#I've seen more and more people playing their game on my dash

[dizziesims]

Sims 3 Gameplay Mods

I was going through MTS looking for mods to improve my gameplay and thought I would share the ones I downloaded!

Livestreaming Mod - Allows your sims to livestream from a PC for tips, blog followers, and celebrity points.

More Pregnancy Interactions - Adds more options for the pregnant sim and more social interactions with all age groups!

Yoga Mod - Allows your sim to do yoga and also lead a yoga class for simoleons.

Laundromat Fix - Actually empties the laundry hamper on your sims home lot when using a washing machine at a laundromat.

Dirty Laundry Mod - Gives your sim a negative moodlet when dirty laundry hasn't been washed in a few days. Gives more incentive to do your sims laundry!

Layoff Mod - Gives your sim a 2% chance at the end of every work day of being laid off. Depending on their work level they may get unemployment benefits.

Nicer Vendors - Overrides the default animations when interacting with vendors, looks more friendly.

Acne Mod - Gives teens-adults a chance of waking up with acne. Adds washing face options and applying acne toner at sink.

Sunscreen - Allows you to buy sunscreen from the store, will protect sims from getting a sunburn with Seasons installed. Works on vampire sims as well.

Restaurant Host Career - Allows your sim to work part time at diners/bistros as a host. Only 1 career level.

TSM > TS3 Facial Expressions - Overrides most s3 facial expressions with the sims medieval ones making them a lot more realistic and natural looking.

One With Nature - Allows your sims to sleep outside on ground, wash themselves in bodies of water, and go to the bathroom outside. Needs Nraas traveler mod to work. (Good for apocalyptic gameplays/adding realism?? haha)

Walk Cycle Edits - Overrides original walk cycles so there's no forced smile, allowing your sims to make facial expressions based on mood/surroundings.

The Randomizer Mod - Triggers more random events that effect your household. Adds more realism and can effects the relationships/friendships your sims have. (Can choose between which random event modules you want in your game based on play style!)

More Negative Moodlets - Negative moodlets cause a greater effect on your sims mood making it a bit more realistic.

[starkspondwater]

kyle broflovski x reader who is seen as the weird kid because she doesn't talks alot,has social anxiety,and likes things like five nights and Freddy's and listens to weezer ( also if your comfortable with it can they be dating pretty please it's ok if not I completely understand also how have you been hopefully good?)

I am currently getting over being sick, so I've been aa huge baby for the last 2 days but all is good! I hope you've been doing well too!

I tried to make sure I included everything- sometimes a little subtly and I hope that's alright! (I also don't think any of those things is weird, but I also know how shallow people get with interests so I wrote that in!)

Summary: Kyle's got a girlfriend that some of his classmates find a little odd. While he loves how different she is, he can't help but feel anger at how others have been treating her (fluff)

a/n: Cartman is an ass in this because I think he makes for an easy antagonist. I did add a bit of conflict because we know Kyle is protective over people he cares for and you'd have to pry that hc from my cold dead hands.

An Odd Pair- Kyle Broflovski x Weird!Reader

“Kahl, what the fuck is wrong with your girlfriend?”

“Watch your goddamn mouth, fat ass,” Kyle narrowed his eyes at the large boy to his left. It was game night at Stan’s and while Kyle wasn’t super into board games, he wasn’t going to pass up a chance to spend time with most of his favorite people, Cartman excluded.

“I’m just saying, the bitch is weird and you need to drop her if you want your social stock to rise,” shoving a handful of cheesy poofs in his mouth, Cartman continued talking through his mouthful. “I’m just trying to help you, Jew.”

“Cartman, lay off. Let Kyle like who he likes, it’s not like it affects you,” Stan jumped in, the instructions to their game loosely held in his hands. Kyle could tell he was already growing irritated as it had been an hour passed and they had not gotten any closer to actually playing the damn game.

“Nuh-uh! I have to see her everywhere!” 

Standing up abruptly, Kyle strode out of the kitchen to the back porch, taking in the fresh air. He was getting really tired of this shit. It was one thing when it was Cartman since he was always an asshole, but lately he had started hearing the same sentiments from other friends of his and he was growing more and more pissed off.

He can easily recall the first day he met you, a fond smile finally breaking out on his lips. He had seen you around before in hallways around school or at lunch, always with earbuds in and eyes glued to the phone in your hands. To most people you would be just another character in the background, but to him you were different. Interesting. 

Most kids around here hid their more…special interests. After elementary school the true popularity contests started making others bury hobbies and loved activities deep underground. Stan had his board games, Butters had his cozy sims, even Cartman had his interest in animation, but none of it was considered public information to the masses. 

You, however, wore yours on your sleeve. Shirts depicting games, movies, and bands you constantly wore showed off many of those things you so loved. More than once, Kyle had even caught sight of your phone and recognized some of the let’s plays you watched. You did that one quite openly, phone propped up on your desk or the lunch table as you ate. 

It was…off putting. In a small town, differences set you apart in a bad way. As a result you were either straight up ignored or talked about in hushed whispers behind your back. Kyle, however, only felt a pull towards you. 

He knew you were quiet and preferred solitude to being in crowds from how he watched you. It was a Friday afternoon when school had let out that he finally caught you sitting on a bench outside of the school. You had immediately frozen at the sight of him, but before you could rise and dash away he pointed to your shirt.

“Five Nights? I, uh, played that with my little brother. It’s pretty good, right?” His voice was uncertain, unsure if it was the right thing to say. When your eyes widened and a shy smile appeared, he knew it was.

You sat there for close to two hours after school had let out, talking about various games, which turned into discussing music, which eventually led to him dropping you off at home with the promise to talk on discord. Oh how he really liked you then. 

He could say with certainty that he loved you now.

It had been months of late night chats, watching let’s plays, and listening to each other's playlists that slowly started sounding very much the same. Kyle had a lot of his own safe-for-school hobbies like playing a few sports casually and being on debate (which thanks to Wendy Testaburger was considered a popular thing nowadays), but you brought out things about himself that made him feel young and relaxed. There wasn’t any shame in liking those things- especially since you liked them.

And he wasn’t going to stand for any slander against you.

_____

“Hey pretty!” Kyle greeted you with a quick kiss to the cheek. The hallway was bustling with students socializing and preparing for the day ahead. All you wanted to do was grab your books and get to your classroom before even more people could flood in.

“Hey,” your quiet voice was sweet to his ears, “Weren’t you supposed to drive Ike this morning? I figured I wouldn’t see you til lunch!” Something about Kyle always gave you a fluttery feeling on the inside. He was insanely sweet and kind, and if you were honest, the only person you knew outside of family that didn’t give you some sort of anxiety.

“He hitched a ride with Kenny’s sister. I actually wanted to ask you something…” he had been thinking this over all night, looking for a possible solution to the little problem with his friends. He thought that perhaps if he could show how wonderful you were to his friends, that they might just lay the fuck off. And maybe that could spread to some of the other people he knew, like a domino effect. 

It was a long shot but he needed to do something.

“We’re having a little get together at Cartman’s, and I wanted you to go with me.” 

You just stared owlishly at the boy in front of you.

“Why?” Kyle blinked at the question.

“You’re my girlfriend…I don’t know, I just want my friends and my girlfriend to hang out every once in a while.” He rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn’t expecting you to jump for joy at the thought but didn’t expect you to just stand there frozen.

After a few moments you seemed to break out of your daze, scrunching your eyebrows in thought. You really didn’t want to do this, the thought of being in a space like that with people you knew didn’t like you was…a lot. You heard the whispers, it’s not like they were being particularly that quiet about it, you just ignored them. But being at a party…you couldn’t ignore it then.

But Kyle looked so disappointed, like he already knew what your answer would be. He did so much already, like putting up with you and dealing with your little quirks. Maybe you could do this one thing, and everything would be fine.

“Sure.” The beaming smile he gave told you all you needed to know. You were going to your first party.

_____

It had already been going on for a while by the time the two of you arrived, music pouring out of the teen filled home.

You already wanted to leave.

“He said it was just going to be a few people…” Kyle muttered, the hand that wasn’t holding yours clenching. He turned to you nervously. “If you want to bail, I get it.”

Taking a deep breath, you shook your head. It would be fine.

Kyle led you through the crowd in the front room, heading resolutely to the kitchen. He heaved a sigh of relief seeing Kenny and Stan at the counter. 

“Hey dude! Was wondering when you’d show- oh hey Y/N!” Kenny’s bright toothy grin did little to calm your nerves. You had spent very minimal time with Kyle’s close friends, much less with Cartman who would loudly proclaim that you were ‘ruining guy time.’ It wasn’t like they were awful to you, but it was painfully awkward at the best of times.

“Hi…” with a small wave of your hand you tried to smile back in greeting. You quickly noticed the look Stan gave over your head to Kyle, and went to look at the red head who only gave you a reassuring hand squeeze. 

“Want a drink?” Stan angled the question more at you than Kyle, making you shake your head. “Not a big drinker, that’s alright!” 

The three boys started their conversation easily, with a comfort you could only wish to have in that regard. You tried to be a part of it the best you could, really, but every time there was a pause where you could insert yourself in you just stayed silent. But still, this wasn’t as god awful as you thought it would-

“Kahl. What the hell is she doing here?” An obnoxious voice boomed from the doorway making you flinch. Eric Cartman was as intimidating to you as anything. He was brash and loud, two things you did not mesh with in the slightest. 

“She’s my girlfriend asshole, I’m allowed to bring her to a party if I want.” Kyle kept his voice steady but the malice behind the words was heard loud and clear. A few other party goers in earshot stopped and turned.

You could feel a prickling feeling behind your eyes, your brain starting to go fuzzy with all the thoughts flying around in your head. Eric and Kyle had begun exchanging heated words but all you could hear was the little voice in your brain chanting ‘You need to leave.’

Your eyes darted around, spotting the sliding glass door to the back yard. It wasn’t a direct exit to the front, you thought as you turned towards the door, but it would have to do. Before you could take a step however, a hand firmly, but not painfully, gripped your upper arm.

“Hey, mind if I come with?” Kenny still had that carefree smile on his face as he maneuvered you outside, sliding the door shut and cutting out some of the party noise. Sitting down on the small wooden porch, he gestured for you to do the same. He lit a cigarette, letting smoke rise into the air for a few minutes while you calmed down.

“Y’know, Kyle talks about you a lot,” he said with a chuckle, “like I don’t think I’ve ever heard the guy express affection the way he does with you.”

Your cheeks heated at his words. Fiddling with the bracelets at your wrist you said nothing, not because you didn’t want to, but because at the moment your brain could only draw blanks. 

“He’s a lot more relaxed now too, which is great because I’m sure you know how stressed he gets,” putting out his smoke on the damp grass below, the blond turned and looked at you. “I know you’re a little shy and all, but we would like to get to know you a little more outside of what Ky tells us. After all, if our ginger is serious enough about you to make this kind of scene, you must be something special.”

Sure enough you could hear the faint sound of Kyle drilling into Cartman, but refused to look. You struggled to keep your eyes on Kenny’s face as you tried to stamp down the anxiety that had been steadily coiling throughout the day. It meant a lot that Kyle thought so highly of you, even if no one else here did, and you thought the same of him. He obviously wanted you to be around his friends in some capacity…it couldn’t hurt to let them in, at least a little.

_____

It took Stan, Clyde, and Tolkien to separate the two boys before it came to blows. It wasn’t unlike Cartman to instigate things to such a degree, but Kyle had been on edge for a while now when it came to you. Stan figured it was about time for things to come to a head. 

“Hey man, chill out for a minute. Turn away from him.” Stan had a strong grip on Kyle’s shoulders, forcibly turning him away from the rest of the room. “You alright?”

“I am just so sick of people saying stuff about her!” Kyle’s voice had dropped, but the anger was ever present. “She’s just trying like everyone else to be happy. She’s allowed to like different things, so what if it’s not ‘cool’ or some shit! You know she-” 

Kyle’s eyes caught something over his friend’s shoulder, causing Stan to turn around. Through the sliding doors sat you and Kenny hunched over your phone, laughter barely heard from their place inside.

“Well, she seems to be doing just fine,” Stan smiled at the sight. He had been a little wary of you at first, but once he saw how happy Kyle had become once getting together with you, he was sold. Despite how odd a pair the two of you may have seemed to the superficial social hierarchy of South Park, he saw that you two fit each other perfectly.

“I really shouldn’t have dragged her here,” sighing, Kyle sagged a bit next to his friend. “She’s got some social anxiety and I know this is not her cup of tea. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so hasty.”

Both boys watched for a moment as you and Kenny talked. After another minute you both made your way back inside with twin grins. Kyle was relieved that even after his fit you didn’t hesitate to mold yourself back to his side, fingers interlacing with his own.

“Stan, get this, Weezer is going to be in Denver next month. You, me, Y/N, and Kyle. If we pool our money together we can easily have enough gas to get there and back,” Kenny then turned and bowed to you, who had since erupted into giggles. “Miss Y/N here has graciously informed me that she knows how to get discounted tickets.”

“Oh I’m fucking down!” Stan was grinning now too, his eyes bright, “and it would do Cartman well to miss out on something he likes for once.”

“Oh, he’s a fan?” You asked, tilting your head. You had recalled hearing that same boy make fun of another kid for wearing a band T shirt, so the whole thing was rather confusing. 

“Oh, big time,” Kyle peered down at you, affection clear in his eyes. “Besides, it’ll be much more fun with just us four.”

The party was forgotten as your group of four stayed huddled in the kitchen discussing possible plans and having a much more relaxed time than you had expected. Kyle watched as his friends happily talked with you, and for once you talked back with a confidence he never saw out of your private moments together. The whole picture in front of him made him feel warm, knowing that you were making two new friends that he knew were good enough for you.

Maybe he didn’t need everyone to like you. If they didn’t, they certainly weren’t worth it. In his mind nothing about you or what you liked was wrong or weird, that you were perfect regardless of anyone else’s opinions. That’s all that mattered to him.

[tau1tvec]

S/O to a few of my favorite TS3CC Creators

I know this community is small, and therefore doesn't get as much love and attention as it deserves, but know that it is alive and well, much like my love for it, and it's many thanks to these ppl for keeping it fresh and fun even today.

@simtanico literally what would my sims be without you and your amazing sliders, slider fixes, and conversions.

@rollo-rolls you always work so hard to keep our sims looking stylish, I know a lotta people in this community appreciate you as much as I do!

@johziii you put so much love into your CC as you do your sims, homes and gameplay, you're truly the whole package!

@sim-songs an absolute legend for helping revive the Maxis Match ts3 community!

@nectar-cellar an absolute legend, period.

@imamiii idk how you do it, but you make this game look how it probably would had it been released today. Whether it's your gameplay posts, or your CC, I know when I see your post on my dash, I'm bound to be blown away.

@sourlemonsimblr still can't tell whether we're playing the same game, bc everything you post looks like The Sims 10, but I am so glad you're willing to share your CC with us, so maybe one day we will be playing the same game, lol.

@pleaseputnamehere just thought I'd let you know that I kiss your nosemasks goodnight as I tuck them into bed.

@xiasimla an amazing talented and devoted creator all around, every download post is a WIN.

@martassimsbook you keep my love for ts3's buy/build mode alive!

@billsims-cc ty for never giving up on us. 😭😭😭

@bioniczombie for sharing your amazing conversions, and helping run one of my favorite ts3cc finds blogs!

@satellite-sims although you aren't too active right now, I miss you, and I love your conversions sm. The extra work you put into making them the absolute best quality, just like all your posts is so loved and appreciated.

@simbouquet your mods and fixes are such a MUST, you always know exactly what this game needs, and execute it like a pro.

@phoebejaysims another amazing modder keeping this game truly interesting, ty so much for your dedication.

@criisolatex you're like some ethereal being sent to Earth on a mission to make ts3 the best it can be, and you're kind enough to share it with us.

@nemiga-sims-archive you pop out every once and a while like an all year round Santa giving us presents to throw into our games. TY!

@olomaya you work so hard to expand and improve and also make the gameplay in ts3 a lot more interesting.

@twinsimming you know you carry ts3 simblr, right? 💕

@thesweetsimmer111 besides being just the most talented animator I've ever seen in any modding community, your dedication to the youngest and ignored age groups is most admirable, ty.

@flotheory yet another talented and devoted modder giving ts3 the love and attention it deserves. I just know the devs would be so proud.

@greenplumbboblover you've always got something big up your sleeve, your ambition knows no bounds, and the ts3 community is so lucky to have you.

I'm likely forgetting some folks, so I'll probably add some more when I remember, and ty again everyone on this list for working so hard to keep this game alive, and fun, and freeeeeee!

[lionheartedmusings]

bear with me bc this is gonna be a bit of a long one, but i've seen folks talking about how they're excited to get the horrors back on the qsmp and while i totally agree that i miss those blood-curdling, creepy, uncanny valley sort of scenes... i think the beauty of the overall storyline (as much as it's execution can be criticised ) is that we as the audience are seeing things in a vacuum.

the qsmp storyline is a living breathing player alongside our povs, and while we're aware of that, we're also not always engaging with it. we're getting swept up in the day-to-day of it all and getting lulled into a sense of security that ultimately makes us unable to truly comprehend the horror of the last few months until we take a step back and analyze it bit by bit.

children went missing in the night, leaving only their identifiers behind on empty beds. there were no leads. people looked and looked, and found nothing. parents were mad with concern and grief, and the all-seeing, all-powerful entity that rules their lives trapped in this hamster wheel of an island has no answers.

then, the items left behind on those beds vanish too.

then, there's mind-controlling, happiness inducing drugs being pumped into people against their will. still no news of the children. people are falling apart at the seams.

people are led to a maze where a wheel is spun and everything they have left of the children of this godforsaken island is gone. burned up. what does it mean? no one knows. they have to live on.

suddenly, a game is played. a clone of a dead child shows up, leading some of them into the same maze, forcing them to walk through a maze of doors and corridors, only to find a game of dice orchestrated by an unknown entity.

new people arrive, bearing witness to the hopeless, grim, sad reality of everyone who was already there. there's hope — there's always hope — but my god the pain is overwhelming.

there's clues, but there's not. the government keeping them trapped here against their will still has no answers, nothing to point them in the right direction.

faceless bears go missing.

faceless bodies show up on the streets. bloodied. dead. eaten.

suddenly, there's thunder and lightning and oh! oh, their children! of course they'll get on the train, that's where the children are!

but they're hijacked. stolen. once again, their autonomy is stripped entirely as another entity with power they cannot comprehend forces them to split into factions and compete for... something. their children's lives are on the line and they maim and kill those they call family because they fear they have no choice.

everyone went through hell — purgatory was a bad title for what they went through. it was hell, with no salvation in sight.

when all is said and done, when all the murder and backstabbing is over, they see their children through glass they cannot break. one escapes because chance said so, and the rest are left behind as the ceiling collapses on them.

the world is ending and their salvation is one singular boat a thousand blocks away. lovers can't say goodbye, friends run for their lives together, a father and a son dash desperately with no hope in sight. some stay behind, through choice or chance.

the government official that has made their life hell returns the children to them, and brings some new ones. those new children get carted off to new parents without option (again) and suddenly everything's supposed to be fine! nevermind your friends are gone! nothing to see here!

behind the scenes, the all-seeing all-knowing government is breaking apart, there's something far more horrifying and twisted at play in the background... but it's nothing the islanders can help with. nothing they can do. they have to live on and pretend their golden cage is fine and dandy bc at the end of the day, it's their only option.

one-eyed creatures show up demanding something "of theirs" back and bc humanity is strong, one islander refuses to hand someone kind and innocent off to them.

it dooms them, as their humanity has every single time.

now, they're under attack and they can barely defend themselves despite months of prep and having amazing gear — again, they try their hardest but everything is stacked against them. they fight, and fight, but their children are on the line and that's their main concern.

every fight? there's bodies littering the ground and panicked screams. explosions. chainsaws revving, and worry, and it's a war ten times a week.

a child loses a life, and now it's personal, but what can they do? no one listens to them, no one has ever listened to them.

and in the middle of all of this? their family is still gone, trapped in a wasteland, or missing, or... dead.

there was no funeral for q!maxo bc there's no stopping to smell the roses on quesadilla island, not really. where's slime? where's pol? where's the people who they haven't seen yet? gone, yes, but they don't have time to stop and worry about them. they don't have time to mourn losses and grieve their dead.

luffy, who came to try and help their friends, was stolen and hurt.

those eyeball workers? they were people once, maybe good people. maybe the best people we never got to meet, but they got shifted and changed into something monstrous and out of their control.

my point being: the story that the qsmp is telling is innately horrifying. it's not just creepy — it's twisted, and tragic, and absolutely terrifying. it's about loss of agency and running on an endless hamster wheel of someone else's making, and how you just sort of... live with it after a while.

and i think that's really fucking cool, because like these characters we too get used to the tragedy of life, little by little, and forget to see the whole thing from a bird's eye view (pun intended).

[ponett]

ive seen you post about doctor robotnik's ring racers occasionally on twitter and would like to hear your overall thoughts on the game

I'm enjoying it a lot! It plays well, has a ridiculous number of unlockable characters and tracks, and is generally just really polished. This would be impressive even for a paid indie kart racer that cost like $20-$30, but for a freeware fangame that's somehow built off of Doom? It's nuts. So much love and care went into this. I've been having a lot of fun playing through all the Grand Prix cups and clearing out the challenge board, which I've only completed 47% of it even with over 15 hours of playtime logged.

It's absolutely one of the most hardcore kart racers I've ever played, though, and that's gonna turn some people off. While playing solo even easy mode can be difficult, especially thanks to the rival system that gives one CPU buffs over the others. Anything below 150cc is a complete joke for me in Mario Kart, but even playing on the "normal" difficulty in Ring Racers (now renamed "intense" in the 2.2 patch) kicks my ass, and if you place poorly in a Grand Prix race it gives you a game over and makes you redo the race. I can't even imagine touching the higher difficulties at my current skill level.

This is compounded by how technical the game is and how many options are at your disposal. Spin dashing, tricks, fast drops, collecting and spending rings, an item roulette that can be manually stopped, a high risk high reward chargeable melee attack when you have negative rings, the ability to harass and be harassed by other racers while positioning yourself before the start of the race, gates that can only be passed through when you have a high level of boost, lots of items with different quirks that reward skilled play. And of course, perhaps most daunting of all to new players, there's the game's unique slope physics designed to mimic how they work in the 2D Sonic games, which will often require you to either spend rings for a small boost or stop and charge up a spin dash to get up a steep hill.

All of these add a lot of complexity to the game that can be pretty daunting early on, which is why it has an infamously long story-driven tutorial to introduce all of these mechanics. I'm not sure said tutorial actually does the best job introducing how those mechanics will actually be put to use in races, but I can't blame them for thinking the game needed it. (I do have to admit I am annoyed by the game's insistence upon framing everything via Sega Saturn inputs, though. I had to open the settings screen to figure out what buttons the tutorial actually wanted me to press.)

Some of these things have already been addressed in the first couple patches, of course. You can now exit the tutorial way earlier, some unlock requirements have been relaxed, there's an option to let the game automatically use your rings for you, easy mode has been made easier, a handful of problematic courses have been tweaked, etc. And I'm sure they'll continue to refine the game based on player feedback. But it's probably always going to be a fairly hardcore game. It's hard and has a high skill ceiling by design. Nintendo's never gonna make a super technical new Mario Kart for sickos - not on purpose, at least. They need it to be a pick-up-and-play party game that sells 70 million copies. But a freeware fangame not beholden to shareholders can experiment more and try to cater to that more hardcore crowd. Say what you will about Ring Racers, but it absolutely has a specific creative vision of its own beyond "Sonic Mario Kart," and I respect that even if the game sometimes frustrates me

[croded]

yknow the more I think about it the more it connects -

Link Click is like Geometry Dash

now you might be thinking "hey what the fuck does this mean"

hear me out

so Geometry Dash is a side-scrolling platformer/rhythm game of a sort. You control a cube and go through a platformer-esque level, which progresses linearly most of the time. You can't stop the cube nor can you control the speed in which the cube travels through the level, but you can make it jump, and throughout the level you have to jump over and avoid deadly obstacles like spikes or lava/water or chomping monsters. Now here's the kicker about this game - there are no checkpoints. You die, you go aaaaaaall the way back to the beginning. Doesn't matter whether your progress was 10% or 60% or even 99% - you die, you go all the way to the start. To 0%.

Yeah it's a rage game as well (a game of many talents). Don't you feel enraged already? It gets better! Whenever you start a level, there will be an attempt counter at the very beginning of it. You start off with attempt 1, and with each death it restarts and an attempt is added to the counter. (I've seen mine get to attempt 300+ before it's so infuriating) Now, the gimmick here is actually testing your memory as well - mental memory and muscle memory both. Sometimes the level design will be so motherfucker that you need to remember the placement of the spikes, the timing of events (eg spikes suddenly popping out of the flat ground in front of you. at progress 90%. what the fuck level designer), the correct timing of jumps to get through tight spaces, etc. When you play the same level enough times, this starts to become muscle memory. With each restart, each spike, each event, each jump gets engraved deeper into your memory until soon you're executing jumps without even thinking about it. (Sometimes the cube changes form too - there's ship form, where you hold the screen to make it go up and release to make it go down in a gentle sine-wave like arc; wave form, where you hold the screen for up and release for down as well, but it moves in a jagged zigzag line instead of a soft curve; UFO form, where it's literally just flappy bird; robot form, where you hold to control how high you jump; ball form, where each tap of the screen changes the gravity of your cube/ball. There are also a bunch of other stuff like gravity portals, size portals, speed portals, pads, rings, pick-ups etc. But that's a little too much to delve into, so I'll settle for the basics here.)

"So how does this connect in any way to link click?"

Now, replace the player with Lu Guang. Replace the cube with Cheng Xiaoshi. Imagine the spike placements and random events and jump times as the major nodes in time, and the hazards like spikes and pits and monsters as the factors/people who endanger Cheng Xiaoshi's life.

Doesn't the situation seem kinda familiar?

Lu Guang, going through countless attempts to keep Cheng Xiaoshi alive, trying his best to guide him through danger and carving all the major time nodes into his memory so that he can steer Cheng Xiaoshi away from the ones that will result in disaster. The linear progression of the timeline, no randomly turning around or taking a small step back to recuperate, just a relentless forward march. How Lu Guang has to restart all the way from the beginning every time he fails. How Lu Guang doesn't have full control of Cheng Xiaoshi either, he can only slightly tweak the direction he's heading towards.

oh my god link click is geometry dash <-me randomly in the middle of a quiz, many hours after making that song analysis about lull and "the necessary line that Lu Guang has doomed himself to travel" and "the end of the line being Cheng Xiaoshi living" and "are you with me till the end of the line?"="will you stay alive with me?"

[sonic-takeover]

I just realized, I haven’t really introduced myself to everyone. I’m DK and I have a few questions and gifts for everyone.

Tails, I got you this Snap Circuits kit.

Have you ever messed with size change, like shrinking or growing people? What did you use it for?

Amy, I got you this hook thing to hold your hammer. Where did you get your hammer?

Knuckles, I got you these boxing gloves and punching bag. What’s the hardest thing you can break with a punch?

Shadow, remember that picture I found you in that Hello Kitty car? I found it on the TikTok Shop and I bought it for you and it should be at your house under your name in a few days. Anyways, I also got you some Air Jordans just in case the car was a scam.

Anyways, what kind of music do you listen to? Do you listen to any rap like Playboi Carti or Ken Carson, do you fool us with your tough personality and listen to Tyler, The Creator or SZA, or are you like me and listen to a little bit of everything?

Sonic, I got you a bunch of game consoles and all the Sonic games I could find at GameStop. Have you ever played any of your games? If you have, what would your favorite Sonic game be?

Sticks, I got you The Book of Bill since you like theories and paranormal stuff. Have you ever watched Gravity Falls? I feel like you might really connect with the show.

Eggman, I got you a therapist because you need one. Are you ok?

Orbot and Cubot, here’s $5000 towards your wedding planning. Blink twice if you need help.

I know I left a lot of people out because I’m fairly new to the Sonic fandom. I joined around when Sonic 3 came out. Once I learn more about the others, I’ll get more gifts for those characters.

Woahh, thanks for the kit, DK!! This looks like a lot of fun! Maybe I can integrate these circuits with a power converter and use it to boost the longevity of the Tornado's engine.. and yeah, I've made size changers before! I used it to prank Eggman. It uh... Backfired.. but it was still fun to build!

Thank you, D K! I will add these gifts to my training arena. I am a powerful echidna warrior. You dare question my limits?? I can punch boulders into pebbles and split cliffsides with my might!

...you didn't. You didn't. *He zooms outside and stares at the Hello Kitty car in the driveway* ....my car!! I... Don't know what to say... Thank you... And for the shoes as well. They're more comfortable than Sonic's usual shoes.

Pfft.. that's your car, Shads?

*he glares at him* ...I learned everything I know about the road in that car. Come back when you can drive.

I can drive~

While understanding and respecting road safety?

.........noooooo...

... Our first lesson is tomorrow. In that car.

You hate me so much, don't you.

Unfathomable loathing. Anyway, DK asked me what music I listen to. I enjoy several different genres, including rap and metal. But my favorite is um.. pop. Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappelle Roan, Mitski..

Ooh, hell yeah!! Look at all these games! Tails, you know it's you and me bud.

Woo hoo!!

Oof, favorite game? That's... Tough. They all have their charm in different ways. The classics are, well, classic. The animation in Sonic Adventure 2? Cult classic. The mobile dash games are always fun. I like the free roam aspect of Frontiers. The Olympics games are always a blast.. frustrating, but a blast.. And the plot focus in Sonic X Shadow Generations? I can't pick just one!

Ahh the Book of Bill. So many secrets, so few pages. I have all the journals, you know. They don't have nearly as much information as I'd hoped. And of course I've seen Gravity Falls! Who do ya take me for?? It really makes you notice the conspiracies in our little town, too..

I already have a therapist and it's Agent Stone. But... I suppose I could use some professional support. And how dare you!! You already know the answer is no! Do you realize how much I miss my Mombot when she's away? *Sobs*

Oh my! This... I don't know what to say! Thank you! This will really help so much.

You're so nice! We only have a week before the wedding too so we kinda need it.

Yes, we... Underestimated the funds we would be allowed for our wedding, so... This is an incredible help.

We can hire back the doves!!

Indeed we can, my dear.

[blubushie]

have u seen/played mouthwashing? thoughts?

I'll be honest I have the tag blocked.

I don't hate the game or nothing, I'm sure it's great, but I look a lot like Curly pre-crash (blue-eyed, blond, with the exact same haircut except Mine's a little longer at the back cuz mullet, hell my fringe even parts the same way) and I'm also a burn victim so I'm sure you can understand my discomfort.

That said it's not really Mouthwashing itself that makes me uncomfortable but rather the fandom around it. From people giving a fucking human being dog buttons and thinking it's funny like he isn't dehumanised enough in the game (and the ableism by Jimmy kinda being a focal point of one of many reasons Jimmy sucks), to people saying Curly DESERVED to be disabled in the crash like disability is a fucking punishment of some kind that people must have earnt, to people saying Anya should keep the baby...

Also as a more-or-less recovering alcoholic (I'm managing ok) who's been desperate enough to drink hand sanitiser for a fix, uh... The whole "drink the mouthwash" thing strikes a bit too close to home. My ability to be tolerant of that aspect varies by the day though. The only shit I can't tolerate is the fandom and how it treats these characters. And yeah I know characters aren't real bla bla bla but I'm not talking about people writing fic or something I'm taking about how the fandom's behaviour is indicative of how they view rape victims and disabled people and people with substance abuse disorders and other marginalised people. You get it.

Oh and also the rampant infantilisation of Daisuke in the fandom like East Asian men aren't infantilised enough.

Or people showing Anya, a fucking nurse, hugging/touching a patient with third degree burn wounds. But that's more the doctor in me bitching about infection and how she's a nurse and would know better.

I think I could bitch for hours about shitty takes I've seen on my dash and all of my bitching pertains only to the fandom and not even the actual game. We're reaching levels of "dislike by association". Which I really try not to do because I think the game can speak for itself but if I see one more untagged Mouthwashing shit take on my dash I'm gonna start putting people in blenders and drinking it.

[yooniesim]

ok unfortunately for yall the dash made me have a thought so now I gotta ramble lol

but ya know. maybe it's bc I've had so much time away from here and all the bitching (/affectionate) but over the past couple years, I get less angry about this shit and more solution-minded. and I don't mean for the community as a whole (that's impossible lol) but in a sort of... personal circle/responsibility type of way. like what we can do among ourselves without the confrontation aspect bc, just being honest- from my perspective & experience, the anger and the bitching doesn't really accomplish shit. not to say it ain't justified, & it's important to raise awareness for sure, but i swear me & a lot of others that have been talking about this for a long time have just been barking in circles without anything budging one way or another. which leads to burnout/emotional exhaustion not just for the ppl in question but for followers/mutuals/friends. I spent far too long and waaaay too much mental energy thinking that being the loudest and the boldest would get something to change. but the scammers keep scamming and the shit just keeps going. and sure it's fun as hell to shoot the shit and pick and bitch and laugh with your mutuals. baby yall know I love a good simblr circlejerk. but ya know, when you sit down and think about it it's a lil depressing. and the ppl you're talking to/around are already Aware and eventually the anger wears off and they're just tired of hearing about it. you're preaching to the choir and everyone is just pissed and tired with no clear goal to work towards.

Part of that exhaustion is why i made @alwaysfreecc as a positive way to boost always free creators, without focusing on the paywallers. as well as always supporting alternate ways of getting paywalled cc. but I think it takes a lil more than just that. I think, like the post I just reblogged was saying, people need to learn how to make their own content too. I know there's a learning curve, but so many things paywallers make are outright easy to do yourself. Some aren't- there are paywall creators that put great effort into their content and make it worth your money- but a lot of them are. And that isn't to say you should make everything yourself, there's nothing wrong with supporting creators that make content you find interesting or wouldn't want to do yourself, but it can be really rewarding to learn how to make simple edits and recolors on your own. And, image editing and 3d modeling skills can also benefit you elsewhere in life! Whether professionally or when modding other games. Knowing how to make cc in sims helped me figure out how to make certain things for skyrim and fallout, for example. Hell, it's just plain FUN to figure out and do, and I think the community could always use more of that.

Also, sometimes it's freeing to just, stop using certain creators' content. Like, i used to be bitching yet downloading stuff off dhm and shit, out of spite mostly cos half the stuff I didn't even like. But since I cleared out a lot of paywallers' stuff, besides a few I think are worth it/doing things honestly, it just feels better. I don't even think about those mfs anymore until I see something about them on my dash and then I can barely remember who they are lol. You don't realize how much you really don't NEED any of that shit & how you were kinda just downloading it to be downloading it, until you toss it. AND it feels great to have mostly always free creators' content & support them. Liiike i feel proud of ppl i saw get started and are STILL FREE and making awesome stuff, it's exciting! even when I'm not playing the game, I see their posts and be like "dang I need to grab that when I update" or "man they've gotten so much better in so little time" or "wow I never thought of that idea/seen that before". Bc always free peeps get to be so damn creative bc they don't have deadlines or turning off their paying audience to worry about. Like it's so cool and positive and I love that.

idk, just. based on what I've experienced here, i feel like it's kinda time to focus less on what the assholes are doing now (aka the same exact thing they've been doing for years) and more on what to do to make our own personal experiences better. which I know a lot of us are doing! I just wish I personally had done it earlier lol so maybe someone else needs to hear that too. like toss these dummies to the curb and replace them is what I'm sayin. If not in the whole community but just your personal circle. raise awareness as needed sure but don't let em take any more of your energy. cos if you are petty like me (😂) it'll hurt em way more to cast em out than yell at em. all the ppl that have bitched at me yet still have my cc in their folders come to mind lmfao, cos personally that gives me more satisfaction than anything else so I know it's probably the same for the scammers! Like a "you hate me but you can't bear to not use my shit huh 😏" type of deal. Don't give em that sick pleasure! (/projecting) Just focus on you and yours and make some sick ass content for yourself, then share it to me thx 💅

[utilitycaster]

anyway this is obviously a wild shift in the topic of conversation, but I was talking about it in the group chat last night as a distraction and would like to continue the distraction if I am being honest, so, with the caveat that this is based off of Fandom Osmosis Observations and a few reads of reviews and I have at this time played neither of these games, some thoughts about BG3 vs. Veilguard and what I've seen. many thanks to @captainofthetidesbreath for actually knowing things about video games and answering my many questions.

also just putting this up front with all said caveats: if you disagree that is great, I am very open that this is an outside observation and I could be very wrong but I am going to block people who get hostile without warning, and make this nonrebloggable if too many people get hostile. You are always permitted to disagree but like, I don't really care about your opinion if you're not someone with whom I have a pre-existing rapport unless idk you're like, actually a BG3 or Veilguard official story writer who happens to be on Tumblr. If you're a player? You have all of your own biases and they are not mine. Save it for someone who wants to get in a fight about this; I am not that person.

Essentially, what I've seen in terms of criticism from Veilguard that isn't just rampant transphobia comes down to the following:

why am I not playing my previous character from Inquisition again

why am I limited to a fairly consistent through line for the story

But first, I'm going to talk about BG3. What's funny is I seem like a much more obvious candidate for playing BG3, as a longtime D&D player who has come around on Forgotten Realms as a setting. However, while I looked at it for a while, I eventually lost interest for a couple of reasons. One is that apparently all the characters are WAY too eager to romance you which is like, a fun fantasy for 10 minutes but would probably annoy me in the long run. Another is that everyone who watched early reviews and kept abreast with the game told me that there was a clear favorite companion (Astarion) and that many of the characters had most of their interesting flaws sanded down (eg: Wyll was apparently much cockier originally; Shadowheart even more petulant; and as these are perhaps the two characters I was most intrigued by, reducing them to something blander destroyed much of the appeal). But perhaps the most interesting one is that as a boring goodie two shoes sort of person, my thought back when I was like "yeah, perhaps I will play this" was "oh, I do not want to have a murderous urge within me."

It became very apparent, through watching people play through and post on my dash, that if you didn't specifically play as the Dark Urge, and didn't specifically resist that urge, the story didn't really cohere. I have to admit, I know the premise of BG3 very well (tadpoles), and I know a lot of shipping trends (put a pin in that), and I know some of the more obvious points within it (Astarion is a vampire, Gale and Karlach both have bombs in their chests somehow, Shadowheart bleaches her hair) but I don't really have a great sense of the ending, and I did not avoid spoilers.

It feels like BG3 is designed for people who have one of those massive spreadsheets of D&D characters they haven't had a chance to play that are meticulously kept and thoroughly realized...and don't really leave room for modifying to fit the campaign you will actually be playing in. It feels like an OC sandbox simulator unless you do actually pick the choice the writers actually wrote for (Durge), and while it's not technically playersexual...it kinda is. I mean, I am a big fan of the trend in video games towards making it possible to romance anyone because it conjures up the idea of a world of high-powered bisexuals running around, which is very enjoyable for me, but the criticism of the Mary Sue archetype originally was never "how dare you fantasize about being cool." It was "wow, the characterizations are all warped beyond recognition solely so that everyone is in love with this character, and that makes for a dull and unsatisfying story." If you're everyone's type, and it's for romance and not just sheer lust, then either everyone around you is boring and wants the same thing, or you are sort of bland and inoffensive, or else the story is bashing characters together without a good basis for a compelling romance. This is also compounded by the fact that the companions can't get together with each other if you're playing your own character and not an Origins character.

None of this is to say it's bad to like BG3 and again, I didn't play it; but it is why I ultimately said "you know, given the effort involved to play it for me, a person without a gaming system, it's not worth it."

Veilguard has specifically intrigued me for going against a lot of this. You have a lot of choices in your character build, but they're all fairly thematically consistent: you did something within your faction that was well-intentioned but upset higher-ups and so you need to step away for a while. This establishes a personality for you! We know why you're part of a faction but also something of a free agent at the moment. We know why you're here and why you might be a good candidate for the current mission.

I'm not going to go into detail for the choices because while I'm not avoiding spoilers I don't want to spoil a relatively new game for others, but a lot of choices are fairly parallel, not in an "illusion of choice" way - they have consequences - but in terms of hitting similar themes. You can only save one city and both are places you have seen and places your companions have connections to; while the exact details may differ you are telling a consistent story.

I also think the fact that the companions can romance each other in your absence is important too! They exist even when you're not there. They are not just here to woo you, and indeed, they might be a better match for each other. I've been informed this is true in Inquisition as well, and I think it's a much more rich world if you, as the player, as the person who can ultimately decide the fates of your companions, aren't the center of their personal life. I also think it prevents the ability to sand down companions to be more agreeable to you as a player if you have to make an NPC/NPC romance compelling (and I will freely admit that, in a move that is not at all like me, I was pretty well sold by a potential in-game NPC/NPC romance, which is usually not the thing that gets me into works of fiction).

I'm not the right person to speak to the Inquisitor not being a significant character because I did not play DA:I, and I get that 'well, this is a new game with a new protagonist, as there has been for every Dragon Age game' is still not necessarily an adequate explanation. Nor is "hey, maybe it's good to attract new players" even though as someone who is highly attracted as a new player that is my opinion. However, I want to go back to the point about Resist Durge being the strongest option in BG3 in terms of story by a long shot. When I was trying to learn more, I said "ok, so just like how you're Tav in BG3 and Rook in Veilguard, you're Lavellan in Inquisition, right?" and was told that you are not - that's just the elvish Inquisitor option. Obviously this is anecdotal, but the fact that one option was far and away the most popular and thematically resonant is an indication that perhaps bringing forth the Inquisitor is carrying over some of the limitations of that game, whatever they may be. The true argument is "they are trying to tell a specific story here, and it is about a different POV than the one you previously had."

And that's really my point. I know I'm not an expert here - in fact I'm usually quite hesitant to write meta about things in which I'm not highly steeped, and very critical of those people who do - but I think an outsider perspective is useful here. The thing that is drawing me to video games is a new way to experience a fictional narrative (the other game I have been meaning to play - and even own on Steam- is Disco Elysium). That's not what everyone wants! But it is what I want. And so I want to be put into a developed, thoughtful narrative, and I don't mind if my choices are restricted in order to support it, and if I am playing a person I did not entirely choose. In tech, there is a saying of "make it easy to make the right choice (and hard to make the wrong one)" and so if you need your protagonist to hit certain beats, you should make that the required protagonist.

I think a story is stronger if your choices matter but if there is something of a foregone conclusion because it gives the writers thematic throughlines. This might sound a little silly given that this blog is largely dedicated to Actual Play but the thing is, most actual play does have, if not a foregone conclusion, at least a strongly intended conclusion of "work towards uncovering this mystery and achieving this goal", though the success of said goal is not guaranteed. I would argue that when a campaign lacks that, it tends to suffer in all aspects. RPG video games almost always have a foregone conclusion, but that's its own liability. In actual play, lacking a forgone conclusion means you spin off in any direction and it's anyone's guess if it's coherent. In an RPG, having this conclusion but not supporting it through the rest of the game will make it feel contrived. I feel a lot of Veilguard criticism is focusing on small contrivances early on that really mostly matter to a highly specific subset of potential players that prevent much larger and less forgiveable contrivances later on.

Anyway. Again, I am an outsider here, and I'm not here to say that it's bad to have a more open-world, sandboxy game with a self-insert-y OC type; but I have to be honest, I'd rather explore that in a true sandbox of fanfiction or original fiction, which is significantly cheaper and in which I can actually tell the entire story I want to tell. I don't want to be given more choices if a lot of them will be profoundly unsatisfying as a narrative. I don't want to cut through the world like a hot knife through butter. I want to be affected by it, and that's very hard to do with a character whose only trait is "self-insert whom everyone wants to fuck" or "guy that already carries the baggage of years of personal headcanons and highly variable choices that are hard to account for for every single person who ever played the previous game."

[fereldanwench]

Some thoughts on ~*playing an asshole*~ and other related topics:

I've seen a post cross my dash a couple of times saying playing a kind hero has been very welcome in today's current climate--This isn't meant to be a vagueblog at all, and I even considered replying directly to that post, but it seemed like it was a very personal reflection. I really don't want to come across as trying to contradict that experience because I don't think it's a wrong experience to have.

Especially since I actually remember having a similar response to Ryder and Andromeda back in 2017. It came out about a year and a half after my mother-in-law passed away, while I was working insane overtime hours, and a few months into Tr*mp's first term--I found the optimism in Andromeda and the routes I could take with my Ryder's personality to be exactly what I needed during a really rough time.

So I get it, I really do, and I don't think anyone is wrong for feeling validated by Veilguard's optimism.

But that post did make me realize some of the reasons I personally have had such a hard time connecting to any of the Rooks I've made: I really lost my sense of self and reverted in a lot of ways back to people-pleasing* over the past few years, and it's really only been the past year that I've felt like I'm coming out of that. Because of this, many of Rook's responses in dialogue, often regardless of tone (although "crossed arms" options mitigate this some), reminded me of how I am when I want to be on my very bestest behavior, even to my own detriment.

It's my work persona, the "customer service voice," trying to keep everyone happy and at their best regardless of my own needs because if I see anyone crack, that feels like a reflection on me and my failures. But I'm not really being genuine. This isn't to say that I want to be a full-blown asshole to anyone IRL--I rarely do unless they're being a raging asshole first. But this kindness is armor born of self-defense. It is not kindness for the sake of kindness.

(*Because I know this will get mentioned if I don't mention it: Yes, I did appreciate Harding's observations about her own people-pleasing tendencies, but this is about Rook, not Harding.)

I want to pick apart the whole "be an asshole" line, too (just in general, not directed at anyone specifically)--I do recall seeing folks use that expression to describe their own wants in the game, but I kiiinda feel like it's starting to be used in bad faith, as shorthand for anyone who just wants to play a character with more bite to them. Being assertive or stoic or stubborn or direct or confident doesn't inherently make someone an asshole. But even these aren't really character traits that Rook can really claim without a lot of headcanoning.

(And tbf, Veilguard isn't unique in this regard--I always found the dialogue options for the Inquisitor to pale in comparison to Hawke or the Warden. (And I know some people feel like Hawke pales in comparison to the Warden so you know. All of this is one big YMMV.) But I still felt like I could more organically craft a personality in Inquisitor than I can in Veilguard.)

I will also say, though, that I see absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to play "an asshole," and I also find it to be a bad-faith read to assume anyone who wants to be "edgier" in an RPG is harboring some secret desire to hard people in the real world. In 2018, after a lot of my grief and fear had shifted into anger, playing a ruthless Renegade FemShep was goddamn therapeutic for me. I had a lot of pent-up rage, and it was so cathartic to channel that into this no-nonsense woman who saw what needed to be done and would get it done no matter the cost in a completely safe fictional environment where no one actually gets hurt.

Anyway, there's more I could delve into on this topic, but I think I'll save some of my other thoughts for quieter spaces. I was having a hard time pinpointing what was keeping me from getting invested in my Rooks, and this was kind of an epiphany this morning so I wanted to brain dump.

[rando-d]

Ultrakill Review: Turn Back Now

"Better late than never ammiright chat"

Ultrakill is one of the best shooter games I've ever played. I'm am no expert on shooters, I've played a good amount. I hate "tatical" shooters, which is why shooters like Valorant have repulsed me, whereas games like Fortnite and Team Fortress 2 have been my addiction. Heck, even in 2016, I liked Overwatch (obviously not anymore), but there was a time. Because "tactical" shooters just equate to camping around in one place waiting for someone to fight you, and doing anything energetic or running around the place is severely discouraged and games like those actively avoid rewarding players for risky play.

Tactical Shooters Suck, Ultrakill isn't one

Games like Team Fortress 2 and Fortnite are so insanely fun to me because those are shooters that ENCOURAGE you to fight people and have a risky playstyle, while giving players the option to camp, it moreso discourages it and grinding through entire lobbies feels just so satisfying. That being said, you can probably guess that Ultrakill would easily be something I would fall in love with, and you'd be perfectly correct on that. Ultrakill is everything I love about shooters, with 0 of the problems. Heck, this may be even my favorite shooter. While I'm not particularly good at the game, it is so insanely fun, and dying in the game always feels like my fun and not some sort of unbalanced enemy or really weird game design choice.

Combat

Of course, the game isn't finished and has 2 more chapters out of its 9 chapters, but those last 2 chapters could be awful, and I still would love the game. I have most of the game here. I could just ignore those last 2 chapters (again, assuming it's bad, which is highly unlikely). One of the reasons that it's unlikely is due to the games great combat system, I criticize games for cheap combat a lot, if you're making an action game, you need some good combat, and it takes a lot to impress me on that department. Ultrakill did just that. Impress me. It has a wide variety of weapons to choose from, and every level of the game's somehow feels designed around those weapons. There are so many different enemies, each with their own unique weaknesses, good play and risky movement where you utilize all the tools at your desposal is rewarded with style points, just seeing that "ULTRAKILL" combo sign hits different.

Movement

Ultrakill, while simple in terms of how you can move around the map, is really fun and gets the job well. In the beauty of its simplicity, you can perform lots of cool tricks that made me feel like an edgy teen all over again. Again, the style point system works well and constantly dashing to the goal in a short period of time while making sure to kill all the enemies and doing it all in a style is a pretty daunting and time consuming yet fun goal to achieve for all levels. Not a single level in Ultrakill kept me bored aside from the secret missions. And yes, the movement is somewhat simple in Ultrakill, and while I have seen that there is cool stuff you can do, I can't help but feel that I wish there's a bit more that could be done to improve the game's movement and add more to it while not taking away from its simplicity.

Presentation

We're in an era where people yield nostolgia to things like the N64, and PS1, but honestly, I'd compare this games graphics to Doom, that's despite the fact that the game goes out of its way to tell you that it's inspired by PS1 graphics. The game also goes out of its way to make its creatures disgusting and egregious to look it, really conveying hell's warfare to you well. The game does a great job at conveying some of the story through its environment. enviormental storytelling is always a great way of helping to tell a game story. The music is also great, the chaotic nature of the game just blended perfectly with the music style of Breakcore, I would not pick any other genre of music for a game of the kind, especially the boss themes, that's when the game really locks in. But, I will say, while all the enviorments do a great job of distinguishing each other while keeping the games disturbing feel, that can't be said for gluttony. It honestly was a bit too gross to look at, but apparently, the games developer stated that won't be of concern since he's planning on redesigning it, which I'm looking forward to.

Verdict

Ultrakill is one of, if not the best, shooter video games that I have ever played and pushes the genre of indie shooters to major new heights. I'm excited to see the game's story end, and I'll continue to replay the hell out of it for the future, it's one of the most addicting experiences I've ever had the pleasure of, you should turn back now because this game will throw you into a loop which you won't be able to escape, trying to break through that mess is crazy.

[copperbadge]

Endeavor OTC game for ADHD

antidoteforreality

is it really different from a standard FPS game? I’m curious about it!

Hope it's okay that I popped this into its own post, I found I had a lot to say :D

Context from the earlier post: EndeavorOTC is a paid app based on EndeavorRX, which is a prescription game for kids with ADHD. RX is FDA-approved; OTC is the version that hasn't gone through FDA approval, but it's a fork of the same code. It's fairly repetitive but that's because it's a training module shaped like a game, not a game that happens to do training.

It's less of an FPS and more of an infinite runner, like Sonic Dash or Temple Run. You're in a little ship that flies along a waterway, and you're supposed to hit "energy fields" which help you speed up to catch a critter you're chasing. You can't control your speed; you tilt your device to swerve left or right to hit the energy fields, but that's it. This is the "Steering" skill.

Your other, simultaneous task is to shoot critters that jump out of the water at you, called "targeting". It's a misnomer since you don't tap ON the creatures, you just tap anywhere on the right side of the screen and it shoots them for you, no aim required. These critters come in three colors, and at the start of every mission they tell you only ONE color to shoot. If you shoot the wrong color or miss an energy field while steering, you slow down very slightly. The goal is to speed up so fast that you catch the critter you're chasing, which is, to be fair, quite challenging.

You aren't ever penalized, really; the critter sometimes gets away, but you get points for trying. You don't have "lives", but you are time-limited -- once you've played for 25 minutes (a "dose"), the game locks down for the rest of the day. Something I REALLY like is that once you've paid the subscription price there's nothing else to buy: no ads to watch for bonuses, no microtransactions, no loot crates. You can earn coin to buy different outfits for your avatar, but that's it, and you can't buy coin, you just get a set amount per day for completing the dose. Every 15 missions or so, your ability to steer-target is evaluated and your score adjusted, which lets you know how you're progressing in terms of treatment, rather than skill at the game. You're supposed to play at least five days a week for six weeks as an initial treatment.

The reason I was willing to give it a shot was that the "targeting" aspect is based on the Go/No-Go Task, which is a legit tool they use in ADHD testing, and the aspect of the test I bombed the hardest when I was evaluated. Ongoing Go/No-Go task training has been shown in some research to help emotional regulation, although it's cognitive and not mindfulness. Overall the game is meant to improve focus but it was the Go/No-Go aspect that I found most compelling as a reason to try.

It's not cheap; you can get a 7-day trial but only if you pre-emptively subscribe, and if you don't cancel the subscription at the end of the 7 days you are charged $130, which I admit is a sneaky move to pull on a population not known for remembering to cancel subscriptions. The first thing I did after signing up was go to google play and cancel the subscription -- I still got to keep the trial -- but honestly when my trial is up I'll probably subscribe, it's a fun little game and I'm willing to risk the money to see if it helps (but I'm also in a position to spend $130 "just to see"). You can also do month-to-month for $25 but obviously the $130 yearly sub is much cheaper in the long run.

I've seen a wide variety of reactions to it, from delight to frustration, although a lot of the frustration seems to be from people who are more accustomed to intense gaming and are treating it like a video game and not a training tool. I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes.

[starkid256]

alr im doing this. i've seen people make post like these but i promised i wouldnt make one because theyre just reblog bait under a "healthy" blanket. but honestly i dont care about notes and i just need an excuse to get shit done. max is 25 reblogs and comments each per person, if you really want me to get off my lazy ass and make shit then i wanna see some pings in the notes.

15 notes - ill actually work on packing and cleaning my room

50 - i'll work on my school project instead of procrastinating on it (for context, the project is something i get to decide what it is, as well as the starting date, end date, and how often i work on it.)

100 - ill work on a geometry dash level and try to get a star rate

200 - ill try to get back into making art and roleplaying instead of playing video games all day

500 - ill try to get my life together. i dont know what this entails but probably working out a bit, being more organized, and focusing on school more

1000 - ill start actually making and releasing music.

picture to differentiate this post from the others in my notes:

[jasper-pagan-witch]

Theoretical Candle Communication Spell

So part of what we're starting to do in the Jasper's Beans Discord is to play these games where we come up with different magical solutions or ideas based on our crafts for a central problem. I decided that the one I came up with earlier this evening would be fun to toss to the dash and let people chew on it for fun. Feel free to analyze, dissect, review, or gnaw on as you please!

The prompt:

You have a good friend who you know enjoys your company but you haven't seen them in awhile and they haven't been responsive to texting or other ways of communicating for a few months. You know that this is something that happens when they are v busy with life.

What are some magical solutions you could do to have more consistent communication with them?

My response was as follows (please note that it took all of 15 minutes for me to put this together):

I've always said that communication is the first thing that fails. Just...generally.

So, for me, this would be an air-aligned spell first and foremost. This is because air is associated with the intellectual realm in my paradigm, and communication is always easiest when you're thinking straight.

My next step would be determining my angle. Would I want to do something involving one of my pop culture sources? If I went the Pokemon route, I could do Psychic or Flying types as the basis. With MTG, Blue might be of the most use to me. But I could also go about it without pop culture influences and dig through my correspondences binder until I found something that interested me.

Let's say, for this hypothetical, that I wanted to cast a one and done spell. How about a candle? For opening communication, I'd probably pick a lovely yellow or a light blue, since I have so many of those and they're decently friendly colors in addition to being associated with air (again, in my paradigm at least). And I have fake craft feathers, so I can use that in some way to bring in more of the air element.

Since most of my magic is done using my own energy, I don't feel the need to get super specific with the taglock, but I guess I could use whatever it is that I communicate with this person on and pull up their profile or contact information on that platform. Finally, I guess I'd throw in a sigil I could make to open up communication. Draw it into the candle or burn it along with the candle wick, I dunno, haven't gotten that far.

So I'd get everything together, draw the sigil where needed, light up the candle, use the craft feathers to waft the smoke vaguely in the direction of my taglock, and cap off the spell by leaving them a text like "Been thinking about you! Hope you're doing alright!"

[nerdalmighty]

hey! so, i just recently started playing baldur's gate 3 after seeing people put it all over my dash for months--and you're one of the people i've seen reblogging a lot of posts about it LOL. so if you don't mind me asking, i was wondering what kind of character do you/did you play as? and do you have any sort of backstory for your tav that you'd like to share?

Hoooooooooooooh my god thank you so much for asking. I have a friend who comes over to watch me play on Thursdays and I make a powerpoint every week to catch her up on what she missed - this week's powerpoint literally has slides about my Tav's background (more on those later). This is about to be long, I'm about to drop ALL my lore so buckle up! AND THANK YOU FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY BG3 BRAIN WORMS!!!!! I'm glad they convinced you to play 😈

So to begin, I've been in my first ever dnd campaign with a group of friends for a little over a year now. I didn't know much about Baldur's Gate except that it was a dnd video game and that you could romance people. Me, being a Big Fan of Romance And Fantasy was like "okay well I'm in" and my friend actually let me start a game at his house. Through that, I met Shadowheart, Gale, and Astarion.

Backing up a bit to my character; I decided I'd put my character from my irl dnd campaign into the game since I already knew her whole deal. I get pretty overwhelmed with making decisions, ESPECIALLY with big open world games like bg3, so knowing who/what I wanted to be really helped me out.

In the campaign I'm in with friends, it's pirate themed, and I play a half-elf bard named Birdie Harp who's secretly half-siren (murder mermaid). To make a long story very short, she was born in the arctic and escaped her murderous pod during a coming-of-age trial where she also lost her siren abilities (hypnotizing voice, breathing underwater, etc).

I've watched a ton of Dimension 20 which is an actual play show on Dropout.tv (an "actual play" is where you watch other people run a campaign of dnd - like Critical Role, which a lot of people have at least heard of - HIGHLY recommend Dimension 20, as I find it incredibly funny and easier to get into than CR because of the episode lengths), and I knew that I really liked the silliness and theatricality of the bard class. I also loved the bards from The Owl House which helped influence my decision as well.

To be honest, Birdie is my first ever dnd character, so she's basically a self insert but with a MUCH more traumatic backstory than me (this IS dnd after all). As for the half-elf aspect, it was more of an "I want to be half mermaid, what's similar to that?" as opposed to a love for half-elves or something.

BACK TO BALDUR'S GATE - knowing I wanted Birdie to be in the game, I felt a lot less overwhelmed to come up with something entirely new - I knew a lot about the bard class having played one so I wanted to CONTINUE playing one (and I've learned even more since playing bg3!).

When I finally got my own game (I no longer play at my friend's house, but in the comfort of my own home), I recreated Birdie and started on my journey in earnest. I'm VERY MUCH someone who likes to be in control and know what to expect, so I've had guides and walkthroughs to help me the whole time - SUE ME! When it came to first meeting Shadowheart, Gale, and Astarion back at my friend's house, Gale actually immediately stole my heart - a kind, witty wizard who likes books and cats? Literally say less. I went home from that session with my friend fully thinking I'd be a Gale girlie until I really looked into the other options and saw The Vampire.

Blah blah blah, he's hot and funny, but he can also be incredibly soft, which really won me over in the end. So I've been romancing That Guy.

Through Acts 1 and 2, I wasn't all too sure about this version of Birdie's background - sure she COULD still be that half-siren from the arctic, but the game kept suggesting she was FROM Baldur's Gate. I LOVED the inclusion of the harpies in Act 1 and thought maybe that was a viable entry point for her backstory, but so far, she was kind of just... me? She was making the choices I wanted to make (and a few that I knew Astarion would like lmao), but she wasn't really her own entity apart from me except for her name. She also felt vastly different from that character I'd created for my friends over a year ago. For instance, my irl Birdie currently has a crush on a Gale-type character, but this Birdie is ass deep in Astarion (hey, sorry I said "ass deep in Astarion"). The thing I love about Baldur's Gate 3 is how you can really come up with your own backstories, since the in-game one for your Tav is so vague. It's totally fine to ignore tiny details in the game and mold them to your own headcanons for your Tav, but I was so unsure of what I wanted for this Birdie that I kind of internalized that she was from Baldur's Gate.

HEADS UP! The following has some spoilers for Act 3 and some side quests, so STOP reading if that's something you'd care to avoid (the last 3 paragraphs of this post are SAFE from spoilers):

When Act 3 finally rolled around (which is where I am currently, I only have the one playthrough so far because I become INCREDIBLY attached to things), I stumbled across the Water Queen's House in Baldur's Gate. Ah ha! Now this felt promising.

A temple dedicated to the Vengeful Sea Goddess, Umberlee, and her loyal Wave Servants to serve her. It's ocean themed, it has mermaid undertones, and their goddess is basically evil. Seems like the perfect place to FINALLY insert this version of Birdie. I wasn't 100% sure until I completed the Iron Throne mission and was faced with either handing a (mostly) innocent man over to the Wave Servants, or fighting to defend him.

Here are a few of the slides from this week's powerpoint that I mentioned all the way back at the start, starting with SOME background on the Wave Servants:

Ass and Shart are what I affectionately call Astarion and Shadowheart (Also I got this beautiful "Birdie" art on Pinterest which originated from someone named Dantrelium on Reddit):

Apologies for the small text here, but there are some more details about THIS Birdie here, which I literally made up/figured out earlier this week:

Essentially, this Birdie was born at the Water Queen's House as Kittiwake Crest - Kittiwakes are common arctic birds, which I thought would be a nice little homage to the original character she was based off of. She was raised by the collective of Wave Servants there, the main one being Flood Tide Allandra Grey who seems to be head honcho at the Wave Mother's House (in this reality, she is).

Since Umberlee is such a vengeful goddess, I imagine she asked her Wave Servants to commit unspeakable acts in her name, mainly drownings, which THEY see as merciful, but I think Birdie always saw as horrifying. Who were they to decide the fates of others? I also think that the Wave Servants themselves were abusive during her upbringing to keep her in line (but much like how Nocturne was a light in the darkness for Shadowheart, I don't think EVERY Wave Servant was evil). GOTTA have a classic tragic backstory.

Upon researching Umberlee, I learned that most of her servants are clerics, so in my mind, that means Birdie was raised to eventually become one, with her official title eventually going to be "Seawind Kittiwake Crest." Is she still half-siren/mermaid though? Not entirely sure. This IS a magical world though, so I'd be inclined to say yes, probably.

But when we first meet the Wave Servants, they're singing beautifully for their drowned sister, Holli. I think Birdie REALLY loved music and singing with her sisters and secretly trained herself in bard magic when she should have been learning to be a cleric. It's also a classic trait of bards to hide their pain through humor, so I often imagine the type of stupid things Birdie gets up to to bring herself joy (my favorite headcanon being when you meet Skittle the Rat in Wyrm's Rock prison - he's a rat merchant who speaks exclusively in puns. I think Birdie and Gale would excitedly throw puns back and forth with Skittle while Astarion and Shadowheart begrudgingly (and affectionately) roll their eyes in the background).

Another thing I love about the game is how you can string together your own ideas of how companions react to things between big cut scenes. For example, in my head, in my game, Astarion has really become a Big Softy thanks to how fucking Stupid (affectionate) Birdie acts in life and has drawn him out of his shell, but also runs a tag team scam with her where she plays her lute to distract people while he loots an entire place. Gale is Birdie's partner in crime when it comes to tomfoolery and loves to joke and fool around with her (so long as it goes easy on his knees). And Shadowheart is basically a sister figure who flip flops between sassing with Astarion and joining in on the fun. THEY'RE JUST THE BEST, OKAY? OF COURSE I'M GONNA WALK AROUND WITH A BUNCH OF IDIOTS. I LOVE THEM.

Anyway, back to Birdie's backstory: she always hated the atrocities that were asked of her, and she was looking for a way out, but was too scared to take that step and leave since the Wave Mother's House is all she's ever known. One night, while stepping out to quietly dip her toes in the water, the Mindflayers captured her, and that's where we start Act One, all the way up on the Nautiloid. She changed her name to Birdie to distance herself from her previous life, fully took up the bard class, and the rest is history.

Back to that dilemma with handing over that (mostly) innocent guy or fighting the Wave Servants: with encouragement from the party, they convince Birdie to face her traumatic upbringing and fight the Wave Servants once and for all. At this point in Act 3, she's basically helped every single person with their problems except her own. Here's another slide featuring Ass and Birdie:

That's right folks, Birdie faced her past! But the bad news is we don't get to see Astarion in this (audio from The Adventurous Adventures of One Direction):

(Video description - Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3 wearing the Wave Mother's Armor with the following audio:

Guard 1: Whoa, check it out.

Guard 2: Hubba hubba hubba.

Gaurd 1: Nice. I love dudes in skirts.

END VIDEO.) I don't want to tell you how many times I recorded that until I felt like I got it right lol. Also yes, I DID do a scum save where I handed the guy over ONCE just so I could see Ass in this outfit, but Birdie did canonically save Redhammer in my actual save file.

And honestly, that's BASICALLY it for now! My most recent save was after that battle, so I need to figure out if Birdie's going to go back with her party to confront the rest of (or most of) the Wave Servants, or if this chapter of her life is closed.

In an ideal world I'd LOVE to make one of those artsy gif edits of my Tav like this and this, but PS5s make it hard to download clips without uploading them to YouTube first which I don't really want to do.

Thank you SO MUCH for this ask, I had a blast writing it!! Sorry it's so long, I just love this game so much and LOVE talking about it. Please feel free to ask more questions OR chat with me about YOUR Tav! I'd love to hear all about them :)