccentric Dr. Voidritch and his hypnotic experiments. It's rather silly and fun, while still having real hypnosis, and fairly competently done hypnosis at that. It's best to download it instead of running on browser.

There is also a sequel to this game called Lavender Labs, though I have not tried it. It seems a lot more like a slice of life thing with dating and hypnosis from the screenshots though.

The rest of these recommendations for today will be about one person, Dragontize.

I rediscovered her shortly after the last recommendation post, and was pleasantly surprised. The best way to describe her overall vibe is "deceptively cute".

She opens every file with the same endearing tagline, "Hello world, I'm Dragontize, I messssmerize with voice and eyes." Her voice is light and enjoyable, the intonation the type to make the edges of your mind feel like they're oozing with pleasant sensations in a minute or two of talking.

Her files are much more directly practical and hypnosis-centric than most, with even her fantastical story-based files keeping a good balance. This is all to say that at a minimum, you will enjoy yourself with these files, even if they may not blow you away.

A Slice of Fractionation by Dragontize

This is how I re-found Dragontize, the actual original file with Evil Fractionation I found! I couldn't locate it for a long time, and realized that the issue was DuckDuckGo being a kinda bad search engine when it comes to specific things.

While I'm working on an Evil Fractionation file myself, this one is a nice and casual overview of it.

Brainwashing Fractionation by Dragontize

A very straightforward and enjoyable fractionation file with the light theming of becoming a member of Dragontize Inc.

For the Very Motivated Subject by Dragontize

This is maybe her best file. It does an interesting sort of thing where the file functions as if you're in the room with her, signaling multiple times that she has moved in some way, but without actually seeing her at all. It doesn't overly describe what she is doing, it's a very naturalistic sort of script in contrast to the often overdetailed storybook manner that others do.

It also very effectively plays with the concepts of anticipation and focus. It demonstrates a better understanding of the psychological aspects of hypnosis than a lot of others.

Good Little Thief by Dragontize

Lastly, a light and fun fantasy session. It's about a thief that is tasked to steal something from a wizard. That's all I'll say.

I've been enjoying going through files even if I don't find many of them super effective. I hope you all will be able to enjoy them even more than I have.

[bastila-s]

Baldurs Gate 3 High Quality Screenshot Tutorial 2.0

Hi everyone, I decided I wanted to make a more specific and slightly more in-depth tutorial on how I take screenshots in Baldur's Gate 3. For this tutorial, you will need ReShade and Otis_INF'S Photomode Mod. If you do not want to download these for whatever reason, my older tutorial covers alternative ways to get some nice screenshots.

1. ReShade (skip if you already have ReShade downloaded)

For this step, you're going to want to download ReShade. ReShade is important to this tutorial as it's going to allow you to take screenshots of your game in higher resolutions. To do this, find a ReShade preset you like on the Nexus. (You can find lots of them by just typing in "reshade" in the search bar). From there, most mod authors will explain how to download ReShade in their mod description and get it working for your game.

Once you successfully have Reshade installed, a bar of text will appear at the top of your screen, prompting you to press 'home.' This will put you through a mini-tutorial if just installed it.

2. Photomode Mod

For this mod, you'll need to subscribe to a patreon to get access. Installing it is really simple, just unzip the zip file and put its contents in a folder, then run the tool once you have BG3 running.

Personally, I choose to re-map all the controls to different keys on my keyboard as I find it makes it much, much easier for me to use. Specifically, I re-map the movement, camera tilt, and starting the photomode controls. FOV is also really important to pay attention to, so make sure you like the controls for that as well.

Make sure to test the camera mod to make sure it's working before moving on to the next step.

3. High Resolution Screenshots (Hotsampling)

Hotsampling simply means that we're going to briefly make our game run in a resolution much higher than what we usually would, which often times means your game window will end up looking huge and run off your screen.

To do this, we need to make sure a few things are in place before trying to hotsample, or the screenshot won't be captured properly.

Go through this checklist to ensure hotsampling will work:

• If you have more than one monitor, you have to make sure your monitor is set to show only on one screen. (This setting is found in Displays on Windows)

• Make sure BG3 is set to borderless windowed mode

• In ReShade, go to the settings tab. Ensure you have a key set up for taking screenshots, and that you know the folder your screenshots will be saved to. It's essential to use ReShade to take screenshots, nothing else will work. Use ReShade's screenshot key.

Once you make sure you have the above done, go to the photomode mod, and click on the hotsampling tab. From here, you can change the resolution of your game. Typically, I take my screenshots in 3,840x2,160 or 5,760x3,240 if I want a very clear image. Those are just 2x and 3x my monitor's resolution (1920x1080), so you can adjust if your monitor is different. Once your chosen resolution is set, your BG3 window will likely run way off your screen and potentially make your computer lag. (This means it's working). Make sure your BG3 window is active, then hit the screenshot key you set earlier in ReShade. This screenshot should now appear in the folder that's set for screenshots in ReShade. (It typically defaults to the folder where your game is installed).

4. Extra fine-tuning

There are a couple of ways to enhance screenshots in BG3 even further.

The first way is through using ICGS Depth of field. This tool will allow your sceenshots to minic depth of field the same way cameras IRL can do it it—it makes for some beautiful screenshots, and I'm seriously impressed by how well it replicates that look. The author gives a tutorial on how to get it working—I know it seems complicated, but follow it step-by-step and play around, it'll come to you very soon!

The other tool that I just found recently is Relight for ReShade. This tool allows you to add some lighting on a character, which I thought was so cool. Here's a tutorial for this, too.

5. Post-Processing

This step is entirely up to your own creativity, but I just thought I'd share Photopea as a good, free software (that you don't even need to download) to help you edit your photos. It basically works exactly like photoshop!

Ok that's it for all but I think I will continue to update this post and add to it whenever I find anything helpful :)

& Thank you to all the wonderful mod authors out there for creating all this software and allowing us to take beautiful images, it makes me so happy !!

[robobarbie]

Does Toasty's text RPG exist in any form outside of Bloomic? I keep finding myself wanting to play it and then having to remind myself it's fictional.

It does not, but we want to make something like it in the future. In the meantime, here are some alternatives:

Roadwarden is a text-adventure "grim fantasy" game with minimal graphics made in renpy. I played the demo a while ago and liked it a lot!

AI Dungeon is probably closer to the experience in bloomic if you use the basic adventure mode, but I have mixed feelings about rec'ing it anymore ever since 2022 bc of everything going on with AI. Back in the day, though, it was a pretty unique little AI generated experience with not a lot of baggage. Below are screenshots from the 2019 version. I never played, but I watched others who did.

The Pilgrimage is a text parser adventure alternative that has a similar retro minimalistic look. I just found out about this game right now, but it sounds pretty interesting. Lots of talking with people in a town, some drinking, and many, many shenanigans.

Lifeline is a rec if you are a mobile gamer. Save an astronaut from certain death through real time text exchanges. I played this many years ago, and it's probably a game that defined part of my type of game design.

Gateway is a great game for anyone looking for an old-school text parser game. I haven't played this one, but it frequently comes up in conversations when I'm looking for text adventure games.

There's a bunch more out there! If you search for "text-parser" games, you'll get that "type in and see what happens" experience.

[cadaveerie]

Why Lucanis is (probably) an abomination

DATV and general DA spoilers ahead!

As I pointed out earlier today, Lucanis has an ability called "Abominate", which I suggest could be a not very subtle indication that he is an abomination. This has been a theory for some time and I know people have pointed this out before, but I wanted to put together everything I can think of in relation to this and to give my own take as to why I believe that Lucanis is an abomination. Here are some of the indications that this could be the case:

1. He has "uncanny abilities" (and how he might have gotten them)

The fact that he both has spectral wings and that he can feel when someone does magic near him already sound very suspicious... but it becomes even more interesting when you look at this comment about the crows that Zevran does in DAO:

"I wonder... the Crows often made sacrifices of blood, and it game them uncanny abilities".

(thank you irabelas for this post! this is how i found out about this and it's a very good connection)

So one of the theories is that he could have gotten his "uncanny abilities" in that way. We know he was abused by his grandmother, like most crows get abused since they're children, and there's a chance that in order to become a better assassin he was forced to go through one of these rituals, that I suppose involve blood magic, as Zevran calls them "sacrifices of blood".

Another of the theories is that since he "died" in The Wake, he could have been in a situation like Wynne... but against that some people say that he probably just pretended he died, as in The Wigmaker Job he mentions that he'll grow a beard to hide from the people who want to kill him, so some people (and me too) think that perhaps he pretended to die to escape them.

And lastly, another somewhat common theory is that he got these powers at some point after The Wigmaker Job and the beginning of DATV, and that perhaps Zara Renata was the person who somehow made blood magic on him, as a form of revenge. It'd make sense since she's presented as a villain in The Wigmaker Job, and the chapter suggests that she'll go after him. One issue that I have with this, and that admittedly might not be super justified is that I think he could have had the wings before The Wigmaker Job started, as he had that weird itch behind his eyes at that point, and that's basically the reason why he is "the mage killer" in the first place. Basically, I associate the origin of his uncanny abilities, both the "itch" and the wings to the same event... But I'm not super confident about this, because he could have just developed the wings later. I suppose this remains to be seen.

2. He has pride-demon themed clothing and colors.

Lucanis seems to have eye patterns that resemble pride demon's eyes all over his clothing. And both pride demon's eyes and their nervous system-looking thing are purple, like his clothing and his wings.

Also, the fact that his writer, Mary Kirby, replied a black heart emoji to a post that pointed this out (and the original post also included an screenshot that mentions that Magisters refer to him as "the demon").

Which... Yeah, I think it's a weird choice to answer to something like this if it's not true? Either way I suppose it's a bit spoilery if this is the case but... I'm more inclined to believe she's teasing rather than that she would answer to something random if it were not the case.

Aside from this, people also point out the design of his tarot card.

The purple eye motif continues: in his own eyes (which could represent the fact that he gets that "itch" behind his eyes), the inside of his cape, the background (both in the bottom and behind him in those strange orbs), the little vials he has on his belt/harness, and the gems all over his outfit as well. Even some of the little pins in his belt kind of resemble purple eyes. Black is his main color, while purple is his accent color, not only in this art but it's consistent in everything we've seen of him.

His hood kind of looks like he has yet another Pride Demon-looking eye, and what I think could also be interpreted as little eyes to the sides.

The purple orbs around him could also be interpreted as eyes. Or as felassan pointed out on this post, the way they're drawn kind of make the background look like peacock's feathers. felassan also compares that part to Solas' eyes in the Dreadwolf form, which makes a lot of sense.

(first picture is from felassan's post, featuring the peacock feathers. I'm not sure where it's from, though)

I never thought of the peacock thing before, but I think most of us associate peacocks to pride, so it'd make a lot of sense. And the multiple eyes thing as well, it's something that's not only seen in Pride demons but in the Dreadwolf himself... and Solas is closely related to Wisdom spirits and Pride demons (which as he reveals in DAI, are two sides of the same coin: demons are "corrupted" spirits. And to be specific, wisdom spirits become pride demons when corrupted). This connection he has to these beings, aside from the fact that you can observe it in his writing, gets referenced by Cole directly. He calls Solas as both in multiple occasions (not "spirit" or "demon", but by the names Wisdom and Pride) in his vague monologues. And on top of that, at the beginning of DATV it seems like Solas has accidentally summoned a Pride demon, as Varric literally says:

"It is a pride demon! Damn thing probably sensed Solas' ego!"

And perhaps it's reaching, but this whole thing would make even more sense if the theory that elves were originally spirits is true... or at least if they had very strong connections to them, and that much seems to be real. Either way, I suppose that just because he's a mage he could still be close to both spirits and demons, as he talks about often, and at the same time he'd be vulnerable to being possessed by them. Also, even if it's not super notable in DAI, he has purple eyes in DATV, which could also be a connection to Pride. I think Trick implied that they were purple in DAI as well? But it's not as notable... I just wonder if this change only happened for artistic reasons, or if this change will be acknowledge in-game, because it happened in-universe as well. His eye color could be a coincidence I suppose... but it's interesting.

But anyway, this post is not about Solas! It was just a way to point out that Solas is very likely connected to Pride demons and Wisdom spirits, and perhaps Lucanis is as well, since the motifs seem to be so related.

3. He has a "demonic aura"

He is described in the character selector screen as a "Swift and precise assassin with a demonic aura". The demonic aura, paired up with everything else... adds to the suspicion, to say the least, lol. It's a very strange thing to say otherwise? It's one thing to call him a demon as a nickname, which could potentially be a way of insulting him, or reflecting how ruthless he is... But to say he has a "demonic aura" sounds oddly specific if he's not... literally possessed by a demon.

And finally, what made me be like "oh god this is so real", and made me decide to write this:

4. He has an ability called "Abominate"

"I saw my comrades fall, burned by the flaming sky or crushed by debris. The monstrous creature, looking as if a demon were wearing a man like a twisted suit of skin, spotted me and grinned. We had forced it to this, I realized; the mage had made this pact, given himself over to the demon to survive our assault."

- from Codex entry: Abomination.

"Rook is getting attacked on all sides, so you command Lucanis to use Abominate to knock enemies down".

And idk how to explain it, because there isn't a lot to talk about. The explanation is that "Abominate" sounds like it could come from "Abomination", and at the same time that could come from the fact that he is one.

Wynne and Anders were abominations, so it wouldn't be a new concept at all for a companion to be one. So if this is the case... this could just be so sad and tragic.

---

And as a bonus, maybe I'm looking too much into it, but this person played some of the game (since they were part of the Community Council), and they said this:

"would it be in bad taste to drop a Lucanis x Rook fic the day Veilguard releases" "There’s another angst pairing that’s fair game, too. Hmm"

And I think it implies that Rookaris will be an angst pairing, by talking about "another angst pairing". Obviously, this could have nothing to do with the Abomination / weird powers thing, I'm not trying to put words on their mouth. There could be many other aspects that make the ship angsty, or perhaps I'm interpreting this wrong and the ship is not angsty at all... So I'm not taking this seriously, I'm just reaching with this. BUT... imagine. The angst potential... I choose to believe lol.

Before ending this I want to give my take as to why a Pride demon, out of every other kind. I talked slightly about this before, but my preferred theory for how he acquired his powers is that his family made him get them forcefully, which I know doesn't make that much sense, given the fact that there's no mention of wings in the The Wigmaker Job. Perhaps he just didn't show them, perhaps he got them after The Wigmaker Job... but then where did he get his ability to sense magic like that? Could it be that he was born with it? I can't think of any case like this for other characters... it's almost as if he was a mage? But he doesn't seem to have other magic abilities besides that one... (I thought that perhaps all non-mage companions would get some form of magical abilities because everything got fucked up... But I haven't thought about it much so I won't write it here. And I suppose it wouldn't make a lot of sense since that seems like a Harding thing). Perhaps he had this natural sensitivities to the Veil and magic before, and so when everything went down that's when he became extra magical. Perhaps the gods escaping--and whatever happens afterwards--fucked everything up, and he got the wings at that moment, like Harding? Hers is probably Titan magic, but both could be as a result of the gods escaping and/or the Veil getting fucked up. Or something else we don't know yet.

Those are all possibilities, but coming back to my personal preferred theory: perhaps he got his powers through a blood-magic ritual performed by the Crows (whether only the magic-sensing ones or the wings too, I don't know). And to my main point: if that were the case, perhaps the pride is not exactly his, but from his grandmother, Caterina Dellamorte. It seems like his story will revolve around expectations from family vs. one's own desires and individuality, so my theory is that perhaps that's the origin of this "Pride". Lucanis is the heir to the Antivan Crows, so could it be the Pride that Caterina has for her preferred grandson and heir? The Pride of the Dellamortes? The Pride of Antiva? A lot of pressure, a lot of people to disappoint, and someone very important in his life to disappoint (and well, we should probably add Illario to the equation... But for an hypothetic Pride demon, I think Caterina is probably the proudest of all the Crows).

And if not that, even if this ritual didn't happen at all and the demon just happened to find him for some reason, perhaps the anxieties he feels about his family and making them proud was what attracted that spirit to him. Perhaps a demon managed to trick him, and the being possessed him. All options could be interesting, in my opinion.

But who knows. Perhaps it's nothing like this, perhaps he's not even an abomination at all! I just think there are a lot of indications of it, and it'd make a lot of sense. And I think my theories make some sense at least! :]

And that's all! Long-ass post. I don't know if I missed anything else, but this is why I believe that he is an abomination, and in particular he was possessed by a Pride demon. To be honest I wouldn't mind being wrong because... this would be so, so sad, and I don't know if I'm ready lol. But I'm excited at the possibility! No matter what I can't wait to meet and romance the hell out of him.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your opinions :D

Edit 1, Edit 2 (SPOILERS)

[pixelplayground]

PXL'S Anatomy of Screenshots

So you want to take better screenshots? There are multiple factors to consider, and if you don't enjoy tweaking reshade settings for every image, my ultimate method may not be for you. That being said, there are tips and resources in this guide that are applicable to everyone and you can select to explore those that are useful to your specific situation.

Disclaimer: I am not claiming to be an expert, nor am I offering to provide troubleshooting on an individual basis. This is a general guide and if you are unfamiliar with any of the concepts, please use the mighty power of the internet to find tutorials. I promise everything that I have learned over the years has been published and documented a thousand times better than I ever could.

There are five factors to address:

Your computer's inherent capabilities

The game's limitations

The mods you're using

Reshade

Post Processing

Graphics Card Settings & Drivers:

Become familiar with your graphic options. If you don't have a dedicated graphics card (i.e. a desktop or gaming laptop, these features may be unavailable and you should skip.)

I have an AMD Radeon Pro card which is designed for workstation level systems. It's overkill for sims, but useful for 3D rendering and modelling work. I have changed the following settings for DirectX 9 applications:

anti-aliasing - enhance application settings

anisotropic filtering - enabled

anisotropic filtering level - 16x

texture filtering quality - high

surface format optimization - high

Consider overclocking your graphics card to unlock it's full potential. DO NOT pursue this venture unless you are ok with the risk of burning out your card prematurely. I use at present, overclocked Bootcamp Drivers from BootcampDrivers.com obviously, if you're not playing on an intel based mac through Bootcamp, this is irrelevant to you.

None of these settings are useful until you address the default games limitations, which leads nicely into the next factor.

Addressing The Sims 4's Graphic Limitations:

Everyone should be familiar at this point with lighting mods, 4k, textures, disabling ssao, etc. but, I'm still going to spell it out. None of this is new information and has been covered many a time by various players ad nauseum.

remove ugly blue toned lighting in the world by choosing a lighting mod from @softerhaze here

overhaul your graphics.cfg file (i use a custom blend with features specific to me), however @simp4sims has done a ridiculous amount of work in providing a simple to install file that can be found here - read through their tutorials!! they have provided an excellent oversight of exactly what this does and why it matters

improve the indoor lighting for your sims - previously i used @luumia's no blu, no glo - recently i switched to @northernsiberiawinds better in game lighting mod here, though i have tweaked some of the settings to suit my own personal preferences

i don't use the HQ mod, i don't find that it makes enough difference for the amount of effort it requires to convert CAS CC

It should go without saying, but tweaking your graphics config file is absolutely useless if you can't play TS4 at it's maximum in game graphic settings!

The Mods You're Using:

Now that you've put in all this work into getting the game ready to make use of quality mods where do you start? Well, the CC you install matters. Whatever your preference, whether it be maxis-match, alpha or somewhere in between, priority should be given to using items textured in 2k or 4k resolutions, and specific attention should be paid to using wall and flooring textures with bump maps, and or high quality resolutions (this is important later for reshade if you intend to learn about ray tracing).

I will separately post a guide to creators with crispy textures because that is it's own novel.

Reshade:

Phew. Still with me?

There are many many many reshade presets out there, most are alike, but none employ ray tracing, and that is because a) it needs to be manually adjusted for every screenshot, b) they are paid shaders, and c) this requires advanced knowledge of reshade and a decent enough graphics set up that won't overheat - games running native ray tracing recommend a minimum VRAM of 8GB (please note RAM and VRAM are not the same) - i therefore do not recommend pursuing this option if your system does not meet those minimum requirements.

Start here to understand what ray tracing for reshade is. In my opinion, the shaders are well worth the price of $5 for the amount of work that has gone into creating them by the talented Pascal Gilcher. That link is a comprehensive starting point into expanding your knowledge of reshade and it's capabilities.

I have always created my own reshade presets from scratch, and while the core colorization settings I utilize remain largely the same, using ray tracing and re-light means every screenshot needs to be manually adjusted (lights repositioned, bounce and AO factors adjusted, etc) before being captured. @pictureamoebae just published a very timely post discussing the re-light shader and you can read it here.

Post Processing

Reshade does 99.99% of the work that traditionally would be accomplished in a photo editing software like photoshop. Occasionally, I need to adjust exposure manually, add depth of field manually, or color correct. Beyond that I use it to scale images to fit the resolution and file size limits of various platforms. Conceptually this reduces the amount of uncontrolled loss encountered when platforms like tumblr auto compress files that are too large. In reality, tumblr still makes images crappy compared to how they appear in my file folder.

optimize your images for various social media platforms using this guide

fix exposure or colorization issues using a software like photoshop

I hope that this gives you a starting point into expanding your methodologies. My process is continuously evolving and I find this aspect of the game most entertaining. For others who don't enjoy this process, it's probably not worth it!

Thanks for reading ❤ PXL