#SaGa 1

[misterrockett]

This is actually a good time to give you guys a little piece of advice that may be necessary for younger gamers out there. Let me tell you a story about a gaming experience I had very recently about The Final Fantasy Legend/SaGa 1.

SaGa is a spin-off JRPG series that started on the Gameboy with mechanics inspired by Final Fantasy II. Final Fantasy II is infamous for having a hilariously bad Oblivion styled level up system where your stats were based off use. So your health would only go up by taking damage, your attack stat would only go up by using your basic attack and specific spells would only increase in potency with constant use.

SaGa is meant to be a refinement of those systems with games in the series releasing even today and about a year or two ago SquareEnix released the trilogy of original Gameboy games on modern consoles, which I am playing as my introduction to the series right now (btw, mobile phones are actually a fantastic place to play classic RPGs like this. Pick this or the original Dragon Quest games up on mobile if you're interested)

To say the first game drops you in with no guideline is an understatement.

This is the first screen you are greeted with after the short intro cutscene, which throws you into the game's class system with no explanation of what it is and that you're really only looking at 3 different classes with three unique level up systems. The first thing you're expected to do after being dropped in is to go to the guild and fill out the other 3 slots in your party with other choices.

It's explained at no point in the game and do you know why? Well I decided to check online for a scan of the manual and...

It's because the original game came with an EIGHTY PAGE INSTRUCTION MANUAL.

Detailed explanations for the difference between the game's 3 races.

Recommended and unrecommended party compositions

Details about weapon types and the detail that some weapons scale with your agility rather than your strength (this, the book actually kinda gets wrong since some melee weapons do scale with your agility too).

The only place where you can get an explanation for what the items do and last but not least filling out the last half of the manual,

A story driven walkthrough of the first part of the game.

All this to say this book is not provided in the Saga collection SquareEnix released despite the fact that it is incredibly obvious the game was designed with the assumption that every player would have it. Being able to guide the player to a game's mechanics through an instruction manual eased the load on programmers and designers and let them put more complex mechanics into their games without having to feel the need to EXPLAIN said mechanics within the game itself. And while this isn't a common practice anymore and was disastrous even at the time for anyone who dipped into the re-sell market it also has to be something that's considered for the future preservation of games. The original Legend of Zelda game has a reputation of being esoteric and hard to get through because it doesn't provide information but THAT game had a full world map in it's manual. The manual was so integral to the full experience of the game Nintendo officially provides support for it's PDF themselves with an HD upload of it's art assets.

So if you're dipping back into an older game, especially one from the 90s and it seems like a lot of details about it goes unexplained, check for the manual. It may be more integral to the experience than you had assumed.

not to sound like a boomer but I miss when video games included manuals with maps and some small trivia about the characters

[swkywalker]

NOSFERATU (2024) dir. Robert Eggers The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011) dir. Bill Condon

[kaleidoscopiclights]

I'm late, but it's also SaGa's birthday! Happy 34th to the first in the series!

Fanart and the like under the cut!

[insomniphic]

Part 1 (Highly suggested)

Long awaited part 2!

I couldn't fit all 759 voices/circles/squiggles in the last panel :(

Geez Odysseus, if I can't fit all of them in a square box, then just how exactly loud are those screams?

[leejeann]

Some more low-res crew shenanigans from Act 1, for the masses

[ochiody]

my son, im finally home

[seventh-district]

Making Incorrect H:SR Quotes Until I Run Out of (hopefully) Original Ideas - Pt. 5 - I Finally Finished the 2.2 Main Quest Edition

[Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] [Pt. 3] [Pt. 4] [Pt. 6]

[official-english-major]

Thinking about the "I love you" at the end of Epic. The last time we heard Odysseus harmonizing the word "I" with someone like that was "We are the same, you and I" at the end of "Scylla", showing that he was resigned to being the same as a monster. And now, at the end of his journey, he is singing that same word in harmony with the one he became a monster for. And she is affirming that no matter what he's become or where he's been, he is still him. They still love each other. Things didn't end with his defeated "I" at the end of the phrase "we are the same, you and I." Now he and his wife are finally together. They are the same because they are both committed to loving each other, no matter what. The phrase "you and I" was all about pulling Odysseus into the darkness, lumping him in with the ruthlessness of his opponents and saying he was no better than his worst acts. "I love you" is pulling him out into the light and embracing him with open arms.

[morganbritton132]

Dustin posts a Tiktok of the party as they wait for everybody to show up for a Hellfire campaign but focuses in on a conversation happening in the kitchen. You can hear Steve say, “-believe it because Erica said it. She’s never wrong.”

Robin, picking the m&ms out of trail mix: I don’t know, she did want to drink that green sludge that dissolved concrete

Steve: That was before we knew it could do that and later that same day she called Murray a bald bastard. He was bald and he was a bastard. It cancels itself out.

Eddie: The first time I met her, she called me a long haired freak.

Steve: That’s the description I’d give the police if you ever went missing

Lucas: She calls me the family disappointment

Steve:

Steve, with that smile where he’s going to say something mean and is sorry about it: There’s only two of you, Lucas.

[blank-house]

Contrary to what those on campus think, Jamie and Elio have a lot in common. The biggest link between them? Their love of nature~🌿

Art by the lovely Velinxi

[ ◉ ¯]

Surprise! To commemorate the campaign's launch, we commissioned a handful of incredibly talented artists to draw our boys. We've been dying to share these for a long time so I hope you guys enjoy seeing them in a new and refreshing way over the course of the campaign!

DISCLAIMER: We are not responsible for the potential combusting one might undergo when they see these immaculate pieces lol

[ ◉ ¯]

Kickstarter -> Keyframes: First Summer Game -> Keyframes: First Spring

[cece693]

Brooding Edward (Edward Cullen x M! Vampire Reader)

I got a comment some time ago asking for more Edward Cullen fics, so I came to deliver :) Hope you guys enjoy it.

Summary: You don't know when your dislike of Edward turned into adoration, but you did know that you didn't like how close he was getting with the human, Isabella Swan.

tags: scheming Edward, jealous reader, hater to lover, making out, Bella used as a pawn in Edward's plan, mentions of Bella x Edward

Forks was a dreary town, always dripping with rain and cloaked in mist, a far cry from the places I’d roamed over the centuries. I’d arrived here on a whim, seeking nothing more than a quiet place to blend in, disappear among the mundane, and watch as the world turned on without me. But I wasn’t completely alone here. There were others of my kind, tucked away in the dense forests.

The first time I laid eyes on Edward Cullen, I knew immediately what he was—beautiful, yes, but also cold and distant, a façade of perfection wrapped around a soul that seemed perpetually weighed down. We didn’t speak much at first, just acknowledged each other as predators passing in the same territory.

But the more I saw him, the more I realized how irritatingly complex he was.

He wasn’t like the others—his siblings, his parents—who seemed content with the life they had carved out here, blending in with humans, attending school like everything was perfectly normal. Edward. had this air of constant torment, like he was wrestling with demons none of us could see. It grated on me. The self-imposed suffering. The way he would sit in class, staring out the window like the weight of existence itself was crushing him.

I couldn’t stand it.

“Edward’s always been like that.” Alice once told me when I asked why her brother seemed more brooding than the rest of them. She smiled, almost fondly, as if his moodiness was something endearing, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

“You mean miserable?”

“He’s complicated.” she explained, and for some reason, that word irritated me even more.

Complicated. Right.

The more I was around him, the more I was drawn to observe his every movement, his every interaction. And it only made my disdain grow. Edward had this way of pulling people in without even trying—his impossibly good looks, the air of mystery that seemed to cling to him like fog, his quiet intelligence. Everyone wanted to know him, to understand him. But he kept everyone at arm’s length.

He was a contradiction—mysterious yet aloof, compassionate yet disconnected. And I couldn’t stop watching him.

It became a sick habit of mine, this strange fascination, though I told myself it was just that. I would catch glimpses of him in the halls at school, his expression always distant, as if he were somewhere else entirely. He rarely laughed or even smiled—everything seemed so goddamn serious to him. His siblings would joke around, ease into their lives here, but Edward? He remained on the outskirts, as though he couldn’t let himself relax, couldn’t let go of whatever it was that tormented him.

There was something maddening about it.

It wasn’t until Isabella Swan came into the picture that everything shifted.

She was new, fragile, and completely unaware of the supernatural undercurrent running through Forks. But Edward saw her. And it wasn’t just passing interest. I noticed it from the beginning—the way his gaze would linger on her in class, how his jaw would tense when she got too close to any of the other students, or how he disappeared for days after their first encounter, struggling to keep himself in check.

I remember the first time I heard them talking, watching from a distance, seated in the cafeteria among the other Cullens. Edward’s voice was soft but strained, his gaze locked on hers like she was the most precious thing in the world. The intensity in his eyes, the way his entire being seemed to revolve around this human—it was unsettling.

"She’s different." he told me once when I couldn’t stop myself from asking why he was so fascinated with her.

"Different?" I echoed, unable to keep the disbelief out of my voice. "She’s human, Edward. She’ll die in a blink of an eye. What happens then?" He said nothing, just stared off into the distance, as if the very idea caused him more pain than I could understand.

It was then that the slow burn of jealousy began to fester inside me, though I couldn’t name it at first. The fact that Edward, who seemed indifferent to everything, had suddenly fixated on this girl—this fragile, breakable human—made something inside me twist. I was used to seeing him as distant, untouchable, yet here he was letting his guard down for someone like her.

I wanted Edward’s gaze on me. His intensity. His focus. The realization hit me harder than I expected, and it wasn’t long before that jealousy bubbled over into anger.

One night, the tension reached a boiling point. Edward had just returned from dropping Bella off, his face drawn, like always, but with something else in his eyes that I couldn’t ignore. Satisfaction. The kind of satisfaction that came from spending time with her. The kind of satisfaction I wanted him to feel when he was with me.

“Isabella this, Isabella that.” I sneered, my voice cutting through the stillness of the forest. Edward stopped in his tracks, his expression hardening as he turned to face me.

“What’s your problem?” His tone was cold, guarded.

I stepped forward, closing the distance between us, my chest tight with the jealousy and frustration I’d been holding in for too long. “My problem is that you’re throwing everything away for her. And for what? She’s nothing special, Edward.”

His jaw clenched, his golden eyes flashing dangerously. “You don’t know her. You don’t understand.”

“Understand?” I laughed bitterly. “What’s there to understand? She’s human. You’re a vampire. End of story.”

“It’s not that simple,” Edward hissed, stepping closer, his presence looming. “It’s never been that simple.”

I stared him down, anger boiling over into something sharper. “You think I don’t see what’s happening here? You’re losing yourself in her. You’re forgetting who you are, what you are. She’s going to be your downfall.”

He glared at me, and I could see the storm brewing behind his eyes. His hand shot out, grabbing the front of my shirt, pulling me roughly against him. “You’re wrong.”

Before I could snap back, Edward’s lips collided with mine like a strike of lightning, fierce and demanding, with none of the hesitation I’d come to expect from him. The initial shock froze me for only a second, but then the fire that had been building inside me for so long erupted, and I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, yanking him closer, forcing the kiss deeper.

His body pressed hard against mine, the coldness of his skin a sharp contrast to the heat pulsing through me. This wasn’t like anything I’d imagined—there was no softness, no careful exploration—just raw, primal need. His lips left mine briefly, trailing down the line of my jaw, his breath cool against my skin as he whispered, “You think I’m hers?” His voice was low and dangerous. “I was never hers.”

I gripped his shoulders, shoving him back slightly, forcing his eyes to meet mine. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He smirked, that infuriating, knowing smirk that sent another wave of frustration and heat crashing through me. His eyes darkened, the gold-flecked with something more primal, more dangerous. “My relationship with Bella means nothing to me.”

I tried to shove him away again, but he held firm, his grip on me unyielding, his body pressing me back against the rough bark of the tree. “Bullshit,” I growled, but the anger in my voice was already fading, replaced by something I didn’t want to admit. “You’ve been obsessed with her—”

“Lies.” he interrupted, his lips hovering over mine, so close I could kiss him again if I leaned forward. “I needed her to push you, to make you feel what you’ve been ignoring for months.”

My mind reeled. “You’re saying this was all some kind of game?”

His smirk widened, but it wasn’t cruel—it was victorious. “Not a game. A plan.” His fingers trailed lightly over my collarbone, sending sparks through me, and I hated how easily he could get under my skin, how quickly he could break down the walls I’d built. “I’ve been waiting for you to realize it, to stop fighting me.”

“Fighting you? You never said a damn thing.”

“I didn’t need to. I knew you’d come to me eventually.”

The kiss that followed was harder, more desperate, and I couldn’t stop myself from pulling him closer, the fire that had been smoldering between us now raging out of control. His hands roamed over my body, each touch stoking the flames higher. I couldn’t think, his presence overwhelming every sense, every thought.

“I'm yours,” he growled against my lips, his voice rough and possessive. His hands slid under my shirt, cold fingers tracing over my skin, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. “Not hers.”

The words hit me like a punch, and I grabbed his face, pulling him back just enough to meet his gaze. “Say it again.”

His eyes bored into mine, that same victorious glint dancing in their depths. “I’m not hers. I’m yours.”

[humanoidluv]

we as a collective (dick grayson fans) don't talk enough about how perfectly dick was able to mimic the joker when appearing as him. we also don't talk about how this is the 2nd? time? that dick was put in arkham by bruce for a mission. and bruce left him in there an extra day this time. what the fuck.

[queenofglassbeliever]

@giftober 2024 | Day 15: "References"

[butyoucouldberadiant]

Athena’s verse in “I Can’t Help but Wonder” is such a great author/audience insert?? Because to our modern ears I think the way Epic ends is a little disappointing. We want Odysseus to find his way back to Open Arms just as much as we want him to find his way back to Penelope and Telemachus. Athena’s verse allows a place for that desire to interact with the reality.

To me, it views Epic as a tragedy even though he gets his family back. Because it says, did it really have to end this way? Could something different have happened? Whose failure led to this? Was it Athena? Or was this destiny?

Was he right in his Ruthlessness? Or if more people chose Open Arms, would such a tragedy have happened?

And to me, those questions make the disappointment that Odysseus couldn’t go back to Open Arms fade, because it feels like the story is acknowledging that and accommodating it. It’s maybe saying that even though life sometimes changed us and takes us away from who we thought we were or who we ought to be, there is goodness and there is value and we can continue on in spite of that sorrow. We might have those questions: what if I was more kind to others? What if others were more kind to me? How would my life have been different? But those questions are more valuable for how they affect our future than for how they affect our past. When we ask those questions, we hopefully become more empathetic in the future and prevent this tragedy in others’ lives. If we ask them with more of a focus on our past than our future, we may become bitter. We may say, “no one was kind to me, so therefore I will be Ruthless to others.”

The only person who seems to consider these questions raised by Athena before this point in the story is Circe. Circe is the only one in the Epic who successfully implements Open Arms. She chooses to show Odysseus mercy, and it doesn’t backfire on her. And she chooses it because she has had tragedy and Ruthlessness inflicted upon her, and has been Ruthless herself. And she thinks maybe things could be better if that wasn’t how people treated each other. And she decides it starts with her.

[dailyflicks]

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 2011, dir. Bill Condon

[gigizetz]

🫡

OMG THAT`S GENUINELY SO BEAUTIFUL

o7 for dead X eye guy he shall never be forgotten