#YES the overall game was good

[tethys-the-aquatic-sea-godness]

One other thing that bothers me in the Bhaal plot of BG3 is that they made it sound like Bhaal created his Bhaalspawns as... servants? Puppets? And that's never been the purpose of the Bhaalpsawns? Ever? Every new Bhaalspawn he created in BG3 is counterproductive to his plan.

Bhaal knew in advance he would die, so he divided his divine essense into many mortal vessels. Then he charged his faithful (cough) high priestess Amelyssan to ensure every Bhaalspawn was killed after his passing, so that his power could be returned to him and he could be reborn.

Thats' the plan. A plan that's impeded, not helped, by more Bhaalspawns. It means splitting more of his essence.

Bhaal never wanted those spawns, he never intended to keep them, he never wanted a 'perfect child', they were fuel, born to be consumed for his return.

And that Larian has to make their dark urge the one true most *specialest* Bhaalspawn is just... pathetic. Can't find another word for it. They're trying to push aside Gorion's ward entire storyline, two incredible previous games, just to shove in their perfect, most special Bhaalspawn of all Bhaalspawns. And what flesh and blood of Bhaal is the Dark Urge made of? When Cyric killed him, he didn't have a mortal body, he was possessing one. Is the Dark Urge made of the dead flesh and blood of the guy he was possessing? Doesn't feel that special, but sure, go ahead.

I'm not saying their main charatcers shouldn't have been special somehow, it's part of the salt, but they should've have made it special with their own story. Not by trying too hard, and failing, to match the previous two games. I don't know, make the main character special reguarding something Illithid? You know, the supposed main focus of this game?

And yes, they do fail. The original game gives you the opportunity to become a god, in this one, your great evil achievement would be to be to work for a god. Congratulation, you've got a job. The one where you control the brain would be the only one where you truly achieve your evil overlord dreams. Surprise, surprise, that's the one connected to Illithid plot, not the Bhaal plot. They can do good work when they're not trying to one up their predecessors.

[mellowthorn]

i finished my da2 replay with anders rivalmance and i chose to kill him and now i can't stop listening to "i'm not calling you a liar" and it's making me very very sad :(

[imadhatt3r]

This is going to sound really weird, I know, but I seriously feel like there's a number of like, British communists who desperately wish they were Eastern European??? Like they think that by being into political side of communism (usually not the kind that existed in Eastern Europe), they can be chummy with people who actually grew up in Eastern Europe and were raised with the communist era somewhere in the background their whole life, usually without knowing the nitty gritty of theory but with a lot of cultural herritage from that time...

Like no, there's a big difference between being British, being raised in British culture, with cultural institutions, history, traditions, then getting into communist theory and just assuming that you know everything about life in communist Eastern Europe, and then pulling a "how do you do fellow commies" to people from Eastern Europe whose associations with communism are much different, and they will see you as detached and insensitive at best.

[mysticcoffeecat]

An excerpt from my wip on A03 (and something I’ve been too scared to share on here, idk why lmao) along with some parallels from the show. I’ve been working on a ‘The Good Place’ x ‘South Park’ crossover for some time now. I’m almost to publishing the very last season (most of it is already written and just needs to be edited ).

I’m always a lot of chapters ahead vs what I publish so I can edit beforehand. Part of this is because I’m aware I’m not a great creative writer and want to spend time editing. I’m much more in tune with writing dialogue and argumentative computer science college papers vs pretty prose, but this has been great for me to practice. Below are Google doc excerpts for the last chapter in my Season 3 of 4 I’ll drop on A03 soon:

The above scene corresponds to the Good Place season 3 finale x South Park’s 07x14 ‘Raisin’s’. It was watching those two episodes of the respective shows that got me thinking that a crossover between the two shows in the first place would work.

I know it’s long and at some parts it seems like the end games (Style and Bunny) may not even come to be (I promise they do), but I hope y’all will give it a chance :) I really do care about all the characters I write about, and while it’s quite slow burn and sometimes it feels hopeless, every one gets substantial character arcs by the end along with substantial ship gains… just in a very slow burn way.

Note- you don’t necessarily have to have watched either show to enjoy, but it’s best if you at least are familiar with South Park (since I drop in way too many useless ass references/Easter eggs to SP lmao). Almost done with season 3 of 4 but already have most of 4 already written to be edited and would love to get more engagement xD

[moirascribbles]

So, I finished Veilguard last night and I'm still just...

[eff-plays]

Excuse the potato quality but if I set it to higher my PC will explode <3

Anyway I am obsessed with my Rook.

[doctorbrown]

MCFLY JULY ‘24 ⸺ 「 19 / 31 * PLAYING HOOKY 」

10:15

Hill Valley Courthouse

“Good morning, Citizen Wilson,” Edna says curtly, a dangerous look in her eyes as she exchanges the expected pleasantries. Today’s smile is sharper than usual; today she has fangs instead of teeth, Goldie notes quietly—something that kicks his self-preservation drive into high gear because nothing good happens when the viper bears her fangs—and adjusts accordingly, proverbially twisting himself out of reach of that venomous bite of hers.

Mama used to tell him he was too perceptive for his own good. That he had a smile that could charm even the Devil himself and a tongue coated in silver.

It sure served him well back in law school. It would’ve made him a damn fine lawyer. It makes him excellent at his job now and keeps him out of trouble, mostly.

He knows what has put her in a sour mood before the explanation even comes out, which it inevitably does with alarming speed and disgust well before he can return the greeting. “I have urgent business to discuss with my husband, but I see his office has been untouched all morning. Have you heard anything from him?”

Goldie gives her the same bright smile he always does, flashing perfectly white teeth. “Good morning, Citizen. Lovely morning, isn’t it?” Edna’s mouth twitches at the edges but she says nothing, favouring expectant silence as she awaits the answer to her inquiry.

His mama taught him right. Taught him the value of honesty and virtue. That lying should be avoided unless it was the lesser of whatever two evils were placed in his path and then when he used that silver tongue of his, he knew exactly what he was doing.

Right now, he knew exactly what he was doing, lying to the most dangerous person in Hill Valley. And he knew exactly what would happen if he got caught.

But knowing what would happen if he didn’t, well, that left only one conscionable choice of action open to him.

He didn’t know all the details. Emmett had refused to elaborate on that meeting with Citizen Martin McFly, even after the usual prodding that often got him to open up and share some of his woes knowing they would be held in the utmost confidence.

‘It’s too dangerous to get you involved. The less you know, the less Edna will be able to try and force out of you.’

‘You’re planning something, aren’t you?’ Emmett says nothing and Goldie sets down two cups of coffee, sweetened with an additional cube of sugar each from their secret stash to cut the bitterness of the last few days. ‘I’ve been around long enough to know that look in your eyes.’ When Emmett’s brows fly up, he continues, ‘that’s the look of a man having a crisis of conscience.’

For a moment, he thinks a weary sigh is the only answer he’ll receive. ‘Let’s just say he forced something out into the open that I’ve tried to not think about for the past decade or so.’

But he was able to intuit enough of it based on the scraps of knowledge he did have.

Whatever he’s up to, whatever the reason Citizen McFly had for racking up a Demerit count that should have sent him straight to the Citizen Plus ward and whatever the truth was behind that memo that suddenly appeared on his desk overnight, Goldie knows in his heart that his absence today has everything to do with the kid.

He only hopes it's worth it.

So, Goldie lies expertly and efficiently, thankful for his long-time familiarity with Edna and her methods and Emmett’s forethought and preparedness, inasmuch as could be fabricated in an official memo left with him without revealing the true nature of whatever it was that consumed him. Without that, navigating the live minefield littered with Edna’s follow-up questions and scrutinising glares would have been near impossible.

[felix-krain]

I love Sonic Frontiers guys!

[mariyekos]

One day I'm going to finish my FFXVI mega essay, but for now I think my thoughts on the game can be summarized like this:

When making FFXVI, the developers sure knew what they wanted to do, and by god were they going to do it.

Were they also going to do other things that would make those first thing better? Were they going to do other things that make a good game overall? Ehhhhh...they were going to do what they wanted to do, and invest all their time and effort into that, so surely that would be enough! Surely!

[stinkrascal]

now that ive beaten bg3 idk what to do w myself... i miss her already...........

[hmmwellok]

i love how, after spending a week with harry's antics and then finding out he used to be a gym teacher, kim just goes for the conclusion that gym teachers are just superhuman like that

[ontargetmadders]

This is all because of ange btw. His pull is obviously massive considering he literally convinced timo to come in 2 seconds lol

[sysig]

Hey baby, did it hurt when you, oh geez, yeah it did, sorry for asking (Patreon)

[agentark]

stream of consciousness talk about the hunger games prequel below

I find it really interesting that people don't like how certain last names (that we already know from the trilogy) show up in the prequel book (e.g Lucky Flickerman is the host/commentator and we can presume that he's Caesar's relative - father? idk if it's stated)

I've seen people say they wish there were other people involved, that they didn't like recognizing so many names, but that's the whole point.

Like, there is very little upward mobility in Panem, whether you're district or capitol. Every single citizen is entrenched in their role from the birth. Not only that, but legacy? tradition? those are cornerstones of this whole system - so Heavensbee Hall/Hilaria/Plutarch? Arachne/Seneca Crane? Lucky/Caesar Flickerman? There's a reason Plinth and Highbottom are not names we see again if I'm remembering correctly.

Anyway, to me it just screams, "This is how it is, was, and will always be." The people with power and influence, the people who made it out of the rebellion with their wealth intact, they're going to be the first players in this larger game and they are never going to stop playing.

Not to mention, the man that Snow becomes? He's keeping people who can play their part close, and people he can manipulate closer.

[perenlop]

i dont wanna sound like a person thats like “if a character is mean then theyre written poorly” but truly what makes or breaks a villain to me is whether or not youre supposed to find them complex and well intentioned deep down and they obviously arent