#basically. No this franchise does not have to be good for me to enjoy it and in fact. for the most part. It is not Objectively High Quality

[starlit-mansion]

i will admit that my first reaction to hearing they were making a beetlejuice sequel was big eyeroll, moreso when learning that they were using the original cast rather than making a reboot, but i finally watched the trailer and............ yeah, i think that's my trash

[sweetestcaptainhughes]

Further Celebrations

Word Count - 3200

Author's Note - I literally wrote this because these pictues of Matt at the parade did something to me. But since of life and starting/stopping this so much. I personally feel that it's probably the worst smut I've ever written. So if this the first thing your reading from my page please check out my other works. 🤣🤣 As always thank you for reading, I truly can't believe how much my blog has grown in such a little amount of time. 💞

Warnings - LOTS in general: dom!male/ sub!fem, daddy kink, lowkey breeding kink, unprotected p in v, as always for me LOTS of dirty talk, semi public sex (i think that is it if there are any I missed kindly send me a message and I will add it to the list)

Summary - something about watching Matt be a cocky asshole all day at the parade celebrating winning the Stanley Cup really does something to you.

Masterlist

You had no idea what it was, if it was just how cocky of an asshole Matt was being. Or maybe it was the fact that he was soaked in a mixture of beer and rain making his curls stand out more, which if you were sober you would think was kind of gross. But you’ve literally been pregaming since 10 AM, with Matt and the boys. Or maybe it was his shorts, leaving little to imagination. Honestly, it wouldn’t be the first time you sneak Matt into a random corner and have a quickie. But you were trying to be good and let him celebrate with his team one more time this week with the community at the parade about the fact they won for the first time in franchise history. Plus you knew this was the last time the team was going to be together before next season and who knew with free agency starting if this team would exist next season. But after hours of watching him walk around with the damn cup basically benching it above his arms, making his biceps strain. On top of how he looked so fucking hot with that cigar between lip fingers, beer in the other hand yelling at fans. Again his thighs on display, you knew that you wouldn’t last much longer without begging Matt to take you to the closet bathroom or storage closet. 

It was now 8 at night and the whole team was out at some random dive bar. The music was blasting and you walked over to Matt mid conversation with Evan. Slowly take your hand and slide it down Matt’s chest, as you lean up and lightly pout due to being extremely drunk.“Matt,can we go dance please.” you give him the puppy dog eyes you know that go directly to his cock every single time. 

“Yeah baby whatever you want.” obviously forgetting that Rodrigues was even standing there. As he let you lead him to the small make-shift dance floor some other players made by pushing some tables against the wall. He couldn’t his eyes as they watched your hips and curve of your ass move to the music as you walked further into the center of the dance floor. 

You turned around and Matt literally pushed you flush to his chest.His hands were going to squeeze your hips making sure you stay close. His face went to your neck as he spoke softly to you and to hide the fact that he was leaving small wet kisses between his words. “Hey…darling…you…look so pretty… right now.” Slowly inching closer and closer to your ear. You slowly turn your head to look at your boyfriend, his eyes piercing back at you.

“Your drunk Matty” you can’t help the giggle let out and small hiccups. As you turn around in his arms your ass purposely rubbing against his cock, his arms quickly pulling you closer as he snakes them around you. 

“Maybe…but so are you.” he whispers in your ear, but not before forgetting to spend extra time on that one spot on your neck. You attempt to turn around again but Matt’s arms tighten around you, obviously enjoying teasing the fuck out of you right now. 

“please Matt.” you whisper, closing your eyes, momentarily forgetting where you guys are lost in your own little world. 

“Hmmm” he lets out. “I’m not doing anything” he says in an innocent tone. Even without you seeing his face you knew he had a wicked massive smirk on his face. 

“Matty..” turning your head trying to catch a glimpse of his face. As you grind harder on him, but it’s useless because it’s only making your need for him grow. “pl- please.. I can’t wait till we're home.” you say finally catching his eyes.He finally lets you turn around connecting your lips immediately.Your hands trying to go to the nape of his neck reaching for the ends of his curls, attempting to balance on the balls of feet as you fight for dominance. Obviously failing in both as you feel Matt bit your lip a little harsher than expecting making you open your mouth open in surprise giving him the chance to slip his tongue in your mouth.His hands go to your ass as he feels you almost lose your balance. He squeezes and kneads your ass like he’s wanted to since he walked over here with you. 

You slowly pull apart to catch your breath after a few minutes. Matt’s hands don’t leave the curve of your ass, if anything they’re squeezing and kneading harder. “Tkachuk I am not being dramatic.” you say in the most serious tone he’s heard from you all day. The smile breaks out even further at his girlfriends 'seriousness.’ “But..” as you reach up to whisper in his ear, to make sure no one can hear you because you know you aren’t the most quiet when you're this drunk. “I have been thinking about all the ways you can make me cum in the bathroom before anyone even notices that we’re gone since we stepped foot into this bar.” As one your hands say in his hair pulling just hard enough to get a reaction. You can’t help but break out into a smile when you hear a small grunt from his lips. 

“Oh yeah..” practically picking up ever so slightly off the ground so his cock can stay perfectly lined up against your pussy and going back to attack your neck. “And how would that work, princess. ya gotta be a good girl.” as he bites your sweet spot behind your ear.

“Fuck matty please, i need to feel you, anything.” you whine.

“Anything???” he asks in a deep voice full of lust. 

“Please.” your eyes pleading with his eyes as they darken, filling with lust.

“Okay.” he says softly, pulling apart and going further to the back hallway. Thankfully no one was in the back hallway, when you both walked into the single stall bathroom.Not that Matt cared anymore only one goal in mind. As soon as you entered, he slammed you on the door locking it. 

“You sure you can get off…with anything?” he asks the devilish smirk still hasn’t his mouth and raises his eyebrows in a curious way as he backs away from you. 

“Please Matty, I'm already so close.” you beg as you reach for the zipper of your jean shorts.

“No.” he demands. But before you could ask what he meant. He answers for you. “Since you said you can get off with anything” as he steps forward, slowly picking up your Panthers' crop top pushing it up the bottom of your neck, to attack the top of your boobs. “Get off on my hand.” you reach for his hand to go inside your shorts. He lets out a sigh of frustration and backs away enough to look you in the eyes. “Damn it. Did you not hear me slut! Use my hand ONLY completely clothed. Grind on my hand and if you cum, then I’ll reward you with my cock. But if not.. then we're gonna be in here a long time baby girl.” as he goes to suck on the top of your left boob. Leaving small little nibs into between his next words. “A” nip “very” nip “very” nip “ long” time.” You’re practically a crying mess already as you reach to steady just on Matt’s bicep.

Closing your eyes trying to focus on the pressure his palm is giving you and turning into a whimpering mess. Each whimper makes Matt’s rock hard cock somehow even harder. Matt’s other hand holds you at your hip helping you find a steady rhythm. “ I am not that much of an asshole princess, I'll help you.” His eyes are also closing, moving his head to rest on the side of  your neck, so he can whisper to you. “That’s it baby, God you so fucking beautiful riding my hand like a good girl.” Your only response whimpering as you move your hips faster to the sound of his voice. As you can feel all of him against your thigh. Naturally by rocking your hips, moving your thigh. The only response from him being a sharp hiss, “fuck baby, your so good for daddy.” His mouth sucking on your neck sure to leave a fresh bruise you won’t be able to hide from your friends outside. Matt gives your pussy a little squeeze as he leaves your neck. Your hands immediately go to his curls as you feel him go on his knees. His head linking perfectly with the hem of your crop top. 

You open your eyes and look down at him through your eyelashes. As you feel that familiar knot in your stomach start to form.  “Please daddy, I need ya- you. i  - i can’t-” but before you can finish your whimpering attempt of making a coherent thought he stops you. 

“I wish I could, baby but you said you could.” you whimper in protest as a response. As his hand on hip helps you go even just a little faster. “You can get daddy’s help after you cum babygirl.” As he goes to the top of your thighs teasing you with wet kisses. “I can feel your wet cunt on my hand and your shorts are still on. Your close princess and then I promise you can have my cock however you want it.” His words being your final push to finally cum your hands leaving his head to squeeze your boobs, your nipples begging for attention. “That’s it baby. Ride it out on my hand, there yeah go.” As he leaves a wet kiss where your clit is through your shorts. Finally feeling your breath coming down to a normal pace. Your hands go back to Matt’s hair and pull him by his curls back up to you to share a kiss filled with nothing but even more lust than before. Once you broke apart Matt said “i swear to god that was one of the hottest fucking things I’ve ever seen.” as he kissed your check softly, teasingly grazing his teeth along it. 

“Matty..” you say pushing closer so you can grind down on his clothed cock. “I need you inside me.” you whisper in a way that makes Matt’s knees go weak. The way you literally had an organism less than a minute ago and you're already begging for his cock. 

“I don’t have a condom babygirl.” grinding his hips along with yours adding to the pressure trying to give both of you some relief. 

“Doesn’t matter” you mumble as your hands go under the back of his shirt scratching down the center of his back. While your mouth goes to the right below leaving his ear. “I don't care if you put a baby in me. I don’t care, I need you, please.” 

“Fuck you wanna be all swollen with my baby in you huh?” he carries you over to sit on the sink as he pulls down his shorts and boxers just enough to slip his dick out of. You slowly shimmy out of your shorts as he walks back over to you pumping his cock with the precum leaking out. “Fuck babygirl, i can’t believe your letting me go bare.” as you lean back on the sink, your shoulders leaning against the mirror to give him more access. He pulls your shorts and underwear down to only your ankle. So that he can spread your legs more apart to give him even more access to your core. Your palms naturally flatten on the counter behind you to keep balance.

Taking his cock and slowly rubbing the tip up and down your folds before slowly pushing it in. Both of you are having a hard time keeping quiet now. “Fuck Matty you feel so good” you let out a sound that’s a mix of a moan and a scream as he starts thrusting inside of you. His thumb goes to your clit, the circular motions matching to the speed of his thrusts. “Fuck daddy” as you arch your back even more. Your hands stretch further apart adding to the pleasure of the new angle. 

“Fuck baby” as he brings one of his hands to your throat, squeezing your throat just enough for the air to cut off to your brain for a seconds. The new sensation makes you feel nothing but pleasure. As you naturally clench your core due to the pure feeling of pleasure you feel lost in. It makes you wonder how long you're going to last. “You want a baby in you huh?” Only being able to shake your head yes. Obviously being the right answer. He pulls almost all the way out and then slams into you hitting your g-spot with thrust. He continues to repeat his deep thrusts as his hand on your throat continues to put slight pressure making your brian feel a good kind of fuzzy. 

Just as you were about to tell Matt that you were close as you were starting to feel the familiar knots in the pit in your stomach and the tingling all over your body. A loud banging comes on the door and a male voice on the side “yo, the other bathroom is out of order! Hurry the fuck up I gotta piss.” Matt’s hand that was on your throat going to your mouth, as much as he loved the sweet noises you made the idea of another man, especially a stranger hearing made his body tense. 

“Dude shut the fuck i’m busy take a piss in alley.” Matt yells back, not slowing down his pace at all. One of your hands going to his forearm knowing that you're leaving marks from deeply pressing your nails into his arm but neither of you cared in the moment.  Not sure if the man left from in front of the door, Matt talks in a softer tone. “God I can feel you clenching around me, you like that huh?” only responding in whimpers. Now leaning down to your ear “god you're such a fucking whore getting off on the idea of being caught in public huh? You like that another man can hear how good my dick makes you feel.” All you do is nod, but apparently that’s not good enough of an answer.

“Answer me princess or I swear I will stop.” slowing down his movements, already teasing stop as he removes his hand from your mouth.

“Yes daddy. I like almost getting” a sharp whine lets out of your lips as the speed of his thumb on your clit increases. “C -caught.” you whisper out. 

“Who’s the one who makes you feel this good huh?” he asks in a dominating tone ob

“ya you- daddy” you say another wave of pleasure taking over your body, “i- i am gonna cum.” you say throwing your head back.

“Uh uh uh what do you have to do, pretty girl.” his voice is deeper than you swear you’ve ever heard. “You know you gotta ask baby. Ask for me to let you cum and make you nice and full with mine.”

“Daddy please, please i need to cum i -, i need to be full with your cum please daddy.” you ask, tears spilling from your eyes as the pleasure is slowly becoming too much.

“You think you can be a good girl and go out there and sit all nice and full with my cum and no one will notice.” as he fastens his pace again, his thrusts becoming sloppier telling you that he’s close. You nod your head yes and his head goes to bite you softly on the flesh of your neck and shoulder. 

You both cry out a mixture of curse words and moans of pleasure. You swear you felt like you almost blacked out as you felt yourself let go. Your body must have been more overstimulated then you realized because you squirted all over Matt’s cock.

“FUCK” he screamed as his hot cum shot so far up your pussy you swear you felt it hit your g spot lightly. As both of your breathing returns back to normal, Matt lifts his head back up. “Have you ever done that before baby?” 

You knew he meant how you squirted all over. You look down feeling embarrassed all of a sudden “no.. i’m sorry matty i didn’t mean to.” He uses his index finger to lift your head so you're making direct eye contact. 

“Hey hey” he coos “don’t apologize ever! I swear that was the hottest thing that’s ever happened and I am so glad that I got to share that with you. His forehead resting against yours “let’s go home and see if we can make you do it again.”As looks down and slowly pulls out of you catching any juices that might go legs, putting them to his lips. “Hmm we taste good together baby, wanna try.” you give him a nod and he puts his two fingers in your mouth and you moan around them. 

Matt helps you stand and put your shorts back on as he slips his on as well. Before you even leave the bathroom he’s already ordering the uber to take it back to his house with one goal in mind making you squirt again. He unlocks the bathroom door pulling you by his hand leading you out the bar trying to sneak past everyone. But then you hear someone call him name. 

“Tkachuk” you hear Rodigez again, “dude i’m glad i found you remember you taking the cup home so you can drop it off at the arena tomorrow.” He said, trying to pass the cup to Matt. He held it with his arm so effortlessly like it weighed nothing, his hand still in yours. 

“Right, right thanks bro.” he says, pulling you out of the bar. As your walking to your uber he leans down to your ear “hey you know what would be really hot, fucking you from behind until you squirted again while the only thing you can grasp is the cup.” Your eyes widen as he continues to talk. “Wanna test my theory?” he asked as he ushered you both to the uber that just pulled up.

“For matthew?” the man asked as Matt opened the door.

“Yes.” he confirmed as he let you slide in first, then sitting the cup in the middle seat of the saden, finally sitting down himself. The uber driver immediately recognizes Matt and talks nonstop about how big of a fan he is. How happy he is that the Panthers won the Stanley Cup. All while Matt sneaked his arm behind the cup, up your inner thighs and lightly creased your clothed clit knowing you can’t make a single sound. 

Matt continued talking to the driver as if he wasn’t doing anything at all. Finally at a red light turning to you and leaning down to you. “You alright baby?” loud enough for the driver to hear.

“Yeah” you say trying to make your voice sound an even tone as he moves his fingers add a bit more pressure. 

“We'll be home soon. I know your tired bubs” he says as he leans down to whisper in your ear. “Too bad we're not gonna go to sleep.” A deep blush covering your face as Matt kisses your cheek as you think about all the possibilities for the night.

[devsgames]

As a dev who didn't really follow Baldur's Gate 3's development I was incredibly surprised at the number of people who have been making really sweeping and baseless claims about its success: stuff like "the game is made well by people who are passionate", or claim that other devs "just have to make good games", or that it's successful "because it doesn't have microtransactions". It's not that surprising I guess since Gamers tend to say these things about any product they happen to like and agree with, but I guess it was surprising to me how much people were saying it about this game specifically.

I'm sure the devs were passionate and I've sort of been enjoying my time with it, but frankly the success of BG3 absolutely does not feel like a design or development thing to me, but it's an obvious marketing and business one.

Having a good game obviously very much helps, but the fact of the matter is that rhetoric like this intentionally overlooks or downplays the real industry success factors: that BG3 is the third game in an already-popular and established legacy CRPG series that is built on an engine and mechanics by a studio which already made two other (unrelated) financially successful games on of the same genre, with all of it built on a back of a TTRPG franchise that has for the past few years been undergoing a huge resurgence in popularity and in no doubt funded through that partnership and licensing deals. Franchises like safe bets to make a profit, and this feels like the safest of bets. It really isn't successful because the game isn't adopting user-hostile monetization or because it's approach is radically different from any other game's development, it's successful because all these business factors.

To that end, whenever someone implies that other devs should just make games the same way...it's really funny! Like, the stars have aligned to make this product a hit and this doesn't implicitly make it a bastion or model for equitable game development just because it sold well and doesn't adopt hostile monetization schemes.

The fact of the matter is there's lots of games that are well-made by passionate devs and don't feature microtransactions or hostile monetization schemes, and they don't implicitly do well because of these design decisions alone; usually it's because they failed at marketing or didn't have the AAA budget to promote themselves like BG3. I'm also willing to bet that like every AAA studio, the devs at Larian likely weren't equitably compensated for this success, since most productions on a game of such a massive scale like this only really turn a profit because they undercut those working on it - huge profit and equitable compensation aren't often compatible concepts in game development. It's not like that would be any different here, so the "other devs should look to this game on how it should be made ethically" is a strange pull to me as well.

Basically this is all to say I think it's incredibly reductive to hold a product up on a pedestal by virtue of sales figures and choosing not to enact hostile monetization schemes. After all, I'm severely doubtful a product like BG3 would have done poorly assuming it had microtransactions in the first place. There's just way too many other factors that guided it alonge.

Do we need big budget games to move away from predatory business models that attempt to exploit the most vulnerable players? Absolutely yes I think we do, but I think people would also value from staying aware of real factors at play that define success in these sorts of situations, and not reduce development to "why don't developers simply make GOOD video games!" which I think is fairly baseless and confirmation-bias-y in its own way.

[smahell]

is there a villain in obey me?

yes. according to this simple search, diavolo is the antagonist we should fear. and date. and collect cards of. for some reason.

this was sent in a discord server I was in as a very very obvious joke (hopefully) and this result is surely ai generated, or google's done a whoopsie-doodle and taken something off of reddit.

yes, diavolo can assert himself as an antagonistic force, but all of his actions are always within logical reason. though it may be against the wishes of the brothers and MC, he always does what is right for the devildom, whether that may be putting lucifer on house arrest, or locking belphegor away from his brothers.

diavolo is literally just trying his best, and he's been doing that since his father basically dumped the responsibility of a whole realm on his shoulders and abandoned him to sleep at the bottom of the devildom. his past is genuinely so sad.

so, who's the villain in obey me????

you could certainly say it's belphie.. but you can also date him. belphie changes through our the story, and as of right now, he holds nothing against humans and anyone in general. though it was a short span of time, he has gained the (somewhat undeserving) forgiveness of everyone around him after trying to kill MC.

like yes, michael, but it's very obvious with him disguising himself as raphael, going against god's will, and even his manipulation of the brothers that he wants the brothers back, and still sees them as family. even if that may not be reciprocated.

you could say father. but in a sense, lilith broke the rules, and so did the brothers. they all needed to be punished accordingly. and the brothers still refer to him as "father" and not by any other name. they don't hate him as of now.

they feel sympathy. an attachment. a connection.

in the og where michael was mentioned once or twice, the fandom was quick to assign him as The Bad Guy™, but getting to know him through nb, he really is just like all the other characters in terms of role. and throughout nb michael is doted on fondly by the brothers. it's that sort of difficult familial love estranged families can relate to.

are these good decisions? no

but he's not a villain.

if you lost the loving family and friends you knew, and you had the power to get them back through such unconventional means... michael is just using the powers he was given.

"so then.. maddie's the bad guy." okay grandpa, let's get you back to your wheelchair..

she's barely even mentioned for starters, and from what I've heard, she's not even been mentioned in nb. all she's done is made mammon cry at some point, and tried to marry diavolo. she might be a shitty person, yes, but she's never even involved enough to make out lives, or even all the brothers's lives a living nightmare. she's a very minor nuisance, at most.

all the characters do something antagonistic. every single one of them. if there was a villain it would discredit the fact that the game isn't about heroes and villains and morality, but about people. and that's what makes obey me so good. and if there was (a villain), the story would've ended by now, long before the franchise's fifth anniversary. ****

every character is morally grey, and the fact that it leaves it up to the player to annotate what is good and bad makes the whole experience more immersive and personal than ever. however, it speaks volumes concerning a lack of media comprehension that anyone would try to assign a villain to obey me.

obey me is about dating silly demon boys, and watching people live, whether that be in peace and harmony, or in tense, on-the-brink-of-destruction moments. the story has no need of a true antagonist, when we have well developed and wide range of characters gets that impact the story no matter what. enjoy the game, hate or love the characters.. whether they're antagonists or not, just have fun.

****(because the devs weren't very good at writing the first game.. so I doubt they could've had the support to have written a second one)

[edit: this was brainstormed between @prettylittlelambs and i on discord :3 thank you for sort of inspiring me and going me come up with more ideas]

[bharv]

On defined vs customisable protagonists

Taking a break from DATV for some musings on this. This isn't really an essay, just a ramble, and I'm trying to steer clear of spoilers and heavy critical stuff.

I'll discuss the Dragon Age franchise, the Mass Effect franchise, and Baldur's Gate 3, Pillars of Eternity and Cyberpunk 2077.

Basically, I want to talk a little about ways in which a game's set up can help and hinder us in understanding our protagonist, the pros and cons of voiced protags, and what works in my eyes and what doesn't. I hope this also helps people to think about how they draw characters as well!

Firstly I want to say that people will have different reasons to prefer a more defined protagonist or a more open one. Ultimately it comes down to expectations from roleplay in my eyes. There's not a right or wrong answer in which is "better" but I think there are things that help us to engage with both types.

Establishing what we know (and being consistent with it)

Essential to both types in my eyes is establishing what is known. I'm going to use Commander Shepard as my first example here. We are told instantly that Shepard is an experienced officer, has an expertise in one area, and is being considered for a significant promotion. This allows us to infer that they get the job done, and that they have to have a degree of competency (whether or not they are by the book or more loose with the rules) and that they take their job seriously. The game then gives us some good flavour choices around family values, historical trauma, what they look like and what kind of expert they are, but make no mistake; this is a veteran soldier and you are on that road with them. It's a masterpiece in creating just enough freedom for ownership of a character while telling a very distinct story; if you are paying attention at the start, you know exactly what kind of person Shep has to have been to be considered for this role, which makes for a really clear path through.

Hawke in DA2, which was almost certainly designed to mirror the success of Shepard, follows a similar path. We know that Hawke is a refugee, and has a family, and fought in a recent battle. I would argue where Hawke is weaker to people who enjoy customisation is in setting them against their family; your Shepard could be a wunderkind or be eighty years old, have any number of emotional resonances in their personal life. Hawke is much more definite in age range, relationships and social status, which gives less freedom in making them truly your own. However, DA2 is highly consistent with Hawke. Perhaps you can only really customise the face and the attitude, but that attitude ripples through all of your interactions and creates a very distinct character that is easy to become attached to.

Dragon Age Origins does a very different thing by threading through the origins into inferences throughout the story. The knowns are that you will be the Warden and you will have to save the world. How you get there offers enormous choice. You can be a self-serving politician trying to weasel your way back into power, or you can be a devout Andrastrian on a path to martyrdom. A lot of this choice comes from the choice that is allowed with a non-voiced protagonist in sheer range of responses, a pathway that games like BG3 and Pillars of Eternity have continued.

It is essential you are clear with your player early in what is known about the character, both to help them establish them in a world and avoid disappointing their expectations. If your character is a rookie, say it! If they are an expert, make it clear. You can do this through action too - it doesn't have to all be written out.

To voice or not to voice

To me, personally, Shepard is one of the only truly successful voiced customisable protagonists. I have others I like very much (V in Cyberpunk 2077 and Hawke in DA2) but they are much more a slightly editable character on a defined narrative journey. The moment you put a voice on a character you are deciding tone, meaning and intention, and if your written choice doesn't accurately reflect your tone, it breaks immersion. Shepard walks a careful line that is aided by them being "on the job" for much of the time. Formality helps! It creates boundaries that we instinctively understand from our world.

If you have a voiced protagonist, then you have to either record a ton of lines allowing for anger, diplomacy, fun, inquisition and dismissal, and if you don't do that? You probably should have just set up a more defined character and told their story, and been clear in that expectation from your establishing moments.

Oh, Lore

One thing I really liked in BG3 is the way you could toggle on and off lore friendly options during character creation. It gave you the chance to say actually no, I don't care, or make sure you were creating within that world if you did. But regardless, if you have established lore, you have to carry it through. If you have a ton of backgrounds for characters, you have to make sure that's meaningful. A Grey Warden should be able to sense Darkspawn in their first encounter; it's a huge part of their deal. A Qunari character, if you have not specified that they are Tal-Vashoth and strictly from one background, should be able to reflect positively on their religion and cultural upbringing or see things through a non-Andrastrian lens. This is where it can be easier, even if it is disappointing, to set stronger boundaries in the creation of characters. For the most part, people are okay with limitations if it gives them something to work with. In Inquisition there were complaints about how much or little the backgrounds really added to the experience of being the Herald of Andraste, but they did choose backgrounds where there might be a rough knowledge of what was occuring at the conclave. It's okay to leave some things for people to fill in the gaps, but consistency is key.

Learning as the character learns

One clever way to establish connection but allow for discovery is for the characters to learn as we do. The Dark Urge in BG3 is an obvious example of this, but I'd also add in The Watcher in Pillars of Eternity too, and even V from CP77. Whatever they thought they are, they are something more, and it allows us to keep all of what we thought we knew about our characters and find out more along the way. It allows the game to take us down a path of the present, not the past (even though all of them ARE discovering events of the past!) by making it about what a person sees themself as, what they want to be, and what they have been. It sidesteps invalidation of ideas by creating narratives that are inherently biased as they are memory, allowing us to take or question the information we are given as we are given it. It trusts an audience and the player to invest their own opinions in the burgeoning narrative.

To do this, you need to make sure that the player has a good grasp, again, of what they do know. Good grounding is essential here. Think of the prologue of Pillars of Eternity, where we can establish a character's whole value system, or the pre-heist time with V which allows us to establish an enormous amount of relationship building and relationship to the world around them. Take that time, or it will fall apart.

[hero-of-the-wolf]

What are your thoughts on each LU hero?

cracks knuckles long post incoming!!

I feel like a lot of people forget about how much of a gremlin Time really is. He's cryptic for the bit, because he thinks it's funny, but he's absolutely willing to talk about things when asked (like when he told Wind about his entire adventure). Yeah this man's got trauma, but at the point he's at now he's healed a lot. I also think that he's just incredibly awkward, and it makes him come across as aloof and ✨mysterious✨

Twilight is the softest dorkiest Link by far and I will DIE on this hill. He's the biggest big brother to ever brother, and he vibes like someone who feels most useful when he's taking care of other people. It's very important to him. My boy is also so so stubborn like who the heck thinks it's a good idea to try and walk off an axe wound to the gut 😭 also I know in my heart that he gives the best hugs ever and I think a hug from him would fix me actually

People like to make Warriors this shallow jerk??? and he's NOT. He's really really not. He's just a big brother and he loves to tease. He's also really smart too, esp with battle tactics and working with other people. Also this man def knows field medicine like look at him whenever one of the others is downed in a fight, he's always right there making sure that they're okay.

Four is so so clever and really good at teamwork (obviously lol). but like!!! I love how throughout LU you can actively see him working really well with the others and accounting for their skills and where they are in battle, like in The Shadow arc he ducks down so Time can land a hit and it's a really cool scene. I also love his inside jokes with himself lol. He keeps his secrets just because he's waiting for a big dramatic reveal and I respect him for it.

Wind makes the best facial expressions HANDS DOWN. He's such a big brother too, and even tho he's the youngest Link I'm sure he still big brothers all the others lol. Also!!! This kid literally made the gods choose him as a hero. At every turn literally nobody took him seriously and he proved himself and killed Ganondorf!!! I'm so proud of him. ALSO Wind is so smart. He's the first one to start piecing together the timeline(s)!!

Wild is honestly super hyper competent?? Boy knows how to live off the land. He's smart. He chooses to be silly bc he enjoys being silly, not bc he's stupid. Also he was literally a prodigy!!!! That doesn't go away just because he lost his memories. He basically started out with the master sword (as in he started his knighthood with the sword already in hand), he defeated a guardian with a pot lid, also he knows how to cook lol. He's fine vibing by myself, but he's also happy to hang out with the others too :) also yeah he has a lot of trauma and guilt over everything that happened :(

Legend's harshness to me is def a projection. A coping mechanism, if you will. Boy's got such a soft heart (bunny hehe) and he wants to protect it from getting hurt again. That doesn't stop him from loving and caring about the others, he's just more guarded about it. And despite everything he's been through... he still loves adventuring. He really does.

Hyrule's got SO much grit and sheer determination. And he's so powerful too, even if he doesn't think that he is. He's got spells!!! That's something none of the others really have. Boy's got the toughest enemies in the entire franchise, too. He survived the Adventure of Link. That's insane lol also he's got SUCH just a little guy energy fr and I love that for him

I think people also forget what a troublemaker Sky is. And he absolutely gets away with all of it too bc like just look at his face. Is that the face of someone who's ever done something wrong in their entire life? yes. yes it is But he's also genuinely so so sweet too and yeah he def gives really great hugs. Also he's an insanely talented swordsman??? Like there's a reason he's called the Godslayer™️ lol. Sky is SCARY when he's angry. He just doesn't get angry all that easily.

[thebibliosphere]

What is the gameplay like on Gotham Knights? I have poor coordination so I have trouble with anything more complex than LOZ: Ocarina of Time. Like, on a scale of Pokémon->Dragon Age->LOZ->Dark Souls?

It's a bit clunky like Dragon Age 2, tbh. Except it doesn't have the excuse of coming out in 2011. The mechanics and camera controls are one of the things that let it down a lot, IMO.

I’m constantly getting stuck on walls and the edge of ledges because the controls feel laggy and the game’s not consistent about which surfaces you can climb and which ones you need to grapple. It's fine if you’re fighting in more open spaces but it turns the timed events into an exercise in frustration. Not to mention the number of times it feels like I’ve taken damage through an obstacle from enemy ranged attacks when my own ranged attacks bounce off invisible walls if I’m not standing in the exact spot the game needs me to be in. This results in me just key smashing melee a lot until every around me stops twitching.

I’m still enjoying it, but it is v. glitchy and I understand why people are leaving angry reviews. Especially if they are deeply committed to the immersive elements and were expecting the same level of polish from the Arkham games, which this studio also made.

I’m just casual enough a gamer that I’m enjoying muttering “parkour” to myself as I accidentally fall off buildings and plumet to my death because my graple hook glitched out and went the exact opposite way I’d been aiming.

I’m really just playing it for the characters. It feels like playing a a game written by people who understand the appeal of found family that went hard on the campier elements of the franchise while still maintaining a decent level of aching sadness for the tragedy they’ve endured.

You can feel the group fracturing under the weight of Bruce’s death with Dick doing everything he can to fill the void and stay positive and “normal” for the sake of everyone around him, including Alfred who is devastated but also trying to keep it together. Barbara, mourning an extra loss, is trying so hard to stay level headed and useful for Dick. Being both Oracle and Batgirl while also acting like a fun big sister to Tim who stands out as really young in this iteration.

Sure he’s a kid genius, but he’s also only 16 with a monumental caffeine addiction (you can’t tell me all the energy drinks on the shopping list pinned to the fridge aren’t for him) and mourning the loss of Bruce while also just wanting to do normal teenage shit, like asking the group for help with his art homework and being annoyed that his role as Robin is keeping him from spending time with his online boyfriend.

Jay is very raw and angry and obviously processing his own trauma on top of everything that just happened but even he steps up, trying to be there for Tim, teaming up with Babs to gently pick on Dick when he’s being particularly Boy Wonder-ish. Seeing him stress cook is also a nice added touch as are the photos of him and Bruce working on stuff. Bonding.

Which is another thing I Love. From what we see of him, Bruce is in his absolute DILF element in flashbacks and in recordings. All sad smiles and a gentle, head-shaking tolerance for the absolute ribbing the kids put him through for being too serious and neglecting himself. Not to mention all the pictures of him with Dick and Tim and Jason. And so many of him and Alfred and Ace. (The one on the fridge of him and Alfred showing them adopting Dick at the courthouse almost killed me. They all looked so young and happy.)

I’m getting serious “Bruce is a good dad with a warped sense of humor who hugs his kids and spends quality time with them, actually, and you’re wrong if you write him otherwise” fanon vibes, and that's honestly my favorite Bruce.

It’s basically appealing to everything I love about the franchise while scratching an itch in my brain the way crackfic taken seriously does.

And that’s enough to make me forgive the bad controls and glitches. But I could see it not being enough for some people, especially if you’ve already got poor hand eye coordination. Which I do. But again, I don’t really care about being good at games. I’m just dicking around and having fun wringing dopamine out of the narrative.

[mochamoth]

Hi here are some cringey ooc headcanons of Samarie because she's my favorite character.

(Ever. Like out of every franchise to exist.)

-She's autistic and has BPD.

-Her voice is very quiet and deep. She often speaks too softly to be heard unless the person is fully paying attention.

-She's picky with food because growing up she mostly ate the same food every day. That being said she is more opened to try sweet food, she likes sweet flavors.

-She's surprisingly decent at makeup, she just doesn't like wearing it (besides her lipstick). It's mostly because she's insecure about her face, plus she fears it'll draw attention.

-Very sweaty and clammy. It's her constant state of being it can't be helped unfortunately.

-She has a special interest in bugs, specifically moths.

-Despite hc she has a deep, creepy voice I think it'd be funny to make her sneezes overly loud for no reason.

-She likes reading, art, and collecting weird shit. She has a collection of (humane) taxidermy insects, bones, stuff Marina left lying around in the open, gifts from Marina (she cherishes those), and TONS of books about moths.

-This mf can't smile to save her life. They always either looked way too force or downright creepy.

-She didn't fully speak until she turned around 14 maybe 15. She knew how to speak she just didn't see a reason to do so outside of spells. She only started speaking because she planned on greeting Marina properly (never happened, she freaked out last minute and couldn't go through with the plan).

-She enjoys doing seemingly immature activities. Like making friendship bracelets or playing field games. She didn't have much of a childhood (if at all) so she's grown fond of the idea of doing all those fun, childhood related things.

-I see her and Abella being friends. This is mostly related to OC stuff I don't feel like yapping about, but basically I think Abella helps Samarie get more confident in herself.. Or at least give her the nerve to speak up (and actually say hi to people instead of oh idk following them around cough COUGH).

-She sleeps a lot. That's all.

-Rip Samarie you would've loved Monster High 😔🙏.

-I doubt this is a hc becuase pretty sure its canon, but she has an asymmetrical face. Which I love.

-She enjoys singing. It's not a hobby or passion of her's, more just something she does whenever she's painting or showering, even writing.

-Oh yeah speaking of she has a diary. She's been writing in it since she was very little and it one of the few things she managed to keep after (eventually) getting out the Ninth Circle.

-Best case scenario she gets the help she needs and slowly heals. Ik she is dying and that canonly she WILL be dead soon no matter what. This is MY out of character headcanon list, let me be cringe and stupid in peace 😔‼️

-She's a light weight. Just a feeling.

-She can be extremely paranoid alone in public places, she's either worried she'll get taken or worried people are judging and staring her down. Either way not a good time.

That's it for now, I'll make more if I come up with more and if I feel confident enough to post them 🙏

[youngpeachenthusiast]

this is not directed at anyone specifially and i'm going to say something that"s probably controversial but here i go anyway: you are not a bad person for still liking the harry potter franchise.

actually, i do not believe that you are a bad person, full stop. but that's a conversation for another day.

while it is actually horrible to support jkr and engage with her content in any way that gets her money (it is! no pretending it isn't), i think that no one should care about whether someone still enjoys the story. sure, jkr's fucked up worldviews are everywhere in it, and that certainly does ruin it to some degree (to me, at least), but you are still allowed to have your good memories and cherish the great times that you had thanks to the story.

i'm saying this as someone whose favorite pastime after jrk came out as... wildly problematic became breaking down every little problematic detail of the whole storyline. after the hp franchise basically made up most of my childhood.

is the story mediocre? the worldbuilding lacking? is it full of outright discriminatory narration and stances? yeah. should any adult with a high school degree have the literacy necessary to recognize this? yeah.

was it still incredibly important to lots of people (especially those who were often singled out and ostracized? looking at you and me, queer kids)? also yeah.

lots of literature and art of all kinds that people still engage with and love to this day is wildly problematic. made by problematic people. it is possible to enjoy a work of art critically.

what one can and should do, is not support the artist. but what harm does one do when enjoying something that is special to them? please leave people alone. i myself can't enjoy the story anymore at this point, but really. there's bigger problems in the real world. can we please use our energy in a better way? why is this discourse so rampant that i'm ranting about it on tumblr, where two people tops will read the post????

i feel like people should be allowed to like things sensibly. i... don't really have the energy to think about this stuff and believe that so many people are evil for enjoying something that meant the world to them in childhood. honest to god .

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

For the character ask game: What about Tuvok and Michael Burnham?

from this ask game

Tuvok:

how i feel about this character.

i love Tuvok so dearly. i think he's the strongest Vulcan character of the whole franchise and Tim Russ does such a masterful job portraying him. i really can't think of a single scene where i don't enjoy Tuvok's presence in some way.

all the people i romantically ship with this character.

just his wife t'pel. i can't think of any other tuvok ships i've seen that i hate but there aren't any that really interest me either.

my non-romantic otp for this character.

Tuvok & Janeway without a doubt. they make such a good best friend pairing. all of their scenes alone together make my heart melt a little with how much they care for each other

unpopular opinion on this character.

hm... the only thing i can think of that might be controversial is the fact that Tuvok and his morality is flawed. i think so often he (and other Vulcan characters) are seen in the fandom as the paragon of reason and sense and i think that flattens characters somewhat and also doesn't reflect what we see in canon. there are episodes like Meld where Tuvok advocates for the death penalty or Learning Curve where he's shown to hold his crew, especially his Maquis crew, to unrealistic standards or Resolutions where the crew has to basically mutiny before Tuvok considers going back for Janeway and Chakotay. yes Tuvok does have a strong sense of justice and yes he almost always follows logic but he's also very much a utilitarian and sometimes his morality is at odds with the audience and the rest of the crew which i like and i think should be considered more often.

one thing i wish would happen/had happened in canon.

that he got more stories... i mean it's not a secret that we only really get three-ish stories stories in the last four seasons that truly focus on Tuvok as a character and not just on him as a supporting character for others. i think he gets some strong supporting roles as a mentor and friend but i wish we got more stories actually centered on him.

Michael:

how i feel about this character.

MICHAELLLLL! Michael has by far one of the strongest arcs and characters in all of Trek. while early disco is a bit hit or miss for me, Michael is such a strong & compelling character that it makes up more it.

all the people i romantically ship with this character.

i love Michael/Book and am very happy with how they ended up in s5. i also do like Michael/Laira too because even just a few scenes i think their chemistry really jumped off the page.

my non-romantic otp for this character.

i do really love Michael & Saru. the few times they hug in s4 and s5 really took me out and i love the mutual respect & trust they've managed to cultivate despite their rough beginning in s1.

unpopular opinion on this character.

i mean i think it was a common (non tumblr) fandom opinion that Michael cries or emotes too much and that's obviously just some racist and misogynistic bullshit. Michael's whole journey is about throwing off the repression she was forced into as a child by growing up on Vulcan and live her life on her own terms and part of that is embracing her emotions. like probably one of the best scenes in the whole show is the sheer joy after she makes the time jump to the future at the beginning of s3.

one thing i wish would happen/had happened in canon.

i would have really liked Michael to have explored her relationship with Vulcan culture/society more, especially in s3 and beyond. like she obviously had a difficult time growing up but Vulcan culture is still her culture and i would have loved to see her more with post-Burn Vulcans and Romulans. even just her and T'Rina bonding over a Vulcan holiday or something would have been so good.

thanks for the ask!!! <3

[kerubimcrepin]

An Afterword: talking about Welsh and Shedar

While we are done with the movie and the show, it cannot be understated, just how much we still have to cover. Both in terms of canon, and things out of the realm of canon.

And this includes interviews, and things that never got made.

[source]

The thing that often bothers me, is that the creator of the franchise that my most favorite cartoon of all time is a part of, probably despises said cartoon.

I can't not think about that, when I see Simone and other Aux Tresors characters reused in Wakfu season 4 as background character assets, or when I think about how every show except Aux Tresors has had an OST released, or how the only Aux Tresors companion in Waven is Lou. Though I know, logically speaking, that it's more likely because it's just not very popular.

Funnily enough, I personally, and rather selfishly, think that Welsh & Shedar's demise is probably the greatest fortune to happen to this franchise. What was one of the worst things to ever happen to Tot was one of my greatest fortunes. (I would not care about Joris as a character, had Kerubim never existed. The cartoon, and their relationship, mean a lot to me, for personal reasons.)

To Tot, the thing that I love the very most has cannibalized one of his life's dreams. Starting with the resources, and ending with character designs themselves. Even the character design of a fucking cat??

As an artist myself, I can't even begin to imagine the horror of that, and yet... I feel nothing but joy. It's quite weird, how life works.

The good news is that Welsh and Shedar has been resurrected by Ankama (watch as it gets a full artbook and an OST release before Aux Tresors, an 11 year show that still doesn't have those, yes I am bitter), so, it is mostly water under the bridge. We will hopefully get to enjoy both, in a couple of years.

[source]

But I feel like it's very likely, that a lot of Aux Tresors and the way Tot may feel about it, was influenced by this disaster, and I couldn't begin this post without addressing that.

So, what was, or could be in the future, Welsh and Shedar?

A plot summary from the youtube trailer's description, just as filled with Tot's overwhelming sadness as everything else relating to W&S's cancellation, man, goes as follows: "Here is the trailer for an animated series project launched in 2012 which has very little chance of arriving on your screens. The story is that of Welsh, a young boy forced to fight for an inheritance he never knew existed: that of the throne of the Kingdom of Bonta. Ankama’s “animation” department has plenty of ideas behind its graphics tablets: series, special episodes, films, our brains are always buzzing! However, not all projects are lucky enough to reach you…"

So basically, it was/is/will be a story about a young man, or boy, who finds out he is the next in line for Bonta's throne, and is taken there by Joris. How all of this happens is rather murky, AKA:

Anyway,

Tot has reported that his idea for this series was quite similar to the anime "Ranking of Kings", which I had sadly not watched. Make of that what you will.

When does Welsh & Shedar take place?

Firstly, I will say that, because of how much Tot loves this series, for years it was in a state of vague canonicity. AKA "it did likely happen, but it has never been produced so we don't know WHAT it is, that happened there. There sure was a guy named Welsh at some point."

What points to this is 1. Khan's old man design still being canon,

And 2. This usage of Welsh & Shedar-era Joris in an official timeline. It says that Joris would have been 60 years old, in this series.

Obviously, this timeline is subject to change, if/when Welsh & Shedar becomes real, and there are a lot of things we don't know!

Some curiosities...

Funnily enough, there exists this image, which was leaked by a French site when Aux Tresors began airing, — mistakenly used as promo for the series.

It could be depicting some other draft of W&S where Joris is a kid. Or, it could be depicting something between Aux Tresors and W&S, from when Ankama had to make something new up to take W&S's place.

It yet again makes me yearn for an Aux Tresors art book. Because seriously. What does this even mean.

Anyway thank you france for killing W&S, making Aux Tresors (the PEAK.... the SLAY.....) real, and now resurrecting W&S. We truly do live in the kindest timeline 🙏

[raihanijulie]

[ LEMNISCUS GUIDE BLOG!!! ]

☆Reading until end of blog will be much appreciated!!! (Psst, theres a discord server link i slipped in btw....)

Picture below isnt accurate with tumblr bc this was made for instagram post.

You may be wondering... "What is Lemniscus? Why do you keep mentioning it in your posts?"

TO BEGIN WITH, Lemniscus is one of the planets in this universe with Ribbaniuns the living beings in it! The population of Lemniscus consist the various anthropomorphic animals.

And thats where we begin sharing the story and contents of these characters by the name LEMNISCUS! You could say Lemniscus is a series/project my friends and i worked on together!!! (We took Lemniscus bc we literally only focus on this planet... No else.)

Ah... So then, "Who are the characters? Why do they look like the characters from Sonic series?"

THIS. is a good one to explain and i reallly want you guys to keep in mind with this!!!!

Yes! The Lemniscus cast does look like the characters from Sonic the hedgehog because they do take the design and traits inspiration from them! BUT! The personality, backstories, interractions, lores, all of those... We worked and develop on it ourselves!!! (Theres similiarities still, but its only SLIGHT!!! Theres some differences when compared)

Thats why this is NOT counted as Sonic au, instead, its their own universe and story! The Lemniscus cast are original characters/ocs based on existing character that later we develop so they wont look EXACTLY like the existing char they took inspiration of!

I could say that this universe's origins of making is basically 'based on Sonic'. Throughout time, there are improvisasion little by little as we worked on building chars and stories, making it their own thing :D!! So, again, Lemniscus and Sonic are two different thing... I appreciate yall's understanding. I dont want any miscommunication between Lemniscus and Sonic franchise! <"3

The original characters belong to their respective owners <3 (Keep in mind we are 4 person putting our characters in ONE and worked together in this)

Alright!!! Now INTRODUCE THE CAST/CHARACTERS!

As in the main characters! Here ill list out the characters name with their profile links AND respective owners too! Get to know each of them by clicking their names:

Hz Railstar, Alora Quinn, Victoria Opal, Ezra (JULIE/HANA!!! ME!!! :D HOIHOI!!! I link you guys to my chars' masterpost in tumblr hehe,,, its more detailed!!!)

Gausberto, Nova, Puffin, Xenophone (Hani! NOTE: She doesnt put much infos of her characters, i'll most likely be the one to share the infos through source from her she is my own sister after all Infos about Hani's chars are most likely in the discord server!)

Aero and Noire ( @m3tr0n0m333 )

Rambutan Stoneheart ( @cherriosblog )

OH!!! But thats not it!! Theres more infos i'd like to share....

Slowly but surely, we noticed our Lemniscus contents dragged people to start being curious about it, even interested with the series/project we worked! Of course, with a warm welcome, we opened a discord server, ☆LEMNISCUS (Hz Universe), for the little community we have :D!!!

The server is a great place for you to learn more about the characters (bc again, SOME of the Lemniscus cast here are explained alot more in the discord server instead!) and LORESSS obviously! Its even easier and you can keep on track whenever new things are shared by us :)

The characters arent only the ones shown here... In fact, there are more than you think. Yes! Im talkin bout the side characters! Theyre mostly explained and digged alot more in the server soo....

Hop in and join to get more familliar of Lemniscus!! ☆

.

This must conclude the blog. Thank you everyone for the consideration and supports of this little project we worked on! <3 I, the one to start all this fun chaotic universe is very grateful that i'd make it this far by sharing contents of these silli cast, not only me, but by you dedicated supporters and friends that worked alongside me ☆

Live, laugh, burn Hertz!🔥🔥🔥🔥

[anonzentimes]

i find it honestly kind of insane how misunderstood komaeda is online like maybe its because i did his ftes on my own playtrough but just from playing dr2 once to me he never felt like a "uwu hope boy" or a "hope obsessed male junko", he just felt like his own guy with his own reasons that have nuance and arent bound to black and white good or bad mentalities, and because i got all of that from 1 playtrough i honestly thought nagito was not that hard to understand and now i see people boxing him on one or the other and i just sit there like did we play the same game ???????

im also someone that overthinks a lot and wants my interpretations of characters to line up with canon as much as i can and i dont dare to talk on the internet about characters i dont fully grasp so its bonkers to me how many people are so openly completely missing the entire point of nagitos character........

It really is annoying how some people completely miss his character or think he has to be stuffed in specific categories, part of what makes his character so great is that he cares so much and is so sweet but is morally gray when it comes to his absolute beliefs/obsessive coping mechanism but even in the end his moral grayness doesn't have ill intentions. He's messed up by the circumstances of his life and the diagnosis also impacts things, he's still a really sweet boy who cares a lot and all of that is a MIX. Nagito is basically the moral grayness added to Danganronpa 2 that makes its messages more impactful and interesting. Nagito is practically a parallel to both Makoto and Hajime, and with his own sweetness and personality, problematic coping mechanisms from circumstances/luck cycle, and appearance it creates somebody completely new and wonderful. Somebody who's Super LOVABLE!!! In fact Nagito is so easy to misinterpret that the Wiki actually says "He's revealed to be a psychopath," which kind of undermines everything about him as well as isn't actually correct to the definition of a psychopath >:(

also the male Junko thing is inherently wrong because his mindset is completely different and Junko is also well written in her own way, the crazy eyes make people think of it or make jokes about it but it's just completely wrong Lol. Nagito loves Hope and believes despair is absolutely NECESSARY for Hope. Again, more of a parallel to Makoto, Not Junko. And then for the whole "uwu" boy it's like, c'mon dude. I know you didn't say these and are indeed agreeing with annoyance with these statements but I get annoyed too so I wanted to add a mini ramble about it too HAHA!

Anyways, I guess overall I just wish people could enjoy him with completely understanding him more, It feels really good for me at least. Probably because he's the biggest special interest i've ever had in my life and mere mentioning him gives me happiness, but I digress I think he doesn't have to be put into specific boxes. Good people can do bad things, he's a complex character with a lot of depth. In a weird way his character is definitely over the top fantasy from the franchise being that way, but what Danganronpa does is make that feel real. In that aspect Nagito feels realistic with how he isn't just black or white.

thanks for your ask and thank you for letting me ramble on my birthday <3 :D!!!!!

[red-balloon12]

Natemare Headcanons!

(Note that all of my versions of the Battle Egos….and basically all egos in general, aren’t inherently related in any aspect. They are they’re own individual creations. Also these H/F’s are self indulgent as hell so warning-)

General H/Cs

Name: Natemare

Age 32

Species: Nightmare Demon/Amalgamation (basically he can shapeshift his body into a nightmare-ish amalgamation. There are different phases and he can morph into any phase he sees fit at the moment)

Sexuality: Bisexual/Biromantic (leans more towards guys)

Specific H/Cs

Natemare doesn’t really need sleep because he’s a nightmare amalgamation but he chooses to sleep for fun. He does get tired though.

Natemare’s primary sense of style is a punk/goth mixture

Mare is a prankster and often pulls light hearted pranks on the other egos. Heathen is the only ego that hasn’t fallen for these pranks

He likes to write music and draw in his free time but he gets frustrated easily when he can’t think of songs during a certain period. Ironically his best work comes to him when he isn’t trying to write songs/draw.

Overall he’s a pretty chill and fun loving person but he does have a short fuse…which makes it easy for a certain person to tease him.

Boi has SO many abandonment issues you can fit a whole sonnet about it into him. He tries to make it seem like he doesn’t have them but he does.

Mare knows a lot people just sees him as the “Emo FNAF ego” which he doesn’t like but he also still likes FNAF. And so he makes it his mission to be more than that label while still enjoying his favorite game franchise…which is difficult-

Natemare is…high key jealous of Phantom because they both know Phantom is the “more popular ego” and Phantom is very vocal about it, which causes the two of them to be rivals of sorts. But Mare secretly admires Phantom from afar and he does understand why people like him so much. (Mare believes he and Phantom would be very good friends if pHNATOM WASN’T SO SMUG ALL OF THE TIME-) But he hates that no matter how hard he tries he can’t seem to get to that standard. So he plays it off as being unbothered by it which comes off as lazy and uncouth from Phantom. But DAMN does he actually care-

Mare also may have a bit of a…crush on Phantom and he mAAAY be a bit of a tsundere about it lol.

Even though he doesn’t need it, Mare has an emergency axe in his room somewhere.

He’s besties with MadPat and Virgil Sanders (Anti is more of a frenemy of his). Mad often teases him about his obvious crush on Phantom despite his (onesided) crush on Mare.

Mare acts as a big brother for Skelly/Pumpkin. He loves the kid dearly and will destroy anyone that harms him.

His favorite music genre is punk rock, Nerdcore and…Will Wood. He doesn’t have a favorite band. He likes a lot of bands.

Mare likes to cross dress from time to time. It makes him feel pretty and badass.

Mare’s favorite animals are ferrets.

Despite him being punk/goth he doesn’t mind dressing up more formally for certain events…or for fun. He’d rather die than let Phantom dress him up though.

And these are all of my current (and updated) headcanons on my blorbo. If you guys want a romantic/NSFW version let me know. I’ll be more than happy to make one. Next ego up is Phantom!

[kachikirby]

So last night I finished playing Namco X Capcom.

This will be a kinda long review and opinion thing, so I'll put some of it under a cut.

I do want to note that I did play through the fan translation of this game, and I will be discussing that because that definitely needs to be discussed for reasons you will soon find out.

Do note that I will be showing screens that include spoilers in this post.

My overall thoughts on the game goes like this: If you're already a big fan of Project X Zone and its sequel, you're probably going to like this game, but if you don't, you're probably not going to like it. I can definitely see some things where PXZ improved like not giving every single enemy basic attack animations and reserving them only for a Boss's Special or multi-attack. Those really made the turns feel long. This is why I have to note that it's most enjoyable to do only like a few stages a day.

While the story is like nothing spectacular, it was engaging enough for me to want to see it through to the end. Remember that this is pretty much Namco and Capcom's officially licensed crossover fanfic. This sort of does tie in with another thing I like about this game and that is the cast. I really enjoy Reiji and Xiaomu as characters and their banter is extremely entertaining to watch. As for the main villain, Saya, while she is also entertaining, I'd also say that she's at her best when she's playing the "villain working alongside the protagonists" role like in late-game PXZ1. (and I think the Endless Frontier games, but I haven't played those.)

I also want to discuss the actual Namco and Capcom characters chosen to crossover. Note that this game came out in 2005 so they of course couldn't use anything releasing after that year or in that year. The result is that this game is a time capsule of games that both companies thought were important or popular enough to put in a crossover and definitely would not be put in a PXZ3 if it ever got made. I'm not just talking about the obscure arcade game characters when I say that, I'm also talking about games like Klonoa and Resident Evil Dead Aim. While yes, PXZ also has to take into account Sega, I still wouldn't think they would really show up if it was just Namco and Capcom games, especially since both companies have a lot more popular franchises to draw from when choosing characters.

Now I do want to talk about the translation of this game. Now I want to let you know that it is a fan translation, and I know it's a lot of work to work on these and kudos to everyone who took their time to work on this, but I do want to give an honest opinion on it as someone who has worked on translations.

The nicest way I can say this is that the translation is very half-baked. There is a lot of times where the writing and translation is good...

Then in the next immediate piece of dialogue... well, I heard machine translation was used on some parts of this game, and you can really tell in some moments because of how awkward the dialogue is.

(Not shown: the fact that Ogre from Tekken 3 is now named "Olga" according to this game's translation)

Yeah, you can tell that the translation wasn't proofread, or quality checked. Like again, I know it's a fan translation and it's a lot of work, but at the same time, I don't really think subpar work should be excused. Especially since it can be a turn off for some people.

There are also a lot of simple spelling errors sprinkled throughout the translation that could have been avoided if someone simply proofread the work. Like I know this is a game with a lot of dialogue, but this is all the more reason why proofreading it is important.

Trust me when I say these are just two examples of many. Not to mention as you get closer to the end of the game, the translation starts to get more awkward and spelling errors become more common.

If you can figure out what this means, please let me know.

But it gets worse. There are times where the translation messes up the formatting of the text. This leads to things like MOMO's dialogue being written in the victory and defeat conditions screen and... well whatever the hell is going on in the second screen here.

The worst part is that whatever the hell is happening in the second image also happens in an EXTREMELY SERIOUS SCENE where Xiaomu is attempting to tell Reiji the truth about his father's death and kills ALL TENSION because of it! Honestly, you can see why something like that is unacceptable!

For another example, this scene has dialogue that is voiced.

In this scene, Saya's voice actress, Ai Orikasa is saying something along the lines of "You really have... become a good man... Rei...ji..."'

This is what the translator team wrote it as:

Yeah it's basically another example of an extremely serious scene being ruined by the shoddy translation work on this game.

But the next thing I want to talk about is a bit more of a complaint compared to the rest of what I've discussed so far and that is the fact that the fan translation seemingly using a dart board to decide who gets to use their official English names and who uses their Japanese names.

So, for those who don't know, a lot of Capcom's character names change based on if you're in Japan or overseas. The most famous of these examples is how Rockman in Japan is known as Mega Man in the United States.

To put it simply, except for only two characters, every character in this fan translation uses their Japanese names instead of their official localized names. I'll be completely honest, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with this if they just either did all Japanese names or all localized names instead of being wishy-washy and only picking two characters to keep their localized names.

For example, in the Japanese version of Street Fighter, M. Bison is named Vega, but then instead of using Gouki, the Japanese name for Akuma, they use his English name. It's an annoying inconsistency.

For those of you who are more into Nintendo games, let me explain it like this:

This is like if someone did a fan translation of a Japan-only Mario game and they didn't bother to change Bowser's Japanese name, so he's constantly being called "Koopa" throughout the entire game. Meanwhile, Birdo is also in this game, but instead of translating her name as "Catherine" to stay consistent, her name remains as "Birdo". That would be weird, wouldn't it? Yeah, that's essentially happening here.

It also of course happens with the Darkstalkers characters because of course it does.

I do hope that they somehow release a patch or an update for this translation to fix all of these issues but I'm not holding my breath.

Anyway, I can pretty much conclude that if you can get past the subpar fan translation and you like Project X Zone, you'll probably like this game.

[carcharhinus-cinematus]

Transformers One Review!

Spoilers Ahead!

I would like to preface this review with the fact that I wasn't really a Transformers fan before seeing this movie. I didn't know much about the Transformers franchise itself, this review will reflect that. Transformers One was an amazing movie, there was a lot that I loved about it.

Starting off with the performances. I loved most of the voice acting. Chris Hemsworth's performance was lackluster at times. There were times where I just wasn't feeling it as much as the other. I do think he is a good choice for Optimus Prime, just some of his performance as Orion Pax didn't translate for me.

On the other hand, I have no complaints about Brian Tyree Henry. I don't think I could find something to complain about if I tried. He is truly incredible in this movie. Almost every line of dialog of his in the second half of the movie send a shiver down my spine. I think it was super clear to see his gradual change from D-16 to Megatron, and while the writing plays a good part of that, Henry should not go without praise. It was easy to understand how D-16 was feeling and why he did what he does, even when you can't cheer for him. Brian Tyree Henry is truly and amazing actor, both on screen and in the booth. Scarlett Johansson also gave a great performance, I really enjoyed her as Elita-1.

The animation in this movie really stood out to me. It was beautiful and incredible well done. Some moments really stuck out to me, like the scene of D-16 walking across the surface that we see through the reflection of a hunk of metal and the shot of D-16 sleeping in his pod the night before the Iacon 5000. Both looked so good and stuck with me from my first watch. I also really love the physics in this movie and I loved seeing the way that the autobots interacted with each other and how their bodies react to it, especially the first fist bump between Orion and D-16.

I think the story was great. On the surface, it was easy to follow the relationship between Orion and D-16. As well as the fracturing of their friendship that come along with D's transformation to Megatron. D-16's shift didn't feel forced or like a complete 180 of the character that we have grown to know, it was natural and the roots of his personality were shown from the beginning. Orion was always Optimus. Under the surface, the story of the corruption and facade of the government is not hard to see. Due to Sentinel Prime's own actions, he must face the music. In doing so he strips countless autobot's of their basic autonomy, forcing them to work and work for something they can not reap the benefits of. He takes their finite resources out of their hands and puts it directly into the hands of the enemy. When his betrayal is discovered there seems to be two reactions, replace the figureheads and fix the current system or destroy it (and it's leader) and start anew.

The scene near the end of the movie where Orion becomes Optimus due to Primus' personal blessing and D-16 becomes Megatron as he tears Sentinel in half and takes his cog out of his chest is and incredibly tense and incredibly beautiful scene. The music is incredible, it is throughout the entire movie, but especially this scene. Brian Tyree Henry's acting truly hits a peak in this scene.

The design of the autobots was also really really good. I love Airachnid's design. I love her eyes and how they move, as well as the fact that she has a million eyes in the back of her head, but the second she uses them she can't see what's right in front of her. I know it's a simple detail, but I love it. I also really enjoy Alpha Trion's design, as well as the rest of the prime's when they are sitting in the cave, slowly being taken over by the nature and plants of the surface, something so different then what they are. I also want to give a shoutout to the foley work in this movie, it is an art I feel goes under appreciated and there wasn't a moment where i thought the effect didn't fit. I feel like I should mention Bumblebee. I know that he is the gateway to finding the graveyard of the primes, but he feels like nothing more then comedic relief at points, which is a character trope I do enjoy, I just didn't see much development in his character, though I'm sure that'll come if (hopefully when) the movie gets a sequel.

All this to say, I think this movie is incredible and that more people should see it. It is truly beautiful and well acted and I hope that everyone who worked on this film gets the praise they truly deserve.