#anyway i don't actually expect this game to get super in depth with the characters xD i just enjoy sibling dynamics

[mementoasts]

i've been playin tales of the tempest and it's actually been pretty fun so far :3 i rly like rubia and tilkis

[mclzandaya]

kinda #sad but i've completely given up on my candy love new gen,, i've played up to episode 3 and then i just... gave up lol. i'm legit coming back only for the events but feel so uninvested that most of the times i'm not even able to get everything which is super frustrating.

i really wanted to like this game bc beemoov's games have been such a huge part of my life!! and despite my frustrations i always loved those games!!

but having the MC being black only in appearance when i thought i'd be able to relate to her a little more; interactions with the LIs still as ridiculous as in CL and LL (pls someone tell me i was lied to and ysaline didn't actually throw up on jason EDIT: thanks for correcting me!! she did /not/ throw up on him, thanks god); having to pay to get full scenes even as VIPs already paying every month (just the fact that you have to pay point blank); personality system which doesn't amount to anything and none of the LIs personalities being truly interesting for /me/,,, was such a disappointment.

i truly didn't expect jason to be so cringe,, it feels like the only use they have for roy is having him half naked most of the time; amanda i would've never gone for bc i just — don't care for a rich white girl; devon's pretty petty and childish at times (same as jason imo to be fair) and thomas i guess is the only one i'm okay with. and it's only bc i feel like they did a 180 on his personality since HSL and the fact that they portray him as seeming autistic (in /my/ opinion!! not derogatory!!!) just make him straightforward enough for me not to be annoyed with him.

idk i guess we could say that it's bc it's supposed to be a game whose targets are ~teens, but considering that it's clear (imo) that their true targets are paying players (consumers) rather than F2P players,, then obv you'd think their targets are at least adults? but it doesn't feel like it considering how ridiculous the plot feels at times and how little depth they put into the characters. to be fair i felt that the same could be said for eldarya a new era, campus life and love life. i know they changed scenarists? (idk the word in english but the ppl that draft the stories/plot + the actual ppl who write the dialogues and branchings) but i just truly realised it while playing the few episodes i've played + the events.

i saw a lot of french ppl thought new gen was better than CL or LL tho so i will give it a shot at some point (+ i've actually spent money on the game lol, so might as well see it through), but i never thought i'd feel so sad and unmotivated to play one of their games after playing since 2011.

anyway this was just a lil rant of my personal feelings and why i haven't been active on here lately, pls don't attack me it only engages me!! and /my/ point of view!! not even talking abt chinomiko here bc as far as i know it's not like she can do much abt all of this besides providing a v basic draft of what should happen in the story (but do tell me if i'm wrong! nicely pls). truly no hate towards her!! i'm legit sad that she didn't continue her game beneath our scars bc it was so interesting and i was super excited to get a game of hers outside of potential directives again :( even if it probably will never be finished if i remember correctly there were two eps out so if you have a lil bit of time on your hands you should check it out!!

edit: just realised beneath our scars isn't available on the app store anymore :( but she seems to be working on a potential future new game with a sort of dungeons and dragons theme? so i'm super excited for that!! hope we'll be able to play it!! + only one ep was out actually (oops) but i was told you can play it on the website still!!

[justsome-di]

Hi! Wanted to let you know that I really love your take on Nano and the evolution of it through time. I also quit the whole thing for the same reasons around 2016 after two years. I was curious: what are your expectations for a healthy writing community? I've seen that a lot of people want different things and conflict happen because nobody really talks about it. The most people are willing to say is the obvious don't be an asshole (although obviously that doesn't stop some), but I rarely see people say things like "I don't want to share my writing but I do want to share the efforts of it" or "I want to talk about every details of my stories and brainstorm with others" and things like that. So what are your thoughts on it? P.S. I started following you and then I found out you're also into MDZS XD Love that!

Hi!!

When I think of a healthy writing community, I think about two 12-year-olds sharing their grand story ideas and their original characters that are master-level wizards at age 19 or famous detectives at 15 and the two 12-year-olds gush over each other's ideas and draw their characters and help each other come up with names and ideas and titles.

I think writing communities really thrive when people are encouraged to share their ideas and can get a positive response. There's times to critique works and times to just hype people up--and I think people really do not know the difference.

I've noticed a few, consistent issues:

Competition: I think some writers get competitive over how fast they write, how much, how often, etc. And I've been in some Discord servers when a person is suddenly getting praise or recognition, and you can tell there's tension. Suddenly people stop talking and log off. There's a lot of battle of the egos.

Different skill levels in one space: this is a big issue, though it's not anyone's fault. I've noticed that some writers in some servers are well-experienced with great writing and then other writers are beginners. It's not a big deal, really, but it does hamper feedback. Beginner writers get discouraged and overwhelmed when well-experienced writers offer more detailed critiques. And likewise, experienced writers probably aren't getting super in-depth critiques they need. Not to say people are unsupportive, but it's just not the most productive set up!

Selfishness: I'm not sure if that's the best way to phrase it, but I've noticed that often people will share their writing in servers but not interact with other's writings.

These are pretty limited to Discord which imo isn't a productive space for large writing groups anyway. But unfortunately when a lot of people move to Discord, it's hard to find a sense of community on tumblr or other sites.

But I can't just bitch and not offer suggestions so:

Keep online communities alive. We can't limit ourselves to Discord servers. Post your writing. Engage with other blogs. Reblog. Reply. Send in asks. If you're reading something someone wrote, let them know. Say something in the tags or send in an ask.

Be a hype man: We should encourage each other to continue writing--not everyone is looking for critiques all the time

Know your place: I've seen way too many people shit on ideas for events or special blogs. If you see something that you don't like, just leave it be. If you're not interested in something, it's not for you. Let the micro-communities do their thing and find their people. You do not need to be involved in every facet of the general writing community.

Post. Your. Writing. Or post stuff about your writing. It's hard to find other writers when they don't share! I can't hype up your story if I don't know about it!

I often see a lot of suggestions get vague. Like you said--"Don't be an asshole." Okay. Great. But what does that mean? And how does it get enforced in moderated communities like servers? What if the mods of the servers are assholes?

Or I see "support each other!" Okay, but we need an actual game plan for getting early-2010s level of community back. We need to bring back ask memes and character memes and ask culture. Because people back then weren't just twiddling their thumbs waiting for an interaction, there was effort put into all of it. People were designing games and events and taking time to engage with each other.

I don't think people understand that healthy communities need to be nurtured and inclusive. And this is definitely glamorizing the internet of 10-15 years ago. There's always been bullying and toxic people. But I think we could definitely build on what used to be and make something that's mature and welcoming to everyone.

I'm hoping with NaNo on their steady decline through the past couple of years really encourages people to rekindle other online communities. I think a lot of people have been nostalgic over the past few days, and a lot of people have taken the initiative to coordinate their own events. It's starting to bring back some of the unconditional support that used to exist.

(I love mdzs so much omggg and I'm reading through tgcf too and I aaaahhhh I'm very normal about it)

[tippistrick]

Media Thread Part 1: Every Kingdom Hearts Game on Steam

I have literally never done anything like this on tumblr and I dunno how much of this works but yknow what! That's fine! I'll figure it out

So late last year, I decided on a whim to get the Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece bundle on Steam. My experience with this series beforehand was basically nothing but what I had learned through osmosis on the internet, and even though I was kinda turned off by the heavy Disney association, I decided to say screw it and check em out anyway.

The next like. Two-to-three months give or take were completely dominated by this series as I kinda got hooked. I ended up finding (almost) all of them super engaging to play and all around just really fun! It was something I wasn't expecting to be so engaged with, but I kinda get it now.

I don't wanna go over every little thing here because this is almost like two decades worth of games and I wanna keep it to just this post, but I wanna do a brief lightning round of thoughts before talking about some overall thoughts.

Kingdom Hearts the First

This one gave me an astonishingly good first impression. The combat hooked me in hard and I enjoyed the focus on platforming this one had. The general system in place for abilities and AP also really resonated with me. One of my favorites in the series even after experiencing everything.

Kingdom Hearts 2: Chain of Memories

This is where the original plot stuff really gains its legs I feel. The main setting and concept was interesting and the new original characters from The Organization are fun to watch and get to know. I quite liked Riku's story in particular and how he grapples with what happened in the first game. The card system was very fun, but I gotta admit I was just bad at it. I sucked hard and it took me a long time to really get the hang of it. I don't feel like that's the game's fault; that's on me. Vexen is funny

Kingdom Hearts 3: Kingdom Hearts 2

Ooughh this one's real good. Although there's a drop off in terms of level design, the plot and combat are pushed wayyyy farther and it works for me. The form changes can be hit-or-miss for me with how the drive gauge works, but overall the experience felt much more refined and in-depth. It gets real hard too!! KH1 did as well but there's a specific lingering elephant in the room that decimated me. I get why people were so obsessed with the organization and its members, I like a good group of bad guys! Xigbar is funny

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (Movie)

Okay I'm stopping with the numbers bit I feel like I'd get confused and get something wrong. Anyways more good stuff!! I kinda wish I played the actual game but there's always a change to in the future. Roxas and Xion have such tragic existences and they really Go Through It. Axel and Saïx being bitter exes is awesome. By this point they definitely knew the original characters can just carry whatever it is they're doing, it's fun.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

It's messed up but I've actually got some grievances with this one. The story is fine and all, but the way the game handles multiple characters got really REALLY draining for me. This concept can work in a game like sonic adventure I feel that's snappier and shorter, but for an action rpg, it wore me down especially with the worlds and their designs.. It was the only one of these games where I was exhausted by the end and just wanted it to be over. Braig is funny at least so hey it's obviously not all bad

Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded (Movie)

This one also kinda wore me down, even just for being a cutscene compilation. It retreads so much we've already seen and just wasn't that engaging until like the very very end. But hey... they DID put bugs in him.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

Yknow it's funny. From what I've seen, this one's actually kind of disliked, and while I get why people do, I couldn't help but actually really enjoy my time with it. Yes the drop system isn't well thought out and can be annoying, yes I can see the dream eaters and how they work turning people off, yes the story jumps some big sharks in this one, but.... I dunno I just think it's neat!! I can like a mid game sometimes as a treat. Xigbar continues to be funny.

Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover

This one ruled imo. It's basically just characters talking and it's so so engaging... the Master of Masters is one of my favorite characters in this whole series his voice acting goes crazy. Maybe the real imposter was the friends we lost along the way

Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage

First up this is the funniest name for one of these games it's insane. Outside of that, it's a neat little tech demo and bridge into Kingdom Hearts 3 and it sure issss neat. I quite like Aqua and she sure goes through it. A lot.

Kingdom Hearts 3 + Re Mind

Okay I know folks were disappointed with this one at the time of release, but as someone who didn't grow up with the series and has access to this game in its most complete state, it's my favorite one. It takes the best elements from 1 and 2 and whatever else and brings it together into something even greater. I'm satisfied with how the story ended up (mostly) and it made me feel excited for wherever we're going next!

Overall Thoughts

..okay so I still took my sweet time talking about everything. I think it's very easy to rag on this series from an outside perspective- hell even from an inside perspective, but I can't say I didn't really enjoy myself here. It's melodramatic and earnest and convoluted at times but dangit I needed something like this. I'm probably leaving out some things here and there, but I wanna emphasize that I'm glad that I gave this series a chance. Definitely understand not liking it, but it was absolutely worth my time by the end of it.

Tippi Ranking: Thundaga/10

[mar64ds]

ooooh zokket i'm so sorry...

spoiler rant under read more

sooo zokket called my attention from the 2 seconds of screentime he had in the trailers. i love when mario games get new villains, even if they are one-off one dimensional characters, which is what i assumed zokket would be, but i didn't mind cause those characters can be fun anyway and i liked his design

however, the game does actually try to give zokket depth, because of... well, i'll get to that in a minute

the thing about zokket is that i found him more fun and interesting than the game probably expected you to find him. i thought it was really interesting that a mario character was so... unexpressive and distant. mario enemies are always very very cartoony, even the more serious villains like count bleck have a lot of personality, they are not exactly cold and distant characters, there is a lot of personality in them. the thing about zokket though is that he is an extremely serious person, insanely rare for a mario game

his thing is that he is evil, hates connections, thinks with numbers and doesn't remember people's names. on paper that doesn't sound that interesting but here is the thing, i thought he was extremely charming as a character when i actually saw him on screen. he stood up a lot compared to most mario characters, and i thought the running joke of him forgetting names was super funny. this super serious guy that wants to be an evil supervillain ends up being this socially clumsy autistic guy, that's the way i was interpreting his character. honestly saw a possible metaphor of neurodivergency and lovelessness with him that i knew was not going to happen, but i thought 'hey idc i will give him the depth he deserves'

but the game DOES end up giving him depth..... but being a completely different character.

sooo the plot twist is that this guy ends up being connie's old mentor. i was... worried with this reveal (mostly over losing his awesome design for the more boring - no offense - plug little guy designs, sorry forgot their names) but i thought 'they COULD make this work', hell maybe add a trans metaphor here too because the game kept using he/him pronouns for zokket but she/her pronouns for the mentor. this could have worked. too bad it... didn't

the mentor did NOT have any of zokket's personality traits, it was just a completely different character, everything that made zokket so fun was completely gone. if that wasn't bad enough, it wasn't like the mentor character (i'm so sorry i don't remember any character's name because i am like zokket i can't remember names) was going through an internal conflict that reflected zokket's action, no she was just posessed by the actual evil guy of the game. so it's literally all pointless, nothing about this character meant anything, there is no metaphor about anything. oh also they never bring up the gender aspect, it really just feels like they made two completely different characters and then said 'what if we add a plot twist and make these two characters be the same character'.

it genuinely made me so sad, no kidding zokket was becoming my favorite mario&luigi villain, yes even over fawful. i thought he was funny and interesting and they could have made something with him, and hell the plot twist could have worked! it could have! i would miss the awesome design but you can make the personality work! you can make the metaphor work! but they didn't, i was genuinely so disappointed

the game was fun and great, but i could not stop thinking about the wasted potential of this character, it's a shame. his/her/their potential will live in my heart i guess

[harseer]

Curtains on Dungeon People

Fun fact: They brought in Hideo "Games" Kojima to invent a brand new genre of anime for this one. "Dungeon People is the first yap-type anime", he said, "The first anime who's primary storyloop revolves entirely around characters yapping at each other on a static background while nothing fucking happens". People tried to tell him "Mr. Kojima, Animes that primarily focus on characters talking is actually really common, including amongst the most foundational works of the medium. A large part of any anime's production is actually finding ways to make characters talking interesting". But you know how he is. Busted out the good ol' Kojima Laser Eyes, classic character. They actually used the million-years sealing spells to deal with him, but you and me both know an evil cult's gonna be reincarnating him by the end of next month. Anyways, that's why he's not on the credits. i assume. i didn't check. (Spoilerless Review)

So, as Kojima said, Dungeon People is an anime mostly about characters talking at each other on a static background about managing a fantasy dungeon for adventurers. And then off-screen they'll do shit like filing Dungeon Taxes or moving Dungeon Boxes between Dungeon Warehouses. The production value is in the dumps (million-years sealing spell took all the budget). The artstyle is minimalist. The character designs are mostly meh. The worldbuilding is generic fantasy #1372. In terms of animation, we have no animation. The environment are all super boring, i mean the characters literally point out multiple time that the dungeon has no theme or gimmick. All of this is true... and yet?

Every Friday i found myself kicking the air and giggling, day dreaming "Oh, Dungeon People. i haven't seen you in a week, Dungeon People. When are you gonna deliver me from my morosity, Dungeon People". You see, Dungeon People is a humble kind of show. It doesn't need a complex art-style and excessive animation. It's meant as a cozy show, the understimulation is good. The worldbuilding is shallow, but we spend all of our time in the dungeon anyways, and that part is full of creative ideas to justify classic jrpg mechanics or explain how they can be sustained. There's like, 3 characters, and they don't immediately demand you be invested in their motives or backstory.

What i'm getting at, is that this lowkeyness is the core that made Dungeon People so enjoyable for me over these past few months. It takes its time, each episode revealing one more function/location of the dungeon, one more point of the character's mystery and backstory, adding one more length to their depth, slowly, until when it's all over you can go "yeah, this was fun". Except for Clay. Clay was balling since minute one, she was so fucking cool.

Finally, i've gotta touch on the animation. Remember when i said "we have no animation"? That was a lie. We actually have anywhere between 2 minutes and 12 seconds of animation per episode, like clockwork. Sometimes they'd do "The Animation Bit" and i'd go "oh, was that this episode's The Animation Bit", and sure enough, the rest of the episode was yapping on static background. But each time "The Animation Bit" was great. Clay does a feint and the camera switches to her opponent's viewpoint falling for it. Clay dodges under the dragon's tail, but then gets caught off-guard when he turns faster than she expected. The action scenes aren't "Good" animation, they're intelligent animation, well choreographed and directed. And for that i appreciate this show a lot.

B. Solid Show. I am romanticizing it a bunch tho, I did almost fall asleep once or twice.

[blackjackkent]

Amusingly, our entry point to the Lower City sewers is a ladder that leads down to a single room with four stone walls (one of which can be knocked down to progress).

One has to wonder a) what the point of this room/its manhole is within the wider sewer system, b) where the water came from, and c) how long that water has been stagnating here. The smell must be tremendous.

The wall to be broken down turned out to be a bit of pain; it is one of the "Sturdy" ones, meaning it only responds to damage of higher than 10 points in a single hit, and it seemed to be finicky about that, too - its description claims it's vulnerable to force damage, but a smokepowder bomb did nothing to it. I was struggling to figure out why Hector couldn't just punch through it until I remembered he hadn't taken his daily dose of hill giant strength potion. (I'm actually running low on them; really wishing I'd paid more attention to buying rarer crafting materials in the early part of the game. Live and learn, I suppose.)

Anyway, drank that down and the wall immediately folded like tissue paper.

The sewers have definitely seen better days.

None of this is changing Hector's mind about coming down here being a terrible experience and the worst part of adventuring so far.

I am still trying to stay fairly focused on getting to Minsc ASAP but of course the game isn't going to make that easy. I checked out a few side rooms on the way through the sewers because I didn't want to forget to come back for them, and one of them - a locked room behind an area blocked by noxious gasses - woke up the Emperor for a comment.

Hm. Okay, sure, let's take a look. Given we're planning to betray the Emperor at some point in the nearish future, knowing as much about it as possible would be important.

There's a log down here detailing Duke Stelmane's illness and eventual deterioration. (I don't think this is related to her murder per se, which I think was something different orchestrated recently by Orin, but Wyll did mention that in the length of time he knew Stelmane she seemed to get markedly more ill - that Ravengard said she'd had a stroke, but that Wyll seemed to doubt that for whatever reason.)

Aw. :(

This does line up with what the Emperor told us about its dealings with Stelmane and how they were far closer than simple business partners.

I've said this before, but I honestly am completely fascinated by the Emperor as a character. I am a sucker for characters that have very deep feelings that they are either super suble/non-demonstrative/suppressive about (hence some of why Hector is The Way That He Is, I suppose, not to mention Jenna, Matty, Adi, Elliot, and Randa) or wouldn't be expected to have them. And the Emperor, despite being a mind flayer, clearly had a VERY strong bond with Stelmane - and, potentially, with the PC if you allow it to play out that way.

I'm really pretty intrigued by the arc that is apparently available where you actually romance it; I am not a tentacle aficionado so there's no particular physical appeal for me, obviously, but from an emotional standpoint it seems like there is some interesting depth there.

Anyway, this is all moot to Hector's run, of course, because Hector wants to run as far away from the Emperor as possible, as soon as possible. XD (And he's kind of frustrated to learn about all these humanizing aspects of it, because it will just make the eventual betrayal harder.)

OK, let's take a look around.

[melodic-haze]

Here is a question to get your brain pumping and ready to start yapping for the day. What characters do you like, or even love, that you feel aren't talked about in the community or with friends as much as they should be? Or to put it simply, underrated.

Mine are Kujou Sara and Natasha. Sara having the prettiest design in GI imo, and I'm willing to lose a limb in a heartbeat if it meant getting healed by Natasha.

As always, have a great day, and if it's already not going so well, hope it gets better.

-🍎

You're so sweet I'm tired as hell from today though I just got out of work 😭😭 but thank you :3 I HOPE YOU HAD A NICE DAY TOO

Anyway onto the ACTUAL ask!!! Mmmmmmm I could be SUPER biased with one of these but I actually have a handful: Yae Miko, Kokomi, and Lisa. I don't have any from HSR bc I'm not really involved in the fandom, but those three are my DEFINITES in Genshin, ESPECIALLY Kokomi. I'll explain utc bc this is SO FUCKING LONG (laughed) but do keep in mind that like I haven't played Genshin in a while, haven't kept up with the events minus some spoilers I glanced upon

Unless I've been a blind bat the entire time, you no longer really see Kokomi being discussed en masse. Before she actually APPEARED in game, you had that huge debate going on about whether she was going to end up being the hydro sovereign and that she was going to be this morally-grey strategic leader who believed that the end justified the means. I could have expected too much, but really? No, considering all the shit Hoyo could pull (literally look at Fontaine and their constant loredrops), they could've done SO much better. I think the issue was that Inazuma was so atrociously written, as much as it IS my favourite region, and that unfortunately Mexican waved over to the characters themselves too

She seemed RELEVANT to the lore, with her constellation and the whole thing with Enkanomiya. But her importance was so quickly pushed aside by possibly the worst character butchering I've ever seen for all the buildup they did, and now any other theory relating to her being less than human's been axed bc of Fontaine (all the love to the nation and Neuvi I suppose but I'm really salty about this) and the constant push that she's just a normal human being. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe Hoyo's just pushing the "Kokomi is normal and plain" agenda really hard to surprise us all later and ai wouldn't put it past them but rn? She's essentially faded and forgotten for the most part, being brushed aside as a girl who got pushed to be a leader and is going all Atlas complex (which isn't a bad thing btw, it's just the fact that they hyped her up as the Shogun's most formidable opponent only for it to fall flat) and it's. REALLY sad for me considering how she was actually my MAIN reason why I kept playing for a while

Onto Yae Miko, who faces the same issue that Kokomi does in the sense that due to said atrocious writing, she suffered for it. I think I picked her not only bc of how ofc Inazuma's basically being swept under the rug beyond the events they do bc it was THAT fucking bad, but also due to the Constant Fucking Discussions of character misinterpretation and her queercoding

Thank you twt for all the threads made about Yae Miko's depth in character, but Inazuma itself is fading into obscurity to the point that all the stuff you really see being talked about her is how manipulative she is and how she uses people cuz idk she's evil ig. Do? People? Not know? What 'morally grey' is? Or what 'priorities' are? Maybe she's talked about more than the other two that I've picked, but she isn't talked about in a flattering light for the most part!!!!!! Which is such a shame bc Miko's characterisation is so beautifully complex (at least to me) and all of that's just thrown aside for the sake of "haha flirty evil femme fatale" when there's so much more you could say about her that doesn't describe her as evil and shallow

Lastly is Lisa!!!! My og lesbian!!!!!!! My og loml!!!!!!!!! Who doesn't get talked about a lot unless someone's out ranting about how Lisa was being a creep lol. GOD I have such a gripe against her issue

I get that Mond's also basically fading to obscurity, not bc of bad writing but rather bc of how it was the first ever region you get. Though even when I say that, I do remember seeing someone complain about how Mond sucks bc of exactly that, which......that's the point. One of the complaints wuwa got (sorry wuwa) was the Constant Stream Of Infodumping basically two seconds after you boot up the game. Mond is sparse and simple bc it eased you into the game gently instead of throwing you into hell in the get-go. Unfortunately, it's exactly bc of that that Mond's, again, fading into obscurity too

So this part applies to the other Mond characters too, though the reason why I chose Lisa was bc of the whole debate of whether she's weird or not due to her penchant for flirting with the Traveller. Ofc everyone has their own objective opinion on the matter, and being uncomfortable with her lines is perfectly okay!! This isn't me saying those who feel uncomfy are the ones who are weird or anything, this is me saying that Lisa is so much more beyond what you see initially. She was the Akademiya's genius before she left, got a Vision by just 'what if'ing it one day, has to be lazy or else she can so easily destroy a wide area just cuz idk her feelings went overdrive or something!!!!! Not to mention the whole "she might die soon" thing 🫠🫠🫠

Ofc I also chose these chrs bc like. I LOVE them with my whole heart and would happily kiss them when given the chance, but my opinions run DEEEEPER than just "they're silly to me". Just saying, they should be talked about SO much more than they are rn, as much as I get that we've more than moved on from the regions they're in. Who knowd, maybe Hoyo will actually idk propose to me or smth by making them all relevant the moment I come back on, but I'm not really hopeful atm

[bluebudgie]

So, initial SotO thoughts.

tl;dr: Liked it, not my favourite release.

More details below.

It's a little hard to compare to anything we had before since it's not quite an expansion but also a bit bigger than a regular LS release. Somewhere in between.

I liked it overall. I had fun (I don't think I ever didn't have fun with any release in this game). I do however have many smaller gripes that add up a little. Let's actually start with the biggest one:

The new maps

Well, obviously I loved the inclusion of chak on the new maps and seeing the little critters in a new shiny form was very exciting, but let's take the rose-tinted chak glasses off for a moment.

I like the fractal concept of the first map. It's interesting as an idea but I feel like it fell a little flat in execution. Rata Novus is probably the place that differs the most from the actual-Tyria version, and all the other fractals are just kinda... barely different? Like the Crystal Desert taken over by forged is just..... well, it's desert with forged in it. Like it already is in PoF anyway. And the Kaineng section kinda feels like that too, we have enough hostile jade bots in EoD anyway so... yea I don't know. Didn't do super much for me.

I wish NPCs were a bit more interactive. You can't really talk to many people at all. Core maps had so many random guys just standing around giving you little tidbits of dialogue. Especially the first map just feels very... barren.

Visually a great map nonetheless. Same goes for the second (non-hub) map we got, which is really unique in terms of architecture. We haven't really seen anything quite like it in the game before, so that's cool.

Exploration wise... ...yeah. I mean. Basically exactly what I had feared became true, no real exploration depth and at the very least on the first map you're pretty much expected to just skyscale to every point. Which goes really fast too, despite the whopping 50(or so?) POIs. I wish they had at least made some of the new masteries mandatory for reaching certain spots, but nope. Completed entirely without a single mastery leveled. Feels kinda pointless to introduce movement masteries if they aren't at the very least obligatory for certain events or map exploration. The second map makes the updrafts a little more useful since reaching some of the higher places can be a bit more tricky without it, but... yea I don't know.

I'm not exactly disappointed since that's pretty much what I expected to happen, but still I wish there were a few more interesting ways to get around places other than just straight up flying there. I guess I want more hidden stuff. Secrets. A jumping puzzle that spans half the map like in Draconis Mons. Well, for all I know they are there and I just haven't found them yet.

So yea, overall... visually beautiful; I'm glad about Rata Novus being a clownfest of snobs; I think if chak weren't in this I'd feel extremely lukewarm about those maps. That said, Amnytas has some of the highest quality grass I've ever seen in this game. Seriously what the hell is that grass.

Story and characters

I was worried about this for a bit while playing but the ending thankfully took the immediate worries from me for now.

It felt very... prologue-y. Which, in the end, it was. And I'm glad about that. I was so scared we were in another Gyala Delve situation of "here's an entire story that has absolutely no time to unfold and we'll abruptly end it pretending there was a conclusion". But thank god the epilogue made it clear that this was just the beginning to the storyline. (unless anet is preparing some clown make up)

So now that we had this introduction to the setting and first look into a new cast of characters I'm intrigued to see where all of this is going. I hope everyone we've met gets more screentime in the future and maybe some of them will tag along with us for the next adventures? The whole cast felt like it had a lot of potential. I want to see more of Gladium and Galrath. Isgarren seems interesting, I liked his dialogue. Sad about Mabon. Hoped Peitha would be a non-humanoid creature. Narcisse is cute. I like how they handled Zojja so far.

Didn't care much for the whole wizard tower story before SotO released, I'm decently interested now at least.

Gameplay-wise the player 2 experience was pretty miserable once again (Why exactly did I have to be a blue orb during the entire first flesh fortress instance? Why can I pick up and carry keys in the wizard's tower but then can't interact with the object they need to be used on? Seriously.) but that's nothing new.

As mentioned in another post, the German translation was a trainwreck of contextually wrong mistranslations, English sayings/proverbs translated literally into German when that is absolutely not how that works, misgendering (Zojja wasn't the only one with male pronouns - Yao was also back to that again) and entire chunks of voice lines randomly missing on several occasions. Seriously I don't know what went wrong here but please pay your localization team better. Or at least give them more context to work with.

Music

The few new songs I heard were nice. Lacking a bit in identity, but I guess it would be delusional to expect an EoD, HoT or IBS soundtrack here. GW2 music tends to be extremely high quality so I'm nitpicking on a high level with this one.

There is one battle theme that was really cool, though severely overused. I think it's the one that plays during rift events. Or like, during most of the release in general.

I can't quite explain why but I had several instances that made me think "this is what the PoF combat themes should have sounded like". The music as a whole somehow is very reminiscent of PoF. Like if someone took PoF battle music and went "chill a bit, please."

Was also nice to hear that one new ambient track that echoes the TD main theme and the Rata Novus theme.

Metas

They're okay. First map's meta drags on a little. Though I like collecting the essences. That one phase with the coloured bars is severely stressful. Second map meta is pretty neat. Was a little overwhelmed by it since it started literally 2 minutes after I got onto the map for the first time and I had no idea where anything was and just frantically followed the squad to find a giant squid bug demon on top of a huge tower. Seriously man give me a break. Fun experience though. Did it again on another day on an overflow map without a comm and we managed, though barely. Difficulty seems appropriate.

All in all...

Didn't completely blow me away. I liked it as a setup to something larger. Doesn't compare to any of the big expansions (though I do think the storyline in itself is at least more interesting than PoF, though it obviously lacks the polish of the expansion). If compared to LS seasons I'd say I had a better time with most of LS3 and LS4, and also large chunks of the Icebrood Saga.

I think how well SotO does in the long run largely depends on what gets added to it next. I'm excited to see more, and especially to get more context to all the new characters. Don't pull another Gyala Delve on me. Please.

And also.

Finally rid of the Commander title. Wayfinder is so much better.

[gayszlen]

Oh hey I got tagged for a thing ty @warioigottawin:+)

OK

Fav colour: I think foresty green, but my like lifetime favorite colour is royal purple, however I've been real into pale pinks lately too...

Currently reading: OOOH ok so I was rereading Harrow along with my friend who I'm doing the cosplay with BUT I was also at her behest reading the Final Empire, book one of Mistborn (she's super into Brandon Sanderson's stuff) and now I'm onto the second book, the Well of Ascension. They've been really good so far, it's a really cool and unique fantasy world with an awesome magic system (eating different metals lets you do crazy shit) and I loooove the main characters, they start out a bit basic but especially coming into book two they gain a lot of depth and are just generally really likeable, I have had a bit of trouble keeping track of the side characters though lol, there's a couple that all melt together in my brain. Also ostensibly working on starting discworld, I'm a little bit of the way through Guards! Guards! But TLT and Mistborn have been keeping me busy (STILL need to read nona lol, I'll probably get to it before Alecto comes out lol) also I've been doing all of this with audiobooks which I still have some trouble paying attention to sometimes but it's massively easier for me these days than physical books OK LONG BIT OVER

Last song: last song I actually listened to was DUI by Estelle Allen, I unironically love it so much even though I can't drive and therefore follow through (I DID SCHEDULE A PERMIT TEST THOUGH WHOO LOOK AT ME BEING AN ADULT) anyways if you haven't heard it PLEASE please listen to it immediately (and also the whole album it's on, it's actually real good)

Last series: UHHH haven't been watching a ton of "tv" shows recently, but I just finished season 5 of game changer on dropout which was fun, and I'm now binging all three seasons of SoupRS's Gielenor Games OSRS competition gameshow, I haven't actually played old school in a bit and never very seriously but I do love those funny little guys fighting funny little monsters and flicking their funny little prayers :+)

Last movie: UHH I think the DnD movie? I personally loved it, it's not as cringe as I expected and is very accessible to anyone who's not into dnd the game or the internet dnd "fandom"

Sweet, spicy, or savoury: GOD that's hard I mean I am a pleasure seeking creature so like I do love sweet sugary stuff, but I also loooove sweet/spicy stuff, or really just all of those stuck together, although I think I'd actually go for umami over savoury. I've been practicing this scallion oil noodle recipe that is soooo good and the sauce especially is a really great blend of sweet from sugar, spicy from various stuff, and savory from the scallions (plus a lot of umami from the sesame oil and soy sauce lol) my rendition of the recipe is just a simplified/easier version of some I've seen on the internet, but I can post it if anyone's interested :3

Craving: SPONGE CAKE AND TOO SWEET ICING god I just love the texture its such a good sensory experience for me, and the flavor is just. Sugar lol so yeah. However seeing char's answer reminds me that I loooove the samosas from this one Indian place we used to order from that shut down BUT they JUST reopened under a new name and slightly different model so I need to get my mitts on some yummy yummy samosas and tamarind sauce

Tea vs coffee: TEA ez, I mostly just drink water and the occasional sodie (although I really should get an electric kettle for my room id drink way more tea) I think I've literally never had coffee and tbh I don't have much desire too, doesn't smell a way I like and I can get caffeine from sodies, someday I may grow up and get into coffee but I wanna get back to more tea first, I made this syrup with lemon balm that I really wanna try as a sweetener in a tea

Currently working on: well not a ton, got a callback from a job I was really excited about and they seemed into me but also I need a driver's license for that so. I'm starting work on a permit lol. Theoretically working on that cosplay but most of it is just gonna be ordering stuff, I might make the sword out of foam and wood though so I can bring it to cons. Also been drawing a sword for the same friend's fantasy series she's been working on, and just generally helping her brainstorm that stuff which is really fun :)

OK uhhhhhhhhhhhhh do I have to tag people? Idk, if anyone wants to do this you can just say I tagged you, and I'll give uhhh @the-gay-prometheus @potorch @bark-eater @zoentropy a ping for it lol, absolutely no pressure to do it, entirely just if you're interested ok bye :)

[mangodestroyer]

You know, DnD is one of those things I've always been mildly interested in. I like hearing about people's experiences sometimes. And I like looking into the world building.

However, I could just never get myself into playing a campaign for very long. There was one where I had a character I really liked and it seemed like the group and the game would be pretty nice, but then we all got busy schedules and couldn't meet often enough. It was kind of the same thing with another game (except with a character I didn't much care for). And then one time where, I'll admit, the character was pretty lame and I made them on the spot. But HOLY FUCK was the group toxic about it! Like, at the time I was okay with the character, but people kept insisting I change the character and "should think about the mechanics more/get better." We were a six person party!

And yeah, I picked support/DPS. The Warlock didn't HAVE to be only support three games in! Out of nowhere (probably just to try and push me out of my character as they were the most insistent about me changing it). It also didn't help that the DM was ultra perfectionistic and expected people to be Oscar worthy actors. Like, if you wanted your character to have an accent, you'd better be good at speaking with that accent. If you're character was charming, you'd better be ultra charming and seductive irl. If your character played an instrument, it would be so lame if you couldn't do the same irl. Like... what planet are they living on? So with that mindset, DM insisted I should be a badass tank because, "It's so funny and cool when quiet people lose their shit!" No, thanks! "Mouse hero" is not my vibe at all!

And yeah, hearing about how people talk about their campaigns and other players has kind of put me off playing. Some people seem very rigid and boring af. "Oh, no! This person role plays and doesn't take the game seriously!" You mean that's a problem?

Like, maybe you guys need to communicate more before starting campaigns. Talk about the setting and type of game you want to play. And don't say you like rp and character depth when you actually don't. Because yeah, even people who say they like those things actually don't (or they're super particular about what they want, like the DM I mentioned earlier). Or maybe talk more about the kind of rp you like. And yes, I get it. Sometimes, players ignore this and ruin the game by doing their own thing. That's a problem too!

Anyway, I'd like to play an arcane trickster, whenever I happen to actually get into a campaign again (it's been YEARS). Now THAT'S a character more befitting for me!

[enderspawn]

I’d love to hear about your world building :3

YIPPEE okay so. this’ll def be under a cut bc I haven’t written down a Lot of my planning and stuff for this campaign so nows a good a time as any

TLDR background info; this is all set for a possible future Glitter Hearts campaign. Glitter Hearts is a magical girl-based “Powered by The Apocalypse” style TTRPG. Ideally it would have like half adventure focus and half interpersonal/slice of life focus, since a lot of the system seems based around the relationships and feelings of the characters (hell, one of the debuffs you can suffer is feeling lonely and isolated from your friends)

also bc im not super into and familiar magical girls/anime, half the inspo is pulled from superhero-esqe stuff anyway.

ALL of this is to say that like. a decent chunk of this isnt gonna be the fun festive in depth magic world building and more like. making the staff and students at the school. admittedly like half of those are also magic but still dsjkfjl just adjust your expectations going in.

This campaign takes place in the small town of Clearlake, a somewhat northern area settled in this higher up mountainous region with a population of around 3,000 total. Our story focuses on Rayfield High School, Clearlake's only high school, with approximately 50-60ish students per grade for a total of a bit under 280 total students.

At the moment, from the people I've spoken to it seems i'd have 3-5 players with characters ranging from freshmen (14-15) to seniors (17-18). So, I'd need to not only flesh out more than one grade level with at lease Some NPCs, i'd also need to give them an excuse to hang out together and interact because typically seniors and freshmen don't tend to like. yknow. interact.

My current idea and solution to that is to force them all into a club. However, i'd also like an excuse for them to have a set SHARED social circle so I dont have to manage/flesh out as many NPCs-- so its going to be a public club, not just some club thats just them and secretly a front for their magical girl group.

I'd like to have the campaign start with each player having more or less just discovered their "powers" here (or, if they've had it a while they have never used them). the point is they're beginners and don't know whats going on.

On the first day of school, they'd attend an all-school assembly. however, strange "earthquakes" start happening and shaking the school building, leading staff to evacuate the students out the assembly hall in a rush. However, the players would see something different-- monsters, who are seemingly causing the issue.

They would (ideally) sneak away from the group in the chaos, transform, and deal w the monsters (stealthily, since part of the campaign would be keeping the supernatural unknown and their identity a secret....ish). While fighting, another figure approaches them and helps them beat the monsters-- a woman with powdery blue hair curled and whipped into itself, with a protective orange visor over her eyes, red and silver wing-like armor, and large tawny wings.

THIS npc is crucial to me as a dm. meet Coach Amelia Beaufort (she/her), also known as Aeolus or "North Wind".

(in game stats: the coach, the idol, air)

(note: all art and references in this post are generated from THIS site, recolor.me! great for designing a bunch of in depth fun designs)

Coach Beaufort is not only the school's English teacher (and the Coach of the school's [sport] team, but also an experienced magical girl/hero. she acts as an introduction to the actual like... magical world and helps guide the players both as a teacher and a magical mentor.

She would also be responsible for explaining a lot of the worldbuilding, aka the point of this post im only now getting to, to the player characters.

In short, people who have the ability to transform into this magical persona and fight are referred to as "Magically Intuned", or just "Intuned" for short. They're tasked with protecting the people around them from supernatural and hidden threats, but seem pretty uncommon? Clearlake itself only has four Intuned, with one only popping up within the last year-- Aeolus is one of them.

There's actually a little more to it that Aeolus doesn't know, tho i'm still figuring parts of it out myself. For one, Intuned only tend to pop up with one person for every 500-1000 people. In reality, Intuned are created because of necessity. Some grand cosmic kind of force works to automatically balance out things, and the more danger an area faces the more Intuned it creates to fight said danger. So, the fact that Clearlake's Intuned count has seemingly doubled at once (with, unknown to the characters, more popping up after them) is... concerning.

I think one character they'd meet later on, Cherubim, would know a bit more along that line (mainly the creation based on need), but thats bc they kind of specialize in learning about the Intuned in depth.

I think the overarching plotline would part focus on WHAT is causing the players to become Intuned (aka the Threat that is approaching), but also why THEY SPECIFICALLY were chosen.

as for the threat, my current idea is basically "crossing of planes and the thinning of the borders between those planes all culminating on a portal opening in town Eventually to release The Supernaturals on the town". as for why ppl get chosen... im still undecided? after all, i think it would influence a lot of the themes of the story.

Was the choice ultimately random, making a theme of reacting to what life throws at you and taking destiny in your own hands? were they chosen because they had a special certain set of traits, like the Universe knew that they were determined enough to achieve their goals? is it a situation that they had the Most of X, but anyone could be a hero? idk! still brewing on that one, tbh it could change as the campaign goes on to work w the themes that emerge naturally.

One of the features of Glitter Hearts is that, unless it's specifically a drawback of your transformation, you are unrecognizable between your civilian and transformed identity. Maybe through persuasion or un-transforming first to gain their trust or whatever, I'd want Coach Beaufort to learn the player's identities and convince them to join her club, the Newspaper/Yearbook club, to let her keep a close eye on them and help them.

and with that established, then over time meeting the other Intuned can come later, as well as more interpersonal/less magical based plots + dramas. basically in my brain ive laid out the very basics of a session 1 that would Establish the baseline.

other small notes:

it would be explicitly mentioned that the monsters fought in session 1 could only be seen by the Intuned, but not all are like that (+ that they have to keep their identity and the existence of magic + the supernatural secret)

while it may be different in larger towns, in Clearlake there is no like... organization of the Intuneds. like they only know each other bc they find each other while on patrol or word of mouth. theres no real hierarchy

finally im gonna dump some abt the NPCs ive made and more fleshed out, aka the Intuned ones. i have some non-intuned ones drafted too (such as a jokester class clown on the sports team and a suspicious investigator type which may play antagonist and look into the PCs), but. eh! anyway

meet the other Intuned:

Meredith Lane (she/her), the school's librarian-- also known under the title "The Mistress of The Night".

(in game stats: the team player, the warrior, death)

something that doesn't come across in these designs, partly bc i decided it later, is that her transformed form is MUCH visually younger. she's the oldest and the most experienced intuned, having fought for a few decades, but despite being (and looking) around 50-60 in her civilian form, her transformed aspect looks mid to late 20s at best.

part of how I personally designed each intuned's transformation form is like... how they view the role? for mrs lane here, she enjoys trashy semi-erotic romance novels and views her role as a way to kinda embrace escapism and take up a persona from one of those trashy novels. its the same reason her transformed hero name is "The Mistress"-- she just likes those.

shes fairly shy and reserved as the librarian, but much more outgoing and confident as the mistress. also, she has black spiderlace gloves that turn into fucking scissorhand weapons and then she slashes the shit out of things to fight.

I think she had one other Intuned to fight alongside for a lot of her early life (who i kinda want to have been Killed In Action), until Amelia came about and she took her under her wing to train. It's kind of an earlier pointing to the slowly increasing amt of intuneds.

going off of age + years of experience, next up would be Amelia but we've already covered her so 3rd out of the 4 intuneds of the town is...

Kyle Thompson (he/him), the math teacher's college-aged TA (he's taking courses online, but needs an irl semester+ of assisting for his education minor). However, he also dawns the persona when transformed of Gawain.

(in game stats: the loner, the defender, metal)

Much like how Meredith views her transformation as escapism, Kyle? Kyle is roleplaying. Gawain is his all-good noble knightly character that he plays and thus his design was made to reflect that. IRL he's a bit of a loner, awkward, and a bit grungy so he uses Gawain as if it were his WoW character.

Finally, the newest and youngest of the town's Intuned...

Azrael Young, though they go by "Azzie" for short (they/xe). Azzie is not only a fellow classmate, but an incoming freshman, though for almost a year now has been secretly fighting as their persona Cherubim (they/he/she).

(in game stats: the true believer, the tactician, love)

im not gonna lie i fucking love azzie they're probably lowkey my favorite oops. it started with like... subverting expectations? one of the everday identites you can choose in game to build your character is "the goth" so i was like "what if... i made a goth.... who WASNT that". then, when making the super form i was like "but what if... the emo... was LOVECORE BASED".

then i added extra autism (specifically surrounding angels, which is why they chose the name Azrael for the angel of death as well as an angel name for their transformed persona).

also something i think is neat: the everyday identity I gave xem, "the true believer"? gives a minus one to mental skill. which is what the tactician uses. but also, i really LIKE that they're presumably shit at their role bc they're still NEW to it yknow? also it means xe can use xer powers without transforming and i think thats neat as hell (bc i also decided their transformation downside is that it takes a While. so its a balance of "transform and save your identity" or "act now and protect ppl".

bc of the true believer thing being "highly tuned into the weird side of the world" as well as the tactician being like the intellectual strategist role, Azzie is in charge (self appointed) of learning more abt the intuned and supernatural. kind of the guy in the chair cliche, kind of the walking exposition and plot delivery.

finally, i have not one of the established intuneds, but rather a classmate that WILL gain powers later into the campaign.... and be a villain >:3c

Lola McKinley (she/they), high school junior and head photographer of the Yearbook club. When the campaign starts, she is genuinely Just another student. She's kind and sweet and seems fairly popular even. But, some amt of arcs later the party would start hearing about a new antagonist popping up with underlings referring to their boss as "The Green-Eyed Witch" (she/her).

(in game stats: the savant, the witch, envy*)

so the fun part abt this character, beyond it being the first npc i came up with, is that she's part homebrew. Each character has an element (physical or emotional) they're tied to which dictates certain abilities they can have. Lola's element is envy, which is also what fuels her villainy. she would be jealous and envious of the ppl around her, especially the PCs. then, even when she gains mystical powers she'd find that those people she envied not only already had them but are stronger and have a team. so, she goes mad and tries her best simply to be better.

i mean. thats all the rough idea, and im sure it'll be adjusted with play and over time so it feels more natural. but the gist is that she'd feel shunted aside and grow jealous of the players, then when she gets powers she uses them for Bad bc of that jealousy. in my mind, this is 100% a fight the players talk their way to success, not fight (i might even try to balance it that way by making her hard to defeat in combat). theoretically, if they DO talk to her she can convert to the Good Side and I'll open up the homebrew envy abilities to the players to possibly add to their own arsenal (under the idea they learn it FROM Lola)

also the fact she Doesn't have green eyes at all, in either form, but other npcs Will is very funny to me. i want discovering who the green eyed witch is to be a bit of a mystery before the Grand Reveal so consider them a few red herrings. especially bc the envy thing is home made, its slightly less likely their mind will go to that saying.

OKAYYYY this post is too long but. i think ive gotten the GIST of everything ive been thinking abt for this campaign down.

i mean like. i still have a few other NPCs and coming up with clubs/extracurriculars ppl can join, and class schedules, and yadda yadda but thats with time. it's looking like if i DO run this it'll be like. in a month or two Next Year anyway so ive got time.

also i wanna make a form w questions for the players to answer for me to give me like. both an understanding of their character but also things to play with. for emotionally damaging reasons. but agaiinnnn ill make it later.

in the mean time Thank you both for the excuse to ramble and finally type this up, but ALSO for reading to this point. i love you. mwah.

[ri-ships-takari]

Ri! Hi! I'm so happy you liked the fic! I had so much fun writing it but I was honestly so super duper nervous, hahaha. I really appreciate your commentary and feedback, legit! Seeing a reaction for each part made me so happy whenever I get a notification! It really means so much to me that you enjoyed it. As I sad, first Digimon fic in a long time so I don't know if I was in my game, haha. But anyways, I'm so happy!! Thank you, Ri!! Merry Christmas!!

HI EVE THANK U SO MUCH I LOVED IT ALL T______T came in expecting some simple drabble but instead u come in here with a !!! SIX THOUSAND WORD !!! BEAUTIFUL !! BEAST OF A FIC !!! SPANNING THEIR ENTIRE LIVES !!! WHAT AN ABSOLUTE TREAT (( even if you werent my secret santa it still woulda been a treat to read XDD ))

i more than enjoyed it i rly loved it, it's one of my favorite fics now aaAAAA (it's actually in one of my fave formats of fic too !! and what a lovely take on the format !!)

i really appreciated the attention to detail and depth of research that showed in every part (from the leaves to the game plan even to the next gen's baby digimon), and the creative take on these in between moments that just enrich the experience of their canon moments ;_____; everyone was so wonderfully them (yES you got the digimon feel of comfort and support even just among friends 😩😩 YES)

(fic spoilers under the cut)

takeru getting separated and also both marrying others first also just makes a lot of realistic sense. i mean, it hurt but it also just sounds like smth that would happen irl ._____.

THEN DAT PAYOFF WHEN THEY GET BACK TOGETHER THO. IT WAS JUST ALL THE SWEETER

SO MANY FEELS AND IT WENT SO MANY PLACES JUST THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WRITING IT!! it's such a beautiful take on the ship and just amazing how its your first time writing these characters in so long. AND RLY WHAT AN ABSOLUTE HONOR TO BE YOUR SECRET SANTA BABY ;_______; i hope you feel just as honored and happy these holidays as you made me feel eve!! (u made me feel heartbreak too in like part 4 but i aint wishin that back on u dw)

[aethernoise]

I've never sent you any asks, mostly been a lurker haha. But since you're asking for asks, I've been very inspired by your writing about Alyx and Aymeric to write about my own WoL for fun. But one thing that I struggle with is figuring out their story over the course of the events of 14 (i.e. what they did during HW versus ShB, any character growth they experienced). Do you ever run into that? Are there things you do to explore/brainstorm?

First of all: hi! I'm so happy to have helped you start writing about your WoL! and lurking is fine by me, but you’re welcome to toss questions anytime if you have them.

Secondly, this is a great question and absolutely something I do struggle with. I think that as a whole, for any "canon WoL" character it can be really difficult to reconcile your personal viewpoints and writing preferences with the myriad details of the MSQ (and everything else). It's super overwhelming feeling like writing your OC this way means they have to be as canon-compliant as possible and you have to include every single major event and it has to play out as it did in the game unless you specifically declare it "canon divergent." Even if that expectation doesn't actually exist, I feel it, y'know?

(This got a bit rambly so here's a cut for good measure)

If you want to do that, hell yeah. I don't do it because it feels dishonest. It's also a shitload of work I'm not interested in doing. I want to write about the aspects of the story that are important to me and important to Alyx. For me as a player there are large portions of the story that straight up do not interest me. There are whole portions of the MSQ I've cut entirely from Alyx's story and others I've shifted and expanded to suit my own creative needs.

A lot of my ideas come from the moments in between major events--sometimes entirely fabricated free moments, like Alyx's stay in Gridania to recover after Rhlagr's Reach--I tend to write in stepping stones along the path rather than a fully paved road.

And that's how I've always approached writing the relationship, too. Focus on the events or story elements you feel strongly about, or have a funny idea about, or wish were different in a specific way. Don't feel like you have to include everything, because you don't! I like to think I'm able to tell a compelling story about two people over the course of several years & 3 expansions with only small pieces. I really hope I am, anyway. And there are lots of in-between bits I intend to go back and explore in more depth because I have ideas for how to do it. For others... I have nothing whatsoever, and have to remind myself that's okay too.

I unfortunately don't have solid tips for brainstorming but I like to make lists. Otherwise I yell at my friends or info-dump all over twitter. Sometimes, if I'm stuck, complaining about it helps--if I explain WHY I'm stuck I can usually talk myself into an idea or solve the problem. You can do this totally in private, though. Sometimes I just info-dump into a document to blow off steam about how frustrated I am that I Haven't Written This Yet Because XYZ and... sometimes just that is enough to get wheels turning, or give me a new perspective. Your mileage may vary.

I certainly hope I answered your question in a satisfying way. I haven't had any coffee yet so my brain cells are not all awake, but I really appreciate the message and welcome any further questions you might have if you ever have them. Enjoy & best of luck with your own writing!

[arcane-temp-fandomblog]

and I'll answer you in one.

So I find his “mistake” to opt for nationalism instead kind understandable considering the setting

Yeah totally agree, I think Silco had some foundations for understanding what was wrong but the only other option he knows is Piltover. It's very reminiscent on some worker movements in Great Britain during 19th century too. Like we want same as they have.

I see him having best of Zaun (and it's sons and daughters) at heart as much as having best for Jinx at heart, it's imperfect and can be possessive to a degree. But in the end, he is willing to go to Stillwater for forever - so have personally no benefits from Nation of Zaun project - to get both the independence and Jinx free.

Ah, that's also on point. I like his flexibility, I don't think it would work that well in Piltover politics which is much more reminiscent of chembarons assembly - but he would not be able to use 'force' like with them. But imo. on the flexibility - I think Silco and Jayce have a lot of similarities in that regard; since he went to Silco for the deal - circumventing the council. I wonder since Jayce had such an painfully hilarious learning curve this season (fucking putting whole city on fire to ensure safety), what exactly did he internalise.

I can tell that the peace is for the benefit of mostly all people that would have died in any armed fight between Zaun & Piltover, but I can't actually tell how much he's playing up: his upper hand and how he doesn't want to agree to Silco's peace conditions. Because maybe just over a week has passed in the show, and he was developing tech for the undercity and having fights with Viktor on what is the priority - ensuring safety of Hexagates and taking out corruption vs helping to improve lives in the undercity. He for sure doesn't like Silco but that doesn't mean his sentiment about improving/saving lives has changed. Just now actually separating both sides is the priority if he is to save lives, and he uses knowing how corruption in Piltover's council works to achieve that. Right? Because the council doesn't vote for the undercity's independence because they want to, it's because he controls the hexgates. Otherwise I can't fathom why they would be screaming first when the proposal is read and then begrudgingly vote for it anyway. Unless he lied to them that Silco is super powerful and they wouldn't stand a chance.

Alternatively, the writers just thought it was a cool dramatic combo without any logic. First they scream, then randomly vote for it anyway. Or from the goodness of their heart. Weirder tales I have heard about the ending of Game of Thrones.

I don't expect political allegories to be any stronger - they're just a wink, I don't think there would be the point tbh. - since the world they created does have the mechanics of class system. At least this season - like all the failures of Piltover native champions can be traced to the class inequality and not understanding their own position. And while Vi is free to fuck up relationship with her sister - so personal areas, Cait is free to do much more damage - like leading Ekko to instant bullet and leading Vi to surefire fail before the council to be the witness - when helping them. I love that Marcus doesn't even pause before he shoots Ekko btw.

I don't really agree that Arcane politics are aesthetics, but that may be my own thing as it's hard for me to follow emotional beats of any story. They're not at the forefront - sure, but they don't have to be since character's are the vehicle of their exploration. It's pretty consistent that: best intentions in this story + wrong idea about the system = bad outcome. I don't think adding theoretical depth of the Capital would make the same impact as emotional depth one can experience empathising with character struggling in the world that mechanics are described in the Capital. At least in season 1, season 2 - proper plot twist - Piltover was always the true beacon of enlightenment. Haha... pls no. Then again I don't know it that well since I have trouble empathising with characters on average. But imo. it'd be boring if they started doing more theory stuff. Unless they hide it like in Ambessa's character traits - like chefs kiss on the peak Machiavellian utilitarianism. I love her soo much. I don't know if people can follow this story and foresee the outcomes/reasons of actions without knowing some mechanics of politics. I certainly would not be able to do it but that's pretty normal for me, I treat Arcane politics/technology plot and references like a puzzle that I need to solve to understand characters at any given point. Which idk... probably not how it was intended. But unless the writers are just creating random scenes - it seems to work for me and have logical flow. Then again that's only my logic. It's hard to feel wrong about own logic.

I also think that Arcane chose some amazing decisions with the timeskip because it puts the audience in same spot as Vi just having overview of all players. But still it's really jarring since it feels sometimes as everyone knows what happened in the time skip years but us (and Vi).

Powder & Vi are also bridge PoV, so I wonder if we'll know more when Warwick arrives about those circumstances. Like I'm very interested if they'll revisit the issue that Vi does not - most probably - know that Vander tried to kill Silco. Vander seemed pretty ashamed of that, judging that he used to cover it up with a forearm band.

@arcane-temp-fandomblog​

Breaking this off into a separate post due to lenght ;) 

I meant it more in the sense that the ideological groundwork didn’t exist yet to inform Silco when he presumably got radicalized/radicalized himself while working in the mines. 

As you pointed out, the ideological work often gets made up by intellectuals/middle-class people, not by the actual mineworkers themselves, so I don’t think it’s super unrealistic that Silco didn’t invent Runeterra Marxism all by himself. So I find his “mistake” to opt for nationalism instead kind understandable considering the setting (it’s one of those quirks that 19th-century nationalism would on occasion lead to more equality/freedom, like “medium aristocrats are pissy that they get replaced by the invading aristocrats/that the emperor in the city far away decides who gets what of the pie, so they promise freedom and better conditions to the serfs if they help fight the Emporer in the city far away because without them they don’t have the numbers”)

Anyway personally, looking at League, I doubt it will happen considering League current timeline is still “ahead” of Arcane’s timeline/set after Arcane’s season 2, Leagueworld just doesn’t feel like proper communist philosophy/foundations are around. Otherwise, I would expect it to crop up in the stories or world view of at least some champions. 

That said, I definitely wouldn’t rule out that people might have been inspired in a very vague way by historical biographies (or that the original evil Russian vs. guy with a hammer wasn’t a bit of an in joke), but I would doubt that it was done with much thought and I wouldn’t expect the policial allegories to get much deeper in season 2. 

Politics in Arcane so me see more about aesthetics and allusions rather than actual hard-hitting philosophy or discourse. So I doubt that it is inspired by more than the surface image of those biographies. 

(imo the world building within the Piltover council and the different economic interests of the houses or how it could come to the battle on the bridge seems very milquetoast to me, so it doesn’t feel like it was written by somebody who had genuine in depth knowledge about the ideological underpinnings)

[danganronpa-21]

Hope you don't mind me asking. I'm just curious. What exactly are your problems with Kiyo (besides him being a killer), Kokichi (besides him being basically a killer), and V3 as a whole?

Honestly, sometimes I forget that my opinions are on public display like that on my Amino/Instagram. Especially the Amino ones, cause those are sort of out of date.

Anyway, thanks for asking this question!

I do want to preface this by saying a little something though: My takes on V3 should not be taken as 100% valid! Why, you may ask? Well... confession time, I haven’t played all V3. At the time it came out, I was harshly disinterested. Rather than experiencing it for myself, I chose to read up on it and learn what happened for myself. I’ve never been someone who’s particularly bothered by spoilers (much to the chagrin of literally everyone I’ve ever known), so I didn’t think anything of it at the time. And when I looked in to it, I didn’t like what I read and thought that it was good that I didn’t bother playing it for myself. I felt this way for a long time, rejecting all V3 things, until eventually I was lovingly bullied in to picking up the game myself. So while there are aspects of V3 I have experienced beyond my readings, it’s not done in full for me at all yet, so there could be several gaps in my knowledge or just my feelings. Please don’t take everything I say as my one and only interpretation, because it’s true that many of the feelings I express in my answer could be subject to change. I recognize that these takes aren’t valid because I haven’t experienced the game in full. It’s the same as when someone criticizes Danganronpa 3 without having seen it themselves: sure, you know how it’s written so you have some thoughts on it... but it’s still best to experience it yourself to formulate your own opinions. That’s what I’m intending to do, but I haven’t gotten around to it fully yet... because it’s an experience I’m hoping to share, if I play my cards right.

Really though, if I am to explain the offences I have at the current level of V3 I am on, I would say that each of these three aspects of V3 are explained… probably more simplistically than one would expect. I see a lot of people who have these in-depth reasons as to why they feel so strongly about a certain aspect of Danganronpa, and while I can be that person sometimes… here, not so much. 

Besides being a killer, honestly Korekiyo just makes me uncomfortable. Like even beyond the incest thing, there’s something about him that absolutely puts me off. I tried watching his Free Time Events to see if I could stir up some love for him, but I found myself making any excuse to stop every five minutes. I can’t say that I like his design or his mannerisms, and his voice actor communicates Korekiyo’s creepiness well… but I couldn’t find it in me to get past to what some people would refer to as the softer, sweeter aspects of Kiyo. Even the anthropologist element couldn’t save Kiyo for me, and I honestly thought it might. I’ve taken a few anthropology classes myself and I think the topic in itself is interesting enough. However, hearing Kiyo talk about it just either felt boring or off-putting, and I can’t say that I one hundred percent know exactly why that I ended up feeling that way. I suppose it’s fair to say that anthropology is a rather broad topic, and that what Kiyo spoke of in his FTEs wasn’t exactly my point of interest. But if you jump away from the anthropological aspect of Korekiyo, I’m with the majority in saying that the incest thing just made me flat out uncomfortable. 

At this point you could absolutely argue that it’s unfair of me to slander Korekiyo for being incesty if another character I love is Kanon Nakajima, a girl who has extreme and obsessive romantic feelings for her first cousin. However, I would justify myself in saying that the primary reason why Kanon works for me and Korekiyo doesn’t all boils down to other aspects of character. Do I think it’s creepy the way Kanon talks about and acts around Leon? Yes, of course. But the thing about Kanon is that she manages to utilize her other traits to become likeable in spite of it. She has all kinds of other quirks and traits that exist outside of being Leon’s creepy cousin who’s in love with him. Her whole presence as a character isn’t for the sake of being chilling, whereas I find much of Korekiyo’s character is to be weird and unnerving. It’s easier to get behind Kanon because I feel like she’s not just madly in love with Leon, but rather has other parts to her existence that are meant to make her realistic outside of it. Korekiyo, while he does have additional character traits, seems to be crafted with the intention of being creepy. 

I also know that at this point some people would want to argue that I’ve judged Korekiyo all wrong because his sister manipulated him into loving her and he’s actually an abuse victim, and I won’t dispute them. Do I agree with them? I can’t say, because the interpretation itself is just that: interpretation. Just because another interpreted it that way doesn’t mean that I will interpret something the same way, and so on and so forth. But even the line between “is Korekiyo an abuse victim or not” is something that puzzles me, because otherwise, the wrong person could boil it down to the question of Korekiyo stooping down to the level of his abusive sister by manipulating and murdering Tenko and Angie (and just to be clear, this question is not something that I personally believe). And even if maybe that seems like a far-fetched interpretation that someone could draw, the suggestion that an abuse victim will turn out like their abuser makes me undeniably frustrated. It would send a message that I don’t feel is appropriate in the slightest, and play in to the fear that many real life abuse victims have. 

All in all, the way Korekiyo was constructed just doesn’t have what I would call the “Koto appeal”. They simply had a different Danganronpa player in mind when they were designing him, and that’s perfectly fine. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with liking Korekiyo, he’s just very far from my cup of tea.

Something like Kokichi, I would say.

Kokichi already gets a hard time from me because honestly… I don’t find I like characters who are just out to make the player’s life harder. It’s not even a “i’m bad at video games” thing, it’s just that I genuinely find myself frustrated with characters like Byakuya and Nagito sometimes because I’m just trying to do my job, how dare you be trying to screw me up, you little shit!

So he’s already got beef with me right there, especially being the one that’s so much more challenging to fight against than the others. The dude’s high jacking entire trials and you just have to sit there with an “I guess this happening” expression as you try to work out the problem. I already play Danganronpa on gentle because something about the game just makes my inner potato brain skyrocket to like 500%, so Kokichi is kind of a pain in the ass for me. Which I get he’s supposed to be, but I don’t like it. 

His character relationships don’t help me, either. While I am fully aware that it’s all an act, the insensitivity is still harmful to the people around him. Yes, he does have this put on for the sake of fulfilling this plan of his and preventing the others from mourning him when he eventually does die. Unfortunately that plan in itself is a problem for me too though, after seeing a fan reconstruction of his plot to avoid the deaths of Gonta and Miu. Which even if it was a necessary sacrifice, makes Kokichi feel slightly more cruel to me -- although I know some may think that it shouldn’t. The behaviour still just sits badly with me, not to mention that even if you consider the inklings of Kokichi being a good guy… I don’t feel as if I can say with confidence really anything about him. Which again falls back on to a personal writing problem with me, because I am entirely an audience who likes to know things. That’s part of the reason why I write fankid fic: because there are things that I like to know that Kodaka will not confirm nor deny for me. So I took matters in to my own hands in hopes of satisfying both myself and others with where things will go. But if I don’t feel like I know Kokichi and my only evidences of him are of him being a jerk, it doesn’t lead me to like him very much.

Which is also what throws me for a loop with Danganronpa V3 as a whole, actually! All of the end revelations got me pretty badly in the sake that I have a vague notion of things that they showed me pregame, but otherwise there’s a lot that the game leaves unanswered. I mean, on the flipside, there’s absolutely evidence that everything we got to see was true… But until I know, I have trouble enjoying V3 totally. 

Plus, it also just contains my least favourite cast. I still like some of them, but there are more that I either don’t like or don’t care about. As you mentioned before, I’m not excited about Korekiyo or Kokichi. And maybe I just don’t know anything about them yet, but I’m not terribly interested in Kirumi, Ryoma, Tenko, or Rantaro. I have a little bit of love for characters like Himiko, Gonta, and Tsumugi. And to be fair, I do like Kaede, Kaito, Kiibo, Miu, Maki, and Shuichi a decent amount. But still, compare that to games like Danganronpa 1 where the only character I actively dislike is Hifumi... then it just comes out as my least favourite. Even with Super Danganronpa 2, I have a sort of dislike-like for characters like Nagito and Kazuichi. I don’t completely dislike them in the same way I do some of the characters in V3. 

Really, though, I know all of this is stuff that I personally think about V3 is subject to change. After awhile of straight up disliking it and refusing to play it like the stubborn child that I am, I do fully intend to commit myself to the game and maybe change some of my opinions along the way. Sure, it’s fine for me to have some of this opinions and ideas based off of what I do know, but ultimately I know it’s something I have to experience for myself for my take on it to be actually valid.

Hopefully if I can work out the things I need to try and work out, you guys might even be able to watch me experience it for the first time... but that all depends on how well my computer can handle running the appropriate programs simultaneously. Fingers crossed, though!