#Though she doesn't get a single line of dialog
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randomthefox · 7 months ago
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https://www.tumblr.com/randomthefox/768227033026363392/amys-always-been-a-rude-bitch-in-sonic-heroes
Why do you pretend that Amy WASN’T badly written in Frontiers when she pretty much was?
She was a complete shell of her former self in that game! There wasn’t a single moment where I felt like “yup, that’s Amy Rose, all right!” She felt so SOULLESS (not helped by the absolutely ABYSMAL voice direction that Cindy Robinson was given). There was none of that bombastic, over-the-top energy and emotion she is known for, plus the sudden hyperfixation on her fortune cards came completely out of nowhere and felt super forced. Like, they literally replaced her hammer in favor of the cards as her entire moveset!
And not to mention, her entire “arc” is completely stupid and redundant. She wants to go “share love the world”? SHE ALREADY DOES THAT! LITERALLY, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT SHE HAS ALWAYS DONE SINCE HER INCEPTION BACK IN SONIC CD!!!
Amy was not done well in Frontiers. I can’t possibly understand how you, Ian Flynn’s biggest critic, do not see anything wrong with this
Disagree
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It is sort of flattering to be called Ian Flynn's biggest critic though thanks I guess lol
The only problem with Amy in Frontiers is the same problem Shadow had in the 2010s games. That being they were barely in it lol. Like, that's why it always baffled me when people say Shadow was written badly in the 2010s. I'm like, he isn't even IN the 2010s games wtf are you talking about? How can he be badly written in them when he has maybe sixteen lines of dialog grand total across the entire decade? Is the insinuation that him being out of the spotlight is OOC in some way =P
Amy suffers in Frontiers from being on the first island, when the game is prioritizing the tutorial and the mystery of Sage and the Titans and Eggman being in cyberspace and the whole introduction of the islands in general. She really gets squeezed into the back seat in comparison to everything else happening in that first chapter. Knuckles and Tails by contrast get a lot more room to breathe, since we already have a solid foundation for everything else.
I would also say that Amy doesn't really have any baggage, in the same way that Knuckles and Tails do. So her chapter didn't really have a conflict that needed to be addressed via her relationship with Sonic. She just kinda went "well that was a sad ending =\ kind of a bummer huh?" but nothing really deep in the same way that Knuckles and Tails had with their final scenes. Amy is just too put together and self assured to be as introspective as the others lol. So that combined with the lack of focus made her contributions to the story feel more shallow.
That's more of a problem with the way the first island is structured though. It isn't Amy Rose the character being written badly. I couldn't disagree more: there are plenty of moments of "yup, that's Amy."
And like I've said elsewhere: the fact the characters are so well written in Frontiers is part of the reason I'm not convinced Ian Flynn had very much to do with the writing of this game =P Like, if he wrote the games, then why aren't the characters written the same way as he writes them in the comic? Why are the characters PROPERLY WRITTEN in the games, but ATROCIOUSLY OOC AS ALL FUCK in the comics? You cannot convince me the same person who wrote the clips above also wrote this trash. I simply do not believe you.
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These are simply not the same character.
There's a Flynnism here and there in the games, sure. But if the only thing Ian Flynn wrote for the game is what he was TOLD to write, then is it really his writing? I don't think it really counts as his writing.
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pancake-breakfast · 2 months ago
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So, I finished Dragon Age: Veilguard.
The short, spolier-free version of my thoughts on it are that, while the game definitely has some flaws, it's actually pretty decent and doesn't deserve the sheer amount of hate it's received. I had a lot of fun and I look forward to playing it again. Though I will note I initially wrote it was "pretty solid" and decided that wasn't accurate, as it implies a better presentation of its story than we were given. Still, I'd rate it a B, and recommend they send it through a couple more drafts before submitting it to the board.
The longer version of my thoughts (with spoilers) are below....
A few quick character notes first:
Played a Dalish elf veiljumper. Ignore the fact that she runs around in Crow outfits all the time. They looked cool.
Inquisitor romanced Solas in Inquisition. It's... a bit more complicated than that, but maybe I'll explain it another time. It was close enough and that's the point.
Saved Treviso. When the other city you can save has magical death lasers, you're within your rights to think they can handle themselves against one little dragon.
I'm going to separate these into three sections: The Good, The Bad, and Other. Items in these sections will not be in any particular order unless indicated as such.
So without further ado...
The Good
Things I loved, things that brought me joy, things I really appreciated....
The Companions: I realize that the nature of these games means that YMMV, but for me, there wasn't a single character I didn't like or find interesting. They had their own struggles and strengths and flaws, and all of them felt well-rounded, like the writers very much took the time to get to know them. I loved listening to them banter and all the many, many casual interactions Rook can have with them. Do they run out of dialog between each other? They must, but I spent about 160 hours in the game, almost never using the quick travel system, and only hit a point where a few of them stopped talking with each other... a problem easily remedied by trading one of them out for another while we were in transit.
The Companion Introduction Quests: These quests were great for helping you get a feel for each individual character's personality, and the way they (or a secondary early quest) often allowed the character to introduce you to the part of the world that was meaningful to them was beautifully done (though I admit these probably would have gone better for me if I had gone along with the secondary quests more quickly; I have a tendency to run all over the map before doing any "main" quests, so I already had a passing familiarity with the maps before I got to the area introduction quests a few times). It also made the regions feel personal by proxy. Whether or not I care about Treviso matters less than how much I care about Lucanis, since Treviso is important to him and if I care about him, then Treviso will also be important to me in some way.
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The Companion Story Quests: In particular, I appreciated how (nearly) all of them tied into the turmoil at the time. In Mass Effect 2, the companion quests are tangentially related to the plot at best, but in Veilguard, it's easy to draw a line from (most of) the companion quests to the primary turmoil going on in the world. For some of these, it even goes far enough to actually influence your endgame, and I love that they put that kind of thought into them.
The End Game (sans Prison of Regret, Elgar'nan Fight, and a handful of smaller things): Very early in my playthrough, I told my friend who I was streaming for that it felt very much like the devs knew exactly where they wanted to take the game from the very beginning. Boy, was I right. While I had been told it was long, I wasn't expecting it to take around 10 hours and be broken up into several parts. They clearly put a ton of work into that whole sequence. It's like they took everything that anyone had liked or complained about in any of their previous games to heart and used it to build out this absolute epic where you can definitely see your choices play out. It's also got a good balance of tension and release (despite the lingering threat the whole time) and of story and action, so it allows you to breathe and indulge at a more reasonable pace than, say, the end sequence of Mass Effect from Priority: Earth on.
The Scenery: Oh my gosh, this game is so beautiful. Arlathan was my personal favorite (with Treviso a close second), but every landscape they did had its own charms. They each have their own tone and uniqueness, and that allows them to display different kinds of beauty or harshness or the place where those two meet. I could absolutely spend a bunch of time just camera roaming for lovely screenshots.
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The Use of Vertical Space in Maps: Because a decent amount of the game takes place in cities, it really gives them extra depth (lol) to have the maps literally work on multiple levels. It also makes the wild outdoor areas feel more outdoor, as they're not just flat places where you have to traverse from point A to point B. I know I'm not really doing it justice in calling it out here, but it's good enough to be worth calling out.
Payout from Previous Games: I'm sure some people would debate me on this, but I loved seeing several of the little side items from Inquisition show up in Veilguard. I definitely don't remember all of them, but I did enjoy getting to actually meet characters who we only heard about in text in previous games. Related to this...
The Deeper Dive into the Grey Wardens: I know some people have kind of hated the Grey Wardens in every game except Origins, but I could (and maybe will) write a whole essay on why it's not a great idea to judge the Wardens as an organization on how they seem in Origins. Personally, I loved that I finally got some questions answered that I've had about the Wardens since Origins, that they actually bothered to explore those venues. And maybe it's the Elder Millennial Who Has Been in Varying Levels of the Workforce Over 20 Years in me, but I don't mind them having some level of organizational incompetence. That's just part of life.
Gryphons: How can I not put gryphons here? I love gryphons, and I love how they handle their arc overall in this game.
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Making All the Male Companions Dads: It was fun to watch each of them take a different parenting approach to their various children.
Taash's Relationship with Their Mother: It just felt very realistic to me. Like, there's a lot of love and genuine care between the two, but they both suck at expressing themselves and have never quite figured out how to communicate to each other, so they have a tendency to inadvertently talk around each other and not realize they're saying similar things, and this causes conflict. I appreciate the complexity that comes with that dynamic.
The Crows as a Mob Family: Maybe not every branch of the Crows is quite like they are in Treviso, but the ones we get to see? Absolutely a family, even when they aren't blood-related. Excuses are made for So-and-So because they're a favorite or a close relative of someone in power. People have messy back-and-forth dynamics where they've hurt each other and healed over enough times that it's practically a joke. The young ones all fear That One Aunt. The nurturers are aware enough of the family drama that they already have plans for how to mitigate certain damages that come up. It's just a lot of fun/frustrating dynamics that simultaneously make them feel much more real for me and make me want to grab several characters and shake some sense into them. In a good way.
Lucanis's Inner Demons Quest: I loved getting to explore Lucanis's trauma. There was a lot I suspected about his character, how he really seems to love and care about people, but at the same time tends to keep them at arm's length, and this quest really lets you explore that in a way Lucanis himself would probably struggle to voice. It also gives us a different view of Spite, who is often presented by Lucanis as a petulant child. But here, Spite isn't trying to do things to muck with Lucanis or chase his own will, but because he has a deal with Lucanis. This is another thing I think I'm gonna tag to maybe write an essay about later....
Emmrich Volkarin: I may have romanced Lucanis, but I love Emmrich. I love how he steps in to be your second-in-command any time the need arises. I love his kind guiding wisdom. I love his absolute awkwardness. He's a very good character and I get why a decent number of people want to call him "daddy." In more ways than one.
Solas's Arc: Mostly. Full disclosure, I romanced him in Inquisition, and he's one of my favorite characters even when I want to slap him for being an idiot. I loved how this game explored his character and his history, and I appreciated getting to approach him from a different angle, not as the Inquisitor getting to know a friend, but (since I played a Dalish Veil Jumper) as an elf confronting her religion literally face to face. It's interesting to have Rook's anger at Solas live in my brain at the same time it holds Solavellan. I definitely have some issues with his characterization in a couple places (mainly around any time he screams about being a god, since he's always otherwise shown to hate the term in reference to himself in particular), but overall, I enjoyed the scenes with him. It's always interesting for me to watch his pride clash with his wisdom.
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Gentle Approach to Neurodivergence: I mentioned before that none of your companion characters quite have their heads on straight. It took me about two seconds to realize Bellara has ADHD, and about two conversations to realize Lucanis is fighting his way through a shit-ton of trauma (and related regrets) he's pretending not to have. As I was talking to a friend about all of this, she noted "like recognizes like," and sure enough, if you bring characters with similar brain messies out together, eventually they'll start comparing brain messies. Lucanis reminds Neve that not everything is a fight. Bellara gives Taash some suggestions for how to focus when your brain is full of bees. Rook talks with Harding about the struggle of being a people-pleaser. (Not that Rook is innately a people-pleaser, but the nature of a game where the player might be worried about making the "right" decisions to get the Path of Approval from the game is... something someone should write an essay on.) This isn't a world that has the words "ADHD" and "Autism." It isn't a world brimming with therapists and a movement within the culture to try and get therapy for past traumas. And yet the game finds ways to identify them, bring them up to the player, and talk about them in a way that might actually provide them with some help, and at the very least make them feel less alone.
The Bad
Things I found frustrating enough to be worth complaining about....
Varric's Relationship with Rook: Ok, I know I said most of this wasn't in any particular order, but I'm purposely listing this one first because I honestly think if the game had brought this closer to the center of their focus, it would have solved a LOT of the other story issues I have with the game. As it is, they seemed to be banking more on the player's relationship with Varric over the course of the two previous games than on any dynamic we're actually shown between Rook and Varric. Don't get me wrong; I loved the rare moments where he plays mentor to Rook, but the only reason the Big Reveal with them didn't feel like it came out of nowhere to me is because I had already been complaining about how irrelevant he seemed in the scenes with the other companions. If they had built in more scenes where Rook is coming to Varric for advice or with concerns or regrets or whatever, it would have given Rook and Varric a chance to reminisce, to build the relationship through flashbacks and past shared stories. That would have also allowed them to pull their stated theme of regret more front and center, which is something I'm not sure they really did in a meaningful way for Rook specifically, even if they manage it for some other characters.
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PG-13-Ass Game: Yes, yes, I know the game is rated Mature, and I'm not saying it has to have as many dongs and tits and all as Baldur's Gate 3, but it still feels like a PG-13 movie. This is most obvious in how the minor bad guys in the character quests don't get to die by the hands of the Good Guys. Even the Gloom Howler, arguably someone closer to undeath than humanity and obviously a monstrosity, just kind of keels over at the end for no apparent reason. She was just overpowering a gryphon, and you want me to believe she just... died? Not buying it. But it's not just in that aspect where it feels PG-13. The side stories routinely don't get dark enough. Again, this doesn't have to be a gloomfest, but the game fails to establish just how dangerous blood magic is (or that there's blood magic and Blood Magic, with a demon contract and all), which in turn fails to establish the Venatori as anything more than a bunch of (mostly) faceless enemies, and that takes away from the depth of the story. I could give similar examples around the Blight, and how it's very gross in this game, but we never really get to see firsthand just how bad its corruption is. (It gave my companion glowy eyes? Cool!) This is just one of a myriad of frustrations I have that really feel like some exec told them they had to do the thing this way to appeal to a younger audience, and it just ends up hurting the story rather than helping it. Someone needs to remind these execs that teenagers LOVE stuff that's darker than they're supposed to be allowed to watch/play/read/whatever.
Not Beginner-Friendly Beginner-Friendly Game: So, yeah, like I said in the last point, it feels like an exec told them to make the game in a way that the exec thought would appeal to a younger audience (specifically Fortnite IMO, but I digress). Given that, it almost feels like the devs knew that exec wouldn't look twice at the story elements and so proceeded to make them pretty reliant on lore from the previous games. You want to know about lyrium (red OR blue) or the Blight or Harding's relationship with Solas? Go play a previous game, because Veilguard's not gonna tell you. I genuinely don't mind them not rehashing all of that, and I don't think all sequels need to be beginner-friendly, but since Rook is a new character, getting into these details even a little bit outside of the codex (which not everyone is going to read top-to-bottom the way I do, and even fewer people are going to find the majority of the entries for) helps establish what Rook knows. Having all these elements that seem like they're made to cater to a beginner audience (change in gameplay, change in character designs, simpler storytelling) contrasted with the sheer amount of lore the game seems to expect you to know already creates a discordance that makes it feel like the story doesn't fully know its audience. Or, more likely, that the storytelling team was caught between two different ideas of what that audience was.
Pacing Issues: As noted above, very early in my playthrough I told the friend I was streaming for that it felt like they had a very good feel for where they wanted to take the game in the end. One thing I didn't note above is that I followed that statement by saying it felt like they'd had a strong start, as well, but the items in the middle didn't feel fully fleshed out. Like, they had the bones of it, but not enough resources (whatever those might be) to really bring it all together. So you have what should have been a heavy decision happen too early, and you have issues where things that should be told to you are shown, and issues where things are shown to you that should be told. They slow down in places where they should speed up and speed up in places where they needed to slow down. It's... manageable if you have enough of a base understanding of the Dragon Age world, but I don't know how it wouldn't be incredibly jarring for a new player.
Powerscaling: I was originally going to title this as specifically the Elgar'nan fight, but it's kind of an issue with the dragon fights, too. I'll get there. Basically, there's no reason whatsoever to think Rook & Co. would EVER be able to take on Elgar'nan in a fight. Ghilan'ain would also be rough, but I'm willing to let that slide just because we don't really know where she sits in the pantheon in terms of strength, and it's reasonable to believe that she, more than any other Evanuris, manifests her strength more in her creations than in herself. Meanwhile, in Inquisition's Trespasser, Solas is literally turning people to stone with a thought, and supposedly Elgar'nan outranks him. Even if Solas is now stronger than him due to 1) having been awake for longer and 2) having added a fragment of Mythal's essence to his own, it can't be by that much. Solas is absolutely exhausted after his fight with the archdemon, sure, but as best we can tell, Elgar'nan is blighted, but otherwise fresh as a fiddle when Rook shows up. He should literally wipe up the floor with us. Powerscaling-wise, it would have been better for Rook to take out Ghilan'ain, Solas to take out Elgar'nan, and the forces to lend help in either of those places and with the archdemon as needed. Which leads me to the dragons. You don't even get the chance to finish the first dragon because it's "too hard" at that time or some such. Then you fight two dragons in the Hossberg Wetlands, but it's framed to imply that Rook needed the help of both the Wardens and a secondary faction to successfully do that (even if your Rook is kicking its ass). Then you just... take out the level 50 blighted dragon on your own? Ok, Mythal can help a little, but I'm not sure I buy it. Like, I didn't hate the fight, but this really seemed like it was put in so people could have a badass dragon fight instead of because it actually fit with the powerscaling as told by the story.
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Prison of Regret: I don't really want to go into too much detail here because 1) it's been talked about to death, I'm sure, and 2) I think a lot of my issues with it are better summed up in my first point in this section, but I'll say a little bit. Rook's relationship with Varric and regret overall aside, this game does nothing to convince me that the prison would hold either of the Evanuris it's presumably for. Also, can it only hold one person? It probably would have been better for it to play on one's insecurities, as even Elgar'nan and Ghilan'ain are shown to have those. I think it's a great idea in concept, but its functionality is only supported in the narrative such that Solas himself would be trapped by it.
Action and Consequence Notifications: I like games where choices matter, so BioWare games are hardly the only ones I've played that have that sort of mechanic. This also means I can easily think of several better ways to handle this than, say, making you read about the payout of your choices during a dramatic cutscene. Also, the beauty of NOT having these things marked is that it builds community, as different players will ask each other about their different outcomes and choices to figure out what caused what. Just telling us outright negates the need for that entirely.
The Lyrium Dagger: Having them claim this was the thing that the lyrium idol from DA2 became seems like a bit of a stretch even with Meredith having it reforged into a sword, but what really bothers me about it is how we can use it to access the companion abilities. Like, sure, I get that there are some gameplay elements going on here, but I feel like it would be better to have each of the companions give you a little trinket or teach you a trick that you can use to do these things. Maybe have Emmrich give you some perfume made from a scent known to pacify spirits, and have Davrin teach you the Assan whistle, and so on. Or even have Bellara craft a more different kind of rune that you added to the dagger (while allowing you to add the actual runes to your weapons like in all previous games) to allow it to do the companion stuff. Having it just able to do that automatically for no reason makes it feel more like the macguffin it is.
Harding's Companion Quest: I want to make one thing clear: I love Harding. I think it speaks monuments that she's such an enjoyable character despite her companion quest being mediocre and fairly disconnected from the main storyline. I mean, sure, she's got extra reason to be mad at Solas now, but even she notes she wasn't exactly close to him during her time in Inquisition. The dwarves, lyrium, and the titans aren't established well enough to allow us to fully grasp the level of exploitation that's been ongoing with them, an exploitation that presumably has been ongoing since the elves established it. Of all the companion quests, this one feels the most side quest-y, and I think it is less for that.
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Trying to Do Too Much with Taash: I also like Taash, but it feels like they put a LOT on their plate. Taash is neurodivergent. Taash is going through a gender identity crisis. Taash is a third-culture kid struggling between the culture she was raised in and the culture of her mother. Taash hasn't yet figured out her place in the world. I get that some people absolutely go through all of these things, but it feels like they either needed to spend more time on Taash or they needed to drop a couple in order to let these arcs breathe. Yeah, they kinda gutted a few of those to the point that they're missable if you don't know what you're looking at, but Taash's story is worse for that choice. It would have been better for them to not be there at all than to be there and half-assed.
Every Enemy Targeting Rook: Ok, I get that they brought over a bunch of people from Mass Effect, and while I miss having a third companion around, I'm actually cool with the combat overall. Except for this one point. I play rogues. And occasionally mages. I HATE playing tanks. But when every enemy is constantly beelining for you and only you, figuring out how to NOT DIE in combat can be a trick if you aren't playing a tank. There were several fights (especially near the beginning of the game) where it seemed like I just spent the whole time focused on dodging, waiting for the cooldown on the immunity rune to pop so I could try and build up some momentum to actually kill the enemies my companions were apparently tickling. This is made worse by the fact that the tank companions are on the latter side of the recruitment missions. I'm adaptable. I actually like learning new and different combat systems (even though I'll probably complain the whole time). But them working in this aspect? I absolutely hate it. Please send it back.
Creature Redesign (Darkspawn and Demons): Here's where the "make it appeal to the Fortnite crowd" really seems to show the most. I get that Ghilan'ain is a fleshcrafter type, but assuming she's responsible for the design change of the darkspawn, she didn't make them more scary. She made them look unrefined, like someone started a character model but wasn't able to refine it with enough detail to make it match the previous lore. (Which really feels like a good metaphor for the story overall, but I digress.) That still fails to explain the changes to the demons. Sure, they feel otherworldly... like they were dropped in from another game. Both darkspawn and demons feel too bright and colorful and glowy for DA's traditionally more gritty feel, and it's jarring if you've played the other games. Even in Origins, they felt gritty and/or grounded, and they were made of like 15 polygons total.
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Other
A collection of thoughts and observations on things that were both good and bad, or that really don't fit in either category....
The Theme of Regret: In general, I like the idea of this theme a lot, but setting aside that they only really succeeded in making it central to Solas's storyline (and also Neve's, I guess), it's a really difficult one to build up for the player. I think their best bet would have been to throw a very broad net using the initial foundation of, "You let the Evanuris out and whether or not you feel bad about that, it does make a lot of this fallout indirectly your fault." If they built the companion stories so that, even on a success, there's something potentially worth regretting (for instance, still being indirectly responsible for Bellara's brother being corrupted and dying again), then there's a better chance that something would resonate with the player. Even if nothing does, they could use these moments to build the sense that Rook has regrets separate from what the player might feel, much the way they built the wear and tear that happens to Shepard over Mass Effect 3. I think regret is a great theme, especially because BioWare is absolutely the kind of storyteller who can get into it in a way that rings with certain people and gently points them to a potential path out... but I think the execution of the theme was generally terrible. I didn't even realize it was meant to be a major theme until the Prison (I didn't follow any of the marketing or pre-game hype), and I think that it could be so easily missed speaks monuments. It might have been better for them to focus on something a bit easier to execute, like feelings of isolation.
The Soundtrack: I like the soundtrack overall. I think it would be fine if there weren't previous games in this series with previous soundtracks. Zimmer tends to lean pretty heavily into the synth elements, and that clashes heavily with the full orchestra that they used for the Inquisition soundtrack. (I've seen people complain that they probably spent too much money on Zimmer, but an orchestra would cost more than two guys with a computer and some music synthesizing software, even if one of those guys is Zimmer.)
D'meta's Crossing: Technically, this should be in The Good. It's not because this, as one of your early quests, should have been tone-setting, and the game never quite manages to get this dark again. Ok, not never. It kinda toys around the edges of it in the end sequence. But it should be hitting points like this far more frequently to create a consistent tone at least around the Blight and the Elven Gods. Those two things should be terrifying, not simply gross and somewhat intimidating.
Tying Everything to A Few People: While this can work out, the world of Thedas is so big and rich even from Origins. Suddenly solidifying their metaphysics coupled with making everything because of Specific People X, Y, and Z is kinda writing themselves into a corner. Like, there are whole branches they can't explore anymore without also forcing them into the stories they've already told. I know this sounds like it should go in The Bad, but they've been doing this since at least Inquisition, so I can't mark them down for it. You can't order a pastry from Strawberry Pastry Heaven and then complain when it has strawberries in it. I knew what I was biting into on this one.
Cat Cafe: There's a cat cafe where you can pet at least one cat. I approve. However, I couldn't reasonably put this in The Good as I think you should be able to pet more cats and/or have a quest or something that requires you to spend time in the cat cafe.
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Spite: I managed to guess what kind of spirit Spite was originally with my first guess, even though I didn't find out I was correct until after I finished the game. I had a number of guesses, but the ones on my "most likely" list all stemmed from that original correct guess. I'm proud of that. It also surprised my friend who was watching. I like to imagine she muted her mic to keep from squealing about it when I made it.
Cheese Jokes: Is it really a Dragon Age game if it doesn't have cheese jokes? While this is definitely a positive, I don't feel like it's strong enough to put in The Good. It's more of... expected, but still pleasant to have. Like cheese.
Decor: I love all the little items you can get to decorate your room, and I like that you can decorate up the Lighthouse environs, too... but goshdarn, do they all need so many giant statues? Or... creepy nugs? Freaking nugs, man....
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helshollowhalls · 2 years ago
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[Theory/Lore Rant] Ruin DLC Ending Spoilers!
Something that strikes me as odd is the complete lack of communication with Gregory in the ending where the mimic presumably gets scooped.
To be fair, I am not sure if the line from Gregory about "how he found a hiding spot" when Cassie puts on the mask in front of the Fredbear cutout is actually Gregory or not. Neither am I sure if Gregory actually messed with the elevator, since what Razzbowski said about the weird loud speaker noises? Loop? And the fact that the subtitles start completely new even though it is supposedly the same character speaking does point to the Mimic messing with Cassie by imitating Gregory's voice and messing with the elevator to keep her down there, but I digress.
The lack of communication with Gregory might be a hint from Steel Wool that those endings are not the canon endings (or the connection was cut again but I feel like they would make that more obvious if that was the case), but even so the fact that we don't get to hear anything from him is odd.
From the in-game dialog it is obvious that Gregory knew about the mimic and presumably helped develop and implement the security system to keep it locked away under the Pizzaplex (Roxy being the final node and the Mimic specifically luring Cassie into the abandoned restaurant, who is probably the only person who could get close to Roxy and deactivate her considering Roxy's personality and how she acts towards Gregory and in general is a whole different can of worms), possibly with Vanessa also being involved one way or another.
Added to that, my personal theory is that they fed the entity resembling Glitchtrap into the system to stop Cassie when he couldn't get through to her on the walkie talkie because of the mimic, since Helpi suggested that Glitchtrap appeared just now and hadn't been there before. Since the actual security machine down in the sinkhole is red and Glitchtrap blue, I assume that it must have been a later addition.
Gregory also seemed to have access to additional cameras to watch events unfolding at the old FNAF location, seeing as he relayed Cassie directional instructions and yelled something along the lines of "It's right behind you! Hurry!".
If the boy was understandably that hellbent on keeping the mimic locked away and presumably also getting Cassie out in one piece, why on earth was there no communication whatsoever when Cassie scooped the mimic? Not a single word. Assuming that Gregory was aware of what Cassie did, I would at least expect some sort expression of relief or panic from him, depending on if the mimic was actually done or not. Maybe even further instructions on how to deal with the now decommissioned mimic endo or at least how to get her back out again. Or a "we'll be coming down to deal with the mimic endo and get you out just stay right there". But there's nothing. Nada. Zero. We're left without knowing if what we did was good or bad. And considering Gregory was very talkative and involved in getting Cassie to the elevator and out of danger, the fact that he suddenly goes completely quiet and doesn't say anything at all is suspicious.
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minthe-lover · 3 years ago
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Episode 206 Kronos Fight
So I have a few things I do like about this chapter, the final scenes with the people reuniting is kinda sweet. Though really wish we got one between Zeus and hera. Another thing, I think giving Tartarus a physical form was a cool interesting and definitely a fun way to end the fight.
My favorite shot in the whole chapter is between Tartarus and Poseidon. Cause one is just generally cool looking, and the other is just really sweet.
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All my critics are under the cut... it's probably gonna be long.
Besides that I mainly got problems, the main one is the general tone of the chapter. It's not a super serious chapter about an epic fight, or even a nervous one about thinking about what happens if Persephone fails in this fight. It's done in this largely comedic light, where your supposed to laugh at kronos fails attempts to fight or more like annoy persephone.
Like why are the reporters there adding commentary, it seem extremely out of place? why are Athena and Ares not helping and instead making a few jokes? why the fuck would you choose a joke about bees during the final big fight of the season.
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This is a power we've never seen, with the trees and water we can assume it's connected to her other powers... but this is something completely different. That along with them showing up near the end with the final few panels. Think how much better this would have felt if the final panels were connected with petals or something, or even we saw Persephone summon a single bee and struggle to summon more in the past. (also they look alot more like wasps then the traditional bee but still)
That along with the fact that because their isn't as much dialog this chapter feels alot smaller. Which isn't fully the fault of rs since that just a side effect of having large pictures. The art work is not that bad, Persephone gravity deify boobs that almost pop out of her dress ever panel are distracting and the colours are a little boring but it's not terrible.
I think it would be alot more striking if persephone magic was more green or her pink colour. That way more of the panels would pop and show persephone power more.
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The first panel isn't to bad, but the last one. The muted dark colour of the tree just doesn't stand out that much against the black and dark blue of the background. It just doesn't stand out as much as it should. The trees Persephone has made it the past have big bushy green leaves or just are fully pink, why are these ones not?
My next big problem is with kronos. He doesn't actually do anything to fight Persephone. He dodges her attacks and throw petty insults. He isn't an actual threat despite 100 of episodes building him up to be the big bad. Persephone doesn't get injured during the fight, I don't fully like calling characters mary sue as its often used in a sexist light. Along with the fact that it's more a fanfic trope which I don't mind in the slightest, fanfictions are free fun doesn't matter how bad it is.
Though Persephone is 100% over powered in a way that makes this really anti climatic. Like why not have Persephone and hades defeat Kronos together... or see Persephone struggling in the fight. Honestly I wouldn't fully mind if Persephone defeated Kronos herself if she actually saw some difficulty in the fight.
Show her struggling getting hurt, show the words effecting her that she moves on from. Show her actually having some difficulty. maybe have kronos be close to wining, then have the other gods show up and attack kronos all together but have persephone having the final blow. Or even just show that it takes a bit for her full pomegranate effects take hold.
The next problem is the final interactions between hades and Persephone.
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First for a supposably 'girl power' type media where Persephone destroyed the big bad sort of all by herself. How did hades help? like... I mainly just confused over this line.. if someone can explain it I would be appreciated. that and the beauty of just... the long pointy noise.. that look way to much like persephone would accidently be stabbed in the eye.
Another thing that I wish to note.. is how the whole eating the pomegranate mean Persephone is now 'stuck' with hades. This feminist story has a finally based on the idea that the main female character is now forever bonded to the realm of her first love. Even if later persephone decided she didn't wish to be there she literally has no choice but to stay.
In a healthy relationship there should be an understanding that if someone wishes to end it they will be safe and free to do so. Relationships no matter how long you've been with the person should be okay to leave. This is an incredibly important as time can often change people for the worse or simply show new part of their self.
In the relationship shown, not only does it start with hades being her boss, control her finances, and use a teenager as emotional support but it ends with Persephone stuck with a man that she hasn't even been on a date with and he already dreams of having children with her.
It is just... a weird way for a relationship to go in a supposably 'feminist' comic.
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tales-of-sweets · 3 years ago
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Tales of Symphonia thoughts pt. 5 (?)
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Under the cut because there are many thoughts and it's long!👇🏾
Colette is ALSO being sketchy, but not in a way that makes me think she's gonna do something bad, it just sounds like she's found something out about herself that's too dangerous to tell anyone? She said in a solo skit that she can't tell anyone about her body. After every single thing that her poor body has been through (like the Toxicosis, being turned into a host body, being trapped in their weird thing by Rodyle, etc.) how horrible must this new information be that she feels like she can't share??? Not that she usually shares her issues anyway but still.
Firstly, Corrine... 😥 That totally broke my heart. I don't have much else to say about it, I just feel very bad for Sheena and her loss.
I am so so happy to finally have the flying things (I forgot the weird name), those boat controls were driving me insane. I mean, admittedly the controls aren't great either but at least there's barely anything to run into and no piers to have to line up with.
I hate that Sonic the Hedgehog looking mf, I want him gone. Especially after what he did to Colette and Presea :(
Speaking of Presea I love her and I think she's precious and her whole story so far hurts me. The skit where she was asking where all the time has gone and how she's supposed to get it back was so sad.
Regal is a murderer apparently. I figured something like that, I mean who would keep themselves in shackles and talk about how much of a sinner they are if all they did was rob a gas station or something? I wonder why he can't/won't go into that one resort town with the amusement park and such. Does it have something to do with his crime? Bad memories or something? Or did he just get banned?
Yuan is pretty and I think his hair color is neat, not much else to say about him still. I've seen him a lot of times but I still can't tell what exactly he's trying to do other than presumably get Lloyd's exsphere.
Zelos is sketchy as hell. Why did he wander off so casually in a base to look around?? Huh?? I smell a rat.
Raine is being kinda sketchy too for that matter. There was clearly something on her mind after we resculed Colette but she said it was nothing.
Parts of this game's jokes and dialog have uhh... not aged well, especially in regards to Zelo's flirting and the ages of some of his "hunnies"😅I know this is an old game, these are all fictional characters, and I'm probably just too sensitive but Zelos using pickup lines on child NPCs (like characters I would presume from their models are 10 or younger), treating Presea like one of his hunnies (I know she is technically an adult but she is teeny tiny and does not have the lived experience of an adult), implying that Regal has a crush on Presea (please no...) and that it's okay because "age doesn't matter", etc. is kinda rubbing me the wrong way. At this point though I just try to pretend not to see it. I mean, what more can ya really do? For my own sanity I've just convinced myself that he just loves the sound of his own voice and the attention he gets from being a beautiful celebrity so he plays up the charm, even when there's no real romantic intentions behind it. Not to mention the additional benefits I mean, technically I guess it works since every lady he talks to gives him gald and items and he graduated top of his class because all his hunnies did his homework for him.😅 So let's just go with that...
On that note, I am kicking myself for not realizing that Zelos had the ability to get items/gald from female NPCs. I've been playing entirely as Genis because of his increased walking speed thing but man, all of the money I could have saved on gels and holy bottles if I'd just played as Zelos sometimes...
Oh, I recently switched to Japanese voiceover and I think it has greatly improved my experience now that I can hear the skits. After weeks of Zelos hate and slander (and the prior paragraph...) I feel like I actually find him kinda charming and funny now as opposed to simply annoying, the voiced skits and his goofy and expressive JP voice have helped a lot. Honestly I kinda just love everyone more now in general, I never realized how flat the silent skits made the characters feel as a whole, I feel like I've cheated myself by not switching sooner. I actually like all of the Japanese voices (minus Colette for some reason) and prefer them to the english, especially Regals 😳I do miss Robin Teen Titans as Lloyd's voice a little though.
Once again I miss Kratos very much and I want to see him again. I'm still wondering what his whole deal is, he keeps trying to help us. Does he not like working with/for that pretty angel guy (whose name I cannot spell) and is thus going against his orders? Or are they actively working together to help us? Very confused, can't wait to know what's up.
And that's all for now!
My current favorite characters change every two seconds but right now I love Sheena and Regal the best. I think Sheena is so cool and she's also quite funny. Regal seems very soft and I love how calmly and quietly he speaks, I can't wait to learn more about him soon. He also is just a very handsome guy, like just look at that man😳 I still love Genis (prior favorite) too though!
Also "Presea smiled!" is my new favorite screenshot, she's so adorable! She deserves to be happy. Opposite vibes of my other favorite:
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eepyvictim · 2 years ago
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Okay, here's my feelings. They're mostly negative and I don't want to ruin someone else's enjoyment with my immense frustration so click at your own discression. Spoilers obviously it's a Big List.
This game is a complete exhausting mess and I can't even begin to describe how disappointed I am. The misogyny, the badly told story with more plot holes and unexplored ideas than I can count, the overall tone and pacing. I've never thought a Final Fantasy is bad before, or that one doesn't contain a single thing I can enjoy. I play FFXIV for Christ's sake and that's an exercise in futility with moments of bad writing decisions and frustrating game design. But XVI? It's so frustrating how a game could be so complete but say so little except metaphorically shout about its views on women. Here's just some of my complaints:
The game starts with Benedicta dry humping Hugo (important later)
Benedicta gets killed (sure fine) then after the fact, is beheaded and her head sent to Hugo got man pain
Benedicta is then shown in a flash back with Barnabus post-sex to flesh out his character before we don't see him again for awhile
After this the game is pretty much sexless for dozens of hours
Jill shows up to be a crutch for Clive's brooding about his dead brother
Oh Joshua is alive actually! Now Jill can be a crutch for Clive's journey to find his alive brother!
Time skip!
Jill's backstory is finally explained now that it's relevant because in an hour of gameplay we're fighting Hugo and she needs some connection to the plot so fuck it she was abused mentally, physically (and possibly sexually???) by Hugo and his men along with lots of other women and this was never brought up prior to or during the 5 year time skip.
After Hugo dies Jill's plot and feelings are all wrapped up! Now she can leave the party until it's convenient for her to be emotional support for Clive again! And again! AND AGAIN!
Several points in the game a medicine girl is shown multiple times in multiple locations conveniently at big plot events, literally never actually matters other than plot convenience for one moment to save a major character but she had to be established for some reason. Only character to get that.
Joshua's dedicated guard is a woman whose entire character revolves around him, she even ends up explicitly in love with him but no time is she ever shown being her own character.
Dion is gay! First one screen canon gay character in the Final Fantasy! He... lightly kisses his lover once. In the character relationships page Jill and Clive end up with an "in love" status. Dion's relationship with his partner is only ever listed as "master and servant."
Dion kills HUNDREDS of people as Bahamut. Clive and Joshua's mum mum finds out Joshua is alive! She promptly kills herself in front of everyone. Dion gets to survive though! I guess they didn't want to kill off a gay man just yet but it's clear if you're a woman you're irredeemable and have to die but if you're a man you can be saved.
Jill finally gets to join the plot again! She protects Clive and Joshua! ...so they can run away and she gets kidnapped
It takes a good 10 minutes of dialog for anyone to even address Jill is still alive actually because thank God they can sense her aether from a across the continent
The game reveals there's Eight eikons! One for each element! Except we have two fire and no water ones. They list all the elements, including water but nobody explains why that's weird.
HOURS later "Leviathan the lost" is mentioned in one throwaway line by Joshua. It's never explained or brought up again. Ever. Like ever ever. But all the eikons are super important for Ultima to get full power and destroy the world! Except Leviathan I guess??? Biggest plot whole in any FF game. Worse than Bahamut showing up in FFXV because at least FFXV had the excuse of being unfinished.
We see Benedicta again, naked and making sexual remarks towards Barnabus before turning into two other men, then Ultima, and finally into Barnabus' mothet??? She's naked??? This is never explained and a lore entry isn't added until the end of the game where she doesn't even have a name. She's never given clothes, just a naked model with no character which is the point in which I realised this game really wants you to know how it views women.
Dion's lover breaks up with him! Can't have happy gays in Final Fantasy! Fang and Vanille are such good examples of a gay relationship but it's never explicitly stated which is extra frustrating when we finally have a gay kiss on screen but they have to be miserable
Jill saves Clive's ass from getting beaten by Odin. Then naked and on the beach she willingly gives Clive her powers after a speech about Clive and then they have sex. When they get back to the Hideaway Jill's benched.
She then shows up after Clive beats Odin for a moment, immediately offers herself with the others to fight off waves of enemies for Clive before Clive gets teleported out of the room
Before the final fight Jill gets benched so hard she literally gets told to stay home while The Boys (Clive, Joshua and Dion) go fight Ultima. Incredibly insane that this game has a more misogynistic finale than FF4 in which two women get straight up told "it's too dangerous for you" and they sneak on the Lunar Whale and fight the final boss anyway because they're not useless.
It's explained that when Clive takes people's eikon powers they can no longer control their eikon forms and Dion makes it clear he'll just rest??? And get the mental fortitude to still turn into Bahamut. Jill can't do that though!
Final section of the game and Dion finally dies! Redeemed himself and died a noble death but it's one he chose, unlike every other woman in this game. Benedicta and Clive's mother were clearly the result of circumstance while Dion actively chose to murder people as Bahamut because he was mad at his dad and his step mum making a 10 year old boy emperor but he's the real hero. Still funny they killed off a gay man though. His boyfriend left him and he died for the protagonist lmao
Joshua dies for Clive in one of the most depressing final sequences in a Final Fantasy game I've seen and that's insane because Type-0 exists. I don't think it'd be as depressing if Ultima was a better villain but he's not? Clive's also Jesus Christ superstar chosen child of destiny so it makes it not really sad anytime something bad happens to other people because it's usually pretty arbitrary. Joshua dies because he had an Ultima avatar trapped inside him sapping his energy but not once did Joshua ever go "hey it's weird that despite me trapping Ultima in my chest he's still here??? Killing people??? Fighting Clive???" because the characters can't think about the plot until it's convenient.
Another example of this is Barnabus points out it's a good thing the mothercrystals are getting destroyed and despite this, when Ultima goes "Haha we wanted you to destroy the crystals all along!" Clive responds with a "what!?" like it wasn't increasingly obvious??? Everything over the course of 70 hours got worse every time one of these things got destroyed and someone literally told you but go off I guess
Anyway Clive dies so Jill, after existing entirely for Clive for 80% of the game is left alone. Literally nobody in the main cast can be truly happy I guess
Like, Christ. I have even more complaints than that. Like the pacing sucked, massive chunks of world building and story being shoved into lore entries so the story feels even less polished than FFXV. The way so many things were never explained. The horribly visuals in that the eikon battles were made SO flashy there's absolutely no consideration for people with visual disability or motion sickness. I literally couldnt look at the screen for more than five seconds in a whole phase of the final boss because it made me want to throw up.
I'm just so frustrated. I had high hopes for FF16 especially as an action game fan and a Final Fantasy fan and all I got was disappointment. "We're taking Final Fantasy in bold directions." Yeah by hating women more than any game has yet and by creating the least accessible Final Fantasy game to date. At least I have Stranger of Paradise.
Edit: THE SLAVERY PLOT??? I FINALLY PROCESSED IT??? Dominants are given high positions because they control eikons and magic. Bearers control magic but not eikons so they're enslaved by people who can't use magic. Weird but okay sure. It's revealed that the use of magic is turning bearers to stone but it's also revealed that unlike what they thought (it was the mothercrystals) it's actually just that magic is a poison??? It causes the blight and turns bearers to stone??? So what??? The bearers were right to be oppressed because yeah nonbearers made them use magic but magic is in fact fucking scary if it literally destroys the world and would turn them to stone anyway??? The slavery plot in this game is so cringe and bad especially when fantasy slavery is already trite enough as it is in 2023 but also that there's MANY games that tackle the ideas of slavery way better. What the fuck was this game.
Finally finished FF16 and Boy Christ do I have feelings.
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firekracker77 · 6 years ago
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A Match Made In Heaven
Hi guys! This is my first fanfic I have done so I decided on doing a Perfect Match fanfic since PM is one of my favorite stories.
In this fanfic, we pick up on what happens after Hayden's housewarming party. I felt like a 3rd book would have tied up any loose ends but my imagination will work I suppose lol
I love the blonde haired blue eyed male Hayden and he's the only one I play as on the game. He's too cute!
Disclaimer: All Perfect Match characters belong to Pixelberry as well as some dialog.
Rating: I'm setting it as 18+ due to some smut and swearing. It wouldn't be Perfect Match without sex now would it? 😉
Trigger Warning: Anger towards the idea of Adoption (remember it's how HAYDEN feels, not me.)
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CHAPTER 1
As I watched all of mine and Hayden's friends leave his housewarming party at 5 am in high spirits and a bit too buzzed from drinks, Hayden sat down on his couch looking absolutely exhausted.
"Riley, I could sleep for just about forever", he groaned.
"You can start on that after I leave", I teased.
I turn to leave when I feel arms wrapping around my waist. Hayden smooshes his face into my stomach then says, "Wait..before you go, this is important..I love you."
"I love you too Sleepyhead", I reply, kissing his forehead.
"Hayden..." I hesitate but with a deep breath I continue, "Can I come by around noon? I have something on my mind that I'd like to discuss with you."
Hayden sits up straight, looking alarmed. "Are you okay Riley?"
I stare into his beautiful blue eyes and almost lose myself in them. He is so gorgeous, I think to myself.
"Yeah I'm more than okay", I say with a smile. It's nothing bad, just something I wanna talk over with you."
He breathes a sigh of relief. I didn't realize until now how stressed Hayden must be after everything we'd just been through. He endured it so well I thought, but maybe he just suppressed his fear and anxiety on my behalf. If anyone deserved a massage, it was him. How I wish he would have taught me his amazing massage skills!
"Sounds good! I'll make us some lunch while you're here", he beamed.
"Good night baby," I whispered, kissing him softly.
"You mean Good Morning!" Hayden smiled.
I woke up at 11 am, after 5 hours of tossing and turning off most of the time I was in bed. After a quick shower and blow drying my hair, I brushed my hair up into a ponytail then grabbed a cup of coffee in hopes the caffeine would perk me up.
I spray on some of the perfume that Hayden bought me for my birthday last month. I breathe in the scent in deep and think of him.
I quickly put on the new outfit I bought 2 days ago. Hayden hasn't seen this one so I hope he likes it. The crop top is a beautiful baby blue, like Hayden's eyes and has a delicate flower print. The denim shorts I paired with it are..well, form-fitting and are short like booty shorts. I slip on my sneakers and head out the door.
It's quarter to 12 noon when I leave. I arrive at his apartment door right on time and I knock on his door.
"Riley!" Hayden grabs me in a crushing bear hug. "I'm so happy you're here. I missed you." His eyes scan my body from head to toe. "Wow..you look so sexy", he blushes.
"Hayden, watch the super strength babe", I choke out gasping.
"Sorry!" He sheepishly grins. "Come on in!"
He invites me over to the couch and sits beside me. "Oh would you like anything to drink? I have iced tea, milk, water, and...booze", he giggles.
"No thanks, I just wanna talk", I replied.
Hayden's face takes on a serious look. "You upset?" he asks worriedly.
"No, nothing's wrong. Hayden, I..." His eyes are fixed intently on mine, locked in.
"Yes?"
"Hayden, I have been thinking about where you and I go from here. We've been through so much together. Damien gave me a key to his apartment but..." My words trailed off.
"But?.." Hayden prods.
"But I only want to be with you and you alone." I pause then continue. I had asked you at Nadia and Steve's housewarming party out on the fire escape if you thought you and I could have that someday and you seemed open to the idea."
"I was, yes." He replies.
"Well, do you still feel that way now?" I shyly asked.
Hayden looks at me wide-eyed, as if the idea just dawned on him.
"Of course I do! I know everything's been crazy and a whirlwind but the truth is, I was gonna ask you the same thing", he admitted.
"Hayden, I'm so in love with you it's unreal. You're the first person I think of every single day. You're constantly on my mind. I miss you so much when we aren't together..." My words trail off as tears form in my eyes, everything going blurry.
Hayden wraps his strong arms around me gently, stroking my back then kisses the top of my head. "Same here. I'm honestly miserable when you're not here Riley." he admits.
My tears fall and Hayden gently wipes them away. "Riley, I would love nothing more than to have you here with me all the time. I love you so much it scares me but..." he trails off.
Oh God he's gonna say something like things aren't working out...I panic inside.
Hayden looks at me then says, "Stay here for a sec. I'll be right back."
He goes into his bedroom and after a few minutes, he stands in front of me. I can tell he's nervous about something and that's making ME nervous.
"Riley, close your eyes please."
I do what he asks but can hear his feet shuffling. "Okay open your eyes," I hear him say.
I open my eyes and gasp. Hayden is kneeled down on one knee with a velvet ring box open in one hand. Hayden takes a deep breath and then says..
"I've told you that I loved you many times. I told you at the Gala that I had fallen in love with you during combat practice in Indonesia but I think I actually fell for you after our first date. I may be a Match who was programmed to think and behave according to the personality traits you found desirable but THIS is something I've thought about many times on my own."
Hayden takes my left hand in his free hand and continues.
"Riley, love of my life and keeper of my heart, will you marry me?"
I sit there stunned as if the wind had been knocked out of me. My heart starts racing and my tears fall once again. "Oh God Hayden...YES, a thousand times YES!" I cry, kissing his soft lips.
When we part, Hayden's face is literally shining with happiness. A smile so big it goes ear to ear, his eyes glittering with tears. He stares at me then embraces me again.
He lets go then gently takes the ring out of the box. "Look at what's inscribed on the inside of the band." I look closely and see the words- Riley + Hayden = Forever.
He takes the ring and slides it on my left ring finger. The half carat diamond solitaire sparkles brilliantly. "It's beautiful but it doesn't hold a candle to you," he gushes.
"I have to call Nadia and let her know about our engagement!" I excitedly proclaim. "She's gonna want to see the ring too."
"She already has, hon." Hayden smiles. "She..uh, bought it. But I told her I'd be paying her back once I start my career and make some money." He continues, " But she didn't know when I would propose."
"You two are something else!" I playfully poke his ribs.
Hayden laughs and stands up. "I'm going to go make us some lunch now. What sounds good- sloppy joes or chicken alfredo?"
"Either one sounds good to me babe," I reply.
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Chapter 2
We talk and laugh into the late evening then I ask Hayden when he would like for me to move in.
"Tomorrow. I don't wanna wait any longer. Tonight though, you're mine. Please stay the night with me Riley," he implored.
I reply, "You don't have to ask me twice."
I grab Hayden's hand and lead him to the bedroom. I embrace him tightly, devouring his mouth with fervent kisses. Hayden groans and shoves his tongue in, kissing me as hard and as deep as he can. I rake my nails down his back and he comes up for air, gasping and says, "Clothes off NOW". He tries to help me but his hands are shaking with desire and his movements are uncoordinated. I quickly strip him down and take a look at his naked body.
"You have such a sexy body, you know that?", I say.
Hayden replies, "EROS was evil as hell but they knew how to build a decent body."
"Hayden, take me now please..I can't wait any longer.."
His blue eyes flash ravenously. "Then get on your knees on the bed," he growls.
"I do as he asks and he positions himself behind me, his hard shaft begging for entry. Grabbing onto my hips, Hayden slides his entire length deep inside then shudders.
"Oh God Riley!" he gasps.
With every thrust forward he makes, I slam back, taking him as deep as I can. Hayden is huge so he stretches me with every thrust.
Before long all we hear is skin slapping skin, moans and groans begging each other to go faster and rougher. As I get to the edge, I tell Hayden to stop so I can flip over onto my back.
He wraps one arm around me and flips me over like a pro. I throw my legs over his shoulders, which changed the angle and allowed him to go even deeper. We hang onto each other tight, my nails raking red lines down his back. Hayden sucks on my breasts, panting hard. Both of us are so sweaty, it runs down our faces and bodies.
I beg him for more but he's giving me every inch. Finally I feel the familiar warm tingling. "Hayden..I'm gonna come!" I shout.
He pounds harder and says, "I got you baby, give it to me." My warm juices flood over his dick, pouring down his thighs. "Oh damn! Riley..yes.."
I feel the hard throbbing as he gives a final loud moan which gives way to shaking and finally he rolls over beside me breathing hard.
"Baby...you are incredible," Hayden sighs.
We lay in comfortable silence. Hayden slowly stroking my back, smiling.
"Hayden?"
"Hmmm?"
"Will you want kids someday?"
Hayden stops stroking my back and is quiet, deep in thought but frowning. Finally with a sigh, he replies.
"I would love that but I can't..."
I reply, "What about adoption?"
"Riley, if you want me to be honest, that'd be my last resort. I want a biological child."
"I know Hayden and so would I but that's not possible for us."
Hayden sits up, an angry frown on his face.
"Why didn't you make Damien your one and only then? At least he could probably give you a baby. I'll never be able to!"
With that, Hayden jumps up and quickly gets dressed.
"Hayden?!" I didn't mean..."
"Don't worry about it. The engagement is off." He storms out the door slamming it hard behind him.
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randomthefox · 7 months ago
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The Sonic movies are the most sexist garbage when you actually think about it.
Maddie has effectively no character whatsoever. She's supposed to be a vet, but that LITERALLY NEVER COMES UP IN A RELEVANT WAY in ANY of the three movies. The one time it's even MENTIONED by Tom in the first movie, it's immediately dismissed. He asks her if she can do some veterinary stuff to help Sonic, and she says "lol no but I have smelling salts for humans" so her being a vet literally doesn't matter at all. She has no life or role outside of being Tom's Wife. Maddie does not exist as an individual person, she is ONLY Tom's Wife.
If these movies weren't GARBAGE written by boomer fuckwads, the fact that Maddie is a vet should be of particular significance. She is a healer of animals. Sonic (IN THE VIDEO GAMES!!!!!) is a protector of animals. In the movies he also had a mother figure and lost her. So he really SHOULD feel a longing and connection towards Maddie instead of Tom. But Maddie is a woman, so the script couldn't possibly have her be the one who has a significant role as Sonic's paternal figure. Women are gross. They either need to know their place as a supporter of men, or be killed off like Longclaw was. Thus, Maddie is willing to give up her MEDICAL PRACTICE in Green Hills for the sake of moving to San Fransisco, even offering to go on sabbatical to scope out new places they could move into even though Tom is the one who wants to get a job as a POLICE OFFER in the city and thus should be taking the opportunity to get the lay of the land. Naw, why make sense and be logical? Get this DISGUSTING WOMAN out of the film until she's needed again as per the summoning of the man who owns her.
Maddie is SUCH a NONENTITY that her actor Tika Sumpter literally had to DEMAND that the writers GIVE HER SOMETHING TO FUCKING DO in the second movie. When the person who is supposed to be the lead actress of the movie is forced to resort to that, that means that THE FILM MAKERS ARE SEXIST PIECES OF SHIT you guys.
Also gotta love the way how in the 3rd movie Maddie completely abandons Sonic and the other boys, who are supposed to be her adopted children, to go sit at Tom's bedside. Even though there's nothing she can do for him. She just spends the rest of the fucking movie sitting by his hospital bed. Wordlessly. Instead of taking a proactive part in the rest of the plot by providing emotional support to Sonic. Who desperately NEEDS emotional support at that point. But naw, Maddie needs to be a good little house wife and devote herself thoughtlessly to her husband. I suppose she NEEDED to be at his bedside so in case Tom died of his injuries, she could drink a bottle of poison to kill herself since she wouldn't have any reason to live anymore without her husband. That's the outlook on womens rights I assume the film makers have at least.
I'm not even going to get into fucking Rachel. What an utterly disgusting straight up no joke sickeningly offensive stereotype of a black woman. I have no idea how anybody is okay with this character, she single handedly sets the equal rights movement back at least forty years. Straight up a minstrel show of a character.
And then in the 3rd movie they introduce Director Rockwell. Another example of the filmmakers portraying women as subordinates to men. She has maybe six lines of dialog grand total in the entire film. And her final scene is being tricked by Tom, by exploiting her natural female instinct to be submissive towards a man. He literally orders her to give him the key, which she does even though she is BLATANTLY SUSPICIOUS, and then as soon as she hands the key over she just walks out of the movie. Seriously, Rockwell is never seen again after she hands over the key. There's no resolution to her character whatsoever. But why would a female character need a resolution? After all she's a yucky filthy disgusting stupid woman, so naturally as far as the film makers are concerned she isn't worth writing or filming a resolution for her.
These movies should be roasted at the stake by feminists everywhere. The only reason they aren't is because of The Sonic Double Standard.
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pokegeek151 · 5 years ago
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Stealing this, which is wild because I'm awful at doing tag games.
Thank you thank you thank you for tagging me for my fic, though! That made me feel so good, you don't even know
1. I really like Minerva. Contrary to what Colfer says, I think she would have been a great addition to the cast to contrast Artemis. If you (over)analyze her lines and scenes and such, she is very clearly different from Artemis in a way that would play off him very nicely, even if it's just for a chapter at a time
2. There are a lot of little moments that I love. Single paragraphs or tiny dialog exchanges that really stick with me. Orion saying "I think I am sad, now. We have lost a friend" lives in my head rent free
3. Probably a pixie, maybe a sprite
4. I honestly don't read as much AF fic as I do other fandoms, but I will probably dig through everyone's responses here for recs
5. Best to worst is different from favorite to least favorite, so here we go
-Eternity Code
-The first one
-Lost Colony
-Temporal Paradox
-Opal Deception (probably)
-Arctic Incident
-Last Guardian
-Atlantis Complex
I haven't read TOD and TAI in a while so it's possible they deserve to be higher. TAC is my favorite book in the series but it's also the worst one, so :/
6. To any of them but mostly to Artemis: Go to therapy. Please. Find someone who isn't bad at their job and actually try to engage. Therapy works if you allow yourself to be helped
7. Artemis has a physical disability after the end of the last book. General pain/fatigue/mobility issues that come and go and don't necessarily fit under a single diagnosis (maybe fibro?) He has crutches and a wheelchair for different days based on how he's feeling, and though he has some internalized ableism to get over, he is generally pretty accepting of himself
8. Does all of TAC count? Because basically all of TAC. I wish Orion wasn't comic relief, I wish Artemis hadn't been """cured""" in sixth months, I wish I wish I wish. Colfer, please do any amount of research into DID, OCD, and all the other mental illnesses you mixed together to make Atlantis-ex-machina
9. Saying book 1 Artemis doesn't count probably excludes book 6 Artemis (young) and maybe also Minerva, so I guess Spiro? It's been a hit second since I've read TEC but I remember enjoying him a lot. I also wish Turnball was in a better book. He had a lot of interesting potential with the runes and the way he interacts with his wife
10. Golly that was ages ago and I do not remember. I do remember being in, like, elementary school and seeing the first book lying around the house and mentally connecting the surname Fowl to the teacher in Jimmy Neutron and being uninterested because of that. The cover was plain gold so I had no idea what it was about, and I finally actually picked it up and looked at the back (which just had the "you don't know what you're dealing with, human" on it) and realizing it was very silly to think there would be an entire book about a minor character from an okay TV show, so I finally read it and fell in love with the series
I'll throw on @shortace @artemis-fowl-incident-report (Gaby specifically) @emmas-cozy-nook and @iesnoth (Zoe, you already got tagged but I tagged you in my heart)
af tag 2.0
so, i made an artemis fowl tag forever ago on my old blog & thought i’d made a new & improved version! feel free to tag some peeps who might want to do this too, if ya want. without further ado, the artemis fowl tag 2.0!
#1) who’s your favorite character & why?
#2) what’s one of your favorite scenes in the books?
#3) if you could be any species of fairy, which one would you be?
#4) do you read af fic? if so, drop one of your favorites!
#5) give your ranking of the books from best to worst!
#6) if you could say anything to any of the characters, what would it be?
#7) if your comfortable w it, share one of your favorite headcanons about the series <3
#8) what’s one thing that you would change about the series?
#9) if we’re not counting book one artemis, who’s your favorite villain & why?
#10) how did you get into the series/when did you first read it?
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