#all of these games are perfectly fine as they are

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I went into a bus that turned out to be filled with ghosts and one of them challenged me to a rock paper scissors game. I lost, and so had to swap places with the ghost, becoming a ghost myself. This was actually perfectly fine with me because all of the ghosts seemed really kind and cool. The dream ended just after the ghost sitting next to me offered me some weed.

[sparkykadachi]

I don't know why, but it's so funny to me that all the characters look like they belong in a Puppet Combo game, but then here's Alma looking perfectly fine and normal lol

My current fave trend is people posting "benchmark results" as you can see:

My personal favorite:

[tinythebunni]

Can we get some pope x bitchy!kook princess reader (maybe with some bimbo/hoochie R) headcanons I love that fic babes😘🩷

Pope usually never has this problem with you. You’re a bitch to everyone else, never him! He wouldn’t call you a bitch ever but there’s no other synonyms which could correctly describe the situation you’re putting him in.

Since two mornings ago you’ve been in a grouchy mood. You woke up that first day with him facing away from you so you did what any upset girlfriend would do! You used your foot to push him off the bed. Confused, he woke up with a start and looked at you. But all you did was huff in reply and pull the blankets over you.

When he got back up to get into the bed, you turned over and pointed a perfectly manicured and sharpened nail at him.

“if you wanna keep those two balls you got swinging down there, i suggest you stay down.” you snapped. He looked at you but there was not an ounce of hesitancy in your eyes.

Pope sighed and got up, it was 9am anyways. As he left the room to make breakfast he briefly hear you mumble something. He assumed it was just you going back to sleep. As he finished making you both breakfast he walked up the stairs. He neared the bedroom door but saw it was closed. He set the plate down on a table in your hallway, raising a knuckle to knock at the door.

“Wait a fucking minute!” You yelled, frustration evident. He had no idea what he did wrong but he wanted to fix it. fast.

You opened the door after 2 minutes and Popes eyes lit up. “baby” he started as he walked over towards you to hold you. But then as he got closer he did once over of you and he finally saw what you were wearing. You had on a mini skirt he forbid you to wear and a crop top that barely hid your perky nipples from the public. The heels you had on clacked against the floor as you pushed past him and walked away.

Pope was sure he looked like a fish out of water right now. Probably a fucking silly sight to see. Closing his mouth and running after you he reached you before you could get to the door. He pinned you against the wood and made you look at him.

The height difference had your thighs clenching everytime you noticed it, and he noticed the effect it had on you. Trying to keep his mind in check he focused on the issue at hand. “What the hell is wrong babydoll? Tell me what i did please.” He begged, tilting his head to seem more apologetic. You almost gave in, but something changed. You scoffed and shoved him, which did nothing to move his strong frame. “A man thinking everything is about him, classic.”

You tried to get around him but to no avail. He got tired of this game and flipped you over his shoulder. He walked back to the bedroom this all started in with you kicking your feet and pounding at his back.

“Let me down you fucker! I didn’t do anything. This is America and i have free fucking will you bi-“ he shut you up with a swift slap to your clit, the moan that crawled its way out your mouth making him smirk.

When he finally got inside the room, he put you on the bed carefully, but with enough force to let you know he was mad.

“You’re not leaving this room until you apologize and act like a big girl so i can know what’s wrong.” You just stared up at him, letting out “hmph” and turning your head away from him.

“fine. we can’t act like a big girl? Then i’ll treat you like a lil kid. Go stand in the corner.” Your eyes looking up at him with defiance made him only more firm in his stance. He used his strength to pull you to your feet by your forearms. Poor pulled you close and whispered. “Go stand in the fucking corner. ‘m not bullshitting here. Do it, now.” You followed his directions with your head looking down at the floor, a blush in your cheeks, and sluggish walk.

you don’t know how long he made you stand there but eventually your knees got weak and you fell to the floor, kneeling on accident. Before you could get up, he was already there. As if he was watching you, and he was. His eyes never left you.

“Learned your lesson?” Pope asked, rubbing the back of his hand across your cheek. You nodded, leaning up to try and kiss him. “Nuh uh. no kisses for you. Not until i know you’re my good girl again. Now tell me what’s wrong.”

you stood there, staring at your feet. How could you tell him you didn’t know what was wrong? “well?” he asked, getting impatient as he watched you fiddle with your hands.

“don’ know Po. I just wanted some attention” your voice withered as you pouted, tears welling in your eyes from embarrassment.

“Oh my poor thing. I’ve been neglecting you?” with your head nodding yes, he sat on the bed scooped you up in his lap, so you were facing him.

“don’t worry, imma make it all better again. Like daddy always does, ‘Kay?” you stared at him, head already cloudy from the lack of distance between you two. His hand reached up to pull your chin between his fingers, using it to forc you to nod. Pope pulls you closer, finally letting you get the kiss you’ve wanted.

He slides his right hand from your hip down to your lace covered cunt under the skirt. As he thumbs your clit he uses the moment you moan out a gasp to stick his tongue inside your mouth. There’s no fight for dominance, you always welcome the intrusion.

Once he feels like you might be wet enough, he rubs his hand across your lips, feeling your arousal soak his hand. He sticks pointer and middle finger inside without it warning. You whine, the tears finally falling as you look up at him. “Nuh uh. None of that. You’re supposed to be my good girl now, making it up to me and shit. Now sit there and take it. Keep those pretty eyes on me”

It doesn’t take long for you to cum. it never does with him. He pays such good attention to you that he just knows how to make you cum quick and how to make it last long and pleasurable. As he speeds up with your walls clenching around him, he uses this moment to leave hickies on your neck. That always makes you cum immediately, and this time is no different.

He lets you ride out your bliss, almost leading you into overstimulation with how he continues even after. He pulls his hand from under your skirt and licks the wetness off his hand. He sticks the same fingers he just had inside you in his mouth, moaning as if it was the sweetest thing in the world.

You paw at his chest, trying to get some of his kisses, but he stops you. “You’ll get what you want in a second baby, we’re not done yet.”

[daydreamabout]

Unspoken Comfort [Tim Bradford Imagine]

Summary: Tim shows up at Y/N's place after she called in sick because of a breakup.

The morning had been quiet, almost eerily so. Y/N had woken up with a heavy heart, the realization of what had happened the night before still fresh in her mind. She’d spent most of the night staring at the ceiling, wondering if she had done the right thing. And when the sun finally came up, it didn’t bring any sense of clarity. She had broken up with Alex—her boyfriend of the past year—after months of growing apart. The decision had been hard, emotionally draining. In the end, she knew it was the right choice. She couldn’t keep pretending everything was okay when it wasn’t.

Still, the pain lingered. Her chest felt tight, her body felt heavy, and the last thing she wanted to do was go into work and pretend like everything was fine. She couldn't focus on the job, not today. She needed time to heal, to think, to process. So, she did what she always did —texted Tim.

“Hey, I called in sick today. Broke up with Alex last night. Need some space.”

In the evening the doorbell rang, and for a moment, Y/N didn’t move. She knew who it was. She’d been dreading this moment all day, but here it was. The knock, the familiar voice calling her name, like it always did. But today was different. She’d been lying on the couch in her worn-out pajamas, staring at the TV screen as if it might offer some solace. Her mind was heavy, heart aching from the mess her life felt like—another failed attempt at something she’d wanted so badly, a relationship that had crumbled like the walls she’d tried so hard to build around herself.

Tim wasn’t supposed to be here. She hadn’t asked for him to show up after his shift. Y/N dragged herself to the door and opened it slowly, her eyes heavy with exhaustion. She barely looked at him, just stood there, holding the door halfway open, as if trying to keep some kind of distance between them.

"Hey," Tim’s voice was softer than usual, but he didn’t push. He didn’t ask her how she was, didn’t make any comment about how messy she looked. Instead, he simply nodded toward the apartment, his eyes searching her face with a mixture of concern.

Without a word, Y/N stepped back and let him in, her movements slow, as if the weight of everything pressing on her made it hard to move. She didn’t offer him a drink or a seat—she didn’t even tell him she was fine, though she knew he wouldn’t believe it anyway.

Tim set his jacket on the back of the chair and moved toward the couch where she was curled up again. His steps were quiet, almost reverent, as though he was treading carefully around the fragile silence that filled the room.

“The shift was kind of boring without you,” he said softly, sitting on the edge of the couch, not too close but close enough to be there if she needed him. Y/N didn’t respond at first. She just let out a long, tired breath, her body sinking further into the couch cushions as if she wanted to disappear into them. Tim then didn’t speak for a while. He just sat there, the silence between them stretching on, the only sound coming from the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen and the faint noise of a sports game playing in the background.

After a few moments, Tim shifted slightly. He looked at her, and then without asking, he made the decision. Gently, he reached out, touching her shoulder, just the slightest pressure. Her breath hitched slightly, and for a second, she just lay there. Then, almost like her body finally surrendered, she rolled over, curling up against him. She didn’t say anything, but the subtle way she leaned into him, the way her body melted into his, told him everything.

He didn’t hesitate. His arm wrapped around her, pulling her in, careful not to disturb her too much, as if she were fragile. She was warm, soft, and it felt so natural, as if they had been doing this for years. The weight of her head against his chest, the way she fit perfectly against him, was something that felt comforting and safe. He leaned back slightly, making himself comfortable on the couch while she just… existed with him. They didn’t speak for a long while, but he didn’t mind. He was there, in the quiet, offering what little comfort he could. Her breathing started to slow as she settled deeper into his embrace, exhaustion taking over as she let herself be held. The sports game on the TV continued to play in the background—something mundane, something mindless that didn’t require either of them to engage. It was the perfect distraction, the kind of noise that didn’t demand attention but was just enough to fill the silence between them. It was familiar, grounding, in a way that made everything feel just a little less heavy.

“Thank you,” Y/N whispered, her voice so quiet that it could have been mistaken for a dream. She felt his chest rise and fall beneath her as he exhaled, her words hanging in the air for a moment. Tim pressed his cheek against the top of her head, the soft strands of her hair brushing against his face. “You don’t have to thank me,” he said quietly. “I’m here for as long as you want me to.”

She didn’t say anything more. There was nothing else to say. Just the steady rhythm of their breathing, the sound of the game on TV, and the feeling of warmth that surrounded them both in that small space.

[esamastation]

Gamer girl gets transmigrated into a farm boy Chapter 2 [<<Prologue | <Chapter 1 || Chapter 3>>] Ao3 link

-

This dream… has been going on for a while. For hours now. And it's getting kind of… boring. Sure, it had been amazing to start with, taking the reins of the cart and steering it away from the farm and into the open road, but after a while, after a couple of hours… 

It's just hills and farm fields as far as the eye can see. There's a few spots of trees here and there, some other farmsteads, a few actual orchards, but nothing particularly exciting. Definitely nothing worth wasting a perfectly good lucid dream on. 

Also, Van's ass is starting to get numb.

Even the automatic driving function doesn't help with the tedium - if anything, it makes this whole thing that much more boring, really. He doesn't need to focus at all, which leaves time for his mind to wander, which is… all it does, really. 

He can still see the white text floating about - it tells him which Pebbles by the road are suitable slingshot ammunition and that a Fallen Branch is somehow Lvl. 1, which should mean there is some combat to be had. It's been pretty peaceful so far, however. Aka boring.

It had been that way in Age of Tales too, though - everything started quietly until the Incident. This is still in the tutorial section - though at least the tutorial had helpfully skipped the slow travel portions of this mission. Not so here.

Wonder at what point could he stop enjoying the dream and start worrying about having been for real isekaied into Katie's favourite game, Van glances over his shoulder at the back of the cart. Mr. Gylcross is fast asleep on top of some oilcloth, using a sack of grain for a pillow, snoring peacefully. Deeming the guy well and truly out, Van looks forward and then calls, under his breath, "Open menu?"

Nothing.

"Okay, uh. System?"

That gets him a window, white and shining, blinking into existence in front of him. It's geometrically perfect as though drawn with a ruler, and now that he looks at it, he's pretty sure the font is Arial. Cool.

Though Katie is pretty sure you're not supposed to be able to read stuff in your dreams, Van can read the menu just fine, just like he's been able to read the other System windows. 

[Character] [Inventory] [Missions] [Journal]

It's pretty much exactly as it was at the start of Age of Tales, including the greyed out options that had to do with class selection and later events. No Magic tab, no Lore tab, no Bestiary or Herbarium or Military Strategy… he doesn't even have the Crafting tab active yet.

Still, seeing the list fills Van's heart with gleeful excitement, and he hits the Character tab first. It opens up his Equipment and beside it his Status screen, just like in the game. 

In Age of Tales, the player character could equip five articles of clothing - a hat, shirt, jacket, trousers and shoes - with up to five accessories - anything from capes and gloves to magic rings and amulets - and four weapons. Currently Van is wearing three clothing items - Rough Tunic, Lvl.1, Rough Woollen Trousers, Lvl. 1 and Peasants Wooden Sandals, Lvl. 1. His belt isn't categorised as an Accessory item, but as a Backpack item - Workman's Leather Belt, Lvl. 1, which gives him extra three Inventory slots on top of the four he has without any equipment. All of those extra inventory slots are taken by his weapons: Simple Knife, Lvl. 1, Shepherd's Sling, Lvl. 1, and 14 x Basic Stone Ammunition, Lvl. 1.

It's all exactly like it is in Age of Tales.

"Do I have eidetic memory or something? This is kind of trippy," Van murmurs, rubbing his chin with his free hand, the other still holding the reins. The System seems a bit… stiff. "Hey, System? Can you answer questions? Or talk at all?"

No answer.

"No AI assist?" Van asks hopefully. "Mods, administrator? Spiritual guidance? Anything?" 

Nope, apparently not. 

Oh well, at least he has a System, Van muses, and then looks at the Stats screen.

[Farmboy] [Van] [Lvl. 1 Commoner]

[Status:] [Constitution: 10] [Strength: 10] [Dexterity: 1] [Intelligence: 1] [Wisdom: 10] [Charisma: 1] [Luck: 1]

… Ah, right. Katie had a build in mind for Van, and the stat points were allocated in the character creation, so she'd maxed out the essential for an early Paladin build and left everything else to… rot, basically. Which was fine, since in the early game it was easy to level up… plus she cheated. Gold duplication glitch plus travelling potions salesman equals 99 Draught of Memory Potions at lvl. 1 - aka, exp boosters.

It had been a fun run, though. Van had beaten the first mini boss and all of Valthor's Minions in Westbrook with a rake in one hand and pot lid in the other, wearing nothing but his undies. The cutscene after the battle was hilarious - though sadly, Van's streaking did not translate over to Valthor's side of things, and the game forced Van back in his starter gear as the Big Bad spied on his minions' defeat with a scrying mirror.

It was a travesty, honestly. The game just refused to let Katie show Valthor Van's massive tits.

Shaking his head sadly, Van closes the character screen and investigates the rest. The Inventory is pretty much exactly as he expects it - with the belt full and the apple sitting in his pocket, he has three open inventory slots left - and so is the Missions - which only has the trip to town in it.

His Journal though…

1st day.

Woken up by Ms. Gylcross, asked to get the cart ready - did. Josel helped, gave me some Slingshot Ammunition. Breakfast was good. Ms. Gylcross gave me an Apple.

Heading to town with Mr. Gylcross.

… Shakespeare Van is not. Or rather Van's System, because he sure as hell didn't write any of that.

And just as he thinks it, the entry changes before his eyes and completely rewrites itself.

1st day.

I woke up in Van's body in a pile of hay, on a hayloft, in the Gylcross farm, inside Age of Tales! What's up with that?! Like, is this Isekai? Have I been Transmigrated? System, help!?

Thank god it's still the tutorial and Age of Tales dialogue kinda sucks, because no one noticed anything weird. This starter NPC, Janelle, came in when I was just about to jump down the hayloft and gave me the beginner mission, told me to get a cart ready for a shopping trip. In the game it's supposed to teach you how to interact with quest items. Here…

Here I can see levels of people and items, just floating there, in the air! It's like something out of mmorpg! Pretty cool. Also, my boy Van is Stronk, son! Also, bigger than Big Boy Josel. Sorry, Josel. You were cute and then you died. Rip.

Anyway, I got the cart ready and Josel got the horse and gave me some Slingshot Ammunition, so that's cool…

Van isn't sure whether to be amazed or creeped out.

The rest of the entry goes on like that - exactly as Katie would've written a diary entry back when she used to write diaries, when she was thirteen. It details the morning, ending with…

…and now my boy Van is getting a bruised butt from driving a cart, wagon… thing. Whatever. I've been Transmigrated into another world - into the world of Age of Tales! All my Isekai dreams are coming to life! 

Van closes the tab slowly, staring right ahead for a moment. He's shivering, breaking out in cold sweat. Katie thinks he might be dissociating.

The town of Westbrook is finally visible in the distance, columns of smoke rising from the chimneys and the town's church spire rising above all the other rooftops.

By the end of the tutorial chapter it would be on fire, as the Incident began.

Van swallows and turns to look over his shoulder at Mr. Gylcross. "Sir," he calls, his voice dry and thready, and clears his throat to try again. "Mr. Gylcross, we're here."

The farmer lets out a guttural snort and coughs himself awake. "What's that?" he asks, his impressive moustache twitching from side to side. "Ah, yes, yes - here we are. Straight to the market, Van, if you please."

"Right," Van says, and lets his body run on automation for the rest of the way.

The town of Westbrook is a perfectly quaint, vaguely medieval, vaguely European town, with vaguely Tudor houses and a vaguely gothic church. There's English ivy growing over a lot of the houses, and little colourful signs advertising the item shop and the smithy, and the only inn in town is the second biggest building in Westbrook, of course. The marketplace is right in front of it, full of colourful stalls, painted carts of traveling salespeople, and a milling crowd. There's happy chatter in the air and the sun is shining beautifully.

It's all very picturesque. The only thing missing is the merry background music.

Van is probably still dissociating.

Thank god for the autorun feature. 

"Ah, here we are," Mr. Gylcross says and points. "Just over there, Van - bring the cart around the fountain - yes, good."

Van parks the cart - is that what it's called when it's something drawn by a horse? - beside a stall full of empty crates. Mr. Gylcross hops down with a cheerful, "Drakner, my good man, how are you?"

As the farmer approaches the buyer, Van clumsily gets off the cart and tries to stretch his stinging behind. Bell the workhorse is leaning towards the fountain, and there's a mission prompt.

[Tend to Bell the Workhorse, Lvl. 1.] [Bell the workhorse has been working hard and needs to be cared for. Get the Bucket and some Water for her and wipe her down.] [Quest reward: 5 exp.]

[Prepare items?] the System asks and Van selects yes. His body picks up a bucket from the cart, fills it from the fountain and holds it up for Bell to drink from before grabbing a rag to wipe the worst of the sweat off her.

Bell rewards him by trying to steal the apple from his pocket, just as the System informs him the quest is complete. Well, 5 exp is still something.

"Van, come here and help me with this," Mr. Gylcross calls and there's another mission prompt.

[Unload the grain, Lvl. 1.] [Mr. Gylcross has sold his excess grain to the travelling merchant, Mr. Drakner. Unload the grain sacks from Mr. Gylcross' cart into Mr. Drakner's cart.] [Quest reward: 5 exp, 2 silver pieces.]

[Prepare items?] is Van's favourite System feature, he decides, and continues to daze off as his body does the work, grabbing the grain sacks and piling them up in the buyer's cart.

"Damn, you're one a big blighter," the buyer says, peering up at him. "What's Gylcross' here feeding you? Say, why don't you come work for me - with a big fella like you around, I won't even need guards!"

Van looks at him. The buyer is a short man, very short - but not thick or bearded enough to be a dwarf. He kind of looks the part, though, with a heavy dark brown coat embroidered with copper-coloured thread and fastened with big, elaborately decorated metal buttons. His hair is cut short, though, and his face is almost clean shaven, aside from his impressive sideburns.

Van reads the floating text above the short man's head.

[Travelling Merchant] [Gavin Drakner] [Lvl. 25 Spy.]

… Huh.

"I'll pay you fair wages - I'll even throw in some gear, free of charge," says Gavin Drakner the spy and sticks out his hand. "What do you say - fancy a life on the road? Sword at your side, wind in your hair - there's nothing like it!"

"Hey, none of that," Mr. Gylcross says. "Van's contracted until the end of the harvest, and I need him. Those fields don't plough themselves!"

Drakner laughs. "With this one, I doubt you even need a horse - or the plough!" the man chortles and waves a hand disarmingly. "Ah, I'm just messing with you. Van, was it? Unusual name."

Yeah, well, the game wouldn't let Katie name him Brick Shithouse and naming her character Dump Truck just didn't appeal as much. So, Van - it sounded vaguely medieval, like, Van Gogh or Van Hoenheim or something.

… Actually, she almost named him Ice-Cream Van - she even picked him a hair that looked like caramel vanilla soft serve. It had amused her to no end, but in the end it's probably a good thing the name didn't stick.

The hair did, though.

"Well, if you ever need employment, big man, remember the name, Gavin Drakner!" the spy says, clapping Van on the lower arm - because he can't reach his shoulder. Then the man turns away. "Gylcross, good to see you, pleasure doing business…"

Mr. Gylcross parts ways with Drakner the Spy and turns to Van. "Now that that's over with, take the cart away - let's not get in people's way more than we have to, eh? I have some business to do in town, I shouldn't need you for a bit, so - here."

The man hands Van five round silver coins. 

[Quest Trip to Town, Lvl 2 complete! You gain 15 exp and 3 silver pieces!] [Quest Unload the Grain, Lvl. 1 complete! You gain 5 exp and 2 silver pieces!!]

Nice. Love it when quests stack.

"Advance on your salary," Mr. Gylcross says and winks, his moustache twitching. "Spend it wisely, my boy."

"Yes, sir," Van says, eying the worn coins in his wide palm. "I will, sir."

"Good, good," Mr. Gylcross nods. "I'll come get you once I need you. Now, off you go. Make sure Bell gets some rest."

"Yes, sir."

Van lets the autorun take care of the cart and horse, leading them to what looks a lot like a horse and cart parking lot behind the inn. After securing the cart and the horse and getting Bell some hay to munch the automation wears off and Van is left with five silver pieces and an existential crisis.

This dream has gone on for way too long, and it's way too elaborate, and he's going to freak out if he stops to think about it. 

So he's not going to think about it. 

Considering the silver pieces, Van closes his fingers around them and decides he's going to put this world to a test. It might not be allowed, the same as time skips weren't a thing, but… what would it hurt, to check it out?

-

The gold bar duplication glitch requires three things. One, a gold bar. Two, the fortune teller NPC. And three, a candlestick from the inn.

You set the candle stick on the fortune teller's desk just so that the flame hits the fortune teller's hand during certain animation. Then you select, [I would like to hear my fortune,] and try to pay with the gold bar. The fortune teller rejects the payment because for some reason fortune tellers just doesn't accept gold bullion, and, because aside from being the highest form of currency gold bar is also an item, an animation plays with the NPC handing the gold bar back. 

If her hand hits the candle flame while holding the gold bar, she will drop it. If you just happen to simultaneously have the shop menu open, and if you happen to accept the trade of one gold bar back on the exact moment the fortune teller drops the gold bar, well… you're left with two gold bars, one in your inventory and the other on the floor. 

And in game, you could go this as many times as you wanted, with the rate of about 4 gold bars per minute for a nice sum of 24 000 gold pieces per hour. Which bought you 24 Draught of Memory potions. Each of which boosted your exp gain by 300%.

Yeah, Van was almost a lvl. 100 right out of the tutorial.

The hardest part of using the glitch is turning five silver pieces into a gold bar. Sadly, there's no glitch for that - for that, you have to gamble.

In every inn of Age of Tales, there are three games you can play. One is a game that's basically Poker re-skinned and given as a new name - Vist. The second is a game of Yahtzee, though they just call it Dice. And last is Echo, which is basically just Memory. Each game is affected by different stats - Charisma and Intelligence help you with Vist, Luck helps you with Dice and Intelligence and Wisdom help you with Echo.

The trick is, having Wisdom above 10 gives you an auto buff during tasks that require concentration. It slows time for you. With high Wisdom and a good eye, you could easily win every round of Echo.

Van's Wisdom is technically above 10 - and Katie got pretty good at Echo, playing it for hours on end to get that one gold bar.

With that in mind, Van heads for the inn - and is nearly bowled over by the warm, smoky atmosphere and the smell of stew hanging thick in the air. The inn is much like the rest of the town of Westbrook, a near perfect copy from the game - but it's a whole different experience, seeing it through Van's eyes. The welcoming warmth and light, the atmosphere - the door he can only barely fit through…

In the game he's never hit his head on the door frame, but here he has to duck below it - only to then immediately bang his forehead on a ceiling beam.

"Ow - sonnofa-!"

"Oh, no - are you okay there, man?" the innkeeper calls, looking worried. "That was quite the resounding knock your noggin made there!"

"... Yeah," Van groans, rubbing at his head and checking his hand. No blood. "I'm alright."

"You want something to drink? I can bring you an ale."

"No, thank you, I'll just sit down for a moment," Van answers, rubbing his forehead and looking around. He has to slouch to keep his head from banging on every ceiling beam along the way - they're all on the exact height to, well, beam him right across the forehead. 

Van had felt big before, walking in the crowd, taller than anyone else - but now he feels uncomfortably big, too big for this space. It's like being in a miniature house or something - the tables are a bit too low and the chairs all look too small for him. It's kind of cool, though. 

And then Van finds what he's looking for.

"You want to play a game of chance, big man?" the hooded local gambler asks and motions to the chair across from them. "Please do take a seat."

[Lady Luck's Acolyte] [Kerly Accomo] [Lvl. 16 Gambler.]

Van sits. The chair creaks pitifully beneath his weight. "I'll try a game of Echo," he says, leaning his elbows carefully on the table between them. "I bet two silver coins."

"Very well," Accomo says and takes out a deck from a wide sleeve with flourish. "If you can beat me, you gain double your stake. If I beat you, you will lose your stake. That seems fair, yes?"

"Yeah," Van says and puts the coins on the table, sliding them over. 

There's every chance this wouldn't work. If this world is more realistic than the game, and it kind of looks like it is, then he doubts the gambler carries enough money to buy him a gold bar. Still… it could be that every shopkeeper has an endless sum of gold, just like in the game. He wouldn't know until he tried. So.

"Let's see what happens."

The gambler splits the deck to shuffle it, and there's a mission prompt.

[Game of Wit, Lvl. 1.] [You have been invited to play a game of cards. Win 10 games of Echo.] [Quest reward: 20 exp, 1 Lucky Playing Card.] [Accept?] [Yes.] [No.]

-

[<<Prologue | <Chapter 1 || Chapter 3>>]

Proofread by @nimadge, many thanks.

-

It's gonna be bit of a slow start, still getting my footing here

[buttstothemoon]

It's a real catch-22, right! For some reason, some proportion of men respond extremely well to being told that they're weak losers unless they "________". And it doesn't actually matter if they ________ or not. They seem content with the knowledge that they are weak losers but that folks who _________ aren't and that one day maybe they'll ________ too.

This is a thing which really confuses me about discourse. Folks (propagandists first but now filtered down to regular folks) take it as a given that the left is hostile to men. And like, in some examples sure. But nowhere near the level of hostility that men on the right have to contend with. And honestly, the only resolution I see is that it's gendered. Mostly women on the right offer criticisms of men as an ensemble population, and mostly men on the right will endlessly bully individual men for, I don't know, drinking coconut water or whatever random bullshit is gay-coded these days.

I don't think we necessarily need to buy into an hierarchy of fascism to reach these people. But perhaps we can look at the way in which male delights can be corrupted. I'm a man. I love violence. I love taking the piss. I'm extremely competitive. But I understand context and boundaries. I'm not gonna bully a stranger because he dresses the wrong way. But I am going to rib my friend for messing up in a video game. I'm not gonna punch a guy for having the wrong haircut. But I am gonna slash a guy if he crosschecks me during my 11:30 pm beer league hockey. And I'll have the best time of my life doing it. Both giving and receiving.

There are healthy non-fascistic outlets which men can take in order to feel strong and masculine and whatever they need to feel. And I think, especially, other men can get away with calling them weak and soft and unmanly without necessarily having to buy in to an hierarchical framework, because the thing that makes them weak and unmanly isn't how much they can bench, or how many women they fuck, or whether they're a programmer/engineer. It's that they violate boundaries. Social, physical, psychological boundaries.

It's perfectly fine to be a dick. Because being a dick is a kind of a game that people (mostly cis-het men) like to play with each other. But we need to agree to the game. It's perfectly fine to be violent. Because being violent is a kind of a game people (mostly cis-het men) like to play with each other. And the only way to be unmanly is to play these games without everyone else having agreed.

The corollary, for other left-wing men out there, is that when a person starts playing these games without having obtained permission, well, they've just set a boundary. They won't think that they set a boundary. And it will be a great surprise for them to be met at the level they chose to engage with. But it's their choice to set the boundary all the same. Usually, I'm not interested in playing the violence game outside of sanctioned and insured sports. But if some stranger decides to set the boundary, and let me know that they're interested in playing the violence game, I will play to win, because I am a very competitive man.

I think too frequently on the left we see this boundary be set, and we fail to engage at that same level. Because violence is bad. But violence is also awesome and fun as hell, so long as everyone involved is a consenting adult.

I mean, the temptation is to point out how weak and soft and unmanly a lot of fascist types are, but I don't think that buying into the same hierarchy that they're promoting is going to help us.

[alaia777]

HIIII I hope you’re doing good! I just LOVE YOUR WORKS!! And I just saw that your request were open soooo… (It isn’t actually a request at first I just wanted to share a thought I had and you can write something for it if you want or ignore it as well it’s fine too but I just felt like sharing this idea!)

So basically, I was thinking about a Reo x Reader in which the scenario would basically be:

Reader is a friend of bachira, Isagi & Chigiri (obviously reader is chaotic & unserious if friend of bachira) and like Reo rlly likes reader’s vibes and kind of fall in love with her, but he doesn’t allow himself to have these feelings for her because he thinks reader is not from the same world as him and his parents will never accept him dating someone like that.

BUT dot dot dot,

Like a week later, his parents are having like some meeting with others important persons and their children have to be there too bc why not so Reo is here, AND WHO HE FIND AT THIS MEETING? READER!! And then he realises we’re actually from a rich & high status family and he sees us acting way different than we did when he saw us hanging out with bachira, like we are now acting respectful and serious while it was the opposite when Reo first saw us, and basically Reo is like ‘wow, she’s perfect’

THANKS FOR READING MY REQUEST THROUGH ITS NOT REALLY ONE, I just felt like sharing that thought! Remember to eat & drink well, byee!

hellooo!! i really loved your idea, it was so much fun to write! i hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed working on it! take care, sending you all my loveeee <333

you’ve been friends with isagi, bachira, and chigiri for a while now. you were first friends with chigiri, who introduced you to them, and honestly, it felt like you fit right in—your personality blending perfectly with the other three.

you don’t like to pick favorites since that can break friendships, but if you had to, bachira might be something close to that. he’s always buzzing with energy—while the other two can have their moments of calm, bachira never seems to run out of battery. it’s like he’s constantly on, always looking for the next thrill, the next laugh, the next game to turn life into.

and you love that—finally getting to cut loose and just have fun. with bachira, it’s always something ridiculous. once, you both convinced isagi and chigiri to have a shopping cart race in an empty parking lot. you pushed bachira at full speed while he screamed like he was in a high-speed chase, and chigiri nearly crashed into a bush because isagi was too focused on winning to steer properly.

another time, you and bachira tried to see how many arcade claw machine prizes you could win in a row, turning it into a full-blown competition. bachira ended up with a ridiculous number of stuffed animals, chigiri kept missing on purpose just to avoid carrying them, and isagi nearly broke the machine by shaking it too hard.

“this thing is obviously rigged,” he muttered.

“or maybe you just suck at it,” you teased, grinning as you pulled out yet another prize on your first try.

even the simplest things turn into adventures with them, and you wouldn’t trade it for anything.

there has been an addition to your friend group. well, not exactly an addition—they were already friends with the others, but you hadn’t met them before. their names were nagi and reo.

nagi was easy to figure out. he was laid-back, always looking like he was five seconds away from falling asleep, but somehow still keeping up with the chaos you and bachira stirred up. he never tried to stop it—just stood on the sidelines.

reo, though—reo was different.

he was friendly, easy to talk to, always jumping into conversations with a confidence that made him seem like he belonged. but with you, there was something else. something hesitant.

he seemed to gravitate toward you without meaning to, always ending up next to you in conversations, standing just a little closer than necessary. but then, just as quickly, he’d pull away—like he caught himself getting too comfortable. like he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to.

and you couldn’t figure out why.

he could figure out why.

he liked you.

your eccentric personality, the way you always seemed to smile—not just around his friends but around him too—made his heart weak. you had this way of making everything feel exciting, like the world was a little brighter just because you were in it. and unfortunately, he knew that whatever he was dreaming of whenever he looked at you was just that—a dream.

you two were from different worlds.

he couldn’t show up to dinner with his parents and introduce you as his girlfriend. not because he didn’t want to—god, he wanted to—but because he knew exactly how that conversation would go.

“who are her parents?”

“what does her family do?”

“does she understand our world?”

and he wouldn’t have the answers they wanted to hear. because, as far as he knew, you were just an ordinary girl from an ordinary life. no name that held weight, no empire backing you, no future that had already been paved out for you like his had.

so he kept his distance. as much as he could, anyway.

except it was impossible. because no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that it wouldn’t work, that it couldn’t work, he’d always find himself right back next to you—laughing at your jokes, getting caught up in your energy, wanting more of you in ways he knew he shouldn’t.

but dreams weren’t meant to last. and this? whatever this was? it was never supposed to start in the first place.

that thought followed him everywhere—at practice, at home, and even now, as he sat stiffly at a round table, surrounded by people who spoke in dull, rehearsed tones.

these events were routine. his parents dragged him to them from time to time, expecting him to sit through dinner, shake hands, and engage in polite, empty conversations. it always bored him out of his mind. the food was expensive, the champagne flowed freely, and yet, it all felt lifeless.

there were other people his age, but they were no better. perfectly mannered, perfectly dull, sticking to scripted pleasantries that never led anywhere real.

he wanted you here.

he wanted to hear your laugh cut through the hum of forced conversation, wanted to see the way your eyes would light up whenever bachira pitched some ridiculous idea.

he could already picture it so clearly. except—

why was he actually seeing someone that looked exactly like you a few tables over?

his breath caught in his throat.

same face. same familiar spark in your eyes. but the version of you sitting there was—classier.

your hair was styled differently, and you wore a dress that looked like it cost more than someone’s monthly salary. it fit you effortlessly, draping over you in a way that made you look like you belonged here, like you were born for this world he’d convinced himself you weren’t a part of.

except it was you.

and reo felt his entire reality tilt on its axis.

he couldn’t stop himself from approaching your table, and when your eyes met his, you greeted him with a sweet smile—polished, composed, a little too perfect compared to the one he was used to.

“good evening, reo. it’s a pleasure to see you again,” you said, your voice smooth and measured.

the words felt so foreign coming from you that he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “why are you talking like that?”

for a split second, your expression wavered, the ghost of your usual smirk threatening to break through. but just as quickly, you reined it in, maintaining the same poised demeanor.

your parents, however, exchanged puzzled glances.

“honey,” your mother asked, her tone curious but polite, “do you know this young man?”

reo’s gaze flickered between you and them, his mind still struggling to reconcile the version of you he knew with the one sitting before him now.

you smiled—again, too polished, too controlled—and folded your hands neatly in your lap. “yes, mother. this is reo. we have mutual friends.”

mutual friends.

reo didn’t know why that made his stomach twist.

“is that so?” your father chimed in, looking him over with the kind of careful scrutiny reo had grown up around. “and what do your parents do, young man?”

reo didn’t answer. he was still looking at you, waiting for you to crack, to drop the act, to laugh and tell him this was all some elaborate prank. but you didn’t.

instead, you tilted your head ever so slightly and gave him that same polite smile.

and reo—who had spent weeks convincing himself that he could never be with you because you were from a different world—suddenly realized he had never known a damn thing about you at all.

reo didn’t give you a chance to react. one moment, he was standing beside your table, and the next, his hand was wrapped around yours, pulling you away from the lingering stares of your parents and the stiff, dull atmosphere of the event.

“reo—” you started, but he didn’t slow down, weaving through the elegantly dressed crowd until he found a quieter spot, a secluded balcony overlooking the city. only then did he let go, turning to face you with narrowed eyes.

“what the hell is going on?” he demanded, breath slightly uneven, whether from frustration or something else, you weren’t sure. “why were you talking like that? why are you here—like this?”

you exhaled, leaning against the cool railing. “because this is my life,” you admitted. “the one i never told you about.”

his jaw clenched. “so what? you’ve been lying to us this whole time?”

“no,” you said quickly, shaking your head. “it’s not like that. i just, i didn’t want this to matter. with you, with nagi, with bachira, with chigiri and isagi—i didn’t want to be this person. i just wanted to be me.”

reo ran a hand through his hair, his expression unreadable. “so you’re telling me you’re rich. like, stupidly rich.”

you huffed a small laugh. “yeah. basically.”

he let out a long sigh, looking away for a moment before glancing back at you. “so all this time, i thought i couldn’t be with you because i was the rich one and you weren’t.” he scoffed, shaking his head. “turns out, i was completely wrong.”

your lips parted slightly. “wait, what?”

he blinked, as if realizing what he had just admitted. his ears turned the faintest shade of red. “nothing,” he muttered quickly. “forget it.”

but you didn’t. a slow smile crept onto your lips. “reo, were you avoiding me because you liked me?”

he groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “can we not do this right now?”

but you were grinning now, stepping closer. “so if i had just told you the truth from the beginning, we could’ve been on a date ages ago?”

“alright, that’s it,” he huffed, and before you could react, he grabbed your hand again, but this time, it was different. slower. more deliberate.

“dance with me,” he said.

you blinked at him. “reo, there’s no music—”

“so?” he smirked. “i bet you’re a good dancer. with all that rich people etiquette training, right?”

you rolled your eyes, but your heart was racing when he pulled you closer, one hand settling at your waist.

“if i take you on a real date,” he murmured, “you won’t run off and hide another secret life from me, will you?”

you laughed softly, resting a hand on his shoulder. “no more secrets. promise.”

reo grinned, spinning you under the city lights. “good. because i’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for.”

[aespabangedbang]

If you were to have cosplay sex with your idol girlfriend, which idol would you think would look best in the following costumes?

Police

Student

Professor

Witch

Superhero

Cheerleader

Princess

Comics, game characters

Bikini

Nude

COSTUME FUCK MANIA :

Let's see, there are some interesting roles for some interesting bitches here.

Police - SOYEON. Sturdy, sexy and have that cunty corrupted attitude in her. Everyone would droll to have some meat of justice wrapping their cock after seeing her.

Student - EUNCHAE. She got that age threshold and of course the dirty nympho side to her. She would be delicious in a student costume.

Professor - GISELLE. The busty MILF professor that any man would fuck in the campus. That's how she feels when all suited up and wearing glasses.

Witch - IRENE. Like do I need to even explain it when their concept suites perfectly? She also have that bewitching power to take any men to bed as she wish.

Superhero - SOMI. That perfectly toned combo of curvy and busty figure is straight out of superheroe comic books' pages. I think Marvel should just cast her already.

Cheerleader - LEESEO. The heavy hitter with boing boing assets that's bound to turn all head when she is busy cheering your bulges.

Princess - WINTER. She is so princess coded. Her photoshoots proves it. As long as you pamper her, she is willing to spread those legs for anyone!

Comics - NINGNING. Her ability to giggle and laugh through literally everything makes her a fine comic protagonist. She would keep laughing while used like cumdump no doubt.

Game Character - YUJIN. She suites a wide range of role, have sexy body and looks absolutely rapebait when she means it. Perfect choice for game related fetishes.

Bikini - MIYEON. She have the fine aura of high society bitches. Wear a bikini, seduce some old rich hags and live a luxurious life leeching their cocks; she can live this life faithfully.

Nude - KARINA. Why? Cause she would absolutely blast through any of the other costume or role eithout even trying. She is the sexiest bitch Kpop have ever produced. So being fully naked getting pounded by men in a daily basis suites her most!

That's it my lowely esteemed fucking reader. 🖕

[kaija-rayne-author]

I need to look to see if there's 'veilguard positive' tags I can block because OMFG. I feel so fucking gaslit every time I see a positive post claiming the crafting was good, the writing was good, the art was good, because, no, objectively, they were not. (I say that as an author, editor, diversity consultant, and media critic, not just a consumer.)

Every writer who worked on VG has either resigned or been laid off. The creative director has been demoted to a much lower position at a different EA company, Busche 'resigned' which in corporate speak means she was probably asked to. The sales numbers are so abysmal they've essentially declared DA a dead IP. (These would be business signals that no, it wasn’t good. Why? Good games sell well. Usually quickly. Especially in AAA markets.)

IF VG had been a good game, those people would still have jobs, and Bioware would be celebrating. Because that's how sales and business works.

The art assets are reused everywhere, the writing is absolutely shite, the racism isn't a bug, it's a feature, the characters are cardboard cut outs (which is an upgrade from paper dolls but not by much), the therapy speak is utterly nauseating, I want to punch Rook regularly, there is so little role playing potential in a supposed role playing game that it's laughable, the plot is honestly mind-bogglingly bad, they bastardized beloved characters so they were barely recognizable facsimiles of themselves, and they shat on the Lore so badly.

Deep breath. When we talk about media, we need to consider things like genre (dragon age is supposed to be dark fantasy, not cozy the world is disnified perfect sim.) Cozy games are great! I love several. Dragon Age was not and never should've tried to be a cozy therapy sim. We need to consider things like 'what did previous entries in the series look and feel like', and we need to stick to that. Some changes are expected and encouraged because things evolve, people leave, and new blood is brought in. Technology improves. What we can't do if we want to retain the committed fans is pull a complete 180 and make something that seems like the vast majority of older DA fans hate with a bloody passion.

It's shit. All of it. Veilguard was not, objectively, a good game. No part of it was objectively good (except perhaps Emmrich's romance, which still feels about 80% complete).

And you know what? It's perfectly fine if you like something shitty. Hell, I utterly love b and c rate fantasy cheese movies. I love Van Helsing for example. And I know it's not good. I just don't care.

But I never slog on in posts trying to convince people it was actually objectively good, because objectively it most certainly is not.

Aiya, just accept that you loved a not great thing. Not everything we consume has to be objectively good for us to love it.

Veilguard might’ve been fine as a mid-rate on quality hack n'slash generic fantasy adventure game.

It is not even remotely an objectively good dragon age game. It failed, spectacularly, on every front.

UGH.

People bitch and moan about people who hated it being awful. But at least most of us use the critical tags so you don't have to read it.

Nah, you know who I've seen being awful the most? The positive crowd who loved it. Have the same decency we have and tag your damned posts as Veilguard positive. So the people who didn't like it don't have to read your stuff either.

[meadowfics]

the lamp

kang dae-ho x f!reader

a perfect world for dae-ho and you.. right?

warnings: mentions of death, post squid game au, ptsd

everything is perfect.

you sit on the couch, cradling your newborn daughter in your arms, her tiny body warm against your chest. 

byeol’s little baby hands rest on the bottle as she drinks, her eyelids fluttering every now and then as sleep tries to pull her under. she’s only two weeks old, and already she looks like dae-ho’s twin…his nose, his soft lips, even the way she furrows her brows in concentration as she drinks. 

you can’t help but smile, smoothing a gentle hand over her barely-there strands of dark hair.

she has your cheeks, and your eyes, but she is dae-ho’s twin.

in front of you, in the middle of the living room, your husband is fully engaged in a very serious transaction with your three-year-old daughter, seo-ah. 

the toddler’s chubby little hands press buttons on the toy register with the utmost concentration, her lips pursed like she’s handling the most important sale of her life.

“that’ll be five dollars, appa!” seo-ah exclaims, holding out her tiny hand.

dae-ho gasps dramatically, patting his pockets. 

“five dollars? oh no, i think i forgot my wallet!”

seo-ah giggles, shaking her head. 

“no money, no food, appa.”

you watch the interaction with pure adoration, your heart full, almost too full. 

seo-ah has always been so full of joy, radiating happiness like the sun, just like her father. 

she has his energy, his optimism, but she’s all yours in looks…your same eyes, your same small nose, your same round cheeks, your eyebrows. she’s a perfect mix of you both, but in personality, she is her father’s daughter. 

hopeful, warm, a little bit mischievous.

“what if i pay you in kisses?” 

dae-ho bargains, reaching out to tickle her sides.

seo-ah squeals, laughing so hard she tips over onto the floor, her little feet kicking in delight. 

“appa, nooo! you need real money!”

you chuckle softly, shifting byeol in your arms as she finishes her bottle. the infant’s small body relaxes against you, full and content, her breathing slow and steady. 

you press a kiss to the top of her head, inhaling her sweet newborn scent, then look up to find dae-ho watching you.

your husband’s smile is soft, filled with something deep and unwavering. love. the kind of love that makes your stomach turn into butterflies, even after all these years. 

the kind of love that has never wavered, never dimmed.

“what?” you murmur, feeling a little shy under his gaze.

he shakes his head, still smiling. 

“nothing, love. ‘m just thinking about how lucky i am.”

your heart flutters. 

“me too.”

before he can respond, seo-ah scrambles to her feet. 

“i need more stuff for my store! appa, wait here!” 

she declares, already dashing off toward her bedroom.

dae-ho salutes her playfully. 

“yes, ma’am.”

you giggle, shifting your gaze around the room, taking in the home you’ve built together. 

your living room is cozy, perfectly lived-in, with framed pictures of your little family lining the shelves. toys are scattered everywhere…seo-ah’s dolls, blocks, stuffed animals…but it just makes the space feel warmer, more real.

your eyes land on the blue lamp beside the television. 

for a second, it looks fine.

then, something flickers.

you blink. the lamp is blurry, fuzzy, like static on an old tv screen. 

you frown, confusion creeping up your spine.

that’s strange.

your chest tightens. 

something feels... wrong.

you look back at dae-ho, but he’s still smiling at you, completely normal, completely real. 

you swallow, trying to shake the unease creeping into your bones. maybe you’re just tired.

maybe—

then the world tilts.

the warmth, the laughter, the love…everything shatters. the edges of your vision blur, your living room dissolving like smoke in the wind. 

no. no, no, no!!!

you snap awake.

the cold air bites at your skin, seeping through the thin blankets wrapped around you. 

you’re not in your living room. you’re not holding byeol. you’re not hearing seo-ah’s laughter.

you’re alone.

your chest tightens, and for a second, you can’t breathe. 

the reality slams into you like a freight train, like a fist to the gut, like the sharp edge of a knife twisting in your ribs.

it wasn’t real.

your family…your perfect, beautiful family…was never real.

your hands shake as you press them against your face, a sob breaking free before you can stop it. you squeeze your eyes shut, but it doesn’t stop the tears, doesn’t stop the way your heart feels like it’s splitting open, breaking into pieces you’ll never be able to put back together.

dae-ho is gone.

he sacrificed himself for you in those death games, the squid games, just so you could live. 

after the failed rebellion, all he wanted to show you was that he was not a coward. he wanted to prove to himself that he was strong, something that you’ve always known that he was.

however he didn’t. he sacrificed himself in the marbles game so you could have a future. swapping the bags so he had the rocks. 

this is so you could have a chance at something better, something more than what those cruel games would have left you with.

he should have been here.

he should have been with you.

you should have been the one to go.

these torturess daydreams have been in your head everyday since his death. he died in the games two years ago.

your sobs wrack through your body, uncontrollable, unstoppable. 

you curl into yourself, arms wrapping around your torso like they could somehow hold you together, like they could somehow stop the unbearable ache hollowing out your chest.

you wanted that life. you wanted seo-ah, with her bright eyes and endless giggles. you wanted byeol, small and soft and perfect. 

you wanted dae-ho, with his warm hands, his kind eyes, his steady love.

you’ll never have it.

you will never have that perfect family with the only man you’ll ever love.

your hands claw at the blanket, gripping it like it’s the only thing keeping you from falling apart completely. 

its cold, 4am and its lonely. dae-ho should be here. he should be holding you, should be kissing your forehead, should be telling you that everything is okay.

it’s not okay.

it will never be okay.

you don’t know how long you cry. time loses meaning, drowning in the grief that wraps around you like a vice, suffocating, endless. 

your body shakes, exhaustion weighing down on you, but sleep won’t come. 

not again. not when you know the moment you close your eyes, you’ll see them. you’ll see him.

you’ll see the life you’ll never have.

eventually, the sobs fade into quiet sniffles, your body drained, eyes forced to be dry, your throat raw. 

you stare at the ceiling, empty, hollow.

dae-ho wouldn’t want this for you. he wouldn’t want you to be stuck in this cycle of grief, unable to move forward. 

he gave up everything so you could live, but how are you supposed to live without him?

how are you supposed to live when the best part of you is gone?

you take a shaky breath, wiping at your wet cheeks. you don’t have the answer. 

maybe you never will.

I'm sorry

masterlist

[rocketbirdie]

thought dump about the mh wilds beta below the cut. I am playing in japanese with english subtitles on PS5; I play solo; I am, to nobody's surprise, maining the lance. Thought and opinions are in no particular order and kind of not fully coherent:

Settings stuff:

Even the largest HUD and text sizes are too small. Not everybody has a huge honkin screen. That being said, the accessibility settings that DO exist, I am very happy with. I was pleasantly surprised to see an option for dark background behind captions, which goes to show just how goddamn low the bar is LMAO

Slightly related: Sunbreak spoiled me rotten by letting me have total control over which HUD elements are on the screen at all.

PLEASE for the love of all that is good in this world, PLEASE LET US GET RID OF THE RADIAL MENU in the full game. I am the #1 radial menu hater of all time and I do NOT want it hijacking my camera movement.

Thank you capcom for letting me use O=confirm in a world where playstation stubbornly adheres to its pretentious little X button <3

General gameplay stuff:

Where are the ridiculous hairstyles. These people all look too Normal. TEETH OPTIONS????

NO MORE GENDER LOCKED BULL SHITT YEEEEHAAAAW

The story and characters are boring as dirt which is par for the course for MH, but man is it a teensy bit embarrassing how hard they're trying to push it.

THE WORLD FEELS SO ALIVE!! I love seeing packs of both small AND large monsters living in their environments. Everything is so detailed and the map is immense, but not so huge that it's completely overwhelming.

Giving the hunter and palicos voice lines is an affront to gog.

Slinger. eeeugh. It's fine I guess, I just would rather not have it at all. I am a cultured hunter who prefers to fling hot dung with my bare hands

Oh Sweet Lord They're Making Me Pick Dialogue Options In A Monster Hunter Game

WHYYYYY with the always online thing? what is the obsession with this from triple-a devs???? "Online single player" should not be a thing, let alone the last option on the list. What happened to just single player. NO I DO NOT WANT TO USE AN SOS FLARE. Hello can anyone hear me

They did confirm that there will be a pause button in the full game. Right? God I hope so

HOOO BOY I hope they do some major adjustments to the Seikret movement in the full release. Even with the discrete analog stick movement setting on, it's so uncooperative at times. HATE how hard the game tries to make automatic movement happen. I want manual control at all times, and auto-running is not the convenience they think it is. Frustrating enough that I found myself avoiding riding the Seikret on some hunts.

I understand wanting to have a seamless open world experience but man... the lack of any strong distinction between hub and quest, and the fact that you don't just automatically return to the hub after the hunt, is really screwing with my head. It feels wrong and not in a "just give it some time you'll get used to it" kind of way.

LANCE:

Lance feels pretty good in this game!! The shield is very reliable even without any relevant armor skills. I love the finishers they added to the end of the classic 3-poke combos. Gives it just the right amount of extra zest without going overboard.

i won't lie though. i miss sunbreak lance's stupid overpowered shield hop -> leaping thrust combo. even if it's probably for the best that it's gone :(

Counterattacking feels off?? Like it's hard to tell when an attack just connected with my shield, there isn't a strong enough punch to it. Is this the "floatiness" that people were complaining about in the last beta test? Because I totally get it.

Also I have never had any trouble in any prior MH game with cancelling out of the dash attack. Why is it suddenly SO difficult to stop dashing. Petty whiny add-on: let me do the shield dash instead pleeeease pretty please

Combat in general feels kind of weird... I think it's because of the emphasis on realism? I'm perfectly fine with sluggishness in my monhun weapons, but this just feels bogged down. Thought I was going crazy until I tried the hunting horn (another main of mine from GU and Sunbreak) and sheathe->normal running was significantly faster than self-improvement's running speed, which is.... yikes............

side note: gypceros is just as obnoxious as he has always been! A+

[cheddar-baby]

my boyfriend's friend screwed me over so massively. He added a bunch of people to our magic planning group to hopefully get more people to meet up for commander but what it did was made the group large enough that no one ever messages in it now and no one responds if you try to plan anything cause they don't want to be the first person to respond. I was perfectly content doing 3 person commander games regularly every week with the ocassional time we could grab a fourth but now i try to plan and get stonewalled by no one responding cause the groups full of socially anxious people who barely know each other. Im fine to be the one who plans but i cant work around 0 response from anyone. At this point i would just recruit people off tumblr to play if i could do it in a way that wouldn't doxx myself. I just wanna test all the decks i keep building so i can optimize them but its become impossible to do. Maybe i just start going down to friday night magic alone and dropping a "im here already if anyone feels like joining" message.

[theallianceofcelestials]

What if Bloodmoon, Solar Flare, and Lunar were the ones to turn into babies?

It'd be a flashback to the past for the 'adults', and a nightmare for Eclipse. They'd still love him, no matter if they were fully babified or just bodily babified, so they'd want to spend time with him. And his daycare coding would be a bitch to him

Killcode would be fond, overtly so, because while he loves his children always, and he's more than happy they grew up, he's nostalgic.

So is Sun, who would happily adopt back his cool uncle persona that was lost as the kids grew up and realised they could bully him. But if the chaos gremlins were still adults in mind, it'd be perfect time for him to get back at them.

Moon would be horrified if they turned back into actual children, because one time with these troublesome brats was enough, thanks. Bloodmoon bites, Lunar's mean and Solar Flare got these big sparkly eyes that make him weak. If it's just a bodily transform, he'd be more than willing to bully them too.

But for the rest I'm busting out the format I usually use for these

Eclipse

Just body tranformation

It's okay, he's fine, he can handle this. Even if he's very worried he'll accidentaly step on Lunar, who is even smaller than he used to be. He's especially unappreciate when the midget tries using that to his advantage, and he'd scruff him more than he usually does. He's kinda angry terribly annoyed when Lunar tries exploiting his daycare attendant code, but Lunar would stop when he tells him to. He doesn't know how ucomfortable it is, after all, and he doesn't want to hurt his big bro

Solar Flare would probably just sit down somewhere and wait to be fixed. It's aware what effect it has on Eclipse currently, and doesn't want to abuse it. Eclipse would just give it one of his books, and it'd be happily reading.

Bloodmoon, sensing a brother in distress, would try to comfort Eclipse. Eclipse is trying his hardest not to laugh, because Bloodmoon had to climb onto the kitchen counters to be able to reach his shoulder. He's aware they're trying their hardest to bring out the wise big brother persona, but he's just dying inside while trying to keep a straight face outside.

Full babification

Lunar is manically obbsessed with cuddling him, Eclipse is sure of it! The little cloud always wants to climb onto him for his afternoon nap, and it's getting real annoying because he's afraid the midget will fall and break his neck. He's also always under foot, trying to show Eclipse his new toys, and he hums and nods at those.

Solar Flare is even more of a quiet person like this, which doesn't exactly surprise Eclipse. Once the little bot gets over its shyness, it starts following him around. It'll just quietly sit beside him, and maybe play with something or draws once it knows drawing is perfectly fine. Whenever it finishes a drawing, it shows Eclipse, then waits to be praised and cuddled

Bloodmoon bites Moon said, and he only now realises how severe of an understatement that is. Little Bloodmoon loves hunting, and they love to nibble on people they love. And he's the perfect prey, because while they don't exactly remember stuff, they're still aware he's the weak link. So they pounce on him the mosth, and he can't do anything because they're like toddlers or something, and they'll die if he so much as sneezes at them.

Killcode

Just body tranformation

He's gleefully looking down at all his kids he can now fit into his hands. They've never been this small at the same time, and he can admit to missing babies. He's a bit weak to the baby fever and he's not ashamed. He'd curl up over them and cuddle them despite all the protests. He'd be so embarrassing and he'd love every second of it

Full babification

Lunar would go back to his preferred game with his dad, meaning he'd sit on the paws while KC walks. Killcode is a bit stressed over it, but he really doesn't mind. He's just happy he won't accidentaly step on him like this, because Lunar is like a little tick and won't let go

Solar Flare would eagerly expect more stories from Killcode like this. It'd stare at him until he caved and either read outloud to him or made up a story of his own. It'd happily cuddle into his sides when he does this, and he'd be hit with even more nostalgia.

Bloodmoon would want to playfully wrestle with him, and would also want to go outside. He'd have to pay close attention to them whenever he brings them out so they don't split and wander off. He's very grateful they live inside a building now so he doesn't have to do this 24/7

Sun

Just body tranformation

Sun would go insane with the sewing this time too. He'd absolutely adore putting them into overtly cutesy outfits as a way to get back at them for being little shits. They can't even run away from him, because he's back to being faster than them all.

Solar Flare would be the only one who'd enjoy the attention, and would accept being dressed up. Sun's absolutely overjoyed.

Full babification

He's the one who got the toys for Lunar. And all of them too, but Lunar's the one who lights up the most when he gets one. Sun'd also just go back to picking him up like a kitten, infinitely amused by the babies surprise whenever this happens. He'd be a grave offender of tummy tickling and rasberries

Solar Flare would accept being dressed up like this too. It's just very curious about what its uncle is doing after all, and wants to play with the fabric/yarn. Sun lets them get away with it, pretending not to notice, because it's very funny when they realise they did a bad by tangling or messing everything up and try fixing it without him noticing.

Bloodmoon would pounce on him the most after Eclipse, but he's got it better handled. He'd grab them out of the air, and throw them above his head whenever they try something. He'd act stern but then sneak them little treats from the fridge when no one's looking.

Moon

Just body tranformation

Moon would be greatly amused by this predicament, and spend most of his time laughing at his nephews. The gremlins deserve it, and let it be a lesson to them not to mess with him, because he's still aware of all their weakspots. Except Solar Flare, they're let off the hook this once. Totally not because he has a soft spot for it, no

Full babification

Lunar wants to climb onto him and wants to chew on his hat or his fingers or his neck or his everything really, and he doesn't fancy all that spit on himself. But then he starts crying, and that makes him want to die. So he'd be left scowling while the kid tries eating his nightcap

Solar Flare would be his favourite kid again, because it's quiet and well-behaved compared to the other three. He'd give it headpats and sit it on his lap like he used to, and teach them about things again. Mostly technology this time, but he'd sneak in a bit of mythology and medicine too, along with biology.

Bloodmoon are evil children, and he stands by this still. They try ambushing you whenever they can, and they bite you for no reason. He'd try to reach out to pet them, because they love that, but then they'd bite him for no reason. He's also not amused when they try imitating him again, but he'd start having fun with them when he realises he can just throw balls for them, and they'd chase after it and bring it back.

[calebslittlecrow]

I'm baaack… to yap. Because I can. And I want to talk about something that greatly helped me on my journey. Come here. Closer. A tiny bit closer. Perfect.

Restarting your shifting journey. Wow. So simple, I'm proud of myself. I know some people are a bit hesitant when you throw that sentence around, because it feels like you are getting told to delete the entire progress you made in whatever months or years you have been trying. Like deleting the save file of your favorite game that has hundreds if not thousands of hours, but it's not like that.

It's more about getting rid of all the negativity and misinformation you probably involuntarily absorbed over your time researching and learning about shifting, reminding yourself on why you actually started this whole journey. Getting rid of all the stupid shit is amazingly freeing.

I've seen so many shifters say they nearly shifted on their first try. Why? Because they probably didn't had their mind full with "do this and not that", "you can't do this", "you cannot shift to any other reality, shifting means changing to a better outlook on your current reality". Shit, I shifted before I knew what it was and tried again after finding out and the only reason I didn't shift was because I chickened the fuck out. And the only thing I had was my stupid self, two sentences in a notes app on my phone stating my DR name and where I wanted to go, and the first YT ambience video that vaguely resembled where I wanted to wake up. Become aware. Whatever.

Worked perfectly fine and then I ruined it by researching and joining the reddit community, which was decent back then. Don't go there now, the few good posts are not worth the absolute horrendous shit I see getting posted.

Just… take a break. Doesn't need to be long, just long enough to take a few deep breaths. Calm down a bit. And then turn around and look at the roots of why you started this. Ask yourself "why do I want to shift". For love? Fun? A better life? Keep that close, maybe write it down to remind yourself from time to time. From shifting itself only take the most basic concept: becoming aware of yourself in a different reality of your choosing.

Build your believe up from that, completely from scratch. Forget everything else you ever read about shifting. Find that little spark again you had in the beginning and that a lot of shifters lost along the way of trial and error. Concentrate on yourself and what your intuition tells you, not what random_user33455 claims on some website. No one can help you better than your own intuition and subconscious can ^-^

[ettadunham]

why does horizon zero dawn, a game that came out 7 years ago and only got a PC port in 2020 has a remaster in 2024??? this is absurd.

[moeblob]

You know. I have Thoughts now about Olric.

I originally wanted him added as a romance option (as do many others) and I think I changed my mind! I love him and he's amazing and supportive and he likes rocks but what I think so far that I really super love for him? Is how friendly he is and so far (I'm not far) he has zero romance related lines. Like he's not a romance option, but looking at the other NPCs (the innkeeper/wife, the general store owner/wife, the retired socialite who talks about past flings) I think Olric stands out as possibly the only one I can hope for aroace representation.

Let this guy just exist with the most positive vibes ever because he's just a good guy with positive vibes for everyone.