#all from 2.0 main quest

[seth-ballz]

brant header gifs 🎭

[rivilu]

ok you know. the Ellu in dav crossover au is very fun but i am a little bit enchanted by the concept of him AND Rynn at once. Best of both worlds in a sense.

[kafkas-coatrack]

What I wouldn’t give to relive the absolute joy of the 2.0 era

[ironunderstands]

Fu Xuan X Qingque is fucking peak IN THIS ESSAY I WILL-

Today I’m gonna yap about how underrated this absolutely incredible ship is, and why I love it, so sit back and enjoy because I have THOUGHTS. Also, thank you so much to @cosmicquilt on tumblr for providing me their own insight into it, as well as a place for me to begin, I really do appreciate it! 

Before I go in depth on them, I think their status as *package deal do not separate* is really funny and cute, and I’m surprised people don’t point it out more with just how obvious it really is.

Here’s some example’s I’ve collected (thank you quilt for the first two screenshots!) 

This is from the food event in 2.0, and to me it seems like Fu Xuan bought it out of curiosity, then Qingque had some and got messy because of it.

They are also together in the Penacony mural thing (just like Aventio hehe), and you can see Qingque reaching towards a gambling machine while Fu Xuan pulls her back, as if she predicted the other would immediately make a beeline towards the machines, and had to prevent that from happening. 

Today Is Another Peaceful Day is the name of the lightcone shared between them, whose description is quite comical.

Fu Xuan did infact find her again, she is angry and the sweets Qingque bought to placate her don’t seem like they are going to do much 😭.

Qingque also makes an appearance in Fu Xuan’s trailer, which only tends to happen when characters have an established close relationship or connection (like Dan Heng appearing in Blade’s)

Their team joining voicelines also match perfectly- in fact they tell a pretty funny story of yet another time Fu Xuan goes to look for Qingque, who’s supposedly slacking off again.

This also implies that Fu Xuan knows Qingque well enough at this point to guess accurately where she would be hiding and when she would leave, which is adorable and honestly really funny. 

Overall, on a surface level, their Looney Tunes dynamic is incredibly entertaining and endearing, making their relationship rather lighthearted and sweet. Girlboss X Girlfailure is always fun to watch and a personal favorite in ships for me is when one character has to deal with the other’s antics (you know who :3). I also think it’s a good way to set up a developing relationship, as they get closer and closer together each time they play this game of cat and mouse, which is something that is demonstrated by the game.

So, let’s look at them a little deeper now.

Within the quest, Omniscient Inquiry of Arcana, which is found within the main Xianzhou quest line, we see firsthand how much Fu Xuan actually trusts Qingque. 

Even if Qingque is often unreliable, Fu Xuan is not at all surprised that she is the one who helped bring the Nameless to her, as Fu Xuan knows she can bet on Qingque to come through with her responsibilities when she needs to.

The thing is, Qingque is lazy, but she is by no means incompetent, and gets all her work done on time. Moreover, Fu Xuan knows this better than anyone, especially considering she’s the one who has to go looking for Qingque when she slacks off 90% of the time (something which she doesn’t have to do, she could delegate someone else to do it yet every time Fu Xuan personally sees the matter done). 

So, even if Qingque is just a librarian, instead of fetching someone else to help, Fu Xuan also has her restart the base terminals for the Matrix of Presence, because she knows and trusts Qingque to be capable of it, almost without a second thought. 

Even if the task at hand isn’t particularly difficult, and Fu Xuan could easily do it herself, she lets herself be lazy and trusts Qingque to do so, as I will get into further, they are far more similar than Fu Xuan realizes.

In the quest line prior, Qingque also describes just how much she in turn believes in Fu Xuan, stating that even if the sky were to collapse, she could count of Fu Xuan attempting to hold it up- and she makes fun of Fu Xuan for being short despite being of similar stature.

A remark such as that illustrates how time and time again, Qingque has witnessed Fu Xuan put her all into protecting the Xianzhou and its people, which has earned Fu Xuan Qingque’s utmost respect, even if that doesn’t stop her from slacking off from time to time.

As funny as their dynamic is, the genuine trust they display in one another is heartwarming, and as much as they annoy one another (or really as much as Qingque bothers Fu Xuan with her antics), they truly do have faith in each other. Continually, Qingque’s awareness of the burden’s Fu Xuan has to carry slots her into a unique role of being one of the few people who could support her in a time of need.

Which is exactly what we get to witness in the Heliobi event.

Fu Xuan gets possessed and fire’s Qingque because of it, who isn’t too upset about it as admittedly her tendency to slack off was waisting her life. 

However, she attempts to give a speech to drag Fu Xuan out of her possession, attempting to mask it as her desire to not be fired disgracefully, but really she just wanted to break Fu Xuan out of the illusion. 

Unfortunately, Fu Xuan isn’t having it, and spouts a lot of stuff to the ghostbusting gang, expressing that her former attempts to change the Xianshou’s fate were futile, and that destiny is unavoidable and unchangeable, and that human’s desires to resist it are pointless.

Then, she makes the squad + QQ play a puzzle in which she controls all the outcomes, just to demonstrate how pointless the choices humans make, as they will always lead to the same result. To possessed Fu Xuan, choice is merely an illusion, a waste of time, and she cannot be convinced of it otherwise.

Until Qingque steps in. And perhaps the greatest demonstration of just how much she CARES for Fu Xuan plays out.

Qingque starts out by saying that the game Fu Xuan made them play is not an accurate representation of reality, and that the universe doesn’t have puzzles for them to solve. People have free will, and even if Qingque uses that will to slack off, those choices are still hers and still CHOICES. 

However Fu Xuan isn’t buying it, and this is when the core of why she was possessed in the first place gets revealed.

Qingque’s choices don’t have consequences, at least not far reaching as Fu Xuan’s do. But every action, every decision, every minute step in any direction that Fu Xuan takes could plunge the entire Xianzhou into chaos, and ruin EVERYTHING. 

So, Qingque proposes a new puzzle, hoping to be able to change Fu Xuan’s mind this time.

Qingque fails again this time, however Fu Xuan is starting to get an idea of what she’s getting and, and Qingque reiterates that there will always be more choices to make, even if the puzzles appear to only have one solution.

Therefore, she tries one last time.

Qingque shoves her own solution into the puzzle, her own way by drawing on the help of the ghostbusting squad, but still Fu Xuan cannot be convinced, believing instead that the thousands of different paths people take all lead to the same destination, so making choices is pointless.

However, that’s not what Qingque is getting at, and in perhaps the most heartfelt speech given in this game so far, she saves Fu Xuan, and demonstrates why her choices DO matter. Moreover, she does it in the most Qingque way possible- by explaining it through a comparison to Celestial Jade.

It’s not winning or the outcome that makes Celestial Jade fun, it’s the choices you get to make while you play it which is what makes it enjoyable. However, much like how even if the outcome of a game is predetermined, just because the universe’s destiny could be predetermined doesn’t mean people are aware of it, or that it even matters. Like in a game, in your life , you cannot control all the outcomes, but how you react to the twists and turns it throws your way, and the choices you make because of that, is what makes living worth it.

And if Fu Xuan’s choices didn’t matter, she wouldn’t be making them in the first place.  Perhaps she can’t prevent everything, and perhaps the universe really is weighted against her and the Luofu, but every day Fu Xuan makes decisions that help it stay around a little longer, that save a few more people, that buy a bit more time. The universe isn’t a game, and you can’t just determine your decisions to be meaningless because of some threatening ending that might never come to pass, and like Qingque says, Fu Xuan wouldn’t suffer the effort if what she works so hard for doesn’t mean anything. 

By reaffirming that destiny is an illusion, Qingque saves Fu Xuan and breaks her out of the Heliobi’s possession. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 

PROTECTIVE QINGQUE AAAAAARREAAAAA GRRRRRR TJEY ARE SO IN LOVE GRRRRR R SNANAKMZS AAAAAAA

Qingque tries to get out of work for good but Fu Xuan reminds her that Qingque reminded her that she had choices, and Qingque gets flustered and accepts her defeat.

What do you mean by that Fu Xuan, what do you mean by that, hmm? HMMM??? ELABORATE FU XUAN ELABORATE??? Sesbian lex???

So Qingque is in love with her boss and we all cheered, but don’t worry, and QQ also happens to get possessed by a Heliobus, and the way Fu Xuan behaves towards her is just as sweet and hilarious.

In her illusion, there’s a bunch of Fu Xuan clones who praise Qingque, much to the annoyance of Fu Xuan, who gets flustered and angry over it. Honestly I love just how many romance tropes that are displayed in their relationship, with this as a prime example. Like making a bunch of clones of your crush to praise you? Having Fu Xuan bear witness to exactly what makes Qingque happy (her praise)? The boss-employee dynamic getting reversed? I love it give me 500000. 

The nickname??? Oh you just know Qingque was waiting to call her that, infact she probably had it in her brain for a while, but just didn’t feel confident enough to do it in her previous power dynamic with Fu Xuan, so I wonder what else Qingque holds back from Fu Xuan because she doesn’t believe they are close enough for that. 

Ooh she’s mad mad GET ITS ASS FU XUAN YEAAAHHHH YEEAAH THATS WHAT YOU GET HELIOBUS HAHAHAHAHAH 

What if I ascended to another dimension? What if I left this mortal plane? What if Honkai Star Rail what if? What do you mean Fu Xuan is fussing over Qingque like a wife when her husband returns from war, what do you mean she goes, “As long as you’re okay,” then immediately is like “get back to work,” because she realized she was being too soft. What do you mean she fucking PATS QINGQUE ON THE HEAD AND LEAVES LIKE THAT???? 

I’m actually insane about this like how does nobody talk about them? The most peak relationship ever right there and I see NOTHING??? Like not only is it fucking hilarious with their game of cat and mouse they having going on with one another, but they truly just understand and adore each other even if both of them haven’t exactly realized it yet.

If I were to be 100% honest if you told me that speech Qingque gave to Fu Xuan in the Heliobi event was a confession one, then I would believe you because that was the most romantic shit ever. Like telling your companion in a time of need that their choices DO mean something and that they are such a capable individual whom everyone relies on, who YOU rely on?? If I was Fu Xuan I would have proposed right there I would have summoned up a ring I don’t care.

It’s just, I love relationships where two characters just GET one another inside and out, and FuQing is such a perfect example of it. Something about a trust that runs so deep that the two people who forged that bond don’t even realize it because of simply how long it’s persisted, like they’ve just acclimated to it because it’s been such a fixture of life for so long.

They are each other’s safety nets, and when one of them is in need, the other always delivers and UGHH IM INSANE ABOUT IT.

HOW DID THIS FLY UNDER PEOPLES NOSES??! HOW DID EVERYONE DO THE 1.5 EVENT AND NOT IMMEDIATELY START RUNNING LAPS AROUND THEIR HOUSE BECAUDE WHAT??? Literally that speech Qingque gives to Fu Xuan is one of my favorite scenes in the game, perhaps right behind the 1.6 Ratio-Screwllum scene and if you know me then you know how absolutely bonkers I am about that scene. It’s just so earnest and funny and it encapsulates the themes of HSR perfectly, with Qingque reiterating the overarching theme of the game: Trailblazing, ie moving forward with life no matter the destination (destiny), as it’s the choices you make along the way and the journey you take that matters.

Moreover, that’s what makes it so fucking good; it meshes perfectly with the overall story of the game. Despite how busy both of them are, despite how they often have higher priorities or could just go to other people or whatever, Qingque and Fu Xuan consistently choose one another, for both the most trivial and the most dire of situations. 

The road ahead for the Xianzhou is uncertain, but no matter how the path twists, Qingque and Fu Xuan will travel it side by side, and for that I will always adore them.

Thank you so much for reading! I fear I couldn’t be as intelligent about why I love this ship as I wanted to be, but I hope you at least got the idea a little bit haha. Maybe I’ll be able to me smarter about them one day but for now all my thoughts about them circle back to incoherent screaming. Honestly it’s probably because I like their dynamic far more than I like their characters standalone, so I can’t really bring that into the discussion, but perhaps with time I will be able to add onto this. For now though, all I’m hoping for is the wedding they deserve lol. 

[sleeps-au-bag]

i have to throw this into the all consuming void

hsr roleswap where clara, yanqing, and misha take the place of our favorite nameless trio while march 7th, dan heng, and the trailblazer take their places. it doesn't matter that i'm still in the beginning of the 2.0 main quest, i needed to get this out. no spoilers please.

clara is now the host of a stellaron. she was left behind on the herta space station to be found by the astral express. she's incredibly talented when it comes to machines, has a strange habit of going around barefoot, and possibly the most normal one on the express.

yanqing is now the amnesiac swordsman of the express. he was found as a block of six-phased ice floating through space on april 4th, which is now his name. he's crazy talented with a sword, a wonderful photographer, and has quite the adventurous spirit.

misha is now the mysterious loner of the express. he was the first of the trio to be invited on by himeko and welt and has stayed since. his customer service face is unrivaled, he cares quite a bit for his fellow trailblazers, and tries to keep them as far away as possible from finding out his past.

march 7th, now called marcy, is the daughter of svarog. she was taken in by the robot and was raised by him ever since. she's very hyperactive, interacts with everyone in the underground a lot, and charges into a lot of problems without thinking of solutions.

dan heng is now a lieutenant of the cloud knights and the retainer of jing yuan. he doesn't care that much about his past since he now has a duty to the general who raised him. he's not that well liked by the vidyadhara, he keeps getting strange visions about something, and the general has been getting distant recently.

the trailblazer is now the bellboy of the reverie hotel. they're constantly switching between male and female. they have a weird obsessions with clocks, often carry around a baseball bat, and can be found collecting trash in their free time.

[nazbruhh]

// HSR 2.7 spoilers\\\

I need to open this up as a huge Sunday fan.

I remember when doing the main quests of Penacony, I didn't care about him in 2.0. but when 2.1 came out, I realized that Sunday was not just a "blank Ayato" I thought before (sorry guys, I love Ayato but I think he could get more in Genshin) , he's a lot devious and manipulative kind of type, how he treated Aventurine that time. But finally 2.2.. and that's where this all began, him being the REAL antagonist of this story and I remember how I called him "b*tch" when he turned into the boss lmao. Then the last scene where Robin hugged Sunday to say "the dream is over".... That's where I actually started to tear up... This scene made me love these siblings so much. Despite not being in a good shape (due to the terrible family environment and their different ambitions) , they still cared and loved each other. 2.3 showed how Robin sacrificed her will to be with Sunday just so he could be free...

And after doing 2.7, I realized something important. Yes, even tho Sunday has done some terrible things... But remember how I called him, "antagonist", not "villain or evil". All he wanted is to create paradise and protect people from horrible realities, but that's where it felt wrong. In this case... Unlike Scaramouch (yes he has a sad backstory as well... But he was evil af lmao), as for Sunday...I NEVER saw him as a villain at all. Just an unfortunate one with terrible decisions, that ended up hurting people. Plus he didn't have any intentions to kill people at all unlike whom I'm talking about (Scaramouch and Raiden)

Also unlike R*iden Shogun, he DID get consequences and was sent to jail. With that being said, it's sad that he's in Astral express temporarily because he's still not sure himself. But maybe.. just maybe..... he'll stay with us... I never wanted to reject him cause someone like him deserves the second chance...

[gotskamstuff]

The downfall of the show began when they started moving the treasure hunt all over the world for treasures that came out of nowhere and had no real emotional value for the Pogues.

The series is literally called “Outer Banks” and it started with them going on this journey because it was all related to the history of their island and their own families past, families that were all intertwined with one another and stories that perfectly blended into one another, the Royal Merchant that was John B’s father entire life work that led to the Cross being Pope’s family heirloom and who’s ancestors were attached to the Cameron’s land. S2 finale was the last piece of the real Outer Banks with the treasures being connected to one another and to the original quest that started everything, after that it was all random and detached from the Pogues.

El Dorado was incredibly random and felt just thrown out there with a one season villain no one had any correlation with just to make them rich in the end. Even S4 with JJ’s story and the Genrettes connection to the blue crown was so sterile and lacked sentiment since it came out of nowhere, had no correlation to the rest of the story before and it was about a family that although blood JJ nor the audience had any connection with and it still took them far from their homeland with nothing to do with Kildare, something incredibly underwhelming since season 4 was promoted to be a “going back to season one vibes” and promoted to be centered around Blackbeard and therefore a portion of the North Carolina history.

S1 and S2 were the real Outer Banks with the two treasures being connected to each other and with very defined backstories that gradually got unveiled and made us discover a little more about Kildare and the Pogues families, with villains like Ward that had a relationship with the Pogues and motives against them and remained the villain throughout the seasons building a story gradually with depth and giving us purpose to keep following and rooting for the protagonists.

Outer Banks isn’t even about the Outer Banks anymore, it should be renamed “Whatever place in the world holds the next treasure”.

We got initially so attached to it ‘cause it started as a very personal story about the main characters, their roots and their hometown, but it ended up being Indiana Jones adventures around the world just for the sake of actions, the heart of the show got lost into meaningless adventures written with clear confusion and hurry just for the sake of getting renewed by the network.

They didn’t need 4 seasons and they simply should’ve NEVER made season 3 about El Dorado, Ward should’ve died on the Costal Venture and Big John should’ve stayed dead (since all they did in S3 was just be back to do nothing and get killed again) and they should’ve found a way to connect JJ’s roots with Blackbird to the rest of the main story about the Royal Merchant and the Cross ending with them finally getting rich for discovering the history of Kildare and becoming the owners of Goat Island where they built Poguelandia 2.0 (basically S3 finale and the beginning of 4x01 merged together as the series finale).

Three seasons for the three boys born in the Cut discovering the hidden history of their families past on their island would’ve been enough and would’ve made much more sense following a common theme . At a certain point they started doing TOO MUCH when we had actually fell in love with the simplicity and genuine nature of the story.

Outer Banks should’ve never made it out of the Outer Banks and a well written trilogy would’ve been enough.

[fangface-xena]

dnd5e!yellowjackets HC

Since the last post about this ended up getting over like 5 notes I decided to actually flesh this out somewhat properly. To the incredibly niche group of people who will actually be interested in this, please let me know your thoughts!

Shauna: Soulknife Rogue + Path of Wild Magic Barbarian multiclass

I feel like there could be an argument for Bard with her writing but I feel like the whole brooding, tortured personality really lends itself to the rogue stereotype. Plus, how could we forget Mrs. ‘it’s just like riding a really gross fucked-up bike’... She's 100% proficient with finesse blade weapons. Charisma dumpstat queen! I also know in my heart of hearts she HAS to have some levels in Barbarian after the whole Lottie thing. No spoilers but "As folk of deep feeling, barbarians are especially susceptible to these wild influences, with some barbarians being transformed by the magic." (Barbarian: Path of Wild Magic, TCoE) tell me this isn't literally about her and Bard!Jackie's influence?

Jackie: College of Glamour Bard

College of Glamour has Jackie written ALL over it. Jackie who got picked to be captain because of her influence? Bet. Every single ability in this class sounds like it was written with this bitch in mind. 'weave a song of fey magic that imbues your allies with vigor and speed', 'charge your performance with seductive, fey magic', 'makes others want to serve you', 'makes you look more lovely and fierce', like bro come on. She'd be out on a quest serving face and giving little speeches like she did for Allie, throwing Bardic Inspirations left right and centre (especially at Shauna).

Lottie: Circle of the Shepherd Druid + Order Domain Cleric multiclass

I feel like this is such a clear cut one that I barely need to explain myself. I definitely think Lottie's a Druid as her main class, with some levels in Cleric and not the other way around. I don't think she set out to be a messiah of the wilderness, she was literally just a girl listening to the trees and kind of fell into it as the others started following her lead. Lottie's connection to the Wilderness and her willingness to lead the other girls towards its worshipping (Laura Lee style lmao) is so Shepherd coded lmfao. I was on the fence between Order, Tempest and Nature (basic and boring) for the Cleric subclass but I truly think Lottie's worshipping of the Wilderness comes from a place of following what she perceives as the natural order of things i.e. 'he doesn't belong to her', letting the cards pick who Snackie 2.0 is, 'It wants us to'... need I go on?

Natalie: Hunter Conclave Ranger if we're being basic / Gloom Stalker (Doom Stalker!) Ranger if we're being spicy

Okay so I am still undecided on this one and thoughts/opinions are so welcome. So, Natalie is definitely a Ranger, not just for the whole gun thing but because she's the literal embodiment of survival, even before they ever got stranded. Similarly to Bard!Jackie, I truly believe all ranger abilities apply so well to Natalie's character, especially if you think about her "outcast" status in school. Hunter is the most obvious subclass choice because she is quite literally the group's main hunter, but I feel like Gloom Stalker fits her present day character so well.

Taissa: Fiend Patron (?) Warlock + College of Eloquence Bard multiclass

Tai might be a lawyer-state senator girlboss, but she is haunted by a strange alter ego and a dude with no eyes FIRST! I definitely think her weird fugue self is her patron, but I'm not sure how that would translate into an actual subclass so I'll just stick with Fiend for now (Dirt Fiend!Tai my beloved). Besides being a grade A dirt eater, she's also got at least 3 levels in Bard for the College of Eloquence subclass since that's like textbook lawyer/politician. Unlike Natalie, I think her '96 self fits the multiclass aspect well and it definitely would still apply in school and then in the Wilderness.

Van: Oath of Devotion Paladin

Now, when I wrote this down in my notes app I did have it written as 'Paladin (OATH! OF! DEVOTION!!!!)' for a reason. This bitch is a ride or die (or get mauled by wolves) to her core. There are so many reasons why Paladin fits Van so well! Firstly, I think we can easily draw parallels with her goalkeeper position in football (fuck saying soccer). Her buying into Lottie's Wilderness cult stuff also heavily matches the Paladin schtick, but I think we can trace it back all the way to her relationship with Tai. Even before she embraces the Wilderness worshipping, she's so incredibly devoted to Tai that she risks dying just to go support her girlfriend in her mission to find help.

Misty: School of Illusion Wizard

Misty was a tricky one to figure out but I definitely thought it had to be a spell casting class. Despite her leg-chopping, cliff-pushing, stew-spiking antics, I don't think Misty would fit a melee or a more physical class very well. Out of all the casters, I think Wizard suits Misty the most because I do think everything Misty has, she's had to build herself. She had to learn how to adapt, whether that be socially (autistic queen) or practically (she'll learn any skill just to be useful an needed), in order to fit in in a way that the other girls just do. This aligns incredibly well with how Wizards don't have innate magical abilities, but do have an incredibly large pool of knowledge that they can gather. I was actually split between School of Enchantment or Illusion for the longest time, because I can see both of them applying to Misty to some degree. In the end, I went with school of Illusion because I don't think she is necessarily as charming and the Enchantment subclass suggests, given how off-putting she comes across even in the present timeline and to people who didn't know her weird, psycho little self in school. Instead, I feel like her ability to manipulate people comes from her fabricating situations and bending reality to match her wants and needs. Destroying the black-box, getting a nursing degree, being a goddamn citizen detective, are all ways that Misty has found to create the illusion that she's useful, needed, innocent, normal.

Some of these are way longer than others (also it's like 3 am and I have had my bodyweight in sangria tonight so idek if they're coherent) but I hope it's still an interesting read. I'm definitely up for discussing anything a bit further with anyone who actually cares enough to read this lmfao.

I've also decided to spend my Christmas holiday designing custom, Yellowjackets inspired character sheets for each of these bitches despite knowing fuck all about graphic design software so I might post those eventually.

[fenharel]

some of my thoughts after finishing veilguard a couple days ago before i start my second playthrough :)

ok i think its important to note first that the things i was most looking forward too was 1. solas, 2. solavellan, 3. lore. im self aware enough to know that this will have had some influence towards what i expected from the game and what i enjoyed/cared about or not 👍

good

solas: im honestly so happy. my man is finally happy and reunited with his wife!!!!!! my heart feels so full 😭 this game was a solas fans wet dream. absolutely loved everything we got. hunting down regrets and watching old memories. talking to him in the fade. the entire crossroads!!!!!! him shit talking elgar'nan. watching him go trickster mode and imprison rook. fighting the archdemon as the dread wolf!!!!!! i could go on forever. CHEFS KISS TO IT ALL<3333333333333 if anything i wish there would have been MORE im greedy what can i say

solavellan: screaming crying throwing up. i still cant believe it oh my fucking god

lore reveals: i found all the reveals about all our old theories so fun. i didnt like all of them (old gods are just dragons? c'mon.) but overall it felt so rewarding to have picked up on it all. or be totally surprised by something (mythal and solas the reason for the titans and the blight? wow.)

the executors, forgotten and forbidden ones: the next big bads of the next game huh!!!! loved what we got for the most part, the mysterious circle codexes where probably the most interesting in the game. anaris actually showing up shocked me. i wish bellaras brother didnt say "for plot reasons i must die" and actually told us something about him but oh well. im cautiously optimistic about the secret ending for now. what it implied could go either way for now...

main quest: not all of them, but a lot of them were awesome. dare i say some quests were up there with the best main quests in da??? weisshaupt was epic. or the blood of arlathan. every time we get to talk to solas (thehe<3). the final bits. the strong points were so strong that the low points got highlighted a bit too much imo

act 3: by far my favourite act. this was soooo good. the romance finally (?!) kicking it. suicide mission 2.0 stressed me tf out. the varric reveal? send me to the asylum. solas tricking rook? king behaviour i was cheering for him while crying about varric. the dread wolf transformation. the conversation between solas/mythal/lavellan at the end. i basically was in tears throughout half of the thing. couldnt read the credits at all. act 3 was amazing

minrathous vs treviso: i loved this especially with the angst of playing a shadow dragon who failed minrathous. and then the consequences and quest changes this causes throughout the game was really cool. i wish there were more bigger choices like this since it felt a bit flat choice wise besides of this one, but it was amazing.

villains: ghilan'nain and elgar'nan were great. they really felt like the tyrannical gods they were supposed to be. im so glad there was mostly no corypheus-esque cringe. (tho especially ghil had some video gamey lines but sdjkfhjksdf i still love her)

neutral

rook: i dont really care much about rook.. 🙈. mind you rook was certainly not the reason why i wanted to play this game so im sure a second playthrough will make me warm up to them more, now that my head is more free, but it just didnt insta click. rook didnt feel like a real person to me, almost nobody had any (to my taste) realistic reactions towards them. the stakes just were too high for them to get treated this way (nobody is pissed off that they freed the gods? everyone just believes them when they say gods are walking around? everyone just agrees to work with them? nobody cares how rook is doing? or who rook even is? idk.) i didnt like the introduction much either. the shepard treatment didnt work for me here, just believing that rook is fit for the job because varric says so wasn't enough for me. rook also has barely anything going on for them either besides of being the relentless "good guy". we never see them doubt themselves or be fearful or be mean. all the dialogue options are the same as well. its.... boring. anyway i dont wanna bash on rook, i know i'll end up liking them more later. the headcanons will be headcanoning<3

companions: i... don't have strong feelings about most of them? all of them got to me sooner or later, made me cry. but afterwards im still 🤷‍♀️ about most. i didnt feel like we get to know them as deeply as we get to know companions in the previous games. i really really missed sitting in the lighthouse for hours and talk to them, ask them about their profession or what they are about outside of cutscenes like in the previous ones. i think that would have helped me click with them faster. i didnt find all companion quests very strong either. the "high stakes" of the main story made some conflicts feel a bit like we can just fix that after the story lol. i did not like the mass effect 2 treatment of them much... (but me2 is overrated anyway sshh dont kill me<3) some companion quests i did find interesting lore wise (bellara, harding) even if i wish that some of them would have went a bit deeper there. anyway i know i'll probably end up loving them all after a couple of playthroughs, this almost always happens to me, dai is the best example.

combat: don't care. this isn't my type of combat, i don't play a lot of super actiony combo dodge dodge block combat games. still hate the limited abilities. at least it didn't feel too clunky on mouse and keyboard and it was "fun enough" to me so thats good

puzzles: i could put them into the bad category but at least they weren't too terrible so i don't want to be too harsh. but i don't enjoy doing them. i dont want to search for a crystal in a bush. i mean i did them all but at what cost. this felt like filler i thought they wanted to avoid by not adding fetch quests???

bad

pacing: this games hardest battle imo. the pacing of the game is... strange. act 1 is way too fast. it feels like we're running and have absolutely no time for anything. (makes sense! didnt work well though). act 2 then drags a bit with all the companion quests, and the mix really drags the progression of the romances as well to a ridiculous degree. at least with lucanis, idk how it is with the others. i love him and i can headcanon to fill in the blanks so i liked his romance, but it does make it seem like nothing is happening for 50 hours for everyone who doesnt like to headcanon around. anyway, the pacing/storytelling felt often not fitting. it was trying to be mass effect in a story that is too complex and the lore too rich to run through it. this felt like the main reason why we just never went very deep into the lore of the factions or new npcs, or learn or see certain things, the complex nature of the crows, or tevinter magisters and their slaves, we are just running all the damn time? we never get to explore certain things that would feel unnatural to come up in a conversation or in some other way because we are limited by the things the story "has time for". or what the devs had time for.

wishy washy writing: not everywhere but in some places and im not used to that in a da game so its a bit baffling. "the blight is different now so thats the reason for x trust me bro" ok....? "the first of my people do not die so easily" = mythal is shattered and lives on, makes sense. but the other evanuris are all dead, even the ones that were "dead" already? why? idk........ i shall stay delusional for now and hope i've missed something in my completionist run that i now in my next run will find somewhere lol. besides of that, the tone and language used by rook and companions is strangely unfitting as well. coloquial words like "it's cool" are frequently used, among other things. it stands in contrast to the writing of the previous games and is often immersion breaking.

limited worldstate: i had hoped they at least commit to it when i heard about this. but then adding little references that could have just been made personal by switching one line just made the reference a bit jarring sometimes instead of exciting. or making morrigan eat mythals memories for the regret quest....really? this could have been the well of sorrows choice, why could they not have just made the inquisitor show up in the crossroads if they were the one that drank from it. this whole choice thing + some other problems ended up feeling like something they didnt really want to do but ended up doing because the game was in development for so long they just had to finally fucking finish it. and it sucks for us.

the veil: why... is it still there? they left breadcrumps of clues throughout the entire series about all the positives it would do if it was gone, even add a damn prophecy, and then just dont do it.... ever perhaps? must the blight really be cured for this? demons forever feared? listen im just glad solas is ok at the end of the day but he could still have had his redemption/healing/forgiving himself moment after destroying it imo.

i wish the inquisitor was more involved in everything :((( the moments we did get made me SO happy but. yeah.

no quicksave and the skip button that ruined my screenshots deserve their own bullet point what the hell

anyway enough yapping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! overall i loved the game because the stuff i cared about the most was the best aspects of the game sdkjhsdjkf im not ashamed to admit that this is my new solas 2.0 game. ..... <3

[autumnslance]

New Game+ Tutorial

"I don't remember this part of the story." "It's been so long since I played X expansion." "What happened during that raid again?" "Who was this character?" "I story skipped the MSQ/job quests so I don't know what happened and who these people are!"

There's answers to this, friends. Not only is the game's own Unending Journey (in inn rooms, or as furnishing in your FC or private rooms/homes) able to replay many cutscenes, and there's the completed quest log, but there are places online, such as Garland Tools and the FFXIV Game Script, that keep most (not all) of the quest text handy.

But if you want to relive those quests, and/or get the side dialogues and replay (or first time play!) the experiences, as of Shadowbringers 5.1 there's a feature called New Game+ to allow that.

New Game+ (or NG+) will let you replay past questlines, at your current level (which makes it go pretty fast in a lot of cases). There is No experience or rewards to gain through this feature--no using it to level alt jobs. It purely exists to allow experiencing, or re-experiencing, completed content.

Once defeating the Ultima Weapon and Lahabrea at level 50 in ARR's finale of 2.0, you can go to Vesper Bay and find the Wistful Whitebeard.

More info and images below the Keep Reading cut...

(image taken from gamesconsolewiki and their article on this feature.)

Once you've unlocked the feature by talking to him, you get a new menu option in your Duty menu (the exclamation point icon), right between Duty Recorder and Hall of the Novice.

Once you select the feature it brings up a menu of options; it usually defaults to Main Story Quests, but I also have a paused replay under "Suspend" in progress. There are also options that match other quest interfaces, like your Journal or the Unending Journey; Chronicles of a New Era for raids and trials, Side Story for quests like Hildibrand, the Scholasticate, Role Master Quests, Void Quests, and Chronicles of Light (story important side quests, like Tales of the Dragonsong War, Tales from the Shadows, Tales of Newfound Adventure). Tank, Healer, DPS, Crafting, and Gathering quests also have their own categories.

Each Expansion MSQ is broken into parts; usually 2 parts for the x.0 main expansion, and then 2 parts for the patches. They're only available after x.0 or the patch stories are complete.

Also notice the "Help" icon in the top right of the NG+ overlay; it opens a pretty comprehensive guide, divided into menu sections, about how the feature works.

ARR is split into 6 parts, and I do think 2.0 could use a rework in how they're split but for now, I'm selecting Part 6 to look for specific side dialogues that only exist in this timeframe.

Selecting Part 6 opens the description; the Crystal Braves have just been formed, to help the Scions with the turmoil still facing the realm--from refugees, to Garlemald's continuing threat, to primals and Ascians.

Once you do, the NG+ quest info shows up, usually around where ever you keep your MSQ quest marker. I hide my MSQ tracker once it's done, so NG+ fits in that same spot in the upper left for me.

It tells me to "Relive Past Adventures!", which expac and part I'm in, and which quest is my starting point in this case, "Traitor in the Midst", the start of the Ivy spy plotline in Patch 2.4.

From here it progresses as if I am back in that patch and on those quests, but without any experience or rewards. Aeryn's in her current level 90 appearance and skills, making it easy to skip past and handle level 45-50 enemies in these zones.

So long as I am in NG+, I cannot do current quests, plots, or other content; I can't complete new current level duties (duties new in NG+ itself are fine), I can't access the MB, my retainers, or the Unending Journey. I can manually Suspend my current playthrough, or performing some of these actions (like duties) will automatically suspend my NG+ playthrough. You also cannot start NG+ while doing certain things (like some quests, such as leves).

This also will not let you play through the start of other city-states, only your original starter town. Solo duties will let you choose their difficulty immediately, without having to fail them first like in normal play.

If I want to drop my NG+ save before I've finished the replay--maybe I found the info and screenshots I wanted--I can delete the save.

This is an extremely helpful feature that can be used to replay events and quests, either for the fun of it, or because you want to find specific dialogue or lore information that only exists in a specific point in game. Maybe you want to visit old friends lost along the way, or take new screenshots of your WoL as they are post-fantasia.

Maybe it's just been a few years, and you've found you've forgotten some things and want to remember how the story actually went, especially knowing what you know now.

[spot-of-tea]

Okay so this is my first bit of worldbuilding for my fic, I'm gonna do a family at a time.

So as a preface the fic starts a few years after the end of the main story. it's all canon to the fic and I like to think that 100 yrs quest is canon too but I don't really follow it so it's just in the background.

The main bulk of the fic takes place about 25-26 yrs after the end of the main story so the main cast are in their late 30's, early 40's by now and have mostly had kids.

(edit: so I'm going back through all the families and updating them, I figured it was time for a clean up)

So the first family is:

The Dragneel-Heartfilia Family

Natsu takes his sweet time asking Lucy out to begin with but when he does it's because of his own misunderstanding that they've been dating for a long time already. The two eventually tie the knot and Natsu refuses to let Lucy give up her name because Lucy being anything other than a Heartfilia would just be too weird to him and instead decide to let their kids choose whichever last name they want.

Which leads us to:

Luna Heartfilia

The eldest daughter of Natsu and Lucy, born with her mothers looks and brains, she's a Heartfilia through and through with a dash of her fathers passionate personality. Luna very much became an older daughter, and through a series of unfortunate events was forced to mature too quickly. After becoming fiercely independent she often butted heads with her father. She learned Celestial spirit magic so that she can continue her mother's family legacy and is the current holder of Aquarius, Capricorn, and Gemini. Along with several of her own silver keys which she has collected herself.

Nashi Dragneel-Heartfilia

The middle child, often regarded as Natsu 2.0, she's loud, reckless and overall a destructive force of nature. Unbeknownst to many though she is far smarter than most people give her credit for and is by far the most observant out of her family. Nashi was named after her Edolas counterpart, Nasha, when Natsu and Lucy couldn't think of a different name that would suit the young girl. Nashi has formed her own team along with Storm Fullbuster, Yajeh and Shutora Redfox, and Simon Scarlet. Nashi has learnt the basics of Celestial spirit magic from her mother but never quite took to it like her sister, while she does currently have Virgo's key and a couple silver keys that she can use for utility purposes her main magic is (and points for if you saw this coming) fire. Nashi learned fire magic from her uncle Romeo as a way to surprise her dad, he definitely didn't cry (he so did) when she showed him.

Igneel Dragneel

The youngest of the bunch, Iggy has been considered something of an oddity in the family. While he looks more like his father than his mother he actually has neither of their colourings. He instead bears a striking resemblance to his only biological uncle. Bubbly and determined Iggy takes most things that come his way in his stride and with a smile. Iggy has become something of a powerhouse in his own right, with both sides of his families culminative magical prowess all coming together with him. Iggy often shows off his considerable intellectual prowess by crafting his own spells and building upon current magical systems. His main set of spells involves crafting complex enchantments using archive magic.

[galactickohipot]

I'm done with Dawntrail's msq! Here are some of my thoughts! The new zones are really cool and varied! It's a pleasure to explore. There are little settlements and villages scattered all around the maps and I LOVE IT! It feels so lived in and credible. It's really nice seeing npcs go about their little lives there. The graphical update really helped in seeing this vision realized and it's so nice to see. I've come to notice more details in previous zones too! Overall the battle content is real nice this expac, mechanics are more engaging than in EW. As a casual sch main (rip smn), I'm happily peeling dps off the ground in expr dungeons. I also liked the vibes and the job quests in Tural; it reminds me of early AST questline, which was a pleasure to go through. As for the rest, unfortunately msq is absolute trash tier. Some people are comparing it to ARR, but that's honestly underselling 2.0 in a lot of ways. Spoilers ahead!

First, I must confess, I am an ARR enjoyer. I love its world building, its slow pace, how lived in and carefully crafted everything is, how rewarding it is to pay attention to lore details, how incredible it is at hinting at something bigger. My favorite expac is HW, and while I haven't found anything quite like it since, I still find the rest of the story at least entertaining. Now, with that said, I didn't set my expectation especially high with this new expansion. It was supposed to be the start of a new saga and so I imagined it would start slow, with what I assumed would be a lot of settup. I was sorely disappointed. Honestly, I don't even mind Wuk Lamat, but the fact she is so present in the adventure makes it hard to ignore how poorly written she ended up being. Her character flaws never have actual consequences, every problem is resolved within one or two cutscenes and none of her victories feel earned. Several times they could have meaningfully challenged her character, but they never went past surface level banalities like "friendship is magic". As a result, she feels like a broken record half of the time. A shame!

What gave me a good laugh was how Krile kept hitting us on the head with her whole "OMG Zoraal Ja is Evil!" everytime she sees this character. It would've been nice yknow... to let us wonder about who he really was, his family ties , and what his intensions truly were. but no, they told us everything from the get go.

The characters say what they mean and mean what they say. The heroes are never wrong, never mislead, always have the purest of intentions. Their beliefs are never challenged. There's no subtext, no wonder, no mystery. So why care at all? All of it is a big fat missed opportunity. DT's characters deserved better.

In recent expacs, I've been annoyed with their tendency to solve issues like unemployment or poverty in a few lines of dialogue. For example, in ARR and HW, you would deal with the symtoms of an issue, like refugees being preyed upon, or people in need being taken advantage of. When done well, you would be given a good overview of the situation, several angles and hopefully, a bit of nuance. In later expacs, you get 16yo Alphinaud telling you if you are poor you should find work lol. The npc's agency is often cast aside so your character can look good, so you can come up with every solutions, so you can be the hero. They don't feel like a people you're trying to help, they are plot devices to facilitate your power fantasy. Writers find ways around complex situations, to reassure the player that no no their way is the best, there was no other choices. It thoroughly reduces the impact of the story imo. I really believe some issues need to stay unsolvable in a story. Not everything can be resolved by killing gods, and that's fine. It's mature, it's humbling.

In Dawntrail however, this has been taken to the extreme! A lot of these problems end up feeling very one note, and the solutions, condescending. One scene and it's dealt with! Concepts, questions or consequences don't really have time to stay with the characters or the player. It feels like characters are written in little boxes, rarely interracting with a rich world and its history, and are conveniently pushed along by little plot devices. As a result, the over-arcing narrative isn't cohesive at all. The only part that worked on me was Cahciua's questline, because we are left somewhat wondering about her or Erenville's feelings for a little while. Otherwise, nothing lingers between questlines, and things really feel badly pieced together. Now, I was really looking forward to the world building in DT! I know past expacs also had cultures based on rl ones, but the focus of the story wasn't tourism then. By drawing attention to it, it becomes apparent that every zone is rushed, reducing the tribes there to one or two easily digestible trait for Wuk Lamat to understand. She'll either solve their problems with a grand monologue about peace and love or pretend she grew from the 2 hours tutorial on "trading for dummies". It's so frustrating! Either they don't trust in their own writing ability or they don't respect the player's intelligence.

Dawntrail is shiny, pretty and colorful, but the moment you scratch the surface, it crumbles down. The plot falls apart if you think about it for more than two seconds. The elements are all there but this feels like a first draft. It's just so inoffensive and bland!!! It is ironic that the dawn of a new saga, the golden legacy of FFXIV, completely forgot how ARR came to be. How painstakingly and carefully the new game was crafted when 1.0 crashed and burned. It's a game about heritage, and yet it didn't take time to properly consider its past strengths. idk man... Time to go back to the drawing boad!

[agentnico]

Gladiator II (2024) review

Been there done that.

Plot: Years after witnessing the death of Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius must enter the Colosseum after the powerful emperors of Rome conquer his home. With rage in his heart and the future of the empire at stake, he looks to the past to find the strength and honor needed to return the glory of Rome to its people.

So me and my wife only recently rediscovered the first Gladiator film and having previously only watched it once when I was a child I evidently did not appreciate the grandiose mastery at play, as that first Gladiator movie is fantastic. From the powerful performances to the epic action to the high spectacle set pieces to Hans Zimmer’s incredible emotional music score…. makes me think of that meme with Homelander proclaiming “it was perfect!”. Truly me and my wife would both now say that Gladiator has sky-rocketed to the top of our favourite films of all time, and also makes me appreciate how great of a director Ridley Scott once was. He still makes some decent projects now such as The Martian and The Last Duel, however he’s very much a hit and miss director at the moment. But back in the day with the likes of Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise and the aforementioned Gladiator, the guy can like REALLY make a movie! As such having grown a new appreciation for his Roman epic, I was really looking forward to but also sceptical over the upcoming sequel. For one due to so much time passing since the original, and also lack of Russell Crowe for obvious reasons and the trailers suggesting that this new one is essentially a copy of the original. The latter aspect especially was a concern, for the original film was a multiple Academy Award winning motion picture, so trying to recapture that same flame would be silly. So my hope was that Scott and the team would try and do something new and different whilst still in-keeping the world created by the original film. Question is, was it worth all this wait, and more importantly, was I entertained??

Look, I don’t one to be one of those snobs who compares a sequel to its original, but it’s difficult not to (so seems like I’ll be snobbing it today!) due to the reputation of the first one, as well as the fact that Gladiator 2 (or II if you’re into your Roman numerals) is in essence a repackaged version of the first movie. Well, part of it is. The whole plot line involving Paul Mescal’s Lucius going on his revenge quest into the Colosseum is that rehash, and unfortunately it is the primary storyline of the film. The issue with this is it naturally ends up living in the shadow of its predecessor. The other more interesting narrative is one that involves acting legend Denzel Washington (spawning a lovely American accent in Rome but the man is so entertaining to watch you cannot help but forgive him his transgressions) where he tries to take over Rome by weaselling his way to the top of Rome’s political hierarchy. That stuff is actually great, and him manipulating the two emperors and causing their eventual downfall was really intriguing to witness. Shame that this story beat only really came to full effect in the last 30 mins of the movie.

As for the performances, as this one boasts a stacked cast. I’m sorry to Paul Mescal fans, but he’s really stale and bland in the main role of Lucius, or more-so Maximus 2.0. It doesn’t help that the script by David Scarpa lacks any depth or character development that made the original Gladiator so compelling, but even on the basics of acting Mescal doesn’t do much with his role. Like his wife dies and I never really felt like he gave that much of a crap. Or whenever he had to deliver any level of emotion, I never felt it. In the original Russell Crowe manages to portray so much through his eyes. The versatility of his face with watching him switch from emotion to emotion was actually incredible. For example when Commodus tried to goad him into attacking him, and you can physically see this breaking Maximus’ mind and then taking every ounce of being to hold his composure and pulling himself back together and then saying “I will kill you but not right now” or something along those lines….like guys that was pure cinema! So yep, Paul Mescal has none of that. He delivers what is supposed to be an inspirational monologue at the end of the film about strengths and honour and I did not give a single dollop of a turd.

Pedro Pascal was in this film less than I expected. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Pedro, but here for the few scenes he’s in he spends moping about wishing for a better Rome, which was all good and sound only that that was his only character trait! Like seriously I cannot underline how weak of a script this movie has! Take the two tyrannical emperors for example. Joseph Quinn (aka Eddie from Stranger Things) to be fair as Emperor Geta was quite watchable, but his brother Emperor Caracalla played by Fred Hechinger was a straight up knock off of Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus from the first film. Except that the brat that was Commodus was given the necessary build-up, as you could tell from the beginning of the movie that his dad (played by the late Richard Harris) was probably a terrible father who spent too much time wanting to build up the empire by endlessly invading everywhere rather than spend time with his children. As such Commodus is raised to be a wuss, so his actions in the film have sense. In Gladiator 2 though Caracalla literally is an unstable prick and that’s it. So again I cannot necessarily blame Hechinger as his performance was based on the limited info that was given to him, but this doesn’t result for a compelling character. Connie Nielsen is one of the only returning characters (aside from Derek Jacobi) from the first film, and I’ll give her props, she seemed to be acting her ass off, so much so that when she shared scenes with Mescal even he showed glimmers of emotion. Finally we have Denzel Washington, who to be fair from the trailers I expected a much more extravagant and absurd performance from, but nevertheless he seems to be having a lot of fun in this role, and to be fair the movie really turns up a notch every time he appeared. Also did not expect by the end of 2024 to be shipping Denzel with Tim McInnerny from Blackadder yet here we are.

The direction from Ridley Scott is strong to be fair, and the impressive set piece of the Colosseum and the tense blockbuster-level action fights in the arena were great to watch, now with the added flavour of baboons and sharks (yes, sharks). Costumes and make-up are all great and there was something nice about seeing a true historical epic at the movies. I give Scott props, he’s the only major filmmaker currently still trying to keep that genre alive, with his recent other releases being Napoleon and The Last Duel.

The music though by Harry Gregson-Williams is a very generic historical epic score, and very much a downgrade from Hans Zimmer’s masterclass work in the original. That’s the thing with Gladiator 2 - basically everything about it was done better by the original, and it really feels like it too. I’m still happy that this movie will be seen in the cinemas though (my screening was absolutely packed and most of the screening for the film on the day were sold out too) as it allows for the genre of historical epics to still live on. That being said though, I am not entertained.

Overall score: 4/10

[sleepyisnotagamer]

favorite badges by world + bonus badges

Wizard City: Elementalist (defeat 500 elementals)

Krokotopia: Tomb Raider (complete all quests in Tomb of Storms)

Marleybone: Good Wizard (complete all side quests)

Mooshu: Nightstalker (defeat 400 pigs)

Dragonspyre: Ghostbuster (complete all quests in The Necropolis)

Grizzleheim: Hero of Miscellania (complete all side quests)

Celestia: they're all so boring I can't pick one

Zafaria: Saved the Students, Saved the World (complete all quests)

Avalon: Master of the Wild Hunt (defeat 200 deer)

Azteca: Lady of the Falling Sky (complete specific quest)

Khrysalis: Every Little Bit Helps (complete all side quests)

Wysteria: they're also boring but so is Wysteria

Aquila: I've only got 2 to choose from

Polaris: Benevolent Savage (complete specific quest)

Mirage: Eye of the Tiger (help Roc'qhui Bal'Boa)

Empyrea: Only Mostly Done (complete specific quest)

Arcanum: Desperately Seeking Lemuria (complete specific quest)

Karamelle: Drawless Victory (defeat Jamburgler) <- hate

Lemuria: Accomplished... Something (complete all storyline quests)

Novus: Megrim Portent (defeat 10 megrim)

Wallaru: That's Not a Badge, This is a Badge (complete specific quest)

Lost Pages: Scribe of the Howlin' Wind Five B.O.X.E.S.: Time Weaver Storm Weaving: Re-Deaded the Undead Skeleton Keys: Phantom's Menace Misc.: Magical Marriage Counselor (honestly, why didn't we get a magical marriage counselor 2.0 for grandfather spider and grandmother raven, huh?) Extra Credit: Undead Slayer (2000 undead but I'm going for the 4000 one)

I've only got all these on my main wizard, Saffron, the theurgist. I bemoan the lack of good badges for my other wizards but it's only because I haven't done many side quests! that's where all the good badges are. especially the "complete all of them" badges.

[stainedglassthreads]

A lot of people seem to think Neuvillette and Furina's relationship is just 'Zhongli and Hu Tao 2.0'. But personally I think that's an oversimplification. Because while Zhongli and Hu Tao are very funny, there's just something so. Simultaneously strained yet tender about what Nuevillette and Furina have going on?

I will admit, I haven't played Nuevillette's Character Quest just yet. But Neuvillette's IS a really complex and faceted character so far, as is Furina. Neuvillette comes off as extremely stoic and impartial, but as we've found out by now, he's a character who cares deeply about others, especially the Melusines. At the same time, he's also the Dragon Sovereign of Water. He wants to someday have his revenge against Celestia, but that's an extremely long-term goal. So being a Dragon and an Immortal, we know that he's very patient, and not prone to rage or impulsive behaviors. He's very driven by a sense of duty to Fontaine, as well.

Despite having a grudge against Celestia, we don't exactly know much of his thoughts on the Archons, as a whole or as individuals. I don't know if he hates the Archons at all, actually. Apep doesn't seem to like them, and Orobashi seemed completely ambivalent to them. However, Dvalin and Azhdaha gladly worked alongside Venti and Zhongli for a very long time. Even now, Dvalin doesn't mind helping Venti and Mondstadt somehow, while a part of Azhdaha deliberately sought out Zhongli to help keep the rest of them contained.

As such, I don't think Neuvillette secrets resents Furina or anything. But there's very much a...'I am doing the minimum of what must be done to keep Lady Furina content, but neither of us need to indulge her aside from that'. He also seems to spend a while keeping her 'in check', at least before the Traveler shows up. As an example of the former, he points out to the Traveler that Furina's been waiting for them to notice her, but tells them after that that they don't need to give her any more attention. He also repeatedly asks Furina at different times if she really, genuinely means an accusation she's making, allowing her opportunities to back out and de-escalate. (Even if Furina is prideful to the point she doesn't actually de-escalate, it does remind her of how, as Hydro Archon apparent, her accusations have immense weight. Especially for something like a murder accusation.)

At the same time, though, he does look out for her. I saw a great post where it was pointed out, even if Furina was unwilling to confess that Arlecchino had tried assassinating her, he notices that something was wrong, and accompanies her anyways. Even when the Primordial Sea is about to burst forth, he takes a moment to ask the Traveler to not leave Furina alone with Arlecchino.

Neuvillette may not like Celestia, but he's either willing to work alongside Furina, even if she's not the easiest Archon to like or collaborate with. Considering what we know of Fontaine's government system, and how the people view the Hydro Archon versus the Iudex, at this time I don't think it's a case of 'I need her to lend my decrees and judgements an air of legitimacy'. Considering how Inazuma and Sumeru acted for some time, and Zhongli's recent retirement, I don't think even Celestia would act if Neuvillette more officially declared himself Fontaine's leader and pressured Furina into stepping down. So at the very least, even if he doesn't really respect Furina, I think he at least feels a responsibility to her.

That's one different from Zhongli and Hu Tao's dynamic, I think. Hu Tao isn't just the boss of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor in name only--for all her eccentricities, she takes funerals VERY seriously, and is very...enthusiastic...about expanding their business. Meanwhile Furina doesn't appear to take her duties very seriously until the Traveler shows up, while Neuvillette and the Oratrice seem to be the main thing keeping Fontaine running.

Furina, meanwhile, seems a lot more obvious about how much she cares for Neuvillette. I do believe Furina really takes Neuvillette for granted in some sense, since she does leave presiding over trials and generally running what should be her country to him But while they outwardly seem mutually annoyed by each other, Furina takes notice and realizes things are serious when Neuvillette checks her with his 'are you SURE you want to press these accusations' things, she turns to him for protection when she feels scared and threatened by Arlecchino, and in Neuvillette's Character Quest she seems happy that he gets out of his office for a day, (I'm assuming) showing that she's fully aware he feels a lot under his stoic facade, and she cares for her happiness. (Again, I haven't actually played the quest, but I care little for spoilers. Sue me.)

I don't think anyone could blame them for disliking each other. But saying that they 'just disliked each other' or 'just like each other' would be a superficial reading, I think. We don't know how much Furina knows about Neuvillette and his feelings for Celestia and the Archons. But I think she legitimately trusts, respects, and cares about him more than anyone, even if she's not always the most grateful. And I think that adds more to the way she acts and makes her a more complex character. Likewise, we've already seen Neuvillette's caring side with the Melusines, but the Melusines are legitimately really sweet and earnest and easy to love. Furina's presence further highlights his sense of duty and responsibility, and how sensitive and compassionate he can be, I think. If it does turn out he wants vengeance against the Archons too, then being able to treat Furina so well when it counts shows off those sides of his personality more, I think.

tl;dr An event where all the Archons get to chat together would be amazing. But you know what would be phenomenal? Dragon Sovereign Family Reunion. Traveler needs to find a location large enough for Dvalin, Azhdaha, Apep, and Neuvillette to have a picnic together.

[dalekofchaos]

Context for each choices

Choice 1 context. Basically Owlman, but instead of Bruce dying with Thomas and Martha, this is a Thomas who lived in a boarding school and upon hearing of the death of his parents, Thomas begins to plot his revenge. When he gets his hands on Joe Chill, he realizes there is no point because Chill is a product of his environment. He embraces crime and the insanity of Arkham. He sees his brother as a threat. The way he wastes his family's fortune to fix something that cannot be fixed. So he begins the plan to slowly dismantle everything Bruce has built. Bankrupting Wayne Enterprises, flooding Gotham with a crime wave that the city has never witnessed and when Bruce sees his city in ruins, all his progress and his Batfamily in ruins, then Thomas will kill his brother and take his place as the king of Gotham

Choice 2 Context. Damian is the Arkham Knight. Talia talked about Bruce and Talia’s night in Metropolis. So you could have a tease for Damian there. But Ra’s raised Damian and indoctrinated him. This is a Damian without Bruce’s influence and was raised to believe that Bruce is responsible for his mother’s death and together Ra’s and Damian will fulfill the LOA’s destiny. Everything leading up to learning his identity is the same(though Arkham Knight uses a sword and throwing stars instead of guns) When the mask comes off, Batman is confused due to how much he looks like him. Damian explains that he is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul. Damian blames him for the death of his mother and Ra’s Al Ghul. But if Ra’s is alive via the season of Infamy DLC. Work it into the story. Say Damian is working with Ra’s similar to how Hugo Strange was working with Ra’s. Damian names himself after the place his family died and now he wants his father dead. There’d be more emotional impact and would have made more sense than trying to convince viewers that Jason was Robin in this continuity.

Choice 3 context The Arkham Knight should have just been a symbolic title and ya know, ACTUALLY focus on the villains teaming up. The Gotham Rogues teaming up is the main threat. The reveal of the Arkham Knight being a re-skin of the Red Hood has been talked about to death. What hasn’t been talked about as much is the missed opportunity of having a game where Batman has to deal with the ramifications of the Joker’s death. Arkham Knight opens with Commissioner Gordon talking about how Gotham braced itself for the inevitable power struggle that never came. But what if it had? Instead of pushing some of Batman’s greatest villains into a few side-quests (that all played basically the same), the game’s story could have focused on the Bat Family as it fights to save Gotham. Players could have swapped between the best of Batman’s team as they tackle missions all over Gotham, the Asylum, and Arkham City. Areas visible in the game but not accessible. This would have allowed the story of the Arkham games to come full circle as players would have traveled back to locations previously seen and explored them with the changes made as the story for the games went on. Plus it would finally give all the members of the Bat Family a chance to spread their wings. We needed to see Scarecrow, Harley, Ivy, Penguin, Hush, Riddler and Two-Face work together as major threats and we needed to see Bruce and his family(Dick, Tim, Kate, Cassandra and Stephanie) work together to stop them and honestly that would’ve been so much better.

Choice 4 context.

Arkham Knight is Protocol 12. Hugo Strange works for Ra’s, but however, Let’s pay attention to this. From Quincy Sharp, he says “Strange came to me back at the asylum. He told me he had friends; powerful friends. The sort of people who could make things happen. All I had to do was turn a blind eye to his experiments, and work on my campaign. He said his friends would ensure that I won" In Strange’s confrontation with Batman. “ I have powerful friends, Batman. This is just the beginning.“ Now if you’ve watched Justice League Unlimited, you will know that Hugo Strange is a Departmental head of Project CADMUS. So What if In the Arkhamverse, Strange is still apart of Project CADMUS. While Ra’’s was the mastermind, the Arkham City project was planned by CADMUS as a start to take down Batman and Gotham, but a start to bring down the Justice League. The Arkham Knight would be Strange’s and CADMUS’ last fail safe to bring an end to Batman. The identity is not important. All we need to know is it is a CADMUS experiment and Strange’s last trump card against Batman. The Arkham Knight should have been it’s own character and not a copout to make him Jason Todd and there was so much lost potential.

Choice 5 context.

Jeremiah Arkham is the Arkham Knight. In Arkham Asylum, Quincy Sharp believed himself to be the Spirit of Amadeus Arkham. This could simply be Sharp being the zealous warden that he was but it could have set up something else. What if Jeremiah Arkham was the REAL reincarnation of Amadeus Arkham? He shares a similar story already, treating mentally unwell patients until it drove him insane. Instead of becoming the next Black Mask, he could have become the purifier of evil that Quincy Sharp tried to be: the Arkham Knight.

Choice 6 context

In Arkham City it is heavily teased that Joker and Harley had a baby. Before anyone comments about Harley’s revenge, that was actually unpopular with the fandom, so it could’ve been retconned. From a comment I found on the Arkham reddit.  “The game begins the traditional way where you lead a character around but can’t perform any actions. You control Harley who’s in shock after Joker’s death and hasn’t spoken a work since. You control her as she’s being escorted into Blackgate staying true to the prison opening setting of all the games. Joker’s death sends shockwaves across Gotham. Soon enough, her thugs break her out and they arrive at an abandoned warehouse where Harley walks in alone, she opens a shipping container and a kidnapped nurse from Arkham City walks out and pleads with her to let her go, telling her she’s done all they’ve asked. Harley agrees that she has but says that no one can know about their child yet, she shoots the nurse and the shot wakes a baby inside the container, Harley then picks it up and sings it the lullaby we hear in the Arkham City end credits. Cut to black.

But what if it isn't just one kid? What if it's twins? Lucy Quinn and Jack Quinn.

15 years later. Harley Quinn and the Arkham Knight gathers the rogues gallery. Scarecrow, Hush, Poison Ivy, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Penguin all working together to take down the Bat and make Gotham theirs. The difference is the rogues would not be used in side missions exclusively. They would work in the story mandatory similar to how Spider-Man PS4′s villains worked in the main story and we take them down one by one.

Jack will be the Arkham Knight, while Lucy infiltrates Wayne Enterprises as Lucy White and gains the trust of Bruce Wayne and allows herself to be taken hostage because Harley knows Bruce cannot allow an "innocent" be harmed and in the climax, Lucy will show her true colors and knock out Batman. Like in the climax of Arkham Knight, Bruce is taken to Arkham Asylum where this all started. But it's Harley, Jack and Lucy. They reveal the truth. Joker and Harley's children are here to avenge their father. Tim and Cassandra come to the rescue and defeat Jack and Lucy, while Bruce knocks Harley out. Arkham Knight ends with Bruce retiring and becoming Mayor of Gotham, while Tim, Dick and Cassandra would watch over Gotham