#WE'RE SO BACK

[kiwi-jammy]

TOMODACHI LIFE IS BACK!!!!!

[ebonysplendor]

No, that gif's not an overreaction ... in case you were curious

🩷💍 DAY 5 IS OUT NOW! 💍🩷

Hello Angel... ^^ Day 5 has officially been released and is now available for everyone to play! You can download it now on itch.io!

[ltadoriyuujl]

[kotelehnsherr]

WAKE UP GUYS CHERIK IS BACK

WE'RE GONNA SEE OUR OLD MAN YAOI ON THE BIG SCREEN AGAIN

THIS IS REAL. YOU'RE NOT DREAMING

CHERIK IS BACK!!!!

[bandydear]

Lottie making a desperate plea for Nat to stay with her in their new home and Nat saying "fine, I'm leaving your stupid ass"... divorcees of all time

[alien-bluez]

previews of some new art i drew for the official dndads pride zine, hope to share these soon :]

[thisusedtobeafanpage]

Those last 2 ddba episodes were amazing holy shit

[coolhubarts]

PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY – Announcement Trailer – Nintendo Switch

PATAPON IS COMING BACK LET'S GO! This was one of my favorite games!

[itspronouncedjulia]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39525765/chapters/164573473

My Virtual Girlfriend

Chapter 46: Father's Favorite

“Alright, this is the moment of truth,” Kat said very seriously, her brow furrowed as she hovered over her kitchen stove. Azula was sitting on her bedroom floor, surrounded by the disassembled pieces of their model train and the starter tracks that it had come with. It had been an hour since they had first opened up 'The Republic City Express', and so far they had managed to put together half of the caboose. 

It wasn’t complicated to put together, but they couldn’t help but get sidetracked by each other, one of them absentmindedly going off on tangents about school or family or a new show they were watching while the other happily listened. 

This led them here, with Azula sprawled out on her bedroom floor while she watched Katara preparing to fry fish. She was holding a cod filet covered in a thick buttermilk batter and coated in flour. 

“This is the method my mom taught me, and it never fails,” Kat said distractedly as she dangled the filet over the pan. “Are you taking notes, Tank?”

“Totally.” Azula lied, smiling as she rested her fist against her cheek. 

“I don't believe you’re telling me the truth,” Kat said with a little smile. “Fortunately for you, this part of the process requires all my attention, so I can’t scold you.” Azula’s smirk grew as she continued to watch Kat.

“You’re speaking a lot for someone doing a task that requires immense concentration.” Azula pointed out.

“Pay attention,” Kat said.

[casinorabbit]

The woman walked to the small refrigerator to pick the bottle that was inside, then turning around with a smile before her free hand would swiftly take two glasses to pour it in.

"You don't gotta bite your tongue here with me. It's alright...you're allowed to speak your mind." She referred to the fact the blonde was getting excited, of course. Things like these were embarrassing and almost sinful for inexperienced people, but Yuuna was direct and open, not ashamed of sexual stuff at all.

It was all natural to her.

Now that the bunny girl could leave the glasses and bottle on the coffee table, unaware that the cameras were on loop now, she would bite her bottom lip and sit back near her client, reaching to open the bottle for the other woman.

Although, she tilted her head, not looking away from the flustered maiden.

"I will make sure I'm worth every Yen, Belle-sama...I'm sure the two of us will have a lot of fun tonight. That's why we are here, yeah?"

She thought she was the predator, but she was still prey. Only fitting for someone presenting herself as a bunny, isn't it?

Fixing her collar and small bowtie with a pair of fingers, she did then tease down to her chest with them, playing a bit around the upper edge of her suit. All in all, she was getting ahead of herself by getting aroused already, completely drowning in the thought that she was going to benefit a lot from this one if she managed to make Jeanne want MORE in the future.

"I'm sure you can't wait to put your hands all over me...but I can't blame ya for it."

Yuuna would see that she had Jeanne almost a leash, able to lead her anywhere she pleased. Attaching her to Jeanne's arm, hinting about fun that could be had here in the VIP room, and even possibly after the shift.

Everything turned Jeanne's cheeks a bright red, she was like jello in Yuuna's arms, guiding her right down to the couch with such ease. Even sparking Jeanne to pull on the fabric near her own chest, as if the heat of the moment was burning her inside.

"P-playful with Belle-sama, t-that's allowed! Non I mean, so excited I didn't mean to." Her hand caresses her own cheek, trying to stifle this maiden response to Yuuna's charm.

Any further little pushes and Yuuna could have knocked her Belle to the couch on her back. But the talk of wine seems to outwardly refocus the 'maiden', "Please! P-please do!"

"S'il vous plait. A-and you can bring the whole bottle over.. i-it won't last long." Not if her nerves convey that she could down the bottle herself.

When Yuuna leaves for a moment, when her eyes break contact. A flick is all there is, a wave and flick of her fingers. To turn the footage on the cameras into the most basic event-less reenactment of their night here.

To ensure there's no sound that escapes.

To close the cage door on this poor little bunny, all before returning to her rather jumpy shy demeanor, one that looks like she could pop into a hot mess with just enough pressure pushed on her.

[diaryfilms]

NOBARA NATION, WE'RE UP!!!

[dalishious]

The Sanitized Lore of Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Tevinter is the heart of slavery in Thedas. This lore has been established in every game, novel, comic, and other extended material in the Dragon Age franchise to date that so much as mentions the nation. But in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, when we are finally able to actually visit this location for the first time… this rampant slavery we’ve heard so much about is nowhere to be found. It’s talked about here and there; Neve mentions The Viper has a history of freeing slaves, as does Rook themselves if they choose the Shadow Dragon faction as their origin, for example. But walking down the streets of Minrathous, you’d never know. Because Dragon Age: The Veilguard, for all its enjoyment otherwise, has one glaring issue: It’s too clean.

The world of Thedas is full of injustices. Humans persecute elves, fear qunari, and belittle dwarves. Mages of any race are treated like caged animals in most places. The nobility is corrupt. Although, Dragon Age has not always handled these injustices well, mind you. Many, many times I’ve found myself frustrated with moments that just feel like a Racism Simulator. But what makes it worth it, is when you can actually do something about it. These injustices are things that a good-aligned character strives to fight back against, maybe even for very personal reasons. Part of the power-fantasy for many minorities is that this fight feels tangible. I cannot arrange the assassination of a corrupt politician in real life, but I sure can get Celene Valmont stabbed to death in Dragon Age: Inquisition, for example. Additionally, these fictional injustices can be used to make statements on real life parallels, like any source of media. For example, no, the Chant of Light is not real, but acting as a stand-in for Catholicism, through a media analysis lens we can explore what the Chant of Light communicates on a figurative level.

When starting Dragon Age: The Veilguard and selecting to play as an elf – this should be unsurprising to anyone who is familiar with my bias towards them – I was fully prepared to enter the streets of Minrathous and immediately get called “knife-ear” or “rabbit”. But this did not happen. I thought perhaps it was just a prologue thing, but returning to Minrathous once again, there was not a single shred of disapproval from any NPC I encountered that wasn’t a generic enemy to fight. And even the generic enemies, the Tevinter Nationalist cult of the Venatori, didn’t seem to care at all that I was a lineage they deemed inferior before now. This is a stark difference from entering the Winter Palace in Dragon Age: Inquisition and immediately getting hit with court disapproval and insults. Are we now to believe that Tevinter has somehow solved its astronomical racism and classism problems in the ten years since the past game? Or perhaps are we to believe all the characters who have demonstrated Tevinter’s systemic discriminatory views were just lying or outliers? Because it makes absolutely no sense at all for this horribly corrupt nation to not have a shred of reactivity to an elven or qunari Rook prancing around. But here were are, and not a single NPC even recognizes my character’s lineage. And because this is so different from every single past game, it feels weird.

As an elf, you have the option to make a comment about how “too many humans look down on us” in one scene early in the game. You can also talk to Bellara and Davrin, the elven companions, about concerns that people won’t trust elves after finding out about the big bad Ancient Evanuris… but this is presented as if elves don’t already face persecution. It’s all so limited in scope that it could be all too easily missed if you are not paying very close attention, and coming into the game with pre-existing lore knowledge.

All this made it easy to first assume that the developers simply over-corrected an attempt to address the Racism Simulator moments. And if that was the case, than I would at least give credit to effort; they did not find the right balance, but they at least tried. However, the sudden lack of discrimination against different lineages in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is not the only sanitized example of lore present.

In Dragon Age: Origins, Zevran Arainai is a companion who is from the Antivan Crows; a group of assassins. He discusses in detail how the Crows buy children and raise them into murder machines through all kinds of torture. The World of Thedas books also describe how the Antivan Crows work, echoing what Zevran says and expanding that of the recruitment, only a select handful of those taken by the Crows even survive. When you start Dragon Age: The Veilguard as an Antivan Crow, you immediately unlock a re-used codex entry from the past, “The Crows and Queen Madrigal”, that says the following:

“His guild has a reputation to uphold. They are ruthless, efficient, and discreet. How would they maintain such notoriety if agents routinely revealed the names of employers with something as "banal" as torture.”

Ruthless, efficient, and discreet. Torture is banal. This is what the Crows were before Dragon Age: The Veilguard decided to take them in a very different direction. The Antivan Crows in this latest game are painted as freedom fighters against the Antaam occupation of Treviso. Teia calls the Crows “patriots”. And while I can certainly believe that the Crows would have enough motivation to fight back against the Antaam, given that it is in direct opposition to their own goals, I cannot understand why they are suddenly suggested to be morally good. They are assassins. They treat their people like tools and murder for money. Even as recent as the Tevinter Nights story Eight Little Talons, it is addressed that the Antivan Crows are in it for the coin and power, with characters like Teia being outliers for wanting to change that. It makes the use of the older codex all the more confusing, as it sets the Antivan Crows up as something they are no longer portrayed as.

I personally think it would have been really interesting to explore a morally corrupt faction in comparison to say, the Shadow Dragons. Perhaps even as a protagonist, address things like the enslavement of “recruits” to make the faction at least somewhat better. (They are still assassins, after all.) Instead, we’re just supposed to ignore everything unsavory about them, I suppose…

We could discuss even further examples. Like how the Lords of Fortune pillage ruins but it’s okay, because they never sell artifacts of cultural importance, supposedly. Or how the only problem with the Templar Order in Tevinter is just the “bad apples” that work with Venatori. I could go on, but I don’t think I have to.

It is because of all this sanitization, that I cannot believe this was simply over-correction on a developmental part. Especially when there is still racism in the game, in other forms. The impression I’m left with feels far deeper than that; it feels corporate. As if a computer ran through the game’s script and got rid of anything with “too much” political substance. The strongest statements are hidden in codex entries, and I almost suspect they had to be snuck in.

Between a Racism Simulator and just ignoring anything bad whatsoever, I believe a balance is achievable; that sweet spot that actually has something to say about what it is presenting. I know it is achievable, because there are a few bright spots of this that I’ve encountered in Dragon Age: The Veilguard too. For example, some of the codex entries like I mentioned, and almost all the content with the Grey Wardens thus far. It is a shame there is not more content on this level.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is overall still a fun game, in my opinion. But it’s hard to argue that it isn’t missing the grit of its predecessors. The sharp edges have been smoothed. The claws have been removed. The house has been baby-proofed. And for what purpose?

-----

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[donathan]

hi

[sentientsky]

i just composed and sent not one, not two, but three (3) emails. i'm so fuckable right now holy shit

finally sent an email i've been putting off since february. i feel like i could fuck god rn

[moralsareathingofthepast]

sambucky nation how we feeling

[pinacoladamatata]

"I've seen the way you look at him... You're in it."

they shouldn't kiss. they shouldn't kiss at all. they're going to kiss a whole lot