#I would have not gotten this dlc

[miko2495]

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[theribbajack]

"Now, the vow will be honoured, and my Lord brother's soul will return."

Radahn stans keep winning, but I personally am in Miyazaki's walls rn

[anceh-atsiome]

The Death Knight is the funniest boss in Shadow of the Erdtree. If you had told me that the DLC had a boss with Death wings, a Cursemark/eclipse motif, and golden draconic lightning the day before it came out, I would have immediately assumed it was going to be Godwyn as the final boss and the object of Miquella's quest. And Godwyn is technically in that arena, but the Death Eclipse Golden Lightning boss is a random end-of-dungeon boss and the final boss is of all people Radahn. I have to conclude that Miyazaki saw everybody theorizing the final boss would be Godwyn and put the Death Knight in the DLC specifically to mock us

[dykedvonte]

Yes-Man resents a lot of things but I feel like he kinda liked Benny. It’s never implied Benny had the knowledge to continuously upgrade or update him after Emily so I like to think Yes-Man respected Benny enough to adopt some of his opinions willingly.

Like personality wise, Yes-Man is like if Benny was forced to be a kiss ass; he’s equally pointed and jerky even if unendingly helpful. No matter if you spare the Great Khans, Yes-Man dislikes them and is kinda violent about things. What this says about Benny and the way he talked about things behind the scenes is one thing but the other is Yes-Man ingrained it enough to keep it.

I can imagine Benny mentioning Vegas was for them and while Yes-Man is logical, as any machine would be, I think it’s sweet if the personable part of his programming was looking forward to running Vegas with his “creator”.

[claitea]

i got spoiled about it but i finally saw the cutscene at the crystal pool with professor turo myself.... sorry about being partially responsible for your dad's obsession with paradox pokemon, arven

[spittyfishy]

Since you’ve played the DLC, what do you think of ogerpon?

Haha so, the funny thing about that is, I haven’t played the DLC, even a little bit lol. I only just started Pokémon Scarlet at the beginning of this week (I had to wait until my classes were done) and haven’t beat the main game yet let alone the DLC.

It’s just that the day the dlc came out I started watching my favorite Pokétubers do their playthroughs of it so I know all the characters and plot stuff. I’ve never really been one to be bothered by spoilers so I always watch playthroughs when new Pokémon games come out (I can’t count how many times I’ve replayed Ultra Sun and had a blast each time, even if I know what’s coming.)

That being said, I'm super excited to get to the DLC, and the main reason for that is Ogrepon! She’s so adorable and sweet, I love her so much! I can’t wait to add her to my team and let her bonk her way to victory! Absolutely 10/10 Pokémon, deserves only the best in life.

Here’s a little page of doodles I did on Monday!

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

Ngl, I would love to see a Lego video game adaptation of all the Disney Princess movies, although I have zero idea how the devs at Lego could make that work properly. If not that, then at least an adaptation of the Renaissance movies or even some of the Post-Renaissance/Experimental and Revival ones. A combo of the three eras, perhaps? The possibilities are endless!

[angrybatart]

I saw an edited rip/screenshot of a/the fanatic from Darkest Dungeon 2 (from @darnestdungeon ) and HAD to doodle them. Just a little guy.

[theguardianace]

debating getting the scarlet/violet dlc... on one hand i do genuinely love pokemon and the story of that game is absolutely incredible... on the other hand do i want to spend money

[arolesbianism]

Bro I'm losing my god damn mind and I haven't even messed around with the new gameplay shit like at all. Ive spent the past like 5 hours just reading and looking at shit I haven't even played the damn video game

[gayrui]

Da2 + all the dlc was on sale for $5 on steam a month ago??

[titles-and-pretense]

All of this, so much, and sometimes I really feel like the writers didn't know what to do with their own world- and character building.

I mean everyone knows that any character apart from Clive (and I love Clive dearly, don't get me wrong) doesn't get the attention they deserve (oh Jill, you poor thing). This is a rare game where I'd actually say it needed to be longer. Or they could have put less attention on basic side quests, but I digress. (this is getting long, so rest under the cut:)

Joshua is so inextricably linked to Clive, that it really is a shame we did not get to learn more of him. Not of his history mind, though I'd really like to know why he didn't show himself to Clive for about 8 years after the Undying told him he was alive and probably Ifrit. I am also upset that we only learn that the poor boy spent 5 years in a coma from a book sold separately from the game. But what we really don't know, is his state of mind. And as second most important character in the game, this is inexcusable, to be honest.

As you so rightly pointed out, him choosing the name Margrace carries vast significance and gives us a big of insight into how he feels about his lost duchy and throne. But we don't get to see him mourn, we don't get even a mention of the former future archduke's feelings about Rosaria. We see Clive mourning his homeland and helping the people there, Sir Wade foremost among them, which makes Joshua's silence feel almost cold to the player. Does he not care about his people?

Of course, Joshua sees the bigger picture. He knows that to bring peace to all of Valisthea, he needs to look at the bigger picture and find out more about Ultima. But it still is a cold move to make without even an acknowledgment of the crimes being committed in Rosaria. This lends credit to the headcanons of Joshua being almost frighteningly similar to his mother, but this is also not explored in any way.

Clive has this scene with Anabella, wherein he, selflessly, because Clive at his core is selfless, accuses her of not doing enough for Joshua, of putting immense pressure on him at a very young age. "Every waking moment of his was spent trying to live up to the burden that you and the duchy foisted on him", to loosely quote. Do we see that? In the tutorial, or later scenes? Barely. And a character who has been put under immense pressure, who is pretty much only ever seen as a symbol, not for who he really is, would be fascinating to explore here.

I mean, Joshua spent years recuperating from a horrible, traumatic event, raised by a cult who worship his Eikon, but not really him (at least that's my impression from them calling him "Keeper of the Flame of the Phoenix"). He sends them on dangerous missions, often resulting in deaths among the Undying. And I know he tried to talk them out of it, but it's Clive who gets to be outraged, it's Clive who gets to change their minds, not Joshua. Imagine we got to see a Joshua who struggles under the weight of his tasks. Imagine a Joshua who gets to be seen for who he is at the Hideaway and thrives for the first time. Imagine a Joshua who finally breaks down and cries to his brother about the responsibility he bears.

But no, we see none of that. We see Joshua, hard focused on his tasks at all times, throwing himself into battle and sacrificing himself easily. And yes, that is also not a sign of a healthy mind. But he is so nondescript, I mean, even as he lays dying in Clive's arms he only thinks of cheering his brother up and giving him strength and we don't get to explore the parallels of both his AND Clive's lack of self-worth?

One last thing before I end this for now, because I fear this has turned out very all over the place, but for a man who saw his father decapitated in front of him, which drove him to lose control of the Phoenix and wreak havoc on his own people, Joshua is oddly unaffected by his mother killing herself in front of him. But I suppose giving him a moment to really take that in would have been too much to ask.

PS: your mention of Dion being Crown Prince being strange got me thinking, and my theory is, that Bahamut isn't kept in one family line as strictly as Phoenix is, so he can pop up all over Sanbreque. Sylvestre used Dion's Awakening to get himself the throne and then of course, after claiming it in Bahamut's name, had to name Dion Crown Prince to keep up appearances. I doubt he ever intended to give Dion the throne, as Dion is a bastard and clearly not of one mind with his father a lot of the time. That's why Sylvestre makes Olivier emperor so early.

Thinking about Margrace as Joshua's name post-Phoenix Gate.

Mar-grace.

In FFXVI the Undying choose their own names (Cyril explains this in-game), and many of them have names drawn from Final Fantasy XII, including their leader 'Margrace' himself, from Al-Cid Margrace. The page for Al-Cid notes that Margrace is likely an alternate form of the title 'margrave', an old title for military commanders on the border.

That aside. This is the name chosen (by the boy himself?) for the boy who should have rightfully been known henceforth as 'Your Grace', 'His Grace'.

Grace (style of address), from the Oxford English Dictionary:

With a possessive adjective: a title of respect, esp. for a person of royal or noble rank. Frequently (in 'your Grace') as a form of address. Now archaic or historical. Formerly (in England until the reign of Henry VIII and in Scotland until 1707) used for a monarch or prince; now replaced by Majesty or Highness. Even so, "Majesty" for the sovereign of England was not used exclusively; it arbitrarily alternated with both "Highness" and "Grace", even in official documents, until "Majesty" finally became the official style to the exclusion of others (source).

Grace (other meanings):

1. Divine favour, benevolence, or providence bringing about worldly benefit or advantage. 2. A person's lot, destiny, or fate; luck, fortune. 3. The quality of being pleasing; attractiveness, charm; esp. (in later use) refined elegance of manner, expression, form, or movement, esp. regarded as natural or effortless; gracefulness.

Whatever the etymology of margrave, the name Margrace in-game is probably meant to call to mind the meaning of 'mar' as in damaged, spoiled, ruined. All the grace that ever belonged to his family, his home, his birthright—marred, of course.

Mar+Grace, the last heir of the oldest unbroken ruling dynasty in the Twins at the time of the opening events of the game**.

The living ghost, carrying the desecrated corpse of his legacy in his new name. Introducing himself by his humiliation: "Hello, I am Margrace", "Hello, I am the ruined dignity of my house." "Call me Margrace", "Call me the wreckage of one fallen from divine favour." "My name is Margrace", "My name is blemished fortunes and diminished nobility".

It's appropriately brutal and dramatic for such a character, especially since the game is frustratingly silent on how Joshua personally feels about the loss of his duchy which is a rant for next time.

**Footnotes:

In the Year 860 (Prologue year/Phoenix Gate), Rosaria is about 260 years old (est. Y600). Older, if you count from the time of the Rose Alliance (est. Y550). The Rosfields have been on the Rosarian throne since the inception of the duchy in Y600, and prior to that House Rosfield was already known to be the chief of/the preeminent house of the Seven High Houses that united to found the duchy. House Rosfield has held ruling power for 260-310 years at a minimum.

For reference, England's longest-reigning dynasty was the Plantagenets, who held on for 300+ years. Rosfields aren't doing half bad!

Veldemarke would have been older had it not been overthrown by Barnabas; therefore Waloed is the youngest nation state at the time of the prologue (only 17 years old). Also we do not know much about the governance of Veldemarke, although as a 'kingdom' it was likely some type of monarchy.

Sanbreque was formed 100 years after Rosaria, and at any rate is not actually a hereditary monarchy. The Holy Emperor is voted into office by his fellow Cardinals, likely the five who form the Council of Elders. We are also explicitly told that Sylvestre 'won his throne' in 865; there is no indication either way that his predecessor emperor was a Lesage. The wording suggests the throne is not Sylvestre's by lineage or birthright. How this is supposed to relate to the concept of Sanbreque having a 'crown prince' (Dion) is unclear and contradictory, since an emperor by election should probably not have the authority to unilaterally decide on the succession of the throne, and his issue—legitimate or no—should not automatically be in the line of succession.

Dhalmekia is a republic with elected officials.

The Iron Kingdom apparently has a royal family, but nothing else is known apart from it being impotent and sidelined by their state religion.

The Northern Tribes likely do have hereditary rule, and Jill is referred to as a princess, but once again little is known.

Ergo—and I am ceaseless in this propaganda—Clive and Joshua are really, properly posh! Absolutely baffling that Anabella would allow anyone to put down the pedigree of her sons when they are so blue-blooded precisely because she is! For someone with such entrenched ideas of blood purity she should not stand for it, no matter how she feels about her eldest.

[delicatebluebirdruins]

the gameplay for Jill is different and great in RE3R because she is trained she was in the military (in Delta force?) specialising in knife fighting and everything else we see her do so how to make that scary? put her up against some thing as quick on their feet as she is, physically stronger and larger (hoping for the Ada game where we follow her in RE2 and the time between 4 and 6 she is also quick on her feet but instead of a knife it's just her pistol)

and also have Nemesis come into one safe room and not a big one like the main hall of re2 but a small one the one by the garage where we see Nic for the first time? that one (I was always too scared to trigger Nemesis coming into there to get it done but I'm sure you can find a video I've seen it done on a livestream with Darkness)

and then the other creatures you come up against and this idea I hope comes across in the RE5 and 6 remakes but overwhemling numbers can and will get you killed like good god (in inferno i got scared at my favourite save points being taken away and I died so many times in the starting section i just treated myself and got out the rocket launcher which only does so much if you don't have the coins on you)

speaking of Inferno (and nightmare) enemy placements being different some items being different (the magnum turns up in the subway station)

make it dark and make corridors and corners you can't see down until you go down it think you clear section and when you come back running for your life more zombies have wondered in and you have to dodge those as well

I've said this before and I will do so again but the director Kiyochiko Sakata did such a good job for a directorial debut because his gaming credits are as a programmer and coder

Resident Evil 2 (1998) Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) AKA THE ORIGINAL Devil May Cry (2001) Resident Evil 4 (2005) God Hand (2006) MadWorld (2009) Vanquish (2010) Anarchy Reigns (2012) The Wonderful 101 (2013) Resident Evil 3 (2020 game)

I wanted to talk about M2 studios/ inc but I can't find much on them right now but they had a huge role in RE4R and RE3R and members were part of the 1996 team i think

[afterthelambs]

What makes Akechi nav so good is that he sounds like he's having so. much. fun. Every time i watch a playthrough, people's stunned/ amused reactions to 'Just everyday Akechi' are so funny. Because yeah at that point you've probably been playing the game for 100+ hours and the story has gotten more bleak than ever before. So there's just something fresh about having a character go fucking ham for once and start screaming hysterically. It also helps that his line delivery stands out from the others who are all varying degrees of upbeat or determined. He definitely made palace exploration 100x more entertaining and I would literally pay so much for a DLC or whatever that allows you to set Akechi as nav permanently

[megapocalypse]

AU where Shen Yuan plays a PIDW otome spin-off game where you date all the male characters and he decides to give it a shot because he heard Luo Binghe's characterization was really good in it. He's a hardcore LBH fanboy and he can't pass this chance up, but it's one of those games in which you need to unlock guys by finishing the first few and because LBH is the protagonist he's not only locked behind another character but he's also paywalled and his route is extremely difficult.

Shen Yuan ends up spending 100+ hours into this game and trying to explore all the routes and side quests, he's gotten almost all the secret endings for every guy and he's maxed the dlc characters.

LQG - One of the first love interests. You meet him when you find him poisoned, you protect him from a three headed snake monster and he's deeply indebted to you.

MQF - Unlocked via LQG's route, you get him when your MC has to take LQG to get healed.

GYX - He helps you on a mission to Bailu Forest, only romancable once you unlock the Huan Hua area.

YQY - Unlocked after you complete the good routes of all the romancable peak lords of CQM. His good ending is extremely hard to get.

ZHL - Unlockable after you romance GYX, he's a dlc character.

TLJ - Also a dlc character, you can romance him once you've completed every character's route.

SJ - Arguably the hardest romance route, almost all options lead to the bad ending and you really have to be specific with which routes you choose for your New Game + playthrough. Not to mention he has a secret ending that's even harder to unlock.

Now Shen Yuan has FINALLY gotten to LBH, you meet him through SJ's route as a white lotus disciple, but you have to romance SJ and TLJ before you can romance him. In his bad ending he kills you for siding with CQM, the neutral ending you become part of the harem. You can only unlock the good ending by unlocking SJ's secret ending. The good ending you get an option to tell LBH your feelings, it's an experimental game mechanic where you can literally type out a response. Some people may shit post on this section, but SY puts down his real and genuine thoughts out towards LBH. LBH then asks SY to promise him that they would stay together forever, and SY chooses the yes option.

Okay so new game plus time, SY got through all the endings now he needs to replay to get the super uper duper ng+ secret endings, so he plays the game normally just speeding through with the first love interest, Liu Qingge; but as he's on the rank 7 love confession scene, the game suddenly crashes and he has to reboot the game. His save file got erased so he just plays again normally, but for some reason it keeps veering him towards Luo Binghe's route, when he meets him during Jinlan City...

Every time he tries to get the other routes his save file crashes, or it would just go right to Luo Binghe's route. He looks it up on the Internet to see how to fix the bug... Nobody else is having this problem.

So he just decides to keep going with the Luo Binghe route again since he liked it so much, and he gets back to the true ending where he promises Binghe he'll stay with him forever. But then, suddenly there's an error message on the screen saying "System Reboot: initializing" and when it fully loads it says "Welcome User 002, to Proud Immortal Demon Way". And then the power cuts out, Shen Yuan is a little startled and confused until he feels an electric jolt. He falls limply to the ground, and wakes up in a new world.

A pop up screen shows up in front of him

Select your Name

________ ________

It's the PIDW start up screen.

.

Okay my brain is fuzzed but basically SY gets doki doki fucked and transmigrates into the game. Luo Binghe is a yandere who keeps trying to mess with the system, maybe he kills a few guys just to be silly 😜. Yada yada that's all I got.

[splatoonpolls]

a really long analysis about fanon Marina and the flanderization by fandom she has gotten

fanon marina (the version created by the fans) mainly focuses on two things, her being autistic coded and her being basically confirmed to be a lesbian. And I do think this has to do with her being VERY much like a typical splatoon fan in many people’s eyes. Her being a nerdy queer neurodivergent person. This is also why other parts, especially her relationship with her being an octoling gets often locked away. Subconsciously at least

if Marina was a book, several chapters would focus on her identity as a dome octoling. Her being autistic would probably pop up here and there, but it wouldn’t be a whole chapter. But her very much gay relationship with Pearl would definitely have a few chapters. But with people focusing on those few lines and chapters rather than the whole book. People would slowly ignore the other chapters, get shocked like Adam Sandler learning Pac-Man was the bad guy in the hit movie pixels.

the splatoon fandom’s western side is mainly white Americans and Europeans. Which is one reason why the fanon Marina doesn’t focus on her identity as an octoling, but also on how many details are not really told to the player. Marina barely shows her ears, which can both be read as her having sensory issues (which is a super valid headcanon(, but also her not feeling super comfortable with her body. With her ears being a reminder of her “you are with people who still think you are only going to steal stuff”. Her tentacles may be weird, she may lack the eyeliner an inkling has. But those things can simply be a stylistic choice. Her ears can’t be one. They are too different. I also know the DLCS focuses more on her identity as a dome octoling. However many can understand how her arc as a whole can be paralleled to the real life experiences of people belonging to marginalized ethnic communities. I also want to point, while writing this. I realized (which many people probably already did). Dome octolings you see outside of the domes (splatoon 2 octolings, Marina, Acht, Paul), are all refugees. They are all characters who grew up in a society that had been shunned for decades, even centuries. That society ended up being oppressive both due to external and internal issues. They know the society they’re living in is no longer a good place to live in. So they escape. Hoping to find a place that will take them on. For agent 8, Marina, and Paul. They found a safe place. Acht wasn’t super lucky however. They were told they could find a “promised land” only to be left in even more ruin before. So not only does Marina’s character arc focus on her being a part of an ethnic minority, but a refugee at that. so why does fanon marina usually avoid that part of her? Well as a mentioned before. Marina has three things that makes her very relatable. While the more backstory focused things are less relatable to a way smaller margin of the splatoon fandom. A way smaller part of the fandom are poc in a very white country. And a very small percentage are refugees.

if we removed Marina’s backstory. We would still be left with the fanon version. A nerdy autistic lesbian who deeply loves Pearl. I love how Nintendo got a game that also isn’t afraid to show a society that cares about queer people if not is queer centric itself. Which is probably why many people cling to that part of Marina. But if we removed that part. What would we be left with? Well, we would have an octoling refugee who is a trained soldier and can create weapons of destructions (and she would still be in love with Pearl, it is an important part of her backstory). im not saying the splatoon fandom’s openness to lgbtq and neurodivergent people is a bad thing just because they boil down one of the most plot heavy characters down to those things. It is actually a really great thing to have a fandom that is open to these marginalized groups.

i just want to say, due to this love for Marina being a character you can relate to. It feels like certain parts of Marina’s character (which can also be very relatable to some) is being drifted away to the more lore centric side of the fandom. Which will lead to a sort of fandom flandarization which is very unintentional and just done due to a love of Marina as a character.

If you’ve read this an disagreed, that is fine. Character writing is a very subjective thing