#LOOOOOONG POST

[fadran]

There are a lot of different kinds of stupid people; right now, I'm going to talk about two of them.

They're categorically connected, in the sense that their views are directly perpendicular, intersecting at a single point of Ultimate Stupidity: the idea that Religion can disprove Science, and the idea that Science can disprove Religion.

Now, I should note that I'm not religious. I was raised LDS, but have ultimately landed somewhere between Atheist and Agnostic now that I'm older and have a mind of my own. I should also note that this is Tumblr, the gayest site in the universe (by volume), and that I see a lot of religious trauma and persecution translate into hatred; and, frankly, I have nothing to say against that. I'm a straight white male, so I've never really been attacked for who I am or what I believe, and I certainly don't have any direct religious trauma - I only want to clarify that nothing I'm trying to say here is meant to attack anyone in particular or any specific institutions.

So, onto the first Stupid Person Archetype: "Religion Disproves Science."

I doubt I have to describe what I mean here. You see it all the time on Twitter (previously known as X); conspiracy theories and far-right extremists who reply to NASA or Bill Nye or whoever else is saying whatever really simple scientific facts happens to be relevant at the time. Climate Change, Vaccines, Evolution, etc. Things like "What you're ignoring is the simple TRUTH that JESUS LOVES YOU and GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE IN HIS IMAGE" or whatever the fuck it is people think actively disproves... well, anything.

It's always completely circular logic. Why is this proven fact false, you say? It's because the Bible said so. What makes you think the Bible is a source of reliable fact and logic? Because it disproves these facts that I don't want to believe. If I'm going to try to debate someone's opinion on a particular subject and they try to cite The Bible, a hodgepodge of dozens of metaphors and traditional stories, then there's no debate to be had. They claim that it's the "truth," that it's "reason," that it's "logic," but it's just not because the Bible is not a scientific journal. It was not peer-reviewed. None of the experiments have clearly-defined parameters, and they certainly haven't been repeated in separate studies. If you're claiming that The Bible is the ultimate truth, then we're playing on two separate fields, and there's no point in even trying. If you claim that The Bible provides empirical or otherwise reliable evidence, then I can easily disprove you.

Now - allow me to turn your focus to the other Stupid Person Archetype: Science Disproves Religion.

When people claim that their religion is a greater truth than putting actual effort into trying to learn more about the world, they're just getting what they think from an echo chamber; they're just deluded. But when people claim that Empirical Evidence and cold, hard rigour can somehow... disprove something entirely inobservable, like God or Faith or the Soul? I'll sometimes tell people that this second archetype is even dumber than just believing God is real and Science is anti-truth propaganda, because you cannot claim to have a focus on the scientific method - hypothesis, observation, cross-references, peer-review - and say that you know for a fact that something strictly unknowable is true or untrue.

I would also like to point out that people will turn to Philosophy for answers, which is... still not great, but better. A lot of people will cite the Epicurean Paradox (God cannot be Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omnibenevolent all at once) or maybe the Ontological Argument (which I dare not utter here); and this is fine, I guess. At the very least, you're drawing your own conclusions from something well-regarded by educated individuals the world over; but I would urge you again to not regard this as the One and Only Truth.

God cannot be proven or disproven. The is the point. There is no Faith without Uncertainty, there is no Doubt without Uncertainty. That is the singular point that these two utterly foolish views cross through, the Interception of their Folly. What you believe is based on your experience and the conclusions you arrive to in your own mind, and thus limited to you and you alone. To claim a "Truth" is to claim to assert your own Belief over someone else's, and that is something no one can ever Truly do.

[kulekrizpy]

finally seeing progress in my depression after more than a decade has me a little dazed. i have been depressed for half my life or longer

but it also has me feeling so good about how relieved i am and how much energy i'm beginning to have that i'm getting ... excited about things again? like i can imagine my future because i can believe i will continue to have energy

this has been a series of realizing i have ADHD, going into therapy because i could tell something was very wrong, beginning to poke out my boundaries and learning to honor them, truly accepting that i don't know my brain as well as i thought i did and forgiving myself for that, getting medication, and finally getting exercise and sun consistently.

it has been less than a month since i started walking and i'm seeing a huge uptick in energy. i'm getting stronger and i WANT to feel stronger. because i want to be more active and not hurt myself doing it

the walks get a little longer, i get so much peace from being in nature. there's comfort and perspective in there that has me accepting my mortality in a way that was terrifying to me before. and it relaxes my anxiety so much

i couldn't even think as clearly as i am now. i was expending so much energy worrying! about a social fuckup, about losing my friends, despair about the world's state, money... i recognized and let go of people who didn't respect me. and now i don't have to worry about that. i have better things to do. i can say "no" without deliberating on it now. i can finally trust myself. i spent a long time sorting thru my feelings and how they aligned with reality, and now i know how to take a step back and assess. and all the extra energy goes to the things i actually have to do!

i don't care as much what others think now. perhaps it was from relying too much on others to fulfill my happiness. now that i've figured out ways to create my own happiness i have so much hope. i can enjoy being by myself because i'm learning how to appreciate doing all the small things. and i'm giving myself permission to be flexible. it was too overwhelming before to think beyond the plan i was fixating on

i know why it took me so long to get here. i had plenty of reasons to be fucked up, things that happened to me that i had no control over plus my brain chemistry and my inability to handle school. i had control issues that i worked hard not to put on other people and they got internalized as rigidity and self blame

at the point i was at, it even scared me to be wrong. but being wrong is okay. because you can't grow if you don't learn lessons thru your life. being wrong means you've learned something. does the shame of being wrong really supersede not having to deal with the problem in the future?

i also realized i need to work around my ADHD. give myself permission to do things differently so i could get started instead of being overwhelmed by the whole task

i just couldn't keep going the way i had been. it was untenable.

now i can find the root problems. for example:

i need to apply to jobs but i've been putting it off. why?

if i look in my email i'll see all the other things i have to deal with. anxiety-inducing

i'm not sure i have the energy to sort the emails AND look at jobs

solutions:

i have to look at some point. it probably won't be as bad as i'm worrying it will

if the whole task is too much energy i can break it up. better to get something done in two days than never. once i start i may want to finish too!

so, to address both of those things, today i'm gonna to make a folder and filter for the job emails so they are all in one place. tomorrow i'll be able to open the folder without looking at any other emails and just get started :)

now that i have a way to handle my basic tasks and the knowledge that i even CAN feel good and have the energy i need (something i think i had given up on long ago), i can see a future. i can see my way there. i don't have to be blinded and completely sapped by a single big task. i don't have to give other people a majority of my energy. i just needed to focus on me and take care of my body to give me the energy to Live. it's truly baffling to me. i wonder how much the medication is helping me... either way, i am an animal! i am connected to the earth!

now i know how to give my children the tools to get around this. and the level of responsibility i want to give them to feel in control of their own lives and actions. the flexibility to work around problems instead of trying to drill thru them. and i have the energy to want them. i can work my way there. i'm excited for it someday

but for now, i just have to keep doing the little things. keep rerouting my thinking and going outside

[zenlesszonezero]

As the conspiracy reaches its finale, the Void Hunter joins the fight.

Uncover the Conspiracy in Zenless Zone Zero's All-New Version "A Storm of Falling Stars", S-Rank Agent Hoshimi Miyabi is here! With S-Rank Agent Asaba Harumasa Limited-Time Giveaway! Pre-register to obtain additional rewards.

[cardcaptor-lisia]

i usually don't go to my high school campus very often... basically i'm a college student while still technically in high school, and one of the best parts about it is that i don't need to take high school classes anymore. but, i do try to help out my japanese teacher there every so often bc i took the highest level of classes for it last year. kind of like a TA i guess? i grade stuff and answer questions, that sort of thing.

but anyways, that's mostly besides the point. yesterday i went there and helped out because i needed to go to the public library to return some manga, and it was fun! but i was told about something soooort of neat, that there were some exchange students from japan coming to visit the day after. so i unexpectedly went again?

...and it was really neat honestly! there were like 15 or so students and they were all reeeaaallllyyyyy nice!! i met a girl who does traditional japanese archery, and exchanged emails with another one, and just had a good time really! (and met someone who really liked vocaloid ehehe, her fav is kagamine rin!) i got some origami paper from someone that i need to figure out what to fold with it sometime... everyone was from a part of japan where i won't be in the event i'll be studying abroad sadly, but who knows? it was very fun and 'new', having convos in japanese with people who aren't my older sister or jp teacher, too. (though i do like talking with my older sister the most out of anyoneeee ehehehehe..）

i hope they're liking here so far, it's not a super stunning place really, but... maybe it's better than other parts of the country. all the exchange students were taking loooots of pictures, so i hope they tell their friends about how things were? that might be nice...

really when i asked one girl why she wanted to do a short study abroad in the first place, she said that experiencing a different culture seemed like a good thing. i think that's probably the best mindset to have when you're going across oceans, even if only for a short time. i hope she experiences lots and lots while she's here :)

this all makes me excited for what's to come soon. though i did get asked if i'd be nervous for going abroad, aaaand... maybe those worries just haven't hit me yet, ehehe. something for future lisia to worry about.

omake picture of the sakura(?) on campus:

[lumity-poggers]

My thoughts on Watching and Dreaming

I watched the episode when it premeired last night but i hit post limit so couldnt post about it. Spoilers under the cut. sorry if anything is out of order lol im sick and im just throwing everything i thought last night down on this post.

-Luz being attacked by Amity genuinely made me cry

-"My girlfriend is too big a nerd to misremember an Azura quote" -luz probably

-Lilith having the haircut from For the Future but color scheme from season 1 is a nice touch

-"Dont you recognize your siblings" Ok damn man didnt need to go THAT far

-The giant stone Flapjack in Luz's nightmare killed me and not in the good funny way but in the sad crying way

-in the words of @minty-creator "BELOS FUCKETH OFF" (We were both watching the ep and screaming to each other about it)

-at first I thought belos was gonna try and possess king but then I realized no he's going to possess the fucking boiling isles titan

-I actually kinda liked that The Collector had no concept of death. They're a kid, an IMMORTAL GODLY KID. Of course they wouldnt know what death is

-Pacman Collector will haunt my nightmares

-The Collector needs a hug. I want to give them a hug.

-"You know this cant last forever" that was said to the collector but it feels like it was also aimed towards us

-The Archivists 🤝Pink Diamond "Wanna play a game?" *leaves them lonely*

-ok no but seriously the archivists telling Collector to play with the titans only to wipe them out leaving Collector all alone is just fucking cruel

-The Collector is just a lonely kid LET ME HUG THEM

-Me seeing Raine fight back: YES YOU GO

-Goo Belos in this episode looks like William Afton. Like- Remember that fucking fnaf 3 image where the springtrap head was open showing William? Thats what Belos looks like. Or burntrap from SB take your pick.

-Raine my beloved

-The Belos possessed Titan looks like a fucking dragon holy shit

-"Now that's a spinoff I'd watch" You and me both Luz

-The Collector picking up Raine's earring and realizing that the Raine talking to them wasnt actually Raine, and then looking upset is just AAAAAAAA LET ME FUCKING HUG THEM

-I LOVE that when the collector uses "Kindness and Forgiveness" on Belos IT DOESNT WORK. I FUCKING H A T E THAT TROPE OF POWER OF FRIENDSHIP REDEMPTION. It was one of the few things I genuinely hated about Steven Universe (SU is still a good show tho they just kinda overused villain redemption. And yeah yeah you could argue MLP overuses that too but MLP was ABOUT friendship)

-Luz, Eda, and King's expressions when The Collector hugs Belos is so funny tho. Literally just 👁👄👁

-I literally screamed at Luz's sacrifice. S C R E A M E D.

-Gaster Blaster Belos Real

-"Eda, King, looks like we're going to be split up again. I feel like I should be used to this feeling by now, but I still dont know what to say" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

-I like that Luz becomes lights. Not only was the light glyph the first one she learned but her name literally means light.

-Eda, King, and Luz are such a found family I love them

-"I should have thanked them" SCREAMING AND CRYING

-I love that King's dad basically said "Fuck gender"

-I also love that he has a bad girls coven shirt

-Eda makes alchoholic apple blood confirmed?

-Titan Luz is so gender

-Camila best mom

-LET. ME. HUG. THE. COLLECTOR. DAMN IT.

-Luz and King doing the WEH together is so fucking cute.

-For some reason I thought Luz was gonna die again when the titan magic was fading. Like I thought that was keeping her alive.

-Anyone gonna talk about the fact Eda gave Raine a little kiss when saving them from the Belos goop

-the entire episode was so anime but the fight scene between Titan Luz and Belos was just anime as fuck and the smooth animation makes it even better

-"NOW EAT THIS SUCKA" IT ALL COMES FULL CIRCLE

-Look at how fuckin anime this is I love it so much

-Luz looks so badass btw idk if I mentioned that

-Belos trying to bullshit his way out of this and Luz having NONE OF IT is so great. I hat the "[insert curse/supernatural thing] made me do it so im innocent" trope if it's done poorly or with a character like Belos. Love that they smashed that into the ground with Luz having fucking none of it.

-LOOK AT HOW BADASS AND GENDER SHE LOOKS I WILL NOT SHUT UP ABOUT THIS I AM SO NOT NORMAL ABOUT THIS

-I AM SO GLAD BELOS HAD A GRUESOME DEATH THAT WAS SO SATISFYING.

-I like the touch that Titan Luz isnt affected by the boiling rain

-King's dad is A PUN MASTER

-the reuniting. oh my titan the reuniting. I cried. Gus doing a little illusion with his dad, Amity hugging Alador (with Odalia rightfully in the sidelines), Hunter telling Darius about wolves, Willow and her dads!

-Darius and Eber so want to beat the shit out of Terra, Vitmir, and Adrien.

-Camila pulling Eda and King into a hug with Luz is just. YES.

-Yassified Hooty go brrr

-King giving The Collector Francois was so sweet

-All the kids as adults are so fucking gender. GIVE ME YOUR GENDER.

-All the photos on Luz's bulletin board are so amazing. Especially the one with Hooty dropping from a tree that one made me laugh so hard. Also the Bi Pride pin next to the graduation photo was amazing.

-"Stringbean's Corner" AWWWE

-ik im doing two screenshots in a row but LOOK AT THIS PICTURE OF STRINGBEAN

-When I tell you I screamed with joy when I saw there was a working permanent portal to the Boiling Isles I mean I SCREAMED WITH JOY

-I love Willow's leaf headband. It just fits her so well.

-I love that Hunter is a palismen carver and carved a Blue Jay to be his new palismen (according to Dana on twt the name of the palismen is Waffle. I love it.), but I also love that Hunter was (or maybe still is) Dell's apprentice by the looks of things

-The grave for Flapjack made me sob. And then the "Thank you for finding me" on it im just. I need a moment.

-HARPY LILITH HARPY LILITH

-Also I just realized now they all have matching Flapjack tattoos. Im gonna cry you guys.

-The way Darius just slides over after shaking Alador is the most tsundere anime thing ever.

-Theres a little abomination in Alador's pocket :0

-Raine with white hair is actually so fucking cool

-Gus looks so cool you cannot tell me otherwise.

-Everyone thought Eda would have like a robotic/abomination arm but no SHE HAS A HOOK AND IT'S AWESOME

-King had a growth spurt lets go!

-The quinceanera being called a king-cenera is just perfect. King is mastering the art of puns just like his father.

-King having his own glyph shapes is just perfect I love it!

-Collector making fireworks shooting stars is amazing

-THEY DID THE HUNTER "BYEEE" TO BOTH THE COLLECTOR AND US

Im going to miss toh. It was one of the best shows Ive ever watched.

Edit: I hat the new post editor istg

[cuddly-asexual]

My Thoughts on FE Engage

Aight I had all this sitting in a google doc for a while and now that I’ve sat on this for a while I figured I could share what I think about this game. I have A LOT of thoughts so buckle up. These are all just my personal opinions and I’m not some kind of Maddening/Classic player that is gonna analyze how the game is balanced or anything. Spoilers for the whole game btw.

Overall

In general, I definitely enjoyed this game. I think if Fates was only one route then it would honestly be pretty similar to this one.

Game play is fun, characters are amusing, if a bit flat in some cases (but honestly I was a little surprised with some of them). The story is kinda lacking, but some aspects of it were fun and even interesting.

Most of my gripes from this game come from me thinking about cool shit it totally had the set up and then it not doing anything with those cool things. Lots of missed opportunities for a game that has so many references to older games in the franchise.

I do think this game is a step down from three houses in terms of characters and story tho

I played in English with the Japanese audio and wow I’m not very happy with the translation. They leave out a lot of things and even change characterization pretty drastically in some cases (Louis’ “people watching” and Amber/Diamant’s entire support chain as a few examples). The English dub is pretty solid from what I’ve heard though

I didn’t really think about graphics or art design much with this game, but I will say the discrepancies between the in-game and rendered cut scene models was insane (I don’t mean quality, like these characters just look different). Also Sombron’s model was ugly as fuck. Also lots of clipping and also sometimes only one eye would move on a character and that was always a little jarring

Gameplay

Kinda hard to fuck up the basic gameplay in a fire emblem game tbh

My main gripe is that the difficulty difference between “normal” and “hard” is fucking insane. Hard is pretty fuckin’ infuriating, but normal is piss easy, I really needed an in-between difficulty there.

Also it’s really hard to grind characters if you leave them for too long since the skirmishes scale with your main story chapter (I know this is more similar to older games but I got used to being able to grind all my characters okay :p)

I miss the crit cut-ins :(

There’s so much shit to do in the Somniel it’s kind of overwhelming and a bit tedious after a few chapters

No weapon durability, which I personally enjoy

I don’t think the soundtrack is anything special, but there are definitely some cool tracks that I like a lot esp near the end of the game

POG you can be gay with everyone

Emblems

Aight let’s get the big boys out of the way

I LOVE the emblem mechanic. I think it’s super fun and creative. It adds another layer of customization to your units and the nostalgia factor is not lost on me either

Visually I think engaging is super fun, love that the outfits are a version of the emblem’s and the cool hair colors

I think inheriting skills from emblems is a super neat thing, esp if you have a unit that works well with multiple emblems (grinding SP is kind of a chore tho)

INSANE that they wrote three part supports for every character with every emblem, they’re fun I like that you can learn about the emblem and what game they’re from in all of those

I think their choice of characters for each emblem mostly made sense, there were definitely some choices that made me go ???, but I’m fine with them and I’m glad they tried to balance out the genders since a lot of fe lords are dudes

Emblem ring polishing really fucking weird, don’t like the sounds they make oh god, I avoided that shit like the plague

Classes

Big fan of the way they do classes in this game! Rather than weapon proficiency determining what class you can turn into, the class you pick determines your weapon proficiency (for example as a high priest you get access to B rank tomes, B rank fists and S rank staves)

You get weapon proficiencies from using emblems as well, and you gotta use the specific emblem that gives you that proficiency

The classes aren’t as customizable as they are in three houses, but there is more customization than in older games. For most martial classes you can pick what weapon they specialize in (paladins, hero, berserker, etc)

Because of the way weapon proficiencies work your access to better weapons is a little more sparse since they don’t want you buying silver weapons for everyone at level 10, I think they pace it pretty well tho

YEAH BOY THEY BROUGHT BACK THE AWAKENING 2ND SEAL TRICK

Some of the outfits for classes are kinda... (looking at you sage and warrior)

Kinda crazy that all the royals have their own special class. I like it for flavor obvi, but it’s funny since they’re a big chunk of your playable characters

Maps

Pretty good in general

I think some more variety in winning conditions would have been fun, almost all of them were “Defeat enemy commander” and then there were two “Escape” maps. The last 5 chapters or so all did something fun so I’m not too beat up about it really

Lotta dark maps on this one, more than we’ve had in a while I think

Mostly a me thing, but I’m mad you can’t rotate the map 360 degrees anymore

FUCK CHAPTER 17 UGH

THE EMBLEM TRIALS ARE SO FUCKING COOL OH MY GOD, maps that look like iconic maps from their original game?? Dude fire emblem fans are EATING (don’t even get me started on the music remixes AOUGH)

The last level is piss easy if you’re over leveled and I think it makes it less impactful because you can skip the fun unit thing it has set up

Combat

The addition of Break and Smash mechanics was pretty neat, I think they made the combat a little more dynamic

Weapon advantages matter even more now since you can break an enemy with them

Smash is cool since you can wack enemies around the map, I will say tho, you often do so much damage with the great weapons that you often kill the unit before even pushing them

Also depending on the unit, the fact that you have to tank a hit first can deter you from using them

Somniel

There’s so much shit going on on the Somniel and thankfully you can skip a decent chunk, but it does get more monotonous than three houses I think since you go back a lot more often

I wish there was a thing i could click that would gather all the items lying around for me, I’m lazy, make Sommie do it

Characters

I was pleasantly surprised with the characters in this game. I was expecting more of them to be boring and one note, but there’s a surprising amount of depth with some of these guys. Depth that was not shared equally mind you, but it’s there.

This game has a bigger cast than it needs I think, but it’s not bloated like Fates.

Supports/Interpersonal Dynamics

This is also a story flaw that I’ll get into later, but there’s not really any interpersonal conflict going on in this game, everyone’s pretty nice to each other and where it would make sense for there to be conflict there is none (and sometimes there’s random superficial conflict that doesn’t need to be there, read: white bitches being racist to Fogado)

I’m not saying I need characters to hate each other, but there’s very little character growth or reflection going on. Like the game makes a point to show you that each of the four kingdoms have very different values and ethics, so you’d think that would come up more, but tbh it only really does with the crown royals and their supports

Also Alcryst having beef with Ivy, but not Hortensia was a choice

I also think more people should have been upset with Veyle, like I think it would have been cool to see them have to overcome their feelings since the evil Veyle was quite literally someone else and they had to come to terms with that in some way.

Instead it all comes from Veyle being like “oh god I’m so sorry please let me atone somehow” when literally everyone is like “oh no sweat we’re chill”

EVERYONE IS OBSESSED WITH ALEAR PLEASE GIVE ME ONE PERSON THAT DOESN’T LIKE THEM IMMEDIATELY. AAAAAAA

Yo why doesn’t Alear act like they’re from a thousand years ago

Story

Setting

The world is pretty typical for a fire emblem game I think. You got a handful of kingdoms, one is kinda evil-ish, one is super peaceful and there’s probably a trade based, “free” kingdom, and another one rolled at random on a list of kingdoms, in this case one that’s obsessed with strength.

3 of the 4 kingdoms are allies/neutral and of course it’s just the “evil” kingdom picking fights, which I think is kinda stale esp since they’ve been at peace for a while. Not saying there needs to be a war or anything I just want more political intrigue and tension

Elyos has also been ruled by dragon gods since forever, never elaborated?? Where did normal people come from? Were they the same?

I’d love to learn more about what happened during those thousand years tbh

Also what was the world like a thousand years ago? I wanna know more about Gradlon, did people live there? How was Sombron as a king? What about the mage dragons?

Plot

There’s not much in the plot of this game that sets it apart from older fire emblem games

Like a good chunk of plot beats are very similar if not exactly the same as fates

MC is dragon child with mysterious past and everyone loves them immediately

Mom dies in your arms by jumping in front of something purple to save you within the first 5 chapters thrown by a hooded figure

You fight a resurrected version of your mom who is now a little evil and actively obstructing you

Evil kingdom king was controlled by evil dragon

You turn out to be the child of the evil dragon

Evil dragon is some bitch from another world

The antagonists are pretty comically evil until they die and then the game tries to redeem them or make them seem like round characters, but I don’t think you really get enough of that side for any of them. And it’s not like the pacing felt rushed, you were definitely just dicking around in there for a few chapters in the middle, those could have been used to flesh out the antags

They faked you out and made you think Alear was evil in the past, but oops nah he was nice then too

It was pretty obvious from the beginning that you were Sombron’s kid, and Veyle’s sibling, her evil reveal was pretty neat tho

Chapters 21, 22 and 24 went hard I will say. They had a lot of cool shit happen in there and even some stuff I wasn’t expecting! I’m still mad Alear wasn’t evil

COME ON SOMBRON’S FROM ANOTHER WORLD? AND HE’S JUST EVIL CUZ HE WAS A PISSY LONELY BITCH THAT MISSED HIS GHOST BF

Last level was equal parts cool and disappointing. I guessed correctly that Sombron would bring all the past antags as emblems which GOD IS SO FUCKING COOL, but they’re just like generic hooded figures which is so LAME. Like come on you’ve already put in this much to have a nod to the older games you can make a few more assets :/

Fell Xenologue Thoughts

Gonna be real I liked this vibe a little more than the main game’s vibe. No dlc is worth the money, but I at least didn’t regret buying this one.

Also the plot made me more emo than it should have gonna be real

THE FUCKING MUSIC GOES SO HARD. They only added a handful of tracks but they all slap

All the extra writing they did for the royals when they meet themselves or a retainer holy shit dude, some of those hurted

Setting

The setting is much more grimdark in this (as much as this game can be anyway). Just having conflict baked into the world does a lot for the vibe

The world is very bleak and filled with animosity, grief and pain but also those who would try to persevere despite that

Very fun seeing all the vibe swapped kingdoms even if they were quite superficial. Love the mirrored map too

Plot

Aight I think one of the themes for this dlc was love and aaaa I think that’s so sweet

Familial love between Nel & Nil/Rafal + Four Winds

Romantic love between Nel and her divine dragon

The distinct changes in the relationships between all the royal sibling duos I think also kinda focuses on the lack of familial love they share in this world vs your world

Also just how Rafal has just been searching for validation and meaning (i.e. love) and not getting it through his thick skull that everyone around him love him until the end

The twist villain was fun, I saw it coming, but not cuz the game was obvious I’m just too genre savvy (in fact I think a little foreshadowing could have been cool)

I think the Nel evil fake out was cool, but it was resolved way too fast, esp because they teased it in the trailer, but didn’t really go anywhere with it

I really liked the ending!

Nel saying she knew Rafal replaced Nil all along but still grew to care about him all the same

Nel saying she can’t bare to lose another sibling so instead she’d die to take Rafal’s pain away

Rafal refusing to let Sombron’s “curse” on the dragon stone dictate his actions. He was a shitter all of his own choice, he doesn’t regret it and he’d do it again

Not getting to tell Nel his true name before she died

Saying he’ll stay with her for a thousand years until she wakes up

Alear saying they are invited to come over to his world and Rafal in response saying no, but also that 1000 years is a long time so maybe that could change

THEM BEING THE LAST TWO PEOPLE ALIVE IN THIS WORLD

I get why, but I wish we didn’t get Nel and Rafal as units, because after having that whole emo ass see you later and knowing Alear has to wait 1000 years to see them again is so bittersweet, but then you literally get them back after the end credits because whoops I guess time moves differently there now

Characters

I like the dragon siblings a lot actually. They have interesting personalities and their dynamic is insane, especially after the thousand years when Rafal was able to reflect.

The other three however, Zelestia, Gregory and Madeline, I don’t like that much

They essentially took these villains who had fun quirks and were somewhat interesting, but sanitized them and made them SUPER boring.

I get what the devs were trying to do. They made the villains sympathetic and then created a way for you to have them on your team in some capacity. The thing is, these three are so different they are basically different characters, so it doesn’t even fulfill that want

Added on the fact that they don’t have supports with anyone outside of their squad so we don’t even get to see what other character’s reactions are to seeing people who look like the Four Hounds but aren’t them (not that there was much of a reaction anyway since according to Madeline they were all welcomed easily)

I think they should have just found a way to redeem the Four Hounds OR bring their other world counterparts but have the other world counterparts be more or less the same, but maybe fighting on the “good” side still with the dragon sibs

As for the personality swapped royals, I found some of them quite interesting like Alfred, Celine, Hortensia and Diamant. Alcryst was also fun but he was just quite literally a true opposite to himself. Fogado was fun but WHY was he like that. The game doesn’t tell me soooo. Timerra and Ivy were just funny, I’m sorry.

I think what they should have done is instead of just trying to make everyone a true opposite (still not over the Timerra being vegetarian and hating music) they should have taken one important part of the character and changed it, but then kept everything else the same.

Take Timerra. Keep the fact that she’s more stoic and less flexible in this world but maybe she still loves music, but doesn’t have time for it or it has less priority in her life

Stuff I Think Would Be Neat

This is just my “oh what if they did this?” section, it doesn’t really have much to do with my opinion on the game

I think if evil emblems talked this game would have been so fuckin juicy. Like you have fused with these people, they know everything about you, if they were evil they could tear you apart and I think that’s fuckin metal. I just want Marth to be evil and mean as a treat

Past Alear being actually evil would have been super interesting, esp if after dying a second time they only retained their evil memories and briefly turned on their allies

EVEN BETTER: if they made it a gameplay mechanic! Like Alear is red and fighting on the enemy phase

I think limiting the units you have on each map on the xenologue to the relevant royals and retainers would be good too. Since everyone is a default class anyway you don’t lose anything and it invites you to get all the special dialogue with the royals and retainers

And that’s all! If you made it all the way through this, wow thank you for reading all of my rambles. I really love the fire emblem franchise and even if this game wasn’t the best I still enjoyed myself while I played it. Until next time!

[bored-knight]

QuanYin Week 2024 - Day 6: Disciple Days

"I only wanted to help Shixiong..."

💛💜

Technically this is the prequel to this. It was supposed to be posted together but I split it to fit this prompt too 😊

[zenlesszonezero]

As the conspiracy reaches its finale, the Void Hunter joins the fight.

Uncover the Conspiracy in Zenless Zone Zero's All-New Version "A Storm of Falling Stars", S-Rank Agent Hoshimi Miyabi is here! With S-Rank Agent Asaba Harumasa Limited-Time Giveaway! Pre-register to obtain additional rewards.

[derpydoteddrake]

An analisis on the symbolism of this shot and what it means for Jayce and Viktor

(this does not contain any le*ks, only material that has been officially released so far.)

But first to understand what this shot means, his connection to the new magic and how this relates to his relationship with Viktor, we need to look at what his bracelet represents.

He got the crystal for his bracelet by a mage who saved him from an impossible situation, this implanted in him a lifelong obsession with the idea that if he could give this tool to people, he could greatly improve the lives of many.

But since he knew they would not allow experiments like this in Piltover in normal circumstances, he needed to do it in secret. This is what at that moment the bracelet represents.

His conviction is so strong, this goal is so important to him that he made the reminder of that fateful encounter something that he can not just carry, but wear it on himself everywhere he goes. However it is hidden, the same way he needs to hide his research.

But then he is found out, his research is going to be destroyed, and he loses all hope in completing his dream. So he takes the bracelet off, as a symbol on how he is given up. But then Viktor comes into the picture.

He gives his bracelet back and with it his hope for his dream, it's no longer something he has to burden himself alone, it's not just Jayces dream anymore, and so he declares: our hextech dream.

And this gesture and this declaration changes the meaning behind this bracelet, it's not just a symbol of his dream anymore, it's now a symbol of their shared dream of helping people and in turn their relationship and partnership.

This thematic connection is later emphasized when he complains about being useless in the face of Viktors illness and his frustration about not being able to develop the technology he wants to and he reflexively tuches it.

And after he no longer needs to hide it and he can fully pursue his dream, he puts it on proud display, he turns the crystal upside down and even has clothing that lets his bracelet show, he is proud of they work and he shows that off.

But in the shot we got for the crystal to embed itself in that way, he needed to turn the bracelet upside down. And why would he do that? Well, he would need to be so disillusioned with their dream, so ashamed of letting Viktor down that he doesn't even want to be reminded of it.

I dont think it's a controversial thing to say that Jayce will have a chance to destroy the core and he won't, which initially Viktor will be mad about, but later allow Viktor to do his shenanigans with it. Thematically that would make sense.

But the bracelet isn't just worn in a different way, that would be reversible, the crystal is literally burned into him with a crack in the middle. It is irreversible. What does that symbolize?

Easy, they didn't just lost they dream,

THEY DREAM IS DEAD

The crystal is no longer a symbol of his hopes and dreams and a wonderful relationship, It is a symbol of his failure to do good with hextech, broken promises, and letting down his closest friend.

it is grotesquely melted into him forever, a reminder how he cannot escape the reality he helped create. Giving hextech to people is no longer a dream, it is real and it's a nightmare, he didn't improve anyone's lives who needed it, he made weapons to oppress.

And the gem is cracked in the middle, mirroring his broken relationship with Viktor, the man he let down over and over again, he wasn't there when he needed him, he went against his will and made weapons, and he failed to fulfill his promise to him.

Since we saw Viktor will gain the ability the transform people, I would teorise that he will be the one who will melt the crystal and metal into him in a heated argument. (tho his powers are distinctly purple)

It is not something he wants to remember, but it is something he will have to carry for the rest of his life.

And now Viktors mind is twisted, he was not strong enough to destroy the core when his mind was still intact and now Viktor commits horrific acts in the name of trying to do ultimately good.

And so the bracelet is not just a reminder of his failure, but also a reminder of the promise he will have to fulfill one way or another.

[saaraofthesand]

I’m actually so obsessed with this panel you guys don’t even know. like the grief, the hope, it’s everything to me

[diwns]

did a hotfix :')

[padfootagain]

THE FIRST DRAFT IS DONE!!!!!!!!!!

I'm crying, at this point...

The first draft of the Prof!AU Love in Verses is officially done!!! All 44 chapters are complete!!!

The posting schedule will be posted next week!!!

[zenlesszonezero]

As the conspiracy reaches its finale, the Void Hunter joins the fight.

Uncover the Conspiracy in Zenless Zone Zero's All-New Version "A Storm of Falling Stars", S-Rank Agent Hoshimi Miyabi is here! With S-Rank Agent Asaba Harumasa Limited-Time Giveaway! Pre-register to obtain additional rewards.

[avieaerie]

Have some sword dancing 🗡️

Description under the cut:

[ID: Mollymauk Teafleaf from Critical Role. Mollymauk is a purple skinned tiefling, wearing a heavily embroidered red and teal coat around his waist as a skirt, patterned leggings and a long teal scarf around his chest, trailing it's ends over his arms. He is facing away from the viewer, standing in a spotlight up on his toes on one foot, throwing a sword in the air while holding another behind him. End ID]

[nomdepen]

Their time was swiftly coming to an end and, soon they'd have to return to their stations, pretending that nothing had changed. But both of them knew things would never be the same. And she didn't mind. Change had always scared her, the idea of getting acclimated to a new reality made her uneasy and it was easier to stick to what she knew was safe. Love and risk went hand in hand, though, and change was inevitable.

At the sound of Gregory's voice, Pen jumped, hand rising to her chest, to steady her racing heart. She raised her other hand to her mouth, trying to suppress a giggle before gently nudging him to go. He would write to her and she would think of nothing but his face the entire walk home.

The weight of reality felt ten times heavier when she was alone in her room. She was in love, and he loved her back. He was willing to marry her, and she would say yes. But it would not be the magical romance she had always dreamed of. There would not be a large, fancy wedding with glittering gowns and dancing. Although Pen most likely had enough money to fund a wedding of her own, she knew that a ceremony without her family would be wrong.

So, she waited. And thought. And plotted. Penelope wanted to catch her mother on a good day, one where she wasn't being harassed by solicitors or nagged to death by her daughters. It had to be a rather quiet day, so as to not interrupt any other plans with her news. But it couldn't be so quiet as to allow every ear in the house to learn of it, either. So, when her sisters announced their plans to go into town the next day, without their Mama present, Pen knew it was time. It had to be.

Tomorrow, 11, Featherington house. Love, Pen.

She wrote a quick note to Ben, hoping that her curt wording wouldn't seem either too discontented nor too urgent. But if she allowed herself to sit and write out her entire thought process, the next day would come and go before she could send word. It only needed to be enough to let him know. And she hoped it would be enough to work.

The next morning, Rae helped Pen get bathed and dressed. She informed the doorman of a possible visitor and hoped that she could trust him to hold his tongue until her visitor at least arrived. She felt jittery and nervous, a light trembling in her hands making even tying her stay a challenge. For everyone else, it was a normal day, but the events that unfolded within the next hour could very well make or break her entire life. It was daunting to think of it that way, so she tried her best not to dwell on the what-ifs. Instead, she focused on the truths she knew for certain: she loved Ben. Ben loved her. They would be together, no matter what.

"Mama," Pen called out as she tried to catch her mother's attention. "Do you have a moment?"

"Yes, what is it, Penelope?" Portia cast the question over her shoulder, maintaining her stride across the foyer.

"It's regarding a, um, a marriage proposal." She kept her voice low, but her tone urgent. The last thing she needed was her voice echoing through the halls of the Featherington estate. Her mother slowed her pace and turned to face her daughter, eyes narrowed. Pen swallowed hard, willing her nerves to stay put. "May we speak... alone?"

"Very well. Come, let us chat." Portia continued on to the drawing room, with Pen quickly scurrying along behind her. As they both swept in, Varley poked her head in the doorway, seeming to sense a foreboding in the air. Portia's eyes flicked to the older woman and back, a silent conversation happening between the two women. After a moment, her mother nodded and Varley disappeared back into the hallway.

Pen waited until she heard the door click behind her. She could feel the air in the room pulsate with each thunderous heartbeat. Each tick, tick, tick on the grandfather clock grew louder and louder as the seconds crept closer to allotted hour. If, when, Ben showed up, she would have to gather all her energy to maintain a ladylike posture. It was strange that something she'd practiced her entire life could be forgotten by the presence of a single person. But she supposed that's what love was: a weakness.

"Go on, did you receive a proposal?"

"Well, not exactly." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "It's just--"

"For goodness sake Penelope, you're making me dizzy with all that wobbling. Come, sit, and get on with it."

"Right." Slowly, she padded over to her sofa and took a seat down next to her mother. "Well, it's not exactly a proposal. Not yet." Portia's eyes narrowed and she leaned forward with interest. This was as much a proposal for her as it was for Pen, she realized. "He's a gentleman, you see, and... he wants to meet you first. To get your blessing before proposing, since father isn't here to do it."

"My blessing? Well, that's rather quixotic of him, but I suppose it could be far worse." The matriarch sat forward, clasping her hands together. "So, who is he? I don't remember seeing you speaking with anyone at the last soiree, so I'm eager to know who it is you've seduced so swiftly. Surely, it's not that Bridgerton boy? Because we all knew that fruit would never flower. Though, we ought to be grateful Whistledown didn't catch wind of your little crush before it got out of control." The comment stings, but Pen doesn't flinch. Not yet. "Anyway, tell me more about this suitor of yours. What's his name?"

"Benjamin. Tallmadge."

"Tallmadge? That doesn't ring a bell. Did he attend the Bridgerton ball? He doesn't happen to be a duke, does he? I heard that Lady Bridgerton had quite a few dukes in attendance." Pen opened her mouth to speak, but Portia pushed on. "No, no, that wouldn't have escaped by ears so easily. You're a wonderful girl, but we have to be realistic. A baron, perhaps? A baronet? Hm?"

"Well, actually, Mama, he's a--"

"Madam," Varley's voice cut through the stillness, causing Penelope to go pale. "A caller. For Miss Penelope."

Private tutoring sessions?

Unbidden, a dizziness started up in his head, then spread in a fluttery warmth toward his cheeks and chest, a shy, lopsided little grin lifting his lips as he looked away. "I can't say I've ever given those kinds of lessons before...though perhaps for once, the teacher will become the student. I've learned a lot from you -- and also about myself -- these past few weeks, Pen."

In truth, Benjamin was a little embarrassed about his history. He was certain Penelope was accustomed to rakes, to men who were well-versed with intimacy and knew their way around a woman's body, but his knowledge merely stemmed from just the once -- a passionate entanglement with his fiancée before he set off for war -- and concerned, he wondered if he would yet again be a disappointment. Sarah, after all, hadn't wished to remain his intended after their separation. What if his inexperience had partly been the cause?

Despite his despairing thoughts, Penelope's fingertips gently traced the slope of his cheek. Lifting his eyes to her face, Benjamin's melancholy smile brightened and he turned his head to kiss her palm, his lips lingering against her hand with a fond, ardent yearning. "Although I wish to inform him of your assessment, Brewster will take that as a challenge."

Chuckling, Benjamin nuzzled her palm before flashing her an impish smile. "Perhaps we should take things one 'explosion' at a time," he agreed. "After all, will our union not cause enough of a stir? Caleb and Eloise can wait their turn."

"Mr. Tallmadge?"

Jerking upright, Benjamin craned his head and listened. Gregory was searching for him in the hallway...

"Oh, hell," he muttered, though he was grinning. "I knew his studies couldn't keep him entertained for long..." With a rueful look to his eyes, Benjamin took Penelope's chin between thumb and forefinger, then lowered to capture her mouth in another kiss, heated, but somehow sweetly chaste. Parting their lips with a nuzzle, he murmured, "I'll write to you, if that method is easiest?"

[might-be-tiny-gt]

Last year I wrote a story about a streamer who shrinks based on chat donations. I meant it as a one shot, but guys…. GUYSSSSS.

I think about this story ‘s universe a lot. I have lore notes just collecting dust and I need to share it or I might go absolutely mad XD Made these visuals charts to get the basics across but if you’re interested in my lore and semantic ramblings, feel free to read below the cut.

Consider this my unofficial pitch bible for Down Played.

General premise: Monica Diaz is Twitch streamer with steadily growing fan base. Her tag is MiniMushroom and her aesthetic is cottage core. She loves all things magical and tiny, especially toadstool mushrooms, that’s the image most associated with her “brand.” She’s approached by a mysterious benefactor who has developed technology specifically for Monica to test and utilize for her streams. It’s called Byte-Syzed Tech and it connects to a user’s twitch stream and based on the user’s preferences, gives the audience the ability to change the user’s height. The one shot I wrote takes place during Monica’s first live use of Byte-Syzed tech on stream. If I were to develop this into a full story I’d probably go back a bit and start around when Monica is first approached about using Byte-Syzed tech then continue to follow Monica adjusting to using Byte-Syzed more often. How she deals with the size change on camera, off camera, how her social and personal life are affected, all that good stuff. I think it would like a slice of life feel good kinda story.

Characters:

- Monica - Main character and primary user of Byte-Syzed tech. Surprisingly enough, she’s actually a law school grad who probably would have put her degree to use if she didn’t accidentally gain a massive following on twitch. Funny how life works out. She stands at 6’4 and always was fascinated with the idea of being small (Basically, she’s a g/t nerd who doesn’t know what g/t is) so being gifted Byte-Syzed and being able to use it on stream is kinda a dream come true.

- Kim - Monica’s girlfriend, roommate, and stream moderator. Kim and Monica were high school sweethearts but drifted apart in college due to personal matters in Kim’s life including having to drop out of college. Kim and Monica rekindled their relationship a few years later and Kim cites Monica and her encouragement as a big reason why she’s been able to get her life back together. She’s currently back in college working on getting her degree in Mathematics.

- The Twitch Team- Moni hosts solo streams but also very often collabs with three of her online friends. Ariel (@Lifeisthebubbles), a Vtuber who is the only one Moni has met in person. Corey (@McDonuts) an NB asmrist on youtube who started streaming games for fun. And Phin (@UrguyPhin) Corey's bf and the competitive gamer of the four. All three of them were streaming with Monica when she first used Byte-Syzed and have since gotten used to pausing their games so an ever shrinking Monica can adjust her set up.

- The Benefactors- Keeping their (Plural, there are two of them) exact identity to myself for the time being, but basically they’re mad scientists with the best intentions. Their antics have garnered attention across the internet as they have created and gifted inventions to up and coming online creators that seem to defy all laws of physics. Anti Gravity chambers, a literal money tree, a mask the morphs the wearer’s face, and now the Byte-Syzed size changing tech. Despite their inventions going viral, their identities have remained hidden. So what is their deal? They’re just big fans of these creators and for lack of drawing skills have gifted them weird inventions instead. Nerds… Due to the nature of Byte-Syzed and the possible effects it can have on the human body, Monica and Kim remain in close contact with them.

How Byte-Syzed Works in Universe: This I wrote tons of notes about when I first thought of the idea. Byte-Syzed can be divided into three key components; The program, the arm band monitor, and the sync suit.

The Program is installed on the user’s computer and connects directly to the arm band monitor and sync suit. The program has user friendly set up that allows the user to input the direction of height change (Shrink or Grow), The minimum or maximum height change, How height change occurs (By views, chat commands, donations, etc.), and rate of height change (How much height is gained or lost with each instance of viewer interaction.) EX: If height is based on donations, the user can set it up so they lose 1 inch for every 10 dollars donated. They can set the minimum height to 6 inches, so once they’ve received enough donations that they have shrunk down to 6 inches, Byte-Syzed will hold at that height. More donations may come in after, but the height will remain at 6 inches for the duration of the stream.)

The Arm Band Monitor, is the device the physically changes the user’s height after connecting to the Byte-Syzed Program. It also monitors and display’s the user’s current height and vitals. All data collected from the arm band will then be saved and can be referenced later if the band is connected to the computer. The arm band must be kept on at all times during active use and active reset of Byte-Syzed. Active use is the time in which Byte-Syzed is being used in a stream and the user’s height is actively changing. Active reset refers to time after the stream has ended and the user is either set at their new current height or in the process of returning to their normal height. After a stream has ended the user will remain at their changed height until they press the reset button on the monitor. Once the reset button is active, the user will return to their normal height at 1.5 times the amount of time it took to change to their current changed height. EX: A user has finished a stream that was 4 hours. They hit the reset button which will return them to normal over the course of 6 hours. (4x1.5=6) This only applies for time Byte-Syzed was in use, not how long a size change occurred. EX: If the user’s stream was 4 hours, but they reached their minimum height in 3 hours, the reset function will account for the 4 hours the stream lasted. This is a safety procedure to reduce stress on the user’s body. Note: If the reset button is not pressed, the user will remain at their changed height for a period of 12 hours. After 12 hours, the reset function will kick in automatically.

The Synchronized Suit or Sync Suit is directly connected to the Byte-Syzed program and will grow and shrink with the user at the same rate as the user. Normal clothing can be worn above it but they will not change size with the user, only the sync suit. The sync suit Monica received came with the suit, shoes, and a headset with a built in microphone to keep audio input even over the course of her size changing. More sync suits are in the process of being designed and produced, with the goal of making sync suits that resemble everyday clothing like t shirts or skirts.

Fun Story Ideas:

- Origin story. How Monica met the benefactors and was gifted Byte-Syzed, her and Kim’s gripes about using it, actually going through with it and the pros and cons she noticed, the end of her first size changing stream and dealing with being tiny in her own room and her girlfriend’s hands. Etc etc

- Monica finished a late night stream using byte Syzed and forgets to press reset when she goes to sleep so instead of growing back over the course of the night she wakes up at her tiny size. After realizing her mistake she begins the growth process but now has to do it while attempting to do her regular day time activities.

- Monica is approached by a doll company to collaborate on a new doll based on her, only issue, their studio is several hours away and they want her to model at both her full height and at the height of the dolls. After some consideration Monica and Kim decide to take a road trip to the studio and use Byte Syzed at the studio under Kim’s careful supervision. What could go wrong?

- Months have passed and Kim and Monica have grown well adjusted to the major size difference between them after Monica finishes a byte syze stream, however curiosity has gotten the best of her and Kim wonders what it would be like to be the tiny one for a change.

If you have read this far, you have my eternal gratitude. Thanks for reading this far, I really hope you liked it XD Maybe if time and motivation allows I can flesh the story out.

[corpish]

.

[zenlesszonezero]

As the conspiracy reaches its finale, the Void Hunter joins the fight.

Uncover the Conspiracy in Zenless Zone Zero's All-New Version "A Storm of Falling Stars", S-Rank Agent Hoshimi Miyabi is here! With S-Rank Agent Asaba Harumasa Limited-Time Giveaway! Pre-register to obtain additional rewards.

[blushouyo]

little wip of a small comic i'm working on atm

[half-a-life-left]

😭 goolatta?

rough day at work